Post by ajk on Nov 8, 2013 23:59:02 GMT -5
Gongmin is holding his dead nephew's body, a stark image in the darkened courtyard. The ministers are on their knees, almost too afraid to look up. Then they start shouting in anguish. Gongmin doubts their sincerity. King or no king, he was just a young boy, and that bothers Gongmin most of all. "How could anyone do something like this?! Look at this face...Can't you see traces of his sorrow around his mournful eyes?" And now he starts screaming again, too clobbered by grief to do anything else. It's terribly sad. (And I thought very well acted.)
Later, all of the ministers are gathered in the Council hall--and they're all staring at Gi Cheol. Gi emphatically denies he's responsible--and he seems to be sincere in that, even given his weasely-ness. Jo Il Shin, more than a little tactlessly, says "Whoever killed the former king should be praised as a meritorious subject!" The boy's continued existence was too big a threat to Gongmin's position, he argues. "But someone solved that problem for us." Doesn't sound like he did it, but still, not the time or place, buddy. He has no qualms about saying any of it, though. "I'm saying this because His Majesty is showing too much weakness!" As in, Gongmin should be totally cleaning house.
Queen Noguk and Princess Deoknyeong are talking about it too. Noguk seems terribly disillusioned that this couldn't have been prevented.
It's late at night now, but Gongmin is still outside, grieving over his nephew's body. As we soon see, he's now in front of Lady Yoon's home. Inside, an understandably distraught Lady Yoon is in white and crying bitterly.
And now we're with the queen dowager--who's furious that Gongmin has just taken responsibility for not protecting his nephew. Just let it go, her attendants tell her, but this woman just does not let anything go, does she now. She charges right out of the house...
...and heads directly to her son, to scold him and place the blame for what happened on Lady Yoon's shenanigans. Well, Lady Yoon can hear all of that, and promptly calls out from inside, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I have no intention of living much longer, either." You'd think this would elicit a little compassion from the QD--but no, instead she takes offense at it. "How dare you talk like that to me?!" Good heavens....
And now Noguk is finally opening up to Deoknyeong. Says she feels responsible for what happened. "The first time I saw him," she explains through some tears, "I despised his weakness." When he said he had no intention of seizing the throne from his nephew, well, "I sincerely doubted him." But seeing his grief tonight, she says she's "ashamed of my greed" for encouraging him to become king.
Now Lady Yoon is really going bonkers, accusing Gongmin of sending someone to poison her son. "I'm not the type to be fooled by those crocodile tears! So get out of here!" Yikes, even with the situation, heck of a way to talk to your king.
Next morning: Word has gotten out, and citizens are at the palace gate, prostrating themselves and offering their condolences. Until, that is, the gate swings open and Gi Cheol and Gi Won happen to go through it on their horses. That looks like Gong Cheol who's the first one to stand up and recognize him. "The bastard who poisoned our young ruler to death is here! Those Yuan collaborators killed our king!" Uh-oh. "Kill them!" UH-OH. Now others in the crowd join in. "The new king is a puppet of the Yuan!!" "Kill all those puppets of the Yuan!" "Kill them!" And suddenly rocks are being thrown at the two Gis. They high-tail it right back inside the gate. Kim Yong, Jo Il Shin and Jung Se Woon happen to be standing there; Gi angrily tells Jung to round up the mob and arrest them (security here is his responsibility). "On what accusation should I arrest those people," Jung calmly answers, "who are mourning the death of their former ruler?" Remember, these three are Gongmin's supporters ever since Yanjing and none of them is going to go to any great lengths on Gi Cheol's behalf. "Just let it go," Kim Yong advises, and adds that Gongmin would hardly approve of action against them. Gi stands there and fires off one disgusted grunt after another. Then, surprisingly, Jo Il Shin boldly goes through the gates and addresses the mob. He tries to explain the situation...but doesn't even make it through the third sentence. "That fool is just like them! Kill him! Kill him!" And here come the stones again. So Jo has to high-tail it back inside just like the Gis did. And hey, look who's one of the big incite-ers in that mob: Won Hyeon! Not like him, is it. Inside Gi Cheol starts mocking Jo (and it's very funny).
