Prince Lee Hwan’s worth is put to an evaluation by his father, the King in week 6 of Our Blooming Youth.
Successfully rising to the challenge, he even converts a scholar unlikely to take his side. A memory from Jae-yi’s past resurfaces and it looks to be disappointing.
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Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 | 04| 05 & 06| 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 | 11 & 12 | 13 & 14 | 15 & 16 | 17 & 18 | 19 | Finale + Series Review |
Our Blooming Youth Episodes 11 and 12 Highlights
Last week in Our Blooming Youth, Lee Hwan and Jae-yi realize that the cases they are working on trace to the events of Byeokcheon when a band of thieves led by a man from Song family was captured and punished by Lord Cho.
The gossip trail of Lee Hwan’s furtive enemies is also getting exposed as the Queen seems to be in a cryptic position as to where her loyalty truly belongs.
News of Lee Hwan’s questioning of the palace people that hailed from Byeokcheon circulated reaching Lord Cho Won-bo’s camp. He and Won-oh both receive intriguing notes pointing to the sins they committed at Byeokcheon event.
“I hope the one who sent me the cursed letter, poisoned me with an arrow and the one who killed your family isn’t from Byeokcheon.”
Attending keenly to Lee Hwan who suddenly decides for a night walk, he tells Jae-yi that it bothers him how the investigation record of Byeokcheon thieves missed the most important point. The details about Song the blacksmith who led the rebellion.
Lee Hwan voices out his fear that the man behind the cursed letter and poisoned arrow he received and her family’s murderer, hopefully, is not from Byeokcheon. Jae-yi reminds her that those people are not “his people”. But Lee Hwan is haunted by the words of the cursed letter that he will end up wandering alone as people will turn their backs on him.
Understanding his worries, Jae-yi told him that it was possible that some of the thieves were not subdued given the cases that arose recently. Thus, the report made by Lord Cho is questionable. She reassures the prince that Myung-jin is currently probing the peony flower that could bring light to the anomaly of Byeokcheon’s case.
“Anyone can have compassion, but not the courage to act on it.”
On cue, Myung-jin tries to look for his master but the male tavern owner, Man-deok, does not have any news about Monk Mu-jin.
Visited by Lee Hwan and Jae-yi, Garam explains her master’s absent-mindedness is the result of being dumped brutally by the woman he was arranged to marry.
Unable to speak about the case they are working on, his sanity comes back upon hearing the news that Monk Mu-jin is at the tavern.
They head to meet the monk who affirms the peony flower came from Southeast Asia. But he explains nothing special about it.
Their meeting gets interrupted when a young boy stole food from the tavern. He ends up bumping into the Minister of Justice Cho’s palanquin which also broke pricey porcelain.
Determined to punish the young boy after giving him a beating, the crowd witnesses the disappointing scene. Arrogantly quoting Confucius, he asserts giving the young boy a lesson would be an example to others.
Ga-ram and Myung-jin try to protect the boy to no avail. Deeming he is already too much; Lee Hwan reveals himself and makes a convincing pitch quoting Mencius’ lesson about compassion.
He traps him to do a kind act by promising discreetly that he’ll feign ignorance about his possession of prohibited porcelain.
Lee Hwan gains applause from the crowd. Amidst the praises, Mandeok and Monk Mu-jin express intense and intriguing looks.
“When I look at you, I don’t know what I’m protecting.”
To hide his atrocity, Lord Cho meets the King to propose that people from Byeokcheon should not work at government offices. It results in existing palace workers from Byeokcheon vacating their jobs. They think it relates to the crown prince’s recent questioning, but it was ordered by the King.
Lee Hwan decides to meet his father to voice out his concern about removing the rights of Byeokcheon people to take the civil service exam. They also learn that the province has barely successful passers in both civil and military exams in recent years.
Just then, Lord Cho arrives and intends to eavesdrop on the conversation. But Jae-yi fearlessly alarms Lee Hwan that Lord Cho just arrives. Before the evil lord does something to Jae-yi, the crown prince interrupts and advises him to come at another time.
Conveying the King’s constant siding with Lord Cho, the King furiously asks his son if he thinks he is lacking.
Breaking down, Lee Hwan responds with how he has done everything that was asked of him.
But he confesses to feeling like a scarecrow, not being able to measure up to what his position really means. Pouring out his emotions, he admits he feels ashamed to be a crown prince.
His father’s response the next day is him being grounded until the King lifts it. He is not allowed to leave the East Palace and can only have one eunuch by his side.
Sharing his worries with Jae-yi, Lee Hwan thinks that his father is going to depose him after banning him from his basic duties as a crown prince.
