"Episode 15" "I knew you weren't ordinary runts the moment I saw these..." "My guess was right." "I have plenty of things to ask you." "Where is my compeer?" "I ask the questions." "All you do is answer." "I shall ask." " Who sent you here?" " My compeer..." "Where is he?" "Seems like I didn't make myself clear." "I ask the questions, while you give me the answers." "Seobangnim..." "Leave this place." "Why would you go on living this way, if what you're asked to become is a ruthless slayer?" "If I die for you..." "I would relieve you of a burden, wouldn't I?" "But..." "Even if I wish to," "I cannot even kill myself." "Wangson!" "Wangson!" "Wangson!" "What happened to you?" "Open those eyes!" "Wangson..." "Wangson!" "Wangson..." "Wangson!" "Wangson!" "Open your eyes!" "Wangson!" "General Choi!" "Wangson!" "General Choi!" "Wangson!" "Actually..." "I actually..." "If you still cannot talk about it, you needn't do it now." "There can be things you keep only to yourself, even between man and wife." "All I did... was constantly running away." "I did so on my wedding day..." "And before that..." "Running away will not change anything." "I have neither the strength nor the wisdom to face such adversities." "That is never going to matter." "If you only have the will to face adversity, you can always lean onto others for wisdom and strength." "If you don't change first, the world is never going to change on its own." "You're only saying that because you don't know my past." "Just as I'm incognizant of your past, is it not the same for you regarding mine?" "Also..." "We don't know what the future holds for us." "What happened in the past can never be more important... than what is set to happen in the future." "Is that really... what you think?" "What marked our past can never decide our future." "I think something about the general has changed." "What?" "I sense a certain lack of confidence in him." "Wouldn't that be only natural?" "It's not like we're taking up arms and heading for the battlefield..." "What he's facing now are insidious, cunning politicians." "Still, should he not tell us what we're fighting for, and how we'll fulfill those endeavors?" "Until the moment I rescued His Highness, everything was crystal clear." "But now that I'm facing such reality, I wonder how to act, as if maundering in clouds of mist." "I only realized it now." "That despite trying to build for the future," "I was still trapped in the vestiges of my past." "I faced all this without ever being prepared, and have been hiding in that misty oblivion of mine," "hiding it from you and my subordinates." "I was taught that one's most fatal shortcoming... is not being able to acknowledge one's own shortcomings." "But, the way I see it, Naeuri..." "You have no shortcomings whatsoever." "Don't call me "Naeuri," I'm your husband." "General Choi!" "Wangson!" "Who did this?" "Stop hiding from me and come out!" "Song Taeha!" "Is it you?" "Stop hiding like a rat and come face me!" "Song Taeha..." "Is it you?" "Come out!" "General Choi!" "Wangson!" "Answer me!" "General Choi!" "Wangson!" "It's getting colder by the day," "I wonder how the maeui is faring." "He was having it so hard here sweeping horse manure in the winter, imagine having to endure it as a slave." "I always told him to be careful and keep his distance, but look at how Chief Oh ended up framing him that way..." "A good lie can even melt snow in the wintry spell." "If they do their best to frame you, who could ever escape such fate?" "But when is General Choi coming back?" "Will he be back after the winter?" "Darling!" "Why would you worry about that rotten little scoundrel?" "Darling?" "!" "Why would I need to hear that from you?" "Aigoo..." "I was just talking..." "Think I really meant it?" "Take a look at this." "What's that?" "It's from the heart..." "Then, I'll pass." "Take a look, Dongsaeng." "I spent the night away drawing it." "Ahh..." "I said forget it!" "Aigoo..." "Really." "Just look at it once." "Aigoo!" "So beautiful..." "Who would this be?" "Aigoo..." "Can't you tell?" "None other than you." "This is me?" "Ahh..." "Sure!" "Does it really resemble me?" "Aigoo..." "It's the spitting image of your face!" "See?" "He's the only one thinking about you all the time." "When it comes to drawing faces, you're my first portrait after the king himself." "How about that slave wench Daegil was looking for?" "I'm talking about people, why are you mentioning slaves?" "How about it?" "Brimming with grace and beauty, isn't