"Just look at her hands; they are covered in some sort of coloured powder that smells quite familiar to me…" "Madame Nam! Just who do you think you are to question my servants like this! They have an ever higher ranking than you do you lowly piece of…" "Enough of this! Let us have your servant questioned and escort our guests to the banquet hall where your father's gift is and…" "My Lady! Please forgive me, but it has been ruined! The creature that your daughter keeps in her chambers seems to have escaped and terrorised some of the guests inside and ruined the plates of food that our chef has been working on all week long and…! "Mother! It isn't true! Not any word of what the slowly maid has said is true at all! Where is the proof otherwise!" "What on earth shall I do with such a useless daughter such as yourself! You have brought me more shame than anyone previous dynasty has had to suffer! Servants! Send her to her quarters and keep here there until the guests have all left! My goodness, how on earth shall we sort out this mess now! I am far too embarrassed to even face The Emperor myself…" "My Lady, we have news from the home of The Senior Scholar; his youngest son has died and his wife if full of grief. But there was something that the physician had discovered upon examining the medicinal herbs of both the mother and the son…and I am afraid that The Princess maybe involved in this issue…" "My Lady; The Process sends a gift to The Madame Nam to make up for her mistake…" "Goodness, I haven't sent her away for more than 5 minutes and yet she is already giving me such a headache…" "Forgive my interference My Lady, but I believe we should take this matter inside as to not embarrass ourselves any further." "Yes…forgive me, I seem to have lost my head in the heat of the moment…let us all retire to my chambers since this banquet is already ruined…" "My Lady, The Emperor wishes to see you about the issue of the banquet…he is quite furious about it…." "Very well, show these ladies into my chambers and have them wait on me, I shall not believe that I should be long…"
Myself and my companion were on our way to The Crown Prince's mothers quarters without an escort, when we were unceremoniously pulled to the side once we had arrived by The Princess and an entire team of servants who surrounded us as soon as possible. It was only for the sake of my-swollen belly that I was allowed to sit down, whereas my companion was unfortunately not given the same favourable treatment. I had never intended on being such a cruel person that lay people to waste, but even I knew The Princess had began to target such a noblewomen due to her previous close ties to the wife of The Senior Scholar and now all of their associates were being targeted to put pressure on his to uncover the whereabouts of The Third Prince, not knowing that my husband had 'disappeared' on his own to track him down before anyone else. The Emperor must certainly be in a panic now and this self-entered Princess is showing her true colours at the worst timing. But didn't she say that she was targeting myself and my village to vent her rage upon us and for the sake of the exile of The Third Prince? And in order to prove that, I did need to sacrifice someone in order to expose her deeds and the whereabouts of The Third Prince sooner…my goodness, I had never felt more like my husband as I did in this moment, ruthlessly planning and scheming even during my pregnancy…forgive me my babies, I will surely find a way to make this up for you and pamper you soon…
"…why does your appearance here in my mother's chambers remind me of the times where you sung for her to entertain her. I even have a vague memory of you wiping her clothes clean with your bare hands when you accidentally spilled tea on her brand new robes back then." "Princess…I hardly know what you are talking about…" "Is that so? Are you calling me a liar then you would even massage her before your marriage and afterwards well…you just seemed to cry favour with the other women of nobility in the kingdom. You simply forgot all about us, didn't you?" "No I didn't! My husband always has your family on the top of his list as vip clients for his products! I invite you to all our celebrations, so how could I have forgotten you in the slightest? Please tell me what it is that I have done wrong to make you angry at me like this? When have I ever disregarded you?" "I simply about your bouncing around to curry favour with whoever and giving no regard to the family who fed you well and even gave you your pick of husband, despite everything we had to do to convince him to marry you…"
"But I…" "Enough! First you will clean up the mud you have sprayed on my shoes and then you will play me a little instrument whilst we all wait upon my mother's return! Well? What are you waiting for? Go on and clean my shoes in front of me! It is what you are used to doing, so why are you acting so different now?" "I am not someone who dares to be ungrateful of old relations for future gains. I was not originally from a wealthy or glorious clan, and I have suffered lot without help from anyone but yourself…" 'And betrayal? You forced a good man to give up the woman he loved just to marry you. It is rather common though in this kingdom; look at how many men fell in love with the wife of Seo Geom when she was a kisaeng whore and how many have dissolved into miserable marriages just because they couldn't have her…doesn't that also include The Senior Scholar himself? Your old friend?" What on earth was this now? Wa the entire kingdom in love with my mother, so much so that they all plotted to kill her if they couldn't have her for themselves? And what about my father? What was his role in all of this? Why would someone as intelligent as him keep my mother in the same area where she was thrown into a brothel for years? Unless he didn't have choice due to becoming a teacher to The Royal Family…
