Joseon Attorney: A Morality (2023) Episode 11

Joseon Attorney: A Morality episode 11 begins with Je-se scolding the King for his last decision to appoint Myung Woo. Je-se insists that the King should have done a background check on Myung-woo instead of focusing on the fact that he is a member of Sarim. He is sure that the King was trying to put him in check. Kindly note all these happened before the arrest of Han-soo in episode 10!

Je-se brings up his legacy as a government officer, boldly telling the King that he has worked to be where he is while the King only got his position because of his bloodline. The King has enough and daringly declares war on Je-se. He promises Je-se that his biggest achievement as a King will be to destroy him and regain his Royal power.

Je-se is calm and says he is looking forward to seeing it but warns the King that he won’t be able to use Han-soo as his weapon.

In the meantime, the King sends his trusted eunuch to Ji-sun to deliver a message to the Princess. The Princess runs back to the Palace instead of meeting Han-soo and gets an audience with the Grand Dowager Queen.

The Grand Dowager Queen is moved by the Princess’s desire to protect Han-soo and promises not to kill him. In return, the Princess is to forget him and her life as So-won. The next morning the Princess watches from a distance as Han-soo frees himself and heads back to the capital.

That was the morning Han-soo was arrested and he found out Yeon-joo is the Princess. At first, he is in disbelief. He is also not pleased that Ji-sun knew all along and feels like they made a fool out of him. He insists that they still arrest him against the Princess’s order.

Ji-sun cautions him that if he is arrested, matters can be taken further but Han-soo doesn’t care. He is fueled by the anger of being betrayed and says he would rather die than be saved by the Princess. The soldiers arrest him and he promises to clear his name. His friends sadly watch him being taken away.

He is taken to the office of the Ministry of law enforcement where he is brought before Won Dae-Han. They had once crossed paths when he was dealing with Lee Bong-Sam’s case and they are obviously not on good terms. Dae-Han begins the interrogation but Han-soo denies the charges against him. Dae-Han resolves to torture but Han-soo remains steadfast. As he gets beaten to a pulp, all Han-soo can think about is how Yeon-joo and Ji-sun played him like a fiddle.

In the meantime, the Princess is shaken by how coldly Han-soo treated her after learning the truth and his arrest. She goes home and one of the servants packing up the stuff at the merchant house gives her a letter from Han-soo. In the letter, there are two rings and Han-soo apologizes for giving her a dagger as a gift.

He promises to protect her and offer the rings as a gift to her. Han-soo wrote the letter to So-won before he learnt her true identity. Yeon-joo reads the letter and cries as he remembers her happy times with Han-soo.

She quickly heads to the Ministry of law enforcement in an effort to save Han-soo but Ji-sun stops her. He warns her that her involvement will make the matter worse for Han-soo, her brother and herself. He asks her to trust Han-soo to save himself. The Princess reminds Ji-sun of his promise to let her use him and asks if she can still do it.

On the other hand, Dong-chi visits Han-soo in his prison cell and finds out that he is refusing to eat as he is worried about being poisoned.  Han-soo asks if Dong-chi found out anything and Dong-chi tells him that it was Jo Cheol-Joo who planted the knife in their boat.

Dong-chi thinks they can get Jo Cheol-Joo to confess but Han-soo tells him they should try a different approach to clear his name.

The news of Han-soo’s arrest reaches Eun-soo who is deeply troubled. She decides to leave money outside Han-soo’s boat. She waits for Dong-chi to find the money while she hides in the dark and tells him to use the money to free Han-soo. Dong-chi tries to chase after her but fails to find her. She visits Je-se and he explains that it was probably the Grand Dowager Queen who made a move against Han-soo. He further states that the Grand Dowager Queen wanted to teach Yeon-joo a lesson.

Speaking of Yeon-joo, she is having a private talk with Lady Hong at the palace. Yeon-joo tells her that Je-se has put Han-soo in danger so she will marry Ji-sun to attack him from his close side. Lady Hong worries that Yeon-joo is forsaking her happiness and cautions that she can’t use marriage as a strategy. However, Yeon-joo has made up her mind and says she is content with the life she lived as So-won.

