Post by ajk on Apr 11, 2014 23:53:18 GMT -5
A short time jump: it's 1361, Gongmin's tenth year on the throne. We see a delegation of Red Turban rebels, briskly headed towards Goryeo. They arrive in Gaegyeong and are allowed into the council hall. They've brought an edict for the king, sent by General Guan Duo. Unfortunately Gongmin isn't here; we learn he's sick at the moment. They say they can only give it to the king, not any of the ministers...which insults Jung Se Woon and he calls them "a horde of pilferers"--which isn't very nice, is it. But they agree to give it to Lee Saek, who's a new councilor, and he reads it for the chancellor--that job is now Yeom Je Shin's. The text goes on for a bit...but the basic message is, surrender and submit to us or we'll invade and destroy you. So the council orders the whole group of Red Turbans arrested and held in custody for the time being while they decide how to respond.
A contentious deliberation. How strong are the Red Turbans; what will the Yuan think about what we decide to do, whatever it is; do we execute the envoys; all of the questions and angles.
Hyebi has visited the queen dowager to tell her that the king "once again" spent the night with her. Which pleases the QD immensely. Finally, she says, we'll get that heir we need. And she credits herself for it--that somehow by solving the palace's problems (?) she made it possible. But wait, how far did they go? Did they simply sleep or...Well we won't find out now because here comes Inspector Kim.
An irritated Noguk wants to come in and see her husband, but he won't let her in. He's in his office, and good heavens he's back to the drunken loser he used to be in Yanjing! Go home, he says through the closed door; "I don't deserve to see you." So she enters anyway. And now we start to get to the bottom of what's going on. His mother seems to have taken political control of the council! And he's being marginalized and ignored. And it's turned him into a nasty stinking drunk. Noguk starts to cry. Plus he's rattled because the Yuan have just repelled a big Red Turban assault and he thinks his throne is in danger now. "You will have to bless me with an heir first," he tells her, forgetting in his drunken state that it could well kill her. "That is the only way I can protect my crown." And with that, the laughing stops and he slumps forward and passes out.
Kim tells the QD, "We must join forces with the Yuan once again." We learn that not only did the Yuan defeat the Red Turbans, Empress Gi is effectively controlling their royal court. Suddenly the QD is worried about her son's throne. I'll protect it, Kim tells her, and "recapture Empress Gi's good graces." As before, she readily places her trust in him.
An angry Noguk hears from Princess Deoknyeong, who was in the room with the QD and Kim, about the possibility of allying with the Yuan. Apparently Emperor Shundi is close to stepping down, and now there are rumors of "all of Prince Qunluan followers being purged." And Prince Deokheung is still hanging around in Yanjing.
Yanjing: And here's Empress Gi now. Wow, she looks like a new woman. Confident and in complete control. Sitting on the royal throne! Before the Yuan council. She wants decisive, final action against the Red Turbans.
And here's Prince Deokheung--sharing a meal with Commissioner Park, sharing a meal, and with the prince's associate Choi Yu. He seems to be much more comfortable now with to the idea of taking the Goryeo throne.
We see the empress is talking to her son. Reminds him that he has Goryean blood in his veins. "This Yuan empire belongs to the Mongols," she reminds him, "so you never know when they might turn their backs on us. You must become the emperor if we are to survive this." And then says she's going to unify the whole region. "The plains and the Mongols, Liaodong and Goryeo. They all shall kneel beneath my might." Wow.
Gaegyeong: The Red Turban delegation wasn't executed, which was one of the options the council considered. They've been escorted to the Goryeo border and told not to come back. Sent away with some trash-talking, but at least their heads are still attached to their bodies.
Pyeonjo still hasn't come back from Gaetae Temple. So Choseon is about to travel up there with some garments he left at her estate and try to get him back. She rides a horse through the capital streets, with her head man Park leading it on foot. Good heavens the streets are filled with weak, starving people begging for a handout. It's been two more years of bad harvests, we learn. Against Park's advice (he fears a riot), she stops and gets off her horse and passes out what money she has. And then sees a baby in its mother's arms, nearly dead from starvation.
"Don't just look, come inside! Let the Maitreya touch you just once, and even the dead shall come back to life!" A crowd has been drawn to somebody's house by a pitchman. "The Maitreya has come to save the world!" Apparently some idiot is claiming to be the future Buddha who finally has come to earth...
