Sansan, who had answered without thinking, tilted his head. Why would someone refer to themselves as ‘Zhen’? The other party seemed suspicious no matter what.
The Emperor thought Sansan’s attitude was blockheaded and flicked that delicately formed nose tip once with his finger.
“Don’t forget this time.”
Sansan only tilted his head again. He’d momentarily forgotten the situation because of this person who only spoke incomprehensible words. It was the moment he was about to open his mouth to ask something.
The strength drained from Sansan’s entire body all at once and his eyes closed as he fainted. After that was pitch-black darkness. A golden guard who had received the Emperor’s signal had secretly approached and pressed Sansan’s pressure point.
“Where will you go?”
One of the golden guards prostrated himself and asked. The Emperor hesitated for a moment as he gathered up the limp Sansan and held him. The preparations to bring Sansan into the palace as a Eum-in weren’t finished yet. However, letting go of Sansan now that he’d held him in his arms again like this wasn’t something possible through willpower alone.
“We’re going to the palace.”
In the end, the Emperor forgot his original plan and simply decided to take Sansan with him.
***
A musty, fetid stench pierced his nose. Sansan struggled, his head turned sharply to the side. However, no matter what he did, he couldn’t escape. A mouth reeking of terrible bad breath touched here and there all over his body. Wrinkled, shriveled lips sucked his nipples like a baby and thrust a tongue in as if to pierce through his navel.
What was this? Why was this happening? Why?
No, no, no.
Sansan kept stamping his feet and wailing. Then at some point, the old man’s smell that had made him want to cut off his own nose changed to a thick stench of blood.
Hot, sticky blood was poured over his face by the bucketful. Even the blood was black and murky. He sat there covered in it, and in the distance the old man with only his head remaining licked his lips while looking at him.
Ahhhhhh!
Sansan screamed and fainted again.
“Haah, haah.”
Though he’d clearly fainted, his eyes opened instead. Bright light penetrated the window paper and brightly illuminated the interior. At the suddenly striking sunlight, Sansan squinted his eyes tightly.
“Young master, are you awake?”
A woman he’d never seen before showed Sansan a kind smile. Sansan blinked his eyes, then finally looked around. It was an unfamiliar place. Moreover, it was a place more splendid than any he’d seen in his life. Sansan was so surprised that he knelt on the bed.
“Ch-Chang’e?”
Though he didn’t know where this was, it seemed exactly like the palace above the heavens where celestial maidens were said to live. The woman before his eyes happened to be as beautiful as a celestial maiden. It was understandable that Sansan would mistake her for the Moon Goddess Chang’e.
“This slave is the head court lady who will attend you closely from now on, and my name is Gwak Myeong-ok. Please feel free to call me Head Court Lady Gwak or Myeong-ok.”
Gwak Myeong-ok, who had turned fifty this year, was a woman who had been the Emperor’s nanny court lady and maintained a beauty unbelievable for her age.
Her white, jade-like skin still had elasticity, and her breasts and waist were all as shapely as maidens in their prime. As such, there were still officials who wished to marry her.
Generally, when palace maids reached a certain age, they would marry a match arranged by their mistress and leave the palace. The higher the prestige of the mistress they served, the better the family they would marry into, so there were many palace maids who gave up on receiving the Emperor’s favor early on and just waited for the day they could leave the palace and marry.
Meanwhile, Myeong-ok was a case of not leaving the palace by her own choice, and such cases could be condensed into three or four reasons.
First, those who had received the Emperor’s favor but did not receive a concubine’s appointment. Second, those who were the mistress’s closest confidants and decided to share life and death with their mistress. Third, those whose mistress was unable to arrange their marriage. Myeong-ok fell under both the first and second cases.
At seventeen, Myeong-ok had become one of the current Emperor Yeonghwi’s nanny court ladies and had attended him since he was an infant. Then, receiving the late Emperor’s command, she became Emperor Yeonghwi’s training courtesan in her early to mid-thirties and became his first woman.
Of course, the Emperor didn’t remember this at all. It was partly because too much time had passed, and partly because he thought of it not as a first experience but as education he naturally had to receive. This was the same for Myeong-ok as well, since she had also served as a training courtesan for other princes afterward.
