Crafty in resolving the king’s inability to forget his dead ex-wife, So-rang successfully convinced him to move on in the latest episodes of The Forbidden Marriage.
However, she becomes a target of Lee Heon’s detractors as they relentlessly plot and executes life-risking situations for her. Moreover, the villains continue to create trouble even mindlessly using innocent people’s lives to stir fear on Crown Princess Ja-yeon’s death anniversary.
The love triangle also develops in these recent chapters. Just as the king recognized his perky palace maid is now beyond special, Shin-won also realized how So-rang is now the person he wants to protect the most, and not the king anymore.
abbyinhallyuland watched The Forbidden Marriage on KOCOWA
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03| 04| 05 & 06 | 07| 08| 09| 10| 11 | Final Episode + Series Review |
The Forbidden Marriage Episodes 5 and 6 Highlights
Previously, Shin-won takes So-rang away when she was about to meet the king. Dolled up by the king’s eunuch and maidservant in the hopes of igniting the evident growing fondness of Lee Heon, he was surprised when his best friend took her away.
“Please continue protecting So-rang. It’s not an order, it is a favor. And don’t have feelings for her. Protect her, but don’t get too close to her.”
Shin-won’s defiance leads to a spontaneous swordfight with Lee Heon putting his might out of the realization that his friend harbors feeling for So-rang. She explains a royal conjugation night was prepared which is why Shin-won acted like that. She adds wanting to protect him.
Later, when Lee Heon reminds her that he owns all palace ladies, So-rang challenged him of finding first where his heart leads him first.
The next day, Eunuch Se-jang and Court Lady Won-nyeo again apologize for what they mindlessly prepared last night. Relaying So-rang was previously put in danger so Shin-won needs to keep his job as her bodyguard when Lee Heon ordered a change for it, the late crown princess’ memorial day forcedly convinced the king.
Drawing a line to her relationship with Shin-won, So-rang tells him that they can only be friends and that line can never be crossed.
Lee Heon also summons Shin-won to ask a favor of continuing to protect So-rang. But he firmly notes that he should not get too close to her.
At night, Lee Heon dreams of the crown princess and fails to get the answer of who could have murdered him. Thus, when he wakes up with So-rang by his side, he pleads if she can be possessed to continue the conversation.
So-rang continues her scripted pep talk to aid Lee Heon in forgetting the princess. Adorably, she also leads him to forget the princess’ devotion as it happened in the past and does not matter anymore. She pleads him to forget her earnestly.
“How can I know a person’s heart? A person’s heart changes 12 times a day.”
Leaving the king’s chamber with a worried face, the result of So-rang’s it-was-a-love-less-marriage-forget-me-please “princess possessed” statement led to Lee Heon’s absentmindedness. A lovesickness that is ironically caused by his already dead wife concocted hilariously by So-rang.
While walking, Lee Heon calls So-rang to speak in private. Affirming the words of his dead ex-wife that she was not in love with him, So-rang continues with her lie. She backed it up with questions about the princess’ display of devotion when she was alive that coincidentally does not ring in Lee Heon’s memories.
Still unbelieving of the princess’ confession through So-rang, Lee Heon moves to meet his former father-in-law for another affirmation. But what he got is an assurance that the late princess was indeed “faithful” to him as a subject, and “probably” was in love with him.
Needing more proof, So-rang resorts to bringing Lee Heon to meet the court ladies who served the princess before. Both of them attest to the king’s protectiveness and adoration, but it was not the same with the crown princess. He and Shin-won also end up advertently listening to gossip about them being rumored to have had an affair.
It turns out So-rang conspired with the court ladies and she pleads Shin-won not to tell the king so he can finally let go of the deceased princess. His condition to agree is for her to promise not to nurture any feelings with Lee Heon.
“Avoiding misfortune isn’t always the answer. You have to endure and fight back to become greater.”
News of the wraith of the crown princess appearing in various places spread in the capital. Shin-won, who visits Ajussi Ax was reminded to prepare to fight as more enemies will emerge to harm So-rang. He also learns of the sightings of the dead princess which he reported to Lee Heon.
Shin-won and So-rang investigate the ongoing viral news about the dead princess. They start by visiting the seamster who does royal gowns. From him, they learn that Princess Ja-yeon’s gown is in his father’s possession.
Visiting Lord Ahn, the princess’ father, they check if they can see her belongings and confirms Ja-yeon’s royal gown is in her father’s safekeeping. At the villains’ camp, Minister Jo hints at an evil ploy he already set in motion.
While walking at night, Lee Heon sees the same mirage of the crown princess which the head eunuch and chief maidservant also witness. Tending to the grieving king, So-rang reports the woman he saw is not Princess Ja-yeon and presents evidence to him.
Bringing the seamster who made Princess Ja-yeon’s royal wedding robe, So-rang and Shin-won revealed the robe in Lord Ahn’s possession is genuine. Meanwhile, the woman who keeps showing up to people in the capital wears a real robe.