...and oh good grief, it isn't just any idiot--it's Won Hyeon! And he's drawing big crowds. People are coming out of the house gushing about how Won is curing their ailments. Now, you have to wonder whether or not these people are plants who are in on the scam. Sheesh.
Choseon is on foot now as she heads to Gaetae. She was so moved by the people she encountered, she sold her horse and gave them the proceeds.
A dark, damp cave, lit only by a few candles. A grimy-looking Pyeonjo is sitting in there meditating.
At Gaetae, local citizens are awaiting his return and have brought offerings for him.
Back in the cave, Pyeonjo is surprised to see a vision of Wolseon in front of him! "You still haven't cut your ties with the secular world?" Wolseon is trying to convince him to stay a monk. "And, if you are to achieve that, you must first abandon all compassion." What is that supposed to mean? "I spent three years meditating in these caves, without making a sound. But it was only in the twilight of life that a few sparks of Buddha's teachings took root in my mind. But it was so brief that I couldn't perish in peace...and am still outside the gates of the netherworld." Pyeonjo shuts his eyes, and then opens them again and Wolseon is gone.
Okay, those citizens with the offerings, they're not just waiting for Pyeonjo to return, they want to ask for help with their grievances. But then word comes back to Gaetae that Pyeonjo isn't in the cave any more. If he's not there, and not here, where is he?
Choseon has ventured into the nearby countryside and managed to find Pyeonjo, somehow. He Tells her he's not going back to Gaetae until "I erase all traces of the Master from my soul." Explains that it's like a son moving on and cutting ties with his father. (I didn't understand that.) She offers him the garments she's brought, and cleverly tells him that "I cleansed them of all their ties in warm water, so may you wear them." He accepts them gratefully...but formally, and there's that awkwardness between them again.
Oh dear, the defeated Red Turbans are hanging around the Amnok River area that belongs to Goryeo now...and word is, Jo So Saeng is gathering Jurchen remnants in Liaodong to try to get the Ssangseong Commandery for himself. So Jung Se Woon has assembled a military force to deal with it. We learn that Gongmin has appointed Choi Young as Provisional Military Governor of the Northwest Region, and General Lee Ja Chun as Provisional Military Commander of the Northeast Region. Then we see Choi make a surprising request of Lee: will you allow your son to join my forces? Hmmm...this is a strange request, out of the blue like this. Is it some sort of loyalty test?
Yeah, that's what Lee Ja Chun suspects; still doubts about his loyalty as a former Ssangseong commander. He tells his son, "We can only let our achievements on the battlefield speak on our behalf."
King Gongmin is refusing to eat? What's going on? Everybody's buzzing about it and Noguk is told he won't even drink water. Geez what's the matter? Lady Kim informs her that he thinks it's all poisoned. What??
Now we see Gongmin in his office...and he's a total mess. A lavish meal is in front of him but he's sitting there on the floor, shaking with fear and then sweeping the plates off the table. "You think I don't know? You defiled this food with the nectar of death!" Good heavens--has he gone mad with paranoia? This isn't just some alcohol-induced delusion; this looks like a serious psychiatric problem.
Word of his behavior has reached some of the high officials, so it's not a secret now, if it ever was.
Here's a weird scene: Kim Yong is visiting Mother Gi. Good heavens, we haven't seen her since her estate came under attack when the collaborators were being eliminated and their assets seized. Kim brings her good news: that he's going to get her assets back for her, and that the Yuan are likely to act against Gongmin soon. She wants revenge and is very happy to hear it.
As if Gongmin needs any more reason to be going nuts, here comes his mother. He immediately warns her that no one in the palace can be trusted and "the walls have ears. We cannot trust a single person inside this palace. They all wish for my demise!" Sounds like he's going schizophrenic on us. He tells her he's terrified for his life because he had Gi Cheol executed and turned Goryeo away from the Yuan. Empress Gi is going to get him, he's sure. Noguk arrives in time to hear this outside the door, and when the QD leaves the room, well, guess what--she finds a way to blame Noguk for it. "Look what contending with Empress Gi brought you. Let us see if you finally reap what you sow, Queen!" Sheesh.
Pyeonjo has gone straight to the capital to see Master Bou at the royal temple. A weird but interesting exchange about Pyeonjo's time in the cave and what it was supposed to accomplish.
