Post by ajk on Jul 23, 2008 15:09:47 GMT -5
Nighttime: Taejong and Jo Malseng are playing a board game. "The Hall of Worthies?", Taejong says. "It's a good name." Jo tells the Taejong that the king spends most of his time there. Who are these people, Taejong wants to know. Mostly young officials and Confucian scholars. "However, here is one misfit in the bunch," Jo says.
Park Eun walks into the Hall of Worthies. The employees are busily poring over records, maps and other such things, and are conferring with one another. Sejong is there too.
Park Eun is there?, Taejong asks. (I guess he's the misfit.) What is he trying to accomplish?
Park confronts Sejong: I see you're gathering information on Tsushima Island; you'd better put a stop to it or it will get the hall shut down, since it's about a military affair and Taejong still holds authority over those. Sejong absolutely refuses, and explains to Park that "I'm trying to learn as much about the enemy as possible to minimize the burden on the people. So if this is a military affair, shouldn't I be involved in this?" Then he reminds Park, "Your job is to pass on your talents as an auditor to the others as quickly as possible; that uncanny talent you have of ferreting out those who acquired wealth unfairly. That might be the quickest way to avoid having to squeeze the public."
Park, talking to Jo, tells him, I should have turned down the position; he seems discouraged with his inability to control what's going on. Jo tells him, "You need to plant a few of your men in the Hall of Worthies. Right now [it] is full of men who were faithful followers since the king's days as a prince. You need to be able to keep them in check to be their effective leader." And maybe, Park replies, it would be good if the men I planted were men that you favored too? Jo smiles: "You catch on quickly."
A junior official named Shin Jang is before Huh Jo, who's holding an envelope. Huh is berating him: "Do you think this is a love letter to your girlfriend?" This is an official government document and it needs a proper seal. Shin is apologetic and regretful. Huh tells him, "You're forgiven, so just do this one thing. Put your resignation on my desk. Or get yourself into the jail house!"
Park and Jo see Shin leave; they go into an office and discuss him as a possible plant for the Hall of Worthies. Jo says he's actually quite talented; he's just a scatterbrain. "Give greater weight to a man's talents instead of his faults; the king would like that." Besides, Jo tells him, "You need a man like him so that your real agent won't come under suspicion." The real agent? Jo calls a man into the room. He's a junior official who introduces himself as Gim Mun. Jo tells Park, "He has plenty of his own reasons to be our eyes and years." (Hmmm...what are they?) Gim tells them, "I will put your interests before the king's if you so ask."
Back at the Hall of Worthies, Sejong finds out from Yi Su that they don't even have a comprehensive map of Tsushima Island.
"He still hasn't opened his mouth?" It's So Sadamori, lord of Tsushima, before his council. "We must learn how to use that thing in order to fight Joseon." Next to him is a cannon.
In a jail, we see a man being whipped by Kumatoshi to get him to talk. The prisoner is a Ming scholar named Yejin. Yejin spits in Kumatoshi's face; Kumatoshi drops the whip and pulls out his sword to kill Yejin. Just then So walks in, orders Kumatoshi to stop, and even gives lashes him with the whip once for good measure. He tells him, This man is the only one we have with knowledge about cannons, and you were going to kill him? We can kill him after he tells us what we need to know.
So Shun and Pyoung Mahngo are sitting at a table, apparently in a restaurant. Mahngo slips Shun an envelope. Shun asks him if anyone with gunpowder knowledge can be convinced to switch sides. "That's not going to be cheap," Mahngo says. So passes him a pouch of money, plus a promise of a government post when he "returns" to Tsushima. (Did he come from there? Not clear.) Then Shun opens the envelope; it contains a report on Joseon's extensive shipbuilding efforts. He studies it and says, "I guess we better hit that place first."
Nighttime on the beach: A squad of six black-clad divers emerges from the water and sneaks onto the shore near a military shipbuilding site. One of the divers steps on a shell, which makes a noise; a patrol guard looks in that direction but can see nothing and turns back away. Just then, the errant diver gets a hand on his shoulder: "Idiot. You're a dead man!" It's Yun Hwe. "Do you think the Japanese are going to announce themselves first? " If any one of you makes another mistake, you'll be in the water all night. They trudge off, cursing, and Yun reminds them, "I told you to curse in Japanese too." So this is some sort of covert squad being trained to go to Tsushima. From a distance, Yi Chun and Gang Sangin watch all of this unfold.
