Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 67

For Yoo Gwae, a low-ranking official in the Ministry of Public Works, today was an unlucky day from the start.

It was because he received a notice of dismissal as soon as he arrived at work.

“Why, why is this happening?”

“Didn’t you know that being absent without leave for five days is grounds for dismissal?”

It was understandable that he wouldn’t know, as it was his sixth day of unexcused absence.

He had gotten up early for once and come to work, only to be fired!

The working hours for officials during the Joseon Dynasty were from 5-7 AM (卯時 [mao shi, the hour of the rabbit]) to 5-7 PM (酉時 [you shi, the hour of the rooster]).

(*In winter, commuting hours are pushed back by 2 hours.)

It seemed like a 12-hour workday, but since there were no clocks at the time, it was impossible to commute at exact times, so it was applied with some flexibility. Of course, there was also overtime depending on the department.

Unexcused absences were usually overlooked or dealt with by having a servant take the punishment instead, but this time, he seemed to have been caught at the wrong time.

He couldn’t be fired after passing the civil service exam with such difficulty, so he tried to pull some strings through his connections, but it was all in vain.

Nope. No way. Go back.

He appealed to the Minister of Public Works, a relative, through his father, but was also rejected there.

Instead, he was told not to do anything unnecessary because His Majesty’s mood had been disturbed recently.

‘All my seniors and colleagues obviously went out to play, so why only me…’

He didn’t know, but recently, rumors about officials being absent without leave in the capital were not good. Thanks to that, the crackdown had become strict, and everyone comforted him, saying he was unlucky to be caught as an example, but no one helped him.

His luck was terrible, so he called some Gisaengs [female entertainers, similar to geishas] and hung out with his friends who were also fired to change his mood. He was planning to stay up all night, but unfortunately, he received a message from his father saying he would be killed if he didn’t come home quickly.

He resisted and sent the servant back, but he couldn’t disobey his father’s orders in his situation, having lost his position, so he had to leave the Gibang [a house where Gisaengs entertain].

On the way back, he happened to see some kids loitering in front of him.

Their clothes were shabby, but their skin was fair, wondering what they were doing. He was surprised to learn that they were beggar children he had occasionally seen on the street, but he was used to it now.

He didn’t notice before because they were dirty, but when he saw their washed faces, there were girls mixed in. He wondered if a Gisaeng house was trying to take them in and had made them so fair.

He was getting tired of the Gisaengs’ coquetry, and he wanted to have a young virgin (童伎: a young Gisaeng before the coming-of-age ceremony. When they have their ceremony, they start to tie their hair up, so a Gisaeng’s first customer is expressed as ‘putting up their hair’. For reference, the first customer is exactly what you’re thinking.) have her hair put up, but he didn’t have the money to do so.

Suddenly, he was overwhelmed with anger when he thought of the Ginyos [another term for Gisaengs] whose expressions changed as soon as he said he might fall out of favor with his father.

‘Anyway, Ginyos have no chastity or integrity and only think about sucking the marrow out of men’s bones. Do they even know how hard this body worked to pass the civil service exam and become an official?’

He already knew that the snobby ones subtly looked down on him because he was a low-ranking official.

How could Ginyos, who cling to men and sell their smiles, know this arduous life?

Anyway, those girls will end up going to Gibang. What else can pretty girls do?

Suddenly, he remembered a girl he had seen a while ago.

Last time, he tried to joke around with her in the valley when he was drunk, but she glared at him and desperately ran away. In the end, she slipped and fell down the hillside.

‘Anyway, the lowly are stupid.’

After that, he remembered seeing her limping down the mountain with other beggar kids.

But what was this? He happened to see that child.

‘Anyway, she’ll be the same as those when she becomes a Ginyeo. You wicked thing.’

The child, carrying something like a bundle, was alone, separated from the other children.

He was already annoyed that she had run away that day, so it was a good thing he caught her.

“Hey, you!”

“Eek?!”

When he approached and tapped her on the shoulder, she let out an unrefined scream. She was like a tomboy, tsk tsk.

The moment he grabbed the hand of the girl who was screaming and running away without looking back.

Yoo Gwae lost consciousness.

***

“There’s a lot of talk about the dismissed officials these days.”

“That many?”

“There are more people who have handled themselves well by reading the atmosphere, but there are also many who haven’t. In particular, there have been many cases where people with great connections or relatives have gotten away with things, so it seems that there were quite a few who thought it would be the same this time. But of course, the officials who usually work hard and well like it.”

Was it because the Crown Prince had advised the King about this matter that the officials who worked hard were cheering? On the other hand, there seemed to be quite a bit of backlash from those who were being fired.

