Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 80

“Why do you avoid that woman so much?”

Soi, who had changed back into her court lady attire after returning to the palace, found it strange that I kept avoiding her. She checked my clothes as I was about to return to my chambers and asked.

Since I couldn’t say it was because of copyright issues, I vaguely brushed it off.

“Umm… She chases after me with such a glint in her eyes that I can’t help it. And you don’t seem to like her much either, Soi.”

“Well, wouldn’t it be better not to get too involved with her?”

I suppose so. She’s practically a stranger anyway.

In any case, I nodded at Soi’s words.

“Um… Oh, don’t tell anyone else about this.”

“Tell about what, Your Highness?”

Startled by the familiar voice that suddenly rang out, Soi and I turned our heads in surprise.

Kai, who had been away on a business trip(?), was waiting for us in front of my chambers, having returned sometime earlier.

“Wow, you’re back?”

“Don’t think you can get away with just acting cute. Where have you been today?”

“I went to Siyoungwon. Oh, Kai, how did the land viewing go?”

“There was a good piece of land, so I signed a contract.”

“Oh.”

“Are you going to build a greenhouse there too?”

Soi cautiously asked during our conversation.

“Yeah. I also bought a new one in the opposite direction from the area where the current greenhouse is located.”

“It’s fortunate that the business is doing so well.”

“Well, I’d like to expand to other regions if possible.”

“Yes. Everyone wants to eat fresh vegetables even in winter.”

“That’s right. People don’t just live in Hanyang [the capital city of Joseon].”

I wanted to expand the sales channels, but it was difficult to readily expand the business because the number of consumers in Hanyang and other regions was significantly different. In particular, I needed to find areas with a large population and wealthy people willing to buy vegetables at high prices.

Since vegetables need to be fresh, I naturally had to farm on land nearby, so there were many things to consider.

‘In modern times, there would be roads and refrigeration facilities, so it wouldn’t matter if it was far away, but here, it’s actually difficult to transport produce even over a single mountain…’

Moreover, tigers sometimes appear on mountain roads in certain regions.

It would be nice to improve the roads, at least near the capital where the economy is relatively active, but they always oppose it for various reasons.

In any case, Kai was developing his business by making the most of his aptitude. I was worried he might be overdoing it, but I was relieved to see that he seemed to be enjoying it.

‘Since he’s with the former Chetamin [a type of palace guard] from Siyoungwon, I don’t have to worry about his safety.’

No matter how I thought about it, Seong Gyeom Sabok was a lucky charm that had come my way.

Come to think of it, retired Chetamin still occasionally join Siyoungwon.

They claim that it’s good for soothing their minds and bodies, which have become exhausted in an environment with many children, but I don’t know if it’s really that good. However, they are teaching martial arts to children with talent in Siyoungwon.

I might be able to hire those children as guards later.

I returned to my room and listened to Kai’s business updates, grinning from ear to ear.

“At this rate, Kai will soon become rich.”

“Isn’t it Ongju Jaga [Princess Jaga] who is rich, not I?”

“This is in Kai’s name. I’m thinking of starting a medical business.”

Kai smiled at my words.

“I have already heard that you want a female physician.”

“Oh, really?”

I’m not sure if ‘want’ is the right word, but it wasn’t much different.

“What do you think, Kai?”

“It is more comfortable for court ladies like me to be examined by female physicians. However, if they are given a rank, some people may not like it because they won’t be able to treat them as comfortably as they do now.”

“I see.”

“But if you, Ongju Jaga, want a capable female physician to examine you, how dare they disobey?”

“Hmm.”

Even though he said that, the conclusion was that some people would dislike it.

As expected, their position was bound to be different from mine, who was at the top of the social hierarchy.

However, wouldn’t those court ladies also agree if they could raise their own status?

‘There’s a reason why the saying ‘do as I say, not as I do’ exists.’

It’s frustrating that I can’t use that phrase in this era.

***

And some time later, I heard similar words from the Crown Prince.

“There is a lot of talk among the officials and Confucian scholars.”

“Is that so?”

“Regarding the issue of giving ranks to female physicians, they seem to think it would be difficult to object if we bestow ranks from the Outer Court, as you said.”

The Inner and Outer Courts were the Queen’s domain. It was unprecedented to give ranks to female doctors in the Outer Court, but what could they do if we were going to create a new precedent?

If they said, ‘How can we give ranks to lowly government slaves?’ it would be a denial of the court ladies currently in the palace.

“Aside from that, there were comments that female physicians are not of proper conduct, so how can we give them ranks?”

“That’s why we’re suggesting separating the two so that they can operate mainly with women.”

“Right. There are many who negatively view them working with male doctors and facing male patients, touching their bodies, so we suggested eliminating the possibility of conflict by separating them altogether, and they couldn’t say anything.”

This time, when we eat sweets while gossiping about the ministers, is the Crown Prince’s stress relief time.

It wasn’t bad to laugh and chat while eating delicious things together after a long time. Except for one thing that bothered me.

‘Actually, he’s at an age where he shouldn’t be playing with his younger sister like this.’

Even without the Crown Princess, he should slowly start showing interest in women, but I was a little worried that he had no interest in the court ladies at all.

Humanly speaking, he should be experiencing his first love soon.

