Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 83

“The rumor is already widespread that Ongju [Princess] herself said it would be right to give ranks to the female physicians who serve the royal family.”

“Rumors travel fast.”

The rumor has already spread to the marketplace.

“I heard that quite a few female physicians have started studying, hearing the rumor that they might receive ranks. They seem to think that if they get a rank, they won’t be able to avoid taking an exam.”

“They haven’t been studying until now?”

“Some may have, but others probably haven’t.”

I was already laying the groundwork for female physicians, and the rumor has already spread.

‘The rumor itself isn’t bad.’

They might be disappointed if giving ranks falls through, but creating a hopeful atmosphere is a good thing.

“If they really give ranks based on an exam, what will happen to those who fail the exam?”

“If they select based on an exam, they’ll probably be divided into female doctors with ranks and female physicians without ranks.”

If that happens, the female physicians will literally continue to do what they’ve been doing until now.

‘I need to separate the female physicians and female doctors.’

To be precise, it’s separating doctors and nurses.

Anyway, if I start laying the groundwork and preparing from now, it will be a few years before it’s actually implemented.

Because the best excuse for creating female doctors is that none of the royal physicians in the royal clinic could cure the Queen Dowager’s illness, and the royal physicians were all men, so they had difficulty actively examining the Queen Dowager, who is a woman.

Therefore, around the time of disinterment after three years, it would be perfect to start officially.

Of course, there was also the reason that it takes time to create and implement national policies.

After a few years, it will be a little more properly established, even if it’s clumsy.

‘Wouldn’t the heroine return around that time?’

To be honest, I feel like I’ve twisted the original story in a strange direction, but I still have to leave some possibility for the hero and heroine to meet.

Well, the genre is what it is, and they’re the main characters, so I have a feeling they’ll meet on their own no matter what I do.

“So, I heard that some impoverished noble families are encouraging their daughters to learn medicine.”

“Impoverished noble families? Why? To get a rank?”

Even if the female doctors receive ranks, considering that most of them are from the government, I don’t think they’ll recognize maintaining their noble status with that.

‘Well, it wouldn’t be bad if they did recognize it.’

That was also why I was able to argue for giving ranks to female physicians first.

If I tried to put women in the civil or military service exams, the Confucian scholars would swarm and shout, ‘Absolutely not, Your Majesty!!’ and wield axes.

“They can get closer to the royal family.”

“Oh……”

I was naive. Everyone has something in mind.

But it won’t be easy to get that far.

“Medicine is not something you can learn in a day or two. Just the fact that this discussion has come up makes them think there’s a possibility, so quite a few people are trying to learn medicine. Of course, there aren’t many, but for now, only the children of noble families can read medical books.”

“Ah, then it might be harder to find doctors to teach the children?”

Sung-ji opened her eyes wide at my words.

“That might be the case. Everyone is busy these days because the country has been checking various things with the doctors lately.”

“Ah……”

Is that also because of me?

“Did they come here too?”

“Yes. But since your uncle was also a royal physician, he didn’t have any new medical books, and he didn’t see many patients, so it was quite easy. It would have been quite difficult for a clinic with many patients.”

“Hmm, I see.”

I feel a little sorry for making it difficult.

“But I think it’s a very good method. Originally, a proper doctor would record the symptoms and illnesses of the patients who come to them and organize which diseases were common. If we can find out the most effective treatment methods from the records of doctors all over the country, wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

“Yes.”

It’s quite comforting to hear that from an actual field worker.

“Actually, the doctors I saw were annoyed, but they were expecting it to be a great help if a proper medical book was made.”

“That’s a relief.”

Of course, it’s a bit ambiguous from my perspective, as I have to find a teacher to teach the children.

“Then would everyone be skeptical about teaching the children?”

“Some people might be tired of taking care of patients, or those who are older. You might be able to find someone among the female physicians. As I said before, many medical students and female physicians gather at pharmacies, so if you inquire there, it shouldn’t be difficult to find someone. Since Ongju [Princess] is doing it, wouldn’t a stable life be guaranteed?”

After all, job security is important in any era.

“But you can’t know about that person’s ability or character. I’m worried because it’s about teaching children.”

“You can only listen to people’s words and meet them in person to find out about their character. In fact, I don’t know if people would say my uncle has a good character if they heard about him from others.”

Oh, a frank patricidal remark from the nephew.

I like it.

“But he doesn’t take medicine lightly or treat life carelessly. I can guarantee that.”

“Hmm, I’ll believe that.”

I’ll have to see the person myself to know.

Even while saying that, Sung-ji told me about a few famous doctors he knew.

It seemed that everyone had to rely on the rumors of local residents unless they were really famous doctors.

Anyway, it wasn’t a fruitless trip, so my steps were a little lighter as I left Sung-ji’s house.

