The Five-Year-Old Baby Princess Rules the Palace - Chapter 67

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#67. Secret Map of the Palace

“Oh? Could it be here perhaps?”

Eunhye’s plump palm pressed firmly against a certain part of the wooden board.

[That’s right! Our little one is much better than that half-wit!]

Park Jeong-bin hurriedly reached his hand toward the spot Eunhye had pointed to.

[Quickly tear that part open.]

“Uncle, he says to tear this part open.”

At Eunhye’s voice conveying Yeonjo’s words, Park Jeong-bin grasped the edge of the board with his fingertips and pushed his fingers in. Then, as he strained with a grunt, the thin board broke away as if peeling off.

[Found it!]

Yeonjo’s face was filled with a satisfied smile.

“Did you find it? Is there something there?”

As Eunhye asked with sparkling eyes, curious about Park Jeong-bin tearing away a layer of the board, an exclamation of surprise reached her ears.

“Oh my! Niece, there’s a sealed letter here!”

His rough hands, all scratched up from peeling away the board, pulled out a fairly large, faded sealed letter.

It was a fairly thick sealed letter (a letter folded and wrapped in paper and sealed) that had turned yellow with the passage of time.

“Here, here it is.”

Park Jeong-bin held up the yellowed sealed letter with both hands and looked at Eunhye with an excited face.

“Queen Dowager, what is this?”

Eunhye looked at the sealed letter held in Park Jeong-bin’s hands with round eyes and asked.

[Bring that over here.]

Yeonjo moved toward a desk next to a small window inside the library.

“Uncle, please bring that and follow me over here.”

Park Jeong-bin felt tension washing over him again as he watched Eunhye walking with the spirits of the two late kings.

No matter how much he looked, he couldn’t get used to it.

Those two spirits that looked like piles of smoke were King Gwangjo and King Yeonjo, who had the greatest renown in the history of Taeshin Kingdom!

And now he was doing something that would go down in history with them… was he? What am I doing here right now? I had only volunteered to escort and protect my small, fragile niece from wicked and vicious forces!

But now, not only was he investigating the schemes of the Ministry of War and Lady Gyeongbin together with the spirits of the late kings, but he had also learned that King Yeonjo could communicate with him, no, that King Yeonjo could even enter his body!

Park Jeong-bin squeezed his eyes shut as he suddenly felt dizzy.

[What are you doing! The library is already dark enough, and if you walk with your eyes closed like that and fall down, won’t the sealed letter you’re holding get damaged!]

Eunhye was startled by Yeonjo’s sudden shouting and looked at Park Jeong-bin.

Then she ran to Park Jeong-bin’s side, who was walking with his eyes tightly shut, grabbed his sleeve and asked.

“Uncle, is there somewhere you feel unwell?”

Then Park Jeong-bin opened his eyes wide, shook his head, and swallowed dryly.

“No. I just felt dizzy for a moment… I apologize. Let’s hurry along.”

Could it be that his body isn’t well because King Yeonjo communicated with uncle earlier?

Eunhye frowned as she recalled what had happened with Seonnam, This Servant’s younger brother, a few days ago.

It was said that when the spirit of the dead overshadows the living, it steals their life force…

Eunhye looked up at Yeonjo while still holding onto Park Jeong-bin’s sleeve.

“King Yeonjo, please do not carelessly communicate with our uncle’s body from now on.”

“What?”

[What did you say?]

Park Jeong-bin and Yeonjo looked at Eunhye simultaneously.

“Queen Dowager said so. That if the living stay with the dead, their life force gets stolen and it’s not good for them. How much worse would it be if King Yeonjo communicated with our uncle and entered his body?”

Eunhye looked up at Gwangjo with eyes seeking help.

[Ahem, ahem, what you say is right… indeed.]

Gwangjo answered while unnecessarily watching Yeonjo’s reaction.

Then Eunhye firmly grasped Park Jeong-bin’s hand and continued speaking.

“King Yeonjo, please promise that you won’t carelessly enter our uncle’s body from now on.”

[Hehehe… Hehehehehe, Your Majesty, I never expected to be scolded so harshly by such a young descendant.]

Yeonjo’s laughter, whether despairing or furious, continued for a while, and Park Jeong-bin felt a touching emotion that brought tears to his eyes as he watched Eunhye take his side and stand up to King Yeonjo’s spirit.

Park Jeong-bin smiled reassuringly at Eunhye, who was firmly holding his sleeve.

“Niece, are you worried about what might happen to this uncle? Hahaha! Don’t worry. This uncle is Park Jeong-bin, the brave and strong tiger training officer of Yongho-yeong, more courageous than a tiger!”

Just as Eunhye was about to open her mouth toward the boasting Park Jeong-bin.

[Stop making such a fuss and come over here quickly! Hurry and put that sealed letter up here. You’re so noisy I could die.]

Yeonjo’s loud voice flew over as if he couldn’t stand it anymore.

Then Eunhye glared at Yeonjo again, took the sealed letter from Park Jeong-bin’s hand, placed it on the desk, and chattered.

“You already passed away long ago, so how can you die again?”

[That, that way of speaking. Are you really going to treat this grandfather like this.]

[Stop it and maintain your dignity. How can someone who was called the Sword God as a king of a nation have a war of words with such a young granddaughter?]

Unable to watch any longer, Gwangjo scolded him, and Yeonjo made a grumbling sound and pressed his lips into a straight line.

