Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 247

“So, what are you planning to do? Let’s hear it.”

“Yes.”

As those gathered for the discussion left, leaving only the Elder and the young man, Jeong Mun-won, he began to speak.

“Sooyeong Ongju [Princess Sooyeong] is collecting antiques, isn’t she?”

“…That’s quite well-known.”

“First, I plan to win over people around the Ongju, build trust by brokering antiques she might like. Then, I’ll have someone else, an agent separate from me, approach Sooyeong Ongju disguised as an antique dealer to sell items at relatively low prices.”

“And then?”

“After several transactions, when the Ongju trusts them, they recommend an expensive item, and the Ongju will easily fall for it. Then, they pretend to sell it, take the money, and disappear without a trace.”

“So, you’re suggesting we scam her?”

“If we then manage to acquire one of the items the Ongju was scammed out of and return it to her, wouldn’t it be easy to win her favor?”

Explaining his idea, he thought of the Ongju, whom he had encountered by chance some time ago.

Thanks to the treatment for the poison, she was no longer a child, but still a young girl whom one couldn’t imagine leading all those well-known businesses.

‘Looking at what the Ongju has done, apart from the things the court ladies were involved in, there wasn’t a single business she started with deep thought.’

She had been doing things without much forethought, and it was as if she had accidentally caught a mouse while backing away from a cow. Those around her diligently supported her, and money had simply accumulated.

And perhaps because of her mother’s lowly birth, most of what she did with that money was taking care of the meals of the lower classes.

Later, he heard that she was also teaching poor *yangban* [noble class] children and supporting *gisaengs* [female entertainers] at Siwolgak, but it was questionable whether that could be truly attributed to the Ongju’s own initiative.

‘There’s no way the young Ongju would have thought of that herself; it must be something the Crown Prince ordered. The foolish commoners naively praise the Ongju, but to people like me, it’s obvious.’

Forgetting all decorum, even though she used court ladies as proxies, she was involved in the food business, *gisaeng* performances, and even printing vulgar novels.

The only seemingly elegant hobbies were collecting ceramics and antiques, and publishing newspapers.

Even then, recently, he didn’t know where she was spending her money, but even when he found good items and went to show them to her, she rarely bought anything.

Thanks to that, few people visited the Ongju’s residence these days.

‘But I’m different.’

Because Yeongseon is there.

A woman who was once considered for marriage with him, but whose family fell into ruin due to treason and became the Ongju’s slave.

He knew she was bright, but he didn’t know she had gained the Ongju’s trust and was managing antiques at the Ongju’s residence.

He heard that she had charmed the Ongju so much that she even entrusted the purchase of antiques to Yeongseon.

In fact, if he could coax Yeongseon well, it seemed not impossible to misappropriate the Ongju’s money.

‘I knew even back then that she was an unusually knowledgeable woman.’

He had heard that her grandfather was very interested in his granddaughter’s education.

He had never met him, but he heard that he cherished his only granddaughter and taught her not only letters but also various skills.

He had heard rumors about it several times since he was young, and he didn’t think much of it even when marriage was being discussed.

‘I thought that if we married, I wouldn’t have to worry about the children’s education or household management, but I never thought such skills would be so helpful.’

Of course, he had no intention of telling her about such inner thoughts.

The Elder, having listened to Mun-won’s plan, asked.

“How do you plan to win her favor?”

“A slave named Yeongseon, who is favored by the Ongju, is acquainted with me. It won’t be difficult through her.”

“Do you think that woman, Yeongseon, will cooperate with you?”

“Although her family is ruined and she has become a slave, Yeongseon was a proper *yangban* lady. No matter how generous the Ongju is to slaves, she would want to return to the days when she was managing slaves. How difficult would it be to coax a woman?”

“Hmm.”

“Above all, Yeongseon’s father is one of those who owe a debt to you, Elder. How could a daughter dare to disobey her father’s orders?”

“Owes a debt?”

“Yes. Didn’t you include some of those who were working in the mines due to treason? Yeongseon’s father was among them at that time.”

At Mun-won’s words, the Elder’s face brightened.

“Oh, is that so?”

“Moreover, she is a woman who was once considered for marriage with me. Having become a slave as the daughter of a traitor, she would not dare to dream of marrying a *yangban* again, so if I were to take her in, why would she refuse?”

“Yes. Then, let’s bring her father in.”

“Are you serious?”

“Originally, unless she was born of lowly birth, it would be difficult for a daughter of a noble family to disobey her father’s words.”

“If you do that, things will be much easier. And……”

Mun-won paused slightly.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“Yes. I know that you have some things that Sooyeong Ongju would like.”

