The Hidden World
Episode 7 of The Forbidden Marriage begins with Shin-won and the King teaming up to rescue So-rang. They rescue the kidnapped girls but So-rang is missing. One of the girls tells the men that So-rang kept shouting at the slavers while Hae-young was crying before they were taken away. Chun-seok finds a stone and in true Hansel-and-Gretel-manner realises that Hae-young left colourful stones that he had gifted her to the place she was taken. Turns out the women are being sold as wives to men in the city and Hae-young is taken to the house of the mysterious Um Gye-woon. While searching, Painter Jeong and Chun-seok come across Gye-woon. He allows them to search his house where Jeong finds another stone. They find Hae-young hidden among a sack of grains but Gye-woon threatens them. Just as he is about to kill the three, the King and Shin-won save them. So-rang is taken to Jo and Lady Seo. She wants to kill So-rang immediately but Minister Jo stops her as he wants her death to be so tragic that the King will abdicate his throne. When she insists, Jo sends for the queen-killer Na Sang-ju. Lady Seo also reveals that she is the one who ordered the women’s kidnapping and this time she wants Jo to kidnap women from the bride selection so that her daughter will have a better chance of becoming the King’s bride. The King investigates Gye-woon and finds it suspicious that Jo’s men have not been stopping the kidnappings. They find the secret headquarters of Minister Jo and Lady Seo and Sang-ju comes to warn the two. Before they leave, Seo orders him to take and kill So-rang. But Sang-ju and his men are stopped by some bandits at Mount Shinheung who fight them. In the confusion, a man kidnaps So-rang who pretends to be unconscious. On hearing the news, the King and Shin-won race to the mountain. The next morning, at the palace, Minister Jo clashes with Eunuch Se-jang and Court Lady Won who tells him that the King is sick and in bed. But Jo suspects that the King is also searching for So-rang. Court Lady Won dresses Eunuch Se-jang as the King and hides him in bed to fool Minister Jo. The physician is confused but Jo confirms his suspicions that the King isn’t in the palace. So-rang wakes up among the bandits and meets their leader. He introduces himself as the village chief Ban Ran-tan and that they are in Gongnyang village. He explains that his people have been rescuing the kidnapped women who choose to stay with them since their secret village allows marriages. However, he does not allow So-rang to leave till he can trust that she won’t tell the palace about the village. She tries to convince the village that she is trustworthy by predicting the marital compatibility of the couples present. The villagers laugh at her antics as she blends in easily. The King’s men find the village and they think So-rang is being threatened by the villagers. Shin-won tries to stop the King but he storms in alone. Shin-won begrudgingly follows. So-rang tries to tell them to leave but they don’t get the hint. The King and Shin-won are outnumbered and tied up. At Jo’s office, he plans with Minister Kwon to take advantage of the King’s vacancy and immediately bring a royal relative they can control and put him on the throne. Jo plans to kill the King while he is searching for So-rang and blame the bandits. Meanwhile, the village chief Ran-tan is furious with So-rang who acts possessed to get out of the situation. She pretends to be Ran-tan’s dead sister Ran-hee and gets him to trust her, the King and Shin-won. Ran-tan tells the King about the purpose of the village who observes a happy So-rang playing with kids, the escaped wives of Gye-woon and a marriage. The bandits want So-rang to read their marriage compatibility and she claims that the King is the Head Eunuch and will set them on blind dates with the court ladies who would otherwise be single after they leave the palace. While they are bantering, backup royal soldiers surround the village. Before a fight can erupt in the village, the King announces his presence and stops the guards. However, Sang-ju appears with his assassins and attacks. At the palace, Minister Kwon spreads the rumour that the King has disappeared. Minister Jo tells the other ministers that they should fill the vacant throne. But before he can go any further, the King appears. He taunts Jo and asks if he wants him dead. In a flashback, we see that the bandits and the King’s soldiers easily vanquished Jo’s assassins. But Sang-ju escapes. Ran-tan apologizes for his rudeness and asks that only he be arrested as the rest of the villagers are innocent. The King declares that he will withdraw the marriage ban in a year and that the village will not be charged. So-rang thanks Ran-tan for everything and they leave. At court, the King discovers that tons of petitions regarding the kidnappings never made it to him and were rejected by Jo’s department – Police Bureau. He decides to use this to take away the case and gives it to Shin-won’s department, the Department of Justice. Shin-won ransacks Jo’s office and dismisses his officers. The King goes through the documents taken from Jo but his mind is on the villagers, the blind date and the marriage ban. Minister Sul-rok asks him why he ran out with rage on hearing of So-rang’s abduction and asks if the King likes her. The King is flustered and brushes it aside. Court Lady Won also tells So-rang how the King was ill but he immediately ran to her rescue. So-rang is then stopped by Shin-won who asks her if she was faking it when she was possessed by Ran-tan’s sister. We see that before the chief gave So-rang a tour, she saw his diary where he was writing about his sister which is how she knew about Ran-hee. And later on, Shin-won also saw the same diary after they vanquished Sang-ju’s men. So-rang claims that she only pretended that one time but when Shin-won asks her to come clean, she leaves. In the King’s quarters, he asks Minister Sul-rok what it means to like someone. As Sul-rok describes love, the King keeps thinking about So-rang. But he tries to deflect by claiming that she is on his mind because she is clumsy and all over the place. The Grand Queen Mother calls for the King but when he doesn’t come, she meets So-rang and asks if she was the reason why the King disappeared. So-rang then goes to him while he is taking a bath and he is shocked to see her. She thanks him for rescuing her. He instead thanks her for showing him the world outside his palace. They suddenly feel awkward but the King doesn’t want her to leave. He remembers Sul-rok’s words about how everything So-rang does makes his heart race and he realises it’s true. She goes to remove a rose petal stuck to his face and he pulls her into the water. She tries to joke that she can see through his wet clothes but he kisses her.
The Episode Review
Episode 7 of The Forbidden Marriage goes back to the lighthearted comedy as even in the midst of being kidnapped, So-rang is her brash self as she tries to negotiate with her kidnappers. So-rang thinks her best bet is to pretend and stay unconscious but that only allows her to be kidnapped multiple times – not a good strategy for someone so smart! But when it counts, she is a good scammer as she deduces that Ran-tan is rescuing kidnapped women because he could not save his kidnapped sister from a diary entry and uses it to free the King and Shin-won and leave the village. However, the level of danger seems to have increased as Minister Jo and Lady Seo go from slight inconveniences to serious threats. But their motives seem to clash which makes it a very precarious pairing. Seo wants her daughter to marry King Heon so she becomes queen. But Jo was never interested in lifting the ban and wants a new King so how would Seo benefit if her future son-in-law is deposed or if the ban is never lifted?