"Lunacy? Me?!" Noguk tries to get through to her husband, but Gongmin laughs at the suggestion. Then he starts to calm down, though. She reminds him of everything he's accomplished, the hope he's given the people, and how far he's come since those difficult days in Yanjing. But Gongmin is still haunted by the failure to establish the Directorate with Pyeonjo heading it. And by the officials spurning him for even trying. "I promised Pyeonjo something I could never deliver. No matter how hard I try, there is nothing I can do!" So she offers him a shocking piece of advice about the officials: "From now on, do as they tell you. If they ask to abolish Goryeo titles, and return to Yuan customs, let them. If the Yuan say they will interfere with our internal matters, let them do it." Gongmin is horrified: "Do anything they ask, just so I can keep wearing this crown?!" But she explains herself: the Yuan may be temporarily revitalized now after repelling the Red Turbans, "but they already are a falling star" and another chance will come. "So, no matter what humiliation befalls you, you must endure it." For now, she says, grin and bear it. And actually asks him to smile for her. He tries to force a smile--it looks a pouting little boy trying to do it for his mother, comically--but the important thing is that she's managed to completely calm him down and get him thinking somewhat clearly again, at least for the moment. He's always been valued her counsel and opinion so much, and this is just more evidence of it.
"Can you endure it?" Back at the temple, Bou is challenging Pyeonjo to some sort of a meditation test. A small temple with no doors. "I removed all knobs and bolts from that small temple. If you do enter, you will not be able to escape for three years. You will not see the landscape of this secular world." And as we see later, he's going to do it because Jihyo has come to escort him to the place. Pyeonjo takes one last look at the palace below the temple's high ground before he leaves.
Noguk is praying to herself before the small shrine in her home. "Allow me to bear a child. I will happily accept my death, so allow me to bless His Majesty with an heir."
Gongmin has stayed calm, at least enough to try to preside over a council meeting. He wants somebody to go to Yanjing as an envoy and he's asking for a volunteer. Yeom Je Shin and Lee In Bok remind him that there's still fighting going on between the Yuan and Red Turbans in Liaodong and that the route to Yanjing is impassable. All the more reason to do it, he answers excitedly: "How much would Empress Gi cherish a Goryeo envoy piercing through the jaws of death and pledging allegiance beneath her throne? Think of my situation. If things keep up, I'll have to serve Prince Deokheung." So you must help me, he tells them. And oh no, now he's laughing like a crazy person. Nobody volunteers for the job, so Gongmin sarcastically tells them, "I'll have to call Pyeonjo once again, and tell him to head for Yanjing!"
A contentious deliberation. How strong are the Red Turbans; what will the Yuan think about what we decide to do, whatever it is; do we execute the envoys; all of the questions and angles.
Hyebi has visited the queen dowager to tell her that the king "once again" spent the night with her. Which pleases the QD immensely. Finally, she says, we'll get that heir we need. And she credits herself for it--that somehow by solving the palace's problems (?) she made it possible. But wait, how far did they go? Did they simply sleep or...Well we won't find out now because here comes Inspector Kim.
An irritated Noguk wants to come in and see her husband, but he won't let her in. He's in his office, and good heavens he's back to the drunken loser he used to be in Yanjing! Go home, he says through the closed door; "I don't deserve to see you." So she enters anyway. And now we start to get to the bottom of what's going on. His mother seems to have taken political control of the council! And he's being marginalized and ignored. And it's turned him into a nasty stinking drunk. Noguk starts to cry. Plus he's rattled because the Yuan have just repelled a big Red Turban assault and he thinks his throne is in danger now. "You will have to bless me with an heir first," he tells her, forgetting in his drunken state that it could well kill her. "That is the only way I can protect my crown." And with that, the laughing stops and he slumps forward and passes out.
Kim tells the QD, "We must join forces with the Yuan once again." We learn that not only did the Yuan defeat the Red Turbans, Empress Gi is effectively controlling their royal court. Suddenly the QD is worried about her son's throne. I'll protect it, Kim tells her, and "recapture Empress Gi's good graces." As before, she readily places her trust in him.
An angry Noguk hears from Princess Deoknyeong, who was in the room with the QD and Kim, about the possibility of allying with the Yuan. Apparently Emperor Shundi is close to stepping down, and now there are rumors of "all of Prince Qunluan followers being purged." And Prince Deokheung is still hanging around in Yanjing.
