Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 238

I was born as the daughter of a low-ranking concubine (238).

He even carried my luggage out of kindness, but Cheonho grumbled, feeling like I was picking on him because of his age. Sehwa, however, seemed slightly puzzled.

“Sixteen? Really? I think I heard that before, but I thought you were a bit older.”

“Yes. Once the year ends, I’ll be seventeen.”

There was talk that the Crown Prince hadn’t taken him as a close aide because he was too young, and there was definitely a reason for such talk.

“Your face is definitely young… What do you eat to grow so big?”

“I eat whatever’s available… I heard that question a lot from Her Highness the Princess in her residence.”

“Ah… I see.”

It was like having a sunflower growing taller and taller next to a princess who didn’t grow…

‘Wait, now that I think about it, Her Highness the Princess should be seventeen now. No, then he’s younger than Her Highness the Princess?’

Moreover, at sixteen, he was the same age as Sucheon.

Sehwa carefully examined Cheonho’s face again before shaking her head.

‘It’s not like some novel; there’s no way Cheonho would be so close by [referring to her long-lost brother].’

It had already been nine years since she parted ways with Sucheon.

She parted with her brother when he was too young, so she didn’t know if he would properly remember his sister’s face, but she hoped he was growing up to be self-sufficient like this.

Seeing a boy who was the same age as her brother and doing well on his own, she couldn’t help but speak.

“Cheonho, have you ever thought about taking the military examination?”

“……No. Not really.”

“I think you’d be good at it.”

She had heard that the military examination was notoriously difficult, but if he started preparing now, wouldn’t it be possible? She heard he had learned quite a bit of writing too.

‘Besides, he has the merit of saving Her Highness the Princess, so his future is bright.’

However, Cheonho shook his head.

“I’m comfortable as I am now.”

“……Still, you should at least try taking the exam. Just passing, even by the skin of your teeth, would change the way people see you and make things much easier.”

“Hmm. I don’t really want to stand out. Besides, passing the exam itself is difficult, isn’t it? I’d have to study military strategy too.”

“Well, yeah.”

But isn’t it a bit funny that he doesn’t want to stand out while being next to Her Highness the Princess?

She wanted to call him out on it, but everyone has their own circumstances, so Sehwa didn’t press him further.

She didn’t like talking about the civil service examination either, so she wasn’t in a position to judge others.

Most of the royal physicians were originally from the *gwan-no* [government slave] class, so it was fortunate. If she had passed the civil service examination, they would have thoroughly investigated her background, including her region and family, and she would have been living in constant anxiety, no matter how well her identity was disguised.

“Then will you continue to serve Her Highness the Princess?”

“……I don’t know what will happen after the wedding, but wouldn’t I?”

Wedding.

Although she had grown up a lot, perhaps it was because she still had a youthful impression, but Sehwa couldn’t imagine Her Highness the Princess marrying someone.

“What about you, Doctor?”

“I don’t know.”

“……I heard you’re going to receive a reward for treating Her Highness the Princess’s illness.”

“I guess so. I don’t know what I should receive.”

She was grateful that Cheonho didn’t mention her relationship with the Crown Prince.

‘Originally, I was going to request a reinvestigation of my father’s case.’

Without her even asking, Her Highness the Princess and His Highness the Crown Prince seemed to have read her mind and started investigating the matter themselves.

She heard that nothing had been revealed yet, but at this rate, the truth might come out before Sehwa could do anything.

‘I can’t exactly wish for Her Highness the Princess’s illness to be treated more slowly.’

Although she was the one treating it, how could she wish for such a thing?

The thing she was willing to risk her life to request was proceeding on its own, so she felt even more conflicted.

***

“The weather is nice…….”

It’s a good day for a date. The main couple is different after all.

I was peacefully basking in the sunlight, taking a break from work, when Soi spoke to me with an anxious look.

Surely she’s not going to tell me to stop slacking off and get back to work, is she?

“Your Highness, what are you thinking about again?”

“Me? I wasn’t thinking about anything, why……?”

“I get anxious when Your Highness is thinking about something.”

“Why?”

“I’m worried you’re going to start something new again.”

“I’m not that much of a workaholic, you know?”

“That’s right. You usually make others do it first.”

“Are you complaining?”

“Please hire more staff.”

“…….”

Don’t look at me with such a wronged expression.

I’ve been juggling too many things at once, so there really aren’t enough people.

It’s all because of that illegal gambling den.

If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have had to rush things like this.

I was already busy opening branch offices in the provinces, but those guys made me even busier by having to create a new entertainment venue.

“Well, it has been too busy lately…….”

“Your Highness has always been busy.”

Thanks to that, I don’t even know how autumn passed.

