Horse Doctor Episode 19
After Kwanghyun manages to insult the king by comparing him to an animal (!) Myunghwan sees his chance to push the peasant horse doctor out of the welfare hospital for good. And get rid of Dr Ko too. But he didn’t predict that the king might actually be sick. And Kwanghyun is soon brought back when it seems his diagnosis of the king was correct after all …
The 삼의사 (sam-ui-sa) three departments of the medical council meet to discuss Kwanghyun’s fate. Of course Myunghwan is pushing for the harshest punishment and wants Kwanghyun thrown out of the hospital FOREVER. But Dr Ko refuses to do this. After all Kwanghyun is still only a student who just made a mistake.
But this is even better for Myunghwan as now he can turn the whole hospital against Dr Ko. And soon the trouble starts – first of all with the student doctors who walk out of class and refuse to study with Kwanghyun.
The student doctors walk out refusing to study with Kwanghyun
They walk out of class and only Taeju is left. Is he showing some support for Kwanghyun perhaps? No. He merely points out the facts – everyone hates him because he is different from them and always will be.
Taeju explains why everyone seems to be against Kwanghyun
The queen mother has heard what’s been going on and demands that the king do something – how can a peasant be allowed to insult the king like this? If he doesn’t do something, then she will. (I bet she will – she loves interfering) But just like Dr Ko, the king tries to defend Kwanghyun who is still only a student.
Myunghwan is pleased that the hospital is in chaos and tells Lord Jung that Dr Ko will not survive much longer in his position. The doctors from the welfare hospital and the royal pharmacy walk out too as well as the members of the administration office. Dr Ko and the nurses are left to cope on their own. But still Dr Ko refuses to back down.
Kwanghyun sits alone in the empty classroom contemplating the bullying he has had to endure because he’s different. Meanwhile a nurse screams when a patient starts convulsing. She doesn’t know what to do and as there are no doctors around Jinyung has to administer acupuncture herself. They can’t keep going for much longer and Kwanghyun looks around the busy hospital at the nurses struggling to cope. He must be feeling guilty by now. The king is annoyed to hear that doctors are leaving their patients. He knows they are trying to force him to demote Dr Ko and he grabs his side in pain …
Kwanghyun tries to see Myunghwan but a servant forbids him to enter the premises. Kwanghyun is about to be thrown out when Sungha sees him and lets him in. Kwanghyun tells Myunghwan that he will never give up his dream of becoming a doctor. Myunghwan is shocked thinking he has come to beg for his job back! But Kwanghyun agrees to quit the welfare hospital so that the doctors can return to their patients. (At least HE is worried about the patients – Myunghwan doesn’t seem to care at all!) Sungha overhears their conversation and is upset at the way his father is treating Kwanghyun and later he tries to change Myunghwan’s mind and allow Kwanghyun to stay. But it’s useless. The princess also begs the queen mother to help Kwanghyun but of course this is useless too.
Kwanghyun tells Myunghwan that he will leave the hospital
Kwanghyun packs his knapsack and leaves the hospital while Myunghwan celebrates. Sungha meets with other scholars to see what can be done – how can the doctors treat their patients like this? Myunghwan and Lord Jung discuss the situation openly in front of Eunso who pours tea for them. Their plans to get rid of Dr Ko are working. After she leaves Myunghwan asks Lord Jung if it’s all right to discuss such matters in front of her. Lord Jung isn’t worried she will talk. (I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Lord Jung!) She goes back to her room to take her medicine and seems very agitated about what she’s just heard.
Kwanghyun says goodbye to Jinyung.
The king is angry with the officials for their tactics. He doesn’t want to get rid of Dr Ko. He trusts him. But during a meeting with officials the king clasps his side in pain and then collapses on the floor! Myunghwan is sent for but he dithers over what to do. He doesn’t know what’s wrong with the king and the medical council holds an emergency meeting to work out what to do. They go over the king’s symptoms again even discussing the status of the king’s poo 😕 But as they talk, Dr Ko realises that they DO know what is wrong with the king after all and he goes off to find Kwanghyun. (We knew it!)
The officials want to meet the king and push for Dr Ko’s removal
Dr Ko finds Kwanghyun at the stables and he asks him to show him the animal with gall stones. Kwanghyun shows him and explains the symptoms of the illness which includes grey poop. Meanwhile Myunghwan checks the king’s stools again and notes a grey colour… Kwanghyun explains that if the sickness is left untreated and develops then the patient will get septicaemia (blood poisoning) and that can be fatal. Just as the words come out of his mouth, over at the palace Myunghwan takes the king’s pulse and recoils in horror – the king has scepticaemia. 😯
While Myunghwan is still in shock and dithering over what to do again, Dr Ko takes Kwanghyun to the pharmacy to make up medicine. They must make a medicine to remove the stone. But when Myunghwan hears about this, he marches over to the pharmacy to demand an explanation – Dr Ko simply explains that saving the king is the priority here. Quite right. But Lord Jung is FUMING. Myunghwan is sure that he can take control of the situation but what if the king DIES? Lord Jung splutters that it’s best to leave it to Dr Ko! Then if things go wrong he will be in trouble!
Myunghwan demands the removal of Kwanghyun. AGAIN
Kwanghyun and Dr Ko give the king the medicine and wait for results to be revealed in the king’s poo. (their lives depend on it) But nothing happens. They wait and wait and start to worry especially when it seems that the king is getting worse. But at this point Dr Ko manages to subdue him with acupuncture.
The queen mother hears this and marches over demanding that Myunghwan be reinstated as the doctor in charge. Dr Ko is unceremoniously removed from the king’s bedside. but just in time Kwanghyun rushes up. He has heard that the king’s poo has changed colour. it is no longer grey but green. This is good. This means the king is getting better. But will they believe him?
***
It’s a touching moment when the king, lying on his sick bed frightened and in agony, grabs Dr Ko’s hand. He is trusting in him to make him better. But the king is too ill to stop the queen mother from interfering later on when she has Dr Ko physically removed from the royal chamber and Myunghwan reinstated! Grrr
Now we can really see WHY the king wants to keep Dr Ko in charge of the hospital: it is obvious that the doctors, starting with Myunghwan, are only concerned about their positions and NOT about their patients. And they show this clearly by walking out of the hospital leaving their patients to die. Grrrr.
But I wonder what is going to happen to Myunghwan’s relationship with Sungha and Jinyung as they are now starting to see who he really is. They are discovering an evil and frightening side to his character.
