The Blade and Petal
Would you trust me?
Episode 2
Did you see that?
Here, here, here!
Watch on!
Excuse me!
Uhm...
I don't need these.
It was promised to you.
I think it should go to the one who needs it.
A promise is a promise.
Bye.
Why are you using your good skills on such a dangerous performance?
I mean... it feels like a waste of good talent.
Good skills should be put to good use.
Good use?
Well... serving as a guard, for example...
Recruitment for palace guard!
Anybody 15 years of age or older with good martial arts skills,
regardless of station,
may try out.
Excuse me!
Can a slave try out, too?
Slaves may try out, too.
Princess!
Tang claims that we started the attack,
and we say we did not start the attack,
which makes the situation in Yoseo region unclear.
What is clear is that this will serve as an excuse
for Tang to launch a full-scale attack
or increase demands.
That's why I plan to send the Crown Prince to Tang
to express our griefs about this incident
and make clear that we do not want war.
Your Majesty, we can't do that!
Tang attacked us first, yet we send a delegation?
That is preposterous!
Sending a delegation to Tang
when they dared to attack our Great Goguryeo is a disgrace!
It is not clear which way the arrows flew first,
didn't you hear?
You call it disgrace,
but reaching out a hand in peace to an enemy is not a disgrace.
Disgrace is getting stripped by them
for not reaching out.
The 49 of you here who have passed the first test
will be divided into
7 teams of 7
and take the second round test.
Of the 7 teams, only 1 team
will be allowed to take the final test
and only one person will pass the final test
and be selected as a palace guard.
You must war to the whole nation!
Do you think war is child's play?
Keep your senses about you!
It's because our Prime Minister
is such a pushover that they're attacking us!
Watch your words!
The task at hand is to prevent war from happening!
How much longer will you insist on such idle ideas?
Your Majesty, we must change the Prime Minister first.
Your Majesty, General Yeon is right.
We must get a new Prime Minister and take a firm stand against Tang.
Like I've said before,
I will send a delegation to Tang to prevent the war.
It's not that I want to avoid confronting Tang forever,
but I want to buy time.
If you take them on and win,
you will be set free.
(cheers)
The one group that survives this stage
will move on to the next stage.
Along with sending a delegation to Tang,
the key preparation for our confrontation with Tang...
The key preparation for our confrontation with Tang...
is to hurry the construction of the wall between our borders.
Since General Yeon Gaesomun has exceptional leadership,
how about overseeing the construction of the wall on the border?
That is a matter to be decided at a meeting of Ministers.
This Goguryeo
is not a nation where the king makes all the decisions by himself.
Your Majesty
has to wait for the decision of the Prime Minister and the meeting of the Ministers.
They will try to start the war
against Tang with the new Prime Minister.
If we don't want General Yeon and the rest of the hardline faction to have their way,
we must protect our Prime Minister,
and install the Crown Prince soon!
Your Majesty, this is a golden opportunity for the installation of the Crown Prince.
It would be a good excuse for the newly appointed Crown Prince to pay a visit to Tang
and neutralize the voice of the opposition that calls the delegation a disgrace.
Hence, we must hurry with the installation.
Also, we must protect
our Prime Minister no matter what.
His Majesty is using the attack from Tang as an excuse to break his promise with you
and is planning to send you off far away
in order to get rid of us and kill you, General!
We must change the Prime Minister!
This moment with Tang's attack
is a good opportunity for us!
All that's left for us to do is to kill off those Tang people.
Once we have the position of Prime Minister,
send a different general to oversee the wall construction.
Well,
if that's what it takes to keep Goguryeo standing...
You have worked hard to get here.
If you pass this ordeal,
you will qualify to become a personal guard
to His Majesty, the prince, and the princess.
After crossing the cliff,
you must shoot the bow with the same color.
Then, you must swim in the ocean
and the first person to raise the flag of the same color
will pass.
Start.
Although my relationship with your father is over, it's different for you.
Become a military officer, not a slave.
