Post by ajk on Sept 16, 2008 14:58:07 GMT -5
It's the autumn of 1422, the fourth year of Sejong's reign: We see Choi Haesan and Jang Youngsil walking through a busy street market, dressed incognito.
We see Yehjin, and we also see Haishou, who asks Yehjin if he's the one who invited Choi and Jang into Ming China. "You've made a dangerous mistake," Haishou says.
Back at the marketplace, it feels like Choi and Jang are being watched by many pairs of eyes. The whole situation has an uneasy vibe about it. Suddenly a bunch of vendors hold lengths of fabric up and around the two, and when the cloths come back down, the two are gone! All of those watching eyes, it turns out, belong to soldiers. The soldiers immediately converge on the place where the two were, but too late; no sign of them. Then we see the two running down a street and into a building, just as soldiers turn a corner and start to search the street. They run into the safety of a building, run up the stairs and into a room, where someone is waiting for them. It's Huang Yan! (Yes, this is all strange and confusing.)
Yehjin explains to Haishou that the Joseonese are visiting in order to share gunpowder technology. Haishou asks him, "Do they need to know the Huihui Calendar to make gunpowder?" Yehjin puts two and two together on the spot (how, I don't know): "Are you saying the Joseonese are trying to establish their own calendar?"
Soldiers break into the building and invade the room, and find only Huang Yan and some merchants. Outside, Choi and Jang have climbed out the window on ropes; they make their escape.
The two enter a room, carrying a chest. They're surprised to find Yehjin waiting for them with Haishou. Yehjin demands to know what's in the chest: "Put it down on the table at once!" The pair resist, but realize they have no option. They put the chest down, Haishou opens it...and a little monkey jumps out! It scares the heck out of Haishou, who then says, "Get that thing out of here! I hate animals." Choi smiles and tells him, "You don't have to be afraid. He won't eat you." But Haishou skitters right out of the room. Yehjin follows him out. Then Choi tells Jang that "You're one smart cookie." We see that the chest has a false bottom; calendar documents are hidden underneath.
September 1422, Gyeongbuk Palace: Everyone is dressed in white, mourning Taejong's death. An official ceremony is held. We hear Sejong's thoughts as he leads the ceremony: "I could let down my hair and grieve your death with no end, but here now I bury my sorrow to end the lament."
In the throne room, meeting with his ministers, Sejong announces a major reshuffling of personnel. Mainly this will affect regional and military offices, but in addition, the Astronomy Bureau will be expanded and overhauled to bring in scholars with mathematical abilities.
Later, ministers worry that the Astronomy Bureau expansion means that the calendar science project is going forward. "The easiest way to clip those wings," Jo Malseng says, "is to remove Hwang Hee."
In the Hall of Worthies: The scholars have been assigned the task of investigating Hwang Hee for the pending formal review of Hwang's appointment. Clearly the scholars have fond feelings for Hwang, and they're confident that there isn't any dirt out there to be discovered on him. But Jeong Inji cautions them sternly that their investigation "must be conducted fairly and without prejudice, regardless of the subject. Remember, we're the Hall of Worthies." Byun Gaeryang smiles with satisfaction; he likes hearing Jeong be a stickler.
Sejong and Yun Hwe and Yi Su are discussing the review. Yun is concerned that because the review was a condition requested by Jo Malseng, there may be something that they don't know about Hwang and that may be out there waiting to be exposed. "Let us put our faith in Hwang Hee," Sejong says.
In a hallway, scholars Jeong and Choi encounter Hwang and, smiling, tell him, "We intend to shake you down from head to toe." Hwang is unconcerned and chuckles with them.
Jo gives a scroll to Gim Mun, his squealer scholar. It's a report, more than ten years old, that King Taejong had ordered destroyed to protect Hwang Hee. Jo instructs Gim to slip the scroll into the pile of investigation documents.
In the Hall of Worthies, Gim silently puts the scroll among the other scrolls...and then is startled by a hand on his shoulder. It's Jeong and Choi, just being friendly. Jeong and Choi get to work and start to review the scrolls, soon coming upon the one that Gim added to the pile. Jeong reads it, nonchalantly at first, and then his eyes start to widen. "What's this? What the heck is this?", he says, his hands shaking. He dashes out of the room. Choi is understandably puzzled; he reads the scroll and has a similar reaction. "How could a man like councilor Hwang...commit adultery?" And he dashes out after Jeong.
