Post by ajk on Mar 8, 2014 0:46:10 GMT -5
In moments Pyeonjo is cornered...but then just in time, Choseon's men show up and a wild sword battle breaks out. Pyeonjo is having some sort of trouble; he's staggering around like the throwing-star wound is much more severe than a simple puncture, and he barely makes it to a dark, secluded spot under a porch before he goes woozy and passes out. Could there have been poison on that star?
Choseon and one of her female employees (we've seen her before; I think this is Park Seobang's wife) are making clothes for Pyeonjo. Choseon wants to do something nice for him, and especially now that he's an important person, he should have some better things to wear. But when the employee suggests that Choseon has feelings for Pyeonjo, she gets all squirmy and denies it. Still?
Yes, it was poisoned. Choseon's men won the battle and put the attackers to flight...but now a gory moment as a trembling Pyeonjo manages to place a dagger into the hand of Park Seobang and Park has to dig into the star wound to extract the poison. (Which really doesn't make sense; Park should be sucking it out and spitting).
Now Choseon is smiling. A little embarrassed and still denying it...but never mind that, what's that noise outside? The employee runs outside...
Fire! A bunch of goons are throwing torches into Choseon's yard and onto the roof! Trying to torch the place.
Noguk is just sitting there, staring forlornly ahead, unable to speak. The pain in her heart that she's almost completely hiding, we can guess the reason for it...
...and yeah, her husband is alone now with Lee Hyebi. They're just sitting there both staring at the floor and it couldn't be more uncomfortable.
"She must serve his majesty well. Only then will we be blessed with an heir." The queen has Lady Kim keeping her company, but neither Kim nor Eunuch An outside the door is taking this very well. Noguk is looking at the bigger picture, though: "No matter what, His Majesty's soul shall always be by my side." She really is a remarkable person.
Only thing is, it's very late at night now and the lights in the king's palace still haven't gone out. So there isn't any consort stuff happening. And now all of a sudden an irritated-looking Gongmin comes marching out the front door and heads for his wife's palace.
"Did the queen dowager force you?" He's glaring angrily at his wife. "When we were joined in conjugal ties back in Yanjing, I made you one pledge over everything else: that I would never glance at any woman but you." There are plenty of relatives in my bloodline who can inherit the throne, he once again insists; we don't need a child of our own. "So never engage in such fruitless boondoggle again." But she tells him that if he doesn't bear an heir, she'll be the one blamed for it and may be driven out of the palace. "A queen who can't bear an heir to the throne does not deserve to carry the crown of mother of state on her head. Even if death parts us, I want to stay by your side. Unless you want to see me divested of my crown and sent away from the palace, take a consort in, and gain an heir to your throne." It's certainly logical but she says it with tears streaming down her face. And it's her emotion that instantly changes Gongmin's attitude. "Who would ever send you away from me, dear?" Reminds her again of her bravery in staring down the likes of Gi Cheol. "Where did you leave it, to replace it with these panicky yowls?" He's smiling and compassionate now that he understands what made her do it. "You are the heroine who brought back Goryeo all its splendor," he tells her. "This Goryeo of ours is but a feeble creature" and we have so much more to do together; I need you to watch me and help me through my weaknesses and mistakes, and "push me back on the right path." He hugs her. "Never do this to me again." But it's not spoken in anger; he says it with tenderness and a loving smile on his face.
Outside the room there's hardly a dry eye among all of the attendants standing there...
...while Hyebi sits by herself at the king's palace, and starts to cry. Poor Hyebi.
Pyeonjo has been brought home, shivering and barely conscious. Choseon is hovering over him and tending to him--Sure, no feelings there!--and it does seem like he'll get through it. But not for a while yet.
Gaetae Temple: Master Wolseon is outside staring into the distance with a hopeful look on his face. He's been out there all night! Deokun asks him what he's been doing. "Ahh...that little fool. He pulled through once again!" As in, Pyeonjo. How could he possibly know about that? Deokun asks that very question, but Wolseon doesn't explain--only offers a prayer of thanks for Pyeonjo's recovery. (Well THIS raises some questions, doesn't it.)
