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~ Conspiracy in the Court ~ DIRECTOR'S CUT
I commend your intents, but you shan't easily fulfill them.
Unless you first aspire for it, no dream can come true.
~ Episode 2 ~
Your Excellency!
No traces...
No external wounds,
and no traces of blood.
Damn it...
We were right in suspecting they would attempt on his life.
Close all the gates! We must apprehend the culprit!
How dare you defy my command?!
Did you gather everyone?!
Chief! Their Excellencies demand we open the gates.
Convey to them that we first must find the assassin.
What is that supposed to imply?
I am Chief Petty Officer Seo Ju Pil of the Hanseong prefecture.
We believe His Excellency the Minister of Personnel...
might have been murdered within these walls.
We hence must investigate.
Does that imply...
that you believe the culprit is amongst us?
You knave!
How dare you blather such groundless drivel in our presence?!
Abate your anger.
Does not everyone wish to apprehend the culprit?
It would be infeasible to catch him this way.
Was there any suspicious individual, or anyone leaving in your presence?
Now that I think about it,
the one who served His Excellency is nowhere to be found.
Are you positive?!
Rather than coercing Their Excellencies into this prolonged stay,
finding that truant slattern would be much wiser.
All the gisaeng shall await in the rear quarters.
Their panders shall join me, and rummage the entire giru!
Should we fail to apprehend the culprit,
you will find it hard to continue trade in this place!
Are you all right, Naeuri?
Did you just say one of your gisaeng is missing?
Whatever it takes...
Whatever it takes, we must find her.
What are you doing here?
It was Master Yang who arranged for tonight's luncheon.
You were prancing about as if boasting some grandiose endeavor,
but it turns out you were merely tallowing those courtiers' bulging bellies.
I only filled their appetite with some noisome victuals,
to gain something more important.
Is anything you deal with devoid of that noisome stench of yours?!
I suppose only decay would grace your eyes, outside your exalted walls.
Would anyone basking in festering decadence such as you...
know of creation without decay?
Letting jaundice paint everything you are unaware of in festering colors...
can only befuddle your judgment.
A heinous slattern sent you home empty-handed,
so it must have been a most befuddling eventide.
Out of the way!
I have no time to waste in your company.
Heinous slattern?!
How dare you utter such obloquy?
He looks rather displeased tonight.
I thought we paid for the entire giru to be at our service?!
And I also trust we asked for Their Excellencies to be entertained...
at the inner quarters, not the outer ones.
The inner quarters were already reserved by Master Han.
If you say Master Han...
Does it mean that shylock from Yeonji-Dong?
- He sent this Butler Hwang last night... - Butler Hwang?!
He compensated us so bountifully...
Do not ask me the reason, but this discussion never took place.
- I do not recall ever talking to you! - Who is there?!
Stop at once!
This way!
That way!
It's this way!
I saw someone coming this way. Did you notice anyone?
I did not.
This place will be in tumult, once dawning is upon us.
Should we not contact our superiors?
I sent word to the Hanseong prefecture,
so we must move the corpse once the prefecture magistrates arrive.
Milady!
Who are you?
It's me, Yang Seobang.
To find you...
there is no place in the eight provinces I did not visit.
Where on earth...
have you been all this time?
What was that noise?! That way!
Milady,
you must immediately escape.
My torch was suddenly quenched.
Did you find her?
We are still looking.
There is nothing this way.
- Let us move that way. - Yes.
Why did you not escape right away?!
My apologies.
I lost the opportunity to do so in a timely manner.
Do you plan to keep showing your face around?!
Was it me what you were looking for at the library?
Wondering if I could steal but a sip of water from you,
I daringly encumbered your search.
*Mid-Joseon Shilhak (practical learning) scholar Lee Su Gwang
It was written by Jibong Seonsaeng*, based on his Ming lectures.
You can peruse it.
It will quench your thirst with something more refreshing than water.
Take a look.
*Archaic Korean spelling of "British Empire," derived from Chinese
See this designated area, Yeongyeolli*?
On this land, courtiers nominated by the people participate in state deliberation.
Westerners from those Qing chapels seemed very prideful of it.
They certainly must be.
Those courtiers are chosen by the people,
so think of how much their interests could matter to them.
In the west, machines weave garments in people's stead,
and can be used to carry goods.
If we had such machines, the lives of our people would be much better.
It is what they have that we lack...
which moves me to learn.
