Post by ajk on Nov 28, 2009 2:47:00 GMT -5
"My lady! My lady!" A servant runs into the yard, which stops steward Kim as he advances on Cheonchu and Sunjeong with his sword drawn. (No way he would have killed them, though; not much suspense there.) The servant brings news of the Khitan invasion. Kim turns to Lady Choongju and tells her that Cheonchu must not be killed, at least not now. "The empress dowager is the one who led our last war to victory and built our current army. The country needs her." Choongju is unimpressed: "No, these woman are a disgrace to Goryeo...Kill them this instant!" But Cheonchu accuses her of having a hidden agenda, wanting her dead not because of any disgrace but because she was in on Mokjong's murder and is trying to keep it all quiet. Why else would she lock up Cheonchu's entire party, even the servants? Now it's getting tense and ugly. Choongju shouts her order again, and the citizen-guards in the yard all draw their swords. But Kim defies her! "Do not make a move until I give you an order," he tells the men. And to Choongju he says, "Forgive me, my lady. But I can't let the empress dowager die like this." Fine, Choongju says, gesturing to Kim; "Kill this one along with the others." Cheonchu appeals to the guards, telling them that she'd be willing to let them take her life, but right now the invasion is the most important thing. "Do not rally to destroy me, rally to destroy the enemy instead." And at that they all drop their swords to the ground. Kim orders Choongju escorted inside, and she's taken away, furious and screaming at their betrayal.
We see Dokyun and the boy Hwangju, locked up in a shed. Chief Mobula arrives with several subordinates. They're taken out of the shed, and the child is taken from Dokyun. "Answer my question truthfully," Mobula says coldly, "or you will never see this child again. "Whose child is he?" Sa Gamun's son, she answers, but he doesn't believe her. "I was trying to protect you, but you killed one of my men and fled." (In Ep72; so that was a Jurchen soldier she killed, not a Goryean.) "And the Goryeans wouldn't send an army after Sa Gamun's son." So she has to fess up, about the boy's identity, and about the death of her own son. Mobula can't understand it: "You're risking your life for this child? Aren't you angry about your son's death?" Mad as hell, she says, but I'm thinking of Sa Gamun and Sa Illa. "I must protect him so that their deaths will not be in vain. And I will protect him with my life!" Mobula is silent; her story has made quite an impression, especially since he's Sa Gamun's and Sa Illa's grandfather. (Plus he knows he's got a valuable prize on his hands, that's probably part of it.)
"Why do you want me dead?" Cheonchu is inside, questioning Lady Choongju. "Because you are a whore who ruined the empire." She doesn't buy it, and SMACK! Slaps her so hard it knocks her down (and she's a stout woman). "Do not insult my loyalty to Goryeo," Cheonchu says angrily. "I will be back to settle this debt when I find out who is behind my son's death." She goes outside and finds steward Kim and the citizen-guards waiting for her. She thanks Kim for saving her life, and tells him she's going to go to the capital to help with the war. Kim and the guards want to go with her, and fight for the country.
Nighttime: Generals Choi and Tak are leading their forces northward. Something's approaching; they brace for an enemy attack. But it's Goryeans: Ji Chaemun and several other of Yang Kyu's men, on their way to Guiju to defend the eastern region. (Guiju is in the far west, though. No explanation for this.) Ji asks Choi and Tak why their forces are carrying so many bright torches, which they are. "You're making yourself a target for the Khitan." "Nonsense!", Choi responds dismissively; "There are no Khitan here in these rugged hills." Well, don't we all know exactly what that means...and sure enough, there we see them; who-knows-how-may Khitan troops hiding in the nearby brush. Yelu Dilie and Su No are leading them. "Fire!" Ambush! Flaming arrows come screaming in and the Goryeans are sitting ducks. They scramble to take defensive positions, but then Choi panics and orders a retreat. Ji is keeping a cool head and urges Choi to hang tough: "It's not a large army judging by the number of arrows. We must stay and fight! We must break through the enemy and fight them from Guiju Fort! We cannot flee the other way!" But Choi is too busy screaming for a retreat to consider any of that wisdom. And now the Khitans launch a charge and sweep in towards the disorganized Goryeans.
