![\"100](\"blogimgs\/100daysmyprince\/ep16\/01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nLee Yul pretends to not know who this Yoon Yi Seo the Vice Premier talks about is which doesn’t do anything to help Lee Yul. If he wants to save Hong Shim, he has to admit the Vice Premier holding a person he remembers and cares about, which Lee Yul ends up giving in when he asks for proof he has her. The Vice Premier only tells him that if he wants to save her, he better keep what he knows to his grave else he will have her down a river and fed to the wild animals.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Vice Premier’s plan to have the King send Lee Yul into the battlefield is working perfectly. The Jurchens is demanding a ransom from the palace despite the attacks coming from the Ming. The reason, the Jurchens believe the war was instigated by Joseon since the arrows which the Ming is using in the war are from Joseon.<\/p>\n
In a swap of positions, the King doesn’t want Lee Yul to head onto the battlefield, but Lee Yul believes he needs to go despite knowing he’ll be ambushed and attacked like months ago when he headed to the rain ritual. It’s only then will all of this be resolved.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nJung Jae Yoon tries to stop Lee Yul, believing Lee Yul will die for sure. Lee Yul isn’t bringing soldiers, either. He didn’t want to make it look like he’s joining the war. With Lee Yul adamant on going despite Jung Jae Yoon strongly telling him he can’t go Jung Jae Yoon sees no option but follow Lee Yul onto the battlefield despite orders to wait for a message for him. Jung Jae Yoon really is the Crown Prince’s man and just the coolest!<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nPlans to have their men ambush Lee Yul when he shows up at the fortress the next day and frame the Jurchens for Lee Yul’s murder is all set. Unknown to the Vice Premier, he and Minister of War have a listener outside, Hyuk, who has been with Hong Shim since before Seok Ha died, is set to foil the plan.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nLee Yul and Jung Jae Yoon meet up with his men who are delivered letter said to be from the Jurchens. Lee Yul must meet at the Jurchens\u2019 fortress by noon to negotiate alone. Both Lee Yul and Jung Jae Yoon know it will be a fake. As Jung Jae Yoon points out, there\u2019s no proof people are held captive or that the Vice Premier has Hong Shim. Although Jung Jae Yoon does advise Lee Yul not go, there was little chance Lee Yul wasn\u2019t going to go; but, an anonymous tip sent by Hong Shim (through Hyuk) made Lee Yul decide he must go.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Vice Premier is finally brought down to his knees in a one-on-one duel between Lee Yul and the Vice Premier. With a slash across the sword-wielding arm, Lee Yul ensures Vice Premier won\u2019t be able to use his arm to wield a sword again. Lee Yul orders his men to tie him up.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Vice Premier suffers life-ending shots when Kwon Hyuk orders the men above to shoot, thinking the Vice Premier was reaching for a weapon inside his top. It\u2019s not a weapon, but a piece of paper\u2014the piece of paper which he had the King stamp his seal on so the Vice Premier could use it how he wanted in the form of a decree.<\/p>\n
It looks like the Vice Premier had planned for the possibility he\u2019d fail in his attack, and as later scenes reveal, his demands would be conveyed in the piece of paper.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nIt’s all over with Vice Premier dead, but it\u2019s not a happy ending for Hong Shim and Lee Yul. They each have committed wrongs towards each other. Lee Yul\u2019s father, the King, had her dad killed as part of a scheme to take the throne. Her brother, although it was under orders, tried to kill Lee Yul. Hong Shim\u2019s brother also fathered a child with the Crown Princess, a fact which Hong Shim apparently learned when she ran into her brother in Episode 15<\/a>, but not revealed until the final episode. Because of that, Hong Shim thinks that it could be that Lee Yul\u2019s misery might have been caused by her and her brother.<\/p>\n Lee Yul doesn\u2019t seem to care about the assassination attempt or the matter between the Crown Princess and Seok Ha, he seems to just want Hong Shim to be with him. For her tip, he wants to reinstate her to her noble status and for her to live as Yoon Yi Seo. He wants her to tell him she loves him and want them to be together.<\/p>\n Hong Shim can\u2019t do it, leaving Lee Yul to watch her walking away from him.<\/p>\n News of Vice Premier\u2019s death and the Crown Prince\u2019s unharmed stated reaches the palace relieves the King. The King is also presented the piece of paper the Vice Premier had him stamp his seal. Inside it reveals the thing the Vice Premier wants most: a decree under the King which states the Vice Premier pay for his sins with his life only, while his children are free from punishment.