"…must depend o myself to carve out a better future for myself…" "Here, why don't you take a drink before you sing for us?" "But Princess, you know that singers cannot drink anything mere minutes before they're performances!" "Are you really going against my orders then? Here, you can kneel whilst singing to all of us; I believe that is the least you can do after your newest promotion, isn't it? Because according to my memory, you never came back to the palace to thank my family for such a thing, isn't that so? And as for The Madame Nam here, let me present my gift to you…" "Forgive me Princess, but there is no need for gift giving, especially in dark times like these…" "Dark times? What dark times? What are you talking about?" "Princess, you may be unaware of the tragic event that happened today, but…" "Here is The Shu Brocade dress with eventide flowers embroidered on it. The shoes have soles made out of a famous variety of lantian jade which will keep your feet warm and they are…." "///filled with assorted spices. The tips of the shoes are adorned with hep pearls, and the rubber fabric is made from she brocade with gold embroidery. It takes approximately 3 months to produce exactly the right amount to cover the shoes alone. So why on earth would you part with such an expensive gift for someone who is inferior to your status, Princess?" "I am giving this to you as a gift to makeup for all of the trouble that I have caused you…." "Only after I presume you have poisoned everyone's ears about me demanding this gift from you, even though I am heavily pregnant and will be unable to wear such as expensive item for more than a year? I am not a young girl that can get away with wearing such a colourful outfit anyways, despite it's exquisite craftsmanship and elegant colours." "Are you rejecting my gift idea, Seo Yeon?" "I am rejecting a gift that I had already been given by my husband; and due to my husband's priests words about me clashing with the shy this year and that is why I have to wear more modest clothing, especially during my pregnancy. Unless you would force me to harm my own child just to comply with your wishes?" "I believe that my blessings shall protect you from all harm…" "and I believe that the priests shall not agree with you, of course, unless you pay them to…"
"DID I TELL YOU TO STOP SINGING! AND YOU! You lowly bitch! Who is your bastard child compared to me! Why will you not submit to me, no matter what I do!" "Who is my child compared to you?my child is the grandson of the greatest swordsman of our era and someone who went out o their way to defend their nation with their sword, and you? Who are you but someone who was born into riches and wealth and is too stupid to know what to do with them? It is because of your impulsive nature that you brought an entire clan down to its knees! How can you flaunt your position as a Princess around and yet you forget your position when you have ruined an entire family! And do you know what the worst of it all is yet? Your predictability." "What are you…" "Here; you left this voodoo doll under the tree in my courtyard this morning before you made your little trip to my companions home today and killed her maid right in front of her. There are 2 people dead today, and as a Princess, all you can think about is gifting me expensive gifts and setting up traps for me that you have barely been able to cover yourself? You were going to frame me for witchcraft and kill myself and my child, but you forgot one major detail in this plan; this doll is clearly brand new whereas your incident took place about 2 months ago, isn't that right? Winter has passed, and this little figurine isn't even soaked from the snow from any angle at all?"
"You…how did you figure it all out? I didn't do any of the things! I am a Princess! I need not fight for favour!" "Whilst having a brother, a woman is merely an embellishment on top of a brocade, and without him, a woman is less important than charcoal that gets passed around outside with the snow to cool it down. It is only better than nothing; which is exactly why nobody can love you, not even your own mother! My mother didn't hesitate to give her life for me and I can assure you that I have not lived in vain. How about you? Doesn't your mother abandon you every single chance that she gets? She doesn't honour you, she doesn't protect you at all, she just endures you! Not even a baby that you can barely protect will bond you with a husband who has never wanted you!" "Enough of this! All I have done was to protect my own family and it's bloodline! Its honour and glory! And I will not have some pregnant and hormonal lowlife tell me what to do with my own life! Why don't I grant you this special drink instead as a token of my offerings!" "I am not afraid of you Princess, and I shall never submit to any of your biddings! Even The Emperor holds me to high esteem, do you really dare to set your guards upon me in my current state?"