Original subtitles

Why are you not drinking it?

Are you perhaps

suspicious of me?

Drink it.

Right now.

If you do not drink it,

we will hold your mouth open and--

Do not drink it.

What is in this gwibitang that you are trying to make her drink?

Do you not know what gwibitang is?

I have never heard of a gwibitang that contains gromwell and mung beans

that prevent conception.

You, the Empress, are trying to prevent the Imperial Concubines from conceiving.

If people find out,

how are you going to deal with the humiliation?

What matters right now is having firm discipline in the Inner Court.

They cannot conceive all at once

and upset public order.

Empress,

that is deceptive reasoning.

It is not deceptive reasoning. I am just doing

all I can

to protect the Imperial House.

What are you doing?

Hurry and drink it.

I said, do not drink it.

You wench, are you looking down on me?

Drinking this would be

a disservice to His Imperial Majesty.

What?

I would rather disobey your orders

than fail in my duty to His Imperial Majesty.

Please forgive me, Your Imperial Majesty.

How dare you!

Concubine Ki has made a sound judgment.

As an imperial concubine,

you must never forget your duty.

That tribute woman

made us look bad in front of Her Highness.

I know, right?

She is acting all smart.

I greet Your Imperial Majesty.

-I greet Your Imperial Majesty. -I greet Your Imperial Majesty.

Your Imperial Majesty.

What brings you here, Your Imperial Majesty?

Your Imperial Majesty.

Your Imperial Majesty.

It looks like His Imperial Majesty has recovered quite well.

But...

why are you girls looking at me that way?

Do you think I would be jealous?

I have absolutely no interest in

who His Imperial Majesty favors.

Are you all right?

I know what the Empress put in the tonic.

It is not harmful to the body.

Did you drink it?

I did not drink it.

Starting today,

can you call me over every night?

Every night?

I would also like to have some drinks ready.

Drinks too?

-Did you hear that, Golta? -Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.

I will have it ready.

You are finally here.

What brings you here, Your Highness?

I wanted to see the Prince.

Apologies for entering your room without you here.

He is so handsome.

His eyes are big like His Imperial Majesty's,

and his mouth looks beautiful just like yours.

Is that so?

You already have the Prince.

What were you so scared of,

preventing the Imperial Concubines from conceiving like that?

Having lots of heirs in the Imperial House

is a great blessing.

Who would dare to challenge Prince Maha's rightful place?

In time, he will be named the Crown Prince,

and after that, he will certainly become the Emperor.

How many times

has the eldest son inherited the throne?

There were several instances

where brothers shed each other's blood out of their desire for power.

Furthermore,

it is common for an emperor to be dragged down from the throne.

Where there is power, factions arise, and once fractions arise,

they do whatever it takes to have their way with the emperor.

I will not let that happen

to my son.

Emperor Kublai has already decreed

that the throne goes to the eldest son.

I also believe

that the eldest son should inherit the throne.

The person I fear the most is...

Your Highness.

You smile to my face

and stab me in the back.

Do you not think so, Your Highness?

That is quite harsh of you to say.

I have a strong will.

I do not want to argue with Your Highness over this.

I will have that understood.

The baby looks nothing like the Emperor.

Pardon?

His face does not resemble the Emperor's or the Empress's.

We will know more as he grows,

but I am certain of it.

But Your Highness,

there is no evidence left at Hwanggak Temple.

And the senior court ladies who helped her deliver--

Court Lady Seo and Court Lady Yeon

do whatever the Empress tells them to do.

The fire at Hwanggak Temple is weird

the more I think about it.

If Your Highness's instincts are accurate, it means...

that she had done something heinous.

It is just a suspicion for now.

Take your time and look into it thoroughly.

I understand, Your Highness.

Empress,

just because you cannot see my claws, it does not mean I do not have them.

Hidden claws

leave a deeper scar.

Welcome, Your Ladyship.

Do you have the books I asked for?

It is The Thousand Character Classic from the Liang dynasty.

It contains 1,000 characters

arranged into 250 lines of four characters apiece.

After mastering those characters, His Imperial Majesty must read

The Analects, Mencius, The Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean,

The Classic of Poetry, Book of Documents, I Ching,

The Spring and Autumn Annals, and The Book of Rites.

He must read everything of the Four Books and Five Classics in order.

Will you be able to have him do it?

I faced death to get this far.

This is nothing compared to the pain I went through.

