Scriptwriter Im Chung
Director Lee Jong Su
Reporting the King's loss of virtue in detail and calling for self-reflection,
Mentor Jeong Shi Han's appeal frightened Sukjong,
and so he was dismissed from his post, and sent out of the Palace.
But, this appeal was important in making Sukjong look back on his own actions.
How did it go?
We took care of it, as you ordered.
Really?
So you sent all the pretty and young maids to desolate chambers?
Does that need to be said?
Now, you can put your worries to rest, and sleep peacefully.
How did I reach this state? It's truly pitiful.
I wish I was ten - no, even five years younger...
Your Majesty.
Please, don't worry so much.
In my eyes, you look ten years younger than your age!
This isn't just to flatter you.
Everyone in the Palace says the same.
They say that perhaps time itself is avoiding you, Your Majesty.
I know that my face doesn't look old.
I also know that my body is still smooth, not unlike a young woman.
But, I don't know what to do about these lines I see on my neck.
What's my best point? In the end, isn't it just this body of mine?
Your Majesty. Please, stop worrying.
In my view, His Majesty has nobody but you in mind.
-But... / -Think of the butterfly.
Have you ever seen it stay with just one flower?
It flies from flower to flower, in search of a new scent.
Men are all like butterflies.
But, isn't His Majesty different?
He only looks at you, Your...
Then, do you feel like he's behaving unusually?
Since I bore my second Prince a few years back,
I feel as if he's no longer who he used to be.
And, now that I think of it,
my being two years older than His Majesty was once my weapon to keep his favor,
but now, I realize that it's a flaw.
As the men in this world get older, they like their girls younger.
Regardless of whether she's pretty or ugly, all that fascinates them is her youth.
That's how people are in this world.
I'm already the exalted Queen, the Crown Prince's mother,
so even if His Majesty lays eyes on a court maid, what should I fear?
Your Majesty! That's exactly what I want to tell you!
I can't bear to see it.
How can I sleep peacefully, when the one I love has been stolen by another?
I can't bear it. It drives me crazy!
What is it?
A special dish from the Snack Kitchen.
Bring it in.
Stop right there!
What's your surname?
-It's Park. -How old are you?
I'm seventeen years old.
Just when did she bloom so beautifully?
Just a while ago, she was skin and bones, like a mangy dog...!
I was quite surprised myself.
Send her somewhere desolate, so she can't even get a glimpse of here!
Yes, Your Majesty.
What is it?
A maid from the Fire Department's brought the candelabra.
Let her in.
Wait... when did that one so suddenly turn ripe?
Your Majesty.
When spring comes, withered trees sprout new buds.
They, too, have reached the spring of their lives, blooming and changing everyday.
Throw that girl somewhere desolate too!
Yes, Your Majesty.
I thought you'd thrown all the pretty young girls into desolate chambers!
Just what have you been doing?
We are ashamed. I didn't even notice them...
Ma'am, how does our Palace's King see his concubines?
-Are you curious? -Yes, ma'am!
At any banquet, or at the New Year's greetings,
every residence's court maids come to the King's quarters...
...and gradually, in fives or sixes, greet His Majesty.
If there are any young maids to his liking, he observes and remembers them,
then requests the Head Court Lady to send them to his room.
"I'll sleep with that court maid from the Great Queen Dowager's palace tonight!"
If that order comes, I will receive the King's favor!
Even your dreams are shrewd.
Unless you have a lucky dream...
...how could it be so easy?
Your Majesty. Their Lordships have arrived.
What's been going on in the world these days?
It's an age of peace.
Really?
What is the Westerners' situation like?
Noron leaders Song Shi Yeol, Kim Ik Hun and Kim Su Hang were either poisoned,
or have wandered the Capital as resentful ghosts for years now.
What's more, Kim Su Heung, Kim Man Jung and Min Jeong Jung have all died in exile.
They're in quite a tough position.
As for the Soron, Nam Gu Man and other leaders were exiled far away.
They are scattered like dust, and won't dare to gather again.
Your Majesty, the world is at peace. Please, lay your worries to rest.
Can I indeed be at ease, just as you two say?
Are they the only ones aiming at us?
From what I hear, your new houses are like Palaces.
Packhorses bearing offerings from all Eight Provinces file through your front gates.
Your Majesty. It's true that our circumstances are better than before,
but what you just said are exaggerated rumors.
Please, consider this.
Both of you, listen up.
You two are the closest Royal and maternal relatives to His Majesty.
You must make him govern well. That's how you must gain public sentiment!
People must say that they're better off than during the time of the Westerners.
