Original subtitles

ALL CHARACTERS, LOCATIONS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND INCIDENTS IN THIS DRAMA ARE FICTITIOUS

Eun-woo.

Eun-woo.

Have you been reading again?

I knew it.

Here.

Thank you.

If you plan to read all night,

I shall take them back.

I will not, I promise.

Why not try performing acupuncture on the madam tomorrow?

I will be there to guide you.

Already?

Yes.

It is a gift to celebrate your first time placing a needle.

I cannot take this. It belongs to you.

You need to use it when you can perform acupuncture again.

Then would it be fine

if you could place my needles for me

until that moment comes?

Then I shall hold onto this…

until that moment comes.

Yes.

When that moment comes, you can return it.

Sure. I will do that.

Se-yeop is His Majesty's childhood friend.

We must kill him without anybody finding out.

You cannot leave a single trace behind.

I have found the residence of the runaway court lady, sir.

-It is in Chungju? -Yes, sir.

With your permission, I will strike right away.

You must get rid of him this time.

If we just kill Se-yeop and that court lady,

every piece of evidence tied to the previous King will be destroyed.

Of course, sir.

This time, I will go there myself.

My back.

It is a ghost!

A ghost!

Go away!

Where?

Where is the ghost?

Where is it?

It is me, Eun-woo.

You scared me.

What is that?

My lady…

It is such a shame to waste perfectly good meat for acupuncture practice.

It will be much better if you practice on me instead.

Have you really been practicing since the early morning?

I was so excited after getting this that I could hardly sleep.

Let us go ahead, then.

Since it is the back, we shall try the pancreas.

I am supposed to place the needle shallowly at a 45-degree angle.

Right?

Yes.

Everything is fine.

Considering it was your first time, you did very well.

Really? I hardly felt that.

I think you are ready for the medical exam.

-Do not move. -That hurt.

Mr. Yoo.

You need to come out here. There is a patient with a stomachache.

A patient already?

Stay here and practice more.

You know, my young master

used to bruise me all over when he was practicing.

Come on. Try placing your needles somewhere else.

Well, then…

Let us try hapgok this time.

Here.

You see,

after the madam passed away, the young master suddenly gave up

on his honors liberal arts studies

and decided to become a physician. It was a huge deal.

Young Master practiced on me countless times back then,

so I know exactly where hapgok is.

So Mr. Yoo passed the liberal arts exam with honors too?

Of course. He is good at everything he does,

including acting stubborn.

Anyway.

That needle box

was given to the young master by His Majesty

when he passed the medical exam with honors.

You cannot find that anywhere else.

I did not realize that it was so precious.

In the palace, they called him the Top Acupuncturist.

His Majesty gave him that nickname too.

He was great at brewing tonics,

but once he pulled out a needle,

he could bring a corpse back to life.

That is very impressive.

It is so impressive that it sounds unreal.

I am fine.

I am…

That is what is driving me crazy.

It would have been better

if he had gained his talent out of nowhere,

but he lost his talent out of nowhere. It is so frustrating.

It is all right. There is a first time for everything.

Were you nervous when you had your first patient as well?

Of course I was.

My first patient was the crown prince himself.

-Really? -Yes.

I think my hands shook even more than they do now.

Look.

Like this.

Sorry. I should not be laughing.

I am sure that one day you will make me think,

"Her hands are working miracles."

"They are even better than my own."

Madam.

May I feel your pulse?

Go ahead.

Your fingers have been very stiff recently, right?

How did you…

You have been too worried to sleep for the past few days.

And the blockage in your liver has pulled your veins tight.

And your pulse is uneven because of stress.

The concubine's son, Seok-chul,

or the concubine in the outbuilding must be troubling you.

How can you know that just by feeling my pulse?

Do you know where I saw this kind of illness most often?

It was in the Queen's Court.

There are many concubines among the Women of the Internal Court.

Your muscles are tight because you are very stressed and worried.

However, this can be treated right away with acupuncture.

This must have been bothering you. Why did you never see a physician?

Lord Cho called in famous shamans

instead of physicians.

He only believes in those things.

Who did this to you, madam?

Was it Seok-chul or his mother?

Mr. Yoo, you should not…

Seok-chul has a kind heart. That poor thing.

He is nothing like his mother.

