This kdrama has a lot to unpack. I’ll start with the serious topics before I get deluged with other kdramas to critique this week, namely “A Good Day to Be a Dog,” “Castaway Diva” and the never-ending “Hidden Love.”

1. The political alignment

It’s always good to know who’s on whose side.

a. On one side, there’s the King, and his sickly offspring.

The King had one daughter married off to the hero of the story, Shim JungWoo (JW). She fell in love with him at first sight during his award ceremony, but as she was about to receive his bow at their wedding, she collapsed, and never regained consciousness.

Now, one would think that JW aka Prince Gyeongwoonjae had a lucky escape from a loveless alliance with the royal family. But unfortunately, the Joseon world didn’t recognize the concept of “till death do us part” in marriage.

Thus, with the princess’ untimely demise, the widower JW was sentenced to living a life as if he too had died. Eight years after the wedding, he was stuck in limbo, where he had to live like a monk (except he could eat meat!), couldn’t remarry or take a concubine, and was banned from taking public office. Being unable to hold a public office was his major gripe because all his life, he had aspired to become the Chief State Minister.

In fact, during his award ceremony and investiture, he declared to the royal court that he intended to utilize his brilliance and ingenuity to rid the city he was assigned to, of all corruption. Everyone was appalled by his display of conceit, but what could they do? They couldn’t call him out because he was in fact brilliant in his own right.

It wasn’t enough that the death of the King’s daughter derailed JW’s ambitions, but now, the King’s son, the Crown Prince, was about to wreak havoc on JW’s life, too. The Crown Prince was unmarried and sickly like his older sister. The King wanted to marry him off in order to preserve the line of succession but the Left Minister and his Dongno party sought to delay the marriage in hopes that Crown Prince would die before begetting an heir. If the Crown Prince (CP) died, then their own prince would be next in line to become the King’s successor.

The King was informed (note: whether the info was true or not is uncertain) that it was JW who advised the Left Minister on how to delay the CP’s nuptials. He supposedly told the Left Minister to spin the plight of the spinsters and beg the King to reconsider calling a marriage ban.

You see, it was standard procedure to call for a marriage prohibition in the kingdom right before the CP was about to marry. This was to enable the CP to choose his consort from all the eligible women in the land. However, this prohibition had a domino effect. Arguably, it caused hardship on all the single women, especially the older single women, because they had no choice but to delay their own marriages until the prohibition was lifted.

b. On the other side, there’s the Left Minister Jo.

He was the one who forced JW to marry the princess. Noteworthy: he acted as the marriage broker (or the matchmaker) in JW’s marriage, and he did it out of vested interest in his party’s dominance in palace politics. In the real world, his interference would have invalidated the marriage as JW was coerced.

JW: I’m bound to leave for Pyeongyangbu tomorrow, according to His Majesty’s order.

He was originally commissioned to be the deputy mayor of Pyeongyangbu, a prestigious job for someone his age at that time. I believe he was only 17 years old then.

Jo: A prince cannot take public office. That position is assigned to In Hyeon now. His Majesty will give you a big house in Bukchon as a wedding gift and your (older) brother will receive a public office. So this is a great opportunity for you and your family. And you will become a member of the Royal Family which will be a great support for us, Dongno Party.
InHyeon, the brother: Of course. It is all thanks to your help, Your Excellency.
JW: If it is such a great opportunity, your unmarried second son, In Gook, can become a prince.
Jo: The princess has chosen you.
JW: The Book of Rites said marriage is taking the good parts of the two families, serving the ancestors, and continuing the lineage. This means marriage is a matter between families. So how can the princess decide who becomes prince, only according to her liking? This is against the rites.
JW’s father: That is enough. The marriage between you and the princess is my will. So, just submit and obey!
JW: Father! Do you not know my dream is to become Chief State Minister? I will never become a prince who cannot take public office!

My comments:

a. JW has another brother named Shim Myeong Woo. The King assumed that in exchange for JW’s counsel re. the CP’s marriage postponement, his brother Myeong Woo, was added by the Left State Minister on the list of citizens to be pardoned in the springtime. Again, we don’t know if this was correct assumption because JW didn’t seem to know anything when he was hauled to the prison for “treason.”

b. JW mentioned the Left State Minister Jo’s second son.

