Joseon

JOSEON    PERIOD

(1392-1897)

“My home is in heaven; I am just travelling through this world….”

After 21 years….

“…She had no friend

Except her beloved

She had no words except his love

Love has only a beginning and no end

Hidden in her verses are a million heartbeats

Her soul gave voice

To the world’s sorrow and grief…”,

Kang Joon finished reciting my poem. Everyone clapped and cheered, and she asked me to come on the stage. I climbed up watching every step and stood by her side.

“Welcome the true owner of this poem Nam Ji Hyun.”, she said, and everyone applauded again.

“Thank you”, I said and took the poem from her hand and went down the stage without making any eye contact with the audience.

Like always people started to whisper about my disease. I tried my best to ignore them and left for home. Today was the rehearsal of the grand event that is to be held tomorrow. A new prince is coming to our village, Saheonbu. People said he was young to handle the post but is highly talented. And he has a love for poems. So, for his grand welcome people have organised this event. I am known for writing poems and one of my poems is being presented here by my sister Kang Joon, who also happens to be the event manager. I am the head of the sangeon department. We use written petitions to talk to the kings or princes and these are called sangeons. I also work in the palace in the ceremonial room as a subordinate. I am good at writing but I can’t speak in public. I face an increased heart rate and shivering in front of a huge audience. No one in our village knows what it is and how can it be cured, so I just endure and avoid being the attention of a crowd.

“Hyun, are you back?”, I heard my mom ask as soon as I entered the house.

“Yes amma, it’s me.”, I replied. She is suffering from paralysis and is bedridden. She was in her thirties when she got a paralyse attack and her lower half got paralysed. Paralyses have no cure and hence she just stays in the bed. Being the second daughter and the only daughter who works under the king, I manage the money in the house. My elder sister Kang Joon is the head of the cultural activities that happen in the village. She gets work only twice a year and manages the other things in the house.

“I am also home amma”, Kang Joon said entering the house.

“Hyun, are you leaving for the official work now? I heard today the last sangeon will be written to the king before he leaves.”, Kang Joon asked me.

“Yes, today the elders will write the last sangeon to him ordering him to work on a higher post, so I will be leaving soon. I just came to get the stamp.”, I replied.

She went inside and I took the papers and left. Today indeed is an important day. Our present king will be promoted and the new prince will take his place and then tomorrow will be his official welcome.

“Hyun, what took you so long? The ceremony is about to start, give me the stamp and go check the sangeon for any error.”, my head Kim Soon ordered as soon as I entered the palace.

I bowed as a greeting and left to check the sangeon. There were three sangeons on the table one was for the king and two were for the prince. I checked them and gave them to Suang Li, who had to take these to the king and the prince during the ceremony. The drum roll began, and we knew the ceremony has started. Only the elders and a few officials were allowed in the ceremonial room. We had to wait near the room for further orders.

Once the king and prince had entered the room, we were escorted to the garden just outside the room. The people were not allowed to look at the prince till he took over the duties, but this didn’t stop them from imagining how he might look. All the young girls in the kingdom were gushing about him being handsome.

I was listening to a few subordinates of mine chatting about the prince when a guard came and asked, “Who is Nam Ji Hyun?”. I stood up and bowed.

“You are being called inside.”, he said.

“Me? Do I have to carry some documents or anything that are needed?”, I asked.

“No, you have done enough damage by mixing up the sangeons of the prince and the king. The elders just called for you.”, he said with pity.

As soon as these words left his mouth, I knew I have stepped on a very thin line between mistake and treason. Everyone around started to gossip and talk about the big mistake I committed. But I couldn’t make out how they got mixed up when I sorted them myself. I followed the guard and as soon as we entered the ceremony room my whole world came crashing down. And I saw the most handsome guy I could ever lay my eyes on.

He seemed a bit familiar, but I couldn’t figure out where I could have seen the prince before. He was tall with a jawline sharper than a butcher’s knife. He had such delicate features yet his eyes were fierce. He had that seriousness etched on his face and all I could imagine was how beautiful he would look if he smiled. But why was he staring at me with eyes full of hatred? His look of hatred pulled me back into reality and I could very well justify the hate now. Obviously, I am hated I made him say the vow of giving up the throne when he was supposed to be the new king.

I looked around and saw that all the eyes were on me. Kim Soon came forward and held me by my arm harshly and pulled me with him in front of the elders.

“She is the culprit for the mishap that happened right now. I request the elders to punish her and no one else.”, he said without letting my arm go.

I looked at the elders scared of the consequences. The elders stood up and Kim Soon pushed me to the ground.

I was kneeling in front of the elders when I heard someone say, “A creep like her never deserved to work here.”

I looked back to see around 20 to 25 people and as soon as I saw them, I knew looking back was a bad idea. I could feel my heartbeat increasing.

“How can you be so careless?”, one of the elders shouted at me.

This made the situation worse. I started looking around to look for any familiar faces, but all these conversant faces seemed strangers to me.

“Can you not speak? Are you deaf or dumb?”, another elder shouted. Kim Soon shook me up by the shoulder and shouted, “Answer the elders you, disrespectful lady.”

My head started to feel dizzy and the next thing I knew I saw the face of the prince. He was looking at me with so much concentration, that it felt as if he is trying to read my mind.

I heard incoherent words coming from people all around me and soon I was not able to hear distinct voices, they all started to mix. My eyes were fixed on those brown orbs and they had a soothing effect on me. But I was still sweating profusely and the last thing I remember is people running toward me before I was engulfed in darkness.

“She needs to be punished. We all know it was her fault. Why waste time on the investigation?”, I heard someone say.

