Summary for the first Five Episodes:

My attempted to illustrated further Dramaok narration to the episode (Gerry Tan)

The background starts at the reign of King Seongjong (1200-1494). The King have deposed Queen Yiun. She must have got herself in a political intrigue and got deposed. The King did not kill her as she was the mother to the Crown Prince later Yeonsangun who became the worst tyrant king in Korean history. I assume that Queen Yiun was a tyrant too as the apple do not fall far from the tree. Pressure to killed her off mounted by the Confucians yanban has the King to order her death. So our story starts...

The Royal Military Guards have a competition to show their skills and Seo Chun Soo (Jang-Geum's father), was competing in an archery (target practice) competition with other collegues. His arrows were aimed at the target. As he was happily retrieving his arrows, the arrows suddenly fall from the target then later found his hand was bleeding and the bow string have broken This is a bad omen. Then the orders come to sentence the deposed Queen to death by poisioning. The Military commander who was given the task was afraid to execute it and made an excuse to excuse himself, by purposely injuring his horse which then threw him off and hurt his leg. So Seo Chun soo was the next in line and had to administer the poison to the deposed Queen. Before the Queen died, she cursed everyone that was involved, and handed her personal Court lady a handkerchief of her vomitted blood and to passed it to her son to seek revenge. This would be shown later to her son Yeonsangun when he grew up and became king. This coincided with the Gap Ja Sa Hwa - a political massacre which Jang Geum's father was persecuted. Yeonsangun was noted for suppressing the Confucians, similar to Shih Huang Ti. He challenged and presecuted the Confucians whom he blamed for his mother's death. Seo Chun soo tried to drown himself with wine over the incident and on his way home, in the state of drunkness, heard the last words of the deposed Queen over her vengence seeking haunts him which he then slip and falls into the ravine. When he regains conciousness, he finds his injured arm attended to and a hermit was sitting in front of him. The hermit was probably a soothsayer. He asked him why such a kind man would have such catastrophe. The hermit then told him that his fate will be destined by three woman. The first woman you kill her though you did not want to (refering to the deposed Queen Yiun), the second, you will saved her but she will died because of you, the third woman will killed you but because of that will save many. Seo asked how he can avoid meeting them but the hermit told him that he has already met the first woman you have already met that is why he has such catastrophe. Seo Chun Soo asked him to eleborate further on how not to meet the third woman who is going to kill him, the hermit replies that then he should not meet the second woman. The hermit then writes three Chinese hanja. The 1st character is "jin" ( I will have to give the words in Chinese Pinyin as I have no idea what how is it read in Hangul), the second is "xun" the third is "hao". After throwing the characters at Seo, the hermit mysteriously disappears. Seo Chun soo takes the papers to a Buddhist abbot to find out the meaning of the characters. After analysis of the characters, the abbot says the the characters are the virtues of a woman. Since the characters do not stand for anything, he tries to analyse by braking the characters up individually. Chinese characters are a form of pictogram. He gave a example that was a prediction that a family who have the character "Mu" & "zi" will be King, which you combine become the surname Lee which is the present Joseon Dynasty. So the Abbot broke the character individually The first character "jin" have a combination of "nu" (lady) & "jin" (today). Since the characters was given to you yesterday, you would have meet this woman. Seo Chun soo face turn pale, and the Abbot knew he has met the woman The second is "xun" has a combination of Xuan (flow) and "dao" (head) The third is "hao" a combination of "Nu"(lady) and "zi (son)" which intially mean daughther 14 years later, Jang-Geum father was still haunted by the execution. He resigned from his commission as he fear the King might find out and also of his guilt. Meanwhile Yeonsangun becomes King and in the Palace, the royal kitchen busily prepares for the queen dowager's birthday ceremony. Yeonsanggun reign is full of feasting - dinning & wining. Court lady Pak Meong Yi Royal Court Maid (Na In)or rather Jang Geum's mother sees her friend, Choi Cheng Qing( a.k.a Court Lady Choi) secretly putting something (monkshood - poisonious

mushroom) into the dish which would be presented to the Queen Mother. She immediately reports this matter to Court lady not knowing that the Court Lady is in league with Lady Choi's Aunt who was the Head of the Royal Kitchen, The Choi family has provided for the royal kitchen excellent leaders for five generations; these kitchen heads use the royal kitchen to maintain their family fortunes. The Choi family controls all procurement to the palace and use their positions to help any political faction that brings them further power and wealth. The past five generations of Lady Choi's have used food as a weapon for political and material gains.

Lady Pak was accused for having an affair with a Palace Guard. The Palace guard gave Lady Park some cosmetic after healing him from gastroenteristis. A shadow of Jang-geum is seen here by using food as a medication comodity. Head of the Royal Kitchen that Lady Park have violate the rules of the ethics of the Court Ladies as they are the property of the King. The young Lady Choi (the infamous) falsely told that Lady Park was seen with the guard alone in a room. For that crime, she is put to death by poisoning. Lady Han who was order to bring the poison added the antidote to nutralize the poison and fed to Lady Park and the same time insert a letter at her hanbook (petticoat). Lady Park was left for dead. Seo Chun soo now retired from his commisson is now helping out at the temple was walking at the river and saw Lady Park's head face down at the water and Seo rushed to save her from drowning. This also fulfilled the hermit prediction of the 2nd character.He brought her back to the temple and asked the abbott to save her. The abbott then asked Seo to boiled green bean soup to nutrealise the poison while he goes out to look for herbs. The Abbott said that without he finding her, she would have died and that he has saved her. The words of the hermit then return and took out the 2nd Character, he did find Lady Park head immerse flowing water. She was the second woman who will died because of him. As he cannot escape his destiny, slowly nursed Lady Park. Lady Park recovered and read Lady Han's letter as it fell from her hanbook. The letter told her that Lady Han refused to believe the crime she has been accused and she have put the antidote and asked to go away and hope to meet someday. Lady Park then decide to leave and thanked Seo. But Seo worried that she would die because of him secretly follow her by taking care of her food and lodging and also make sure her road path is safely for her to trot on. She came upon a village who had a wine tavern and she was busy waiting on the table when a few drunken hooligan was to molested her. Seo who was nearby could bear came out to sent the hooligan packing and ask her not to work in the tavern as she was suited. Lady PArk then docilly follow Seo. Seo hurried away and took a ferry but relented. Seo then told Lady Park, that a soothsayer once said if Lady Park was with him it will be the death of her. Lady Park replied that her life is no longer hers. Seo then told her of the soothsayer predicition 8 years have passed, Seo and Lady Park were in a bakjeong village. Bakjeong is a pheasant class, very low and often are butchers or manual profession such as farmers. Till todays no mother will allow their daughters to marry a bucther. This class are not allow to read or write as it is seen out of their class system. Seo is now a ironmonger/silversmith. It is a place to hide their identity. Seo who is a Royal Military Guard come from the Middle class society and Lady Park is from the upper class yanban, her grandfather was official but lost favour in the court and lead to poverty. These people (scholar class) becomes quite useless as they have no other practical skills.

Jang-Geum was is now 8 years old is a very bright child with a curiosity to learn. Later Lady Han will tell Jang-geum that her mother Lady Park was exactly the same. Jang-geum have gon eto mountain to catch rabbits. She is experimenting why rabbit can't walked on 2 feet. Lady park reprimanded her from missing and found out that she have been secretly going to the village school and playing with the official children. jang-geum pleaded with Lady Park on why she can't read and write like other children. Lady Park told her that there are pheasant, but Jang-geumm bloted out that Seo was in the army and was a Royal Palace Guard. Lady park was surprise and found out that Seo have reveal their identities to raise hope to Jang-geum. Jang-geum gave them the assurance that she will never reveal their identities without their permission.

One court lady came to asked if Seo can make a knife for her as she has heard that his workmanship is very good. Lady Park was very uneasy around the Court Lady who may recognise her.

However, all is not well at the palace, the Yeonsangun, which is (which is the most violent King recorded in the Korean Ancient History) finds out his mother was actually poisoned to death and reveal the bloody handkerchief. He lost his temper and ordered his men to kill all the people who are involved with his mother's death. This became the famous Gap Ja Sa Hwa incident. A political massacre of Confucian intellect and a outright witch hunt. Seo who is a silversmith gave Jang-geum a silver knife - a small handy pocket knife that helped her in cutting vegetable and usually carry by woman to defend herself, she may used the knife to end her life if her virtue is been attacked or for self defense. Seo also included a small writing brush and an ink pad for her. While going to the town village, Seo and Jang-geum saw people westling, Jang-geum asked Seo to participate since they is a price reward. The westler failing to topple Seo resort to dirty trick self inflict an injury and accused Seo of it. The crowd then accused Seo an lowly pheasant and wanted to report to the authority. Jang-Geum fearing for her father, accidentally revealed that his father was an ex-Royal Military Guard, and the authories recognise him on the wanted poster and hence he was arrested. This showed that the prediction that was made by the hermit is true.

Jang Geum and her mother wanting to find out about Seo whereabout goes to Hanyang to seek information. By now Seo would have be presumed excuted. It is never mentioned but the audience know it by the hermit the prediction of the third woman is actually Jang-geum. She will kill you but because of that will save many. (Jang-geum carry her guilt and revealing her parents identity and loses them in the process). Lady Park had Jang-geum dress as a boy to avoid recognising. Failing to find any information, Lady Park met with Gang Duk Goo and his wife. Gang Duk Goo is a chef (Sook So) in the palace. They are chef would come in during banquets when staff are require. It is a part-time job and have to fend for themselves if they are not call for. Gang run a wine shop and supply the wine to the palace and the customers in the capital.

Lady Park wrote to Lady Han would is now a Sanggung (a court Lady). The kitchen ingredient were depleating as King Yeonsangun was having to much feasting and taking many concubines by the days. The letter was passed to Lady Han and see met Lady PArk in a tearing reunion and told her what happen 8 years ago. Lady Han also tell of the palace environment that what the King is doing is all true. Lady Park told that Seo have been arrested and asked Lady Han to find out information. Meanwhile the Choi family finds out that Lady Park is still alive and seek way to kill her off. The men of choi Pan Su - the brother of Lady Choi - merchant who monopolises the business to the palace. We will refer later on as the "Choi Corporation" who handle all procurement to the palace their sole client - cash rich cow, capture Lady Park and Jang-geum to Choi house and Lady Han seeing them being lead away inform the local judical of Lady Park, since there was a witch hunt, it was easy. The judical guard came to Choi house and whizz Lady park & Jang-geum away and thus saving them. While on the way, Choi set up an ambush, her mother was shot by arrow by protecting Jang-Geum, one of the hoodlum tried to finished Lady PArk but was save by the coming guard. Lady Park was severed wounded and knew that she will dies leaves jang-geum a letter while writing the letter, Lady park finds out that jang-geum was the third woman Seo says, she left instructions for Jang-geum while jang-geum went out to look for food for the injured Lady Park. Lady Park tells her background story and reveal she was a Court Lady. She asked Jang-geum to become the Head of the Royal Kitchen (Su-ran-kan-jae-jo-sanggung)and write her grievances in the journal. But it is her own choice t make. If you do not want to be a Court lady or the head of the Royal Kitchen, you must not read the letter or show or tell to other about it. A tall order for an 8 years old. Lady park left 2 letter. One letter to be open when she is a Court Lady (Na In) the other when she becomes the Head. Jang-Geum who is ridden by guilt wanted to get in the Palace to fulfill her mother's dream.

Jang-Geum went to Gang Duk goo's house and subsequently squatter at their house, Gang took a liking to Jang-geum as he has only one son, who later died in a plague, and adopted her, while Mrs Gang was willing as Jang-geumm did all the housework.

The reign of Yeonsangun was getting extreme, they was a rebellion boiling. The confucian intellect under Official Park plan the rebellion and wanted to make Prince Jinsung later King Jungjong. As Prince Jinsung was closely watched, Official Park sent a message on the pretext of Price Jinsung's birthday. The task was given to Jang-geum as she usually deliver wine to the Officials and will not aroused suspicion. She is asked to give four bottle of wine and have to given in the correct order and asked to memorise the name of the wines. A man servant, came to Prince Jinsung residence and delivered the wine. Prince Jinsung was in attendance of Lady Kim who was the personal court Lady to Prince Jinsung's mother. She was reporting on Prince Jinsung mothers welfare. Prince Jinsung asked who delivered the wine and the manservant told it was a child and asked the child to enter. Jang-geum saw Lady Kim who was a Court Lady, pay the respect to her not knowing that Prince Jinsung who was the current Crown Prince. Prince Jinsung was displeased with Jang-geum, although he never reveal his displeasure until later, Lady Kim told the rude Jang-geum to pay respect to Prince Jinsung. She pleaded with Lady Kim to let her enter the palace to be a Court Lady. Prince Jinsung on seeing the child who risk her life to bring him the wine. He asked Jang-geum is the wine given by Official Pak, Jang-geum replies that he should drink the wine in correct order, and Prince Jinsung replied is the wine in their corrrect order, Jang-geum then said that the are in the wrong order and rearranged them and introduce the name of the wine and told him that she need to bring back a message to Official Park. On the correct arrangement, Prince Jinsung face turn suprise as he read the names of the wine.

This has some historical reference. (I will tried to explained, all my boring Chinese Classic classes are returning back to me. I used to hate the lessons as I was force to take them to retain some knowledge about my Chinese heritage). This is made to reference of a rebellion called the yellow scarves or turban rebellion. During the late 2nd century (circa AD184) in China, peasants revoke a rebellion wore yellow turban and had a slogan loosely translated as "It is the Heaven wish, that the Yellow turban will be enthroned and all under the heaven shall be auspicious" The rebellion was crushed but it was the start of the sprial downfall of the Han Dynasty who was already weak and frail and eventually led to the Three Kingdom period and more fighting. On the pretext, as Prince Jinsung who should know his classics well, knew that the Confucian officials have planned to rebel and will make him King. Jang-geum was seeing Prince Jinsung reaction told him she will sent a message that he accepts in good faith but had his worries. Prince Jinsung seeing jang-geum intelligence said to pass her message she mentioned. Jang-geum left and Prince Jinsung told Lady Kim if it is possible to grant Jang-geum wish to be a Royal Maid. Lady Kim said she will see to it and reinstate that Jang-geum was right that he look worried. Jang-geum replied to Official Park, Prince Jinsung message The next day Prince Jinsung became King Jungjong. As you may know the Confucian played a strong influence on the reign of King Jungjong. It is a backlash to King Jungjong as he is rendered powerless. This is seen when he tried to bestow Jang-geum a Official rank and made her his royal physician King Jungjong is a benevolent king. though he is weak in his position,However the people loved him and his policies as he brought benefits to the country in other aspects (was to mentioned by Jang-geum when she tried to consoled the King who was ridden by guilt). Lady Park sent some one to take Jang-geum to the palce. That is how Jang-Geum successfully entered the Palace and away from the hands of Choi pan su and his hench man. Jang-geum became Saeng Gak Si - This is a probation period of Court Lady who eventually become Na In - junior Court Lady. First they are taught the rules and regulations of the palace. They she met Yeon Sheng, Young Ro. Yeon Sheng became her friend. Most of the girls who are sent here the official daughther who lost favour with the courts and they way out was to become Court Lady where they are look after by the palace and received rank and salary One night jang-geum and Yeon-sheng sneak out to In the palace, she met her best friend, Yeon-Sheng and also Geum Yeung(they used to be very close). With determination, Jang-Geum passed through the exams, and she was taught by Court Lady Han,

which is her mother's best friend in the Palace. Court Lady Han had no clue at all about Jang-Geum being her best friend's daughter.

Under the strict supervision, the talented Jang-Geum showed her determination and hard-work in learning the basic cooking skills from Court Lady Han.. And later, Court Lady Zheng, has became the temporally Highest Person In-Charged of the Kitchen,breaking the tradition of Family Choi inheriting the same position for generations and generations.There is where all the rivalry starts, because the Choi Family and their supporters had under-estimated Court Lady Zheng's determination and will, to break Choi Family's tradition. In fact, Court Lady Zheng was hoping that Court Lady Han to inherit her place after her death.

Soon, Jang-Geum and her fellow friends became adults...

ep. 5-6:

They've all grow up. Jang-Geum is becoming an excellent cook but she still retains her wild nature, inobedient and energetic. The princess is sick and doesn't eat for many days so the kitchen staff are stressing over trying to figure out something for her to eat; she refuses to eat anything they bring to her after a bite.

Geum-Young (Hong Ri Na) goes to talk to Jang-Geum (Lee Young Ae) who is making her fermented soybean pastes. Geum-Young tastes one of the samples and comments on how it doesn't stink like it usually does. Jang-Geum tells her it's because she used sojoo (rice wine) to kill off the smell. Geum-Young then goes back to the kitchen and asks her mom if she can make the next meal for the princess. She makes something and the princess eats the whole thing, because she added the same ingredient Jang-Geum used to kill of the smell, revealing that the princess was turned off by the smell of the food. The whole kitchen department gets rewarded and all the supervisiors are praising Geum-Young, but Geum-Uoung mentions she was inspired by Jang-Geum's method.

There is a big celebration in the palace: the king's birthday. A precious gold bird from China was shipped to be used for the party and Geum-Young is told to guard the bird for a couple of days. She puts it in the cage but the cage door loosens and the bird is gone the next morning. Geum-Young begins to panic and decides to sneak outside of the palace to ask her relative if he can find another gold bird for her (it's against the palace rules for the girls to leave without permission). On her way to sneak out, she runs into Jang-Geum who offers to help, so the two sneak out together. They go out and arrive at the relative's house but he's gone for a few days so Jang-Geum offers to make a trip to her uncle's (the funny guy who raised her after she was 8) to see if he can help since he's well-versed in imported goods. Therefore, they part and decide to meet the next morning. Jang-Geum finds a bird after a lot of trouble but on her way to the relatives to meet up with Geum-Young she runs into a group of people fighting and she decides to save the injured person (Min Jung-Ho a.k.a Ji Jin Hee ), so she gets to the relatives really late and Geum-Young is already gone, not because she wants to but her mom found out about the incident and forced her to leave. They also found a gold bird.

Jang-Geum has to sneak back in the palace all by herself but the route she used to escape was sealed off so she is stuck outside the palace and gets caught by the guards who take her to the kitchen department.

Would like to thank Dramaok for providing this summery.

ep. 6-7:

jang-geum (lee young ae) is told to leave the palace for breaking the palace rule by sneaking out w/out permission. all the superiors beg on her behalf.. but no avail. she starts packing. her boss, supervisior han (yang mi kyung), begs and begs and gives up her promotion privileges for the next 3 years in exchange for jang-geum to stay in the palace. finally jang-geum gets to stay in the palace, BUT not in the 'soo rah gan' (kitchen).. she gets sent to 'dae jae hun' (herbal field dept) instead.. that's usually where all the demoted people go because that dept hasn't had much luck in few years.. they failed to cultivate the precious medicines needed.. so jang-geum arrives there.. on her way she runs into min jung-ho (ji jin hee) but they don't recoginze each other... jang-geum sees that all the people in 'dae jae hun' don't work but drink and sleep all day long instead.. like they all gave up on life.. but she doens't sit still like she is told to.. she starts to read the farm journals and successfuly cultivates a very hard-to-grow herb (bai ben).. but the bad guy (forgot his name.. you know the boss of geum-young's uncle) sends someone to ruin the crop.. turns out he was making loads of money as the middle man in getting the herbs from china (or was it somewhere else can't remember) so he doesn't want to lose that income.. but the 'dae jae hun' boss who usually is a drunk figures out a way to trick the bad guy's servants so that the judge dept gets involved to investigate the situation.. the judge dept is shocked that the farm dept figured out how to grow the rare crop and the judge wants to know how they did it.. jang-geum gets praised and she gets sent back to the kitchen dept. as her reward... the field dept boss gives her a letter to carry w/ her to drop off at the library on her way back to the kitchen. at the library jang-geum can't find anyone so she begins to read the books instead.. min jung-ho arrives and explains the meaning of a word to jang-geum... and he tells her that palace women are prohibited in the library.. but jang-geum gives the letter to him.. he opens the letter which says to let the one who delivered the letter given the privilege to read whatever book she wants to read.. because she will help the people with her talents.. the letter was actually written to someone who no longer works at the library so min jung-ho tells jang-geum to let him know whenever she wants to read a book and he'll get it for her.

ep. 8

Jang-Geum returns. everyone's happy to see her back except a couple of troublemakers. The 'soo-rah-gan' (kitchen dept) is busy preparing for the food exam. The exam consists of 2 parts. In the first part the girls are supposed to be quizzed on their scholarship. In the second part the girls need to show off their cooking skills.. but the ingredients are limited. So the ones who do well in the first part of the exam get to pick the ingredients first.. the ones that don't do well will have to cook with the remaining less-desirable ingredients.

During the two-part exam, the supervising palace lady asks a question using a poem that reads "clothes but not clothes, head but not head, human but not human" and the cook girls are supposed to figure out what food dish the proverb is referring to.. Geum-young (hong ri-na) gets the answer right away, then other girls get it, but Jang-Geum and a few others don't get it before times up. The answer is "dumplings" (because it looks like a head, wears chothes, but it's not a person)... the reason Jang-Geum didnt' get it is because she was gone while one of the superiors explained the metaphor to the kitchen girls...

So the girls take turns picking out ingredients to be used next day for the cooking exam. A bunch of new girls with higher ranking come to supervise and help prepare. Jang-Geum is assigned a really young girl.. who happens to be the daughter of one of the supervisors (secretively).. Jang-Geum finds out her flour is stolen by someone during the night... it's devastating because everyone is supposed to make dumplings the next day and without flour you can't make the dumpling skin.. so Jang-Geum looks for flour and tells her boss that her portion has been stolen and asks for more but she's told that's not allowed.. and she has to make do with what she has left. Then jang-geum figures out the one who stole her flour is the new young girl.. so jang-geum goes to the kitchen and sees the girl making dumpling soup.. the two start arguing.. then the

guards hear them and went into the kitchen and asked what's going on.. (min jung-ho is among the guards since he is one of the supervising guards).The girl confesses that she stole the flour because her mother will be sent away after the exam (forced retirement due to age or something) and she will never see her again and her mother's favorite food was dumpling soup so she's making the farewell supper for her mother. The guard leader (not min jung-ho) is shocked that a palace girl has a mother inside the palace (not usually allowed. Geum-Young's maternal identity is also kept a secret) They decide to keep it hush hush.. since the mother has been a good worker.. so Jang-Geum is left without flour the next morning. She spends all night trying to figure out how to make dumplings without flour. During the exam she makes dumpling with steamed cabbage as skin.. one of the judges really likes her creatively but the rest of the judges think it's not worth passing especially since she lost her ingredient..

The kitchen supervisor announces names of the girls who passed the exam. The ones that didn't pass have to pack their bags right away to leave the palace. They're cutting down the staff to trim all unnecessary palace girls. One by one the names are called. Geum-Young passes (of course) but the supervisor starts to read a list of people who DIDN'T pass and she reads "Suh Jang-Geum".. O.o -Dramaok

ep. 9

jang-geum's (lee young ae) name is on the list of people who didn't pass the exam.. but the queen arrives and she begins to taste the samples and is enchanted by jang-geum's sample both in taste and creativity... the queen's assistant (mother of the young girl who stole the flour) tells the queen it was actually her fault that jang-geum lost her ingredient which resulted in her failing the test. the queen orders her subordinates to allow jang-geum to stay in the palace.

the palace girls that passed the test, including jang-geum are officially recognized as palace cooks. jang-geum go see her adoptive family. on the way back she stops by her mother's gravesite and tells her deceased mom about her success and weeps.. she remembers her mom's words and her mom telling jang-geum to be the best palace cook.. and to look for her secret recipe book she hid in one of the kitchens inside the palace.

min jung-ho (ji jin hee) learns from the captured foreign woman that the one who saved him was a woman who had a gold bird with her... so jung-ho goes around town looking for info on the woman.. he arrives at jang-geum's adoptive mom and father's home (the wine makers) and asks about the woman.. the wife stops the husband from telling min about jang-geum for fear of getting her into trouble..

the palace kitchen women are ordered to accompany the king on his hunting advanture to prepare food for the king and the generals up on the mountain.. someone makes a mistake in preparing the ingredient causing food poisoning to herself, another maid, and supervisior han (yang mi kyung).. so supervisor han asks geum-young to take charge and orders jang-geum to help. the king sends a messenger to let the girls know the king wants to change the menu to cold noodles.. geum-young and jang-geum panic because there is very little time to prepare all the food and supervisor han is asleep resting from the illness.. geum-young prepares the soup but the taste is plain due to lack of ingredients and time... jang-geum thinks of an idea and starts running toward the spring water source w/ a bucket... she fetches fresh mountain water but gets her ankle injured on the way back..

geum-young and jang-geum make cold noodle soup w/ the spring water which gives the soup base a refreshing taste. the king and his generals return and the cooks bring food to them..

ep. 10

the king (lim ho) and his generals taste the cold noodle and they love it. geum-young (hong ri na) and jang-geum (lee young ae) are praised for their quick thinking and skills. jang-geum sees min jung-ho looking at her. later, jang-geum practices writing and min jung-ho sees that her brush is too think so he looks for the little brush chain thingy that the woman who saved him left by his side.. he realizes he doesn't have it w/ him because he changed his outfit.

geum-young and min jung-ho (ji jin hee) exchanged looks and a few words. turns out he is the one she has secretly admired since she was young..

flashback to when geum-young was young.. she is saying goodbye outside

of min jung-ho's room because she has to be a palace woman from that day on which means she will be a woman of the king and no other man's... *

geum-young realizes jang-geum and jung-ho know each other. she asks her about it and jang-geum tells her he was the one she ran into on her way back from the 'herbal field dept' to the 'kitchen dept' while delivering a letter... min asks jang-geum if she's read all the books he sent her.. she says yes so he offers to give her new books to read in a few days.

jang-geum and yang-soong (forgot the actress name..) are sent to a subdivision of the kitchen dept temporarily because they need help. actually jang-geum has been dreaming of going there because that's where her mom's recipe book is hidden. jang-geum goes out at night looking for the book in the kitchen. yang-soong who rooms with jang-geum realizes something's up with jang-geum.

geum-young's mom (or is she her aunt i don't know for sure?) gives geum-young a silk pouch and tells geum-young to hide it in the kitchen. the pouch contains an evil spell against the queen who is pregnant. (the spell will change her fetus from a boy to a girl).. geum-young tries to get out of doing such evil thing but she succombs to it and goes to the kitchen at night to hide it.

yang-soong watches geum-young go in the kitchen to hide the pouch and leaves... then she sees jang-geum coming to the kitchen looking for something..

yang-soong confronts jang-geum and shows her where geum-young hid something.. but jang-geum's mom's book falls from the ceiling rod and jang-geum grabs it and runs outside.

the kitchen supervisor finds the silk pouch in the kitchen (it wasn't well hidden anymore after yang-soong messing with it) and finds out jang-geum was in the kitchen the night before from geum-young (ok is she becoming evil or something?).. jang-geum is confronted but she can't say why she was there because her mother told her never tell anyone... and last time she told a secret her father got killed... so jang-geum says nothing and she is jailed inside a room until she will talk.

the kitchen supervior finds out what the curse is about. meanwhile yang-soong tells the superiors she saw geum-young hide something.. and jang-geum was looking for something not hiding anything... so the supervisors ask geum-young what she was hidding and what jang-geum was looking for geum-young denies hiding anything and jang-geum refuses to say anything so both girls are locked inside the room. the supervisor tells them tomorrow she will send them to the punishment dept. so they will speak. when the two are alone, jang-geum asks geum-young if she did it and geum-young says "no you did it"... next day, the supervisor gets ready to take them to be punished.

ep. 11

supervisor jung is about to take jang-geum and geum-young to the punishment dept. jung sang goon's boss (jae jo sang goon) stops her and orders to forget the incident. jung sang goon gets suspicious something strange is going on. general oh tries to fix things quiety. han sang goon (jang-geum's master) goes to jang-geum's room to look for the item that jang-geum found. supervisor han asks yun-seung to show her the place where jang-geum goes to practice cooking. the king asks supervisor jung what's going on since everyone seems gloomy. han sang goon asks jang-geum to tell her the truth about her being in the kitchen that night. but jang-geum weeps telling supervisor han the last time she told a secret her parents died so she cannot say a thing. han sang goon weeps with her. han sang goon remembers the past about her best friend getting poisioned left to die as a scapegoat and worries that jang-geum will die too. jung sang goon (han's boss) decides to let go of the events to save the girls. choi sang goon tells geum-young no matter what to never ever tell anyone about the curse sachet.

gam tuh-goh (the wine-maker/chef who is like jang-geum's father) tries to con palace guards with herbal medicine balls. he gets caught but for a different reason. the head guard tells gam the prince became extremely ill after eating medicine cooked by gam. gam is blamed for poisioning the prince causing the child's arms and legs to become inmobile. the royal doctors cannot find the source of poisioning and are unable to cure the prince. the king becomes extremely worried and gam is doomed to die. jang-geum works day and night trying to figure out the cause of the prince's numbness and unconsciousness.

ep. 12

jang-geum figures out the prince's illness is through the combination of medication given by the Royal physician which contain nugmet oil (taken with high dosage can caused numbness) and a combination of ginseng with soybean porridge acted as an enhancer that caused the prince's numbness jang-geum discovers the reason by experimenting the combination herself. the royal physician was able to antidote the prince after finding out what the cause was. the king orders his subordinates to award jang-geum. mr. gam is let go, thx to jang-geum's rescue. jung sang goon suffers from a weak health so she may have to step down from her post. it's jae jo sang goon's birthday and traditionally the subordiant sang goon has to cook feast for her. choi sang goon brings food and presents to jae jo sang gong to please her. jung sang goon cooks up birthday feast with help from jang-geum since jung is weak and losing her taste palate. jae jo sang goon yells at jung after tasting the food saying it's horrible and disrespectful. jung sang goon tells jang-geum the problem doesn't lie in the food. jang-geum discovers she can't taste saltiness in food. choi sang goon asks the medicine lady about jung sang goon's health and finds out jung suffers from weak legs which will eventually worsen her health. choi sang goon tells her brother to help her push jung out so she can be the next kitchen supervisor. jang-geum asks the medicine lady about her inability to taste saltiness and the medicine lady tells jang-geum to wait since she might still be under the influence of food poision. jang-geum borrows more books about medicine from min jung-ho (ji jin hee). choi sang goon bribes jae jo sang gong's servant to help persuade jae jo to make choi the successor of jung.

jung sang goon tells the king it's time for her to retire since she's getting old and ill. jung sang goon asks the king if it's okay to set up a cooking contests between han sang goon and choi sang goon to determine who should be the next supervisor. jae jo sang goon and choi sang goon become angry that jung sang goon went about the matter on her own. jung sang goon tells han sang goon she has done everything she could and tells han to trust her own skills and have no fear. han sang goon tells jang-geum that jung sang goon risked her life to give han the opportunity because jung does not want the place where food is prepared to ever become a place for anything else. han tells jang-geum she intends to stir up courage from within to win the contest and asks jang-geum to be her assistant. jang-geum tells han she can't because she lost her taste palate since she ate the gingseng combination. han tells jang-geum to wait like the medicine lady said but jang-geum says it's been over 10 days and still no sign of recovery. han sang goon takes jang-geum to seek medical advice outside of the palace. the doctor tells them there isn't much

they can do and it may take 10 years or 20 years for the palate to get its taste back. han takes jang-geum to a second doctor who also gives them no hope. jang-geum tells han to give up on her. han tells jang-geum she needs her. on their way back they stop by to buy fresh fish in the market place. the fish merchant who is blind, recognizes han by her voice and picks out the freshest fish for han by touch. night and day jang-geum tastes as much food as she can think of to see if her taste buds have recovered. jang-geum cries out aloud at her loss.. han sang goon watches and weeps as well. han sang goon remembers how the fish merchant picked out the freshest fish and realizes something. jung sang goon tells choi and han to each pick out an assistant. choi picks geum-young and han picks jang-geum.

ep. 13

the older kitchen maids are upset that the superiors picked jang-geum and geum-young as their assistants. yun-saeng defends jang-geum. jang-geum begs han to pick someone else since she can't deciper tastes. han sang-goon tells jang-geum the reason she can't pick anyone else is because jang-geum has culinary talent and understanding of food that neither han nor choi nor geum-young has. han orders jang-geum to show up to practice next day. jang-geum remembers her childhood days when her mother explained to her the ways of food preparation and food-pairing. han tells jang-geum to make 'dae-ha-jjim' (harmony stew) even though she's never done it and she can't taste a thing. jang-geum makes royal dishes while han watches. han tells jang-geum not to taste her own food, rather cook with confidence in her knowledge. choi sang goon tells geum-young about the secret recipes that their family has acquired from the previous palace supervisors.. choi wants geum-young to practice w/ the secrets. choi walks in to the girls room while young-nong and chan-ee are playing majong. choi talks to young-nong privately. choi gives young-nong money and ask her to move in with jang-geum and yun-saeng and spy on jang-geum's every movement.

there is a crisis in the royal kitchen dept. all the jars of bean paste have an off taste even though the same salt and same water were used like before. (it's a serious matter because when the taste of bean paste is changed it signifies a bad omen to the nation) jung sang goon tells han and choi to figure out what happened and a way to solve the crisis. this will mark their first competition. choi sang goon takes geum-young to see her brother for help. choi finds out from her brother that the salt was switched by general oh. brother is worried by the news since han sang goon is investigating the matter so he orders his men to hurry and get rid of the salt that is in the store. han sang goon brings jang-geum to town to trace the origin of all the materials that are involved in the palace paste making. han and jang-geum run into mr. tuhk-boh and mrs. gam as they're on their way to the palace to bring previous wine to jang-geum. jang-geum tells mr. tuhk-poh about the bean taste. geum-young tells choi sang goon she doesn't think salt is the reason why the taste changed. chan-ee asks jung sang goon about the difference salt tastes when stored moist vs. dry and this gives jung sang goon a clue.

min jung-ho and his men are guarding the palace at night when they see a shadow running by. gam duhk-poh sneaks into the place where the bean pastes are kept inside the palace. min jung-ho and the guards find duhk-poh praying in front of the jars. min orders gam's capture. min orders gam to confess his offense. gam begs for min to listen for his explanation. gam drops the name 'jang-geum' which gets min's attention. min brings gam to jung sang goon. gam tuhk-poh states he was there to help jang-geum switch the taste back. min lets gam go. min apologizes to gam about being harsh earlier and asks gam if jang-geum is his daughter. gam says ppl comment how her inteligence reminds them of her father's wit.. min states he sees no resemblance. (LOL tuhk-po is hilarious)

han and jang-geum arrive at a village where the ppl have gathered all the jars of bean paste under one tree. they learn that the villagers believe the spot under the tree cultivates the best taste in bean paste. the villanger also tells jang-geum about a couple of other spots where the villagers recognize as the best places to ferment the beans. han and jang-geum visit the house

where the villager told them about and they ask to taste the paste. the realize that the paste tastes better.

jae jo sang goon scolds jung sang goon for the bean paste incident and worries about the meal next day. choi sang goon states she found a good paste they can use for the time being. general oh informs the king of trouble at sa-san (four mountain place). jae jo sang goon wonders if it's because of the bad taste in this year's paste. the king says that can't be true. han sang goon and jang-geum tell jung sang goon they found out why the taste is different and jang-geum is about to tell the kitchen supervisors the reason.

