I do all the work.
You always make me do everything...
You said you would give your all.
Shall I cut you off now?
Minister, I shall go through these documents myself.
Do not worry, and rest.
Minister. Are you in?
Minister.
What is it?
Is it true that the Crown Prince has passed away?
What do you mean, he passed away?
Did you have a nightmare? What are you talking about?
Take a look at this.
It is a letter from General Jae Heon.
It says the Crown Prince was killed by Pyunsoo Group.
He says he is leaving right away to bring in the troops.
Did the Crown Prince really pass away?
What is going on?
Come here. Do not be alarmed, and read what this letter says.
General Jae Heon is bringing in the troops?
That is right. The Crown Prince has passed away, so...
Who are you?
We must stop him at once!
- Why you... - Your Highness!
I thought you had passed away!
You are safe.
You are alive.
- The troops. The troops. - I was so scared.
- Your Highness. - Wait.
- We need to stop him. - Let go!
(Episode 22)
I cannot let those traitors be any longer.
I shall invite Dae Mok and and minions...
to the Queen Dowager's birthday celebration...
and kill all of those traitors right then and there.
I will set right what has been wrong with this nation.
He will bring in the troops in time...
for the Queen Dowager's birthday celebration.
Shall I go after him?
I should be able to catch up to him.
Your Highness. In my opinion,
Jae Heon is like an arrow that has been shot.
Nothing will stop him from rallying the troops.
Even if he finds out that I am alive?
He is loyal and passionate.
But you did almost lose your life.
He will believe...
that he must bring in his soldiers...
and protect you at all cost.
Does that mean...
we cannot avoid a war?
That means...
we have only one choice.
We must make it so that he cannot mobilize the soldiers...
from the border.
Are you saying Pyunsoo Group...
tried to kill you again?
Luckily, someone saved my life at the risk of their own,
so I am alive.
I am so grateful to that person.
I came because I needed to talk to you about something urgent.
General Jae Heon, the army commander,
is trying to mobilize the army from the border.
He plans to bring them to the palace...
to kill everyone in Pyunsoo Group.
I plan to prevent him. Will you help me?
Will you?
May I...
ask you something?
Yes.
Pyunsoo Group is your enemy whom you wish to eliminate.
Why are you trying to stop General Jae Heon...
from eliminating them?
Because we cannot...
sacrifice innocent lives.
Because we cannot let barbarians attack this country.
How can I help you?
What is it?
Why did you try to kill the Chief Peddler again?
You promised not to.
So why did you try to kill him again?
That Chief Peddler.
He seems to have many enemies other than me.
Was it not you?
Master Dae Mok.
We need to open a meeting immediately for something urgent.
General Jae Heon...
is planning to move the soldiers from the border.
How did you find that out?
A lot of swordsmen in Pyunsoo Group tailed him,
but since he went through all kinds of battles,
he did not leave any trace or evidence.
So how are you so sure of his plan?
I came to know of it through the merchants group.
You got the information from the merchants?
It was strange that the northern merchants and Jurchens...
made more transactions recently, so I looked into it.
It turned out General Jae Heon made a peace treaty with the Jurchens.
Why do you think he hid that fact?
And...
he visited the Queen Dowager and talked with her in private.
Everything...
points to his plan to move the soldiers in secret.
Master Dae Mok.
I think her deduction is correct.
I agree with him.
General Jae Heon is trying to mobilize his army.
Do not worry.
I have come up with a countermeasure already.
I will move the northern merchants...
and stop their food trades with the Jurchens.
Then the Jurchens will feel threatened and cause trouble.
He will have to give up on moving his army to the capital...
and stop them first.
That sounds like a good idea.
You have performed a great feat.
Head of the Bureau.
Yes, master.
Head to the border.
If her plan does not work out,
take any means...
to get me General Jae Heon's head.
Yes, master.
The Queen Dowager must be expecting...
to see General Jae Heon on her birthday then.
He will not come.
I already made a move to stop him.
I cannot let my people die in a war within the country.
I am worried about Ga Eun. Will you let me see her?
She does not know that I am the Crown Prince.
She thinks I am the Chief Peddler, Chun Soo.
So keep it from her for the time being.
I ask of you.
Chief Eunuch, are you outside?
Yes, Your Majesty.
Bring Lady Han in here.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Did you want to see me, Your Majesty?
Did you receive the medicine I sent through the physician?
Yes, Your Majesty.
How are you feeling?
I am all right.
Do not...
become ill.
Do not forget that you work for the King...
and always take care of your health.
Yes, Your Majesty.
You may leave now.
We cannot continue our conversation this way,
so let us go to the greenhouse.
Did you forget that she is a court lady?
You know how serious the crime is to see a court lady like her...
when you are the Chief Peddler.
She almost drowned while trying to save me.
I was worried about her.
I was careless.
Please take good care of her.
Why do you ask me to take good care of her?
I have known her longer than you have.
I was so lowly that I did not even have a name,
and she is the one who gave me my name.
We grew up together since we were young, we learned medicine together,
- and for a long time, I... - Do you love her?
