Post by ajk on May 13, 2008 14:20:58 GMT -5
I won't use someone's life as a weapon, Choongnyeong tells the queen. "Why can't you trust me and wait?" "You will defy your mother?", she asks him with irritation. "I'm sorry," he answers. She mutters, "Disrespectful punk..." and leaves.
Granny Cowsears helps a eunuch sneak Chogungjang into a palace building, and turns around to find Hyobin standing there staring at her. She confronts the old woman about why "a lady of the palace" is being snuck around, and which lady is she? No, Granny says, that's just Um Jachi's sister here for a visit, and she invites Hyobin in to look around. Then she switches gears, observing that Hyobin must be here about a sensitive matter "seeing as you are here in plain clothes at this hour" and so maybe it's "unwise to be seen by others."
Inside, Hyobin asks the old woman to dig up dirt on Han Younglo's daughter (whom the queen has proposed to be Kyoungnyeong's wife). Find a way to break up the wedding, she tells her, "and I'll compensate you generously."
Before dawn: The queen is awake, thinking things through. She decides that maybe it's best if she tells the king about Yangnyeong's infidelity rather than him hearing it from someone else. She goes to the king's bedchamber...and is surprised to find that the crown prince and princess are visiting him at this early hour. Yangnyeong is writing calligraphy for a plaque at the king's request, to be used for Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. "He has excellent penmanship," says Taejong to his wife, and is thoroughly enjoying his son's company.
Daylight has come and the queen leaves; she didn't spill the beans. "I couldn't...I couldn't tell him. It's been so long since I've seen him gaze upon the crown prince with such warm and trusting eyes." But I have to do something, she wonders. "If I fail to stop this, the regime will be shaken at the root once again."
It's now daytime and the captured minister Hwang has been taken to Dumundong by the masked men. A revolutionary army is training there; Hwang has been brought to see this. It's Ok Hwan's army; he's there too and as Hwang is brought to him (we can now tell that the masked men are Foreman Jeon and Muby), Ok begins talking to Hwang, keeping his back turned. "How much longer will you live your life as butcher for Yi Bangwon?" Ok wants to know. As he talks, Hwang realizes that these are the men responsible for the murder of deputy Kim Byun in Ep1. Hwang brings up the murder and Ok says, "He had to die for his crimes against the royal house." Then Ok warns, "We are in the deepest of your court where you least expect us. I could cut of your king Yi Bangwon's head right now." But he tells Hwang, "We're giving you a chance." Join us or the king dies, is apparently the choice Hwang must make.
The king is told by his ministers that Hwang has been kidnapped. Who did it, he wants to know. No answers yet; not even any clues. Except, it appeared to have been "a professional job" because Hwang's attendants were knocked out by a single blow to a vital point.
Out in the hallway afterwards, Park accuses prime minister Ha of knowing about the kidnapping. It's another ugly exchange between them.
Hwang awakens, alone in the woods. (I must have missed a moment or two; not sure how he got there, unconscious.) A paper with a message is sitting beside him: "I await your wise decision. Remember, we are watching you."
From a distance, Foreman Jeon and Muby watch Hwang leave. Maybe we let him go too easily, Muby says, but Jeon tells him that "Hwang Hee has a deep regret for the deaths of the loyal retainers in Dumundong. That means he has doubts about Joseon as well." We need him; he'll help lay the groundwork for the resurrected royal throne.
Outside of the understaffed, overwhelmed Ministry of Slavery Reparations: Minister Park is told by minister Shim that Choongnyeong hasn't been seen since this morning. Just then, the prince arrives with Yi Su. Where have you been, they want to know. I want to get this office up and running, he tells them; that's the battle I want to fight. There's not much you can do, they tell him, but he answers, "What if I brought a reinforcement army?" And up walk all of the Confucian scholars! They offer to do anything they can to help.
Yun Hwe tells his subordinates about the events at the MSR, and says hurry and finish your work so that we can go to the MSR and help "free the exploited people," which will be valuable public service. They're all excited about the opportunity.
