The horse carriage traveled from the palace to Taehyung's manor.
Inside the horse carriage, Seorin poked Taehyung's arm. "Orabeoni, why didn't you let me visit Consort Jung's chamber?"
"Why do you want to go there?" Taehyung asked. "Aren't you scared of her dull company?"
Of course, Seorin didn't believe Taehyung's excuse.
Taehyung hugged Seorin. "Little tigress, in the future when we're summoned to the palace stay away from Consort Jung unless it's necessary to talk her."
"Why?" Seorin asked.
"I'm scared you'll be fooled by her," Taehyung said.
Seorin suppressed her temper. "Fifth prince, is there anything else?"
"Of course," Taehyung said. "You can't impulsively eat, believe, and bully other people. Mainly eat more and speak less. You only need to laugh and act foolish... wait, you don't need to act foolish, being yourself is enough."
Taehyung gently knocked on Seorin's head. She caught his hand and bit him. Her heart remembered his advice clearly, it knew behind the teasing tone was a deeper meaning.
After they returned to Taehyung's manor, Seorin wanted to rest in their chamber but he stopped her.
"Wait, I want you to meet someone in the manor," Taehyung said.
Seorin was suspicious of who Taehyung wanted her to meet. But she kept quiet because he looked serious.
Taehyung's manor was located north of the palace. There was an artificial lake, beautiful gardens, and elegant chambers.
Taehyung led Seorin through the gardens. They stopped in front of a secluded chamber at the back of the manor. She could smell many herbal scents even before the door was opened.
Taehyung looked at a young man dressed in black clothes and who carried bottles of remedies.
"This is Min Yoongi, the manor's physician," Taehyung said.
"Orabeoni, why do you want me to meet the physician?" Seorin asked.
Taehyung laughed. "He's a physician and also my friend."
Seorin understood Taehyung wouldn't call someone a friend lightly. She didn't know why Taehyung wanted her to meet Yoongi but she silently assessed Yoongi.
Yoongi looked like he is about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, tall, pale, wore black clothes, quiet, cold, and distant. Seorin felt like Yoongi wasn't someone easy to be close to. She was surprised Taehyung was able to befriend someone like Yoongi.
"Do you wear perfume?" Yoongi asked coldly.
"No," Seorin said.
"Then what's the perfume scent on your body?" Yoongi asked.
Seorin shook her head, she honestly didn't wear perfume.
"Recently have you been burning incense sticks?" Yoongi asked.
"Yes, at the Park Manor," Seorin said.
"For how long?" Yoongi asked.
"Almost one month," Seorin said.
"Where did you get the incense sticks?" Yoongi asked.
"My little sister gave them to me," Seorin said. "She said it was a gift from the palace. She showed me two kinds of incense sticks. One had a strong scent and the other had a faint scent. I chose the faint scene. Is there something wrong with them?"
"Nothing," Yoongi said. "You don't suit the scent."
Yoongi tossed Seorin one of the bottles he was carrying in his pouch and he walked calmly into the chamber.
Seorin felt Yoongi was a strange young man who asked strange questions then abruptly became silent again. She looked at Taehyung and her confused eyes asked him what had happened.
Taehyung is really upset with Yoongi. He asked Yoongi to subtly ask Seorin about the incense sticks, he didn't expect Yoongi would ask directly.
Taehyung escorted a confused Seorin to their chamber and quickly returned to Yoongi 's chamber.
"I asked you to be subtle but you asked my wifey directly," Taehyung said. "What if she suspects something?"
"I don't have a habit of being subtle," Yoongi said.
Taehyung rubbed his temples. "When I gave you the incense sticks you told me I couldn't consummate our marriage on our wedding night. Why?"
On the morning of Taehyung and Seorin's wedding day, he woke a sleeping Yoongi up whose eyes were trying to make a hole in his head and gave him the incense sticks to examine. In the past, he had tried to give descriptions to Yoongi about the missing incense sticks, but Yoongi couldn't identify the poison without examining the incense sticks. So when the incense sticks reappeared in Seorin's chamber the first person he wanted to show was Yoongi.
Yoongi only sniffed the incense sticks and gave Taehyung vague advice, "these incense sticks are poison. You can't consummate your marriage on your wedding night."
Taehyung continued to rub his temples while Yoongi explained about the poison.
"Seven poisons were used to make these incense sticks," Yoongi said. "One of the seven poisons is called blue lotus seed poison. It is naturally found in areas near Western Gwangju. Blue lotus is rare and not easy to pluck. After it's grown for ten years the flowers will bloom. Then ten years later it'll bear an actual blue lotus. Blue lotus smell similar to jasmine. It's hard for those who aren't physicians to distinguish between blue lotus scent and jasmine. If a person sniffs the scent of blue lotus then they'll feel relaxed. But if they sniff it continuously for months and years then their body will be poisoned. The poison will linger in their blood and they won't escape death. But the poison only affects women, especially pregnant women. Women who are affected die within a year, pregnant women will die within three months."
Taehyung's whole body turned cold. The symptoms Yoongi explained to him were exactly what had happened to his adoptive mother, Consort Lee. Before she was pregnant she was healthy but three months after she was pregnant she was weak and lost weight. What curse? Someone killed Consort Lee.
Yoongi noticed Taehyung's clenched hands, but he didn't offer any comforting words and continued to explain the other symptoms. "A woman who is poisoned by blue lotus seed poison can't sleep with a man. The effect of the poison will be double then. If she becomes pregnant then both she and the unborn child can't escape death."
"Then what's going to happen?" Taehyung asked worriedly.
"Lucky she didn't sniff the poison for a long period," Yoongi said. "Her body will slowly release the poison. Combined with the cure, she'll recover faster, less than half a month."
