My husband; my hardworking husband who always rose the earliest and came back home to me in the very late hours of the evening. My handsome husband who looked like something out of the romance books that I used to buy to read in the spare minutes that I had to myself. My tall, buff and tanned husband who knew how to make me stop in my tracks from the moment that he laid his eyes on me, who was ready to pounce on me every single day and who ate my food as if there was no tomorrow. He kept me so close to him that I felt utterly lost now that I was out of his sight and I had no idea what to do with myself apart from worry non-stop about the new life that I was carrying in my womb just for him and after all of his 'non-stop hard work.' I was already eternally grateful for his best friend that always looked after us even though he had his own work to get on with and he always looked overwhelmingly stressed out without Yeon by his side to cool down his hot temper. He was already very thoughtful enough to send me a feast to my room and keep Moon-Bok close to me when he arrived with his wife as I could only trust him as my personal physician. My room was heavily guarded and I was kept quite safe but I wasn't used to being away with my son at all and I wasn't sure who I missed more; him or his father. My son, my beautiful little boy who looked so much like his father that they would be twins. My son who smiled so widely that it made us laugh every single time, my son who cried every single time his father left our home and my son who waited for him by the for when he knew when his father would return and hug him until his father tucked him into bed himself…
"Greetings Madame Seo. I am here to pass along the message from The Lord Nam that there is a situation that he needs your help with and he will provide you with al of the support that he can. As his personal physician Moon-Bok had not et arrived, he has hired another one to meet with you when you check up on his nephew in the palace." "His nephew…his mother is still confined to her quarters along with The Concubine Chung?" "She is My Lady, but she has not said or done anything to support her son thus far." "Very well, take me to him straight away please." My sister-in-law had written to me many times about her fiancé'e nephew and now I knew why; I knew every single deal abut him as if he was my own and I already had a feeling that I knew exactly what would be facing as long as I put my trust in the physician that was sent to me, otherwise things could go really wrong instead as I did not possess any medical knowledge at all.
"Madame Seo, here is the boy in question. He is 3 years old now and he has various behavioural issues due to neglect, so he is prone to acting out every now and then, so do not be surprised if he lashes out at you as you are a stranger to him." Neglect? I wasn't a woman that got overly emotional, I didn't even bat an eyelid when my family who severely neglected and abused me died in a fire due to my cousins hand in the matter. I did suffer quite bit of humiliation in the brothel I was placed with, but I was lucky enough to have met Seo Yeon, who took on most of the abuse and punishments for me when she could. But after becoming a mother and seeing a defenceless child in such a state, it made my blood boil, enough to make me want to scream and shout the whole palace down until all the children in the world are saved.
"Servant, please bring me my blossom perfume from my luggage and bring its over to me this instant." "My Lady?" "Like you said, I am a complete stranger to him but my sister-in-law is not. And if he does have behavioural issues like you said, he will only open up to me if I resemble someone he is acquainted with, even by scent. Psysiscan, what exactly is wrong with this boy? How did he contract a fever in a room with hardly any windows at all? Who looks after this boy?" "Ever since his mother's confinement, she is clearly in no mind to care for the boy, and the servants do what they can but…" "So nobody has tended to this boy in 2 days?" "That is correct." "And what about his diet?" "He likes to steal desserts from the kitchen…" "No wonder he fell so ill like this. Very well; was he taking any medicine recently?" "Not as far as we are aware, My Lady."
The boy was small for his age and severely underweight, his clothes were oily and greasy and his socks hadn't been changed since his mother's confinement. The poor boy needed a bath, but I needed to wake him up to do that and I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be easy. But what sort of parent was this Mistress Nam with slave origins? Did that mean that she truly saw her offspring as nothing more than a tool for power, wealth and fame? To abandon the child that you carried for 9 months, this boy deserved a better home, and I am pretty sure I knew exactly where to place him so that he could thrive and have a hope about his future. A pretty face with a venomous heart can cause such strife, then everyone else can follow, so she needed to be made an example of, no wonder my brother-in-law requested that I handle this case for him.
