American Perspectives: Outed and Propositioned Pt. 1 ("기황후" Ep.7)

 

 

 

"기황후" can be viewed on Viki or Youtube, as well as many other channels.  It is an amazing classic 사극, and this author is aware that it's not historically accurate.  The real life Empress Ki had a very contentious relationship with the Goryeo Dynasty.  And many liberties were most certainly taken with the fictionalized version of historical characters. Dialogue adapted from English Subtitle translations by the "Imperial Team at Viki.com"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tanqishi approaches an alone and somewhat vulnerable Seung Nyang.  He is beyond a shadow of a doubt sure that Seung Nyang is a woman, and he's going to do whatever it takes to find out.  He's also drawn to her like a magnet, and if she is indeed a man, that will most certainly be the end of him.

 

He grabs her and smells her neck.  Seung Nyang is very angry with herself because his encounter is giving her goosebumps.  She is simultaneously disgusted and aroused.  She remembers that he killed her mother, and that she must stay in control.

 

Seung Nyang aggressively pushes him away.  "What do you think you're doing?"

 

He laughs.  He loves being right, and he especially loves being right about this.  His heart races, and he wants to take her down right now.  "Just as I thought. The scent of a woman."

 

"Stop with your nonsense," Seung Nyang says calmly.

 

His smile fades, and he grabs her by the collar.  As she struggles to break away, he tears open her jeogori, revealing her white chestband.  He gazes at her chest lustfully, and Seung Nyang's blood boils.  She punches him square in the face.

 

Byeong Soo sees Tanqishi stumble, and he rushes over.  "General!"

 

Seung Nyang immediately covers herself.  Her secret's out, and now the vulnerability she has concealed for so long is the exact thing that's going to hurt her.

 

"General!"  Byeong Soo exclaims.

 

Tanqishi wipes his bloody nose and smirks.  He intends to have fun tonight.

 

Byeong Soo grabs Seung Nyang by her jeogori.  "This jerk, how dare you?"  He raises his hand to strike her.

 

"For a woman, you really hit hard," Tanqishi remarks.

 

Byeong Soo lowers his hand.  "A woman?"

 

"Dress this wench up nicely, and bring her to me."

 

"Yes, Sire!"  Say the guards.

 

"Let go!"  Seung Nyang shouts as the guards drag her away.  "Let me go!"

 

Byeong Soo watches them leave in stunned silence.  "Seung Nyang was a woman?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Byeong Soo drags Seung Nyang into a ger, and plops her on a bench.  Two women are dragged in after her, and pushed to the floor.

 

"You two," says Byeong Soo, "make this boy--dress this wench up and put makeup on her."

 

Seung Nyang sighs.  Byeong Soo looks at her again, wondering how it never occurred to him that she's a woman.  Now that he knows, it is completely obvious.

 

********

 

One of the women combs and smooths out her hair.  On the outside, Seung Nyang appears calm.  Internally, she's trying to think of an escape plan.  She cannot have sex with her mother's murderer.

 

Powder is applied to her face, and a beautiful blue and yellow flower hairpin is placed in her hair.  Seung Nyang has never had the privilege of wearing anything pretty, and she hasn't worn a dress in at least eight years.  The experience is a bit unsettling.  After the lip color is applied, Byeong Soo enters the ger.

 

********

 

Tanqishi is wearing his best orange deel, and warming himself up with some wine.

 

"General!  I've brought Seung Nyang!"  Byeong Soo announces from outside the ger.

 

"Come in," Tanqishi says calmly.  He expects tonight to be a very good night indeed.

 

Seung Nyang walks through the doorway with her hands bound behind her back, as Byeong Soo follows behind her.

 

Tanqishi is amazed at the woman standing in front of him.  She was definitely pretty as a transgender male,  but she is an absolute knock out in her natural form.  He can't believe his good fortune.

 

"General," says Byeong Soo.

 

Tanqishi keeps staring at her, visualizing what they are going to do tonight.

 

"General!"  Byeong Soo slightly raises his voice.

 

Tanqishi jumps.  He awkwardly clears his throat.  "Make her kneel...and leave."

 

Byeong Soo pushes down on her shoulders, forcing her to her knees.  Seung Nyang feels like she is no longer a person, but is instead an object to push, slap, fondle, and penetrate.  Basically, a doll who can be thrown away at best, torn up piece by piece at worst.

