Original subtitles

[Episode 10] Wow.

Until just now, I was with Your Excellency's daughter.

There's no reason to hide it.

And there should be nothing to worry about.

I know you are someone

who keeps promises to me, Your Highness.

I also know I'm being harsh to Your Highness.

But Eun Jo

has already endured worse than this.

In my stubbornness, I spoke frankly to His Majesty

and was stripped of my position in the Gyeongo Year.

Eun Jo! Eun Jo! A Meom!

The criminal Hong Min Jik may retain his status,

but all property including servants is confiscated.

Yes.

Stop.

If you lay hands on my household,

I will cut down anyone.

- Your Excellency. - Father.

Please put it away.

Step aside.

Disobeying the royal decree is treason.

I cannot let you live as state slaves.

If you do this, I will die right here.

If Your Excellency falls,

there will be no world left for me to live in.

I will go with you.

Your Excellency.

That day I collapsed,

and Eun Jo became the head responsible for the household.

That's why she became a court physician.

Ah, it's hot.

My salary couldn't cover the cost of my medicine,

so she worked day and night

- visiting ladies for moxibustion treatments. - Thank you.

She endured constant hardship.

It says 30 doe of rice per gyeol here.

If the vice minister's house demands 100 doe, you can report them to the Police Bureau.

I heard she looked after the neighbors like I did before I fell ill.

Okay!

The children by Gwangtong Bridge,

even the patients at Hyeminseo.

And about a year ago,

when I finally woke up...

It's for His Excellency's health.

It's only a little, but please accept it.

The flowers were in bloom in the fields, so I picked a few.

It's the people's heartfelt offering.

Please take heart and rise again.

She's a girl who would even carry

my load for me.

I will not add my burden

to hers.

Do not forgive me for leaving you

with such cruel instructions.

Ugh.

When will we reach an inn?

We're almost there.

This is the tenth time you've said 'we're almost there.'

Ugh.

Jeez.

The inn is full of guests. Is there a festival in town?

As if.

They've all been driven out by the king.

Driven out?

For His Majesty's hunting game at the Onyang temporary palace,

he expelled everyone from Sineun Station and surrounding villages.

You mean all these people lost their homes and were forced onto the streets?

That's what happened.

Oh dear, what a disaster.

How terrible.

How are we supposed to live now?

What is this? Our harvest is ruined.

Oh, no.

We're ruined, completely ruined.

I heard His Majesty's procession cut through farmland. This is excessive.

Their whole year's farming has been destroyed.

What did we do wrong?

Isn't it because His Majesty blames us for not harvesting on time?

We harvest when the crops ripen! They need to ripen!

No...

The nation's only loyal subject has arrived, huh?

So how did Lord Hong Min Jik end up like that?

I heard he spoke frankly to His Majesty,

and was hunted down

for it.

She's still calm.

She hasn't even cried.

I'm telling you not to come again.

Please leave before Hong Eun Jo returns.

She's not home?

She went to the market for funeral preparations.

I've been here over four hours.

No way!

- Did you find her? - No.

His Majesty's arrow is also gone.

If that's the case,

not only Hong Eun Jo, this entire family will be executed by dismemberment.

What are you saying?

I must stop that.

At least that...

Father.

Guard His Majesty and the Grand Prince!

Pursue the assassin.

Do you want to die?

If you want to die, die alone.

If discovered, your mother and Dae Il will meet a brutal end,

and your father's body will not be spared even after death.

Pull yourself together, Hong Eun Jo!

Because he jumped in to stop that very thing.

Eun Jo came back covered in mud.

Where did she go that even her embroidered shoes got ruined?

She was distraught and fell several times on her way here.

It's only natural.

I'll go in and check on her.

Make sure she doesn't leave the room under any circumstances.

If an eolnyeo shows up at the funeral like that,

she'll be beaten to death.

Mourning clothes.

Mourning clothes.

Mourning clothes.

Your Excellency.

Thank you.

[In Mourning]

Mourn with all your heart.

How could they bow on bare ground?

The minister has gone senile.

He even brought scholars along to flaunt his folly.

Anyway, isn't this good riddance?

Thanks to His Majesty throwing a fit...

Today

is only for mourning.

Your Majesty.

Now is not the time.

Please come again on a brighter day.

Geum Nok.

Don't volunteer to be their gatekeeper.

You just focus on staying untainted.

That's how you'll survive in this palace.

You're tired now?

After killing this nation's only loyal subject with your own hands,

are you at peace?

Yeol.

What happened?

This saved you.

An arrow was lodged here, so you managed to survive.

[Life]

Dae Chu.

His Majesty is unharmed in his bedchamber.

And the assassin who shot the arrow remains unknown.

Summon the royal physician.

Yes, Your Majesty.

I'm deeply sorry.

