They treated my precious friends roughly.
Will you forgive my rudeness?
What to do...
Professor Jung, it appears your pupils won't even accept the apology of the king.
Professor!
I seek to command a secret mission upon you.
I will build a new city at Hwaseong.
To those who want to sell, I will give them their place of commerce.
And to those who want to plough the fields, their plows.
A place without slaves or noblemen,
where wealth and poverty are shared, and where class distinction is absent.
A great city of the East without political factions.
Thus, I intend to move the capital to Hwaseong and start a new Joseon.
The key to Hwaseong is here.
When the late king passed away,
he left behind a will that he asked to reveal to the world...
when I seek to pursue a great goal.
One night, ten years ago,
His Majesty ordered Sungkyunkwan professor, Kim Seong Heon,
and then-student president, Moon Young Shin,
to convoy a case carrying that will back to the palace.
However, they were met with a sudden death...
and the case carrying the will was also lost.
This is Kim Seong Heon's resignation letter...and his will.
Using this as the clue, will you help me recover the late king's will?
My dream and my aspiration...will you also hold dear in your hearts?
I...want to find it.
No. I must find it.
Though I cannot remember his face clearly, I wish to learn what my father was like.
If I look for his lost will...
If I follow his last traces... then perhaps I can know him even a little.
Please help me.
What about you, Geol Oh?
Moon Young Shin...
Whether this world that foolish fellow wanted so badly will really come about...
I too must find that will.
Jae Shin.
He's my older brother.
That pathetic fellow.
Moon Jae Shin and Kim Yoon Shik...
It's most fitting that they carry out this secret mission.
However, Your Majesty...
I am inadequate to comprehend why Lee Seon Joon, the son of a Noron,
and that other, who is neither a Namin nor a Soron...
Gu Yong Ha.
That amusing boy is likewise the future of Joseon that I wish to create.
Do you believe that those children will be able to solve the puzzle?
We have to trust that they can.
So...
this resignation letter, which became a will,
is a code that we must solve to carry out the king's command.
"The king and I, the two people..."
"Under the moonlight, share one heart as if tied together by a string."
"Where books and scriptures are, talent is cultivated..."
"...and custom is reformed."
"Where the learning is headed."
"Where the nation begins."
"I rest my lost heart here."
Hold on, hold on.
As expected, it's the best.
Did you figure it out, Yong Ha?
Nope, I have no idea what it's saying.
It's worthy of being called the best coded message, no?
Yong Ha!
Ten years ago that night, the king gave an order to bring back the late king's will.
Sungkyunkwan professor, Kim Seong Heon, answered that even if he dies,
his heart will be with His Majesty.
And so, he rests his lost heart here.
This is...
It appears to mean that he left the late king's will somewhere in this world.
Then, the answer as to where the will is located may be within this text.
A heart tied together by a string?
Paja! (basic Chinese characters)
I remember my father used to enjoy giving out riddles using paja.
Paja!
When it comes to paja...
we have Scholar Lee Seon Joon who placed first at Hwang Gam Je on a paja question.
Characters that can be used in paja are wang, yi, in, wol, sil, sa.
Wang.
Yi.
In.
Wol.
Sil.
Sa.
Geum Deung?
Geumdeung refers to a metal-bound coffer.
It's a sentence that appears in "Classic of History."
From the Zhou Dynasty, willingness to give your own life to save the king...
Geum Deung Ji Sa.
Geum Deung Ji Sa?
Isn't that what the Red Messenger has been talking about...?
Jae Shin, did you by any chance know everything about this?
You mean the Red Messenger is the son of Minister of Justice, Moon Jae Shin?
We found his belonging at the place where the Red Messenger disappeared.
We have a hunch and even a piece of evidence, but there's no definite proof.
We can send the royal guards to Sungkyunkwan tomorrow...
to capture him and bring him to high-crime treason court
You mean using such radical measures, as to send royal guards into Sungkyunkwan?
Can't we?
There's no reason to be so impatient.
By revealing that we're after the Red Messenger,
there's no reason to show the king our motive and raise alarm.
My plan is to make it so that the king can no longer protect that rascal,
and he orders that he be killed.
My old man, I guess his old age has caught up with him.
He's being too cautious.
Do you have an alternate plan?
Will you lend me some of your guards?
I'll stay watch here overnight,
and capture him before he enters Sungkyunkwan.
Do you know where the Geum Deung Ji Sa is?