However, I was not able to take care of him for a long time.

That concubine must be a thorn in your side, madam.

It has already been two years

since that concubine moved into my home.

I have been keeping my frustrations to myself, though.

But you are right.

I cannot even control a gisaeng concubine.

It is truly shameful.

Well, you can place the needle now.

Yes, madam.

I will be performing the procedure.

Do you feel that?

It should feel as if your finger is being pulled in.

Next, Jun-young.

I have told you several times

that I will become

a minister right away

when the Left Councilor calls for me.

I still have my connections.

As my oldest son,

how dare you turn in something like this?

I am sorry.

Forgive me, Father.

Please forgive me.

How could you be so inferior to Seok-chul,

a son of a concubine?

Get up.

Get up.

I see why you said that she had trouble sleeping.

She fell asleep right after her head hit the pillow.

Because of your well-placed needle,

you dissipated her energy blockage.

Who are you, and what are you doing at my house?

We are physicians from Gyesu Infirmary. We are here to tend to the madam.

I see.

I heard that a widow stopped mourning her husband

to become a female physician.

I did not think I would run into you here.

My apologies, sir.

I heard that the madam was feeling ill.

She does not need a physician, for she is not ill.

My wife does not have an illness.

Her destiny has simply diverged from the will of the heavens.

You must administer the correct treatment to treat--

Right. My apologies, sir.

We were there to listen to her troubles.

But her condition did not improve much, so we are on our way back.

Eun-woo.

Lord Cho may be powerful, but--

-Be quiet. -That does not mean…

We need to examine the children of this household.

I hate you.

You arrogant prick.

Who do you think you are?

Get lost.

Hwi-young, Jun-young.

Let me take a look at you.

Oh, my. Are you all right?

My goodness.

Do not cry.

It is all right.

It is all right.

Lord Cho had a mark on his right index finger

from using a whip very frequently.

He has been hitting him repeatedly.

Seok-chul's hallucinations and delirious speech

were caused by dehydration, not the beatings.

Dehydration?

Yes.

But it is not hot enough for heat strokes yet.

So why did he get dehydrated?

When I felt his pulse,

I did not find anything wrong with his body.

Then…

It is not a physical illness.

Seok-chul's life may be in danger.

Can we not do something about this?

He will only get better if we can get him out of that house.

Where did Dad go?

I cannot find him anywhere.

Jang-goon, have you seen Dad?

Really?

Is that really all you want?

Yes. You would be doing me a solid.

The legendary physician

of the Royal Infirmary, Gye Ji-han,

came all the way to Hanyang to ask me for a favor like that?

You must be getting old.

I know it is a lot to ask, since we have not talked for a while.

You probably did not have anybody else to go to

after the death of your good friend, Hoo-myung.

What? Hoo-myung died?

You did not know?

After the previous King passed away,

everybody was talking

about how Hoo-myung had died after falling from a horse.

You really did not know?

Since his son, Se-yeop, was the one

who performed acupuncture on the previous King,

his entire family was razed to the ground.

Maybe that is why you did not hear about it.

My goodness, you should really pay more attention to things.

Here, drink.

Mr. Gye!

Are you in there?

Are you in there? Mr. Gye!

Mr. Gye.

Mr. Yoo.

What is going on?

I think…

I think master Seok-chul…

is dead.

What on earth?

Slow down. What happened?

Why did he die all of a sudden? When?

How? Why?

Just now. He looked like he had gotten possessed by a ghost,

then he stopped breathing.

Go get your needle box.

-Jang-goon, go grab some herbs. -All right.

Where is Mr. Gye?

I think he is still in Hanyang.

The lights are off in his room. I will tell him when he returns.

Let us go. I need to take a look at Seok-chul.

All right.

Seok-chul got possessed by a ghost

because the madam buried these horrid things

near my room

and placed a curse on us.

Please let me keep this child, sir.

How could you do something so horrible?

Have you forgotten yourself?

You let your jealousy consume you, and now you are cursing people?

I had nothing to do with this.

All right, then.

Lock her up until she gives a confession.

Yes, sir.

Maybe you believe her because you are dim,

or maybe you are just pretending to believe her.

Either way, I am innocent.

You will regret

doing this to me.

Did you hear me?

-Mother. -Mother.

