Post by ajk on Nov 22, 2013 23:00:30 GMT -5
His wife is right, but the king doesn't buy it. "Jo Il Shin is one of my most meritorious subjects," he insists, and would never try to dethrone you. But Noguk fires back that Jo would go much further. "If he had the chance, Jo Il Shin would have killed you, and would have installed another royal as the new king." How can you trust him?, she wonders.
"Let's head for the Royal Palace, dethrone the Queen, and tell the King we shall fight the Yuan!" Jo is trying to fire up all the ministers and get them to go and confront Gongmin directly. And amazingly, it works. They all get worked up into enough of a frenzy that they march out of the Council hall together. All except for three: Lee Je Hyeon, Lee In Bok, and Jo's longtime ally Jung Se Woon. Jo grumbles something about "old farts" as he brushes by them on his way out. The night has passed; it's morning outside now.
Noguk keeps pressing. "By killing those collaborators, Jo Il Shin found his just cause." Don't get yourself dragged into this, she urges him, and if that means giving me up, do it. Gongmin tells her what he told her once before, that he's hardly a worthy king if he can't even protect his wife. She cautions him, "Mercy is not a ruler's cardinal virtue. If their ruler is strong, his subjects will never defy him." So you have to show strength by giving me up, she argues, and by killing Jo. "You can't spare people who brandished swords in your presence." The urgency in her voice shows she thinks this is a turning point. Now Gongmin is totally rattled. Who can I trust, he asks her in a near panic, if I can't even trust Jo? You can trust the people, she tells him. Remember how they poured out their grief for the former king--who was just a boy and never accomplished anything on the throne. It's you as the king they grieved for, because they support their king. "May you become a mighty and determined ruler," she begs him. "Only then will the sorrowful cries of your people cease." And now the panic in his face is replaced by clarity and hope. "Yes. I was forgetting I had the people on my side." He suddenly looks like a different person.
And he'd better be, because now there's a racket outside. It's Yeom Je Shin, who was the most gullible of the ministers back at the Council hall and is kneeling outside Gongmin's front door. "Your Majesty! Catch all the collaborators and kill them, and fight the Yuan! Kick all the remaining Mongol princesses out of the palace, and dethrone the Queen!" The other ministers are there too, but Yeom is front and center and doing the yelling. Noguk gives a great told-you-so nod to her husband.
The queen dowager is getting word of what's happening. She doesn't understand why her son isn't more grateful to Jo for his actions...and of course she's glad to hear the ruckus being raised about the Mongol queen.
"You need to have a Goryeo woman as your consort! Having a Yuan woman as the mother of our state is a disgrace to our legacy!" Jo is perfectly happy to let Yeom do the yelling, apparently. But then Yeom looks up from his face-down kneel, and who's standing there in front of him--Noguk! He's too embarrassed for words. "You surely are a faithful subject," she tells him with complete calm. "If I should step down, so that Goryeo can regain its independence, I shall be happy to do so." Yeom actually jumps back a little, the offer surprises him so much.
Back at the Council hall, the three who stayed behind are still standing there. Lee, ever the thinker, realizes that the queen isn't the big issue--it's the king's safety. Jung Se Woon backs him up. "Jo isn't the type to stop" with just the queen, he says, and he knows Jo well. But now Jo is gaining support for this cause, Lee says, using the Yuan as an easy target. "It's an immediate breeze of satisfaction." Great description of a politician pandering.
Here's Jo--he's with his subordinate Jeon Cheon Ji, not even in the palace yard where Yeom was doing all the yelling. Coward. Now here comes Yeom and everybody else out of the yard. Yeom tells Jo the queen said she's resign. Not good enough for Jo. "You should have gotten an edict from His Majesty" ordering it in writing! We did enough, Yeom says, and they all push their way past a furious Jo without another word.
Princess Deoknyeong is visiting Noguk now, and isn't happy. "If you step down, things will get even more difficult for the King." Empress Gi will hear about it cause trouble for him, she believes. But Noguk isn't worried about that. "What we need to do," she says, "is get rid of Jo Il Shin's just cause." Don't worry, she tells Deoknyeong with a smile; the king will handle it all wisely. (I'd worry.) Besides, she says, I always knew the day would come when Goryeo would want to resist the Yuan and would want a Goryean consort. So if it's now, it's now. "I can't stand to see His Majesty disgraced like this anymore." Even if that means his joining forces with Jo Il Shin and her losing her position.
Now Jo is back in Gongmin's office, kneeling before him. Jo urges the king to confront the Yuan, starting with dethroning the queen. "No matter how painful this is for you. Only then shall the people follow you!" "I understand," Gongmin says with irritation. "You can leave." But not only does Jo not leave, he calls in the palace secretary and challenges the king to issue an edict! Sheesh, what cojones. "If it is so hard for you, I shall write it myself!" Finally Gongmin starts to push back a little. "If it weren't for her, would I have earned this throne at all? That's why..." But Jo cuts him off. "That's why the people look at you with scorn, as a mere puppet of the Yuan! I shall give you one more day." He says it more out of concern than as a threat--but what's the difference really. "If you can't make a decision by tomorrow, I shall write the edict dethroning the Queen with my own hands!" Okay, now THAT'S a threat. And from the utterly stunned look on Gongmin's face, it really got through. Jo leaves...
