An emperor’s concubine can never leave the inner palace until the day they die.
That meant Song Wongyeong also had to spend his entire life in this small pavilion tucked away in a corner of the inner palace. In a tiny pavilion where three rooms were all it had, even including the palace maids’ quarters.
Song Wongyeong pouted his lips and glared at the fabric draped over him.
To think I have to wear this kind of clothing for the rest of my life.
Still… living as a concubine had its own advantages.
As long as I don’t have to share a bed with him, this life isn’t half bad.
Meals served right on time, no worries about a place to sleep, and a life where a decent monthly stipend came in regularly!
It was no different from securing a lifelong job without the fear of getting fired!
Of course, this was purely Song Wongyeong’s personal thought, and the ministers held a very different opinion.
— Considering the ministers who sent their children into the palace, shouldn’t you visit the inner palace at least once?
That ‘children’ naturally included Song Wongyeong as well.
Whenever that happened, Song Wongyeong would step out dressed in this ridiculous attire and make absurd courting gestures. All to drift further away from the emperor’s interest so he could live quietly.
“Am I crazy? To throw away such a sweet, easy life.”
He had no ambitions in life anyway.
He wasn’t clever enough to enter government service, nor was his skill exceptional enough to become a general commanding the world.
From the start, his plan was simply to inherit a modest business and live off that. Considering his temperament, being a street hoodlum or an idle playboy was just the right fit for him, so that would have been more than enough.
Besides, his family members had one less mouth to feed now, so they must be worrying less about money too.
Looking up at the dizzying patterns on the ceiling, Song Wongyeong muttered as if talking to himself:
“This is fine as it is.”
Although being a male concubine was truly something… and although there were many things he had to give up…
Living like this isn’t so bad either.
Song Wongyeong, the man who once had many dreams and things he wanted to do, died the moment he entered the inner palace.
All that remained was an utterly useless man who had settled into a stifling reality, living in complacent ease.
“Bah, now my mouth just tastes bitter.”
Song Wongyeong grumbled, resting his chin on his hand. Rather than dwelling on past events from over three years ago, it was better to think about something else.
Something more enjoyable, something fun… Wait a second.
“Hold on. Is today the day the night market opens?”
Even though Song Wongyeong had given up on everything to become a man’s concubine, there was one thing he could not quit even after entering the inner palace.
“I can’t give up my night outings.”
Before becoming the emperor’s concubine, Song Wongyeong used to go out to sightsee every time the night market opened. That fun was not something he could cut cold turkey just because he had entered the inner palace.
Song Wongyeong immediately dashed to his bed and pulled out a box from underneath it. Inside the shabby bamboo box, various items of men’s clothing were tangled together.
Selecting a eunuch’s uniform from among them to change into, Song Wongyeong laughed as he neatly tied up his disheveled hair.
“Hehe, shall we head out today as well, then?”
Looking out the window, it was already sunset, perhaps because it was the tail end of the hour of the Rooster (5 PM – 7 PM). Leaving now would be perfect timing for the start of the night market.
No need to inform the maids, I suppose.
Even if they found out, they would only pour out nag after nag.
Song Wongyeong moved quietly, stepping on the shadows cast by the setting sun.
Well, since even the emperor didn’t seek out Song Wongyeong anyway, there would be no one looking for him.
At the same time.
An event was unfolding in Jeongyang Hall, the emperor’s quarters.
“Chief Eunuch. Are the preparations to go out ready?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Please change into this.”
Seomun Cheon took off his dragon robe and changed into the clothes given by the Chief Eunuch. Before he knew it, the man in the mirror was no longer the emperor, but a nobleman as handsome as if carved from jade.
“Not bad. With this, I would pass for a young master from some prestigious house.”
“Since it is an incognito outing after a long time, I have made thorough preparations. Here, take this as well.”
The Chief Eunuch handed a hat resembling a wide-brimmed bamboo hat to the excited Seomun Cheon. Beneath its round border, semi-transparent cloth hung down like a veil.
“A myeongni? Why this annoying thing?”
“It is to conceal Your Majesty’s jade-like countenance. We cannot recklessly display such a precious face.”
“Hmph.”
Though reluctant, Seomun Cheon meekly accepted the veiled hat. The Chief Eunuch, observing the emperor’s expression, deftly changed the subject.
“Do you still have no intention of setting foot in the inner palace today? Considering the faces of the ministers, if you were to go at least once…”
“What am I supposed to do facing those who are lesser than me?”
Seomun Cheon grumbled as he put on the veiled hat. As his face became obscured by the canopy of cloth, only the faint outline of his long eyelashes, neat lips, and high nose bridge could be dimly seen.
Beneath the fluttering fabric lay broad shoulders and a firm chest, but hiding his face deepened the atmosphere significantly, evoking a strange sense of curiosity.
When attention unexpectedly gravitated entirely toward Seomun Cheon’s face, the Chief Eunuch realized his oversight and read the room carefully.
Seomun Cheon himself, however, seemed satisfied.
“Not bad.”
Once the ruler’s approval was given, the Chief Eunuch heaved a sigh of relief. Soon, as if he had never been nervous, he cracked a playful joke.
“So when do you plan to produce an heir… The late emperor was barely twenty when he fathered Your Majesty…”
“Chief Eunuch. Do you know the last words handed down in the imperial family?”
“Are you referring to the story of that ‘Lady Mi’?”
