Under the Sun

Chapter 12.

Picture of Queen Dowager Jeongsun.  Main character from The Cruel Palace.

~Watercolur

chapter 12.

            One morning, Queen Insun has an early morning snack with her aunt, Queen Dowager Jeongsun.   They both sit in her chambers while the Queen Dowager takes a sip of her tea.  “How are your relations with the King?” she asks while setting down her cup gently on the table and looking into the face of her niece.

            “He still doesn’t visit my chambers, Your Highness,” she replies bowing her head.

            Narrowing her eyes, she looks away and shakes her head.  “He is such a stubborn man!”  She exhales looking angry.  “If we can’t have the king produce an heir from you then we may have to take different actions.  Hui-bin has already failed to try to seduce the King, and all she was able to bear was a girl.”  She forms her thin lips in a hard line, her expression cold.

            “What kind of measure will you take, Your Highness?” Queen Insun asks curiously.

            “I will discuss it with your father and Prime Minister Yoon,” she answers.  Before taking another sip of her tea, she looks at her niece and says, “Ah…I hear the king has hired a new companion and tutor for Princess Hyosung.”

            “Ah, yes.  I heard from Hui-bin that she is an excellent teacher and the Princess is quite taken with her.  She has managed to make the Princess enjoy her studies and has practically mastered the Thousand Character Classics!” Queen Insun says.

            Laughing, Queen Dowager Jeongsun replies, “And that naughty girl only new several sentences from that book!  My, my…that new tutor is something…what is her name, my Queen?”

            “Shim Myung Wol.”

            “Shim…Myung Wol?” she repeats furrowing her eyebrows.  “Ah!” she exclaims as if suddenly remembering something.   She must be the daughter of Shim Woon Taek, the man who used to be the Chief Deputy Scholar when Prince Yangwon’s father was still ruling.  I heard he went blind and moved away with his family.  How is it that his daughter has come to be in the palace?”  She cocks her head with a confused look.

            “I heard that His Majesty had brought him back as Chief Deputy Scholar,” Queen Insun offers.

            “WHAT?!” the Queen Dowager practically yells slamming her cup on the table and her eyes aflame.  “That so-called righteous man was brought back to the palace by the King?!  He was the one that had favored Min Woo over Yangwon!  And so since the late King had trusted him so much, he made Min Woo his heir!”

            “Your Highness.”

            “If it hadn’t been for him, Yangwon would have been made king and you would be married to him right now, Insun,” she declares clenching a fist.  Queen Insun knew that her aunt had known that Prince Yangwon and she secretly loved each other, which is one of the reasons why he refused to marry.  The Queen Dowager had let her son be though.

            Looking at her hands, Queen Insun narrows her eyes and purses her lips.   She had a deep burning hate towards Min Woo that always churned whenever she came across him.  She knew he didn’t like her either, and she really didn’t care.  In a way, she hated her position as queen, especially if it meant being married to Min Woo, but if it had been Yangwon then she would have enjoyed her position even more and the power that came with it.  “I understand, Your Highness,” she says.