Heo Jun episode 53 Consorts Gong Bin and In Bin
Heo Jun is able to cure Gong Bin even though the head doctor thought there was nothing they could do for her. Of course the King is overjoyed and against the officials’ wishes he forgives Heo Jun and this time refuses to back down. Phew! There’s good news for Do Ji too as In Bin gets pregnant and he is put in charge of looking after her. But Heo Jun also gets promoted to Gong Bin’s personal doctor. So the rivalry is going to heat up …
Heo Jun is called to treat Gong Bin and he has to think back to how he was taught to treat others with the same disease in the past. The other officials are still against the ‘criminal’ treating her though. But there is nothing they can do about it. As well as applying acupuncture Heo Jun orders a treatment of moxibustion: a spoonful of salt is put in her belly button(!) a thick slice of ginger is placed over that and moxibustion applied on top!
Heo Jun treats Gong Bin with salt, ginger, and moxibustion
It looks like Dr Yang has completely let go of his bad feelings towards Dr Yoo, Heo Jun’s teacher. And so now Heo Jun and Dr Yang work well together to help Gong Bin get better. 🙂 The guards watch Heo Jun’s every move though as he is still technically a criminal. But eventually Gong Bin regains consciousness and starts to recover. Her rival In Bin brings some medicine as a gift. (I wouldn’t be keen to drink this though. I hope it’s been checked for poison first?!) Of course the King is pleased to hear that the two consorts are ‘getting on so well’…
Consort In Bin pays Gong Bin a visit as she recovers
The King decides that he WILL forgive Heo Jun after all. He announced that it’s the King’s Order which means it is above the law and nobody can do anything about this. So Heo Jun and his wife are released. But word has spread that Da Hee is a noble lady and nobody knows how to address her now. Koo Ilsu and his wife start bowing to her and addressing her politely as Ma-nim! But Da Hee says she has given up her Yangban status so they should just speak to her normally as before!
The King is pleased to see Gong Bin recover and decides to forgive Heo Jun
Do Ji’s mum is not pleased that Heo Jun has been released. Do Ji’s wife – who seems like a decent and kind lady – wants to go and see Da Hee as she feels bad about making her work like a servant when she was a noble lady all along. But her mother-in-law refuses to let her go. She refuses to think of Da Hee as a noble lady and just sees her as a poor wife who had to work for a bowl of food. She’s so small-minded and mean. 🙁
Heo Jun is shocked to be released from prison. Da Hee gets treated like a noble lady!
Heo Jun goes back to work. Oh Gun grabs him and begs him to take a look at Nurse Hong Choon (who he has a crush on) as she has been sick for several days. When Heo Jun checks her he discovers that she is suffering from shil-nyo-byeong 실녀병 basically ‘women’s loneliness’ sickness! He explains that she has got to the age where her body thinks she should have a baby and is rebelling as she is still single. The other nurses suggest she marry Oh Gun!
Hong Choon is embarrassed to discover she is suffering from ‘loneliness’!
Finally there is some good news for Do Ji as In Bin is now pregnant. Both Heo Jun and Do Ji are called to the head doctor. Do Ji is expecting to get some special favours after helping In Bin get pregnant and indeed he is put in charge of looking after In Bin’s health. But to Heo Jun’s surprise he is put in charge of of looking after Gong Bin. So the rivalry will heat up from now on …
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I think the most intriguing part of this episode is when In Bin brings a gift of medicine to Gong Bin. I wonder what In Bin’s motive is for doing this. The two women are clearly not friends and there must be jealousy and rivalry between them. And it doesn’t seem like she is trying to become more friendly with Gong Bin here either. But of course she must be SEEN to be doing the right thing so that must be one motive – appearances and etiquette are very important. But is In Bin also trying to impress the King by showing kindness to his previously favoured concubine and mother of his children? Or is she trying to pass on a message to Gong Bin to say that In Bin herself is now above her in status or soon will be? My first thought was that there was something dodgy in the medicine. But surely it has been checked by the doctors before being allowed to be given to Gong Bin? Anyway, from now on I’m sure we are going to see a power struggle going on between these two and Do Ji and Heo Jun too.
The other interesting storyline of this episode was Hong Choon’s sickness. She is suffering from ‘women’s loneliness’ and has been bedridden with a fever for 5 days. Is this really an actual sickness? 😮 Heo Jun tells everyone that basically the cure for her sickness is … A MAN! Poor Hong Choon looks so embarrassed to hear this. Not surprisingly, because he is pretty much telling everyone that she is horny! But did he really have to go and tell EVERYONE! Heo Jun, do you have ANY TACT? 😳
The theme of status pops up again as Da Hee’s past becomes known and commoners start feeling guilty for treating her like a commoner when she was a noble lady all along. Koo Ilsu and his wife are confused and try bowing to her and addressing her politely and Do Ji’s wife even wants to go and apologise to her for making her work like a servant – even though she was getting paid to work as a servant at their home! What a strange thing class is!
