Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 54

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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 concubine of the lowest rank.
54
Rain fell in a gentle patter from the darkening sky.
“It’s raining again……”
“The monsoon season will be upon us soon.”
“What becomes of the children living under the bridges?”
“Your Highness?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Ga-i, who had not accompanied me when I ventured outside the palace, seemed likely to misunderstand my words.
‘After all, inner palace court ladies occupy a rather respectable station among the serving women.’
They attend royal blood at close quarters, and stand a high chance of being elevated to concubine through imperial favor bestowed by the King or the Crown Prince.
One might call them the highest-ranking white-collar workers among the palace staff.
Perhaps for this reason, Ga-i maintained a certain coldness toward the beggar children I had encountered outside, in contrast to Song Bi’s warmth.
‘Conversely, it means she focuses entirely on me—which is not without its merits.’
Yet I found it difficult to broach the subject of the beggar children again, whether to Song Bi or Ga-i. None of them wished to see me dwell overmuch on such matters.
I too wanted to avoid dwelling on it if I could, but somehow, I simply could not let it rest.
‘They pitch tents and live beneath the Cheonggyecheon bridge, doesn’t it? When water levels rise in the monsoon season, what then?’
I say this with some qualification—the Cheonggyecheon of this era bears no resemblance to the modern Seoul of Cheonggyecheon, and one must not picture that modest artificial waterway.
Yet when torrential rains fall in the monsoon season, the water level rises all the same.
Spring and early summer might be manageable enough, but what of the monsoon and the depths of winter?
‘Never mind their health alone—if disease spreads from such a place, is the Capital City safe?’
As I gazed at the endless rain, I called to Ga-i, who had been beside me organizing household accounts.
“Ga-i, how are the funds from my palace allowance being used?”
“Your Highness?”
I explained my meaning to Ga-i, who seemed puzzled by my sudden question.
“The beggar children, Your Highness?”
“Yes. Would it be so difficult to secure them some shelter from the wind and rain?”
I don’t even have my own residence yet.
‘If I could ask some branch of the royal clan for aid, that would be ideal—but creating a debt means I never know what favor might be demanded of me later.’
Besides, the matter of the Rebel Faction is still being settled, and the royal relations must exercise extreme caution for some time. They will wish to attract no notice—especially not the kind earned through winning the people’s acclaim with such deeds.
“While the Princess’s private funds are not insignificant, they are not unlimited in their application, Your Highness.”
“The children, at least, could gather wood from the hills. Taught properly, they could braid straw sandals.”
It’s true, of course, that beggars consist of more than just children, and true employment would be needed.
‘But I’m hardly in a position to implement a full economic policy.’
First, I simply needed to confirm the children were safe.
“I want to at least verify they are well.”
“That cannot be permitted.”
“Ah, I won’t go. I won’t go outside.”
“Please do not forget how precious a person the Princess is.”
Ga-i and the other court ladies spoke so earnestly that I could only nod in acquiescence.
Rather than go myself, I decided to compromise by summoning Seong Yoon, a Gyeom-sa-bok, and asking his help.
It seemed presumptuous to ask him for so many favors, but given his profession, he had an eye for worldly matters and he was trustworthy.
‘Precious, was I really precious.’
Because it was raining and I’d grown reluctant to go outside, I’d spent my days rolling about in my rooms—I was starting to feel rather like a housebound layabout.
The moment that thought struck me, I sprang to my feet.
“Your Highness?”
“This won’t do. Let’s make some snacks.”
“Yes!”
At my proposal to prepare treats, everyone’s faces brightened and they followed eagerly.
If the court ladies in my residence grew heavier, it wouldn’t be my doing—it would be the fault of the heat and humidity that made anything prepared vanish in consumption immediately.
‘Since I’ve decided to summon Seong, the Gyeom-sa-bok, I ought to provide some food at least.’
No matter the circumstances, one cannot shamefully demand work from someone with empty hands.
***
While I passed my days in ease, the world beyond turned more fiercely.
Among the principal conspirators of the Rebel Faction, some had naturally been executed, and various rumors about them circulated widely.
The figure who became the most discussed, however, was undoubtedly Kim Seon-ik.
The fact that Kim Seon-ik’s daughter had been raised as a candidate for Crown Princess seemed to have spread far and wide throughout the Capital City.
Given the Crown Prince’s age and the sudden summons of Kim Seon-ik’s daughter to the palace, anyone with an eye for such matters could piece together a fair picture.