More than anything,

no one can know that the Emperor

is trying to learn how to read and write.

I have an idea about that.

Your Imperial Majesty,

Concubine Ki has arrived.

Yang.

What is this?

Starting today, you will study reading and writing every night.

Reading and writing?

You cannot regain power

unless you can read public appeals.

You will begin with the Thousand Character Classic.

You must read and write

all 1,000 characters in this book.

A thousand characters?

Then why did you ask for drinks?

"The sky is black, and the earth is yellow.

Space and time are vast and limitless."

Limitless.

Do not look this way.

Yes, Your Ladyship.

-Eat up. -Yes.

I am drunk.

-Do not worry about me... -People will think

that Your Imperial Majesty is boozing and womanizing every night.

We must burn your practice sheets right away.

We must not leave behind any signs that you are learning

how to read and write.

Spies are everywhere.

We cannot let down our guard.

Your Imperial Majesty.

He is drinking

with that wench Ki again?

Your Imperial Majesty, you are very drunk.

Did you see what they were doing?

I heard music--

Music?

It sure sounds like they are having fun.

Let us see how long they last.

I will count the days with my fingers.

Your Imperial Majesty, please relax.

Your Imperial Majesty,

I am one

with lots of patience.

But once I explode,

I do not know what I will do.

-Your Imperial Majesty. -Your Imperial Majesty.

Please calm down, Your Imperial Majesty.

-Let go of me! -Your Imperial Majesty.

Your Imperial Majesty. Hurry and stop her.

The Emperor is boozing and womanizing?

That little fool...

Father, you are very drunk.

Baekan,

I would like to thank you.

You found the best Imperial Concubine.

Thanks to you, my plans are moving forward.

Take Father to bed.

Yes, Dang Gise.

He calls himself a man?

Father, let us leave.

Let go of me.

Do you see me as an old geezer?

I am still sober.

The Grand Councillor seems to be in a great mood.

Baekan.

You can drop the act now.

The moment you brought Seung-nyang here as a concubine candidate,

I stopped trusting you.

So what?

I know your intentions.

You want Seung-nyang to control the Emperor

so that you can take over his power.

What is wrong?

Was I too accurate?

You are mistaken about something.

I serve the Grand Councillor,

not you.

Power?

You are not of the imperial blood. The throne must not be passed down to you.

-What? -Dang Gise.

When the Grand Councillor passes away,

you will want to take his place, and I will too.

But do you know how we are different?

You want power for your own selfish interests and desires.

I, on the other hand, want it for the Great Yuan.

Shut your mouth.

Do not count on your father's glory.

Fight your own fight.

That is...

how you get power.

Baekan.

We will see who wins in the end.

Do not come within three steps of me.

When we are alone,

Your Imperial Majesty must stay at least three steps away from me.

Who says?

Do not interrupt your studies.

"The husband leads, and the wife follows."

"The husband leads, and the wife follows."

You are wrong.

Please focus on your studies.

This is...

how I can focus on my studies.

Watch.

"The husband

leads,

and the wife...

follows."

I memorized it right away.

I can memorize the other characters right away too.

Every time you grab my hand,

I will double the number of characters you must memorize.

I am going to bed now.

-Please get up. -No.

You have not even mastered 20 characters today.

-I will do it tomorrow. -Your Imperial Majesty.

If you are tired,

you can come and join me.

Move along.

-Hurry up. -Move along.

-Hurry. -Who are those people?

They got sent back after being sold as slaves.

-Move along. -Go on.

-Gosh. -What are you doing?

Get out of the way!

Get it together.

Take that spy with you tonight.

That guy?

Yes. We cannot just kill him.

I will make him kill

his own master.

If I do not tell him that it is a trap,

he will die.

What is it that you wanted to tell me?

I just wanted to have a drink with you.

Do you not want to?

Why would I not?

Do you have ties to the Eagle House?

I want to make a deal with them.

Introduce me to them if you can.

The Eagle House?

I do not know much about them either.

But you know,

I would not have taken you

for a trader.

I did not know either that you would run a courtesan house.

You do not

trust me, do you?

I trust you as much as you trust me.

You trust me more than I thought you do.

I have work to do.

You will have to excuse me.

I will finish my drink.

Suri.

Yes, Master.

You have some work to do.

I am at your service.

Get some gunpowder.

Yes, Master.

What brings you here?

My master sent over some drinks.

