100 Days My Prince Episode 14 Recap
The secret letter Lee Yul had left with Jung Jae Yoon finally gets solved. Thanks to Jung Jae Yoon, Lee Yul was able to get a big lead in solving the riddle containing the one Chinese character, “heel”. Struggling to figure out what it was trying to say, Jung Jae Yoon decided to take Lee Yul out to see Eunuch Yang.
The last time we saw Eunuch Yang was when Jung Jae Yoon intercepted Eunuch Yang’s disposal to have the eunuch treated by a former Imperial Physician (Episode 9). Eunuch Yang has since woken, but unable to speak. Jung Jae Yoon reports the eunuch’s mind is not with them, but when Lee Yul goes to the eunuch to express his apology for what’s happened to him, Eunuch Yang starts talking—rather, he wants to talk, but isn’t able to do so.
To hear what it was Eunuch Yang seem so desperate to express, he is given a brush and paper to write it down. Firstly, Eunuch Yang expresses his relief seeing Lee Yul alive. It garners no reaction from the Crown Prince. This is not what Lee Yul stayed to hear; so, Eunuch Yang moves on to reveal that his throat was slit by the Vice Premier and not himself because he felt wronged for being interrogated about why he wasn’t at the rain ritual with the Crown Prince and wanted to take his own life. He tells Lee Yul and Jung Jae Yoon that the Vice Premier had slit his throat because he told him he though the body didn’t look like Lee Yul’s. From this, it had Lee Yul wonder what had happened before the rain ritual. This question had Eunuch Yang tell him to look for his journals.
It quickly dawns on Lee Yul that the riddle had to do with locating the journal which would reveal everything that happened before Lee Yul left for the rain ritual and the secret he learned. What also dawns on Lee Yul after the visit is that the approach to solving the riddle has been wrong.
Before the visit, Jung Jae Yoon had tried solving the riddle at Lee Yul’s level. Jung Jae Yoon had looked at the composition of the character of “heel” and it had led him to thinking that the riddle might be saying that the Queen was responsible for Lee Yul’s assassination attempt. This was how Jung Jae Yoon ended up at the Crown Princess’ place and found the talisman there.
However, rethinking the riddle, Lee Yul believe he would have created the riddle at Jung Jae Yoon’s level. Counting squares was how he approached the riddle at first. Jung Jae Yoon had looked to see if any characters (in the signage to residences maybe, we’re not sure) had squares in them. This approach was indeed how Lee Yul had intended Jung Jae Yoon to approach the riddle. Looking for squares in characters isn’t quite the way to approach the riddle, though. The riddle required counting out five squares with four of them represented by doorways Jung Jae Yoon was to walk through, with the start point at the Crown Prince’s chambers. He would then end up in the Crown Prince’s library. The fifth and last square is represented by the square in the title of the journal Jung Jae Yoon is meant to find.
Jung Jae Yoon found the journal titled “Silence” thanks to a second visit to Eunuch Yang who had managed to recall the journal title. Though Eunuch Yang had the right title of the journal, what Jung Jae Yoon located wasn’t the right month. The reason for not locating the right journal is because the riddle had yet to be solved fully. Lee Yul realised there were six more doors they had to walk through. This was represented by the “heel” character on the cherry blossom seal of the letter. After taking this extra part to the riddle, Lee Yul and Jung Jae Yoon finds the right journal.
Inside a small desk chest made from the wood of the cherry blossom tree he had planted and the Crown Princess cut down was the exact journal detailing the attempt to poison him, the killing of the female physician Song Sun, the fact that it was the Vice Premier who tried to kill him, and finally the reason for doing all of this is because the Crown Princess was pregnant with another man’s baby.
For the last few episodes, there have been hints at whose baby the Crown Princess is pregnant with; but Episode 14 finally reveals it. The baby’s father is Seok Ha’s.
Because of Seok Ha’s relationship with the Crown Princess, Seok Ha’s disappeared on Hong Shim again. He’s been commanded by the Vice Premier to find the father and kill him. Seok Ha sees this as time he could use to find a man he could pin as the father and what looks to be a way to run away with the Crown Princess—should she wish to run away.
