The Palace's Gates

For the next year, the Sang-min went to all 8 provinces in the kingdom, searching for Ha-ri. Nowhere did he find them. The last place left to search for them was the palace, but he never wanted to step inside it after the humiliation and loss of his parents. But then one day, he pledged that for her, he would go to any lengths and even to hell if he could see her one last time and spend at least a moment looking into her eyes and embracing her warmth.

He went to a bar near the palace that afternoon and wanted to find a way to get into the palace, as he had no identity or the amulet which is used to pass through the gates of the palace. So he took the rice cart carrier to the bar and was an alcohol addict. As long as he got the alcohol, he was ready to smuggle people in and out of the palace. While drinking with the cart guy, Sang-min hears loud voices from the next table, about the concubine of the king, who had tried to commit suicide 10 times in the past year and who was from Hahoe village. Sang-min's heart started to race, hoping it would be Ha-ri, but on the contrary, he hoped it shouldn't be her. He moved the curtain with anxiousness and looked at those ladies, asking them what was the concubine's name with trembling hands, as it would be the last night before he could finally meet her if it was Ha-ri. They tell him her name is Kim Ara. After listening to it, he drops down on his seat, gulps the drink, smiles, and thinks to himself, “I hope you are happy, Ha-ri. As long as you are alive and happy, I will come and find you wherever you are.” Tears drop down his eyes. But in reality, Ha-ri’s name was changed as soon as she entered the palace, so Kim Ara was Ha-ri. Little did Sang-min know about it.

That night, finally, after all the preparations, Sang-min decided to go inside the palace, no matter what the consequences would be. And if he can't find her, his only way is to gain a powerful position so that he can allocate more people to locate them.

As he entered the palace, the cart was stopped near the gate, the amulet was checked, and then the rice bags were pierced with swords to check if any smuggling was happening. But thankfully, Sang-min was not caught, and the cart was safely taken to the main barn in the palace. Then he gives the cart driver all the money he has, and in return, the cart driver gives the head priest's assistant's address, where he can get a fake identity to roam around the palace. That night, Sang-min gets his fake identity as Kim Ji Hoon, and from then on, he starts searching for Ha-ri all around the palace. Ten days passed, but he couldn't find her anywhere.

One day suddenly, there was a huge ruckus in the market where the guards were hitting a woman in the middle of the street, but no one was helping her. Sang-min, who was dressed as a high-class person, stepped in and saved that woman, but the guards got confused as to who he was, as the guards knew all the masters in high-class families. The guards leave the women, but they take Sang-min to the palace court to check his identity.

As he enters the court, the mumbling among the prime ministers starts, and all the people in the palace court start to recognize the 20-year-old boy, as he is the spitting image of his father. The queen trembles behind the curtains, and the crown prince becomes furious by it, but they maintain their stability to not lose their faces in front of the court.

The guards start to tell all about the incident and announce his name as Kim Ji Hoon. The crown prince takes this opportunity to immediately punish him for treason and execute him, in order to bury the truth. But Sang-min shouts, “Only if my father were alive, there wouldn't be a day where I would die for treason for entering my own palace.”. Those words rang around all corners of the court in utter silence. One man from behind shouts, “Prove your identity, if you are the true son of the late king.”. Sang-min stands up and tears his shirt to reveal the scar on his chest, which he got at the age of 6 and which was then covered by a white Lilly tattoo by the court’s physician as a symbol of life over death. Jeon Jun, who was the right hand of the late king recognizes the mark, runs to him, and hugs him. Jeon Jun was at the war when the prince was thrown out of the palace. When he returned, he was told that the king, his concubine Kim Te-ri, and the prince Sang-min had died in a fire accident. Now that the truth was revealed, Jeon Jun stood by the prince's side and gave him all his support. The queen and the crown prince knew that if they lost Jeon Jun's support, the throne was gone, so they let the prince enter the palace.

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