The Emperor hardly looked in my direction as he did before, anti indeed sounded like he was sick hearing my voice in the palace now. Myself and my husband at least had finally reached the point where we had almost outstayed our place in the palace. Who knows what would happen to my husband upon his return? No, I couldn't let him return to the palace at all, no matter what glory awaited him for catching The Third Prince who was still raising havoc amongst the officials that he lived with. And i needed to give him a sign to make him aware of this; my husband and brother both refused to tell their wives where they were, only my brother's men knew where they were and they were also under strict orders to not divulge that information to us. I had no right to stop my brother as he was safe from the collusions in the palace, but my husband…he needed to come home and he needed to do it now before my due date…
"What are these servants doing here outside the palace?" "My Lady, these are homeless or orphaned servants who are continuing their service in the palace, despite their old age. It is the job of The Internal Bureau to handle them all." "…Head Eunuch! How comes those who bribed yogurt offered positions in the palace, and the rest of us are delegated to hard labour? Isn't it bad enough that we are all poor and cannot decide our fates here? This is so unreasonable, especially in the palace!" "Let me tell you that even in the palace, wealth rules all. If you do not have it, then there is nothing that I can do for you. So step aside and accept your fate or you can walk out of here for all I care! Move along now!" "Servant! Please stop that eunuch from beating that servant and bring her over to me. Send that man to be whipped 40 times before dismissing him from his office since he is so openly complicit in bribery! And in the palace of all places…" "My Lady, what do you plan to do to her?" "I plan on putting her in the employment of the concubine The Crown Prince, just to make sure that he is safe and well taken care of now. His family will need all of the help that they can get and I cannot feel at ease until they are…" "My Lady? What is the matter?" "My belly…my children…no, please, I cannot give birth here in the palace. I need to quickly get my task over and done with so that I could go home with Jeong Beom since HwaWol and her husband had been away from their children for far too long and they needed to get back quickly. "Servant, please take me to the elderly concubines residence so that I can do my work over there, ad please pack up my t things immediately. Hopefully, my work should be done tonight and I can leave as soon as possible." "Yes My Lady."
"Madame Nam, we have not seen you for a while! What a pleasant surpriser this is! And what a swollen belly you have! Please sit down at once, and tell us what brings you here?" "I have some work to do in the palace that shall only take a few hours, and then I shall be on my way home to my husband where he is surely waiting for me. Will. You allow me to get some writing done here and keep you as my company? I really do not wish to be alone right now…" "My goodness, you look as though you are ready to go into labour ant minute now? What sort of senseless adults would make you work at a time like this? Servants! Serve her some water and some nourishing refreshments! Also reward her some Shu Brocade for her hard work and dedication towards this kingdom!" "I thank your graces for your kindness you have shown to me…" "Forget it girl, the daughter of Seo Geom is worth this much and so much more. Your parents, bless them, would have been extremely proud of their children for all of their achievements now and even in your marriages. Seo Geom should be running around with his grandchildren now instead of…well, be seated and we shall fetch you some ink and paper for your work. You have the quiet and gentle demur of your mother when you work , so we shall not disturb you."
"…make up a list of potential spouses according to a strict list of requirements for a marital partner according to their rank, list the rewards according to the new traditions of the Joseann Dynasty…list the promotions to force officials to take the matter seriously. We can also send scholars, particularly historical ones to both punish and record the officials for their mistakes if any are committed during this process to reduce the risk of future disasters…and upon the verified reports, the officials shall draw out punishments and team up with the Inspector General office so that they can get easier promotions I guess…anyone who intercepts reports pertaining to this matter shall be regarded as accomplices and are subject to arrest…with or without a warrant, I have no idea yet but I shall leave that in the hands of the appropriate office…they should also differentiate between those who covertly and openly embezzle funds…"
"My Ladies! Have you heard the news! Everyone in the palace is talking about it!" "Calm down servants and explain everything to us properly! Do not loose your decorum like a bunch headless chickens!" "The Crown Prince! In a bid of desperation, he went after one of his father's newsiest concubines and violated her reputation…amongst other things! He was rebelling his father's decree to have him move out and demoted to a mere Prince once again!" "Goodness gracious me, the whole family has practically ruined themselves in only a matter of days if this is true!" "Not only did he do that, he actually defended his position by asking his father to forgive him and his brothers on account of familial ties!"
