- Officer Park! - What happened? Where is His Majesty?
He's not here. He's nowhere to be found!
What did you just say? You're the king?
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to trick you, but somehow it came to be this way.
Oh my, please forgive me. How could I not have recognized you?
How could you possibly have recognized me when I am in disguise like this?
Now you can tell me who you are.
Your Majesty, you mean you really don't recognize me either?
It's me! Your Chancellor!
What?
If you're the king, then I should be Chancellor!
Now look here, you must think I am joking but...
Wait! We have to hide! Come with me!
We have no time for playacting right now. That road should lead to Geumchun Bridge.
Don't come here again. Do you hear me?
Wait! Wait a moment!
The king? What a crazy fellow!
I thought I was good at reading faces! I have to study all over again!
They may still be around, so search carefully. Do you hear me?
I don't think His Majesty has been captured.
They look like they're as confused as we are about that explosion.
Then where could His Majesty possibly be?
I'm going to search the mountains. Return to the palace and bring the Imperial Guard.
- Officer Suh, you should stay here. - Here?
Since we were separated here, His Majesty will most likely come back here.
- We have no time. Let's hurry! - Alright.
- If you're looking for me, there's no need for that. - Your Majesty!
Your Majesty, what happened? Where were you?
Forgive me. You must have been worried.
- I had a small mishap, that's all. - What? A mishap?
- You mean that explosion... - Yes, that was me.
Well, to be frank, it was the work of my Chancellor.
Chancellor...?
What do you mean, Your Majesty? The Chancellor helped you?
I'll tell you the details later. We have much work to do.
- A ship from Qing will be arriving in a month? - Yes, Your Majesty.
According to our investigations, they have been posing as traders from Qing.
And they have been handing over the debtors as slaves in that way.
We have confirmed that the ship will be coming in through Songpa.
In that case, we should not strike their headquarters now.
Do you intend to wait until they make their next transaction?
That's right. I want to arrest everyone, including the Qing traders who buy the slaves.
That is the only way we will be able to find out what happened to the people who were sold.
- Commander. - Yes, Your Majesty.
In a month, we will organize a raid to arrest all those responsible for this human trade.
Until then, keep a close watch on their headquarters. Do you hear me?
Yes, Your Majesty! I will obey!
I heard His Majesty had an incident when he was out of the palace today. What happened?
Yes, Your Excellency. According to his guards, there was a small incident.
But His Majesty was able to get out safely with help from a scholar from the Academy.
- What? A scholar from the Academy? - Yes, Your Excellency.
What? You don't believe me?
If you're the king, then I should be Chancellor!
- No one's there. - Let me have a look!
How did he know about that place?
Your Majesty, the Advisor is here.
Isn't it strange that a scholar from the Academy was there at that time?
I agree. It was strange that he knew about that place.
I think he must be involved in some way. I have ordered Officer Park to find out about him.
He seemed well-versed in new inventions, and educated in new methods of science.
The item he used at the warehouse was something I had never read about or seen.
I don't know who this man is, but it appears he has piqued your interest.
Yes, considering how he had escaped from the Academy, it seems he is not inclined in study.
But he may be of other use.
Not only that, his eyes were shining with intelligence.
He looked like how Secretary Hong used to be when I was still the Crown Prince.
Your Majesty...!
Your Majesty, it is Official Nam.
Your Majesty, it is quite late.
It is time for you to retire to your chambers.
Let me stay here a while. I don't think I will be able to sleep easily.
I wonder how Secretary Hong would have reacted to this situation.
He would have called all the scholars of the Academy to find him.
His impatience would have warranted such actions.
Don't you agree?
Your Majesty...
Yes, I often think this way.
When good things happen, or bad...
I often wonder what Secretary Hong would do...
or say to me in those situations...
Your Majesty, I know how much you valued Secretary Hong.
But he is a criminal guilty of high treason.
You must not allow yourself to think about him often...
