Secret of the Red Lotus Flower (빨간 연꽃의 비밀)

Chapter 21

The north-west tearoom was a recent addition to the palace grounds. King Gwanghae had work on it started shortly before he abdicated the throne. Supposedly, he wanted a quiet and simple place to retreat from palace life and mourn the loss of his son and daughter. When he died, Dowager Queen Yu would have her daily tea there to stay connected to her husband until she too passed away.

Since then, the tearoom had fallen out of regular usage. The architecture was minimalist and there was very little decorations or paintings. Most royal functions generally took place in the larger or more ostentatious rooms. On the surface, Queen Ae-ri's offering of the room for the concubines to meet could be seen as an honor, but everyone knew what the queen was really telling Royal Concubine Ji-min: "Know your place. I may be allowing you to host the gathering this week but the palace still belongs to me. It would be in your best interest to stay out of sight and fade away like the previous users."

Chief Eunuch Park Jong-in slid open the door and announced Soo-yun's arrival. She could see that she was the last of the women to arrive. Lady Ji-min sat on a silk cushion at the far end of the room. On the left side of the room, the king's two lesser concubines sat side-by side. Soo-yun was happy to see an empty seat next to Princess Chae-yeong to the right. The princess smiled at Soo-yun and patted the cushion next to her. As she sat down, Soo-yun discretely observed the two women sitting across from her. She had heard about them before, but this was the first time that she would actually interact with them.

The oldest of the two and the one sitting closest to Royal Concubine Ji-min would be Lesser Concubine Seung-wan. She was a plain woman with a weak chin and haughty expression. Despite what she may have lacked in physical appearance, she made up with the quality of her jewelry. Unlike Soo-yun's hairpins made of jade, Seung-wan's jewelry contained real precious stones. She was in her late-twenties and the daughter of one of the richest merchants in Hanseong. According to Soo-yun's father, he had helped the kingdom out of an economic crisis ten years ago in exchange for his daughter becoming one of the king's concubines.

Next to the two older concubines, Lesser Concubine Myung-hee looked like a child, although Soo-yun knew that she was actually eighteen. She was a former court maid that the king had taken a liking to. She had only been a concubine for two years and, from the way she kept looking around the room in awe, she was still getting used to her elevation in status. It was crazy for Soo-yun to think that this little slip of a girl five years her junior would have more experience in marriage than her, and she suddenly felt very old.

"Enjoy your tea," Chief Eunuch Jong-in said to Soo-yun as he smiled down at her.

"Thank you, Chief Eunuch Jong-in," Soo-yun replied, returning the elderly man's smile.

"There is no reason to be formal, my dear," said Jong-in. "I'm just glad that you and Dal-rae were able to make up after your fight the other night. Sisters shouldn't stay mad at each other."

"E-excuse me?" asked Soo-yun. She didn't know anyone named Dal-rae and didn't know what he was talking about.

"Chief Eunuch Jong-in! What are you going on about? That's Crown Princess Soo-yun." Royal Concubine Ji-min retort was loud and sharp, making everyone jump a little. "Your daughter, Dal-rae, lives in Gangwon while Na-rae lives in Chungcheong with their own families. They haven't even been to the palace in over thirty years."

Soo-yun could see the confusion in the eunuch's eyes as he looked back and forth between her and Ji-min. Unlike the strange, manic expression that the king had during their walk, she recognized what the older man was going through. Her grandmother had been like that in her final days as her grasp on time and new people weakened. Althoughshe didn't know why the eunuch thought he saw her arguing with someone, the Crown Princess saw the two Lesser Concubine giggle at the poor man and decided she had to do something to help.