The Crowned Clown

Love, Politic, History

The King Lee Hun faced power struggle and also uprising issue. One day, the assassins tried to kill him at his chamber. He asked Lee Kyu (Chief Royal Secretary) to find way to save him from being killed. Unexpectedly, he found Ha Sun who looked exactly the same as the King. Ha Sun grew up with the clown with his sister, Dal Rae. During his performance, he played the role as the King. He has been noticed by Kee Kyu and was being captured. Lee Kyu brought him to the palace to replace the King Lee Hun while the King away from the palace. Eunuch Jo and Lee Kyu tried their best to avoid Ha Sun from making mistakes that might raise the issue for faking the King.

Shin Chi-soo sent his niece to the palace in order to gain trust from the King. He wanted his niece to grant a son for the King in order to sustain their power in the palace. The King was angry because he only wanted a son from the Queen.

The assassin revealed to Lord Yoo ad Lee Kyu that Shin Chi-soo was the one to order him to kill the King. However, he changed his words in front of the King that Lord Yoo was the one who behind it. Lord Yoo was then being imprisoned for his treason. The Queen begged the King to find the truth and clear her father’s name. The King has no choice but the assassin already pointed out the culprit was his father-in-law in front of all the government officers.

Ha Sun made many mistakes for the 1^st day as a King. Lee Kyu was angry and tried to punish him. Ha Sun made a mistake for approving Lord Yoo to be headed. The Queen So Woo met the King and tried to kill herself in front of him. Ha Sun stopped the Queen and promised her that he will not hurt her father. Lee Kyu asked the King Lee Hun regarding Lord Yoo’s punishment. Lee Hun instructed that Lord Yoo should be beheaded. Ha Sun was an uneducated person who did not know how to read Chinese character. When Lee Kyu relayed the King message to Ha Sun, he was shocked that the King approved to kill Lord Yoo. During the meeting, when Ha Sun announced the punishment on Lord Yoo, he changed the conviction – removing Lord Yoo from officer post and imprisonment in exile. Lee Kyu was really angry with Ha Sun and warned him to obey the King’s order.

Ha Sun’s sister was being raped by Shin Chi-soo’s son when she was being tricked by one of the servants who lied to her that he was going to bring her to meet her brother Ha Sun. Ha Sun ran out of the palace when one of his servants died who ate the poisonous food that used to serve to him. Ha Sun was shocked and afraid. He questioned Lee Kyu the reason for him to stay at the palace is to die in the place of the King. He did not want to do it anymore. He ran away to find his fellow clown member and also his sister.

When he realised that his sister has been raped, he was furious and came to Shin Chi-soo’s house. Shin Chi-soo insulted his sister as dog and asked his people to beat him. He went back to the palace and his has changed his mind. He asked Lee Kyu to teach him how to rule the country. With the help of the courtesan lady, Ha Sun sent his sister far away to avoid Lee Kyu held her as a hostage.

The King Lee Hun was not in good condition. He was addicted to drug. He always has hallucination that his younger brother was looking for him. Lee Kyu was worried about his condition. He asked the Head of Monk to find way to cure him.

Lee Kyu asked Ha Sun why he changed his mind for returning to the palace. He told him that he wanted to teach Shin Chi-soo’s son a lesson for raping his sister.  Lee Kyu asked him to visit the Queen Dowager and make a huge fuss about it. He followed his instruction to do so.  The Queen Dowager was furious and shaken because she was the one who asked the court lady to put poison on the King’s food. Prince Jinpyung warned the Queen Dowager not to act recklessly. Ha Sun told Lee Kyu about the Queen Dowager’s expression.

Shin Chi-soo was told by Court Lady Kim (who served the King) that the King no longer asked for the drug. He told her to take care of him so that he cannot focus on the country affair. He also suspected that someone else who has grudge toward the King tried to poison him. Shin Chi-soo confronted the King and suggested to replace Lord Yoo’s people with new people. He then handed a list of recommended personnel for the position. Ha Sun was angry that Chi Soo was trying to do whatever he wanted in the palace. Based on Lee Kyu’s advice, he requested Ha Sun to follow his suggestion or else he will demand to kill Lord Yoo. Ha Sun just do what has been told by Lee Kyu.

