Original subtitles

(Episode 10)

Mm... This is definitely different. Where does it come from?

It has an excellent flavor I have never tasted in the palace.

Radish water kimchi has a good deep taste

but some unpleasant smell too.

This doesn't have that deep taste

but has a light, fresh, and sparkling taste to it.

It is so good in this kind of weather.

Don't you think?

Yes, Your Majesty.

How laudable you are!

So did you think about adding something

you have never tasted before?

Yes...

You remember I tasted so many different types of water

because you told me to research about water for cooking, right?

Yes, I did.

I remembered you saying the mineral water from Maewoldang in Sodang village

is the most suitable for radish water kimchi.

In addition to that,

I tasted some mineral water on the way back to the palace.

And I guessed Sodang village mineral water must taste very similar

to the sparkling taste of the mineral water I tasted.

Both of you did very well.

Geum Yeong made noodles she has never made before.

Jang Geum went on a long trip without hesitation.

If it were not for you two,

I wouldn't have been able to get past this crisis.

Especially, Geum Yeong must have been flustered at that moment

but overcame this crisis composedly.

It is your merit.

That's an excessive compliment.

Do you admit your faults?

How could you leave the poison from the conch

when you should throw it out immediately?

You couldn't distinguish conch poison from beef fat

as a court lady that prepares food.

And let that terrible thing happen.

I will report you guys and you will be punished. Be aware of that.

Sir.

Long time no see.

Yes, it's been a long time, sir.

Is chief Choi doing alright?

Yes.

You had a hard time today.

We will have to go a long way tomorrow, so get some rest today.

Yes, sir.

I'll be going now.

What's wrong?

What is the problem, Geum Yeong?

I liked a man before I became a court lady.

I liked him, but I was forced to become a court lady by my family.

You know court ladies are the king's women.

What are you doing in the moonlight?

Oh, yes.

I write down everything I did that day. Otherwise, I forget.

I see.

The brush you are using is too big.

Yes...

What are you looking for?

I forgot it when I was changing my clothes.

What is it?

I wanted to lend you a small brush that is just right for you, but I left it.

Yeah.

Sir...

Geum Yeong!

Jang Geum. You were here.

I guess court lady Choi came to look for you.

Yes.

I was going to tell you to go inside.

We have to go a long way tomorrow, so go in and get a good rest.

Yes, then...

Did you know him before?

He often comes to my uncle's shop

to buy books and other materials from Ming.

I see...

It doesn't look like you met him today for the first time. Right?

Yeah.

The doctor in the royal herbary told me to deliver a letter

to the office of royal food supply

and I saw him there.

Oh... Yeah?

It doesn't look good to other people

when a court lady is alone with a government official like him,

even though it is not like court ladies don't have relationships

with government officials.

No, it is not like that... It just happened to look that way...

I just told you so you can keep it in mind.

Okay.

Is it true you want me to go to the serving kitchen?

Court Lady Min and Jo Bang got punished.

The disciplinary punishment prevents them

from going into the serving kitchen for a while.

You and Yeon Saeng will have to work there for a while, so go there.

Yes...

Let Yeon Saeng know about that too when you go back to your place.

Yes.

You look like you were waiting for us to get punished.

Yes, you're right.

No, that is not it.

I have just wanted to go to the serving kitchen and she told me to...

I am sorry. Really...

There is nothing different in the serving kitchen.

It is the same as the royal kitchen.

I am sorry.

There is nothing to be sorry about.

Just like court lady Han said, we all would have been in trouble

if it were not for you.

You can go.

Yes.

Your ankle looks all better.

Oh... Yes.

Not really...

It's okay.

Oh... I transcribed all the books you gave me last time.

That soon?

Yes.

I won't be in town for a couple of days because of military training.

Why don't you come to the place where I gave you

those books last time at three on the 15th of the month?

I will give you some other books.

Yes, thank you.

You will be able to find the list of food

I wrote and hid in the serving kitchen of the royal palace.

Look at it when it is necessary.

You will be able to feel my breath.

What are you doing?

I am sorry.

This will be your first time here.

Why are you standing there dazed instead of learning the work?

