Episode 20 (Finale)

Park Ki-woong

Lee Ji-hoon

Park Ji-hyun

Choi Deok-moon

Kim Min-sang

Gong Jung-hwan

Kim Yeo-jin

Sung Ji-ru

## Episode Synopsis

Hae-ryung offers her support to help right a wrong. The historians protest an order for Woo-won's imprisonment. Yi Rim discovers that he is not alone.

## Plot Summary

The events of 20 years ago are all finally revealed in flashback. On the way to deliver a letter, the young Goo Jae-gyeong and his friend Yeong-san are attacked. Jae-gyeong is forced to falsify a letter of the King’s.

The Queen gives birth, and Mo-wha tells King Huiyeong that it is a boy. The King is suddenly notified of Min Ik-pyeong and Prince Hamyeong’s treachery and the palace is invaded. He orders the military leader, So Baek-son to protect his wife and newborn child, before leaving.

Min Ik-pyeong charges the King with treachery, as Prince Hamyeong watches.

> **King Huiyeong:** Let’s get this straight. It’s not the letter that caused you to betray me. It’s because I refused to listen to the scholar-generals. I just wanted to give everyone a chance to learn and do something meaningful. Just like how I gave people from undistinguished families a chance to become government officials, I am going to do the same for the peasants and women.
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> **Min Ik-yeong:** That’s what you’re guilty of! You tried to overturn the strict moral customs of this country!
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> **King Huiyeong:** What good are those customs when they only allow the privileged to study academics and spread their wings? That is not what this country should…
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He stops as Min Ik-pyeong suddenly stabs him. The King falls to the ground and passes away.

Goo Jae-gyeong flees to Seoraewon, admitting what he has done with the King’s letter. Yeongan does not blame him, and asks him to protect his daughter Hui-yeon (Goo Hae-ryung.)

Meanwhile, the teenage Mo-wha and Eunuch Heo Sam-bo sneak out of the palace with the newborn Prince Dowon.

In present day, Goo Hae-ryung meets Lord So Baek-son, offering to help Mo-wha and Goo Jae-gyeong to carry out their plans. At night, Prince Dowon senses someone watching him at *Nokseodang*, but the intruder manages to escape unnoticed before Dowon can catch him.

The Office of the Inspector General carry out orders for Officer Min’s arrest, charged by his own father Min Ik-pyeong. They shove Goo Hae-ryung aside when she tries to accept responsibility for writing the petition, while the other historians try to defend Min to no avail. Min Woo-won accepts his arrest to avoid a fight.

Goo Hae-ryung asks Lord So Baek-seon for help. The guards at *Nokseodang* switch after their shift, and the new guards allow Goo Hae-ryung to enter and take Prince Dowon away with her. They flee to Mo-wha’s residence where the rebels hide. They bow to Prince Dowon as the rightful king.

The King is encouraged by Min Ik-pyeong to continue plans for an upcoming banquet, although Ik-pyeong warns the King that the Queen Dowager may retaliate on that day.

Crown Prince Jin sombrely dwells on his brotherly relationship with Prince Dowon, especially their last confrontation. He meets Song Sa-hui undercover and asks about the newly discovered records.

Officer Min suddenly appears at the Min residence – Crown Prince Jin had ordered for his release.

Goo Hae-ryung and Prince Dowon make amends and kiss.

The banquet is underway. The royal family are all present among the palace officials – Mo-wha is disguised as a court lady and Goo Hae-ryung is present among the historians. Goo Jae-gyeong breaks ranks and admits that he forged the former King’s letter on Min Ik-pyeong’s orders, thus providing the false basis for charging the former king with treason. He provides Dominique’s letters, which exonerate the former king. He asks King Hamyeong to punish both himself and Min Ik-pyeong. However, Min Ik-pyeong tells the king that Goo Jae-gyeong used to be a student at Seoraewon to dismiss his admission.

The Queen Dowager admits that she planned the whole thing, and thus dares Min Ik-pyeong to execute her first. Min Ik-pyeong tries to turn the King against the Dowager Queen as well.

Prince Dowon suddenly appears. He reveals himself as Yi Rim, the son of late King Huiyeong Yi Gweom. He accuses the king of letting Prince Dowon live because of his own guilt for causing the death of his brother.

The King orders the historians to stop writing, but they ignore the orders even as he threatens them with execution. Goo Hae-rung kneels beside Prince Dowon.

> **Goo Hae-ryung:** Your Majesty. Even if you slash my throat, we historians will continue writing. If I die, one of my fellow historians will take my place. If you kill that historian also, another historian will take his place. Even if you kill all the historians in the land and take all the writing brushes and ink from us, you will not be able to stop us. From mouth to mouth, from teachers to their pupils, from elders to their children, history will be told. That is the power of the truth.
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One by one, the historians and apprentices take their place and kneel behind Goo Hae-ryung. Officer Yang continues to write. Min Ik-pyeong declares them all traitors and to take their lives.

