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Post by tinkerbell on Sept 4, 2008 11:41:30 GMT -5
EPISODE 18 I'm amazed at how brazen CP Yangnyeong is. Although he didn't summon Chogungjang this time, he was caught. Instead of showing any kind of remorse to ex-king Jeongjong, he wanted to know who squealed on him. I'm still wondering if escort Hyobin or Kyoungnyeong had something to do with the ex-king finding out about the affair. I was very surprised after asking Choongnyeong to take the fall for his brother to prove he wasn't after the crown, that Jeongjong didn't actually go through with it. That was a close one. I wonder if the CP knew that Choongnyeong was willing to say it was he who had an affair with escort Chogungjang, if Yangnyeong would have been more grateful. Probably not. All it seems to do is assure him his brother is not trying to usurp his position. Yes, things are really heating up between PM Ha Ryun and Minister Park. That devious old man is a formidable opponent. Clever move suggesting to King Taejong to hold the massive martial arts contest in order to sabotage the Ministry of Slavery Reparations. I can't believe the Queen proposed Han Younglo's daughter Daion as a wife for Prince Kyoungnyeong! That's not good news for Daion and Yuongsil. Their relationship seems doomed. Speaking of doomed, escort Chogungjang's days appear to be numbered.
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Post by tinkerbell on Sept 5, 2008 20:15:25 GMT -5
EPISODE 19 I've been wondering for awhile if the King or the princes know Baron Ok Hwan, Foreman Jeon and Muby etc. are from the former Goryeo. Baron Ok Hwan wears the same type of hat as Prince Choongnyeong with the ornament on top. I remember Yun Hwe realizing for the first time that Choongnyeong was a prince when he saw the hat. I wonder how much Prince C will find out about them now that he's suspicious. They must be getting sloppy since they've hidden their activities for so long without being detected. Even Minister Park knows about the ex-king's escort and is threatening to "find dirt" on Ok Hwan. Poor Chogungjang, so many people want her dead or for questioning. I can't believe CP Yangnyeong is still determined to attack Ming and has turned against the scholars. They stood by his side and were even beaten for it, but he hasn't an ounce of gratefulness for their repeated loyalty. It seems like everyone is plotting something or against someone.
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Post by tinkerbell on Sept 8, 2008 14:13:03 GMT -5
Episode 20 The kidnapping of Hwang Hee by Ok Hwan's men deepened the intrigue. What all do they want from him? What's to guarantee they won't kill the King even if he does help them or join their cause? What if they kill him when they're done with him like we've seen them do before? Does he secretly hold anger towards the King because of the slaughter of the loyal retainers in Dumundong or is it just guilt? This incident brought up a lot of questions. After Ok Hwan told him his people were deep in the court where you'd least expect, certain people whom I had trusted before started looking suspicious. I already felt a bit leery of Jo Malseng wondering which side he was really on or was he playing both sides. Now I think besides the obvious people, we're in for a few surprises. The animosity between the Queen and Hyobin is intensifying as is the scheming between Hyobin and her son for possession of the throne. Does Granny Cowsears lack good character, will she do anything for money, or is she just afraid to go against Hyobin? She was willing to risk her life if that slanderous letter about the King she wanted to give to Foreman Jeon was ever traced back to her. On the other hand, she is helping to hide escort Chogungjang. Hmm It was great to see the scholars feel like they had a purpose again. Prince Choongnyeong, the scholars and now Yun Hwe, his subordinates and even Byun Gaeryang are helping out with the slavery reparations, unfortunately much to the dismay of the King, the Queen and the Crown Prince. Now the Queen wants Choongnyeong sent away to prevent bloodshed. Apparently CP Yangnyeong doesn't feel as threatened by his brother, which is good for Choongnyeong I hope.
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Post by tinkerbell on Sept 10, 2008 11:21:31 GMT -5
EPISODE 21
Young Prince Sungnyeong's feistiness, reminds me of Prince Choongnyeong when he was young. He also has that same love for the people as his brother. Prince Kyoungnyeong shows up too but with different motives. He certainly learned his craftiness from his mother.