“What if making him forget Her Highness is something that I cannot do?
Still working on the cryptic case of Princess Ja-yeon’s ghost sighting, So-rang pushes Shin-won into the pond and finds a life-size mirror that provides another clue for them. Deducing the woman posing as the princess is still in the palace, So-rang gave the assignment to make use of the power of head eunuch and chief maidservant.
Unknown to them, the search for a suspicious palace maid leads to the discovery of So-rang’s pretension as a palace maid. Even with Head Eunuch and Chief Court Lady vouching for her job as the king’s special maid, the royal police refuse to release So-rang as her identity can’t be verified.
Detained for further identity investigation, So-rang gets the idea to check on the faces of the soldiers who entered the palace without validation. Lee Heon insists on checking the soldiers one by one and finds a female soldier that looks exactly like Princess Ja-yeon.
At the same time, So-rang was brought into a secret basement and was tortured by the Royal Guard captain who was bribed by Minister Jo. Refusing to reveal her real name, Lee Heon and Shin-won came in time, and the former ordered the captain to be punished for taking his special palace maid.
So-rang wakes up to the sight of worried-looking Lee Heon who promised that he won’t be making her summon the crown princess’ spirit anymore. Hearing that, she expressed her job is done. But Lee Heon tells her that he needs her to stay by his side as So-rang. Pulling her into his embrace, their sweet moment gets interrupted when the head eunuch and chief court lady announce trouble in the palace.
“I think I need to go to His Majesty.”
Unfortunately, the woman who posed as a ghost princess was hanged in front of the room where So-rang stays. Before So-rang sees it, Shin-won drags her to another place. He reveals how after the crown princess’ death, the woman close to the king always dies each year after that. That’s why So-rang heard the king and even Shin-won mumbling words of relief that she is alive.
Wanting to take So-rang out Shin-won promised that he will stay by her side. But she responds that she needs to be by Lee Heon’s side as she feels he is having a hard time. Despite reading through Shin-won’s devotion to her, So-rang decides to stay by Lee Heon’s side.
Both Lee Heon and Shin-won assess the movement of the people behind the hanged woman at the place where So-rang stays to be a taunt that she will be in danger. Minister Jo also silenced the captain of the royal guard by staging he committed suicide.
The next day, Shin-won meets Minister Jo but it did not help him at all as he gets to his head by hinting he knows the person dearest to him whom he wants to protect. When Lee Heon arrived, Minister Jo proceeds with his annoying remarks.
Ordering Shin-won to investigate diligently, the captain gathered evidence from a gisaeng house at Wonju.
“I was told to keep quiet if someone has a secret they don’t want to talk about.”
While organizing the evidence, So-rang enters the room and was checked with care by Shin-won. Lee Heon also appears and the stone found at a warehouse matches one of the earrings worn by the poser.
A flashback reveals that the gisaeng that was stolen was presented to Minister Jo. In a freak coincidence, she looks like Crown Princess Ja-yeon, thus she was used to the ploy of the villain to instill fear in the capital. Without any use for her when the ploy was unearthed, she was mercilessly killed and hanged.
Minister Jo tips Lady Seo on the possibility that the favored palace maid of the king escalates to an even higher position. Stepping up their game, Minister Jo fulfilled his words to Shin-won about not being able to protect the person he cares for a lot.
After bringing So-rang home, Do-seok reports Hae-young was kidnapped. It turns out that it is a diversion to abduct So-rang as well. Alarming Lee Heon, his troop arrived on time when Shin-won and Do-seok were cornered. However, So-rang was taken by the masked men away from them.
The Forbidden Marriage Episodes 5 and 6 Musings
To run for a dozen episodes, The Forbidden Marriage might be slightly overwhelming with how the surge of events is maneuvering. But it’s great that the narrative is now moving to resolve the mystery surrounding the death of the crown princess and the subsequent lives that were lost thereafter.
Yang Dong Geun is doing a great job as the resident exasperating antagonist to the king who is yet to find his foothold and courage to wield his real power. We definitely see it emerging thanks to So-rang who is propelling his confidence that has been badly wounded because of Ja-yeon’s death.
Conflicts will continue to shape up once So-rang’s real identity will be revealed. Her evil stepmother, Lady Seo would definitely do everything in her power to harm her. Shin-won’s rationalization will also be affected considering she was first betrothed to him, and he has strong feelings for her.
Down to the remaining three weeks, we can expect a fast-moving plot. For a historical series, it was a great choice they did not go for a big cast. The story is easy to track and always inserts delightful notes to neutralize the negativity impelled by the villains in the narrative.
Openly displaying how he favors So-rang, can Lee Heon find his true power to fight Minister Jo and protect her?
Can love expert So-rang help King Lee Heon find a new queen that will be spared from death in The Forbidden Marriage? Watch the series on KOCOWA!
Photos: MBC Drama
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