Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 150

Thus, the Crown Prince drifted off to sleep, the laughter and gentle teasing of his younger sister serving as a lullaby after a long day.

‘I’m happy Saa is growing up, but I’m also a little sad that we won’t be able to spend time together so freely,’ he mused.

Sehwa had mentioned that Princess Suyoung’s treatment would take time.

However, that timeframe didn’t account for the time needed to acquire the ingredients, as it was assumed the royal clinic either possessed all necessary medicinal herbs or could easily obtain them.

“But you’re saying you couldn’t get them?” the Crown Prince asked.

“That is correct, Your Highness,” the royal physician replied, bowing his head apologetically.

“Will it take long to obtain them?”

“There are more types of medicinal herbs required than initially thought, so I cannot guarantee how long it will take.”

“Hmm.” The Crown Prince frowned. He hadn’t yet told Princess Suyoung about this delay, and he didn’t want to cause her unnecessary anxiety.

“I will personally gather the medicinal herbs, as I don’t need to remain constantly by the Princess’s side just yet,” Sehwa offered. He had previously stated that he would need to be with her continuously once the intensive treatment began.

It would be most efficient to retrieve the herbs himself, but the Crown Prince hesitated to pull the primary physician away from his duties. While Sehwa was diligently passing on his medical skills to Seongji, it was Sehwa who had originally pledged to cure the Princess’s illness.

“No, is that truly necessary? Let’s send someone,” the Crown Prince suggested.

“Wh-Who are you suggesting we send?” the royal physician asked, his voice laced with tension, puzzling the Crown Prince.

“Wouldn’t it be better to dispatch messengers and offer a reward to anyone who brings the required herbs?”

“!” The physician seemed startled by the idea.

“There are those who specialize in foraging for medicinal herbs; they would likely find them much faster.”

And the Crown Prince acted on this idea immediately.

‘The mind of a powerful person,’ I thought when I heard the news.

‘Our Crown Prince has matured and now understands how to leverage his authority.’

Thanks to this initiative, even professional *Simmani* [mountain ginseng diggers] began searching for the medicinal herbs, considering them even more valuable than wild ginseng. The herbs they found were delivered directly from the mountains to the capital.

“The governors aren’t harassing the people, are they?” I asked.

“They aren’t giving awards to the governors for finding them, so there’s no need to worry about that,” came the reply.

Every time a new batch of medicinal herbs arrived, Sehwa would rush over, his eyes sparkling, to assess their quality. He was delighted, remarking that it was rare to see such high-quality specimens.

“I never imagined we could acquire the medicinal herbs so quickly,” he exclaimed.

Is this the power of authority?

In the original story, Sehwa goes and digs them up himself.

“That’s why people desire money and power,” I said.

It wasn’t an acupuncture day, so I was leisurely enjoying tea with Sehwa.

“Does the Princess also say such things?” he asked.

“Why would I?” I replied.

“Where else in the world is there someone as selfless as the Princess?”

“Me? Why?”

“You not only invested your personal wealth in establishing Siyoungwon [a charitable institution] to house people with nowhere else to go, but you also educated them and provided them with the means to earn a living.”

“Hmm? Did I do that?” I hadn’t intended to expand the project to such a scale initially, but somehow, it had evolved into this.

“If you had chosen to manufacture and sell soap, you could have amassed a considerable fortune. Instead, you donated it in large quantities to Hyeminseo [a medical institution for the poor] and Hwalinseo [another medical institution]. I know that a significant portion of your wealth was also used to train doctors and administer smallpox vaccinations. All of that came from the Princess’s private funds.”

“Well, I’m someone who can easily make a living even without selling soap,” I said. Hmm. I have moderately… a lot of money.

“Usually, people only care about filling their own bellies, regardless of whether others live or die.”

“Saving people takes precedence. What else can I do?”

Sehwa looked slightly wistful at my words.

Why the sudden change in mood?

“…The Princess… seems like she would turn a blind eye even if the young children of criminals ran away,” he said.

Ah. I realized why Sehwa was acting this way.

‘He doesn’t know that Sucheon survived and escaped. How sad.’

He must believe he was the only one who survived and fled, and he doesn’t know if his younger sibling is alive or dead.

He also survived and escaped safely, but how can I convey this information smoothly?

‘But I don’t know if he’s thriving after running away like that.’

I feared that telling him would only give him false hope, so I changed the subject.

“Turning a blind eye or whatever, I’m so small and weak, where would I find the strength to catch them?”

“Hehe. You will grow up soon. Please wait a little longer.”

“Okay. I’ll wait.”

Hmm, thinking about the novel’s plot, it seems like the romance mode with the Crown Prince will begin in earnest after this illness is cured.

‘But there aren’t many opportunities for them to meet, so I don’t know what will happen.’

I’ll be relieved once he gets married soon.

After finishing his tea, Sehwa rose from his seat, mentioning that more medicinal herbs were scheduled to arrive that day and he needed to go. Even though he was busy, he seemed so lively; he was a natural worker.

‘He’d be good at doing work…….’

Because he’s doing well now, too.

And unfortunately, an incident surrounding the main character was unfolding in a place I was unaware of.

***

“Where are the medicinal herbs that arrived yesterday?” Sehwa asked.

“What are you talking about? We don’t know anything about that,” the other medical officers replied, after confirming that the neatly organized herbs from the previous day were indeed missing.

“These are the medicinal herbs for the Princess’s decoction. What on earth did you do with them?”

“If the medicinal herbs you received yesterday have disappeared, that’s your negligence. Why are you blaming us?”

“Didn’t His Highness the Crown Prince entrust everything to you regarding the medicinal herbs for the Princess? It’s not right to blame us.”