it?" "Jumo!" "Yes!" "Coming..." " Jumo..." " Here you are..." " Get us a table." " Yes." "Aigoo..." "How vexatious." "Keep staring at the ship as it sails past the river, and you'll die of old age." "Why, will some silk and a paltry portrait make any woman capitulate?" "Say what?" "Then, what else do you suggest?" "Do I need to spell it out?" "Why don't you just... wrap her up* real good and go for it?" "*Joseon male widowers "wrapped up" unwed neighbors with a sack and... guess what?" "Wrap her up?" "!" "Once she falls asleep, she would never realize anyone is taking her away." "And we always leave the gates open at night..." "Aigoo..." "I'll be damned..." "What if someone suddenly comes in?" "That's the point, isn't it?" "Do we leave them open to take a midnight stroll?" "Aigoo..." "You men..." "Keep guzzling, will you?" "So what is she saying?" "To just barge in?" "Where have you been prancing around wasting time, you fool?" "What's with the screaming?" "I went out to twist straw, can't you see?" "Keep answering back every chance you get, will you?" "That's what tongues are for, isn't it?" "You little scamp!" "Aigoo..." "Really!" "Aigoo..." "What's wrong with you?" "What's that ever going to change?" "Look..." "Look at that shameless loafer..." "Why, did I go out to have fun?" "I've been working all day long!" "Calm down." "It's because his daughter was summoned to the master's chamber." "Partaking in jovial nectars under the moon quells every concern, so join me as we drink the night away." "What?" "Never could I imagine such grace adorning your lowly countenance, but what pleasant surprise these garments brought me, uh?" "Will he take her in as a slave concubine?" "Concubine?" "!" "All the other yangban he always meets kept asking for her, so that's why." "Is she really going to be sold?" "She's going to be exchanged with a cow in the morrow." "Like heaven and earth, divided by our tenets as we are, let us forget our roots and frolic the night away." "So doff your garments and come into my embrace." "Did I make myself clear?" "The hell are you doing out here at this hour?" "I'm sorry." "I didn't even imagine what happened to your daughter." "If that's what happened, it's what happened." "Are you just going to take this lying down?" "Will you keep letting them exploit you this way?" "Exploit?" "!" "What's that supposed to mean?" "As if people like us could hope for anything better..." "She's going to be sold off in the morrow." "And she'll suffer the same wherever she goes, so don't just idle here..." "Barge in, take her out and flee while you still can." "You fool, again with that?" "You need to stop with those flights of fancy of yours..." "Who should we thank for our survival?" "If we even betray the hands that feed us, we would be worse than beasts." "Why, is living this way any better than being one?" "Should I beat it into you?" "You're just a slave." "Get rid of all those delusions, and just live as you're told." "My husband was out gathering ice for the summer." "You can't imagine how cold that winter was..." "He took the ice from the Han River to Seobin Valley, but I was told he froze to death while taking a rest midway." "That is all it took..." "Even my father... fell in the water and died, while gathering ice." "They couldn't even find his body." "After my husband died, my keeper allowed me to marry again, but no effort could bring us a child." "After struggling that way for years," "I finally gave birth to her..." "I kept telling myself we should just take her and flee, but every single time I thought that, I'd take a glance at you, and I would be convinced against it." "Convinced that a single mistake would brand me for the rest of my days." "We were born under ill-fated stars, so why try to fight your destiny?" "Life is nothing more than walking along our paths." "Why do you keep entering the scullery?" "How could you keep His Highness..." "I pledged I'll become his mother, so I cannot leave him even for an instant." "And once you depart, no one else can take care of him." "She took His Highness to the scullery." "As if he was any ordinary child, how could such insolence be tolerated?" "Everything will be solved by the end of the day, so no matter how vexatious it is, abate your concerns and wait." "Aren't you disheartened?" "Having to separate from your subordinates, right after meeting again." "I only feel guilty towards them." "But what else can we do?" "It is a path we have to take anyhow." "I was told a "path you have to take anyhow" is no path at all." "Just like