Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 117

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I was born the daughter of a lowly concubine.
117
As I spoke and glanced around at those gathered with me in the courtyard, the people who had been frozen in shock began to nod their heads.
“That’s right! How dare that vile wretch commit such an outrage against the Princess!”
“Just moments ago, he even rushed at her with intent to harm!”
As testimony poured in from all sides, the Crown Prince did not hesitate.
“Take that one away separately.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Then he addressed the rest of them.
“To boldly break open the Slave Quarters that were sealed by royal decree, to enslave innocent commoners, and now to kidnap the Princess—I shall show you all the terrible weight of the kingdom’s law.”
Crunch.
At the grinding sound that came from above, I flinched, and the Crown Prince immediately grew alarmed and checked my body again.
“What is it? Does something hurt?”
“No…….”
‘Don’t clench your teeth like that. You’ll suffer for it later.’
‘Wait until he’s calmer before you say anything. He seems to be in an excited state right now.’
It seemed he’d been quite shaken by what happened, for even as he directed the soldiers, he couldn’t let go of me, and I didn’t know what to say.
In fact, it wasn’t only the Crown Prince—the Ikwisa officers who had come with him were working tirelessly as well.
They were the sort who would often laugh heartily and enjoy the snacks I’d given them, so they appeared shocked by the news of my abduction.
‘I understand their feelings, but this is getting frustrating. I wish they’d let me go now…….’
Seong Gyeom-sabok was busy capturing the ones who’d fled; after confirming I was safe, he merely exchanged a look with me before returning to work.
‘I feel bad for putting everyone through this.’
Things might not have spiraled into such a commotion if circumstances had been different.
And after the situation had settled somewhat, unexpected figures appeared.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Princess. Are you both unharmed?”
Physicians from the Clinic? Here?
Several physicians and medical attendants who had appeared suddenly approached those who had sustained injuries.
There were those with serious wounds, so it was fortunate the physicians had come.
Of course, a physician came to examine both the Crown Prince and me as well.
The Crown Prince said he had no injuries himself and asked them to examine me instead.
“I have no serious injuries either. Please go attend to those who are wounded.”
“But didn’t you say just now that he struck you?”
“I wasn’t hurt. Someone else blocked it for me.”
As I declined the physician’s ministrations, another person came forward.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince. Might this humble one take the Princess’s pulse to verify her condition?”
“What? Sehwa? How did you get here?”
“Your Highness instructed that only those who could ride horses should come along, but I actually know how to ride.”
Because of me, the Crown Prince must have thought there would surely be women among the captives in the Slave Quarters, so he wanted female physicians to come. However, it turned out that among the other female physicians, unfortunately few could ride a horse, so only Sehwa, still an attendant, had been able to come. The other physicians and attendants had doubted Sehwa’s equestrian skills since there was no confirmed record of her riding, and so only she had come.
‘Ah? Is that why this happened—because a woman can’t ride alongside an unrelated man?’
‘Still, we can’t very well add Horsemanship to the medical curriculum.’
“Even if there are no visible injuries, the Princess must have been greatly frightened.”
“Being frightened is unavoidable, I suppose.”
“Are you certain there are no hidden injuries?”
“None that I’m aware of, so there’s no need to worry.”
My wrists were scraped a bit from being tied earlier, and there were people bleeding over there, so it seemed unseemly to complain about this.
After taking my pulse, Sehwa simply said it would be fine to apply medicine later and smoothly moved on.
I looked around and searched for the military officer who had recognized me and for Cheonho.
Fortunately, neither of them appeared to be seriously wounded, though I still felt concerned.
‘Ah, I need to tell the Crown Prince about that officer and Cheonho later.’
It seemed another physician had already approached the officer, so I led Sehwa toward Cheonho.
“Come over here instead of me.”
“……?”
Cheonho appeared somewhat weary, but outwardly seemed fine.
He had been freeing those brought here as nobi and helping the soldiers, and was now sitting to rest.
“Cheonho, you’re not hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“It looked like you got hurt a bit because of me earlier.”
