His father, King Haejong (Jeon Jin-oh), does not have a strong grip on power as he rose to the throne through a rebellion, thanks in large part to the actions of the Queen Dowager (the widow of the former king) Min Soo-ryun (Myung Se-bin).

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Although Geon is in line for the throne, Soo-ryun wants the king to transfer that birthright to his second son, Geon’s half-brother, Grand Prince Doseong (Kim Min-kyu); neither of the brothers, who are very close, are aware of this.

The king wishes for Geon to marry the daughter of royal doctor Choi Sang-rok (Kim Joo-hun), his most trusted adviser. Here is where things start to get a little complicated.

Sang-rok approves of the union, but owing to a prophecy regarding his daughter Myung-yoon, which states that she is fated to marry someone who will die, he feels compelled to carry out an elaborate ruse to kidnap an unsuspecting man and secretly marry him to Myung-yoon first, to fulfil the curse and free her to be with Geon.

The trouble is, the person that Sang-rok’s men drug and kidnap to fulfil the unwitting role is none other than Geon himself, who is outside the palace grounds in disguise. Also drugged is Myung-yoon, as she becomes another willing participant in this charade.

The romcom side of the series thus begins in unusual fashion with the striking visual of Myung-yoon waking up dressed in full wedding regalia beside Geon, who is similarly attired, as well as gagged, blindfolded and still unconscious.

Myung-yoon proceeds to switch clothes with her loyal servant and then helps Geon escape in the dead of night. With neither knowing the true identity of the other, she helps him return to the palace, where she thinks he lives as a scholar.

Geon manages to return home, but he does not get the welcome he expects. Since his return proves to be a spanner in the Queen Dowager’s plans, she is compelled to reveal the full extent of her power within the court to the king, who she has secretly been controlling this whole time.

Given that Geon’s life will remain in jeopardy so long as he remains within the palace walls, it would be reasonable to expect that he will find his way outside again and join forces once more with Myung-yoon before long.

This story has the unfortunate distinction of being both convoluted and commonplace, but there is nevertheless plenty happening on the screen that will satisfy fans of Korean period dramas.

The series opens with a daring ninja raid on the palace compound, a young woman’s body is accidentally fished out of a palace pond, and a royal power player is caught in flagrante, all within the first episode, with each of these instances starting a mystery that will presumably play out throughout the rest of the series.

There are also lighter elements, including side plots involving the illicit sale of erotic literature and the various clownish brigands dealt with by the show’s fighting-fit leads.

The crown prince and his half-brother need to deal with a group of con men, which includes one pretending to be him, not realising who his mark is.

After beating up her own band of thugs, Myung-yoon engages in an epic makgeolli (Korean rice wine) drinking contest, which she handily wins.

So far the leads haven’t spent a lot of time together, but the stakes are rising and how that relationship develops once they are reunited is likely to determine the success of the series.

Missing Crown Prince, which cost 20 billion won (US$14.5 million) to produce, will run for 20 episodes until the middle of June.

Missing Crown Prince is streaming on Viu.