Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 7

Jjangra

Hello, Bomb!

7. Who is Your Father? (5)

The second reason Hyang changed his plans was, ridiculously, due to a physiological phenomenon.

“I’m going to pee! I’m going to pee!”

Suddenly feeling the urge to urinate, Hyang quickly ran to where the chamber pot was.

Pushing aside the cumbersome red robe, Hyang relieved himself in the chamber pot and muttered a small curse.

“Damn it! Missed again!”

As Hyang grew out of diapers, the most annoying and bothersome thing was relieving himself.

There were toilets in the palace, but there were few, and they were far away.

Thanks to this, Hyang had to take care of most of his business in the chamber pot, and he had to endure the inconvenience every time.

Aside from Hyang’s personal complaints, the problem of excretion had to be addressed.

‘The palace is overflowing with the smell of poop and pee!’

Everywhere in the palace, in secluded places, and where there were many trees, there were always piles of poop and traces of urine.

In severe cases, the leaves of trees in places frequently used by palace maids to urinate would turn yellow and wither.

It wasn’t just the smell. There was also the issue of hygiene. If you lost focus even for a moment while relieving yourself, you would immediately get it on your clothes.

‘No, the problem is the attire itself!’

Hyang recalled a memory from when he was even younger.

It was a scene when Grand Prince Chungnyeong [later King Sejong] was still living in his private residence, and Hyang’s mother was changing clothes for laundry.

‘How many layers is that!’

First, she wore *darisokgot* [a thin undergarment], *soksokgot* [another layer of undergarment], *sokbaji* [underpants], and *dansokgot* [another layer of underpants], then she wore *neoreunbaji* [wide-legged pants] again, and on top of that, she wore *daesyumchima* [a large skirt], and on top of that, she wore *mujigichima* [a rainbow-colored skirt], which was made by adding layers of different colored fabrics, and then she wore a skirt with fancy gold leaf patterns.

Hyang, who was blankly watching such a scene, screamed inwardly.

‘What were those movies I watched! Tell the historical consultants to resign! It was the outer skirt, the inner skirt, and then the butt! Even if it was an erotic film, it was a theatrical version, so it’s too much!’

Getting sidetracked, the skirt worn in so many layers became the worst obstacle for women whenever they had to relieve themselves.

Because it was difficult to go to the toilet due to the inconvenient attire, it became commonplace to use a chamber pot or relieve oneself in a secluded place, avoiding people’s eyes.

There was another important hygiene problem that came with these clothing and toilet issues.

“Greetings to the Crown Prince.”

The palace maids, who were passing by with baskets of laundry, immediately paid their respects to Hyang.

“Yes. You’re working hard.”

The palace maids suppressed their laughter at Hyang’s reply, which was full of weight, unlike a child, and began to pack their things and go their way.

“Wait a minute. You, palace maid.”

“Yes?”

“Not you, the third palace maid from the back.”

“Are you talking about me?”

The palace maid, who was pointed out, stepped forward with a face that didn’t know what was going on.

If the Crown Prince was over the age of learning, she might expect some luck – there would be some problems because being a palace maid meant she was the king’s property – but the Crown Prince in front of her was only five years old.

When the palace maid she pointed out came forward, Hyang said simply.

“You. You have something on your back.”

“Yes?”

“You have something on the back of your skirt.”

“Yes?”

“You have poop on the back of your skirt!”

The palace maid, who kept tilting her head, not knowing what was going on, turned her face red at Hyang’s words and lifted the back of her skirt.

“Oh my!”

“Go and change.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

As the palace maid, her face red, quickly left the spot, Hyang glared at the palace maids who remained in their places.

“What were you all doing?”

“Yes?”

“How can you not take care of your colleague’s clothes when there’s a problem?”

At Hyang’s rebuke, the palace maids all bowed their heads.

“We are sorry.”

“Make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“Yes. Your Highness.”

Hyang, who had warned the palace maids, sighed softly and moved his steps.

In the afternoon class that day, Hyang told the guest [royal tutor] about what happened during the day and asked a question.

“It is natural for people to excrete. But if the clothes they are wearing interfere with that, isn’t that deviating from the norm?”

The guest in charge of education gave a difficult expression and answered Hyang’s question.

“But clothes are not just for protecting against the cold and heat, but also for covering shame and representing a person’s status, so you have to endure the inconvenience.”

“Status… Isn’t it also against the norm that a person’s status is determined by their attire? There is a saying, ‘Even if a gentleman wears rags, the fragrance of his virtue spreads thousands of miles.'”

“That’s true, but…”

“Don’t you think it should be changed?”

“Ha, haha…”

The guest had to sweat profusely at Hyang’s question.

That night, lying in bed, Hyang vowed.

“I will definitely make a flush toilet and reform the attire!”

* * *

These two reasons became the biggest reasons for Hyang to change his plans. Hyang would curse whenever environmental issues came up.

“I can’t live like this, it’s suffocating and dirty!”

Here, ‘dirty’ literally meant he couldn’t stand the dirt. Even in the private residence where Sejong lived as Grand Prince Chungnyeong, bedbugs were common, and fleas were also common. On top of that, he didn’t bathe often, and the scent rising from the sachets he wore around his waist was added, making it a truly dirty situation to describe.

With the toilet problem and the attire problem overlapping, Hyang decided to change his plans.

“Even the 21st century South Korean army has gotten rid of pit toilets in most places except for a few…”

Thinking of the toilet problem that he couldn’t adapt to, Hyang changed his plans.