Sehwa was dumbfounded by the medical officers’ brazen attitude, but they remained unmoved.

“You have to acquire them if you need them. Isn’t that right?” one sneered.

“That’s right. You’re receiving all the favor from the superiors, so you should be able to handle that much, right?” another added.

“……”

Sehwa paused, looking at the empty medicinal herb cabinet. On days when Seongji was present, one of them could stay in the clinic to monitor and guard the herbs. However, on days like today, when only one of them was present, this type of behavior was a frequent occurrence.

Clearly, the missing herbs weren’t extremely expensive or crucial. They were items that could be easily obtained if he wanted them.

But he couldn’t ignore the suspicious behavior of the medical officers who had been working here.

“I can’t believe how someone can disregard the other doctors like this, even though they’ve been favored and lived comfortably without even having a proper initiation ceremony,” one muttered.

“Tsk tsk. Watch your words. What if you report it to the superiors?” another cautioned.

Sehwa, having gathered his thoughts while listening to the giggling voices behind him, suddenly stood up.

“I understand,” he said.

“Hoo.” The medical officers, who had been giggling with brightened faces, turned pale at Sehwa’s next words.

“As you said, I will report it to the superiors.”

“What, no…….”

As Sehwa stood as if to leave, the medical officers became flustered and tried to stop him, but they were unsuccessful. The female doctors who had been watching from afar rushed to Sehwa, asking what was happening.

Since there was a precedent of a man who was dismissed for having an affair with a female doctor in the past, they couldn’t dare to lay hands on women recklessly. They refused to be in a similar situation to that guy who was a real adulterer.

“Please be patient,” one of the female doctors pleaded.

“Does it have to be like this?” another asked.

“I don’t necessarily have to be in the clinic, so don’t worry too much,” Sehwa reassured them.

“But…….”

What they wanted was, so to speak, an initiation ceremony. It was said that there was a rule that when female doctors joined, they had to serve a handmade feast. However, seeing that the Princess, who had created the female doctors program, didn’t seem to know anything about it, it was a trivial custom that hadn’t been around for long.

Since the reason for the separation at the time was adulterous men and women, the female doctors who had originally boarded started it to look good, and that became the root of the problem.

It seemed that they didn’t have enough wealth to properly serve food, so they made and served food with sincerity, and that became an initiation ceremony.

He even heard that there was a guy who rejected it, saying that it wouldn’t be recognized unless it was handmade, so it seemed useless to solve it with money.

‘They probably don’t want to admit that women are rising to an equal position with them,’ Sehwa thought.

Most of those who were learning about *Busul* [medical techniques] from Sehwa did not take such an attitude.

But the problem was that there were quite a few guys like that.

What should I do if the mind of someone who has learned medicine is like that?

Shouldn’t there be a review of character when selecting medical officers?

Even if he reported it to the superiors, it would be difficult to resolve properly, and if the relationship with the original medical officers went wrong after that, it was natural that the female doctors would suffer.

If a newcomer like Sehwa came out and said that he wouldn’t accept it, even the female doctors who had already conformed to the existing system would suffer together, so they would just put pressure on the same female doctors to serve them.

But Sehwa, whose purpose was not emancipation like them, had no reason to be treated like that.

“……!”

Sehwa, who had been walking with a huff as if she was about to go report it right away, stopped, and the female doctors who were following behind also stopped.

“You thought well. We can’t bother the superiors with this kind of thing,” one of the female doctors said.

“It’s something that can be tolerated if you just bear it once. If it’s difficult to prepare food, we can help little by little, so don’t worry too much,” another added.

Those who were worrying about Sehwa and telling her to have an initiation ceremony were not necessarily bad people. Rather, a significant number of them were those who had said they would learn medicine from Sehwa.

“Okay. I will have an initiation ceremony,” Sehwa conceded.

Sighs of relief were heard here and there at Sehwa’s words.

Of course, sarcastic voices were also heard. It was a voice full of complaints that she had been unnecessarily resisting until now, making things difficult for many people, even though she was going to do this in the end.

‘How many people among these, besides Seongji, will not betray me and will be with me?’ Sehwa wondered.

Trust with those you work with is more important than anything.

I missed those who worked with me at Hyeminseo, but this was the clinic, so I couldn’t change people.

Sehwa sighed.

I thought I would be a little more comfortable because the superiors were good people, but it turned out that the problem was the people I worked with.

“I will set a time and place in the near future,” Sehwa announced.

“That would be good,” one of the officers replied.

“Tell me if there’s anything I can help with!” another offered.

It was a voice full of kindness, but Sehwa shook his head.

“No, you don’t have to help with the cooking,” she said.

“Ah. You also have a talent for cooking,” one of the female doctors said.

“Well. But I’m a little skilled at handling meat,” Sehwa replied, smiling brightly.

A few days later, news about Sehwa’s belated initiation ceremony reached my ears.

“Hmm. So, Sehwa called the medical officers who were harassing her to have an initiation ceremony and showed them a pig bone dissection show instead of cooking… no, a feat?” I asked.

“No, the butcher who was called in did the bone dissection, and Sehwa explained the location and function of the organs in the… pig’s body, comparing them to humans,” Cheonho explained, softening his words as much as possible. Soi’s face behind him was gradually turning pale.

That’s right… I thought it would be necessary to teach about *Busul*, so I connected him with a butcher, so it wouldn’t have been difficult to recruit him. Still, if he caught a pig, he would have spent quite a bit of money.

“And he showed them *Busul* in front of their eyes and explained it directly, and I heard that the doctors who didn’t know anything about *Busul* were shocked,” Cheonho continued.

“Well, they would have been…….” I replied.