Translator: Nox

Chapter 4

Episode 4. A small but substantial change

"Did you dare to lay a hand on the crown prince of this country?"As Yoon-seo asked coolly, a woman approached Yoon-seo with heavy steps from behind the Duke of Do-won.

"What kind of nonsense is that, is it a joke?""She was a woman named Jo who entered the palace as a wet nurse for the Duke of Do-won."

"How dare you slander our baby!" "I want to be beheaded, I'm going crazy,"

"Be careful with your words." I may just be a mere nine-year-old, but the person I serve is the royal baby."In the palace, the status of the court ladies is determined by those they serve. How can I, who am in charge of the royal grandson who will soon ascend the throne, be merely attended by a wet nurse of a collateral branch!"

Yoonseo raised her chin coolly.

"What kind of arrogance is this!""How could you raise your voice at the beloved young lady of Myungnyeong Palace, whom His Majesty and Her Majesty cherish so dearly!"The court ladies who followed the Duke of Dowon approached Yoon-seo, chattering fiercely.

They were ready to rush in and attack as a group.

How could they treat the royal grandson like this? The discipline of the royal family was worse than I thought.

"Oh!" What kind of disgrace is this!"The court lady Park from the East Palace, who had been watching, stepped forward."

"How dare you do this in front of the royal baby!""The court lady Park, who oversees the East Palace with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, was of the 5th rank, and the ladies-in-waiting, who were only of the 8th or 9th rank, were not someone to be treated lightly."

However, the maidens of Dowon-gun and Damyang-gun did not back down.

"I do not wish to be disrespectful to you, my lady." "The authority of the nine,"

The affection that Grand Prince Suyang and Lady Kim received from the king was indeed tremendous!

The eyes of Lady Park began to shine brightly as she saw the nine who would not back down.

"Ladies, please cover your ears for a moment." I must unfold a lesson to those who insult the upper ranks and smear feces on the faces of the two young ladies."Having previously sought understanding from the governor of Dowon and the governor of Damyang, Lady Park let out a lion's roar."

"Is your ear blocked?" It is not a disrespect towards me, but a disrespect towards our royal grandson, didn't the Kwon family say that? Hey there!"The court lady Park shouted to the unusually well-built maidens she brought from the East Palace."

"If there's more nonsense, take them to the inspection department's detention center!""Once you are drawn in, you cannot walk out on your own. The moment my private residence came out of Lady Park's mouth, the maidservants of the Duke of Do-won and the Duke of Dam-yang flinched and stepped back."

As the situation unfolded like this, the perceptive six-year-old Dowon-gun stepped forward.

"I'm sorry." I swung the fishing rod and brushed against Hongwei's head. So that's how it is. Hong Wiya, I'm sorry, brother."With a mocking smile, Dowon-gun made a half-hearted apology and looked up at Yoon-seo."

The smile that had just been fabricated disappeared, replaced by a sharp gaze.

"What is your name?""What do you want to ask my name?" I am a maid serving the royal grandson.Kwon Ga-nine was tall, well over 165 cm.

As that maid looked down with an intimidating gaze, it seemed like she might hit him, causing Dowon-gun to flinch and quickly turn his body.

No matter how imposing the son of the mighty general was, he was still just a child.

"Let's go." Uncle, I'm going.Then, Damyang-gun gave a displeased smile towards Hongwi and walked outside with Dowon-gun.

The others fiercely scanned Yoon-seo and occasionally followed behind her.

Lady Park scolded Yoon-seo as if to make sure everyone could hear.

"Goryeo." How could the royal baby hear such harsh words! If something like this happens again, I will drag you to my private house first and make you pay!"However, the corners of Park Sang-gung's mouth twitched upwards towards her cheekbones as she scolded."

None of the nine stepped forward to stop those who usually mistreat the royal grandson.

As a court lady, if I intervened, it would escalate the conflict among the higher-ranking officials, so I had to endure my frustration.

Thanks to Kwon Ga Na-in stepping out first in a crooked manner, we were able to intimidate the rude ones.

The palace lady Park, feeling refreshed, stepped out the front door and shouted with all her might so that the group of Do-won-gun could hear.

