After Gojong left, I stormed back to my quarters and sat at my desk under the two-headed dragon. I was furious with the ministers and with my husband. We had come so far, but now the Japanese were making their move. And we were vulnerable. We hadn’t completed modernizing our military as the Japanese had done. The military’s old guard complained about having foreigners train them and had threatened mutiny. I no longer had the clan leaders’ support, especially the powerful Ik-hyun Ch’oe.
As I thought of all the problems I faced, my anger turned to despair. I stood and faced the two-headed dragon. I looked into its eyes. “Have I taken the right path?” I asked it. “Am I doing what I should do?” It had been a long time since the dragon had spoken to me, and I desperately needed it to speak to me now. It stared back and said nothing.
A while later, Kyung-jik came to my door. “Majesty,” he said, “I have the most disturbing news about Minister Kim. He is dead, Majesty.” He looked at his feet.
“Your uncle is dead?” I said. “I am sorry, Kyung-jik. How did he die? He has not been sick.”
My guard’s jaw stiffened. “His wife believes that he was poisoned. Their old cook left them two weeks ago for reasons they do not know. They had a new cook who disappeared late last night when the minister fell ill.”
“I see,” I said.
“That is not all, Majesty,” Kyung-jik said. He raised his eyes to me. “The new cook was Japanese.”
I sat at my desk, and for the first time since I had become queen, I was afraid. Though I had always been careful, I had never really feared for my life. But the Japanese were closing in. They had gunboats less than fifty miles away from Gyeongbok Palace, and it was clear that they were willing to use them. They probably wanted to kill the king and me to move us out of the way. But if we tried to save our heads by agreeing to their demands, they would strip us of our power and force us to be figureheads over a country that they controlled. It would be awful to have to sit obediently on the throne while the Japanese stripped away everything that was Korea. It would be better to fight, even if it would cost us our heads.
“Kyung-jik,” I said, “double the guard around the palace, day and night. Make sure you trust the men you have on watch.”
“Yes, Majesty,” he replied.
“Then go at once to Changdeok Palace and arrest Mister Euno. Bring him to the throne room. Be careful with him. He is skilled in the martial arts. You will need several strong men to subdue him.”
“What shall I say are the charges, Majesty?”
“Disloyalty to the throne,” I said. “Go now. Be quick and be sharp. There is danger in every shadow.”
My sergeant of the guard bowed and hurried out the door.
I called Han-sook and had her fetch my grandest ceremonial robe. Though it was a hot summer day, I had my maids put on an extra layer of petticoats to fill me out. As two maids fanned me to keep me cool, two more maids put my hair high and pinned it with my largest gold binyeo. When they started on my face, I said, “Make me look especially royal today.” They applied heavy lines on my brows and extra powder to my skin. They painted my lips red. They helped me into my robe. The heavy robe was several layers of gold and red silk with the queen’s pheasant pattern on the chima and a dragon on the chest. When they were finished, Han-sook held a mirror in front of me. In the reflection, I saw a dragon queen.
I took my ivory fan and tucked it inside a fold of my robe. And then I went to the throne room to wait for Kyung-jik to bring Mister Euno to me.
The sun had crossed halfway around the sky when the procession of guards and Mister Euno passed under the Gwanghwamun Gate and marched through the central courtyard toward the throne room. I sat on the throne as the procession entered with Kyung-jik in the lead. When they got close, I saw that my guard’s lip was swollen and he tried to disguise a limp. Behind him, a foot shorter than Kyung-jik, Mister Euno walked in his Western coat and top hat. They had bound his hands behind his back and tied a rope around his neck that the largest guard held with two hands. They stopped at the foot of the dais.
“Kyung-jik,” I said, “have one of your guards gather the ministers and bring them here. They need to learn what courage is.”
“Shall I fetch the king, Majesty?” Kyung-jik asked. It was an appropriate question. As queen, I should not meet with the ministers without the king. But I knew the king would not approve of what I was about to do. So I answered, “No.”
