In 'Haunted Palace,' Yook Sung-jae, Kim Ji-yeon, and Kim Ji-hoon joined forces to exorcise the vengeful spirit 'Palcheokwi.'
In the fifth episode of the SBS drama 'Haunted Palace' (written by Yoon Soo-jung and directed by Yoon Sung-sik), which aired on March 2, Kang-cheol (Yook Sung-jae) accepted Yeori's (Kim Ji-yeon) wish to save the spirit of his first love, Yoon-gap (played by Yook Sung-jae), and resolved to become his guardian. Additionally, 'Haunted Palace' recorded a peak viewership rating of 9.4%, with 8.8% nationwide and 8.2% in the capital area (according to Nielsen Korea), maintaining its position as the top-rated show during its time slot and across all mini-series broadcasts for the week, continuing its popularity even during the holiday season.
The palace was thrown into chaos after the cold corpse of Prince Yeong-in (Kim Seon-bin) was discovered. As an awful stench emanated from Prince Yeong-in's body due to Jeon-ja (Park Jae-jun) being possessed by Palcheokwi, people in the royal family, including King Lee Jeong (Kim Ji-hoon), sensed that Prince Yeong-in's death was the work of Palcheokwi. Especially, the queen dowager (Han Soo-yeon), who lost her son, went into a frenzy. Until then, the queen dowager had collaborated with the shaman Poongsan (Kim Sang-ho), who served Palcheokwi, determined to protect Prince Yeong-in. The queen dowager unleashed all her grievances on Poongsan, who cunningly deflected responsibility, claiming that Prince Yeong-in died not because of Palcheokwi but due to a sorcerer the king brought into the palace, deceiving the queen dowager once again with his sly tongue. As a result, she grew resentful towards Lee Jeong, and Poongsan, who had survived, also began to show interest in the identity of the sorcerer beside the king, raising the tension.
Meanwhile, Kang-cheol heard an unexpected story from Monk Gaseup (Lee Won-jong). To eliminate Palcheokwi, Kang-cheol must exhaust the luminous jade he holds inside him. In other words, it meant that he would have to sacrifice himself. Unaware of this fact, Yeori, who acquired her grandmother's (Gil Hae-yeon) relics, was excited about the thought of exorcising Palcheokwi and retrieving Yoon-gap's spirit. Kang-cheol felt complicated emotions but quickly gathered his thoughts and promised to become her protector and defeat Palcheokwi as per Yeori's request.
Kang-cheol and Yeori were reborn as protector and apprentice through a shamanic rite. After receiving a handmade 'Jangmyeongru' (a bracelet woven with colorful threads) as a ritual offering from Yeori, Kang-cheol slipped a jade ring onto her finger, fostering a subtle sense of excitement between them. For a moment, Kang-cheol warned, "No matter how much you hold Yoon-gap in your heart, I will never let you go," and as if trying to shake off bad omens, he declared, "If you accept me as your protector, I will smash that Palcheokwi to bits!"
Kang-cheol and Yeori devised a plan to return to the capital. Amidst this, a significant incident occurred for the two. They were startled to find the guard Seo Jae-il (Han-min) from the Royal Guard and fled, only to hide in the palanquin of Choi In-seon (Shin Seul-gi). While in the narrow palanquin alone with Yeori, Kang-cheol couldn't control his surging emotions and gently touched Yeori's lips, causing her to gasp in surprise, leading to their discovery by Seo Jae-il.
In fact, Seo Jae-il was searching for the two on the secret orders of the queen (Han So-eun). Upon returning to the palace, Yeori discovered a talisman used by Palcheokwi in Prince Yeong-in's residence, and through the testimony of the malicious spirit Oh-gyeom (Song Su-yi), she grasped the circumstances surrounding Prince Yeong-in's death. Upon learning of Kang-cheol and Yeori's return, the king became furious. At that moment, the queen stepped forward, pleading tearfully to change the king's mind in order to protect the king and the crown prince. Meanwhile, Kang-cheol and Yeori learned that there was someone in the palace aiding Palcheokwi, leading the king to finally join forces with them to confront this threat, delivering an exhilarating thrill.
As Kang-cheol and Yeori returned home and resumed their daily lives, Kang-cheol found it hard to contain his racing heart whenever he saw Yeori. Ultimately, he expressed his confusion, saying, "Why do I keep feeling like this? Whenever I'm near her, it feels like something inside is bubbling up. I feel as if I want to devour her, but why am I feeling this way?" This evoked laughter. On the other hand, Yeori also felt excited about Kang-cheol and insisted, "I'm confused, I'm confused. I'm mixing him up with Yoon-gap," desperately trying to dismiss her emotional turmoil, adding a touch of blossoming romance for the viewers.
Towards the end of the drama, Kang-cheol, Yeori, and the king solidified their plan to eliminate Palcheokwi. They aimed to lure Palcheokwi to the fortress, using Neobdeok's lunar sword and Kang-cheol's luminous jade to exorcise Palcheokwi and capture the colluding forces. On the day of the decisive battle, as expected, Palcheokwi appeared at the fortress, and Yeori successfully trapped Palcheokwi in a previously set up iron net (a paper relic used to capture evil spirits). Kang-cheol thrust the power of the luminous jade into the lunar sword, stabbing Palcheokwi beyond the iron net. However, under the immense force exerted by Palcheokwi, Kang-cheol collapsed to the ground, pondering the words of Monk Gaseup that he could only eliminate Palcheokwi by completely exhausting the luminous jade, but he desperately denied it. As Palcheokwi struggled to tear through the iron net in an imminent crisis, the drama concluded, leaving viewers wondering if they would emerge unscathed from Palcheokwi's counterattack.
On this day, the broadcast revealed the existence of a shadowy figure referred to as the 'Elder' behind Poongsan, intensifying the tension. Additionally, the suspicious actions of former Prime Minister Choi Won-woo (Ahn Nae-sang), who arrived in the capital under the pretext of mourning Prince Yeong-in, and the relentless pursuit of the one-legged spirit only deepened the suspicion. Furthermore, the Minister of Military Affairs, Gwak Sang-chung (Yoon Seung), learned of Kang-cheol's return to the palace, and events grew precarious as the queen dowager became aware of the queen's pregnancy, creating a series of troubling incidents that made it impossible to let their guards down.
The SBS drama 'Haunted Palace' is a fantasy romantic comedy about Yeori, a shaman who rejects her fate as a medium, and Kang-cheol, a nine-tailed snake trapped in the body of Yeori's first love, Yoon-gap, who confronts the vengeful spirit Palcheokwi, resulting in a fierce battle for bodies and souls. Episode six will air at 9:55 p.m. on March 3.
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