Tuesday, March 19, 2024
FILM&DRAMA

Historical Drama Dong Yi Episode Recaps 30-44

Here’s my third post of Dong Yi episode summaries. Jang Ok Jung (JOJ) has lost the King’s love and trust, but desperately clings to her title of Queen. Meanwhile Dong Yi has been using her detective skills to prove JOJ’s involvement in framing the dethroned Queen! But does Dong Yi really want to make Jang Ok Jung an enemy?

EPISODE 30

Jang Ok Jung visits her arrested brother Jang Hee Jae in Dong Yi episode 30
Jang Ok Jung (now the Queen) visits her arrested brother Jang Hee Jae

JHJ and his accomplices are tortured to make them confess their part in the death of the Queen Mother, but JOJ still refuses to admit knowing anything about it. And she tearfully blames THE KING for her actions, since he doesn’t love her anymore.

JOJ knows that DY has proof of her guilt and orders Lord Oh to get rid of her. So the Namin faction refuse to accept DY’s evidence as she is ‘just a servant’. They demand to question her!

The King wants to protect DY so he makes her a ‘special court lady’

She enters the palace in a palanquin dressed in her finery!

A special court lady (sang-gung)  was a concubine of the king without an official concubine rank. This was the same level as JOJ was when she first entered the palace. So Dong Yi is not just a servant anymore and everyone will have to treat her with respect. And she can’t simply be killed off so easily, either!

Related Posts:

Read about the court lady ranking system in the Joseon period

EPISODE 31

dong yi becomes a s special court lady in episode 31
DY becomes a Special Court Lady

Dong Yi’s life changes overnight – she lives in her own residence in the palace, wears beautiful silk hanboks, and must be addressed politely as mama nim, and she can’t work at the investigation bureau anymore.

read about how to address others in the Joseon period 
read about the social classes in the the Joseon period (in Dong Yi) 

At first DY thinks it’s all a mistake and she has no right to be a Special Court Lady (this is an honour for ladies who have slept with the King! And she hasn’t!)

She’s also worried about her past and doesn’t want to lie to the King. He soon visits her in her new residence and sheepishly confesses that he has feelings for her. And he gives her a ring. He acts like a teenager who’s never been in love before. 💕

But Dong Yi’s promotion does not go down well around the palace!

JOJ sees an opportunity and resorts to negotiating with the King: her brother’s release in exchange for her making the namin faction accept DY as a Special Court Lady.

The King accepts her offer and at the same time they both acknowledge that the love between them has gone. (Oh, I feel bad for JOJ now)

dong yi carries out ancestral rites in episode 31
Dong Yi carries out ancestral rites for her father and brother

DY sneaks out of the palace and in a panic the King chases after her thinking she has run away. But Chun Soo knows where she is – it’s the anniversary of her father’s death and she has gone to the cliff where he died.

The King finds her there and tries to assure her that he doesn’t need to know about her past. (but of course he doesn’t realise how serious this issue will be…)

See more posts on Dong Yi (MBC 2010) 

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***

EPISODE 32

dong yi and King sukjong enjoy an evening out in dong yi episode 32
DY and her friends from the music department go out with the King!

The King is in love and daydreams his way through his Royal Lectures on Confucianism! 💕

But DY is having trouble in her new role. First, court ladies don’t want to work for her as she has no power – and nobody wants to get on the wrong side of JOJ!

In the end Lady Jung and Jung Im from the investigation bureau agree to become her attendants. But then things get worse when DY’s maids start getting sick and rumours spread that DY’s quarters are unlucky. Of course JOJ’s mother is behind this.

The King and DY go on a date 💕

They go out to their favourite tavern in the city. But then there’s heavy rain and they can’t get back to the palace…. SO they have to stay the night in an inn. (I think we know what’s going to happen!) Yes, FINALLY they consummate their relationship. 💕

But it’s soon back to reality. At the palace, the strange ‘plague’ has spread from DY’s residence to the Crown Prince’s residence.

So now this is SERIOUS.  But oddly it’s only the court ladies who are getting sick…

DY is under suspicion of trying to kill the Crown Prince, so her residence is searched. Unfortunately JOJ is Queen and therefore head of the inner court. So she is in charge of the investigation! JOJ gives DY three days to find the cause of the problem and if she fails she will pay with her life!

