The Five-Year-Old Baby Princess Rules the Palace - Chapter 77

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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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#77. I Didn’t Like That Guy!

Lady Han, who had been shaking her head at the loyalty oath in front of Yukjeon, stepped forward and bowed to Eunhye.

“Princess, it’s already been about two hours since you left the palace. By now, Lady Park must be bedridden with worry about you.”

“Oh, has it already been that long?”

Startled, Eunhye looked up at the sun high in the sky, then turned to Park Jeong-bin with a look of realization.

“Oh, Uncle! I completely forgot!”

“What do you mean?”

“About Master Choi who helped us. Two years ago, he fell off a cliff while gathering herbs on Inbongsan. But his body hasn’t been found yet, so he’s still there. Please, Uncle, you must find him.”

Park Jeong-bin slowly nodded as he looked at the spirit of Master Choi, who seemed to be floating beside Eunhye again.

“I understand, niece. I will find him with my men and give him a proper burial.”

“Yes, Uncle. Master Choi says his body is under Teokbawi, about a hundred steps east from Sotbawi on Inbongsan.”

Park Jeong-bin, who knew the geography well, made a pitying face.

“Ah… If he fell below Teokbawi, it would not have been easily visible to people.”

Park Jeong-bin showed sincere eyes toward Master Choi’s spirit beside Eunhye.

“Master Choi, I’m truly indebted to you today. I will take responsibility for finding your body and give you a modest funeral.”

Seeing the shimmering white spirit, Eunhye smiled cutely and said.

“Hehe, Uncle, Master Choi says thank you.”

However, Jihoo, who had stood up holding the meat pancakes, just blinked his eyes slowly with a dazed expression at the conversation between Eunhye and Park Jeong-bin.

Who on earth are these two talking about and what are they discussing?

Jihoo turned his head this way and that while gripping the meat pancakes in his hand, but no matter how he looked, there was no one who appeared to be an old man.

Seeing Jihoo’s surprised face, Eunhye made a look of realization and looked up at Park Jeong-bin.

Uncle, what should we do?

Haha, indeed. This has become quite troublesome, niece.

Their wordless conversation passed through each other’s eyes, and soon Eunhye, who seemed to have made up her mind, stepped forward toward Jihoo and gestured for him to lend his ear.

Jihoo approached Eunhye and lowered his height, unable to calm his wildly beating heart.

“Young Lord Jihoo, do you remember when I told you to keep your mother’s keepsake safe?”

Jihoo nodded while keeping his height lowered and answered.

“Yes, Princess. I remember.”

“Good. Just as your cotton cloth being your guardian talisman is a secret, I also have a secret.”

The cotton cloth is my guardian talisman?

At these words he was hearing for the first time, Jihoo unconsciously straightened his body with wide eyes.

Seeing this, Eunhye slightly frowned and tilted her head, gesturing again for him to come closer.

As Jihoo lowered his height again with a surprised face, Eunhye whispered softly and secretly so others couldn’t hear.

“You didn’t know, did you? Your cotton cloth is a guardian talisman left by your mother. Ask your teacher for details, and my secret… I’ll tell you next time we meet.”

After finishing her words, Eunhye looked at Jihoo’s pale face and smiled cutely with crinkled eyes.

“I am deeply honored, Princess.”

Jihoo barely managed to put strength in his swaying legs and bowed his head.

Next time we meet, next time we meet…!

Lady Han glared at Jihoo, who kept repeating only the last sentence of what Eunhye had just said in his mind, then approached Eunhye.

“Princess, you must return now.”

“Yes, let’s do that. Young Lord Jihoo, don’t be too surprised by what I said, and you should also hurry home.”

Eunhye, who had stepped forward with Lady Han, smiled brightly at the pale Jihoo.

“Young lord, I say again, you must absolutely keep silent about where you went today and what you learned. Remember this.”

Park Jeong-bin, who had given his final warning to the pale Jihoo, also began to walk following behind Eunhye.

Only then seeming to come to his senses, Jihoo bowed deeply toward Eunhye, who had moved five or six steps away.

“Please go safely.”

Jihoo, still preciously holding the meat pancakes in his arms, watched for a long time the back of Eunhye walking cutely in her colorful jacket like spring jade.

“Princess, I’m sorry I couldn’t escort you to the end. Next time…”

With a sorrowful face, Jihoo swallowed his remaining words and turned toward the direction of his home.

Eunhye, who had been walking steadily, quietly turned her head.

That boy Jihoo must have been very surprised. Will he be alright? When he gets home today, he’ll ask his teacher about the cotton cloth, won’t he?

With a strange feeling that she wanted to tell Jihoo her secret, Eunhye hurriedly shook her head.

What am I thinking? People shouldn’t know that I can see spirits and talk with them… I don’t want to become a shrine maiden.

Seeing Eunhye shaking her head vigorously as if trying to dispel her thoughts, Lady Han asked as if wondering what was wrong.

“What’s the matter? Is there somewhere you feel unwell?”

Eunhye looked up at Lady Han and smiled for no reason.

“No. Because today was good. Lady Han, was today good for you too?”

At Eunhye’s question, Lady Han also smiled broadly.

“Yes, it was very, very good. Didn’t we also catch the Prime Minister’s spy? Running desperately was tiring, but coming outside the palace with you, Princess, was very, very good for me.”

