***New Character Will Be Introduced in This Chapter***
After a nap, Seorin thought about the emperor's motives.
"Taehyung, I'm not certain the emperor poisoned me," Seorin said.
"Why?" Taehyung asked.
"I don't know what the emperor's motives to poison me are," Seorin said.
Taehyung's head and heart were muddled earlier. Seorin's logic reminded him that he forgot to think about his father's motives for poisoning Seorin.
Taehyung and Seorin's eyes shone at each other.
"Seorin, do you think it's that person too?" Taehyung asked.
Seorin nodded her head. "Perhaps that person used Princess Ji Hoon in hope of using her to kill me. Besides, Princess Ji Hoon didn't need to wait, she could have poisoned me the moment I arrived in Hanyang."
"In the past Yoongi hyung and I had the same thought like you," Taehyung said. "Then we thought perhaps she wanted you to die outside the Park Manor to deflect suspicions... but looking at the past now, perhaps that assumption is wrong."
Seorin's chest hurt while remembering how viciously Princess Ji Hoon stabbed her and she wondered if Princess Ji Hoon was still alive.
"That's right," Seorin said. "If Princess Ji Hoon wanted to kill me, she would have killed me at the Park Manor."
"Earlier like you," Taehyung said. "I thought it was imperial father. But now I think it's that person, she has a motive to kill you."
An image of the kind Consort Jung appeared in Seorin's head and she sighed. "Glancing at her, she seems like a kind person."
"Seorin, do you remember what I told you about Consort Lee?" Taehyung asked.
Seorin remembered Taehyung confided in her about how Consort Lee was poisoned by Blue Lotus Poison and she nodded her head.
"At that time I suspected there was something wrong about the fragrance of the incense sticks," Taehyung said. "So I hid them but later they disappeared. Thinking about it now, I think she found out I hid them and sent someone to retrieve the incense sticks. I think Consort Jung knows that I know the incense sticks were poisoned."
"That's why I think she wants to borrow a dagger to kill me," Seorin said.
"She and Third brother used Park Sang-Hee's fake pregnancy to oppose the empress and the crown prince," Taehyung said. "She would do anything to eliminate anyone who poses a threat to Hoseok hyung big or small."
"Taehyung, what should we do now?" Seorin asked.
Taehyung laid his hands on Seorin's stomach. "I need to ask someone to be certain who poisoned you. After I've confirmed it then I can plan what to do next."
"Who do you need to ask?" Seorin asked.
"The empress," Taehyung said.
"The empress?" Seorin asked. "If the Empress denies it then it's possible Consort Jung is the culprit. But if the empress did it, would she admit it to you?"
"I have a way to make the empress tell me the truth," Taehyung said.
"Taehyung, are you hiding anything else from me?" Seorin asked.
Seorin didn't think Consort Jung would be so cruel only to ensure Taehyung didn't have a child. She was worried if other people found out she was pregnant then something bad could happen to their child.
"I think it's not the right time for our child to be here," Seorin said.
"Seorin, do you know what Yoongi gave me after we got married?" Taehyung asked.
"What?" Seorin asked.
"A remedy to prevent pregnancy," Taehyung said.
"Why didn't you use it?" Seorin asked.
"If I can't protect my wife and child," Taehyung said. "Then I wasted more than twenty years of living."
Seorin didn't know why Taehyung's stern tone warmed her heart.
"Taehyung, do you want to be the emperor?" Seorin asked.
"Seorin, I want to see how you'll look like an empress and how you'll fool the world thinking you're a gentle empress," Taehyung said.
Seorin thought Taehyung was a capable man. If he truly wanted to be emperor then she would support him. But she didn't expect him to be amused at the thought of them being the emperor and the empress.
"Then I don't want to be the empress," Seorin said. "If I'm the empress, I'm not allowed to move around while others bow in front of me. Nothing is amusing about being the empress."
"Rinnie, if you'll be unhappy as the empress," Taehyung said. "Then I shall continue being a carefree prince."
Seorin was certain Taehyung didn't want to be the emperor and she thought it was a pity to waste his abilities. She was curious how he would look wearing an emperor's clothes and sitting on the throne. But an emperor had more than three thousand concubines. That thought soured her heart.
"Seorin, you're injured so it gives you an alibi to stay at home and make it easier for you to hide that you're pregnant," Taehyung said. "Throughout the year, I'll feed you and wait for our child to be born.
Seorin didn't show that Taehyung's words sweetened her heart.
"Taehyung, how are you going to deal with the empress?" Seorin asked.
"Seorin, do you want to know about Yoongi hyung's real identity?" Taehyung asked.
"Yes," Seorin said.