<\/p>\n Through Prince Seo Won, the Crown Prince learns of her father\u2019s death and his attempt to kill Lee Yul. Prince Seo Won, who might just like the Crown Princess, show up to take her out of the palace, knowing she will most likely face the same fate. She and Prince Seo Won run into the King on their way out.<\/p>\n The Crown Princess doesn\u2019t end up dying as she thought she might, just exiled (as a later scene shows). How she ends up escaping death for her father\u2019s crimes isn\u2019t shown, but maybe Lee Yul had helped convince the King to allow the Crown Princess to live. He had visited her after returning to the palace and appeared to want her to live because of the baby in her womb, the fact that the father is Seok Ha and that he is the brother of the woman he loves. Hong Shim appears to be the reason the Crown Princess didn\u2019t face death.<\/p>\n The Crown Princess isn\u2019t all that bad. She showed no desire to be queen. She\u2019s actually a bit of a victim of her father\u2019s hunger for power.<\/p>\n One Year later, Kim So Ji has been reduced to a commoner who has Gu Dol as his watchman. Kkyeut Nyeo is pregnant. Ma Chil is a merchant. Gu Dol is there telling exaggerated stories about the victories of the Crown Prince on the battlefield and the Crown Princess having committed suicide for cheating on the Crown Prince.<\/p>\n Hong Shim\u2019s status has been reinstated as a noblewoman as Lee Yul had said he would do. Apart from her social status having changed, everything seems the same. She\u2019s still running her Solutions Agency to make money, taking on dangerous jobs from Park Bok Eun, like luring a serial rapist. (Park Bok Eun\u2019s moved up to the magistrate\u2019s office, now.)<\/p>\n Hong Shim is still living at her old house with her adopted dad. Returning from her job, she sits and mentions how much she\u2019d love a bowl of baesuk (just like Won Deuk did back in Episode 4<\/a>). She still thinks about Lee Yul\/Won Deuk and obviously misses him. She admits to staying at the house instead of living like a noblewoman because of Won Deuk. (Is she waiting for him to come to her?)<\/p>\n Park Sun Do is now Park Bok Eun\u2019s lackey! He\u2019s been demoted to a commoner for his involvement with the Vice Premier and his schemes. Park Sun Do\u2019s being made into a pretty comedic character in the last episode.<\/p>\n The ministers are nagging Lee Yul about not being married again. There\u2019s even a rumour going around he might like men. Jung Jae Yoon tries to have him think about marrying by mentioning about the long lonely nights. Lee Yul\u2019s response to that is that it\u2019s manageable because he has Jung Jae Yoon next to him. (The bromance. Love the bromance between the two in this drama.)<\/p>\n What was meant to be an attempt to get Lee Yul thinking of marriage becomes an almost scuffle (a friendly, not too serious one) between the two when Lee Yul calls Jung Jae Yoon a bee. \u201cA bee busy with work has no time to be sad. I will give you more work to do,\u201d Lee Yul says. Jung Jae Yoon wasn\u2019t too happy about being called a bee and it has him reach out as if to get up and personal with Lee Yul. Jung Jae Yoon can be daring sometimes with the Crown Prince.<\/p>\n Eunuch Yang tries next to get the Crown Prince married by mentioning the need for a new robe, which apparently involves getting him measured by a maid the King looks to have brought in to seduce him!<\/p>\n Even a maid will be fine it seems. Lee Yul wasn\u2019t impressed, but how refreshing to see that he can marry anyone as long as he married. Hong Shim should not have any trouble being accepted into the royal family then!<\/p>\n The King announces his intention to hand over the throne as a way to force Lee Yul to get married, but using ill-health as his reason for the decision. In a private chat with Lee Yul, the King talks about the illness he has is a blistering butt for sitting on the throne too long. Haha. Again, how refreshing to see a King in a drama where he\u2019s not crazy, tyrannical or power hungry. He even mentions being envious of the Vice Premier for his firm mind which the King thinks he lacks, and reckons Lee Yul has the same firm will who also don\u2019t care about being in power which will make Lee Yul a good King.<\/p>\n Before he abdicates, though, he commands that everyone must marry, no matter who they are, royal or noble. It\u2019s hinted this is Jung Jae Yoon\u2019s plan. He was given the task of looking after Lee Yul as his advisor, and the King sounded disappointed Jung Jae Yoon\u2019s yet to fully look after Lee Yul with getting him married. By the sounds of things, the command to have everyone including royal and noble people must be married is meant to push Lee Yul when Jung Jae Yoon appears to go off to Songjoo Village to go after Hong Shim to make her Jung Jae Yoon\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n Lee Yul gets a letter from Jung Jae Yoon he\u2019s taking a few days off because he\u2019s been working non-stop ever since Lee Yul temporarily took over for his father. During the few days off, Jung Jae Yoon tells Lee Yul he\u2019s off to marry a woman in Songjoo Village. It doesn\u2019t take long for Lee Yul to order Eunuch Yang to prepare his clothes. Lee Yul is off towards Songjoo Village. (Jung Jae Yoon\u2019s plan is working!)