Upon hearing Sae Joo's confessions, Shun's eyes grew large, and his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. The Prince gazed at him biting his lips—eyes curled with guilt. The speechless rugged boy looked at the other cells and exhaled heavily.
"What a good joke." his lips twisted into a sly smile.
Shun nudged Sae Joo playfully as he contained his laugh. "That was a good one! You, a prince? Oh, Heavens!"
The Crown Prince became annoyed with his companion's reaction. He knew that the boy would react like that initially so he continued his explanation. "Hey, I am serious right now. Why would I even joke about this when I know that there is a high-ranking Tang official who wants to talk to me?" frowned Sae Joo.
"All right, my bad," said Shun, lips still shaking because of his uncontrolled laughter. He coughed before he resumed, "So, how are you going to prove that you are the Crown Prince?"
Struggling with the ropes tied into them, Sae Joo forced raising his arm. He showed the eagle figurine with the red threads to the skeptical boy. "This—I am not certain if you are familiar with the royal family, but this one is the symbol of Silla's Crown Prince. This was handed to me by my father when I was young."
"Wait a moment. I am not familiar with that but I will start believing you. Tell me more," said Shun.
"That young lady who fell into the river—she is my cousin, Lady Jin Ri, daughter of Silla's Prime Minister Lord Jung Ho, my uncle."
Shun nodded his head slowly but his eyes were still a bit dubious regarding the story. "Then, why are you disguising as a commoner? How did those Tang bastards know that there is a prince in here?"
"My father is very overprotective. He does not want me to go out of the palace until my fifteenth birthday which will be in a few days. People of Silla see me as their savior—their luck. My birth was considered a new era in Silla. I do not know what happened exactly in the past, but that is all I know. Regarding the other question, do you remember when we stumbled a while ago? I think one of them has seen my eagle figurine."
"Oh, so you just escaped, wanting to see the world outside?" asked Shun.
"Yes. At first, I was hesitant because I know the King would be mad at me, but then my cousin promised me that we would be back before anyone could ever find out. But then, here I am... stuck in a ship... with you."
"Hold it right there! Your birthday is in a few days? Mine too. I will turn fifteen as well." Shun smiled.
"Is that true? Daebak!" Sae Joo was surprised as well with the coincidence.
"All right then, so what are we going to do? If you are really the Prince, you need to talk to that Tang official in order for us to be free." Shun reminded.
Sae Joo's face partially lost its colors as his heart raced a bit in anxiety. He was afraid about what could lie ahead in that conversation as if he would be facing an unknown creature in the darkest shadows. Whether if it was a friend or a foe—he did not know.
"Err, as a matter of fact, I am nervous."
Shun scoffed. "What? Why? This would be like a simple conversation."
"You know nothing about diplomatic relations; the word, conversation sugarcoats the words, deals, bargains, terms, and conditions. I overheard those from my father and uncle's conversation once. One thing is for sure—that Tang official would not let us free that easily." Sae Joo worried.
"You would be fine. It is in your blood. Trust yourself. I know you could play with words. You are a Prince, for Heaven's sake," smiled Shun, cheering up the anxious prince.
"I appreciate your words of encouragement, but I know nothing about politics. It is something that does not blend with my personality—oil in water." the Prince dipped his head low.
A moment of brief, cold silence enfolded the cell. Shun started to become irked with the Prince's weakness, but at the same time, he also felt a sense of pity towards him. "So, are you giving up? You would let these people die? You would let me die? What have we done wrong to deserve this? You are people's savior, right? Then, this is the right time to prove it. There is a reason why the Heavens have birthed you as a prince." he raised a brow and looked away.
Before Sae Joo could even react, an old woman from another cell suddenly screamed. She was lying on the hay floor, writhing as if she was pestered by intense, agonizing pain. People on the cell got alerted and shouted to the guards, notifying them to attend the poor woman.
A guard approached and asked angrily, "What is it? Keep your voice down!"
Shun shouted, "Hey, I think her stomach hurts."
The guard replied in Tang language. The young boy then asked Sae Joo to translate what he just said, "Sae Joo, translate what I just said! That woman needs help!" he curled his lips and glowered to the guard.
Sae Joo, then talked to the guard. The two engaged into an intense argument, which made the other captives dumbfounded. After the argument, the guard strode and left, with heavy steps.
"Hey, what was that all about?" asked Shun.
"That woman tried to escape once so they decided not to feed her. Now, I think she suffers ulcer because it has been three days since she has eaten. The guard said that they will starve her to death and feed her organs to the wild dogs when we arrived in Dokdo."
