In the palace, I-An gets a call from Yi-Rang in Perfect Crown episode 11. He receives a message from Jeong-Woo who asks for a meeting up in the Council Hall. Hye-Jung tells Yi-Rang that they have thirty minutes before they go to the main palace. She reports it to him that King wants to get in the main palace with him. It seems that King is nervous. I-An promises Hye-Jung that he will come back soon.
Hui-Ju walks out of her palace. She runs into Sung-Won. They hear the explosion. She figures it out that the explosion is from the council hall. She runs to the hall. Yi-Rang hears the sound in her palace. She asks Sun-Hwa to go to check what happened.
Hui-Ju runs into Hye-Jung outside the council hall. The house is burning. She asks her why she’s there. Hye-Jung reveals I-An is in the hall. Hui-Ju breaks into the hall to look for I-An. He sees her. He wishes she won’t come. He passes out. She finds him. She manages to open the hot lock. Her hand is burned. She runs through the fire. She listens to his heart. She finds out that his heart is still beating. She tries to drag him out of the hall. But he’s too heavy. She cries. She wishes someone will help them.
King cries to run into Yi-Rang’s palace. He tells her mother that there was a fire in the palace. Yi-Rang asks Sun-Hwa if I-An is fine. I-An lies in the bed in his room. Hui-Ju watches him. Jin-Sook persuades Hui-Ju to go to take a break. She mentions the doctor said that the guy was fine. She thinks she shouldn’t have rushed into the burning building. She would die if Choi Hyeon didn’t arrive.
Hui-Ju points out that I-An would come to save her as well. Jeong-Woo breaks into the room. He notices the wound on Hui-Ju’s hand. Outside the room, he blames her for running to the place. She persuades him to keep his voice down. Because the maids are outside. He asks her why she didn’t go to hospital. He takes her hand. He thinks she should accept a treatment. But she says that she doesn’t trust any hospitals. The fire wasn’t an accident. I-An is the target of the poisoning, not her. The fire happened when he was going to accept abdication.
Hui-Ju tells Jeong-Woo that it’s not a coincidence. He asks her what she will do if it wasn’t an accident. He asks her if she will replace I-An to fall down and die. She thinks she has no choice. She wonders if she needs to let I-An die. He says yes. He wants I-An to die. He explains it to her that he doesn’t want to see her in danger. He cannot endure it.
Choi Hyeon finds Hye-Jung in the room. His head was hurt when he helped Hui-Ju. He tells Hye-Jung that she doesn’t have to worry about it. Because Hui-Ju and I-An are fine. She cries. She apologizes it to him. She thinks she shouldn’t have left I-An. He points out that the fire wouldn’t go out even if she was there. She notices that his hand was hurt. She grabs his hand. She thanks him. She thinks the two would die if it wasn’t because of him. He claims that he just did his duty. She tells him that she worried that he would be hurt. He says that he recovers. He laughs.
Hye-Jung visits Hui-Ju. She asks her if she needs to go to a hospital. But Hui-Ju wants to know why I-An was in the council hall. Hye-Jung explains it to Hui-Ju that Jeong-Woo invited I-An to the audience hall. Hui-Ju walks into I-An’s room. She sits on the bed. She looks at the her man. She remembers how he loved her. She mentions what he said that the palace was safe.
Outside the council hall, Jeong-Woo asks his follower not to issue a joint statement before I-An wakes up. In the Monitoring Room, Hui-Ju wants to question everyone around the council hall. But it’s Yi-Rang’s jurisdiction. Choi Hyeon promises Hui-Ju that he will ask Yi-Rang to help them. But she wants to ask the woman in person.
Hui-Ju meets Yi-Rang. Yi-Rang asks Hui-Ju if I-An is fine. She explains it to her that she wanted to go to see the guy. Hui-Ju points out that Yi-Rang worries that if I-An can get through it. She mentions the case happened when he was going to accept abdication. Yi-Rang was the only one who went against abdication. She should give Hui-Ju permissions if she doesn’t want to be suspected. Hui-Ju wants to look into the duty log. She tells Yi-Rang that I-An will be alive. She pours out the tea. She tells her that she cannot drink the drink that is given by someone else.
Hui-Ju leaves Yi-Rang’s palace. Choi Hyeon reports to her that the investigation won’t be made public. It’s Jeong-Woo’s order. The guy worries that the situation will escalate. Because they’re looking into the poisoning case. He’s still in I-An’s palace.
Hui-Ju runs into I-An’s palace. Hye-Jung tells Hui-Ju that I-An will wake up soon. Jeong-Woo asks Hui-Ju to wait and see. Outside the palace, she apologizes to him. She explains it to him that she was a bit neurotic because so much has happened. She notices that he doesn’t wear prayer beads.
Tae-Ju and Da-Young have dinner at a restaurant. Hui-Ju doesn’t text Tae-Ju back. He tries to order food. He hears that I-An is dead. Tae-Ju and Da-Young call Hui-Ju. Hui-Ju doesn’t pick up their phones. Because she’s accompanying I-An.
Jeong-Woo tries to leave his office. Min-Young reports to his boss that Sung-Won wants to issue a statement. Because there’s a rumor that I-An is dead. Jeong-Woo visits Yi-Rang. He persuades her to serve as regent. She thinks it’s too hasty. He threatens her that he will issue an official order if she refuses to do that. I-An shows up. He wishes Jeong-Woo didn’t worry about him too much.