Yanjing: And here's Empress Gi now. Wow, she looks like a new woman. Confident and in complete control. Sitting on the royal throne! Before the Yuan council. She wants decisive, final action against the Red Turbans.
And here's Prince Deokheung--sharing a meal with Commissioner Park, sharing a meal, and with the prince's associate Choi Yu. He seems to be much more comfortable now with to the idea of taking the Goryeo throne.
We see the empress is talking to her son. Reminds him that he has Goryean blood in his veins. "This Yuan empire belongs to the Mongols," she reminds him, "so you never know when they might turn their backs on us. You must become the emperor if we are to survive this." And then says she's going to unify the whole region. "The plains and the Mongols, Liaodong and Goryeo. They all shall kneel beneath my might." Wow.
Gaegyeong: The Red Turban delegation wasn't executed, which was one of the options the council considered. They've been escorted to the Goryeo border and told not to come back. Sent away with some trash-talking, but at least their heads are still attached to their bodies.
Pyeonjo still hasn't come back from Gaetae Temple. So Choseon is about to travel up there with some garments he left at her estate and try to get him back. She rides a horse through the capital streets, with her head man Park leading it on foot. Good heavens the streets are filled with weak, starving people begging for a handout. It's been two more years of bad harvests, we learn. Against Park's advice (he fears a riot), she stops and gets off her horse and passes out what money she has. And then sees a baby in its mother's arms, nearly dead from starvation.
"Don't just look, come inside! Let the Maitreya touch you just once, and even the dead shall come back to life!" A crowd has been drawn to somebody's house by a pitchman. "The Maitreya has come to save the world!" Apparently some idiot is claiming to be the future Buddha who finally has come to earth...
...and oh good grief, it isn't just any idiot--it's Won Hyeon! And he's drawing big crowds. People are coming out of the house gushing about how Won is curing their ailments. Now, you have to wonder whether or not these people are plants who are in on the scam. Sheesh.
Choseon is on foot now as she heads to Gaetae. She was so moved by the people she encountered, she sold her horse and gave them the proceeds.
A dark, damp cave, lit only by a few candles. A grimy-looking Pyeonjo is sitting in there meditating.
At Gaetae, local citizens are awaiting his return and have brought offerings for him.
Back in the cave, Pyeonjo is surprised to see a vision of Wolseon in front of him! "You still haven't cut your ties with the secular world?" Wolseon is trying to convince him to stay a monk. "And, if you are to achieve that, you must first abandon all compassion." What is that supposed to mean? "I spent three years meditating in these caves, without making a sound. But it was only in the twilight of life that a few sparks of Buddha's teachings took root in my mind. But it was so brief that I couldn't perish in peace...and am still outside the gates of the netherworld." Pyeonjo shuts his eyes, and then opens them again and Wolseon is gone.
Okay, those citizens with the offerings, they're not just waiting for Pyeonjo to return, they want to ask for help with their grievances. But then word comes back to Gaetae that Pyeonjo isn't in the cave any more. If he's not there, and not here, where is he?
Choseon has ventured into the nearby countryside and managed to find Pyeonjo, somehow. He Tells her he's not going back to Gaetae until "I erase all traces of the Master from my soul." Explains that it's like a son moving on and cutting ties with his father. (I didn't understand that.) She offers him the garments she's brought, and cleverly tells him that "I cleansed them of all their ties in warm water, so may you wear them." He accepts them gratefully...but formally, and there's that awkwardness between them again.
Oh dear, the defeated Red Turbans are hanging around the Amnok River area that belongs to Goryeo now...and word is, Jo So Saeng is gathering Jurchen remnants in Liaodong to try to get the Ssangseong Commandery for himself. So Jung Se Woon has assembled a military force to deal with it. We learn that Gongmin has appointed Choi Young as Provisional Military Governor of the Northwest Region, and General Lee Ja Chun as Provisional Military Commander of the Northeast Region. Then we see Choi make a surprising request of Lee: will you allow your son to join my forces? Hmmm...this is a strange request, out of the blue like this. Is it some sort of loyalty test?
Yeah, that's what Lee Ja Chun suspects; still doubts about his loyalty as a former Ssangseong commander. He tells his son, "We can only let our achievements on the battlefield speak on our behalf."