Wow! And what is this?
*Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci's "Complete Map of All Nations on Earth"
It is a world map called Kunyu Wanguo Quantu*.
This is our Joseon.
Wow! Is it this small?!
Indeed it is.
Our Joseon is a very minute fraction of the world we live in.
Wow...
If we are to learn about what they possess,
we must go beyond this diminutive land of ours, and out to the world.
I certainly would love to do so...
What a woman like me will never be able to accomplish...
is something you are perfectly capable of.
Do I really look capable of such exploits?
Of course you do!
You are the only one incognizant of how much talent you possess.
Those westerners...
consider men and women holding hands...
as perfectly conscionable behavior.
Milady...
Is it not time your arrows pierce a much larger target?!
What are you trying to say?
I know very well about the aspirations you foment deep inside your heart,
to set your sights beyond these boundaries of ours.
Will you hurl that arrow with me?
If I could only glance at that world through your eyes,
it would bring me utmost happiness.
Did you finish?
Not even a gak* after imbibing the infusion, his pulse stopped.
*15 minutes
It reacted twice as quickly as when we mixed the infusion with a seven to three ratio.
His pulse briefly returned after piercing his imunhyeol (temple),
but it did not last long.
Fine.
Enjoy some respite.
Did anything else happen at the gibang?
Nothing.
Did you find anything?
Master Han from Yeonji-dong suddenly perished, not long ago.
But what is peculiar is that he was poisoned to death by shikimi berries.
How can that...
Those are palace goods.
There is no way they would be used in the capital.
Did you find that Butler Hwang?
There was no Butler Hwang under Master Han's employment.
So Master Han perished, and the Minister of Personnel...
was assassinated in quarters falsely arranged under Master Han's name.
Wouldn't that imply it was all concocted by this Butler Hwang?!
Not to mention, if Milady came out of those quarters,
does that mean they are compeers?!
If shikimi berries were also responsible for the Minister's demise,
the real issue is how they gained possession of those goods.
How could Milady...
be embroiled in such harrowing occurrences?!
Her chin was a little more elongated.
This slattern just said it was even more rotund.
But it's the opposite for you?!
Can my eyes engage in mendacious whims?!
No, I am positive it was rotund!
Ahh... Whose eyes am I supposed to believe?
- It was more slender! - It was rotund!
It will surely turn black by the morrow.
It is all my fault.
They even had assassins trailing them.
How could I fail to anticipate they would attempt on his life?!
You cannot be blamed for this.
I wish you will not repeat my same malfeasance.
What are you trying to say?
May I confess with honesty?
That Cheon Du who smuggled shikimi berries from the Qing knew you.
A succession of murders seemingly experimenting with their poisonous levels followed.
And Shipa mainstay, the Minister of Personnel, was poisoned that way.
As one of the guiding lights of the Byeokpa, your father...
is Commissioner of the Capital Market Bureau.
The mutual enmity between His Excellency and him is well known,
not to mention the fact they engaged in a rancorous diatribe at the luncheon.
- Hyungnim! - Right.
It might be just you and me investigating this now,
but should anyone else do it in our stead,
wouldn't they come to the same exact conclusions?
But we still have no evidence that the Minister of Personnel...
was poisoned by those berries.
The morrow will bring us that evidence.
The Minister of Personnel perished?!
The Minister...
Care to elucidate me on the circumstances?
As for you, one of the main voices clamoring for the transfer has perished,
- so is it not a propitious development?! - But...
Goods I personally smuggled caused his demise...
Fruitless curiosity shall only hamper your fettle.
But, I...
Because of those berries, I had to sacrifice a trusted compeer,
and it all ruined our plans at such a crucial juncture.
You still refuse to heed my words?
I must learn who used that poison, so that I can make heedful decisions myself.
I fear this might cause unforeseen discomfiture.
Nothing of the sort will happen, so don't you fret.
- Your Excellency! - You...
shall only be cognizant of what I allow you to,
and all you need to do is to proceed as instructed.
My sincerest apologies, Your Excellency.
I hear the Minister's case has been entrusted to the state tribunal.
For the time being, you will have a hard time opening this giru to patrons.
Are you... concerned about this lowly wench?!
*Unranked officers assigned to the state tribunal
It's just that najang* have been despatched to the area already.
It is no concern of mine.
Did it not allow me to enjoy a drink with you in solitude, Naeuri?
We are hampering your trade, and you find merriment in it?!