I believe this son ended up marrying our heroine, Jung SoonDeok aka Yeojudaek (meaning Lady from Yeoju), but he passed away early, leaving SoonDeok a widow.

c. This is the reason SoonDeok aka Yeojudaek knew before the other matchmakers that there was no marriage prohibition that year. As the daughter-in-law of the Left Minister, she had “insider’s information.”

d. This shows JW and SoonDeok’s essential difference in perspective on marriage. To JW, marriage is about two families coming together. To SoonDeok, it’s about the individuals, especially the women.

e. JW thought the princess was being imperious and unfilial because only her wishes were being considered. To me, however, this says a lot about the King himself. It signified that he was an indulgent father, and a progressive leader. He could have arranged for his daughter to form a mighty alliance so he could gain more political advantage, yet he went along with his daughter’s wishes and made her happy.

f. JW was a filial son because he ended up following his father’s wishes. But he didn’t go off to his wedding without rebuking his father and brother. To his father, he said, “Are you happy to receive a big house in Bukchon by selling your son?” And to his older brother, he said, “Brother, you are unintelligent and greedy, so you are easily predisposed to becoming a corrupt official…. Remember this. If you want to keep this position for a long time, this position you got by selling your younger brother.”

Note here: it seems to be the first time that JW learned to view marriage as a commercial enterprise and children as commodities. He used the term “to sell off” children in marriage again in Episode 2 when he met the Hanseongbu officer.

Lol. I like how JW naturally demonstrated that he was the officer’s superior by sitting down while questioning the man.

The officer was investigating the suicide of a spinster. When JW asked him about his man’s family, the officer replied that he was “Jung SoonGoo, the eldest son of Jung YeonMoo, the border security officer.” Ha! I wouldn’t be surprised if this man turns out to be SoonDeok’s older brother.

JW himself mentioned the connection. He told the officer, “You must be the rumored in-law of the Left State Minister. If you gained an office by selling your sister, you should study even more because you made it in.”

Lol. Of course, at the time, he didn’t know that SoonDeok aka Yeojudaek is the Left State Minister’s second daughter-in-law.

On that note, it’s good to know that SoonDeok’s brother is a diligent and upright public servant. He earned JW’s admiration when JW discovered that he was investigating the crime independently and was even using the book JW had written on forensic science to study the victim’s injuries. I can see JW and SoonDeok’s working together in later episodes.

Moving on…

The Left Minister has two sidekicks.

The Minister of Defense. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a sexual predator. JW was supposed to marry off three sisters (I’ll call them the Maeng sisters) and the eldest one was supposedly offered to join the Minister’s household as a concubine.  I think she started the rumor that she was promiscuous and possessed by an evil virgin spirit to fend off the Minister’s advances.

And the Mayor of Hanyang whom JW bested in the State exams eight years ago. (Note: Hanyang or Hanseong is the ancient name of Seoul.) The Mayor didn’t think that taking care of spinsters was part of the government’s job. In his mind, as long as a woman was good at “sewing, cooking, and anything professionally,” she had the means to survive alone and didn’t need to marry. To JW, the Mayor was failing at his job, but interestingly enough, the Mayor was correct. Two of the Maeng sisters found occupations as seamstress and writer. Hence, they were self-sufficient financially, and didn’t need husbands to provide for them.

Noteworthy: our two main leads are connected with the Left Minister: JW by party affiliation, and SoonDeok by marriage.

2. Confucianism

JW is a Confucian scholar, and he is steeped in Confucian (or is it Neo-Confucian?) ideals.

For one, he’s dogmatic about fulfilling social obligations. Between husband and wife, father and son, public official and citizen, and king and subject, there’s a hierarchy with specific duties and obligations attached to the positions. JW believes that conforming to the rules written in the Confucian books is paramount. Without these rules, people won’t coexist peacefully and function efficiently in society.

That’s why:

a. he cited the “Book of Rites” when protesting his arranged marriage to the princess, but he yielded once his father spoke. He was following his duty to be a filial son.

b. he often quoted rules and regulations to get other people to conduct themselves properly.

c. he and the oldest Maeng sister argued about the interpretation of Confucian ideals in Episode 2.

Maeng girl: Sir, the only principle that comes before the principle of patriotism in Confucianism is filial duty. How could I delay tending to my sick money just to listen to a strange man who doesn’t believe my words? It would be wrong.
JW: Do you know that you are committing high treason? According to the law, when a woman does not marry before she turns 24, unless you are impoverished, the parents are to be punished. So, if you want to do due diligence for your parents, you will need to wed the person I choose.
Maeng girl: (giving up sparring with him) Please do try.

