(This drama was picked and sponsored...)
(by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and KOCCA.)
(Episode 29)
The military camp to protect Hanyang and the royal army...
are defending the royal palace.
So you do not need to be worried, Your Majesty.
You have our full trust.
Of course.
Your Majesty!
The Japanese army is attacking the Gwanghwamun Gate.
Where are you going?
We need to find a way out of here.
There are the enemy forces at Yeongchumun Gate!
Everything will be okay.
(Yeongchumun Gate, Gyeongbokgung Palace)
Load your guns and fire!
- No! - My goodness.
You jerks!
What in the world...
are they doing?
Those darn punks.
Do you think you will be able to get away with this?
- Stay still! - Yes.
Figures.
Your older brother is the chief of hyangcheong.
He must be executed!
- Execute him! - That is correct!
You must bring back order!
- There must be order! - Please calm yourselves.
I will talk to Jipgang Baek...
about what to do with the man who assaulted an aristocrat...
and come up with a reasonable punishment.
- Gosh. - That is nonsense.
Joseon is a country of nobility.
And whoever assaults an aristocrat...
should naturally receive severe punishment.
My goodness gracious.
Lord Hwang, we have a serious situation.
What is wrong?
Lady Hwang...
is being forced to get married.
(Forced marriage: Being forced to marry someone against one's will)
She is being forced to marry? Who did such a thing?
It has to be Jipgang Baek.
Do not lie!
- Master, this is slander. - "Slander"?
Kim Ga and his men are the ones who did this to her.
So who do you think is behind them?
- That darn punk! - No, wait!
Lord Hwang!
- What an ungrateful punk! - Darn him!
My goodness.
Where is Kim Ga?
I am over here.
Kim Ga, what in the world are you doing?
My goodness, there is no need to get angry.
Lord Hwang totally belittled Jipgang Baek.
So I am teaching him a lesson.
Arrest him.
Let us talk things out.
Come inside.
Young Master Baek.
Do not worry.
Considering your friendship with Yi Kang, I will show you mercy.
Leave Gobu with the others immediately.
Before that,
I want you to see...
who is going to marry Lady Hwang.
(Kim Hak Soo, born in 1878)
He is only 17 years old.
He was mostly called by his nickname.
"Beon Gae".
He was shot during his night search operation.
He bled...
a whole lot and died.
So?
You killed him.
Ogre.
"Ogre"?
What are you talking about?
Are you serious?
Every night, you came down with this in your hand...
and killed countless loyal soldiers.
Do you know what happens...
if you falsely accuse the head of Jipgangso?
Both you and I have nothing to lose anyway.
Do you want me to reveal the truth in front of everybody?
Consider yourself lucky.
I have not blown your head off...
only because you are Yi Kang's brother.
I do not want to become a servant of evil and stray away again.
I want to return to being Baek Yi Hyun.
You are accusing an innocent man.
I am not an ogre.
I hear you are rich.
Just bring 100,000 nyang,
and I will leave Gobu.
You are wrong.
I said I am not an ogre, you rat.
You crazy little...
I know you are!
You jerk! You are telling me you are not?
You killed him!
You evil spirit!
What happened?
Baek Yi Hyun, you jerk!
What should we do? My goodness.
Young Master Baek.
Oh, no.
Are you okay, Young Master Baek?
Give me that gun.
You are merely a person from the middle class!
How dare you!
Do you think that you and I are the same?
This is why I should not have accepted...
a lowly officer's son as a pupil.
Where on earth did the gun go?
Kim Ga, are you crazy?
I am going crazy!
Tell Jipgang Baek to bring what I requested.
- Young Master Baek. - Ogre!
Run!
Oh, my.
Young Master Baek.
Gosh!
What is that noise?
Do not shoot us.
No. No.
No. No!
I really...
did not want you to see me like this.
I am sorry.
Young Master Baek.
Young Master Baek!
Young Master Baek.
(Gwanghwamun Gate, Gyeongbokgung Palace)
Keep shooting!
[VIU Ver] SBS E29 'The Nokdu Flower' "The King Surrenders to Japan" -♥ Ruo Xi ♥-
Attack!
The Japanese are determined.
Yeongchumun Gate is at risk.
What?
I will defend it.
Reserve troops, follow me!
- We will. - We will.
(Yeongchumun Gate, Gyeongbokgung Palace)
Charge!
Fix bayonets!
Charge!
You fools!
Your Majesty.
No!
You fools. Do you not fear retribution?
Those scumbags.
The general will not scold me even if I die here, right?
He will not.
We are loyal soldiers.