...and back inside, Gongmin looks forlorn and defeated. "Are you telling me," he says to himself, "there is really nobody I can trust?!" And then, suddenly, a thought. Who knows where it came from, or why now of all times. "I was forgetting Pyeonjo!" Just the thought of the monk brightens Gongmin's face. So does Pyeonjo's frankness and willingness to be honest with him, and his faith in the then-prince, and the friendship they shared back in Yanjing. As Gongmin reflects, we see some brief flashbacks of the two together...and they leave Gongmin actually laughing, he so enjoys the memories. "Where are you, and what are you doing?", he wonders to himself. "If you were next to me right now, I would have gotten rid of this weight on my shoulders, and would be flying like a bird." Well...that's a lot to expect. But it shows what a tough spot the king is in and how lonely he feels.
Yanjing: Gi Cheol made it here, and is pacing back and forth in front of his surprised sister. He's a mess; looks awful, acts almost unhinged. So freaked out that the empress is laughing at him a little. He tells her their brother was killed by Jo Il Shin's men, and their mother imprisoned. Oddly, she doesn't even flinch at the news. But she does challenge him. "Isn't the person responsible for all this standing right in front of me?" Oh boy does that not go over well. "Where were all the private guards you were training?" Ummm, uhhh, I didn't think it would ever come to that, he tries to explain. She starts to laugh again. Gi is stunned by her disinterest, but she doesn't care. "Until I call you," she says with a scary whisper, "get out of my sight." So he gets out, muttering and fuming all the way.
The empress is left there with Commissioner Park, who was futilely trying to get Gi Cheol to calm down and behave. As a sort of apology the empress asks him, "Who would ever believe we come from the same womb?!" Very funny. And it turns out, the story her brother just told her, she doesn't believe it! "One of the king's closest subjects started a revolt?!" No way, she says. She's sure of it because she thinks she understands Gongmin completely. Better than anybody, in fact, because of the similar traumas they endured, being separated from their families and homeland because of the Yuan. "I could sense his anger," she says; "I used the same anger to get here myself." And I'm sure he understands me the same way, she believes, and sees him as a formidable potential adversary. We know from what we've seen that she gives him too much credit here, but maybe she thinks he'll grow and become more formidable.
Gaegyeong, in front of the palace gate: What's Pyeonjo doing, sitting there in front of the gate in apparent meditation? "I was trying to send some positive energy His Majesty's way," he explains to Won Hyeon, who's just spotted him. Won confesses that he enjoyed hearing that "despicable collaborators" were murdered. Pyeonjo scolds him for that, and is unconcerned that the public seems to be supporting Jo Il Shin and is willing to support the idea of a different king.
Now Pyeonjo goes to Choseon's estate, just for a meal. Gong Cheol bangs the door shut on him! What's that all about? But then comes back and lets him in--but not for a meal. Instead he's ushered into a meeting of some sort. This looks to be a gathering of local merchants and business leaders. They're not happy about the political situation, and from the sound of it they've been unhappy for a long time. There's even talk about "rising up" and when to do it. The meeting goes on for hours, because when the merchants finally head home it's dark outside.
Now Pyeonjo and Choseon are sitting alone and enjoying some tea. With a smile she confesses/apologizes to him for having him tailed. "I've heard you were close to Prince Gangneung, back in Yanjing." He smiles and accepts graciously--"but why did you call me to a meeting to plot treason?" She corrects him. "Trying to build a new country shall not be called treason." Pyeonjo is understandably surprised at her bringing him into the middle of this. I could go tell the king about all this right now, he says, and "be amply rewarded." But like Won Hyeon, Choseon is skeptical that his former friend would still be his friend now that he wears the crown. That aside, she tells him she has low expectations for Gongmin--"he's nothing more than a puppet of the Yuan." Pyeonjo cautions her: "Do you think creating a new country is such an easy feat?" She fires right back, "Then why are you going around, spouting off big words about turning the world upside down?" Boy, this woman sure knows a lot about what everybody's doing, doesn't she? "And I thought you were just a merchant buying and selling tea." He chuckles, thanks her for the tea, and leaves her.
(Hey wait a minute--this revolt group--are they the Tea Party?)
But uh-oh, outside he's confronted by her head subordinate and what must be a dozen more of her men, some of whom wield wooden clubs. "Let him go," Choseon shouts from inside. Not a popular order. "My Lady! What if he tells them about us?!" She has to think about that....
Obviously she trusts him, because now we see Pyeonjo--and Won, who was somewhere else in the estate--both rudely shoved out the front gate, which creaks shut behind them.
