Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 94

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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 lowly concubine.
Chapter 94
The Separation of Female and Male Physicians initiative I had proposed underwent considerable turbulence, but the separation itself proceeded without major obstruction.
It seemed increasingly likely that a culture would take root where female patients were examined by female physicians and male patients by male physicians.
Of course, in cases of serious illness, patients were discussed regardless of gender, and strict protocols were established to prevent male and female physicians from meeting alone during joint consultations—a tedious arrangement, though we managed to impose some structure on it.
In truth, female physicians qualified for official rank had confidence in their abilities and felt no resistance to sitting for fresh examinations to receive that rank. Already, the hurdles to becoming a physician in the Royal Medical Bureau had been numerous.
For this reason, the Royal Medical Bureau quickly decided it was pointless to exhaust the physicians with redundant testing and simply kept the existing hierarchy intact.
It was unavoidable. The Medical Bureau was kept busy enough by the mess I’d created. The timing coincided with when medical texts and statistical records began pouring in from across the realm—a minor irritation, though not my doing.
The chief physicians initially tried to postpone the female physician question, but when I laughingly asked, “Will you decide after I’m dead?” they apparently felt they had no choice but to settle it themselves.
The veteran Royal Physicians likely heard my words as: “You were incompetent, and now I’ve become this frail thing because of it—do you really think you can keep your positions without shame? I’ve been generous enough to overlook it, but if something happens to me tomorrow from a side effect you all missed, you’ll answer for it with your lives, won’t you? And yet you won’t listen?”
The consensus tilted toward splitting into female physicians anyway, so more responsible parties meant requesting additional staff. There was noise about the rank issue too, but they couldn’t protest the fact that ranks would be awarded.
A contest of wills? That’s only possible when you have the strength to spare.
The physicians were already demoralized—they’d failed to notice the Princess’s stunted growth and couldn’t cure the Daebee’s illness, so the King’s trust had bottomed out.
On top of that, drowning in work and on the verge of collapse from overexertion, and now this question: The female physicians here will get ranks too, and if she gets one, your workload shrinks. What do you want to do? If you don’t like it, keep overworking.
As long as they weren’t receiving a higher rank than their superiors, everyone became somewhat more accommodating.
‘The timing just happened to overlap—it wasn’t intentional, but that’s how it turned out…….’
The female physicians naturally fell under the Outer Palace Administration below the Crown Princess Consort, and due to rank issues with court maids, they were assigned ranks one grade lower than the maids.
Though such complicated matters continued and some political maneuvering occurred, in a status-based society everyone below the royal family had to bow anyway, and things were gradually settling.
Much of that had to do with everyone—the female physicians and the other physicians alike—being too busy now.
But the real question is: why are you handing this all over to me?
“You were the one who first proposed this work.”
“But surely a young girl cannot possibly understand the affairs of the Medical Bureau.”
“Though the Princess is young, she is clever and will surely manage the Medical Bureau’s work well. The Princess already has much contact with the Medical Bureau, does she not? There is the matter of soap, for instance. Since my body is weak, it seems fitting that the Princess handle the Medical Bureau’s duties in my stead—and His Majesty has said the same.”
Father…….
Though I’d caused many problems and didn’t want to clean them up myself, I mounted a principled objection.
“But surely this is a task the Crown Princess Consort ought to undertake, Your Majesty.”
“That is a matter you should take up with the Crown Prince.”
And the Crown Princess Consort, too, evaded responsibility.
“The Crown Prince is already past twenty-two, well beyond the age of coming of age. Common folk marry at such an age—surely it is time for the Crown Prince to take a Crown Princess Consort? He may not listen to a young girl’s words, but how could he disregard the words of the Crown Princess Consort?”
He’s the Crown Princess Consort’s son—just marry him off, would you!
“How is such a thing within my control? After my mourning period, I too gently broached the subject with the Crown Prince, but he insisted he had his own thoughts and asked to delay the marriage. He is grown now; this mother cannot block his path with careless words.”
He doesn’t want to marry, and he won’t listen—that’s the problem.
The Crown Princess Consort sighed and asked gently, her voice tinged with worry.
“Truth be told, I worry that the Crown Prince has no intention of taking a Consort at all. Having endured so much from childhood, he seems averse to bringing new people close to him. I do not know how to remedy this.”
“He is merely being cautious in choosing those he keeps near him.”
“But the Crown Princess Consort candidates are all daughters of noble families—how can he observe them closely and choose wisely from a distance? The Consort is one matter, but if I could at least bring in a concubine or two, I would rest easier. From what you see, Princess—is there perhaps a court maid the Crown Prince favors?”
The Crown Princess Consort trailed off.
Well, she realized that the person listening to her is officially seven years old, so she seemed to hit a wall mid-sentence.
“The Crown Prince has so few women he trusts and can observe closely from his side. Among your attendant maids, might there be someone……?”
“If there were any sign of that, Court Lady Moon would not have stayed silent. Word would have spread by now.”
“I suppose so.”
The Crown Princess Consort likely broached this because the Crown Prince eats the snacks my attendant maids bring without much suspicion.
I myself have asked my maids if any of them harbored feelings for the Crown Prince, and surprisingly, they all shook their heads in denial.
Then again, had any of them been ambitious, would they have remained as a princess’s attendant when her very survival was uncertain?
Besides, most of them had already witnessed frightening things by my side, so they’d grown attached and didn’t want to leave.