Live to your fullest potential.
So far, he is in the lead.
♪ Love, such obstinate love
♪ Love, leave me behind
♪ Piercing my heart
♪ like a stake
♪ is our irreversible love
♪ Love, my love
As expected,
he won.
♪ My love
♪ Piercing my heart
♪ like a stake
♪ is our irreversible love
♪ Our irreversible love.
You've done it, then?
Since you wouldn't help,
I had to do it myself.
Why are you going to such lengths
to help him?
Do you
have feelings for him?
If feeling pity for him,
being worried about him,
and wanting to help means having feelings for him,
sure.
That's correct.
What do you know about him
to keep him in your heart?
Have you ever
kept someone in your heart?
Did you harbor feelings for her
because you knew her very well?
Then,
you must know
that even before you get to know that person,
your heart could move first.
Also, I want
him to be by my side
with his great martial arts skills.
Hey, buddy!
Who cheated whom?
And if that was true, who cares? No one knows!
I mean,
isn't achieving your goals most important?
He got first place, but he's giving up?
Sit down, sit down.
Buddy!
What is that?
Why
did you give up on the palace guard position?
Because I didn't make it on my own.
Then...
have you never in your life
done something dishonest?
I know very well what your kindness
means.
However,
I cannot accept it.
I tried to take advantage of your feelings.
But
if you knew about my feelings
this is not the right response.
You only care about your own feelings.
If I were in your shoes,
I would have considered the feelings
of the person that showed me kindness.
By the way, there is a rumor that Tang wanted war.
This time...
because somebody from our side pillaged Tang first.
As to the culprit who conducted the pillaging...
Who was it that dared to violate the national law and pillage?
Those who stand to profit from it.
Since it's late,
you may be dismissed.
Hae Tae Soo Prime Minister.
The cry for changing the Prime Minister is high.
My deepest apologies, Your Majesty.
Please take my life.
Do you really mean that?
You don't want to die yet, do you?
Now that we have a reply from Tang,
who does the Prime Minister of Goguryeo need?
And who is the
one that is harmful to the current situation?
We have all these problems so we can resolve that problem.
Yeon Gaesomun.
Farewell.
[Goguryeo Prime Minister Hae Tae Soo]
I doubt that the dead Prime Minister is the only one involved in sending the assassins.
Could it be His Majesty...?
Hmm...
The Prime Minister was said to have hung himself, but it's definitely Yeon Gaesomun's doing.
Even if we tried to get to the bottom of it,
we would only be killing one of the pawns.
The problem is that now we are forced to elect a new Prime Minister.
The dead Prime Minster had a lot of weaknesses, so he hesitated to send General Yeon to the borders.
But once the new Prime Minister is elected, the climate will change.
It'll be only a matter of time before His Majesty and the new Prime Minister link hands
and send the General to Cheolli Jangseong.(the wall between Goguryeo and Tang)
If that happens, we are all dead.
That's why
we need the position of Prime Minister on our side no matter what.
If we could just secure the position of Prime Minister on our side,
there's nothing His Majesty will be able to do on his own.
In order to bring the position of Prime Minister to our side,
we need to involve General Yang Moon in our side.
Even though Yang Moon is known to be neutral,Yang Mun (key figure in politically neutral faction)
he's someone closer to His Majesty.
Even if it means twisting his neck,
we must bring him to our side.
General!!
How insolent!
What do you think you're doing!
How rude you are to the chief mourner!
Have some dignity!
How dare you bring up the word dignity!
You little bastard!
General Seon! Watch what you say!
You little bastard?
So proud of your age, aren't you? -- Stop it already!
Here comes His Majesty!
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has passed away.
I will thoroughly investigate the prime minster's death.
However, we can't have the seat empty,
so we will elect the new Prime Minister immediately.
The number of noblemen that can partake in the Prime Minister election
amounts to 78 in total.
We can safely win
only if we bring in at least 60 percent.
As expected, it's up to Yang Moon and his noblemen.
That's correct.
