[Episode 22]
Your highness,
shall I have the festival cancelled?
I shall cancel the festival.
What are you talking about?
Kim Junghan was one of your most loyal servants, regardless of what anyone says.
If you let this happen on Junghan’s execution day,
I’m sure it’ll trouble your heart as well.
No, that’s not true.
Everything will be carried out as planned.
The execution of Kim Junghan and the festival to ridicule him will go on.
Everything will be carried out as planned.
What’s going on?
How could Myeongwol go to meet her death?
How could you let this happen?
As a mother, how could you let it happen?
Isn’t that Myeongwol?
Your highness.
Don’t stop the performance.
If the dance stops, it’s the end for all of us.
The dance must go on.
Former minister of rites,
Kim Junghan is to be executed.
I will cut the very long winter of November in two.
I will have it coiled up under warm blankets.
On the night you would return,
I will uncoil them once more.
On the night you would return,
I will uncoil them once more.
Stop!
This is an order to stop the execution.
Take Myeongwol of the Kaesong troop and take her into prison.
I’m going to question the criminal about ruining the festival.
No, your highness.
You’re in front of the king.
How dare a gisaeng approach him!
I was the one that had her perform in the festival.
So punish me, instead.
Please save this girl.
Don’t be concerned about this.
She has a lot of talent.
- Please save her. - That’s the reason.
I’m going to punish her for her talents.
Your highness.
Her talents had controlled my feelings.
I can understand how Junghan would’ve been affected as well.
She deserves to be punished by death.
Myeongwol!
What is all this craziness?
I have something to tell her. It’s really important.
It’ll only take a second.
Can I have just a moment?
Poor child.
You were able to perform on stage.
But I wasn’t able to protect you.
How am I to be forgiven for this?
Don’t apologize.
I don’t deserve it, ma’am.
Actually, I thank you.
As an artist having struggled with the arts all my life,
nothing could be more honorable than dancing my last day on stage.
The only thing that I’m worried about is that the dance wasn’t any good.
No.
Your dance was truly wonderful.
It was good enough to have impressed your former teacher, Baekmu.
She’s imprisoned?
If the king has stopped the execution of Junghan,
why has he imprisoned Jini?
Ma’am.
I think he needs a scapegoat.
A scapegoat.
Junghan is a servant of the king, whom he treasures more than anyone else.
If there was a way, I’m sure the king wants him back.
But there are many people in the government that hate Junghan.
If Junghan were to be kept alive, many people would be against it.
If the king were to rehire him...
Is that why...
you’re going to let my child die?
I’m sorry.
I wasn’t able to protect Myeongwol, because I have no power.
What are you doing?
Let me go.
I’m going to the palace.
I’m going there, right now.
Hyeongeum.
Do you know why I let Jini perform in the festival?
I wanted her to follow Junghan.
Instead of having her be sad after having sent Junghan,
I wanted her to have a good life in the next life with him.
That’s why I allowed it.
But, this isn’t right.
I can’t have her killed, having been branded as a temptress.
It was hard enough as it was to be raised as lower class.
How could the world be so cruel?
Hyeongeum!
You want me to save Myeongwol by persuading the king?
If Myeongwol dies,
you should be the happiest woman alive.
Kim Junghan would be finally yours.
And the leader position at the troupe that you’ve wanted for many years
would be yours.
I don’t care for the former minister, anymore.
Just as Myeongwol cannot be yours,
Junghan’s heart cannot be mine.
I’m sure you’ve confirmed this already.
But, Myeongwol is different.
I still have a contest to carry out against her.
It’s not worth it to become a troupe leader,
without defeating her in a fair contest.
Go back.
Sir.
I told you to go back.
Sir.
You were so politically driven in the past.
What’s the reason for you to put on such a fake smile, all of a sudden?
Go back.
There is no way to save Myeongwol.
Even if there were,
I wouldn’t help her.
Do you know why?
If I were to pretend to be a nice guy after all that I’ve done,
it would be negating everything that has made me who I am today.
I’d rather die than be like that.
Your heart is starting to falter.
Don’t act like you know everything.
Your heart is in a state that is very deep.
Booyong.
What you just said to me...
can be seen as corroborative evidence.
Be true to your heart.
Only then will you find peace in your heart.
You’re a better person than I am.
I gave up my wife 20 years ago, for power.
And my wife never complained one bit, when I did that.
All she did was hang her skirt on that rock.
She hung her very long skirt and cried sadly.
She had to spend so many days alone.
And I’m sure she had cried and sighed so many nights.
But,
I never wiped the tears off my wife.
Your highness.
But as a wife of a man,
you are quite courageous.
You can’t compare with any man.
You have died today.
Let’s declare that you committed suicide,
because you were so angry.
Your highness.
And let’s say that Kim Junghan died in his cell,
because he couldn’t make it.
As a king, I can’t go against the law.
This is the only way to save you and Junghan.
Your highness.
Although I wasn’t able to protect my wife,
I want to preserve your relationship with Junghan.
