Royal Coup d'État - Chapter 40

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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 40
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Past the midpoint of autumn, the trees in the Royal Garden bore their paint—crimson and gold laid thick across every branch. When his feet came down on the scattered leaves, they crumbled with a sound that carried the very essence of the season.
In that hour when darkness had settled, Buyongjeong in Changdeokgung Palace blazed with gathered light, brilliant enough to make one forget entirely that they were in a Mourning Period. He squinted against the fierce glow.
‘A family dinner. Now, of all times.’
He cupped his hands in proper form as attendants bowed along the path around Buyongji.
Even in ordinary times, family gatherings were rare affairs. He could make no sense of the Emperor’s reasoning in summoning all his direct descendants at such a moment—especially without so much as an acknowledgment of the Autopsy Report sent through the Sangseon last night.
‘Get yourself together.’
Family meal or not, with the Emperor and Empress present, one could not simply speak freely.
A Jeogori of deep black, its delicate floral pattern woven so densely that the fabric held a subtle sheen, paired with a Chima of wine-dark purple that bloomed generously from the waist. Over it lay a thin, semi-transparent outer layer that caught and multiplied the folds with each step, the deep color shifting subtly as the layered silks swayed in gentle waves.
Finding a robe for such a hastily arranged occasion had not been easy. For something procured in haste, it conveyed both propriety and refinement—Jo Jeonwi’s effort was evident in every seam.
‘Not a single thing can be given as a handle against me.’
Step by step, he climbed the stairs with deliberate weight. It mattered little whether the people inside favored him or not. Inside that hall sat also someone who despised him more than anyone else in the world.
“The Lord of Cheongyang County has arrived.”
One of the head attendants announced his presence.
Even from the shadows visible beyond the threshold, the room appeared tightly packed. Everyone was already here. He worked his fingers together, breathing slowly and quietly. Again, that sensation of isolation. His hands felt oddly hollow.
“Please, enter.”
A voice came from within, and the attendant stepped aside. He dipped his chin slightly and crossed the threshold with unhurried grace.
Inside Buyongjeong sat a single long wooden table, its width generous. Around it were arranged seven chairs of deep bronze tone, matching the number of guests. Only one remained empty—the seat placed at the far end of the table.
“Come, be seated.”
The Emperor, occupying the central seat, welcomed him.
The seating arrangement alone had already dampened his appetite. To the Emperor’s right sat the Empress, Yi Gu Daegun, and Gyeong An Gun; across from them, Yi Jeong Daegun and Yeosan Bubu-in.
Expected to eat while facing Gyeong An Gun. Clearly this meal would be a proper ordeal.
“Tsk. Keep better time. Do you mean to keep your elders waiting?”
Yi Gu Daegun, settled firmly beside the Empress, clicked his tongue. He took his seat with apparent composure, deliberately glancing at his Wristwatch.
The banquet was set for seven. Ten minutes remained. The Emperor had summoned him urgently, and now he was being faulted for arriving early—a jest at his expense.
“Why do you fault the Lord of Cheongyang when these elders lack all sense of time and came early themselves? To arrive even slightly before the appointed hour is surely no vice.”
The Empress cut off Yi Gu Daegun with a quiet voice. Reading the unfavorable shift in atmosphere with uncanny precision, Yi Gu Daegun hastily changed the subject.
“Speaking of which, Mother. How is your health of late?”
“Nothing to celebrate. There is no remedy for what afflicts me.”
It had been an age since he last saw the Empress. The shock following the Crown Prince’s accident had been so severe that no one save the physicians of the Royal Medical Bureau and the Emperor himself could gain her presence. The same held for him as for his own mother.
With the appearance of a dutiful son, he seized the Empress’s hand, his eyes clouded with concern.
With only two children remaining, and one gazing at her with such tender eyes, the Empress did not so much as blink. Her gaze remained steady, directed only at Yi Gu Daegun’s fingertips.
“You must preserve your strength. It is my deepest worry that your health should suffer on our account.”
“……Indeed.”
“Elder Brother remains so distant. How can you show such disrespect? When I think of the sorrow our parents must bear, tears come unbidden.”
The moment Yi Gu Daegun finished speaking, the Empress wrenched her hand free. With a strength that belied the weeks of illness, she tore herself from his grasp and thrust both her hands beneath her thighs, as if to prevent them from being seized again.
“Do not speak of your brother’s name so carelessly.”
The Empress’s voice carried no great rise or fall. Yet it was unmistakably touched with fury.
