Original subtitles

Emperor Myeongjong is dead and buried.

Yeoncheol is gloating for all to see.

The day that Emperor Myeongjong's blood vow is read,

the earth and heavens will roar, and blood will be shed.

Who did this?

Who dares to challenge me?

Come on! Run!

Run!

I did not expect you to come and watch the match, Grand Councillor.

The appeal made it to the Emperor's office.

There is no doubt that the perpetrator is nearby.

Could it be them?

They have the ambition but not the brains for it yet.

He is not capable of such a thing.

It is definitely not Wang Yu.

Then, could it be...

No one is capable of going up against me other than the Empress Dowager.

But this is not her usual way of handling things.

She is one to be highly secretive.

She would never reveal her enemy through her plans.

I do not know.

I really do not know.

Your Majesty!

TWO POINTS, ONE POINT

We did it!

We did it!

TWO POINTS, TWO POINTS

If I win, you must not even look at Seung-nyang ever again.

If I win, you must let Seung-nyang leave the Palace for good.

No. You cannot demand anything regarding Seung-nyang.

What kind of rule is that?

My word is law here.

Block him!

-Your Majesty! -Your Majesty! This way!

Your Majesty!

Oh, no.

Your Imperial Majesty!

Your Imperial Majesty!

-Your Imperial Majesty! -Your Imperial Majesty.

Your Imperial Majesty.

Your Majesty, he got knocked out in one blow.

Your Imperial Majesty.

Detain the secretaries who are in charge of handling appeals.

Excuse me?

Hurry!

Be careful.

How is he?

The physician will know best,

but he does not appear to be hurt badly.

He will wake up soon.

Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.

Do not worry too much.

Who would have known this would happen?

Now tell us.

How did this appeal get delivered?

As heaven as my witness,

I swear that we do not know about this.

Deputy Minister Chang.

I just delivered what came in.

I would not dare deliver such a malicious appeal.

Kill them if you like.

Burn their flesh until they talk.

-Yes. -Yes.

How is His Imperial Majesty?

He woke up just now.

That was my mistake. I should have been more careful.

It looked to me

like you were aiming for His Imperial Majesty's face.

That is just how I see it.

Just by looking at your expression and actions,

I could tell you were engulfed with rage.

It was almost as if something came over you.

Were you watching me that closely?

I heard His Imperial Majesty suggested the match first.

It was just a part of the game. Do not worry too much.

Thank you, Your Highness.

Grand Councillor Yeoncheol must be furious by now.

-Good job, Eunuch Bang. -Thank you.

It appears as red

because they mixed it with red ink used to write talismans.

Seeing as how they tried to mask their handwriting,

they either used their left hand

or made someone illiterate write it.

That appeal made it over to the Emperor without trouble.

This is their way of saying

that they could end my life whenever they choose to.

They are close by.

They are watching me

and mocking me.

But does the blood vow really exist?

They must be one of those

who were there when Emperor Myeongjong died.

When I learned of the blood vow,

I had all of his court ladies and eunuchs killed.

But there was one person that I could not confirm dead.

Who was it?

It was a eunuch who used to guard Emperor Myeongjong.

Please tell us what you know about him.

His name is Jeok-ho.

He was one of the greatest spearmen.

Do you know anything else about him?

What about his family?

He was from Goryeo.

Tell me. What is it?

I caught the plague

from the Kheshig commander's corpse.

Do you know what that means?

Someone killed the commander and threw his corpse away

in Goryeo Village.

Then it was brought to the palace later.

There is a chance that the commander's corpse was brought from Goryeo Village.

Is this true?

Yeom Byeong-su touched the corpse

and caught the plague going around in Goryeo Village.

Search Goryeo Village.

Someone will know something about the blood vow.

Your Imperial Majesty, you must do something about your face.

Please apply this ointment.

I said I do not want to.

-Leave me alone. -Your Imperial Majesty.

Your Imperial Majesty.

I said get out. Out!

Get out.

Get out!

Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.

Yang...

You stay.

Apply the ointment on His Imperial Majesty.

He will listen to you.

Nice and easy.

Please apply the ointment.

If you do not want to,

I am going to leave this room as well.

Wait. Yang.

Are you happy?

Are you happy to see me like this?

Why would I be?

You wanted me to lose.

I saw you cheering for Wang Yu.

That is why I ended up like this...

That hurts. Be gentle.

You are being nitpicky right now.

