Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 136

“Wh-Who are you!”

“I’ve only come to confirm something.”

The one who suddenly appeared was Kyum Sa Bok [a royal guard], with the familiar face who always followed Princess Jaga.

The man, who was always kind and gentle in front of Princess Jaga, now had a face as cold as a blade.

“Wh-What do you want to confirm? I am…….”

“Councilor Heo Seong-ji is not your nephew.”

“!”

“And that female physician, Geumbi…….”

The moment the name Geumbi came out, Heo Yeon-tae’s eyes changed, and he rushed at Seong-yoon. But there was no way that he, a mere physician, could defeat Seong-yoon, a former Chetam-in [elite palace guard] and current Kyum Sa Bok.

Heo Yeon-tae’s eyes, who was easily subdued, filled with despair.

“Keuh……!”

“It’s best not to resist unnecessarily. Councilor Heo Seong-ji has already left, so there is no one who can help you.”

It was rather fortunate that Seong-ji was not here.

“J-Just kill me.”

“What crime have you committed that you are so willing to die?”

“Wouldn’t everything be over if I die?!”

“That’s not the case. Councilor Heo Seong-ji may be meeting His Majesty, so how can we take a suspicious person to His Majesty’s presence? It is also dangerous to leave you by Princess Jaga’s side like this.”

“!”

Heo Yeon-tae looked embarrassed at the words of Kyum Sa Bok Seong-yoon.

“Seong-ji…… doesn’t know anything. He has nothing to do with it.”

“We’ll know when we hear it. We need to see to what extent the facts I know and the facts you say match.”

At those words, Heo Yeon-tae realized that the other person already knew a lot.

“How…… did you know…….”

“If you were going to lie that she was the daughter of your older brother and his wife, you should have done it more meticulously.”

Heo Yeon-tae clearly had an older brother and sister-in-law, but they died about a year before Seong-ji was born.

That meant that Seong-ji was someone else’s child.

Heo Yeon-tae opened his mouth as if he had given up.

“Seong-ji…… is the child of Geumbi, a female physician I knew when I was in the Royal Clinic.”

“Is she actually your own child?”

“No! That person and I were not like that.”

***

Female physician Geumbi was an individual with more experience than Heo Yeon-tae, who had just passed the medical examination at a young age and entered the Royal Clinic.

Geumbi was also the one who quietly resolved a major mistake that he, who was flustered after entering the Royal Clinic, was about to make.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! I almost made a big mistake, but I survived thanks to you!”

“I just happened to find it. You must not be familiar with the Royal Clinic yet. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

“No. It’s my mistake. How can a doctor who makes such mistakes be in the Royal Clinic.”

“……But you are the only medical officer who quickly realized the mistake, and even came to me to thank me for knowing that fact.”

“Yes?”

“It means you are a person of trust. I hope that such a person will be in the Royal Clinic.”

Female physician Geumbi smiled and said that.

For some reason, that smile was deeply engraved in Heo Yeon-tae’s heart at that time.

Because he was not familiar with the existence of female physicians, Heo Yeon-tae at the time did not know how female physicians were treated.

Female physicians were women from the lower class who had learned academics and medicine. Because of this, they were treated better than other government slaves, but even if they were skilled female physicians, their status was lower than that of male medical officers, so it was difficult for them to disobey their unreasonable orders.

Experiencing such a situation, there were many cases where they entered the house of a noble as a concubine in order to be freed from slavery. Nobles were also active in bringing in women with culture and medical skills as concubines.

Geumbi also had several such offers, but she did not respond and was only faithful as a female physician.

Knowing it was rude, he had even asked.

“Wouldn’t it be better to enter as the wife of a nobleman who follows you willingly rather than being treated like this?”

But Geumbi smiled and shook her head.

“I wanted to be a doctor since I was young. If there is even one more doctor, one more female physician, wouldn’t it be possible to prevent children like me from losing their parents to illness? And even if I am a commoner, I don’t want to end up as someone’s concubine.”

