The mother queen is not able to receive treatment for her ongoing illness. The nae-ee-ohn staff discuss what to do with her. Then the mother queen lost consciousness. Doctor Shin, Yuh-Ri, Jang-Geum and Shin-Bi examine her. They determine she has breath disabling disease.
The medical staff cook the herb medicine for her but she vomits it out. Doctor Shin suggests to Doctor Jung to meet with soo-rak-gan staff to discuss the mother queen’s diet. Doctor 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 with vegetable meal Geum-Young prepared but refuses to eat more.
Lady Choi is upset that the mother queen has to eat food she never liked and calls a doctor. Jang-Geum comes up with an idea to prepare medicine balls, using the medicine the mother queen couldn’t take in liquid form. Doctor Shin approves and Jang-Geum goes to Yun-Saeng to get her to help her make the balls. Dr Shin arrives with Jang-Geum and Yuh-Ri. Lady Choi 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. Dr Shin praises Jang-Geum for good thinking. Yuh-Ri tells the doctor 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 doctor. The lady queen arrives and hears the report. The lady queen and the doctor arrive at Jang-Geum’s to scold her for using garlic, which is the mother queen’s most detested food.
Doctor Jung stands by the Dr Shin and Jang-Geum’s position saying garlic is beneficial. The mother queen is presented with liquid medicine cooked with garlic and drinks it without 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 Doctor 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 with 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.
Lady Choi 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 Dr Shin 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 Lady Choi scolding the head doctor from nae-ee-ohn (Palace Internet Hospital) for Jang-Geum’s success and states Jang-Geum must be rid of. Young-Roh complains to Geum-Young about Jang-Geum. Choi Pan Sul, Right Prime Minister Oh and Lady Choi discuss their new scheme to get the mother queen on their side again.
Min Jung-Ho’s superior 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.
Lady Min and Chan-Ee bring Jang-Geum to Yun-Saeng. Yun-Saeng and Jang-Geum cook the food that Lady Han and Jung used to like. Chan-Ee cooks her favorite food 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. Lady Min 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 not around. 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 Lady Min’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 Lady Han and tells Jang-Geum she knows she was a good sang-goong. The lady queen says in time she will resolve Lady Han’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 to know why she is there.