The Foreigner 외국인

Part 2: Living As Dead - Chapter 6

6.

Two years later.

The ministers were gathered in the throne hall, divided into two factions facing each other. The left state councilor stepped into the void at the center and faced the king.

"Your majesty, opening the literary examination to commoners will create chaos within the Confucian scholars. Please reconsider it."

Yi Jin struck the desk in front of him with his fist to silence the several ministers who now jumped to ask, simultaneously, to withdraw the proposition.

"Official positions should be filled based on merit, not family names," the king responded.

"Your majesty, nobles will protest this en masse; they might even refuse to come to work. Without a functioning government, how will a country prosper?" Park No Li insisted.

The king scoffed. "Then I will replace them with commoners who have passed the Civil Service Examination." A chorus of indignant whispers arose among the ministers as the king turned to the queen's father, the royal secretary, whom he trusted.

"What are your thoughts, Kim Jun?"

The man looked down. "I believe we should go about this progressively, your majesty," he responded humbly.

"This year, the literary examination will be open to nobles' illegitimate sons as well as the sons of royal guards. We will revisit this next year," the king ordered, before adding with a smirk, "I don't believe you will oppose this, since you are the illegitimate son of a noble yourself, left state councilor." Park No Li's face twitched as he lowered his head.

Officer Yang entered the throne hall as ministers were walking out.

"Your majesty," he whispered, as the king massaged his temples. "Why are you keeping the traitor alive?"

Yi Jin took a deep breath. "As long as he is alive, she will come back for him," he responded, before adding, "Do you have any news?" Officer Yang lowered his head. "No, your majesty, there are no signs of Lee Ara in Joseon."

The king walked to the queen dowager's quarters. The circumstances around his accession to the throne had been heavily criticized. He had been called an unfilial son who had caused his father's demise by disobeying his order and favoring barbarians over his own royal blood. The fact that he had been born during a blood moon had even been brought up again, as proof that he was cursed and would bring chaos upon the kingdom. Ironically it was Park No Li who had cooled down the officials' heated minds and had made sure, along with the royal secretary, that he would stay on the throne.

Yi Jin had endured it quietly. He had never wished to be king, but accepted his duty and fate as punishment for the tragedy he had brought upon the Jurchens. To show that he was, in fact, filial, he had to go and pay his respects regularly to the woman who had replaced his mother. She had been placed as a royal concubine by the left state councilor at a young age, and had withered and grown old and alone in the palace, forsaken and detested by the late king, who still grieved his late wife. Yi Jin did pity her, but because she was one of Park No Li's people, he could never allow himself to get close, and he limited their interactions to formalities.

After her stepson had finished bowing down in front of her, the queen dowager ordered her court lady to lift the screen that separated them. She wanted him to see how empty her eyes had become, how loneliness had eaten at her soul, leaving her body an empty shell dressed in gold silk. She had been a foolish child and had entered the palace thinking she would be loved and cared for. Instead she had never felt the slightest sense of warmth. She knew the king only came to visit her to help his own image. She did not resent him; he had lost his birth mother and did not see her as such. He also had been abandoned by the late king, who had declared him dead even though he was still alive.