Oh, no.

Are you all right?

This way.

Where is Mr. Gye when you need him?

He has been going out at night.

It is suspicious.

Where are you going this late?

Where have you…

We should just go. This is urgent. Just follow us.

Seok-chul is dead because you did not do anything!

It is all right. Mr. Yoo will save him.

What is going on here?

We should hurry.

Run. You will figure it out once you get there.

Hey…

Seok-chul.

Seok-chul.

Come on, open your eyes.

Seok-chul.

I think we are too late.

No. Grab a needle.

Place a needle on baekhoe, injung, hapgok, then geumjin and okaek.

He is gone, Mr. Yoo.

No, it is not too late.

It is weak, but I can feel his pulse.

We can still save him.

What do you want me to do?

Place a needle on baekhoe first.

Move your fingers forward a bit.

It is right here. Try it again.

Good job.

Now, let us find geumjin and okaek.

Are they not inside his mouth?

And must I draw blood?

I cannot do that.

You must.

One,

two,

three.

Mom…

Seok-chul.

You did it, Seok-chul. Good job.

Water…

Move it. Hurry up.

Where are they?

Here you go.

I will not say anything.

I will not tell anybody.

Please do not kill me.

Jang-goon.

Here. Drink.

My goodness.

Water.

Water.

You need to leave.

Get them out of here!

What are you doing?

My goodness.

Just listen to me.

Come on. Seriously.

Stop pushing me.

Go on. Leave.

Stop it.

Why are you making such a ruckus in my house?

Lord Cho.

We revived the dead child.

My family is dealing with some personal matters. Go back.

Did you not hear me?

-Get them out of here. -Yes, sir.

-Hey. -Wait.

Oh, my.

What do you think you are doing?

It looks like your talismans are useless, sir.

You have no idea that the energy of water

is battling the energy of fire in your family.

This is why so many misfortunes have befallen the household.

Water and fire?

Where do you see that?

Seok-chul has been asking for water recently, has he not?

That is the energy of water.

Then are you saying that I have the energy of fire?

Yes, sir.

Would you not agree, Mr. Gye?

That is right.

Lord Cho, you are very righteous.

You never hesitate to point out the faults of others,

and you are always very fair.

Whether it is your son or servant, you scold them equally with your whip.

That is the energy of fire, sir.

How dare you?

Your pulse did not feel very healthy, sir.

At this rate, you will end up getting a stroke.

What?

Your complexion is very red, like a war general,

and you have a generous amount of fat behind your neck.

You will definitely get a stroke.

A stroke?

What on earth am I supposed to do, then?

This old physician right here

will prescribe medication for you.

Meanwhile, I will treat Seok-chul

since he is full of the energy of water.

All right.

Fine. You can stay,

and you can take him away.

Please make sure that Lord Cho gets better.

Of course.

It is because your body runs hot.

Yes, I do run very hot.

You were pretty convincing back there, Mr. Yoo.

Right. I almost asked you to feel my pulse too.

When you told him that he would get a stroke,

-the look on his face was hilarious. -Yes.

I was not making that up.

When I felt his pulse, I felt a great amount of heat in his body.

The heat had traveled upward, putting a lot of pressure on the heart.

That kind of pulse must be treated right away.

Or one will suffer a stroke.

It is called palsy.

Can you really predict things like that with pulses?

That is very cool.

It is nothing compared to how you predict rainfall.

I could tell you what you ate for dinner, though.

If you are not scared, give me your hand.

You can tell by feeling somebody's pulse?

Yes, he can.

Jang-goon, you ate scorched rice.

I actually ate yumilgwa.

YUMILGWA: A KOREAN OIL-AND-HONEY PASTRY

WE MUST PROTECT POOR SEOK-CHUL

SALT

SEOK-CHUL

Salt?

How could they force him to eat salt to make it seem he was possessed?

That is frightening.

Yes.

In the past, I saw people drinking seawater

when they ran out of water on a sea voyage.

Then they would speak gibberish and pass out as if they were possessed.

Yes. It could pass for insanity.

It is an evil thing to do.

We must find out who it was and make them pay for it.

How could anybody do that

to a child?

So we will find the person who fed him the salt.

Easier said than done.

Anybody in that household could have done it.

If you really think about it, they are all kind of suspicious.

