Love in The Moonlight - Episode 5 and 6 Summary

Episode 5 -  Tell Me Your Wish

After Prince Yeong shrewdly brings the prime minister to his knees at the king’s birthday celebration, he notices that the lead dancer has disappeared and sets out in search of her. Ra On slips away from the performance quietly and doesn’t notice that the prince has spotted her until she’s pulled aside in the nick of time. Yoon Sung pulls her around the corner behind a bush, and they huddle with suspended breaths as Yeong heads in their direction. But it’s a different dancer he sees in the vicinity, so he turns and heads off in the opposite direction. Ra On is safe, for now.

Caught in her disguise, Ra On says that it’s embarrassing for her as “a guy” to be seen like this. She explains that she resorted to this because the prince would be in trouble if this important event were ruined, and Yoon Sung asks if the reason she put herself in such danger was for the prince. She answers readily that it was, since she’s employed in the prince’s palace and thus one of his people. Then Yoon Sung asks why she became a eunuch despite being a woman, and the direct question makes her freeze.

Yeong inquires after the mysterious dancer, and is puzzled to be told that nobody knows who she is. Yeong can’t understand how she knew every part of the dance, including parts he’d only told the original dancer who disappeared at the last minute. And then, he’s struck with a thought: There was one other person who knew the dance. He flashes back to his conversation with Ra On, where she’d boasted of her ability to learn song and dance at a glance.

Ra On doesn’t answer Yoon Sung’s question and excuses herself instead, although he stops her when he sees that her bare foot is bleeding. He kneels to bind her foot with a sash and asks her to wait, then runs off to grab her eunuch’s garb. Yoon Sung pulls up short to see the prince out in front, looking for Ra-on. Hiding her clothes out of sight, he tells Yeong that he saw her hurrying toward the prince’s palace, under the impression that the prince was already there. Immediately, Yeong and his entourage head off in that direction.

Yeong bursts into his chamber a short time later, and finds Ra On waiting for him after all. Eyes narrowed, he asks how long she’s been here and what she’s been doing. Ra On replies that she has been organizing documents, as he instructed, then she spies an ornament from her dancer’s costume peeking out under a book and quickly covers it up.

Yeong notices the movement, but as he stares suspiciously at Ra On, he asks himself what ridiculous things he’s imagining, and shakes off his line of thinking. He leaves Ra On to her work, and after he’s gone, she collapses into her chair in relief. In a flashback, we’d seen how Yoon Sung had given her the eunuch’s clothing and urged her to hurry back to the prince’s palace.

But the prince continues observing Ra On in the following days, and watches her in his library. When she sneezes and holds up a cloth to her mouth, he’s struck by the appearance of her momentarily covering her face.

Yeong tells her to sneeze again, then holds his hand up to cover the bottom half of her face. He flashes back to the dancer’s face, which unnerves him so much that he drops his hand. He shakes the thought aside again.

Ra On mentions the upcoming Chuseok holiday, asking hopefully if she might be allowed a day off. Yeong guesses that she wants to go to the wishing lantern festival, and she’s surprised that he knew. He orders her to step closer, then holds up a hand to her cheek—a gentle gesture that makes Ra On stiffen in shock. Then he smacks her hat, chiding her for wanting to go out when she has a fever. Ra-on retorts that her minor cold is her business, telling him not to worry, and Yeong blusters, “Worry? Who?” He orders her to stay in her quarters tonight, warning dire punishment if he catches her cold.

Princess Myeongeun calls Ra On out. She makes the pretext that she called Ra On out for her exceptional tea-preparation skills. The real reason for the princess’s summons is to ask about her pen-pal lover, Young Master Jung. Ra On had assured her before that although she had been the one writing the love letters, the feelings behind them had been genuine. Princess Myeongeun presses her for details about the young man, and Ra On answers. Yeong strolls by with his entourage, and Eunuch Jang points out that Ra On is out, despite his orders to remain indoors all day. Yeong grumbles to see Ra On disregarding his instructions. Ra On coughs, and the princess suggests they head back in. Ra On starts to row them back to shore, then pauses to comment on the princess’s cold “that time” too—according to Young Master Jung, he’d seen her riding a swing despite coughing, finding her lovely, and that prompted him to send his first letter. Princess Myeongeun furrows her brow, trying to remember when that happened. But when she places the memory, it upsets her and she bolts to her feet suddenly—which makes her lose her balance. Ra On lurches forward to steady her, and the princess falls back down safely in the boat… while Ra On falls into the pond. Unable to stay afloat, she flails for a few moments before sinking below the surface.