Bold text=== ep. 14 ===

jang-geum figured out how to get the pastes to get the desired taste. han-sg tells jang-geum to cook bean paste stew for the king. jae-jo-sg asks the king if the soup tastes different. the king says its the same. king asks how they got the taste back. it was because jang-geum found out that the secret is adding ggot-ga-roo (flour). the king tells the cabinet to inform the citizens about the benefits of using ggot-ga-roo. jang-geum asks han if she could go to the herbal farm. to receive treatment from the manager there. choi-sg and geum-young are upset by jang-geum's success.

jang-geum travels to the herbal field dept to meet the dae-ri (ju bo is a sixth rank physician) who is investigating a way of curing illnesses - using the bee's sting. He told jang-geum that a soldier who was stung by a bee came to find him. After checking the soldier, dae-ri found out that surprisingly many of the soldier's past pains had been cured after being stung by the bee. jang-geum begs the na-eu-ri to help cure her disability using the bee sting. min jung-ho and his guards arrive. min asks dae-ri what he told his soldiers because recently, every time some one is not feeling well, they go looking for bees and as a result, a few men end up getting badly stung. Jung-ho found out the reason and come to understand that dae-ri was looking into the medicinal properties of the bee's sting. naeuri states he will try new treamtment methods. min apologizes. jang-geum begs naeuri to use her as a guinea pig but naeuri refuses. but he states he will think of a way to help her get back her sense of taste.

jang-geum and min jung-ho walk back together. min tells jang-geum a story of one who lost his hearing but became a doctor to cheer her up.

he states, "if i tell you everything will be okay then it would be obnoxious. if i say i'm sorry then it sounds like there's no hope."

jang geum tells min he already comforted her with those words and smiles. min gets more books for jang-geum. geum-young sees the interaction as she walks in the direction of the library. jang-geum opens the book to read.. finds a proverb/poem min wrote for her...

"to bring up a small tree in this world is already a hard work.. the loneliness of a mature tree... it is only temporary because when the sun comes up the world will once again be filled with warmth." (okay something like that. i'm too lazy to look up the script. anyways it's to cheer her up. isn't he so thoughtful and sweet? aww.)

yun-noh spies on jang-geum and shows geum-young the medical books jang-geum is reading.

han-sg tells jang-geum to make ddok-bok-gi (rice cake fry). yun-noh tells geum-young han-sg has been ordering jang-geum to make food without tasting it.

medicine lady checks jung-sg's health. choi-sg and han-sg ask jung-sg to supervise the next big cooking event. jung tells choi and han to be in charge of the preparation this time. this will be their second challenge.

medicine lady asks jang-geum if she got her palate back. jang-geum sees choi-sg approaching so she lies by saying 'yes' and runs off. choi-sg asks medince lady what she asked jang-geum and the lady tells choi-sg jang-geum had lost her taste buds earlier.

geum-young practices cooking using the method han-sg tells jang-geum, which is to cook without tasting. choi-sg comes and asks geum-young what she is doing. geum-young asks choi-sg if she could get medical books to read like jang-geum does. choi-sg asks yun-noh privately since when jang-geum has been reading medical books. choi-sg remembers what the medicine lady told her and becomes suspicious about jang-geum's palate. choi-sg asks yun-saeng about jang-geum reading medical journals. yun-saeng tells choi-sg she started reading after the incident w/ the prince.

han-sg and choi-sg sample the dishes prepared by the kitchen maids. the maids taken turn presenting their dishes to the two sang-goons. jang-geum presents 'dae-na-moo-bap' (tree rice). rice steamed in bamboo trunks. choi-sg tells the maids to taste each other's food. (she wants jang-geum to show her inability to decipher taste). the maids trade with each other. choi-sg asks yun-noh, then yun-saeng, then geum-young to state aloud what they tasted. choi-sg calls for jang-geum next. jang-geum makes up a response based on what she knows about the ingredients. choi-sg lets her pass and calls chan-ee next. jung-sg asks choi and han about the preparation results. han-sg states she can't decide whether geum-young or jang-geum's was the best. choi-sg states she thought jang-geum's was the best but it seems jang-geum can't decipher tastes anymore. (actually the dish that jang-geum sampled was supposed to be extremely salty but jang-geum didn't say that). jung-sg calls jang-geum into her chamber. jang-geum is presented with 3 bowls fo water each with a different condiment dissolved in. she tastes the first one and says it's sugar water. she tastes the second and states it's salt water. jung-sg states all the bowls were plain water. (it was a trick test) han-sg pleads jang-geum's case to jung-sg saying though she can't taste anything she has the skill and wisdom to cook great dishes. choi-sg insists a kitchen maid who can no longer decipher food taste does not belong in the kitchen. han-sg pleads jang-geum can cook anything. choi-sg asks for jang-geum to prove that she can really cook anything. if so, then she will let it go too but if she fails, then han-sg must take the blame. jung-sg scolds han-sg for not telling her earlier. jang-geum tells han-sg she will try choi-sg's test. choi-sg tells geum-young to stop copying jang-geum and stand on her own skills.

jang-geum travels to the herbal field dept to beg the naeuri to test his own treatment on her. he refuses since he is afraid something might go wrong. jang-geum tells it's urgent and asks what will it take. naeuri uses acupunture on jang-geum's arms to calm her spirit, then uses the bee's sting to poke her tongue. whether or not the treatment worked is uncertain as of yet. na-eu-ri gives jang-geum medicine to eat if her body becomes too cold or painful. jang-geum asks if it's true that the medicine will counter the effects of the treatment.

gam tuk-po goes on an errand for the king. tuk-po's wife follows him. tuk-po's wife asks how much money he will receive for this. jang-geum begins to feel her body swollen but she decides not to take the medicine for fear that her treatment will be nullified. jang-geum goes to the kitchen to see if her palate has returned. choi-sg tells jang-geum her trial is today. a maid arrives with the materials to be delivered to mr. gam. jang-geum volunteers to make the delivery. gam tuk-po cultivates honey, then uses it to make porridge for the king. jang-geum delivers the ingredient. tuk-po shows jang-geum his latest creation. jang-geum sniffs it and says it's strong. jang-geum asks tuk-po if he knows what go-rae-go-gi tastes like. (it's the seacreature meat she will have to cook for her trial). tuk-po goes on and on about how it tastes like seafood but not really, how it resembles beef but not really.. but he's interrupted by head guard who tells him to go back to his

work. jang-geum runs off to the courtyard to read her mother's recipe booklet. choi-sg's brother gives her a recipe for cooking go-rae-go-gi.

jung-sg tells han-sg/jang-geum and choi-sg/geum-young to cook side by side the newly arrived go-rae-meat. each team cooks different dishes using the meat as main ingredient. jung-sg tastes the creations before they are brought to the king. she approves the dishes made by choi/geum-young. jung-sg tastes jang-geum's dish a couple of times then says it's okay to give to the king. choi-sg protests.

ep. 15

jung-sg, han-sg, choi-sg deliver the seafood dishes to the king. jang-geum, left behind in the kitchen, tastes her own food and realizes her taste palate is back. the king is presented with the creations of choi-sg/geum-young and han-sg/jang-geum. the king praises food made by jang-geum and praises the royal palace for its skills. jang-geum tells han-sg her taste buds have returned thx to the herbal dept. na-eu-ri who used the poison of insects as the medicine for human.

choi-sg is angry at jang-geum's success and scolds geum-young who thinks jang-geum has talent unsurpassed by none. jung-sg gathers the kitchen maids to try 'go-rae' meat so they know what it tastes like for future reference. choi-sg tells jung-sg she admits she lost but states in public jang-geum has lost her taste buds. choi-sg tells jung that a kitchen maid has to know how to taste food so that she can teach the younger maids in the future. jung-sg states jang-geum can just focus on making great dishes. choi-sg insists a royal kitchen maid must have her palate in tact. jung-sg stops choi-sg from going on and on and orders all kitchen maids to gather in the kitchen storage yard for food-tasting. privately, han-sg tells jung-sg about jang-geum's taste palate returning. jung-sg tells han-sg to be careful and pretend that she doesn't know about jang-geum in front of choi-sg.

jang-geum is put to test in front of everyone. jang-geum correctly states the ingredients in a food jar by tasting the samples. jang-geum amazes her fellow maids by her skills. choi-sg looks confused. finally jang-geum and han-sg tell everyone jang-geum has recovered her taste buds. jung-sg tells everyone jang-geum's recovery is a happy event for all kitchen maids and everyone must learn a lesson in this. choi-sg is really pissed off. young-noh tells geum-young choi-sg embarassed herself today. yun-saeng, chan-ee, jung-sg, and han-sg prepare food and wait for jang-geum to celebrate together. jang-geum runs off to the herbal dept to inform the na-eu-ri about her recovery. na-eu-ri asks if his treatment really worked and teases jang-geum why she came empty-handed. jang-geum apologizes and runs off to get him food and wine.

jang-geum asks yun-saeng what she should give to the person she is grateful toward (min jung-ho). yun-saeng replies that jung-sg said one can show gratefulness with food cooked with love. jang-geum goes to the kitchen and prepares treats for min jung-ho. geum-young walks in as jang-geum is about to wrap up all the food she made. jang-geum says its for someone who has done her favors. geum-young says it must be nice to have someone who looks after you in the palace. geum-young tells jang-geum she is disappointed that jang-geum got her palate back since they're rivals, and leaves.

min-jh tels jang-geum about a medicine man she might want to see for treatment. jang-geum tells him about her recovery, returns the books she borrowed and hands him food she made for him as a token of her grateful attitude. min-jh goes back and begins to enjoy the food when a subordinate tells him someone has come to see him. geum-young came by with a gift she brought from her uncle's (they've known each other for a long time due to their families). min asks her how she's doing and geum-young tells him lately she has lost confidence in herself and finds

life difficult. min encourages geum-young to have confidence since her job brings happiness to people.

the king suggests that choi-sg and han-sg compete by cooking for the prince's birthday, with the menu to be determined by the queen. choi-sg asks jae-jae-sg to help her become the next head of the kitchen, in return choi-sg promises it would benefit jae-jo as well. choi-sg asks her brother to find her the best ingredients for the next cook-off. jang-geum tells han-sg she thinks the ingredients that come from their regular source may not be as fresh as the ingredients that choi-sg might use. han-sg states that is out of their control, but jang-geum goes to see gam tuk-po with a grocery list and gives it to mrs. gam since the husband isn't around. the royal family wants choi-sg and han-sg to make dishes using food that the citizens throw away. geum-young wanders around the town to see what kind of food the citizens throw away. mrs. gam suggests jang-geum to use the left-over rice from wine-making as the ingredient. geum-young brings the throw-away meat parts from the market to choi-sg and they decide to make suhl-ruhng-tang (slow-cooked meat broth). jang-geum and han-sg decide they will use the left-over rice curds to make suhl-ruhng-tang as well. jang-geum goes around town to look for fresh meat. the queen is presented with food prepared by the two teams. each team has cooked a simple meal that resembles what the citizens normally eat. the queen tastes the food and learns about the recipe, then announces the one cooked by choi-sg is the better one. the head guard asks the queen why, and han-sg states she knows why she lost.

ep. 16

han-sg believes it is because jang-geum took too long to get the shoulder meat for the broth thus there wasn't enough time for the soup to develop its rich flavor. choi-sg and geum-young are elated they won and regains confidence in their skills. han-sg scolds jang-geum because jang-geum focused only on winning against geum-young have blinded her that she did abide to the convictions and principal that Lady Court Han taught. An old retired Lady Court who have been in long service for the Queen is ill. Retired Court Ladies retires in a temple where they dies and their souls will be taken care by the monks who will pray for their departed souls. who is receiving treatment outside of the palace needs someone from the royal kitchen for a limited duration and han-sg tells jang-geum to go. jang-geum begs han-sg to allow her to stay since the competition w/ choi-sg isn't over yet but han-sg tells her to leave. jung-sg finds out about it and asks han-sg if it's too harsh of a punishment but han-sg insists on her decision. jang-geum packs to leave. on her way out she stops by han-sg's room and apologizes to han-sg outside her room. jang-geum goes to see wine-maker gam's.jang-geum tells mrs. gam about her mistake which caused han-sg to lose. jang-geum and mrs. gam are surprised at han-sg's harsh decision.

geum-young goes to the kitchen with a joyful sigh and prepares food for min jung-ho. geum-young goes to the investigation dept to deliver the food but she's told min-jh left for an assignment. geum-young gets permission from choi-sg to go outside of the palace for a trip.

the kitchen maids wonder who han-sg will pick as her new assistant. young-noh goes to han-sg and asks han to pick her. han-sg tells young-noh to fetch water, again and again, like the way she asked jang-geum when jang-geum was a child. chan-ee goes to see han-sg and asks han to pick her. han-sg asks her to bring back 100 different kinds of herbs in 4 days the way she asked jang-geum. yun-saeng goes to see han-sg and states she can take jang-geum's place in jang-geum's absence. han-sg tells her to make 'sam-ha-jang' (triple paste). the three girls complain about han's harsh requests. geum-young tells them jang-geum did all three when she was a child. han-sg arrives and the girls state they can't fulfil the tasks. han-sg tells them this is why jang-geum is irreplaceable. the girls ask why han-sg sent jang-geum away. han-sg remembers the days of young jang-geum.

jang-geum arrives at the new appointment. mr. gam tuk-poh is there as the temp. he tells jang-geum jo-sg became ill after she realized her brother had died. the ill sang-goong is dying and

before she dies she wishes to eat the kind of rice that she ate with her brother when they were young. no one knows what kind of rice she is talking about so jo-sg remains sad in bed.

min jung-ho who is on his way back to the palace comes across jang-geum who seems sad. he is about to approach her but is interrupted by gam tuk-poh who asks why min didnt' get him any wines (gam asked him earlier when he saw that min was going to oo-ham city). later, jang-geum walks by a temple and sees a man paying his respects (min jung-ho). choi-sg reports to jae-jo-sg that jung-sg and han-sg haven't been speaking to each other. the two agree that they should make sure nothing goes wrong in their plan of making choi-sg the next kitchen leader. mr. tuk-poh shows jang-geum the beach. seeing the beauty of the water and the shore, jang-geum becomes happy again as she runs on water.

jang-geum, who is playing in the water, runs.. then runs into min jung-ho and the two play together. jang-geum tells jung-ho this was her first time on the beach. jung-ho and jang-geum chat, then jang-geum remembers her mother and gets teary. jung-ho asks how she became an orphan. jang-geum says it was her fault that her parents died. jang-geum says her father was a palace investigator too. jang-geum tells jung-ho if she had kept her mouth quiet her father would have been alive today.. same goes for her mother. jung-ho is sadden by her story. jang-geum apologizes for embarassing herself infront of him. he says he should be the one to apologize.

jang-geum gets the prescription for the ill sang-goong. jung-ho asks if jang-geum is going toward the medicine house and says he's going toward that direction as well. jung-ho shows jang-geum where the medicine house is and tells her to meet again in 1 hour. their trails are being followed by unknown identities. jung-ho and jang-geum are attacked by the men who followed them. jung-ho fights w/ them, then takes jang-geum and run. the two hide while the attackers search for them. the attackers find tuk-poh and the doctor, and ask if they've seen a woman with a man. tuk-poh is about to say something but another man from the medicine dept. comes to send the men away by stating no woman was there.

jang-geum tastes a new flavor and begs the medicine man to teach her how to make that flavor. the man doesn't see why it's so important and declines. jang-geum persists until the man finally gives in. jung-ho sees jang-geum's enthusiasm and smiles. han-sg tells jung-sg she will go through the competition by herself. jang-geum figures out what kind of rice jo-sg (the sick sang goong) is wishing for and gets it for her. upon tasting the rice flavor that she enjoyed with her brother when she was young, jo-sg begins to weep as she remembers her childhood happniess.

jang-geum tells jung-ho she learned some important lessons through her failure. she learned that she will fail if she only focuses on winning and getting results, instead of putting her enery into the food and focus on the one who will eat it. min tells jang-geum he believes that even if she makes a mistake once, she is a person who will bring smiles to the faces of those who taste her food. geum-young sees the two together as she walks in their direction.

ep. 17

jang-geum tells jung-ho how she resented her mentor at first but now she understands why she treated her so harsh for her mistake. geum-young walks in the courtyard and sees jang-geum talking to jung-ho. gam tuk-poh comes wth the paper and pen brush that jang-geum left behind. tuk-poh drags jung-ho to go drink with him. geum-young looks at jang-geum with hate and leaves. geum-young weeps alone in her room, remembering her love toward jung-ho.

next day, geum-young goes to the market and sees jung-ho looking for a thin pen to purchase (for jang-geum). geum-young remembers jung-ho asking jang-geum if she still uses thick pen brush when she arrived the day before and realizes he's buying it for jang-geum and leaves. geum-young walks off her sadness by the river. jung-ho finds jang-geum who is busy chasing

after the medicine man getting recipes from him. jung-ho gives the small pen brush to jang-geum saying it's something he had but it's too small for him so she should have it. jang-geum accepts with thanks and goes back to her recipe-gathering.

the queen has set the last competition. this time she wants the teams to cook san saeng-sun (mountain-side fresh seafood). it's a difficult task because it's hard to get fresh seafood at this time of the year. choi-sg knows she can get the ingredient from her brother so tells geum-young the queen is on their side. jung-sg worries that without jang-geum han-sg may lose. han-sg says she might be gone for a while (too look for fresh seafood). jang-geum watches as the ill jo-sg passes away. jang-geum gets ready to go back to the royal kitchen. the medicine man stops her to tell her to add dried anchovy, dried shiitake, mixed with salt and powdered stem vegetable to soybean stew next time for rich flavor. jang-geum, jung-ho and tuk-poh leave together. jung-ho asks jang-geum if she's sad about jo-sg and she says yes. he says he too feels sad. tuk-po states he's sad too because now he has to go back home to do all kinds of chores for his wife.

choi-sg and geum-young watch as choi-sg's brother orders his men to gather the precious ingredients. han-sg goes to the market in town and looks around, not finding the ingredients she wants. a captured offender has fled and may be hiding in the royal kitchen dept. young-noh and yun-saeng run into palace guards as they walk outside their room at night. the investigation dept. na-eu-ri informs jung-sg that they're looking for a runaawy who might be in the kitchen dept. hiding. the na-eu-ri finds the offender in choi-sg's room; the offender says he's innocent but he's taken away and the guards leave. jung-sg tells the girls to clean up the room before choi-sg comes back. the girls giggle over all the accessories that choi-sg has. jung-sg finds the recipe book that should've been given to the royal kitchen head (jung sg) in choi-sg's room and becomes angry at jae-jo-sg and choi-sg.

investigation naeuri informs min jung-ho about the captured offender. min reports about his findings from his trip. jang-geum returns to the royal kitchen. yun-saeng tells jang-geum what's been going on in the kitchen. han-sg returns from her shopping trip and sees jang-geum. her cold response makes yun-saeng wonder if han-sg is still angry at jang-geum. choi-sg and geum-young return from their trip as well. young-noh asks choi-sg if she found the ingredients. choi-sg tells her to go back to work. jang-geum sends a smile to geum-young but geum-young avoids eye contact with jang-geum. choi-sg asks han-sg if she found the desired ingredients. han-sg replies no. jang-geum tells geum-young she's worried that han-sg may never forgive her. geum-youngs says to jang-geum even if han-sg doesn't forgive her jang-geum already has too many things in life. geum-young states silently that what jang-geum has is what she wished to cherish for life.

choi-sg realizes the recipe book is gone and asks around about what happened in her room and finds out jung-sg was in her room when all the books fell out of the closet after they captured the runaway. jung-sg pretends like she doesn't know anything about choi-sg and recipe book. choi-sg goes to see jae-jo sg about her concern that jung-sg knows about the recipe book but is waiting til the competition day to tell everyone about it. jang-geum practices cooking with the recipes she learned while she was away. yun-saeng and jang-geum peek at the ingredients han-sg brought from the market and realizes it's not fresh. jang-geum gets all worried and runs to see the gam's to see if they know how to find fresh seafood in the winter. tuk-poh finds out from the guards what jung-ho likes and presents a fortune to jung-ho. (tuk-poh is trying to get on min's good side so he can ask him for favors). jung-ho tells him to take it back and never bring anything to him. (min jung ho doesn't like ppl kissing up to him) tuk-poh goes to dig for some root that is supposed to bring good fortune in the workplace to whoever eats it. jung-ho tells him to get rid of it again. tuk-poh cries out his troubles (he wants min to get wine for him) jang-geum arrives and jung-ho softens up to tuk-poh by offering the wine at his house. min leaves. tuk-poh asks where min's house is but jang-geum drags him away. han-sg gives jang-geum a special plum to taste. han-sg tells jang-geum its benefits to health. han-sg shows jang-geum she's been forgiven. jang-geum tells han-sg she is just like her deceased mother.

choi-sg pleads for her mistake infront of jung-sg and jae-jo-sg. jung-sg tells them to leave since she's not feeling well. jang-geum and han-sg prepare for the upcoming competition and jang-geum is cheerful like before. choi-sg's brother tells geum-young the bad news that his men weren't able to get live seafood. geum-young tells the uncle that jung-sg knows about the book jae-jo-sg passed to choi-sg behind jung-sg's back. jae-jo-sg and choi-sg scheme for a way to prevent jung-sg from appearing at the competition tomorrow for fear that she will tell everyone about the recipe book.

an infectious virus has struck the palace and elder oh orders the palace workers to vacant their dorms. jae-jo-sg and choi-sg use this opportunity to get rid of jung-sg. jung-sg gets escorted away by choi-sg's man who tells jung-sg that everyone must leave for preventive cause. jae-jo-sg tells the queen jung-sg has been struck by the illness and thus escorted out of the royal kitchen overnight. jae-jo-sg calls han-sg and jang-geum to her chambers and infront of choi-sg and geum-young, jae-jo-sg states jung-sg has the disease that can be spread through food. yun-saeng tells han-sg it's strange that jung-sg has the disease since she didn't show any signs like fever and vomit like other ppl with the disease have.

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Yeon-sheng tells Lady Court Han that Lady Court Jung didn't display any signs of symptoms of the illness like Lady Court Min had (Lady Court Min is that other Lady Court that nags Jang-geum a lot and have the philosphy that moderation is the key to survival) Lady Court Min asks Lady Court Jung why she is sent to the quarantine house if she's not sick by the illness (A suspected influenza was looming the palace). Lady Court Jung who is seemingly healthy, ponders why she was sent. The rest of the palace workers try to determine the cause of the virus/illness by sanitzing the area to avoid any outbreaks. Geum-young suggests to Lady Court Choi to seek the shi-geh (food doctor)advised on the matter and reason for the outbreak. jae-jo-sg pushes Right Minister Oh to elect the new kitchen leader since Lady Court Jung is gone. But the Head of the Royal Household minister Shang Shen - a enunch insists they should wait till Lady Court Jung returns first since she is still Head of the Royal Kitchen and that she has not reliquish her position. jae-jo-sg then chose Lady Court Choi as interim Head of Royal Kitchen while Lady Court Jung is away. The first instruction as the Interim Head of Royal Kitchen Lady Court Choi orders Lady Court Han and Jang-geum to go to 'Tae pyung gan' (The Peace palace it's where they house the Chinese dignitaries as Korea was then seen as a Ming Dynasty-Chinese protectorate at this period, hence the Korean King have to asked the approval of the Chinese Ambassador for his heir apparent which the task was given to Right Minister Oh to suceed after much delayed). Tae Pyung Gan is seen as a task that no one apparently wants to take on and also to be seen as a place of cold storage and exile as the Ming dynasty dignitaries are seen often with outrageous demanding behaviours and attitude that can be hard to pleased and in no position to disagree or refuse. The story was given by the Old Court Lady in the service of the Queen Dowager who was retiring was given a priviledge to become an examiner for the Kitchen Court Lady where her daugther who was from the tailor department came to roomate with jang-geum and stole jang-geum's ratio of flour to made dumpling for her mother as a farewell gift. She was posted to Tae pyung gua where she was young, and was rape by the Chinese dignitaries and had his child. Since the child was innocent, she raised her up under the shroud of the Court Ladies's loyalities oath. Lady Court Han and Jang-geum leaves for 'tae pyung gan' posting. Yeon Sheng seen that Lady Court Choi have gain the upper hand plead to Lady Court Han to tag along as she is a lamb among the wolves Lady Court Han refused Yeon-sheng plead as they're not going for fun but Yeon-sheng worries that they'll never return. Lady Court Han assured Yeon-Sheng that it is not so.

Min-jeongho carries out the task of screening the people who may show any symptoms of illness from coming at the entrance of the palace . Palace Cook Gam tuk-poh and Mrs. gam arrive at the entrance of the palace met Lady Court Han and Jang-geum enroute to 'Tae pyung gan posting, asks Palace cook tuk-poh if he could go see Lady Court Jung at the quarantine house to check if

she's really ill with influenza and the severity of her illness. Palace cook gam tries to get out of it for fear of catching the illness but Mrs. Gam says he can do it for a fee. Lady Court Han agrees on the payment. Min-jeongho sees jang-geum and while Lady Court steps aside to talk with the gam's to give them some instructions, meanwhile Min jeongho asks Jang-geum where she's going seeing her packed for travel. Jang-geum tells Min jung-ho she is off on their posting to 'tae pyung guan' for the time being to prepare for the arrival of the Chinese dignitaries. Min says she will face a difficult task ahead of her and shows empathy for her. Geum-young walks by as she goes to gather cooking materials. Geum-young is upset seeing Jang-geum talking to Min so candidly. Later, Min coincidentally bump into geum-young. Min asks geum-young on the happenings on royal kitchen but geum-young rebuke that he only to ask when crisis occured and shows she's angry that Min didn't apply the same caring concern to her as he did for jang-geum Min surprise at her outburst could only apologizes but geum-young hastenly walks away.

Right Minister Oh tells Lady Court Choi's brother Choi pan-su he didn't expect the Lady Court Jung matter to be resolved so easily. then Right Minister Oh tells choi pan-su he may have to go jeju-island to run some errands for him . choi states he was planning on going there anyway to work on new money-making deals. Right Minister Oh shows his satisfaction in choi's quick thinking. mrs. gam forces palace cook tuk-poh to visit Lady Court Jung at the quarantine house. Palace cook tuk-poh fearing that he will catch the illness could only managed to stand outside and shout to Lady Court Jung that he was sent by Lady Court Han on her status of her health. Lady Court Jung tells him to enter her room to talk, but Palace cook Gam says he'll he perfer stay outside but Lady Court Jung order him in. Gam then asks the nurse for a mask for some protection and goes inside. gam informs jung the news of Lady Court Han and jang-geum have been transferred to 'Grand peace Palace'. Lady Court Jung pass a letter to gam for Lady Court Han. After gam leaves Lady Court Jung bring out at the Head of the Royal Kitchen secret historical journal. The journal which have references to the diet and receipes favour by the Royal Household recorded down by pass Head of the Royal Kitchen Ladies. It was secretly handed down from Lady Court Choi's Aunt to Lady Court Choi. Lady Court Jung never had the journal in her possesion and only had it when the guards ransacked Lady Court Han's room when a prowler hid in her room closet and Lady Court Jung accidentally found it while tidying up her room. Palace Cook Gam passes the letter to Lady Court Han in which Lady Court Jung is not stricken by the illness but she wants han and jang-geum not to do anything for the time being and make it business as usual Right Minister Oh is entertaining the visiting Ming Dynasty (Chinese) ambassador in the 'grand peace palace'. the King has asked Right Minister Oh to have the chinese Ambassador for the approval to the King heir apparent. Court Lady Han cooks up a light greaseless healthy food when she knew that the Chinese Ambassador was suffering from diabietes when the Royal Physician brought a prescription for the Chinese Ambassador who by now would have suffer from fatigue by the long journey from China which will added more weight to his diabietes. the Chinese Ambassador and Right Minister Oh were shock by the presentation of the simple food and rebuke the food and asked to have it changed, the food was taken away but return the same for the Chinese Ambassador. Court lady Han came to explained why she present such food to the Chinese Ambassador stating his illment and after a long tiring journey cannot consumed such rich food. the Chinese Ambassador was unimpressed with the explaination and Right Minister Oh gets the guards to drag Lady Court Han. On seeing Lady court Han being drag away from abiding to her conviction and principals, Jang-geum comes in to plead to the Chinese Ambassador that the food serve to him is good for his current health condition and Lady Court Han has forsake her great culinary skills to make the food that will bring benefits his health. Just give them a chance of ten days or even five days to present these simple food, will bring changes to the Ambassador health. On hearing this,Right Minister Oh was more furious that a mere maid is telling them ranked officials what to eat or not to eat. The Chinese Ambassador somewhat relented but at the same time was upset as no one never told him off about his eating habits, asks Jang-geum to prove her theory correct. Jang-geum says that Lady Court Han will serve delicious beneficial food but the the Chinese Ambassador demand that Jang-geum should be the one to ccok since she who brought the suggestion and she will be the only one to prove it correct. The Ambassador gave Jang-geum five days to prove her theory to the extended on gambling her life on the line. He will eat everything she serve to him even grass but must be

delicious as he is a very picky eater, and if she failed in the five days to bring any results to his health he will punish her under the Chinese law for contempt. Jang-geum had no choice but to proved it. Meanwhile Lady Court Han is place under house arrest, the Head of the Royal Household Minister Shang Shen came to asked why Lady Court Han to serve such food to the Ambassador. She told if the King have the same illness, she will serve the same food as would Lady Court Jung will, if she was here to cook. Shang Shen then tell Lady court Han about Jang-geum pact with the Chinese Ambassador and her stakes was her very own life. Lady Court Han was shocked at the remarks. Words of the outburst from Tae pyung gan came to the ears of the Queen Dowager and orders Jae jo sang gung to settle this matter quickly and a lot of decision where riding on the Ambassador approval and need to made him happy. Lady Court Choi says she will go there and prepare a feast for the Ambassador. That night, jang-geum ponders and remembers her mother's last words pleading her to find a way to survive even without the guidance of her father and mother. The next day plucks up her confidence Jang-geum starts cooking for the Ambassador Lady Court choi come to 'tae pyung gan' to take over the cooking duties herself and come to the kitchen to tell jang-geum to give up the kitchen for them but jang-geum tells Lady Court choi to leave instead saying that the Chinese Ambassador have agreed to eat what she serve for five days Lady Court Choi is offended that Jang-geum remarks but geum-young persuades Lady Court choi to leave as jang-geum have stake her life on it. They will patiently wait for her to serve the five days meals and they will take over the kitchen and left. Lady Court choi tells Right Minister Oh not to worry about the Ambassador because she will cook up a feast of three days the 'mahn han jung sung' served in the royal palace of the chinese emperor. (This reference is not accurate, Mahn han jung sung was only serve during the Qing Dynasty under the reign of Kangxi. It was a feast of three days of both Manchu and Chinese (Han) cusine serve for Kangxi to thanked his cabinet. It was recorded in his annals and serve as a bible to Chinese cusine later. I assume that the scripwriter wanted to add flavouring to the story or Lady Court Choi was the inventor of it) Jang-geum started using the flavouring seasoning receipe she learn from the temple keeper during her stint at the temple looking after the Queen old Court Lady Nanny. The flavouring contain the compound of sun-dried fried anchovies, sun-dried mushroom, sundried vegetable and salt. The stint teaches Jang-geum that there are no secret recipes but through preservance of preparation of food will bring out the true flavour of the ingredient. Jang-geum tried to artifically dried the rice and unsucessfully could not bring out the flavour the Old court lady nanny yearn for but the temple keeper patiently sun-dried the rice until it is ripe to consume and yield result and the the Old Court Lady nanny could died in peace. The Chinese Ambassador started to eat but shown disastifaction when eating it which worries Jang-geum seeing his dislike. Still she persists to the principals of Lady Court Han and serve him the 5 meals as per agree. Day 6 Lady Court choi came to take over the kitchen and lay the dishes on the table which delighted the Ambassador. the Ambassador tried the dishes and marvel on the taste. Right Minister Oh asks the Ambassador what should the verdict on jang-geum who was rude and contempt. (revised by Gerry Tan (10/8/05)

