River Where the Moon Rises (The Moon Rising River / Dalyi Ddeuneun Gang / 달이 뜨는 강)

This drama is based on the tale of On Dal, as recorded in the Yeoljeon (Biographies) of Samguksagi. The characters, events, and specific chronology may be different from history.

Episode 1

Dal, wait for me.

Wait a little longer until I arrive.

Ga Jin.

Dal.

I miss you...

Ga Jin.

Dal. Dal!

We won.

I fought like hell.

You should've waited for me, fool.

It's because Ga Jin,

you are my Goguryeo,

my country.

Thank you. For surviving.

Your Highness! Your Highness, where are you going?

Is that the right thing to do?

How dare they act like the master of a country that belongs to the king?

Save your words, Princess.

Doesn't it infuriate you, Mother?

If it does,

am I supposed to cause a bloodbath here?

Are you asking me to grant the three tribes

a monopoly to sell salt in perpetuity?

The monopoly to sell salt was initially

the main source of livelihood for the five tribe association.

That's correct.

Taking that right away from us now would be completely unreasonable.

Please listen to our plea.

So, are you now threatening me

with your personal army?

That's not what we are...

Shut up!

Please stamp your seal on this.

You must've planned all this.

Who do you think has the power to sustain Goguryeo right now?

Jeolnobu and Sunnobu are out, focusing solely on protecting the borders.

Our three tribes, united,

was the only thing that preserved our nation's sovereignty.

You are sitting on your throne right now, thanks to us.

- Your Majesty! - Your Majesty.

I need some rest.

You take care of

the monopoly to sell salt.

I shall go on a royal tour as planned.

Is that really the only option?

Allowing Jega to usurp our power endangers the royal family. [Jega: conference of leaders of five tribes of Goguryeo overseeing domestic affairs]

Princess!

How did you get in here? Like a mouse.

It's not like that...

I just missed the timing to greet you.

I came here because I was worried about my father.

I'll catch a real mouse for you!

Princess!

Please forgive me.

The king is like a glass bowl.

A light touch on his superficial jealousy, and he will shatter.

You kept the monopoly to sell salt.

What more will you do?

The queen instigated the king from behind.

She must have an ulterior motive for insisting on the Royal tour under current circumstances.

The heroin who came from Jeolnobu?

Though she may be young, she is no pushover.

Are you jealous because she's younger than you?

When Queen Yeon leaves for the royal tour, hide this in her quarters.

What is this?

A talisman that will make you the rightful queen.

The queen is young and strong.

How dare I think about becoming the queen?

Who knows, an accident may take place during the royal tour.

Your Highness, coming out from there again?

Where in the world have you been?

Measuring with a ruler wouldn't size up to your eyes, Your Highness.

It doesn't show, don't worry.

A mouse keeps coming into the palace.

I'll have the maids capture it.

Should I bring in a cat?

It won't be so easy to catch it.

It's a nasty one.

Pardon?

Just bring me my training clothes.

Your Highness.

Why do you want to learn martial arts when you have no use for it?

Again with that!

Are you saying a woman can't be the king?

Of course not.

Wrong.

I will succeed my father and become the king of this country.

Wielding and slashing comes later.

Marshall more strength first.

You saw it, but you didn't see it,

you heard it, but you don't remember it. That's the only way to keep peace in the palace.

I hope you

have a safe trip on your royal tour, Your Highness.

You're trying to run when you don't even know how to walk.

- Instructor Go. - Yes, Your Highness.

You heard about the salt monopoly, right?

And about the Jega Association threatening the king.

Focus on the training.

Perhaps, in the near future,

I might have to slash your father, Instructor Go.

Then we'll become mortal enemies.

That won't happen.

Because I, Go Geon, born to be the Gyerubu's rightful heir, will be loyal to the royal family.

What if you have to choose between

your family and the royal family?

I don't need both of them.

I will choose you, Your Highness.

Won, while I'm away on the royal tour, stay healthy.

I want to come with you.

We are not going on a vacation.

- Here! - It's sweets!

We'll be back in a few days.

You can wait for us, right?

- You should return quickly. - Of course.

Let's go.

We sent off a jeonseogu. (a carrier pigeon)

A jeonseogu?

Of course, I understand that Your Majesty may be concerned about the queen's safety.

If anything happens during the royal tour, we'll get a message right away.

In that case, you'll learn about this soon as well.

Before Queen Yeon visits her hometown in Jeolnobu, [Jeolnobu: One of the 5 tribes in the Jega association. Guards the northern border.]

she's going to stop by Sunnobu.

Sunnobu?

Does that mean the queen will see General On Hyeop?

[Sunnobu: One of the 5 tribes in the Jega association. Guards the border with the Silla kingdom.]

You should've attended the Jega Association meeting.

I'm not interested in pathetic political games.

But we Sunnobu are always pushed to the back.

Stop with the nonsense.

Protecting the southern border is the most important duty for us, Sunnobu.

Yes.

General!

General!

General!

What should we do?

Your precious sword disappeared, sir.

You're going to be crushed to death by it before you can wield that sword.

I better hold a sword, at least this heavy, in order to become a great general.

You better put it back before you get caught.

Go and just fetch a wooden sword.

You can't beat this sword with a wooden sword!

- Don't you fall down. - Come at me!

Hey, hey, hey!

Hey, hey!

What are you guys doing!

Before you learn to kill, you should learn how to save first.

That's no fun.

It's training to protect the border.

It's not for fun.

I'll be able to do it once I'm faced with it.

What's so difficult about that?

Go up there and grab the rope.

If you can hold onto it until I climb all the way up,

I'll

give you this sword.

Really?

General.

Do you think Dal can handle this?

Even if he asks for help, just ignore it.

Don't give up!

If you give up, your father or

your comrade is going to die!

A person's life is in your hands.

Don't come! I can do it.

I'm going to do it!

Perservere!

General, are you okay?

Father!

General.

Father...

Your father just died.

Bury them.

Where is this, Father?

It seems to be some kind of a grave.

Later.

Later when you're ready to become a true warrior, I'll tell you.

Father.

About earlier, I'm sorry—

The queen has sent them.

- The queen? - Yes.

Her Highness is on her way to Sunnobu right now to see you.

I think she'll arrive here around sunrise tomorrow.

Mother.

Who's the most powerful person in our country?

By power, do you mean authority,

or do you mean physical strength?

I'm curious if there's someone who can defeat Gochuga.

Are you referring to Gyerubu Go Won Pyo?

Yes. I mean he who even brought his own soldiers to threaten my father.

If we continue on, there's a temple called Ibulan.

General Son Il Eop there, no...

Monk Wol Gwang is a master of martial arts.

A monk? Can that monk defeat Gochuga?

Before he became a monk, he was the best warrior in Jeolnobu.

Jeolnobu is your hometown, Mother. Let's go there.

I want to meet him and see what kind of a person he is.

It's late at night.

You should go to sleep.