Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 42

“Here, catch her!”

“Kyaa!”

“Oh dear. What is going on?”

Amidst the chaos of frightened people, the guards blocked the path of the horse and its young rider, who had yet to escape. The woman holding the horse’s reins looked around, her face filled with panic.

Deok-chil, the servant who had identified the girl on the horse as the son of the traitor he served, pushed through the crowd and grabbed the horse.

As a servant of the Kim Sun-ik family and a personal attendant to young Master Su-cheon, Deok-chil may not have known much, but he understood what treason meant.

So, instead of delivering the message to Ji-hwa as instructed, he chose a different path.

He didn’t know which household he would end up serving if the family he had served was confiscated for treason.

The Kim Sun-ik family wasn’t a bad place to live, but after hearing stories from servants of other households, he knew that many were treated harshly. How could he endure it if his next master was like that?

Besides, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t be separated from his family and sent to another house.

He thought that if he reported the fleeing traitor’s child, he might receive a reward and avoid such suffering.

Deok-chil desperately reached out, trying to ignore the face of the young master who had followed him.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

“You villain! How dare you lay a hand on her?!”

“Hic?! Ah, no.”

Deok-chil, expecting to hear voices full of resentment, was met with a different reaction than he had anticipated.

“Me, the child of a traitor? Do you dare take responsibility for those words?”

“Th-that’s not it.”

The head guard approached, looking puzzled as Deok-chil stammered.

“Speak clearly. Is she the child of a traitor?”

“N-no. What is all this…?”

No! He had clearly heard young Master Su-cheon would be wearing blue clothes and riding a horse! How could the girl from before be on the horse again!

Then, perhaps that child knew where Su-cheon was.

Deok-chil, unsure of what to do in this unexpected turn of events, tried to calm his trembling body and opened his mouth.

And that’s when the problem occurred.

Stumbling in confusion, Deok-chil unknowingly grabbed the horse’s tail. The horse, already tense from the unfamiliar people approaching with weapons, panicked and began to rampage.

Heeheeing!!

“Kyaa!”

“Oh, young lady!!”

The woman holding the reins and the people around her panicked and scrambled to get out of the way.

And Deok-chil, who had grabbed the horse, couldn’t escape.

He was certain that the horse’s rider knew where young Master Su-cheon was. He couldn’t let go here, so he desperately clung to the horse’s tail, which turned out to be a great misfortune.

Thwack-!

The servant, who had never been around when his young master was learning to ride, was kicked in the back by the horse while holding onto its tail.

“Kyaaak!”

People screamed when they saw Deok-chil fall after being kicked by the horse, but Deok-chil couldn’t move. He didn’t even know what had happened to him.

“Oh, no!!”

The horse, having shaken off what was grabbing its tail, began to run forward madly.

The woman holding the reins tried her best to chase after the horse, but it was impossible to chase a horse on foot, so she soon gave up and wrung her hands in frustration.

Amidst the chaos, a sharp sound rang out.

Slap!

The woman who had been holding the reins, who had seemed so gentle until just now, grabbed Deok-chil by the collar and slapped him fiercely across the cheek.

“You villain! If anything happens to the young lady, you won’t get away with this!!”

“Ah, aah…”

He had to tell them that the child had been with the young master and had given him clothes to escape. With only a dizzy feeling in his head, Deok-chil lost consciousness.

The head guards couldn’t easily stop the enraged woman and turned their gaze away from Deok-chil.

Believing a mere servant’s false information and risking harm to a young lady from a respectable family would undoubtedly make their future difficult.

And those who had been watching the commotion in front of Namdaemun [the Great South Gate of Seoul] slowly left, not wanting to get involved.

The servant carrying the young lady on his back, who had been watching the commotion mixed in with the crowd, was no different.

The child, pretending to be asleep on the servant’s back, couldn’t take her eyes off the direction the horse had run, clutching the servant’s clothes tightly.

***

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, stop. That’s right. Good girl.”

*Snorts!*

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You were very surprised.”

I reached out and stroked Red-ah’s mane.

‘She didn’t throw me off in that situation and ran well.’

Of course, I was holding on tight, too.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my still-racing heart, and recalled what had just happened.

‘That idiot had to come and provoke Red-ah.’

In fact, Red-ah pretending to be startled and causing a commotion was half-planned. It wasn’t uncommon for horses, who were surprisingly timid despite their size, to be startled and cause a commotion.

I was about to postpone the plan because of the unexpected intruder, but thanks to him, the horse got scared and gave a realistic performance, so it wasn’t such a bad result after all.

‘I thought the guards at Namdaemun might have already received the order to catch the siblings.’

It was only natural, considering the time it would take for the servants to run to Namdaemun.

However, since they hadn’t raised an army near the capital, they probably wouldn’t close the four main gates early on a day like today, which would only unsettle the public. It would also take time to get approval from someone high enough to authorize that.

Besides, the only ones who had escaped were young children who had gone out to play with their servants.

They probably only received orders to catch siblings around the same age as Ji-hwa and Su-cheon. When would they distribute the wanted posters?

Of course, one of the captured servants might identify them, and riding a horse would be too conspicuous, so I thought it would be better to draw attention by being the one causing a scene.

‘I never expected Su-cheon’s servant, who was sent to deliver the message to Ji-hwa, to show up here like that.’

Perhaps Su-cheon’s servant did something similar in the original story.

‘Could that be the reason why the child died in the original story?’

If so, Su-cheon had just overcome the biggest hurdle.

Su-cheon had clearly left Namdaemun a little ahead of me.

Since it was already late, there were plenty of young children who were tired from sightseeing and fell asleep, and people carrying those children on their backs.

“Haa.”

A sense of exhaustion washed over me at the fact that what I had hoped wouldn’t happen had finally happened.

