The Haunted Palace – K-drama Episode 13 Recap & Review
Episode 13 of The Haunted Palace begins with a 100-year-old flashback. The enemies are getting close and King Yeon-jong makes a run for it. With nowhere to hide, Escort Officer Cheon Geum-hwi suggests his hometown, Yongdam Village. Unfortunately, on the way over, the enemies find out their location.
King Yeon-jong decides to send a decoy to Yongdam so the enemies don't find his new safehouse. Cheon asks for time to evacuate the villagers but the King refuses as it would give away the ruse. With Choi Gil-song's signal, an officer ties Cheon to a tree and they all leave. The enemies slaughter everyone in Yongdam while searching for the King.
At present, King Lee Sung is ashamed by his ancestor's cowardice and selfishness. Yeo-ri feels Cheon's guilt as he blames himself for the massacre. But he is not alone. As the 8-foot ghost, he has absorbed the grudge of all the murdered villagers. Gangcheori reveals that the villagers who survived turned bitter and vile. It is why he believes all mortals are loathsome beings.
Meanwhile, the 8-foot ghost attacks the Crown Prince. However, the ghostbane stone keeps him away and Ga-seop comforts the prince.
Back in the village, Yeo-ri spots Yoon Gap's soul. Gangcheori realises the ghost is scheming something but Yeo-ri has other problems. She wonders what will happen to Gangcheori after Yoon Gap takes back his body. Gangcheori is playful with her and Yoon Gap watches them from afar.
In-seon is curious about them too and Yeo-ri flexes their relationship. Gangcheori teases her but he is surprised by the caragana plant suddenly blooming. A flashback shows Ga-seop explaining that caragana flowers have water energy which can help Gangcheori defeat the ghost. It seems to be a necessity as the Imugi's powers are getting weaker and weaker.
Elsewhere, the King learns of Kim Bong-in's death and is upset. Paired with the shame of his ancestor's doing, he mopes. However, he does attend the one-legged ghost's ritual. Choi Won-u hesitates but ends up profusely apologising to the ghost which helps him cross over to the afterlife. As for the punishment, the King fines Choi and orders 50 lashings.
While the retinue returns to the capital, Pung-san targets Minister Ahn, Kwak's peer and the one who had introduced the talismans. The blind shaman wins him over by promising to make him Chief State Councillor.
Yoon Gap continues to watch as Mrs. Yoon dotes over Gangcheori. He is also upset when it is Gangcheori who cheers up a sulking King Lee Sung with some tough love. Gap is hurt that Gangcheori has taken everything important to him. We finally learn that Pung-san hopes Gap's bitterness will fester into an evil grudge.
Onto the showdown prep, the King procures an identification tablet for Cheon Geum-hwi. Inspired by the one-legged ghost's resolution, he hopes to share his regret and apologise to the 8-foot ghost which should allow it to cross over to the afterlife. Yeo-ri agrees to hold a ritual 10 days later, on Cheon's 100th death anniversary. She does try to exclude Gangcheori out of concern but he refuses.
Meanwhile, the Queen Mother tries to find closure. She is heartbroken when Yeo-ri reveals that Prince Yeong-in has been devoured by the 8-foot ghost. However, Yeo-ri lies that praying with his precious belongings shall set him free.
The kid ghost calls her out but she points out the tenacity of a mother's prayer. The kid misses his mother and Yeo-ri helps him cross over as well.
Pung-san's next phase is put into motion as Lord Ahn invites Gangcheori for a meal. The Imugi realises it is a trap but it is too late as he faints. He is taken home and he seems to be burning up. At the end of The Haunted Palace Episode 13, Yoon Gap wakes up in his own body. Mrs. Yoon is delighted to see that he is back to his old self. But Yeo-ri is worried by Gangcheori's disappearance.
The Episode Review
As the penultimate week, this K-drama is off to an exciting start. The Haunted Palace Episode 13 unravels all the remaining mysteries such as what happened in Yongdam Village and why the ghost is targeting one particular royal bloodline.
