Three Princes Remain
In Episode 10 of “Under The Queen’s Umbrella,” Hwa-Ryeong questions Hwang over her involvement with Physician Kwon. She brings up how her stomach ulcer was treated and tests the waters of her loyalty, retorting how she wants to try and find him. Hwang apparently hasn’t heard from him lately either, so Hwa-Ryeong tasks her Court Ladies to find out if there’s a connection between Kwon and the Chief State Councillor. ..
The Grand Prince interrupts the Queen as she is speaking. He tells her that he has been wooed by a lovely courtesan called Cho-Wol and they are in bed together. ..
When Hwa-Ryeong wakes up and heads back to the palace, she is livid and immediately confronts her son. She demands to know what he’s doing and eventually forces him into the quarters, telling him he’s not going to be Crown Prince. ..
Muan is relieved when her son asks to take Cho-Wol as his concubine, but Hwa-Ryeong is not. When Muan’s son asks to take Cho-Wol as his concubine, it’s the last straw for Hwa-Ryeong and she immediately sends him away and confronts the woman in question. ..
Cho-Wol seems sincere and refuses to take back her love for Cho-Wol, which apparently is genuine. She reminds Hwa-Ryeong of the lessons she once told of class and stature being immaterial but Hwa-Ryeong shrugs that off, claiming that she should be resented, well aware of her hypocrisy but remaining steadfast in her fierce loyalty and love for her children. This is why she’s taking a firm stance.
This story provides further evidence that the system is rigged in favor of the powerful and against the vulnerable. Hwa-Ryeong stands up for the downtrodden before a nobleman who’s claiming that a woman (Cho-Wol) – who is physically hurt and with cuts all over her – apparently wasn’t raped. Hwa-Ryeong sees straight through this facade and once her position is revealed, everyone drops to their knees, with the nobleman admitting all of his crimes. Cho-Wol, as a result, lived a good life.
Park Gyeong-U has a lot of secrets up his sleeve. From pretending to be blind a few episodes ago to a potential coup involving money laundering, the Princes decide to join their energies together, reading through all the documents and realizing what it all means. ..
Gyeong-U has used the money to help the villagers pay off their debts and improve their lives. This day, the village has finally paid off its debts and is able to live a better life.
The Gyeong-U three-tenths is right there, creating a cooperative community and allowing Manwol Island to thrive, even with the difficult ocean quahog business.
The Princes have found out that Gyeong-U is working for the people, not the King, so they can continue doing great work. He chuckles knowingly and decides to go with them. Interestingly enough, he actually knew the pair would be coming, having received word from the King ahead of time and requested to judge them both fairly.
Monk Haehim shows off the royal edict he has on his possession. With little other choice, he accepts Uiseong’s proposal… but on one condition. He wants Uiseong to kill the other inspector he came with. That’s a bold move and something that immediately sends alarm bells ringing for Consort Hwang and the Chief State Councillor. ..
As a result of Hwang’s revelation, Gyeseong decides to reveal the big secret about his home city, Gyeseong. He is intent on trying to drag the queen down along with the Grand Prince, and allowing her Prince to rise. In order to stop Gyeseong, he needs to knock him out and catch him alive.
With Gyeseong caught and hung from a tree, Hwang’s plan is to make it look like a suicide off the back of the King finding out about his “terrible secret.”
Ko Consort is reluctant to hand over the scroll, especially after Hwa-Ryeong’s words of comfort to her last time. When she eventually shows it off, Hwa-Ryeong suddenly shows and asks the Consort to hand it over. Hwang immediately brings up Gyeseong’s “horrible secret.” ..
The King is given the scroll before any of this escalates, and he unravels it. Within, it shows a random portrait. Hwang is shocked, and even more so when a wonderful archer manages to shoot the rope down and save Gyeseong from a horrific fate. ..
As a result of Gyeseong’s quick thinking, Hwang is rewarded with a promotion and new responsibilities at the palace. Ko comes through for Hwa-Ryeong, revealing ahead of time about the portrait and switching it over. Her quick thinking has effectively saved Gyeseong’s life, who’s back at the palace and recovering. His composite sketch is also back, but when he awakens, Hwa-Ryeong points out that lots of people know his secret and he needs to keep this hidden.
Gyeseong is concerned for the King’s safety and wants to ensure that he knows of the upcoming rebellion so that he can take appropriate action. However, Ham-Deok has already been arrested and Uiseong has exposed his secret, so Gyeseong is only concerned for the King’s safety at this point.
At the same time, Seongnam and Chang-Ho talk, with the latter admitting that he really likes her. The pair glance longingly into one another’s eyes, watching the sunrise together. She hopes he will think of her in the future, as the escort sets off back for the royal palace.
The three princes left in the Taekhyeon are Uiseong, Bogeom, and Seongnam. Hwa-Ryeong is proud of her boys and the contest is not over yet, there’s still a chance that Seongnam can come through. Fingers crossed! ..
Despite her best efforts, Hwang finds herself in a difficult situation with her new consorts. She is demoted down to the lowest rank and forced to swallow her pride.
The King is clever, having left it to the juniors on purpose and turned the Chief State Councillor to his side too. The confucian scholars of Sungkyunkwan will evaluate the final evaluation.
This way, the scholars will be unbiased and the final evaluation can be judged fairly. Who will come out on top? We’ll have to wait and see!
The Episode Review
The Taekhyeon is just starting to heat up now and the final evaluation is upon us. This episode has done a great job bringing everything to the foreground and now we’re down to the final 3 men remaining.
It seems that Seongnam is going to come out on top and potentially with his future princess, Cheong-Ha. This would certainly give them two a reason for spending so much time together and opens up a lot of possibilities for the future.
The show manages to keep delivering with its various moments and subplots, with Gyeseong’s secret thankfully staying that way thanks to Ko turning across to Hwa-Ryeong’s side. The redemptive arc for her has been great to watch and it really does show that kindness is just as effective – if not more effective – than outright violence and wickedness.
Under the Queen’s Umbrella has been a great watch this year, with plenty of drama still going on. Keep an eye out for the next chapter!
