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 with hostile civilians who attack Min Jung-Ho since he is an officer. The citizens are angry that no one will treat their illness and they’re not allowed to leave the village although they’re not sick. 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 exhausted but a female patient is severely ill.
Back at nae-ee-ohn the doctors and the medicine women are surprised and angry Jang-Geum has not returned. Shin-Bi states something must have gone wrong. The medicine women are not convinced but Doctor Jung and Shin agree with Shin-Bi that something big must be keeping Jang-Geum from returning.
Jang-Geum’s sick patient passes away and the town’s people blame it Jang-Geum. They jail her inside a storage room and are about to beat her up when a fire breaks. The town’s 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 Lady Han 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 unconscious. 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 town’s people are sheltered and offer to tend to the sick again. Jang-Duk arrives at Min Jung-Ho’s request. Since he could not get the medicine he asked Jang-Duk to help.
Back at palace, Yun-Saeng gets worried about Jang-Geum. Lady Choi meets Yuh-Ri. Yuh-Ri tells Lady Choi 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 poisoning related one.
Young-Roh reports to Lady Choi that Jang-Geum has shown up. Jang-Geum and Min Jung Ho report to Right Prime Minister 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 actually food poisioning caused by eating infected lettuce and other vegetables. Oh questions the finding but the medicine scholar jumps in saying it’s the king’s order to find the cause of the disease.
Lady Choi 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. Doctor Jung states it’s still possible but Lady Choi insists Jang-Geum is reporting non-sense. Min Jung-Ho replies saying if Lady Choi is so sure that Jang-Geum is wrong then why not Lady Choi herself eat the vegetable. Lady Choi agrees to the challenge.
Lady Choi eats a sample of the radish. Next morning Geum-Young goes to check on Lady Choi. Lady Choi is seriously ill and Geum-Young goes back to the committee to tell them about Lady Choi’s condition.
Min Jung-Ho smiles at Jang-Geum at the meeting and Geum-Young is disgusted. Jang-Geum brings medicine to Lady Choi who is shocked to see Jang-Geum.