[This drama is set during the Joseon Era under the rule of a fictitious king.]
[All characters and events are fictitious and have no historic basis.]
Episode 16
Then, who was selected to be the Crown Princess in my place?
The Personnel Minister's daughter, who was a companion to the Princess with you.
Was there another selection process?
No. I don't know why, but the late King
named her Crown Princess immediately, without another selection process.
I am prepared to give up my position in the Royal Family and choose that girl.
Your Majesty,
are you prepared to give up your position as monarch?
If I were to leave that girl's side as you wish,
would Your Majesty be able to protect her at her side?
Hyungnim.
When you are unwilling to give up or lose a single thing,
what exactly are you capable of protecting?
Hyungnim!
Outside of turning that innocent girl into a criminal and causing her pain,
what exactly are you saying you can do?
Enough.
Stop it.
Your Majesty, can you...
let go of Yeon Woo?
I...
can.
But Your Majesty will never
be able to do that.
You. You...
What are you doing here?
I understand that Your Highness called for me.
Was that not the case?
You couldn't possibly be...
No. Of course not. That's impossible.
That's impossible.
Heo
Yeon
Woo.
Do I resemble that person that much?
What?!
Many people have mistaken me for the person named Heo Yeon Woo.
However,
I'm merely Shaman Wol.
All right.
That's fine.
That's fine, you may go now.
If you would permit me,
may I say one thing before I go?
I
have seen...
the soul of Heo Yeon Woo in Eunweol pavilion.
The soul said to me
that if I should see Your Highness, the Queen,
I was to tell you to let go of the fear now,
that she wishes... you would be happy.
That is impossible.
That girl would never say that to me.
Court lady Jo!
Come take this girl away!
- Quickly! - Yes.
Don't worry about me and please go tend to her.
I will quietly slip out of the castle.
If by any chance, you let yourself be seen here...
Then, how could I expect to keep my life?
The look in her eyes was not one meant for an old friend.
Rather, it was a look of dread.
Why?
Why would that be?
Your Highness! Why are you acting this way?
It's not so. It's not so!
It's not so.
Are you going to kill Yeon Woo?
Did you say you wanted to live in the palace?
Did you say you wanted to win the heart of the Crown Prince? Then,
forget messy emotions like compassion and guilt.
Remember the humiliation and anger you felt when what was yours was taken away.
Without that sort of determination, don't ever...
covet that position again.
Now, no one
will be able to take away my rightful place.
Right.
That's impossible.
That child definitely died.
I suppose you will start practicing today for the ceremony.
It may be a lonely and difficult schedule,
but knowing you, Yeon Woo, I believe you'll get through it with cheerful energy.
Were you perhaps weeping thinking of the family you left?
If that is so, open your window.
Why...
are you here?
Tell me.
You are supposed to be in the sick ward,
so why are you here?
I was summoned by a royal order and so I entered the palace.
I was leaving when I lost my way...
No...
Without even realizing it, I followed the moonlight here.
I'm sorry.
It is a place that is precious to you,
so I shall leave now.
Are you feeling...
all right?
I'm all right.
Is it hard,
staying there?
It isn't hard.
If you want,
I can have you moved somewhere else.
If you want,
I can send you where no one knows who you are.
How...
can you think to use your power as monarch for personal matters?
Please don't.
If you were to do that, I would never be able to see Your Majesty.
Then,
are you saying you'll quietly pay the price for a crime you didn't even commit?
How can I claim I committed no crime?
How can I possibly make up for the crime
of not knowing Your Majesty at first glance.
Then, are you saying...
you did indeed bewitch a member of the royal family?
Be firm in your mindset.
You cannot allow pity...
to sway your earnest integrity any longer.
Go.
Go and don't ever...
appear before me again.
Why have you come here?
Because you have not come to see me, I came to see you.
Don't you think there might be a reason why I have not come to see you?
Please go back.
Miss.
I have not cleared up my thoughts, yet.
Later...
I shall come to see you later.
His Majesty...
has summoned me.
