Episode 12
Bring in the criminals!
Your Highness!
We will begin the inquisition, Your Highness.
- Interrogate the criminals! - Begin the interrogation!
Halt!
Cease the inquisition. There will be no interrogation!
- But Your Highness...! - These men are not criminals!
They are not criminals!
What did you just say?
These men are innocent, Your Majesty.
I cannot ask them to confess to a crime they didn't commit just so I can protect myself.
I will not interrogate them.
Are you saying you will disobey my orders?
Forgive me, Your Majesty...
But I will disobey you.
I am Royal Secretary Jung Hu Gyum.
I know. All of us ambitious leeches know who you are.
I am Tutor of the Office of the Crown prince, Hong Gook Young.
Please sit.
Leeches? Your words are crude.
I call it as I see it.
Do you know why I have called you here?
Well...
I doubt you called me here because you had nothing to do.
Perhaps you think you found a piece of jade amongst a pile of rocks.
You are an interesting fellow.
Yes, I will say you stood out to me. But as for the jade, we will have to see.
I am quite a cautious man, you see.
Well, I must show you my talents then.
I heard that you disqualified Lord Kim Dae Chun's son from the Official Examinations.
As he is a small-minded man, he may give you trouble.
You might want to take a look at his accounting books for last month.
You will find that he has been accepting bribes from the merchants in Seogyung.
A new Secretary will be appointed next month.
What do you think of that position? Will it be enough to satisfy you?
I will think about it.
Think about it? Why?
You must have investigated me before you made me this offer.
I too need time to investigate you.
Me?
If you follow a dog, you may reach an outhouse. But if you follow a tiger, you may gain the forest.
I must find out if I will reach an outhouse or gain a forest.
Will three days be enough?
It will be enough.
- Has he left? - Yes.
Watch him closely. If he will not join us, we must not let him spread his wings.
Yes, My Lord.
What do you mean the prince disobeyed the king's orders?
They say he refused to interrogate the prisoners and invoked His Majesty's wrath!
What shall we do, Your Highness?
He is already under suspicion for treason. How could he disobey the king?
I must see the prince.
- Is His Highness inside? - Yes, but...
It is not too late.
You can still go and beg for His Majesty's forgiveness.
Tell him you made a mistake and beg for his mercy!
- Mother... - How did you live until today?
Do you intend to give up now?
You must withstand it! You must live!
You must be prepared to have me killed if it will save your life!
I am doing this so that I can live, Mother. Don't you understand?
I'm doing this to live.
Not to live as if I am already dead, but to live a full life!
Son!
After Father died, how did you live?
Even though I lived and breathed, my life was not one of the living.
My guilty heart made my life hell.
Isn't that also how you lived, Mother?
I can't live like that again, Mother.
I know I have caused you distress.
I know that you are having a harder time than me, Mother.
But I cannot kill them just to save myself.
Can you promise... Can you promise you will live?
Mother...
I cannot lose you too.
I will stay alive. No matter what, I will live.
I will survive with those men, Mother.
I will return to my quarters.
- Your Highness...! - Let us go.
I will not add my tears to someone who has a long and difficult journey ahead.
It is all over now.
I thought it would take longer, but everything has happened easily.
But His Majesty still has faith in the prince.
We cannot know what will happen next.
No. There will no more problems.
What is the reason why His Majesty made him do the inquisition?
He wanted him to execute the criminals and fully distance himself from suspicion of treason.
But the prince has disobeyed him.
All because of his dead father.
It is undeniable that His Majesty killed the Crown Prince.
But today, the prince said out loud that his father was innocent of any crime.
Don't you understand?
The prince has touched His Majesty's most sensitive spot.
They are not criminals!
My father... did not commit treason, Your Majesty.
My father was loyal to you and to this nation until the end.
Your Majesty, the prince asks for your audience.
Your Majesty...
Let him enter.
I...
I have committed the crime of disobeying your orders.
But Your Majesty...
Please accept my statement that they are innocent!
I will find out everything. Just give me five days...
I will prove that those men and myself are innocent!
Your Majesty...!
If they are innocent...
Then what of your father?
I remember you saying when you were young that your father was loyal to me until the end.
You said that your father never plotted treachery against me.
Do you still believe that?
I thought you would come to realize everything when you got older.
Was I wrong?
Your Majesty...!
Tell me.
Is your father a criminal or not?
I said tell me!
Are you asking me for the truth?
Not to speak with fear or trepidation,
but my honest thoughts from the bottom of my heart?
So what is it?
Are you saying that your father was not a criminal?
Is that how you honestly feel?
- Your Majesty! - Your father is a criminal.
What is he if not a criminal?
Are you saying that I killed my own child even though he had committed no crime?
- Your Majesty! - He was a criminal.
He interfered in national politics and caused disruption and chaos in our nation!