Sejong is at the archery grounds. Gang Sangin comes to see him. He warns the king, "You must stop training spies. If the former king finds out, your intentions will be grossly misunderstood." Sejong tells him about the lack of a map. "Military orders must come from one place," Gang stresses. Sejong replies, I'm not issuing orders, I'm trying to gather information. You of all men should know why I'm trying to go to such lengths to gather information. "All of the soldiers who will fight on this conquest are citizens I must protect...You can call this a military affair if you'd like. But I will not be stopped."
Now even Yun Hwe is concerned; he tells Sejong that the training has been difficult and it's taking a long time. Keep going, Sejong tells him. And, "If there are complications, let us try an official approach to collecting information."
Meeting with his ministers, Sejong says he wants to dispatch a special minister to Tsushima to investigate the situation there. That's not necessary, says Huh Jo; there's a Tsushima emissary already here. He's with Taejong; Taejong requested him. This comes as a complete surprise to everyone.
So Shun, acting as the emissary, is introduced to Taejong; we also learn that he's So Sadamori's brother. Taejong tells him, "Tsushima must be negligent in keeping itself informed about Joseon lately. Or has it become increasingly arrogant?" No answer; Shun only looks around uncomfortably.
Ministers argue about the emissary's presence. This is a diplomatic matter; has the abdicated king overstepped his authority? "That's a tough one," Jo says. "The former king sees this as a military affair. How do you see this?", he asks Sejong.
Back at Sasung Palace: Why are you conducting pirate attacks on Joseon?, Taejong demands. Shun denies any such thing: "For generations Tsushima has served Joseon as our mother country." Okay, Taejong says, "I'll give you three months. Capture the pirates that raided our land and send them to Joseon." Shun recoils a bit and says it won't be easy. Throwing the mother/child reference back at him, Taejong answers, "Don't let me bear the pain of having to strike my own child. If you don't take care of this in three months, the lord of Tsushima could lose his head."
Nighttime: Sejong is before Taejong and asks him, "Is this a declaration of war?" Taejong hedges that We've given them time to get themselves out of it. Sejong again states that he'd like a diplomatic approach to the matter, but Taejong reminds his son that he wants to handle this and that "There are other matters that require your attention."
Uh-oh...A Ming emissary has shown up. Surprise! The emissary, Liu Sian Chi, is angry to find out that Sejong is now king. Ming never even approved the new crown prince and already now he's been named king?! The ministers who are talking to him try to explain it away, saying that it was because of Taejong's "serious illness." But Ming does its own information-gathering, Liu tells them; if he's so ill, how is he handling all of the military affairs? The ministers can only fidget silently. Busss-ted. Liu tells them in a huff, "We have no choice but to accept this as an expression of intentional disdain against great Ming and the emperor."
Sejong is informed of events.
The envoy's assistant and Shim On sit and talk. Some read-between-the-lines comments about the envoy; then the assistant tells Shim, "If the new king displays his respect both materially and expressively, this could become much easier." (In other words, they can bribe their way out of it.) Shim shrewdly says, "I will mention that your efforts must be rewarded as well," which puts a smile on the assistant's face.
Ministers are meeting in the conference hall. Prime minister Yu doesn't like the idea of bribing the envoy. Park Eun counters that doing so will allow them to put this behind them quickly and solidify the king's position, so it would be for the best.
(NOTE: At this point there’s a scene in which Sejong is playing with his kids while Shim On and his daughter have a conversation about something. This was NOT SHOWN on the Tuesday night airing; I happened to notice it during the rebroadcast but wasn't able to see the subtitles so I don't know what was said. This is very disturbing; have we missed other segments of episodes?)
Shim On is before Sejong, who tells him that You're trying to protect me like a parent. No, Shim says, "It was not my son-in-law's prestige but the prestige of this country's king that I feared for." Shim doesn't want to resort to bribery; we're all proud of you and we can't be tarnishing that pride with money. "More importantly," he says, "this is your first action in diplomatic relations as the new king" and if you submit to buying your way out of this, you'll have to take a submissive stance with them every time from now on. Sejong has an idea, a way to try to appease the emperor directly through official means.
