Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 91

After hearing the details, it wasn’t as big of a deal as I had feared.

“A quarrel on the street?”

“They say street thugs started it with the children.”

It seemed they had rounded up a lot of people off the streets, claiming they needed miners, but somehow those types never truly disappear.

“Still, they shouldn’t be fighting to the point of injury.”

“They say he protested when he saw them intimidating girls selling vegetables in the market and ended up hurting someone.”

“…Well, people live, and things like that happen.”

Since there was a legitimate reason, I quickly changed my tune.

Of course, I don’t condone violence, but if someone attacks you like that, it’s hard not to respond defensively.

‘The Siyoungwon children undergo proper character training and even learn self-defense.’

Even skilled gangsters couldn’t easily beat the Siyoungwon children. Besides, more than anything, our kids had numbers on their side.

It’s just that they’re often scattered because they’re working in various places.

In fact, I’ve been a bit troubled lately because the number of children keeps increasing. It seems like people are subtly pushing children in, pretending they’re lost, but the reason is so obvious that I feel bad scolding them for it.

‘We need to be able to stop commoners from trying to launder their children’s status [illegally enroll them in Siyoungwon].’

They sneak them in and then keep loitering around, so they get caught anyway.

Most of the Siyoungwon staff, including Court Lady Min, have noticed and asked me what to do. I told them to pretend we don’t know for now, but I’m still worried.

“That’s not all. They also get into fights with people loitering around Siyoungwon.”

“Hmm.”

These kinds of stories never end.

They probably want to see their children and are loitering around, but from the perspective of the people living there, they must be sensitive to strangers constantly trying to peek inside.

“Moreover, there are quite a few fights between boys inside and outside Siyoungwon.”

“It must be annoying for everyone.”

It was to be expected that children who had lived on the streets would be somewhat rough in their behavior.

In the early days of Siyoungwon, there were so many girls, and most of the boys were young, so they were relatively well-behaved, but when they get older, puberty hits, doesn’t it?

Thanks to that, children are slowly starting to cause trouble.

Besides, the life of a gangster probably looks easier to kids that age. Studying is hard, and you can’t become a great person just by learning a few letters.

So, I had been letting it go, but after hearing that they had fought with gangsters on the street and almost had their legs broken, I felt the need for forced labor.

‘But simply doing healthy physical labor like farming won’t feel like punishment. It would also be disrespectful to those who are working hard.’

After much deliberation, I decided to create healthy work for the energetic children.

Amusement rides.

***

“I heard you went to the Ministry of Public Works again to ask for advice on something strange.”

“Who ratted me out again?”

It hadn’t even been a few days since I put my decision into action when the Crown Prince came to add his two cents.

The Crown Prince has been so busy lately that it’s been hard to see his face, so it was unexpected.

“Surely the Ministry of Public Works wouldn’t come to me specifically for something like that. So, what are you making?”

“…It feels like you’re grilling me too much after not seeing me for so long.”

“I’m not that free.”

“I’m busy too.”

“That’s what I’m saying. What could a young child possibly be so busy with?”

The Crown Prince sighed and met my gaze.

“His Majesty has been tired lately, so go visit him.”

“Okay.”

So, that was the main point.

I felt a little guilty because the Crown Prince and the King were busy because of the things I had caused.

“Goodness. How old are you now, and you’re still using such childish *mal-tu* [manner of speaking]?”

“Let’s just say I’m a baby in body and mind.”

“Don’t lie.”

“Bbaaeeeeng!”

“Oh, my. You’re really making a crying sound like a baby.”

Even as he said that, the Crown Prince smiled brightly and lifted me up.

‘Is he turning nineteen soon?’

I’m still so small, but the Crown Prince has grown so much. It felt strange.

“This is kind of fun.”

“You find this fun?”

“Yeah.”

Did you think I’d be surprised?

The Crown Prince, trusting in his youth, lifted me up and down without any dignity, and was dragged away by the court officials who had come to find him, under their disapproving gazes.

I, on the other hand, sent someone ahead to the King’s quarters and made snacks to visit him, as the Crown Prince had said.

And a little later.

“So, what is this, Si-a?”

“If you hold this and push it like this, it spins around.”

Like a revolving door.

I brought a miniature model of the amusement ride I had made with the help of several people to the King.

The amusement ride I was trying to make wasn’t that difficult.

Most of the basic amusement rides in amusement parks spin around.

The structure itself is possible with the technology to make something like a treadmill, even without electricity, which is the modern power source… I think I saw something similar on the internet before.

Still, I was a little worried about whether I could make it properly by myself, so I went to the Ministry of Public Works to get some advice. After making a mini-size version and producing it, it turned out pretty decent.

I thought it wouldn’t be bad to talk about this to clear my head, so I brought it with an egg sandwich.