Come on! Let us fight!
Come on!
Fight!
Evacuate the King and the Queen!
(Geoncheonggung Palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace)
Hurry!
We are the ones who serve Minister Min Young Joon.
- Hurry inside. - We must go.
Whatever happens, stay close to the minister.
What about you?
Commander Choi.
You are an embarrassment. Get up!
Gosh. Bring it.
You sons of witches.
That Man.
- Is Lady Song safe? - She is.
You scumbags.
Hurry.
Barricade the gates!
Protect the palace!
My gosh.
Hurry!
Stand fast! Stand your ground!
Stand fast! Stay standing!
This is the last fight! Stay strong!
Stop!
Lord Min!
Stop what you are doing!
What is happening?
Is that not the King?
As of this moment,
(Japanese diplomat, Otori Keisuke)
leave the palace.
Now soldiers of the Japanese Empire...
will protect the King.
No...
Why that...
Everyone.
Do as he says.
- Your Majesty... - Your Majesty...
- No... - No...
- Your Majesty... - No, Your Majesty!
We cannot do this.
- No, Your Majesty! - No, Your Majesty!
- Your Majesty! - Your Majesty!
- No! - No!
No! Do not give in!
We cannot give in, Your Majesty!
- Your Majesty... - Your Majesty...
- We must fight! - Your Majesty!
- Your Majesty... - Your Majesty...
What on earth is happening?
Did the King just surrender?
- Your Majesty... - Your Majesty...
- Your Majesty... - No. Your Majesty...
Your Majesty!
- Your Majesty... - Your Majesty...
Your Majesty.
- Your Highness. - Your Highness.
Your Highness.
- Your Highness! - Your Highness!
Your Highness!
Gosh.
(June 21, 1894, lunar calendar, The Japanese invasion of Korea)
Please do not be like this.
My goodness!
Darn it!
Goodness.
How am I going to live without you?
Goodness.
My goodness. What should I do?
My goodness gracious.
Hey.
What should I do?
Master Baek.
Did Yi Hyun...
really do all this?
Apparently, the man named Kim Ga...
was the one who tried to force Lady Hwang to get married.
And Jipgang Baek was just trying to stop him.
Darn it.
I asked if Yi Hyun killed all these people!
Yes, he killed...
everyone here.
Master Baek.
Darn it!
Good job, Yi Hyun.
(Episode 30 will air shortly.)
(Episode 30)
No. Yi Hyun would not do that.
Mother, will you calm down?
Let go of me. I must find Yi Hyun.
The scumbag Donghak members...
are trying to frame my son.
My lady.
Move! Get out of my way!
My lady.
Do you truly believe it?
That softhearted Yi Hyun shot not just one but many men?
It was him.
At the Jeonju Castle battle,
a sharpshooter shot down the Donghak members every night.
The Donghak members called him an ogre...
and wet themselves whenever they mentioned him.
Why are you talking about an ogre?
What does that have to do with Yi Hyun?
That ogre...
was Yi Hyun.
My gosh.
Then he cannot survive now that the Donghak members took over.
Of course not. He cannot live in Jeolla Province.
Gosh, poor Yi Hyun.
Yi Hyun...
You took much more from others.
Do not let this get to you.
You fool!
Do you think you can get away...
with doing this to an aristocrat?
If you want to live,
run.
You have not changed at all.
But I want...
my children to live in a world where such base tricks...
are no longer needed.
It is for the best.
Yi Hyun.
When you come back,
come back an ogre.
The Reform Bill is being implemented at most Jibgangso.
But Gobu...
Did something happen in Gobu?
Deserted loyal soldiers and aristocrats...
clashed over the forced marriage.
Jipgang Baek got involved.
He killed many men and fled.
Why would he do that?
The young lady forced to marry...
was Hwang Seok Ju's sister.
I will go and sort things out.
General Jeon! General Jeon!
Governor.
I got a telegraph from Telegraph Office in Hanyang.
The Japanese...
invaded the palace.
(Invading the palace)
And? What is the current situation?
We sent back a reply,
but have not heard back.
That means they took over the palace.
My King!
(Geoncheonggung Palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace)
Lady Song.
Lord Min, the Minister of War, is being sent into exile.
He is taking the entire Min family with him.
I guess that means we cannot ask him for help.
We should be grateful that we are alive.
Let us go back to Jeolla Province now.
What in the world...
have I been doing?
Just because I was a businesswoman whose job was to make deals,
I gathered the rice in Jeolla Province...
and sold them to Japan.
I sold them...
to those horrible thieves.
