The Plan (1)

Hyun Sik had to take a visit sooner than expected. Although the meeting was ongoing, he left the generals' assembly after hearing the emergency report from Bin Tae.

The soldier was outside the hall of the council when he received the message from a eunuch. And immediately, Bin Tae conveyed the information to Hyun Sik without the worry to bother the gathering.

He barged into his sister's court, not giving an ounce of care to the generals at the assembly. What could he gain in a small meeting? They were not talking about a crucial matter anyway.

"Hyeon Ju!" was his shout soon as he stepped into her courtyard. Storming his way through her chambers, stomping the door on one side, Hyun Sik was welcomed by the three individuals thronging inside the room.

As his eyes immediately searched for his sister, the inside corners of his brows slanted upward as he looked at her state. He saw her shivering on the bed and sweating under her blanket. Alongside her was the physician, holding her wrist and removing the gauze covering it.

"What happened?" Hyun Sik averted his look to the court lady. His question appeared somewhat apprehensive, on the edge to know why her sister ended up in such a state.

"Her Highness fainted after suffering a relapse."

"Aren't you supposed to watch over her? Apprehend her deteriorating health? Why didn't you tell her to take a break and rest?" he denounced.

Hyun Sik stared intently to the middle-aged court lady. If she hadn't been neglecting, if she had perceived that it could fall to this, then this would have never happened.

"... She didn't relapse," the old physician intruded, dropping the used thin woven cloth on the tray placed at the table beside the bed, exposing the visible dark veins of the patient's wrist. "It's because of the poison."

When the physician proceeded to the covering on her neck, it showed the similar black veins. Hyun Sik's facial muscles tensed when he saw this; his jaw clenched from anger. He could not do anything but watch the old man dress his sister's wounds in a new gauze.

"Speaking of poison, didn't you say you've acquired where it came from, Hyun Sik?" He heard Daewon asked, which made him turn his attention.

"It's from Iseul."

If only it weren't for the maidservant he had rescued at the basement of the grand concubine's courtyard, he would not have known the origin of the poison. Wicked, the condition of the woman was pitiful. She was dressed in ragged clothing, barely had one on her top, and her body was covered with nasty, rough welts and whip marks.

"Then, if it's from Iseul, there is no need to fret." The old physician grabbed the scissors and continued to cut the woven cloth to finish bandaging the wounds. "The poison will dissolve by itself within a month. Till then, her body only needs to recover from the damage while taking the medicine."

"How long?" Hyun Sik recited the question: "How long before the poison completely disappeared from her body?"

"I believe she'll recover in a month or two. Perhaps longer than that, if she would be too carefree."

"Can't it be shorter than that?" He seemed agitated when he queried. Hyun Sik could not help it. In five days, they had to leave not only the palace but the Hwangmok Kingdom. That meant, while the people of the palace were in turmoil after the assassination, he and Hyeon Ju had to step out of the land before someone investigated the killing.

But the answer he received from the physician was a mere head-shake.

It would be a risk to continue if she was this unwell. Yet Hyun Sik knew he was also unable to back out from the plan, which he had been scheming for years. He even gained the support of the Empire for this.

When the physician excused himself along with the court lady who informed him that she would put away the used gauzes, Daewon brought himself to ask Hyun Sik a question. "What's your plan?"

Even though his voice seemed toneless to anyone's hearings, Daewon's intention was the opposite. Hyun Sik sensed that the nephew of the general was testing him. If he would still continue with his plan or not.

A sinister thought came into his mind as the idea of telling the young man that Hyun Sik would do what the physician told him, pause the assassination, and let his sister rest for a month.

Since these two foreigners were working under the emperor, what could have happened to him if he would inform them of this? Would the emperor silence him just as he silenced the men who had worked for him at the conquered Iseul? To avoid any information to leak?

"We're going to continue," Hyun Sik mouthed, "Actually, we're going to deal with the beast tonight. I'm done waiting for the evening before the coronation. I want him not to be able to see the sunrise tomorrow."