Post by ajk on May 20, 2008 14:41:13 GMT -5
At the hunting ceremony site: A large crowd has gathered and is studying the posters that are hanging, trying to understand their meanings. The citizens, who can't read the writing on the posters, are looking at the drawings: "Who is that supposed to be?" "Who drew those obscene pictures?" Confucian scholars are there, too: they can read and they tell the citizens that the posters accuse the crown prince of adultery with the ex-king's consort. Haishou the Ming envoy is there too, and he's just as interested as everyone else. Then Min Muhwe shows up, looks at the posters, and orders their removal.
Back home, Choongnyeong is looking at one of the posters, stunned and angered by the incident. And somehow, a poster even drifts on the wind into the enclosed courtyard where Chogungjang is standing. She looks at the poster and is horrified.
The queen also has a poster. Escort Han begs her to go to the king immediately and prevent him from doing anything drastic, but she decides to go to the Ministry of Endowment as she had planned, and will "seal the envoy's mouth."
"Tell me this is not true!" The king has his son before him. Yangnyeong says, "It's all true."
Walking down a corridor, Prime minister Ha tells ministers with him that they must investigate "the perpetrators of this malicious slander." Then we hear minister Park's voice as he approaches: "Shouldn't we investigate the accusation?" The ministers who are with Park ask Ha if the story is true or not. He tells them that it "is completely groundless!" That is, even though Ha knows the truth.
The king and ministers discuss whether or not an inquiry should be held. No decision is reached.
Hwang goes to see the crown prince. "Restrain yourself," he advises; "Don't do anything in haste." Forget it; Yangnyeong says, it's all over. This frustrates Hwang: "Are you going to toss the crown away again?" But Yangnyeong says (with no hint of the obvious irony), "I made the bed and I'll have to lie in it."
Then Hwang asks him, "Why the abdicated king's woman? You can have any woman you want...Did you love her enough to risk losing everything?" The prince answers that he didn't, but that "I did it because I felt like I was suffocating...In here, in this godforsaken palace, I'm not a man. I'm just a chess piece, part of a game to be played according to the king's grand plan. I wanted to pick one thing that I absolutely was not supposed to do and show myself that I could do it." Then, to Hwang: "I do feel ashamed before you. So I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart. I'm sorry, Minister Hwang. I really did want to give it one more shot with you as my mentor. But it's a pity Heaven won't give me a chance. Now would you let me go?" Hwang answers, "I cannot. Now it's your turn to give me a chance. A chance to protect you."
Outside the room, the crown princess is listening to everything.
Hwang is before the king: "You already know the truth, your majesty. Why aren't you coming forth to reveal it?" No answer.
At the Ministry of Endowment: Haishou is with the queen, inspecting another set of concubine candidates to be sent to the Ming emperor. Han Daion is among them. He gets to Daion and smiles. "Why were you hiding a fair maiden like this all this time?" He's pleased; she's more than babe enough for him. (Inappropriate editorial comment: Really? I suppose she's pretty, but she sure ain't no Sukyoung.) Then he gets a jab in: "I hope the crown prince didn't get his hands on her first. Has he?" The queen deflects it: Those are only rumors, and "I was told you were not a foolish man who would not believe groundless rumors." She smiles at him...
...and the moment she leaves the room, angrily tells her assistants; "I want that envoy out of the capital city now! Send some gifts along to make him shut up. I hear he has a fondness for money."
Outside the palace, Hwang tells Noh Huibong, the king's attendant, that the king is ill and cannot see visitors unless absolutely necessary. "Am I making myself clear?" Noh says Yes, you are; he reads between the lines.
Jo Malseng asks the king whether or not guards should be sent to the ex-king's palace to question him. No, says the king, it will just rile him up, and besides that, the public is watching. No, he says, we must find Chogungjang. Jo surprises him by telling him that they already know where she is. But the king decides, "Let's see if we can stop this pubic inquiry first."
Choongnyeong tells minister Shim that the inquiry must be stopped for his brother's sake. But then several scholars enter the room and insist on an inquiry to reveal the truth.
Hwang tells PM Ha to "round up and arrest every artist in the city." Someone paid for those posters to be painted and someone painted them. Then Ha says, "If we can prove that Park Eun is behind this, there won't be a public inquiry. A criminal of treason won't make a credible witness." (It's not clear if Ha really thinks Park might be behind it or if he just sees an opportunity to strike.)