Before I go to see His Majesty,
I felt it was proper to speak with you first,
and so I came here.
I had no choice...
but to follow the Grand Queen Dowager's order at that time.
And I, also...
could not ignore my friend's dying wish to protect you.
Therefore, I killed you.
And, therefore, I saved you.
Whatever punishment you give me,
I'm prepared to accept it readily.
So...
One thing,
there is one thing I cannot forgive
and completely cannot understand.
Why...
did you lie to my father?
He was a was such an virtuous lord, full of integrity.
If I told him the truth,
he would not have complied with a scheme to deceive the King.
Why didn't you just kill me instead?
- Miss. - My father...
was so tormented by the guilt of killing his daughter
that he ended his own life.
No.
The moment he gave me the medicine to drink,
my father had already died.
The medicine that would give back my life became the poison that took my father's!
Do you understand?!
The person you killed was not me, but my father!
My family...
and His Majesty's 8 years of sorrow...
how do you intend to make up for that?
Tell me!
What were you thinking, keeping silent for such a long time?!
Sorcery that harms a human life...
requires an offering.
In the curse placed upon you,
a virgin with a single intense purpose was the sacrificial offering.
That virgin, for the sake of fulfilling her own deep desire,
willingly participated as an offering.
She joined in the prayer for your death.
Was that virgin...
the Queen?
Then, who?
That night, the Princess came by,
but strangely, she didn't come in,
but just asked about your health and left.
The Princess?
It couldn't be.
It couldn't be...
It was the Princess.
Your father...
ended his own life.
The sadness of sending off a child...
who could understand such sadness?
Which one of you is Scholar Heo's sister?
Is it you?
Who is Scholar Heo's sister?
It is I.
You resemble Scholar Heo, so you are pretty, as well.
Please get up, Princess.
How many days has it been?
Your Highness.
Please entreat His Majesty to allow Scholar Heo to be my husband.
Please?
Oh my. Do you like Scholar Heo that much?
Yes.
If I can't be with him,
I'll die.
His Majesty will never consent.
What will we do with our poor Princess?
Oh dear, dear.
Please don't despair, Princess.
It's not true that there's no way to have Scholar Heo,
there is a way.
What is the way?
Then,
will you help this grandmother of yours?
Oh dear. Were you frightened?
Do not worry.
Now you will get what you wanted.
It's over now, so you can relax.
Princess, are you asleep?
No, Husband.
Were you crying?
No.
What brings you here at this hour?
Ever since we returned from Father's grave,
I heard you haven't been able to get up.
I was worried so I came.
Why are you crying again?
Have I upset you?
No.
I just...
had a nightmare that you disappeared.
But since you've come,
I'm just so flooded with relief.
Oh, this is a big problem.
Excuse me?
Did something bad happen to you?
I told you that your smiling face was lovely.
But now, even your tears look lovely to me,
so it's a big problem, is it not?
Forgive me, Husband.
Forgive you for what?
Everything.
Everything. All of it.
I shall stay by your side all night, so rest assured.
Are you really...
really going to stay by my side?
I promise, so sleep comfortably.
Participating in sorcery to assassinate the Crown Princess is treason.
If the Princess' participation is discovered,
His Majesty has to convict his own blood.
And her family, including the Lord Prince Consort, also,
would become criminals.
That is why they used the Princess for the offering.
Because even if one day,
you or His Majesty were to find out the whole truth,
they presumed that both of you would have no choice but to cover it up.
Miss.
Then,
what am I supposed to do?
You must make a choice.
Whether to reveal all of these truths...
and go to His Majesty's side,
or cover all of it up
and continue to live like this.
This is why
for 8 years
you have kept silent?
It is also why...
I have come to see you...
before I go to meet His Majesty.
I will do everything as you wish.
Really, Prince Yang Myung.
Why are you doing this to a virtuous subject?
It's a misunderstanding, I tell you! Really, why are you doing this?
Aigoo, I'm going crazy. Oh my!
Then make a choice.