However, no one objected to the statement that if they continued to be absent without leave even after giving them a five-day grace period, there was no need to see more.

‘It’s tough being a civil servant here, but it’s a waste to give a salary to someone who doesn’t work.’

It was also good for those who were waiting for a position, and it wouldn’t be bad to hold a special civil service exam (別試 [byeolsi]) to stabilize public sentiment.

When I looked into the guys who were harassing the beggar children before, surprisingly, they were officials, not unemployed people.

And they were habitual offenders of being absent without leave.

This was, well, I didn’t have to feel sorry for them. I could tell by the way they were behaving, but they were all from well-off families.

I used the last incident as a lesson and spread rumors in the marketplace. To be exact, it was more like creating public opinion than spreading rumors.

It was not difficult to create public opinion because it was true that many officials did not work and often loafed around and played, harassed beggars and children, and sometimes molested women.

It wasn’t that people didn’t know the truth, but they were so used to it that they didn’t even think it was a problem.

And I mentioned to the Crown Prince in passing about the officials who were absent without leave and playing around, and the Crown Prince, who was working hard every day studying and assisting in state affairs, initially denied that it could be true.

‘Hahaha. You must be mistaken. How could those who have passed the civil service exam and are living off the country’s salary live such a lax life?’

However, the Crown Prince, who could not easily dismiss my words because of his personality, asked the Seoyeongwan (officials in charge of educating the Crown Prince).

He also asked the Ikwisa (Crown Prince’s guard).

He also asked the Crown Prince’s teacher (世子師 [Sejasu]).

There were also words among the people that it was too much, so they had no choice but to hesitate to answer, and just looking at their expressions, the answer was obvious.

The Crown Prince, who had learned the truth that only he did not know, was quietly furious.

‘Really? It’s not like they don’t give you leave if you apply for it (給暇:휴가 [gyuhga: hyuga, meaning ‘leave’ or ‘vacation’]).’

It was understandable that someone who had lived a diligent and hardworking life would not understand that someone would occupy a position and play around when someone else was working so hard.

‘Even I, who haven’t lived diligently, can’t understand it.’

Was it because the times were different? The free unauthorized absence of civil servants… I don’t understand.

Well, it’s like hell for someone who lived on a five-day workweek since there’s one day off every 10 days.

Still, they get 2-3 days off for weddings, funerals, and ancestral rites. There are so many ancestral rites in noble families, and there are many relatives and acquaintances, so there must be quite a few days off.

Besides, does a farmer have a day off? Does the owner of a tavern have a day off? Do merchants have a day off?

“It’s Princess’s turn.”

“Hmm. Already?”

I received the Yunmok (輪木 [yunmok], a five-sided pillar-shaped Yut, a type of dice) that the child attendant handed me.

“Princess has been promoted (陞差 [seungcha]).”

“I’ll be Chief State Councillor soon.”

These days, I was playing Seunggyeongdo (陞卿圖 [seunggyeongdo]) on a whim.

Seunggyeongdo is a kind of board game. You could say it’s the Joseon official version of the Game of Life.

The goal is to go from passing the civil service exam to becoming Chief State Councillor.

In reality, promotion is faster if your background, which is determined by dice in the beginning, is good, and there are even routes for dismissal, exile, and being given a death sentence along the way.

I heard that it is often done in Seodang (private village schools) because it helps to memorize the complex bureaucracy and official titles.

‘There’s no Queen Inhyeon (仁顯王后 [Inhyeon Wanghu], King Sukjong of Joseon’s second queen consort. Jang Hee-bin, who was the next queen, is more famous than her.) here, so there’s no Yeohaengdo (女行圖 [Yeohaengdo]) either.’

Yeohaengdo is a female version of Seunggyeongdo that talks about women’s conduct, but it seems that it doesn’t exist in this world because Queen Inhyeon made it.

‘I should just make a board game where you enter the palace as a child attendant and go all the way to Jaesang Gungnyeo (提調尙宮 [Jedaesanggung], a Jimil Sang Gung who serves the king. Also called Big Room Sang Gung or Daejeon Sang Gung. They were at the pinnacle of power as the best of the palace women and even formed sworn sisterhoods with the Chief State Councillor.). But I think it’s a bit much because you have to get the king’s favor and go through the concubine route in the middle.’

But where is the pinnacle of the concubine……

This was something that was difficult to guarantee what would happen if I messed with it to make a board game, so I quietly decided to drop it.

Another round passed and it was my turn to roll the Yunmok.

“Hmm. I won.”

“Princess has won first place again.”

“I’ll give snacks to 2nd and 3rd place, so try hard.”

“Yes!”