Where is this place where the learning is headed, and where the nation begins?
No, no. Does such a thing as Geum Deung Ji Sa actually exist?
I plan to start searching for it now.
Like you said...
If we locate the people they met and their last traces that night ten years ago,
we should be able to know the whereabouts of the lost Geum Deung Ji Sa.
So you decode the text.
I really detest things like this that give me a headache.
Then what about me?
Don't you know?
Oh? This is fun! It's like finding clues, a riddle. Hey, good luck to you guys!
Can't you tell me what you're thinking?
Do you really not know anything about the Geum Deung Ji Sa?
Geum Deung Ji Sa...
is a letter by the late king mourning with remorse Crown Prince Sa Do's death.
What?
Those who feared the revelation of Geum Deung Ji Sa to the world,
and so got rid of Geum Deung Ji Sa and did that to my brother...
Behind all these are Norons.
So then why did you say you didn't know anything earlier?
W...why?
Glad to run into you guys here.
The Red Messenger appeared at the Gwangtong Bridge last night.
Hey, you should have told me something like that in advance.
So I could have gone to watch!
Then watch as much as you want now.
We can talk about the specifics at the police.
If you're hoping to capture the Red Messenger based on this drawing,
I'd say the person it depicts... actually looks most like you!
Wow!
I wonder if you'll still be able to joke after seeing this.
It's the evidence the Red Messenger left behind at the Gwangtong Bridge last night.
If a witness is needed to testify that this bracelet is Moon Jae Shin's,
I can bring over anyone from Sungkyunkwan.
Is this what you're looking for?
Or...perhaps something like this?
Oh, that's right!
It's time for us to go to Professor Yoo's class on "Doctrine of the Mean."
You should hurry too.
Oh, wait!
You don't need this anymore, do you?
Our Big Shot has been wanting one like this.
We should all share things we don't need so that we can go to heaven.
Well, you'll need to try harder, of course.
You saw that? I'm Gu Yong Ha.
I'm going to find it.
As I look for the missing Geum Deung Ji Sa,
I'll be able to meet the ones who did that to my brother.
And I plan to show them what they really need to be scared of.
So then, what do you need me to do?
The place where Geum Deung Ji Sa is, that place the learning is headed.
That place where the nation begins.
Will I be able to find it?
I've never done something so important.
I have no interest in political or state affairs...
And I'm not that bright-minded.
I can't even begin to guess...
what my father's thoughts and aspirations were. And I...
I will...
be there.
When you grow weary of carrying this burden,
there beside you, I will be.
When you regret beginning such a dangerous endeavour,
there beside you, I will be.
When you feel as though you can't go on, and wish to raise your hands in surrender,
when you feel frustrated that what's before you is beyond your capabilities,
and, even if...
we ultimately come away with nothing,
having to face defeat with empty hands...
Kim Yoon Hee...
By your side,
there will always be me.
His Majesty has a special request for you.
Do not partake in any Red Messenger activities...
and give them any leads whatsoever.
You knew about it?
Though your father is the Minister of Justice,
if you should be arrested now, he would not be able to save you.
I am aware of that.
He neither has the power nor the will to do so...
My father.
Your brother was a talented writer as well.
I saw his presence in your writing, and it was a delight to see.
Did you strive to emulate your brother's writing?
"Without love for the people and concerns for the nation, 'tis not poetry."
"Without aching for our era and outrage at the world, 'tis not poetry."
"Without striving for good and guarding against evil, 'tis too is not poetry."
This is...
It's from a book of poetry that I enjoy reading...
by Sungkyunkwan's long-time scholar Jung Yak Yong.
Even so, if you don't meet attendance requirements for this semester,
you will once again fail the Analects class.
Is it because you always have Soon Dol, that fellow, doing such things for you?
What, you can't do this?
You scholars down there. Are you okay?!
I'm so sorry.
Ah, this stupid lift!
It was imported from the Qing Dynasty.
Is something overheating from the malfunction?
Why is the air so hot in here?
It's very fortunate...that it was a malfunction after all.
I wondered whether with your formidable strength,
you had stopped the lift on purpose.
What do you mean?
Why...don't you remember?
Yesterday at the library...
"Do I really have to put it into words for you to know?"
How preposterous!
That'll never happen again, so don't worry!
No...what I meant was...
How can a scholar be so fickle and inconsistent!
I told you not to worry. That won't ever happen again!
