Slow down on the budding romance and bickering and more on the mystery side. What our leads are up against isn’t a simple ruse to switch the heir to the throne but a meticulous scheme to bring everyone down. Defeating some greedy officials is one thing, but how can our leads beat their enemy when it is hiding in the background and laughing at them?
Picking up where we left off, Hwan catches Jae-yi red-handed and also in his arms before she falls into the lake. Luckily, they talk it out. Jae-yi says she understands Hwan though she was hurt by him. Even if everything pointed at her as the culprit, how could he let go of his trust in her that easily?
Admitting his mistake, Hwan apologizes. Actually, that was his intent when he visited Myung-jin’s lab earlier. But apologizing is one thing, and getting Jae-yi back to the eastern palace is another. Yeah, Hwan regrets his actions, but that is it. He will neither take her in nor let her sleep in the library again. What a petty way to get at Jae-yi for badmouthing him.
To pay Hwan back for teasing her, Jae-yi roots for the war department in the upcoming game between Hwan’s guards and officers from the war department, which is practically choosing Sung-on over Hwan. Hearing that, Hwan gets petty and joins the game this time. He hasn’t joined since the arrow incident, but his skills are still on point. This time both Hwan and Sung-on go all out as if their pride is on the line, but in the end, it is Hwan who wins the game.
Hwan might have won this game, but something dreadful awaits him. It is the shaman’s interrogation day, and the first thing that comes out of her mouth is murmuring about the ghost letter. Realizing how she says the same lines as in the letter, it isn’t a coincidence. Nor is she just repeating the rumors.
In fact, jointly with her group of hidden hands, the shaman is out to get the royal family, not just Hwan. It isn’t a simple plot to switch the heir to the throne, but a detailed scheme to take down the Lee family and enthrone the Song family instead.
Hearing that, both the king and Hwan get so nervous that the king sets off to slit the shaman’s throat, but she is one step ahead and takes her own life using the same venomous snake from which the poison was extracted. Before she took her life, though, the shaman carved the fourth character on her body. But if the shaman risked her life to do that, this means there is more to these characters than meets the eye.
Since the dried peony petals, the snake venom, and white-haired people were involved in all the recent murders, including Jae-yi’s family’s death. There is room for doubt now. The mastermind behind all those incidents is the same. And judging how they got to recruit one of Hwan’s guards to their side, it looks like we are up against a meticulous organization that is up to no good.
To make the situation worse; a plum tree is caught in a fire; but no matter how much water is used, the fire can’t be contained. Spotting that sight, Hwan calls for Jae-yi, the only one who could solve that mystery without blaming it on the shaman’s curse.
Meanwhile, Jae-yi, Ga-ram, and Myung-jin chase after a group of masked men, spreading red-colored notes (like the ones the tavern couple received) through flying lanterns. It isn’t a smooth pursuit, though. Even using their unique fighting and wall-scaling skills, Jae-yi and Ga-ram can’t catch the men. Worse, we end the episode with Jae-yi about to get shot by an arrow.
As much as I love the investigation arc and how it has both our lead and secondary couple working together, I can’t help but get worried whenever we visit the ghost letter/murder/curse arc. I enjoy watching our characters get into action, yet I don’t want the drama to turn too dark.
Seeing how complex the situation has turned out, it looks like the ones we are after aren’t typical greedy officials but a thoroughly trained organization whose ultimate intent is to bring down the royal family. Or perhaps we have a totally unanticipated mastermind pulling the strings from the background.
