Horse Doctor Episode 40
So now there is a race to see who can treat the crown prince first. Will it be our man Kwanghyun or the evil-looking and mysterious newcomer Choi? The tension and pressure of finding a cure for the prince is broken with humour as the princess continues searching for a wedding gift for Jinyung – much to the bride-to-be’s embarrassment! Kwanghun has more knowledge and skills than Choi expected and has an idea how to cure him. But just as the crown prince starts to recover, another crisis takes over in the city – an outbreak of smallpox.
The queen mother listens to Myunghwan’s pleas to remove Kwanhgyun as the crown prince’s doctor. He appears SO confident HIS MAN KNOWS how to cure the prince that the queen mother marches over to speak to the king. (She seems to be looking for any excuse to remove Kwanghyun, though). But the king is not keen to let an unknown doctor from outside take over.
The king is not keen to let a doctor from outside treat his son
When Kwanghyun hears what’s going on, he rushes over to the prince’s side, but Choi is ALREADY inside and sitting next to the prince. Myunghwan stands outside as though guarding the entrance. But it seems that Team Myunghwan have not actually received permission from the king to treat the prince yet, they have just barged their way in since the queen mother is supporting them. So an argument takes place between the two sides.
Kwanghyun demands to know how Myunghwan and his doctor intend to treat the prince. Myunghwan is looking very smug as Choi comes outside hearing them arguing. They discuss their ideas for treatments. Choi is confident that Kwanghyun doesn’t have as much knowledge as he does so he thinks Kwanghyun should simply step aside and allow him to look after the prince!
Choi sits next to the prince ready to treat him
But Choi is shocked to hear Kwanghyun’s proposal for treatment – he will use toad venom ash (he got the idea from looking at the ash in the fire – not from a book ). Choi didn’t think he had so much knowledge. So they BOTH have the same idea for treating the prince. Myunghwan on the other hand doesn’t care how they are going to cure the prince. He just wants to make sure that Kwanghyun is out and Choi is in! And that HE gets credit for curing the prince! Grrr.
Kwanghyun and Choi discuss treatments for the prince
The king overhears the conversation and puts Kwanghyun back in charge. 🙂 Kwanghyun’s main concern is to cure the prince. He’s not bothered about getting credit for doing this. So he decides to use Choi’s medicine, (it must already be prepared) as it will take too long for Kwanghyun to make the same medicine himself from scratch.
The prince starts to recover and everyone is discussing WHO saved the prince – was it Kwanghyun or was it Choi? Team Myunghwan congratulate themselves but Choi is not satisfied with this result – he obviously wanted a clear win! Yes, his medicine was used, but Kwanghyun knew the toad secret so Choi hasn’t proved that he is the BEST! 😉 Choi feels even more competitive towards Kwanghyun now.
Team Myunghwan congratulate themselves on a win
Now that the crisis with the prince is over we have a little comedy interlude before the next problem arises. The princess takes Jinyung shopping at the fabric store. She wants to get her a new hanbok wedding dress! Jinyung is shocked and embarrassed – who am I supposed to be marrying? she asks. (Come on Jinyung, like you don’t know the answer to that! But in fairness, they have not talked of marriage yet!)
The princess and Eunso take Jinyung shopping for a wedding dress
Later when Jinyung sees Kwanghyun she feels embarrassed again – she must be remembering the wedding talk! He teases her that she is blushing because of HIM. Flustered, she complains of being hot even though it’s so cold they can see their own breath! He chases her outside still teasing her. And of course Sungha appears and sees them together. He looks at them glumly. ( But would they really be flirting together so openly at the hospital? I think this over-the-top ‘flirting’ is quite out of character for them and every time they do it it’s obvious that the next shot will be of Sungha!)
Sungha has drinks with Dusik. He’s still glum and repeats that there is NO WAY that Jinyung can marry Kwanghyun. His father would never allow it. Storming out he bumps into Eunso and tells her to stop the princess from encouraging this marriage between Jinyung and Kwanghyun. He explains that there is a GOOD REASON why they can NEVER marry.
Sungha watches Kwanghyun and Jinyung flirting
While the princess is out looking for more presents for Jinyung, she comes into contact with a commoner. At first she’s afraid of him, but then looking closely she sees that he’s sick. We see a kind side of her now as she wants to help him. But she probably shouldn’t get too close. This is the first sign of troubles ahead. But meanwhile unaware that anything is wrong, Kwanghyun is with the king getting praised for his efforts with the prince.
The princess wants Jinyung’s wedding to be perfect
We’ve had a taste of the crisis that is to come. But first we have another bit of comedy. The nurses tease their teacher because they think he fancies Kayong. Kayong is mortified to think that this guy is interested in her. (And Taeju seems unhappy to hear this news too!) She hides from him when he comes looking for her. But he’s only being nice to her because he wants to join Team Kwanghyun. (He is such a creep! He has left the sinking ship of Team Myunghwan and is now trying to board the ship of team Kwanghyun. Duh!) But they are all distracted when they hear that Choi has arrived at the clinic as a new DOCTOR.
Kwanghyun tells Choi that he won’t allow any of his funny business at the clinic. He obviously thinks that Choi lacks morals or heart as a doctor. But Choi says they are no different: Kwanghyun may be a caring doctor but he is also desperate to cure his patients. And if he can’t cure them (like Dr Ko) what will he do next time? Will he do ANYTHING? (even if it’s dodgy?) Choi predicts that he will …
Choi arrives to work at the clinic
At the restaurant Kibae turns up with a gift for Daebang’s mum – a wooden comb. But it’s so busy at the restaurant and customers are complaining that they are not getting served. The waiter looks terrible. He’s feverish and covered in red marks. He collapses on the floor – and in horror everyone realises he has smallpox. The others are too afraid to go near the sick man, and the customers run away from the restaurant. But Kibae bravely ties the cloth (used to wrap the comb) around his face like a mask and carries the sick man to the hospital on his back. The comb gift just falls to the ground forgotten. There are more important things to think about now.
The hospital gets busy with patients with smallpox
Guards are sent out to seal off areas of the city. People are not allowed to leave the capital. But of course there is always a yangban who wants special treatment. But with Sungha and Dusik in charge, there are no special cases! NO ONE CAN LEAVE 🙂
The commoner that the princess met is also diagnosed with smallpox. When Kwanghyun hears this he rushes over to see the princess. She is packing getting ready to evacuate with the others from the palace but she is already feverish and unwell. He hears a crash coming from inside her quarters. He rushes in and finds her collapsed on the floor. She’s sick too.
Choi is the new baddie in town but so far he is still a step up from Myunghwan! He wants revenge on Dr Saam but only to prove that he is the better doctor! At least he wants to prove his medical skills. Myungwan doesn’t seem to care about his actual job – he seems to have forgotten that he is a DOCTOR and he doesn’t care who dies as long as he is still in power. When Kwanghyun was stressing over trying to stop the bleeding from the prince’s operation, Myunghwan looked as though he was hoping that the prince would die. He really is getting more and more despicable. I can’t say that we’ve seen a kind heart in Choi either and Dr Saam clearly thinks he is heartless. But at least he takes his work seriously – finding cures for diseases – even if the reason is to massage his own ego.
Every time I mention Sungha I have to add ‘poor old Sungha’ 🙁 I wish he could have more of a storyline than just being the guy who has the role of reminding us that Jinyung is NOT a yangban but a commoner.