‘It was too short of an encounter to say that Ji-hwa was his first love and he still has lingering feelings.’

Of course, some might say that time doesn’t matter in love, but it’s already been several years, so doesn’t it matter a little?

‘It would be a little pitiful if he stopped paying attention to women to avoid causing gossip.’

The Crown Prince, who had been talking happily, looked puzzled, perhaps sensing such emotions in my gaze.

“Why are you looking like that?”

“It’s nothing. Here, eat some more bread.”

After I named it ‘sikppang’ (식빵, loaf of bread) and subtly started calling bread-type snacks ‘bread,’ the term ‘bread’ has now become almost officially established.

When people asked what it meant, I brazenly claimed, ‘It’s bread because it’s puffy (ppangppang, 빵빵).’ Since I was young, everyone smiled approvingly and believed me.

I feel a little guilty.

“Regarding the training of female physicians, there is also the matter of the Queen Dowager, and since you are involved, even those who oppose it cannot come out too strongly. In the past, although it was not common, there were times when skilled female physicians in the royal clinic were more trusted than the royal physicians, so we cannot say that they lack ability.”

Moreover, the king’s daughter, who has not grown due to a near-fatal poisoning, wants to fill the positions of those who will take care of her health with qualified professionals with proper ranks, and since she is uncomfortable with men, she wants to fill them with women of the same gender, so it was difficult to oppose it because the justification was ambiguous.

There are already quite a few people who doubt the abilities of the royal physicians because they didn’t know my ideals at all.

Of course, there were also those who opposed it.

“Realistically, there were those who opposed it because of the budget.”

“We’re already training female physicians anyway.”

They hate giving ranks and salaries so much.

“However, when we suggested that after becoming a formal physician and working for 10 years, they could pay money to free themselves and their children from slavery, there was an uproar, and the previous discussions were quietly dropped.”

“So, what happened?”

“The discussion about female physicians will be reorganized starting with the system, and the issue of freeing slaves will be discussed later.”

Since there was also the issue of whether to retroactively apply this to those who had been working as female physicians for a long time, this matter would probably not be easily decided.

‘Besides, they haven’t been freeing court ladies very well so far.’

They can’t get married anyway and spend almost their entire lives in the palace, so why not free them? It doesn’t cost anything.

“Um. Regarding the budget issue, wouldn’t it be possible to create a separate facility that charges even a small amount for treatment, instead of Hyeminseo [a government-run clinic for commoners] or Hwalinseo [another government-run clinic for the poor]?”

“You’re thinking of creating a clinic, so would that be okay?”

“It’ll be fine as long as the locations don’t overlap, right?”

It’s not like I’m trying to get rich from it.

“Oh, and if the cost of teaching is a problem, I could create a school… and teach them together.”

“You mean you’ll teach them together with the physicians you’re raising?”

“Yeah. Government slaves can continue to follow the same methods as before, but we can teach other commoners and common people that way.”

“Wouldn’t that be a big burden for you?”

“They’re already taking everyone in at Siyoungwon, so what’s the difference now?”

The Crown Prince looked like that was true.

“If I can afford it, I’ll charge a small fee. Or I’ll have them work. After teaching them for a certain period, I’ll have them give up if it seems difficult. And I can give scholarships to children who are suited for it.”

“Scholarships?”

“Um.”

Was that a word that didn’t exist in this area yet?

Even if commoners learn medicine, it will be difficult for them to properly work as doctors, so they will end up working at Hyeminseo or my hospital.

‘Those who want to be freed from slavery will do whatever it takes, even if it’s difficult.’

Although it’s difficult to be freed from slavery, there are already quite a few people who have volunteered as soldiers to be freed, so this might be possible too.

“Either way, it takes time to train them as doctors. In the meantime, I need to find a famous doctor and hire… no, treat them with respect.”

“I think your true feelings just came out.”

“You must have misheard me, Brother.”

“But how will you find out which doctor is famous?”

I shook my wrist and grinned.

“Wouldn’t it be enough to have them examine me?”

“…Don’t tell me you’re planning to go yourself?”

“Well, what should I do?”

“No, where are you trying to go? Such a… fragile child.”

Even after saying it, the Crown Prince avoided my gaze and contorted his face as if he had said something wrong.

If he said I was small, he would hurt my feelings for not growing, but the word ‘fragile’ didn’t suit me at all, even in his own opinion.

I clicked my tongue inwardly and laughed at the Crown Prince’s attempt to erase his bitter expression.

“If you’re so worried about your younger sister, you can give me back Seong Gyeom Sabok.”

“It’s such a waste that a capable instructor with excellent skills in catching military discipline is wasting his abilities by being obsessed with food.”

Does that mean Seong-yoon is good at manipulating people?

“He is capable. I learned archery from Seong Gyeom Sabok too.”

“Archery for a child.”

“Seong Gyeom Sabok said that the nomadic tribes of the north shoot arrows from horseback at the age of seven.”

“To teach mounted archery from such a young age… should we teach it too?”

Excuse me. I think the flow of those two sentences is a bit strange.

The Crown Prince, who was briefly lost in thought about the early education of soldiers, couldn’t sit for long and had to go back to work.

‘What a busy life.’

Instead, I should waste my life.

But haven’t I been living too frugally lately, except for my diet? Should I waste a little?