The echoes of whispered voices in the Sajeongjeon still rang in Minister Min's ears as he strode through the inner corridors of the palace.
His face was a mask of barely restrained fury.
Guards and attendants hurried out of his path, sensing the storm that followed in his wake.
Without waiting to be announced, Min shoved aside the wooden panels and entered the Queen's chambers.
The Queen sat before a small rosewood table, dressed in dark silk robes, a delicate porcelain cup resting between her fingers. The scent of pine tea lingered warmly in the room.
She slowly lifted her gaze.
Her uncle's fury met a gaze as cold and still as winter ice.
"Has the Grand Councillor forgotten the rules of court etiquette?" she asked calmly, without so much as shifting in her seat.
"The Daesagan is still alive!" Min spat, letting the heavy sleeves of his robe fall at his sides.
"My men ambushed him on the northern road, exactly as we planned. He should be lying dead in a ditch by now, but that damned boy broke through the encirclement and escaped."
His voice tightened.
"If he reaches the royal camp…"
The Queen stopped with the teacup just short of her lips.
Her eyes narrowed.
"And what happened at the Council?"
"The old Yi outmaneuvered us," Min admitted through clenched teeth.
"He used the royal tablet granted to him by His Majesty and demanded that a commission of three ministers, along with the Chief Royal Physician, be sent to the King's chambers to hear His Majesty's will directly."
Min's hands curled into fists.
"I had no choice but to yield. The Southern faction rose in his support. They gave us three days."
Silence settled heavily over the chamber.
The Queen slowly placed her teacup on the table.
Three days.
A bitter smile touched her lips.
"Three days…"
She looked directly at her uncle.
"Uncle, the old Yi is not trying to verify the King's health. He already suspects the truth. Those three days are all the Daesagan needs to reach the royal camp and return with either answers…"
Her eyes hardened.
"…or the King himself."
Min's expression darkened.
"If that commission crosses the threshold of the inner palace, they will uncover the deception. And once they do, we will be executed for high treason."
He lowered his voice.
"We must send our mercenaries tonight and silence those three ministers."
"Kill them in their homes?"
The Queen gave a cold, humorless laugh.
"If three ministers suddenly turn up dead, old Yi will have every reason to rally the Royal Guard against us. We would lose what little legitimacy remains to the crown."
She leaned forward.
"No. We will not kill them in the shadows."
Her voice became quieter.
"We will use the very law old Yi invoked against him."
Min stared at her.
The Queen continued.
"Tonight, your men will enter the residences of the three ministers appointed to the commission. They will not poison them."
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"They will plant small vials of geum-dok among their belongings. Then they will leave forged letters bearing the seal of the Southern faction—letters describing a plot to poison the King's medicine before the commission arrives."
For a moment, Min simply stared at her.
Then understanding dawned.
A slow, vicious smile spread across his face.
"At dawn," the Queen continued, "the Central Gate Guard will arrest them publicly for conspiring to assassinate the King."
Her fingers folded neatly inside her sleeves.
"Once the commission is imprisoned, old Yi will be powerless to act. I will issue an emergency decree declaring a state of siege and invoke the immediate regency of the Crown Prince to 'protect the kingdom.'"
She paused.
"By the time the Daesagan returns from the north, he will find that there is no longer a King waiting for him to serve."
Her gaze turned colder.
"There will be my son."
Min bowed deeply.
"The plan will be carried out tonight, Your Majesty."
By the following morning, the gates of the royal palace had barely begun to open when the shouts of soldiers thundered across the great courtyard.
Before the three appointed ministers could even step down from their palanquins, dozens of Min's soldiers surrounded them, swords drawn.
The ministers stared in confusion.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"By order of the Crown—"
Before the man could finish, soldiers seized their belongings.
Vials of poison were produced from their luggage.
Then came the forged manuscripts.
The seals of the Southern faction were displayed before the horrified eyes of the assembled court.
"This is a fabrication!"
"I have never seen these letters!"
"You cannot arrest me without proof!"
Their protests disappeared beneath the clatter of chains.
Within minutes, the three ministers were dragged away.
By the time word reached the old Yi, the trap had already closed.
The three men now languished in the palace dungeons, accused of conspiring to assassinate the King.
The inner palace had been sealed under the Queen's emergency decree.
And the three-day deadline Yi had fought so hard to secure had vanished before it had even begun.
Now, everything depended on one man.
Yi Jun-ho.
And whether he could reach the north before the palace became a kingdom ruled by a crown that no longer belonged to its rightful king.