Mun-won hesitated, thinking he might have offended him when he saw his face darken slightly, even though he seemed willing to cooperate with anything.

The Elder also looked a little embarrassed.

“I do keep those things, but they are items I cannot touch carelessly. They were collected by that person.”

“It’s just for a short bait.”

“That person was angry before when that happened.”

Mun-won also recalled that incident and sighed inwardly.

“How could I not know about that?”

The incident where he was caught up in the slave trade after getting involved with Sooyeong Ongju while scamming with antiques.

Perhaps no one imagined that the incident would become so big that the Crown Prince himself would step in.

‘Thanks to that, not only did the slave trade stop, but they even investigated how many slaves each household had, and how much we suffered.’

How those crazy bastards managed to kidnap Sooyeong Ongju there of all places was beyond belief.

Fortunately, they didn’t know much, so the matter didn’t escalate further, but after that, everyone had to lie low for a while.

The gambling den that they barely started after lowering their profile.

Touching the Siyeongwon people was not due to resentment from that incident, but it wasn’t like they had good feelings towards Sooyeong Ongju either.

In the end, it was a case of anger turning into misfortune again because they had wrongly touched Sooyeong Ongju, so there were opinions that it would be better not to get involved with Sooyeong Ongju anymore.

But it was unfair to back down like this.

“However, isn’t this the fastest way to gain the Ongju’s trust and gather money in a short period?”

“You seem confident?”

“It is true that Sooyeong Ongju has grown up a lot to the point where she doesn’t look like a child anymore, but in the end, she is just a young woman who grew up sheltered and doesn’t know the ways of the world. It won’t be difficult to embezzle money.”

“……Good.”

Mun-won finally got the Elder’s permission.

“Which of the things I have do you need?”

“I will check myself.”

“I don’t know if the Ongju has an eye for these things.”

Instead of agreeing with those words, Mun-won vaguely trailed off.

Other people seemed to think that Sooyeong Ongju, like other *yangban* children, wouldn’t know the value of things, but according to what he heard from Yeongseon, the Ongju seemed to have quite an eye for them.

Although she is young, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have high standards since she grew up in the royal family; she couldn’t deceive the Ongju with clumsy items.

‘In fact, I can’t even guarantee that I can deceive Yeongseon with clumsy items.’

Mun-won also had some knowledge of antiques.

Before his family fell, there were quite a few old ceramics and books in his house, and Mun-won had also heard stories about them from his grandparents.

When he awkwardly talked with Yeongseon, who came to his house with his parents when he was young, he used those things as topics to ease the awkwardness.

‘Sooyeong Ongju is said to have similar tastes to Yeongseon, so it shouldn’t be difficult to choose something that the Ongju would like.’

First of all, he had to win Yeongseon’s favor.

Their reunion wasn’t a coincidence either, but even then, and when he visited her often afterward, she didn’t show much resistance, so he thought he was half successful.

Yeongseon would still have old memories, so it would be difficult for her to reject him.

And above all, there is someone who welcomes him more than Yeongseon.

***

“Hmm.”

“What is it, Ongju-jaga [a respectful title for a princess]?”

I read the letter sent by Yeongseon, who was rarely away from the residence, and let out a sigh.

“Yeongseon’s mother is not in good health.”

“If it’s Yeongseon’s mother, surely they are living together at the Ongju-jaga’s residence?”

“Yes.”

I remembered that Yeongseon was taking care of her mother.

When I moved her affiliation to my residence, I made sure that Yeongseon’s mother went with her.

‘Hmm. Surely Yeongseon’s mother collapsed from the shock of her family’s ruin.’

Originally, she wasn’t born very strong either. That’s probably why Yeongseon was her only child.

But her husband was dragged away for treason, and a madam who had lived a comfortable life her whole life was reduced from a *yangban* to a slave overnight, so it wasn’t strange that she collapsed from the shock.

‘Still, it’s been several years already, and I heard that she’s gotten much better and is doing well.’

Honestly, since she’s living in my residence, there’s no real reason for her to go outside, and the other people there aren’t so clueless that they would mistreat Yeongseon’s mother, who is receiving my favor.

It seemed like she was getting sick because she was too comfortable, but Yeongseon tried hard to work for her mother’s share, so I didn’t say anything.

There wasn’t much she could do, and she was weak, so I heard that she was just helping Yeongseon dust ceramics and organize books.

“I called a doctor, but it seems like there’s no improvement.”

“Oh dear. Yeongseon must be very heartbroken.”

Although they weren’t that close, Soi’s voice was full of pity since they were acquainted.

“Um…… so.”

“?”

“Yeongseon is thinking about marriage?”

“Yes?”

Soi looked bewildered at my words.

Actually, I felt somewhat similar.