Also, the luggage was lighter than when I came because I shared and ate the castella [sponge cake] I brought.

“Sister, can we really ride the horses?”

“You’ve already walked a lot to get here, so your feet must hurt, right?”

“We’re used to walking, so we’re okay.”

“I’m used to walking too.”

On the way back, I put the children on the horses. It was partly because I thought their legs would hurt, but also because they seemed to want to ride the horses.

It’s fortunate that Jeok-ah is generous to the children.

Still, the children weren’t used to horses, so we decided to walk slowly.

Ji-ah and Ah-young were amazed by the horse they were riding for the first time and couldn’t stop exclaiming. Ji-ah seemed a little uneasy.

And Ah-young started lecturing, as if she didn’t like it from earlier.

“Ah-young, Min Sang-gung [a court lady] told you to use honorifics to Agi-ssi [young lady], right?”

“Ugh, no. I don’t wanna.”

“How old are you to be acting like this?”

“Agi-ssi unnie [older sister]~ Ji-ah unnie is bothering Ah-young.”

“Ahahaha.”

That’s fun. It reminds me of the old days.

“It seems the talk went well.”

“Yeah. Seong Gyeom-sabok, you worked hard too.”

“It’s nothing. It just took time to persuade him to understand.”

It’s even more amazing that he persuaded him to understand without using his fists.

The man who came back with Seong Gyeom-sabok apologized quietly to Seong-ji and then carried his son away.

“Will that child be okay?”

“I’m worried that the parents are a bit lacking, but fortunately, the child seemed to understand.”

Fortunately, I told the child who came to his senses to take the medicine in the correct dosage, so now he has no choice but to take care of his own life.

“I heard that the father and son are butchers. They can’t say anything to people who treat them carelessly, but they’re so violent to those who treat them with kindness. People are truly incomprehensible beings.”

“Weak to the strong, strong to the weak. That’s not good.”

“Agi-ssi [young lady].”

I can be said to be a strong person with status, but the children of Siyeongwon [orphanage] can’t necessarily be seen that way, so I was worried.

“Siyeongwon is teaching the children self-defense, right? They’re also teaching archery as a basic skill.”

“Yes.”

“What if we teach the children who have talent in martial arts in that direction? If we open a medical center later, there’s no guarantee that people like that won’t appear there, right?”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Let’s pick both girls and boys, regardless.”

There are also commoner children, so it would be nice if they could pass the military service exam because they are good at martial arts, but that’s not an easy position.

Wasn’t the military service exam the one that Admiral Yi Sun-sin failed too?

Above all, I heard that it’s difficult to learn equestrian martial arts.

‘After all, the civil service exam is uprooting the pillars of the family.’

It means that families without horses can’t take the military service exam.

It’s not that I can’t buy horses for Siyeongwon [orphanage]. In fact, I left one horse there to send people if something urgent happens. But it was a waste to teach horse riding because there were too many people in Siyeongwon.

It was also a waste to keep enough horses to teach all those children.

‘That’s why they like riding horses like that.’

There’s only one horse in Siyeongwon, so wouldn’t it be animal abuse to let all the children ride it just because they want to?

“Agi-ssi [young lady], if you’re thinking of going to Siyeongwon, your legs must hurt. Are you okay? Shall I carry you on my back?”

“I’m okay.”

Seong Gyeom-sabok used to act like it would be a big deal to touch the body of a royal family member, but now he’s used to it and even says things like that.

‘Of course, the fact that I’m not growing seems to be a big reason too.’

It’s true that I’m small and weak for my age, so I can’t help it.

“Euheoeo~”

At that time, someone staggered towards us with a strange groan.

‘Is it a drunkard passing by?’

The way he moved looked like a drunkard even from a hundred miles away.

He’s so drunk even though it’s still bright. I hope he finds his way home.

But Seong Gyeom-sabok stepped forward as if hiding me behind him, and So-yi held the reins tightly so that Jeok-ah wouldn’t feel unpleasant and led the horse in the opposite direction from where the man was coming.

Fortunately, the man didn’t seem interested in us and was humming a song while blowing on a bottle.

‘No, but why does that song sound familiar……’

What song have I been singing and where?

While I was suffering from self-loathing, the staggering man finally collapsed in the middle of the road.

“……”

We were wondering if we could just leave him there, so we slowly avoided Jeok-ah stepping on him and walked in a line.

“Agi-ssi [young lady], this way.”

“Okay.”

As Seong Gyeom-sabok was about to pick me up, probably because he was still uneasy, the drunkard suddenly raised his head.

Ah, our eyes met.

“H-Hiiiiiiick!”

The middle-aged man who met my eyes trembled in horror, then collapsed on the spot and fainted.