Sejong tells his father that he wants to send an official letter to the emperor. It won't solve everything, he says, but it will clarify their position and explain the circumstances. Taejong likes the idea, but says that "you must appease the envoy first." Showing resolve, Sejong says, "I will treat them with utmost respect as they are our guests, but I will not appease them." He also wants to dispatch an envoy to Ming before their envoy leaves here. That will be tricky diplomatically, Taejong says, but he believes that Shim On can handle it. "He is the best choice." Then he drops a bomb: "Elevate his position to prime minister and send him to Ming without delay. We must show our devotion to win the emperor's heart," and by sending the king's father-on law, who also is an experienced diplomat and has dealt well with Ming in the past, "the emperor will know that Joseon is committed to winning his heart." Sejong is befuddled: "Prime minister?"
Taejong is at the archery grounds, practicing (and boy can he shoot arrows. Bullseye after bullseye). Jo wants to know why he suggested Shim On as prime minister. No answer. He just keeps shooting.
Park, Jo and PM Yu are eating at a gisaeng house, and discuss the latest. Yu observes, "The former king, who has morbid hatred for in-laws, is putting the new king's father-in-law at the very top of the tree. Then he will shake the tree and make him fall. If it's Shim On this time, who's his next target?"
Nighttime: Sejong has come to visit his father-in-law, and tells him about Taejong's prime-minister suggestion. "Is that a good idea?," he wonders aloud. "I don't want to doubt my father's intentions, but I can't help myself. You know how he treated his own in-laws." "Stop this!" Shim immediately says. "Must I take a whip to you?" (Wow--even if he is a father-in-law, that's some statement to make to your own king.) Calming down, he explains, For so long I was helpless to do anything for you, and then you ascended to the throne. "I was extremely proud--but right now I am angry. I know how many political enemies the former king has killed. But you know that he didn't do those things to please himself;" he did what was necessary "to put this country on solid ground. You must understand his struggles [and] most importantly, you must trust him. He would not kill or destroy anyone without a reason." In any event, he continues, "If I abuse my power and try to shake the foundation of the country like his in-laws did, you must strike me down, not the former king. You must always remember how onerous being a king can be."
"Resign from the court?" PM Yu is before Taejong and apparently has just proposed his resignation. "Is this spite? Are you angry because the king wants to replace you after what you did to put him on the throne?" No, Yu says; you only appointed me to help with the transition to a new king and "Now that you have accomplished that goal..." But Taejong surprises him: "This abdication is not wrapped up yet. So go back to the royal inspector's office and take our old job back." Yu is completely surprised by the request, but we see a look of determination in Taejong's face and we start to realize that he's orchestrating a bigger plan here. He tells Yu, Clean up the king's court; remove anyone who seeks to undermine the new king. Wide-eyed, Yu bows in acceptance.
Shim On is officially named the new prime minister in a formal ceremony (that we only see a bit of; couldn’t they have shown us more? This is a big deal, after all).
We see the new queen. She steps outside and a group of women is waiting, hoping to catch her eye. "What is this?", she wonders aloud. The former queen is also there; she orders the group sent away.
"Congratulate me?" Inside, the new queen and former queen are talking. "Your father has become prime minister of this state," Wongyeong says; "it is to be expected." The women gathered outside are trying to impress the prime minister's daughter, she explains. "Judging by the crowd outside, I can imagine how he must have worked in the past" when he was personnel minister. (In other words, get a position of power and you're a babe magnet.) No, the queen says; my father doesn't work like that. Wongyeong advises her to beware of such situations; You don't want to be seen as someone who can manipulate your father. "It's just that both you and your father need to take care of yourselves. I'm sure you know what happens to those who attempt to abuse their power exploiting their relations with the king." She speaks from painful experience and instantly looks years older as she thinks about it.
The new prime minister and his delegation are before the king, ready to leave for their trip to Ming. It's quite a gathering. Taejong has offered his favorite horse to Shim...Quick flashback to a conversation between Taejong and Sejong that we hadn't seen: The horse, Taejong says, "will make the prime minister's travel at his old age a little easier. Tell him that I'm counting on him and to remember that the fate of the king and this nation rests on his shoulders."...Flashback ending, Shim is overwhelmed by the gesture and says, "I will pay him back with loyalty when I return." We see prince Kyoungnyeong in the delegation, too; Hyobin is there, beaming with pride. Choi Manli is going too; he says that he's going to be searching for books to bring back. Yun Hwe hears this and remarks, "You can hardly speak the language. Just don't get lost." The razzing makes everyone laugh. The queen wishes her father a safe trip....
We see the procession leave the capital. It's a big procession, and the public cheers it on as it approaches the city gate. PM Yu and Park watch. "The tree wants to be still but the world will not stop shaking him." says Yu metaphorically. Park adds, "And soon the king might want to chop the tree down."