Weeping at the thought of his father’s decision, Jae-yi watches Lee Hwan cry painfully, not being able to do anything.
“I will protect you and you will protect me.”
News of Lee Hwan’s confinement went viral. But after pouring out his emotions to Jae-yi, he moves by delivering a note to Tae-gang to find one of the ministers at the scene when Lord Cho subjugated the Byeokcheon thieves.
Meanwhile, the Queen pleads with her husband to end the crown prince’s isolation. Later, when Lord Cho learns about it, he furiously reminds her that she is not Lee Hwan’s mother and she only has to worry about Grand Prince Myung-an.
In one of her errands, Jae-yi bumps into Lord Cho who demands the letter she brought to be given to him. Fortunately, Sun-oh arrives to save her as he reminds Lord Cho of his boundaries.
Jae-yi loops in Lee Hwan about Lord Cho’s knowledge of her real identity and they vow to protect each other no matter what.
Tae-gang’s investigation reveals that Minister Park resigned from his job after Byeokcheon’s suppression since he earned a fortune from his uncle.
Sun-oh and Jae-yi work together on a task by Lee Hwan. They accidentally meet with Myung-jin and Ga-ram who are posing as scholars and spreading the gossip that Lee Hwan will be participating in the Annual Archery game.
After days of being confined in his chambers with Jae-yi by his side, Lee Hwan finally frees himself by involving a leader from Sungkyunkwan Academy, who is also Lord Cho’s nephew, Sungkyunkwan Scholar Cho (Cha Seo Won).
Using the demand for limited books, they request for the crown prince who memorized his books to help so they can transcribe copies.
The king agrees to it and Lee Hwan finally goes outside his room and meets his entourage, Tae-gang and Sun-oh as soon as he steps out of his chamber.
“You don’t have to explain that your fiancé bought you ribbons at the marketplace.”
Personally facilitating the transcription of the books, Lee Hwan gets curious when Sun-oh asked Jae-yi if her sister liked the ribbon.
She tries to explain why she received a ribbon from Sun-oh and he tells her that she does not need to explain as well, although he looks jealous.
Inwardly, Lee Hwan stares at her face and thinks about how he would buy her hundreds of ribbons if she told him she likes them.
Showcasing his impeccable memory skills, Lee Hwan took the lead in writing the damaged writings in the books as the scholars transcribe the books.
Later, he also establishes a connection with Scholar Cho who honestly lives uprightly. Fortunately for him, since he is technically high in the hierarchy of the Cho family, Lord Cho and their other relatives bow down to him.
Knowing how to repay his closest people’s efforts, Lee Hwan goes to town with Jae-yi to treat Myung-jin and Ga-ram to food. While walking at the marketplace, Lee Hwan buys a bracelet and borrows Jae-yi’s arm to check the color but keeps it to himself.
In separate reveries, Lee Hwan stares at the bracelet as Jae-yi stares at the bracelet gifted by Yeong. She tries to regain her memories, and she succeeds in recalling the messenger to be Tae-gang.
Rushing to where the crown prince is, Jae-yi confronted him right away by pointing his own sword at him. Easily subduing Jae-yi Tae-gang asks if he can kill Jae-yi.
Our Blooming Youth Episodes 11 and 12 Musings
To run for 20 episodes, the 6th week of Our Blooming Youth is heading to connect the events entwining the destinies of Lee Hwan and Jae-yi.
A few chip cards are also waiting to be used by the enemies like Jae-yi and Ga-ram’s situation as fugitives and Jae-yi’s real identity which Lee Hwan has been shielding.
Moving forward to heightened plot developments, the mystery about Tae-gang will unravel soon. Smart in withholding the essential and thrilling details of the story, the series knows how to pique interest to keep the viewers hooked into its reasonably interlaced plot.
Subconsciously, Lee Hwan and Jae-yi are connecting to a deeper bond owing to their shared triumphs and pains. At the rate of the narrative’s unraveling, we can deduce that the mysteries boil down to the truth about Byeokcheon’s case.
Whether it will pave the way to disarm the almost invincible Lord Cho, it plays a pivotal role once the series goes down the stretch. We are looking at the possibility that the survivors of Byeokcheon thieves are behind the cases Lee Hwan and Jae-yi are entangled with. The tavern couple and Monk Mu-jin seem to know something about it as well.
With his two closest people, the crown prince marches on a mission next week. Is Tae-gang really not on Lee Hwan’s side? What do Monk Mu-jin and the tavern couple hide?
Witness how Lee Hwan and Jae-yi uncover the secrets and fight against their enemies in Our Blooming Youth every Monday and Tuesday on tvN.
Photos: tvN Drama
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Natthy
March 20, 2023 at 1:53 amThanks love your coments