Post by ajk on Oct 13, 2009 16:55:57 GMT -5
Gang Jo is dragged out of the conference hall by Dae Dosu and Gang Gamchan. Chiyang wanted to provoke him into losing his temper; mission accomplished. They go into another room and Gamchan lets Jo have it but good. "What is the matter with you? You know better than to do this!" You're turning the situation in Chiyang's favor by behaving like this. "If you want to avenge your wife's death, this has to stop. Please do as I say!"
Back in the conference hall, the anti-military ministers complain about Jo's behavior and demand that Cheonchu punish him for it. But Cheonchu recognizes the grief-stricken state Jo is in, and gives the ministers a scolding: "You can never agree on anything when it comes to state affairs, but here you are shouting in unison against a fellow statesman. How can you serve the public with compassion if your hearts know no sympathy?" At that they back off.
Later, Cheonchu and Chiyang are alone. We see Chiyang has a bloody lip; turns out, that swing Jo took at him connected a bit. (It obviously did NOT connect when we saw it! yecch) Cheonchu suggests having the physician check him, but Chiyang waves it off and says, "My injury is emotional." Good grief, what a baby. Cheonchu asks him to forget the incident, but he complains, "Does General Gang mean more to you than I do?" (Okay, I know he's playing this to get rid of Jo, but even so, he's being a colossal wussy-boy.) This isn't the first time Jo has accused me of terrible things, Chiyang says, and if you're going to take his side, "then renounce me." And he leaves. (Maybe he needs his diaper changed.)
"Osuksan?" That's the favor Mokjong is asking of Yu Hangan. Osuksan is the narcotic that he was unknowingly being administered by Yunheung for a brief time (and also what King Sungjong was addicted to for a time). Mokjong wants some of it because it "makes you forget all your pains of reality." Mokjong says he's increasingly troubled and can't sleep any more, and he thinks the osuksan will help with that.
Gang Jo and Gamchan are drinking together. Jo confesses he can't stop thinking about Hyangbi. Gamchan suggests taking a regional post for a while, just to get away from the sight of Chiyang--and because Gamchan is trying hard to unravel the mystery surrounding Chiyang and Jo is doing him more harm than good.
Chiyang tells Sa Gamun he's going to boycott court meetings for a while to make his point. (How can he get away with that? He has a job to do!) And he calls Jo an "idiot" for being manipulated so easily. Then Mun Inui enters and tells Chiyang that Hangan is looking for osuksan for Mokjong. Good news for them; anything to mess up the emperor and get him off the throne. Chiyang smiles. "He probably can't stand the emotional pain he is in. Sure, we'll find some for him. It's the emperor's order after all. The emperor wants to help us and destroy himself."
Mokjong tells his wife that he wants to sleep alone from now on. "I'm even more distressed when you are with me," he explains. "So please leave me alone." We've never seen Sunjeong be anything but gracious, even in painful circumstances, but this time is different. "What am I to you?", she asks, looking terribly hurt. She confesses, "It tore me apart when you gave you heart to the imperial consort. But I endured it. I saw how happy she made you and withstood the pain. I endured it all waiting for the day that you will turn to me and smile." But now this? "You are so cruel," she says, crying. "My feelings get hurt and I get jealous like all other women. And now I resent you." She walks out in tears. Well THAT certainly was a surprise. Mokjong, talking to himself, seems to have a plan. "I don't want to die. I want to leave this palace with you and my life intact. And to do that, I have to ruin myself. I have to be wrecked beyond recognition and be cast off by my mother."
Gang Jo is having a tough time. He's seeing visions of Hyangbi everywhere...reaching out to her only to see her disappear. He ends up on his knees outside his home, crying in the mud during a rainfall. (Gotta say, this was a very touching scene.)
"You wish to go to Hogyeong?" Jo is at Cheonchu's palace, telling her that's what he wants. Cheonchu refuses, but he presses....
We see Jo leaving, at the same time Chiyang arrives. Chiyang goes inside. She summoned him to scold him for his not attending meetings. He whines some more and she feels it necessary to reassure him she still feels the same way about him--"You are my love and the father of my child. But I cannot openly show this" while I'm on the throne. After I step down I'll make it up to you, she promises. Then she mentions Gang Jo leaving--so obviously she granted his request--and then tells him he needs to show up for meetings now. She needs help dealing with the newly pressing issue we just heard about in the previous episode: public unrest over the high tax rate needed to maintain the large military force.