They must say that they're more full and comfortable...
...than when Deposed Queen Min was in the seat of Queen.
You may endlessly desire honor.
But, do not desire wealth.
That's the only way to defeat the Noron, Soron and Deposed Queen Min.
Only that way can you keep your rank and fame for long.
We'll keep that in mind.
We'll make sure never to forget.
Anyway, I'm curious about the Deposed Queen.
Yes, her circumstance is quite pitiful.
Even her family's grown destitute while supporting her.
Last winter, some reported that there wasn't even a fire burning in her furnace.
No fire in such a severe winter? Is she in such difficulty?
Rumor has it that she knows of her family's hardship, and lives frugally to reduce their burden.
Really?
Please, come in.
Location provided by the Korean Folk Village
-Welcome. / -Is Her Majesty alright?
By chance, is she quite unwell?
Is she quite ill?
She's had nothing to eat for some days now,
and she spent the winter in a cold room. Could she ever be alright?
Before, she'd sometimes come out to the garden for some air.
But this year, she's bedridden, and can't even move.
We told her that she should ask you to call a doctor,
but she said not to, as your situation is also difficult.
Now, I can't even mention it.
I also asked if I could make her some herbal medicine, but...
In the old Han Dynasty, a certain maiden of the Chen clan got married at the age of sixteen.
But before long, her husband was conscripted as a soldier, and left for the battlefield.
While parting with Lady Chen, he asked her to support his old mother, who lived nearby.
Lady Chen promised that she would do so.
Later on, her husband died in the battlefield.
Lady Chen kept her promise...
...and served his mother with utmost filial piety.
But the mother-in-law didn't want her to grow old as a widow for life, and suggested that she remarry.
She said: "When he left, my husband's request was to support his old mother."
"If I go back on my word, with what face could I live in this world?"
So she tried to take her own life, by strangling herself.
Totally startled, the mother-in-law vowed never again to mention remarriage.
After that, she served her mother-in-law for twenty-eight years.
The mother-in-law lived out her life to more than seventy years, then passed away.
Lady Chen sold all the farmland her husband left her,
...and held a grand funeral.
When the nation heard of this, they praised her with the name Xiao Fu (filial wife).
Later on, the people left this poem to commemorate Lady Chen.
"My husband left for the faraway battlefield,"
"and asked me to take care of his old mother."
"In the end, he died and never came back. How could I go back on my word?"
"Even if I die, I'll do nothing else."
"I'll serve her with all my heart, and give her a generous funeral."
"I am praised with a name for all ages. That name is Chen Xiao Fu."
What do you think of Lady Chen's filial piety?
I think what she did was beautiful.
How pretty.
"In the old East, there was no ruler."
From Joseon's 'Primer for Children':
"A god came down to a birch in Mount Taebaek, and the people made him their ruler."
"His name was Dangun. According to some, his name was Wang Geon,"
-"and the country he founded was called (Go)Joseon." / -His Maj...!
"He is said to have been enthroned in King Tangyao's 25th year."
Please, read the next line.
“Dangun taught the people how to tie their hair and wear hats,"
"and initiated the structures of ruler and subject, man and woman, food and residence."
"At first, he made Pyeongyang the Capital, then he moved to Baekak."
"In the 8th year of King Wuding of Shang, he moved to Asadal and became a mountain god."
"He reigned for 1017 years, and died at the age of 1048."
Hey, Right State Councilor.
Yes, Your Highness.
People only live until seventy, yet Dangun lived for more than a thousand?
That seems like a lie.
In more recent times, when Kwon Geun went to Ming for an audience,
he said that Taizu of Ming wanted a poem, titled ‘Dangun'.
He wrote, "I don't know how many generations, but it was passed down for 1000 years."
At the time, everyone said that Kwon Geun was correct.
Of course. This would've been passed down for generations, 1000 years or more.
I think the same.
Now, please reread from the beginning.
“Dangun taught the people how to tie their hair and wear hats,"
By chance, has he ever shown signs of shirking his studies?
He enjoys his studies, so that has never happened.
Really?
I remember being bored, having to sit for so long at that age.
I tried sitting with him. He is quite talented.
Is that right?
He is very kind, and very quiet.
What's the Crown Prince's taste in food? Is he picky, or will he eat anything?
The latter. But...
But?
Lately, there are days when he sometimes wets himself.
You're saying that he still pees himself?
Yes, Your Majesty.
Don't worry too much. I've also wet myself sometimes, at that age.
-Take good care of the Crown Prince. -Yes, Your Majesty.
