The Seonggyungwan President's Editorial
The article itself struck a milder tone than its headline had promised. It summarized the contents of my novel, then closed by asking what people thought of such an insult—fictional though it was—to the imperial house.
As for the comments section… I would rather not even begin.
"Eunuch Kim, I am no expert on the law, so tell me—does this country still have a crime of lèse-majesté?"
"I cannot recall the exact year, but the offense was abolished sometime in the seventies."
"Then why is everyone so furious? Honestly, if anyone has the right to be angry, it should be me. Why are they getting angry on my behalf?"
"I suspect it is because almost no media ever deals with the imperial family directly. The shock is all the greater. With a few exceptions, the vast majority of the people still revere the throne."
"But there have been other historical novels and period dramas all along. Why is it only my story that gets this treatment?"
This world had its own alternate-history novels and fusion historical dramas in abundance. A few of them even imagined the Korean Empire collapsing or being swept away by a communist revolution that abolished the throne—stories not unlike The Man in the High Castle from the world I once knew. I had assumed freedom of the press and of thought were reasonably well protected here…
"The content is truly unprecedented, and the timing could not be worse."
"Mm… you have a point. I may have gone too far."
I had not properly accounted for the fact that the entire imperial family had been wiped out only a few months earlier. No wonder people were calling the author a psychopath.
"So what should we do? Would it be better if I issued a personal statement under my own name?"
"Direct action on Your Majesty's part might draw excessive attention. It would be wiser for the Imperial Household Agency to release a brief statement instead."
"Of course, if Your Majesty wishes the novel to receive nationwide attention, writing the statement yourself would also be an excellent choice."
"No… I do not want that kind of spotlight. The view count on my novel keeps climbing as it is, and these new readers are not coming because they want to enjoy the story—they are coming to heap abuse on it. What good would more of their attention do me?"
"Understood, Your Majesty. Then the Imperial Household Agency will handle this matter. Issuing a statement immediately might make it appear that the throne is taking special interest, so we shall wait two or three days."
"Very well. I leave it to you, Eunuch Kim. As an author rather than an emperor, I will do everything I can on my own end as well."
While Gyeongbokgung held a meeting to quietly smother the blaze, a far older voice was roaring through the president's office of Seonggyungwan.
"Have you ever seen such insolence! To write something that desecrates the imperial house!"
Lee Sicheol, seventy-nine years old and currently President of Seonggyungwan, trembled so hard his beard quivered.
"And at a time when the imperial family has already suffered such a catastrophic blow! Anyone who would pen such a tale must surely harbor treacherous designs!"
He immediately placed a call.
"Ah, it's me. Nothing urgent—just print a piece of mine. What sort of piece? For heaven's sake, you're the publisher of a newspaper and yet you hear the news later than I do. It concerns that text currently throwing the public into an uproar."
For the first time in years, Lee Sicheol felt his blood race. A scholar racing his brush (or rather his keyboard, but the spirit of the thing mattered) in defense of the throne knew no fear.
The following day, a corner of the Imperial Newspaper's editorial page carried the following piece by Seonggyungwan President Lee Sicheol.
In my capacity as President of Seonggyungwan, I have long sought to guard against the collapse of moral order and to correct the decline of true learning. Of late I have heard that a certain scandalous text circulating among the marketplace is sullying the dignity of the imperial house.
How could the head of Seonggyungwan turn a blind eye? I therefore sought out that treasonous writing and read it. Truly, heaven and earth themselves must weep at its contents.
The work dares to style its deranged fabrications as "alternate history," gnawing at the five-thousand-year-old foundations of our empire and smearing filth upon the meritorious labors of sage sovereigns and worthy ministers. Yet its crimes do not end there.
Its madness at last took aim at the imperial house, which stands as high as heaven itself, inventing vile and treacherous deeds too foul to utter aloud. To ascribe to the imperial family—whose deep fraternal love and supreme filial piety have long been a model for all the people—acts that even beasts would not commit is no mere commoner's ranting. It is the act of a traitor for all ages!
Even the pen name "Myeongbok" now reveals itself as an ominous choice. For myeongbok properly means posthumous fortune after death. How dare one who writes of the living history and living throne of this empire adopt a name that casts the shadow of the grave? That the very pseudonym already harbors a traitorous heart shows how sinister and blasphemous the author's intent truly is.
