Chapter 03

Autumn 1856, Hanseong — Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s Residence, Reception Hall

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung opened the first chapter of the Analects.

“Learn and practice what you have learned from time to time—isn’t that a joy? How far have you read?”

Without looking at the book, I recited the passage from the very beginning.

“Isn’t it a joy to learn and practice what you have learned from time to time? Isn’t it a pleasure when a friend comes from afar? And isn’t one a gentleman if, despite not being recognized by others, one does not become resentful?”

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s hand stopped.

“Next.”

His eyes left the book and turned toward me.

“When one governs through virtue, the people naturally follow, just as the stars revolve around the North Star even though it remains in its place.”

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung crossed his arms and gave a slight nod.

“Next.”

“If you govern the people only through laws, they will no longer know shame. But if you govern them through virtue, they will correct themselves.”

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung closed the book.

The reception hall fell silent.

He looked at me before slowly speaking.

“Can governing through virtue actually be applied to this country right now?”

It was an unexpected question.

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung wasn’t merely testing my memorization anymore.

He was directly asking for my thoughts.

Asking a nine-year-old about political reality was less of an examination and more of an exploration.

I paused briefly, slowly clenched and relaxed my hands resting on my knees, and then answered.

“I don’t know. But I do know that the country isn’t being governed through virtue right now.”

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s eyes narrowed.

“Why do you think that?”

“Because the people neither fear nor feel ashamed before the government.”

“How would a nine-year-old know that?”

“I know because I walk through the streets. The people don’t even turn their heads toward the government offices.”

The reception hall fell silent again.

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung stared straight at me.

I could feel something turning rapidly behind his eyes.

After a long while, he spoke quietly.

“Read the rest on your own.”

“Yes, Father.”

As I left the reception hall, I understood that this didn’t mean Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung had nothing left to teach me.

Rather, he had acknowledged that I was absorbing knowledge faster than he could teach it.

For a man who had spent twenty years grinding his teeth beneath the rule of the Haedong Kim clan, I didn’t need to ask how deeply the statement that the people had turned their backs on the country had struck him.

Autumn 1856, An Alley in Bukchon, Hanseong

I climbed over the wall without the servant noticing.

For a nine-year-old, climbing a wall wasn’t particularly difficult.

My body was light, and I landed quietly.

Thump!

As soon as I dropped into the alley, I pulled my hat down and started walking.

I knew from history that Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung pretended to be a wastrel, but seeing it with my own eyes was an entirely different matter.

A parakho was a term for a loafer or delinquent who squandered his wealth and wandered the streets.

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung had maintained such an appearance for decades to avoid the watchful eyes of the Haedong Kim clan.

Appearing to be a useless member of the royal family rather than a dangerous royal was his way of surviving.

And history had already proven just how meticulous that disguise was.

A noisy commotion came from deeper inside the alley.

“Why is the wall of this tiled-roof house so shabby? Come out, owner!”

It was Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung.

His gat was tilted crookedly, and he was holding a bottle of liquor as he shouted at the top of his lungs in the middle of the alley.

Three or four ruffians stood around him, snickering.

Yangban passing through the alley clicked their tongues and avoided Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung.

I couldn’t imagine how many people in Joseon actually knew that this was all an act.

I quietly watched from behind a wall.

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s eyes weren’t smiling.

Although he was holding a liquor bottle, his lips weren’t wet.

He was only pretending to drink.

Even in the middle of all that, Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s gaze quickly swept across the entire alley.

He could identify which house each wall belonged to and who was passing by, all while maintaining the movements of a drunkard without the slightest mistake.

He was a man who had been doing this for twenty years.

I quietly turned away.

There was something to learn from a father like that.

Long-term calculations that stretched twenty years into the future.

A disguise that never cracked until the very end.

But I had confirmed something even more important today.

The place where Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung played the role of a wastrel was the alleys of Bukchon.

And among the people moving through the area were individuals connected to the Haedong Kim clan.

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung was hiding himself while simultaneously monitoring their movements.

I can use that method too.

Appear to be a child who knows nothing while seeing everything.

Autumn 1856, Entrance to a Marketplace on the Outskirts of Hanseong

There was hardly anyone in the marketplace.

Normally, the marketplace should have been at its busiest after the autumn harvest.

But the number of merchants who had set up stalls could be counted on one’s fingers.

The people passing through weren’t buying anything.

They were merely coming and going.

The reason was simple.

As soon as the harvest ended, the stewards of the lands owned by the Haedong Kim clan had descended upon the villages and taken most of the harvest.

This year, taxes had been raised by another twenty percent compared to previous years.

What remained was barely enough to survive the winter.

There was nothing left to sell at the marketplace.

The situation was no different on land owned by the Pungyang Jo clan.

Before the harvest had even finished, the Pungyang Jo clan’s steward had already arrived and calculated the year’s rent in advance.

Whether the harvest was poor or plentiful, the amount collected never changed.

Anything that couldn’t be collected during a bad harvest was taken the following year with interest.

Tenant farmers whose debts accumulated eventually either abandoned the land and became wandering refugees or collapsed where they were and starved.

An old woman was crouching at one corner of the marketplace.

She had nothing to sell.

She had nothing to buy.

It seemed as though she had simply come out to watch people.

When someone passed by her, the old woman muttered,

“Does the king even exist?”

No one answered.

The passerby quickened his steps, pretending not to have heard her.

The sky was high, and the wind was cold.

But the marketplace was empty.