clouds sweltered by the wind have no path." "Think of it as something you planned from the start, and have a safe journey." "We had our share of conflicts, but I'm grateful you still support our cause." "Let us use this opportunity to foster a new tomorrow for our nation." "On the eve of our great endeavor, can we depart without words of incitement from our leading general?" "Grace us with a few words, General Song." "In silence lies wisdom." "I appreciate your contribution." "Here!" "Let us depart." "I will say a few words." "Our vision might be different, but we share the same goals, so I planned to just follow your lead." "I thought it was inevitable from the start, so I will tell you before it is too late." "What we must do... is not merely helping a new king to the throne, but changing this world we live in." "Listen, General Song!" "Looking back, those were the late Crown Prince's final injunctions." "What are you trying to say?" "That we shouldn't help His Highness ascend to the throne?" "I'm not." "We must do so." "However..." "That alone cannot become our ultimate goal." "I would retract such unsound utterances, if I were you." "Why are you interrupting the "words of incitement" you so fervently clamored for?" "Once the edict prohibiting trade is issued, the price of water ox horns will rapidly escalate." "I suggest that replenishing our horn reserves, even through the use of state funds, would be wise." "So we had an impasse in Jeju?" "!" "Provincial reports must have been sent from Jeju already, so I shall report in detail once we receive them." "How long will it take for those reports to arrive?" "It's from Jeju to Hanyang, so it might take quite some time." "And that will only make things worse for that child, I suppose..." "I shall make sure the court will not lose itself in ferment." "The gale is biting." "Let us return." "So you said someone is refusing to let go of his horn reserves?" "Yes..." "He found success and eventually gained a post in the former king's court, a certain fellow named Hong." "His son might have heard talebearing regarding the matter, his keen business acumen moving him to refuse." "I will leave the matter to you." "I'm afraid he shan't be easily convinced otherwise." "If such was the case, would I have entrusted this to you?" "Your Excellency." "How did you know that reports would be sent from Jeju?" "Old age might becloud our vision from up close, but we can still clearly see the path ahead and even far away." "I made sure we could seize those reports before it's too late, but couldn't this bring us repercussions?" "Should His Majesty learn of this..." "He is already aware." "What?" "What's with the surprised look?" "Then, did His Majesty order..." "He never issued any orders." "Then, how can this be explained?" "Ehh Ehh!" "Why do you keep asking me that?" "Read His Majesty's mind instead." "His mind!" ""He is a merchant named Hong."" ""His son keeps hoarding and cornering, exploiting the populace,"" ""and making the life of penniless people even more miserable."" "Ggeutbong." "Now not only yangban, we're even killing merchants?" "Ahh..." "And what would be the problem?" "Sa (scholars)." "Uh?" "!" "Nong (farmers)." "Gong (artisans)." "Sang (merchants)." "Aren't they all from higher castes than us anyhow?" "As if we hadn't enough scoundrels to deal with nearby, now they're asking to bring things this far with the murders..." "Tell me, what is the big problem?" "Much better than sitting here and doing nothing." "You might have no shortcomings as a slave, but you tend to think too much." "A..." "A..." "Are... they... coming?" "Coming?" "Uh?" "!" "I... guess..." "Guess they are." "Ggeutbong." "Don't lose your composure, and breathe slowly." "It's just two scoundrels." "Throngs of people involved with horn trading are dying by the day, it must have been your doing!" "Just in case, we paid a few impostors to pave the way." "Who is it?" "Who instigated all this?" "If I slay one of you varlets," "I trust the other will speak." "We shall use this journey only to ascertain our numbers." "We can always devise longer missions in the future." "If needed, visiting Qing territory... or even those faraway Western Regions would be an option." "Aren't you going to be our ruling class for generations to come?" "I suggest you rush to your conclusions." "I will hereby issue my orders." "To avert any needless attention, we shall depart gradually, as each officer will take a scholar and safely lead him outside provincial borders." "Everyone shall