13 The Art of Manipulation.

"<b><i>The Queen, The Highness, The Monarch, The First woman of Sovereign Baekmin, The inculcator of righteousness, Crown Head Min Yun Ki's dutiful better half- we present before you the revered sword of Baekja Kim, The most notorious, cold-blooded, brave martyr from Gyonju. Wield the metal, pierce the point into the barren and unharvested Paddy Lands of the Marshes and bless upon us a year of full stomachs and big hearts. May you change the air around the Gods of Rain, who haven't been so kind over The People of Baekmin. Oh Lords above, please accept the resolute thrust of our Queen, who's grown out of these Marshes and is standing before us as Royalty. May the air change, May the air change!</i></b>" The head of Gyonju proclaims amidst the loud banging of the traditional Buk.

Soojin was surrounded by a group of women, the wives of the farmers who would be cultivating crop on the Marsh Lands, this year.

They stand around her with their fists full of seeds for dispersion.

Their lips move in a synchronised fashion, chanting out a string of mantras to summon the God of Rain, for him to witness an event as peculiar as this.

<i>A Woman was wielding Baekja Kim's sword, A Woman was tearing land apart, A Woman was being considered a lucky charm.</i>

<i>A Woman was being endowed with respect.</i>

Perhaps, the Gods would surely be impressed.

Soojin who grew out from meagre and humble situations, now held the most powerful and esteemed sword in her fragile hands.

Hands that felt as though they weren't worthy of such a prestigious title.

Hands that felt incredibly weak and shaky in comparison to the gold plated sword.

Although she had worked at the Blacksmith's a good 2 years, lifting, cutting and shaping metal all through the tumultuous years, this sword felt heavier than any other she'd welded with her own two hands.

<i>Heavier, philosophically and not physically.</i>

Could someone as minuscule as her carry out such a feverous task?

Her eyes wandered over the married women who stared at her in adoration, hope keen in their eyes, she was their messiah, almost.

<i>How could she tell these hopeful women, who considered her a deity, that their so-proclaimed Messiah was a woman who'd been battling out patriarchy, with her own hands shackled behind her back like a prisoner?</i>

<i>

</i>

<i>

That she and the Monarch had a non-consummated marriage?</i>

<i>

</i>

<i>

That the Queen of Baekmin refused to even acknowledge her as a Consort?</i>

<i>

</i>

<i>

Or, that she was starting to bear a mind plagued with lewd thoughts of a man who wasn't her groom? </i>

"<b><i>Queen, Please begin</i></b>."

Jostling Soojin awake from her thoughts, she looked back at the woman who had been staring at her, intently.

Her grasp over the grip tightened.

Knuckles turned pale and yet she felt as though her hands were dead paralysed weights by her side.

As though the joint that connected her arm to her biceps had got jammed by an indefinite cement that restricted her motions.

"<i>I-I can't .</i>." Soojin fumbles with her words, that dripped of helplessness.

The chanting stopped and the women wondered what events had transpired her to feel so powerless.

They knew of her past and how she was once, the man of the house.

<i>What was stopping her from carrying out a task she did on the regular?</i>

Soojin's paling face and hyperhidrosis had raised suspicions.

Whatever the Queen was trying to mask under her false pretentious smile was eerie, to say the least.

The Consort, who'd risen to be a woman of integrity, power and shared the reigns of Baekmin with the King was appearing to be <i>incompetent and incapable.</i>

"<i>What might be the issue, Queen Consort?</i>" A woman in the crowd asks, rather agitatedly, the seeds in her fist pricking her skin.

Of course, they were growing restless.

"<b><i>I don't think I-I'm the one who could cha-change the air in the Kingdom.</i></b>" Soojin confesses, causing the mob around her to gasp.

Soojin's guards gawked at each other with clueless gazes.

What could they do?

What should they do?

The King would behead them, no questions asked.

What surprised them most was that Soojin had gained the courage to go against the ruthless Min Yun Ki, who'd obviously sent her with instructions, feeding into her head details that seemed so insignificant to Soojin as she stood in The Marshes, refusing to wield the sword into the crop field.

She was humiliating the Kingdom and more than anything, the prestige of her husband, who held prestige higher than any other moral.

Soojin's eyes were plastered to her feet, clad in white sandals, soiled by the brown manure but that was the least of her worries.

