[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 4
Your name, Yeon Woo...
does it mean a gentle rain?
Yes. It is those Chinese characters.
Then, I suppose it could also mean a misty rain, then.
That's a pretty name.
Forgive me, but...
may I ask the meaning of your birth name, Your Highness?
[Hui = Birth name of royalty that may not be used indiscriminately]
It is a name His Majesty gave me in hopes that I would become like the Sun.
Lee Hwon.
But, why have you been avoiding me?
Was it...
because you dislike me?
No!
So, you don't dislike me.
Then, why make me risk this sort of danger?
Whoa there! Disloyalty, disloyalty.
I'm not the one you hold in your heart.
What do you mean?
I've heard that recently in this same spot,
you met the Personnel Minister's daughter in secret.
That was purely because of you.
If you hadn't lied, there would have been no reason for me to mistake her for you.
Mistake?
Then...
You don't even think of your disloyalty in fooling the Crown Prince. You just blame...
Wait a minute.
Could it possibly be that you...
Yes?
Were you jealous of us?
Excuse me?
N-No.
This, this is a big problem.
A woman's jealousy is one of the seven valid reasons to divorce a wife.
And, to think the girl who's going to be my queen is so jealous.
I said it wasn't so, why do you keep...
Excuse me?
Soon, a ban on weddings will be issued.
That means a Crown Princess will be selected soon.
You will put your name on the maiden list too, won't you?
I will be waiting.
Knowing you, I'm certain you can become the Crown Princess.
You told me to throw it away,
but I knew you would look for it again.
I did well not to throw it away, didn't I?
Hyung Sun.
Yes, Your Highness?
You don't know the reason the maiden Yeon Woo sent me lettuce, do you?
Wouldn't it be to symbolize waiting and to relay the hearts of the people?
Your Highness waited and waited to see what would grow out of the pot.
However, no matter how long that wait felt,
how could it compare to the feelings of the farmers waiting to harvest rice?
Furthermore, lettuce is a vegetable used as medicine.
If one takes lettuce, one may temporarily feel sleepy, but later, the head clears
and not only does it make one wiser,
but it also breaks up the anger stacked up in one's chest.
And because recently, Your Majesty harbored resentment towards Scholar Heo,
don't you think an entreaty to let go of that anger and focus on your studies
could have been part of Miss Yeon Woo's profound thoughts?
H-How is it that you...
The maiden Yeon Woo told me alone.
This is already the 14th time you've talked about that lettuce.
Unless my head is a block of stone, how could I forget?
I told you?
Yes.
When?
After you met at Eunweol Pavilion at the Narye ceremony and spoke of the lettuce,
every time you see me, every time you have a free moment,
constantly...
Then, you must have also marveled at maiden Yeon Woo's wisdom.
At first, I marveled and it even made me shiver...
But, even the most beautiful song, if you hear it too much...
Wait and see.
The girl will definitely become a benevolent queen adored by all the people.
A ban on weddings!
We will end our lesson here today.
Has the maiden Yeon Woo been put on the maiden list?
Not yet.
Is there possibly some problem?
Crown Prince.
I pray you would listen to your subject's small entreaty.
What do you mean entreaty.
As one of Joseons people,
I know that putting her name on the maiden list is the proper thing to do,
but won't you please, please exclude my sister?
I kneel and beg of you.
An upright man of integrity like you,
what is the reason you would make such an entreaty?
The Crown Prince is asking his subject!
Answer the question.
Because she cannot be with Your Highness.
What do you mean the maiden Yeon Woo cannot be with me?
What sort of outrageous nonsense is this?
I will pay for my crime of disloyalty today in the future.
- However, please... - So you're saying...
you intend to break the royal law and be a rebellious subject?
Your Highness.
I cannot do that!
I cannot accept your entreaty.
The first reason is that I don't want to lose you.
The second reason is that I...
I...
it's your sister...
I think I'm in love.
Your Highness, Your Highness...
It's not so.
The person His Highness has affection for is absolutely not Scholar Heo.
Do not misunderstand. It is not you, Scholar Heo.
Though I cannot tell you who it is,
just know that it is a female person that looks just like you.
Highness. Your Highness...
Your Highness.