Jeong runs into the room where Byun Gaeryang and the other scholars are working. Choi is right behind him. But then they hesitate, apparently thinking the better of spilling the beans just yet, and leave the room without explanation, a puzzled group in their wake.
With Gim Mun in the room, the two scholars discuss the idea of covering up the revelation. Choi is trying to talk Jeong into it to protect Hwang: "He's a brilliant man who can take on ten Jo Malsengs!" Jeong is very much against the idea, but Choi gets him to at least think about it: "Four hours, that's all I ask. Think about this for four hours. After this you can do as you please. But think very carefully about this one thing: without councilor Hwang, we're back to square one. We'll be too busy infighting to get anything done in this government." Gim Mun, with dishonorable intentions, pipes in, "I agree with Choi. Councilor Hwang is an exceptional man. We can protect him if you look past this."
Gim has reported back to Jo, who tells him, "Do what you have to do to make them cover it up" because it will take care of two birds with one stone. Gim assumes that Jo will abolish the Hall of Worthies, but Jo says No, I won't destroy it; "Instead I can put a competent man like you in charge." (Of course, by "competent man" he means "flunky.")
Jo comes into Hwang's office and make some friendly small talk (and it's hard for me to tell if they're really being cordial or if they're just screwing with each other). Then Jo observes how hard Hwang is working, and tells him with a smile that "You should wait until you pass your review before you start working." Hwang says that it's sounding like "You have something you can dig up and send me packing." Are there such things? "Oh, several," Hwang says with a smile. "How about you? Can you tell me that you've never made any mistakes as a politician and a man?" Maybe, Hwang says, the fear of something being turned up is why I'm keeping myself so busy. They smile at each other, and by now it looks phony.
The scholar Shin Hang is with prince Hyang; we see that he's Hyang's tutor. Sejong is with them today to observe the daily lesson. He instructs them to pretend he's not there and go on as usual. Hyang is being taught the Analects of Confucius (records of the words and actions of Confucius and his disciples). The kid starts reading the Chinese text out loud; it's a proverb on governing. Not only does he read it, but he understands its larger meaning. Shin Hang beams and tells the boy, "Whoever your teacher is, he did a fantastic job!" It's a funny moment, especially coming from a goofball like Shin, and Sejong laughs while being pleased with his son. Then Hyang asks Shin, "Master, my father is a virtuous king, right?" What else can Shin do with Sejong right there but agree. "Then why does he have a bad person like prime minister Yu Jeonghyun around him?" Sejong is startled by the question, and interrupts to ask Hyang, "Why do you think prime minister Yu is a bad person?" Hyang answers, "He caused my innocent grandfather to die, so he is a bad person." "Who told you this?", Sejong demands. Silence. "I asked you a question!" Again nothing.
In a courtyard, we see somebody getting punished as Sejong watches. He's being hit on the back with whacking sticks (anybody knows what they're called, please tell me). We don't recognize the man, but he appears to be a eunuch. Sejong raises his hand--that's enough stick-whacking--and tells the man he'll be thrown out of the palace next time he speaks with such indiscretion. So this is the person who put that idea in Hyang's head. (What's a little creepy about this scene, and I don't know if it was intentional or not, is that the eunuch looks a lot like Jang Won, who was Sejong's childhood eunuch and was tortured to death by Sejong's father in Ep3. Actually it's more than a little creepy, when you think about how awful that was for Sejong and now his being the one ordering the punishment.)
In a quiet courtyard, Shin Hang is carrying Hyang on his shoulders. Hyang asks him, "Master? Why do I have such a big mouth?" (I don't know, kid--try cramming a steamed bun into it once in a while.) "No one is perfect," Shin tells him. "This bungling teacher has no advice for you on that one. I frequently make mistakes, too. Everyone makes mistakes. But if you reflect and try to learn from your mistakes, you will get better. You and me both." It's a nice scene; Hyang and Shin obviously like each other.