This is the stone pot we use to cook rice for the king.

Yes... I see.

It is different from cooking rice in an iron pot when you use a stone pot...

What are you doing, and not listening?

Oh... I am sorry.

They say the price of the silk going to the sewing room is too high.

But that silk is the highest quality.

Is it ready?

Yes, I will deliver it today.

If you get caught, it will be bad trouble.

Take exceptional caution.

You know how we work.

Yes, I know how you work, but...

Lay your concerns to rest.

I'll be going then...

Treat them carefully. Those are very precious liquor.

Hold it. My back is hurting too much.

Why is it hurting when it has been over a month

since you have used it on me last time...

Do you hear? Over a month.

Did you come in person?

Yes...

I heard you were looking

for some special liquor for the 15th of January festivities,

so I came in person.

I called you to see if you can make this liquor from Ming.

Of course...

My old woman's... No, not only is my wife's face pretty,

but also her hands that brew liquor are so pretty.

It would have been great if her heart was pretty also...

Did you bring it?

You should keep doing it until the 8th of this month

to see the effect of this thing.

Keep the date.

Yes, I will.

She will get shocked if you tell her what has been going on here.

Can you handle it?

It is the right time.

I know, but...

It is our family tradition. I did it myself before!

I trust you with it.

Don't worry, brother.

I don't want to do it.

What? You don't want to do it?

That's right. I don't.

There is no need for us to do it to gain the first court lady position

because our family has the ability

and that ability alone is enough for us to secure the position.

Why do you want to do that terrible thing?

Why? Are you scared?

No, it is not a matter of being scared. It hurts my pride.

Pride...

That kind of thing is done by people

who want to get power they have never had before.

Shut up!

You don't know what it is about.

As you said, our ancestors who were court ladies had

that qualification to be first court ladies.

But qualification is just a word.

The palace is not a place that guarantees the highest positions

to those with the best qualifications.

Do you think our family has been able to keep

the first court lady position for generations because there were no other capable people?

How come a smart woman like you doesn't know that?

There are always people with power in the palace.

And we are in this position to work for them from behind.

That is the reason our family exists as we do now.

As you know, we can't be a noble family in this position,

but we can accumulate more wealth than the nobles.

We can get richer than the nobles because we work for them from behind.

That is our family's destiny.

We can have someone else do it.

Why should we do it by ourselves?

It is a training policy passed down from our ancestor court ladies

to have the novice do something big like this.

They understood you have to know fear to get strong.

I did the same thing when I just became a court lady.

Because of that, one of my friends got killed.

The second reason is there is no one to trust in the palace.

Here. Hide this talisman in the serving kitchen.

It is a talisman that changes the sex of the baby to a princess

that the queen has in her womb.

If she gives birth to a prince,

no one can guarantee the security

of lord Oh Gyeom Ho or our family. Do you understand?

This is not anything you can refuse or free yourself from.

Accept it as the destiny of our family

and hide this talisman in the serving kitchen.

No, I don't want to.

Geum Yeong!

I won't do that.

You will have to come back just as I did.

I'll take your night duty for you.

I am so grateful for that,

but why do you go on night duties so often nowadays?

I heard you went on duties for the court ladies Kang and Lee, too.

I just did...

It is strange.

You don't have to if you don't want to.

I was just worried about you catching a cold and that's all.

I didn't say I didn't like that.

Then I will take your duty.

Okay!

Geum Yeong...

This palace is a place with powerful people.

And we are here to work for them from behind.

That is the reason our family exists as we do now.

Then what is the pride I have held so far?

What is it if cooking the best food for the king

as one of his women is not wealth and honor?

What makes us different from those

who become noble families from the lowest class overnight

by reporting lies?

Did I come into the palace for that?

Geum Yeong...

Are you sick?

Why? Where are the others?

Get out!

Did you call a nurse? Lie down. Wait a minute...

I told you to get out!

Don't be like that and lie down.

Get out! I told you to get out! Get out now!

How could you just leave her alone when Geum Yeong is sick like that?

Don't mention it.

She was so irritable about something. I couldn't even talk to her.

