Recap Korean Drama "The King’s Affection" Episode 11

The King’s Affection is a Korean drama-romance TV series directed by Hyun Wook Song, based on Lee So-young’s comic titled Yeonmo. The series has 20 episodes and stars Park Eun-bin, Rowoon, Nam Yoon-su, Choi Byung-chan, and Bae Yoon-kyung, alongside other cast members. The King’s Affection episode 11 is 64 minutes long.

– The King’s Affection episode 11 recap contains major spoilers –

Starting off from the last episode, The King’s Affection episode 11 starts with Ji-un handing over his letter of resignation to Yi-hwi, leaving the latter crying. So-eun is hurt too and is unwilling to let Ji-un go. She professes her feelings for him but it doesn’t stop him from leaving.

Seeing this go down is Lord Changun, who really is the worst of them out there. He straight-up tells this to Ki-jae in order to break up Yi-hwi’s marriage to So-eun. Ki-jae promises to repay Changun for all that he has done. In a later discussion between Queen Dowager and King Hyejong, the former tells him that they need to thoroughly discuss whatever is happening so that it does not cause any problems later on. Ki-jae barges in and says that eliminating So-eun is not enough, that they have to punish Yeong-su.

King Hyejong blames his greed in front of Yeong-su, who is extremely apologetic for not understanding where his daughter’s heart lies in The King’s Affection episode 11. The next day, Yi-hwi finds Lord Changun dragging So-eun’s maid, Jan-i, by the hair and stops him. It comes to light that Changun was the one who told Queen Dowager about So-eun’s involvement with Ji-un. He taunts her and tries to take Jan-i away.

 

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He lets her go, however, when she attacks him with a sword but she tells her that Ki-jae owes him a favour for tilting the scales in his favour. At So-eun’s place, she apologises to Yi-hwi but the latter tells her that a person’s heart is the only thing that can never be controlled. Thus, she’s happy with the bravery that she displayed while telling her the truth.

She also tells So-eun that were it not for these circumstances, then they could probably have been good friends. With this, she leaves but not before they hear a blood-curdling scream. Jan-I is lying dead in So-eun’s backyard and the latter is inconsolable. Yi-hwi is angry but is able to spot a clue in Jan-i’s hand. It’s a button from Changun’s hat and Yi-hwi is pissed.

She immediately goes to his place to confront him in The King’s Affection episode 11 and starts to strangle him asking why he killed an innocent girl. She promises that she will not let it slide this time and he will face the consequences for his actions. When the police come over though, Changun refuses any and all involvement in the crime. Yi-hwi tells the policeman to check which weapon killed Jan-i and to search the perpetrator’s home thoroughly.

On the other hand, in the King’s Affection episode 11, Ji-un’s job as a physician is going great. Jaeun goes over to visit him and is promptly put to work. However, he takes it in his stride and laughs. That night, the two friends discuss Ji-un’s new life and Jaeun delivers something written by a clairvoyant bodhisattva sent by his mother. It’s a really nice scene where the two fight and laugh with each other. That night, Ji-un is left in deep thought and stands beside the beautiful tree that Yi-hwi once admired.

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The next day in The King’s Affection episode 11, Jaeun meets Yi-hwi and lets her know that she had gone to meet Ji-un. He asks her how she is doing since they had grown close to each other. However, she denies the claim and tells him that they were not close at all. Jaeun notices her apprehension though and realises otherwise.

 

Meanwhile, Seok-jo tells Ki-jae that the section chief of the Ministry of War was found dead at the ministry office. Ki-jae wonders why the news is still so quiet and Seok-jo tells him that it is probably according to Commander Yoon’s orders. Ki-jae mentions that King Hyejong wants this news to stay quiet, then. Seok-jo further tells Ki-jae that everyone who has been murdered till now all gave the decisive statements during Preceptor Kang’s interrogation 10 years ago. Ki-jae is wary to believe that someone is taking revenge, but Seok-jo asks him to take precautions regardless.

 

While going home, a masked assailant tries to shoot at Ki-jae in The King’s Affection episode 11 but Seok-jo uses his sword to swish it away. Oof! A swordfight ensues between the two wherein the assailant gets injured. Just when Seok-jo has the man under his sword, Hyeong-seol breaks up the fight and does not try to apprehend the assassin.

