I ask of you, Kim Yoon Shik.
The culprit who stole and sold the goods from Sung Kyun Kwan,
did you fail to find him?
I failed to find the culprit...
He will come,
That guy.
Does that mean the culprit has been found?
Please give us a little more time.
He will definitely come to confess.
If I may speak so, Your Majesty.
the testing period of the exam ended yesterday.
If he still has not found the culprit at this time,
what else can it mean but that he failed the test?
The Student President is right.
Scholar Kim Yoon Shik...
failed to find the culprit in the allotted time.
Isn't it so?
I apologize, Your Majesty.
The culprit...
is here.
The real culprit behind the theft...
is here...
In this accounting book, Your Majesty.
The culprit of the theft case?
Not just for the incident at Sung Kyun Kwan,
but perhaps the culprit for many of the theft cases occurring in the capital city.
What do you mean?
Due to the lawless acts of the marketplace merchants,
the prices of items fluctuate daily.
Thus, the powerless and poor citizens seek to survive by opening up unlicensed businesses,
but this means that they
become criminals breaking the nation's law of "Geum Nan Jung Kwon." (The law states that only marketplace merchants can sell goods in the capital)
How is this different from telling the poor and powerless citizens to be thieves?
That accounting book is a record of the government officials who received bribes
from the marketplace merchants.
The law that only takes the side of the rich and the powerful, Geum Nan Jung Kwon,
the government officials who fail to serve the citizens, but money.
And the high government officials
who support them.
They are the true culprits of this theft case.
That punk,
he's of the same type as you.
Idiot.
Did you say that the culprits of the theft
are the Geum Nan Jung Kwon policy and the politicians?
His argument is totally illogical, Your Majesty.
This theft case is a simple crime of Kim Yoon Shik stealing from his fellow scholars, tempted by their goods.
No more, no less.
I ask that you rightfully punish Kim Yoon Shik with expulsion,
and further punish Lee Seon Joon for defrauding Your Majesty to cover up Kim Yoon Shik's crime.
Please correctly reestablish the authority of the king.
Re-establish the authority of the king?
Of course,
I must do that.
That?
How do I go about doing that?
Testimony
or evidence.
So hard to understand, dang it.
That, that ill-mannered... Drag that man immediately away from here!
I stole it!
The person who stole and sold the goods from Sung Kyun Kwan is me, Your Majesty!
Now that you've confessed your crime,
you must receive your punishment.
Aren't you afraid?
I asked you the reason for confessing now.
Those scholars
have done to me something that cannot be reversed.
I...
am a Ban-in from Banchon.
I am powerless and have nothing, that people call me a half-man,
a "Ban-in."
I too...
planned to live as a half-life as others viewed me.
Doing as I please.
But...
Dang it!
Why that ill-mannered..! Where does he think he is right now?
Continue.
Those scholars treated me like a human.
Because they treated me as a human like themselves,
I started to want to live like a decent human being.
This way, the kid that follows me, watching my back,
can live like a human.
I will give a failing grade to the school president and all those who insisted on Kim Yoon Shik's guilt.
However,
it is not simply because Kim Yoon Shik was not the culprit.
President.
When you were assigned as a Han Sung Bu intern, what did you do to save Kim Yoon Shik?
In order to clear Kim Yoon Shik,
what effort did you make?
I was on the side that believed Kim Yoon Shik to be guilty, Your Majesty.
That's why I failed you.
As Joseon's public servant and as Sung Kyun Kwan's student president,
you should have at least once tried to examine the case with the possibility of his innocence.
If you do not cherish and protect my people,
I do not need people like that.
This is why I failed Ha In Soo and you all,
and this is the authority of the King I seek to establish.
I'm a pervert if I'm happy after receiving a failing grade, right?
Now all that's left is to deliver the punishment.
Han Sung Bu intern, Kim Yoon Shik.
Yes?
Yes, Your Majesty.
What punishment would you levy on this man who framed you a thief?
Even if he were to compensate for the stolen goods,
there is no way to compensate for his crime.
Okay.