Autumn 1856, Hanseong — Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s Residence, Reception Hall

After finishing my evening greeting, I was about to leave the reception hall when I stopped.

“Father, I have something to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Please take me with you to pay our respects on His Majesty’s birthday.”

The reception hall fell silent.

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s eyebrows rose.

“Why would you need to attend such an occasion at your age?”

“I need to understand the palace.”

“What would a nine-year-old do with knowledge of the palace?”

I looked directly at Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung.

“What I read in books and what I see with my own eyes are different. I believe scholarship learned without seeing the palace firsthand is only half-complete.”

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung stared at me for a while.

I could sense the words of refusal stopping in his mouth.

“If I take you, can you remain quiet?”

“Of course.”

“You must never do anything that draws attention.”

“Understood, Father.”

“Do not leave my side even for a single step.”

“Yes.”

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung looked at me for another moment before nodding.

“All right.”

I lowered my head while clenching my fist inwardly.

The door leading to Queen Dowager Sinjeong, Lady Jo, had opened.

Autumn 1856, Changdeok Palace — Huijeongdang Hall

The members of the royal family gathered inside Huijeongdang for the ceremony commemorating King Cheoljong’s birthday.

On the king’s birthday, members of the royal family and powerful relatives of the royal household gathered to offer their congratulations.

I quietly followed behind Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung, my eyes constantly moving.

The courtyard in front of the main palace hall was wide enough to accommodate hundreds of people, and the living palace was completely different from what I had read about in books.

I committed the movements of the court ladies to memory.

The routes taken by the eunuchs.

The path leading toward Daejojeon.

Daejojeon, where Queen Dowager Sinjeong resided, was located by turning north from Injeongjeon.

But today, we weren’t going there.

We were in Huijeongdang.

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung spoke quietly.

“Don’t look around carelessly.”

“Yes, Father.”

I fixed my gaze straight ahead.

But I continued observing my surroundings from the corners of my eyes.

When we entered Huijeongdang, several members of the royal family had already taken their seats.

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s seat was in a corner.

It was the place assigned to members of the royal family who had been pushed aside by the power of the Haedong Kim clan.

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung sat there with an expression that showed no discomfort whatsoever.

I sat neatly beside him and quietly looked forward.

Queen Dowager Sinjeong, Lady Jo, was seated in the place of honor.

Born in 1808, she was forty-eight years old that year.

Her eyes were sharp, and a faint weariness showed around her lips.

It was the face of a woman who had endured decades of struggles for power within the royal court.

During King Heonjong’s reign, Queen Dowager Sinjeong had exercised regency from behind the curtain.

But the Haedong Kim clan had taken that power completely away from her.

She was likely waiting for King Cheoljong to die without an heir while sharpening the blade of her revenge.

All I needed to do was touch that anger.

The greetings were over, and the gathering was about to disperse.

At that moment, Queen Dowager Sinjeong’s gaze slowly moved toward Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung.

Then she noticed me sitting beside him.

“Heungseon-gun, is that child your eldest son?”

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung lowered his head.

“Yes, Your Royal Highness. He is my eldest son, Jaemyeon.”

“Bring him here.”

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung’s eyes narrowed for an instant.

But he could not disobey Queen Dowager Sinjeong’s command.

I followed Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung toward her, placed both knees on the floor, and bowed deeply.

Queen Dowager Sinjeong looked down at me.

Her eyes seemed capable of seeing straight through me.

“Your name is Jaemyeon?”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness. I am Yi Jaemyeon.”

“How old are you?”

“I am nine.”

“How far have you progressed in your studies?”

“I have been reading the Analects and Mencius.”

Queen Dowager Sinjeong’s eyebrows rose slightly.

Several court ladies nearby began whispering quietly.

Apparently, they found it hard to believe that a nine-year-old was reading the Analects and Mencius.

Queen Dowager Sinjeong thought for a moment before asking me,

“What passage from the Analects has left the deepest impression on you?”

I had been waiting for this moment.

I deliberately paused, pretending to consider the question carefully, before slowly opening my mouth.

“When the Ji family intended to sacrifice at Mount Tai, Confucius asked Ran You, ‘Can you not stop him?’”

Queen Dowager Sinjeong’s eyes wavered.

“This was a warning against those who did not know their proper place and recklessly coveted authority beyond their station.”

The entire Huijeongdang fell silent.

The way Queen Dowager Sinjeong looked at me changed.

Everyone present understood whom the Ji family and those who exceeded their station referred to.

The Haedong Kim clan.

The very clan that had ruled above the royal family for decades while using King Cheoljong as their figurehead.

The name that Queen Dowager Sinjeong had the greatest reason to resent.

And those words had come from the mouth of a nine-year-old child.

One royal family member from the Haedong Kim clan sitting in the corner of Huijeongdang narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.

The person beside him whispered something quietly.

The two men’s gazes simultaneously shifted toward Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung.

Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung pretended not to notice and continued looking straight ahead.

Queen Dowager Sinjeong slowly opened her mouth.

“You are clever.”

“I am deeply honored, Your Royal Highness.”

“Are you more like your father or your mother?”

“I do not know. But I wish to learn beside my father.”

Queen Dowager Sinjeong turned toward the court lady standing beside her.

“Bring that child a tray of sweets.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

I could feel Heungseon-gun Yi Ha-eung holding his breath beside me.

He had clearly never expected me to do something like this.

I bowed deeply to Queen Dowager Sinjeong once more and smiled inwardly.

Done.

I’ve caught Queen Dowager Sinjeong’s attention.