100 Days My Prince: Episode 13

by LollyPip

Our star-crossed lovers do their best to move on and forget, but it’s not that easy when everything reminds them of their love for each other. Life in the palace feels wrong for the prince, but luckily, a friend from the past shows up in time to give him a little help. It’s only a matter of time before something reminds him of who he used to be.

 
EPISODE 13 RECAP

After pining in the palace for days, Yul goes looking for Hong-shim, but the cottage is empty when he arrives. Hong-shim is there, having gone back for her and Dad’s things, but she hides from Yul. When he runs inside, she slips out of the yard, but he finds her and stops her.

He breathes that he’s glad he’s not too late, but Hong-shim asks stiffly what brings the crown prince here. Yul says simply, “I missed you. I don’t think I can live without you.” Hong-shim asks angrily if he plans to make her his concubine, and Yul doesn’t see why he can’t.

She snaps that she’s leaving, but Yul asks her what they’ve been doing, if not falling in love. She stops him when he starts to approach her, and she tells him, “This is the end of our relationship,” before bowing and walking away.

She barely makes it to a private spot before she crumples to the ground. She starts to run back to Yul, but Moo-yeon arrives and stops her. Hong-shim wails that she can’t let Yul go this way, and all Moo-yeon can do is hug his sister while she cries.

Yul doesn’t move a muscle until Guard Kwon finds him, then it’s like something inside of him collapses. Je-yoon is there waiting, and he shows Yul the one-word note he left for him and asks what it means, telling Yul that it’s a riddle he wrote and that he needs to solve. Yul asks Je-yoon a favor — to follow Hong-shim and protect her wherever she goes.

Dad finds Moo-yeon sitting alone in the woods, and Moo-yeon thanks Dad for taking good care of Hong-shim. Dad worries that Hong-shim is shocked by everything that’s happened, but he assures Moo-yeon that she’s strong enough to get through it. Moved, Moo-yeon kneels and says he has something to ask.

King Neungseon is furious when Yul gets home. When Yul only apologizes, the king yells that he risked his reputation to cancel Seowon’s installation and reinstate Yul as crown prince, calling him ungrateful and disloyal.

With no emotion in his voice, Yul asks if the king is disappointed that he returned. Before the king explodes, Minister Kim steps forward to take the blame for Yul’s escape. King Neungseon just sends Yul to his chambers like a naughty little boy.

Minister Kim reminds Yul that it’s dangerous for him outside the palace and offers to go with him wherever he needs to go. Yul wonders why Minister Kim isn’t asking where he went, but Minister Kim just says that his first priority is Yul’s safety.

Alone in his room, Yul contemplates the one-word letter Je-yoon gave him — the hanja character for “to follow.” Je-yoon had told him that he has to recover his memory and rediscover his enemy.

Hong-shim stops on the road to their ship, finding it suspicious that Moo-yeon went ahead without telling her. Hyuk says he didn’t ask and Dad conspicuously stares at the trees. Hong-shim refuses to budge until someone spills the beans, and Dad eventually confesses that Moo-yeon needed to run a quick errand in Hanyang.

The king meets with his ministers to go over the plans for the banquet honoring the Ming envoys. Minister Jung points out that Special Envoy Wang took a shine to Yul the last time he visited, and asks Yul what gift he gave the envoy. To get out of answering, Yul says that he wouldn’t have liked him just for a gift, but because they made a personal connection, and his father smiles proudly.

One of Minister Kim’s detractors suggests that Minister Kim be excluded from the banquet, as there was an argument at the previous one. But again Yul has his own idea — that a misunderstanding should be discussed and worked out. Even the king agrees that Minister Kim won’t be able to help the prince in this, so Minister Kim agrees not to attend the ceremony.

Minister Jung is puzzled, having figured out that Yul doesn’t remember what happened at the last visit only two years ago when his memory is usually so precise. He concludes that Yul must have amnesia, making the queen smirk with delight at the idea of preparing her own little surprise.

Alone with Yul later, Minister Kim shows him the poems that he and Special Envoy Wang exchanged at the last visit. He asks if Yul remembers which one he wrote, but Yul doesn’t know. With a sigh, Minister Kim offers to write up the details of Special Envoy Wang’s last visit for Yul to study, but Yul is still worried he might make a mistake.

Minister Kim warns Yul that he needs to keep his title and position not just for his own sake, but for his child’s, who will be killed as a threat to the throne if Yul is deposed. When Yul runs into So-hye later, she asks him to go for a short walk with her.

She tells Yul that the baby feels like a strong boy like he was. Yul is surprised that she knows what he was like, and he eagerly invites her to tell him everything she remembers about him, but she says he’s busy so she’ll tell him another time.