Crown Prince Jin orders them to drop their swords. He tells the king that it is Min Ik-pyeong who is trying to turn the King against everyone else, and is responsible for all the sabotage. He kneels in front of the others, asking the King to acknowledge the occurrences in the year of *gyeongo*.

Lord So Baek-seon begs the king to right the wrongs, and the rest of the crowd slowly take up the chant, falling to their knees. The historians continue to write. The King watches his people cry out. Goo Hae-ryung pauses, waiting for the King’s response.

Sometime afterward, Min Woo-won confronts his father as he drinks alone. It is implied that he is facing execution.

> **Min Woo-won:** In my childhood memories, you were always like a big mountain. You were never stingy when it came to books, even though that meant you had to wear shabby clothes. You fought against the scholar-officials with nothing but courage and knowledge. So why…What made you become like this, Father? Do you remember? “Woo-won ah, We scholars must have a clear conscience. That is our duty as scholars.” You once said that to me. That is how you taught me.
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> **Min Ik-pyeong:** Right. When I was young, I used to hate scholar-officials. They monopolized authority with the highborn nobles and completely shut the weak out of opportunities. However, once I came into possession of power myself, I did not want anyone to take it from me. Power…is like the Spring of Greed. You get blinded by your greed once you taste a drop of it. After all… I was just one of those ordinary men. Nevertheless, I do not regret the decision I made in the year of *gyeongo*. The dethroned king led the people astray with the foreigner’s teachings and violated the moral standards. He was wreaking havoc onto this kingdom, which the former kings and the wise scholars had worked so hard to build. Someone had to stop him. Even if you cannot understand me now, history will prove that I made the right decision.
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> **Min Woo-won:** No. You’re wrong. A new world will come. Not the world of the scholar-officials, which the former kings and the scholars built together. It’ll be a world created by the people, for the people. Joseon will become such a nation. That is…what I will write.
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He bows to his father for what seems to be the last time. He turns away, crying.

Goo Hae-ryung visits Goo Jae-gyeong in jail, and tells him that she will always be his sister. Crown Prince Jin tells the Queen Dowager that he will step down after the investigation, however, Prince Dowon enters and pleads with the Dowager Queen to let him give up his royal title. Goo Hae-ryung and Prince Dowon take in *Nokseodang*.

> **Goo Hae-ryung:** Let’s think of it as a turning of a page. This isn’t the end. A new chapter will begin.
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### Three Years Later

Apprentices Heo and Oh have become administrators, and Officer Hyun has been promoted. Song Sa-hui teaches children outside of town and her father delivers her a package from the palace – various books – and she smiles. Min Woo-won and his sister Woo-hui wear mourning clothes on their last day of mourning. Woo-hui is no longer married to Jin, who has become the King. The historians welcome Min Woo-won back. King Jin tells Mo-wha and Goo Jae-gyeong that they will make Seoraewon more than just a dream. The Queen Dowager dismissively receives a letter from a royal residence, but is excited to hear that ‘He’ is coming back to Hanyang.

Lord Dowon Yi Rim (formerly Prince Dowon) welcomes Goo Hae-ryung from wear with a flower in his mouth. He tells her of his travels. They spend the night together. The next morning, he sends Hae-ryung off to work. She introduces herself as ‘Historian: Goo Hae-ryung’.

## Starring

### Main cast:

* Shin Se-kyung as Goo Hae-ryung
* Cha Eun-woo as Prince Dowon
* Park Ki-woong as Crown Prince Yi Jin
* Lee Ji-hoon as Min Woo-won
* Gong Jung-hwan as Goo Jae-gyeong
* Kim Min-sang as King Hamyeong Yi Tae
* Choi Deok-moon as Min Ik-pyeong

### Recurring:

* Kim Yeo-jin as Queen Dowager Yim
* Heo Jeong-do as Officer Yang Si-haeng
* Kang Hoon as Officer Hyeon Kyeong-mook
* Nam Tae-woo as Officer Son Gil-seung
* Yoon Jung-sub as Officer Hwang Jang-goon
* Ji Gun-woo as Officer Seong Seo-kwon
* Oh Hee-joon as Officer Ahn Hong-ik
* Lee Jung-ha as Officer Kim Chi-gook
* Park Ji-hyun as Apprentice Song Sa-hee
* Lee Ye-rim as Apprentice Oh Eun-im
* Jang Yoo-bin as Apprentica Heo Ah-ran
* Jeon Ik-ryung as Mo-hwa
* Sung Ji-ru as Heo Sam-bo
* Yang Jo-a as Seol-geum
* Lee Kwan-hoon as Gak-soi
* Ryoo Tae-ho as Song Jae-cheon
* Kim Yong-woon as Gwi Jae

### Guest:

* Yoon Jong-hoon as Prince Huiyeong Yi Gyeom (a.k.a. Ho Dam)
* Lee Seung-hyo as Seo Moon-jik (a.k.a. Yeongan)