Gong Cheol and Park Seobang conclude what we've concluded; the assault on Pyeonjo and the attempted arson, it was no coincidence. A planned one-two attack, almost certainly by one of the powerful clans.
As Choseon tends to Pyeonjo, he incoherently acknowledges the queen. What's that about? She smiles.
King and queen are paying their daily respects to the queen dowager. But at least the old battleaxe is in better spirits today because the consort thing went her way. Still, there's some awkwardness about Lee Hyebi's first night as a consort. Gongmin is trying to lighten the mood by comparing his "neglect" of the queen to the solitude that his mother must have felt after being turned out of the palace. But it's just making everyone uncomfortable. And then as he leaves her palace, he stops trying to lighten the mood and instead starts screaming at her about "You should know when to be thankful!!" and reminding her that he was the one who got her back inside the palace. Boy is he mad at her for pushing a consort on him. Says some real nasty things as he heads off.
Hyebi is visiting her parents. We see Lee Je Hyeon all the time, of course, but we haven’t seen his wife in quite a while. Boy is she angry. Angry at the QD for putting her daughter in this difficult position, and angry at the queen for supposedly looking down on their family (which she's completely imagining, of course).
"If you wish to control power, you must cut His Majesty's wings. Her Majesty and Pyeonjo." Ugh, and now Commissioner Park is plying the QD again. Says her son is too weak and naive to know how to deal with power struggles, but the queen, well, she grew up in the middle of them. "The moment His Majesty loses the queen, manipulating him as you please will be as easy as turning your palm." And as for Pyeonjo, Kim starts spouting that same stuff again about how Pyeonjo wants "a Goryeo ruled by lowborns" and plans to snuff out the nobles and clans. And goes even further and says he's plotting to take the throne for himself! Treason! Good grief. We need to act against the both of them, he says...and I'll come up with a plan to do it. The QD totally buying every word of it and gratefully accepts his help; says she's counting on him.
Gongmin hasn't seen Pyeonjo in days; where is he? Lee Je Hyeon doesn't know, and Eunuch Choi says he might be visiting the needy in outlying villages, which apparently he does every so often. Gongmin asks that he be summoned. Choi nods, leaves the room...and exhales a sigh of relief. What was that for? Hmmmm....Then Gongmin asks Lee to help Pyeonjo when the Directorate is reinstated and Pyeonjo is put in charge of it. Lee is visibly uncomfortable but says nothing. And then Gongmin apologizes for the situation with Lee's daughter. "I shall summon your daughter when the time is ripe," he says, almost certainly not meaning it.
Inspector Kim runs into Kim Yong outside the palace and thanks him for locking up Pyeonjo's inspectors. And starts gushing about how the QD thinks much more highly of him now. Of course Kim Yong loves that kind of flattery and is eating it up. Then Kim heads over to see Eunuch Choi, which is why he's here; Choi was looking for him. A strange whispered conversation about Choi having to make repeated excuses about Pyeonjo's absence to the king. It ends abruptly when Jung Se Woon shows up (back from the front?). "What are you scheming these days?," he asks Kim suspiciously after seeing Choi scurry away. Kim angrily denies any such thing, but Jung knows better.
Evening: Tonight Choseon's residence is guarded. Inside, Pyeonjo finally wakes up, looking much better. Finds Choseon sleeping nearby, tired from tending to him all day. Then she wakes up, and tries to tend to him some more but suddenly she's feeling terribly awkward...
...and ends up praying at a shrine the next morning. Looking very sad as she does it. Wonder why....
Yanjing: "Are you planning to let them get away with it, Your Majesty?" Word has arrived about the Goryeans' incursions across the Amnok River and into Liaodong, and Commissioner Park wants the empress to act. She smiles. "Goryeo will send an envoy, don't you think? Let us hear what pretext the King of Goryeo uses this time. I want to hear his excuses." Which isn't what Park wants at all. He reminds her about her mother and brother, but she only blames herself for not getting them safely to Yanjing. Then Park tries to get her to kick Gongmin off the throne and instill Prince Deokheung. No dice. "Someday the Red Turbans will invade Goryeo. How long do you think a man like Prince Deokheung would resist? He'd be begging for mercy in a matter of days." No, she finds the situation intriguing and entertaining and wants to see what Gongmin will do about it.
