The New Crown Princess
Hwa-Ryeong is excited to start his new life as Crown Prince and can’t wait to fulfil his duties as the new ruler of the kingdom. He looks forward to learning from his father and working closely with Queen Hwa-Ryeong.
Seongnam heads to see the Dowager, who promises to always keep an eye on him going forward.
Seongnam, the Crown Prince of Hwa-Ryeong, leaves his home for the first time today. He is worried. He knows that the first day as Crown Prince is a trial by fire, with harsh hazing rituals coming in the form of difficult questions thrown at him by the scholars. All of this is a test to find faults and see if there’s any way they can manipulate or find cracks in his defence. He hopes he can withstand this barrage. ..
The new Crown Prince does well, getting an outstanding mark from many of the scholars and exceeding expectations. However, the subject of who will be the Crown Princess is the point of contention here and Hwa-Ryeong is concerned. After all, if one of Dowager’s girls ends up getting close to Seongnam, it’ll only be a matter of time before they backstab him and usurp the position.
The Chief Royal Secretary has been trying to find a wife for Seongnam for years, and the only thing left is to research the best candidates. Tae comes in as a bundle of energy, gushing over the eldest daughter of the Chief Royal Secretary. According to what she’s heard, the girl is gentle, educated and the perfect match for Seongnam.
However, Hwa-Ryeong spies Yoon Cheong-Ha outside, standing up for the rights of the common folk. What’s interesting here are the parallels between her and Hwa-Ryeong, whom we know stood up for the rights of the downtrodden in the past. Hwa-Ryeong is curious over why Cheong-Ha is not on the list and decides to speak to her personally. ..
Cheong-Ha, the Crown Princess of Seongnam, is not particularly enthused about being a part of the Selection Process for finding a new Crown Prince. She is more interested in finding her personal Prince Charming. Funny enough, Hwa-Ryeong, the Mayor of Seongnam and Cheong-Ha’s older brother, points out that Seongnam’s Crown Prince is actually Hwa-Ryeong and as such, Cheong-Ha quickly decides to get involved in the Selection Process. ..
Queen Dowager Yoon is very excited to hear that she has been chosen as the new Princess of South Korea. She tells her son-in-law, Cheong-Ha, that she is so happy for him and that she knows he will do everything he can to make sure she is successful. However, Hwa-Ryeong finds out that her ties to Minister Yoon are very strong and could be used against her if the Queen Dowager finds out.
Cheong-Ha is clever and agrees to stay by Dowager’s side, but has already pledged herself to do right by the crown and Hwa-Ryeong. As for the latter, she speaks to Seongnam and warns that even now, 20 years after they’ve come into power, there are still rebels out there looking to take them down. And we know that comes in the form of Uiseong and the Dowager.
The death of Seo Ham-Deok has raised suspicions across the palace as the King remains dead-set on finding out if he had any accomplices. Given the desire to find out who all the rebels are, Hwa-Ryeong needs to find Physician Kwon to discover what really happened to the Crown Prince. However, Consort Hwang gets there first, meeting him outside and questioning him around what poison he used. ..
The next day, the Crown Princess ceremony gets underway, with Dowager deciding to pick the worst candidate for Seongnam. The King and Hwa-Ryeong are both in attendance and Cheong-Ha is eventually selected as the winner.
When Seongnam finds out, he narrows his gaze and prepares himself, knowing that “one of Dowager’s girls” has become his Crown Princess. However, Hwa-Ryeong is the one who’s got there first and she actually met Cheong-Ha’s parents, entering a promise that they become the shield for the other’s child.
The Crown Princess of Seongnam has been learning about Hwa-Ryeong from the new teacher, who is also her future husband. The Prince and Princess of Seongnam have a ceremony where they meet each other, and Seongnam recognizes the Crown Princess from their past encounters. However, she seems to be suspicious of the Prince and Princess. In fact, the Prince and Princess head out in the middle of the night to consummate their marriage.
As the episode ends, Courtesan Cho-Wol shows up looking for the Prince, cradling a baby. When Hwa-Ryeong finds out, she’s shocked.
The Episode Review
It seems like Hwa-Ryeong has a lot on her plate with her children, especially with Cho-Wol showing up at the end. That’s likely to cause a lot of drama in next week’s double bill of episodes!
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess are the focus of this episode, with Cheong-Ha struggling to become the new Princess while also dealing with her own personal drama.
The highlight of this episode was Hwa-Ryeong teaching Cheong-Ha how to be a noble Crown Princess, while Seongnam rising to the challenge showed just why he’s the best candidate to become the Crown Prince. ..
This week’s episode of “The Good Place” ended with a cliffhanger that left the door wide open for where this may go next. The show’s producers have hinted at a possible spin-off series, and it seems like fans of the show will have to wait until later this year to find out what happens.
