Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 34

I thought, ‘I have sinned, so I have no choice,’ but frankly, it’s annoying as hell.

Since that day, the court ladies have been following me around so much that I feel like I’m going to collapse from stress.

Even the number of court people following me has increased.

There was nothing I could do.

“Ongju, please come this way.”

“Why are you calling me?”

Because now I was no longer just a royal daughter (王女), but an Ongju (옹주, a title for a king’s daughter born to a concubine).

When I was on the verge of death from poison and woke up, the King immediately appointed me as an Ongju.

So now my official title was Princess Suyoung.

I can’t help but feel like it was named too carelessly, but personally, I’d be satisfied as long as they avoided attaching a place name like Incheon Ongju (仁川翁主: the actual illegitimate daughter of King Jeongjong of the Joseon Dynasty).

‘Being called Agassi [아가씨, a term for young unmarried women of noble birth] all the time is a bit much.’

Usually, the coming-of-age ceremony is often done in conjunction with arranging a marriage and sending them out of the palace, but if the King wants to bestow a title, he will.

It’s not just any other matter, but bestowing the title of Ongju on a daughter who came back to life after being poisoned!

It is said that there were no ministers in the court who would object to such trivial family matters in the court, where a storm of blood had already blown through due to the attempted poisoning.

I guess he was in a hurry because the funerals for a royal daughter born to a court lady and an Ongju are very different.

I at least received a childhood name early, but there were many cases where they died as just Agassi without even receiving a name.

Then, at best, the record would only state something like, “The first daughter of a concubine died.”

I guess he must have thought about that when I was on the verge of death.

‘I heard that many children died early because of Royal Concubine Hong before I was born.’

My official title was now Princess Suyoung, but the royal family members who had been calling me by my childhood name were still calling me by the familiar name.

Of course, the court ladies were calling me Ongju more politely than before.

“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is looking for you.”

“Seriously, why does he call me so often?”

I felt like I was going to collapse from stress because of these people who sent people to check on me from time to time.

I was already on my way back from doing social life in the Junggungjeon [중궁전, the Queen’s residence].

‘Just let me be alone…….’

It’s already been a year.

With a sigh, I had no choice but to head to the Donggungjeon [동궁전, the Crown Prince’s residence].

The scenery with spring flowers blooming was as peaceful and beautiful as it was a year ago.

The Crown Prince, who had declined for a while due to the death of Crown Prince Seongwon and only recently moved his residence to the Donggungjeon, preferred to be outside because he was not yet used to the Donggungjeon.

Seeing the court ladies and eunuchs having to stand outside, I clicked my tongue and started forcing the Crown Prince inside.

Just as the number of court people increased when I went from being Agassi to Ongju, the number of court people following Yi Hwa, who went from being Grand Prince to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, increased incomparably from before.

It was the same for me, but I had no choice but to accept it even though I was frustrated.

Still, there was an unspoken agreement that we would treat each other comfortably like before when we were alone.

Now we were truly the only siblings left in the world.

“Brother, are you studying?”

“Come and eat some yakgwa [약과, a traditional Korean honey cookie].”

“Okay.”

Did you call me just to eat yakgwa? Can’t I go home?

Even while expressing my dissatisfaction with my whole body, I naturally brought the yakgwa to my mouth.

‘This place makes good yakgwa…….’

Of course. It’s only natural since it’s being served to the Crown Prince.

I sighed as I watched the Crown Prince, who was busy with his studies even after calling someone.

I’ll endure it because it’s Gaeseong moyakgwa (개성 모약과, a crispy yakgwa with layers inside like a pastry, made in bite-sized squares except during ancestral rites and banquets).

In fact, this child had been the most prickly over the past year.

The court people in the Donggungjeon were dying because he was badgering the people around him after that incident, but there was nothing I could do.

As a result, I ended up eating the persimmon with poison because there was a court lady in Grand Prince Gyeongeon’s residence who had cooperated with him at the time.

That court lady made excuses that she had only cooperated because she was trying to get on the Crown Prince’s good side, but if that was true, she was too stupid and naive to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and even if it wasn’t, she had participated in the poisoning plot, so the outcome wouldn’t have been much different.

Thanks to this, the Crown Prince was extremely sensitive, especially when it came to food, and he wouldn’t put anything in his mouth unless he had someone else eat it first.

It would be fine if he was the only one doing that, but he was also making a fuss about what I was eating, which was very tiring.

“Brother, if you don’t eat like that, you won’t grow taller?”

“I’m growing well, so don’t worry. And I think I should be the one worrying about that. I’m feeding you so much, but why aren’t you growing? Are you skipping meals when I’m not looking?”

“If my maids heard that, they’d cry because they feel wronged.”

Could it be a side effect of the poison? It didn’t seem like I had grown much since that day.

The royal physicians all said that there was nothing wrong with my health.

“I’m worried because you don’t seem to be growing at all.”

“Is that so.”

The royal physicians of the Royal Clinic had been examining me, but they didn’t know the cause and only said that it was a miracle that I had survived, so my energy was very weak and I wasn’t growing.

Of course, I, the reader of the original work, had a completely different idea.

‘Could this be it?’

I think there was something like this among the unique settings in the novel.

It’s hard to say for sure yet, but there was a place that came to mind…….

‘I can’t be sure yet, but I’ll find out naturally over time.’

It’s not like I can do anything even if I know.