Having had affairs with several of the Emperor’s brothers, she ultimately chose to remain in the palace without becoming anyone’s concubine. Time passed that way until now.
Going from being the head court lady of Geoncheonggung Palace to becoming the head court lady of Mianggung Palace—there were more than a few people in the palace whispering that it was a demotion or whatnot. But Myeong-ok didn’t care. It was something the Emperor had personally asked of her.
“Teach him well. At the appropriate time, he will become the Empress.”
Moreover, the hint she’d received was also something worth taking the risk for.
“Head court lady…? Wh-where is this place?”
Myeong-ok looked at the young lord asking in an unstable voice and smiled kindly again.
“It is the imperial palace, the center of Great Ha. This palace where you are staying, young master, is Mianggung Palace, which was originally where the late Empress resided, but it has been empty for a long time and has only now finally welcomed a new master. This slave will do her utmost so that you will have no discomfort in your stay here.”
You are now the master of Mianggung Palace—for Myeong-ok, this was expressed as indirectly as possible in a way that would be easy to understand, but Sansan didn’t understand. He was just dazed and bewildered by the single fact that he had entered the imperial palace.
‘The i-imperial palace!’
Since it was a place he’d never even imagined, Sansan unconsciously touched the smooth gold-embroidered bedding he was sitting on with his hands and looked around here and there, unable to keep his gaze in one place.
“Zhen is the tenth son of Great Emperor Seonjo, and my name is Lee Heonjo. What is your name?”
He really had been the Emperor.
The very Emperor who had rejected Wol-i not long ago.
***
“Um, Head Court Lady Gwak Mama. I-I know it’s shameless, but could I perhaps take the leftovers with me?”
“You must not call me Mama. Please speak down to me, young master. And whenever you want to eat something, please just say so at any time. This slave will order new dishes to be prepared.”
“Ah, that’s not what I mean… Th-these leftovers would be enough. If you could just give me a cloth bundle, I could wrap them myself…”
“Where are you planning to take these things?”
“…I want to take them home. Would that be difficult?”
Sansan, who had been sitting alone on the bed hugging his knees, rested his chin on his knees and recalled the earlier conversation.
They had prepared a feast so abundant the table legs bent, so he’d eaten mindlessly, then suddenly thought of Wol-i who would be at home. Guilt washed over him that he’d eaten such delicious things all by himself. So belatedly, he’d asked if he could at least take the leftovers.
Myeong-ok, who had made a troubled expression at his question for a moment, suddenly knelt before him with grand movements and bowed her head. Then she said,
“Young master. You must never say such things again. This slave will die. Please take pity on this slave and show mercy.”
“Wh-what?”
“Young master can no longer go to a private residence. From now on, you must think of this place, Mianggung Palace, as your home.”
“Why? Why can’t I go home? I, I have to go… Wol-i will be waiting. I came out without being able to say anything… A-and Father will be worried too…”
Sansan explained his situation through tears. Yet the only response that came back was that he couldn’t leave. Sansan shed tears profusely, feeling frustrated and afraid because he couldn’t understand. No matter how nice a place it was, no matter how much delicious food came out in mountains, if he could never see Wol-i again, he didn’t want it.
Sansan couldn’t stop crying. Then Myeong-ok suddenly grabbed his pant leg and began begging.
“Why are you doing this? If this slave has done something wrong, please punish me instead. If you keep saying you want to go home, young master, this slave will die. Young master, please take pity on this slave and spare me.”
Myeong-ok, who had spread countless scandals taking turns with the Emperor’s brothers, was in truth a nine-tailed fox who had already devoured about a thousand men. Manipulating one innocent-looking young master to suit the Emperor’s wishes was nothing to her.
When Myeong-ok instead grabbed his feet and showed tears, Sansan couldn’t cry anymore. For now, he had no choice but to take a step back.
Sansan curled up and lay on the bed. He traced through the long, long day, blankly fumbling through the air. Tears naturally welled up and kept spilling, and Wol-i’s name kept bursting from his lips.
During that time, the night slowly deepened. He must have dozed off without knowing it.
Sensing a faint presence, Sansan jolted awake from his hazy sleep.
“Have you been enjoying yourself?”
A low, heavy voice came from the darkness.
Footnotes:
1) Chang’e: A legendary celestial maiden who lives in the moon.