"<b>This is disrespectful to the people of Baekmin!</b>" An angry strained voice spoke out loud, path clearing and an old man supported by a dainty wooden stick, appearing before Soojin.

He stands before her, an arm supporting his bent back and eyes that glisten in vexation.

"<b><i>First the King, who walks around the Kingdom with an ego as massive as an elephant, tramples over his people without a care in the world and then there's his wife. She abides by the saying, 'You can dress a beggar in jewels and pearls but they'll still extend their hands for alms'. This Kingdom will never see glory, with heirs like these. Late Crowned Head Min II grew this Kingdom with his own hands and his heir is hell bent on reducing it to pile of dust</i></b>. "

He shouts, instigating the people of Gyonju, who shake their heads in agreement.

"<i>You are right, Seonsaengnim! Respect a woman, raise her to a pedestal, bestow upon her power and she will pose as a massive disappointment. We thought the Consort would be different. We thought she would represent us, turns out she's just a puppet. A puppet with no strength of her own, no tongue to articulate what she believes.</i>" Another man, supposedly a Farmer bearing a Sickle, speaks.

Soojin's face pales and her rate rate appears to sky rocket, she's gasping at this point, chest heaving, perspiration coating her hands and legs.

An eruption of chaos fills the angry mob that hold flame torches, setting an orange-Red hue to the scene, symbolic of the disapproval flooding the minds of the commoners.

Women looked down upon Soojin, turning away from the scene, leaving low curses, a dialect Soojin was too familiar with.

Her lips moved only to have no voice leaving past her lips and her worried eyes meet her guard's, who stare back at the ground.

This was a battle Soojin would have to fight on her own.

<b>Until.</b>

Until a determined voice boomed from behind her.

"<b><i>Stop right there. Don't leave!</i></b>" The low pitched voice stands out, causing the mob to look back.

Soojin turns around to be met by the source.

<i>It's him, her knight in shining. </i>

"<b>Wait!</b>" His voice reverberates, silencing the scene.

"<i><b>You should be ashamed of yourselves. Ashamed to call yourselves The People of Baekmin. Do you know what Baekmin means?</b></i>"

He continues, staring past Soojin, overlooking the crowd.

"<b><i>It's a symbolism of chivalry, respect, pride and nobility. It gained origin only after overthrowing ungodly external forces that wanted to throttle the neck's of our ancestors. Late Crowned Head Min II stepped in, fought with his life to release us out of the clutches of our neighbours, who dismiss us as an easy target till today. He taught us to respect our motherland. You have a Consort, who's gained origin from this land, this very soil. How could you reduce her to nothing? How could you look down upon someone who's come from a family where she wields the sword while the man in her family lies incapacitated. She comes from a family of Martyrs. Her father laid down his life for Baekmin in the war that broke out 7 years ago. How could you disrespect a woman? A Women who'd rear the heir of this Kingdom, whether you like or dislike the King. Give her your strength, support her for she is one of us. Support her and maybe The Lords Above may forgive you, this once</i></b>."

"<b>B-But she's a coward</b>.." A man speaks, a cigar lit between his front teeth.

"<i><b>And so are you. She's a Commoner turned Royalty. She's been handed The Monarchy, overnight. What more do you expect of a Lady who's known nothing but disapproving looks from Men like you, who deem her inferior?</b></i>"

The crowd erupts in agreement, claps honing their hands and praises for the Man who'd stood up for the Queen Consort and shown his unwavering support for Baekmin.

Soojin's tear struck helpless eyes lock with his own and she passes him a small smile, causing him to nod his head and signal over to her hands, to wield the sword.

Soojin closes her eyes, a tear rolling down her left cheek as she inhales sharply, tightening her grasp over the Sword.

"<b>All Hail Queen Consort Min Soojin!</b>" The commoners chant, voices of women, standing out and blending as one.

<b><u>Somewhere the line between men and women had blurred and Soojin was to thank for that.</u></b>

Soojin plunges the metal into the ground with a force that splits the crop field, in a perfect incision, cheers filling her ears and she opens her eyes, gazing at the man who smiles at the crowd, watching children jump around Soojin, in celebration.

Until, he raises his gaze to hers and flashes the same warm eyes that rouses the depths of her heart, untouched.

<i>She was smitten with the man who bore the power of Manipulation.</i>

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