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Hyeong-seol reports back to King Hyejong later that Ga-on was able to get away. However, he asks him to be careful since keeping him under their roof can be dangerous to everyone around him. Hyejong asks Hyeong-seol to keep an eye on Ga-on.

 

Later, Jaeun asks Changun why he killed Jan-i. The latter tells him that he was simply angry to see Yi-hwi acting to righteously. He never wanted to harm her, but he just couldn’t help it. Meanwhile, Yi-hwi is at Changun’s place trying to find evidence. When Changun realises this, he rushes off to find the murder weapon. He takes her right to it and before he can run away, Jaeun trips him. They get into a spat and Yi-hwi tells him that anyone who murders others must be put to death.

Changun pleads to Yi-hwi to save her but she asks him to bow in front of Jan-i’s grave and ask for her forgiveness. If he does that, then she will think of turning him over to the State Tribunal. He agrees to do so after she promises to kill him otherwise. At the gravesite in The King’s Affection episode 11, Changun bows in front of Jan-i’s grave in the presence of Jaeun, Yi-hwi and So-eun.

 

Of course, Queen Dowager and Hyejong are livid and ask her how she could’ve taken such a rash decision. However, Yi-hwi says that she does not feel the least bit ashamed for what she has done since someone needed to teach him a lesson. Hyejong says that he will care of the matter and asks Yi-hwi to leave. On her way out, she meets Ki-jae who tells her that her actions were reckless and she shouldn’t have done what she did. However, she says that she did what was morally right and she has no regrets.

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Word travels around fast in the capital and all of Yi-hwi’s subjects sing her praises. That night, in The King’s Affection episode 11, Ji-un professes his feelings in front of Yi-hwi’s tree. He imagines Yi-hwi to be there and tells her that he wishes to be by her side.

 

The next morning, Prince Wonsan finds Changun’s dead body by the river. He calls Changchungun and tells him that Changun has taken his life after being humiliated by Yi-hwi. He says that the nobility cannot let this matter slide and strict action should be taken. Word spreads and a decree says that the Crown Prince should be stripped of his title and deposed. They ask for the Crown Prince to be punished, which also reaches Hyejong.

Hyejong asks Changchungun who rallied the Confucian scholars and whether he believes that this will promote Prince Jehyeon to Crown Prince in The King’s Affection episode 11. Changchungun denies these accusations and Hyejong seems pissed. But just as things couldn’t get any worse, Ki-jae barges in and punches Changchungun right across the face. Everyone is shocked and Ki-jae asks Hyejong to deploy the soldiers and punish everyone for treason. Hyejong says that that decision is his to make and Ki-jae mentions that anyone who insults the Crown Prince should be severely punished.

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Jaeun asks Wonsan to stop this nonsense immediately, but the latter refuses and says that he is the rightful heir to the throne, considering their father was the eldest son and thus, they should’ve gotten everything. And anyway, even if they tried, they wouldn’t be able to stop the scholars anymore. In one of the most touching scenes of The King’s Affection episode 11, Lady Kim and Bok-dong promise to support Yi-hwi no matter what.

 

That night, in The King’s Affection episode 11, Jaeun goes to meet Yi-hwi. He confesses to her that he has known all along that she wasn’t the real Yi-hwi. In another heartwarming moment, Jaeun tells her how he had promised to protect her the moment he realised that she wasn’t Yi-hwi. He gives her a box and tells her that a ton of suffering await her in the future, regardless of whether she is dethroned or not.

She asks him what he is trying to imply and he reminds her of the sea beyond the far end of the path that she wasn’t able to take once. He tells her that there’s a boat there and she can leave any time – he will be by her side. Yi-hwi sobs and opens the box to find a pair of shoes.

Hyejong is sitting there and reading the appeal sent to him. He looks defeated and is at his wit’s end. While this is going on, Yi-hwi opens her hair up and looks at her in the mirror. She tries the shoes on and it seems like she’s learning of a side of her. But, she is unaware that King Hyejong has witnessed this.

Final Thoughts: The King’s Affection episode 11

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The King’s Affection has really picked up the pace and this episode is no different. With King Hyejong getting to know about Yi-hwi’s shocking truth and Jaeun proposing to Yi-hwi to run away it’s a relentless hour of trying to keep Yi-hwi’s identity safe and doing the right thing. Plus, Changun’s death comes as a shock (well, not really) and will definitely push the series really well although his death was rather abrupt. That being said, Ji-un yearning for Yi-hwi is rather cute and keeps this rather frothy.