That night, the King does not return to his own chamber. For the whole night, Sungmin and Jongwoon stay in their own positions, kneeling down outside Gangnyeongjeon. They witness all the change of guards, all the servants running around doing their chores, all the light draining from the sky, then brightening up again. When the roads inside the Palace are again filled with concubines rushing to the morning meeting with the Queen, Sungmin hears Jongwoon's voice behind him, somewhat dryer than usual.

"Mama, we have to be at the Queen's palace in fifteen minutes to do the morning greeting."

Sungmin closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"No, I will stay here", he says decisively. He is determined to achieve what he had set out to do, and he will not give up halfway into it.

"But the Queen will punish you", Jongwoon's voice sounds concerned.

Sungmin lets out a long sigh. He utters two more words "I know" to Jongwoon, then suddenly looks towards the sky, where the songbirds have started to spread their wings freely and sing their morning songs.

"You are really lucky", Sungmin says silently to the birds, then scoffs at himself for his own idiocy.

The sun quickly rises above their heads, then quickly sets again. The second night, just like the first night, the King is nowhere to be seen. 

On their third day, Sungmin and Jongwoon are still in their kneeling positions outside Gangnyeongjeon when both of them can hear loud footsteps coming from the direction of the Queen's palace. To Sungmin's surprise, when he looks up to see the origins of the footsteps, he is met with a stern look from the Queen and about ten court ladies behind her. Next to the Queen, a few other concubines stand arrogantly as if they had just achieved something of great importance.

"Lee Soui, what are you doing here?", Sungmin hears the Queen ask indifferently, unlike her usually warm and caring tone.

"Wangbi mama", Sungmin bows his head while still kneeling on the ground, "I am kneeling here to ask His Highness to reopen Jun Kihong's case fifteen years ago. On my trip to Yangjae this time, I met a very suspicious man, who claimed that the events involving Jun Kihong fifteen years ago might not be as we all thought, so it is worth reopening an investigation into the case. This is for the sake of the Royal Court and the Royal Family ourselves..."

Sungmin could not finish his sentence when he feels a stinging pain on his cheek. The Queen, in front of all of her court ladies and the concubines, right outside the King's chamber, slaps him with all of her might and anger. For one moment, the air is filled with dead silence, as everyone present is stunned at her action. The Queen has always been known for her mild manner and kindness towards every concubine in the Palace. But at the moment, all Sungmin could see in her eyes was rage and hatred for him.

After a whole day and night of kneeling, Sungmin already feels his head spinning around like a pinwheel. With the Queen's slap, Sungmin slightly stumbles on the ground for a moment. Behind him, Jongwoon gently holds him so that he will not fall on the ground. But Sungmin quickly steadies himself and kneels down again, this time, as a penance towards the Queen.

"Wangbi mama, please forgive me. I..."

"Lee Sungmin! Haven't I always treated you well in the years that you have been here? And this is how you repay me? By trying to smear my father's name and ruin our family!?"

"Mama, you have always been kind to me ever since I entered the Palace. But this goes beyond you and me, this is about justice for a once honourable Minister and his entire family. This is about justice for the people of Joseon. We cannot just stand by and watch innocent people wrongly accused.". Sungmin says calmly, his head still in a respectful bow towards the Queen.

"Lee Sungmin!", this time, a concubine standing behind the Queen shouts out his name in rage, "Who are you to speak of justice for the people of Joseon? Who are you to speak of State Councillor Park as if he was convicted already? Remember, everything that you say is all an accusation! There is no proof yet, and even His Highness doesn't believe what you say and is not even paying attention to you! Who even knows what you did and where you went for the last two months? You suddenly came back to the Palace after two months and started throwing out accusations against everyone!? Park Bin and Jang Sugui were your first victims, now you want to drag down Wangbi mama and State Councillor Park!? I bet you are colluding with someone to destroy the Royal Family!". The concubine voices her rage as if she was the Queen herself. Her tone is confident. Her logic, even though flawed in every way, is well-received by the rest of the concubines standing next to her. She even managed to reverse the situation and put the blame on Sungmin instead of trying to prove State Councillor Park's innocence.

Just when Sungmin is about to respond to Hong Sugui, he hears a familiar voice speaking out from the back of the group. Out of all the people present here at the moment, this is probably the person whom he does not want to get involved in this the most. In a few seconds, Ryeowook rushes through the crowd towards Sungmin: "Hong Sugui! How can you speak to Lee Soui that way!? He is way above you in his rank!"

