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[ Episode 8 ]

Chulsangsool. ( leaping martial arts )

How did I do?

You!

Who are you?

You said you weren't interested in a thing like me though.

Why, you're curious?

So are you now a little interested?

You son of a bitch!

Kang Chae Yoon?

Your Majesty.

First, I shall send troops and grasp the situation,

and find Senior Scholar Jang Seong Soo.

Where is it? Where did it happen?

Why, you disappoint me. That's all you got?

That, and...

you're already huffing like a mutt puppy?

You're breathing hard too, punk.

So then? Do you think you can win?

Who are you?

You!

Me?

But you know.

Palace Guard, grade A, Kang Chae Yoon.

And who are you, punk?

Wait, no. I can just take my time and ask you at the cell, right?

Painfully.

What do you think?

You can still fight, right?

Let's go at it.

Good.

It's near this mountain.

Search thoroughly.

It's Moo Hyul.

What are you intending to do?

Win or lose,

we'll have to figure that out next time.

No!!

If he is taken to the doctor right now, he'll live.

Or, you could give him up and chase after me.

Damn it!

Goddamnit!

Fucking damn!

Don't worry about me.

Chase after him.

At once!

Stay still.

What are you doing?

Hurry and chase him!

I said stay still!

Damn it!

What happened?

Hey, Beans!

Cho Tak!

Are you alright?

Why are you like this?

Are you alright?

It was that scum.

You lost him?

Did he already escape?

Yes, I think so.

And Senior Scholar Jang?

I don't know if it was Senior Scholar Jang or not,

but regardless, that scum killed someone.

From the sound of the shriek...

I think the corpse is there somewhere.

Lead the way.

Comb through thoroughly.

Yes.

What happened?

There's nothing here.

That's strange.

It was around here for sure.

Are you sure you heard it clearly?

Yes, I definitely did.

That man...

perhaps he took the corpse then.

What are you talking about?

Senior Scholar Jang was murdered?

And his body disappeared?

What's this?

Hey punk, get up.

Get up!

You're here.

You came.

Last night, it was past three-kyeong. (11pm-1am) So I called him to come urgently.

How's the body?

Are you alright?

No problem.

Unfortunately,

you won't croak.

Why you little pig!

Hey, rascal! I barely saved that lowly life of yours!

So you're paying back my grace with 'pig'?

I should've buried you.

What?

Listen, you vulgar bastard.

Listen clearly.

In this world, okay,

there may be lowly folks and lowly ranks,

but a lowly life...

there isn't, okay?

Bear it clearly in mind, before I flip you.

Okay.

You're here, Officer Jeong.

Good that you came.

What's with you too, Officer Jeong?

Did you see a ghost or something?

Oh!

Why... ? Gyeonghoeru...

At Gyeonghoeru...

Your Excellency!

Why so impudent?

A commotion!

A huge commotion!

What's happening?

What's that?

Stabilize the boat.

My Lord.

Examine the corpse.

Yes.

Move the corpse.

There's something on the floor.

Yes.

A flower is just a flower. It cannot be a root.

Mil Bon.

Is it truly...

Mil Bon?

Is it truly Jeong Gi Joon?

You can't do anything.

Father.

Your petty son dares to speak.

Although this is a misfortune...

I shall sleep.

What did you say?

I'm sleepy.

I will take a nap.

You all go out.

His Majesty is someone who can't sleep at night even,

but a day-time nap?

Since I've waited upon His Majesty,

this is a first.

Since this misfortunate incident is a first too,so it could happen.

He will shake it off and stand again, and come up with a resolute way to handle it.

Though I hope so, something feels... ominous.

Is it truly...

Mil Bon...

Mil Bon?

Even the central ministers of the court.

Just who among them could be Mil Bon,

we cannot know it.

How could that unidentified assailant, without help from the inside,

infiltrate the palace?

The King must, starting from the hardest to suspect,

suspect.

If the King neglects that duty,

once again, in the palace, there will be bloodshed.

The King...

is that?

Hide the venom of power inwardly?

And be patient and endure only?

You think that is the way of a person?

More so than the road I walked on,

yours will be much more horrendous.

Horrendous road.

Yes.

It is horrendous for sure.

It is horrendous like this.

However, your son...

is different from Father.

Suspicious,

and you strike, and you cut, and you kill!

I won't. Never!

She's like a fireball. Hey, cold water, hurry.

Okay.

So Yi, calm down.

Breathe slow and deep.

Here.

I just can't live because of this girl!

