Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 55

“Ongju [Princess, a title for a king’s daughter born to a concubine], please, stop His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Court Lady Moon, whom I had known for a long time and was somewhat familiar with, bowed to me with a flustered face.

What is it? What’s going on?

“Actually, there have been ominous rumors circulating in the court recently.”

“I know roughly what’s going on, so you can get straight to the point.”

Court Lady Moon, knowing my preference for directness, didn’t hesitate.

“His Highness the Crown Prince, knowing that there is a growing sympathy for the deposed Yi Soo, was furious and, after much deliberation…”

“After?”

“He ordered that persimmon gifts be sent to the houses of the officials.”

Gai’s brow furrowed at those words.

Since that incident, no one in the palace dared to mention dried persimmons in front of me, so it was a word I hadn’t heard in a long time.

Seriously, Crown Prince, you are something else….

“You’re more fiery than I thought.”

“Oh, Ongju.”

Gai, who had been looking displeased at Court Lady Moon’s words, also shook his head in embarrassment.

I smiled at Gai once and then asked Court Lady Moon.

“So, has he already sent them?”

If he had, she wouldn’t have come to me in such a hurry.

“Not yet. The lecturers of the Crown Prince’s lectures have been trying to dissuade him, but he won’t listen, so we have nowhere to turn but to Ongju.”

Since he won’t listen to the lecturers, they came to me to stop him.

“It’s just that His Highness the Crown Prince wants to send dried persimmons as a gift to the officials. The royal family doesn’t consume them much except during ancestral rites, so there seem to be persimmons left over.”

Originally, everyone would have enjoyed them as snacks, but after that incident, everyone seemed to avoid them.

“Ongju. We are just afraid that the officials will misinterpret His Highness’s intentions.”

Misinterpret? They’ll probably take it as it is.

‘That’s the problem, though.’

Court Lady Moon seemed flustered that I, who was expected to stop him, didn’t react at all.

These people still don’t know my personality well.

I can’t help it. My impression on the people of the East Palace [the Crown Prince’s residence] must have been too strong from the day I vomited blood and collapsed. I couldn’t deny that I was still young.

Besides, I had mainly been playing the role of stopping the Crown Prince from causing trouble since then, hadn’t I?

‘But it’s definitely dangerous.’

The reason why dried persimmons are taboo in the royal palace is, of course, because they are reminiscent of poisoning.

But to send dried persimmons as a gift? Especially from the Crown Prince, who was almost poisoned?

If done wrong, it could be seen as the Crown Prince threatening the officials, saying, ‘Do you want to die?’

The Crown Prince’s position is not yet secure, and Gyeong-eon-gun, who was his biggest rival, is gaining support from the people because of this incident, so the Crown Prince must be as frustrated as I am.

I tapped my knee for a moment and then looked up.

“I need to see His Highness the Crown Prince first. Where is he now?”

“I will escort you.”

Court Lady Moon bowed, her face brightening.

In contrast, my palace people didn’t seem to have very good expressions.

And the Crown Prince’s face didn’t look very good either when he saw me, who had come to the Gyeyuwa (皆有窩, an annex of the Gyujanggak [Royal Library], mainly used as the Crown Prince’s personal library).

I raised my voice, conscious of my surroundings.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince. I have heard the news.”

“Why did Ongju come all the way here without notice?”

Even under the Crown Prince’s piercing gaze, Court Lady Moon, who had brought me, did not flinch.

Indeed, she was a veteran who had endured by the Crown Prince’s side for many years.

Unlike the Crown Prince, who was displeased by my appearance, the familiar eunuchs and lecturers seemed relieved to see me.

Conversely, the Crown Prince was biting his lip with a face full of resentment.

He seemed upset that I didn’t understand his feelings.

But why does everyone think I want to stop him?

“Did you run to her again to tattle? The discipline of the East Palace’s palace people has become so lax that it is deplorable.”

That’s because you’ve been tormenting people and making their lives miserable.

“That is not the case. I have come to see you because I heard that Your Highness the Crown Prince is sending dried persimmons to the officials and I have something to say.”

“……What are you trying to say? Surely you’re not here to stop me too?”

I could feel the expectant gazes around me, but what I was about to say was different from their expectations.

I walked up to the Crown Prince, widened my eyes, and said.

It was a privilege that only a close relative could have.

“If you’re going to send dried persimmons, wouldn’t it be better to send them in my name?”

“……What?”

The Crown Prince looked blank, as if he didn’t understand what I was saying.

The palace people who had brought me and the lecturers who had welcomed my appearance also turned their heads in this direction, looking as if they had paused with question marks floating above their heads.

I kindly gave a further explanation.

“I am saying that it would be better to send the dried persimmons that Your Highness the Crown Prince has decided to send in my name.”

“Why are you saying such a thing?”

“I am the one who nearly died after eating the poisoned dried persimmons sent by those heinous people. How can those who have not suffered a scratch defend such criminals?”

“That’s……”

The lecturers sitting next to the Crown Prince were also looking at me with faces that couldn’t say anything.

And the palace people who had brought me.

What? If you have any complaints, why don’t you try eating some poisoned dried persimmons?

Isn’t everyone forgetting why dried persimmons became half-forbidden in the palace in the first place?

It hasn’t been that long, but is my sense of time as the victim so different from everyone else’s?

One of the lecturers, seemingly flustered, opened his mouth.

“H-However, Ongju. The officials may misinterpret the intentions of His Highness the Crown Prince and Ongju.”

