Thumbs up/Thumbs down

1. The Dog: Two thumbs down

Nope. Royal Chinese or not, this dog has everything I dislike about dogs. It sheds; it farts; it snores; it smells; it’s stubborn. There can only be one high-maintenance bitch in my house and you betcha it’s not going to be dog.

2. JeYoon the Bastard: Two thumbs down + Two halluces down (Vocabulary of the day: hallux = big toe, halluces = plural of hallux)

Does the writer or the director have a crush on this actor? Why is his character STILL stealing precious minutes from our couple? I’ve zero interest in seeing his moon-face.

I know that in western plots, there’s sometimes a deuteragonist serving as sidekick or foil to the protagonist. Example: Dr. Watson to Sherlock Holmes, Ron Weasley to Harry Potter, and Donkey to Shrek.

But in this kdrama, the writer is fleshing out this character with way TOO MANY unnecessary details, for instance, his prosopagnosia, his gisaeng, his interrogation with the maid, his love confession with the lantern, his relationship with Minister Jung, his kidnapping, his ambition, his quest to overcome his birth, his penchant for puzzles, his secret mission to take down Lord Park, his back problem that serve as weather barometer, EVEN his TRIVIAL knowledge about ink used for talisman. Like WHYYYY? Why should we have to care for this moon-face guy?

As it is, the audience knows more about the personality of this guy than the King, Mooyoung, and villainous Minister Kim, COMBINED.

So, I’m asking the writer, for the love of (kdrama) gods, please stop. The more I learn about him, the more he pisses me off.

The actor isn’t even cute.  #biteme

3. The Hunt for Baby’s Daddy. Two thumbs down

I don’t care. The only thing that matters to me is that it isn’t Lee Yul’s offspring.  All other information pertaining to the child’s paternity is irrelevant.

See? I’ve prepared my two baby presents for both possible outcomes.

However, it appears that the writer is trolling Mooyoung’s case hard, what with the content of the CPrincess’ letter being revealed and her attempts to stop him from leaving her side. But the CPrincess’ story doesn’t add up.

4. The CPrincess keeps on lying!  Two thumbs down.

Let’s reconstruct what we know about L’Affaire MooYoung. We know that he was shot in Episode 8. Again, this is the conversation between the CPrincess and MooYoung shortly before he got shot.

CP: Where are you planning to go?
MY: I haven’t thought about that yet.
CP: A place next to a field would be nice. Flowers will bloom in the spring. You’ll be as happy as you can be if you build a small house and live there. I envy you. At least you can leave.
MY: My apologies.
CP: Thank you for your work. This is for your great work. (hands him a small purse but he doesn’t accept it)
MY: (bowing head) Congratulations on your pregnancy.

He turned and sighed. She looked at him tearfully. Then an arrow hit him, and she gasped in horror.

In Episode 9, we saw the CPrincess confronting her father.

CP: Was it your doing, Father? Did you try to kill MooYoung?
Minister Kim: If I wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t be in there right now. (LOL. But what about that Eunuch that he tried to kill too? Why was he still alive then after Minister Kim tried to slash his throat?? Is this Minister Kim all hot air? Is he inept or just unlucky?)
CP: Then why is it that you’re not doing anything? If it was the queen’s doing, you’d gather the officials and plot against her.
MK: How would I explain MooYoung? Should I open an investigation and reveal that my assassin got hit by an arrow that was aimed toward the crown princess? No good will come out of exposing this matter.

(he changes topic)

MK: I heard you were with MooYoung alone far away from Lady Kang. The Crown Princess shouldn’t be seen with another man outside the palace.

But SHE didn’t set up the encounter. Her palanquin was passing by as MooYoung left Minister Kim’s residence and her lady-in-waiting, Lady Kang, stopped her palanquin when she saw MooYoung. As I said in another post, the CPrincess wasn’t expecting a delay. She asked Lady Kang, “What’s the matter?” because she didn’t know that MooYoung was going to be there. What was the deal with MooYoung’s assassin?

CP: He has done a lot for me. I wanted to pay him back to avoid any issues later on.
MK: Go back and rest. If you lose the baby this will all be in vain.

In Episode 10, we had more confusion coming from this writer. The sidekick of MooYoung confessed to shooting the arrow. But I’m not sure if he was admitting to this crime to HIDE an even bigger crime/conspiracy.

Assassin(s): The physician says he’s in critical condition.
MK: Was he attacked again?
Assassin(s): It seems that way, but it wasn’t a sword.
MK: He was in the forest nearby? Why did he go there in such a state? What is it that you’re hiding from me?

Assassin: I deserve to die in your hands.

To me, the other assassin looked surprised. Remember BOTH assassins knew that the Crown Prince Lee Yul was alive and in MooYoung’s sister’s company. I thought that he was scared that his partner was going to confess to having seen MooYoung’s sister or that MooYoung lied about cutting off the Crown Prince’s hand. But thanks to this assassin’s confession, Minister Kim was stopped from further questioning them about MooYoung’s reason for being in the forest given his condition.

