The Last Imoogi

A Surprise Visitor

For the next two days, Kwon Jiyong stayed at the Hidden Seclusion. He received a message from Kang Daesung that Dong Youngbae came back earlier than what was planned and that he needed to talk to him. Meanwhile Choi Seunghyun was away and was dealing with another imoogan sighting at an island in the South. 

Sandara was pleased though, that Kwon Jiyong let her know about it before he left, loving the idea that somehow, she was part of what Kwon Jiyong was doing. Hong would even hand her messages which Kwon Jiyong sent through the Hidden Selcusion's messenger pigeons, and she gladly replied to all of them. Kwon Jiyong's messages were short and on point.

"Are you feeling well now?" 

"Don't trust the palace servants easily." 

"Make sure to wait for them to taste the food before you gobble them up."

"If you want to meet your father and brother just send them a message through Jo Sanggung."

"You may visit the queen but don't give anything to her."

"Be good."

But everytime Sandara replied it was way longer than Kwon Jiyong's. She practically wrote a journal entry that Hong said it was impossible to be carried by the messenger pigeon so she had to cut them into few parts.

She hadn't been idle as well. Since the queen needed rest and proper nourishment, she helped Concubine Bae with the preparations for welcoming the envoy from Ming. Finally, the day everyone had been busying about arrived, and more than anyone, it was her who had the greatest shock of her life.

A young lady suddenly emerged from the third carriage and started looking for someone. Envoy Wong was being welcomed by Yi Sung and Kwon Jiyong, while Sandara, Kim Jisoo and Bae Joohyun were all standing quite a distance behind the uncle and nephew duo. Still, the pretty little lady earned their attention.

And man, she looked really beautiful. Her skin glowed like porcelain and was as white as snow, her cheeks as red as an apple. She had a long shiny hair which flowed down past her waist, half of it tied up to a top knot adorned with expensive jewels. She was a bit taller than all of them three, and had a slender body that was highlighted by the red belt around her pastel colored flowy Chinese dress she was wearing. And oh, the three of them just had to lower their eyes to look at their pitiful bosoms for theirs were definitely no match to this well-endowed almost perfect lady.

"So it's true that women in Ming were pretty." Bae Joohyun who rarely opens her mouth to speak suddenly broke her silence. "I just lost my confidence,"

Kim Jisoo only smiled and found her statement preposterous. Bae Joohyun's beauty is extraordinary with a hint of mistery to it but the woman had always been timid and had very low self esteem so she took the concubine's hand in hers and gave it a comforting squeeze.

Sandara saw this and remained silent while her eyes were fixed on the lady who kept calling someone orabeonni. Inside her head, she already had a bad haunch on who she was pertaining to and her heart was feeling a little stifled already that she kept wishing she was wrong.

"What is a woman like her doing in such an official trip such as this? Seems like the women in Ming have more freedom than Joseon women." She broke her silence with a stern remark which Bae Joohyun seconded.

"Why does she know our language? Wasn't she being too informal?" The concubine asked before turning to Kim Jisoo. "Mama, you seem not too surprised. Do you know her?" Bae Joohyun asked and Kim Jisoo nodded.

"That lady is the third princess of Ming, Zhu Yunhe, the emperor of Ming's most favored daughter. Her mother's clan were from Joseon but they all migrated to Ming so their family is quite important in strengthening the alliance between the two kingdoms." Kim Jisoo explained. "Yunhe Gongju has done this twice or thrice before, coming here uninvited. Well, His Majesty ordered everyone to treat her like family. The emperor of Ming also treated uncle very well like his own son so it was only proper to take care of Yunhe Gongju properly."