Yes. Any one of them could have done it, and they are all responsible.

There is no way that the madam did it, though.

There is no way.

I agree. When she brought Seok-chul to the infirmary,

she looked genuinely worried.

Mr. Gye.

Please take a look at this child.

Still, the madam did not do anything

to help Seok-chul.

Do not cry.

What if the madam tried to harm Seok-chul

because she felt threatened by the concubine, Ra-hab?

It is a possibility.

She would not try to kill a kid. You are going a bit too far there.

Who else thinks it was not the madam?

Mr. Yoo is right.

It could have been the madam.

People can do strange things.

Besides, the madam is probably in charge

of storing their precious salt.

I heard from the woman who sells fish

that the madam has become more stingy over the past two years.

Come to think of it,

she stopped giving rice to the poor since last year.

Yes.

You are the stingy one, Ip-boon.

You took the key to the storeroom because we were handing out rice.

You bad girl!

We should just give out the rice to the needy, not everybody!

-Let me go! -Stop it.

My goodness.

Why are you still up and wasting your time?

You should all be in bed.

And you.

Did I not tell you to not get involved with that family?

If a curse was involved,

we need to take it to the government office.

Just report it and forget about it.

I was planning on reporting it.

Did you not say that you would help me?

We rescued the kid. What else am I supposed to do?

If you get involved with the madam's business,

then you will have to deal with the royal palace.

This will not do, you idiot.

From now on, you are forbidden

from going around and visiting patients like a bum.

You are so mean! Seok-chul is sick!

Right. I did not realize that you were actually such a big jerk.

Yes. How come you are so mean both inside and out?

Mr. Gye, show some sympathy.

-Right. -You big jerk.

Why are you being such a party pooper?

We cannot just charge in there recklessly.

Come up with an infallible plan. If you cannot, we are not doing anything.

Your fingers have been very stiff recently, right?

My goodness.

This is harder than it looks.

-Hey. Put it down. -Yes, ma'am.

Do you know how hard it is to make this?

I will give you an ugly one later to eat.

Why would you give me an ugly one?

I want a pretty one.

The pretty ones are for the patients.

This is Jang-goon's poop.

No, it is not!

Is Seok-chul…

Is he fine now?

Of course he is.

If he goes back, he will become sick again.

Can he just live with us?

See, I was really sick too,

but Mr. Gye let me live here.

Did he now?

Yes, he did.

It was during the Double Third Festival.

Hey.

He left the infirmary with a lot of money

to build a storage for the herbs due to the warm weather.

But he came back with a boy on his back.

Is he a patient?

I thought that all he cared about was money.

Nam-hae, get him some water.

Here.

Mr. Gye.

Where is the boy?

In his room. Please help him.

Who are you?

You cannot take him for free.

-Just go. -How dare you?

He is not your son anymore.

He will be better off without a father who cares more about money

than his son's health.

These patient records.

These stupid things are annoying me.

You are heartless, Mr. Gye.

What do you want from me?

If you care so much about Jang-goon,

why will you not let us help Seok-chul?

Charging in there without a plan is not helping.

You are crazy.

Here. Take a gongjin pill.

I made it for you.

You are my favorite, Mr. Gye,

because you will save Seok-chul

just like you saved me.

I see what you are doing.

This is a bribe, is it not?

Eun-woo and I came up with a plan overnight.

So just hear me out.

Fine, I will.

But if it ends up hurting my infirmary,

then I will make you stay here forever.

Go for it.

These look much fresher than they did last time.

Keep it up, all right?

This is all thanks to Nam-hae.

She knows everything.

She can tell so much from looking at a person's face,

and she knows exactly how to pick out good locations for graves.

That woman at Gyesu Infirmary who is really good at cooking?

Yes, Nam-hae.

There is no way a person can do that.

I am telling you, Nam-hae can.

Nam-hae can do anything!

We are going to

make him destroy himself with what he likes best.

Tell me. Do you think

that the Left Councilor will call for me soon?

Of course, sir.

If you wear your jade pins on your lucky day,

you will…

You will become a government official.

I feel…

You feel?

I feel the energy of a minister within you, but…

That is right.

But I also feel an obstacle in your path, sir.

Can you tell me what that is?

Here you go.

