Original subtitles

The night is deep, Your Majesty.

But this is most urgent.

Three days... He has not had a drop of water in three days.

It appears he has been preparing for death prior to this.

Prior to this? What do you mean?

I'm told he has been denying food since the day we began I'm told he has been denying food since the day we began

to retreat fromomul Fort. That would make it 7 - 8 days

Oh, dear...How foolish he is to blame himself for our defeat!

My error is greater than his.

No, Your Majesty. Each and every soldier is equally responsible.

Let the painful past be forgotten.

But that is hard to do.

The warriors are anxiously waiting to exact revenge.

All of us are preparing ourselves for death and

waiting for that day to come.

God was not with us on that battle. But not all was lost.

We met our enemy face to face and had a chance to observe

them closely. What we learned will be useful in the future.

Perhaps, but the shame we feel is uncontrollable.

I can only imagine how Choi Ung feels having negotiated

the surrender.

But why must he do this when I understand he had no choice?

He will be swayed once he sees the great trouble Your Majesty

is goin for him.

I certainly hope he does...

His Majesty has gone to Choi Ung's manor.

Yes. Sir Choi is apparently trying to take his own life.

I'm sure the guilt weighed heavily on him.

After all he was the one who mediated the humiliating

meeting between His Majesty and the king of Bekjae.

But Choi Ung can't be blamed. It was His Majesty's decision.

I feel sorry for the young man. All of us were too hard on him.

But it is true that he negotiated the entire arrangement.

He cannot deny his responsability.

He can't be held responsible for this.

We were indeed too hard on him. It is not as if we had a better

solution. It is wrong to blame him for what happened.

I'm glad His Majesty went to his manor.

Choi Ung is a very valuable person on our government.

You are right, Brother. But I want to know how much

longer we have to lay low in silence against Bekjae.

How much longer?

With the suspension of the cabinet meetings on top of that,

I feel like the world has suddenly stopped.

I don't understand why His Majesty is so restrained.

No meetings, no war, no aid to our ally Shilla when they

are begging for help!

It is all because of the battle of Jomul Fort.

We could get crushed by Bekjae if we continue to

sit on our thumbs. His Majesty must rise up.

Choi Ung must return to the court first before any kind

of decision is made.

We needhim. He is the best military strategist we have.

Perhaps we should speak to His Majesty ourselves.

Yes...

We are here, Your Majesty.

Good.

Halt!

What is that?

It looks like a mourning lamp, Your Majesty.

A mourning lamp? Does this mean Choi Ung is dead?

Let us go. This can't be...

Open the gate! His Majesty has arrived!

Open the gate!

Commander Shin, command in His Majesty's name.

Tell them to open the gate at once.

Yes, General.

Open this gate! It is His Majesty's order!

Open this gate at once! Open this gate!

What are you waiting for? His Majesty has arrived!

Open this gate!

His Majesty has arrived!

It is the royal command! Open this gate at once!

What do we do? His Majesty is here!

But we are not to open the gate under any circumstaces.

But it is the Emperor!

Men, open the gate at once!

How dare you keep His Majesty waiting!

Please forgive me.

We were under strict orders to keep the gate locked...

Why is that lamp hanging outside?

Do not tell me that Choi Ung is gone.

No, YourMajesty. Lord Choi has asked us to hang the lamp.

Let us go inside.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Sir Choi, His Majesty has come to see you.

Please come outside and receive him.

Sir Choi, open the door and receive him.

Please open the door!

Open the door, Sir Choi!

Why are you doing this, Choi Ung?

Open the door.

Unlock the door.

Unlock the door.

I give my life to pay for my crime.

This is not a place fit for you visit, Your Majesty.

Please leave this criminal's house.

Choi Ung,if you seel punishment for your error I must as well.

What will happen to this kingdom without you?

Please stop this.

No, Your Majesty. Please allow me to do my duty.

I ask you this. The world may call you a loyal servant if you

fulfill your duty, but what will my people say about me?

Please forgive me. I have already chosen my path.

Choi Ung will be admire as the one who gave his life

for his duty, and I will be laughed at because of you.

They will say I am a cowardly king who let his good servant

take the fall for his error.

Is your honor important enough to trample mine?

Do you care nothing about what happens to me?

How can you do this? Is this the real Choi Ung?

Of course I care, Your Majesty. I have commited an unforgivable

crime of making my master to stoop before his enemy.

By death, I seek to undo, if only the smallest fraction,

the damage I have done to your dignity. Please allow me.

I cannot. We will live and die together.

Do not disappoint me like this. We still have a lot to do.

