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Chapter 41 – Physical Evidence
Between Bogyeongdang and Jaedeokdang stood Taehwadang
Taehwadang was usually the place where Sukbin handled important matters.
As Yonghui stepped inside, she was breathing heavily.
She had seized an opportunity and run all the way from Chwiseondang to Changdeokgung without stopping.
“So you’ve come to see me at this hour. It seems you’ve brought quite important news. Haven’t you?”
Though her tone was dry, there was a barb hidden within her words.
She was criticizing Yonghui for coming in broad daylight, when it was easy for others to notice.
Fear surged through her, but Yonghui gathered her courage.
“Sukbin-jaga. I… I have come… with evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“Physical evidence.”
A faint spark of interest appeared in Sukbin’s otherwise indifferent eyes.
“Physical evidence, you say. Let me see it.”
Forcing her trembling hands to steady themselves, Yonghui pulled out an object she had hidden inside her jeogori.
A doll.
An ugly doll made of straw.
It was the object Hwang Bongbong called by the bizarre name “Boomboomi.”
But Yonghui knew its original purpose.
This was something shamans used when placing curses on people.
Born and raised in a household where rituals and sorcery were common, Yonghui had recognized the doll’s true nature the moment she saw it in Bongbong’s hands.
“This is a curse doll. It’s something shamans use to harm people. I found it on the western side of Chwiseondang.”
It was a complete lie.
Yonghui had searched Bongbong’s room and stolen it from inside a cabinet.
The truth was unimportant to Yonghui.
What mattered was that she had been pushed to the edge of a cliff.
Every few days, Sukbin sent Court Lady Chu to pressure her into finding evidence.
She had even threatened to send Yonghui to a brutal workplace if she failed to produce anything useful.
Then Hwang Bongbong had appeared.
And Bongbong had said those things.
Go find Court Lady Han immediately and reveal the truth.
A spy maid would disappear without a trace.
If she refused to confess, Bongbong would “do what needed to be done.”
The sight of that tiny four-year-old child making threats had been strangely intimidating.
Yonghui’s anxiety reached its limit.
She could not find the evidence Sukbin wanted.
Yet she lacked the courage to reveal the truth.
So she made another choice.
She would steal this grotesque doll and bring it to Sukbin.
“This is the evidence. You told me to keep a close watch on Sukjeong, didn’t you? I found it after Sukjeong visited.”
“You found it after Sukjeong visited?”
“Yes. It’s true, Jaga.”
Sukbin lifted the curse doll with her fingertips.
…She had already seen this object before.
Not in Sukjeong’s possession, but in the hands of the little maid Hwang Bongbong.
Its origin was irrelevant.
“If this truly is evidence, as you claim, then you personally witnessed Sukjeong bringing it here with your own eyes?”
“Ah? Uh… yes.”
“Then Court Lady Han must also know that Sukjeong brought it.”
“Uh…”
“Of course she would. Nothing that happens in Chwiseondang escapes Court Lady Han’s hands.”
“Yes. Th-that’s right.”
“And if Court Lady Han knows about it, then naturally Huibin knows as well. Isn’t that so?”
Gulp.
Yonghui swallowed hard.
But it was too late to backtrack.
Fearful that her lie might be exposed, she hurriedly pressed forward.
“Yes. Huibin also knows about it.”
At her answer, Sukbin nodded in satisfaction.
“I see. Yonghui, you’ve done something remarkable. To find such an important piece of evidence. Well done.”
It was the first time in her life that Sukbin had ever praised her.
Yonghui’s lips trembled with emotion.
“Is there anything else?”
Gathering her courage, Yonghui decided to speak about Hwang Bongbong.
“There is a four-year-old maid in the residence…”
She recounted everything that had happened with Bongbong.
“That child threatened me, telling me to go to Court Lady Han and reveal the truth. But I didn’t budge.”
Carefully, she added,
“Because… I knew that Sukbin-jaga would trust me and protect me.”
“…”
An unreadable expression lingered on Sukbin’s face before a gentle smile appeared.
“You handled things well. I judged your character correctly. You truly are worthy of being one of my people.”
“I am deeply grateful, Sukbin-jaga!”
Yonghui bowed repeatedly, her face glowing with gratitude.