Were you the only one who saw the dead body? Huh?

So Yi, it's alright.

It's alright, calm down.

Flower is...

The seal has been opened.

The seal.

That is something,

that cannot come out to the world.

How can this be?

How can this be?

What's this?

A leave of absence, all of a sudden?

Last night,

I met Senior Scholar Jang.

In Samgak Mountain, you mean?

Senior Scholar Jang had a Cheonji tattoo, too.

And he clearly said he would give me an answer.

However,

he suffered that plight that night, then?

I must know.

Whatever it is, and however it takes.

You can't! How can you go anywhere in your state?

I told you, it won't be there even if you go anyway.

He took Senior Scholar Jang's corpse away. Would he have just left the item there like that?

Geum Ji is right.

He probably murdered Senior Scholar Jang with that item as his aim.

That palace guard said he didn't see any item during the fight.

Fine, if you want to go, then go!

Go and suffer in vain or whatever!

That is an illness!

Of course it is.

A big illness.

But you know too.

Of course I know. I know, but...

Will she blame herself again?

That is what I worry.

Imagine how she must feel.

If that is the first paragraph of the Chodongyosa of Gichook Year, then it is uproarious.

No one dares to speak of it openly.

What do you think of it?

It's comical.

I've heard about that paragraph too, in my youth.

Year Gichook, Jeong Do Jeon's nephew, Jeong Gi Joon showed up at the state exam.

And he left a letter so well-written, it would make Du Fu and Su Dongpo cry.

The first paragraph was none other than, 'a flower is just a flower, a flower cannot be the root'.

However, everyone only spread the rumors around, no one actually saw it in person.

On top of that, it happened decades ago, right?

It is definitely just a capricious joke.

A capricious joke?

Then what do you think of Mil Bon?

What?

Your Excellency, do you believe in such a thing?

The issue isn't to believe or not to believe.

I speak of it because I was a Mil Bon.

How could Bonwon (first root) Jeong Do Kwang pass away?

Rise up inside the Royal Court, [ Jang Ki Joon ]

solidify your position,

and await your next order.

Young Master.

However...

It is an order from Bon Won. ( first root )

I will return for sure.

By then, you must be a heavy rank inside the court.

Do you understand?

I will accept your order.

Then, where will you go, Young Master?

There's no where I can't go.

I will hide among the people.

Take it.

Are... are you pulling a prank?

Was that a joke?

It is, right? It was a joke, right?

Your Excellency, a Mil Bon?

The reason I am telling you this...

It's because you are already,

my person. Maybe we can call it a declaration?

Of course I am your person, Your Excellency.

No.

Not just that.

Since you know this now,

you can no longer die alone,

or live alone.

Do you know what I mean?

Yes, Your Excellency.

However...

then, it's really...

However, it was over 20 years ago.

The next order never came.

And I had thought the organization disintegrated.

Hence, I merely,

went on my path.

And rose to this position.

It wasn't to follow an order.

However...

For the first time in 20 some years,

it seems the order has been given.

What is this?

When print is set on fire, and palace is stained with blood,

you will know that the time is near.

Joojasoh had a fire. (printing room)

And today, blood flowed in Gyeonghoeru.

Then?

Jang Seong Soo's death?

Why did Jang Seong Soo go to Samgak Mountain last night?

He was trying to meet someone.

Shouldn't that be Sung Sam Moon?

No, it's not.

Sung Sam Moon didn't know about this matter.

That's why he took a leave of absence.

He wants to move full-scale.

But what is that wound?

It can't be...

from Kang Chae Yoon the palace guard?

Of course not.

There was a mishap while I was handling Jang Seong Soo, and that's all.

Kang Chae Yoon.

You called for me.

Go to Hamgildo at once and ask around about the elder Lee Bang Ji.

Got it?

Yes, I understand.

What? So you confessed the truth?

Yes, I am put to shame, My Lord.

Palace Guard, Kang Chae Yoon, is it?

As soon as I saw him earlier, I thought it was this.

This part right here.

It's the acupuncture point of the brain.

If you're pricked here, your brain goes into shock and it's completely fatal.

However, it doesn't cease there.

His head leans forward in this stiff manner.

It's Majeon poisoning.

Majeon poison?

The most deadly of deadly poisons.

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Hey! Which scum are you?

What is with you? Why so haphazard?

You pricked my finger.

As soon as I pulled my sword out, why you...

Oh, my eyes are blinding.

I feel like I'm going to die.

You are going to have to tell me everything you found out in your investigation.

How much do you know, punk?