Assassin: (continuing) The truth is, I hit MooYoung with the arrow. I did it because I didn’t want to leave your side. I was aiming for his foot. I thought he’d change his mind while receiving treatment but I lost control of the arrow.
MK: Lock him up and make sure he doesn’t get a drop of water until I say so.

Later, the CPrincess tried to get him to escape the jail.

CP: My father will torture you. You may run away now.
Assassin: That’s all right. Running away will only make things worse.
CP: Are you confident that you won’t get caught?
Assassin: Of course. But MooYoung will try to leave again once he recovers.
CP: That’s not something you should worry about.

For me, there were questions stemming from this encounter in jail.

Question 1: Was the Assassin telling the truth or lying about shooting down MooYoung?
Question 2: If the Assassin was lying, what was his reason?
Question 3: If the Assassin was telling the truth about shooting MooYoung, was he working with the CPrincess?
Question 4: If the Assassin was working for the CPrincess, then why did she ask her father if HE tried to kill MooYoung in Episode 8?
Question 5: Who was the CPrincess really protecting here?

According to the letter that Minister Jung had retrieved by the secret hiding place, the CPrincess was concerned about the safety of an unnamed person. The letter said:

I had a worrying dream last night, so I couldn’t just sit and wait. They say you should keep the most precious things distant. That’s what I’m going to do.

Question 6: If she was really protecting MooYoung, then why was she keeping him to her side? According to the letter, she was keeping the “most precious things distant.”  She also handed him her purse (presumably containing money) to “pay him back” for the many things he’d done for her. Why did she have him shot?

5. Hanyang. One thumb up.

Coming back from Hanyang, WonDeuk decided to live as an ordinary villager because of the dire warning of Mooyoung. Mooyoung told him, “You’ve already died. You’re already dead in everyone’s minds. So don’t try to find out. If your existence becomes known, countless lives will be lost.”

So, he set out to learn and engage himself in typical manly pursuits in a village. He told Hongshim, “A man should know how to weave straw, cut firewood, and use a scythe.” He really could do anything that he set his mind to. He was settling into an ordinary life of a commoner.

But after being used as a target practice by Lord Park and JooYoung, he glimpsed flashbacks of his previous palace life. I’m not quite certain whether he had fully regained his memory, but for sure, he learned that there was a MORE urgent and compelling reason for him to adopt and live the commoner’s existence. Mooyoung only told him about countless lives being lost if he reappeared. But after his flashbacks, he grasped that there were bigger things at stake. His personal happiness and life with HongShim were endangered and the anonymity of a commoner’s life was safer for them both.

That was why he refused to copy books. He was abandoning THAT life and everything connected with it.

HS: What are you doing?
WD: I’m making straw shoes.
HS: Whay are you making them?
WD: Because I can sell 5 straw shoes for 10 nyang.
HS: If you want to make money, you can copy books.
WD: I will do no such thing. This is more fitting for me.

Awwww…

HS: Did something happen in Hanyang? Tell me the truth? What did you find out? (WD stands up, she grabs his wrist) Where are you going?
WD: I’m thirsty. I’m going to get some water.
HS: (holding him back) Are you trying to avoid me? They loosed an arrow at you and you just stood still. Why did you do that? Why were you standing still? You should have done something! You weren’t like that before.

She meant that he wasn’t the type to just stand still and accept being abused.

WD: If it were WonDeuk, he would have done that.
HS: Are you saying that you’re going to live as WonDeuk? But you’re not WonDeuk. You said you wanted your memory back. That’s why you went to Hanyang! So what are you doing?
WD: I don’t want any of my memory back.
HS: Why?
WD: I want to stay by your side.

Awwwww again…  He understood that to regain his past memory meant to forget about HongShim in the future. He didn’t want to return to his former life because it meant giving her up as he was already married to another woman.

HS: I was planning on leaving when my brother comes back. We were going to leave you here. My dad and I were planning on leaving. When I see my brother again, I have to spend my life in hiding. If that’s okay, will you leave with me?

To me, Hanyang represents a reality that he cannot escape. Although it is tempting to hide away in the countryside with HongShim or to live on the run with HongShim and her brother, he must return to confront the intrigues and power struggles, to extricate himself from his marriage, and to finally assume the duties of a Crown Prince as he had promised his father before he left for the rain ceremony.

Avoiding Hanyang, especially when he knows what’s at stake, isn’t a viable option for him. I doubt HongShim would approve of him fleeing from duties, too.  Although she asked him to leave with her, she also wanted him to be a dependable man, a man of his word. He wouldn’t be half the man she loved if he couldn’t uphold the responsibilities entailed by his royal position and birthright.