Next day, at a lunch cafe: Pyeonjo tells Won about the meeting yesterday. Won is understandably shocked...but then Pyeonjo asks the cafe owner what he thinks about Jo Il Shin: "a faithful subject or a traitor?" The owner scoffs, unkindly: "He's just Jo Il Shin." The answer cracks up everyone else in the cafe. "See? Even if he killed those collaborators," Pyeonjo tells Won, "they're just badmouthing him." But Pyeonjo didn't join Choseon's group, because he has faith in Gongmin. Won scoffs. And then in the next moment, a man comes running excitedly into the cafe with a strange piece of news: "We've been told people can go ransack residences of collaborators or traitors as much as they please." In moments the cafe is empty, as everyone in there scatters in search of loot. Empty except for Won. Even Pyeonjo goes, probably just to see for himself but he does go.
And look at this--now we're at Kim Yong's estate. We saw Pyeonjo go there in Episode 13 so we remember it. And citizens are picking the place clean of everything--under the watchful and approving eye of soldiers! This was all approved by the Assistant Administrator, the soldiers announce. There's even a line outside; it seems to be all-you-can-carry and then the next person is let in. So Kim obviously is being branded a collaborator or an ally of Gi Cheol's. But wait, that one guy there in the line...it's Kim Yong! In disguise, of course, but standing there in horror seeing what's happening to his home. Pyeonjo recognizes him there and almost blows Kim's cover but is quickly shushed. Boy is Kim ever mad, and how could he not be. And then look who comes stumbling out of the estate with an ornate, heavy side table--Won Hyeon. Oh Won, monks aren't supposed to behave like this. Shame on you.
Evening, and the two monks are settled again by the warehouse of Choseon's where they've been staying lately. Won is sleeping contentedly--wonder what he did with the table--but Pyeonjo again has Wolseon's teachings reverberating in his head and is trying to make sense of them.
"Did you just say that Pyeonjo was the reincarnation of a meaningful spirit who had been buried for a thousand years?" We're at Gaetae Temple now, same evening, and Wolseon has just dropped that odd piece of news on Master Bou. "Then you should take care of Pyeonjo." As in, take him back as your pupil. Or else "Pyeonjo will become a demon swaying the world towards darkness." (Really?) But Bou is shocked to hear that Wolseon himself was the one who encouraged Pyeonjo to go out on his own. Because maybe he can help change things for the better. "That is not something a Buddhist monk should concern himself with," Bou admonishes. Wolseon doesn't like that. Buddha's teachings aren't just abstractions, he admonishes.
Nighttime: Jeon Cheon Gi is the new Grand Manager, in charge of the troops guarding the palace. And right now there are a whole lot of them, and they seem to have the place tightly sealed...
...but Lee Je Hyeon and Lee In Bok are being led by Eunuch An through a deserted, dark part of the palace grounds; must be some sort of secret entrance. Je Hyeon is stumbling around because he can't see well in the dark, and he's fairly old so the difficult trip is tiring him. He can't make it any farther so he stays there while An leads In Bok over a wall and inside.
No one gets into the palace, Jo Il Shin orders Jeon. Jo is drinking now, so this can't possibly turn out well. It doesn't matter who they are; if they try to get in, kill them. No exceptions. "All we need to do is to keep the king in check. If we kill Kim Yong and get rid of Jung Se Woon, I'll have cut all of His Majesty's ties, so I'll be free to control state affairs on my own!" Jeon says the court officials are acting suspiciously...but Jo isn't concerned. In the morning, he says, he'll go to the king and get that edict dethroning Noguk, and not only that...he'll demand Lee Je Hyeon's position! Wow, that one even staggers Jeon--who gently suggests maybe that's going a little too far too soon. A semi-drunken Jo gets up, grabs a display sword sitting behind him, and angrily points it at Jeon. "Show such weakness again and I shall slay you before everyone else!" Message delivered, Jeon leaves...but from inside Jo yells, "I'm saying, get ready to behead the King if that is what it takes!" And by now Jo is looking almost psychotic.
With An's help, Lee In Bok climbs over that last wall and into the king's palace grounds. Another eunuch is waiting there, to escort him ahead.
Jeon arrives at the palace complex to check things out. Looks like all secure.
In Bok makes it to Gongmin's darkened office. The king was hoping it was Lee Je Hyeon but is grateful to see In Bok too. "You're the only two people I can trust here." And he's trusting the right person; In Bok says he's willing to die to risk getting rid of Jo Il Shin. Issue an order--as in, an order to apprehend Jo--and "I'll find a way," he says. "It's too late now," Gongmin says; "I can't issue it tonight." Then we'll just have to go ahead on our own, In Bok says, and adds that if we can't get him alive, we'll have to kill him. With a bit of reluctance Gongmin answers, "Do as the situation dictates." But then as In Bok leaves he adds, "Jo Il Shin is someone who suffered on my behalf." Even in this time of crisis, Gongmin hasn't forgotten that once-loyalty. In Bok understands his reluctance; he can't guarantee anything but assures him, "We'll try our best to just catch him."
