Surviving as Jang Hee-bin's Child Court Lady - Chapter 3

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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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Chapter 3. Survival Is the Goal
In my past life in the modern era, I was a history enthusiast—what you might call a history nerd.
‘But that didn’t mean I actually wanted to fall into the Joseon Dynasty.’
What made it worse was that the body I’d possessed came with no family to speak of—a bitter reality.
“Hwang Bong-bong. Why aren’t you coming out?”
“Oh, I’m coming.”
Seol-hyang’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
‘There’s no point dwelling on past lives. I need to focus on surviving right now.’
It seemed the palace attendants had gathered for the beginning of spring, their murmuring voices drifting through the door from outside.
‘The atmosphere among the palace attendants must be incredibly tense.’
The thought of meeting the attendants of Chwisuondang for the first time made my entire body shrivel with anxiety.
At this point in time, Jang Hee-bin had not only suffered the humiliation of being demoted from queen to concubine, but her relationship with King Sukjong had grown distant as well.
Naturally, the palace attendants who served Jang Hee-bin as their mistress would be walking on thin ice.
‘Everyone will be on edge, so I need to be careful and read the room. I just hope I don’t get beaten.’
The cruel customs of Joseon that could be called child abuse came to mind, unsettling me, but I forced myself to steel my resolve.
‘Don’t forget. The goal is survival.’
As for me, I’d been tempered under a notoriously demanding professor back home.
I took a deep breath and reached my hand toward the door handle.
This was the debut stage of the young attendant Hwang Bong-bong, stepping into the world of Chwisuondang.
I just hoped it wouldn’t end in disaster from the very start.
***
Something was wrong.
I’d stepped outside expecting a frozen, terrifying atmosphere, but what greeted me was…
“Oh my! So you’re Hwang Bong-bong?”
“My goodness, look at those chubby cheeks!”
“How are your eyes so big and round? Such a tiny thing, yet so adorable!”
“You’re almost four, right? It’s been ages since we’ve had such a young attendant join us, hasn’t it?”
The palace attendants were beside themselves with affection at the sight of me.
One pinched my cheeks, another stroked my hair, and yet another popped a honey candy she’d hidden in her sleeve into my mouth.
“Hello, everyone.”
I mumbled through the honey candy and bowed, prompting delighted squeals of “Aww!” and “So cute!” from the attendants.
Honestly, I couldn’t make sense of the situation at all.
‘Is this really Chwisuondang?’
Had I somehow wandered into the wrong quarters?
By my calculations, only one year and nine months remained until Jang Hee-bin’s death.
At this point in time, Jang Hee-bin was in what could be called the darkest period of her life.
She’d lost King Sukjong’s favor, the Namin Faction backing her had essentially collapsed, and even her brother had been exiled.
Yet the attendants of Chwisuondang…
‘How could they all be so cheerful?’
Soon enough, with Queen Inhyeon’s death, a bloodbath would descend upon them.
And that bloodbath would drive most of the palace maids here to their deaths.
“Bong-bong! Look over here!”
“See how loose her jacket is!”
“She reminds me of my youngest. So adorable….”
But my thoughts couldn’t linger for long.
I was being pushed about like a cloth doll by the hands of the palace maids.
‘…This is absolute chaos.’
The anxiety was one thing, but I could no longer bear being touched everywhere.
In an instant, irritation flooded through me as though my very mind had regressed to that of a child.
This is how they all turn out.
In a situation like this, there was only one escape method available to a small child like me.
Sniffle.
Sniffle.
“Waaahhh!”
…Though I hadn’t intended to burst into such wailing.
In any case, the moment my cries erupted, the palace maids were momentarily flustered at the sight of me.
Soon enough, they began laughing, calling it adorable.
In any case, with one great outburst of tears, I managed to escape those merciless hands and find peace on the wooden floor.
A piece of taffy someone had pressed into my hand rested in my palm.
“Have you heard the news from Junggung Palace?”
At one maid’s words, my crying ceased entirely.
If I wished to survive in this place, gathering information was my highest priority.
My ears perked up in an instant.
“I heard. Apparently a massive boil broke out on her leg, and pus poured out profusely.”
“The physicians say there’s nothing more they can do.”
“It seems the talk of ‘any day now’ is actually true.”
In the words directed at the Queen Consort—the woman who would later be known as Queen Inhyeon—there was no trace of respect or sympathy.
For the maids of Chwisuondang, this was only natural.
This was a palace where the power of the upper chambers determined one’s fate.
To the maids here, Queen Consort Min was nothing less than the enemy who had dragged Jang Hee-bin from the position of queen.
‘In the end, both Queen Inhyeon and Jang Hee-bin are merely sacrificial pawns….’
A bitter thought crossed my mind, but what could be done?
Joseon was a world uniquely cruel to women.
“Anyway, the thing is. Once the Queen Consort passes….”
Someone whispered at the end.
“Then the Honored Concubine will be reinstated as queen. We’ll return to Junggung Palace too.”
“Right. It’s just a matter of time.”
…Excuse me? You all seem to be under quite the misunderstanding.
Only then did I grasp the reason for the palace maids’ such composure.
They all believed it with absolute certainty.
