Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 124

Born as the daughter of a low-ranking concubine (124/326).

I wanted to go out, but everyone was so overprotective. Because of that, I had no chance to sneak out and was stuck in my room, eating bread baked by Song Bi.

The life of the unemployed is good, but I want to go out and have some fun…

I feel like I’ve gained weight from just lazing around in my room, but everyone who sees me says my face has become gaunt and keeps sending me restorative medicines and nourishing food…

Since I was so bored and couldn’t go out, I called some palace servants, fed them bread, and asked them about various things.

I heard that they interrogated the men caught at the scene that day, but they couldn’t find out if anyone higher up was involved.

I’m sure there’s more to it, but I don’t know if their loyalty is that strong, if their superiors are scarier, or if they’re just good at covering their tracks. Because of that, even though the culprits were caught, they couldn’t trace anything back to the real masterminds.

Of course, several suspects were caught for trying to illegally buy slaves. It was also discovered that they had been illegally buying and using slaves even before the kidnapping attempt, but they couldn’t find any evidence that they were doing anything more significant than that.

However, due to this incident, the King ordered a full investigation into the slaves owned by the *Sadaebu* [the aristocratic class of Joseon Dynasty].

Naturally, there was opposition because their wealth would be revealed in detail, but the Princess was almost kidnapped and sold! Why would they oppose the investigation? Are they involved in something? After facing such suspicions, everyone had no choice but to shut their mouths.

In that way, it was discovered that many officials were violating the King’s orders by creating slaves through debt instead of following proper procedures, and people were being swept up in the investigation from all sides.

Of course, there were those who protested, saying it was excessive punishment, but the fact that they violated the King’s orders remained unchanged. Above all, there wasn’t enough justification to stop the King given the circumstances.

The King seized the momentum and had the identities of the slaves who had been bought before this incident restored, granting them their freedom.

Of course, the powerful people who owned a lot of slaves and those who were instigated by them protested again…

He had a thesis battle with the Crown Prince, who argued that even slaves should be treated like people.

The result of the long battle that bent the ministers’ backs was, of course, the Crown Prince’s complete victory.

They tried to defend the slave system by saying that it was a long-standing custom, but the Crown Prince refuted them one by one with logic.

They were grinding their teeth because of the Crown Prince. He even asked a minister who was so angry that he said, ‘Then why don’t you just liberate the public slaves?’ ‘If you don’t object, it will be possible. Do you agree?’

You shouldn’t have let him study so much…

Just as the ministers, who were making a fuss that this was an excessive measure that disregarded the *Sadaebu*, were about to organize a strike, the King took the lead and went on strike first.

No, should I call it a declaration of closure?

The King declared his abdication.

Because I am incompetent, this country has become like this. I am ashamed of the late kings and cannot raise my head and call myself a king. Do you know what I am saying? It’s all because of you. Did you understand, you bastards? After listing these grievances at length by quoting all kinds of ancient events, he issued a royal decree saying that he would hand over the throne to the grown-up Crown Prince and retire as the Retired King.

It was literally a nuclear bomb.

Because of this, the Crown Prince and the civil and military officials had to stage a protest in front of the *Daejeon* Hall [the main hall of the palace], prostrating themselves and begging him to withdraw his order.

The ministers who were preparing to strike had to back down on this matter.

One of the reasons was that everyone knew that the Crown Prince was even more hard-line on this issue than the King, but there was another, more urgent reason.

The King is going to abdicate, but the ministers don’t object? Are you happy about it?

That implies, are you harboring rebellious intentions to replace the King? Acknowledging treason? Because it could be interpreted that way.

In a situation where it was unknown whether the King really intended to abdicate or was trying to test their loyalty, acting carelessly could brand them with treason and cost them their heads.

Of course, this depends on the King’s personality, but everyone who knew him knew that the current King was not particularly gentle.

In addition, the King was already entrusting many tasks to the Crown Prince, even if not as a regent, so there would be no major problem even if he handed over the throne immediately.

And there was no law stating that he would immediately relinquish all authority just because he became the Retired King, so it was possible that the abdication would really take place.

I had been expecting him to entrust me with the regency soon, but the ministers were going crazy when he suddenly said he would abdicate.

The public sentiment was also quite agitated due to rumors that the young Princess was kidnapped and rescued.

Some people tried to spread rumors that the Princess was caught because she was wandering around unnecessarily, but Princess Su-yeong’s reputation, which had been built up over the years, was quite good.