He's coming out strong, our Big Shot.
I suggest that he be put to work as a Sung Kyun Kwan guard,
and always be on high alert so that nothing like this happens again.
Will you allow it?
Don't you think that punishment is too light?
You are to stay at Sung Kyun Kwan,
and to be my eyes as you watch that they continue to lead an upright life as they do so now.
This is the punishment that I give to you.
Your Majesty.
The culprits of this theft case are in here.
I too believe it to be so.
And now, all that's left is my part.
I came here to give an exam, but I now leave with a homework, Chancellor.
Where else can you find such wicked scholars?
I won't get fooled anymore, Your Majesty. I now know that you're joking.
As promised, I give to...
Scholars Kim Yoon Shik,
Lee Seon Joon,
Gu Yong Ha,
and Moon Jae Shin,
passing grades on the royal exam for having found the true culprit.
President,
should I at least give a beating to that kid from Banchon?
Don't do anything.
Don't even say a single word.
President!
Cnidium, thistle daisy, arrowroot, balloon-flower, and sweet persimmon.
Do you know what they are?
They are the herbs that were in the medicine potions you gave to Kim Yoon Shik.
Is that so?
Cnidium, thistle daisy, arrowroot, balloon-flower, and dried persimmon.
Do you know what these are?
Well, it's just that I have no interest in those lowly medicine books
that the middle class read.
They are the herbs that were in the medicine potions that Kim Yoon Shik sold, I mean, was accused of having sold.
Isn't this interesting?
Sweet persimmon and dried persimmon...
are so alike that people who do not read those lowly medicine books cannot easily differentiate them.
I see.
It seems as though whoever was trying to frame Kim Yoon Shik
made a mistake.
Which means, other than the child from Banchon,
there was another culprit.
Don't you agree?
I wonder who would do such a thing.
Why didn't you announce this at the hearing earlier?
Because I wanted to give you a chance!
The chance to feel ashamed, for committing a wrongdoing.
And also,
the chance to rile up the courage to confess.
Why... would I have to do that?
I have done nothing wrong.
This is unfortunate. You have learned nothing at today's royal exam.
That ban-in child whom you regard as lowly...
is better than Sung Kyun Kwan's student president.
I wanted to help you take care of your mother's health to the end,
but that can't be helped now.
P-president!
I did wrong.
I won't make the same mistake again, ok?
One more..
Give me one more chance.
Next time...
Because of you, I....
I, Ha In Soo...
Don't make me repeat myself.
Things like patience,
I've never had.
You can't get rid of me like this.
Thank you for gathering courage.
You don't need to thank me.
Insisting that you were wrongfully framed,
he begged me to come
so desperately.
It was so annoying, that I had no choice but to come.
What, you punk!
When did I?
Hey, big brothers!!!
Live life correctly.
Because I'll be following your lead.
What is he talking about?
There is such a thing.
Senior...
I...
...didn't know.
It's fine.
I didn't do it for you, so you don't need to thank me.
If it wasn't for Big Shot, then was it for your grade?
Three years repeater, Scholar Moon Jae Shin?
I got it, I got it. I love you too.
But, I don't see Ga Rang anywhere.
Did he go hide somewhere because he's scared after stirring trouble?
Do you want to deny it, or do you really believe so?
That the marketplace merchants' back money are being used for Norons' political fund,
you should know as well.
Do you believe that your father who's the head of the Noron faction is not involved?
You've committed the depravity of stabbing your own father in the back.
He's not one to do shameful things before his son
I too...
chose the path to not be shameful before him.
Your foolish attempt is commendable,
but do you believe that the world will change with a mere accounting record?
The King won't be able to do anything.
Why? Because your father will use any means necessary...
to stop him.
That father whom you so wholeheartedly believe,
what kind of person your perfectly faultless father really is...
you too will soon find out.
Thank you
and I'm sorry, I wanted to say.
For helping to pick up one or two books,
it's an excessive gratitude.
About today,
the marketplace merchants' accounting book,
I regretted that I placed a too heavy burden on you.
I should have listened to you.
