Our Blooming Youth 2023 Episode 13

Episode 13 of Our Blooming Youth begins with Tae-gang denying Min Jae-yi’s allegations and stating his innocence before the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince stops him from hurting Min Jae-yi and asks him to leave first. He takes Min Jae-yi aside and tells her that he believes that Tae-gang is innocent as he was with him throughout.

He asks her to consider that she made a mistake and that her memories might be confusing. Min Jae-yi is sure she saw Tae-gang’s face but is willing to try harder to remember because the Crown Prince vouched for Tae-gang. On the other hand, Tea-gang realizes that the Crown Prince brought Min Jae-yi to the palace. He is shocked that his master willingly protected a woman deemed dangerous enough to kill her family.

Elsewhere, Ga-ram works on the clothes she got from Bok-soon while  Min Jae-yi starts having nightmares about what happened the day the wedding gift was delivered.

The next morning, Min Jae-yi sets out to investigate Tae-gang and everyone claims that he was around the palace on the days she mentions.  She gets a lead from Ga-ram who informs her that Myung-jin met a man who resembles Tae-gang. The strange thing about that chance encounter was the man acted like he didn’t recognize Myung-jin.

Min Jae-yi also talks about her memory of the incense and her last meeting with her adoptive brother. She remembers Sim-yeong even holding her hand, probably with her bracelet. Unfortunately, she is unable to remember what they talked about. She also asks Ga-ram if Sim-yeong had white hair but Ga-ram insists he didn’t. Min Jae-yi starts feeling frustrated that she can’t remember.

The Crown Prince also talks with Tae-gang and assures him that he trusts him. He sends Tae-gang to follow up on the Park Han-su case, but he’s worried about where Min Jae-yi went to.  He goes out in disguise and Myung-jin shares the disappointing news that Bok-soon and her husband cleaned the incense pot. He spots Min Jae-yi buying a pocket knife in the market and drags her away.

He takes her to a place he used to visit with his late brother. While there, he shares his brother’s dreams and his hope that he won’t disappoint him. This is the first time he has been back to the spot since his brother died. He believes he managed to get over his grief and rededicate himself to his duties because of Min Jae-yi. He promises to protect Min Jae-yi with everything he has. He later gives her the pocket knife he once took from her and asks her to use it for her protection.

Min Jae-yi later goes to her room and she runs into Tae-gang who was spying on her.  He insists that he is innocent and he was in the library to study.  He tells her that he is not the man in her memories and leaves.

Outside the palace, the kids the Crown Prince rescued finally show up at the tavern to eat. Man-deok and Bok-soon welcome them and feed them. On the other hand, Ga-ram dresses up as a woman and meets with Myung-jin’s betrothed to ask her to give up. As they talk, Ga-ram notices the lady bought a bracelet similar to the one Sim-yeong gave Min Jae-yi. She wanted to help Myung-jin and was almost caught by him.  Fortunately, he only saw her back and ran away to the tavern thinking she was his fiancée.

At the tavern, he meets with the two kids and asks about their well-being and their names. Bok-soon is shocked to hear the boy’s name but Man-deok quickly covers it up so that Myung-jin doesn’t notice.  He returns to his lab and shares the good news of the kids’ return with Ga-ram.

Back at the palace, Sung-on reports to the Crown Prince that he finally tracked down Oh Man Sik. Apparently, Oh Man Sik relocated to Paju under a fake name and started a lined shop. Sung-on offers to go interrogate him but the Crown Prince and Min Jae-yi insist on tagging along. Sung-on asks about Tae-gang and the Crown Prince says that he won’t be joining them.

News of Oh Man Sik being found reaches Jo Won-bo who sends his man to kill Oh Man Sik before he speaks to the Crown Prince. He is also hoping that his men can take out Sung-on at the same time.

Min Jae-yi, Sung-on and the Crown Prince get to Paju but Oh Man Sik spots them and flees. They chase him into a field and as he starts talking about Byeokcheon, he is struck by an arrow and dies. The last thing he told the Crown Prince was that no one in Byeokcheon was a bandit. The armed men sent by Jo Won-bo try to attack the Crown Prince and his team. A fight pursues and one of the armed men is injured; the rest retreat to the forest.

