"Your Majesty! The Second Prince abuses his power and indulges in arrogance! He accumulates his power, he receives bribes, he purges dissidents, he exploits his own followers, claims false military contributions and he embezzles the country's wealth, and his supporters, The State Princes are no different at all! They murder innocent people for pleasure and they persecute innocent citizens for the exact same reason! Anyone can execute him and it would be just, especially when he got the military to close up an entire village that was profoundly suffering from the plague!" "Your Majesty! You son betrays the nation and your ever-lasting favour and his crimes are worthy of capital punishment! He holds high rank and military power, and has supporters scattered all over the kingdom, so his punishment is not to be rushed!" "So what do you all suggest I do with my son and brothers?" "Your Majesty! Maybe it is better to consider immediate condemnation and delayed punishment! These condemned men do not observe the obligations of an official, they rather act unlawfully and with blatant nepotism!" "Very well, if I do not impose punishment, then I will be subjecting myself to ridicule of my whole government! And if any of their supporters have something to say about this or even this about reminding faithful to them, then they will also be convicted of treasons and punished just as severely! Let my words be known!"
"…Your Majesty; The State Princes pleas are well-written, but they have made such a detailed list that they seem more to be boasting about their childhood achievements to intimidate you…" "You make a good point as usual, Nam Seon-Ho, and I really like the idea of passing on their titles to their children to preserve them. I understand that this idea came from Seo Yeon herself? It only seems to be fitting for her to take over the role of an esteemed maid or nanny to the children we are keeping in the palace since we lack an Empress Dowager or an Empress for that matter…" "what if I can find someone else to recommend for the job? Someone close to her that shares her traits for childminding." "And who exactly is this person?" "She comes from a fallen family, but she has her own merits as she was a maid of The Third Princess Consort who was brave enough to indulge her secrets to The Third Prince…" "Are you talking about your current sister-in-law?" "She has a child of her own that she is raising with very little help, and she has her own merits…." "I am deposing my own son and brothers due to nepotism and here you are…." "Your Majesty, she needs a fresh start and deserves one as she was not implicated in her husband's crimes at all, in fact she was the one who came to me willingly and indulged everything that he and The Fifth Prince did…." "Very well, for this merit alone I shall give her a chance, but if I find her dissatisfactory, I wan Seo Yeon instead." "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"And now, in regards to my own family members who dare to overstep their merits even at this time but claim to want to clear their names and avoid punishments. They all dare to collectively pose their power as menaces, so I shall have to keep their children in the palace whilst we dismantle their families, every single one of their clans. They all want to say that I cannot run my country without them? That I cannot offer the peace and stability that I have this entire time without their permission or something? They only flaunt our parents achievements and nothing more…" "And Your Majesty has been repeatedly tolerated them, which only increases their arrogance, Your Majesty. They were all on the verge of rebellion as we incepted their messages and nobody reported it, which only shows their determination to push ahead with it all." "Yes, the reports that you have collected show us their sincere trust in each other, which results in bonding over their collective hatred of myself. Nobody can claim they're innocence now, and they have all sorely disappointed me. I have endured them long enough and have no need for either of them. Send my decree as my new member of The Royal investigation Bureau that all 3 men are to be deprived of their roles and I shall find new appointments for them soon. The State Princess shall be kept in The Imperial Clan Court and my son shall be confined without a single servant to serve him and no visitors under any circumstances until further notice. I need him locked up in the palace for now until…"
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"My Lady, I heard that our allies explanatory memorandum has been presented to His Majesty; he still has to give them face as his own Royal Family Members…" "No mar how angry His Majesty is, only a few reprimanding words or a cut in stipends should do it. My pregnant heart could never be at peace if anything happened to our allies, out only hope to rise up again…" "My Lady! Bad news! They have all been stripped of their titles, wealth, clothes and everything else! The children are staying in the palace under the supervision of Seo Yeon…" "WHAT! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY! SEO YEON! She will be in the palace when my child shall be born! No…no, I cannot let this happen! No! I must not let her in the palace! I must save The Second Prince!" "Your Highness! Have you lost your mind! You will plead for your husband's brother whilst heavily pregnant! That will only show everyone that we were involved and…" "YOU BITCH! IT MUST BE YOU WHO BETRAYED ME AND LET SEO YEON ENTER THE PALACE! SERVANTS! Whip the ex-Mistreess Han 100 times as I make my way to see my father-in-law! No…no please no, not Seo Yeon…she cannot take my place in the palace! She cannot take my husband away from me! She cannot take my baby away from me! And my concubines…Your Majesty! The Second Prince didn't mean to challenge your authority! I beg of you to forgive his mistakes on the account of his past merits! Please! I cannot let Seo Yeon enter the palace! She is a witch! She is a demon! She will crush my bones and drink my blood if you let her into the palace…" "Servants! Tell my pregnant daughter-in-law that if she wants to make me angrier, then she can continue to cry harder and just loose that baby like she did the first time…" "My Lady! There is bad news! The corpse of The Lady Min has been found right outside the palace! Physicians say it looks like she has been dead for 2-3 days now…My Lady? My Lady! Servants! Quickly! The Third Princess Consort is bleeding…!"
"…what happened? Why is she bleeding this much if she is pregnant?" "I don't really understand either…" "Can any of you ladies smell that? Doesn't that smell like menstrual blood?" "Concubine Cho! A pregnant woman cannot possibly bleed monthly if she is pregnant…" "Is she even pregnant at all? Her belly hasn't been showing at all…" "This is very suspicious indeed, the maids should all be interrogated by the Department of Penalty…" "What on earth is going on? Why is everyone surrounding me? What happened? I need some water…"
"No! Please do not send me to the Department of Penalty! My Lady! Save me! I was only destroying evidence for you…" "What are you…" "…I was only destroying evidence for you! Why would I be punished for this!"
"Servants! Grab this woman and let her admit to her Master's sins!" "Your Highnesses! Please forgive me! I was only following my Master's orders!" "What are you talking about, Mistress Han? What were you ordered to do?" "I was ordered to create a fake pregnancy for My Mistress! My Mistress still has her monthly bleeds and she makes me hide them outside the concubine's residences to keep them away from her husband!" What on earths as going on? What was my useless maid saying now! What sort of things was she saying, didn't she understand how bad it all looked to me! "Slander…she is slandering me…my physician, where is he…" "My Lady, just admit to it all now! He isn't on shift tonight and he knew it! You killed him right after he showed you how certain medicines can create a false pregnancy by stopping your periods! You did it because you wanted to kill Attendant Choi and her baby as soon as The Second Prince rose to power! Even her morning sickness and liking of sour foods is all created by medicine!" "Concubine Cho, Attendant Choi is close to her and she knows exactly how this false pregnancy came about to win over her husband;'s favour for the very first time…" "Enough! I shall inform The Third Prince on this and let him make up his own judgment…"
"It is over for me…it is over…they all played on my desire for children…they set up a trap for me that I would walk into…to resume my power…to manage the harem…arrogant and domineering just like her mother Seo Yeon…
"My Lady! Please take me with you and I shall confess to every single crime that my Mistress has done, including her brothel business with Seo Yeon…"