Post by ajk on Mar 11, 2008 14:59:21 GMT -5
Nighttime: The king is drinking and royal attendant Noh Huibong is with him. Noh questions whether or not it's wise to teach prince Choongnyeong the Exposition of the Great Learning. The king doesn't know what to do with the prince, but he won't banish him. Noh asks, What if he becomes a threat to crown prince Yangnyeong? He says, "That's the ministers' concern. Isn't that your concern too and the reason why you're still awake at this hour drinking alone?" The king replies, "it's out of my hands. if he can't even break his younger brother, the crown prince doesn't deserve to hold the throne in the future."
Min Mugu and Min Mujil are talking; they fear that the king is starting to favor Choongnyeong (over the crown prince, whom they have a strong interest in seeing rise to the throne). Mugu says it's "time to break out the sword."
Morning: The three princes appear outside for morning greetings, and so does prince Seongnyeong, a little boy who is the fourth prince. But it's announced that morning greetings are cancelled.
Prime minister Ha and the major ministers are waiting for the king's morning lecture session, but minister Hwang Hee enters and announces that the king will not be appearing and "wishes to renounce the throne." Which stuns everyone.
We seek the king in a shrine, declaring his intent to renounce.
The ministers argue about why this is happening. Park Eun and others say that it's because some ministers want to hurt his son. The Mins walk in and suggest that maybe a change would be beneficial. Park and Mugu argue; Mugu suggests that he could have Park killed when the crown prince assumes the throne: "You don't think I can?" But Park wants to stop the abdication. (More and more we see the ministers taking sides.) After the meeting, the Mins ask prime minister Ha if he agrees with Park. "What else am I supposed to do? Stand up and cheer?" Mugu speaks of "a new world."
The crown prince is with his two brothers, practice-stamping the king's seal, which has been delivered to him. What should I order first, he wonders, half in jest. Choongnyeong tells him "Give that seal back to Father. Consider what led him to this. I'm the cause of all this." His misconduct and the ministers' subsequent pressure led him to "an imprudent decision." Pressed by the crown prince to explain why "imprudent," Choongnyeong says that the crown prince is young and "you still have a lot to learn." How much longer should I learn, he replies: "Until I can compete with you?" He knows that Choongnyeong is studying the Exposition of the Great Learning, a book for kings. He grabs his brother and says, "You do want to take the throne from me, don't you." Choongnyeong starts to cry. The crown prince laughs it all off and calls him a "wimp." He cautions Choongnyeong to be more careful about how he talks; it's his business alone to decide to accept or reject the seal.
All of the ministers are outside the king's quarters; led by PM Ha, they implore him in unison not to abdicate.
Hwang Hee and Shim On are talking: Shim asks whether or not they should proceed with the abdication; Hwang replies cryptically, "You need to spread the net wide to catch results."
The crown prince appears before king and returns the royal seal. The king is angry; says "there is no other way to save Choongnyeong's life." The prince replies, "You are the one who said a king must protect his state at all costs, even at the cost of a son's life." Abdication is "untimely," be it for Choongnyeong or because of "selfish ministers," and he won't accept the throne under these conditions.
The queen is talking to the two Mins (her brothers); says that the crown prince did what he should have done. The Mins, though, want change: "The crown prince is still young, so he will listen to you and us. But when he gets older, he will not be so easily controlled. Remember how our father died. If we fail to bring the clan back to the top, he will never rest in peace."
In the torture chamber, two men are about to be tortured and are asked, "Who accepted your bribery?"
The Mins and PM Ha are talking, concerned about the investigation that was started (regarding the possible diversion and embezzlement of money intended for the street vendors, who caused the ruckus in Episode 2). Ha says, "you shouldn't have started this if you couldn't cover up your tracks." (So the Mins had their hands in this after all.) They tell Ha that he needs to have the investigation stopped. They remind him that they gave him a mansion last month, and stopping the investigation is the only way for him to preserve his wealth and power.
Ministers Park Eun (he's the capital bureaus commissioner) and Jo Malseng are searching a records office and discover a record pertaining to the mansion; they study it and realize that PM Ha got the mansion under questionable circumstances.
Granny Cowsears is in a room with the Mins, and we see the eunuch Um Jachi writing on a paper. He's making an exact copy of writing that's on another paper. We find out that he has incredible talent for forging handwriting. Min Mugu tells him to "just keep your mouth sealed, and you'll be set for life. But if you tell this to anyone, you will be the first one to die." Outside, Jachi tells Granny that he's so uptight that his "whatchamacallum will shrivel up." She reminds him that "you don't even have whatchamacallum." (Note: Google the word "eunuch" if you need that explained. I ain't gonna explain it.) And says, "What are you going to live for when you can't even have women? Power is the next best thing."
