My Concubine

06

✨My Concubine✨

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In 377, when the reign of the seventeenth king, King Naemul, was the beginning of Silla's alliance with the Goguryeo kingdom. This happened because Silla, as a small kingdom, was in a difficult position because they were invaded from all corners. In the western region there was Baekje which always invaded Silla and in the south and southeast there was also the Gaya Confederacy who wanted to conquer Silla. Silla also still had to face invasions from Japan.

Therefore, Silla asked for help from Goguryeo to help them face the two kingdoms by forming an alliance, and the request for alliance relations was welcomed by Goguryeo.

The alliance relationship between the two kingdoms could be formed because the sense of nationalism of the Goguryeo kings as the successors of Gojoseon made them consider Silla as a fellow Dangun kingdom or the first kingdom on the Korean peninsula and considered the Han Empire and all political influences from China to be their enemies. In addition, Silla was a civilized and peace-loving agricultural kingdom that never invaded Goguryeo's territories.

At that time Goguryeo was more busy fighting the Han Empire. They almost never invaded the southern region of the Korean peninsula, because at that time Baekje was only a small kingdom that had not conquered all the territories in the Mahan Confederation, while Silla had only just controlled the Gyeongju region. The areas between Silla and Goguryeo are also not yet connected and are still separated by the Baekje areas.

At first the alliance with Goguryeo benefited both parties. But after the Goguryeo capital was moved to Pyeongyang, the Goguryeo kings began to pursue expansive policies towards the south. Goguryeo attacked Baekje more often, but over time Silla also began to be threatened. As a larger kingdom, Goguryeo tried to exploit Silla.

When Goguryeo attacked Baekje, they asked Silla to join them and Goguryeo secretly annexed Silla's territories to open a direct route to the Iron-rich Gaya Confederacy because iron was very important for Goguryeo, which was a warring kingdom. Apart from that, they also wanted to cut off the trade route to Japan which was blocked by the Silla region. So Silla was forced to end the alliance with Goguryeo in 424 during the reign of Nulji, the nineteenth king of Silla.

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Nain is the name of a palace maid in the Silla language. The palace ladies were divided into three levels; training nain, official nain, and sanggung. They would be treated differently according to their experience and length of service at court, the palace they were assigned to, and also their family's social status. All the differences in treatment mentioned have been experienced directly by Sehwa and Junghee, who came from the conquered Goguryeo border region.

Ridicule and insults, directly or indirectly, were commonplace for Sehwa and Junghee and their fellow ladies-in-waiting who also came from conquered areas. Not only that, lady-in-waitings like those who came from conquered areas were given many times more work and it was not uncommon for senior ladies-in-waiting who were native Silla to also delegate their work.

The differences in treatment don't stop there. Lady maids like those who came from conquered areas needed a very long time to advance. Examples include Sehwa who has dedicated herself for 17 years as a training nain, and Junghee who has also dedicated herself as a training nain for 15 years.

Not from a noble family or a native of Silla. This is the reason why they do not have certainty about when they will be appointed as official nain. But one month ago a naesi or eunuch who served the king summoned the two of them.