There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 183

< Royal Marriage (3) >

Sensing a strange presence, I opened the door to check outside, but no one was there.

“What is it?”

I was sure I felt someone.

As I tilted my head, Juso-hwa, who had been sleeping, rubbed her eyes and woke up.

“What are you doing…?”

“Nothing.”

There’s no need to tell someone who was just in dreamland.

Oh well, whatever.

I should just take a long nap too.

It was such a tiring day.

===

Even during the honeymoon period, I couldn’t neglect my duties as the Crown Prince.

“I think I should go to Byeokrando soon.”

With everything that’s been happening, it’s already been over a year since I’ve been to Gaeseong.

Now that the royal wedding is over, shouldn’t I take this opportunity?

I’ve started so many things, but I haven’t shown my face. It wouldn’t be strange if the people involved in the project were resenting me out at sea right now.

‘If it weren’t for that, I could have remained a model of a wonderful and excellent boss. What a shame.’

I smacked my lips in regret and told Yi Bang-won that I would go to Byeokrando.

Then Yi Bang-won’s answer.

“Are you out of your mind?”

I meekly shrunk back at that strong statement, filled with many implications.

So all I’ve been doing is taking walks in the palace to clear my head.

Juso-hwa followed me around.

“Hum hum.”

Even humming.

“Why are you following me everywhere I go?”

When I asked, Juso-hwa replied.

“I don’t know the palace geography very well. Isn’t it natural for you to guide me?”

The girl continued, sulking.

“I guided you too.”

“Ah, that time.”

She must be talking about when we went to Nanjing and she almost got in trouble for entering the inner palace without permission.

‘I was grateful then.’

Even though there was an unpleasant argument right after that.

Anyway, I had nothing to say when she brought that up.

“Do as you please.”

I declared surrender.

Of course, when a member of the royal family moves, many people follow.

I only take Nobun with me because it’s annoying, but Juso-hwa had several maids who came from Ming [the Ming Dynasty, China] to attend to her.

Nobun, who was sticking next to me, glared at them with a piercing look.

Nobun opened his mouth with an expression like a wild animal whose territory had been invaded.

“I am Nobun, the Crown Prince’s close attendant. In other words, in the Joseon Dynasty’s eunuch department, I can be said to be competing for the top spot.”

He’s lying, and they don’t know anything.

“So from now on, you must follow my words thoroughly. The laws of Joseon are strict, and those who do not follow them will be severely punished!”

Nobun said triumphantly, but the eunuchs and maids seemed completely indifferent.

One of them waved his hand and said.

It was someone who came as Juso-hwa’s close attendant.

“We, not good at Joseon language. If have something to say, easy.”

‘Wisely pulling out the all-purpose key for foreign workers.’

The advantage of foreigners is that they can pretend not to understand whatever the other person says.

I used that tactic a lot when I was in the modern era.

Nobun looked at me with a flushed face at their reaction.

“Your Highness…”

I ignored his tearful gaze.

‘Fighting.’

If you get eaten up by a stone rolled in from Ming, you should just quit being a eunuch.

Juso-hwa, who followed me around all day like a duckling chasing its mother, finally became quiet after falling asleep from exhaustion.

It was then that I, who was alone, leaned against the wall of the East Palace.

“Your Highness.”

“Shit, what!”

I was horrified when Min In-saeng’s face suddenly popped out from behind.

“Weren’t you supposed to be on Saga Dokseo [a form of punishment or reflection for officials]?”

Min In-saeng was supposed to receive ‘Saga Dokseo’ as punishment for spreading malicious stalking and rumors.

Not Saga Dokseo, which is a paid vacation disguised as telecommuting, but the one they used to put the censors in a room and make them do back in the old days.

Because the royal wedding was successful, it was ambiguous to punish him in many ways.

“I was released a while ago.”

He must have been locked up for at least half a year, but Min In-saeng’s face looked fine.

“My heart is as strong as steel, so how could mere reading dull it? I only regret not fulfilling my duty as a historian during that time.”

He endured Saga Dokseo, which even the censors gave up on.

‘As expected, a professional psycho is different.’

I even momentarily forgot that he had secretly sneaked into the East Palace and stood before me because of his confident attitude.

It was Min In-saeng himself who reminded me of that.

“Your Highness, the reason I have come to see you despite being so rude is because of the maids and eunuchs who came with the Crown Princess.”

‘He knows he’s being rude.’

Saga Dokseo wasn’t completely useless.

It led him in a somewhat progressive direction by training his mind and body.

“In particular, the actions of some eunuchs are suspicious. It seems that these people are secretly contacting each other.”

“……”

I hardened my face.

Queen Wongyeong allowed Juso-hwa to keep some of the maids who attended to her.

However, everyone else was scattered and assigned to their respective tasks.

“But how do you know this?”

“Well, after feeling something strange, I paid close attention and observed them.”

“……Inside the palace?”

“Please refrain from praising me, haha!”

I engraved forbearance as I watched Min In-saeng laugh shamelessly.

A merit is a merit, so let’s overlook it this once.

“Is the information reliable?”

“I have already confirmed that the eunuchs in Changdeok Palace gather after work. After these meetings, a specific person always looked for Yoo-jeong, the chief eunuch.”

Min In-saeng said so.

It’s not strange for maids and eunuchs who came to a foreign country to stick together.

If there is a spy, they will definitely preside over these meetings and try to collect the intelligence that happened that day.

“Who am I? I already know his personal details. He is a eunuch named Wang-ho who attends to the Crown Princess from close range.”

Min In-saeng boasted proudly.

You know the name of a eunuch that I don’t even know.

“Okay. Don’t go around spreading this carelessly.”

Min In-saeng was greatly surprised by my words and replied.

“Shouldn’t you take some action?”

