(This drama is a work of fiction created based on historical facts.)
(Most of the details and depictions of the characters are fictional.)
Did you ever hate me?
The day you left me for good,
I resented you so much that I stared at you for a while.
However, no matter how long I looked, I did not feel hatred toward you.
Instead, I hated myself.
How cold of you.
Did you even imagine how I must have felt?
I could not bear to imagine it.
I just...
knew that my heart was being torn into thousands of pieces...
and could only hope that you would not feel...
the way that I did.
(Episode 18)
You do not seem to be feeling well.
The journey back must have been tiring.
No, Father.
I did have to stop to rest on the way from feeling ill,
but I am recovering.
Do not worry.
Of course.
Your troubles are over, so you should regain your health soon.
Your Majesty,
I have something to tell you.
There are some captives that I released in Simyang.
But I could not bring them this time because it was an inconvenience.
If you could allow it...
Do you know who the traitor, Sim Ki Won,
wanted as the new king at first?
It was you.
I know nothing about it.
I had no idea.
I know.
I trust you.
However,
I hear you gained wealth by farming in Simyang.
Did you buy the captives with that money?
What were you going to use them for?
I used the captives...
for farming and other chores.
However, rather than considering their use,
I just pitied them...
You pitied them?
Was that all?
The first thing that Sim Ki Won did once he started plotting treason...
was to raise a private army.
He gathered strong men and trained them every day.
And he spent his money to buy their favor.
By releasing the captives,
you have also bought their favor.
So if you do not want to be misunderstood,
stop bringing in the captives.
The Crown Prince is very ill.
He will take a trip to the hot springs.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Will you not...
put a floral shoe on my foot today?
I threw away all the floral shoes because I was cross with you.
There is something...
I must finish up.
This is something I promised Yang Chun.
It will take a month, but I will be back.
I had these made at the forge back then.
Even though I thought you were dead,
I had them made...
and kept them with me.
I have...
placed a spell on this ring.
If you betray the lady who gave you the ring,
you will get a stroke.
What?
So please do not worry about me.
I have survived those hardships in Simyang.
If it is just a month,
I can wait for you with a smile.
(Onyang Temporary Palace)
The preparations for the captives are complete.
I will inform His Highness myself.
From now on,
do not ask His Highness about the captives.
What do you mean?
His Highness said that once he returned to Joseon...
I must see His Highness myself.
His Highness...
does not wish to see you.
Your Highness.
Have you forgotten your promise?
You said yourself...
that you would bring them back to Joseon.
They only persevered because of your promise.
The promise...
that you have forgotten...
I still remember it.
Now...
I shall set out to uphold that promise.
I said, you may not.
If you go against me,
I will never see you again.
I was...
about to tell you the same.
From now on, I shall leave you for good.
Stop!
Lee Jang Hyun, stop there!
Do not rush.
Take it slow.
Watch it! Be careful.
Give me the baby.
If you wish,
I shall stay by your side.
In return,
guarantee me that the captives...
will be able to cross the river safely.
If you can do that,
after I finish picking up the captives in Joseon,
I will come back to be by your side.
How...
can I trust you?
You have hundreds of captives under your hostage.
If you break your promise,
I will really kill you this time.
I have sent the captives over.
Lee Jang Hyun.
It is now your turn to come.
They are here.
Be careful. Hurry.
We have arrived.
Be careful.
Brother!
At last.
Goodness. Thank you.
I am here.
I am finally in my country.
Eol Soo.
Chul Soo!
We are finally here.
We are here.
Yang Chun.
Gosh. Jang Hyun.
- Yang Chun. - Yes.
Hey.
Hey, did I not tell you...
that I would...
bring you all back to Joseon?
- Thank you, Yang Chun! - Thank you.
Thank you so much!
Goodness. Thank you.
Thank you, Yang Chun!
What is going on?
Oh, no!
Who are they?
Goodness.
Who are you?
Who are you guys?
Are you all bandits?
If riches are what you want, we will give them to you.
Give me the baby.
Go back.
If you do not, you will all die.
- Stop with the nonsense! - Go back!
You punks!
Do you know how hard it was for us to come here?
Who are you to order us around?
Stop!
Kang Dal!
Strike them!
Step back.
Recross the river!
Let us go.