It is not a room for only her, but she told me to get out.

I am okay with that, but she was like that to Young Roh, too.

No one can do anything about it when she is angry.

Did you tell court lady Choi about it?

I asked her to call a nurse because she's so sick, but she said...

No. That was the only thing she said.

Why does Jang Geum go out every night?

My lady, it's Jang Geum.

Come in.

Why are you here when it is not your duty day?

Geum Yeong is too sick right now.

Let me take her turn for the duty.

You don't have to.

But...

Geum Yeong will come. She should.

But she is too sick...

I told you not to worry about her!

If she doesn't come, I can do it myself.

Go back to your room.

Yes...

Give the talisman to me.

Geum Yeong...

I will accept it because you say it is destiny.

But this kind of destiny will end in my generation.

I will make sure of it.

What are you doing here in the dark?

Oh... I was just...

What is that skewer?

I was going to do something with it.

But are you okay now?

Why did you come here when it is not your night for the duty?

I came to help you. You seemed sick.

You don't need to help me! Get out!

Oh... Okay.

What are you doing? I told you to get out!

Okay.

Why should I be so scared?

I didn't do anything wrong.

Oh, it was you, Jang Geum?

What goblin's trick is this?

What's the matter?

I saw everything last night.

What?

What did you two do last night?

Two?

Yes, you and Geum Yeong.

I will go to the royal kitchen and look at the food, and then come back.

Prepare His Majesty's rice well.

Yes.

Hey, are you not going to tell me really?

What? I don't have anything to tell you.

You found something!

And Geum Yeong was hiding something...

What did you do?

Did she hide something last night?

Yes, come here.

Geum Yeong hid something here...

Hey, be careful!

Wait...

Right... Here...

Hey, be careful...

Jang Geum...

Jang Geum...

Do you really want to learn letters?

Yes.

Then I will teach you myself from tomorrow,

so don't go to the village school.

Really? Do you know letters?

Then don't ever go to that place again.

And don't go to the village school,

the mountain and the village ever again.

Just stay with me. Understand?

Yes, Mother. I will stay with you all the time.

Please understand me.

I am scared of losing you and your father.

I am so disappointed in you.

What made you run out of the room

even though I got hurt?

Are you hurt? Where?

How hurt are you?

- Whatever... - Let me look at it...

Forget it. I saw you differently.

Why?

You went out and looked for something,

ran away and didn't tell me about it.

Yeon Saeng...

My lady...

You follow me, Jang Geum.

Yeah?

Follow me...

You stay here, Yeon Saeng!

Gee... Why am I always left out?

Were you on duty last night?

No.

But why did you come to the serving kitchen?

I was there to help Geum Yeong because she was sick.

I told you to go for certain.

Yes.

Is it true you saw Jang Geum here last night, Geum Yeong?

Yes. When I got here, Jang Geum was definitely here.

I see.

You wait outside, Geum Yeong.

What is this?

I don't know!

How could you pretend not to know when you hid it?

I don't know what you are talking about.

I have never seen it before.

Then why did you come

into the serving kitchen when I ordered you to go?

I...

Why can't you say anything about that?

Tell the truth right now!

Say it.

This is a very serious matter that will change your whole life.

You should not open it if you don't want to be a court lady in the royal kitchen

or don't become the first court lady of the royal kitchen

and don't let anyone look at it.

You should not even talk to anyone about this.

You bad girl!

How could you do such a vicious thing without fear

when you just became a court lady not too long ago?

Lock her up in the storeroom and do not give her a sip of water.

Yes.

And court lady Choi, tell Geum Yeong to be careful not to reveal this.

Yes.

Until you confess the truth,

you won't be able to drink even a sip of water.

You found something!

And Geum Yeong hid something.

How could you be so slack with a job like that?

Fortunately, Jang Geum got involved in this.

Now you shouldn't say anything about it to anyone.

Yes.

What are you going to do about it?

Because court lady Han found out about it,

we are the only people who know about this incident.

So if we punish Jang Geum quietly, there won't be a big commotion.

What do you mean, punish her?

Then do you want to just let it go?

We should get her to open her mouth.

