Chapter 9
Prince JiangSu felt increasingly anxious upon recalling the deep red hue on Eun Jung’s injured cheek and tightened his grip on her hand before accelerating his pace in an attempt to quickly return to the Jaseondang (Crowned Prince and Princess’s quarters). In his haste, Prince JiangSu failed to notice the pained expression on Eun Jung’s face and only became aware of her discomfort upon hearing her emit a muffled whimper. Concerned, Prince JiangSu halted his steps and spun around to observe her injury before asking, “Are you okay? Did Concubine Su hit you that hard?” Nodding her head, Eun Jung replied, “Yes, that WITCH hit me really hard. But right now you’re the one who’s hurting me.”
Thinking that she was being absolutely ridiculous; Prince JiangSu prepared himself to reprimand her but stopped himself upon seeing her raise their joined hands to explain, “When Prince Dae Hyun ran into me, I scraped my hand and now you’re holding it too tightly.” Having heard Eun Jung’s explanation, Prince JiangSu reluctantly let go of her hand and flipped it over to examine the injuries on her palm. Since he had not witnessed the events leading up to Concubine Su’s assault on Eun Jung, Prince JiangSu asked, “What made Concubine Su suddenly hit you?” Shrugging her shoulders, Eun Jung replied, “I don’t know. Prince Dae Hyun ran into me; knocking me onto the ground and then all of the sudden that crazy lady walked up and slapped me.”
Looking around at the faces of the maids, who surrounded them, Prince JiangSu pulled Eun Jung aside and said in a lowered voice, “I know that you’re mad right now, but you still need to be mindful of your words. It’s not proper for you to refer to Concubine Su as a witch or a crazy woman.” Staring at him blankly, Eun Jung asked, “Was it proper for you to call her a hateful woman during the P’yebaek ceremony?” Ignoring her question, Prince JiangSu let out an exasperated sigh and observed, “That sassy attitude of yours’ is going to keep getting you into trouble around here.” Recollecting the indignation she had felt upon receiving Concubine Su’s slap, Eun Jung declared loudly, “I can’t believe that you’re blaming me for this mess when it’s obviously all your fault!”
Stunned by Eun Jung’s proclamation, Prince JiangSu asked incredulously, “How is any of this my fault?” With a visible scowl on her face, Eun Jung replied, “If I wasn’t worried about you getting mad at me; I would’ve slapped her back and probably thrown in a good kick just for good measure. But instead, I just stood there like an idiot so she could try to do it again.” Realizing that Eun Jung had restrained herself for his sake, Prince JiangSu made a concession by saying, “Alright Grand Princess Consort, I agree that this is entirely my fault. If you’re satisfied, can we go home now?” Not expecting her to reply to his obviously rhetorical question, Prince JiangSu was surprised to hear her say, “As a matter of fact, I am satisfied. So yes we can go home now.”
Without any further delay, the pair proceeded to head back to their living quarters. As he entered their Shinbang, Prince JiangSu motioned for Eun Jung to take a seat before instructing the maids to get the supplies necessary to dress a wound. Once the maids returned with the necessary supplies; Prince JiangSu dismissed them after reminding them not spread any unnecessary hearsay about the ordeal, which the Grand Princess Consort had just experienced. When they were alone, Prince JiangSu re-focused his attention on Eun Jung and observed that she had already begun to clean and apply medicine to the palm of her hand. Sitting beside her at the table, Prince JiangSu noticed that she was having a difficult time wrapping the cloth dressing over her hand and grabbed it away from her without any warning.
As she watched Prince JiangSu re-wrap the cloth dressing around her hand, Eun Jung teased, “I didn’t know that the Crowned Prince of Korea would be so proficient with something like this.” Not bothering to look up from his work, Prince JiangSu replied in a haughty tone, “You’ll soon see that I’m good at everything that I do.” Unable to respond to such an arrogant statement, Eun Jung changed the subject by asking, “Are we still going to the royal banquet tonight?” After he fastened a clip on the dressing to hold it securely in its place, Prince JiangSu looked up at Eun Jung’s face and replied solemnly, “Yes, we have to go.” Observing Eun Jung’s disappointed appearance, Prince JiangSu continued to say, “Soo Jin, I know that you don’t want to see Concubine Su, but…”
Realizing that he was about to ask her to place herself into an uncomfortable situation, Prince JiangSu found it difficult to continue his statement. Taking note of his uneasiness, Eun Jung quickly interjected by asking, “Who says I don’t want to see Concubine Su?” Not quite following her meaning, Prince JiangSu listened intently as she continued to say, “I’m very eager to see her tonight. I want to show her that she can’t easily intimidate me!” Allowing a slight smile to appear on his face, Prince JiangSu observed, “If I had married a weaker woman, I’m sure that I’d be very remorseful for asking her to endure so much. But luckily, I’ve found myself the most willful woman in all of Korea.” Contemplating his observation, Eun Jung narrowed her eyes and asked, “Are you complimenting or insulting me?”
Before he could respond to Eun Jung’s question, Prince JiangSu heard someone knocking at their door and asked, “Who is it?” Much to his surprise, Prince JiangSu heard his brother’s familiar voice answer, “It’s me, Dae Hyun.” Upon receiving his brother’s permission to enter the room, Prince Dae Hyun opened the door and walked in with a vile of medicine in his hand. Handing the vial to Prince JiangSu, Prince Dae Hyun said, “This ointment should help decrease the swelling on the Grand Princess Consort’s face.” Grateful for his kind gesture, Eun Jung observed, “That was very nice of you to bring that here; but my face is okay now.” Turning his attention to Eun Jung, Prince Dae Hyun apologized on his mother’s behalf and asked that she forgive him for his own trespass against her.
To further make up for causing her so much trouble, Prince Dae Hyun presented Eun Jung with a small bamboo vile and said, “This little guy is the root cause of today’s problems; so I wanted to give him to you, to do as you see fit.” Eun Jung took the vile from Prince Dae Hyun, opened the lid and saw that it contained a small cricket. Looking up at him happily, Eun Jung asked, “Are you really giving him to me?” Nodding his head, Prince Dae Hyun replied, “Sadly, yes.” Remembering the scene of huddled men from earlier that morning, Eun Jung asked, “Did you use him to fight with another cricket?” Surprised that she was familiar with cricket fighting, Prince Dae Hyun replied, “Yes, I was so preoccupied with him winning the match this morning that I didn’t realize you were standing in my path until it was too late.”
Prince JiangSu observed the ease with which his wife and brother were conversing and found that he was quickly becoming uneasy. Upon deciding to put an end to their exchange, Prince JiangSu declared, “If you don’t mind, I need to go over some things with my wife before the royal banquet.” Prince JiangSu’s statement indicated to Prince Dae Hyun that he had overstayed his welcome and prompted him to politely excuse himself by saying, “I’ll leave you two to get back to your important tasks and will see you at tonight’s royal banquet.” When he was once again left alone with Eun Jung, Prince JiangSu prepared himself to tell her about his expectations for the banquet but noticed that her attention was completely focused on the cricket in the vile. Annoyed, Prince JiangSu asked himself, “What kind of a Princess enjoys gifts, which involve insects?”