Reward them both with a roll of silk each,
SBS Historical Drama Jang Hee Bin
and give special dishes to the officials of the Crown Prince's Lecture Hall.
Yes, Your Majesty.
"Who caught you, fish, then set you free within my garden pond?"
"Which northern sea did you leave, to find yourself in such small waters?"
"Once here, with no way to flee; you and I are the same."
"Who caught you, fish, then set you free within my garden pond?"
"Which northern sea did you leave, to find yourself in such small waters?"
"Once here, with no way to flee; you and I are the same."
How rude! You dare remain standing before your superior?
What, are you deaf?
Recite that poem again.
Please, kill me!
Comparing oneself to the fish, who left the open sea for this small, inescapable lake.
This poem laments a court lady's fate.
Surrounded by the manifold Palace, she misses the outside world,
and she laments all the dreams she's buried.
Am I right?
I am mortified!
Get up.
What is your name?
I'm a court maid, surnamed Yu.
What Palace are you from?
Until recently, I was a maid of the Queen's Fire Department.
Really?
Maids from the Fire Department light the lamps and furnaces,
and clean the pipes and ashtrays, so I should've seen you before.
But, I've never noticed you until now.
So, where are you now?
I've been moved to the Embroidery Department.
How old are you?
I asked, how old are you?
I am eighteen years old.
Really? Eighteen, you say...
-Back from the Grand Hall? -Yes, Your Majesty.
Did you ask him to stop by for his evening meal?
Yes, but he says he won't be able to eat here tonight.
Why?
He says to tell you that he'll be eating with his son, after so long.
Really?
Why is His Majesty so late?
He's at the East Palace.
Really? What did he say?
I'm not aware of the details,
but one can hear whispers, and sometimes clear, ringing laughter.
It feels like a sudden spring wind is blowing through the East Palace.
Is that so?
According to the Grand Hall's High Court Lady, both father and son are getting along well.
Perhaps, as it's getting late, Your Majesty should go to bed.
-Listen. / -Yes, Your Majesty.
Did you also send all the young and pretty maids at the East Palace to desolate chambers?
Does that need to be said?
I can believe that, right?
Yes, please lay your worries to rest.
I'm saying so because I'm nervous over what he told me in bed last night.
He'd forgotten my age, so I told him I'm thirty-five.
He was greatly surprised, and asked: "Already?"
Your Majesty, you're worrying excessively!
Perhaps, it's all because of my age.
Your Majesty. Please, sleep peacefully.
You said you're eighteen?
-Yes, Your Majesty. -That's a good age.
Pour.
Welcome. What brings you here so early?
Something's happened.
What do you mean?
Lend me your ear.
Last night, His Majesty...
Wh... What?
Is... Is that true?
Yes, Ma'am. I just heard from Eunuch Ki of the Grand Hall.
Ma'am. What do we do?
What's wrong? Did something happen?
Last night, something happened.
Something happened?
Last night, His Majesty, the King...
...didn't sleep at the East Palace, but in the Grand Hall's East wing.
Then, you're saying he took in a concubine?
So it seems.
Which court maid served His Majesty?
Have you gone deaf?
Th... That court maid...
...was a maid in our Fire Department...
So, it's her. The one who yoyu sent to desolate chambers...!
I am mortified.
His Majesty taking in a concubine is something that can happen.
Where's the fuss in that?
Help me wash my face and hair.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty!
Your Majesty...!
My Queen!
My Queen. What's your illness?
What happened?
Unfortunately, she had a sudden stomachache.
She began gasping, as if she couldn't breathe.
Really? But, why don't I see any Physicians?
We sent them away.
They should be here, why send them away?
-Listen here! -Yes, Your Majesty.
Call in the Physician!
We sent them away because the illness had subsided.
What do you mean?
She stopped gasping as the illness subsided, and the Physicians didn't know why.
Really?
My Queen. Are you really alright now?
What a relief. I woke up late today, and was so startled to hear the news...
Such mortifying words... bring tears to my eyes.
My Queen. You must be angry that I came late.
My Queen!
Father! Is the wound deep?
Mother, please don't do that!
Mother! Father!
Please, don't be like this!
Seeing Your Majesties fight renders me speech... speechless with shame!
-Crown Prince! Crown Prince! -Mother!
Crown Prince!
Anyway, how bizarre! How did the Queen find out about last night so quickly?
The Queen must have a spy in here!
Tie the wench on the rack!
Yes, Ma'am!
Your Majesty. We've caught and brought her, as you ordered.
Raise her chin!
Yes, Your Majesty.
How did you attract him and receive Royal favor?
What foxlike tricks did you use to bewitch His Majesty?
