Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 70

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

I was born the daughter of a lowborn concubine.
Chapter 70
Among the servants who had entered Siyeongwon this time were children.
There were small ones who didn’t yet understand what had happened to them, and older ones who had grasped the ways of the world well enough. Some had been born into yangban families; others had lived on the streets.
For now their spirits were broken, so they’d be quiet enough—but I’d already discussed with Min Sanggung how conflict might arise when children from such different backgrounds lived together in one place, especially since children quarreled so readily.
But this, I hadn’t anticipated.
“How can you treat a servant who has a master so cruelly?”
“What? Do these wretches dare to talk back to a yangban?”
“No matter how distinguished a yangban lord may be, you cannot oppress commoners who’ve done no wrong.”
“That’s right!”
Around a boy clutching firewood and trembling, huddled in on himself, the children of Siyeongwon—whom I had just named today—gathered protectively in a circle.
And facing them stood several young boys dressed like proper yangban sons.
“You told us that if anyone harassed us, we should tell you, didn’t you? You said we’re free people, so even yangban lords shouldn’t treat us however they like, remember?”
“And this child is no less than the servant of you-know-who! The Princess herself! Don’t you understand? How dare you try to harm the Princess’s servant? Do you hold some grudge against her or something?”
“What nonsense is this!”
As the children swarmed in and spilled words everywhere, the young lord’s momentum faltered visibly—and when he heard the word “Princess,” his body went rigid.
‘So the children have learned to borrow the tiger’s might…….’
Not that they were using it for anything wrong, and if it was for defensive reasons like this, it was fine.
Moreover, their instruction seemed to be bearing fruit—they spoke with far more grace than before, and I was honestly a little moved.
Of course, some children still fumbled their formal speech since they’d only studied briefly, but awkward politeness was better than crude rudeness, so it was passable.
“I only came to greet this child, as we are acquainted. Why such a commotion?”
“But you struck this child’s face. I confess my learning is limited, but I’ve never heard of such a greeting before.”
“Yeah. You hit him hard, real hard.”
“You, be quiet.”
The little one—Ayoung—was wriggling beside them when her older siblings grabbed her and dragged her back.
“If you treat us this way, we’ll have no choice but to tell the Princess that someone is harassing her servants.”
“So these wretches presume to insult yangban by relying on the Princess’s authority!”
“You think the Princess in the Inner Palace will truly care for lowborns like you!”
Except I was here right now, not in the Inner Palace.
I was thinking I’d send Seong Yoon or Ga-i to intervene if things got worse, but the moment my eyes left them, Ayoung had escaped her siblings’ grip and bounded forward again.
“Of course she will!”
“Ayoung… you need to use formal speech.”
The older children reached out to grab her, worried about giving them ammunition, so she dodged left and right as she cried out.
“The Princess is a good person!”
Ayoung laughed, oblivious to the situation, as she was dragged away, but the younger children added their voices too.
“That’s right. The Princess is merciful and generous—she even gave us food so we wouldn’t go hungry!”
“She even gave us money for clothes so we wouldn’t freeze in winter!”
“She taught us letters and said if we had grievances, we could write them down!”
At the children’s words, the people watching the quarrel began to stir.
“My, I thought she just gave alms here and there.”
“Not only does she feed and clothe beggar children, but she teaches them letters too.”
“A friend who works in the palace says she’s always been that kind to the court staff.”
“Intelligent and attentive—they say the senior ladies shower her with favor.”
I, who had been watching the children from a safe distance unnoticed, covered my face as I heard the voices and let out a groan.
“Ugh.”
“Miss, why are you embarrassed?”
When Seong Yoon teased me, I glared at him, and he just laughed harder.
“It’s not right for servants or beggars to be hit unfairly by yangban!”
“That’s right!”
The children’s voices ring out clearly.
“The Princess said such things.”
“Most yangban lords treat people like us as less than human, but it seems royalty really is different.”
As more people gathered, the conversation somehow turned to tales about me, and they began spinning stories in earnest.
