Original subtitles

Turn the girl over to me.

I can't.

It's for your brothers safety and stability of this state.

I don't think it's worth it if you have to kill an innocent life.

You'd put your brother in danger?

I'm going to rectify the wrongs.

Doe!

I'm going to fight.

If there is a force that is trying to throw this country into distress,

I'm going to fight it with all my might.

I will not hesitate to use every card I have to win.

Even that dirty card you have in your hand now?

I won't use anyone's life as a weapon.

Things can happen as long as that girl is in your hands.

Why can't you trust me and wait?

You will defy your mother?

I'm sorry.

Disrespectful punk...

What brings Your Grace here at this time of the evening?

You must be softening up with age.

You would've never allowed a eunuch to

sneak in a lady of the palace into his quarters before.

A lady... of the palace?

She looked familiar. She has to be lady of the palace.

Your Grace...

Call the woman back. I must check.

You are mistaken, Your Grace.

She is a visiting sister to the eunuch named Jachi.

A sister?

Would you like to come inside?

I'm assuming this is a confidential

matter seeing that you are here in plain clothes at this late hour.

Then perhaps it is unwise to be seen by the others.

Find fault with the daughter of Lord Han Younglo?

Make it up if you can't find any.

Your Grace...

Just give me a reason to break up this wedding...

And I'll compensate you generously.

Perhaps I should face this head on...

I should face the inevitable and tell the King myself

instead of waiting for him to find out from someone else.

Your Highness...

Get the palanquin ready.

I'm going to the royal bedchambers.

Has he risen?

Yes, Your Highness.

Announce me.

Who is here at this early hour?

Who is with him?

That's beautiful.

Cyeonghoeru Pavilion: Royal functions and banquet facility built in 1412 notable for its signage handwritten

by Taejong's firstborn son Prince Yangnyeong.

What are you putting the poor Prince

through so early in the morning?

On the contrary. It's the Crown Prince who is putting me through this.

I asked him to write a calligraphy plaque,

and he said he needs the morning energy to focus and write well.

Is that right?

He has excellent penmanship.

Penmanship isn't his only excellence.

It takes a grand and noble heart to produce such strokes.

Why are you so quiet?

You should respond to their praise.

It's undeserved praise. I don't know what to say.

I couldn't... I couldn't tell him...

Your Highness...

It's been so long since I've seen him

gaze upon the Crown Prince with such warm and trusting eyes...

Your Highness...

That's why I couldn't get myself to tell him.

How can I stop this?

If I fail to stop this, the regime will be shaken at the root once again...

How much longer will you live your life as butcher Yi Bangwon's pawn?

Who are you people?

We are a revolutionary army fighting for revival of Goryeo.

We live among you as merchants, farmers, and even as eunuchs and

government officials walking freely about the Royal Palace.

What is your point?

"Can you protect the King in the making?"

You mean you were the culprits behind that murder?

He had to die for his crimes against the royal house.

But you and Yi Bangwon killed innocent Min Mugu and Min Mujil instead.

We are in the deepest of your court where you would least expect us.

If you want confirmation, I could cut off your King Yi Bangwon's head right now.

What would he do if you went back and told him what you saw and heard here?

He will turn the country upside down

and kill countless innocent people trying to find us.

We're giving you a chance.

Choose.

Will you die as a pawn of this butcher's land Joseon?

Or will you join hands with us and live as loyal servant of glorious Goryeo?

Do not drive this country into distress with futile dreams!

Minister of Rites Hwang Hee has been kidnapped?

By whom?

Who dare kidnap a high minister of the kingdom?

Investigation is in progress, but...

Any clues?

You couldn't find a single clue to catch the perpetrator?

Given that Minister Hwang's attendants were rendered instantly unconscious by

a blow to vital point, physicians believes it is a professional job.

A professional job?

Who is the kidnapper, Prime Minister?

I am the chief of the Supreme Council, not the Royal Inspector's Office.