So Park has to go to Deokheung and his crony Choi Yu and tell them once again, no troops for your offensive yet.
Ssangseong: Yoo In Woo is ordering his troops to cross into Yuan territory and chase after Jo So Saeng so he can present Jo's head to the king. Lee Ja Chun protests--"There is no just cause, Commander!"--and yikes, suddenly it's a tense, nasty standoff with Yoo's sword pointed at Lee, and Lee Seonggye aiming an arrow at Yoo. Seonggye lays it out perfectly: "All you're doing is stirring bad blood between Goryeo and Jurchen remnants, people who had been living in peace for years. Should the Yuan invade Goryeo, the Jurchen remnants will surely join forces with them. If that were to happen, we would perish in disgrace." But Yoo will have none of it and backswings...and Seonggye shoots the sword out of his hand! And loads up again....
Gongmin gets word back from up north that Yoo In Woo is refusing to return home as ordered. Tells Lee In Bok to go up there personally and bring him back...but Lee is more concerned with what In Dang did; thinks it's serious enough that someone has to go to Yanjing and explain what happened. Gongmin accepts Lee's offer to be the envoy. And on your way, Gongmin tells him, "condemn In Dang for defying my orders, and take his head along."
We see Lee In Bok and a large escort leave for Yanjing.
"Have you finally come to your senses?" Kim Yong finally has Won Hyeon dragged out of his jail cell. Kim is on his horse, totally intimidating Won--and it's working. Tell your master not to try any such thing again, he says, riding away and leaving Won free to go.
Pyeonjo's at least conscious and coherent now. He tells Choseon he's not going to tell the king what happened! He doesn't want the king getting angry over it, because he thinks the king doesn't have enough power yet to deal with whichever officials were responsible for it. But apparently he's okay with Noguk knowing about it, because Lady Kim is there and he says to her, "Her Majesty is wise, so she will not tell His Majesty about this." Choseon wonders if he has some sort of "heart to heart" connection with the queen (especially after his calling out to her in his delirium). But no matter now, because suddenly he's having some sort of convulsive attack of pain. He's not fully recovered yet, obviously.
Lady Kim goes and tells the whole story to Noguk. The queen is impressed by Pyeonjo's wisdom in wanting to keep it from the king. Returning the collaborators' land to the citizens it was taken from, "It is not something we can achieve in a day, so we must not act in haste, he meant." She's only too happy to keep quiet about it.
As Won Hyeon staggers back home, he comes upon a horrifying, bloody sight: two carts filled with dead people. They're somebody's slaves, or at least they used to be. They were slaughtered to make the political statement that whoever owned them would rather kill them than give up ownership of them. Wow.
News of this gets back to Choseon's estate. Choseon is horrified and disgusted like everybody else is. And Pyeonjo looks to be sleeping at the moment but upon overhearing the news, sheds a tear.
Now Won Hyeon has gotten himself raving drunk and is at the royal temple, trying to get through to see Master Bou. Four monks are holding him back, but as Bou prays a Sutra in the temple for the souls of those slaves, Bou calls out to him from outside the entrance. "Ask Buddha for a favor. Tell him to sweep away all creation with thunderous fire and brimstone! Tell him to unleash wrathful thunder upon all those vicious beasts! Then, I shall trust and believe his teachings once again, and dedicate my life to spreading his wisdom! I beg you, convey my words!" Bou doesn't seem to be listening; he's wrapped up in his prayer. Won is going bonkers. "Why did Buddha let those pitiful people perish in such a disgraceful way? Why?!" But Bou not only doesn't answer, he starts muttering something that seems to be anger towards Pyeonjo for stirring up trouble. Is he actually blaming Pyeonjo for what happened?
The city gates open and the king comes charging out on a horse! With a big escort, of course, but he's headed somewhere in a big hurry and they're having trouble keeping up with him. It's Choseon's estate--he heads there, barges into the yard and demands to see Pyeonjo! Uh-oh, who blabbed? Pyeonjo is stepping outside at the moment for some air, and is shocked to see the king enter. He drops to his knees and puts his head down...and Gongmin is so relieved to see him okay, he tells him, My command is that you never get on your knees for me again. "From this day forward, I shall treat you as my own flesh and blood!" He kindly takes Pyeonjo's hands and helps him up. The gesture moves Pyeonjo to tears.