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The Chinese Ambassador after taking several bite of the feast turn to Jang-geum and apologised from his temptation of eating the dishes in front of him and tell her that he will do it only once. Right Minister Oh was shock as there is yet another 2 days of feast. But the ambassador thanks but no thanks as he will not eat the feast any further. When Oh asked why, he pointed to Jang-geum and it is due to the rude and contempt Jang-geum. jang-geum was suprised at the comment. The Chinese Ambassador asks jang-geum why she was so insistant on cooking this simple food, even at the risk of her life, as he was not Korean and would not be staying long and it will be much simplier if she serve the food as he wanted. jang-geum states she was following the principals set by her mentor Lady Court Han, which is "under any circumstances a cook must never prepare food that will bring harm to the one who will eat the food." The Ambassador asked her wasn't she not afraid, Jang-geum says she was as she saw how Lady Court Han was drag away and place under house arrest and she making a pact with the Ambassador in the expenses of gambling her life as stake. The Ambassador laughed at the stubborness of the teacher and the

pupil in perserving their principal and says as they abide by their convinction to serve food that is good for his health, he as the recipient much also abide to such rules to look after his own health. The many years that he was abusing his own health and brought down to suffering diabetes because of his eating habits which he known very well bring harm to him as yet he consume them. He tend mentioned that the five days of Jang-geum meals serve he could taste the same flavouring which was pleasant to the palate that he has never tasted before (he didn't shown it initially when the food was serve which got Jang-geum very worried). It was delicious. He then says that Lady Court Han and Jang-geum will be in charge of all his meals until he leaves for China. Jang-geum has proven that the five days of foods serve did bring a healthier Ambassador, (he was grumpy when he first arrived). Jang-geum was relief and happy much to the displeasure Lady Court Choi, geum-young, and Right Minister Oh. Lady Court Han is freed. the head of Royal Household Minster Shang Shen says that Jang-geum have won the Ambassador over with her persistance. Lady Court Han told Jang-geum that Jang-geum actions will shorten her(Lady Court Han) life span of a few years due to worry. Jang-geum joke that Lady Court Han began to sound more like Lady Court Jung and laughs Lady Court Han tells the Shang Shen that Lady Court Jung is not suffering from any contagious illness. Shang Shen says he have been away entertaining the Chinese dignitaries that he does not the happening at the palace. He will so found out. Lady Court Choi when on face saving to see Lady Court Han and cynically states she worried about Chinese dignitaries who in the past have be difficult but says that since the Chinese Ambassador prefer Lady Court Han cooking she will leave it up to Lady Court Han. A palace guard came and asked for a Court lady who took care of the Old Court Lady nanny, Lady Court Han told the guard it was Jang-geum. the guard says that the Queen asked for her presence at her chambers. Shang Shen accompany Jang-geum to see the Queen. The Queen met with jang-geum. (Historically this is Queen Munjeong. She is a major figure in Korean History. Driven by political ambitions, she will purged political adveries and administered state affairs from behind the veil for 8 years. it is remarkable that she had absolute power when there is gender inequality and sexual dicrimination prevailed in the Joseon dynasty. So Jang-geum was not only woman to break the barrier. A scene between jang-geum and the Queen over why woman cannot be like man in term of education and occupation was mentioned in later episodes.) bak to ther story. The Old Court Lady nanny was the nanny of the Queen, she was not only a nanny but the only physical maternal person she knew. The Queen lost her mother when she was very young and the nanny look after her. She wanted to know from Jang-geum her last days of her life, whether she pass on peacefully. Jang-geum told her that the nanny die peafully and happy and her ashes are in the temple and if she wish to her there. Shang shen then interupted that Jang-geum will certainly take care of the Old nanny well and she has shown in looking after the Chinese Ambassdors well being health. Shang Shen told the happenings in Tae Pyung Gan. The Queen was amused to heard such Lady Court Choi report to jae-jo-sg all is well at 'tae pyung gan' leaving the part of the story Yoen-sheng trains the newly arrived child maids to bow and orders the older children to pair up with a younger chlidren. young-noh interrupts and tries to take away 2 children to be her students. Lady Court Choi arrives and stops young-noh and yun-saeng from arguing. Lady Court Choi puts young-noh in charge of training responsibility of young maids. yun-saeng goes to complain to chan-ee about choi-sg and asks if jung-sg will return soon. chan-ee wonders if they need to be nice to young-noh from now on since choi-sg is in charge and she looks favorably upon young-noh.

jae-jo-sg and choi-sg report to the queen dowager and jae-jo-sg tells her Lady Court Choi took care of the Ambassador. the queen dowager praises them for doing a good job with the matter of tae-pyung-gan. jae-jo-sg is about to bring up the issue of promoting choi-sg again when they're interrupted by the arrival of the Queen. The Queen arrives to greet the queen dowager and apologised over her grief for her nanny. Now she has come to terms when she have heard that all have been done for her The Queen asks what they're discussing about. the queen dowager excused Lady court Choi and jae-jo-sg as the Queen hinted that they should speak privately. the queen dowager tells the Queen she was just praising Lady Court choi on a job well done with the Chinese dignitaries. the Queen tells the queen dowager other wise as she heard a different version . Lady Court jung receives medical exam from the doctor brought by gam tuk-poh. the doctor says she shouldn't have been kept together with those who suffer from the disease. tuk-

poh visits han-sg to tell her jung-sg is weaker than ever before. a messenger arrives at tae-pyung-gan and asks for the maid who took care of the dying jo-sg. the head guard brings jang-geum to lady ja-soon who sent for jang-geum. jang-geum reports to lady ja-soon about the last days of jo-sg. lady ja-soon states jo-sg was like a mother to her and regrets she was not the one who took care of her in her dying bed. the head guard tells lady that jang-geum is a detailed and sensible person so the lady needs not to worry for jang-geum most certainly offered the best care available to jo-sg. lady ja-soon feels comforted and asks why jang-geum is working in tae-pyung-gan.

jung-sg sends min-sg on a errand to find out what it is that the medical staff has been given her as medication. jae-jo-sg tells the head guard they probably shouldn't let jung-sg back in the royal kitchen since she is so ill and they should hurry and make a new kitchen head. head guard states that's not an urgent matter. min-sg finds out the medicine jung-sg has been taking contains harmful liquids that are slowly poisioning her body. jung-sg writes a letter to jae-jo-sg asking for a meeting. jae-jo-sg reluctantly visits jung-sg. jung-sg asks jae-jo-sg to allow her to return to palace kitchen with the rest of the people who are scheduled to return to the palace in 2 days. jae-jo-sg states that's not a good idea since jung-sg is so sick and too weak to cook. jung confronts jae-jo-sg telling her that she knows about the medicine jae-jo-sg has ordered for her and about the recipe book that was supposed to be given to her but passed onto choi-sg. jung-sg asks if jae-jo wants her to send the poisioning medicine and the book to the investigating dept. jae-jo-sg denies everything but shows sign of being threatened. the queen calls jae-jo-sg and choi-sg into her chamber and infront of lady ja-soon, the queen scolds the two sg's for not telling her about what han-sg and jang-geum did in tae-pyung-gan and asks about jung-sg's illness.

general oh sends off the visiting general who is content from his stay and offers a good friendship with his nation of myung (china). the head guard asks han-sg if she will be returning to kitchen since she did a good deed for the nation. jung-sg returns to the royal kitchen. han-sg is rejoyed with tears. the queen orders everyone to be present for a meeting. the queen tells jung-sg as far as she is considered han-sg won the second competition since she presented beneficial food to the visiting general and thus giving him a great impression of the korean dynasty. jung-sg meets with choi and han-sg, geum-young and jang-geum. jung-sg brings out the revered recipe book and states since choi-sg already saw it it's only fair that han-sg sees the content as well. han-sg declines saying she will only read it if she becomes the next kitchen head .'

the gam's arrive outside the village where min-jh is staying to deliver wines. min jung-ho meets with his informants who tell him that the suspects they're after may be hiding in the local bar/inn. min-jh comes outside to meet w/ the gam's. min-jh asks tuk-poh to take him to the bar/inn tuk-poh frequents. min-jh gathers information about the inn's guests from the hostess. the hostess says she can't give out information about the guests and their conversations for no reason and leaves. tuk-poh tells min he knows how to do business with the bar hostesses so he should leave it up to him but for a price.. min offers a thousand yang (monetary unit) to tuk-poh for his assistance.

the queen gathers jae-jo, jung, choi, and han-sg into her chamber to announce that the theme for the final competition between han and choi is 'nothing'.. meaning the queen just wants the two sg's to prepare their best dishes for the upcoming birthday feast. chan-ee tells the kitchen maids why the queen met w/ the supervisors. general oh meets with jae-jo-sg. general oh tells jae-jo there's no shortcuts anymore. from now on it depends on choi-sg's skills. jung-sg tells han-sg she has done what she could and whatever happens will a fate destined by the heavens, so han-sg should try to cook with a peaceful heart. han-sg meets with jang-geum, who sees that han-sg is shaking. jang-geum tells han-sg she looks cute when she's shaking nervously. han-sg scolds her lovingly. jang-geum tells han-sg she believes in han-sg's skills. han-sg begins to tell jang-geum about her past, of being born into a humble family, of meeting another child who gave han her first praise for her cooking skills, of following that child into the palace to become a kitchen maid... afterwards, han-sg goes outside and calls out her friend's name.. "myung-ee" (<-- jang geum's mother's name). meanwhile, jang-geum goes to read her mother's booklet and learns about a

secret ingredient that requires juice from the tree. han-sg digs out a small jar buried under the soil of a secret spot as she remembers her friend myung-ee who buried the jar with her. as she leaves she remembers myung-ee telling her that the best food for the king should be "pal-gua-tang" (eight fruit soup).(revised by Gerry Tan 10/08/2005, has a pleasure of catching Jewel in the palace on cable in Chicago and had a Korean collegues to give a running commentary of the historical facts and fancy)

ep. 20

jang-geum runs to the place where her mother said she buried the jar with her fellow-maid. jang-geum sees that the soil was recently touched so she wonders if her mothers friend was there, but han-sg already left the area. later han-sg tells jang-geum she plans to make 'eight-fruit-soup' for the feast competition. choi-sg and geum-young go see the brother. choi-sg tells her brother she has confidence they'll win. the brother meets with a palace messenger whom he's bribed to be on his side at the town inn to discuss a new scheme. the hostess listens as they talk. the messenger goes to see young-noh and whispers something in her ears. young-noh and yun-saeng try to find out from each other what choi-sg and han-sg are cooking. they exchange the paper w/ the dish name, but young-noh got a blank paper from yun-saeng while yun-saeng got a fake dish name from young-noh. they argue again. young-noh tries to get chan-ee's help. chan-ee tells young-noh she should go find out from yun-saeng while she's sleep-talking. young-noh goes into yun-saeng's room at night and tries to ask her in her sleep but yun-saeng starts to blabber about all the food she's craving for. young-noh gets ticked and stuffs a green onion in her mouth.

mrs. gam tells her husband to deliver a precious wine to han-sg. the wine is a special wine that only mrs. gam knows how to make. she wants han-sg to present the wine to the king during the feast so that everyone will know about her special wine thus helping their business. gam tuk-poh delivers the wine to jang-geum and gives her instruction on what to do with the wine. choi-sg and geum-young prepare the ingredients for next day's cook-off. han-sg and jang-geum prepare their kitchen as well. at night, the choi's messenger meets w/ young-noh to give her some intructions. yun-saeng runs into jang-geum's room to tell her that young-noh did something to their ingredients. yun-saeng, jang-geum, and han-sg run to the kitchen to discover that all the ingredients have been ruined and messed with. han-sg instructs jang-geum to hold the fort down in the morning while han-sg goes out to get more ingredients. young-noh watches and reports to the messenger. han-sg leaves the palace at night to see the market merchant and gam tuk-poh. the merchant says her requested fresh ingredient will be in the market by daylight. tuk-poh says he doesn't have any more of the dong-choo-ah (some kinda fermented herb?) she got from him yesterday. tuk-poh takes han-sg around town to look for more but one by one all the shops say they're out.

at daylight han-sg gets what she needs and tuk-poh sends her off in a boat. he turns around to tell her she forgot to pay him, but he sees that han-sg is getting kidnapped by 2 men on the boat. tuk-poh runs home to tell his wife who tells him they should report to master min jung-ho to ask for his help in getting the police involved. min-jh learns about the fate of han-sg from gam and goes off with his assistant on horse after han-sg's trails. back at the palace, yun-saeng worries about han-sg not yet returning while jang-geum tries to stay calm. young-noh continues to spy on them. yun-saeng tells jang-geum jae-jo-sg and everyone else have gathered for the competition. young-noh goes after choi-sg and whispers somethng in her ears. choi-sg is surprised about what happened to han-sg. young-noh tells choi-sg master choi will keep han-sg from attending the cook-off. choi-sg is not happy by her brother's gesture which shows he doesn't trust her skills.

jae-jo-sg calls for a meeting, and asks why han-sg is absent. jang-geum informs them han-sg is outside the palace getting the ingredients she needs. jung-sg asks what happened to the ingredients she already prepared. jang-geum states animals came in over the night and ruined the ingredients. jae-jo-sg says it's a cook's reponsibility to protect their ingredients to fail in doing so is han-sg's failure. jang-geum says it's her fault and asks if she could take han-sg place til she

comes back. jae-jo-sg relunctantly agrees after geum-young's persuation. jung-sg tells jang-geum it was not her place to bud in. choi-sg scolds geum-young for budding in. geum-young thinks to herself that she wishes to see jang-geum suffering the way she made her suffer. outside the palace door mrs. gam runs into the blind merchant who asks her to deliver the fresh seafood to han-sg. the seafood is delivered to jang-geum and jang-geum is notified that han-sg was kidnapped on her way back to the palace.

min-sg gives shiitake mushrooms to jang-geum to encourage her. chan-ee also gives jang-geum beef she stole from the royal kitchen. jang-geum looks at yun-saeng seriously and tells her she is the only one who can help her at this moment. yun-saeng says she's shaking nervously but pulls herself together to help jang-geum fetch what she needs. at the mother queen's birthday feast, the royal family and the ranking generals have gathered. jang-geum and geum-young present their first course to the queen and the king. the queen asks what she's eating. jang-geum replies she made a "jung-bo" porridge. geum-young states her porridge is a "oh-ja' porridge using 5 complimentary fresh ingredients. the royal family seems to like geum-young's porridge better. jang-geum and choi-sg present their next course. blah blah blah jang-geum goes on and on about how she prepared the vermicelli wrap. next the royal family enjoys choi-sg's spring rolls made from seafood wrap. the king, the queen and the lady express their delight at choi-sgs food. yun-saeng is worried that jang-geum is losing. jang-geum silently asks for her mother to help her. the next course is a salad. the royal family is once again impressed by choi-sg innovation of using bean water as the dressing. jang-geum again asks her mother to help her. the royal family tastes her veggi dip made from garlic and aged vinegar preserved underground for decades. the king states both are excellent but jang-geum wins this round. the mother queen asks why han-sg is missing. jae-jo-sg states han-sg left the palace and is yet to return. everyone is startled by that news.

ep. 21

the queen mother is wondering why han-sg is missing and a maid's been presenting food instead. jae-jo-sg tells the queen han-sg hasn't returned since she left yesterday. jung-sg states han-sg had to leave to get fresh ingredients. the king asks who then has been preparing the food they're eating. the sg's say han-sg's maid jang-geum is the cook. the queen says there's no need to continue w/ the competition in that case. the lady and the king ask the queen to allow jang-geum to continue. the queen agrees. next jang-geum presents tendered rib. choi-sg presents triple-cooked shrimp. min-sg, the other maids, the child maids, and master choi w/ his messenger watch.

han-sg escapes while master min-jh and his soldiers arrive. the soilders escort han-sg back to the palace while min investigates. jang-geum prepares the main course. yun-saeng expresses her concern at their lack of ingredients to make the 'pal-ga-tang' (8 fruit soup) that han-sg wanted. jang-geum tells yun-saeng to give her space alone and takes out her mother's recipe book for strength. choi-sg and jang-geum present their course. choi-sg presents a stew of soft-pork meat combined with gingseng. jang-geum presents her dish and the royal family seems disappointed at the sight of the chicken soup. but the queen shows interest after a bite and asks what she used. jang-geum states cabbage, garlic, chicken, etc. the king interrupts and wants to know what is the ingredient that gives the dish such aromatic spicy flavor. jang-geum replies the secret ingredient is tiger liver. han-sg arrive. the maids tell her jang-geum is losing. tuk-poh asks if han-sg is okay. the queen and king agree that jang-geum should win this round. the onlookers cheer. tuk-poh urges han-sg to hurry and take over the competition but han-sg says the competition belongs to jang-geum.

second main course. choi'sg presents bone marrow rice. jang-geum presents a special bone marrow rice that gives you a cool feeling after eating which will get rid of the greasy aftertaste of the previous course. the royal family praises jang-geum for making such thoughtful dish. the on-lookers cheer for jang-geum again. choi-sg is becoming angry but geum-young says she will

surely win the next round. jang-geum sees that han-sg is back. han-sg gives a smile and sign to continue. final course is dessert. the queen tastes the fruits and asks choi-sg and jang-geum what they each consider as their best dish today. jang-geum states she was unable to cook the best dish of 'pal-ga-tang' that han-sg wanted, however she made a dish that she considers her own best. jang-geum states it's wild berry dessert and presents the dish. the lady asks why. jang-geum states wild berry is the last food that she washed and fed to her dying mother. her mother, upon eating the berries, left the world with a soft smile on her face. jang-geum states she prepared the food with the love she has for her mother. the king and the lady is touched by jang-geum's words. the king tries the dessert and states it's delicious and he will not forget her love toward her mother. the king states wild berries are his favorite food. and that jang-geum is the best cook of soo-rak-gan (knife/fork dept. = royal kitchen). the queen is surprised by her son's enthusiasm. the king interrupts and states the results are still in the queen mother's hands... he is merely expressing how impressed he is by the mere servant. the lady tells the queen she wishes to meet the mentor of a such skilled maid. the king concurs he wants to see han-sg. han-sg is brought before the royal family. the queen mother states she will honor her son's joy and states han-sg is the new head of royal kitchen. geum-young and choi-sg are pissed.

jang-geum goes back to the kitchen and weeps (in reminiscence of her deceased mother). han-sg walks in and embraces jang-geum with teary smile. meanwhile, choi-sg and geum-young weep at their anger and loss. jung-sg goes back to her chamber with signs of a struggling health. han-sg and jang-geum chat. jang-geum asks han-sg the details of her capture. han-sg states it seems the incident was meant to prevent her from attending the competition. chan-ee (<-- she's always munching on something stolen ^^) and min-sg cook for jang-geum.

at night jang-geum brings out her recipe book and thanks her mother for helping her. master min jung-ho arrive. jang-geum thanks min-jh for helping with han-sg's situation. min states jang-geum was beautiful at the feast today.. and that her words were beautiful just as well. min: "that beautiful image.. it shall stay in my heart deeply for a long time" jang-geum: "if you say it like so then i don't know what to say" (blushing).

min-jh goes back to his dept. and finds out the man he captures yesterday has been let go. min-jh asks why and the other master states he already did an investigation and that guy is innocent. min-jh is suspicious about the matter.

tuk-poh gets scolded by his wife again over some chore. tuk-poh runs outside and runs into the arriving master min. min-jh asks if he is sure that the boat han-sg got on was headed for ma-poh city. tuk-poh states yes. then the two go to the town bar. tuk-poh introduces master min to the hostess who tells them a lot of high-ranked officers from the palace visit their inn, including elder oh. in a different room, elder oh is meeting with master choi. oh expresses his anger that choi didn't take care of the matter well. choi apologizes and hands him a letter (i think w/ money). jung-sg visits the queen and the lady and states she is not well health-wise and asks for retirement. the queen says the king will be disappointed but sets the formal retirement of jung in 4 days. jae-jo-sg gives the news to choi-sg who says she will not easily give up the head position to han-sg. she intends to contact all the sg's who have received help from her family in the past to help her. jung-sg tells han-sg she will be the new head in 4 days. han-sg states she is ill-prepared but jung-sg says she must see that han-sg successfuly takes over her position before she becomes any weaker. jung-sg brings han-sg to the kichen and announces to all the maids that han-sg will be their new boss in 4 days.

choi-sg gathers her supports to plan a strike of some kind. young-noh takes out her anger on the children by yelling at them and threatening to hit them. chan-ee brings textile specialists to get han-sg's measurements for new outfits. yun-saeng is in jung-sg's room while the medicine maid checks on her heath. the maid leaves. yun-saeng begins to weep seeing that jung-sg is in pain and shows sadness that jung-sg is leaving. jung-sg gives yun-saeng a loving hug and words of endearment (something like: you poor thing.. still so young yet no way to escape from this

palace..). yun-saeng goes to the kitchen and tells han-sg jung-sg wishes to see her. han-sg goes to see jung-sg who tells her in just a day she will leave this palace that has been suffocating her. jung-sg tells han-sg the palace is a difficult place to survive but she believes that han-sg will succeed. han-sg stands to give jung-sg a bow but jung-sg stops her by saying one does not bow before a sick person and leaves. han-sg is left weeping by herself. (her sorrow also comes from jung's leaving). jung-sg goes to jae-jo-sg and gives her a bow, and states she knows she has caused a lot of trouble for jae-jo-sg in the past but begs for jae-jo-sg to send all her hatred toward her and leave han-sg alone. jung-sg also goes to see choi-sg and asks for choi-sg to let it all go.. to please let it go.

the day of the retirement/hand-over. no one shows up to the feast except jung-sg, han-sg, jang-geum, and yun-saeng. choi-sg and jae-jo-sg, and all their supporters are together as a protest, saying the competiton wasn't fair since han-sg was supposed to be the cook and they don't want the kitchen head to be someone like han-sg who is from a servant family. jung-sg arrives and shows her anger by saying she is still the kitchen lead and how dare they behave such way... then jung-sg passes out.

ep. 22

jung-sg regains consciousness and tries to get up in front of jang-geum, han-sg, and yun-saeng. the messenger arrives and tells jang-geum jung-sg must leave the palace since she's no longer the kitchen boss and she's dying (it's against the palace rule for maids and escorts to die inside the palace). jung-sg reminds han-sg to stand up for herself and be strong since she is now the kitchen head, and gives han-sg the traditional recipe book. han-sg begs jang-geum to save jung-sg.. or rather.. to make sure she does not spend her last days lonely. jae-jo-sg reports to the queen to inform that jung-sg has left the palace and that han-sg was not successfuly inaugurated due to protest from members of the 'soh-joo bang' (stir-fry dept). the lady is upset by the news but jae-jo-sg tries to explain that han-sg was not the one who actually cooked during the feast cook-off and han-sg comes from a very humble family. but the queen thinks there is some sense behind the protest.

outside the palace, jang-geum takes care of jung-sg while yun-saeng is dozing off. jang-geum tells jung-sg yun-saeng and her secretly referred to her as 'grandma' since they were young. a very pale but smilingly jung-sg reminiscent about the past times. jang-geum also thinks about the past when jung-sg encouraged and helped her whenever jang-geum was in trouble with han-sg. jung-sg asks jang-geum to help han-sg since she is now the only one who can help her. jang-geum begins to tear and watch jung-sg, who asks jang-geum to promise her that no matter what to never give up on han-sg. jang-geum agrees and jung-sg lies down to rest as she feels peace at jang-geum's promise.

han-sg prepares and brings meal to the king. outside the king's dinning hall, jae-jo-sg stops han-sg from entering. han-sg states she must greet the king. jae-jo-sg tells her to wait outside until she is called in. jae-jo-sg informs the king jung-sg left the palace overnight. the king orders his guard to send his well-wish to jung-sg. the royal doctor, sent by the king, arrives at jung-sg's room accompanied by gam tuk-poh and his wife.

the doctor checks jung-sg and announces she has already left the world. yun-saeng mourns jung-sg aloud while jang-geum and the gam's weep silently.

han-sg continues to wait outside the dinning hall. the head guard returns and gives han-sg a sign of bad omen by shaking his head. the guard reports to the king that jung-sg passed away. the royal doctor states jung-sg had already stopped breathing when he arrived. outside han-sg falls to her knees in sorrow.

yun-saeng calls out to jung-sg while jang-geum holds her down at jung-sg's cremation. jang-geum dispurses jung-sg's ashes into the river as she remembers jung-sg's dying wish... jung's voice: "as for me i regret i had to spend my life inside the palace.. so cremate me and spread my ashes into the water so that through the flowing of the river i may wander around from place to place"

[lots of flashback to the past as jang-geum remembers the impact jung-sg had on her life]

jang-geum and yun-saeng return to the palace and finds han-sg standing alone in the rain. yun-saeng expresses her sorrow. jang-geum asks han-sg why she is outside. a servant arrives to tell han-sg no one from the other kitchen depts will come out to help with the scheduled event of making picked turnips and potatoes. with a stern voice, jang-geum reminds han-sg she is the head of soo-rak-gan must pull herself together, and asks the servant to escort han-sg inside. jang-geum tells yun-saeng the two of them must finish all the work infront of them. yun-saeng cries and says she can't but jang-geum states she is carrying out jung-sg's orders and asks yun-saeng to hurry and work. jang-gem and yun-saeng gather the child maids and the servants and work on the chore overnight. young-roh, who is spying on them, is shocked by the progress she sees. jang-geum brings food to han-sg. han-sg refused to eat but jang-geum begs her to eat. the messenger arrives to inform han-sg of a crisis from water seeping into the kitchen overnight.

meanwhile the supervisors are meeting with the royal guard who is angry that han-sg once again missed the supervisor meeting. (han-sg didn't know about the meetings) the head guard finds han-sg and expresses his disappointment and frustration at han-sg. jan-geum and yun-saeng try to solicite help from all the other depts for another food-preparation event. min-sg and chan-ee tell jang-geum all the other supervisors are protesting han-sg's status and min-sg doesn't want to be involved in any trouble by crossing the picket line. han-sg tells the royal guard about the situation and asks for his help. the guard goes to see jae-jo-sg who tells him the queen already knows about the situation and tells him to stay out of it. geum-young and choi-sg discuss their next scheme. master choi worries about the queen's reaction but choi-sg says the queen won't fire all the supervisors just because of one person (han-sg) so not to worry.

han-sg finds out from min-sg about the protestor's meeting and goes there. all the other supervisors blantantly states their refusal to recognize her as the kitchen head. choi-sg gets a member of the royal family involved (i think a wife of one of the princes who is elder oh's sister). the lady complains to the queen about the situation and the queen begins to wonder if she should fire han-sg. han-sg tells jang-geum they should go tell the queen she's stepping down. jang-geum tries to talk han-sg out of it by saying han-sg was not only her mentor but a mother figure to her since she was little.. if han-sg steps down then jang-geum will give up on her as well.

the queen meets with lady ja-soon who tells the queen the decision in the matter regarding han-sg is up to the queen. han-sg arrives and asks the queen for a re-contest and if she wins to have the queen give her official order to inaugurate han-sg as the new lead. jang-geum overhears from outside the room and rejoices.

ep. 23

Lady Court Han asks the Queen for a re-match on the competition as the Court Ladies boycotted her as protest her beinging the Head of the Royal Kitchen for she did not participate in it. Even she fires all the Court Ladies for insubordination and have to run the kitchen a mere junior staff, she needs to resolve the issue. She also asked that the Queen give her absolute power to control all kitchens without interference from any parties. The queen who is Queen Minjeong although her name is not mentioned her refernce is Jon San Ma Ma. She was a major figure in the Korean History, driven by political ambition she murdered her stepson, (reference were made when she order jang-geum when she was Nae Eui Nu (the female medicine practitioner) to end the life of

the sick Crown prince which Jang-geum refuse) to make way for her natal son to be King and since he was too young, she became the regent where she purged political adversaries and then administered state affairs behind the veil for 8 years. It was remarkable that she had absolute power when gender inequality and sexual discrimination prevailed during this period. So Jang-geum was not the only woman who broke the gender barrier mentioned in this story. Well that will be another story.

The Queen encourages the Queen dowager (address as Dae Bi Ma Ma) to accept Lady han's idea since the Kitchen Court Ladies boycotted is not so much the participation in the competition but her lowly class background. The Queen dowager agrees and hand over the role of setting the topic of the competition, by this the Queen Dowager was handing the rein of control of the chambers to the Queen. The Queen Dowager was the one administrating the chambers, thought the role was meant for the Queen. The Queen Dowager told that she will abide by the Queen's decision on the outcome. Lady Han steps out in relief and pleases Jang-geum that Lady Han did not give up hope.

The queen dowager then summons all the Kitchen Court Ladies and all the Royal Kitchen Staff to commune at the Royal Kitchen as she was to decree. The Court Ladies who were backing Lady Choi boycotted on hearing this thought they have won and the Queen Dowager was to fired Lady Han from her post and elect a new Head. The Queen dawager inform that the Queen have a decree. The Queen reprimand the Kitchen Court Ladies for their insubordination for going against appointment of Lady Han and should be punished. Although the Queen Dowager was displease with the background of Lady Han, the Queen Dowager never said in the open. So the appointment of Lady Han as Head of the Royal Kitchen stand. The Queen admit there is a flaw in the matter as lady Han never competed. There will be a re-match. The Queen asked whether Lady Han & Lady Choi agree to the term of the re-match and both agree. Facing to the masses tell the Kitchen Court ladies that will have to abide by the result of the rematch. All Kitchen court ladies will acknowledge the results.

The topic is cook rice, the essential basis in Korea cusine. To be fair, the Queen supplies the same utensil and ingredients to Lady Han and Lady Choi so everybody is on the same par. The Queen asked that only both who are competing are allow to stay the rest will have to follow the Queen and the rest of the entourage to the dinning hall. On the way to the dinning hall Lady Min says that it is very hard to judge as cook rice is a simple and both Lady have cook it for almost 30 years and not seen as difficult. Then to be fair, not be bias to anyone the Queen put the re-match to a vote. Democracy an an infancy stage in Korea. The Queen is seen as an intellect. The Queen told them that the rice will be put in two type of bowl, a bronze and a porcelain and have to vote on which bowl they prefer. The bowls of rice where presented and the put their preference. The vote are pass up and the Queen asked both Lady Choi and Lady Han to come in and the Queen asked of the comments of the rice. The kitchen court ladies says that the porcelain rice is nice and soft in texture. A few agree.

The Queen says that the is a winner is most certain and asked who cook the rice in the porcelain bowl. Lady Choi proudly announce that she is the one who cook the rice and explain her technique by pressure cooking the rice. The Queen asked her personal Court Lady to make the result known, she announce that the porcelain bowl have 5 votes, by the matter of simple arithematic. The Queen announce that Lady Han won. There were total of 13 Kitchen court ladies.

The Queen Dowager was suprised at the result as the comments came that the porcelain bowl rice was nice nad soft. The Kitchen Court Ladies then said althought the rice was soft they prefer harder rice. (Because of gender inequality the woman in Korean can only eat the crust that stick at the bottom of the pot, claiming that the rice crust are nutrious, it is just an excuse). So most woman will prefer harder rice as they were use to it or it is the only type of rice they can eat). Another claim she prefer very soft rice, so she chose the bronze bowl. The Queen Dowager claim

how can a pot of rice can cook two degree of rice. Lady Han explain by cooking rice separately in a small inside with the density of water require. Lady Han explained the the King prefer harder rice while the Queen prefer softer rice. The Queen then comments why she could get her prefer rice every alternate day. She further says that it is usual they should be well verse on the Royal preference but how does she know the preference liking of each Kitchen Court Ladies. Lady Han explained that most of the Court ladies here, grew up together.

The Queen Dowager is astonished by Lady Han thoughtfulness in remembering each one liking that there is no question that she is rightfully the Head of the Royal Kitchen.

The Queen decree that Lady Han is the winner by count of votes and she will have absolute power over the kitchen and the orders from Lady Han will be sanction by the Queen and made it so. The Queen firmly wanted the Kitchen Court Ladies to understand the decree and acknowlege Lady Han as winner. The Queen Dowager reiterate the Queen decree. All Kitchen Court ladies agree.

As jae-jo-sg (Head of the Royal Household - in charge of administrative duties in the residence) enters to find out what has happened, the Queen asks Jae jo sg to abstain from meddling in the affairs of the Royal Kitchen as she has given Lady Han absolute power. This was a major power split for Jae Jo sg. Jae jo sg tells Right Minister Oh about Lady Han winning and gaining absolute power and how she was ordered to stay out of the kitchen affairs. Right Minister Oh expresses his frustration with Mr choi Su pan. Lady choi shows her anger and dismay at the situation to geum-young (until now her family has always played a prominent role in the soo-rak-gan- Royal Kitchen). Lady Han finally receives a formal inauguration as the Head of the Royal Kitchen. Lady Han and jang-geum finally visit the cliff where jung-sg's ashes were scattered to tell that she has finally fulfill her wishes. Lady Han pays her ritual respect at the site. Jang-geum is also happy that she was able to fulfill Lady Jung's last wish to help Lady Han pull through and not to sucumb to the pressure. On their way back Jang-geum tells Lady Han she wants to make a stop. jang-geum goes to the cave where her mother was buried and pays her respects. Lady Han then pays her respect , not realizing that it is Meong Yi's (jang-geum's mother) grave. jang-geum introduces Lady Han to her mother saying that she is the Court Lady who she went under her tutelage and tell of Lady Han beauty. Lady Han states that seeing Jang-geum she know that her mother is beautiful, perhaps she (mother) left so early but sent jang-geum her (Lady Han). jang-geum and Lady han shopping at the street market and finally bought the cordeyps. Return to the palace to cook up a feast for the king. for her first meal as the Head of the Royal Kitchen to the king as the Head of Royal Kitchen, Lady Han plans to make the 'pal-gua-tang' (8-fruit-soup) that she never got a chance to make last time. While preparing Jang-geum made some comments that the Cordeyps which have fimiliar tones to Meong Yi After Lady Han leaves to serve food to the King, Jang-geum looks at her mother's journal on the reference of the cordeyps Lady Han presents the dish to the king. the king asks why it's taken so long for her to serve the king in person and asks if she will tell stories to him like Lady Jung did in the past. Lady Han explains Lady Jung always told her to read books and learn things so though she is not an orator like Lady Jung she will try. The king is satisfied and tastes the soup; he compliments Lady Han on the taste, commenting that he could tell that hte persimmon vinegar has been matured for many years.

jang-geum writes a letter saying, "after reading my mother's diary i learned about the incident she buried the vinegar with her mate. i wish to meet you. i am a maid of soo-rak-gan by the name suh-jang-geum". she puts the letter in a pouch and buries it under the spot where her mother and han-sg hid their secret jar a long time ago. Master min jung-ho stops by and tells jang-geum for his new assignment he may be visiting the soo-rak-gan a lot. jang-geum is happy and offers her assistance in whatever matter. min-jh reports to his new boss at 'jae-pan-gan' (investigation/ruling dept.) and asks to see the old reports. the boss insists that he's already looked at all the reports and there is no clue about why the palace is losing so many things in those reports. min states he wants to learn the ropes through the reports and that's why he wants to look at them. Master min

finds out that so-joo-bang (stir fry room, part of 'soo-rak-gan') is where most of the internal loss is happening.