I admire Princess Shim. Time after time she shows her dedication and wisdom. Rallying the other princes was a good move to protect her husband, and has saved Prince Choongnyeong from being sent away, for now anyway.
Apparently the CP is starting to take the advice of his father, his brother Choongnyeong, Minister Hwang and Yi Su. He wants to start over with Hwang Hee's help. It was a great idea to take the prince to the site of the hunting ceremony so he could see the hardship for himself. Hopefully he will start acting more like "kingly material."
PM Ha has weaseled his way out of another situation. It seems as if there's no bringing him down, which has frustrated and disheartened the scholars and other officials.
Looks like Granny Cowsears is about to do another dirty deed for Hyobin. She is determined to get revenge and bring down the Queen. Does she really think everyone will welcome her son as the next king?
The scene with eunuch Jeon Ilji and the surprise birthday party was interesting. Earlier he was told by Ok Hwan's men to find out the whereabouts of escort Chogungjang and then to kill Prince Choongnyeong. Will he attempt it? The prince has been so good to him and it's clear he feels guilty, but then we see the flashback on the ship. I guess he didn't feel guilty enough because he found out the eunuchs were hiding Chogungjang and reported it to Ok Hwan.
So much for the Queen not telling the King about CP Yangnyeong's infidelity. I was a bit puzzled at the reason for exposing the CP. I thought Ok Hwan and his men wanted to protect him. Isn't that the reason for wanting to kill the escort? Then again, they're always talking about the time being right to make their move especially when there is confusion.
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Post by jojo on Sept 12, 2008 9:15:40 GMT -5
Ep 20 & 21 Some of Choongnyeong's actions surprised me. In Episode 20 he was berating Park Eun for using the Office of Slavery Reparations as a way to get at corrupt ministers, and was therefore corrupt himself. I was also surprised by Park's comment, "they started it," which seemed a little juvenile coming from him. I thought Park could have defended himself better. Then Choongnyeong, beating Park to the punch, goes after PM Ha Ryun and is surprised when Ha offers his resignation. I wonder what else Choongnyeong thought the PM was going to do? I admire Princess Shim also. She's turning out to be a very wise woman, able to hold her own with the Queen, and able to take her own independent actions behind the scenes, to great results. The Crown Prince was subdued in the past few episodes. His new desire to start over in learning to be 'kingly material' seems sincere, but I doubt he will be able to surpress his stubborn ego in the long run. The scenes with Jeon Ilji were sooo surprising!! Very well done. I thought Choongnyeong & co. were going to nail him as a spy. Good to see the doubts in Jeon's mind on whether or not to fulfill the mission. I wonder who put up the posters for the King and CP to see. I couldn't make them out too clearly, but it looked like the King was in them, watching, in an approving manner, the CP's actions from afar. Shocking!!!
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Post by tinkerbell on Sept 12, 2008 10:11:02 GMT -5
The posters showed the Crown Prince and escort Chogungjang kissing, embracing etc.. I thought the "king" in the pictures observing was the ex-king, showing that he found out about the two of them. If it was meant to be King Taejong, it will give the impression that the King knew and approved of the affair. This scenario will cause an uproar and will further inflame the situation. This would be exactly what Ok Hwan would want, chaos and confusion.
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Post by jojo on Sept 12, 2008 14:44:38 GMT -5
Oh! That's an interesting possibility. It's not easy to determine exactly who is standing on the side in the poster. I'll have to give it a re-wind and check again (for the 5th time!). Whether it's the abdicated king or not, it's still playing out under King Taejong's rule. So if the affair is finally out in the open, perhaps the desire of some people to kill Chojungjang will lessen. Or maybe not.
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Post by ajk on Sept 12, 2008 14:52:23 GMT -5
Good eyes, Tink (or good taping!)--it would have been nice if they'd lingered on the posters for a bit longer and let us get a good look at them.
