Chapter 9:
The Royal Kitchen (2)
“So, I just taste each one and choose the one I like? That sounds amusing.”
Yeonsangun strolled toward the ten bronze dishes lined up on one side of the suragan.
Each dish held a freshly prepared eoseon (royal meal).
“All of these were made by the girls brought in this time, I presume?”
“Indeed, Your Majesty. I made sure they were prepared with special care, knowing you’d enjoy them,” Nok-su purred, sidling up to Yeonsangun with a coy giggle.
Her demeanor was so flirtatious that it was hard to imagine the cruel expression she’d worn moments ago.
Yeonsangun reached for the first dish, picking up a piece of food and popping it whole into his mouth.
His actions lacked the dignity of a king, instead resembling the eager curiosity of a boy devouring snacks.
“Hmm, a delicacy, indeed.”
The all-powerful ruler savored the dishes on the trays one by one, smacking his lips.
“Oh, this one’s tasty too.”
“And this one’s quite good…”
With the king sampling each dish before them, the women gathered in the suragan trembled like aspen leaves, unable to even lift their heads.
The only one unshaken was Ji-yeong.
For her, curiosity outweighed fear.
The man standing before me… the worst tyrant in Joseon history, and its greatest gourmet, Yeonsangun.
She didn’t dare stare openly, instead stealing glances by subtly shifting her eyes.
The silhouette of the man in the crimson gonryongpo.
Though his features weren’t fully visible, his pale skin and tall stature stood out starkly.
At that moment—
“Ohhh! This… this is an entirely new taste!”
Yeonsangun suddenly exclaimed, lifting one of the bronze dishes.
On it was the dish Ji-yeong had just completed.
Fried chicken, coated in a sticky rice flour batter and crisply fried, served with a side of mayonnaise.
[Sticky Rice Fried Chicken with Mayonnaise Sauce]
In typical Joseon-era cooking, oil was used sparingly, at most for pan-frying items like pancakes. While there was a dish called pogye (roasted chicken), it was merely pan-fried in an oiled skillet.
Even a king would never have tasted food submerged and fried in a pot of hot oil—a deep-fry technique.
This wasn’t just any fried dish, either. It was fried chicken, coated in a sticky rice flour batter and crisply fried in rapeseed oil.
For someone in this era to encounter fried chicken—a dish modern people go wild for—and feel nothing would be stranger.
As Yeonsangun bit into the crispy chicken leg, a sharp crunch echoed thrillingly through the suragan.
“Ungh… this texture… this flavor… this savoriness…”
Yeonsangun let out a moan-like sound, as if enraptured.
“Oh, Your Majesty~ Try the other dishes slowly too,” Nok-su interjected, tugging at his sleeve to divert his attention.
She wasn’t oblivious to who had made that dish.
But the king was still lost in the flavor of Ji-yeong’s chicken, unable to pull himself away.
“This… its very foundation is a completely new taste. Isn’t this a delicacy of the realm?”
The crisp fried chicken, paired with the rich, savory mayonnaise, was nothing short of a cultural shock for Yeonsangun, accustomed to the refined, understated flavors of palace cuisine.
Catching the moment, Im Sung-jae’s face lit up with a triumphant smile.
“Your Majesty’s discerning eye truly sees through to the gem in the mud. To think you’d recognize the dish I deliberately brought for you at once.”
“So, you’re saying you were testing me?” the king countered.
Sung-jae, still smiling broadly, deftly deflected.
“How could I call it a test when I knew this would be the outcome? Please see it as my loyal effort to bring Your Majesty a small joy.”
“As expected of the great Im Sung-jae. No one knows true pleasure as well as you.”
“I am humbled, Your Majesty. Then, may we decide that the maid for today’s suragan will be the one who made this dish?”
“That is only fitting.”
Yeonsangun took another crunchy bite of the chicken leg, his face radiating satisfaction.
It was the expression he wore when he was in the best of moods.
Nok-su, who served him most closely, knew that look well. Even for her, seeing it was rare.
The realization sent a deep, twisting pang through her.
“Where is she, the one who prepared this extraordinary dish? I wish to see her.”
Yeonsangun slowly approached the group of women bowing low in a corner of the suragan.
“Who is it? The one who made this dish?”
As Ji-yeong hesitated, about to respond—
“Oh, Your Majesty~”
Nok-su suddenly grabbed Yeonsangun’s arm, pulling him back.
Having watched the scene unfold, she was far from calm.
Im Sung-jae, and this mysterious woman he brought, were not only disrupting her carefully laid plans but also swaying the king’s heart.
I can’t let this go on.
The king’s attention mustn’t linger on this new amusement.
“You’ve stayed too long in this lowly place. It’s not fitting for a king. Shall we return to your chambers now?”
“No, it’s quite entertaining. Why rush?”
“Oh, Your Majesty… you must maintain propriety.”
As Nok-su cooed and flirted, Sung-jae quietly added, “As Lady Sukyong says, Your Majesty. Instead, I’ll ensure tonight’s royal table is prepared solely with dishes made by the girl I brought. We must hurry to meet the timing, so please proceed to your chambers and anticipate a feast of the realm’s finest.”