Outside, farther back from the mob, we see Choseon and Pyeonjo watching all this. Pyeonjo tells her he has to go somewhere for a couple of days. He watches the angry mob--particularly Won Hyeon, who is really, really infuriated.
Later, at a Council meeting, but without the king present: An angry, uncomfortable discussion about whether or not the king needs to stop all of this public grief, and particularly the begging Lady Yoon for forgiveness. Jo Il Shin says he's going to go talk to him about it.
Wow--Gongmin is still kneeling there outside Lady Yoon's house. Hasn't moved since last night; hasn't even had a sip of water. Jo Il Shin shows up and doesn't mince words. "Isn't that enough condolence for today? Your Majesty shows such weakness, collaborators and court officials keep scorning you." Well, Queen Noguk happened to show up right behind him, and doesn't like his attitude. But not only does he not back off, he even takes a shot at her: "Shouldn't you be blamed, Your Majesty, for interfering with state affairs and disgracing the name of your ruler?!" Oh that was not a good move. Gongmin heard it and barks at him, "Get out of my sight!" Add strangely enough, adds, "I still haven't forgotten the fact that you splashed water on my face." Huh?...Flashback to Yanjing, when the drunken then-prince was called suddenly to meet Empress Gi, and a frustrated Jo tossed a bucket of water on him to try to sober him up...Flashback ending, Jo is horrified and tries to defend himself, and he has good reason to, because his intentions were only honorable...
...but now he's running away from the scene, and on encountering Kim Yong, pulls him aside and asks for help. "My quick temper got the better of me once again. I committed a grave mistake!" Tells Kim about the water thing--Kim laughs that off and says Gongmin wouldn't really be angry about that--and about how "I have even upset the Queen!"--which may be a bigger problem. Kim had warned him about his temper, we learn, but the advice wasn't heeded. "Say something to His Majesty for me," a near-panicked Jo begs. He's really rattled.
Noguk has gone to Lady Yoon to defend her husband. "His Majesty constantly hesitated, and refused many times...he kept refusing the throne, repeating that he couldn't steal it from his young nephew." Lady Yoon was convinced that Gongmin had her son poisoned, but Noguk's words seem to convince her otherwise. "His Majesty has no such thing as power," Noguk tearfully tells her, reminding her how he had to sneak into the palace in the darkness when he arrived. "He ascended to the throne while suffering such humiliation. Where would he find the clout to protect his young nephew?" Now Lady Yoon seems to understand; she wishes Gongmin had been able to protect her son but no longer blames him for the poisoning...
...and outside, hearing word that his wife has convinced Lady Yoon of his innocence, Gongmin slumps over and loses consciousness.
Back at the palace gate: Another day, another protest. But this time, troops charge out of the gate. "Arrest them all!" Suddenly this is looking very ugly. Won Hyeon and Gong Cheol flee and manage to hide in a shop, evading arrest. Oh, there's Choseon's subordinate; this is her tea shop. Won tells Gong about "this strange excitement" he felt when he was throwing rocks at the gate. Won is more outspoken and purposeful than we've ever seen him.
"Did you send someone to trail him?" Choseon told her subordinate to put a trail on Pyeonjo, and he did. They've both heard that Pyeonjo was friendly with Gongmin back in Yanjing; Choseon wonders if the friendship will survive now that Gongmin is king. "Let's keep an eye on him," Choseon says. "We'll find out if he's to be trusted." Hmmm--why does she have such an interest in this? A strange feeling here that there's more to her than we know about.
We see Pyeonjo walking through the countryside. A guy is trailing him. Not very good at it. Pyeonjo easily can tell the guy is there. With a burst of that weird speed we've seen before (and hoped we wouldn't see any more, darn it), he completely shakes the guy...
...who has to return home and confess failure. Oddly, Choseon doesn't seem very surprised at the guy's tale of some sort of black magic that made the monk disappear.