Excellent.

According to the document that Mu-song sent over,

the men with the counterfeit money will be at Suryong Pass at seven o'clock today.

Jeom-bak,

muster your men ahead of time and wait there.

Yes, Your Majesty. I will see you later.

What are you planning to do?

Collect as much counterfeit money as you can.

Just like what the Eagle House men did to Goryeo,

we will take over Yuan's commercial market the same way.

We will be cutting off Yeoncheol's funds.

Your Majesty, this is a sign from Eunuch Bang.

The men with the counterfeit money are here.

Wear your masks, everyone.

Yes.

Master, we are going the wrong way.

This is not the way to Mount Palgwae.

The destination has changed.

Then where are we headed?

I have always preferred

hunting in the dark.

There are a lot of animals

hiding in the dark.

Why are you getting nervous?

Are you afraid of animals?

The hunt will begin soon.

They are coming.

Take a good look.

See how your master dies.

Not yet.

You cannot shoot your arrows

until they are in range.

Closer.

Just a little closer.

That is right.

A little closer.

Halt.

What is that?

Kill them.

It was a trap.

Hurry and get them.

Fall back.

Who was it?

Who shot that fire arrow?

Gosh.

You hit the barrel containing the gunpowder.

Wang Yu,

I have paid you back for saving my life.

We are back to being enemies now.

What are the provincial governors doing here all of a sudden?

Can you not tell?

Her Imperial Majesty fed the Imperial Concubines

a tonic that prevents them from conceiving.

Of course they would be furious.

Things have been strange at the Imperial Palace these days.

It is best to stay quiet at times like this.

Gosh, you startled me.

Jo-cham...

This guy in front of me is him, is it not?

It is Park Bul-hwa indeed.

Do not soil yourself.

How did you get here?

Thanks to you, I am living the sweet life in the Palace.

What is going on?

Are you not going to pay your respects to Her Ladyship?

I remember clearly

how you shot me with your arrow.

That arrow...

changed my life.

Now keep in mind what I am about to say.

I will...

change your life as well.

That wench has Park Bul-hwa with her now.

Things are not looking so good.

Are you aware that the Empress

has prevented the Imperial Concubines from conceiving?

Is that so?

This is an affront to the Imperial House

and to the provincial governors.

That is one way to see it.

Grand Councillor,

you cannot take this lightly.

Lightly?

I am taking this very seriously.

Then you should take action.

Yes, I should.

I should either kick out the Imperial Concubines...

or you guys.

Grand Councillor.

Why did you send your daughters here as imperial concubines?

Was it not to gain power

through ties to the Emperor?

It is a crime and disloyalty for incompetents to covet power.

Do you think

you can bear the weight of being the absolute power of this nation?

You would buckle under it,

and it would be the end of this nation.

I will not see our nation ruined.

Do not show your allegiance to me.

Show your allegiance to the nation.

If you are clear on that, return to your provinces.

I will not let you get your selfish motives involved

in the Imperial Palace ever again.

The governors have gotten worse

ever since the Imperial Concubines arrived.

Leave it to me.

I will call over every governor and bring him to his knees.

Do not make it more complicated than it already is.

I will deal with them all in one stroke.

Go tell His Imperial Majesty

that I would like a word with him tonight.

Yes, Father.

I have served

nine emperors until now.

Some of them died mysteriously,

and a few others died from illness.

It all happened in the span of 30 years.

During the past 30 years,

the emperor of this throne changed nine times.

Having absolute power means being in absolute solitude.

The one who is in power is bound to be lonely.

Your Imperial Majesty

is very lonely and pitiful right now.

No wonder you cannot speak.

Allow me...

to take the weight

off your shoulders now.

How about you abdicate the throne?

Thankfully, Your Imperial Majesty has a son.

If you name him your heir,

the Empress will serve in his stead until he is old enough to govern the nation.

I want Your Imperial Majesty

to live a long, healthy life.

The emperor's robe is too burdensome for you.

Take it off now.

If you misbehave again,

there will be another bloodbath in the Imperial Palace.

You can expect no mercy from me.

This is the end

of your duty as an emperor.

Are you all right, Your Imperial Majesty?

The Grand Councillor is starting to take an action

sooner than I expected.

Today, we will test what you have learned so far.

Give it a rest tonight.

Please write the following.

"The sky is black, and the earth is yellow."

Your Imperial Majesty.

Black and yellow.

