The Forbidden Marriage – K-Drama Episode 10 Recap & Review

The Bait

Episode 10 of The Forbidden Marriage begins with Lady Seo telling the Grand Queen Mother about So-rang being a fraud. She runs and tells her grandson who doesn’t believe her. She tells him that if So-rang doesn’t return to the palace she will drop the treasonous charges against her and the King is distraught.

The King goes to Aedaldang and overhears Shin-won calling So-rang Hyeon-seon and that she is a fraud. He tells her not to return to the palace but secretly tells Seon-hyeok and Ji-hwal to guard her from afar. 

Painter Jeong sits in front of his canvas and tries to draw a comic book but struggles. He finally completes it and names it ‘Dating Book for Seolos’. The two fools are impressed and plan to publish it but Jeong is moody. The book becomes instantly successful as everyone including monks buy the book. It ends sadly, and the readers ask for volume two.

Minister Cho and Lady Seo discuss what to do with So-rang. So-rang tries to take care of Gwang Yi who calls her princess and tells her to go to a mountain or somewhere near water. At that moment, Lady Seo’s assassins attack So-rang as Seon-hyeok and Ji-hwal try to stop them. She unknowingly runs to the same cliff where Sang-ju had first tried to kill her and is cornered. Shin-won sees and runs towards her but before he can reach her, So-rang falls off the cliff and into the river below.

Shin-won jumps after her and tries to help her but he struggles as his wounded arm doesn’t work. Seon-hyeok and Ji-hwal reach in time and chase the assassins away. But they can’t find Shin-won or So-rang. They alert the King who is heartbroken.

Shin-won comes to and sees Master Sung, a nobleman and his daughter, Hwa-yoon who always wears a mask, looking after him and So-rang. He is surprised to see his arm working again after a doctor told him nerve palsy is difficult to cure. So-rang regains consciousness and is happy to see Shin-won’s arm work again.

At the palace, Minister Sul-rok is worried about the King who doesn’t want to give Minister Cho the satisfaction of looking heartbroken. He even seems to understand why So-rang scammed him so that he could get over his grief and let go of the Crown Princess after 7 years. He also fell in love with her as he knew she contained her own feelings and put his own first. At that moment, Head Eunuch Se-jang comes with a letter that has the King surprised.

Hwa-yoon approaches So-rang and tells her that everyone thinks she is dead and for her safety to stay with her. So-rang doesn’t want to impose but Hwa-yoon tells her that something similar happened to her and convinces her to stay.

At Jeong’s house, the readers swarm for a volume two and the two fools give it out for free. They remember Chun-seok and how he could not tell his love, Hae-young how he felt and so in his honour Jeong made volume 2. They also hope to get the marriage ban lifted with this book. They form the protest group Moseoldan and protest against the ban. Even the scholars of the city request every day to lift the ban. The Ministers get a cart full of petitions and the Grand Queen Mother is worried. 

However, the King is busy drinking and Minister Sul-rok comes to him and tells him to act worse. He draws on dark circles and messes up his hair. The Grand Queen Mother is worried to see her grandson like this while Cho is happy that the King is distracted.

The Grand Queen Mother asks Sul-rok why the King is heartbroken over a peasant. He tells her that So-rang was killed and brings up the queen killer. She puts two and two together and wonders if Lady Seo is behind it. Sul-rok tells the King of the matriarch’s reaction who suspects that the culprit wants to control the bride selection process.

At Cho’s HQ, he tells Sang-ju to disband the trafficking business so they are not suspected. Sang-ju is worried that he’ll be killed but Cho tells him that he has a new job for him as they will be taking over the palace.

Shin-won is suspicious and tries to follow Lady Seo. He sees someone following him and confronts him to see that it is the King. Turns out the letter the King had received was from Shin-won telling him that he and So-rang are alive. The King is happy to see that Shin-won has recovered. He asks him to return but Shin-won refuses as he has not been considerate of the King’s feelings.

Meanwhile, So-rang remembers her time with the King and tears up. Hwa-yoon brings her fruits to stop her from crying. So-rang tells her that she used to be a scammer and that she regrets hurting the King. Hwa-yoon tells her she is not a bad person and comforts her. She leaves as Shin-won goes to So-rang. They talk about Hwa-yoon and like that she is unique. He also asks her to be friends again and she is happy.

At Aedaldang, Hae-young takes care of Gwang Yi. She is confused about her feelings for Chun-seok and what to do when someone passes away. Gwang Yi asks her if she still feels for someone and she thinks of Painter Jeong.

Hwa-yoon tells Shin-won and So-rang that she has been selected for the bride selection process but she is not confident as she has a scar from when she was almost kidnapped. She also tells them that Hyeon-hee who now goes by Hyeon-seon is the strongest candidate. Shin-won suspects that Lady Seo is kidnapping all those prospects who are a threat to Hyeon-hee. So-rang tells Hwa-yoon that she is the real Hyeon-seon and she won’t run away anymore.

The bride selection process begins and the prospects arrive at Hanyang including Hyeon-hee and Hwa-yoon who takes off her mask. So-rang appears as her maid and Hyeon-hee is shocked to see her. The Grand Queen Mother doesn’t like Hwa-yoon’s scar and reprimands her for entering the selection process. Hyeon-hee blames her for not being virtuous but Hwa-yoon says it’s the kidnappers’ fault, not hers. 

Outside, one of the servants of Lady Seo bribes the Head Court Lady with a bag of supposed snacks. The first test requires the girls to make embroidery. The Grand Queen Mother selects Hwa-yoon’s embroidery but her name is replaced with Hyeon-seon’s. Hwa-yoon tries to look into the matter but the Head Court Lady stops her. After the results, as the ladies walk by the King, he fails to see So-rang who is disappointed.

Hwa-yoon tells So-rang about the embroidery cheating. So-rang too sees that white jade is being passed around as bribes. Shin-won wants to help and he returns as the King’s captain with Se-jang and the King happy to see him.

The Grand Queen Mother makes the list of those who passed the first round. But she is worried that the King might not love the bride. She goes to the King and tries to cheer him up. He acts drunk and tells her that it is all staged. She is shocked that he would doubt her and he tells her that everyone around her has been bribed. He asks for her permission to find the culprits and punish them. 

She agrees and the King asks Shin-won’s men to go through all the court ladies’ belongings and they find white jade pins. The women claim that they have been framed and the white jade belongs to Court Lady Won who gave them out as favours. The internal officer cannot go ahead without questioning her and Shin-won and Se-jang are stumped.

Sul-rok brings So-rang back to the palace at the King’s request. She thinks she is about to be punished and gets ready to beg for his forgiveness. Instead, the King walks up to her and kisses her.

The Episode Review

Feels like deja vu for So-rang and the viewers as she once again falls off a cliff after being cornered by Lady Seo’s assassins. But unlike the first time, we see that Shin-won overcomes his shock and is able to use his arm to save So-rang.

It’s also interesting to see the King being mature as instead of blaming So-rang he understands why she did what she did. He is also happy to get back his best friend as they put aside their jealousy to solve the queen killer case together.

Hwa-yoon is a happy addition to the cast and we hope to see more of her and how she will play a part in taking down Lady Seo.