It is obvious whether she opens her mouth or not.

Sometimes there are incidents of hexing in the palace.

But that kind of thing happens only in the royal concubine's residence.

But this happened in the royal serving kitchen...

So we should find out who is behind her.

You shouldn't go to the storeroom

where Jang Geum is locked without my permission!

Geum Yeong is very sick right now.

Let me take her turn for the duty.

- You don't have to. - But...

Geum Yeong will come. She should.

But she is very sick...

I told you not to worry about her!

If she doesn't come, I can do it myself. So go back to your room.

You were looking for something

and Geum Yeong was hiding something.

You should not tell anyone about this.

What's going to happen to Jang Geum?

We will have to punish her soon and silently.

My lady!

Do you want to ask me why we have to go that far?

It is not that we have to go as far, we must do it!

Do I have to tell you why?

No.

That's why it should be done without the slightest mistake.

Did you do it?

No, my lady

I didn't do such a thing. Never!

Then why did you go to the serving kitchen that night?

I am asking you why...

If you keep silent, your situation will get worse.

Tell me at least. Why did you go?

My lady...

Actually...

You, Court Lady Han!

I told you not to come to this place. What are you doing?

I am sorry.

Get out right now!

This is something huge that can make you

disappear from the royal kitchen without a trace.

I will come by tomorrow morning. Think about it and tell me.

Brother.

What happened?

If you have a moment...

What? How did that happen?

Don't worry too much about it.

I will take care of the incident in the royal kitchen,

so if you just give me the talisman...

I will see it through without mistake this time.

And don't report this to lord Oh.

Okay.

This rice wine was fermented at the end of the year...

Look here!

What brings you here?

Since you became the first court lady,

you haven't come to visit or even called me.

I have wanted to talk to you about the world outside the palace.

Let me see you for a second.

I won't do it again.

I was going to throw away that obscene picture.

What is this?

This is a talisman!

What?

Go to the fortune teller's place and ask what this talisman is against.

And of course, no one should know about this.

Yes... I understand.

- What? - What?

What? Then is this really the queen's fortune?

This is a talisman that changes the sex of the baby

the queen has in her womb to a princess?

That's right.

But who would do such an evil thing?

Who would...

Anyway, take this and get out of this place right now.

Don't bring such a thing here and implicate me...

Take it out of here!

What do you mean, implicate?

This is a place where a lot of noble families come.

I can get in a predicament just by having this kind of thing here.

Take it and get out!

You take it...

What are you doing? You take it! I don't know...

Go away! What are you doing?

Hurry and put it away.

No, you take care of this.

It is you that will hand this to court lady Jeong tomorrow.

You keep it.

No.

I don't know why you brought this kind of thing into our house.

If you are arrested, I am a person you don't know. Okay?

How could you say that?

For that, I will bring you food in prison.

Okay?

What?

I have never taken this from you.

How can you give something like that to me?

What are you saying?

This is a talisman that changes the sex of the baby

in the queen's womb to a girl.

My lady. Since you took Jang Geum,

she hasn't been back to the residence for several days.

Where is she, my lady?

Where have you sent her?

She went on an errand for court lady Jeong.

No, court lady Jeong said you sent her somewhere.

I told you, I don't know!

It's been more than several days since Jang Geum

got locked up in the storeroom without a sip of water.

There is someone who witnessed Jang Geum in the serving kitchen.

And Jang Geum has also kept silent.

Wouldn't that mean Jang Geum did it?

I understand your intention to discern this matter carefully.

But if we lose time and it gets leaked out, it will be out of our control.

We should punish her quickly by our internal policy.

According to our policy, it is right that we kill her to pay her back for her crime.

What is making you delay the punishment?

Jang Geum...

Jang Geum...

Jang Geum...

Jang Geum!

Yeon Saeng...

Is it you, Yeon Saeng?

Jang Geum... It's me, Yeon Saeng...

What happened to you?

Why aren't you saying anything?

You didn't hide anything, but found something like a small book.

The one who hid that thing is Geum Yeong.

Jang Geum!

If you don't talk,

you could die, I heard.

