Chapter 29
The “Crazy Lovers”
Yi-un sat across from the Queen Dowager in her private hall.
“You sent for me, Grandmother?”
His mind was in turmoil. Could this be about Gwangtong Bridge?
If word of that incident had spread, he’d never be allowed outside the palace walls again.
A royal prince, holding a woman’s hand and sprinting through the capital in broad daylight—
unthinkable, and absolutely forbidden.
The Queen Dowager, usually so gentle with him, sat with one knee raised, an arm resting upon it.
Her cool, penetrating gaze—enough to unnerve even the most seasoned ministers—fixed on Yi-un.
She’s truly angry.
If she knew about Cheonggye Stream, he was cornered. There would be no escape.
Her voice came slow but razor-sharp.
“Why have you been behaving so recklessly?”
“What do you mean…?” Yi-un hedged, feigning ignorance.
“You really dare ask?”
Lowering his head further, he replied plaintively,
“I truly do not know what Your Majesty means.”
A brief silence followed. She exhaled lightly.
“So it was deliberate, then.”
“Deliberate…what?” he asked, still bowed.
“Raise your head and sit properly,” she said.
“Not until I know what has offended Your Majesty,” Yi-un answered calmly.
“When you met the Crown Prince outside the East Palace.”
Relief and admiration washed over him at once:
relief that this wasn’t about the bridge,
and awe—of course Grandmother would know so quickly.
He finally lifted his head.
“They say you instructed the Crown Prince?”
The Queen Dowager gave a dry laugh, alluding to Yi-un’s scolding the prince for holding hands in public
and advising him never to apologize to a royal elder for such trifles.
“It was no instruction,” Yi-un said. “Merely an elder brother’s concern.”
“If it was intentional, this grandmother is not displeased.”
Her smile deepened, etching new lines into her face.
In the palace, even the King and Queen’s most private moments were observed by maids.
Careful words were a matter of survival.
Yi-un, once heir apparent himself, still carried an air of legitimacy.
Though the current Queen and her faction had taken the title from him,
many still recognized his qualities and regretted his lost claim.
For Yi-un to admonish the young prince—
if done carelessly, it would expose a weakness to the Queen’s camp.
But if calculated, it hinted at greater designs.
If that were so, the Queen Dowager would be ready to restore him to his rightful place.
“So the Crown Prince publicly apologized to you, with the servants watching?”
Yi-un kept his expression neutral.
He had thought it would take a day for news to reach her,
but of course Grandmother was faster—meaning the Queen’s side likely knew as well.
“This grandmother does not yet grasp your intentions,” she said,
“but when the time truly comes to act, you had better warn me.
You cannot face them alone.”
“I only wish to roam the country and sketch what I see,” Yi-un replied evenly.
“People are not born to pursue their pleasures,” she countered,
“but to follow Heaven’s will.”
She popped a lotus-patterned yellow sweet into her mouth,
swallowing words that might have been: It is Heaven’s will that you become king.
“By the way, I hear from Chief Eunuch Choi that you visited Gwangtong Bridge?”
“I wished to look at some scenery,” Yi-un said, forcing calm and silently cursing his attendant
for his loose tongue.
“They say something strange happened there?”
Her unreadable smile returned.
“What sort of thing?” he asked carefully.
“Chief Choi saw it. Lady Bongbo saw it. And yet you alone claim ignorance?”
“Lady…Bongbo was there?” Yi-un blurted, startled.
“She often keeps me company.
This time she reported witnessing a most curious sight—hard to believe even after hearing it.”
“….”
“In broad daylight, a man and a woman clasped hands and ran through the streets of Joseon.”
Cold sweat trickled down Yi-un’s back.
“I—is that so?” he managed, sipping azalea punch to moisten his dry throat.
“Lady Bongbo said the young man looked familiar and called out,
but he simply kept running with the woman.
When she asked Chief Choi, he described them as
‘a pair of crazy lovers’ dashing hand-in-hand through the streets.”
Yi-un nearly dropped the silver bowl as relief and irritation mingled.
The Queen Dowager burst into laughter.