If I bowed before the king of Bekjae, you must make

him bow before me someday.

If you really want to die, you will die once this is done.

That is you real duty. Do you disagree, Cho Ung?

But my crime is too great.

Only death can make up for it, Your Majesty.

I knowhow you feel. But how can you leave

when I need you just because you don't need me?

Help me. I need you. Promise me that you will.

Please, Choi Ung.

Your Majesty, your grace is immeasurable...

How could I continue to refuse your such earnest request?

I humbly accept. But Choi Ung's life ended today.

My life belongs to you henceforth.

I will serve you with every ounce of my devotion. My life belongs to you henceforth.

My life belongs to you henceforth.

And I will never forget this moment, Your Majesty.

Thank you, Choi Ung. Thank you.

What is nthe royal physician waiting for?

This man is in bad shape.

Yes, Your Majesty.

General Bok, we will stay the night and return to the palace tomorrow.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Send for some warm wine and food.

Physician will spare nothing to restore Choi Ung to health.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Choi Ung is this kingdom's most valuable treasure.

You are a heartless man.

How could you consider leaving me?

I will not let you do that. No, never.

I rely on you heavily since Advisor Tepyoung's death.

Do not do this again. Do you know alarmed I was?

Forgive me, Your Majesty.

Life is full of vacillation. Liu Bei of antiquity once

sought refuge under Cao Cao's subordinate in his difficulty,

and conversely Cao Cao, who once had the world at his feet

begged mercy to Liu Bei's subordinate Guan Yu.

Such is life.

Yes, Your Majesty.

I bowed before King Kyun-hwon and sought his favor first.

Then whose turn do you think it will be next?

It will be Kyun-hwon's turn.

Yes, Your Majesty. That day will surely come.

Yes, it will indeed. And you, Choi Ung, will make sure that

I do not miss my chance when it comes.

We, Koryo, are at our darkest hours right now.

But it is pain we must endure. We have no choice...

I am seeting with rage, but I must bare it...

Your garden is very charming.

It is opens up into small surrounding mountains.

Yes, Your Majesty. Isn't it pleasant?

This house is too humble for a high official of the government.

There are only two quarters.

This is more than Ideserve. All I need is room to fit a bed.

Life is but a span. The size of a house matters nothing.

Is that right? You talk as if it is someone else's life.

But it is nature of men to desire honor and wealth.

In that respect you are too simple and unambitious.

Not so, Your Majesty.

I do want to see you realize the unification of Three Kingdoms.

Isn't that the biggest ambition of all?

Yes, that is true.

Thank you. Spending the night here has refreshed me.

The palace is not the most comfortable place.

A mountain of anxieties always awaits me there.

I will visit often.

But this humble place of a servant is unfit for your visit.

This visit alone is an unspeakable honor.

My descendents will remember this day for generations.

Founding a New Kingdom is sometimes called a Grand

Enterprise. An Enterprise is a group of people working

together for a common goal.

My descendents will remember you for generations as well.

Let us work together, Choi Ung.

Your grace is truly immeasurable.

I vow to devote my life to your service, Your Majesty.

Thank you.

Your Majesty, we are ready to return to the palace.

Then we shall go.

I will expect you at court tomorrow for the bestowal

of the seal. And you will be briefed on your duties as well.

Yes, Your Majesty. Until then -

Yes. Let us go, General Bok.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Prepare for departure!

Prepare for departure!

How could this be Imperial Guardian?

Koryo has lost direction and begun to sink and nothing is

being done!

Whatever do you mean? All we have done is suspend

the cabonet meetings for a while. You are overreacting, General.

Our warriors are occupying their time reading and playing chess in

their dens! This is ridiculous! Do you realize the extent of

damage the defeat in Jomul Fort has caused?

I have read the reports.

But His Majesty conducts the state affairs.

But it is our duty to inform His Majesty of his

miscomprehension or oversight. This is no time for silence.

We must mobilize our troops and strike Bekjae.

The warriors are angry and frustrated, Imperial Guardian.

Please request His Majesty for an assembly.

We must discuss military action.

Our second commanders and soldiers are all puzzled.

They wonder what happened in Jomul Fort to cause Koryo

to dwindle without a whimper.

Imperial Guardian, please convey our

unanimous opinions to His Majesty.

But His Majesty's orders were...

We can't go on like this. The kingdom is in danger.

We are putting ourselves in vulnerable situation by

doing nothing! If His Majesty refuses to see us, we must

discuss this among ourselves.

Yes, Imperial Guardian. We could lose both Shilla and our kingdom.

Please wath your words! Lose our kingdom?

