Our Blooming Youth 2023 Episode 6

Episode 6 of Our Blooming Youth begins with Man-deok getting a letter shot by an arrow. The letter tells him to get ready to go home. He bids his wife, Bok-soon goodbye and heads to a house in the middle of a forest.

Elsewhere at the palace, the Court is in session and the King wants to know why a shaman decided to start killing people. In a flashback, we see the shaman before she became a killer. She was praying and was possessed by a spirit. According to the spirit, the shaman is the chosen one who will fulfil a prophecy of the ghost.

To fulfil the prophecy, she was asked to kill four people based on the human cycle of life. This is how she started the murders but she is now yet to complete the last one.

In the meantime, Sung-on ponders what the last message would have been while the Crown Prince nurses Min Jae-yi back to health. He is also curious about the last message and the court officials share in this worry too. They ask the King to take over the case from Sung-on and interrogate the shaman himself.

The new Minister Of Justice offers to take the case and expose all the shaman’s crimes.  Another Court official argues that the case must be investigated by Sung-on as it is linked to the prank during the royal hunting ceremony. He points out that Sung-on is already on his way to the Office of Shamanism to collect evidence.

At the Office of Shamanism, Sung-on arrives and finds the office is under attack by masked men. An intense fight ensues and one of the masked men is injured in the arm by Sung-on. We later find out that the man was Man-deok. It seems he is part of the group that is working with the person behind the shaman. Out of worry,  Bok-soon tries to talk to him about leaving the group.

Back to Sung-on, he is frustrated to learn that the group had already destroyed any evidence left behind by the shaman. He only learns that the shaman went to pray in Gaesong and upon returning she started having white hair and smelling of a different incense from the one they use.

He goes back and informs the Crown Prince about his findings. The Crown Prince begins to wonder if the shaman had anything to do with Min Jae-yi’s family being killed. He, however, doesn’t share his theory with Sung-on.

Outside the palace, Ga-ram is worried about Myung-jin failing to come to work since she last dropped him at home drunk. Bok-soon tells her that it is highly likely that his mom has locked him up.  They start talking about the arrest of the shaman and how eunuch Soon-dol saved the day but got hurt. Hearing this, Ga-ram decides to try and sneak into Myung-jin’s home to try and find out what he knows about the status of the eunuch.

On her way, she runs into Monk Moojin and accidentally breaks his bottle. She apologizes and they try to salvage the odd fish he was carrying in that bottle. Ga-ram is sure she has seen him before but is unable to place him.

Luckily, Myung-jin decides to escape from his home and he runs into Ga-ram trying to sneak in. They head to his office and on the way, Myung-jin tells her about his upcoming marriage to the daughter of the Minister of Personnel. He sees this as a chance to escape from his tiring home situation and is generally excited about the marriage. She asks him if he has heard anything about eunuch Soon-dol and begs him to ask his dad.

At the palace, Min Jae-yi finally wakes up and is surprised to see the Crown Prince taking care of her. He even ordered a disgruntled Tae-gang to brew her medicine.  She asks if the Crown Prince can trust her now after solving the case. He tells her that he has been trusting her for a while. Min Jae-yi is grateful to hear this and says it means a lot to her. He talks about her father and they share stories about the kind of man he was.

Once Min Jae-yi is strong enough to get back to work, the other eunuchs decide to give her heavy tasks but the Crown Prince keeps coming to her rescue. This infuriates them but there is nothing much they can do.  He wants to make sure she is resting and eating well. During one of her errands, she meets the Queen. The Queen takes a liking to her and refers to her as someone commendable who is also intelligent.

As she heals, the Crown Prince promises he will find a way to use her. He asks to hear her side of the story about what happened the day her family was killed. Min Jae-yi is sure that the soup she prepared was poisoned after she served it. She also admits she bought arsenic but only because she intended to study it. She says that she was concerned about the letter sent by the Crown Prince so she had no appetite. That is why she didn’t join her family for breakfast.

She doesn’t remember much about that morning so the Crown Prince asks her to try and recall everything. He also asks if Sim-yeong was her lover and she refutes these allegations saying she only saw him as a brother. She doesn’t understand why he betrayed her or blamed her for the murders. They were really close and he was the one who taught her how to fight.  She insists they go through the evidence collected that day to find out what they missed.

The Crown Prince agrees but tells her they need to solve the mystery of the ghost letters first. He opens his save and shows her the last letter from the ghost. Min Jae-yi is taken aback by how cruel the prophecy in the letter is. She promises the Crown Prince that he won’t have to feel lonely and worried about the curse on his own anymore. She vows to be by his side until the end.

The Crown Prince tells her about his theory that the shaman had something to do with the letter and her family’s death. Min Jae-yi asks to know where the shaman is being held. Unfortunately, the shaman has refused to shed light on the motives behind the killing. She only tells Sung-on that she is the chosen one and that her mission has not failed yet. She tells him that when the time comes and the person meant to hear the prophecy shows up, they will learn the last message.

The Crown Prince decides to send Min Jae-yi to the shaman’s house to see if Sung-on missed something. He also sends her to deliver gifts and a name for the newborn baby they saved. The Crown Prince asks her to be careful. At the shaman’s house, she meets Sung-on and she thanks him for listening to her.

She acknowledges that they were only able to save the mom and the child because of his help.  She notices that he is still carrying around their marriage consent form. She asks him if he is still waiting for Min Jae-yi but he says that he is moving on.

He believes he betrayed her and is already dead. She is saddened to hear that he doesn’t think Min Jae-yi is innocent but she understands him. She goes in to check the house for any evidence and finds only dried petals in the incense burner.  They later walk back home together.

Meanwhile, some court officials are out drinking the night away. They are celebrating the shame brought by the failed wedding of Sung-on and the incident at the royal hunting ceremony. Jo Won-bo is also celebrating at home after learning that the real Go Soon-dol is not the one at the palace.

At home, Sung-on is visited by a soldier who confirms that Min Jae-yi was the person who used the cave. Sung-on is happy that she is still alive. The soldier also informs him that Sim-yeong committed suicide. Sung-on is surprised to hear that the Crown Prince’s men took the suicide note left by Sim-yeong. He is also conflicted as he ponders whether it is true that Min Jae-yi betrayed him.

The Crown Prince is shocked that Sim-yeong killed himself but he is more angered after reading his suicide note. In the note, Sim-yeong refers to Min Jae-yi as his lover and the Crown Prince questions if Min Jae-yi lied to him. He asks Tae-gang to summon Min Jae-yi immediately.

The Episode Review

The ending left us with so many questions. Why does Sim-yeong refer to Min Jae-yi as his lover in his suicide note? Did he even write that note?  Did he kill himself or was he killed and it was staged as a suicide?  Lastly, did he leave a secret clue behind?

The Crown Prince is angry, he is seeing red and this won’t go well for Min Jae-yi. What will he do now that he believes she lied to him?

On the other hand, what will Sung-on do now that he believes Min Jae-yi is alive? Will they be able to meet and she can at least state her case?

I am also curious about what Jo Won-bo will do next. He just learnt some juicy information that gives him the upper hand. How will he play his cards? With all these questions, a week feels like a century away.  Monday can’t get here fast enough!