"So what?", Hong Sugui mocks Ryeowook, "A rank means nothing if you don't have the King and the Queen's favour. And look at him now. He looks no different than a criminal or a beggar!"

"Hong Sugui!", Ryeowook shouts in rage.

"And don't you forget that you are below me in rank, Kim Sowon!"

"You...", Ryeowook is at a loss for words.

"Ryeowook!", Sungmin suddenly calls him in his most serious tone, "Do not get involved in this!"

"But, hyung...", Ryeowook turns to him in shock. He is only trying to help after all.

Sungmin immediately pushes Ryeowook behind him and looks up at Hong Sugui: "Hong Sugui, Park Bin and Jang Sugui colluded with the Yangjae bandits to attack a member of the Royal Family. His Highness has led the investigation himself. There is an abundance of evidence against them, even the bandits have confessed. How am I framing them?"

This time, it is Hong Sugui who is at a loss for words.

But Sungmin's voice is again heard calmly and sternly throughout the road outside Gangnyeongjeon: "About me kneeling here, I am only asking His Highness to reopen the case against the Jun clan. I am not accusing State Councillor Park or anyone else yet. If they hadn't done anything wrong, they would not have had anything to worry about."

"Lee Sungmin, you are indeed a cunning bastard!", after a moment, the Queen could not help but cursing at him, "I should have believed Park Bin and Jang Sugui when they told me you were trouble!".

In her eyes, Sungmin could suddenly see a glint of sadness. She turns to her Head Eunuch and asks in a solemn tone: "Eunuch Han, what is the punishment for a concubine who misses a morning greeting with the Queen?"

The eunuch does not dare to look at the Queen. He could only stare at his own feet and utters words as he had memorised long ago: "Wangbi mama, not showing up to the morning greeting is considered disrespect towards the Queen, and the punishment for this is to have their rank lower by one rank and being grounded for one month."

"Did you hear, Lee Sungmin?", the Queen looks at him intensely, "but seeing that you have served His Highness so well these past few years, I will not lower your rank as a punishment. Instead, I will only give you 50 strikes."

Immediately, behind her, the concubines gasp in surprise. Everyone understands instantly that the latter punishment is not supposed to be a more lenient one. For a concubine, appearances and grace are their priority, so getting capital punishment is not only physically painful but also mentally shameful. That is not considering the scars that capital punishment will leave on their bodies. Even for a servant, 50 strikes is only given when someone commits a serious theft. Even if Sungmin is a man, the punishment will in no doubt still be painful and leave serious consequences. Plus, he will have to stay kneeling here for hours, even days to come. Sungmin starts to think that the mere intention of the punishment is to prevent him from staying here.

"Mama!", behind him, Sungmin hears Ryeowook cry out again, "please forgive Lee Soui. He did not mean to miss the morning greeting. Please, mama!"

"Didn't you listen to a word he just said?", the Queen calmly retorts, "he did plan to stay here and not come to the greeting."

"Jongwoon", after a moment of consideration, Sungmin could finally speak out, "help me to take Kim Sowon back to his residence.". He says calmly.

"What!?", Ryeowook protests, "I am not going back!"

"Jongwoon", Sungmin's voice is stern and commanding this time, to which Jongwoon knows not to oppose. He quickly grabs Ryeowook and heads for his residence. Ryeowook tries with his might to fight Jongwoon, but to no avail. Compared to a skilled martial artist like Jongwoon, Ryeowook's struggle is like throwing a straw against the wind.

When Ryeowook's cries and pleas can no longer be heard from their position, Sungmin turns to the Queen again and speaks again with his calmest voice: "Mama, please excuse Kim Sowon", he takes another bow, "It was my fault to not come to the morning greeting. I accept any punishment that you give."

The Queen looks slightly surprised, but quickly orders Eunuch Han to prepare the punishment.

"One,

Two,

Three"

The eunuch standing next to Sungmin starts to count every single strike. Each strike hits his flesh and bone like a washing rod against the dirtiest piece of laundry.

"Ten...

Eleven...

Twelve..."

When the eunuch hits twenty, Sungmin can suddenly taste a rusty liquid inside his mouth. When he looks again, he can see a few drops of blood start streaming out of his mouth. He had bitten on his tongue so hard that it started to bleed. But he refuses to let out a single cry and silently endures the rest of the punishment.