Sejong comes to visit his wife. "Announce me," he tells escort Han. She fidgets uncomfortably. "Announce me, I said." Han tells him she's not in. "Then go get her."
We see the queen outside. She's pulling weeds from father's burial mound, which has become overgrown with them. Princess Jeongso is with her. "Father," the queen says, "please forgive this awful daughter who can't even groom your grave site on time let alone find you a proper grave stone." Jeongso starts to help her pick weeds; Soheon tells her not to do it because she'll hurt her hands on the rough grass, but the girl says "there's nothing else I can do for grandfather." Soheon tells her that she doesn't want her coming with her any more, but the girl won't accept that. "You're so lonely and sad," she tells her mother. "You need someone, at least one person in the palace, to comfort you." And she even reaches up to dry her mother's tears. Soheon is deeply moved. "He adored you," she tells her daughter. "He simply adored my sweet angel Jeongso. He'll be so happy that you've come to se him." This is a beautiful scene, but it's also immensely discouraging because we can see that the queen's pain and the raw emotion from her father's execution are still there after all this time, pounding away at her, and may even be growing.
Soheon returns and finds her husband waiting for her. Asked where she was, she tells Sejong that after performing the final sacrificial rite for Taejong, "I thought it would be my duty to visit my father's grave." "Was Jeongso with you?", he asks. He's concerned because "She will grow up with resentment for me and the departed king." He continues, "The crown prince already thinks Yu Jeonghyun is his political enemy." I'm not trying to hide the facts, he tells her, but "It does the children no good to grow up with such animosity from such a young age." You should talk to your staff about this, he tells her, and he leaves. Outside the room, Jeongso is waiting for him. "I have something to talk to you about," she tells her father, showing a good deal of maturity. But he says it can wait until later and he leaves.
Evening: Jeong Inji is alone, thinking hard. Eventually he looks like he's made up his mind; he stands up and walks into the Hall of Worthies. He's on his way to see Byun Gaeryang, and even ignores Gim Mun and Choi Manli. "He has done his thinking," Choi explains to Gim, "so he won't listen to anyone any more. That's just how he is."
Jeong goes into Byun's office. He's there for a reason, but Byun knocks him off course by telling him that he'd like him to do the questioning of Hwang at the review. Jeong is horrified: "Question him about his malfeasance?" Byun says that there are a few minor things, but nothing he'd call "malfeasance." Jeong walks right out of the room, though. "Boy, he's acting strange," Byun mutters.
Still evening: Jeong intercepts Sejong as the king is heading somewhere. He wants to talk.
"Is this true?" A wide-eyed Sejong is stunned and demoralized by the revelation. Jeong tells him, "Park Poe's testimony is irrefutable." (A name we've never heard before.) Then he presents Sejong with his written resignation. "I can't do it," he tells his king. "Hwang Hee...I know he is indispensable regardless of his moral integrity. But I can't hide the fact at the review. Pleas accept my resignation, your majesty. As an ordinary citizen, I will not speak to anyone about this." Sejong won't have it: "Get back to work." Jeong pleads, "You will lose Hwang Hee if you keep me here." But Sejong fires back, "If I accept your resignation to hide this, I lose my principle." Then he tells Jeong, "You and I have not met today. I know nothing about this." We learn that this review process is a kind of checks-and-balances thing to guard against the abuse of royal power. And Jeong isn't supposed to be discussing the case with anybody (especially not the king) prior to the review. "I'm sure you're aware of that," he tells Jeong. "Now go back and finish your job."
Hwang and the scholars at the Hall of Worthies are going over the personnel reshuffling plans, when Sejong arrives along with attendants bearing food for the scholars. "Why don't we take a short break?", he tells them.