complete his tasks and make his return a month later." "Yes, General!" "Oh?" "!" "Orabeoni..." "Aren't they..." "Aren't they back yet?" "I can't find them." "I wandered..." "I wandered the entire mountain, looking for them the entire night." "But there's no one." "There are no traces whatsoever." "Orabeoni." "Just lie down." "Why are you here?" "Get the hell out." "I'll have to go back and find them." "I'll go back..." "I must find them." "I'll go back..." "I'll go back and..." "I... am making you a waistcoat." "I am sewing..." "Even wiping the floor." "Can't you at least once... take a glance at me?" "So this is really the place?" "Ehh Ehh..." "I told you it is." "Ahh..." "How could you just dump bodies here?" "Their bodies all turning dark was peculiar indeed." "Fearing they might have incurred the plague, my superiors ordered me to dump them, so what else could I do?" "Need to follow their wishes." "Ahh..." "Of course, I wasn't the one dumping them." "Ahh..." "Then, why can't I see their bodies?" "Think they'd still be here?" "Tigers could have feasted on them before it started snowing, or some benevolent monk passing by might have cremated them." "This is what happens... when you prance about playing hound for those scummy yangban." "They are distinguished even when it comes to handing out infamy." "You scamps!" "Forgive me." "Cheon Jiho Eonni is here!" "Drink some of this on your way, and have a safe journey to the netherworld." "You're getting special treatment just because it's me." "If you were dealing with someone else, would he be here right now?" "But, tell me." "Is that true?" "That the Left State Councilor's son-in-law was involved." "Keep yapping that nonsense and I'll mistake you for a mongrel!" "How many times do I have to tell you?" "Then, this is no ordinary situation..." "What now?" "Let alone his son-in-law, even if it was his father," "I would not take this lying down." "Of course!" "And the same goes for me." "Let us head to the capital bureau." "And they say you'd even start ordering the king around when piss drunk by the day..." "Seems like all that drinking got to your head already." "You twat, did they send your manners away in exile?" "If I tell you to follow me, shut that trap and do it." "But, you know?" "Just like this snow, I'm clean as they get." "If you have the guts to try, go ahead and force me there." "Sure!" "That's how we do it." "Surround him." "And they say the vilest crap comes from the cunning cat." "As you wish, take me away." "Be careful." "Where are you headed?" "I will pass through Gyeongsang Province, past Gangwon... and all the way to the border." "Where will you go?" "After passing through Jeolla and Chungcheong Province," "I'll reach Gyeonggi." "Alone as you are, you'll finally lose some weight." "Ahh..." "Listen to that..." "Can a slave and a yangban have the same countenance?" "As if you could blame it on that..." "Keep it up..." "I really..." "The general is coming." "Who will be the first to depart?" "Yes, I am the first to leave." "On your way, observe how our people are living, and learn from it." "I will." "I prepared some ddeok for you." "Bring it along." "Ahh..." "We really don't like... to let such opportunities be wasted!" "Yes, our gratitude." "Here..." "It's ddeok." "How long has it been?" "They make you faint, I've heard?" "All is ready." "We shall depart, General." "Orabeoni, are you all right?" "Sleep a little longer." "Let me come with you, Orabeoni." "What... is this?" "Get out of my face." " Orabeoni..." " Don't even think of following me, and go." "I'll do everything you ask." "I'll cook, launder..." "I wiped the floor yesterday." "I even started sewing, to make you a waistcoat." "Take a look." "I bought you garments, and left you traveling expenses." "I have nothing else to give you." "Who asked for money?" "Or to buy me silken threads?" "I don't need any of that." "Will you keep pestering me?" "What the hell would you gain by following me, you wench?" "Orabeoni!" "What is it?" "You prick." "If you keep saying that, what am I supposed to do?" "I can't give you any answers." "At first, I only tagged along because I had nowhere else to go." "But now..." "I'm doing it because I've fallen for you..." "But if you keep saying that," "I can't tell you what I feel..." "So just stop." "Delirious wench..." "I have no tears or feelings for you." "And even if I had wished otherwise, time rid me of that paltry nonsense already." "See what happens if you take another step in my direction." "I'll wrap you up real