Observing the whole scene from right beside Sungmin, Eunuch Han is bewildered. In all of his years serving in the Palace, perhaps this is the first time that he has ever seen someone hit fifty times without even one cry. 

"Fifty"

Behind Sungmin, the eunuchs retrieved to stand behind the Queen just like nothing had happened. But the pain in his back is proof enough for the punishment that he had just received. His clothes have started to feel wet, probably from the blood coming out of the wounds. His face is soaked with sweat, dripping from his forehead all the way to his chin and neck, some dripping down on his own shirt and sleeves. But Sungmin remains in his kneeling position, refusing to back down and refusing to let out a whimper. Even though he has to use both his hands to keep himself in an upwards position, Sungmin still keeps his head bowed respectfully towards the Queen.

"Mama", after a long while of silence from everyone at the scene, Eunuch Han decides to speak up, "You said you need to visit the Crown Prince today."

As if pulled out of her own trance of thought, the Queen nods to Eunuch Han. She gives Sungmin a final glare before she turns around, leading the crowd of concubines, court ladies and eunuchs away from Gangnyeongjeon and towards the Royal Library where the Crown Prince is studying. Before they leave, Hong Sugui and a few other concubines do not forget to give him another stink eye. The court ladies and eunuchs, on the other hand, turn to give him weird looks that even he cannot explain. But he guessed some were out of pity, some were out of confusion, and others were just judging him. He has gotten used to getting weird looks in the Palace by now, so he only ignores them.

After the Queen, the concubines and the servants leave, Gangnyeongjeon goes back to its usual solemn look. Besides the sounds of the birds chirping and the guards changing shifts once in a while, hardly any other sound can be heard. But for Sungmin, he can clearly hear the sound of his wounds bleeding and the pain throbbing and stinging throughout his body. His breathing has also become heavier, and his head is still spinning like a pinwheel under the wind. Somehow, he can feel his body both burning up and freezing cold at the same time, as he continues to feel his sweat dripping down his face and his body shivering.

The sun quickly rises to the top of his head, then quickly sets again. In a blink of an eye, it has become night. Tonight, the air suddenly feels much colder, and the sky much darker, as if no moonlight can ever shine through the dark clouds and the cold in the Palace. Sungmin maintained his position, and kneeled solemnly on the ground with his head bowed, sweating and shivering at the same time. 

Then, suddenly, in that dark and cold night, he feels a drop of rain on his shoulder. But when he looks up to see the sky, he realizes it is not the rain that has touched him. It was a little snowflake in the first snow of the season. Winter has come to the Royal Palace, and he suddenly remembers a promise from the King three years ago. A promise to show Sungmin the most beautiful spot in the Palace in the snowy season¹. A promise made three years ago, but would never come true.

Then, as if all the wind and the snow had suddenly stopped for some reason, Sungmin could no longer feel the cold and wet snow surrounding him. To his surprise, he turns around to find Jaesung standing behind him, hand holding an umbrella over his head. He does not know when and how Jaesung had gotten behind him without him noticing, but he suddenly feels so much warmer on the dark winter night. Jaesung kneels down behind him, hand still holding the umbrella steady. 

Sungmin gives him a gentle smile and remains in his position. Seeing Jaesung's quiet but steady figure, Sungmin is suddenly reminded of another quiet and steady figure. That person had sent Jaesung along with Himchan, Hoseok and Hyunwoo to the Palace to protect him. He suddenly has the urge to know what that person is doing at that moment, hundreds of miles away from him.

Sungmin slightly reaches out to touch an innocent and purely white snowflake falling from the sky. Then, just like a little fragile and innocent snowflake, he starts to fall on the ground, his legs and arms finally giving out to the pain, the cold and the fatigue that he has endured for the last three days. His vision started to get blurry, as he could see nothing other than pitch black in front of him. 

A few rushing footsteps suddenly break the dead silence of the cold and dark winter night. In Sungmin's mind, a dark and tall figure immediately appears, and with it comes a scent of chestnut wine. Even though he could not see who it was, he utters a name off the top of his head. Like a fish caught in a net. Like a person facing the worst snowstorm of their life. They would all think about the person they hold dearest.

"Kyuhyun."

**********

1. See again Chapter 14: The Hunting Grounds.