THE KING'S AFFECTION
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Have they still not been able to find Lord Sangheon?
Not yet, Your Majesty. But they are searching everywhere.
Please do not worry.
Every soldier in Pyongan and Hamgyong is looking for him.
So we will find him soon.
Any news from Yeoyeon?
Commander Jung will arrive sometime tomorrow.
Your Majesty.
Hyun, what brings you here at this hour?
This had to be brought to your attention.
Please take a look, Your Majesty.
A LONG FISHING LINE PROPERLY SETS IN THE WATER. ONCE A LONG-AWAITED RIPPLE…
This is the poem
Lord Wonsan wrote a long time ago, is it not?
Why did you bring this?
The word he initially used in the poem was "moonlight."
It read, "So I come back to shore
with an empty boat filled with moonlight."
This reads, "So I come back to shore with an empty boat filled with my dream."
I believe my brother is plotting treason.
You must postpone tomorrow's coronation immediately
and gather soldiers right away, Your Majesty.
MY DREAM
Hwi. What brings you and Hyun here at this hour?
Listen carefully to what I am about to say.
Your coronation tomorrow will be postponed.
I will set another date and let you know.
Until I do, I want you to leave the palace with Hyun for the time being.
Pardon? Why are you suddenly asking me to leave?
I do not have time.
Hyun will explain everything you need to know.
Please take care of Gyeom, Hyun.
Please come with me. I will escort you out.
But…
It will be fine.
Nothing will happen.
You should hurry.
FINALE
You must get to safety, Your Majesty.
Gyeom has probably not gotten out of the palace yet.
But…
I am certain they will use me to justify treason.
And once Gyeom ascends to the throne, they will no longer have that.
So we must protect Gyeom no matter what.
I cannot let my grandfather take control of the royal court again.
Go to Gyeom while I stall them here.
It is imperative that you help Hyun get Gyeom out of here. Do you understand?
Yes, Your Majesty.
Treason?
I cannot leave His Majesty and run away alone.
You must stay alive for His Majesty to turn things around in the future.
But…
Please come with me.
DAEHYEONJEON
That is a woman claiming to be the King.
Arrest her right now!
They are committing treason!
Arrest every single one of them!
Hand him over to me.
Is this the dream you wrote about?
I told you not to return.
You brought this upon yourself. So do not resent me.
Hyun!
Hyun…
-Jeong! -No!
What do you think you are doing, Lord Wonsan?
Grandmother.
It is dangerous for you to be outside.
This matter belongs to the men.
So please go back inside, Grandmother.
Have you no fear?
Not only did you wield your sword at your brother,
but you are also committing this heinous crime of treason.
Did you think I would gladly let you
ascend to the throne if you killed Prince Jehyeon?
I believe you must also be in fear.
You had become the Queen by committing treason a long time ago.
I am the eldest grandson of the deceased King.
I still carry
his bloodline.
Lord Wonsan!
Escort my grandmother inside.
She is not to set foot outside until everything has been settled.
Get your hands off me! How dare you stop me!
Grandmother!
No!
No.
No…
This cannot be.
No…
This cannot be.
I will
never forgive you.
Never.
I do not expect you to,
Hyun.
How dare you!
Bok-dong!
Your Majesty.
Bring me the King's head!
-Yes, my lord! -Yes, my lord!
Father.
I will stop them here. Escort His Majesty to a safe place.
All the paths leading outside from Gwanghwamun to Shinmumun are blocked.
Leaving the palace is not possible. Please stay someplace safe for now.
Your Majesty…
Stay alive.
I have not forgiven you yet.
You must stay alive and face your punishment.
I will stop them from here. Go on without me.
Scribe Jung.
Do not worry. I will be with you soon.
Please get inside.
We must go, Your Majesty.
-Your Majesty. -Your Majesty.
Your Majesty!
Hyun.
Gyeom.
How…
How could this…
Gyeom. Wake up.
Wake up now.
No.
You cannot leave like this.
This is my fault.
I should not have brought you into the palace.
Please open your eyes.