In Bok is escorted back to where Lee Je Hyeon is waiting. The king agreed to let us handle it, In Bok tells him. Je Hyeon actually looks a little surprised at how easy that was. And then adds, "He brought us all the way here, just to ask for that favor?" Does he sense something fishy in all this? Or is he just annoyed at having to make the trip....
Back inside, there's a resoluteness in Gongmin's face. "This time," he mutters to himself, "I shall protect the Queen." Now what does HE have up his sleeve? Seems like there may be something.
The next morning: Led by Eunuch An, the queen is in a small gama, being taken from her residence. Amazingly, soldiers block her way. She's not allowed to leave the palace complex! From inside the gama, she tells the soldiers she's only going to the queen dowager's home to pay her respects (remember, the QD lives in the palace complex now). So she's allowed through. Sheesh.
"Where have you been hiding all this time?!" A chagrined, humbled Kim Yong has come to see his longtime ally Jung Se Woon at Jung's home. "You should have stood next to His Majesty no matter what!" Boy, Jung is letting him have it--even accusing him of trying to ally himself with both Jo and Gi Cheol so he'd be sure to come out a winner. And guess what--Jung is right. "I have no excuses," Kim admits. Jung is so disgusted, he tells Kim to get lost. But Kim pleads for help: "If you don't hide me, I'm a dead man."
Noguk is with the QD now, and makes it a point to do the proper respectful bow--and pretty well at that. "The first time you came in here, didn't you have a hard time even sitting down properly?" Yes, she did. And the effort she's made does seem to impress her mother-in-law. The QD says she isn't sleeping well, what with all the hot water her son is in. It must be making her cranky because she even snaps at Lee Hyebi, who's just standing there in the room looking down. Hyebi is uncomfortable just being there with the queen....but then Noguk starts to talk to Hyebi--very friendly and civil, and Hyebi is taken aback by it.
"Announce me." Jo Il Shin struts up to the door of Gongmin's office. He's announced and Gongmin bids him enter. Gongmin greets him with a smile and a laugh! "I was just waiting for you." But wait, what's going on here? "Let's have a cup of tea first. Have a seat." Tea is brought it, and Jo looks around wide-eyed like he's been kidnapped by space aliens. Again a calm smile from the king.
Outside the building, two men in red government robes have come to see Lee In Bok, who's waiting for them. One is Choi Young, Lee's associate who we already know. The other is named Kim Cheom Su, who Choi says "is very accomplished at throwing daggers." And he's got one up his sleeve. Kim cautions them: "You must know Jo Il Shin's fighting skills are excellent." Seriously? He's not exactly a spring chicken, and he hardly looks to be in fighting shape. But Choi takes the warning seriously, so there must be something to it. The two head off to take their position somewhere...but as they do, Choi turns back to Lee. "If things go wrong, just feign ignorance. Kim Cheom Su and I shall die instead and keep that secret." "You must succeed," Lee tells them.
Pyeonjo has come to see Choseon...but her servant tells him she's gone to the royal temple to worship.
And yes she has...but not just to worship. Her brother Jihyo is there. "Are you going to avoid me until you'll die?" He reminds her he cut his ties with the secular world. And has to add, "I can't face the burning anger inside your heart." What burning? "If I quench those flames," she answers him, "our father will never escape from the flames of hell." So she's seeking justice for her father being swindled and taking his own life. The conversation going nowhere, they bow to each other to leave, but Jihyo has one warning for his sister. "Don't involve Pyeonjo in your plans." He knows about that thousand-year-old spirit thing. But why would that be bad for her?
An utterly baffled Jo Il Shin is served his tea. And served a surprise by Gongmin: "I ordered your proclamation as Chief Administrator." Doink! Seriously? "In no time, the Yuan will send envoys to rebuke us. Would Lee Je Hyeon's old age cope with that?" Jo is dumbfounded. "Rebuke us? Rebuke us about what?" I'll handle it all, he promises. Then Gongmin reminisces about their early days together in Yanjing. "I was nothing more than a clueless child," he says. Jo says those were tough days for him: "Whenever you'd cry, missing your homeland, I felt like a dagger was piercing my heart." And he means it, we can see. Even with everything that's happened, he still does have some sort of loyalty to Gongmin. But then he snaps back to the present. "Make a decision today!", he insists. About the queen, that is. Jo insists he doesn't like doing this...and maybe he doesn't...Then Gongmin tells him that "It's just that I have taken a liking to her." And adds, "Looking back, isn't the Queen very pitiful as well?" Jo's impatience gets the better of him and he snaps, "This is not the time to be guided by compassion!" Oops. The smile vanishes from Gongmin's face.
Pyeonjo finds Choseon, praying in one of the temple shrines.
Gongmin calms himself and the smile returns. "I shall head for Seongyeong Palace, and issue an edict, dethroning the Queen." With that, Jo get up and leaves...and the smile vanishes again. Now Gongmin looks disgusted and angry.