Sa Gamun and Yi Jujeong are talking about getting osuksan. They think they have to get it from Liao; Yi Jujeong says he can do that. Then Dokyun shows up; she overheard enough and wants to know what they need osuksan for. She's concerned about her husband getting himself into something dangerous. He won't tell her, but she presses him on it, and then surprises the heck out of him: "I can make as much of it as you need right here." (Why should that surprise him? She's the poison expert! Sheesh.) She tells him she's the one who made the osuksan that was used on King Sungjong.
Gang Jo tells the emperor and empress that he's leaving. Sunjeong offers kind words; Mokjong is his usual cold, silent self. But then as Jo turns to leave, Mokjong speaks: "I know your pain better than anyone. But you are a man of strong will, so don't let this get the best of you like I did, and stay strong." Obviously he's not over Milhwa yet, or even close to it.
Outside, attendant Yu Chungjeong tells Jo (who recommended him for the job, remember) that he knew Hyangbi well as a child and will pray for her. Jo reminds him to watch Yu Hangan carefully and report anything suspicious to Gamchan.
State council meeting: Cheonchu announces that Gang Jo is taking a post as inspector general of the northwest provincial armies. Then discussion turns to the problems of labor conscription and tax collections required to maintain the current military force. Most of the ministers favor simply downsizing the military. Dae Dosu is still wary of being left vulnerable to invasion, but most of the others don't perceive an imminent threat from the Khitans. And the labor conscription policy is draining sorely needed manpower from the agriculture industry. It's an interesting debate. Gamchan looks to be visibly uncomfortable with the direction it's heading...
...but later, alone with Cheonchu, gently tells her, "Your Highness, they do have a point. Soldiery of 300,000 is quite large for our means." But Cheonchu won't budge. "We can't downsize the military and we can't raise taxes either." (And apparently they can't run up loads of debt to dump on future generations either. Oh for the good old days). So Cheonchu has another idea: give the populace a break by reducing the allowable private tax collection on sharecropped land. As we learn, the government takes a ten percent tax of farm output on government lands, but private landowners get to take a whopping one-half of their tenant farmers' output for themselves. Cheonchu wants to cut their take from one-half to one-fourth, to help the tenant farmers (who are also the ones being conscripted on top of being heavily taxed). Gamchan is appalled, because the one-half take is "a centuries-old tradition" and "Every landowner in the country will rise up against it." But Cheonchu isn't concerned about the landowners: "These are wealthy aristocrats whose lives will not be affected." It's the farmers she's concerned about, and "This is the only way to ease their burden without sacrificing our national defense."
Gang Jo's fellow soldiers bid him farewell. Surprisingly, Yi Hyunoon kneels before him and asks to go with him; he's tired of being bullied and wants a fresh start. He ends up actually grabbing his leg and begging.
Later, Cheonchu laments Jo's leaving; she tells Sa Illa they go back thirty years and "I thought he would always be by my side." And she speaks of his pain as a widower. Sa Illa listens and starts crying, telling Cheonchu she feels so sad for Hyangbi's death (but obviously feeling the burden of what she knows about it). "She's such a fool," Sa Illa says. "We could have lived in harmony." Cheonchu doesn't hear anything odd in that.
Evening: Cheonchu leaves her quarters for a walk outside. On the way out she finds Sa Illa asleep on duty in her hallway, and leaves her alone. (?) Outside, she happens to see her son out on his porch, crying bitterly, obviously still in the depths of grief over Milhwa. She watches him for a bit but then walks away instead of going to him. (He doesn't see her, but still…And she wonders why he hates her.)
Liao: Empress Dowager Chengtian is still in bed, suffering from apparent pneumonia. Tomorrow she's headed for her recuperation period at the southern capital (warmer climate; hot springs). She speaks with her son about an emerging problem: a large and growing amount of tea importation from Song China. Thanks to that peace treaty with Song, they're getting a tribute payment of 200,000 ounces of silver per year, but it goes "right back to Song to pay for tea." (A harmful trade deficit with China. Whoever heard of such a thing!) Chengtian wonders about another option: "Doesn't Goryeo produce tea as well?" Yes they do, but there's no trade with Goryeo right now. She tells Shengzong, "The age of war is over. The time is upon you to rule the people with generosity and compassion so they will extol your benevolence. This means developing more land and establishing active exchange with Goryeo. So now you must give up your ideas about invading Goryeo." Shengzong assures his mother he understands this. But then he learns that Prime Minister Han won't be accompanying his mother, as he had assumed. "He will remain here to help you run the state."