Min sang-goong (the lowest ranking supervisor in jang-geum's dept) goes to see han-sg to tell han-sg the names of the escorts who were most resistant at the protest. han-sg shows she's not interested. jang-geum interrupts saying she has a visitor. master min talks to ha-sg in private. jang-geum watches and realizes it's something serious. han-sg tells min-jh she understands what he's saying and will try to find what he requested. yun-saeng, chan-ee and young-roh are preparing food with min-sg who tells them about han-sg's behavior when she tried to tell her about who was against her. han-sg tells choi-sg to see her in private. choi-sg says she will transfer to the food-storage dept. (it's a traditon for the 2nd candidate to transfer) but asks for geum-young to go with her. han-sg reminds choi-sg to talk up to her since they're no longer equals.

han-sg gathers everyone from the kitchen dept. to give her state-of-department speech with news of some changes within the department staffing, including choi-sg, geum-young, and jang-geum. han-sg states her plan is to carry out the wishes of jung-sg. seeing that han-sg has no plans on punishing those who went against her, the other supervisors are surprised. min-sg is happy that there will be a new sang-goong (escort/supervisor) coming into their dept. the new sg is younger than min-sg so min-sg will no longer be the lowest ranking sg in the soo-rak-gan. geum-young comforts choi-sg while her brother reminds her to defeat her sorrow by waiting for the next opportunity.

min-sg is given a big responsibility by han-sg. min-sg tries to get out of it but han-sg tells min-sg she believes in her skills and it's time that she took on such challenge. min-sg relunctantly agrees. min-sg takes her team (chan-ee, young-roh, yun-saeng) to town to cook for charity event. the on-lookers express their praise at min-sg. min-sg gains a lot of confidence from the respect she is getting and decides to buy a trinket for han-sg to show her appreciation. the gam's stop by. young-roh confronts tuk-poh for selling them the same trinkets for higher price inside the palace in the past.

the head guard meets with han-sg, jang-geum, and master min for updates on the internal loss investigation. master min tells them so-joo-bang is not the only place where the loss is occuring. he believes there is a tradition of corruption going on in the royal kitchen. the kitchen supervisors who have stolen from the palace are getting nervous about the situation and informs jae-jo-sg about it. jae-jo-sg at first doesn't seem to care but an escort tells the matter regards jae-jo as well since jae-jo has benefited from the stolen goods in the past through gifts and bribery. jae-jo-sg goes to the jar-storage room where choi-sg is reassigned and asks choi-sg for help in the matter. choi-sg orders young-roh to spy on jang-geum to see what she's been up to lately, then asks geum-young to spy on han-sg. young-roh gathers up jang-geum's books, with jang-geum's mother's booklet hidden in one of them, to give to choi-sg. choi-sg finds the booklet and opens it. (Gerry Tan)

ep. 24

choi looks at the books young-roh took from jang-geum and doesn't see anything special about them so tells young-roh to return it. however young-roh keeps jang-geum's mother's booklet out of curiousity. han-sg walks in as yun-saeng catches young-roh reading it and asks young-roh where she got it. young-roh lies saying she found it incidently on the ground fallen from the tree. han-sg takes and realizes it's her friend myung-ee's secret recipes. meanwhile jang-geum is flustered she lost her mom's book. young-roh tells geum-young about it. geum-young takes her to see choi-sg to tell her everything. young-roh tells choi-sg the booklet doesn't belong to han-sg like choi-sg had said, since han-sg asked her what it is and where she got it. geum-young and choi-sg wonder why jang-geum has an aged recipe booklet. choi-sg thinks alone and realizes the booklet could belong to the dead myung-ee, whom she helped to kill for her own family's benefit. then

choi-sg remembers many years ago her brother told her myung-ee's child might be inside the palace but back then since they thought myung-ee's child was a boy they didn't suspect anything. choi-sg puts the pieces together from the past and realizes jang-geum is myung-ee's daughter. choi-sg tells geum-young han-sg had a best friend who was also a kitchen maid by the name of myung-ee. because myung-ee saw choi-sg put something in the king's food, choi-sg and her aunt who was the kitchen lead before jung-sg conspired to kill myung-ee by saying myung-ee had an affair with a palace guard. choi-sg remembers the past and finally understands why jang-geum was relunctant to tell them what she found in the kitchen and why she knew so much about food when she was a child maid. choi-sg tells geum-young the story of myung-ee who was han-sg's best friend.. and the shocking truth that jang-geum is myung-ee's daughter, then worries about han-sg finding out as well. geum-young assures her that han-sg must not know the truth yet or else she would have done something when she saw the booklet young-roh stole.

jang-geum worries what will happen to her now that she lost her mom's journal and someone might find out about her identity. she remembers her mother's best friend and runs to dig the soil to see if she read the letter in pouch. the pouch was untouched and jang-geum is disappointed but thinks of a new idea. she goes around all the rooms and houses of the royal kitchen to smell all the vinegars to see which supervisor has the aged vinegar that her mother and friend buried together. the corrupt lords and masters are getting nervous inside the palace because master min jung-ho has been running a tight investigation to see who's been stealing from the king. they complain to elder oh and asks him to stop master min. elder oh goes to see jae-jo-sg and scolds her for not telling him earlier. the king is informed about the palace loss and becomes angry.

young-roh who was spying on jang-geum presents the letter jang-geum wrote to her mother's friend (han-sg) to geum-young. upon reading the letter geum-young gets nervous and shows the letter to choi-sg. the two worry that jang-geum is close to finding out who her mother's friend is. the corrupt officers put their heads together to find a way to stop master min from ruining their corruptive behavior. one of the masters goes to see gam tuk-poh to ask him about the relationship between kitchen maid jang-geum and master min jung-ho. gam goes on and on about how the two are well-acquainted and even went outside the palace togeter once. (<-- damn tuk-poh now he's gonna get them in trouble)

master choi, elder oh and another officer meet ouside the palace to discuss their cover-up schemes. master choi tells his visitors, choi-sg and geum-young, about elder oh's plan to get rid of min jung-ho so he will never again appear in their way. choi-sg tells her brother about jang-geum being the offspring of myung-ee whom they murdered. choi-sg shows master choi the letter jang-geum wrote to her mother's friend and tells him this is a more urgent matter than the issue of master min. geum-young is worried about master min's fate and goes to see him to warn him that he must plead in front of elder oh or else he may end up in big trouble. min jung-ho states she should not have come if what she wants is for him to beg in front of someone else. geum-young warns him that his stubborness will bring an ill-fate to jang-geum and asks if he still refuses. min is rendered speechless showing his concern for jang-geum. geum-young leaves and min returns to his corridor thinking about the last part of geum-young's warning.

min jung-ho tells his boss he's going to his hometown. jang-geum overhears and chases after him to asks if he's coming back. he tells her not to worry and says he will return soon. geum-young arrives and catches the two of them talking. han-sg gathers all the subordinates and shows the sang-goongs evidence of internal stealing and asks the sang-goongs to cooperate with her so that no such thing will occur in the future. for their cooperation she will bear the responsibility this time. the sang-goongs are grateful of han-sg's generous gesture of taking the responsibility upon herself and promise to cooperate with her. min sang-goong is impressed by han-sg's leadership and tells chan-ee and yun-saeng she wants to be just like han-sg when she becomes the kitchen head one day. jang-geum hears about it and goes to praise han-sg, then asks if she can come back to work for han-sg. han-sg says no but she can come back after she completes 2 months of service at her new position. jang-geum is satisfied and states her favorite place to work is next to

han-sg. jang-geum calls out to her mother saying she is unable to find her mother's friend and sighs loudly. han-sg is preparing food and uses the aged vinegar in the dish. she uses up the vinegar and leaves the empty bowl by the food station. han-sg leaves, then jang-geum arrives. jang-geum swipes the inside of the bowl with her finger and licks her finger. then she realizes it's the same vinegar that her mother buried and asks the child maids who was using the bowl before her. the king tastes the food prepard by han-sg and asks if she used the aged vinegar again for such fragrant flavor which seems to grow in flavor the more you eat, and han-sg nods to show yes. jang-geum goes around the kitchens looking for han-sg. han-sg goes back to the food station where she prepared the food earlier and takes the vinegar jar to refill it. jang-geum arrives at the station and asks min-sg who took the vinegar bowl and min-sg tells jang-geum han-sg took it since it was hers. jang-geum runs out to find han-sg. han-sg finds the letter jang-geum wrote and runs to find jang-geum. han-sg and jang-geum meet each other in the courtyard, han-sg realizing that jang-geum is myung-ee's daughter, and jang-geum realizing han-sg is her mother's friend. (yay!!)

ep. 25

han-sg and jang-geum finally realize who each other is. jang-geum asks han-sg if she is indeed the friend of her mother, the one and only friend and confidant that her deceased mother had in the palace.. the friend who had such distinguished cooking skills. han-sg states yes and asks jang-geum if her mother is indeed the one who ate wild strawberried in her deathbed.. the one who taught her daughter how to cook and fetch water, and jang-geum replies yes. han-sg thanks myung-ee aloud, then thanks jang-geum, and embraces her. han-sg shows jang-geum the place where jag-geum's mother practiced cooking.. where she hid when she got in trouble... jang-geum laughs when she finds out her mom got into trouble like she always does. the two come to the topic of jang-geum's mother and han-sg asks jang-geum the details of her mother's death. jang-geum tells han-sg there were soldiers who came after them and her mother said it was better to be caught by the soldiers than to end up in someone else's hands so myung-ee and jang-geum were captured by the soldiers and on their way to the palace when men dressed in bandit attire shot arrows toward them to kill them. jang-geum's mother myung-ee died from the arrow wounds.

han-sg and jang-geum realize choi-sg is behind myung-ee's death. jang-geum brings han-sg to the place where she hides her mother's booklet and realizes it's missing. han-sg rememers the incident w/ young-roh and goes to ask young-roh to confess where she really got the booklet. young-roh insists she just found it on the ground but han-sg locks her up until she tells the truth. han-sg tells jang-geum she fears jang-geum might be in danger. han-sg calls choi-sg, young-roh, and geum-young into her corridor and tells the three of them to pack their bags and go to 'tae pyung gan - grand peace house' (guest corridors) immediately. choi-sg refuses stating she has to go see jae-jo-sg but han-sg replies she already talked to jae-jo-sg and she ok'ed the transfer. choi-sg, geum-young, and young-roh pack their bags and leave for their new assignment (going to 'tae pyung gan' is considered a major demotion).

han-sg tells jang-geum she is still uneasy about choi-sg being inside the palace and asks jang-geum to go talk to master min jung-ho to see what he thinks. jang-geum states he is away for the moment but she will go find him once he returns. han-sg goes to see an old colleague to ask for help but the colleague who also knew myung-ee is scared to be involved. jang-geum goes to see gam tuk-poh to ask if he knows when master min will return. gam whispers it was all an excuse. min never really left. he's in hanyang city for an undercover assignment. jang-geum reports the news to han-sg.

at 'tae pyung gan' geum-young brings food to choi-sg who states han-sg will not let it go so easily. master choi meets with his men who report to choi that even though they don't know the exact location of min jung-ho, it seems they don't need to worry about min for the time being. gam leads jang-geum to where min jung-ho is. jang-geum asks to speak to him in private. mrs. gam wonders what's going on between min-jh and jang-geum. after hearing jang-geum's story, min-jh assures

her he will find out what happened to her father right away. jang-geum asks him about her mother and he states he will try his best and in fact he is working on uncovering a scandal that concerns master choi and elder oh. jang-geum smiles at him and min-jh returns her smile with a serious look..

MJH: "for coming to me with your trouble you did well" JG: "i didn't know what else to do" MJH: "from now on may i be allowed to share your burdens?" JG: ... (speechlessly looks at MJH).

jang-geum goes back to the gam's and mrs. gam reminds jang-geum she is a palace maid (<-- thus not allowed to betray the king by being with any other man). m-jh tells jang-geum he asked around and found no news of her father but he will keep trying and tells her not to lose hope since her father may still be alive somewhere and if so he will do everything he can to find him for her.

yun-saeng and chan-ee visit geum-young and young-roh at 'tae pyung gan' and inform them that the king will be making a trip to somewhere warm to get over the sever cold symtoms he's been suffering from. geum-young goes to tell choi-sg the king's planned activity. choi-sg says in that case han-sg and jang-geum will surely accompany him. master choi and the messenger he bribed discuss their scheme against han-sg and jang-geum. min sang-goong tells chan-ee she can't go since the kitchen still needs staff. chan-ee begs her to take her along. min-sg asks han-sg if she knows where the king wants to go and han-sg says the place was suggested by her when the king asked her for her opinion. (but she's keeping it a secret. it's supposed to be special to jang-geum). han-sg, min-sg, yun-saeng, jang-geum, and 4 other servants from the royal kitchen accompany the king on his excursion. master choi's spy follows jang-geum's steps.

the king takes a bath in the warm springs of won-goong city. the king eats the dishes prepared by han-sg and her staff and praises han-sg for the food and picking the location. han-sg tells jang-geum to follow her somewhere. yun-saeng and min-sg wonder if han-sg is taking jang-geum to the warm springs and think about soaking their feet in the warm water as well. choi's spy follows han-sg and jang-geum. han-sg tells jang-geum to the house where her mother myung-ee grew up in, and where han-sg and myung-ee met as children who became friends then colleagues. han-sg regrets the death of myung-ee and states she no longer wishes to forgive those who brought tragedy to myung-ee. then han-sg praises how well jang-geum turned out and the two embrace like mother and daughter. jang-geum tells han-sg according to master min-jh, the best thing to do is to wait for now since master min is working on the scandal issue. han-sg and jang-geum are surrounded by master choi's spy and his men. master min's men arrive to save han-sg and jang-geum. the spy and his men run after defeat. han-sg thanks the savior and master min.

min sang-goong and yun-saeng find their way to the warm spring and yun-saeng brings out jars to fill for young-roh and chan-ee, while min-sg takes off her socks and shoes to soak her feet. they become startled by some noise from the bushes and run. master choi's spy gets scolded by choi but the spy informs choi the internal affairs dept. is onto them. choi-sg finds out and wonders if she will soon be granted death. the head guard tells han-sg the king wishes to eat the same dish she made the other day using the special local spring water before he returns to the palace. the king shows content eating it, but later han-sg learns that the king passed out. jang-geum wonders what's going on.

ep. 26

the king is still unconscious but the royal medical staff state the king will soon awake, after his fever goes down. the doctors and the herbalists believe the king might be suffering from a skin disease or severe cold sores, causing extreme high fever. choi-sg writes to her brother saying the king's loss of consciouness is an opportunity given to them by the heavens and asks him to seize the opportunity. master choi goes to see a royal herbalist to plant ideas in his mind, casting doubt about han-sg's true intent in taking the king to her hometown. han-sg is escorted into a meeting

with elder oh, other lords, jae-jo-sg, and medical generals. han-sg gets accused for the crime of poisioning the king.

the herbal general and soilders arrives at the royal kitchen and tells jang-geum to go with them. choi-sg meets with jae-jo-sg. jae-jo-sg states if han-sg is indeed guilty then choi-sg will the new kitchen lead. choi-sg suggests someone else to take over the position so she can go and make sure that something does go wrong with han-sg. jang-geum writes to gam tuk-poh to ask for his help. gam starts to repeat the dishes han-sg cooked to figure out what went wrong. master min-jh arrives and the gam's tell him what's going on inside the palace.

the herbal general and jang-geum go back to won-goong city with the master from the herbal-field dept. they discover that the spring water reservoir contains poision. elder oh and the generals accuse han-sg of knowingly serving poisionous water to the king. han-sg defends herself by saying that she didn't know it was poisionous but no one listens to her and she is put in jail. jang-geum sees han-sg getting dragged into the jail dept. han-sg asks jang-geum to investigate the issue. jang-geum goes to the herbal-field dept. to ask help from her ex-boss but she discovers that he has been transferred. not knowing who else to ask for help, jang-geum asks gam tuk-poh to get help from master min-jh. jang-geum tells gam that all the other people who ate han-sg's food were fine so there must be another reason. master min begins his investigation at once.

master choi and elder oh discuss their schemes. even though the doctors have said that the king will be fine after his fever goes down, choi and oh want to use this opportunity to get rid of some people. master min goes to see the merchant whom han-sg bought medicinal food from. the merchant tells master min there is no harm in taking 'gold pill' only benefits. soildiers sent by elder oh arrive and takes the merchant into custody. master min goes back to the palace to see his boss, the head of internal investigation dept. master min informs his boss about his findings. the boss tells min to leave the palace so their on-going investigation on elder oh will not be interrupted and promises to take care of the han-sg matter. the head of internal investigation dept. goes to see the herbal generals and tell them that from his findings the cause of the king's illness is not food-borne. at the jail courtyard, elder oh demands han-sg to spill out who is behind her conspiracy. han-sg is speechless and elder oh states death is the verdict for han-sg, the merchant, and jang-geum. the investigation dept. head arrives and tells elder oh to put his verdict on hold until the matter is further researched, hence the three offenders are exempt from death for the time being.

master choi is informed of the new activities and he orders his man to do a careful investigation on what master min-jh is doing and why he is involved in the matter of han-sg. inside their jailcell, han-sg and jang-geum wonder about their fate. jang-geum asks han-sg about her health and han-sg states her concern for jang-geum as well. mrs. gam visits the two cellmates. she's been sent by master min, since he is unable to come himself. he writes a letter saying it's been discovered that the fault does not lie in han-sg nor jang-geum, so they will soon be released. mrs. gam hands jang-geum the mini brushpen set that jang-geum's father gave her but she lost while saving min jung-ho when they first met. jang-geum asks mrs. gam where she got it and mrs. gam states it belongs to master min and he's been looking for the owner of it since it belongs to his savior. they put the 2 and 2 together and realize min is the one jang-geum saved when she left the palace to find a gold bird long time ago.

jae-jo-sg asks choi-sg how is it that the internal investigation dept. is involved in their matter. min-sg, yun-saeng and chan-ee arrive to beg jae-jo-sg's help in the matter of han-sg and jang-geum. jae-jo-sg scolds them instead and orders them to leave.

outside the palace master min gets confirmation from his subordinates that elder oh and master choi have been involved in a number of questionable dealings. the man sent by master choi spies and overhears the conversation. mrs. gam returns looking for master min who already left.

master choi, choi-sg, and geum-young talk when the servant arrives with news that the one min jung-ho has been spying on is none other than master choi. choi-sg and master choi wonder why master min tries to protect han-sg. geum-young listens but says nothing. master choi sends another spy to find out more information about the head of internal investigation dept. master choi and choi-sg leave to see their comarade at the inn. alone, geum-young starts to get worry that something bad may happen to master min. geum-young arrives at the inn and tells master choi and choi-sg to leave min jung-ho alone. master choi and choi-sg demand geum-young's reason for protecting min. geum-young states he is the one she loves. choi-sg says palace maids cannot have lovers. geum-young begs her aunt to leave master min alone. choi-sg says that's impossible, but geum-young threatens to expose everything if they don't agree.

inside the jail, han-sg tells jang-geum because she is with her, she feels no lonliness, nor pain, no fear. jang-geum says she feels the same and assurs han-sg they will soon leave the jail and when they do she wants to say to han-sg the words she was unable to tell her mother. just then, the jailguard arrives and tells them to get out.

ep. 27

han-sg and jang-geum share a tender moment just before they're released. the prison guard arrives telling them to step outside. the herbal general tells master choi that since the king is still unconscious it seems that the herbal leader talked to the lady who looks favorably upon han-sg and jang-geum. master choi asks choi-sg what they should do but geum-young opens her mouth with a suggestion. still in their white gown (jailmates wear their white under garments) han-sg and jang-geum are taken to the kitchen and presented with quam-qua, chicken, ginseng and ginger. elder oh orders them to cook the dish they cooked for the king so they can ask people to taste the result and see what reactions they will yield. young-roh tricks the servant hong-ee to eat candied figs.

han-sg and jang-geum finish their stew and elder oh orders choi's messenger to taste the food. yun-saeng who recognizes the messenger as the spy she saw last time protests. elder oh asks why but yun-saeng without giving a reason insists that it can't be the messenger. just then the servant hong-ee arrives and elder oh orders her to eat the dish instead. jae-jo-sg shows she approves and hong-ee begins to eat the ginseng chicken.

back in the jail, jang-geum discovers that han-sg is burning a severe fever and asks the guard to fetch a medicine lady but the guard ignores her request. by morning the servant hong-ee burns up a strong fever just like the king. jae-jo-sg shows her content in the result infront of choi-sg and geum-young. geum-young states she put temperature-raising medicine in the figs young-roh fed to hong-ee beforehand.

at the generals' meeting, a civilian accuses min jung-ho as someone involved in the matter that led to the king's illness but min's boss dismisses the civilian's testimony by saying min is away from the city. master min is taken into custody by his boss who saves him by locking him up and tells him to stay away from the han-sg/ jang-geum matter. min-jh states it's impossible that hong-ee could have fallen ill from the food prepared by han and jang-geum and there must be a conspiracy but the boss refuses to listen and leaves.

elder oh orders continuos punishment on the accused until they confess. choi-sg tells geum-young han-sg and jang-geum will likely face death. choi-sg reminds geum-young if they don't die then in the future more people will end up dead just like if myung-ee had died like planned then han-sg and jang-geum wouldn't be in this state. in order to save jang-geum, han-sg confesses her offense to elder oh but jang-geum is innocent and only followed her orders blindly. elder oh asks if han-sg is confessing to the crime of knowingly poisioning the king and han-sg states yes. as she is dragged away she screams that jang-geum is innocence. jang-geum cries out to han-sg

that it isn't so. han-sg is dragged into the jail. she gets a visit from choi-sg. choi-sg states it is not her doing but the will of everyone and that myung-ee, han-sg and jang-geum were all faced with opportunity to survive but they themselves chose the path to death. choi-sg begs han-sg to die quiety so that choi-sg will never again have to face this situation. han-sg begs choi-sg to save jang-geum and if so she will never say anything and die silently. choi-sg says nothing and leaves. han-sg begs again to save jang-geum. on her way out, choi-sg sees jang-geum being dragged back to the jail and the two exchange a brief look.

back in the cell, jang-geum tells han-sg the investigation dept. master stopped helping them. jang-geum protests han-sg's behavior and states she will follow her to death. han-sg tells jang-geum she must live so one day she can find myung-ee and han's justice. jang-geum states she will not but han-sg cries out to jang-geum saying in that case she will not be able to face myung-ee. han-sg calls jang-geum her daughter and asks her to survive no matter what. the two embrace as they exchange tears for each other.

master choi insists that the verdict for han and jang-geum must be death. elder oh writes down the verdict for han as death, and the verdict for jang-geum as death. master min breaks free from his confinement and pleads his boss to save the maids. next morning elder oh gets a visit from the investigation master. elder oh visits the king who is recovering. the lady asks if han-sg truly confessed to her crime and elder oh states yes. the king reads the details of the event from elder oh's scroll and agrees that han-sg must be rid of. elder oh gathers the convicted and announces their verdicts. han-sg is to be banned from the palace and jang-geum is to be sent to jeju island as a servant.

min-sg, yun-saeng and chan-ee beg jae-jo-sg to allow them to send off han-sg and jang-geum. choi-sg asks jae-jo-sg to approve. outside the palace gate, han-sg and jang-geum are escorted away. yun-saeng pleads jang-geum to take her along. min-sg begs han-sg to stay healthy while han-sg asks min-sg to take good care of the palace maids. choi-sg and geum-young silently watch as their long-time rivals are dragged away. han-sg begins to faint as the offenders walk toward the boat which will take them away from han-yang city. jang-geum asks the guard for a break but the guard refuses. jang-geum asks to be allowed to carry han-sg on her back instead. han-sg remembers the past aloud with jang-geum and praises jang-geum as one with extroardinary strength that even as a child she blossomed with patience greater than everyone else. jang-geum tells han-sg they're almost at the dock and han-sg can soon rest so have strength, then points out the ocean to han-sg to see. jang-geum asks han-sg to give her a recipe but han-sg starts to call jang-geum's name and asks her to go back to the palace. jang-geum asks han-sg to stop calling her the way her mother called her name as she was dying but at last han-sg stops breathing on jang-geum's back.

jang-geum: "what did i do wrong? why must everyone treat me this way? i will not start again. my mother and now you. no matter what, i will not follow your orders."

ep. 28

with han-sg's body lying still on the dead grassfield, jang-geum weeps as she verbally denies the death of her mentor. the guards tell jang-geum to get moving since han-sg is already dead but jang-geum protests. finally the guards bury han-sg's dead body alongside the marsh. min jung-ho gets out from his confinement and chases after jang-geum's trails on horse. when min arrives jang-geum's boat had already left, and min is left standing still by the river with tears.

back in the palace, the head guard delivers the news of han-sg's death to jae-jo-sg and choi-sg who ask about her body and jang-geum. the head guard states she was buried by the water and jang-geum is on her way to jeju island. young-roh deliver the same news to geum-young. just then yun-saeng arrives begging the two to help her get to jeju now that jang-geum is alone. yun-

saeng gets rejected by geum-young, then agitated, runs to jae-jo-sg screaming for permission to send her away to jaeju. chan-ee and min-sg arrive to pull yun-saeng away and beg for forgiveness stating yun-saeng is not in a clear state of mind.

mr. gam finds money his wife has hidden in their room and packs to leave for jeju. mrs. gam stops him before he can leave the front door and tells him jang-geum is now a slave who has committed a high offense and there's nothing they can do for her at the moment so the best is to wait it out. min jungho arrives. mrs. gam states min is not worthy to be a master since he didn't help jang-geum for fear of lowering his status. she criticizes him for not recipricating the sacrifice jang-geum endured when it was her turn to save him. realizing jang-geum is the savior that he's been looking for, min is shaken and wanders around the streets aimlessly.

on the island of jeju, the slave jang-geum is caught by the guard during her attempt to escape. she is thrown into a locked room when another captured woman asks jang-geum to help her undo her bondage. then the woman helps jang-geum w/ her bondage. jang-geum asks the woman if she is also a slave and if they can escape together since she must return to han-yang city. the woman tells jang-geum there's a way to get out. then at night, the two carry out a scheme by first alerting the guards that jang-geum has polio and must be isolated. jang-geum shows the guards her 'fake' polio marks and they escort her into a hut where she will spend the night alone. the officer assigns one man to guard her hut. once the guard dozes off, jang-geum escapes. as she runs she remembers the instructions given to her by the other woman by the name of jang-duk. jang-duk has told jang-geum to look for her boat by the shore. when the officer arrives he scolds the sleeping guard and gives him food to take to jang-geum. once inside the hut the guard realize jang-geum has escaped. once jang-geum arrives by the shore she asks the soldiers about a boat from jang-duk. the soldiers comment jang-duk must have played a joke on her and they start chasing after her.

master min jung-ho watches as a woman is being chased by soldiers from above the cliff but he is too far to see that the woman is jang-geum. jang-geum is captured and sent back to her work station. min jung-ho goes around town asking for jang-geum's whereabouts. jang-geum meets jang-duk again and asks her why she tricked her but jang-duk replies she did it to save her and orders jang-geum to give up any hope of escape. jang-geum states no one can stop her from achieving her goals. min jung-ho asks the officer how he can meet jang-geum. the officer states it's impossible because she is a slave who had more than once tried to escape thus heavily guarded.

choi-sg becomes the next head of soo-rak-gan (literally 'knife/fork' dept. but basically the royal kitchen). her subordinates presents her gifts to congratulate her and to gain her favor so that choi-sg may pick them as her lead assistant. min-sg forgot to bring a gift but she blantantly asks choi-sg to pick her as the 2nd person in command. choi-sg tells her to return to her seat. choi-sg announces she is different from han-sg who raised hell in soo-rak-gan. choi-sg boldly states she will bring peace and progress to the royal kitchen. yun-saeng continues to weep over han-sg and jang-geum, and asks gam tuk-poh to make a trip to jeju to check on jang-geum and deliver her letter to jang-geum. master choi throws a party for his sister over her promotion. geum-young finds out min jung-ho left han-yang city and wonders if he left for jeju.

at jeju, min jung-ho exchanges money for news of jang-geum, then gives a woman money to deliver a letter to jang-geum. the woman returns with the undelivered letter, saying the slaves were sent to the farm to work through the night. by now, jang-geum has many bloody wounds on her feet from her escape attempts and the bondages that came after each capture, but at the farm, jang-geum attempts escape again. min jung-ho arrives at the farm and overhears the other slaves wondering if 'she' (jang-geum) will be captured again and what will happen to her this time. jang-geum doesn't get far before the guards find her but just as they're about to catch her min jung-ho arrives and sweeps her away. min injures his ankle in the process. after min and jang-geum find a hiding place, jang-geum nurtures min's wound. min states he finally realize who she

is. even though he cannot remember the event, he remembers the feeling which her care gave him last time, just like this time.

min jung-ho tells jang-geum about his sorrow in not being able to help her by her side during her hardship. min jung-ho asks jang-geum for another chance to reveal the evil conspiracy inside the palace. min tells jang-geum that after 3 days, after 1 yr, after 3 yrs, after 7 years, and til the end he intends to be by her side. jang-geum tells min han-sg passed away saying she will go back to the palace first, and for that reason jang-geum cannot stay in jeju and must return to the palace. jang-geum watches the ocean alone and weeps as she remembers han-sg. she imagines han-sg by her side comforting her and telling her not to cry. min watches jang-geum from a distance behind her.

next day, min jung-ho and jang-geum turn themselves in. min jung-ho asks the officer to give her one more chance but the officer states jang-geum has escaped too many times. just then town's medicine woman, jang-tuk arrives saying she will be responsible for jang-geum.

ep. 29

jang-geum and master min are brought in front of jeju-island officers. the identity of master min is revealed and the soldiers release min's bondages at once. master min asks for permission to oversee the matter of jang-geum but they refuse since it's her 4th time running away. the jeju island medicine lady arrives.

master min comes to the kitchen looking for jang-geum and the two step outside to talk. jang-geum asks how he came here and when jang-geum asks if he demoted himself just to be here he changes the topic.

jang-geum watches as the mastress sells herbal medicine and afterwards scolds the mastress for cheating. the mastress asks how she knows she shortchanged the buyer and jang-geum says she tasted the medicine ball and shows that she can decipher ingredients by taste. the mastress is impressed but scolds her for being nosy and puts jang-geum to work instead. at night jang-geum overhears the mastress teasing with a male officer and shakes her head in disapproval of the mastress. back in her sleeping corridor, jang-geum tears up as she remembers her last exchange with han-sg in which han-sg asks jang-geum to live.

jang-geum leaves after she sees the herbal mastress asking her customer to pay up front before she will examine her. the mastress comes after jang-geum and puts her to work again. in the kitchen jang-geum upsets the other maids and they leave. jang-geum remembers han-sg's heeding that food and medicine go in people's mouths thus she who prepares them must remember the one who will partake it. master min-jh arrives and offers jang-geum 'yoo-hwang' seed for her to plant and experiment with.

gam tuk-poh prepares a claypot of ginseng chicken for him and his wife, but his wife scolds him for making the same dish again.. the precise dish that made the king faint. tuk-poh defends his intent by stating they've been eating it for 3 months and still they're healthy so they must continue eating it until they find out why it made the king ill. mrs. gam tastes it and almost vomits. then they realize they're expecting a baby.

tuk-poh tells yun-saeng that he's been eating the dish for 3 motnhs and not only did he not get sick his wife is pregnant. yun-saeng wonders why then the servant hong-ee fainted from the food. yun-saeng calls hong-ee and asks what else she ate and the servant remembers she ate something given to her by young-roh.

choi-sg, geum-young and their subordinates cook up a feast for the king and his visitor. the visitor mentions that the previous general told him about a very skilled maid at the royal kitchen (jang-geum) and asks if geum-young is such maid. choi-sg and geum-young say nothnig. geum-young finds out from the choi servant news that master min-jh is in jeju island.

geum-young goes to the soo-rak-gan and tells min-sg to change the menu. yun-saeng refuses since they're following the methods taught by han-sg and example set by jang-geum. choi-sg arrives and scolds them for mentioning the names of han-sg and jang-geum, but yun-saeng says they did no wrong and choi-sg becomes furious. chan-ee and min-sg kneel outside choi-sg's room and pleads for forgiveness while yun-saeng stays in her room, refusing to apologize. choi-sg sends min-sg, chan-ee and yun-saeng to ip-sang-gan (food-mill dept.) chan-ee and min-sg complain and blame it on yun-saeng who goes outside to sob alone. a puppy comes and yun-saeng embraces the pup asking if he is sick or hungry.

jang-geum explains food properties to her new colleagues who are impressed by her knowledge. they ask her how she knows so much and jang-geum tells them she previously worked inside the royal kitchen and learned from her mentors. just then a man arrives asking for medical help for his child. the mastress orders jang-geum to bring her needles follow along. the mastress performs acupuncture on the sick child. the mastress tells the father there isn't anything else she do for them. jang-geum scolds her. the father states it's because he's poor that the mastress won't offer full medical care. jang-geum continues to complain and states she will take over the medical care in that case. jang-geum goes to see master min-jh asking to borrow money to buy medicine. master min asks if she's ill and she says it's not for her. without further questioning min gives jang-geum money. jang-geum states she will pay back and asks about the officer who is always taking soldiers somewhere after training. master min finds out about the officer's activities.

