Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 75

If my memory serves me right, in the original story, the daughter of the Minister of War, who was to become the Crown Prince’s new fiancée and Crown Princess, was a confirmed candidate after going through the rigorous three-stage selection process.

However, after the selection process concluded, while the girl was spending her last moments at her parents’ home before entering the palace, she collapsed after eating food brought by her maid, as was her usual routine, complaining of a sudden, sharp pain.

The royal family immediately dispatched a royal physician, and the girl hovered precariously between life and death for several months before finally showing signs of recovery.

Though publicly announced as a sudden illness, it was clearly an attempted poisoning.

Fortunately, the girl eventually opened her eyes, but the Minister of War, understandably, delayed sending her to the royal family, citing his daughter’s still-fragile health.

Which parent would willingly send their daughter into a potential den of vipers?

However, replacing the Crown Princess candidate at this point would severely damage the reputation of the royal family.

To the public, it would appear as though the royal family was callously abandoning a vulnerable girl.

But the royal family was also aware of the Minister of War’s concerns, and more importantly, they harbored doubts about whether a girl who had collapsed from poisoning could properly fulfill the demanding role of Crown Princess. Thus, they decided to wait for her full recovery.

Or, to be more precise, they diplomatically stepped back, suggesting they would revisit the matter when the girl reached maturity and began her menses.

However, the girl who had collapsed after being poisoned tragically stopped growing.

‘Was the Minister of War’s daughter ten years old at the time? No, perhaps eleven?’

She was slightly older than me, who had ceased to grow at the age of seven. After confirming that the Crown Princess candidate was no longer developing, the royal family, citing the Minister of War’s wishes, officially withdrew her from the candidacy.

However, the rumor that the Minister of War’s daughter was unable to perform the duties of a woman had already spread like wildfire. Those families who understood that the position of Crown Princess carried the risk of their daughter being poisoned hastily arranged marriages for their daughters in the meantime.

The royal family had their own political anxieties, but the Minister of War’s daughter was the one who faced the most significant personal hardship.

While there was no inconvenience in her daily life, who could truly understand the profound pain of being the only one who remained a child while everyone around her grew up and became adults?

Moreover, it was common knowledge in this era that a person was not considered complete until they married.

Who would willingly accept a woman who never aged as a marriage partner? And even if someone did, would that man truly be of sound mind?

The girl, who pretended to be calm and composed for the sake of her parents but suffered in silence, withered away day by day.

And it was the female lead, Jihwa, who eventually treated this unfortunate girl.

‘No, she changed her name and went by a pseudonym. What was it, Jinhwa? No, Yeonhwa? Sehwa? Or was it Mihwa?’

It might seem like something I shouldn’t be so confused about, but I couldn’t help it.

By the time I realized that I was living inside a novel, it was already a victory if I could remember the basic plot points correctly.

‘At least I know her real name because I’ve met her before.’

I vaguely remember that her real name and pseudonym shared a common syllable, but I couldn’t recall it with certainty.

Names like Grand Prince Yeongwon or Yihwa’s lover were much easier to remember.

Anyway, the important thing was that the female lead could eventually cure my growth-stunted condition.

The runaway female lead encounters a stroke of luck, like in a martial arts novel, learns advanced medicine, and makes her grand appearance.

‘At first, Jihwa is almost driven away, but eventually, she cures the illness of the Minister of War’s daughter. She is then treated as a benefactor by the Minister of War’s family and becomes the best friend of the young lady.’

It was an excellent plot device to prevent the sub-female lead, who could have been a rival, from becoming the female lead’s ally.

Moreover, it prevented the male lead from marrying someone else, so from the perspective of a romance novel, you could say it was killing two birds with one stone.

‘Of course, there is the question of whether it makes sense for the Crown Prince to remain a virgin until he is over twenty years old without a queen or even a concubine until he meets the female lead.’

Let’s just chalk that up to genre conventions.

And in the process of searching for the medicinal herbs needed to cure the Minister of War’s daughter’s illness, Jihwa accidentally encounters the Crown Prince, who is hunting in the mountains, and the two of them begin to develop feelings for each other without realizing that they are the same people they met when they were children.