If the culprit is in the Supreme Council, it's a different matter.

What is this ridiculous accusation?

Creating a bigger diversion to distract attention..

It's an old familiar political tactic.

Minister Park!

If by chance you know who the culprit is, give him an advice.

He can struggle with a losing hand but defeat is inevitable.

I await your wise decision.

Remember. We are watching you.

Is it wise to let him go?

Perhaps we should've kept him a while and persuade him.

He could expose our existence to the royal court.

He won't be quick to tell them about us.

Hwang Hee has deep regret for the death of loyal retainers in Dumundong.

That means he has doubts about Joseon as well.

We need men like Hwang Hee.

Men who will lay the groundwork of the resurrected royal house...

Office of Slavery Reparations

What is this about Prince Choongnyeong being missing?

He left the villa early this morning and no one has heard from him since.

Could he have gone into hiding?

He was determined.

He wouldn't have stood up to the Queen

the way he did if he weren't prepared to fight.

Then where could he be?

Do you think Ha Ryun could've done the unthinkable to silence him?

The unthinkable? Are you saying they could've they kidnapped him?

Clear the way.

Clear the way.

Your Highness, what happened?

Where have you been?

I want to focus my efforts on getting the Office of Slavery Reparations up

and running as it should.

This is the battle I've chosen to fight.

There isn't much you can do.

What if I have a reinforcement army?

A reinforcement army? What do you mean?

We will do everything we can to help.

This is just a start.

Stop looking at me all teary-eyed and keep your eyes on your work.

Get those ears listening, brains thinking, and those fingers moving

so that we can hurry up and finish our work.

We have to finish here so we can get to the Office of Slavery Reparations, and we have

to get to the Office of Slavery Reparations to liberate the exploited people.

And that will make us true public servants.

Stop looking at me. Do your work.

Why are you staring at me when I just told you to do your work?

Sir, you're the only one that's not working right now.

Am I?

All right. I'll work on these two.

Wake up.

Wake up, fellows.

What can we do for you?

Come on, fellows. Wake up.

Why should we?

There's nothing for us to do anyway.

But of course there is.

You have to drink some more.

Your Highness...

You're not going to stop here, are you?

One night of drinking isn't going to cool off the raging inferno inside.

So let's get up and start this over.

Please leave us.

You don't have to mock us like this.

I'm not mocking you. I've come to help you.

When it comes to self-torture by sorrow and despair,

I have more experience than you men.

This is all that's left for you to do if you withdraw from the academy.

The world tomorrow will be as pathetic as it is today,

but you declared your indifference, so there will be nothing for you to do,

and only thing left will be to sit around and drink.

We asked you to please leave.

What's the matter? Your body can't take anymore alcohol?

Your Highness!

Or is there a part of you that still can't let go despite all the

disparaging remarks you made about this country?

You may have the right to make disparaging remarks,

but I don't think you have the right to despair.

We haven't tried hard enough to give up hope.

Despair is a right you earn when you've tired everything you possibly can

and you have nothing more left to give,

but you're still getting beaten down and knocked around.

Only then we will have the right to despair.

But I think we still have strength left in us to take some more beating.

What do you think?

Why would you take a difficult path when there is an easy one?

What's the fun if it's too easy?

This is no time for jokes, Your Highness.

I am not interested in exchanging jokes with you either.

Let us expose the Crown Prince's wrongdoing.

We can't break through this political

impasse with the help of the academy students alone.

Which political impasse?

Are you referring to this ridiculous political battle between you and the Prime Minister

in which government policies are being used as weapons for rivalry?

They are the ones that turned this into a rivalry.

Look at what's happening now.

Strained scheduling of the Great Hunting Ceremony has not only undermined the

slavery reparations policy but it is causing public suffering as well.

You are the man responsible for that!

You were never interested in slavery reparations to begin with.

You were simply using it as a weapon to undermine your political enemy.

You just wanted to trap the few merit subjects

who may have acquired slaves unlawfully.