At the MSR: Scholars are interviewing slaves, busily asking questions and taking notes. Choongnyeong is working with them...Flashback to the previous night at the academy, after the scholars' drunken riot: Choongnyeong begins talking to them. "One night of drinking isn't enough to cool [your] raging inferno." Stop mocking us, they tell him. He says he isn't, but he cheerfully ribs them for their self-pity. Then he tells them, "I'm here to help you." Answering their earlier comments about their despair at the future of the state, he tells them, "You may have the right to make disparaging remarks, but I don't think you have the right to despair" because you haven't done everything you can yet. "We still have the strength in us to take one more beating." They look up at him....
Ministers Park, Shim and Jo are before Choongnyeong, asking him for permission to expose the crown prince's wrongdoing. But he won't allow it, and then he lays into Park because "government policies are being used as weapons for rivalry." Park lamely argues that it's not our fault, it's theirs. But Choongnyeong accusingly tells Park that "you were never interested in slavery reparations to begin with." You wanted to trip them up, so "Of course they would fight back. What did you think?" Someone who uses government policies in such a manner, he says, "is a public enemy, not a public servant."
The Mins are before the queen. They're still concerned about finding Chogungjang, but the queen has greater concerns. "Choongnyeong is becoming kingly material unbeknownst to himself," she observes. "He is growing into an extraordinary leader." If he's recognized as more worthy of the throne than the crown prince, our country's past tragedy will be repeated. She wants this avoided at all costs, but at the same time, she says, "What kind of a mother is afraid of her own son's growth?" It’s a frustrating and painful conflict for her, and she sheds a tear.
That night: Princess Shim is summoned by the queen. The queen still distrusts Choongnyeong's motives. She tells the princess, "Do whatever it takes to keep him at home. It's for his own good."
Same evening: As Choongnyeong leaves the MSR with the scholars, Yangnyeong is there waiting for them. He offers to buy everyone a drink. They follow him...inside somewhere (I think it’s the same room where he's met with the scholars before, in the gisaeng house). A beautiful meal is laid out on the table. Yangnyeong gets down to business. "This is to be expected of my kindhearted brother, but I thought you men would know your priorities." Stop working at the ministry, he tells them, and get ready for your trip to Liaodong. But they tell him that they won't go. You're defying me?, he says, but they fire back, "You told us not to be afraid to defy an order that is amiss." His Ming invasion plan, they tell him, is "an armchair theory" and won't work. And as for us, we've gone astray and have forgotten about the people. We need to start over and relearn. Then they leave, telling Yangnyeong that as "humble students" they feel unworthy of this "lavish feast." Yangnyeong is left only with Choongnyeong.
Minister Hwang, walking back home, sees the ruins of Dumundong...Repeat flashback from Ep13, of the Dumundong Incident...Hwang falls to his knees, wrestling with conflicting thoughts.
Next morning: Hwang is before the king. "Who were they?", Taejong wants to know. "There must be a reason they sent you back without hurting a hair on your head." Silence. "Why can't you answer?" Flashback to Ok Hwan telling Hwang, "We are in the deepest of your court where you least expect us."...Flashback ending, Hwang looks over at the king's attendants; what if one of them is in on it? So he says, "I'm afraid I don't know who they are, your majesty."
Granny Cowsears goes to visit Foreman Jeon. She tells him she wants to send a gift to Han Younglo's daughter, and will you slip this in, too? She hands him a paper; "It's a slanderous statement about the king that's enough to destroy the whole clan." It will stop the wedding, she tells him. But he surprises her by telling her, "If you're trying to malign Han Younglo's daughter, you don't have to go to this trouble."
The king and queen are at the Ministry of Endowment, where the queen has been evaluating young women. Taejong tells her that Ming envoys will soon arrive for the maidens promised to the Ming emperor. Wongyeong, with some disappointment, tells him that the task has been difficult because the lords are unwilling to give up their daughters. Just then, Hyobin enters. She tells them, "You're not making progress because the director of this office (Han Younglo) is incompetent." Then she brings up the proposed marriage, and says that Daion is from an "ignoble clan" that would disgrace the royal house. She accuses the girl of having a "lowborn lover." Han, who's standing there during all this, looks around uneasily.
Back home: Han Daion and Jang Youngsil are together in the foundry; Jang is polishing blades. Suddenly soldiers run in and snatch the two away. Left behind on the walls are drawings of cannons, which a minister (it may have been Gim Hanlo, but I'm not sure) notices and begins to study....
