(Episode 11)
Have a seat.
Yes, Your Highness.
If you are going to stand there like that,
leave.
My dear.
We are sorry to tell you this late,
but congratulations on becoming the Queen.
Thank you.
Take this.
These are medicinal herbs picked by the royal physician himself.
Take the medicine after you decoct them.
It will restore your strength...
and help you get pregnant.
I heard the bad news.
As a mother with children,
my heart ached as well.
Thank you for your concern.
Bear a healthier child this time.
That will ease your pain.
Yes, Your Highness.
Grand Prince Jeongan.
Yes.
His Majesty will ask for you soon.
I am begging him to forgive you every day.
It will not be easy,
but he will change his mind someday.
Why are you doing this now?
My dear.
I am trying to put things back together.
No matter what others say, we are a family.
I am your mother, and you are my son.
It is the duty of the royal family to show people...
that we are united.
As Queen, I cannot neglect that duty.
I see this only as hypocrisy.
- My dear. - It is okay.
A son may grumble to his mother.
Well then. I will see you again.
You can stay here.
Forgive the impudence.
Do not worry.
Take the medicine regularly.
I will, Your Highness.
I bid you a safe return.
Thank you for the visit.
Sure.
Let us go.
How dare you speak to Her Highness like that?
Are you begging to be killed?
Do not look away. Look at me.
Can you get your revenge by glaring at others?
Does saying a few rude words...
make you feel better?
You cannot bid your time like this.
What can you do...
when you are so obvious and foolish?
What good is biting my tongue?
I lost everything already.
Why must I put up with this when there is no hope?
She came into my house to mock me.
Why should I accept that?
Will you really...
be so foolish?
What, then?
What else can a fool do but act foolishly?
Dear.
Get out of my way!
That fool. Is he not the guy from the Lee clan?
He is.
He is the fool who killed Master Poeun.
- Darn him. - That fool.
We are here. This is it.
From that tree there to the stream there.
All this is our land.
I was named a founding contributor,
and His Majesty gave this to me.
I will be given about 20 slaves too.
Why did you accept so much when we are well-off already?
You should have said, "I am fine," and refused.
Do not say that.
You accept what a king gives.
It is even worse to refuse.
As if.
Come on. Now you listen to me.
This is most important.
After a war or the establishment of a new dynasty,
once you take power, you must give things out.
Do you know what happens if you do not?
Cracks begin to form right away.
Who would stay loyal if you do not give them anything? Do you get it?
I do not know, and I do not care either.
Why must I know that when I will not become king anyway?
You blockhead.
That does not just apply to kings.
Even if you own just ten men,
that is the most important rule.
You might as well read scripture to a cow. Let us just go home.
What?
You are not a cow. You are a clumsy bear.
Come on, Father.
I worry about Bang Won and...
I mean Grand Prince Jeongan and his wife. I must check on them.
Did they really lose their young son?
Yes. All the bad things are happening at once.
The skies should take pity on them.
Here you are.
(Lady Min, Lee Bang Won's wife)
I was worried you went where I could not find you.
I am a fool who only knows of this spot.
You came to where I would easily find you so I would not worry.
I know that is how you think,
which is why I cannot give up on you.
I want to make you a truly great man.
Right now, all we can do...
is swallow our anger and sorrow,
but one day, we will get our chance.
Everything you lost so far,
you will get back one day, I am sure of it.
So...
until then, grit your teeth and bear it.
Can you do that?
My dear.
I beg of you.
Please...
do not take even that hope from me.
If you do,
I cannot stand another moment.
Dear wife...
Will you...
do as I ask?
I will.
I will do that.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Dear.
Yes?
Will I really get a chance?
Will the skies help us?
We already lost three sons.
Will we...
gain favor again?
I do not care.
I do not trust the skies now.
Whatever it may be,
we will accomplish it with our efforts alone.
Then we can only trust each other now.
That is more than enough.
If His Majesty asked how Grand Prince Jeongan is doing,
he must be considering something then.
A change will come soon.
In a good way or a bad way?
I cannot say.
It depends on who gave him the thought.
Anyway, thank you for bringing me back to court.
I will head to Gaegyeong.
No, you will not.
Follow me.
What?
The King summoned all the nobles...
who are in hiding. Like you.
Come with me.
I must go ahead and prepare to...
enter court to work...
Do as you wish.
I will just rescind my recommendation of your reinstatement.
You can go back to your hut.
No, wait.
My gosh...
It looks like I must travel far and wide.
Darn it.
Her Highness the Queen also requests you to do so.
Please forgive him now.
