The Moon That Embraces The Sun
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[This drama is set during the Joseon Era under the rule of a fictitious king.]
[All characters and events are fictitious and have no historic basis.]
Final Episode 20
I shall give His Majesty's neck to you, Lord.
Are you saying, I am to slit His Majesty's throat personally?
You must exhibit, at least, that much passion
to rouse a fighting spirit among the soldiers.
So only if I hold a sword stained with the blood of my brother
will you accept me as King.
Originally, wasn't this Joseon nation
founded upon the bloodshed between kin?
It is a good opportunity for me personally to solidify our resolution,
so it is not a bad proposition.
I shall gladly accept.
Kill him!
Just as the Zhou accepted the will of the heavens
and took down the Shang King,
we shall also accept heavens' command and dethrone the immoral King!
Slit the deposed King's throat!
What are you hesitating for?! Slit my throat!
It is you, Hyungnim, who have passed up your chance today.
So do not ever wish for another opportunity.
No. I shall have another opportunity.
Namely, at the scene of revolt.
How will I react when the moment of revolt comes?
Were you not just testing me?
Tell me!
What exactly is Your Majesty planning?
What are you hesitating for, Lord?!
He is a tyrant that has gone against the will of the heavens!
Condemn him of his crime and slit his throat!
I'm thinking of going on a hunt.
Those who orchestrated that child's death,
those who used that death to fulfill their greed,
those who sacrificed the lives of the innocent,
the Royal Court officials that serve their self-interests
more than this land and its people...
I plan to take them all down with one sweep.
They are not the sort that will sit quietly and let that happen.
I realize that.
If I do not give up the idea of convicting them,
they will plan an insurrection.
And shortly, they will approach you.
So then, what is it you want from me?
I need a record of all their names.
If they are not eliminated, Yeon Woo...
must live the rest of her life in danger.
And this country will march toward it's ruin.
What instills in you such trust in me that you would speak such perilous words?
Just now, I placed my life in your hands.
A revolt is different.
Naturally, the choice is yours.
Attack!
They are the King's soldiers!
And now... the hunt begins!
Forward charge!
The man who takes the lives of the King and Prince Yang Myung
will be Bangjeon Gongshin*! (*Revolutionary Hero)
Your Highness! It's Court Lady Jo!
Your Highness! It's a revolt! You must go...
Your Majesty.
Father.
Must blood be shed, after all?
Though it is uncertain who will be victorious,
my stepping down as Queen
is one thing that is certain, I suppose.
From the day I first saw Your Majesty,
I have only ever wanted one thing.
Solely Your Majesty's heart.
And so, I shall die still as Queen,
still as Your Majesty's woman.
Dispose of Prince Yang Myung and take the record of names!
I am holding the record of names on me,
so if you can kill me, come and take it.
Your Majesty!
Hyungnim!
Your Majesty,
please forgive your subject's foolish decision.
There can only one sun in the heavens.
There will no longer be disorder because of me.
Hyungnim.
Hyungnim!
Brother.
To have the opportunity to be held in your arms...
it's a good feeling.
Why?
Why in the world...
These days,
acting like a debauched libertine is tiresome
and no longer entertaining.
If there is something I regret,
it is that I haven't seen our Yeom for so long.
Oh dear.
Why...
do you let royal tears be seen over something like this?
Do not cry.
I am all right.
As you ordered,
it is the record of names of the insurgents.
All right.
I understand, so please do not move.
The physician will be here shortly.
So, until then...
At one time,
I resented Your Majesty who had everything.
And so, I once also coveted your position.
However, to be exchanged for the throne,
my friends and my brother...
were too important to me.
Hyungnim.
I pray that...
you become a sturdy monarch,
and together with her,
protect the people of this country.
Your loyal subject,
in that other place,
shall watch over you.
Father,
I am coming as your son.
In that place, no longer as King but only as my father.
You will be able to smile at me with ease, I hope.
But, my mother whom I leave behind alone, and...
Are you going somewhere?
I came by to have a look at your face before I leave.
A homely face.
I have seen my fill so I'm fine now.
Hyungnim.
Hyung... Hyungnim.
Hyungnim. Hyungnim!
Hyungnim!
Hyungnim, open your eyes.
My order was just the record of names.
I never ordered you to die!
Hyungnim.
Hyungnim...
Hyungnim, open your eyes.
It's an order.
Will you defy a royal order?!
Hyungnim.
