Chapitre 226: Chapter 223: The Set-Up 2 (Seoljeong)
"Your Highness? It has been brought to my notice that The Third Princess Consort's father's yangban is carrel undergoing some reconstruction as soon as the news of her promotion spread word…" "What promotion? What on earth are you talking about? Neither myself not my father has said anything about it at all?" "It has been recorded that she has asked to see the robes of The Imperial Noble Consort more than once, and it was even brought to her in front of all of your concubines during the morning meetings." "What on earth is going on? How could she have access to it when her duties and authority are limited to solving the plague crises? And I only reinstated her for that job temporarily since her family clan has survived this crises already in the past, I had no choice but to keep her to help our nation out with such a severe problem." Your father-in-law is already demolishing hundreds of neighbouring citizens home just to replicate the Imperial Gardens alone. It looks like he wants to renovate his residence to match his daughters to embellish his status…" "His status? What status? What status does he hold? I only temporarily brought back his daughter's authority and status, that wasn't meant to be extended to her family or her clan at all! Just what on earth am I supposed to say to my father when he asks me about this? Especially when he holds her family in such high regard when he married us against my wishes! Why is everyone around me suddenly overstepping their bounds of propriety?" "His extravagance is to exhibit his non-extant honour, and he actually had the nerve to makes hundreds homeless during a plague and that is not all." "Now what has that bastard done!" "Just like your step-mother before you, he called in all of the remaining palace physicians to treat his clan all night long and threatened them with their lives if they even thought abut returning to the palace before curfew…" "Before curfew? The very same curfew that his own daughter implemented during this plane? Is he really so eager to slap my face like this? Everything that I have planned this year has always become undone by the seams! By my own family! What should I do now? What should I…wait, what is that book on my desk? Who put it there and left it open like that?" "Your Highness, The ex-Mistress Han begged me to show you this book from your shelf, although I have no idea why…" "What is it? The Commentary of Zou? The Earl of Zhuang overcoming Duan in Yuan City? As I recall from this story, the mother wished to replace her eldest son with her youngest, Zhuang indulged Duan's wrongdoings for such a long time, provoking public anger over and over again…and it was Zhuang who created a smart enough reason to remove this obstacle once and for all. And here I am, receiving one memorandums after the other complaining about my father-in-law's obtrusively insolence manner time and time again…'the injustice that one does unto others will destroy oneself."
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"What are you saying? May father kept the physicians with him all night long? Pass curfew? And during the plague of all times! He has gone too far this time, how can he not know what a precious line I am treading on at the moment, especially after the miscarriage of The Mistress Seo? And what if something happened to my husband and he needed them? If my family clan's lives more precious than his! Send him a message to treat them all well before he personally escorts them back to the palace and ask my husband for forgiveness, before he vents his anger upon me once again!" "Your Highness, an Imperial Decree has just come forth from The Third Prince himself"! "Very well, let them all into my quarters! No, wait! Gather his concubines first so that they can all witness his glory before me!"
"At His Majesty's, The Third Prince's benevolent request; I hereby grant The Third Princess Consort the title of Noble Consort!" "Noble…Noble Consort? That is it? Not Imperial Noble Consort? Sir, is it posable that you have wrongly read this decree? Does my husband really just promote me to Noble Consort? After all of my efforts to combat the plague in the palace alone?" "I am afraid that there is nothing wrong with this decree at all, Your Highness, I have read it word to word as per my official duties." "But I was presented with the robes for the Imperial Noble Consort only this morning!" "Your Highness, you were only supposed t preview the details of the robe, since it is similar to that of your new title's robes that have just been presented to you at this very moment. It was only supposed to be used for reference purposes and it must have been sent to you by accident, so I shall need to retrieve it from your care." "Very well…return the robes…" "Your Highness, with such prestigious honour, do you really need to worry about being promoted to Imperial Noble Concubine? Yourself and your family has already accomplished many feats in service to The Royal Family, and you have your husband's favour when you were entrusted with the authority to handle this plague crises. Your Highness may have a justifiable promotion as soon as you bear your husband with a Royal Heir…" "You are right! There will be enough time to congratulate me after my nest promotion, now away with you! The concubines are dismissed! And bring me the servant who gave me those robes without a formal explanation! Right now!"
