There were perhaps ten people in the room, all of us frozen and helpless. Finally, Eunuch Han stepped forward and in a calm voice said, “Perhaps the Prince would like his nightly bath,” while the Prince nodded and wiped the blade of his dagger on the dead man’s robe. He said, “I feel better now that he is dead. I feel an enormous sense of relief!” We tried not to show our horror.
One morning after the King imitated the Prince’s stuttering at a morning audience with the ministers, the Prince came home shouting for his horse. He played war all that afternoon with several dozen of his royal guard, drawing blood and bruising without seriously hurting anyone. He began drinking as soon as he went back indoors, sitting in his private chamber, alone with his mournful thoughts. By the time a eunuch appeared with his nightly snack of dukkboeki and red bean cakes, he was pacing the room and talking aloud. He had opened a chest of weapons he kept in his room, and was fingering the inlaid pearl on his favorite sword, testing the curved tip of the blade.
Without looking up, he told the eunuch he would count to ten and then he would chase him down like a boar in the woods. “Excuse me, Your Majesty?” said the eunuch, lifting his head in surprise.
“Run!” the Prince shouted.
But the poor eunuch remained standing there, unsure what to do, and was taken completely by surprise when the Prince threw his dagger at him, hitting him in the upper arm. The eunuch shouted and grabbed the offended limb, blood dampening his fingers. Without thinking any more about the matter, he turned and ran away. He fled to the courtyard, the Prince whooping behind him, shouting at his guards to step aside. He had a spear in his hand and chased the eunuch through hisgardens, finally catching him near the back wall. He took his time, running him back and forth like a rabbit, before he finally lunged toward the eunuch, screaming, his spear raised high. The Prince stabbed him in the abdomen. Then, looking completely crazed, he took out a knife and hacked at the eunuch’s neck until it was separated from his body. He stuck it on his spear and raised it high.
From this moment forward, none of us could be at peace. We were all besieged by fear, not knowing when we might be killed. None were safe—royal physicians, court ladies, eunuchs, palace workmen, translators, musicians, shamans—every day several bodies were carried out of the Prince’s palace. Eventually, even the King could no longer ignore the horrors taking place and had an audience with the Prince.
“Why are you killing people?” the King asked.
The Prince bowed his head and replied, “It gives me relief.”
“Relief! From what?”
“From shame, Your Majesty.”
“Why do you feel shame?”
“Because you do not love me, Your Majesty, and because I am a constant disappointment to you.” The Prince then confessed the exact number of people he had killed, and even provided details on how he had done so. We who were present expected the King to be fearfully angry and perhaps even strike the Prince with his own hands, but instead, he was quiet before saying, “I understand. I will try to act differently in the future, if you will.”
The Prince was very surprised and tears coursed down his face. “Thank you, Your Heavenly Grace. I will not act this way again.”
How wonderful and unexpected! I slept well that night for the first night in many months.
For a time after the Prince’s audience with the King, we were hopeful that the Prince would right himself. However, itwas too late. Whatever this sickness was, it had taken too tight a hold on the Prince’s mind. One morning, Sunbi was helping him dress, as he had killed the eunuch tasked with dressing him. His skin was red and hot to the touch. Born under an unlucky moon, Sunbi scratched him with her nail as she was helping his arm into his sleeve, and enraged, he began to beat her. He must have forgotten who she was, the mother of his two youngest children, and the only person he had ever felt at peace with. Though we could hear her scream terribly, we could do nothing to save her, so we wrung our hands and trembled, beating our chests in frustration and fear, praying it would not end with her death. When the Prince was exhausted and numb, he stumbled out in his bloodied clothing and, calling for his horse, went riding off to no one knows where.
We ran in to where Sunbi was lying on the ground, insensible, though her labored breathing let us know she was still alive. Her face was unrecognizable, soft and misshapen, her nose and cheekbones broken, her jaw out of alignment, her eyes like grapefruits, sealed shut with blood. We called the royal physicians and had her moved to Lady Hong’s residence, where we hoped she could stay hidden until she healed. But alas, her injuries were too severe and there was not much the royal physicians could do for her. By the evening of the same day, she passed.
Poor girl! How unfortunate she was to catch the eye of the Prince! She had loved him purely and sincerely; if only her love could have given the Prince what the King could not. I will never forget the sight of her poor children crying piteously before they were sent out of the palace for their protection. Lord Hong gave Sunbi’s family a great deal of money for funeral expenses so that they were able to swallow their resentment.
When the Prince returned to his residence and learned what had happened to Sunbi, he made no change in
