Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 49

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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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Born as the daughter of a concubine of the lowest rank.
Chapter 49
“What’s happening?”
“Miss, please wait a moment while I go investigate.”
While Song Bi held me back as I looked ready to leap from the horse, Seong Yun slipped quickly through the crowd.
I couldn’t fathom how two people who’d known each other less than half a day could move in such perfect tandem.
Looking around, most people either passed by indifferently or merely glanced from a distance—no one stepped forward to mediate or intervene.
Not that anyone could easily do so, given it was a gang of men bullying the children.
‘Hmm, they look like common thugs.’
Even I, whose knowledge of ordinary life in this era came from nothing but historical dramas, could recognize them at a glance.
But I couldn’t just leave it. From the way they huddled, it was clear violence was already happening.
“This isn’t stolen money! It’s our money!”
“Where would beggar brats like you get hold of this much?”
Oh, no—
I spotted a bundle of Yeop-jeon in one of the men’s hands—the exact coins I’d given them earlier.
The children clung desperately to get their money back, but the men shoved them away coldly. Yet the children refused to give up.
“Give it back!”
“You little brats!”
One of the thugs raised his foot toward a child.
And then something moved faster than I did—something that saw that moment and reacted.
“Wait—Jeok A, Jeok A?!”
“Ah, Miss?!”
Neigh!!
Whether the crowd stirred or not, Jeok A charged toward the men as if she’d read my mind.
But I alone knew the truth: Jeok A wasn’t moving to my will.
“Aaaagh?!”
“Stop, stop, stop.”
Unlike when the children were being beaten, I felt the excited gaze of onlookers.
Well, of course.
“Move! Move! Move!!”
“What?! Aaaah?!”
“Oh no? Wait, sir! Ouch!”
Jeok A charged straight at the men, cleanly sidestepping the children, and the men, caught in this sudden calamity, stumbled backward in panic, colliding with each other as they toppled to the ground.
“Heh.”
“Pfft.”
Perhaps because bullying children didn’t sit well, or simply because their reputation was already poor—the people around didn’t worry about the thugs, half-trampled by the horse. They just stifled their laughter and snickered quietly.
I gripped the reins firmly and, playing the part of the owner, offered an explanation.
“Sorry—my horse hates violence.”
“Wh-what?”
As they sat crumpled on the ground looking up at me on horseback, they caught sight of my noble dress and realized their mistake—they couldn’t curse as they had before, only gaping like fish.
“Step back, would you? She doesn’t always listen.”
“Ah, n-no, not dang-dangerous, is—is it?”
“Yeah, so back away. If she steps on you wrong, your legs could break. I can pay for treatment, of course, but you don’t want to limp for the rest of your life, do you?”
A broken leg would be lucky—if it were crushed, there’s nothing the medicine of this era could do.
“Is th-that a threat?”
“Hmm? I’m just stating facts.”
Neigh—
Jeok A shook her head at something that displeased her, cutting my words short.
Jeok A, unhappy with my back-talk, brought her head down—I heard her snort—but from where I sat on her back, I couldn’t see, so I grabbed the reins to stop her.
“No, don’t. Easy. I’m not food, remember?”
“Neigh?!”
I’d said it because she’d once nibbled on my hair, but it seems I’d caused a misunderstanding.
Surely she doesn’t think horses are carnivores? Still, from the atmosphere around us, Jeok A’s expression looked quite dire.
The thugs were practically crawling backward in panic, but Jeok A, for whatever reason, kept trotting after them.
“Aagh! Don’t come near! No—please don’t come near!!”
“I’m not going anywhere. She is.”
From far off, I heard the muffled laughter of the crowd.
Amusing for them, perhaps—but I’m rather frightened.
How am I supposed to control a horse with faulty brakes barreling toward people on autopilot?
“Come on, that’s enough. Let’s go, all right?”
Whinnying!
Jeok A resisted slightly but managed to stand still, and the men who had been collapsing like dominoes scrambled to their feet, cast nervous glances toward the children behind me, and began fleeing.
“Watch yourselves, now.”
Seong Yun appeared from nowhere, brushing shoulders with one of the men, and took hold of Jeok A’s reins.
“Will you be all right continuing to ride such a spirited beast?”
Snort!
Jeok A let out an angry neigh, displeased with Seong Yun’s words, but I shook my head while stroking the horse’s mane.
“It’s dangerous. Let go.”
“Yes, miss.”
Seong Yun released his grip and stepped back, sensing Jeok A’s irritation, and Song Bi came forward as though she had been waiting for the moment.
“Are you unharmed, miss?”
“Yes. Just hold the reins for me a moment.”
“Of course.”
I handed the reins to Song Bi and dismounted to check on the children’s condition.
I had assumed they would have fled the men’s sight immediately, but one child was still crouching on the ground, trembling visibly—his state looked far from normal. I first coaxed the smaller child he had been shielding out into the open.
The little one, who had been crying from fear, felt reassured and burst into tears against my chest.
I carefully placed a hand on the shoulder of the older child, the leader, who still couldn’t get up.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m… I’m fine, fine…”
He clearly couldn’t manage to rise, and it didn’t look fine at all. The other children saw it too, and several of the younger ones began to cry.