"Seorin, do you know about what happened to the Min Household in the south?" Taehyung asked.
"Min Household?" Seorin asked. "Are you talking about the Great Min Household that was convicted of treason, their properties were seized and they were killed a few years ago?"
Seorin was surprised when she heard how many horse carriages it took to carry all of the Min Household's properties to the palace.
"Yoongi hyung's real name is Min Yoongi, he was the most precious son of Min household who studied by living away from his house," Taehyung said. "He's the youngest son and the thirteenth generation of the Min Household. But because he was away for many years, without some faithful people most people doesn't know about his existence"
"Yoongi hyung didn't want to be a merchant like his father and ancestors," Taehyung said. "He likes learning about medicine. When every one of his family was assassinated, he witnessed the terror of that massacre and I saved him from the assassination attempt."
"Why did you save him?" Seorin asked.
"I met Yoongi hyung long ago," Taehyung said. "At that time I was asked to perform duties outside the palace and I was attacked by assassins. It was hyung who saved me. So when I knew about his family, I wanted to save his life."
"Did the Min Household really commit treason?" Seorin asked.
"What happened to the Min Household involves the empress," Taehyung said.
"If I didn't save Yoongi hyung's life then I wouldn't have known the empress secretly used the Min Household's support to secure the crown prince's position," Taehyung said.
"Then why was the Min Household framed?" Seorin asked.
"It was a complicated situation," Taehyung said. "The Min Household became too rich and powerful and imperial father became weary of the Min Household. The empress and her supporters found out about the emperor's plan to investigate the Min Household so they sent people to frame the Min Household to get rid of the evidence of their connection with the Min Household. But many court officials received bribes from the Min Household and those court officials were implicated too. Imperial father couldn't demote almost half of his court officials so he could only sacrifice the Min Household, and the empress escaped death by association with someone convicted of treason."
"Does that mean the empress betrayed the Min Household to protect themselves?" Seorin asked.
"That's right," Taehyung said. "Imperial father only wanted to take away the Min Household's properties. He didn't intend to kill them because he didn't want another rebel in the South. But the empress framing the Min Household meant imperial father couldn't spare anyone from the Min household... Seorin, I want to tell you a secret that I haven't told anyone before."
"What secret?" Seorin asked.
"Seorin apart from the emperor everyone else involved in this secret was killed," Taehyung said.
Seorin shivered.
"Seorin, my imperial grandfather intended for my Samchon (uncle) to be emperor," Taehyung said. "But my father's supporters able to change the name of imperial grandfather's intended heir to my imperial father's name."
"Is that true?" Seorin asked.
Taehyung rubbed his chin.
"Taehyung, the emperor sat on the throne before you were born," Seorin said. "How did you find out?"
"My Samchon cryptically told me when I was a boy," Taehyung said. "I didn't understand what his words meant until I became an adult."
Taehyung remembered how he had a close bond with his imperial uncle, Prince Kim Sang-Bum.
Prince Kim Sang-Bum was the person who led navy forces to protect the seaside of Southern Busan. But after Prince Kim Sang-Bum returned to the imperial city he behaved like a carefree prince so citizens of Hanyang would forget about his contribution.
Up until Taehyung was six years old, he was close to his imperial Samchon who always tossed him in the air and asked about his life each time his Samchon returned to the imperial city. In the past, he felt his Samchon was more of a father to him than his own father who never showed any affections toward him.
When Taehyung was six years old, Namjoon was crowned as crown prince. On the day of the crowning ceremony his Samchon pretended like he drank a lot of wine and carried him outside the palace, "Tae, your Samchon will take you horse riding."
Taehyung's Samchon held him tightly on a horse and his imperial Samchon rode as fast as the wind.
"Tae, your Samchon loves you," Prince Kim Sang-Bum said. "But your Samchon is powerless to help you. The crown prince is the elder son, he is becoming my hyung's heir. It's a pity, I thought I could see you become emperor. In the past if I could predict the future then I wouldn't pretend I didn't know my hyung, your father changed your imperial grandfather's edict... Tae, your father... still thinks I don't know. Yah! Your father has a rock head, with his handsome face. All these years he never intended to spare me. If I wanted to be emperor then I wouldn't have given up control over my navy forces. But why is your father this cruel toward me? Tae, in the future you need to act close with your father."
Taehyung was only a six-year-old boy, he didn't know if he misheard his Samchon's words while his imperial Samchon rode the horse fast as the wind. At that time he didn't understand his Samchon's words. His Samchon brought him back to the palace after he was tired from horse riding.
"Tae, sit here and wait for me, I'll come back," Prince Sang-Bum said. "I'm going to go ride my horse a little longer. In the past twelve years, I haven't ridden a horse this comfortably. Tae, wait for me to come back."
