The Red Sleeve

 Romance, Historical, Friendship, Family

Sung Deok-Im worked a s court lady since she was young. She was very clever and naughty girl. She served under Crown Prince Yi San. She was good at reading story to other court lady. This is also how she earned money in the Palace. Her target was to earn 100 yang. One day, she has been caught of the head of court lady for reading story to them. In order to punish her, the court lady ordered her to visit Crown Prince Yi San’s grandmother who passed away not long ago. Sung Deok-Im went to her residence during midnight. She was scared and did not know how to go. Crown Prince Yi San also secretly went to visit his grandmother for the last time. He was prohibited from entering her residence. On the way to her residence, he coincidently met Sung Deok-Im. They went to the same destination. Before Crown Prince Yi San managed to ask for her name, his grandfather (King Youngjo) came in. Crown Prince Yi San quickly escape so that his grandfather did not notice him. Sung Deok-Im wanted to escape too, but it was too late. She stayed at there for a moment. King Youngjo chatted with Sung Deok-Im and also presented her a book that wrote by King Youngjo’s wife.

Sung Deok-Im was taught to protect the Crown Prince. In the Palace, everyone is prohibited from studying banned book. Crown Prince Yi San has been caught for reading banned book. In order to protect the Crown Prince, Sung Deok-Im entered his library and also took away the book. She tore the banned pages of the book so that Crown Prince Yi San will not be caught by King Youngjo. Crown Prince Yi San asked Hong Deok-Ro whether he was the one who saved him. Hong Deok-Ro just admit that he did. He gained favor from the Crown Prince Yi San. Crown Prince Yi San was trying to look for Sung Deok-Im. However, he was told that Sung Deok-Im already leave the palace. He could not believe it but he decided to give up for looking for her. He wanted to thank you for that day.

After few years later, Sung Deok-Im worked at the Crown Prince’s library. She listened to the lesson between the Crown Prince and also his lecturer. Other than reading story, she also helps Princess Chungyeon and Princess Chungsun to do transcript. One day, Sung Deok-Im accidentally hit Crown Prince Yi San and both of them fell into the pond. Crown Prince Yi San ordered her to write an apology letter for him. Crown Prince Yi San went to his library, but he has been chased out by Sung Deok-Im. He could not be able to tell her who he was. He just lied to her that he was the Crown Prince’s lecturer.

When Sung Deok-Im submitted her apology letter, Crown Prince Yi San recognized her right away. However, he rejected her letter numerous times which made Sung Deok-Im furious about it. She asked the lecturer to teach her how to write a proper apology letter. Crown Prince Yi San pretended to be the lecturer and gave her some advice. Crown Prince Yi San was trying to catch the tiger. He sent many appeals to King Youngjo. However, King Youngjo did not approve it as the guards are meant to protect the Crown Prince not to catch the tiger. Crown Prince Yi San’s intention was simple, he just wanted to protect the people. One day, Crown Prince Yi realized that the tiger has entered the palace. He asked Sung Deok-Im for help to evacuate the area of court lady. He also saved Sung Deok-Im from being attacked by the tiger. He set up traps to kill the tiger. However, after the incident, the officers worried that the Crown Prince was going to held treason since he was capable to kill the tiger easily. The King punished Crown Prince Yi San for disobeying his order.

Princess Chungyeon and Princess Chungsun were worried about their brother. They asked Sung Deok-Im for help to finish up the transcript for the King. Sung Deok-Im worried about the lecturer who might also get punished by the King. She quickly finished all the transcript in one day. She met the Queen Jungsoon and the Queen Jungsoon suggested her to meet the King directly and asked him to forgive the Crown Prince. Sung Deok-Im brought the books and went to the King residence. She was afraid of the King and planned to leave the book and left. However, when the King said that he will grant her a wish. She simply spilled out that she wanted the King to forgive the Crown Prince. The King became furious and using ‘dead’ to scare her. She told the King her story and begged the King to let her stay alive. The King did not have the intention to kill her. After the talking, Sung Deok-Im left the room.