At the Khitan camp: "A sweeping victory!" Happiness all around that an army led by Goryeo's two top military leaders was squashed so easy. But Xiao Baiya reminds them of the defeat at Fort Heunghwajin, and cautions them not to get overconfident. And Yelu Dilu and Yelu Pennu remind them that Gang Jo is still out there. "The battle in Tongju will decide the outcome of this war," emperor Shengzong tells them. "I need all of you to be at your very best!"
Nighttime, Goryeo royal palace: Attendant Yu gallops in on horseback, goes up to the gate and demands to see Gang Jo. But Jo has gone to Tongju to fight. How about Gang Gamchan?, Yu asks. Yes, he's in the palace, the head guard says, and goes inside. Yu stands and waits...but now Cheonchu's instructions start ringing in his ears: "Trust no one except General Gang Jo and Minister Gang Gamchan. The palace may have been overtaken by evil forces."
The head guard has gone straight to Jo Sun! Jo immediately knows this is huge trouble. "Seize him. Get the guards now!" The head guard can't figure out why, but Jo yells at him: "Just do as I say!" So the two of them rush to the gate...
...but when they get there, Yu is gone. Got on his horse and left, a guard tells him.
We see Yu galloping away from the palace on a dark, lonely path. Another rider is coming towards him; the two pass without acknowledging each other, both looking intent on their missions.
Morning, state council meeting: Ha Gongjin is reporting the Heunghwajin victory to the emperor. (So that's who Yu passed on the horse path. Which means that Yu must have been headed north, presumably to find Gang Jo in Tongju.) Ha also reports that half of the enemy force is headed to Tongju, where Gang Jo is waiting. That means equal numbers, 200,000 on each side. Hyeonjong is excited about all of this, and believes that Gang Jo will deliver a victory.
Lady Yunheung's villa: Jo Sun has brought Lady Yunheung the bad news about Cheonchu's attendant being on the loose. Kim Shimun is with her and knows this is a big problem; what if Gang Jo finds out about Mokjong's murder and Cheonchu's confinement? And he knows that Yi Hyunoon and Ahn Pae will probably confess to the whole thing if they're leaned on hard enough. He tells Jo Sun to head to Tongju immediately. "Get there before this attendant does and have Yi Hyunoon and Ahn Pae kill him once he arrives. If he gets to Gang Jo, it's over for us." (Seriously? With at least a half-day head start, I don't see how Yu can possibly be passed.)
We see the invading half of the Khitan army heading south, Shengzong's carriage in the middle of it all. It's a quiet march for the moment.
Tongju: Gang Jo is addressing his entire army. "At last the day has come! The enemy army is at best 200,000 in number, equal to our force. What's more, they suffered substantial damage in Heunghwajin and their morale has no doubt eroded. So we will go outside the walls of the city and deliver a crushing blow to the enemy!" Big cheering. The army is to be divided into left, center and right units, each with 3000 of those anti-cavalry spear carts, and will advance with specific objectives; some forces will remain behind to defend Tongju.
We see the main forces divide and head to their positions. Lots and lots of those spear carts. They're gonna need 'em.
The Khitans have set up a base camp. Yelu Wuji gallops in with a recon report. The Khitans are shocked that 200,000 Goryeans are waiting for them. Yelu Dilie gets it: "Then we're equally matched. Perhaps we should call back the troops we have placed in Heunghwajin." But Su No doesn't get it, believing the Goryeans are fools for leaving their fortresses to engage the superior Khitan cavalry out in the open. "It's worth a shot," Xiao Baiya tells Shengzong; "they don't stand a chance against our mighty cavalry in a frontal assault." The remaining generals agree. Very well," Shengzong says; "I want the Goryeans subjugated without fail. Defeat will not be tolerated again. Is that clear?"
