EPISODE 6
I should get going, Your Highness.
It's almost 3 p.m. now.
Well, about today...
Thank you.
For what?
You came here to record my daily activities, and I read my book.
I do not think I did anything that deserves to be thanked.
Get going, then.
If you ever want to cry again,
just come back here.
You can have the room anytime.
I'm only saying this because you looked so ugly when you were trying not to cry.
You'll be embarrassed if anyone else sees that face.
Pardon?
Get back safely. Don't fall and cry again.
Your Highness.
How embarrassing. I'm a nobleman.
-What if I run into an acquaintance? -Shut it.
Hong-ik, go to the City Administration Office.
-Chi-guk, go to the Royal Secretariat. -Yes, sir.
What are you staring at?
Hurry up and go inside, you troublemaker!
-You troublemaker! -You troublemaker!
Move. Out of the way!
Oh, my. There she is. The pride of the Office of Royal Decrees.
Our precious rookie historian, Goo Hae-ryung!
What on earth is happening?
What do you think? It's punishment for irking the clerks.
What do you mean, punishment?
People must have heard that one of us petitioned
against the hiring of assistant clerks.
All the clerks at the Office of Royal Decrees
asked for time off and went home.
We have mountains of work to do. I don't think we can go home today.
My petition was regarding the clerks at the Ministry of Personnel.
The Office of Royal Decrees had nothing to do--
You might think it's completely unrelated,
but don't you know the profession is passed down for generations?
One of the assistant clerks
whom you tried to get fired
might be an uncle, a cousin, or an in-law
of the clerks here at the Office of Royal Decrees.
This is why you should never give anything to ignorant fools, not even a twig.
She didn't even realize that she was poking the beehive.
Jeez, I'm so frustrated.
Sir, you can hand over all the clerks' tasks to me.
-I'll take care of them. -By yourself?
Then you'll never go home.
It's way too much work for her alone. I'll help.
No, don't.
All of this happened because of you, so you must take responsibility for it.
Officer Min.
Even so, it is way too much work for her to handle on her own.
Please allow us apprentices to help her out.
We will finish everything by the end of the day.
Apprentice Goo was the one who submitted the petition, not you girls.
None of you can help her.
A petition?
Yes, Your Highness. I knew she was quite something when I saw her
criticizing your novel.
She must've really lost her mind or something.
How dare an apprentice without a rank
submit a petition?
Targeting assistant clerks of all people.
What's so wrong with that? They didn't have to make her cry.
Pardon?
So what's going on? Is the situation very bad now?
Yes, very bad indeed.
Just as the Inner Palace cannot function without court ladies,
the Outer Palace cannot function without clerks.
She got on the wrong side of all the clerks at the Office of Royal Decrees.
I give her 15 days at the most.
Her seniors will take their anger out on her during the day,
and she'll have to work late every night. She'll submit her letter of resignation
in 15 days at the most.
Still, knowing her personality--
She won't resign that easily.
-Right? -She'll probably get fired.
I give her ten days.
No, trust me.
She'll quit before she gets screwed like that.
-Do you want to bet? -Sure, five pun?
-Let's each bet one nyang. -How about two nyang?
When did I finish all of this?
Apprentice Goo!
Are you all right?
Yes.
We ran here, thinking you must be exhausted.
What did you do all night?
Why do you look at me like that?
You have a Chinese character written on your face.
What?
What's this?
Was a ghost here or what? Who on earth wrote this?
"Sparrow"?
What could this mean?
Gosh, I'm so scared.
What is this? Jeez.
Did something happen last night, sir?
Oh, well...
You do not need to know.
His Highness spent a passionate night.
Two hours have passed already.
What is the problem today? Why is she late again?
No one here knows the reason, Your Highness.
She's probably just running late.
Why do you have to wait outside?
It is too hot today.
I don't think she's just running late, knowing what's going on at her office.
Didn't you see last night?
They made her work all night with a huge pile of work to finish.
Who cares whether she had a little or huge pile of work to do?
Why do you even care, Your Highness?
How can I not care? Goo Hae-ryung is...
I mean, she is Maehwa's sworn enemy.
I have to be the first one to laugh at her.
You helped her with everything though.
I can go for a walk.
I wish to go for a walk.
