IM YourOnlyOne

Park wants a strong Joseon, and he believes a wise ruler is the answer to that.

The current king is brave, courageous, but lacks in wisdom and logic, too emotionally-driven too. For Park, while the king has qualities of a good king, it is not the qualities Joseon needs.

As he told his son, (paraphrasing) "if your king was a tyrant, you would've done the same thing". For him, the former king was a tyrant but the current one is not. He just hated him because he lacks the quality of a good king, too emotionally-driven, and is trying to oust him.

As he also told his son, "if I was after power then I would've controlled the three offices".

This puts him into what Americans call, "a patriot". A patriot is well known to be a person who is fiercely loyal and nationalistic to their country. Everything to them is the country. The country is above their own family and themselves.

A patriot will find a position where they can serve the country best. It is not about power, it is about network. About the flow of information. If you can see what's going on, if you can control or influence the flow of information, you can shape things to go the way you want for the benefit of the country.

That's who Councilor Park is.

This is why when Lady Jung outwitted him, he was amazed, to the point that he admitted (paraphrasing) "I have never seen a leader who is willing to sacrifice their lives for their people". For all his life, the Royal families, and even ordinary citizens, all lived for themselves. When there is a need for them to go out of their way for the people they claim to care about, not only they are not willing to sacrifice themselves, they won't even lift a finger.

But Lady Jung is different. She worked hard (that Park already knew). She did not stand in some pedestal ordering people to do this and do that, she herself is deeply involve in the whole process.

And when push comes to shove, she doesn't hesitate to give her life, her life(!), for her people.

That is what Park is looking for. A true leader. A leader for the people. A leader for Joseon.

What makes Park even more perfect is that she is patient, logical, analyzes things, a manipulator, a schemer, a puppeteer, and full of wisdom. The total opposite of the current king. AND she outwitted him. She is not afraid, she is brave and courageous. A brilliant strategist. Intelligent.

That's what amazed Park.

If she can outwit his plans. If she has all the qualities of a true leader. Then, there's no one like her before.

I suspect he will plan to have Lady Jung become a Queen, like seriously this time around. Joseon needs a leader like her, and at the same time, it looks like she can control the king too without him knowing it (well … the king will never know, he's too emotional).

Of course Park has to keep Jung in check. He knows he can not control her, and he is now fully aware of what Park is capable of. She is willing to go to great lengths, even at the expense of her life, for her people and her objective -- the truth.

Park now knows Jung has another objective, to clean the name of her clan. That is dangerous for him, if proven they were wrongly accused, he'll be in a precarious position.

BUT, I think Jung can not just reveal that. Because if she does, the other political families will get stronger and they will become a headache.

Their best bet is to keep the status quo. But Park knows Jung will not do that, she will find a way to keep everyone under her palms while revealing truth in a safe way.

You know that proverb, "keep your friends close but your enemies closer"? That's exactly what Park is going to do next, and I think Lady Jung will do the same. They will continue to work and use each other, while Park will find ways to stop Jung in her vengeance, and Jung tries to find a way to clean her clan's name, and maybe find the truth behind the former queen's death.

And his father's actions shows he is after power.

While he and Park are friends, Park at least is not after power.

His father is only using the king to make his clan powerful. He's thinking Park is like him when they are worlds apart. He really did choose the wrong side.

LOLs, YEAH!

I was so happy with that too. I was like "ahh biatch, now you fully understood you are nothing to the king", hahahahaha.

Like, "come on girl, show some effort. Prove that you deserve to be there and stop riding on your father. Step up. If you want to be a biatch, then own it and go all out!"

Which will probably be what she's going to do now. LOLs.

I doubt Councilor Park knows anything.

Remember when Lady Jung and him talked after the tea "scandal"? Lady Jung revealed her reason why she is against him, he not only killed her clan but also poisoned the former queen.

To which Park vehemently denied. As far as Park knows, someone did poison the queen.

However, it is possible that Park knows it was not Jung's clan. They were just a convenient escape goat to end the crisis on the death of the queen.

If I'm not mistaken, Park said something like, the former queen living or dying is beneficial to him. That means he has no reason to kill the queen. Also, if I remember correctly, his objective was to depose the queen first because it will strengthen the narrative he is building. But the former queen understood what Park is playing at and she wants to die as a queen, not as a criminal.

So, yeah, it is more beneficial for Park to have the former queen alive. While her death was also beneficial, it was not as useful to him. Lady Jung understood it, though she still has doubts, but the message was clear.

Truth. Compared to her previous roles, she's totally different here. At first I kept seeing her, now, I don't see 'her', it's just the character.

Re: scenes with old men.

No. The old men with long beard are practically extras only.

The politics in this drama is between the three characters: the king, Lady Jung, and Councilor Park.

After episode 8, it actually went beyond mere political power struggle. Characters you would have an assumption about already turns out totally different. But that's how much I'll say, spoiler already. ;)

Yeah.