Minister Yi Sookbun is before the king: "I won't budge even if you threaten to behead me." He was the king's best friend before the king rose to the throne and doesn't want him to abdicate. He advises him to just send Choongnyeong away and call of the abdication, and if you're worried about the prince's safety, send Gang Sangin with him for protection.
Inside the eunuchs' sleeping quarters: Um Jachi isn't sleeping well...Flashback to Um approaching the prince, who smiles; he's asked Um to find out where Jang Won's family lives. Jang Won hasn't seen his family in years and the prince wants to surprise him somehow. Jang Won appears; the prince runs to him happily and looks back at Um and winks. Then another flashback: Um is watching Jang Won's torture and death and the prince's grief (Episode 3)...Flashback ends; Um gets up and dresses. He tells his friend Jeon Ilji, "I have to stop this somehow. This is wrong!"
Choongnyeong is with his teacher Yi Su. He's called him in late at night to tell him that he's going to give the Exposition book back to the king and then leave the city. He says he can accept the idea of leaving but it's disappointing because he intended to be a good student and take advantage of Yi's teachings, but now he'll never have the opportunity.
Nighttime in the palace complex: a shadowy group scrambles through the darkness and surrounds Um Jachi as he approaches. They anticipated him heading for the palace and intend to kill him. He runs.
Posters are found tacked up on palace buildings: They're "slanderous bills" about the crown prince. One is brought to the king and he looks at it with anger. (The posters look like the paper that Um was forging.)
The Mins are talking, and observe with satisfaction that the writing looks just like Choongnyeong's. They arranged all this to create a distraction and stop the bribery investigation! And now they just have to silence the forger.
Um runs into the woods but is hit with a thrown dagger. But just as the squad converges on him, another squad shows up and battles the first squad away. We don't know who the second squad is.
In the queen's chamber, the queen is looking at one of the posters; says the handwriting is very familiar.
Um, bleeding badly, runs to the door of Choongnyeong's quarters and bangs on it, and is let in.
The king believes that Choongnyeong is responsible for the posters; he tells PM Ha that he should have listened when Ha told him to banish the prince.
Um won't allow a physician to be called; it's too risky to reveal his presence. He urges Choongnyeong to go to the palace right now; if he doesn't tell the truth, his life is in danger. He collapses.
Baron Ok Hwan (the plotting guy who wants Taejong dumped and Goryeo restored) is before Min Mugu. He brings a box of precious gems. "Permit me the pleasure of filling your vault from now on." What do you want from me, Min asks. "I'm looking for a way to serve the country. If I fill up your vault you will put the contents to valuable use for the country. How else could I better serve the country?", he says with a smirk. Min tells him (with the same smirk), "You're a perceptive fellow."
Choongnyeong and Yi Su on the balcony; Yi tells the prince that "we patched him up for now," but it's up to fate to decide whether or not Um will live. "Why would my uncles (the Mins) do this?", he asks in disbelief. This, Yi answers, is an ugly side of politics that you have to learn. "What will happen to my uncles if they reveal the truth?" Yi basically says, what do you think. "Must I reveal the truth nonetheless?" "You have no other option." Back inside, the prince is clearly burdened...Repeat flashback shown in Episode 1 of the of the Second Princes' Rebellion; it was the Mins who saved the three princes from Yi Banggan's men...Flashback ending, Choongnyeong clenches his fist and his eyes tear up.
The crown prince is angrily reading one of the posters.
Morning: Choongnyeong emerges and is met by Gang Sangin, who tells him he's been summoned by the king. He asks Gang if he can walk unbound because "my wife and my servants are watching." (Princess Shim is standing with him; apparently they were already married as children.) "I may never see them again, so please let me walk out of here with dignity." Gang nods. The prince looks back at the princess and calmly walks off, followed by guards. The princess falls to the ground crying.
Outside in a courtyard: Choongnyeong is kneeling before the king; all of the ministers are gathered formally. The king asks point-blank: "Did you malign the crown prince in an attempt to steal his power?...This is your writing, is it not? Do you have excuses?" It's tearing the prince apart, but he won't give up his uncles. Considering how to settle the matter, the king tells the crown prince that it's up to him. Yangnyeong's response: "I will seek punishment by death...for bringing shame upon the royal house." So the king calls him on it; he has a sword handed directly to Yangnyeong and says, "Kill him with your hands and restore the command of the royal house." This visibly unsettles the ministers, but the king says "Should I have him strike you first?" Which settles them right back down. Yangnyeong takes the sword, walks up to Choongnyeong, and looks at him as Choongnyeong trembles; he unsheathes the sword and holds it to Choongnyeong's neck...He raises the sword high in the air and yells....
