In order to make sure that Koryo was free, Gong Min Wang married a woman he did not love. The Mongolians ruled Koryo so Gong Min Wang married the Mongolian princess in hopes that one day Koryo could be freed. Shin Don was a Buddhist priest who both Queen Nokuk and King Gong Min depended on for advice in ruling Koryo.
A well sizeable chunk of the beginning was wasted and failed to hook the viewers in for quite some time. The ending as well was equally bad if not worse than the beginning. The writer completely gone mental in the worst possible way. Maximizing the cringe and the illusion of creating something artistic, not knowing he was a clown in a circus. The drama itself was embarrassingly dry and lacked appealing elements. A story not worth telling. I'm not sure about the historical accuracy but they did a poor job with storytelling regardless. They also turned Empress Ki into a joke of a character. The drama had a dislikable selection of leading cast. I hated watching Son Chang Min as a lead, Jeong Bo Seok was too much in your face and Seo Ji Hye was just okay-ish.