I think I was a bit busy during Chuseok [Korean harvest festival], but I don’t even remember.

“They say horses gain weight in the fall (*cheongo mabi* [the sky is high and the horses are fat], a Korean idiom describing the plentiful autumn season), I wonder if our Jeok-a has gained weight too. I should take him out so he doesn’t get too fat.”

“The stable officers will take care of that, so don’t worry.”

Get to work.

I could hear the words Soi omitted, but since I didn’t actually hear them, I decided to pretend I didn’t.

“Maybe I should take the kids out and buy them some food.”

“If you want to go out, you can go out. Come to think of it, Cheonho hasn’t arrived yet.”

Soi’s dissatisfied attitude also subsided at the mention of eating out.

And I realized one important thing.

“He’ll be here soon…… Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to go to the Central Palace today.”

“Yes. I’ve already informed them.”

There was one thing I asked the Crown Prince about before, but I didn’t get a proper answer.

‘I asked him to check if there were any people among those who seemed to be involved in the gambling den who were related to Crown Prince Seongwon or Prince Gyeong-eon.’

The Crown Prince said there were no problems in name.

Is he kidding me?

‘Then who would run an illegal gambling den under their real name instead of using a front man?’

It’s absurd, but the conclusion was that he couldn’t catch anything.

Moreover, Crown Prince Seongwon and Prince Gyeong-eon were all people of the past now, so there weren’t many people around the Crown Prince who could know who their close aides were.

That’s why the Crown Prince just said that I might have been mistaken.

‘I even revealed the fact that I had dangerously infiltrated a *gibang* [traditional Korean courtesan house], but I guess it’s hard to believe…….’

But it couldn’t be helped.

The fact that I saw that person in the palace was something that happened when I was too young, so it wasn’t strange for him to think that way.

“If His Highness the Crown Prince said no, wouldn’t that be right?”

“It’s not something you can be so sure about. Besides, His Highness the Crown Prince was still a child back then.”

I shouldn’t be the one saying this, though.

“The Crown Prince probably doesn’t know much about the people related to Crown Prince Seongwon or Prince Gyeong-eon. Especially if they’re insignificant people without official positions, not many people would know them.”

“Then what are you planning to do?”

“If they dared to enter the inner palace, the concubines might know better.”

“…….”

Especially Lady Hong, who was deposed, would have been more keenly aware of the other person’s movements than anyone else, as she was at odds with Royal Concubine Yeong at the time.

“I suspected something, so I tried to ask the Queen Consort about it before, but she seemed to gloss over it.”

“It’s an old matter now, so the Queen Consort probably doesn’t want to bring it up.”

“I was going to try to press her one more time, but I guess it won’t work.”

“No, Your Highness. Who’s pressing whom?”

I must be crazy.

Looking at Soi’s face, I could hear the words that were omitted.

“Then how about finding out through other palace maids?”

“Hmm. I do have a lot of connections I’ve built up over time.”

There are more than just one or two palace maids in the palace.

The things I’ve sown among various people should be used sometimes.

Of course, the palace maids of the Central Palace, who seem like you wouldn’t get a drop of blood even if you pricked them with a needle, were excluded.

‘They must have gone through difficult times in the past, so their internal solidarity is no joke.’

In that respect, it was similar to our residence.

After all, when there’s an external attack, people tend to become closer internally.

The palace maids’ affiliations don’t change easily, so they have to stick together to survive.

‘But as such, they probably won’t be of much help to me.’

So, I could probably only get information from other concubine residences besides the Central Palace.

Of course, there is information that can be obtained from the concubines.

However, although the concubines are lower in rank than me, they are actually quite high-ranking people within the palace.

Sometimes, the lower ones know more information, and our residence’s palace maids are mostly well-liked.

I am a princess without a mother, and the other concubines don’t want to be at odds with me, so there aren’t any concubines who have a particularly bad relationship with me.

They often share food, so the palace maids get along reasonably well with each other.

I told them to approach cautiously through the palace maids, as directly digging for information would be too obvious.

Actually, it’s not so much approaching as they approach on their own.

‘But it’s really a long-term battle.’

I wonder if I can really find out anything there.

I decided to strengthen my relationship with the Central Palace, using the excuse of growing up.

Actually, it’s not so much strengthening my relationship with the Queen Consort as we originally had to see each other regularly because of work.

“I know that the Princess is good at her job, but I’m sometimes worried that you’re overdoing it.”

“How much work could a girl who hasn’t even fully grown up do? You must have just found someone who works diligently.”

Considering that I’m in my growing period, I’m not overdoing it and just exploiting my subordinates.

But you’re the one who passed the work on to me, so it’s too much to say this.

The Queen Consort said this with a worried face.