So this time, I want you both to hide as far away as possible.
Don’t let anyone find you.
Keep your relationship alive.
No.
What?
Your benevolence is worth everything.
But, I cannot accept it.
If you order me to commit suicide right now, I’ll do it.
But if you tell me that I can go on living by being benevolent,
I’ll go back to the troupe.
Go back to the troupe?
Yes.
I’ll go back to the troupe and live my life as a gisaeng.
But that would be the end of your love.
I’m sure you know this.
Yes, I know it well, your highness.
Are you on your way back to the troupe?
Yes.
It’s late.
Shall I accompany you?
No.
It’s going to be hard on Junghan,
as it is on you.
Please accompany Junghan if you can,
instead of accompanying me.
I ask this of you, sir.
Sir, I can’t stand it.
- I’m going to the palace. - Stop talking nonsense.
I’ll ask the palace guards about it or something.
I told you not to speak nonsense.
The palace isn’t somewhere where you can go in freely at will.
Myeongwol!
Jini!
My lady!
Hey, Myeongwol! Myeongwol!
Ma’am! Ma’am!
Hey, Hyeongeum. She’s back.
Myeongwol is back.
What?
Is that true?
I hope it’s nothing serious.
I hope she’s just passed out, after going through so much.
Yes, I hope that’s right.
Doctor.
What’s taking so long to take her pulse?
Don’t rush me and stay still.
What’s wrong?
Has she had a stroke or something?
I guess it’s as devastating as a stroke to a gisaeng.
What do you mean?
I think she’s pregnant.
What?
Did you want to see me?
Since you’ve been working in the palace for a long time,
I’m sure you knew many people that work there.
That’s right.
Can you let me meet him?
I have to find out why Jini was allowed to be freed.
That’s not necessary.
Ma’am.
I’ve found out all about it already.
Is it true?
Mother.
The king had said that he would save both you and Junghan.
But is it true that you rejected it?
Yes, it’s true.
It’s true, mother.
Are you out of your mind?
Is something wrong?
Nothing like that.
So how could you ruin everything?
Nothing is ruined.
Everything is back in its place.
What about your baby?
How did you know that?
Answer me.
What about the baby?
The baby isn’t his.
What did you say?
It’s my baby.
It’s my baby and has nothing to do with Junghan.
Do you think you’re making any sense?
So I hope you accept this fact and don’t tell anyone else.
If you ever tell Junghan about the baby,
both the baby and I will die.
How dare you say that?
How dare you say that to your mother?
- What do you want me to do? - Don’t you know?
It’s not too late.
Go to the palace.
Tell the king that you’ll do as he wishes.
I don’t want to do that, mother.
Jini.
Junghan has to be here.
The world needs him.
He has many things he wants to do and he must carry them out.
He’ll become a better man with such a life.
What about the baby?
I know that the baby would understand.
Because he takes after him more than me.
I’m going to give birth to a kind child and I know it’ll understand.
Don’t worry about your mother.
Don’t you think it’ll be better to go back to Songdo?
It’ll be best to be by your mother’s side.
She’s been ordered to be a top gisaeng, to help with the festival.
But it’s hard to leave her pregnant.
Why are you so worried?
There are many people that can help her here.
Have you come to your senses?
Just stay put.
What am I...
What am I doing here?
Has something happened to Myeongwol?
Did you call for me?
Do you think you can stand it?
Do you think you can live as an artist, because of the baby?
I’m asking you if you can keep your end of the promise.
Of course I can, ma’am.
That’s enough.
For now,
I don’t think you should be practicing for the time being.
It won’t be good for the baby.
So this is how it ends.
She has returned to the troupe,
having given up everything else.
Is this how it is to end?
Are you okay?
I didn’t know who you really were.
I might have been very rude over the years.
There is no manager of the prime minister’s home.
I owe a lot to you.
Is this the end for us?
Yes, and that’s how it should be.
But I have one last thing to ask of you.
It’s embarrassing,
but I hope you can hear me out.
I guess you need my father’s power.
Is it about Junghan?
Do you think I can help you with that?
I had hidden a criminal?
What are you talking about?
The place that Myeongwol was hiding in,
it was your home in Samteo Valley.
What?
There are many witnesses.
So are you threatening me right now?
Do you think that my power is so fragile that you can take me down?
Father.
It’s not possible.
It’s just not possible.
He’s a very competent man.
Don’t you remember that he’s a pupil that the great teacher, Jungnam had admired?
By helping him get a royal position,
you can repay your debts of killing your friend.
It will offset your sin at least a little bit.
I don’t care about what happened to Jungam.
I don’t think it’ll go as you’ve planned.
Father.
But if you were to come back home and focus on your studies,
I’ll reconsider it.
You’ll be rehiring Kim Junghan?
Yes.
That’s not right at all.
What do you think, prime minister?
I think you are correct, your highness.
Look here, prime minister.
How could you speak such nonsense?
Why is it nonsense?
How dare you say such things?
Prime minister!
It is only right for an honorable subject to do all he can to find a great man.