So the Khitans advance, and now the two great armies are within sight of each other across the water. The Khitans charge, and it's on. "Spear carts forward!" It's a very shallow river, only a few feet deep at the deepest, and battle begins right there in the water. It's tough and brutal and bloody. But Goryean reinforcements arrive and turn things in the Goryeans' favor. The Khitans bravely hold their position for a while, but then they have to retreat. They're just not making any progress and the toll is too great.
"You fools!" Shengzong knocks over some furniture. "You were so cocksure you could win yet you came back defeated again?!" It was those spear carts, Yelu Dilie tells him. (Shame on them for not being prepared for that! They've seen those things before.) Yelu Dilu has an idea for a different approach, to attack from the flanks. But Shengzong is too angry to listen. Xiao Baiya urges the emperor to remain calm and come up with a solid strategy instead of trying any more rash attacks.
Cheonchu and the Choongju warriors have made it to the capital. They arrive at the gate and Cheonchu demands to see the emperor.
Hyeonjong's two attendants tell the surprised emperor that Cheonchu is here.
State council meeting: Cheonchu walks in and tells the emperor that she's come 120 miles to tell him that his predecessor is dead, murdered by Ahn Pae and Yi Hyunoon. Everybody is stunned at the news--everybody except Kim Shimun. She also tells them that Ahn and Yi claimed it was all at Gang Jo's orders. Immediately a tense debate breaks out over whether or not Jo would have ordered such a thing. Those are his men, after all. But weren't they separated from him while in prison for no obvious reason? Hmmm... Gamchan speaks with his usual good sense: "Think about this logically. General Gang put his life on the line to reinstate the empress dowager. Why would he want the former emperor dead? There is no motive!" But the weasely ministers argue that Gang Jo must have disliked Mokjong and that would be the motive right there. Preposterous, Cheonchu says, and asks the emperor, "Please redress this atrocity!" Hyeonjong will; he orders imperial guards to go north and arrest Ahn and Yi immediately. And he warns, "I will expose the truth and deliver just punishment to anyone who is even remotely involved!"
Later outside the building, with Gamchan and Choe Hang: Cheonchu is sure that the ministers trying to incriminate Gang Jo were the ones responsible for killing Mokjong (partially correct; some of them but not all). Gamchan and Choe agree, but there's no proof of it, and getting proof will be difficult with the weasely ministers holding so much power in the court (now that they've all been promoted). Just then who should show up but Lady Yunheung! Here's a dicey moment. She and Cheonchu stare daggers at each other. Cheonchu gets the news that Yunheung's daughter is now the empress. At that, Yunheung gives her a smug smile and walks on; she's going to see the emperor.
Yunheung enters the throne room (the council meeting's over now), with her daughter pulling at her trying to keep her out! "Mother, please don't do this." But no luck. Yunheung brazenly asks the emperor why he and her daughter aren't sleeping together. (What is it with these mothers?) "The country is at war," he tells her; "I will not listen to this now." She reminds him about the importance of producing heirs to prolong the empire, and asks him to sleep with his wife from now on. "So that the imperial house may thrive, and..." "Enough!" Hyeonjong is furious and starts yelling at her. "Our soldiers are dying under the swords of the enemy at this very moment! Are you telling me to play house with the empress when the fate of the country hangs in the balance? I will hear no more of this, so leave at once!" Yunheung is dumbfounded: "Your majesty, how could you speak to me this way? I am offering you counsel out of concern for you and the empire." "Counsel?" The emperor turns coldly cynical. "I shall be frank with you. I am not exactly fond of the empress." Yow-wee, hang on to something. "I did not want this marriage to begin with. I was pressured and threatened into it by the ministers. So do not try to control me. Leave the council hall now." Well! Can open, worms everywhere. We see Yunheung practically fighting with herself to keep silent. And her poor daughter is just standing there stunned.