Then...

did you want me to win?

If you keep moving, it is hard for me to apply the ointment.

At least lie about it.

Say you were cheering for me. Say you wanted me to win.

Is it that hard?

Sure. I was hoping that Your Imperial Majesty would win.

Are you happy now?

Yes.

That is enough.

Gosh, my entire body aches.

Here. Massage my legs.

Hurry and massage them.

Your Imperial Majesty, Her Highness has arrived.

Send her in.

You should wait outside.

I just had a word with Deputy Minister Chang.

He says that Grand Councillor Yeoncheol

has lost his mind over a certain appeal.

An appeal?

Your Imperial Majesty, listen to me carefully.

Your late father did not die from indigestion.

Yes, I know that.

The world we want could arrive

faster than we expected.

What do you mean?

If we are able to find that blood vow,

we can expose Grand Councillor Yeoncheol's act of treason.

He must have been in such anguish,

cutting his own finger and writing in his own blood...

This is not the time to be angry or sad.

You must have a keen eye for what is going on

and keep a cool head in dealing with them.

What...

shall I do?

Pretend you do not know anything for now.

Do not do anything to look for the blood vow.

I understand.

I have brought a change of clothes for the guest.

Seung-nyang.

Is that Seung-nyang?

You have surpassed me in swordsmanship. It is almost embarrassing

for me to call myself your guard.

I know you were holding back.

It looked to me that he was trying his best.

Your Majesty,

why is Seung-nyang here to meet Eunuch Bang instead of you?

Seung-nyang is here?

If I ever have a message for you,

I will slip a note into these clothes.

Good work, Seung-nyang.

What is the next task?

His Majesty has not said anything yet.

Please let me know as soon as he gives you orders.

Sure. Now go on.

Your Majesty...

Tell me, Eunuch Bang.

How could you give

this task to Seung-nyang?

-Your Majesty... -Eunuch Bang did

nothing wrong.

I did not ask you.

A small mistake could have

cost you your life, Your Majesty.

I asked Eunuch Bang myself if I could assist with this task.

I was confident that I could do it.

Seung-nyang,

why can you not see how I feel?

And it worked out so perfectly.

What did I do wrong?

Do not...

come see me ever again.

Your Majesty.

Do not look for me or even think of me.

I will not...

see you ever again.

You may leave now.

Your Majesty.

I told you to leave!

I do not understand this at all.

Why are you driving Seung-nyang away?

Can you not tell?

This is all for her own good.

All Seung-nyang wanted was

to help you, Your Majesty.

You may...

leave now.

Yes.

I am sorry, Seung-nyang.

I do not have enough power yet.

This is all I can do to protect you.

Forgive me for my incompetence.

Go on to Goryeo Village first.

Have you been crying?

I am not in the mood to talk. Move.

Park's belly is growing.

Do you know what that means?

Your crime is growing with it.

Do not cry because of anyone else.

Only cry for me.

If I cannot have you, I will ruin you.

I will make you the most miserable person in the world.

Do you understand?

GORYEO VILLAGE NEAR YEONGYEONG

This place is dark and eerie.

Move it!

Go on!

This is the headman of Goryeo Village.

What is your name?

It is Mak-saeng.

Mak-saeng?

A corpse was taken from here a few days ago.

Do you know of it?

Look around.

We have corpses to spare.

That is not an answer.

Would you prefer we burn down the whole village?

The man in question was not from here.

His corpse was taken out of the village.

There were men who took a body from a well.

Who were they?

I saw them from far away,

and my eyes are not so good.

Then were there any outsiders

who passed by recently?

I am not sure.

Lie to me, and you can forget the plague.

You will die by my sword.

There was no such--

The king of Goryeo passed by.

Are you sure it was him?

He said himself that he is the deposed king of Goryeo.

Did you want to see me?

What were you doing in Goryeo Village?

If you even risked catching the plague,

you must have had a reason.

What business took you there?

They ended up like that because of my incompetence as a king.

If I could see my people,

I would not mind catching the plague.

Is that all?

Their lot is pitiful.

I gave them the 1,000 yang of gold I had received as a reward.

Are you saying

that a deposed king cannot care for his own people?

Goryeo Village is involved in a complicated investigation.

Do not raise suspicion.

What sort of investigation?

You do not need to know.

The people of Goryeo are just going on with their lives

while observing the customs of Goryeo.

Of course I need to know.

