Original subtitles

I was with your daughter a moment ago.

There is no reason to hide it.

And there will be nothing to worry about.

Your Highness,

I know that you are a man of your word.

And I also know

that I'm being unfair to you.

However,

Eun-jo has already been through

something even worse.

In the Gyeongo Year, when I spoke my mind before His Majesty

out of sheer stubbornness…

Eun-jo! Madam!

Let the criminal Hong Min-jik keep his status,

but seize everything he owns, including his slaves.

Yes, sir!

Stop!

Whoever lays a hand on my family,

I will cut them down.

- My lord. - Father.

Please sheathe your sword.

Step back.

Defying the royal command is treason.

I won't let you be taken as a state slave.

If you persist,

I will take my own life right now.

If you fall, my lord,

I will have no world left to live in.

I will follow you.

My lord!

That day, I collapsed,

and from that time on, she bore the burden of the household.

That's why she became a physician.

Hot!

Since her earnings were not enough to cover the cost of my medicine,

she began making house calls,

- treating women with moxibustion. - Thank you.

She worked herself to the bone.

It says 30 du for one gyeol.

If the Second Minister asks for 100 du,

you may report it to the constabulary.

She took care of all the neighbors I had been taking care of.

Now, blow!

She took care of the Gwangtong Bridge kids

and the patients at the Hyeminseo as well

while I was bedridden.

And about a year ago,

when I finally woke up…

Please cook this for my lord, for his recovery.

It's not much, but I hope it helps.

I picked these flowers from the field.

These are from people wishing you a full recovery.

I hope their kindness helps you regain your strength.

She even bore my burden for me.

That's the kind of girl she is.

I promise

I will not add to her burden.

I know that

it's cruel of me to make this request before I leave.

Please forgive me.

How much longer until the tavern?

We're almost there.

This is the tenth time you've said that.

It's pretty crowded. Is there some kind of celebration in town?

We're celebrating a disaster.

They've all been driven out here because of the king.

Driven out?

Because of the king's hunting trip at the Royal Villa,

all the people living in the nearby town have been driven out.

So all those people were forced out of their homes and left on the streets?

I suppose that's what happened.

What do we do?

How are we going to live from now on?

This is insane! We can't even harvest these!

I did hear that His Majesty's procession crossed the farmlands,

but this is worse than I thought.

Their entire year's harvest has been ruined.

What did we do to deserve this?

The king says it's our fault for not harvesting sooner.

The crops have to ripen before we can harvest them!

Well, if it isn't the only honest subject in my kingdom.

What happened to Lord Hong Min-jik?

He offered frank counsel to His Majesty,

and he became prey

in His Majesty's hunt.

She seems calm so far.

She hasn't even cried yet.

I'm saying this so you won't ever come back.

Now, please leave before Hong Eun-jo comes back.

She's not at home?

She's out preparing for the funeral.

But I've been here for over four hours.

She can't be…

Did you find her?

No.

His Majesty's arrow was in her room, and it's gone now.

If what I think happens,

not only Eun-jo,

but her entire family will be executed.

What do you mean?

We must not let that happen.

Never.

Father.

Protect His Majesty and His Highness!

Find the assassin!

Do you have a death wish?

If you want to die, die alone.

If they find out, your mother and Dae-il will die like dogs,

and your father's body will be torn apart even in death!

Hong Eun-jo! Snap out of it!

He even jumped in to stop it.

Eun-jo looked like a mess when she came back.

Where did she go to ruin her silk shoes like that?

She must not be quite herself right now.

She fell a few times on her way home.

No wonder.

I'll see how she's doing.

Make sure she stays in the room.

If a lowly concubine's daughter appears at the funeral,

the people will tear her apart.

Return!

Return!

Return!

My lord!

Thank you.

Pay your respects with utmost sincerity.

On the bare ground?

The Chief State Councilor lost his mind.

He even brought students from the Royal Confucian Academy.

It was a good death anyway.

Thanks to His Majesty's rampage--

Today,

we're mourning. Nothing else.

Your Majesty,

now is not a good time.

Please come back on a sunny day.

Geum-nok,

do not play gatekeeper.

Stand aside and look pretty.

It is the only way

you will survive in this palace.

Are you weary, Your Majesty?

After killing the only loyal subject in this kingdom,

how do you sleep so peacefully?

Yeol!

What happened?

This saved your life.

This stopped the arrow. It saved your life.

LIFE

Dae-chu.