Great. Taking a walk will help you...
How far do you wish to go, Your Highness?
All right, look.
It is peaceful and quiet.
We should go back now that you've made sure everything is fine.
"Sweet words can hide dark intentions."
It does seem peaceful, but horrible things might be happening inside.
What kinds of horrible things could happen
in the middle of the palace in broad daylight?
Things like coercion, assault, attempted murder,
and firing Goo Hae-ryung, for instance.
My goodness.
I must do something.
Let's sneak in and see
what Goo Hae-ryung is up to and if she's okay.
But... Wait.
This could get you in deep trouble, Your Highness.
All the historical records are stored here at the Office of Royal Decrees.
Even just loitering around like this could raise suspicions...
Please listen...
Your Highness.
Could you please explain that look on your face now?
-Your Highness, do you-- -You two over there!
What are you doing here? I've never seen you before.
Well...
He is...
-He's what? -I mean, this punk is...
I guess he doesn't know his way around the palace yet.
I found him wandering here, looking all lost.
Hence, I was just helping him find his way.
Gosh, you dimwit.
The administrative area is tiny. You got lost here?
Where do you work?
-Pardon me? -Which office do you belong to?
I work over there...
The Royal Secretariat.
I work at the Royal Secretariat.
The Royal Secretariat?
By any chance, did Scribe Jegal...
Correct.
Jegal...
I knew it.
That jerk, Jegal Tak, can be obnoxious, but he is a loyal man.
Let's go. There is a mountain of work to do.
Tell me. Are you strong?
-Yes. -Wait, where are you taking him?
-Wait. -I'll do anything.
-Nice, that's the spirit! -What is Jegal Tak up to now?
-He's sitting at his desk. -Gosh!
I see. He's sitting at his desk.
Gosh, Your Highness! We must return to...
I wish to get some rest. Do not let anyone in for an hour.
Yes, Your Royal Highness.
I said I do not need
a historian here as the lecture took too long.
You may leave.
I have my duties to fulfill, just like you have your own, Your Royal Highness.
So? Are you saying you wish to disobey my words?
You always treated me as if I was practically invisible.
You can do the same thing today.
Why did you
decide to be a historian?
I've always been curious
as to why a woman like you chose such a tough profession.
-What do you mean by that? -You have everything.
Your father isn't a high-ranking official, but his authority over personnel matters
makes him as powerful as ministers.
Your family owns five mansions in Hanyang alone
and harvests over 10,000 seok of rice all over the country every year.
I heard dozens of families wanted to marry their sons off to you.
So why?
Why did you abandon the comfortable life and decide to be a historian?
What more do you want in life?
It's nine, not five.
My father owns four more houses in Hanyang
under his concubine's name.
Also, he owns almost 8,000 majigi of land under our relatives' names,
which means we harvest over 15,000 seok of rice every year.
However,
none of that is mine.
They're not yours?
Yes, he is a section chief.
But those who want to curry favor with him are only the ones
who cannot achieve anything on their own.
Thus, all the glory is fleeting and futile.
The same goes for all the houses and land.
His adopted son, whom I've never even met, will end up inheriting all of them
instead of me since I am a woman.
Therefore, I have nothing.
And that is why I became a historian.
OFFICE OF ROYAL DECREES
I picked up the petitions, sir.
What on earth are you doing here now?
I'm grinding ink, as you can see.
I mean, why are you here--
Have you never seen a clerk from the Royal Secretariat?
What's with all the fuss?
Did you say, "a clerk"?
Yes, Clerk Yi from the Royal Secretariat.
Scribe Jegal sent him over. He can work as our servant today.
"Our servant"?
Hey, are you going to grind ink all day?
-Take this to the Office of Censors. -Yes, sir.
My gosh.
By the way, where is the Office of Censors, sir?
Are you a lunatic?
Clerk Yi.
I'll show you where it is.
What is going on?
"Clerk Yi from the Royal Secretariat"?
Anyhow, you should get out of here at once.
I don't know what misunderstanding caused this,
but please forget what happened today. Go back and...
I don't want to.
I heard your office needs help.
If I leave, you'll have to do all the clerks' work too.
They've always treated me like one anyway.
Why would you volunteer to put up with this ordeal, Your Highness?
It is not an ordeal.