How could you suggest that we give up on such a competent fellow,
just because of a mistake he made when he was young?
How can you call yourself a loyal subject?
There is a big test next month.
I cannot take that test.
Are you going to back down on your promise?
I will keep the promise.
But since I haven’t studied for a long time,
I need more time to prepare for the test.
Just take the test.
And I’ll take care of everything.
Stop it, father.
I don’t need your help.
From beginning to end, I’ll take every step on my own.
Sanghyeon!
Do you know why I have agreed to become a high-ranking official?
It’s so that I won’t live like you.
The troupe in the capital is in an uproar.
Myeongwol has lived with the minister of rites for three years.
And she has shaken up the heart of even the king.
Everyone wants to see what she looks like.
Of course.
But you know?
How could that foxy lady live with the boring minister for three whole years?
I guess the minister is quite the fellow.
If that were true,
when the king had allowed her to escape,
why would she have turned him down?
What if people are listening?
Who cares if someone listens?
Everyone in the nation knows this. It’s a secret everyone knows.
Let’s stop.
Is anyone outside?
Yes, sir.
I want you to go to the troupe.
Tell him that I’ll never see him again.
Why are you being so cruel?
I told you to deliver the message.
Look here.
Wake up.
Hello.
I heard you haven’t been working for four days.
I just can’t concentrate.
What do you mean?
I ask for her.
I wait outside her door.
But she doesn’t meet up with me at all.
She made a promise with the king.
Does she want to be his concubine?
Is that why he asked her to forget her former husband?
It was a promise she made to save you.
If things were to be made public,
it would go against your future career.
Isn’t it because I’m the laughing stock in town?
Why aren’t you like yourself?
Like myself?
What’s that?
Think of all the things that you’ve told me, during the years.
You said you didn’t want her.
You said she was a great artist.
That’s why you said you wanted to respect her.
I lived with her for three years.
She’s my woman.
She’s no longer yours, but a gisaeng.
She’s a great artist.
I can’t accept it.
Get a hold of yourself.
I thought...
I thought that I could accept it.
Because she’s an artist, just like you say.
I thought I could let her go.
But, I can’t.
I just can’t accept it.
My wife.
It hurts so much that I can’t stand it.
If you’re that angry,
go to the troupe and meet her.
Go and pay her and ask her to perform for you only.
I’m not stupid enough to pay my own wife.
She’s not your wife, but a gisaeng!
No!
Come to your senses.
It doesn’t suit you to act like this.
Take a cold shower and think with your head.
And go back to where you belong.
That’ll make things easier for her as well.
Got it?
Hyeongeum, get up.
Get up and drink this.
What are you doing?
You haven’t been eating ever since you got back from the capital.
If you don’t take medicine, how is your body to survive?
Look here.
Stop being stubborn.
What’s the use of medicine?
It’s such a cruel world.
I’m sad to be living away from my daughter.
But now, we’ll have a new baby that would have to go through the same thing.
What do I have to live for now?
I should’ve eaten the poisonous leaves.
I should’ve taken it when Jini’s father offered it to me.
Then I wouldn’t have had to see all of this happening.
I wouldn’t have been able to see my daughter living like this.
I wouldn’t have lived to see it.
Have a seat.
Please turn back.
Have a seat.
This isn’t right.
It’s over between us.
I never asked you for anything.
I’m sure this is enough to see you play music.
Why? Is it not enough?
Of course not.
Wait.
Don’t play.
Do you like it?
Do you like living like this?
Did I mean nothing to you?
How could you forget everything in a single day?
Did the last three years mean nothing to you?
What answer do you expect to hear?
An honest answer.
If you did all this to save me,
it wasn’t such a wise choice.
Sir.
Let’s start again.
I want to start all over again.
Don’t you know that it’s impossible?
It was possible.
Sir.
Why did you do it?
Why did you refuse the king?
Why didn’t you choose me?
Why did you choose the troupe instead of choosing me?
Answer me!
Please go back.
And don’t look for me ever again.
Look here.
Even if you were to give me millions of dollars,
I won’t ever take you in as a guest.
Aren’t you being too mean?
No one would blame you if you were to be more kind.
If it were just a night that I spent with him, that may be possible.
Can’t you see him bleeding with pain?
He needs to be in more pain.
Both him and I...
Myeongwol.
We were together for the last three years.
It’s only natural that we’d be bleeding with pain when we’ve parted.
Take on the baby?
What do you mean?
If this is how things are to be,
you should take care of the baby.
Are you saying
that she had my baby?
I guess Jini didn’t tell you, yet.
That bad woman.
Where is she?
What?
Where is she?
Actually...
We need to talk.
Let me go.
Why didn’t you tell me about the baby?
How long will you make me into a bad person?
The baby isn’t yours.
Look here.
Go back.
Can I become your sponsor?
If I were to be you sponsor,
you would be able to go on performing.
And the baby wouldn’t be without a father.
Don’t you agree?
Hey.
Myeongwol.
Myeongwol!