Yeong witnesses the fall and dives into the pond without a second thought, swimming underwater toward Ra On, prompting his eunuchs to panic and jump in after him. Yeong makes it to Ra On, slings an arm around her, and swims them back up to the surface. Yoon Sung walks by just in time to witness them being assisted out of the water and gapes in surprise.

The prince’s attendants fuss over him, while Eunuch Jang lights into Ra On for endangering the prince. Yeong points out that he jumped in of his own accord, and sees that Ra On is shivering. He pulls the cloak off his shoulders to give to her, but Eunuch Jang stops him—casting a look around, he indicates that eyes are watching and asks how a eunuch who endangered the prince could expect to live. Yeong registers the warning that appearances matter, and thrusts his cloak at the eunuch, saying that he doesn’t need it.

Eunuch Jang orders Ra On to apologize, and she does immediately. Yeong tells her to get up and heads off first, though he does cast a backward glance her way. Eunuch Jang warns that Ra On will be punished severely.

As Ra On makes her way back to her quarters, Yoon Sung finds her and drapes a cloak over her shoulders. She thanks him and excuses herself quickly, and he seems disappointed by that, asking, “You feel that your secret has been exposed, don’t you? Can you not think of it as me sharing your secret? Can you not believe that it’s a reassuring thing?” He tells her not to feel anxious because of him, or to avoid him. Ra On doesn’t have an answer, and excuses herself. As she heads off, Yoon Sung makes note of the building she heads toward, which he seems to recognize.

Eunuch Ma asks Eunuch Jang whether the mysterious lead dancer has been identified. Ah, right, Eunuch Ma was the one who spied Ra-on dressing in the dancer’s costume, though he keeps this bit of information to himself. What are you planning on doing with it, and should we be worried? Next, Eunuch Ma digs up Ra-on’s records, and sees that she passed the physical examination. He wonders how.

The king consults on state matters with the crown prince and the prime minister, who hear of the increased tributary demands from China. Yeong is outraged at the sudden increase, but Prime Minister Kim states that it’s in response to the prince’s regency, which has spurred them to be greedy. The king sighs, but Yeong gets fired up about the indignity. Prime Minister Kim argues that you can’t gain things without paying a price and the king concedes, not wanting to rock the boat or ruffle any feathers. He asks Yeong to “close our eyes to it this once.” Yeong replies that if you close your eyes one time, you’ll get them cut out the next: “I am sorry, but I cannot do that.”

That night, Ra-on dreams feverishly, going back to the day in her childhood when, on the night of the lantern festival, she and her mother had been on the run. Young Ra On had been dressed as a boy, and hadn’t quite grasped her mother’s fear as they made their way through the busy city. Seeing that the pursuing officers had been closing in, her mother had suggested a game of hide and seek, convincing Ra On to hide herself and not divulge her identity until Mom came back for her. Mom had done her best to hide her panic until Ra On had ducked under a table. Then she’d run, with officers close on her heels. Ra-on had cried, alone in her hiding spot, and now as she relives those moments, she cries in her sleep.

Sitting at her bedside is Yeong, and he wipes the tears from her cheek. Ra On grabs his sleeve and looks up, seeing only a blur and mistaking him for “Kim hyung,” aka Byung Yun. She tells him that she dreamt of the day she separated from her mother. “You dreamed a sad dream,” Yeong tells her. But Ra On replies, “It was a happy dream. At least I could see my mother again that way.” Ra On falls back asleep, and from a distance, Byung Yun sees the prince sitting at her bedside. Then he winces in pain, clutching his abdomen with a bloody hand. 