Outside, Sejong and Hwang talk. "It's good to have you here," Sejong says. "You must be confident about the review, seeing how hard you're working." "No," Hwang tells him, "politics is unpredictable, your majesty. And those who want to get rid of me are not ordinary folks." Then he advises, "Huh Jo will be a good choice. If I should fall from grace, give my job to Huh Jo. He may be abrasive in his demeanor, but he is fair and honest, so he will do the job well. Praise his good qualities and assign him the job personally." He continues, "You must observe the talents of the other ministers and show them your trust one by one personally as soon as you can. Politics is all about matching the right man with the right service. You must neither fear your subjects nor keep a distance from them; you must reach out to them first--before you expect their loyalty." Sejong smiles; Just like I did with you?, he asks rhetorically. He tells Hwang that he wants to use his royal prerogative to protect him if he should fall from grace. "That would not be wise, your majesty...If you suppress an opposition every time there is one, your subjects will become more and more defiant. Then you'll be left with no choice but to brandish your sword. The world calls such a king a tyrant." That's a bit of a stretch--once is not "every time"--but it's clear that Hwang doesn't want Sejong extending himself on his behalf. (The whole scene has a read-between-the-lines feeling about it. Sejong knows there's trouble ahead; Hwang thinks there could be trouble and is giving the king advice just in case, but he doesn’t know what the king knows.)
From a distance, Jeong Inji watches them talking.
In the throne room, we see Sejong pacing back and forth.
Outside, we see Jeong pacing back and forth...back and forth, deep in thought. Then he stops; we can tell he's made a decision.
Huh Jo is before Sejong, who tells him, "I would like to appoint you Minister of Personnel." Huh is given a copy of the reshuffling proposal that Hwang was working on; Sejong asks him for his opinion of it. "The review isn't over yet," Huh says, but Sejong tells him, "I want to be prepared for the worst." Then Huh, who can find something to argue about in any situation, complains that "I suppose I'm your second choice, or rather your backup plan, in case of the worst." Maybe so, Sejong says, "But appointing you Minister of Personnel to attend to all personnel affairs is a decision I made after carefully considering your fair and even-handed character." This is not a second choice "but my first and only choice. So please do not turn down my offer." Huh, refreshingly silent, bows humbly.
Jeong walks into the Hall of Worthies where Choi and Gim are waiting. Choi wants to know which it was: "Did you tell his majesty everything, or did you confront Hwang Hee?" And did you write your resignation to get yourself out of this? Ignoring them, he says, "Once...wouldn't hurt. I can compromise my principles just this once. I changed my mind. I want to protect councilor Hwang Hee." This is hard for him to even say, but apparently he's made up his mind.
"A cover-up?" Gim has dutifully reported back to Jo. "I guess that gives us the cause to suppress both Hwang Hee and the Hall of Worthies." He shows just the smallest hint of a smile.
The next day: It's the formal review. All of the ministers are gathered as a kind of jury; Hwang sits in a chair in the middle of the room, with his questioners on either side of him. Scrolls are presented to the ministers (I guess they're agendas or programs or something). "Let us begin," Byun Gaeryang says. Jeong stands up to begin the questioning. He faces Hwang, hesitantly. In the front row, Jo watches the questioning and realizes to himself, "It looks like he really is going to cover up the adultery....The young man has learned politics too quickly."
Sejong reviews a written report (apparently an agenda of the questioning) and learns that the adultery incident has not been included. He suspects a cover-up.
Later: "I have no further questions," Jeong announces. The examination of Hwang is over. Byun Gaeryang then announces, "For the past fifteen days, the Hall of Worthies has conducted extensive research and investigation of Hwang Hee's financial holdings and past records and found no evidence of notable misconduct. Therefore, this review board has deemed unnecessary the need to exercise our right to veto his appointment." And it seems like that's the end of it. No one has anything else to say, and there's a long, tense silence. Finally Byun announces, "That concludes this investigative review." Everyone starts to get up. "Wait!" It's Jeong. "I...I am not finished yet." Jeong stands up. "Forgive me. I left something out in the questioning." Everyone sits back down. Jeong approaches Hwang again. "In the course of this investigation, I uncovered what was truly difficult to believe. It was immorality that I simply could not accept as true. I know how invaluable you are to this royal court. So I tried to cover up the matter. I wanted to protect you at all cost. But I could not. I could not because to us politicians who serve the public, moral integrity is not virtue but duty. Now I ask you: is it true that you abused your power to acquire Park Poe's wife for carnal pleasure?" Ministers look at each other and murmur. Jeong presses: "Is it true that you had an illicit affair with another man's wife?" Everyone stares. Hwang exhales, calmly rises to his feet, and says to Jeong, "It's all true."