***

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EPISODE 33

dong yi wears the ring king sukjong gave her
DY wears the ring the King gave her

JOJ discovers that the person behind the ‘plague’ is her own mother!

Mum wants DY to go down for attempted murder of the Crown Prince. (that’s nice!) But JOJ wants more. She’s so vindictive and jealous of DY that she wants to break the trust between DY and the King first. Then DY can die!

The Namin faction are digging into DY and Chun Soo’s past looking for dirt. But they discover that there are NO early records of them. This is suspicious, so they try to wine and dine DY’s friends from the music department for intel.

Dong Yi investigates again.

DY discovers that there is poison in the cosmetics that the court maids are wearing and this is causing the illness. The cosmetic peddler who sold the product to the court ladies is linked to Lady Yoon (JOJ’s mum) But before DY can investigate further, Lady Investigator Yu takes delight in arresting her since the three days limit is up.

Scapegoats

The King finds out that JOJ’s mother is involved in the poisoning of the court ladies. But JOJ is the master of SPIN. She gets hold of some scapegoats ASAP. And so when the King arrives at her residence, he finds  ‘the court ladies who bought the cosmetics’ being tortured. JOJ ‘knew nothing about it‘ until now and she is ‘the victim’! Brilliant.

There’s good news for the King and JOJ as the Qing envoys are coming to the capital to acknowledge the Crown Prince. But does this mean that the Qing envoys don’t know that the security records JHJ gave them were fake?

Related Posts:

Read about King Sukjong and the late Joseon kings and related historical dramas

See the Chart of Joseon Kings and related Historical Dramas

***

EPISODE 34

Jang Hee Jae gets a grilling from the furious Qing envoy in Dong yi episode 34
Jang Hee Jae gets a grilling from the furious Qing envoy who wants the real records ASAP

When the angry Qing envoy arrives, he immediately summonses JHJ who doesn’t know that he gave them a fake book! 😭

JHJ is expecting praise. But he gets a warning instead: The Crown Prince’s position can easily be reversed. And if they don’t get the book before the party leaves for Qing, the King will be informed of the situation! ha ha

JHJ staggers out in bewilderment. And then bumps into cocky Sir Shim who seems to enjoy seeing him in a state. (JHJ also doesn’t know that Sir Shim gave DY the original records!)

JOJ is plotting again

She sweetly announces that she intends to make DY an official concubine. The King is pleased (naive), because of course JOJ has an ulterior motive. DY’s family background will have to be thoroughly investigated before she can become an official concubine! So JOJ can legitimately dig into DY’s past and find out what she’s hiding.

The King senses DY’s distress at having her family formally investigated. 💕

So he asks Chief Seo to check into DY’s past too. He thinks they may be runaway slaves which he will readily forgive. But when he tells Chief Seo about the cliff where he found DY conducting the memorial service for her father, Chief Seo is stunned. He knows who she is…

***

EPISODE 35

Chief Seo looks over the geomgye files again in episode 35
Chief Seo looks over the geomgye files again

Chief Seo gets all the records of the geomgye (sword fraternity) to review.

He relives the past and still believes that DY’s dad killed his own father. But Chun Soo tells him the truth: that he simply admitted it to protect Chief Seo. Digging deeper into the situation would have caused more problems. Sir Shim has discovered who DY is too.

Chief Seo hurries to stop DY telling the King who she really is.

He needs more time to work out what to do. So he gives the King false papers about her past explaining that her family accepted help from the geomgye when they were runaways and that’s why she feels guilty. (Chief Seo is such a sweetheart 💕)

Time is running out for JHJ

He’s getting desperate to find the security records. (The Qing want to check Joseon’s army to make sure Joseon is not getting too powerful.)

JOJ tries to convince Lord Oh that giving the book to the Qing will improve relations with them and gain their trust! (She can spin anything in her favour!) So they decide to have a banquet. Then while all the Qing guards are there, they can search the palace (and DY’s residence) for the record book.

But once at the banquet, DY realises something is wrong….

***

EPISODE 36 (best episode)

  During the banquet Jang Ok Jung has Dong Yi's residence ransacked to find the security records in dong yi episode 36
During the banquet Jang Ok Jung has Dong Yi’s residence ransacked to find the security records

A great episode with a twist at the end. 💕

JOJ knows the protocol at the palace and has thought of everything. She makes the Tribunal Guards surround the banquet. That way, Chief Seo thinks something is amiss and he sends all his Royal Guards to the banquet too. So that means ALL the police are in one place.

