In her hands she holds a beaded neck lace and looks at it disgustingly. "It will be easier for you to punish her when you loose this necklace." Suk-bin whispers to herself.
"Your majesty, it is I Lady Baek, may I come in?"
"Come in!" Suk-bin orders and drops the necklace on the small wooden table in front of her.
Lady Baek walks in and bows. "Your majesty, I have news from the king's palace."
"Really? Sit and tell me about it."
"Yes, your majesty." Lady Baek answers with a bow and sits.
"So tell me, what is the news all about?" Suk-bin asks with a lot of interests.
"The lady investigators went to have an official audience with the king concerning what happened last night."
"Really." She asks again.
"Yes." Lady Baek answers with a nod. "They told the king they wanted to investigate the case hand in hand with the tribunal."
"So what did the king say? did he grant their request?"
"He did something better than that, he told them he had already decided on what to do and how to punish the guilty."
"Are you sure of what you are saying?" Suk-bin asks doubting.
"Yes, your majesty. Lady Yu told me herself a while ago."
"So? Who are the guilty ones?"
"The queen dowager and the prime minister, your majesty." Lady Baek whispers.
"What? The king is really going to punish the queen dowager?"
"Yes." Lady Baek nods. "She is going to be sent away from the palace to the temple."
Immediately, the Royal Noble consort of the nation can't explain what she feels in heart. Wether to call it extreme joy or sympathy. She is so happy that finally, the queen dowager is leaving the palace. It's just like a very terrible knot of burdens, pains and troubles let loose from her mind. She feels sympathetic because she is causing the king to punish his mother. "Finally." She whispers with a smile. "I am going to successfully get rid of her."
"What do you plan to do with this bead your majesty?" Lady Baek asks as she lowers her gaze to the bed lying in the table.
Suk-bin looks at the necklace too and says. "If I want to successfully get rid of the queen dowager entirely, I have to make sure the king never sees the necklace again." She looks at her attendant. "Do you think the king won't summon her later?"
"What? The king will summon the queen dowager back later?"
"Is it possible for a son to send his mother out of the house? All this his majesty is doing, is just for a while. I have to make sure before the queen dowager returns, my son is already staying at the crown prince's chambers."
"We have to act fast then." Lady Baek moves closer to her mistress and whispers. "We have to be fast with all we do now, especially with the marriage."
"The marriage will surely take place." Suk-bin says sternly. "I know it might be on a hold for now, but I will make sure it happens before she returns."
" so what do you think we should now? What is the first step to take your majesty?"
"Summon all the southern ministers, I want to have a talk with them."
"You are under house arrest your majesty, have you forgotten? Lady Baek asks. "You can't meet with anyone for now except the king."
"Even my son?" Suk-bin asks already sounding sad.
"Yes your majesty." The attendant replies with a nod.
She closes her eyes in disappointment and whispers. "Get me ink and paper, I want to write to my son, lady investigators, and the ministers."
"Yes, your majesty." Lady Baek says and bows then head out to get the ink and paper.
"Queen, I will finally make sure your jealousy put you in the most unfavorable condition ever." She whispers to herself.
************
"What?!" The queen asked and bangs the small table in front of her hard. "The queen dowager to retire to the temple and the prime minister be exiled?!"
"Yes your majesty." Lady Sung whispers sadly.
"How did this even happen? How can the king come to such decision so fast?"
"Apparently, the king his majesty planned on spending the night at Suk-bin's chambers when the incident happened, and immediately, one of the attackers opened up and mentioned the prime minister's name." Lady Sung explains more.
"The king is still planning on spending nights with that woman!!" The queen whispers with jealousy as she changes her discussion.
"This is no time to be jealous mom." Gwang Jae cuts in and bows to his mom.
"Your highness." Lady Sung stands and welcomes the prince with a bow and walks out of the room.
Gwang Jae sits and faces his mom. "We have to find a way to save grandmother."
"Have you forgotten the type of person your father is?" The queen asks and scoffs. "He will never take back his order, that is why he doesn't give orders anyhow."
"Once the root is pulled out, the entire tree, both the fruits and branches is totally useless." Gwang Jae whispers speaking in parables.
"What are you talking about?" The queen asked confused.
"The queen dowager is the root, she is the power house that has been protecting me and you with the northern ministers, if anything happens to her, our stand will shake. Even if anything is to happen to her it should be after my installation as the crown prince."
"So what do you think we do now?"
The prince sighs. "Taking a very good look at it, Suk-bin pulled a smart and quick one on us all."
"How is that?" The queen asks again.
"Can't you see that everything was staged and planned? Why did she come and threaten the queen dowager yesterday and the king was with her? After the king had stopped paying her night visit for months? Can't you see that it was all a game pulled by her? She did it purposely to catch the queen dowager."