“Haha! My careful grandson making such a blunder?”
“Ah…indeed,” he said weakly.
“The times are changing,” she said suddenly, her tone hardening.
“Unmarried men and women run hand-in-hand in public—that is but a trifle.
Slaves form societies to harm yangban;
scholars chase wealth over honor;
rich merchants employ impoverished nobles;
the wealthy flaunt jade palanquins;
and interpreters flout ritual, burying wives in lacquered coffins.
Where once would anyone dare murder high officials of the realm?”
Her voice carried deep anger.
Preserving royal dignity and the class order defined her very life.
Yi-un understood. At fourteen she had left a simple world
to enter a palace riddled with intrigue.
Her entire existence had been proof that status and royal law must endure.
If that order collapsed, so would the meaning of her life.
“Do not worry too much,” Yi-un said gently.
“I hear every bureau is working urgently to catch the culprits in the recent murders
of the Minister of Personnel and the Chief Censor.”
Indeed, the assassination of such high officials was almost unheard of,
even in chaotic times.
“Be extremely careful,” she warned.
“Yes, Grandmother.”
“Not just of criminals,” she added.
“…Pardon?”
“Of them as well.”
She meant the Queen, her relatives, and their allies.
“I hardly think they concern me,” Yi-un said with a faint smile.
“Then tell me—does wandering the city while making this grandmother worry give you such joy?”
“It has its charms.”
“What delights you so?”
“Seeing the world, watching people,
and sharing a cup of wine at a roadside tavern as the sun sets.”
Thinking of tomorrow’s gathering of the “Somaek Club,”
he couldn’t help but smile.
“Your smile is lovely, my dear,” she said, brightening.
“My drinking companions are all remarkable in their own way.”
Life in the palace—tedious as a long summer yet sharp as a blade—
was eased by that little circle.
Unbidden, Miu’s face came to mind,
bringing a flush to his cheeks and a quiet smile to his lips.
“Yi-un, you…”
“Yes?” he said, startled.
“Your face is red…you were drinking during the day, weren’t you?”
“Ah…yes, that’s right,” he admitted, bowing.
“Well, with your temperament, I suppose so.
And who are these companions of yours?”
Yi-un hesitated, then chose honesty.
“A police inspector and a government interpreter.”
“Merely a sixth-rank officer and a man of the miscellaneous class?
It would be better to associate with more powerful people,” she mused.
“There is one more. From the vegetable market…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say a woman.
“A shop assistant with a remarkable talent for trade.”
“Even a commoner?
Ha! My grandson may appear aloof, but you’ve always been kind-hearted—
why else would you have been so close to Chief Choi since childhood?
But if she is that skilled in business, she must indeed be exceptional.”
“Yes, Grandmother. Her talent is truly extraordinary,” Yi-un said,
his cheeks reddening again.
“Why the sudden summons?” Yi-un asked once they left the Queen Dowager’s hall.
Chief Choi trailed after him.
“Nothing serious,” Yi-un replied, rolling his eyes.
“But tell me—did you actually say to Her Majesty that
a ‘pair of crazy lovers’ were running through the streets hand-in-hand?”
“Do you know how flustered I was?
Right after you and Lady Miu disappeared,
Lady Bongbo appeared before me!
I had to pretend I was there on the Queen Dowager’s orders.”
“I’m asking about the crazy lovers part.”
“Oh, that? Don’t worry.
Anyone who saw a young couple racing hand-in-hand at midday
would call them mad—”
Choi stopped short at Yi-un’s sharp glare.
“When reporting to Her Majesty, stick to the plan,” Yi-un warned.
“Of course. I left out anything important and spoke only of sketching.”
“By the way, are you really thinking of becoming a painter?”
Yi-un eyed the attendant who kept following him to draw.
“I think I have a knack for it,” Choi said.
“You do not,” Yi-un said flatly.
“Jealous?” Choi grinned.
“Enough nonsense.
What about the inquiry into Lady Miu?” Yi-un asked.
Choi’s face turned serious.
“At last, word has come from the elders of Sunhwa-bang.”