Prince Jinpyung invited the King to go for a hunt. Lee Kyu and Eunuch Jo worried that Ha Sun might not be able to do as the King is expert in archery. Unexpectedly, Ha Sun’s archery skill is superb. Lee Kyu and Eunuch Jo were relieved. However, they worried that someone might take this opportunity to kill the King. During the hunt, Shin Chi-soo asked his son, Shin Yi-Kyeom to accompany the King for the hunt. Ha Sun was furious when he met him. Lee Kyu asked him to calm himself and not to act recklessly. When Ha Sun was about to shoot Shin Yi-Kyeom, Lee Kyu shouted at him loudly. On the other hand, Prince Jinpyung tried to shoot the King but failed.

After returning to the palace, the Queen met the King. The King saved the Queen from being bitten by the dog. The Queen was worried about his condition. The King also taught the Queen how to throw the stone into the bowl and make a wish. Lee Kyu once again wanted to teach Ha Sun a lesson for his reckless act. Ha Sun also scolded him for not protecting him. He showed him the arrow that someone tried to kill him. Lee Kyu asked the royal guard to find out the owner of the arrowhead.

Shin Chi-soo’s niece, who is the concubine of the King, accused Court Lady of the Queen had curse her and gave her poison. They punished the Court Lady to reveal the one that ordered her to do. Queen was nervous and helpless because she knew that her people will not do such thing, but they had found the evidence from her Court Lady’s room. Ha Sun was told to ignore the Internal court issue. It was done by Court Lady Kim who joined force with Shin Chi-soo. He could not sit still. He told the Queen to give him more time to clear her name. the Queen Dowager ordered her servant to poison Queen’s Court Lady so that they can put the blame on the Queen for killing her servant to prevent her from revealing her doing. Based on the physician investigation, the court lady died due to poison and the poison was the same as the previous case. Lee Kyu and Ha Sun suspected that it is the Queen Dowager’s doing.

When the Queen offered to give condolence to her Court Lady’s family, her parent thought that it was Queen Dowager’s servant, she gave her the letter and also a talisman. The Queen handed the evidences to the King. Ha Sun discussed with Lee Kyu. He was happy that these will be a great evidence to remove the Queen Dowager. Ha Sun was angry with him as he wanted to use these evidences to make a deal with Queen Dowager and also cleared the name of the Queen.

Ha Sun thought that he should learn to read and write so that he no need to relay on Lee Kyu. He asked Eunuch Jo to teach him. When Lee Kyu bypass the King chamber, he was curious about Ha Sun. Eunuch Jo told him that Ha Sun wanted to learn to write and read. Lee Kyu did not stop him from learning.

Lee Kyu informed him to prepare to leave the palace as he was going to bring the King back. When he visited the King, the King’s condition was worse. He hurt his ear as he kept hearing his late young brother whispering beside his ear. Lee Kyu was upset about it. When he went back to the palace, he brought Ha Sun away and stabbed him. He wanted to make Ha Sun to be the real King as the King has a scar on his chest too during the uprising.

Ha Sun was being rest at his chamber and Lee Kyu did not want anyone to visit the King at the moment. He used the Queen as an excuse to prevent them from visiting the King. The Queen took care of the King’s health by preparing the medicine by herself. The Queen reminded the King that they are run out of rice and to pray for the King’s late mother. Ha Sun asked Shin Chi-soo about preparing the rice. He refused that the money was spent on constructing the new palace for the King. He suggested the King to raise tax from the people instead. Ha Sun asked the Ministry of Tax’s opinion whether is it wise to raise tax from the people. The Ministry objected as it will raise burden to the people. Ha Sun asked why not the people give the rice as paying tax rather than collecting money. He raised the issue that officers received bribes from the people rather than collecting rice. The Ministry suggested the King to investigate the matter. 

Lee Kyu met Shin Chi-soo and asked him to resign from his position. He also gathered his fellow members and seek forgiveness for not speaking up for their late leader. He wanted to join hand with them to create a better Joseon.

Ha Sun studied every night with Eunuch Jo at the library. When the Queen entered the library with a bowl of medicine, the King was surprised to see her there. One day, the Queen suddenly fell ill. Ha Sun visited the Queen. The physician recommended the King to let the Queen to go for vacation for healing purpose. The physician was actually followed the order by the Queen Dowager, who weaken the immune system of the Queen in order to prevent her from pregnant. Ha Sun hesitated to let the Queen away from the palace. He missed her.