By the way, just to give you all a heads-up: Make sure you don't miss Episode 29. That's not a spoiler--I obviously won't tell you what happens--it's just a very eventful episode and it will be a lot easier to follow subsequent episodes if you actually see 29. Just an advance notice.
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Post by jojo on Sept 15, 2008 12:55:17 GMT -5
Episode 22 Lot's of short scenes in this episode as everyone reacts to the Crown Prince's exposed affair. Good to see the CP let his ego down for a moment as he explains to Hwang Hee why he had the affair, though he obviously didn't expect Chogungjang to fall in love with him. Hyobin's instigation of the posters wasn't too much of a surprise. If she didn't expose the affair, someone else would have. She'd be in a heap of trouble if anyone found out it was her! More sadness with Daion and Youngsil. Her father is despicable. What's the point of trying to kill Youngsil after he sends Daion to Ming? (I'm assuming that Han Younglo hired the men in red.) Or, he could have killed Youngsil and kept his daughter. What a nasty punishment. Liked the ending scene with Choongnyeong & the King looking at each other: the future king and the current king, assessing each other. The king has a nice smile! What was the King's hunch about PM Ha Ryun?? Did I miss something, or will this return later?
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Post by tinkerbell on Sept 16, 2008 15:23:55 GMT -5
Good eyes, Tink (or good taping!)--it would have been nice if they'd lingered on the posters for a bit longer and let us get a good look at them. By the way, just to give you all a heads-up: Make sure you don't miss Episode 29. That's not a spoiler--I obviously won't tell you what happens--it's just a very eventful episode and it will be a lot easier to follow subsequent episodes if you actually see 29. Just an advance notice. Thanks for the heads up ajk. I couldn't see all of the posters, but I remembered a few of the scenes with the CP and Chogungjang. EPISODE 22 jojo, To me, it sounded like CP Yangnyeong just echoed everything Prince Choongnyeong had said to him when they were on the beach. Prince C gave his explanation of why he thought the CP had the affair with Chogungjang. I don't believe that's the reason he did it (the affair), whether Prince C believes it or not remains to be seen. It could be either one. Sometimes he's too naive, but then again he's quite clever and this was a smart way to keep the relationship with his brother on good terms. It was different to see Yangnyeong resigned to giving up. One thing he said was true about being a chess piece. It's a game of chess not only with him, but with just about everyone. He's very fortunate to have people always looking out for him, some on the up and up, and others not. Han Younglo is despicable indeed. Daion is better off being one of the Ming Emperor's playthings than the wife of a lowly slave? Han could have given Youngsil his freedom but chose not to. He must think he's going to get something out of giving up his daughter because he clearly doesn't care about her. You could feel the anguish Daion and Youngsil were feeling. What's to become of Chogungjang now? I liked the "Can we make a deal?" line from Choongnyeong. It was very bold but risky.
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Post by tinkerbell on Sept 17, 2008 13:27:21 GMT -5
EPISODE 23 Hyobin seems to show up at the most opportune times. How phony of her to act protective of Chogungjang when she was with Princess Shim. After the inquiry, she shows up again just at the right time when the Queen is present. She scolds her son (what a joke) and tells the Queen that she serves the King more than 6 months of the year and he tells her everything. She always manages to get those barbs in. Jeon Ilji surprised me. I thought the note he left in the hidden box was about the whereabouts of Chogungjang. Good for him. I guess he has taken a liking to Prince C as Ok Hwan said. Now he will be under more pressure to kill Prince Choongnyeong. It's interesting to see which group of ministers want there to be an inquiry and those who want to avoid it at all costs. Obviously there are some men of character who believe corruption must be exposed no matter who it is. Very interesting how this all played out. I felt bad for escort Chogungjang and for Prince Choongnyeong since he was the one that came up with the plan. The King's comment to Minister Park "I'm holding another card that will quiet the officials. You're going to like what I have in store." turned out to be a double edged sword. He killed two birds with one stone. I must say I was surprised the King finally gave PM Ha the axe. I assumed the King