"It's to keep an eye on me. She still doesn't trust me." Shengzong is with his military leadership: Yelu Dilie, Yelu Pennu, Yelu Wuji and others. "I'm almost 40 years old and she still thinks I'm a child." But she has good reason not to trust him, because he's planning to expand the military as soon as she leaves! Even if the prime minister sticks around? "I fear my mother, but not the prime minister. I can handle him." He orders the viceroy of the eastern capital, Xiao Baiya, called back--"He should be a fair match for the prime minister"--and orders the callback of general Yelu Dilu, currently at the western capital of Datong. Apparently he's a crucial piece of the puzzle. "Summon then immediately once my mother leaves the city!"
Won Jongseok, the lieutenant governor of Hogyeong, officially welcomes Gang Jo. He introduces Jo to his two new assistants. The second man to enter is introduces himself as captain Noh Hui. But we can barely process that, because we immediately recognize the first man: Ahn Pae! This is the guy from the north who was serving as a garrison commander and was abusing the foundry workers and refugee villagers under his authority. A real sleazebag, and now he's a colonel and working in Hogyeong, apparently without having been punished for his abuses. Watch out for this guy.
State council meeting: Cheonchu announces her plan to reduce the private landowner take from one-half to one-third. (So she tweaked it a bit.) Immediate buzzing and strenuous objections from ministers--"This is without precedent since the founding of Goryeo"--but she won't budge. But she accuses them of being selfish; they're landowners themselves (at least she talks to them like they are, so we assume they must be) and on top of it they get additional land through the stipend policy. "The commoners are forced to bear arms for the country and cultivate the land on their empty stomachs only to surrender half of their harvest to you." And you're not willing to do your part? If you don't like it, she says, "rise up and remove me from this seat!"
Gamchan, Choe Hang and Dae Dosu agree that Cheonchu is taking a big risk. It could even lead to an insurrection, they fear. Not immediately, because she has military authority, but if she should make any significant mistakes that would erode public trust, well..."I doubt that will happen," Dae says.
Chiyang ponders Cheonchu's announcement. He's not sure whether he supports or opposes it. For him, it's all about whether or not it will help him get his son to the throne.
Nighttime: Jo Sun and Princess Jeong come to Yunheung's place of exile again. They slip the guard another bribe and go in for a visit. It's a tough life for Yunheung and Escort Jo; we learn that they're not even allowed to leave the house. Jo Sun suggests appealing for clemency. Yunheung doubts that's even possible, but Jeong offers to go to Mokjong herself. They were close when they lived in the palace as kids together, so it's at least worth a try; maybe she can convince him.
Nighttime: Hangan has come to see the emperor. Attendant Yu won't let him in; it's too late at night and Yu is trying to look out for Mokjong's health. But Hangan pulls rank on him and so Yu has to step aside and let Hangan pass.
"You got it?" Yes he did. Hangan hands the emperor a small bottle of liquid. Mokjong immediately takes a dose.
Sunjeong tells Cheonchu about the new sleeping arrangements. Cheonchu is increasingly concerned about her son and tells Sunjeong, We have to get him back the way he was for those three years before Milhwa, when he was a competent ruler.
Mokjong is lying in bed; the drug is kicking in. As Hangan leans over him to check on him, Mokjong starts to hallucinate and believes that Hangan is Milhwa. He grabs Hangan, hugs him and cries on his shoulder, apologizing to Milhwa for killing her. Hangan is understandably shocked at first, but then decides to PLAY ALONG!: "Did you...really miss me, your majesty?" "I didn't mean to treat you so coldly. I really love you." "I...love you too, your majesty. I've loved you from the moment I saw you." Mokjong cries on his shoulder again. And then...smoochies! We don't see the actual smoochies, because just as their lips are about to touch, there's a cut away to a shot of an eye watching through a crack in the wall. (Seems to me KBS wimped out on this; if you're gonna go in that direction, you're gonna have to back it up.) The eye is attendant Yu's. Seeing what's happening, he runs outside, dumbfounded and gasping for breath...And looks up to see Cheonchu arriving to visit her son.