Do you...
love her too?
She despises me with the mask on.
Do you know why?
Because she thinks I am you.
She despises me because she believes I killed her father.
That means...
she despises you.
Why do you not reveal who you are?
Until when are you going to deceive her with the name, Chun Soo?
I...
The throne belongs to you.
When the time comes,
I shall return it to you.
But remember this.
Ga Eun...
does not belong to you.
Why is General Jae Heon showing his claws all of a sudden?
He has always hated Pyunsoo Group, has he not?
He is like a well-trained hawk.
He would not go hunting without his owner's orders.
Who would be his owner?
Of course, it would be the Queen Dowager.
It must be her order to mobilize the army.
I have an idea to bring her down. Do you wish to hear it?
Dae Mok tried to kill the Crown Prince again.
He was almost drowned, but he survived from the incident.
It was not by Dae Mok.
The Queen Dowager was behind it.
Why would she want to kill...
She must have thought...
she could have full control over General Jae Heon's army...
only if the Crown Prince was dead.
She crossed the line this time.
I should give her a warning.
Prepare a gift for her birthday.
The Crown Prince...
should be on site when she receives the gift.
Happy birthday, Your Highness.
Please come sit on your seat.
I guess...
you and I had the wrong time...
for the celebration.
We did not.
Your Highness.
Naturally, I arranged this myself.
Oh, dear.
If you had something to say in private,
you could have come to see me.
Why did you go through so much trouble?
It is your birthday.
I had to show my respect.
I wanted to wish you a happy birthday in private,
so I set this up.
To celebrate your birthday,
I brought a special dish.
It is a piece of paper.
Oh dear.
The Jurchens are causing trouble at the border.
That is terrible.
You must be upset that General Jae Heon will not come.
What are you talking about?
He only just left the capital.
Would he return so soon?
I considered making it so that he would never return.
But it is not bad to have a hawk monitor the northern borders.
So I let him live.
The second gift.
This is also for you.
What do you mean by this?
My granddaughter said that...
it is natural for a grown man to take a wife.
Some should take leave...
and let the youth take over the duties.
Is that not the rule of life?
The final dish.
The third...
piece of paper.
A tiger's blood.
Please...
remember the past,
Your Highness.
I wish you a happy birthday, Your Highness.
- We wish you a happy birthday. - We wish you a happy birthday.
I heard you dislike the heat.
I had them serve watermelon from Gochang.
(Watermelons had various names.)
Thank you, Your Majesty.
Someone said he would like to present you with...
a special gift to mark your birthday.
Happy birthday, Your Highness.
I heard you value his talents,
so I allowed him to attend the banquet.
If you are upset...
No, Your Majesty.
Thank you for being so considerate.
Chief Peddler.
I have not seen you in a while.
Why have you not visited me recently?
I apologize.
I am of low birth and cannot visit you at will.
I was waiting for you to summon me.
Right.
You cannot come freely unless I were to summon you.
I shall talk to my ladies in waiting.
From now on, you can come and see me whenever you please.
Thank you, Your Highness.
Are you all ready?
Some very important people are attending the banquet.
Do not make any mistakes.
- Yes, my lady. - Yes, my lady.
Ga Eun.
The truth is,
the foolish Crown Prince who caused your father to die...
is me.
Stay by my side.
If I may,
I shall now tell you a story about what happened...
in the Chinese palace.
The Emperor had no heir,
and the whole kingdom was concerned.
Just then,
a concubine happened to produce a son.
"You have brought happiness to the Royal Family."
"How shall I reward you?"
"Yes, I shall give you a new name."
"You are now Lady Hee."
"As of today, your name means 'happiness'."
"If you write the boy's name on his body in tiger's blood,"
"he will grow to be strong and healthy."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Section Chief of War.
Yes, master.
Give the prince this special gift.
"Lady Hee."
"I cannot stand that the King loves you more than me."
"I cannot believe that your son..."
"will become his heir."
"Do you think I will forgive you?"
"I shall mix poison into the tiger blood that will..."
"be used at the ceremony."
"1 drop, 2 drops, 3 drops."
"The prince will now die."
This is a true story.
Shortly after you were born,
you were actually...
poisoned.
How could...
Are you aware that...
you almost lost your life shortly after you were born?
Yes.
I heard I must wear a mask because of an illness I contracted.
It was not an illness.
It was poison.
Then...
if that is true...
The person who tried to kill me...
shortly after I was born...
"Your Highness."
"Please remember what you did in the past."
Please remember the past,
Your Highness.
"If the Crown Prince finds out..."
"you tried to kill him with poison,"
"I guarantee you that..."
"he will not let you live."
Your Highness!
Your Highness.
Stop the show and light the torches!
Your Highness.
(The Emperor)
You are here. Son of the lowly Lady Young Bin.
We will make sure to kill the Crown Prince this time.
Will you risk your life...
every time the Queen Dowager asks you to do something?
Why do you always help me?
If I am going to die anyway,
may I say something first before I go?
I love you.