Your Highness is safe and sound in your residence,

but the assassin

is still at large.

Bring in the royal physician.

Yes, Your Majesty.

I'm sorry.

What matters is that you're alive.

That is all I ask of you.

How long have I been here?

It's been five days.

Where are you going?

I must see him.

Your Majesty.

You may go in, but you won't see him.

What do you mean, Your Majesty?

His Majesty

has been unable to awaken from his deep sleep.

What should we do now?

Both of my parents

passed away from a plague when I was five.

I wish I could miss my parents like my brothers do,

but I don't even remember their faces.

Sometimes, I feel like crying,

but I can't seem to cry.

I'm not very good at offering comfort,

so I thought I'd share a piece of my own sadness.

I'll come back tomorrow.

I wish them to treat you with respect. That's why I prepared these.

So be sure to wear them.

I know.

I don't deserve

to ask for forgiveness,

or even to mourn him.

Please go.

I'll come again tomorrow.

I told you to go.

Did you not hear what I said?

At least let me see you reach the capital.

I don't need that.

If you go looking like that…

That's none of your concern.

Why are you looking like that?

It's not like you did it.

Why don't you just blame me?

Hate me.

Despise me.

I can take worse than that.

My mother and young master

can't even blame

the man who killed their husband and father.

Because hating His Majesty would be high treason.

They can't even cry out loud,

because

His Majesty might hear them.

And that

breaks my heart.

If there is anything

I can--

No.

You can't do that now.

You are

not supposed to do that.

You.

You can't see His Highness right now, right?

Then let me be an uninvited guest here.

And I'll do my job properly.

Go.

I tailed Hong Eun-jo.

Who knows what trouble she'll cause next.

Well done.

So, for now,

set those unnecessary feelings aside.

I'm fine.

I'm breathing all right,

and my heart is beating just like before.

I'm eating well,

and I've slept well.

Though it seems my life won't be as good

as it used to be.

I didn't ask.

Exactly.

I wish you had asked.

The Queen Consort and I arranged those chance encounters.

I ask for your understanding.

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

Please do not concern yourself.

Is His Highness all right?

I stayed away so I wouldn't disrupt his recovery.

I hear he's been visiting

Lord Hong's grave a lot despite his injuries.

Were they acquainted?

I hear they recently got to know each other.

He must be feeling guilty.

His Majesty finally crossed the line.

- Move out! - Yes, sir!

Your Highness,

the State Tribunal found out that

the arrow belonged to His Majesty.

The motive is a personal grudge.

And the evidence is it's the arrow that struck Lord Hong.

For now, Lord Hong's family are the prime suspects.

Send for Im Jae-i at once.

I will steal one of His Majesty's arrows.

What's going on?

We're on our way to search Lord Hong's house.

As I said already,

I was too shaken at the time to retrieve the arrow stuck in him!

It must be somewhere in our house.

Let me look for it again.

If you don't show us the arrow, you will be a suspect.

Find any trace of the assassin!

Yes, sir!

Wait. Assassin?

Someone tried to assassinate His Majesty with an arrow.

It was me.

That arrow tore into my lord's flesh.

I couldn't bear the sight of it,

so I threw it away.

If that's the reason, I'm the only one--

Where did you throw it away?

Answer me. Where did you throw it away?

If the arrow is not found where you say it is,

both you and your family will be arrested.

Madam.

Tell me

where it is.

The stream.

I threw it by the stream.

I will go and look for it.

His Highness said there's no need for words.

It is His Majesty's arrow.

- Withdraw. - Yes, sir!

This is unacceptable!

My father was killed

by His Majesty's arrow! Don't you think that's enough pain for us?

Young Master, please stop.

I apologize.

Please forget what he just said.

Wait.

With everything

that has happened, I didn't get to say this.

On the cliff that day--

I only gave back what I got.

Do you want to be sold that badly?

You saved

my mother, my young master

and me.

And about

the person

struck by the arrow that day…

He's alive.

That's a relief.

Where is he?

What I did was unforgivable.

I know it's late, but I want to apologize.

I heard he's fine.

He's breathing all right, and his heart is beating like before.

He's eating well, and he's slept well.

Though he said

his life wasn't as good as it used to be.

Do you know him?

I'm sure you know him better.

Other than the king himself,

who do you think could steal a royal family's arrow?

Hong Eun-jo! Snap out of it!

He even jumped in to stop it.

It can't be…

Could you

slap me hard again?