The next day, Ra On comes upon the prince in his library, thinking of him swimming to her rescue as she brings up yesterday’s events. Yeong reminds her coolly that she wasn’t to come near him until her cold was better. She retorts that she’s all better, which makes Yeong smile, until she adds that it’s thanks to the thoughtful care of Kim hyung. “Our Kim hyung?” he asks incredulously.

He orders her to sit down, and she refuses, coughing deliberately and exclaiming in faux concern that his precious health might be compromised. Yeong shoves a pill into her mouth while she’s talking, and tells her that it’ll be ten times more effective than Kim hyung. After that, Eunuch Jang informs Ra On that the eunuchs have been granted special leave for the Chuseok holiday, and hands her a wooden pass. She thanks him profusely and runs off in excitement, while Eunuch Jang wonders why the prince is granting leaves all of a sudden.

Yoon Sung heads to the building he’d noticed the other day, and reminisces about his childhood adventures here, when he was one of the prince’s close companions. He smiles at the happy memories… but when Yeong finds him standing there, the air becomes strained. Yoon Sung asks why Yeong accepted the regency. Yeong states his intention to drive out the enemy. It turns to flash back to a childhood memory, where he received lessons alongside Yoon Sung. The teacher had explained that childhood friends were on equal footing, but a king and his subjects were in a hierarchical relationships, drawing a representation with a horizontal line and a vertical one. “If you had to choose one, which relationship would you choose?” the teacher had asked. Yoon Sung had combined the two lines to form a cross shape, answering that his role would be to stop the prince from straying, and stay by his side forever to help him make the right choices. Yeong had replied that with a trustworthy friend and supporter like Yoon Sung at his side, he felt he could become an excellent king.

At the site of the lantern festival, Ra On takes up a spot on a bridge and watches everybody who passes with sad, disappointed eyes—she must be looking for her long-lost mother. Over at the palace, Yeong thinks of Ra On’s longing for her mother.

Ra On has been wanting to meet her mother again since they were seperated on lantern festival and now, and she looks up and recognizes a figure in the distance. We see her mother, walking toward her and breaking into a smile—it’s actually the Crown Prince, smiling as he joins her on that bridge. Yeong teases her for acting like she’d be having such a ball on her day off, and she retorts that she’s having fun right now.

The Crown Prince then tells her not to waste her time off, and instructs her to follow. However, Ra On says that she actually has appointment with someone. It turns out that she's meeting with Yoon Sung, because he has been pretty helpful to Ra On and Ra On agrees to meet with him, although she tries to reject him before. However, Yeong grabs her around the shoulders and insists she follow. He heads off wearing a big grin.

Together they take in the sounds and sights, observe the street performances, and play some festival games. Ra On is so hopeless at the archery game that Yeong actually shoots a doll from behind her, letting her believe she won it herself.

Meanwhile, Yeong stops to chat with a little girl selling wishing lanterns, and unintentionally insults her by offering her money without taking a lantern. He apologizes, then asks what her wish would be. She replies that she’d like to meet the king, to ask him to make Joseon into a better country. Yeong asks what a better country would look like, and she thinks a minute before replying that the king, who worries the most about his own people, will know the answer. That’s when a well-born young lady joins them to buy a lantern, only to have trouble locating her purse. Yeong asks to buy all of the lanterns, and the lady, Jo Ha Yeon (played by Chae Soo Bin), assumes he’s buying them for her and preens a little. Yeong leaves the girl one lantern for her own wish, and another to give to someone who has a wish but no money, indicating Ha Yeon. she wasn’t expect to be dismissed like that, but Yeong just leaves with a bow.

From the palace, the king watches the lanterns floating into the sky, calling them the wishes of his people—wishes to not be hungry, to be healthy. He asks if he can make a wish of his eunuch, not having a lantern of his own, and requests, “Take care of the prince. So that he does not break or collapse like my foolish self, watch over him.” The eunuch vows to do his utmost, though he looks a little concerned at what prompted those words.