Hwang goes back to his office and considers the warning: "Can you protect the king in the making?" He then wonders if Park Eun is connected with the subversive Goryeo movement.
Soldiers are seen invading art studios and arresting artists. In one studio, a sketch of one of the incriminating posters is found.
PM Ha is informed by Min Muhyul that the artist who painted the posters has been found. However, he's a deaf-mute, so he can't tell them who commissioned him. Hwang wisely points out that they don't need him to say a word--they only need him to draw the man's face. Then the artist is brought in and draws the person. The person was wearing a white mask with red dots--and it was a woman. Add more details, they tell him. He fills in the picture with color, illustrating the woman's elaborate dress in considerable detail. Hwang and Ha realize that only two groups of women wear such fancy dresses: ladies of the royal house, and gisaengs. Chogungjang was both, they note, so they immediately conclude that it's her. But she couldn't have done it on her own, Hwang points out, not with her being alone and in hiding. Someone must have helped her. They immediately conclude that it was Choongnyeong. They want to arrest the prince, but they realize to their dismay that there isn't enough evidence. (Again, not really clear here if they really believe this explanation or if they're more tempted by the political advantages it presents.)
We see the white mask, laying to the side. We see the dress from the illustration. We see a hand adding text to another poster. We see the writer: a beautifully dressed woman. She's new and we don't recognize her.
Minister Hwang tells Jo Malseng that he believes minister Park employed merchants to locate Chogungjang.
That evening, at Ok Hwan's compound: Soldiers enter, with Hwang and Min Muhyul in front. Ok and his guards meet them in the front yard. Min orders the soldiers to search the compound, but Ok orders his men to assume a defensive position: "We may be lowly merchants," he says, "but we need to know why we're being searched." Hwang tells him that he wants to know the extent of his contact with Park. That's enough of a cue for Ok; he relents and allows all of his storerooms to be searched. They're searched; nothing is found. Ok smiles at the ministers, knowingly. "I'm afraid the information you got is incomplete." Then he speaks more frankly: "Do you know that the abdicated king ordered us to murder Chogungjang? Who knows what [he] will do to us if this gets out. Why would we dig our own graves? Perhaps you should look closer into the matter before you take action next time." (In other words, we aren't stupid enough to be keeping her here, you numbskulls.)
As the soldiers leave, Hwang stops for a moment and looks like he's trying to remember something. "Where do I know him from?", he asks Min. "I've never met that man before, but the voice sounds very familiar." Min tells him that Ok is a major supplier of goods to the palace and that Hwang must have encountered him there. That doesn't ring a bell with Hwang, but he accepts it (failing to recognize Ok's voice from when he was shown the rebel army in training). Back on the subject, Hwang and Min conclude that without evidence to the contrary, the crown prince will have to stand trial after all.
Back inside the compound, we find out from Ok (telling his men) that they don't know where Chogungjang is either.
That same evening: Choongnyeong is at home, standing alone in a courtyard. He gets an idea and runs off, right past princess Shim who's been standing there watching him.
"You saved that audacious wench's life?!" Choongnyeong is before Jeongjong; he's told the ex-king what he did. Hyoryeong is there too. Jeongjong sneers and cynically accuses Choongnyeong: "You held me back saying you'd take the fall for your brother [but] you were waiting for the right moment...to expose your brother's malfeasance." No, that's not true, Choongnyeong tells him. Come to the public inquiry and you'll see the truth. But Jeongjong loudly and angrily refuses to attend. If the king tries to force him to, "he will have to be prepared to bury me first!"
Outside, Choongnyeong and Hyoryeong are talking. Choongnyeong is smiling, optimistic that there won't be an inquiry as long as Yangnyeong stays silent, since Jeongjong won't cooperate. Hyoryeong doubts his optimistic view and then says, "I wonder if the crown prince knows how truly devoted you are to him."
Jang Youngsil sits forlornly in a room. His mother rushes in and tells him, "you have to go to Donghae ferry dock right now." As he leaves, Foreman Jeon and Jang Chilsang (from the military’s weapons bureau) are watching. Jeon tells Jang that Youngsil is the kid who made the terrific explosives for the botched invasion, and that they very much need to recruit him.
Han Younglo talking to a soldier: "I take it they're competent men."
The envoy is leaving, taking the chosen girls with him back to Ming. He tells the queen he's received "a rather exorbitant gift." The queen hopes it was satisfactory; he answers, "enough to cover the crown prince's flaw." She smiles. Then she tells the girls of her sorrow for sending them to a distant land, and tells them to have a safe journey. Many tears are shed by family members as the girls are put into wooden carriages, which are then locked shut like wooden boxes.
