Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 200

‘Using me as an excuse, I see.’

And the Crown Prince himself uses me as an excuse to call Sehwa, have conversations, and check in on her well-being.

What’s the point of having an older brother if he’s just going to use his one and only sister for his own romance? Tsk.

‘Just get married already.’

The problem is that the person in front of me isn’t in a position to accept that anytime soon.

I stared intently at Sehwa.

“Why do you look at me like that?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Just get married already…….

I felt like the voice in my head would keep spilling out, so I made an effort to change the subject.

“If you’re not too busy lately, it would be nice if you could write a new book……”

“Ah……”

Seeing Soi’s eyes sparkling behind her, I gave her a look.

‘Don’t put pressure on her!’

‘Understood!’

After confirming that Soi had quieted down, I pressed Sehwa again.

“Well, I was thinking that you might get inspiration for your novel from real-life dating.”

“Ah, no. How could you say such a thing?”

It’s all out in the open, really.

But it probably wouldn’t be comfortable to hear these words from your boyfriend’s younger sister…….

“In many ways, he seems inadequate as a lover… but he’s not such a bad guy.”

“……Yes.”

Sehwa nodded, trying to suppress a smile.

“His Highness the Crown Prince is a very good person.”

“Hmm.”

I wish you’d say those things after you get married.

“Even though he says he’s busy because of Ongju [a princess], he’s always worried about Ongju.”

“Hmm? He’s busy because of me?”

No, he’s doing it all because he likes it, but he’s using me as an excuse.

“I heard it was something Ongju recommended. Isn’t that so?”

“That’s true.”

What the Crown Prince is currently promoting is a kind of scholarship program.

‘A certain modern conglomerate puts a lot of effort into scholarship programs, and I thought it might be useful in this era too.’

If abused, it would help the king monopolize power, but looking at the Crown Prince’s actions so far, it didn’t seem bad to foster young talent in the long run.

The problem is after the Crown Prince, the future… let the future take care of it.

After all, no matter how good the intention, if you’re determined to abuse a system, you can abuse it endlessly. Politicians are so smart and dirty.

“I was surprised to hear that you would support the tuition fees of outstanding children from Siyoung Academy.”

“Hmm. I thought some people might feel it was unfair, so I set the criteria for receiving scholarships quite high, and even those who are not from Siyoung Academy can apply for the screening.”

“But I heard that you are planning to give tuition fees to girls based on the same criteria. Is this also something Ongju recommended?”

“No, I did recommend the scholarship program, but it was His Highness the Crown Prince’s idea to give it to girls equally.”

“Is that so?”

Sehwa’s eyes widened as if she was surprised, but her eyes were full of goodwill towards the Crown Prince.

‘Hmm. He scored some points.’

But it was true.

The Crown Prince decided to give scholarships to girls without discrimination while promoting the scholarship program.

In fact, the children at Siyoungwon who first heard about the scholarship must have been embarrassed. Everyone thought that the Crown Prince was supporting the studying children because he had some ulterior motive, but he was spending money to educate even “useless” girls.

Whether he has an ulterior motive or not, it seems he has made a good excuse.

“His Highness the Crown Prince said that even women can become excellent doctors, so why can’t they become excellent scholars? And I heard from Ongju that the girls studying at Suyeong Academy have a very high enthusiasm for learning and are excellent in their studies, so he doesn’t want the boys to lose such competitors and become arrogant.”

He speaks so well.

‘Excellent. It’s a virtue of a politician.’

I nodded without denying it. I could see that Sehwa’s face was also brightening.

“His Highness the Crown Prince is also thinking hard for the future.”

“Yes. He is a truly wonderful person.”

Please don’t… Even if I’m on good terms with the Crown Prince, if I hear such praises, I feel like my hands and feet are curling up a little…….

But it was a good thing that she was wearing rose-colored glasses [seeing things optimistically].

‘It’s really a long-term investment.’

No one knows when it will be helpful.

“But even if girls study better than boys, they can’t take the civil service exam, so they’ll feel relatively deprived. That’s what I’m worried about.”

“Yes……”

For reference, the scholarship is paid from the Crown Prince’s pocket, but I also have the authority to select scholarship students.

“Of course, if a guy makes fun of the girls because of that, I’ll immediately revoke his scholarship.”

“Hehe. Yes.”

Sehwa, who had a clouded face at my words, chuckled at the following words.

I was laying the groundwork for a woman who is likely to become the Crown Princess in the future.

‘Sehwa… Jiwha also experienced discrimination, so she might easily sympathize… But surprisingly, there are many people who deny such discrimination once they grit their teeth and climb to a high place.’

Apart from the fact that I was inwardly shouting ‘Get married soon,’ it was still difficult for Sehwa to sit as the Crown Princess.

‘I need to make her name known more.’

It would be a problem if people said that Sehwa was just basking in the Crown Prince’s glory and that her skills were nothing special.

People’s mouths can melt even iron, so how difficult would it be to turn a perfectly good doctor into a woman who seduces men?

The rumor that she was a famous doctor should not be because of the Crown Prince, but she should have caught the Crown Prince’s eye because she was a famous doctor.

‘But it’s not easy to change the social atmosphere.’