Taehyung always remembered his Samchon's words that day because it was the last day his Samchon was alive.
That day Taehyung waited a long time for his Samchon but he didn't see his Samchon return to the palace. He only saw imperial guards run into the palace, but he didn't know what happened. He only knew his Samchon never appeared in front of him since that day. A long time later, he asked Consort Lee about his imperial uncle. Consort Lee told him his Samchon drank too much wine and rode a horse but he was flung off the horse and his head hit a rock and his Samchon died.
Seorin held Taehyung's hand while he was crying and telling her about Prince Kim Sang-Bum.
"Years later I sent guards to investigate about my Samchon's life outside the imperial city," Taehyung said. "I didn't expect my Samchon's presence as a twenty-year-old man had a deep impact on the people of Southern Busan. There's a memorial in Southern Busan to honor him. When I arrived in Southern Busan, I stayed at a villa that my Samchon built. My Samchon was a good person... but my father.............."
Seorin wondered if Taehyung became emperor whether he would become ruthless like his father and kill anyone that was a threat.
"My Samchon's words helped warn me about my life in the palace," Taehyung said. "He said he was powerless to help me, but it was him who helped me with everything. He told me the truth about my environment for me to protect myself and be a step ahead of other people. Seorin, you said I understand my father. Of course, I need to understand him if I want to survive under his reign."
Taehyung thought it was a tragedy for a father and son to live their whole lives being wary of each other.
"I know my imperial father used many schemes to obtain the throne," Taehyung said. "Whoever was a threat to steal his throne would die a pitiful death. So he didn't hold a grudge against the crown prince after he found out the empress framed the Min Household. After my imperial father waited for the Southern Busan rebels to finally be subdued, he was disappointed the crown prince had no desire to be emperor."
Seorin shivered, the battles in the palace were scarier than the battles in the Park Manor.
"Taehyung, did the Min Household truly commit treason?" Seorin asked.
"No one knows for certain whether it's true or a lie," Taehyung said. "Yoongi hyung wasn't involved in his family's trade so he didn't know what happened. Like other people, he only knew all his family members were killed in front of his eyes. He's not certain if his family committed treason or if his family was the sacrifice to protect other people."
"Taehyung, how are you going to deal with the empress?" Seorin asked.
"If the empress didn't kill Consort Lee then I don't need to take revenge on the empress," Taehyung said. "But Yoongi hyung resents the empress deeply. If it wasn't the empress, the crown prince, and their supporters' betrayal then Yoongi hyung's family members wouldn't have died such pitiful deaths."
"Taehyung, are you saying that Yoongi Oppa will deal with the empress?" Seorin asked.
"Yes, I agreed with Yoongi hyung to let him deal with the empress," Taehyung said.
"What will he do?" Seorin asked.
"In a few days the crown prince will leave the imperial city, as he was not a crown prince anymore," Taehyung said. "Yoongi hyung will use that opportunity as the first step of his plan. Seorin, what are you thinking?"
"I'm worried about what will happen to you... if someone finds out about Yoongi Oppa's real identity then they'll report it to the emperor," Seorin said.
Seorin was scared she would lose Taehyung if the emperor found out Taehyung saved Yoongi's life.
"Seorin, don't worry," Taehyung said. "We'll use all our abilities to protect Yoongi hyung's real identity."
Taehyung and Seorin heard the sounds of a maid's footsteps running toward their chamber.
Taehyung got out of the bed and stood in front of the door. "What is it?"
"Fifth prince, earlier a messenger delivered the news that the Park Manor is on fire," the maid said.
Taehyung and Seorin looked concerned at each other.
That night the Park Manor was destroyed. No one from the Park Manor could be saved, other people could only stand at a distance and watch the Park Manor being burned.
Seorin's father's last words haunted her, "Seorin, go home..."
Seorin realized what her father's last words meant and she knew who lit the Park Manor on fire. Her father protected her by destroying the Park Manor.
Although Seorin didn't kill Park Sang-Hee, her father knew it would be hard for other people to believe she didn't kill Park Sang-Hee. If the witnesses at the Park Manor reported what happened that day to the emperor then the emperor wouldn't spare her, Taehyung, and everyone else in Taehyung's manor.
Seorin was uncertain about her feelings toward her father who neglected her for years. He was also the man that her mother wanted to forget but couldn't forget while her mother was alive. She resented her father for years but he used his life to compensate her.
Seorin's mother's death was avenged. Princess Ji Hoon, her father, Park Sang-Hee, and all the witnesses in the Park Manor were dead.
Seorin only had Taehyung left in the world. She couldn't predict the future but she could use all her abilities to protect themselves and those she cared about.