For children born into the imperial family, the last words of the grand-former emperor were a story they had heard until their ears bled. Seomun Cheon was no exception.
However, contrary to the grand-former emperor’s intentions, the tale of ‘Lady Mi’ had planted a sweet fantasy inside Seomun Cheon.
“Grandfather ultimately contracted an unwanted marriage. But I am different. Unless it is a woman I have set my heart upon, I will never have a child.”
“Are you speaking of a woman with a cold gaze, pitiful demeanor, slender like a deer, and bearing a tragic backstory?”
“You know me well.”
The grand-former emperor remained a loser who failed in his first love, but Seomun Cheon had absolutely no intention of following that path. Reading that stubborn resolve, the Chief Eunuch shook his head.
It seems I won’t get to see Her Imperial Majesty the Empress in this lifetime.
As the Chief Eunuch thought that, a certain person came to mind, and he made a joke.
“Then how about Song Jae-in, who carries the blood of Lady Mi?”
Recalling who Song Jae-in was, Seomun Cheon instantly scowled deeply and raised his hand as if telling him to stop.
“Do not speak of it. Just hearing that name makes my stomach churn.”
How could a man blatantly walk around in such a state, wearing that kind of makeup?
“Stop this talk. …At this rate, the day will break. Let us get going.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. …Ah, no. Young Master.”
The Chief Eunuch hastily covered his mouth and corrected the form of address.
Seomun Cheon gave the eunuch an affectionate glare before slipping out of the palace.
It was a simple outing accompanied only by a few guards who had melted into the shadows.
Beneath the city that never slept, illuminated on all sides.
Gyeong’an, the capital of the Gyeong Empire, was overflowing with crowds today as well.
The alleys were full of vitality, and the markets were packed with goods. There were no shadows of worry on the people’s faces, and the laughter of children could be heard here and there.
Seomun Cheon looked around the capital with satisfaction. Pride was distinct in his eyes, visible through the veil of his hat.
“It is far more prosperous than last year.”
“It is thanks to last year’s harvest being bountiful. It is all owing to Your Majesty’s grace.”
As the Chief Eunuch, dressed up as a servant, bantered playfully, Seomun Cheon’s head naturally tilted upward in pride. However, the Chief Eunuch’s next words instantly ruined Seomun Cheon’s mood.
“Since you govern the country so well, that is precisely why the ministers are making a fuss for you to take an empress and produce an heir.”
“Chief… ahem!”
Seomun Cheon voiced his discomfort, but they were outside the palace.
Though there were many eyes watching, the gaze of surveillance was loose, so the Chief Eunuch spoke openly.
“If it is the lineage of Your Majesty, who opened such a peaceful era, wouldn’t they naturally become a wise ruler?”
“Even if they aren’t, one must make them so. Is that not what the position of Emperor… ahem, is for?”
“Even while you do not seek out a single one of your concubines?”
“What am I to do when there is no one who catches my eye?”
To Seomun Cheon, who was born naturally beautiful, the women of the inner palace were all much of a muchness.
“And it’s not as if any of them are virtuous either.”
Even though Seomun Cheon paid them no attention, jealousy and envy never ceased among the concubines.
A few ill-natured concubines had even flogged their maids to the point of crippling them.
“Nothing but trouble would grow from producing an heir through such individuals.”
Seomun Cheon browsed a nearby street stall. He casually replied while thoroughly inspecting the trinkets lined up on the display table.
“Holding a woman to whom I feel no attraction will only make things troublesome.”
From the perspective of the Chief Eunuch, who had served the late emperor, these words were enough to make his blood boil.
“That is only because you haven’t met your match yet, Young Master. Who knows? You might meet the one, fall head over heels, and turn into a tyrant.”
The Chief Eunuch offered Seomun Cheon a pointed remark disguised as a joke.
However, the one who flew into a rage first was not Seomun Cheon, but the street vendor.
“A tyrant?! How dare you say such a thing about our benevolent Emperor?! I won’t sell to you, so beat it right now!”
Due to the Chief Eunuch failing to guard his tongue, Seomun Cheon had to be kicked out of the shop along with him.
Oh dear, my big mouth!
Slapping his own lips repeatedly, the Chief Eunuch followed behind Seomun Cheon.
Just how foul has His Majesty’s mood become?
To experience such a thing during an excursion after so long, he certainly wouldn’t let it slide easily.
Yet just as he was filled with anxiety, Seomun Cheon’s cheerful voice drifted from behind the veil.
“That actually sounds like a good idea.”
“Pardon?”
“A tyrant crazy in love, I mean. Then the concubines wouldn’t dare carelessly try to catch my eye either. It would be quite troublesome to become the object of interest for a ‘tyrant’, wouldn’t it?”
“Young Master, that’s…”
Isn’t that just being insane?
It seemed Seomun Cheon, who had never even experienced romance, did not quite understand the definition of a ‘tyrant crazy in love’.
Be that as it may, Seomun Cheon walked briskly, striding through the night market. Pulling himself together quickly from his daze, the Chief Eunuch scurried after Seomun Cheon.
“No, I mean, whose life are you planning to ruin?!”
“Hahaha! Who knows? Ah, over there, let us go down that alleyway.”
“Emperor… Young Master!”
Even at this moment, Seomun Cheon had no idea whatsoever.
Whom he was about to run into, and what kind of relationship he would form with him.