Sukbin’s lips still curved in a pleasant smile, but her eyes remained utterly cold.
Even if she was only ten years old, how could someone be this foolish?
She had been exposed by a mere four-year-old child and still expected mercy.
A four-year-old really said and did all that?
Frankly, it was hard to believe.
But the conclusion was obvious.
Someone had discovered her tail.
If that’s the case… then it must be cut off.
Just then, a maid hurried inside and whispered quietly enough that Yonghui could not hear.
“His Majesty is scheduled to visit Chwiseondang tonight.”
“…”
Sukbin’s expression turned frighteningly cold.
She immediately dismissed the maid.
Watching the increasingly anxious Yonghui, who seemed eager to leave, Sukbin took out a small silver coin.
“Yonghui.”
“Yes, Jaga?”
Personally taking Yonghui’s hand, Sukbin pressed the silver coin into her palm.
For a ten-year-old maid, it was more wealth than she had ever possessed in her entire life.
“Jaga! Thank you. I am truly—”
“Yonghui. Come closer.”
“Yes, Jaga.”
Sukbin leaned toward her ear.
The whispered words did not carry beyond them.
“Tonight… rat-fire play…”
Only one or two fragments could be heard.
By the time Sukbin finished speaking, Yonghui’s face had turned deathly pale.
“Can you do it?”
Sukbin stared directly at her.
Yonghui’s gaze shook uneasily.
Forgetting even that she stood before Sukbin, she bit her lip.
After a long moment of hesitation, she clenched the silver coin tightly.
“Yes. I-I will do it.”
Her voice trembling, Yonghui quietly left Taehwadang.
“…”
Left alone, Sukbin stared at the curse doll.
“…Evidence.”
At last, it had fallen into her hands.
A fake.
A subtle smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
Whether it was genuine or fake did not matter.
Truth was unimportant.
This object contained no truth.
But the story attached to it would become the truth.
“Jaga. This servant, Court Lady Chu, seeks an audience.”
“Come in.”
Court Lady Chu entered, looking unusually uneasy.
“Well… His Majesty is visiting Chwiseondang tonight…”
“I’ve heard.”
“Ah… then have you also heard about the rear garden?”
“The rear garden?”
Sukbin repeated.
Court Lady Chu carefully continued.
“The palace maids who went there earlier today witnessed His Majesty and Huibin together.”
“…Without the Crown Prince?”
“Yes. The atmosphere between them was very affectionate—”
It was a mistake.
Court Lady Chu hastily corrected herself.
“Huibin’s behavior was said to be extremely flirtatious.”
“…”
Sukbin’s expression hardened.
She received reports on every woman with whom the King spent the night.
Recently, the King had avoided women entirely.
His excuse had been exhaustion from heavy state affairs and an eye illness.
Yet a few days ago, he had visited Chwiseondang for the first time in six months.
That alone had been a tremendous threat.
And now they were even strolling through the rear garden together.
Had the flames of their romance reignited?
“Sukbin-jaga. I hear Huibin has recently been keeping a young maid close to her side. Apparently the child accompanied them to the rear garden today as well.”
“…A young maid?”
A young maid of Chwiseondang.
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over her.
She had heard and thought about that name several times today already.
“There are three young maids in Chwiseondang. Which one are you referring to?”
“The four-year-old Hwang maid. The child His Majesty occasionally summons. This servant has encountered her once before. For someone so young, she is unbelievably crafty.”
“…”
Sukbin fell into thought.
Four years old was absurdly young.
Yet Hwang Bongbong had seemed unusual from the moment they first met.
The reason Sukbin had passed along the instruction about the “full moon day” was to test the child.
Remarkably, the child had used that information as bait to threaten Yonghui.
And…
A child under His Majesty’s protection.
…And the very child who had possessed this grotesque doll from the beginning.
After Huibin started keeping that child close, she gained opportunities to interact with His Majesty…?
Sukbin stared silently at the curse doll before her.
Should she investigate further?
No.
Was there really any need to waste such effort?
If it was an ominous sprout…
If it was a cunning little girl already trying to sit above others at the age of four…
Then before she became five, six, ten, or twenty years old…
Wouldn’t it be better to cut that sprout down before it could grow?
