"Do you have any idea what those words mean?" Jin-Ri asked the prince
Young-Sik shook his head, still pondering their meaning. "You know, innocent is a word that is usually associated with children. You know the innocence of a child?" Jin-Ri suggested. Young-Sik looked at Jin-Ri with a puzzled expression
"What? Am I wrong?" she inquired, wondering if she said something stupid.
"No, you are right, innocence is usually associated with children. It might just mean that whatever truth Minister Im was referring to might have been hidden in a place associated with a child." Young-Sik said, biting down on his knuckle, he thinks for a moment. Snapping his fingers, he made a connection: "Between the three masters, there is only one child I can think of, Minister Go's son. Whatever they hid might be in his room."
"Then we better hurry up, before somebody stumbles on it by accident" Jin-Ri suggested, whipping the reins of her horse, she gradually picked up speed. Young-Sik followed suit and galloped after her. Lady Hu, Captain Gi, and the soldiers, though puzzled initially, decided to run after the couple.
It was past noon when the Prince's group reached Minister Go's estate. Young-Sik addressed the soldiers first, "Divide yourselves into two groups, one will go to Minister Shin's house, the other to Minister Im's residence. Once there, look for something that can shed light on what had happened to my masters. If anyone would ask, tell them I ordered you to retrieve the master's belongings."
"Yes, Your Highness," the soldiers said in unison, then, as instructed, divided themselves and went to their destinations.
The prince and his friend dismounted from their horses and entered the abandoned residence. The place was in shambles just as Young-Sik left it. He averted his eyes from the blood splatters on the walls and floor. They proceeded to walk the empty halls, the prince stopped when they reached the door to his master's clinic. He peered through the door only to see the once pristine clinic in utter disarray and its walls stained with the blood of his master and his family.
"Let's go to the child's room," Jin-Ri told the prince. she held on tightly to the prince's arm. Pulling him away from a place she knew bore him great pain.
Young-Sik allowed himself to be pulled away from the gruesome room and into the child's quarters. Inside, he gave his instructions: "Look for something that might shed light as to why my masters were killed."
Young-Sik searched the numerous books the child had, Captain Gi rummaged through the clothes, while Jin-Ri and Lady Hu inspected every piece of toy and plaything the boy owned. Despite looking for a long time and turning the room upside down and inside out, their search yielded nothing.
"Wait, doesn't innocent refer to a child?" Jin-Ri clarified, confused as to why they couldn't find anything after following the clue.
"Yes, it does, unless innocent refers to something else," Lady Hu explained, too puzzled after finding nothing
"What if it means nothing at all?" Captain Gi suggested, frustration evident in his voice
Young-Sik picked up a toy horse from the floor. "Minister Im would not have told me that if it meant nothing. It's a clue, I'm sure of it, we need to figure out what it means."
The group walked out of the room and into the dining area of the house. While the three were busy discussing something, Jin-Ri was busy snooping around, She scanned the walls of the dining area until she glanced upon the statue of a deity. Jin-Ri picked up the statue and examined it in her hands.
"Careful with that, it's an expensive and extremely delicate deity statue," Young-Sik cautioned Jin-Ri
Jin-Ri let out a scoff that could rival a disgruntled cat at the prince's comment, gingerly putting the porcelain statue back on its pedestal, blissfully unaware of its precariousness. "Psssshhh! Clumsy? Please, I'm as graceful as a fairy!" she said, spinning around to face the prince. Suddenly, a loud crash shattered the moment. She looked down to see the deity statue in ruins. "Okay, fine! Maybe I'm a bit of a klutz!"
"What did you break?" Lady Hu asked Jin-Ri
"Just this small porcelain statue, it's no big deal at all. See, it's just a small statue," she said, pointing at the shattered pieces. The three glared at her like she was a child who had done something bad. "Fine. I'll clean it up," she grumbled while picking up the shattered pieces.
Jin-Ri was about to throw the pieces away when Young-Sik called to her, "Jin-Ri, wait!" The court maiden stopped dead in her tracks, startled by the prince's sudden call.
"What?" she hollered back.
Young-Sik approached Jin-Ri and looked at the porcelain pieces. He picked up the biggest piece and looked inside to examine something wooden that was jotting out. Using a single crushing grip, he shattered the remaining porcelain to reveal the hidden wooden statue. "A catholic symbol," Young-Sik whispered
"What is that?" Jin-Ri asked, taking the small crucifix and then turning it over to examine it
"It's a religious symbol for Catholics," Young-Sik mentioned in answer to Jin-Ri
"Catholics?" Jin-Ri asked
"It's a foreign religion, brought to Chiongsun by foreign missionaries." Lady Hu explained, "They have a different deity and they have different religious laws and edicts."
"Wow, Lady Hu, you are smart, you know even those kinds of things," Jin-Ri declared in awe of Mun-He's knowledge
Captain Gi took the crucifix from Jin-Ri. "Catholics are persecuted in our country, since their teachings differ greatly from our religion, often clashing with ancient laws of the kingdom," he added
"Captain Gi, you know about these things, too? Am I the only one who doesn't know?" She exclaimed out loud while pointing at herself. "Wait, does that mean the Go family was secretly Catholic?"
