Lady Choi's Triumph
One of the happiest time’s of Jang-geum’s turbulent life had to be when Lady Han was made head lady of the royal kitchens and Lady Choi and her evil apprentice, Keum-young were transferred to the visitor’s house, unable to reenter the palace grounds. And, to make things even better, the king decided to take a cure at some hot springs, meaning that a good portion of the royal staff could take a field trip, including Lady Han and Jang-geum. Lady Han had grown up in a town with some restorative springs, along with good ducks, so she recommended this spot to the royal eunuch, who agreed it would be an excellent destination.
While the kitchen ladies were making their preparations to leave, Lady Han did not request any ducks from the royal stocks, knowing the quality of the ducks in her hometown. Poor Lady Han—this would prove to be a fateful decision.
Lady Choi and her family members also heard about the royal expedition, and they decided that this would be an excellent opportunity to take out Lady Han and her pesky apprentice. They dispatched an assassin to the village, in order to attack Lady Han and Jang-geum while they were outside the safety of the palace walls.
The trip appeared to be a rousing success. The King had a good soak in the hot springs and then enjoyed Lady Han’s very complicated dish, made from the local ducks whose healthful quality came from the brimstone they were fed by a local vendor.
But, alas, Lady Han and Jang-geum were then attacked by Lady Choi’s minion. They yelled at him, “How dare you attack us. We are ladies of the royal court.” This didn’t sway the assassin. Fortunately, Inspector Min had anticipated Lady Choi’s scheme, and he ordered a member of the royal guard follow Lady Han and Jang-geum. In the nick of time, and with some impressive martial art moves, the guard saved them from certain death.
Lady Han and Jang-geum returned to the village to hear some horrible news. The king had fallen, and he was dangerously ill. Everyone rushed back to the palace.
Lady Choi’s plot had failed, but she remained undeterred. She and her brother (I believe) decided to use the King’s illness for the foundation of their next plot. And, this time, they were going to take out Inspector Min, too. After making this determination, they ran into an unexpected roadblock. Keum-young, sitting quietly behind them, suddenly said, “No, not Inspector Min. If you go through with that, I will expose everything.”
Lady Choi and her brother were in shock. They pressed Keum-young and discovered that her abiding hatred for Jang-geum was rooted in her unrequited love for Inspector Min (unrequited, because Inspector Min was quite obviously smitten with Jang-geum). She knew that she could never have him (not the least because she was a court lady and couldn’t have anyone), but still she could not let him be hurt in any way. Glumly, Lady Choi and her brother decided to leave Inspector Min out of their scheming for the time being.
But the scheme against Lady Han and Jang-geum progressed nicely. They convinced the desperate court physicians to blame the King’s latest illness not on their ineptitude, but on the brimstone-fed ducks chosen by Lady Han in her home village. Lady Han, Jang-geum, the duck vendor and the guard who have saved them from the assassin were charged with treason. Soon, they were being tortured and ordered to confess their crimes.
Inspector Min, of course, was desperate to save Lady Han and Jang-geum. He went to the village and discovered that all the villagers were eating the brimstone ducks with no deleterious effects. In fact, ducks fed brimstone were good for almost any ailment, because the sulfur removed all the poison from the duck’s bodies (or something like that). He went to tell his boss, who ordered a test. Lady Han and Jang-geum were forced to prepare the duck dish exactly as they did for the King, which was then fed to a court lady to see how she would react.
But just before she ate the duck, the court lady had been enticed into eating some poison mushrooms by Keum-young and Young-ro (another of Lady Choi’s apprentices). When the court lady collapsed, Lady Han and Jang-geum’s guilt seemed indisputably proven.
Inspector Min was still desperate not to give up. But his boss knew that, if he kept on pressing the issue, Inspector Min might end up on trial for treason, also. So he lured Inspector Min to a farmhouse and had him tied up for the remainder of the trial. Inspector Min anguished cries of “Sir, sir, you must free me” fell on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, Lady Han and Jang-geum were enduring days of torture aimed at forcing them to confess their crimes. They watched as the duck vendor could no longer endure the torture and confessed. They watched as the royal guard was executed for his continued defiance. And, finally, Lady Han broke down. She decided that, at all costs, she needed to save Jang-geum’s life. She pleaded to the inquisitor, “Yes, I did it. I tried to kill the King. But, Jang-geum, she knew nothing about it.”
Jang-geum tried to interrupt her, yelling out, “She’s lying, she’s only trying to save me. We are innocent!” But Lady Han’s confession was enough to end the case, which was then deferred to the King for punishment. The King, remembering Jang-geum from the competition for head lady of the royal kitchens, did not order execution, but, instead, a lifetime of slavery on Jeju Island.
Lady Choi watched Lady Han and Jang-geum bound and dragged away with mixed emotions. She was now the head lady of the royal kitchens, but she knew too well that death is the only sure way to take care of your enemies for good, despite the assurances of her brother to the contrary. She thought back to how she had tried to kill Jang-geum’s mother, Myoung, and had failed. And that failure started the chain of events that resulted in these latest troubles, just now overcome.
Unknown to Lady Choi, Lady Han was just about to die from the days of torture and the forced march to the slave ship bound for Jeju Island. When Lady Han could walk no more, Jang-geum pleaded with the guards to be able to carry her on her back. Lady Han ignored her apprentice’s desperate attempts to remind her of better times—and instead, with her dying breaths whispered into Jang-geum’s ear that, whatever happened, Jang-geum needed to stay alive so she could revenge her and Myoung. As the wind blew through the dry grass and the sun began to set over the sea, Lady Han went limp in Jang-geum’s arms. Jang-geum was all alone in the world once again.