Actually, EVERYONE is at the banquet, which is odd. So, suspecting that something is wrong, DY tries to go back to her residence.

But JOJ INSISTS that DY stay put. So Team JOJ are free to ransack the palace for the records! Brilliant. 

Team JOJ are free to ransack the palace for the records in Dong Yi episode 36
Team JOJ search Dong Yi’s room for the records!
Team JOJ find the book!

Lady Yu and the investigators search DY’s room and eventually find the book behind a secret wall in a cabinet.

Chun Soo and Sir Shim’s residences have been searched too. Lady Yu is getting noticeably more vicious and ‘deals with‘ a court lady who witnesses them searching the rooms…

Meanwhile, DY comes back to find the book and her court lady missing. Sir Shim is tied up in a barn.

When he hears that the book is gone Chief Seo closes his eyes and sighs.

But now for the brilliant twist.

So far in this episode I’ve been OUTRAGED and FRUSTRATED as they search DY’s room! I was shouting at the screen, ‘why are you keeping the book in such an OBVIOUS PLACE?

But the puppet master is DY not JOJ.

She knew what JOJ’s plans were all along. AND she WANTED JOJ to FIND the book. Because now, the police can catch her brother in the act of handing it over! Clever. 

The timing is perfect.

As we speak, JHJ is handing the book over to the Qing envoy. But then he realises that the Royal Guards are surrounding them in the gisaeng house. He starts desperately trying to wrestle the book back from the Qing envoy in a very ungentlemanly manner! 😭

Then he rushes outside with it and tries to burn it. But it’s too late.

The King is informed.

JHJ and his accomplices are tortured. JOJ realises it was DY’s trap, but she tries to escape blame AGAIN. The Namin faction support her and lobby the King proclaiming her innocence…

Related Posts:

Jang Ok Jung is an infamous femme fatale in Korean history. She was known for her ambition to become Queen. She appears in lots of dramas including the romance Jang Ok Jung: Living by Love (SBS 2013) 

see more from dramasrok about life in Korea on Facebook Pinterest and Instagram 

***

EPISODE 37

Dong Yi reveals her discoveries to Jang Ok Jung
Dong Yi reveals her discoveries to Jang Ok Jung

All the baddies are arrested.

DY reveals to JOJ that she put ginger water all over the floor in her room so that it would go onto the socks of any intruders. When they added vinegar to the ginger socks, the socks turned PINK.

The same has been done with the security records. So if JOJ touched the book, her fingers will turn PINK if they are dabbed with vinegar.

JOJ is FUMING

She screams, vowing that DY and the deposed Queen will suffer for this.

But the King has been listening to their conversation. He walks in just as JOJ throws the bottle of vinegar on the floor. JOJ begs the King to believe she is innocent, but he just looks sad and pleads with her to stop pretending.

He orders all the lower ranking Namin to be arrested.

JOJ loses her supporters

Lord Oh coldly admits that he can’t stand by JOJ any longer. So under Lord Oh’s orders, Lady Yu informs Chief Seo that it was the Queen (JOJ) who ordered them to search DY’s room and get the book.

JOJ finally confesses her guilt to the King. But she still has a card to play. As the mother of the Crown Prince she argues that she should remain Queen! Otherwise the Crown Prince’s position will become unstable too.

But the King decides to depose her anyway. All the namin leaders are stripped of their titles, executed, or exiled. JHJ is exiled.

Related Posts: 

See more posts on Dong Yi (MBC 2010) 

***

EPISODE 38

Queen Inhyeon returns to the palace in Dong Yi episode 38
Queen Inhyeon returns to the palace

Finally Queen Inhyeon returns to the palace. The King is waiting to greet her as she steps out of the palanquin. They are both visibly moved. The King feels bad (which he should) for falling for JOJ’s lies. Duh!

DY is waiting to greet the Queen at her residence. Meanwhile, JOJ does the walk of shame back to her old residence (having been demoted back to a Bin concubine).

But JOJ revels in the humiliation –  it will make her stronger!

DY is put in charge of the Investigation Bureau

She has to punish Lady Yu and her two accomplices for carrying out JOJ’s orders. Naturally, they are terrified and expecting to die. So they are astounded when DY forgives them, simply demoting them to lower ranks.