Do you not recall the characters?

I guess not.

"Space and time are vast and limitless."

"The sun and moon rise and fall."

How can you not get a single one right?

I guess I am unfit for reading and writing.

You got them wrong on purpose.

I do not care about reading and writing.

I give up on it all.

-Your Imperial Majesty. -I have already made up my mind.

So do not talk to me about revenge--

Do you know what I gave up to be here?

Tell me. What did you give up?

Are you talking about Wang Yu?

I lost

and gave up everything

that was precious to me.

Me too.

I am doing the same for you.

I am giving up the throne and my father's revenge...

I am giving it up all for you.

Do not say it is for me.

It is for you.

I fear your death

more than my own.

I want to lay it all down

and just spend my life with you

without any greed.

I just want to eat and sleep with you every day.

I want to walk around with you like this.

I want to live like that with you.

Can we not do that?

I thought you were the only one who could help me seek revenge.

That is what I believed, but...

I guess I was wrong.

I will not look for Your Imperial Majesty ever again.

So you will abandon me now that I am useless to you?

Is that what you mean?

Is that all I am to you?

I am just a tool for your vengeance?

What is so wrong with that?

Your Imperial Majesty

now means nothing to me.

Nothing?

To me, you are no better than one of the walls of the Palace.

No, you mean less than that.

Being an imperial concubine does not give her the right

to look down on His Imperial Majesty like that.

She is not exactly wrong.

-What? -If you will pardon my saying so,

I am just a lowly eunuch,

but I know something of service.

If you really care about His Imperial Majesty,

you must not be afraid to rebuke him.

Do you have a death wish?

You have come back to me empty

without any feelings.

Even if Your Imperial Majesty does not help me,

I will carry on with my revenge.

Stop.

If you leave,

I will not look for you ever again.

Do not look for me.

Fine.

I will not look for you ever again.

Ever.

Why did you want to see me this late at night?

I have no idea...

how to teach His Imperial Majesty.

I wanted to ask you

for some advice.

You do not need my advice.

The answer lies

within you, Your Ladyship.

The teacher is being more impatient than the student right now.

It is already off-kilter.

I guess I am in the wrong.

This is all the advice I have for you.

He is so levelheaded.

He just gave me great advice.

A thirsty man must...

dig his own well.

Your Imperial Majesty, you should get some rest now.

Did His Imperial Majesty

called for that wench Ki tonight too?

Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.

Do you know how many nights it has been?

I think it has been about ten nights.

It has been

exactly 15 nights.

You have been counting?

Do you know

how the court ladies have been looking at me these days?

They look at me with pity.

I am the highest woman in all the land,

and they look at me with pity.

It is my fault

for not keeping them in check, Your Imperial Majesty.

It is not your fault.

It is because of the wimpy Emperor

and that wicked tramp.

Your Imperial Majesty.

I have had enough.

I will teach that wench Ki a lesson tomorrow.

Get everything ready.

I understand, Your Imperial Majesty.

Your Imperial Majesty,

you will see what you get

for neglecting me like this.

Mu-song would not give us the wrong information.

And who in the world would help us get out of that?

I have no clue.

Any word from Mu-song yet?

Eunuch Bang is looking into it.

He will find out soon.

Do not worry, Your Majesty.

Hurry it up.

My goodness. I am starving.

My lord, please feed me.

I am starving.

What is with this beggar?

-Get out of our way. -Oh, my.

Wait, my lord.

Please give me some cold rice.

One, two, three, four...

I have not eaten for four days.

-He would not even get sold as a slave. -Pardon?

He is so worthless.

Gosh. Get rid of him.

-My lord. -Move.

Move along.

Please give me something to eat...

Hurry it up.

Move.

Why is Jeok-ho there?

Headman.

What is it?

You...

It is I, Bang Sin-u.

You are worse off than me.

Have you become a beggar?

Never mind about me.

How did you become a slave?

A rich lady bought me

because she was lonely,

but she...

She found out I was a eunuch and sent me back.

Gosh.

Of course she would send back a eunuch.

Anyway, I am looking for someone.

You have not seen Seung-nyang yet?

Seung-nyang?

Are you not here to look for Seung-nyang?

But Seung-nyang...

Is she even alive?

What?

-Your Majesty. -Why are you so late?

We were worried and about to go look for you.

What about Mu-song? What happened to him?

I do not know about him.

I have other news.

Other news?

