The king walks out of his mistress's chambers and sees outside is a total mess, maids and attendants are talking and whispering about what happened. Bodies were laying dead on the floor and three men were tied with their hands to the back. The king sees his right hand man, the chief of the Royal guard talking to one of his underlings about something he isn't sure of.
As he walks to the arrested culprits, everyone bows hurriedly and the scene grows silent as a grave. "Who sent you?" He asks the men.
Instead of the men to give replies they choose to keep quiet and keep their heads down, quivering in shock and fear and shame.
"Are you all deaf?" Chief Suh asks and hits them consecutively with his sword. "The king is asking you a question and you refuse to answer."
"Lord Yoon sent us!!" Chun So says loudly surrendering already.
"Chun So!" The other men calls together trying to caution him to keep his mouth shut.
"What?" The king asks again a little confused.
"Are you sure of what you are saying?" Chief Suh asks to be sure.
"Yes." Chun So nods. "I am very sure of that, he even killed one of us today when he Said he was scared to attack Suk-bin her majesty."
"Why would he ask you to kill the consort?" Lord Suh asks again.
"He never gave us a clear reason, he just asked us to kill her and get hold of a particular letter which had the queen dowager's seal on it." One of the culprit replies.
At the mention of the queen dowager's name, the king now understands what is really going on. The queen dowager is also involved in the plot, but he is somehow confused about the letter. "The letter that had the queen dowager's seal?" He asks the men again.
"Yes, your majesty." Chun So replies with tears in his eyes. "Please spare our lives."
Furiously, the king faces Officer Suh. "Arrest the prime minister right now! And also make sure the queen dowager and Suk-bin doesn't leave their chambers or have any visitors. Only their attendants alone, is that clear?"
"Yes, your majesty." Chief Suh says and bows.
Yeoning comes running in, he already heard the news that his mother's chambers was attacked. "Father, your majesty." He calls and bows.
"My son! What are you doing here?" The king asks as he places his palms on his face observing him closely.
"I heard the news that my mom's chambers was attacked." He replies and looks around. "Where is my mom?"
"She is in her chambers, I told her to stay in because I don't want her to stress herself. Don't worry she is fine."
Yeoning sighs of relief. "But what did they want? Why did they attack her chambers?" He asks pretending not to know what has warranted that.
"I am already investigating that, I will get to the bottom of this." The king whispers.
"Father, who ever did this is aiming at treason. Who dares attack the Royal noble consort of the nation? Definitely the person is also disrespecting you. Please, get to the bottom of this and punish every who is responsible."
The king pats his son's shoulders. "Don't worry, I will sort it all out. I promise to punish everyone accordingly."
Yeoning nods even though he doesn't believe the king will punish his own mother. "Can I see my mother?"
"No." The king retorts. "Until the investigation is done, no one can see her nor the queen dowager."
"Queen dowager?" The prince asks as he wonders that his father is already close to the truth so fast.
"Yes, those men over there." He says and points to the arrested men. "Mentioned the prime minister and the queen dowager. Hence, I have to investigate carefully."
"Yes father." Yeoning nods.
*******************
"Your majesty!" Lady Jung calls loudly and runs in the queen dowager chambers.
"What is it?" The queen dowager asks as she is dressed in her bed attire.
"Soldiers have surrounded this place your majesty." She explains almost crying.
"Soldiers? What for?" The queen dowager asks again.
"I am not sure your majesty but I was told it was on the king his majesty's order."
"What could have warranted this? It's barely past twelve mid night." She suddenly stops and remembers she had actually planned to do something with the prime minister. "Perhaps, did the plan fail?" She asks herself.
"Do you all think so your majesty?" Lady Jung asks.
"Send one of the girls to find out, make sure she does that secretly. Send word to the queen that I want to see her."
"The king forbade you from going out or receiving any visitors for now."
"What?!" The queen dowager asks loudly. "Definitely, the plan failed." She says and bangs the table. "What has come over the king? Did he plan on investigating me now?"
"I think you should send word to the king himself, maybe you should have the discussion with him instead."
"Yes." The queen dowager nods. "That witch of a mistress, she has successfully turned my son's back on me. I will make sure she pays dearly for this. Send words to the king that I want to see him right now."
******************
The king enters his mistress's chambers when everything has calmed a little bit.
"Your majesty." Suk-bin calls and bows.
The king sits and offers his mistress to sit too. "Why do you think your chambers was attacked?"
"I have no idea your majesty." She replies with her head down.
"Do you have an idea about who could have ordered this?"
"No." Suk-bin shakes her head.
"Then I suggest you have a letter that had the queen dowager's seal with you not so?" The king asks again.
Just as her son was surprised when the king mentioned the queen dowager, she is just as surprised too. Though she hopes that all evidence will point clearly to the queen dowager but she wasn't expecting it to be this fast.