In order to solve the embezzlement issue, Lee Kyu found a genius mathematician. Shin Chi-soo wanted to prevent the mathematician to find out the truth. His son ordered a few killers to kill the mathematician. Luckily, Lee Kyu asked the royal guard to protect him. He also faked his death so that Shin Chi-soo believed that he already died.

During the meeting, Lee Kyu and the mathematician came to the hall of convenient. They pointed out the fraud and embezzlement of the officer who gain profit from the rice. They also revealed that Shin Chi-soo’s son tried to kill him. In order to teach Shin Yi-Kyeom a lesson, Lee Kyu suggested Ha Sun to let Shin Chi-soo to punish his son in public. Shin Chi-soo felt humiliated.

The Queen confessed her feeling to the King when he was asleep. She kissed him and he awaken. They were in surprised. Ha Sun experienced hiccup. When the Queen was away, his hiccup gone. Ha Sun wondered everyone thought that he was Lee Hun and not himself.

Lee Kyu was being attacked by the beggar. He did not want to let the King know about his condition. Ha Sun was curious why Lee Kyu on leave for so many days. He also asked Eunuch Jo about his sister. He told her that he was unable to give the letter to his sister as the courtesan house was the place were Lee Kyu stay. Ha Sun decided to go out of the palace to visit his sister. The royal guard noticed him outside the palace. He accompanied him. While they were walking on the bridge, they met the Queen who was on her way to see the festival celebration.

They watched a performance performed by the clown. Ha Sun took her away when the performance was about the Queen who jealous on the King’s concubines.  He did not want the Queen to feel humiliated. Dal Rae found a wooden house where the King lived. She thought he was her brother. She released him and followed him to the town. The monk found out that the door was open. He and Dal Rae’s uncle went to the town to look for them. Lee Hun returned to the palace and called Lee Kyu to meet him.

Lee Hun was angry because Lee Kyu tied him like a criminal at the temple. He also overturned everything Lee Kyu and Ha Seon did in the court. He scolded Lee Kyu for making the decision without his consent. The royal guard thought that the King was in danger. When he entered the King chamber, he was surprised to see 2 identical King. When the King threatened to kill the royal guard for failing his duty to recognise the King, Ha Seon stopped him. The King asked Lee Kyu to kill Ha Seon to prove his loyalty to him. Lee Kyu was hesitated. He just injured his arm instead of killing him. Lee Hun asked royal guard to drag Ha Seon to the jungle to let the animal eat him to death.

He also personally visited Shin Chi-soo to request him back to work at the palace. He also jealous when his Queen changed a lot while he was away. After a couple of days, Lee Hun asked the royal guard to check whether Ha Seon was still alive. Fortunately, he was. The royal guard did not kill him. He advised him to run far away from the palace. Ha Seon did not want to, because he has unfinished business in the palace. When Lee Hun was going to spend the night with the Queen, he had sudden headache. Lee Kyu and the royal guard brought him to outskirt to treat his illness.

Lee Kyu thought that Ha Seon was dead. He was happy when the royal guard told him that he was alive. He gave Ha Seon a choice to make whether he wanted to stay at the palace or go far away from there. Ha Seon told him his desire to stay at the palace. He wanted to be the real king for the nation. Lee Kyu promised him that he will take care of everything and also will protect him no matter what.

Since the King has overturned every decision made by Lee Kyu and Ha Seon, they looked for alternative method to resolve the issue. Shin Chi-soo recommended his man to be promoted. Ha Seon turned down all the promotion and also removed his position as well. One of the officers recognised Ha Seon at the courtesan house. He told Shin Chi-soo about the Ha Seon. Shin Chi-soo started to investigate the truth. He asked his man to put up the poster regarding imposter of the King. Dal Rae and her uncle by passed the market and saw the poster. She was really curious about the matter. They met Woon Shim. Coincidently, the monk and also the mathematician also on the way to meet Woon Shim. They explained that they had a misunderstanding. None of them knew that Ha Seon looked identical to the King except Lee Kyu.

