Yoona yawned lazily as she just woke up after sleeping for so long. Truthfully, she didn't sleep well because of the dreams she had or rather repetition of dreams. Remembering the dream, it seemed to her some part of it was missing.
It happened that she saw herself in front of a magnificent building, one she doesn't believe exist due to the majestic aura surrounding the building.
She was congratulated on gaining something but she can't remember what that was. A man came there to her and remembering the looks on the faces of those who surrounded her, the man was held in reverence and deep respect.
Trying to see the man's face proved impossible as the brilliance exuding from his face obstructed her eyes so she couldn't look at the face properly.
'Who was he?', she asked herself but got no answer.
The dream doesn't make sense to her so she shrugged her shoulders with the question why does she care. Waking up properly this time around, she decided to brush her teeth and take a bath in readiness for the big day.
It was at this moment Teacher Lee invited herself in with a big smile on her face, in her hands enclosed a small parcel.
"Yoona, this is for you".
Yoona was slightly surprised as she unconsciously opened her eyes and mouth. The parcel was wrapped in a rectangular flat box so she was alarmed with the thought of her teacher bringing books for her to read on a day supposedly a public holiday .
Not letting her disappointment show in her face, she thanked her casually and dropped the box on her bed with no intention to open it .
Teacher Lee smiled at her actions and urged her to open the parcel. Reluctantly ,she unfolded the clothes that were used to wrap it up.
"So much wrappings for a book" ,she murmured silently.
Finally untying everything, she opened the box and was stupefied at the content of the box. Never in her wildest imagination would she have guessed such a thing would come from her teacher
"SHOES!!!" she screamed happily.
Teacher Lee beaming with pride, smiled at the reaction of her student. Sincerely, this past few weeks, she had opened up her heart to the Little girl unknowingly. No one has ever gotten to her the way the girl did ,well, except that one person.
Yoona examining the shoes marvelled at the softness and quality. She was told that the leather was made from the hide of an antelope, she tried it on and was surprised that it fits perfectly 'as if made for her'. Thinking of this word, she wondered why it sounded familiar? oh! ... she remembered; the man in her dreams said the same thing but she can't remember what he was referring to .
With heart filled with joy, she bowed down before her teacher and kowtowed in thanks for the lovely gift she had received .
After the little episode, she left the room to allow Yoona complete her preparations and prepare light snacks and fruits for the journey ahead.
Murong temple is their nearest temple and a place monks are experts in exorcism. It was believed the first monk to perform the exorcism ritual was the chief monk in the temple then . Then, the temple had undergone it's transformation as the number of worshippers increased suddenly due to the war .
Yoona hummed her favorite song in the bathhouse excitedly. Drying her body, she smiled happily because of the events that would take place and the gift she received that morning.
In her room, she put on her clothes and the shoes her teacher gave her. Combing her hair turned arduous and at that moment, she missed her maidservant Seohwa" if only she's here...", she grumbled tiredly.
At that moment, she heard Seohwa's voice outside the door but shook her head. She belated herself for missing her maidservant so much to the point of hearing voices in her head.
"Miss? are you there?", Seohwa repeated meekly. She felt guilty for not being with her mistress for a long time. The house looked empty without her as the old master and madam had been gloomy since her departure.
"Seohwa? ... ", she asked in self reproach. "Seohwa! is that you?are you outside?".
"Yes Miss, I'm outside, can I come in and..."
Before she could complete her sentence, her miss breezed outside and embraced as if she just found that which she had lost.
Seohwa overwhelmed with her miss's reception turned giddy with excitement, she knew her miss treated her well but didn't know she would be so happy to see her. Yoona dragged her into the room and bombarded her with several questions about her family.
Seohwa filled her in and remembered something which made her smile. Yoona noticed the smile and inquired what it was about.
"Miss, madam wanted to tag along with me, when old master refused she started throwing tantrums at him, telling him how he was heartless and how he doesn't care about you, old master was helpless but firm on his decision and madam staged a fake cry ,even l was convinced with the acting that I felt sad for her, but when I saw her making faces at her maidservant imploring her to join her charade I was relieved because it was all an act. But miss... madam and old master misses you alot"
Yoona who allowed Seohwa to tell her the story without interruption suddenly jerked up. It dawned on her that Seohwa was really here with her but without her teacher's permission. She asked if she had sneaked in but Seohwa denied doing so as lady Lee wrote a letter home, telling old master to allow her keep Yoona company during the festivity period.
Yoona's happiness rebounded with the good things happening to her that morning and wished it would never stop.
Seohwa brushed her miss hairs. She had missed the soft and silky feel the hair gives her each morning, she wondered how she had survived this past few weeks without it, slapping herself back to the present, she adorned her miss with a simple hair pin that she likes alot .