Min Jae-yi suggests they pursue and they give chase. The Crown Prince gets separated from them and he ends up being shot by an arrow in his abdomen. Min Jae-yi and Sung-on are surrounded and they fall off a cliff into the water.   The Crown Prince tries to find them but only finds a bag and signs of a bloody struggle. He fears that they are dead and starts blaming himself for their death.

Although he is profusely bleeding, he tries to come down the mountain and see if he can find them. Concurrently, Sung-on and Min Jae-yi survive the fall and go back up the mountain to find the Crown Prince. Min Jae-yi is a crying mess hoping that the Crown Prince survived.

Sung-on does his best to assure her that the Crown Prince is strong and resilient.  Min Jae-yi remembers a conversation they had about the Eastern Palace being on the East. She is also hurt but refuses to go back until they find the Crown Prince. She asks Sun-on to trust her and they walk, calling out for the Crown Prince.

While the three fight for their life, Jo Won-bo stays at home worrying about the outcome of his man’s mission. He also questions if Oh Man Sik came to him with other motives as he hails from Byeokcheon. Back in Paju, Jo Won-bo’s men cold-heartedly kill Oh Man Sik’s family.

At the capital, Myung-jin’s father sends his servant away early and asks everyone to remain locked in their rooms as he is expecting an important guest. The guest turns out to be the King who secretly wanted to meet with him and Left State Councilor Han Joong-Eon. Myung-jin being nosy spots the guests but his mom asks him to practice discretion.

The King is quite troubled by the Crown Prince’s upcoming nuptials. He doesn’t want the Jo family to become his in-laws. He asks Left State Councilor Han Joong-eon to bring his niece and add her to the Crown Princess selection. He also wants them to alter any facts to make sure a woman from the Han family is selected.

Left State Councilor Han Joong-eon promise to do his best to carry out the King’s wishes. Even though Chief State Councilor Kim An-Jik is against the idea, he agrees to do his part.

Secondly, the King breaks the Milbu into half and gives them each a piece. Chief State Councilor Kim An-Jik warns that the power of the Milbu can only be used by a King. The King insists that he wants them to have the Milbu and a secret letter to protect the Crown Prince if something happens to him.  The Milbu is used to mobilize troops to prepare for war and the like. The King wants them to use it when and if he dies to prevent the Jo family from harming the Crown Prince.

The King goes on to reveal that the letter is his Will and they have no choice but to honour his last wishes should something happen. He wants them to mobilize the five troops and protect the Crown Prince. He trusts the two of them will manage to do as he ordered, and they promise to be loyal to the very end

Back in the forest, Sung-on and Min Jae-yi do their best to find the Crown Prince. Min Jae-yi has another memory of a promise she made to the Crown Prince that they will remain safe for each other. Finally, they came across the Crown Prince and Min Jae-yi rushes to envelop him in a big hug much to Sung-on’s surprise. The Crown Prince is happy to see them, he smiles at them before fainting.

The Episode Review

There was a lot that happened in this episode. We learnt that the King is protecting the Crown Prince and is not going along with Jo Won-bo’s plans. He just feels like he is not powerful enough to take him down. This is why he is making plans to strengthen the Crown Prince should something happen to him. I hope he lives but we all know he is just one misstep away from being poisoned by Jo Won-bo.

As I said before, Tae-gang may be suspicious but I don’t think he was the messenger or tried to hurt the Crown Prince. It could well be that he comes from Byeokcheon and has a twin brother. We will have to see if this theory is true!

Lastly, it is obvious that Min Jae-yi has realized that she loves the Crown Prince. It is probably what she wants to tell him when she cried, pleading with the heavens for him to be alive. She wants to confess her feelings and we’ll be looking forward to seeing how she will do it. Will the Crown Prince reciprocate and when will they tell Sung-on the truth?