We see Yehjin, and we also see Haishou, who asks Yehjin if he's the one who invited Choi and Jang into Ming China. "You've made a dangerous mistake," Haishou says.
Back at the marketplace, it feels like Choi and Jang are being watched by many pairs of eyes. The whole situation has an uneasy vibe about it. Suddenly a bunch of vendors hold lengths of fabric up and around the two, and when the cloths come back down, the two are gone! All of those watching eyes, it turns out, belong to soldiers. The soldiers immediately converge on the place where the two were, but too late; no sign of them. Then we see the two running down a street and into a building, just as soldiers turn a corner and start to search the street. They run into the safety of a building, run up the stairs and into a room, where someone is waiting for them. It's Huang Yan! (Yes, this is all strange and confusing.)
Yehjin explains to Haishou that the Joseonese are visiting in order to share gunpowder technology. Haishou asks him, "Do they need to know the Huihui Calendar to make gunpowder?" Yehjin puts two and two together on the spot (how, I don't know): "Are you saying the Joseonese are trying to establish their own calendar?"
Soldiers break into the building and invade the room, and find only Huang Yan and some merchants. Outside, Choi and Jang have climbed out the window on ropes; they make their escape.
The two enter a room, carrying a chest. They're surprised to find Yehjin waiting for them with Haishou. Yehjin demands to know what's in the chest: "Put it down on the table at once!" The pair resist, but realize they have no option. They put the chest down, Haishou opens it...and a little monkey jumps out! It scares the heck out of Haishou, who then says, "Get that thing out of here! I hate animals." Choi smiles and tells him, "You don't have to be afraid. He won't eat you." But Haishou skitters right out of the room. Yehjin follows him out. Then Choi tells Jang that "You're one smart cookie." We see that the chest has a false bottom; calendar documents are hidden underneath.
September 1422, Gyeongbuk Palace: Everyone is dressed in white, mourning Taejong's death. An official ceremony is held. We hear Sejong's thoughts as he leads the ceremony: "I could let down my hair and grieve your death with no end, but here now I bury my sorrow to end the lament."
In the throne room, meeting with his ministers, Sejong announces a major reshuffling of personnel. Mainly this will affect regional and military offices, but in addition, the Astronomy Bureau will be expanded and overhauled to bring in scholars with mathematical abilities.
Later, ministers worry that the Astronomy Bureau expansion means that the calendar science project is going forward. "The easiest way to clip those wings," Jo Malseng says, "is to remove Hwang Hee."
In the Hall of Worthies: The scholars have been assigned the task of investigating Hwang Hee for the pending formal review of Hwang's appointment. Clearly the scholars have fond feelings for Hwang, and they're confident that there isn't any dirt out there to be discovered on him. But Jeong Inji cautions them sternly that their investigation "must be conducted fairly and without prejudice, regardless of the subject. Remember, we're the Hall of Worthies." Byun Gaeryang smiles with satisfaction; he likes hearing Jeong be a stickler.
Sejong and Yun Hwe and Yi Su are discussing the review. Yun is concerned that because the review was a condition requested by Jo Malseng, there may be something that they don't know about Hwang and that may be out there waiting to be exposed. "Let us put our faith in Hwang Hee," Sejong says.
In a hallway, scholars Jeong and Choi encounter Hwang and, smiling, tell him, "We intend to shake you down from head to toe." Hwang is unconcerned and chuckles with them.
Jo gives a scroll to Gim Mun, his squealer scholar. It's a report, more than ten years old, that King Taejong had ordered destroyed to protect Hwang Hee. Jo instructs Gim to slip the scroll into the pile of investigation documents.
In the Hall of Worthies, Gim silently puts the scroll among the other scrolls...and then is startled by a hand on his shoulder. It's Jeong and Choi, just being friendly. Jeong and Choi get to work and start to review the scrolls, soon coming upon the one that Gim added to the pile. Jeong reads it, nonchalantly at first, and then his eyes start to widen. "What's this? What the heck is this?", he says, his hands shaking. He dashes out of the room. Choi is understandably puzzled; he reads the scroll and has a similar reaction. "How could a man like councilor Hwang...commit adultery?" And he dashes out after Jeong.
