Secret of the Two Kings (89 CHAPTERS - ON HOLD)

제 17 부

"Nurses, place those trays on the table and leave. Her Grace has a weak immunity to diseases. Stay outside the door, and I shall call you if I need assistance," Dong Hee ordered. The nurses placed all their trays with different birthing equipment and herbal medicines on a long table near the Queen's bed and left.

"It is time." Dong Hee went into the yellow cloth and checked the baby.

"Push!"

A muffled scream came out from the Queen's mouth. "Again, Your Grace. Push! I can see the head already!"

The delivery did not last excruciatingly long. With just a couple of screams, the first twin was born. Dong Hee held the baby upside down, spank its butt, and a loud cry was heard all over the chamber. She wiped the blood around the baby and put it in a maroon silk cloth with the baby's name embroidered on it. It was a cloth that was pre-made by the Queen months before for her babies.

Dong Hee handed the baby to the Queen. "Here you go, Your Grace, your handsome firstborn prince."

The Head Nurse smiled, removing the stuffed cloth from the Queen's mouth.

The Queen's heart fluttered in joy. She felt like she was soaring above in the endless sky. Words were not even enough to describe how joyful she was. Holding the small hands of the baby, she looked at his small eyes, and a tear flowed from her left eye. "My Prince, you have no idea how happy I am to finally see you," she softly uttered.

"What is his name, Your Grace?" Dong Hee asked.

The Queen smiled and gazed sweetly at her baby. "Sae Joo, his name is Sae Joo and like a bird, he will soar high above the clouds and will become a great person and a great ruler."

"Prince Sae Joo, what a great name, Your Grace. Let me have him first, please. I will wash him up."

The Queen handed the baby to Dong Hee, and she rested back, waiting for her next baby to come out. Carrying the baby, Dong Hee left the Queen's birthing chamber. She walked shortly in the corridor, checking if there were people who could see her. Confident that no one was around, she entered another room shortly. When she came out after some minutes, she was already pushing a cart covered with white cloth. She went through the back of the pavilion and saw many palace guards and hwarangs guarding the whole vicinity. Strolling the cart towards the exit, two guards blocked her and asked to open the cart. "It is the Prime Minister's order. Open the cart for inspection." Her hands quivered in apprehension, and she avoided eye contact with them. The guards opened the cart and found compartments filled with assorted color cloths, tea leaves, fresh green herbs, and some seeds.

"Remove the first layer!" one of the hwarangs ordered.

Dong Hee's eyes grew wide as she slowly lifted the first layer. The hwarangs knitted their eyebrows as they noticed her slow and nervous movements. When the first layer was removed, the second compartment full of acupuncture needles were exposed.

"This is all!" Dong Hee claimed

The two hwarangs looked at each other. "All right, cleared!"

A heavy sigh escaped from her lips, and she continued pushing the cart while remembering what the King had said about those vigilant guards and hwarangs. She paused and was bothered because the whole palace seemed to be on high alert. She did not expect what she saw. There were hwarangs on every corner of other pavilions. There were troops roaming around back and forth as if they were in a military training ground.

She resumed pushing her cart up to the south gate. It was one of the smallest gates in the palace, with relatively lesser guards. This gate would lead to the shortest route to the Noble Village, where a lot of high-ranking palace official lived.