The entire Cabinet beseeched me in one voice!
- Your Majesty...! - Silence!
I do not wish to hear you speak any longer!
You have defended traitors. Therefore you are now a traitor!
If you cannot prove your innocence,
I will have those men decapitated, and remove your title as Crown Prince!
You know what it means to have your royal title taken away from you!
If you want to live, prove your innocence within three days!
- Your Majesty! - Get out of my sight!
- Sung Song Yeon! - Yes?
What are you doing? Why are you mixing the pigments?
You...! Where is your head?
Forgive me!
It must be in your destiny to do laundry!
Maybe...
They are saying that the prince is really going to be executed for treason.
The prince is going to be executed? Who is saying that?
I heard the Royal Artists talking about it.
If he doesn't prove his innocence, his title will be removed and he will have to drink poison.
Where are all the Royal Guards?
They have gone to the weaponry for maintenance.
- So it's just the two of you? - Yes.
What is it, Your Excellency?
I searched everywhere, but these are the only Royal Guards who were present.
You are Kang Suk Ki of the Right Guard and Suh Jang Bo of the Left Guard.
The Right Guard is skilled at archery, and the Left Guard at combat and spear.
These two will be enough.
The two of you will help me investigate the invasion of the Royal Palace.
They murdered the guards in cold blood and used fire powder.
They must have been specially trained.
We must find out their identities in three days. Can you do this?
Yes, Your Highness.
This map came from the invaders of the palace?
That's right.
Only a Royal Artist at the Bureau can make such a detailed map of the palace.
That is what His Highness said as well.
Someone at the Bureau has drawn this map and given it to the culprits.
Can you find out who it is?
What did Official Park say?
He will investigate with the other Royal Artists and let us know the results.
Alright. If they will help us, we may have a chance.
I should have known what would happen when Dae Su started calling the prince his friend.
Your jokes are so funny!
- Keep eating! I'll bring out more! - I hope I can see her more before I die.
- Welcome! - May I ask you a question?
Do you know where Park Dae Su lives?
That man over there, the one that looks like a dried fish head, that's his uncle.
This... was it. Hwe Go Chun Sa.
- So that was it. - What is it, Sir?
This was not a question for the exam. It is a code.
- A... a code? - That's right.
Did you know there was an invasion of the palace?
Of course! That's why the prince is in trouble!
The prince has fallen into a trap.
Someone is framing the prince for treason.
And Minister of War, Han Jun Ho was in the middle of it.
Is... is that true, Sir?
For something as big as this, he was probably just a pawn.
Someone bigger than him will have been behind it.
Those bastards! I won't let you get away with it!
Where... where are you going?
I'm going to the Police Bureau! I'll tell them to seize the Minister of War!
It'll be useless to go there. Stop being stupid and sit down.
Use... useless? You want me to sit down?
You want us to do nothing? The real traitors are right there!
Who is going to believe you?
You were the only one who saw that code.
If you go to the Bureau without any evidence, you will be accused of treason yourself.
That's right, Dae Su. If you go there, you'll be accused, and if you're accused, I'll be too!
Then... then what should we do?
We can't just sit here because no one will believe us!
If I have a plan, will you be willing to catch them?
- What? - Catch... catch them?
Who? Our Dae Su?
- Actually, it is better if I secretly... - No.
I'll do it.
What is the plan, Sir? Just tell me and I'll do it.
I'll catch them myself!
If he entrusted the code to him,
Minister Han must really trust his manservant.
He will most likely do many things for him.
Go and watch the manservant.
Watch what he does and who he sees.
If you see anything suspicious, let me know. Do you understand?
Have a good trip.
What are you doing? Hurry up, Uncle!
Now I'm really involved!
What is it?
- How much is this? - Which one? This or this?
This one's too big for me.
Those fellows...!
- What did that man buy? - He bought a book on the Classics.
Give me a really good one!
Excuse me, let me see that erotica!
Are you crazy? I'm not sharing it with you!
How good is it?
We only have five drawings left!
Hey, give me one!
- Sir Yi Chun! - I have to see how much better it is!
Artist Cho! How potent did you make it?
Look here, Artist Yi! Artist Yi!
Look here, Artist Yi! I said wake up!
Did I fall asleep again?
Go to the Bureau Office! Sir Park has called all the artists.
Alright.
I almost saw it when he woke me up.
Where's that potent one?
This map of the palace was taken from the invaders.
As you can see, such a detailed map could only have been drawn by a Bureau Artist.
What do you mean? Someone from the Bureau was involved in the invasion?
That's right. Someone among you,
or someone who used to work here, drew this map.
Now we must look at all the maps drawn in the Bureau,
and find the artist who drew this.
Although the map is drawn in the western style,
if you look at the styles and strokes of the painting, you will be able to find the artist.
There are thousands of maps here! How can we look at all of them?