Meanwhile, Byung Yun meets with a man who informs him of the date and time of the Chinese envoys’ planned departure. Ah, he’s a member of a secret organization that’s planning an attack on the envoys’ land route, to take back the tributes demanded of the downtrodden people. At Byung Yun’s hesitation, the leader asks if he’s afraid of his activities being discovered by the Crown Prince.

Byung Yun asks for more time until the prince makes his decision—he must be holding out hope that Yeong will find a different solution—but his leader warns him not to forget his duty: “You are not the prince’s friend.”

At the festival, Ra On watches wishing lanterns floating away with tears in her eyes. Yeong joins her and proudly presents her with a lantern of her own, which makes her smile. Yeong initially declines to write a wish of his own on the lantern, but Ra On presses him to, saying that if only one of their wishes were to come true, it would be better if his did.

Delayed by his grandfather’s politicking, Yoon Sung runs up to the festival and looks around for sign of Ra On. Yoon Sung scours the festival grounds and finally smiles to spot Ra-on off in the distance, preparing her lantern… and then registers that she’s with Yeong. The smile drops from his face.

As Ra On prepares the lantern for flight, Yeong looks over at her… and in that moment, with the bottom half of her face masked by the lantern, Yeong is struck with her eyes, and how they resemble the mysterious dancer’s.

Then it’s time to let them fly, and Ra On declares, “Let our crown prince’s wish come true!” As it floats upward, Ra On reads the wish Yeong wrote on it: “Let Eunuch Hong find his mother.” Stunned, she asks if that was really his wish. He replies, “Yes. Asking for your wish to be fulfilled is my wish.” 

Yoon Sung walks away, shoulders drooping, thinking of how he’d hidden Ra On from the prince’s view and called her his woman, and then asked her to consider them sharing in her secret.

Belatedly, Ra On realizes something strange, and asks how Yeong knew of her separation with her mother. Ah, right, she thought that was Byung Yun in her fever daze. But Yeong is lost in thoughts of his own, remembering the dancer and staring intently into Ra On’s face. It makes her uneasy, and she asks why he’s looking at her that way.

Yeong says, “I know this is absurd, but I don’t know why I keep seeing someone else in you.” She asks, “Someone else?”, “Yes,” he says slowly. “A woman.” Ra On’s eyes widen and she stands stock-still, not knowing how to react. Yeong continues staring closely at her face, and the tension builds and builds…

“Eunuch Hong!” A voice interrupts, and Yoon-sung joins them, apologizing for his tardiness. He informs the prince that he has a prior engagement with Ra On, and Yeong doesn’t say a word, waiting for Ra On to react.

Ra On excuses herself and turns to go with Yoon Sung—and Yeong grabs her wrist.

“I don't give my permission,” he says. “[He’s] my person.”

Episode 6 -  When I Want to Tell Untold Secrets

Yoon Sung readily agrees that Ra On is employed at his palace, but asks if his reaction is specifically because it’s Yoon Sung who wants to take her away. The prince scoffs that Yoon Sung is hardly that important, to merit that reaction. Yoon Sung presses for the reason, but they’re interrupted by gisaengs, who recognize Yoon Sung (from his drawing visits). 

Yoon Sung uneasily tries to extricate himself from their urging to have fun together, but Ra On shocks them all by declaring, “Let’s go!” 

She grabs a gisaeng and goes with the suggestion, but Yeong opts out. He tells her flatly to have fun by herself and walks off shaking his head in disapproval.

Meanwhile, a masked Byung Yun searches through a room in a house he’s just raided. He finds a stack of books, then flees with them just as his presence is discovered. Byung Yun’s escape takes him to the festival. Yoon Sung notices the oncoming commotion and grabs Ra On out of the way, shielding her as Byung Yun goes flying by—literally, as he leaps up into the air. Officers send a barrage of arrows after him, which he manages to avoid by twisting in the air. His mask falls off as he lands a distance away, and he winces in pain. 

As he looks over, he sees Ra On and Yoon Sung. Both Ra On and Yoon Sung look over, but it’s unclear whether either get a good look before Byung Yun flies over the wall, disappearing from view.

Back at the abandoned building he shares with Ra On, Byung Yun dresses his wound. At least until Ra On arrives, at which point he hastily covers up to hide his injury from view. 