Even though she was treated poorly, Geumbi was a proud female physician.

Heo Yeon-tae wanted to support such Geumbi.

The disease that took Geumbi’s parents was smallpox.

Perhaps because of that, Geumbi was very interested in smallpox. She learned about inoculation through those she met while treating her, and was interested in hearing about cowpox [a milder disease used to inoculate against smallpox].

“I’m going to take a vacation and meet and check with people who have had cowpox.”

“You should rest when you take a vacation, or you’ll get sick.”

At that time, Heo Yeon-tae already had Geumbi in his heart. But he didn’t even think about conveying that feeling, thinking that it would only be a hindrance to Geumbi.

And Geumbi, who had returned from vacation, had a lover.

He didn’t know the details, but he heard that she had found a wounded person on the street, treated him, and cared for him until they fell in love.

Heo Yeon-tae was frustrated when he learned that Geumbi had a lover, but he still hoped she would live happily.

But even that was a futile wish.

The man was related to the traitor Shin Heo-do. He met Geumbi while being chased by government soldiers.

And when she found out, Geumbi had already given birth to a child.

Whether someone in the neighborhood recognized the man and reported him, the man fled alone.

Geumbi, who was left with her child not long after giving birth, was already too late to run away when she found out the truth.

Heo Yeon-tae, who came to visit after hearing the news of the birth and learned the truth, was embarrassed by the unexpected situation.

“If it becomes known that you hid a traitor and even gave birth to his child, you will never be able to return as a female physician. And even this child.”

Geumbi had been abandoned by the man she loved, but she did not give up.

“I’m sorry to ask, but I have a request for Medical Officer Heo.”

Geumbi was already writing a medical book about smallpox at that time.

Heo Yeon-tae was also interested in smallpox, so the two shared information about the medical book even though they did not appear to be close on the outside.

Geumbi knew about inoculation and was preparing to experiment on her own body to confirm it. Until she found out she was pregnant.

But as things turned out, Geumbi made up her mind that she could not be dragged away like this and experimented with inoculation on herself.

She entrusted the child to Heo Yeon-tae, who had come by chance, and lied to the government soldiers that the man had only taken the child.

No matter how much she hid the traitor, there were no government soldiers who would rashly approach her because she showed symptoms of smallpox.

She was isolated in the room where she had been staying, and no one cared much about the life of a mere commoner female physician.

Thanks to this, Heo Yeon-tae was able to deceive the medical officer in charge at the time, saying that it was necessary for smallpox research, and succeeded in smuggling her out by paying money and pretending not to know that Geumbi had died.

“How can you do this for me? I shamelessly asked you to take care of the baby, but you are even taking this risk.”

“Don’t be so cold. How much have I received help from you before? And isn’t it a great loss to the world to lose a doctor like you?”

“……You are the only one who calls a female physician a doctor, Medical Officer Heo.”

“So live.”

“Yes. I have to.”

Fortunately, Geumbi did not die and recovered. However, whether it was because she had smallpox not long after giving birth, her recovery was delayed and she had a hard time for a while. Still, she never gave up.

“If I had to pick the thing I regret the most in my life, it would be meeting that person.”

Geumbi occasionally said such things as if she had remembered them.

Even while holding her daughter precious, she said such regretful words.

It wasn’t wrong.

If Geumbi hadn’t met him, she might have at least completed her medical book as a female physician and gained fame.

But Geumbi’s life was completely twisted by meeting him.

Heo Yeon-tae took care of Seong-ji and Geumbi, pretending to be the children and sister-in-law of his dead brother, but he could not fill the hole in his heart.

Instead, it was possible to create a medical book together.

Geumbi raised her child and organized the data she had organized, and Heo Yeon-tae organized the data he had smuggled out in advance and made it into a book.

When Geumbi became confident in her research, she inoculated her young daughter with cowpox.