DY becomes a concubine rank 4 in Dong Yi episode 38
DY becomes an official concubine rank 4
Now for a comic interlude 💕

The King reveals to his head eunuch that he had a dream – a birth dream. He is obviously hoping that DY will become pregnant. So he pays her a visit and sheepishly asks her if is she’s having ‘any cravings‘?

She has no idea what he’s talking about. He looks disappointed! But she wants to eat chuk (rice porridge) which she got from the welfare office when she was a hungry slave.

So DY and the King go out of the palace to the welfare office.

But there’s a shock in store for them

They find a long queue of poor people waiting for food. Some are turned away or beaten by the guards when they refuse to leave.

The King has no idea what’s going on in his country and he realises that his officials have not been honest with him.

The ceremony to make DY a concubine level 4 is delayed when the doctor has to be called and announces that she is pregnant.

Related Posts: 

What do people eat in Korea when they are sick?

Read more about concubine ranks at the Joseon palace.

***

EPISODE 39

One year later …

King Sukjong and his son in Dong Yi episode 39
King Sukjong with his first son by Dong Yi

DY has had a son. The king is busy with national affairs. He wants to use funds in the royal treasury to help the poor. But he spends every spare moment he has with Dong Yi and the baby.

The Queen, amongst others, believes that the Crown Prince should be changed (to DY’s son).

Of course that news disturbs the hornet’s nest. And JOJ’s mother reacts with her usual vigor: she orders the court ladies to stab pins into a voodoo doll of the Queen!

Instead of the traditional  birthday party for the prince when he reaches 100 day old, DY wants to use the money to open a welfare office for the poor.

The Geomgye sword fraternity is back

The plans go ahead and she goes incognito to help dish out the food. But she is stunned when she bumps into a man who drops a geomgye headband…

Then the head of the welfare office is found murdered and the geomgye are blamed for the crime. DY and Chun Soo have to find out if the geomgye really has reformed.

A new character, Lord Jang the Inspector General, arrives to investigate the murder.

He’s the son of the Inspector General who DY found murdered by the water when she was a child.

But he’s the new baddie!

He pays a secret visit to JOJ who reveals that his father was murdered by Lord Oh and the Namin faction and not by the gyeomgye after all.

Lord Jang is ambitious and wants to take over the Namin faction and make Lord Oh work under him. And it looks like he’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants – including JOJ’s dirty work…

***

EPISODE 40

Chun Soo confronts the new geomgye members in Dong Yi episode 40
Chun Soo confronts the new geomgye members

DY gets permission to go out of the palace to go to a retreat ‘for a break‘. But really she’s really investigating again.

She’s thinking about the meaning of the hand signals made by the dying official all those years ago. (see Dong Yi episode 1)

Sir Shim thinks they are numbers used by merchants. Together they go to a gambling house to ask the Qing merchants what the signs mean but nobody can help them.

Meanwhile Chun Soo goes back to the Banchon slave village and discovers that the geomgye HAVE regrouped and are having a meeting in the old cave.

Chun Soo fights with the new members of the geumgye until they realise who he is.

And now get ready for a shocker:

The head of the regrouped geumgye is Gaeduara, DY’s childhood friend!

And now for more shocking news:

The geumgye have been targeting yangban noblemen so far, but the next target is the King’s concubine. Gaedura has NO IDEA that he has ordered his men to kill his childhood friend Dong Yi!

Is it too late to stop them?

***

EPISODE 41

Lord Jang is the new baddie in Donng Yi episode 41
Lord Jang, the new baddie

The geomgye assassins get into DY’s quarters at her retreat and hold their swords to her throat.

Luckily, she manages to save herself by announcing that she’s the daughter of the original geomgye chief!

But later DY meets a new adult Gaedura who is full of hate because his father was murdered. He refuses to stop what he’s doing.

The baddies return

Lord Jang (who is working for JOJ) informs the King that JHJ and the other exiled Namin baddies have given away their wealth to the poor – to ‘repent’. (Yeah, right) They want to come back and the King falls for their gesture and the baddies are invited back…

Chun Soo doesn’t report that the assassins came to DY’s retreat and almost killed her! Lord Jang realises that this is strange. So he checks the corpse of a murdered guard and realises that the geomgye were the assassins. And yet they didn’t kill Dong Yi. He sends his guards to round up the geomgye members.