 

Byeong Soo bows before slowly leaving the ger.  He is as agitated as Seung Nyang about the situation, but for entirely different reasons.  He couldn't care less about her maidenly honor.

 

Seung Nyang scans the room for weak spots, exits, and potential weapons.  Her eyes rest on Tanqishi's prized crossbow hanging from a rack.  It is absolutely important that she remain calm.  She is now in a very unfamiliar gendered space, and her actions must be increasingly calculated.  As a woman, there is no margin for error.  It's all or nothing.

 

Tanqishi rises from his seat and kneels in front of her.  She avoids eye contact, as anything and everything can be used against her, and it's all about the worst choice vs. the second worst choice.

 

"Your eyes, nose, and mouth," Tanqishi leers.  "You're very pretty."

 

She gives him side eye, feeling massively creeped out.  "What are you going to do with me?"

 

He grins and stands up.  He takes a sip of wine.  "When you go on a hunt, sometimes you catch a fox."  He paces the ger.  "If you cage it up and feed it, sometimes there's one that eats readily."

 

She stealthily looks over at the crossbow.

 

"Or another that growls and shows its teeth to the end."  He takes a seat.  "The one that eats and becomes docile, is skinned after being killed immediately.  But the one that is hostile to the end isn't killed so easily."

 

She eyes his jar of wine that he has casually dangling from his hand.  Completely unassuming about just how sharp she is, now that she has taken on a womanly form.

 

"...because it gives you the desire to tame it first," Tanqishi continues.

 

Great, my sexuality is being compared to a captive wild animal.  She keeps her expression neutral.

 

Byeong Soo has his ear to the ger.  He can't wait to witness Seung Nyang being put in her place.  This is the best revenge he could have ever hoped for.

 

"When you get to Yuan," he hears Tanqishi saying, "I'm going to make you my concubine."

 

Byeong Soo just about shit his pants.  Tanqishi cannot be serious.  Is he that easily swayed by sex?  He puts his hand over his mouth when it's apparent that yes, yes Tanqishi is indeed that easily swayed by sex.  Without hesitation, he rushes to Wang Yoo's tent.

 

"You must never be tamed with the food that I feed you," Tanqishi continues.  "The moment you obey me, I'll kill you by skinning you."

 

Great.  I just went from being an imprisoned warrior to a sex slave.   She looks away.  She cannot let him see the hatred in her eyes, she can already tell that it will turn him on.  His motive is hate fucking.

 

Tanqishi kneels in front of her.  "What's that look?  Are you already afraid?  That takes away all the fun.  You have to keep being spiteful!"  He bursts out laughing.

 

Seung Nyang smiles at him disdainfully.  "Afraid?  I'm not afraid of an insect like bastard who only bothers the weak."

 

His smile fades.  "Insect?"  He smiles and laughs.  "Whoa, that's right!  Now, it's going to be fun!"  He turns his back and takes a drink.

 

"I hear that the Prime Minister is your father," says Seung Nyang.  May as well go for the throat...

 

He turns around to face her.  "Don't speak ill of my father."

 

"If you take away your father's power, who would be afraid of you?"

 

"Shut up," Tanqishi growls.

 

Seung Nyang's grin widens.  "The Prime Minister must feel disgraced to have a son like you."

 

"I said shut up!"  Tanqishi explodes.  He throws his ceramic wine jar on the floor, and it shatters.  He grabs her by her outer robe, and stands her up.  "Just because I've been lenient, you don't think you'll die?  How dare you run your mouth?!"

 

Seung Nyang looks him dead in the eye.  "Go ahead.  Kill me.  It's better to die than get trampled on by an insect like you!"

 

He slaps her hard across the face, and she falls on the floor.  Because her hands are bound behind her back, her mobility is limited.  She inches toward the crossbow.  While Tanqishi turns to get another drink, she picks up a ceramic shard from his broken jar.

 

 

 

 

 

"She's going to become General Tanqishi's concubine?"  Byeong Soo whispers.  "If my life is in danger because he falls for that wench's ruse...I can never let that happen.  Never!"