Left guards' military camp: Jo Sun arrives and tells Ahn Pae and Yi Hyunoon about attendant Yu. Yu hasn't shown up here yet. "If he shows up here," Jo tells them, "you must kill him before he gets to Gang Jo." Otherwise you're dead men. (Of course, they're dead men anyway, but they don't know that yet.) Yi is unhappy about all this because "he should've been bound and shackled in Choongju or silenced altogether to begin with." Which is true. And of course, Yi and Ahn are stuck at the left camp and can't control what goes on at the center camp, which is where Gang Jo will most likely be if Yu finds him! Jo Sun doesn't want to hear it: "Shut your mouth and just kill him if you want to live."
Cheonchu tells Sunjeong she's decided to go north and see Gang Jo herself. She's just plain getting antsy. Later, she's wearing some spiffy armor and about to depart. Steward Kim and the Choongju guards offer to accompany her. "We left our master to serve you, your highness," Kim says. "From now on, we will live and die with you."
The defeated troops of Choi and Tak straggle back to their headquarters in Seogyeong. Lots of frustration among the leadership, and plenty of blame being thrown around. Apparently there was some confusion about the route they took and whether or not it was a mistake, and there's still that business about too many bright torches. We meet a new general, Gang Mincheom, who reminds everyone, "General Yang Kyu defended Heunghwajin with only fraction of the troops. And we can defeat them too, if we fight to the death!" Choi mocks him for saying that (unfortunately nobody mocks Choi for the cowardice and panic he just displayed out there), but Dae Dosu says Gang is right. "If the east route is open, there is a good chance the enemy will advance directly to Seogyeong." So we must come together and protect the city even if we are outmanned." Choi and Tak are still fuming, but they'd better calm down and prepare.
Heunghwajin Fort: "Leave the fort and strike the enemy from the rear?" Yang Kyu tells a surprised Kim Sukheung of his intentions. Split their forces and leave half in the fort to keep the opposing Khitan units in check, and send the rest to harass the invading units from behind. (A great twist. This could get very interesting.)
Yi Hyunoon and Ahn Pae are in a near-panic; they realize they're in huge, huge, trouble--and this after being promised promotions! And it's not like they can go confess to anybody: "It's our word against theirs. If they deny it, we're dead." So Yi has an idea: "How do you feel about defecting to Liao?" Yep, you just knew it was gonna come to that. Ahn realizes it's their only real option; he doesn't have to think about it for long. He nods.
Khitan camp: Yi and Ahn are brought into the war room before the emperor and his generals. That didn't take long. Shengzong asks them why they decided to surrender. They're momentarily stumped. Not a good start. Finally Yi offers, "Not only is serving Gang Jo intolerably difficult, but there is little doubt in our mind that this war will end in Great Liao's victory. So we've decided to become servants of Great Liao. If you accept us, we will vow loyalty to Your Majesty and Great Liao." Scoffs from the generals, but Yi tells Shengzong, "If you accept us, we will tell you how you can crush Gang Jo." That certainly gets his interest....
Nighttime, Goryean left-guard camp: Yi Hyunoon rushes in to tell Yu Bang, who seem to be in charge of the place, that the center guards are under attack. Yu can't believe it; he got no such report. But Hyunoon says excitedly, "I was just there! It's a direct order from General Gang. We must take reinforcements and help them right now!" Yu still can't believe it: "Are you sure about this?" Hyunoon sells it hard: "Yes! Why would I lie about something like this? Colonel Ahn has gone to the right guards' camp to request aid as well."