What are you going to do about this atmosphere?
If you were going to profess your feelings, you should be clear about who...
Quiet!
I haven't even professed my feelings to her yet.
How can I tell someone else first?
Then, you should not have even mentioned it.
Disappointment, disappointment, supreme disappointment!
None other than Scholar Heo!
How could he make such an entreaty to me?
Do you really have no idea why?
I suppose he doesn't find me suitable for his sister.
Forgive me, but...
I believe that is likely not what Scholar Heo is thinking.
Then, what is he thinking?
The person to be selected has already been designated anyway.
The Personnel Minister's daughter has already been unofficially chosen.
What's the point of putting her on the maiden list?
What good could possibly come out of it?
What are you doing?
What if our Yeon Woo
is selected as a third stage final candidate?
Please give it to me.
Maidens not chosen in the third stage are forever the Crown Prince's women,
and they must live forever alone, do you not know that?
Wife!
Our Yeon Woo...
are you saying you'd be fine with it
if we, with our own hands,
make her end up living alone forever as if she were in mourning, my lord?
Then, as righteous loyal subjects, we should break the law?
How can you be so inflexible?
You can entreat His Majesty to keep Yeon Woo's name off the list!
Absolutely not.
It's not enough that it's disloyal, but what you're saying is also unethical.
Then, are you saying we just sit back and watch helplessly?!
And therefore, Scholar Heo likely made his entreaty
because of his love and concern for his sister.
Then, the maidens that are not chosen cannot enter the palace?
Occasionally they are pitied and brought in as royal concubines.
Was Yang Myung Hyungnim's mother also possibly...
That is so.
Consort Park was a final candidate that was ultimately not selected,
and His Majesty felt pity for her and brought her into the Palace.
However, most maidens are just forgotten.
Your Highness?
It's the Queen Mother.
Excuse me?
The elder supervising the Ceremonial Committee
is the Queen Mother.
What better opportunity is there to increase the power of her side of the family?
I'm certain the predesignated choice is...
I am the Personnel Minister Yoon Dae Hyung's daughter,
Yoon Bo Kyung.
Your Highness.
Your Highness, where are you going? Your Highness.
Your Majesty, His Highness, the Crown Prince is here to see you.
[King Seong Jo]
Your Majesty.
I have something to say.
Please excuse us.
What is it you have to say?
Your Majesty.
Please do away with the unofficially predesignated Crown Princess.
Is the Crown Prince having an audience with His Majesty, the King?
Yes, that is so.
Do you feel they will be long?
There has been an order not to let anyone in for the time being.
The elder supervising the Ceremonial Committee is not me, but the Queen Mother.
Then, please issue a decree so that the selection is just and follows a strict criteria.
That is also outside of my authority.
That type of request should be made to the Queen Mother.
Please overstep the Queen Mother's authority.
Being King doesn't give one blanket right to overstep anyone's authority.
Even more so, it doesn't give the right to overstep filial propriety.
I understand it is not without precedent that a King oversees the selection process.
I will not be making any personal intervention for the sake of your romantic feelings.
I am not entreating you purely because of my feelings.
If it's not because of your feelings, then what?
This is to be the Crown Princess.
It is the selection of this country's future Queen.
Isn't it only right that the most suitable person for that position is selected?
A fellow that knows such a thing behaved so rashly?!
It's a marriage hastened to block any sort of rumored scandal about you.
You can't think of your own mistake that put us in this situation.
Who are you expecting to make this right?!
If I were to put everything back in proper order,
will you degree a just and fair selection?
Immediately send a page
to look into the Sungkyunkwan student council
[Sungkyunkwan: Royal Academy that prepares future government officials]
and find out who the head of the student council is.
Excuse me?
Why the head of the Sungkyunkwan student council?
Tell him this is strictly confidential,
so if he speaks recklessly,
I cannot safeguard his life.
That goes for you too, Hyung Sun.
Do you understand?
Yes, I shall carry out your command.
What do you mean "promise"?
What are you saying that I promised you?
You said that after His Highness the Crown Prince's ceremony,
you would arrange a ceremony between the Chief Scholar's daughter and myself.
If that's what you are talking about, I made no such promise.
But, you certainly...