Your Highness...

Of course they're going to fight back. What did you expect?

It's not too late.

Focus on the true purpose of the slavery reparations

policy restoring the rights of unlawfully enslaved citizens.

The government must give the people civil rights to demand civic duty.

Only then we can ask the public to pay taxes and serve the country.

You'll never win your enemy defying that principle.

To go a step further, you won't even deserve to wear a minister's gown.

Do you know why?

Because he who uses government policies as a weapon to fight his

enemy is a public enemy not a public servant!

Very well. You may leave.

You should go now as well.

Aren't you going to do anything?

We can't just trust Choongnyeong's word and relax.

Until the girl is completely eliminated...

Chogungjang is the least of our problems right now.

Your Highness...?

Don't you see?

Choongnyeong is really becoming a kingly material unbeknownst to himself.

Your Highness...

With nothing but genuine honesty, a powerless, authority less young boy

is commanding the Confucius scholars, government officials

and even a veteran politician like Park Eun with effortless ease.

He is growing into an extraordinary leader!

Only one thing can happen if a prince other than the Crown Prince is recognized

as being worthy of the throne.

The tragedy of their father's generation could be repeated.

My sons could draw their sword on each other before my eyes over the throne.

Could there be another mother like me in this country?

What kind of a mother is afraid of her own son's growth?

Choongnyeong must not be home yet.

Is he still at the Office of Slavery Reparations?

"If he engages in the service of the king,

he will not claim success for himself"

But lately...

Choongnyeong's actions seem...

too dangerous for a man who seeks pleasure simply from hard work.

Mother...

Do whatever it takes to keep him at home.

It's for his own good.

What brings you here, Your Highness?

You men are working so hard. I thought I'd buy everyone a drink.

Let's go.

This expected of my kindhearted brother,

but I thought you men would know your priorities.

Your Highness...

We can't miss this opportunity to

lay a foundation for the conquest to free a few slaves.

Leave the slavery reparations to the officials and get ready for your trip to Liaodong.

We will not go to Liaodong.

I'm not asking you. I'm giving you an order.

You told us not to be afraid to defy an order if that order is amiss.

Have you forgotten?

It must bring you

great pleasure when slaves fall to their knees and thank you for caring,

but you can't let that go to your head.

You must keep your eyes on the big picture to dream big.

It's an unrealistic armchair theory, Your Highness.

Did you just say an armchair theory?

It is an armchair theory.

We discussed war to preserve our national pride and autonomy,

but we never thought about the people.

We didn't even consider their situation

or what they would be put through if we were to proceed with a military conquest.

We intend to relearn from the start.

Purpose of education, where our heart should be attending to state affairs...

We feel we have to learn again from the basics to have the right goals.

If you would please forgive us, we would like to leave now.

It is unbefitting for humble students to be discussing state affairs

so comfortably over such lavish feast.

Ruins of Dumundong

No! Stop!

No! Stop!

This can't be happening!

No!

Choose.

Will you die as a pawn of this butcher's land Joseon?

Or will you join hands with us and live as loyal servant of glorious Goryeo?

Your deaths have come back upon this land as a sword.

If I attempt break that sword to protect this land, would we become eternal enemies?

Would that be the right thing to do?

You don't look bad for a man that's been kidnapped.

Forgive me for causing you concern, Your Majesty.

The physician thought the perpetrator knew exactly what they were doing.

Who were they?

Your Majesty...

There must have been a reason if they

sent you back without hurting a hair on your head.

Why can't you answer?

We are in the deepest of your court where you would least expect us.

If you want confirmation, I could cut off your King Yi Bangwon's head right now.

I'm afraid I don't know who they are, Your Majesty.

Is that so?

Very well. Get back to work.

It isn't often we have the pleasure of your visit.

I take it you are not here simply to choose fabrics...

There is a man named Han Younglo

who recently became the director of the Office of Endowment.

Did you say Han Younglo?

