- Overview
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Yeon Hong, who has cooked noodles at a late-night bookstore, becomes a lover of Lee Won, the crown prince! Yeon Hong enters the palace in order to search for clues about her biological mother and gets to have a romance there.
- Book Intro
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A bookstore girl becomes a noble lady!
Yeon Hong is the owner of Dok Rak Dang, a late-night bookstore located in a back alley in the capital city of Joseon. During the day, she does chores at a Gisaeng house, and at night, she cooks noodles at the bookstore. In her free time, she investigates the secret of her birth. Accused of illegal late-night operations by the government, she must close her bookstore and is left with no means of living. In the past, ex-Inspector General Song Shi-heon wanted to adopt her, but she politely refused because she considered being a noble lady to be boring. However, now with the change in her circumstances, she agrees to Song’s wish and becomes his daughter. One day, while she gradually adapts to the life of a noble lady, each gentry family receives a letter that says that the queen consort will hold a gathering for writing and reciting poems to find the crown prince’s concubine. Not knowing the purpose of the gathering, Yeon Hong attends and shows her brilliance. But when she realizes the reason for the gathering, she runs away because she does not want to be a concubine. However, something soon changes her mind . . .
The noble lady becomes a crown princess consort!
She changes her mind because of a jade hairpin, which is a keepsake from her biological mother. Although she at first wants to be taken out of consideration to be a concubine, after realizing that the jade hairpin belonged to court ladies at the queen dowager’s palace, she decides to enter the palace. Since there is a rumor that the crown prince is impotent, she believes that she can play the role of concubine while searching for clues about her mother.
Accordingly, Yeon Hong is proclaimed the crown princess consort. Although she is expected to put all her efforts into producing an heir, she is busy investigating her mother. Won, the crown prince, hopes that he and Yeon Hong can have a sweet romance, but he spends many a lonely night because of Yeon Hong, who keeps asking him to wait for her until she gets herself ready. Naemyeongbu, the Inner Court of Ladies, consists of the queen consort, the crown princess, the kings’ concubines Sukeui and Eunaedang, and Sukeui’s daughter princess Seongha. Tugs of war for power take place every day in the court. However, Yeon Hong successfully gets those in the court on her side with her innate sociability. This allows her to continue collecting information about the jade hairpin, which leads her to find out that her mother was one of five court ladies who transcribed books at Ohyangjae when the queen dowager was alive.
The crown princess consort is a suspect in an attempted murder!
In order to search for the other four court ladies, who would know whether her mother is alive, Yeon Hong sends a letter for help to her family. However, the letter is mistaken for a love letter to her stepbrother Wooshin, and suspicions and scandal about them spread wildly. One day, Eunaedang is found collapsed from being poisoned in Ohyangjae. Yeon Hong is seen as a suspect and is put in prison by Uigeumbu, the High Criminal Investigation Bureau. Meanwhile, Wooshin is also imprisoned for allegedly having an affair with the crown princess consort.
Later, Won, who returns from Gangmu, an outdoor military training event, finds out what has happened to his beloved concubine and friend and is enraged. Who did this and why? Now Won, Yeon Hong, and Wooshin fight back at the enemies to debunk the conspiracy that plunged them into an abyss.
- About the Author
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Gang Seon-woo
(English) The author Ghang Seonwoo graduated from Hanyang University as an Education major. Ghang wrote scenarios for children’s animation and expanded her genre to drama. She received the excellence award at the Broadcasting Content Promotion Foundation Drama Contest with her Story of the Virtuous Myoungeun and was also awarded at the Yes 24 Web Novel Contest with her novel, The Cheerful Detective Agency of Joseon, which was an adaptation of the Story of the Virtuous Myoungeun. Ghang’s The Chronicles of Royal Concubines during the Joseon Dynasty was awarded the excellence award at the Story Contest by the Korea Creative Content Agency and was published in the forms of book and e-book. Currently Ghang is working on a drama scenario based on her novel The Abyss of the Heart.
(Chinese) 姜善宇作家毕业于汉阳大学教育系，曾执笔幼儿动画剧本，后来将题材扩大到电视剧领域。在广播文化振兴财团电视剧征集活动中，凭借《烈女明恩传》获得优秀奖，并以此改编的《朝鲜明郎兴信所》在Yes24网络小说征集活动中获奖。在韩国文化振兴院故事征集大会上，凭借《朝鲜后宫实录：燕洪传》获得优秀奖，同一作品作为图书和电子书出版。另外在大韩民国文化资讯大奖征集活动中以《深渊心书》获奖，目前以同一作品执笔电视剧。新书《青年主妇九云梦》为一部故事推荐作品，作者阐明了作品的意义：“这是一位无意中在主妇领域发现才能的一个青年的成长录，是献给世界上所有伟大主妇的献词。”
