In the previous episode of Captivating the King, a turn of events led us to a point where we realized that the king knew from day one what Hee-soo, Myung-ha, and others were up to. Hee-soo felt the guilt of plotting against the king, and so just moments before he was about to enter his palace, she told him that Chu Dal-ha was going to kill him. So, let’s find out what King Yi-In does now and whether he punishes the perpetrators or resorts to some other tactics.
Spoiler Alert
What deal did the king make with Chu Dal-ha?
Chu Dal-ha came to stab the king, but accidentally, he ended up stabbing Hee-soo. The king didn’t kill Chu Dal-ha but ordered Sang-hwa to take him into custody. The king wanted to understand what he was dealing with, as he wanted to make an informed decision and not do anything in haste that he would regret later. Hee-soo was given proper medical attention, and fortunately, she fully recovered. Hee-soo told King Yi-In that it was her plan to kill him because she doubted his intentions and believed him to be a selfish man who could go to any extent to be in power. She told him that she had made the decision to kill him after she heard him talking to Park Jong Hwan in the previous episode of Captivating the King. She told him that even after realizing the kind of man he was and what he intended to do with the grand prince Munseong, her feelings for him did not dissipate. She told him that she loved him, and she herself wasn’t able to understand how it was possible after she knew what he had done.
We came to know in Captivating the King episode 13 that the king didn’t want to kill Munseong, but he was trying his level best to protect him. King Yi-In knew what Hee-soo was doing behind his back, and that was why he wasn’t surprised when she told him that Chu Dal-ha was hiding inside the palace with the intention of attacking him the moment he went there. King Yi-In told Hee-soo that his brother, just before taking his last breaths, had asked him to make Munseong sit on the throne, but he refrained from doing so and instead told everybody that his brother’s last wish was that he rule the kingdom. King Yi-in felt burdened with guilt, and that’s why he wanted to make things right and repent for his actions.
Even after Chu Dal-ha committed high treason by conspiring to murder the king, Yi-In decided not to execute him. He told Chu Dal-ha that he would not execute him provided he gave him the name of the spy who passed secret information to the kingdom of Qing and the one who was behind his brother’s murder. King Yi-In knew that his brother had been poisoned, and though he didn’t have any concrete evidence, he knew that the principal director was the one who had orchestrated everything. Chu Dal-ha came on board, and King Yi-In told the council of ministers that a formal trial was going to take place where he would hear what the accused had to say. The council of ministers was not happy about the decision taken, and together they decided that they would go and protest against the king’s decision. But the king had already made up his mind, and he was not going to back off at any cost.
How did Park Jong Hwan threaten the king?
The king had a heated argument with Park Jong Hwan, and he told him that he would take strict action against him if he didn’t confess to his crimes. Park Jong Hwan was a shrewd man, and he was surely not going to surrender without putting up a fight. Park Jong Hwan went to meet his sister, Queen Dowager, and he accepted the fact that he was the one who had provided information to Prince Rui back in the day, and he had ordered lady Dong to poison the former king. Park Jong Hwan said that he did everything that he could to protect Yi-In, who was the grand prince at the time. Park Jong Hwan was unhappy about the fact that after doing so much, after making sure that Yi-In sat on the throne, he was being treated in such a manner. He asked Queen Dowager to support him during the trial, but deep down, he knew that it was not enough, and he would have to take some extreme steps in order to save himself. That’s when, in Captivating the King episode 14, he went to King Yi-In and told him that if he confessed to his crimes, then the citizens would think that the king had a role to play in the scheme of things, and that could eventually lead the court to press charges against him. The king realized what his uncle was up to, but he was ready to take the risk as he was just done with him. He told Park Jong Hwan that his treachery wouldn’t help his cause this time, and action would be taken against him even if it came at a huge cost.
Does Chu Dal-ha expose Park Jong Hwan?
Yoo Hyun Bo worked for Kim Jong-bae back in the day, but he decided to go against him because he became an admirer of King Yi-In’s tactics and how he acceded to the throne. But in Captivating the King episode 14, Yoo Hyun Bo realized that it was not Yi-In who had made those wicked strategies, but it was all Park Jong Hwan’s doing. Yoo Hyun Bo went to Park Jong Hwan and told him that he would work for him and make sure that the king wasn’t able to punish him. Yoo Hyun Bo arranged for a meeting between Myung Ha and Park Jong Hwan, as he knew that both of them wanted pretty much the same thing, i.e., to remove the king from power. Yoo Hyun Bo knew that Myung-ha wanted revenge for his father’s death, and he used that fact to his advantage. Meanwhile, Park Jong Hwan realized that he had no option but to kill the king, but obviously, he needed somebody else to carry out the task for him. That’s when he called court lady Dong and told her to assassinate the king. Court lady Dong was the one who poisoned the former king, and Park Jong Hwan told her that if she didn’t carry out his order, he would make sure that he took her name during the interrogation.
Park Jong Hwan told court lady Dong that once the king came to know about her crimes, he would execute her. Coincidentally, King Yi-In also realized that he would need lady Dong’s help, and he offered her a deal if she chose to become a state witness. The king told lady Dong that if she testified against Park Jong Hwan, then he would make sure that she didn’t get capital punishment. lady Dong didn’t know what to do, as she was also sick and tired of everything that had been happening. Park Jong Hwan had given a poisonous rouge to court lady Dong, which she wore and went to meet the king.
At the end of Captivating the King episode 14, lady Dong told the king that she would do anything he says, provided he does one last favor for her. She told him that she wanted to get intimate with him one last time, and then she would be ready to accept her fate. The episode leaves us on a cliffhanger, where we don’t know if she actually gets intimate with the king and poisons him or if her love for him comes in between, and she tells him about whatever Park Jong Hwan asked her to do.
