Do-Yun crumpled onto the bridge like a piece of paper. He struggled to crawl away from Min-Jae, but the blood loss was already taking its toll. Slowly, his eyes closed, and he drifted into unconsciousness.
Min-Jae stood over Minister Lim, watching as his enemy's blood dripped into the lake below. He closed his eyes as he savored the moment of finally avenging the family and loved ones he lost. When he opened his eyes, it was as if a great big weight was lifted from his shoulders. he took his wife's hand and led her away from the gruesome scene and into the courtyard.
Young-Sik, Jin-Ri, Young-Ju, and Mun-He arrived at the courtyard almost simultaneously as Min-Jae and Ha-Rin. Upon seeing her mother and father, the little girl practically leaped to the ground. Ha-Rin cried tears of joy as she picked up her daughter, Min-Jae enveloped his family in a tender embrace, grateful that his family was safe and well.
Ha-Rin glanced at Jin-Ri and Mun-He, with tears streaming down her face, she expressed her gratitude, "Thank you, thank you all of you, for protecting my daughter."
Min-Jae approached his brother and embraced him in gratitude. "Thank you," he simply said
Young-Sik breaks away from his brother's embrace and places a hand on his shoulder. "She is my niece; I will do anything for her."
The insurgent attacks were dying out, one by one, they started to retreat, utterly overwhelmed by the palace forces. Captain Gi reports to the brothers, "Your Highnesses," he said, bowing to the brothers. "We have taken control of the courtyards, save for some insurgents that still insist on fighting; most have already bolted."
Then, in a sudden, surprising moment, Mun-He rushed toward Kwan, leaping into his arms and planting a passionate kiss on her man's lips. Everyone who saw what happened had their eyes wide, and Ha-Rin instinctively covered her daughter's eyes.
Kwan stood frozen, even after Mun-He ended the kiss. Min-Jae approached the pair and tapped Kwan on the shoulders. "Captain Gi?" Kwan responded by turning to Min-Jae with a wide smile and eyes that looked like they were trapped in a dreamy trance. "Can you gather the stragglers?"
"What?" he dreamily asked, and only when he saw all the eyes looking at him did he snap out of his trance. "Of course, Your Highness, I can capture the stragglers!" He declared his expression and tone of voice all serious. Kwan grabbed Mun-he by the hand and traipsed in the direction where most of the stragglers ran off.
"That was weird, right?" Young-Sik asked the others, to which they just shrugged their shoulders
A group of insurgents suddenly attacked. "Jin-Ri, could you please cover the princess's eyes?" she urged. Jin-Ri quickly shielded the child's eyes. Meanwhile, Young-Sik and Min-Jae swiftly dealt with the foolish rebels, taking them down with simple slashes and strikes.
"Shall we finish this, baby brother?" Asked in Jest, with a silly grin as he ruffled Young-Sik's hair
"I hate it when you call me that!" Young-Sik expressed, before engaging the few remaining enemy insurgents.
After leaving Man-Ju's side, Il-Sung continued to hide and weaseled his way to any exit point out of the palace and unto safety. "Cursed that Jin-Ri, this is all her fault! I'll remember this and make you pay, you wretched girl," he declared. Looking around him, he noticed that the northern gates were unguarded. Deciding that this was his chance to escape, he crawled on all fours toward the gate. Keeping as low as possible to avoid detection.
He snickered as he approached his gate to freedom, but just as he was about to cross the threshold, his head bumped into a significant obstacle. Looking up, he saw the faces of Yeng, Seuk, Dam, and several other people from the village of Mt. Yangge. "Hello, Chief Bong! Are we heading anywhere?"
Bong Il-Sung quickly stood up, dusted himself, and turned around like nothing had happened. The moment he took his first steps, so did the mob; they followed him wherever he went and even matched his pace. "Damn you all! Leave me alone!" he shouted, running away, only to be chased by the Mt. Yangge mob.
It didn't take long for the mob to catch up with him. Il-Sung carelessly tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground face-first. He tried to get up, only to be met with the mob that ganged up on him. Il-Sung screamed like a little girl when he saw numerous feet coming down on him. When Il-Sung regained consciousness, he was already secured behind bars.
Minister Gi crossed the Palace Lake bridge and saw Lim Do-Yun sprawled in the middle. The diminutive old man snickered at Minister Lim's fate. He lightly kicked what he thought was a dead body. "You miserable old oaf, look at where your hubris has led you!" Minister Gi was about to walk away when he felt a hand grab his foot.
Looking down, he saw the bloody hand of Minister Lim holding on to his foot. "Gi, help me...I order you to help me!" Lim Do-Yun desperately commanded, and Minister Gi calmly crouched to remove the hand from his foot. "What are you doing? I said help me!" he groans from the pain, this time holding on to Minister Gi with two hands. "Help me or I will have you beaten up!" he turns to the bodyguards that he recognizes as his. "I command you all to help me!"