If I could spend that time with you,
I would forever close those gates.
Your jests are excessive.
Are they not?!
Jestful parlance seems to always besmirch a gisaeng's legacy.
Will you fill this wench's cup as well?
I always asked myself...
why someone of such remarkable wit and beauty refuses to leave these dwellings.
I hear you command the admiration of many an esteemed patron.
As thunderous as the storm might be,
flowers always beam with a woebegone mirth.
Is there anyone lucky enough to enrapture your heart?
Milady!
Naeuri...
What untactful entrance...
- Master Han has been found dead! - Then...
Did my bill follow him to the netherworld?
- Master Han reserved quarters here? - Yes.
He urgently sent one of his varlets yesterday, asking for the outer quarters.
Yesterday?!
Naeuri!
Master Han perished three days ago.
But those who murdered the Minister used the outer quarters Master Han paid for.
The bill issued three days ago, before Master Han was murdered.
The bill issued before Master Han was murdered.
The remaining half of that bill with the man who paid on Master Han's behalf.
Right...
That is none other than our culprit.
*Old Insa-dong
"Geonpyeonbang* Butler Hwang"
Park Sang Gyu!
And he finally awakens!
The bill?!
I replaced it with your life.
It was the same man who slew Cheon Du.
Butler Hwang!
Written on that bill, I saw a "Butler Hwang from somewhere,"
but I could not make out where he was from.
Butler Hwang?
Did you regain your vigor?
She has been tending to you with utmost zeal.
Wolhyang, that is.
Even married couples would not be so daring in their fervent care...
Naeuri...
But how did you know?
She told me you left in a haste,
and I thought you might have...
Were you trailing me?
What is more peculiar...
is the fact that man was already there before you even arrived.
How did he learn of that place and find it?!
Not to mention, why did he not slay me?
He likely did not want to kindle any fire on his way out.
As long as they leave no traces, why would they bother...
But that man tried to quell the fire on that bill even before I did.
If their intention was getting rid of any evidence,
wouldn't he have let it burn into oblivion?!
So he was looking for the name on that bill just as you were?!
He came there looking for the bill,
and waited in hiding for me to find it.
It is now clear the man who slew Cheon Du was not aware...
of this Butler Hwang who assassinated the Minister,
so it confirms we are dealing with two different culprits.
We must hasten and find that Butler Hwang.
Seeing as they slew Cheon Du to stop him from divulging any information,
and they were even trailing this Butler Hwang,
we must be dealing with a very methodical and cognizant throng.
That heinous slattern must have been working with Butler Hwang.
Did your butler see him, when he signed that bill?
Yes, Naeuri.
We will have to draw a countenance description for that Butler Hwang.
I will head to the Office of Census Registration.
There might be something regarding him.
Naeuri, may you enjoy some more respite.
The physician shall join us soon.
I commend your efforts.
Geonpyeonbang Butler Hwang?!
A chief from the Hanseong prefecture...
and an officer of the left capital bureau came there together.
I was forced to injure the officer, but he did not suffer any serious injury.
Find him!
Milady is with this man.
It is time you rise. I know how fervently you wish to find her,
but are we not supposed to meet Master Jo from the Ddukseom district?!
Is it this late already?!
Listen, Master Yang.
We put our faith in you and left the underworld which concealed our endeavors,
not to mention sacrificing the lives of fellow compeers.
I certainly cannot ignore your devotion for that lady,
but I clamor you to always keep in mind our fellowship's aspirations,
when you maunder the open streets for everyone to see!
Never you fret.
How could that ever hamper our resolve?
It cannot be more than 2,000 nyang.
Ohh Ohh... listen to that!
Did we not mention it would be 3,000 nyang, last time we met?
If they transfer the capital and everyone leaves,
then you will hardly even muster a thousand nyang.
If you do not want to, then so long...
Ahhh... All right, all right.
Here. We have a deal.
I see you came well prepared.
- Our dealings are complete, so let us enjoy... - Forget it!
We just sold proprietary rights for half their value,
think we could drink to it?!
- Let us get going! - Let's go.
I laud your efforts.
All we need is to get our hands on the Gwangnaru Port peddlers' rights,
and all distribution in and out of the Han River will be in your control.
But I hear those street peddlers will not give up their proprietary rights,
no matter the price.
Not only they are as fierce as bandits,
but they certainly will not be eager to deal with merchants from the market.