She asks cheerfully when he got home, and pouts at his gruff reply to go to bed.

In the morning, Ra On dresses the Crown Prince, who is chillier than usual as he asks if Ra On had fun at the gibang last night. She just gives an awkward laugh, and Yeong says testily, “I’d forgotten momentarily that you were a man. No—that a eunuch is also a man who wants to hold a beautiful woman in his arms.” He instructs her not to think much of his words last night: “I will not confuse you for someone else anymore.” Yeong calls in Eunuch Jang to finish dressing him and dismisses Ra On. His coldness seems to both startle and hurt Ra On’s feelings.

A eunuch comes rushing up to ask Eunuch Jang to spare two eunuchs to send to a different palace. Eunuch Jang balks, saying that the crown prince dislikes the practice of lending out his eunuchs freely, only to have Yeong declare that Ra On can be sent.

Prime Minister Kim welcomes the arrival of old crony and new minister of rites, Minister Jo, and fawns over his daughter, who used to play (and fight) with the princess in their childhood. This is Ha Yeon, who last night met Yeong while trying to buy a lantern.

Yeong goes out for archery practice, and when he hits a bull’s-eye he hears Ra On congratulating his shot. 

He looks over to see her grinning widely at him before then disappearing from sight—she’s just in his imagination. In his surprise, he lets go of the arrow, hits a flagpole that starts to topple over. It starts to come down over Ha Yeon’s head as she walks by, and she yelps in alarm. 

Thankfully it misses her, and Yeong jogs over to check on her safety. She brushes herself off and starts to take issue with his familiar speech, only to look up and recognize him from the lantern festival.

She holds out a hand for him to help her up, a little cheeky in her address, not realizing he’s the prince until a eunuch calls out to him. She introduces herself and says that she had wanted to meet him again.

Byung Yun takes out the books he’d stolen, and flashes back to a conversation he’d had with the prince, who had voiced suspicions about the Chinese envoys’ questionable movements. Yeong had ordered him to investigate further into their black market dealings. At the last second, Byung Yun stuffs one book into his cloak before his leader joins him. Byung Yun identifies the books as loan-shark and trading records, and when his leader asks if this is the whole lot of them, Byung Yun lies that it is. The leader hands Byung Yun a list of children either orphaned or sold as slaves ten years ago, after the uprising. (This must be the peasant rebellion of 1812, incited by the real-life rebellion leader Hong Kyung Rae.) The leader adds that the list may contain Hong Kyung Rae’s blood kin, and instructs Byung Yun to locate them—they will be helpful as they mobilize the scattered ranks of their organization.

As Yeong listlessly flips the pages of his book, he sees something for the first time: grumpy faces drawn in the margins, flipbook-style, labeled “Flower” (for Flower Scholar). He imagines Ra On drawing these in while sitting nearby, flipping through to see the scenes she’s recorded, like when she bit his finger drunkenly. 

He smiles to himself, but that smile fades as he comes back to the present moment.

Yeong is attended to by his physician and asks if he’s been able to pin down what ailment he suffers from: He’s experiencing insomnia, difficulty in breathing, flushing in the face, and hallucinations. The doctor believes him to be sound of body, but hesitantly offers up a possible explanation for the symptoms. Yeong leans in anxiously to hear the verdict, not ready for the shock it brings: The doctor describes the customary relationship between a couple as “yin and yang,” but posits that the prince’s symptoms may arise when one likes someone who is “unsuitable,” leading to repression and internal suffering. The word “homosexual” isn’t stated explicitly, but given that yin and yang connote feminine and masculine energy, the implication seems clear, and startles Eunuch Jang into the hiccups. Thunderstruck, Yeong barks at the doctor that he’s wrong and orders him out, then holds his head in his hand, looking despairing.

