For the final round of Taekhyeon, the king invited young Confucian scholars from Sungkyungkwan. In “Under The Queen’s Umbrella,” the queen’s royal position is at stake, as she has agreed to step down if none of her sons becomes the crown prince. Only grand prince Seong Nam has qualified for the final round of Taekhyeon among all her sons, and he is now her only hope if she wants to save her position and her sons’ lives.
Spoilers Ahead
Is Prince Seong Nam Not Born Of Royal Blood?
The king has changed the format of Taekhyeon and doesn’t let anyone guess his next move. The scholars are supposed to be the final judges, but the king invites the three princes and evaluates them with one question. He asks them to ask a question to the king, and while other princes ask straightforward questions, prince Seongnam criticizes the king and asks him about his negligence toward corrupt systems.
The king sends his evaluation result to the scholars, and news spreads that prince Seong Nam is leading the competition. While the queen dowager and others are enraged over the result, the queen has a valid doubt. If such information is leaked even when scholars are performing an evaluation under strict security, soon, there will be efforts to influence the scholars. As the queen suspected, the queen dowager, minister Yoon, chief councilor, and consort Tae have been communicating with the scholars through the court maids, who carry food to the scholars.
The queen doesn’t want to do anything about it because she thinks that the competition between the two princes will only benefit prince Seong Nam. Everyone is trying to influence the fathers of the scholars by promising their sons a position in the new court of the crown prince, and the scholars are now confused about whom to choose between prince Bo Geom and prince Uiseong.
The queen dowager has been supporting prince Bo Geom behind the chief councilor’s back, and when the councilor finds out that many scholars are supporting prince Bo Geom, he understands that prince Uiseong cannot win without the queen dowager’s support. He meets the queen dowager with consort Hwang and strikes a deal with her. He gives her the authority to select the personnel for the upcoming court, and consort Hwang promises her authority over the court ladies if prince Uiseong becomes the crown prince.
The queen dowager invites her consort Tae and prince Bo Geom, only to tell them to back off from Taekhyeon. The queen dowager only used prince Bo Geom to get what she wanted from the chief councilor, and she insults both consort Tae and prince Bo Geom by telling them that she never considered prince Bo Geom to be eligible to become the crown prince because consort Tae comes from a lowly background. Consort Tae begs the queen dowager to let prince Bo Geom stay in the competition, but she has to give it up.
The queen comes to know the dirty game played by the queen dowager, and now that prince Bo Geom has dropped out, it is clear that the scholars must have been bribed to make prince Uiseong the crown prince. The queen was already aware of the malpractices, and hence, she entered the hall of scholars to examine the activities. She tells the king about the rumors of external influence over the scholars, and the king gives her permission to check if it is true. The queen finds pieces of paper carrying messages for scholars hidden on the food trays. However, the queen covers it up and reminds the scholars of their moral responsibilities, which motivates the scholars to burn the notes without reading them, and they don’t allow anyone else inside their hall until the final evaluation.
Consort Tae hasn’t eaten since the day prince Bo Geom backed off from the contest. She has been blaming herself for the prince’s misfortune. The queen summons prince Bo Geom and assures him that he is not any less worthy because of his mother’s background. She tells him that a crown prince cannot do everything on his own and that he should assist the crown prince. However, she has more news for him. The queen punishes his mother, consort Tae, for spreading rumors about prince Seong Nam. She demotes her to a court maid and makes her work so much that she gets physical fatigue. It gives Tae time to finally realize her mistakes. Tae only wanted the best for her son, but she hurt him because of that.
After the final quiz, the scholars choose prince Seong Nam as the crown prince, and the king announces the same to his court. The chief counselor is willing to do anything to bring down prince Seong Nam, and he puts forth the controversy of prince Seong Nam’s birth. Other court officials also demand a medical test to prove that prince Seong Nam is of royal blood and put an end to the controversy, and the queen agrees to do the test.