While the kitchen ladies were making their preparations to leave, Lady Han did not request any ducks from the royal stocks, knowing the quality of the ducks in her hometown. Poor Lady Han—this would prove to be a fateful decision.
Lady Choi and her family members also heard about the royal expedition, and they decided that this would be an excellent opportunity to take out Lady Han and her pesky apprentice. They dispatched an assassin to the village, in order to attack Lady Han and Jang-geum while they were outside the safety of the palace walls.
The trip appeared to be a rousing success. The King had a good soak in the hot springs and then enjoyed Lady Han’s very complicated dish, made from the local ducks whose healthful quality came from the brimstone they were fed by a local vendor.
But, alas, Lady Han and Jang-geum were then attacked by Lady Choi’s minion. They yelled at him, “How dare you attack us. We are ladies of the royal court.” This didn’t sway the assassin. Fortunately, Inspector Min had anticipated Lady Choi’s scheme, and he ordered a member of the royal guard follow Lady Han and Jang-geum. In the nick of time, and with some impressive martial art moves, the guard saved them from certain death.
Lady Han and Jang-geum returned to the village to hear some horrible news. The king had fallen, and he was dangerously ill. Everyone rushed back to the palace.
Lady Choi’s plot had failed, but she remained undeterred. She and her brother (I believe) decided to use the King’s illness for the foundation of their next plot. And, this time, they were going to take out Inspector Min, too. After making this determination, they ran into an unexpected roadblock. Keum-young, sitting quietly behind them, suddenly said, “No, not Inspector Min. If you go through with that, I will expose everything.”
Lady Choi and her brother were in shock. They pressed Keum-young and discovered that her abiding hatred for Jang-geum was rooted in her unrequited love for Inspector Min (unrequited, because Inspector Min was quite obviously smitten with Jang-geum). She knew that she could never have him (not the least because she was a court lady and couldn’t have anyone), but still she could not let him be hurt in any way. Glumly, Lady Choi and her brother decided to leave Inspector Min out of their scheming for the time being.
But the scheme against Lady Han and Jang-geum progressed nicely. They convinced the desperate court physicians to blame the King’s latest illness not on their ineptitude, but on the brimstone-fed ducks chosen by Lady Han in her home village. Lady Han, Jang-geum, the duck vendor and the guard who have saved them from the assassin were charged with treason. Soon, they were being tortured and ordered to confess their crimes.
Inspector Min, of course, was desperate to save Lady Han and Jang-geum. He went to the village and discovered that all the villagers were eating the brimstone ducks with no deleterious effects. In fact, ducks fed brimstone were good for almost any ailment, because the sulfur removed all the poison from the duck’s bodies (or something like that). He went to tell his boss, who ordered a test. Lady Han and Jang-geum were forced to prepare the duck dish exactly as they did for the King, which was then fed to a court lady to see how she would react.
But just before she ate the duck, the court lady had been enticed into eating some poison mushrooms by Keum-young and Young-ro (another of Lady Choi’s apprentices). When the court lady collapsed, Lady Han and Jang-geum’s guilt seemed indisputably proven.
Inspector Min was still desperate not to give up. But his boss knew that, if he kept on pressing the issue, Inspector Min might end up on trial for treason, also. So he lured Inspector Min to a farmhouse and had him tied up for the remainder of the trial. Inspector Min anguished cries of “Sir, sir, you must free me” fell on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, Lady Han and Jang-geum were enduring days of torture aimed at forcing them to confess their crimes. They watched as the duck vendor could no longer endure the torture and confessed. They watched as the royal guard was executed for his continued defiance. And, finally, Lady Han broke down. She decided that, at all costs, she needed to save Jang-geum’s life. She pleaded to the inquisitor, “Yes, I did it. I tried to kill the King. But, Jang-geum, she knew nothing about it.”
Jang-geum tried to interrupt her, yelling out, “She’s lying, she’s only trying to save me. We are innocent!” But Lady Han’s confession was enough to end the case, which was then deferred to the King for punishment. The King, remembering Jang-geum from the competition for head lady of the royal kitchens, did not order execution, but, instead, a lifetime of slavery on Jeju Island.
Lady Choi watched Lady Han and Jang-geum bound and dragged away with mixed emotions. She was now the head lady of the royal kitchens, but she knew too well that death is the only sure way to take care of your enemies for good, despite the assurances of her brother to the contrary. She thought back to how she had tried to kill Jang-geum’s mother, Myoung, and had failed. And that failure started the chain of events that resulted in these latest troubles, just now overcome.
Unknown to Lady Choi, Lady Han was just about to die from the days of torture and the forced march to the slave ship bound for Jeju Island. When Lady Han could walk no more, Jang-geum pleaded with the guards to be able to carry her on her back. Lady Han ignored her apprentice’s desperate attempts to remind her of better times—and instead, with her dying breaths whispered into Jang-geum’s ear that, whatever happened, Jang-geum needed to stay alive so she could revenge her and Myoung. As the wind blew through the dry grass and the sun began to set over the sea, Lady Han went limp in Jang-geum’s arms. Jang-geum was all alone in the world once again.
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