well and toss you back to your old keepers." "Go..." "~ Trail me and you're dead ~" "~ Song Taeha ~" "Orabeoni..." "Orabeoni!" "I told so to my men." "To forgive my imprudence." "That no matter how long it takes, I will find the right path, so let us walk together." "Words that suit you, Seobangnim." "Orabeoni!" "They all left." "I will leave separately, and board a boat at the port." "Fine." "I'll have to leave as well." "Take good care of yourself..." "Hyungnim." "Let us meet again in a month." "Orabeoni..." "Orabeoni!" "Orabeoni!" "So how about it?" "Making some money with me instead." "I'll even call you General." "I'll treat you like my elder from here on in, like a man should." "Eonni!" "I found her." "Eonnyeon, that slave!" "Eonnyeon..." "It's time you let her go." "If you're having it hard, you can let us help you." "Don't die on me, Eonni." " Daegil!" " Eonni!" "Are we not family, after all?" "Family?" "We're just tagging along." "Monk Myeonghan said so, at the hermitage." "That you were destined to achieve great endeavors." "He also warned me that with great ambitions come even greater challenges." "Never forget that." "I shall leave now." "I leave His Highness to your care..." "I will miss you." "Take your time." "Even if forced to await for long, you have my... undying fealty, until the very end." "Embrace him once." "What is the matter?" "Reveal yourself at once!" "I was wondering whom I should start with, but I see you're lining up for me by yourselves." "General." "I don't know you, but you seem to know me." "Head back and alert everyone." "Now!" "What brings you here?" "I came to pay my respects to His Highness." "May you enter." "Your Highness." "Your humble servant is here to pay his respects." "Gwangjae." "It's been a long time." "I was told you went to Jeju as well." "Still as dexterous as I remember?" " Go back." " All right." "You'll pardon me if I take the initiative, as I fear dealing with you might not be as swift." "Do you believe time is all you need to vanquish me?" "I have never lost to anyone but General Song." "In the end, even Song Taeha shall not vanquish me." "Quite the improvement." "Doesn't seem to be the case for you." "That is what everyone else said, before they all perished." "Gwangjae!" "Gwangjae!" "Gwangjae!" "Gwangjae!" "Gwangjae!" "Open your eyes, Gwangjae!" "Gwangjae!" "Gwangjae..." "Gwangjae." "Gwangjae!" "Gwangjae!" "General..." "Gwangjae!" "Thought a runaway slave like you... could have it so easy?" "Were you... looking for me?" "Slaves like you... have no right to ask their keeper any question." "Have you," "even if just for once," "thought about me?" "What deranged fool would ever have feelings... for a lowly slattern like you?" "Now I shall ask the questions." "You couldn't be incognizant of the tenets* ruling us all, *bansang (sangban): commoners and yangban jujong: keeper and slave so how could you forsake our guiding principles... and betray your keeper?" "Who created those tenets, and where did those principles originate?" "Isn't trying to live life as decent human beings... what our guiding principles should be?" "And you even consider yourselves human beings?" "You know what you are?" "You are... nothing but slaves." "Song Taeha..." "Where is he?" "I shall never alert you on my spouse's whereabouts, if it will bring him peril." "You have now found me," "so you may punish me for betraying my keeper." "How could a paltry runaway slave... implore for survival?" "Now..." "May you slay me." "Seeing you alive itself... brings me happiness." "Happiness?" "!" "And what would you be happy about?" "Happy that I'm living this way?" "Or that we met in this manner?" "A single day feeling like endless moons..." "Is that happiness?" "What the hell are you happy about?" "!" "~ On The Next Episode Of ~ SLAVE ~@~ HUNTERS" "Are those their bodies?" "I was told to bring them here, but what shall I do now?" "Do as the law commands." "Where did they all go?" "Let us end this as men of arms." "What are you going to do?" "We will take care of His Highness." "How have you been faring, Seonbinim?" "If this world is turned upside down, then would we become yangban?" "Wouldn't it be better to have no distinction between classes whatsoever?" "But I still want to avenge all that those yangban have done to us." "He was my lover." "Who said I was?" "!" " And I..." " Think that I would..." " was their clan's..." " fall for a slave wench..." " Slave?" "!" " working for my clan?" "Who did you call a slave?" "Did you just call my spouse a slave?"