Lee Yeong's fingers had already closed around the dragon emblem hidden beneath his plain merchant robe when the police captain lifted the wooden club toward his chest and ordered him to kneel, because the sight of the starving boy crying beside the porridge scattered across the dirt had pushed his patience to the very edge, and although he knew that revealing himself now would immediately warn every official involved in the missing grain, it became almost impossible to remain silent while men wearing government uniforms destroyed food in front of children who had not eaten properly for days.
Seon Jeo had also shifted his hand beneath his robe, ready to pull out the short blade hidden against his waist if the captain struck the King, while Eunuch Jang stood near the overturned cooking table with his sleeves rolled above his wrists, his face filled with such fury that he had almost forgotten the humble behaviour expected from the ordinary servant he was pretending to be.