You should speak, okay? Jang Geum.

Until your father says it is okay,

you shouldn't tell anyone your father was a military officer. Okay?

If you do...

Father, me and Mother... We all die.

My father is a military officer that guards the king.

He is not a blacksmith!

He is the king's royal guard.

Jang Geum...

Take him away!

Jang Geum... Let go!

- Father... - Jang Geum...

Jang Geum...

Father!

Father!

Father!

Yeon Saeng!

Yeon Saeng! I can't speak!

You shouldn't make a mistake today.

Yes.

Is Geum Yeong inside?

Geum Yeong, follow me silently.

What is it?

What is it about?

Tell us everything you saw that night. Don't leave anything out.

I thought it was strange Jang Geum often changed her night duty.

So I followed her.

And the place she went into was the serving kitchen.

I couldn't find Jang Geum. She was nowhere to be found.

But when I looked inside the serving kitchen hiding,

Geum Yeong was there.

Did you say Geum Yeong for certain?

Yes, my lady.

You wench! Won't you tell the truth?

I clearly saw Geum Yeong putting something on the rafter.

You said you saw Jang Geum, too. Right?

Did you also see Jang Geum?

Yes.

She came into the serving kitchen after Geum Yeong went out.

But Jang Geum didn't hide anything, but was looking for something.

She was looking for something, you said. Right?

Yes, my lady.

What is it?

What did she find?

I don't know.

You wench!

How can you report falsely about this kind of important matter?

I am not lying...

Then what did she find?

What did she find?

I couldn't see that on that day.

Then?

It looked like a small book of some sort,

but I couldn't get a good look at it.

You wench!

My lady. This wench is covering for her roommate and is lying.

- No, I am not. - She is telling a lie.

She went to the serving kitchen and worked there

because it was her turn for the duty.

After seeing Geum Yeong working, she is lying that she hid something.

No, I am not.

Then why can't you tell us why Jang Geum changed her duty time for several days

and what she found?

In fact... I don't really know about that.

Your story doesn't add up.

I will ask you again. What is it that you found?

Look here, my lady.

Court lady Han, lock up Geum Yeong along with Jang Geum.

My lady... What are you doing?

And Yeon Saeng and court lady Choi, follow me.

We will have to search Jang Geum's room.

Did you find it?

Don't ask me about it! There is nothing here.

She found it for certain.

You wench!

It was a small book for certain.

Hong...

- Hong... - Yes... My lady.

Did you call me?

I will write a letter. You take it to my brother's house urgently.

Yes.

What?

Drat...

Steward Jang, are you outside?

Yes, I am here.

I will go to lord Oh's house. Get ready.

Yes.

Geum Yeong.

Did you do it?

No, I didn't do it.

You did it!

What is it?

You know something.

I don't know anything.

Jang Geum is nowhere to be found for the last few days.

And now we can't find Geum Yeong, either.

And all the senior court ladies seem very strange.

What is it?

What happened?

What is it?

I said I don't know.

I will ask you one last time.

Won't you tell us?

I don't have anything to say.

I see. I can't help you anymore.

I will send you to the prosecutor's office. Know that.

My lady! I didn't do anything wrong!

Everything will be revealed at the prosecutor's office.

The prosecutor's office?

No, we can't send them there.

It is not just anywhere else.

It is the serving kitchen of the royal palace.

And the queen will give birth soon. It is a strange talisman.

Court lady Choi!

How do you know the talisman has something to do with the queen's pregnancy?

I don't know if it is related to the queen's childbirth.

But the due date is so soon, she must be very sensitive right now.

This can be considered a conspiracy.

That's why we should reveal the truth.

No. We must not.

This is not just those two girls' problem.

We all including you, me, court lady Han

and the other court ladies could meet

untimely deaths as they dig into who is behind it.

The royal kitchen will become wormwood.

We can't help that.

My lady.

Do you really have to do that?

We can't just let it pass.

It will mean great difficulty for you who are elderly.

Just worry about yourself.

You will go directly to the prosecutor's office now.

Now is the last chance.

I don't care who answers. Just answer.

What did you two do in the serving kitchen?