Here you are.
Master.
You no longer need to call me that. All the royal soldiers...
were forced to disarm themselves.
I will soon be leaving the palace.
Did you say you met a merchant at Daeil store yesterday?
Yes.
He made a business offer, but I rejected it...
because he seemed like a spy in disguise.
We also had our eyes on Daeil store.
The person you met was not just a spy.
He is a military officer who gives orders to the spies.
I knew something was funny about him.
Where is this place?
Your Highness, she is here.
Is she Lady Song?
Yes, Your Highness.
What did she want again?
She wishes to build a temporary Peddler's Inn in Hanyang...
so she can save the peddlers' organization of Jeolla Province.
You may sit up straight.
We unexpectedly suffered a great tragedy.
But it will not be easy to destroy our court with 500 years of history.
I would love to bear everything I can to take back what is ours.
But I lost all my servants...
who have been my eyes, ears, arms, and legs.
And that deeply saddens me.
I do not know what to say, Your Highness.
I want you to help me.
Then you will be able to get what you want.
I am sorry to ask this,
but how do you want me to help you, Your Highness?
Become a business partner with Takeda.
And by doing so, you will report their every move...
to Her Highness.
But how will I freely...
be able to enter the palace when I am a mere merchant?
I will appoint you as my private messenger.
(Private messenger: A person who can freely enter the palace)
(Unhyun Palace, Hanyang)
Those jerks are all here.
What if something happens to Lord Daewon?
He is the only person the people of this country...
can rely on.
He is the guy who tried to start a fight with us yesterday.
Yes, we saw him in front of Daeil store.
No wonder he seemed somewhat peculiar.
He is not a merchant.
I am from the Empire of Japan Legation.
I am Takeda Yusuke.
I command you to get out!
Please stay calm.
We had no choice but to do what we did...
to get rid of the Qing army that considered Joseon as their own...
and the people of this country who agreed with them.
Shut it!
How dare you make a speech?
I heard the pain of giving birth to a child is near death.
So imagine how painful it must be to give birth to a country.
Just think of this as a necessary procedure...
for Joseon to become a civilized country.
We will become a civilized country on our own.
Take your soldiers back home.
We will return once your country's crisis is over.
Withdraw your troops and apologize.
That will end the crisis.
I will tell you what Japan wants.
We want you to act as a regent on behalf of the King.
(Regent: Governing a country on behalf of the king)
How dare you say that?
Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi does not want...
any more innocent people to get sacrificed.
Do you really want...
to bring more chaos to your country?
I hope you make a wise decision.
Stop.
How can you do this?
You should make the people get up and fight.
You should fight with us.
Come to the ferry once the curfew bell rings.
(Curfew bell: A bell that let people know the curfew)
Let us go.
I thought Lord Daewon would be different.
This is how a country gets destroyed.
I think we are in Japan.
Let us hurry up and go.
Welcome.
Lord Daewon!
- Lord Daewon! - Lord Daewon!
What are we going to do, Lord Daewon?
- Lord Daewon! - Lord Daewon!
He asked you to meet you at the ferry?
Yes.
What is he planning to do?
Do not turn back and keep walking. We have people tailing us.
You guys are Japanese, right?
This is good.
I was feeling really angry.
Beo Dul, you can take a short break.
Come here.
Those jerks.
We must leave before more of them come.
Where did she go?
You are finally awake.
Untie her.
I am sorry.
We sprayed anesthetic on this, but it must have been too much.
I found...
a piece of paper that has the lyrics of "Geomgyeol" written on it.
("Geomgyeol" is a song written by Choi Je Woo)
So that means you are a Donghak member.
I would like to know...
what your friend talked about with Lord Daewon.
(Lord Daewon: Heungseon Daewongun)
You see,
my hearing abilities are not that good.
Did Jeon Bong Jun...
send you here?
We were sent here by Admiral Yi Sun Shin,
and he gave us orders to teach you all a lesson.
Write down everything you know about Lord Daewon...
and Jeon Bong Jun.
I do not know anything.
Write down until tomorrow morning.
After that,
you will be treated differently.
(Daeil store)
What brings you here?
I am here to accept the offer you made yesterday.
But yesterday, you rejected.
Business deals...
are made after a couple of rejections.
You are quite interesting.
What made you change your mind?
Yesterday, I did not know you very well.
You gave me such a good offer, so I thought you were a fraud.
But I found out that you work for the Empire of Japan Legation.
How did you find out?
I saw you standing next to the Japanese diplomat.
Everyone in the city was in front of Gwanghwamun Gate...
this morning.