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"Noble Consort! She is now a Noble Consort! Your Highness, why on earth are you bestowing her even more power?" "It was you who gave me the idea to do this, wasn't it? And despite our sad past, no-one is more willing to speak to me about pros and cons so openly." "I showed you that book to reconsider and postpone the resumption of your wife's power…" 'the injustice that one does unto others will destroy oneself', I did this for a reason, including quieting down any gossip from eternal forces that can mess up my plans and maintain my own authority as well. It is more justifiable to confer her new title during a major festival anyways. The New Year will approach us soon, and everything shall work out with the right assistance, which I was only get if you prove yourself innocent from your crime, Han Hui-Jae." "I only need a single day to prove my innocence with that set-up, but I do know how to help you deal with your troublesome father-in-law." "Oh do you now?" "Just let me serve you until he arrives and let him stay with his daughter overnight, that is all that I need. But what can I expect in return?" "During the plague, I can only pull you up in rank and make you a lady-in-waiting, that is all for now." "Very well, it will have to do for now."
"Your Highness, please accept my apologies for what as transpired with the Imperial Physicians, I was ply worried about my wife and…and I wonder what new servant this is that dares to eavesdrop on her master's conversation? And a very pretty one at that, that his unknown to me?" "I certainly hope that you are not implying that you hold more personal information about me that you should, father-in-law? Especially when your daughter is so highly favoured at the moment?" "Forgive me, Your Highness, although my daughter is favoured, I hear that this is The Mistress Han who forget her place when serving her and used her own fairies to displease my daughter. I hope that there are no further conflicts to tear apart such a loving couple, because I cannot let that go even if my son-in-law does. And I hope that I have made myself clear on that, isn't that right, servant?"
"So? What grand plans do you have now?" "You do not need to worry about that, but I need something from you to make this plan work." "What do you need from me?" "Your Highness, do you assess 'The Yi lan flower plant?"
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Later that day, I sought to collect some fresh flowers for these satchels that The Noble Princess Consort so desperately wanted me to make for her when I noticed her father following behind me rather late at night in a eunuch uniform of all things. But I didn't even give him the chance to approach me as I instantly ran towards The Third Prince's courtyard where he was having a chess game with his younger brothers. "Help me! Please, someone help me! Someome wants to kill me! Quickly! He has gone crazy! He is dressed up in a eunuch's robe to kill me! He disguised himself and sneaked into the inner palace well after curfew! He stalked me with evil intentions! He got discovered by me and he wants to silence me now!"
"Your Highness! Please do not listen to her! It was she who lured me away with her under false pretences! It is her who wants to kill me instead! She drugged me with that flower…." "Just what on earth is going on here? Hui-Jae?" "Your Highness, please forgive me! I was only picking out fresh flowers for satchels when this man pounced on me out of nowhere!" "Father-in-law? The palace gates are locked now, so how did you even get in here? And what on earth are you dressed as? A eunuch?" "Your Highness! I passed out after I called for her to serve me tea and when I woke up, I was already dressed like this! I promise you that I am telling the truth!" "Lair! You harboured evil intentions from the moment that you threatened me in my Master's office in front of him only this afternoon! And how did you even find me in the palace! How can a weak women like me that doesn't even possess the strength to strangle a chicken scheme cause this much trouble that is only directed at myself! Why would I destroy myself like that? And in front of a Royal audience? This is all too absurd!" "Enough of this! Men! Lock him up in our dungeons, and I will decide on his fate tomorrow, and that of his entire clan..and her daughter herself!"
Chapitre 227: Chapter 224: Entrapment (Hamjeong)
"By order of His Highness's oral decree; arrest the ex-Mistress Han and take her away for strict interrogation for the garments scandal! Once the culprit is convicted, she will be sentenced to death for committing such an act of murder of a babe that hasn't even taken his first breath yet!" "My Lord, i have already found the culprit and I am waiting on The Third highness's presence to hear my case out in the laundry area!" "Servant Han, you must not accuse just anyone to quit yourself of blame!' "How would I dare to do so in front of Their Majesties?" "You area already clung such a huge disturbance today already, I do hope that you know what you are doing, servant. If you fail to seek out the culprit today then you will have to take on double he punishment, do you accept this?" "Yes, I do, now please call upon them so that I may prove my innocence once and for all."
