"…Forgive me Your Highness, i seem to have made a severe mistake in sending the wrong dress over to the wrong person. I really didn't mean to cause such a fuss with the face of Eventide dress." "Does anyone else know about this? I do not wish for this to become the cause of gossip at my banquet..." "It should not be a problem, Your Highness." "If you are deceiving me right now Concubine Chung, I shall personally make sure to grant you options for suicide for offending your superiors, like you already have done." "Your Highness, about The Concubine Choi…."
*********************
"…My Lady, I am afraid that it will be inconvenient for you to travel in the summer heat like this. You should return to The Cold Palace…My Lady, halt in your steps! Why should i deliver a false decree from The Third Prince himself?" "I must see him for myself to confirm this decree! Step out of my way, servant!" "My Lady, His Highness has avoided you for weeks now, so why would you spoil his mood by barging into his banquet like this?" "Then why would he get me out of The Cold Palace for the day? I do not believe that his Majesty feels no affection for the past! It is already very hot and i need to see my husband!" "Affection in the past must stay in the past, and he has no time to dwell on the past now that he has reunited himself with The Concubine Park, his favourite concubine, who is now The Imperial Concubine Park." "Imperial Concubine…" "My Lady, your face has become pale and sweaty under the burning sun and your voice has become irritably high pitch. The Imperial Concubine Park's skin is smooth and supple in the midst of her pregnancy, and she smiles like a flower. Why do you think that His Highness will want to see you compared to her?" "How dare you, you lowly slave!" "I shall take my leave now, My Lady."
"Look at that My Lady, how could The Concubine Choi make such a scene in front of The Royal Banquet! Like this?" "Do you know why she was released from The Cold Palace at all?" "I believe that she claimed to be suffering from vivid nightmares, so The Third Prince allowed her a temporary reprieve to visit a physician since she she was constantly disturbing everyone around her, even the ones who have already gone mad, Mistress Nam." "Very well, since she claims that her nightmares are keeping her up at night, then we must rectify this matter for my brother-in-law, and The Third Prince himself." "What do you plan to do?" "Send her a boiling pot of barely soup and brown rice for her. There is no need for her to wait until it has been soften either, just send it over to her personally in front of The Third Prince…and send it off in the name of Seo Yeon." "My Lady?" "Do not look at me like that! Seo Yeon has more than enough people n the world to protect her, so why can't i do something in her name on my own behalf?" "Very well My Lady…."
*******************
"…servant, how on earth did your sister come to wear that ill-fated dress? And is she wearing my Shu Brocade shoes to match? if she keeps wearing them, the shoes will lose its value and i need to send them back to my brother to feed my father's villagers! Just what is going on here? That dress was supposed to go to The Concubine Choi as per Concubine Kim's plans…" "Madame, Concubine Chung was trying to pass of his dress to you this morning whilst you were still in your slumber with The Lord Nam…" "Really? Why didn't you tell me? What did they say? You must tell me each and every single detail!"