I said I would think about it. I never promised to make it happen.
If you have finished what you've come to say, you may leave now.
Is the reason you've suddenly changed your feelings
that the Crown Prince has perhaps made an entreaty?
Did the Crown Prince indeed make the same entreaty as I?
Just as in general,
there are men who are meant to be kings and those meant to be subjects,
it is the same for women.
Some are meant to be queens and others are meant to be the princess consorts*.
(*wives of princes not meant to be king)
The Chief Scholar's daughter, then,
are you saying she's meant to be Queen?
If that child is chosen, I suppose so.
If she is not chosen in the process,
then will you give me permission?
The maidens not chosen in the final stage are the Crown Prince's women.
Have you forgotten that is the law?!
Then,
are you ordering me to just sit and watch as the girl I love falls into misery?
What?
The Personnel Minister's daughter...
there isn't a soul who doesn't know she's been predesignated as the Crown Princess.
How can you order me to just sit and watch?
Do I have to enforce the law to shut that mouth of yours?!
Don't ever utter those words again.
If you ever show such disloyalty again, it will be considered...
treason.
Do not laugh like that.
Everything I've sought and
everyone I've wanted
have been placed in your hands much too easily, Crown Prince.
Please,
take away that innocent smile you send my way.
So that I may hate Your Highness to my heart's content,
please.
And if you cannot even permit me that,
please put this cold rough wind blowing in my heart to rest.
Your Majesty.
Let's go to the Princess' quarters.
It's been a while and I'd like to hear her laughter.
Forgive me.
My mind was elsewhere and I...
It's a longevity bracelet I made for you.
Please accept it.
I am honored.
But, for what reason have you approached me?
Reason?
Ah, is Yeon Woo well?
That's my reason.
Yes, she is well.
But,
do you have a wife?
I am still unmarried.
Then, what about a betrothed?
Do you have a betrothed maiden?
I do not yet.
These days,
I'm reading the Book of the Virtuous Woman.
Excuse me?
What the Crown Prince said the other day, that I don't know the 1000 Chinese Character primer
is not true.
Oh, right right right!
The riddle you presented,
I got the answer to that too!
If you close your eyes like this,
the entire world becomes dark,
and if you open your...
Look at me, will you? Huh?
Look.
If you close your eyes like this,
the entire world becomes dark,
and if you open your eyes like this,
the entire world...
becomes bri...
So pretty.
Your Majesty!
It's our Princess!
I am no longer a child.
What?
As a coincidence, I had something to discuss with Your Majesty.
Please come into my chambers.
What could our little Princess have to say to me?
Did you just ask to be wed to Scholar Heo?!
Yes.
Since the Crown Prince will be having his wedding ceremony soon,
I also...
You cannot.
Excuse me?
Why not?
That young man is a rare man of talent that will become a future pillar of our country.
Then,
isn't he plenty qualified to wed a princess?
You are still young and might not understand,
but once a man marries a princess, he cannot serve an office in government.
Not only that, he cannot hope to engage in or propose any political activity.
And so?
Therefore,
a rare man of talent cannot be trapped as a princess' husband.
Excuse me?
Th-then, I...
can only marry an ugly, foolish, duncelike fellow?
That is not what I meant.
I'm just saying it can't be Scholar Heo.
He is a man that will advise the future King
and help lead our country in the future.
I don't like that.
All the men of excellence go to others,
while the Princess marries an ugly dunce, what's the meaning of that?!
Not a dunce. I will marry you to a good man.
I don't want that.
If it's not him, I don't want to!
Didn't I say you cannot?!
Min Hwa.
If a man like that marries a Princess, he will become miserable.
If he is bridled with that position, his talents are tied down,
and his wings are clipped, what could be sadder than that?
Forget Scholar Heo.
I don't want to!
Your swordsmanship is impressive.
I'm sorry, young master.
I told you it was all right, didn't I?
But, what brings you here?
Ah. Actually, I came to ask you something.
First, look me in the face, please.
Excuse me?
How could a lowly person like me look at your face?
It's all right, so please look at me.
If there was a girl that looked just like me,
who could it be?
Miss Yeon Woo.
Indeed.
But he wouldn't have had a chance to meet her.
When, where?
