I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 72

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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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Chapter 72

Four days before the Rain Prayer Ceremony, within the Queen’s Palace.
“You’re saying I should swap the Jade Seal for the counterfeit during the Ritual Cleansing Ceremony?”
The Queen held Park Dae-yeong’s gaze without flinching, her brow drawn tight. He bowed his head with studied composure and replied.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
He then withdrew something from his breast. The moment the Queen saw it, her lips pressed into a thin line.
It was a forgery—flawless in every detail—of the King’s true Jade Seal that Woo Sang had once stolen.
The Queen’s eyes trembled as she looked up at Park Dae-yeong.
“But Father. During the Ritual Cleansing Ceremony, countless eyes will be fixed upon that place. How could we possibly evade their notice—”
“The Ritual Cleansing Ceremony requires that incense be burned before the White Jade Basin. It carries within it a sacred wish—that the kingdom’s prayer might reach the heavens above. When that moment arrives, the Altar will be shrouded in thick incense smoke.”
The Queen fell silent, finding no words to counter him.
His logic was sound.
Every time the Rain Prayer Ceremony was held, the King had burned incense unusually strong, as though moved by the suffering of the drought-stricken people.
Yet something still nagged at her.
“What of the Silk Wrapping that enfolds the Jade Seal? That is something the King alone possesses.”
“I have prepared for that as well.”
Before Park Dae-yeong could finish, a servant’s voice came from beyond the door.
“The physician from the Royal Medical Bureau, Director Gang, has arrived.”
The door opened, and Gang Sang-sik entered with an ashen face, trembling visibly. He glanced nervously between Park Dae-yeong and the Queen, then threw himself prostrate on the floor.
“Your—Your Majesty, I bow before you.”
“Rise.”
At Park Dae-yeong’s urging, Gang Sang-sik got to his feet and approached. Park Dae-yeong extended his hand toward him.
“Did you bring what I asked for?”
“Y-yes, Director.”
With trembling hands, Gang Sang-sik fumbled in his breast and produced a bundle wrapped in white cloth.
As he carefully untied the knot, brilliant golden silk unfurled within.
The Queen’s eyes went wide. It was identical to the Silk Wrapping that enclosed the royal Jade Seal.
Park Dae-yeong placed the silk from Gang Sang-sik’s palm directly into the Queen’s hands. She took it as though entranced and began turning it over, examining it from every angle.
“This is…”
“An exact replica of the King’s, without the slightest variation.”
“But to create such a thing in secret is—”
“What is there left that we cannot do?”
Having already fabricated a false Jade Seal, one mere bolt of silk was beneath consideration.
The Queen stared at the silk in her palm, her lips still parted in shock.
Soon the door opened, and Gang Sang-sik retreated backward out of the room.
Only after confirming the door had closed did Park Dae-yeong lean toward the Queen.
“You must never forget this.”
At his lowered voice, the Queen lifted her head. Park Dae-yeong’s eyes gleamed with reptilian coldness.
“There is but a single moment—immediately after the King has cleansed the Jade Seal and before he washes his own hands. If we miss that instant, there will be no other opportunity to make the swap during the ceremony.”
“But, Father.”
The Queen tilted her head in confusion.
“We agreed to exchange the Jade Seal just before the main ceremony began, did we not?”
“Your Majesty.”
Park Dae-yeong lowered his voice to barely a whisper.
“A matter of such magnitude must be hedged against in advance. Should even a whisper of this plan reach other ears, the entire tower we have built would crumble to dust in an instant.”
The object of his suspicion was unmistakable.
Dan-bi.
Though they had reached an understanding, he did not fully trust her.
He kept in mind the possibility that she might change her mind and confess everything to the King.
It was a calculation worthy of a man who never readily trusted anyone.
In the end, striking from an unforeseen moment was the key to victory.
And in this game, it would be he who must bear that heavy burden.
The Queen clenched the soft golden Silk Wrapping in her palm. The cool silk against her fingertips felt like an asp coiled around her—sinuous and poisonous, sending a chill through her skin.