Pyeonjo's arrived at a village somewhere. Apparently a lot of people have been showing up here looking for food because of the famine. But the owner of an estate graciously invites the monk in and gives him a simple meal. As he sits down to eat it, Pyeonjo has a memory...Flashback to him as a young boy, being severely disciplined by his mother, apparently for wanting to look for his father. "You're fatherless scum," she tells him angrily, and now hitting him to the point where an older woman has to come running in and step in and break them up. (This looks like the woman we saw in the previous flashback with Wolseon and the property marker.) And that's Deokun in the background, which places this scene around Gaetae Temple. "Didn't I tell you," his mother says, "there was nobody of lower birth than you?" The depth of this woman's cruelty to her own child is almost beyond understanding...Now a bit forward in time, with Pyeonjo dressed in a nice new outfit and Wolseon happily fawning over him. Pyeonjo's mother enters the room and isn't happy with Wolseon. "What you're doing is futile, Master. You should have let him believe he had no father."...Now a smiling Pyeonjo and his mother are walking through the countryside...they arrive at the same home where Pyeonjo is now, and suddenly four men come out of the front gate, seize the woman, drag her inside and shut the door, leaving the little boy outside by himself. What the heck?...Flashbacks ending, Pyeonjo is starting to look very angry. Leaving his meal half-finished, he goes outside to see the owner, who's standing in a doorway...Now another flashback, to the evening of the day we last saw. Pyeonjo's mother is rudely escorted back out of the estate and dumped on the ground. The homeowner--the same guy as now--glares at her from the gateway. "Didn't I say the next time I'd see you, I'd finish you off?" She begs him to take her son in...and now we start to wonder if this is the government official who got Pyeonjo's mother pregnant. His father. He wants no part of her or the boy, probably to protect his own reputation, and now orders her beaten so she won't ever come back...Flashback ending, Pyeonjo stares at the homeowner, who's looking back at him. The guy actually seems pretty nice; hard to believe he was so heartless in the past. "I have a favor to ask," he says to Pyeonjo. "When I was younger, I lost one of my sons. Whenever you find the time, pray for his heavenly bliss." Then a dignified bow to Pyeonjo. "I wish you enlightenment, gentle Monk." And with that he heads inside. You sort of figured Pyeonjo was here to kick the guy's butt for what he did...but the experience leaves him with a smile on his face, looking almost like a long-carried burden had been lifted from him.
Good grief, what's the queen dowager upset about now? She's sitting with her son, who was unconscious but finally wakes up after his long foodless, waterless vigil at Lady Yoon's front door. As his wife waits outside the room, the QD practically sneers at her son. "What do you think is the reason the people won't follow your lead? Your consort the Queen is a Yuan woman." She's also heard rumors about Noguk being "the daughter of a traitor" (which wasn't true but who knows what might have happened to the King of Wei by now). If her son won't dethrone Noguk, then she at least wants him to take another consort--a Goryean woman. "We need a Goryeo woman leading palace affairs, so that the people will follow you. Think about it carefully." With that she leaves the room, and finds Noguk standing there looking at her. Instantly she's all smiles and pleasantries, as though Noguk didn't hear any of her nastiness just now through the paper-thin wall. Oh this woman is horrible. "Let's go, my dear," she tells Lee Hyebi, who came here with her and waited with the QD's attendants. But Hyebi holds off; she looks terribly uncomfortable with the whole situation and seems to want to tell Noguk something. But she doesn't; she simply bows respectfully to the queen and leaves. Now Noguk goes in to see her husband...and from outside, one last shout from the witch: "We need a Goryeo woman as the queen. Only then will the country be at peace once again"...and to her credit, Noguk merely smiles as she sits facing her husband. "Don't let those words hurt you," Gongmin says with embarrassment; "my mother has suffered for many years." She assures him she's not bothered and is only concerned for his peace of mind. The response seems to stun him, as though he's again amazed by the woman he's married. She even tells him again she'll understand if he has to give her up for the good of the country. It nearly brings him to tears. "I couldn't protect my young nephew," he tells her; "If I can't protect you either, how could I possibly protect this country and its people?" He leans forward and takes her hands. "Trust me. I shall keep the promise I made you at all costs." And we can tell right now how much he loves her, as awkwardly as he's usually treated her. Now she's the stunned one; she hadn't seen the situation like this but it makes perfect sense to her. It brings her to tears. "Yes, Your Majesty. You need to protect me, Your Majesty." And we know she says it not for her sake, but because she agrees with him that it's best for him. Wow, what a moving scene.
