Book XIV 841Munhwa asked, “Who is the leader of the traitors?” Sŏkchu replied, “I
will have to ask the king about that again. For now, it is important to make
a draft of the royal decree.” Then he pressed Munhwa to hurry.
Grabbing a brush, Munhwa said, “Since you also know how to write, you
dictate what is to be written. Then I will write it down.” So Sŏkchu made
the draft as follows: “So- and- so and others secretly conspired together to
harm so- and- so and many others, who are distinguished dynastic dynasty-
founding merit subjects. But their attempt was discovered, and they were all
arrested and executed. Those who were forced to join the conspirators shall
be forgiven without question.”
When the draft of the royal decree was completed, Sŏkchu went in and
submitted it to the king. The king said, “Wait a moment until two chancel-
lors arrive. Let them have a discussion and then proclaim the decree.”
A little later, the Privy Council, leading the hundred officials, presented
themselves and made a report to the king: “Tojŏn, Ŭn, Hyosaeng, and others
formed a clique and secretly conspired to harm the members of the royal
family and the most outstanding merit subjects and thereby throw the
country into disorder and turmoil. The situation being so critical, we were
unable to report it immediately. However, the conspirators have already
been eliminated, so we request that Your Majesty not be surprised.”
Yi Che [the king’s son- in- law],^44 who happened to be next to the king,
said, “Since various princes raised an army and beheaded Ŭn and others, I
am afraid that the calamity will reach me in times to come. I request that
you allow me to take royal guards and attack them.” The king said, “Don’t
worry. How can calamity affect you?” Hwa also dissuaded him, saying,
“This is an internal matter. You don’t need to fight against each other.” Che
pulled out his sword and stared at it a few times, but Hwa kept his calm
without moving at all.
When this happened, Prince Yŏngan was purifying himself at the Sogyŏk
Hall in order to pray for the recovery of the king. Having heard that a dis-
turbance had broken out, he snuck over the palace wall using a rope, with a
help of a slave. He kept walking until he arrived at P’ungyang and hid him-
self in the house of Kim In’gwi. Prince Chŏngan sent men to look for him,
and when they finally found him and escorted him to arrive at the outside of
the south gate of the city wall, the sun was about to set.
- He married Princess Kyŏngsun but was killed during the First Strife of Princes, and
his wife became a nun.