Yi Gu Daegun’s eyes shifted, and with practiced ease, he turned the conversation once more. He was a man expertly versed in bending circumstance to his advantage.
As he launched into an account of receiving the English Crown Prince, the servants began setting down the dishes.
Reflecting the continued National Mourning, the spread was modest—a single bowl of dumpling soup and a few side dishes, nothing more.
Having long since surrendered hope of a proper meal, he found the sparse arrangement rather agreeable. The same could not be said for everyone present. Unfortunately, Gyeong An Gun, seated directly across from him, felt otherwise.
The moment the bowl was placed before him, Gyeong An Gun stirred it several times with his spoon, then clicked his tongue briefly and set it down untouched.
Complaining about the side dishes, now? Perhaps because the cousin seemed manageable enough. He stretched his leg as if idly, and swept his shin against Gyeong An Gun’s shin.
“Ow!”
He would have borne it in silence. Gyeong An Gun, however, lacked all patience.
As Gyeong An Gun clutched his leg and cried out, the eyes of all the adults turned toward him. He pointedly refused to look at Gyeong An Gun, maintaining instead a demure smile.
His mother seemed anxious that he might cause some scene, watching him sidelong with nervous glances—though her eyes could not quite meet his own.
The moment the adults deemed it a mere incident and turned their attention away, his mother’s gaze did not fully withdraw. In moments like these, he could not shake the thought that even his parents were not wholly on his side.
Strangers might believe this household favored him more than others.
But his parents were cowards, and his grandmother remained cold in any circumstance. His grandfather offered some measure of support, yet complete backing would require far greater effort.
How lonely it was.
Surrounded by family, yet the sensation of absolute solitude would not leave his mind. The moments spent with Tae O yesterday felt as distant as a dream.
‘What might the Emperor be thinking?’
Without turning his head, he rolled his eyes toward the Emperor’s seat. His hands moved calmly through the motions of eating, the picture of one for whom nothing had changed.
Yet what currents of anxiety ran beneath that surface, he could not begin to fathom.
When the truth of his Uncle’s death had emerged, even he—merely a nephew—had been consumed by anguish and torment. How much deeper must the Emperor bear it, as the father. His own heart grew heavy in turn.
“Pheasant broth, then.”
Yi Gu Daegun, oblivious to what either of them contemplated, savored his dumpling soup and spoke in an unhurried tone.
“It seems the Crowned Princess had a fondness for pheasant dumplings.”
“I wish the Crown Princess could have come. But I hear she’s in no state to make the journey.”
The Emperor set down his spoon with effort, and his eyes glistened as though a veil had fallen across them. Yi Gu Daegun, reading his father’s mood in an instant, spoke with a sorrow so perfectly crafted it seemed rehearsed.
“I am troubled that I have neglected to care for the Crown Princess, using the excuse of my own duties. I know well how dearly my brother cherished her. If only my own wife were still living, I could help see to her needs at a time like this. It grieves me deeply.”
Yi Gu Daegun’s wife and Min’s mother had died more than a decade ago. Though Yi Gu Daegun had taken countless concubines, he had never formally married again.
The implication of mentioning a long-dead woman while feigning concern for the Crown Princess was unmistakable. He was all but openly accusing the remaining court ladies of failing in their duties. Yeosan Bubu-in felt it too; her shoulders trembled slightly.
“Of course, I understand that my sister-in-law is not skilled in such matters.”
Yi Gu Daegun leaned forward magnanimously to console the lady across from him. Yet his gesture only seemed to frighten Yeosan Bubu-in further; she bowed her head deeply and said nothing. His mother’s very silence became the foundation of his audacity.
“But what I mean to say concerns someone else—Tamjin Bubu-in. How extraordinary. My brother has come to such an end, and yet she cannot be bothered to show her face at the Imperial Palace?”
“Enough.”
As the wife of Yi Young Daegun—dead, and whom everyone had chosen to forget—surfaced in the conversation, the Empress cut him off with icy precision.
“My daughters-in-law are my children too. No matter that you are my son, I will not sit and listen to you malign another of my own.”
“Your Majesty, surely you misunderstand. I speak only out of genuine concern.”
Yi Gu Daegun shifted his demeanor once more, seeking to placate the Empress. As the Emperor and Empress continued their meal in silence, Sun clenched her fists beneath the table.
There was no room for contempt toward Yi Gu Daegun. In the end, it was these two who would decide the Heir to the Throne. Now was the time to show them what they wished to see.

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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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