The next day, Sung Deok-Im heard that the King finally forgive the Crown Prince Yi San. She was really happy about it. Princess Chungyeon and Sung Deok-Im was walking in the garden. Princess Chungyeon thanked her for completing the transcript for her. Sung Deok-Im then asked for the transcript fees. Suddenly, they saw Crown Prince Yi San on the other side. Princess Chungyeon introduced Sung Deok-Im to Crown Prince Yi San. Crown Prince Yi San tried to cover his face, but it was too late. Sung Deok-Im saw his reflection in the pond. She was totally surprised that the lecturer was Crown Prince Yi San. 

Crown Prince Yi San tried to explain to her and also apologized to her for his lying. However, Crown Prince Yi San was really impressed with her intelligence. Due to her outstanding performance on calligraphy, Sung Deok-Im was now in charge of serving the Crown Prince Yi San. Sung Deok-Im wanted to avoid him badly since he told her to stay out of his sight. However, she has no other choice but to work for Crown Prince.

Sung Deok-Im was having off day and she went back to her foster parent house. She paid a visit to Princess Hyebin.  Princess Hyebin was Crown Prince Yi San’s mother. She asked Sung Deok-Im to report every move of her son. Although Sung Deok-Im did not want to break the rule, she has no choice but to obey her instruction. Since Sung Deok-Im was young, she and her son came to see Princess Hyebin. Her brother begged Princess Hyebin to save their lives. From that moment onwards, Sung Deok-Im and her brother have been separated.

Sung Deok-Im soon will be officially become the court lady for Crown Prince. Every court lady dressed up to serve the Crown Prince Yi San. Crown Prince Yi San was shocked to see Sung Deok-Im putting up her hair. His followers told him that it was the ceremony for the court lady to carry out. Crown Prince Yi San was embarrassed and quickly left the place. He started to miss her and think about her.

One day, she followed Crown Prince Yi San to courtesan house under the instruction of Princess Hyebin. She has been caught by Hong Deok-Ro. Hong Deok-Ro was going to kill her but he has been stopped by Crown Prince Yi San. Crown Prince Yi San questioned Sung Deok-Im and she honestly told him that she just followed the order of Princess Hyebin. Although the Crown Prince Yi San could have killed her, she wasn’t fear of anything. Crown Prince Yi San started to grow feeling for her. He bought some books for Sung Deok-Im to read. He also went to see her mother and protest her asking Sung Deok-Im to monitor his moves.

Because Sung Deok-Im asked the King to forgive Crown Prince, Princess Hwawan was unhappy with her. Princess Hwawan was Crown Prince Yi San’s aunt. However, she disliked her nephew very much. She framed Sung Deok-Im’s skirt for touching the path where the King walks. Crown Prince bypassed the path and stopped Princess Hwawan for punishing his servant. In order to be fair, they met Queen Jungsoon to judge the matter. Queen Jungsoon did not see this matter as serious offence. She suggested the punishment to be pay cut for 6 months. However, Princess Hwawan wasn’t satisfied with the suggestion. Suddenly, the King came to Queen Jungsoon’s residence. The King allowed the Crown Prince to punish his servant. Princess Hwawan has no choice but to agree with the outcome. Crown Prince Yi San expressed his feeling for Sung Deok-Im. Sung Deok-Im was really happy about it.

During the ceremony, Princess Hyebin came to see Crown Prince Yi San. They spoke about marrying a same status person to produce heirs. He told his mother that he will not marry a lowly servant. He was shocked when he saw Sung Deok-Im was the one who presented the food for her. Sung Deok-Im was angry towards Crown Prince Yi San for ruining her day.