My sergeant of the guard waved one of his men to fetch the ministers. I looked down on Mister Euno who stared straight ahead. I fanned myself as we waited in silence for the ministers to arrive. I started to hear the spirits calling me. It was the first time in years that I had heard them. Their voices were far away, and I couldn’t hear what they said. I prayed that they would approve of what I was about to do.
After a while, the ministers entered the throne room single file, flanked by the guard who had fetched them. “You are permitted to stand there,” I said, pointing with my fan to the dais’s left side. “Watch and learn what we must do if we are to keep our country.” The ministers went to where I pointed and quietly stood with their eyes low.
I turned my attention to Mister Euno. “Kyung-jik,” I said, “have the prisoner kneel. He made me the queen, now he should show respect for his creation.”
Kyung-jik pushed the Japanese man to the floor, more roughly than necessary. Mister Euno kneeled on the stone floor and kept his eyes level.
“Mister Euno,” I said, “you once told me that you are a Kokugaku scholar—one who believes in the Japanese way. I have since studied the Kokugaku. I have read all of the books and learned their teachings. They not only believe in the Japanese way, they also believe that Japan is destined to rule all of Asia.”
I opened my fan and started fanning myself with it. “Tell me, Mister Euno, is that what you believe, too?”
Mister Euno didn’t raise his eyes as he said, “Majesty, I am here to serve you and the king.”
The spirits’ voices were louder now. It was a cacophony of words and cries. I could not make out what they were saying, but I could hear that they were angry. I lifted my robe, went down the dais steps, and stood in front of Mister Euno. Kneeling on the stone floor, his top hat nearly reached my chin. I thumped the top of his hat with my fan. “You say you serve me and the king. But how can you serve us if you believe we should be ruled by Japan?”
“It is true, Majesty, I also serve Emperor Meiji, but only to help you on his behalf.”
“Help us on his behalf,” I parroted. “Why then, Mister Euno, does your Emperor Meiji have gunboats off of Ganghwa Island, not more than a two-hour sail from the palace gates? Why does he insist that we agree to a treaty that subverts us?”
Mister Euno lifted his eyes to me. “He brings the treaty so he does not have to go to war with you.”
I returned his stare as I fanned myself again. The spirits cried out, and I could start to make out their words. “One Korea,” they said. “One Korea!”
I said, “Yes, you are a true Kokugaku scholar, Mister Euno. Just like Emperor Meiji and his rebels.”
I closed my fan and tucked it inside my robe. “Your emperor wants an answer about this treaty. Well, I will give him one.”
I turned to the ministers who were watching me without moving. I said to them, “And now, ministers, you will see what a queen must do for her country.”
The spirits in my head were shouting now. “One Korea! One Korea!” I held out my hand to Kyung-jik. “Give me your sword,” I said. Kyung-jik hesitated only a moment, then took his sword from inside his uniform and gave it to me.
“Hold him fast,” I said. Kyung-jik motioned to the large guard with the rope around Mister Euno’s neck. The guard cinched the rope tight as Kyung-jik held Mister Euno’s shoulders down.
I stood in front of the Japanese man with the sword in my hand. I had never held a sword before. In my hand, Kyung-jik’s sword was heavy but balanced. The steel gleamed and I could see the edg
e was sharp. The weapon’s life-taking power was intoxicating, and it made me feel like I was someone different, almost like a god. With the sword’s tip, I pushed off Mister Euno’s top hat exposing his topknot. Mister Euno didn’t move as I grabbed his topknot with my free hand and held it tight. I placed the sword’s sharp edge on his neck. The spirits were screaming now, “One Korea! One Korea!” I slowly raised the blade and held it high over the Japanese man. And then I heard a voice say, “Kill him!” I swung the blade toward his neck. At the last second, I lifted the sword and sliced off Mister Euno’s topknot. And then the spirit voices went silent.
I took a step back with Mister Euno’s topknot in one hand and the sword in the other. Without his topknot, Mister Euno’s hair fell around his head in short black strings. He kept his eyes forward, but there was fear in his face. He breathed fast.
“A Kokugaku scholar wears a topknot to show his devotion to his beliefs,” I said, pointing the sword at him. “Well, you no longer have a topknot. It is mine now and I will keep it as a reminder of the Japanese way.”