Eunuch Ma visits the Chinese ambassador to tell him he can deliver something the ambassador has been trying hard to find. Ra On informs Byung Yun that she’s been assigned to night watch at the ambassador’s quarters, and then follows Eunuch Ma and she’s shown to the Chinese’s ambassador’s bedroom, and he leers at her to come closer. She nervously tells him she’ll stand her post outside, but he asks if she was that pretty dancer at the party, stopping her in her tracks. He steps uncomfortably close to examine her features, touching a hand to her check and wondering if she’s a man with a pretty face, or a woman passing herself off as a eunuch. Ra On pleads with him to stop and shoves his hand aside—and that ignites his ire. The ambassador slaps her face, then threatens that the prince’s fate lies in his hands. He grabs her closer, and Ra On pushes him away again, and this time the man falls down. Angered even more, he pulls back for a massive slap—and then the doors slide open and a guard goes flying.

It’s Yeong standing there with murder on his face, and he kicks the ambassador down and draws his sword. He raises his arm high, but throws the sword aside angrily. He grabs Ra On and pulls her away, ignoring the ranting of the ambassador behind him, and the calls of his other eunuchs. News of the incident sends the king into a panicked fit, and his queen tells him not to worry, as she will visit with the prime minister (her father) to fix this. She certainly looks gleeful to have the prince embroiled in trouble.

Yeong drags Ra On by the hand a fair distance away, then whirls on her furiously to ask how she could walk right into such a dangerous situation, and not leave at the first sign of trouble. She protests that she’s not in any place to disobey orders, especially to an ambassador, and adds that she worried that retribution might fall to the prince. He asks why she’d think of those concerns, bursting out, “Who are you—who are you to make me so angry?”

That’s when a group of royal soldiers rushes up to apprehend Ra On, ignoring the prince’s orders. He declares that he will take it up with the king himself, but finds that they won’t let him get to Ra On; he’s warned that they must bring her in, even if dead. Frustrated, Yeong looks over at Ra O, who looks at him with huge, scared eyes.

In the morning, Yeong prostrates himself in the king’s courtyard, begging him to take back his order and pointing out that he was at fault, not an innocent eunuch. The king orders the prince removed to his palace and shut in.

And so, Ra- O is left to huddle fearfully in prison, while Yeong is locked in his room.

The eunuchs gossip it out, and Eunuch Sung pokes at Eunuch Jang’s pride about having bragged about being assigned to the prince, suggesting that the prince may be on the path to dethronement. It’s so much fuss over one eunuch that he wonders if the rumors are true—that the prince is gay. Eunuch Jang bristles and denies it loudly. Listening nearby, Eunuch Ma offers, “I know that the prince isn’t gay. The other person may not be a man.”

That’s all he gets out before he’s cut off by the arrival of Yoon Sung, who calls him aside. He confirms that it was Eunuch Ma who called Ra On out that night to the ambassador’s quarters. Yoon-Sung opens a box and shows Eunuch Ma the pistol inside, explaining its efficiency as he loads a bullet. Yoon Sung levels the pistol at Eunuch Ma, who flinches and asks what he means by it. Yoon Sung warns him not to mess with Ra On, which causes the eunuch to wonder at his interest in her (him). His gaze sharpens and he asks, “The secret I know… do you also—”

Bang! Yoon Sung fires the gun. Eunuch Ma drops to the ground screaming, unscathed but terrified. Yoon Sung orders him not to be curious or say anything. And from this moment onward, if anybody finds out Ra On’s secret, Yoon Sung intends to kill Eunuch Ma. Holding up his last bullet, Yoon Sung says he’ll save it for him.

Byung Yun reports to Yeong on the Chinese envoys’ plans for departure in two days. Yeong declares that they must find conclusive evidence to take down the ambassador. That makes Byung Yun consider that one ledger he held back, but he hesitates because his leader had warned him not to let anybody in the palace know of their activities. He doesn’t say anything about it now, though, and the prince asks how many guards are stationed outside, and whether Byung Yun can make his way through them. The next thing we know, the prince flies through a window and runs toward the nearby wall, managing to get over it before his staff can catch up. Eunuch Jang directs everyone to chase after him.