Lee Kyu killed Lee Hun with a poison drink. He promised him that he will make that nation that he dreamt of.  He also started to exercise his plan. He asked Ha Seon to allow the anybody to take the state exam without considering social status. He also wanted to implement taxes on the government official who has many lands. They were trying to block the income of Shin Chi-soo in order to avoid him to use his influence for other purpose.

Shin Chi-soo decided to help Prince Jinpyung to go against the King. He also received some useful information about Ha Seon’s sister. Lee Kyu hide Dal Rae and her uncle at the temple. Unfortunately, Shin Chi-soo’s servant found out about it. Shin Chi-soo went to the temple catch Dal Rae, but he failed. Lee Kyu hide them at the mathematician’s house.

The scholar and the officers were against the idea of letting the lowly social status person to take the exam. They also stopped the King from promoting the mathematician to higher position. Ha Seon ignored them completely and insisted that he wanted to be hire those who are really talent without any social status discrimination. This has opened the path for Lee Kyu’s members who wish the world can be more justice to the people. They passed the exam and became the government officer.

Lee Kyu realised that Ha Seon has feeling for the Queen, he asked him to forget about the feeling for the Queen as the Queen was such an upright person who will not accept the fake King. Ha Seon kept his feeling for the Queen and stayed focus on his learning. One day, when the Queen replied his love letter, she found out that King was learning to write Chinese character and his handwriting was very much different from previous. She found something wrong with the King. She decided to meet the King at his chamber.

She found out that the King is someone else. She was angry and upset at the same time as she has been deceived by the fake King. Lee Kyu explained to her about the whole situation and also told her about the death of the real King. She then decided to leave the palace. Lee Kyu and Ha Seon tried to stop her from leaving, because that will cause a huge issue for the Queen. The Queen Dowager instructed the King to give the Queen a poison drink as she broke the law. Ha Seon lied to her that he was the one who allowed it. The Queen insisted to leave the palace and headed to visit her father. Even though Lee Kyu asked Ha Seon to depose the Queen in order to save her life, Ha Seon wanted to look for the Queen and asked her to come back to the palace. With the permission of Lee Kyu, he and royal guard out of the palace to look for the Queen. He also promised Lee Kyu that he will be back before the Ming envoy come to the palace.

Eunuch Jo and Lee Kyu tried to hide the absent of the King. Eunuch Jo made noise in his chamber to let the outsider assumed that the King has gone crazy again in order to chase away anyone who wanted to meet the King. Unfortunately, Queen Dowager and Shin Chi-soo found out about it. Shin Chi-soo met the Ming envoy and brought forward the date of the meeting the King. Lee Kyu tried his best to stop the Ming envoy to meet the King as Ha Seon has not come back to the palace. Queen Dowager on the other hand, tried to steal the power of the King by demanding the seal and plaque of the King since the King and the Queen were away from the palace. Lee Kyu also chased her away from taking the seal and plaque of the King.

Ha Seon and royal guard found the Queen. He let the Queen to spend the night with her father. When he wanted to meet her in the next morning, the Queen disappeared. She went to the cliff of the mountain and tried to commit suicide. He persuaded the Queen to live for him. Suddenly, someone shot an arrow to their direction. Ha Seon saved the Queen but he was shot with the arrow. He collapsed in front of the Queen.

The royal guard chased the assassins, but they were able to catch them. Lee Kyu realised that Shin Chi-Soo joined hand with the Ming envoy. He managed to persuade the Ming envoy to come on the scheduled date. He also received a message from the royal guard that Ha Seon has been attacked. He worried that he might not be able to come back to the palace on time.

The next day morning assembly, Ha Seon managed to come back on time and also presented the tiger skin for the Ming envoy to settle the issue. The Ming envoy also demanded the King to let Shin Chi-Soo back to service in the palace for his great contribution. Ha Seon has no choice but to follow the order. The Ming envoy requested Shin Chi-Soo to give the Emperor 10,000 soldier as a return to help him back to work in palace.  When Shin Chi-Soo brought up the issue, Ha Seon denied his request to send the soldier to Ming envoy. In fact, he was asking him to offer himself and the scholar to the Ming envoy. Shin Chi-Soo was surprised with the King’s decision. Lee Kyu on the other hand, wanted to clear Lord Yoo’s name and Ha Seon approved it.

