Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 204

That leaves me speechless, yet again.

I refocused on the documents, but a court lady announced a visitor. “Greetings, Princess. Physician Sehwa is here to see you.”

“Ah, tell her to come in.”

Rain or shine, Sehwa’s routine remained unchanged.

“You’re working hard again today.”

“It is my duty.”

These days, the routine included not only herbal medicine and acupuncture but also massage and steaming.

I had to be taken care of so that my rapidly growing body wouldn’t be uncomfortable.

I obediently followed Sehwa’s instructions, as the occasional throbbing in my joints was convincing enough.

“The medicine still tastes awful…”

“I apologize.”

Sehwa now laughed it off, as if she had grown accustomed to my grumbling.

I felt like I could pass on the massage and steaming to someone else, but Sehwa insisted on doing everything herself.

‘Well, I feel more comfortable with Sehwa than anyone else, anyway.’

She is reliable in many ways.

Since I couldn’t work while receiving treatment from Sehwa, I relaxed and lay down, entrusting myself to her touch.

“Haa-woo.”

I shouldn’t be making noises like this just from a massage.

“If anything makes you uncomfortable, you must tell me.”

“Well, other than my joints creaking and having a lot of work, not really.”

Sehwa looked embarrassed. Her face suggested she was holding back a sigh.

“You have too much work, Princess, though not as much as His Highness the Crown Prince. Aren’t you overdoing it?”

“It’s because I kept falling asleep at any time for a while, so the work piled up.”

Fortunately, everyone in this era was relatively laid-back, so there wasn’t much work that had to be done urgently.

Besides, I tended to delegate full authority to the staff for tasks they could handle, and I only checked later, so I had less work to do.

Yes. So, ‘less’.

‘I’m glad everyone is doing a good job.’

“But thanks to that, you’ve grown a lot, haven’t you?”

“I still have to grow more…”

“Yes. You will grow more.”

Sehwa smiled and nodded at my complaining.

Soi, who was listening, chimed in with a pleased voice. “The court ladies of the clothing department have been jokingly saying they have no time to rest these days because you are growing so fast, Princess.”

“But I didn’t have many clothes made for the previous eight years.”

“Well, it’s because you didn’t make many clothes.”

“Why would I make new clothes when clothes keep appearing even if I don’t make them?”

His Majesty, the Queen, and the Crown Prince keep trying to dress me in new clothes, so I should restrain myself.

To be honest, if the Queen didn’t take care of my clothes, she would be criticized behind her back for being a heartless mother who doesn’t even care for her only princess, so she took care of me very meticulously.

It wasn’t like the court ladies in my residence didn’t take care of me; sometimes it felt excessive.

‘Actually, when I think about it, I’m the child who took poison instead of her own son, so she would want to take good care of me.’

Of course, I’ve been thinking about making clothes these days because it’s a period of rapid growth, but the people around me didn’t give me a chance to think about it.

Even recently, during a conversation with the royal family, I jokingly said, ‘I’ve realized that the sleeves are getting shorter these days, so I should just make some loose-fitting clothes,’ and the Crown Prince got upset and angry.

‘I’ll make you new clothes, so just wear them.’

‘No, I’m saying the clothes are too tight and uncomfortable!’

The Queen, who was watching us, laughed and teased the Crown Prince. ‘Princess, please bear with it. The Crown Prince is… secretly a fool for his sister. It seems he can’t even tolerate his lovely younger sister wearing slightly larger clothes.’

‘That’s not true!’

‘I don’t know why you’re denying it so much. It’s not strange to want to make new clothes for your only younger sister. Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?’

‘The Crown Prince has some aspects that he’s not honest about.’

…I wondered if the trend among the Joseon [Korean dynasty from 1392 to 1897] royal family these days was teasing the Crown Prince.

So, I joined in. ‘I didn’t know that my brother was thinking of his younger sister so much. So, how about being a little more honest in the future? Brother.’

‘Even you…….’

The look of subtle betrayal on the Crown Prince’s face was quite rewarding and fun.

While I was lost in reminiscence, Sehwa asked with a strangely excited face. “Come to think of it, I heard that you’ve been doing something interesting these days, Princess.”

“Something interesting? The only thing I’ve been doing these days is about the *jobo* [a type of official gazette or newspaper].”

“Yes. I’ve heard about that *jobo*. If you distribute it, everyone will be able to buy and read it comfortably.”

“Oh, Physician Sehwa was interested in the *jobo*.”

Come to think of it, did the medical office not have access to the *jobo*?

“When are you planning to start selling it? Are you planning to sell it in other provinces besides Hanyang [old name for Seoul]?”

“Hmm…”

Well, there’s nothing to hide, so it doesn’t matter.

“As Sehwa said, I’m going to start in Hanyang. It will take time to build printing houses in the provinces, so I’m going to gradually expand. Why, have you heard before? I’m thinking of creating branch offices of the Siyoungwon [likely a government agency or organization] in each province. Since it’s come to this, I thought it would be good to do them together.”

“As expected, you are wise, Princess.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sehwa praise me so openly.

Did Sehwa want to see the *jobo* but couldn’t easily get it?

Thinking about it that way made me feel a little sorry.

‘Among the people who can read, there must be quite a few people like Sehwa.’

“I’m thinking of making the *jobo* in both Korean and Chinese versions. What do you think?”

“The number of people who can read Korean is overwhelmingly large, so wouldn’t the Korean version sell more?”

“Hmm. Even if you’re familiar with Chinese, it’s true that Korean is easier on the eyes.”

