That evening, the prince, Jin-Ri, Captain Gi, Lady Hu, and Yeng gathered in the Cherry Blossom. "Are you out of your mind, Yong?" Jin-Ri exclaimed upon hearing Young-Sik's plan. "You want to break Lee Eri out of prison?"
"No, I'm not breaking her out of prison," Young-Sik clarified, causing the others to relax momentarily. "We are breaking her out of prison!" he declared with a wide grin.
Jin-Ri, in a fit of frustration, tugged at her hair. "That's even worse!" she shouted, her voice rising to a near-scream.
"Your Highness," Captain Gi interjected, addressing the prince. "I understand your commitment to justice, but isn't springing one of them from prison a bit extreme?"
Young-Sik glances over to Mun-Hee. "How about you, Lady Hu? Do you share their sentiments?"
"Of course, I share their sentiments. Having said that, I know for a fact that it won't stop you from going through with your plan," Mun-He said "So rather than letting you do something extremely stupid by yourself...I guess it's better to help you" she explains, hoping this would convince the other two would cooperate.
Young-Sik smiled at Mun-Hee; he turned to the others, "Well? She said yes. How about you three?" he asked Jin-Ri and Captain Gi, like he was convincing them to say yes.
Sighing, Jin-Ri replied, "As if I'm going to let you do something idiotic on your own," she said with a very irritated voice.
"If she said yes...then what the heck?" Yeng exclaimed, "For the record, this is the worst idea in a world filled with bad ideas." She added
The four of them then looked at Captain Gi. Knowing he was outnumbered and cornered sighed and scratched his head "Ah Shit! Fine, I'll join you guys," He said to the three. "But only to make sure none of you gets into any trouble," He added to clarify his intentions. "So, how do you plan to do this?"
All eyes turned to Prince Young-Sik, who rubbed his chin for a while like he was pondering about how to proceed "Lee Eri, having already been sentenced and waiting for execution is no longer with the general population of prisoners" Young-Sik unfurled a large parchment, and started to draw what looks like a compound layout. He drew a large rectangle in the middle of the parchment. Inside the rectangle, he drew smaller rectangles side by side on all sides. He then drew three pairs of parallel lines outside the big rectangle, going in every direction.
"This is a rough sketch of the prison compound" Young-Sik began to explain "Here, is where they hold political prisoners like Eri," He said pointing to the eastern side of the rectangle "As of to date, Lee Eri is the only one being held, which is an advantage on our part. Captain Gi, how many guards are within the prison complex?"
Captain Gi replied, placing small stones as markers at various points of the map, "Guards always rotate in pairs. Four pairs inside the complex at any time," He pointed to all sides of the complex. "Two pairs along the entrance, a pair each...here, here, and here. Finally, two pairs that constantly patrol the area"
"Twenty-two guards?" Yeng mentioned, rather surprised, "How are we getting into a place as heavily guarded as that? Let alone get someone out?"
"That is why during the shift changes, my dear Jin-Ri will provide the distraction," Young-Sik suggested
"Me? Why me? How will I even distract them?" she asked, confused about the role she was going to play
"The shift changes always happen in front of the gate during the hour of the rooster, which also coincides with the time food is brought to the prisoners," Young-Sik said, as he began to explain his plan "During that time Jin-Ri, you will wheel in the food for the prisoners, the guards who are all gathered at the gates will inspect what the food for poison especially the ones for political prisoners"
The prince then looked at Captain Gi. "While the shift changes are happening, the prison cells will be without guards. Captain, we have a window of only a few minutes to get Lee Eri out of that place."
"After getting her out? What next?" Mun-Hee asked the prince, eagerly waiting for her role
"You and Yeng will be waiting here, by the southern walls of the palace, bring anything that you can use to hide Eri while you transport her," Young-Sik instructed his friend
"Transport? Transport her where?" Mun-Hee asked, confused about where she should hide the former Queen
"The Cherry Blossom, where else?" Young-Sik replied casually, "But only temporarily, she will stay there until we can transfer her to my grandfather's estate." He immediately added, upon receiving a sharp glare from Mun-Hee
"This is a very risky plan, Yong. Many things can go wrong," Jin-Ri expressed her concern. "How about we create a decoy to replace the Queen in her cell?"
"Who would be stupid enough to agree to such a thing?" Lady Hu asked, skeptical about the suggestion
Young-Sik clicked his fingers, shifting the focus. "It's not about who, it's about what," he clarified, proposing a change to their strategy. "If Lee Eri vanishes without a trace, the guards will catch on right away. We'll be toast, and the alarm will go on before we even get close to the walls. But we could gain some crucial time if we use a decoy or a dummy."
"This addition to the plan makes sense, but how are we going to pull this off? It's not like we can just put a statue to replace her," Captain Gi asked, wanting to know more details about the addition to the plan
"Lady Hu, Yeng, can the two of you make a life-size doll?" The prince asked Mun-Hee, hoping the answer would be yes
"I know how to make a doll, yes?" Yeng answered
"I can make dolls, but life-size? That is another thing," Mun-Hee said in protest of what she knew the prince would ask her to do
"We only have four days left before the execution; I know the two of you can make it happen. It doesn't have to be something that exactly looks like her, just enough to pass as her," Young-Sik said
"Not look like her, but enough to pass as her? Hmm, then that means" Mun-Hee playfully taps her chin. "It has to look exactly like her!" she blurted out, surprising everyone. "I can't even make a doll that looks like me, how do you expect me to make a life-sized version of her?"
