Our Blooming Youth – K-drama Episode 17 Recap & Review

The Shield Investigation Team

Episode 17 of Our Blooming Youth begins with a flashback to what happened the day the Crown Prince was shot by an arrow while hunting. It turns out that Tae-kang’s twin was responsible and managed to escape because everyone mistook him to be Tae-Kang.

Back in the present, Tae-kang is preparing the house the Crown Prince intends to give Jae-yi and his twin is at a temple following the Prince and Princess. The Princess brings Prince Myungan to Monk Moojin and explains their situation. The monk is aware they are nobles and asks the Princess to excuse them as he treats the Prince. The Princess decides to wait outside and Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim pretends she needs to use the restroom and leaves.

Inside the temple, Monk Moojin prepares some tea while treating the Prince. He burns the peony petals incense and asks the Prince what is troubling him. The Prince admits what he did to his brother and the monk hypnotizes him to forget those painful memories.

Elsewhere, at the lab, the sleuths wonder if Tae-kang knew about his twin and how Sim-yeong grew convinced that Jae-yi was his lover. Jae-yi believes that Sim-yeong might have been under the influence of something like opium. She thinks that the peony petals have the same effect as opium when burned. The Crown Prince thinks that the peony incense was used to hypnotize Sim- yeong.

He also believes that the shaman was under the influence too. Myung-jin arrives at the decision that the peony petals and hypnosis were used to control the minds of the shaman and Sim-yeong. However, Jae-yi insists that they are only theorizing and will need to find hard evidence. They remember what Monk Moojin said about the petals last time.

Back at the temple, Tae-kang’s twin launches an attack on the princess but Sung-on steps in and saves her. He manages to hurt Tae-kang’s twin with his sword before he flees. Upon seeing Sung-on, Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim stabs herself to make it look like she tried to confront the assassin. In a flashback, we learn that the Princess asked Sung-on to be their bodyguard during their journey to the monk. Sung-on was against this decision but felt obligated to honour her request and help her.

After saving the Princess, Sung-on rushes in to check on the Prince who he finds in a deep sleep. He draws his sword and confronts Monk Moojin. The monk tells him that he has witnessed needless bloodshed due to greedy officials. He speaks as if relaying a prophecy and what happened in Byeokcheon. He says he has no regrets and his objective is for the Song family to destroy the Lee family. In his prophecy, he notes that a true man from the Song family will soon appear and start a new dynasty. He then proceeds to grab Sung-on’s sword and kills himself.

After the incident, Sung-on notices that Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim seems beside herself with sadness over the monk’s death. He begins to wonder if she is the veiled woman who was said to frequently visit the shaman.

At the lab, Myung-jin warns his friends about the possibility that the enemies have infiltrated even the palace. He insists they find out the person behind Tae-kang’s twin. Jae-yi tells him more about how there is a correlation between Gaesong and Byeokcheon. They think that the people of Byeokcheon moved their base somewhere near Gaesong. They keep coming up with new hypotheses so as to get to the truth.

Myung-jin decides that they need to form an investigation team called the Shield  Investigation Team. The others are flustered by the name but agree that it is okay and as usual, Myung-jin and the Crown Prince start bickering about who should be the leader. They quickly agree to their positions and continue with their investigations.

Meanwhile, the Queen sits in her room worried about her son and whether the Princess is already dead. The Princess and the Prince soon return to the palace and update the Queen on what happened. The Princess is wary that the King might find out what happened to them so she warns everyone to keep it a secret.

Sung-on question the Princess about Monk Moojin and Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim says she only heard a rumour in the palace about his expertise.  The Princess is not suspicious of Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim and asks her to be treated right away.

At the palace library, Jae-yi and the Crown Prince continue to think about the peony incense. Unfortunately, Jae-yi remembers seeing it the day her parents were murdered but nothing more. She also remembers Ga-ram once told her that she saw Sim-yeong talking to the monk. The Crown Prince believes Sim-yeong killed Jae-yi’s family under the influence of hypnosis done by the monk. They also talk about Tae-kang and his twin, Jae-yi wonders how the Crown Prince never realized the truth until now.

The Crown Prince explains that he found Tae-kang on the streets after he stole from them. He and Sung-on asked a family to adopt Tae-kang and they have kept him by their side since then. The Crown Prince is sure that Tae-kang didn’t betray him. He also thinks Tae-kang has no idea about the existence of his brother. Jae-yi still thinks they should be careful as one brother tried to hurt the Crown Prince in the past. As they speak, Tae-kang arrives and updates the Crown Prince that the house is ready.

Sung-on is also confused as to why Tae-kang would ever betray them. He saw the assassin’s face during the fight and believes it is Tae-kang. He heads to the library and asks to see Tae-kang’s body. He tells the Crown Prince that someone tried to attack him at the temple near Mt Surak. Tae-kang is startled by the request but shows him his body.  Sung-on is surprised that he has no wounds.

Sung-on insists that he saw his face and Tae-gang wonders why everyone is accusing him of things he didn’t do. The Crown Prince asks him if he has a twin and Tae-kang is hesitant to respond. Ultimately, he says he has no twin and the Crown Prince asks him to leave and wait to be called back later. The Crown Prince believes him and tells Jae-yi and Sung-on that. He is however more curious to learn what Sung-on was doing at the temple.