I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now.
How should a scholar achieve great feats if he lacks such consistency?
That's why from now on, I'll never do it again.
You don't believe it?
"A man should keep his words."
You can trust me.
Did he say the Geumdeung chapter of the "Classic of History?"
"Smile once, once younger. Frown once, once older."
Every smile takes away a year, every frown adds one on.
It was a joke, a joke! Please don't be angry anymore.
"One shouldn't start something one can't finish."
Stopping in the middle is worse than not having started at all.
This is a teaching from the Analects.
To stop something you've already started, isn't something a Confucius scholar should do.
"Know your enemy and know yourself, and you shall be undefeated."
Do you really not know how I feel?
What is it, Lee Seon Joon? Did you just snatch a book from your senior?
Do I sound ridiculous to you?
This little...!
Do we Sorons seem like a joke? You're always...
I'm sorry, Senior!
This is a book I really need.
If it's okay with you, how about if you read this book instead?
Well...
Let him have it. Lee Seon Joon is lowering himself like this.
He turned into a human, Senior.
I'm letting it go this time. Do better from now on!
Thank you, Senior!
Did you see...how Lee Seon Joon apologized to me?
You guys saw it with your own eyes, right?
Don't include me among "you guys."
The last thing I wanted to say, I won't say it directly.
I think you should read it yourself.
Love
I love you.
Here, here, here!
Very nice!
Hey, young fellow!
Let that be, and come have a drink with us!
I feel bad after receiving free drinks.
That's the least I can do for you who's working so hard for this country.
- Drink up! - Yeah.
Let's drink up.
The first day of the 12th month of the year of Shinchook (1781)...
The first day.
Envoys from the Qing dynasty had arrived.
So there was a large welcoming event, is it?
With the foreign envoys here, security in the capital would have been very tight.
If there was a gang of bandits, there's no way it was not reported in the papers.
There would have been a no-passing ordinance at certain locations.
The only people who could have accompanied Professor Kim Seong Heon and Moon Young Shin...
as they carried the Geum Deung Ji Sa from Wolchul Mountain to the palace are...
Han Sung Bu officers.
Of the officers who were on duty that night,
there are five for whom their on-call locations are not recorded.
It's only natural that money would have been exchanged for the errand.
Which of these men is it...
who either relocated to another post or disappeared altogether?
Or who came into sudden wealth?
Why do you ask that?
You...what are you?
Secret inspection. (sent by the king)
Good job working for the country!
So finish what you've started.
Who is it?
Ahh, these fellows!
There's someone here whose life turned around, right?
Wait, something's wrong!
Isn't it? How is it possible for me to keep losing like this?
Wait!
Why are you all like this? Just this once.
The number of houses he's lost to gambling... was it ten or was it twenty houses?
I hear this time...
his plight has him having to sell even his wife and daughter.
No wonder they say you can't quit gambling until your wrists are cut off.
How can anyone escape from their fate?
If you know a way, then why don't you tell me. My pretty young lord!
Ten years ago in the year of Shinchook (1781),
I hear that fellow nearly died then too.
Let go!
I was curious who saved that fellow's dying life back then.
The one with the dying life...
That appears to be you, my young lord.
You little punk!
That scumbag of a loser!
For a Sungkyunkwan scholar!
Is there nothing else to do?
Father, I will not do it. I am not doing it.
You won't do what?
Do you intend for your offspring to live as half-nobles too?
She's daughter of a Ministry of Personnel ranked officer's distinguished family.
She's a young lady who had a good upbringing under a good family.
So it's time you should get yourself settled.
If a family that hands over their daughter for money is a good family,
then there's not a single Joseon family that wouldn't be considered distinguished.
I hear that you're hanging around with the Left State Minister's son these days.
You're a rascal who knows the ways of this world.
You were always wasting your time hanging out with that Geol Oh or Geol In.
That son of Soron, and grinding on this father of yours.
But I'm not telling you to ditch the Soron punk altogether.
Right now, the Norons have the skies, but you never know!
Once heaven and earth start to turn, it could as easily shift to the Sorons.
Why?
Just in case the Namins regain power, I got myself a Namin friend too.
I guess no one told you about that.
Your going in and out of Han Sung Bu. Stop that. (capital bureau)
Don't stand out.
What might just be a case of fatigue for those other punks,
could be a big case of the measles for you.
But, President...
