Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 159

Whether they understood my meaning or not, the people serving the food quietly nodded and retreated.

‘It’s become a subtly competitive dynamic.’

Well, as long as they don’t fight.

Even though it’s my private residence, there aren’t many important items besides my collection.

I don’t usually stay overnight at my private residence, but of course, I had my own room.

And in my room, there was one important item.

“Hmm.”

“Is something the matter?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

The table was cleared, and Gai, who was the only one left with me in the room, looked at me strangely, but I just smiled and opened the box with a lock that was decorating the room, taking out the contents.

‘Could there be something in here that would be problematic if leaked…?’

I took out the document I had placed in the box and reviewed the contents once more.

Gai, who knew what it was, didn’t look too pleased but didn’t voice any complaints.

‘Because it’s a will. She dislikes it because it’s ominous.’

After creating Siyoungwon and as my wealth increased, I had prepared my will in advance regarding my inheritance.

I update it every year, though.

Of course, Gai and my other court ladies all knew of its existence.

And its contents, too.

Of course, everyone is horrified when I write a will.

But you never know what might happen in life. With the thought that you never know when something might happen, every New Year, I would write a new one and keep one in the palace, one in my private residence, and one in Siyoungwon.

‘But my wealth keeps increasing….’

Is this the life of a sickly, silver-spooned heiress…!

At first, I thought about hiding it, but it was stressful to hide it from all the court ladies who were stuck to me like glue, so I just opened it up.

Besides, Gai was managing the details of my assets, so I needed Gai’s advice as well.

It couldn’t be helped that the property would go to the *bongsasun* [the descendant who performs ancestral rites] who would perform ancestral rites for me, but at least I wanted to take care of the people around me; isn’t that human nature?

And among the provisions of the will was the freeing of all the slaves I owned.

‘If my illness… gets better, I think it might be okay to start slowly then.’

The reason I hadn’t freed the slaves until now was partly because most of them were families of traitors, so I needed to give it some time, or they needed a grace period to develop the ability to support themselves, but also because I was still too young, and everyone would obviously stop me.

Having received the title of Ongju [a princess born to a concubine], I should be treated as an adult in practice, but no one really treats me like one.

Of course, 16 is still young.

It was also difficult to be treated as an adult because I was in a child’s body.

I wanted to release at least the young ones who were of marriageable age, but I was worried about strange guys latching onto them.

In fact, most of them didn’t seem like they would leave right away even if they were freed.

It was true that the world was still harsh, as they had all lived comfortably under my protection.

‘Still, I need to talk to the young ones about it little by little.’

Because manumission requires mental preparation. I’ve been hinting at it little by little, but people who don’t know won’t know at all unless I tell them directly.

I confirmed that the will was still there, closed the box again, locked it, put it back in its place, and left the private residence.

The next place I went was Siyoungwon.

I was overwhelmed by the people who had gathered in droves, having heard that I was going to Gangwon Province.

Among them, Royal Court Lady Min was especially worried.

“I’m worried that you’re going too far when the weather is getting colder.”

“That’s why we’re going in early winter.”

“I heard that Gangwon Province is colder than Hanyang [old name for Seoul].”

“Hmm… it’ll be cold. But it’s not like I’m going deep into the mountains.”

“Still, I’m relieved that Gai is going with you.”

“….”

What kind of trust is that?

“I’m not the only one going. Isn’t there someone here who needs to prepare even more busily than I do?”

“Waaaaa.”

Everyone who was going with me was busy preparing to leave, but in fact, the busiest people were the doctors.

Especially the children who had to spread the smallpox vaccination were busier than the royal physicians, and the faces of the children who thought they could rest for a while became clouded.

‘I feel a little sorry….’

We were planning to conscript and forcibly vaccinate the public slaves in the government offices along the way, so this side had no choice but to be busier.

Of course, we weren’t vaccinating everyone at once but classifying them according to the date and vaccinating the remaining people on the way back.

