Woohoo they kissed!

Won Deuk comes home and confirms that he now knows he isn’t Won Deuk. Hong Shim confesses the truth that she only married him so that she wouldn’t be beaten to death or become a concubine. She feels guilty and tells him that it’s alright if he wishes to divorce her, but Won Deuk answers with a sense of betrayal and loss, “My heart, what are you going to do about it?”

He leaves the house after telling her not to call him Won Deuk anymore. Separately, both recall the times when Won Deuk insisted that he wasn’t Won Deuk and Hong Shim/others said he was. Later, Hong Shim finds Won Deuk back in his room, asleep on the floor. She gently places a pillow under his head and a blanket over him. Won Deuk opens his eyes after she leaves the room.

Woohoo let us rejoice to see Moo Yeon alive, although still in a coma. Princess visits and asks coldly about his condition, but you can tell that she’s worried. She confronts her father, who says that it wasn’t his doing. But he can’t investigate anything about it in the open either, since he can’t exactly go around telling people that his assassin took a shot for the Princess. I was/am a little confused here, because he didn’t actually take a shot for the Princess did he? Or did the Princess just say that to help him earn some credit?

When the Vice Premier chides Princess for being alone with Moo Yeon, she stands firm that Moo Yeon has done her a great service. I quite like how Han So Hee portrays the Princess – there’s an incredibly cold and icy demeanour, but it still allows us to see that she actually cares for Moo Yeon.

Hong Shim’s father comes back with 2 warm eggs to give delightedly to the couple, but smashes them accidentally out of shock when he hears from Hong Shim that Won Deuk found out the truth. He rushes back to the house and tells Won Deuk that he didn’t intend to lie at first. He brings Won Deuk to the place where he first found him and Won Deuk asks about his clothes. The father tells him not to look for such things because someone definitely wanted him dead.

He believed that Won Deuk wasn’t a runaway criminal, and even if he is, it doesn’t matter now. Can’t he just stay as his son-in-law? In this moment, I felt slightly uncomfortable watching the father, but I think it’s highly because Jung Hae Kyun portrayed such an icky father in Save Me so well, that I can’t dissociate the image sometimes.

Anyway thankfully, the father doesn’t impose his views and knows that he cannot force Won Deuk into any decision. Meanwhile, Hong Shim is upon the hill gathering herbs with Kkeut Nyeo and starts crying when she realises that she has started relying on Won Deuk. Kkeut Nyeo hilariously thinks that Hong Shim is crying because KKeut Nyeo hopes that Hong Shim’s future son looks like Won Deuk (rather than Hong Shim). Haha.

Won Deuk wanders around in the forest and recalls the memory of being shot at. Hong Shim fills Kkeut Nyeo in the truth and Kkeut Nyeo consoles her that Won Deuk will not leave her. She pushes Hong Shim into the water to cheer her up and gets dragged down herself. Won Deuk walks past just as the two girls splash each other with water.

Hong Shim returns home to find an irate Won Deuk and is ordered to sit down. He wants to know what she lied about and more importantly, “Who is the he in your lies? Is it the real Won Deuk?” As the interrogation goes on, it becomes apparent and rather cute to realise that Won Deuk/Yul is jealous – he’s jealous of the ‘he’ in her lies. “You said we spent a night at the water mill. Is that a lie?” Hahahah.

Hong Shim double takes and explains that she only learnt of a Won Deuk from her father, who said that he lived across the river. But before Hong Shim could meet him, he enlisted in the military, so she doesn’t know the real Won Deuk. AHA! That makes so much sense now, why Hong Shim believed her father that Yul was Won Deuk and why it felt like Won Deuk was supposed to be a real person, and not just a figment of her lie. I only wish they weaved this in way earlier.

Yul mentions childishly that the real Won Deuk is a sorry sight and Hong Shim enthusiastically replies that good looks don’t matter. But she looks at Yul’s face and freezes a little. Hahahaha. He tells her that while she started the marriage, only he can end it. And before he ends it, she’s still his wife, and him her husband.

Je Yoon’s friends throw a little farewell party for him and he privately gives Ae Weol a mirror with embroidered flowers at the back, in replacement for his promise to go flower sight-seeing with her. He makes a request for her to keep watch on the Vice Premier’s actions.

