Our Blooming Youth 2023 Episode 4

Episode 4  of Our Blooming Youth begins with Gaesong soldiers investigating the cave. One of them updates Sung-on on what they found in the cave. Sung-on feels a sense of hope after hearing they found burnt pieces of female clothes, most likely the ones noble ladies wear. He is hoping that she is alive but feels conflicted about whether she cheated on him or not.

The soldier also informs him that Min Jae-yi’s supposed lover has gone missing. No one has seen him after he made his statement blaming Min Jae-yi for her family’s death. Sung-on asks the soldier to find the man and bring him to him. He also instructs him to keep searching for Min Jae-yi’s whereabouts.

As he looks at the shoes, he remembers the letter he wrote to Min Jae-yi asking her to wear the shoes on their wedding day and come to him. Min Jae-yi was happy to receive the gift and the letter and remarked on how romantic he is. She asked Ga-ram to come with her and promised to ask Sung-on to find Ga-ram a husband too.

Elsewhere in the palace, the Crown Prince and Min Jae-yi remember how they met as kids. Min Jae-yi tricked him and Sung-on and stole their money to save a young boy who was about to be turned into a slave.  Min Jae-yi admits that she fell in love with Sung-on on that day and that she found Sung-on more handsome.

The Crown Prince in turn admits that they do make a cute couple. However, as Min Jae-yi gets close to help him dress, she stirs something in him. He asks her to stop but Min Jae-yi insists that she is now a eunuch and must act like one. She asks him to see her as a eunuch. She however crosses the other eunuchs who find her indifferent. She can’t help it though, she is not a true eunuch.

Meanwhile, Princess Hayeon and Prince Myungan are playing a game of hitting sticks.  Prince Myungan finally manages to hit the stick but it nearly hits Min Jae-yi who was walking by. Thankfully, Sung-on saves her but he fails to recognize her. He later joins the royals in the game and Min Jae-yi secretly watches him. Princess Hayeon is elated to play the game with Sung-on who she is heavily crushing on.

Away from the palace, Ga-ram is learning from Myung-jin.  The Crown Prince sends Tae-gang and Min Jae-yi to deliver the body of the messenger he sent to Gaesong to deliver the wedding gifts. Tae-gang asks if Min Jae-yi is familiar with the man but she has never seen him before. Myung-jin promises to do a post-mortem on the body.

This gives Ga-ram and Min Jae-yi time to catch up.  Min Jae-yi apologizes for leaving Ga-ram and not keeping her promise. Ga-ram bares no ill feelings and understands that Min Jae-yi had no other options. They also talk about the messenger and wonder what happened to him

Based on what he can see, Myung-jin believes that the messenger was poisoned by an arrow. He performs a rice poison test to confirm and tells Min Jae-yi that the killer used the same poison used on the Crown Prince one year ago.

In the meantime, the Crown Prince remains in the palace, training and trying to motivate his guards. Sung-on stops by to update him on the case of the prank at the royal hunting. He informs the Crown Prince that Oh Man Shik fled with his family. He also tells him there were no clues left. He hides the fact that he thinks his father is involved based on the talisman he got from the merchant.

This lie eats him up and he later decides to confront his dad with the talisman. His dad, Left State Councilor Han Joong-eon is surprised that Sung-on lied to the Crown Prince. He asks him how he can be loyal to the country if he is lying to the sovereign. He reminds him that no matter the case, a subject must keep his integrity.

He warns him from letting personal things bind him. He also shows him his talisman and tells him that it was a gift from the min dynasty. The ministers of the six Bureaus and the Three Ruling Officials each received one. This leaves Sung-on with a growing suspect list and he tries to think who among them would pull such a prank on the Crown Prince

Min Jae-yi returns to the palace and updates the Crown Prince on Myung-jin’s findings. They conclude that the messenger was killed before he delivered the gifts. The killer then hid the alleged letter from the Crown Prince and delivered the gifts himself. Min Jae-yi is sure she saw the man who delivered the gifts but her memories are hazy. The Crown Prince tells her that it is okay because he understands. He can also barely remember the year his brother was killed.

Min Jae-yi tells him that her dad was worried about him and that his dying wish was for her to protect him. She tells him that her dad never believed he killed his brother to take the throne.  Min Jae-yi questions why the killer went through the trouble of killing the messenger and sending a fake letter from the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince asks her if she read the summary of the capital murders he gave her. He tells her that there will be a public royal lecture headed by Sung-on about the case. He asks her to attend and help solve the case. Min Jae-yi accepts the request and attends the meeting. She is worried that Sung-on will recognize her but her worries were unfounded.

The day of the public royal lecture arrives and Princess Hayeon tries to stage an accidental meeting with Sung-on but fails. Sung-on explains the case and shares his conclusions but Min Jae-yi challenges his report. Sung-on believed that the killings were done by a serial killer and he will attack older men in the east of the Kingdom. However, Min Jae-yi argued that the killer will attack the west and asked for more time to understand the clues left behind by the killer.

In the end, the Crown Prince asks Sung-on to tighten security in the east and allows Min Jae-yi more time to study the clues and find the motive behind the killings. After the lecture, Jo Won-bo gets under Sung-on’s skin by laughing at the fact that he had to go against a low eunuch to prove his case. Jo Won-bo later asks his henchmen to find out everything about the new eunuch Go Soon Dol.

Later, the Crown Prince leaves an apple in the library as a gift to Min Jae-yi who did well at the royal lecture. Min Jae-yi is touched by the gift and happily enjoys it in the secret room.

The episode ends with the Crown Prince asking Min Jae-yi if she enjoyed the apple and she admits she did.

The Episode Review

The Crown Prince might not be aware but he is slowly starting to trust Min Jae-yi. I hope they will be able to find more answers soon.

Jo Won-bo is a conniving, ambitious man and I am sure he has sensed that Go Soon Dol is trouble. I hope he won’t find out the truth until later on in the show.

Sung-on should not have gotten angry about his theory being challenged. The point of the royal lecture was to get the opinion of other people. I think Jo Won-bo’s remark added fuel to the fire.

I am also a bit surprised that he has failed to recognize his fiancee even when she is so close to him. I know they only met when she was young but didn’t he ask for her portrait or tried to see her from afar?