The King Jung Jong's Queen Munjeong was a major historical figure in Korean History. She ruled Korea behind the veil with absolute power for 8 years. Jang-geum was not the only woman who broke through barrier of gender inequality and sexual discrimination. A touch of this was mentioned in the series.(Gerry Tan)

During the reign of Jungjong (the 11th Joseon King) there was a major conflict between two Confucian factions. One is the yanban, to which the Right Minister Oh belongs. These yanban are descendants of the group responsible for King Sejong's (4th Joseon King) accession to the throne, and as a result of this service accumulated a great deal of power and wealth ever since. The other faction is the Shilin to which the Left Minister Pak and Min Jung Ho belongs in opposition to the Yanban. They (Shilin) believe that a person should be suited for a position based on merit and not on breeding and connections. This is truly the Shilin philosophy and the King took it a step further by appointing Jang-geum his Personal physician and bestowed the title of Daejanggeum.(Gerry Tan)

Daejanggeum is the one and only female to be a King's Personal physician. Till today even the Presidential Personal physician is still a man. (Gerry Tan)

The King tried to push for reform by appointing Jo Gwangjo to his administration who tried to reform but failed and suffered tremendous setback and he was exiled. In 1521 there was an aftershock occured when the Yanban was not sastified by exiling Jo and pursued his execution. This acted as a basis for the Sulfur Duck incident where Lady Court Han was accused to be in league with Jo. (although the character of Jo is not seen but references to him were made throughout the story, I think it is common knowledge that the Koreans know this historical incident but we are oblivios to Korean Joseon History are keep in a limbo on who Jo was. Gerry Tan)

-There is a person named Min Jeong-Ho, but he has no relationship with Jang-Geum at all(What a disapointment!!!)

-Geum Young(Jing Ying) and Court Lady Choi exsisted in the real history. In reality, Court Lady Choi was 10 times worser than the one in the show.. She apparently made Geum Young one of the King's comcubine, and also make Jang-Geum's life worse..

-There was supposed to be a kissing scene of Lee Young Ae and Ji Jin Hee, but Lee Young Ae thought it was not appropriated, hence they did not.

-Actually, Court Lady Han's character(played by Yang Mi-Gyeong) was supposed to die earlier. However, due to the fans' protest, the director 'delayed' her death scene.

-Park Eun-Hye was firstly casted to take over the Role of 'Soo Jang-Geum', but later on after the comfirmation of Lee Young Ae acting in the show as well, Park Eun-Hye was casted again to take over the role of 'Yeon-Sheng'.

-Kyun Mi-Ri, was supposed to play the role of Court Lady Han(Hangsanggung), but later on Yang Mi-Gyeong took over the role.

-On sunday, (May 1st 2005) TVB has finally finished airing this series in HK, and the last episode broke the golden record by achieving 44 average rating as well as 49 at the highest point. This series just beaten ' Nan Chan Lui Aui'/war of the genders acted by Dodo Cheng and Davo Wong in year 2000 by only one point.

[edit]Themesong

Hope: Jewel In The Palace main themesong sung by Kelly Chen (mp3 song)

Jewel In The Palace Korean main themesong (mp3 song)

[edit]Summaries
i like dae jeng gum

[edit]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...

[edit]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.

[edit]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.

[edit]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

[edit]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..

[edit]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.

[edit]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.

[edit]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.

[edit]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 majang. 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 cultivating a new crop. jang-geum begs the na-eu-ri to help cure her disability. min jung-ho and his guards arrive. min scolds the naeuri about his treatment of his men who suffer from bruised skin and weak limbs. 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 help her.

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 lonelinss 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.

[edit]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.

[edit]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

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