“Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has arrived. She says it’s urgent.”
The Empress Dowager had left the sickly former emperor behind and came up alone to attend the wedding. It was only natural for her to stay in the imperial palace, but it was inappropriate for her to come on the day of the wedding when the emperor was bathing in the outdoor bath. The emperor vaguely understood why she had come. The trail of her actions, which seemed to follow one after another, was enough to make her suspicions a certainty. The Empress Dowager had come because she was curious about the empress the emperor had chosen.
She was still greedy. The emperor frowned, deepening the lines on his forehead, and stood up. Without even wiping his body, he threw on a robe. The long robe covered his body somewhat.
“Let her in."
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The curtain lifted. The Empress Dowager entered, holding a palace maid’s hand, water dripping from various places. The emperor, still inside the canopy, extended his hand as he saw the Empress Dowager. She forced a plausible smile and took the emperor’s hand. He, in turn, smiled courteously, starting the conversation.
“What is it, Mother?”
“I was just coming from meeting the noble consort.”
“Is that so?”
The emperor was not interested in what the noble consort and the Empress Dowager had discussed. In any case, the Empress Dowager wasn’t interested in the consort either. What she cared about was the owner of the new Palace. What reaction would she have when she learned that the owner was her grandson, King Yeonghyeon?
“The consort is suffering greatly. Her illness has spread through her body, making movement difficult, and she cannot stop worrying about King Gyeonghye. As a mother who has a son, I find it troubling, so I wanted to speak with you.”
“Mother?”
The emperor laughed, as though he had heard nonsense.
“You are getting old, Mother. To come all this way just for something like that?”
The Empress Dowager had poisoned a concubine’s child to make the crown prince, and even killed her own daughter and son. The emperor smiled with a tone full of mockery at her words. However, the Empress Dowager didn’t stop smiling. She took a step back, gently folded her hands, and raised her head.
“There is only one person who can comfort the consort. Your Majesty, please embrace the consort with a heart as vast as the sea.”
“Today is the day of the wedding. One must cleanse both body and mind, and only then should we accept a new concubine, so that we may bear a fine child. That is the will of Heaven. Are you suggesting that the emperor should go against Heaven’s will and produce an ill-born child?”
The emperor tightened the ties of his robe and looked at the Empress Dowager with narrowed eyes.
“Do you want me to ruin the crown prince you’ve been hoping for, just because of the Empress?”
“Do you think a crown prince can come from that woman?”
The Empress Dowager asked. The emperor half-closed his eyes, staring at her aging neck. An old snake, still desiring to place the woman she wanted in power and choose a crown prince as she wished.
Even though she was supposed to serve the emperor, her son. The emperor placed his hand on the back of his neck and massaged it.
It irritated him that he couldn’t kill her.
“Mother, sometimes it seems you don’t understand your position. The position of the Empress Dowager isn’t such a great one.”
The Empress Dowager’s face hardened, and her cheeks flushed red from the insult.
“Your Majesty, your words go too far. I am your mother. The former emperor has often spoken to you about this.”
“So what?”
The emperor placed his hand on his chin, wiping away his smile. His face turned cold, freezing the Empress Dowager’s heart.
The Empress Dowager finally revealed her true feelings and glared at him with a look of fury.
But the emperor seemed to find this amusing, his eyes widening in a childlike expression, full of innocence.
“The ruler of this land is Heaven, not you, Mother. Heaven chooses the empress, and Heaven chooses the crown prince. The question shouldn’t be whether the crown prince can come from her.”
“Are you saying you won’t even treat me as a mother anymore?”
The Empress Dowager clenched her fists, trembling in rage. Her son, whom she had raised so carefully, was treating her this way. A son whom she had guided with love, who had killed her daughter and son to make him the crown prince, killed concubines, and even killed another woman’s child to make him emperor.
She couldn’t allow him to treat her like this. The Empress Dowager bit her teeth and glared at the emperor, who burst into laughter.
“Mother, the emperor is first and foremost the emperor of this country, before he is your son.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. The emperor placed his hand on her shoulder, patting it, and spoke in an elegant tone.
“You must show the proper attitude toward the emperor. Kneel, bow your head to the ground, and then ask. If a subject does not show respect, even the emperor will not feel the need to answer.”
The emperor pressed down on her shoulder. The Empress Dowager, her body weakened, fell to her knees. It was a knee she had never bent for anyone other than the late Emperor Taishang. Her son, who had once shown her respect, was now revealing his true nature, attempting to reign as a ruler even over her.
Despite the desire to retreat, her curiosity about the new empress was stronger. She was still a mother, after all. What mattered most was that her son firmly became the emperor and secured his throne. For that, kneeling before him was something she could bear.
As her son said, he was the only emperor of the land.
The Empress Dowager, after decades of not observing such rites, bent her knee and lowered her head before the emperor. The emperor silently chuckled as he watched his mother show respect as a subject. He could not allow her to take the step of crowning an empress for herself.
However, he had no intention of crushing her curiosity. Instead, he would answer her questions and make her an ally when the day of the empress’s coronation arrived. After all, it was better for his own blood to be empress rather than some ignorant woman. If that happened, a superior crown prince would be born, and his son would become a great emperor.
She was a woman who would do anything for her son.
The emperor silently observed her as she took several breaths, her pride still not fully healed. He knelt on one knee and bent forward, patting her back. She was still his mother, so he had no intention of being too harsh with her.
“I know what you are curious about,” the emperor said with a long, drawn-out smile.
“The central Palace will be built, the concubines will gradually disappear, and you are likely worried about the health of King Gyeonghye, whom you once supported as the crown prince. You want the emperor to be remembered as the greatest ruler, don’t you? The emperor understands your feelings, Mother.”
The Empress Dowager raised her head and looked at the emperor, her face painted with complete curiosity. The emperor, almost out of obligation, embraced her. Her once supple body, which had once captivated the former emperor, now melted into the emperor’s arms.
He gently patted her back and whispered something sinister into her ear.
“You don’t want an unknown woman to become empress and bear the crown prince, do you?”
“…What on earth are you thinking?” The Empress Dowager asked slowly, sensing something ominous. The emperor lowered his voice further.
“Your grandson will become the empress.”
The Empress Dowager’s eyes widened in shock, and she stopped breathing. Startled, she pulled away from the emperor’s embrace and fell. The emperor lifted her up gently and fixed her disheveled hair. He adjusted her robe and, in a languid voice, said:
“You know who I am fond of, don’t you?”
“Emperor!” The Empress Dowager screamed, her body trembling. She lost all sense of decorum and grabbed the emperor’s arm.
“Emperor, what are you saying? That child is your son! Your son! You must become a great emperor, one who will go down in history! If you make him the empress, your name will be tainted forever!”
“Mother, please quiet down. There are many ears around.”
The emperor placed his hand over her mouth. She turned to stone at the thought of his title, silently staring at the emperor. The emperor embraced her, trying to calm her as he spoke his intentions.
“Isn’t it better for you, Mother, if the grandson you know becomes empress rather than some woman you don’t like? The empress you’ve always wanted, the perfect one. A person of royal blood, intelligent, beautiful… one who will forever be loyal to the emperor and dedicate their body and heart.”
The Empress Dowager groaned and closed her eyes. The empress she had always envisioned, the ideal, was indeed Kang. Royal blood flowing through her veins, intelligent, perceptive, obedient, beautiful, and capable of fulfilling his duties in the emperor’s bed.
“That empress is Kang. My son, Kang.”
“That child is a male! How could you…!”
“There is a way,” the emperor said, smiling. The Empress Dowager was left speechless and silent.