Hyungnim...
Hyungnim.
Hyungnim!
In case we were followed, I circled around the long way.
So it took quite a long time.
We have arrived, so you can come out now, Miss.
Where are we?
His Majesty ordered that we bring you here.
You've suffered a long journey, so please go on inside.
Mo... Mother.
Y... Yeon Woo.
Are you...
Are you really Yeon Woo?
Really Yeon Woo?
Mother.
Aigoo, my baby!
You were alive!
You were truly alive!
Mother.
Is this a dream or is it real?
How...
how could this have happened?
Mother.
I didn't know I'd see you again, and...
Mother.
Brother.
Oh! Aigoo, my baby!
You should take Mother inside.
I once saw a peasant girl that looked like you.
I don't know what crime she committed,
but as I watched the people throw rocks at the girl,
how my heart...
crumbled.
You can talk of others later.
Right now, please rest.
No.
How can I leave you and go to sleep?
What if, while I'm asleep, you disappear again?
That won't happen.
Without your permission, I will not go anywhere.
I don't know what is going on.
The Princess who stayed by my side
these eight years in your place...
involved in your death?
I cannot believe what I have heard.
Did Brother tell you?
He told me she committed a grave crime.
She carries our bloodline in her belly,
and yet, he acts so cruel.
Brother.
Are you really not going to look at me?
If you blame and torture yourself like this,
I have no choice but to regret that I have survived and live.
Do you want me to think that way?
I have committed such a grave crime against you.
How can you say you've committed a crime against me?
You have done nothing wrong.
Everything was because of me.
Because of me, all of this...
Do not speak like that.
Just, praise me.
That I did well to live.
Yeon Woo.
Thank you.
For being alive.
I thank you, too.
For being alive like this.
I told you, whether it's porridge or rice, I am not eating.
Court Lady Min, why...
Why... do you refuse to eat?
How can I bring myself to eat?
So then, do you intend to die with the baby that you carry?
Would you like me to die?
No.
I would like you to live.
A lie! That's not possible!
I tried to kill you! How can you want me to live?!
You tried to kill me,
but here I am, alive.
I resented you enough to want you dead but because you lived,
my mother was able to smile again,
and my brother gained a child.
How dare you spout such hypocrisy?
I'd rather you shout that I should die at once.
Grab my neck.
Then, I can fall prostrated and beg for your forgiveness!
Do you need my forgiveness?
Yes, I will forgive you.
For the sake of my brother and His Majesty who suffered pain because of you.
For the sake of those two who plead forgiveness in your place,
who are paying for your crime in your place,
I shall willingly forgive you.
So, live.
Live and personally plead for forgiveness.
Personally pay for your crime, and make atonement.
Not His Majesty, not my brother,
but you personally.
For surviving,
for being alive,
thank you.
I pray you will
allow me to say the same to you one day.
Prince Yang Myung.
Please open your eyes.
Prince Yang Myung.
Please stop with this prank, and open your eyes.
Who has lied to me?
Do you not see this smile?
Do you not see he is still alive?
Prince Yang Myung. Please get up.
Why do you pull such pranks?
You must not do this.
You are scaring your mother.
Prince Yang Myung. Open your eyes, Prince Yang Myung!
Please get up, Prince Yang Myung!
Prince Yang Myung!
Oh dear, oh dear.
So there are times when even the mighty Woon looks tired.
Prince Yang Myung.
Could it be that you already miss me?
Departing like that, are you happy?
Why wouldn't I be?
I no longer have to laugh a false laugh,
I no longer have to force myself to drink when I don't enjoy it that much,
I no longer have to be a threat to His Majesty,
and more than anything,
I can gaze upon that girl to my heart's content.
How can I not be happy?
May I ask just one question?
Of course.
Do you still think of me as a friend?
A friend, you say.
Friend is a good word no matter when you hear it.
Please answer.
Have you come to me as a friend?
Of course.
You have been so up to now,
and you shall always be my friend.
Your Highness!
- Your Highness! - Your Highness!
Your Highness!
Your Highness...
- Your Highness! - Your Highness!
Your Highness!
- Your Highness! - Your Highness!
Your Highness!
- Your Highness! - Your Highness!
Your Highness!
Your Highness...
Your Highness!
Due to recent tragic events, the entire country has fallen into chaos.
So more than anything we must put the people's anxieties to rest,
and focus our efforts into dealing with the aftermath.