Noh Huibong reports to the king: "She confirmed that it's true." So Hyobin was correct. Taejong tells the queen, "It is our son's wedding. You should have paid closer attention." She says nothing, but Hyobin jumps in and starts laying it on thick. I'm sure she feels badly about this, she tells the king at length, and "the guilt must weigh heavily on her heart." All the queen can do is sit there and take it.
Hyobin, back home, is talking to her son prince Kyoungnyeong. This is just the beginning, she tells him. He says he's going to go to the MSR to help Choongnyeong bring down the crown prince.
Nighttime; Happy scholars are leaving the MSR, praising Choongnyeong. Alone, in silence, Yangnyeong watches them. He goes back to drink alone, and thinks about how the scholars used to admire him (brief flashback from the Sambong group meeting in Ep10, apparently in the same room he’s alone in now).
Princess Shim goes to see her husband, concerned because he's been sleeping at the office. But she tells him, "You look happy." He answers, "I owe it all to you, princess."
That evening, Yun Hwe and his subordinates are headed from their office over to pitch in at the MSR. Gim Hanlo and Byun Gaeryang cross their path and demand to know why they're going there when they can barely do their own work. Ah, but this is different work, Yun tells them; it's rewarding. Plus, "if we're lucky, we'll dig up some dirt on high ministers who are trying to stop us." They resume their walk, and surprisingly, Byun joins them, leaving Gim alone.
Hwang finds the crown prince alone drinking. He grabs the bottle from him and angrily asks, "Are you trying to get yourself deposed?"
We see prime minister Ha visiting the queen; he's very concerned about recent developments...
We see Princess Shim visiting Hyoryeong: "Please help, your highness."
Jo Malseng informs the king that Choongnyeong is responsible for the turnaround at the MSR. The king is concerned about this: "Once again he has defied my order and gotten involved in political affairs. Choongnyeong has become very dangerous." From off to the side, "Then you must make a decision." It's the queen; she's come to see him. Surprising all present, she falls to her knees before him. She tells him, "You must send Choongnyeong away." She continues, "Whether the children want it or not, a bloody fight for succession rights to the throne will become inevitable in this situation. Please don't put me through the torture of watching my sons take their swords to each other." She's crying, and it's sincere.
Granny Cowsears helps a eunuch sneak Chogungjang into a palace building, and turns around to find Hyobin standing there staring at her. She confronts the old woman about why "a lady of the palace" is being snuck around, and which lady is she? No, Granny says, that's just Um Jachi's sister here for a visit, and she invites Hyobin in to look around. Then she switches gears, observing that Hyobin must be here about a sensitive matter "seeing as you are here in plain clothes at this hour" and so maybe it's "unwise to be seen by others."
Inside, Hyobin asks the old woman to dig up dirt on Han Younglo's daughter (whom the queen has proposed to be Kyoungnyeong's wife). Find a way to break up the wedding, she tells her, "and I'll compensate you generously."
Before dawn: The queen is awake, thinking things through. She decides that maybe it's best if she tells the king about Yangnyeong's infidelity rather than him hearing it from someone else. She goes to the king's bedchamber...and is surprised to find that the crown prince and princess are visiting him at this early hour. Yangnyeong is writing calligraphy for a plaque at the king's request, to be used for Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. "He has excellent penmanship," says Taejong to his wife, and is thoroughly enjoying his son's company.
Daylight has come and the queen leaves; she didn't spill the beans. "I couldn't...I couldn't tell him. It's been so long since I've seen him gaze upon the crown prince with such warm and trusting eyes." But I have to do something, she wonders. "If I fail to stop this, the regime will be shaken at the root once again."
It's now daytime and the captured minister Hwang has been taken to Dumundong by the masked men. A revolutionary army is training there; Hwang has been brought to see this. It's Ok Hwan's army; he's there too and as Hwang is brought to him (we can now tell that the masked men are Foreman Jeon and Muby), Ok begins talking to Hwang, keeping his back turned. "How much longer will you live your life as butcher for Yi Bangwon?" Ok wants to know. As he talks, Hwang realizes that these are the men responsible for the murder of deputy Kim Byun in Ep1. Hwang brings up the murder and Ok says, "He had to die for his crimes against the royal house." Then Ok warns, "We are in the deepest of your court where you least expect us. I could cut of your king Yi Bangwon's head right now." But he tells Hwang, "We're giving you a chance." Join us or the king dies, is apparently the choice Hwang must make.
