Off Topic: I finally forced myself to finish The Mongoliad. Can't say I would recommend it. You know the old saying of too many cooks spoil the broth? Same thing applies to authors and one story.
Myorang and her men are riding through the forest ('cuz it takes that many people to kill a baby, ya know) when they encounter Bihyeong. How did he know she would be there? How did he know she had a baby and was going to off it? How did-- eh, never mind. The point is right off the bat we have a fight scene. Myorang has a Liu Bei moment and tosses the baby at Bihyeong to distract him long enough so she can escape.
The rest of the Gwimun finally show up (thanks for nothing, guys) and I see now it was Sino who alerted Bihyeong to what was going on. He orders the handmaid to raise the child as her own and to take the secret of the baby's parentage to the grave.
The Show has a tendency of having King Jinpyeong start a scene with bug eyes as he exclaims, "What?" He's received the good news that the queen has delivered a son. Eww, the midwife (who looks so familiar but I can't place where I've seen the actress before) is presenting the umbilical cord to the king. Eww, and he's touching it. The midwife has been bribed and threatened by Seungman to keep her mouth shut about any baby swapping.
Chunchu has gone back to the land and become an amateur farmer. Munhui brings their baby out to Chunchu's itsy bitsy won't-feed-anybody field so father can meet son. Munhui begs Chunchu to not only accept the boy as his son but to also return to the city and resume his position of fighting for the people. Its only after Munhui threatens to kill the baby and herself does Chunchu finally relent.
First off he gets around to making an honest woman out of Munhui and marries her, with Princess Deokman officiating at the wedding. As a wedding present, Chunchu is made the head of the Hwarang.
The Great Omniscient Voiceover makes a return appearance, schooling us on what the Tang have been up to in 626 A.D. (I'm old skool. It's A.D., not C.E., on my blog.) Anyway, the Tang have a peaceful co-existence with King Yeongryeo of Goguryeo. Silla, still always worried about the Baekje, are now worried about Goguryeo wanting to expand southward into their territory.
Jinpyeong again starts his scene with, "What?" A delegation from the Tang are saying Goguryeo is claiming some land that Silla is already claiming. For the sake of peace, Silla should just hand the land over. King Jinpyeong and his court aren't down with that and would rather tear the limbs off the Tang envoy.
Yushin and Chunchu (who has now grown facial hair) meet with Princess Deokman about this latest threat to Silla. Yushin is all for leading some troops against Goguryeo. Chunchu cautions him that with so many soldiers away, the Baekje might seize the moment to attack. Chunchu has an alternative plan.
Queen Seungman meets privately with the Tang envoy. She introduces the man to her (not) son, Manhwa. (Not to be confused with comic books.) This is a tit for tat meeting. If the envoy works to make Manhwa declared the royal crown prince and heir then the queen will work to make Silla give over the disputed land to Goguryeo.
As part of Chunchu's plan, Deokman goes to her father and asks for the strategic city of Danghangseong. Boy, that's a long word. I'm just going to call it D-ville.
Seungman is meeting with the Prime Minister (who is looking mighty old now) to get him to do as the Tang order. Manhwa shows off his schoolwork to his mother when suddenly the boy grabs his head and starts screaming in pain. He has to be heavily medicated. Sino mentions Manhwa seems to be getting worse and worse and should really see a doctor. Seungman doesn't want her (not) son's weakness to be known by the outside world.
We finally get to see Chunchu's daughter who was named Gotaso. Brother Beopmin is a bit on the chunky side and doesn't like to study. Munhui is pregnant again.
Whoa! A wrestler with a camera mounted on his head is taking down several opponents. We're in Baekje and hey, now that I can see the wrestler, he ain't bad. His name is Yun Chung. Is he historically significant? I don't know but he has nice abs.
Watching the training exercise is Prince Uija (who was listed as King in the last episode. I've noticed the subs have been a little bit sloppy lately with the wrong words used sometimes - wide for wise, food for foot, etc.) Kim Chunchu steps out from behind a tree and introduces himself to the prince. Chunchu keeps his cool despite being surrounded by drawn swords. Uija keeps his cool despite having Kim Yushin aiming an arrow at his heart.
Chunchu and Uija go sit in the shade so they can have a talk. Chunchu's plan is to have Baekje join with Silla to attack Goguryeo first. In return, Silla will give Baekje access to D-ville and the fastest ship route to the Central Plains. (I'm guessing that's the bread basket of China.)
Meanwhile, out in the sun, Yushin has accepted a challenge from Chung of the Sweet Abs. Now the camera is mounted on the spear. Why are you trying to make me dizzy, Show? Yushin (who has no sweet abs, let's be honest) wins the bout.
Watching from the tall grass is Myorang.
Munhui and Beopmin have gone to the palace to meet with Deokman. The princess wants the boy to study alongside Manhwa. She's hoping the two boys will become friends. Manhwa has the brains while Beopmin has the brawn. Beopmin is sent outside to play and spots the young Yeonhwa (Seungman's daughter, now Sino's daughter) smelling the flowers. The long scene and soft background music denotes these two are destined to become an item.
Sino is trying to rush Yeonhwa and her nanny away from the palace but its too late - here comes Manhwa. He's not pleased a stranger is in the palace and begins to kick Sino in the shins. Yeonhwa comes to her mother's defense. Hearing that unmarried palace maid Sino has an illegal child, asshole Manhwa threatens to tell his mother. After Manhwa pushes Yeonhwa to the ground, Beopmin rushes in to the defense of his future woman and pounds the prince.
So I guess the two boys aren't going to become friends.
Beopmin and his mother are brought before the queen. The boy refuses to apologize. Munhui is forced to slap him a couple of times in order to get him to kneel. It's actually for his own good. Seungman is mollified with Munhui slapping her son so the queen doesn't do anything worse to the boy.
Chunchu and Yushin report back to Princess Deokman. (I wish I could show a picture of Yushin. His outfit appears to have the Transformers insignia running down the middle. Perhaps he's a robot in disguise! He still doesn't have sweet abs, though. I also wish I could show a picture of Chunchu. The light is coming from the behind his head and is making his ears glow. But I digress...)
Before he can leave the palace, Chunchu is summoned by the queen. Seungman's pretense is to announce she agrees to have Beopmin study with Manhwa. But then she mentions how Chunchu has been taking long trips here lately. Surely he didn't take one to Baekje, eh? She worries that Baekje spies may harm him.
Deokman and her large entourage leave the capitol at night. Like no one wouldn't notice all these people walking down the deserted street. One person who does notice is Myorang. Deokman is traveling to have a not-so-secret meeting with Uija. I'll skip over the political talk and get to the point that Uija agrees to the alliance with Silla. Just as the two royals are about to stamp their approval on the paperwork, Queen Seungman and her own large entourage arrive. Chunchu goes out to stall for time. Seungman charges him with colluding with Baekje spies and orders him killed.
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