Back in the conference hall, the anti-military ministers complain about Jo's behavior and demand that Cheonchu punish him for it. But Cheonchu recognizes the grief-stricken state Jo is in, and gives the ministers a scolding: "You can never agree on anything when it comes to state affairs, but here you are shouting in unison against a fellow statesman. How can you serve the public with compassion if your hearts know no sympathy?" At that they back off.
Later, Cheonchu and Chiyang are alone. We see Chiyang has a bloody lip; turns out, that swing Jo took at him connected a bit. (It obviously did NOT connect when we saw it! yecch) Cheonchu suggests having the physician check him, but Chiyang waves it off and says, "My injury is emotional." Good grief, what a baby. Cheonchu asks him to forget the incident, but he complains, "Does General Gang mean more to you than I do?" (Okay, I know he's playing this to get rid of Jo, but even so, he's being a colossal wussy-boy.) This isn't the first time Jo has accused me of terrible things, Chiyang says, and if you're going to take his side, "then renounce me." And he leaves. (Maybe he needs his diaper changed.)
"Osuksan?" That's the favor Mokjong is asking of Yu Hangan. Osuksan is the narcotic that he was unknowingly being administered by Yunheung for a brief time (and also what King Sungjong was addicted to for a time). Mokjong wants some of it because it "makes you forget all your pains of reality." Mokjong says he's increasingly troubled and can't sleep any more, and he thinks the osuksan will help with that.
Gang Jo and Gamchan are drinking together. Jo confesses he can't stop thinking about Hyangbi. Gamchan suggests taking a regional post for a while, just to get away from the sight of Chiyang--and because Gamchan is trying hard to unravel the mystery surrounding Chiyang and Jo is doing him more harm than good.
Chiyang tells Sa Gamun he's going to boycott court meetings for a while to make his point. (How can he get away with that? He has a job to do!) And he calls Jo an "idiot" for being manipulated so easily. Then Mun Inui enters and tells Chiyang that Hangan is looking for osuksan for Mokjong. Good news for them; anything to mess up the emperor and get him off the throne. Chiyang smiles. "He probably can't stand the emotional pain he is in. Sure, we'll find some for him. It's the emperor's order after all. The emperor wants to help us and destroy himself."
Mokjong tells his wife that he wants to sleep alone from now on. "I'm even more distressed when you are with me," he explains. "So please leave me alone." We've never seen Sunjeong be anything but gracious, even in painful circumstances, but this time is different. "What am I to you?", she asks, looking terribly hurt. She confesses, "It tore me apart when you gave you heart to the imperial consort. But I endured it. I saw how happy she made you and withstood the pain. I endured it all waiting for the day that you will turn to me and smile." But now this? "You are so cruel," she says, crying. "My feelings get hurt and I get jealous like all other women. And now I resent you." She walks out in tears. Well THAT certainly was a surprise. Mokjong, talking to himself, seems to have a plan. "I don't want to die. I want to leave this palace with you and my life intact. And to do that, I have to ruin myself. I have to be wrecked beyond recognition and be cast off by my mother."
Gang Jo is having a tough time. He's seeing visions of Hyangbi everywhere...reaching out to her only to see her disappear. He ends up on his knees outside his home, crying in the mud during a rainfall. (Gotta say, this was a very touching scene.)
"You wish to go to Hogyeong?" Jo is at Cheonchu's palace, telling her that's what he wants. Cheonchu refuses, but he presses....
We see Jo leaving, at the same time Chiyang arrives. Chiyang goes inside. She summoned him to scold him for his not attending meetings. He whines some more and she feels it necessary to reassure him she still feels the same way about him--"You are my love and the father of my child. But I cannot openly show this" while I'm on the throne. After I step down I'll make it up to you, she promises. Then she mentions Gang Jo leaving--so obviously she granted his request--and then tells him he needs to show up for meetings now. She needs help dealing with the newly pressing issue we just heard about in the previous episode: public unrest over the high tax rate needed to maintain the large military force.