After hearing the story, Shun's breath got stuck on his windpipe. He shook his head and sighed deeply for he wanted to help the poor woman but he was powerless. "Do you realize now? Would you let that poor woman die just because you are afraid to face that high-ranking official? Do the right thing please, reveal yourself."
"I will. I will just wait for the correct timing."
~~•~~
Back in the palace, inside a council hall, the King and the council members discussed the possible punishment for Lady Jin Ri. It was supervised by Jae Joong while sitting on his throne as Jung Ho and Jung Min preceded the meeting. The council sat at a big round table, with a small concave space at the center— only used during a special council meeting. A special seat was reserved for the Prime Minister, with a gavel and sound block.
Jung Min, being the Head of the Prosecution Department, formally commenced the council meeting. "Lady Jin Ri is the one responsible for Prince Sae Joo's disappearance. She admitted that she was the one who helped the Prince to go outside the palace without the King's approval. We are here to discuss the rightful punishment for this heavy crime against the royal family. Clearly, this is treason."
Jung Ho seconded, "Truly, so I suggest to punish her with two straight days of praying in Mount Toham temple. Repentance is what she needs. She will not go back unless told so."
"Praying? I think you are treating this case lightly, Prime Minister. This is the Prince's safety, the heir of the nation's whereabouts that we are talking about." Jung Min gawked at his father.
Raising an eyebrow, the Prime Minister asked, "So what do you suggest?"
Jung Min leaned his hands on the table and stood. He threw a short glance to the King, who was just observing before he spoke, "Demote her ranking. Make her a second rank Jingol," the young man propounded.
The Prime Minister stood and thumped the table, which made the other council members stared at him. "Are you out of your mind?"
"Like what I have said, this is treason, Prime Minister. No one among us knows the exact location or the present condition of the Prince. What if something bad happens to him?" argued Jung Min.
"According to Jin Ri, it was the Prince's orders. He wanted to go outside with the help of her. Clearly, she just followed his orders. I got your point; she is also accountable for this, but Jin Ri is still young. She had to do it, she is naive, immature and—"
Jung Min suddenly cut off his father, who was trying to keep his composure, "However, we have laws here. Yes, I know she is immature, but I think she knew that her action was not a right thing to do, and yet, she still did it. Besides, the story that Jin Ri told a while ago was her version of what really happened. We could never know unless we found the Prince. But since he was not here, Jin Ri is the one who would take all the blame."
"Are you implying that she just made up stories, Lord Jung Min?"
If a painter could see Jung Ho's face, he would actually refuse to paint the Prime Minister's visage. His nostrils flared, and his white skin turned red in a controlled fury towards his son, who was obviously wanting to get even to his sister. Before the confrontation intensified, Jae Joong stopped the two for a while from arguing. "Halt!"
All members lent their ears to the King's voice.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"You two have both good points. Yes, I agree that what Jin Ri did is not something that should be taken lightly, and I also agree that she is still young to be punished that heavily. With this, I order you Lord Jung Min to think of a punishment that is just right for her age and in a way, would leave an unforgettable lesson to her."
Jung Min bowed his head. His eyebrow arched as an idea crossed his mind. "Oh, how about a beating?"
"What do you mean, Lord Jung Min?" Dae Wong butted in.
"Fifty beatings by our hwarangs using a paddle. I believe that it is not that heavy for a teenage lady like her, and it would surely leave a terrible lesson which she would not forget."
Jung Ho glared at his son as he sat back on his seat. He clenched his fist and hid the raging balls under his pockets. Scanning the faces of the council members, he moved the motion to start the voting. A unanimous vote was needed in order for the motion to take place.
"Let us see. Shall we start the voting? Court ladies, bring out the voting seals!" ordered Jung Ho. The court ladies, waiting on the sides of the room, walked towards the table and gave each member two pocket-sized rectangular wood, with green and red threads. Green was for yes, and red was for no.
"Who is in favor of fifty beatings as punishment to Lady Jin Ri. Cast your votes at the center," said Jung Ho.
Without even hesitating, the council members threw their voting seals, giving their verdicts regarding the punishment. Jae Joong craned his head at the center table, trying to figure out the result. It was then revealed that all of the seals were green, meaning a unanimous decision had been made.
The Prime Minister stood and formally announced the result. "The council has decided, with ten votes in favor of... fifty beatings to Lady Jin Ri for being responsible for the Prince's disappearance." he stroke the gavel three times and sat.
Jae Joong stood and announced. "This council meeting is adjourned. Lord Jung Min, prepare all the things needed. Do the punishment at night time in front of the Pavilion of Morals."
"Yes, Sire."
The council members bowed their heads and started leaving the hall. Jung Ho signaled his son to follow him outside. Jung Min followed, and the two talked on the corridor of the pavilion.