“Is it going to be ver.1.5?”

Counting how many times he had revised it, Hyang modified the items in the plan he had in mind.

– Advance the start of external activities to age 9. At the latest, by the age of 9, he will be appointed as the Crown Prince instead of the Grand Son. If he becomes the Crown Prince, he will have some power.

– When he is appointed as the Crown Prince, he will go on outings. He will grasp the lives of commoners living in the capital outside the palace and give strength to the reform policies that Sejong will promote.

– In addition to the above items, he will accelerate the creation of *Hunminjeongeum* [the Korean alphabet].

“That’s enough.”

Hyang, who had reviewed the revised plan, got up from his seat. Opening the window and looking outside, Hyang muttered softly.

“Is that kid growing up well?”

The ‘kid’ Hyang was talking about was Grand Prince Suyang [later King Sejo].

As Sejong was appointed as the Crown Prince, changes occurred to his family as well.

Hyang was the eldest son, so he came into the palace with him, and the third son, Anpyeong, was born in the palace. But Suyang, who was in the middle, was living in a private residence.

He had to be brought into the palace, but with Sejong’s enthronement, the conquest of Tsushima Island, and the birth of Anpyeong overlapping, the timing of Suyang’s entry into the palace had not yet been determined.

In history, Suyang entered the palace when Hyang was 8 years old and Suyang was 5 years old.

“This part seems to be flowing similarly to actual history…”

Hyang recalled his memories from his previous life. According to his memories from his previous life, it was the rule that Grand Princes, Princes, and Princesses would leave the palace when they turned 15, when they became adults. But in reality, it was common to make them independent around the age of 8.

“But, it’s the early Joseon period now, so…”

Hyang lightly counted his fingers.

“Is it 3 years at the shortest, or 10 years at the longest…? What should I do with this kid during that time?”

Hyang, who knew that his younger brother, who was living outside the palace now, would later usurp the throne, pondered how to deal with this younger brother.

“I didn’t have time to just leave him alone until he came into the palace, but when he comes into the palace, I have to take care of him. Should I scold him from the beginning? Or should I appease him gently as a benevolent older brother?”

Hyang, who was pondering the problem of ‘carrot or stick,’ couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Stop it… he’s only five years old now, and when that time comes, he’ll be about eight years old, and if a kid scolds a kid, he’ll just get cursed at…”

* * *

While Hyang was pondering how to deal with his younger brother, who would later usurp the throne, his mother, Queen Soheon, was also worried.

“Yu-a has to come into the palace, but… sigh~.”

Queen Soheon’s eyes, sighing, were directed towards the room where Hyang was.

When Hyang first saw Yu [Grand Prince Suyang], who was just born and wrapped in swaddling clothes, Queen Soheon sensed Hyang’s abnormal reaction.

‘Hostility? Why?’

Queen Soheon, worried that Hyang was showing hostility towards his younger brother who had just been born, asked the nanny worriedly.

“The eldest child seems to hate the second child, what should I do?”

The nanny smiled and answered Queen Soheon’s question.

“It’s a natural thing, madam.”

“Natural?”

“When a younger sibling is born, the firstborn child doesn’t really like it. It’s because the affection that was only directed at them is now directed at the younger sibling. This part will be quickly corrected when the older brother grows up a little more and is disciplined.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s right.”

Despite the nanny’s answer, Queen Soheon couldn’t easily erase her worries. The hostility had disappeared from Hyang, but in its place was indifference, followed by excessive demands.

“Hyang-a, what are you doing?”

A few days after Yu’s first birthday, Queen Soheon discovered Hyang looking for a book in Grand Prince Chungnyeong’s study. At Queen Soheon’s question, Hyang straightened his posture and answered politely.

“Yes. I was looking for a few miscellaneous books to clear my head for a while, and what books would be suitable for Yu to learn later.”

“Hyang-a. Yu has only just passed his first birthday. Isn’t it too hasty to already be choosing books to learn?”

“I have learned that it is best to prepare in advance.”

“That’s not wrong, but…”

Queen Soheon, who was slurring her words because Hyang’s words were not wrong, asked again.

“So what do you think is good?”

“I think *Tonggamjeolyo* [a historical text] is good. Now that he has passed his first birthday, it would be good to start right after he turns two.”

Sweat began to flow on Queen Soheon’s face at Hyang’s answer.

“Isn’t it too early?”

“Is it early?”

Queen Soheon nodded at Hyang’s question.

“It’s early. It’s because you, Hyang, are so bright that you started your studies early, other children don’t start that early.”

Hyang expressed dissatisfaction with Queen Soheon’s explanation.

“All the people of Joseon know that Father has outstanding talent. It is absolutely unacceptable for the children who inherited the blood of such a person to be mediocre.”

“Sigh~.”

Queen Soheon sighed deeply at Hyang’s firm answer.

* * *

“Sigh~.”

Queen Soheon, who recalled the past, sighed deeply again.

“I thought I was blessed to have given birth to a bright child…”

It was a disaster to have given birth to a child who was too bright, even if he was bright.

Compared to the first, the second and third were bright, but they were lacking. It was like the moon was bright, but it could not be compared to the sun.

The problem was that Hyang was setting the standard for his younger siblings to himself. No, it wasn’t just Hyang who was the problem. From the time the princes started their studies, the officials would surely match the criteria for judging everything to Hyang.

“Sigh~.”

With a sigh, Queen Soheon’s sleepless night continued.

End

ⓒ Gukbbong