One,
I will not ask or debate how much you have pilfered up to now,
and you, while I'm asking nicely, will send proper relief rations and supplies.
Two, I take this path to the main hall and report your corruption to His Majesty.
What are you saying you will report to me?
Your Majesty.
Your Majesty, it isn't anything important...
Hyungnim, what brings you to the palace?
It's nothing much.
It appears our tax minister is so pressed with government business
that he's unaware of the miserable condition of the sick wards.
So, I came to inform him and request supplies.
What do you mean unaware of the condition?! That is utterly unjust...
Have you forgotten the King's immediate kin is prohibited from political speech?
That is so! The King's immediate kin is prohibited...
It was not political speech, but merely an earnest appeal for correction.
Earnest appeal for correction?
And what is it that needs to be corrected?
What is the purpose of a sick ward?
As indicated in the characters,
isn't it a place where people's lives are saved?
However, these days the sick wards
are more like death wards.
Relief rations for the poor are pilfered to line the pockets of corrupt officials.
The physicians and nurses who are to take care of the sick people of our country
are being summoned to provide personal care to the noblemen. Furthermore...
Hyungnim, you who travel the countryside and imagine yourself a street knight...
I didn't realize you had so much interest in helping the poor.
Your Majesty probably remember the doctrines of Liu Bang, founder of the Han.
A country must serve its people above all, and to the people, food is above all.
I fear that people suffering from starvation
may lead Your Majesty's nation into crisis. That is the reason for my admonition.
What you're saying then
is that my inability to govern properly...
will lead this nation into crisis.
Is that what you mean?
If you have interpreted my earnest and sincere words in that way,
I am filled with remorse.
I pray you understand.
The sick ward is to take in the sick, not to raise rats!
It might make sense if they were sneaking into grain storerooms of high officials,
but what sort of rats steal relief ration grains from the sick ward?
Isn't this completely without conscience?!
Your words go too far.
Please retract your words.
Please retract them.
My words go too far?
Pebbles mixed in with the grains to meet specified weights,
so that porridge was made with only half of the grain allotted per person...
How bad must it be to have caused rumors
that no one lives after eating the relief porridge?
Is this to say the paupers in the sick ward should quietly die off?
Your Majesty. Originally, sick wards are operated by taxes paid by shamans.
With the national treasury being not abundant as it is,
how could we pour the country's finances in the sick wards?
The Chief Royal Secretary's words are 100 percent in the right.
If we are to provide relief to the poor, it will require more expenses.
Then, the shaman's taxes must be raised. And that is, yet, another problem.
To operate the sick wards solely on...
taxes collected from shamans is unreasonable.
Even if we have to cut the royal family's finances or the officer's salaries,
this issue will absolutely be resolved!
Furthermore!
If there was any shameless embezzling of relief grains,
and...
if there was corruption or abuse of power in the process of providing relief,
it will have to be thoroughly rectified!
You called for me, Your Majesty?
Did you say the High Shaman of Seongsucheong entered the King's quarters?
That is so.
From what I understand, ever since the eclipse,
he's been looking for her.
Immediately go to the King's quarters,
and when Shaman Jang comes out,
bring her here directly.
Yes, Your Highness.
Answer me this.
Didn't you yourself say that you left Seongsucheong for a period of time?
When was that?
It was eight years ago.
Eight years ago.
The year the Crown Princess died.
Was there a particular reason why you left Seongsucheong?
At the time,
my divine powers were not what they were before.
I left to travel the mountains and streams,
pray, and restore my powers.
Did something happen to suddenly exhaust your divine powers?
What is it that you wanted to ask me, Your Majesty?
Answer me this.
With sorcery,
is it possible to kill a person?
With sorcery,
you cannot kill a person.
You cannot kill a person.
While there are methods to kill someone with sorcery,
the person who engages in that sort of sorcery will die, as well.
If black sorcery is used to kill a person, the price must absolutely be paid.
So, who would stake their own life to practice that sort of sorcery.
That is why
I say there is no such sorcery.
