Episode 9

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

Yi Rim gets a visit from the Queen Dowager Im. The historians face a dilemma about their duty to record. Yi Jin appoaches Woo-won with a delicate request.

## Plot Summary

Dejected, Prince Dowon retires to *Nokseodang*. Queen Dowager meets him and says that she is proud of him, for choosing to help the people despite the King’s orders. He asks her for a favour – as someone who has reached yagwan (the age of 20), he would like to move out. The Queen protests, insisting that he belongs at the palace.

Second State Councilor Min Ik-pyeong waits for Officer Min Woo-won to return. Their interaction is cold – his father suggests that he take a position at Sungkyunkwan, but Woo-won turns it down.

> **Min Ik-pyeong:** You have done enough grunt work. No one will think you have gotten to where you are because you are my son.
> **Min Woo-won:** The fact that I am your son is already a big flaw to me.
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Goo Hae-ryung hesitates to record Prince Dowon being slapped by the King, although Officer Min had told her that she will have to.

At the end of the day, the *Hanrim* prepare to go home at 5pm. They stop the apprentices from leaving as it is Gyeongshin – and it is a belief that people must not sleep the whole day. The historians say that they will have bad luck for three years if they sleep during their first Gyeongshin in the palace.

Song Sa-hui reveals wine hidden by Officer Yang in a cabinet, and the girls excitedly sit outside and drink. They bond over their reasons for becoming historians – with Heo Ah-ran admitting that she was angry at her wealthy family for their terrible habits and behaviours, so this is her way of rebelling.

> **Song Sa-hui:** I didn’t want to live like a flower. That is how noblewoman are expected to live, you know. Like a wellkept flower-tree, a beautiful painting, or an ornament inside the women’s quarters. I didn’t want to live that kind of life, nor did I want to trust my life to a man whom I didn’t even know.
>
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Although ridiculing the custom of being married off to strangers that way, they all admit that they have once imagined experiencing a passionate love affair with a ‘handsome lunatic’.

Goo Hae-ryung is out for a walk when Prince Dowon sees her. They agree to help each other stay awake the whole night, and spend time reading at a gazebo in the palace gardens. The next morning, Prince Dowon wakes up and realises that Goo Hae-ryung is sleeping next to him. Prince Dowon’s attendees panic to see the two together.

The Office of Royal Decrees is subdued as people recover from their sleepless night, but the Crown Princess appears in their midst – she takes Oh Eun-im and Heo Ah-ran to *Dongungjeon*.

The Crown Princess forcefully interrupts Crown Prince Jin’s meeting, and orders the apprentices to stay when the Prince asks them to leave.

She questions Crown Prince Jin about his absence and his excuses.

> **Crown Princess:** Yes, all I do is bite my tongue. When I speak out, people say a princess who produces no heir is making excuses. When I raise my eyebrows, people say that the overbearing and vicious princess is putting you down. Thus, all I can do is live in silence as if I don’t exist…I never asked for your love, Your Highness. I only asked that I be able to give you an heir. I begged you numerous times to let me do my duty, but how did you respond? You rejected me countless times. You never embraced me, knowing that I would be blamed. I am blamed because you don’t have an heir. I am also blamed for your lack of affection. Do you know how I feel when everything from the turbulent political situation to the famine is blamed on my lack of virtue? I want to go out to the streets and shout from the top of my lungs that I cannot possibly conceive the child of a man I barely get to see.
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The apprentices return to the Office of Royal Decrees, and the historians are conflicted about keeping the couple’s argument in the records or not.

Unsure, Officer Yang approaches the Chancellor, who in turn approaches his superior, the Chief State Chancellor. However, Officer Yang returns to the Office and says they have delegated the choice back down to the *Hanrim*.

Crown Prince Jin arrives to speak to Officer Min privately, asking him to please redact the Crown Princess’s words. Min Woo-won says he cannot. Crown Prince Jin is disappointed but understanding, saying the Crown Princess is lonely and stuck inside the palace with little responsibility – he asks Woo-won to always be on her side. The conversation also reveals Officer Min and Prince Jin are childhood friends.

Meanwhile, Prince Dowon tries to figure out how Goo Hae-ryung might have ended up sleeping beside him, calculating if it had been an accident or by choice. Heo Sam-bo tells him that there is a surefire way to get a woman’s heart, passed on through eunuchs. The prince tries it but Goo Hae-ryung is confused rather than romanced. Embarrassed, Ye Rim is bidden to admit his feelings for Hae-ryung.

> **Ye Rim:** I wasn’t scolding you. I was neither angry nor offended. I…I don’t mind keeping you near me. So…do not distance yourself from me.
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Goo Hae-ryung muses on the vague confession with Seol-geum, who offers to spread rumours about “Clerk Yi” in Hae-ryung’s defence.

Goo Jae-gyeong meets with Min Ik-pyeong, who is disappointed that Mo-wha managed to escape his men. He believes that Mo-wha is gathering the remnants of Seoraewon, although Jae-gyeong claims that all of the students at Seoraewon are dead.

Crown Prince Jin heads to the Crown Princess’s quarters, dismissing her court ladies. She lies in bed, facing away from him. He apologises profusely to her while she cries.

The next day, the four apprentices are summoned to *Dongungjeon* again. The Crown Prince Jin unexpectedly gifts each of them a red writing brush, a significant gift in each symbolism. He gives them one more gift – a day off spent at Sukjeongmun.

Eunuch Sam-bo is surprised upon hearing this at *Nokseodang*, saying that women tend to frequent the waterfall there to watch the military guards bathe after training. At the archery range, Prince Dowon panics at the thought of Hae-ryung gushing over strangers, and manages to shoot a bulls-eye. He leaves without celebrating, to Heo Sam-bo’s shock.

The apprentices are actually just readying for a picnic. Goo Hae-ryung volunteers to fetch firewood, but it starts to rain while she is in the forest. Prince Dowon appears to swiftly shelter her beneath his coat, saying, “I was worried about you.”

## 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:

* Kim Ye-rin as Crown Princess Min Woo-hee