I do not want to doubt you.

I do not want doubt and suspicion

to come between us.

You may go.

You seem to be

going too easy on him.

He is competent and dangerous, giving more reason to keep him close.

Do you still not know how to deal with people?

What did Grand Councillor Yeoncheol want?

We will have to stir them up again.

They are keeping even closer watch on the Imperial Archive.

We cannot use appeals anymore.

We will find a way.

Even if you have no appetite, eat some of this. You have to eat to live.

Did you go to Goryeo Village?

We did.

But all we learned was that the deposed king stopped by to help them.

And?

Is that all you did there?

Look after yourself.

You may die any day.

You stupid little...

My tactfulness is what has gotten me this far.

Goryeo Village holds the key

to the Kheshig commander's death.

I got it.

So eat already.

Wait, Jo-cham.

Let me out of here.

I need to leave this place.

Are you trying to spread the plague everywhere?

-Jo-cham. -Let go of me.

-Jo-cham. -Goodness.

Jo-cham.

I shall stay alive.

Success is right around the corner.

I cannot die here like a fool.

Bring me more tea.

Yang.

You look very sad.

I feel the same way right now.

I feel angry, then sad.

I have a lot on my mind.

Shall we have a drink together?

Yang.

Have a seat.

How can Your Imperial Majesty have a private audience with someone like her?

I would be a better--

Drinking with you actually sounds terrible.

Get out. Now.

We are not to be disturbed tonight.

Get out.

Pour some for yourself too.

Why did I not think of this earlier?

We are both feeling down today.

Let us enjoy ourselves tonight.

Drink.

I said, drink. That is your Emperor's order.

We have made our first move with the appeal.

Now we need to follow up with a strong blow.

What moves could we make?

How can we upset Yeoncheol

and cause a stir in the Palace?

Your Majesty.

When you were just a young crown prince,

I came here and saw something wondrous.

Something wondrous?

It is a magic trick from the West.

Maybe it could be of some help...

Tell me more.

It was a magic trick that makes writing disappear.

It made writing disappear?

Yes. It was just a trickery,

but it was quite fascinating.

Can you learn this trick?

Daedo is full of magicians.

It would not be that hard to find a magician who could teach us the trick.

Make writing disappear...

Writing...

My goodness.

Your Imperial Majesty, it is getting late.

Dismiss Yang and--

Any more out of your mouth,

and I will rip that mouth of yours.

Did you see that?

Whatever I may be anywhere else,

I am the Emperor within these grounds.

Take it easy on the drinks.

You have been drinking too fast.

Now that you are drunk,

you are showing the cute side of you.

Goodness.

You cannot even use chopsticks.

Here.

Open wide.

This is your Emperor's order.

Open wide.

Fine. Never mind.

You are way more fun to hang out with when you are drunk.

Here.

My goodness. It was a good idea to have a drink with you.

All of the things that were bothering me...

It feels like they are being let out at once.

Since I am drunk, I am going to ask you something.

Be honest with me.

Do you still...

want to go back to Wang Yu?

Or...

do you...

want to stay by my side?

It is okay, Seung-nyang.

Say what you feel.

You are so mean.

How can you still...

not know how I feel?

Seung-nyang...

I just wanted to help.

How could you...

You are mean.

You are so mean.

Seung-nyang...

Hey.

Get up, Seung-nyang.

Seung-nyang, wake up.

Goodness.

As for tonight,

get a good rest on my bed.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

You still long to be with Wang Yu.

That will not change anything.

I will never send you to him.

I will never...

let you go.

Goodness, just do it. It is not like she will know anyway.

No. Do not become a sleaze.

That is it for today.

Gosh, I am so drunk.

His Majesty

seems to be in great pain.

Of course he would be.

He adored Seung-nyang so much.

What happened

last night?

Your Imperial Majesty, it is time to get up.

Here comes Her Imperial Majesty.

Has His Imperial Majesty awoken?

What brings you here so early this morning, Your Imperial Majesty?

I was on a walk and stopped by to see His Imperial Majesty.

-Let me in. -I am afraid

I cannot let you in.

You cannot?

If he is still asleep, I will wake him up myself.

His Imperial Majesty is...

at his imperial toilet right now.

-His imperial toilet? -Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.

He had too many dried persimmons, so it will take him a while.

I will be outside. Call me when he is done.

Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.

Do you have a death wish?

My apologies.

Your Imperial Majesty.