Princess Hwawan has a foster son, Royal Secretary Jung Baek-Ik. She asked him to gather evidence that against Crown Prince Yi San. Jung Baek-Ik presented the evidence to King Youngjo. King Youngjo was angry and banned Crown Prince Yi San from reading books and not allowed to leave the room. He scolded Crown Prince Yi San for going to courtesan house. Crown Prince Yi San did not explain much to him. He just apologized. Sung Deok-Im witnessed everything since she was on night duty at the Crown Prince’s residence. She asked Yi San what can she do for him. He told her to stay by his side, that’s all he wanted.

Sung Deok-Im carried out the missions that Crown Prince Yi San instructed. She did it successfully. She managed to convince Queen Jungsoon to help Crown Prince Yi San lifted the King’s order. She also helped the Queen Jungsoon to get rid of Princess Hwawan who wore silk that made from Qin rather than Joseon. Princess Hwawan has been punished by the Queen for not setting a good example for the people. King Youngjo did not scold the Queen for punishing his daughter, he was glad that she treated her like her own child.

Queen Jungsoon talked to King Youngjo to lift the punishment on Crown Prince Yi San. Crown Prince Yi San managed to get out from his residence. King Youngjo’s health was not in good condition. He talked to the Crown Prince Yi San to find a good woman to share his burden as a King. This is the advice that he gave to him.

Crown Prince Yi San overheard the conversation between the court ladies. He heard that Sung Deok-Im said she was adored to Crown Prince Yi San. He was extremely happy about it. He expressed his feeling for her but she kept drawing lines between them. Crown Prince Yi San could not understand why she did that. After hearing from his head guard man, he realized that he did not listen the story in full. Sung Deok-Im only admired Crown Prince Yi San as a Crown Prince, and she has no personal feeling for him.

Hong Deok-Ro was jealous when Crown Prince Yi San seemed to care more about Sung Deok-Im. He warned Sung Deok-Im not to get any closer to Crown Prince Yi San. Hong Deok-Ro has a little sister, and Sung Deok-Im helped her to get into the Palace. Hong Deok-Ro was not happy that Sung Deok-Im bring his sister to him.

Head Court Lady Jo wanted Sung Deok-Im to see her. She wanted to make Sung Deok-Im to become Crown Prince Yi San’s concubine. She purposely assigned her to work at his library. Sung Deok-Im did not have the intention to become his concubine. She felt that she has been used by Head Court Lady Jo to win the Crown Prince’s heart.

One day, Crown Prince Yi San saw Hong Deok-Ro and Sung Deok-Im were talking closely with one another. He was jealous and furious at the same time. Sung Deok-Im was not be able to work for the Crown Prince for a moment since Queen Jungsoon asked her to work for her. Queen Jungsoon asked as if Sung Deok-Im wanted to stay by her side. Sung Deok-Im insisted that she wanted to work for Crown Prince Yi San. At night, Crown Prince Yi San asked Sung Deok-Im why did she and Hong Deok-Ro looked so intimate with one another. Sung Deok-Im then asked why he did not stop Hong Deok-Ro for harassing her. Crown Prince Yi San was stunt at the moment. He told her that he only cared about her.

Sung Deok-Im found her long lost brother. She was happy to see him. Her brother worried about her staying at the Palace. Sung Deok-Im told him that she was happy to live there and she was good at her job. Crown Prince Yi San also saw Sung Deok-Im and her brother standing in front of the gate. Her brother gave her a pair of gloves to protect her hands. When Sung Deok-Im went to the library, she was surprised to see Crown Prince Yi San there. Crown Prince Yi San wasn’t in the mood. He questioned Sung Deok-Im whether her heart and feeling belonged to him. Sung Deok-Im stood firm and told him that her heart and feeling belonged to hers not others.

Head Court Lady Jo met with Sung Deok-Im again. She wanted her to be a spy on Crown Prince Yi San. However, Sung Deok-Im refused to join him. She told her to believe in him. Head Court Lady Jo then caught Sung Deok-Im’s superior and forced her to join them. She wanted to her superior to convince her student to join her.