“I am the one who suspects the intentions of the officials. There must be a good reason why Yi Soo, who was once Gyeong-eon-gun, was deposed and placed under house arrest. How can the officials so lightly regard His Majesty’s will to order the house arrest?”

“How could that be?”

“Has it been 5 years or 10 years since the deposed Soo was placed under house arrest?”

“……”

When everyone couldn’t say anything, the Crown Prince also opened his mouth.

“My intention is the same as Princess Su-yeong’s. There are things that are too difficult to put into words about what they have done……”

“They also threw a young me into the pond.”

“!”

“There is no need to hide that incident to worry about me.”

In fact, it was not publicized to the outside world because it was a disgrace to the royal family.

Some of the younger lecturers who heard my sudden words were embarrassed by the information they had learned for the first time.

“I have not forgotten what happened then, so I will not be shocked if that incident is brought up again in other people’s mouths.”

“……Both my brother and I deeply regretted not protecting you then.”

“Who knows what that person will do if he comes back this time.”

One of the lecturers interjected into our sighing conversation.

“However, Ongju, the deposed Soo is privately your older brother. How can you not cover up your brother’s faults and say such harsh things? Mencius said that Emperor Shun showed filial piety and embraced his half-brother even though his stepmother and half-brother tried to kill him several times.”

What, this Confucian old man. Who are you trying to lecture?

Why don’t you use that logic that you have to be filial even if your stepmother harasses you when you’re being harassed?

Emperor Shun got beautiful sisters as wives and even inherited the throne thanks to his filial piety, but usually, you just get killed before that. Then isn’t it unfilial to my dead biological mother, who wanted me to live happily?

“If you think so, are you saying that you will be loyal without complaint even if His Highness the Crown Prince unfairly throws all the lecturers into the pond?”

“That……!”

“Isn’t the king, teacher, and father one? If parents have to obey no matter how much they harass their children, then shouldn’t they also follow the king’s harassment of his subjects and people? How dare you say anything about His Highness the Crown Prince’s affairs?”

“Oh, Ongju. How can you say such outrageous things?”

“And now that means that even if the deposed Soo dares to harm His Highness the Crown Prince, he should forgive him as Emperor Shun forgave his half-brother who tried to kill him. That’s how it sounds, too.”

“I did not mean to say that.”

Yeah. You just wanted to lecture me.

“Is that so? Mencius also discussed the change of dynasty.”

“N-No!!”

Don’t tell me you have rebellious intentions?

I smiled and turned my gaze away from the lecturer, who was sweating profusely.

His face, which showed that he had never imagined that I would know what was in Mencius, was very unpleasant to see.

Seeing the Crown Prince watching me and the lecturer with amusement, it seemed that he had been acting like an old man on a regular basis.

‘It’s not right to interrupt when the Crown Prince and Ongju are talking, and it doesn’t seem like he’s in a position to discuss other people’s etiquette.’

However, it was not good to stimulate the lecturers too much, so I wrapped up the conversation and returned to the main topic.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, please prepare a list of the officials who will receive the dried persimmons. I will send them.”

“No, but it doesn’t seem like it would be good for Ongju to send them either.”

The Crown Prince seemed to be hesitating, perhaps aware that sending dried persimmons to the officials was an act of throwing down the gauntlet [issuing a challenge].

It was a relief that he was aware.

Of course, my purpose was not to start a fight with the officials either.

“Of course, it wouldn’t look good to just send dried persimmons.”

“What are you thinking of doing?”

“I’m thinking of sending egg cakes with it.”

“……Didn’t I tell you to change that name?”

The Crown Prince, who was dissatisfied with my naming sense, was nitpicking here as well.

Thanks to this, the name he gave, Ganranjeonbyeong (甘卵煎餠) [sweet egg pancake], has recently been adopted as the official name, but everyone is still just calling it egg cake.

But everyone is already used to it.

Anyway, the Crown Prince and the lecturers nodded silently, perhaps because they didn’t think my suggestion was bad.

This would make the meaning somewhat different from just sending dried persimmons.

And it was a bit much to just send dried persimmons and egg cakes, so I prepared a two-tiered tiffin carrier [a stacked lunch box].

The top tier mainly contained dried persimmons, and the surroundings were decorated with dried persimmon wraps with walnuts, dried persimmon ornaments with pine nuts, and dried persimmon dumplings soaked in honey.

The bottom tier mainly contained castella, called Ganranjeonbyeong or egg cake, and contained pudding, gwapyeon [fruit jelly], and yakgwa [honey cookies] in bowls.

There were quite a few people to send to, so I didn’t put in a lot, but it was a moderately cute size considering my age. In the first place, they were precious foods.

Oh, of course, for those who were negative about the deposed couple, I decided to send only castella and other things in two tiers, excluding the dried persimmons.

To the wives.

“To the wives?”

“Wouldn’t it be strange if I sent it to the officials?”

Although I am young, I am the third in the inner court ranking, so I have met the wives of the officials to some extent.

Rather than meeting, it was more like sitting next to the Queen when she called the wives of the outer court.

‘Thanks to this, the wives have eaten castella more often than the court officials.’

Castella was a snack that was hard to get unless you had a direct acquaintance with me.

Thanks to this, there were many people who had never eaten it, no matter how high their position was.

But the wife received food from Ongju? And it’s egg cake? The more powerful you are, the greater your curiosity about what you don’t have, so you can never pretend you didn’t see it.

‘Well, even if they pretend not to know, the word will get around if there are dried persimmons in the contents.’

What if I get scolded by the king for this being known?

I didn’t feel like staying still.