Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 88

After the song ended, Maehyang, smiling, returned to my side.

No, it felt a bit awkward having Maehyang so close, as if all the attention was focused on her.

“You seem to have become quite close with the children. Do you like children?”

“I don’t dislike them. Thanks to them, the melody feels somewhat complete.”

*I don’t know that song, I don’t know that song*, I thought, diverting the topic while mentally chanting a mantra.

“It seems like you’d get exhausted if so many children flocked to you.”

“It’s nothing compared to wealthy elders. At least children are cute, aren’t they?”

*Is it just a matter of being a pain in the neck?*

I do get tired and can’t play with them for long. But there were many young children around us right now, so I couldn’t really say that out loud.

Since I’m going in and out of Siyeongwon [a facility for orphaned or abandoned children] anyway, it wouldn’t be bad to play with the kids. The number of children has increased so much that the manpower needed to take care of them was considerable. Maybe I’m being too overprotective.

“And thanks to that, I’ve heard enough about what kind of person Little Miss is from the children.”

“Me?”

“Yes. That you are a good person.”

“Originally, anyone who gives food is a good person.”

At my words, Maehyang and the children gathered around her laughed simultaneously.

“But how long are you going to come to Siyeongwon? Ah, now that you seem to have finished the song, you won’t be coming.”

“I am not such a heartless person. Why are you so sad?”

“It’s not good for the children to get too attached for no reason.”

It wasn’t really my place to say, since I only come to play with them occasionally, but it was obvious that they would be more disappointed if contact was cut off after they had become so attached.

*I’ll come often when I need to, but when I’m done, I’ll be busy trying to make a living and forget all about it.*

It’s not that Maehyang is a bad person, but that’s just how people naturally become as they live. Unless you’re especially attached to someone.

And at my words, the children who were already attached to Maehyang were even more surprised and clung to her skirt.

*Oh, kids. That skirt you’re clinging to is very expensive silk… Can’t you see the embroidery there…?*

“Oh, then Maehyang unnie [older sister or respected female figure] isn’t coming anymore?”

“Now that the work is done, you never know.”

“I will come often, so don’t say such things. Little Miss!”

*Should I make a definite promise?*

“If you’re so free, come and teach the kids how to read.”

“They said there are already many people to teach them how to read, so it’s not necessary.”

She already sounded it out.

*Hmm. There are many people who can teach writing, but there aren’t that many people with literary talent.*

Female entertainers were also raised as playmates for noblemen, so they had some education in poetry, calligraphy, and painting. Especially if Maehyang is so famous.

*Maybe Min Sang-gung [a high-ranking female official in the palace] was reluctant to have a female entertainer teach the children.*

But wouldn’t Maehyang herself know that well?

Of course, I didn’t even think about overturning what Min Sang-gung had decided.

“Then, would you like to teach the children songs or dances?”

“Yes?”

“Really?”

“Is it really okay for this humble one to do that?”

“Why would I bring it up if it wasn’t okay?”

It was a little funny to see the contrast between Maehyang’s flustered face and the children’s faces full of excitement.

Of course, it’s not like I said this just to see that, but because something came to mind.

“Thinking about it, if they sing well, can’t I just… talk to them later and bring them in as exclusive singers for Ongju’s [princess] residence?”

“!”

The eyes of the children around me changed at my words.

The reason why they didn’t like teaching the children music and dance was because they were worried that the children, who were living as commoners, would fall into the wrong path as entertainers or female entertainers.

Of course, it’s not like you’ll be treated like that just because you sing well, but in this era, the treatment of entertainers was not very good. It’s like they’re below scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

But if it’s my personal exclusive singer, I don’t have to worry about that.

The children were so excited at my words that they jumped up and down.

“Me! Me! I want to do it!”

“Me, me too!”

“I sing better!”

“I dance better!”

And I presented the cold reality to the children, who were roughly at the same level.

“But I won’t accept anyone unless they sing very, very well?”

“Why? Is it hard to sing?”

“Of course it’s difficult.”

The female entertainers who were watching from afar as if it were someone else’s business chuckled at my words.

“It’s difficult to be the best in any field.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. And basically, you need to know how to read. Now, Ayoung, let’s go study first.”

“Heeing.”

Ayoung, who was the first to raise her hand and volunteer, shuddered at the word ‘study.’

Oh, my. She acts like an older sister, but she’s still a child at times like this.

“And if you’re going to enter Ongju’s house, you need to learn etiquette, right? It’s not just about singing well.”

“Ah, I don’t like that.”

“What do you mean you don’t like it? Learn it.”

Do singing and dancing look easy?

Unfortunately, modern Koreans, who have not been very interested in idols in their previous lives and have only occasionally watched top idol stages, have unnecessarily high standards.

In fact, it’s even worse if you go to Korean traditional music. Ordinary people like me have never heard of anything other than intangible cultural heritage-level masters who appear on TV.

Maehyang, who was watching me comfort and chase away the children so they wouldn’t get false hopes, suddenly asked.

“Doesn’t Little Miss dislike female entertainers?”

“Not really? I don’t have any thoughts.”