 

*******

 

Wang Yoo is having a terrible nightmare.  "Seung...Seung Nyang!"  He wakes himself up.  His arm feels like it's going to fall off.  He sits himself up, and looks at the two guards standing in front of his door.  "Seung Nyang."

 

Wang Yoo walks toward the guards, and they block him from exiting the ger.

 

"There's a kid who was taking care of me.  Where is he?"

 

The guards ignore his question.

 

"I need to see Seung Nyang."  He attempts to pass them, but they push him back.

 

Byeong Soo flings the door open and rushes in.  "I'll keep guard here, so you two can go get some rest."

 

"Yes, Sir!"  The guards bow.

 

After the door closes, Byeong Soo is ready to reveal a juicy secret.  "Did you know Seung Nyang was a girl?"

 

Wang Yoo's heart skips a beat, but he's also skeptical.  "What are you talking about?  Seung Nyang is a woman?"

 

Byeong Soo looks at him judgmentally.  "You didn't know.  She's probably being humiliated by General Tanqishi right about now."

 

Over my dead body...Wang Yoo's blood boils.  He pushes Byeong Soo out of the way, and bolts out of the ger.

 

Plan succeeded.  Byeong Soo grins.

 

*******

 

Tanqishi grabs Seung Nyang by her robe and stands her up.  "I can deal with anything except dishonor to my father!"

 

Seung Nyang smirks at him.

 

"Try running your mouth one more time, try!"

 

She intentionally slams her head into Tanqishi's head, sending him flying backwards.  She turns around, and with her freed hands (thanks to the broken jar), she grabs the crossbow she had been eyeing.  She aims right at him.  He turns around, and is stunned to see her handling his weapon.

 

"Tell them to prepare two horses," Seung Nyang demands.

 

"Two horses," Tanqishi smirks.  "Are you trying to run away with the King of Goryeo?"

 

"Like what you did to him, I will count to three.  If you don't give your order within that time, this arrow will pierce your heart."

 

He looks at her defensively.

 

"One, two!"

 

"If you kill me, your King will die, too," Tanqishi sneers.

 

Just when she thought she had full power of this horrible situation, she is struck by childhood PTSD.  The memory of the awful night he killed her mother flashes before her, and the intrusive thought ruins her concentration.  Her hands shake as she holds the crossbow.

 

It doesn't slide by Tanqishi unnoticed, and he decides to take advantage.  "Why?  Are you scared that your former King might die?"  As he steps forward, she steps back.

 

"Don't get any closer," Seung Nyang whispers.

 

"Shoot it!"  Tanqishi thumps his chest.  "Try killing your King, too, with your own hands!"  His excitement has just rejuvenated.

 

"I said, don't come any closer!"

 

He grabs the crossbow as she shoots, and the arrow goes into the wall.  He pushes her onto his bed, and he holds her down.

 

"Your owner is not him, but me, Tanqishi!"

 

"It will never work out the way you want!"

 

Tanqishi laughs as he presses himself against her.  He leans in to kiss her lips, and she turns her head.  He grabs her face, but she manages to avoid his lips.  He instead attempts to undo her hanbok.  He pulls up her skirt, and she tries to kick him away.

 

Wang Yoo bursts into the ger, and furiously throws Tanqishi off of her like a rag doll.  Tanqishi sees stars as Wang Yoo punches him in the face, knocking him unconscious.  He reaches for a metal candleholder off the table, and is ready to bludgeon Tanqishi with it.

 

Seung Nyang screams and grabs his arm.  "You can't, Your Majesty."

 

"Let me go.  I'll kill him!"

 

She puts her arms around his waist.  "I want to kill him desperately, too.  I want to kill him and avenge my mother's death, but...not here, Your Majesty.  You can't, Your Majesty."  She buries her head in his warm chest.

 

He throws the candleholder on Tanqishi's bed.  "Come with me.  I will let you leave this place."  He grabs her hand.

 

As they open the door, they are surrounded by Yuan guards with their swords drawn.

 

"Your Highness," says Jo Cham, "Seung Nyang really is a woman."

 

Wang Go looks at her in disbelief.  "You've surprised me so many times."  He briefly wonders if he could indeed take her as a concubine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeom Bak is stealthily running through the weeds, under the cover of darkness.  He sees the huge swarm of soldiers surrounding Tanqishi's ger.  In the doorway, Seung Nyang and Wang Yoo being threatened.  He gasps at the sight.

