(Episode 26)
Stop, Chief State Councillor.
What evidence do you have to take this woman?
You are a mere palace guard. How dare you block my path?
Move aside immediately.
You need proof...
to arrest someone!
How dare you!
Will you come to your senses when your head gets cut off?
- Listen! - Yes, master.
Step aside.
Chief State Councillor.
Is this Master Dae Mok's order?
Master...
Let us go.
Dae Mok made them arrest your person on purpose.
He warned you that he would not let you be...
if you did not make his person as the new queen.
Your Highness, you need to save Lady Han quickly.
A hasty move will...
only give them another excuse for their future actions.
She is innocent,
so she will be released soon after the investigation.
She was taken to the Department of Justice.
It is for certain that she will be tortured harshly.
However,
are you going to just sit here and watch?
Lady Han is my person.
I will take care of her matter,
so do not intervene.
What? She was taken to the Department of Justice?
Then we must hurry and get her out of there.
I shall find the real culprit.
If we hand the culprit in, she will be released.
That will not be an ultimate way to save her.
The Queen Dowager is the real culprit of the case.
She drank the poison herself...
to turn the queen selection in her favor.
She is...
more than capable of doing so.
I will take care of this matter.
Until then,
please buy some time.
Were you the one who poisoned the Queen Dowager during the selection?
No.
How dare you attempt to lie to us? Confess your wrongdoing.
I dare ask you a question.
What proof do you have to arrest me?
We looked through your personal information...
which you submitted for the selection.
You are the Chambong's daughter.
You are not qualified to be a candidate.
Is it not that you used poison to kill the other candidates...
and become a queen yourself?
Do you claim your ridiculous suspicion is proof?
- What? - Then...
who would commit such high treason like this?
I do not know.
You do not know.
Then we have no other choice but to point you as the culprit.
You are the Chief State Councillor of this country.
But your ground in putting the guilt on...
someone innocent is so weak.
What?
You will learn your lesson only when you get a beating.
You will remember your sin...
when we twist your legs...
and rip your body into pieces.
- Begin. - Yes, master.
Stop it.
Your Majesty, what brings you all the way here?
Do not tell me...
you are here to order us...
to release that woman.
I would not order you to do so.
My mother drank poison because of someone so evil.
I believe it is right for me...
to interrogate her myself as her son.
(The King himself will interrogate her.)
Put those torturing tools away immediately!
- Yes, Your Majesty. - Yes, Your Majesty.
Will she confess her wrongdoing without being tortured?
I wish to know the truth.
If she tells a lie because she is afraid of the torture,
that will not let me reveal the truth.
I shall interrogate her myself, so get things prepared.
The King came forward to interrogate her.
- What should we do? - Did you say...
her name is Ga Eun?
Yes. She became a candidate as the Chambong's daughter.
I do not care whose daughter she is.
She is a useful pawn to win a game for us.
The sly Queen Dowager drank poison herself...
to turn the queen selection in her favor.
So we will use this useful pawn...
to put the King in trouble...
and turn it back in our favor.
I wish to take a look at the court ladies' work reports.
You are already too late...
if it is to investigate on the poison case.
The records of that day...
were sent to the Department of Justice.
I do not need the official records of that day.
I need the records from 20 days prior.
20 days prior.
That is the day the Queen Dowager tried to harm you.
One of the court ladies working in the Queen Dowager's kitchen...
must have poisoned my tea.
I am positive that the same person...
was behind this poisoning.
Even if you take the real culprit to the Department of Justice,
will they free Ga Eun?
He is right. The Queen Dowager is behind this.
The Chief State Councilor knows that...
and took Ga Eun to prevent her from gaining the upper hand.
The Queen Dowager and Dae Mok do not care for Ga Eun.
She is a pawn.
Even if we find the culprit, they will not release her.
I am not searching for the culprit to have that person arrested.
I will use that person to threaten...
the Queen Dowager.
I will force her...
so she has no choice but to release Ga Eun.
Did you just say Court Lady Jung from the kitchen?
Yes.
The Chief State Councilor is after her.
You must get her away.
Why would he be onto one of my court ladies?
And how did you find out about this?
I do not know why he is after her.
Would you have...
any idea?
I also have no idea.
Whatever the reason,
if Pyunsoo Group is after her, she is in danger.
Did you ask for me?
- Your Highness, this is... - The Palace Treasury...
will give you the money.
Take it and leave immediately.
Why are you doing this?
I served you faithfully for 30 years.
Those 30 years is the only reason...
I am letting you live.
If...
you speak of anything,
however hard you try to hide,
I will find you and have you killed.
I found out who poisoned the tea.
Court Lady Jung who works for the Queen Dowager.
Did she confess to the crime?
She insisted she knew nothing.
But...
for as long as we have her,
we can control the Queen Dowager.
I shall hand over Court Lady Jung to you.
Go to the Queen Dowager.
Say if she wants Court Lady Jung, she must release Ga Eun.
Negotiate for me.
I will.
I could say that I will hand Lady Jung over to Dae Mok...
if she refuses to do so.
You must...
save Ga Eun.
Ga Eun.
Master.
You look...
terrible.
What took you so long?
I was so afraid, all alone.
Were you very afraid?
That is not like you.
When you saved me,
you dove into the water without hesitating.
Because...
you were there.
I thought that if...
I were with you, I would not mind dying.
If you had...
not met me,
then you would be...
much happier.