You're alive, that's what matters.

That's the only thing I ask of you.

How long have I been here?

Five days.

Where are you going?

I must see him.

Your Majesty.

You won't be able to see him even if you go in.

What do you mean?

His Majesty

can't wake from his deep sleep.

What should we do about this?

My parents

both died of the plague when I was five.

I want to miss my parents like my brother does,

but I don't remember their faces.

Sometimes I want to cry,

but the tears won't come.

I'm not good at comforting,

so I can only share my own sorrow.

I'll visit again tomorrow.

I give these to you out of hope that you will be honored in that household.

Wear them properly when you go.

I know.

Forgiveness,

peace in the afterlife,

I can't pray for any of it.

Leave.

I'll come to pay my respects tomorrow too.

Didn't you hear me tell you to leave?

I'll escort you until we reach the capital.

I don't need it.

If you go around looking like that...

It's none of your concern!

What's with that face?

Was it you?

Will you at least condemn me?

Hatred, loathing.

Even stronger would be better.

My mother and the young master

can't even resent

the man who killed the husband and father they loved.

Because hating the king is treason.

They can't even weep aloud.

For fear that

His Majesty might hear even that.

That pains me deeply.

Then if

there's anything I could do...

No.

That's no longer possible, is it?

It's not allowed,

is it?

Well,

it's hard for you to see the Grand Prince now, isn't it?

Then I'll play the villain for you.

Properly this time too.

Go.

I followed Hong Eun Jo.

I didn't know what else she might do.

Well done.

So please

save your unnecessary sincerity.

I'm fine.

I'm still breathing well,

my heart is beating as well as before,

I ate well, I slept well.

Living a normal life may be harder

than before I woke up.

I didn't ask.

That's why I said it.

Since you showed no curiosity at all.

If the coincidence arranged by the Queen and me upset you, please understand.

It was a mother's futile attempt to save her son.

Not at all.

Is the Grand Prince well?

I haven't visited his residence, fearing it might hinder his recovery.

Despite his injuries, I heard he often visits Lord Hong Min Jik's grave.

Did they know each other?

I heard they were recently acquainted.

He must be acting that way out of guilt.

After all, His Majesty...

Move out!

- Yes! - Yes!

Your Highness.

The Royal Investigative Bureau confirmed that the arrow that shot you was His Majesty's.

Motive, resentment, evidence of assassination,

the king's arrow that struck Lord Hong Min Jik.

Currently, Lord Hong's household members are the prime suspects.

Summon Im Jae Yi immediately.

I'll secretly retrieve His Majesty's arrow first.

What's going on?

We're going to search Lord Hong Min Jik's residence.

I already said it's impossible to retrieve the embedded arrow in such chaos.

It must be somewhere in the house. I'll search again.

If you can't find the arrow, we'll have no choice but to suspect you.

Find evidence of the assassin!

- Yes. - Yes.

Wait a moment.

An assassin?

Someone tried to assassinate His Majesty with his arrow.

I did it.

That arrow stuck in His Excellency's flesh,

I couldn't bear to see it,

so I took it and threw it away.

If that was wrong, punish only me...

Where did you throw it?

I'm asking you.

Where did you throw it?

If we don't find the arrow where you said it was,

not only you but everyone in your household will be imprisoned.

A Meom.

Tell them.

Wherever it is.

I threw it

in the stream.

I'll look for it myself.

His Highness ordered us not to discuss anything else.

It's confirmed to be His Majesty's arrow.

Let's go.

- Yes. - Yes.

This is truly outrageous!

It's already unbearable

that my father died by His Majesty's arrow!

Please stop, young master!

My apologies.

Please pretend you didn't hear our young master's words.

Wait.

I've been too distraught to talk about this,

but at the cliff that day...

All I did was return the favor in kind.

Do you really want to be sold off?

Thanks to you, my mother, young master,

and even I survived.

And

that day,

the person who was shot by the arrow...

He's alive.

What a relief.

Where is he?

What I did deserves punishment, but I still wish to apologize.

I heard he's fine.

Breathing well,

heart beating as before,

eating well, sleeping well,

but as for living well...

He said it seems harder than before he woke up.

Do you know him?

You'd know better.

Who else in this nation could secretly retrieve

a royal arrow, if not His Majesty?

Pull yourself together, Hong Eun Jo!

Because he jumped in to stop that very thing.

Don't tell me...

Could you slap me harder this time?

From now on, I need to hold myself together.

Your Highness.

What happened?

The Royal Investigative Bureau soldiers have left.

Your Highness.

Has the assassin not been found?

I still suspect Lord Hong Min Jik's household members.

That wretched family?

Hyeju's eldest son lacks both the nerve and skill.

The rest are merely servants.

I heard that the number of arrows His Majesty used in this hunt

exceeded even those used during the Eulmi War.