How could they have met?
The day of the ceremony where you received your exam honors,
I happened to meet him in the palace...
Do you also
share the Crown Prince's feelings?
Do you feel the same way?
I know very well what you are worried about, Brother.
- However... - Do you know that...
there is already a predesignated choice for the Crown Prince?
I do know.
Fake an illness.
Fake an illness and avoid the selection process.
Do you remember when I taught you how to play baduk (go),
the critical points to keep in mind?
"Pi Gang Ja Bo"
When the opposition is strong, first make a plan to secure your safety.
- Brother. - If, by any chance,
they find out about your relationship with the Crown Prince, you will be in danger.
Yeon Woo, you could become a sacrifice of war.
I cannot.
Yeon Woo.
"Il Su Bul Tweh"
A piece that has been placed cannot be taken back or moved.
I'm certain you taught me that, right?
A person's heart is the same.
A heart that has been placed cannot easily be moved,
so whatever the results of the selection process may be, I...
cannot trick the Crown Prince like that.
Why on earth are you having me dress like a palace attendant?
So bristly!
Show your manners in front of His Highness.
[Head of student council at Sungkyunkwan]
Ah, yes.
Are you the current head of the student council at Sungkyunkwan, Hong Gyu Tae?
Yes, I am.
How is it that you've given audience to such a simple fellow?
When I was crowned, I was also admitted into Sungkyunkwan.
Therefore, even though we do not take our lessons together,
I am also like you, a Sungkyunkwan student,
and have always been proud of that.
Your grace is immense.
However,
these days, I am ashamed of my admission into Sungkyunkwan.
Excuse me?
When one treads the path of learning, one's actions reflect the morality and ethics learned.
And, when the King deviates from the path of righteousness,
it is the subjects' duty to lead him back to the right path.
How can those at Sungkyunkwan just sit and observe the current state of affairs?
I don't know if this lacking subject is misunderstanding your words,
but...
could you possibly be referring to the upcoming Crown Princess selection?
Answer me with your own mouth as the King's subject,
can the selection of the Crown Princess
be used as an instrument by one clan
to retain power?
[Queen Mother Yoon]
We must take precautions for the possibilities, you say?
Yes, we must.
[Personnel Minister Yoon Dae Hyung]
As long as His Majesty, the King and the Crown Prince favor Heo Yeong Jae's daughter,
we cannot be completely at ease.
Don't worry.
I am heading the selection process.
Is there only the one Crown Princess who has a place next to the Crown Prince?
If he were to bring that child into the palace as a concubine...
That wouldn't be good.
That's not all.
If, by any chance, she were to conceive first...
Indeed, that wouldn't be good.
What you say is right.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to take precautions for the possibilities.
But, a plan?
It's not an easy task.
Aren't you the person that eliminated a "Sun"?
You don't think you could eliminate a "Moon"?
Furthermore,
the High Shaman of Seongsucheong is one of your people.
What problem could there be?
Throughout history, when the maternal clan of the royal family takes over,
you know very well the pathetic state the country falls into.
There are payoff deals for government appointments.
And the line of supporters of the maternal clan is increasing.
Those who have bought their positions are engaging in countless abuses of power.
So, how is it that the Sungkyunkwan students who receive government salaries,
can just stand idle like this?!
The Sungkyunkwan procession with petitions for appeal.
Petitions for appeal!
The Sungkyunkwan procession with petitions for appeal.
Petitions for appeal!
A Crown Prince that instigates a student protest movement...
It appears the future of this country, Joseon...
will be quite interesting.
All things have their proper places.
I feel that is genuine government.
All things and all people...
must be enabled to take their proper place
That is what I, as future monarch,
believe my duty to be.
And that should begin with
the selection of the Crown Princess, don't you think?
Is that your conviction of what is right?
It is.
Then,
show me.
Attempt to convince me.
That is...
politics.
So, you intend to mobilize Sungkyunkwan to manipulate public opinion.
Impressive, Crown Prince.
Please send down a response to our appeal, Your Majesty!
Please issue a decree for a just and impartial Crown Princess selection...
- that defies external pressures! - Please issue a decree!
Aigoo! Aigoo!
A wailing protest, what is the meaning of this?!
