Shin Don (신돈)

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Historical background of this drama

The beginning of the 13th century.

Genghis Khan conquered not only China and Northern Asia,

but territory stretching as far as parts of Eastern Europe,

founding and consolidating the Great Mongolian Empire.

Carrying Genghis Khan's torch was the Yuan Dynasty,

founded by Genghis Khan's grandson Kublai.

The Yuan Dynasty's military power had a tremendous...

influence on Goryeo for close to a century,

practically controlling the Empire ever since...

the rule of King Chungnyeol, Goryeo's 25th monarch.

The Yuan Dynasty plundered Goryeo's natural...

resources and demanded young maidens as prisoners.

As a result of this pressure, and the Empire's failure...

to maintain its independence, the lives of Goryeo's people...

fell into a vortex of increasing despair and helplessness.

The year 1351.

Under Yuan Dynasty's Emperor Shundi's request,

King Chunghye's younger brother Prince Gangneung returned to his homeland...

after spending ten years as a prisoner in Yanjing, and ascended to the throne.

He became Goryeo's 31st King, Gongmin.

From the moment he became King, Gongmin tried to establish reforms that would put...

the increasingly weak authority of the throne and...

Goryeo's sovereignty back on track,

eradicating all the rotten branches that caused the problem.

He wanted an independent Goryeo stripped from its vassal relationship...

with the Yuan Dynasty, and stripped from the influence of...

a few powerful clans controlling politics ever since Yuan's rule.

Helping Gongmin's cause, making his reforms...

even sharper and effective were two people,

Princess Noguk and Shin Don.

One of the last traces of the falling Yuan Dynasty, Princess Noguk.

A Buddhist monk son of a government slave, Shin Don.

These three people's love-hate relationship and power struggles...

will brighten the feeble light of Goryeo Dynasty's last days -

a transitional period that would change Korean history forever.

I thought of you as my real brother. I trusted you more than a sibling...

sharing blood and flesh with me...

Your Majesty.

Come on in. Don't hesitate. Come inside...

Today I will not meet you as ruler and subject, but as simple friends.

Doesn't that move you to tears?

The friendship you and I share.

So come on, I'm waiting for you.

Tell me, is there anything we can't share?

Any secret we need to hide from each other?

Any dispute that could arise, anything one said which the other wouldn't trust?

Please come in, don't hesitate. Come!

I've come to pay visit to His Majesty.

If you pardon me the insolence, I'd like to search your body first.

YeongDoCheomUi First Rank Senior Chancellor

What on Earth are you waiting for? The Chancellor granted you permission!

That will suffice.

Please, come in.

Reign of King Gongmin, 20th year (1371)

Episode 1

Goddess of Mercy.

Your Majesty...

Did Your Majesty say he would treat me like a real brother?

Your Majesty to me...

meant more than my own flesh and blood.

Does this look like a ghost's image to you?

If this looks like a spiritless ghost in the eyes of someone like you,

well-versed in all the mysteries of nature's creation,

then you must be a mere layman.

According to what you told me, as life and death are all Buddha's ways,

one person's image and presence being...

visible or not had nothing to do with being alive or dead.

When you talk of one person's presence, you're not implying that she's alive...

nor that rotting flesh and blood buried under the mud means one's death.

Wasn't that what you told me?

Your Majesty.

You said "spirit!" When there's a spirit you're alive,

without that you're dead. Didn't you say that?!

Shin Don (Pyeonjo)

Your Majesty.

How could I forget Princess Noguk?

There hasn't been a day when I opened my eyes...

in the morning without seeing her grace and virtues,

and before falling asleep, reminiscing of her mercy and generosity.

So why are you telling me this person is dead?!

Won Hyeon

What are you waiting for?

Haven't all the clues behind Shin Don's treason been revealed?

He covets the throne and will cause harm to Your Majesty.

Right now, you need to kill Shin Don and restore your dignity.

How did Shin Don treat Your Majesty all this time?

It was as if he was dealing with a servant, isn't that right?

But then he complains to no end about Princess Noguk's funeral.

What on Earth does he care? Whether Your Majesty wants to build a...

ceremonial shrine bigger than the Royal Palace for Princess Noguk,

or a tomb higher than the mountains, if he claims to be a subject of Your Majesty,

then that's nothing which should concern someone like him.

After seeing Your Majesty lose Princess Noguk and spend day and night...

drowning in sadness, shouldn't he be the first to come out...

and advise Your Majesty to start work for the ceremony?