The grounds near the Onyang temporary palace are strewn with arrows left unrecovered.

Shall we interrogate the thousands of commoners driven out of Chungcheong?

I hear Prince Do Wol has awakened, so go meet him.

He anticipated the assassin's plot and moved first, so there must be a lead.

I will go.

Though it's an ill-fated bond, we are acquainted.

You know the obvious excuse.

'I lost my memory due to the shock,' that sort of thing?

I'm not in the mood for jokes.

Do you make them just to set the mood?

A joke is a joke, nothing more.

If you say the notice about not forgetting

Gyeongo Year is posted in the marketplace, he'll let it slide.

Because he's always under threat of assassination.

Cover the rest as you see fit.

You're using me quite naturally.

Because what you seek to protect is the same as mine.

A strategic alliance of necessity?

We're on the same side, so calling it friendship

would be fine too.

That would be difficult.

I told Hong Eun Jo.

About whose arrow struck Your Highness.

How can you burden someone already crushed by grief?

She must know.

She must know where to direct her petty anger.

Only then will she not foolishly throw her life away.

And then she will turn away.

She'll see how far this sickening ill fate goes.

Once she sees, she'll have no choice but to turn her back.

So please

recover quickly.

I'm saying this as a friend, even if it's just a brief friendship.

[Hyeminseo]

[Tomb of Hong Min Jik]

Leave. I don't need it.

It's none of your concern!

You seem to be leaving in a hurry.

If it's because of the medicinal treatment...

I was just about to leave.

I was a step too slow.

Shall we go inside for a moment then?

About that day...

There's no need to worry.

That's what I came to say.

I'm fine.

The royal physician did say I have a heart of cast iron.

See?

It's beating.

♫ The wind blowing from afar ♫

♫ Leaves behind your scent and goes ♫

♫ Only the fleeting image of your back remains ♫

Did it

hurt badly?

Not at all.

I only thought it was fortunate the arrow struck here.

♫ Even closing my eyes from longing ♫

♫ I cannot go back ♫

♫ If time would stop, the warm touch of my hand ♫

♫ If I could pass it to you again ♫

I'm sorry.

I'm really

sorry.

♫ I will just look on ♫

♫ Even if it can never be achieved again ♫

♫ I wander lost in search again ♫

♫ Only the scattered memories swirl forever ♫

Will you stay here all night?

I'm thinking about

how to stop those tears.

[Tomb of Hong Min Jik]

What are you doing?

Rehabilitation exercises.

Since there happened to be a sturdy old tree.

I should go.

Once again, since there happened to be a sturdy old tree.

I should go.

Finished early?

Since he happened to want to learn a move.

May I speak with you for a moment?

What?

What are you going to nag about?

I understand

Your Highness' feelings.

I understand perfectly.

A bit obvious, isn't it?

Don't push yourself.

Even if it's a blatant lie, let yourself be fooled.

Let yourself forget for a moment

whom you shot with an arrow that day.

Blink and forget it.

You can't forget all of it,

nor should you.

But let this one fade, and live.

At least this one thing.

Promise me you'll do that,

and I'll stop with the blatant lies.

I will.

I'll try to forget.

I was wrong.

When you draw the bow, hold your breath too.

An arrow wavers even in a slight breeze.

When you draw the bow, still your emotions too.

An arrow strays even with the smallest sorrow.

I'm terrified, Your Excellency.

What if

I end up harming someone?

Swords and bows are not to harm people,

but to protect them.

Blinded by my own resentment,

I did the very same thing as the king who killed you.

Please reprimand me.

- Let's just go. - Let's go back.

When might His Majesty grant an audience?

His Majesty's mind is troubled, so you must wait.

Word has it His Majesty is gravely ill and bedridden.

I hope that is not your wish.

Such words should not even be spoken!

If that were true, it would mean you should not handle it alone.

He talked about the harm and suffering inflicted

on the people by His Majesty's hunt and feast,

and upon hearing this, His Majesty was greatly angered.

Until the very end,

he remained true to himself.

But as you said, Lord Hong

was a minister who spoke candidly to His Majesty without reserve.

All other ministers who defied him were executed,

but Lord Hong was ultimately spared.

You know why, I presume.

He was His Majesty's teacher and friend.

Was that truly the only reason?

How could I possibly tell a lie before you?

What of His Majesty?

They say he still hasn't regained consciousness.

Something is going on in the royal bedchamber.

What could it be?

How is he?

He regains some strength,

but after meals he is again drugged by medicine.

No one else can know what happened

at the hunting grounds.

They are Your Majesty's people.

Please have pity on them.

Do not dampen my pleasure any further.

Min Jik, return to the capital and await me.

Let the hunt continue!

The hunt goes on!

The hunt goes on!

It's a tiger.