‘The King must have conducted investigations into households with daughters of suitable age, and selected Kim Seon-ik from among them.’
And in the final stage, he would have summoned her to Junggung Palace to see what manner of woman she was—the one destined to become Crown Princess.
‘The Inner Palace seems to have favored Ji-hwa too, but things have come to this.’
The court ladies of the Inner Palace were tight-lipped by nature, but whenever I’d asked them with keen interest about my future sister-in-law, they’d all wear knowing smiles.
That meant the Queen Mother was in good spirits.
Of course, now that the truth about her involvement in treason has come to light, the situation must be dire.
Becoming the Crown Prince’s father-in-law all but guarantees advancement, so when it became known that such a prestigious man as Kim Seon-ik had taken part in treason, naturally vicious rumors began to circulate.
The whispers grew vicious—that only someone as worthless as the Crown Prince would drive a man to join a rebellion just to refuse the position of Crown Princess.
There were already plenty who’d shunned him because of that tiger attack business, and now with such rumors spreading on top of it, the atmosphere in the palace had grown decidedly sour. Though it later came to light that what happened inside the palace was Hong Suk-won’s doing, the fact that the Crown Prince had suffered a tiger attack didn’t simply vanish.
‘If they’re unhappy about it, let them take it up with the King. Wasn’t the whole point that tigers visit families that have already been attacked?’
Besides, that includes me too.
I’d heard there were even court ladies among the ranks who, clinging to such superstitions, had trembled so badly they were dragged away by those terrifying surveillance attendants. The Queen Mother herself wasn’t sitting idle on the matter, since it concerned her too.
I asked Song Bi, who’d brought me all manner of gossip, a question in return.
“Which royal family member were the Rebel Faction trying to set up on the throne?”
“Bok Won-gun, I believe, madam.”
He was supposedly a royal cousin, maybe fifth or sixth degree, though I had no real memory of him. There were so many relatives, after all.
‘He could very well have been caught up in this by sheer misfortune.’
Royal family members sometimes lost their lives despite never even glimpsing the Rebel Faction’s faces, let alone receiving a letter from them, merely because they’d been forcibly nominated without their knowledge.
What truly astonished me was that Lee Su, who held the most advantageous position to promote in this whole affair, hadn’t been involved at all.
There was even quite the inspirational backstory to it.
“The rebel faction members made secret contact with Lee Su, who’s under House Confinement, and helped him apprehend them?”
“Indeed, madam. I’m told he even assisted in capturing them.”
Since Lee Su is now a Deposed Royal, he’s no longer addressed as Lee Su.
His name is Lee Su, so that’s roughly how we refer to him, but since there was little reason to speak of that man anyway, the old title still felt more natural.
“Deposed Royal Lee Su accepted payment from the rebels and assured the soldiers who came to capture him that he would consider their proposal favorably. But after sending them away, he informed the guards of the next shift what had transpired, and they captured all the rebel faction members who had approached him.”
“My.”
“Even though His Majesty abandoned him, he declared himself the King’s son and a loyal subject—how could he possibly join a rebellion? It’s said he even scolded the rebels for their presumption. There’s quite a chorus of praise for such princely integrity.”
The rebellion was discovered before word of Lee Su’s noble conduct reached Hanyang, yet his virtuous deed had already spread far and wide by then.
People spoke of it as proof of his true princely dignity.
Of course, those of us in the palace who had experienced Lee Su’s true character wore ambiguous expressions.
I was no exception.
The common people didn’t know the circumstances that had led to Lee Su’s deposition, though there was a defense of sorts.
“Well. It wasn’t my son who poisoned me, but rather his mother. At such a tender age, how could he be held responsible for crimes his mother committed without his knowledge? Surely that’s not a sin worth condemning.”
“Your Highness.”
“No, there’s nothing I can do about it. Don’t all worry so much. My father won’t lift the House Confinement so easily.”
The court ladies seemed anxious that I might cause some trouble of my own, but when it came to state matters, there was nothing I could do.
Besides, though he deserved death for what he’d done to me, he was still my father’s own flesh and blood.
Unless the ministers rose up in swarms demanding his execution, directly ordering his death carried certain risks. The people’s sentiment wouldn’t improve either.
Yet as time passed, I couldn’t help but think something was amiss.
A few days later, Ga-i brought up the subject again as she set down my refreshments.
“Word of this affair has spread widely among the common people as well, it seems, madam.”