I cannot.
I will not go back!
- I cannot! - Eol Soo.
You will die if you do not go!
I trusted you...
and His Highness.
But in the end, we were fooled!
No.
That is not true!
Let go!
- Let us go. - Let go.
- Come on. - I am not leaving!
Come on.
We have to go.
- Hurry. - Hurry.
In Ok.
Hurry up!
We have to go.
Baby.
We have to go. Hurry.
Get up!
Come on.
Yang Chun!
Take him to safety!
At once!
Jang Hyun!
Yang Chun.
Lee Jang Hyun...
Where is he?
Jang Hyun.
Ningguchin.
Go in that direction.
I will prepare a horse for you.
What is wrong?
No.
- Deung No. - Deung No.
- Stay with me. - Hey!
Deung No.
No.
Goodness.
If you are lying,
I will pull out your tongue.
Can you not believe me after seeing all of this?
A bunch of men attacked us with spears, telling us to leave.
We were able to cross the river.
But Jang Hyun...
I do not even know if he is alive or not.
He is dead?
If he were alive, would he not be here by now?
I am sure...
No.
That cannot be true.
Goodness.
- I am so scared. - Where are we going?
Whose orders did you follow to commit treason?
(Naesaok: a prison within the palace controlled by eunuchs)
Did you perhaps act upon the Crown Prince's orders?
On the 25th of last month, between the hours of 11 p.m. and 2 a.m.,
a scream was heard.
The servants of the Palace Supply Bureau were armed...
and were seen rushing out to the outer edges of the palace.
Master.
Yes.
The one who sent me an anonymous letter has sent news again.
The servants of the Palace Supply Bureau...
have dragged dozens of criminals to their prison.
The servants of the Palace Supply Bureau?
What crimes did they commit?
I am not sure,
but His Majesty suspects...
the captives, who have returned from across the river, to be traitors.
How could His Majesty think the captives are traitors...
Gather...
the scholars.
I will go to His Majesty.
If they are truly traitors,
they should be sent over to the Department of Justice...
and punished under national law.
(Geumbu: Department of Justice,)
(where serious criminals were punished under the King's orders)
If...
they are innocent,
I will be sure to get them out alive.
Goodness.
Who was it that incited you...
into plotting treason?
We do not know.
You say it.
Where are we?
Who is behind you?
Are you Gu Yang Chun?
I know that your leader is Gu Yang Chun.
No, he is not.
This man is...
If you are not Gu Yang Chun,
then who is?
Is it you?
Please spare me!
Is it you?
No, it is not me!
It is me.
What?
I am Gu Yang Chun.
So you should speak to me.
This man is the one...
who helped us run away...
and to cross the river.
He is that man.
Leave this man here and drag the rest of them out.
- Yes, sir. - Yes, sir.
Come on!
- Please have mercy! - Please spare us!
Let us live.
Yang Chun.
Are you awake?
Yang Chun.
How is everyone doing?
You betrayed us, right?
You sold us off, right?
To those jerks.
You plotted with them,
and sold us...
My Byung Hee...
Bring her back.
Byung Hee...
Bring Byung Hee back to life!
My daughter, Byung Hee!
Bring her back!
- Bring Byung Hee back to life! - In Ok.
- Bring her back! - In Ok.
My daughter, Byung Hee.
My poor Byung Hee.
Bring her back!
Your Highness.
Your Highness, do you remember me?
They killed the captives who had come from the border regions,
and they took the survivors away?
Where to?
Where did they take them to?
I do not know.
I do not know where Lee Jang Hyun has gone, Your Highness.
Please save him.
Please save Lee Jang Hyun.
Father...
Father!
Let us go to the Palace.
Your Highness.
Those who are targeting you...
are only waiting for you to lose your footing.
So, Your Highness.
Please do not anger His Majesty.
Please save yourself...
and your firstborn son, Your Highness.
Let us go.
I will go with His Highness.
Get ready.
Yes, Your Highness.
What was the reason that you raised a private army?
Those men...
are not a private army.
They are captives.
I merely...
tried to bring the captives back to Joseon.
Who put you up to it?
No one made me.
It was...
just my own plan to bring back...
the released captives.
Jong Jong...
loves me.
She loves me not.
She loves me.
Jang Hyun... This is insane.