"Kim's jar." Go to the soju room and prepare a lavish spread of food that our dear one likes. Make a refreshing broth with dongchimi! Cold noodles topped with pine nuts! Bring everything you have, including fruit preserves, jujak, and jeonyuhwa!Thanks to that, Yoon-seo tasted the essence of royal Joseon cuisine with milmyeon all afternoon.

Dried fruits soaked in honey, round dough made from glutinous rice flour that is deep-fried and coated with honey, modern favorites like yakgwa, and omija punch.

Everyone, including the Nine, Lady Park, and little Hongwi, enjoyed tasting the precious food and were very happy, but...

The sweetness was only derived from honey and syrup, and even after eating just a few, my mouth felt thick and tingly.

"If I want to live long in Joseon, I must find a way to refine sugar."If I could make sweet sugar fresh and clean, I could gather all the wealth of the eight provinces of Joseon.

Queen Sohun wanted to eat sugar so much, but she couldn't have it. After she passed away, it is said that she cried while looking at the sugar that Lee Hyang brought from the Ming Dynasty.

I have to become rich!The fact that Prince Dowon, the son of Prince Su-yang, is disregarding the royal grandson like that, and that Duke Damyang is supporting such disrespectful behavior, all stems from their abundance of wealth.

Prince Su-yang is wealthy, but especially his wife, Lady Yoon's younger brother, Yoon Sa-kyun, is considered the richest in Hanyang.

Also, the mother of Damyang County, Lady Kim, is receiving great favor from His Majesty, so she must be incredibly wealthy as people are offering her gifts from all over in hopes of gaining favor.

In contrast, the family of Crown Princess Kwon was not originally a very powerful family, and it has been increasingly impoverished since the death of the Crown Princess.

The Crown Prince Lee Hyang is particularly unfortunate in terms of fortune in marriage, and he has only one son. Moreover, since King Sejong ascended to the throne as the third son, the power dynamics surrounding Hong-wi are bound to be cold.

As Yoon-seo suddenly pondered the harshness of the world that had fallen, Park Ga-nai and Han Ga-nai, who were on night duty, arrived.

The two, without showing any signs of feeling sorry for Kwon who had entrusted ten dried persimmons to the night, bowed their heads in greeting to Hongwi.

"Bad things."As Yoon-seo fiercely glared once and was about to say goodbye to Hong-wi, "...If you don't go, won't you touch me?""Hongwi grabbed the hem of her skirt and asked timidly."

It seems that ever since Yoon-seo stepped up for herself earlier, she has become quite attached to Yoon-seo, following her around closely.

My heart has softened.

So, without realizing it, I hugged Hong-wi tightly and whispered in his ear.

"I will come early tomorrow." I have been awake since last night, so I am very tired."...that flame, bye and bye, bye and.""Holding Park Ga-nai's hand, Hong-wi continued to wave until Yoon-seo came out of the front gate."

I wasn't feeling well.

Yunseo relied on the memories of the Gwon family servant and entered one of the buildings clustered together behind Gyeongbokgung Palace.

It was the residence where Lady Park, the court lady, lived.

"Mr. Hang, oh my, your under-eye area is so dark.""The servant Jung-geum, who takes care of Lady Park's residence, scolded me while washing his hands on his apron."

"I want to take a bath.""I felt all over my body was damp because I hadn't washed."

"Oh, what are you talking about?" I will tell April to go fetch some water."Jung-geum ran to the kitchen with a big smile."

When one becomes a court lady, they are given an independent residence like this, along with two servants who do menial tasks such as laundry, sewing, food preparation, and fetching water.

"When I think about it, being a palace maid isn't so bad." Dress me in the palace, feed me. Give me a servant too.The existence of 'nobi' was not particularly pleasing, but they also received a monthly allowance of 4 jeon of rice, 1 seung of soybeans for making tofu, and 2 hop of soy sauce.

Every day, I received two fish as side dishes, along with salted anchovies and salted white shrimp, and salt. In spring and autumn, I also received a certain amount of cotton and other goods. In the Joseon Dynasty, this made me somewhat like a stable public servant, as there were no decent job opportunities.