From now on,

I really need to get it together.

Your Highness.

How did it go?

The State Tribunal has withdrawn.

Your Highness.

Have we found the assassin yet?

I still suspect Lord Hong Min-jik's family.

Really? That family?

Min-jik's eldest son doesn't have the guts or the skills to do that.

The other one is his concubine's daughter.

I hear the number of arrows His Majesty used in this hunt

exceeds those used in the Eulmyo War.

His Majesty's arrows are scattered all around the Royal Villa unretrieved.

Should we interrogate

all thousands of people cast out of Chungcheong?

I hear Grand Prince Dowol woke up. Go and talk to him.

He made his move knowing the assassin's plan.

He must have had a source.

Let me go and talk to him.

We're not on good terms, but I've talked to him before.

Just make up some excuse.

Say I lost my memory from the shock, or something along those lines.

I'm not in the mood for jokes.

You don't joke because you're in the mood.

You joke to get in the mood.

"The Gyeongo Year was not forgotten."

Tell him that message was put up in the market again.

He's always under threat of assassination,

so you make up the rest.

So you're ordering me around now?

We want to protect the same person.

It's a strategic alliance.

Since we're on the same side,

we could be friends too.

That would be difficult.

I told Hong Eun-jo

who struck Your Highness with the arrow.

She's already overwhelmed with grief now.

- Why did you do that? - She needs to know.

She needs to know where her anger was directed

so she won't make a foolish choice like taking her own life.

And she will walk away.

Once she sees where this wretched tie leads,

she will have to walk away.

So…

I hope you recover soon.

I'm saying this as someone who was briefly your friend.

HYEMINSEO

Go. I don't need that.

That's none of your concern.

It looks like you're in a hurry.

If you're making a house call…

I was on my way to see you.

I guess I'm a little late.

Shall we step inside for a bit?

About that day…

Don't worry about it.

I came to say this.

I'm fine.

The royal physician said that I had a naturally strong heart.

See?

It's beating.

It must have

hurt so much.

Not at all.

I was just glad

the arrow struck here.

I'm sorry.

I'm really

sorry.

Are you going to stay out here all night?

I'm thinking about

how I can dry her tears.

What are you doing?

Recovery workout.

I happened to come across a sturdy tree.

Bye then.

I came across another sturdy tree.

Bye then.

You finished early.

He said he wanted to learn some skills.

Can we talk?

What is it?

What are you going to nag me about?

I know

what you're doing.

I got the message.

Was it too obvious?

Don't overdo it.

Even if it's obvious, just buy it.

Just play along

and forget who you shot that day.

I know you can't forget what happened that day,

and you probably shouldn't,

but at least forget that part.

At least just this part.

If you promise me that,

I'll stop telling such obvious lies.

I promise.

I'll try to forget.

RESPECTED GENTLEMEN OF THE NAMYANG HONG CLAN - TONGJEONG DAEBU

What I did was wrong.

Once you draw the bowstring, hold your breath.

Even the gentlest breeze can sway an arrow.

Once you draw the bowstring, still your emotions.

Even the slightest sadness can make an arrow veer.

I'm scared, my lord.

What if

I end up hurting someone?

Swords and bows are not for hurting.

They're for protecting.

I was blinded by my anger

and I ended up doing the same thing

the king did to you, Father.

I deserve your scolding.

When can we see His Majesty?

His Majesty's heart has been troubled lately. Please wait.

Rumor has it that His Majesty isn't well.

I hope that's not what you're wishing for.

That's absurd.

All I meant was

that you shouldn't be solely in charge, if that's the case.

He raised concerns about the damage

His Majesty's hunting and parties caused the people.

And that infuriated His Majesty.

Until the very end,

he stayed true to himself.

As you said, Lord Hong Min-jik

was a subject who gave only honest and necessary advice.

All the subjects who challenged His Majesty had been killed,

but he kept Lord Hong alive.

As you know, it's because

he was both the teacher and friend of His Majesty.

Are you sure that was the only reason?

I wouldn't dare lie to you, Your Highness.

How's the king?

I heard he's still asleep.

Something is happening in his bedchamber.

What could it be?

How is he?

He perks up briefly,

then falls asleep after each meal as the medicine takes effect.

What happened on the hunting trip

must never be revealed to anyone.

They are your people, Your Majesty.

Please take pity on them.

That's enough. You're ruining my mood.

Min-jik, go back to the capital and wait for my command.