Although the Crown Princess has tried her hardest to kept the secret her baby isn’t the Crown Prince’s, it’s not so she can keep her title. It’s for the Vice Premier who can’t seem to stop his insatiable desire to keep going with this scheme for the throne. The Crown Princess actually finds the palace suffocating and could actually run away with Seok Ha. When Seok Ha and her met in the fields somewhere, she casually slipped in whether he would run away with her if the baby is who Seok Ha thinks it is. Seok Ha doesn’t respond, but he later confirms with a letter telling her that he would be willing to run away with her anytime and will be waiting for her in three days’ time.
So, it’s back to Hong Shim searching and waiting for her brother again. She’s made to post up flyers with a message only Seok Ha will understand, and he does get. He shows up before her and tells her to go ahead without him to a house he got her on Mount Danhoe first. He tells her he will soon follow. Having heard a similar promise 10 years ago when he told her to meet on the bridge but not once showed up, Hong Shim wasn’t willing to leave without him this time round.
After pleading Hong Shim to listen to him, she does end up agreeing; but, not without trying to (what looks like) find out what it was that had Seok Ha change their plans of going together. It has her run into some trouble with a man dressed in black as he threatens to harm her for tailing Seok Ha.
Luckily for Hong Shim, Lee Yul and Jung Jae Yoon happen to be around the area because of their visit to see Eunuch Yang. Jung Jae Yoon attempted to take care of the situation though words, but it incites the man in black to draw his sword. This happens after Hong Shim is pushed to the ground. Lee Yul steps in then. He sends the man to the ground with a couple jabs with the back end of the man’s sword (Lee Yul had skillfully taken from the man). “I am more impetuous and vicious than this scholar,” Lee Yul says. (Lee Yul’s So intimidating when he’s his Crown Prince self.) Jung Jae Yoon adds that Lee Yul is extraordinarily skilled in martial arts, too. That sent the man running.
What follows is a few cool Lee Yul-Hong Shim moments which include a love confession from Lee Yul and the first kiss as Crown Prince and Hong Shim/Yoon Yi Seo.
Lee Yul and Hong Shim enjoy each other’s company for the first time since Won Deuk left Songjoo Village to returned to the palace as Lee Yul. Since Hong Shim found out Lee Yul was that kid she met 10 years ago, the one she nicknamed Fool, Hong Shim’s decided that whilst she was in Hanyang, she was going to at least miss him and see him all she wants.
She lets Lee Yul hold her hand whilst they enjoyed a stroll in the darkness of the night. She seemed to forget that he’s married to the Crown Princess for those few moments. It’s not until Lee Yul refers to himself as her husband, she is reminded of this fact.
Hong Shim had teased him about how it was so like him to abuse his power when he ordered everyone to get married. (She seems to be remembering the time when they were children and he was using his father’s position to bully kids when he played with them). That had Lee Yul tell her off in a loving, non-serious way for speaking to her husband in such a way. Right after that, Hong Shim seem to realise she was holding the hand of a married man.
She asks Lee Yul nicely to let go of her hand, which has Lee Yul ask if it’s because she didn’t like holding his hand. He seems to think he is married to her, at least as Won Deuk anyway. But that marriage is fake since he isn’t Won Deuk. He’s the Crown Prince. Hong Shim doesn’t bring that up, though. She tells him that if they keep walking side by side, they’d never see each other’s faces. That gets Lee Yul to face her and tell her to look at him all she likes, saying it is hard for him to come out in disguise so she should go ahead and appreciate.
After doing exactly that, Hong Shim consciously puts an end to it. She tells him she’s going to let him go before telling him to return to the palace. Lee Yul isn’t happy to go yet, so Hong Shim tells him she will take him to the palace gate. That way they can still be together for one more hour.
They start walking with Lee Yul walking backwards in front of her. Hong Shim suddenly stops. It’s because they were heading towards a wooden arch which is believed to keep couple together forever once they walk through it. Lee Yul knows about this belief and drags her through it before confessing how he had liked her from the moment he saw her; how despite not seeing her, he loved her when she turned 20; and how he will love her the rest of her days.
Like parting words, Hong Shim tells him to cherish these memories as she will do the same. And like he’s trying to get Hong Shim to see him as Won Deuk (and not the Crown Prince who’s married to someone else), Lee Yul tells her that the man standing before her is not the Crown Prince, but Won Deuk, before he kisses her.
