Chapter 26

The empress said that she had no intention of bringing anything lowly and dirty to the bedroom, so Young-young had to sing outside the empress’s bedroom. Outside the empress’s bedroom was a small room where the maids were waiting. It was fortunate that it was not outdoors, but the space was too large for the voice to spread. The empress’s bed was too far away, and it was difficult for Young-young to be sure the empress could hear her voice.

Most of all, to make her wishes come true.

She didn’t think her songs would have such a great effect.

Today seems like a really beating day.

Her father would always beat her if her job didn’t go as her father thought. It didn’t matter if it was her fault or not. How much will it be? Young-young looked around, but no one knew, so it was difficult to guess.

“Your Highness.”

Court Lady Yoon gave Queen Mun a soft cushion while she was still. In the case of the Sun dynasty, poor people lead a sedentary life, and rich people lead a standing life. A sedentary lifestyle has been going on since ancient times, but this is because standing up has become popular recently. A standing life basically requires more furniture than a sitting one. It takes a lot of money. Moreover, in the Sun dynasty, there was a custom of attaching great importance to decoration, so there was no case of using simple form for each item. As a result, the rich naturally prefer to live standing up, even to show off their wealth, and the poor, on the other hand, lead a sedentary life.

Naturally, the imperial palace led a standing life. It was the same with Queen Mun. However, Court Lady Yoon gave Queen Mun a cushion. This was a great disgrace. Of course, it is the name of the Empress.

Court Lady Yoon was also not comfortable. How much does King Mun cherish his wife? There were even rumors that all the luxury items that entered Yangan were presented in front of King Mun before anyone else. The love of King Mun, who wants to do everything for her because she is pretty, is talked about in Yangan every day, but she did not want to imagine what kind of scene she would experience when he finds out about this.

“Bring me some hot tea.”

At Court Lady Yoon’s command, the other court lady looked at each other, asking if it would be okay. The empress said she didn’t want anything done to this queen.

“What will you do if the song is cut off and the Empress cannot fulfill her wish? Go get it!”

At Court Lady Yoon’s urging, the court lady nodded her head and then disappeared with hasty steps.

“Your Highness, please start singing.”

At Court Lady Yoon’s words, Young-young looked up at her. Don’t worry, she opened her mouth, thinking that this person seems to have a less terrifying face here.

“Did she have a sleep incense?”

Court Lady Yoon opened her eyes slightly wide in response to the sudden question and asked.

“Sleep, incense?”

“She can’t wake up in the middle. I don’t know what was accomplished with my songs. I don’t know the effect. But one thing is for sure, you must sleep for more than a certain amount of time. To do that, you’d better light a sleeping incense stick.”

Her father always burned sleeping incense or gave them medicine. If he was in a hurry, he gave them medicine, but if not, he preferred incense. She had heard her father explain to someone that they could sleep more comfortably because of incense.

“Go to the infirmary and get a sleeping incense.”

At Court Lady Yoon’s command, another court lady hurriedly disappeared with a brisk walk.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“Oh, and there were times when my father did not feed me. Because I couldn’t pay for the meal……. I don’t know what it is, but it seems that sometimes things don’t go well. But I don’t know what it is.”

Court Lady Yoon felt ominous at that time.

Queen Moon was 26 this year. Although she had aged for a long time, her face was strange. She looked as if she was not even fifteen, as if time had stopped passing. A face that hasn’t fully grown up. Her eyes are big, her lips are thick, her nose is low, and her face is small. Her words are slurred yet her gaze is clear.

She suddenly got goosebumps.

This queen was not like a human. She’s weird. Court Lady Yoon had never felt this kind of emotion even with the goblin King Mun. To her, he was just a proud person she had raised. But only this queen was eccentric. The queen’s eyes seemed to illuminate Court Lady Yoon herself, but she didn’t seem to illuminate anything else. Even though she has a gentle expression, she doesn’t seem to know all her joys and sorrows. It felt as if she was watching an empty, wooden doll creaking somewhere.

A ripple broke out in Court Lady Yoon’s heart. A hunch, no, it wasn’t a hunch, it was a prophecy. A firm awareness that something is going to go wrong.

And it’s clear.

It will start with this woman.

“…… Your Grace…….”

As Court Lady Yoon was about to open her mouth with a blank expression on her face, a steaming teacup was placed in front of the queen. The queen smiled and said ‘oh’, then took the tea and drank it.

“It’s delicious.”

The queen smiled brightly at Court Lady Yoon.

Court Lady Yoon bit her mouth. The queen was smiling like a fool. In her eyes, she was looking straight at her.

What was I thinking?

Court Lady Yoon shook her head. It’s a bad idea. That’s a useless idea. She tried to calm her beating heart.

***

The sleep incense arrived  and was burned. When the Empress was completely asleep, Young-young began to sing.