"His uncles? The ones that were taken down along with The Fifth Prince? But on what grounds could he have possibly done that?" "One of the maids overheard him him beg for this on the grounds of being pushed for minor mistakes. Isn't he challenging The Emperor that way?" "The former Crown Prince must have eluded to all of this as saving his father's reputation of being merciful in his old ago, what other argument could come about for such a sensitive topic?" "How did yo know My Lady? That was exactly what he said! Something about rumours prevailing about kin killing kin over mistakes that were actually disguised motives to get rid of the competition, more or less." "So what was the result of it all?" "Not only has he been kicked out of the Imperial Genealogy, but this particular son has been named as the son of his uncles instead, obliterating any hope he has to return to the palace and take back 'his rightful title as the Crown Prince'…My Lady? What is the matter?" "The abolishment of The Crown Prince…that is something that could make The Third Prince return back to the kingdom and take over that title…" "…he was accused of being unfilial to the kingdom, an embarrassment to The Emperor himself and being unfit to rule in his father's place in the future. He was also accused of closely watching over his fathers mistakes in an eager anticipation to replace him as soon as possible…he has joined those who would defame his father for any amount of attention…he has been stripped of everything and now has nothing to support himself or his family with. He may even have to live as a commoner and find some work, but he has been excessively spoilt since his youth and has never gotten his hands dirty, not figuratively anyways. He has been accused of treason, who shall help him now? Oh, by the way Madame Nam, his mother has been requesting you to visit her in her quarters as soon as possible. The Emperor no longer wishes to hear any news about her, but she is making everyone's lives a living hell already…." "No I simply cannot see her now, not in my condition. Her requests will simply have to wait until I have given birth and…" "Forgive me My Lady, but this is absolutely her last dying wish, she really does need the company after what happened to her daughter…" "The Princess? What happened to her? What is going on?" "Haven't you heard? The Princess…she met with an accident on the way from her quiet wedding procession."
"An accident? What accident?" "It seems as though her carriage got loose somehow, and it was dragged off of a cliff…" "Dragged off of a cliff? What do you mean? How could the carriage be loose in the first place?" "My Lady, I really do nor have many details to tell you." "Did they not find anything at the scene?" "I think…I could have sworn that I heard someone say something about finding bluebell flowers around the cliff…but that is not possible since it is a dry piece of land and there is no sign of vegetation around the place, not even a single patch of grass or weeds…My Lady? Are you feeling ok? Are you having contractions? Quickly! Someone help me here! We need to get The Madame Nam back to her quarters and summon the Imperial Physician!" "No! Please! Please take me home! I need MoonBok and HwaWol! And Jeong Boem! Please! I cannot be here! I…" Bluebells, the flowers; even amidst my panic, I could suddenly smell them all around me. Bluebells, they were my husband's mother's favourite flowers and the reason why my husband preferred to wear blue in everything he wore, even if his pride and trauma restrained him from remembering her too much. Bluebells were all over the scene of the crime ad bluebells were now in my line of sight as I had an entire team of servants holding me back and trying to control me. My husband, after so many months, my husband was here. He was finally home and he was even closer to me than I had imagined him to be without warning me, so why wasn't he showing himself to me? Why did he do what he did to The Princess? How could he have possibly have known about all of the things that she had put me through? And why was he in the palace now? Was he…if he had harmed the former Crown Prince's sister, then was he going to try come after him also? Us Nam's had been too closely involved with many downfalls so now…was he trying to eliminate them all? But why? Wouldn't that cast too much suspicion onto us? Unless…he was really serious about cutting ties with palace? And The Royal Family? But why do it this way? Why endanger his family like this! And why won't he see me? Doesn't he have any idea how much I have missed him? Craved him? Longed for him? How much his own children tormented me with their endless kicking in his absence? Why was he also tormenting me like this? What had I done wrong? Was he angry at me for coming into the palace without him? Di the no longer trust me? I didn't have a clue about his feelings since now his hostility with The Third Prince would have come to an end, so he may be a little…fierce and aggravated right now…
"My Lady? My Lady! Madame Nam! Please wake up! For the sake of your child…" "I told you that I would find my way back to you wife. I am here now, I have returned to your side and I have no intentions of leaving whatsoever…"