<\/p>\n The Crown Princess is alive and living in a village somewhere, and her and Seok Ha\u2019s baby, a boy, has been born. She names him after Seok Ha so the name isn\u2019t forgotten and she will always remember it.<\/p>\n Jung Jae Yoon tells Hong Shim to \u201cstop being single and let\u2019s get married\u201d just before they’re ushered to the magistrate’s office by Park Bok Eun to participate in the matchups. Lee Yul shows up just as Park Bok Eun has the bachelors and bachelorettes pair up claiming he\u2019s come to inspect the matchups as he was worried people (by people, he really means Hong Shim) were being forced to get married. Lee Yul isn\u2019t saying they disobey the King\u2019s command, just that he will participate in the matchups, and give Hong Shim the choice of choosing to marry him.<\/p>\n Hong Shim doesn\u2019t choose him. She chooses Jung Jae Yoon. The men having been asked to close their eyes whilst the women walked towards the man they want to marry, Lee Yul opens his eyes to see Park Bok Eun in front of him!<\/p>\n Jung Jae Yoon confesses his feelings to Hong Shim after the matchups. He knows Hong Shim\u2019s heart isn\u2019t with him, but still, he takes the chance to express how he fell for her at first sight after she chose him in the matchups. Knowing Lee Yul is in the distance, Jung Jae Yoon also tries to provoke Lee Yul to make his move by having Hong Shim touch his neck for fever, which it does.<\/p>\n Jung Jae Yoon is pulled aside and his loyalty is questioned by Lee Yul, not knowing that the reason Jung Jae Yoon is being like this is because he knows Lee Yul loves Hong Shim and wants him to win her heart.<\/p>\n Hong Shim\u2019s still worried about Lee Yul being unhappy if she did go to his side because of what her brother did. It could be used to attack him. What her brother did he does care about, and he would rather not have his position if he has to sacrifice love for it. Still, it doesn\u2019t change Hong Shim\u2019s mind about going to him: he wants him to be a wise king rather than be a husband to one woman.<\/p>\n Seeming as Hong Shim is still not willing to be with him, Lee Yul hires her Solutions Agency to find his journals he claimed to have lost; count on her to read his thoughts, his regrets and his choice being always her; and finally have her go to him.<\/p>\n To create a nice spring day where cherry blossoms fall at Hong Shim\u2019s home, Park Bok Eun has Park Sun Do cut out what was meant to be cherry blossoms from paper. Park Sun Do misses the grooves on them, making them little oval petals only. It\u2019s all to create a similar setting to when a young Lee Yul first told a young Yoon Yi Seo he chooses her no matter what the question and that he\u2019s going to marry her.<\/p>\n Hong Shim finds the journals and sure enough she reads them. It finally moves her enough to run all over the Village looking for him. She\u2019s told Lee Yul\u2019s return to the palace to tend to urgent business by Gu Dol, only he hasn\u2019t. When Hong Shim returns home, Lee Yul surprises her by showing up before her. The Crown Prince has left, but not Won Deuk, Lee Yul tells her, and he asks her to look hard and she will see he is Won Deuk. It takes her a few moments of gazing into his eyes for her to finally see that, and it brings a smile onto both their faces.<\/p>\n Paper petals fall from above (thanks to the assistance of Hong Shim\u2019s dad, Gu Dol, Kkyeut Nyeo and Park Bok Eun) recreating a moment so many years ago where he said he would marry her. He draws her attention to the journals he had her find. \u201cDid you take a peek?\u201d he asks. She answers yes and tells him she wants him to stop writing such heartbreaking stories.<\/p>\n It\u2019s pretty easy to stop such entries. All it takes is for Hong Shim to say she\u2019ll marry him in a few moments\u2019 time! Lee Yul is hopeful, telling her not to worry as he\u2019s already thought of what to write that evening. \u201cI think it will go like this,\u201d he begins. \u201c\u2018I proposed to the woman I yearned for all my life. The woman smiled and nodded. Come what may, I will spend my remaining days with her.\u2019 Let us go to the palace,\u201d he asks Hong Shim. Hong Shim doesn\u2019t give her answer yet, only asking if this was his marriage proposal. \u201cNo,\u201d he responds. \u201cI will do it properly right this moment,\u201d and he moves in to kiss her. Seeing as Hong Shim kissed Lee Yul back, we will take it as a \u201cyes\u201d to Lee Yul\u2019s marriage proposal!<\/p>\n Second time round watching this drama and still every episode had us excited to watch the next. We knew what was coming and still we couldn\u2019t wait to see it play out again. Now, that\u2019s a really good, re-watchable drama! We indulged in the fact that Lee Yul was saying he would never propose to someone like Hong Shim, but only he would, and we couldn\u2019t wait for him to find out she\u2019s the childhood love he\u2019s been searching for every day since they were forced apart during the dethronement.