69novels Chapter 40: The White Princess (3)
Chapter 40: The White Princess (3)
Although Consort Ha Chae Rim looked utterly shocked, she managed to regain her composure.
It’s said that as long as you keep your wits about you, you can survive even if you’re dragged into a tiger’s den. She had never anticipated that Seol Tae Pyeong would appear and retrieve the sachet, but stuttering in panic here would accomplish nothing.
She quickly composed her disordered thoughts and surveyed her surroundings. The public opinion hadn’t completely turned against her yet.
Everyone, from the emperor to high officials, seemed taken aback by the sudden change of events, but suspicion had not fully shifted to Consort Ha Chae Rim yet.
“Th-This is strange! Even if the commander of the ghost hands had this sachet, how could a mere warrior snatch it from him? It doesn’t make sense!”
“That’s something… you should verify directly with the commander of the ghost hands.”
What Seol Tae Pyeong was wearing around his face as he spoke was a black cloth mask typically worn by the ghost hands’ members. It was clear from his appearance that he indeed had a recent encounter with the ghost hands.
It wasn’t particularly difficult to ask the ghost hands about the facts of the case, but even a glance at Seol Tae Pyeong’s current condition was enough to prove that the situation was far from ordinary.
However, how could a mere third-rate warrior possibly fight on equal terms with the ghost hands?
This fact was hard to believe, and for a moment, a confused atmosphere pervaded among the audience.
“…….”
Consort Ha Chae Rim swallowed dryly and did her best to maintain a natural expression.
Indeed, Consort Ha Chae Rim had requested that the commander of the ghost hands Woon Baek retrieve the sachet.
She had provided him with a reasonable reason, but in reality, it was closer to using the commander to destroy evidence.
The White Princess had a keen eye. If she were to see the actual sachet, she might claim that the embroidery on it was not her work. That would complicate matters.
Therefore, it was necessary to damage the sachet in some way. Before it could emerge as evidence before the emperor, it had to be torn or burned so that the embroidery would be difficult to discern.
And so the sachet needed to pass through Consort Ha Chae Rim’s hands at least once before it was presented to the Emperor.
But everything started to go wrong when the White Princess set off the explosives and started a fire in the White Tiger Palace.
Swept away by the aftermath of the explosion, Ha Chae Rim could barely control her own body, and Woon Baek also had no choice but to urgently chase after the White Princess, who had escaped. In a critical situation where buildings were burning and warriors from the Red Palace were flooding in, there was hardly a moment to care about something like the sachet in her possession.
The White Princess herself might have thought all her struggles were in vain.
Yet those struggles to survive were, indeed, extending the White Princess’s lifeline.
“Speak, Fourth Consort.”
Feeling the Emperor’s cold gaze, it was as if cold water was poured over her whole body. But everything she planned would end if she were to stammer her words right now.
“I-It is true, Your Majesty, I asked the commander of the ghost hands to keep the sachet safe for me.”
When the fourth consort said this, murmurs swept through the assembly once again. She had just admitted that what Seol Tae Pyeong claimed was true.
But the fourth consort was also someone who had survived decades in the main palace.
Then she walked to the center of the tent, kneeled down, and pleaded.
Did the fourth consort admit to all the crimes? The high officials were shocked at this revelation, but what the fourth consort said next was unexpected.
“Your Majesty. However, how could asking to keep the sachet be a crime? I was just trying to prepare the evidence in advance to prove the White Princess’s disloyalty….”
The heavens were helping Ha Chae Rim.
The situation was so urgent she had no time to tamper with the pouch, but the chaos caused by the fire in the White Tiger Palace had already compromised its original form. In essence, the original goal had been achieved. it was nothing short of a miracle; a miracle worthy of prayers to the heavens many times over.
If she could deny her involvement now, she might still find a way to survive.
She, who harmed the Vermilion Princess, manipulated the commander of the ghost hands, framed the White Princess, and lied before the Emperor, could not bear all these sins and expect to leave Cheongdo Palace alive.
But…. she felt that the events were becoming more entangled than she originally planned. The fourth consort ground her teeth in frustration.
Yes, had things gone according to the original plan, none of this would have happened.
The original idea had been to use the guards to capture the White Princess and bring her before the Emperor to expose her crimes conclusively.
All she had to do next was take the sachet that Woon Bark was carrying with him before entering the tent and either untie all the ends of the embroidery or roll it a few times on the dirt floor.
However, because of this third-rate warrior kneeling before the Emperor,
Everything was going wrong because of that random man who appeared out of nowhere and ruined everything.
But as the saying goes, even if the sky falls, there is a hole to escape through.
The fourth consort shed tears and tried to smooth over the whole situation.
“Your Majesty! Please do not doubt this woman’s loyalty!”
However, the tide was already turning.
“…. Then, why did you not speak of this sooner?”
Jang Rae who had been silently bowing his head stood up and spoke.
Although other high officials wore ambiguous expressions, warrior commander Jang Rae was already half-convinced as he spoke with certainty.
“Why have you kept silent about securing the sachet until now?”
“That… that is…”
“The warriors from the Red Palace have been frantically
As the fourth consort’s cries grew fainter, the White Princess suddenly looked up and surveyed her surroundings.
In the grand tent, the Emperor’s throne was positioned at the highest place.
Below him, numerous high officials looked on with expressions of pity towards the White Princess.
On the floor, the White Princess kept her head bowed, and next to her, the Vermilion Princess who had been defending her with all her might sat with a smile on her face.
On one side, Commander Jang Rae was directing the soldiers to lead the fourth consort out.
And in the farthest corner from the Emperor…
The man who had fought ferociously against the ghost hands and who breathed in the smoke of the burning White Tiger Palace.
And at the very end, he had rushed all the way to the Emperor’s tent, gasping for breath as he defended the White Princess before the Emperor himself.
His hands were covered with burns, and his body was riddled with wounds.
The sight of him was so pitiful that only looking at him could make one’s face frown.
Then she saw herself.
When she realized that her appearance was hardly different from that of Seol Tae Pyeong, she was suddenly filled with a strange emotion.
“White Princess, lift your head.”
At that moment, the Emperor called out to the White Princess. This was to comfort the White Princess who must have suffered more than anyone else due to the scheme of the fourth consort.
However, when the White Princess raised her head, not only the Emperor but also the other high officials were rendered speechless.
“……..”
What kind of person was the White Princess, the mistress of White Tiger Palace? Wasn’t she always a figure of immaculate grace? A woman who was praised as a fairy who descended to earth?
That very same woman who was now awfully marred by ash and burns lifted her head… and she was shedding tears profusely.
She was thought to be a woman who merely observed the world’s joys and sorrows with detached indifference, but in the end, she was just another human crawling upon this earth. That’s right, she was no more than a seventeen-year-old girl.
When had they forgotten that fact?
“Sob… sniff… sob…”
She had survived.
The struggle she had endured to survive was not in vain.
“Ugh… sob… hic…”
It seemed as though she found confirmation in this realization… that she even forgot the gravity of her position. The girl cried endlessly. She lowered her head once more and continued to cry.
Her figure was so pitiful… that the high officials standing above could do nothing but quietly lower their heads as well.