“Either way, these guys are bound to get caught if we leave them alone.”

I said calmly.

Whether I knew it or not, crushing the conspiracy is a piece of cake now that I’ve noticed it.

I smiled coldly.

I should tell Nobun to prepare some cement.

===

In the Ming Dynasty, special agencies such as the Jinyiwei (embroidered clothes guard) existed since the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Then, when Emperor Yongle, who valued eunuchs, ascended the throne, eunuchs took charge of some of the tasks, and this was the beginning of the Eastern Depot [a Ming Dynasty secret agency controlled by eunuchs].

Yoo-jeong was the person who was selected and sent from that Eastern Depot.

His subordinate, Wang-ho, was the same.

“Make sure to report even the smallest piece of intelligence that our people hear in the palace.”

Yoo-jeong said, busily moving his brush.

Since he had only been in Joseon for a short time, the intelligence he had collected was very small and insignificant, but he had to record everything without missing anything.

That was why he had Wang-ho preside over the eunuchs’ meetings.

“Yes, sir. But how do you plan to convey this to the home country? If we contact each other carelessly, Joseon will notice.”

In reality, it was difficult for those tied to the palace to even find a way to connect with Nanjing, which was far away.

However, Yoo-jeong said calmly.

“What nonsense. Isn’t there Princess Bokyeong? Who would find it strange for the princess to exchange letters with her family?”

He meant to connect with Ming without being noticed through Juso-hwa.

However, Wang-ho questioned his superior’s scenario.

“Then we’ll have to get the Princess’s cooperation… Will she really comply willingly?”

“Of course. Why would the Princess refuse?”

Yoo-jeong said firmly.

This is not only for them.

If Princess Bokyeong wants to wield power in this country, she needs the help of these Ming-born eunuchs.

The picture they drew was similar to how the Yuan Dynasty had princesses marry into Goryeo to take charge of one axis of the power structure.

However, unless Joseon was crazy, it would not allow the princesses to bring officials from Yuan to wage political battles like in the Goryeo Dynasty, so they compromised on a more moderate level.

That is, to take control of Joseon’s inner court using eunuchs, transmit intelligence through the princess’s contacts, and exert diplomatic pressure from Ming whenever necessary.

Yoo-jeong rubbed his palms together.

If that happens, he will also enjoy great power in Joseon as the princess’s close aide.

…That’s what he thought back then.

“Wait, wait! Let’s talk it out, let’s talk it out! I think we have some misunderstandings!”

Yoo-jeong desperately wiggled his toes and shouted, but the strange gray Joseon soil he had forcibly stepped into was firmly hardened and did not move at all.

It wasn’t just the Joseon soil that didn’t move, but also the people surrounding him.

Yoo-jeong thought in despair.

‘Where did it go wrong?’

===

“No.”

Princess Bokyeong said firmly.

“Why should I write down your petty stories in the letters I send to His Majesty the Emperor or His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“……”

Yoo-jeong had a dumbfounded expression, and Wang-ho remained silent.

“Hwangmae [Juso-hwa’s childhood name]! Th, this is a matter related to national affairs! This is not something you should answer lightly!”

“Ah, then I’ll answer heavily. No. Okay?”

“Puhuh!”

I inadvertently burst into laughter at her stubbornness.

I could feel the two people’s bodies stiffen at the sound of laughter that burst out from behind the screen.

Juso-hwa was flustered and shouted at Yoo-jeong and Wang-ho.

“U, um, get out quickly! I’m not going to help you!”

‘I knew it would be like this.’

No matter what tricks the eunuchs play, if Juso-hwa refuses, there is almost nothing they can do.

What kind of magic do they have to communicate with Nanjing, which is tens of thousands of miles away?

‘No matter how they contact them, Ming can’t do anything without this guy, the local action leader.’

Unless Juso-hwa moves according to Nanjing’s orders and coordinates inside and out, Ming’s interference in internal affairs will fail 100% of the time.

“They’re gone. You can come out.”

The girl poked her head out from behind the screen and said.

“Good job.”

“You know, me. I refused firmly as you said.”

Juso-hwa rubbed her face against my arm.

“Are you okay?”

“Anyway, the only family I have left in Ming is my brother or nephew.”

Indeed. This girl had no parents or siblings.

Only Emperor Yongle and his wife and the Crown Prince were something like her family.

“But I like that there are so many of your family here. It’s bustling.”

“Is that so?”

Our family’s reproductive power is amazing.

“Of course, your sister doesn’t seem to like me very much.”

Juso-hwa said sulkily.

Then she looked at the place where Yoo-jeong and Wang-ho had left and said.

“What are you going to do with those two?”

“……I have to take care of them.”

Not all of the eunuchs who followed Juso-hwa are spies.

That would only increase the chances of being discovered.

Therefore, Wang-ho, who presided over the eunuchs’ meetings and stayed by Juso-hwa’s side, and his superior Yoo-jeong.

There was a high probability that only those two were spies from the Eastern Depot.

‘Of course, I can’t just leave the rest alone.’

If I kill them all, Ming will notice and protest unless they’re stupid, so I was thinking of moving most of them to Induk Palace, where the King Emeritus is.

The only information you can pick up there is my uncle’s heroic stories.

At that time, I felt a presence outside again. It was the second time I felt it since the day of the royal wedding.

– Bang!

But there was a difference. Unlike the presence that had disappeared, this time the owner was staying in place.

It was Wang-ho, who I thought had returned with Yoo-jeong.

Where did Yoo-jeong go, and he came alone.

Wang-ho was not surprised to see me with Juso-hwa.

“What’s going on?”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, and Hwangmae… Crown Princess.”

Wang-ho said, sweating profusely.

“Please, please save me.”

“……Hoo.”