Episode 14 Screencaps
I was the dumb kid who had not read Elementary Learning, and you tied this ribbon around my arm,” Lee Yul says to Hong Shim whilst holding the ribbon in his hand and showing her. “My whole life, I’ve missed you.” Lee Yul then tells her what a fool he is for not recognising the person he’s missed so much when she’s been by his side all this time. Their previous meeting had Hong Shim say things between them is the end. But Lee Yul won’t let it be the end now. He tells her that they will part ways like this (for now), but he lets her know he will go find her again.
Hong Shim’s dad is still urging Hong Shim to think about leaving and going in hiding for fear the Lee Yul will return and might cause her trouble. She is known as a traitor’s daughter after all. Hong Shim won’t leave and wants to miss and see Lee Yul all she wants at least for the time she’s in Hanyang because she sees him as her saviour, not as the son of the king who had framed her real dad for conspiracy. “Keeping him in my heart is not a sin,” she says. It’s so great to see the dethronement not be used as a big obstacle for Hong Shim and Lee Yul to overcome. We can rest easy knowing Hong Shim can separate Lee Yul from the King’s actions.
Lee Yul learns the eunuch personally serving him as well as all the court ladies and guards aren’t actually serving him, but serving the Vice Premier. Lee Yul lets the eunuch be, though. Lee Yul will do his job while eunuch will do his. What that entails includes the eunuch continuing to deliver that health harming herbal drink but the eunuch will drink it instead. Lee Yul seems to understand the difficult position the eunuch is in and lets him know he may be letting him be, but it doesn’t mean he has forgiven him.
Seok Ha is hit in the back and brought in by the Vice Premier wanting answers about why he didn’t tell him the Crown Prince was alive, but then he seem to thank him for letting the Crown Prince be as it helped avert a crisis. Seok Ha is then ordered to find the father of Crown Princess’ baby and kill him.
At this point, it seems he still doesn’t know who the baby’s father is, but he has his suspicions. By the end of the episode, the Vice Premier reveals he knows the baby to be Seok Ha’s. The Crown Princess had joked about it when Seok Ha met up with her before he was hit, only to take it back and deny it being Seok Ha’s. Discovering that the baby is Seok Ha’s as well as the Crown Princess’ proposition to him to run away with her (she was asking casually, but probably was testing to see if Seok Ha would), the Vice Premier threatens the Crown Princess not to run away (with Seok Ha). She had better win over Crown Prince’s heart and become queen no matter what else he will have them both killed.
Funny scene, Jung Jae Yoon is thanked by Hong Shim’s dad with a heart for Jung Jae Yoon’s hospitality. It looked like Hong Shim’s dad was going to bow when he threw his arm in the air but forms a huge heart above his head. Jung Jae Yoon’s response is that he only needs a small heart, and shows Hong Shim’s dad how small with crossing his forefinger and thumb together, forming a little heart.
Jung Jae Yoon is called to see Lee Yul to clarify firstly he met Hong Shim first and secondly who he works for – Queen or Vice Premier. Jung Jae Yoon tells him he tried to work for him and seems to still be. Lee Yul isn’t assured. Jung Jae Yoon tells him he can test his loyalty with whatever Lee Yul is trying to do.
Jung Jae Yoon seeks permission to be institute’s librarian. This means he’d be serving Lee Yul’s at his closest according to Vice Premier. It’s an important post and it has Vice Premier wondering whether Jung Jae Yoon is switching sides.
Jung Jae Yoon comes up with a response which puts the Vice Premier as the true authority between him and the Crown Prince which gets Jung Jae Yoon’s request granted and over to the Crown Prince’s side. Jung Jae Yoon tells the Vice Premier that he is quick-witted and cleverer than he looks. He knows it’s the Vice Premier who will be controlling the Crown Prince.
Jung Jae Yoon’s been made out to appear on the fence about who’s side he’s on. He actually does have a tiny bit of desire to impress and get noticed so he could maybe advance up the ranks, but advancing under the authority of the Vice Premier doesn’t seem to be his way of doing things. Ever since he started investigating the death of the female physician Song Sun and got that riddle from Lee Yul, he’s been following the leads on that, hoping to solve the case/riddle and using his own skills. If anything, he’s been on Lee Yul’s side this whole time since he’s been doing everything related to solving that riddle, and it’s looking like he continues to be on Lee Yul’s side.