On his way to the dock, Youngsil is charged at by swordsmen dressed in red. He runs, but they catch up to him and surround him. Just then another group attacks the first group and slaughters them. Jang Chilsang is with the second group. (So the first group were soldiers or mercenaries sent by Han Younglo and the second group are Ok Hwan's men.) Youngsil thanks them for saving his life. Just then, in the valley below, he sees the Ming convoy passing through. He's desperate to run to it, but Ok's men hold him back and he has to watch the convoy fade into the distance, taking Daion with it.
Gang Sangin reports to the king: "You're hunch was right about prime minister Ha Ryun, your majesty."
Ha is summoned before the king. Taejong asks, "Is there no possible way to avoid a public inquiry?" Ha advises him that the way to do it is "to find a way to quietly get rid of Choongnyeong." Out of the question, the king says, because "there will be fierce public opposition." Ha answers that it will then require "a stronger hand to suppress public opinion." "A stronger hand," the king mulls. "You are truly a wise prime minister."
Hyobin and her son prince Kyoungnyeong are talking about the situation...Flashback to the archery contest in Ep6, when Hyobin got a look at Chogungjang...Flashback to Ep19, when Hyobin got a glimpse of a woman being taken into the eunuch's quarters and was told that it was a visiting sister...Flashbacks ending, Hyobin puts the pieces together.
Princess Shim tells Choongnyeong to move Chogungjang to another location. Um Jachi says that he can't keep telling people she's his sister, and the princess says that the king might try to hurt her.
The crown prince is outside with his staff; "You're all working so hard for nothing." He walks back inside.
Princess Shim gets into her carriage and leaves. Dressed incognito, Gang Sangin is watching.
Taejong and Choongnyeong are together on the long bridge. "Turn Chogungjang over to me," the king orders. "I didn't know you knew," responds the prince. "What happens if I say no?" "Then," the king tells him, "your men will get hurt. You would challenge your father?" The prince says, "Every life is equally valuable." And then, "Would you make a deal with me?"
Princess Shim has gone to the eunuchs' quarters and is in a courtyard preparing to take Chogungjang away. Granny Cowsears is there too, with some of the eunuchs, and is concerned about the attempt: "It's broad daylight and there are eyes everywhere." Suddenly, palace guards rush in surround the women.
Still on the long bridge, the king and prince stare at each other, neither showing any sign of backing down....
Back home, Choongnyeong is looking at one of the posters, stunned and angered by the incident. And somehow, a poster even drifts on the wind into the enclosed courtyard where Chogungjang is standing. She looks at the poster and is horrified.
The queen also has a poster. Escort Han begs her to go to the king immediately and prevent him from doing anything drastic, but she decides to go to the Ministry of Endowment as she had planned, and will "seal the envoy's mouth."
"Tell me this is not true!" The king has his son before him. Yangnyeong says, "It's all true."
Walking down a corridor, Prime minister Ha tells ministers with him that they must investigate "the perpetrators of this malicious slander." Then we hear minister Park's voice as he approaches: "Shouldn't we investigate the accusation?" The ministers who are with Park ask Ha if the story is true or not. He tells them that it "is completely groundless!" That is, even though Ha knows the truth.
The king and ministers discuss whether or not an inquiry should be held. No decision is reached.
Hwang goes to see the crown prince. "Restrain yourself," he advises; "Don't do anything in haste." Forget it; Yangnyeong says, it's all over. This frustrates Hwang: "Are you going to toss the crown away again?" But Yangnyeong says (with no hint of the obvious irony), "I made the bed and I'll have to lie in it."
Then Hwang asks him, "Why the abdicated king's woman? You can have any woman you want...Did you love her enough to risk losing everything?" The prince answers that he didn't, but that "I did it because I felt like I was suffocating...In here, in this godforsaken palace, I'm not a man. I'm just a chess piece, part of a game to be played according to the king's grand plan. I wanted to pick one thing that I absolutely was not supposed to do and show myself that I could do it." Then, to Hwang: "I do feel ashamed before you. So I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart. I'm sorry, Minister Hwang. I really did want to give it one more shot with you as my mentor. But it's a pity Heaven won't give me a chance. Now would you let me go?" Hwang answers, "I cannot. Now it's your turn to give me a chance. A chance to protect you."
Outside the room, the crown princess is listening to everything.