However,
Yang Moon has been confining himself at home.
However, he's against Yeon Gaesomun,
so he will not be so careless as to support him.
In politics, people who were enemies yesterday
become friends tomorrow.
We can't let our guards down. We must meet Yang Moon.
Father. I'll try.
My shoulders don't show the sign of getting better.
They must be badly knotted.
General Yang Mun.
What brings you here, Princess?
You've been refusing visits, so I had to visit you in person at the risk of appearing rude.
General Yang Mun.
We need your help.
I have already told His Majesty how I feel.
You think my father linked hands with Yeon Gaesomun and killed the Prime Minister.
If that were true, you wouldn't be here now.
Then why do you refuse to meet my father?
His majesty linked hands with Yeon Gaesomun last time, didn't he?
He had no choice but to do so to crown the prince.
His Majesty broke the principle,
and crossed the line that shouldn't have been crossed.
What on earth is the line that's not to be crossed in politics?
Linking hands with Yeon Gaesomun who will send Goguryeo to war,
only because you're disappointed at my father, is not the right principle, either.
I have been newly appointed as your guard, Your Highness.
Forgive me,
but I realized at last that it was insolent of me
to ignore your considerations for me.
So I came to the palace again,
and I was gracefully accepted.
The Prime Minister election and Crown Prince installation
are both very important for my father.
I wonder if I could be of any help.
You seem to be very interested in the affairs of the state, Your Highness.
More than that, it's about family, too.
Don't you have a family?
Judging from your martial arts skills, your father must be an extraordinary person.
Has he passed away already?
Though he's alive, we're not family,
so it's the same as not having a father.
It must make you sad.
Have you heard about this man called Yeon Gae So Mun?
Yes.
He's objecting to every move my father tries to make,
which brings disorder to the nation.
I
really hate that Yeon Gae So Mun.
For Goguryeo to be in peace,
Yeon Gae So Mun needs to perish.
Don't worry
His Majesty will take care of Yeon Gae So Mun.
The general is feeling under the weather,
he does not wish to see you, my lord.
I have no reason
to meet with General Yeon!
Everybody enter!
To your seats!
Candidates enter!
To your seats!
[Yeon Jung Ro] [Seon Hwe Young] [Yeon Gae So Mun's side] [The king's side]
Commence the great Goguryeo's
Prime Minister election!
General Yang Moon and two other representatives of the north!
[Yang Moon]
I'd like you to go to the meeting hall.
(cheers)
Sir Yang Jin Wook, I hear you are running an illegal smithy.
Also, is arms smuggling your side job?
General, I think there is a misunderstanding!
Misunderstandings are only for idle people!
How much longer will you keep following Yang Moon around?
The new Prime Minister of Goguryeo is
General Yeon Jeong Ro!
Father,
Your Majesty.
Well, I'll have to hear the new Prime Minister's acceptance speech!
The Prime Minister's speech!
As the threat from Tang is growing day by day,
the responsibilities of the new Prime Minister are immense.
That's why we must make ready for a war with Tang
and hurry the construction of the wall on the border.
Also, to continue the peace policy of His Majesty
and make domestic preparations for war
I order General Yeon Gae So Mun to make his way to oversee the wall's construction at once!
Prime Minister! Are you crazy? Traitor!
Have you lost your mind, Prime Minister?
Congratulations on your candidacy for Prime Minister!
I heard that your younger brother has violated the national law
by raiding and pillaging Mohe troops in their strongholds
and acquired quite some wealth and slaves.
A family that violates the national law does not qualify for the position of Prime Minister.
I'm sure you know that.
Why have you come to the palace?
I'm just going my way.
There's no reason why I can't come here.
I will be faithful to my duty here.
Do you know that in this world, there are two paths.
One you should take, and one you shouldn't take.
I thought you had nothing to do with me?
It is tradition for the princess and the prince to dress as commoners and watch the crowds.
General, aren't you going to do something/
We'll have to kill first! On the last day of the festival,
when the crow soars, it will be over.