Gam Tuk-Poh gets ready to make a trip to Jeju Island to visit Jang-Geum.
Jang-Geum makes a bad diagnosis and almost kills Jang Duk so the medicine lady tells her to study the books for now in the cave by the water util she is ready to do intern work.
Min Jung-Ho gets sent on an assignment. The medicine lady is ordered to accompany Min and his soldiers 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 side effects of seasickness. The fastest way to treat him is through needle treatment but Jang-Geum is too nervous to treat him via needle 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 a disease, likely polio, but they’re expecting another child. Jang-Geum also gets news of Yun-Saeng and how Lady Choi 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 Lady Han if it was so wrong of her to wish for revenge by becoming a medicine lady as she blames herself for the bad things that happened to the Gam family.
During the night, japanese foreign warriors begin their attack on Jeju Island. 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 heart beat and suffers from lung malfunction, which requires a needle acupuncture 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 insert 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 with 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 with 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 Island, taking Jang-Geum with 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 Japanese foreginers all go to the garden. When the warriors begin digging for the herb, they get ambushed by the Korean Joseon 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 Island 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.