She already had a good reputation because she lost her mother early at a young age and was feeding orphans who had nowhere to go by creating *Si-yeongwon* [an orphanage], and she was a victim of a brutal incident like kidnapping, so public opinion was strongly in her favor.

In addition, there were many people who defended the Princess, so those spreading rumors were pushed back in the public opinion war.

The *Si-yeongwon* kids… seem to be good at public opinion warfare. Is this okay?

Is it because of the Chetamin [a type of drug]?

Anyway, after being pushed back in many ways, even those who opposed it took a step back. Those who were illegally sold due to debt were only allowed to maintain their slave status if they still owed the debt. Unlike before, their children were unconditionally treated as commoners and could not be used as slaves, so the King also compromised, and the matter was concluded.

Of course, becoming a slave did not mean that they unconditionally belonged to the person who was owed the debt. As the Crown Prince had previously arranged, the state forced them to work to repay the debt.

They also investigated whether any illegal activities occurred in the process of incurring the debt.

In the case of gambling debts, the debt was not recognized, so the debtor did not have to repay the money, but they were punished for the unethical act of illegal gambling and selling their wives and children.

It actually took a long time to sort things out like this, but now the situation has been মোটামুটি [more or less] settled.

Of course, the full investigation was not over yet, and it would take a long time to worry about whether those orders would be properly implemented.

Thanks to that, I was stuck in the palace for a while.

I couldn’t go around because there was a fuss about the abdication.

Because there were people who came to me asking me to persuade the former king to withdraw his abdication, I had to avoid people and roll around in my room, claiming that I was sick from the shock.

Of course, I was able to play the part comfortably because I knew to some extent how things would proceed.

Because the Crown Prince visited me under the pretext of visiting the sick and told me this and that.

However, after the atmosphere stabilized to some extent, the Crown Prince also allowed me to go out because he wanted to reassure the people of *Si-yeongwon*.

Instead, the number of escorts increased, which is a bit annoying.

Cheon-ho was also among the annoying escorts.

What the heck is he….

Seong Gyeom-sa-bok was also a bit suspicious, but since he was originally a civil servant, his identity was somewhat guaranteed. But I don’t know Cheon-ho’s identity at all, so he’s even more suspicious.

I feel bad for saying this when I’ve received help, but I should still be a little wary….

It doesn’t matter much since he’s not attached to the Crown Prince, but I was worried because the Crown Prince generously allowed him to come and go to the palace to meet me.

As I was thinking that, I turned my head and Cheon-ho smiled at me, not knowing what I was thinking.

When I look at his face, he looks like a large, friendly dog, so I feel a little sorry…

“What do you do on days when I don’t call you, Cheon-ho?”

“I train, study, and learn about the geography of Hanyang [old name for Seoul].”

Cheon-ho only escorts me when I go out. He was allowed to enter the palace, but only with my permission.

The Crown Prince assigned Cheon-ho to me after the chaos in the palace had subsided a little.

I, who had been living in semi-confinement in my residence, occasionally called Cheon-ho, gave him snacks, and had trivial conversations.

I felt sorry for calling him every day even though we weren’t that close, so it was only once every few days.

When I think about it, it’s a bit similar to Seong Gyeom-sa-bok’s situation.

But you can’t really get to know someone by seeing them occasionally like that.

Other than that, when I contact him in advance when I go out like today, he comes to me and accompanies me.

He seems to have become close to the *Si-yeongwon* kids quickly because he has good social skills.

“Then is it fun?”

“Haha. Well. I’m a country bumpkin, so Hanyang is too chaotic, and I can’t get used to it.”

“It is complicated. Hmm. The *Si-yeongwon* kids know the geography of Hanyang better.”

“You seem to have a deep relationship with the children.”

If this is a deep relationship, I guess it is?

Hmm. Well, it’s been 8 years already, so it’s been quite a while.

“8 years… isn’t that quite a long time?”

“It passed in an instant, so I never thought about it deeply, but well, it’s been a long time. So is Seong Gyeom-sa-bok.”

Come to think of it, I met those kids not long after I met Seong Gyeom-sa-bok.

It’s natural since I didn’t have many opportunities to go outside the palace.

When I think about it, everything started from that April 8th.

I never thought things would get this big back then…

“I didn’t really intend for it to become this big. I was just going to provide a place for the kids to escape the rain and wind.”

“…You couldn’t stand seeing the children in danger? Aren’t you too generous?”

