My Dearest (2023) Part 2 Episode 1

Episode 11 of My Dearest starts with Jang-hyun and Goo-jam fighting bandits. Jang-hyun is dejected after he loses Gil-chae, so he deliberately chooses a route full of bandits.

Meanwhile, Jong-jong and Madam Bang-doo bring some drinks and food to Gil-chae and Goo Won-moo on their wedding night. Gil-chae promises to be a good wife.

Later at night, Gil-chae sits outside and looks at the moon while So-ya hugs Ryang-eum. 

Elsewhere, Yong Gol-dae, accompanied by Jung Myung-soo, appears before the Crown Prince So-hyun to ask about the arrival of Lee Jang-hyun. The Crown Prince says he is also waiting for him.

As Myung-soo reads the requests of the Qing from Joseon, the Crown Prince’s thoughts drifted to when he had a chat with King Injo before leaving Joseon.

The King seems unhappy that the Crown Prince is finding favour in the eyes of the people of Joseon and the Qing people. The King mentions that the Crown Prince is the adopted son, not the King’s biological son. Eunuch Pyo arrives to announce the arrival of Lee Jang-hyun, which pleases the Crown Prince and Yong Gol-dae.

Later that night, Eunuch Pyo joins Jang-hyun as he looks at the moon and says he looks like he has just lost his lover. Jang-hyun admits that he lost the woman he loves for good. Eunuch Pyo encourages him to live on since there is nothing one cannot live without. 

The following day, Goo-jam and Jang-hyun go to capture the enslaved people escaping from Qing and are joined by the bounty hunters. Among the enslaved people is Goo Yang-chun.

Jang-hyun implores the bounty hunter to leave Yang-chun to him and forget about seeing him. Goo-jam and Jang-hyun take Yang-chun back to their house with the three children he protects. During a meal, Yang-chun tells them how he was captured. Jang-hyun tells him about how they started capturing enslaved people to sell.

The next scene goes back to when Jang-hyun, Goo-jam, and Ryang-eum captured enslaved people for the first time. Yong Gol-dae wanted one of their heels cut and returned to their owners. However, Ryang-eum’s unspoken plea to Jang-hyun made him strike a deal with Gol-dae. He said he would sell the enslaved people and share the earnings with Gol-dae. However, Jang-hyun paid for the enslaved people.

After the first payment, Gol-dae got greedy and kept bringing more, which Jang-hyun kept paying for. Therefore, he has a house in Simyang where he puts the enslaved people and takes Yang-chun to see them. Later that night, Goo-jam, Jang-hyun, and Yang-chun have a meal and drinks accompanied by some women. 

In Hanyang, So-ya tries to get closer to Ryang-eum while Gil-chae visits the Royal Concubine Jo to sell her some items. When she returns, Ryang-eum watches her from a distance, thinking that the closest he can get to Lee Jang-hyun is through her.

In Simyang, Hwayu tortures some enslaved people for flirting with his majesty. Meanwhile, Maeng-tan talks business with Jang-hyun since His Majesty wants to purchase tiger skin. Jang-hyun overhears a woman crying in the backyard and looks into it. He sees someone he knows among the women being tortured by Hwayu. 

Later, Jang-hyun tells Goo-jam about running into Young-rang. He wants Goo-jam to help rescue the enslaved people from the palace. Yang-chun asks him to stop trying to save them.

Yang-chun looks down on a woman impregnated by the intruders and does not let her help care for a crying baby. He tries to persuade Jang-hyun not to save the women in the palace, but Jang-hyun insists.

When he delivers the tiger skin to King Yoon-chin, he suggests that he release the enslaved people in the palace and that Jang-hyun sell them. The King refuses, and Maeng-tan tells him that the women attend to his bed, so the King refuses to let them go.

Jang-hyun secretly meets with Young-rang and plans to help the enslaved people escape. Jang-hyun’s plans succeed, and he can get the women out of the palace. Yang-chun helps kill bounty hunters after them and helps them cross the river. 

In Hanyang, King Injo informs the council of the content of the latest letter from the Qing envoy. Since the Joseons havr not been capturing enslaved people and sending them to Qing, King Injo must go to explain himself to the emperor of Simyang. The council members think that Simyang is trying to devise an evil plot.

King Injo feels that the Crown prince is working against them by pleasing the people in Simyang to protect himself. Goo Won-moo thinks it is best to comply with the request, and King Injo orders the escaped enslaved people to be sent back to Simyang accompanied by an envoy. Some escapees hang themselves, while others cut their hands and limbs to avoid returning to Simyang. The officials take others away while other Joseon people falsely accuse their relatives of being escaped slaves to get the reward. Nam Yeon-joon tries to write an appeal to the King’s command.

King Yoon-chin sends Maeng-tan to recapture the women who escaped from the palace. He comes across Gil-chae, who is called to the courthouse to answer for hiding an escapee in her workshop. Maeng-tan and his assistant cannot find the women escapees, so they plan to capture Gil-chae and offer her to the King to appease his anger. 

Gil-chae goes back to court and bribes the official to release the kids. On the way back, intruders kidnap her and Jon-jong. Goo Won-moo sends people to look for her, but she is nowhere to be found. They search all night, joined by Eun-ae and Yeon-joon.

Gil-chae and Jong-jong are among the convoy of slaves sent to Simyang. A drunk Ryang-eum comes to Gil-chae’s homestead and runs into the child who witnessed the kidnap.

In Simyang, Myung-soo tells the Crown Prince of the King’s order for Joseon escapees to be punished by the Crown Prince’s officials. Jang-hyun decides to replace another official tasked with overseeing the punishment of the escaped slaves.

The episode ends as the recaptured slaves arrive in Simyang. Jang-hyun, among the waiting officials, fails to notice Gil-chae among the enslaved people. 

The Episode Review

After the long wait and the anxious cliffhanger ending of Part 1 with the break-up of our main couple, it is such a relief to watch them reunite again.

Although the situation is unpleasant, Gil-chae is a survivor and will get through this trial, and Jang-hyun will protect her no matter what.

What I love about Jang-hyun is that he is willing to burn everything else to protect Gil-chae, and I am eager to see what he will do this season. The episode introduces all the foes the lovers will have to get through this episode. 

First, Gil-chae’s husband, Goo Won-moo. Given that he is a Joseon man who thinks that women touched by intruders are trash, will he be willing to save Gil-chae?

He might think Gil-chae and Jang-hyun planned the kidnapping so they could get back together. Next is Hwayu. Will her jealousy likely put Gil-chae in immense trouble? King Injo will also be a person of interest in this season. He seems wary of the Crown Prince, who is his adopted son.