Chapter : 59

The Butterfly Caught in the Web (4)

The fake princess incident was revealed to have been orchestrated jointly by Lord Kang and Ha Jo-young.
Lord Kang went to escort the princess and ended up saving Ha Jo-young, who had nearly been killed in a bandit attack. Ha Jo-young was then made to take the place of the missing princess. During that time, they searched for the princess’s whereabouts and intended to reveal the entire sequence of events.

The confession by Yeon-ho threw the court into chaos.
Ministers rained down criticism. How could they commit such a crime and not come forward in person, delivering the truth with just a few written words? Was this not an affront to the court and an insult to the royal family?

However, the Crown Prince defended Yeon-ho.
He said that since he had permitted the action, no blame should fall on the two of them—but the ministers could not believe this.
They were certain that the Empress would not overlook such an event, and this time, both the Crown Prince and Lord Kang’s positions would be precarious.

Yet, for some reason, the Empress did not severely reprimand them.
Instead, she laughed heartily, calling it a ridiculous affair. She even comforted them, saying it was unfortunate that Lord Kang’s pride had been hurt by the princess’s romantic whims.

In truth, the Empress knew it would be difficult to bring down the two for an incident of this scale—unless the princess herself had come to harm. And now, she had been found.
Raising the issue with Lord Kang might have backfired, especially if he publicized the assassination attempt on Ha Jo-young’s carriage.
Thus, she chose to overlook the predictable antics of the Crown Prince and Lord Kang.
After all, the marriage between the princess and Lord Kang was already off, so their goal had been accomplished.

Moreover, this incident had also damaged the reputation of the Crown Prince among the rigid ministers who had pinned their hopes on him.
He had failed even to properly handle the princess’s marriage, thereby diminishing the royal family’s prestige and unsettling the court.
At this point, it was more advantageous to demonstrate maternal generosity by covering the children’s mistakes than to push him further.

There was, however, one lingering thought.

“Why does Lord Kang protect that woman? I heard she had the princess’s identity token. It would have been better to claim she was fooled by her schemes.”

According to Ha Jin-san, it was Lord Kang who suggested wrapping things up this way.
On the surface, it seemed fair to everyone, but in reality, Lord Kang had sacrificed himself for her, even damaging the Crown Prince’s reputation in the process.

“They spent three months together and even went through the wedding—did they really consummate it? Perhaps they built some intimacy between them.”

For a brief moment, the Empress entertained such thoughts—but quickly dismissed them.
Since Lord Kang had returned Ha Jo-young without lingering attachment, that seemed unlikely.

The atmosphere at Bisan Fortress was like a desert swept by dry winds day after day.
It was bleak, and the air prickled like grains of sand scattering across the skin.
Although the fake princess incident was a deception orchestrated by Lord Kang, everyone had truly regarded her as the princess, so the shock was immense.
The people who had respected the princess and the maidservants who liked her felt a profound emptiness.
Moreover, since the real princess had already married another man, Lord Kang’s dignity suffered greatly.

Thanks to the calm in Noh-nam, no wars erupted at the border. Occasionally, Noh-nam bandits would cross over to raid villages, but it was not serious enough for Lord Kang to intervene.

Yet Yeon-ho threw himself into work, even reducing his sleep.
But he did not confine himself to the palace. He was often absent, sometimes gone for several days at a stretch.
People whispered, wondering if he truly went to attend to work or if he was sulking because of this incident.

Yeon-ho, traveling outside, overheard people talking about him. And they were entirely correct.
Being in the palace made his anger flare uncontrollably.
The villa where she had stayed was off-limits, yet at times it felt as if she appeared right before his eyes.
What tormented Yeon-ho most was that the face he saw was mostly the last one he had seen before she left.
Why did that emotionless, dry expression look as if it were pained?
If she had really been hurt, wouldn’t she have cried?
In truth, even while away from the palace, he could not stop thinking of her.