What sort of an outrage is this with the selection almost upon us?!
It's already been 5 days, Your Majesty.
You must send down a response.
That is so, Your Majesty.
Whether the Sungkyunkwan students' appeal is right or wrong,
it is customary for the King to send down a positive or negative response.
This is utterly unjust, Your Majesty.
Since olden times, the selection has been under the jurisdiction of the ranking court ladies.
Do not give your ear to their impudent words.
This subject thinks the same, Your Majesty.
To wail and lament...
in the face of an upcoming happy national event is a travesty of loyalty!
Eradicate the leaders of the protest and punish them!
Punish them!
Their actions stem from concern for their country with no self-interest;
how can we fault them for that?
Also, if we suppress their spirit and block their admonitions,
then, who in the future would muster the courage to criticize the government?
Regardless of the era,
consulting the public is the way to obtain the consenting hearts of the people.
Where there is public consultation, even the lower class cannot be treated lightly.
And where there is no public consultation,
even the words of the highest officials have no weight.
The Three Offices have reviewed their petitions.
We feel that it would be appropriate...
to consider public opinion and issue a sincere response.
However, Your Majesty!
Royal secretaries, listen.
Please give your instructions.
I will respond to the students' appeal, so draft it as follows.
I trust in your devoted loyalty and will reflect your will in the policies of the state.
Regarding this upcoming Crown Princess selection,
I will break with the customary jurisdiction of the ranking court ladies,
and will directly oversee the decision.
Moreover, I and 3 members each
from the royal family, the Three Offices, and the State Council
will participate in the selection of the Crown Princess.
I pledge the selection will be just and impartial.
In addition,
the selection process will be held in the King's quarters, not the Queen's.
Furthermore,
to avoid extravagance and financial burden on the people,
we shall employ a two-stage rather than a three-stage selection process.
A royal marriage is an institution...
that carries on the royal family and the spirit of a nation.
How can you be inclined to listen to the slander made by foolish immature students.
How can you refer to the students' earnest admonitions as slander.
Earnest? Admonitions?
A predesignation is part of the selection process.
If that is illegitimate, then the royal family itself holds no legitimacy.
Queen Mother.
The maiden was designated after repeated consideration and deliberation.
I'm saying she wasn't chosen because of her bloodline. Do you understand?!
Then there should be no problem if we merely change the selection process, isn't that so?
What?
If the maiden is so well-qualified, then even if she is not predesignated,
wouldn't she be selected?
Then,
are you saying you are determined to defy me?
The hearts of the people and public opinion are speaking as one right now.
It is something I can no longer ignore.
A monarch may not have a duty to be loyal, but he has a filial duty.
How can a nation's monarch consider only those of his bloodline as his parents?
If a King is the father of his people, then the people are also his parents.
Your Majesty!
Queen Mother.
Who is it that protected your throne from the traitors that threatened it?
You haven't forgotten what my clan and I have done for you, have you?
I have not forgotten.
How could I have possibly forgotten?
For the sake of power and the advancement of the clan,
the horrific events you and Yoon Dae Hyung orchestrated,
the falsely accused and slaughtered Prince Ui Seong.
If you knew about it,
then even more so, you cannot be doing this to me.
I made it so that not a drop of blood touched your hand;
you cannot forget how I've served you!
Why do you think I've been silent for this long?!
I couldn't exonerate Prince Ui Seong even when I later found out the truth...
For whom do you think I kept quiet?!
I have fulfilled my filial duty in keeping silent for 13 years.
No.
Do not desire anything more.
The Crown Princess selection will be executed justly and impartially as decreed.
Is someone out there?
Please escort the Queen Mother.
Majesty.
Majesty, you cannot do this to me.
Wait and see.
I am not one to back down now.
No, no.
That's too genteel.
Make your gestures bigger and plop down.
You have to make a noise when you sit.
Like this?
Yes.
That's enough of that.
If noodles are served,
make sure you make noise and slurp them up.
It would be even better if you spill here and there, making a mess.
Ah! And tell them your hobby is reading.
Say you've avoided things like embroidery and needlework altogether.
That much is true so it won't be hard to answer.