Is there any trace of a lie in what you said?
I have only spoken the truth.
If I have ever used sorcery to kill someone,
I would also be dead.
Therefore, if I am alive like this,
wouldn't that also mean that no one has died from my sorcery?
Please don't say anything to His Majesty.
I don't want
to cause him pain again.
The Grand Queen Dowager is calling for you.
Why were you...
called to the King's quarters?
He just summoned me to see who I was,
as he had heard the High Shaman had changed.
Who do you think you are lying to?!
In the several years he's been crowned,
His Majesty has shown no interest in Seongsucheong.
There must have been a reason why you were secretly summoned to his quarters.
Actually, he spoke to me about my spiritual daughter.
Your spiritual daughter...
Are you talking about the girl sent to the sick ward?
That is so.
Why would he mention her?
He isn't intending to bring her back by his side?
No. He wants to avoid disgraceful rumors about her
and has asked me to have the shamans watch what they say.
He asked you to keep them quiet?
Is that all?
How could I dare lie to you?
Compared to the day your eyes flashed and you threatened me,
your tone is quite different.
That day, my spiritual daughter's life was hanging by a thread.
My eyes were clouded with desperation and I committed a terrible sin.
I offer up to you my devoted service for the rest of my days.
So please... in your boundless magnanimity,
I pray you will forgive me.
In any case,
that child must never again cause any problem for the King.
I shall heed, and heed again, your words.
Are you aware, Your Highness?
The more you try to block them,
the more you are helping these two people.
It is such a strange mystery, is it not?
Shaman Jang had the Grand Queen Dowager's favor.
And Her Highness wanted to seat someone from her clan as Crown Princess.
Therefore, she had Shaman Jang cast a curse on Yeon Woo.
If I have ever used sorcery to kill someone,
I would also be dead.
Therefore, if I am alive like this,
wouldn't that also mean that no one has died from my sorcery?
Those words seem to mean that if one who practiced black sorcery is alive,
the subject must also be alive...
The fact that after she had lost her breath,
the body was warm for over 2 hours...
She could be alive.
What is the matter with you?
We saved your life and what kind of behavior is this in response?
Hey, Shaman.
Go perform an exorcism or whatever, just do something.
Kkeu Soon,
have some barley porridge. You need to get your energy back.
Are you trying to die?
Just tell me. I'll keep your secret.
Why are you trying to die?
If I live,
my parents won't be happy anyway.
If I live,
all I amount to is a worthless leech.
What are you talking about?
The day you were all but dying,
the person who carried you on his back and walked thirty ri (ri=0.4km)...
You're saying that he wouldn't be happy if his daughter lived?
If I'm gone,
my family has one less mouth to feed.
Then, my mom and dad don't have to suffer so much.
This unni knows too well.
I was young then too,
so I thought if only I disappeared,
all of my family...
could go on and have a good life.
That if I just disappeared, it would be over.
But,
if suddenly one day,
the daughter you love disappears,
what parent on earth could be all right?
However you can, you must live on together.
The value in that itself
is plenty and what family means.
Don't ever give in to weak thoughts of dying and such again.
Please, say it isn't so.
Say that you are not Heo Yeon Woo,
that you are just Shaman Wol.
And so,
you have no bond with His Majesty.
Oh. Lord, when did you come?
I just came.
Lord, I brought them as you directed.
Good work. Wait just a moment.
Now, now, now.
Put it here, here.
Aigoo...
Wow, what sort of leaves are these?
I went to complain at the district office, but the procedures were so complicated!
I'd have died trying to figure it out.
So even though I'm a little embarrassed,
I decided to show off my affluence a little instead.
What are you looking at like that?
Now that you've seen my affluence,
have you suddenly developed an interest in me?
I brought something to give you.
This is a "Collection of Types of Treatment".
In a word, a medical encyclopedia.
If you read it, it should be useful in many ways, so please take it.
As a matter of fact, I was thinking it would be good to study some medicine.
Would it be all right for me to accept this?
Didn't I just say I brought it to give to you?
