The king asks Jang-Geum if she likes Min Jung-Ho. Jang-Geum replies yes. The king stares at her, tells her he is the king of this nation and asks her if she knows what consequence her answer can lead to. Jang-Geum replies she knows, and states she is merely a woman who has found medicine to be her livelihood. The king angrily tells Jang-Geum to show up to their daily morning walk tomorrow as usual.
Jang-Geum leaves and arrives at Min Jung-Ho’s. She nervously tells him what happened and is worried what might happen to Min Jung Ho. Min Jung-Ho replies she did well and feels proud that she recognized him in front of the king. The king and his guard arrives outside Min Jung Ho’s office. The king overhears their conversation and becomes furious, then leaves. The head guard coughs to signal they’re there. Jang-Geum and Min Jung Ho come outside and see the king leaving. The guard tells them the king wants both of them to show up to the walk tomorrow.
Next morning, the king puts on a good spirit and asks Jang-Geum how she and Min Jung Ho recognized each other later if they didn’t know each other the first time they met. Jang-Geum replies she left her father’s gift to her accidently when she saved Min Jung Ho, and later they were able to recognize each other through the trinket. The king asks to see it. Jang-Geum replies she gave it to Min Jung-Ho. The king is taken aback and a little jealous and changes the topic. The king tells the guard to prepare for arrow practice.
The king asks Min Jung-Ho to accompany him in shooting arrows. The king tells Min Jung Ho they’ll each shoot 5 times and the winner gets to have Jang-Geum’s trinket gift. Min Jung-Ho obliges since he has no other choice. Jang-Geum watches as the two men shoot arrows toward a red target. Min Jung Ho shoots 4 tiimes on target. The king also gets bulls eye 4 times. The king shoots his 5th arrow and misses the center. Just as Min Jung Ho is about to draw his 5th, the king tells Min Jung Ho he fancies Jang-Geum and asks if he feels the same about her. Min Jung-Ho shoots his arrow to the bull’s eye and replies yes. The king is furious again and grabs his bow and arrow, then points toward Min Jung-Ho. Everyone’s shocked. The king hesitates then points the arrow toward a flying bird instead and leaves.
All day Jang-Geum can’t concentrate as she worries about what might happen to Min Jung Ho. Yun-Saeng calls Jang Geum to her room. Yun-Saeng tells Jang-Geum she told the king about her and Min Jung Ho so everything’s gonna be ok. Chan-Ee and Min sang-goong ask Jang-Geum what’s it like to love a man as they giggle. Jang-Geum says it’s a warm feeling but bursts into tears and says, “What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?”
The lady queen asks the king to give her instructions on what to do regarding the matter of making Jang-Geum a concubine. The lady queen asks the king whether or not she should carry it out. The king doesn’t reply and looks in deep thoughts. The lady queen senses the king likes Jang-Geum and states tomorrow she will announce to carry out the order of making Jang-Geum a concubine.
At night, Lady Min brings apples to the king. The king asks Lady Min if Jang Geum told her to bring them to him. Lady Min replies yes. The king grabs an apple, smells it and states something so fragrant and good for you should be kept nearby at all times. LadyMin replies yes but senses the king is speaking about something else. The guard arrives to tell the king Min Jung-Ho has come to see the king. Lady Min leaves and runs to tell Jang-Geum that Min Jung Ho is in the king’s room.
Min Jung-Ho tells the king he once tried to run away with Jang-Geum because that was the only way he thought he could spend a day with Jang-Geum, but they returned the same day because Jang-Geum did not want to turn her back on the palace and her medicine practice. Min Jung-Ho tells the king he doesn’t want to block Jang-Geum’s path with anymore sadness and asks the king to grant him death and he will gladly take all the blame.
Min Jung Ho returns to his office and Jang-Geum is waiting for him nervously. Min Jung Ho says nothing and grabs Jang-Geum into his arms to embrace her. Yun-Saeng goes to see the king and begs the king to grant her death for she made a mistake. The king asks what is the meaning of death, and the meaning of love. Next day, the lady queen hands her assistant the document to carry out Jang-Geum’s inauguration as concubine. But the head guard arrives telling the lady queen the king has declined making Jang-Geum a concubine. The king meets with Jang-Geum and tells Jang-Geum he will not make her his concubine but asks her to stay by his side as his main physician, as an order from the king and a plead from a man.
In court the king asks his generals if they recognize Jang-Geum as the one who saved his life, the one who found a treatment for the contagious disease the prince suffered from, and if she is the one with highest skills in nae-ee-ohn. The generals are speechless. The king states Jang-Geum is to be Dae Jang-Geum from this day forward and she will be awarded the title of the king’s physician. A general protests but the king states he will not hear one more complaint about it and orders Min Jung-Ho to carry out his order at once. Jang-Geum is robed in special attire and before the nae-ee-ohn staff, and Min Jung Ho reads the king’s order aloud. Jang-Geum accepts the document with the king’s order and bows before her colleagues.
The generals ask the king to punish Min Jung-Ho. The king hesitates and agrees. Min Jung-Ho is taken away by guards. Chan-Ee informs Jang-Geum about the news Min Jung Ho is now an outcast. The medicine women wonder what they should call Jang-Geum from now on since technically she should be addressed as minister but they settle on Dae Jang Geum. Jang-Geum runs around palace looking for Min Jung Ho. Then Jang-Geum goes outside the palace to look for him. Jang-Duk hands her the trinket she gave Min Jung Ho and states he has already left town.
Jang-Geum finally catches up to Min Jung Ho and the guards who are escorting him. Jang-Geum cries and states this can’t be but Min Jung Ho tells her to return to the palace because she has travelled a difficult road to where she is, and from now on she must be more alert than ever as the road before her will be more difficult than ever. Min Jung Ho tells Jang-Geum to forget everything in the past cleanly. Jang-gGum asks if he can forget everything. Min Jung Ho replies he can and he already has. Jang-Geum with tears replies she can’t forget him and begs him to take her trinket at the least, and she watches as the soildiers take him away.
Back at palace, Jang-Geum examines the king. Afterwards Jang-Geum asks if she can have a piece of land to cultivate more herbs and study more medicine. The king agrees and Jang-Geum begins her farm project. Jang-Geum updates the king on her herb progress but looks around where they are and the king realizes Jang-Geum misses Min Jung Ho. Jang-Geum studies in the library and remembers her enounter with Min Jung Ho at the library where they first officially met.
The king is getting old and Jang-Geum continues to look after him as she studies herbs and food science.
Jang-Geum goes by a creek and remembers the way Min Jung Ho carried her on his back during their run away. Then Jang-Geum sees an injured rabbit and takes it back to the palace to perform surgery. The king’s lower organs are shutting down like Jang-Geum feared they would some day. The king is dying but he tells Jang-Geum she is not to blame for his own aging body. Some of the generals want to hold Jang-Geum responsible for the king’s condition but the nae-ee-ohn staffs state Jang-Geum has done more than she can to save the king.
Jang-Geum wants to try surgery on the king that she used to save the rabbit, but Jang-Duk stops her saying though it worked on animal once it is too risky to use on human. Jang-Geum goes to see the king and asks the king to trust her once more. The king asks what she means and Jang-Geum replies she knows one method of opening up his internal organs which is to use knife and do surgery on him. The king is shocked by the concept.