Sa Gamun and Yi Jujeong are talking about getting osuksan. They think they have to get it from Liao; Yi Jujeong says he can do that. Then Dokyun shows up; she overheard enough and wants to know what they need osuksan for. She's concerned about her husband getting himself into something dangerous. He won't tell her, but she presses him on it, and then surprises the heck out of him: "I can make as much of it as you need right here." (Why should that surprise him? She's the poison expert! Sheesh.) She tells him she's the one who made the osuksan that was used on King Sungjong.
Gang Jo tells the emperor and empress that he's leaving. Sunjeong offers kind words; Mokjong is his usual cold, silent self. But then as Jo turns to leave, Mokjong speaks: "I know your pain better than anyone. But you are a man of strong will, so don't let this get the best of you like I did, and stay strong." Obviously he's not over Milhwa yet, or even close to it.
Outside, attendant Yu Chungjeong tells Jo (who recommended him for the job, remember) that he knew Hyangbi well as a child and will pray for her. Jo reminds him to watch Yu Hangan carefully and report anything suspicious to Gamchan.
State council meeting: Cheonchu announces that Gang Jo is taking a post as inspector general of the northwest provincial armies. Then discussion turns to the problems of labor conscription and tax collections required to maintain the current military force. Most of the ministers favor simply downsizing the military. Dae Dosu is still wary of being left vulnerable to invasion, but most of the others don't perceive an imminent threat from the Khitans. And the labor conscription policy is draining sorely needed manpower from the agriculture industry. It's an interesting debate. Gamchan looks to be visibly uncomfortable with the direction it's heading...
...but later, alone with Cheonchu, gently tells her, "Your Highness, they do have a point. Soldiery of 300,000 is quite large for our means." But Cheonchu won't budge. "We can't downsize the military and we can't raise taxes either." (And apparently they can't run up loads of debt to dump on future generations either. Oh for the good old days). So Cheonchu has another idea: give the populace a break by reducing the allowable private tax collection on sharecropped land. As we learn, the government takes a ten percent tax of farm output on government lands, but private landowners get to take a whopping one-half of their tenant farmers' output for themselves. Cheonchu wants to cut their take from one-half to one-fourth, to help the tenant farmers (who are also the ones being conscripted on top of being heavily taxed). Gamchan is appalled, because the one-half take is "a centuries-old tradition" and "Every landowner in the country will rise up against it." But Cheonchu isn't concerned about the landowners: "These are wealthy aristocrats whose lives will not be affected." It's the farmers she's concerned about, and "This is the only way to ease their burden without sacrificing our national defense."
Gang Jo's fellow soldiers bid him farewell. Surprisingly, Yi Hyunoon kneels before him and asks to go with him; he's tired of being bullied and wants a fresh start. He ends up actually grabbing his leg and begging.
Later, Cheonchu laments Jo's leaving; she tells Sa Illa they go back thirty years and "I thought he would always be by my side." And she speaks of his pain as a widower. Sa Illa listens and starts crying, telling Cheonchu she feels so sad for Hyangbi's death (but obviously feeling the burden of what she knows about it). "She's such a fool," Sa Illa says. "We could have lived in harmony." Cheonchu doesn't hear anything odd in that.
Evening: Cheonchu leaves her quarters for a walk outside. On the way out she finds Sa Illa asleep on duty in her hallway, and leaves her alone. (?) Outside, she happens to see her son out on his porch, crying bitterly, obviously still in the depths of grief over Milhwa. She watches him for a bit but then walks away instead of going to him. (He doesn't see her, but still…And she wonders why he hates her.)
Liao: Empress Dowager Chengtian is still in bed, suffering from apparent pneumonia. Tomorrow she's headed for her recuperation period at the southern capital (warmer climate; hot springs). She speaks with her son about an emerging problem: a large and growing amount of tea importation from Song China. Thanks to that peace treaty with Song, they're getting a tribute payment of 200,000 ounces of silver per year, but it goes "right back to Song to pay for tea." (A harmful trade deficit with China. Whoever heard of such a thing!) Chengtian wonders about another option: "Doesn't Goryeo produce tea as well?" Yes they do, but there's no trade with Goryeo right now. She tells Shengzong, "The age of war is over. The time is upon you to rule the people with generosity and compassion so they will extol your benevolence. This means developing more land and establishing active exchange with Goryeo. So now you must give up your ideas about invading Goryeo." Shengzong assures his mother he understands this. But then he learns that Prime Minister Han won't be accompanying his mother, as he had assumed. "He will remain here to help you run the state."
