There once was a king in the royal court. His name was Jinhyeon (진현, 晉賢). He was only 16 years old.
His eyes had the glow of the heavens and his hair held the dark of the night. He was frowned upon by the elders across joseon—yet he was loved by the young. He was said to be cursed by his ancestors—or so the elders claimed. but the young claimed he was blessed with "A new beginning". This king was seen as a rebel—as he often apposed against confuncian tradition.
He often refused to eat anything else than his usual Siru-tteok with thinly cut Jokbal on top—as he claimed it kept his energy up and cleared his mind. He also had peculiar habits. He would often read about korean kings before him while eating breakfast—but the elders didn't complain too much about this as his knowledge increased greatly with this habit.
But a habit the elders weren't fond of was his sleeping habits–he would regularly sleep through meetings for so long that it has been recorded multiple times in Joseon Wangjo Sillok (조선왕조실록) by Sageo (사고) That they had to check if the king was alive or not—especially referring to a time he slept for 16 hours in a day without waking up. They wrote down qoute
『Year: 1471, 5th Month, 12th Day
King Seongjong's Daily Record:
"Today the king slept through multiple important meetings today—a not so uncommon occurrence. But on this day word spread around royal court that he had been sleeping for a worryingly long time. He had not awoken even by the final moment of the yose hour (7pm).
The Chief Royal Attendant (상궁, Sanggung) called for a meeting in the Geunjeongjeon (근정전) about who were to wake up the king . At this meeting he exclaimed "Seo Ah-rin, i know your fit for this—even if your a woman, the king trusts you more than any man here." Seo Ah-rin replied "i understand." With a confident posture, she walked hurriedly through the palace halls towards the kings private sleeping chamber (침전) When she arrived to the sleeping chamber—she saw that there were no guards outside.
Later commenting about the missing guards to the Chief Eunuch (내시, Naesi). But when she entered the sleep chamber, according to Seo Ah-rin—when she tried to wake the king up—the kings face gradually went from a sleeping face to a angry face. He quickly sat up and said "who dares disturb my sle-" But quickly calmed down after seeing Seo Ah-rin." 』
But on this day—it was different. On this day 1471, 8th Month, 4th Day—the king didn't sleep at all. The elders claimed it was because of his curse—but the young knew there was something going on. Something serious. He also refused to leave his chamber that day. There was was also a serious tone at in the Geunjeongjeon (근정전), the throne hall. Uijeongbu (의정부) — The State Council, exclaimed with rage "he can't keep skipping meetings like this while our people are at war!" The Saganwon (사간원) — Office of Censors retailer with "but sir, we must respect the kings wishes—or it could disturb the heavens" A state council member replied "He has already disturbed the heavens enough—just like his mother!" The court was never this unorganised. usually there was a strict order of who could speak when—but now it was completely unorganised.
Again the king was oversleeping. And as usual—Seo Ah-rin went to wake him up. And this time there were 2 guards stationed infront of the door to the kings private sleeping chamber. But this time—when she entered, there was no one there. In the sleeping chamber there laid only a neatly folded letter. It looked like it was laid on the table in the middle of the chamber with great care. She hurriedly went to the letters and grabbed it. For a second she was unsure if she should give to the guards or open it her self. But she figured it would only be thrown away by Uijeongbu (의정부) — The State Council because of their relationship with the king. So she decided on opening it. As neatly as it folded she opened it. Inside there was a note that said qoute "The moonlight has lead me to the south—where the dragon flies and the peasant dies. Seo Ah-rin" Seu wondered what this meant—but she wasted no time and left the sleeping chamber. She quickly hid the the note in her Jeogori (저고리) and left to the Naesamcheong (내삼청, 內三廳) (private living space). She then entered her private room and sat down to decode the meaning behind the note. She thought to herself "what is dangerous to the south?" And she realised that he meant he was escaping to namsan (남산).