I handed the sword back to Kyung-jik. With Mister Euno’s topknot in my hand, I marched back up the dais steps. I turned and stood high above Mister Euno and the ministers. I thrust the topknot toward Mister Euno. “As for the answer to the treaty, I will use you to send it. My guard and his men will take you to Ganghwa Island at once. There, they will beat you until you are near death. Then they will give you to the captain of the Japanese gunboat. That is my answer to Emperor Meiji regarding this unequal treaty. And if you are ever tempted to come back, remember Kokugaku scholar, how today I showed you the Korean way.” I nodded at Kyung-jik, and he and the guards led Mister Euno out of the throne room.
I turned to the ministers who stood motionless with their eyes wide. “And that, ministers, is what we must do to save our country from the Japanese,” I said.
The minister of trade lifted frightened eyes to me. “They will kill you, Majesty.”
I glared at him. “Pray that they do not, minister,” I said. “Because if they do, they will kill our country, too.”
King Gojong went to Changdeok Palace that night instead of the next morning as he had said he would. Before he left, he did not talk to me about what I had done with Mister Euno, but I knew how he felt. Though he, like most everyone, disliked the Japanese, he feared them and was angry with me for acting on my own and putting us in grave danger. I had made a move that forced Japan’s hand. Everyone—the king, the Taewŏn-gun, the ministers, the clan leaders—would now have to choose if we would be an independent country or if we would let the Japanese take us over. I wasn’t sure what the answer would be. Like a child, my husband had chosen the protection of his father. The ministers had always been afraid of the Taewŏn-gun, and now I had made them afraid of me. They would now have to choose sides. Some would choose the Taewŏn-gun. I prayed that a few would come to my side.
But by acting on my own with Mister Euno, I had committed an offense to the king. I had also made clear my hatred of the Japanese. It gave the Taewŏn-gun and the Japanese an opening, a reason to remove me from the throne. Perhaps what I had done would save Korea. Perhaps it was a mistake. Or maybe, the spirits had driven me mad as they had done to my mother.
TWENTY-THREE
Several days later, I walked with Sun-jong and Han-sook through the palace grounds. My son, dressed in his little white robe, skipped along the stone paths and climbed on the statues and parapets. It was a hot summer day with menacing clouds rising over Mount Bukhansan beyond the north palace walls. The palace was quiet, as it had been since my ordeal with Mister Euno. All around us, the guards stood watch with eagle eyes—two now where only one used to be. The palace staff attended to their duties with their heads low and talked in whispers as they passed by each other. Gyeongbok smoldered in the summer heat.
Outside the palace walls, the smoldering had burst into fire. The Taewŏn-gun had made his move, and I had to admit, it was brilliant. He and his operatives had convinced the public that my actions over the years had made Korea vulnerable to the Japanese. He incited the residents of Seoul to revolt against me and encouraged rioting in the streets. He brought the old-guard military to his side, promising them that he would return the military to the way it was before. As the Taewŏn-gun stayed safe in Changdeok Palace, the rioters captured two palace ministers and lynched them, dragging their corpses through the streets. And they were hunting for others. I worried for the people who had supported me over the years. I worried about my uncle and aunt, who had moved back to the House of Gamgodang.
The Taewŏn-gun had also turned the people against the Japanese, telling them that the dwarf barbarians wanted to take over Korea. With the Japanese under fire, I couldn’t appeal to the Chinese for help. Empress Cixi was most likely amused by the reports she got—the Koreans revolting against her Japanese foes. If I asked her to intervene, she would refuse and let the fighting continue.
As for the Japanese, the Taewŏn-gun’s maneuver had paralyzed them. With thousands of Koreans looking for Japanese to kill, they had to keep their gunboats at Ganghwa Island and suspend their demands for an unequal treaty until the rioting subsided.
And my father-in-law now had the king on his side. Gojong had come far, but he would always need someone strong like me or his father. This time, he had chosen his father. Certainly, it was safer for him at Changdeok under the Taewŏn-gun’s protection than with me at Gyeongbok. The former regent controlled the rioters and the old-guard military. He had been a Japanese ally. But by fleeing to the protection of his father, the king had practically abdicated his throne to him.