If I remembered correctly, the treason in the original story wasn’t something that Kim Sun-ik was involved in from the beginning.

In the process of uncovering a conspiracy plotted by other forces, it was revealed that they had tried to involve Kim Sun-ik, the military commissioner of Hamgyeong Province. Then, at the hands of the Chief State Councilor, who wanted to bring down Kim Sun-ik, he was transformed into one of the main figures of the treason.

And outwardly, it was a case that grew when subordinates betrayed Kim Sun-ik, the military commissioner, and reported him to the court. I didn’t remember their names, but it was likely to be the same people this time as well.

In the novel, Prince Gyeong-eon and the Chief State Councilor created a treason case to prevent the Crown Prince’s position from becoming secure and to shake the King’s heart.

And Kim Sun-ik, who became a scapegoat, was already dead around the time Ji-hwa, the protagonist, left the capital. I remembered the scene where Ji-hwa was deeply distressed when she found out about it later.

‘But then who this time? For what reason?’

Prince Gyeong-eon and the Chief State Councilor had already fallen, so they shouldn’t have the power to do that.

Or do they still have that much influence?

Hamgyeong Province bordered the northern border, so it was a militarily tense area, and as there were many soldiers, the court was bound to be sensitive to the military movements in Hamgyeong Province.

That’s why they sent a trusted official as the military commissioner of Hamgyeong Province.

Moreover, his daughter was a candidate for the Crown Princess.

Kim Sun-ik’s future was bright itself.

Perhaps there were those who were jealous of him.

In fact, there was no reason for the Grand Scholar to commit treason, so the King couldn’t believe the report and hesitated for a long time, but the fabricated evidence was too clear.

‘Besides, the Grand Scholar in Hamgyeong Province had a newly acquired concubine.’

To the question of how he could leave his children living in the capital and commit treason, it was revealed that he had a son and daughter born to a secondary consort in Hamgyeong Province, which made the treason more convincing.

I didn’t remember what happened to them in the original story, but I knew that Ji-hwa, the protagonist, later felt complicated about it.

‘Will Ji-hwa be safe? She’s the protagonist, so she’ll be safe, right?’

But she certainly wouldn’t have heard the message to meet her brother at the ferry.

The servant wouldn’t have told Ji-hwa.

Rather, he was likely to have reported the direction Ji-hwa was in, but the Crown Prince was with her, so he would have helped Ji-hwa escape somehow, right?

‘I thought the chances of surviving would be higher if I was with Ji-hwa.’

Maybe this was the best option.

And for now, it wasn’t the time to worry about other people’s problems.

Lost in thought for a while, I came to my senses and looked around.

I had run quite a distance even after leaving the capital, and I couldn’t see anyone. There should be many houses outside the capital, but where was I that it was so dark?

“Where are we, Red-ah?”

*Snorts!*

At my words, Red-ah shook her head as if she didn’t know.

Hey, you’re the one who ran here.

‘Well, it seems like I’ve been running along the road.’

If I go back along the road until I come to a fork in the road, and then find some people, I should be able to find the way to the capital, right?

At least from a distance, only the capital and Mount Mokmyuk were lit up with lanterns, so if I just followed the direction, it didn’t seem impossible to return.

Since I could see the capital from here, it didn’t seem too far if I rode a horse.

“Let’s go back.”

As if understanding my intention, Red-ah turned around on her own.

“Yes, our Red-ah is so smart.”

I praised her and stroked her mane, and she seemed to be in a good mood. It seemed like she was also happy to have run to her heart’s content for the first time in a while.

‘Did they escape safely?’

Before parting, I hugged the frightened, round-faced child tightly for the last time and told him that everything would be alright.

That he would be safe, and that we would definitely meet again later.

Of course, I wasn’t sure about the child’s survival.

It was just my wish, but I hoped that the child would survive, just like I had survived, unlike the story.

‘I had him change into the outer garment I had given him before we parted.’

The servant probably overheard our conversation outside the yard and went to the Uigeumbu officer [Royal Investigation Bureau].

So, he was in such a hurry that he didn’t notice the young master he was serving or the servant carrying the child, and just looked for my clothes. Thanks to that, things worked out well.

The clothes that I was wearing and gave to Su-cheon seemed too luxurious, so I had him find more plain clothes to wear, which seemed to have played a bigger role than I thought, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

The child will be safe.

Ga-i, who went out through Soeuimun [West Small Gate], the West Small Gate, which was relatively close to Namdaemun, would give the horses to the two of them and come back.

With horses, they could escape much faster and farther.

They would track them, assuming the stamina and pace of a young child.

So, he wouldn’t die like Crown Prince Seongwon, or like my sister, or my sister’s baby, because of me.

‘I did it. I saved him. This time.’

My lips curled up on their own.

Now, I just need to go back and confirm with Ga-i that they left safely.

The child didn’t know why I was going this far.

But if that child survived, that was enough for me.

Even if the rest of that child’s life might be more miserable than living as a government slave.

‘I did what I could.’

I felt my head clearing.

I should go back quickly. Everyone must be waiting.

Comforting the discouraged Crown Prince, soothing the hardworking Ga-i, Song-bi, and the eunuch, listening to the nagging of the palace servants who were worried about my absence, drinking a bowl of sujeonggwa [Korean traditional cinnamon punch] because I was tired, and going to bed.

A treason case had occurred, so many people would die again, but what could I do?

I saved the people I could save with my own hands, so I wanted to have a peaceful time now.

“Hehe.”

A child riding a horse alone in the middle of the night, laughing to herself, was like a ghost story.

As I was giggling and leaning on Red-ah, unfamiliar voices interrupted.

“Little miss. You shouldn’t be alone in a place like this.”

“Oh.”

This is truly a spectacular day.