Ae rin looks at ok Jung, she hopes she could just smack her face so hard for once. What annoys her more is that she doesn't have much to do but she keeps failing at her duties of just being a dignified lady. All she has to do is wear fancy dresses, eat lovely food and drinks, wear nice hairpins and key chains, ride in a beautiful palanquin, and paint.
How can someone decide to ignore all these beautiful and less stressful things and choose to display sword skills? Ae rin had wished for a day to be in Ok Jung shoes, just to enjoy the privilege of being the Ming princess, and the daughter of the richest Minister in Joseon.
"You really don't know how lucky you are, do you?" Ae rin asks.
"Please don't start with that now." Ok Jung waves her hand. "Just prepare the bath and dress."
"You always don't want to listen!" Ae rin nags.
"And you all say the same thing every time!!!!! I just want to be free to do all I want, nothing more." Ok Jung nags almost crying.
"I wish I was in your shoes. It would have been perfect."
"That is what you all say, until you finally get in the shoes and know the kind of pressure on me. I can't even make friends or talk to anyone I want because I am a noble lady." Ok Jung hisses. "It is so tiring."
"I understand the fact you have a lot of pressure on you but if you had always behave like a lady, it wouldn't be this difficult." Ae rin stands and moves close to ok Jung and holds her hands. "These beautiful and tender hands shouldn't hold a sword at all."
"I do it for fun." Ok Jung whispers.
"It sounds and appears strange to other people, no one will believe you do it for fun." Ae rin starts to undress her lady.
***************
GYOTAEJEONG, a beautiful place every woman both high and low wished to spend the rest of their lives in. Inside it, a queen sits and looks at herself in the mirror. She stares at herself for a while until her attendant calls for her attention from outside.
"Your majesty! It is me lady Sung." Lady Sung announces.
"Come in!" The queen orders and drops the mirror she was staring at into a box close to her.
"Your majesty." Lady Sung bows.
"Have your seat."
"Yes, your majesty." Lady Sung sits and looks at the queen for a while. "Your majesty, what is wrong?you don't look well."
"How do you expect me to look well? All my efforts to make sure my son is crown prince is going down in vain." The Queen nags. "Until when do I have to do this dirty fight with Suk bin Choi?"
"Your majesty, if you will listen to me. I have an idea of what you can do to crown the prince?" Lady Sung whispers.
"What? You know what I can do and you kept quiet all this while?" The queen asks.
"Forgive me your majesty." Lady Sung bows. "I just don't want to be too forward."
"Tell me, what can I do?"
Lady Sung looks around the room for some reasons and moves closer to queen whispering to her. "Have you heard of the Ming Princess?"
"Ming princess?" The queen asks.
"Yes." Lady Sung nods.
"A princess from Ming?"
"No your majesty, you know Minister Jang don't you?"
"Yes." The queen nods. "Isn't he the richest Minister in our country?"
"Yes he is, many years ago, he managed to capture the heart of the current Ming's emperor first child."
"That is true! I can remember, the marriage was a mighty one." The queen recollects.
"They had a daughter together, she is the one popularly referred to as the Ming Princess. If the prince could marry her it will Strengthen him politically."
"But how sure are you that it is all going to work out?" The queen asks again.
"Because they would benefit from it too. Her grandfather would want to see to it that his granddaughter becomes the queen, her uncle is also the crown prince of Ming. They are in power, she is the exact person we need to strengthen the prince's reign."
"That true." The queen smiles. "All I have to do is make the move, and make sure my son marries that girl."
"I heard she is quiet pretty too." Lady Sung says with a smile.
"Another thing is making sure the prince loves her. She mustn't feel sad because of him, if she isn't happy, everything can go down in one line." The queen whispers.
"Don't worry about that your majesty, with what I have heard about her, every young male will fall for her."
"Minister Jang has served the king for a while, and I hear the king talk about him being very loyal and truthful." The queen smiles again. "Thus, once he is on our side, he won't swerve, if not for anything but for his daughter."
"Yes your majesty. I personally have thought of this before telling you about it."
"Thank you Lady Sung, the thought of my son bowing to that witch's son has been driving me crazy."
"Your majesty." Lady Sung whispers. "We have to hurry up, and act fast and put Suk bin Choi in her rightful place."
"She is trying her best to crown her son then later go after my crown." The queen scoffs. "How dare that ordinary court lady dream to be queen and the mother of crown prince?"
"The thought of that is what disturbs me, we used to serve prince Min before he got married and moved out of the palace and now I have to bow to her?" Lady Sung laments with a tone of jealousy and envy.
"What faction does Minister Jang belongs to?" The queen asks.
"It's your faction your majesty, the northern faction." Lady Sung whispers with a smile.
"Really? he hasn't been attending any gatherings or meetings I hold to discuss the prince."
"Yes, Minister Jang isn't interested in power struggle and the king gave him the authority and opportunity to opt out of such gatherings when he wants to."