Tell me, right now!
I see you'll only open your mouth after getting beaten!
Light the braziers, now!
Your Majesty...! Your Majesty...
What? Is that true?
This can't be...!
What foxlike tricks did you use?
My crime is worthy of death, Your Majesty!
Please spare me, Your Majesty!
I don't want to hear that! Tell me the full story in detail, immediately!
Your Majesty...!
I'll tell the truth, in detail!
I was off-duty last night. I went out for some air, and was reciting a poem...!
-A poem? / -Yes, Your Majesty!
The poem compared a court lady's situation to a captured fish!
And that's how you saw His Majesty?
Yes, Your Majesty!
He asked me my name and age, and unexpectedly,
...he summoned me last night!
Really?
So your wish is to leave the Palace?
I'll grant your wish, then! Court Lady Cheon!
Yes, Your Majesty.
Brand that wench's face for enticing the King with foxlike acts!
Your Majesty...
What are you doing? Brand her, now!
Your Majesty...!
Your Majesty.
-Your Majesty! -Out of my way!
-Your Majesty, please calm down! -I said, out of my way!
Your Majesty...!
Your Majesty!
Court Maid Yu is to be made a lady-in-waiting with the rank of Suk Won,
and to be raised to Fourth Rank, by Royal Order.
What?
Get out of the way, right now!
Your Majesty, please maintain your dignity.
What did you say?
Even if you're the Queen, you can't handle the ladies-in-waiting recklessly.
Now please, release Court Maid Yu, and have her accept the Royal Order!
Location provided by the Korean Folk Village
Your Majesty...
What's the matter?
It's nothing much.
Court Lady Go just visited.
We were just laughing at what she told us...
It was enjoyable to the bone to hear!
As refreshing as clearing a ten-year indigestion!
I don't understand what you're saying.
That wicked girl is currently bedridden with rage.
-Is that so? -Yes, Your Majesty.
Why?
It's because she couldn't torture a court maid who received Royal favor.
She was always in such high spirits. It's great to see her like this!
Everyone in the Palace says that she brought it on herself!
How bad of you. Rejoicing over such a matter...
We are mortified.
But, it is His Majesty who must make that wicked girl suffer.
Only then will he understand how benevolent you are.
People whisper that until she beats the ground in regret, he must make her suffer.
Your Majesty. Doesn't a corner of your heart feel refreshed?
I want to get some air.
Please, do so.
I heard. His Majesty took in a concubine?
I just regret that I couldn't torture that wench with the hot irons.
Your Majesty. Even a stone Buddha turns away from a mistress.
I understand your heartbreak, but your greed seems excessive.
Why lose your dignity when His Majesty takes in a concubine?
That wasn't like you, Your Majesty.
Why wouldn't I know that?
I'm a fox too.
A fox among foxes, who can read my husband's heart like the tongue in my mouth!
In the past, Prince Yeonsan's mother Lady Yun...
...was deposed for leaving a scar on the King's face.
Knowing that, I still bit His Majesty's arm!
I know all too well.
Even if he takes in 100 concubines,
I know that I must not be jealous, but as kind as a graceful lady.
That even if I'm unhappy with them, I must discipline them with benevolence and virtue,
maintain my dignity, and try not to lose the King's favor!
But in the end, things don't go the way I want!
I realize that I'm just a petticoated woman, after all.
Your Majesty...
Now that our situations are reversed, I realize that Deposed Queen Min has uncommon patience.
Everyone else is saying that I brought it on myself.
I know they must be overjoyed to see me so unhappy.
I'm furious that I was born a woman.
How in the world could this be?
I gave birth to the Crown Prince, nobody else!
I only loved that person, over and over!
Yet, he does this to me?
I'm furious.
I spared nothing, yet he backstabs me like this? I feel endlessly furious!
What's the matter?
Yu Suk Won is to be given new chambers,
and other daily items befitting of her rank, by Royal Order.
He's also specially ordered that they be grand, and that it happen without delay.
Your Majesty! Please, maintain your dignity!
-Move aside! -Your Majesty!
I'm going to go crazy at this rate!
Subtitles by Sean Maclair
Episode 51 will be broadcast in succession.
Pride, you say? Eoyoung General, Jang Hee Jae...!
...is in his right mind!
Surely...
Surely, it hasn't reached His Majesty's ears?
It's so similar to what happened when the Queen was deposed.
Your Lordship! This is unprecedented in history!
If that's the case, then what is their intention?
I'm asking if there's anything strange about the King's behavior.
From what I hear, His Majesty has already read it.
Really?
Subtitles by Sean Maclair