After hearing what happened, the Crown Prince is alarmed and glad his siblings are safe. They realize that the monk Sung-on is talking about is Monk Moojin. They assume he has been working with Tae-kang’s twin and the shaman. Sung-on informs the Crown Prince that he has sent someone to secure the scene and the body and they will find out more in the morning.

Sung-on also shares his suspicion of Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim with the Crown Prince. The  Crown Prince insists that he needs to ask the Princess why she left the palace with Prince Myungan. He visits the Prince’s chamber. Before he arrives, Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim talks to the Queen and promises to take the fall for her. She says the Queen needs to survive so that everyone can go home. It seems like the Queen and the prince are the only hope left for the people of Byeokcheon who are hiding in Naean village.

The Crown Prince visits his brother and the physician tells him that Prince Myungan is in a deep slumber. He asks his sister to tell him why she went out of the palace but before she responds, the Queen arrives. The Queen acts like she is glad that the Princess is alive and orders her to tell the Crown Prince the truth.  The Crown Prince is ready to reveal everything to the King but the Princess begs him not to.

She tells him she wanted to cure Prince Myungan who got depressed after seeing the shaman’s death and the Oyat tree burning. Out of desperation, she found a solution after hearing rumours about the monk. The Queen acts like she had no idea what the Princess was planning and is grateful that are all safe.  The Crown Prince interrogates the Princess more and she tells him about the peony incense and the tea the monk kept drinking. The Queen listens attentively trying to see how much the Crown Prince knows.

The officials Sung-on sent arrive at the temple but are surprised to find no signs of the monk’s body. Tae-kang’s twin took the body and is grieving his master.

At the tavern, Man-deok and Bok-soon talk about how San and Tae-kang are identical. They had mistaken Tae-kang for San that morning when they met near the lab. They question what happened to Tae-kang and how he become a government official. Bok-soon is also curious if Man-deok knows what San and the monk are plotting. She asks when he is going back home but he has no idea.

After his meeting with the Princess, the Crown Prince asks Jae-yi to be careful about how they will investigate Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim. The Crown Prince decides that the evidence against Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim is circumstantial and they will leave her alone until she heals from her stab wound. Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim is close to the Queen and even came with her to the palace. It means she is from the Queen’s hometown and they still believe the Queen is part of the Jo family. However, he finds it strange that Jo Won-bo would try to harm his precious grandson.

Jae-yi points out that the attack was against the Princess and there is a possibility that the Byeokcheon people want revenge against the royal family. Later, she wonders why the Queen and the Princess said they are willing to tell the Crown Prince the truth when they left out Prince Myungan’s hallucinations of Ui-hyeon.

Before sleeping, she remembers that Ga-ram gave her a letter. She finds it and begins reading. In the letter, Ga-ram informs her that Scholar Park knows their identity and gave her fabrics to make dresses for them. She also tells him about her encounter with a judge who used to work in the Gaeseong office. Ga-ram asks her to be careful as the judge might spot her too.

Later that night, Ga-ram tries to remember the events leading up to Jae-yi’s family murder. She recalls Jae-yi’s father making a strange drawing in red.

The next morning, Tae-kang remembers his conversation with the Crown Prince about his twin. He starts remembering his twin during the massacre. He seemed hurt and on the brink of death.

On the other hand, Sung-on is informed that the monk’s body is missing. It turns out that Tae-kang took the body to hold a funeral. Sung-on shares the information with the Crown Prince and also tells him that Court Lady Kwon Deok-sim might be innocent as she is only guilty of talking about a rumour she heard about the monk. The Crown Prince thanks him and as Sung-on leaves, he is called to the Queen’s chambers.

The Queen goes through her secret letters and wonders how much the Crown Prince has found out. Surprisingly, she is the one who has been sending the Crown Prince the ghost letters and now wants to turn Sung on against him. She finds one of the letters that informed her that Eunuch Soon-dol is Min Jae-yi. She then welcomes Sung-on into her chambers.

Concurrently, the Crown Prince figures out that the peony incense and the hypnosis turn the victim’s hair colour from black to white.

Tae-kang decides to go to the library and is shocked to see his twin coming out of Jae-yi’s room. San asks him to pretend not to know and as they talk, Jae-yi comes in and finds them. San rushes out and Jae-yi tries to go after him. Tae-kang stops her and she accuses him of lying and siding with his twin. In their struggle, Tae-kang starts strangling her.

The Episode Review

I had a bad feeling the minute the Queen called Sung-on to her chambers. Of course, Sung-on will be hugely disappointed and hurt that the Crown Prince didn’t tell him about Jae-yi. He will also feel betrayed when he learns she has fallen for his best friend. However, will he turn against his friend? I think the Queen underestimated their friendship.

I doubt Tae-kang knew much about his twin but he is acting strange. Hopefully, he will collect himself before he chokes Jae-yi to death. It is sad when you think about his situation. He must be conflicted as he loves both the Crown Prince and his brother.

We haven’t seen much of Jo Won-bo in this episode, I wonder what he is up to. He didn’t even visit his grandson, which is suspicious. Did he figure out who the woman from the Song family is?