You still wish to do business with me...
even after what you saw today?
I cannot say I am happy about what happened.
But I am a merchant.
So I follow where money leads me.
Where money leads you?
Water flows from top to bottom.
But money goes from bottom to top.
How so?
Water follows the ways of nature.
But money is attracted to power.
Japan currently has power over Joseon,
so it is very clear where my money should go.
Great.
I look forward to our business.
I will stand guard here.
Then I will head to the ferry. Make sure not to miss anything.
Wait.
That is Lady Song.
I will call a carriage for you.
I prefer to walk.
By the way, why do you need so much rice every month?
You will soon find out.
Okay. Bye, then.
[VIU Ver] SBS E30 'The Nokdu Flower' "Ja In Becomes Takeda's Business Partner" -♥ Ruo Xi ♥-
You will soon find out.
Yi Kang.
Follow me.
What are you doing with that guy from Daeil store?
What about you? Why are you still here?
I asked you first, so answer my question.
Are you going to sell rice to him?
Yes, I have a good reason, so please turn a blind eye on this.
Forget your reason.
He is not a merchant.
I know.
- You know? - He is Takeda Yusuke,
an officer working at the Empire of Japan Legation.
You are going to sell rice even when you know that?
I told you that I have my reasons.
Did you see what happened to the palace?
- Yes. - And did you see...
what the Japanese army is doing here?
Yes.
Is this...
who you really are?
Yes.
Can I go now?
Yes, take this with you.
To be honest, I could not stop...
thinking about you until now.
But that will not be the case anymore.
My gosh, why is she not coming?
What took you so long?
Do you know how worried I was?
What is wrong?
Did things not work out with Takeda Yusuke?
No, it is not that. We agreed to do business together.
How am I going to enter the palace?
I heard you need to have a certified pass given to you...
by the Empire of Japan Legation.
Did you forget what I am capable of?
Japanese are greedier when it comes to money.
You are the best.
(Geoncheonggung Palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace)
I think something big will happen soon.
What do you mean?
I asked Takeda why he needs so much rice,
and he told me that I will be able to find out soon.
If they need rice for military rations,
that means a war will break out soon.
What they want is to start a war with the Qing.
Regardless of how strong Japan has become,
they will never do something so reckless.
Now that they have you and the city in their hands,
they will get rid of the Qing army...
and try to make Joseon become a country of their own.
Even if that is the case,
there is nothing I can do now.
You need to order Jeon Bong Jun to raise an army.
(Raising an army: An act of muster an army)
What kind of a king asks a rebel to start a revolt?
It is true that Jeon Bong Jun can be violent.
But he is very loyal to his country,
and he does not have an ulterior motive.
He has no ulterior motive?
The people will soon find out that the palace got invaded,
and that will enrage the people in the country.
People from across the country will form a loyal army...
to protect you and our country.
You must let Jeon Bong Jun...
and the Donghak members take the lead.
This is not something you should be hesitant about, Your Majesty.
The Joseon court with 500 years of history...
is faced with the dire crisis.
How can I send my thoughts to Jeon Bong Jun?
One of his men is waiting to meet me right now.
Lord Daewon, we are being followed.
Let us hurry.
Fight me.
Drop the blade.
You will not attack?
Fine, then I will.
Wait!
I do not want to harm you. Put down your blade.
Is this him?
Your Majesty.
Are you Jeon Bong Jun's right-hand man?
I am.
Because you put the blame...
of the forced marriage on Jipgang Baek,
the whole village shed blood!
This is not fair.
I truly believed that he was behind it.
Master, this man must be put to death.
Please save me.
All I did was report what I saw.
Master.
My gosh.
He did not lie on purpose.
Please let him live.
Beat him 200 times and then...
lock him up!
Yes, Master.
Take him away.
My gosh.
What a malicious man.
Have you found out where Baek Yi Hyun went to?
I will kill the ogre inside you.
Go back to being Baek Yi Hyun!
The ogre.
Defeat it yourself.
(Asan Bay, Chungcheong Province, Japanese fleet attacks Qing fleet)
(June 23, 1894, lunar calendar, the Sino-Japanese War breaks out)
(The Nokdu Flower)
Starting a war without the Joseon King's approval?
Someone high up within the court...
seems to be attempting to communicate with Jeon Bong Jun.
Do you not care about the crisis our country is in?
You are just as important as my country.
Yi Kang is trying to forget about me.
Can he forget about you?
Pretend that Yi Kang never existed.
So do as I say.
I already have a plan...
for my fate and Joseon.