Chapter 66

Du Cheob-yeo, Du Chae-eon, hid her sulkiness and moved her feet. Consort Hyeok, who resided in the same palace, refused to come along despite being invited several times. Consort Hyeok’s only flaw was that she was too tender-hearted and overly reserved.

“Du Cheob-yeo has arrived.”

“Show her in.”

When the palace servant announced this toward the interior, permission was granted immediately. The door opened, revealing a dazzling inner chamber.

“Please, have a seat.”

As expected, there were already several guests inside the chamber.

“I pay my respects to Consort Bi Mama. May Consort Bi enjoy great blessings. Was your younger sister not late?”

Du Cheob-yeo offered her greetings with a friendly demeanor. Consort Bi, seated at the head, smiled sweetly.

“Everyone just arrived. Please, sit. Serve Du Cheob-yeo some tea.”

Du Chae-eon’s heart felt stained and mottled as she looked at Consort Bi.

“Thank you for your kindness, Mama.”

Consort Bi was a beauty with prominent features and outstanding elegance. She had a slender physique, neither short nor tall, with long arms and legs for her height. Her body was slim, but her bosom was ample and her waist was narrow, earning her the envy of palace servants and noble ladies in the capital.

Consort Bi had entered the harem three years ago, along with Du Cheob-yeo, Neung So-yong, and Jin Mi-in. Up until her entry into the palace, Du Cheob-yeo believed that even if she was not an exceptional beauty, she had no shortcomings. However, after coming to the imperial palace, she painfully realized that her own face was insignificant.

She now coldly understood that the forehead her father had praised as small and cute, and the chin her mother had called slender, were compliments carefully avoiding mention of her prominent and strongly defined cheekbones.

“Du Cheob-yeo, please don’t be so formal. Are we not contemporaries?”

Du Cheob-yeo merely smiled at Consort Bi’s words.

As Consort Bi said, they were contemporaries, in a sense. But the other party had become a Bi (Consort), while she was merely a Cheob-yeo (Lady-in-Waiting). Du Chae-eon still found it difficult to accept this position in the imperial palace.

Before entering the palace, Du Cheob-yeo believed that the Du clan of Heonnyeong was far more prestigious than the Gi clan of Gyeokseong. Gyeokseong was an important strategic point in the west, and the Gi clan was a prominent family there, but they did not have the long-standing border-guarding reputation of a Marcher Lord, like Consort Hyeok’s Eunguk-gong family.

Neither Consort Bi nor Du Chae-eon were the legitimate daughters of their respective main family lines. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Of course, Consort Bi was the cherished daughter of the family, of whom her grandfather, the head of the Gi clan, was proud since she was young. But Du Cheob-yeo was cherished and revered by her family just as much.

In the end, all that mattered was talent and appearance.

Over the past three years, Consort Bi had become pregnant four times. Just before entering the palace, Consort Bi was known to be the oldest among the noble daughters entering the harem, and she was initially considered insignificant. However, the shock Du Chae-eon received upon seeing Gi Su-ryeon (Consort Bi) on the day of her entry was one of the five most memorable events of her short life.

Even the Empress Dowager, known to be discerning and meticulous, smiled brightly upon seeing the beauty of the newly entered Gi Su-ryeon. Under the Empress Dowager’s active support, Consort Bi received the Emperor’s affection wholeheartedly. Even when they were both Jae-in (Beauties), she attended the Emperor far more frequently than Neung So-yong or Du Cheob-yeo.

However, a crisis had arrived even for the great Consort Bi. Everyone in the harem had expected that Dam So-ui, who received the Emperor’s special affection, would push Consort Bi into difficulty.

Despite becoming pregnant four times in a short period, Consort Bi had not been able to hold a single Imperial grandson in her arms. She lost the Dragon Seed tragically the first and second times, sorrowfully the third time, and the recent fourth pregnancy passed so briefly that she received scornful gossip suggesting it was no surprise.

The combination of Consort Bi’s repeated pregnancies and miscarriages, along with the Emperor’s unique favor toward Dam So-ui, drew everyone’s attention to when she would completely lose the Emperor’s affection.

However, Dam So-ui had not been able to inflict any damage on Consort Bi.

“The Gyo Marquisate family is indeed not to be taken lightly. Is that not right, Dam So-ui?”

Consort Bi asked, slightly furrowing her brow.

“The Gyo Marquisate family is a great place, indeed.”

Dam So-ui, who was seated in front of Du Cheob-yeo, said courteously. Consort Bi smiled bitterly at Dam Seo-jun’s reply, which seemed devoid of any sense of crisis or full grasp of the situation.

“Is it not Consort Gwi-bi who is great, rather than the Gyo Marquisate family?”

Neung So-yong, sitting to Consort Bi’s right, said as she lifted her teacup.

“The reason Consort Gwi-bi is distinguished is, as Dam So-ui said, because the Gyo Marquisate family is great. From the Spiritual Mountain Flower Tea and pottery made by a southern master to the calligrapher’s scrolls that are hard for even His Majesty to obtain. Things this concubine has never heard of, Consort Gwi-bi regards as commonplace. Where else would Consort Gwi-bi have received all those things?”

Jin Mi-in, speaking in a gentle tone, defended Dam So-ui.