Do you know him?

He is a wealthy man, so we've had a few business dealings.

Then this will be easy.

I want to send a gift to his daughter.

It wouldn't be a problem to slip this in with the gift, would it?

It must be something unsafe if you want me to slip it in.

It's a slanderous statement about the King that's enough to destroy the whole clan.

This should be enough to stop the royal wedding.

I can't do this.

We've done business before. Why are you being difficult?

If you're trying to malign Han Younglo's daughter

you don't have to go to this trouble.

Is this a confirmed fact?

Yes, Your Grace.

Office of Endowment

Ming envoys are coming for the maidens on the fifteenth of next month?

I know you're busy with other things,

but perhaps we should wrap this up as soon as possible.

My Queen...

It has not been easy when the lords are refusing to offer their daughters.

I'm sure the lords are not to be blamed alone.

You're not making progress because the director of this office is incompetent.

Choose your words carefully.

That's no way to talk about your future in-law.

You cannot marry a royal prince with a woman of such ignoble clan

unless you wish to disgrace the royal house.

Ignoble?

A girl that has a lowborn lover is by no means suitable for a prince.

What are you saying? That's nonsense.

We will find out soon enough whether it is nonsense or not.

Are you the daughter of Han Younglo the director of the Office of Endowment?

Yes... Can I help your?

Take her!

My lady!

What happened?

She confirmed that it is true.

It is your son's wedding. You should've paid closer attention.

Please don't fault the Queen, Your Majesty.

I'm sure she is more upset about this than anyone.

Her son is going to be heartbroken because of her bad choice.

The guilt must weigh heavily on her heart.

How about you? Are you all right?

I may have given birth to Prince Kyoungnyeong,

but the Queen is his mother.

This is just a beginning.

You haven't even seen the card that I will use to depose the Queen.

Then I guess I better go to the Office of Slavery Reparations soon.

Why?

I must help Prince Choongnyeong to bring down the Crown Prince.

An enemy of an enemy is a friend?

Thank you very much, sir. Were eternally grateful.

Your heart is as big as this country Joseon.

Is that all?

I should to be as big as China across Liaodong!

How many more nights will you be sleeping here at the office?

I don't know. We're just getting started, so...

You look happy.

I owe it to you, Princess.

Sir!

May we lend a hand as well?

I wouldn't expect a man who climbs on rooftops to

protest bad government not to help.

Oh sire...

Come on. Let's go!

Where do you think you're going?

We're going to the Office of Slavery Reparations again of course.

You've got nothing better to do?

Normally, you can hardly finish your own assignments.

Why are you doing someone else's work?

Not every work is the same.

This is a very exciting work.

It's rewarding as a public servant since we're really serving the people.

And who knows?

If we get lucky, we'll dig up some dirt

on high ministers who are trying to stop us because they're scared.

Watch your tongue and get back to your office!

Aren't they free to do what they wish after work hours?

Let's hurry so we can process as many cases as we can.

Are you coming with us?

But of course.

If you'll excuse us...

No nagging, okay?

I'll have one less thing to nag about if we don't have a drunkard running wild.

Are you trying to get yourself deposed?

I'm asking you if you want to lose the right to inherit the throne.

What brings you here at this late hour, Prime Minister?

I'm afraid Joseon will have a different Crown Prince at the rate things are going.

What brings you to my villa, Princess Shim?

Please help, Your Highness.

Choongnyeong is the one that got the Office of Slavery Reparations back up and running?

He has a strong following among

the Confucius scholars and the lower ranking officials.

If the slavery reparations policy catches on fire,

he will gain huge public favor.

Once again he has defied my order and gotten involved in political affairs...

Choongnyeong has become very dangerous.

Then now you must make a decision.

Queen...

You must send Choongnyeong away.

Whether the children want it or not, bloody fight for succession rights

to the throne will become inevitable in this situation.

Please don't put me through the torture

of watching my sons take their swords to each other.

Your Majesty...