Noh Huibong reports back to Taejong about the procession's size and public sendoff; nearly the entire city turned out for it. "It must have looked like a king's procession," he says with a strange hint of distrust.
Park Eun walks into the Hall of Worthies. The employees are busily poring over records, maps and other such things, and are conferring with one another. Sejong is there too.
Park Eun is there?, Taejong asks. (I guess he's the misfit.) What is he trying to accomplish?
Park confronts Sejong: I see you're gathering information on Tsushima Island; you'd better put a stop to it or it will get the hall shut down, since it's about a military affair and Taejong still holds authority over those. Sejong absolutely refuses, and explains to Park that "I'm trying to learn as much about the enemy as possible to minimize the burden on the people. So if this is a military affair, shouldn't I be involved in this?" Then he reminds Park, "Your job is to pass on your talents as an auditor to the others as quickly as possible; that uncanny talent you have of ferreting out those who acquired wealth unfairly. That might be the quickest way to avoid having to squeeze the public."
Park, talking to Jo, tells him, I should have turned down the position; he seems discouraged with his inability to control what's going on. Jo tells him, "You need to plant a few of your men in the Hall of Worthies. Right now [it] is full of men who were faithful followers since the king's days as a prince. You need to be able to keep them in check to be their effective leader." And maybe, Park replies, it would be good if the men I planted were men that you favored too? Jo smiles: "You catch on quickly."
A junior official named Shin Jang is before Huh Jo, who's holding an envelope. Huh is berating him: "Do you think this is a love letter to your girlfriend?" This is an official government document and it needs a proper seal. Shin is apologetic and regretful. Huh tells him, "You're forgiven, so just do this one thing. Put your resignation on my desk. Or get yourself into the jail house!"
Park and Jo see Shin leave; they go into an office and discuss him as a possible plant for the Hall of Worthies. Jo says he's actually quite talented; he's just a scatterbrain. "Give greater weight to a man's talents instead of his faults; the king would like that." Besides, Jo tells him, "You need a man like him so that your real agent won't come under suspicion." The real agent? Jo calls a man into the room. He's a junior official who introduces himself as Gim Mun. Jo tells Park, "He has plenty of his own reasons to be our eyes and years." (Hmmm...what are they?) Gim tells them, "I will put your interests before the king's if you so ask."
Back at the Hall of Worthies, Sejong finds out from Yi Su that they don't even have a comprehensive map of Tsushima Island.
"He still hasn't opened his mouth?" It's So Sadamori, lord of Tsushima, before his council. "We must learn how to use that thing in order to fight Joseon." Next to him is a cannon.
In a jail, we see a man being whipped by Kumatoshi to get him to talk. The prisoner is a Ming scholar named Yejin. Yejin spits in Kumatoshi's face; Kumatoshi drops the whip and pulls out his sword to kill Yejin. Just then So walks in, orders Kumatoshi to stop, and even gives lashes him with the whip once for good measure. He tells him, This man is the only one we have with knowledge about cannons, and you were going to kill him? We can kill him after he tells us what we need to know.
So Shun and Pyoung Mahngo are sitting at a table, apparently in a restaurant. Mahngo slips Shun an envelope. Shun asks him if anyone with gunpowder knowledge can be convinced to switch sides. "That's not going to be cheap," Mahngo says. So passes him a pouch of money, plus a promise of a government post when he "returns" to Tsushima. (Did he come from there? Not clear.) Then Shun opens the envelope; it contains a report on Joseon's extensive shipbuilding efforts. He studies it and says, "I guess we better hit that place first."
Nighttime on the beach: A squad of six black-clad divers emerges from the water and sneaks onto the shore near a military shipbuilding site. One of the divers steps on a shell, which makes a noise; a patrol guard looks in that direction but can see nothing and turns back away. Just then, the errant diver gets a hand on his shoulder: "Idiot. You're a dead man!" It's Yun Hwe. "Do you think the Japanese are going to announce themselves first? " If any one of you makes another mistake, you'll be in the water all night. They trudge off, cursing, and Yun reminds them, "I told you to curse in Japanese too." So this is some sort of covert squad being trained to go to Tsushima. From a distance, Yi Chun and Gang Sangin watch all of this unfold.