Minister Gi laughed loudly, "They were never your men, to begin with, they are mine!" He yanked Lim Do-Yun by the hair. "You thought you were in control? I was in control the whole time! You thought you were the one giving orders? I was the one giving the orders!"
"Help me, please, I can't end up like this, this is not the end for me," Lim Do-Yun cried and begged the old man whom he once thought was beneath him
"It hasn't sunk in yet?" Minister Gi pulled out a dagger and pointed it at Lim Do-Yun's jugular. "Let me help with that!" he then plunged the blade deep into the jugular region, not satisfied with what he did, he then proceeded to drag the dagger blade to the other side, nearly decapitating Lim Do-Yun. Once he was sure that he was dead, Minister Gi pulled the dagger, stood up, and walked away like what he did was nothing of consequence.
As Minister Gi made his way across the bridge, the village militia mob appeared out of nowhere, sending him into a frenzy. He instinctively pushed his bodyguards in front of him, crying out, "Protect me! Fight for me, and I'll ensure you're richly rewarded!" But when the mob quickly overpowered his guards, he wasted no time in abandoning them, sprinting away to save his skin.
In the courtyard, the fighting had all died out, and Young-Sik and Min-Jae were busy rounding up the insurgent forces that had surrendered. "How are things on your side, brother?" Min-Jae asked the prince.
"Better than your side," Young-Sik replied, pointing out that the palace soldiers were already hauling off the insurgents who had surrendered to him
"Show of" Min-Jae replied as he helped to secure and bind the last of the insurgent forces. "Take them to the prison complex," he instructed the palace guards
"At once, Your Highness," they responded to him, bowing and hauling off their prisoners.
Min-Jae marched over to Young-Sik and the others. "Where do you think Man-Ju is?" he asked the prince
"The one place he will never let go," Young-Sik answered cryptically
"The throne room," Min-Jae answered
"The throne room," Young-Sik said, parroting what Min-Jae stated. "The three of you should stay here; we don't know how he would react if we went there like an angry mob," he told the ladies
"Nope! Not happening! I'm going with you!" Jin-Ri insisted, her voice firm and unwavering. Young-Sik opened his mouth to object, but Jin-Ri quickly silenced him, playfully clamping his lips with her hand. "I'm going, and that's the last word!"
With a determined stride, she made her way to the main palace. "It's to your left," both Young-Sik and Min-Jae said simultaneously. Jin-Ri adjusted her course, strutting confidently as if she had been in charge of the directions from the start.
"We love her!" Ha-Rin and Young-Ju declared to Young-Sik, before bouncing away with the child in her arms, eager to join Jin-Ri.
Min-Jae playfully thumped a bewildered Young-Sik on the back. "I hope your training has you ready for the rollercoaster of married life!" he quipped, laughter in his voice.
"Training?" Young-Sik asked, still trying to catch up as he followed his brother. "Is there a boot camp for marriage? The only thing I know is sword fighting, is that enough?"
Kwan and Mun-He assisted the palace guard in rounding up all the stragglers. While conducting a thorough search of the palace grounds, they stumbled upon a visibly distressed Minister Gi. Kwan froze as their eyes locked, a moment heavy with tension.
"Kwan! My dear boy!" Minister Gi rushed toward his grandson, desperation lacing his voice. "You must help me; that dreadful prince is after me!" But as Kwan's cold, unyielding gaze met his, the minister's plea shifted. "As your elder, I command you to save me! You owe me this, Kwan!"
Captain Gi glared at the old man, dismissively pushing him aside. As he walked away, he made his thoughts known. "I don't owe you anything! I'm not bound to do anything for you," he boldly stated to his estranged grandfather.
Minister Gi clenched his jaw in anger, firmly believing that his grandson should have followed his commands without question. In a fit of rage, he yanked Mun-He by the hair and aimed the same dagger he had used to kill Do-Yun at the woman's throat. "You will escort me out of the palace and ensure my safety, or you will witness this woman's blood soaking the ground beneath you!"
Kwan quickly pulled out his sword and assumed an attack stance. "Release her or your head will fall before you can harm her! I will let you walk away from this area if you don't harm her!" he warned his grandfather
When he heard Kwan threaten him, the anger just bubbled over. "This is the last time you will cross me! Do as I say or she will die!" The minister shouted in a shrieking voice.
Mun-He's eyes widened in shock as she heard the minister's voice, instantly her mind was transported to the night her grandfather died. "This is the last time you will cross me! Do as I say or you will die!" It was unmistakable, that was the same shrieking voice, the voice of the man who killed her grandfather.