Maybe it’s because I don’t have to worry about making a living, but I wasn’t that worried.

“But why did you call me again? To eat yakgwa?”

“Are you complaining?”

“A little?”

“You’re not busy anyway. I happened to have some time, so I called you to clear my head.”

I think he should hug a cat instead of calling his younger sister if he wants to clear his head.

‘Well, I have to earn my keep.’

Or rather, earn my yakgwa.

I threw out one of the pieces of information I had heard from the Junggungjeon.

“I heard from the Junggungjeon that there was talk about the Crown Princess. Do you know?”

“The Crown Princess? Already?”

“Considering your age, it shouldn’t be too early.”

But it had only been a year since the Crown Prince’s funeral, so he might not be in the mood.

‘Come to think of it, we’ve had this conversation before.’

The person who was supposed to marry the Crown Princess has changed.

Well, even if he hadn’t become the Crown Prince, it was time for marriage talks to come up.

“Even if the talk comes up now, it will take time just to consider, decide, and prepare. Well.”

“Ha, yeah. So, are you going to issue a Geumhonryeong [금혼령, a ban on marriage]?”

“Why are you acting like this when you should know? An internal candidate from a family that the royal elders would like has to be decided to some extent.”

Above all, the current Crown Prince’s support base is weak.

Since the Queen was from a humble family and there was already a grown-up Crown Prince, no one had ever thought that the Grand Prince would become the Crown Prince, so of course he had no power.

In that case, the Crown Princess naturally had to be from a family with the ability to support such a Crown Prince.

‘But everyone doesn’t seem to like it.’

I won’t tell the Crown Prince, but the ministers’ reactions didn’t seem very good.

The problem wasn’t with the Crown Prince, but with the commotion that happened last year, and many people seemed reluctant because of the Changgui [창귀, vengeful spirits of those who died unjustly] story.

‘So, it seems like there’s even talk of selecting the Crown Princess from the daughters of military officials.’

Should the Crown Prince know about this situation?

If he were the Grand Prince, I would have left him alone without knowing, but now that he is the Crown Prince, he needs to know the reality.

“Little one, you only hear strange things from somewhere. I guess I’ll have to control the mouths of the court ladies in the Ongju’s residence. Not the Agassi, but the court ladies in the Ongju’s residence?”

“Even if you are His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, it’s an abuse of power to say this and that to the court ladies of another residence, you know? Did you say the court ladies of the Ongju’s residence, not the Agassi’s?”

“I need to shut that sassy mouth.”

“Hey, how dare you touch the cheek of the Ongju.”

“What’s a cheek coming out of the Ongju’s mouth? Where did you learn such words?”

Even while grumbling, the Crown Prince was pinching my cheeks.

After that incident last year, he was overly cautious about treating me for a while, but he’s gotten much better these days. The overprotection is still severe, though.

I thought about how scared he must have been, so I tried to get along with him for a while, and he seemed much more stable recently.

To be honest, I was a little surprised because his eyes were so crazy.

“Don’t worry about such things and take care of your health.”

“Then let me be free.”

“What do you think you’ll do if you become free?”

That’s unfair! What can this young me do!

“Wouldn’t it be too much to keep me here when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is studying?”

As I grumbled, regretting that the moyakgwa that had been piled up in front of me had disappeared, the Crown Prince pushed his share of the yakgwa in front of me and opened a book.

“Don’t you like studying?”

“No, but I don’t want to learn the same imperial studies (帝王學) that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is learning.”

“This isn’t imperial studies, it’s sanhak (算學) [산학, mathematics].”

Sanhak = mathematics.

“I don’t want to…….”

“I already know that you have a talent for sanhak. Don’t even think about running away.”

“It’s not that I have a talent……. Ugh.”

In fact, there was a reason why he was doing this now.

After that incident a year ago, not only the Crown Prince but also the King was on edge many days.

So, when the Crown Prince was learning state affairs by the King’s side, I often lazed around as a healer, and I happened to see the statistics.

And I was so distressed by seeing the production statistics written in prose (even in Chinese characters)…….

‘I shouldn’t have told them about Arabic numerals and decimal notation.’

But it was so painful to write the numbers out in Chinese characters one by one!!

Wouldn’t you want to give up everything when you see 12345 written as 一萬二千三百四十五!

‘Wouldn’t it be easier to write it like this?’

‘It’s a character I’ve never seen before, did you make it? It’s more concise than Chinese characters, so it’s definitely more efficient.’

I thought they wouldn’t understand, but this elite father and son quickly understood and accepted the concept I explained.

‘It’s definitely easier than writing it in Chinese characters.’

‘If we write it together with the Korean alphabet, even the people who don’t know Chinese characters can easily learn it. In particular, it seems that the people will be less likely to be scammed if we write it together with the Korean alphabet.’

And things…… got bigger.

‘It would be good to inform the officials and change the notation when they submit it to me.’

‘But Your Majesty, it is difficult to change all the documents when there is already a way of writing that we have been using. Besides, if we write it like this, wouldn’t there be a higher possibility of making mistakes as the number of units increases?’

The obvious point was that the answer was already out.

‘How about marking a dot every certain unit? And I think we can reduce errors by writing it together in Chinese characters or the Korean alphabet.’

‘!!’

The resistance of the officials who were trying to refuse the new attempt was thus thwarted.

While the officials were getting annoyed with the new guidelines and getting used to them, I accidentally committed another innovation (?) in front of the King.