“Consort Gwi-bi engaged in a nerve war with the Empress Dowager early after entering the palace and gave the impression that His Majesty didn’t care for her, so I never expected her to reach her current rank. The fact that she was summoned by the Empress Dowager, had a tussle, and then showed the greed to drink medicine that allows even a man to conceive, is no coincidence. I even suspect that the tussle with the Empress Dowager might have been part of Consort Gwi-bi’s plan.”

Neung So-yong assessed the situation with a serious demeanor.

“Are you referring to the Ja-an-hong when you speak of medicine that allows a man to conceive?”

Dam So-ui cautiously inserted himself into the conversation between Neung So-yong and Jin Mi-in. That was Consort Bi’s other ability. Consort Bi had a strange power to keep her rivals below her and to lead the situation while socializing with them.

Neung So-yong and Jin Mi-in were originally rivals vying for the affection of Consort Bi and the Emperor. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Consort Bi did not fight with Jin Mi-in, who stayed in the same residence, but became her friend, and also embraced Neung So-yong, bringing her to her side.

Though the underlying intentions were complex, Du Cheob-yeo herself was here, meaning Consort Bi had placed all her contemporaries beneath her.

“Ja-an-hong?”

Du Cheob-yeo only added a fitting interjection, observing the situation. Dam So-ui opened his mouth as the attention shifted to him.

“Ja-an-hong, like Baekhong, is a poison-like medicine for those whose constitution is not suited for it. I heard the rumors circulating in the palace, but did Consort Gwi-bi truly drink Ja–an–hong? If the rumor circulated when it did, he would have drunk Ja-an-hong soon after drinking Baekhong. Ordinarily, the body would not have been able to withstand it.”

“So, it is called Ja–an–hong.”

Consort Bi spoke to Dam So-ui as if praising him for doing his part.

“Yes, both Baekhong and Ja-an-hong are very dangerous. They are absolutely not something to be taken merely out of greed. If one makes a mistake, one could lose one’s life as soon as one drinks it.”

Dam So-ui spoke with a fearful look.

“Have you forgotten Consort Gwi-bi’s defiance towards His Majesty? When she lured us here with flower tea and made you kneel?”

Hyang-bin, seated close to Consort Bi, in front of Neung So-yong, spoke with a sharp tone. Everyone involved in the palace’s power structure was here.

“Hyang-bin Mama.”

“Hyang-bin.”

Neung So-yong and Consort Bi called Hyang-bin, trying to restrain her, while looking at Dam So-ui. Dam So-ui lowered his head, looking distressed.

Hyang-bin spoke with a pouty expression.

“I did not mean anything bad by it. I merely brought it up while reviewing Consort Gwi-bi’s actions. Consort Gwi-bi’s temperament is truly formidable. She even raised her face defiantly to the Empress Dowager, claiming to have lingering effects from Baekhong. She requested to meet the person who manufactured the medicine and eventually had the pharmacist summoned. And this is the same person who, when I once mentioned that she benefited from her family’s influence by being promoted from Jae-in to Cheob-yeo within days of entering the palace, retorted that her family, the Gyo Marquisate family, must be very great.”

“This palace does not know much about the Gyo Marquisate family. I know they are a great prestigious house, but the Gyo Marquisate family does not wield much influence compared to its reputation, does it?”

Consort Bi brought up the foundational point.

“Given Consort Consort Bi’s personality, she is certainly the type to drink Ja–an–hong, whether out of greed or sheer audacity. I have never seen anyone provoke His Majesty’s anger so brazenly without batting an eye. In the five years or more I have stayed in the Imperial Palace, there has been no one like that, even among the imperial relatives. With that kind of personality, since she even drank Baekhong upon entering the palace, why would she be afraid of Ja–an–hong?”

Hyang-bin rattled on about Consort Gwi-bi’s exceptional temperament. Neung So-yong, seated opposite, nodded.

“The Empress Dowager changing her attitude toward Consort Gwi-bi also began around the time she was rumored to have drunk Ja–an–hong. Whether Ja-an-hong has any efficacy or not, it would be right to assume that Consort Gwi-bi drank Ja–an–hong.”

Neung So-yong concluded her assessment.

“If Baekhong exists, why shouldn’t Ja–an–hong?”

Consort Bi nodded in agreement.

“However, is it not difficult to say that the relationship between His Majesty and Consort Gwi-bi is entirely good? Consort Gwi-bi challenged His Majesty rather than simply striving to conceive by drinking Ja–an–hong.”

Jin Mi-in raised a question, suggesting the situation was strange.

“I believe His Majesty severely humiliated Consort Gwi-bi’s uncle at that time. It should be impossible for a consort to challenge His Majesty because he humiliated her kin, but…”

“Consort Gwi-bi is the honored legitimate son of the Gyo Marquisate family.”

Hyang-bin took Gwi-bi’s comment with a sarcastic tone.

“Consort Gwi-bi certainly caused difficulty for His Majesty, but she cannot be compared to Dam So-ui, whom His Majesty holds in special regard.”

Dam So-ui looked mortified at Neung So-yong’s words. Although it was in the past, being summoned before Consort Gwi-bi, kneeling, and being tormented was a moment Dam Seo-jun wished never to recall.