It's quite refreshing to experience something like this. It's interesting.
-You think it's interesting? -Artists should always be open-minded.
Who knows?
Today's predicament
might be transformed into a beautiful love story
between a clerk and a female historian later on.
So, I'd like you to keep your lips sealed about my true identity today.
Then,
are you saying I should treat you like a clerk today?
Yes.
Why? Do you not want to?
Clerk Yi, wait up.
Gosh, come on.
Clerk Yi.
I asked you to pick up the reports,
but these are all torn and ripped. Are you blind or what?
Are your eyes like decorations that serve no purpose?
You're being too harsh. Everyone makes mistakes...
I apologize, sir.
I can't stop thinking that he looks exactly like Prince Dowon.
Why would the Prince put up with this unless he's completely out of his mind?
I'm sure he's just someone who looks like him.
Have some water.
You're the only one who looks out for me.
Hold on. Where did it go?
What are you looking for?
The administration record I was working on is gone.
It was right here until a moment ago. Gosh!
How could you misplace that?
Everyone, look for it!
-Yes, sir. -Yes, sir.
For heaven's sake.
What did he lose? What's all this fuss about?
Do you really know nothing about the royal court?
It is a document that combines some historical records,
the Royal Secretariat's daily records, and so on.
Everyone is worried as it contains strictly confidential information.
A document that consists of a number of pages?
Yes, that's right.
How do you know?
Hey!
How could you confuse these two?
I can't believe you failed to distinguish this from this.
The administration record looks nothing like this report.
I asked you to drop this report off,
not this administration record!
This is the administration record, and this is the report!
Scold them more, please.
Thank goodness Officer Kim found it first.
Had the record ended up in someone else's hands,
all of us would've had to resign.
-This is no good. Officer An. -Yes, sir.
Go and discover some moving stories with these two.
You two have proven that your brains are useless. Do some legwork instead!
Where are we supposed to go, sir? You mean, outside the palace?
Do you think you can discover moving stories here?
Please don't try to use your brain outside the palace, okay?
Ask the questions you're given
and only write down what you hear. Do you understand?
Yes, sir.
What an innocent young man.
Please don't be distracted. Let's go.
Both of his parents died from a terrible disease,
and everyone in the village felt so bad for him.
We gave him rice and firewood.
Excuse me! Mister! What do you think you're doing?
-I wanted to know the taste. -Clerk Yi!
What the heck?
I can't sell it now because you drank from the bottle!
Wait, ma'am! Please! I'll buy it.
How much is it? How much is the wine?
-How much do I have to pay you? -Give me that.
My goodness.
Ta-da.
The mountain god must've been moved by his filial piety.
Lightning streaked across the sky all of a sudden,
and the rock split in half.
Then underneath the rock, this 100-year-old--
-Bellflower root? -What...
It is a bellflower root.
This isn't wild ginseng.
-Hey. -Get him.
Have you ever seen wild ginseng? What do you even know?
-Get him! -Jeez, you punk.
-Catch that punk! -Damn it.
The moment I spotted the tiger's eyes sparkling in the dark forest,
I thought to myself, "I will die if I don't kill him."
So, I firmly clenched my fist and--
Isn't this sold in Qing--
Clerk Yi!
Have this.
You must be hungry from constantly blabbing about things
-that no one even asked about. -But I'm pretty sure this is...
I'm going to leave you here if you say one more word.
Yes! She looked exactly like this.
My gosh, it's just as I remember it.
Sir! Please make sure you find her!
Excuse me.
We are here to verify your story.
Are you the blacksmith...
who was revived from the brink of death thanks to a female physician?
Oh, that. I already shared all the details with the officer who was just here.
Someone was here?
Yes, sir. He said he was looking for her to reward her for saving my life,
so I showed him this
and also told him what she looks like.
Who could it be?
I'm impressed that you managed to stay put.
You said,
"Clerk Yi, wait here." So I couldn't go anywhere.
How nice of you to listen to me.
Well, did we waste our time again with this one?
Yes, I don't think I can go home early today.
You should return to the palace.
The sun will go down soon.
-You can't finish all this by yourself-- -Gosh, it's okay.
At the moment, everyone at the Office of Royal Decrees
thinks that I'm the biggest troublemaker and resents me,
so I must discover at least one moving story.