The Crown Prince, who already feels a sense of guilt towards the Minister of War’s daughter, naturally assists Jihwa in every way when he learns that she is searching for medicinal herbs to cure the Minister of War’s daughter’s illness.

And Jihwa naturally feels goodwill towards such a kind and helpful Crown Prince… well, the two of them fall in love amidst the scenic mountains. After confirming the news that the Minister of War’s daughter’s illness has been cured and she has finally grown taller, the Crown Prince, impressed by Jihwa’s skills and character, attempts to welcome her as his close aide.

‘That’s how the two of them start their romance. But if things continue like this, the target of Jihwa’s cure will change. Is that okay?’

Eventually, what was destined to happen would happen, so wouldn’t the main characters find their way to each other even if I left them alone?

‘Jihwa will be able to cure my illness when she comes back.’

But such an optimistic opinion was only my own wishful thinking, and the opinions of those around me were bound to differ.

‘I built the private residence too hastily.’

In the Joseon Dynasty, the marriages of princesses or concubines often took place as early as around the age of ten.

If the king held a deep affection for them, the wedding was held early, but they continued to live in the palace until they matured further. In rare cases, marriage was delayed due to unavoidable circumstances (Princess Jeongmyeong, the daughter of King Seonjo, was imprisoned with her mother, Queen Inmok, and married at the age of 21 after the Injo Restoration).

And in my case, it was considered quite late because I had an older brother who had not yet married, but this was not entirely the Crown Prince’s fault.

“Isn’t the poison the root cause of it all?”

“The royal physicians say they don’t know how to cure it, so what can we do?”

Before I knew it, I was twelve years old. The Crown Prince was eighteen.

There was no other way.

The Crown Princess candidate’s family fell into ruin along with the treason of Grand Prince Gyeong-eon. The Empress Dowager, who had been struggling with her health for a long time, passed away as the death of her own grandson was such a shock. Consequently, we entered a period of national mourning, and not much time has passed since then.

The Empress Dowager’s national mourning period is three years, so the Crown Prince had to remain celibate for about two years.

If he brought in even a concubine, not to mention the queen, during this period, who knows what kind of criticism he would face.

‘If it goes on like this… won’t the Crown Prince be unable to marry until he meets the female lead?’

I felt like I could sense the writer’s desperate struggle to keep the male lead pure, or rather, the will of the universe itself.

In the meantime, there was some discussion about whether it would be wise to decide on my future marriage partner in advance, but I managed to stop it by begging to remain in the palace a little longer.

At that time, I still held onto the hope that I would grow up soon.

Still, as I mentioned before, my private residence outside the palace was already completed.

For reference, in this world, becoming a son-in-law of the king did not limit one’s official position. As the Crown Prince had stated before, it was a position that should be highly sought after.

In the history of my previous life, restrictions on the official position of the king’s son-in-law began relatively early in the Joseon Dynasty. King Taejong Yi Bang-won, who had many children (12 sons and 17 daughters), granted so many privileges to his many sons-in-law that later generations gradually began to regulate them. It was completely established during the reign of King Sejo when he prohibited the political participation of the royal family.

However, in this alternate history, the king’s sons-in-law often played a crucial role in supporting the king when his throne was threatened, so they were not subject to such strict regulations.

However, judging from the fact that there were not many families actively vying for the position of the king’s son-in-law, it seemed that many people were concerned about the fact that I had teetered between life and death due to poisoning. It was a situation similar to that of the Minister of War’s daughter, who was ambiguously positioned as a sub-female lead in the original novel.

‘It has become a reality.’

I grabbed the sleeve of my father, the king, who was about to seize the royal physician by the collar, and tried to calm his rising anger.

“Father, how can the royal physician be at fault?”

“How can it not be the royal physician’s responsibility that he is helpless in the face of the princess’s illness?”

As I clutched the king’s sleeve and restrained him, tears of gratitude welled up in the eyes of the royal physician, who lowered his head in resignation.

In reality, how could the royal physician be blamed? The one who poisoned me was the true culprit.

Moreover, this particular condition could not be cured without the female lead, so it truly wasn’t the royal physician’s fault.

And it was not the royal physician but the Uigeumbu [the Joseon Dynasty’s supreme investigative agency] that had failed to uncover the source of the poison.