Pyeonjo has something to tell Choseon. He's decided he'll join her. "We can create that world where lowborns can dance on the streets."
"Let's head for the Royal Palace, dethrone the Queen, and tell the King we shall fight the Yuan!" Jo is trying to fire up all the ministers and get them to go and confront Gongmin directly. And amazingly, it works. They all get worked up into enough of a frenzy that they march out of the Council hall together. All except for three: Lee Je Hyeon, Lee In Bok, and Jo's longtime ally Jung Se Woon. Jo grumbles something about "old farts" as he brushes by them on his way out. The night has passed; it's morning outside now.
Noguk keeps pressing. "By killing those collaborators, Jo Il Shin found his just cause." Don't get yourself dragged into this, she urges him, and if that means giving me up, do it. Gongmin tells her what he told her once before, that he's hardly a worthy king if he can't even protect his wife. She cautions him, "Mercy is not a ruler's cardinal virtue. If their ruler is strong, his subjects will never defy him." So you have to show strength by giving me up, she argues, and by killing Jo. "You can't spare people who brandished swords in your presence." The urgency in her voice shows she thinks this is a turning point. Now Gongmin is totally rattled. Who can I trust, he asks her in a near panic, if I can't even trust Jo? You can trust the people, she tells him. Remember how they poured out their grief for the former king--who was just a boy and never accomplished anything on the throne. It's you as the king they grieved for, because they support their king. "May you become a mighty and determined ruler," she begs him. "Only then will the sorrowful cries of your people cease." And now the panic in his face is replaced by clarity and hope. "Yes. I was forgetting I had the people on my side." He suddenly looks like a different person.
And he'd better be, because now there's a racket outside. It's Yeom Je Shin, who was the most gullible of the ministers back at the Council hall and is kneeling outside Gongmin's front door. "Your Majesty! Catch all the collaborators and kill them, and fight the Yuan! Kick all the remaining Mongol princesses out of the palace, and dethrone the Queen!" The other ministers are there too, but Yeom is front and center and doing the yelling. Noguk gives a great told-you-so nod to her husband.
The queen dowager is getting word of what's happening. She doesn't understand why her son isn't more grateful to Jo for his actions...and of course she's glad to hear the ruckus being raised about the Mongol queen.
"You need to have a Goryeo woman as your consort! Having a Yuan woman as the mother of our state is a disgrace to our legacy!" Jo is perfectly happy to let Yeom do the yelling, apparently. But then Yeom looks up from his face-down kneel, and who's standing there in front of him--Noguk! He's too embarrassed for words. "You surely are a faithful subject," she tells him with complete calm. "If I should step down, so that Goryeo can regain its independence, I shall be happy to do so." Yeom actually jumps back a little, the offer surprises him so much.
Back at the Council hall, the three who stayed behind are still standing there. Lee, ever the thinker, realizes that the queen isn't the big issue--it's the king's safety. Jung Se Woon backs him up. "Jo isn't the type to stop" with just the queen, he says, and he knows Jo well. But now Jo is gaining support for this cause, Lee says, using the Yuan as an easy target. "It's an immediate breeze of satisfaction." Great description of a politician pandering.
Here's Jo--he's with his subordinate Jeon Cheon Ji, not even in the palace yard where Yeom was doing all the yelling. Coward. Now here comes Yeom and everybody else out of the yard. Yeom tells Jo the queen said she's resign. Not good enough for Jo. "You should have gotten an edict from His Majesty" ordering it in writing! We did enough, Yeom says, and they all push their way past a furious Jo without another word.
Princess Deoknyeong is visiting Noguk now, and isn't happy. "If you step down, things will get even more difficult for the King." Empress Gi will hear about it cause trouble for him, she believes. But Noguk isn't worried about that. "What we need to do," she says, "is get rid of Jo Il Shin's just cause." Don't worry, she tells Deoknyeong with a smile; the king will handle it all wisely. (I'd worry.) Besides, she says, I always knew the day would come when Goryeo would want to resist the Yuan and would want a Goryean consort. So if it's now, it's now. "I can't stand to see His Majesty disgraced like this anymore." Even if that means his joining forces with Jo Il Shin and her losing her position.
Now Jo is back in Gongmin's office, kneeling before him. Jo urges the king to confront the Yuan, starting with dethroning the queen. "No matter how painful this is for you. Only then shall the people follow you!" "I understand," Gongmin says with irritation. "You can leave." But not only does Jo not leave, he calls in the palace secretary and challenges the king to issue an edict! Sheesh, what cojones. "If it is so hard for you, I shall write it myself!" Finally Gongmin starts to push back a little. "If it weren't for her, would I have earned this throne at all? That's why..." But Jo cuts him off. "That's why the people look at you with scorn, as a mere puppet of the Yuan! I shall give you one more day." He says it more out of concern than as a threat--but what's the difference really. "If you can't make a decision by tomorrow, I shall write the edict dethroning the Queen with my own hands!" Okay, now THAT'S a threat. And from the utterly stunned look on Gongmin's face, it really got through. Jo leaves...