Choseon and one of her female employees (we've seen her before; I think this is Park Seobang's wife) are making clothes for Pyeonjo. Choseon wants to do something nice for him, and especially now that he's an important person, he should have some better things to wear. But when the employee suggests that Choseon has feelings for Pyeonjo, she gets all squirmy and denies it. Still?
Yes, it was poisoned. Choseon's men won the battle and put the attackers to flight...but now a gory moment as a trembling Pyeonjo manages to place a dagger into the hand of Park Seobang and Park has to dig into the star wound to extract the poison. (Which really doesn't make sense; Park should be sucking it out and spitting).
Now Choseon is smiling. A little embarrassed and still denying it...but never mind that, what's that noise outside? The employee runs outside...
Fire! A bunch of goons are throwing torches into Choseon's yard and onto the roof! Trying to torch the place.
Noguk is just sitting there, staring forlornly ahead, unable to speak. The pain in her heart that she's almost completely hiding, we can guess the reason for it...
...and yeah, her husband is alone now with Lee Hyebi. They're just sitting there both staring at the floor and it couldn't be more uncomfortable.
"She must serve his majesty well. Only then will we be blessed with an heir." The queen has Lady Kim keeping her company, but neither Kim nor Eunuch An outside the door is taking this very well. Noguk is looking at the bigger picture, though: "No matter what, His Majesty's soul shall always be by my side." She really is a remarkable person.
Only thing is, it's very late at night now and the lights in the king's palace still haven't gone out. So there isn't any consort stuff happening. And now all of a sudden an irritated-looking Gongmin comes marching out the front door and heads for his wife's palace.
"Did the queen dowager force you?" He's glaring angrily at his wife. "When we were joined in conjugal ties back in Yanjing, I made you one pledge over everything else: that I would never glance at any woman but you." There are plenty of relatives in my bloodline who can inherit the throne, he once again insists; we don't need a child of our own. "So never engage in such fruitless boondoggle again." But she tells him that if he doesn't bear an heir, she'll be the one blamed for it and may be driven out of the palace. "A queen who can't bear an heir to the throne does not deserve to carry the crown of mother of state on her head. Even if death parts us, I want to stay by your side. Unless you want to see me divested of my crown and sent away from the palace, take a consort in, and gain an heir to your throne." It's certainly logical but she says it with tears streaming down her face. And it's her emotion that instantly changes Gongmin's attitude. "Who would ever send you away from me, dear?" Reminds her again of her bravery in staring down the likes of Gi Cheol. "Where did you leave it, to replace it with these panicky yowls?" He's smiling and compassionate now that he understands what made her do it. "You are the heroine who brought back Goryeo all its splendor," he tells her. "This Goryeo of ours is but a feeble creature" and we have so much more to do together; I need you to watch me and help me through my weaknesses and mistakes, and "push me back on the right path." He hugs her. "Never do this to me again." But it's not spoken in anger; he says it with tenderness and a loving smile on his face.
Outside the room there's hardly a dry eye among all of the attendants standing there...
...while Hyebi sits by herself at the king's palace, and starts to cry. Poor Hyebi.
Pyeonjo has been brought home, shivering and barely conscious. Choseon is hovering over him and tending to him--Sure, no feelings there!--and it does seem like he'll get through it. But not for a while yet.
Gaetae Temple: Master Wolseon is outside staring into the distance with a hopeful look on his face. He's been out there all night! Deokun asks him what he's been doing. "Ahh...that little fool. He pulled through once again!" As in, Pyeonjo. How could he possibly know about that? Deokun asks that very question, but Wolseon doesn't explain--only offers a prayer of thanks for Pyeonjo's recovery. (Well THIS raises some questions, doesn't it.)
Gong Cheol and Park Seobang conclude what we've concluded; the assault on Pyeonjo and the attempted arson, it was no coincidence. A planned one-two attack, almost certainly by one of the powerful clans.
As Choseon tends to Pyeonjo, he incoherently acknowledges the queen. What's that about? She smiles.