"It would seem so, I would guess that he didn't let my father know, not because the previous King would punish him, but because my father won't punish him. Any person harboring a catholic is equally guilty in our society. Minister Go didn't want my father to get involved," Prince Young-Sik deduced as he examined the wooden relic in his hand
"We'd better keep searching; we wasted enough time on this relic," Lady Hu suggested. The prince gave back the relic to Jin-Ri so she could throw it away.
Young-Sik was about to walk to the next room when he glanced out the window at the falling snow. Then something came into mind. "Month of the Ox," he whispered to himself.
He remained standing, watching the snow fall, while the other three walked away. Jin-Ri noticed the prince staring at something. "Yong? Is everything okay?" Captain Gi and Lady Hu looked back at the prince.
"This month is the month of the Ox, but in other nations, this month is known as December." He quickly approached Jin-Ri and grabbed the Catholic relic. "During this month, Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents," he said. The prince turned around and took a couple of steps. "Innocent reflections hold the truth. The Feast of the Holy Innocents is a time for self-reflection. We were looking at the wrong place because we interpreted the clue wrong!"
"Can you explain, Your Highness?" Captain Gi requested that the prince elaborate on his findings
"While the clue was about children, the clue also points to an important Catholic occasion. It pertains to the fact that the Go family was Catholic." The prince paced around for a bit while the three watched him.
"Catholics...persecution..." the prince's eyes lit up like a light bulb was lit in his head. "What do religions have in common?" He asked the three
"Prayers?" Jin-Ri answered the prince gave her a smile and a thumbs up for her answer.
"But what if you can't express your religion openly because of persecution? What do you do then?" The prince continued to ask the three
"You hide your faith from prying eyes, dedicate a room or space solely for that purpose," Lady Hu replied in response to the prince's inquiry.
"A secret prayer room!" Captain Gi concluded, "Minister Go and his family would have such a place where they could express their faith freely. They would have constructed such a place, a place only known to them."
"Correct! We need to find their secret prayer room. Whatever Minister Go hid must be in there. Let's split up, call us if you find anything." The four went in separate directions. Captain Gi searched the stables and other buildings detached from the main house, Jin-Ri searched the kitchen and stock rooms, Young-Sik searched the Clinic and Library, and Lady Hu searched the Baths and living area.
Young-Sik took out every book and turned every page, but could not find anything. Jin-Ri turned the kitchen upside down, looking inside every pot or pan she saw, even pouring out spices and other ingredients from their containers. Captain Gi inspected every inch of the stables and detached buildings but could not find anything. Lady Hu searched the family bath thoroughly; she was about to leave when her foot accidentally hit a panel beneath the water tub. "Ouch, that hurts!" She kicked the lower panels out of annoyance.
The sound made by her kick was odd and hollow, drawing her attention as she shifted her focus to the area below. Kneeling, she began to tap on the panels, seeking confirmation. It became clear that only one panel emitted the hollow echo. She was surprised when she removed it easily revealing a concealed pocket. Her hand ventured inside, and she soon felt a latch. She pulls on the latch, and a trap door opens on the bath's floor. "Your Highness!" Lady Hu shouted, and shortly after, the three burst into the bathroom, spotting the open trap door. "I think we've found what we were looking for," Lady Hu said with a smile.
Prince Young-Sik was the first to descend the stairs, followed by Jin-Ri and the other two. It was pitch black when they reached the bottom. Feeling his way around, Captain Gi's touch brushed what he felt were a pair of flints. "I found some flints, all we need is a torch," he said
Young-Sik's sensitive sense of smell caught a whiff of oil. Reaching out to the origin of the scent, he found a torch. "Captain, light this torch," the prince said. Captain Gi struck the flint together, producing an ember that immediately lit the oil. The fire illuminated the wooden room filled with Catholic relics and symbols. At the far end of the room was an altar. Young-Sik proceeded to the altar. He examined it, but it had no secret pockets or drawers. On top of the altar was a bible. Young-Sik opened the book, and tucked inside were parchments contained in hollowed-out pages. He read the parchment contents carefully.
"Is that it? Did we find what Minister Go hid?" Jin-Ri asked with great anticipation
Young-Sik did not reply; he remained absorbed in the parchment's contents. His face flushed with emotion, his facial muscles contracted in a fit of rage. The weight of the secret he had discovered made his hands shake. According to the findings of Minister Go, his father had been murdered by poison, most likely introduced by Queen Eri into the King's meal.
Jin-Ri took the parchment from Young-Sik, and even she was in shock after reading what was written on it. "I'm so sorry, Yong," she said with the utmost sincerity.
Young-Sik marched out of the prayer room and into the house. he drew his sword as he exited the main residence. "Yong! Yong, where are you going?" Jin-Ri grabbed the prince from behind in an attempt to stop him from leaving.
"I'm going to kill her...I'm going to cut off her head!" He shouted furiously