They say that Secretary Hong is not well, Official Nam.
I'm not saying I forgive his crimes.
I know that I shouldn't allow myself to think about him.
But before he was a subject who served me,
he was also my closest friend.
I am worried that something will happen to him while he is in exile.
I can't stop thinking about it.
Your Majesty...
Secretary Hong!
You still have not come to your senses.
How dare you wait for His Majesty's forgiveness?
How dare you wait for His Majesty's summons?
I still haven't come to my senses...
Do you remember, Your Majesty?
That day, when you came to visit me at the Tribunal prison,
you told me that you couldn't forget the first time we met.
I felt the same way, Your Majesty.
There were many things I wanted to accomplish.
Until the day you accomplished everything you wanted to,
I wanted to be at your side.
For the rest of my life,
I wanted to work together with you.
Perhaps in our next life,
if we ever meet again...
Maybe then...
Will you forgive me?
Will you forgive this disloyal sinner?
Will you take me back?
Don't do this again! I almost got in big trouble!
I'm sorry. I felt good this morning and decided to fish.
I tried to find you but you were nowhere to be found.
Did you gamble again last night?
- How... how did you know that? - Be careful. What if I escape?
What?
For some reason, I think I am going to have a good day today.
I had a good dream last night.
Another one of those dreams of yours, and it'll be my neck on the line!
Wait a moment.
Do you remember the officer who came to visit me a while ago?
- You mean the officer from the Imperial Guard? - That's right.
If he ever comes back here,
give this to him.
Why are you giving it to me? Give it to him yourself!
Yes, I suppose you're right.
But I'm worried that I'll forget. That's why I'm asking you.
And since I may forget this too...
Tell him...
I'm sorry... and thank you.
Tell him this for me.
Your Majesty, did you really mean what you just said?
Yes, I did.
- But if others find out... - I know what you're going to say.
That's why I'm asking you to do it secretly.
There is no other intention. I just want to say something to him.
I could always send a letter through you.
But for some reason, I want to tell him this personally.
I need you to bring him just outside the Capital. Can you do this?
Your Majesty...
But for some reason, I want to tell him this personally.
I need you to bring him just outside the Capital.
You want to take the criminal back to the Capital for a while?
Yes, we have some more questions for him.
We will return him soon, so please let me have him.
Alright. I'll make the preparations. Please wait.
Sir!
This is for you.
What is this?
My Lord! It is I! It's Dae Su!
My Lord!
What's going on? He's not inside!
- You said he hasn't moved! - That's right!
My Lord!
My Lord! My Lord! Open your eyes!
Somebody! Come over here!
Go and summon the physician! Hurry!
My Lord! My Lord!
Your Majesty, it is Official Nam.
Enter.
- What is it? - There is an urgent message from Officer Park.
- An urgent message from Officer Park? - Yes, Your Majesty.
Give it to me.
How can this be?
Your Majesty!
He is a criminal! You cannot do this!
- Move aside, Advisor! - No, Your Majesty! This will bring trouble!
I have to see Secretary Hong! I have to see him before something happens to him!
Your Majesty! Your Majesty!
How is he?
Say something!
It's too late.
My Lord! My Lord!
How is Secretary Hong?
Your Majesty!
Secretary Hong!
Secretary Hong! It's me. Can you hear me?
It's me! I'm here, Secretary Hong.
Get up, Secretary Hong! I have something to say to you!
Secretary Hong!
Your Majesty...
My Lord! Can you hear us?
Secretary Hong!
It's me. Do you recognize me?
Secretary Hong!
I'm sorry...
Forgive me for having abandoned you like this.
Forgive me for coming here so late. Forgive me, Secretary Hong.
Did you know this, Secretary Hong?
I never blamed you.
I never took you out of my heart.
Please don't say anything else...
You don't have to say anything else...
Secretary Hong!
Just the fact that you are here...
Secretary Hong...
Please do not suffer...
because of me, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty...
I was sincere...
