There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 432

Meanwhile, in front of Changdeok Palace, where Crown Prince Yi Dan was, the people gathered in droves, just as they did elsewhere.

To be precise, the area between the Blue House [the executive office and residence of the Emperor] and Changdeok Palace was practically overflowing with people begging him to withdraw his abdication.

Even the heralds who arrived on horseback to deliver the royal decree of abdication couldn’t even break through the throng of people filling the palace grounds.

Yi Dan, watching the scene with binoculars, was sweating profusely.

‘Why did it turn out like this?’

Looking at the fervent crowd gathered in front of the palace, he had a sinking feeling that if he accepted the royal decree, it would trigger a massive uproar, branding him as the most unfilial son in the world.

“Your Majesty, are you going to leave us? Are you going to abandon us!”

“How can you even think of abandoning us and asking us to live on!”

“Please withdraw the abdication, Your Majesty!”

Watching the people wailing and chanting popular folk songs from the Goryeo Dynasty [918-1392], Yi Dan even began to suspect that this might be his father’s intention all along.

‘Could it be that Father is deceiving even me?’

Yi Dan knew very well that his father would never do that, but the thought still lingered.

The abdication ceremony is traditionally a performance where the successor and vassals humbly beg the king to reconsider stepping down, allowing the king to reaffirm his power and authority.

But this was different.

Not only were the court officials, who were usually mobilized for such staged events, present, but also common people from the marketplace and back streets, who had dropped everything to rush to the palace and beg the king to withdraw his abdication.

If this was a show, then his father had orchestrated a performance unlike any seen before, and likely never to be seen again.

No one in later generations would even dare to attempt to emulate his father.

Because even if they tried to abdicate, they could never expect so many people to gather and plead with them to stay on the throne.

Yi Dan couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride that his father was so beloved.

However, the problem was that he was now cast in the role of the villain.

“The merchants in the market have closed their shops.”

“The students at Sungkyunkwan [Joseon Dynasty’s highest educational institution] have declared a hunger strike.”

“Everyone is saying they are going to the palace where the Emperor is to wail and protest!”

“Your Highness, Crown Prince, you must make a decision now.”

But what was even more alarming was that this was just the beginning.

Usually, the emperor’s edicts were delivered in writing, but since the introduction of the telegraph, important imperial orders or news were telegraphed all at once for speed and efficiency.

By now, each provincial government would have received the news of the emperor abdicating in favor of the crown prince.

Given the ripple effect of the abdication announcement, it wouldn’t take long for the news to spread from the provincial governments.

That meant:

Starting from Gaeseong and Byeokrando nearby, to the three southern provinces and Liaodong far away.

The local scholar groups would likely be packing their bags with memorials and preparing to travel to the capital to voice their concerns.

Maybe even the Northeast Frontier Command would have mobilized. No, they certainly would.

They were the Emperor’s staunchest supporters.

‘I have to fix this immediately.’

Yi Dan sighed deeply and thought.

* * *

‘Is this really going to be okay?’

Even those who had initially celebrated (though champagne didn’t exist in Joseon yet) upon hearing the king’s edict were now losing their composure.

The crown prince’s aides, who had been secretly delighted that their time had come, now felt like they were walking on eggshells.

‘Could it be that His Majesty is trying to get rid of all of us by staging this?’

The commotion served as a stark warning that no one should dare to covet the throne.

However, the Crown Prince himself didn’t seem to grasp the situation at all.

Even if it were someone else, wouldn’t the Emperor have at least discussed it with the Crown Prince beforehand?

“What do these foolish people know to make such a fuss!”

“We must arrest all those who are causing chaos in the capital right now!”

They were afraid that the abdication itself might fall through.

For that reason, they wanted to push Yi Dan to take the lead, but few dared to bell the cat [take on a dangerous task].

That is why they were urging the Crown Prince, using the pretext of maintaining the capital’s security.

“The Royal Guards are all ready. If you give the order, we will beat them all up and send them home.”

However, Yi Dan looked dumbfounded.

He was about to inherit the throne on an auspicious day, but he was being asked to spill blood just to ascend the throne, as if he were seizing it through a coup.

“They are the ones who are wailing for our country, how can we use force to drive them away?”

Yi Dan wasn’t sure if the people would accept it even if he forced his way through and accepted the abdication.

‘Doesn’t this feel like a real usurpation?’

Yi Dan couldn’t understand why he had become such a villain.

He thought that even his grandfather, Emperor Taejong [r. 1400-1418, known for his ruthlessness], hadn’t been cursed this much.

Why should he have to worry about receiving the throne that was being offered to him?

“But delaying the imperial order like this is also disloyal. We must clear the people blocking the palace and go to the Blue House!”

Lee Yu’s outburst made the people next to him glare at him.

“If the Crown Prince has to step on all the people in front of him to receive the abdication… can Prince Suyang [King Sejo of Joseon, who usurped the throne] take responsibility?”

Shin Suk-ju, a junior official in the Ministry of Agriculture, made Lee Yu shut his mouth for a moment.

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like only his head would be cut off.

Lee Yu also wanted to enjoy prosperity under his cousin’s reign, but he didn’t want to sacrifice his life in exchange for making him emperor.

“There is no other way. Since the Crown Prince cannot go out right now, he has no choice but to refuse the throne.”

“Such a ceremonial refusal will not calm the atmosphere.”

Isn’t there a legend that when Emperor Taejong tried to abdicate, he carried an ax and went to stop him?

Yi Dan’s advisors also subtly hinted, ‘You should do that too’.