Jeong runs into the room where Byun Gaeryang and the other scholars are working. Choi is right behind him. But then they hesitate, apparently thinking the better of spilling the beans just yet, and leave the room without explanation, a puzzled group in their wake.
With Gim Mun in the room, the two scholars discuss the idea of covering up the revelation. Choi is trying to talk Jeong into it to protect Hwang: "He's a brilliant man who can take on ten Jo Malsengs!" Jeong is very much against the idea, but Choi gets him to at least think about it: "Four hours, that's all I ask. Think about this for four hours. After this you can do as you please. But think very carefully about this one thing: without councilor Hwang, we're back to square one. We'll be too busy infighting to get anything done in this government." Gim Mun, with dishonorable intentions, pipes in, "I agree with Choi. Councilor Hwang is an exceptional man. We can protect him if you look past this."
Gim has reported back to Jo, who tells him, "Do what you have to do to make them cover it up" because it will take care of two birds with one stone. Gim assumes that Jo will abolish the Hall of Worthies, but Jo says No, I won't destroy it; "Instead I can put a competent man like you in charge." (Of course, by "competent man" he means "flunky.")
Jo comes into Hwang's office and make some friendly small talk (and it's hard for me to tell if they're really being cordial or if they're just screwing with each other). Then Jo observes how hard Hwang is working, and tells him with a smile that "You should wait until you pass your review before you start working." Hwang says that it's sounding like "You have something you can dig up and send me packing." Are there such things? "Oh, several," Hwang says with a smile. "How about you? Can you tell me that you've never made any mistakes as a politician and a man?" Maybe, Hwang says, the fear of something being turned up is why I'm keeping myself so busy. They smile at each other, and by now it looks phony.
The scholar Shin Hang is with prince Hyang; we see that he's Hyang's tutor. Sejong is with them today to observe the daily lesson. He instructs them to pretend he's not there and go on as usual. Hyang is being taught the Analects of Confucius (records of the words and actions of Confucius and his disciples). The kid starts reading the Chinese text out loud; it's a proverb on governing. Not only does he read it, but he understands its larger meaning. Shin Hang beams and tells the boy, "Whoever your teacher is, he did a fantastic job!" It's a funny moment, especially coming from a goofball like Shin, and Sejong laughs while being pleased with his son. Then Hyang asks Shin, "Master, my father is a virtuous king, right?" What else can Shin do with Sejong right there but agree. "Then why does he have a bad person like prime minister Yu Jeonghyun around him?" Sejong is startled by the question, and interrupts to ask Hyang, "Why do you think prime minister Yu is a bad person?" Hyang answers, "He caused my innocent grandfather to die, so he is a bad person." "Who told you this?", Sejong demands. Silence. "I asked you a question!" Again nothing.
In a courtyard, we see somebody getting punished as Sejong watches. He's being hit on the back with whacking sticks (anybody knows what they're called, please tell me). We don't recognize the man, but he appears to be a eunuch. Sejong raises his hand--that's enough stick-whacking--and tells the man he'll be thrown out of the palace next time he speaks with such indiscretion. So this is the person who put that idea in Hyang's head. (What's a little creepy about this scene, and I don't know if it was intentional or not, is that the eunuch looks a lot like Jang Won, who was Sejong's childhood eunuch and was tortured to death by Sejong's father in Ep3. Actually it's more than a little creepy, when you think about how awful that was for Sejong and now his being the one ordering the punishment.)
In a quiet courtyard, Shin Hang is carrying Hyang on his shoulders. Hyang asks him, "Master? Why do I have such a big mouth?" (I don't know, kid--try cramming a steamed bun into it once in a while.) "No one is perfect," Shin tells him. "This bungling teacher has no advice for you on that one. I frequently make mistakes, too. Everyone makes mistakes. But if you reflect and try to learn from your mistakes, you will get better. You and me both." It's a nice scene; Hyang and Shin obviously like each other.
Sejong comes to visit his wife. "Announce me," he tells escort Han. She fidgets uncomfortably. "Announce me, I said." Han tells him she's not in. "Then go get her."