I am happy right now.
You came to see me.
That alone...
is enough for me.
Very well.
I shall...
come for you soon.
The longer Ga Eun stays here, the more dangerous it will be for her.
We must release her...
from the Queen Dowager's clutches.
Please...
help me get her...
out of the palace.
Your Majesty.
I should have come sooner.
It must have been cold at night.
It was not.
Thanks to your grace,
I was spared from any torture.
Torture?
Do you think I would have...
the woman I love tortured?
Why are you so startled?
I told you before that...
I...
love you.
I apologize.
As I said before,
I cannot accept your feelings for me.
You are a court lady.
You belong to the king and, I am the King.
You belong to me!
Your Majesty.
Do you know why I became...
a court lady?
It was because of you.
I believed you had killed my father...
and came here to get revenge.
But...
you said you did not kill my father.
Tell me.
Did you...
really...
not kill my father?
Then...
I have...
no reason to consider you my enemy.
If I am not your enemy,
will you...
leave the palace...
and me?
Did the Chief Peddler ask you to leave with him?
That is not what I mean, Your Majesty.
Will you leave with him?
He has no right to claim you!
He is not a noble,
but he is a great man.
Lady Ga Eun, do you think you can love him...
the way you do even after...
you know the whole truth?
Your Majesty.
The Queen Dowager cannot receive any visitors right now.
I understand that you are the King,
but you cannot treat the Queen Dowager this way.
Everyone, leave us.
My Majesty.
What is this about?
There is a court lady...
trying to leave the palace secretly without the King's permission.
I came to ask you about it.
Are you here about Lady Han?
Lady Han is locked up in prison.
How could she possibly secretly leave the palace?
Then who tried to leave...
I mean Court Lady Jung, who works in your kitchen.
I caught her trying to secretly leave the palace.
She is one of my court ladies,
so I should be the one to punish her.
Where is she now?
Let us make a deal.
A deal? Between a parent and child?
If you want something,
just ask your mother.
I have asked.
I got on my knees, lowered my head,
and asked you.
You say you are here to make a deal.
What are your conditions?
Release Lady Han.
If you, the victim of the poisoning,
say Lady Han is not the culprit,
she can go free.
Are you acting this seriously for something that insignificant?
I understand.
Your mother will do her best to release her.
I have one more condition.
You are quite greedy.
What if I refuse?
You will not refuse...
because we will both gain what we want.
Master! Master.
They have made a decision on the poisoning incident.
What happened?
They concluded that no one poisoned them intentionally,
but rather, a poisonous leaf was mixed in with the tea leaves.
They agreed that it was merely food poisoning.
Sun must have faced off against the Queen Dowager.
What about Ga Eun? Can she go free now?
Do not worry.
She was declared not guilty, so she will be freed soon.
Ga Eun. You are now...
free.
You have been cleared of the poisoning accusation,
and you are no longer a court lady,
so no one can stop you from leaving the palace.
So please...
go home...
with me.
Master.
- I... - Lady Choi So Yeon.
We were ordered by the King to bring you.
Do you mean me?
The queen selection result will be announced soon.
Thus, you must come with us to the Gangnyeongjeon.
The result of the selection...
is being made there instead of at the Queen Dowager's residence?
Yes. That is what I was told.
Chief! Chief, what happened to Ga Eun?
The Chief Eunuch took her to the Gangnyeongjeon.
You should not be here. You must go there at once.
What is it?
Look.
Why that...
We will now announce...
the result of the queen selection.
1 of the 3 named...
will gain the honor of becoming the mother of the country.
The other two...
will be the King's concubines...
and serve him.
Let go!
The Third State Councillor's daughter, Choi Yeon Joo.
The Chief State Councillor's daughter, Choo Ja Young.
And the daughter of the Chambong,
Choi So Yeon.
What happened?
I asked what happened?
Why are you getting angry at me?
The Queen Dowager decided...
whom to select as finalists.
I told you to use Court Lady Jung.
To free Ga Eun in exchange for giving her to the Queen Dowager.
That is why she freed her.
Is Ga Eun still in prison?
Do not get angry at me.
Ask the Queen Dowager.
I know nothing about it.
Ga Eun is going to become my queen.
Do you think I will let her become a lowly concubine?
Then why...
can you not tell her the truth?
Once you take the throne,
you will make her your queen,
but do you lack courage to tell her now that you are the Crown Prince?
Tell her that the Chief Peddler...
is the Crown Prince, and admit to Ga Eun that you are the reason...
her father was killed!
Hyun Seok.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Was someone here just now?
I had been standing guard but did not see anyone.
Okay. I understand.
You may go.
We are searching everywhere for the antidote,
so I will send it to you as soon as we find it.
As for...
Ga Eun,
I will take her with me.
You have no authority, Your Highness.
I cannot give in regarding Ga Eun.
The same goes for me.
I cannot give in either.
Sun!
Do you want this mask? Take it.
Do you want the throne? I will give it to you.
I will give you everything that I can.
However!
Not Ga Eun.
I cannot give you Ga Eun.
(The Emperor)
He called me a friend, and I believed him.
Master Dae Mok, the real Crown Prince is alive.
Lady Ga Eun was abducted by Dae Mok.
How can a man who cannot even protect the woman he loves...
protect the thousands of people of Joseon?
I have led you into a trap, Your Highness.
If by chance you get out of here alive,
do not ever come back.