Shin Don is a cold blooded, heartless man.

He never shed a single tear for Your Majesty, or my daughter-in-law.

All he did was covet and desire.

Someone like him wearing Buddha's clothes, and preaching Buddhism.

Ha! Even the limitless mercy of Buddha would crumble under this arrogance.

Please eat.

Didn't you say the smell and taste of Goryeo's fish stimulated your appetite?

You have to kill him.

Just one word from Your Majesty,

and Shin Don's head will fall to the ground, lifeless.

Ever since the beginning, if your ways aren't righteous,

there is nowhere to hide under the heavens.

That was what we learned ever since you and I roamed the world.

Did you forget already?

All I wanted was to see you sit on that throne.

Who ruined it all wasn't me, it was you, my Teacher.

The chances to kill His Majesty and sit on that throne were limitless.

But why did you stop me?

Hyung-nim!

What did you wish all that time?

Didn't you say you'd make a world where there are no nobles and lowly peasants?

That nobody is born a slave,

that it's just a society based on classes that force it upon us.

You'd use Buddha's ways to make a world where the lowly peasants become nobles,

and the nobles turn into peasants?

Wasn't this what you desired?

Was that throne his to begin with?

If it weren't for Princess Noguk,

he'd still be the bottom of the Imperial Family's barrel,

wandering in the brothels of Yanjing, squandering his life away.

Wasn't it too much for him to handle?

How come you're not answering me?

Will you just sit there and await your fateful death?

Splitting rocks at the glitter of your eyes,

flying in the air or running miles in an instant,

where will you use all those powers now?

Rise this very minute, go out there and sweep away this damn palace!

Don't you know you can just lift one finger...

and that will be enough power to do it?!

Why are you shedding tears, Your Majesty?

15 years earlier, reign of King Gongmin 5th year, 1356

How long has it been since I've seen you in Yanjing?

A good five years?

Already that long?

They say time just glides by. The blink of an eye and already five years have passed.

It must have been tough...

An Dochi

Does it look that way?

Monk Bou went to Yuan and studied for three years,

and just as he came back, he's become Royal Monk.

Even His Majesty bows along with him when they meet.

But Monk Pyeonjo, you ran amok the entire Middle Kingdom for seven years...

and cleansed your spirit, yet you look even worse.

You can't compare a mere monk like me with Royal Monk Bou.

Hint it to Her Majesty if you see her.

If Monk Bou becomes State Monk,

then he could leave the position of Royal Monk to you?

Oh, I've angered you. Was my jest too excessive?

I see your volubility hasn't changed one bit.

Don't worry.

When Her Majesty calls a charlatan monk like myself, all I can do is grant her wish.

Do you know what's the cause of Her Majesty's concerns?

That in truth His Majesty's just a puppet of the Yuan, not this country's...

Oh oh! Listen to you...

You think that's something that can happen in a day?

In sleep or wake, that's all Her Majesty thinks about.

She wants to stop sending tributes to the Yuan,

assign new title names and help His Majesty become a strong emperor,

not just a vassal to...

Is that man Monk Pyeonjo?

That's right. He went through a long and arduous trip so he just got here.

Please hurry and come in.

Her Majesty has been waiting a long time.

Don't forget what I said, Monk Pyeonjo...

Please come in.

Her Majesty is waiting for you.

I see the fact Her Majesty spends all night reading,

worrying about the country well into the wee hours of the morning...

wasn't a mere falsehood.

What did you just say?

Goddess of Mercy...

What do you mean, "Pyeonjo"?

And who would this Pyeonjo be?

Back in Yanjing at the Goryeo Village,

the man who always came to vis...

Aaah! That charlatan monk...

What does Princess Noguk want from that man at this hour of the night?

I don't know for sure myself, Your Majesty.

Look at you...

You were the one who arranged all this, and now you feign ignorance?

I'm mortified, Your Majesty.

When Her Majesty followed you from Yanjing to Gaegyeong (Goryeo Capital),

you called all the subjects and promised, that the day you'd become King,

everyone would gather and celebrate the event screaming and cheering with joy.

Cheering?

Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah for the King!

I've never been able to do so myself.

When would I ever become independent anyway?

Your Majesty.

Cheering? I don't need that. A simple welcome will suffice.

In this Goryeo, a little frontier country at the outskirts of the...

great Yuan Empire, when will cheering here ever see the light of day?