King Gongmin is refusing to eat? What's going on? Everybody's buzzing about it and Noguk is told he won't even drink water. Geez what's the matter? Lady Kim informs her that he thinks it's all poisoned. What??
Now we see Gongmin in his office...and he's a total mess. A lavish meal is in front of him but he's sitting there on the floor, shaking with fear and then sweeping the plates off the table. "You think I don't know? You defiled this food with the nectar of death!" Good heavens--has he gone mad with paranoia? This isn't just some alcohol-induced delusion; this looks like a serious psychiatric problem.
Word of his behavior has reached some of the high officials, so it's not a secret now, if it ever was.
Here's a weird scene: Kim Yong is visiting Mother Gi. Good heavens, we haven't seen her since her estate came under attack when the collaborators were being eliminated and their assets seized. Kim brings her good news: that he's going to get her assets back for her, and that the Yuan are likely to act against Gongmin soon. She wants revenge and is very happy to hear it.
As if Gongmin needs any more reason to be going nuts, here comes his mother. He immediately warns her that no one in the palace can be trusted and "the walls have ears. We cannot trust a single person inside this palace. They all wish for my demise!" Sounds like he's going schizophrenic on us. He tells her he's terrified for his life because he had Gi Cheol executed and turned Goryeo away from the Yuan. Empress Gi is going to get him, he's sure. Noguk arrives in time to hear this outside the door, and when the QD leaves the room, well, guess what--she finds a way to blame Noguk for it. "Look what contending with Empress Gi brought you. Let us see if you finally reap what you sow, Queen!" Sheesh.
Pyeonjo has gone straight to the capital to see Master Bou at the royal temple. A weird but interesting exchange about Pyeonjo's time in the cave and what it was supposed to accomplish.
"Lunacy? Me?!" Noguk tries to get through to her husband, but Gongmin laughs at the suggestion. Then he starts to calm down, though. She reminds him of everything he's accomplished, the hope he's given the people, and how far he's come since those difficult days in Yanjing. But Gongmin is still haunted by the failure to establish the Directorate with Pyeonjo heading it. And by the officials spurning him for even trying. "I promised Pyeonjo something I could never deliver. No matter how hard I try, there is nothing I can do!" So she offers him a shocking piece of advice about the officials: "From now on, do as they tell you. If they ask to abolish Goryeo titles, and return to Yuan customs, let them. If the Yuan say they will interfere with our internal matters, let them do it." Gongmin is horrified: "Do anything they ask, just so I can keep wearing this crown?!" But she explains herself: the Yuan may be temporarily revitalized now after repelling the Red Turbans, "but they already are a falling star" and another chance will come. "So, no matter what humiliation befalls you, you must endure it." For now, she says, grin and bear it. And actually asks him to smile for her. He tries to force a smile--it looks a pouting little boy trying to do it for his mother, comically--but the important thing is that she's managed to completely calm him down and get him thinking somewhat clearly again, at least for the moment. He's always been valued her counsel and opinion so much, and this is just more evidence of it.
"Can you endure it?" Back at the temple, Bou is challenging Pyeonjo to some sort of a meditation test. A small temple with no doors. "I removed all knobs and bolts from that small temple. If you do enter, you will not be able to escape for three years. You will not see the landscape of this secular world." And as we see later, he's going to do it because Jihyo has come to escort him to the place. Pyeonjo takes one last look at the palace below the temple's high ground before he leaves.
Noguk is praying to herself before the small shrine in her home. "Allow me to bear a child. I will happily accept my death, so allow me to bless His Majesty with an heir."
Gongmin has stayed calm, at least enough to try to preside over a council meeting. He wants somebody to go to Yanjing as an envoy and he's asking for a volunteer. Yeom Je Shin and Lee In Bok remind him that there's still fighting going on between the Yuan and Red Turbans in Liaodong and that the route to Yanjing is impassable. All the more reason to do it, he answers excitedly: "How much would Empress Gi cherish a Goryeo envoy piercing through the jaws of death and pledging allegiance beneath her throne? Think of my situation. If things keep up, I'll have to serve Prince Deokheung." So you must help me, he tells them. And oh no, now he's laughing like a crazy person. Nobody volunteers for the job, so Gongmin sarcastically tells them, "I'll have to call Pyeonjo once again, and tell him to head for Yanjing!"