 

*******

 

"I got hit with an arrow while being chased by them on Daecheong Island," Bul Hwa explains.  "I barely lived after getting caught in a fishing net after falling into the ocean."

 

"It's amazing you came back alive," says Eunuch Bang.

 

"But why did you follow us here?"  Moo Song asks.

 

"I wanted to save Seung Nyang and kill Yeom Byeong Soo.  But what are you two doing here anyway?"

 

"We're the same," says Eunuch Bang.  "His Majesty made us stay behind, but we were so worried that we could barely stand it."

 

"There's a problem!"  Jeom Bak runs up to them.  "I think those damned guys are about to kill Seung Nyang."

 

"We have to rescue him right now!"  Says Bul Hwa.

 

"It's not enough with just the four of us," says Moo Song.

 

"No," says Eunuch Bang, "I thought of a way.  How about setting fire to the barracks where the tributes are strored?  While they are putting the fire out, I think we can rescue His Majesty and Seung Nyang."

 

"Let's try it," Moo Song agrees.

 

"What's the worst that can happen, other than our death?"  Jeom Bak asks.

 

******

 

Wang Yoo and Seung Nyang are tied back to back against a center pole in Wang Yoo's ger.  He looks over at her tenderly, and recalls her pulling his stretcher across the grasslands.  It would have been difficult for a man.  How did you endure it with your female body?

 

"All this time," says Seung Nyang, "I have been deceiving you, Your Majesty."

 

There's a brief moment of silence as Wang Yoo is processing this, as he had been questioning his sexual orientation.  He is more relieved than anything that Seung Nyang is a woman.

 

"Are you disappointed?"  Seung Nyang inquires.

 

"What are you saying?  That's absurd."

 

"Nothing has changed just because I'm a woman.  I will serve you, just as I always have before, Your Majesty."

 

Wang Yoo wants to cry.   What did she go through that she felt it was necessary to switch genders?  However, he's also amazed at her tenacity, which is exceptional for anyone.

 

Seung Nyang feels fearful.  What will people do to her now?  Will she lose all her friends?

 

******

 

Bul Hwa sneaks out of the bushes just outside the Mongol camp, and knocks a guard out.

 

Eunuch Bang uses a blow gun to take out another guard within the camp.  As a guard approaches the unconscious one, Eunuch Bang takes him out with a blow dart, too.  He finally takes out the final witness, and now there are four guard uniforms to wear.

 

Jeom Bak, Eunuch Bang, and Moo Song sneak in, and disrobe the unconscious guards.

 

"Whoa," says Jeom Bak.  "What perfect shots.  How do you shoot your poison darts so well?"

 

"Eunuchs have to let their male vigor out through their mouths," says Moo Song.

 

Eunuch Bang gives him a look, and positions his blow gun.  Jeom Bak holds up his hands in protest.

 

"Shut up and change your clothes," says Eunuch Bang.  He looks at Moo Song.  "Talking about male vigor when you've never had a woman."

 

Bul Hwa sits behind them, already in his Mongolian gear.  "Please hurry."

 

Eunuch Bang abruptly looks behind him.  "I'll go to the storage.  You two save his majesty and Seung Nyang."

 

"Let's meet on the eastern mountain path," says Moo Song.

 

********

 

Eunuch Bang and Jeom Bak casually march into the camp like they own it.  They reach the tent where the tributary goods are being stored.

 

The guard in front blocks them from entering.  "What is it?"

 

"General Tanqishi asked us to bring him liquor," says Eunuch Bang.  He holds up a large leather canteen.

 

The guard eyes him warily.  "I haven't seen you around here before."

 

Eunuch Bang slaps him across the face.

 

The guard jumps back in surprise.

 

"Look carefully," says Eunuch Bang.  "Do you know me now?"

 

The guard looks closely.  "Who?"

 

Eunuch Bang slaps him again.  "You still don't know me?"

 

"So, who are you?"  The guard asks.

 

Eunuch Bang is about to lose his shit.  He pulls out his sword and grabs the guard by the collar with one hand, while pointing his sword with the other.

 

"What are you doing?"  Jeom Bak asks incredulously.