We are but a deal away from gaining full distribution rights.
Without those peddlers' rights,
our great endeavor will not come into fruition.
Are they not all the same?!
Who's that?!
Where does he think he's going?!
I run the silk shop at the market, my name is Yang Man Oh.
I came to seek audience with Master Noh.
Hey!
Let us see those who were flogged by market varmints!
Put them down.
Then, this time...
those whose goods were peculated, even before they could sell them.
See?
Before we ever allow you to meet the Elder Master,
we'll have to arrange you a parley with the Grim Reaper first!
Boys!
Stop!
I did hear of a valiant and adventuresome market chief.
It is a privilege to meet you.
I hope you will forgive our lack of decorum.
Ohh Ohh...
You are suggesting that peddlers who only traded in racks and bundles...
should now sell crops?!
You would maintain the same structure,
and merely change your means of distribution.
Should we gather all crops and adroitly distribute them to the provinces...
through the capital (Han) river, our starving people will be able...
to purchase grains at much more affordable prices.
Distribution?!
However,
considering most of Joseon's crops are rotting inside...
the cellars of yangban landlords,
where do you plan to find enough crops to sustain such distribution?
Our people...
do not wear silk garments.
Our group will soon exercise control over Joseon's entire silk trade.
If those yangban clans wish to bedeck themselves in silk vestments,
they will now be forced to sell twice, thrice the amount of crops.
Gold, silver, trinkets and perukes.
The more ostentatious their whims become,
the quicker their cellars shall be emptied of all those precious crops,
which will fall into our possession.
I commend your intents, but you shan't easily fulfill them.
Unless you first aspire for it,
how could any dream come true?!
The Butlers Hwang we found in Yeonhwabang and Geondeokbang...
followed their keepers to the provinces,
while another Butler Hwang of Seongmyeongbang is suffering from ailments,
so he is not the man we were looking for.
Continue your investigation.
I am sure I saw a "Butler Hwang" written on it.
We could be dealing with an alias.
Would a shylock concede loans to men concealing their identities?!
Forging identification tags would be nothing for such specimen.
Naeuri.
How does it look?
Any resemblance?
It certainly is not the same, but there is a strong resemblance.
I laud your efforts.
You will pardon all the discomfiture,
but can you make us another few?
What...
I spent the entire night for this, Naeuri!
I shall reward you with a hefty toast!
If we combine them with that slattern's description,
it will aid our efforts.
My gratitude to you as well.
Yes, Naeuri.
Is this the woman we are looking for?
Why are you asking?
Do you recognize her visage?
I did know someone resembling her...
It cannot be.
Let us go.
You had nothing to eat all day.
I am daunted by undertaking such an arduous journey,
and leaving you here.
Wherever your path leads you,
I shall always be by your side.
Whatever graces your sight,
it shall always appear before my eyes.
How long this could take...
Whether we will ever see each other again...
Such questions daunt me.
You must hasten with your departure,
if your return is to come sooner.
May you leave.
At dawning, just like sundown,
always take good care of yourself.
You promised.
Do not look back!
Milord!
"Father!"
Mother!
Na Young...
What is dominating your thoughts?
Occurrences from before our meeting keep wandering in my mind.
Nothing vanishes in this world of ours.
Everything our mind considers as vanished, broken by time,
is merely concealed in the shadows of our imagination.
If you are able to leave it all in the shadows, do so.
But,
it shall not be an easy undertaking.
If it refuses to vanish from my mind,
leaving it in the shadows and looking for the light will bring me solace.
I shall carve it on my soul.
There is somewhere we must go.
Get prepared.
There is no need to bring those.
That wench is exactly the one who slew the Minister of Personnel.
You must be aware of your dire malfeasance!
You malapert slattern.
She does not dread the consequences of slaying the six ministries' foremost courtier!
Quite the valiant undertaking for such a feeble-looking countenance.
Behead her!
What are you waiting for?
She is no longer of any use to us, so slay her immediately!
A moment, halt!
We are now sure she does not dread the prospect of demise.
Pledging her destiny to divine providence!
Your countenance did not forebode such fortitude.
May you briefly entrust that wench's life to me.
Who is this?!
Ahh... I finally feel alive again.
Why could it be shikimi berries?
What are you prattling about?
There is easily recognizable poison like arsenic or kudzu roots...
That is clearly so that they could be mixed with palgak at the Dispensary.