‘It could be because they’ve seen the Crown Prince’s sensitive nature from beside me.’
Or they might fear it—having endured poisoning scares and other grim affairs.
Perhaps the Crown Prince has PTSD himself.
While I sat dumbly thinking such thoughts, the Crown Princess Consort asked.
“Do you have any good ideas, Princess?”
“What could a young girl possibly know? I only think that since he suffers constantly from overwork, regular health examinations would be advisable.”
“Your words are wise. As his mother, I have nothing I can do, and I am always sorry for it.”
The Crown Princess Consort, still looking unwell, lamented my response. Ungrateful child that I am.
In any case, thus did I come to inherit duties regarding the female physicians.
I didn’t feel cheated—I’d received considerable land and funds, so I thought it only fair to earn my keep—but was this work not too much for one still young?
The Medical Bureau already had no shortage of duties to manage.
‘It’s my own doing, though…….’
Still, the number of female physicians was small yet, so once I organized this matter, I planned to heal myself with the ceramics, mother-of-pearl furniture, paintings, and novels I loved.
But after working hard to handle the duties, letters awaited me from Si Younghwon and the Academy alike, with correspondence from the Hyemin Institute on top of it all.
The contents were largely similar.
‘I really wish the Princess would come.’
Ugh…….
Please, heroine, come quickly…….
Come quick and snap that fool out of it, and for heaven’s sake, get the Crown Princess Consort sorted…….
At this rate I’m really going to get hemorrhoids…….
And hurry up and come…… get me out of this mountain of work!!
***
“Princess, where are you off to again?”
“Home.”
So-i watched me gather my things for departure, her expression one of disbelief.
“Is this not your home, Princess?”
“I have a Private Estate outside the palace.”
“Why must you venture out to the estate again? The elders are deeply concerned about you leaving the palace so frequently.”
“I can’t spend my whole life for the elders’ sake. Let me go out and eat something good.”
“Ah, this simply won’t do.”
“It will.”
I’ve already moved about half of my ceramic and furniture collection to the estate anyway!
I’m not going to spend my whole life in the palace, so let me go out for a bit!
Though I spoke thus, So-i quickly gave up trying to stop me and began gathering my things for departure.
Ga-i was out on business, and I’d already set Song Bi to work making bread, so I spared her the trouble of being dragged about outside and let her rest instead.
I’d deliberately kept young So-i at my side to follow me about, so I had better put her to good use.
‘Truth be told, Ga-i probably spends more time at my estate than I do.’
There was no helping it—business always runs behind schedule, and it’s far better to return late to the estate than to the palace itself.
Besides, an unoccupied house needs someone to manage it, and fretting over its upkeep when Ga-i is away, Song Bi would sometimes visit the estate to check on my collections and see to the household servants’ attendance.
Honestly, even I had to admit the servants at the Princess’s estate had it rather cushy.
‘Well…… as long as they don’t break the ceramics and keep things clean.’
Beyond that, it was mostly just recording expensive gifts when they arrived and sending me the inventory.
I’d also made sure all the servants working at my estate learned at least the common script—I’d sent someone from Si Younghwon suitable for teaching to instruct them, and since the script is easy enough to learn, they all picked it up quickly.
As a result, anyone could write a letter.
If anyone wanted more education, I’d send their children to Si Younghwon for further study.
Of course I paid for their food—I couldn’t starve living people.
When times were slack, I even allowed them to earn extra coin and build private wealth.
……Writing it all down like this, I’m genuinely a good employer—or rather, a good mistress.
As a result, none of my servants ever ran away seeking freedom as a masterless slave. Though honestly, I wouldn’t even notice if they did.
I’d wondered if some might actually try to steal from my collection, which contains expensive pieces, hoping for a reversal of fortune, but they all seemed to prefer their comfortable lives now to risking their necks and facing slave hunters.
Perhaps the servants at my estate were the last people who would wish for my fall from grace.
In any case, despite what I’d said, when I left the palace, I headed not to my estate for healing, but to the Hyemin Institute.
“Here we are. So-i, set these things down inside for me.”
“Yes, Miss.”
I jumped down from Jeok A’s back and was brushing out my skirts when my eyes met those of a frightened child. A small boy was carrying an even smaller one on his back, pacing anxiously in front of the Hyemin Institute.
“What’s wrong, little one?”
“……My, my brother is sick…….”
“So you’ve come to the Hyemin Institute?”
“Yes…….”
Many people were unexpectedly reluctant to enter the Hyemin Institute, thinking of it as a government office and being afraid of authority.
“It’s alright, come here. The physicians here will treat your brother.”
“Miss.”
“So-i, help these children inside, would you?”
“Miss, really……. Very well.”
So-i set down the luggage from Jeok A’s back and, doing as I said, led the children inside.
‘It’ll be fine.’
A sick child does tend to weigh on one’s mind.
Heh-heh.
“……?”
While I waited for So-i to return from the entrance of the Hyemin Institute, I heard a faint chuckle.
I looked around, but there was no face I recognized.
‘I thought perhaps someone I knew had passed by, but it doesn’t seem so. Maybe someone just found the scene touching?’
Well, it hardly mattered. Even if someone recognized me, there was nothing that would come of it.
“Miss, the child has been seen by a physician. Shall we go in now?”
“Yes.”
While I was glancing about uncertainly, So-i emerged from within and took hold of Si-a’s bridle, and together we proceeded into the Hyemin Institute.
“Young mistress, you’ve arrived.”

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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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