Center-guard camp: Attendant Yu has made it to the camp safely. Eventually he's let in and tells Gang Jo the whole story. "Not only that, they told the empress dowager that you ordered the killing." "What? How dare they?!" Jo orders Yi and Ahn to be arrested and brought from the left camp immediately. But just then Yu Bang shows up with his men, relieved to see that Jo is all right. He asks Jo where the fierce Khitan attack is. "The Khitan? Who told you this?" "Colonel Yi Hyunoon said it was extremely urgent..." Uh-oh; Jo knows this could be major trouble. Then a soldier gallops into camp, an arrow in his back, and falls off of his horse, managing to report, "The left guards have been wiped out" before dying on the spot. Then another soldier gallops in to report Khitan soldiers advancing from the left guards' position. "It's a flank-and-frontal attack," Jo realizes. He issues orders: "Quickly divide the troops and defend both sides at once. And request aid from the right guards immediately. Go!"
We see Dokyun and the boy Hwangju, locked up in a shed. Chief Mobula arrives with several subordinates. They're taken out of the shed, and the child is taken from Dokyun. "Answer my question truthfully," Mobula says coldly, "or you will never see this child again. "Whose child is he?" Sa Gamun's son, she answers, but he doesn't believe her. "I was trying to protect you, but you killed one of my men and fled." (In Ep72; so that was a Jurchen soldier she killed, not a Goryean.) "And the Goryeans wouldn't send an army after Sa Gamun's son." So she has to fess up, about the boy's identity, and about the death of her own son. Mobula can't understand it: "You're risking your life for this child? Aren't you angry about your son's death?" Mad as hell, she says, but I'm thinking of Sa Gamun and Sa Illa. "I must protect him so that their deaths will not be in vain. And I will protect him with my life!" Mobula is silent; her story has made quite an impression, especially since he's Sa Gamun's and Sa Illa's grandfather. (Plus he knows he's got a valuable prize on his hands, that's probably part of it.)
"Why do you want me dead?" Cheonchu is inside, questioning Lady Choongju. "Because you are a whore who ruined the empire." She doesn't buy it, and SMACK! Slaps her so hard it knocks her down (and she's a stout woman). "Do not insult my loyalty to Goryeo," Cheonchu says angrily. "I will be back to settle this debt when I find out who is behind my son's death." She goes outside and finds steward Kim and the citizen-guards waiting for her. She thanks Kim for saving her life, and tells him she's going to go to the capital to help with the war. Kim and the guards want to go with her, and fight for the country.
Nighttime: Generals Choi and Tak are leading their forces northward. Something's approaching; they brace for an enemy attack. But it's Goryeans: Ji Chaemun and several other of Yang Kyu's men, on their way to Guiju to defend the eastern region. (Guiju is in the far west, though. No explanation for this.) Ji asks Choi and Tak why their forces are carrying so many bright torches, which they are. "You're making yourself a target for the Khitan." "Nonsense!", Choi responds dismissively; "There are no Khitan here in these rugged hills." Well, don't we all know exactly what that means...and sure enough, there we see them; who-knows-how-may Khitan troops hiding in the nearby brush. Yelu Dilie and Su No are leading them. "Fire!" Ambush! Flaming arrows come screaming in and the Goryeans are sitting ducks. They scramble to take defensive positions, but then Choi panics and orders a retreat. Ji is keeping a cool head and urges Choi to hang tough: "It's not a large army judging by the number of arrows. We must stay and fight! We must break through the enemy and fight them from Guiju Fort! We cannot flee the other way!" But Choi is too busy screaming for a retreat to consider any of that wisdom. And now the Khitans launch a charge and sweep in towards the disorganized Goryeans.
At the Khitan camp: "A sweeping victory!" Happiness all around that an army led by Goryeo's two top military leaders was squashed so easy. But Xiao Baiya reminds them of the defeat at Fort Heunghwajin, and cautions them not to get overconfident. And Yelu Dilu and Yelu Pennu remind them that Gang Jo is still out there. "The battle in Tongju will decide the outcome of this war," emperor Shengzong tells them. "I need all of you to be at your very best!"
