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 Jung Ho 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 for a little while. The nurses and the doctors state their surprise. Oh tells the staff to stop making such fuss over Jang-Geum.
Doctor Shin and Doctor Jung examine the king and they agree with the head doctor’s diagnose. Lady Choi continues to argue the culprit doesn’t come from the kitchen. Head doctor 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 Lady Choi and Oh that soo-rak-gan is under investigation. The house of Choi Pan Sul 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 confestigated ingredients are brought before the doctors. Geum-Young is put on the spot to explain why each ingredient is necessary in the kitchen. The doctors ask about the content of a small jar which Geum-Young explains as her secret ingredient. Lady Choi defends her saying the secret recipe is sacred and cannot be told easily to outsiders. But the doctors taste something strange in the liquid and accuse Geum-Young of harming the king. Both Geum-Young and Lady Choi 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. Jang-Geum asks Min Jung-Ho to ask Shin-Bi’s help. Min 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 doctor overhears it and wonders what Shin-Bi is up to.
Right Prime Minister Oh receives a letter from the retired jae-jo sang gong, who was forced to retire due to Lady Choi pushing her out by framing he. She asks Oh to reinstate her as the jae-jo sang gong. In return she will help him gain more power inside the palace. Geum-Young is dragged to jail. Lady Choi 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 doctor is nervous about Lady Choi suspecting him of framing Geum-Young. Yuh-Ri arrives telling the doctor it was she who did it and she is a decendent of the ill-fated lady park, the framed by Lady Choi jae-jo sang gong. Kang Duk-Goo catches a glimpse of the retired jae-jo-sang gong meeting with 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 Oh until everything’s cleared up.
Kang’s wife watches as Choi Pan Sul is being taken custody by guards. Inside the palace Lady Choi is dragged to jail by the guards as well. Choi Pan Sul, Lady Choi, and Geum-Young dressed down to felony attire and cuffed to chairs, receive violent questioning from the officer of punishment department. Young-Roh watches the Lady Choi’s fate and goes to Yun-Saeng to beg for forgiveness. Young-Roh tells Yun-Saeng that Jang-Geum was sent away to die. Yun-Saeng is traumatized by the news. Lady Min and Chan-Ee call Shin-Bi to examine a weeping Yun-Saeng. Shin-Bi tells Yun-Saeng that Jang-Geum is ok and whispers the truth in her ears.
Min Jung-Ho visits Jang-Geum to tell her that Oh has ordered the capture of Lady Choi, Choi Pan Sul and Geum-Young. Jang-Geum tells Min Jung Ho that she has found the answer to the king’s illness but if she uncovers the truth it will helps Lady Choi and Geum-Young. Jang-Geum takes time alone to reflect on what she should do next.
Lady Choi 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 jail cell. Lady Choi 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 Lady Han. 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, Lady Choi tells Geum-Young not to worry because surely Oh won’t desert them at a time like this. The Choi Pan Sul messenger arrives at jail. Lady Choi asks him to find out what Oh plans to do and what’s happening to Choi Pan Sul.
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 Oh start building their alliance.
In the punishment department, the officer uses violence to solicit a confession out of the Chois but they insist Geum-Young didn’t poision the king. Jang-Geum and Min Jung-Ho arrive at the punishment department and state that the king’s illness was not caused by food.