Boknyeo (MBC 1974)

[𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔪𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯]

Episodes: 109

Broadcast Date: May 27th~October 25th, 1974

Time: Mon-Fri, 9:20PM

Director: Park Cheol

Cast: Yu In Chon, Jeong Hye Seon, Eom Yu Shin (as Park Gyeong Bin), Choi Bul Am, Kim Mu Saeng, Jeong Ae Ran, Yun Jeong Hee, Kim Jeong Yeon

"A secret history of the Lee Dynasty lies tangled in the Jeongeop House, where the resentment of Court ladies is buried!"

Plot resembles the 1968 movie Eunuch and 1972's Court Ladies just a bit, based on the scant synopses in the newspapers.

    During King Myeongjong's reign, a married woman named Boknyeo has to enter the Palace as a court lady because Reasons™️, while her husband Byeongyeol tries to hide this fact from his family. While in the Palace, Boknyeo gets involved in Inner Court politics and sides with Park Gyeong Bin against Jeong Suk Yong. Jeong Suk Yong, who's trying to get pregnant, is fooled into trusting Boknyeo and ends up miscarrying because of her and her cohort Doctor Song, who put bisang poison in her medicine.

    When Jeong Suk Yong miscarries, she immediately blames Boknyeo, who is tortured in the Jeongeop House (where concubines go after the King dies). She manages to clear her name, but in the process causes suspicion among her senior Court ladies, especially the Head Court Lady and Lady Suk Yong's Court Lady Park. Eventually they find out and reveal that she's a married woman, causing her and her husband's arrest. Boknyeo escapes one last time and eventually becomes a concubine herself (don't know her rank). Neither Park Gyeong Bin nor Jeong Suk Yong are happy about this.

    While in jail, Boknyeo visits and promises to free him, but Court Maid Eunshim (don't know from which Palace) has her eyes on him and so has other plans. She asks Byeongyeol to run away with her and he refuses, so she implicates him in a treason case with Prince Deokyang. The case draws out, Jeong Suk Yong is somehow involved, and in the process, the Head Court Lady kills Boknyeo's mother/father-in-law? Not so sure about that part, but while all that's going on, Jeong Suk Yong tries to get pregnant again and has a stillborn baby, getting promoted to Suk Ui nevertheless. The stillbirth takes a toll on her mental health and eventually she drowns herself in one of the Palace ponds.

    On the way to exile in Kangneung, Byeongyeol is freed by a Mr Cheon, who works for Boknyeo. Byeongyeol is excited to go back, but the King dies soon after Jeong Suk Ui and Boknyeo is forced to go to the Jeongeop House forever. Jeong Suk Ui's court lady Park confesses all her and Jeong Suk Ui's crimes after her funeral and asks to be sent to the Jeongeop House as well to mourn.