"Well? This had better be good servant Han, and keep it quick since I have other things to do." "Your Highness, I have already asked the Master Central Attendant for the evidence to look over it, and I have already found some clues that can clear my innocence." "Well?" "Before I explain it to you, I would like to ask your servants to examine the hands of these maids so as to not incriminate myself or have a chance to set anything up to prove my innocence. Because everyone in the Landry bureau is a suspect alongside myself since we deal with the garments here." "Servant Han! What sort of nonsense is this!" "And of course, the one who protests to this simple request is already the guilty one, because your hands have already betrayed you!" "That is impossible! Because I have no cracks on my nails at all!" "And how do you know what I am looking for since I haven't enticed cracks on nails yet? Well?" "I….just took a guess, what else can you expect to find when examining nails?" "How very clever of you, and there lies the issue in itself! You knew that I would check everyone's nails to prove my innocence, that is why you are the only lady out of 100 that has trimmed her nails just for today alone? Unless you can come up with another solution? You truly are so sharp-wilted that you are wasting your talents in becoming a maid alone, maybe you should have become a fortune teller instead."
"What are you talking about? How would I know anything?" "Because the servant who gave me the robe all noted who witnessed him doing so, and you were the only one who stood in his way and asked him what he was doing and where he was taking the robe. But it seemed to work out in my favour and it made the culprit panic, since they would naturally become the more curious party when it came to the evidence in question. I even made some loud commentary under the witness of my room-mates in my quarters about loose stitching caused by scratches on my robes which I know were not made by myself since I also have no cracks on my nails, and I haven't cut them either. I even loudly suggested that the culprit was nervous in making the poison or leaving it in my robes to frame me where she would surely overhear me. And due to every single person having nails that vary in strength and size, the cracks will also appear differently according to each person, mainly women who carry out domesticated chores. I also personally witnessed you having cracks on your nails just yesterday and now today they are all gone? Even an experienced coroner could have determined he strength and shape of the scratches on my work robes and the nails of the culprit at hand. And nobody can remain calm when their life is at stake of committing a crime."
"So, you knew the culprit would eavesdrop your conversation to find out information? And take precautions by cutting her nails?" "Your Highness, I just happened to find the time to groom myself yesterday, it doesn't prove anything at all! Isn't it a bit too far-fetch to accuse me of murder for griming myself according to palace standards?" "I have t agree with her, servant Han, it is to far-fetched without more solid proof."
"Very well, I knew that this would not be sufficient evidence, so I also discovered evidence on the poison pouch that was found on my robes." "What sort of evidence? I told you to make this quick, girl!" "The pouch itself has been made by the culprit, Your Highness; though the materials, stitching and common use of the material. Every one of my colleagues know that I am the worst sewer and embroidery girl here, and I would use common fabric to practise on, that is true. But this fabric is the same ones that are used to make our robes, and only the maker of our robes uses this fabric. Yesterday, the noble ladies sent over excess piles of their clothes, so they were only given to the maker of those robes, who also coincidently makes our robes, which is this lady next to me that I find suspicious of framing me for poisoning the shu brocade robes." "No! I do not…have that fabric anymore!" "Enough of this tedious business! Men! Search the entire bureau for that fabric! Quickly!"
"Wait! Please!" "What is it? What objections do you have now?" "Your Highness, forgive me, but I will be held responsible if anything happens to the expensive clothes that we still have to wash here…" "I shall take all responsibility for that, don't you worry, servant."
"Your Highness! We have found it exactly under hat servant's bed!" "And let me guess; it is silk yarn thread, which is thicker than most silk threads that we have in the palace and it is used t make repairs on the expensive clothes as well? Because nobody else in this bureau was entrusted to keep the silk yarn thread with them. Unless she herself wants to call this another coincidence?" "I have been framed! I have served here for so many years without an incident or punishment at all! How could I possibly harm anyone with it or cause a miscarriage! Please uphold justice for me!"