jang-geum takes the money and buys the medicines she needs. jang-geum tells the father the water is salty and unfit for making medicine for the child, and asks if he can get better water. the father says water is precious in jeju and only the generals and the soldiers have access to clean water. then jang-geum asks where the spring water source is. the father states ordinary citizens aren't allowed to retrieve spring water. jang-geum tries her luck but the soldier guarding the source shoots her away. then jang-geumw alks a long distance to the next clean water and fills her jar with the clean water. on her way back she runs into master min-jh who watches as the officer orders his soldiers to remove rocks blocking water source. it turns out the mastress asked the officer to work on clearing the water source so that the ordinary citizens in jeju island can have clean water and their health won't worsen. the mastress asks the general to fetch a natural cleaning agent for the water but jang-geum suggests something else and explains that as the season changes they should use still water. the mastress listens to jang-geum's suggestions and master min smiles as the women leave. the officer asks master min if min likes jang-geum. min says nothing and turns his face. the officer smiles and states he will watch over her.

jang-geum takes the clean water to make medicine for the boy. the mastress wipes the boy with clean water as she tells jang-geum the reason why she's been saving money is to use it to built clean water reservoir for the citizens. jang-geum says it's still wrong to shortchange people but the mastres says those patients are suffering from heartaches not physical illness so giving them lesser medicine makes no real difference. the mastress insists on getting clean water despite the reservoir guard's protest. jang-geum watches as the mastress works hard to prevent the people of jeju from getting sick. jang-geum realizes the medicine mastress is an extoardinary woman with a noble mission. the mastress is summoned by her boss who tells her she has been once again called to work in the palace since her skills are extroardinary and her name is well known all over jeju island. but the mastress tells her boss to decline and make up an excuse like she's dying since she wants to stay in jeju. jang-geum asks the officer how a person from jeju can be summoned into the palace. jang-geum runs to tell master min-jh that she figured out a way to return to the palace.. as a medicine woman.

ep. 30

master min gives jang-geum confidence by saying he believes she will succeed and become a medicine maid in the palace. master min tells her she must do so and punish those who brought her to this fate. jang-geum goes and begs the mastress to teach her medicine. the mastress tells her to start by watching and taking notes alongside her. the other maids complain about the mastress teaching jang-geum when she's the newbie but the mastress shows them that jang-geum is greater than them in knowledge and in earnesty to help people. the maids go and complain to the officer about jang-geum. master min passes by and smiles hearing that jang-geum has already started on her goal.

master min sees that jang-geum has a difficult time getting her hands on all the ingredients so he orders all the officers to help her whenever she needs something. when alone, jang-geum thanks min and states her apology that even in jeju all she does is trouble him. min-jh dismisses it as nothing and stares at jang-geum, then asks how it is that she will examine all the people but she still won't look at him. shyfully, jang-geum looks at min, and min takes her hands into his own. at the gesture jang-geum turns and runs back to the kitchen to memorize more medicine jargon. as days pass jang-geum works hard to learn medicine while min-jh watches.

back in that palace, yun-saeng continues to play with the puppy. on this night the king and his servants arrive. jae-jo-sg asks what yun-saeng is doing w/ the king's dog but yun-saeng is stunned and just cries, saying nothing. the king takes a look at yun-saeng and tells jae-jo-sg to leave yun-saeng alone. next day, chan-ee and min-sg find out about the incident and scolds yun-saeng for touching the king's dog.

choi-sg watches as geum-young teaches a child how to cook. choi-sg scolds geum-young for wasting her time on child maids but geum-young says she wants to start over because in her mind, they lost. choi-sg asks her to clarify and geum-young states jang-geum was superior in skills, so the ones who lost were actually choi-sg and geum-young. choi-sg brings up master min-sg who left for jeju for jang-geum. geum-young starts to tear up and states she intends to start over and be a real kitchen maid.

yun-saeng is summoned by the king. she gets a makeover a lesson on how to react to the king (basically say nothing and just follow and agree to whatever he wants). the king is alone with yun-saeng. the king asks why she was crying but yun-saeng says nothing. the king says even he gets lonely so he understands her.

the next day, jae-jo-sg brings yun-saeng to the kitchen to show the maids that yun-saeng has been promoted to the status of a special sang-goong (escort) and thus the kitchen maids will bow to her from now on. jae-jo-sg reports the news to the lady (the king's official wife who will be queen after the queen mother dies). min-sg and chan-ee visit yun-saeng at her new corridor and they laugh about yun-saeng's fear of the king. yun-saeng says she intends to tell the king han-sg and jang-geum were innocent but min-sg tells her not to say anything or else jang-geum may die too. chan-ee wonders if jang-geum knows about yun-saeng's promotion and min-sg wonders why mr. gam hasn't been showing his face around to deliver news of jang-geum.

mrs. gam gets pampered by mr. gam who wants to make sure their baby is well taken care of. jang-geum gets punished for making mistakes in memorizing her medical lines . the other slaves are glad that they're not the one learning medicine from their boss. jang-geum learns how to decipher different conditions through one's pulse. jang-geum grabs the pulse and describes it as the boss diagnoses each condition through the description. next they examine a general who was burning a fever as a result of taking prescription from an herbalist in town. the medicine mastress gets angry because she previously told him not to take any ginsengs for it will cause his fever but he had ignored her warning and gone ahead with the other herbalist's suggestion. the medicine

mastress states the herbalist is a conman and goes to town looking for him. as it turns out it's master chung who used to head the 'herbal field dept' of the palace where jang-geum was sent for a brief period of time.

jang-geum is happy to see master chung again but the medicine woman is angry at the master for prescribing ginseng to the patient but the master show that when you use red ginseng and boil it with ginger it gets read of fever-raising property, leaving only the benefits. jang-geum asks how the master figured that out. he states he discovered it while treating his own liver disease. jang-geum asks about his condition. he replies he will likely die from it but the boil ginseng has been improving his condition. master chung asks jang-geum if she's learning medicine from her boss and she says yes. jang-geum tells him she wants to return to the palace to revenge against those who killed her mother and han-sg. master chung gets angry saying medicine is for healing people and not a method for revenge. the medicine woman overhears and tells jang-geum not to listen to the master.

the medicine woman asks jang-geum to fetch some vegetation over the roof while she stands and remembers her own painful past. then the woman brings the master to see someone who is dying from the same illenss that the master has. the medicine mastress says she knows how to heal him but she refuses, for the sick man caused the death of her mother and torture of her father. the ill man used to work in the palace as a chae-hong-sa (someone who brought entertainment for the royal family) and forced her mother to be a mistress which caused her eventual suicide.

however, the medicine woman decides to heal the dying despite her urge to revenge against him. infront of master chung and jang-geum, the woman performs the treatment to save the life of the sick. afterwards, the woman tells jang-geum that ever since she first met jang-geum, she liked that jang-geum was determined to return to the palace. jang-geum asks if she decided to teach her medicine so jang-geum can get her revenge but she says no. she says she wanted to help jang-geum understand the same dilema that she has been troubled with until now. the woman says master chung is right. one cannot be both an ordinary palace maid and a medicine woman at the same time. jang-geum must choose. jang-geum looks out to the open ocean as min jung-ho watches. he think jang-geum has already made up her mind. jang-geum remembers the medicine woman's advise to look beyond the truth and she will have everything.

ep. 31

It is now 2 years have passed, Gang Duk-doo gets ready to make a trip to jeju island to visit jang-geum. in the event, Jang-geum has make a mistake in acupunture, which nearly killed soo Chang de. As Soo always says, make a mistake in cooking and you get bad food, make a mistake in medicine you will kill someone. Jang-geum who was learning to administred acunpunture mistakenly entered the needle the wrong way and almost kill soo. She know have a phobia. Although she knew where all the acupunture points are and get feel them correctly, she had a fear to do it physically At this time, Japan was in the Sengoku period, they were warlord and pirates raiding the island of Korea. Jeju is the island and have frequent attack from the Japanese. I assume that this Japanese are from Soo Clan of Tsushima which had a history of raiding Korea. I also assume that the warlord that the Japanese asked Jang-geum to treat is Soo Haruyasu. Let assume he is There was an epidemic at a nearby island, and Min was asked by the Island's governor to investigate it and take the army with him and Soo and meantime muster the horses for Sale. Jeju was an Island that breed horses which was started by the Mongols a.k.a Jurgens. The jurgens invaded Jeju and used Korea to invaded Japan but failed. the jurgens were not Seafarers.

Jang-geum in the meantime had to look after the goverment clinic. Although Jang-geum have not administered acupunture, she is well verse in order. Gang came to Jeju sea sick and the Ferry captain brought Gang to the clinic, where jang-geum attended to him.

min jung-ho gets sent on an assignment. the medicine lady is ordered to acommany min and his soildiers since they may need medical attention. during the medicine woman's absence, the maids tell jang-geum she should practice medicine since the medicine woman won't let her practice when she's around. a very ill man is carried to the pharmacy and jang-geum discovers it's gam tuk-poh. jang-geum examines gam and realizes he's suffering from severe sideaffects of seasickness. the fastest way to treat him is through needle treatment but jang-geum is too nervous to poke him so she opts for hot candle treatment instead. tuk-poh recovers and the two chat about stuff going on in han-yang and the palace. jang-geum gets news that the gam's only son, gam ee-do died from the warm disease (i don't know the official name. something like polio?) but they're expecting another child. jang-geum also gets news of yun-saeng and how choi-sg has banned gam from the palace and their wine as well, causing a severe shortage in cash flow. alone at night, jang-geum goes outside and yells at the sky to ask han-sg if it was so wrong of her to wish for revenge by becoming a medicine lady (she kinda blames herself for the bad things that happened to the gam's).

during the night, foreign warriors begin their attack on jeju. the city mayor escapes but tuk-poh and jang-geum are among the captured. the foreign general is ill so his subordinate goes around to see if there is a doctor among the captured but finds none. however a warrior discovers the pharmacy so the general's subordinate yells at the captured for someone with medical knowledge. someone tells him she's away but another person says jang-geum is a medicine woman in training and jang-geum is ordered to go inside and treat the warrior general. she discovers that the general has an unstable heartbeat and suffers from lung mulfunction, which requires a needle treatment. she states she cannot treat him because she has never done a needle treatment and if she tries she might make a mistake and cause more harm. the generals' subordinate drags her outside and ask the other captured if it's true that jang-geum can't perform needle treatment. they say yes but she is wise and will probably succeed even if she's never done it before. the warrior orders jang-geum to do it but she insists she can't so the angry warrior threatens to kill the citizens one at a time if she refuses. gam tuk-poh begs jang-geum to do it so no one has to die, and the warrior tells his soldier to kill gam first. just as gam is about to be beheaded, jang-geum agrees to do it.

jang-geum is nervous to poke the needle into the foreign general but she focuses on what the medical literatures say to do and succeeds. then she asks the warrior to send for the maids from the pharmacy to fetch her the stuff she needs to cook the general a recovery medicine.

the warrior asks jang-geum how long it will take for the general to recover. jang-geum says a few days but the warrior states they're leaving tomorrow so in that case jang-geum has to go w/ them to take care of the general. jang-geum gets a letter from min jung-ho wrapped in the herbs she requested from the maids. min's letter states he's back and has soldiers w/ him but they're in the process of finding out more info about the attackers before he can come save her and the rest of the captured.

next day, the warriors set out to leave jeju, taking jang-geum w/ them, but jang-geum says they have to make a stop at the herbal garden to get a necessary herb for the general's medicine so the foreginers all go to the garden. when the warriors begin digging for the herb, they get ambushed by the korean soildiers led by min jung-ho and they successfully kill and defeat the foreginers.

the mayor shows up again and tells min he did well but the mayor makes a gesture to show that he plans to take the credit. jang-geum, min jung-ho and gam tuk-poh celebrate the success of jang-geum overcoming her fear of needles and min helping to free them from the foreigners.

when alone, min jung-ho confesses to jang-geum that when he heard that she was able to perform needle treatment he had a bad thought wishing that she never would succeed in doing needles so that she could stay here by him forever. min smilingly asks jang-geum if he is bad.

jang-geum smiles back. min then states how he is no help to her in her pursuit of goals in life. jang-geum replies he is watching her even now. min reaches out to hold jang-geum's hand. this time she doesn't pull away and the two watch as snow falls in the courtyard, hand in hand.

gam tuk-poh gets ready to leave jeju to return to han-yang city. min jung-ho gets ready to leave for han-yang as well for an assignment. the medicine woman shows jang-geum how to treat insect poision but they're interrupted by soildiers who have come to summon jang-geum for the crime of saving a foreign enemy.

ep. 32

jang-geum gets taken away for her accused crime. the other maids tell the medicine woman if it wasnt for jang-geum treating the foreign general, they all would've died. the mayor of jeju and min jung-ho return to han-yang city to give the palace generals an update on the recent attacks. elder oh sees min jung-ho and wonders what he's up to. the mayor reports that he did all the work and a medicine maid should be punished for betraying the nation. min jung-ho goes to see his boss to tell him the account by the mayor is incorrect. not only was the mayor missing during the attack, the slave jang-geum contributed to the palace by saving the citizens of jeju.

in the punishment dept. the master announces jang-geum's crime. min jung-ho arrives with proof that jang-geum played an important factor in helping him defeat the foreigners. min jung-ho asks the master to put the matter on hold for the time being. min jung-ho goes to see elder oh and demands that jang-geum be released and mentions that the mayor was missing during the action. elder oh insists that it was still wrong for jang-geum to save the foreign general no matter what. if she hadn't saved him the general would've died and an army without a general would not have been successful in their attack. the palace medicine maids report the news of the jeju medicine maid (jang-geum) to the lady queen. lady queen tells the king about it. the king is angry that the mayor tried to blame his won fault onto a medicine maid and orders his generals to immediately reward the medicine maid from jeju. jang-geum is let go and the jeju general tells jang-geum min jung-ho worked very hard to plea her case. master jung arrives to greet jang-geum. master jung asks jang-geum where she's staying so he can talk to her after his work is done. jang-geum states she will be at min jung-ho's.

master jung remembers the days at jeju when jang-geum told him about her goal to revenge against those who harmed han-sg and her mother. back in jeju, the medicine woman and the pharmacy maid wonders how jang-geum is doing. min jung-ho's boss tells him to stay in the palace and work for min's father who needs him by his side. master jung visits jang-geum and asks her if she still plans to come back to the palace for revenge. jang-geum states she still hates the palace. master jung tells jang-geum is still confused and leaves. master jung asks min jung-ho to talk to jang-geum so she will change her mind about revenge. min jung-ho states he wishes to honor jang-geum's opinion. master jung is worried about jang-geum.

min jung-ho tells his boss he plans to leave the next day. the boss tells min he is needed in the palace and asks him to reconsider about going to jeju. gam tuk-ph and his wife visit jang-geum who prepares a meal for them. mrs. gam scolds jang-geum for not visiting them but mr. gam states jang-geum is still a slave and can't go around on her own. jang-geum overhears a servant trying to persuade min jung-ho to stay. at night, jang-geum goes to see min jung-ho and asks him for a favor. min states he will do whatever she asks. she asks min jung-ho to stay in han-yang instead of going to jeju. min replies he wants to stay by her side. jang-geum states whether min is in jeju or in hanyang, he is with her all the time, just like han-sg is. jang-geum insists that min's place is in hanyang and she will surely return to the palace one day. speechless, min watches jang-geum. next day, jang-geum and the jeju soldier leave to return to jeju. min jung-ho watches as the two leave.

on the way back, jang-geum stops by han-sg's grave and cries. the soldier asks to leave immediatly since it's so cold, but jang-geum asks if he could help her make a memorial plaque for han-sg. gam tuk-poh, who was chasing after them to give jang-geum a package, catches up to them and agrees to help jang-geum to make a plaque for han-sg.

a young master arrives and tells them they can't put anything there since it's his family's land. jang-geum notices that the boy is not well and goes after the young master to ask him about his illness. the young master asks her who she is and she states she is a medicine maid from jeju. jang-geum asks if she can examine him. the young master tells jang-geum he has been ill from age 7 and no one can cure him. then jang-geum comes up with an idea to treat him but the father of the young master arrives saying she can't treat him but the boy convinces his father and jang-geum prepares a beef dish to use as medicine. the father casts doubt about jang-geum's ability to heal his son since she is of a slave background and she uses an unorthodox treatment. the young master shows that he believes in jang-geum. jang-geum goes to fetch water from the river and uses it to cook a stew of bone marrow, beef, and river water. jang-geum spoon-feeds teh soup to the young master. meanwhile the jeju soldiers argue with gam tuk-poh about their prolonged stay. the young master continues to eat the soup but shows signs of pain and wanting to vomit. the father gets upset and tells his servants to take jang-geum to the punishment dept. but jang-geum says the young master must endure through the pain and must vomit the residues in his body so that blocking agents will disappear. finally jang-geum succeeds and the boy feels better. jang-geum asks the boy how he knew she would save him in the first place. the boy states he knew for a while that someone would arrive to save him. the father tells jang-geum his son is a child-prodigy. the boy tells jang-geum he can offer a better land to bury han-sg. the father tells jang-geum she should enter the contest for picking medicine maids. the young master tells jang-geum to study a certain literature. he states she will save many lives if she will study it. jang-geum runs to han-sg's grave to thank her for giving her a new hope.

jang-geum enters the contest for picking new medicine maids. inside the interview room, jang-geum sees 3 masters, one of them being master jung. of the 3 maids in the room, jang-geum shows the most knowledge. jang-geum continues to gain an upper hand against the other maids. master jung asks the maids if they will save their adversaries. the other two maids state yes but jang-geum states she hasn't decided. for that answer, she receives a 'ha' point (negative point) and for that she thinks won't pass the exam. alone, jang-geum thinks about master jung and what happened. she replays master jung's advise that a medicine worker must never harbor any personal feelings toward their patient. next day, the names of those who passed the contest are posted on the wall. the poster shows jang-geum's name which means she passed the contest to be a medicine maid.

the newly selected medicine maids are gathered. they're told they will start training from next day. jang-geum goes to thank master jung. the master states he has not accepted her yet.. but since she hasn't made the decision herself he will hold off his decision as well. jang-geum, the gam's, the jeju soldier, and min jung-ho celebrate jang-geum's success. the jeju soldier is sad that he has to go back to jeju by himself. min jung-ho tells the soldier if he wants to come to han-yang he will try to help him. alone, jang-geum and min jung-ho talk as they stroll. min congrats her and tells her he knows she will succeed. jang-geum and the other medicine maids begin their training. their new boss tells them from now on they must trash everything they know and start from the beginning.

ep. 33

the teacher master announces to the newly picked medicine maids that for the next 6 months they will undergo strict training. they must study very hard to pass the medicine license and each maid has 3 warning strike system. if a maid gets 3 strikes against them they must leave the group and go back to being a slave or servant. the teacher master tells jang-geum she already has a strike against her for saving a scholar's son when she was still a slave, and trying to use that as a

stepping stone into the palace medicine dept. the medicine maids complain to each other how strict the master is but jang-geum goes to see him instead to explain that he saved the boy without any other motive. the teacher master tells jang-geum she doesn't have the makeup of a medicine maid. jang-geum returns to study but the other maids refuse to be her study partner since the master dislikes jang-geum, except shin-bi (han ji min) who agrees to study w/ her but warns jang-geum she's not too good at it.

the head master quizes the maids on orthography and unerstanding of proverbs. on one knows what the master is talking about except jang-geum. the head master is impressed and calls jang-geum to the front of class for dictation exercise. next, the maids have to memorize hundreds of ingredients and their usage. jang-geum successfuly names all the usage but her partner shin-bi struggles to remember everything. the other maids realize jang-geum's skills and ask her to study w/ them. jang-geum passes onto them medical knowledge she has acquired in jeju.

min jung-ho begins his efforts in gathering loyal men who used to work in the palace but either retired or left the palace to stay away from the corruption. min asks an old general, then a retired scholar and another warrior to come back to the palace. each declines but min states he will continue to try until they agree. min goes to the countryside to ask master jung to return to the palace. master jung had left the palace to get away from the corruption. min jung-ho begs the master to return so he can help the palace stay healthy and help min counter corruption. the gam's plead master choi to forgive them since they're innocent so they can sell their wine in the palace and in the market again but master choi tells his servant to send them away.

jang-geum begs her teacher to show her how she can be a palace medicine woman. the master insists jang-geum is not a medicine woman material and gives her another strike. jang-geum continues to beg saying she will endure punishment and do all the cooking, cleaning chores for everyone if only the master gives her a chance. the teacher replies he doesn't think jang-geum can be a medicine woman not because he detests her but because he truly doesn't believe she can be a medicine woman. jang-geum is rendered speechless and remembers her past as a child maid of soo-rak-gan when the sang-goong told her she couldn't be a kitchen maid and sent her off to clean instead.

shin-bi is surrounded by other medicine maids who accuse her of bribing the teacher or related to the teacher since she got a higher mark then the other maids. jang-geum watches as shin-bi tries to defend herself by denying the accusation made by her peers. jang-geum gathers dirty clothes from the other maids to wash for them and memorizes her literatures as she cooks their meal. the other maids are happy that jang-geum does all the chores for them and wonders if she's trying to win the teacher's favor. just like she did when she was a child, jang-geum washes clothes and cleans during the day as she listens to the teacher and stays up late to clean the dishes. the teacher tells jang-geum to not bother with unnecessary tasks.

jang-geum returns to the sleeping corridor and the maids tell jang-geum the head master asked to see her. the head master tells jang-geum he can help her get rid of her 2 strikes, then tells her to prepare to go somewhere tomorrow. jang-geum is worried about going because the other teacher had set tomorrow to be a training day. alone, jang-geum cries out the hardships she is now enduring as as she remembers han-sg saying she's waiting for her in the palace. next day, all the other maids left to go with the head master. only shin-bi and jang-geum showed up to the training with the teacher. the teacher brings them to a room of sick patients. jang-geum diagnoses her patient at once, but shin-bi can't pass. the teacher tells jang-geum to watch the patients and do laundry until shin-bi gets it right. the master leaves, and jang-geum asks shin-bi if she's related to the teacher master since he's so nice to her but shin-bi states no and she doesn't understand why he's so kind to her.

the maids all return, the teacher master gets angry at them and tells them to never show up to his class. the teacher master goes to see his boss the head master who yells at him for being so stiff

and tells him to follow his orders from now on. meanwhile, shin-bi continues to try to figure out why her patient is ill. jang-geum watches as shin-bi asked for the patient's symptoms very detaily. from what she listens jang-geum figures out what the patient's illness is and realizes why the teacher has given her 2 strikes. jang-geum realizes until now she relied too much on her own skills and her confidence kept her from giving her patients the detailed care they require. the head master sends all the newly returned maids into the training room. the teacher master asks them what they learned from the training. jang-geum states what she learned and gives shin-bi credit for diagnosing her patient correctly but shin-bi says jang-geum made the diagnose. but jang-geum replies that she learned how to treat the patients by watching shin-bi. the teacher tells them to prepare for another test.

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in front of the class, jang-geum confesses to the teacher that because she was too proud and too sure of her skills she was unable to diagnose the patient like shin-bi did. the teacher replies he is still not sure whether or not jang-geum really understands what it takes to be a medicine worker. the teacher gives the students another exam. they're asked to write down what they know about using medicines. after reading the tests, the teacher states the same ingredient can be both medicine and poision to patients, depending on the illness each patient suffers from, so a medicine worker must be detailed like shin-bi to correctly diagnose the illness or else the patient may become poisioned by the medicine.

the teacher continues to be hard on jang-geum. shin-bi arrives to comfort jang-geum saying though he's harsh with jang-geum but he cares about her as student. shin-bi tells jang-geum she was extremely sick as a child, then a medicine master cured her, and when she told the master she wanted to return his favor he told her to give back to the world, so shin-bi decided to become a medicine woman. the maids go through rigorous training between hands-on intership and reading of literatures. shin-bi tells jang-geum she thinks jang-geum will end up in the internal medicine dept. (the most challenging/ prestigious dept. it's in charge of taking care of the royal family).

jang-geum gets a visit from the jeju medicine woman. master jung shows up to tell jang-geum something went wrong w/ her patient. jang-geum returns and overhears the head master and the teacher discuss about whether or not jang-geum should be allowed to pass the license. the head master insists jang-geum has the talent and the skills but the teacher objects. jang-geum is sad and goes back to see master jung and jeju woman. jeju woman tells jang-geum there's nothing she can do now and she should just forget about becoming a medicine woman. master jung goes to see the teacher to give his opinion about jang-geum.

jang-geum tries to talk to the teacher but he walks away. alone at night, the teacher writes down a list of names. next day, the teacher names the maids one by one and announces each one as 'not passing'. the head master is furious that no one passed. jang-geum and shinbi smile at each other, realizing that the teacher is trying to get some other master to pick who to select as medicine women, since he can't pick jang-geum if it was up to him. the superior master who is in charge of the palace health is angry that no maid was selected since they spent a lot of money to train the maids. he decides to go through with the selection process himself. after examining the maids, the superior master realizes jang-geum is highly skilled. master jung informs master min jung-ho about what's going on with jang-geum. min decides to go visit the superior master.

the king finds out that no maid was selected and becomes angry. superior master assures him that they're still selecting the maids and soon they will have the results. min jung-ho arrives to see the superior master who tells min everything will be okay.

the teacher announces the new results. some of maids didn't pass and they have to go back to wherever they came from. the passing maids are assigned to various departments within the palace. jang-geum and shin-bi are they only two assigned to 'nae-ee-ohn' (internal medicine house), the highest rank for a medicine woman. jang-geum and shin-bi are each given a special badge that indicates they work in 'nae-ee-ohn'. finally the teacher gives jang-geum a smile as he leaves. the maids say their farewell and congratulations to each other as they prepare to move on.

min jung-ho waits for jang-geum by the gate. when she arrives he asks how it went. jang-geum pretends to be sad and he gets worried. then jang-geum shows him her badge and he congrats her with laughter and smile. the two walk together to the gam's.

the jeju medicine woman is staying w/ he gam's. she watches the gam's selling wine and tells the customer that the wine doesn't really contain the precious ingredient that they say it does. the customer gets angry and leaves. mrs. gam goes after the woman and tells her to leave. the woman says she'll leave if she gives her money since jang-geum said she could stay here. mrs. gam cannot believe what she's hearing. mr. gam watches as his wife meets her match. min jung-ho and jang-geum arrive. the gam's, the jeju woman, min, and jang-geum celebrate jang-geum's success.

jang-geum asks the jeju woman when she'll be returning to jeju. the woman replies she's not going back. jang-geum asks her if she'll be going to 'nae-ee-ohn' as well but the woman doesn't reply. min jung-ho asks jang-geum about her thoughts of returing to the palace. jang-geum says it feels strange. min states a palace through the eyes of a palace maid will be different from the palace through the eyes of a medicine woman.

next day, jang-geum goes to the palace and passes by 'soo-rak-gan' to watch the kitchen maids busy preparing food. at 'nae-ee-ohn' jang-geum and shin-bi's boss tells them they're not medicine women yet, only interns for the time being so they must be careful. their mentor arrives to send them off to a patient. the two leave. afterwards, the mentor tells herself she's been waiting for this day for a long time and it's time for someone else to suffer. jang-geum and shin-bi arrive to see that the so-called patient basically wants someone to massage her face and wash her feet. offended, shin-bi says they're medicine women not servants. the patient complains saying the other medicine women never complained in the past. jang-geum says they will do it. outside, shin-bi tells jang-geum they're not servants, but jang-geum says this is reality and she used to be a palace maid.

jang-geum finishes washing the feet and they return to 'nae-ee-ohn'. the mentor scolds them for being so late and tells them the lady queen is suddently ill. the 'nae-ee-ohn' staff prepare to treat the lady queen. jang-geum arrives at the royal family corridors and she runs into geum-young, dressed as a sang-goong (supervising escort).

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master jung holds a meeting to tell the cooks and the medicine ladies what to do. jang-geum and shin-bi stand and watch. geum-young attends as soo-rak-gan's head escort (she took han-sg's old job). choi-sg who took the job of the old jae-jo-sg is not present for the meeting because she was busy at the moment. when geum-young discovers jang-geum's presence she is shocked but remains silent. jang-geum acts surprised and speechless. master jung gives his orders and the meeting ends. geum-young stares at jang-geum as she exits but says nothng. left alone in the meeting room, jang-geum gathers her thoughts for a moment before leaving. then as she is behind geum-young, geum-young turns around and tries to ask jang-geum something but seeing that others are watching, jang-geum leaves first.

the lady queen's condition suddently worsens. jang-geum tries to stay calm and keep the lady conscious while the other medicine lady fetches master jung. choi-sg arrives and is startled by jang-geum's presence, then asks jang-geum how she is here. jang-geum tries to stay calm and talks business. choi-sg keeps getting distracted and asks jang-geum how she got here. jang-geum tells choi-sg to update the king on the queen's condition. choi-sg asks the king to comfort the lady queen (i think she just had a miscarriage but i'm not sure).

jang-geum and shin-bi go back to nae-ee-ohn (internal medicine house). the head medicine lady praises jang-geum for staying calm. jang-geum and shin-bi are ordered by master jung to make medicine stew for the lady. a servant from soo-rak-gan (royal kitchen) arrives to tell jang-geum the kitchen head (geum-young) has asked to see her. the servant recognizes jang-geum and the two greet each other. jang-geum arrives at soo-rak-gan and memories of han-sg appear. geum-young asks jang-geum if she's really jang-geum. jang-geum talks up to her and states yes, and gives geum-young her belated congratulations for the promotion, and wonders what sacrifices geum-young made to get to her current position. geum-young says jang-geum cannot stay here in the palace, but jang-geum leaves. outside, choi-sg awaits her and asks her how she got from jeju to the palace. jang-geum greets her and says she must go since the lady queen is still ill. as she leaves, young-roh (who is now a sang-goong/escort) arrives and is also surprised by jang-geum's reappearance at the palace.

back at the kitchen choi-sg wonders about the life of jang-geum and her mother. one ate poision but reappeared years later. one was sent to jeju as servant but reappears as a medicine woman. jang-geum tries to find whereabouts of yun-saeng and min-sg. a maid tells jang-geum where min-sg is. jang-geum arrives just as chan-ee and min-sg argue about who should be the one to examine the lady's poop (to see if it's normal). chan-ee, min-sg and jang-geum share a tearful reunion. min-sg and chan-ee update jang-geum on what's been happening in the palace, including how choi-sg and geum-young got rid of all the people who used to be loyal to han-sg. min-sg and chan-ee were sent to an undesirable dept. while yun-saeng spends her days as a has-been concubine, since the king no longer favors her. jang-geum is taken to see yun-saeng, who is praying. min-sg tells jang-geum yun-saeng is praying for jang-geum. jang-geum calls yun-saeng and the two are rejoined in tears.

yun-saeng tries to host jang-geum but the maids are relunctant to follow her request for food. jang-geum watches and cries. yun-saeng tells jang-geum they must seek revenge against choi-sg and geum-young. choi-sg tells her brother about jang-geum.

in the king's court, elder oh tries to block min jung-ho's boss from bringing into the palace the retired generals that min jung-ho has been recruiting. the king leans on min jung-ho's side and tells elder oh not to get involved. outside, min's boss tells min jung-ho things went well. min jung-ho meets with jang-geum who tells him she already met choi-sg and geum-young. jang-geum meets her medicine teacher again during a meeting. afterwards jang-geum watches as choi-sg whispers something to a medicine master. jang-geum goes to see min jung-ho. min jung-ho and his boss set up a meeting with elder oh and master choi, and another master. min jung-ho warns elder oh and master choi that if they want to fight then he's prepared to fight with his life. master choi tells his sister that elder oh is wondering if it's time to fight.

geum-young and min jung-ho meet. min tells geum-young he wishes no harm on her and states he wishes he didn't have to be this extreme. jang-geum massages the young court ladies. geum-young arrives and demands a foot massage from jang-geum. jang-geum pauses and geum-young ridicules her saying she is a maid and must follow her orders. jang-geum swallows up her pride and massages geum-young with a very professional attitude. choi-sg tells the master from nae-ee-ohn who jang-geum is. (i don't think he's evil but he's scared of the oh and choi clan and seems to lean on their side). the head master assigns a medicine scholar to teach jang-geum and shin-bi how to perform a different kind of needle treatment.

nae-ee-ohn's best medicine lady examines the lady queen again, with master jung behind the curtain for assistance (i think since he's a man he can't be close). jang-geum and shin-bi assist the head medicine lady by her side. the medicine lady and master jung leave, with jang-geum and shin-bi watching the lady queen. later, the head of nae-ee-ohn is angry that jang-geum and shin-bi haven't returned to the dept. jang-geum and shin-bi are making some medicine without permission. the head master is angry and yells at jang-geum and shin-bi. the medicine scholar arrives and tells the head master he was looking for them too. then, they get the news that the lady queen is unconscous. the head master sends jang-geum and shin-bi to the study while the rest of the medical staff go and tend to the lady queen. at the study, jang-geum asks shin-bi if she notices something strange about the queen and the head medicine lady's diagnose. just then, the head medicine lady arrives asking if jang-geum is accusing her of mis-treating the lady queen.

ep. 36

jang-geum and shin-bi discuss how things were strange w/ 'nae-ee-ohn's best medicine woman, yuh-ri's diagnose. but yuh-ri arrives to defend her skills. she confidently states what she believes to be wrong w/ the lady queen. jang-geum still thinks yuh-ri is wrong but says nothing because she is not sure if she's right. the 'nae-ee-ohn' staff meet to discuss what's wrong w/ the lady queen based on what everyone observed and examined. everyone gives a response that suggest that the lady queen's system is working too slow based on her pulse but jang-geum shows she disagrees but still says nothing. yuh-ri practices needle treatment on shin-bi while master jung and jang-geum watch. then yuh-ri repeats the procedures on the lady queen who is burning a fever and battling consciousness. when yuh-ri pokes a needle in the lady queen yells in pain and vomits. the medical staff and maids worry again. the king is furious that his wife is not getting proper treatment after losing her baby.