 

"Would you rather have General Tanqishi kill you?"  Eunuch Bang asks the guard.

 

"Calm down," Jeom Bak whispers.

 

The guard trembles.  "Follow me."

 

Jeom Bak gives Eunuch Bang the thumbs up.

 

They follow the guard into the tent, and he lifts a lid off one of the wine barrels.  Eunuch Bang takes a sample, and nods his head in approval.

 

"It's strong!"  Eunuch Bag exclaims.

 

"Hurry and go in, please," says the guard.

 

"What is that?"  Jeom Bak points over to the wall.

 

The guard looks toward the wall, and Jeom Bak knocks him out with his sword.

 

With the ladle, Eunuch Bang sprinkles the wine all over the tent.

 

"Like this," says Jeom Bak.  He takes the barrel and dumps it all over the floor.

 

Eunuch Bang throws a torch in the corner, and the flames quickly grow bigger.

 

Jeom Bak jumps out of the tent first.  "Fire!"  He yells.

 

"Fire!  The tributes are on fire!"  Eunuch Bang yells.

 

Several soldiers rush to the tent with water as Jeom Bak and Eunuch Bang run away.

 

"Run!"  Eunuch Bang yells.

 

"What are you doing? Run!"  Eunuch Bang yells to people in the encampment.  "Fire!  Fire!"

 

Without thinking, he runs right into Jo Cham, who grabs his arm.

 

"Where is the fire?"  Jo Cham asks.

 

"What do you mean?"  Eunuch Bang asks.  "The storage tent for tributes..."  He gets a good look at Jo Cham's face.

 

The two freeze as they recognize each other immediately.

 

"You!" Jo Cham gasps.

 

Eunuch Bang's jaw drops.

 

"Fire!  There is a fire!"  Jeom Bak runs up to them.

 

Jo Cham looks straight at him.  "These guys, how dare you?"

 

"Fire..." Eunuch Bang says weakly.

 

"There's a fire," Jeom Bak whispers as they awkwardly walk away.

 

"Catch them!"  Jo Cham yells.  "Catch them!"

 

"Put the fire out!"  Talahai yells.  "Hurry, move quickly!"

 

Bul Hwa and Moo Song are standing near him, and they move away briskly.

 

"Where is the fire?"  Wang Go asks Byeong Soo.

 

"The storage tent for the tributes," Byeong Soo replies.

 

"These idiots," Wang Go growls.

 

Bul Hwa and Moo Song see Wang Go and Byeong Soo.  They freeze, and immediately look down as they walk by.  They quickly pass Byeong Soo, who has sharp instincts, and can immediately tell something is off.

 

"You two, over there," says Byeong Soo.

 

Moo Song and Bul Hwa freeze.

 

"We've been caught," says Bul Hwa.

 

"Blood must be shed," says Moo Song.

 

The two men draw their swords.  The guards surrounding them draw theirs.

 

Bul Hwa removes his helmet.

 

"Look who's here," Byeong Soo remarks.  "Isn't this Park Bul Hwa?"

 

Moo Song looks back at them, and Wang Go points his finger.

 

"So, you were alive?"  Byeong Soo laughs.

 

"I will...dice your flesh," Bul Hwa whispers.  He raises his sword and charges at Byeong Soo.

 

"Stop!"  Jo Cham commands.  Everyone stops to look in his direction.  Behind him is a swarm of soldiers.  Beside him, one soldier is holding Jeom Bak at swordpoint, while Jo Cham is holding Eunuch Bang at swordpoint.  "Unless you want to see these fellows' heads fall, drop your swords now!"

 

Byeong Soo and Wang Go smirk.

 

Bul Hwa screams and throws his sword on the ground.

 

Moo Song stabs his sword into the grass.

 

Byeong Soo laughs.  Tonight has been his night.  First, he successfully cock blocked Tanqishi, preventing Seung Nyang from obtaining concubine status.  Second, he stirred up a fight between Wang Yoo and Tanqishi, successfully getting Wang Yoo in trouble, with the death penalty as a strong possibility.  Now, Wang Yoo's men have been busted.  The Heavens are loving him tonight.  "Park Bul Hwa," Byeon Soo laughs uncontrollably.  This is just too sweet.

 

 

...To be continued...