Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 49

“What’s going on?”

“My lady, please wait here while I go see what’s happening.”

Just as I looked ready to jump off the horse, Song Bi grabbed me, and Seong-yoon quickly slipped through the crowd.

I couldn’t understand how the two of them, who had only known each other for half a day, could work together so perfectly.

Looking around, most people were either passing by indifferently or glancing from a distance, with no one intervening or stopping anything.

Given that a group of men were the ones intimidating the children, it didn’t seem like anyone would easily step forward.

‘Hmm, they look like thugs.’

Even with my limited knowledge of commoners’ lives in this era, mostly gleaned from historical dramas, I could tell at a glance what they were.

But I couldn’t leave things as they were. Judging by their huddled forms, it seemed like violence had already occurred.

“This isn’t stolen money! It’s our money!”

“Where would brats like you get so much money!”

Ah, I see.

I could see the bundle of coins I had given them earlier in the man’s hand.

The children desperately clung to them to get their money back, but the men coldly pushed them away. Still, the children didn’t give up.

“Give it back!”

“You little punks!”

The thugs, yelling, aimed a kick at the child.

And seeing that scene, someone moved faster than I did, reacting impulsively.

“Huh? Wait, Jeok-ah, Jeok-ah?”

“Ah, my lady?”

Heeheeing!!

Regardless of the commotion around him, Jeok-ah charged toward the men as if he had read my mind.

But I knew better than anyone. Jeok-ah wasn’t exactly moving according to my will.

“Ugh?!”

“Eek, stop, stop, stop.”

Unlike when the children were being hit, I could feel people’s gazes becoming more interested.

Well, it was understandable.

“Move, move, move!!”

“Ugh? Ughhh?!”

“Ugh? Wait, boss! Aigo [an expression of dismay]!”

Jeok-ah accurately avoided the children and charged toward the men, and the men, terrified by the sudden traffic accident, stumbled backward, colliding with each other and falling over.

“Heh.”

“Pfft.”

Perhaps because they didn’t like seeing children being bullied, or perhaps because they naturally had a bad reputation, no one seemed worried about the thugs who appeared half-crushed by the horse; they were all just stifling their laughter.

Gripping the reins tightly, I made excuses as the owner.

“Sorry~ My horse doesn’t like violent scenes.”

“Wh-what?”

Since they were sitting down, the thugs naturally looked up at me on the horse, and realizing I was a noble, they couldn’t utter the same curses as before and just gaped.

“It’s dangerous, so please step back? He sometimes doesn’t listen.”

“A-aren’t you in danger, dangerous?”

“Yeah, so step back. Your legs could break if the horse accidentally steps on you? Of course, I can pay for the treatment, but you wouldn’t want to live with a limp for the rest of your life, would you?”

It would be fortunate if their legs only broke, but if they were crushed, this era’s medical skills wouldn’t be able to fix it, right?

“A-are you threatening us?”

“Huh? I’m just telling the truth, but.”

Heeheeing-

Jeok-ah shook his head, not liking something again, interrupting my words.

I could hear Jeok-ah snorting as he brought his head close, not liking that they were talking back to me, but I couldn’t see from my position on the horse, so I grabbed the reins to stop him.

“Ah, no. No eating.”

“Heeik?!”

I only said that because he had chewed on my hair before, but why did it seem like they misunderstood?

No way, they don’t think horses are carnivores, do they? But looking at the atmosphere around me, Jeok-ah’s expression must be really bad.

The thugs were scrambling backward, almost crawling, but Jeok-ah kept chasing after them, for some reason.

“Eek! D-don’t come! No, please don’t come!!”

“I’m not going. He’s the one going.”

I could hear people giggling in the distance.

Is it fun? But I’m a little scared.

It’s like a car with bad brakes trying to run over people on autopilot; what am I supposed to do with him?

“Okay, okay, let’s stop and go. Okay?”

Heeing!

Jeok-ah resisted a little but finally stopped, and the men who had been collapsing like dominoes finally got up awkwardly and started running away, glaring at the children behind me.

“Oops, be careful.”

Seong-yoon, who had appeared from somewhere, bumping shoulders with one of the men, grabbed Jeok-ah’s reins.

“Are you sure it’s safe to keep riding such a wild horse?”

Pureung!

Jeok-ah made an angry noise again, not liking Seong-yoon’s words, but I stroked Jeok-ah’s mane and shook my head.

“It’s dangerous, let go.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Seong-yoon, sensing that Jeok-ah was upset, obediently let go and stepped back, and Song Bi approached as if she had been waiting.

“My lady, are you alright?”

“Yeah. Hold the reins for a moment.”

“Yes.”

I entrusted the reins to Song Bi, got off the horse, and checked on the children.

