Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 156

“From now on, you have to give that guy his stipend [regular payment]?”

“I get it. Seriously, for a Crown Prince, you’re so petty.”

Saying that, the three were drinking tea, looking exhausted.

I roughly knew they were close siblings, but what were they even doing?

As if reading Cheonho’s mind, the Princess Consort opened her mouth.

“Come to think of it, Brother, you seem free today?”

“I skipped my martial arts practice thanks to you and that guy. Instead, I’ll have to train the Royal Escort more rigorously from now on. To not be able to catch one young one, really.”

Hearing the Crown Prince’s words, Cheonho engraved in his heart that his choice to stay by the Princess Consort’s side today was an excellent one.

“Ah, right, Cheonho, you came because you had something to deliver, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Princess Consort.”

The reason he bothered to return to the Princess Consort’s residence was also because of that. Truthfully, even if he had just left work, they would have thought he was tired and let it go, but he couldn’t do that because there were letters he wanted to deliver today.

Taking out the things he had kept in his possession, he handed them to the Princess Consort, who set aside her teacup for a moment and unfolded the letters.

“Ah, it seems the copying is complete.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, among the children of Siyoungwon [a type of educational institution], there are children who were sent to the provinces who write a kind of natural history, and I’m organizing it and planning to make an extra copy to keep… Ah.”

Having said that, the Princess Consort exclaimed as if she had remembered something.

“Come to think of it, they also recorded the native trees and medicinal herbs of the region with drawings. From what I’ve read, there were many that I’ve never seen before… I wonder if there are any similar to what Sehwa is looking for… medicinal herbs?”

“……”

“……”

The Crown Prince and Physician Sehwa’s gazes turned to the Princess Consort.

“That medicinal herb is a type that grows in cold regions, so it would be good to check depending on the region.”

“That’s right, I should bring that and check it too.”

“What on earth are you doing?”

“It’s not like I ordered it. It’s something the children do on their own. Ah, that’s right. Now that I think about it, Brother.”

“?”

“Do you have any plans to create a postal delivery system between regions?”

“Postal delivery? Suddenly? Why?”

“Well… it’s a bit difficult to receive letters from children who are far away… Anyway, people are sent to deliver news and exchange letters, but isn’t that kind of dangerous and wasteful? Rather, it’s safer for people going to the same province to go together. The state could hire a few people with excellent martial arts skills to deliver letters or light luggage. Wouldn’t that be more reliable than sending it personally? Mountain roads are so dangerous, after all.”

“Hmm. The idea itself isn’t bad. Scholars from various provinces take the civil service exam and settle in Seoul, so they all have their families in the provinces and need to keep in touch often…”

“If you receive fees from many people, you can save on travel expenses. If the state does it, the credibility will be high, so people can trust and entrust it.”

“Okay. I’ll have to discuss it in earnest next time.”

“It would be good if you could send letters and items that are not too big together. Of course, the fees should be more detailed. If possible, it would be nice to improve the roads even a little.”

“We need to set the fee in proportion to the distance. The larger the town, the better the roads are, making it easier to travel, so that should also be taken into account.”

Watching the siblings begin to discuss seriously, Sehwa and Cheonho thought.

‘They’re suddenly discussing policy like this. They’re really strange siblings.’

Some time later, after checking, they were able to confirm that the documents created by the children of Siyoungwon mentioned the medicinal herb that Sehwa was looking for.

‘How did I find it in the original work?’

I think some connection that Sehwa knew somehow reached out, and I heard rumors and ran over.

Wouldn’t it have somehow connected even if I had left it alone here?

‘The development has changed a lot, so this is a problem.’

As a result, everything turned out well, though.

It wasn’t properly compiled into a book yet because it was still lacking, but it was enough to confirm which region the medicinal herb Sehwa was looking for came from.

“I heard that the child who wrote this guide is still in that area. Then it seems like it won’t be difficult to find, so isn’t it okay now?”

“But according to what’s written here, it’s not like they picked it themselves, it’s just that there’s a medicinal herb with different characteristics from a similar grass.”

The medicinal herb that Sehwa was looking for was a unique and troublesome herb that had to be picked in winter and made into medicine immediately before it spoiled to be effective.

“This is really annoying.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not Sehwa’s fault.”

“However… it is my fault for not properly checking the medicinal herb.”

“That’s enough. It’s not an urgent matter anyway.”

“Yes……”

More important than that was the fact that the place where the medicinal herb was presumed to be was in a mountain in Gangwon Province.

‘The weather is getting colder.’

Even though it’s something that has to be collected in winter, it didn’t seem easy to find a herb that wasn’t used much.

Of course, Sehwa was full of enthusiasm.

“I’ll go and get it myself!”

“Hmm. I appreciate the thought, but it seems dangerous.”

Winter, Gangwon Province. Just the keywords alone made me and the Crown Prince, who had bad memories, frown from the beginning.

“What are you going to do when it gets cold?”

“It’s a medicinal herb that can only be found in early winter. Now is the perfect time.”

It’s a medicinal herb, but it’s such a vague herb that even the *simmani* [mountain men who gather herbs] don’t know about it. Sehwa himself had picked it himself when he learned medicine from his teacher.