Moo-yeon finds Soo-ji and enlists his help entering the palace, so Soo-ji finds him a guard uniform and points out the crown princess’s rooms. Moo-yeon and So-hye see each other, and Moo-yeon ducks his head and walks away. Yul starts to go after him, but So-hye grabs his arm, claiming to feel dizzy.

Instead of going to their ship, Hong-shim makes Dad take her to Hanyang. Checking their family registry, the guard finds it odd that a newlywed woman is traveling with her father instead of her husband, but Je-yoon arrives in time to provide an explanation and get them in.

Still believing that Yul was taken away for treason and Hong-shim arrested with him, Kkeut-nyeo decides to go to Hanyang and speak for them. Gu-dol is afraid they’ll get in trouble too, but Kkeut-nyeo argues that this is all the crown prince’s fault for ordering the unwanted marriages.

Yang-choon nearly has a fit keeping the truth (which she overheard) to herself. Finally she tells them that Yul is the crown prince, and that Hong-shim and Dad are in hiding. All three of them jump about ten feet when they see Town Official Park listening in, and Town Official Park passes out from shock.

Yul studies for the Ming envoys’ visit, and as soon as they arrive, Special Envoy Wang tells Yul that he’s heard rumors, so he’ll be testing him to see if he’s still fit to be crown prince. Yul welcomes the challenge, then asks about Wang’s companion, who is introduced as Wang’s son, Jinlin. Yul eyes Jinlin, finding something strange about the young man.

Je-yoon takes Dad and Hong-shim to his home, inviting them to stay as long as they need to. He says that a house needs people to feel alive, and Hong-shim promises to keep the place sparkling clean, deliberately sidestepping his meaning. Je-yoon tells her that pretending to be cheerful is exhausting and that it’s okay to take her time.

Hong-shim settles Dad in for a nap and thinks about Hyuk, who’d claimed not to know why Moo-yeon went to Hanyang. She’s asked if Hyuk worked with Moo-yeon, and if that work included killing people. Hyuk asked if Hong-shim would abandon Moo-yeon if it were true, but she says that she would try that much harder to find her brother and to stop him from doing what she assumes is another job.

Hong-shim is too restless to sit still, so Je-yoon offers to entertain her. She reminds him that he’d said he was here on business, so he fibs that his “business” was to make sure the house is stocked with food. She knows he’s lying, but she agrees to go shopping with him.

Soo-ji is enlisted to show Jinlin, who is particularly interested in Joseon culture, around the city. He takes Jinlin to the marketplace instead of the royal offices like he’s supposed to, but Jinlin says that he just wanted to get away from his strict father for a while. Soo-ji relates to that, so Jinlin asks for help finding a gift for his lover.

First they have to ditch Jinlin’s guards, which is luckily one of Soo-ji’s talents. He crumples to the ground bellowing about his stomach, and Jinlin slips away while the guards are distracted. Soo-ji sends them running off to find Jinlin then sneaks to the store where they agreed to meet, but it looks like Jinlin gave him the slip as well.

Je-yoon offers to use his connections to help Hong-shim find her brother, but she tells him not to bother. Je-yoon is surprised she’s not actively trying to find her brother, but she says she has a good reason and makes it clear his help isn’t wanted.

Soo-ji spots Je-yoon and pulls him aside to tell him that he lost the envoy’s son. He’s so nervous that he blabs that the Ming envoy is testing Yul to see if he’s fit to be crown prince after his ordeal. He’s scared that losing Jinlin will get Yul into even more trouble, and behind them, Hong-shim wrings her hands with worry.

Je-yoon’s advice is not to lie, and he sends Soo-ji to tell Yul what’s happened while he looks for Jinlin. Soo-ji tearfully describes the envoy’s son, then heads, weeping, for the palace. Hong-shim offers to help Je-yoon look for Jinlin.

At the palace, Special Envoy Wang challenges Yul to another poetry exchange, but instead of a test, he asks Yul to rewrite a poem he recited two years ago. Yul says that it was not in the official records, so he asks Special Envoy Wang to write the poem at the same time as he does so that he can’t claim Yul’s poem is wrong.

Soo-ji interrupts to confess that he lost Jinlin.

After checking around, Je-yoon concludes that the envoy’s son planned to run off. Hong-shim suggests that they consider abduction, but a nearby vendor says that he just saw two thugs dragging off a woman.

Special Envoy Wang insists that Yul find Jinlin himself, declaring it part of Yul’s verification process. He tells Yul that he has until tonight’s banquet to find Jinlin or he and Soo-ji’s lives may be forfeit.