My loyalty to you...
That was sincere, Your Majesty.
I know... I know that, Secretary Hong!
I will never forget.
The time we were together...
All those memories...
Everything...
I will never forget them, Your Majesty.
My Lord! My Lord!
Secretary Hong!
Open your eyes, Secretary Hong!
Secretary Hong!
Open your eyes!
Secretary Hong! Secretary Hong!
No, Secretary Hong! Open your eyes!
Didn't I tell you had to do much for me?
Didn't you tell me you had the same dream as I did?
But...
How could you...
How could you do this?
How could you...?
How could you do this to me?
My Lord!
My Lord...
Secretary Hong...
Alright. You may leave us.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty...
If this was meant to be his fate,
I don't know why I took such a dislike to him.
Your Majesty...
Stop crying! He won't come back to life!
Be quiet, woman!
I have a wound in my heart that will never heal!
He took such good care of me, but do you know what I did on his journey to exile?
I threw rocks at him!
Don't say that! You just pretended to throw them!
What's the difference? What's the difference?
My Lord! Please forgive me!
Please forgive me this cursed wretch!
Stop crying!
I did not expect Hong Gook Young to die in this manner.
This may be a good thing for him.
It would have been hell for him to live a life without power and authority.
Still, it is said that His Majesty was there at his side when he died, so his soul will be at peace.
- His Majesty ordered a funeral for him? - Yes, Your Majesty.
Tomorrow morning, the Imperial Guards will be escorting Secretary Hong's body to his burial site.
Your Majesty...!
I should have seen him sooner.
This is all my fault.
I should have told him long ago that I had already forgiven him.
If I had done so,
he would not have died in this way.
He worked so hard for me.
But I turned my back on him.
He must have been bitter towards me.
He must have regretted serving me as king.
Your Majesty!
That is not so!
Did you forget his last words?
Just like you, he will not have held a grudge against you.
He will have cherished and treasured
the time he spent serving you.
So if you know how he felt,
as he mentioned with his last breath, please do not suffer because of him.
Dae Su...
My Lord!
Rest in peace...!
What shall we do if we miss you?
Tell us what to do!
I won't forget you, Secretary Hong.
I will never forget the dreams we had together.
I will never forget the loyalty you showed me.
I will not forget these things until the day I die.
You want me to deliver these to the Ministry of Rites, Sir?
Yes, there has been orders to provide information on the new Damos.
Go with Artist Tak.
Why are they asking for this information all of a sudden?
I think His Majesty intends on reforming the Bureau of Paintings.
Reform? Do they want to reduce the number of artists?
No, but I think he intends on bringing some artists into the palace.
What? Artists in the palace?
If they're going to select artists to enter the palace,
isn't that a career advancement for those chosen?
Wait a minute. How would this affect me?
Sir! I heard Official Park asked you to go to the palace. Is that true?
- What? Yes... yes. - Then take me with you!
- Yes, it's been a while since I saw Lady Sung! - And we'll stop Chobi from harassing you!
- Not this time! Go away! - What? Why?
I won't risk getting into trouble because of you. So don't even think about it!
Sir!
Artist Tak, get ready so we can go into the palace.
Can't you see I'm busy?
I'm busy, so go yourself.
Are you sure? You sure you don't want to go?
That's what I said.
- What are you doing? - Now see here!
What's this? A manual for Damos?
Give it back! I'm making a manual for the new Damos.
New Damos? You mean for Yeojin?
Are you out of your mind? Do you know what is at stake here?
Why is your business what I am doing?
Remember that I asked you to come with me! Don't hold a grudge later!
What are you talking about? Anyway, don't bother me. Go away!
- Your Majesty... - You are here.
I hope I did not bother you with my urgent summons.
Not at all, Your Majesty. What can I assist you with?
At Kyungwoong Villa, we will be having tea and discussion with the court ladies.
I thought it would be a good idea for you to join us as well.
It's time. Let us go.