King and queen are paying their daily respects to the queen dowager. But at least the old battleaxe is in better spirits today because the consort thing went her way. Still, there's some awkwardness about Lee Hyebi's first night as a consort. Gongmin is trying to lighten the mood by comparing his "neglect" of the queen to the solitude that his mother must have felt after being turned out of the palace. But it's just making everyone uncomfortable. And then as he leaves her palace, he stops trying to lighten the mood and instead starts screaming at her about "You should know when to be thankful!!" and reminding her that he was the one who got her back inside the palace. Boy is he mad at her for pushing a consort on him. Says some real nasty things as he heads off.
Hyebi is visiting her parents. We see Lee Je Hyeon all the time, of course, but we haven’t seen his wife in quite a while. Boy is she angry. Angry at the QD for putting her daughter in this difficult position, and angry at the queen for supposedly looking down on their family (which she's completely imagining, of course).
"If you wish to control power, you must cut His Majesty's wings. Her Majesty and Pyeonjo." Ugh, and now Commissioner Park is plying the QD again. Says her son is too weak and naive to know how to deal with power struggles, but the queen, well, she grew up in the middle of them. "The moment His Majesty loses the queen, manipulating him as you please will be as easy as turning your palm." And as for Pyeonjo, Kim starts spouting that same stuff again about how Pyeonjo wants "a Goryeo ruled by lowborns" and plans to snuff out the nobles and clans. And goes even further and says he's plotting to take the throne for himself! Treason! Good grief. We need to act against the both of them, he says...and I'll come up with a plan to do it. The QD totally buying every word of it and gratefully accepts his help; says she's counting on him.
Gongmin hasn't seen Pyeonjo in days; where is he? Lee Je Hyeon doesn't know, and Eunuch Choi says he might be visiting the needy in outlying villages, which apparently he does every so often. Gongmin asks that he be summoned. Choi nods, leaves the room...and exhales a sigh of relief. What was that for? Hmmmm....Then Gongmin asks Lee to help Pyeonjo when the Directorate is reinstated and Pyeonjo is put in charge of it. Lee is visibly uncomfortable but says nothing. And then Gongmin apologizes for the situation with Lee's daughter. "I shall summon your daughter when the time is ripe," he says, almost certainly not meaning it.
Inspector Kim runs into Kim Yong outside the palace and thanks him for locking up Pyeonjo's inspectors. And starts gushing about how the QD thinks much more highly of him now. Of course Kim Yong loves that kind of flattery and is eating it up. Then Kim heads over to see Eunuch Choi, which is why he's here; Choi was looking for him. A strange whispered conversation about Choi having to make repeated excuses about Pyeonjo's absence to the king. It ends abruptly when Jung Se Woon shows up (back from the front?). "What are you scheming these days?," he asks Kim suspiciously after seeing Choi scurry away. Kim angrily denies any such thing, but Jung knows better.
Evening: Tonight Choseon's residence is guarded. Inside, Pyeonjo finally wakes up, looking much better. Finds Choseon sleeping nearby, tired from tending to him all day. Then she wakes up, and tries to tend to him some more but suddenly she's feeling terribly awkward...
...and ends up praying at a shrine the next morning. Looking very sad as she does it. Wonder why....
Yanjing: "Are you planning to let them get away with it, Your Majesty?" Word has arrived about the Goryeans' incursions across the Amnok River and into Liaodong, and Commissioner Park wants the empress to act. She smiles. "Goryeo will send an envoy, don't you think? Let us hear what pretext the King of Goryeo uses this time. I want to hear his excuses." Which isn't what Park wants at all. He reminds her about her mother and brother, but she only blames herself for not getting them safely to Yanjing. Then Park tries to get her to kick Gongmin off the throne and instill Prince Deokheung. No dice. "Someday the Red Turbans will invade Goryeo. How long do you think a man like Prince Deokheung would resist? He'd be begging for mercy in a matter of days." No, she finds the situation intriguing and entertaining and wants to see what Gongmin will do about it.
So Park has to go to Deokheung and his crony Choi Yu and tell them once again, no troops for your offensive yet.