This is a crisis, Imperial Guardian.

The kingdom is in danger. Don't you understand?

Fine, I understand. Let us first submit petitions

to His Majesty about this individually.

Only then we will request an assembly.

Many of us have already submitted petitions before

we came to you.

We need you to get involded, Imperial Guardian.

Oh, dear... All right, then I will call a meeting in the

name of the supreme Council.

The warriors are at the Supreme Council Chambers, you say?

Yes, Your Majesty.

Why?

To discuss the same topics that are in these petitions.

Have you seen them?

Yes, I have seen your petitions as well.

The warriors' complaints are well founded.

They say that our military has cringed too much by one defeat.

We must remobilize the troops and go forward, Your Majesty.

Please discuss this with the new Minister of Military Choi Ung.

Well...

Your Majesty, all of us are puzzled.

Why do you hesitate to order military action?

Why? Why, you ask?

Yes. We are all frustrated.

A covenant betweentwo nations must be kept.

It is Shilla attack, not us.

Shilla is our ally. We lose their trust by turning a blind eye.

We had depleted all of our strength when we returned

from Jomul Fort. We were bruised and battered.

We need to recoup before anything can be done.

The timing isn't right. We require more rest.

It will be too late when Bekjae has gobbled up Shilla.

They will come at us with added strength.

Perhaps, but they will be tired after an extended fight.

We will strengthen our military while Bkejae exhausts.

theirs on Shilla.

But our troops' morale will hit bottom.

We urge you to take action now.

This is not the time, I said. Let's say you are right about

everything. What will happen to my Cousin Shin who is in

Bekjae as a pawn? Have you considered this?

No one gave a thought about him. I don't expect you to.

But I still cannot sleep at night when I think about him.

We have Jin Ho, the pawn from Bekjae. They would would not harm Shin.

No, you can't be certain.

Let us wait and see. Bekjae has not attacked us, and

we are in no hurry. Take this opportunity to rest.

I am starting to get the picture, Brother.

The picture?

The heart of the problem is the pawn, His majesty's cousin

Wang Shin who is in Bekjae. His Majesty adored him.

You might be right. But we have a pawn from Bekjae as well.

They are both equally important to their kings.

Where is that pawn anyway?

His Majesty put him in the care of Sir Wang Shin's older

brother Wang Shikryum to ensure his safety.

We should discuss this with Sir Choi Ung when he returns

to the court. he is the head of the military after all.

Let us do that. If indeed Wang Shin is the reason for His

Majesty's hesitance, this is a major problem.

Let us see the result of the meeting tomorrow.

Farewell, Your Majesty.

Cousin Shin, I promise you, we will see each other again.

Take care of yourself.

Yes, Your Majesty.

The Supreme Council has called a meeting upon urgings of many

despite His Majesty's orders for a temporary rest.

The floor is open for discussion.

We are here to talk about the rapidly declining morale of

our military after the defeat of Jomul Fort.

What is your opinion, Minister of Military?

The warriors see this national silence as critical danger.

He returned today after days of infirmity.

What could he possibly say right this minute?

We all know why youwere ill.

and this meeting is to rectify its cause.

His Majesty's orders are divine laws. And our duty is to obey.

No one here needs to be reminded of his duty.

It is time to fight. And we are frustrated because we can't!

It is the Imperial command. To question it is wrong.

But it is our duty to,point out our master's oversights.

and mistakes. What do you think is more constructive?

Both of you are right. But what is most frustrating is

that none of us knows what is on His Majesty's mind.

That is a good point and I agree.

Whatever that may be, we all agree that we cannot go on

like this and that we must fight. Correct?

Yes, we must fight!

Imperial Guardian, you must convey our thoughts to His

Majesty. Our desire is to pay Bekjae back for the humiliation

we suffered at JomulFort. This is a state affair.

If His Majesty continues to refuse, we will have

to resort to a sit-in. Do you agree?

Aye!

Oh, dear...

We have never before disobeyed His Majesty.

But this is to save the kingdom.

Imperial Guardian, we will allow three days.

Please appeal toHis Majesty.

Then all of us will hunker down in front of the Imperial Chambers

and refuse to move until we have the reply we seek.

Oh, dear...

A sit-in at the Imperial Chambers?

Your Majesty, the Three Kingdoms are in contention for the mastery.

The warriors' request for action is dutiful and appropriate.

They seek to restore your dignity. Grant their request to fight.

They wish to break Bekjae and glorify their country.

Your Majesty, allow them to take military action.

The plague has subsided and the morale of the troops is high.