Nighttime, Goryeo royal palace: Attendant Yu gallops in on horseback, goes up to the gate and demands to see Gang Jo. But Jo has gone to Tongju to fight. How about Gang Gamchan?, Yu asks. Yes, he's in the palace, the head guard says, and goes inside. Yu stands and waits...but now Cheonchu's instructions start ringing in his ears: "Trust no one except General Gang Jo and Minister Gang Gamchan. The palace may have been overtaken by evil forces."
The head guard has gone straight to Jo Sun! Jo immediately knows this is huge trouble. "Seize him. Get the guards now!" The head guard can't figure out why, but Jo yells at him: "Just do as I say!" So the two of them rush to the gate...
...but when they get there, Yu is gone. Got on his horse and left, a guard tells him.
We see Yu galloping away from the palace on a dark, lonely path. Another rider is coming towards him; the two pass without acknowledging each other, both looking intent on their missions.
Morning, state council meeting: Ha Gongjin is reporting the Heunghwajin victory to the emperor. (So that's who Yu passed on the horse path. Which means that Yu must have been headed north, presumably to find Gang Jo in Tongju.) Ha also reports that half of the enemy force is headed to Tongju, where Gang Jo is waiting. That means equal numbers, 200,000 on each side. Hyeonjong is excited about all of this, and believes that Gang Jo will deliver a victory.
Lady Yunheung's villa: Jo Sun has brought Lady Yunheung the bad news about Cheonchu's attendant being on the loose. Kim Shimun is with her and knows this is a big problem; what if Gang Jo finds out about Mokjong's murder and Cheonchu's confinement? And he knows that Yi Hyunoon and Ahn Pae will probably confess to the whole thing if they're leaned on hard enough. He tells Jo Sun to head to Tongju immediately. "Get there before this attendant does and have Yi Hyunoon and Ahn Pae kill him once he arrives. If he gets to Gang Jo, it's over for us." (Seriously? With at least a half-day head start, I don't see how Yu can possibly be passed.)
We see the invading half of the Khitan army heading south, Shengzong's carriage in the middle of it all. It's a quiet march for the moment.
Tongju: Gang Jo is addressing his entire army. "At last the day has come! The enemy army is at best 200,000 in number, equal to our force. What's more, they suffered substantial damage in Heunghwajin and their morale has no doubt eroded. So we will go outside the walls of the city and deliver a crushing blow to the enemy!" Big cheering. The army is to be divided into left, center and right units, each with 3000 of those anti-cavalry spear carts, and will advance with specific objectives; some forces will remain behind to defend Tongju.
We see the main forces divide and head to their positions. Lots and lots of those spear carts. They're gonna need 'em.
The Khitans have set up a base camp. Yelu Wuji gallops in with a recon report. The Khitans are shocked that 200,000 Goryeans are waiting for them. Yelu Dilie gets it: "Then we're equally matched. Perhaps we should call back the troops we have placed in Heunghwajin." But Su No doesn't get it, believing the Goryeans are fools for leaving their fortresses to engage the superior Khitan cavalry out in the open. "It's worth a shot," Xiao Baiya tells Shengzong; "they don't stand a chance against our mighty cavalry in a frontal assault." The remaining generals agree. Very well," Shengzong says; "I want the Goryeans subjugated without fail. Defeat will not be tolerated again. Is that clear?"
So the Khitans advance, and now the two great armies are within sight of each other across the water. The Khitans charge, and it's on. "Spear carts forward!" It's a very shallow river, only a few feet deep at the deepest, and battle begins right there in the water. It's tough and brutal and bloody. But Goryean reinforcements arrive and turn things in the Goryeans' favor. The Khitans bravely hold their position for a while, but then they have to retreat. They're just not making any progress and the toll is too great.
