My Dearest (연인)

[This drama is imaginative, based on historical facts. Most of the details and characters' emotional portrayals are fictional.]

You already know.

There is only one thing I want.

Your heart that wants only me.

Promise me with only your words. If so, I will turn back from Shenyang right now.

But you would not.

I will give you.

Take my heart.

So, please...

do not go.

Please do not go.

Stay with me.

Stop!

His Majesty the Emperor enters!

You are?

Sire!

You can take your leave.

However, there was a false rumor in Joseon

about smallpox spreading among the Qing.

The one who spread those rumors...

by chance...

was it you?

I already told General Yong Gol Dae

all facts regarding that matter.

Tatara Inggūldai.* (His original name in Manchurian. Yong Gol Dae is a Koreanized version of the name written in Chinese.)

You tell me.

Is this man a rat just like Ha Seo Guk you failed to recognize... or could it be...

he is a poor man who lost his way during the war?

Your Majesty!

He is not even brave enough to be a spy.

How would I be unable to distinguish a spy?

Useful double spies are valuable.

Getting rid of the Ming Dynasty's Won Soong Hwan was

thanks to the use of double spies as well.

You mean to say?

You sly bastard!

Now...

you have guaranteed my identity.

You should not kill me recklessly, no matter how much you hate me.

All right. I will keep you alive for a while.

However, should you not prove that you are not a spy?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Wash up. You smell.

What did you say to make them let you go?

Tell me more in detail.

From now on...

you will capture Joseon's runaway prisoners of war.

That's just how I am.

I do not belong

to this side or that side.

Yes.

You do not belong anywhere.

However,

I am a person who belongs to you.

Prove that I am not a rat?

How can you feed him this?

The thing is...

Give me. I want it!

You can't.

Give it to me!

- How embarrassing. No. - Then...

I will give you half a doi* of barley groats, too! (1 doi = 900 mL)

What are you going to use it for?

They say a virgin's sanitary pad will get you a son.

My madam insisted I must go get one.

Consider it a good deed.

What are you doing right now?

Sell what?

Do not scold Young Chae.

That is your mother's keepsake.

Let's sell it.

We can endure this... but Jae Nam and Dae Bok are

going to starve to death at this rate.

Is it just the jacket?

What about a skirt?

We only have the top jacket.

Here.

Only two hops* of barley groats?

- This is an expensive jacket! - Come on!

A top jacket is useless without a skirt!

Jong Jong, let us go.

Even when you are poor enough to sell your jacket, a noble still gets to keep a servant, huh?

I am sorry.

There is nothing I can do, either.

Are you telling us to die?

What can I do when Qing prohibited it by law?

- That man is... - Sir, please...

the officer who saved us on the island, is he not?

Sir! Sir, how can you?

Maiden.

Long time no see.

What brings you here?

Now, then. Jong Jong.

Aigoo!

Is this smithy yours?

Well, yes.

Go on and eat.

You said the smithy belongs to you, right?

Oh, yes.

My family has run it for a long time.

Because a military officer must acquire his own swords and arrowheads.

But the furnace was empty, and the blacksmiths were loitering around.

The war ended, and Qing prohibited Joseon from making weapons.

So, the blacksmiths have nothing more to do.

You can just make other things besides weapons, then.

More than a couple of families had their pots and bowls stolen during the war.

If they are to put a door on a burnt house, they will need nails and hinges.

- Also- - I am not sure.

They did make bowls and farm equipment before.

But I have never made such things.

What if I helped you with your work?

Aigoo, that is nonsense.

How can a maiden like you handle working with rough blacksmiths?

I can do it.

I can do it.

What do you plan to make?

I saw some brass bowls here. This place used to make brass bowls before, right?

Yes, we did make brass bowls in this place and farm equipment as well.

After the Jin Invasion, we mostly only made weapons.

That is great news. Start making brass bowls again.

Even if we are to make bowls, we need brass first.

My goodness. He lent us a total of 10 rolls of cotton.

This will last us three months. Wait, actually, we can last even a year if we eat just one meal a day.

And after a year?

Do we go and ask the officer to lend us again?

- By then, we can- - This is five coins.

Do you not know one doi of rice is worth five coins?

Aigoo, that was ages ago!

Rice became more expensive than gold after the war!

Even if you bring 10 coins, you cannot even buy half a doi of barley groats!

- What are you saying? - How sad.

Cash coins became worthless ages ago.

True.

He should make bowls out of them instead.

Even if we are to make bowls, we need brass first.

Go around the marketplace and collect all the coins.

If you negotiate properly, we can buy them for cheap.

Wait, you are telling us to exchange these valuable cotton rolls with dirt-cheap coins?

With this, we can make meat stew for Young Master Jae Nam and our Dae Bok can smell some meat, too.

- We can also- - Just do as I say.

Are you going to eat meat just once or will you have meat soup every meal?

What can I pay with if you are not taking coins?

How dare you yell at me!

My goodness, you can just give me one doi of rice.

- Why are you being so- - Now, now.

What are you fighting for?

- My goodness, seriously. - Come over here now.

Seriously.

Sell all of them to me. I will pay you double the price. Double?

How much can I buy with this many coins?

This much.

Gosh, you!

- Give me this much. - That, I cannot do.

- Those are coins, right? - Yes.

Why carry such heavy things around?

Follow me. I will buy them from you.

Really?

Here are the coins.

One ja*.

Line up now!

- Please line up, people! - My gosh!

One ja.

Here you go.

Line up, line up.

Make a line!

You bought and collected these worthless coins with cotton rolls?

Melt them down and make bowls.

Though the coins are worthless, but there aren't enough brass bowls to be sold in the market.

Maiden...

Melting cash coins to make something else is prohibited by law.

Officer, you cannot buy a single roll of cotton with 100 cash coins.

But if we melt the coins to make brass bowls...

Who would buy expensive brass bowls at a time like this?

You are the eldest son, so you know how dearly noble women think of holding rituals, right?

Large families are so distraught because their brass bowls were taken away and

they have to use gourd bowls for the rituals now.

Just wait and see.

While seeking refuge, I saw every woman had one or two pieces of jewelry on them.

If they can just buy brass bowls, they will sell those.

They risked their lives to run away, but their countrymen are hunting them down to turn over to the barbarians?

I am also reluctant about this job. Do we have to do this?

Those bastards also capture runaway prisoners of war for money.

We have better things to do than doing the same thing those bastards do.

G-Go back. Go back right now.

G-Go back.

Go back.

Don't do it if you don't want to.

I can handle it alone.

R-Run! Run!

R-Run!

Now!

All right. Heave-ho!

Once it is polished, it will shine.

It will look bad if you do these things, My Lady.

I just want to see it quickly.

Look at this! It is a brass bowl.

Useless coins... turned into a valuable bowl.

Why did you not repair the tongs in advance? Is this how you worked all this time?

The officer might have let it go, but I will not.