From that day onward, the First Prince’s misdeeds were exposed for all to see. Alongside them came another revelation—that the Second Prince had, for years, hidden his identity while quietly providing food to the people.

The reputations of the two princes split like night and day. The First Prince’s actions were so contemptible that he drew the hatred of the entire realm. Worse still, every comparison only deepened his disgrace. The more he was reviled as a wretched villain, the higher the Second Prince’s renown soared, his popularity rising beyond measure.

Consort Hyeon saw the danger at once.

The people’s praise for the Second Prince had spread like wildfire; it could no longer be contained. If left unchecked, whispers might soon rise, calling for him to be named crown prince.

But should the First Prince, the Empress, and Minister Ryu all be swept aside, the only one truly positioned to ascend the throne would be the Third Prince. The Second Prince, having lived quietly until now, possessed no solid faction of his own.

This opportunity could not be allowed to slip away. Resolute, Consort Hyeon steeled herself for open confrontation with the Empress’s camp and made her way to the Grand Hall.

From the beginning, Ryu Geum-ryeo had been unable to conceive.

Stricken by a grave illness in childhood, she had been sent to a temple to recover. Few within the Ryu clan even knew the truth. Though she regained her health, the sickness had left a permanent scar—she would never bear children.

Minister Ryu concealed this fact and thr*st his only legitimate daughter into the harem nonetheless, for he had no other choice.

Thus, when Consort Hyeon entered the Grand Hall, where the Emperor and his ministers were assembled, she shed her proud, unyielding expression. With tears brimming, she fell to her knees in feigned shock.

“Your Majesty, I beg you—clear the injustice that stains the late Empress Seop’s name!”

“Hyeon, what are you saying?”

Consort Hyeon held out the medical records she had secured from the monk who had tended to Ryu Geum-ryeo at the temple.

“Please look upon this, Your Majesty. Her Majesty the Empress was never able to conceive in the first place. How, then, could she have suffered a miscarriage?”

At that, the ministers gathered in the hall erupted into murmurs.

Minister Ryu stepped forward, his face dark with fury, and raised his voice in protest.

“This is baseless slander, Your Majesty! Did the imperial physicians not confirm Her Majesty’s pregnancy themselves? How could such a matter be false?”

However, Consort Hyeon had anticipated this response and was ready to counter. She summoned a palace maid who had served Seop Ji-yeon until her downfall and who now belonged to Empress Ryu’s household — one of the conspirators from the incident that had taken place long ago.

“Speak the truth before His Majesty!”

Trembling, the maid pressed her forehead to the floor.

“W-what I saw was that the late Empress only seized Her Majesty the Empress’s collar… but she did not push her into the pond…”

“How dare you!”

Minister Ryu roared, ready to strike the maid dead where she knelt. Yet before he could shout another word, another voice rose—

It was San-gyeong.

“Your Majesty, on this matter, I too have someone to present.”

The court stilled. Even the Ye Prince, who so rarely revealed himself, had stepped forward. The atmosphere grew tense.

“Bring forth the criminal, Man Hak-yeong.”

At that name, Minister Ryu’s face turned deathly pale, while Consort Hyeon barely managed to conceal her triumphant smile. Then suddenly, a chill of doubt struck her.

‘I arranged for this to happen, so why does the Younger Prince seem as though he has been waiting for this moment to summon the imperial physician? And why does His Majesty seem so calm? Could it be…?’

What if the Emperor had known all along?

Consort Hyeon lifted her eyes to his and froze.

The Emperor showed no sign of anger or surprise. He watched her with a cool, detached gaze, as if he were watching a play whose script he already knew by heart.

‘No… this is not the stage I prepared. This is His Majesty’s stage.’

At that moment, Man Hak-yeong was dragged in by soldiers and forced to his knees behind Consort Hyeon.

Wearing a face that almost seemed relieved, he spoke the truth.

“I once dared to deceive Your Majesty. At that time, Lady Ryu had never conceived.”

The Emperor raised his hand, silencing the loud murmur that rippled through the assembled ministers.

“Continue.”

Man Hak-yeong spoke on, his words heavy in the hushed hall.

