Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 311

‘If it weren’t so extreme, would even Cheonho remember?’

If he were someone with a weak impression, Cheonho might not have remembered him and just passed it by, but he did remember.

Especially when I thought about how the village lady had talked about Seongwon Seja’s [Crown Prince’s] face until her mouth was dry last time, I felt something new, and I nodded my head without realizing it.

“Grandfather Buwongun [Royal Title], upon learning that Seongwon Seja was alive, harbored treasonous intentions and tried to win him over. At first, Seja seemed to miss the affection of his blood relatives and visited him often, but soon he knew his true intentions and avoided him ever since.”

“Hmm.”

From Seongwon Seja’s point of view, he couldn’t completely ignore him, even if he was annoyed, since he was one of the few relatives he had.

It wasn’t strange that Seja’s heart weakened, as he couldn’t meet his other family members because he had run away.

“Of course, later, Seja learned that he was doing heinous things, even human trafficking in gambling dens, under the pretext of needing funds, and he was thinking of reporting it. It hasn’t been long since he changed his mind.”

“Why did his mind change?”

Yeon Seon-o was silent for a moment, then answered with a sigh.

“Last month, didn’t a tiger enter the palace? Buwongun had mentioned such a thing before, but I didn’t think he would commit such an outrageous act-”

“He did it, then.”

That bastard was the culprit!!

To commit such an act and shamelessly appear before me, spouting such nonsense.

“Yes. As soon as I heard the news, I knew who had done it. He learned that Suyoung Ongju [Princess] almost had a big accident when she encountered the tiger, and it seems he decided that he couldn’t let it go on like this.”

After listening to Yeon Seon-o’s words, I let out a deep sigh.

‘This human, really!’

In the end, I was the cause of him making such a decision.

Seeing that Seongwon Seja was feeling a sense of debt to me that he didn’t need to have, it wasn’t an unreasonable thing.

‘I don’t know why Seja feels guilty about what Youngbin and Gyeong’eongun, no, deposed Hong and Lee Soo did, but I can’t let this go on.’

In fact, Yeon Seon-o was saying those words for me to hear, so how could I ignore them?

“I want to ask too. This time… if Seongwon Seja is really walking into a death trap like this, are you still going to just watch?”

“I am sorry, Ongju.”

Looking at the way things were going, it was hard to believe that Seongwon Seja thought he wouldn’t die and was doing this.

‘If Seongwon Seja is really trying to throw his life away, then what should I do?’

I looked up and checked the men’s dark faces.

Including Yeon Seon-o, everyone was just silently keeping their place, saying nothing but sorry, but they didn’t want Seongwon Seja to die either.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean they want to participate in the rebellion together.’

It would be one thing if he were alone like Jwa Semea [Official Title], but he couldn’t drag his family into it.

Thinking about it, I was a little worried about Jwa Semea too.

‘There must be a reason why Seongwon Seja left such a request.’

Jwa Semea, and most of the people here, had watched me take my first steps by Seongwon Seja’s side.

For them, who couldn’t protect the Seja who was going to become a traitor, protecting me would feel like a kind of absolution.

“Ongju, the weather is still cold. Please go to another room.”

“No, I have something I left in that room, so I need to go in for a moment.”

“Yes?”

“Surely, you’re not going to lock the door and trap me again, are you?”

“Seja is not here, how dare we do such a thing?”

Since Seongwon Seja had said something, I went back to the room and rummaged through the cabinet as I had heard earlier.

Since the day was already setting, there was no more time to delay.

It took some time to search here and there because he didn’t tell me exactly what it was, but I was able to find what I wanted quickly.

‘This is also a sabaltongmun [secret message]… He really didn’t write Seja’s name. Anyway, these guys did everything they could.’

Even just looking at it roughly, there were names I knew, making me click my tongue.

‘Everyone is dissatisfied with what Seja is doing.’

Well, I expected there would be a lot of complaints. Seja isn’t stupid, so how could he not know? But he thought it was something he had to do, so he was doing it.

‘I never imagined that Seongwon Seja would be alive.’

I thoroughly searched the room until the end to see if there was anything else useful, and I even checked with Yeon Seon-o and the others to see if there was anything else hidden.

But Seongwon Seja said he hadn’t entered any other rooms besides this one, so there was no reason to delay any longer.

“I have to go now.”

The former Ikwisa [group of people] people expressed their opposition to my words.

“No, you can’t. We can’t go against Seongwon Seja’s words.”

“I’m going if I say I’m going. Don’t think you can stop me.”

With those words, I blew the whistle I had around my neck.

BweeEEEeeeee-

At the same time, torches and shadows of people suddenly appeared over the fence.

“Huh, what, what is it?”

“What else? They’re my subordinates.”

Kkigigik-

The children’s eyes, drawing their bowstrings, were all prickly, as they had been instructed to prepare for encountering the rebels.

Everyone looked terrified at the unexpected situation. It was only natural, since they were already drawing their bowstrings.

Of course, except for me.

‘It’s a good thing it’s not a very large house.’

If it were that house where the illegal gambling den used to be, it would have been too big and difficult to do this.

“What, what is going on, Ongju?”

“I’m an Ongju, so I can’t just come to find the rebels without any safety measures, can I?”

The people I had released from Siyeongwon [place] before I came here were loitering around this area.

‘I deliberately contacted various places urgently yesterday.’

To have a free performance at the Oragwon [place] today. And that too, as a taste from the outside, not the inside.

I urgently contacted the printing house and spread advertisements, and word of mouth spread, so when I last saw it, people were already flocking there.