"Then the Kwon family must have accumulated quite a fortune." Every month, Wolbong receives 7 bags of rice, 1 seong of beans, soy sauce and vinegar, and in spring and autumn, he receives nearly 3 pieces of fine cloth, 1 piece of silk from Jeongju, and 1.5 pounds of cotton. Every day, I received 2 mackerel, 1 herring, 1 croaker, salted anchovy, salted shrimp, and salt. Also, from time to time, I received silk, sweet rice wine, and various gifts from the East Palace. If I had gathered all of this and sold it, my wealth would be...Yoon-seo, who was counting on her fingers borrowing the memory of the Kwon family, frowned deeply.

I have memories that I received, but I don't have memories that I collected!

What is this bear-like character?

Lady Park, the court lady, already has thousands of pyeong of land in Incheon, over fifty thousand pyeong in Yangju, three tiled houses here in Hanyang, and she says she needs to buy more land over there in Wolgye. She is much wealthier in land than an average noble.

What was this guy doing under that shrewd land speculator that he ended up being a beggar, a beggar.

Yunseo was so shocked that she splashed the bathwater vigorously, "Lady Hanga." Is the water cold? Would you like me to bring more hot water?"Bangja Sawol asked worriedly from outside."

"Ha, I told you not to give everything to your leech-like little sister, didn't I?""When I asked why I had no property left, Lady Park, the court lady, hit me on the head with the chopsticks she was using to pick fish."

Ah, damn.

I washed my hair.

It's not easy to dry because it's too long, why!

"Do I have a younger sister?""Oh, how wonderful." Have you finally lost your memory to the point of being oblivious?"Then, the memories of Kwon slowly surfaced."

Gwon was a distant relative of the Crown Princess Gwon and was in a poor situation after losing her father at an early age.

The crown princess, Lady Kwon, who was dull-witted but agile in body, had a hard time finding someone trustworthy in the palace and brought in a maid.

The mother of the lone Kwon family, after that, married a man who was a noble but had no wealth, a good-for-nothing, and gave birth to one daughter and one son.

That stepfather and the step-siblings are all just targeting Kwon Ga-na's monthly salary, sticking to her like leeches...

'Gyeonggaya, Gyeonggaya!Yunseo hit my head with the spoon she was eating with.

It meant to get your act together after getting hit, since you have to wrap your hair anyway.

After taking a bath and eating a hearty meal, I slowly start to regain my senses.

Yoon-seo suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

The fool Kwon has entered the body of the nine, and now my head feels dull too. Is this really the time to be talking about wealth?

"My lady, there is a maid who handed me poisoned pastries yesterday.""What?"Yunseo described the appearance of Nain, who handed over the Songhwa sweets, to the lady.

I don't know which faction he belongs to, but he quickly explained that although the evil influence has now extended to the Gwon family, the ultimate goal is undoubtedly the royal baby.

The face of Lady Park became increasingly stiff.

"Is the protection of the lady's residence in place?" The two nines that entrusted me with the task must be cut immediately."As soon as Yoon-seo finished speaking, Park Sang-gung jumped up."

"You should sleep." I will go back to the chamber where the young lady is."After Lady Park left and the award was given, Yoon-seo lay down in the small room that the court lady Kwon used to occupy."

Looking around, I found two shabby traditional dresses with a lot of fluff in a small chest, two dull everyday outfits made of plain fabric, and some worn-out underwear.

Seeing that there was neither an inkstone nor a brush, it was certain that Kwon and Na were illiterate.

I suddenly became worried that I might have been completely taken in by those leech-like half-brothers and signed any document.

However, money is not a big deal. Modern people do not need to worry about making money when they come to Joseon.

The problem is survival. And saving Hongwi.

You need to gain people. A person who will report what is happening in each district. And those who will investigate how the powerful figures outside the palace unite and scheme for their own purposes.Yunseo fell into a deep sleep, as if fainting from extreme fatigue, while pondering how she could organize her information.

The next morning at dawn, when I went to Hong Wei's residence to take my shift, there were strict guards stationed inside the main gate and in the courtyard.

Instead of Park's maid and Hang's maid, the diligent and capable maid of Lee and the maid of Choi were taking turns.

It was a small but substantial change.

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