Hong Deok-Ro insisted to recruit the royal physician of the King to join their mission even though Crown Prince Yi San was strongly against it. The royal physician gave him a list of medicine that he gave to the King. Crown Prince Yi San was surprised that the King has dementia. The King appointed Crown Prince Yi San to be regency, but many officer against it due to he was a traitor’s son.

Because Sung Deok-Im refused to join hand with Head Court Lady Jo, she made a complain on her. There was a spot-check on court ladies’ room. They found a book wrote by the late Queen. Sung Deok-Im admitted that the book was belonged to her. However, nobody trusted her as servant cannot owned royal items. Sung Deok-Im begged Queen Jungsoon to give her a chance to explain. She explained that the book was given by the King himself, but she did not have witness during that time. She asked Queen Jungsoon to allow her to have an audience with the King.

Sung Deok-Im explained the whole story to let the King recalled. The King finally recalled the moment and she was saved. The King told her that the reason why he gave her the book was because she wanted to write a good writing. The King was also impressed that she was now having a good writing. Crown Prince Yi San heard her story and realized that she was the girl that he met during that night. He confessed to her that his name was Yi San. Both of them hugged one another.

An old court lady has been kidnapped by Head Court Lady Jo. She wanted to tell the Crown Prince Yi San the truth about his father, but Head Court Lady Jo stopped her. Head Court Lady Jo was used to be favor by the King and the King promised her to make her his Queen after he ascended the throne. However, the King did not keep his promise and made her best friend became the Queen instead. Head Court Lady Jo was angry and jealous at the same time. She then made Crown Prince Yi San went crazy so that the King killed his own son.

Crown Prince Yi San was instructed to go to the temporary palace for a moment during his regency. He heard the villages complaint about the missing girls. He was frustrated and angry why the government did not repeal the matter to the palace. Hong Deok-Ro told him to leave the matter aside because Crown Prince Yi San did not have the authority to catch the culprits. While Sung Deok-Im and her superior went to collect some items from another department, Sung Deok-Im’s superior told her about the organization that runs by Head Court Lady Jo. Sung Deok-Im was shocked to hear that. Suddenly, they found many gunpowder threw in the sea. Sung Deok-Im’s superior suspected that there was a treason going to happen. Sung Deok-Im quickly sent signal to inform Crown Prince Yi San about the news. During evening, they quickly went back to the temporary palace.

Crown Prince Yi San saw the kite and quickly prepared his weapon. He realized that all the gunpowder were gone and the arrows were broken. Crown Prince Yi San quickly planned his strategy to capture his enemies. They managed to secure the palace with the help of additional soldiers from another province. Head Court Lady Jo heard about the news and quickly planned her next steps. She approached another royal officer to tell the King that Crown Prince Yi San was planning for treason. The King arranged royal inspector to investigate the matter.

During the family gathering organized by Queen Jungsoon, every royal family member prepared a special dish to serve the King. Suddenly, there was a dish that the King despised the most. It was raw persimmon and marinated crabs. The King disliked that because it was the dish that caused poison to his son. He tried to hit Princess Hyebin as he suspected that she purposely did that. However, Crown Prince Yi San stopped him directly. Although he knew that Princess Hwawan was the one behind it, he did not spill out. Queen Jungsoon scolded Princess Hwawan for acting recklessly.

Sung Deok-Im wanted to destroy the signatory of her superior. She asked her friends for helps too. They nearly being caught by Head Court Lady Jo. Coincidently, they found a secret pathway to their secret meeting area. They also found the old Court Lady who used to serve the late crown prince. They brought her out from the room and treated her wound.

Head Court Lady Jo found out that Sung Deok-Im has knew her secret. However, she did nothing harm on her. As the King’s illness has become worsen, he decided to give Head Court Lady Jo a luxury house. He apologized to her. Head Court Lady Jo asked the King why he did not choose her instead. The King explained that he cannot live with someone like him. He felt more comfortable to have his wife stayed by his side.