Won Deuk has such a kiddy side to him, as he highlights the importance of marriage to Hong Shim just to make her feel bad. “What have you done for me?” He sacrificed his body for her, but she only gave him tattered clothes. Since he can’t think of his name, he wants her to look at him and think of possible names. It’s funny because Hong Shim peers at him and goes, “Do do. You always carry yourself so high and mighty.” Might this also be a funny link to Do Kyung Soo’s name?

Won Deuk seriously just sits there and rattles off a list of names, which Hong Shim is supposed to take down. Thanks to Hong Shim’s random guess, he feels like he’s a Lee. And just when he hits ‘Yun’ – which is rather close to ‘Yul’, Hong Shim falls asleep and he catches her with his shoulder. She snuggles into his shoulder but he pushes her away and chases her out of his room. He then does some squats and lies down. Hahaha. Someone is on fire eh.

A twist of the story shows us that the Crown Prince’s eunuch hasn’t died and that Je Yoon found a physician to tend to him privately. In his sleep, Won Deuk suddenly dreams of being assassinated by Moo Yeon and realises that in all his memories, the man in black is the same.

The next morning, Won Deuk finds Officer Park to ask whether he can look at the office records. Officer Park chases him away, annoyed that Won Deuk is asking for favours after he threw him a birthday party. Meanwhile, the nobleman from the previous incident is throwing a fuss that Won Deuk lost his horse. Hong Shim promises to find it back for him.

Je Yoon is on his way to Songjoo Village when he runs into Hong Shim on the runaway horse. He stops the horse and protects Hong Shim from the fall, but the horse escapes.

Hong Shim rattles off at the stranger, only to realise that it’s the guy from the bridge. He kids that he’s all the way here because of his feelings for her but finally explains that he’s the new governor. Hong Shim mistakes it as his name and he laughs, “I am Jung Je Yoon, and I am the new governor.” Hong Shim immediately bows but runs off to find the horse.

Whilst Officer Park brings Je Yoon around the magistrate, Won Deuk sneaks into the library to look at the records. He reads that the village supplied food and water for palace guards and realises the men he saw on Mount Chunwoo were guards. Je Yoon and Officer Park enter the office and Won Deuk quickly hides, but Je Yoon notices him and asks later what he’s doing in the library.

In that moment, I felt like I get it why Je Yoon has prosopagnosia – so that when Won Deuk turns around, he can’t even tell that’s the Crown Prince! Ugh! Je Yoon!!! Officer Park tells Je Yoon this is the Won Deuk that Je Yoon was looking for, and Je Yoon passes the royal gift of 4 rolls of top-quality silk to him on the king’s order.

While on the way back, Won Deuk runs into Goo Dol who complains about having to bring tributes to Hanyang. Won Deuk instructs Hong Shim to sell the silk in order to pay off the debt, because he decides to go Hanyang too to find his memories. Hong Shim packs a bag for him and even chases after him to wish him luck in finding his memories. She looks at his retreating back sadly.

Dad comes home and Hong Shim explains that one of the books the villagers brought for Won Deuk to read was actually Governor Jo’s ledger. Won Deuk bought it, she gave it to the Royal Inspector and the king bestowed them gifts in order to honour their contribution. Well well, thanks for clearing up my confusion with regard to the ledger too! I was quite confused when the ledger came about because Won Deuk only said he bought it.

Dad is sad that Hong Shim let Won Deuk go, knowing that she likes him. But Hong Shim stops him, not wanting his father to change Won Deuk’s destiny.

Je Yoon meets the villagers and introduces that he’s not born with a silver spoon in his mouth; he is the son of a concubine. The magistrate’s doors will be opened so come any time when they have a question. After he ends his speech, he stops Hong Shim and is in disbelief that she’s married just after 2 months. Hong Shim explains the back story and Je Yoon grumbles, “Why did you do this, Your Highness?” Hahaha, there’s so much irony in the fact that his love rival is the Crown Prince himself.

Although Je Yoon told Officer Park to summon everyone in the village, only the villagers turned up. Officer Park observes privately that it’s going to be a rocky road for Je Yoon, for the noblemen all didn’t appear. As per the Vice Premier’s instructions, Je Yoon tries to curry favour with Official Park, even greeting his pet dog in Chinese because apparently the dog is a gift from a Ming official. Alright, alright.