Ssangseong: Yoo In Woo is ordering his troops to cross into Yuan territory and chase after Jo So Saeng so he can present Jo's head to the king. Lee Ja Chun protests--"There is no just cause, Commander!"--and yikes, suddenly it's a tense, nasty standoff with Yoo's sword pointed at Lee, and Lee Seonggye aiming an arrow at Yoo. Seonggye lays it out perfectly: "All you're doing is stirring bad blood between Goryeo and Jurchen remnants, people who had been living in peace for years. Should the Yuan invade Goryeo, the Jurchen remnants will surely join forces with them. If that were to happen, we would perish in disgrace." But Yoo will have none of it and backswings...and Seonggye shoots the sword out of his hand! And loads up again....
Gongmin gets word back from up north that Yoo In Woo is refusing to return home as ordered. Tells Lee In Bok to go up there personally and bring him back...but Lee is more concerned with what In Dang did; thinks it's serious enough that someone has to go to Yanjing and explain what happened. Gongmin accepts Lee's offer to be the envoy. And on your way, Gongmin tells him, "condemn In Dang for defying my orders, and take his head along."
We see Lee In Bok and a large escort leave for Yanjing.
"Have you finally come to your senses?" Kim Yong finally has Won Hyeon dragged out of his jail cell. Kim is on his horse, totally intimidating Won--and it's working. Tell your master not to try any such thing again, he says, riding away and leaving Won free to go.
Pyeonjo's at least conscious and coherent now. He tells Choseon he's not going to tell the king what happened! He doesn't want the king getting angry over it, because he thinks the king doesn't have enough power yet to deal with whichever officials were responsible for it. But apparently he's okay with Noguk knowing about it, because Lady Kim is there and he says to her, "Her Majesty is wise, so she will not tell His Majesty about this." Choseon wonders if he has some sort of "heart to heart" connection with the queen (especially after his calling out to her in his delirium). But no matter now, because suddenly he's having some sort of convulsive attack of pain. He's not fully recovered yet, obviously.
Lady Kim goes and tells the whole story to Noguk. The queen is impressed by Pyeonjo's wisdom in wanting to keep it from the king. Returning the collaborators' land to the citizens it was taken from, "It is not something we can achieve in a day, so we must not act in haste, he meant." She's only too happy to keep quiet about it.
As Won Hyeon staggers back home, he comes upon a horrifying, bloody sight: two carts filled with dead people. They're somebody's slaves, or at least they used to be. They were slaughtered to make the political statement that whoever owned them would rather kill them than give up ownership of them. Wow.
News of this gets back to Choseon's estate. Choseon is horrified and disgusted like everybody else is. And Pyeonjo looks to be sleeping at the moment but upon overhearing the news, sheds a tear.
Now Won Hyeon has gotten himself raving drunk and is at the royal temple, trying to get through to see Master Bou. Four monks are holding him back, but as Bou prays a Sutra in the temple for the souls of those slaves, Bou calls out to him from outside the entrance. "Ask Buddha for a favor. Tell him to sweep away all creation with thunderous fire and brimstone! Tell him to unleash wrathful thunder upon all those vicious beasts! Then, I shall trust and believe his teachings once again, and dedicate my life to spreading his wisdom! I beg you, convey my words!" Bou doesn't seem to be listening; he's wrapped up in his prayer. Won is going bonkers. "Why did Buddha let those pitiful people perish in such a disgraceful way? Why?!" But Bou not only doesn't answer, he starts muttering something that seems to be anger towards Pyeonjo for stirring up trouble. Is he actually blaming Pyeonjo for what happened?
The city gates open and the king comes charging out on a horse! With a big escort, of course, but he's headed somewhere in a big hurry and they're having trouble keeping up with him. It's Choseon's estate--he heads there, barges into the yard and demands to see Pyeonjo! Uh-oh, who blabbed? Pyeonjo is stepping outside at the moment for some air, and is shocked to see the king enter. He drops to his knees and puts his head down...and Gongmin is so relieved to see him okay, he tells him, My command is that you never get on your knees for me again. "From this day forward, I shall treat you as my own flesh and blood!" He kindly takes Pyeonjo's hands and helps him up. The gesture moves Pyeonjo to tears.