Crown Prince Yi San decided to take the blame. King Youngjo was going to dethrone Crown Prince Yi San. Sung Deok-Im was worried about Crown Prince Yi San. She tried to find way to help him. The old court lady told her a way to rescue Crown Prince Yi San. She gave her the hat, the word craved on Sung Deok-Im’s back and also the ring that Princess Hyebin wore. With the words given, Sung Deok-Im finally found the answer. She needed to find the Document of truth which was the promise that King Youngjo made to the late crown prince to protect Crown Prince Yi San’s life.

However, Sung Deok-Im was unable to enter the Court. She seeked help from Queen Jungsoon. Queen Jungsoon initially did not want to involve in this matter. Sung Deok-Im convinced her and agreed to help Yi San for the last time. However, she warned Sung Deok-Im not to beg her to protect the Crown Prince Yi San in future. Sung Deok-Im and the Queen went to see King Youngjo. Sung Deok-Im told the King about the Document of Truth. The King managed to find the document and also ascended the throne to Yi San.

King Youngjo ordered his men to lock up Head Court Lady Jo as the royal inspector mentioned about her name. King Youngjo asked her why did she plan for murdering the Crown Prince. Because she resent the King so much, she decided to take her own life. The King cannot bear to see her died in front of her. He fell sick after this. The next day, King Youngjo passed away. Before he died, he told Yi San the first thing to do is to kill anyone who is trying to harm him. He also begged Yi San to forgive him. The Royal Secretary begged Yi San not to kill Princess Hwawan. He wanted to receive the punishment instead of his mother. He said goodbye to his mother and left the palace.

After three years, Yi San was busy to rule to the country. However, he told Sung Deok-Im that he wanted to make her as his consort and start a family with her. He asked her to think about it. One day, there was a group of rebels trying to kill Yi San. With the investigation, Hong Deok-Ro managed to find the rebels within the palace. Yi San asked Sung Deok-Im whether he should kill the rebels. She firmly told him that he should. However, she regretted when Hong Deok-Ro mentioned about killing Yi San’s family. She felt that she should say those things so lightly. Yi San has no other choice but to order his men to kill those rebels.

Queen Jungsoon was unhappy that Yi San killed her son without discussing with her. She was a grandmother, wanted to find a suitable woman for Yi San. Yi San did not want anyone else except for Sung Deok-Im. The Queen Jungsoon recommended Hong Deok-Ro’s sister to be appointed as his queen. Yi San went to see his mother and asked why do she side with Queen Jungsoon. Princess Hyebin told Yi San that she met Sung Deok-Im first. Sung Deok-Im told her that she has no intention to become royal concubine. Therefore, when Hong Deok-Ro approached her and recommended his sister, she felt that she was a good candidate too.

Yi San could not understand and asked Sung Deok-Im why she did not tell him instead. Sung Deok-Im explained that she did not want to lose everything just to become a royal concubine. Yi San tried to understand that, so he decided to on hold on this matter, he insisted that he did not give up for asking her to become his concubine.

Hong Deok-Ro’s sister has become the royal concubine for Yi San. However, Yi San not really appreciated her. Soon Hong Deok-Ro’s sister was having depression and passed away suddenly. Hong Deok-Ro cannot accept the fact that his sister passed away. He captured a few court ladies from the Queen residences to torture them. He also intended to poison the Queen for making his sister like that. Yi San has found out about it and waited for the right moment to catch him.

Sung Deok-Im’s friend has been missing. She told Yi San about it. Yi San instructed Hong Deok-Ro to investigate the matter. Sung Deok-Im suspected that her friend has been caught by Hong Deok-Ro. She wrote a letter to the Queen so that the Queen can punish Hong Deok-Ro instead of Yi San. She came to the secret place where Hong Deok-Ro hid those court ladies. Hong Deok-Ro found Sung Deok-Im and threatened her to write confession letter for framing the Queen. Yi San stepped in just in time. He caught him on the spot and released other court ladies as well. Yi San was really angry towards Sung Deok-Im for not looking for his help. He then instructed her to leave the palace before the day break. Sung Deok-Im packed her stuff and left the palace the next day. Yi San has no intention to kill Hong Deok-Ro due to his wrongdoings. He asked Hong Deok-Ro to tender his resignation instead. Yi San worried that Sung Deok-Im might find it difficult to live outside the palace. He then asked for his sister to help Sung Deok-Im.

