Chapter 53: A secret conversation with Prince Uichin

“What are you saying?”

Bezhobrazov opened his eyes sluggishly.

“They’re offering to grant me Southern Manchuria as my own territory. Doesn’t that just reek of suspicion?”

“A suspicious smell?”

I didn’t know whether he was ignoring me or just clueless, but I had to speak up.

It was obviously suspicious.

And I could clearly say what kind of smell it was.

Tilting my head slightly, I carefully opened my mouth.

“For example, let’s say this forces me to rely on Russia. How exactly am I supposed to explain to His Majesty the Emperor of Korea that I was granted land by the Tsar of Russia without causing a major misunderstanding?”

“If Lady Eom decided to brand me a traitor for selling out Korea to Russia, things would get complicated. That would mean Russia is actively trying to incite division within the Korean Empire.’

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve been given full authority. Within a reasonable time, we’ll negotiate the borders through diplomatic channels with the Korean government.”

“I see. They’re planning to formally establish the borders and strengthen my position. That’s the idea.”

This isn’t just about giving me a countship—once the borders are confirmed, credit will go where it’s due.

But the conservative faction will definitely start pushing back harder against me.

That’ll make me even more dependent on foreign support—on Russia’s power.

But on the flip side, this clearly makes me the diplomatic bridge to Russia.

One thing’s certain: the conservative faction might try to weaken my influence, but they can’t kill me off.

Lady Eom will try to screw me over in other ways too.

***

My negotiations with Bezhobrazov concluded successfully.

Choi Jaehyung praised me with glowing admiration.

“Amazing. You actually threatened the Viceroy of the Far East?”

“You have to threaten people if you want to survive.”

When survival’s on the line, you’ll do anything.

Honestly, I’d probably have tried to threaten even Nicholas II if it came down to it.

If it were Rasputin, he’d have found some adultery scandal to use as leverage.

“But are you okay?”

“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

‘Why’s he asking that? What issue could there be besides Bezhobrazov?’

Bezhobrazov is already tied to me—he has no choice.

That’s not a concern.

“There’s a growing sense of caution toward you in the royal court.”

‘Ugh, here we go again. Hasn’t the royal family been wary of me for a while now?’

But Choi Jaehyung is right.

It’s about time I dealt with them properly.

“I guess I should start paying attention to that too.”

Seems like Lady Eom is pressuring Prince Uichin Yi Kang.

Then I should meet with Yi Kang as well.

He’s been looking pretty troubled lately.

Of course, before that, I’ll look into who Yi Kang really is through the Alternate Timeline Gallery.

***

General Yi Kang.

He was the son of Emperor Gojong and Royal Consort Jang, making him a concubine-born prince.

Unlike in real history, he returned to Korea in 1905, summoned by Gojong to prepare for war, and was appointed head of the Imperial Army.

During the Russo-Japanese War, he served as the commander of the Capital Defense Forces.

“Lady Consort, what are you saying?”

“Take control of the army, no matter what! Are we really going to let a woman like her take the imperial throne?”

“Let’s be honest. This country won’t survive without the Manchurian Army.”

Lady Eom was desperately ordering him to seize control of the military.

But that wasn’t an easy task.

Absolute monarchy had reached its limits.

Even if someone asked whether Korea’s royal family had Heaven’s Mandate, the answer would now be uncertain.

All across the country, the Manchurian Army was being praised.

Names like Lee Beomyun and Ok Jinseo were praised even more than the Emperor himself.

It’s just that people weren’t literally shouting “Long live!” yet.

Sure, the old Confucian scholars disapproved, but this was now an age where guns and swords were stronger than pens.

Even if Confucius and Mencius came back from the dead, they wouldn’t survive in this savage era.

‘Still, why did she come to me of all people?’

Strictly speaking, Yi Kang and Lady Eom did not get along.

She had tried to block him because she wanted her own son, Prince Yeong, to be the heir after Sunjong.

In the original timeline, she even sent him silver to bribe him into staying away.

But in this alternate world, he came back early thanks to Gojong’s summons.

And now, holding the position of military commander, he was even more tightly watched by Lady Eom.

But after the Manchurian faction suddenly rose to power following the war, her attitude began to shift.