If they possibly ask you how much literature you've mastered,
without fail, right or wrong,
tell them you already mastered the Four Books and Three Classics of ancient China at age three.
And what else was there?
Mother.
What is it?
Do you think if I do those things, I will be rejected in the first stage selection?
What are you saying?
I was just anticipating the questions they would ask...
You figured out what I was doing?
It would be strange if I didn't notice.
Don't do this, Mother.
Whatever the result may be,
I want to be a daughter that Father can be proud of.
So, please just watch over me.
I will be waiting.
Knowing you, I'm certain you can become the Crown Princess.
What are you doing here again at this late...
Are you going somewhere?
I've already had a relapse of my wandering habits.
I thought I'd come by and have a look at your face before I left.
What a homely face.
Now that I've had a good look, that's enough.
I'm going.
Will you be returning?
Why?
Are you worried I won't return?
Because you cut off communications for a while when you're gone,
everyone worries.
You should send your kin news occasionally during your travels...
Will you come with me?
They say the Crown Princess has been predesignated,
and ultimately the Personnel Minister's daughter will become the Crown Princess.
You can only end up becoming a concubine,
or...
prohibited from marrying, live forever alone.
If you want to run away from these troubling circumstances,
if that's the case,
I can throw away my princehood, the title of Prince Yang Myung, all of it,
wrap you up in a parcel and run away with you.
You go too far with your jesting.
Right.
I went too far, didn't I?
You're certain you won't regret the path you choose, right?
Yes.
Then don't be so troubled.
Knowing you, I'm certain you will do well.
Take out that Personnel Minister's daughter with one blow.
Understand?
Since you were not at your residence,
I thought I would be able to find you here.
I heard that the first stage selection has been made.
Why didn't you make an entreaty to the King?
One day, a man named Geung Ja sought out Confucius and said,
"Master, won't you praise me?"
"My father beat me for no particular reason today,"
"and I just bore it, staying still. "
"Wasn't that commendable?"
Then, do you know what Confucius said?
"You fool. "
"If you were to die,
your father would have become a murderer of his own son. "
"What a huge travesty of filial devotion that would be. "
"When your father beats you without a reason,"
"you must run away. "
And so, you're going to leave?
The tree just wanted to stand still.
But the wind keeps blowing, so what is there to do?
The best plan is to avoid it before bending or breaking.
Or, is it the worst plan?
But, that moon...
it will probably follow wherever I go, right?
[10 Days later - Second Stage Selection]
Being chosen in the first stage and reaching this final stage,
you've gone through much difficulty.
I see you are all too nervous.
The palace is indeed a place where people live, so don't be too frightened.
Since Your Majesty is participating directly like this,
isn't it natural that they'd be frightened?
Today, I have some thing I am curious about and would like to ask you.
I am this country's King.
If you were to calculate my worth in money,
how much would it be?
Will you answer first, daughter of Choi Sang Jin?
Excuse me?
One million, no ten million *nyang (*old Korean coin)...
please be understanding.
I am ignorant in the matters of money,
I don't really know well how much makes a large amount of money.
Then,
will you answer next, daughter of Yoon Dae Hyung?
Your Majesty's virtues,
which are higher than the mountains and wider than the seas...
how could one dare to count in money and calculate in silver?
I dare entreat you,
when there exists a tool...
to measure the weight of the heavens and the depth of the ocean,
please ask me once again.
Now then, will the daughter of Heo Young Jae answer the question?
I will dare answer because you ask...
it is one nyang.
A miss!
Your Highness!
Your Highness! Your Highness!
Your Highness!
What happened?
Ay! I'm asking you what happened.
That...
To the people that are starving and dressed in rags,
there is nothing more earnestly valued than one nyang.
A wealthy man who has ten thousand nyang...
doesn't know how precious one nyang is,
but a poor man who has nothing...
knows piercingly well how precious one nyang is.
To the poor,
Your Majesty is as acutely precious as one nyang.
Please, I pray you govern all of the people with impartiality.
What do you think, my Queen?
Isn't she quite a lovely daughter-in-law?
She is quite so.
It is a blessing to the country.
Early on, I was happy in knowing I had gained good men in your father and brother.
But, now I see he had a wise and beautiful daughter that is to become a blessing to the country.
