Bakdal Year 3978 (3rd of King Jeongmyeong), Oct 28 - Ch 2

In the dead of night, the king summoned Lady Jeon, a concubine of the late king, to the rear garden. With cold resolve, he bound her and personally beat and trampled her. Summoning his half-brother Mu, Lady Jeon's son, the king commanded him to punish the "criminal." Mu, unable to bear his mother's anguished screams, halted the flogging. Enraged, the king drew a sword from the royal guard and beheaded Lady Jeon on the spot. Without hesitation, he marched to the queen dowager's quarters.

Brandishing his blood-stained garment before the queen dowager, the king declared, "Mother, wherefore didst thou slay mine own mother? Behold the tears of blood shed by thy sister." The queen dowager, maintaining her composure, replied, "Your Majesty, thou must follow the will of the late king." Cutting her off, the king roared, "Silence! Thou didst slay mine own mother and deceived me for over twenty years. The queen dowager, the Three Bureaus, and the Six Ministries all conspired to deceive the sovereign. Dost thou expect to survive after letting the king commit such unfilial acts?"

Pouring a drink with sinister calm, the king continued, "This is a drink from thy beloved son. Taste it once." Terrified, the queen dowager refused. In a final act of ruthless authority, the king ordered the royal guard to dismember Lady Jeon's corpse, salt it, and scatter it across the mountains and fields. The queen dowager Kim was then confined to Yanghwadang Hall, her fate sealed by the king's unyielding wrath.