I should have never taken out the accounting book.
We just did what we had to do.
There's no reason for anyone to feel sorry to another.
So if it's because of that matter,
don't worry about it too much.
And further, like the President said,
we might not be able to accomplish anything.
But still, I'm proud of you, Lee Seon Joon.
Because you did great.
Whatever might happen next,
doing great deserves praise.
I...
will remember this moment for a very long time.
In the far off future after we leave Sung Kyun Kwan,
even though we may not be together any longer...
Still,
I shall remember.
The concerns we had,
the fears we felt,
and our happy moments.
And...
we who are always together...
all our roommates!
Then,
I think that perhaps I can live as just a little-better-person.
So, will you remember?
One day,
when you have to make a difficult decision like you did today,
just once...
that there was someone who trusted Lee Seon Joon more than himself.
I don't want to.
Whenever it may be,
stay by my side like now.
Watch me with your own two eyes.
Whether I'm going the right road until the end.
That way, I'll be able to remember today while looking at you.
That's why Kim Yoon Shik
You...
have to continue to be my side like this.
Kim Yoon Shik
I can take anything,
but never again,
wear a woman's clothing.
Please.
Not to wear a woman's clothing?
What a ridiculous request.
Kim Yoon Shik's just a roommate.
A roommate.
That accounting book...
we have to make it so that it never ever existed.
Pardon?
It's a matter in which the Noron faction's well-being depends on.
Is that possible?
Use one of our men in the palace to get rid of the accounting book.
I'll keep the King's mouth shut.
How?
The ones who put the King in his throne were us, Norons.
We have enough power to place a new monarch to fill the throne.
Sir,
You must come out for a moment.
Red Messenger!
Your Excellency.
Is there no one out there?
Capture him right away! Now!
Who said Joseon was poor?
The only poor ones are the powerless citizens of Joseon.
The Han Sung Bu royal guards who help keep the corruption of the marketplace merchants,
did you get full with the food thrown from them?
With the Geum Nan Jung Kwon policy, the citizens are starving and the Norons are keeping themselves full.
The secret of the Geum Deung Ji Sa will soon expose the dirty deeds of Norons.
Why don't you now serve the real owners?
The Red Messenger who is doing this...
is among our innocent students?
According to Han Sung Bu and the Ministry of War's guards,
it appears to be that way.
The writing style represents the writer.
The face of the writer should be hidden within the prose.
Let's see.
Do you see something?
The magnaminous and tough spirit,
the straight brushstrokes...
That's right!
Say it, Professor Jung.
Who the heck is it?
Red Messenger is...
a man.
A man among men.
Have you heard the rumor that the Red Messenger is a Sung Kyun Kwan scholar?
Seeing that he talked about the Geum Nan Jung Kwon and Han Sung Bu corruption,
it seems like it might be a scholar close to us.
Do you know who it is?
Geol Oh...
Why is Geol Oh so late?
I'm here.
Ahh, the smell!
Senior, did you drink again?
Yup.
That's why Big Shot, you...
sleep all the way over there.
Senior,
I need to say it today.
Why do you keep changing our sleeping placement as you wish?
I must know the reason.
That habit of quibbling over everything,
can't you fix it?
This is unfair and unreasonable.
If you like this side of the wall,
I'll sleep next to Kim Yoon Shik.
It's getting dusty.
Just sleep.
No,
we need to settle this today.
What's with your place and my place? Wherever I sleep is my place.
Then we should ask Kim Yoon Shik for his opinion.
How we should decide on our sleeping arrangements...
I-it's fine!
Stop.
Since it's late today,
we should just sleep like this.
I will overturn Geum Nan Jung Kwon,
and allow all merchants to trade freely.
No, Your Majesty! This cannot be, Your Majesty!
We implore of you, Your Majesty.
I, the Minister of War...
Please do so, Your Majesty.
Arrest all the Han Sung Bu officials who received bribes from the merchants,
conduct a thorough investigation,
and stabilize prices
to comfort the mind of the people, Your Majesty.
Here is an exemplary subject who looks after my people with the love I have for them.