-You know your way back, don't you? -No, I don't.
I've lived in the palace my entire life. I don't know my way around here.
Hence, I'd like you to walk me back.
On your way home, after you finish everything.
Then, why don't I walk you back now--
Where are we going next?
Your Highness! Gosh, please give me that. I'll carry it.
What is the matter with you?
Goodness.
He had the same wound as
the man who died in the Royal Investigation Bureau. That's her.
-Hurry. -Yes, sir.
Who is it?
Who is here?
Third Inspector.
We're looking for someone on the Second State Councillor's order.
This is my close friend's residence.
I do not know who you're looking for, but that person isn't here.
Are you here alone, sir?
I am waiting alone at the moment
as my friend is held up at work.
I apologize for the trouble.
Please don't worry.
You are safe now.
How did you find me?
Answer me. Have you been tailing me all along?
Have you been monitoring what I've been up to all these years?
Mo-hwa.
I decided not to kill you today
only because I used to adore you like my own brother.
Stay out of my sight for the rest of your life,
or I will kill you...
without a second's hesitation.
It should be somewhere around here.
A house with 33 rooms
and a pear tree in the front yard.
-Isn't it odd? -Pardon me?
I haven't seen a single soul for quite some time.
That's because it's getting late.
Everyone goes home before the curfew...
The curfew!
Your Highness, you must return to the palace immediately.
You're a historian, so we should be able to stay out--
Female historians don't receive curfew-free passes.
Follow me quickly.
The curfew has commenced!
-The curfew has commenced! -Your Highness.
Did you bring any royal guards
from the Crown Prince Protection Office who can help us?
The curfew has commenced!
Then do you know anyone in the Police Bureau
or in the City Administration Office?
The curfew has commenced!
What is the punishment for disobeying the curfew?
The curfew has commenced!
Usually, they flog you ten times.
But you don't have an identification tag, so you'll be flogged a lot more.
-Curfew has begun! -I'll distract them.
You should run back to the palace.
-There is a way. -The curfew has commenced!
There is...
something I heard while writing Moonlight Love Affair.
The curfew has commenced!
You mean, this?
The curfew has commenced!
Please forgive my rudeness, Your Highness.
Look at those lovebirds.
We can see that you two young lovebirds are so in love,
but pay attention to what you hear.
The curfew began a while ago.
We apologize.
Youngsters these days are bold and fearless.
They are, indeed.
-The curfew has... -The curfew has...
The curfew...
Thank goodness.
You can let go of me now.
I shall return to the palace now.
The constables must be patrolling the entire city now.
The palace is
too far from here.
SEORAEWON, 20 YEARS AGO
Mo-hwa!
-I totally knew it. -I knew she'd pull it off.
-Oh, my. -I didn't think she'd succeed.
My gosh, this is truly impressive.
Lady Hae-ryung, do you know what time it is now... My gosh.
Who is...
What in the world...
Be quiet. Jae-gyeong will hear you.
I can't be quiet about this!
What is this man doing here with you?
Don't tell me...
Have you been with him all this time?
Then last night...
Is that why you didn't come home last night?
Did the two of you...
He is just my colleague.
We were working outside the palace, but it's getting late,
and he lives far from here.
Let's go. I'll have to sleep in your room today.
Hold on a moment, my lady.
Let's see.
My lady, take a good look at this man.
He is...
very handsome.
What?
It's a miracle to find such a face among the seven million people on this land.
If there was an exam that evaluates examinees' looks,
he'd get the top marks.
The same goes for his rank. He'll become a senior first-rank official!
When it comes to such a fine man like him, I suggest you snatch him
before any other ladies spot him.
Stop spewing complete nonsense, will you?
Could we please leave quietly?
Oh, my goodness.
What should we do?
I'm drying pumpkins in my room at the moment,
so there's no space for you to lie down.
-What about the other-- -The same goes for her room.
-What about other rooms? -It's the same everywhere, my lady.
All the rooms are filled with pumpkins.
There's no space for anyone.
So what do you say? Will it be okay for you two
to share one blanket?
Are you cold?
No.
I'm okay.
Okay.
I'm thirsty.
Okay.
Your Highness.
I think it would be better for me to sleep outside.
You can sleep here comfortably.