Goo Dal, Kkyeut Nyeo and Yang Chun are made to chop 100 bundles of wood by Park Sun Do, which ends up in Goo Dal, Kkyeut Nyeo and Park Bok Eun going to Hanyang wanting to see the Crown Prince about it. It’s an impossible task. It’s Monsoon season. The wood is wet so the villagers haven’t been able to bring Park Sun Do firewood. Park Sun Do doesn’t care and demands it to be done in three days.
The Vice Premier is mentioned to be behind Park Sun Do. It suggests just how much power the Vice Premier has, but later episodes show this is actually part of a plan which will force Lee Yul to head towards danger.
Jung Jae Yoon and Lee Yool work together to try decipher the riddle ‘heel’, but get nowhere as Lee Yul isn’t able to confirm whether Jung Jae Yoon’s on the right track with his thinking. It has Jung Jae Yoon wonder where the smart Crown Prince went and gives him a riddle to make sure Lee Yul’s intelligence really hasn’t disappeared. To Jung Jae Yoon’s relief Lee Yul solves it cleverly.
Lee Yul is offended, but he doesn’t scold: “Am I the only one uncomfortable? Because I truly am.” Unaffected, Jung Jae Yoon says in a relaxed manner “Yes, you are the only one uncomfortable because I am not.’ Love how Lee Yul is so lenient with Jung Jae Yoon.
Jung Jae Yoon takes Lee Yul on a secret outing to see Eunuch Yang since they were going nowhere with the letter. According to the current eunuch serving Lee Yul, he’s supposed to be dead, but there he is, alive, but unable to speak. Eunuch Yang can write, though, allowing Lee Yul and Jung Jae Yoon to learn the Vice Premier had tried to bury Lee Yul’s death and to look for Lee Yul’s journal if they wanted to find out what happened before the rain ritual.
Lee Yul uses his great martial arts skills to save Hong Shim from a man dressed in black (looks like those who work for the Vice Premier) after she is grabbed by the neck for following Seok Ha to presumably the Vice Premier’s place.
Jung Jae Yoon forgets for a moment that Lee Yul is the one who gives orders and replies that it will not do for Lee Yul to stay out in disguise when Lee Yul tells Jung Jae Yoon to return to the palace. Lee Yul reminds him he’s the one who gives orders. We can’t help think that Jung Jae Yoon might be feeling a bit jealous whilst watching the two together. Poor Jung Jae Yoon.
Lee Yul and Hong Shim get to have some time alone to hold hands, admire each other’s faces after Jung Jae Yoon is sent back to the palace. It’s like they Won Deuk and Hong Shim for a moment until Lee Yul refers to himself as Hong Shim’s husband which brings Hong Shim back to reality a little and let’s go of his hand, but face him to gaze into his eyes (Hong Shim’s excuse covering her dropping his hand).
After gazing at Lee Yul all she wants, Hong Shim consciously put an end to it, telling him she will let him go and commands him to return to the palace. Only Hong Shim can command him that way as he doesn’t even say anything about being commanded like how he did with Jung Jae Yoon. Lee Yul only tells her he doesn’t want to. Hong Shim decides on accompanying him for another hour whilst she takes him back to the palace gates, which is briefly halted by a doorway with a belief that couples will stay together when said couples walk through. Lee Yul confesses his 20-year old feelings for her and makes his promise to love her for the rest of her days before he drags her through the doorway knowing what people believed about the doorway. He seems to wish the doorway will help keep them together forever, too.
Lee Yul kisses Hong Shim for the first time as their real identities.
Jung Jae Yoon reports to Vice Premier Lee Yul is looking for a journal making it look suspiciously like he’s working for Vice Premier. A scene between him and Ae Wol tries to make him look like he’s still on the fence about ruining everything because of Jung Jae Yoon’s feelings for Hong Shim. “Loyalty. Love. Which should I obtain that I will not regret?” But proves he’s chosen loyalty when he lies to the Vice Premier he found the journal, but didn’t read it and believes the journal to be lost when the fire broke out in the Crown Prince’s library.
Lee Yul and Jung Jae Yoon finds the exact journal six more doors from the Crown Prince’s library in a cherry blossom chest Lee Yul had made out of the cherry blossom tree the Crown Princess had cut down. Lee Yul finally learns it was the Vice Premier who tried to kill him. Before the episode ends, he’s off to see the Crown Princess, telling her he plans to spend a very long time with her that night.
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