"What?!" Suk-bin asks loudly and very annoyed.
"Yes, your majesty." Lady Baek replies sounding sober.
"The ministers did what? They turned their backs on me?" she asks again.
"Yes." Lady Baek nods.
"Those good for nothing old men." She whispers beneath her breath. "They really think they can scare me or put me under their control?" She asks and chuckles a bit.
"Your majesty, what are you going to do now? It's no good thing to be on the bad side of the ministers."
"I will never allow them disturb my son's marital happiness for any reasons." Suk-bin whispers.
"Do you have a plan?"
"Let's wait till tomorrow, once the queen dowager is out of the palace, I will have a discussion with them one on one."
"Yes, your majesty." Lady Baek says and bows.
"Before then, I will have to discuss somethings with my son, he must be ready to get more than enough back lashes from both factions. His marriage is not one that makes them happy, that is why the marriage must hold by all possible means."
"Once the Ming emperor is in support of it, then I guess we shouldn't have any problems with that. No one will be stupid enough to touch the grand daughter of the great Ming's emperor."
"Yes." Suk-bin nods. "But we still have to be very careful, they can't touch Ok Kung but they can touch someone from Joseon."
"Your majesty, it's getting late please retire to bed. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow." Lady Baek pleads.
"Yes." Suk-bin nods with smiles. "Prepare my bath."
"Yes your majesty." She bows and walks out to carry out her mistress's orders.
**************
At exactly 8pm that same night, the entire northern faction ministers had gathered, awaiting the arrival of the queen.
"I don't think our safety can be guaranteed anymore, if the queen dowager of all people can be punished what will happen to mere ministers like us." One minister whispers to another minister.
"We have to be extra careful now, with the look of things, I think the southern ministers will rule the nation." Another minister whispers to his friend who said something to him earlier.
"You all should act like real men and stop quivering, gossiping like cowards or toddlers." Lord Chun says with utmost authority practically yelling at the men who were whispering to themselves earlier.
The entire men who were standing and lingering around the compound either discussing with a colleague or quivering on his own thinking of the worse that could actually happen, were taken aback with the development.
"Stop quivering?" A minister asks and scoffs. "The queen dowager is going to be stripped off her title tomorrow, the prime minister is going to be exiled and all his properties have been confiscated already. If the king can punish these people, what do you think will happen to us?"
"That is why we have to come together to work as one to fight the cause of these problems so we can regain our stand again." A voice cuts in.
The men look to see who it was and they bowed immediately they found out it was the queen. "The queen your majesty." They chorus with a bow.
The queen, wearing a very beautiful dress, though she wasn't in her royal robes but the dress still look so beautiful and depicts her as a queen, she wears a hat with a nice chiffon attached to the tip which is use to cover her face. The ministers could have found it difficult to recognize her but the sight of Lady Sung her attendant tipped them off. "Lift your heads." The queen whispers and they obeyed her. "We mustn't quiver or get frightened, it won't do anything but make matters worse." She says and lifts the chiffon covering her face and looks round making sure to make eye contact with the ministers. "We mustn't allow anyone know our weakness and pains."
"Your majesty, please come in. Let's go discuss it all inside." Lord Chun offers politely.
"Alright." The queen whispers and walks inside the building as Lord Chun leads the way.
"He is trying to get the queen's Favour by all means." One minister whispers to his friend as he walks in the building too.
"No doubt, he has been eyeing the prime minister's position for a while now." The second minister adds.
"I am very sure he will find a way to make sure that his daughter becomes the wife to prince Gwang Jae."
"I do not expect less too, since the prime minister is now a criminal. His daughter can't move close to the prince anymore."
The men suddenly keep quiet immediately they sit and pretend to be paying utmost attention to what was going on in the room.
The queen takes her sit as the eldest in the room and carefully pulls her hat showing off her beauty and very lovely hair. Even at night, she still has her make up on. "Ministers."
"Yes, your majesty." The entire room echoes as they reply the queen.
"We can't save the prime minister, but we can save the Queen dowager."
"How can we possibly do that your majesty?" One minister whose silence is already seeming to be lasting forever finally speaks up. "Have you forgotten that the king will never take back his orders?"
"I am aware of that, but I am sure we can do something if we join hands together. Up till now, the queen dowager has been the one protecting us. The moment she is gone, we will have to walk on eggshells now."
"So what do you suggest we do now?" Lord Chun asks.
"We have to protest, and stand firmly to our ground, the queen dowager must not loose her crown and royal seal for any reasons."
"Yes, Your majesty." The ministers echoes again.
"That is one at hand, the other issue we have at hand is one that we have been trying to pursue for the past twenty years now." The queen sighs. "I am sure you all know what that is:"