Min Mugu and Min Mujil are talking; they fear that the king is starting to favor Choongnyeong (over the crown prince, whom they have a strong interest in seeing rise to the throne). Mugu says it's "time to break out the sword."
Morning: The three princes appear outside for morning greetings, and so does prince Seongnyeong, a little boy who is the fourth prince. But it's announced that morning greetings are cancelled.
Prime minister Ha and the major ministers are waiting for the king's morning lecture session, but minister Hwang Hee enters and announces that the king will not be appearing and "wishes to renounce the throne." Which stuns everyone.
We seek the king in a shrine, declaring his intent to renounce.
The ministers argue about why this is happening. Park Eun and others say that it's because some ministers want to hurt his son. The Mins walk in and suggest that maybe a change would be beneficial. Park and Mugu argue; Mugu suggests that he could have Park killed when the crown prince assumes the throne: "You don't think I can?" But Park wants to stop the abdication. (More and more we see the ministers taking sides.) After the meeting, the Mins ask prime minister Ha if he agrees with Park. "What else am I supposed to do? Stand up and cheer?" Mugu speaks of "a new world."
The crown prince is with his two brothers, practice-stamping the king's seal, which has been delivered to him. What should I order first, he wonders, half in jest. Choongnyeong tells him "Give that seal back to Father. Consider what led him to this. I'm the cause of all this." His misconduct and the ministers' subsequent pressure led him to "an imprudent decision." Pressed by the crown prince to explain why "imprudent," Choongnyeong says that the crown prince is young and "you still have a lot to learn." How much longer should I learn, he replies: "Until I can compete with you?" He knows that Choongnyeong is studying the Exposition of the Great Learning, a book for kings. He grabs his brother and says, "You do want to take the throne from me, don't you." Choongnyeong starts to cry. The crown prince laughs it all off and calls him a "wimp." He cautions Choongnyeong to be more careful about how he talks; it's his business alone to decide to accept or reject the seal.
All of the ministers are outside the king's quarters; led by PM Ha, they implore him in unison not to abdicate.
Hwang Hee and Shim On are talking: Shim asks whether or not they should proceed with the abdication; Hwang replies cryptically, "You need to spread the net wide to catch results."
The crown prince appears before king and returns the royal seal. The king is angry; says "there is no other way to save Choongnyeong's life." The prince replies, "You are the one who said a king must protect his state at all costs, even at the cost of a son's life." Abdication is "untimely," be it for Choongnyeong or because of "selfish ministers," and he won't accept the throne under these conditions.
The queen is talking to the two Mins (her brothers); says that the crown prince did what he should have done. The Mins, though, want change: "The crown prince is still young, so he will listen to you and us. But when he gets older, he will not be so easily controlled. Remember how our father died. If we fail to bring the clan back to the top, he will never rest in peace."
In the torture chamber, two men are about to be tortured and are asked, "Who accepted your bribery?"
The Mins and PM Ha are talking, concerned about the investigation that was started (regarding the possible diversion and embezzlement of money intended for the street vendors, who caused the ruckus in Episode 2). Ha says, "you shouldn't have started this if you couldn't cover up your tracks." (So the Mins had their hands in this after all.) They tell Ha that he needs to have the investigation stopped. They remind him that they gave him a mansion last month, and stopping the investigation is the only way for him to preserve his wealth and power.
Ministers Park Eun (he's the capital bureaus commissioner) and Jo Malseng are searching a records office and discover a record pertaining to the mansion; they study it and realize that PM Ha got the mansion under questionable circumstances.
Granny Cowsears is in a room with the Mins, and we see the eunuch Um Jachi writing on a paper. He's making an exact copy of writing that's on another paper. We find out that he has incredible talent for forging handwriting. Min Mugu tells him to "just keep your mouth sealed, and you'll be set for life. But if you tell this to anyone, you will be the first one to die." Outside, Jachi tells Granny that he's so uptight that his "whatchamacallum will shrivel up." She reminds him that "you don't even have whatchamacallum." (Note: Google the word "eunuch" if you need that explained. I ain't gonna explain it.) And says, "What are you going to live for when you can't even have women? Power is the next best thing."
