Sunset was fast approaching when Prince Song decided to do a little survey of his environment.
He dragged himself out of bed and limped out of the room grinning at the serenity and beauty of the compound.His guards approached him but he told them to look for something to do while taking in the sight of the place.
At the far end of the compound is a shed housing fishing equipments with lavender flowers blooming in its front yard.At his left is an open kitchen with women chattering and cooking at the same time. The aroma of the food waft through his nose and started a rhythmic growling of his stomach.
Placing his hand on his tummy, he waded through the compound to the busy women.
The first woman saw him and gasped nudging the other woman to take a look.
"Oh my gosh! he is so adorable!"
"Aww... so cute!"
"He's very handsome"
"Dear handsome Knight, l am your damsel in distress"
"Someone please pinch me , l think I'm hallucinating"
Someone pinches her and she winced."Aww... not so hard you dummy"
"But , you said to pinch you" the other woman grumbled.
Prince Song watched the women bantering and couldn't help to smile. He breezed towards them and sat in between, placing his hands on each of their shoulders.
"You guys are the real MVPs, such beauty with amazing cooking skills, l almost floated to heaven due to the heavenly smell and I bet it taste divine... right?" he looked adoringly into each of their eyes while smiling at them.
When he saw the look on the face of the younger ajumma, he stood up abruptly patting his chest (Oh my god, l did it again. Wherever I am my skills keep licking, what if Seohwa sees me and think l am a playboy?... but man, I'm so hungry)
The confused women looked at him wondering why there is a change in temperature. The most daring one asked him his name.
"Song" he indulged her when he saw the hurt on her face. But what he got in return was an endless teasing about his arrival. He blushed thinking of what an embarrassing mess he must have been in the eyes of his love. Remembering her now , he got curious and wanted to get more information on her. He asked them what her expression looked like when they brought him in while popping a skewered meat into his mouth relishing in its taste.
"A little bit worried but aloof"
What kind of person is she?
"A beautiful soul with the face of an angel"
What are her favorite things? he threw another meat into his mouth.
"We don't know, she can't even remember some things about herself" the woman slapped herself when she found out she has given out more information than required.
Wait,what? She can't remember some things about herself? Why is that? Looking at the grim looking faces of the ladies, he decided to use his killer move on the one more approachable while munching on his food.
He sat down again but without touching them and started patting his chest, letting a few drops of tears to flow while making a babyface.
"Ajumeoni, I'm so pitiful. The last time we talked, she was so happy, going on and on about how our future will be. She smiled alot then. I have been looking for her for a year now. She suddenly disappeared. I was on a quest to find her when my journey was shipwrecked and she found me ...*sobs* imagine the excitement when I finally found her and the disappointment when she couldn't even remember my name... *pats his chest and sobs louder while sniffing* Ajumeoni, you must tell me why my lover can't remember my name!" he lied while hoping there are no loopholes in his story.
The women sniffed and wiped their nose, their cooking suspended.
"Oh young master, we didn't know that you and our miss were very close" the woman used her cloth to wipe her eyes and blow her nose. "After a very big incident in the capital, our miss fell into coma. No matter how many times we ask the old master what happened, he wouldn't tell us.
What? a big incident in the capital? What exactly happened to her to keep her in that condition? He turned to the woman and offers his handkerchief to her. "What exactly was her parents reaction when the incident happened?" he interrogated subtly taking care not to be too obvious in his questioning.
"Well, like l said before, we don't know, but I remember madam crying on the day she woke up, something about why she would chose a boy after them or something... anyway, l didn't dare go closer to eavesdrop, l mean... there were a lot going on and l didn't want to upset the madam then if she found me eavesdropping."
Prince Song nodded his head and took one of the fried tofu they made and threw it into his mouth. Standing up , he asked them for a favor.
"Ajummas, can you please tell her ,l mean miss Seohwa that watching sunset is one of the amazing moments in life, she should meet me at the beach, again... I'm hungry" he patted his stomach.
The women became angry, why would the young master ask for Seohwa instead of their young miss? The third lady among them who was quick to anger almost threw the cornflour she was sieving at his face.
"Pft... I was beginning to like you for being a long acquittance of our miss, who knew you were a two-faced dog?" prince Song looked at the woman confused and stifled a yawn. Dusting the dust out of his robe, he reminded the younger woman to remember his message with one last instruction.
"She will understand what l mean"
Then, he left.
The women continued their chores . Each person with her own thought.
Maybe, it's a secret code between them since madam doesn't allow their miss to meet other people other than them. Or maybe, he meant that Seohwa should really come to him . Is he really a two-faced dog, liking both their miss and Seohwa? But wait, he was completely enamored with their miss , are they having lovers quarrel? That must be it since their miss ordered them to prepare this food for him.
Anyway they answered his questions because they think their miss and him are a thing since miss that never talk without being talked to ordered them to take care of his nutritional needs to the best of their abilities.
________________
A man knelt before the crown prince giving a report on the secret mission he was tasked with. While still on the process, the face of the crown prince that was devoid of any emotion furrowed. He balled his hand into a fist and slammed it on the reading table filled with reports thereby spilling the whole thing on the floor .
"The prime minister took the exclusive rights in salt trading? And you are telling me mother gave it to him? What is she even thinking?"
The man giving the report lowered his head daring not to look at the cloud growing on his master's face.
The crown prince has started building his power. He remembered what his brother told him and his heart clenched when he remembered that his brother is no more in the capital. He wished he was there to guide him and even be the one taking care of it for him.
In order to have a steady supply of capital without touching the royal treasury and evading suspicions, he started by opening shops under anonymous names that will bring profits that will help him in his big step which is training of strong and capable private army in secret.
He gathered men from all over the country through his chief eunuch who swore to give his life and services to his master. One of the criteria of choosing them was based on their trustworthiness, ability to keep secrets, no family ties and finally strength and endurance.
In the course of secrecy, the one in charge is the chief eunuch .
The crown prince only provide money to feed,cloth and arm them while observing their training in secret.
A merchant that was looking for a strong political backing had stumbled on the eunuch posing as a nobleman and begged for the right to trade salt with a 50 -50 profit sharing. He gets the right and protection while he pays a large amount of profit to his backer.
The crown prince chose salt because of it's scarcity. It's price is exorbitant too. In order to make it available to the common masses, he fought against monopoly thereby winning against the prime minister that proposed it.
At first, he fought against it because the prime minister wanted it, but when he got his reports , he found out that what he fought for was bigger than his animosity against the prime minister but was for the greater good.
The defeated look he saw on the face of the prime minister was enough to cure him of indigestion of 10 years. At his palace, for the first time after the incident, he forgo his dignity and laughed out so hard that his servants were surprised and happy at the same time that their crown prince is finally returning to his cheerful self. Only those that knew what truly happened bemoaned their fate on the upcoming battle of power between their crown prince and the prime minister.
The common people couldn't afford salt due to it's high price. Hence, he made sure lots of merchants had the right to trade salt thereby lowering the price due to competition.
Trust the prime minister, he used the empress mother to regain control over it again therefore making his efforts useless.
He thinks it is time to have a chat with his mother. it's been quite long, very long actually.
"Chief eunuch"
"Yes your highness" he bowed while awaiting orders.
"Don't you think it is a beautiful day for an outing? *smirks* let's pay the empress a visit. I'm sure she misses me"