couldn't get rid of him because as PM Ha said when the King asked him about the corruption he was guilty of, "I must have thought that I deserved a little something in return for giving you the throne." I wonder if we've really seen the last of him? He seems too shrewd, powerful and cunning to just walk away. Getting rid of Minister Park stunned me even more. I didn't see that one coming. Brilliant. It was good to see Yun Hwe, Byun Gaeryang, Gim Jongsuh and other junior officials express their outrage at the results of the inquiry. I admire these men. I felt bad for Yun Hwe when he confronted Prince C and said to him "You know the truth. You protected Chogungjang at your villa." "Is this the Choongnyeong that I know?" You could tell he felt betrayed. I agree with him. How long will Choongnyeong resort to such tactics to protect CP Yangnyeong? Is it worth compromising your morals? I know he felt it was the best way to protect them both, I just hope Chogungjang isn't killed anyway. So, Ok Hwan got Auri to hire the artist to draw the infamous posters and now he wants her to seduce the Crown Prince. Somebody had better be looking out for him since we know how he is. I'm a little unsure of Gim Jongsuh though. I had the impression that he was somehow tied to Ok Hwan and his men. I hope I'm wrong but there's something about him. I knew Jo Malseng was up to something! I had stated earlier that I felt suspicious of him and wondered whose side he was on. Very clever. What has Choongnyeong gotten himself into now, picking up that girl in the marketplace? I hope it's not something he's going to regret.
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Post by jojo on Sept 18, 2008 18:45:48 GMT -5
Ep 23 Hyobin really skewered the Queen this time (after the trial). She couldn’t even come up with a retort. For the first time I can remember she looked defeated and worn out. I’m not a fan of Hyobin. I can understand her feelings about the Queen, for trying to kill her and Kyongnyeong, but I don’t think she should involve her son in her revenge. I remember earlier in the story, Kyongnyeong resisting his mom pushing him to be the Crown Prince. I feel like she’s using her own son. Poor Jeon Ilji. He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. He doesn’t want to kill Prince Choongnyeong but if he doesn’t he may end up being killed by his uncle! I wonder if the poisoned hairpin ornament will show up unexpectedly. Gasp! I hope he doesn’t think about killing himself! I didn’t think King Taejong would give PM Ha the axe either, and I was just as surprised that Minister Park was pushed aside as well. Ha does seem to be too smart to just walk off the political stage. I wonder if the ill-begotten lands and slaves were taken from him. That could leave him much less wealthy and less powerful. I wonder what Park’s job is as “left state councilor.” I wonder what “left” refers to. Hmmm…I thought Hyobin had the posters drawn. Have to rewind the tape and check. The scene with the girl in the marketplace seems way out of character for Choongnyeong. I hope he has different idea than what she’s expecting.
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Post by tinkerbell on Sept 19, 2008 17:42:33 GMT -5
Knowing how Prince Choongnyeong is, he will find some way to help her out, but not that way. It's not a surprise Minister Park was upset. Under the king, the prime minister was at the top (high status). Below him, there were the right and left ministers and below them, were the right and left advisors and consultants. The right and left ministers were two different political factions. Park assumed he would be assigned to the post of prime minister after PM Ha got the boot. His new job is not the promotion he was expecting. Jeon Ilji doesn't have to consider killing himself. All he has to do is nothing and Ok Hwan will do it for him.
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Post by jojo on Sept 20, 2008 11:16:54 GMT -5
So, I suppose right and left ministers wear red or blue robes. Interesting concept. I rechecked the posters instigator, and yes indeed, it's the new character Auri (though no doubt she is working for Baron Ok). She was not identified in the scene (episode 22). Good thing for tapes, otherwise I'd be totally confused.
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Post by ajk on Sept 20, 2008 17:03:02 GMT -5
jojo--Thanks for double-checking on that. I got that completely wrong in the episode summary and will go back and correct it. We just got a quick glimpse of her and I had assumed it was Hyobin (she certainly had the motivation for it). I wish they'd identified her right then and there, but no excuses. Much appreciated.
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