My Country: The New Age (My Nation / Naui Nara / 나의 나라)

THIS DRAMA IS A FICTIONAL STORY BASED ON HISTORICAL FACTS

SOME ORGANIZATIONS AND CHARACTERS IN THIS DRAMA ARE FICTITIOUS

Bang-won's private army has thousands of men?

Grand General Jung

will die tonight.

Hwi.

EPISODE 6

It's been a long time.

You're alive.

When I fell asleep for a moment and saw you,

I stayed up all night because I missed you.

I wanted to close my eyes again so I could see you,

but you were just a dream.

This isn't a dream, right?

I never

dreamt about you.

Not even a nightmare.

Just surviving was more than I could handle.

I erased you from my mind.

I don't believe you.

You're lying.

Thank you...

for staying alive.

Jung Sa-jeong will die?

You should kill one of your meritorious subjects first.

That will teach them their place and make them fear you, Your Majesty.

And if one of them has to die,

it should be Jung Sa-jeong.

However, I never ordered his death.

You cannot.

Hence, I read your thoughts.

My job is to understand your thoughts and put them into action.

Then tell me how you think I feel about Jeongan.

You fear

the possibility of him stealing the throne from you.

-How dare you-- -But at the same time,

you miss having him around

for he used to dirty his hands with blood in your place.

Please grant me access to everywhere and the authority to order anyone.

Then you will no longer need to

fear or miss Prince Jeongan.

Then tell me your thoughts on this.

I let the meritorious subjects and royal relatives have private armies,

and even mere clerks are hiring private soldiers now.

What should be done about it?

I understand, Your Majesty.

I will take care of it.

What are you waiting for? We must report this immediately.

No, we can't.

If we do, they'll turn this place upside down

and try to convict us of aiding and abetting at all costs.

Ihwaru won't be safe.

Aren't you the one that left without any hesitation?

Now you act like you care?

Is it because of him?

Then what should we do?

Madame Seo.

Both the body and the bloodstain will be gone.

No one saw or heard anything.

Nothing happened at Ihwaru.

Hui-jae is right.

Get moving!

Yes, ma'am.

You must be happy that you finally saw the man whom you missed so much.

What's wrong?

Were you not that happy to see him?

What is it, then? Just tell me, you silly goose.

I felt as if

hell was engraved all over Hwi's body.

I felt like I could hear each one of his scars screaming.

It broke my heart.

His sad eyes broke my heart more

than all the cruel words he said.

They pierced my heart like sharp blades.

I have no power. I should not have stepped in.

I shouldn't have let him go like that.

The last audience for the day is over.

This is regarding an urgent matter.

His Majesty heard everything he needed to hear.

You must've told him something you never told me.

Bang-won's weaknesses, for example.

Please don't get the wrong idea.

It was just a routine briefing.

A sixth-rank official having a one-on-one with the King is unprecedented.

You are trying to fly before you can even jump.

That is what all birds do.

You are being hasty. You will be used and abandoned.

Do not be concerned.

Whether I fly or fall,

I will handle the consequences.

-So what's going on? -Jung Sa-jeong died at Ihwaru.

Eight guys went in,

and only Hwi came out.

-Anything else? -The skirt-clad minister

was at Ihwaru as well.

Where is she now?

I saw Hwi.

You...

knew, didn't you?

Yes.

I knew.

How could you--

It was Hwi's choice.

He chose to avoid you.

It wasn't me.

What choice did he have?

Did he choose to be drafted and sent to the deadly battleground?

Or you mean, having a friend like you?

Hwi and I

are no longer friends. I don't want to hear that name anymore.

You walk and trample all over others.

Now, I know where else I've seen that type of behavior.

You're just like your father.

Like two peas in a pod.

Your Highness, there is--

We took care of Jung Sa-jeong.

What about the corpses?

They never left Ihwaru.

Ihwaru...

Can we trust them?

There are hundreds of treacherous plots

that were schemed at Haegeomdang in Ihwaru but were never carried out.

Do you know

about any of them?

We must find out who killed Jung Sa-jeong.

We need to know who ordered his death to prepare for their next move.

Is that the only reason?

Only two people in this country can dare to kill

a founding contributor at Ihwaru.

Nam Jeon is one of them,

but he'd never hire lowborn swordsmen.

Who is the other one?

-It's Bang-won. -Stay out of it.

If not, neither you nor Hwi will be safe.

I must step in because Hwi is involved in it.

Then you will have to bear the consequences.

Will you still step in?

Yes, I will.

If you are seeing me off, you can go back in now.

No, I came out to greet someone.

I will give you an invaluable piece of information.

Would you accept it?

Yes, please tell me.

Bang-seok will be named Crown Prince, but the throne is Bang-won's.

Do not doubt it. It won't change.

Hello, there.

You old lady with diseased lungs.

It is quite impressive that you are still alive.

Here.

With the right medicine,

you can outlive those who caught the flu.

Is that so?

It's been a while.

I do not want to interrupt your conversation, so I'll get going.

I've been meaning

to meet with you.

Oh, dear. I forgot for a moment.

You said you're not a kisaeng even though you grew up in a kisaeng house.

My father always reeked of blood.

Even when I was a little boy, I could tell that he had just returned

from one of his expeditions before his stubble touched my cheeks.

But this place

also reeks of that putrid smell of blood.

The assassins that killed Jung Sa-jeong...

I sent them.

Do they

work for Your Highness?

They just looked like roughnecks to me.

I will abandon them when they are no longer useful.

And if they cause trouble,

I will just kill them.

But why at Ihwaru?

It is the only place where I can assassinate

a founding contributor without any trouble.

Ihwaru is not a burial ground.

I hope things like this never happen again.

I am afraid it will keep happening.

Then the earth will spit out the corpses.

If that happens, you will be buried in that very spot.

I do not have much time left to live anyway.

Such threats won't work.

Oh, boy.

Then I suppose that sword

will be sent to someone else.

Your Highness.

Do you remember the time when you were on the run?

I helped the Queen up when she was exhausted

and carried Bang-seok when he fell asleep.

I voluntarily got the least amount of food and sleep.

And even when...

I was threatened at knifepoint,

I didn't even flinch.

How could I forget that time?

I should have killed you back then.

I'm sure

I'll get another chance though.

I will give you that chance now.

Work for me.

But you must continue to work for the Queen and be Nam Seon-ho's friend.

Observe everything they say, hear, and think about