Chapter 20: The Price of Silence
The following morning, Pung, Woon, and Chae-woo arrived at the palace grounds, where a royal guard met them with orders: the Crown Prince was requesting their immediate presence at the East Palace.
Upon arrival, the trio bowed in low unison.
“How are you all faring this morning?” the Crown Prince asked, looking up from his desk.
“Very well, Your Highness,” Pung and Chae-woo replied together.
“Follow me.”
The Prince led them into his private library, where they set to work building their case—connecting clues, organizing maps, and cross-referencing merchant manifests.
As they sorted through the mountain of intelligence, Chae-woo paused, holding a scroll in his hand.
“Why do these greedy people force their own citizens into strife?” Chae-woo asked softly.
“Putting so many lives at risk… for what?”
“Greedy men never realize they are greedy,” the Crown Prince answered without looking up.
“In their own eyes, their actions always seem justified.”
Meanwhile, Woon wandered over to a tall bookshelf, idly pulling down a dusty volume.
“Do you even know what that is, let alone how to read it?” the Prince asked, amused.
Woon opened the cover and recited in a low, measured voice:
“In human life, generation follows generation without end, Yet the moon above the river looks the same year after year. We do not know for whom the river moon shines tonight, We only see the long river carrying away the flowing water…”
The Crown Prince stared at him in disbelief.
“How do you know Spring River on a Moonlit Night by Zhang Ruoxu?”
“Although we were tiger hunters, my father made me read a great deal,” Woon replied, flipping a page.
As he turned the parchment, a folded piece of paper slipped from the book and fluttered to the floor.
Woon bent down to pick it up, but the Crown Prince bolted upright from his chair.
“Leave it where it is!” the Prince barked sharply, rushing across the room.
He snatched the paper from the floor, tucking it securely into his sleeve.
“That is mine. Isn’t it time for your midday meal? Go on, go eat.”
“But Your Highness—” Pung began.
“Go on now,” the Prince interrupted firmly.
As Pung and Woon bowed to take their leave, the Prince called out, “Chae-woo, stay behind. You come with me.”
Once Pung and Woon had departed, the Prince retrieved an ornate wooden gift box containing traditional snacks and handed it to Chae-woo.
“Carry this.”
The Prince led Chae-woo through the quiet garden corridors toward the Queen’s Palace, arriving at a pavilion overlooking the royal lotus pond.
Approaching his mother, the Prince bowed deeply in greeting.
Chae-woo immediately lowered his gaze to the stone floor, standing rigid behind his lord.
“Who is this young man, my son?” the Queen asked gently.
“M-My name is Chae-woo, Your Highness,” he stammered.
“He is my personal guard, Mother,” the Prince added with a warm smile.
“Look up at me, child,” the Queen urged softly. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Nervously, Chae-woo raised his face.
At that moment, the two young princesses, accompanied by their court maid, stepped into the pavilion.
Bright and cheerful, the sisters glided straight to the Queen, grasping her hands affectionately.
“How have my daughters been?” the Queen asked, smiling.
“We have been wonderful, Mother,” they chimed, lingering close by her side.
“Anyone would think you two are her only children,” the Prince teased gently.
He turned back.
“Chae-woo, present the gift.”
Chae-woo stepped forward with the box.
But as his eyes met the princesses, his jaw dropped, and the box slipped right through his fingers, tumbling onto his hands.
The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow.
“Have you perhaps run into my sisters before?”
“N-No, Your Highness!” Chae-woo squeaked, hastily steadying the box and handing it over to the Queen’s Head Court Lady.
“This is Yut-gangjeong,” the Prince explained.
“Light, crunchy puffed rice bound with honey syrup and toasted pine nuts.”
“Thank you, my son,” the Queen replied warmly.
The Prince bowed.
“I have urgent matters to attend to, Mother. Please excuse me.”
“Of course,” the Queen nodded.
“Be mindful, my son—in a few days, you will be receiving your prospective crown princess.”
The Prince stiffened slightly, bowed again, and took his leave with Chae-woo trailing behind.
Around the Hour of the Dog (8:00 PM), the Crown Prince, Pung, Woon, and Chae-woo arrived outside Myeong-wol-gwan, the grandest gisaeng house in Hanyang.
They waited under the glow of red lanterns until Mr.
Park hurried up the steps, panting.
“Forgive me, Nari! I was delayed!” Mr.
Park wheezed.
Woon narrowed his eyes.
“Have you been gambling again?”
“I’ve stopped! I swear it!” Mr.
Park whispered nervously.
“Let us go inside.”
Slipping into the private corridors, they waited in a side room until a port officer stepped into an adjoining chamber.
Mr.
Park nodded subtly.
“Then let us move,” the Prince said, rising.
“Wait, Nari,” Mr.
Park cautioned, catching his sleeve.
“We wait until he is tipsy. A drunk man’s guard drops twice as fast.”
After a short wait, they knocked and walked straight into the officer’s room.
“Who are you?!” the officer bellowed, slamming his cup onto the table.
“How dare you barge into my private quarters?!”
“Calm down, Nari,” Mr.
Park pleaded, bowing nervously.
“I have brought businessmen to see you.”
“Businessmen? Park, what is the meaning of—”
“Enough,” the officer cut him off, glaring at the strangers.
“Let them speak for themselves. What are your names?”
“Given the delicate nature of our business, Nari, we do not use names,” Woon replied coolly.
The officer paused, then burst into a booming laugh.
“I see! Well then, ‘Mr. No-Name,’ what is it you want?”
“We are looking to purchase smuggled military weapons from Ming,” the Crown Prince stated directly.
“No questions asked.”
“No questions?” The officer smirked.
“Silence costs a great deal of coin. Did Park not inform you?”
“I did, Nari,” Mr.
Park interjected quickly.
The Crown Prince reached into his robes, pulled out a rolled silk painting, and slid it across the low table.
The officer picked it up, frowning.
“What is this?”
“Open it first,” Chae-woo suggested calmly.
Unrolling the silk, the officer’s eyes widened in shock.
“A Goryeo Dynasty Buddhist silk painting… Where on earth did you get your hands on something like this?”
“As I said, I am a businessman,” the Crown Prince replied smoothly.
The officer cleared his throat, though his eyes remained glued to the masterpiece.
“An extraordinary piece… but even a national treasure is not enough to open sealed gates.”
Without a word, the Crown Prince reached back into his cloak and placed a heavy iron-bound wooden chest onto the table.
“Inside is two hundred taels of pure silver,” the Prince stated.
The officer popped the latch and lifted the lid.
The gleam of solid silver illuminated his face, and he erupted into a roaring, echoed laugh of pure amusement.