Summary
The invisible Crown Prince finally gathers her courage to confront her biggest fear: the Palace, Lord Sangheon, and Ji-Woon.
This recap of the Netflix K-Drama series The King’s Affection season 1, episode 7 contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
Episode 7 is one of my favorites so far. It’s the time when Lee Hwi finally steps up to her battle and we see more varieties in both emotions and sides of Lee Hwi. The invisible Crown Prince finally gathers her courage to confront her fear: the Palace and Lord Sangheon. Lee Hwi stands up for Ji-Woon during the morning assembly after years. She brings the truth behind Ji-Woon’s false accusation about putting on a high payment for herbs. It turns out, some of the Royal’s people is involved with the accusation. Custodians of Literary Licentiate Choi’s storage.
Lee Hwi receives support from the person who raises the question, it is none other than So-Eun’s father, after Lee Hwi personally reveals the truth about Samgaebang in private. Also to clear Ji-Woon’s name. She wishes to promote a nation that doesn’t support injustice. But, Lee Hwi doesn’t stop there. She also courageously blames His Majesty and the officials of the court for not checking Ji-Woon’s background before appointing him as her royal tutor. Ever since then, they’re trying to revoke him as her Royal Tutor. Well, at the very least, he receives his wish to not be entangled with the Palace anymore. Then, we go back to the times where her maternal grandfather warns her about following the path he chooses for her to be the King of Joseon. Filled with angst, Lee Hwi confronts him back by saying that she wishes to walk the path he chooses for her. “Aren’t you curious about how far I’ll follow your lead?” she says with a burning ambition. Even Lee Hyun is surprised that Lee Hwi finally steps up her game to solve a problem. Well, that’s just how it is. Loves give courage to people.
The King’s Affection season 1, episode 7 recap
Ji-Woon is staring blankly at the empty assembly hall where he expresses gratitude towards Hyun and Lee Hwi. She gives him the direction to find his precious friends. He rushes himself to the given direction and finds his father is walking down the road with his Ji-Geum and Yeong-Ji. The two assistants quickly run to Ji-Woon’s side. Ji-Woon warns his father to never hurt them but before he finishes his sentence, Seok-Jo interrupts him by stating he will not push him anymore. But he warns him to never become a psychiatrist again for him and his mother’s sake. “Just so you know that it is hard hearing your one and only son being chewed out,” he says, which leaves Ji-Woon speechless. A father is a father after all.
Upon hearing his father’s words, Ji-Woon secretly visits his house at night. He got no courage to approach the house which he leaves due to his shattered heart. Suddenly, he heard a woman’s voice being all salty. It’s his mother, trying to confront the ladies who’re badmouthing him for becoming a psychiatrist. After witnessing her struggle, Ji-Woon confronts her. Her mother asks him to move back to the house because his father is gravely worried about him. His warm gaze suddenly turns into a sea of regret and a feeling of sorrow. Yup, Ji-Woon is not ready to confront his scars but he finds the reason to stay at the Palace: To avoid his mother being mocked due to his occupation and to show his gratitude towards his beloved Crown Prince.
Getting rid of all threats
The Queen or Lee Hwi’s grandmother had a tense conversation with Lord Sangheon. She is not pleased with the way Lord Sangheon has been overstepping his power even though he is one of the most trusted pupils of the late King. Due to the Queen’s comment, his pride has been hurt. He threatens her to remember her place because he is the one who gives her family power. His Majesty, Lee Hwi’s father, isn’t fond of him either. This explains the disadvantage of Lee Hwi’s position at the Palace. Lord Sangheon does not ask much actually, he just wants to get rid of people that are against Lee Hwi to stop him becoming a threat on the path he is preparing for her because she is his only hope. Meanwhile, Lee Hwi is trying to win her father’s trust to host the upcoming Ming visit. She asks him to put faith in her once and he did.
The prince is jealous
Things started to get more exciting ever since Lee Hwi slowly found her pulse again. Ooh! If you can’t find Ji-Woon, he’s most likely at Lee Hwi’s side. Meanwhile, Lee Hwi is busy preparing her first official event as a Crown Prince while Ji-Woon is looking for something for his garden. He encounters So-Eun who is in the middle of shopping for a bunch of ceramic poetry for his clinic as a way to apologize to him. “So you’re the type to apologize with gifts rather than words,” teases Ji-Woon. So-Eun musters her courage to finally say the F words, “Forgive me,” after putting his clinic to the trials. Ji-Woon laughs and lets her be his company for the day. On the other side, Lee Hwi is walking the market with Hyun where they awkwardly bump into each other. The four of them share a table to eat where Lee Hwi can’t stop her jealousy from taking over her action over Ji-Woon and So-Eun. Meanwhile, Hyun has been secretly noticing her different emotions towards Ji-Woon.
Here comes the trouble…
The long-awaited Mings finally arrive at Joseon, the Furious Prince who has caused many traumatizing situations. Well, he is fueled with lots of wrath towards the Palace and does things on his way. It turns out, he has a secret connection with Lord Sangheon and the late King. Although he shows no mercy, he hides a devastating secret about his past life. An orphaned child who hides a soft part beneath his soul. During the welcome party, he tries to tear the mouth of one of them who tries to taunt him. Lee Hwi is the only person who stands up and asks him to respect Joseon’s system which surprises everyone, including His Majesty and the royal noblemen.
The Furious Prince is not happy with what Lee Hwi does. That’s when Ji-Woon suddenly bumps in and appears to distract himself by offering the guest a drink. But the reality, The Furious Prince is not easy to befriend nor open up with; he splashes the alcohol-water to his face. Feeling uneasy and guilty, Lee Hwi separates herself from the crowd to recollect her mind. Later, Lee Hwi warns Ji-Woon to pretend that he does not see or hear anything other than her orders.
The ending
Do you know what’s dangerous other than Lee Hwi’s jealousy? Her anger. Lee Hwi serves the Ming’s Prince with his favorite feast. But it is not enough to feed his favor. Lee Hwi is running out of patience towards him but Court Lady Kim is sending her signal to let him do whatever he wants to protect His Majesty’s trust. The troublemaker prince notices the signal and becomes furious. Lee Hwi tries to stop the chaos by pulling Court Lady Kim and Eunnuch Bong to the rescue outside. Unfortunately, nobody can stop the furious Prince from doing whatever he wants. He pulls court lady Kim’s hair and cuts it with his sword. A hair is like a crown so it’s a symbol of humiliation when people see your hair tied down. Lee Hwi and everyone is stunned about what happened. Lee Hwi’s eyes turn red and it’s not a good sign because it means nobody can stop her right now.
Lee Hwi confronts the furious Prince and punches his face several times. Her anger has taken over her that time. Everyone is trying to stop her but she’s not listening. Ji-Woon and Hyun also rush to the place when they hear about the news. The furious Prince is being knocked down with a bleeding mouth on the floor. Unfortunately, The Vice Minister of Ming discovers the scene. After punching him like there is no tomorrow, Lee Hwi slowly regains her consciousness again. She experiences a mental breakdown over her actions while the furious prince is knocked down while his mouth is bleeding. But it’s also the scene that will make you adore Lee Hwi even more!
What did you think of The King’s Affection season 1, episode 7? Comment below.