I hereby revoke the Geum Nan Jung Kwon policy,
and starting in 1791, will enact the Tong Gong policy, whereby everyone is permitted to trade freely.
Your Excellency, what is this...?!
What is the meaning of free trade?
How can you take the lead in revoking the Geum Nan Jung Kwon policy?
You promised me that you'd stand up against the King.
Do you know how we, Norons, retained our power for nearly 100 years?
What do you mean?
Even if we were to go against the King,
we always knew how to win the public favor to our side.
This matter is too great.
The content distributed by the Red Messenger will now...
grow and stir up the public sentiment.
We need to put out the fire before that happens.
His Majesty will revoke Geum Nan Jung Kwon, and pass Tong Gong policy.
[Shin Hae Tong Gong - policy established in the 15th year of Jung Jo's rule to abolish Geum Nan Jung Kwon and allow free market.]
News bulletin, news bulletin!
Geol Oh!
I cannot agree to it, Your Majesty!
I will find the Geum Deung Ji Sa, gain control over the Norons,
And reinstate a new Joseon.
This has been my long-time dream.
You should know that better than anyone else.
But, Your Majesty!
Lee Seon Joon... is it still because of Lee Seon Joon?
It's because of Kim Yoon Shik and Moon Jae Shin.
In the quest to find Geum Deung Ji Sa, those kids lost a father and a brother.
And I lost a respected teacher and a friend who is like a brother to me.
I cannot once again be a pathetic teacher who loses his young pupils.
They're my friends, my subjects, and my people.
Even at this very moment,
my poor people are going hungry from their exploitation,
and they're suffering under their lawlessness.
How much longer must I wait?
I've already ordered that they enter the palace.
The palace must indeed be a scary place.
To see that Yeorim, who pledged to never wear a government official garb,
is wearing it like this.
The uniform that has no respect for individuality and no reflection of personal taste...
You also said that great policies cannot be thought of because of the garb.
Of course!
My opinion on that matter remains unchanged.
I'm Gu Yong Ha.
I'm not sure whether I was able to complete the homework you assigned me to your satisfaction.
We are much obliged, Your Majesty.
The revocation of Geum Nan Jung Kwon was a long-time goal of mine as well.
You guys gave me much strength.
Prime Minister.
They are from my heart.
Your Majesty, how did you know?
Hearing that you who were born and raised in the mercantile district played a huge role.
It's the first place exam paper by Sung Kyun Kwan student president, Moon Young Shin.
This is a poem written by my brother?
It was a fine piece of writing, so I had held on to it.
But now it's found its rightful owner.
Let me ask you one thing.
Have you ever doubted your father in this matter?
Answer me.
According to Islamic teaching, there is a saying.
"As long as the needle of a compass moves,
that compass is never wrong."
Like the needle constantly correcting itself, do not forget to constantly rectify yourself.
What else can be the King's intention?
That your own son turned his back against his own father and chose the King.
He wants this to be known to the entire world, Your Excellency.
It's filial piety.
What in the world can cause a father and a son to become enemies?
But then Your Excellency.
How about Crown Prince Sa Do's matter?
What becomes of our Norons' stance that the country is more important than filial piety?
Minister of War!
I mean... well..
I'm just curious of the King's motive.
It was Kim Seong Heon's.
His Majesty must truly plan to...
assign the secret task of finding the Geum Deung Ji Sa to these scholars.
The more I look at you, Kim Yoon Shik, I see you really take after your father.
Did you know my father?
Sung Kyun Kwan professor, Kim Seong Heon,
was my long-time friend and a subject I most favored.
Did you say that my father was a Sung Kyun Kwan professor?
You didn't know?
I've been told that my father was a scholar who loved books.
But he was unlucky,
and lost his life to a gang of bandits.
Forgive me, Your Majesty.
But Your Majesty, there's one thing I'd like to ask you.
Speak.
Do I truly... resemble my father?
Forgive me.
It's just that I no longer even remember my father's face.
Your gentle eyes,
your firm mouth...
You're exactly like my stubborn friend.