In the room, Hui-Ju and Choi Hyeon are reading the duty log. Hye-Jung breaks into the room. She reports to Hui-Ju that I-An woke up. Hui-Ju runs to I-An’s room. I-An takes her arm. He hugs her. He notices her injured hand. He thinks he shouldn’t have gotten in the council hall. She cries to tell him that she should have done it. Because he was there. He strokes her hair. He apologizes to her. He asks her to forgive him.
Jeong-Woo drinks alone at home. He remembers I-An wanted to return to work. He thought it was the right time. Because people worried that he was dead. Jeong-Woo calls someone. He tells him that they should clean up the mess since I-An woke up. He drinks up the wine. He smashes the glass.
In I-An’s room, I-An and Hui-Ju lie in the bed. He tells her that he’s fine. She asks him why he went to Yi-Rang’s palace after he woke up. He explains it to her that he heard that Jeong-Woo was there. The guy would get someone to replace him. Because he didn’t know when he would wake up. She learns that the guy went to invite Yi-Rang to serve as regent. I-An wanted to prove it to Jeong-Woo that he was alive.
Hui-Ju asks I-An if he trusts Jeong-Woo. They’re friends. But they’re heartless sometimes. He admits it to her that he wants to beat the guy. But he trusts him. Because he’s bound by the royal family, and Jeong-Woo is bound by the cabinet. He mentions what she said that it was reasonable to trust Jeong-Woo.
The suspect is arrested. I-An reads the report. He thinks it’s interesting that those guys issued it until he woke up. I-An visits King. King is happy to run to I-An. I-An carries his nephew. King tells I-An that he worried that he would die like his father. I-An comforts King that he will accompany him by his side.
Sung-Won meets Yi-Rang after he heard that I-An was going to work. She thinks those guys won’t miss the chance. He persuades her to stop those guys. But she thinks the ministers won’t listen to her. He mentions I-An almost died in a gas explosion. He offers to stop the ministers’ reinstatement with the reason of I-An’s safety. She asks him how he knows the fire was caused by a gas explosion. Sung-Won leaves. I-An tells the girl that she cannot protect her. But she can protect her family.
Hui-Ju doesn’t believe that a bodyguard could blow up the council hall alone. She decides to leave the palace. Yi-Rang visits I-An. She gets on her knees to him. She tells him that she came there to report a crime of treason. She reveals her father wanted to kill him. She gives him the evidence. She tells him that it’s the evidence of her wedding accident. The maid is in her hand. She has confessed. He questions her the goal why she told it to him. She says that the fire might have done by her father. He guesses she wants him to forgive her father. She asks him to punish her and her father. He asks her if she can shoulder it if he does so. She looks up at him. She tells him that she will try to accept it.
At the shooting range, Jeong-Woo practices shooting. He decides to announce the hunting season. Because I-An needs to take a break and Yi-Rang doesn’t like hunting. But Hui-Ju wants to do it when she shows up with a gun.
In the meeting room, I-An asks Yi-Rang why she’s afraid of him now. She tells him that she has a duty to guard the royal family. So she’s protecting him. She doesn’t want her and her father’s greed to hurt him and the royal family. She asks him to forgive her son. He tells her that she will be a sinner forever. It’s the cost that she put down King. She thinks it’s enough. She smiles.
At the shooting range, Jeong-Woo wants to kill animals. Hui-Ju points her gun at him. She mentions he arrested the suspect. She asks him if the guy is a harmful animal as well. In the evening, Hui-Ju is on the way to the palace. But she’s told that I-An is in his personal house. She arrives at the house. He’s drunk. She leans on his shoulder. He reveals Yi-Rang just visited him. The mastermind of the poisoning case was Sung-Won. He didn’t know what to do when Yi-Rang begged him for King. Hui-Ju helps I-An fall asleep. She thinks he’s too soft-hearted.
The next day, I-An summons Jeong-Woo. He praises him for catching the arsonist. But he asks him about the poisoning case. Jeong-Woo reports it to I-An that the mastermind was Sung-Won. I-An remembers Yi-Rang asked him to be careful of Jeong-Woo. Jeong-Woo was the first one who discovered her father’s sins. He knew it but he chose to conceal it from I-An. I-An thought the guy didn’t have a reason to do so. But Yi-Rang asked him if he really thought so.
I-An plans to punish Sung-Won. Because he will abolish the monarchy after he becomes the king. Jeong-Woo learns that I-An wants to chase freedom after he got what he wanted. But I-An says that the freedom not only belongs to him.
Jeong-Woo walks out of I-An’s office. He runs into Hui-Ju. She asks I-An if he’s fine. He will Sung-Won will be arrested. She asks him if Jeong-Woo agreed. He says that the guy didn’t. But he has no choice. Because I-An said that he knew the truth.
SEE ALSO: Perfect Crown Episode 10 Recap
Yi-Rang is in her palace. She watches the news that her father is arrested. King visits her. She asks him to be strong. He can go to see his uncle if he’s afraid. She hugs him. She tears up. I-An visits Sung-Won in the prison. He tells him that his daughter won’t get a good ending if he doesn’t repent.
Jeong-Woo has a meeting with the cabinet. He thinks they should get I-An to listen to them. He walks out of the meeting room. Hui-Ju is waiting for him. She persuades him to support I-An. But he rejects it. He claims that it will be decided by the nation. It promotes her to believe that they will be enemies. I-An ascends the throne. He receives the homage of the officials.