gang tuk-goo (i was calling him 'gam tuk-poh by mistake before) hears news that 'nae-ee-ohn' is under heavy distress trying to figure out how to treat the lady queen. jang-geum researches to confirm her suspicion about the lady's condition even though it is counter-logic. elder oh yells at 'nae-ee-ohn' staff and holds them responsible should anything go wrong w/ the lady queen. shin-bi goes to see the teacher master to tell him that jang-geum is working on something. jang-geum is summoned by the masters to a meeting. the senior medicine women question jang-geum's qualification to diagnose the lady queen. jang-geum reports the lady had a 'san-maek' (spreading pulse) caused by a dead fetus inside her body. the masters argue that it can't be so since the lady already had a miscarriage. then the medicine scholar states the lady was pregnant w/ twins then. the masters and the senior medicine women are impressed by jang-geum's skills, since a spreading pulse is extremely difficult to detect. the masters ask elder oh for permission to allow jang-geum to treat the lady queen. oh is reluctant since jang-geum is a new staff. but the masters state if indeed jang-geum is correct then the lady queen is in dire danger so elder oh agrees.

the masters stay behind a screen while jang-geum and yuh-ri examine the lady queen again to treat her. yuh-ri determines a stagnant pulse (no-maek) but jang-geum reports a floating pulse (po-maek) which is result of the spreading pulse. the masters discuss which diagnose to follow since they're conflicting. they decide to go w/ jang-geum's diagnose. master jung tells yuh-ri to perform needle treatment on the lady queen to treat the spreading pulse but yuh-ri declines saying jang-geum must do it since it's her diagnose. jang-geum practices once and performs the treatment on the lady queen w/ master jung giving her his confidence. choi-sg who has been by the lady's side (since she's a superior sang-goong) wonders about jang-geum's treatment. after the treatment, jang-geum and shin-bi go and cook the herbal medicine for the lady queen.

min-sg and chan-ee complain about jang-geum budding in again since it got her in trouble before while yun-saeng kneels and prays to jung-sg to save jang-geum. young-roh reports to geum-young that the lady queen has no sign of recovery thus far and wishes they can kill 2 birds w/ one stone w/ this opportunity, getting rid of both jang-geum and the lady queen. tuk-goo meets w/ master min jung-ho and tells him about what's going on in the palace and w/ jang-geum. the lady

queen suffers from extreme pain again and the king is informed of this by choi-sg. the king goes to see the lady. meanwhile, the lady queen excretes the dead fetus from her body and shows sign of recovery. the king arrives and learns the queen will be fine now that she passed the dead fetus. choi-sg and elder oh is displeased by the news.

yuh-ri asks for punishment for her mistake. the masters want to show sympathy toward her but she states she must be fired from the palace. the masters agree that she should be punished but not fired so they agree to the punishment she asks for which is to do chores until she forgives herself. the senior medicine women tells yuh-ri she didn't have to go so extreme but yuh-ri insists she will learn from jang-geum from now on. alone, jang-geum apologizes to yuh-ri but yuh-ri shows her true self by ordering jang-geum not to pity her and leaves. the masters congratulate jang-geum. the scholar arrives to brag that jang-geum is his student and leaves. choi-sg discuss w/ head of nae-ee-ohn about the event. the head master assures her things will be okay. yuh-ri watches the exchange from distance.

geum-young has a pain attack in her stomach and remembers jang-geum asking her about her abdominal pain when she was getting her foot massaged by jang-geum. the jeju medicine lady continues her stay in han-yang, treating patients for all illnesses including dental problems. after she returns to her office after treating a dental patient, the woman gets a visit from min jung-ho. after he leaves, jang-geum and tuk-goo arrive. the woman asks jang-geum if she saw min jung-ho but jang-geum missed him. min jung-ho urges his boss to ask the king to approve developing land and men to build weapons. the boss brings up the idea to the king who is delighted by the suggestion, by elder oh is nervous because that would affect his monopoly over weapon importry.

the lady queen is completely recovered and learns about the new medicine woman who healed her and asks to see her. choi-sg is distressed by it and goes to see elder oh who tells her min jung-ho is threating their fortune. to choi-sg's delight, the queen mother is angry at the lady queen and the king, and refuses to receive treatment for her own illness. the lady queen and the queen is shocked and rendered speechless.

ep. 37

the mother queen yells at the king saying he doesn't care about him and all he does is to send useless doctors to her. the king and the lady queen is shocked by the mother queen's words and the king defends himself saying he worries about her all day. but the mother queen tells him she doesn't want to see his face again. choi-sg who is standing there smiles to herself. the king and the lady queen beg the mother queen to continue taking her daily medicine but the mother queen sends them away.

the teacher master (master shin) brings the medicine to the mother queen again. she refuses to see them but they come in anyway to beg her. then the mother queen yells at the master saying she won't take his medicine since he caused the death of a past royal family member. (the mother queen is under the impression that the king is trying to kill her w/ bad medicine. choi-sg and elder oh scheme to conspire the rumor).

choi-sg alerts the king saying the medicine maids and master shin are giving bad attention to the mother queen's health. min jung-ho meets w/ jang-geum and they agree that there is much conspiracy behind the mother queen being upset at master shin and the king. in court the king anounces his decision to get rid of master shin from the palace. master shin begs the queen to take the medicine again but the mother queen is angry by his presence. jang-geum buds in asking the queen not to put the king at test risking her own royal life. jang-geum asks the mother queen to enter a test w/ her instead and states she is willing to give up her life. the queen agrees but holds jang-geum responsible should she lose. jang-geum says she will win for sure. choi-sg

and lady queen are listening outside. choi is about to enter the room to scold jang-geum but lady queen stops her.

the mother queen signals jang-geum to start the quiz. jang-geum describes the life of a shik-ee (food doctor) and asks her to guess who it was. lady queen tells the king about jang-geum's exchange w/ the mother queen. the king is intrigued and wonders if the mother queen will guess the answer by morning. the nae-ee-ohn medicine women scold jang-geum for budding in when it wasn't her place but they're impressed by her knowledge and courage. yuh-ri is furious. kang tuk-goo is worried about jang-geum's life but the jeju woman say jang-geum is confident for a reason so not to worry. master jung and min jung-ho believe that jang-geum will succeed. choi-sg shows her frustration in front of geum-young and young-roh. elder oh and master choi agree that they must get rid of the root of their problem immediately. the kang's try to figure out the answer to jang-geum's quiz. young-roh, geum-young, the king and the queen try to figure out as well.

next day, jang-geum's colleagues beg jang-geum to tell them the answer since they couldn't figure it out all night. yuh-ri tells them there's a meeting between the soo-rak-gan and nae-ee-ohn staff that jang-geum and shin-bi should attend. during the meeting geum-young shoots a dirty look at jang-geum as she remembers the past when they were both kitchen maids during the soo-rak-gan competition. geum-young tells choi-sg she knows the answer. choi-sg goes to report to the mother queen that she knows the answer. jang-geum and master shin arrive at the mother queen's chamber. a grinning choi-sg asks the mother queen what she wishes to do and states jang-geum is the same as dead. the mother queen replies she will accept medical treatment. jang-geum smiles. choi-sg is surprised and distaught. the king and the lady queen are elated. jang-geum, master shin, shin-bi, and yuh-ri begin treatment on the mother queen by examing her first.

elder oh asks choi-sg if the answer she found is incorrect since the mother queen went ahead w/ the treatment. young-roh asks geum-young what she thinks of the situation. shin-bi and jang-geum bring the mother queen's herb stew in. in front of the king, the lady queen, and choi-sg, the mother queen states jang-geum is a bright girl. the king asks what the answer is. the mother queen replies choi-sg already told her the answer and it's not difficult. the answer is noneother than herself. jang-geum explains the self-sacrificing 'shik-ee' is a mother. a mother sweats and toils preparing the right food to keep her family healthy. the mother queen is touched by the answer and she shares a tender moment w/ her son who apologizes to her for not being a good son.

yun-saeng waits for jang-geum outside and runs to her to ask her if everything went well. jang-geum replies things look optimistic. the king passes by and asks yun-saeng who she is. the head guard tells the king she is the yun-saeng sang-goong. yun-saeng is sad realizing the king forgot about her. the mother queen is vomiting and unable to take in any medicine. master shin explains to the king that since the mother queen's treatment was delayed she may have severe infection inside. the nae-ee-ohn staff meet to decide on the best treatment options. their meeting was interrupted by the news that the mother queen is losing consciousness.

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the mother queen is able to receive treatment for her ongoing illness. the nae-ee-ohn staff discuss what to do w/ her. just then the mother queen lost consciousness. master shin, yuh-ri, jang-geum and shin-bi examine her. they determine she has gak-gi-byung (breath disabling disease). the medical staff cook the herb medicine for her but she vomits it out. master shin suggests to master jung to meet w/ soo-rak-gan staff to discuss the mother queen's diet. master jung tells geum-young to avoid beef, pork and prepare barley and vegetables for the queen mother. geum-young complains that the mother queen hates vegetables and may refuse to eat but adheres to jung's request. jang-geum looks around the ingredients at soo-rak-gan making

geum-young uneasy. then jang-geum asks geum-young for the past menu used to the mother queen.

the mother queen takes a bite of the barley/veggi meal geum-young prepared but refuses to eat more. choi-sg is upset that the mother queen has to eat food she never liked and calls a doctor. jang-geum comes up w/ an idea to prepare medicine balls, using the medicine the mother queen couldn't take in liquid form. the teacher master approves and jang-geum goes to yun-saeng to get her to help her make the balls. the teacher master arrives w/ jang-geum and yuh-ri. choi-sg yells at the medical staff for the unsavory food. jang-geum presents the medicine ball and the queen mother tries it, then decides she likes it and agrees to eat them. the teacher master praises jang-geum for good thinking. yuh-ri tells the master making medicine balls should be her task and not jang-geum's.

the lady queen watches as the mother queen tries to eat her meal but has no appetite. the only she will eat is the medicine balls. geum-young and yuh-ri are displeased by jang-geum's success. yuh-ri sneaks into the place where jang-geum and yun-saeng are making the medicine balls. yuh-ri discovers that jang-geum uses garlic as one of the ingredients and goes to report to the head master. the lady queen arrives and hears the report. the lady queen and the master arrive at jang-geum's to scold her for using garlic, which is the mother queen's most detested food. master jung stands by the teacher master and jang-geum's position saying garlic is beneficial to gak-gi-byung. the mother queen is presented w/ liquid medicine cooked w/ garlic and drinks it w/out trouble. the lady queen realizes she almost made a huge mistake by stopping jang-geum and reports to the mother queen.

the mother queen and the lady queen summon jang-geum and master shin to ask them how they made the medicine. the mother queen asks jang-geum how she got rid of the garlic smell she detests. jang-geum reports she did it by steaming it first w/ green tea. the two queens are impressed by jang-geum's skills and hardwork. the king learns that his mother can finally drink the medicine she needs and is pleased. choi-sg is upset by the king's positive reaction. yuh-ri examines the mother queen and reports she is recovering. the king arrives to see the mother queen is pleased by the recovery. the nae-ee-ohn women praise jang-geum and wonders how she knew such detail as the mother queen not liking garlic. yuh-ri is upset by jang-geum's popularity. jang-geum goes to see the teacher master who tells her she worked hard. just then, the head guard arrives and sees jang-geum. realizing she's familiar, he asks her if she's the jang-geum from soo-rak-gan. the head guard is happy to see her and tells her she can ask him for help anytime. jang-geum says she has a request.

yuh-ri overhears choi-sg scolding the head master from nae-ee-ohn for jang-geum's success and states jang-geum must be rid of. young-roh complains to geum-young about jang-geum. master choi, elder oh and choi-sg discuss their new scheme to get the mother queen on their side again. min jung-ho's boss tells min what's been going on. min jung ho is happy to hear that the mother queen is okay. yuh-ri goes to see geum-young. yuh-ri tells geum-young she can maker her wish come true to get rid of jang-geum. min-sg and chan-ee bring jang-geum to yun-saeng. yun-saeng and jang-geum cook the food that han-sg and jung-sg used to like. chan-ee cooks her favorite food 'ddok bok gi - fried rice cake'. the four of them cook and smile as they remember their old days in soo-rak-gan. afterwards they enjoy the dishes as they chit-chat. min-sg is upset that yun-saeng still hasn't won back the king's favor so takes her outside for 'seductive' breathing and looking exercises. during her absence, the king arrives at yun-saeng's room but finds her gone. the king decides to wait but the guards serach for her.

yun-saeng is found and rushed back to her room. by then the king has already left and yun-saeng falls asleep crying. but the king returns and tells her when he first saw her she was crying too. yun-saeng bows before the king. the king dines and wines in her room. yun-saeng remembers min-sg's advice about treating the king and raises her chopstick to try to give him a 'seductive' feeding but she starts mumbling and shaking. the king is amused by her nervous and innocent

behavior, and tells her to come close to him. yun-saeng scoots close to the king. the king undresses yun-saeng and caresses her.

min jung-ho visit jang-geum and tells her to be careful. she tells him his task is more dangerous and asks him to be careful too. the lady queen asks to speak to jang-geum, then asks her if she's the girl from soo-rak-gan and how she ended back at the palace. the lady queen remembers han-sg and tells jang-geum she knows she was a good sang-goong. the lady queen says in time she will resolve han-sg's innocence. jang-geum is touched by the lady queen's words. the lady queen asks jang-geum to be her close assistant and asks her if she could cook the dish she once made during the soo-rak-gan competition. jang-geum agrees earnestly and goes to soo-rak-gan to start cooking. geum-young arrives and sees jang-geum, then demands why she is there.

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geum-young is upset by jang-geum's presence at soo-rak-gan and tells her to leave immediately. jang-geum goes to cook in a different kitchen instead. geum-young cooks stirfry roll while jang-geum makes something similar. geum-young brings the rolls to lady queen as her latenight snack. the lady queen says she forgot that she asked geum-young to make her a snack. jang-geum arrives w/ her food. the lady queen tries jang-geum's food and praises her for satisfying her long craving. the lady queen apologizes to geum-young and asks geum-young to leave w/ her dish since she's been craving for jang-geum's food. outside, a furious geum-young runs into an arriving yuh-ri. geum-young tells yuh-ri to see her afterwards.

jang-geum visits the kang's just ask they were saying how they haven't seen her in a long time. mrs. kang gets up to cook jang-geum something to eat. mr. kang gets up to help her. alone, jang-geum remembers the words of lady queen. kang tuk-goo asks his wife what she's up to since she is suddenly so nice to jang-geum. when they get back they find jang-geum asleep. the kang's wonder how tiring jang-geum's life is inside the palace. outside, min jung-ho hears the exchange and smiles, then leaves.

jang-geum, min-sg, chan-ee giggle and congratulates yun-saeng at her rendez-vous w/ the king. the maid who previously ignored yun-saeng's requests comes in w/ food for yun-saeng's guests. geum-young and yuh-ri talk alone to build an alliance and plot some new scheme.

a sang-goong runs to yuh-ri asking for jang-geum. yuh-ri asks her why. the sang-goong states a child lady is ill. yuh-ri says she will tell jang-geum but instead she tells jang-geum to go tend to the lady queen instead. the head nurse finds out jang-geum went to spend time w/ the lady queen instead of tending to the sick child, which is jang-geum's duty. the head nurse scolds jang-geum. jang-geum replies saying she didn't know the child was sick but yuh-ri interrupts saying there is no use in lying. yuh-ri steals a previous ingredient and hides it in jang-geum's pile of books. the head nurse is led to believe that jang-geum is stealing.

jang-geum confronts yuh-ri. yuh-ri pretends to be the victim when she sees master shin arriving. jang-geum yells at yuhri saying she will stop her. master shin overhears jang-geum's words and misunderstands it as jang-geum bullying yuh-ri. yuh-ri continues her fake act of being a victim to jang-geum's greed. the nae-ee-ohn supervisors meet and decide that jang-geum should be sent away for belaboring off-site assignemnt as her punishement. yuh-ri meets w/ the head of nae-ee-ohn. yuh-ri says she has done her part and now it's up to him to finish the plan. the head of nae-ee-ohn, jang-geum, and the scholar tend to sick citizens. the project is overlooked by min jung-ho and his boss.

the head of nae-ee-ohn tells jang-geum to work on dispensing medicine. the scholar arrives and states jang-geum must be hungry from working. jang-geum replies saying it's only right that the

ones working w/ the patients should eat first. the scholar comments jang-geum has a kind heart. jang-geum smiles and says no but the scholar then asks if she could share her heart w/ him. (lol)

a man comes forward to say that jang-geum was stealing the precious medicines from the storage room over night. jang-geum is about to be taken to the punishement dept. but the scholar arrives saying it's impossible since he had the key to the storage room overnight. the guard says they must investigate the matter further and let's jang-geum go for the time being. yuh-ri and a few other nurses arrive to help treat the ill since there's a shortage in hands and medicine.

the medical staff discover that they may have a contagious disease spreading among them so they order a 'lock out'. no one is to enter or leave the premise. yuh-ri is given the task of informing all the nurses about the lock out. yuh-ri tricks jang-geum telling her she needs to go a far distance to fetch some medicine that they desparately need. jang-geum leaves the premise before the lock out officially begins. outside she runs into master min jung-ho who asks where she's going.

the lock out officially begins. the soldiers guard the entry/ exit way so that no one can leave or enter. citizens who are ill beg to enter but no avail. jang-geum arrives realzing she's been tricked. there's no way she can unite w/ her colleagues. inside the medical staff realize jang-geum is missing. yuh-ri says she specifically warned jang-geum about the lock out but she's has her own will as usual. min jung-ho realizes something's not right. min jung-ho forces his way out the lock out to look for jang-geum. on horse he finds her but a teary and broken-spirit jang-geum is ready to give up on everything.

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min jung-ho finds jang-geum who is exhausted and broken from the recent events. jang-geum asks what she did wrong to deserve this and states she tried to endure it all but now she has no energy nor patience to go on. min jung-ho replies saying she cannot give up and asks her to hang on for him.

the two travel back but they're met w/ hostile civilians who attack min jung-ho since he is an officer. the citizens are angry that no one will treat their illness. jang-geum stops the beating saying she's a medicine maid and she has medicines. jang-geum starts to treat the ill but she runs out of medicine and the citizens become angry again. they capture min jung-ho again but jang-geum says they can get more medicine if they let go of min to make the trip to the place where she went to get medicine before. the men agree but gives min only one day or else they will kill jang-geum.

min jung-ho goes to the town where jang-geum directed him but the medicine merchant has long fled. jang-geum works around the clock to tend to the sick. she's exhuasted but a female patient is severly ill. back at nae-ee-ohn the masters and the nurses are surprised and angry jang-geum hasn't returned. shin-bi states something must have gone wrong. the nurses aren't convinced but master jung and shin agree w/ shinbi that something big must be keeping jang-geum from returning. jang-geum's sick patient passes away and the towns people blame it jang-geum. they jail her inside a storage room and are about to beat her up when a fire breaks. the towns people flee from the fire but jang-geum is still locked inside. meanwhile min jung-ho rushes back.

alone and stuck, jang-geum remembers the last moments of her mother's life when jang-geum finger-fed wild berries to the dying mother. then jang-geum remembers han-sg dying on jang-geum's back as jang-geum pleads her not to fall asleep. min jung-ho finally returns but all the houses are deeply entranched in fire. min finds jang-geum and rescues her but she's already passed out. grabbing on to her hands, min jung-ho pleads jang-geum to wake up. jang-geum finally regains her consciousness and min jung-ho embraces her. jang-geum thanks him for

coming back and min jung-ho wipes off her tears and embraces her tightly. jang-geum calls him and they embrace again.

jang-geum and min jung-ho return to where the townspeople are sheltered and offers to tend to the sick again. jang-duk (the jeju medicine woman) arrives at min jung-ho's request. since he couldn't get the medicine he asked jang-duk to help. back at palace, yun-saeng gets worried about jang-geum. choi-sg meets yuh-ri. yuh-ri tells choi-sg and geum-young that even if jang-geum shows up again she can't return to the palace after being absent for so long. jang-geum goes around town looking for the culprit of the town's prevailing illness. she discovers that the water has a tainted smell. jang-geum reports to jang-duk and min jung-ho there's something in the water causing the illness but since the town's people didn't know they continue using the water in farming. those who ate fresh vegetable were the ones who were sick so the illness they have is not a fever related one but a food bacteria related one.

young-roh reports to choi-sg that jang-geum has shown up. jang-geum and min jung-ho report to elder oh who is angry that they've been gone so long. jang-geum and min jung-ho report their finding that the so called 'fever disease' that's getting everyone sick is not actually 'fever disease' but food poisioning caused by eating infected lettuce and other vegetables. elder oh questions the finding but the medicine scholar jumps in saying it's the king's order to find the cause of the disease. choi-sg tells the doctors that from all her years of working in the royal kitchen there was never a case of people getting sick from eating vegetables. master jung states it's still possible but choi-sg insists jang-geum is reporting nonsense. min jung-ho replies saying if choi-sg is so sure that jang-geum is wrong then why not choi-sg herself eat the vegetable. choi-sg agrees to the challenge. choi-sg eats a sample of the radish. next morning geum-young goes to check on choi-sg. choi-sg is seriously ill and geum-young goes back to the committee to tell them about choi-sg's stte.

min jung-ho smiles at jang-geum at the meeting and geum-young is disgusted. jang-geum brings medicine to choi-sg who is shocked to see jang-geum.

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jang-geum offers choi-sg treatment. choi-sg refuses but jang-geum states she's the only one who knows the treatment. geum-young arrives and orders jang-geum to leave. jang-geum asks what she's afraid of. choi-sg agrees to be treated by jang-geum saying she has no fears. jang-geum remembers the death of her mother and han-sg as she is about to poke her needle into choi-sg but she gathers her thoughts and saves choi-sg. geum-young asks choi-sg why she agreed to jang-geum's treatment. choi-sg replies jang-geum wouldnt' dare to do anything against her.

elder oh scolds min jung-ho for acting alone against the group's plans. min's boss tries to state min's contribution of finding the true reason behind the diseases. at elder oh's request the king suspends min jung-ho's officer rights. jang duk (jeju medicie lady) hears about it from mrs. kang and gets upset. min jung-ho visits the cvilians who beg min for help since they're starving. min says he'll try to help but he has little power now. the king finds out from jang-duk's boss about min jung-ho's contribution and is angry at elder oh that he wanted to punish someone who should be rewarded. min gets his power back and the citizens are given help. they offer ginseng to min jung-ho as a token of their thanks. min declines but they insist on leaving 2 sacks of ginseng, one for min and one for jang-geum. min agrees to take the bags while leaving the ginseng. he says the bags symbolize the citizens gift that he will carry with him. mr. kang who is w/ min steals one ginseng as he leaves.

back at nae-ee-ohn, jang-geum insists she was never told about the 'lock out' but 2 other nurses testify yuh-ri made it clear for everyone. the head master states only jang-geum and yuh-ri will ever know who was the one who lied but since these events never happened before jang-geum

arrived, jang-geum should be sent to hae-mi-sol. min sang goong and chan-ee tell yun-saeng about jang-geum's demotion and they're sure choi-sg is behind it all. min jung-ho and master jung run into jang-geum who packed her bags to leave. min jung-ho tells jang-geum she doesn't need to leave. min jung-ho and master jung bring jang-geum back to nae-ee-ohn to announce that jang-geum is to stay since she is a good nurse. the head master replies saying it's a matter of nae-ee-ohn but master jung says nae-ee-ohn is within min jung-ho's jurisdiction now.

the other nurses wonder if there's something going on between master min and jang-geum since he repeatedly helped jang-geum. yuh-ri goes to tell choi-sg and geum-young about what happened. yun-saeng is recognized by the king (she is pregnant) and all the servants and maids are trying to get on her good side. yun-saeng's servants come to apologize to yun-saeng about their rude treatment toward her in the past. yun-saeng is about to say all is forgiven but min sang goong interrupts by scolding the maids on yun-saeng's behalf. young-roh arrives w/ present from jae-jo-sg (choi-sg) and herself. young-roh brings up how they grew up together and such but yun-saeng brushes her off and tells her to leave politely. jang-geum arrives with the news that yun-saeng has just been promoted to the title of lady sook-won (sook won ma ma). choi-sg and geum-young are pissed about yun-saeng being the new sook-won mama, which means geum-young must cook for her from now on.

geum-young arrives w/ the food for yun-saeng. geum-young sees jang-geum and min-sg in the room. yun-saeng is offended by the smell of food and shows sign of vomit. then yun-saeng tells geum-young she can't eat the food. geum-young takes the food away and brings new food. yun-saeng is once again offended by the smell. geum-young gets impatient and asks yun-saeng what it is that she desires to eat. yun-saeng replies saying something must be missing in geum-young's skills that jung-sg had and next time be sure to figure out what it is that she's lacking. geum-young goes back to soo-rak-gan. choi-sg is pissed by yun-saeng' ridicule of geum-young. geum-young brings food again. yun-saeng takes a bite and is about to vomit again. geum-young swallows her pride and says she will prepare something else.

yun-saeng gets an official inauguration party. choi-sg, geum-young and young-roh bows in front of yun-saeng. yun-saeng tells choi-sg how good it would've been if jung sang-goong was still alive to see this. choi-sg is pissed but says nothing. choi-sg sees her brother and the two of them, together w/ geum-young, agree they must put a stop to the good things that are happening to jang-geum and yun-saeng. nae-ee-ohn head nurse reassigns yuh-ri responsibility of taking care of the lady queen to jang-geum. yuh-ri is unhappy by it but the scholar says it is only right since the lady queen looks so favorably upon jang-geum. yuh-ri gets the responsibility of taking care of the newly appointed lady sook-won (yun-saeng).

yun-saeng is pregnant. yuh-ri tells yun-saeng she will take great care of her so not to worry. yun-saeng says actually she is scared because when her mother had a difficult time giving birth to her and she never recovered since. yuh-ri reports to choi-sg. choi-sg asks yuh-ri if she figured out how to discreetly cause yun-saeng's miscarriage. yuh-ri says it shouldn't be difficult. yuh-ri orders a special plum drink for yun-saeng to take everyday. min-sg tells jang-geum yun-saeng keeps worrying about the baby since her mother had a difficult time. jang-geum goes to see yun-saeng who tells her about her symptoms of pain. jang-geum discovers yuh-ri may be wrong in saying yun-saeng is suffereing from blood irregularity. jang-geum goes to see master shin and asks him the difference between what yuh-ri and jang-geum's diagnose of yun-saeng's problem. then jang-geum asks what will happen to some one w/ her diagnose if they're pregnant. master shin says it's dangerous to both mother and child. jang-geum asks what will happen to that person if they take plum drink. master shin asks who dares to prescribe such dangerous drink.

jang-geum goes around looking for yuh-ri. the soo-rak-gan maid says she could be with choi-sg. jang-geum heads toward choi-sg's corridor. inside choi-sg's chamber, yuh-ri tells choi-sg and geum-young that yun-saeng's drink will eventually cause her to be paralyzed and the baby will not survive. jang-geum is outside and overhears this statement.

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yuh-ri goes back to nae-ee-ohn and she's told teacher master shin wants to see her at lady sook-won's room. yuh-ri arrives and sees all the doctors and nurses examing yun-saeng. the other nurses report to the master their finding which agrees with jang-geum's, not yuh-ri's. min sang-goong asks what's going on. master shin asks min-sg what lady sook-won's been eating. she reports shrimp and lots of greasy food yuh-ri ordered. the staff go back to nae-ee-ohn. master shin demands yuh-ri to explain why she ordered such health-deprivating food for lady sook-won. yuh-ri insists she didn't know it was harmful since she diagnosed yun-saeng differently. master shin and master jung don't believe yuh-ri because she's very skilled and she couldn't have not known so they ask her what her real motive is. yuh-ri continues to say she's innocent and the head master bails her telling the staff to forget the incident since yuh-ri made an honest mistake.

alone, yuh-ri confronts jang-geum. jang-geum tells yuh-ri jung-sg and han-sg will not forgive someone who uses food to harm people and neither will she. jang-geum warns yuh-ri if she let's this happen again she will not be forgiven. jang-geum gives detailed instructions on how to take care of yun-saeng to min-sg and chan-ee, and tells them yuh-ri is choi-sg's spy. jang-geum goes to see master min jung-ho to update him on choi-sg's activities. jang-geum states she wishes to look into the incident that caused the king to faint, which eventually led to han-sg's jailing and death. jang-geum believes choi-sg and elder oh were behind the reason and she wants to dig out the truth to prove han-sg's innocence. min-jh says that's impossible since she can't examine the king's health as a woman nurse. jang-geum says there is a way, which is to look into the king's health records which can only be accessed by the king's closest servants.

jang-geum goes to see the head guard who told her he can help her whenever she needs help. she asks him to help her get to the records but he says that can't be done since those are sacred. min sang goong gets a blessed shirt for yun-saeng from the kang's so yun-saeng will have a smooth labor. jang-geum goes to see master jung for permission to enter the sacred room where the health records of the royal family are kept, with the excuse that she wants to look into the background of the lady queen, just to make sure she's giving her the best care. but master jung says that's not necessary.

choi-sg tells geum-young to decide how to deal with jang-geum. jang-geum tells the lady queen she has a request. the nae-ee-ohn staff find out jang-geum asked the lady queen for permission to go inside the sacared room and gets upset since the room is forbidden to someone at jang-geum's ranking. the masters tell jang-geum to withdraw the request from the queen. jang-geum asys she can't and begs them to allow her to go in just this once. jang-geum arrives at the record room. at first the guard forbids her from entering but the master inside says to let her in since she got permission from the lady queen. inside, the master tells jang-geum she is only allowed to look at the lady queen's recordsa nd she is not allowed to take anything from the room.

jang-geum steals the king's record book and runs back to nae-ee-on. just as jang-geum is about to pull the stolen book from her stockings, yuh-ri arrives asking what she's doing. jang-geum leaves and brings the book to jang-duk. jang-duk copies the contents of the book so jang-geum can return the original to the record room tomorrow. next day jang-geum brings the book back and steals another one so jang-duk can copy it and study it.

geum-young goes to see min jung-ho and asks him to see her in private. geum-young brings him to the room where she prepared food and wine for him. geum-young tells min-jh she always wanted to do this for him and asks him to remmeber her as the palace maid who was forbidden to love him but could not stop caring for him. geum-young states tomorrow she must put a stop to all her lingering love but one thing troubles her heart which is that she was never able to serve him food, and begs min-jh to eat.

jang-geum sneaks the last record book to jang-duk who tells her she's making progress in determining what may be the real cause of the king's illness at warm springs. the king is sick. the head master of nae-ee-ohn examines him and discovers a cold sore in the king's mouth. when alone, the head master suddently remembers something about the king's health and goes to the record room to look up something. after the head master leaves the guards from the record room tells the master to follow them. then jang-geum arrives at the record room to put back the last record book she stole. after she leaves, the guards from the record room catch up to her and takes her to a dark room to ask her to confess her reason for stealing the king's record books. jang-geum tries to deny it, but the guards say the record book was missing from the time the head master was at the room but it reappeared after jang-geum arrived so she is definitely the one who took it.

head master tells choi-sg about jang-geum being under investigation. choi-sg suspects if jang-geum's trying to look into the king's faiting incident and orders young-roh and choi messenger to investigate further. the palace head guard tells jang-geum she should've listened to him when he told her not to go into the record room but jang-geum begs him saying the matter is not only about han-sg's innocence but it also regards the king's health. the head guard tells the other guards jang-geum made the mistake due to her over-blown curiosity. the guards let her go and jang-geum is escorted out by the head guard. choi-sg catches up to the head guard and jang-geum, and asks the head guard if he wants to betray the king.