"It's to keep an eye on me. She still doesn't trust me." Shengzong is with his military leadership: Yelu Dilie, Yelu Pennu, Yelu Wuji and others. "I'm almost 40 years old and she still thinks I'm a child." But she has good reason not to trust him, because he's planning to expand the military as soon as she leaves! Even if the prime minister sticks around? "I fear my mother, but not the prime minister. I can handle him." He orders the viceroy of the eastern capital, Xiao Baiya, called back--"He should be a fair match for the prime minister"--and orders the callback of general Yelu Dilu, currently at the western capital of Datong. Apparently he's a crucial piece of the puzzle. "Summon then immediately once my mother leaves the city!"
Won Jongseok, the lieutenant governor of Hogyeong, officially welcomes Gang Jo. He introduces Jo to his two new assistants. The second man to enter is introduces himself as captain Noh Hui. But we can barely process that, because we immediately recognize the first man: Ahn Pae! This is the guy from the north who was serving as a garrison commander and was abusing the foundry workers and refugee villagers under his authority. A real sleazebag, and now he's a colonel and working in Hogyeong, apparently without having been punished for his abuses. Watch out for this guy.
State council meeting: Cheonchu announces her plan to reduce the private landowner take from one-half to one-third. (So she tweaked it a bit.) Immediate buzzing and strenuous objections from ministers--"This is without precedent since the founding of Goryeo"--but she won't budge. But she accuses them of being selfish; they're landowners themselves (at least she talks to them like they are, so we assume they must be) and on top of it they get additional land through the stipend policy. "The commoners are forced to bear arms for the country and cultivate the land on their empty stomachs only to surrender half of their harvest to you." And you're not willing to do your part? If you don't like it, she says, "rise up and remove me from this seat!"
Gamchan, Choe Hang and Dae Dosu agree that Cheonchu is taking a big risk. It could even lead to an insurrection, they fear. Not immediately, because she has military authority, but if she should make any significant mistakes that would erode public trust, well..."I doubt that will happen," Dae says.
Chiyang ponders Cheonchu's announcement. He's not sure whether he supports or opposes it. For him, it's all about whether or not it will help him get his son to the throne.
Nighttime: Jo Sun and Princess Jeong come to Yunheung's place of exile again. They slip the guard another bribe and go in for a visit. It's a tough life for Yunheung and Escort Jo; we learn that they're not even allowed to leave the house. Jo Sun suggests appealing for clemency. Yunheung doubts that's even possible, but Jeong offers to go to Mokjong herself. They were close when they lived in the palace as kids together, so it's at least worth a try; maybe she can convince him.
Nighttime: Hangan has come to see the emperor. Attendant Yu won't let him in; it's too late at night and Yu is trying to look out for Mokjong's health. But Hangan pulls rank on him and so Yu has to step aside and let Hangan pass.
"You got it?" Yes he did. Hangan hands the emperor a small bottle of liquid. Mokjong immediately takes a dose.
Sunjeong tells Cheonchu about the new sleeping arrangements. Cheonchu is increasingly concerned about her son and tells Sunjeong, We have to get him back the way he was for those three years before Milhwa, when he was a competent ruler.
Mokjong is lying in bed; the drug is kicking in. As Hangan leans over him to check on him, Mokjong starts to hallucinate and believes that Hangan is Milhwa. He grabs Hangan, hugs him and cries on his shoulder, apologizing to Milhwa for killing her. Hangan is understandably shocked at first, but then decides to PLAY ALONG!: "Did you...really miss me, your majesty?" "I didn't mean to treat you so coldly. I really love you." "I...love you too, your majesty. I've loved you from the moment I saw you." Mokjong cries on his shoulder again. And then...smoochies! We don't see the actual smoochies, because just as their lips are about to touch, there's a cut away to a shot of an eye watching through a crack in the wall. (Seems to me KBS wimped out on this; if you're gonna go in that direction, you're gonna have to back it up.) The eye is attendant Yu's. Seeing what's happening, he runs outside, dumbfounded and gasping for breath...And looks up to see Cheonchu arriving to visit her son.
