Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 65

“What are you saying? Poison? What are you talking about?”

Not only us but also the other people in the tavern showed interest, so the man who started the conversation cleared his throat with a smug look.

“Ahem. Hmm.”

“Who received the poison? Most of those involved in the last treason have already been punished, haven’t they?”

“No, but who knows if someone else might have received it? Maybe additional crimes were revealed.”

As the man who started the conversation played coy amidst the murmuring atmosphere, those around him called for the tavern owner.

“Madam! Another drink here!”

“And some yukjeon [thinly sliced seasoned beef] here!”

The tavern owner, who had nothing to lose, quickly brought the alcohol and snacks and placed them on the man’s table.

“Heh, you people are so impatient. Hmm.”

“Stop stalling and tell us quickly.”

“Well, it’s about the fact that Lord Gyeong-eon, who is in exile in Jeolla-do, has been given poison.”

“!”

People looked puzzled here and there.

“Lord Gyeong-eon? Isn’t that the prince who was stripped of his title and confined to his residence?”

“Right? But didn’t he make a contribution to catching the rebels this time?”

“But I heard he did a lot of bad things when he was in the palace?”

“Who knows what rumors to believe.”

The people in the tavern were chattering about what they knew.

I put down the spoon I was using to eat my rice soup and blinked blankly.

‘Lord Gyeong-eon… poison? So suddenly?’

How could I not know about this at all?

“Young lady, are you alright?”

“Huh? Yes.”

I nodded weakly and listened to the people’s conversation.

Some people doubted the rumor because it was so out of the blue.

“Tsk, did you just come here after hearing some nonsense?”

“Nonsense! What if it’s true? Huh?”

“Oh, there are so many people spouting baseless rumors.”

“What was that? I happen to know a Byeolgam [military officer] of the Royal Guard, you know?”

“If you know a Byeolgam of the Royal Guard, then I know the Chief State Councilor, what about it?”

A large ladle, steaming hot, intervened between the men who were trying to argue about the truth with their fists.

“Hey, what are you doing causing a ruckus here?”

In front of the tavern owner’s giant ladle, who had been stirring the pot just moments before, both the acquaintance of the Byeolgam of the Royal Guard and the person who knew the Chief State Councilor quietly calmed down.

Meanwhile, people began to chatter in hushed tones.

“Lord Gyeong-eon, I thought he might be reinstated at one point, but you never know what might happen in life.”

“Don’t say things you don’t know. If Lord Gyeong-eon is reinstated, wouldn’t that be a threat to the Crown Prince again? His Majesty made the decision to protect the Crown Prince.”

“But how can he give poison to his own son? How heartless.”

“Think about it. How vicious must Lord Gyeong-eon’s birth mother have been? She killed a concubine who was pregnant with the royal seed and almost killed a princess.”

As my story came up in the meantime, a flustered Gai quickly hugged me and tried to cover my ears.

I patted Gai’s arm to mean I was okay, but he didn’t seem like he would let go.

Perhaps because Gai was unusually flustered, I could still hear the surrounding sounds clearly.

“She even tried to poison the current Crown Prince. If a concubine in a common household had done such a thing out of jealousy, she wouldn’t have been allowed to live.”

“If Lord Gyeong-eon’s mother is so vicious, what if Lord Gyeong-eon takes the Crown Prince’s position? If you think about it that way, should we kill her or let her live?”

One of the workers who was drinking suddenly slapped the back of the person next to him.

“Hey, are you crazy? The Crown Prince is right here, how can you say such a thing?”

“How do you know what might happen to the Crown Prince?”

“Don’t pretend to know me if you get caught by the Uigeumbu [the Royal Police] later.”

“Oh, come on.”

“But isn’t it true? If that happens and Lord Gyeong-eon comes back later to avenge his mother, what will happen to the court!”

“You seem to know a lot, so you must have a lot you want to eat [a euphemism for getting arrested].”

The story about Lord Gyeong-eon had already shifted to the story about the current Crown Prince.

“But there are a lot of rumors about the current Crown Prince, aren’t there?”

“There are a lot of rumors because he hasn’t even taken a Crown Princess yet, but the Queen is standing firm, so what could happen?”

“But I heard he’s been weak since before.”

He doesn’t seem that way when he rides horses and shoots arrows these days, but the old rumors still seem to linger.

“Wouldn’t it be fine if the Queen just had another Grand Prince?”

“But isn’t she getting old now?”

“I heard that the dead concubine was pregnant with a prince. That’s why they killed her.”

“Oh my, how vicious. Come to think of it, I’ve heard a lot of bad rumors about Lord Gyeong-eon.”

“What rumors?”

The people in the tavern were surprisingly serious about what they were saying.

Anyway, aside from Lord Gyeong-eon, the evaluation of the Crown Prince is subtle. Should I spread some good stories?

‘He has unnecessarily good stats, so if only the facts were known appropriately, the evaluation would be much better.’

But appropriate stories that people would like don’t just happen.

It was the same with Crown Prince Seongwon, but the Crown Princes are so boring because they just shut themselves up and study…….