Why did you ask us to look into Yeorim's family registry all of a sudden?
If the heavens are to help me.
I should do my part as well.
No matter how I look at it,
that secret mission from the king doesn't seem to suit me.
What's up with all that reverence and seriousness?
So boring.
The one I trust is you, Geol Oh.
So you have to find it, okay?
Let me have a look too.
That great world the king is talking about.
Are you drunk? Or is something wrong?
Let's do it, I'm saying.
Drink twice and double your bliss. And drink thrice, and thrice the bliss.
You said it right!
That's right.
Han Sung Bu officer, Yoon Hyung Goo.
Right after that day, he paid off a gambling debt of colossal amount.
If we find out where that money he paid off the debt came from,
we will know whether he's linked to this case or not.
There should be investigation records on public servants at the Office of Inspection.
What are you doing?
This is where I carry out my official duties.
Even though you are my son, still...
Why...is this...here?
Please answer me.
Why is that inside your personal cabinet?
My brother's incident report...
and investigation records on the Left State Minister and Minister of War...
are recorded daily.
Why?
Then...
Did you think that your father really forgave those who did that to your brother?
Then...
That incident...left State Minister and War Minister.
Is it true?
So from now on, leave your brother's case to me.
And do not involve yourself anymore.
Though alive, I was not really living.
I have merely endured, for that day of vengeance upon them.
So don't complicate this matter that's mine to do.
Don't you even feel shameful toward your deceased brother?!
Do you have the right?
I can endure the finger-pointing of all the people in the world.
But not yours.
For how long do you intend to live as a puppet of the Norons?
Didn't he clearly say it's in the "Classic of History?" Geum Deung Ji Sa?
But I don't understand why it's not in any of these Sungkyunkwan library books.
Take your time, and look through it carefully.
Maybe in these books?
I think I may have seen it here.
Was it really in this book?
You have something on your sleeve.
Oh...
Maybe not.
Here, fine now?
So please concentrate on the books now.
Please concentrate on the books.
I think we'll have to make a trip to the bookstore tomorrow.
It's possible that the books there could tell us about the Geumdeung.
We still have a long way to go.
But we can't even solve the first code. This is really worrisome.
Are you listening to me?
Why? Is there something in there?
No. I think it's best we make a trip to the bookstore.
I don't think it's anywhere in Sungkyunkwan library.
About your son and my daughter's marriage, Your Excellency.
I think it's time for the elders to step forward.
They say the world is full of men and women, but...
when you sleep under a shared blanket, it's all the same.
They are still too young to realize that.
I've come to pour you a drink, Your Excellency.
You. How dare you come here!
Who might you be?
On the first night of the 12th month of the year of Shinchook (1781),
I, Han Sung Bu Officer Yoon Hyung Goo, lent you my hands, Your Excellency.
You wretch!
That's enough, Minister of War.
Didn't you say you came to pour me a drink?
Your humble servant came in secrecy like this, to save your life, Your Excellency.
Do you know where you are? How dare you show such insolence here.
People trying to trace my whereabouts during that night ten years ago have appeared.
The night when I bypassed the no-passing ordinance...
and brought Professor Kim Seong Heon and Moon Young Shin to Your Excellencies.
What? Is that true?
Not just that. They are even looking into the land deed that I received.
I am just worried that it might cause trouble for you.
So I plan to live in hiding in the deep mountains and never come back out.
So?
I'll need a small hut,
and a little piece of land for me to make a living from, right?
The rabbit was caught a long time ago.
But the hunting dog is barking up a storm now.
What do you think the owner will do?
From my understanding,
in order for that hunting dog to survive,
he has to to bite the owner before he is thrown into boiling water.
If it were me, I would find a way...
to calm that hunting dog down, Your Excellency.
I'll just go and see that Officer Yoon is rid of tonight...
Didn't you hear him say that the king's men are investigating him?
Do you wish to be caught red-handed by the king?
Pathetic.
Senior, about the Geumdeung chapter in the "Classic of History."
We couldn't find it in the Sungkyunkwan library books.
As if someone hid them on purpose.
The sorrow of a wrongful death...
is expressed through the lyrics in Geumdeung chapter.
Is that correct?
Didn't you place first at the entrance exam?
And the best in the classics? So why are you asking me?
If the late king regarded it as a wrongful death,
and if the reigning king is looking for it...
Geum Deung Ji Sa.
Is it linked to the death of Crown Prince Sa Do?
