The day before Yeon Joo disappeared from the palace, Minister Ryu Seung-ryong travelled quietly to a small teahouse at the foot of the mountain, where the King's grand-aunt, Deokgyeo Gungju, occasionally received visitors after completing her prayers at the nearby monastery.
The teahouse had already been emptied for their private meeting, while two of the Grand-Aunt's guards stood outside to make sure no one came close enough to hear their conversation.
Deokgyeo Gungju sat beside the open window with a cup of warm tea in her hand, although she had barely touched it since Minister Ryu began telling her about the disorder supposedly spreading through the palace.
"I did not summon you here to listen to rumours," she said firmly. "If you wish to accuse a royal consort of threatening the throne, you must give me the truth."
Minister Ryu lowered his head respectfully, hiding the satisfaction in his eyes.
"I would never dare bring false information before Your Highness, especially when the future of Joseon may depend on your intervention."
He carefully explained that Yeon Joo had appeared inside the King's chamber without a known family, clan or proper background, yet Lee Yeong had immediately granted her the title of Sukbin and allowed her to remain beside him every night.
"He has missed the morning court several times because of her," Minister Ryu continued, although he deliberately avoided explaining that some of those absences had been caused by political attacks, exhaustion and the strange disappearance that had left Lee Yeong emotionally broken. "He dismisses his ministers whenever she demands his attention, and he humiliates the Queen whenever she attempts to restore order inside the inner palace."
Deokgyeo Gungju's expression became increasingly troubled.
"The boy was never careless with his duties when he was younger."
"That is why many people believe Sukbin has bewitched him."
"You should not speak of sorcery without proof."
Minister Ryu sighed as though he had tried to defend Yeon Joo before finally accepting the terrible truth.
"She carries a strange necklace that shines with an unnatural light, she uses medicine no physician in Joseon recognises, and she speaks openly about coming from another world. Even the King no longer questions her behaviour."
Deokgyeo Gungju placed her cup down slowly.
"And the three daughters sent by the other clans?"
"The Eastern, Western and Southern Clans presented their daughters to wish the King prosperity and strengthen the unity of Joseon, yet His Majesty refuses to complete the consummation ceremonies because Sukbin demands that he belongs only to her."
Minister Ryu did not mention that Lee Yeong had never wanted the three women and that Yeon Joo had not even been present when the ministers demanded the consummations.
Instead, he leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"If His Majesty rejects those daughters, their clans may withdraw their loyalty, while the people will believe the Northern Clan controls the throne through the Queen. The balance of the kingdom may be destroyed because of one woman's jealousy."
Deokgyeo Gungju looked toward the mountains, remembering the young prince she had once carried in her arms after the death of his grandmother.
"I will not allow anyone to destroy Lee Yeong or Joseon."
Minister Ryu bowed deeply.
"I knew Your Highness would protect him when no one else had the courage."
By the time he left the teahouse, Deokgyeo Gungju had already decided that Yeon Joo needed to be separated from the King, while Minister Ryu returned to the capital knowing that he would never need to dirty his own hands.
The following morning, the Grand-Aunt's men entered the palace disguised among the servants who regularly delivered religious offerings and medicine to the women's quarters.
When the Queen's attendants left Yeon Joo alone in the courtyard, one of the disguised men approached her with water containing a sleeping medicine, while another waited beside the unused service passage.
Yeon Joo remembered drinking only a few mouthfuls before dizziness overcame her, but she did not see the faces of the men who lifted her into a covered carriage, nor did she know that they carried the Grand-Aunt's royal token, which allowed them to pass through the service gate without being searched.
When she finally regained consciousness, the carriage had already reached the mountain monastery.
Her wrists were tied, her head throbbed painfully and the cold mountain air entered through the small gaps in the carriage walls.
"Where are you taking me?" she shouted as she struggled against the rope.
No one answered.
The carriage stopped outside the monastery, where several guards wearing plain clothes opened the door and pulled her down before she could regain her balance.
"Let go of me. I can walk by myself."
The men ignored her protests and escorted her through the monastery gates, where female attendants in grey robes were already waiting.
Yeon Joo searched their faces, but she recognised none of them.
"Who ordered you to bring me here?"
"You will answer the questions, Sukbin Mama," one of the women replied.
They took her into a large, cold room where Deokgyeo Gungju sat behind a low table, dressed in plain clothing that could not entirely hide her royal authority.
