Post by ajk on Mar 26, 2014 22:30:37 GMT -5
Yangji and the old woman--we learn she's a priestess and her name is Mudeok--were arrested at Lee In Im's order. He wants to get them to "confess" that Lee Seonggye arranged the whole stunt with the guy screaming "Maitreya!". But Seonggye's wife suspects something funny is going on.
JD bribes his way into the capital to find out from Mongju why the women were arrested. Mongju can't even find any trace of them. But he smells a rat just like Mrs. Lee did and goes to tell Seonggye about it. Meanwhile, Yangji and Mudeok are being interrogated. And not very nicely.
Next morning: another meeting of the council (without the king) about the Ming situation. Still too much difference of opinion to reach a consensus, so it's put off. But Mongju has some new business: a Jurchen leader named Hobatu has been causing trouble in the north. Suggests they send Lee Seonggye to deal with him. Lee In Im adjourns the meeting temporarily and tells his flunkies that Seonggye and Mongju must know what's going on and are cooking up a reason to get Seonggye legitimately out of town. (Very insightful.) Hurry up with the interrogations, he orders. He reconvenes the meeting and his flunkies argue against sending Lee away from the capital. But the generals on the committee support it. Lee In Im says they'll put it off for now. So Choi Yeong asks for another recess...and privately Choi asks Seonggye why this is being pushed.
Finally the old woman cracks and confesses.
Choi returns from the recess--alone! Says he was tired of the disagreement and simply told Seonggye to go scout the northern situation himself...which is his prerogative; he can order it. And with that the meeting is adjourned. Moments later, Im Gyeongmi rushes in with the news that Mudeok confessed. Too late. And as the flunkies remind Lee In Im, trying to pursue and capture Seonggye would be a mistake because he could come back with thousands of soldiers and start a civil war! Don't push this, Ha Ryun advises. "You should end it here."
Immediately afterwards, JD confronts Mongju and gets him to admit he knew about the women. He's furious that Mongju hasn't tried harder to save them.
Choi Yeong confronts Lee In Im: "Don't try to frame Lee Seonggye again." Lee tells Choi he's making a mistake and that ultimately Seonggye might turn on him (Choi). Then they make a deal: Lee drops all of this and promotes Seonggye to province commander, and Choi will agree to send another envoy to Ming to try again with them. Then Mongju storms in, demanding the release of the two women. Lee says he'll take care of it...hmm...
Word of the two women gets to the king...who's angry that they made false accusations against Seonggye! "I told Lee In Im to give them a death that wasn't so easy." So this was Lee's way of taking care of it?
That evening: JD confronts Lee In Im and demands the release of the women. Lee denies any knowledge of them...so JD gets on his knees. "If you let them go, I will become a member of your political party." Wow. But Lee brushes him off. "I want people who will kneel for themselves, not for others."
Next morning: In prisoner's white, the two women are taken to be executed. On the way to the execution ground, angry citizens throw stones and snowballs at them for defaming Seonggye. Ugh. But JD steps in and shields them, and then so does Mongju. And the citizens know who Mongju is so they stop. JD is given a moment to talk to Yangji; tells her her father and brother are waiting for her. She asks a favor: "I'm a little scared. Can you see me off?" He will...and he has to watch as the women are first beaten with wooden clubs and then slashed to death with swords. Horrible.
Hey, Lee's wife gave birth! Seonggye is back to see mother and child. They name him Bangseok. Outside the house, there's that sweetie Bangwon; he's been drinking and doesn't want to go inside reeking of alcohol...and on top of that he's muttering some sort of hate against Mrs. Lee (who's his stepmother, not his biological mother). But at least Bangwon helped his father do something nice, which is why he's here: he arranged for Yangji to be buried next to her brother out in the woods where her brother died. Very classy. "This is all I can do for you," Seonggye says, putting a deerskin blanket over her mound. He's sorry she died because of him.
Evening: Mongju and a few of the other scholars have made the trek to visit JD and check on him. His wife tells them he's away on a trip. So they leave...but he's not away on a trip; he's sitting inside in the dark, walloped by the rage and shock of the day's events. He reads Mencius by a dim light--more stuff about the legitimacy of removing a bad king. "I won't run now," he tells himself. "I'm going to kill Goryeo for all of the other Yangjis." "I'm going to be a monster who kills a 500-year-old monster."