Please wake up.

Seung-nyang...

It is Golta.

You startled me, you moron.

-Gosh, what a scare. -Your Imperial Majesty.

Her Imperial Majesty is waiting outside.

What? She is?

Yes.

Why is she here all of a sudden?

She has Your Imperial Majesty's written promise.

Leave her be.

Welcome, Your Imperial Majesty.

Did you have a drink last night?

I drank a bit because I could not sleep.

But...

why are there two cups here?

Who did you drink with?

Why are you asking?

Why not?

Is that something I cannot ask?

I am still hungover.

Please leave.

You smell like alcohol.

What did you two talk about all night?

About how awful I am?

Or...

did His Imperial Majesty want to share a bed with you?

How dare you stare at me like that?

I just had...

few drinks His Imperial Majesty offered me.

Are you the ones who wanted to learn

this magic trick?

Are you the magician?

One moment, please.

-Oh, my. -What in the world?

What is this?

Watch closely.

MAGICIAN

-What happened? -How did you do that?

Do not be shocked.

The secret is in this ink.

This ink

has a special liquid from the West that made this happen.

You only need to moisten it for the writing to disappear.

My goodness.

Sell this ink to us.

-Take it. -Do you have any other ink?

Any other ink?

Ink that will not smear even when it is wet.

Of course I do.

We have one more favor.

Can you leave Yeongyeong today?

We will pay you as much as you like.

It is a deal.

This is so interesting.

What do you plan to do with this?

Do you know

what the people of the Yuan dynasty fear more than anything?

They fear the curse of the heavens.

I will make them live their greatest fear.

How is the weather?

There are rain clouds in the sky.

The heavens must be helping us.

Will it be okay to use Your Majesty's handwriting?

Only a few words will remain, and the rest will disappear.

Incident report.

A son went missing.

The father spewed blood and cried in fear.

Why do you keep switching inks?

After reading the letter the culprit sent him,

the father did not leave his house.

In the end, the son died, and the culprit was arrested.

En route to Yeongyeong,

the father killed the culprit by striking his head three times with a mace,

which is totally unprecedented.

The victim's family is in ruins.

The father's punishment has not been imposed yet.

You decide if it was just or not.

Where do they post civil complaints?

There is a board in front of the Central Secretariat's office.

Eunuch Bang and Mu-song,

find an outsider to submit this anonymously.

They cannot know that we are involved in this.

-Understood. -Understood.

Jeom-bak and Bul-hwa, I will write another one.

Put it up in the marketplace.

Make sure that everyone in Daedo knows.

-What is that? -What?

-What does that say? -What is that?

What does that say?

Some father killed his son's killer.

It is a petition asking for justice.

All kinds of heinous things happen when life gets tough for people.

Let us go.

Uncle Baekan.

Look at that.

-What was that? -It is cold.

-Look at that. -Did you see that?

What is going on?

Why are some of the words fading?

"Emperor Myeongjong, blood vow,

reveal, Yeoncheol, three generations of his family will be ruined."

What?

When Emperor Myeongjong's blood vow is revealed,

three generations of his family will be ruined.

Who on earth pulled a stunt like this?

I was shocked at first as well, but it is just a magic trick.

A magic trick?

It is a popular trick in the West.

Arrest all the magicians in Yeongyeong right now!

Yes, Grand Councillor.

It was him.

He is trying to break me!

We spent all these years looking for the blood vow.

And it was all for nothing.

They are much more persistent

and dangerous than we thought they would be.

What could they possibly be after?

If they were after the blood vow,

they would not have done something as public as this.

It just makes no sense.

Why are they stirring things up?

First, we will round up and torture the magicians

and stay on Grand Councillor Yeoncheol's good side.

The magician must have left, right?

You do not need to worry about that.

His hometown is near the West. He has gone home.

We have fanned the flames.

We should wait and see how they would react.

If we let our guard down,

we could go down for it.

Be careful in your words and actions.

-Yes, Your Majesty. -Yes, Your Majesty.

Yeoncheol,

I will annihilate your entire family.

What now?

We caught him because he was spying around like a thief.

This is a place where even the thieves would come

and leave behind their clothes for us out of pity.

Send him on his way.

-Yes. -Yes.

Headman, please let me live here.

We do not let just anyone in.

Go.

I am also from Goryeo.

-What? -I was chased out by the Imperial Forces

and have nowhere to go now.