‘Hmm…….’
And so my reputation was improving irreversibly.
“When have we ever harassed you? Hmph. As expected, there’s no reasoning with lowborns. Let’s go.”
Perhaps because of this, the still-young noble lords withdrew awkwardly, trying to salvage their dignity.
“Let’s go too.”
“Yes, Miss.”
I’d been watching to see if anything concerning would happen, but since the ones picking the quarrel had withdrawn of their own accord, things shouldn’t escalate further. And if they dared to cause trouble at Siyeongwon itself, it would certainly reach my ears, so there was nothing to worry about.
‘Well, they’re managing just fine—I don’t need to worry about that.’
I’d never imagined the children would take care of a slave child the way a noble’s son deserves.
I was watching to make sure everything was going smoothly when one of the children glanced around, and our eyes met. Looking flustered, she sent the other children away first and came running toward me.
She was the little leader—the only one whose name I still didn’t know.
“Ah, wait—just a moment……”
“What is it?”
“Did we……did I just say something disrespectful to you, Princess? We didn’t, did we?”
She’d been chattering away confidently to those noble sons a moment ago, but now in front of me her eyes darted nervously and she seemed at a loss.
This behavior meant, perhaps—
‘Ah. She’s figured out I’m a Princess.’
It was possible she’d picked up on it from the way the servants treated me, or from Min Sanggung’s manner.
Reading my expression, the girl asked quietly, her conviction showing through.
“You’re a Princess, aren’t you?”
“Mm.”
Asked so directly like that, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Don’t worry about it. It was what I said anyway, wasn’t it?”
These children probably couldn’t distinguish between what a “young lady” had said and what a “Princess” had said.
“But don’t call me that outside—just call me young lady, all right?”
“……Yes. Y-young lady.”
“Good.”
“C-could I ask you for one more thing……if I may?”
“What is it?”
“A name.”
Did this girl want a name too? Then why didn’t she ask before?
“C-could I ask……what your name is, young lady?”
“Mine?”
That was refreshing.
Though Ga-i seemed to be shooting daggers from where she stood behind me.
I would’ve preferred if the girl didn’t know yet about character names and formal names and such.
“Si-a.”
“Si-a……?”
“That’s right. And I’m also called Princess of Siyeongwon.”
“……??”
Explaining court titles to her wasn’t really my job.
Though Min Sanggung would probably teach her later.
Being a sharp child, the girl turned the name and title over in her mind, and something seemed to occur to her. She spoke again.
“Then could the name Siyeongwon……”
“Ha. I imagine it takes a character from my name and my title.”
“Then, couldn’t you put a character from your name into mine as well?”
“Like I did with mine?”
“……Yes.”
“All right then. Let’s see……I’ll use the character for wisdom—Ji. And for the second character, use the same one as in my name. When you go back, tell the attendants and they’ll write it down properly.”
“Ji-a.”
The girl’s face brightened as she repeated the name I’d given her.
“Thank you, young lady.”
“You’re welcome. You’re a clever one.”
Ji-a bowed her thanks and headed back to Siyeongwon while I waved to her. Ga-i gave me a worried look.
“Don’t you think the slaves noticed? The way Ga-i and Min Sanggung are so deferential to you.”
“It would be unwise for it to become known that someone of your station is in a place like this, my lady.”
“Hmm.”
Perhaps she was concerned about damaging the dignity of the royal house.
“Moreover, if it becomes known that you’re teaching letters not just to beggars but to slaves as well, it will spread quickly.”
“Everyone else at Siyeongwon already knows. If only the former slaves don’t know how to read, they’ll feel left out.”
When we sorted by aptitude, there hadn’t been anyone particularly notable, but among them were former slaves of a household whose master had been executed as a traitor. Most of them probably couldn’t read.
“And to be frank, what do you intend to accomplish by teaching them letters? If they were men of common birth, they could attempt the examination or become interpreters, but most are women and slaves, are they not?”