Oh, but you look a bit familiar.

Tell me everything you know about Jang Seong Soo's death.

Oh, please spare me.

I really don't know.

Some fucker... what, that...

I don't know who the culprit is and why he killed him.

Don't you try to dodge it.

Will you still say you don't know?

What's this?

What? Your hands are untied.

So you snatched my investigation notes.

Well, since you're someone who stole the corpses too, that's nothing too much.

Why did you take the corpses?

To verify something, or to hide something?

I have no reason to reveal that to a punk like you.

It's just that the timing of the stealing of the corpses was rather puzzling.

It was right after when I said I wanted to do a physical search on the scholars of Jiphyunjeon.

It happened then.

What are you doing?

So it's here.

Heo Dahm,

Yoon Pil and Jang Seong Soo,

this was on the dead scholar officials' bodies too. What exactly is this?

Do you think I would tell you?

Even if you say you will kill me...

What's this?

Goon Na Mi Yok.

What does that mean?

Why does the King want to be Mireuk, I suppose.

That much is something I already know.

But it's grammatically incorrect.

It should be Goon Na Yok Wui Mi.

Here, find out what that means.

Why would I do that?

There are three reasons, of course, right?

First, since that's what Scholar Yoon Pil left before he died.

And second, if you find that out then,

I will give you this.

Scholar Jang Seong Soo died while trying to bring this to someone.

How could you be keeping such important evidence and not reporting it?

Then, Scholar, why did you, without reporting first,

commit such an act?

What do you think?

So then,

you want to trade the secret of Goon Na Mi Yok with that notebook? Is that it?

I will do that.

Go ahead and leave first please.

But...

what was the third?

Whatever that tattoo is, while you are under a mission,

one thing is certain.

you and I have the same goal, Scholar Seong.

We both want to solve the secret to this.

Isn't that right?

Chae Yoon!

That court maiden... she went to Samgak Mountain.

Samgak Mountain?

She left like this, so she looked like she was going there to look for something.

To look for something, you say?

Goon Na Mi Yok. Goon Na Mi Yok.

Father, are you alright?

Right this moment,

have the Kyeongyeon forum prepared.

Now, immediately!

[ Jo Mal Saeng. Senior Minister. Level 1 ]

His Majesty is, at last,

starting?

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The agenda for today's meeting is...

the tax law.

[ Tax Law: a system of taxation ]

Your Majesty, why the tax law?

Three scholars died in the court.

That is only one of many things that happened in the court.

People who are in charge will take care of it.

We cannot delay the important issues of the country.

However, regarding taxation, local officials visit fields

and determine the tax rate depending on the yield each year.

The former king established the system.

But those local officials

have fabricated a year of good harvest to a year of bad harvest

and a year of bad harvest to a year of good harvest..

to take advantage of farmers' profits.

It frequently happens.

Not only local wealthy landowners,

but even

central government officials are involved in it.

However, Your Majesty,

wasn't it already decided 13 years ago?

Yes. It has been 13 years

according to your Majesty's volition,

and even a survey was done.

Regardless of resistance by high officials,

the survey involved as many as 180,000 farmers.

However,

due to lots of opposition from people with barren fields

the decision was rejected. Did you forget it?

Regarding the opposition..

I investigated it a little bit.

Report your findings.

Yes! [Senior Scholar Lee Soon-Ji]

Gangwondo Haengseo-myun,

53 village people

stated that they drew this (meaning opposition) as they were told to do.

Among the village people,

none of them ever heard of the public law.

In addition,

Hwanghaedo Gok-Joo's chief Seo Jong Chun

was spotted surveying

the village children under 7 years old.

Therefore, these surveys...

Your Majesty, do you mean that you want to do the survey again?

This new survey

will not done by the local officials

but by the surveyors recurited by me.

Jiphyunjeon will be in charge of all these.

The person responsible

is Jik Jae Hak ( Economist )

Nahm Sah Cheol!

[ Nahm Sah Cheol: Economist (Level 3 Position) ]

Your Majesty!

In this circumstance, how come you pick on high officials?

Your Majesty!

During the surveys 13 years ago,

the surveyors did one more thing.

While surveying,

they collected dialects from each district.

Everyone thought that it was to be used to make the national map of the 8 provinces, but

it was not the only reason.

Pardon me?

Then?

The sounds that you have studied,

when do you think they were collected?

That's right.

It was 13 years ago.

Now, our project

will not be stopped because of them.

Your Excellency,

will you just watch this?