For another, JW’s also uncompromising about observing the rituals as dictated in the book, like the marriage rite. Not only do these rituals model good behavior, but they also establish social norms when done repeatedly by the general public. Unfortunately, however, he gives too much emphasis on the rituals and overlooks the emotional and spiritual needs of the individuals engaged in the rites.

JW: Marriage is to bring the good of two households together to support the nation and royal family and produce the next generation.
His aide: But still, do you not think you need to meet the ladies you need to marry off?
JW: Come now. I wrote appeals about marriage for eight years. There’s nothing I do not know about marriage. According to the family rites, the marriage ritual begins with inquiring matchmakers to match the families. We can just use the matchmakers to meet with the old maidens. Therefore, I will not need to meet with the old maidens of Namsan Village until they are wed.

Now, while JW is a Confucian scholar, Soondeok is a Confucian pragmatist.

She’s well-versed in the duties and obligations of a Joseon nobility raised in a Confucian household, but she uses her knowledge to help women make a good marriage.

Let’s take for example the neatness in appearance, and compare how JW and Soondeok dealt with untidiness.

In Episode 1, JW berated a clerk for wearing improper attire at work. He was filing his yearly petition for marriage annulment when the clerk made a snide remark about his petition. He naturally took offense, but he hit back at the clerk in an unprecedented way.

JW: Of course, what you said is punishable. But looking at your attire, you are not wearing your peaked cap correctly, daring to wear a jade ring, which only junior third ranks and above can wear, and your belt is supposed to be a finger’s distance from your navel. But yours is hanging as low as your knee. Hygiene is a given for official attire, but you have dried ink on your sleeves. Tsk! How can I overlook it when the situation is this bad?

Then, he got the clerk fired.

That’s how JW got the reputation of being a man full of resentment. People believed that he had memorized all rules and regulations of conduct in the books in order to use these rules and regulations against anyone who dared to cross him. He could oust people from their job by throwing the book at them.

In contrast, SoonDeok also observed something improper in the attire of the girl she was matchmaking. She saw a straw of hay on the girl’s skirt and immediately deduced that she had been meeting secretly in the mill.

Soondeok: How unfortunate! Her mother is trying to marry off her daughter on a pile of wealth into a renowned family so her son can have a connection for success. But her daughter is having a secret love affair at the mill. That’s why the face of this bride-to-be looks so terrible. (peeking behind the daughter’s back) If she is timid enough to wear that tacky hair ribbon her mother chose for her, she could not have rebelled against the marriage.

Instead of shaming the girl, like JW did, Soondaek proceeded to break off the marriage arrangement. She did it in a way that saved the girl’s reputation.

See the difference between JW and SoonDeok? They were both very observant, but they used their observation skills for different purposes.

Moreover, I like that SoonDeok is more compassionate about preaching the Confucian ideal of filial duty. Like I mentioned above, JW used filial piety to threaten the oldest Maeng sister to marry. Even the King called him out for it.

King: If you say you’re an inspector and threaten her with the law, you might be able to marry off the first daughter. Then what about the other two daughters? Are we to wait until they turn 24?

In contrast, SoonDeok preached filial piety too, but she didn’t browbeat people with it.

Boy: I need to shave my head? They say taking care of oneself is the beginning of filial duty. I cannot do that.
SoonDeok: Ah! You know that taking care of your body is the beginning of filial duty. (showing the bottle of poison he was about to drink) Do you not know dying before your parents is the worst thing you can do to them?
Boy: (guilty) You sure do know a lot about manners, Merchant.
SoonDeok: (smiling) After you two wed, gifting your parents with a grandchild seems like the way to make up for shaving your head, a small act of impiety.

The thing here is shaving his head meant that he was going to become a Buddhist monk, and that’s a no-no when Confucianism was the official state religion (or ideology) during the Joseon period. The Joseon royalty, nobles, and scholars like JW espoused Confucianism and suppressed the practice of Buddhism.

3. The romance

a. JW’s chest pains

b. Pornography, lol.

c. Soondeok’s dream

d. The titles

Lol. I’m sleepy now. I’ll finish this tomorrow.