***

“The royal family must be feeling threatened.”

To the point where they’d rather let someone like Yi Kang, essentially a rival, take control of the military.

Lady Eom was desperately trying to preserve the royal family.

‘Maybe she felt indebted to the late Emperor Gojong.’

It was genuinely pitiful.

But to Yi Kang, who had studied abroad in America, the royal path seemed hopeless.

Lady Eom blindly pushing for absolute monarchy had no plan—no idea who should be emperor, how to govern, how to recruit talent, nothing.

Her only goal was to protect the House of Yi, even if Korea crumbled and rolled in the gutter.

“It would be better to reach a compromise with the Manchurian Army and move toward a constitutional monarchy.”

Even the Confucian scholars weren’t what they used to be.

Most were wiped out during Kuroki Tamemoto’s campaign against the Eight Province Militias.

‘And would the Manchurian Army really spare the very Confucian scholars that form Korea’s foundation?’

‘If they rose up, the army would use that as justification to tighten its grip on the royal family—and crush them with force.’

The times had changed.

Ok Jinseo of the Manchurian Army had more worldly experience than any official in Korea, thanks to her time in Europe.

She recruited not just Koreans, but also Manchus and Han Chinese, forming a powerful military.

Even the Capital Guards and Palace Guards were favorable toward Manchurian officers.

How could they not be?

When they were captured in Hanseong and dying fighting Kuroki’s forces alongside local militias, she descended like a ray of sunlight through dark clouds.

‘Can the Manchurian Army and the royal family even be treated the same?’

Though the military did rise in protest, calling it vengeance for the past, public resentment toward the late emperor also erupted when damages increased and he chose an alliance with Japan.

Yes, the royal family was gradually losing its place.

‘What justification did they even have to secure control over the guards?’

The Manchurian Army wasn’t bothering him, so he had no reason to stir up unnecessary trouble.

***

“Your Highness.”

“Is that the Foreign Minister?”

Just as Prince Uichin Yi Kang was overwhelmed with his worries, Foreign Minister Ok Jinseo appeared.

Before summoning Yi Kang, she had something to confirm.

This meant she now needed the Alternate Timeline Vision.

[Author: Possessed by Imperial Guardsman]

[Title: Quick Summary of Prince Uichin]

[The title says it all—ugh, I’m too lazy to write more.]

[You get what I mean, right?]

[Comments]

[BigBird01: Dude, have some shame.]

[Just look it up yourself.]

[Possessed: It’s more helpful to ask someone directly.]

[That way I can get their point of view too.]

[Think about it—your perspective on Prince Uichin might influence how he appears in my novel.]

[BigBird01: Fair enough.]

[BigBird02: He was basically the royal family’s last hope.]

[He tried hard to take control of the Capital Guards, and thanks to that, he succeeded in rallying conservative figures like Min Yeonghwan.]

[But they wasted five years and delayed reform.]

[Yi Kang himself was more neutral, just got caught in the storm.]

[BigBird03: Why hasn’t this dude been blocked yet?]

Then it might actually be possible to persuade him.

I invited Prince Uichin to the Foreign Ministry building.

We need to get Yi Kang under control this time.

Even if we can’t fully bring him over to our side, we must at least put a leash on him so he won’t rebel against us.

“Those damn English do make good tea.”

I poured the black tea gifted by the ever-so-proud ambassador from the Humble Empire and offered it to Yi Kang.

“That they do,” he replied.

“I heard you studied in the United States?”

So, he’s one of the foreign-educated elites.

At the very least, he’s smart enough to understand what I’m saying.

I’ll have to either persuade or threaten him.

“Yes. His Majesty the Emperor summoned me back home.”

“Then you must already know how pitiful this country—Daehan—is. How small-minded and stubborn we are, stuck like frogs in a well with no real power to speak of.”

I openly mocked Lady Eom.

“Hey now, that’s a bit harsh. Walls have ears, you know.”

“But I wasn’t wrong.”

“Even now, when you go down to the provinces, you’ll find scholars who do nothing but consume rice while spouting Confucian nonsense and refusing to follow the example of the Westerners. It’s infuriating.”

“They can’t see the changing world.”