This is our opportunity

to make sure that

the taxation system is never mentioned again.

This is not just about today's problem.

It is about

whether we high officials will own the power

or not. That's the issue.

Come on.

What are you talking about?

Mr. Premier,

he is not wrong.

Reviewing the taxation system

should not be permitted.

What shall I do now?

Haven't you

already received His Majesty's secret order?

What do you mean?

I've just heard of it today.

Is that right?

Yes.

Considering His Majesty's temperament,

he will ask me to work on it starting tomorrow.

He may..

You have to complete it quickly.

By the way,

potentially,

do you have any other intentions?

What other intentions?

Correcting the taxation system is also an important cause.

Finishing our work using the survey is also a great cause.

I already told you what the whole objective is.

What do you mean by other intentions?

Renewing the taxation system is

what the high officials oppose the most.

So?

I just wonder

by stirring up the high officials

if you are trying to sort out the officials against you.

I...

with my shallow thoughts, I made you upset..

Do not try to read my mind.

Yes.

Although I called her here with you,

where is So Yi?

What? Still?

Yes!

All over the Samgaksan, she has been searching everywhere as if she is crazy.

Then, what are you going to do now?

This thing.

So..

What about it?

Certainly, Court Lady So Yi

was going to get it from Senior Scholar Jang.

She is still looking for it.

So?

What will happen if it goes to her?

We can just follow it.

Then, we can find out if she belongs to His Majesty's side or the culprit's side?

That is what you meant!

No?

Finally, you can think!

Beast!

I did a good job!

What is the matter?

Right after finishing the forum,

His Majesty gave the command to keep on the watch

regarding the movements

of court officials above the level of Dangsanggwan.

Since I've been attending His Majesty,

he has never been this way.

Perhaps

the third reason...

Excuse me?

What do you mean by the third reason?

Renewing the taxation system

has another purpose.

Collect the sounds of people.

To finish our project.

Yes I am aware of it, but...

is the third reason different?

Didn't you attend upon King Tae Jong?

Don't you get it?

It can't be...

It won't be...

His Majesty who I know

is stronger than anyone else.

He's wiser than anyone.

He has to be!

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Why is she looking for it that much?

Then, can we just watch where the bundle is going?

What is she doing?

Your Majesty, the chief of the Royal Guard is here.

Send him in.

Your Majesty,

All the high officals of State Council are gathered at Youngwol Pavillion.

And they are discussing the matter along with the heads of the four academies.

Vice-Minister of Personnel has sent men to each province to observe in secrecy.

What do you mean?

Defeating Yu-Rim? ( Confucian scholars )

I have been trying to shake off these thoughts but

it seems to me that His Majesty undervalues Neo-Confuciansim.

However, no one understands it more thoroughly than His Majesty.

Regardless of great opposition, he built a Buddhist temple in the court.

Moreover, think about the forum at Jiphyunjeon these days.

Rather than studying Confucianism,

he has pushed the young scholars to study knowledge of various matters such as history, astronomy, and mathematics ..and so on.

That is true.

There is no way to stop him.

It is too much to consider him to undervalue Confucianism.

When renewing the taxation system, who is going to be disadvantaged the most?

Well...

Government officials and...

It can't be...

Yes

Local Confucian scholars.

Of the noble clans that spearheaded the founding of Joseon, only a section of them remain here.

The rest went to the provinces to establish the local automonous governments.

That was to make sure all of Joseon was to be pulled forward by Neo-Confucianism.

That's why Master Hae Gang used his own money to build school and library at the country village.

And he's working on building his life dream of a Confucianist memorial hall.

Is that so?

Yes.

However, if additional tax is added,

how will the local Confucian scholars finance their groundwork?

To withhold tax revenues from the local scholars,

is the same as saying these scholars cannot lead the people.

And that means,

Neo-Confucianism,

cannot,

lead Joseon.

Your Majesty,

but these are past appeals.

Why are you reading them again?

These years, to my work,

there has been so much opposition, it seems.

His Majesty, pardon me,

but please don't get other ideas.

Right now, the most pressing matter is to find Mil Bon.

That's why I'm looking for it right now.

Your Majesty,

the ministers who oppose you are not Mil Bon.

But one among them, it must be.

Your Majesty, get ahold of your temper!

What did I ever do that was so wrong?

All I wanted to do was to erect Joseon!

But even now, the ministers are gathered.

They meet to discuss how they can shut down my intention.

It's true.

It was always this way, now that I think about it.

When I said to build our own almanac instead of using the one from China.