"Physician, what can you tell me about this boy's condition?" "He is unwell due to developing a fever overtime, but it also feels as if something is stuck in his throat perhaps?" "So he ate the wrong thing and now he has passed out, he surely needs to throw up whatever it is he has eaten secretly, please induce him." "But My Lady, that seems quite harsh for his age…" "Physician, the only other option is for him to rot into a coma otherwise; he already seems to be developing jaundice in just a single day. Who knows what the palace officials will come up with to exclude the boy or do something worse to him?" "Very well, My Lady, please stand aside." "Well? What was it that was stuck in his throat?" "My Lady, what was in his throat was nothing that a child would willingly grab based off of the smell alone." "Are you talking about ginseng slices? How on earth did it get there?" "It was most likely stuffed down his throat, he could have almost died from this if we did nit arrive here on time! It could have caused energy obstruction, trouble to the blood circulation, and so much more!" "It is clear to me that somebody wanted to harm this boy; please write up a report about this and look into who ordered ginseng within the last week and how much of it. And what about his jaundice?"
"What did you just say, Madame Seo? Did you just mention jaundice? Here in the place?" "Imperial Concubine Park? Forgive me, I wasn't expecting you and I didn't have time to give you my greetings…" "Servants! Quickly! Expel this boy from the palace grounds immediately!" "My Lady! What do you think that you are…" "Madame Seo, can you not see the jaundice that is developing on this boy in front of your very eyes? We must't let anyone else in the palace be exposed to this infectious disease and…" "Infectious disease? What on earth and you…" "he must be sent to the Infection Control centre at the very least…" "Where he shall be further exposed to real infection diseases? With the right medicinal treatment, jaundice can be cleared up within a weak, that is common knowledge amongst everyone!"
"Still, to take precaution for every important person in the palace, we have to do something about this for their sake! And since you have come into contact with him as well, I shall suggest to The Emperor that you also stay there for your own sake." "But My Lady! I am pregnant and I cannot do such a thing! Are you trying to harm myself and my baby! And for what? You're husband's sake!" "Madame Seo! Whoever violates this law must be executed by capital punishment! Servants! Apprehend everybody and transport them immediately! The sooner the better and with little disturbances!" "Imperial Concubine! What are you doing! Let go of me! Let go this instant!"
"Ladies! I am trying to do my job in the palace for The Emperor himself! How can I do that if you are all making such a fuss! Just what is going on here now!" "Lord Nam! The Imperial Concubine Park is wilfully trying to imprison me and your nephew into The Infection Control Centre whilst I am pregnant and your nephew only has a mild case of jaundice! Please help me!" "My Lord Nam! You seem to be overstepping your authority if you think you can stop me from protecting everyone in the palace from your bastard nephew!" "Is that so, My Lady? Because one might think that you are targeting my pregnant sister-in-law because of me and my opposition to your husband? Who is already well on his way to becoming exiled the second he sets foot in this palace?" "What! What did you just say! What are you talking about?" "You heard me! Men! Arrest The Imperial Concubine Park and take her in front of The Emperor himself to deal with this matter! I shall personally escort my sister-in-law myself! Let us go!" "Brother-in-law?" "Sister, forgive me, as I have a feeling that you may not forgive me for this scare, but I assure you that it was necessary. Thank you for all of your help and please forgive me once again." "But what is going on…" "You will soon find out, just remember to defend yourself in front of The Emperor and say no more, do you understand me?" "I…"
"….Your Majesty, please forgive me for this grave error that I have committed against The Madame Seo and The Lord Nam's nephew, I must have just lost my head after I saw the jaundice and I worried terribly about my own pregnancy and I…" "…was simply following the orders of your husband? The one who already heard the news of his own punishment though a rat in the place and told you to make any move to depose The Lord Nam from the palace? To depose his enemy for him before he is despised himself?" "I…Your Majesty I just…I admit that I behaved irrationally and I should be blamed for being ignorant and inexperienced in medical matters…" "And you tried to eliminate the nephew of one of my closest men and the pregnant wife of your husband's prevue man who no longer responds to his summons, isn't that right?" "Your Majesty, please do not suspect my intentions…." "Enough of this! I have just survived a poisoning attempt from my own son and now he is giving his orders to elite my man! I shall hear no more of this! The Third Prince is to be exiled upon his return, his Imperial Concubine will be demoted to commoner and put into exile with him as soon as she delivers her baby and…" "Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I believe t have found the rat who is informing The Third Prince and is acting on behalf by committing this crime of poison…" "Well! Who is its! Tell me!" "Your Majesty, please forgive me, for I possibly could not have imagined this would happen to my only remaining family member that I had supported here in the palace for almost a year now…"