Young-young does not know where the language of this song is and what it means. It’s just that she’s been singing since the oldest moment she remembered.

Young-young sang and she remembered Sa Heon-yeong. The day she first met Sa Heon-young, she kept seeing the black eyes. Pretty eyes. As she stood still, he approached. It was nice to touch her cheek. If she put her cheek to that hand and sang, she sang better. In the end, she didn’t even know who she was singing to. It seemed to be calling Sa Heon-young.

When she was singing, there were times when it was more difficult and times when it was less difficult. There were times when she singed until she vomited blood. But sometimes it can be very exciting. Young-young herself does not know what harmony this is. She just sings. She keeps singing until the person wakes up. She sang a song no one taught her. The song, according to her mother, was “given by the ancient blood to Young-young.”

The court ladies before the empress looked a little dazed and looked at the queen. It’s a beautiful voice. Even when they first met the queen, they thought her voice was beautiful, but this voice was such a delicate thing that they had never heard before. The song is carried and spread by the cold wind of late autumn. It was as if the world was changing.

Surprised, the court ladies looked at each other. The queen sang as she moved her hand. She pressed on her chest and spread both her hands. She pointed to the sky and then she lightly clenched her fists and tapped her chest. The queen was saying something. She sings sweet songs that melt their ears with a voice that changes the world. As if she was muttering something. They don’t know what she was talking about, but they were still impressed. What on earth does it mean?

Beautiful.

Someone sighed

Time passed slowly. No, it seemed too fast. Nothing, nothing was done. The people trapped in the veil of singing simply listened to the song in silence. The presence of time has been erased. Time disappeared from the high ceilings, the beautifully carved windows, and the vases of flowers placed throughout the Empress Hall.

It was like a dream. Everyone was drenched in the same dream, and their toes and fingertips were languid. At the time when they thought, is this happiness?

“It can’t be—.”

A scream tore the dream to pieces.

It was the empress. She woke up with a sharp scream and screamed Aaaaahhhhhhh. At that nervous scream, Young-young stopped her singing and widened her eyes.

Court Lady Yoon hurriedly ran. So did the other court ladies. As a storm swept past, Young-young was left alone in the small room. Aaaaaaaahhhhh. Court Lady Yoon’s soothing voice was heard. Your Majesty, Empress. What happened? Your Majesty, Court Lady Yoon is here. Your Majesty, it’s okay, you’ve woken up from your dream. It’s fine now. Hearing everyone’s desperately soothing voices, Young-young sighed heavily and closed her eyes tightly.

She’s in big trouble.

Most of those who slept and woke up listening to her own song woke up feeling good. Or, after waking up, some people made a bewildered expression on their face and then made a bitter expression. But very rarely this has happened. She doesn’t know what they did in the dream, but they did something in the dream, and when they got up they did the same thing.

“I will kill you-!”

The Empress shouted at her.

“I’m going to kill that bitch!”

She doesn’t know why, but they all hated Young-young. The hatred was the most intense that Young-young had ever received. The madam, who hated her mother and used to beat her, hated her, but did not loathe her this much. But sometimes these people hated Youngyoung. That hatred burned like it would burn the whole world.

The Empress staggered and ran.

“Your Majesty? Empress, why are you acting like this? Your Majesty, please calm down.”

Court Lady Yoon desperately tried to stop the empress, but to no avail. The Empress staggered, but did not stop her speed. She then took the whip from the waist of a eunuch as he stood in front of the bedroom door, and swung it wildly at her.

Young-young embraced her face and head the moment she saw the whip flying towards her. While curling her body like that, she bit her teeth. It hurts, it hurts. The whip ripped Young-young’s clothes in an instant. The pretty clothes that Sa Heon-young picked out became rags in an instant.

It hurt terribly just with a few hits. Her eyes turned black. She couldn’t breathe properly. If it doesn’t stop, she’ll die. Young-young blinked desperately. Her vision did not return. Slap. Slap. The lashes continued to fall on the back, sides, shoulders, and the same place.

Tears were dripping down. It was sad. She’s been through this often, so she should be okay with it, but it hurts today. It was difficult to bear. Her heart was torn apart. it hurts, it hurts. What hurts the most is that the person who left her here was Sa Heon-yeong.

No, she shouldn’t be resentful.

He didn’t know this.

She has to breathe, breathe, just get hit, after this time, she’ll be fine. Then, she will be able to meet Lord Heon-yeong again. Then it’s over. It just happens to be something that never happened.

Young-young was beaten by the pouring beating and panted for her breath.

Save me, someone please save me.

It hurts so much, please someone save me.

She couldn’t call Sa Heon-yeong. Because he left her here. But she had no one to call other than him, so Young-young endured the pain with her teeth clenched. But the pain continued to intensify, and her head gradually went blank. It was rather fortunate, Young-young thought.