When I wanted to sent covert officers to China so we could build an astrology equipment too.

When I wanted to survey tax and census too.

When I wanted to select who I wanted in high posts too.

We cannot counter the royal mandate.

It is a waste of state treasury.

Ranking order will be too confusing.

Bullshits!

They just wanted to safeguard their own vested interests.

Throwing every Confucius and Mencius claim at me.

When did Confucius ever say a nation couldn't make their own almanac?

When did Mencius ever say we couldn't hear what the people have to say in person?

All I ever wanted to do was to erect Joseon!

What did I do that was so wrong?!

[ Jiphyunjeon - Hall of Worthy ]

Jiphyunjeon?

What can you accomplish with such a thing?

What's that shabby look?

Mil Bon exists!

Father King was right.

Mil Bon is killing my people.

There's venom to all power.

If you don't spit that venom outward,

it rots the inside like this.

So then?

You said you would hide the venom of power inwardly?

You'll just use theory and literature to reign?

This is the result of your pathetic and lofty decision.

Those people who are completely innocent!

You killed my people.

Not me, but you!

It wasn't me. You killed them!

But,

it's not too late.

Go before Lee Bang Won's tomb.

Go cry.

And apologize.

How dare you!

Why is Lee Bang Won, Lee Bang Won?

Why is Lee Do, Lee Do?

It's because this is all you amount to, that you are Lee Do!

Stop it!

Stop it!

Stop!

Stop it!

Isn't that Geomahnso? ( morgue )

Why did she go in there?

What's going on?

What do you mean?

What is this?

Th-that stuff I deliver to Sungkyunkwan Academy.

Why does the Court Lady So Yi

come here so late?

She comes from time to time.

Because why?

She came to get that sanjoin (ziziphus) and ddaejuknamu (soldanella).

Sanjoin and ddaejuknamu?

Sanjoin (zizphus) is an herb to wake up.

And ddaejuknamu (soldanella) is an anesthesia.

No.

Fried sanjoin is used to gain slumber.

Her insomnia is severe.

So I'm sure she'll fry and eat it.

What about the ddaejuknamu then?

When you can't sleep for 3 or 4 days straight,

what are you going to do?

But still...

She eats the medicine to make her unconscious?

Yes.

Since her insomnia is quite severe.

Insomnia my butt.

That's all because she's lazy.

See what happens when you work till death during the day. Why wouldn't you sleep?

The bird that sleeps early eats more bugs too.

It's not insomnia.

What?

How do you know?

I used to eat that too.

Hey, wait for me.

Don't eat that.

Even though fried sanjoin (zizyphus) can help you sleep,

if you eat it straight, it will keep you up instead.

And ddaejuknamu (soldanella) is an anesthetic.

It is often used on criminals to knock them unconscious.

Are you telling me not to meddle in palace affair?

Though,

it's not really my place to meddle.

Are you afraid to sleep?

What exactly happened, that you'd be...

Is sleeping scary?

If you keep on taking sanjoin and stay up,

then eat ddaejuknamu to collapse as though dead,

that won't last long.

Find a different way.

How did you know that?

I said, how did you know?

Your petty subject,

lived through the same before.

How?

That which can't last...

why did you eat it?

In lieu of me,

my father died.

And afterwards, I became that way.

Your father,

did you miss him so much?

No.

I was scared.

To this petty man,

my father was my whole world.

However,

I was left alone suddenly.

And that was scary to me.

And that day, which was so ordinary like any day,

my father who was without any offense,

to kill him without any reason... this world...

I was so scared of it.

I was afraid if I fell asleep,

my father would show up in a scary image,

and ask me to tell him the reason.

Why did I die? That reason...

If he asked me.

How did you fix it?

My yearning for my father...

I turned it into my resolution to seek revenge from he who did that to my father.

And it was fixed.

Your Majesty.

After you made up your mind,

did your body and heart feel at ease?

No.

My body became more fatigued upon deciding on revenge.

My heart which had to wage everything in life on it,

became more horrendous.

Then why are you going on that path?

Why is a resolution a resolution? I, without resolution,

is no longer me.

Why is Lee Bang Won, Lee Bang Won?

Why is Lee Do, Lee Do?

I without resolution...

is no longer me?

I was that desperate.

I was that enraged.

And I was that...

lonely.

Since it was that kind of resolution.

That desperate,

and that enraged,

and that lonely?

Your resolution was?

Yes.

So it was that much.

Slave Ddol Bok's resolution.

You, continue on your path.

And I will continue my path.

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