Yeonghwa Hall, Consort Deok's residence, stood at the easternmost end of the Inner Palace.
It was the place farthest from Kunning Palace, the Empress's residence. When Consort Deok first received the residence, she had considered it an insult. But things were different now. Being far away meant fewer eyes, and fewer eyes meant it was easier to hide a child.
"Your Highness, your medicine."
The wet nurse entered carrying a medicine bowl. The fourth prince, Hyeon, was coughing beneath the covers. Three years old. Smaller than the other children his age, and paler, too. Consort Deok placed a hand on the child's forehead. He had a slight fever.
"I changed your medicine, so you'll get better this time."
She was speaking to the child, but she was also speaking to herself.
Hyeon drank the medicine and grimaced. Consort Deok scooped up some honey water and put it to the child's lips. He clutched the hem of her clothing. Such a small hand. Every time she looked at it, one side of Consort Deok's heart crumbled.
The child had been weak since birth.
In her fourth month of pregnancy, something had gone wrong with her body. She vomited whenever she ate and broke into a cold sweat every night. The imperial physician had only said that the fetus was weak. Consort Deok hadn't believed him. It wasn't that the fetus was weak. Someone had made it weak.
There was no proof. There had only been one palace maid newly assigned to Consort Deok's residence around that time. She was a palace maid sent by the Empress. By the time Consort Deok grew suspicious, that palace maid had already been sent outside the palace.
Was it the Empress, or the Noble Consort?
Consort Deok suspected them both. But she suspected the Empress more. The Empress had no children. To an Empress without children, the existence of the only prince was a threat. If Hyeon grew up healthy and became Crown Prince, the Empress would be a woman who was not the Crown Prince's mother.
That was the logic of this palace, as Consort Deok understood it.
"Your Ladyship, the Noble Consort has sent fruit."
Ok-yeon, Consort Deok's maid attendant, entered carrying a tray. Red jujubes and longan flesh had been arranged neatly upon it. Fruit sent from the Noble Consort's residence was always prepared with such care.
Consort Deok looked down at the fruit.
"Take it away."
"Your Ladyship?"
"I won't eat it."
Ok-yeon hesitated. Consort Deok turned her head to look at the child. Hyeon was asleep. His thin breaths escaped over the blankets.
"Ok-yeon."
"Yes, Your Ladyship."
"From now on, check everything the Noble Consort sends before anyone else does. Whether it's fruit, medicinal ingredients, or fabric."
Ok-yeon lowered her head. Consort Deok's eyes turned cold.
The Noble Consort was always smiling. During morning courtesy visits, at banquets, even when they crossed paths in the corridors. To Consort Deok, that smile was more frightening than a blade. The Noble Consort's son had died. The first prince. They said he had died of a febrile illness at the age of five, but no child in this palace died of a febrile illness.
After the Noble Consort's son died, the children of the other imperial consorts began dying, too. The second prince, the third prince. Three princesses. Not one of them lived past the age of seven.
No one in this palace believed it was a coincidence.
Consort Deok tucked the blankets around the sleeping child. Her hands trembled.
"Hyeon, you have to live for Mother to live, too."
The words never became sound. They vanished on her lips.
Afternoon, at the Imperial Medical Office.
Ok-yeon, Consort Deok's maid attendant, was pacing outside the Imperial Medical Office. An imperial physician came out.
"Have you come to confirm the prescription?"
"Yes. Her Ladyship Consort Deok wishes to inspect the medicinal ingredients in the new prescription herself."
The imperial physician nodded and handed her a list of the ingredients. As Ok-yeon skimmed the list, another maid attendant emerged from inside the office. It was Chae-ran, a maid attendant from the Noble Consort's residence.
Their eyes met.
Chae-ran smiled first.
"Ok-yeon, it's been a while. Are you running an errand for Consort Deok?"
"I am. What about you?"
"The Noble Consort is having a tonic prepared for the princess."
Chae-ran gave a light laugh and walked past. Ok-yeon watched her retreating figure. The bundle of medicinal ingredients in Chae-ran's hand lingered in her mind.
Ok-yeon tucked the list of ingredients into her robes and returned to Yeonghwa Hall.
Evening, at the Palace Laundry.
Sohwa stayed behind to do laundry until the very end, as she did every day. After the sun went down, she rinsed silk by the light of a single lantern. Among the laundry brought in that day was some from Yeonghwa Hall—the residence of Consort Deok. It was a child's clothes. They looked even smaller than yesterday.
The collar of the child's clothes smelled of medicine. A bitter smell. Sohwa washed them carefully. The child must have spilled medicine while wearing them.
"Poor thing."
Sohwa spoke to herself. She didn't know who she meant. The child, or the child's mother.
When she finished all the laundry, she went outside. The moon was out again tonight. The lights from the halls around the Inner Palace shone in the same places as the night before.
Sohwa didn't look at those lights. She lowered her head and headed for the Palace Maid Quarters.
Sohwa didn't know what was happening beneath those lights. She didn't want to know, either.
All she had to do was her laundry well again tomorrow.