Official Park says that his shoulders have stiffened up because his well has dried up and Je Yoon wants the villagers to fill it up with water from the nearby river. Hong Shim protests that it’s impossible, but Je Yoon throws out a line that even a water droplet can eventually form a hole in the boulder. Well yeah boy, that probably takes like thousands of years or something. The villagers whine that he’s even worse than Governor Jo but follow his instructions out of fear of being punished.

Won Deuk reaches the palace along with the other villagers. While Goo Dol salivates over the palace maids (slap him Kkeut Nyeo!), Won Deuk looks around the palace and sees some palace guards. He follows them and identifies Kwon Hyuk as someone whom he knows. However, before he has a chance to speak with him, the palace guards stop him and almost haul him away, but thankfully Goo Dol appears and explains that Won Deuk isn’t right in the mind. As Goo Dol hauls Won Deuk away, the Vice Premier’s son sees him.

Back in the marketplace, Won Deuk says, “Goo Dol…”, and Goo Dol hilariously replies, “That gaze is making me uncomfortable.” In the next scene, we see the Vice Premier getting on his palanquin and almost running into Won Deuk (!!!) but thankfully, the palanquin turns around in the last second and Won Deuk remains unscathed.

The Vice Premier meets with the Queen’s right-hand man privately at the gisaeng house, who wants to become the tail of a dragon rather than the head of a snake – basically, jumping sides. In order to prove his worth, he tells the Vice Premier that the Queen is going to spread a rumour that the Princess’s baby is not of royal blood. Ae Weol listens in from the outside and scutters away.

Moo Yeon wakes up and runs into the Vice Premier’s son who reveals that he saw someone who looks like the Crown Prince earlier. I realise in this moment that Moo Yeon’s fate is now tied to the Crown Prince – if the Vice Premier realises that he’s alive, Moo Yeon would be killed.

Won Deuk tries to follow Kwon Hyuk but loses him after a random marketplace memory hits him. Moo Yeon tags after him and attacks when Won Deuk is alone in the forest. However, Won Deuk takes him down easily and points the sword at him, “You must know who I am. Answer me.”

Hong Shim doesn’t like how Je Yoon is sticking with Official Park and tricks him into falling into a pithole. She throws him a stick, and tells him that if he digs hard enough, the ground will become flat enough for him to escape one day. HAHA. She eventually gives him a rope, but mutters that she thought he was a nice guy, “I am disappointed with you, but I hope you won’t be disappointing in the future.” After he leaves, he murmurs, “What about my disappointment then?”

Thanks to the tip off, the Vice Premier visits the Queen and reveals that the only reason why he put her on the throne was because her fortunes said she wasn’t to have a son. And the reason why he let her live was because her father kneeled and begged for lying.The Vice Premier unrolls the blank piece of paper with the royal seal and asks the Queen what would happen if he writes her name there. “Please don’t do anything.”

Hong Shim runs into Goo Dol who tells her that Won Deuk has stayed behind to find his memories. She wanders sadly and doesn’t know why her heart feels sad. But at that moment, she sees Won Deuk who walks to her. She asks hesitatingly, “Did you find your memories? I did not think you would come back once you found them.”

Won Deuk steps forward without a word, holds her face gently and leans in for a kiss. This aint some peck on the lips.

Hong Shim closes her eyes, reciprocates the kiss and subconsciously holds his clothes tightly at the side.

-the end-

I like that this episode clarifies two main questions that niggled the back of my mind, and the fact that they made sense shows that those were the backstories the scripters had in mind along. However, my gripe is that they shouldn’t even have been questions in the first place.

I mostly enjoyed this episode, and of course that kiss at the end. It was a quiet sort, yet passionate and gentle at the same time. Whee.

What did Moo Yeon tell Won Deuk that made him react this way? I also liked the addition of Je Yoon in the mix and it felt good because he isn’t just performing the role of a love rival, but also an important aide to Yul.

At the moment, I liked that Won Deuk is actively seeking out clues to trigger his memories and that there’s some agency involved. It’s just that I have high expectations for the memory reveal – where it all hits him at once, and he goes, “I’m the Prince,” or something, and I hope the show won’t let me down in that moment. The problem that this show has to avoid is being predictable – for the scheming is generally, rather simple.  It’s doing well now because of the main couple’s story and chemistry as well as certain twists which worked, but I hoped it won’t become one of those shows that bank only on the couple to carry it through.

<3thoughtsramble