The most important thing when you first establish a nation...
is harmony in the royal family.
If animosity develops...
within the king's family,
the future of the kingdom will be in trouble as well.
Then are you telling me to lower my head?
Are you telling me that I should surrender out of fear of my children?
Your Majesty.
You must give Grand Prince Youngan...
a commanding position in the military.
Grand Prince Muan and Count Heungan...
have already been appointed as commanders.
How could you leave him out?
That is true, Your Majesty.
Furthermore, Count Bonghwa and Count Euiryeong are even...
appointed as commanders. The princes should not be neglected.
It is customary for the royal family to have control of the military...
for the nation to be stable.
Please take this into consideration.
(Grand Prince Youngan, Lee Bang Gwa, Lee Seong Gye's second son)
Your Majesty. Grand Prince Youngan is here.
Come in.
Did you call for me?
Come closer and sit down.
Yes, sir.
It has been a long time.
What is wrong?
I am overwhelmed with emotions...
upon seeing you in the King's Robe.
I see.
Is this your first time seeing me in this?
Yes, Your Majesty.
Congratulations.
I...
am thinking about appointing you as a commander of the Royal Guard.
Please lead the soldiers well.
Thank you for your boundless generosity.
I will also give your brothers...
commanding positions in various regions.
Grand Prince Jeongan has contributed a great deal.
For that, he will be given a House Guard of 500 soldiers.
Keep that in mind.
Yes, Your Majesty.
You may go now.
What is it? Do you have more to say?
Your Majesty.
Are you forgiving us?
Leave now.
Your Majesty.
I said "now."
Yes, Your Majesty.
Then does that mean he has not forgiven us yet?
Bang Gwa.
By giving us control of the military,
it means that he accepts us as his subjects.
What about as sons?
Has he still not forgiven us as his sons?
Just wait.
Since he accepted us as his subjects,
soon enough he will...
accept us as his sons again.
Prince Jeongan! Please come outside!
Your men have arrived.
We have come after receiving the Royal Decree.
Please lead us from now on, Prince Jeongan.
All he gave us is a military register,
but he gave Bang Won House Guard soldiers.
If you are jealous, recruit the soldiers in the register...
and call them to Gaegyeong.
Fill your yard with them and command them at your will.
You can do whatever you wish with them now.
How could those soldiers even compare...
to the elite soldiers of the House Guard?
I suppose you are right.
Even still, at least we are given military power.
Be satisfied with that.
No.
Everyone being empty-handed is better than this.
You can stand being hungry,
but you cannot stand being jealous.
You are really...
I cannot understand.
He was the one whom Father was most upset with,
so why would he be given such elite soldiers?
Are you really my soldiers?
Yes. We are now your soldiers.
Then will you do whatever I order you to?
What do you wish to do?
I asked you first.
How far will you obey me?
(Jo Yeong Mu, Seong Gye's loyal subject)
As long as I do not need to hold a sword against the king,
I will do whatever you ask.
Thank you.
You did what I asked.
You have done a great job.
A great job?
The other ministers...
scolded me saying it was an incomplete appointment.
But you are telling me I did a great job, My Queen.
Yes, you did a great job.
I do not know about anyone else,
but I know...
how hard it was...
for you to forgive Bang Won.
If you want to forgive Grand Prince Jeongan,
you must embrace the death of Jeong Mong Ju.
They beat him to death with an iron mace in the middle of the day,
and as if that was not enough, they decapitated him.
The people...
believe that you ordered them to do this.
So if you forgive Grand Prince Jeongan,
you will have to bear that disgrace.
You have given Grand Prince Jeongan the House Guard...
while knowing you must endure that.
You have endured all of that...
for my sake.
- My Queen. - Thank you.
I will not forget this.
No. I am grateful to you.
You understand me so well,
so I am grateful to you.
Your Majesty.
You should get some rest now.
You should try to forget everything even just for a few days.
It is okay.
All of the difficult moments...
have been erased.
Please listen to me.
You should go to the hot springs with your brothers.
Take a bath and go hunting.
Like young men out of town,
enjoy yourself.
It is the order of the Queen. Obey it.
Are you not going to sleep?
You can go ahead and sleep.
What is making you think so deeply?
It is nothing.
Now is not the time.
Those soldiers are not enough to do it.
You do not have enough power to achieve anything.
Do you understand?
Yes.
I will be on my way.
Yes. Please enjoy your trip.
Please enjoy your trip, Father.
Yes, I will.
He went to the hot springs in Pyeongju?
Yes, I just heard about it as well.
He did not give the ministers time to see him off.