<\/p>\n Then came the parts where Won Deuk is made into a fool who couldn\u2019t do any task a normal villager can only to have him show everyone he can read, write, fight and protect Hong Shim. These parts of the drama were our most favourite of all parts.<\/p>\n We love how this drama resolved the past and present wrongs with no one hating or blaming anyone. Hong Shim didn\u2019t change her feelings for Won Deuk after finding out he\u2019s the son of the King who was behind her real dad\u2019s death. Same with Lee Yul. He didn\u2019t change his feelings for Hong Shim after learning her brother was the one who tried to kill him. They did separate for a time, but it\u2019s because Hong Shim was worried how being with him could cause others to use what her brother did to bring Lee Yul down. The issues between them were resolved all neatly, rationally and happily\u2014at least for the main couple. We were pretty sad when Hong Shim\u2019s brother was not let off and he was killed. We had hoped he was going to be spared, but we suppose things can\u2019t all end so happily. It\u2019d be too perfect of an ending. Maybe?<\/p>\n The Vice Premier, as much as he looked like he was just the usual ‘hungry-for-power’ Minister who wanted to dethrone the King, 100 Days My Prince sort of made him not so typical by suggesting that maybe he was the result of the previous King’s rule. The previous King was mentioned as having a violent personality hinting to his possibly tyrannical rule. It was the reason the current King had agreed to go along with the Vice Premier’s scheme to overthrow the previous King. When the current King was installed, the Vice Premier was promoted and got to where is now.<\/p>\n The Crown Princess had once asked why his being the Vice Premier wasn’t enough (Episode 14). The Vice Premier answered with having suffered starvation and eating a mouse which almost caused him to be on the brink of death. He mentioned having to bury his parents under rough and dry land after his parents were beaten to death like he held a grudge against way things were in the past, like he held a grudge against the throne which caused him to live in such a desperate situation. The fact that he ended up using that blank paper with the King’s seal on it to force the King to hand down the decree to lay all blame and responsibility and punishment on him and not his children suggest that the throne wasn’t what he cared most about.<\/p>\n Having said that, it was sort of strange how the Vice Premier didn’t try to attack when Lee Yul’s back was turned, because he really could have. Instead, he chose to reach into his pocket so that he could give that piece of paper to Lee Yul. Maybe, the Vice Premier had planned to die in this final battle between him and Lee Yul, which makes him not so hell-bent on getting the throne.<\/p>\n No one was really hell-bent on getting the throne actually. The Queen wanted her son to be next in line for the throne, but her attempts were weak and half-hearted. She even came up with the idea of getting Jung Jae Yoon to seduce Lee Yul, because she truly thought Lee Yul liked men with how he wasn’t one bit interested in the women he was set up with by the King. When the King asked her to let go, stop plotting against Lee Yul, and focus more on him (since he’ll be stepping down as King), she hugged him, seemingly content to do that.<\/p>\n Seo Won was also not interested in becoming Crown Prince. When the King announced his intentions to install him as the new Crown Prince after Lee Yul’s supposed death, he was against it. Seo Won reminded the King that he had promised not to install a Crown Prince until the Crown Princess’ baby was born. (It seems Seo Won is quite virtuous.) He only agreed to take the position when the King explained he didn’t want to be remembered as a King who was controlled by his Vice Premier.<\/p>\n The Crown Princess, we mentioned before, had no desire to be Queen. She’d happily live with Seok Ha if only he wasn’t killed. The palace is like a prison to her.<\/p>\n Lee Yul didn’t care for the throne.<\/p>\n And the King himself wasn’t too interested in taking the throne before he was made King. As we already mentioned in our very first post on 100 Days My Prince<\/a>, the King only took the throne because of the previous King’s violent personality. He had mentioned that he had to overthrow the previous King because his life and Lee Yul’s would be in danger otherwise.<\/p>\n This, we think, is why this drama turned out to be so light. There are no truly evil characters. The power struggles are not as intense as some of the historical dramas we’ve seen. But like we said in our first post<\/a>, it doesn’t lack enjoyment, excitement or anticipation. We could happily re-watch 100 Days My Prince for a third, fourth, fifth time just for the things Won Deuk say and do. He’s just so cute and funny! We could watching Won Deuk turn from a Good for Nothing into a totally useful, totally cool, totally handsome man over and over again. Hong Shim falling for Won Deuk, we could watch this over and over again, too.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nFinal Comments<\/h2>\n