Won't you provide the Crown Princess with some words of advice?
What could an old woman have to say in addition?
Please serve the Crown Prince with devotion and reverence.
I will continue to take it to heart.
Your Highness, please won't you take one bite?
You will get sick.
Didn't I tell you I don't need it?
Why are you being like this?
The royal family is terribly worried about you.
And since you were absent from the meeting with the Crown Princess...
Crown Princess?
What does that have to do with me?
Didn't you like that maiden?
That...
That was when I thought she would be my husband's sister.
Excuse me?
Why is it that she can...
and I cannot?
Take that table away!
I'm going to starve to death!
What is the matter?
Now then.
Don't cry and tell me.
Queen,
please entreat His Majesty.
I will die if I can't be with him!
What sort of nonsense is this to say to your mother?
Didn't I tell you never to speak of that again?
I don't like that!
And, I don't like His Majesty, Brother, Yeon Woo, none of them!
And I don't like you either!
Princess.
Princess!
Queen Mother!
Please entreat His Majesty.
Tell him to make Scholar Heo my husband!
What in the world is this?
Please entreat him!
Forgive me, Your Highness.
Queen Mother!
What are you doing just standing there?
- Take the Princess. - Please entreat him!
- Please entreat him, please! - Your Highness, please...
Queen Mother. Queen Mother!
Queen Mother! Please entreat him!
Queen Mother! Entreat him, please!
Queen Mother!
High Shaman.
What is it?
You have been summoned to see the Queen Mother in secret this evening.
The Eunweol Pavillion
will be where you will stay until the wedding.
It is customary to stay at a location
between the palace and your private home before the wedding,
but His Majesty has designated Eunweol Pavilion particularly for you.
It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the palace.
Yes.
It is as beautiful as its name. (Chinese characters for Eunweol = Hidden Moon).
Please speak without honorifics.
Excuse me?
A-All right.
Tomorrow, you will begin learning what is expected of you in the upcoming ceremony.
So, you should sleep early this evening.
And also...
What is the handkerchief for?
You will be needing it.
We will step outside now.
Please rest comfortably.
Mother.
So, this is why she said I would be needing it.
Were you, perhaps, weeping, thinking of the family you left
If that is so, open your window.
Your Highness!
Are you surprised?
You are prohibited from being here.
What are you doing here?
I bribed the palace ladies.
Wait a moment!
Wait a moment, Yeon Woo!
Please go back.
Your Highness, you are the Crown Prince and must be a role model...
Your Highness!
Are you done crying now?
Your Highness.
I received special permission from the King, so don't worry.
I've prepared a one-man puppet show for you.
Neither you nor I will be able to sleep tonight anyway,
so let's watch it together.
As it is a performance put together in haste,
if the puppeteer's performance isn't up to par,
I hope you will be understanding.
Please begin.
What did you just say?
Since the Crown Princess has changed,
I said to get rid of her.
His Majesty is having her building guarded tightly.
An attack or poisoning is impossible.
The only way to proceed without approaching her is through your skills.
I am here to safeguard the lives and fortunes of the royal family.
As she is already been selected as Crown Princess,
she is now also part of the royal family.
I don't believe Seongsucheong is in such a good position right now.
With the incessant demands of the Confucian scholars to close it,
isn't Seongsucheong on the verge of being abolished?
If I no longer protect it,
what do you think will happen to it?
Is that a threat?
It is an order.
She is the Crown Princess.
Once you kill her, she will no longer be Crown Princess.
With your own mouth,
you said the Personnel Minister's daughter was the master of the Queen's quarters.
You need to take responsibility for your words.
Use your black skills...
to kill the child Heo Yeon Woo.
It was me, Ari?
It was to be me who drives that child to the jaws of death?
Tell me, Ari.
What am I to do?
That child or Seongsucheong,
which do I protect?
"Yi In Gong" (Chinese characters = craft two people)
[Shaman]
Mother.
I've come to see you today with something to say...
If she gets too close to the sun,
the demise of her family will be brought upon her.
But the child was born, destined to protect the sun at his side.
I... I love you.
Oh my. I'm so embarrassed.
I too...
Truly...
do I not have any other choice but to kill her?
Crown Princess!