“Hahaha! Right? I also felt very good.”

A pleased smile also appeared on Park Jeong-bin’s lips as he walked five or six steps behind, watching the two.

Seeing them walk while chattering so cutely, the scenery outside the palace and the appearance of the people that she saw for the first time since birth must have been truly wonderful.

Park Jeong-bin suddenly recalled a sentence from Mencius’s philosophy that Eunhye had mentioned at the commoners’ restaurant.

A ruler should practice ‘sharing joy with the people,’ enjoying happiness together with the people…

How truly admirable. Just how many thoughts are contained in that small head of hers?

As if hearing his inner thoughts, Eunhye suddenly turned around and smiled brightly, and Park Jeong-bin also raised the corners of his mouth high to smile back at her.

It was already afternoon, with the sun that had been hanging at the top of the sky now halfway setting its foot in the western sky.

Arriving at the paper shop at Yukeuijeon, where she had crossed the threshold with an excited heart that morning, Eunhye looked back with regretful eyes.

Will I be able to come out again? No, I will definitely come out again! Don’t I need to visit that general store called Man-bok Store that I couldn’t see today?

Eunhye, who had engraved this personal promise in her heart, looked around and then followed Park Jeong-bin inside, disappearing into the empty paper shop.

But as I felt this morning, why is there no owner in this paper shop?

With sudden curiosity, Eunhye asked Park Jeong-bin, who had entered the dim shop first.

“Uncle, does this shop originally have no owner? Is it a place used only as a secret palace passage?”

Park Jeong-bin smiled at her question.

“How could that be? Since they must not carelessly look upon a princess of the nation, they are all hiding and bowing their heads.”

Finally understanding, Eunhye nodded and looked around the dim interior, speaking in a cute voice.

“Everyone has worked hard. Next time I come out of the palace, I’ll bring some delicious food. Understood?”

Then groaning sounds could be heard from various places in the empty shop. At those sounds, Park Jeong-bin just laughed as if absurd and knelt down toward Eunhye, shaking his head.

“You want to come out again next time? Absolutely not. Didn’t you see today? The outside world is still very dangerous for you, who are still young, niece.”

Eunhye raised her short little index finger and waved it back and forth, speaking in a triumphant voice.

“Today, thanks to whom did you catch the spy, Uncle? And if the outside world where people live is dangerous, how do the people live? It’s not that the outside world is dangerous, but thinking that way makes it seem dangerous.”

“Sigh… How could I win against our niece with words? Anyway, there will be no next time until you come of age. Do you understand?”

At Park Jeong-bin’s firm answer, Eunhye pouted her lower lip.

Lady Han, who had been watching the two, looked at Eunhye with a worried voice.

“Princess, let’s go quickly. If the palace discovers that you’re missing, there will really be chaos.”

“Yes… let’s do that.”

Still seeming reluctant, Eunhye looked around the shop once more and cast her gaze toward the door outside.

Though she hadn’t noticed when coming out, the shop was quite large inside.

Following Park Jeong-bin deep inside, Eunhye and Lady Han widened their eyes at the papers densely filling what appeared to be a storage space.

Where did we come from? Where is the door among these bookshelves full of paper?

As if knowing Eunhye and Lady Han’s curious minds, Park Jeong-bin stood in front of one of the bookshelves and put his hand somewhere.

Then amazingly, the bookshelf full of paper smoothly rotated its body. A narrow path appeared inside, and in the distance, another small door that seemed to be the one they had come through was visible.

“Wow… that’s amazing, Uncle.”

Park Jeong-bin smiled at this sight and lowered himself in front of Eunhye, speaking as if making a request.

“I’m sorry, niece, but could you go inside and wait for just a moment? This uncle has something to discuss briefly with the paper shop owner.”

“Yes, Uncle. I’ll go inside with Lady Han and wait for a while, so please come back quickly.”

“Thank you, my niece.”

Park Jeong-bin led Eunhye and Lady Han inside the bookshelf, then returned it to its original position. Then he quietly opened the door to the room where Deputy Leader Dong-chun was waiting for him.

“You can come out now.”

Then Dong-chun, clutching his chest, came out the door with an expression that wrinkled the long scar running from below his right eye to his ear.

“Leader, Princess Eunhye is so adorable. Ah, I thought my heart was going to melt away completely.”

Then Park Jeong-bin lightly tapped the back of Dong-chun’s head and looked toward another door in the room—a secret passage leading underground—as he spoke.

“I will escort my Princess Eunhye and return, so until then, find out everything from that spy.”

“Yes, don’t worry. He’s probably getting a good grilling underground right about now. Ah, and this.”

Dong-chun handed over the bundle containing the Cheongmyeong Cloud Mushrooms taken from the spy and the red thread knot that Jihoo had brought.

“Is this that vicious poisonous mushroom brought from that island called Miseondo? I heard that even if you boil it or burn it, the deadly poison doesn’t disappear, but strangely it melts when exposed to sunlight?”

Park Jeong-bin nodded and switched the bundle he was carrying with the one Dong-chun gave him.

“Ah, by the way, did you meet the man who will become our Princess Eunhye’s consort? He has such a handsome appearance and spirited demeanor.”

Then Park Jeong-bin looked at Dong-chun with a shocked expression.

“What? What did you just say? Princess Eunhye’s what? How dare anyone be whose consort?”

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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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