Going forward, we must ensure the safety of our country
and right our national policies.
There is wisdom in your words, Your Majesty.
Furthermore, those innocent people who were sacrificed in the recent tragedy,
I shall not forget the gravity of their bloodshed.
It is written in the Gongyang commentary to the Chunqui: (Confucian classic)
"If a punishment does not fit the crime,
there is no way to discipline those that commit wicked acts".
Therefore, we will thoroughly judge between right and wrong,
and the innocent that have been imprisoned will be released,
while those who have committed crimes
will serve a punishment befitting their crimes.
Hence,
Princess Min Hwa's participation in the sorcery 8 years ago to deprive the Crown Princess of her life,
has caused her to give up her title and be sentenced to become a slave.
Her sentence will begin after she gives birth.
After the child is born,
she will immediately be expelled from the capital and become a provincial slave.
For Prince Consort Heo Yeom,
who's crime is his marriage to treasonous criminal Princess Min Hwa,
I hereby order his marriage dissolved.
He shall relinquish his Prince Consort title and all property associated with it.
Hence, he shall be demoted to the rank he held before the marriage
and suspended as an inactive ranking official.
- High Shaman. - High Shaman.
High Shaman of Seongsucheong, Jang Nok Young, for black sorcery 8 years ago,
should be accordingly sentenced to be beheaded.
However, in consideration for sparing the Crown Princess's life,
the decision will be discussed after the memorial ceremony to comfort the dead.
As you were previously informed,
we shall be holding a memorial ceremony, so make preparations.
I shall be performing the ritual by myself this time,
so there's no need for anything intricate.
I want to go with you.
You stay at Seongsucheong.
You should stay, at least, and protect this place.
I don't want to stay on my own.
Seol Unni is gone.
Wol Unni... is now someone that will be hard to see.
Brother Yang Myung has also departed this world.
If you're no longer here either...
Please don't go, Mistress.
Don't go and abandon me.
Seol...
and Grand Queen Dowager,
Your Highness The Queen,
Prince Yang Myung,
Chief Scholar,
all of you, I shall escort onward.
Heavens,
the life left in my sinful being I offer up as a sacrifice.
So I pray you cleanse this land of all vengeful spirits and evil energy.
I shall lock this land's demons in my body,
and travel the path to the other world,
so for these poor souls...
release their bitterness, and allow them to sleep in peace.
As fortune would have it,
in my heavens now remains one sun that embraces hope and one moon.
I pray you shine your glorious light on all in this land
and fill them.
I pray you wash away the pain,
and may you all find happiness.
Mistress.
That's enough. You may all step out.
Forgive my impudence, but before the hours between 7 and...
I have asked you to leave, have I not?!
Then, your clothing...
Where are you about to put your hands?
Even the Queen has not yet touched my body!
I shall be attended to by the Queen,
so you may all leave.
They have all left,
so please lift your head now.
Who are you?
Tell me.
What is your true identity?
I am...
Your Majesty's woman...
and a citizen of this country,
Heo Yeon Woo.
Aish, where are you going?
Neener, you can't catch me now!
Stop!
Neener-neener...
Neener-neener.
Brother.
Yes, Your Highness?
Is there something you want to say to me?
Princess Min Hwa...
has been released.
As she has paid the price of her crime,
His Majesty has sanctioned it.
And Court lady Min who stayed with her has passed away recently.
If it is because you feel remorseful towards me,
you don't need to anymore.
It's not that.
More than anything, don't you think...
a young child needs his mother?
Are you all right?
Yes, Your Highness.
Our little Prince is always a strong one.
Your Majesty!
Prince.
You must have been happy today with Eui visiting.
- Did you have fun playing? - Yes,
it was very enjoyable.
Woon, teach me to use the sword.
Look at you. Do you like Swordsman Woon over your own father?
Did you enjoy a rare brother and sister afternoon?
Yes, Your Majesty.
And the lonely Prince was so happy to have Eui's company.
It was so nice to see.
Eui, why didn't you go with the Prince?
I prefer books over swords, sir.
How is it you are so like your father?
So dignified at such a young age. He is just like you, Teacher.
Because all I know of are books, it has turned out that way.
Seeing that our Prince has a hearty, grand demeanor,
I think he resembles Yang Myung Hyungnim.
And there's his love for Woon, too.
As siblings generally take after each other,
he also resembles Your Majesty.
- Eui. - Yes, Father.
