“Your Majesty, shall I present the tablets?”
While waiting without even touching his evening meal, Eunuch Lee, who oversaw Hondangsa and Gyeongsabang, spoke up. The Emperor, who had been eating his evening meal with Sansan and retiring to bed for months now, was unusually lingering in Hongdeokjeon today, so he had come.
Thinking that three months should be about time for it to end, he asked as if unaware whether to prepare the tablets inscribed with the concubines’ names, but in truth he had already brought them. With just a glance, his subordinates would bring them forth. The prepared tablets consisted only of concubines who had bribed Eunuch Lee.
The Emperor gave no response. He silently drank the cold tea sent up from the tea preparation room, letting time slip by.
“I speak with utmost trepidation, Your Majesty. The time for your evening meal has already long passed. I fear your august body may suffer from this. Please have mercy and reconsider.”
A head eunuch stepped forward to urge the Emperor. The Emperor, who had been meaninglessly rolling the small teacup in his large hands while gazing down at the tea inside, finally opened his mouth after quite some time.
“Is there no other word from Yeongnyeong Palace?”
“…I speak with deepest regret, but that is so, Your Majesty.”
The head eunuch squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating a thunderbolt. The Emperor hurled the teacup he was holding. It flew through the air and struck the floor, immediately making a dull crack as it split into two pieces.
“Prepare my things.”
“Which hall shall we escort you to?”
“…I’m going to Noble Concubine Shin.”
The Emperor, who spoke in a cool voice, moved forward with deliberate steps without even waiting for preparations. The head eunuch and others in charge of escorting the Emperor tactfully and quickly followed behind him.
***
“Long live, long live, ten thousand times long live. That you grace me with your jade steps fills this humble concubine with joy beyond measure.”
As the Emperor entered Suchanggung Palace, Noble Concubine Shin and Wanui Han, who had come out to greet him wearing sleeping robes, knelt in turn. Though it was still early to retire for the night, since no one had visited for months, going to bed early had become a habit. Except for Yeongnyeong Palace, the situation was similar in all the other palaces.
The Emperor told them to rise with an indifferent glance at the two, then headed first to the rear hall of Suchanggung Palace. Noble Concubine Shin immediately stood and followed behind the Emperor. Wanui Han only rose after the Emperor and Noble Concubine Shin had completely entered the interior of the rear hall, then returned to her quarters in Dongbaejeon.
The head eunuch separately instructed Eunuch Yoon to prepare the evening meal. The Emperor, who had entered the western tea room, looked at the liquor bottle and half-finished drink placed on the Arhat Bed, then turned to Noble Concubine Shin.
“Were you drinking?”
“…Yes, Your Majesty. Sanghyeon, quickly take this—”
“Never mind. I’ll have a drink as well.”
As the Emperor sat on the Arhat Bed, Noble Concubine Shin naturally approached and knelt at his feet, removing the Emperor’s black leather shoes. A quick-witted court lady who brought a golden basin filled with water placed it on top of the footstool of the Arhat Bed. Soon Noble Concubine Shin began to wash the Emperor’s feet with meticulous care.
Sanghyeon placed a fresh cup before the Emperor and poured liquor. The Emperor lifted it and drank it down in one gulp, then looked down at Noble Concubine Shin washing his feet. Seeing her wash his feet with careful hand movements and utmost devotion made his resentment toward someone grow even thicker. That one had never even wanted something like this.
Feeling as though his insides were burning, he downed another cup of liquor. Then he looked down at Noble Concubine Shin again. Though not transparent, the thin, fluttering sleeping robe was loosely fastened, revealing more than half her chest. Her reddened nipples showed and then didn’t. It wasn’t that sexual desire was particularly stirring—he suddenly remembered the one who used to suck and lick them long ago.
“Was it today?”
“…That is so.”
Noble Concubine Shin, who had paused briefly, soon continued washing his feet as if nothing was wrong. After thoroughly washing them and even giving a pressure massage, she received a cloth from a court lady, gently patted them dry, then put new shoes on him.
Neither the Emperor nor Noble Concubine Shin spoke for a while. Noble Concubine Shin had given birth to a princess long ago. The Emperor’s third princess, Hyohyeon, had accompanied the Emperor on an inspection tour when she turned ten and contracted an infectious disease while touring the southern regions.
Because of this, instead of returning to the imperial palace, she was sent to take refuge at Yonghwasa Temple, where she died. It had already been more than four years.
“Though I send offerings to Yonghwasa Temple every year, I should have paid more attention but was negligent. If you wish, I will permit you to visit Yonghwasa Temple. Will you do so?”
Princess Hyohyeon’s grave was at Yonghwasa Temple. At the Emperor’s question, Noble Concubine Shin, while kneeling, bowed her upper body so that her forehead and palms touched the floor.
