Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 34

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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 as the daughter of a lowborn Concubine.
Chapter 34
‘I tell myself there’s no helping it—I bear responsibility for what I’ve done—’
But honestly, I’m sick to death of it all.
Ever since that day, the palace ladies have been following me around so relentlessly that I felt I might collapse from the stress.
The number of attendants serving me had even grown larger than before.
There was nothing I could do about it.
“Ongju.”
“What do you want?”
I was no longer merely a princess—I was now an Ongju.
The moment I awoke from the brink of death by poison, the King bestowed upon me the rank of Ongju.
So my official title was now Ongju Su Yeong.
Part of me felt it had been chosen rather carelessly, though I suppose I should be grateful—at least they didn’t give me a place-name like Incheon Ongju, as befell certain illegitimate daughters of old.
‘Still, being called the same childhood name all the time is rather strange.’
Ordinarily, when a place of marriage is decided and the bride is sent off, the Coming-of-Age Ceremony is performed at the same time, but if the King declares he will grant the rank himself, then so it is.
And of all things, he was determined to bestow Ongju rank on a daughter who had nearly died by poison! The court, already bloodied by that assassination attempt, had no one foolish enough to quibble over such domestic trifles.
The difference in funeral rites between a princess born of a palace lady and an Ongju must be considerable—perhaps that’s what made him hurry.
At least I received a childhood name early; many girls died nameless, forever called nothing but “young lady.”
The records would have noted, at most, the death of an illegitimate daughter born of a Concubine.
Perhaps when I hovered at death’s door, such thoughts never crossed my mind.
‘I’ve heard that because of Hong Suk-won, many children born before me died young as well.’
Though my official title was now Ongju Su Yeong, the royal family, accustomed to calling me by my childhood name, continued to do so.
Of course, the palace attendants now referred to me with far greater formality as Ongju.
When I was elevated to Ongju, my late mother’s rank was also raised from Sukui to Soui, I was told.
“The Crown Prince awaits you.”
“What? Why must he summon me at all hours?”
The constant stream of people checking on me was driving me to the brink of collapse from sheer stress.
I had just finished socializing in Junggung Hall and was on my way out.
‘Please, just let me be alone…….’
A whole year had already passed.
With a sigh, I made my reluctant way to Donggung Hall.
The spring blossoms bloomed much as they had a year before—peaceful and lovely.
The Crown Prince, who had moved his residence to Donggung Hall only recently after a period of mourning for the late Crown Prince, still seemed unfamiliar with the place and preferred to remain outdoors.
Watching the attendants and eunuchs forced to stand outside on his account, I clicked my tongue and physically herded him back inside.
Just as my retinue had grown with my elevation from young lady to Ongju, Ihwa’s attendants had multiplied beyond all measure now that he had become Crown Prince instead of Great Prince.
I felt the same exasperation, yet we had to accept it.
Still, there was an unspoken agreement between us: when we were alone, we would treat each other as freely as before.
Now we truly were the only siblings in the world.
“Are you studying?”
“Come and eat some Yakgwa.”
“All right.”
Did he really call me all this way just to eat Yakgwa? Couldn’t I have gone home instead?
I expressed my discontent silently even as I naturally brought the Yakgwa to my lips.
‘The Yakgwa here is quite good…….’
Of course it was. It came to the Crown Prince, so naturally it would be of the finest quality.
I sighed as I watched him sitting there, too absorbed in his studies to mind his guest properly.
The Gaeseong-style Yakgwa lived up to its reputation—each flaky, layered piece dissolving like pastry on the tongue.
Truthfully, over the past year, it was this boy who had changed most sharply.
In the wake of what happened, he had interrogated everyone around him so mercilessly that the palace attendants of Donggung Hall were practically wasting away, but there was no help for it.
The poisoned Dried Persimmon that I ate had ultimately been delivered because there was a maidservant in Yeong-won Daegun’s quarters who had cooperated with Gyeong Eon-gun at the time.
The maidservant claimed she had only helped because she was tempted by promises of future favor from the Crown Prince, but if that were true, she had been far too careless and foolish to serve him—and if not, her participation in the assassination plot would have led to the same bitter end regardless.
As a result, the Crown Prince had become hypersensitive about food, absolutely refusing to put anything in his mouth until he’d first had someone else taste it.
If he did that only to himself it would be fine, but he applied the same scrutiny to everything I ate, and it was exhausting.
“If you don’t eat properly, you won’t grow tall?”
“I’m growing well enough—don’t worry. And shouldn’t I be the one concerned about that? I feed you diligently, so why aren’t you getting any taller? Are you skipping meals when I’m not watching?”
“Our children would cry if they heard you say that—they’d feel betrayed.”
I wondered if it might be an aftereffect of the poison. Since that day, I simply hadn’t been growing as I should.
The physicians all said there was nothing wrong with my health.
“You seem truly concerned that I’m not growing.”
“Perhaps I am.”
The physicians from the Royal Infirmary had conducted pulse readings without discovering any cause, concluding merely that her survival was a miracle and she remained small and stunted due to severely depleted vitality.
Of course, as the original novel’s reader, I held quite a different theory.
‘Could it be that?’
There was something like this among the peculiar settings that appeared in the novel.
I couldn’t say for certain just yet. But there was something that nagged at me……
‘I can’t be sure now, but time will reveal it naturally.’
Not that knowing would change anything I could do about it anyway.