Yeon Joo immediately understood that the woman was important, although no one had told her who she was.
"Untie me first, and then perhaps we can speak like reasonable people."
Deokgyeo Gungju stared at her.
"You stand before the grand-aunt of the King, yet you do not bow."
"I was drugged and kidnapped. Forgive me if palace manners are not my first concern."
The Grand-Aunt's eyes hardened.
"Minister Ryu was correct about your arrogance."
Yeon Joo's expression changed when she heard the Queen's father's name.
"So, this is his plan."
"He only warned me about the danger surrounding my grand-nephew. Bringing you here was my decision."
"He filled your head with lies and allowed you to complete his dirty work."
Deokgyeo Gungju struck the floor with her walking stick.
"You will not speak about a senior minister in that manner."
"I will speak about him however I please when he helped arrange my kidnapping."
The Grand-Aunt ordered the attendants to search Yeon Joo for charms, hidden medicine or other objects that might be used to control the King.
The women reached for her clothing, but Yeon Joo stepped backwards.
"Do not touch me."
"You will be examined," Deokgyeo Gungju said. "If you carry instruments of sorcery, they will be destroyed."
"I am not a criminal, and you have no right to strip me."
The attendants grabbed her arms before she could move away, while another woman loosened the ties of her hanbok.
Yeon Joo struggled violently as layer after layer of clothing was pulled from her body.
"Stop it! Do not touch me!"
Her protests echoed through the cold room, but the women continued until she was left naked in front of the Grand-Aunt and the watching attendants, with nothing available to cover herself except her crossed arms.
The humiliation burned more painfully than the cold air against her skin, yet Yeon Joo refused to lower her head or allow them to see her cry.
Deokgyeo Gungju watched while the attendants searched every piece of clothing.
"You have no shame," Yeon Joo said through clenched teeth. "You call yourself a protector of Joseon while allowing women to humiliate another woman like this."
"This humiliation is nothing compared with the disorder you have brought to the royal household."
"I have brought no disorder."
"You have bewitched the King until he neglects the court, rejects the Queen and refuses the daughters sent by the three clans."
"None of that happened in the way Minister Ryu described it."
"You deny that the King keeps you inside his chamber?"
"I do not deny that he loves me."
Deokgyeo Gungju's expression darkened further.
"You speak as though his love places you above the law."
"No, but it does not give you the right to kidnap and strip me."
One of the attendants discovered the necklace hanging against Yeon Joo's chest and reached for it, but Yeon Joo immediately grabbed the pendant.
"Do not take this."
The Grand-Aunt leaned forward.
"Remove it."
The attendants tried to force Yeon Joo's fingers open, but she held the necklace so tightly that the metal cut into her palm.
"This is the object Minister Ryu warned me about," Deokgyeo Gungju said. "The strange charm you use to control the King."
"It does not control anyone."
"Then you will have no reason to fear losing it."
"It belongs to me."
The Grand-Aunt ordered the attendants to stop pulling at the necklace for the moment, fearing that an unknown foreign object might truly carry a curse.
She then looked directly at Yeon Joo.
"You will remain inside this monastery, where your hair will be cut and your title abandoned. You will wear the robes of a monk and spend every day praying for the sins that have endangered the King and Joseon."
Yeon Joo stared at her in disbelief.
"You cannot force me to become a monk."
Deokgyeo Gungju refused to listen, while the attendants wrapped a plain cloth around Yeon Joo's exposed body before dragging her toward a locked room deeper inside the monastery.
Before the door closed, Yeon Joo looked back at the Grand-Aunt with anger burning behind her eyes.
"Lee Yeong will find me, and when he does, you will have to explain why you believed another person's words without ever asking him for the truth."
For a moment, Deokgyeo Gungju's expression changed, but she quickly tightened her grip around her walking stick and ordered the attendants to continue.
The door slammed shut behind Yeon Joo, leaving her alone inside the cold and dark room while the heavy lock moved into place from the outside.
She pulled the thin cloth more tightly around herself and leaned against the wall, trying to control both her anger and the humiliation trembling through her body.
She still did not know why Minister Ryu had chosen her as a threat or what he expected to gain by sending her away from the palace, but she understood one thing clearly.
Everything Deokgyeo Gungju believed had come from him.
Yeon Joo lowered her eyes when the necklace resting against her chest suddenly became warm, and a faint blue light flashed between her trembling fingers.