Sejong is at the archery grounds. Gang Sangin comes to see him. He warns the king, "You must stop training spies. If the former king finds out, your intentions will be grossly misunderstood." Sejong tells him about the lack of a map. "Military orders must come from one place," Gang stresses. Sejong replies, I'm not issuing orders, I'm trying to gather information. You of all men should know why I'm trying to go to such lengths to gather information. "All of the soldiers who will fight on this conquest are citizens I must protect...You can call this a military affair if you'd like. But I will not be stopped."
Now even Yun Hwe is concerned; he tells Sejong that the training has been difficult and it's taking a long time. Keep going, Sejong tells him. And, "If there are complications, let us try an official approach to collecting information."
Meeting with his ministers, Sejong says he wants to dispatch a special minister to Tsushima to investigate the situation there. That's not necessary, says Huh Jo; there's a Tsushima emissary already here. He's with Taejong; Taejong requested him. This comes as a complete surprise to everyone.
So Shun, acting as the emissary, is introduced to Taejong; we also learn that he's So Sadamori's brother. Taejong tells him, "Tsushima must be negligent in keeping itself informed about Joseon lately. Or has it become increasingly arrogant?" No answer; Shun only looks around uncomfortably.
Ministers argue about the emissary's presence. This is a diplomatic matter; has the abdicated king overstepped his authority? "That's a tough one," Jo says. "The former king sees this as a military affair. How do you see this?", he asks Sejong.
Back at Sasung Palace: Why are you conducting pirate attacks on Joseon?, Taejong demands. Shun denies any such thing: "For generations Tsushima has served Joseon as our mother country." Okay, Taejong says, "I'll give you three months. Capture the pirates that raided our land and send them to Joseon." Shun recoils a bit and says it won't be easy. Throwing the mother/child reference back at him, Taejong answers, "Don't let me bear the pain of having to strike my own child. If you don't take care of this in three months, the lord of Tsushima could lose his head."
Nighttime: Sejong is before Taejong and asks him, "Is this a declaration of war?" Taejong hedges that We've given them time to get themselves out of it. Sejong again states that he'd like a diplomatic approach to the matter, but Taejong reminds his son that he wants to handle this and that "There are other matters that require your attention."
Uh-oh...A Ming emissary has shown up. Surprise! The emissary, Liu Sian Chi, is angry to find out that Sejong is now king. Ming never even approved the new crown prince and already now he's been named king?! The ministers who are talking to him try to explain it away, saying that it was because of Taejong's "serious illness." But Ming does its own information-gathering, Liu tells them; if he's so ill, how is he handling all of the military affairs? The ministers can only fidget silently. Busss-ted. Liu tells them in a huff, "We have no choice but to accept this as an expression of intentional disdain against great Ming and the emperor."
Sejong is informed of events.
The envoy's assistant and Shim On sit and talk. Some read-between-the-lines comments about the envoy; then the assistant tells Shim, "If the new king displays his respect both materially and expressively, this could become much easier." (In other words, they can bribe their way out of it.) Shim shrewdly says, "I will mention that your efforts must be rewarded as well," which puts a smile on the assistant's face.
Ministers are meeting in the conference hall. Prime minister Yu doesn't like the idea of bribing the envoy. Park Eun counters that doing so will allow them to put this behind them quickly and solidify the king's position, so it would be for the best.
(NOTE: At this point there’s a scene in which Sejong is playing with his kids while Shim On and his daughter have a conversation about something. This was NOT SHOWN on the Tuesday night airing; I happened to notice it during the rebroadcast but wasn't able to see the subtitles so I don't know what was said. This is very disturbing; have we missed other segments of episodes?)
Shim On is before Sejong, who tells him that You're trying to protect me like a parent. No, Shim says, "It was not my son-in-law's prestige but the prestige of this country's king that I feared for." Shim doesn't want to resort to bribery; we're all proud of you and we can't be tarnishing that pride with money. "More importantly," he says, "this is your first action in diplomatic relations as the new king" and if you submit to buying your way out of this, you'll have to take a submissive stance with them every time from now on. Sejong has an idea, a way to try to appease the emperor directly through official means.
Sejong tells his father that he wants to send an official letter to the emperor. It won't solve everything, he says, but it will clarify their position and explain the circumstances. Taejong likes the idea, but says that "you must appease the envoy first." Showing resolve, Sejong says, "I will treat them with utmost respect as they are our guests, but I will not appease them." He also wants to dispatch an envoy to Ming before their envoy leaves here. That will be tricky diplomatically, Taejong says, but he believes that Shim On can handle it. "He is the best choice." Then he drops a bomb: "Elevate his position to prime minister and send him to Ming without delay. We must show our devotion to win the emperor's heart," and by sending the king's father-on law, who also is an experienced diplomat and has dealt well with Ming in the past, "the emperor will know that Joseon is committed to winning his heart." Sejong is befuddled: "Prime minister?"