Yoon Gap finally returns but is leaning towards the misguided villain role rather than the hero we all thought he would be. Gangcheori and Yeo-ri's romance is still pretty sweet even though the focus is largely on wrapping up the ghost conflict.
And while it is quite sad how Yoon Gap feels replaced, the moments between Gangcheori and the King, Yeo-ri and Mrs. Yoon were quite heartwarming. It highlights just how much Gangcheori has changed from the beginning of the show. And finally, a shoutout to Sung-jae for portraying two distinct characters so well that we could identify Yoon Gap the moment he woke up in his body.
Previous Episode
Next Episode
Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Why the humble rice cooker might be the only appliance you need in your kitchen
As a chef, I often get asked what my style of cooking is. Officially, I specialize in Hawaii's local food and diasporic Asian cuisines, but unofficially, or if you catch me on a tired day, I'll say my style of cooking is 'dorm room'. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Which means I can make a filling, elaborate meal out of seemingly nothing, so long as I have a rice cooker in my arsenal. It's my 'desert island appliance', the one piece of equipment I could still thrive with if I lost my entire kitchen. And anybody can learn the same hacks and shortcuts. Today's rice cookers come with sometimes dozens of functions, which I thoroughly tested when I rounded up 17 of them for my 'Rice Cooker Olympics'. But the most basic rice cooker – even one with just the two simple functions of 'cook rice' and 'keep rice warm', is an entire kitchen encased in a little plug-in pot. Let me explain. First, obviously, it cooks rice, from short-grain to sushi, jasmine to brown, and even mixed grains. By extension, it can also make congee, or rice porridge: the finest of breakfasts and the most comforting of one-bowl meals. All you have to do is keep adding more water, purposefully exploding rice grains into silken porridge. It can braise meats and tofu when it's operating at full throttle. Skip the rice, add a bit of oil to the pot, and hit start to make dishes like mapo tofu or spiced ground beef stews. It can make fluffy, cakey Japanese pancakes. And don't forget chawanmushi – that silken Japanese egg custard often served at the start of omakases, or chef-curated sushi meals. It steams quickly and beautifully in a rice cooker: as you set your rice to cook, halfway through the process, set a little ceramic bowl of water and egg scrambled together in the middle of the half cooked rice and then voila, when your rice is done, you also have chawanmushi. Put in whole eggs and you'll have soft-boiled or hard-boiled eggs, depending on timing. Hard-boiled eggs take 20 minutes and soft boiled eggs take 13 to 15 minutes. You can either set the eggs in a steamer basket set inside your rice cooker (if your cooker comes with one – the Hamilton Beach one we like does, as does the Tatung), or just put them directly into your cooking rice. You can make soups in a rice cooker, rice pudding, and an infinite number of grains: quinoa, fonio, barley, couscous, to name just a common few. Stick vegetables in your rice cooker and you'll also wind up with perfectly tender broccoli, green beans, and asparagus. During the cooking process, you can put them in a ceramic bowl and set it directly into your cooking rice, or use a steamer basket attachment. I tested a lot of rice cookers for The Guardian's list of the best rice cookers, and many are sophisticated devices. With added functions and settings come increased food options. Some of the rice cookers I tested can take the thinking and preparation out of complex grains such as germinated brown rice, which is thought to have extra nutritional value. They will soak, time and baby the grains over a cooking cycle of around three hours. Other rice cookers can pressure cook grains at high speed and they can unlock the complex, floral notes of even the most common, frankly boring, short-grain rice. They will time your congee for you, or adjust themselves to cook wild rice, mixed rice, sushi rice or jasmine rice. They'll wake up just before you do, and make sure that the oatmeal you put in them the night prior is your steaming hot breakfast. Some can even sanitize themselves, steaming their innards at high temperatures. Modern rice cookers come with dozens of bells and whistles. Whether you choose the highest end Zojirushi cooker or the most basic Green Life one, look after it. Treat its inner liners like a nonstick pan and clean it by hand. And know when you're purchasing a rice cooker, you're purchasing a kitchen. Get one with a handle and it can travel with you anywhere.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
I grew up in a tiny bamboo hut where I slept on the floor and used a communal shower... now I live in luxury