There are hundreds of artists who have left the Bureau and thousands of maps here.
How can we look at all of them?
My sentiments exactly. There is no point looking at them.
Don't spend too much time on it.
The wounds on the dead soldiers show that
the attackers were skilled in many types of swordsmanship.
I am certain that they were highly skilled specialists.
We lost over fifty men, but they only lost six. They are fearsome fighters indeed.
There is nothing else on the corpses.
Alright then.
Walk faster, Uncle! We're going to lose him!
- My feet hurts! - Hurry up!
Look here!
- You're here! - Oh!
Oh, I'm going to die! Let's go inside!
- He's so lucky! - Uncle!
Although their investigation is underway, they will not be able to find anything.
You do not have to worry.
You have finally removed the thorn from your side.
Congratulations, Your Majesty.
That child is not yet dead.
We must not let our guard down until his royal title is taken from him.
We must make sure that we are successful this time.
The prince is the son of the Crown Prince Sado whom we killed.
If he becomes king,
there will be bloodshed in government and chaos in the ranks.
We must never have another deposed king like Yeonsan ever again.
We must strike him down for the sake of peace in our nation and government.
- Do you understand? - Yes, Your Majesty!
Your Highness, why did you not punish us?
We were not able to protect you.
How will we see the late Crown Prince when we see him in our afterlife?
Don't say such things. You will not die.
Your Highness...!
There must be evidence of your innocence. We are searching, so be patient with us.
It will be useless, Your Highness.
What do you mean?
The day written as the day of our conspiracy for insurgency,
His Majesty had stopped by Gwangju for a birthday celebration.
I was present there with some other officials.
Then that means the letter is fake!
- Why didn't you say anything before? - It will be useless even if I did.
No one will testify to my presence there.
They are all afraid to be accused of treason along with me.
I will look into it. There will be a way to prove your innocence.
- No, Your Highness, you must...! - Enough.
I will no longer listen to those who ask me to save myself.
Please, I beg of you... Live. Live so that you can protect me.
Isn't that what my father would have wanted?
Your Highness!
You're home late.
How is it going, Dae Su?
- There was nothing. - Oh.
Don't worry. We'll find something tomorrow.
Don't worry, Song Yeon. Nothing will happen to the prince.
I'll catch the culprits.
I wish I could help in some way too.
I want to help His Highness like you and Uncle.
I'm so useless.
- Right? - Song Yeon.
- Hey Park! - Oh, welcome, welcome!
- Give me forty bags of rice. - Forty?
He's not doing anything strange. He has to do something so we can catch him!
- I'll stop by again. - Yes, Sir!
Goodbye, Sir!
Get moving, men!
We need to ask you a question. What did that man just buy?
Why do you ask?
Here...
20 bags of barley and 40 bags of brown rice.
And ten bags of buckwheat.
What? All of that?
Yes, he said he'll come for it later and paid up front for it.
Is he raising beggars?
Artist Tak and I have gone through these maps. We couldn't find any similarities.
Alright. Return them to the storehouse.
Yes, Sir.
Sir! All the maps have already been looked at?
They weren't looked at very closely.
But you can't do that! It's a matter of life and death!
Everyone was doing it that way.
And my mind is distracted anyway, so even if I looked closer, I wouldn't know.
Well... help me with these, Song Yeon.
Forgive me, but I'm really busy today.
Wait a moment, Sir!
You know I drew many paintings for you.
Of course! You've done so many for me.
- And I'll probably do a few hundred more. - Of course! I can't live without you.
Then please do me a favor, Sir.
Favor?
When you leave, make sure you lock it.
- Understand? - Yes, I'll make sure it's locked.
What are you going to do in the map room?
There are a lot of secure documents here. You will be punished if you are caught.
If they find you, they may take you to the State Tribunal as a traitor!
Don't worry, I'll be careful.
I'm sorry for asking you to do this.
Song Yeon, you promised me a few hundred paintings!
Yes.
Be careful.
Now we must look at all the maps drawn in the Bureau,
and find the artist who drew this.
I heard you went to the Police Bureau yesterday.
Is there anything I can help with?
No, I'm alright. I'll just accept your kind words.
I'm honored, Your Highness.
What? You found nothing suspicious?
There was nothing! I didn't even blink when I followed him!
What do we do now?
I trusted you and followed that man all day long! Now what do we do?
What did that man do? Tell me in detail.
I told you nothing! He was with his mistress all last night.
Today, he walked around Woonjongga.
And I don't know who he's feeding, but he bought 30 bags of barley...
- And 20 kilos of meat...! - What?
What did you just say? What did he buy?
Meat... Barley....
What did I tell you! I told you to notify me of anything suspicious.
I didn't know that was suspicious.
He just bought enough food to feed than a hundred people.
What would he use that for?