‘But don’t I not need to worry about this?’

If it’s true that Lord Gyeong-eon was given poison, then there’s nothing more to worry about. As long as the Crown Prince himself is safe, there won’t be many factors threatening the only successor.

Unless the king suddenly goes crazy and torments the Crown Prince like some king from the Joseon Dynasty that I remember.

We focused on the rumors, finished our meal, and left the tavern.

“But why didn’t I know about this at all?”

The two people, who had been watching me the whole time because they were worried about me, sighed. Eventually, Vice Captain Seong spoke first.

“I heard that there had been discussions about Lord Gyeong-eon for some time. But isn’t it just an unconfirmed rumor?”

Vice Captain Seong confessed that he had heard such things while coming and going, but he himself was only now hearing about the fact that he had been given poison.

“Hmm…….”

“Young lady.”

For a moment, I thought that the King might have deliberately kept it from my ears, but I tried to shake off the thought. It’s all for the best.

It’s not like I’m going to throw a party because that bastard died.

It’s just that I felt like a small stone was placed on my chest with the thought that maybe I had killed him.

Maybe the things I did had more repercussions than I thought.

‘He was a bastard I wanted to kill, but it’s not very pleasant.’

But then again, if the rumor that he received poison is false, I feel like I’ll be disappointed.

I wish he would just live quietly and painfully there and die.

You’re making it hard for me until the very end.

Those dark emotions are seething.

‘Is that why they hid it from me?’

The king will not be happy either. In the end, he had to give poison to his own son with his own hands.

He was one of the few children left to the king.

‘I’m not sad at all that that son of a bitch is dying.’

I was sorry that the king would suffer.

To think that they want the position of king, who has to directly issue a death sentence to his own blood.

Gai asked if I would like to return to the palace, but I shook my head.

I didn’t really want to be in the palace right now.

Nothing would change even if I checked a little later.

‘Ah, but the Crown Prince might come to find me. Even if they hide it from me, the Crown Prince can’t not know.’

If I get caught going out, then there’s nothing I can do about it.

Right now, I needed something to blow away this strangely uncomfortable feeling.

***

“It’s been a while. How have you all been?”

“It’s the landlady unni [older sister/female friend]!”

As I entered the residence that I had obtained through Vice Captain Seong, some of the children who were playing welcomed me.

Come to think of it, my title seems to have changed again.

“I heard that unni bought this house by asking the Princess, is it true?”

“Um, yes.”

That’s how it happened.

I couldn’t reveal to the children that I was actually a princess, so I was explained as a moderately collateral relative of the royal family who was close to the princess.

In other words, the setting was that I received money from the princess and bought this place with Vice Captain Seong at the forefront.

“Oh my, you have to use honorifics! I’m sorry, young lady.”

“Heeing, unni. I’m being scolded.”

“Um. It’s okay, so don’t worry too much.”

The retired Chetamin [outcast class] couple, who were taking care of the children, were embarrassed and scolded the child, so I calmed them down, saying it was okay for now.

I was half wanting to teach them about honorifics and half wanting to leave them alone.

Of course, Gai, who was behind me, seemed intent on teaching them.

‘When Court Lady Min comes, she’ll take care of the discipline, so I don’t need to do it.’

In the residence, there were people with a moderately ordinary atmosphere, whom the Vice Captain had brought from somewhere, taking care of the children, but I didn’t know how many of them were Chetamin.

I heard that there were cases where couples came together.

Among them were ordinary people who had married former Chetamin, so they were teaching the children basic things such as food, cleaning, and bathing.

Surprisingly, people who had never taken a bath or cleaned didn’t know how to do it.

But here, bathing is a basic requirement, so the children had to learn it even if they didn’t like it.

“But where did your leader go?”

“Um, he went to gather firewood and wild greens.”

He wouldn’t be gathering firewood…….

The one I was looking for was the leader-level child I had taken to the Hyeminseo [a medical institution] before.

Now, it was necessary to learn how to find food on their own, so the slightly older children went to the mountains to gather wild greens and get firewood.

I was supplying some of the grain, but they had to find side dishes to eat. Not to mention firewood.

The child was happy that someone had appeared to complain to, and clung to me and wouldn’t let go.

“But why do we have to drink hot water? It’s hot and annoying to boil water to death.”

“Yes, it’s annoying. But you won’t get a stomachache that way.”

The drinking water in this era mostly comes from rivers or well water. Of course, it’s not strange because it’s an era where water pollution is not severe, but there were many things to be careful about.

“Let’s see. Are you bathing properly?”

“I am! I thought my skin was going to peel off!”

Because he was a young child, he had a lot of complaints about being washed by adults.

I healed by playing with the young child who was especially informal with me. His skin was soft because he had taken a bath.

‘Babies are cute.’

Bang-

At that time, the door burst open and several children entered noisily.

The children were a mess, as if they had been rolling around in the mountains. Some of them seemed a little hurt.

And among them, a child with a familiar face was limping and walking over.