My child...
Let go.
Let me go!
Let go!
Stop it.
What is this?
Did you and Interpreter Lee...
This is great.
I am glad for you.
I knew this day would come.
Why are you crying, Madam Bang Doo?
Because I am happy, of course.
You should have patched things up with him long ago, then.
All that heartache...
He said he had some business in Simyang.
Once he returns,
he wants to stay with me.
What?
The scholars are heading over here?
Who is it?
Who led them here?
Is it Kim Jib?
Or Jang Chul?
Or is it Kim Sang Heon?
No.
Did the Crown Prince instigate them?
It is Jang Chul.
You wait outside.
Please bring me along.
Why is His Highness in a rush to see His Majesty?
By any chance,
is His Majesty involved in Jang Hyun's arrest?
I said I would find out.
Just wait outside the palace.
The scholars are being defiant...
because there is a cursed object hidden in the palace.
Your Highness.
Your Highness!
Lady Cho, please excuse us.
Prince So Hyun.
You are being rude.
Right now!
What...
did you do with the captives?
Are you showing your true colors at last?
Your Majesty.
Did you think I would not find out...
about the soldiers you brought in from the Qing?
What soldiers?
Then tell me.
What were they, if not soldiers?
There were weapons in their belongings.
They killed the servants at the Palace Supply Bureau.
Your Majesty.
They are merely captives.
They are our people.
What?
Our people?
Then...
did you rush all the way here,
drenched by the morning dew...
despite your frail body just for the sake of the people?
Of course not.
Are they the ones who will help you rise to the throne?
Is that why you are so protective of them?
Your Majesty.
Even if the world turns its back on me,
I had believed that you at least would protect me.
It turned out to be no one but my son...
who shall stab me in the back.
Are they waiting outside the gates...
for your orders?
Are they holding swords and iron clubs...
to target me?
Your Majesty.
They were farmers and workers who slogged it out in Simyang.
Singing Joseon songs on Simyang land,
they are captives who missed Joseon.
Risking their lives to escape,
they are Your Majesty's people.
How can you...
doubt that they have treacherous intentions?
Please see what I saw.
The people of this country shaped me into a better person.
I...
I smelled their sweat...
and witnessed the tears falling down their faces.
The scene was sweeter than any delicacy in the world...
and more beautiful than any silk out there.
You have to see it with your own eyes as well, Your Majesty.
If you do,
you will understand me.
And you will want to save them.
I do not want to hear it!
What nonsense.
I am going to handle this matter in secret...
for I hate to be harsh,
so you should be grateful.
Your Highness!
Things are happening quickly, so we must hurry.
Have you not heard back from the girl who makes knives?
It cannot be anyone else.
It must be her. Do you understand?
Yes, Your Majesty.
I am a sinner...
for I was not able to protect the people of my country from the intruders.
So I tried not to present myself to the world for I was ashamed.
However,
I will no longer just sit in my room and utter bitter criticisms.
That is not a way to protect my country.
It is not a way to protect the people.
Even if...
His Majesty is to rebuke me...
and the people are to resent me,
I will continue to do...
what I must for this country...
and the people.
Will you join me?
Yes, Master!
We will follow you.
- We will join you, Master! - We will join you, Master!
A collective appeal?
What is it that they want?
They are asking for the criminals in prison...
to be handed over to the Department of Justice.
My gosh!
Darn it.
Bring Jang Chul to me.
As for the criminals in prison...
This man...
Smash his head and kill him.
Yes, sir.
You know,
I will make...
an embroidered pillowcase for Lord Lee.
I thought you said you would not have anything to do with a misogamist.
That is just the way of life.
You also said you would rather be a bhikkhuni...
than marry Bak Dae.
It is hard taking care of my dad...
with the money I send you, right?
I am working hard to earn money,
so sooner or later, I will take him...
No, I will not allow that.
He is also like a father to me and my lord.
When Interpreter Lee returns,
we can all live happily together.
That is all we should think about, okay?
Is anyone home?
Her Majesty wants to see you.
Why do you keep coming back?
I cannot do what you asked.
She will give you three times the original amount.
Then answer me.
Why are you privately asking me to prepare something...
that will be sent to the Queen's Palace?
I cannot do something you ask when I do not know what you are plotting.