Evening at Jo Il Shin's home: Kim Yong pays Jo a visit. "I can't take it anymore! Things cannot go on this way." Jo reminds Kim of the big plans they had when they allied themselves with Prince Gangneung. They haven't come true quickly enough for Jo, or at least, he doesn't have enough power yet. So? "We need to overthrow things." WHAT? Not the king, he assures Kim; "All the collaborators starting from Gi Cheol. All the ruffians like Lee Je Hyeon. After we've dealt with them, whatever His Majesty can't do, I shall take care of it." I'll make the moves, he says; "all you and Jung Se Woon need to do is to feign indifference."
Kim leaves, with Jo's final words ringing in his head: "If you divulge this to anyone, I won't be alone in death!"
Now Jo has two other visitors. "Did you hear it all?" Oh, not visitors--eavesdroppers. These are two new men to us; their names are Jung Cheon Gi and Choi Hwa Sang. Apparently collaborators of his. The palace is essentially in Kim Yong's hands, he tells them, because of his role...and then adds, "If all our efforts go in vain, I shall cut all my fingers in your presence." He thinks that's funny and wiggles his fingers.
The two men leave him and discuss it. This is our big chance, they agree. They head off, with resolve to accomplish whatever is going to happen.
Back inside, Jo seethes with anger. "You impertinent little prick! Who put you on that throne?"
Next morning, on the palace grounds: The odd couple, Kim Yong and Gi Cheol, are talking again. "Are you telling me His Majesty knows about all this?" Gi is surprised by whatever Kim has just told him. "Who is killing whom?" Kim says very frankly, "We need to get rid of pro-Yuan collaborators first." Well that doesn't go over too well with Gi, no surprise, and he immediately demands that his allies Kwon Gyeom and No Chaek be protected. No, Kim says, at least one of them has to go--"so you and I can get a little more comfortable." And then adds, "The moment this revolt succeeds, I shall condemn Jo Il Shin for treason, and behead him. Then we'll hold the keys to this world." Gi clearly likes the idea of his rival being set up and eliminated. From in the background, Jo Il Shin notices the two of them talking, but can't hear what they're saying. Kim waves at him and smiles. Jo isn't sure what to make of that.
Pyeonjo has come to a temple--not sure which one--and is talking with Master Bou. About whether or not Pyeonjo should cut all of his ties with the secular world. A surprising topic in light of how we've seen him living and behaving. "The images of my father keep coming to mind," Pyeonjo says, "enveloping my soul with anguish." And it's obviously preventing him from getting clarity in his life. Then he reflects on the Buddhist tradition in the country. "Wasn't Buddhist faith what preserved and protected Goryeo? But now, neither faith nor any Buddhist path can be felt. If we want Goryeo to get back on its feet, shouldn't we revitalize Buddhist faith and its teachings to begin with?" Bou says it will happen eventually, but Pyeonjo fires back, "Are you referring to after Goryeo collapses?" So many of our citizens are either struggling to survive or else completely enslaved; they're not able to worry about their country. "Can the lowborn follow the teachings of Buddha? If we don't start solving this problem first, there will be no Buddhist teachings, or even a country."
Nighttime: Where are all of these soldiers going, moving briskly through the capital's streets in the darkness? What's going on?
"The face of my father I saw over twenty years ago, and his face now, twenty years later, were exactly the same." And he didn't recognize me as his son either time. "A son born from a slave is just the price of a night of carnal desire. Would he see him as a human being?" Pyeonjo starts to cry. "This is what, for a long time, was burning deep inside me, and created my anger. This is what kept me connected to the secular world, moving me to wander about in all that anguish." Pyeonjo says that all of this is his motivation to want to restore the nation. "That's how Buddhism will survive, and how the country will follow along." Tears are in his eyes. A rare occurrence, Pyeonjo opening up like this.
"Open the palace gates!" Those soldiers have arrived. Jo Il Shin is leading them. He's on horseback, as are Jung Cheon Gi and Choi Hwa Sang. "I've come to protect the King!" The gates are opened -and the soldiers enthusiastically charge into the palace...
...loud enough to wake King Gongmin. Eunuch Choi runs and tells the king he needs to hide somewhere. But Gongmin's only thought is for the queen's safety. "We need to secure her first."