“No, I didn’t.”
And seeing that we were having a conversation, Sehwa interjected.

“From the look of the torn clothing, it seems you’ve sustained some injury.”
“Just a few scratches.”
“The physician will be the judge of that.”
“Yes, well……”
At Sehwa’s firm words, Cheonho offered no resistance and obediently extended his arm.
Relief washed over me when Sehwa assured me there were no serious wounds. I seized the moment to ask the question I’d been too rushed to voice earlier.
“But what in heaven’s name are you doing here?”
“I was meant to guide the way, wasn’t I? It was your orders.”
“I never told you to throw yourself into danger.”
“Well, when I saw the danger unfolding, what was I to do? Besides, I’m no soldier, so there’s nothing wrong with acting on my own initiative without orders. It’s hardly a transgression.”
He wasn’t wrong, yet I wanted nothing more than to strike him for it.
I glanced at Sehwa. She wore a remarkably similar expression.
“Are you unharmed, Your Highness?”
“Thanks to you. Why take such reckless chances?”
“Ha. Well, at any rate, thanks to my actions, you remain safe, do you not?”
Cheonho’s expression wavered between exasperation and joy before something occurred to him, and he asked:
“But… are you truly the Princess?”
“Well… it seems I am now.”
He’d called me that just moments ago, and now he was acting as though it were news.
Next, I brought Sehwa to where the women who had shielded me earlier were gathered.
None of them appeared to be injured, though I worried they might have lost consciousness from the shock.
“Are you all right?”
“We, we are well……Your Highness.”
They weren’t going to bite.
“You took blows meant for me earlier. Let me look you over.”
“Yes.”
“Oh! Oh my, we are most honored……”
This was grave. The shock seemed to have overwhelmed them on multiple counts.
‘Now that I think of it, they were hurt because of me. I wonder if it’s right for me to take them with me.’
These people clearly had nowhere immediate to go. Wouldn’t it be better to bring them to Siyeongwon and place them under protection?
It seemed the Podo Bureau would struggle to shelter them, so I broached the matter with the Crown Prince.
“Brother. What is to become of these people?”
The Crown Prince had calmed somewhat, so I decided to mind my manners. He seemed to flinch slightly at my question, but said nothing given the number of onlookers.
“They’ll have to undergo questioning, then we’ll send them back to their homes.”
“But save those taken by force, these are people sold by their own families. Sending them back accomplishes nothing — they’ll only fall into the same circumstances again.”
At my words, the Crown Prince’s brow furrowed.
“We’ll have to investigate and punish those who sold their own flesh and blood first.”
He was right. We needed to go after them.
‘If we don’t punish those who profit from selling their own kin, nothing will stop them from doing it again.’
Buying people as chattels was one problem, but so was a father or husband selling his own family for coin.
“They can’t stay here indefinitely. Once we’ve established their identities, I thought to bring them to Siyeongwon.”
“That would be best.”
Everyone was occupied, so Sehwa and I merely took a count of the people present, while a clerk would handle the identity verification once we reached Siyeongwon.
Among those here were some, like myself, who had been taken by force, but most had been sold by husbands or parents to cover gambling debts or drinking expenses—I decided simply to bring them along.
Hearing my decision, the Crown Prince sighed heavily.
“That men would sell their wives and children for money…… How contemptible.”
He had always harbored some misgivings about the slave system, but witnessing this horror firsthand seemed to strike him far more deeply than reading of it in reports.
“I swear I will not allow such things to happen again.”
Good. That was the right sentiment.
I nodded approvingly and regarded the Crown Prince with admiration, when I happened to notice Sehwa gazing at him in much the same way.
‘Now that I think of it, the heroine’s name was something like Sehwa……’
Could Sehwa be Ji-hwa?
It wasn’t common for a woman to become so naturally entangled with the Crown Prince. Could I dare to hope?
Well, that was something to watch for.
After tending to the wounded and gathering the victims for transport to Siyeongwon, and ensuring the continued investigation, those of us handling the practical matters endured sleepless days thereafter.