At that time, I had questioned Grand Prince Gyeong-eon about the origin of this poison, but he feigned ignorance, suggesting that it was not from him but from Royal Concubine Hong.

Royal Concubine Hong’s face turned ashen when she heard that I had been poisoned, and she vehemently denied the accusation, but after hearing Grand Prince Gyeong-eon’s words, she clammed up.

Neither of them confessed, and they could not subject the king’s woman or the prince to torture. The few palace staff who served them all claimed ignorance of the medicine’s source, so there was no way to determine the truth.

Considering his past penchant for harming animals, there was even speculation that he might have used the poison he had possessed before his confinement, but what good would such speculation do?

The only fortunate aspects were that I had survived and regained consciousness after several months.

And the fact that I knew who could potentially solve this problem.

Thanks to that knowledge, I was able to calmly pacify the enraged king.

“It must be thanks to the royal physician and the physicians of the Naeuiwon [Royal Clinic] that I opened my eyes safely. It is unsettling and uncomfortable that I have not grown, but I have Father, Mother, and His Highness the Crown Prince. Please don’t worry too much. I am worried that your health may be harmed.”

“Si-ah……!”

And the king, deeply moved by my flattering words, bestowed upon me land and property on the spot.

No, what is this?

“Father. I know that I already possess property that I received when I was appointed as a princess……?”

Besides, I’m generating a considerable income from this successful business venture.

“How can I be assured with just that when I don’t know what the future holds?”

“Didn’t you prepare a house in advance for when I get married……?”

“It may be inconvenient to live solely in the palace; sometimes, a private residence is necessary.”

That’s how I truly realized my dream of owning my own home and living the life of a golden spoon 백수 [baeksu: unemployed] at the tender age of twelve.

Aren’t you actively engaged in business?

Actually, Gai is managing everything now…….

I decided to take a break concurrently with the Empress Dowager’s death.

Even the business names other than Si-yeongwon were simply Gai’s creations.

What if Gai steals everything and runs away? It was an absurd worry in an era where the power of the state was more formidable than any individual.

In the first place, people would be scandalized if I openly conducted business with the status of a princess, so I couldn’t help but operate discreetly.

‘But is it ethical to increase my wealth with taxes like this!’

It’s been a few years since I was reborn, but the ingrained mindset of a common citizen was still deeply rooted in my soul.

Can I simply revel in this golden spoon life?

‘Ah, of course, I did take the poison intended for the Crown Prince.’

It seemed highly probable that the Crown Prince wouldn’t have ingested it even if I had left him to his own devices. Isn’t it a bit of a guilty conscience to claim that it’s a justification for me to indulge and live off taxes?

At the same time, I offered advice to my father, who was diligently seeking a cure for my condition.

“How about investigating whether there are similar cases among doctors across the country? Even if they are royal physicians of the Naeuiwon, they cannot possibly cure all the diseases in the world, can they?”

Even doctors have their own specialized areas of expertise.

Moreover, I couldn’t guarantee that all royal physicians would be renowned doctors like Heo Jun [a famous doctor in Korean history].

I didn’t explicitly state that, but the king agreed with my suggestion.

“……That’s a valid point.”

“And at the same time.”

“At the same time?”

“If doctors meticulously examine the records of the diseases they have treated and compile statistics, they might be able to discover new treatments that were previously unknown, right?”

“That is…….”

“It may be an overly ambitious undertaking, but I have the property that Father bestowed upon me. There is no immediate need for it, so I wish to allocate it to where it is most needed.”

Anyway, if I reside within the palace walls, there are limited avenues for its utilization.

Si-yeongwon is currently thriving.

Besides, business is flourishing.

“If a novel treatment is discovered in the process, wouldn’t it be beneficial to the entire world?”

“Princess, you……!”

The two characters 감동 (感, feeling; 動, move) [gamdong: moved, touched] seemed to be visibly radiating from the royal physician’s eyes.

‘Hmm, this old man is surprisingly compassionate. No, is it because I intervened to stop the king and even subtly redirected his words?’

It’s a considerable undertaking for the Naeuiwon.

When the treatment cases arrive, who will meticulously review and compile the statistics? If it were simple statistics, it might be manageable, but the department heads would have to take the lead.

‘Are there any graduates awaiting a position?’

It would be advantageous to recruit them and put them to work.