The mathematician found out that Dal Rae’s uncle hide the poster about the King. He told Dal Rae and her uncle about the King who will be coming to the market. Dal Rae was so excited to see him although she was told to not to go out.

Shin Yi-Kyeom saw the King and Lee Kyu went to do survey from the people. Coincidently, Dal Rae and her uncle also went out to see the King’s face. They saw Shin Yi-Kyeom. Dal Rae hide herself from him whereas her uncle attacked Shin Yi-Kyeom. Her uncle was sent to guard and Dal Rae was being caught by Shin Chi-Soo. Shin Chi-Soo found the knife of the King. When the King came back to the palace, the guard informed the King about the attack of Shin Yi-Kyeom. Ha Seon was worried about both of them.

Shin Chi-Soo brought the knife to meet the King. Ha Seon identity has been exposed by him. Shin Chi-Soo requested to King to hold the justification by himself if he wanted to save his sister. During the interrogation, Ha Seon asked the guard to catch the criminal Shin Chi-Soo. Court Lady Kim (has been rescued by Royal guard) confessed every dirty thing that Shin Chi-Soo told her to do. When Shin Chi-Soo revealed Ha Seon was the fake King, no body trusted him. He asked Dal Rae to confirm the identity of the King. Dal Rae knew that he was her brother, but she lied that her brother already passed away long time ago in order to protect Ha Seon. Ha Seon then conducted torturous punishment on him so that he confessed all his wrong doing. Unfortunately, he was so stubborn that he did not admit his wrongdoings. The Minister of punishment suggested the King to beheaded him and the King approved it. Lee Kyu scolded Ha Seon for being too quick to reveal his identity to Shin Chi-Soo. He also suspected that the Queen Dowager was the one behind for attacking the King and Queen.

Regarding the case for Dal Rae’s uncle, he told the King about Shin Yi-Kyeom who raped his niece. Although there is no law that protect the lowly status people, the King wanted to alter and make a new law to punish those wrongdoers. Shin Yi-Kyeom did not know about his mistake and kept denying that since there is no law to saying that his action was wrong. Ha Seon was angry with him even though Lee Kyu tried to stop him from punishing Shin Yi-Kyeom heavily. Before Shin Chi-Soo went to the jail, his niece came to see him. He told her niece to get the document under his plant before too late. He also told her that the document could save her life. The document was about the secret letter of the King sent to another country to stop them from attacking Joseon.

Ha Seon touched the Queen’s heart and she willing to protect him no matter what. They finally exchange name with one another. The Queen found out that the flower tea served to her was meant for infertility. She was so upset about it and she wanted to hide from the King. The King asked the Queen’s servant about the Queen’s condition. He was angry and interrogated the Royal Physician who was behind it. the Royal Physician confessed that he received order from the Queen Dowager. Ha Seon then met her and shouted at her. Lee Kyu tried to stop him but Ha Seon anger has split the word for deposing her as the Queen Dowager. Lee Kyu told him that it was not the right action to be taken. It is too dangerous for the King. Court Lady Kim told Queen Dowager about the secret of the King. Therefore, she knew that Ha Seon was a fake King.

Ha Seon sent his sister and uncle off the palace. He could not be able to leave the palace as he has many responsibilities to carry out as a King. He just cannot leave like he wished even though his sister tried to persuade him to leave the palace with her.

Lee Kyu went to meet Lord Yoo as the King already agreed to clear his name. By the time he reached there, Lord Yoo has been killed. He informed the Ha Seon and the Queen regarding the death of her father. Lee Kyu suspected that Queen Dowager was behind this. They planned to dethrone the her by letting her confess about trying to kill the King. Ha Seon also asked the royal guard to search Prince Jinpyung’s house in order to find evident about the arrowhead. Before the royal guard carried out his duty, Lee Kyu told him that if he could not find any evident, just fabricated it. Prince Jinpyung realised that the King set a trap for him. He left the palace at once.

The Queen once advised the Queen Dowager to resign by herself and go to the temple to pray for the rest of her life which would be much better than she being dethroned. However, the Queen Dowager did not bother about her. The scholar and some of the officers against the decision of the King. Ha Seon did not care about it.