***

On the day of the Rain Prayer Ceremony, before the Altar.
The Queen gazed down at the golden silk wrapping in her hands. As though carefully securing the Jade Seal that Hyeon had entrusted to her, she slowly surveyed her surroundings.
Fortunately, thanks to the incense smoke blooming abundantly, the surroundings were so thick with haze that it was nearly impossible to discern anything clearly.
With incense smoke this dense, even those standing nearby would be unable to see her movements.
This was her only chance—while Hyeon remained absorbed in the Purification Ritual, hands still submerged in the basin.
The Queen hastily reached inside her sleeve.
Her fingertips brushed something hard and smooth.
The counterfeit Jade Seal that Park Dae-yeong had given her.
She drew it out soundlessly.
She held the counterfeit wrapped in silk identical to Hyeon’s in one hand, the genuine seal in the other, and was about to switch them when—
‘What… what is this?’
The Queen froze. A strange blue light was seeping out between the palms of her hand holding the counterfeit.
In alarm, she bent her head close.
The silk wrapping’s surface appeared intact, yet a soft luminescence was emanating from her palm where she gripped it.
It had never been there when she received the object from Gang Sang-sik.
‘How could this be….’
Her heart pounded violently.
The incense smoke surrounding her slowly began to thin.
By then, the mysterious light that had stained her hand had transferred entirely onto the silk wrapping.
If she swapped the seals now, that unidentifiable light smeared on the silk would transfer directly into the King’s hands.
And the consequences would be obvious. All suspicion would fall squarely upon her—the very person who had kept the Jade Seal until moments before.
As the smoke retreated like an ebbing tide, Hyeon’s profile became fully visible.
After a brief struggle, the Queen hurriedly thrust the counterfeit back into her sleeve.
At that same moment, Hyeon, having rinsed her hands, turned her head to look at the Queen.
“Your Majesty. The Jade Seal, if you please.”
The Queen carefully held out the seal using only her fingertips, taking pains to keep the light on her palm from touching the silk.
Then, as though enchanted, she handed it back to Hyeon.
Hyeon received the silk wrapping and stared at it for a long moment before tucking it deep into her robes and turning away.
Her footsteps faded.
Behind Hyeon’s retreating figure, the Queen bit at the tender flesh inside her lip.
The moment the King reached the top of the steps and stood before the altar, the Queen, unable to meet her father’s gaze below, hung her head in despair.
Soon Hyeon’s low voice rang out beyond the Sajikdan.
“Heaven is angered, withering the earth and strangling the breath of the people!”
Following his voice, the music that had ceased now resumed.
The drum’s thunder shook the ground like rumbling from the heavens themselves, and the piercing flute’s cry tore through the air like the roar of a dragon yearning for rain.
“This day, through this Ritual Cleansing Ceremony, I have proven the royal house’s purity—now, Heaven, answer us!”
Hyeon unwrapped the silk once more and raised the Jade Seal aloft. The effort with which he gripped it made thick veins stand out on the back of his hand.
“If the sincerity offered at this altar reaches the heavens, let blessed rain fall upon this land without delay!”
As Hyeon’s cry pierced the air, shamans poured onto the center of the stage like a fierce wave.
Their dance grew far more violent than before.
The white Long Flowing Sleeves slashing through the air whirled sharply as though shaking off all misfortune.
The Queen gazed blankly at the chaotic spectacle, then buried both hands—stained with that blue light—deep within her sleeves.

***

“How dare you!”
With the Queen’s sharp rebuke, her hand flew out. Gang Sang-sik collapsed to the floor without even a cry of pain.
He clutched his cheek with one hand and hastily raised his head, but the moment he saw the Queen’s face twisted with fury, he pressed his forehead back to the ground.
“I, I beg your pardon, Your Majesty!”
“What in heaven’s name did you do to that silk wrapping?”
This was the brief rest time granted before the main ceremony could proceed, following the Ritual Cleansing.
The Queen had summoned Gang Sang-sik to her Quarters the moment the preliminary rite concluded.
That mysterious light clinging to the silk wrapping he had given her—that fatal evidence had completely destroyed her plan to swap the seals.
In truth, she didn’t even know when or where that light had first stained her hands; all that had happened was that it transferred to the silk. Yet the Queen chose instead to direct her unjust blame toward him.
She needed someone to rage at—only then could she hope to ease this boiling fury.
Just as the Queen, bitter at how uselessly the preliminary rite had been ruined, raised her foot to kick him again, Gang Sang-sik cowered and pleaded.
“I, I truly know nothing…!”
“The Minister of the Right has arrived!”
In that instant, as a servant’s voice rang out, the door burst open.
Park Dae-yeong stepped inside and looked down at Gang Sang-sik sprawled on the floor with cold disdain before speaking curtly.
“Leave.”
“Pardon? That is…….”
“Did I not tell you to go!”
A single roar drained the color from Gang Sang-sik’s face, and he stumbled backward, fleeing the room as though his life depended on it.
Park Dae-yeong clicked his tongue and settled calmly into his seat. The Queen Mother remained standing, her lips working silently.
“Your Majesty, please compose yourself.”
“How can you ask me to be calm, seeing things as they are? If this goes wrong……!”
“I have found Dan-bi.”
Dan-bi?
The Queen Mother’s words caught in her throat at this sudden revelation.
Park Dae-yeong met her gaze steadily and continued.
“I have found the one that Lady Gwi-in was secretly creating at the Royal Medical Bureau.”

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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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