Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 178

Since earlier, the crowd had been heading towards the government office.

“Oh dear. What’s going to happen?”

“Should we close up shop today and follow them?”

“Is this guy crazy!”

Leaving behind only the merchants who couldn’t afford to give up their business on a market day that only happened every few days, unlike a permanent market, the people were excited about the unfolding spectacle and followed the source of the commotion.

‘If Ongju [Princess] herself were awake, she would have wanted to go see.’

Should I wake her? If I don’t, she’ll definitely resent me later.

But Se-hwa said it’s good for Ongju to get a good sleep when she falls asleep.

It was when Cheon-ho was lost in thought for a moment.

Thwack!

Cheon-ho rather roughly knocked away the hand reaching towards Ongju.

“Do you have business with our young miss?”

“Ah, no. She’s such a cute baby that I just… Excuse me.”

‘This person doesn’t look like he would do that, but really.’

‘I’ll let it go since he helped me that day.’

No matter how young the baby is, one doesn’t try to touch the face of a noble family’s daughter so carelessly.

Even more so when this baby is a member of the royal family, not just a noble family.

‘If he’s an acquaintance of Jwa Se-ma [a government official title], he should know, but why didn’t he say anything?’

While suspiciously guarding Ongju, the man whose hand had been hit was smiling with a satisfied look.

“The young miss has a reliable escort.”

“Yes. Well…”

Why am I suddenly getting compliments here?

“I should go to the government office for now. You two should come along as well. At least you should see the young miss when she wakes up before you leave.”

“No, it’s okay. We were just passing by on our way to do something… Please don’t tell the baby miss that we met you. She’ll be disappointed.”

“That’s for Ongju… the young miss to decide. If you leave without saying goodbye, shouldn’t you be willing to accept some resentment?”

“Ah… Haha. Maybe. But she might feel burdened for no reason. Still, it’s better to have someone next to her than to take care of the baby miss alone. Would it be okay to accompany you to the government office?”

“Well, go ahead.”

Cheon-ho nodded readily, but he wasn’t very willing.

What’s so difficult? These people are so incomprehensible.

‘Come to think of it, I’m the son of a traitorous family, so I’m not in a position to talk about others.’

With a sigh, Cheon-ho readjusted the baby miss, who was sleeping soundly in his arms.

To be honest, it was a bit difficult to hold her because her clothes were too thick and Ongju was asleep, but he wasn’t naive enough to entrust the baby miss to these strangers.

Next to Cheon-ho, who was hiding the child as if guarding against a kidnapper, the two men smiled contentedly.

***

“Ah! You should have woken me up!”

“She was sleeping so soundly that I couldn’t wake her.”

Waking up from my sleep, I was furious after hearing about what had happened while I was unconscious.

‘While I was sleeping, the Crown Prince dealt with the abusive magistrate (not physically) in a refreshing way!’

I heard that the Crown Prince had learned about the magistrate’s various abuses, and he got angry and criticized the magistrate. Well, he doesn’t know how to curse, so he criticized him in a normal and wholesome way.

Coincidentally, one of the magistrate’s loyal henchmen happened to pass by and tried to pick a fight after hearing the voice, and they ended up having a three-way meeting with the magistrate at the government office.

The magistrate, who had greeted the Crown Prince when he stayed at the government office, naturally recognized the Crown Prince’s face.

Through the testimonies of the people around him, the Crown Prince heard about the magistrate’s unseemly deeds and showed the refreshing power of the law on the spot.

The magistrate mainly committed offenses related to women, and the clerk was an accomplice who exploited and incited him from below. They were a well-matched boss and subordinate.

The disposition is the disposition, and it seems like we’ll have to stay here a little longer to clean up the aftermath.

‘Well, I don’t really care about that.’

I don’t know Gangwon-do [province in Korea] very well, so I haven’t thought much about business items, but since I’m here, I’m thinking of some things again.

“Are you going to start something new again?”

“Just thinking.”

