Book XIV 833
a rush that I suddenly have severe pain in the chest and stomach, he will
hurry to come home.”
When Sogŭn galloped his horse to the western hall and delivered the
message to the prince, Prince Ŭian gave Prince Chŏngan some medicines
good for clearing the chest and digestion, saying, “You had better hurry
home and take care of her.”
Prince Chŏngan immediately went home, and a little later, Min Mujil
returned and had a prolonged secret conversation with Prince Chŏngan and
Lady Min. Lady Min, tugging his sleeve, begged Prince Chŏngan not to
proceed to the palace. Prince Chŏngan replied, “How can fear of death pre-
vent me from going to the palace? All my brothers are there, and I must go
warn them. If a disturbance breaks out, I will raise an army while paying
attention to how people in the country react.” Then he shook her hands off
and left home. Lady Min followed him outside the gate and said, “Please,
please be careful.”
It was already dark. By that time, more than ten days had passed since the
order was given to disband the private security forces of each prince. Yet
Pangbŏn [the king’s seventh son, born of Queen Sindŏk] still retained his
soldiers. When Prince Chŏngan had his private army disbanded, he ordered
that all weapons be destroyed, but his wife Lady Min covertly had them
concealed in case of emergency.
Yi Mu intended to maintain neutrality from the beginning, so he secretly
informed Prince Chŏngan of the conspiracy led by Nam Ŭn and others. At
this time, he followed Mujil to see the prince at his private house, stayed a
while, and left early. He was closely related to Mujil by marriage. Pak P’o,
Lord of Chuksŏng, also moved back and forth between the two sides and
secretly watched the movements of the conspirators [for Prince Chŏngan].
At this point, Prince Chŏngan dispatched Min Mugu to Yi Sukbŏn with
orders that the latter be fully armed and standing by at the house of Sin
Kŭngnye,^38 which was in front of his own house. Then he himself pro-
ceeded to the palace and stayed at the western hall. The other princes did
not have their horses around them, but Prince Chŏngan had his servant
Sogŭn feed his horse and wait at the back of the western hall.
- Sin Kŭngnye (?–1407): a military official of the late Chosŏn dynasty. His family seat
was Yŏngsan (modern Ch’angnyŏng), South Kyŏngsang Province. In 1398, when the first
Strife of Princes took place, he assisted Prince Chŏngan, later King T’aejong, and became
mandate- assisting merit subject as well as Lord of Chwisan. Later, he served as superintendent
of the Board of Personnel and associate commander- in- chief of the Left Army.