Bring in the hunted tiger!

The side effect of the medicine is auditory and visual hallucinations?

And you've been keeping this from me?

At this rate, I'll be hunted tomorrow!

For someone as lowly as you, even such death would be a luxury.

Give the body to Hyeju's son

and get him a horse too.

I seem to have forgotten my place.

Let His Majesty remain

a living corpse as he is.

Do not worry.

Now,

return to hell where you belong.

What you saw and heard at the hunting grounds must remain secret.

- Yes. - Yes.

Through death.

It's done.

You must be busy,

yet I've troubled you with this as well.

Not at all, it's my duty.

I'm sorry about Lord Hong Min Jik.

Can you really live on?

It won't be the same as before,

now that you have lost your father.

I too am dying that way.

I pray for His Excellency's peaceful rest.

Are you Gil Dong?

We need the name Gil Dong.

You said you needed a name...

Pleased to meet you,

Gil Dong.

Who are you?

A mother whose son was killed by the king.

An orphan whose clan and entire family were killed by the king.

A father whose daughter was killed.

The youngest daughter whose brothers and sisters were killed.

An old monk whose friend was killed.

A minister whose loyalty was taken.

We are those who have had the world taken from us.

The palace.

Your Majesty, please grant your wise judgment!

- Sungkyunkwan Academy. - Please grant your wise judgment!

- Market, Hyanggyo. - Coming!

Throughout this land,

there are many like you.

Where will the name Gil Dong be used?

It'll be a name standing for the people, numbed by poverty and oppression.

To represent them for what purpose?

To overthrow the man who sits the throne.

The throne?

You mean...

Treason.

If we lose to them,

history will record it as treason.

Gil Dong is merely a petty thief and can't represent the people.

The resurrection of Im Kkeok Jeong,

a master thief,

a monster of martial arts, a legendary Taoist, an immortal being.

It's a false rumor.

They are wishes

and hope.

Gil Dong

always showed up that night, somehow knowing when we were hungry and in pain.

That's why it felt comforting.

The occasional care shown by that person.

Gil Dong, Gil Dong.

Is Lord Gil Dong watching over us too?

There's no corner of Joseon beyond Lord Gil Dong's reach.

- What a blessing! - Gil Dong!

[Deceased] 'A companion on the road.'

Shortened to Gil Dong?

If the throne changes hands,

does the world truly change?

Yesterday it was my son.

Today it's your father.

Tomorrow it could be your mother, your siblings.

And after that,

it might be you.

At least we can change tomorrow and what comes after.

[Bogwangmyeongjeon Hall]

Did you expect Gil Dong would refuse?

She will come again.

If nothing else, to survive.

Before that, we must secretly approach His Majesty's bedchamber.

We need to know what's happening in the palace.

You awake?

His Majesty has awoken!

Inform the Queen at once!

Yes, Your Highness.

Where are you going?

Summon the Royal Investigative Bureau soldiers.

He's a traitor who attempted to assassinate His Majesty.

Take him away.

- Yes. - Yes.

What are you doing?

Your Highness.

His Majesty is currently interrogating Hong Min Jik's eldest son.

I truly don't know, Your Majesty.

Only after the Royal Investigative Bureau

thoroughly searched the surroundings

did the royal procession arrive.

Do you still deny it?

Why! Why does that make me the criminal?

In all of Joseon,

tell me who is the archer capable of hitting a target

from two kilometers away.

It...

can only be my father.

Who do you think has his blood?

No answer. Twist his legs.

- Yes. - Yes.

Stop.

[Royal Investigative Bureau]

What are you doing?

You're here.

I seek the one who nearly killed my own brother.

I've already found him.

He stands before me.

Say it again.

All tragedies

began with Your Majesty.

Again.

It's Your Majesty's fault.

Again.

Your Majesty!

It's your fault.

Mother.

What happened?

The young master...

What are you going to do if you go there?

Let go!

Just stay put.

Without evidence, he will be released once he endures the torture.

This is because of me...

What's wrong?

Hong Eun Jo!

So that's how I appear to you?

Young master.

Final chance.

Again.

Then Hong Eun Jo must be...

No.

♫ I couldn't even say I missed you ♫

♫ Might vanish like a long night's dream ♫

♫ Someday, when I hold your hand ♫

♫ Will I be able to say I love you then ♫

♫ Even unspoken feelings are okay ♫

Didn't you say you wouldn't make that mistake again?

Who is it?

The one who hid behind you and blocked my path.

Was it you?

Were you the mastermind?

I have no ulterior motive.

Just checking that I'm safe.

Heaven shouldn't be this cruel to us.

The ministers are shaken by Hong Min Jik's death.

It seems His Majesty has already made a decision.

It was also the late king's will long ago.

It's dangerous for you to stay here.

Let's run away.