We see the queen outside. She's pulling weeds from father's burial mound, which has become overgrown with them. Princess Jeongso is with her. "Father," the queen says, "please forgive this awful daughter who can't even groom your grave site on time let alone find you a proper grave stone." Jeongso starts to help her pick weeds; Soheon tells her not to do it because she'll hurt her hands on the rough grass, but the girl says "there's nothing else I can do for grandfather." Soheon tells her that she doesn't want her coming with her any more, but the girl won't accept that. "You're so lonely and sad," she tells her mother. "You need someone, at least one person in the palace, to comfort you." And she even reaches up to dry her mother's tears. Soheon is deeply moved. "He adored you," she tells her daughter. "He simply adored my sweet angel Jeongso. He'll be so happy that you've come to se him." This is a beautiful scene, but it's also immensely discouraging because we can see that the queen's pain and the raw emotion from her father's execution are still there after all this time, pounding away at her, and may even be growing.
Soheon returns and finds her husband waiting for her. Asked where she was, she tells Sejong that after performing the final sacrificial rite for Taejong, "I thought it would be my duty to visit my father's grave." "Was Jeongso with you?", he asks. He's concerned because "She will grow up with resentment for me and the departed king." He continues, "The crown prince already thinks Yu Jeonghyun is his political enemy." I'm not trying to hide the facts, he tells her, but "It does the children no good to grow up with such animosity from such a young age." You should talk to your staff about this, he tells her, and he leaves. Outside the room, Jeongso is waiting for him. "I have something to talk to you about," she tells her father, showing a good deal of maturity. But he says it can wait until later and he leaves.
Evening: Jeong Inji is alone, thinking hard. Eventually he looks like he's made up his mind; he stands up and walks into the Hall of Worthies. He's on his way to see Byun Gaeryang, and even ignores Gim Mun and Choi Manli. "He has done his thinking," Choi explains to Gim, "so he won't listen to anyone any more. That's just how he is."
Jeong goes into Byun's office. He's there for a reason, but Byun knocks him off course by telling him that he'd like him to do the questioning of Hwang at the review. Jeong is horrified: "Question him about his malfeasance?" Byun says that there are a few minor things, but nothing he'd call "malfeasance." Jeong walks right out of the room, though. "Boy, he's acting strange," Byun mutters.
Still evening: Jeong intercepts Sejong as the king is heading somewhere. He wants to talk.
"Is this true?" A wide-eyed Sejong is stunned and demoralized by the revelation. Jeong tells him, "Park Poe's testimony is irrefutable." (A name we've never heard before.) Then he presents Sejong with his written resignation. "I can't do it," he tells his king. "Hwang Hee...I know he is indispensable regardless of his moral integrity. But I can't hide the fact at the review. Pleas accept my resignation, your majesty. As an ordinary citizen, I will not speak to anyone about this." Sejong won't have it: "Get back to work." Jeong pleads, "You will lose Hwang Hee if you keep me here." But Sejong fires back, "If I accept your resignation to hide this, I lose my principle." Then he tells Jeong, "You and I have not met today. I know nothing about this." We learn that this review process is a kind of checks-and-balances thing to guard against the abuse of royal power. And Jeong isn't supposed to be discussing the case with anybody (especially not the king) prior to the review. "I'm sure you're aware of that," he tells Jeong. "Now go back and finish your job."
Hwang and the scholars at the Hall of Worthies are going over the personnel reshuffling plans, when Sejong arrives along with attendants bearing food for the scholars. "Why don't we take a short break?", he tells them.