The king is told by his ministers that Hwang has been kidnapped. Who did it, he wants to know. No answers yet; not even any clues. Except, it appeared to have been "a professional job" because Hwang's attendants were knocked out by a single blow to a vital point.
Out in the hallway afterwards, Park accuses prime minister Ha of knowing about the kidnapping. It's another ugly exchange between them.
Hwang awakens, alone in the woods. (I must have missed a moment or two; not sure how he got there, unconscious.) A paper with a message is sitting beside him: "I await your wise decision. Remember, we are watching you."
From a distance, Foreman Jeon and Muby watch Hwang leave. Maybe we let him go too easily, Muby says, but Jeon tells him that "Hwang Hee has a deep regret for the deaths of the loyal retainers in Dumundong. That means he has doubts about Joseon as well." We need him; he'll help lay the groundwork for the resurrected royal throne.
Outside of the understaffed, overwhelmed Ministry of Slavery Reparations: Minister Park is told by minister Shim that Choongnyeong hasn't been seen since this morning. Just then, the prince arrives with Yi Su. Where have you been, they want to know. I want to get this office up and running, he tells them; that's the battle I want to fight. There's not much you can do, they tell him, but he answers, "What if I brought a reinforcement army?" And up walk all of the Confucian scholars! They offer to do anything they can to help.
Yun Hwe tells his subordinates about the events at the MSR, and says hurry and finish your work so that we can go to the MSR and help "free the exploited people," which will be valuable public service. They're all excited about the opportunity.
At the MSR: Scholars are interviewing slaves, busily asking questions and taking notes. Choongnyeong is working with them...Flashback to the previous night at the academy, after the scholars' drunken riot: Choongnyeong begins talking to them. "One night of drinking isn't enough to cool [your] raging inferno." Stop mocking us, they tell him. He says he isn't, but he cheerfully ribs them for their self-pity. Then he tells them, "I'm here to help you." Answering their earlier comments about their despair at the future of the state, he tells them, "You may have the right to make disparaging remarks, but I don't think you have the right to despair" because you haven't done everything you can yet. "We still have the strength in us to take one more beating." They look up at him....
Ministers Park, Shim and Jo are before Choongnyeong, asking him for permission to expose the crown prince's wrongdoing. But he won't allow it, and then he lays into Park because "government policies are being used as weapons for rivalry." Park lamely argues that it's not our fault, it's theirs. But Choongnyeong accusingly tells Park that "you were never interested in slavery reparations to begin with." You wanted to trip them up, so "Of course they would fight back. What did you think?" Someone who uses government policies in such a manner, he says, "is a public enemy, not a public servant."
The Mins are before the queen. They're still concerned about finding Chogungjang, but the queen has greater concerns. "Choongnyeong is becoming kingly material unbeknownst to himself," she observes. "He is growing into an extraordinary leader." If he's recognized as more worthy of the throne than the crown prince, our country's past tragedy will be repeated. She wants this avoided at all costs, but at the same time, she says, "What kind of a mother is afraid of her own son's growth?" It’s a frustrating and painful conflict for her, and she sheds a tear.
That night: Princess Shim is summoned by the queen. The queen still distrusts Choongnyeong's motives. She tells the princess, "Do whatever it takes to keep him at home. It's for his own good."
Same evening: As Choongnyeong leaves the MSR with the scholars, Yangnyeong is there waiting for them. He offers to buy everyone a drink. They follow him...inside somewhere (I think it’s the same room where he's met with the scholars before, in the gisaeng house). A beautiful meal is laid out on the table. Yangnyeong gets down to business. "This is to be expected of my kindhearted brother, but I thought you men would know your priorities." Stop working at the ministry, he tells them, and get ready for your trip to Liaodong. But they tell him that they won't go. You're defying me?, he says, but they fire back, "You told us not to be afraid to defy an order that is amiss." His Ming invasion plan, they tell him, is "an armchair theory" and won't work. And as for us, we've gone astray and have forgotten about the people. We need to start over and relearn. Then they leave, telling Yangnyeong that as "humble students" they feel unworthy of this "lavish feast." Yangnyeong is left only with Choongnyeong.