The first test comes out negative, but the queen is aware of all the tactics and makes the chief councilor and consort Hwang go through the same test, which comes out negative as well because of the contaminated solution. The queen suggests that the queen dowager check the unique earbone that all of the king’s sons have. Prince Seong Nam has that distinct bone, which confirms that he is of royal blood. That’s when the queen makes it clear why prince Seong Nam lived outside the palace.
The queen was pregnant with prince Seong Nam when the previous king died, and hence, he was considered a bad omen. The queen apologizes to prince Seong Nam for not standing up for him back then, but prince Seong Nam is happy that she can do so now. The queen dowager had always told prince Seong Nam to stay within his limits, but he tells her now that he is not ashamed of anything and will live with his head held high.
No one but Park Gyeongu can negotiate with the king. He refuses to take the position of minister of taxation from the king, but they finally come to an agreement when the king offers Park Gyeongu to become the crown prince’s tutor along with the minister of taxation. All the tutors have gathered to teach the new crown prince his first lesson. The first class of scholars is known to be a brutal one, as the tutors test the candidates to the extreme. However, crown prince Seong Nam passed their assessment patiently.
The crown prince has more responsibilities now than just studying, and one of them is getting married. The queen dowager has chosen candidates that are favorable to her, and the queen has to choose better candidates who cannot be controlled by the queen dowager. She walks around the streets as a commoner to test the daughters of the noblemen, and consort Tae and consort Ko help her for the same. After shortlisting some candidates, the queen encounters Yoon Chung Ha, who helps a woman in need.
The queen suggests Chung Ha apply to become the crown princess, but Chung Ha declares that she is in love with someone and shows the picture of that man, who is no one else but crown prince Seong Nam. Only when the queen tells her that the man in the picture is the crown prince does Chung Ha agree to apply for the position of crown princess. She assumes that the queen is a senior court lady and takes her advice about not letting anyone know that she has met the crown prince before.
The queen dowager has already reached Minister Yoon’s home to test his daughters, and Chung Ha is not even considered because of her reputation as a troublemaker. In the middle of the ongoing test of her sisters, Chung Ha barges in and pleads to her father that she wants to become the crown princess. The queen dowager has a private chat with her and decides that Chung Ha will become the crown princess no matter what. Minister Yoon knows that the queen dowager is only going to use Chung Ha to bring down the crown prince, and hence, he doesn’t want Chung Ha to participate in the selection.
Apart from the crown prince’s marriage, the king is also concerned about the rebels, who are planning to overthrow the king’s government. Seo Ham Deok died in prison by taking poison, but the king knows that it was not really a suicide. The rebels don’t want their plan to be exposed, which is why physician Kwon fools Ham Deok into drinking poison. The queen is still looking for physician Kwon, but he has managed to hide well.
‘Under The Queen’s Umbrella’ Episode 13: Ending
The queen dowager wants to bring the worst bride for the crown prince, Seong Nam, but she has misjudged Chung Ha and the queen as well. The queen has already met Chung Ha’s parents and promised them to keep Chung Ha safe from the queen dowager, and in exchange, minister Yoon has to protect the crown prince. During the final selection, the queen pretends to oppose the selection of Chung Ha, which only pushes the queen dowager more toward selecting her.
Crown Prince Seong Nam was not interested in knowing the progress of the selection because he knew it was a fight between the queen dowager and the queen. Only on the day of his marriage does he see that his bride is Chung Ha, whom he has met before. He has been thinking about her even after they left the island but did not expect her to be his bride. However, now he knows that she is the daughter of Minister Yoon, who is on the queen dowager’s side.
The queen never gets to rest in “Under The Queen’s Umbrella.” Crown prince Seong Nam leaves the crown princess alone in their quarter on their wedding night, and if that wasn’t enough of a headache for the queen, Cho Wol, prince Muam’s lover, shows up at the palace gate with a baby and claims that she is looking for the baby’s father. The queen has to wake up in the middle of the night to sort out the mess her sons have created.