Wow there are a lot of men running towards the palace. Kim Yong has been watching all this from near the palace, and now quietly tells a subordinate, "Let's go."
Gongmin bravely charges out into the night, retinue scrambling behind him, headed for the queen's palace.
Pyeonjo bows to a Buddha statue and leaves the temple...but for where?
Later, all of the ministers are gathered in the Council hall--and they're all staring at Gi Cheol. Gi emphatically denies he's responsible--and he seems to be sincere in that, even given his weasely-ness. Jo Il Shin, more than a little tactlessly, says "Whoever killed the former king should be praised as a meritorious subject!" The boy's continued existence was too big a threat to Gongmin's position, he argues. "But someone solved that problem for us." Doesn't sound like he did it, but still, not the time or place, buddy. He has no qualms about saying any of it, though. "I'm saying this because His Majesty is showing too much weakness!" As in, Gongmin should be totally cleaning house.
Queen Noguk and Princess Deoknyeong are talking about it too. Noguk seems terribly disillusioned that this couldn't have been prevented.
It's late at night now, but Gongmin is still outside, grieving over his nephew's body. As we soon see, he's now in front of Lady Yoon's home. Inside, an understandably distraught Lady Yoon is in white and crying bitterly.
And now we're with the queen dowager--who's furious that Gongmin has just taken responsibility for not protecting his nephew. Just let it go, her attendants tell her, but this woman just does not let anything go, does she now. She charges right out of the house...
...and heads directly to her son, to scold him and place the blame for what happened on Lady Yoon's shenanigans. Well, Lady Yoon can hear all of that, and promptly calls out from inside, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I have no intention of living much longer, either." You'd think this would elicit a little compassion from the QD--but no, instead she takes offense at it. "How dare you talk like that to me?!" Good heavens....
And now Noguk is finally opening up to Deoknyeong. Says she feels responsible for what happened. "The first time I saw him," she explains through some tears, "I despised his weakness." When he said he had no intention of seizing the throne from his nephew, well, "I sincerely doubted him." But seeing his grief tonight, she says she's "ashamed of my greed" for encouraging him to become king.
Now Lady Yoon is really going bonkers, accusing Gongmin of sending someone to poison her son. "I'm not the type to be fooled by those crocodile tears! So get out of here!" Yikes, even with the situation, heck of a way to talk to your king.
Next morning: Word has gotten out, and citizens are at the palace gate, prostrating themselves and offering their condolences. Until, that is, the gate swings open and Gi Cheol and Gi Won happen to go through it on their horses. That looks like Gong Cheol who's the first one to stand up and recognize him. "The bastard who poisoned our young ruler to death is here! Those Yuan collaborators killed our king!" Uh-oh. "Kill them!" UH-OH. Now others in the crowd join in. "The new king is a puppet of the Yuan!!" "Kill all those puppets of the Yuan!" "Kill them!" And suddenly rocks are being thrown at the two Gis. They high-tail it right back inside the gate. Kim Yong, Jo Il Shin and Jung Se Woon happen to be standing there; Gi angrily tells Jung to round up the mob and arrest them (security here is his responsibility). "On what accusation should I arrest those people," Jung calmly answers, "who are mourning the death of their former ruler?" Remember, these three are Gongmin's supporters ever since Yanjing and none of them is going to go to any great lengths on Gi Cheol's behalf. "Just let it go," Kim Yong advises, and adds that Gongmin would hardly approve of action against them. Gi stands there and fires off one disgusted grunt after another. Then, surprisingly, Jo Il Shin boldly goes through the gates and addresses the mob. He tries to explain the situation...but doesn't even make it through the third sentence. "That fool is just like them! Kill him! Kill him!" And here come the stones again. So Jo has to high-tail it back inside just like the Gis did. And hey, look who's one of the big incite-ers in that mob: Won Hyeon! Not like him, is it. Inside Gi Cheol starts mocking Jo (and it's very funny).
Outside, farther back from the mob, we see Choseon and Pyeonjo watching all this. Pyeonjo tells her he has to go somewhere for a couple of days. He watches the angry mob--particularly Won Hyeon, who is really, really infuriated.
