Episode 19! I actually have a recap prepared this time, thanks to some disjointed Discord messages from a livewatch lol
Sukjong's getting over his smallpox thanks to his mother praying in the snow. He talks about a dream he had while unconscious. He was tied to a post while ghosts and spirits jumped around him, but a general who'd died nearly a century before chased them off. The general said he did it because he heard a mother's prayers coming from the Palace to save the King. Sukjong knew it was his mother, so he thanks her.
Meanwhile, Queen Jangryeol hears what happened from Court Lady Han, and we find out that apparently, Queen Myeongseong cried three times, and took the opportunity to insult Jangryeol for not having children. She also implied that Jangryeol was insincere in wishing for the King to get better. Jangryeol is enraged and decides to visit the King for the first time since he woke up. Upon meeting him, she tells him to be thankful for what his mother did, but that he should've looked for the Queen instead of the Queen Dowager upon waking up. Sukjong agrees and says he'll apologize to the Queen. Jangryeol then laments Ok Jeong's circumstance outside of the Palace, telling him that she prayed for him to recover too, saying that she'd give up trying to come back to the Palace if only he'd get better. Of course, all this is to make Sukjong think about Ok Jeong more so that he would call her back in.
Back at Prince Dongpyeong's house, Ok Jeong hears about what Jangryeol said from Prince Dongpyeong's mother and his wife, who gives Ok Jeong a message from Sukjong through Jangryeol: "Don't lose hope, and wait for me". Ok Jeong is also inspired when Prince Dongpyeong's wife tells her that Sukjong told Jangryeol that while unconscious, she was all he could think about.
Back at the Queen's Palace, some favored court ladies
(they mentioned their surnames but I didn't hear them and the '95 version doesn't mention their names) want to see the Queen, to warn her about Jang Suk Won (Ok Jeong got promoted pretty early in this plot). They mention everything Sukjong said to Jangryeol and Myeongseong, and warn her not to bring Ok Jeong back into the Palace. Inhyeon gets mad at them for spreading rumors and whips them both, giving a long speech that ends in: "If I don't punish whom I cherish when they do wrong, or reward those I hate when they do good, how would anyone sincerely follow me?" She whips them three times, telling them that it'll be 30 times next time.
She doesn't stop there. Inhyeon goes to Jangryeol's palace, and gets her permission to punish Court Lady Han for telling the favored court ladies what happened when Sukjong wokee up (unlike real life where Lady Han wouldn't have a choice, this show puts favored court ladies as equal both in rank and title to regular court ladies). Inhyeon gives the same speech she gave the favored court ladies, and whips Lady Han 3 times.
While this is going on, Jangryeol looks displeased, but it's not that she feels insulted by all this. As we find out when Prince Dongpyeong tells Ok Jeong about all this, it's because she was intimidated and impressed, feeling that Inhyeon had the air of a true Queen, and realizing just how rigorously the Yeoheung Min clan sticks to tradition. We also find out through a flashback that Inhyeon is curious about Ok Jeong, and wants to hear from someone close to her for once. A little [heavily abridged] dialog from the scene.
Inhyeon: I have something to ask you. What kind of person is the Jang girl?
Jangryeol: Why ask me that? Surely, you must be tired of hearing of her from the Queen Dowager.
Inhyeon: If I only hear one side of the story, how can I determine her character?
Jangryeol: It's useless to hassle over a court lady who was thrown out.
Inhyeon: If the Jang girl's entry to the Palace is good for the King and the nation, I'll use whatever power I have to bring her into the Palace.
Upon hearing this, Ok Jeong admires Inhyeon for being objective and not jealous, but worries that since the King is attracted to her, it'll be even more difficult to enter the Palace.
Kim Seok Ju comes to visit Queen Myeongseong, and asks how Sukjong's doing. Myeongseong says he's fully recovered, to which Seok Ju expresses his hopes for Sukjong to have a child as quickly as possible. Myeongseong tells him not to worry, as Sukjong is very attracted to the Queen. Seok Ju is anxious about Ok Jeong, especially after hearing that Sukjong was calling for her in his sleep. Myeongseong says Ok Jeong won't come back as long as she's alive, and that Jangryeol can't do anything about it because she's just a powerless old lady with no children. Nevertheless, she takes action, summoning Prince Dongpyeong and his mother to her chambers. She threatens them by saying:
"Even the lowliest of beasts knows where to build its nest. It does not do so in a rotting tree rife with insects... I want you to remove the thorn in my side. The New Year is in a month. I expect to hear good news by then."
What this means is that she wants them to kick Ok Jeong out and send her home. If she goes home, Myeongseong can accuse her of "losing her virtue", and she'll never be able to come back to the Palace. Prince Dongpyeong, his mother and Jo Sa Seok promptly run to Jangryeol afterward, and beg her to see the King and stop the Dowager. But Jangryeol's lost all hope, saying: "It seems Suk Won has reached the end of her fate."
That night, Myeongseong recites a poem to Inhyeon to make fun of Ok Jeong. Heo Nanseolheon's "A Woman's Sorrow," to be exact. It goes like this:
"By the pitiful fate of three lives and the ties of a matchmaker, I met a flippant gentleman, as if in a dream.
I trod carefully as if on ice, yet the gods envied me upon seeing my face.
I am ashamed of myself, but who am I to blame? Our fate may be over, but how can I not think of him?
I won't see his face, but I still miss it. I'd rather enter my slumber and see him in my dreams.
The leaves in the wind, the animals in the grass- what have I done to them that they hinder my sleep?
Numberless in the world are those in sorrow, but with such a fresh, young, life, is there anyone as wretched as I?"
Inhyeon reflects on the lyrics and feels bad for Ok Jeong. Back at Prince Dongpyeong's house, Ok Jeong clenches her fist as she seems to reflect on the same poem.
One day, Sukjong visits Inhyeon after fully recovering. He feels bad for ignoring her for the past three years
(and here i thought you just weren't into children...) and decides to have lunch and dinner with her, and sleep with her after. He sends Court Ladies Kim and Oh out and is about to "thank" Inhyeon for praying for him while he had smallpox, when he hears the news from Court Lady Oh. Queen Myeongseong has fallen critically ill. Sukjong and Inhyeon hurry to the Dowager's Palace.
Hee Jae visits Prince Dongpyeong's house to tell Ok Jeong the news, and to deliver a message from Jo Sa Seok: "It seems Heaven has not abandoned you. Brace yourself, and await your approaching fate." As Sukjong runs frantic in the Palace, Ok Jeong sits in the dark, processing the news, seeming determined to do something... but what? Episode ends here.