Sure enough, a hanbok vendor confirms that a young man bought a hanbok and changed into it, revealing that Jinlin is actually a woman. Je-yoon sees two of the thugs whose boss’s lantern he destroyed and approaches them, casually asking if they abducted a woman recently. They vehemently deny it, so Je-yoon introduces Hong-shim as the Ming Empire’s greatest assassin, and she plays along by giving them some pretty serious stink-eye, lol.

The queen is amused to learn that Jinlin is a woman, and that Yul was sent to find her to keep that fact a secret. She orders Jinlin closely watched, determined to use this information to her advantage. Ah, she kidnapped Jinlin! Yul figures it out and goes to the queen’s eunuch, inviting him to tell where Jinlin is being held or die.

Jinlin, now dressed in hanbok and obviously a woman, is tied in a shed with a thug guarding her. Outside, Je-yoon says he’ll lure the guards away while Hong-shim rescues Jinlin. He warns that there may be more guards inside, but Hong-shim brags that she’s Ming’s greatest assassin, pfft.

Je-yoon marches right up to the shed and asks loudly in Chinese if Jinlin is inside. Jinlin answers, and the thugs pull their swords on Je-yoon, who brandishes his own sword… then runs like a big old chicken.

Hong-shim goes inside, only to find herself facing the sword of Jinlin’s guard. She fearlessly kicks him in the shin, knocks him down, and tries to untie Jinlin, but he attacks again. Hong-shim raises her borrowed sword, still in the scabbard, and fends him off.

As Yul and Guard Kwon head for the shed to free Jinlin, Yul declines Guard Kwon’s offer to call for backup, saying that Special Envoy Wang is keeping a secret. He points out Jinlin, standing free in a woman’s hanbok. Yul freezes when he sees that Hong-shim is with Jinlin, but before he approaches, he’s stopped by the sight of Je-yoon with her.

He watches as Hong-shim urges Je-yoon to take Jinlin back so Yul doesn’t get in trouble. But Jinlin refuses to go before she sees her love, so Je-yoon chides her for putting the crown prince and the relationship between their countries at risk this way. Jinlin doesn’t care – she heard that her love is sick, so this might be her last chance to ever see him again.

Hong-shim and Je-yoon disagree over whether to take Jinlin to see her love. Hong-shim argues that people have different priorities, and when Guard Kwon asks if they should intervene, Yul says that he trusts Hong-shim and Je-yoon to bring Jinlin back. Jinlin spends time with her love, then Hong-shim urges Je-yoon to take her back to the palace.

Yul returns to the palace and orders the banquet to proceed as planned. Special Envoy Wang is angry that Yul hasn’t kept his promise to find Jinlin, but Yul says that Jinlin will return before the end of the banquet, or he’ll do whatever Special Envoy Wang wishes.

The banquet proceeds, with Yul and Special Envoy Wang pouring each other drinks while the king and his ministers grow more and more anxious. When the last dish is served, Special Envoy Wang says that he’s thrilled Yul is alive and well, but that he doubts his abilities as crown prince.

But Jinlin suddenly runs in, dressed in her boy’s clothes again and looking sheepish. She tells her father that she was at the marketplace and lost track of time, and Yul invites her to join them.

Later, Yul tells Special Envoy Wang that he’s surprised he brought his daughter on a diplomatic mission. Special Envoy Wang says that Jinlin’s daily weeping broke his heart, so he brought her along, never guessing that it was over love. He agrees to grant Yul’s wish, declaring him well-qualified to be crown prince.

He offers Yul some advice — to be cautious of Minister Kim and his people. He reveals that two years ago, their discussion was not of poetry, but Minister Kim and his true goals. He wishes for Yul to regain his memories before he’s crowned king, and to get revenge on those who tried to kill him.

Je-yoon apologizes for almost returning Jinlin too late, but Yul asks why Je-yoon didn’t tell him that Hong-shim is in Hanyang, and how long he’s had feelings for her. Je-yoon retorts, “Probably longer than you.” He says that he’ll obey Yul’s order, but that he won’t change his heart.

That night, Town Official Park gets drunk and wails that he’ll probably be punished for the way he treated Yul. Gu-dol, also drunk, announces that he needs to go to the palace to see Won-deuk, oops, the crown prince, and ask him for a position since he was so good to him. Kkeut-nyeo yells at them for not being worried about Hong-shim, and soon all four of the tipsy idiots are crying.

Yul tries to focus on the one-word riddle, but all he can think about it Je-yoon touching Hong-shim’s injured ankle. His eunuch brings him a document for him to stamp and Yul notices that his seal is new, so he orders the eunuch to bring his old things. The eunuch replies that would be impossible since all of Yul’s belongings were burned after his “funeral.”

