Rise of an Empress

A Saga to Begin

Concubinage is one of the bloody and dangerous lives to lead. In ancient Korean culture , concubinage was so common among royal families and noble families.

In ancient Goryeo there were  ranking systems among the women whom the Emperor belonged to.

1. Empress( To be empress the woman must have to have a powerful background and has to give birth to a crown prince to strengthen her position. Giving birth to a crown prince is not mandatory. But without giving birth to the crown prince, maintaining the empress title becomes impossible until the end,as ranks of palace get changed with the changes of thrones. 

2. Consort: A royal consort is a legally married spouse of a ruling emperor. A consort must have to be from a higher rank family. She is in a higher rank than concubines and other women of the emperor.

3. Concubine: Concubines are women who cohabitate with the Emperor, but are never officially married and are subordinate to consort. An Emperor could have as many or as few concubines as he wished, with the main purpose of serving the emperor for physical needs, bearing children and friendship with several provinces. Sometimes to maintain good relationships with several provinces, the Emperor used to take concubines from different clans. Giving birth to a Royal Prince can raise their position from lower rank to higher rank. 

This is a story of a concubine's struggle in a noxious royal palace. Happy reading!

       
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Tomorrow is the wedding day of Lady Seo with Emperor Sinjong. A most awaited day for Yongsan province. It's a political marriage. After the marriage, the Emperor is going to provide protection to this small, powerless, peaceful province.

Seo Yun Hee, the bride of the marriage, is looking at the royal wedding dress the palace has sent for her. A royal red silk dress with white satin collar upon which fine golden embroidery works are done. 

Yun Hee touches the hem of wedding dress. She has to wear it today when she will leave her own palace for the Emperor's palace. Yun Hee is feeling weird and very stressed. Is it the feeling of getting married to an Emperor?                  

Obviously besides her, there will be more concubines in the palace . She has to share her husband with others. Maybe she will remain so distant from the emperor because of the shadow of other concubines from powerful families.

What can she expect from this marriage? The notorious rogues around Yongsan have become so powerful nowadays. Until today, Yongsan was almost independent. But this weak independence without a strong enough defense power was going to be a threat for the general people of Yongsan.

The political marriage will make their family to rule under the name of Great Emperor Sinjong. He will provide protection to this province and the notorious rogues will not gain the courage to attack Emperor Sinjong's area.

So the significance of this wedding to Yun Hee is that the Emperor is gonna save his motherland, but what's the significance for himself?

Nothing… Absolutely nothing… 

Lady Seo  just has to lead a life as a Concubine in the palace. If the emperor feels he wants a baby prince or princess from Yun Hee, then she can give birth to an heir. But Yun Hee knows clearly that the Emperor won't want a baby from her so early, at least not to be in line for the next generation of emperors. Yun Hee is not a royal, just a powerless princess after all.

The palace has sent a palanquin for Yun Hee to ride in. Obviously, the Emperor isn't coming here to get married. The wedding ritual will be held in the royal palace, even Yun Hee's family isn't allowed to be present there for the ceremony. Yun Hee thinks it's okay, at least the emperor is going to marry her, and in exchange he's gonna provide protection for her motherland. She is ready to sacrifice her peaceful life.

After getting ready with the royal wedding dress, Yun Hee comes out of Yongsan palace. Everyone is waiting to say goodbye to her. Yun Hee feels like a sharp thread is tied around her heart, cutting her heart and making it bleed. She can feel warm tears falling from her eyes.

Yun Hee's mother, the Queen of Yongsan province, takes her beloved daughter in her embrace, "You will be loved by everyone there, Yun Hee. How can they stay without loving a sweet princess like you?"

Yun Hee's father, the King of Yongsan, caresses Yun Hee's black hair and says, "You will shine like a jade, Yun Hee. We all love you so much. I know that you will make us proud."

Yun Hee's elder brother squeezes Yun Hee's hand in silence; he does not know what to say. In his silence, Yun Hee says, "Take care of Eomma*, Appa*, and yourself, Oppa*."

( Eomma*- mother,appa*- father ,oppa*-brother)

"I will, Yun Hee. Take care of yourself too . Don't worry, everything will be okay here as long as I am here. I am sure that all of them will love you a lot."

Yun Hee leaves Yongsan palace with the blessings of the general people from Yongsan province.

When the palanquin arrived at the palace, it was already afternoon the next day.

Yun Hee takes her first steps in the Goryeo royal palace of Emperor Sinjong. The maids take him to the royal bath fountain. They take off Yun Hee's clothes and make her bathe with milk, sandalwood, and rose petals and rinse every inch of her body with rose fragrance.

After completing the bath, they make her wear another gorgeous red wedding dress made of fine silk where fine golden embroidery works are adorned with an emphasis on a golden dragon symbol. The golden dragon is the symbol of the Goryeo royal family.

The marriage ritual takes place in a hall room of the palace. Yun Hee's face was covered by a veil. Although the veil is thin, she still has a blurred vision right now. She can feel the presence of the Emperor beside her, but can't get an idea of what the emperor looks like; Yun Hee has never met Emperor Sinjong before.

After the marriage ritual, Yun Hee is made to stay alone in a large, gorgeous room decorated with flowers. Yun Hee is now sitting on the bed which is covered with a royal white silk sheet and flowers.

At last, Yun Hee can hear footsteps of someone wearing heavy boots getting closer towards the closed door. The door is opened and then closed again. Yun Hee can understand it's the Emperor. The Emperor steps towards her near the bed. 

Yun Hee gets down from the bed and kneels down in front of the Emperor and keeps her head down.

"Stand up." The heavy voice of the Emperor orders her.

Yun Hee stands up. The Emperor stands exactly in front of Yun Hee and lifts up Yun Hee's veil. Yun Hee closes her eyes and still keeps head down. The Emperor makes Yun Hee lift up her chin so that he can see Yun Hee's face properly. He is so amazed at Yun Hee's beauty.

Then suddenly he steps back and suddenly says in a commanding voice, "Strip yourself."

Yun Hee opens her eyes. Really? She has to undress herself? He is the emperor after all, plus his husband, how can she disobey him?

Yun Hee takes off the royal cloak and robes.

"Everything." The voice again says in a commanding voice.

Yun Hee continues to take off the socks and the inner robe of the royal dress with trembling hands. 

After getting completely stripped she keeps standing in front of the Emperor. She wants to cover herself so badly. The beauty, the purity she has preserved for all these 20 years, is now going to be given to her husband, her Emperor...

Yun Hee can feel the Emperor's eyes roaming on every inch of her body. Her body is right now an offering for the Emperor after the marriage ritual.

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