...and back inside, Gongmin looks forlorn and defeated. "Are you telling me," he says to himself, "there is really nobody I can trust?!" And then, suddenly, a thought. Who knows where it came from, or why now of all times. "I was forgetting Pyeonjo!" Just the thought of the monk brightens Gongmin's face. So does Pyeonjo's frankness and willingness to be honest with him, and his faith in the then-prince, and the friendship they shared back in Yanjing. As Gongmin reflects, we see some brief flashbacks of the two together...and they leave Gongmin actually laughing, he so enjoys the memories. "Where are you, and what are you doing?", he wonders to himself. "If you were next to me right now, I would have gotten rid of this weight on my shoulders, and would be flying like a bird." Well...that's a lot to expect. But it shows what a tough spot the king is in and how lonely he feels.
Yanjing: Gi Cheol made it here, and is pacing back and forth in front of his surprised sister. He's a mess; looks awful, acts almost unhinged. So freaked out that the empress is laughing at him a little. He tells her their brother was killed by Jo Il Shin's men, and their mother imprisoned. Oddly, she doesn't even flinch at the news. But she does challenge him. "Isn't the person responsible for all this standing right in front of me?" Oh boy does that not go over well. "Where were all the private guards you were training?" Ummm, uhhh, I didn't think it would ever come to that, he tries to explain. She starts to laugh again. Gi is stunned by her disinterest, but she doesn't care. "Until I call you," she says with a scary whisper, "get out of my sight." So he gets out, muttering and fuming all the way.
The empress is left there with Commissioner Park, who was futilely trying to get Gi Cheol to calm down and behave. As a sort of apology the empress asks him, "Who would ever believe we come from the same womb?!" Very funny. And it turns out, the story her brother just told her, she doesn't believe it! "One of the king's closest subjects started a revolt?!" No way, she says. She's sure of it because she thinks she understands Gongmin completely. Better than anybody, in fact, because of the similar traumas they endured, being separated from their families and homeland because of the Yuan. "I could sense his anger," she says; "I used the same anger to get here myself." And I'm sure he understands me the same way, she believes, and sees him as a formidable potential adversary. We know from what we've seen that she gives him too much credit here, but maybe she thinks he'll grow and become more formidable.
Gaegyeong, in front of the palace gate: What's Pyeonjo doing, sitting there in front of the gate in apparent meditation? "I was trying to send some positive energy His Majesty's way," he explains to Won Hyeon, who's just spotted him. Won confesses that he enjoyed hearing that "despicable collaborators" were murdered. Pyeonjo scolds him for that, and is unconcerned that the public seems to be supporting Jo Il Shin and is willing to support the idea of a different king.
Now Pyeonjo goes to Choseon's estate, just for a meal. Gong Cheol bangs the door shut on him! What's that all about? But then comes back and lets him in--but not for a meal. Instead he's ushered into a meeting of some sort. This looks to be a gathering of local merchants and business leaders. They're not happy about the political situation, and from the sound of it they've been unhappy for a long time. There's even talk about "rising up" and when to do it. The meeting goes on for hours, because when the merchants finally head home it's dark outside.
Now Pyeonjo and Choseon are sitting alone and enjoying some tea. With a smile she confesses/apologizes to him for having him tailed. "I've heard you were close to Prince Gangneung, back in Yanjing." He smiles and accepts graciously--"but why did you call me to a meeting to plot treason?" She corrects him. "Trying to build a new country shall not be called treason." Pyeonjo is understandably surprised at her bringing him into the middle of this. I could go tell the king about all this right now, he says, and "be amply rewarded." But like Won Hyeon, Choseon is skeptical that his former friend would still be his friend now that he wears the crown. That aside, she tells him she has low expectations for Gongmin--"he's nothing more than a puppet of the Yuan." Pyeonjo cautions her: "Do you think creating a new country is such an easy feat?" She fires right back, "Then why are you going around, spouting off big words about turning the world upside down?" Boy, this woman sure knows a lot about what everybody's doing, doesn't she? "And I thought you were just a merchant buying and selling tea." He chuckles, thanks her for the tea, and leaves her.
(Hey wait a minute--this revolt group--are they the Tea Party?)
But uh-oh, outside he's confronted by her head subordinate and what must be a dozen more of her men, some of whom wield wooden clubs. "Let him go," Choseon shouts from inside. Not a popular order. "My Lady! What if he tells them about us?!" She has to think about that....
Obviously she trusts him, because now we see Pyeonjo--and Won, who was somewhere else in the estate--both rudely shoved out the front gate, which creaks shut behind them.