"You fools!" Shengzong knocks over some furniture. "You were so cocksure you could win yet you came back defeated again?!" It was those spear carts, Yelu Dilie tells him. (Shame on them for not being prepared for that! They've seen those things before.) Yelu Dilu has an idea for a different approach, to attack from the flanks. But Shengzong is too angry to listen. Xiao Baiya urges the emperor to remain calm and come up with a solid strategy instead of trying any more rash attacks.
Cheonchu and the Choongju warriors have made it to the capital. They arrive at the gate and Cheonchu demands to see the emperor.
Hyeonjong's two attendants tell the surprised emperor that Cheonchu is here.
State council meeting: Cheonchu walks in and tells the emperor that she's come 120 miles to tell him that his predecessor is dead, murdered by Ahn Pae and Yi Hyunoon. Everybody is stunned at the news--everybody except Kim Shimun. She also tells them that Ahn and Yi claimed it was all at Gang Jo's orders. Immediately a tense debate breaks out over whether or not Jo would have ordered such a thing. Those are his men, after all. But weren't they separated from him while in prison for no obvious reason? Hmmm... Gamchan speaks with his usual good sense: "Think about this logically. General Gang put his life on the line to reinstate the empress dowager. Why would he want the former emperor dead? There is no motive!" But the weasely ministers argue that Gang Jo must have disliked Mokjong and that would be the motive right there. Preposterous, Cheonchu says, and asks the emperor, "Please redress this atrocity!" Hyeonjong will; he orders imperial guards to go north and arrest Ahn and Yi immediately. And he warns, "I will expose the truth and deliver just punishment to anyone who is even remotely involved!"
Later outside the building, with Gamchan and Choe Hang: Cheonchu is sure that the ministers trying to incriminate Gang Jo were the ones responsible for killing Mokjong (partially correct; some of them but not all). Gamchan and Choe agree, but there's no proof of it, and getting proof will be difficult with the weasely ministers holding so much power in the court (now that they've all been promoted). Just then who should show up but Lady Yunheung! Here's a dicey moment. She and Cheonchu stare daggers at each other. Cheonchu gets the news that Yunheung's daughter is now the empress. At that, Yunheung gives her a smug smile and walks on; she's going to see the emperor.
Yunheung enters the throne room (the council meeting's over now), with her daughter pulling at her trying to keep her out! "Mother, please don't do this." But no luck. Yunheung brazenly asks the emperor why he and her daughter aren't sleeping together. (What is it with these mothers?) "The country is at war," he tells her; "I will not listen to this now." She reminds him about the importance of producing heirs to prolong the empire, and asks him to sleep with his wife from now on. "So that the imperial house may thrive, and..." "Enough!" Hyeonjong is furious and starts yelling at her. "Our soldiers are dying under the swords of the enemy at this very moment! Are you telling me to play house with the empress when the fate of the country hangs in the balance? I will hear no more of this, so leave at once!" Yunheung is dumbfounded: "Your majesty, how could you speak to me this way? I am offering you counsel out of concern for you and the empire." "Counsel?" The emperor turns coldly cynical. "I shall be frank with you. I am not exactly fond of the empress." Yow-wee, hang on to something. "I did not want this marriage to begin with. I was pressured and threatened into it by the ministers. So do not try to control me. Leave the council hall now." Well! Can open, worms everywhere. We see Yunheung practically fighting with herself to keep silent. And her poor daughter is just standing there stunned.
Left guards' military camp: Jo Sun arrives and tells Ahn Pae and Yi Hyunoon about attendant Yu. Yu hasn't shown up here yet. "If he shows up here," Jo tells them, "you must kill him before he gets to Gang Jo." Otherwise you're dead men. (Of course, they're dead men anyway, but they don't know that yet.) Yi is unhappy about all this because "he should've been bound and shackled in Choongju or silenced altogether to begin with." Which is true. And of course, Yi and Ahn are stuck at the left camp and can't control what goes on at the center camp, which is where Gang Jo will most likely be if Yu finds him! Jo Sun doesn't want to hear it: "Shut your mouth and just kill him if you want to live."