Besides, since we had to go a long way, many of those who followed me were people who knew how to ride horses.

The problem was that most of the doctors couldn’t ride horses, and of course, most of the children who were vaccinating couldn’t ride horses either, so they had to travel on foot.

‘I’m really sorry….’

But what can I do? I have to do it if they tell me to from above.

I’ve decided to admit that I’m just a *kkondae* [a condescending older person] now.

Lord Yeongcheon had been feeling uneasy lately.

‘It’s all because of Princess Suyeong, who is acting up with the King’s favor!’

He could still tolerate ruining the marriage of his nephew Songan, which he had arranged.

In terms of family, it was an excellent marriage, but who would have known that the stupid guy would play around like that before the marriage! Stupid guy, he couldn’t even stand those few months when the marriage was being discussed, and he was the only one who got scolded by his brother.

But the fact that the Princess openly kicked him out of Siwolgak made him seethe with anger just thinking about it.

Wouldn’t the people in Siwolgak that day have witnessed him being kicked out!

‘How dare she humiliate a member of the royal family like that!’

He had gone there because it was a place created by the Princess. To kick out a relative elder because of a woman who he didn’t know where she crawled out from! It was truly crossing the line.

“Come, come. Calm down.”

“How can I calm down? I can’t even sleep at night these days because of that impertinent Princess.”

“Haha….”

Lord Yeongcheon kept drinking and grinding his teeth.

It wasn’t just the Princess who made him angry. Even the other members of the royal family and friends whom he had called to complain were all taking the Princess’s side and mocking him.

‘We had a good time without anything happening, why did you do that~’

Gritting.

His teeth were grinding whenever he recalled the mocking voices.

Even his brother, Lord Hwacheon, scolded him in a gentle voice, saying, ‘Didn’t you do something wrong? What kind of place is that to be flirting with a woman!’

Thanks to that, even the people who would share a drink with him and listen to his complaints had become fewer lately.

It was clear that they were all afraid of that little Princess.

“Did you hear? The Princess is accompanying the King on the military drill.”

“Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say she’s tagging along by pestering him? She’s so arrogant because of that smallpox thing, anyway.”

Now, there was no one in the capital who didn’t know about the smallpox vaccination.

But so far, there weren’t many people of high status among those who had been vaccinated.

Most of them had face and wouldn’t get cow pus or whatever it was. But even so, he heard that there were many superiors who were subtly urging their inferiors to get vaccinated.

“Isn’t it a daily occurrence for the Princess to be presumptuous, trusting in His Majesty’s favor?”

“That’s what I’m saying. No matter how cute a young daughter is, isn’t this too much?”

“Considering that she almost died when she was young and that she still hasn’t grown, even His Majesty, who is a strict person, must be lenient.”

Yes, how pitiful. That’s why Lord Yeongcheon had been very patient.

But if he had known that she would become so presumptuous, he would have advised her to be raised strictly.

In fact, at the time, everyone thought that Princess Suyeong would die early, and no one expected her to grow up so healthy.

“Hoo. If only Royal Consort, no, Deposed Lady Hong, hadn’t done such an outrageous thing….”

“That’s what I’m saying. If only Crown Prince Seonghyeon were still here… I’m really worried about the future of Joseon.”

Compared to Crown Prince Seonghyeon, who was polite and respectful to his elders, the current Crown Prince was stubborn and uncommunicative. Besides, unlike his appearance, he was so fond of his younger sister, Princess Suyeong!

Even after the King passed the throne, Princess Suyeong’s presumption didn’t seem like it would end soon.

Besides, he didn’t like the current Crown Prince in many ways.

Lord Yeongcheon refilled his glass again, emptied it in one gulp, and opened his mouth.

“About His Highness the Crown Prince. Isn’t he being too excessive?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, isn’t he being too active in restoring the status of slaves?”

“Ah.”