It was a simple sandwich with soft-boiled eggs and pickled cucumbers between bread, which wasn’t as sweet or heavy as other snacks, but it was filling, so the King and the Crown Prince liked it.

“Hmm. It’s similar to the principle of a waterwheel. What are you going to do with this?”

“I’m going to have the children who have done wrong in Siyoungwon turn it.”

“?”

“Wouldn’t they like it if I made chairs here and let the children ride on them?”

“Ah.”

“Because there are many children in Siyoungwon.”

“Yes, you’ve come up with an interesting idea.”

Of course, it would take some time to make it sturdy enough for people to ride on.

The first thing I made was, to put it simply, an amusement ride like a merry-go-round. Instead of horse models, I made chairs and had people sit there and spin around.

‘Making horse models takes time and increases the cost.’

I also had a fence made for safety so that the children wouldn’t be thrown out.

After the design was completed, the assembly was done in the yard after going to Siyoungwon.

The Siyoungwon people who saw the completed device had puzzled looks on their faces.

“What is this, Agi-ssi [young miss]?”

“A punishment tool and an amusement ride?”

“Yes?”

First, the former *Chetamin* [outcastes] decided to ride it first because it could be dangerous. Of course, the same goes for turning it. It was difficult to estimate the weight, so a few women rode it and the men decided to turn it.

“Oh? What is this?”

“Oh my? Hehehe.”

At first, they were like, what is this? But once they rode it, they laughed.

The children who saw it also came forward to ride it.

Thanks to that, the Chetamin *ajeossi* [uncles] had to carry the children and spin endlessly.

“Huk, huk… T, this is harder than I thought. Agi-ssi.”

“That’s why it’s for punishment.”

“!”

The main power source was the children who caused problems.

There were many young children in Siyoungwon, so they were made to take care of the children who caused problems, but of course, they didn’t listen properly.

Therefore, I created a tool that could force children to play with simple physical labor.

It would take time to reinforce things for safety reasons.

However, everyone was having so much fun that they forgot the original purpose and just had the older kids take turns turning and riding it.

Well… if you’re having fun, that’s fine.

Later, I don’t know how the rumor spread, but people from outside wanted to ride it, so people came to visit.

Court Lady Min, who didn’t like outsiders coming and going too much, sent a letter, so I made another one in the vacant lot near Siyoungwon, and now the children who have energy left over decided to turn it for money.

The excited children collected the fares, with one adult attached to each to act as a safety guard so that they would not get hurt by speeding too much.

The profits, of course, went to the workers, but it was decided to deduct a reasonable fee from it and add it to the Siyoungwon operating funds.

Everyone liked it.

“This is unexpectedly a creative economy…”

“Agi-ssi. What on earth did you make?”

“An amusement ride.”

“Why are they having fun just spinning around?”

“A swing is also fun just going back and forth.”

“If you say so, it seems like that, but…”

Court Lady Min tilted her head as if she didn’t understand, but everyone was having fun, so she seemed to accept it.

“Shall we make something a little different?”

“Yes?”

I was thinking of making something like the merry-go-round I remember, with a roof and horse models, but that… if I miscalculated the weight, it would just be human abuse.

Therefore, the profitability was not good, so I had to consider the load and make it.

So, the next thing I made was an amusement ride commonly called a coffee cup. Here, I decided to make a similar shape and call it a teacup. Inside, I made it so that you could turn the handle and spin around, just like I did in modern times.

The vacant lot was large, and the labor force with energy left over poured the energy left over from studying into this to make money. It seemed more enjoyable than chopping firewood or picking *namul* [wild greens].

Of course, that’s inevitable.

“Oh my, this is really fun.”

“Giggle.”

Because the rumor spread, young noble ladies and *ginyeo* [female entertainers] came to ride it.

Thanks to that, I made additional productions.

Since I had already expanded the *pan* [scene], I wondered if I could make an amusement ride that I had ridden when I was young, called a *daramjwi tong* [squirrel cage], an amusement ride that rotates 360 degrees inside a treadmill-like structure, but for some reason, everyone looked at me like I was a torture technician.

Even the former Chetamin, not to mention the court ladies.

“No, that’s a bit…”

“Wouldn’t the children be scared…?”

No… I’m paying to ride it… I paid to ride it…!

Don’t underestimate the children! They can ride that much!!

“It looks like it would be fun.”

“No matter how you think about it, it’s torture, so there won’t be many people who will pay to ride it.”

Um, well, some of my friends were too scared to ride it. But they couldn’t ride the Viking [pirate ship ride] either.

I was thinking of making something similar to a toy car model that children ride, but I decided to quit because it seemed like someone would run away with it.

Thanks to that, the vacant lot near Siyoungwon, no, the land in this area was a vacant lot, but I had been buying it little by little, so a considerable part of it was already my property. Anyway, as I installed amusement rides in the vacant lot, unexpected advantages and disadvantages arose.