Gyeom…
Lord Wonsan is fatally wounded.
What? Is he still breathing?
Yes, but it does not look good.
No one can know that he is injured.
You are seriously injured.
I will stop them. You should go.
There is something I must do.
Get rid of him.
Father.
Father. Please stay with me.
You cannot die like this.
There is something I must tell you.
I was never able to say it.
Do you know
what I liked the most about you?
You did not take after me.
Please stop talking.
Your wounds…
Do not forgive me.
Ji-un.
My Ji-un…
Father.
Father…
It is your turn now.
I killed Prince Jehyeon like you told me to.
Oust that woman.
And put me on the throne.
The wound is too deep.
Given the severity, I do not think…
Save him.
He must live no matter what.
More soldiers are coming.
You will not be safe here now. You must leave, Your Majesty.
I cannot flee by myself.
Your Majesty.
You must leave.
My father has passed away.
We cannot stop them any longer.
Please head to Changdeokgung.
I will try
to open a passage at Geonchunmun.
You must live.
You must survive…
no matter what.
I will meet my grandfather.
-Your Majesty. -Your Majesty.
I will tell him that I wish to hand over the throne to Lord Wonsan.
No, Your Majesty.
You must leave now and wait for the right time.
If I do not give up,
my grandfather will not stop.
Your Majesty, what are you going to do?
Your Majesty.
I will
try to persuade my grandfather.
No. They barged in here to kill you.
They cannot be reasoned with.
Eunuch Hong is right.
You have known him for a long time.
He will never give up trying to kill you.
Please, Your Majesty.
There is nothing we can do now.
I cannot let everyone die
because of me.
I do not want to…
watch my people die
any longer.
Give us a moment alone.
I must talk to Scribe Jung.
I am sorry.
You cannot do this, Your Majesty.
Do not worry.
I will survive.
You have yet to give me what you promised.
Do you remember what you told me that day?
You asked me what I wanted.
I gave it some thought,
and there is one thing I want.
What…
is it?
A hairpin.
I want a hairpin.
Not a ribbon,
but a beautiful hairpin.
If we get to leave the palace after putting an end to this,
I would like a hairpin from you.
I want to live.
So…
I will make sure that I do.
I will look for a way to get out of here.
Please order me to keep you safe, Your Majesty.
I love you.
Ever since we met…
there has never been a moment that I have not loved you.
I will give up the throne.
That is a wise decision.
Of course, you must.
I will do as you wish.
So let there be no more sacrifices.
For hiding the fact that I am a woman
and deceiving you and the royal family,
I will accept any punishment.
To be precise,
it is not entirely your fault
that you had become the King.
I committed the first mistake.
I did not confirm with my own eyes whether you had died.
And the second mistake
was committed by my daughter who was also your mother.
In a way,
you were a victim of all this.
Your fate was determined
by the people around you regardless of your desires.
Once you realized what had happened, you should have been obedient.
Thus, the last mistake was made by you.
And you are to blame for everything
that has happened today.
I see.
I am finally telling you this,
but living this life had been tough on me and I had been scared as well.
Because I had to live
someone else's life as if it was mine.
It is so unfortunate.
Because the person who protected me
was you, Grandfather.
I resented you a lot all my life.
But…
I was grateful as well.
I also…
cherished you a lot, Your Majesty.
Had you been born a boy,
it would have been great.
This will be my last act of kindness.
Must I die
because I am a woman?
You were never born, to begin with,
so there is no reason to be scared of dying
or to feel wronged.
Will you accept one last cup of tea from your granddaughter?
This will be the last time I get to sit
and have tea with you.
Come to think of it,
I am glad that I was born a girl.
If I had been born a boy and become the King,
and you had stayed by my side
just like now,
it would have been difficult for the both of us.
The worlds you and I had in mind
were very different.
Scribe Jung gave these to me a long time ago.
He said they would ease my anxiety
and give me courage.
Before my grandfather comes…
I want you to brew tea with this
and bring it to me.
This is…
Your Majesty.
What are you thinking?
No.
I cannot do this.