That is where you come in, Mr. Gye.

The child is completely fine now.

I took him to his room.

You need to emphasize the importance of "tonight".

Tonight will be very important.

If he makes it past tonight, he will be completely healed.

So, tell Lord Cho that I will not be coming back after that.

Sure thing, Mr. Gye. Thank you.

It is tonight, got it?

Tonight,

I am going to pray right here with some sacred water.

So please make sure that nobody,

and I mean nobody, is walking around the house.

-Mother. -Mother.

What are you doing here?

You need to get out. You need to go and do what you must do.

You are right. Let us go.

You need to be waiting at the place that I told you about, Lord Cho.

Wake up, honey.

Eat some porridge.

Get up and eat some porridge.

Get up.

I said, get up.

You evil woman.

How could you do this to your own son?

How?

Why did you do it?

You used to be so beautiful and innocent.

So why?

I just wanted to live like the proud woman I am.

What?

Did you not say that I could become

the madam of this house, Lord Cho?

I…

I never said that!

Why do you think she did it?

Why did that woman

feed salt to her son every single night?

She wanted to make him fall ill

to get people's attention and sympathy

by having to take care of him.

On top of that…

she framed the madam of this house,

and tried to steal her position.

This cruel woman was trying to catch two birds with one stone.

How dare you?

You nosy bastard. You ruined my plan!

Go to hell!

Eun-woo.

Eun-woo.

Do not move just yet.

I think there is a slight dent.

What should I do?

Thank the heavens.

Thank goodness.

I am fine.

What is all this fuss about?

I thought you did not care whether he lived or died.

You always beat him up, remember?

You are no different from me!

Hey!

Drag this treacherous wench away!

-Yes, sir. -Yes, sir.

Let go!

Let go of me!

I said, let go of me!

-That little… -Do you know who I am?

Let me go right now!

Unbelievable.

Wait.

Sir, let me talk to you privately.

I will give you the perfect solution to all this.

Right.

Right, I almost forgot about you!

You will be the one to put on the finishing touches.

You must remove Seok-chul from that family permanently.

There are more obstacles in the way of your success.

-What are those obstacles? -Men.

There are too many men here.

They are blocking the warm energy from the north.

MEN

The energy of the sun.

What do you think this is?

It is "yang," for "sunlight" of course.

-This is… -Hanyang.

You must send the boy here.

I feel something ominous in this house.

Something bloodthirsty.

Death is approaching.

Is somebody going to die?

You are stupidly suppressing

all of that energy from the sun.

You have filled this place with evil energy.

You are blocking the way of your success with your own hands.

I swear that I will never do it again.

I am so tired after laying out all that nonsense to Lord Cho.

Thanks to you,

we were able to get Seok-chul out of there.

We should thank Lady Eun-woo too. She risked her own life.

Do not ever…

do that again.

But you saved my life three times.

I never put my own life on the line to do it.

Ip-boon.

Mr. Gye. Should we give them some privacy?

-No. -It is fine.

By the way, Mr. Yoo,

how did you know that the concubine was the perpetrator?

Can you tell that by feeling somebody's pulse too?

Actually, you told me about it.

I did?

The madam has become more stingy over the past two years.

Come to think of it,

she stopped giving rice to the poor since last year.

Yes.

It has already been two years

since that concubine moved into my home.

You took the key to the storeroom because we were handing out rice.

You bad girl!

I thought that somebody had taken the key to the storeroom

from the madam, and I was right.

She was hiding it all this time

because she was too embarrassed to let anybody know.

I thought you found out with her pulse.

Actually, that is exactly how you figured it out.

Your patients tell you all about themselves

while you are feeling their pulse.

If I think about it, you are good at that, Mr. Yoo.

Hey,

did I not tell you that you should use that pretty face of yours

to treat your patients?

And I was right, right?

Anyway, what are we going to do about Seok-chul?

Right.

One of my friends, who is a physician in Hanyang,

will teach him medicine.

If you are going to be nosy, at least try to make some money from it.

When I grow up,

I want to become a physician and help sick people.

Do you think I can do that?

Of course you can.

That is good to hear.

I think Seok-chul will have a lot of good luck in his future.

It is hot.

Hello, sir.

Is there anything new that might be worth some good money?

Of course, sir. If you ask, I will deliver.

