"Grandmama?" The crown prince called out his grandmother's name as soon as his eyes fluttered open. He tried to lift himself up off the bed that he was lying in.
"You're awake too, my crown prince. Here. Take it slow." His grandmother, the queen dowager, said as she helped him to sit up.
She was sitting by his bedside with his right hand in hers before his eyes fluttered open.
All the nurses and physicians plus the ministers are outside at the moment, with the exception of the head physician, who was allowed to remain in the room to brief the king about the princes' conditions.
The king, who was standing by the second prince's bed, chastised his two sons. The second prince was already awake and sitting up on his bed when his father arrived at the Donggung. "Both of you shouldn't be getting up right now in your conditions. You're just waking up. Your bodies haven't completely healed yet."
"Father, grandmother, what happened?" The crown prince asked.
"It seems that you two ate something that your stomachs were not used to at the festival yesterday; you both had food poisoning. But don't worry, it's alright now." The physicians explained.
The king wanted to wait until their full recovery before he told them the truth. He has thus warned the entire royal court and his cabinet not to divulge anything to his sons yet, considering their closeness to the dead girl.
The crown prince furrowed his brows. "Food poisoning? Weird. We hardly ate anything out there last night."
"Oh, then what about Lady Youngmi, aba mama? She was with us last night, and she ate the same foods as well. Is she alright?" The second prince asked, looking up at his father.
"What have I told you two about sneaking out of the palace? Don't you see the dangers of going out there without the proper security measures?" The king avoided answering the question.
The crown prince winced in pain as he apologised. "It's all my fault; I'm sorry, father."
Cough. Cough.
He coughed afterward.
"Crown Prince, do you want to drink water? Here." The queen dowager asked and offered a porcelain cup of water to him.
"No, father. I, am at fault. It was my idea that we should go out of the palace for the festivities last night. I know you wouldn't have allowed us to go had we been informed. Brother only went with me because he wanted to make sure that I didn't fall into any danger." The second prince explained.
"I'm very disappointed in both of you for this. But more so in you, crown Prince. You should have been the voice of reasoning..."
"My king!" The queen dowager called out her son's name. "Leave them to recover first. Now is not the time for this, please."
Cough. Cough. Cough.
The crown prince's cough only seems to worsen. There was blood in the phlems that came out of his mouth this time but he hid it from everyone else in the room with him.
"Crown prince, are you okay?" The queen dowager asked worriedly. She then turned to the physician. "Royal head physician, what is wrong with him?"
All eyes were on the physician except for the Crown Prince, who was battling with the coughs and chest pain.
"Mama, I..." The physician's words were cut short when the crown prince's coughs started to come in successively.
Cough. Cough. Cough.
He coughed up more blood this time before finally collapsing back on his bed.
"Son!!!"
"Brother!!!"
"CrownPrince!!!"
His grandmother screamed.
And so did all the other three men including the head physician.
Everyone of them rushed to check on the crown prince and then... thud!!! The second prince has also fallen hard on the floor on his face.
In a bit of a hurry to check on his bigger brother, the second prince lost his balance as his legs gave way due to his now weakened body.
"My prince!!!"
All the others screamed the grand prince's name as he too has also collapsed on the floor.
***
"Now is not the time to play jokes crownprince! Wake up, my prince!" The queen dowager cried as she kept shaking up her first grandson.
"I'm sorry, your Majesty, but the crown prince is gone."
The king grabbed the physician by the collar of his robe. "What do you mean that the prince is gone? Can't you do anything about it?"
"The... the poison use, it was very potent, my king. But... can you please let me focus on the grand prince for now? At least he is still breathing. Please?"
The prime minister and Minister Oh also entered the crown prince's chamber. They quickly loosened the King's hand on the physician.
The ministers outside have heard the wailing of the queen mother and the commotion going on inside, and so they designated two of them to check on what was going on in the prince's room.
The news of the crown prince's death spread throughout the palace and beyond in under a quarter of an hour, and even those in the royal prison also heard of it.
The grieving king became very furious, thinking about how his son had just died.
Not wanting to delay the ruling any more, he burst out of the Eastern Palace and went straight into the interrogation grounds.
His ministers followed suit without saying anything. Even the prime minister didn't dare to say a word to the king.
*
"Bring out the criminal!" The king commanded once they were at the tribunal, and immediately, Lee Minsoo and his family, together with the other servant, were brought over.
Minsoo's father was very worried after having heard the news of the crown prince's death. He doubted that the king would let his family go free just because he was close to his older brother.
His silent prayer was that his only daughter, Lee Minseo, should not be made to face any punishment. She was too delicate for the harsh conditions of the prisons.
"They're all here, my king." The chief-in-command said once all six people were brought out.
"Good. Now hear my interim judgement."
All ears stayed alert. Well, with the exception of Minsu, who still didn't understand everything that was going on and only wished to be sent back home.
That is all he wanted as of this moment.
The king was hurt and in anguish, and so he needed to punish someone. But once he saw the poor girl to whom all fingers are pointing, he knew that he couldn't carry on with his harsh judgement any more.
He decided to amend it, at least, just by the fact that his sons were only victims of circumstances and not targeted. Also, if he judges the girl with a serious charge, this will affect the prime minister as well.
"Hmmm." He sighed in resignation and looked at the prime minister for a brief moment, as he thought of what judgement will not affect his friend and will also be just enough for the little girl.
The king also wanted to believe that perhaps if he were very lenient towards the criminal, the universe would look at that and not take his second son away too.
If he executed this girl whom his guts believe is innocent while his other son was on the brink of death, he was sure that the ancestors would drag his son into the underworld with them.
And that will definitely kill him. So, as a test, he chose to be merciful instead.
"As the main catalyst in the deaths of my son, the late Crown Prince, and that of the late Lee Youngmi, I hereby sentence you, Lee Minsoo, to the maximum period of twenty years in prison at Hanseong women's prison in the Gyeonggido province.
Your sentence is subject to a review after serving more than one-third of your stipulated time. The latter ruling will be solely based on the recommendations and decisions of your jail handlers.
Also, you are to receive twenty lashes before you start serving your sentence."
The king then turned to his ministers and said. "All of you can go back to your various offices. Today's assembly is finally over."
"Yes, your Majesty." The ministers chorused but did not leave first due to courtesy.
The king turned and headed back to the Eastern Palace to go and check on his second son without even waiting for the guards to carry out the lashings and to send Lee Minsoo away from the capital city to the Gyeonggido province as declared.