He left so suddenly.
(Jeong Do Jeon, senior second-rank assistant chancellor)
Here you are.
Count Heungan.
What are you doing here wearing such armor?
I was ordered to guard the Capital and the palace...
while His Majesty is away.
I see.
Since you two are also commanders of the Royal Guard,
please come with me in your armors.
Her Highness the Queen ordered us...
to quickly prepare the army for disturbance.
Disturbance?
Thank you so much for letting me know. Be careful on your way back.
Yes, sir.
Who was he?
He came with news about Bang Woo.
Bang Woo?
I need to go see him.
Did you give him the news?
Yes, he should be on his way there.
What about Master Sambong?
He will be here soon.
Your Highness, what is going on?
Why are there soldiers outside?
There is nothing to be worried about.
I am just preparing...
for any disturbance.
What disturbance?
Who is going to start a disturbance?
Well.
It might be someone who is enraged the most.
And someone who suddenly has soldiers...
he can order around.
Are you talking...
about Grand Prince Jeongan?
Yes.
His Majesty has left the Capital.
The stepmother he hates is the only one in the palace.
Would there be a better chance for him than now?
Bang Woo.
Bang Woo!
Bang Woo. Are you okay?
Bang Won.
What happened to you?
What are you doing here?
I heard you went back to Gaegyeong.
(Grand Prince Jinan, Lee Bang Woo, Lee Seong Gye's first son)
I have started guarding here ever since you went back.
I see.
I did not think of it at all.
I was going to shut myself away from the world.
But no matter how hard I tried, I kept hearing the news.
I heard you killed Master Poeun.
I heard Father destroyed Goryeo...
and has taken the throne.
Is that why you are like this?
Do you feel devastated that Goryeo is destroyed?
Yes, I am devastated.
I am sad and upset.
But that is not all.
Then what made you become this? What?
I am ashamed of myself.
What?
As soon as I heard Father has become the King,
I felt strange.
I started to be consumed with greed.
What greed?
It is the thought that I could be the next king.
I am the firstborn son, which means I would be the Crown Prince.
If I went back to Gaegyeong and be loyal to Father,
I would become the next king.
Yes, that is right.
Then why did you not do that?
You should have come then. Why did you hesitate?
I was going to.
But... Mother stopped me.
What?
She had sent me a letter.
She told me never to come back to Gaegyeong.
She pleaded with me to stay loyal to the Goryeo Dynasty.
She said that would help...
calm down the people in Gaegyeong.
Then,
she saw right through me.
She told me to stop dreaming of becoming the Crown Prince.
She said, even if I did,
Father had already abandoned me.
She said he already considered me to be dead.
Is that why you have become like this?
Because of one letter?
I could not bear the pain.
The words on the letter stabbed me like blades.
I was ashamed, angry, and sad.
In the end, I wailed in madness.
I could not live a day without drinking.
Stop it! Why are you being a fool?
Why did you fall for such an obvious scheme?
Why?
Do not cry.
You did not do anything disgraceful.
You were just being a good son.
You were just a scholar with a conscience.
It was her who did something bad.
The vicious woman...
who has become the Queen.
So, was all of this...
your plan, Your Highness?
Did you put the sword in Prince Jeongan's hands on purpose?
Did you want him to use the sword...
so that you can get rid of him?
Yes, that is right.
Why did you do that?
You already got what you wanted.
I am trying to keep what I got.
If I keep Grand Prince Jeongan alive,
all of this will fall apart someday.
Your Highness.
You might not see it, Master Sambong.
But I see it.
Grand Prince Jeongan has wanted...
the throne for a long time.
That is why he worked hard...
to achieve his father's great work.
That does not mean...
we can kill him by luring him into a trap.
Then,
how must I take down Grand Prince Jeongan?
Master Sambong. Do you think...
he will just wither away if I let him be?
Do you think he is the kind...
to wear himself out and give up?
Grand Prince Jeongan is a starving beast.
Killing him is the only way to control him.
If I let him live now,
in the end,
we will all die.
Do not forget.
You and I are in the same boat.
Your Highness.
Be prepared.
Grand Prince Jeongan will be here soon.
He will have met his discouraged brother by now.
He will lose self-control and rush over.
We shall go!
On me!
(Outside the Queen's chambers)
Your Highness.
What is it?
Princess Jeongnyeong is here.
Your Highness. It is me.
May I come in?
Yes. Come in.
You may sit.
It has been a while since we met.
You are here as well.
Why are you here?
I made some yakgwa.
You gifted me such precious medicinal herbs...
so I wanted to give something in return.