Kim Seong Heon
"Sa Saeng Chwi Eui" (choosing to do right, even at the loss of your life)
I'm curious, father.
The just world you risked your life for,
what kind of place is it?
What kind of world is it...
that I only now found out about you?
Shin Hae Tong Gong...
I heard you helped its passing.
Thank you, father.
It's a good attitude.
When the citizens' well-being improves,
it is the duty of the nobility to rejoice and be thankful.
Your father merely did the same.
But even more so,
because you showed me that I can continue to follow your lead,
I was glad, father.
We decided to hurry the wedding.
Father.
With their daughter, I'm not yet...
She didn't seem like someone who would get in the way of a man.
That's good enough for a wife.
No? You don't have it?
Do you really not have it?
This, this...
this and this book.
These are the books, haven't I told you?
What's the use of spending all your time on reading books?
Miss, you should just...
take the young master and just do this.
Why are you doing this to me?
What I want is the opposite of that. The opposite!
I want a book that will make the young master passionately desire me.
Don't you know that?
You should have said so from the start.
"If You Do This on the First Night, then I too am Hwang Jin Yi." (Hwang Jin Yi - a famous gisaeng)
You should organize your books better.
How can you bring out and sell a book from during the Imjin Invasion? Bad person!
You, really!
You have much to learn...
If you try to seduce Lee Seon Joon like that, he'll run away.
Well, if it were me,
I probably wouldn't refuse.
Then, do you know of a method?
And if I do, will you do as I say?
First, for people like Lee Seon Joon who are set in their upright ways, you have to take them to an unfamiliar location.
So that they can completely lose themselves.
Men, like women, are affected by atmoshpere.
Being drunk at the heat of the moment is more effective than being drunk on alcohol.
In love, people need a bit of tension. They start to believe it's fate.
Once he gets to the island, we should of course bind his feet so that he can't get off the island.
Lee Seon Joon will never in his right mind go off alone with you.
So, the four of us guys will come out and you will prepare four girls.
Then, Seon Joon and I...
I will take care of it.
Remember to come out to the pier by yu-shi (between 5-7 PM)
Mapo dock at yu-shi
I think it'd be better that we know each other.
Ahh, you want to exchange names? I already know who you are.
Ha In Soo's younger sister, Ha Hyo Eun.
Then, you?
Me? I'm Gu Yong Ha.
My nickname is Yeorim.
Yeorim?
What's wrong? Yeo means "plentiful" and Rim means "fully engaged". Yeorim. It's nice.
What were you imagining? I'm curious. (Hyo Eun thinks that Yeo means "woman" and Rim means "forest," which is a more common guess)
You really didn't know anything about your father?
No. I wonder why my mother didn't tell me the truth?
She probably worried and thought that this was best for you.
I wonder what kind of person was my father.
Why ask? He was obviously a great man.
Like father like son, don't you know?
Senior, the nickname of Geol Oh really doesn't suit you. (Geol Oh - "crazy horse")
To me, you have always been someone I am thankful for.
From the start, at the archery tournament, and at the hearing.
Thank you, Senior.
Hey, Ga rang.
How do you plan to spend the free time that His Majesty has given?
I, well...
Don't say that you're going to be studying like a bookworm.
How about it? A boat ride with some very beautiful women.
I'm not interested.
Then how about the mountains if you don't like boating?
Not interested in that either.
It's not that you don't like beautiful women, right?
Surely, you're not interested in men?
Senior.
It's a joke.
That type of extreme joke is offensive.
I am reminded of the eternal truth.
Because you are angry, you look more suspicious.
Senior, do you know who is the Red Messenger? I heard it's a Sung Kyun Kwan scholar.
I'm not interested.
I think I know.
The Red Messenger... is extremely close to us.
Senior.
You're the Red Messenger.
What? .... What?
Your hiccups have stopped, right?
Kim Yoon Shik is my roommate. Kim Yoon Shik is just my roommate.
Kim Yoon Shik is simply my roommate.
Wang Seo Bang.
Wang Seo Bang... Wang Seo Bang.
