The Fortress Page #7

Compose a courteous Ietter

and tell him of my wishes.

Your Majesty,

I'd rather die than kneel before

the barbarians and beg for my Iife.

Why do you keep speaking of death

when I told you I wished to Iive?

Minister Kim cannot be

the only skilled writer among us.

PIease spare him from

having to violate his own integrity.

True.

It is not Minister Kim alone

who has a way with words.

Who else among you is willing?

Are you afraid?

If you don't write a Ietter,

you fear death at the hands of the Khan.

If you write a Ietter begging

for your Iife,

you fear you'II go down in

history as a traitor!

Your Majesty,

I will write the Ietter.

Are you all right?

Where am I?

Don't worry.

You're in a camp under the command

of the field marshal.

We have the King's Ietter.

We've already passed it

along to the marshal.

Did you come all the way

from Namhan Fortress by yourself?

Yes.

You've made

a very difficult journey.

Are you a military officer?

May I ask your name and rank?

I'm not a military officer.

My name is Nal-soe.

I am a blacksmith.

A blacksmith?

Who entrusted this Ietter to you?

The Minister of Rites,

Sang-heon Kim.

Pig grease.

It helps the frostbite.

This is why you came?

Have you heard anything?

About my brother Nal-soe

or about the southern armies?

There is no difference

between the two.

For you, word of the southern armies

is much more important.

Be careful on your way back.

Chil-bok, please.

If I Ieave my post for too Iong,

I'II be flogged.

What're you up to?

Why are you not in bed?

It's cold and you were Iate.

I waited up for you.

Are these fish?

They're called perch.

Perch?

It Iives near the edge of the river

and has a sweet taste.

How do you know

so much about fish?

It's the first fish my grandfather

catches when the spring comes.

When the Songpa River melts,

I'II catch one for you.

When will the river melt?

When the dandelions bloom.

True.

When winter is over,

the dandelions will bloom.

No, Your Majesty!

This is preposterous,

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty,

Minister Choi's Ietter would hand

our country over to the Qing!

Burn the Ietter immediately

and execute its traitorous author, Your Majesty!

Mount his head as an example to

all our forces!

Your Majesty,

I couldn't adequately convey

Your Majesty's intentions on paper.

If this Ietter needs correction,

please Iet me know.

Is this really a Ietter for Iife?

It is not a Ietter written

to survive.

He is right.

This is not just a Ietter,

but a path.

It is the path

Your Majesty should follow.

The soldiers are

enduring cold and hunger

to protect the fortress.

The soldiers on the wall

are Iosing their strength.

Tomorrow is the full moon.

Tonight, we'II see

the fire signal and

the southern armies will come.

If you don't send

the reply Ietter today,

the Qing army will come,

and they will destroy us.

It's just one night!

Why are you willing to surrender

without holding out one night?

The whole world can

crumble in a single night.

Minister Kim is noble,

and I am cowardly.

He is Ioyal,

and I am dim-witted.

But even if you must

kill me tomorrow,

please send this Ietter to

the Khan today!

Minister Choi has recognized

the Khan as the Emperor

and downgraded Your Majesty

as a servant of Qing.

Will Your Majesty prostrate

in front of the Khan?

Will you pour drinks

for the Khan?

Your Majesty,

there's nothing the strong

would not do to the weak,

and there's nothing

the weak wouldn't do to survive!

Is this Ietter really the path

you would take to survive?

Kim's words are righteous,

but they are only words.

He thinks words are

more important than Iife.

The survival that he

talks of is death itself!

I would rather accept a Iighter

sort of death

for a Iife heavier than death!

Death is never Iight.

Death does not allow Iife!

Choi cannot

distinguish Iife and death any more.

He's disgracing Iife!

Death cannot be endured,

but humiliation can be endured!

Your Majesty, do not choose death,

for it means the death of all your people!

Dying while fighting the enemy

is better for an honorable king

than begging for Iife

in front of his people.

I can neither accept

nor serve such a king.

If you wish to do so,

execute me here right now.

What does it mean to be the king?

If a king must crawl

through barbarians' Iegs

to open a path of Iife

for his people,

he should do so,

and people will follow

with all of their hearts.

If you must, behead me,

but please endure

this mortification of today!

I know we are in a time of war,

but why would they entrust

a royal document to a Iowly peasant Iike him?

He's right, general.

How can we be sure

the document is genuine?

The stamp on the Ietter is

no doubt the King's seal.

But if we Iight the signal fire

and are caught by the enemy,

it will only result in

our pointless deaths.

Namhan Fortress will not be

easily breached.

They will survive on their own.

He's right.

Based on what the blacksmith said,

it seems the enemy isn't far from here.

Let's monitor the situation

before making another move.

But then we would be defying

a royal order.

Who would suffer the consequences?

What if we simply

never received it?

Come inside.

I never trust you

hypocrite officials.

He's an enemy scout!

Don't Iet him get away!

There he is!

Retreat!

Stop.

There must be

a Joseon camp nearby.

Follow them and find it.

Yes, sir.

If you deliver this,

the humiliation will taint your name

forever, even after the war.

I am willing to cast myself

a traitor for all eternity

if it stops the world

from crumbling.

Everyone in this world

will call you traitor.

When you return to the palace,

do not forsake Minister Kim.

He is the only Ioyal man

in the fortress.

You are also my Ioyal official.

From now on,

I am the traitor.

I'm going to die of cold

on this godforsaken wall...

They better hurry if they want us to

fight before we all freeze to death.

You have any more of

that grease?

They should have settled

this fight back in Seoul.

What was the point of dragging the war

all the way out here?

Do we know if the reinforcements

are truly on the way?

My brother is no ordinary man.

Wait and you'II see.

He'II bring the southern armies.

If they come as you say,

I'II Iet you marry my daughter.

Seriously?

I'm a man of my word.

Is she pretty?

You bet she is.

Naru!

Naru!

Where are you, Naru?

Naru...

Naru.

Your Majesty, you must evacuate.

Your Majesty!

Stop the attack, please!

You must stop at once!

I have come to deliver

a reply from the King of Joseon!

PIease, stop the attack!

What is he saying?

This is a reply to the Khan

from the Joseon King.

PIease, stop the attack!

Do not back down.

Those who retreat

will die by my sword.

Your Imperial Majesty!

This is the reply from the Joseon King.

PIease, order them to

halt the attack!

The King of Joseon has promised

to be your subject.

Your Imperial Majesty,

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