I see. Thank you.
Also,
since Count Bonghwa is here too,
I might as well say this now.
The House Guard from the King...
have been sent back to their original posts.
You sent them back?
Yes.
My husband said he is incapable of leading any men.
He wants Grand Prince Muan...
to take the House Guard soldiers under his command.
May he do that?
Yes.
I will inform His Majesty of the change.
Thank you.
Your Highness. I will leave your presence.
Must you do this?
The House Guard...
could be of help to you down the line.
Right now, they are more of a threat.
Do understand.
I will.
I hope to serve you in the future.
When I do, lead us well.
Sure.
Goodbye, then.
- Darling. - Dear wife.
How were things over at the palace?
The Queen had done exactly as I thought.
But I did not expect to see Master Sambong.
He was there too?
Yes, he was in the Queen's chambers with her.
In full armor.
You do not need to be so serious.
Our intentions were bound to be found out.
This is just the beginning.
It will be a long fight.
Now, we really are in the same boat.
Your life is also on the line.
You should be more assertive.
Only that will save you now.
I hope you get home safely.
It was a trap.
If she did not get Bang Won,
she hoped to at least get me.
Send a messenger to the King.
Tell him he must return immediately.
Yes, my lord.
It is a letter from the Ming Emperor that an envoy brought.
Other than naming our dynasty Joseon instead of Hwaryong,
he ignored all of our other requests.
He refused our seal and letter of office.
That is a diplomatic disgrace.
As much as we respect Ming as the son of the skies,
they should also respect us.
They made quite a few other complaints as well.
Why is the Ming Emperor doing this?
It is proof that he is wary of us.
He is trying to tame us to be loyal as we are a new nation.
If I am to solve this issue,
our next envoy...
will have to be one of the princes.
What must we do about this?
In this situation,
it is very dangerous to send a prince as an envoy.
He might be taken hostage,
unable to return forever.
Whenever our relations with Ming were troubled,
our envoys suffered greatly when they made the trip.
Please remember those incidents.
Still, I cannot just ignore this matter.
Someone must go and sort this out.
Who should I send?
Why did you hesitate?
You should have recommended Grand Prince Jeongan!
I could be sending him to his death.
Who would I dare recommend?
That is not a decision for a subject to make,
nor as a human being.
Master Sambong. Is this how you will act?
Am I doing this to just save myself?
I am doing this...
to protect the Crown Prince and your ideals that you will instill in him.
Do you not see that?
Your Highness.
Grand Prince Jeongan did nothing.
He did not slander the Crown Prince,
and he did not try to harm you.
But why are you...
treating Grand Prince Jeongan like a murderer?
Master Sambong!
I...
have joined hands with His Majesty...
and laid out the ideals of Joseon.
And I will give the Crown Prince...
the layout.
I apologize,
but I do not think I will be working with you.
What?
Are you saying...
that you will now suddenly act nobly?
You are someone who got rid of all your political opponents...
no matter what it took.
Did you already forget that?
Yes, you are correct.
However all of that...
was for the sake of the people.
That is why I endured the criticisms of my literary contemporaries,
and the condemnation of Confucian scholars.
However, I do not plan to participate in such an unjustified...
and heinous conspiracy.
Do not ask for me again...
if it is regarding this matter.
I will get going now.
Master Sambong!
Your Majesty. He has arrived.
Do you know where we are?
Yes.
We came here together before you ascended the throne.
Right.
This was after you saved our family's lives twice.
That is why I called you here to thank you.
Why did you call me here today?
There is something I want you to do.
What is it?
Ming has demanded that we send one of our princes...
as an envoy.
However,
I believe you are the only one who can properly answer...
any questions the Emperor asks.
It will be a dangerous journey.
You may not be able to return.
Will you still go?
I would like to ask you something before I give you an answer.
Okay. What is it?
Are you asking me to go as an envoy...
as a favor from my father?
Or as a command from the King?
You made the right decision.
I also believe...
that nobody is better than Grand Prince Jeongan.
Do not worry.
He will return safely.
Are you asking me to go as an envoy...
as a favor from my father?
Or as a command from the King?
Please tell me.
Are you asking me as my father...
or commanding me as my king?
It is a Royal Decree.
Do as I say.
(The King of Tears, Lee Bang Won)
What difference would it make even if he returns alive?
All I can say is that he did well.
He will return to being an abandoned child.
What did you just say?
Please.
You are the only one who can protect the Crown Prince.
Depending on the answer you give to the Emperor,
everything will be decided.
Then everything will be decided with that one single meeting.