Some time later, a dark-clad figure walks right up to Ra On’s cell, and she’s floored to find Yeong there. He unlocks the door and joins her inside, then tosses the ring of keys outside. He tells her he’ll just sit like this for a moment, and they sit together quietly. Outside, Byung Yun stands watch, prison guards unconscious at his feet. Ra On urges Yeong to leave, and says he shouldn’t abuse his power just over one eunuch. He counters that he can, as the crown prince, and ekes a smile out of her.

“Now you smile,” he says, looking at her for a long moment. Then he looks away, and she asks if he’s still angry with her.

“It’s not because of you,” he replies. “When I look at you, it angers me so much I can’t endure it, and it’s because of that me.”

He asks her to promise one thing: that whatever happens, don’t suffer for someone else’s sake—and that goes extra if it’s for his. She reluctantly promises, and he smiles at her.

The ambassador is in a meeting with the Kims, he demands the eunuch handed over to him, Yoon-Sung protests strenuously, but his uncle hisses at him to shush; the minister seems all too willing to oblige that request. 

Yoon Sung drops by the prince’s building, and while Byung-yeon initially blocks his path, he backs down when Yoon Sung states that he’s here as a friend. He first offers his help, then corrects himself, saying that he’s the one who needs help.

On the day of the ambassador’s departure, Ra On is led out to be handed over. The king’s head eunuch pulls her aside to express his regret at sending her off to this fate, knowing she’s innocent, and tells her that the prince spent the full night supplicating the king on her behalf. The head eunuch asks if she has family that he can meet afterward. Ra On explains that there’s one person who raised her after plucking her out of war-torn straits, but she doesn’t know where he is right now. Those words strike the eunuch, and he asks if she was orphaned in the peasant rebellion ten years ago. Ra On confirms it, and also her age: eighteen. The information makes the eunuch’s head swim

.

The Chinese entourage sets out, with Ra On forced along on foot, but barely step a foot before an arrow flies in. Thwack! It lands on the ambassador’s carriage. “Halt!” a voice calls out. It’s Yeong, and he holds a sword up the ambassador, telling him to leave behind his eunuch.

But then, another voice rings out—Prime Minister Kim. He berates the prince for his rude behavior, asking if he unsheathed his sword for one measly eunuch. “That’s correct,” Yeong answers. “I’ve never had anything stolen from me. It’s makes me extremely angry, so release him this instant!” The prime minister tells him not to be so reckless as to disregard countless citizens for the sake of one. Yeong counters that those countless scared citizens are Kim’s weapon of choice; he refers to them whenever he wants something for himself, or whenever he’s at a disadvantage and needs something to hide behind. The prime minster rages at his childishness and orders him to lower his sword. Yeong doesn’t look inclined to obliged, but suddenly, Ra On speaks up: “I will go.”

Yeong asks if she’s already forgotten her promise. She reminds him that he told her not to hold back and suffer for his sake. Thus, she will not hold back her words: “You must hold back. Not for me, but because you are the prince of this nation’s people.” Soldiers rush in to block Yeong in, citing the king’s orders. Byung Yun arrives in the distance. Yeong drops the sword, and the entourage resumes its march.

After traveling for a bit, the ambassador calls for a break and quietly orders a few men to follow, leaving Ra On with the rest of his entourage.

The ambassador then meets with a merchant regarding his merchandise—he’s selling some of the tribute offerings illegally. But in the middle of the deal, a man in black flies in and knocks down a guardsman. It’s Byung Yun, and he’s followed by the prince, who announces, “I prepared a gift, but I forgot it.” When Yeong draws his sword, Byung Yun says he’ll take this alone, warning him to stand back. Yeong just smirks: “You should have said that before I drew my sword.”

The ambassador’s men charge, and the fight is on. Daggers, axes, and swords fly at them, but Yeong is adept with the sword, easily taking on the opponents who come at him. Byung Yun is easily at home in the fight, and after they take down all of their attackers, they spy the ambassador trying to sneak away. Byung Yun stops him with a flying dagger, which embeds itself into a post just inches from his head.

Meanwhile, Yoon Sung confronts the rest of the ambassador’s party, and he’s brought Chinese undercover inspectors with him. The ambassador’s henchmen are forced to drop their weapons.