The assembled crowds were unlikely to move unless Yi Dan put on that kind of performance.

Yi Dan had a headache, so he had no choice but to step back, saying he needed a break.

The place he headed to was the Crown Princess’s palace.

“Anyone would think I was taking away Father’s throne!”

Considering the family history, it was a reasonable suspicion, but Yi Dan himself was actually trying to prevent his father’s abdication during his lifetime.

At the time, he hadn’t understood the subtle awkwardness he felt, but now he was sure that he had foreseen today’s events.

With no one else to complain to, Yi Dan had no choice but to express his frustration in front of his wife.

He didn’t ask for advice, but Crown Princess Jeong calmly recited the orthodox Confucian theory.

“The people’s hearts have already been greatly disturbed by the Emperor’s announcement of abdication. Now that this has happened, the Crown Prince must show filial piety.”

“I have already telegraphed the Blue House, but there is still no word that he will withdraw the order.”

“Even so, you must continue to ask him to withdraw until the very end.”

“It’s not that easy. Father is not the type to easily change his mind…”

Should I really grab an ax and beg him to cut off my head?

Then, an object caught Yi Dan’s eye as he grumbled.

A large object placed alone in a corner of the East Palace [residence of the Crown Prince].

It was a wooden, cube-shaped box.

It was originally a place to store rice, but his father had strangely put him in here whenever he caused trouble since he was a child.

When he broke a precious vase by shooting an arrow, when he ran away by climbing over the wall, and when he burned off his grandfather’s eyebrows while playing with fire.

It was truly an object that held many childhood memories.

It was called the Thinking Rice Chest.

His father would put him in there to reflect on his actions, but he actually used it as a secret base and had fun.

Yi Dan unconsciously strode towards it.

Then, he put his foot inside and soon crouched down into the rice chest.

“It’s still cramped.”

Unlike when he was a child, it wasn’t easy to fit his large body inside, but he managed to squeeze in somehow.

“Your Highness?”

“Father used to lock me in here whenever I did something wrong.”

Yi Dan said, sticking only his head out.

“I am a sinner who cannot accept the Emperor’s order to entrust me with the throne, so I must stay in here. I will not come out of here until Father withdraws the order!”

Only the king can put on a show.

The father-in-law was one of the nine filial sons of the Goryeo Dynasty, and the father was also a filial grandson and son who would go down in history.

Yi Dan was the one who inherited their will as a son and son-in-law, so he was going to leave a beautiful historical record on the occasion of the abdication event.

What could be a clearer expression of his will than locking himself in this Thinking Rice Chest?

Despite the Crown Princess’s embarrassed expression, he pulled out his arm and pointed somewhere.

“Let’s go to the Blue House!”

* * *

“Go back! Go back!”

The soldiers shouted, blowing their whistles, but the gathered people didn’t easily retreat.

In fact, the very fact that so many people had gathered was a rare and significant event in the capital.

How could the pleasure-loving Joseon people not be captivated by this national anti-abdication fervor?

Most of them felt the same way, hoping that the king wouldn’t step down.

However, the atmosphere shifted slightly when the Crown Prince emerged from the palace.

“The Crown Prince is coming!”

“His Highness is coming out! Please step back!”

“Anyone who approaches His Highness will not be spared!”

The Royal Guards, who poured out in droves, raised their shields and surrounded the Crown Prince, forming an impenetrable barrier.

They looked around with bloodshot eyes, wary of anyone rushing forward, but fortunately, the people only hurriedly prostrated themselves in their places.

Soon, the Crown Prince in the rice chest was lifted up by the Royal Guards.

“……”

The people, stunned by the bizarre sight, momentarily lost their words.

However, an old Confucian scholar who quickly regained his senses shouted.

“Your Highness, Crown Prince! The abdication is clearly a trick of the traitors! You must never accept it!”

The sight of an old man with a shaggy beard prostrating himself and earnestly pleading was almost sacred.

Yi Dan also responded solemnly, sticking only his head out of the square rice chest.

“I know your loyalty. I also intend not to come out of this rice chest until Father withdraws the order. Everyone, be assured!”

“Is that true?”

“Would I, as the Crown Prince of the country, lie to you? I will now go to the Blue House and ask Father to withdraw the abdication.”

Anyone with eyes couldn’t help but believe the Crown Prince’s words after seeing his sincere appearance.

The people admired Yi Dan’s righteous decision.

“Our Crown Prince is indeed a filial son!”

“So the abdication was not the Crown Prince’s intention! The imperial family is indeed a model for all people!”

How could the imperial family members, who emphasized loyalty and filial piety by publishing the Samganghaengsildo [an ethical code emphasizing the three primary relationships], commit such a heinous act?

Relieved, the people parted like the Red Sea and cleared the way for the Crown Prince to go to the Blue House.

After the Crown Prince’s procession left, the people followed him with excited faces, without anyone telling them to do so.

If they didn’t watch this ending to the end, they couldn’t be called pleasure-loving Joseon people.

Meanwhile, Joan of Arc, who wasn’t even a Joseon person, was also watching the procession heading to the Blue House with a very interested expression.

“Is this a custom of the Joseon royal family?”

At Joan of Arc’s question, the Crown Princess covered her red face with her hands and replied.

“N, not all of them do that.”

Although it was an extraordinarily strange family to marry into, she couldn’t get used to the bizarre things that came out of this family from time to time, even after a long time of marriage.

‘I hope the next generation doesn’t do this.’

The Crown Princess prayed earnestly.