Sounds like you have something good.

This is…

Yes, sir. It is.

It is the flower that I told you about. The one that will make you rich.

The money flower.

You see, my wallet has been feeling a bit thin lately.

Do you own any land in Sorak County, sir?

This flower grows very well in the soil over there.

I do not have any land that is big enough to grow these.

If you give me the land, you do not need to worry about paying me.

Are you in there?

My goodness, Inspector Cho.

What brings you here?

It is Cho Shin-woo?

I heard you have the oldest pharmacopeia here.

That is true, sir.

Is there an herb that could change the color of metal?

It depends on the type of metal you are talking about.

This looks like a needle used by physicians.

I am not sure, sir.

Have a safe journey back.

Why on earth does he want to know?

Your sedan chair is here. Whenever you are ready.

Wait, madam.

Madam.

Why are you leaving me behind?

I am sure the Left Councilor will send you some good news soon.

You can come up to see me then.

I am already fully dressed. Can I come with you?

No, you cannot.

Did the princess…

I mean, your mother, not give you a part of the land

that she inherited?

Yes, she did.

Do not worry, for I plan to send the children to a good school

and raise them well with the profits from that land.

I hope that you will become a minister and come back to Hanyang.

Let us go.

Gosh.

You cannot do this.

Hey!

You think you are all that because you are the princess' daughter?

Fine! See if I…

care.

At this rate, you will end up getting a stroke.

You never let me eat those.

-What? Is this really for me? -Yes.

Is it that good?

You look so happy.

Another one?

I am sorry.

You saved me, Mr. Yoo. What are you sorry about?

The adults should have

protected you and cared for you.

They should have helped you and saved you from the pain.

If you do not want to go to Hanyang,

you can tell me.

No. I want to become just like you.

I am going to study hard in Hanyang and pass the medical exam with honors.

You know, it will not be that easy.

I got the highest scores of all time.

I will do it too.

By any chance,

if somebody tries to harm you again,

it will never be your fault.

Never forget that. All right?

I am sorry for everything, dear.

Sorry.

If anyone messes with you in Hanyang, we will take care of them.

Here. This is for you.

Let us go.

What is up with you?

Why are you sharing your scorched rice with everybody?

I do not know.

Mom…

Mom…

We are going home soon. Do not cry.

Mom.

Mom.

Mom.

Here, eat this.

Get on my back.

Crying, vomiting, and pooping

will bring your fever down.

Go ahead and cry.

I am fine now.

You saved me.

I am not the one who saved you. You saved yourself.

I just helped you along the way.

Seok-chul will be all right now, even without us.

In the end, you will always have to

save yourself.

Do you understand?

Yes.

Oh, my.

What is he doing in Sorak?

So many handsome men around here.

Are you kidding me?

He looks like he is out for blood.

Seriously?

Stop saying those mean things to handsome people.

I want them to stick around.

My goodness, what are you doing here?

Are you hurt?

We are closed for today, actually.

I am here to see Mr. Gye.

Did not you hear me? Did you hurt your ears?

Listen, we are closed.

We are not seeing any more patients.

What are you doing in front of the inspector?

This way, sir.

What is up with her voice?

"This way, sir." Is she a mosquito or what?

This is a physician's needle.

To be precise, it is a needle that changed colors.

Why did you bring this all the way here

so late at night, Inspector Cho?

It is very urgent.

Tell me everything about what caused this needle to change colors.

I am just a poor physician living in the countryside, sir.

I do not know anything.

Actually, I heard that

you are the master of poisonous plants.

That is not true at all. I am nothing like that, sir.

Is that so?

I will apologize for tonight, then.

Well, if you ever feel sick, feel free to--

I did not do anything, sir.

Have you known my identity all along?

Why are you giving this to me now?

Let me have Gyesu Infirmary.

We need to be more frugal from now on.

If I get reincarnated, I definitely want to live as you.

Being a nobleman is not that big of a deal.

Mr. Gye said you eat like a pig, Eun-woo.

-Pardon? -You damned bastard.

Go do some work!

I wish I could wring his neck…

I am embarrassed to call him my father.

Is it fine if Ip-boon knows, though?

Her mother died because of you,

the useless physician?

Shut your mouth!

Subtitle translation by: Su-in Choi