That day, he had been too angry and only scolded her.
Ha Jin-san’s explanation had seemed plausible, and he had felt most betrayed by the suggestion that she might have known in advance about the poisoned wine.
She had feigned illness to avoid attending his farewell banquet, only to appear later.
Had she delivered Hwangjeomsa’s poison to Noh-nam?
Had she refrained from attending because she feared she would ingest the poison herself?
Regardless, it was true that she had ultimately appeared and saved everyone’s lives.

“I hope my brother won’t question her too harshly over this.”

He had now reached the point of worrying about her.

“So you’re sure Lord Kang knew Ha Jo-young was poisoned?”
Jang-yoo, the sixth son of the King of Noh-nam, teased.

“I wouldn’t be asking you if I were certain.”

Yeon-ho and Jang-yoo met secretly near the border because Yeon-ho had asked him to investigate something.

“You handed her over to Ha Jin-san without being sure?”
“The princess had already been revealed as fake. We had to handle it before it escalated.”
“That’s an excuse. I would have locked up Ha Jin-san first. Didn’t we tell you? Ha Gajang handed over poison to us and plotted the princess’s assassination.”
“There’s no proof. Should I imprison the head of Noh-nam’s largest trading company based on hearsay? With the Empress backing them?”
“You people from Yeongseong are overthinking. If you were simple, things would be easier. You try to find proof, only to get blindsided. The simplest solution is to kill before being killed. Interrogate Ha Jin-san, get a confession, and then kill the Empress—it’s simple.”
“That’s why you’re barbarians. Don’t just rely on brute force; think. Can’t you figure out that Ha Gajang ordered the princess’s assassination and Ha Jo-young is one of his people?”

Even Jang-yoo, considered the most intelligent and rational among Noh-nam, thought this way, so Yeon-ho could understand why Noh-nam was so chaotic and divided.
Though he argued, Yeon-ho felt inwardly that Jang-yoo’s reasoning had merit.

“What does it matter? She’s married to me now—she’s my woman, not Ha Gajang’s person.”

Why hadn’t he thought of that before?

“Enough. Why am I explaining this to you? You won’t understand anyway. Just tell me the conclusion.”
“According to Jang-ho, the poison from Hwangjeomsa was given long before the assassination attempt. I didn’t know either. The poison was intended for wartime use, to harm your side. It wasn’t meant for the banquet. Ha Jo-young didn’t give it. She didn’t know it would be used at the banquet.”
“So she broke the bottle just in case?”
“That’s a bit strange, but yes. She’s careful with poison. She probably knew her brother delivered Hwangjeomsa’s poison to Noh-nam.”

At the very least, Ha Jo-young did not know Ha Gajang intended to kill the princess and Lord Kang with the poison.

“Ha!”
Yeon-ho exhaled a heavy, frustrated sigh.
Knowing her innocence belatedly made him feel the karmic return of the cruel words he had spoken to her.

“Lord Kang, I am a prince of Noh-nam. From now on, don’t address me personally like this. Handle Yeongseong’s matters yourselves. I am neither your subordinate nor your friend—remember, I am your enemy.”
“That’s what you say when refusing a request.”
“I mean don’t mistake it as me helping you. I owe Ha Jo-young. She suffered because of helping me. Now, she might be suffering at your house for helping you.”
“My brother brought her. She’s the one suffering? I only asked him to save my sister.”
“Lord Kang, do you have no half-siblings?”
“No, I don’t even have full siblings.”
“I did not collude with Ha Gajang. Those who did were my foolish half-brothers. They didn’t want to share power and tried to kill me. Ha Jin-san is a shrewd merchant—would he willingly share wealth with his half-sister?”
“…Don’t assume everyone is like your brothers.”
“Then that’s fortunate. I heard a story from her.”

Yeon-ho pricked up his ears, realizing the two were discussing something he did not know.

“What story?”
“That she’s in a similar situation as me. Anyway, you won’t see her like this again.”

Jang-yoo left without even a farewell.
Yeon-ho returned to Bisan Fortress, but his mind lingered on Jang-yoo’s words.
He recalled her face, startled as if seeing a ghost when she saw her brother.