Shin Chi-Soo requested to meet the King. He told the King about Lee Kyu’s intention to treat him like a puppet. He also mentioned that Lee Kyu killed the real King. Ha Seon was shocked to know about the news. However, he still trusted Lee Kyu. He did not sway away with Shin Chi-Soo’s words for trying to make their relationship bad.

Lee Kyu wanted to resign but Ha Seon did not approve it. He needed him and trusted him to managed the politic. Ha Seon found out about Lee Kyu killed the real King and the prince and also fabricated the evidence. He did not afraid of him that one day Lee Kyu might kill him as well. In fact, he believed and understood why he did so. Lee Kyu was touched. He was now fully believed Ha Seon as he was different from previous King who were obsessed with power and wealth.

Lee Kyu decided to tender his resignation letter and worked at the border with his lover. He also instructed royal guard to focus on looking for Prince Jinpyung. He thought that everything has settled down. Unfortunately, the spy came to meet him and told him that he has been attacked and the secret letter was been taken by Left State Counsellor. He met Shin Chi-Soo to ask him regarding the secret letter of the King. Prince Jinpyung released Shin Chi-Soo and captured Lee Kyu.

The Queen also decided to help Ha Seon to read and recognised the Chinese character. While they were reading, Eunuch Jo crushed into the library and informed them the rebellion. It was the attack from Prince Jinpyung. The King requested help from other province to provide assistance to protect the palace. At the same time, he also ordered the gate to close to avoid the rebel to enter the palace.

The royal guard gave Ha Seon the letter from Lee Kyu, who told him that secret letter was lost and asked him to pretend to ignore about the secret letter if anyone raise the issue. He will look for the secret letter. Shin concubine came to meet the King and told him that she had the letter. Ha Seon was so happy about it and asked her to give him the letter.

Ha Seon thought that he already had the letter. He made a deal with Shin Chi-Soo and Prince Jinpyung to come to the morning assembly with Lee Kyu. He never thought that Shin concubine has been killed and the letter was gone. Ha Seon became very nervous and did not know what to do before the assembly. Lee Kyu requested to meet the King in the present of Shin Chi-Soo and Prince Jinpyung. He signalled Ha Seon to pretend he did not know anything about the letter and let him took the blame. Ha Seon did not want to do as he wished. He wanted to protect him.

Lee Kyu confessed in the assembly that he used the King’s seal without the permission of the King. He also attempted to kill Prince Jinpyung. Ha Seon tried to stop him but it was too late. Lee Kyu has been killed by the guard. Prince Jinpyung was badly injured. Ha Seon made a deal with the Queen Dowager to let the Prince Jinpyung to get treatment outside in exchange with provide Lee Kyu a proper funeral. She agreed with his terms. Prince Jinpyung dead due to lost of blood.

Shin Chi-Soo met the Queen Dowager in order to get her permission to begin the rebellion. She approved it. When he barged into the palace, he never knew that it was Ha Seon trick. Ha Seon killed him personally. He also tricked the Queen Dowager to come to the palace in order to officially dethroned her and also make her drink poison.

Ha Seon was afraid of doing that, but he has to so the peace of the nation. He looked for suitable royal family to replace his position. He also intended to leave the palace and spent his remaining lifetime with the Queen. He dethroned and sent the Queen far away first before he settled everything in the palace and left.  He did not want to own the King position as he knew that it was not belongs to his and he should returned it to the right owner. While he was on his way to meet the Queen, a royal guard followed him. The royal guard protected him from being attacked by the Queen Dowager’s people who wanted to take revenge for the Queen Dowager. The royal guard sacrificed himself to protect Ha Seon. Ha Seon also badly injured.

Two guards came to tell the Queen that the King has been attacked but they could not find his body anywhere except for the royal guard. The Queen was upset, but she believed that he was still alive. 2 years later, she lived in a village in rural area. She met his sister and uncle who performed in the village. While she was walking along the way, she found the little girl who cracked the hazelnut to make a wish. She asked her who taught her that. She followed the direction but she was unable to find him. She went to somewhere else and made a wish. Suddenly, Ha Seon appeared to her. He was sorry to letting her to wait for so long. He explained to her that he underwent treatment for a very long time. By the time he awoke, he realised that many days already passed. They finally able to live together as an ordinary person.