Taejong is at the archery grounds, practicing (and boy can he shoot arrows. Bullseye after bullseye). Jo wants to know why he suggested Shim On as prime minister. No answer. He just keeps shooting.
Park, Jo and PM Yu are eating at a gisaeng house, and discuss the latest. Yu observes, "The former king, who has morbid hatred for in-laws, is putting the new king's father-in-law at the very top of the tree. Then he will shake the tree and make him fall. If it's Shim On this time, who's his next target?"
Nighttime: Sejong has come to visit his father-in-law, and tells him about Taejong's prime-minister suggestion. "Is that a good idea?," he wonders aloud. "I don't want to doubt my father's intentions, but I can't help myself. You know how he treated his own in-laws." "Stop this!" Shim immediately says. "Must I take a whip to you?" (Wow--even if he is a father-in-law, that's some statement to make to your own king.) Calming down, he explains, For so long I was helpless to do anything for you, and then you ascended to the throne. "I was extremely proud--but right now I am angry. I know how many political enemies the former king has killed. But you know that he didn't do those things to please himself;" he did what was necessary "to put this country on solid ground. You must understand his struggles [and] most importantly, you must trust him. He would not kill or destroy anyone without a reason." In any event, he continues, "If I abuse my power and try to shake the foundation of the country like his in-laws did, you must strike me down, not the former king. You must always remember how onerous being a king can be."
"Resign from the court?" PM Yu is before Taejong and apparently has just proposed his resignation. "Is this spite? Are you angry because the king wants to replace you after what you did to put him on the throne?" No, Yu says; you only appointed me to help with the transition to a new king and "Now that you have accomplished that goal..." But Taejong surprises him: "This abdication is not wrapped up yet. So go back to the royal inspector's office and take our old job back." Yu is completely surprised by the request, but we see a look of determination in Taejong's face and we start to realize that he's orchestrating a bigger plan here. He tells Yu, Clean up the king's court; remove anyone who seeks to undermine the new king. Wide-eyed, Yu bows in acceptance.
Shim On is officially named the new prime minister in a formal ceremony (that we only see a bit of; couldn’t they have shown us more? This is a big deal, after all).
We see the new queen. She steps outside and a group of women is waiting, hoping to catch her eye. "What is this?", she wonders aloud. The former queen is also there; she orders the group sent away.
"Congratulate me?" Inside, the new queen and former queen are talking. "Your father has become prime minister of this state," Wongyeong says; "it is to be expected." The women gathered outside are trying to impress the prime minister's daughter, she explains. "Judging by the crowd outside, I can imagine how he must have worked in the past" when he was personnel minister. (In other words, get a position of power and you're a babe magnet.) No, the queen says; my father doesn't work like that. Wongyeong advises her to beware of such situations; You don't want to be seen as someone who can manipulate your father. "It's just that both you and your father need to take care of yourselves. I'm sure you know what happens to those who attempt to abuse their power exploiting their relations with the king." She speaks from painful experience and instantly looks years older as she thinks about it.
The new prime minister and his delegation are before the king, ready to leave for their trip to Ming. It's quite a gathering. Taejong has offered his favorite horse to Shim...Quick flashback to a conversation between Taejong and Sejong that we hadn't seen: The horse, Taejong says, "will make the prime minister's travel at his old age a little easier. Tell him that I'm counting on him and to remember that the fate of the king and this nation rests on his shoulders."...Flashback ending, Shim is overwhelmed by the gesture and says, "I will pay him back with loyalty when I return." We see prince Kyoungnyeong in the delegation, too; Hyobin is there, beaming with pride. Choi Manli is going too; he says that he's going to be searching for books to bring back. Yun Hwe hears this and remarks, "You can hardly speak the language. Just don't get lost." The razzing makes everyone laugh. The queen wishes her father a safe trip....
We see the procession leave the capital. It's a big procession, and the public cheers it on as it approaches the city gate. PM Yu and Park watch. "The tree wants to be still but the world will not stop shaking him." says Yu metaphorically. Park adds, "And soon the king might want to chop the tree down."
Noh Huibong reports back to Taejong about the procession's size and public sendoff; nearly the entire city turned out for it. "It must have looked like a king's procession," he says with a strange hint of distrust.