Next day, at a lunch cafe: Pyeonjo tells Won about the meeting yesterday. Won is understandably shocked...but then Pyeonjo asks the cafe owner what he thinks about Jo Il Shin: "a faithful subject or a traitor?" The owner scoffs, unkindly: "He's just Jo Il Shin." The answer cracks up everyone else in the cafe. "See? Even if he killed those collaborators," Pyeonjo tells Won, "they're just badmouthing him." But Pyeonjo didn't join Choseon's group, because he has faith in Gongmin. Won scoffs. And then in the next moment, a man comes running excitedly into the cafe with a strange piece of news: "We've been told people can go ransack residences of collaborators or traitors as much as they please." In moments the cafe is empty, as everyone in there scatters in search of loot. Empty except for Won. Even Pyeonjo goes, probably just to see for himself but he does go.
And look at this--now we're at Kim Yong's estate. We saw Pyeonjo go there in Episode 13 so we remember it. And citizens are picking the place clean of everything--under the watchful and approving eye of soldiers! This was all approved by the Assistant Administrator, the soldiers announce. There's even a line outside; it seems to be all-you-can-carry and then the next person is let in. So Kim obviously is being branded a collaborator or an ally of Gi Cheol's. But wait, that one guy there in the line...it's Kim Yong! In disguise, of course, but standing there in horror seeing what's happening to his home. Pyeonjo recognizes him there and almost blows Kim's cover but is quickly shushed. Boy is Kim ever mad, and how could he not be. And then look who comes stumbling out of the estate with an ornate, heavy side table--Won Hyeon. Oh Won, monks aren't supposed to behave like this. Shame on you.
Evening, and the two monks are settled again by the warehouse of Choseon's where they've been staying lately. Won is sleeping contentedly--wonder what he did with the table--but Pyeonjo again has Wolseon's teachings reverberating in his head and is trying to make sense of them.
"Did you just say that Pyeonjo was the reincarnation of a meaningful spirit who had been buried for a thousand years?" We're at Gaetae Temple now, same evening, and Wolseon has just dropped that odd piece of news on Master Bou. "Then you should take care of Pyeonjo." As in, take him back as your pupil. Or else "Pyeonjo will become a demon swaying the world towards darkness." (Really?) But Bou is shocked to hear that Wolseon himself was the one who encouraged Pyeonjo to go out on his own. Because maybe he can help change things for the better. "That is not something a Buddhist monk should concern himself with," Bou admonishes. Wolseon doesn't like that. Buddha's teachings aren't just abstractions, he admonishes.
Nighttime: Jeon Cheon Gi is the new Grand Manager, in charge of the troops guarding the palace. And right now there are a whole lot of them, and they seem to have the place tightly sealed...
...but Lee Je Hyeon and Lee In Bok are being led by Eunuch An through a deserted, dark part of the palace grounds; must be some sort of secret entrance. Je Hyeon is stumbling around because he can't see well in the dark, and he's fairly old so the difficult trip is tiring him. He can't make it any farther so he stays there while An leads In Bok over a wall and inside.
No one gets into the palace, Jo Il Shin orders Jeon. Jo is drinking now, so this can't possibly turn out well. It doesn't matter who they are; if they try to get in, kill them. No exceptions. "All we need to do is to keep the king in check. If we kill Kim Yong and get rid of Jung Se Woon, I'll have cut all of His Majesty's ties, so I'll be free to control state affairs on my own!" Jeon says the court officials are acting suspiciously...but Jo isn't concerned. In the morning, he says, he'll go to the king and get that edict dethroning Noguk, and not only that...he'll demand Lee Je Hyeon's position! Wow, that one even staggers Jeon--who gently suggests maybe that's going a little too far too soon. A semi-drunken Jo gets up, grabs a display sword sitting behind him, and angrily points it at Jeon. "Show such weakness again and I shall slay you before everyone else!" Message delivered, Jeon leaves...but from inside Jo yells, "I'm saying, get ready to behead the King if that is what it takes!" And by now Jo is looking almost psychotic.
With An's help, Lee In Bok climbs over that last wall and into the king's palace grounds. Another eunuch is waiting there, to escort him ahead.
Jeon arrives at the palace complex to check things out. Looks like all secure.
In Bok makes it to Gongmin's darkened office. The king was hoping it was Lee Je Hyeon but is grateful to see In Bok too. "You're the only two people I can trust here." And he's trusting the right person; In Bok says he's willing to die to risk getting rid of Jo Il Shin. Issue an order--as in, an order to apprehend Jo--and "I'll find a way," he says. "It's too late now," Gongmin says; "I can't issue it tonight." Then we'll just have to go ahead on our own, In Bok says, and adds that if we can't get him alive, we'll have to kill him. With a bit of reluctance Gongmin answers, "Do as the situation dictates." But then as In Bok leaves he adds, "Jo Il Shin is someone who suffered on my behalf." Even in this time of crisis, Gongmin hasn't forgotten that once-loyalty. In Bok understands his reluctance; he can't guarantee anything but assures him, "We'll try our best to just catch him."