Later, at a Council meeting, but without the king present: An angry, uncomfortable discussion about whether or not the king needs to stop all of this public grief, and particularly the begging Lady Yoon for forgiveness. Jo Il Shin says he's going to go talk to him about it.
Wow--Gongmin is still kneeling there outside Lady Yoon's house. Hasn't moved since last night; hasn't even had a sip of water. Jo Il Shin shows up and doesn't mince words. "Isn't that enough condolence for today? Your Majesty shows such weakness, collaborators and court officials keep scorning you." Well, Queen Noguk happened to show up right behind him, and doesn't like his attitude. But not only does he not back off, he even takes a shot at her: "Shouldn't you be blamed, Your Majesty, for interfering with state affairs and disgracing the name of your ruler?!" Oh that was not a good move. Gongmin heard it and barks at him, "Get out of my sight!" Add strangely enough, adds, "I still haven't forgotten the fact that you splashed water on my face." Huh?...Flashback to Yanjing, when the drunken then-prince was called suddenly to meet Empress Gi, and a frustrated Jo tossed a bucket of water on him to try to sober him up...Flashback ending, Jo is horrified and tries to defend himself, and he has good reason to, because his intentions were only honorable...
...but now he's running away from the scene, and on encountering Kim Yong, pulls him aside and asks for help. "My quick temper got the better of me once again. I committed a grave mistake!" Tells Kim about the water thing--Kim laughs that off and says Gongmin wouldn't really be angry about that--and about how "I have even upset the Queen!"--which may be a bigger problem. Kim had warned him about his temper, we learn, but the advice wasn't heeded. "Say something to His Majesty for me," a near-panicked Jo begs. He's really rattled.
Noguk has gone to Lady Yoon to defend her husband. "His Majesty constantly hesitated, and refused many times...he kept refusing the throne, repeating that he couldn't steal it from his young nephew." Lady Yoon was convinced that Gongmin had her son poisoned, but Noguk's words seem to convince her otherwise. "His Majesty has no such thing as power," Noguk tearfully tells her, reminding her how he had to sneak into the palace in the darkness when he arrived. "He ascended to the throne while suffering such humiliation. Where would he find the clout to protect his young nephew?" Now Lady Yoon seems to understand; she wishes Gongmin had been able to protect her son but no longer blames him for the poisoning...
...and outside, hearing word that his wife has convinced Lady Yoon of his innocence, Gongmin slumps over and loses consciousness.
Back at the palace gate: Another day, another protest. But this time, troops charge out of the gate. "Arrest them all!" Suddenly this is looking very ugly. Won Hyeon and Gong Cheol flee and manage to hide in a shop, evading arrest. Oh, there's Choseon's subordinate; this is her tea shop. Won tells Gong about "this strange excitement" he felt when he was throwing rocks at the gate. Won is more outspoken and purposeful than we've ever seen him.
"Did you send someone to trail him?" Choseon told her subordinate to put a trail on Pyeonjo, and he did. They've both heard that Pyeonjo was friendly with Gongmin back in Yanjing; Choseon wonders if the friendship will survive now that Gongmin is king. "Let's keep an eye on him," Choseon says. "We'll find out if he's to be trusted." Hmmm--why does she have such an interest in this? A strange feeling here that there's more to her than we know about.
We see Pyeonjo walking through the countryside. A guy is trailing him. Not very good at it. Pyeonjo easily can tell the guy is there. With a burst of that weird speed we've seen before (and hoped we wouldn't see any more, darn it), he completely shakes the guy...
...who has to return home and confess failure. Oddly, Choseon doesn't seem very surprised at the guy's tale of some sort of black magic that made the monk disappear.