Hwang is before the king: "You already know the truth, your majesty. Why aren't you coming forth to reveal it?" No answer.
At the Ministry of Endowment: Haishou is with the queen, inspecting another set of concubine candidates to be sent to the Ming emperor. Han Daion is among them. He gets to Daion and smiles. "Why were you hiding a fair maiden like this all this time?" He's pleased; she's more than babe enough for him. (Inappropriate editorial comment: Really? I suppose she's pretty, but she sure ain't no Sukyoung.) Then he gets a jab in: "I hope the crown prince didn't get his hands on her first. Has he?" The queen deflects it: Those are only rumors, and "I was told you were not a foolish man who would not believe groundless rumors." She smiles at him...
...and the moment she leaves the room, angrily tells her assistants; "I want that envoy out of the capital city now! Send some gifts along to make him shut up. I hear he has a fondness for money."
Outside the palace, Hwang tells Noh Huibong, the king's attendant, that the king is ill and cannot see visitors unless absolutely necessary. "Am I making myself clear?" Noh says Yes, you are; he reads between the lines.
Jo Malseng asks the king whether or not guards should be sent to the ex-king's palace to question him. No, says the king, it will just rile him up, and besides that, the public is watching. No, he says, we must find Chogungjang. Jo surprises him by telling him that they already know where she is. But the king decides, "Let's see if we can stop this pubic inquiry first."
Choongnyeong tells minister Shim that the inquiry must be stopped for his brother's sake. But then several scholars enter the room and insist on an inquiry to reveal the truth.
Hwang tells PM Ha to "round up and arrest every artist in the city." Someone paid for those posters to be painted and someone painted them. Then Ha says, "If we can prove that Park Eun is behind this, there won't be a public inquiry. A criminal of treason won't make a credible witness." (It's not clear if Ha really thinks Park might be behind it or if he just sees an opportunity to strike.)
Hwang goes back to his office and considers the warning: "Can you protect the king in the making?" He then wonders if Park Eun is connected with the subversive Goryeo movement.
Soldiers are seen invading art studios and arresting artists. In one studio, a sketch of one of the incriminating posters is found.
PM Ha is informed by Min Muhyul that the artist who painted the posters has been found. However, he's a deaf-mute, so he can't tell them who commissioned him. Hwang wisely points out that they don't need him to say a word--they only need him to draw the man's face. Then the artist is brought in and draws the person. The person was wearing a white mask with red dots--and it was a woman. Add more details, they tell him. He fills in the picture with color, illustrating the woman's elaborate dress in considerable detail. Hwang and Ha realize that only two groups of women wear such fancy dresses: ladies of the royal house, and gisaengs. Chogungjang was both, they note, so they immediately conclude that it's her. But she couldn't have done it on her own, Hwang points out, not with her being alone and in hiding. Someone must have helped her. They immediately conclude that it was Choongnyeong. They want to arrest the prince, but they realize to their dismay that there isn't enough evidence. (Again, not really clear here if they really believe this explanation or if they're more tempted by the political advantages it presents.)
We see the white mask, laying to the side. We see the dress from the illustration. We see a hand adding text to another poster. We see the writer: a beautifully dressed woman. She's new and we don't recognize her.
Minister Hwang tells Jo Malseng that he believes minister Park employed merchants to locate Chogungjang.
That evening, at Ok Hwan's compound: Soldiers enter, with Hwang and Min Muhyul in front. Ok and his guards meet them in the front yard. Min orders the soldiers to search the compound, but Ok orders his men to assume a defensive position: "We may be lowly merchants," he says, "but we need to know why we're being searched." Hwang tells him that he wants to know the extent of his contact with Park. That's enough of a cue for Ok; he relents and allows all of his storerooms to be searched. They're searched; nothing is found. Ok smiles at the ministers, knowingly. "I'm afraid the information you got is incomplete." Then he speaks more frankly: "Do you know that the abdicated king ordered us to murder Chogungjang? Who knows what [he] will do to us if this gets out. Why would we dig our own graves? Perhaps you should look closer into the matter before you take action next time." (In other words, we aren't stupid enough to be keeping her here, you numbskulls.)
As the soldiers leave, Hwang stops for a moment and looks like he's trying to remember something. "Where do I know him from?", he asks Min. "I've never met that man before, but the voice sounds very familiar." Min tells him that Ok is a major supplier of goods to the palace and that Hwang must have encountered him there. That doesn't ring a bell with Hwang, but he accepts it (failing to recognize Ok's voice from when he was shown the rebel army in training). Back on the subject, Hwang and Min conclude that without evidence to the contrary, the crown prince will have to stand trial after all.