Dong Yi deciphers the meaning of the hand signals

DY has been working day and night to work out what the hand signals mean that JOJ and the dead official used. Finally she realises that it’s a code using music notes. And the code spells out Lord Oh’s name!

***

EPISODE 42

Gaedura is back in Dong Yi
Gaedura is back

DY, Sir Shim, and Chief Seo stand in silence realising that the murderer of the Namin officials all those years ago was Lord Oh.

DY also realises that the butterfly accessory dropped by the court lady belonged to JOJ. So now DY knows that JOJ was behind the Namin murders, the framing of the geomgye, and the death of her father.

The death of Lord Oh

When Lord Oh realises that the truth is out, he agrees to lie low for a while. So Lord Jang’s men take him to the mountain. But instead of taking him to a safe house, they kill him!

Gaedura and his team have followed Lord Oh thinking he is trying to run away, but they are amazed when they see him murdered. They end up in a fight with Lord Jang’s men and, of course, they get blamed for Lord Oh’s murder.

Lord Jang starts putting the puzzle together

At the same time Lord Jang looks through the geomgye records and sees that the Head of the geumgye had a daughter who supposedly died but whose body was never found – and her name was DY too. Rather a coincidence. Perhaps she should have changed her whole name?

After the fight, a wounded Gaedura arrives at Sul Hee’s gisaeng house. Guards block  the roads as Lord Jang is determined to find him. Worried, DY sneaks out of her house and is helping Gaedura escape when the King and all his men turn up.

JOJ’s plan has come true and the King sees with his own eyes DY covered in blood trying to help a traitor.

Oh dear. This does not look good…

***

EPISODE 43

King Sukjong arrives to find Dong Yi helping a traitor
King Sukjong arrives to find Dong Yi helping a traitor

There are tears as the King finally hears the truth about DY’s past from DY herself. But his reaction is not what JOJ had hoped for, because he wants to cover up DY’s past.

First he goes to see Gaedura who is locked up in a cell and will be executed. Gaedura explains that her father never killed anyone.

So the King announces that DY is innocent

And didn’t know who the geomgye were. But DY can’t stand by and watch as the King’s reputation takes a battering as news spreads that he is trying to cover up what happened.

JOJ is delighted at first when DY hands herself in to the police. Chun Soo is also arrested. But the King chases DY hoping to stop her. And JOJ cries when she hears what lengths the King will go to for DY. 💕

***

EPISODE 44

Dong Yi's son has measles. And within hours he is dead.
Dong Yi’s son has measles. And within hours he is dead.

Things are getting worse and worse.

In police custody DY confesses to everything before the King can arrive to stop her. The scholars all lobby the King to punish DY by execution but he REFUSES.

Now for more bad news.

DY’s son has measles. And within hours he is dead. The palace is in turmoil and the King still has to decide on DY’s punishment.

Chun Soo is exiled. Dong Yi keeps her title but is sent out of the palace. The King has no choice but to officially vow never to see her again. Team JOJ are happy although JOJ is disappointed that DY wasn’t executed.

Now for some good news.

One night the King arrives at DY’s new home. He shouldn’t be there, but he’s drunk. Next thing we know, Dong Yi’s pregnant!

DY has a son and the King names him Geum.

Six years later DY and Geum live with the commoners but Geum acts and dresses like a nobleman. But when he tells people that he is a prince, they just laugh at him…

Related Posts: 

Dong Yi’s son Geum becomes King Yeongjo. Read more about King Yeongjo and late Joseon Kings.

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So JOJ successfully has DY removed from the palace but this is far from over and she knows it. And for now she has a strong and ambitious partner-in-crime in Lord Jang who makes Lord Oh look like a kitten.

JOJ must know though that Lord Jang can’t be trusted and has no loyalty to anyone. Lord Oh seems so pathetic when he naively follows Lord Jang’s men to his death on the mountain. But he gets what he deserves because just as he had the leaders of his own party murdered so that he could move up, now the same thing has happened to him!

It’s pretty amazing that Jang Hee Jae and the other baddies are going to be allowed back to the palace. First he was involved in the poisoning of the Queen Mother and now he has been caught trying to sell the country for his own personal gain. What in the world does he have to do to get exiled forever? 

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