Allow them to strike Bekjae.

Your Majesty.

I've been thinking and you are right.

They've come to me and offered their kingdom.

This means we can acquire Shilla without great effort.

It's an opportunity that can't be missed.

Unification is inevitable.

Koryo held real power over Shilla thus far.

They called it an alliance, but Shilla had behaved more like

a subject state.

Yes, that is true.

But things have changed. We defeated Koryo and its

king became Your Majesty's younger brother. And now they

watch submissively as we proceed with our plans.

Yes, that's right. I must say King Wang Guhn is somewhat naive.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Koryo's crushing defeat against us in Jomul has Shilla worried.

And internal conflict between the Park clan and the Royal

Kim clan is deepening. I urge you to advance to Surabul.

And? Subjugate the entire state?

That won't be so esy.

Then what?

Give it sole time. Koryo will not remain reticent for long.

And our path to Surabul is full of obstacles and

require time and effort.

Of course.

But to seize-control of Shilla's thousand-year-old administration

is a significant accomplishment.

It will put you clearly on top in the contention for mastery.

It will indeed. The mere thought of it fills me with inspiration.

Pave a safe path to Surabul while keeping Koryo in check.

Once you are there, you will cause Shilla to kneel before

you on their own accord.

Going to Surabul is a right decision, Your Majesty.

I am quite anxious. When will this endeavor begin?

It will take up to one year of preparation.

That long?

It isn't long considering that this is a leveling of a regime

that withstood a thousant years.

That is true. Fine.

Continue secret communication with our allies in Shilla and

turn their court upside down.

The current king of Shilla needs to be taught a lesson

for underestimating Bekjae.

Yes, we will show himthat Bekjae is stronger than Koryo.

Proceed with the plans to approach Surabul.

Yes, Your Majesty.

And tell my sons in Guh- chang to stop their advance.

There's no need to provoke Koryo further.

We will rest for a while and observe the developments.

Yes. There is no need to exert hostile force.

As I have said, Koryo will not remain quiet much longer.

We must be prepared for them.

Does Bekjae's pawn Jin Ho fare well?

Yes, Your Majesty. He is under good care and close watch.

I put him in your care because of Shin whom I've sent to Bekjae.

Jin Ho must be safe in order for Cousin Shin to be safe.

Yes, Your Majesty.

You and Shin are my dearest cousins.

I will make certain nothing happens to Shin.

Yes, Your Majesty.

The subjects are making a lot of noise. I have a pile of

petitions from them. They pressured the Imperial

Guardian for a meeting and threatened a sit-in.

I know. And I also know why you cannot give them the

answer they seek. it is because of my brother Shim.

What do I do? I am at a loss.

I don't know what to say... It tears me apart when I

think about your deep concern for my brother and I.

No, I am very sorry that I left your brother in

the hands of the enemy. I have no excuse...

No, Your Majesty.

It is a blessing that Shin can serve the country.

Please do not be overly distressed.

I appreciate that. Take well care of the pawn from Bekjae.

Yes, Your Majesty.

He was uneasy at first, but he is slowly settling down.

Good. Be good to him. The man has done no wrong.

Yes, Your Majesty. I have ordered my servants to do so.

Good...

What brings you here at this time of the night?

We'd like to discuss something with you.

By all means.

Sir Choi, you was silent at the Supreme Council meeting. Why?

Choi Jimong made a comment that no one knows what is on

His Majesty's mind.

Yes, he did.

But we think Wang Shin is the reason for His Majesty's

indecision. Are we wrong?

You are correct.

That is why I could not say anything at the meeting.

But you are the head of our military.

You must find a solution to break this dangerous impasse.

There is a solution.

There is? Is there really a solution?

The issues of the hostages lay before us as a huge obstacle.

What is the solution?

I am embarrassed to speak when you complicate such

a simple issue.

Simple? How is this simple?

Eveyone agrees that it is time for military action.

Yes.

But His Majesty is hesitant.

That is why we are here.

It will require death of one man for His Majesty to act.

Death of one man? Whose is this man?

Sir Wang Shin.

What?

Thousands sacrifice their lives on the battlefield.

But right now, that one man's death can break the shackle

that paralyzes this kingdom.

I do understand, but what can we to Wang Shin

who is now in Bekjae?

Kill the pawn of Shilla Jin Ho.

Then Sir Wang Shin will lose his life as well.

Kill the pawn of Shilla?

Yes. Our compassionate Emperor will not take

military action until this is resolved.

It has to be done. The sooner the better.

Can you do it?

Can you take the life of His Majesty's cousin Sir Wang Shin?