I was terribly disappointed in my husband, and, truthfully, I was disappointed in myself, too. I wasn’t able to bring my husband to my side. Since we had started to work together without the Taewŏn-gun, and especially since the birth of our son, we had grown closer. It still wasn’t the love that I had seen in my parents when I was young, but it was more than we’d had before. The king wanted another son, and we’d spent many nights together in his bedchamber. I often stayed the entire night. Then in the morning, we would talk about Sun-jong, how he was growing so fast and what kind of king he would be someday. Gojong loved Sun-jong and, I think, he was grateful to me for giving him such a wonderful child. He was also grateful that I helped him rule the country without his father. I had helped him become a man. But was he a king? My move with Mister Euno had forced the question on him, and he had answered that he did not have the heart for it.
When Sun-jong, Han-sook, and I came to the lake surrounding Hyangwonjeong island pavilion, my son took off his blue slippers and splashed his feet in the water. He peered in the lake for koi. My heart went out to him. He was innocent of everything happening around him. He didn’t care about the Japanese or the soldiers or the rioters only a few miles away. He only cared about catching a fish.
As I watched Sun-jong play, I summoned the courage to do what I must do. I motioned my lady’s maid next to me. “Han-sook,” I said, “you have been a loyal lady’s maid. But now I must ask you to do more. Take care of the prince. See that he is safe and that he knows his mother loves him. It is your most important duty now.”
Han-sook nodded. “Yes, Majesty.”
“Take him away today, and do not bring him out of hiding until you are sure it is safe.” I turned to my lady’s maid. “I am trusting you with my son’s life,” I said.
“I understand, Majesty,” Han-sook said with a nod. “I will not let you down.”
I knew she wouldn’t. I had come to love her as I would have loved a sister. I often wished I could open up to her, share my desires and fears with her, talk to her as I imagined one would talk to a sister. But I was the queen and she was my servant, and neither she—nor anyone—would ever be a friend like that to me. It was the price I had to pay to wear the crown.
I turned to my son. “Sun-jong, come here.”
Sun-jong kicked the water and didn’t come. “Son!” I said. “Come and listen to wh
at I have to say. It is important that you do.”
“No!” he said. “I want to catch a fish.”
I went to him and crouched to his level, soaking the hem of my robe. I took him by the shoulders. He looked down and pouted. “Listen to me,” I said. “Today you will leave the palace with Han-sook. When you are away, you must do as she says.”
“I don’t want to go away,” he said, splashing water at my robe with his foot.
I nodded. “I know, but you must. You must do this if you are going to be king someday.”
My son grinned and said, “Then I can tell everyone what to do!” He pulled away from me and pointed to a tree. “You, squirrel, come down from that tree!” He pointed at the lake. “Fish, come here so I can catch you!”
I smiled. “Yes, like that, my son. But if you are to be king, you must go with Han-sook.”
Sun-jong frowned and nodded. “Yes, Ummah,” he said.
I stood and said to Han-sook, “Go now.” As Han-sook took my child by the hand and led him away, my heart broke. I thought I might never see my little prince again. The Japanese, the rioters, and the Taewŏn-gun would be at the palace soon, and they were coming for me. I prayed that my son would escape, and they would not come for him, too.
As I strolled through the palace courtyard alone with my thoughts, the dark clouds over Mount Bukhansan slid over the palace threatening a summer storm. I was the only person of authority left in the palace. The ministers were running from the mobs that were trying to kill them. Over the past few days, the administrators had quietly left, too. Their staffs soon followed. Other than servants and guards, everyone had abandoned the palace.
Suddenly there was an explosion from deep inside the city. I turned to look. Far beyond the palace walls, a house had caught fire. The flames created an orange dome against the low clouds. Orange embers like glowing bees danced high above the fire. Far away, people shouted. As the flames subsided, the shouting grew louder. It sounded angry and mean. I saw the glow of torches. The rioters were slowly moving toward the palace.
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