Thank you for everything.
After my mother passed away…
I considered you my mother.
Your Majesty.
Why are you doing this?
I beg of you to change your mind.
I am sure you know
this is the only way we can put an end to this.
Please help me.
I did not want…
to lie to you.
I hope you can understand my decision.
Please.
Court Lady Kim!
Put her down.
Court Lady Kim! Why would you do this?
Why?
Let go of me.
I am going to follow after His Majesty.
I am going to leave this world with His Majesty!
What do you mean?
What on earth do you mean by that?
Court Lady Kim!
Please protect His Majesty.
Please…
save His Majesty.
I beg of you.
So…
I am glad
that we can die together like this.
The tea you just drank has been laced with poison.
It is sonangcho.
It is the poison you used to kill…
my father.
Accompany me to the afterlife.
Grandfather.
How dare you?
What have you done?
You have disrespected me even until the last moment!
I have no regrets for I was able to punish you
in the end.
I will not forgive you.
I will never forgive you.
Your Majesty.
Please wake up.
Your Majesty.
I need help!
Your Majesty.
Your Majesty…
You are already such a beautiful princess, Your Highness.
Today is your wedding ceremony. Are you going to be late again?
The groom has already entered the palace a long while ago.
Already?
Oh, right. Where is Bok-dong?
Your Highness!
His Royal Highness has sent a present.
My brother did?
Yes. He is very grateful that you took his place
for his last lecture.
Please do not tell me that you still switch places with His Royal Highness.
He said something urgent came up.
We should go. He must be waiting.
-Your Highness. -Your Highness. Please do not run!
Your Highness!
Lord Jung!
Your Highness.
What took you so long?
I waited for a long time.
Yeon-seon.
Thank you for marrying me.
I will…
make you happy.
Yeon-seon.
Is this…
a dream?
Lord Jung?
Lord Jung.
Do not leave.
Where are you?
Bok-dong.
Court Lady Kim.
Where did everyone go? I am all alone.
Do not leave me alone.
Do not leave me alone…
Do not leave.
Your Majesty.
Do not leave.
I did not leave.
I promised you, did I not?
That we would be together.
Your Majesty.
Are you awake?
Can you see me?
Your Majesty.
How…
Thank you…
for staying alive.
Thank you so much, Your Majesty.
Are you feeling all right?
I will go and bring some warm water.
What happened…
to my grandfather?
Lord Sangheon…
has passed away.
It is all over now, Your Majesty.
Everything.
Now…
you have nothing to worry about.
Take him outside the palace.
There will be no funeral.
And he shall not…
be buried either.
-Yes, Your Highness. -Yes, Your Highness.
I have not told
the officials that you are awake.
Now that everyone knows your secret,
the moment they find out you are awake, you will have to face…
your punishment.
Thus, I will tell them you are dead.
I will say you never regained consciousness since that day.
Go to a place where no one knows you.
And pretend none of this happened.
This is the last act of kindness
I can show to you.
I cannot do that.
Secrets will always come out.
If this secret comes out someday,
there will be another bloodbath at the palace like today.
When that happens, you, Lord Jaeun who will ascend to the throne,
and everyone who helped me hide will be in trouble.
So you must live in hiding.
Nothing will come of it if you live a quiet life.
That is how
I have lived so far.
I was alive. And yet, I was not.
That was my life.
I no longer wish
to pretend to be someone else.
Too many people have lost their lives because of me.
I know that I cannot hide this anymore.
If I must be punished,
I will accept it.
Your Majesty.
Ascending to the throne
while lying about her gender
is equivalent to making a mockery
of the officials and the people.
This is a serious offense that can weaken…
ROYAL ORDER
…the foundation of the nation.
I will accept any punishment you give me.
Your Majesty.
I apologize for intervening.
But I would like to address the royal court and Your Majesty.
Based on the ideology of Neo-Confucianism that men and women have different duties,
it is clear what she had done is indeed a serious, unforgivable offense.
However, the preceding king did not intend
to become the Prince years ago
and was forced to take the Crown Prince's place.
