Queen Inhyeon (Korean: 인현왕후; Hanja: 仁顯王后; 23 April 1667 – 14 August 1701), of the Yeoheung Min clan, was the second wife of King Sukjong, the 19th Joseon monarch.
In addition, Queen Inhyeon's aunt, Lady Hong of the Namyang Hong clan (Min Jeong-jung's second wife), and Queen Ingyeong's grandmother, Lady Yun of the Haepyeong Yun (Kim Man-gi and Kim Man-jung's mother) are maternal cousins.
Queen Ingyeong's grandmother, Lady Yun, was a maternal cousin-in-law to Hong Su-heon (Hong Cheo-hu's son and Han Seong-woo's brother-in-law) who married the daughter of Yi Suk, who was the sister of Queen Inhyeon's brother-in-law, Yi Man-chang.
After her mother-in-law's death in 1684, King Sukjong brought back Palace Lady Jang and went to her for comfort; soon favoring her as his concubine.
When Sukjong's concubine who belonged to the Southerners (Namin) faction, So-ui[b] Jang Ok-jeong, give birth to a son, Yi Yun in 1688, it created a bloody dispute called Gisa Hwanguk (기사환국).
Hui-bin's position was not expelled because of a crime, but it was unavoidable because there could not be two queens while Lady Min was reinstated” (‘민씨의 복위는 이미 정해졌으니 이에 대해 거론하여 다투는 것은 아들이 어머니에 대해 논하고 신하가 임금에 대해 의논하는 것이니 천하의 도리에 맞지 않으며, 희빈의 강호는 죄가 있어서 폐출된 것이 아니라 민씨가 복위함에 있어 왕비가 둘이 있을 수 없으니 부득이한 것이다’).
Nam Gu-man was able to execute two Noron supporters, Yeong Su (영수) and Min Am (민암, 閔黯; 1636–1694) for involvement, but Jang Hui-jae was able to escape death.
On 24 March 1700, lunar calendar, the Queen's illness was first reported with physicians stating that the diagnosis, at the time, was severe gout.
The Queen experienced severe pain in the lower body, especially in the legs and joints, and pus filling up around the affected area to the point where the skin and muscles feel separated from each other.
She also started getting symptoms of nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fever; resulting in loss of appetite.
On August 12, lunar calendar, it was reported that there was swelling in the mouth and the Queen's urine was red, and that she had trouble using the restroom properly.
Suddenly, the next day, August 13, lunar calendar, the Queen's condition rapidly deteriorated between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. With symptoms such as fainting, cold sweat on her forehead and back, and having an irregular pulse.
On 16 September 1701, from the hours of 1:00 am to 3:00 am, the Queen died of an unknown disease in a sanatorium at Changgyeong Palace in the quarters of Gyeongchunjeon.
Eavesdropping, he saw Jang Hui-bin with Shamanist priestesses in her chambers, praying for the Queen's death, while striking a figurine with arrows.
But in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty recorded in 1701, it states that Min Jin-won and Min Jin-hu, the late Queen Inhyeon's older brothers, informed King Sukjong of Jang Hui-bin's sorcery, claiming that in doing so they were in compliance with Queen Inhyeon's last request to them before she died.
Regardless of how this was discovered by Sukjong, he learned that she had built a shamanist altar within her quarters, where effigies with the name of the Queen were found.
[4] After concluding what the royal consort did was evil, Jang Hui-bin was executed for her actions by poison, one month after the Queen's death, on October 29.
[5] After her death, King Sukjong enacted a law forbidding concubines with the rank of Bin to become Queen Consort.