It's cold outside.
And there aren't any empty rooms.
Well, I...
It doesn't matter where I sleep. I just need a place to lie down.
And I have really bad sleeping habits.
I snore really loudly.
I even curse and throw things in my sleep.
It'll be hard for you to fall asleep.
Why do you smile?
I'm just relieved to see that you also find me uncomfortable.
I'll sleep outside.
No one will be able to sleep at this rate.
No, you can't do that.
-I can't let you-- -It's what the wild goose wants.
Don't let it bother you.
I see. A sparrow can never understand the views of a wild goose.
"Sparrow"?
SPARROW
I must be crazy.
Lady Hae-ryung.
Future groom.
What? Why is the room so clean?
They're so unnecessarily modest.
I can't believe they even folded all the blankets.
My apologies, Your Highness.
Here you go.
I didn't get a wink of sleep last night
because I waited all night for you to come home.
I'm so exhausted now that my hands are shaking.
You have a pillow mark on your face.
You're unbelievable.
I heard you disappeared
with the female historian after you left the palace.
Are you not thinking straight because you've fallen for her?
Or were you always this irresponsible?
I get that you're young and hot-blooded,
but you need to keep your dignity as a prince.
How could you let yourself loose like that in just one day?
What are you thinking?
Nothing happened.
And nothing's going on between us in the first place.
Do you take me for a fool?
You're both young, and you spent the night together.
How do you expect me to believe that nothing--
It's possible because I'm a prince, and she's a historian.
Is she really nothing but a historian to you,
Your Highness?
Why are you all so demotivated? Let's hurry up.
This is due by 3 p.m. This is due by 5 p.m.
And this is due within two hours. There's so much work to do.
My gosh, do they think we're animals who know how to write?
Officer Yang.
I can't do this anymore.
Please take care of this issue with the clerks.
If you don't, I'm just going to give myself a vacation.
What?
Please don't make things worse. Things are already hectic as it is.
What's the use of working so hard?
They keep giving us so much work,
and everyone's criticizing us
saying we need to do a better job.
No wonder that clerk from the Royal Secretariat ran away.
What do you expect me to do about that?
Should I barge into his house and bring him here?
All they need is an apology from you.
Aren't I right?
They're just using the petition
as an excuse to salvage their pride.
So in order to make them happy,
you need to step up as the head of all the historians.
What? What kind of nonsense is that?
He's right.
You should apologize and ask them to come back.
I've gotten on my knees a lot, so I know very well.
It's honestly not that hard.
What's going on?
Why are you doing this to me?
I'll go.
If they want to salvage their pride,
I should be the one to go.
Yes.
An apology from people like us won't make them budge.
But if the Second State Councillor's son apologizes on his knees,
it'll give them something to gossip about over some drinks.
It'll be an honor to their families.
Then...
I'll go with you.
You told me to take responsibility
since I started all this.
I'll deal with this.
Please let me go.
Okay.
Hello.
Here.
I know it's not much,
but please enjoy.
You're right. It really isn't much.
There's not much to eat.
What kind of meals do you normally eat?
You make it sound like you eat gold.
-I'll ask them to bring something else. -No, it's okay.
We'll just eat for your sake.
-Let's eat. -Okay.
The japchae is nice.
When are you going to come back to work?
I'm not sure. We're very tired from all the hard work we've been doing.
We know we should be going back,
but it's hard to bring ourselves to do so.
It's quite hard to make up our minds.
It sounds like...
you want something.
Officer Min, that's quite upsetting to hear.
Why would we want anything from you?
We just want you to show us that you care.
Clerk Park!
But before that,
I'd like to teach that arrogant woman some manners.
What are you doing? Hurry up and kneel.
Go on.
Enough.
Sit down.
-Pardon? -You did nothing wrong.
There's no need for you to apologize.
Officer Min, if that's how you're going to deal with this...
What's that?
A book of irregularities committed by the clerks.
What? Irregularities?
What do you mean?
What kind of nonsense is that?
That's absurd.
-What irregularities? -You're bluffing.
There can't be such a book.
We're just clerks. Why would you keep a record of us?
I see.
Is that why you asked me to tail Clerk Park?
Was it to keep a record of all the bribes he accepted?
My goodness.