If the position of Queen of the Junggung Palace became vacant, Jang Hee-bin would seize that seat once more.
“Sigh…”
I set down the taffy stick I’d been sucking on.
What I really craved was a bowl of cold water to wash away this suffocating feeling—not taffy.
Soju would be even better.
I stirred myself to rise, moving with deliberate slowness.
In my small hands, I clutched several spring couplets scattered haphazardly across the floor.
‘Let me just move about.’
Affixing spring couplets to every pillar in the Royal Palace was an indispensable part of welcoming the first day of spring.
From now on, I would dutifully fulfill my role as a palace maid preparing for the season’s arrival.
Of course, that was merely a pretext—my true purpose was to explore Chwisuondang.
The palace maids remained absorbed in their gossip.
None of them noticed the young attendant slipping away from her corner.
‘Hngh!’
I nearly despaired at how impossibly short my legs were for lowering myself to the ground alone, but I managed it in the end.
Quietly, quietly.
Once I’d slipped past the inner courtyard, I began to dash forward with all my might.
My objective was clear.
Though I couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, history had left an unmistakable record.
‘West of Chwisuondang.’
The shrine where Queen Inhyeon was cursed—the very place that became the catalyst for Jang Hee-bin’s downfall.
I intended to find that shrine.
***
‘Nothing here.’
Chwisuondang was far larger than I had anticipated.
I darted about until beads of sweat dotted my forehead despite the biting cold, yet I found no suspicious locations.
There had been a close call where I nearly got caught scurrying about.
Two young palace maids were suspiciously whispering to each other as they wandered the area.
Fortunately, my small frame allowed me to hide.
‘In any case, I think I’ve searched thoroughly enough?’
Empty pavilions, maid quarters, near the bathhouse….
Excluding intimate spaces like Jang Hee-bin’s bedchamber, I had checked most locations.
There was no trace of ritual worship or shamanic practices anywhere.
“Sigh….”
I caught my breath and sat down on the stone step for a moment.
‘The decisive crime that condemned Jang Hee-bin to death was establishing a shrine to curse Queen Inhyeon.’
But what if the shrine hadn’t been set up yet…?
For the first time since I tumbled into this era, hope blossomed within me.
‘If I prevent the shrine from being built, couldn’t I also prevent Jang Hee-bin’s poisoned wine ending?’
Prevent the shrine’s installation.
→ Prevent the curse against Queen Inhyeon.
→ Prevent Jang Hee-bin’s death.
→ The Chwisuondang maids who were slaughtered after Jang Hee-bin’s death would survive.
→ Conclusion: Hwang Bong-bong survives!
“That’s it! This is the way!”
I clenched my fists and shouted.
The prospect of securing my survival with this tiny body left me breathless, but what choice did I have?
Since heaven had collapsed, I had no choice but to find the hole through which I could escape.
I steadied my resolve and was about to rise to my feet with determination.
“Hey! What are you doing here?”
“A tiny thing like you already shirking duties?”
Two young maidservants, around ten years old, suddenly appeared and stood directly in front of me.
I immediately recognized both of their faces.
‘Those are the ones who’ve been lurking around nearby.’
In fact, from the moment I first appeared before the palace maids, their gazes had been unkind.
‘Even so, we’re meeting for the first time—why are they glaring at me like that?’
As I stood there staring blankly at them, the taller of the two suddenly spoke.
“You look strange.”
…Me?
“Your eyes are too big—it’s creepy. Your cheeks are all puffy. Why does everyone make such a fuss saying something like you is cute?”
“Right. You must be of low status. You’re a slave, aren’t you?”
I was momentarily at a loss for words, struck by such sudden vitriol.
‘…I understand. Before I arrived, they were the youngest in Chwisuondang. They’re jealous.’
I decided to exercise the magnanimity befitting a mature adult.
So just one verse, one verse only.
“How old did you say you were?”
I wasn’t a fool, and I certainly wasn’t in the mood to answer obediently to such a question.
“Why do you need to know that?”
“Ha, what is this?”
The young maid who had been glaring at me spoke with arrogance.
“We’re ten years old.”
“Ah… really?”
I replied without much interest.
‘I’m far too busy devising a way to ensure the survival of myself and all the palace maids of Chwisuondang, including you two.’
So don’t bother me…
“Ha. You don’t understand a word, do you?”
The taller of the two let out a scoff of exasperation.
“Back in my day, when an adult passed by, we were so terrified we couldn’t even lift our heads. Yet here you are, staring straight ahead at us?”
Oh.
A fossil?
“Exactly. No wonder you’re a lowborn wretch—you’re lazy through and through!”
“I’m not playing around. I’m in the middle of attaching this!”
I waved the paper decoration frantically, but all I received in return was cold ridicule.
“Oh, is that so?”
The taller maid snatched the paper decoration from my hand in one swift motion. It crumpled instantly.
As the maid hurled the crumpled paper toward my face, the shorter one burst into laughter.
‘This isn’t school bullying—it’s palace bullying. Rotten children exist everywhere, regardless of era…’
I stared at the giggling pair of ten-year-olds with a heavy heart.
‘But you two… you don’t realize what you’ve done?’
You’ve just made a terrible mistake.

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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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