"…My Lady has just received some new pieces of Shu Brcoade and would like ti share it with your Mistress. She finds the colours too bold for her taste but cool and refreshing for somebody her age." "I thank your lady on behalf of my own, and you are right; these dresses are exquisitely crafted with the most elegant of colours. However, from her last reading at the Buddhist Hall, she clashes with the flower of this Shu for the next 2 years and is unable to wear it." "But her shoes..." "Shoes are under the body, so it s aright for her to wear them." "If I am understanding correctly, Your Lady cannot wear the dresses that are gifted to her by The Concubine of The Chung family? Indeed, she is high in favour and will not look at gifts from anyone from The Royal Family and an upstanding person should have no fear of evil spirits…"
"The Royal Family members themselves are strong believers of priests, I wonder if you have the gall to say that to any of them? and contrary to your delusions of grandeur, a woman of noble birth who trapped a man into marriage. So her so-called grace and blessings will not be able to counteract the evil sprits. But we will still thank her at the banquet today…"
"Concubine Chung, why are you dressed up so plainly today?" "Although Your Majesty may see me as a young and callow concubine, I am not as young as compared to your Third Son's new selection of women. I am also a mother now, so i should dress more modestly, unlike The Mistress Nam who likes to dress so flamboyantly, despite being a widowed mother with no husband in sight. And are those no the Shu Brocade shoes woven in gold on your very feet that were a gift to Seo Yeon? Mistress Nam, why are you wearing an outfit that was sent to her instead?" "i...this want sent to me by....I apologise sincerely fr any embarrassment that i may have caused..." Seo Yeon is rather sweet and endearing, how could she possibly turn down your request despite the rather costly outfit. But in the middle of a banquet with such young and unmarried men, we can all understand your intentions, despite your older age, that must be why you receive her care so well…"
The sheer humiliation of it all came down n the form of hot burning tears in front of an entire banquet and the children that i worked with that i had tried everything in my power to get them to like me and trust me. But I hadn't been around young children for so long that i had forgotten how temperamental some of the older pre-teen children could be and i couldn't deny that i was finding it very difficult to bond with them, they simply wouldn't listen to me at all. Seo Yeon on the other hand, was somebody that everyone in he palace was curious about and she has previous experience working with children. And it was the only work that my brother-in-law allowed her to do besides doing whatever it was she was doing in the Imperial Library, where he had his new servant watching her closely. The children loved her and longed to stay in her company, but i wasn't anyone special in their eyes, so they didn't even hesitate to laugh alongside all of the adults at my expense. Even the person whom i was so eager to see at the banquet was looking at me with nothing but contempt and disgust, just like my husband did at first…he judges me for not being anywhere near good enough as Seo Yeon was, just like everyone else did in the palace.
"What on earth is going on over the river? Who is making such a scene?" Hwa-Wol asked rather calmly as she began to pull me away from the crowd as soon as everyone's heads were turned to watch Attendant Choi being forced to drink the nightmare remedy that i gave her whilst i was having a hard time hiding my tears. But i still held back and watched upon how Seo Yeon would tackle another situation that was thrown at her with such grace that everyone would be in awe of her, and forget the original purpose of the banquet altogether.
"...Who said that His Majesty will not come to see me! It is all because of you Bitches that keeps currying favour with Concubine Park to undermine me! Here! You want me to drink from this boiling pot! Then i will make you drink this with me….!"
"How dare you hit the body of The Third Prince!" "my Prince! Please forgive me!" "I thought that you were ill, Attendant Choi! But you dare to waste my reprieve like this!" "I…i really am sick..." "And how dare you beat my servants like this!" "I...i was just disciplining the servants that dared to offend me...." "Offend who? A mere Attendant in the palace? Who is useless in bearing me sons?" "Husband, it is clear that she is beating a servant that i sent to Seo Yeon's residence quite some time ago for obvious reasons. For example; she sent the ill-fated dress to her and then to her closest friend in the palace to sow discord between them, how do you wish for me to handle this wench for you?" "It seems that i am to punish her myself this time, maybe then she will take it seriously. She has absolutely no compassion at all, which defies the purpose of being a concubine at all. It is clear that she has no regard for me as her husband at all, so…."
"Your Highness! it has been reported that General Choi has formed a faction that has undermined the authority of our sovereign!" "Is that so? very well, it looks like i can finally grant Attendant Choi options for suicide at a date that i shall set myself soon."
******************
"My brother, my dear brother, just what is he thinking of? My brother to told me that this Prince despised pink and yellow on women, so i wore them for the concubine selection. But he lied to me so that i could enter the harem; to become his little spy and climb high in society, higher than Seo Geom and his family. i had to go up against his daughter without any help at all, and now my family has met its end in retribution. My family wrote of his life and now his daughter has just done the very same to me…"