I have even caught the plague.

I barely survived it.

Please show mercy

and take me in.

What did you do in Goryeo?

I was part of the Patrolling Myriarchy.

So you were a nasty fellow who used to capture tribute women.

I ended up like this because I tried to free them.

Please believe me, Headman.

Leave him in the barn for now.

I will decide tomorrow whether to take him in or not.

-Yes. -Thank you, Headman.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Move.

How bold of you.

I cannot believe you are not saying a single word

about what you did when you were drunk.

Did I do something wrong,

Your Imperial Majesty?

You do not remember?

You were like this...

Your Imperial Majesty.

Your Highness.

Your Imperial Majesty, take a look at this.

What is this?

Deputy Minister Chang brought it from the marketplace.

I will read it for you.

"Emperor Myeongjong, blood vow, reveal,

Yeoncheol, three generations of his family will be ruined."

That was a bold move.

His Majesty has shown his determination through it.

But his opponent is Yeoncheol.

If he makes one wrong move...

Your Majesty.

I need to have a word with Your Majesty.

I told you not to speak to me again.

Your Majesty.

Are you going to ignore my commands now?

Let us go.

Eunuch Bang.

Yes, Your Majesty?

Even if I do not remind you,

check on Seung-nyang from time to time.

Yes, Your Majesty.

We must convene with the court

to discuss this matter.

You cannot.

What do you mean?

This blood vow is not a secret anymore.

Grand Councillor Yeoncheol's evil deeds have already been exposed!

Without the blood vow itself,

this will go down as another rumor.

That is right, Your Imperial Majesty.

Without solid evidence,

no one would dare to go against Grand Councillor Yeoncheol.

There is nothing I can do at will!

Are you saying I should just come to terms

with what he did to my father?

The battle has just begun.

With this mysterious document,

we have the upper hand now.

We must be patient, Your Imperial Majesty.

Someone is helping us.

Who could it be?

I do not have a single clue.

They do not leave any trace like a ghost.

It is almost frightening.

A rumor about a mysterious document is circling the Palace.

It is not just the Palace.

The people are talking about the blood vow and you...

What about the Empress Dowager?

She has been visiting the Emperor more frequently.

If she manages to sway the court--

I have

weathered worse storms than this.

I've always come up with a way to get through it.

Tapjahae, tell His Imperial Majesty to meet me at the Throne Hall.

And you, gather your men.

-Yes, Father. -Yes, Father.

Come closer.

I heard that your father had left a blood vow.

And someone is using that blood vow

to threaten me.

Grand Councillor...

Do not move.

You getting involved could cost His Imperial Majesty his life.

-What is going on? -My gosh.

What is happening?

Tell me.

I know you are not a fool.

Tell me what you have heard.

I...

do not know about this.

Please believe me.

I really do not know anything.

It does not matter to me whether you know about the blood vow or not.

The important thing

is that these wicked people

will ultimately use Your Imperial Majesty to their advantage.

Grand Councillor...

People say that I was the one

who deposed the two former Emperors.

That means...

I am fully capable of deposing another one.

What would you...

like me to do?

Please tell me, Grand Councillor.

Up until now,

I have done everything

that you have commanded me to do.

So please.

Please tell me what to do.

Live as if you are dead.

No matter what anyone says to you,

do not even try to do anything.

Do you understand?

Understood.

I will do that.

I will follow your command.

Stand down.

Your Imperial Majesty.

What are you doing, you eunuch?

Escort His Imperial Majesty out.

The eunuchs and court ladies are all witnesses.

They will tell everyone soon.

An eye for an eye.

A tooth for a tooth.

They warned me with that mysterious document,

so I have given them a warning as well.

The imperial throne suits you well, Father.

Yang.

Go to His Imperial Majesty.

You are the only one in the Palace who can comfort His Imperial Majesty.

Father...

Father...

I said I wanted to be alone.

Why did you come here?

I do not want to...

show you my ugly sides anymore.

My eyes are closed.

And my ears are covered.

I cannot see anything,

nor can I...

hear anything.

Please...

just sit back and relax.

Your Majesty.

I think that is Seung-nyang.

Emperor Myeongjong's curse?

I fear no curse of a dead man!

I am well and alive. I will have them fear my curse.

Grand Councillor...

Once you die, many will be glad to see you again.

Your Majesty.

Both of your pain will be my greatest pleasure.

Subtitle translation by James Park