All the noise was disturbing me. I tried to move but I couldn’t. I tried to open my eyes and it seemed like a tough task.

“I don’t think it is right to make a decision and announce the punishment without proper investigation.”, I heard another voice which I didn’t recognise. I tried to move again. They kept talking without noticing that I was awake.

“Please my lord, give my sister a chance to prove that she is not guilty.”, I heard my sister plead. This was it and I tried my best to move.

“Kang Joon”, I whispered. She must have heard it because she came running to me.

“I guess she is up”, she said. I opened my eyes and saw my sister looking at me with a worried expression.

“Hyun you are awake. We were so scared.”, she said and hugged me.

“Yes, Kang Joon I am alright, just help me sit first.”, I said. She helped me sit and I looked around to see the king, the prince and Kim Soon were standing there. They were all staring at me. I bowed my head in respect.

“Are you feeling better now?”, the king asked. I nodded.

“Then if she is better now, we should proceed with finalising her punishment.”, Kim Soon said.

“She deserves a fair chance in court.”, my sister said.

The prince ignored them and walked forward “Do you think you can prove yourself innocent?”, he asked.

“Certainly, my lord, I have nothing to fear because I haven’t done anything wrong. I have been framed.”, I replied.

“Then it is finalised two days from now a meeting will be held and Nam Ji Hyun will be asked to prove herself innocent based on concrete facts and evidence.”, he said.

“But your majesty…”, before Kim Soon could even start the prince ordered him to leave.

He looked at us “Do you have anything to say?”, he asked.

“Yes, I would like to thank you for showing justice and giving me a fair chance.”, I replied politely and bowed. He nodded and asked,

“Anything else?”. I said a no. he pointed towards the door and said,

“Then why are you not leaving!”. I and my sister bowed again and left.

What an arrogant jerk he is. He could have just politely asked us to leave.

“Unni, the prince is so handsome”, my sister said with dreamy eyes. I could have puked that very second.

“Handsome!”, saying this I laughed.

He was not even the closest thing to handsome. He might have a very attractive physical appearance but he was just an arrogant jerk to me. I saw Kim Soon standing near the entrance of the palace. I and my sister decided to ignore him and walk away. But he blocked our way.

“Don’t you dare bring all the blame on me or else it will not be nice.”, he threatened us and left.

I and my sister looked at each other knowing that he was definitely involved in all this chaos that happened today. And if Kim Soon was involved in all this then we knew it wouldn’t be easy to get evidence against him because he was by far the richest person in our village after the royalty. And he was also from a respected family which made it tougher.

On our way home my sister and I decided to keep all this chaos a secret from our mom. She is a very sensitive woman and gets anxious over little things and this was quite a big mess we were stuck in. Now it was in our hands to prove me innocent. Not only the job was at stake but our family’s name was at a stake as well. Once we entered the house, we saw that our mother was fast asleep and our youngest sister was also sleeping. She must have returned home by herself today.

“What all happened today to tell me in detail.”, Kang Joon said. I told her all the events that occurred with all the tiny details.

“Suang Li is the one who can help us.”, Kang Joon said. Suang Li was the one who took the oaths from me and kept them in the ceremonial room.

He was also a very good friend of me and my sister. We were childhood friends. I and my sister left instantly to meet him. He lives just two houses away from us. We knocked at his door and his mother opened the door.

“Good morning aunty where is Li?”, I asked.

“He is inside. Come on in.”, she said with a smile. we entered the house and she went inside the room to call Suang Li.

He came out running and asked me, “How are you Hyun? I heard you fainted during the interrogation.”.

I smiled and told him I am fine and Kang Joon told him all that happened there in the ceremonial room after everyone was ordered to leave.

“Suang Li we need your help. We have only two days to prove my sister innocent.”, Kang Joon said. He nodded.

“How can I help tell me and I will surely try my best.”, he said.

“You were the last one to take those sangeons from me and transfer them to the ceremonial room. We just want to know if something unusual happened while you were taking them to the room?”, I asked.

“Nothing too unusual as far as I remember.”, he said.

“What do you mean by too unusual?”, I asked.

“While I was taking sangeons to the room I was stopped by two guards and they asked me the way to the courtroom. I told them but they asked me to explain it on the map they were carrying. So, I had to keep the sangeons down for a moment. But I didn’t let anyone touch them or even hold them. I remember I kept the oaths just the way you gave them to me. Red seals for the prince and yellow for the king.”, he said.

“If they were royal guards how did they not know the way to the ceremonial room?”, Kang Joon asked.

“I had the same doubt so I asked them. So, they told me that they were the new appointment under the prince and were coming to the royal palace for the first time.”, he said.

“Yes, there have been a lot of new appointments lately in the palace.”, I said.

“We need to look really fast for any evidence we can get for proving me innocent and also we need to know the motive behind such a deed. Because if all of us were so particular about the arrangements this mixing up was definitely planned.”, I said after a discussion over the events that occurred.

We returned home to see our younger sister Mi So waiting at the gate. When she saw us coming, she asked us to stay quiet and took us to the back of the house.

“Mom knows about what happened today.”, she told us.

“But how?”, Kang Joon asked.

“Your head visited our house and told mom everything that happened at the court. He even gave her a threat of taking up the land owned by us if you don’t stop with your investigation.”, she said.

“Kim Soon came here and threatened mom?”, I asked to confirm it was him. Mi So nodded.

“Mom is in a very bad mood.”, she said.

“Mi So I know your sisters are back. Bring them in here fast.”, we heard amma shout. The moment we heard her angry voice we knew we were in even bigger trouble than proving my innocence.