While the children were engrossed in the board game, I read the letters sent by the children outside.

In the letters to ‘Sister’, most of the children were crying that Chief Sang Gung Min, who had been formally appointed as the person in charge a few days ago, was too strict, and in the letters to ‘Princess’, most of them were excited that there was no one bothering them these days because of the Princess.

‘I don’t think half of it is thanks to me.’

The Chetamins [outcasts], who were living quietly as ordinary people, were outraged by the fact that there were guys who were harassing the children they were taking care of.

Since they were outraged… I’ll skip the details.

‘Recently, there have been nobles who have been found passed out drunk and stuck in streams in the capital……’

It’s getting colder, but they won’t freeze to death yet.

Their mouths might be a little crooked, though.

Thanks to that, doctors who are famous for treating Guanwasa (口眼喎斜 [Guanwasa], a disease in which the eyes and mouth are crooked to one side. The main causes are overwork, stress, or catching a cold wind after drinking.) unexpectedly made money.

‘Of course, it has nothing to do with me.’

But after that, strangely, there are always guys who come to our kids and pick fights.

So, when they show them the signboard (懸板 [hyeonpan]) hanging in front of the gate, they quietly leave.

The signboard there was something I got by pestering the King after confirming how much of what I had done had been revealed through Seong Gyeomsabok [a secret investigation unit].

To be exact, I pestered the Crown Prince to write a Yebil (睿筆 [yebil], the Crown Prince’s handwriting) in the presence of the King, and the King said that he would write it himself.

‘He must have been busy. Judging by the timing, it was still before the discussion of the death sentence, though.’

Anyway, I ended up receiving a royal calligraphy (御筆 [eopil], the king’s handwriting) signboard.

The king also gave me the name himself.

Siyeongwon (施英院 [Siyeongwon]).

No matter how I looked at it, it was definitely taken from one letter from my name, Sia (施雅 [Sia]), and one letter from my title, Suyeong (秀英 [Suyeong]).

Later, when I was alone with the Crown Prince, I told him that I was sure that Abamama (father) was too lazy to name it, and the Crown Prince laughed so hard that he couldn’t breathe, so I called Sang Gung Moon and put him to bed early because he seemed to be very tired these days.

‘I’m not sleepy, I’m not sleepy!’

It was truly rewarding to see the palace women of the Crown Prince’s palace gasping for breath as they tried to hold back their laughter when they saw me receiving a blanket from Sang Gung Moon and throwing it over the Crown Prince, who was shouting like that.

Realizing that I was smiling at the memory of that time, I composed myself.

It wasn’t time to laugh in the palace yet. Even if it was my mother’s enemy, a blood relative had died, so it would be difficult for laughter to leak out, wouldn’t it?

The rumor I heard when I went to the market last time was true.

Prince Gyeongeon received a death sentence.

As expected, the Crown Prince knew, and he had a calm face when I visited him.

According to the Crown Prince, the King also seemed to have doubts about Prince Gyeongeon, just like I had thought was strange.

In fact, there was no clear evidence, and the people who had contacted Prince Gyeongeon had already been revealed to be part of the rebel group and had been dragged away and executed, so there was no one to testify.

However, unlike the initial public opinion, the ministers gave strength to the execution of Prince Gyeongeon, and the king’s heart seemed to be leaning towards it.

The ministers who received my gift were not fools, so they would have realized what the lunch box meant.

Dried persimmons that might be poisoned, and rare and hard-to-find egg cakes.

To my question of which one to choose, or to the Crown Prince’s question, the ministers answered.

In fact, it was not clear whether my gift was effective or not.

But what was clear was that Prince Gyeongeon was eventually given a death sentence.

‘I didn’t even think about killing him.’

That’s how it is for close male members of the royal family involved in treason. That’s how innocent people get a death sentence.

Of course, there were many who said that the death sentence was a bit too much.

Even when he was confined to Wirianchi (a form of house arrest), it was me who ate the poison, and Prince Gyeongeon insisted until the end that it was not his doing but a frame-up. He tried to avoid all the blame, saying that he did not know about cursing Crown Prince Seongwon and that it was all Hong Suk-won’s doing.

Yes, it was possible that Prince Gyeongeon was being wronged.

As far as treason was concerned.

But no matter how wronged he was, wouldn’t he be less wronged than Yoon Suk-won, who died, or the child in her womb, or me, who had to wander on the verge of death after eating poison, or Crown Prince Seongwon, who was still taken care of as a younger brother, but received a strange curse and had to hear that he had become a Changwi [spirit tablet] even after his death?

Thinking of the people who had left, I felt that the palace was desolate again.

It was like this now, so I felt sorry for those who would be left behind when I left.