Outside, Sejong and Hwang talk. "It's good to have you here," Sejong says. "You must be confident about the review, seeing how hard you're working." "No," Hwang tells him, "politics is unpredictable, your majesty. And those who want to get rid of me are not ordinary folks." Then he advises, "Huh Jo will be a good choice. If I should fall from grace, give my job to Huh Jo. He may be abrasive in his demeanor, but he is fair and honest, so he will do the job well. Praise his good qualities and assign him the job personally." He continues, "You must observe the talents of the other ministers and show them your trust one by one personally as soon as you can. Politics is all about matching the right man with the right service. You must neither fear your subjects nor keep a distance from them; you must reach out to them first--before you expect their loyalty." Sejong smiles; Just like I did with you?, he asks rhetorically. He tells Hwang that he wants to use his royal prerogative to protect him if he should fall from grace. "That would not be wise, your majesty...If you suppress an opposition every time there is one, your subjects will become more and more defiant. Then you'll be left with no choice but to brandish your sword. The world calls such a king a tyrant." That's a bit of a stretch--once is not "every time"--but it's clear that Hwang doesn't want Sejong extending himself on his behalf. (The whole scene has a read-between-the-lines feeling about it. Sejong knows there's trouble ahead; Hwang thinks there could be trouble and is giving the king advice just in case, but he doesn’t know what the king knows.)
From a distance, Jeong Inji watches them talking.
In the throne room, we see Sejong pacing back and forth.
Outside, we see Jeong pacing back and forth...back and forth, deep in thought. Then he stops; we can tell he's made a decision.
Huh Jo is before Sejong, who tells him, "I would like to appoint you Minister of Personnel." Huh is given a copy of the reshuffling proposal that Hwang was working on; Sejong asks him for his opinion of it. "The review isn't over yet," Huh says, but Sejong tells him, "I want to be prepared for the worst." Then Huh, who can find something to argue about in any situation, complains that "I suppose I'm your second choice, or rather your backup plan, in case of the worst." Maybe so, Sejong says, "But appointing you Minister of Personnel to attend to all personnel affairs is a decision I made after carefully considering your fair and even-handed character." This is not a second choice "but my first and only choice. So please do not turn down my offer." Huh, refreshingly silent, bows humbly.
Jeong walks into the Hall of Worthies where Choi and Gim are waiting. Choi wants to know which it was: "Did you tell his majesty everything, or did you confront Hwang Hee?" And did you write your resignation to get yourself out of this? Ignoring them, he says, "Once...wouldn't hurt. I can compromise my principles just this once. I changed my mind. I want to protect councilor Hwang Hee." This is hard for him to even say, but apparently he's made up his mind.
"A cover-up?" Gim has dutifully reported back to Jo. "I guess that gives us the cause to suppress both Hwang Hee and the Hall of Worthies." He shows just the smallest hint of a smile.
The next day: It's the formal review. All of the ministers are gathered as a kind of jury; Hwang sits in a chair in the middle of the room, with his questioners on either side of him. Scrolls are presented to the ministers (I guess they're agendas or programs or something). "Let us begin," Byun Gaeryang says. Jeong stands up to begin the questioning. He faces Hwang, hesitantly. In the front row, Jo watches the questioning and realizes to himself, "It looks like he really is going to cover up the adultery....The young man has learned politics too quickly."
Sejong reviews a written report (apparently an agenda of the questioning) and learns that the adultery incident has not been included. He suspects a cover-up.
Later: "I have no further questions," Jeong announces. The examination of Hwang is over. Byun Gaeryang then announces, "For the past fifteen days, the Hall of Worthies has conducted extensive research and investigation of Hwang Hee's financial holdings and past records and found no evidence of notable misconduct. Therefore, this review board has deemed unnecessary the need to exercise our right to veto his appointment." And it seems like that's the end of it. No one has anything else to say, and there's a long, tense silence. Finally Byun announces, "That concludes this investigative review." Everyone starts to get up. "Wait!" It's Jeong. "I...I am not finished yet." Jeong stands up. "Forgive me. I left something out in the questioning." Everyone sits back down. Jeong approaches Hwang again. "In the course of this investigation, I uncovered what was truly difficult to believe. It was immorality that I simply could not accept as true. I know how invaluable you are to this royal court. So I tried to cover up the matter. I wanted to protect you at all cost. But I could not. I could not because to us politicians who serve the public, moral integrity is not virtue but duty. Now I ask you: is it true that you abused your power to acquire Park Poe's wife for carnal pleasure?" Ministers look at each other and murmur. Jeong presses: "Is it true that you had an illicit affair with another man's wife?" Everyone stares. Hwang exhales, calmly rises to his feet, and says to Jeong, "It's all true."