In Bok is escorted back to where Lee Je Hyeon is waiting. The king agreed to let us handle it, In Bok tells him. Je Hyeon actually looks a little surprised at how easy that was. And then adds, "He brought us all the way here, just to ask for that favor?" Does he sense something fishy in all this? Or is he just annoyed at having to make the trip....
Back inside, there's a resoluteness in Gongmin's face. "This time," he mutters to himself, "I shall protect the Queen." Now what does HE have up his sleeve? Seems like there may be something.
The next morning: Led by Eunuch An, the queen is in a small gama, being taken from her residence. Amazingly, soldiers block her way. She's not allowed to leave the palace complex! From inside the gama, she tells the soldiers she's only going to the queen dowager's home to pay her respects (remember, the QD lives in the palace complex now). So she's allowed through. Sheesh.
"Where have you been hiding all this time?!" A chagrined, humbled Kim Yong has come to see his longtime ally Jung Se Woon at Jung's home. "You should have stood next to His Majesty no matter what!" Boy, Jung is letting him have it--even accusing him of trying to ally himself with both Jo and Gi Cheol so he'd be sure to come out a winner. And guess what--Jung is right. "I have no excuses," Kim admits. Jung is so disgusted, he tells Kim to get lost. But Kim pleads for help: "If you don't hide me, I'm a dead man."
Noguk is with the QD now, and makes it a point to do the proper respectful bow--and pretty well at that. "The first time you came in here, didn't you have a hard time even sitting down properly?" Yes, she did. And the effort she's made does seem to impress her mother-in-law. The QD says she isn't sleeping well, what with all the hot water her son is in. It must be making her cranky because she even snaps at Lee Hyebi, who's just standing there in the room looking down. Hyebi is uncomfortable just being there with the queen....but then Noguk starts to talk to Hyebi--very friendly and civil, and Hyebi is taken aback by it.
"Announce me." Jo Il Shin struts up to the door of Gongmin's office. He's announced and Gongmin bids him enter. Gongmin greets him with a smile and a laugh! "I was just waiting for you." But wait, what's going on here? "Let's have a cup of tea first. Have a seat." Tea is brought it, and Jo looks around wide-eyed like he's been kidnapped by space aliens. Again a calm smile from the king.
Outside the building, two men in red government robes have come to see Lee In Bok, who's waiting for them. One is Choi Young, Lee's associate who we already know. The other is named Kim Cheom Su, who Choi says "is very accomplished at throwing daggers." And he's got one up his sleeve. Kim cautions them: "You must know Jo Il Shin's fighting skills are excellent." Seriously? He's not exactly a spring chicken, and he hardly looks to be in fighting shape. But Choi takes the warning seriously, so there must be something to it. The two head off to take their position somewhere...but as they do, Choi turns back to Lee. "If things go wrong, just feign ignorance. Kim Cheom Su and I shall die instead and keep that secret." "You must succeed," Lee tells them.
Pyeonjo has come to see Choseon...but her servant tells him she's gone to the royal temple to worship.
And yes she has...but not just to worship. Her brother Jihyo is there. "Are you going to avoid me until you'll die?" He reminds her he cut his ties with the secular world. And has to add, "I can't face the burning anger inside your heart." What burning? "If I quench those flames," she answers him, "our father will never escape from the flames of hell." So she's seeking justice for her father being swindled and taking his own life. The conversation going nowhere, they bow to each other to leave, but Jihyo has one warning for his sister. "Don't involve Pyeonjo in your plans." He knows about that thousand-year-old spirit thing. But why would that be bad for her?
An utterly baffled Jo Il Shin is served his tea. And served a surprise by Gongmin: "I ordered your proclamation as Chief Administrator." Doink! Seriously? "In no time, the Yuan will send envoys to rebuke us. Would Lee Je Hyeon's old age cope with that?" Jo is dumbfounded. "Rebuke us? Rebuke us about what?" I'll handle it all, he promises. Then Gongmin reminisces about their early days together in Yanjing. "I was nothing more than a clueless child," he says. Jo says those were tough days for him: "Whenever you'd cry, missing your homeland, I felt like a dagger was piercing my heart." And he means it, we can see. Even with everything that's happened, he still does have some sort of loyalty to Gongmin. But then he snaps back to the present. "Make a decision today!", he insists. About the queen, that is. Jo insists he doesn't like doing this...and maybe he doesn't...Then Gongmin tells him that "It's just that I have taken a liking to her." And adds, "Looking back, isn't the Queen very pitiful as well?" Jo's impatience gets the better of him and he snaps, "This is not the time to be guided by compassion!" Oops. The smile vanishes from Gongmin's face.
Pyeonjo finds Choseon, praying in one of the temple shrines.
Gongmin calms himself and the smile returns. "I shall head for Seongyeong Palace, and issue an edict, dethroning the Queen." With that, Jo get up and leaves...and the smile vanishes again. Now Gongmin looks disgusted and angry.
Pyeonjo has something to tell Choseon. He's decided he'll join her. "We can create that world where lowborns can dance on the streets."