Do you know by any chance, Jae Shin?
Didn't I tell you I really detest things that give me a headache?
Let you and me do our assigned roles. I do mine. You do yours.
Senior!
You didn't come back again last night.
The matter you were looking into. Is it going well?
We plan to go to the bookstore today.
To see if any clues in the banned books might help us decipher the secret code.
"Where the learning is headed."
"Where the nation begins."
Senior, do you understand it?
Confucius said this.
"Haeng Yoo Yeo Ryeok. Jeuk Yi Hak Moon."
"After you have done your duty as a human, put your leftover time into studying."
So what about it?
On a beautiful autumn day like today,
it is our human duty to go out and play.
What else?
Following the teaching of Confucius,
we should take a temporary break from the study of the Analects.
Instead of that, why don't we follow the beautiful custom of Confucian scholars,
and solicit the use of subsitute attendees?
Good going!
When losers gather, they are merry. Is that it?
There are reasons why unsuccessful familes are the way they are.
If your grades aren't great, you should do whatever it takes...
to pass the civil service exam, so that you can raise your families.
Look at Lee Seon Joon.
He is the son of the Left State Minister.
But does he rely on his father to build success?
Have you ever seen Scholar Lee Seon Joon absent from class, to play hooky?
- When? - Precisely...now!
Over there.
Baek Dong Soo.
He's the one who gave money to Officer Yoon.
Who is he?
You're still a rookie.
Would he make transactions with his real name?
Would you go in first?
I have a business to take care of.
Is my lord doing well?
I am so pathetic, aren't I?
As his fiancee, I have to hear about his news from others.
Young lord.
You're his closest roommate, right?
Will you help me?
So that my lord's heart will come my way.
This is a marriage of the families.
Not a marriage that can be broken over personal feelings that may have changed.
Even if my lord's heart does not change,
we will have to go through with the marriage.
So for the sake of my lord, please help me.
- Look, I... - I know.
I know that I am lacking.
And that I am immature.
Because that is what everyone says.
But I don't want to be criticized for my feelings.
Because my heart is sincere.
M...my lord.
My lord.
I didn't think I would meet you here like this.
I really didn't even dream of it.
My lord, would you spare me a few moments of your time?
There is something I must tell you.
I...
will leave first then.
I'm sorry.
For my past imprudence, I shall be apologetic the rest of my life.
However...
My heart will never change.
I have already given my heart to someone else.
Therefore, I hope you will no longer concern yourself over someone like me.
I'm sorry.
Let's go now.
Miss. What just happened?
What did you mean by that?
That you would give us some space?
I just thought the two of you needed to talk.
Since you two will eventually marry.
If it's because of me...if you're worried about me...
I'm fine.
I'm...more than happy with the way things are now.
Not once have I thought about our future.
That is being too greedy.
Then start thinking about it now. Think hard about it. Think earnestly about it!
Because I've been thinking about it so much until I thought my head would explode.
We're too different.
Because of you...
I've done all the things I never thought I could do.
But...you still won't set foot outside the world you've confined yourself in.
What you're pushing away right now is not greed...
It's me.
Then what am I supposed to do?
I'm so scared.
Because I like you so much...
Because I'm so happy every day...
I'm not used to this.
We better get back now.
Seniors are waiting.
I found it!
A copy of the land deed that Officer Yoon received ten years ago that day.
Once we verify who this person is,
we can find out who hired Officer Yoon.
We're almost there now.
Let's drop it.
What?
The secret mission we received was to find the Geum Deung Ji Sa,
not the mastermind behind what happened on that night ten years ago.
You know, don't you?
Who is the culprit?
I almost forgot.
You really have an innate talent for making me lose my mind.
Why? Did I do something wrong again?
Did you say it would all end once we leave Sungkyunkwan?
There's no such thing as the end.
Because I'll...just start over again and again every day.
What?
Lower your voice!
So...
the mastermind behind all these incidents is Left State Minister.
Lee Seon Joon's father, is that it?
What did you just say? Who did you say it was?
Stop right there!
How dare you turn your back on your father!
Silence before the truth is a cowardly act.
Jae Shin.
Why are you so startled, Yeorim? As if you got caught doing something bad.
Do you think it's really true?
You are really something.
Live happily!
Happiness is not far away!
People become cowardly because they have someone they wish to protect.
Do you really think that kid could forgive you?
What...did you just say?