“That kind of ignorance is what defines this backward age.”

“Forget the distractions—what really matters is how we can make our people strong.”

“We should be focused on strengthening our nation, and instead, all I hear are clever words with no substance.”

“But surely Your Highness is aware of the truth. Honestly, if our Manchurian army had failed to take down the enemy—or if we had lost to Kuroki—do you think this country would still exist?”

“That’s…”

“If that had happened, everything would have been lost.”

“No, maybe the royal family would have been preserved for a while. Japan would’ve found it convenient to keep Sunjong on the throne. And judging by what Lady Eom’s been up to, they would’ve brought back Yi Wanyong and struck a ‘miraculous deal’ just to keep the royal family alive.”

With the Manchurian front collapsed, even Japan wouldn’t have had the strength to fully dominate Korea.

At most, they would’ve turned us into a puppet state.

“And even now, Lady Eom is obsessed only with preserving imperial power. She couldn’t care less about how our people live. She’s not even protecting the current Emperor as a rightful heir—she’s just pushing Prince Yeongchin as the next in line.”

From Lady Eom’s point of view, keeping Sunjong on the throne is her top priority.

If she secures him as the legitimate heir and strengthens Yeongchin’s position, she’ll push for abdication when the time comes.

Lady Eom is blindly loyal to the royal family.

***

“Do you not realize what you’re saying? I may be illegitimate, but I am still a royal prince of this nation.”

“But at least you have the clarity to see the world for what it is. It’s better to face reality than to cover the sky with your hand. Even if Daehan somehow manages to preserve its sovereignty, can you really say it will be enough? Are we going to keep turning a blind eye to Lady Eom just because she enjoys His Majesty’s favor?”

“Should we really let that brainless woman run things?”

To sum it all up—that’s what I’m saying.

I get that she received grace from Emperor Gojong, but even so, her lack of foresight is beyond frustrating.

“Women in this country sure are terrifying,” Yi Kang said. “Lady Eom, and now you.”

“A woman should be handled by another woman—that’s when things get interesting.”

Still, the fact that he admits to being intimidated means Lady Eom must’ve given him some kind of order.

Most likely something related to the military.

Good. That gives me leverage.

“What are you trying to say?” Yi Kang asked.

With a smirk, I pulled a hatchet from my side and laid it on the table.

Though freshly cleaned, that hatchet had taken the lives of countless Qing and Japanese soldiers.

“I’ve killed more Manchus and Han than I can count. I gathered thugs and bandits, trained them under the French system, and turned them into soldiers. With those troops, I slit the throats of countless Japanese. Even now, the heads of Nogi and Iwao are still pickled in salt.”

“If I really wanted to, I could flip this country upside down. But I’m a woman—and I still believe the royal family should survive, if only to reform it from within. That’s why I let it be. For now.”

“And now, I serve as both Foreign Minister and Commander of the Manchurian Army.”

I wasn’t threatening him—at least not explicitly.

But for me, a woman in a time without suffrage, to rise this high and achieve so much—it only proves how dire this nation’s condition is.

***

“The royal family must really be in shambles,” Yi Kang said with a weary laugh. “For someone to speak like that and still be taken seriously…”

“Why not? Surely King Gongmin also begged Yi Seonggye to form an alliance before surrendering the throne.”

“And yet, you haven’t pulled a sword or a gun on me, nor raised your voice. Perhaps you’ve already resigned yourself… or perhaps the last war taught you something?”

“What do you want?”

It was time to drop the bait.

‘This was a gamble, no doubt—but what if I told Yi Kang about my lineage? Told him who I really am?’

‘How would the proud descendant of the great Taizu Yi Seonggye react?’

There was no way this would just blow over.

“Do you know why our family name is Ok?” I asked.

“What are you talking about?”

It might sound random, but this needed to be said.

“In the early days of the Joseon dynasty, our family suffered heavy persecution. So we changed our surname to Ok, and survived by living as merchants—bohusaeng, to be exact.”

Yi Kang gave me a puzzled look, as if wondering what that was supposed to mean.

Then, slowly, his face twisted with realization.

He’d figured it out.

A family persecuted in the early Joseon period.

A family that changed its name to survive.

‘Who else could it be?’