What's wrong with you? You look like you've caught some illness.
What brings you here?
Let's go boating together. The Bu Yong Hwa, your fiancee, is coming. (Bu Yong Hwa: lotus flower)
That's all right.
You should at least help us match the numbers so that we can provide partners for the girls.
I don't know. I don't know.
I'm not going to budge from this room until you agree.
Ah, this is nice.
Isn't it amazing that your hiccups stopped right away?
That's enough now.
Geol Oh has stopped his hiccupping, you say?
I prescribed him a special treatment.
Big Shot... That's enough.
Geol Oh's expression... if only you had all been there to see it.
There was a time...
when I suspected Big Shot was a girl.
Senior, what kind of ridiculous thing is that?
However, I've decided not to spend my time wondering about things like that.
Because I've discovered something else I'm more curious about.
So you know who Red Messenger is?
As of yet, I can't say which one.
Then?
The punks who stole the accounting book from the merchant head's house.
Those four... Lee Seon Joon, Kim Yoon Shik, Moon Jae Shin...
and Gu Yong Ha.
The Red Messenger is surely one of these four.
From now on, you must keep a close eye on them at Sung Kyun Kwan.
I plan to set up a trap for him of my own.
Yes.
But, you don't think it's the Left State Minister's son, do you?
It's not that you don't like beautiful women, right?
Here?
Surely, you're not interested in men?
Good thinking. If you're a guy, you can't resist ladies.
I'll tell Kim Yoon Shik about the plans.
I'll tell Geol Oh. I'll see you later at the Mapo dock at yu-shi (5-7 PM).
Hey, Ga Rang!
I was mistaken.
It's at Mapo dock at shin-shi (3-5 PM).
Okay.
Just get on the boat with Big Shot and everything else will be done for you.
Kim Yoon Shik!
Do you have anything to do during the break today?
Not really. I was thinking about visiting home.
If you've got nothing better to do, I was wondering if you would go somewhere with me.
Where are you planning on going?
You don't have time?
N- no, I have time.
Then I'll see you at shin-shi (3-5 PM).
Big shot, are you going somewhere?
I have some things I have to do.
We're riding a boat to get there?
Let's get on board.
You came just in time because the skies don't look so good.
This is the first time I'm going anywhere on a boat.
I sent them off alone to a deserted island where there's no one in sight.
What?!
It's a break decreed by the King.
I decided to treat them since they were the greatest contributors in the recent event.
You should never have thought to deceive your decade-long friend, Geol Oh.
The boat is not there? Boat... what do you mean?
When I went to the pier to load your stuff, the boat had left at shin-shi today.
No way!
It's impossible to take the boat out now.
Look at the sky.
Have you seen the boat that was scheduled to go to Chestnut Island at yu-shi (5-7 PM) today?
For sure it was scheduled for yu-shi today.
The boat for Chestnut Island left at shin-shi today.
Are you sure?
That's right. I heard that the Left State Minister's son was on board.
I must go to my lord... My lord.
He's going to be stuck on that island until tomorrow morning.
When did you prepare all this?
I didn't prepare it.
I prepared it all. I reserved the boat to get to that island.
Another boat... please find me another boat. Quick!
That won't help you.
There's no way a boat will go out in this weather.
Don't you remember? You reserved the boat with the weather in mind.
Look! It looks like it's going to rain.
So, let me get this straight. We came all this way to meet some girls?
I didn't even know...
Is something wrong?
Why are you getting so mad?
Why did you do something I didn't even ask?
Who asked you to introduce me to girls?
Pathetic! What did I expect, in this state?
I... I thought that you, Kim Yoon Shik, would like it too.
What?
If you're a guy, you cannot resist ladies.
That is what Yeorim told me.
And so I...
Kim Yoon Shik, you're a man, too.
That's why...
you meet as many ladies as you want.
Over here, ferryman!
What are you doing?
Get out of my way!
Didn't you hear me say get out of my way?!
What have you done, you jerk?!
Let go!
Subtitles by the dedicated fans of Sungkyunkwan Scandal at Soompi