It seems like there’s still a long way to go.

So, it seems like I’ll be busy.

“Is Ongju taking a break today?”

“No, I’m going out today.”

Ugh. Let’s get to work.

“Haaam.”

“Aren’t you overdoing it?”

Soi, who was watching me yawn on top of Jeok-ah’s back, looked worried, but I shook my head.

“I have to go out today. What if I don’t go?”

“But……”

“I’m just a little sleepy. I ate too much, so I have postprandial sleepiness [sleepiness caused by eating a meal].”

Soi and Cheonho looked disgusted at my shameless words, but they couldn’t change my mind.

“Never overdo it, and go back immediately when you get tired.”

“Okay, okay, I got it.”

I clung to Jeok-ah with a yawn.

Heeheehing-

“Yeah, yeah, Jeok-ah, you’re happy to go out too, right?”

Cheonho, who was watching the scene, added a word.

“Isn’t Jeok-ah worried because the owner is always drooping?”

“Eueueum? Jeok-ah and I have a telepathic connection and a knowing smile. Right~?”

Saying that, I stroked Jeok-ah’s mane, and Jeok-ah neighed again as if answering my words.

“That’s right. Good boy.”

“……”

“……”

The place I arrived at while receiving Soi and Cheonho’s glares was Siwolgak.

“Ong… Miss, you managed to arrive without falling off the horse.”

“Watching from the side was nerve-wracking, so we were the only ones suffering.”

“I told you I’m okay… Jeok-ah is so smart. He’ll go on his own.”

What’s safer than drowsy driving is drowsy horseback riding (not).

How great it is to have an automatic driving function.

“I was holding the reins.”

“Hmm. I have to get off.”

I ignored Cheonho’s words and jumped off the horse.

Cheonho was begging me to get off slowly from behind because it was dangerous, but it’s not dangerous now.

‘Ah, I’m not used to it because I’ve grown too tall in such a short period of time.’

As I entered, the employees who recognized me quietly bowed their heads.

This was because they were all following my instructions not to pretend to know me too loudly.

Other than that, only the child who was supposed to guide me came out and greeted me.

“You’ve arrived. The others arrived earlier and are waiting.”

“Ah, I guess I’m a little late. I’m sorry.”

“No. They came early and were watching the performance. I’ll guide you.”

“Okay. Please. How is it these days?”

“It’s been peaceful lately.”

“That’s a relief.”

The reason why I came to Siwolgak, brushing off the worries of those around me, was actually simple.

It’s a long story to explain.

Starting with my trip to Gangwon-do last year, branch schools of Siyoungwon + Siwolgak are now being created in the provinces.

I thought it would be better to start with places that are geographically closer to Hanyang [old name for Seoul] than places that are far away.

In fact, I wondered if Siyoungwon was even necessary, but it was also the base facility for Siwolgak, so I had no choice but to create it.

In fact, most provincial cities do not have as many orphans as Hanyang.

This was basically due to the large difference in population.

In addition, even if orphans or unemployed people are born in small villages, they usually solve the problem within the village, so there is no big problem. In particular, clan villages are all relatives, so there is no need to worry about that.

Except for special cases such as wars or natural disasters, the biggest reason why the number of orphans and beggars increases is that the unemployed, who have increased due to the development of agricultural technology, gather in cities, mainly the capital… No, never mind that now.

Anyway, starting with the provinces relatively close to Hanyang, I was initially thinking of Siyoungwon + Siwolgak, but somehow I felt the need to appropriately reduce and operate the functions of Siyoungwon’s school + restaurant + medical center + park. It also serves as an inn.

‘Thinking about it, I guess it’s necessary.’

It wasn’t exactly that I was doing this in preparation for running away from home later.

Anyway, as a result… a lot of money was spent, and there were many things I had to check.

Starting one by one in areas close to Hanyang and Gyeonggi-do [province surrounding Seoul] so that the regions did not overlap, I heard many opinions that it would be nice to have them in other regions as well.

Well… people who work as officials try not to leave the Gyeonggi-do area at least, but they have relatives in the provinces.

‘How can I fix this capital concentration…….’

No, but isn’t this not my problem to think about…….

Anyway, it’s not time to worry about that yet.

However, the Siwolgak in each province that was created in this way needed a high-ranking person to take the center.

And fortunately, or rather not, thanks to the incident in Yeongcheon-gun last year, many members of the royal family have been enthusiastically volunteering, so the recruitment difficulties have been resolved to some extent.

However, there is a problem-

“Haa. Annoying……”

“I’m sorry. But how can we dare to teach the Jongchin [royal family relatives] young ladies? Both we and the Siyoungwon teachers have all expressed their reluctance.”

Since they are trying to hire them because of their Jongchin status, these words come out instead. Thanks to that, I have to come out myself.

Among the applicants who sent letters at that time, I was picking and choosing people through interviews and teaching them how to work at Siwolgak.

The theory is that the practitioners at Siyoungwon discuss and the court ladies, who are also the power holders of Siyoungwon, teach this and that, and the practical skills (?) are experienced at Siwolgak in turn.

Anyway, they don’t force practical management work.

‘I do audits, though.’