And upon taking the throne,
the preceding king attempted to rule the nation
with the highest form of benevolence in history for the better of the people.
Thus, it is unjust to punish
the preceding king only based on doctrine and ideology.
The preceding king did not make a mockery of the people.
This only took place because a group of corrupt rebels
chased power instead of serving our king.
I ask that you punish
all of your subjects who had turned a blind eye
on their corrupt acts
before you punish the preceding king.
Please forgive me for intervening.
I served as her teacher at the royal institute
when she was the Crown Prince.
And during her reign, as her Chief Royal Secretary,
I assisted her by her side.
So allow me to share the punishment…
as her teacher and subject.
We beg of you, Your Majesty!
-We beg of you, Your Majesty! -We beg of you, Your Majesty!
This is a serious offense,
but she, alone, is not responsible?
You are right.
I will take that into consideration and make a decision.
Please sentence Yi Hwi to paenghyeong.
What do you mean?
Yi Hwi never existed, to begin with.
Because the prince passed away a long time ago.
Sentence Yi Hwi to paenghyeong
and remove all records of his life so far.
And restore the identity
of the dead court maid, Dam-i, so she can lead a new life.
I beg of you, Your Highness.
Yi Hwi who lied about her gender and ascended to the throne
will face…
paenghyeong.
-Thank you for your boundless generosity. -Thank you for your boundless generosity.
And Dam-i, the twin sister
who had to be abandoned just because she was born a girl,
will regain her identity and live a new life.
So listen up. This story took place
in the mighty palace a long time ago.
A beautiful, fair-skinned woman
who was strong as steel took the throne.
She exposed all the corrupt officials.
And just like dew…
She disappeared like dew?
Then what? What happened?
Like dew,
the water in the cauldron was clear and she went in to face paenghyeong.
And this legendary woman got to live her life anew.
Paenghyeong? What is that?
You know, you go into boiling water
and when you come out, it is as if you do not exist anymore.
So your entire existence just disappears.
Boiling water? She went into the boiling water?
Of course she did not. That is just what they say.
Are you going to the palace now, Commander Kang?
All right.
Drink this before you go.
You have to guard His Majesty all day. You cannot go on an empty stomach.
Thank you.
Right. Take this.
What is this?
Use it when you go to the herb market.
How beautiful.
What is that? Where is mine?
What about mine?
I have a question.
Why did you want to become a commoner?
Just because.
I wanted to visit my father in exile more comfortably.
That is all?
I did not want my life at the palace to be erased.
After all, I made a lot of happy memories in the palace too.
But His Majesty gave back your title.
And it is fortunate that he erased your record as the Queen.
Now, you can meet a nice man and get married.
This would look great on His Majesty.
I hope His Majesty is healthy and doing well.
Your Majesty!
You are here again!
Why did you not tell us you were leaving?
The preceding king made sure that
we were to never leave your side before she left
the palace.
She gave us an order before leaving.
If she finds out, we will be in trouble.
I hope they are both
doing well.
Gosh. Fine.
We will just have seasoned wild vegetables today. Go.
My lady, you startled me.
It has been a while since I held my bow. So I am a bit rusty.
But still…
You seem to be having a hard time catching any fish.
So I ought to hunt to put food on our table.
What? Who says I am having a hard time?
That upsets me.
I chose not to catch fish because I did not want you to get sick of them.
Goodness. Was it yesterday? When I tried to catch this fish,
it almost ate me.
My lady.
My lady!
Where are you running off to?
I promised that I would never let go of you.
I was always curious about what was beyond the ocean.
Would you like to go and see what lies beyond?
No.
I am no longer curious about life there.
I am perfectly happy where I am now.
Right.
Here.
This is…
You told me that you wanted a hairpin.
Stay still for a moment.
You are beautiful, Yeon-seon.
Truly.
Everything that has happened
feels like a dream.
A long, scary,
yet beautiful dream.
Your dreams will no longer be scary.
They will only be beautiful.
Because I will always be by your side.
Subtitle translation by: Liya Choi
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