The eunuch tells him that it’s time to visit the crown princess, and Yul remembers Special Envoy Wang’s warning not to trust Minister Kim or his people. In So-hye’s rooms, he’s given “Elementary Learning” to read to the baby again, and this time he picks it up and reads.

The passage he chooses is the same one he studied when he last saw his mother, and he suddenly remembers her giving him a hair ribbon to return to… someone. He stops reading, and when So-hye asks permission to visit her parents, he grants it.

Minister Kim meets with Special Envoy Wang in private with the envoy expressing distaste at even having to spend time alone together. Minister Kim presents one of him with a small wooden chest and when the envoy opens it to see an ordinary rock, much like the one he gave King Neungseon when Minister Kim had offered him the kingdom. Special Envoy Wang is angry at the perceived insult of a rock as gift, but Minister Kim says the rock isn’t for the envoy–he requests the rock to be given to Lord Noh, saying that it’s a request for a war.

When she goes home, So-hye checks her hiding spot for a note, but there is none there so she leaves one behind. She runs into Moo-yeon, who asks her why she ordered Beom to shoot him with an arrow. She asks if that’s all he wants to confirm, and although his eyes drop to her pregnant belly, he says there’s nothing else.

Dad catches Hong-shim looking at Yul’s things, and he gets upset and asks if they really came to Hanyang for Moo-yeon. She defiantly admits that she came hoping to see Yul, even if from a distance.

Dad orders her to let down her braid and become a single girl again, because the marriage wasn’t real, but Hong-shim refuses. She sobs, “I like him. I miss him. I can’t believe we parted!” She cries that she knows it’s impossible, but she can’t just forget Yul, like she couldn’t forget her parents or her brother.

Eunuch Noh takes a box outside to burn, but Guard Kwon stops him. He’s with Yul, and when Yul sees that the box contains all of his old things, including Hong-shim’s hair ribbon, it opens a floodgate of memories. He remembers little Yi-seo, who used to smile and call him “Dummy,” and all of the times Hong-shim said things that gave away that she was Yi-seo all grown up.

Yul tells Guard Kwon to take the box to the palace, then rushes off to Hong-shim’s bridge, where he first saw her as an adult. She’s there, and everything clicks into place in Yul’s mind. He barely breathes her name, “Yi-seo… It’s you, Yi-seo.”

Surprised, Hong-shim asks how he knows that name. Yul tells her, “It’s me. Dummy.”

 
COMMENTS

He remembers! He knows who she is! I love so much that Yul remembered their childhood past before Hong-shim did — somehow, those moments they shared have always been his story, because he’s the one who fell so hard and vowed revenge when he thought his precious Yi-seo had been killed. Yul is the one who’s carried Yi-seo’s memory with him for years and stayed faithful, while Hong-shim struggled just to survive and reunite with the only family she had left. So it’s fitting that he’s the one who recognized her first.

This is going to be quite the shock for Hong-shim, who definitely remembers little Dummy fondly, based on how she worked their story into her Won-deuk narrative, but not in the same way Yul remembers her. Her life changed after they met, in ways that would have necessitated pragmatism and realistic thinking, and wouldn’t have allowed her to weave romantic fantasies about Yul. Besides, she never knew who he was or that he became crown prince, so for Hong-shim, I’m sure that little Dummy is nothing more than a sweet childhood memory. I’m actually dreading her reaction when she learns that, not only is Yul the crown prince and that he’s been pining for her for over a decade, but that his family is responsible for her family’s destruction. She’s not going to react well, but I hope she doesn’t hold it against Yul himself, who was nothing more than a child.

Honestly, until this episode I would have been happy if Yul never regained his memory and just ran off with Hong-shim, even though I know Hong-shim would never allow it once she knew the truth. He never wanted to be crown prince or (eventually) king, so for a while there it felt like a realistic plan for him to give that up entirely. But now we’re seeing how his experiences as one of the people has made him more in tune with his subjects. Even King Neungseon looked proud of him several times when Yul showed his intelligence and understanding to the Ming envoy, and it’s growing obvious that he will make a very good king, and actually make a difference, if he does take the throne.

But that maturity also came with a tragically sad ability to understand why Hong-shim thought they should part, and it broke my heart when he saw her with Je-yoon and walked away. So I was glad when he confronted Je-yoon about his feelings (always our forthright prince!) because it showed that he hasn’t given up entirely on Hong-shim, and that his order for Je-yoon to protect her was as much to keep tabs on her. And now that he remembers Hong-shim as Yi-seo, there’s no way he’s going to let her go after having thought she was dead for all these years. I’m very excited to see Yul fight for something, after a lifetime of passively letting life happen around him but never getting involved.

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