If they wanted to conspire against the Minister by adding poison...
to the Royal Dispensary's herbs,
wouldn't using something more obvious like arsenic have been wiser?!
But importing this unknown herb from the Qing,
something even experts have a hard time recognizing...
So their intent was not to be found, after all?!
We started with riotous varmints and moved to market shylocks,
and thought the Minister of Personnel was the last murder.
But should that prove not to be the end?!
So harming His Excellency was not their goal,
and they had someone much more important in mind?!
If that is indeed the truth,
who on earth are Butler Hwang and that slattern trying to harm?
The Minister of Personnel was poisoned?!
The Hanseong prefecture is still investigating.
Didn't the Ministry of Punishment proclaim it a death from natural causes?
Ha! They are circulating descriptions, and looking for suspects.
How is that magistrate dealing with his underlings?
What is the point of further rankling an already boisterous court?!
Those against His Majesty's reforms started to retaliate.
That is never going to hamper his resolve.
What cannot bend must be broken, methinks.
Ohh Ohh... what malignant utterances!
How is the investigation on the Minister of Personnel proceeding?
We are sparing no effort, but still could not find any manifest clue.
We undertook a third and fourth postmortem to verify the cause of death,
but could not come to a conclusion.
I am sure you could not.
Sure that it is what was bound to happen.
We are mortified, Sire.
What on earth is this?
It is with utmost chagrin I convey to you this predicament,
but following your appointment of His Excellency Chae Seung Hwan,
a few courtiers decided to refuse to participate in today's deliberation.
Is this what you call a "few" courtiers?!
The Office of the Inspector General oversees the entire court's demeanor.
It is a position of headmost importance bringing rectitude to our institutions!
How could you select a ruffian who hangs from Your Majesty's lips...
for such a crucial post requiring utmost exactitude?!
May you immediately retract the edict proclaiming Chae Seung Hwan!
May you retract your edict!
Out of the way!
How could vile specimen only adept in flattery and choosing sides,
in lieu of abiding by his call, be entrusted with such a clamorous role?!
I shall rather hackle this palace to smithereens...
and by its rancorous rubble be slain,
than to witness that ruffian's contumelious disregard for our country's legacy, Sire!
Sire!
May you retract your order proclaiming Chae Seung Hwan as Inspector General!
During his days as Assistant Inspector,
on the mere grounds of voicing different views,
he openly ignored fellow courtiers' claims on more than one occasion.
Should such specimen lead the Office of Inspector General,
the laudable customs of deliberating on our pending quandaries...
would lose any value, and the entire office will only follow his whims!
If so adamant you are about nominating such ruffians,
would this not imply you shall neglect any code of law,
and from now on deliberate state matters as you please, Sire?!
Retract your orders, Sire!
Neglect any code of law?!
All yours truly wished for was a more open form of deliberation.
But what sight is now bestowed upon me?!
Nothing but a rambunctious throng!
Sire.
According to our sacred codes, choosing a man of impartiality is paramount.
Manifold courtiers acquiesced to my selection,
including the late Minister of Personnel.
Is not that of proclaiming one courtier amongst meritable candidates...
exactly what those paramount codes of yours bequest upon me?!
You cannot proclaim Chae Seung Hwan, Sire!
You cannot proclaim him, Sire!
Is this ineptitude on my part for not exercising my authority,
or is it the arrogance of my courtiers, hampering my every decision at all cost?!
Sire!
Summon Chae Seung Hwan to the palace.
Should anyone hamper his entrance, punish him according to our laws.
Sire!
Sire!! May you retract your orders!
What are all the men doing, to have you carry that load?!
Ohh... they all went to the fields to plant seedlings.
Aigoo... It's all right. It may look big, but it's not that heavy.
As if there were no younger servants, why did you have to bother?
Aigoo... really, what is wrong with you?
Uh?! Give it a rest.
Milord's noble blood flows in your veins.
Someone of such noble lineage cannot engage in such menial work.
Mother!
Have you forgotten why I live this way?
So that my giving birth to you, according this lowly slave a life of leisure,
will not foment any finger-pointing directed at you.
So that there will not be a single one even thinking of blaming you for being his son...
Whatever people say, you are my one and only mother.
I am a slave of this clan.
And carrying this is what it entails.
Should I even perish and be reborn,
I have no intention of subjecting you to this.
These are the shikimi berries smuggled by the same Cheon Du...
who was assassinated as we were questioning him.