This is me showing you
that I care.
What do you say? Is this not enough?
You promised not to mention this again. Please keep your word.
Officer Min is a man of his word.
You may trust him. Just get ready to come back to work.
Officer Min, I didn't know
you knew how to bluff.
That book.
I opened it, and there was nothing written inside.
How could you lie so well without even flinching?
I do know about their irregularities.
I just didn't write them down. I have them all in my head.
By the way,
about what you said to me earlier...
Did you really mean it?
Do you really think I did nothing wrong?
You were merely trying to correct what's wrong.
That's not wrong.
I don't think it's wrong.
Then why did you say such words to me that day?
Because you still must take responsibility for doing what's right.
And...
I wanted you to learn on your own
that you're not just a girl who only causes trouble.
That's more like it.
This is how experienced a first historian is.
You little punks.
It was my idea to send Officer Min and look at how well things got settled.
Imagine what would've happened if I went there instead.
I'm so impressed by how wise you are, Officer Yang.
Okay, then. Let's leave all this work
to the clerks.
Meanwhile,
let's go have some drinks.
Are you going to buy us drinks?
Yes, I'll use all my money to buy you drinks.
-Officer Yang. -Where do you think you're going?
We're going to drink on our own.
What? We also worked hard.
Go ahead and keep working. Make sure you clean up afterward.
Now, let's go
-and have some drinks! -Have some drinks!
My gosh.
Your Highness, Goo Hae-ryung, the female historian has arrived.
Goo Hae-ryung?
What does a historian have to say to a prince?
You don't normally come here at this hour.
I'm here to meet Clerk Yi today,
not Prince Dowon.
I'm here to tell him something.
What's that?
I came to thank him and to say goodbye.
Thank you for helping me yesterday.
And the clerks have come back to work.
So you don't need to come to the Office of Royal Decrees anymore.
Why do you look so sad?
You went through so much yesterday.
Because I still liked it.
It was the first time someone called me by my name. I was surrounded by such people.
And I also had work to do.
It made me delighted. I had never experienced that before.
But you can write novels.
They lifted the bans on the books,
and I saw a lot of other romance novels at the book store.
It's time for Maehwa to make a comeback.
Don't wait.
Maehwa will no longer be writing any novels.
What? Why?
Because I don't want to.
I'm just kidding.
I also want to know
why I'm no longer able to write.
Why I'm no longer able to write any novels.
By any chance,
is it the King's orders?
Aren't you happy? You used to hate my novels.
But don't be too happy. I'm starting to get upset.
No.
I'm not happy at all.
I finally understand
what writing means to you.
You lost something so precious.
How could I feel happy about that?
I saw your handwriting.
It was upright
and beautiful.
So please write something for me.
I'd like to receive a gift from the Prince himself.
What did you write?
There's a poem I've been fond of for a very long time.
And I figured it would be a nice gift.
-What kind of poem is it? -Wait.
Let me read it one more time.
I HOPE YOU LIVE FOR A LONG TIME AND BE THE OWNER OF MY HEART
I HOPE YOU LIVE FOR A LONG TIME
AND BE THE OWNER OF MY HEART
Don't get mistaken.
I only wrote this for you because I like this poem very much.
There's no other meaning, okay? I just really like this poem.
Your Highness, why would I get mistaken over a poem?
Let me see it.
Your Highness.
You're being very weird.
You're only making me become more curious.
I think I made a mistake.
Let me write something else. If there's anything you like...
I'll write something else.
I want what you already wrote. Please hand it over.
Your Highness, stop being like that.
My gosh.
Your Highness, come on.
Your Highness!
His... His Majesty is...
Prince Dowon never had smallpox.
I will do as you say, Father.
Withdraw your order.
I may be his father, but I'm also the King.
You're doing this because you're not his father!
I've once suffered from smallpox.
She's the only one who can protect Prince Dowon.
"Mo-hwa"? Did Her Majesty really say "Mo-hwa"?
You weren't the one who banished Prince Dowon.
You are out of line.
You're the governor of Pyongan Province, so that's where you should be.
What are you doing here in Haeju?
The reports made to the government are all lies.
Please help and save our people.
We're just trying to learn what we don't know.
I must go to Pyongan Province right now.
Subtitle translation by Ja-won Lee