In fact, I’m thinking of cutting potatoes into thin strips or slices and frying them to sell as french fries or potato chips, but I’m not sure if the variety is right, and I’m a bit doubtful about whether it will be profitable.

‘If it tastes good after making it, should I just sell it at a high price? It’ll be oily and popular as a snack with alcohol. But there’s no beer? I don’t think it goes well with Cheongju [clear rice wine] or Takju [milky rice wine]?’

I’m not old enough to drink yet, so I can’t check it myself.

And when I looked around the market earlier, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to bake charcoal and supply it since there are so many trees.

Of course, charcoal is already being used a lot, but since the demand is increasing, it wouldn’t be bad to produce it directly from the beginning.

Of course, it would be easier to consume it within the region as much as possible due to transportation difficulties.

“And I’m thinking of starting from cultivating paper mulberry and getting involved in paper production altogether.”

So-yi, who was listening to me quietly, just sighed.

“Actually, we use a lot of paper, right? It’s used when making greenhouses, we have to make textbooks for the kids to study, and we have to print and sell books at the book rental shop.”

“No… Please stop it, Ongju.”

“No… But I have to do it directly from the primary industry…”

“What is that…”

So-yi hit her chest with a dumbfounded look.

Unlike me, who thought it would be okay to hang around here for a while, she seemed to want to return to the capital as soon as possible.

Personally, I wanted to arrive in the capital a little later.

Because there was a high possibility that blood would be spilled there.

‘I want to go in after everything is sorted out.’

Is this avoidance?

Actually, it wouldn’t make much of a difference to me whether I go early or late.

Also, hearing about people dying isn’t very pleasant.

After firing a magistrate and arriving in Hanyang [old name for Seoul], the situation had already been sorted out in various ways.

Besides, I don’t know how the rumors spread, but the people of Hanyang were cheering when they saw the Crown Prince returning safely.

The Crown Prince, who insisted on riding a horse and switched from a palanquin to a horse right before returning, sighed softly at the sight of the kneeling people and hurried back to the palace.

It was for the sake of the Queen, who must have been worried even though he had sent a letter saying he was safe.

‘The Queen must have been very worried.’

She’s always been worried about her son since a long time ago.

‘Is she resenting me?’

It’s a headache if I fall out with the Queen. Should I really run away?

I had such useless worries, but as expected, the Queen just looked at the Crown Prince with a pale face and a relieved expression.

“I’m glad you returned safely.”

“I apologize for causing you worry, Mother.”

“No. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

And the Queen came to me, held my hand tightly, and comforted me.

“Ongju must have been very surprised too. Are you okay?”

“Yes, Queen. I apologize for causing you concern.”

“It’s not Ongju’s fault.”

“Yes.”

I almost shed tears for some reason.

Leaving the Queen and the Crown Prince in the Junggungjeon [Queen’s residence], I was able to return to my residence first on the grounds that I was tired.

Our residence’s children heard the news that I was returning and came out in front of the residence to greet me.

Everyone was sniffling for no reason, as if they had heard something.

“No. I’m not hurt anywhere. You don’t have to worry so much.”

“But isn’t this the first time you’ve been away from the palace for so long? And to such a faraway place.”

If Gangwon-do is far, what should I do when I go to Gyeongsang-do [another province in Korea] later?

Hugging Song-bi, who was tearing up, I felt relieved for some reason because I smelled the savory bread after a long time.

While patting Song-bi on the back, I wondered if I should take Song-bi with me later.

‘Hmm. But there’s no one who can bake bread to Song-bi’s level yet.’

Not only Siwolgak [Ongju’s residence], but also the king and queen in the palace like it so much that Song-bi can’t leave her place.

I have to select some kids who are talented in cooking and teach them more.

After sharing the joy of reunion appropriately, I took a comfortable shower after a long time and sprawled out on my mattress.

While the court ladies were busy drying my hair or giving me a massage, I checked something important.