‘Hmm… come to think of it, the two of them were definitely flirting in a winter mountain village in the original novel.’

I definitely remembered that. Originally, that was supposed to be their first meeting, but a lot really went wrong.

It was a bit scary to think that they might not have met at all.

I shook my head for now.

“No, what mountain are you trying to climb?”

“I learned medicine in the mountains. I’m familiar with the mountains.”

“There are tigers.”

“That……”

The room suddenly became quiet at my words that popped out without me realizing it in Sehwa’s confident voice.

Ah, no. Everyone’s PTSD that you and I know…….

And the Crown Prince, who was listening quietly, started a story of a completely different scale.

“Then we can just go with the soldiers.”

“Brother.”

“The *Gangmu* [royal military training exercise]… will be soon. I will tell Father.”

“……”

*Gangmu*.

After the incident with Crown Prince Seongwon, everyone avoided even mentioning *Gangmu* for several years, but it was also part of military training, so *Gangmu* could not be abolished.

Still, it seems that the current Crown Prince has not gone to Gangwon Province since he ascended to the position of Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince, who had come to hear about my treatment situation, said everything he wanted to say and disappeared.

Cheonho, who couldn’t help but notice that the atmosphere had subsided after the Crown Prince disappeared, carefully opened his mouth.

“Are you okay?”

“Hmm. There’s no reason for me not to be okay. But I can’t help but have bad memories.”

“Bad memories?”

“Ah.”

That’s right. If you weren’t in the palace at the time, you wouldn’t know what I was talking about.

Cheonho is also young.

When I didn’t say anything, Cheonho opened his mouth instead.

“I’ve also heard that His Majesty the King once ordered a large-scale tiger hunt.”

“Really?”

“Yes…… There were rumors that a tiger appeared during *Gangmu*.”

Cheonho said with a slight look.

“Why are you so cautious?”

“I was just worried about disturbing your peace of mind.”

“It’s been a long time. Why would I be so disturbed by that?”

But looking at the reaction earlier, well… it’s something that I can’t help but be concerned about in the present.

Gangwon Province is also wide, so it’s okay because there’s no way we’ll go to the place where the accident happened.

Where were the children?

‘Hmm… come to think of it, the Crown Prince met the heroine in the mountain where he went for *Gangmu* in the original work, so it means it’s a suitable area for *Gangmu*.’

And my thoughts were right.

Some time later, the Crown Prince told me that the *Gangmu* schedule had been set.

“I decided to go to this place for *Gangmu*.”

“No, what do you mean by that?”

“Anyway, if His Majesty and I go, the royal physicians will have to follow, so it’s better to go together then.”

Originally, animals don’t like places where there are metallic sounds.

That time was so strange.

I heard that it was a year when there were not many wild animals because of the drought. Releasing animals on purpose for hunting may have attracted tigers.

That’s how the tiger came and harmed people.

“There are many things that are different from then, so it will be okay. Don’t worry.”

That’s why the Crown Prince reassured me like that.

And I wasn’t very relieved.

“……Then I’ll go with you.”

“……It’s not going for fun.”

“You said it’s a safe place now. So Father and Brother work. I’m going to play.”

The Crown Prince had a serious face for a moment at my words, but soon softened.

In fact, it wasn’t like I was going to go all the way into the mountains where *Gangmu* was being held even if I went with them.

Still, he didn’t want to take me with him, so he tried to appease me.

“Wouldn’t Mother be lonely without you?”

“I’m going to give her work to do so she doesn’t get bored.”

If you look at the things I do, there are quite a few things that the Queen should be doing.

“No, don’t do that.”

“I’m going too!”

“Don’t be stubborn!”

In fact, it was a difficult time to be separated from Sehwa because the time to get the medicinal herb was delayed.

I have to continue to receive acupuncture, even if it’s a herbal medicine, and even though Sehwa is teaching medicine to Seongji, it was a new treatment method that no one knew, so it was right to receive it from Sehwa as much as possible.

“Anyway, you’re going to take a lot of former tiger hunters, right?”

“Well…… that’s right.”

There were originally cases where people were selected based on their abilities, similar to what Crown Prince Seongwon had as his escorts, but after that incident, many field workers were hired as the Crown Prince’s escorts or palace guards.

Most of the Crown Prince’s guards, including the Crown Prince’s Royal Escort, were people who had nothing to do with the field, so it was thought that the fact that they did not properly protect the Crown Prince was one of the causes of the Crown Prince’s death, so after that, many field workers were promoted.

I don’t know if it’s a good thing that people are being selected based on their abilities…….

Thanks to this, many of those who protect the current Crown Prince are also experienced in the field.

‘Come to think of it, Seong Gyeomsabok or Cheonho over there are similar cases.’

It wasn’t intentional, though.

That’s why the Royal Escort officials were subtly trying to take Cheonho a while ago.

“That’s right. Cheonho is a tiger hunter. You can take him.”

“No, but Cheonho is still young.”

“Cheonho’s uncle was also a tiger hunter.”

“That’s true, but.”

“He said he’s caught one before.”

“No, but that’s a bit.”

As I continued to insist, I threw another deal at the Crown Prince, who was embarrassed.