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just as the head guard is about to escort jang-geum out. choi-sg arrives to stop the head guard. choi-sg reminds the head guard jang-geum stole the king's record book. the head guard says she did no such thing and even if she did the matter is not for choi-sg to be involved in. choi-sg is pissed but leaves. head guard tells jang-geum what she did was a serious matter. jang-geum goes back. min jung-ho and jang-duk are worried about jang-geum's safety.

the nae-ee-ohn staff is busy trying to find a treatment for the king. choi-sg tells geum-young and yuh-ri that jang-geum must be trying to investigate the incident that led to han-sg's jailing and death. elder oh asks to see the record book room guard to tell him that jang-geum indeed stole the king's record book. the guard tells elder oh the matter is not for oh to be invovled in and leaves. oh/choi messenger goes to see the guard next day and delivers a letter to him.

nae-ee-ohn head master continues to examine the king. the lady queen asks what's going on w/ the king. choi-sg reports the royal kitchen is preparing a precious dish for the king since he hasn't been eating well. nae-ee-ohn head master whispers something in yuh-ri's ears and she says she'll follow the instructions. the medical staff are conflicted about what the king's illness is and how they should treat him.

jang-geum is curious about the king's health and asks master shin for medical books. master shin mentions a book. jang-geum tries to look for the book. the other nurses say yuh-ri is the one who's keeping the book. shin-bi asks jang-geum why she's always so curious about the king's health. jang-geum finally tells shin-bi about han-sg. shin-bi agrees to help jang-geum. shin-bi spies on yuh-ri who cooks some herb and throws away all the leftover as if detroying evidence. the other nurses comment how it's strange that yuh-ri's medicine for the king seems to change color daily.

jang-geum and shin-bi approach the medicine scholar to see what the nurses what herbs the other nurses have been using. they see nothing wrong w/ yuh-ri's record but they continue to investigate the situation. min jung-ho is investigating a treason based on a map he received which resembles the map that was stolen by a foreign woman who attacked him a long time ago. min runs into jang-geum who is also rushing to investigating the yuh-ri matter. shin-bi and jang-

geum find out the palace maids who are being treated by yuh-ri never received the medicines she took from the scholar.

at the town inn, elder oh, master choi, and the record room guard meet. the inn hostess spies on the men who are talking about jang-geum. min jung-ho gets a tip from the inn hostess, panicks and rushes back to the palace to look for jang-geum. the palace head guard meets with choi-sg again. choi-sg states she now has a witness on her side who speaks against jang-geum (the guard who met w/ oh and choi). the head guard has no choice but to report the incident to the lady queen. choi-sg wants him to report to the king instead but the head guard insists he's too ill at the moment.

the lady queen is notified that jang-geum read the king's record without permission and is angry. the lady queen states the matter cannot be forgiven. jang-geum is captured by the guards. the head guard tells jang-geum there is nothing he can do. choi-sg and geum-young are elated at their success. geum-young presents the dish of precious meat to the king. choi-sg praises how much trouble geum-young went through in front of the king. the king is pleased. at night, jang-geum is covered with white cloth and taken away in secret by the guards. the choi messenger and young-roh watch the event. one of the guards has a bottle of poision drink. jang-geum is taken to the forest and given the poisionous drink.

back at palace, choi-sg tells geum-young that jang-geum has fianlly met her end. just as they're about to celebrate their success, guards arrive at their door. the guards state the king has fallen unconscious from eating the food prepared by geum-young, thus geum-young is taken away by the guards for further investigation and questionning. during the questionning meeting the head master turns his back on choi-sg and geum-young by suggesting that something must have gone wrong w/ geum=young's cooking and a similar incident has occured before. choi-sg is shocked by the head master's behavior and tries to defend geum-yuong but at last geum-young is held captive until further investigation. master shin and master jung agree that the culprit must not be food as jang-geum has suggested.

the nurses wonder where jang-geum is since she's been missing for a day. yun-saeng finds out geum-young is captured from min-sg and chan-ee. shin-bi arrives at yun-saeng's looking for jang-geum. not finding her there shin-bi goes to look for her at jang-duk's. jang-duk is out of town but a man tells shin-bi jang-geum hasn't returned since she went back to palace. the kang's find out about geum-young and start dancing. shin-bi arrives at the kang's looking for jang-geum. jang-geum is covered w/ white sheet and brought to a room. the guards remove her mask and in comes the lady queen. the lady queen tells jang-geum she set up jang-geum's fake death because the lady queen believes jang-geum can clear up the king's real health concern. the lady queen tells jang-geum must uncover the conspiracy if she wants to return to the palace, or else she will disappear forever.

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the lady queen asks jang-geum if she can heal the king and clear up the confusion. jang-geum states yes. jang-geum is escorted to a remote house by the head guard. at the house jang-duk and min jung-ho are waiting for jang-geum. jang-duk and min-jh update jang-geum on recent events in the palace and the king's condition. the head guard leaves telling jang-geum she must solve the mystery speedily or else she will never again return to the palace. jang-geum reads medical journals and practices what she learns. jang-duk assists.

back at palace min jung-ho informs the nae-ee-ohn staff jang-geum went away to jeju island for a little while. the nurses and the masters state their surprise. elder oh tells the staff to stop making such fuss over jang-geum the medicine maid when the king is ill. master shin and master jung examine the king and they agree with the head master's diagnosis. choi-sg continues to argue the

culprit doesn't come from the kitchen. head master whispers something in yuh-ri's ear. yuh-ri sneaks into the kitchen and plants some poision in geum-young's secret ingredient jar.

young-roh runs to tell choi-sg and elder oh soo-rak-gan is under investigation. the house of master choi is also under inspection. at soo-rak-gan the king's guards dig through the herbs and the ingredients to gather evidence against the royal kitchen. the confesticated ingredients are brought before the doctors. geum-young is put on the spot to explain why each ingredient is necessary in the kitchen. the masters ask about the content of a small jar which geum-young explains as her secret ingredient. choi-sg defends her saying the secret recipe is sacred, kept and passed down within her family for generations, and cannot be told easily to outsiders. but the masters taste some strange ingredient (poisonous mushroom) in the liquid and accuse geum-young of harming the king. both geum-young and choi-sg deny such thing but things don't look good for them.

meanwhile jang-geum and jang-duk are making progress. they discover that if their diagnose is correct the king should suffer from skin blemish. min jung-ho arrives to update jang-geum on what's happening inside the royal kitchen and the medicine house. min also brings some pepper found in the search of master choi's house and asks jang-geum about where the pepper is from (pepper is rare and expensive in korea). jang-geum asks min jung-ho to ask shin-bi's help. min-jh returns to the palace and gives shin-bi instructions to act discreetly. shin-bi asks a superior nurse if the king ever suffered from skin blemish and the nurse states yes. the head master overhears it and wonders what shin-bi is up to.

elder oh receives a letter from the retired jae-jo-sg (who was forced to retire due to choi-sg pushing her out by framing her). the retired jae-jo-sg asks elder oh to reinstate her as the jae-jo-sg. in return she will help him gain more power inside the palace. geum-young is dragged to jail. choi-sg is furious and promises to get her out.

shin-bi reports her finding to jang-geum. jang-geum and jang-duk figure out the king's cause of illness and they confirm their finding with other sick patients who are showing similar symptoms as the king. the head master is nervous about jae-jo-sg suspecting him of framing geum-young. yuh-ri arrives telling the master it was she who did it (put the ingredient in the geum-young's jar) and she is a descendent of the ill-fated lady park (<- i think she is the retired jae-jo-sg?) who saved her and her siblings from starvation. kang duk-goo catches a glimpse of the retired jae-jo-sg meeting with elder oh. kang runs home to report his sighting to his wife and min jung-ho. min jung-ho instructs kang to continue his watchful eyes on elder oh until everything's cleared up.

mrs. kang watches as master choi is being taken custody by guards. inside the palace choi-sg is dragged to jail by the guards as well. master choi, choi-sg, and geum-young dressed down to felony attire and cuffed to chairs, receive violent questioning from the master of punishment dept. young-roh watches the choi's fate and goes to yun-saeng to beg for forgiveness. young-roh tells yun-saeng jang-geum was sent away to die. yun-saeng is traumatized by the news. min-sg and chan-ee call shin-bi to examine a weeping yun-saeng. shin-bi tells yun-saeng jang-geum is ok and whispers the truth in her ears.

min jung-ho visits jang-geum to tell her elder oh ordered the capture of choi-sg, master choi and geum-young. jang-geum tells min-jh she has found the answer to the king's illness but if she uncovers the truth it will go against choi-sg and geum-young. jang-geum takes time alone to reflect on what she should do next.

choi-sg and geum-young are cellmates in the jail. jang-geum pays them a visit. the jailmates are surprised to see her alive. min jung-ho waits for jang-geum outside the jailcell. choi-sg accuses jang-geum of putting something in geum-young's jar. jang-geum replies she does not use such low measure and gives them a last chance to survive. jang-geum tells them to plead forgiveness

from han-sg. geum-young lashes out at jang-geum saying she will do no such thing as plead from jang-geum. jang-geum leaves and exchanges looks with min who understands what she went through inside. jang-geum and min jung-ho walk back to the hideaway side by side but without exchange of words.

shin-bi delivers a letter from yun-saeng to jang-geum. in jail, choi-sg tells geum-young not to worry because surely elder oh won't desert them at a time like this. the choi messenger arrives at jail. choi-sg asks him to find out what elder oh plans to do and what's happening to her brother. jang-geum continues to reflect on what she must do now. she spends a whole day and then the night deciding what to do.

meanwhile the retired jae-jo-sg and elder oh start building their alliance. in the punishment dept. the master uses violence to solicit a confession out of the choi's but they insist geum-young didn't poision the king. jang-geum and min jung-ho arrive at the punishment dept. and state that the king's illness was not caused by food.

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just as choi-sg, master choi, and geum-young are about to receive the death penalty for conspiring to harm the king, min jung-ho and jang-geum arrive. jang-geum states the cause of the illness is not food-borne. the choi's are sent back to jail. in jail, master choi wonders how it is that their lives are in the hands of jang-geum. geum-young states the lady queen must have put jang-geum on this task. elder oh finds out about jang-geum and is upset he couldn't get rid of the choi's as planned.

shin-bi reports to master jung and shin about jang-geum's return. the masters arrive at the courtyard just as jang-geum is about to report her findings to the lady queen. jang-geum states the cause of the king's illness is a case of skin disease but the precise name of the disease she has yet to find. the head doctor jumps in saying it's a case of ho-hok-pyung. the head master states he just read about in the literatures from chinese medicine. the lady queen asks if the journals also report proper treatment. the master replies yes. but jang-geum states they must not rely on the literatures since it's not certain it is indeed a case of ho-hok-pyung.

the doctors and nurses have a meeting with master min jung-ho. the head master insists on his treatment but jang-geum remains sternly against it. the other doctors and master min begin to side with jang-geum. elder oh learns about it and gets furious. elder oh goes to see the lady queen to speak in favor of the head master. the lady queen appoints the head master to treat the king despite jang-geum's plead against it. choi-sg and geum-young learn about what happened from young-roh's report. choi-sg is upset elder oh is siding w/ the head master for fear that the head master will relate the blame to choi again.

the king receives treatment from the head master and his assistant, yuh-ri. but the king shows serious adverse reaction to the treatment. the lady queen is upset and states jang-geum was correct the whole time and re-appoints jang-geum to be in charge of the king's treatment. the head master performs the treatment jang-geum instructs and the king is immediately showing signs of improvement. the head guard is pleased and asks jang-geum what the king should eat. just then choi-sg and geum-young arrive at the meeting to take over the cooking responsibility. the head guard states because jang-geum insists the illness was food-born choi-sg and geum-young were freed. but the head guard states the investigation is not over and for the time being and geum-young is to refrain from preparing the king's food.

min jung-ho tells the kang's about jang-geum's recent assignment. mrs. kang is upset he didn't inform them from the beginning but min explains it was the lady queen's instruction to keep it discreet. jang-geum visits yun-saeng. just then the guards arrive to capture jang-geum because

the king is going blind. jang-geum is captured along with min jung-ho. elder oh orders the guards to cast jang-geum away from the palace and send min jung-ho to jail immediately. but the lady queen arrives asking jang-geum to explain herself. jang-geum states it's a possible temporary side-affect from the treatment and begs the lady queen for permission to perform treatment on the king herself. elder oh scolds jang-geum for asking to treat the king when she is a woman and a lowly nurse. but the lady queen wants to consider the option.

jang-geum and min jung-ho continue to kneel in the courtyard tiedup, awaiting for the lady queen's decision. the lady queen arrives telling jang-geum she belives her heart and her words but to allow jang-geum another chance would mean to put her own title of queen on the line. min jung-ho tells the lady queen jang-geum will heal the king undoubtedly and advises the queen to give jang-geum the opportunity. next morning choi-sg arrives at the courtyard with instruction from the lady queen to allow jang-geum to treat the king herself. but min jung-ho will remain a captive until jang-geum treats the king.

jang-geum examines the king's condition and goes to read books for research. the other nurses ridicule jang-geum behind her back for not knowing the treatment but saying big words in front of the queen. yuh-ri reports to the head master jang-geum's activity and the two agree that jang-geum must not know how to treat the king after examining the king. jang-geum goes around the palace examining the water, the pastes, and the food in the royal kitchen. jang-geum asks the lady queen to grant her permission to make a trip outside the palace. elder oh strongly advises against such thing but the lady queen agrees to her request and assigns guards to go with her to the warm springs that han-sg took the king previously. jang-geum goes to the warm springs to examine the water and the local livestock.

choi-sg calls yuh-ri for meeting. choi-sg tells yuh-ri she suspects the head master to be the one to put the poision in geum-young's jar and orders yuh-ri to follow their instructions from now on. yuh-ri goes to see the retired jae-jo-sg (lady park). choi-sg sents a messenger to spy on her and finds out about yuh-ri visiting lady park and orders young-roh to find out what her relationship w/ the retired jae-jo is and how elder oh is involved in the matter. jang-geum returns and begins to prepare healing food to treat the king's blindness. after a day of treatment the king is still blind and the lady queen is upset by it. jang-geum feeds another dish to the king which makes him want to vomit. the lady queen pushes jang-geum away yelling at her for not curing the king. jang-geum tries to calm the lady queen by saying the king will be cured so she must remain calm. the lady queen is agitated and tells her servants to send jang-geum to jail.

jang-geum is taken to jail. min jung-ho who is already in jail watches her arrival and jang-geum is jailed opposite min-jh. jang-geum weeps in her own cell. geum-young and chio-sg are taken to jail once again. the choi's are jailed next to jang-geum. choi-sg mocks jang-geum for bluffing. jang-geum asks choi-sg if she's afraid. jang-geum states she is not afraid because of han-sg. next day, the jailward calls jang-geum out. jang-geum is escorted to the sentence house along with min jung-ho. elder oh asks the two if they confess to their crime. elder oh orders continous punishement on jang-geum and min-jh until they confess. just then the head guard arrives telling elder oh to release jang-geum and min-jh at once per the queen's order.

jang-geum returns to the king's corridor. the lady queen states the king is showing drastic improvement. jang-geum performs needle treatment on the king, followed by a long body massage. jang-geum continues the massage into early morning. finally she stops and asks the king to sit up and open his eyes. the king opens his eyes and he is able to see jang-geum.

ep. 46

the king gets his sight back. the lady queen praises jang-geum for healing the king and figuring out the real cause of his illness. the king asks jang-geum for her name and nods his head to show

his gratitude. the medical scholar states jang-geum has saved the house of medicine but elder oh instructs the staff to keep jang-geum at her original ranking.

jang-geum runs to see min jung-ho to show him she succeeded and thanked him for putting his life on the line for her. min-jh with tears in his eyes states it was a dangerous task for her and he worried about her safety... had he known this before he would have asked her to runaway in jeju. jang-geum goes up to him and embraces him. min-jh returns her embrace and the two share a warm hug!

jang-geum instructs the furious choi-sg and geum-young to use red ginseng in the king's food from now on. the king asks elder oh about jang-geum saying he wants to award her but elder oh states what jang-geum did was her job and that master shin was about to find out the cause anyway. yun-saeng dines with the king and tells the king she has a wish. yun-saeng states she wishes the king to meet jang-geum who is likle her sister. the king states he has wanted to meet jang-geum. yun-saeng steps out and calls jang-geum in to meet with the king privately.

alone with the king, jang-geum asks the king to return han-sg's innocence, that han-sg was a righteous woman whose life was spent serving the king and the palace. the king remembers his conversations from han-sg and the taste of her cooking, but states if he is to find han-sg's innocence it would mean going against his mother. choi-sg tells yuh-ri she thinks high of her. then tells yuh-ri to go to lady park it is better if she remains quietly in her place. a stunned yuhri leaves to go see the retired jae-jo. choi-sg tells geum-young at this time she doesnt have the will to deal w/ park since she already has to deal w/ elder oh.

master choi sends an assasin to kill the head master of nae-ee-ohn (sorry i was wrong in the preview). before the assasin can attack the master, min jung-ho and jang-geum arrive at the master's doorsteps. min-jh sees the assasin and goes after him. in the forest min-jh and the masked assasin exchange fights. min-jh unveils the assasin's mask to see who he is but before he can ask him questions the assasin gets away. jang-geum asks the head master to do the right thing by telling the truth about what really happened with the han-sg instead since he was involved. the head master says he will think about it and tells jang-geum to go back.

master choi's is angry that the assasin was seen by min jung-ho and sends the assasin back to finish the job. when the assasin arrives at the head master's he discovers the body of the head master who apparently committed suicide. next day, the choi's are happy that they don't have to be the one to kill the head master and now no one will ever say anything against them. the kang's wonder if jang-geum can do anything about han-sg's case now that the witness killed himself and the king declined her request. jang-geum whispers her plan in their ears.

at soo-rak-gan a messenger comes to tell choi-sg and geum-young a nurse wants to see them. geum-young thinks it's yuh-ri and they go out to meet her. but it's jang-geum instead who is pouring han-sg's aged vinegar into a jar. jang-geum asks if choi will use this vinegar that is made by han-sg. the choi's are offended by jang-geum and about to leave but jang-geum says she must tell them something. jang-geum states before the master committed suicide he left jang-geum a letter which will reveal everything and she plans to give it to the lady queen. choi-sg and geum-young are shocked. jang-geum asks them to confess their wrong doing and plead in front of han-sg.

choi-sg goes to see elder oh for help. elder oh suspects there is no such letter but sends a man to investigate. choi-sg pays daily visit to the lady queen and catches jang-geum giving the lady queen massage and the lady queen praising her. when alone, jang-geum asks choi-sg if she thinks she doesn't have the letter. kang's are tricked by the choi messenger to deliver wine somewhere. while they're gone the choi workers rummage through the kang's house to look for the letter jang-geum mentioned but the only letters they find are old love letters from mr. kang to

his wife. jang-geum asks geum-young if they can just for a little while return to the way things were when they were both kitchen maids. jang-geum states she doesn't want to hate geum-young. geum-young replies she cannot do so because jang-geum took away min jung-ho and her last pride. jang-geum states that is an excuse and leaves.

Choi-sg and master Choi call young-roh to meet with them. they offer her a large sum of money in exchange for her disappearance from the palace. the choi's want to get rid of her so that jang-geum can't use her as a witness against them. young-roh agrees for fear of her life but asks permission to go see her relative, Choi's messenger and a member of the royal guard. but Young-roh gets called into another private meeting by the master who is a co-conspirator with elder oh against the choi's. The master also offers young-roh money in exchange for her to confess everything to the investigation dept. and a possibility for her to receive the title of jae-jo-sg after choi-sg is rid of. Young-roh who is confused and scared takes both bribes to show them to jang-geum.

ep. 47

young-roh presents both envelopes of bribery to jang-geum, and explains to jang-geum what they're for and who they're from. jang-geum asks why young-roh is giving her this information. young-roh says she doesn't want to be a runaway the rest of her life and she can't trust the other master's words. young-roh states she can trust jang-geum and asks jang-geum to help her become the next jae-jo-sg, and in return young-roh promises to help jang-geum. jang-geum states she will not be involved in any schemes and sends young-roh away. choi-sg arrives at the kang's looking for jang-geum. choi-sg requests jang-geum to take her to see myung-ee.

jang-geum takes choi-sg to her mother's grave. choi-sg kneels infront of the grave and apologizes to the deceased myung-ee, then asks jang-geum for forgiveness. choi-sg turns to jang-geum, kneeling, she repeatedly asks jang-geum for forgiveness saying how hard it was for her to bear the grief of killing her childhood friend, myung-ee. jang-geum replies she believes the words of choi-sg but she must go confess her mistakes to the court. choi-sg begs she can't do that or else her family will be doomed, but jang-geum states she must be responsible for her actions.. that if a person loses nothing then she will not learn her lesson.

young-roh is missing from the palace. the choi's learn that she went to see the other master and master choi sends his men to look for her all over the hanyang city. young-roh is about to meet with the master. when the master turns away for a minute, the choi assasin kidnaps young-roh and throws her into a isolated room. master choi and choi-sg find the master's envelope on young-roh and asks young-roh to confess what the master instructed her to do. young-roh confesses. the master works for elder oh. the choi's find out elder oh is trying to detroy the choi family for his own gain. elder oh finds out young-roh has been kidnapped, probably by the choi's.

under choi-sg's instruction, young-roh goes to the court to reveal dirt on elder oh. choi-sg visits the mother queen. elder oh sends a messenger inside to request an audience with the mother queen. choi-sg tells the messenger to lie to elder oh and say the mother queen is not feeling well and to return another day. she also instructs the messenger to say that choi-sg is not there. choi-sg reports to the mother queen that elder oh has been planning activities against the court and states he's unfit to manage the various dept's including the house of medicine.

master choi sends young-roh away with a man as her escort. on her journey young-roh begins to sense danger. min jung-ho tells jang-geum young-roh has been arranged to leave the palace by choi-sg. jang-geum remembers her meeting with young-roh the previous night and gets worried and states young-roh is under danger. min-jh says he'll look into it right away.

elder oh tries to clear his name in front of the court official. min jung-ho arrives saying yoon-sg (young-roh) has died. choi-sg tells the mother queen yoon-sg (young-roh) has died and surely she was murdered and suggests it may have been elder oh. choi-sg further reports jang-geum has a letter from the dead head master. choi-sg wonders aloud what would happen if the letter got into the hands of elder oh and lady queen.

yun-saeng weeps at the news of young-roh passing away, and remembers the days when they were young kitchen maids. chan-ee and min-sg arrive and tell yun-saeng that young-roh went to see jang-geum the night before and wonder if jang-geum could have prevented young-roh's death. choi-sg explains to geum-young that she had no choice but kill young-roh since it's her job to protect the choi family. choi-sg instructs geum-young she must be the next one to protect the family.

the king visits yun-saeng and senses her sorrow. yun-saeng begs the king to grant jang-geum's wish or else more lives will be sacrificed. the king states the matter concerns many ppl and if it doesn't go right jang-geum's life could be further endangered. yun-saeng tells the king jang-geum has a proof of conspiracy, which is a letter the head master left for her before his suicide. the king orders the head escort to retrieve the letter from jang-geum. the lady queen who is present is surprised by the news of a letter. jang-geum is called by the mother queen. the mother queen demands the letter from jang-geum. jang-geum replies she doesn't have it. the mother queen turns to choi-sg and asks what she's up to.

choi-sg goes back to talk to geum-young. choi-sg figures out yuh-ri must have the letter since it's unlikely that the master died w/out leaving his words. the head master asks jang-geum to present the letter to the king. jang-geum replies she doesn't have it. she made it up and she'll clear it in front of the king herself. choi-sg calls yuh-ri and orders her to alter the letter and present it to the court. yuh-ri is reluctant but choi-sg states if she doesn't she'll tell everyone about yuh-ri poisioning lady sook-won (yun-saeng). jang-geum finds out yuh-ri has a letter and runs to min jung-ho with the news. the king finds out a letter has turned up and tells his head guard he wants to read it.

elder oh is taken to the investigation officers. the investigation master tells elder oh according to the head master's letter, elder oh instructed him to put something in the king's food. elder oh laughs at the accusation and points to choi-sg as the true culprit who also killed min-sg (young-roh) and probably the one who told nurse yuh-ri to write up a fake letter. just then the head guard arrives saying the king wishes to read the letter and has summoned all parties involved to show up before him, including members of the medicine house and the royal kitchen.

at the meeting the investigation master tells everyone the letter accuses elder oh but elder oh accuses choi-sg, so everyone must retell their story to see where the differences lie. choi-sg defends herself saying at the time the king become ill at warm springs, she was sent to 'tae pyung gan' as a punishement and ordered by han-sg to not step out of taepyung gan without permission. choi-sg raises her voice to point the fault at elder oh and tells everyone not to question the last words of a deceased man.

just then, to everyone's shock, the supposedly dead head master shows up, accompanied by min jung-ho and jang-geum.

ep. 48

to everyone including yuh-ri's shock, the deceased head master arrives at the meeting, accompanied by min jung-ho and jang-geum. min jung-ho states the head master is the only one who can clear the truth. the head master states he needed time to sort things thus he agreed to min-jh's request to fake death for a short period of time. choi-sg and elder oh are going nuts and

continue to point their finger at each other. the head master tells everyone both elder oh and choi-sg are responsible for the conspiracy against the king.

elder oh and choi-sg raise their voice to defend themselves but min jung-ho brings a witness who was a servant at the soo-rak-gan at the time. the servant testifies against choi-sg who still maintains her innocence. but ma sang-goong arrives to testify as well. she brings her a proof which is a correspondance between choi-sg and elder oh. choi-sg is taken to an isolated room. the king is given report about the situation. he orders all suspects to be brought before the confession court. geum-young, elder oh, a captured master choi who tried to escape, yuh-ri, and head master are all brought before the court.

the court session is interrupted by a guard who reports choi-sg is missing. choi-sg hides in a freezing room to wait for the arrival of the mother queen's messenger. choi-sg begs the messenger to let her see the mother queen. the mother queen refuses to see chio-sg and tells the messenger to tell choi-sg to turn herself in. choi-sg tries to solicite help from another sang-goong who tells the guard choi-sg's whereabout. choi-sg sees it and runs to the jar storage room to hide.

a kitchen maids hears noises in the jar room and reports to min-sg. jang-geum arrives at the jar room to face choi-sg. choi-sg raises her arms to slap jang-geum but jang-geum grabs her hand and states if she doesn't turn herself in geum-young will take all the blame instead. jang-geum tells choi-sg to turn herself in then leaves. outside min-sg and chan-ee scold jang-geum saying they can just call the guards but jang-geum says she wishes choi-sg to turn herself in.

choi-sg steps out and begins to walk.. with each step she remembers the way jung-sg and han-sg begged her to do the right thing before they each passes away. choi-sg kneels infront of myung-ee's grave to talk to myung-ee. chio-sg wonders how life would be different had myung-ee never saw choi-sg putting poision in the queen's food.. and how things would be if myung-ee and chio-sg switched lives. choi-sg remembers her childhood laughters w/ myung-ee and han-sg. outside the cave, chio-sg sees a red ribbon hanging on a tree like when she was little and choi-sg tries to get the ribbon. choi-sg gets the ribbon but slips and falls off the cliff. choi-sg grabs a twig hanging on the side of the cliff and remembers a similar time when she was little. back then choi-sg was scared to jump off but myung-ee and han-sg caught her, so choi-sg smiles and lets go of the grip on the twig and choi-sg falls into the open forest.

min jung-ho tells jang-geum where choi-sg's body was found and jang-geum replies that's near her mother's grave. min-sg and chan-ee are saddened by the news of choi-sg dying but yun-saeng reminds them how jung-sg and han-sg died. elder oh and master choi are given the death penalty. geum-young is to be banned from the palace forever. before geum-young leaves, she sends a child messenger to get jang-geum. geum-young hands a letter to jang-geum saying it's a letter jang-geum's mother wrote to jang-geum. choi-sg had told geum-young to detroy it but geum-young kept it.

geum-young leaves the palace. min jung-ho tells her the only thing he can say to her is he's sorry. geum-young replies if they meet again in the next life to please say to her anything but sorry. the king summons jang-geum to tell her he wishes to reward her. jang-geum tells the king and the lady queen she has 3 wishes. first is to find han-sg's innocense. the king states he will and assigns the job to the lady queen. next jang-geum tells the king her mother was a kitchen maid who was a scapegoat because she saw what she shouldn't have. the then jae-jo-sg is choi-sg's aunt. the lady queen is astonished and asks jang-geum if that's why choi-sg hated her so much. the king says he will clear jang-geum's mother name as well and asks jang-geum what her 3rd wish is.

at soo-rak-gan the maids wonder who the next kitchen head will be. just then jang-geum arrives at soo-rak-gan dressed in sang-goong attire. a servant tells the maids to pay respect to jang-geum who is their new boss. jang-geum tells the staff it's time to prepare the king's meal and smilingly asks chan-ee to help her. the medicine staff find out about jang-geum and is surprised. min jung-ho tells them it's just temporary per jang-geum's request to the king. the king tastes jang-geum's food and praises her skills despite not being in the kitchen for such long time. the king continues to praise jang-geum.

back at soo-rak-gan the nurses come to visit jang-geum and comment on her beautiful new attire. min-sg and chan-ee try to talk up to jang-geum and asks jang-geum what's going on. a nurse says jang-geum wants to be the kitchen head until an official head is selected. min-sg asks jang-geum why and jang-geum states it's because there is something she must do. alone, jang-geum reads her mother's letter. in the letter her mother tells jang-geum to be the kitchen head and find her justice back. jang-geum goes around the houses of soo-rak-gan and watches as the child maids learn the ropes to kitchen life. jang-geum stops a running child and tells her not to run in the kitchen or else dust will be spread onto food.

jang-geum hallucinates han-sg coming back to talk to her. jang-geum reaches out her hands to touch han-sg but realizes she's dreaming. then she runs toward the place han-sg burried her vinegar and weeps. min jung-ho watches jang-geum. later, jang-geum and min-jh walk in the kitchen field. jang-geum tells min-jh when her father was captured she started to feel guilty. when her mother passed away she began to miss her and feel guilty. jang-geum begins to cry as she recounts the happiness she felt as a child among her parents even though they were on the run. min jung-ho draws her to comfort her and jang-geum cries leaning into his shoulder.

the king calls jang-geum. the king tells jang-geum when he was still a prince a little child delivered wine to him and begged him to take her into the palace to become a maid. the king asks jang-geum if she is that child and jang-geum replies yes. the king is elated jang-geum is that child whom he met as a prince.

ep. 49

the king remembers when he was still a prince a little girl delivered wine to him and bow to beg him fulfil her wish of becoming a royal kitchen maid inside the palace. the king asks jang-geum if she is that little girl from back then. jang-geum returns his smile and replies yes. jang-geum thanks the king for fulfilling her childhood wish. the king states he often wondered about what happened to that little fearless girl and is amazed that that girl ended up saving his life as a medicine maid. the king is extremely happy and tells jang-geum to ask for anything and he'll grant her wish. jang-geum asks for permission to visit outside the palace to practice medicine.

during the nae-ee-ohn meeting, jang-geum tells her colleagues and supervisors she asked the king for permission to go outside the palace to learn more about medicine treatment. jang-geum tells the masters that because of han-sg, she practices medicine and she feels that she has reached the limit of what she knows. she wants to start all over again. yun-saeng is upset that jang-geum might not be around to deliver her baby. jang-geum assures her shin-bi will do a great job and there is nothing to worry about. the kang's scold jang-geum for her constant curiosity and tells her she should just tell the king she has no wishes next time the king asks her or else she will end up getting herself into more trouble each time. but jang-duk the jeju medicine woman compliments jang-geum for her desire to improve herself.

jang-geum arrives at the town and finds min jung-ho there already, making kites and teaching calligraphy to the local kids. jang-geum asks min-jh what brings him to this remote town, but min-jh replies in a professional tone of voice he had business to take care of. when jang-geum teasingly asks if he's there for any other reason, min-jh doesn't smile back and states, "what other

reason?" then min-jh leaves after saving goodbye. jang-geum is disappointed at his response but goes back to tending the ill.

at night, jang-geum goes to see min jung-ho and when he arrives she puts on a big smile, but min-jh coldly asks why she's doing there. jang-geum asks him to go teach the children again. min-jh says he has a lot of things to do and sends her away. after min jung-ho leaves, jang-geum mumbles, "actually i missed you.. so".. then leaves.

jang-geum goes back to the treatment house. next day, jang-geum watches min-jh teach poetry to the children. afterwards, jang-geum speaks with min-jh.