Did you instigate someone to keep Cheon Du silent about these berries?
Almost sounds as if you are prepared to apprehend me.
And it was this poison what killed the Minister.
Were you also the culprit behind that?
We know a certain Butler Hwang is behind these murders.
Where is he?
And who would that be?
They slew a dozen innocent people for no reason whatsoever.
Who are they?
I wish to know the truth!
And should you learn it,
think you would be able to handle that truth?
I myself am...
asked to remain incognizant of why they smuggled it, and what it was for.
And do you know why?
To survive and see the morrow.
Who received these berries?
Do not try to find out.
They are people you cannot do anything about.
- Tell me. - Leave.
- Milord! - I said leave!
Did you learn anything?
He is a man of very few words,
and, despite his tentatives to conceal it, is a most dexterous fighter.
And Milady?! Did you see her?
I could not ascertain whether it was her,
but I did briefly see a woman in the early morningtide.
For how long have they been lodging here?
I hear that they have been sharing these dwellings for a good year.
Right around the time when she disappeared from the capital prisons.
It must be her.
Milady.
Milady!
- Yang Seobang... - How have you...
been faring all this time, Milady?
How did you find...
*From "Thousand Character Classic" - Chapter 3
Nam Hyo Jae Ryang, Deuk Neung Mak Mang.*
Men must furbish their talent and display a merciful heart,
never forgetting the precious lessons imparted upon them.
Men must furbish their talent and display a merciful heart,
never forgetting the precious lessons imparted upon them.
Milady!
Milady!!
You made it?!
He ranked first in the interpreter examination, Milady!
This is all thanks to His Excellency and you, Milady!
It is not.
The heavens have rewarded your fervid and passionate efforts!
Milady... I lived to witness such a propitious day for people like us!
All that is left is becoming royal interpreter and threading your way through this world!
Because of my results,
*Saeunsa: Joseon envoys sent to the Ming and, later, Qing
I will get the opportunity to follow the Royal Envoy* leaving next month!
Is that true?!
My congratulations, I am really glad!
Milady...
Aigoo... Aigoo, Milady!
So a baron is what you've become.
I am in abasement.
It is all thanks to your teachings, Milady.
I am but a lowly government slave,
so do not address me with such reverence.
Both in the past, now and forever,
Milady is all you shall be to me.
I do not know how you found me,
but stop looking for me.
I went through unfathomable quandaries to find you only now.
"Stop looking for me"?!
I am briefly lodging here under my keeper's orders,
and I could leave at any moment.
Before my keeper returns, may you leave this place.
This whole ordeal...
does not behoove you, Milady.
Surely,
you must have been coerced by your keeper, that Hwang?!
I saw you escape from the Minister of Personnel's quarters.
And I am aware that was the reason they were after you at the gibang.
I shall rescue you from this impasse at all cost.
Leave at once!
I spent the rest of my life waiting for this day.
I believed... that one day I would meet you again for sure.
I pledged to myself I would become Joseon's most affluent merchant,
and I desultorily gathered riches wandering the eight provinces.
Just...
for your sake.
To follow your wishes!
On the fateful day we would again meet,
I wanted to show you all that I accomplished.
Now...
I have the means to help and protect you, Milady.
I cannot bear to witness you endure this vile coercion.
For coercion it is certainly not...
Do not hamper my path and leave at once!
Who are you?
I used to serve Milady.
Milady, you say?!
What is that supposed to mean?
I merely came to visit her.
I believe you might have visited the wrong gates.
The reason I came alone...
is because I have no intention of questioning her on the Minister's murder.
It looks like...
Milady is being observed by that Hwang.
Summon some of our men to keep a keen eye on his movements.
Yes.
Still... I finally found her.
He is a strong candidate to become the next Chief of Mercantile Affairs.
You knew such man?
He is merely...
one facet of the past I already erased from my mind.
Why he came here looking for you does not concern me.
But what does is how he found you! We could certainly move to other dwellings...
But can nobody move what is brewing inside your heart?
Is there anything else I should know?
It was given to me by my father,
before he perished.
For every step I take,
that dagger pierces my chest.
As grieving throes drench my every step in blood,
I do not let my mind get accustomed to pain.
The only memory which never vanishes from the shadows of my mind...
is this pain, and nothing else.
Your Majesty!
It is me, Chae Seung Hwan.
Your grace is immeasurable, Sire.
Here you are.