Back inside the compound, we find out from Ok (telling his men) that they don't know where Chogungjang is either.
That same evening: Choongnyeong is at home, standing alone in a courtyard. He gets an idea and runs off, right past princess Shim who's been standing there watching him.
"You saved that audacious wench's life?!" Choongnyeong is before Jeongjong; he's told the ex-king what he did. Hyoryeong is there too. Jeongjong sneers and cynically accuses Choongnyeong: "You held me back saying you'd take the fall for your brother [but] you were waiting for the right moment...to expose your brother's malfeasance." No, that's not true, Choongnyeong tells him. Come to the public inquiry and you'll see the truth. But Jeongjong loudly and angrily refuses to attend. If the king tries to force him to, "he will have to be prepared to bury me first!"
Outside, Choongnyeong and Hyoryeong are talking. Choongnyeong is smiling, optimistic that there won't be an inquiry as long as Yangnyeong stays silent, since Jeongjong won't cooperate. Hyoryeong doubts his optimistic view and then says, "I wonder if the crown prince knows how truly devoted you are to him."
Jang Youngsil sits forlornly in a room. His mother rushes in and tells him, "you have to go to Donghae ferry dock right now." As he leaves, Foreman Jeon and Jang Chilsang (from the military’s weapons bureau) are watching. Jeon tells Jang that Youngsil is the kid who made the terrific explosives for the botched invasion, and that they very much need to recruit him.
Han Younglo talking to a soldier: "I take it they're competent men."
The envoy is leaving, taking the chosen girls with him back to Ming. He tells the queen he's received "a rather exorbitant gift." The queen hopes it was satisfactory; he answers, "enough to cover the crown prince's flaw." She smiles. Then she tells the girls of her sorrow for sending them to a distant land, and tells them to have a safe journey. Many tears are shed by family members as the girls are put into wooden carriages, which are then locked shut like wooden boxes.
On his way to the dock, Youngsil is charged at by swordsmen dressed in red. He runs, but they catch up to him and surround him. Just then another group attacks the first group and slaughters them. Jang Chilsang is with the second group. (So the first group were soldiers or mercenaries sent by Han Younglo and the second group are Ok Hwan's men.) Youngsil thanks them for saving his life. Just then, in the valley below, he sees the Ming convoy passing through. He's desperate to run to it, but Ok's men hold him back and he has to watch the convoy fade into the distance, taking Daion with it.
Gang Sangin reports to the king: "You're hunch was right about prime minister Ha Ryun, your majesty."
Ha is summoned before the king. Taejong asks, "Is there no possible way to avoid a public inquiry?" Ha advises him that the way to do it is "to find a way to quietly get rid of Choongnyeong." Out of the question, the king says, because "there will be fierce public opposition." Ha answers that it will then require "a stronger hand to suppress public opinion." "A stronger hand," the king mulls. "You are truly a wise prime minister."
Hyobin and her son prince Kyoungnyeong are talking about the situation...Flashback to the archery contest in Ep6, when Hyobin got a look at Chogungjang...Flashback to Ep19, when Hyobin got a glimpse of a woman being taken into the eunuch's quarters and was told that it was a visiting sister...Flashbacks ending, Hyobin puts the pieces together.
Princess Shim tells Choongnyeong to move Chogungjang to another location. Um Jachi says that he can't keep telling people she's his sister, and the princess says that the king might try to hurt her.
The crown prince is outside with his staff; "You're all working so hard for nothing." He walks back inside.
Princess Shim gets into her carriage and leaves. Dressed incognito, Gang Sangin is watching.
Taejong and Choongnyeong are together on the long bridge. "Turn Chogungjang over to me," the king orders. "I didn't know you knew," responds the prince. "What happens if I say no?" "Then," the king tells him, "your men will get hurt. You would challenge your father?" The prince says, "Every life is equally valuable." And then, "Would you make a deal with me?"
Princess Shim has gone to the eunuchs' quarters and is in a courtyard preparing to take Chogungjang away. Granny Cowsears is there too, with some of the eunuchs, and is concerned about the attempt: "It's broad daylight and there are eyes everywhere." Suddenly, palace guards rush in surround the women.
Still on the long bridge, the king and prince stare at each other, neither showing any sign of backing down....