1 year later, Yi San visited his sister. He saw Sung Deok-Im was there too. He threatened Sung Deok-Im that he was going to punish her if she refused to be his concubine. Sung Deok-Im still insisted that will not accept his love. Soon, Sung Deok-Im has been called to enter the palace. She worked under the royal concubine of Yi San, Princess Hwabin. Yi San thought that Queen Jungsoon was the one who called her. Initially, he decided to forget about Sung Deok-Im, however, he was surprised to see her at the palace.

Princess Hwabin realized that the King and Sung Deok-Im has an unusual relationship. She kept find faults to punish her. She even instructed her to wash cloths during night time. Yi San later found out that Princess Hwabin has been bullying her. He scolded Princess Hwabin and told her to treat Sung Deok-Im well because she was the maid that sent by his mother.

Queen Jungsoon liked Sung Deok-Im very much. She always cherished with her and hope that she can work for her and be her best friend. However, Sung Deok-Im declined that offer. Queen Jungsoon respected her decision.

Hong Deok-Ro passed away and he left a letter for the King. Yi San was very upset to hear the news. Hong Deok-Ro confessed that he was not the one who rescued him from reading the banned book. It was a court lady who secretly tore the pages to save him. Yi San found the pages in Sung Deok-Im’s room. He asked her whether she was the one who saved him. Sung Deok-Im admitted. Yi San was glad that Sung Deok-Im was the one who always help him. When he asked her again, she refused to be his concubine.

Sung Deok-Im’s brother finally completed his exam and became the Royal guard. Sung Deok-Im was extremely happy for her brother. However, Princess Hwabin claimed that she was meeting other man outside the Palace. Princess Hwabin also asked Queen Jungsoon to rule the matter. Yi San came to visit Princess Hwabin and found out that Sung Deok-Im has been questioned by them. Yi San was unable to help her since Princess Hwabin presented the evidence and Sung Deok-Im also admitted that she met a guy. With the help of Princess Hyebin, Sung Deok-Im managed to clear her name. The guy that she met is her brother. Yi San was happy to hear that. However, Princess Hwabin insisted to punish her due to her father for helping Crown Prince Sado who was a traitor. Yi San was extremely angry when he heard that. He scolded Princess Hwabin badly and left her residence. He also asked Sung Deok-Im to come to his bedchamber that night.

Sung Deok-Im wondered Yi San was going to punish her that night. Yi San told her that he was going to let her go if she refused to sleep with him. Sung Deok-Im wondered a bit as she wanted to see the King. Therefore, she decided to stay at the palace forever. Her friends were surprised when they heard that Sung Deok-Im has become the concubine. Yi San was really happy that Sung Deok-Im can stay by his side forever. He visited her every day.

3 months later, Sung Deok-Im was pregnant. Yi San was extremely happy about it. Sung Deok-Im thought that Yi San will come to her that day. Yi San did not come, but went to Princess Hwabin’s residence instead. He comforted her as a duty of the King. Early in the morning, Yi San came to see Sung Deok-Im and apologized to her. Although Sung Deok-Im wanted to leave the palace and enjoy her life to the fullest, she has no other choice. Even though she did not want to become a concubine, she can’t refuse it. She was glad that her friends often come to visit her and talked to her. Yi San was a great King, but he cannot be a great husband since she has to share her husband with the Queen’s.

Yi San decided to give Sung Deok-Im a title Ui if she gave birth to a son. She will become the royal consort after all. Although Sung Deok-Im wasn’t happy to live as a consort, she still has to move on with her life in palace.

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