Sire.
This is a traitor's abode.
Should the courtiers learn of this, they will once again rise in tumult.
Is traitor what you just said?
Sire...
He once was the mentor and compeer who showed me how vast this world could be.
Mutual admiration and the will to open the gates of a new world is what we shared.
But he then tried to oust me...
Sire!
Then again...
Am I not the most wretched of monarchs?!
I only used his treasonous endeavors to restore the authority...
which had fallen into an abyss of oblivion.
Not a single teardrop graced my visage when he perished.
So callous I am,
even my mentor and most faithful compeer turning his back on me...
is only natural.
May you retract such mortifying utterances, Sire.
What is the reason you maunder an empty abode at this belated juncture?
Are you not that capital bureau officer?
You know me?
I saw you tend to the wounded once.
Are you investigating this place?
I used to know this abode's keeper, once upon a time.
Minister Lee?!
Ahh... I see.
You knew him as well?
Ahh... wait! Wait a moment!
Do you know what happened to his family?
Should you find anything about them,
will you convey to me the news?!
And... who are you to ask such...
He helped the physicians at the Office of Public Service,
and he briefly was employed by the Military Training Command.
So therein lies the reason he is so dexterous with needles and herbs.
People from the Military Command described him in ominous terms...
*1795's Eulmyo Persecution against Catholic followers
They all say he perished five years back, during the purge*.
Right when Milady's clan was persecuted?
So what is his connection with her?
How did he get his hands on those shikimi berries,
and why did he have to kill that shylock and the Minister?
- How shall I proceed? - I cannot...
allow him to stay by Milady's side.
General Choi In Woo, at Your Majesty's service.
One by one, they all easily could contend alone...
with a hundred troops from the five army garrisons.
I laud your efforts.
We shall have a combined drill after a brief recess.
These troops were mustered only for emergencies.
They shall by no means be deployed without my consent.
We shall bear it in mind, Sire.
Did the man who came during the day send you?
Wear your garments, and move to the aisle!
What is the matter?
They must be after you!
Now!
No need!
*3~5 a.m.
You must reach Samcheong-dong by the hour of the tiger*.
I must treat your wounds!
Did I not just say there is no need?!
But, Master...
If I don't tend to those wounds...
Are those tears, you slattern?!
For I followed my superior's orders,
I was accused of treason, my entire clan slaughtered.
The fury and rage sweltering my mind...
drove my heedless maundering,
and I took you under my wings to reward His Excellency for his benevolence.
And the reason was...
because you resembled the daughter who left my embrace.
Master...
I...
could not achieve what my daughter dreamed of,
but you must fulfill your father's wishes!
That is...
the only reason we had to survive...
in this unmerciful and grievous world.
I shall always keep it in mind, Master.
Leave at once.
You wench!
Get out of my sight at once!
I do not know...
If, after surviving before the gates of dissolution,
and enduring all the quandaries we went through together,
sending you alone on that path...
is truly the right thing.
I myself do not know.
It is not trifling minions such as yourselves...
what can stop her resolve!
I apologize.
Look for her!
Where did she go?
Here is where it ends...
Speak to me!
I... do not know...
Even your keeper...
was...
in love with her.
What has happened?
It was an ambush.
Butler Hwang completed his task.
Who did this?
The same who slew the smugglers.
They work for the leader of the yukeuijeon.
This place will be shut down.
It is time.
Brought to you by WITH S2 Written In The Heavens Subbing Squad
Main Translator and Timer: MisterX
Timing QC: wichitawx
Editor/QC: thunderbolt
Coordinators: mily2, ay_link
You may rise.
Follow me.
The Master...
Fruitless utterances.
At least his corpse!
Allow me to grant him a proper burial.
Forget that man.
Only remember the teachings he imparted upon you.
For that is the only path to your survival.
Let us go.
Where are we going?
The royal palace.
Did you do it?
The shylock, the Minister...
Did you truly do that?!
Confess who killed them at once, now!
I saw her there, escaping from his quarters.
Who on earth is that slattern, even treating Lady Jung?!
You slew someone's father and brother.
All you need is to follow my command.
You cannot make a single mistake.
Is it Your Majesty's future, or that of the royal family?!
It is for the future of Joseon's people, and their descendants.
- There is nothing you can do about them. - Tell me.
- Leave. - Milord.
I said leave!
Did you do it?
The shylock, the Minister...
Were you really the one who did?
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