“Sob, w-wail…”
“Hey, d-don’t cry. I said don’t cry…!”
“You can’t even stand up—what are you shouting for? It’s all right, everyone. Don’t worry.”
The child lying prone, who had been crying out desperately, managed to push himself up, but his flushed face suggested something more than just excitement.
“Let’s go find a physician first.”
“We… we don’t have that kind of money!”
“Then we’ll go to the Hyemin-seo.”
“I’m… fine, just leave me…”
The voice that had been crying out grew softer and softer, and the child who had managed to rise up suddenly lost consciousness as his tension gave way, collapsing to the ground.
“What shall we do?”
Seong Yun caught the falling child and asked, and I sighed before answering.
“Is there a physician you know nearby?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know this area well.”
“Then we’ll head to the Hyemin-seo.”
It wasn’t particularly close to Namdaemun, but on horseback it wouldn’t be far.
‘I was only supposed to come out looking for a jade bracelet. What is all this?’
Yet I couldn’t simply leave an injured child behind.
The Hyemin-seo was a government office that provided free treatment to the common people—in modern terms, it would have been somewhere around Eulji-ro.
And the Hyemin-seo we arrived at after placing the child on the horse was turning away patients, claiming it had too many people already.
“We’re simply understaffed, so there’s nothing to be done.”
“So you’re saying sick people should just die?”
“You’ll have to find a private physician or wait.”
The physician working at the Hyemin-seo said this coldly.
Of course there were plenty of people. Though not quite like modern Seoul, Hanyang did have a dense population, so it wasn’t unusual—but it didn’t seem like we couldn’t be treated.
‘Hmm.’
Did the situation call for a bribe? But I wanted to test another possibility first.
I tugged at Song Bi’s sleeve in front of the physician and opened my mouth with an innocent expression.
“Could we not petition the Ongjuya through you?”
“…Oh…”
Song Bi, caught off guard by our improvised performance, was momentarily stunned, but Seong Yun picked up the rhythm.
“If the Ongjuya knew of this, she would surely wish to help, but we could hardly trouble Your Highness over such a matter.”
“How could you speak so carelessly of Your Highness, no matter how urgent the situation?”
Song Bi, who had momentarily stiffened, soon addressed me in formal tones, as though before a superior.
The physician who had been listening to our conversation felt his eyes waver.
Secret palace maids who served the royal family were beings that could not be treated lightly, regardless of rank.
Of course, what power could a maid serving an Ongjuya possess—but there was not a soul in the palace who didn’t know that the one and only Ongjuya currently in the palace received the singular favor of both the King and the Crown Prince.
“Please, please wait just a moment.”
The physician hurried into the Hyemin-seo and soon ushered us inside.
‘So power is indeed supreme.’
It was somewhat bitter, but thanks to it, the injured children were treated without further trouble.
The real problem came after.
“Giving actual money to children turns out to be riskier than I thought.”
I’d figured they’d manage to hide it well enough, but it was snatched away in an instant.
‘It wasn’t such a large sum. In modern terms, maybe two or three hundred thousand won?’
Well, whether it’s a lot of money for a child to carry around is debatable—and I suppose it is. Since it’s coins rather than bills, the sheer volume makes it hard to conceal.
The fact that this injury and the resulting medical costs came about because of that felt pitiful.
‘If I’d been born unlucky enough to be a beggar, would I have ended up in a place like this?’
Living in comfort, eating well, and dying from poison at a young age in a single stroke, or spending decades trembling through cold and hunger—if forced to choose between the two, which would be better?
‘They say even rolling through a dung heap is better than leaving this life.’
Of course, either way, there were no choices in the life one was born into.
The child, who appeared to be only a couple of years older than me, looked peaceful now, unlike when he’d been frowning the whole time—though it didn’t last long.
“Hah!”
“He’s awake.”
I explained to the bewildered child that this was the Hyemin-seo and gave him a rough account of how he’d come to be here, then asked what he needed to know first.
“Sir… my parents…?”
“Don’t bother looking for parents who might as well not exist!”
“Oh. Sorry.”
If the child had proper parents, he probably wouldn’t be out begging in the first place.
The moment I apologized reflexively, the boy’s eyes widened.
“What right do you have to pity anyone, born lucky enough to live comfortably?”
“Oh, I can’t argue with that.”
“Miss!”
Seong Yun and Song Bi behind me seemed taken aback, but he wasn’t wrong.
I was just unlucky enough to eat poison; normally I live peacefully and comfortably enough.
‘Even now, I live peacefully and comfortably enough.’
It sounded a bit sarcastic, but I wasn’t so young as to take offense at something like that. I spoke plainly.
“All the other children are safe, so don’t worry too much.”
While the child had been unconscious, Seong Yun had checked on the children’s welfare, and apparently Song Bi had followed him back here from the Hyemin-seo.
They were probably waiting outside even now.
The child seemed to recall what had happened earlier; his expression grew tense, and he bit his lip hard before speaking in a curt voice.
“…The money was taken, but I’ll complete the task I was asked to do, so please don’t worry.”
“As for that money, it’s here.”

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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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