“I don’t want to hear that from someone who chased after a kidnapped child……”

“I don’t want to hear that from someone who is feeding children they don’t know.”

I want to pinch this annoying guy.

His face is impossible, so I grabbed his swaying hair.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch. Why are you doing this?”

“It’s easy to grab.”

It’s easy to grab because he’s tall.

“…Come to think of it.”

“Yes?”

“Jeok-ah isn’t avoiding you?”

“?”

I called Seong Gyeom-sa-bok, who was walking a little further away.

“Look. When Seong Gyeom-sa-bok comes this close……”

“He’s avoiding him.”

Cheon-ho, who saw Jeok-ah avoiding Seong Gyeom-sa-bok, reached out to Jeok-ah, and surprisingly, Jeok-ah accepted his touch without avoiding it.

“…I thought he was a friendly horse.”

“He’s a bad horse that discriminates against people.”

Seong Gyeom-sa-bok slowly moved away again with a betrayed look on his face.

Prrr.

Why do I feel like Jeok-ah is smiling at Seong Gyeom-sa-bok?

“Does he know that Cheon-ho is younger than he looks?”

“Well……”

Cheon-ho smiled as if he was amazed.

We left *Si-yeongwon* and went to the school built near *Si-yeongwon*. Of course, there was a doctor next to the school.

It’s been a while since I came out, so I should visit.

Originally, I used to show my face here occasionally.

There were frequent discussions about the children’s education policy and curriculum.

Come to think of it, am I… the chairman of the school board….

The name of the school wasn’t specifically decided, but everyone just calls it *Si-yeong* School appropriately.

Well, what does the name matter?

The side that teaches the children liberal arts and the side that teaches medicine were separated, but the side that needed frequent discussion was the medical course.

The kids who receive this education, of course, had to complete the liberal arts course as well.

For reference, basic education is usually done within *Si-yeongwon*. There is a spatial problem.

The number of kids who want to get higher education is increasing. Should I expand the scale more?

In fact, Hyeo Yeon-tae and his nephew Hyeo Seong-ji were practically the representatives on this side.

There were classrooms where classes were still in progress, so we decided to enter quietly so as not to bother them.

When I suddenly barged into the office without prior notice, Hyeo Yeon-tae, who was organizing some documents inside, flinched and stiffened when he saw me. Then he immediately bowed his head to me.

This old man is still the same.

I guess he was surprised not because he saw me this time, but just because someone suddenly came in.

“Have you come?”

“Um. How is it these days?”

“It’s going smoothly.”

As Seong-ji said, Hyeo Yeon-tae really doesn’t drink much since he started teaching the children, and he has become healthier.

Unexpectedly, he was said to be flawless as a doctor and as a teacher.

I guess there really was a bad past.

If he feels more comfortable holding a teaching position than being in the field, well… that’s his calling.

Doctors can’t cure all patients, so mentality is also important. If you have the skills but can’t handle it yourself, this career path might not be bad.

Anyway, I had no intention of digging into this old man’s secret past wounds, and Seong-ji, who had been away for a while, soon returned and joined in to discuss a few things.

“We need to replenish the doctors. Surprisingly, there are fields that everyone doesn’t know well, so they often study.”

“And it takes quite a while just to create textbooks.”

Since the doctors of this era did not obtain national licenses, there were occasionally people who knew unique treatments, and midwives often did not know much about fields other than childbirth.

The children were originally looking at and learning from existing medical books, but as the content was added here and there, the idea of creating textbooks came up, and everyone was worried.

We couldn’t wait for the medical book that the current *Naeeuiwon* [Royal Clinic] was making to be completed, so.

“That’s strange. I’m sure there were a lot of people, but the number has decreased again.”

“There are many cases where they fight and leave.”

In fact, the structure here was quite complex. Since the midwife has played the role of a female doctor to some extent, she gives a lot of related opinions, and it seems that there are often disagreements and hurt feelings.

The doctors also have strong pride, but since there is no hierarchy like in *Naeeuiwon*, they fight and leave. We can’t force them, and since we’ve scouted them, it’s hard to hold them back.

The midwives also can’t stand being ignored by the doctors, so they leave a message saying to call them when they need them.

It’s fortunate that the people who are left now are going in a mutually complementary way, but Seong-ji seems to be having a lot of trouble.

“But you’re not going to bring them in yourself again, are you, *Agassi* [young lady]?”