Even If Flowers Bloom on a Broken Branch - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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74.
The news that Gukgu Chae Mun had been dismissed from his post as Minister of Public Works and transferred to the Hyeongjo spread through the entire palace in an instant.
People shook their heads in disbelief at the news that, on top of usury—which was already a capital offense among capital offenses—he was also charged with crimes too terrifying to speak of, such as murder and kidnapping.
“I heard that the person he tried to kidnap was none other than the woman Hong Ran.”
“Didn’t he do that to make things difficult for the Grand Princess Consort, knowing that Hong Ran belongs to her?”
“It is a good thing the Grand Prince saved her, otherwise a precious life would have been lost in vain. How utterly wicked, how wicked.”
Whenever people gathered, they whispered about that story. Naturally, the Queen’s name was brought up.
“How deep must the Queen’s resentment toward the Grand Princess Consort be for the Lord to step forward like that?”
“Since she couldn’t harm her directly, she must have tried to affect her by touching her subordinate.”
Setting aside the truth of the matter, sensational rumors were bound to spread even faster. The voices comparing Lee Yeon and Eun-oh, which had subsided for a while, rang out loudly once more throughout the palace.
Those sounds reached all the way to the ears of Lee Yeon, who had not even entered the palace, clear as day.
Lee Yeon, who was sitting across from Seo Yeo-ro and drinking tea, let out a soft sigh.
“There is certainly a lot of talk.”
“It is a place full of those who take pleasure in others’ misfortunes. They have wicked mouths.”
Seo Yeo-ro spoke with a bitter expression. As soon as he returned from the palace, he had called Lee Yeon and told her everything that happened there today.
He pressed his forehead firmly, looking exhausted.
“It will be noisy for a while. Now that the father of the current Queen has ended up in that state, the playing field will be completely overturned.”
Lee Yeon nodded. It was a matter that would turn the Royal Court, as well as the whole country, upside down, so it was bound to be so.
“Will the Queen be able to preserve her position?”
“I think not.”
Before they knew it, both of their cups were empty. As Lee Yeon tilted the teapot over the empty teacups, a fragrant aroma filled the room.
Seo Yeo-ro took a sip of the warm tea and opened his lips.
“Even if His Majesty shows mercy, deposition would be the best she can hope for.”
“Even if the Queen has nothing to do with the usury?”
“Even so.”
Seo Yeo-ro spoke firmly, as if concluding the matter.
“There are many who believe Her Highness the Queen was the route through which items stamped with the Royal Family’s seal were smuggled out… and even if by some miracle she is entirely without guilt, it is absolutely impossible for the direct descendant of a traitor to maintain the position at the pinnacle of the Naemyongbu.”
At those words, Lee Yeon immediately nodded. Treason was an offense that would destroy three generations. Thus, it was absurd for the daughter of a criminal to maintain her position as Queen.
Seo Yeo-ro held his teacup with both hands and slowly continued speaking.
“Furthermore, the things kept in mind when selecting a Queen are origin, family background, morality, and dignity. Among them, the purity of the family background is the most important, yet her biological family illegally smuggled out Royal Family items and ran a usury business? That is something all the Confucian scholars in the country will rise up against.”
“Because the position of Queen is one that can only be maintained if it receives the recognition of the entire Royal Court.”
Lee Yeon murmured.
“Even if His Majesty wants to shield her, he will not be able to.”
“There is no reason for him to shield her either.”
Seo Yeo-ro emptied his teacup. For the first time, a different emotion flickered across his face.
It was a superficial pity toward the woman named Chae Eun-oh.
“Does not everyone know that His Majesty treats Her Highness the Queen with cold neglect?”
“…Yes.”
Lee Yeon smiled bitterly.
Since she herself had been in that position in the past, this left a bitter taste in her mouth.
‘I crumbled away, but Chae Eun-oh will become vicious.’
If she herself had been worn down and dissolved by Jinpyeong’s venomous words and cold neglect, Eun-oh was a person who would consume and consume that poison directed at her until her entire body became poison itself.
The more she was driven to the edge of a cliff, the more vicious she would become; Lee Yeon fell into thought for a moment.
‘There is no telling what that woman might do.’
With that disposition, she would not be deposed quietly. She was someone who would somehow inflict a fatal scar on someone before the end.
When Lee Yeon grew quiet, Seo Yeo-ro glanced at her face. He seemed concerned that she had suddenly fallen silent.
Lee Yeon shook her head slightly and focused back on the conversation.
“Then, in the current situation, Her Highness the Queen’s deposition must be a boon for His Majesty. …Though I do not know if it is appropriate to speak this way.”
It felt awkward to refer to another’s misfortune as a boon. Lee Yeon corrected herself.
“Let me correct that from a boon to something more along the lines of a welcome event.”
Seo Yeo-ro looked at Lee Yeon with a slightly surprised gaze.
He gestured with his eyes as if telling her to keep speaking. Lee Yeon nodded.
“I understand that memorials have been pouring in from all sides since Hong Ran’s palace entry. Most of them are on the grounds that she disrupted the Naemyongbu. However, since the one who governs the Naemyongbu has been placed in this sort of situation, those arguments will falter for a time, and His Majesty will not miss this opportunity.”
Since Chae Eun-oh became a much bigger problem than Hong Ran in the Naemyongbu and the Ministry of Rites, it had become difficult to submit memorials.
“If the Queen is deposed, Hong Ran becomes the King’s only woman. Attempting to clear her away as well following the Queen would be crossing the line. If they do not wish to incur the King’s wrath, they will no longer be able to shake Hong Ran.”
Lee Yeon slowly continued her words.
“Furthermore, this matter can be used as a token to punish one to warn a hundred. It announces to the people as well as All Officials that no matter if one is the mother of the nation, if they commit a crime, they cannot remain in that position, so it will serve as a good example.”
It was practically equivalent to achieving an objective effortlessly without lifting a finger. Lee Yeon smiled a bit bitterly.
“Not only does it stabilize the Royal Court and public sentiment, but it also secures the justification that state reforms are underway, thereby strengthening the royal authority. It must be an excellent opportunity for His Majesty.”
Seo Yeo-ro looked at Lee Yeon with eyes wide with great surprise. His expression showed that he had not expected her to see this far ahead.
Lee Yeon cupped her teacup with both hands and continued speaking.
“In addition, the Queen has not treated the palace attendants with care all this time. It has reached the point where the news that six palace attendants brutally lost their lives has spread outside the Capital City, so there must be even more things that remain unknown. A queen without virtue is a textbook reason for dethronement.”
Her heart ached as she spoke the words ‘a queen without virtue’.
Because that had been one of the reasons for Lee Yeon’s own deposition.
‘Is she not lacking in virtue since she cannot conceive? Heaven does not permit it.’
Before the regression, the one who had said those words was none other than Chae Eun-oh.
To think that the words she once spoke would return to her exactly as they were, she wondered if there could be any greater coincidence.
‘Whether it is a coincidence or fate.’
As she murmured so internally, Seo Yeo-ro moistened his lips with tea and asked.
“Then, in your opinion, what do you think will happen to the Queen in the future?”
At the testing question, Lee Yeon cast her eyes down slightly.
That was not a difficult question at all.
“After being degraded to a deposed queen, she will be confined to a separate palace.”
And she will live a life worse than death, serving as a shield for Hong Ran, who has become Jinpyeong’s favored concubine.
Exactly as Lee Yeon herself had suffered.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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