Yeong explains to the ambassador that this is his parting gift, and informs him that he’s facing exile for his crimes. Byung Yun corrects him: He’s looking at execution. 

The ambassador blusters that the emperor wouldn’t believe Yeong over himself, and Yeong agrees. That’s why he invited someone else. Enter the Chinese inspectors. From afar, Byung Yun and Yoon Sung trade nods. A flashback confirms that Yoon Sung had given him a map outlining the return route. Byung Yun had asked if Yoon Sung would be safe giving this information, and Yoon Sung had replied that he’s satisfied with Ra On being rescued. And then, Byung Yeon had given Yeong that map and the ledger he’d stolen, containing the ambassador’s black-market contacts. Moreover, Yeong had planned to stall the ambassador’s departure to buy Byung Yun time—so his display in the courtyard wasn’t just reckless ranting.

Nearby, Ra On remains tied to a tree with guards watching her, when suddenly one goes down, and then the other. She panics at the danger, until she looks up to see a figure walking towards her, half-hidden by a flag.

As he approaches, his face becomes visible—it’s Yeong, of course, in his glorious backlit hero moment—and she stares up in shock. Yeong cuts her free, then kneels before her and sees her bleeding bare feet with a pained expression.

Yeong pulls the ropes from her wrists and finds them raw and bleeding, too. “Let’s go back,” he says. “We can go now.”

She asks if it’s really true, and when he promises that nothing more will happen, she breaks down in relief. She says she was afraid she’d be dragged off, and Yeong admits the same: “I was scared too. That I would be late.”

Byung Yun arrives with two horses, mounting one himself while Yeong sets Ra On on the other one before joining her in the saddle. He says with mock-severity that for breaking her promise to him, she’ll be punished once they get back to the palace.

Ra On asks if it’s okay for her to return to his service, and he replies, “Of course.” She reminds him that he said seeing her made him unbearably angry, and he says that it’s true right now too: “Looking at you, I get angry.” She hangs her head at that.

“But it won’t do,” he adds. “Not seeing you—that makes me angrier, like I’ll go crazy.”

Ra On looks him in the eye, stunned. He meets her eyes and says, “So stay by my side.”

Then they set out to make the trip home, riding off into the sunset.

Personal Thought:

This drama really deserves such high rating of 19,3% for Episode 5 and I am seriously being a fan of Park Bo Gum from now on. He's super talented and I love his expression in every scene. It's unbelievable that he is still young but very mature, charismatic and so talented. That’s a nice bump, and judging from the episode, wholly deserved; this storyline is heating up and the emotions are deepening, leading us into my favorite part of a romance—when feelings are still coming into focus, setting us up for a whirlwind of exhilarating, giddy interactions.

With every five minutes, I tend to smile by myself when I watch the interaction between Crown Prince and Eunuch Hong. He's someone who holds power but somehow he cares for his Eunuch so much, specially Eunuch Hong who happens to be his precious friend too. It's so lovely when I see that he stays with Ra On when she's sick and although he pretends not to care about her, he actually cares for her not to get sick by giving her the pill. Omoo, Park Bo Gum, you really stole our heart!

Last is when the Crown Prince comes to the lantern festival, it's so sweet of him to spend the day with Ra On and when he wishes Eunuch Hong could find his mother, I tear up into tears, Well there goes my heart, and from the looks of it, Ra On’s too. Smashed to sentimental smithereens. Gosh, the storyline is too good to be true, with their variety of expression makes this drama to be well served. The scenes are beaitiful too! I love the OST too! Everything is all GOOD!

Not only Park Bo Gum, but the second lead also makes our heart flutters when he's trying to be a daddy-long-leg for Ra On, protecting her identity, even asks her whether she can just think of him as a place to share her deep secret. Sadly Ra On still hesitates about it, but her heart is drawn more to Crown Prince, of course! I am rooting for the main lead already. They are so cute and the chemistry is so real. 

Kim Yoo Jung is truly a beauty for Saeguk/Historical Drama and for sure her acting is somewhat different from other actress and that's the evidence that she's an experienced actress <3

Cheers, I am rooting for this drama!!