Perhaps because I had no worries about making a living, it didn’t trouble me overmuch.
“But why did you call for me again? To eat Yakgwa?”
“Are you complaining?”
“A little?”
“You’re idle regardless. I happened to have time and called you to clear my head.”
If he wanted to clear his head, wouldn’t holding a cat be better than summoning his younger sister?
‘Well, I suppose I should earn my keep.’
Or rather, earn my Yakgwa.
I tossed out one piece of information I’d gleaned from Junggung Hall.
“I heard something at Junggung Hall—they mentioned the Crown Princess. Do you know about it?”
“The Crown Princess? Already?”
“Given your age, it wouldn’t be premature.”
But with the former Crown Prince’s funeral only a year behind us now, his reluctance made sense.
‘Come to think of it, we’ve had this conversation before.’
Though the person awaiting a Crown Princess had changed.
Even without becoming Crown Prince, marriage talk would have arisen around this time.
“Talk might start now, but it will take time with all the deliberation, decisions, and preparations. Well.”
“Ah yes. So they say a Marriage Prohibition Order might be issued?”
“Why would someone of your station not know this? A suitable family candidate must be settled to satisfy the royal elders’ eyes.”
More than that, the current Crown Prince had a weak political foundation.
Since the Queen came from a humble house and there had already been an adult Crown Prince, no one had ever imagined a Great Prince would become Crown Prince—naturally, he commanded no political forces.
Therefore, the Crown Princess must naturally come from a family with the capability to support such a Crown Prince.
‘But the atmosphere suggests no one is pleased.’
I wouldn’t tell the Crown Prince, but the ministers’ reactions seemed rather unfavorable.
The problem lay elsewhere, not with the Crown Prince himself—the commotion from last year and all that talk of his ghost had made many people uneasy.
‘So apparently there’s even discussion of selecting a Crown Princess exclusively from among military officials’ daughters.’
Should the Crown Prince know these circumstances?
If he were still just a Great Prince, I’d have left him in ignorance, but now that he’s Crown Prince, shouldn’t he understand the reality?
“The child keeps hearing strange things from somewhere. I really must tighten the tongues of the palace attendants in the Ongju’s quarters.”
“Even if you are the Crown Prince, ordering about attendants in someone else’s quarters is overstepping. And palace attendants serving the Ongju, not just me?”
“I need to seal this impudent mouth of yours.”
“How now—does the Ongju herself go about twisting cheeks so freely?”
“What sort of words are coming from an Ongju’s mouth? Where on earth are you learning such language?”
Grumbling, the Crown Prince kneaded my cheeks with his fingers.
After that business last year, he’d been overly cautious with me for a while, but he’s improved considerably of late. Though his overprotectiveness remains severe.
I thought of how frightened he must have been, so I accommodated him well for some time, and recently he’s seemed much more settled.
Honestly, I was rather startled by how wild his eyes became.
“Don’t concern yourself with such things—focus on your health instead.”
“Then let me be a bit more free.”
“Once you’re free, who knows what you’ll do.”
How unfair! What could such a small child possibly do!
“Still, don’t you think it’s excessive for the Crown Prince to keep me occupied while you study?”
As I complained thus about the Gaeseong-style Yakgwa that had vanished from before me, the Crown Prince pushed his own portion toward me and opened his book.
“You do like studying, don’t you?”
“No, but I don’t want to learn Imperial Studies like you’re learning.”
“This isn’t Imperial Studies—it’s Mathematics.”
Mathematics meant numbers.
“I don’t want to…….”
“I already know you have a gift for Mathematics. Don’t think of running away.”
“It’s not that I have a gift…… Ugh.”
There was actually a reason he was being like this now.
Since that business a year ago, not only the Crown Prince but the King as well often had his nerves on edge.
So when the Crown Prince learned state affairs at the King’s side, I often spent the time beside him managing relaxation and idling about, and I happened to catch sight of statistical reports that had come in.
And so, when I saw the production statistics written in continuous prose—even with Chinese characters—I was so frustrated that……
‘I really shouldn’t have taught him Arabic numerals and decimal notation.’
But writing out numbers in Chinese characters one by one was so agonizing!!
Looking at 12345 written as “Twelve Thousand Three Hundred Forty-Five,” I naturally wanted to abandon the whole thing!
‘Wouldn’t it be easier if we wrote it like this?’
‘A script I’ve never seen before—did you create it? It’s certainly more efficient than Chinese characters, being more concise.’
I’d worried he wouldn’t understand, but this elite nobleman grasped the concept I explained and accepted it readily.
‘Indeed, it’s more convenient than using Chinese characters for notation.’
‘With this method, even common people who don’t know Chinese characters could learn it easily. Especially if we use it together with Hangeul, I suspect it would reduce instances of the people being deceived.’
And the matter…… grew.
‘I should inform the bureaucrats and have them change their notation when submitting documents to me.’
‘But Your Majesty, there is already an established method in use. Changing all documents would be difficult. Moreover, with this notation, wouldn’t the possibility of error increase as the numerical units grow larger?’
The fair objection naturally already had an answer prepared.
‘What if we place a dot at regular intervals to mark the notation? And if we use Dual Notation with Chinese characters or Hangeul, I believe we could reduce errors.’
‘!!’
The resistance of the officials, who had been ready to reject the new attempt, crumbled away like that.
As the officials grew accustomed to the new guidelines despite their irritation, I somehow found myself committing yet another innovation(?) before the king.

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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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