Secret of the Red Lotus Flower (빨간 연꽃의 비밀)

Chapter 38

Much like the day before, there was a long line of people lined up to get into Hanseong. Also, just as Soo-yun was nervous last time during the slow walk to the city gates, she was on pins and needles today as well. The only difference was that she wasn't merely concerned about being discovered by the assassins but also that someone might recognize Ha-neul.

However, the longer they spent unnoticed in the line, the more she relaxed. Soo-yun remembered how difficult it was for Yeo-jin to find a portrait of the Crown Prince before the wedding and realized that very few people had actually seen what her husband looked like.

Before Yeong-ja had left them this morning, the sanggung had left behind counterfeit hopae identification tags for them to use to get into the capital instead of their own. Soo-yun had been amazed at how authentic they looked until she realized that, with her connections to the Crown Prince and the officials in the court, these probably were authentic hopae. They were just for people who did not exist outside of the needs of her husband and allies.

As they got closer, she saw that neither the guard nor the kind captain appeared to be on duty today. Since the identity listed on the hopae was different than the one she provided to them yesterday, that was probably for the best. The guard that eventually looked at their identification didn't even bat an eye when they were presented to him.

Once they were inside the city proper, Soo-yun let out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. However, her concern returned when she saw the sheer number of people packed today, unlike the fairly empty streets the day before. It seemed like every inch was filled with either stalls selling wares, would-be buyers haggling over prices, or satisfied customers leaving with their purchases. It would have been easy to keep an eye out for the assassins before but nearly impossible to find them in the crowd now.

Soo-yun had spent most of her life in the relative quiet of her family's compound, the neighboring countryside, or the royal palace, and she started to feel her anxiety ratchet up again at the cacophony of sounds and the riot of strong smells overpowered her senses. Her vision narrowed and her breathing sped up as the trio were jostled and knocked around by the rushing city folk. She fought the urge to fall to her knees and scream to be left alone. She felt someone touch her hand and looked down at the Crown Prince's hand intertwined with hers.

"It's okay, Soo-yun. It's just market day," said Ha-neul. Her husband's reassuring words cut through the sensory overload, and she stared at the Crown Prince in wonder as calmness spread through her. "However, we do need to hurry to Yeong-ja's sister's home."

Soo-yun merely nodded in response. She didn't know why Ha-neul had the uncanny ability to soothe her when she felt a panic attack overwhelm her. Nothing else had ever had as miraculous of an effect, not even her traditional method of counting. Her husband's presence made her feel safe, despite the omnipresent peril they were currently in.

Dr. Yun immediately took the lead, pushing through the crowd to give Soo-yun and Ha-neul space to move freely. Soo-yun did her best to shield her husband's wounded side against anyone accidentally bumping into them. By the time they made it across the bridge, the crowd dissipated, and she could see Yeong-ja standing outside the blacksmith shop and its attached home.

"Quickly! Get in," Yeong-ja said as she waved them through the open door. "Kyeon-sik went to see his tutor to go over a lesson plan. Sun-young took the children to the market to buy some goods for the household, so she should be gone for a while. However, I can't say for certain how long she'll be out. We need to get His Royal Highness changed before she returns."

The trio ducked through the entrance and Yeong-ja shut the door behind them. The humble abode looked the same as it did yesterday except for the stack of folded male clothing on the table alongside a plain, black gat and heukhye shoes. The simple jeogori jacket, kwaeja topcoat, and baji trousers looked more suited to a humble scholar than a Crown Prince, but Soo-yun knew that walking through the streets of Hanseong with Ha-neul in full princely attire would make her husband a target if there were any assassins out there. An additional benefit to the flowing, sleeveless kwaeja was that it was a lot looser than most other topcoats, and it replaced the otgoreum drawstring belt with cloth buttons, making the outfit would be less restrictive against Ha-neul's wound.