I was trying to survey the demand in advance because it seemed like it would be a little difficult to predict in the early stages.

‘Still, the people living in Hanyang have a low illiteracy rate and a large population, so I’ll make a lot of money. If I expand to other regions with the money I earn here, there shouldn’t be any problems…’

Perhaps by the time I start selling in other regions, there will be many people who will carry the *jobo* printed in Hanyang and go down to the provinces to sell it.

“Actually, there’s something I want to ask Sehwa.”

“Are you talking to me?”

“Yeah.”

At first, I was only going to sell the *jobo*, but I was thinking of gradually increasing the content.

Of course, separately from the *jobo*.

I thought it would be good to include incidents and accidents that occurred in the private sector, and later, information coming from each province.

It wouldn’t be difficult to add a separate page with only the information needed in the region, like a local broadcast.

Anyway, I can collect information through the Siyoungwon children, so there was no big problem. I just had to ask the children to properly verify the truth.

Now that branch offices are being established in other regions, there should be no difficulty in collecting information.

It would take time for information coming from other regions to be transmitted to other regions. But for now, it was meaningful that it was being transmitted, even if it took a long time.

When I told her my plan, Sehwa clapped and seemed to like it.

“That’s a really good idea! It’s hard to know what’s going on in other regions.”

“Well, the information that the court doesn’t want will be filtered out.”

It was highly likely that information would be blocked to prevent public sentiment from being shaken if an epidemic spread.

“But what is it that you want to ask me?”

“Yeah. I was wondering if it would be good to include simple medical knowledge on the page. Like treatments that can be commonly used in real life, or first aid methods when injured.”

“I see!”

“I’m asking Sehwa because I think Sehwa knows a lot about the treatments needed by the common people. I’m thinking of not only entrusting it to the royal physicians but also surveying the doctors at the Hyeminseo [a medical institution for commoners] if that’s okay.”

“I understand. Princess. I will gather the opinions of the doctors in the medical office and compile simple treatments to submit.”

I thought it would suit Sehwa’s taste, and it’s rewarding to see her eyes sparkling like that.

“And this is just asking for an opinion, regardless of what I said earlier.”

“Yes. Please ask.”

Sehwa’s eyes are sparkling too much; it’s a bit burdensome…

Don’t look at me like that…

“Anyway, this is also a kind of profit-making business, right? So, I’m thinking of receiving advertisements…”

“Advertisements?”

In modern newspapers, advertising revenue has become the main source of income rather than newspaper subscriptions, but here, there are many people whose purpose is the newspaper itself.

It’s not like I’m trying to make a huge profit from this.

“Yeah. This isn’t right away, but if it spreads to other regions… I’m thinking of receiving money for posting articles about finding people.”

“!”

Sehwa’s expression seemed to stiffen as if something came to her mind at my words.

‘Sehwa must want to find her younger sibling.’

If there are any physical characteristics that only the family knows, maybe she can find them.

“That’s, really, a good idea.”

“Really? Chunho is also looking for his sister, so I was thinking of posting it.”

“Ah. Yes. I see.”

“The thing is, Chunho doesn’t remember his sister properly, so it’s difficult, but if Chunho’s sister is trying to find Chunho, well… I think there’s a slight possibility.”

In a way, I came up with it thanks to Chunho.

‘Hmm. When I think about it, I think there will be quite a few advertisements for finding people.’

It takes time to distribute it nationwide, but it shouldn’t take more than a month. I don’t know how many people will be reading it, but I’m sure it will be effective.

From a humanitarian point of view, if it’s really about finding a family, I was thinking of just taking the money as a token of sincerity and posting it.

‘Of course, I’m reluctant because I think there will be a lot of advertisements that say they’re looking for people, but in reality, they’re looking for runaway slaves.’

It’s annoying to distinguish whether it’s an owner looking for a slave or a separated family looking for a family.

It’s hard to investigate each one.

“Wouldn’t it be difficult if you received so little money?”

“Hmm. So, there’s actually one more thing I want to ask Sehwa.”

“To me? What is it this time?”

Sehwa was making a bewildered face because she really had no idea this time.

“Have you thought about what I said before?”

“If you’re talking about what you said before… Ah, are you talking about the novel?”

“Yeah. If it’s okay, I was thinking of posting it in a serial format.”

“Posting it in a serial format… do you mean…?”

Sehwa trailed off, but I roughly understood what she meant, so I nodded.

“Yeah. I shouldn’t say *jobo*… I’m thinking of putting a novel in the Seoul and Gyeonggi area newsletter that will be sold with the *jobo*.”

“Pardon?!”

Sehwa raised her voice in surprise, which was rare.

I quietly put my index finger to my lips and shook my head, telling her to be quiet.

The civil servant, who absolutely didn’t want her side job to be heard by others, covered her mouth and kept glancing behind her, worried about the outside.

Well, it would be really embarrassing if the Crown Prince found out…

‘But even the Crown Prince doesn’t come to my residence without saying anything.’

Besides, the kids in our residence… don’t listen to His Highness the Crown Prince.

Of course, it doesn’t mean they’re doing anything great. It just means that when the Crown Prince comes, they immediately tell me.

‘His Majesty, who can never be stopped, is really busy, so it’s hard for him to come often.’

Sehwa seemed to have calmed down a bit, but she still asked in a small voice with an anxious look. “Um, but aren’t many of the people who read the *jobo* officials or Confucian scholars? Would such people read popular novels?”