Pyeonjo's arrived at a village somewhere. Apparently a lot of people have been showing up here looking for food because of the famine. But the owner of an estate graciously invites the monk in and gives him a simple meal. As he sits down to eat it, Pyeonjo has a memory...Flashback to him as a young boy, being severely disciplined by his mother, apparently for wanting to look for his father. "You're fatherless scum," she tells him angrily, and now hitting him to the point where an older woman has to come running in and step in and break them up. (This looks like the woman we saw in the previous flashback with Wolseon and the property marker.) And that's Deokun in the background, which places this scene around Gaetae Temple. "Didn't I tell you," his mother says, "there was nobody of lower birth than you?" The depth of this woman's cruelty to her own child is almost beyond understanding...Now a bit forward in time, with Pyeonjo dressed in a nice new outfit and Wolseon happily fawning over him. Pyeonjo's mother enters the room and isn't happy with Wolseon. "What you're doing is futile, Master. You should have let him believe he had no father."...Now a smiling Pyeonjo and his mother are walking through the countryside...they arrive at the same home where Pyeonjo is now, and suddenly four men come out of the front gate, seize the woman, drag her inside and shut the door, leaving the little boy outside by himself. What the heck?...Flashbacks ending, Pyeonjo is starting to look very angry. Leaving his meal half-finished, he goes outside to see the owner, who's standing in a doorway...Now another flashback, to the evening of the day we last saw. Pyeonjo's mother is rudely escorted back out of the estate and dumped on the ground. The homeowner--the same guy as now--glares at her from the gateway. "Didn't I say the next time I'd see you, I'd finish you off?" She begs him to take her son in...and now we start to wonder if this is the government official who got Pyeonjo's mother pregnant. His father. He wants no part of her or the boy, probably to protect his own reputation, and now orders her beaten so she won't ever come back...Flashback ending, Pyeonjo stares at the homeowner, who's looking back at him. The guy actually seems pretty nice; hard to believe he was so heartless in the past. "I have a favor to ask," he says to Pyeonjo. "When I was younger, I lost one of my sons. Whenever you find the time, pray for his heavenly bliss." Then a dignified bow to Pyeonjo. "I wish you enlightenment, gentle Monk." And with that he heads inside. You sort of figured Pyeonjo was here to kick the guy's butt for what he did...but the experience leaves him with a smile on his face, looking almost like a long-carried burden had been lifted from him.
Good grief, what's the queen dowager upset about now? She's sitting with her son, who was unconscious but finally wakes up after his long foodless, waterless vigil at Lady Yoon's front door. As his wife waits outside the room, the QD practically sneers at her son. "What do you think is the reason the people won't follow your lead? Your consort the Queen is a Yuan woman." She's also heard rumors about Noguk being "the daughter of a traitor" (which wasn't true but who knows what might have happened to the King of Wei by now). If her son won't dethrone Noguk, then she at least wants him to take another consort--a Goryean woman. "We need a Goryeo woman leading palace affairs, so that the people will follow you. Think about it carefully." With that she leaves the room, and finds Noguk standing there looking at her. Instantly she's all smiles and pleasantries, as though Noguk didn't hear any of her nastiness just now through the paper-thin wall. Oh this woman is horrible. "Let's go, my dear," she tells Lee Hyebi, who came here with her and waited with the QD's attendants. But Hyebi holds off; she looks terribly uncomfortable with the whole situation and seems to want to tell Noguk something. But she doesn't; she simply bows respectfully to the queen and leaves. Now Noguk goes in to see her husband...and from outside, one last shout from the witch: "We need a Goryeo woman as the queen. Only then will the country be at peace once again"...and to her credit, Noguk merely smiles as she sits facing her husband. "Don't let those words hurt you," Gongmin says with embarrassment; "my mother has suffered for many years." She assures him she's not bothered and is only concerned for his peace of mind. The response seems to stun him, as though he's again amazed by the woman he's married. She even tells him again she'll understand if he has to give her up for the good of the country. It nearly brings him to tears. "I couldn't protect my young nephew," he tells her; "If I can't protect you either, how could I possibly protect this country and its people?" He leans forward and takes her hands. "Trust me. I shall keep the promise I made you at all costs." And we can tell right now how much he loves her, as awkwardly as he's usually treated her. Now she's the stunned one; she hadn't seen the situation like this but it makes perfect sense to her. It brings her to tears. "Yes, Your Majesty. You need to protect me, Your Majesty." And we know she says it not for her sake, but because she agrees with him that it's best for him. Wow, what a moving scene.
Evening at Jo Il Shin's home: Kim Yong pays Jo a visit. "I can't take it anymore! Things cannot go on this way." Jo reminds Kim of the big plans they had when they allied themselves with Prince Gangneung. They haven't come true quickly enough for Jo, or at least, he doesn't have enough power yet. So? "We need to overthrow things." WHAT? Not the king, he assures Kim; "All the collaborators starting from Gi Cheol. All the ruffians like Lee Je Hyeon. After we've dealt with them, whatever His Majesty can't do, I shall take care of it." I'll make the moves, he says; "all you and Jung Se Woon need to do is to feign indifference."