“And the mood remains the same?”
“Yes, madam. Some are even bold enough to suggest that Your Majesty’s judgment may have been too severe.”
“So there’s talk in the court—well, that I understand. But talk in the streets too?”
That was strange.
I tapped the four-lobed pillow I’d been leaning against with my fingers.
Lee Su—or rather, the Deposed Royal—was confined in Jeolla Province, I’d heard.
The distance to the Capital City was considerable, and there was no way rumors could spread to the city so quickly among common folk.
And with such detail, such a clear direction.
When he was in the palace, he’d never been held in particularly high regard anyway, yet judging by the talk, one would think him the most loyal minister and filial son under heaven. Had those who actually knew him been speaking, such praise would never have emerged.
‘Could someone be orchestrating something on a grand scale?’
Of late, public opinion of that wretched man had improved at an almost unnatural pace.
I’d even heard that among the ministers, talk was emerging that his last punishment had been excessive.
Regarding what happened during Crown Prince Seongwon’s funeral rites, the argument went that it was purely Hong Suk-won’s doing—not a sin that could be laid at the feet of a child so young.
“I’m neither old enough nor in a position to involve myself in politics, but I won’t stand to see that wretch living comfortably again.”
“Your Highness, please set your mind at ease. Surely such a terrible thing could never come to pass.”
“No. That’s the problem—people let their guard down thinking ‘surely that could never happen,’ and then they get blindsided.”
Complacency kills. The world doesn’t run on common sense alone.
And if he was deliberately manipulating public opinion, then as the victim, I had every reason to be alarmed. More than anything, I knew for certain that he’d deliberately tried to poison me, yet was I simply supposed to let it pass?
‘But I can’t very well reveal that I knew about the poison and ate the dried persimmon anyway.’
That would look like something no child would do—it would only cast doubt on the whole truth.
It had already been concluded that Hong Suk-won was responsible. Everyone had trusted her confession far more than the testimony of a mere lowborn court lady claiming it was Lee Su’s orders.
A way to sway public opinion.
“……Perhaps we should spread rumors on our side too.”
“Pardon?”
Ga-i’s face registered confusion at my words.
“Those who were in the palace know better than anyone what kind of man Lee Su is. They know what happened.”
“Your Highness.”
“I still remember. How he threw me into the pond.”
“……!!”
Ga-i’s expression froze, alarm flickering across her features.
And rightfully so. It had happened when I was just a child.
Moreover, I had never shown any aversion to ponds or water afterward, never displayed a trace of that trauma.
Everyone assumed I had forgotten, so they avoided dwelling on the incident, and I—knowing how much it worried those around me—had never let it show all this time.
But such a shocking event, even if it occurred in early childhood, would not be strange to remember.
“And whenever he grew bored, he tortured animals and scattered them about? Many people would know about that.”
“That is——”
Hong Suk-won and the prince, both stripped of favor and confined to their quarters.
Fearing those unaware might judge them lightly, I had even been sharing the facts with newly arrived court ladies as though recounting tales from the palace.
Most were educated to guard their tongues strictly, so the rumors hadn’t spread too far.
‘If it’s a battle of public opinion, it’s best the Crown Prince remains uninvolved. Otherwise, people might say he tried to murder his own brother to hold onto his position.’
Lee Su’s abuse of what is now the Crown Prince when he was the younger prince—that fact would tarnish the Crown Prince’s image, so it was better to keep it buried.
Blame often fell on the victim regardless of the era, and given the times and the Crown Prince’s station, it was crucial to avoid any appearance of weakness.
“But court ladies alone would be somewhat insufficient.”
Seong Yoon, the Gyeom-sa-bok, came to mind, though how much I could truly trust that man was something requiring further consideration.
I was still mulling this over when——
Deliberate footsteps sounded from beyond the door, and soon a familiar voice announced their business.
“Your Highness. Moon Sang-gung of the East Palace has come with a matter concerning the Crown Prince.”
“What matter is it?”
“She wishes to report directly to Your Highness. How shall we proceed?”
It was customary for the East Palace court ladies to seek me out when the Crown Prince was temperamental or had grown anxious and was skipping meals, but in such cases they typically relayed the message through a lady-in-waiting rather than asking to report in person.
This suggested something more important and urgent had arisen.
“Let her in.”
The moment my permission was granted and the door opened, Moon Sang-gung stepped inside with an air of haste, as though dealing with an urgent matter.

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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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