A woman who grew up in a tiny bamboo hut in the Philippines where six people shared a room and slept on mattresses on the floor has laid bare the grim realities of her childhood. Maeurn Smiles, 25, hails from the island of Cebu, a province of the Philippines, where her family struggled to make ends meet. She resided in a small shack that consisted of just one large room and had no kitchen or bathroom and rarely had electricity. She often 'went hungry' and was forced to look after her younger siblings when she was only eight years old while her parents worked long hours. After years of struggling and longing for a better life, she began selling saucy photos of herself at age 21 and now rakes in thousands a month through the endeavor - but she's using her earnings to help stop other kids from going through something similar. While speaking exclusively with the Daily Mail about it, she said of her childhood: 'We had no money. 'All of us would sleep together, packed like sardines. There were no rooms at all. It was just one open space where we all slept side by side.' She said her mom worked as a maid, cleaning houses for wealthy families in the village, while her dad was a construction driver. She explained that they rarely had electricity - it depended on whether or not they could afford it - and there were 'no proper beds.' 'We slept on thin mattresses on the floor, but we made it work,' she continued. They cooked on an open fire outside and showered in a communal washing area 'with their clothes on.' There was also no toilet in the house which meant they had to use public bathrooms. 'We cooked using an open fire outside. We didn't have a stove or oven, so everything was very traditional and manual,' shared Maeurn. 'We showered outside with our clothes on - Filipino style. As for toilets, we didn't have one inside the house.' They lived off noodles and rice, but 'if they were lucky' they'd sometimes get 'fish, chicken, or sardines from a can.' However some days, they 'went hungry.' She dished, 'Corned beef was a treat. For breakfast, we'd have rice with Milo, it felt fancy to me as a kid. 'But there were times when we didn't even have rice. We were very poor, and most of our money went straight to food. If there wasn't enough, we simply went without.' She spent her days watching over her younger siblings before she got her first job when she was only a teen teaching ESL lessons. But Maeurn insisted that she was not unhappy during her childhood despite the harsh living conditions. 'It brought us closer. It turned out to be a lot of fun,' she reflected. Maeurn now rakes in thousands a month through OnlyFans, and her new lifestyle is a far cry from her childhood struggles. She is now building her own school in the Philippines so that other kids won't be in the same situation she was. 'I promised myself that any success I found online would flow back to kids who feel stuck where I once was,' Maeurn, who has 3.7 million followers on Instagram, said. 'A supercar depreciates, but a student's mind compounds. If I'd had this opportunity growing up, I probably would have pursued medicine or engineering. 'I loved science, but our rural school only had one broken microscope and no lab sessions.' Despite facing backlash by some for her online career, Maeurn says she's proud to be proving that the creator economy can drive real-world change. In response to those who may judge her for selling sultry images, she clapped back: 'Some people will never respect how I earn my money, but I don't care what they think. 'They shouldn't care how I get the money – just how I use it. I know I'm using my platform for good, and that's all that matters. 'Education saved me and gave me new prospects, and that's exactly what I want to do for other young people.' Construction on the school - called Edmundo Tolentino Memorial National High School, after her late father - is already underway. The first phase includes three classrooms, a library, and a science and cooking center – a unique feature, Maeurn said, that will help kids gain practical life skills alongside academics. She said of her journey: 'At 18, I was teaching English to Chinese students with no degree, just determination. 'I came from a poor family, but through OnlyFans and my other platforms, I was able to build something for myself.' Maeurn hopes the school will eventually serve over 300 students, many of whom currently walk miles every day just to attend classes. She has bigger plans too – including a dormitory for girls who live too far away and a scholarship fund to help the brightest pupils go on to study STEM subjects at top universities. But her ultimate goal is to build a whole network of creator-backed institutions across Southeast Asia. 'If the result is children studying under proper lights instead of by candlelight, then all the challenges are worth it,' she added. 'Every classroom we finish and every student who walks through those doors brings real change – not just for them, but for the whole community. 'This school isn't just a building; it's an investment in education that will make a difference for years to come.'