Well, if you insist on refusing it...
you could just use it to fuel a fire.
Uh, uh... I shall accept.
You should have responded like that earlier.
If you get stuck on anything as you read,
you can ask me about it.
To think that I will be parting with these clothes that were once my disguises...
My tears are clouding my way.
Particularly, this one.
Whenever I wore this out,
the ladies would fall in love with me at first sight and collapse.
Do you disguise yourself as a woman, as well?
Ah, that... you can keep if you want.
Truly?
I can give it to Jan Shil.
You can't do that!
Actually,
there's somewhere I really want to go with you.
I had it made particularly to match your facial skin tone.
So, it wouldn't be suitable for another woman.
Did you say there was somewhere you want to go with me?
Yes.
Can I ask where that is?
It is the house of my longtime friend
and my teacher I told you about earlier.
If... she is alive,
why hasn't she shown herself to me?
Why?
I was waiting.
Why have you come so late?
I shall name you Wol.
Wol.
Who are you?
Tell me!
What is your true identity?!
I am not the person you want.
In the memories of your past life, am I...
am I not there?!
Please, I entreat you.
Please, ask no more questions.
No matter what you ask,
I cannot provide the answer Your Majesty wants.
Then, why does she pretend not to know me?
The look in her eyes was definitely not the look of someone lying.
And on top of that,
it's been confirmed that Yeon Woo was buried.
It would make no sense.
It's impossible.
But...
You mean His Majesty?
Yes.
Regarding the death of the Crown Princess eight years ago,
I have received a royal order to do a secret reinvestigation.
If His Majesty asked you to do that,
does it mean there is some suspicion around our Yeon Woo's death?
I'm sorry, Lord.
Until I receive an order,
I cannot divulge any information.
There is hardly anybody that remembers the events from eight years ago,
so I have shamelessly come to you for help.
Please tell me what you know.
I was sent to my uncle's home at the time to avoid the illness,
so I only saw her funeral.
I was not able to be by her side in her last hours.
I'm sorry for asking. Forgive me.
Don't be sorry.
Rather, I am sorry I can't be of more help.
Farewell, Lord.
Ah, ah... What are you doing, Lord?
Don't refuse me.
Aigoo...
I have a few things to ask you.
Ah, I see.
Is that you, Prince Yang Myung?
Young Master,
the lady's memory has returned.
Now, could we possibly all live together as before?
Mother, it is Yeom.
What are you doing?
I'm sending the clothes we don't normally wear and grains to the sick ward.
So, I'm just organizing.
This is what you do each year around this time.
What if I were to go with you this year?
That would be nice.
But this time, rather than the eastern sick ward,
I'm thinking of going to the western sick ward.
Is it because...
you are concerned about that girl who resembles our Yeon Woo?
Even if it's not Yeon Woo,
the girl must have parents, too.
If her parents had seen their daughter like that,
how heartbroken they would be.
If I see her again,
I'd just like to provide some warm comfort.
But, what brings you here?
I just came.
The King...
has ordered a secret reinvestigation into the death of our Yeon Woo.
His Majesty?
Everyone was so preoccupied then,
and I didn't say much for fear of upsetting people,
but there is one thing I never mentioned.
Aigoo.
Heavens! You are frustrating!
I could die here waiting.
Don't hesitate. Just speak.
I went to the grave the next day,
and maybe some beast dug at it during the night,
but there were traces of the grave being dug up all around.
- Traces that the grave was dug up. - Our poor Miss.
Aigoo! Isn't that Seol?
Shaman Wol is being captured on suspicion of treason.
You must be mistaken.
Do you know that girl?
Um, well... I can't be certain, but...
Did you just say...
that Maiden Yeon Woo's grave had been dug up?
Yes.
But it appears only the attendant of the family knew of this.
There is also one more strange thing.
Strange thing?
Every place I go in my investigation, there's a girl that appears.
- A girl? - Yes.
I saw her outside of Court Lady No's house last time,
and today,
I saw her in front of the Prince Consort's house.