Yeng interjected, "Lady Hu, we don't necessarily need a twin. We just need something that gives the illusion of a person in the cell, like someone lying down. We can arrange the decoy to appear as if someone is sleeping, facing away from the guards. It doesn't have to be a perfect replica, does it?" Yeng elaborated, explaining how they would pull this off.
Nodding Mun-Hee replied, "I guess we can make a life-sized sleeping doll convincingly enough."
"Now we're talking!" Young-Sik convincingly expressed, "Now here are the things we need to do and acquire."
"Jin-Ri, starting today, I want you to bring Lee Eri food. If anyone asks why, tell them I told you to do it, tell them I am trying to butter her up to tell me the names of her accomplices. That way, the guards will be used to seeing you there." He instructed his beloved, who nodded back to him, understanding his instructions
Turning to Kwan, he gave his instructions, "Captain Gi, I need you to verify the pattern of those patrolling guards, if anything is an obvious factor we won't be able to control, it would be them. That's why we should at least predict their pattern."
"Lady Hu, we need to prepare a rickshaw, but not just a rickshaw. It needs to have a secret compartment where Eri can hide until she gets to the Cherry Blossom. Also, no one in Cherry Blossom can know about this," Young-Sik cautioned Mun-He and Yeng
"Maybe one or two we need someone to keep guard on her, none of us can keep an eye on her all the time," Mun-Hee told the prince "I can put someone to guard her don't worry I'll put the one I trust the most" She added, promising that they would not be in trouble with the alteration she made.
Agreeing to the plan, Young-Sik nods, "Okay, sounds good enough. While you all do the things I've assigned to you. I will try to change the judgment or at least delay the date of execution."
Day one: Jin-Ri brings a tray of tasty food to the prison complex and is immediately stopped by the prison guards. "What is this?" one of the guards asks. "And who is it for?"
"These are food for Lee Eri, Roasted pork, Deep-fried chicken, braised beef, kimchi, steamed rice, and mango-lemon punch," She answered back while balancing the tray filled with delicacies.
"It's against the rules to bring food to any of the prisoners. Take it back!" The second guard told Jin-Ri
"What's your name?" she asked the guard, who was clearly on a mission to reclaim the snacks.
"Why do you care? You've got a little crush, don't you?" The guard smirked at Jin-Ri and winked like he was auditioning for a rom-com.
Jin-Ri let out a dramatic scoff, rolling her eyes like they were on a rollercoaster. "Oh, just so I can let Prince Kim Young-Sik know who to blame for my epic failure at following his royal commands!"
The guards suddenly turned paper white when they heard who ordered her to bring the prisoner food, "P-Prince Young-Sik?" They asked nervously. The two guards looked at each other before a sudden change of heart and demeanor "Well why didn't you say so, this all just a big misunderstanding, you're free to go and if you want to bring any prisoners anything else feel free to do so" The guards told her, while opening the door.
Like a wild animal, Jin-Ri snarled and snapped at the guards, causing them to flinch. She entered the prison complex and went directly to Lee Eri's holding cell. "This is from Prince Young-Sik, please enjoy the food," she said to the former Queen with a deep bow
Lee Eri scoffed and turned her back on Jin-Ri. "Tell your lover, I will not be swayed so easily."
Jin-Ri only smiled and simply replied, "As you wish." She then turned around and left the prison complex.
Lee Eri slowly turned to see if the court maiden had truly left. Once she confirmed that Jin-Ri had left, she quickly crawled toward the food. She reached for the meal and started to greedily eat the food given to her.
End of day two: Captain Gi was perched on top of a tree that overlooks the prison complex, scratching his head, "What the heck are these knuckleheads doing? Just when I thought I figured out their pattern, they did a different patrol pattern." Kwan threw a fit like a child throwing a tantrum: "How long will I stay up this tree?" Kwan lost his balance and fell from his perch, luckily, he landed on some tall grasses and shrubs. "What the heck? That almost killed me, now I have to climb back," Kwan groaned in pain as he looked up at his hidden perch.
Middle of day three, the eve of their daring plan, Mun-Hee and Yeng had just finished the life-sized doll "Finally, after several thousand stitches and several hundred skin pricks, you're finished" She looked at her creation and some thought entered her mind "You're supposed to be Lee Eri, right? Well, Lee Eri, this is payback for closing my business for three months two years ago. Nothing personal, just business!" She then started to beat the dummy and tore out its hair. Yeng watched on as Lady Hu mercilessly beat the doll.
After brutally beating a defenseless doll, Yeng pointed out something: "Lady Hu, I know you are not going to like this, but look at the head."
She looked at her creation and groaned, "Great, the head is torn off! Now I have to reattach the head...Lee Eri, you are sure a pain in the bottom." The two women started to sew and reattach the dummy's head.