Episode 7 of "The Queen Who Crowns" unfolds with the majestic spectacle of the king and queen officially establishing their reign in the burgeoning capital of Hanyang. Scarcely have they settled in when the king launches a bold offensive against influential ministers who have amassed vast estates, abused their authority, and preyed upon the helpless populace. Amidst this purge, his keen eyes begin to detect a growing camaraderie between the crown prince and his maternal uncles—the queen’s brothers—who clandestinely plot to pave the prince’s path to the throne, thereby tightening the Min family’s iron grip on the kingdom.
Hardly has this tension settled when an anonymous tip reaches the king’s ears, whispering tales of the Min family’s recent acquisition of a myriad of slaves. Swiftly acting upon this intelligence, he commissions an inquiry and bestows upon Lee Suk-beom the formidable task of unraveling the truth. However, this probe is not met with indifference; one of the queen’s brothers, who harbors ambitions for a prestigious military post parallel to Lee Suk-beom’s, gets wind of the investigation.
The stage is then set for a fiery confrontation between these two officials, a brawl so intense that it catches the unwitting eye of Ha-ryun. Leveraging his unexpected witness to this altercation, Ha-ryun demands that both combatants relinquish their aspirations for military grandeur. Lee Suk-beom, unyielding and furious, storms away in defiance.
The following day brings forth another trial. Envoys from the Ming Dynasty arrive, bearing an archaic request for bride tributes—a custom that both the king and queen had solemnly vowed to eradicate upon ascending the throne. Upon learning of this request, the queen decides to take matters into her own capable hands. With the astute assistance of Chae-ryeong, she orchestrates a grand reception for the envoys, while clandestinely arranging a meeting with their lead delegate behind closed doors.
Escorted by Princess Kwon-seon, she expertly maneuvered through negotiations, subtly unveiling the envoy's corruption and his clandestine accumulation of gifts intended for the Ming Emperor. This forced him to rescind his demand, effectively bringing the matter to a satisfactory close.
That very evening, the queen inquisitively probed the king regarding the tactics he employed to persuade Tae-jo to bestow upon him the throne. In reply, the king elaborated on Tae-jo's aspirations for the nation, while subtly hinting at his own imperative to eradicate influential ministers who obstructed justice—a group that included members of the queen's own kin. Deeply pondering his words, the queen resolved to sever ties with her relatives and exhorted her brothers to confess their illicit procurement of slaves.
Subsequently, the military collectively petitioned the king to appoint one of the queen's brothers to a vacant military post. Infuriated by their unswerving allegiance to his brother-in-law, the king summoned both the crown prince and the queen, then dramatically proclaimed his intention to abdicate the throne in favor of the prince. However, this was merely a stratagem to uncover disloyal military officials and potential traitors lurking within. Realizing the peril this maneuver posed to the crown prince's life, the queen adopted a bold stance—she insisted that the king rescind his proclamation, using a ceremonial ritual dedicated to the Silkworm Deity as a pretext to reverse the situation. Should he refuse, she vowed to unite with her brothers and march against him alongside the crown prince.
The following day, the king privately confessed to Ha-ryun that he could not bring himself to confront the queen in battle. Reluctantly, he granted her permission to conduct the ritual, thereby allowing the matter to be resolved amicably.
With this pressing crisis averted, the queen turned her focus to the issue of illegally obtained slaves within her family. Through Pan-su, she uncovered an even vaster conspiracy—numerous powerful figures had seized the homes of commoners during the capital's relocation, rendering these displaced individuals dependent and ultimately reducing them to servitude. Pan-su further revealed that several royal relatives were entangled in this scandal, with Kim of Bamgol emerging as the central figure orchestrating it all.