JD bribes his way into the capital to find out from Mongju why the women were arrested. Mongju can't even find any trace of them. But he smells a rat just like Mrs. Lee did and goes to tell Seonggye about it. Meanwhile, Yangji and Mudeok are being interrogated. And not very nicely.
Next morning: another meeting of the council (without the king) about the Ming situation. Still too much difference of opinion to reach a consensus, so it's put off. But Mongju has some new business: a Jurchen leader named Hobatu has been causing trouble in the north. Suggests they send Lee Seonggye to deal with him. Lee In Im adjourns the meeting temporarily and tells his flunkies that Seonggye and Mongju must know what's going on and are cooking up a reason to get Seonggye legitimately out of town. (Very insightful.) Hurry up with the interrogations, he orders. He reconvenes the meeting and his flunkies argue against sending Lee away from the capital. But the generals on the committee support it. Lee In Im says they'll put it off for now. So Choi Yeong asks for another recess...and privately Choi asks Seonggye why this is being pushed.
Finally the old woman cracks and confesses.
Choi returns from the recess--alone! Says he was tired of the disagreement and simply told Seonggye to go scout the northern situation himself...which is his prerogative; he can order it. And with that the meeting is adjourned. Moments later, Im Gyeongmi rushes in with the news that Mudeok confessed. Too late. And as the flunkies remind Lee In Im, trying to pursue and capture Seonggye would be a mistake because he could come back with thousands of soldiers and start a civil war! Don't push this, Ha Ryun advises. "You should end it here."
Immediately afterwards, JD confronts Mongju and gets him to admit he knew about the women. He's furious that Mongju hasn't tried harder to save them.
Choi Yeong confronts Lee In Im: "Don't try to frame Lee Seonggye again." Lee tells Choi he's making a mistake and that ultimately Seonggye might turn on him (Choi). Then they make a deal: Lee drops all of this and promotes Seonggye to province commander, and Choi will agree to send another envoy to Ming to try again with them. Then Mongju storms in, demanding the release of the two women. Lee says he'll take care of it...hmm...
Word of the two women gets to the king...who's angry that they made false accusations against Seonggye! "I told Lee In Im to give them a death that wasn't so easy." So this was Lee's way of taking care of it?
That evening: JD confronts Lee In Im and demands the release of the women. Lee denies any knowledge of them...so JD gets on his knees. "If you let them go, I will become a member of your political party." Wow. But Lee brushes him off. "I want people who will kneel for themselves, not for others."
Next morning: In prisoner's white, the two women are taken to be executed. On the way to the execution ground, angry citizens throw stones and snowballs at them for defaming Seonggye. Ugh. But JD steps in and shields them, and then so does Mongju. And the citizens know who Mongju is so they stop. JD is given a moment to talk to Yangji; tells her her father and brother are waiting for her. She asks a favor: "I'm a little scared. Can you see me off?" He will...and he has to watch as the women are first beaten with wooden clubs and then slashed to death with swords. Horrible.
Hey, Lee's wife gave birth! Seonggye is back to see mother and child. They name him Bangseok. Outside the house, there's that sweetie Bangwon; he's been drinking and doesn't want to go inside reeking of alcohol...and on top of that he's muttering some sort of hate against Mrs. Lee (who's his stepmother, not his biological mother). But at least Bangwon helped his father do something nice, which is why he's here: he arranged for Yangji to be buried next to her brother out in the woods where her brother died. Very classy. "This is all I can do for you," Seonggye says, putting a deerskin blanket over her mound. He's sorry she died because of him.
Evening: Mongju and a few of the other scholars have made the trek to visit JD and check on him. His wife tells them he's away on a trip. So they leave...but he's not away on a trip; he's sitting inside in the dark, walloped by the rage and shock of the day's events. He reads Mencius by a dim light--more stuff about the legitimacy of removing a bad king. "I won't run now," he tells himself. "I'm going to kill Goryeo for all of the other Yangjis." "I'm going to be a monster who kills a 500-year-old monster."