Yes, Your Majesty.
I must speak to the queen in private. Stand aside for a while.
Yes, Your Majesty.
What shall we do, My Lady? It looks like Her Highness is not going to let you attend!
How many times is this now? I'm so upset!
Did you just say the law?
Yes, Mother. Lady Sung is also a member of the Women's Court.
It is only fair that she attends the discussion.
My Queen, are you insisting on this because you don't know the reason for this gathering?
This gathering is where the noble ladies inquire about the upcoming silk ceremony to the royal ladies.
It is where we show our dignity and knowledge.
But what if they ask that girl a question?
She can make all of us look bad in front of the noble ladies!
- But Mother... - This is the end of this discussion. Send her back.
Forgive me, Mother.
May I say something?
What is it, my daughter?
Her Majesty is right that Lady Sung should attend.
But you are also right to worry that she will cause indignity to the Women's Court.
Therefore, we should have Lady Sung attend, and should they ask her a question,
would you allow me to answer it on her behalf?
Lady Sung is relatively new to court.
So it will not pose a great problem if she is unable to answer the questions.
My daughter...
The silk ceremony was formed after the creation of the Goryeo Dynasty.
It signifies how the women created clothes while the men farmed the fields.
Because this is a symbol of our nation's economy,
- all of you must also uphold this ceremony. - Yes, Your Majesty.
If you have any questions, please go ahead and ask.
In that case, I would like to ask Lady Sung.
For the silk ceremony, how shall the ladies dress?
- Concubine Yang, why don't you answer instead? - Yes, Your Highness.
The original formality was to wear the color blue,
but it was changed to indigo, and then again to turquoise.
But the late king returned the second custom, so we must all wear indigo blue again.
Yes, Your Highness.
Your Highness, may I ask you a question that I have been curious about all my life?
Of course. Please do not hesitate.
What is the reason why the color was changed so often?
I want to know the reason why this has always been the case for the silk ceremony.
If it's alright, may I answer that question?
Your Highness, may I?
If you know the answer, then go ahead.
Yes, Your Highness.
You all know that respects are paid to the Goddess of Silkworms before the silk ceremony.
Yes, My Lady.
The Goddess was the wife of the king of the Chunchu Dynasty, Suh Reung.
Under the rules of that dynasty, the queen wore yellow while the others wore blue.
When the Ming Dynasty came into power, they changed the color of the ceremony.
Our royal court followed them and changed the color to indigo blue as well.
The reason why it changed to turquoise later was because of the difficulty of making indigo color.
It was also to make a clearer difference between the queen and the other ladies of the court.
Does this answer your question sufficiently?
Yes, it answered it perfectly! Thank you, My Lady!
Not at all.
- We will take our leave, Mother. - Yes, my Queen.
Your Highness, I will pay a visit to you later for my evening greetings.
- Forgive me for causing you embarrassment, Mother. - Not at all.
Her question was unexpected.
What did you think of Lady Sung just now?
What do you mean?
I thought that Lady Sung would be crude and ignorant because of her background as a damo.
But she was as elegant as any of the noble ladies. I was completely mistaken about her.
Your Majesty, Officer Park is here.
- Bring him in. - Yes, Your Majesty.
So, that scholar's name is Jung Ya Gyong?
Yes, he has been studying at the Academy for three years.
I found something surprising.
I thought he was uninterested in his studies, but his marks are quite remarkable!
Yes, the Academy regards him as one of their finest students.
But for some reason, he keeps failing his examinations and skips his lessons.
He has been suspended several times due to those reasons.
- Indeed? - Yes, Your Majesty.
Trying to jump over the wall again?
What is the king doing here?
Why don't you come down?
There is a gate to this place. Why do you always go for the difficult route?
So if I go out that gate, I'll reach a road that takes me to Songgyobang?
That's right. This road is used by military officers who come and go from the palace.
I never knew this gate was here at the Academy! How did you find it anyway?