Once Prince Sung Sun accedes to the throne, you will...
(Prince Sung Sun: the son of Injo and Lady Cho)
The Crown Prince has returned.
How will Prince Sung Sun accede to the throne?
You do not know what is going on.
It is over for the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince and the people he conspired with in Simyang...
have all been caught.
What do you mean by that?
Then...
are you saying the people who were loyal to the Crown Prince...
have been caught?
My husband actually told me something.
He told me...
that a lot of people are being dragged to prison...
and tormented to death these days.
I like this one.
You engraved it nicely.
"Admire the queen's residence with high praise."
Do you like it?
By the way,
is it certain that the group from Simyang...
has all been captured?
I must also have someone to rely on...
I told you to watch your mouth.
I could become the future king's mother.
So, from now on,
just do what I tell you to without a hitch.
Hurry up.
Okay.
Is something going on in the palace?
You will not live long with that curiosity of yours.
- Are you finished? - Yes.
I am finished.
Goodness, I can smell it from here.
I know, right?
They always seem to be interrogating people...
at the Palace Supply Bureau.
Goodness.
You know about what is happening at the Palace Supply Bureau?
Plenty of people know about it.
I hope this mess is over with soon.
Then get going.
Your Majesty.
I have waited so long to meet you in person.
I finally get to meet you.
I, your humble servant, have finally come to greet you, Your Majesty.
Then why is it that you are bothering me because of a trivial matter?
Then why do you...
kill your people over a trivial matter, Your Majesty?
Since it is a trivial matter,
you are torturing and interrogating them in the Palace Supply Bureau,
are you not?
If they were truly traitors,
please send them to the Department of Justice and reveal their crimes.
There is a reason why I cannot send them to the Department of Justice.
So you should take the scholars and go home.
If you do not go back this instant,
I will send the palace guards to send them away.
(Geumgun: palace guards in charge of guarding the king)
Do you wish your pupils to get hurt?
If my pupils get hurt,
the scholars all across the nation will rise up in revolt.
Have you forgotten how Gwanghae lost the support of the scholars...
and lost everything else afterwards?
Your Majesty.
You kept Joseon safe from the grasp of Gwanghae.
Joseon is a nation where the people...
serve the king with allegiance and fidelity...
and a nation where the king, who is served,
keeps his loyalty to his people.
So, how could you...
betray that loyalty...
by covertly killing people?
How could you anger the skies?
Until you move...
those who are being kept in the Palace Supply Bureau...
to the Department of Justice,
I refuse...
to move an inch from this very spot.
Have this man taken away!
Your Majesty.
Please move those who are being kept in the Palace Supply Bureau...
to the Department of Justice.
Your Majesty.
Please do not betray your loyalty!
- Please do not anger the skies! - Why, that little...
Your Majesty!
Please move those who are being kept in the Palace Supply Bureau...
- to the Department of Justice. - What do you think you are doing?
Let go of him!
- Let go of him! - Let go of him!
You must not betray your loyalty!
Let go of him!
- Your Majesty! - Let go of him!
Please do not anger the skies!
Your Majesty!
Please move those who are being kept in the Palace Supply Bureau...
to the Department of Justice.
Please do not betray your loyalty, Your Majesty!
Please move those who are being kept in the Palace Supply Bureau...
to the Department of Justice!
Please do not betray your loyalty!
Do not cry.
Your sister...
did that for you.
Hey, there. I am to wait here?
We have orders to empty the Palace Supply Bureau.
It must be because of the scholars.
My lord.
Please do not betray your loyalty, Your Majesty!
Please move those who are being kept in the Palace Supply Bureau...
to the Department of Justice!
- Move them to the Department of Justice! - Move them to the Department of Justice!
Please move those who are being kept in the Palace Supply Bureau...
to the Department of Justice!
My lord.
Are you awake?
(My Dearest)
I must bring Lord Lee elsewhere.
His corpse disappeared.
My lord.
My lord!
The Crown Princess is involved in a shameful affair.
Treason?
That is not true.
His Highness is...
Your Highness.
In Joseon,
the Crown Prince's people are all being purged.
Is that true?
My lord.
This moment is my happiest one with you.
Even if I die, I will never leave your side again.
(Subtitles are provided by KOCOWA.)