Minister Yi Sookbun is before the king: "I won't budge even if you threaten to behead me." He was the king's best friend before the king rose to the throne and doesn't want him to abdicate. He advises him to just send Choongnyeong away and call of the abdication, and if you're worried about the prince's safety, send Gang Sangin with him for protection.
Inside the eunuchs' sleeping quarters: Um Jachi isn't sleeping well...Flashback to Um approaching the prince, who smiles; he's asked Um to find out where Jang Won's family lives. Jang Won hasn't seen his family in years and the prince wants to surprise him somehow. Jang Won appears; the prince runs to him happily and looks back at Um and winks. Then another flashback: Um is watching Jang Won's torture and death and the prince's grief (Episode 3)...Flashback ends; Um gets up and dresses. He tells his friend Jeon Ilji, "I have to stop this somehow. This is wrong!"
Choongnyeong is with his teacher Yi Su. He's called him in late at night to tell him that he's going to give the Exposition book back to the king and then leave the city. He says he can accept the idea of leaving but it's disappointing because he intended to be a good student and take advantage of Yi's teachings, but now he'll never have the opportunity.
Nighttime in the palace complex: a shadowy group scrambles through the darkness and surrounds Um Jachi as he approaches. They anticipated him heading for the palace and intend to kill him. He runs.
Posters are found tacked up on palace buildings: They're "slanderous bills" about the crown prince. One is brought to the king and he looks at it with anger. (The posters look like the paper that Um was forging.)
The Mins are talking, and observe with satisfaction that the writing looks just like Choongnyeong's. They arranged all this to create a distraction and stop the bribery investigation! And now they just have to silence the forger.
Um runs into the woods but is hit with a thrown dagger. But just as the squad converges on him, another squad shows up and battles the first squad away. We don't know who the second squad is.
In the queen's chamber, the queen is looking at one of the posters; says the handwriting is very familiar.
Um, bleeding badly, runs to the door of Choongnyeong's quarters and bangs on it, and is let in.
The king believes that Choongnyeong is responsible for the posters; he tells PM Ha that he should have listened when Ha told him to banish the prince.
Um won't allow a physician to be called; it's too risky to reveal his presence. He urges Choongnyeong to go to the palace right now; if he doesn't tell the truth, his life is in danger. He collapses.
Baron Ok Hwan (the plotting guy who wants Taejong dumped and Goryeo restored) is before Min Mugu. He brings a box of precious gems. "Permit me the pleasure of filling your vault from now on." What do you want from me, Min asks. "I'm looking for a way to serve the country. If I fill up your vault you will put the contents to valuable use for the country. How else could I better serve the country?", he says with a smirk. Min tells him (with the same smirk), "You're a perceptive fellow."
Choongnyeong and Yi Su on the balcony; Yi tells the prince that "we patched him up for now," but it's up to fate to decide whether or not Um will live. "Why would my uncles (the Mins) do this?", he asks in disbelief. This, Yi answers, is an ugly side of politics that you have to learn. "What will happen to my uncles if they reveal the truth?" Yi basically says, what do you think. "Must I reveal the truth nonetheless?" "You have no other option." Back inside, the prince is clearly burdened...Repeat flashback shown in Episode 1 of the of the Second Princes' Rebellion; it was the Mins who saved the three princes from Yi Banggan's men...Flashback ending, Choongnyeong clenches his fist and his eyes tear up.
The crown prince is angrily reading one of the posters.
Morning: Choongnyeong emerges and is met by Gang Sangin, who tells him he's been summoned by the king. He asks Gang if he can walk unbound because "my wife and my servants are watching." (Princess Shim is standing with him; apparently they were already married as children.) "I may never see them again, so please let me walk out of here with dignity." Gang nods. The prince looks back at the princess and calmly walks off, followed by guards. The princess falls to the ground crying.
Outside in a courtyard: Choongnyeong is kneeling before the king; all of the ministers are gathered formally. The king asks point-blank: "Did you malign the crown prince in an attempt to steal his power?...This is your writing, is it not? Do you have excuses?" It's tearing the prince apart, but he won't give up his uncles. Considering how to settle the matter, the king tells the crown prince that it's up to him. Yangnyeong's response: "I will seek punishment by death...for bringing shame upon the royal house." So the king calls him on it; he has a sword handed directly to Yangnyeong and says, "Kill him with your hands and restore the command of the royal house." This visibly unsettles the ministers, but the king says "Should I have him strike you first?" Which settles them right back down. Yangnyeong takes the sword, walks up to Choongnyeong, and looks at him as Choongnyeong trembles; he unsheathes the sword and holds it to Choongnyeong's neck...He raises the sword high in the air and yells....