"But this fabric isn't the only indictor of her involvement; I especially asked some Imperial Guards to investigate this suspect for me with the temporary authority that you handed over to me and I just found even more clues. Such as; suddenly purchasing many assets in her hometown and lending her family more money than she should have." "Very well, send her away! Have her and her family flogged to death for such a hideous crime! Go! And as for you, servant Han; should I praise you for being intelligent and well-spoken? Or reprimand you for being cunning and crafty?" "When dealing with extreme means, extreme measures should be taken in return, Your Highness. Does this mean that this matter is finally closed and I can anticipate a promotion myself soon?" "Han Hui-Jae, you really never fail to disappoint me, you know. Men! Grab this girl and drag her to the dungeons for strict interrogation!"
"What! No! What are you doing! I just proved my innocence…!" "Yes you did, you proved everything except for one tiny detail. I never handed you over temporary authority to order around the Imperial Guards to go digging into people's backgrounds. I would never in my life give that power to a servant, no matter who they were before that." "What are you talking about? You were the one who sent me a note with this jade pass to ask them for help!" "Then you have been tricked, because I wrote no such note and I certainly could never conspire with a servant to mess with The Royal Imperial Guard system that I myself perfected and implicated." "But if I was set up then surely I am still innocent?" "You can be, as long as you tell me where this incident with the Imperial Guard took place, who you used and when?" "I did it two days ago at noon. Well? Can I go now?" "There are no Imperial Guards star tined anywhere near you at noon two days ago, since they were all helping distribute medical herbs to the palace residents, every single one of them." "No! Your wife's servant, she can testify for me!" "Very well, let us get this over with…"
"Two days ago at noon?' "Don't you remember handing me off instructions from your Mistress herself about which flowers to pick for the sachets? Think about it carefully, how can you lie about something like that? If you dare to tell me any lies, then you are committing treason!" "Servant Han, what n earth is going on with you? Why are you threatening me into giving you a false alibi? If you continue to lie for the rest f your life, then Buddha will strike you down with lightening! I was the one leading the Imperial Guards to distribute the medical herbs to each and every resident, they all saw me! How desperate do you have to be to come up with such a weak and pathetic lie like that?" "We met in the Imperial Garden at noon! Why are you lying!"
"The Imperial Garden? The one almost halfway across the palace? Laundry maids don't even get breaks around noon, and I was doing my work, so how could we have met at all? Unless you have the power t produce doppelgängers now? Do you really dare to lie in front of His Highness? It was his orders that we were following to distribute the medical herbs at that specific time anyways! He knows that I am not lying!" "Because I found the corpse of a dead maid in the well outside of The Fifth Prince's official residence and I took her clothes! That as how I was able to meet you remember? You even scolded me about wearing such robes that didn't suit my laundry role at all! Why are you still lying! I even fit in with the new batch of maids and blended in with them to see you!" "Well, what a huge disturbance this is turning out to be! You are n longer in your brothel where you can do as you please, Han Hui-Jae! What was the need to even change your robes that caused this terrible miscarriage amongst my people!"
"But I am innocent, I am telling you!" "Your Highness, I did do as servant Han is proclaiming, but it was done after her shift." "Han Hui-Jae, how dare you deceive me over and over again!" "it isn't so, Your Highness!" "Men! Call on the Imperial Guard that servant Han supposedly met with!" "Your Highness, such a man came forward this morning and already gave us a statement; the servant Han supposedly broke into his private quarters in an attempt to seduce and elope with this guard. He was so frightened the consequences that he came clean as soon as it happened." "No! This isn't true!" "Do you think that you can toy with me as you wish, just because I let you stay in the palace!" "No! This is misunderstanding!" "…for the sake of you once carrying an Imperial Heir, I shall only keep you in the dungeons for a year at first before administrating physical punishment. And to think you are the cause of the Princess's miscarriage…" "wait, what did you say? The Princess? Which Princess? What are you talking about?" "My illegitimate sister who was wed into a noble family in he village were Seo Hwi resides. He was unable to accept such expensive gift for his wife, so my sister saw the opportunity to take it from them. She is the one who miscarried, why? Did you think it was Kim Hyeon who miscarried instead? And why would you think that at all? Just like the mild you used to send them the Glinting Satin material, the dead one who was found in the well? Killing two birds with one stone? Hui-Jae, even as a servant, how does everything come back to you? How powerful are you here?"
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