“Her Majesty the Empress took my entire family hostage, forcing me to lend my hand to her false claim “Her Majesty the Empress took my entire family hostage and forced me to assist her with her false claim of pregnancy. Terrified, I obeyed. But when it was over, assassins came for me. I was certain that I would be killed, so I fled. Until recently, I lived in hiding in the remote mountain village of Oryongchon in Unseo, using the alias ‘Physician Man’.”

“Unseo’s Oryongchon Mountain—was that not the place struck by the recent landslide?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. And there I learned that assassins were scouring the mountain to kill me. It was His Highness the Ye Prince who interrogated those men.”

“I myself had been traveling through Unseo, and while crossing Oryongchon Mountain I was trapped for a time in the very village where Physician Man had been hiding.”

The Emperor turned his gaze upon Minister Ryu.

“Do you have anything to say about this, Minister?”

It was none other than the Ye Prince’s testimony. Since it was he who had personally interrogated the assassins, Minister Ryu could hardly dismiss Man Hak-yeong’s words as nonsense.

When Ryu failed to muster any reply, the Emperor shifted his gaze to the assembly of ministers.

“The First Prince, who deceived and harmed the people, shall be stripped of his imperial status and reduced to a commoner. As for the Empress Ryu and the Minister, who dared insult the Imperial House—they are to be imprisoned!”

“We obey Your Majesty’s command!”

At last, the Emperor spoke aloud the words he had buried in his heart for seven long years.

“The former Empress Seop must be reinstated.”

At last, the time had come to right the wrongs of the past.

💍⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡💍

At that very moment, Woo-hye was attending Princess Chaewol’s tea gathering.

‘Dragged here against my will—and yet it is called an invitation?’

Princess Chaewol was the daughter of Consort Sukbi, who was as close to Empress Ryu as a sister. She was also among the royals who supported the First Prince. Today, she had summoned Wan-ri and the daughters of officials she knew to judge Woo-hye, the woman who had become the most talked-about figure in Akyang.

“Since you are soon to enter the Imperial Family, I wished to know what sort of person Lady Dan truly is.”

None of the young women present liked Woo-hye. Some resented her closeness with Wan-ri, while others were jealous of her sudden rise to fame.

However, Woo-hye responded with a smile.

“It is an honour that Your Highness should think of me. Yet I fear I have little talent to meet such expectations.”

Princess Chaewol sneered. To her, Woo-hye was nothing more than a pretty face, unworthy of poetry, prose, calligraphy or painting.

“If you have managed to capture the heart of my elusive cousin, whose face is rarely seen, then you must be extraordinary indeed. He is so talented when it comes to poetry, prose, painting and calligraphy that it would be a waste for him to remain just a warrior.”

Hearing these words of praise for San-gyeong, Woo-hye’s thoughts drifted back to the day the Sixth Prince had come to Yeonmowon Garden. She could still recall how exquisite his zither playing had been.

She smiled shyly.

“Just as Your Highness says, he is peerless in martial skill, yet no less exceptional in the arts. For someone like me, with no talent at all, to have him as my betrothed… it is far more than I deserve.”

“……”

Princess Chaewol bit back the urge to snap that she had not summoned Woo-hye merely to hear her boast of her fiancé.

‘Is she truly foolish—or sly beyond measure?’

Watching Woo-hye’s utter devotion to the Young Prince made the Princess’s head ache, and she shook it in exasperation.

“Let us have our tea.”

At her words, Wan-ri’s eyes gleamed as she fixed them on Woo-hye.

‘You have no idea, Dan Woo-hye, how I begged Princess Chaewol to prepare this gathering for you.’

The tea set before Woo-hye had been laced with a poison meant to blind. Soon, all raised their cups.

‘Go on—drink it!’

Just then—

“Your Highness! A grave matter!”

The princess’s maid rushed in without decorum, drawing every eye. Because of it, Woo-hye lowered her cup before taking a sip.

Princess Chaewol frowned.

“What is it?”

The maid whispered urgently in her ear, too low for the others to hear. As the words sank in, the princess’s face turned ashen, and she abruptly rose to her feet.

“Something has happened. This gathering is dismissed!”

Wan-ri screamed inwardly.

‘No! I cannot lose this chance!’

“Y-Your Highness, you promised to show us the garden today…”

But Princess Chaewol, furious at being held back over such trifles, scolded Wan-ri sharply.

“This is no time for that! Leave at once!”

Woo-hye rose first, supported by Hyang-eum, a pleasant smile playing at her lips.