Kim leaves, with Jo's final words ringing in his head: "If you divulge this to anyone, I won't be alone in death!"
Now Jo has two other visitors. "Did you hear it all?" Oh, not visitors--eavesdroppers. These are two new men to us; their names are Jung Cheon Gi and Choi Hwa Sang. Apparently collaborators of his. The palace is essentially in Kim Yong's hands, he tells them, because of his role...and then adds, "If all our efforts go in vain, I shall cut all my fingers in your presence." He thinks that's funny and wiggles his fingers.
The two men leave him and discuss it. This is our big chance, they agree. They head off, with resolve to accomplish whatever is going to happen.
Back inside, Jo seethes with anger. "You impertinent little prick! Who put you on that throne?"
Next morning, on the palace grounds: The odd couple, Kim Yong and Gi Cheol, are talking again. "Are you telling me His Majesty knows about all this?" Gi is surprised by whatever Kim has just told him. "Who is killing whom?" Kim says very frankly, "We need to get rid of pro-Yuan collaborators first." Well that doesn't go over too well with Gi, no surprise, and he immediately demands that his allies Kwon Gyeom and No Chaek be protected. No, Kim says, at least one of them has to go--"so you and I can get a little more comfortable." And then adds, "The moment this revolt succeeds, I shall condemn Jo Il Shin for treason, and behead him. Then we'll hold the keys to this world." Gi clearly likes the idea of his rival being set up and eliminated. From in the background, Jo Il Shin notices the two of them talking, but can't hear what they're saying. Kim waves at him and smiles. Jo isn't sure what to make of that.
Pyeonjo has come to a temple--not sure which one--and is talking with Master Bou. About whether or not Pyeonjo should cut all of his ties with the secular world. A surprising topic in light of how we've seen him living and behaving. "The images of my father keep coming to mind," Pyeonjo says, "enveloping my soul with anguish." And it's obviously preventing him from getting clarity in his life. Then he reflects on the Buddhist tradition in the country. "Wasn't Buddhist faith what preserved and protected Goryeo? But now, neither faith nor any Buddhist path can be felt. If we want Goryeo to get back on its feet, shouldn't we revitalize Buddhist faith and its teachings to begin with?" Bou says it will happen eventually, but Pyeonjo fires back, "Are you referring to after Goryeo collapses?" So many of our citizens are either struggling to survive or else completely enslaved; they're not able to worry about their country. "Can the lowborn follow the teachings of Buddha? If we don't start solving this problem first, there will be no Buddhist teachings, or even a country."
Nighttime: Where are all of these soldiers going, moving briskly through the capital's streets in the darkness? What's going on?
"The face of my father I saw over twenty years ago, and his face now, twenty years later, were exactly the same." And he didn't recognize me as his son either time. "A son born from a slave is just the price of a night of carnal desire. Would he see him as a human being?" Pyeonjo starts to cry. "This is what, for a long time, was burning deep inside me, and created my anger. This is what kept me connected to the secular world, moving me to wander about in all that anguish." Pyeonjo says that all of this is his motivation to want to restore the nation. "That's how Buddhism will survive, and how the country will follow along." Tears are in his eyes. A rare occurrence, Pyeonjo opening up like this.
"Open the palace gates!" Those soldiers have arrived. Jo Il Shin is leading them. He's on horseback, as are Jung Cheon Gi and Choi Hwa Sang. "I've come to protect the King!" The gates are opened -and the soldiers enthusiastically charge into the palace...
...loud enough to wake King Gongmin. Eunuch Choi runs and tells the king he needs to hide somewhere. But Gongmin's only thought is for the queen's safety. "We need to secure her first."
Wow there are a lot of men running towards the palace. Kim Yong has been watching all this from near the palace, and now quietly tells a subordinate, "Let's go."
Gongmin bravely charges out into the night, retinue scrambling behind him, headed for the queen's palace.
Pyeonjo bows to a Buddha statue and leaves the temple...but for where?