Your Highness.

What is wrong?

Seung-nyang is...

Seung-nyang is alive.

What? What do you mean?

She is not dead. She is alive.

Who told you?

I met the headman of Goryeo Village,

and he said they were both taken into slavery.

And now?

Where is she now?

According to the headman, Baekan bought her as a slave

and rescued her.

Then...

we can see Seung-nyang when Baekan comes back, right?

Seung-nyang.

Your Ladyship, you must go to the morning assembly hall.

It is not time for the morning assembly yet.

Her Imperial Majesty moved it earlier,

but the wicked court ladies did not let you know.

Those wenches.

Pardon my tardiness.

Did you not hear that there would be lessons for the Inner Court today?

My apologies.

The court ladies did not tell me--

Are you trying to give an excuse again?

We will see how great you are,

thinking little of my lessons like that.

Recite Instructions for Women.

If you make a single mistake, you will be severely punished.

Recite.

"First is fidelity, second is purity.

A woman shall also know her place.

When guests are present, speak quietly.

First and foremost,

a woman shall remain chaste.

Secondly, she shall be pure and honest.

She must stay indoors

when the quarter for women is occupied.

If guests arrive,

she must speak in soft tones."

We have not covered that yet.

"Speak no evil, hear no evil.

When the sun sets, light a candle.

Entering in the dark--"

That is enough. Stop showing off.

When did you memorize this?

I memorized it every night.

At night?

You are with the Emperor every night,

yet you still have time to memorize Instructions for Women.

If you were unaware of the lessons,

I would have pardoned your tardiness.

But knowing about it and being late is much worse.

-Your Imperial Majesty. -You indeed think little of the lessons.

-Chief Eunuch Dok-man. -Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.

Have this wench wear mourning clothes, lock her in the library,

and tell the Kheshig to watch her.

In the library,

copy the entire Instructions for Women 100 times.

You cannot come out until you are done.

You will not get any food or water either.

Do you understand?

You will either starve in there

or finish writing.

What are you doing?

Hurry and lock this wench in the library.

You will soon realize

that being in the Emperor's favor

is worse than poison.

I have heard of the punishment of copying out Instructions for Women,

but banning food and water

is a first.

Do not worry about me.

You can go.

I will not give in.

Tanashilli.

I will not bow

to the likes of you.

FIRST IS FIDELITY

Welcome, Court Lady Yeon.

Have you brought the ink?

You are not giving her any food or water, right?

We did not let anything in for three days. Do not worry.

But without water,

she might die.

She might as well drink this ink if she is thirsty.

Take it in.

What if she dies?

I cannot stand it any longer.

I will kill them all.

Do not be so rash.

Do you want to make it worse for Her Ladyship?

No one can help.

She must endure it

and walk out on her own.

It looks like

we will be able to take down

that arrogant wench Ki a peg or two.

That is not the only thing I am trying to do.

If she does not write 100 copies,

I will just let her die in there.

I will never

have to see her again.

I guess there will be

another ghost in the library.

That is right.

That cold, heartless girl.

I am giving it all up for her.

Why does she not understand?

Your Imperial Majesty.

I have just received word from Chief Eunuch Dok-man

that Concubine Ki--

I told you not to talk about Yang.

Your Imperial Majesty.

Does she want to see me or something?

It is not that.

Concubine Ki is locked in the library right now.

She is locked in the library?

This is already her third day in there.

She had no water for three days.

She is being severely punished by Her Imperial Majesty.

Your Imperial Majesty.

I greet Your Imperial Majesty.

-Your Imperial Majesty. -Your Imperial Majesty.

Your Imperial Majesty.

I regret to inform you

that Her Imperial Majesty has ordered me not to let anyone--

My apologies, Your Imperial Majesty.

Be grateful that His Imperial Majesty cannot speak.

I would have killed you if he told me to.

Yang.

I want to show her that I can do it.

I want to make Yang happier.

-Your Imperial Majesty. -What do you think you are doing?

You have made a huge mistake.

We will fight them head-on.

We will hit their base now.

You will not be able to kill me.

Are you saying you will make her commit a crime?

She will have to give up the Empress's seal.

Once I put my arrow to its bow, I will not put it back down.

That is how you put up a fight.

Are the results out?

Your Imperial Majesty, you have fallen into a trap.

If we are ill-fated, we must end it here,

Wang Yu.

Subtitle translation by James Park