What did you learn from me? What did Sun Tzu say?
He said you could fight without weapons, but you cannot fight without food.
Don't you get it? That is their army rations!
What?
Go back to the grain store.
I'll go and see if the manservant has returned. We must hurry!
Yes, Sir!
- Move it along, men! - Yes, Sir!
Load it carefully!
That man... that man I asked about... Did he come here for the goods?
He came a while ago. He took all the goods with him.
Did... did he say where he was going?
Come on. If you know something, please tell me!
I really shouldn't...
Go to Won Nam Gol in Jongchun. That's where he was headed.
Won Nam Gol in Jongchun?
Thank you!
He said Won Nam Gol in Jongchun, but where is it?
What's this? This is where the traders' inn!
How ridiculous! How can they put an army here?
Did that man tell me nonsense?
- Hurry and load it. - Yes Sir.
Why is he loading it again?
- Is that artist still in the Capital? - Yes, Sir.
I have to escort his Lordship to the Police Bureau.
- Take care of it. - Yes, Sir.
Where are they going?
I've put this too high up. I can't see anything!
This... this is a copy of erotica from China!
This is a copy!
That wretch calls himself the maestro of erotica?
This... this looks like the map Official Park showed us!
Could he have...?
Put that back here. You...!
What are you doing here?
Where am I?
What... what is this?
- Take it away. - Yes, Your Majesty.
You do not look well. I will send for the Royal Physician.
No need for that. I know my own body well.
- But Your Majesty...! - Do not trouble yourself.
You look troubled as well.
The prince's antics have created a stir. How could I not be affected as well?
I... I cannot believe that the prince plotted such treachery.
It is not like him to do such a thing.
Nothing is for certain.
What do you mean by that?
Are you saying that you suspect the prince?
How could this be?
They say that if the heart is full of hatred, the hand will grasp a sword.
Are you saying that the prince harbored such terrible thoughts?
What do you mean no one will testify?
No one will testify that they were present at the celebration.
They all fear of the backlash.
Forgive me, Your Highness.
His Majesty approaches!
Tomorrow is the day you promised.
- Are you aware of this? - Yes, Your Majesty.
- Your Highness... - I'm alright.
Your Highness! Your Highness!
This was found by one of the Bureau Artists. It looks like the same person drew it.
It was found at the house of Artist Cho who left the Bureau a few months ago.
It seems that he is the artist of the map.
Where is his house?
Oh no...!
I don't know exactly where it is, but I know the road I returned from.
I'll draw you a map! You have to go there now!
They had weapons and hundreds of men practicing combat!
They're the men who attacked the palace!
What did you just say?
You're here, My Lord.
Hundreds of men practicing combat? What do you mean by that?
It looks like we were a step too late.
- Forgive us, Your Highness. - Forgive us.
No. It is not your fault.
Wait.
This... this is the same thing that was found on the attackers' bodies.
Is there a swamp in the Capital?
A swamp?
It hasn't rained in the Capital for ten days.
But there were mud prints and pondweed in the palace as well as here.
Pondweed only grows in swamps.
I am certain that they are encamping at a swamp.
Your Highness, do you know of a village named Aretdeh below Hyoryeunggu?
- Aretdeh? - Yes.
He's right.
Aretdeh's ground is always wet even in sunny weather.
Aretdeh is the only swamp in the Capital of Dosung, Your Highness!
Really? Did you really see such a place?
Yes! I saw it with my own eyes!
I am sure those men were the ones who breached the palace!
We must hurry, Your Lordship! We have to go and arrest them!
Yes, if you are right, we must not wait another moment!
That's right!
I will order the dispatch of the police, so do not worry.
Really? Then everything will be alright then?
Then the prince will be cleared of all guilt?
If what you are saying is true, then yes.
- Did you say you could draw a map? - Yes, My Lord.
Then draw a map and give it to the officer. You may return home afterwards.
You have done a great thing. You have served the nation!
Keep up the good work, Sirs!
Wait a moment!
Me?
You don't have to escort me back home.
You are a hero now. That's why we were given these orders.
I just did what I needed to do.
I didn't relieve myself all day because I was hiding in the cart.
- Please wait a while. - Go on.
Are you doing your work properly?
How could you not have known that there was someone hiding in the cart?
Forgive me, My Lord.
Send someone to the princess and let her know what happened.
And send men to Aretdeh immediately. Do you understand me?
Yes, My Lord!
This is the map that fellow drew.
Soldiers practicing combat in the Capital!
There are often crazy men who say such nonsense from time to time.
You are doing a good job here. I will remember you when I return.
Thank you, My Lord.
- Have you taken care of him? - Yes.
The men should be back any moment.
Let's go. There are many things we must do.
My Lord!
You... What is it?
Why have you come back?
He came with me.
Your Highness... What brings you here at such a late hour?
What about you?