Preparation done, they strode towards her teacher's compound to begin their journey.
Teacher Lee announced the commencement of the journey and they entered the palanquin that will take them ,except Seohwa who was of lowly status. Servants are not allowed to ride with their masters and it is the law .
Yoona was upset with the system and the people that made such rules, she swore that if she ever had the chance to amend their constitution, that would be the first thing she would amend. She swore to remember this day her friend was separated from her due to social status and gap.
Speaking of which, she remembered she is also being discriminated by her sisters because her mother was a slave. Pushing away the depressing thoughts from her mind, she decided to focus on the journey ahead and the series of events that would take place .
Reaching Murong temple, they saw lots of nobles and their servants had already arrived, it seemed all were waiting for the auspicious hour to start the ceremony.
They heard the anticipated sound of drum and went into the temple to pray .
Master Kwang, the monk, started the prayers to dispel evil spirits and placate the spirits of those that died tragically .
After the prayers, they all went towards the nearby river to cleanse themselves and continue the prayer .
Yoona feeling a little bit hungry held her grumbling stomach to assuage it. Immediately the exorcism was done, people with food shared with their families and friends. Yoona's group ate the snacks and fruits her teacher brought.
Teacher Lee told them the food was an appetizer as they would dine properly at home. She teased them that no one would die of hunger before the 2 hours journey home.
As soon as the ritual was done, they went back to the temple to do some donations and went back home.
AT THE ROYAL PALACE
Their own exorcism ritual was over. Theirs was done by the monks , taoist priests and shamans. Everyone participated for the success of the event.
The royal families went back to their respective palaces for a change of clothes suitable to watch the lion dance show and some other shows ,the emperor prepared for entertainment.
Princess Ha-eun went with her mother while Princess Min-seo tagged along with the duo. She preferred their company since the empress and the princess dotes on her .
At the empress palace, food was served and the three of them dug in with the empress having one table for herself, and the princesses sharing one table.
Min-seo's favorite was served, skewered meat and rice. The empress noticed the girl's voracious appetite and ordered her servants to add more of it to her plate.
The crown prince on the other hand dragged his brother away from the pot of wine he wants to drown himself in.
"Little Soon, you promised to allow me drink to my heart's content today, why are you holding me back now" ,Prince Song complained agitatedly, his face hardened to a scowl.
Prince Soon told him the best part of the programme is about to begin and he won't allow him get drunk so early.
Prince Song laughed and promised to show him the real excitement later in the day.He still begged to be allowed one cup of drink but his brother refused.
Giving up on the wine, they ate their food without much drama and headed out for the next event on the list .
The emperor just went back to his palace, ate and came out again without anyone disturbing him .
The empress dowager in her own palace remembered the little episode she had with the empress and lost her appetite. She swore that since she couldn't give birth to a child, she would raise one and her eyes was set on the first born prince whom everybody seemed to have rejected. Happy at the thought, she drank her tea, popped in some nuts into her mouth and headed out to the palace ground after rinsing her mouth.
The nobles that came to the palace on the other hand, sat down and arranged themselves in accordance with their political ranks in the palace ground. Arrangement didn't take long as each seat had their names tagged on it according to their rank. Food was served to them from the palace kitchen.
The imperial consort also freshened up and returned to her seat .
With the arrival of all the members of the imperial family, the next event started and the subsequent ones followed suit.
During the events, the empress dowager had her eyes on the prince all through, Prince Song noticing her gaze smiled and slightly bowed at her, the empress dowager became more happy and made a mental note to invite him to her palace later in the day .
Immediately the prepared events had been exhausted, the emperor departed for his study and everyone dispersed to their different homes to spend the remaining time with their families.
The crown prince planned his escape from the palace with his elder brother. Since it would be the first time he leaves the palace, he was nervous and excited too. Remembering the stories his brother told him, he consoled himself that at least he has a rough imagination of how the outside world looked like .
Once the preparations for their escape was done, they deceived the crown prince's servants into leaving to prepare a hot and cold bath for him, his chief eunuch wanted to stay back but he insisted he wants a perfect bath and the only way to get it is by supervising them.
Once the chief eunuch left , they ran towards the kitchen side where they met one trusted soldier, the soldier led them towards the gate and outside the palace without much hassle from the imperial guards ,they recognized Prince Song but not the the other boy because he was on makeup. Again, it was not surprising to see a boy besides the prince since lots of nobles entered the palace that day with their families, so they classified him as Prince Song's acquittance and let them leave peacefully.
Once outside the palace they heaved a sigh of relief and began their tour towards the nearby town.