I thought they would have run away as soon as they were out of the men’s sight, but the child was still huddled on the ground, trembling, and his condition didn’t look good. First, I helped the young child that the older one was protecting to come out.

The young child, perhaps out of fear, burst into tears in my arms, now relieved.

I carefully placed my hand on the shoulder of the older child, who still couldn’t get up.

“Are you okay?”

“I-I’m okay, I’m okay……”

Not being able to get up didn’t look okay at all. It seemed the other children thought so too, as some of the younger ones burst into tears.

“Sniff, waaa……”

“Hey, d-don’t cry. Don’t cry……!”

“You can’t even get up, what energy do you have to shout? It’s okay, kids. Don’t worry.”

The child, who had been shouting while lying down, finally managed to get up, but his face was flushed red, and it didn’t seem to be just from excitement.

“Let’s go to a doctor first.”

“W-we don’t have that kind of money……!”

“Then let’s go to Hyeminseo [Joseon Dynasty public clinic].”

“I’m…… okay, so leave…… me alone.”

The voice that had been shouting until now gradually faded, and the child, who had managed to get up, finally lost consciousness and collapsed, as if the tension had been released.

“What shall we do?”

At Seong-yoon’s words, who had caught the collapsing child, I sighed and asked.

“Do you know a doctor nearby?”

“I apologize. I don’t know this area well either.”

“Ah, then let’s go to Hyeminseo.”

It wasn’t close to Namdaemun…… but it wouldn’t be far on horseback.

‘I clearly just came out to find the jade ring, but what is all this?’

But I couldn’t just leave a hurt child behind.

Hyeminseo (惠民署) was a government office that provided free medical treatment to the people, located somewhere around Euljiro in modern terms.

And that Hyeminseo, where I arrived with the child on horseback, was selectively accepting patients because they were too crowded.

“We don’t have enough manpower, so we can’t help it.”

“Then are you saying sick people should just die?”

The doctor working at Hyeminseo said so coldly.

Of course, it was crowded. Even if it wasn’t as crowded as modern Seoul, the population was concentrated in Hanyang [old name for Seoul], so it wasn’t strange, but it didn’t seem so crowded that they couldn’t accept people.

‘Hmm.’

Could it be that they need a bribe? But I wanted to try another possibility.

I grabbed Song Bi’s sleeve in front of the doctor and opened my mouth with an innocent expression.

“Court Lady, shouldn’t we ask the Princess to help?”

“……Th…….”

Leaving Song Bi, who was briefly stunned by the unagreed-upon role-playing, Seong-yoon chimed in.

“If the Princess knew, she would surely help, but we can’t bother our superiors with every little thing like this.”

“No matter how urgent you are, how can you speak so carelessly about our superiors?”

Song Bi, who had been frozen for a moment, soon spoke down to me as if I were a court maid.

And the doctor, who had been listening to our conversation, began to tremble.

The ladies-in-waiting who served the royal family were beings that couldn’t be treated carelessly, regardless of their rank.

Of course, a court lady serving the Princess wouldn’t have much power, but everyone knew that the only princess in the palace was receiving the love of both His Majesty and the Crown Prince.

“Just a moment, please wait just a moment.”

The doctor, flustered, ran into Hyeminseo and soon led us inside.

‘After all, power is the best.’

It was a bit bitter, but thanks to that, the injured children were able to receive treatment safely.

The problem was what came next.

“Giving cash to children is more dangerous than I thought.”

I thought they would be able to hide it well, but it was taken away right away.

‘It wasn’t even that much money. Isn’t it about two or three hundred thousand won [Korean currency, roughly $200-300 USD] in modern currency?’

Well, if children are carrying it, it is a lot of money…… I guess it’s true. Since it’s not paper money, the volume is large, so it’s not easy to hide.

It was sad that they got hurt and had to pay for treatment because of that.

‘If I had been born unlucky as a beggar, would I have been in this situation?’

Living in luxury and dying in one go from poison at a young age versus living for decades shivering from cold and hunger. Which one would be better to choose?

‘They say it’s better to live, even if you’re rolling in dog poop.’

Of course, in either case, there was no choice in the life you were born into.

The child, who seemed to be only a couple of years older than me, looked peaceful, unlike when he had been frowning all along. It didn’t last long, though.

“Gasp!”

“You’re awake.”

I explained to the bewildered child that this was Hyeminseo and roughly what had happened, and then asked what I needed to confirm first.

“Your…… parents?”

“Don’t look for something that’s as good as nothing!”

“Oh. Sorry.”

I guess if they had proper parents, the child wouldn’t be begging.

When I apologized reflexively, the child glared at me.

“You were lucky enough to be born and live comfortably, why are you pitying someone else?”

“Oh, I can’t argue with that.”

“My lady!”

Seong-yoon and Song Bi behind me seemed to be upset, but what I said wasn’t wrong.