Fortunately, Seong-ji had a mild case of cowpox and quickly recovered. Geumbi smiled, saying that it was okay to inoculate even young children with cowpox.

However, she also said that even people who had cowpox in the past had smallpox after a long time, so they would have to be inoculated with cowpox again in a few years.

She said that it was necessary to inoculate other people as well, and she took young Seong-ji with her to persuade people. Smallpox was more dangerous to people in the poor and impoverished classes.

Geumbi knew this, so she secretly inoculated them with smallpox without hiding the fact that it was cowpox. She was sometimes chased away as a crazy person, but she smiled and said she was okay.

Even if it is regarded as superstition, wouldn’t it be the best thing if many people did not die from smallpox?

And in the meantime, Heo Yeon-tae had become the doctor in charge of the young princess in the Royal Clinic.

Since he had been taking care of Seong-ji for a long time, he was used to taking care of young girls, so the princess, who spent a lot of time away from her parents, quickly took a liking to Heo Yeon-tae.

Unlike the healthy Seong-ji, she was a sickly princess.

How can I compare them, but every time I saw the two children, I felt complicated about the gap as if they had exchanged their status and health.

And that princess got smallpox.

Although she is still very young, if inoculation is performed within a few days of exposure to smallpox, the princess may be saved. I wondered if I had been researching smallpox with Geumbi for this day. I even thought so.

But can the young and sickly princess’s physical strength withstand cowpox?

While I was worrying about that, someone found Heo Yeon-tae.

Youngbin, a court lady serving a concubine who was still a noble at the time.

And at Chwiyeongdang [a building or residence], where she was secretly called, she heard unexpected words.

“I know that you have a family of traitors.”

“What…… are you talking about.”

“If it is revealed that you secretly smuggled out a traitor, you will also be taken to the Uigeumbu [a special government office for investigating treason], and that female physician will be dragged away and become a government slave. Of course, her daughter too.”

The high-ranking concubine laughed in a small voice as if Heo Yeon-tae, who was trembling, was funny.

“Did you think no one would know? You’re so naive. In the end, it’s what people do. If you don’t kill them to shut their mouths, it will be revealed someday.”

“H-How…….”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

Heo Yeon-tae’s head was empty and he couldn’t think of anything. Without realizing it, his whole body trembled.

In the first place, he was not a great person who could do such a big thing.

What on earth are you trying to make me do?

And I heard unexpected instructions.

“Don’t do anything.”

“Yes?”

“How can I trust a cowardly person like you and make you do dangerous things? Just don’t do anything. Just pretend to be treating her hard on the outside.”

“…….”

Then why did you call me in the first place?

Youngbin spoke as if she had seen through Heo Yeon-tae’s inner thoughts, who had such questions.

“I heard that you are researching smallpox treatment. What if you treat the princess?”

“…….”

“Don’t do anything for her. It’s a very easy thing, right? It’s not like killing her.”

“…….”

When Heo Yeon-tae couldn’t say anything, Youngbin continued to speak as if to herself.

“Rather than leaving clumsy traces, it would be nice if the Queen could see the princess suffering for a long time……. That poisonous Im Sang-gung [a high-ranking female official in the palace] too.”

“?”

What does that mean? Heo Yeon-tae was not so naive as to believe that the relationship between the Queen and the other concubines was only as harmonious as it seemed.

He himself was always careful and cautious not to get involved in the affairs of the concubine’s palace as much as possible.

Since doctors are naturally unable to avoid getting involved in such matters, they naturally had to prick up their ears and keep an eye on what was going on.

His Majesty was particularly unlucky with children.

Even when the Queen was the Crown Princess, she had miscarriages or lost the children she gave birth to, and the concubines she brought in because she had no heir could not have children or had miscarriages.

But now there is the Crown Prince and the princess.

“Why, am I scary? You must be wondering how I can say such harsh things.”