Due to Princess Suyeong being kidnapped while wandering around the marketplace alone without fear, the King, enraged by the arrest of the human trafficking gang that was selling women, ordered the restoration of the status of those who had become slaves illegally.

Because of that, there were many who suffered losses to their property.

Of course, Lord Yeongcheon was also among those who suffered losses.

“Of course, it’s a big deal since the Princess was kidnapped. But how can he damage the property of the noblemen? This is clearly crossing the line.”

Lord Yeongcheon felt relieved at the words that seemed to scratch his itch.

He wasn’t the only one who had lost slaves.

All the other members of the royal family were saving their words to gauge the King’s mood, but in fact, they must all be thinking the same thing.

They couldn’t do politics just because they were members of the royal family, and the only joys they had were increasing their wealth and indulging in women and gambling, but they couldn’t even do that, so how unfair was this!

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve had such a heartfelt conversation.”

“Hahaha.”

Lord Yeongcheon saw that the other person’s glass was empty and immediately poured him a drink.

“Come, drink up.”

“Hahaha.”

“Everyone is afraid of the Princess’s eyes and can’t even say what they want to say.”

“How could they be afraid of that young Princess? It must be because of His Majesty, who is protecting the Princess.”

“She’s so powerful now, I don’t know what will happen when the Princess grows up and gets married.”

At those words, the conversation was briefly interrupted, and silence fell.

Lord Yeongcheon leaned in as if wary of someone eavesdropping and asked.

“Do you really think that female doctor named Sehwa can cure the Princess?”

“Since she dared to declare in front of the King that she could cure her, she would have to give up her life if she couldn’t cure her.”

That meant that Sehwa was confident enough to risk her life.

It was already rumored that she had cured illnesses that no one else had been able to cure several times.

And as much as Sehwa was making a name for herself, there were also many who opposed her.

“Even among the royal physicians, there are many who see that female doctor as a thorn in their side.”

“Why wouldn’t they? She’s using wicked tricks to win the Princess’s heart and is even deceiving His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince through the Princess.”

“Come to think of it, the reason why the Princess is accompanying the King on this military drill is because of that female doctor.”

“She says she needs to find some medicinal herbs, but is that really the reason?”

You can get medicinal herbs through people. Why would she try to accompany the Crown Prince?

Lord Yeongcheon was dumbfounded that everyone was being fooled by such an obvious ploy.

“The saying that you won’t get smallpox if you get cowpox is also a preposterous way to deceive people.”

“Could she be aiming for the Crown Prince?”

“Well. The Crown Prince hasn’t shown any interest in women so far. But if it’s a woman who cured his beloved younger sister’s illness, you never know.”

“Isn’t it strange from the start that the Crown Prince hasn’t taken a Crown Princess yet?”

“In the past, there were many families who avoided becoming the Crown Princess. It was naturally delayed while the Queen Dowager passed away and was in mourning for three years, and well, I heard that there are still quite a few families who are avoiding it because they feel uneasy. Well, there are plenty of poor families with nothing to lose who would offer their daughters as the Crown Princess. Keu.”

He was having a conversation with a like-minded friend for the first time in a while, so the alcohol tasted sweet.

“Heo. Frankly, I don’t know if the Princess will stay still even if the Crown Princess comes in. Isn’t it the Princess who is controlling the palace instead of the Queen, who is living like she’s dead?”

“I heard that she’s so vicious that she even kicked out all the court ladies who served Crown Prince Seongwon.”

There were many cases where court ladies who had left the palace after the death of the previous ruler were called back to the palace after some time, but the Princess didn’t like something so much that she even kicked out those who remained.

“Crown Prince Seonghyeon cherished her so much because she was his only younger sister….”

“If she knew gratitude, how could she have done that?”

“Heo. They must have been the court ladies who served the late Queen. Since it’s a matter of the inner palace, others can’t interfere, so it’s obvious that she would have been even more rampant.”

“Maybe even if she gets married, she won’t leave the palace and will live in the palace….”