JG: i wish to see you everyday. MJH: because of the kids? JG: no... MJH: (raises voice) then you should've said so from the beginning. you should know the pain i suffered through. JG: (surprised) then were you just teasing me? MJH: no why would i (acts angry and turns to leave). JG: --- (speechless) MJH: I want you to know what it feels like to be me when I miss you. (turns back and laughs) hahaha.

jang-geum smiles realizing min-jh is playing with her.

back at the palace the kitchen staff are wondering who the king will name as the next kitchen head. min-sg jokes to chan-ee that she should go for that title. min-sg prepares food for the king during the palace festival and the king enjoys her food. min-sg is declared the next kitchen head. min-sg is shocked and feels stressed about the title.

min-sg goes to see jang-geum. when she sees her, min-sg calls out jang-geum's name and embraces her. jang-geum gives min-sg a recipe book where jang-geum recorded what han-sg and jung-sg taught to encourage min-sg. min-sg thanks jang-geum but tells jang-geum she's scared. jang-geum gives min-sg encouraging words of advice and assures min-sg she will do well in the new job. min-sg goes back and prepares her first meal as kitchen head. she serves the food to the king and before he can say anything begins to ramble on about how bad her skills are, but the king replies saying the food is great.

jang-geum is called to a secret meeting w/ the lady queen. lady queen confides in jang-geum that her position in the palace is not secure due to a prince who is older than her son. the older prince is in line to be the king's heir, but the prince has a perpectual illness that he will eventually die from but no one knows when for sure. the lady queen's assitant tells jang-geum to return the lady queen's favor to jang-geum, by helping the lady queen out. the assistant tells the lady queen will arrange for jang-geum to treat the sick prince, and jang-geum is to discreetly kill the prince, since he's already living a life of hell on earth. jang-geum is shocked and distraught. then she agrees to visit the ill prince. after examing him, jang-geum goes home and worries about what she should do.

jang-geum visits min jung-ho and the two go around town shopping. min jung-ho tells jang-geum he wants to buy her a gift so she can't look. later, min-jh puts an accessory on jang-geum and jang-geum smiles saying she loves it. then jang-geum gives him the pen brush set her father gave her. jang-geum tells min-jh it's the most valuable item she owns and she wants to give it to him. the brush set reminds her of her father and childhood and also how she and min-jh met. min jung-ho tells jang-geum he likes the life outside palace and asks her to live w/ him outside the palace, him teaching children in a school house, and her tending a small hospital. jang-geum gets upset (since she thinks she won't have a life w/ min-jh after what the lady queen asked her to do) and jang-geum says she doesn't want a small pharamacy. min jung-ho is taken back but replies then she won't have a small one, she wants a big one because she wants to save lots of people. min-jh says she'll have a big medicine shop that's bigger than his school house. jang-geum looks at him w/ tears in her eyes.

jang-geum worries about what the queen's words to her all night. the next day she tells the lady queen she can't do what she asked, because her mother and han-sg always said to her a cook's hands cannot harm a person, and she is a nurse, her job is to heal people not to harm them. the lady queen replies this is the only way to secure her position and her son's future and asks jang-geum to do it for her since she saved her life. jang-geum states she wants to return her life back to the lady queen instead. the king overhears the conversation outside but goes inside to pretend he didn't hear anything. the lady queen reports to the king she wants to keep jang-geum near her as a sang-goong. the king replies it's a good idea.

the king asks jang-geum what the lady queen asked her to do. jang-geum refuses to say anything even. the king says it's the king's order but jang-geum replies she can't say a word. the king tells his head guard to investigate the matter.

jang-geum is going crazy w/ the secret buried inside her and she runs to look for min jung-ho but she has a difficult time finding him. everywhere she looks for him, he's not there. meanwhile, min-jh hears jang-geum is looking for her but everywhere he goes jang-geum had already left. finally at night they run into each other. jang-geum, with tears, complains to him:

JG: (crying) you said you'd be there for me wherever i need you but how can u be there if i can't find you? MJG: (surprised) ---- JG: you said to runaway with you before. so please take me away from here. take me to away from here.don't ask me why. MJG:ok

min jung-ho makes plans to leave the palace with jang-geum. jang-geum writes her resignation letter and packs her belongings.

ep. 50

the king declares he will make jang-geum his personal medicine general during court. min jung-ho overhears the statement as he approaches the court from outside. jang-geum packs her stuff and leaves a letter for the kang's. min jung-ho leaves his resignation letter for his boss. jang-geum and min jung-ho leave hanyang city by boat. min-jh's boss finds out and sends his men to look for them immediately. the lady queen hears about the king's declaration and is shocked that a nurse will be in that position.

jang-geum and min-jh are riding on the boat. min-jh asks jang-geum if she's fearful but jang-geum replies she's happy. min-jh states he's fearful that it all might be just a dream and he'll wake up. kang tuk-goo looks for jang-geum. the general who heads the medicine house is angry that a nurse is called to be the king's personal general. he promises to stop such unprecedented event. the mother queen tells the lady queen she needs to stop the king from such unruly behavior.

the palace elders discuss the king's decision. some say that a woman cannot be in such high position while some state they must honor the king's request. min-jh's boss is worried that min-jh and jang-geum will be severely punished for running away. shin-bi tells mrs. kang and jang-duk about the king's decision.

jang-geum goes on and on about whether min-jh minds that she has nothing and will have to live a humble life starting life again. min-jh interrupts saying everything is okay with him as long as she is with him. jang-geum smiles and reaches her hand out to min-jh. the two hold hands as they walk in the snow. then min-jh tells jang-geum to ride on his back since it's hard to walk in the snow. jang-geum tells min-jh how her mother agreed to marry her father. jang-geum starts to laugh on his back since it reminds her of her childhood.

they arrive by the river w/ a boat waiting prearranged by min-jh. but soldiers sent by min-jh's boss arrive to tell him to return to the palace. min-jh raises his sword to tell the soldiers to return since

he is no longer a king's servant, but min-jh's boss arrives and orders him to return w/ him at once. min-jh's boss tells min-jh it's not late to go back. if they don't go back they will be considered fugitives disobeying the king's order. min-jh tells the boss to give him more time then gets up to leave. the boss tells his men not to stop min-jh since he believes he will return soon.

min-jh tells jang-geum to follow him and he brings her to a house in the mountains. he shows the house to jang-geum as a possible place for her pharmacy. jang-geum is worried about min-jh's fate and tells him she cannot be the one to ruin his path and she was only thinking of herself when she asked him to take her away. min-jh ignores her and begins to talk about her childhood. jang-geum smiles as she remembers where she grew up but her smile fades as she thinks about the reality again. min-jh senses her emotion and reaches out his hand:

MJH: (reaching out hand) if not now then we will never be able to realize our dream. JH: (reaches out her hand to his.. then cries) we cannot go.. we cannot go..

they return to see his boss. the boss gives instructions on how they should go back separately once they're in hanyang. min-jh tells jang-geum there was never a female medicine general in the past and there will never be another one but there is a reason. min-jh tells jang-geum she must accept the job to show that women can do what men can do. shin-bi and the kang's are worried about jang-geum but jang-geum returns without saying a word to them. jang-duk tells jang-geum she should accept the position. jang-duk tells jang-geum she should be a general even for a day to show people that a woman can do the same as what men can.

the nurses and the masters at the medicine house tell jang-geum she must decline such order. lady queen tells jang-geum to be her sang-goong instead and if she insists the king will agree. the king is advised against the decision by his generals but the king states jang-geum saved his life and there is no reason why she can't be promoted to the status of a general. the king tells jang-geum he believes in her and asks her to be her general. jang-geum replies she accepts.

the mother queen and the lady queen visit the king. the mother queen tells the king to retract his decision since no matter how good jang-geum is she is still a woman. privately, the lady queen tells the mother queen she doesn't think the king will change his mind. the mother queen replies the problem lies in jang-geum who accepted the offer. the queen's assistant tell the queens lady sook-won (yun-saeng) is a childhood friend of jang-geum's and she arranged for the king to meet w/ jang-geum on a previous occasion.

everyone in the court objects to the king's order and they draw up a signature list to submit to the king to ask the king to reconsider. min-jh's boss tells min-jh to talk to jang-geum to change her mind but min-jh replies there is no reason a woman cannot do their job. master shin submits his resignation letter because he doesn't want to take sides.

the mother queen calls yun-saeng for meeting and scolds her for getting involved between the king and jang-geum. afterwards, yun-saeng faints outside. jang-geum is called to her side. jang-geum orders shin-bi to prepare for labor immediately. chan-ee and min-sg tell jang-geum yun-saeng was called by mother queen and lady queen about jang-geum's meeting w/ the king. yun-saeng goes in complicated labor. during the labor yun-saeng loses consciousness. jang-geum begins needle treatment. yun-saeng regains consciousness barely and jang-geum tells her she must stay awake. the head guard reports to the king lady sook-won is in early labor and she and the child are both in danger. the king asks how it happened and the guard reports the mother queen summoned for her about jang-geum meeting the king.

lady queen and mother queen are notified about lady sook-won's condition. yun-saeng gives birth finally and the newborn's cry is heard, but yun-saeng is unconscious. yun-saeng stops breathing and jang-geum cries as she blows air into yun-saeng's nose and performs chest press on yun-

saeng, saying she cannot die like this. yun-saeng opens her eyes and jang-geum weeps with overwhelmed emotions.

jang-geum is shaken by the event even though yun-saeng is safe and so is her daughter. min jung-ho comes to see her. jang-geum tells him she will decline the king's order. min-jh replies she can't but jang-geum states she wants to be a medicine person who saves lives not puts lives in danger. the king and the queens are notified of the birth of a new princess and lady sook-won's condition. jang-geum stays by yun-saeng's bedside. yun-saeng wakes up and tells jang-geum if it wasn't for jang-geum she would've died.

jang-geum goes to see the king and kneels before him to tell him she cannot be his general. just then the head guard arrives with news that lady queen's son is ill and in danger.

ep. 51

just as jang-geum arrives infront of the king and the lady to decline the position of the king's main physician, the head guard arrives w/ news that the prince is ill. the king and the lady queen leave the court to visit their son and find out from master jung that the prince has a strong fever, cough and perpectual fainting. lady queen is extremely worried and asks mstr jung to heal her son immediately. the master states he needs more time to diagnose the illness. the lady queen is upset and the king calms her down.

privately, the king suggest to lady queen that they should assign jang-geum to treat the prince. lady queen is upset and complains to the king that he doesn't care about this son, only the other son (sae ja). lady queen tells the king she told jang-geum to give up on sae ja because the king is not protecting her position and her son's position in the palace. the lady queen complains if the king had cared about their son more she would't have to go in such measures. the lady queen states she is merely a mother who's trying to protect her son.

jang-geum runs into min-jh who asks her why she is giving up on being the king's physician since it's a prestigious and hard-fought reward. jang-geum answers she doesn't want to cause her teacher to leave the palace. jagn-geum packs a sack and leaves the royal court. the king sees her and flags her down to talk w/ her. the king tells jang-geum when she begged him to take her into the palace as a child, he was wondering what person would want to go to the palace, since he was resentful that he had to go. then he got drunk over the wine she brought and next thing he knows he is the king. jang-geum smiles. the king smiles back and tells jang-geum she needs to be responsible. jang-geum is surprised and asks what for. the king replies she must be responsible for him being inside the palace, therefore she cannot desert him and leave by herself. the king laughs and jang-geum smiles at the king's teasing.

the head guard tells the king min jung-ho is the only one who supports the king's decision to make jang-geum his physician. the king asks the guard to bring min-jh. king remembers min-jh as an excellent child scholar from a long time ago. min-jh arrives. the king asks why he supports jang-geum becoming a physician. min jung-ho replies though jang-geum is a woman she is both skilled and posesses strong integrity and confidence as evident through the elder oh/ choi-sg scandal. the king states min-jh is right. the most important quality of a doctor is personal skills and integrity, not their gender. min-jh asks the king to make jang-geum his physician despite opposition from everyone else.

the other generals find out min-jh met w/ the king to give his support and become angry. the generals plan to get rid of min-jh from the court. jang-geum and another nurse go outside the palace to heal the local ill and they find that there's a contagious fever disease going around. jang-geum is treating a sick boy without worrying about getting sick herself. lady queen and the king are notified that the prince is suffering from the contagious disease. the lady queen is upset

and she wants to see her son immediately but the maids stop her so she won't get sick too. the king and the mother queen witness the lady queen yelling at the maids saying she has to see her son and the mother queen tells her to pull herself together.

the lady queen kneels before the temple and begs the gods to take her life instead of her son's. jang-duk tells mrs. kang to help her prepare the herb needed to fight the disease. mrs. kang is teary because she is reminded that her two sons both died from the disease. the nae-ee-ohn masters and nurses wonder where jang-geum is since she's missing. the scholar brings them to town. outside the palace, they see kang duk-goo putting on a skit to teach the beggars how to fight the disease. the scholar and the masters ask the beggars why they're cleaning. the beggars reply 'our nurse' instructed them to do so. the nae-ee-ohn staff ask who the nurse is. a beggar brings them to a hut where jang-geum is.

shin-bi speaks to jang-geum from outside the hut. shin-bi asks to go in and talk to her but jang-geum replies she can't because she is surrounded by diseases and she's still trying to find a cure for the disease. shin-bi states the prince is also suffering from the disease and asks jang-geum to help. jang-geum replies she still doesn't have a cure and sends all them away. lady queen begs the king to save her son. the prince passes out and things don't look good. lady queen continues to beg the king and the doctors to save her son. the king instructs his generals to do whatever they can to save the prince. master shin goes to visit jang-geum who is alone in the hut with many sick youngsters. master shin watches as jang-geum comforts the crying children who ask jang-geum if they're dying. jang-geum replies no because she's gonna heal them. then master shin leaves quietly.

lady queen refuses to eat. min sang-goong begs her to eat but lady queen replies her body useless since she is unable to do anything about her son's condition. min-sg states she cannot be the first to give up. lady queen asks if that's something jang-geum said. min-sg replies yes. the lady queen suddenly remembers jang-geum giving her the same advice when the king was ill. jang-geum successfully finds heals the children. the beggars kneel before her w/ tears for saving their children. jang-duk arrives and praises jang-geum and asks if she's found the cure. jang-geum replies no but she found a way to fight the symptoms. the beggars are celebrating their joy. just then soilders from the palace arrive. the beggars are scared and beg the soilders not to take their children away since they're not sick anymore.

the lady queen appears from behind the soilders and asks if the children are really healed. the beggars reply yes, that their nurse jang-geum healed them. the lady queen goes to see jang-geum in the hut. the head guard calls jang-geum to come out and greet the lady queen. jang-geum appears and the lady queen begs jang-geum to heal her son. jang-geum returns to the palace and takes over the treatment from master jung. shin-bi gives tells the other nurses to rest since they've been helping jang-geum with the prince. the other nurses state they're starting to like jang-geum and shin-bi. even nurse eun-bi who used to detest jang-geum comes to help jang-geum. min-jh reports to the king the news about jang-geum saving the beggars, and the head guard arrives to tell the king the lady queen brought jang-geum back to the palace to treat her son.

jang-geum, master jung, shin-bi, eun-bi, and another nurse work on treating the prince day and night. finally the prince is recovering. the lady queen and the king are informed of the prince's condition. the lady queen and the king arrive to see the prince. the lady queen tells jang-geum she is speechless infront of jang-geum, for asking her to use another child's illness as an opportunity, not knowing her own son could be in the same state. the lady queen apologizes to jang-geum and tells her she will from now on be her strength. the king tells his generals he wants to reward jang-geum by awarding her with gifts and in addition, by making her a high-ranked general. all the generals protest except for min-jh who replies he will carry out the king's decision. the generals meet and agree that they cannot let the king go ahead w/ it and they complain the king again in court. just then, the head master from nae-ee-ohn, master shin arrives telling the

king and the court that the supports the king's decision and all of nae-ee-ohn is behind his decision. the king asks why and master shin replies jang-geum treats her patients like how a mother will treats her child, with self-sacrifice and hope, an attitude and skill other doctors and nurses do not have.

ep. 52

shin master reports to the king that the medicine house supports jang-geum and recognizes that she is best fit to head nae-ee-ohn as a ranked general. the elders in court protest to the king saying jang-geum cannot break the tradition but the king announces jang-geum is to be his main physician and a medicine general. min jung-ho's boss tells min-jh to persuade the king to re-think the king's decision but min-jh declines. the boss gets furious and says in that case their mentor-mentee relationship is over. back at nae-ee-ohn, master shin tells the nurses and the masters to accept jang-geum as their new boss.

jang-geum treats the young prince w/ jung master as her assistant. the prince is reluctant to eat the medicine but jang-geum promises he can play in the yard w/ her if he does so the prince agrees and they play outside afterwards. the mother queen arrives outside the king's corridor and sits on the floor outside. the king comes out and begs her to get up but the mother queen states she is merely punishing herself for teaching her son wrong causing him to award a woman into the hall of male physicians. the king replies he will follow her wishes and begs her to get up. the mother queen asks if he's sincere and finally gets up after the king states yes. min jung-ho watches and then goes back to his office.

the lady queen meets w/ jang-geum and tells her it's hard to go against the mother queen's will so jang-geum should be the one to give in. jang-geum smiles and replies when she was little her mother scolded her for catching rabbits w/ the boys saying that is not a job for girls. the lady queen says she too wonders why she could not go to school with the boys. shin-bi goes to see jang-geum at night and encourages her by saying everyone already knows jang-geum's skills with or without a big title. shin-bi leaves and jang-geum takes off her socks to rub her aching foot. but the king arrives in her room.

min jung-ho thinks about writing a letter but grabs the pen set jang-geum gave him and heads toward jang-geum's room instead. outside her room, min-jh sees the king's personal guards waiting w/ a lamp. inside, the king apologizes to jang-geum. jang-geum notices the king holds one of his hands into a fist whenever he talks and suggests taking a walk outside since it's a spring night. the king and jang-geum stroll through the palace as jang-geum explains how the weather affects the citizens and their health and how mother nature is key to illness. then jang-geum suggests to the king to take his shoes off and walk on the ground to feel the way the ground vibrates like her teacher taught her in the past. the king is impressed by jang-geum's knowledge and takes off his shoes to walk around w/out his shoes on.

jang-geum tells the king he should stroll everynight when he encounters difficulty sleeping. the king asks how she knew he had trouble sleeping. jang-geum replies he holds his hand into a fist whenever talks which suggests he is stressed and when a person is stressed they have trouble sleeping. jang-geum also sugggests to the king that whenever he feels stressed he should talk to someone he trusts instead of holding it all inside himself.

the king is once again impressed by jang-geum's knowledge and sensitivity and begins to walk more w/out his shoes. next day in court the elder generals ask the king to punish min jung-ho. the king is angry and sends them away but they state they will return tomorrow. the king is angry and sits w/ his hand into a fist as he stresses about what's going on in the court. the head guard asks the king where he wants to sleep tonight and the king replies jang-geum's. the king arrives at

jang-geum's room but tells the guard he wants to go to yun-saeng's instead. when he arrives at yun-saeng's the king changes his mind again and suggests taking a walk instead.

next day the king talks to jang-geum about all his troubles. the king tells jang-geum he never wanted to be the king but he became a king, and ever since he wondered if he had the makeup of a king. jang-geum and the king continue to talk about their childhoods, and their memories as they laugh in between. jang-geum tries to explain the meaning of the king's memories. the king replies jang-geum is teasing him but jang-geum says she is being sincere. jang-geum tells the king to forgive himself about whatever he feels is his shortcoming and focus on the future. min jung-ho watches as the king and jang-geum laugh.

jang-geum instructs the head guard to put lots of apples before him since the smell of apple is good for the king and the king should eat lots of apples. she also tells the guard to tell the royal kitchen to prepare water kimchee instead of chili kimchee and to not offer the king green tea at night. the king asks min jung-ho how he met jang-geum. min jung-ho explains he has known her since the days when jang-geum was a kitchen maid. then min-jh tells the king how he met jang-geum at the library the first time, but jang-geum saved him once outside the palace before that.

the king comments how min-jh and jang-geum have a long history, but the king's history w/ jang-geum goes back even more. the king explains the story of jang-geum as a child delivering wine to his place when he was still a prince and how she begged to be a palace maid. the king asks min-jh if he agrees that he (the king) and jang-geum have quite a destiny together. min-jh nods. min-jh meets w/ jang-geum and tells her she understands her helping the king but taking a walk w/ him every morning will cause a stir among palace ppl. jang-geum replies she understands.

the mother queen meets w/ the king and the lady queen. the mother queen asks why he meets w/ jang-geum every morning. the king replies she is healing his heart troubles but the mother queen states that's nonsense and suggests making jang-geum a concubine instead. at soo-rak-gan, min sang-goong is teaching the new maids how to cook. then chan-ee runs in and tells min-sg there's a shocking news. min-sg takes chan-ee into her room and chan-ee tells min-sg the mother queen has ordered jang-geum to be a concubine. min-sg reports the news to yun-saeng.

then chan-ee reports the news to the kang's who are surprised and worried about min jung-ho. mr. kang and mrs. kang begin to argue again about what's gonna happen to min-jh and jang-geum. chan-ee who knows nothing about jang-geum's relationship w/ min-jh asks what's going on and mr. kang whispers in her ears about the relationship. mr. and mrs. kang go to see jang-duk and mr. kang complains to jang-duk about what's gonna happen. they agree that jang-geum wouldn't be happy about it. at nae-ee-ohn min-jh, the scholar, and masters jung and shin discuss how if jang-geum becomes a concubine then she wouldn't be able to practice medicine again.

the nurses ask jang-geum if what she wanted was to be the king's concubine. shin-bi defends jang-geum saying she only wants to practice medicine. jang-geum leaves and outside she runs into min jung-ho. they exhange looks but they say nothing to each other. jang-geum goes to see the lady queen and explains herself. the lady queen assures jang-geum if the king doesn't want it to happen then there's nothing the mother queen can do. the king thinks about what his mother said to him and wonders if he thinks of jang-geum more than just a medicine woman.

the king goes to see jang-geum, and jang-geum begs the king not to accept the mother queen's suggestion. the king tells jang-geum he didn't know his own feeling until the mother queen said something. the palace elders are happy that jang-geum has been ordered to be a concubine since she won't be praciting medicine then. in the court the elders beg the king to accept the mother queen's order.

the mother queen comes to see the lady queen and asks her why she hasn't insisted on jang-geum becoming a concubine. the lady queen replies jang-geum is a nurse and the king only sees her as a nurse. the mother queen gets angry and orders the lady queen to insist on making jang-geum a concubine. min jung-ho practices arrow-shooting until his fingers start to bleed. then he goes to see jang-geum. jang-geum takes care of min-jh's wound. min-jh watches jang-geum mending his wound and says silently, "this is the hand that i should have held onto then. now i may never be able to hold it again."

chan-ee goes to tell min-sg and yun-saeng about jang-geum and min-jh's long relationship. yun-saeng asks jang-geum if it's true that min-jh is the one jang-geum loves. jang-geum begins to cry and yun-saeng cries w/ jang-geum and asks jang-geum what she will do now. jang-geum shakes her head indicating she doesn't know what to do and cries more. yun-saeng goes to see the king and tells the king jang-geum's life is her work and if she becomes a concubine she will not be happy, then begs the king to disallow it to happen. the king agrees jang-geum's work is very important to jang-geum's happiness. then yun-saeng mentions jang-geum and min jung-ho love each other deeply. the king is shocked and sends yun-saeng away. after yun-saeng leaves, the king drinks wine and remembers his conversation w/ min-jh about his first meeting w/ jang-geum.

the king goes to see the mother queen. the mother queen tells the king and the lady queen to make preparations to make jang-geum a concubine. at court, the king keeps his stare at min jung-ho while the elders again beg him to accept the mother queen's order. the king tells his guard to call jang-geum in to see him. jang-geum arrives at the king's room. alone w/ jang-geum, the king tells her to sit closely to him. jang-geum sits down and looks up as the king stares at her. the king asks jang-geum if it's true that she and min jung-ho love each other. jang-geum replies yes. the king is furious.

ep. 53

the king asks jang-geum if she likes min jung-ho. jang-geum replies yes. the king stares at her, tells her he is the king of this nation and asks her if she knows what consequence her answer can lead to. jang-geum replies she knows, and states she is merely a woman who has found medicine to be her livelihood. the king angrily tells jang-geum to show up to their daily morning walk tomorrow as usual.

jang-geum leaves and arrives at min jung-ho's. she nervously tells him what happened and is worried what might happen to min jung-ho. min jung-ho replies she did well and feels proud that she recognized him in front of the king. min-jh says he would rather jang-geum tell the king her true feelings about min-jh and face the fatal consequence than have jang-geum lie about her love and protect min-jh. the king and his guard arrives outside min-jh's office. the king overhears their conversation and becomes furious, then leaves. the head guard coughs to signal they're there. jang-geum and min-jh come outside and see the king leaving. the guard tells them the king wants them both to show up to the walk tomorrow.

next morning, the king puts on a good spirit and asks jang-geum how she and min-jh recognized each other later if they didn't know each other the first time they met. jang-geum replies she left her father's gift to her accidentally when she saved min-jh, and later they were able to recognize each other through the trinket. the king asks to see it. jang-geum replies she doesn't have it and gave it to min jung-ho. the king is taken back (a little jealous) and changes the topic. the king tells the guard to prepare for arrow practice.

the king asks min jung-ho to accompany him in shooting arrows. the king tells min-jh they'll each shoot 5 times. (if min-jh wins, the king will give him his royal bow; if the king wins, min-jh must give the king jang-geum's knife/brush set). min jung-ho obliges since he has no other choice. jang-geum watches as the two men shoot arrows toward a red target. min-jh shoots 4 good ones.

the king also gets bulls eye 4 times. the king shoots his 5th arrow and misses the center. just as min-jh is about to draw his 5th, the king tells min-jh he fancies jang-geum and asks if he feels the same about her. min jung-ho shoots his arrow to the bull's eye and replies yes. the king is furious again and grabs his bow and arrow, then points toward min jung-ho. everyone's shocked. the king hesitates then points the arrow toward a flying bird instead and leaves.

all day jang-geum can't concentrate as she worries about what might happen to min-jh. yun-saeng calls jang-geum to her room. yun-saeng tells jang-geum she told the king about her and min-jh so everything's gonna be ok. chan-ee and min sang-goong ask jang-geum what's it like to love a man as they giggle. jang-geum says it's a warm feeling but bursts into tears and says 'what am i gonna do.. what am i gonna do..' the lady queen asks the king to give her instructions on what to do regarding the matter of making jang-geum a concubine. the lady queen asks the king whether or not she should carry it out. the king doesn't reply and looks in deep thoughts. the lady queen senses the king likes jang-geum and states tomorrow she will announce to carry out the order of making jang-geum a concubine.

at night, min-sg brings apples to the king. the king asks min-sg if jang-geum told her to bring them to him. min-sg replies yes. the king grabs an apple, smells it and states something so fragrant and good for you should be kept nearby at all times. min-sg replies yes but senses the king is speaking about something else. the guard arrives to tell the king min jung-ho has come to see the king. min-sg leaves and runs to tell jang-geum that min-jh is in the king's room. min jung-ho tells the king he once tried to run away with jang-geum because that was the only way he thought he could spend a day with jang-geum, but they returned the same day because jang-geum did not want to turn her back on the palace and her medicine practice. min jung-ho tells the king he doesn't want to block jang-geum's path with anymore sadness and asks the king to grant him death and he will gladly take all the blame. to let jang-geum be all she can be and use her talents, that is the way min-jh expresses his love for jang-geujm.

min-jh returns to his office and jang-geum is waiting for him nervously. jang-geum asks him what he said to the king. she asks if he told the king that no matter what he would be by her side. min-jh says nothing and grabs jang-geum into his arms to embrace her. yun-saeng goes to see the king and begs the king to grant her death for she made a mistake. the king asks what is the meaning of death, and the meaning of love. next day, the lady queen hands her assistant the document to carry out jang-geum's inauguration as concubine. but the head guard arrives telling the lady queen the king has declined making jang-geum a concubine. the king meets w/ jang-geum and tells jang-geum he will not make her his concubine but asks her to stay by his side as his main physician, as an order from the king and a plead from a man.

in court the king asks his generals if they recognize jang-geum as the one who saved his life, the one who found a treatment for the contagious disease the prince suffered from, and if she is the one with highest skills in nae-ee-ohn. the generals are speechless. the king states jang-geum is to be 'dae' ("great")jang-geum from this day forward and she will be awarded the title of the king's physician. a general protests but the king states he will not hear one more complaint about it and orders min jung-ho to carry out his order at once. jang-geum is robed in special attire and before the nae-ee-ohn staff, min-jh reads the king's order aloud. jang-geum accepts the document w/ the king's order and bows before her colleagues.

the generals ask the king to punish min jung-ho. the king hesitates and agrees. min jung-ho is taken away by guards. chan-ee informs jang-geum about the news min-jh is now an outcast and sent into exile. the nurses wonder what they should call jang-geum from now on since technically she should be addressed as 'master' but they settle on 'dae jang geum'. jang-geum runs around palace looking for min-jh. then jang-geum goes outside the palace to look for him. jang-duk hands her the trinket jang-geum gave min-jh and states he has already left town.

jang-geum finally catches up to min-jh and the guards who are escorting him. jang-geum cries and states this can't be but min-jh tells her to return to the palace because she has travelled a difficult road to where she is, and from now on she must be more alert than ever for the road before her will be more difficult than ever. min-jh tells jang-geum to forget everything in the past cleanly. jang-geum asks if he can forget everything. min-jh replies he can and he already has. jang-geum with tears replies she can't forget him and begs him to take her trinket at the least, and she watches as the soildiers take him away. back at palace, jang-geum examines the king. afterwards jang-geum asks if she can have a piece of land to cultivate more herbs and study more medicine. the king agrees and jang-geum begins her farm project.

jang-geum updates the king on her herb progress but looks around where they are and the king realizes jang-geum misses min-jh. jang-geum studies in the library and remembers her enounter w/ min-jh at the library where they first officially met. the king is getting old and jang-geum continues to look after him as she studies herbs and food science.

jang-geum goes by a creek and remembers the way min-jh carried her on his back during their 'run away'. then jang-geum sees an injured rabbit and takes it back to the palace to perform surgery. the king's lower organs are shutting down like jang-geum feared they would some day. the king is dying but he tells jang-geum she is not to blame for his own aging body. some of the generals want to hold jang-geum responsible for the king's condition but the nae-ee-ohn staff state jang-geum has done more than she can to save the king. jang-geum wants to try surgery on the king that she used to save the rabbit, but jang-duk stops her saying though it worked on animal once it is too risky to use on human.

jang-geum goes to see the king and asks the king to trust her once more. the king asks what she means and jang-geum replies she knows one method of opening up his internal organs which is to use knife and do surgery on him. the king is shocked by the concept.

ep. 54 (FINAL EPISODE)

jang-geum asks the king for permission to cut him open to manually open up his blocked organs, since it's the only method to save him. the king is shocked by the idea. master jung and master shin insist jang-geum cannot do such thing. jang-geum shows the masters the rabbit she saved through surgery. the masters ask how the rabbit could've endured such pain. jang-duk and jang-geum explain she used a needle to numb the nerve nearby. jang-geum demonstrates what she means on a fish saying fishermen do this to keep the fish fresh during transport. lady queen asks jang-geum if it's true that she suggested cutting open the king. jang-geum replies yes and the lady queen scolds her saying it is an unprecedented impossibility and even mentioning it is an offense against the king.

the king's generals plead to the king to receive treatment from nae-ee-ohn master instead of jang-geum who is pushing her limits riding on the king's favor. the king, barely gathering enough strength to talk, tells his generals to leave. outside the generals run into jang-geum. the head general tells jang-geum they will not give up easily. jang-geum begs the king to accept her treatment. the king senses his death coming and smiles at jang-geum instead of answering her. jang-geum states she truly wants to save him. the king replies it cannot be done. no matter how skilled she is she cannot save a dead man. the king tells jang-geum she is a great doctor worthy of being loved. jang-geum, with tears begs the king to agree to her treatment again. the king states when he goes to sleep he can hear jang-geum's words circling his ears and he can rest well.

the king studies jang-geum as she tends to him. the king smiles at jang-geum. jang-geum leaves and outside the head guard tells her to follow her. a few guards wait for jang-geum and one of them covers her head with white sheet. jang-geum is taken to a boat and sent away to where min

jung-ho farms. the king has arranged for their meeting. back at palace the generals are angry jang-geum has disappeared.

jang-geum and min jung-ho embrace. the guard tells min-jh to receive the king's order. min-jh bows and kneels to receive the king's order. the king instructs min jung-ho to go to the nation of myung (china) and tell her he sends his gratitude and apology (for making him take the fall for his decision to grant jang-geum the honorific title "dae"), as well as his blessing for her to learn more medicines in a even bigger country. jang-geum is reluctant to get on the boat to leave without trying to save the king, but the guard states it is the king's order. then, they hear the citizens cry out infront of the bulletin board as they read about the news that the king has risen to the heavens. jang-geum is upset and runs toward the soldiers to go back to palace. the guard grabs a wanted ad for jang-geum and orders min jung-ho and jang-geum to leave at once for the king would not have wanted jang-geum to be captured. min-jh takes jang-geum away as the guard tries to distract the oncoming soildiers.

[8 years later, year 1550 a.d., remote town in outskirts of josun nation]

a little girl named so-won runs toward her father, min jung-ho, with dirt on her clothes and a fish in a jar. her mother, jang-geum, appears from behind the girl. so-won is scared and jang-geum is angry. jang-geum punishes her daughter for going out without permission but jung-ho saves so-won before she can be punished even more. (the little daughter is full of curiosity just like the little jang-geum.)

jang-geum practices medicine by saving whoever is sick in town. so-won goes along jang-geum to help her whenever she is called to see a patient. min jung-ho teaches writing and reading to local kids. on this day, so-won runs to tell her father that the townsmen are bullying jang-geum for wanting to do a caesarian on a pregnant mother. on her way, so-won runs into kang duk-goo who says he is from the capital and asks about where jang-geum is. the little girl points to the wrong direction and runs back home to tell her father about her mother and the strange man who's looking for her. min jung-ho starts packing their stuff and the father and daughter go to town to grab jang-geum, and the three start running on foot. kang duk-goo sees jang-geum and her family but they disappear before he can catch up to them.

kang duk-goo returns to han-yang city and reports his sighting to his wife and to jang-duk. both women are happy that jang-geum and jung-ho are still living in josun (korea) with their little daughter. yun-saeng goes to see the queen (lady queen) and begs her to pardon jang-geum. the queen replies too bad jang-geum is in nation of myung, if she were still in josun, she would've brought her back to palace. yun-saeng reports jang-geum has been in josun all these years. the queen is pleasantly surprised. chan-ee (also a sang-goong) and min sang-goong are relieved and happy by the queen's response.

so-won continues to help her mother w/ her medicine practice. on this day, so-won walks back home w/ jang-geum after treating an elderly woman. so-won hides behind jang-geum when she sees her father running toward them. jung-ho worrily tells jang-geum so-won is missing. jang-geum tries to hold her laugh as so-won teases her father. when they go back, they see soildiers surrounding their home. they have come to bring them back to the palace. jang-geum and jung-ho are given their old attire and escorted back to han-yang city in a wagon. as they enter the palace, so-won asks questions nonstop as she is surprised by everything she sees.

jang-geum and jung-ho reunite w/ their former colleages as the staff of nae-ee-ohn, the cooks of soo-rak-gan, and the upper generals of the palace circle them w/ smiles and nods. the queen arrives telling jang-geum and jung-ho how happy she is to see them and why they have lived in exile all these years. the queen states the king was proud of them both and felt bad about what

happened to min jung-ho. the queen states she will give jang-geum and min jung-ho their old positions back and asks them to return to the palace.

min-sg, yun-saeng, and chan-ee are astonished by how similar so-won is to jang-geum as a child. so-won continues to entertain them w/ her nonstop chatter about everything her mother has taught her. jang-geum and jung-ho bring so-won to see the kang's and jang-duk. kang duk-goo and so-won recognize each other immediately and duk-goo understands why she reminded him of jang-geum when he ran into her in the remote city. jung-ho asks jang-geum whether she wants to return to the palace or go back to where they've been living. both decide to leave. jang-geum tells the queen her decision. the lady queen replies she is sad but will respect her wish.

jang-geum gives the palace one last look and steps outside its gates to her awaiting husband and daughter. the three start to walk back to where they came from. jung-ho asks jang-geum what palace meant to her. jang-geum replies the palace gave her the chance to cook and the chance to practice medicine, but it also took away jung-sg, han-sg, and her mother from her. the palace was a place that made her feel she had everything when in fact she had none, a place that made her feel like she could do anything when in fact she was powerless to do anything. jang-geum states the palace was a sad place for her. min-jh smiles and asks if the road they travel is not sad. jang-geum replies yes. jung-ho is happy but tells jang-geum even so she cannot cut open ppl since such practice is still not accepted in josun. jang-geum replies it should be since it can save lives. just then they discover so-won is missing. but so-won runs toward them to tell jang-geum a woman nearby is in pain. jang-geum and jung-ho follow so-won to the lady's house. the woman is in difficult labor and will die from giving birth. jang-geum tells jung-ho surgery is the only chance to save both mother and baby and jung-ho follows her instructions. jang-geum successfully saves both mother and baby by doing a caesarian delivery. jang-geum, jung-ho, and so-won sit by the woman and smile as they welcome the newborn into life.