And I was placed under house arrest at my Residence.
“This is so tedious!”
“Please be patient, Your Highness. Word of this incident has reached His Majesty himself—there’s nothing to be done about it.”
Unfortunate as it was, the unprecedented incident of the Princess’s abduction had sent shockwaves through the palace.
In every conceivable way.
The king’s fury was kindled first by the fact that the Slave Market, which had been forbidden long ago, was continuing illegally, and that there were shameless individuals selling even their own wives and biological children.
Of course, his rage deepened further upon learning that children were being kidnapped and sold off, and he was outraged to discover that I had nearly become a victim myself.
Some quarters attempted to shift blame onto me, claiming I had conducted myself poorly and thus invited this calamity, but such words only fanned the flames of the king’s wrath.
“If there exists a fool foolish enough to argue that a child walking the road in broad daylight bears guilt for being kidnapped, then such a person would do well to abandon any thought of serving the realm henceforth.”
“Your Majesty is truly a father to all the people.”
So-i spoke in a tone of admiration, lauding the king.
Well, it sounded somewhat flattering, but it was true nonetheless.
And the king seized this opportunity to launch a comprehensive investigation into slavery.
In other words, he had decided to investigate the origins of every slave held by the yangban aristocracy.
Where the process had been opaque, or where a free person had been wrongly enslaved, their status was to be restored.
‘Ah, this is it. The Slave Inspection Law of King Gwangjong from the Goryeo era.’
The fruits of South Korea’s rote-memorization education were terrifying—even after being reborn, such knowledge surfaced from time to time.
Naturally, there was resistance to losing slaves, but the fact that the princess herself was entangled in the matter proved far too weighty.
“It is said that no one dares refuse, knowing that the sovereign became enraged on account of the princess.”
“Hmm. I suppose this counts as fortunate.”
My father the king was more emotional than he appeared, but neither was he a man ruled by emotion alone.
‘That too is unfortunate in its own way.’
Yet such was the burden of a king’s seat. By that measure, the Crown Prince was still undoubtedly immature.
Still, this affair had brought him certain gains as well.
“And it is said that the Crown Prince’s reputation among the common people has improved greatly.”
“How so?”
So-i blinked at me with vacant eyes in response to my question.
So-i had been deeply disheartened by the fact of my abduction and still lacked her usual vigor.
I’m sorry.
“Did the Crown Prince not personally lead soldiers to rescue you, the princess?”
“Yes, that’s… true.”
“The voices of praise grow louder—that his concern for his sister is profound, and that he is a man of noble bearing and steadfast virtue. When people heard him say ‘moreover, I will not permit such a calamity to befall again,’ they all remarked that he is indeed the true heir to the throne.”
Hmm. The person spreading such talk must have been someone present at that place.
‘The people who were there that day fall into three groups: criminals, officials, and victims. The only ones who would spread such words as praise would be….’
The victims themselves.
Those temporarily placed in the care of Siyeongwon—aside from those of us who had been kidnapped—remained there for the most part.
The Crown Prince did not forgive those who had sold their spouses and children.
The king did not dispute the Crown Prince’s words, that they were shameless wretches who had abandoned their humanity.
For the most part, they were individuals consumed by gambling addiction, alcoholism, and other afflictions that rendered normal life impossible; the king sent them to the mines to repay their debts by force.
With such family liabilities thus removed, the women seemed as though they could return home and live in peace.
Yet for some reason, those around them criticized and oppressed them, asking how they could live with peace of mind after sending their husbands, brothers, and parents to the mines, branding them as selfish.
Assigning people to provide modest aftercare, I looked after them for a time and advised them either to entrust themselves to Siyeongwon or to move to the neighborhood where it was located.
Since these were people who had been sold into debt precisely because they lacked property, there was no difficulty in them coming with nothing but their persons.
And so at Siyeongwon, a spirit of chosen celibacy—the conviction that marriage was unnecessary—was gradually taking hold.
‘I never intended anything like this.’
What was I to do?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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