Episode 6

Park Ki-woong

Lee Ji-hoon

Park Ji-hyun

Choi Deok-moon

Kim Min-sang

Gong Jung-hwan

Kim Yeo-jin

Sung Ji-ru

## Episode Synopsis

Hae-ryung is vilified for writing an appeal. Yi Jin asks Sa-hui why she chose to become a historian. Hae-ryung and Yi Rim find themselves in a bind.

## Plot Summary

Prince Dowon pretends to be cool about letting Goo Hae-ryung cry in peace, but is secretly celebratory about her appreciation. She arrives at the office and realises that the clerks have walked off the job due to her petition. She volunteers to shoulder the work of the clerks herself, to take accountability.

Eunuch Heo Sam-bo tells Prince Dowon about how Goo Hae-ryung has inadvertently offended the clerks and is now having to work harder. She works throughout the day and late into the night without complaint, but eventually falls asleep alone. The next day, she wakes up confused as her work has been completed, and the apprentices point out the Chinese letter ‘sparrow’ written on her cheek.

At *Nokseodang*, Heo Sam-bo and the prince are exhausted from apparently having worked through the night to help Goo Hae-ryung. When she doesn’t arrive, Prince Dowon disguises himself as a clerk and spies on the Office of Royal Decrees.

Officer Yang spots him and believes that he has been sent to assist them from the Royal Secretariat. He calls him Clerk Yi and takes the disguised prince to the Office to help, much to Heo Sam-bo’s panic.

Crown Prince Jin tells Apprentice Song Sa-hui that she is not needed, but she insists on staying. He questions her motivations for becoming a historian, stating that her family has everything, and Song Sa-hui replies her brother will inherit everything, and she will inherit nothing as she is a woman.

Goo Hae-ryung is taken aback to see the prince as Clerk Yi at the Office of Royal Decrees, but he is enthusiastic in his temporary job, thrilled to be able to assist her. However, a few mistakes (dropping and damaging a few scrolls, mistaking a confidential daily report for a regular report and almost giving it away) causes Officer Yang to send both Apprentice Goo and ‘Clerk Yi’ out of the palace to hunt for legwork.

The prince is excited to be outside as Goo Hae-ryung questions civilians for any interesting stories. Prince Dowon is eager yet clueless, drinking wine from a seller’s stock, eating rare ‘white ginseng’ that he recognises as actually bellflower root, and suggesting a stuffed tiger was bought from Qing instead of being killed by the owner. Goo Hae-ryung tells him to behave.

Historians Kim and An find a blacksmith and ask him about the female physician who saved his life using stitches. He states that Second State Councillor Min Ik-pyeong’s henchman, Gwi-jae, has been by, also asking about the physician under the pretence of rewarding her. Min Ik-pyeong is given a sketch of the physician Mo-wha’s appearance.

The henchman tracks Mo-wha to her current quarters, but is waylaid by Goo Jae-gyong, who claims that he is visiting a friend and Mo-wha does not live there. Mo-wha is hostile towards Goo Jae-gyeong and says severely that if she sees him again, she will kill him immediately.

Goo Hae-ryung and Prince Dowon are caught outside as curfew starts. To avoid being punished, the two pretend to be distracted young lovers. The guards catch them in an embrace and are lenient. Goo Hae-ryung take the prince to her home, where she asks Seol-geum if she can share her room while he takes hers. Seol-geum pretends that there is no space so the two of them will have to share.

In a memory, Goo Jae-gyong remembers congratulating Mo-wha after she finishes suturing a man’s wound successfully, the two of them apparently young students.

Neither Goo Hae-ryung or Prince Dowon can sleep. He sleeps outside, while Hae-ryung realises that it was the prince who wrote ‘sparrow’ on her cheek, and he must have helped her during the night.

Heo Sam-bo tries to make the prince feel guilty the next morning for not coming back home, once again bringing up the possibility that he has feelings for Goo Hae-ryung. At the Office of Royal Decrees, the *Hanrim* are overworked, and Officer Hwang asks Officer Yang to apologise to the clerks in order to sort the matter. Instead, Officer Min Woo-won volunteers to apologise when Officer Yang is hesitant, and Goo Hae-ryung asks to come along.

Officer Min sets out a lavish spread for the clerks of the Office of Royal Decrees, but they only pretend to be grateful. They ask Goo Hae-ryung to apologise on her knees, but Officer Min pulls out a book that he claims lists all of the indiscretions of the clerks, threatening them. Goo Hae-ryung takes the book and reads through it, acting appalled.

The clerks agree to return and as a deal, the book is burnt. However, the book was revealed to be a bluff on Officer Min’s part – the book was empty, and all of the clerks’ indiscretions have been memorized rather than written. Goo Hae-ryung is impressed. He admits that she had done the right thing by petitioning.

Goo Hae-ryung visits *Nokseodang* and thanks Prince Dowon for his help. He is inwardly disappointed that he no longer has an excuse to work as Clerk Yi, surrounded by people. Goo Hae-ryung encourages him to write something.

Prince Dowon writes a poem - *I hope you live for a very long time and be the owner of my heart.*

Embarrassed, he chickens out and refuses to give her the poem. As Goo Hae-ryung chases him to try and snatch it away, Heo Sam-bo interrupts with an announcement – and King Yi Tae appears.

## Starring

### Main cast:

* Shin Se-kyung as Goo Hae-ryung
* Cha Eun-woo as Prince Dowon
* Park Ki-woong as Crown Prince Yi Jin
* Lee Ji-hoon as Min Woo-won
* Gong Jung-hwan as Goo Jae-gyeong
* Kim Min-sang as King Hamyeong Yi Tae
* Choi Deok-moon as Min Ik-pyeong

### Recurring:

* Kim Yeo-jin as Queen Dowager Yim
* Heo Jeong-do as Officer Yang Si-haeng
* Kang Hoon as Officer Hyeon Kyeong-mook
* Nam Tae-woo as Officer Son Gil-seung
* Yoon Jung-sub as Officer Hwang Jang-goon
* Ji Gun-woo as Officer Seong Seo-kwon
* Oh Hee-joon as Officer Ahn Hong-ik
* Lee Jung-ha as Officer Kim Chi-gook
* Park Ji-hyun as Apprentice Song Sa-hee
* Lee Ye-rim as Apprentice Oh Eun-im
* Jang Yoo-bin as Apprentica Heo Ah-ran
* Jeon Ik-ryung as Mo-hwa
* Sung Ji-ru as Heo Sam-bo
* Yang Jo-a as Seol-geum
* Lee Kwan-hoon as Gak-soi
* Ryoo Tae-ho as Song Jae-cheon
* Kim Yong-woon as Gwi Jae