“Oh, that’s a fine idea. As expected, you know my heart better than anyone.”
“I am humbled.”
“Come quickly, Your Majesty~”
As Nok-su led Yeonsangun out of the suragan, she shot Sung-jae a piercing glare.
The threat in her eyes was unmistakable.
But it didn’t sting as it once had.
For the first time, those usually icy, meticulous eyes betrayed a hint of anxiety.
Proof I’ve found a way to sway His Majesty’s heart.
Once the king was out of sight, Sung-jae approached the group of bowing women, heading straight for Ji-young.
Her wavy brown hair made her easy to spot.
He roughly grabbed her arm, pulling her into a secluded storage room inside the inner kitchen, away from prying eyes.
After ensuring no one was watching, Sung-jae gripped her chin, tilting her face up.
“Well, well, this is surprising. I had my doubts, but…”
His narrow eyes gleamed eerily.
“…it seems I’ve truly stumbled upon a treasure.”
Ji-yeong, feeling a wave of discomfort, jerked her head away, shaking off his hand.
Back at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office, she hadn’t caught his name amid the chaos. But now, she was certain.
Thanks to her father’s love of history books, the name Im Sung-jae wasn’t unfamiliar. Though she didn’t know the details, she knew he was a notorious villain, a treacherous minister who rounded up women to offer to Yeonsangun.
And wasn’t she herself one of those women, dragged here against her will?
“Your name… it’s Ji-yeong, right?”
“…”
“If I hadn’t brought His Majesty here, you’d have been killed by Lady Sukyong. You realize that, don’t you?”
“…”
Ji-yeong wasn’t oblivious. The chilling look in Jang Nok-su’s eyes when they met hers had told her instinctively: this absurd selection was a pretext to kill the women gathered here, including herself.
“You narrowly escaped today, but Lady Sukyong will surely continue to target your life.”
“…”
“Don’t you think you need an ally in this palace?”
“…So what are you getting at? Stop beating around the bush and speak plainly.”
Sung-jae froze for a moment, stunned by her sharp retort.
A newly arrived palace maid daring to speak so boldly to a third-rank official?
But perhaps such boldness was fitting.
For someone to be placed at the king’s side.
“Why the fierce glare? I’m merely saying that since I’m responsible for bringing you into the palace, I have a duty to protect you. So, you’d do well to follow my instructions from now on.”
“What nonsense. When did I ever ask you to bring me here?”
“What?”
“I didn’t come here because I wanted to. Why should I follow your orders?”
“You speak amusingly. But the palace is a place where you neither enter because you wish to nor leave because you want to.”
“…”
“Not just you, not just me—perhaps even His Majesty is no different.”
With an eerie glint in his eyes, Sung-jae pulled a slender brush from his robe and began scribbling rapidly on a palm-sized piece of paper.
As the brush moved, sharp, elegant characters filled the page.
“These are the dishes His Majesty favors. I’ve written down what I know, so study them thoroughly and prepare accordingly. I’ll ensure you can use the suragan freely, so don’t worry about restrictions.”
“…Why are you going this far?”
“What?”
“You’ve already done your job by dragging women to offer to the king. Why keep meddling?”
Ji-yeong clearly didn’t trust Sung-jae.
And why would she? She’d been kidnapped, essentially.
Sung-jae, as if resigned, began to reveal more of his intentions.
“…You saw Lady Sukyong, didn’t you? I’m the one who brought that former courtesan into the palace. Looking back, it was like letting a tiger cub loose.”
“You brought Jang Nok-su…?”
“Governor Hong of Gyeonggi earned her enmity by opposing her. That’s why, as the chae-hong envoy, I went to his residence under the pretext of a guest reception to take his granddaughter.”
Governor Hong—Hong Eon-guk’s father, the one who first found Ji-yeong in this era and had her taken to the provincial office.
The Im father and son had visited, and as a result, Ji-yeong had been selected instead of the governor’s granddaughter, landing her here.
And that was originally Nok-su’s scheme?
“So, you and your father were just following Jang Nok-su’s orders?”
“That’s how powerful she’s become. Do you think the things whispered between her and His Majesty in their bedchamber are trivial?”
Sung-jae gave a bitter smile before continuing.
“In the end, His Majesty’s eyes and ears are blocked by the wall that is Jang Nok-su. But there’s a way to reach him without going through her.”
“A way… to reach His Majesty?”
“His Majesty is the greatest gourmet in the realm, one who’d leap from sleep for a rare delicacy. If you, Ji-yeong, serve at his table under the pretext of preparing meals, you could relay everything you learn to me. In return, I can help you.”
Though couched in complex terms, Sung-jae’s proposal was clear: he wanted to use Ji-yeong as a spy.
“Why should I follow your orders?”
“Because if you don’t, you won’t survive this place.”
Whether aware of Ji-yeong’s growing confusion or not, Sung-jae’s snake-like eyes gleamed sharply.