Are you going to pretend you're a scholar instead of the king?
Watch your mouth!
My name is Yi Mu Duk. I found this gate when I studied here.
To be frank, I used to skip lessons and run away from the Academy too.
You should have told me from the beginning! Why did you hide your identity from me?
I'm Jung Ya Gyong.
- Jung Ya Gyong? - That's right.
By the way, where do you go after you jump over the wall?
Do you have a good reason for skipping your lessons?
I have hundreds of people wanting to see me.
So how can I just sit here reading books?
Hundreds of people? What do you mean?
None of your business!
- Madam! One more bottle! - Coming!
So you mean the government official came and took your house by force?
Yes, that's why I came here! I heard you help powerless people like us!
Don't worry. This is clearly misuse of power.
This is against the law, so if you write an appeal to the Prefecture, they will help you.
An appeal? I am illiterate!
Don't worry about that either. I'll write the appeal for you and send it in.
- You'll reclaim your house soon. - Thank you, Sir! Thank you!
You mean he's handling legal cases for the people?
Yes, the people I asked told me that he comes here and handles these cases free of charge.
To handle legal cases, one must know the laws in detail.
- You mean he knows the judicial laws? - I'm not sure about that.
But I hear he has never lost a case yet.
Wait a moment!
If it's not too much trouble, can I have a look at that appeal?
- This? - I want to get help from him too.
I want to see if he's good enough to take my case.
- Here you go. - Thank you.
Wait! This calligraphy is ...!
How could this scholar have answered the seven questions so quickly?
I was the one who gave out the questions but doubted anyone would be able to answer.
How surprising. Who is this scholar?
Forgive me, Your Majesty, but we do not know.
Why not?
He did not sign his name on his answer sheet.
So it was him! It was him that gave these answers!
Official Nam! Are you outside?
- Yes, Your Majesty! - Summon the Advisor to me! Hurry!
What do you think, Advisor?
These are all responses to exam questions given by the scholar Jung Ya Gyong.
His knowledge is remarkable even at first glance!
So how is it that he failed the examinations?
I think it was because his responses were shocking and provocative.
The examination officials may not have approved of his responses.
But this year's High Examinations will be different.
This year's examinations are the Triennial Examinations, and I will be one of the judges.
You're done already?
I've answered all the questions and have nothing else to do. Good luck!
That's why you fail every year!
What's the use of taking these exams? I won't pass anyway!
Are these all the responses that have passed?
Yes, Your Majesty.
- What time are the results announced today? - The Hour of the Ram (1-3pm), Your Majesty.
- In that case, we must delay it. - What do you mean by that?
Chancellor, tell the Ministry of Rites to bring all the submissions here.
I want to look over all the submissions.
Excuse me?
Thank you, Madam!
- Madam, give me a bottle. - Yes, Sir!
Thank you so much! I got my house back because of you!
I'll be on my way now!
So we meet again!
Oh, I was wondering who you were! You're the king, I mean, Yi Mu Duk's companion!
Yes. By the way, how did it go?
How did what go?
What else would I ask about today? I'm asking if you passed.
You must be dense. If I passed, what would I be doing here?
It's past the Hour of the Ram, so the results will be out.
Really? I took a look and there was nothing up yet.
It must have been delayed then.
- Well, I'll be going now. See you again. - Wait.
Why don't you go and have a look?
You never know! Your name may be first on the list!
Excuse me?
- Go and have a look! - I don't want to!
- It's worth the effort! - You think they pass just anyone?
- Oh it's you! - So who made it?
Can't you read?
- That... - You got the highest marks!
Congratulations!
His Majesty the King!
Are you Jung Ya Gyong, the one who received the highest marks?
Yes, Your Majesty.
Indeed. I enjoyed reading your response to the exam questions.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
But how strange, why would a man in such a high position in government take the exam?
Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I don't understand....?
What do you mean you don't understand? Chancellor, why are you saying this?
Your... Your Majesty!
Episode 68