"Are you trying to declare war against me? Do you think I would not know what you truly want?" confronted Jung Ho. Since there were people around, he tried his best to hold his furious horses and talked decently to his son, but with heavy substance.
"Nothing personal, Father. I just did my job. Your precious daughter did something terrible—oh, let me rephrase. I think you have done something terrible, and Jin Ri is the one who will pay for it." Jung Min smirked, walking out but Jung Ho grabbed his arm.
"Just hope that your sister could get through with this insanity," warned Jung Ho.
"She surely will, Father; she has your blood." Jung Min lowered, shoved his father's arm, and walked away.
~~•~~
When the fangs of the nightfall consumed the calming daylight in the skies, Jung Min, holding a red scroll, alongside with court ladies and some hwarangs paraded down the corridor going to Jin Ri's chambers.
"Announce me," commanded Jung Min.
A lady-in-waiting announced his presence, and after a few moments, the door was opened. Inside the room, Jin Ri was lying in her bed, covered with a cozy, carnation pink comforter.
Jung Min entered the room, with the court ladies. "Rise up and hear the King's verdict, Lady Jin Ri," announced Jung Min.
Jin Ri deftly removed the comforter and rose from her bed. She watched her brother as he opened the scroll and announced, "Lady Jin Ri, daughter of Prime Minister Jung Ho, is being held responsible for the disappearance of Prince Sae Joo. Because of sufficient evidence regarding her involvement through her own confession, she will be punished by the Prosecution Department. However, due to insufficient details, the punishment would be lighter compared to what has been suggested by the Prosecution Head. Hence, she will be punished on the hour of Sulshi—fifty beatings using a paddle."
Jin Ri's court ladies and other attendants were shocked to hear the King's orders. However, the brazen lady did not even waste a single blink nor breath. She locked a stabbing glare to her brother as she stood steadily beside her bed.
"Strip her," ordered Jung Min.
The court ladies sob as they slowly removed the young lady's durumagi and outer robe. They also took her jewelry and hair ornaments—almost everything. All that was left to the lady was just her white robe and long skirt.
"Escort her."
The hwarangs entered the room and held her arms, escorting her to the courtyard in front of the Pavilion of Morals. In front of the pavilion was a small dais with a small seat at the center—probably reserved for Jung Min. There were also lit torches on the sides and hwarangs lining up. But what captured her attention the most was a cross-shaped bench with no backrest, almost about two feet long. Upon reaching the pavilion courtyard, Jin Ri started to feel a bit tensed because her punishment was less than a meter away, but she just shrugged her nonsense thought and just blew a heavy breath.
Jung Min sat at the dais, signaling the hwarang escorts to put her on the bench. The men dragged her and made her lie prone, her face facing down. Grabbing her arms, they spread them across the wings of the bench and tied them. Then lastly, they tied her feet on the rear part of the bench.
The moment that Jung Min raised an arm, a hwarangdo carrying a paddle walked to the bench and bowed first to the young man.
"Go!"
Jin Ri instantly closed her eyes, and with that moment, the raw, heavy, and vigorous torture stroke her body. She yelped in pain, and her face sketched an obvious grimace. The excruciating sensation of the thick paddle felt like a strong magnet, attracting to her body and repelling from it once again over and over again, in an almost endless silent cycle.
As the hwarang continued beating her, Jung Min shook his head, seeing his sister's strength and determination to get through the punishment despite her young age. But above all, he had seen rage, a desire to get even to him one day.
Time passed by quickly, for, after just about fifteen minutes, all fifty beatings were finished. The sweating young lady almost lost her consciousness. Her eyes were shut off as if mists was the only thing that she could see. Her breath became shallower every second that passed after the withdrawal from the paddle. Energy was consumed fully—her body feeling more shock and pain.
"Untie her," ordered Jung Min.
The escorts approached the torture bench and slowly untied Jin Ri. Each movement was calculated properly in order for them not to instill another pain to the almost fragile, paper-like lady. When they finished, they slowly assisted the young lady, helping her to get back to her feet.
"Escort her to her chambers."
The men bowed and walked carefully, together with the already knocked down young lady who had lessons yet to be learned.
~~•~~
Back in the ship, the two teenage boys eventually had dozed off inside their cell due to tiredness, especially when they had nothing to do regarding the old woman's condition. As they were sleeping tight, bodies still close to each other, the two were distracted upon hearing a loud sound of a bison horn. The other sleeping captives also woke up, wondering what happened.
A guard entered and walked to the middle of the aisle again as he announced something.
Shun asked Sae Joo, "This is really pissing me off. What did he say?"