“Don’t all women hate female entertainers?”

*What are you asking a child, this person.*

“Well. It’s not that they hate female entertainers, but that they hate the men who seek them out. But since those men are their husbands, fathers-in-law, or sons, they can’t curse them, so they vent their anger on someone who is easy to deal with.”

It’s a worldview where you’re considered a parricide if you curse them.

Now that I think about it, it’s Hera’s position in Greek and Roman mythology.

Well, men created that kind of worldview.

“Female entertainers are commoners, so they must be easy to deal with.”

“Um. Sorry to say this, but since the treatment isn’t good, I don’t want the kids to become female entertainers. Besides, there are not many people who are really talented and capable.”

“Oh my. Hehe.”

“Why? Is there a child among those children who catches your eye?”

“What would you do if there was?”

“Didn’t I say? If their skills are good enough, Ongju’s residence might take them in.”

“Ongju’s residence, you say.”

Maehyang looked at me with a subtle face, as if she had realized something, and her eyes sparkled.

*Oh, why are you doing that? It’s scary.*

“Hehehehehe.”

“Why are you laughing like that?”

“I have come to like Little Miss.”

“What are you going to do with me liking you….”

When I return to the palace, there will be a truckload of court ladies who like me.

To be honest, it seems like they’re all after the bread and cookies I make, not me.

Thanks to the children who scattered at the word study, the area around me and Maehyang became fairly quiet. The yard was still noisy, and the children were still full of excitement, singing and dancing among themselves, and running around without a care in the world.

Maehyang, who was smiling, asked in a slightly serious voice without erasing the smile on her face.

“Can this humble one also enter Ongju’s residence?”

“If Ongju’s residence takes you in, you will stay at Ongju’s private residence, but Ongju has not yet married, so the private residence is currently empty. Ongju is not there, so when can you enter?”

Those children are still very young.

“But why are you saying such exciting things? This humble one, who was listening, was more excited than those children.”

“…It just came to mind. It’s not confirmed.”

Ah……. There are many cases where female entertainers are taken as concubines and freed from their status, but I thought that Ongju’s residence could take them out without doing so if they found a way.

Well, it’s not impossible if you find a way, but the emancipation of female entertainers was originally done by putting another young child in their place.

The person who takes them may think that they are only paying money, but in the end, they are buying another child with that money and filling the position, so I didn’t like it even if I took the female entertainers as my own entertainers.

In fact, the reason why I brought up such things was due to my personal desires.

And that was also because of Maehyang.

*If I bring children who sing well into my private residence… If I teach them the songs I used to listen to in my previous life with a ban on external leaks, it seems like I can make them perform live.*

Well, it’s possible.

My private residence is so large that if I manage the servants well, it seems like I can prevent the sound from leaking outside.

*Oh, if I do this well, can’t I create my own exclusive girl group, or band?*

Is this the true taste of power?

I wish I could remember the girl group choreography so I could teach them! But the dances seem too suggestive by this era’s standards, so it was out as soon as I thought of it.

I cultivated such modest ambitions.

Of course, I also want to raise a boy group, but if I accidentally get into a strange rumor, I might really be confined, so let’s put it aside for now.

*But the boys who were listening earlier seemed to have sparkling eyes too.*

Or, now that it’s come to this, a mixed group that has almost disappeared in modern times… If I create one, they’ll make a fuss about it being promiscuous… Ugh, it’s so annoying.

Next to me, where I was burning with modest ambition and racking my brain, Maehyang was racking her brain in another sense.

“Does Ongju’s residence not need any other uses?”

“What use?”

“Even humble ones like us know that Ongju’s residence does a lot of work. Such a person needs eyes and ears.”

“What are you volunteering for… how dangerous.”

No, I have no intention of raising such dark forces.

Of course, I sometimes think that it’s necessary if I think about the future. But in historical dramas, people in such organizations always die early.

It’s safer to be a civilian.

I didn’t want to put anyone in danger to save my own life.

…I hope the Crown Prince doesn’t think differently. I don’t even want to ask.

“Oh, what a pity.”

“You should stop thinking about such dangerous things. You have so many people following you.”

“But being by Little Miss’s side seems better than being with the dirty people who seek out female entertainers.”

Saying that, she tilted her head towards me and sparkled her eyes.

*No. Seriously, are you seducing me right now?*

If I hadn’t been unintentionally half-trained by the faces of many celebrities I saw on TV in my previous life, I would have fallen for her beauty. I guess this is why the female entertainers grumbled that it was difficult without Maehyang.

Maehyang soon smiled coolly, bowed politely to me, and stepped back.

“If you ever need anything, please call me. Little Miss.”

“Why does an artist keep talking like a spy?”

“Yes, I am an artist.”

I’m an ordinary gold spoon [born with a silver spoon in their mouth; wealthy] who is extending my hand to charity and medical business, but I feel like I’m being misunderstood.

*Hmm. I wonder if she noticed.*

I think I made a mistake in the middle.

It seems like Min Sang-gung is working hard to keep the children quiet, but it’s meaningless if I’m like this.

And a little later, this day’s events unexpectedly came up as a topic in an unexpected place.