To me, it meant, Park is not a wild person. He is composed. He understands the situation.

What he did was a subtle message to Lady Jung that "you got me, I respect you for that, I've underestimated you, I would've drink this myself if that was our deal".

Versus just throwing it in the ground, it shows one is wild, emotionally-driven (like the king), and only sees their ego and not the 'opponent' before them just because she's a woman.

Yeah. I think he perfectly fits what Americans call "a patriot". HIs only desire is for the country and its people. He even sacrificed his love for the country by asking her to be the queen stepmother; and later asked her to give up her position.

It's rare to see this type of character in shows. Usually we see a template character, an antagonist. But Park is not, it's hard to classify him as such.

Also, I think another good lesson here is, communication. The king and Park are so deep in their political war, they fail to see they both want the same thing, a strong Joseon. Funny how that is the case even today in most countries, our politicians are too attached with their political colors/parties, they fail to see they all want the same thing.

I wonder, can Lady Jung unite the king and Park? Is this where they plan to bring the story? Or will she end up the true ruler behind-the-scenes? Probably she was the precedent to queens ruling above the king (at least as depicted in other shows where the queen was more powerful … not sure if it happened historically).

The second half is definitely worth to watch. This show has gone beyond political rivalries.

They know how to act cute but not to the point as Koreans.

People losing their shit are overly sensitive. Koreans do get Japanese actors. Japanese get Chinese actors.

If it was historical fiction, sure they can go ballistic. But for shows based on fiction, there's no reason to lose their shit, they're just trying to create an issue over something that is not an issue.

Looks like Councilor Park has changed his mind.

He was right, if he was after power, he could have taken over the most important offices. Since episode 1, he never showed interest.

He is like most politicians today, they have a genuine interest for their respective country. However, once they are in position, they realize they must do things they do not want for the sake of the country they want to protect and envisioned. They are only after positions where they can serve most, damn power.

Now what he realized the length Lady Jung is willing to go, he himself was amazed. He was looking for that type of a person to rule the country and he seemed to have found that person.

He will probably change his tune.

I doubt he will sacrifice himself to save Lady Jung. No. I think he will find a way to live and still get Lady Jung to be the Queen. This time, he will act as a silent "guardian". To keep Lady Jung in check, at least to ensure she will work for the country; as well as to keep the king in line.

Noticed how he did not call the current king a tyrant? When his son confronted him, he said, (paraphrasing) "if your king was a tyrant you would do the same thing I did". He doesn't see the current king as a tyrant, he just doesn't want him because he can not control him; and the king has showed deep hatred against him.

If he can use Lady Jung to keep the king in line, he will, especially now that he learned Lady Jung is worthy to rule the country, even if just an ear for the king.

Again, like Councilor Park said, the current king is courageous and intelligent, but he is too emotional and lacks wisdom.

Which we've seen, he kept making decisions out of emotions and only thinking after he was thwarted.

While Lady Jung is a schemer surpassing Councilor Park. Since she returned back to the palace, she put her plans into action and no one, not even Councilor Park realized it.

She planned everything. She used the entire palace as her chess pieces. The master schemer that is Councilor Park was only a tool she for her, outmaneuvering him every step.

LOLs, never play chess with Lady Jung, she's very scary. Not even poker.

If Lady Jung will only succumb to the palace politics, she can become the master puppeteer and no one would ever know she's playing them all on her palms.

Now. On to second half of the series! The showdown begins!

Episode 8 reaction

I guess she's betting her life that the king will choose her no matter what.

That was a huge and deadly bet.

Then again, the preview already told us Lady Park was right to bet on the king saving her. (That was a stupid preview, they should not have included it.)

That move by Lady Park was far too risky. She revealed her identity too early thinking Park no longer have a choice in the matter because everything is set for the king to choose him.

Though in the preview of the next episode, the king did choose her anyway … against the wish of Councilor Park.

Still, that showed that she risked too much, Park did try to stop her from being selected.

I wonder when the king will learn his lesson not to make a decision based on his emotions. He made that mistake countless of times already and he only starts thinking after he was outmaneuvered by Park.

Then again, Park already said the same thing a few episodes back. LOLs. The king is feisty but short sighted. He is intelligent but lacks wisdom.

Oooh. Thank you!!

What's the upbeat song in the beginning of episode 14, after the police station scene?

Another possible reason, the scenes for episode 15 with him having short hair were filmed much later during production. They probably had to redo those scenes.

His hairstylist probably was not around during those scenes and no one can install his hair extensions. They ended up filming with him having short hair hoping no one will notice.

Yeah. It's episode 15. It is very distracting, I keep on staring checking his hair.

The winner in acting in this show is Ahn Se Bin. Not much dialogue but she was able to deliver the facial expressions and emotions needed for her character.

She has a bright future in the industry and it looks like her parents are very supportive. She's a natural talent.