Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung (신입사관 구해령)

You may leave for today.

Officer Min.

You must record everything.

As a historian, you must

record everything you see and hear, no matter what it is.

Your Majesty.

Prince Dowon.

Have you been well and healthy?

Yes.

Prince Dowon, you have grown into a fine young man.

You truly emanate royal elegance.

Feel free to sit down.

I apologize.

I did not return right away

even after receiving the letter that I should return quickly and beg

for Father's forgiveness.

No.

You did the right thing.

I was concerned

that the King might reprimand you.

But you made the decision to help the people,

even knowing all the risks that were involved.

I am truly proud of you.

You are

proud of me?

Yes. You did something that no one else could do.

However, refrain from doing anything that may be the cause of the King's wrath.

You know what his temper is like.

Next time,

he will not be so tolerant.

I understand. I will behave properly,

Your Majesty.

You must have had...

such a hard time in that faraway town.

You have always liked

those pine pollen honey cakes since you were a child.

I had some good-quality pine pollen powder,

so I made some cakes with it.

I will tell them to bring them in right away.

No.

It is okay. Actually,

I have a favor to ask of you.

I have already reached the age of yakgwan.

I want to...

live outside the palace.

Prince Dowon.

The palace is your home.

Where will you go if you leave the palace?

But all my younger siblings have already left the palace.

I understand that I was born and raised inside the palace,

but I do not think I belong here anymore...

You are wrong.

This is where you belong.

This palace is where you should be.

So please,

do not say that you wish to leave the palace.

I rarely get to see you even though we both live in the palace.

It will be even worse if you leave.

I'm back.

You left without a word.

Now you're telling me you're back?

You returned safe and sound, so it's fine. Have a seat.

A position has opened up at Sungkyunkwan.

You will no longer have to travel to dangerous places

or work all day and night.

It is not a key position, but the job will suit you.

- I'll recommend you as a candidate. - No, thank you.

You even turned down the senior sixth-rank position.

You've done enough grunt work.

No one will say you got to where you are because you're my son.

The fact that I am your son...

is already a big flaw to me.

Do you still resent me?

One day,

you will come to understand me.

Have just one more, okay? Here.

Gosh, I really can't eat anymore. My stomach is about to explode!

It wouldn't be so bad to die because of a full belly.

Come on. Here.

Here!

You went through all that trouble in that darned town.

You should do nothing but just rest and eat well for the next few days.

You always make so much fuss over even the littlest things.

Oh, right. I left the beef bone soup on the stove.

- I'll bring it quickly. - Hey.

You have to finish the whole bowl of soup down to the last drop, okay?

Hey, wait! Seol-geum.

Leave her be. She has been making food in the kitchen

ever since she heard that you would be returning.

I'm truly happy to see that nothing has changed.

Seol-geum is still loud,

and you're still awfully sweet.

Did something happen there?

No. I'm just happy, that's all.

I should go and organize my notes first.

Before Seol-geum follows me.

All right.

"His Highness left Pyongan Province on the day of eulmyo

and arrived in Hanyang on the day of muo.

Prince Dowon returned to the palace and..."

Father, have you been well?

There are historians here.

The historians are watching, Your Majesty.

It's 5 p.m. It's time to go home

Everyone's leaving right on time today?

- We should leave too. - Okay.

Girls, where are you going?

We're leaving for the day too, sir.

Today is the day of gyeongsin, which means you must stay awake tonight.

We must stay awake?

What do you mean, sir?

Don't you know the myth? People in the olden days

believed that sleeping today shortened your life span.

What? "People in the olden days"?

I can't believe she called me someone from "the olden days."

Then were you born just a few minutes ago or what?

But we do belong to different generations.

You're the only one born during Qianlong Emperor's reign.

All of us were born during Jiaqing Emperor's reign.

But I mean...

Still, that should be common knowledge.

This is why I can't converse with people

who never attended Sungkyunkwan. Gosh.

Goodness, whatever.

Anyway, people say

that you'll be extremely unlucky for three years

if you sleep on your first day of gyeongsin after entering the palace.

So you should just stay here and lie low.

Who believes such a myth in this day and age...

I do! I believe it, okay?

Because I'm from the olden days.

You clueless kids.

- Goodness. - I'm so upset.

Gosh, seriously.

- Stay awake on the night of gyeongsin - Stay awake on the night of gyeongsin

- And expel the evil pests from our bodies - And expel the evil pests from our bodies

- Stay awake on the night of gyeongsin - Stay awake on the night of gyeongsin

- And expel the evil pests from our bodies - And expel the evil pests from our bodies

- Stay awake on the night of gyeongsin - Stay awake on the night of gyeongsin

- And expel the evil pests from our bodies - And expel the evil pests from our bodies

- Stay awake on the night of gyeongsin - Stay awake on the night of gyeongsin

- And expel the evil pests from our bodies - And expel the evil pests from our bodies

Gosh, seriously! I can't stop thinking about how unfair this is.

If we have to follow this custom, everyone should do it together.

They'll go out and drink all night.

It's so unfair that we have to stay stuck inside the palace.

Shouldn't we be used to their pettiness by now?

I feel bad for Apprentice Goo though.

She hasn't even had a chance to rest since her return.

Exactly. I'm so exhausted.

This is exhausting and boring.

It'd be so nice if we could have

a drink right now.

Shall we?

Why was that in there?

It's wine that Officer Yang hid in here.

The palace actually feels quite cozy at night.

We're always so busy being rushed around everywhere

that I'd forgotten this is home to some people.

Still, I don't think I'll be able to live in a place like this.

Even a mansion with 99 rooms feels empty and spooky sometimes.

This huge palace won't feel like home at all.

Does your house have 99 rooms?

I didn't mean to brag about it.

Yes, I was lucky to be born into a wealthy family.

If your family is that wealthy,

you don't need to lift a finger until the day you die.

Why did you choose this path instead of a comfortable life?

Me?

I chose to become a historian because I was so angry.

I'll be honest with you. Sure, my family is rich,

but everyone in my family is a mess.

My father left us when I was a child

to go and live with his mistress.

And all my brothers are either drunkards or gambling addicts.

Those troublemakers often end up at the government office.

And my mother...

She's the worst one of them all.

Whenever she sees young, fit men...

Anyway, I thought, "Everyone in my family does whatever they want to do.

Why am I the only one who has to be stuck at home all the time?"

I was so angry.

Is that why you took the examination?

So that you could also do whatever you wanted to do?

Apprentice Song.

I've been very curious about something.

You, as the daughter of the Section Chief of Personnel, were very famous.

Everyone praised your beauty

and said that you'd make the best wife in Hanyang.

I heard that many wealthy and successful men wanted to marry you.

Why did you reject all of them and decide to stay single?

Because I didn't want to live like a flower.

That is how noblewomen are expected to live, you know.

Like a well-kept flower tree, a beautiful painting,

or an ornament inside the women's quarters.

I didn't want to live that kind of life,

nor did I want to trust my life to a man whom I didn't even know.

Wow. I'm totally with you on that, Apprentice Song.

Let's be honest. Isn't it ridiculous? We're the ones getting married.

Why do our parents think they can decide for us after exchanging a few letters?