Ah, how lamentable! The nation's discipline grows slack, true learning loses its light, and thus do these wreckers of scholarly orthodoxy run rampant, throwing the world into confusion with their evil doctrines!
Hear me, traitor Lee Myeongbok! Your crime was committed with the brush; therefore the brush shall repay it. Heaven's net is wide and close-meshed; it will never suffer your insolence. Break your brush at once, come forth to Gwanghwamun, and prostrate yourself upon the stone in humble apology, begging the emperor's mercy. Fail to do so, and your guilt shall be made a public example for all the world to see.
"Aigoo, my head… Eunuch Kim, what sort of man is this President Lee Sicheol?"
"In both the best and the worst senses, he is perfectly suited to the office of Seonggyungwan President."
"I am beginning to think I was wise to attend Imperial University rather than Seonggyungwan. The rumor that Seonggyungwan is far stricter than Imperial was no exaggeration."
Both Imperial University and Seonggyungwan were directly sponsored by the throne and largely attended by members of the imperial clan—more precisely, by the direct line. There were simply too many Jeonju Yi in the country; admitting them all would have burst the campuses at the seams.
Seonggyungwan needed no introduction as a school of ancient pedigree. Imperial University, by comparison, was a relative upstart founded at the end of the eighteenth century to gather and train talent in Western learning. Of course Seonggyungwan had long since shed most of its pure Confucian character; Confucian studies were now merely a required graduation subject and the only remaining ritual was the seasonal sacrifice at the Confucian shrine. Yet the rivalry between the two institutions remained as sharp as ever.
"Ahem. Imperial University is an excellent institution, of course, but Seonggyungwan still possesses the deeper history and scholarly tradition, does it not? To preserve that history, it seems only proper that someone who cherishes tradition should hold the post."
"Eunuch Kim."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You are a Seonggyungwan man, I take it?"
"I am."
"I see. My apologies."
A brief silence settled between us.
"If we simply told the President that I am Lee Myeongbok…"
"Your Majesty. President Lee's loyalty to the throne is absolute. Should he learn that Your Majesty is Lee Myeongbok… the man might well die of shame."
"I was joking. Only joking. Then what do you suggest?"
"The simplest solution would be for Your Majesty to revise the novel yourself. If that grotesque episode of confining the Crown Prince in a rice chest were removed, public interest would quickly fade."
"I would rather not alter the text. It would look as though external pressure had been applied. As an author I have no wish to appear to have bowed to coercion, and neither do I wish the throne to appear to have applied it."
"Then might Your Majesty grant an interview to the press?"
"An interview…"
"Now that the Seonggyungwan President has published his editorial, the people are waiting for either Your Majesty or the Imperial Household Agency to speak."
"Hmm… I dislike the idea, yet I see no better path. If we must, I would prefer a paper known for its liberal leanings. Can you arrange it?"
"It shall be done."
"Ah, and this Seonggyungwan President—how old did you say he was?"
"Seventy-nine this year."
"Seventy-nine? Does Seonggyungwan have no retirement age?"
"The office of President has no official age limit, though most step down and hand the post to a successor before reaching eighty."
"So he has chosen to make trouble just before retiring. Do you know who the successor is expected to be?"
"A man named Kim Yeonghwan. Traditionally the presidency has gone to someone from the Confucian studies faculty, and he has overseen the Confucian shrine rites for several years. Everyone assumes he will be next."
"I seem to recall that the President can also be appointed by special imperial decree… Before any further incidents arise, might I 'recommend' someone with whom I can speak frankly—someone who already understands me?"
"If that is Your Majesty's will, this eunuch will obey. May I ask who the gentleman is?"
"I recommend Professor Yang Seungwon of Imperial University's Department of History. He was once my thesis advisor, and he is also one of the few who knows my 'secret.'"
Professor Yang had known throughout my graduate years that I was serializing a web novel, yet he had never breathed a word of it to anyone. That alone made him trustworthy. With a man like him in the president's chair, today's farce would never have happened.
"…As Your Majesty commands. Once the interview is concluded, we shall arrange for President Lee's resignation and appoint the new man by special decree."
It was this easy? I really should have spoken up sooner!
If I can just handle the interview well, I ought to be able to put this whole fire out, right?