Do you miss your mother?
Why do you ask that?
Earlier, you looked upon the Queen and the Prince with envy, did you not?
Was I mistaken?
It's all right. You can speak frankly.
Are you the Queen's brother?
Yes, I am. Why do you ask?
Do you know Seol Unni?
How do you know Seol?
Seol Unni
asks the same thing every day.
Always, "Is he happy?".
"Is the young master happy?".
"He must be happy".
She just repeats this every day.
Are you happy?
For agreeing to the release of Princess Min Hwa,
thank you.
It is not something you need to be grateful for.
After you refused several times,
and I continued to make the request, did that, perhaps, upset you?
I know your requests for Min Hwa's freedom was for my sake and your brother's.
How could I be angry?
Rather, it's something I should be grateful for.
- Your Majesty. - Yes, please speak.
Actually, to express my gratitude,
I have hidden a gift for Your Majesty somewhere in this room.
A gift...
Yes.
I have many things to read today, so I must go.
But you can read the appeals here, as well.
Ah, that's right.
It's an appeal I must review in my quarters.
Please sleep well, My Queen.
That's strange. When he comes to the Queen's quarters,
he never thinks of leaving until the Chief Attendant comes for him.
- What do you think is going on? - You're right.
The King and Queen have enjoyed nothing but conjugal harmony up to now.
Do you think he's already bored with her?
You don't think...
he has another woman hidden in his quarters, do you?
It couldn't be!
Are you ready?
Yes.
Then, come out.
She is a gayageum* master, Shin Jong Yeon. (*traditional Korean zither-like string instrument)
There isn't much time before the Queen's birthday.
So If I'm to show my skills with pride before the Queen,
you will need to give me intensive training.
I shall do everything in my power.
As I tend to learn most things quickly, it should not be difficult.
What is wrong with this instrument?!
Bring me a different one at once!
Then, let me check it for you.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the instrument.
When did you learn how to play the gayageum?
I didn't specifically learn separately.
I just watched over your shoulder as you had your lessons,
and when I was bored,
I just practiced a bit.
W... when you were bored?
Turn around and stand so I can't see your face.
His Majesty...
has freed me from slave status.
But I had nowhere to go.
For one final time,
I wanted to see you.
I wanted to see you so much...
I was just going to look from a distance and leave.
Mother?
I won't ever come again.
I won't even hide and look.
So,
please forgive me this once.
I didn't think
you would forgive me.
I was not going to forgive you.
Punishing myself that way,
I intended not to forgive you.
But now, I want to be happy.
For our Eui's sake,
and for the sake of a poor girl who even in death,
wishes for someone else's happiness.
Did you carry out my order as commanded?
Yes. According to the Queen's wishes,
instead of putting on a birthday banquet,
the expenses were sent to the sick ward for relief funds.
Right. Well done.
How are the conditions in the sick ward?
As the Queen is providing a role model,
many of the officials wives are collecting funds for...
Your Majesty?
Your Majesty.
Is there something you are fretting over?
Hmm?
Ahh!
It's nothing.
Your Highness. It's Court Lady Choi.
Enter.
Your Highness, there is a royal order that you go at once to Eunweol Pavilion.
To Eunweol Pavilion?
Please sit here, Your Highness.
Felicitations on your birthday.
For your birthday, I've prepared a performance.
My skills are inadequate, but I hope you enjoy it.
Are you all right?
Focus only on me.
Only on me.
As my gift was so unsatisfactory,
were you disappointed?
No. It was amusing.
I didn't prepare it to be amusing.
Then, I shall give you something else.
Perhaps, will there be petals falling from the roof?
Hyung Sun has gotten too old to be climbing on the roof now.
Mmm... then perhaps,
will fireworks explode in the skies?
How could I possibly waste the nation's funds to win a woman's heart?
However,
I'll give you something better instead.
Viewers who have given their love to "The Moon that Embraces the Sun", thank you.
Yeon Woo, Yeon Woo...
Yeon Woo, I have truly come to find you.
Did you not give me your heart?
From now on,
I shall protect you at your side.
It's fine if everyone becomes one of the Crown Prince's people.
Heo Yeon Woo, as long as you alone say you'll be mine.
Come close. Come closer.
Finally now, the two of us become one.
Did you ask me to forget you? Do you want me to forget you?
- I'm sorry. - I'm sorry.
Though I tried to forget, I cannot forget you.