“Your grace is boundless, Your Majesty. However, Yonghwasa Temple is in a place that takes a full hundred days even riding on horseback, so how could this humble concubine leave Your Majesty’s side for so long? Please withdraw your words.”
“I said if you wished it. Now rise.”
The Emperor replied without much emotion and downed another cup of liquor. To the Emperor, Hyohyeon was one among many children. He had never been interested in his own children. Not only Hyohyeon, but also in the case of his other children who died young—it was no different, and he could never remember their death anniversaries at all.
The reason he remembered this time was because he had happened to encounter Noble Concubine Shin in the imperial garden two days ago. Noble Concubine Shin, who had been flying a kite at Bubyeokjeong Pavilion, saw the Emperor and immediately cut the kite string. Only upon seeing the kite rising high into the sky did his memory vaguely return—how Hyohyeon had often played flying hawk-shaped kites.
That was why, among numerous concubines, he had chosen Noble Concubine Shin’s quarters. The Emperor briefly brought Hyohyeon to mind while watching Noble Concubine Shin sit beside him and pour liquor, then scattered her away with one cup. That was all.
Shortly after, the evening meal for the Emperor was laid out in the tea room of Suchanggung Palace. A jade table was set, and an armchair was brought forth. As the Emperor approached and sat in the armchair, food was immediately presented. Noble Concubine Shin stood beside him according to protocol and assisted the Emperor with his meal.
She would portion out one side dish and place it before the Emperor, waiting until the Emperor ate it. When the Emperor picked it up and brought it to his mouth, she would portion out the next dish into an easy-to-eat amount and place it before him again. This was repeated several times.
“What is that one doing?”
When about half the evening meal had been consumed, the Emperor swallowed all the food in his mouth and spoke. Though the Emperor had given no specific order, the head eunuch, who always discerned the imperial heart and responded tactfully, immediately answered.
“I speak with utmost humility, but all the lights in Yeongnyeong Palace have been extinguished. It is believed he has retired for the night.”
At the head eunuch’s answer, the Emperor clicked his tongue with a “hah,” then threw down the chopsticks he was holding onto the table.
“Does that deficient thing not even know how to be jealous?”
Since that one entered the palace, he had never received the Emperor’s favor in bed alongside another. Not only that—they fell asleep in the same bed every single day. And yet when such a person was angry and not coming, he just went to sleep? The Emperor was flabbergasted and dumbfounded.
“You go to Hongdeokjeon and retrieve the letter and self-reflection that one wrote.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. This slave will go and return quickly.”
Concerned that sparks might fly his way, the head eunuch left without delay. At the atmosphere that had sunk in an instant, the court ladies of Suchanggung Palace who were serving the Emperor after a long time tensed up and could only swallow their saliva.
“Does this concern Young Master Yoon, Your Majesty?”
According to protocol, a concubine could not speak first to the Emperor. However, Noble Concubine Shin, who had served the Emperor for nearly twenty years, was rather skilled.
Above protocol was the imperial heart—if the Emperor didn’t take issue with it, what could be the problem? She carefully asked about a topic the Emperor would want to discuss while gauging his mood.
The Emperor glared resentfully at the chicken dish that Sansan liked, then opened his mouth as if reluctantly.
“For a male favorite, he’s exceedingly lacking in tact.”
“This humble concubine has never before seen someone Your Majesty has favored for so long. According to rumors, not only do you share a bed every night and eat breakfast and evening meals together, but Your Majesty even places side dishes on Young Master Yoon’s rice. Young Master Yoon surely knows this is the glory of a lifetime. But how have you become so displeased? This humble concubine worries this may harm your august body.”
Noble Concubine Shin subtly massaged the Emperor’s shoulders while whispering in his ear. Her full breasts pressed against the Emperor’s nape from time to time. The Emperor immediately swatted away her hand.
“His disposition is dull and his mind is deficient, so even when the Son of Heaven bestows favor, he doesn’t know to be grateful. He constantly looks off into the distance with tear-filled eyes—perhaps he truly needs to go to the cold palace and come back before he’ll come to his senses.”
The Emperor clicked his tongue bitterly and pushed away the evening meal. Noble Concubine Shin closely followed him as he headed back to the Arhat Bed.
Talk of the cold palace was complete nonsense. He might say such things, but even now wasn’t he glancing toward the door every so often? Either waiting for word from Yeongnyeong Palace, or waiting for traces of that one that the head eunuch would bring.
It seemed to be his first love, but apparently only he himself didn’t know it. Noble Concubine Shin smiled inwardly. Would she just sit by and let things go well? After turning everyone’s insides upside down and making all the youth wither and die, there was absolutely no way she could stand watching him go off to a flower garden all by himself.
“I speak with utmost humility, Your Majesty. The rumors say he’s a eunuch, so why do you not bestow a title certificate upon him?”