"Where is the cure?" Taehyung asked.
"I gave it to your wife," Yoongi said.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Taehyung asked. "When I brought my wifey back to our chamber, she didn't like the stench of the herbs in the bottle you gave her. Luckily I explained to her that you wouldn't give someone something for no reason otherwise she would have thrown it away.'
"It's not a problem even if she throws it away," Yoongi said. "The cure is easy to make."
"But Hyung, you know na! I'm a man, I also have some needs, and besides that, consummation after the marriage is also a necessary ritual, what am I going to do in this half a month?" Taehyung asked. "Do you have a solution?"
"Yes," Yoongi said.
"What's the solution?" Taehyung asked
"Castration," Yoongi said with a straight face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taehyung's throat constricted.
"Do you need to investigate this?" Yoongi asked.
"Yes, someone killed Consort Lee because they didn't want her child to be born," Taehyung said. "Behind her is Lee Jonghyeok and her other relatives. They feared for her life after she adopted me, especially when she was pregnant. The person who used the blue lotus seed poison to kill Consort Lee and her unborn child, also make a great plan to leave me unprotected. Destroying the roots by using one arrow to kill three birds is indeed a brilliant scheme."
"The empress has always been a cruel schemer," Yoongi said.
"But I don't know why they would poison Seorin," Taehyung said.
Initially, Taehyung thought Princess Ji Hoon hated Seorin and wanted to kill Seorin. But Seorin said that she received the incense sticks less than a month ago. If Princess Ji Hoon truly wanted to kill Seorin then Princess Ji Hoon would have begun to poison Seorin the moment she arrived at the Park Manor instead of waiting for two years.
"This scheme also uses one arrow to kill two birds," Yoongi said. "The empress doesn't want you to have children and Princess Ji Hoon wants to kill your wife. If your wife dies in the Park Manor, people would be suspicious. But if she dies in your manor, no one would suspect them."
Taehyung's father had three adult sons including himself. Apart from the third prince's daughter who was two years old, his other adult brothers didn't have children. The court officials were concerned about future successions. If one of his father's sons gave his father the first grandson then it would affect which prince the court officials would support.
"I have never been involved in their battles for the throne yet they won't let me be," Taehyung said.
"Then why don't you battle?" Yoongi asked. "You suit the throne more than them."
"Yoongi hyung, you don't need to keep persuading me to change my plan," Taehyung said. "I know you want to avenge your family. When there is the right opportunity I'll help you avenge your family. But now isn't the right opportunity, you need to be patient and not do anything reckless. Also, I want to remind you that I only want to be a carefree, happy-go-lucky prince."
Taehyung strode out of Yoongi's chamber. Yoongi glanced at Taehyung's back and he felt a little disappointed.
Yoongi remembered his promise to Taehyung five years ago.
"I can save you but you need to promise me not to recklessly avenge your family," Taehyung said.
Yoongi promised Taehyung to stay alive. He followed Taehyung for five years and for five years he tried to persuade Taehyung to fight for the throne. But Taehyung's reply was always the same, "I have no desire to be emperor."
While Yoongi was wondering if Taehyung truly had no desire to be emperor, Taehyung was looking for Seorin.
Halfway to his and Seorin's chamber, he saw her hiding behind a fake rock mountain. He didn't know who she was spying on.
Earlier Seorin had changed into a comfortable dress then she took a stroll around the gardens. But she didn't expect to accidentally see Chae Young pull a young maid between twelve and thirteen years old to a fake rock mountain.
"You, little witch, I'll gonna ruin your face," Chae Young threatened.
Seorin loved to watch lively performances. In the two years, she lived at the Park Manor she almost died of the Manor's dullness. Of course, she wouldn't let go of lively performance and secretly followed Chae Young and the young maid.
Seorin eavesdropped on Chae Young and the young maid and understood what happened between them. In the morning the young maid followed Taehyung's order and cooked chicken soup. Then in the afternoon Chae Young sneaked into the kitchen and ate a portion of the chicken soup. The young maid returned to the kitchen and caught Chae Young eating the chicken soup and scolded Chae Young that Taehyung said the chicken soup was for Seorin. Chae Young waited for no witnesses to bully the young maid for daring to scold Chae Young.
Chae Young cursed and hit the young maid. "The moment you saw the fifth prince's wife enter the manor, you want to gain his wife's favor. You're wasting your energy. She's only a poor unloved little girl inside the prime minister's manor. The fifth prince only married her because he was forced. What does it matter if I eat chicken soup? Do you think the prince would hit or curse me? Open your eyes wide or I'll force you to see properly!"
Chae Young slapped the young maid's cheek. Chae Young's fingernails were long and sharp. Seorin couldn't see clearly if Chae Young accidentally or purposely scratched the young maid's cheek, but a little blood dripped down the young maid's cheek. The young maid cried out in pain and tears flowed down her cheeks.
Chae Young wasn't satisfied enough and kicked the young maid's body until the young maid fell to the ground.
Chae Young left the young maid crying on the ground. After a while, the young maid struggled to get off the ground and left the fake rock mountain.
Seorin became shocked when she suddenly hear someone clear their voice from her behind and slipped and was surprised she fell back into Taehyung's chest instead of the hard ground.
"Orabeoni, what are you doing here?" Seorin asked.
"I came to see the live performance too," Taehyung said. "I thought you would ask for justice on behalf of the young maid."
Taehyung thought Seorin would jump into the fight and slap both of Chae Young's cheeks to avenge the young maid.
"I remember someone said Chae Young has a special background," Seorin said. "If I reprimand her then it would cause trouble for someone."
Taehyung was initially surprised Seorin held back in consideration of him. But he realized the Seorin he knew would think of a way to discreetly deal with Chae Young.