According to the attendant,
she seems to be the young lady's slave.
But...
But?
But from what I know, that girl is definitely
Shaman Wol's slave.
Hyung Sun.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Summon the High Shaman of Seongsucheong immediately.
Immediately!
Sorcery.
A corpse with a temperature that doesn't drop.
A rushed funeral without preparing or shrouding the body.
A dug up grave.
A murder that leaves no trace.
Sorcery again.
Seongsucheong. High Shaman Jang.
Moreover...
appearing at every location that's investigated,
is Wol's slave.
Now, all that's left is confirmation.
You called for me, Your Majesty?
Why are you acting this way, Your Highness?
What in the world did you see to make you shake so?
H-Heo,
Heo Yeon Woo!
The girl is alive.
Mother.
How can...
That child died eight years ago.
How can a child that has already been buried...
I'm certain it was her.
Close to me,
close to His Majesty.
I never dreamed she had come so close.
I'm certain she's going to chase me out and take her place.
Mother!
Be firm in your resolve.
The position was originally yours to begin with!
You did not take it from her!
It's because you think that way so you keep hallucinating.
It was not a hallucination!
Your Highness!
Why are you acting this way?!
I know everything!
Father...
Father had that child Yeon Woo...
killed.
To make me Crown Princess,
Father had that child Yeon Woo...
It will be fine if Your Highness just keeps silent.
Even if that were the case,
even if it were,
you must be all the more silent.
Please trust in your father.
Go! Go!
Your Highness.
The face that I feel I've seen before.
I have absolutely
never practiced such sorcery.
Whose daughter are you?
I am Chief Scholar Heo's daughter, Heo Yeon Woo.
Chief Scholar Heo's daughter, Heo Yeon Woo?
That child is alive?
What has happened?
It couldn't be.
Could it be... the work of High Shaman Jang?
From this moment on, you will answer in complete honesty all my questions.
If you evade answering or play tricks with words,
you shall not be able to avoid severe punishment.
Do you understand?
Please ask your questions.
Is Shaman Wol your spiritual daughter?
That is so.
When did you take her in as such?
It was eight years ago.
When a shaman says she is cutting her ties with her past life,
does it mean she is intentionally not choosing to remember or...
does it mean she can't remember?
A shaman primarily...
cuts her ties with her past life on her own will,
but occasionally,
a shaman comes back to life from the torture of death,
and loses the memory of her past life.
I have seen this.
Back to life from the torture of death...
For example,
could you be talking about...
the shock and terror of being trapped in a grave?
And so, what happened to that shaman?
Has she regained her memory, or...
is she still unaware of who she is?
I will ask you a final question.
That shaman,
that shaman's name...
is it Wol?
Answer me!
Is the shaman named Wol none other than...
Heo Yeon Woo, who died eight years ago?!
A thing like you, who do you think you are?!
You are not even a person,
and you dare to put your hands on the King?
Just because I give you a place at my side,
do you believe I've given you my heart, as well?
You are merely a human talisman. Nothing more, nothing less!
Please be firm in your mindset.
Do not allow pity to sway your earnest integrity any longer.
Don't come near me.
If you cross the line once more,
I will not forgive you.
Go and never...
appear before me again.
That shaman's name...
Is the shaman named Wol none other than...
Heo Yeon Woo, who died eight years ago?!
Yeon Woo.
Don't come near me.
Who are you to...
A thing like you, who do you think you are?!
It's disloyal, hold back, abandon it, give it up, hide it, don't be swayed!
I shall no longer live for the sake of others.
Did you say I would be bewitched?
Did you say therefore, I must shake her off?
I've been bewitched.
But, I cannot shake her off.
That I very much, so very much,
loved her.
Because I like you.
Because I... like you.
The person I'm looking at
is you.
I couldn't be the person in my dreams, could I?
I couldn't become her, could I?
Who gave you permission to leave?
Who said you have finished your duty?!
Whether it is that child, or just you...
until I understand what this feeling is,
do not dare
go far from me.