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- The Guardian
Why the humble rice cooker might be the only appliance you need in your kitchen
As a chef, I often get asked what my style of cooking is. Officially, I specialize in Hawaii's local food and diasporic Asian cuisines, but unofficially, or if you catch me on a tired day, I'll say my style of cooking is 'dorm room'. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Which means I can make a filling, elaborate meal out of seemingly nothing, so long as I have a rice cooker in my arsenal. It's my 'desert island appliance', the one piece of equipment I could still thrive with if I lost my entire kitchen. And anybody can learn the same hacks and shortcuts. Today's rice cookers come with sometimes dozens of functions, which I thoroughly tested when I rounded up 17 of them for my 'Rice Cooker Olympics'. But the most basic rice cooker – even one with just the two simple functions of 'cook rice' and 'keep rice warm', is an entire kitchen encased in a little plug-in pot. Let me explain. First, obviously, it cooks rice, from short-grain to sushi, jasmine to brown, and even mixed grains. By extension, it can also make congee, or rice porridge: the finest of breakfasts and the most comforting of one-bowl meals. All you have to do is keep adding more water, purposefully exploding rice grains into silken porridge. It can braise meats and tofu when it's operating at full throttle. Skip the rice, add a bit of oil to the pot, and hit start to make dishes like mapo tofu or spiced ground beef stews. It can make fluffy, cakey Japanese pancakes. And don't forget chawanmushi – that silken Japanese egg custard often served at the start of omakases, or chef-curated sushi meals. It steams quickly and beautifully in a rice cooker: as you set your rice to cook, halfway through the process, set a little ceramic bowl of water and egg scrambled together in the middle of the half cooked rice and then voila, when your rice is done, you also have chawanmushi. Put in whole eggs and you'll have soft-boiled or hard-boiled eggs, depending on timing. Hard-boiled eggs take 20 minutes and soft boiled eggs take 13 to 15 minutes. You can either set the eggs in a steamer basket set inside your rice cooker (if your cooker comes with one – the Hamilton Beach one we like does, as does the Tatung), or just put them directly into your cooking rice. You can make soups in a rice cooker, rice pudding, and an infinite number of grains: quinoa, fonio, barley, couscous, to name just a common few. Stick vegetables in your rice cooker and you'll also wind up with perfectly tender broccoli, green beans, and asparagus. During the cooking process, you can put them in a ceramic bowl and set it directly into your cooking rice, or use a steamer basket attachment. I tested a lot of rice cookers for The Guardian's list of the best rice cookers, and many are sophisticated devices. With added functions and settings come increased food options. Some of the rice cookers I tested can take the thinking and preparation out of complex grains such as germinated brown rice, which is thought to have extra nutritional value. They will soak, time and baby the grains over a cooking cycle of around three hours. Other rice cookers can pressure cook grains at high speed and they can unlock the complex, floral notes of even the most common, frankly boring, short-grain rice. They will time your congee for you, or adjust themselves to cook wild rice, mixed rice, sushi rice or jasmine rice. They'll wake up just before you do, and make sure that the oatmeal you put in them the night prior is your steaming hot breakfast. Some can even sanitize themselves, steaming their innards at high temperatures. Modern rice cookers come with dozens of bells and whistles. Whether you choose the highest end Zojirushi cooker or the most basic Green Life one, look after it. Treat its inner liners like a nonstick pan and clean it by hand. And know when you're purchasing a rice cooker, you're purchasing a kitchen. Get one with a handle and it can travel with you anywhere.