Ji-sun visits Han-soo in prison and tells him about his upcoming marriage to Yeon-joo. He is worried that Han-soo will give up and hopes that he will be angry enough to fight back. Han-soo tells him not to worry, he will use his skills to get out of jail.

Ji-sun invites him to his wedding and that gets Han-soo angry. In prison, he remembers the promise Yeon-joo made to him and wonders if she meant it.

The next day, Dong-chi sets out to rally people to testify on Han-soo’s behalf. Back at the office of the Ministry of Law Enforcement, Han-soo continues to be tortured. Dae-Han starts to question if he should just kill Han-soo as he is not confessing to the crime as they hoped.

Dong-chi arrives in time to save Han-soo and the people Han-soo helped also come forward. At first, Dae-Han threatens to punish them for testifying but as the crowd grows, he is forced to listen to their testimonies. Even Choo Sal comes forth to give his testimony that Han-soo didn’t kill Lord Choo on the night in question.

Everyone insists that they saw Han-soo that night, enjoying himself in the company of Yeon-joo. In the end, Han-soo is set free with the help of the people. Dong-chi carries him home as the crowd celebrates his release.

Han-soo finally understands what his father meant about being rich at heart after seeing the people come to his aid. At home, Dong-chi uses the money Eun-soo gave him to treat Han-soo.  He spots Eun-soo hiding and thanks her but she doesn’t allow him to see her face.

Elsewhere, Yeon-joo is happy that Han-soo was able to save himself. She prepares to go back to the palace and leave the merchant house. Han-soo moves to the merchant house and remembers how happy he was with So-won. He feels hurt by her betrayal and starts crying. Yeon-joo finds him in this state and he pushes her away with his harsh words. He tells her that he no longer wishes to be toyed with or used.

Yeon-joo tries to explain why she hide her identity and claims that she didn’t plan to fall in love with him. She tells him what happened the day his father’s letter was confiscated by Je-se and why they should work together as they have a common enemy.

Han-soo doesn’t believe her and says the King could have saved his family. He adds that they should stay away from each other because they are ill-fated. It is however clear that breaking up with her has also taken an emotional toll on him.

The next morning during the daily Royal Court, the meeting is disrupted by Han-soo. He used the palace pass the King gave him and is eager to have an audience with the King. The King allows him inside and acknowledges him as a friend in front of the Royal Court officials.

The King serves him tea and they earnestly talk about the past. Meanwhile, the news of Han-soo’s visit to the palace reaches Yeon-joo and she quickly rushes to stop him.

Han-soo tells the King that he wishes to ask for a favour. He asks to prove that he is capable of protecting his people.  Before the King can respond, Ji-sun arrives. It turns out that it is Yeon-joo’s birthday and they are holding a celebration for her later. Han-soo is not pleased to see Ji-sun and makes it clear. The King asks Han-soo to join them at the party but he refuses and wonders why Yeon-joo also lied about her birthday.

As Han-soo leaves, he runs into Yeon-joo who lost her shoe as she hurried to meet him. He gets her the shoes and tells her that he no longer wishes for her to come to him. He wishes her a happy birthday and pays his respects to her as a Princess before leaving.

Later at the party, Yeon-joo is at first sad and refuses to eat but after realizing that Han-soo really let her go, she decides to eat. She believes that it is truly over between them but she still wants to protect him.

Night rolls by and a worried Dong-chi wonders why Han-soo went to the palace and why he is not back yet. Soon Han-soo returns but he is crying a toddler on his back.  He claims the baby is their next client and that he will make the baby the true owner of Joseon.

The Episode Review

We are in the dreaded episode 11 where many couples break up and Han-soo and Yeon-joo are no different. Han-soo’s pain is still raw and he is suffering emotionally as well as physically. I don’t blame him for being angry and feeling betrayed. Yeon-joo had many chances to tell him the truth but she chose not to.

Yeon-joo’s resolution to marry Ji-sun will prove problematic in the future and I am eager to see how Je-se will stop this marriage. In this episode, we once again saw how he manipulated people like puppets to get his way. However, he didn’t plan for the people to save Han-soo – It was a beautiful sight to behold.

Nonetheless, Je-se can’t be underestimated, I am certain he already has his cards ready for the next move. Who will be caught in his crossfire?