“Knowing how to read makes life easier. It lowers the risk of being cheated, at least somewhat. I know teaching letters alone might not be the answer, but it’s better than not learning at all, isn’t it?”
Swindlers are cunning everywhere, so I can’t promise anything.
“Besides, the more you know, the broader your perspective becomes……”
Of course, the cleverer they become, the more sharply they’ll feel the walls of rank and gender.
And yet, the longer I thought about it, the more frustrating it all seemed.
“If there’s no use for something, you just have to create one.”
“Pardon?”
“Court positions are closed to anyone but palace servants, but what other kinds of work could women who can read and write do?”
“Couldn’t they become Uinyeo, or do copying work, or find employment with a trading company?”
Naturally, Ga-i’s answer—excluding Gisaeng, of course—wasn’t far from what I’d already been thinking.
“Right. There might be other options if I look harder, but that’s what I’m leaning toward too.”
Part of me wants to expand further, but honestly, I’m not sure how much of this will be within my control.
‘Among those children, are there any with more… ambition, I suppose you’d call it? I mean, surely there are still quite a few who’d want to use their abilities.’
Getting them to stop believing something’s impossible is difficult, but forcing them into something they don’t want is equally hard. Of course, when it comes to putting food on the table, one can’t be too choosy about such things.
Following the thread of thought that was just within my grasp, I moved forward.
***
“Remember what we were talking about on the way back earlier?”
“Yes, Princess.”
“I think I need to earn some money.”
“My lady?”
Having snuck back into the palace and hidden the evidence of my outing, I threw a rather unprincipled question at Ga-i, who’d been minding my bedding.
Even for Ga-i, who was praised by the court ladies for her quick wit and sharp observation, understanding the context of my words was no easy task.
“Earn money, my lady? What do you mean by that?”
“If I think about the long-term operations of Siyeongwon, relying only on the income from the land I currently own won’t be enough.”
“Indeed, my lady.”
“As the weather gets colder, the people still out on the streets won’t have a choice but to come in eventually.”
I’d already heard that the old acquaintances—if you could call them that—from the streets were watching the children come and go looking well-fed and well-dressed with envious eyes, unable to resist much longer before entering themselves. By winter, it seemed highly likely they’d either come in to avoid freezing to death or come in after witnessing someone else freeze.
Of course, the Hwarin-seo existed to care for the sick and poor, but it was already overcrowded, and the environment at Siyeongwon was incomparably better.
“Your concern about needing more resources is well-founded, but how do you mean to earn money, my lady?”
“Well, I’ll redirect the servants with good embroidery and sewing skills toward that work to generate steady income. Among the children, those with manual talent should be able to achieve financial independence relatively early.”
In this era, embroidery, paid sewing, and laundry work were the primary means by which women supported their households.
‘Women keep these scholarly men alive with their needlework, even when they do nothing but study their whole lives.’
Which meant that men of the gentry had no choice but to marry.
Even when the household had no money and the man himself didn’t engage in any economic activity—only reading books—his wife would instinctively earn money as was her duty, manage the household, handle the domestic work, bear and raise children, and show filial respect to her in-laws.
‘Women really have no lives of their own.’
At least, if the husband or son then achieved success and fame and acknowledged his wife’s virtue, that was some consolation.
But how many actually passed the Gwageo? Hardly any.
Or sometimes a wife who’d supported her husband through his exam preparation would die young.
And the widowed husband, seeing his new young bride, would sigh that his dead wife had been wiser and better at managing the household.
What nonsense. Have they no conscience? They won’t hire experienced workers, yet they want a fresh recruit who works like one? A new bride with the skills of a widow?
“But surely that alone won’t be sufficient, my lady.”
“Right. That’s why I’m thinking of using what wealth I have as capital to multiply it.”
“Multiply wealth, my lady? Do you have a method in mind already?”
I paused for a moment before answering quietly.
“Hoarding.”
“My lady?”
Rarely, I’m seeing Ga-i’s bewildered expression for the second time today.
“Hoarding, I said.”

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