Minister Hwang, walking back home, sees the ruins of Dumundong...Repeat flashback from Ep13, of the Dumundong Incident...Hwang falls to his knees, wrestling with conflicting thoughts.
Next morning: Hwang is before the king. "Who were they?", Taejong wants to know. "There must be a reason they sent you back without hurting a hair on your head." Silence. "Why can't you answer?" Flashback to Ok Hwan telling Hwang, "We are in the deepest of your court where you least expect us."...Flashback ending, Hwang looks over at the king's attendants; what if one of them is in on it? So he says, "I'm afraid I don't know who they are, your majesty."
Granny Cowsears goes to visit Foreman Jeon. She tells him she wants to send a gift to Han Younglo's daughter, and will you slip this in, too? She hands him a paper; "It's a slanderous statement about the king that's enough to destroy the whole clan." It will stop the wedding, she tells him. But he surprises her by telling her, "If you're trying to malign Han Younglo's daughter, you don't have to go to this trouble."
The king and queen are at the Ministry of Endowment, where the queen has been evaluating young women. Taejong tells her that Ming envoys will soon arrive for the maidens promised to the Ming emperor. Wongyeong, with some disappointment, tells him that the task has been difficult because the lords are unwilling to give up their daughters. Just then, Hyobin enters. She tells them, "You're not making progress because the director of this office (Han Younglo) is incompetent." Then she brings up the proposed marriage, and says that Daion is from an "ignoble clan" that would disgrace the royal house. She accuses the girl of having a "lowborn lover." Han, who's standing there during all this, looks around uneasily.
Back home: Han Daion and Jang Youngsil are together in the foundry; Jang is polishing blades. Suddenly soldiers run in and snatch the two away. Left behind on the walls are drawings of cannons, which a minister (it may have been Gim Hanlo, but I'm not sure) notices and begins to study....
Noh Huibong reports to the king: "She confirmed that it's true." So Hyobin was correct. Taejong tells the queen, "It is our son's wedding. You should have paid closer attention." She says nothing, but Hyobin jumps in and starts laying it on thick. I'm sure she feels badly about this, she tells the king at length, and "the guilt must weigh heavily on her heart." All the queen can do is sit there and take it.
Hyobin, back home, is talking to her son prince Kyoungnyeong. This is just the beginning, she tells him. He says he's going to go to the MSR to help Choongnyeong bring down the crown prince.
Nighttime; Happy scholars are leaving the MSR, praising Choongnyeong. Alone, in silence, Yangnyeong watches them. He goes back to drink alone, and thinks about how the scholars used to admire him (brief flashback from the Sambong group meeting in Ep10, apparently in the same room he’s alone in now).
Princess Shim goes to see her husband, concerned because he's been sleeping at the office. But she tells him, "You look happy." He answers, "I owe it all to you, princess."
That evening, Yun Hwe and his subordinates are headed from their office over to pitch in at the MSR. Gim Hanlo and Byun Gaeryang cross their path and demand to know why they're going there when they can barely do their own work. Ah, but this is different work, Yun tells them; it's rewarding. Plus, "if we're lucky, we'll dig up some dirt on high ministers who are trying to stop us." They resume their walk, and surprisingly, Byun joins them, leaving Gim alone.
Hwang finds the crown prince alone drinking. He grabs the bottle from him and angrily asks, "Are you trying to get yourself deposed?"
We see prime minister Ha visiting the queen; he's very concerned about recent developments...
We see Princess Shim visiting Hyoryeong: "Please help, your highness."
Jo Malseng informs the king that Choongnyeong is responsible for the turnaround at the MSR. The king is concerned about this: "Once again he has defied my order and gotten involved in political affairs. Choongnyeong has become very dangerous." From off to the side, "Then you must make a decision." It's the queen; she's come to see him. Surprising all present, she falls to her knees before him. She tells him, "You must send Choongnyeong away." She continues, "Whether the children want it or not, a bloody fight for succession rights to the throne will become inevitable in this situation. Please don't put me through the torture of watching my sons take their swords to each other." She's crying, and it's sincere.