I was a little embarrassed because more people came than expected, but thanks to the fact that this area was crowded, it wouldn’t have been too obvious for the Siyeongwon people to come here.

Maybe the people who lived in this neighborhood were initially wondering why there were so many people in this neighborhood today, but they would have soon come out to see the performance.

They were busy going to see the performance, and since there were so many people, not many people would have cared about what they were doing on the wall.

‘It’s still chilly, so I’m sorry for making you wait too long. But if the population density is that high, wouldn’t it be a little less cold?’

While I was thinking that, Cheonho and a Siyeongwon teacher from Chetam-in [group of people] ran over and checked on my safety.

“Ongju. Are you safe?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

Except for the fact that my back hurts a bit because of my period.

“I will escort you.”

“Hmm.”

I smiled at Seongwon Seja’s aides, who were standing there blankly like they had eaten honey [were stunned].

Seongwon Seja told them to protect me, but I was actually bringing people with me like this, so they had no choice but to be dumbfounded.

“I have many people to protect me even if it’s not you, so you don’t have to worry. So, if you want to protect your brother, come find me. You know where to come to find me, right? Well, there are so many ways, so find me well.”

Leaving only those words, I was about to leave the house when I suddenly remembered something and stopped for a moment.

“Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just a moment.”

I took out what I was wearing around my neck besides the whistle.

“!”

Cheonho seemed to recognize what it was, but most people probably didn’t even know what it meant.

I handed what I was wearing around my neck to Yeon Seon-o.

“Give this to my brother.”

“Could this be…?”

Yeon Seon-o was Seongwon Seja’s closest aide, so he seemed to know what it was.

‘Come to think of it, he was by my side when Seongwon Seja gave this to me.’

It was a long time ago, so I didn’t think he would remember.

“It’s something I’ve been keeping. I promised to keep it well and return it, so I have to keep that promise.”

“…Yes. Ongju.”

Yeon Seon-o, who received the jade ring I handed him, had a very complicated face.

Perhaps Yeon Seon-o would be the most influential person in their decision, no matter how they came out.

I didn’t know what they would do, but without their help, it would be impossible to help Seongwon Seja, so for now, I had to convey what I had gained today to Seja.

Oh my, what is an Ongju doing doing this kind of thing?

Something is wrong.

“Haa.”

“Aren’t you cold? I will escort you to the private residence first.”

“No, I have to go straight back to the palace. I have something to do.”

“You don’t look very well, are you really okay? Your complexion is not good.”

Even after leaving the tiled-roof house where I met Seongwon Seja, Cheonho was still looking at my condition with a worried face. I was leaning on Cheonho, half out of energy, so I must have looked even worse.

I smiled weakly and shook my head.

“I’m okay. I’m just tired and exhausted.”

“Then I will escort you to where Jeok-a is. Please excuse me for a moment.”

“Huh?”

In a moment, my body was floating in the air.

‘Hmm. I’m not petite like I used to be, and I’m wearing thick clothes, so I must be heavy, but he’s holding me well.’

It was a position called a princess carry, but Cheonho was strong, so it was quite stable.

It’s comfortable.

As I leaned on Cheonho and took a breath, I heard Cheonho’s grumbling in a small voice.

“Why do you only do dangerous things, Ongju?”

“You’re the one who assured me it wasn’t dangerous.”

“I didn’t say that to hear those words.”

It was thanks to the conversation I had with Cheonho in an awkward atmosphere yesterday that I was assured that Seongwon Seja would not do anything that would harm me or Seja.

‘Those guys I was talking to?’

‘Yes. He is the person who helped Seja when he went missing in the mountains the other day. In fact, that handsome scholar even went into the pit himself and pulled him up. Seja is also in good shape, so it must have been quite difficult, but he helped Seja and Sehwa doctor come up without a single complaint.’

‘Is that true?’

‘Yes. I saw it myself, so it’s definitely true. In fact, he even helped me carry Sehwa doctor down the mountain.’

‘Ah, that’s right. At that time… I met Yeon Seon-o Jwa Semea.’

‘He disappeared as if he were running away when we went to find him at that time. It was something that would have earned him a big reward.’

At the time, I didn’t understand why Jwa Semea had disappeared like that, but now that things have turned out this way, I think I know why.

‘Seongwon Seja ran away because he didn’t want to reveal that he was alive.’

To save his younger sibling and run away, how pathetic.

‘I didn’t get a good look at his face because it was so dark at the time, but I recognized him on the way back from Gangwon-do at the market. Isn’t he a rare and impressive face?’

That’s how Cheonho expressed that he was handsome.

‘Since there was such a connection, if they hadn’t met the rebels by the stream, I wouldn’t have been so worried about the two of them talking to Ongju.’

‘Even so, he managed to protect you by shooting arrows and running away. Isn’t that almost animalistic?’

‘Haha.’

Cheonho just laughed at my words, which I didn’t know if they were praise or something else.

‘I thought he wouldn’t… harm Seja now that he had saved him like that.’

Besides, Seja was Seja, and there was even less reason to harm me.

Of course, I thought there was a possibility that people had changed since it had been over 10 years, but it didn’t seem that way when I heard Cheonho’s testimony.

Besides, the reports of treason that arrived suspiciously on time supported my guess.

‘So I took a dangerous gamble.’

After hearing from Cheonho, I arrived at Oragwon and praised those who had gathered to help me today.

“I’m sorry for suddenly making you do dangerous things.”

“No. How could we ignore it when Ongju is in danger?”

“But is it okay to just come like this?”

I sighed, thinking of the signed statement in my arms.

In fact, if they had intended to fight, they wouldn’t have let them go so easily.

“They’ll need time to think about it too.”

But now there’s not much time left.