“Tell me about what happened while I was away.”

“I knew you would ask, so I organized it in writing in advance.”

Now everyone knows my tendencies too well.

That’s right, it’s much faster to receive and read it in writing than to hear it verbally.

The bundle of papers that Song-bi handed me was quite heavy.

‘What is this? What… did they write down like this.’

Everyone had collected information from somewhere, and the content was substantial.

First of all, it started on the day my father returned to the capital.

The royal physician who pushed Se-hwa off the mountain was currently in the Uigeumbu [a type of prison], but at the time, he was free.

This was because he was deliberately released to catch the mastermind.

As intended, on the day everyone returned to the capital, they tracked the physician who secretly visited Yeongcheon-gun [a noble title] at night and ambushed him on the spot.

Based on the circumstances that the physician received money from Yeongcheon-gun and Se-hwa’s testimony, they questioned him about what he had done, and he turned pale and confessed the truth.

In fact, because information about the safety of the Crown Prince and Se-hwa was controlled, the physician did not know that Se-hwa was safe and had revealed all the facts.

The physician, who was brought to the Uigeumbu and heard the facts, confessed that he was in a difficult family situation, and Yeongcheon-gun promised to give him wealth if he did as he was told. He also seduced him by saying he would speak well of him to his superiors, so he tried to steal the herbal medicine that could cure Ongju from Se-hwa.

The Geumbusa [police] reported the physician’s testimony to his superior and immediately arrested Yeongcheon-gun.

Thanks to this, Yeongcheon-gun’s peaceful house became a mess that night.

Why wouldn’t it be? The most frightening thing for a well-off relative is the crime of treason.

In front of Yeongcheon-gun, who was bound and kneeling before the king, the physician testified once again, and Yeongcheon-gun, who had already heard the news that the Crown Prince was injured, vehemently denied it.

‘I never intended to harm His Highness the Crown Prince!’

Yeongcheon-gun was tortured severely, but he insisted that he only wanted to steal Ongju’s herbal medicine and harm Se-hwa, but not the Crown Prince.

‘How dare I try to harm the Crown Prince!’

‘Then are you saying it’s okay to harm Ongju!’

Yeongcheon-gun stammered at the king’s angry words.

‘No, that’s not it, Your Majesty! I just, I just hated Ongju so much for embarrassing me that I just wanted to delay her treatment a little, just a little!’

‘Is that what you have to say to Ongju, who has been suffering from illness for several years!’

Yeongcheon-gun desperately protested in a voice that seemed to be spitting blood, but only incurred the king’s wrath.

Even the fact that he was unrelated to the Crown Prince’s affairs, let alone Ongju, did not gain much trust.

This was because many of the people who were arrested from Gangwon-do thought that Yeongcheon-gun was the mastermind behind this.

‘Yeongcheon-gun, a relative of the royal family, said that he was sending people and told us to cooperate!’

‘At first, I thought it was a joke, but he sent unexpected wealth and even told us where His Majesty would go for the military parade.’

These testifiers were influential figures in the area where the military parade was held.

They used their influence in the area to bribe some of the herbalists in the vicinity to help the physician.

They deliberately went to places where there were not many herbs, naturally interfering, and they were the ones who gave the physician the hint to do something extreme because Se-hwa found herbs in an unexpected place.

The physician also testified that he had been tipped off about this by someone sent by Yeongcheon-gun.

So the statement that Yeongcheon-gun was not involved did not work.

‘These crazy bastards! I never ordered such a thing! Your Majesty, please believe me!! It’s really not true!’

‘Yeongcheon-gun said he would take responsibility for everything!’

Yeongcheon-gun protested with a face that seemed like he was going crazy, but it was difficult to believe his words.

There was no clear evidence that it was Yeongcheon-gun, but the testimonies were too firm.

Even if they looked around Yeongcheon-gun’s surroundings, there was no one who looked similar to the person they contacted, but it was not impossible if he had ordered someone to do it.