Sae Joo's eyebrows knitted in worry. "This is it. We have arrived in Dokdo Island. They are going to take us to that high-ranking Tang official."
"What—Sae Joo, I mean Your Highness, this is the right time," whispered Shun.
The Crown Prince sighed heavily, "Yes." he closed his eyes and bit his lips. "I will do it. I will reveal myself."
Shun smiled and nodded.
The guards then unlocked all the cells and instructed all the captives to fall in line. When they got out of the cell, going to the main ramp going down the ship, the two were mesmerized by the beauty of Dokdo Islands—two rocky island formations with forested areas on top and fine sands at the beach stretch were illuminated by the bright moon. They slowly walked down the ramp as their eyes were enchanted by the alluring beauty of the small island.
Upon reaching the seashore, the guards pushed them and ordered them to walk north, going to the direction of the beach forest. As they paraded, they started seeing people from afar. Closer and closer, they saw a long red dais with elder Tang men, wearing red hanfus, sitting. A throne was empty at the center. Behind them were flamboyant ladies, whom they assumed as courtesans with extremely white faces and flashing red cheeks and lips. Down the dais were soldiers surrounding the area.
Noble-looking people were sitting and facing the dais. They were exchanging chatters when the captives came. Then, the leader of the bandits ordered them to stop walking and bow to the noblemen. The other captives had no choice but to bow their heads, while the two boys just looked around, somehow refusing to acknowledge the pile of despicable people.
The leader greeted, and it seemed like the Tang people got excited and fueled up as if something was about to begin. Chatters got louder, and a lot of them laughed boisterously.
"I do not understand why these strange people are acting like this," said Shun.
"Me too. As far as I could understand, the leader of this bandit said that we just arrived safely."
"Sae Joo, are you thinking what I am thinking too?"
"What is it?"
"I think there is—"
Shun was eventually cut off when a Tang eunuch suddenly announced something. Everyone became silent in an instance for a teenage boy, wearing a blue intricate hanfu climbed up the dais. All people stood and bowed to him. The teenage boy went to the center and sat at the throne. He signaled the bandit leader to come closer, together with all captives.
"I will go straight to the point. I am here to make a deal," said the teenage boy.
Shun scoffed. "This little bastard knows our language," he whispered.
"Surely I do. It is part of my duty as the Crown Prince of Tang."
Shun grinned and mouthed. "He has a good hearing too."
"Going back, it has been informed to me through the dove messenger that a Silla prince is disguising himself here. Whoever you are, reveal yourself right now."
The Tang Prince stood and walked down the dais, scanning all of the male captives. "Listen up everyone. I wish to challenge that Prince in a duel. If I lost, all of them will be released. If, however, I won, all of them would be Tang's slaves, and each one of the nobles here can select one for free—no bidding will be done!"
All the people were shocked. The captives were stunned but started losing hope, while the nobles were surprised, and started clapping their hands.
"Simple, right? Now, where is that Prince? Reveal yourself before I ran out of my patience," threatened the Tang Prince.
Sae Joo and Shun looked at each other, while the former was shaking his head in fear. Sae Joo looked sideways, thinking how he could escape from this nightmare. Out of a sudden, he moved his lips closer to Shun's ear and whispered. "I have an idea."
"What?"
"Take this," said Sae Joo, sneaking out the eagle figurine from his pocket and handling it discreetly to Shun.
"Why are you giving that to me? Are you insane?" Shun gritted his teeth and shook his head.
"Listen to me. If you want to get saved, do it. We know that you are the one who could fight and not me. Your chances of winning are much higher than mine. If you go and take my identity for a while, there is a higher chance that all of us will be saved. Please, Shun. I cannot risk the lives of these people. You are the one who can do it now."
Locking a convinced gaze to Sae Joo, Shun eventually agreed and took the figurine secretly. "All right. In order to survive, I will do it."
The Tang Prince started to lose his patience and yelled. "Are you going to just look at each other all day? I am losing my patience here. Who among you is the prince?"
Shun cleared his throat and breathed heavily. "Me! I am the one whom you are looking for—I am the Crown Prince of Silla Kingdom. Untie me, and let us fight!"
__________
NOTES:
Daebak (대박) - Korean interjection for, "Wow!"
Sulshi (술씨) - time between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Hanfu (한푸) - a clothing which originated from the Han Dynasty and characterized by silk robes and ankle-length skirts or pants.
[https://em.wattpad.com/3d1e362c608377f30e741f47d523f9837b8fc7e2/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f46706a514e4154495050715577413d3d2d3638363535383639312e313537643163313364616265366361383131393836363030393430372e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]