Knight Flower (밤에 피는 꽃)

(Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, KOCCA)

(All people and backdrops are unrelated to history,)

I am the daughter-in-law of Left State Councilor Seok.

The name is Cho Yeo Hwa.

You chose the head-on approach?

I trust you will not tell anyone...

- my identity. - I am a government officer.

- How can you trust... - I am aware...

that you were always there to help me.

I never helped you.

Not me.

You helped the powerless people.

Kkot Nim, and the children who were being sold.

The Minister of Finance's servant and his lover too.

Those are the people who received help from you.

It was...

only by chance that I got involved.

You asked why I went so far.

As you know,

I am a widow.

A widow...

is as good as guilty.

Because a husband I had never laid eyes on died,

I must wear white and eat very little every day.

I am rarely allowed outside.

Other than mourning my husband, I cannot do anything.

I am a criminal.

The only way to redeem myself...

is to...

follow my husband to the afterlife.

For fear that not being able to do anything...

will turn me into someone who just waits for the day to die,

even though I should not be alive, according to our morals,

I am doing...

what I can to live.

So,

will you please...

give me a chance to live?

Left State Councilor Seok's eldest daughter-in-law?

Yes, Your Majesty.

Six months after Cho Sung Hoo vanished,

his younger sister married...

Lord Seok's eldest son.

How could this be?

Were they betrothed as children?

I do not believe so.

This is in no way a coincidence.

Someone like Seok Ji Sung...

suddenly accepted a daughter-in-law...

from a humble family with not much of a reputation?

If...

the late king gave Cho Sung Hoo his jade tablet,

in order to catch him,

Lord Seok could have taken his sister hostage.

He is more than capable of doing so.

If that were the case, Cho could not show himself easily.

It is possible...

Lord Seok's daughter-in-law knows where her brother is.

I am convinced that man was given my late father's last secret command.

Find out in detail how the woman...

married into Lord Seok's family, and if she knows anything.

Yes, Your Majesty.

I will...

give you a chance.

However, whatever you do now,

you must do it in my presence.

What do you mean by that?

How else am I to keep you alive?

That is why,

to prevent any reckless decisions,

you are to stay within my line of sight.

But all I do...

are small deeds...

such as sharing rice and delivering medicine.

Small deeds?

You brazenly jumped over the walls of a government official's residence,

snuck a prisoner out from the Police Bureau,

and even pointed a knife at an officer just now.

I hardly believe those were small.

I will keep my eye on you.

If you once again jump the walls of the Left State Councilor's residence,

I will...

go through...

its front gate.

What does the wife of the Minister of Finance plan to do?

Well...

Now that she has no husband,

tell her to lead a quiet life.

Just like how she is known to embody "Instructions for Women,"

it only seems appropriate for her to live in retirement...

at a small temple somewhere deep in the valley.

- However... - Why?

Do you wish to go with her and be of service?

Gosh, no.

I will relay your message word for word, my lord.

Then,

that is how we will wrap up her husband's case.

My lord.

There is someone who has been weighing on my mind.

He is an officer who has been investigating the case,

but he is not someone I can easily handle.

And who may that be?

His name is Park Soo Ho,

the younger brother of Royal Secretary Officer Park Yoon Hak.

The younger brother of Royal Secretary Officer Park?

The son of Chief Scholar Park?

Yes, my lord.

Decades ago, past the age of ten,

he was adopted by the family.

Rumor has it...

that he is the bastard son Chief Scholar Park had out of wedlock.

I doubt that is true with him being a man of integrity.

Look into the son in more detail.

Yes, my lord.

What happened?

I am doomed.

"Stay within my line of sight."

Why help me if he was just going to threaten me?

To me, it does not sound like a threat.

How could he possibly keep an eye on me?

It is not like he can barge into our house.

I should have gone with Lady Baek...

when she took off the other day.

Just say the word.

I could build a town for widows in Gaegyeong.

By the way,

before Lady Baek left for Hamgyong Province,

she said something peculiar.

The ring that the wife of the Minister of Finance said...

was stolen by Yong Deok.

The ring belonging to Lady Baek?

She knew it originally belonged to Lady Baek.

Then,

are you saying that Lady Oh gave a false testimony?

Why would she do that?

I see that Lord Seok...

forgot about my many contributions.

It seems to be that way.

However,

I doubt you will choose to live at a temple.

Stay beside your husband's grave for now,

and...

I will secretly find you a place to stay in Qing.

What did I do so wrong that I must move...

all the way to Qing?

Lord Seok governs the entire nation.

It would be suicide to go against his orders.

How could he do this when others...

gave him all that power?

In no way...

will he be able to get rid of me so easily.

My lord,

it is not the time to sit around like this.

Rumors are flying within the Capital...

about the corpse going missing. What do we do?

What if my legendary hero is caught and arrested?

Bi Chan.

There is a job for you.

Pardon?

Would it not be a better option...

for your legendary hero?

It is love that this world will never see again.

The two could not stay together,

so I only hope they do so in their next lives.

- Commandant Hwang... - Once he finds out,

the entire Capital will soon know.

No one tells a story like I do.

Right, and see what Myungdo Inn is up to from time to time.

I will fulfill my duty.

They say that the shy ones are usually more brazen.

How dare a faithful widow step outside...

the walls of her house?

There she was...

pretending to be docile and innocent with a stoic expression.

But it turns out she has been doing the unthinkable at night.

- Mother... - Talk about ruining...

the family's reputation.

The haughty wife of the Minister of Personnel...

is refusing to eat and remains in bed.

Compared to her,

I sure am lucky since I do not have to worry...

about that being my story.

I always believed...

that her daughter-in-law was nowhere near your level.

I owe it all to your guidance.

Right.

Considering what has happened,

you will have to be even more cautious.

I will keep that in mind.

Know that I will be aware of even the smallest of moves.

Yes, Mother.

Such a cruel fate!

How could you...

leave the one you love in such a miserable fashion?

So? What happened to his corpse?

All night, she looked everywhere for her lover's body...

which was brutally tossed on a barren field.

Finally, she was able to find him.

That poor lady.

In hopes of having him breathing again,