Cheonchu tells Sunjeong she's decided to go north and see Gang Jo herself. She's just plain getting antsy. Later, she's wearing some spiffy armor and about to depart. Steward Kim and the Choongju guards offer to accompany her. "We left our master to serve you, your highness," Kim says. "From now on, we will live and die with you."
The defeated troops of Choi and Tak straggle back to their headquarters in Seogyeong. Lots of frustration among the leadership, and plenty of blame being thrown around. Apparently there was some confusion about the route they took and whether or not it was a mistake, and there's still that business about too many bright torches. We meet a new general, Gang Mincheom, who reminds everyone, "General Yang Kyu defended Heunghwajin with only fraction of the troops. And we can defeat them too, if we fight to the death!" Choi mocks him for saying that (unfortunately nobody mocks Choi for the cowardice and panic he just displayed out there), but Dae Dosu says Gang is right. "If the east route is open, there is a good chance the enemy will advance directly to Seogyeong." So we must come together and protect the city even if we are outmanned." Choi and Tak are still fuming, but they'd better calm down and prepare.
Heunghwajin Fort: "Leave the fort and strike the enemy from the rear?" Yang Kyu tells a surprised Kim Sukheung of his intentions. Split their forces and leave half in the fort to keep the opposing Khitan units in check, and send the rest to harass the invading units from behind. (A great twist. This could get very interesting.)
Yi Hyunoon and Ahn Pae are in a near-panic; they realize they're in huge, huge, trouble--and this after being promised promotions! And it's not like they can go confess to anybody: "It's our word against theirs. If they deny it, we're dead." So Yi has an idea: "How do you feel about defecting to Liao?" Yep, you just knew it was gonna come to that. Ahn realizes it's their only real option; he doesn't have to think about it for long. He nods.
Khitan camp: Yi and Ahn are brought into the war room before the emperor and his generals. That didn't take long. Shengzong asks them why they decided to surrender. They're momentarily stumped. Not a good start. Finally Yi offers, "Not only is serving Gang Jo intolerably difficult, but there is little doubt in our mind that this war will end in Great Liao's victory. So we've decided to become servants of Great Liao. If you accept us, we will vow loyalty to Your Majesty and Great Liao." Scoffs from the generals, but Yi tells Shengzong, "If you accept us, we will tell you how you can crush Gang Jo." That certainly gets his interest....
Nighttime, Goryean left-guard camp: Yi Hyunoon rushes in to tell Yu Bang, who seem to be in charge of the place, that the center guards are under attack. Yu can't believe it; he got no such report. But Hyunoon says excitedly, "I was just there! It's a direct order from General Gang. We must take reinforcements and help them right now!" Yu still can't believe it: "Are you sure about this?" Hyunoon sells it hard: "Yes! Why would I lie about something like this? Colonel Ahn has gone to the right guards' camp to request aid as well."
Center-guard camp: Attendant Yu has made it to the camp safely. Eventually he's let in and tells Gang Jo the whole story. "Not only that, they told the empress dowager that you ordered the killing." "What? How dare they?!" Jo orders Yi and Ahn to be arrested and brought from the left camp immediately. But just then Yu Bang shows up with his men, relieved to see that Jo is all right. He asks Jo where the fierce Khitan attack is. "The Khitan? Who told you this?" "Colonel Yi Hyunoon said it was extremely urgent..." Uh-oh; Jo knows this could be major trouble. Then a soldier gallops into camp, an arrow in his back, and falls off of his horse, managing to report, "The left guards have been wiped out" before dying on the spot. Then another soldier gallops in to report Khitan soldiers advancing from the left guards' position. "It's a flank-and-frontal attack," Jo realizes. He issues orders: "Quickly divide the troops and defend both sides at once. And request aid from the right guards immediately. Go!"