How I found out transmigration was a thing.

Chapter 40 - Conversations Part 3

It was possibly the most childish performance by an adult I'd ever experienced.   The Emperor was pretending to read as I knelt before him, my forehead firmly planted on the tile floor. I knew that I was being punished for being late, which was no fault of my own.  No cushion was provided for me, so after a while, my knees started to hurt and the skirt of my beautiful white hanbok was ruined. From the corner of my eye, I could see The Emperor casually looking at a scroll and exchanging playful looks with the woman behind the screen.  The Head of State was playing a game of tit for tat.  Did he have nothing better to do as the Monarch of a powerful nation than get the upper hand over a nobody like me?    

I closed my eyes and occupied myself with organising my thoughts.  I longed to be in my study getting it all down on paper before I forgot any of the details.  Every question the Crown Prince answered only created more.  I wanted to sit him down, all day and all night if needs be, and pick his brain apart about Min's past, his mother and of course the identity of the assassin.  I would keep him to his word and make sure we saw more of each other and discussed our thoughts.  I rather liked that idea.

"You may sit."  It took me a moment to register that the Emperor was speaking to me.  I sat up slowly, remembering all the things I needed to do, head down and stare at the floor, hands just so on my lap, straight back...basically be a zombie.  My patience was being tested.  Was the Emperor so childish that it amused him that I sat before him with a red forehead and dirt clothes?  

I kept my eyes and head down, and I told myself that this to shall pass. To my left, I saw the Crown Prince shift in his seat.  Glancing quickly I saw his face was stiff, and his lips pressed tightly together.  The woman behind the screen was to my right.  I couldn't see her clearly but I could make out bold coloured clothes in deep purple and red, and a great number of hairpins. 

No one spoke and I felt myself start to daydream again.  The whole experience was becoming mind-numbingly tedious.  I'd turned myself inside out with anxiety, to end up bored.

"I am confused as to why you thought you needed to join us Crown Prince Yin. I simply wanted to meet the source of all the court gossip. I hear that in the short time your charge has been in the Palace he has acquired a reputation as an eccentric and and one who flaunts his lack of respect for correctness and decorum. I was curious."

The Crown Prince looked in my direction.  He really couldn't argue about that description...it was accurate.   "In the Imperial Court, this is a crime in itself.  A personal affront to the Throne."  The man was a pompous arse.

The Crown Prince was about to answer but he was stopped abruptly.  "With all due..."

"Be quiet. I am not finished. Have you come here, perhaps, because you don't trust him to behave? I have heard the words unhinged, simpleton to describe him"  I'M SITTING RIGHT HERE.  I CAN HEAR YOU. 

"Sang-gung Gin Ae-Cha gave a particularly horrifying account of her meeting with Zhou Min."  Well, she would wouldn't she?  

Emperor Yin's voice leaked into my ears like an oil slick.  It had the petulant tone of someone who loved the sound of their own voice.  It became clear why the Crown Prince was as cold as he was.  He'd had to build up a resistance to this kind of idiocy.

"If I may speak Your Majesty."  The Crown Prince bowed low to his Royal father.  I hated seeing him forced to submit to this megalomaniac.  "Anyone who has met and spoken to Young Master Min knows he is neither unhinged nor a simpleton.  I was present when Sang-gung Gin Ae-Cha visited Kkoch Palace.  And it was I who sent her on her way because I found her disrespectful and rude to myself and my charge.