Let's begin the hunt!

It's a tiger.

Bring the tiger I hunted!

The herb can cause visual and auditory hallucinations?

How could you not tell me that?

Tomorrow, he could see me as a fox and hunt me too!

And that would be too honorable a death for a lowlife like you.

Send the body to Min-jik's son

and give him a horse.

I guess I forgot my place for a moment.

Let the king lie there

and become a living corpse.

Don't worry.

Now,

come back to this place of torment.

Everything you saw and heard here must remain completely secret.

- Yes, sir. - Yes, sir.

Because that secret ends with you.

It's done.

I know you're busy.

Sorry for troubling you with this.

Don't worry. It's what I do.

I heard what happened to Lord Hong.

I'm truly sorry.

Can you go on living?

It won't be like before.

You've lost your world.

That's why I'm dying too.

I offer my deepest condolences.

Are you Gil-dong?

We need Gil-dong's name.

You're the one who needed the name of…

It's nice to meet you…

Gil-dong.

Who are you?

I'm a mother whose son was taken away by the king.

I'm an orphan whose family was taken away by the king.

I'm a father whose daughter was taken away.

I'm a child whose sibling was taken away.

I'm an old monk whose friend was taken away.

I'm a subject whose loyalty was taken away.

We have all lost our worlds.

The palace.

Your Majesty,

please reconsider your decision!

Royal Confucian Academy.

Please reconsider your decision!

Markets. Schools.

In every corner of this kingdom,

there are people like you.

Where will Gil-dong's name be used?

His name will represent the people worn down by poverty and oppression.

And what is the purpose?

It is

to take down the one on the throne.

The throne?

Does that mean…

A revolt.

That's how it will be recorded in history

if we fail.

Gil-dong is nothing more than a petty thief.

He cannot represent the people.

The return of Im Kkeok-jeong's spirit.

The great thief.

A beast with monstrous strength.

A legendary hermit. An immortal being.

They're nothing but false rumors.

They're dreams.

And they're hopes.

Gil-dong always came by

whenever I was hungry and sick,

although I don't know how he always knew.

So each time he came by,

the warmth he left behind made me so happy.

Gil-dong!

It seems like Gil-dong is looking after us as well.

There is nowhere in Joseon

that Gil-dong's hands cannot reach!

"A friend on the road"?

Is that what it means?

If the one who sits on the throne changes,

will the world change?

Yesterday, my son died.

Today, your father died.

Tomorrow, it could be your mother and brother.

And then,

you could be next.

At the very least, we will be able to change tomorrow

and the days that follow.

Did you expect Gil-dong's refusal?

She will return,

to continue her life.

Before that, we must find a way to approach the king's bedchamber.

We must find out what's going on in the palace.

You're back.

His Majesty woke up. Inform Her Majesty at once!

Yes, my lady.

Where are you going?

Assemble the State Tribunal.

This traitor attempted to assassinated His Majesty.

- Seize him! - Yes, sir!

What's this about?

Your Highness!

His Majesty is now questioning Hong Min-jik's eldest son.

I know nothing about it, Your Majesty!

The State Tribunal inspected the area thoroughly

before the royal procession arrived.

Do you still deny it?

How does that make me the assassin?

Throughout all of Joseon,

there is but one archer who can strike a target

from five ri.

Who is it?

That was…

my father.

And who inherited his blood?

I don't hear any answer.

Twist his legs.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Stop!

What are you doing?

You're here.

I'm looking for the man who nearly took your life.

I already found him.

He's standing in front of me.

Say that again.

All these tragedies

began with Your Majesty.

Say that again.

It's Your Majesty's fault.

Say that again.

Your Majesty!

It's your fault.

Mother.

What's the matter?

Young Master…

- What are you going to do? - Let go of me.

Just stay here.

With no proof, he'll be freed after the torture.

Because of me--

What's wrong?

Hong Eun-jo!

That's the person you see?

Young Master.

This is the last time I'm asking.

Say that again.

Does this mean Hong Eun-jo is now…

No.

There will be no more mistakes?

Who is it?

Who hid behind you and stood in my way?

Was it you?

Were you behind everything?

Don't take this the wrong way.

I just want to see if my body is all right.

Why does everything have to be so cruel to us?

Hong Min-jik's death has shaken the ministers.

It seems like the decision has been made.

It was also the late king's wish.

You'll be in danger if you stay here.

Let's run away.

Subtitle translation by: Sunyoung Baek