[And Eunhye, you too should maintain proper etiquette toward the late king and be careful with your words and actions according to protocol. Do you understand?]

Eunhye bowed her head deeply before Gwangjo’s scolding.

Even though it was her first time meeting King Yeonjo today, it was true that she hadn’t felt afraid, perhaps because Queen Dowager was by her side. So Eunhye thought she had behaved too rudely.

“Queen Dowager, I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

Seeing Eunhye bow her head saying she was wrong at Gwangjo’s scolding, Yeonjo also felt awkward and coughed unnecessarily before pointing to the sealed letter and speaking.

[Ahem, enough of that, hurry and open it to take out what’s inside and unfold it. I said to oil it thoroughly, but so much time has passed I don’t know if it will be alright.]

“Yes, Queen Dowager.”

Eunhye answered Yeonjo obediently and looked up at Park Jeong-bin.

“Uncle, he says to open the sealed letter and take out what’s inside to unfold it.”

At Eunhye’s voice, which sounded much more deflated than before, Park Jeong-bin felt unnecessarily sorry and deliberately used a cheerful voice as he began opening the sealed letter.

“Yes, niece, just trust this uncle. I don’t know what this is, but I’ll carefully open it… huh?”

Park Jeong-bin, who had carefully opened the entrance of the sealed letter that had become worn out over the long years, widened his eyes as he took out the document inside.

“Niece! This is… isn’t this the secret passages of the palace that are said to be passed down only in the royal family!”

Eunhye, who had also learned about it from listening to the conversation between Gwangjo and Yeonjo earlier, also widened her eyes and looked at the unfolded secret map.

Wow! There were so many paths underground in the palace?

The underground paths connected like spider webs or ant tunnels led to every palace quarters. It was even a map showing underground passages that reached all the gates leading out of the palace.

Eunhye looked up at Gwangjo and Yeonjo with widened eyes.

“Queen Dowager, if this is in brother’s library here, does Father not know about these secret passages?”

Then Gwangjo smiled warmly at Eunhye.

[The secret map your father has is different from this one. That was made during King Gwangjo’s reign.]

Yeonjo looked at the map he had made with deeply moved eyes.

“Ah, so this was made later when King Yeonjo was king after Queen Dowager passed away!”

Yeonjo slowly nodded, saying that was correct.

Park Jeong-bin, who had been staring intently at the map spread on the desk next to Eunhye, asked curiously.

“Niece, please ask Their Late Majesties if this map is not just one sheet but several sheets.”

At Park Jeong-bin’s words, Gwangjo looked surprised and Yeonjo frowned as he looked at Park Jeong-bin.

[How do you come to ask that?]

“Ah! Uncle, King Yeonjo asks why you inquire about that.”

Then Park Jeong-bin pointed to the bottom right corner of the map with his finger.

“Here, the character for ‘two’ is written small in this spot. So I thought this map might be the second sheet.”

Eunhye, who had been standing on tiptoes to look, struggled to climb up onto a chair when that didn’t work. Then, with her hands on the desk, she bent her head down as if burying her nose in the spot Park Jeong-bin had pointed to.

“Ah, it really is there! Oh! Uncle, how did you see this?”

Eunhye looked up at Park Jeong-bin with surprised eyes, then turned her gaze to Gwangjo and Yeonjo.

Then Yeonjo, with distant eyes as if recalling something, slowly began to speak.

[This map showing the secret passages is the only one.]

Huh? Then what is this number?

At the sight of Eunhye’s black pupils looking straight at him with curiosity, Yeonjo couldn’t help but chuckle and began to continue speaking.

[Amyeongdae. It was the king’s direct secret unit. This map was made for them to move freely within the palace under my orders.]

“Ah…!”

Park Jeong-bin was burning with curiosity at the sight of Eunhye opening her small mouth wide in admiration and amazement.

“Then, what does this number mean?”

At Eunhye’s question filled with curiosity, Yeonjo extended his transparent hand to stroke the character for two .

[This was the map of a fellow named Chan, who was second in the hierarchy of Amyeongdae.]

Yeonjo’s gaze was sweeping over some part of the distant past. Then Gwangjo, unable to bear watching any longer, spoke with an irritated voice.

[Stop it. Where is there anyone who lived without bitter resentments in life? Obviously that fellow Chan hid this here before dying, and if his regret upon learning of this after death is what troubles you, then just ensure such things don’t happen again.]

Then both Yeonjo and Eunhye’s gazes turned toward Gwangjo simultaneously.

A brief flash of irritation seemed to flicker in Yeonjo’s eyes that had been filled with deep regret, then he let out a small sigh as if resigned.

[Your Majesty’s words are correct. Such things must not happen again.]

Thinking that King Yeonjo seemed to have tremendous stories behind him, Eunhye swallowed her saliva and looked back at Park Jeong-bin, who was fidgeting beside her like a puppy that needed to relieve itself.

“Queen Dowager says this character for two is a trace of the sub-leader.”

“Pardon? Sub… sub-leader? What do you mean by that…?”

Unlike Park Jeong-bin, who looked dumbfounded at the word “sub-leader” that flowed from Eunhye’s mouth, both Yeonjo and Gwangjo, who had been in poor spirits moments before, burst into loud laughter simultaneously.

[Hahahahaha! Yes, since he was second in Amyeongdae’s hierarchy, sub-leader is the perfect term. Hahaha! How clever!]

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