Our leading lady barely evades a crisis when hit by a bigger one. She has always put others before herself, yet our heroine ups her game this time, almost losing everything she worked hard for and even her life to protect her people.
Luckily, someone comes to her rescue in the nick of time, though it isn’t the one she was hoping he was. We also bid farewell to some annoying people, though the process leading to it isn’t as pleasant as it sounds.
Bunny S. watches The Tale of Lady Ok on Netflix
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 |
The Tale Of Lady Ok Episodes 9 and 10 Highlights
“Why are you committing this atrocity?”
With Tae-young imprisoned, Mi-ryeong’s mother seizes the chance, playing the role of the poor mother, who is relieved to be reunited with her dear daughter, and barging her way into the house. Acting like the lady of the house, Mi-ryeong’s mother moves into the main bedroom, steals Tae-young’s belongings to use them as bribes, and pushes the servants around. Meanwhile, poor Tae-young has to endure all sorts of humiliation in prison.
Tae-young can endure the humiliation, but one thing she won’t stand for is having her people get mistreated. Getting word of what Mi-ryeong’s mother is up to, Tae-young pleads to get released, promising to mourn her dead “husband” for three years and not step foot outside. Of course, Tae-young knows it is all a trap, but she can’t sit by and do nothing when her people are suffering at Mi-ryeong’s mother’s hands.
“He knew there was no way back. Yet he sacrificed everything to protect you.”
Succumbing to her fate, Tae-young retrieves her so-called husband’s body and prepares for the funeral. Just as she is officially declared a widow, Tae-young is saved from that tragic fate when Do-gyum shows up with Yoon-gyum, getting everyone shocked. It is too much to handle that Tae-young faints and Yoon-gyum carries her home.
Later, Yoon-gyum explains that he lost his memory two months ago after getting shipwrecked. And that is why he couldn’t come home. The timeline adds up, but Tae-young can’t help but suspect that this man isn’t her husband. When everything else fails, Tae-young checks Yoon-gyum’s shoulder for the tattoo. Spotting the tattoo, Tae-young should discard those suspicions. But even then, Tae-young can’t let go of her suspicions, and her hunch proves right.
As we come to learn, the one who made that grand entrance and saved Tae-young isn’t Yoon-gyum but Seung-hwi. Do-gyum indeed met the real Yoon-gyum, but the latter refused to return and argued he had no family. Handing over his identification plaque, Yoon-gyum told Do-gyum that his brother was dead. When Seung-hwi heard about it from Do-gyum, he stepped up to help, faking his death and choosing to live the rest of his life as Yoon-gyum. Seung-hwi even went as far as to get the same tattoo as Yoon-gyum so that Tae-young wouldn’t catch him.
Despite Seung-hwi’s earnest efforts to keep the truth from Tae-young, he eventually gets caught. Seung-hwi’s acting skills might be superb, but the loving gaze in his eyes when he looks at Tae-young gave him away. One can only imagine how mad Tae-young gets when she learns the truth and realizes Seung-hwi gave up on everything for her. Thus, she decides to do the same, shutting down the legal office and declaring Do-gyum as the head of the family. Tae-young might be grateful to Seung-hwi, but she can’t accept his sacrifice. So, they should both leave.
At first, Do-gyum tries to stop Tae-young from leaving. Yet he comes around and assures Tae-young he will accept any decision she makes, but only if it makes her happy, not something she does out of guilt or fear the family might get ruined. While Seung-hwi reminds Tae-young of how hard she worked to become a legal advocate and how precious that dream was to her. But nothing they do can change her mind.
“What drove you to such cruelty?”
Tae-young’s plans to leave come to a quick halt after hearing Mi-ryeong was taken away. In a shocking turn of events, we learn that Mi-ryeong’s mother was found dead and Mi-ryeong confessed to murdering her. Do-gyum is understandably and rightfully appalled to learn that Mi-ryeong approached him on purpose. However, to her credit, Mi-ryeong offered to tell Do-gyum the truth, but Tae-young stopped her.
Sensing something is off, Tae-young visits Mi-ryeong in prison. At first, Mi-ryeong’s stance remains the same, but Tae-young knows better than to believe Mi-ryeong killed her mother, eventually getting Mi-ryeong to spill the truth. Mi-ryeong’s mother couldn’t just give up after her plans failed, so she tried to poison both Do-gyum and “Yoon-gyum.” But luckily Mi-ryeong caught on and got rid of the poison.
Confronting her mother, Mi-ryeong begs her mother to turn herself in, promising to defend her in court and serve her till the end. But I guess Mi-ryeong’s mother has come too far to stop. By the time Mi-ryeong returns, Mi-ryeong’s mother has already died. At first, Mi-ryeong thinks her mother ingested poison and took her own life. So, Mi-ryeong made that claim to get punished for her mother’s sins in her place. But we later learn that Mi-ryeong’s mother was choked to death.
There is a lot going on. But long story short, Mi-ryeong’s mother, the magistrate, and Lord Park (the higher-up official from the gold mining case) joined hands to get Tae-young killed, each with their own motivations. When their plans failed, Lord Park sent his minion to kill Mi-ryeong’s mother to cover his tracks. But Tae-young revealed their scheme in court, though she has yet to find out Lord Park’s identity. (Side note: the magistrate took his own life after Lord Park threatened to kill his family were he to say anything.)
“I wanted to see you being happy with my own eyes.”
In a sweet gesture, Do-gyum shows up in court and escorts Mi-ryeong home after she is declared innocent. We hope those two will put the past behind them and start afresh, especially since they will become parents soon. Do-gyum was lucky to have met Tae-young after losing his mother, but Mi-ryeong grew up without motherly love. Hopefully, they can become better parents and shower their kids with love while living happily together as well.
Now that everything is sorted out, it is time for Tae-young to choose. Will she stay in town and go on with her mission, or will she leave everything behind? For the sake of the real Tae-young and the people, Tae-young goes with the former, asking Seung-hwi to stay with her and continue acting as her husband.
It is bittersweet since Tae-young only accepted Seung-hwi because without him by her side, she wouldn’t be able to continue working as a legal advocate. Not even once did Tae-young act based on her feelings for Seung-hwi, even when he chose to “die” for her. But I guess we are the only ones frustrated as Seung-hwi doesn’t really care about the reason if it means he can stay by Tae-young’s side. After assuring Tae-young she has the right to feel happy, Seung-hwi giddily accepts her request, getting ecstatic when she calls him “husband.”
The Tale Of Lady Ok Episodes 9 and 10 Musings
Albeit quite late into the plot, we eventually got Seung-hwi playing Yoon-gyum. As Seung-hwi puts it, that is the largest stage he has been on. One that can cost him his life with the slightest mistake. I can’t help but worry about Seung-hwi while also admiring his courage to follow his heart, even when Tae-young has barely done anything for him. Surely, she encouraged him to pursue his dreams in the past and helped him reconcile with his father. But when push comes to show, Seung-hwi is the first thing Tae-young tosses away, prioritizing others before him.
We both understand Tae-young and get frustrated by her. As a runaway slave, Tae-young believes she has no right to be happy or fall in love. Instead, she should be grateful every day that she is still alive. But that kind of mentality hurts not only her but Seung-hwi. Granted, Seung-hwi might be impulsive and doesn’t think before acting, but he has always put Tae-young first even in the past.
Speaking of the old days, the lady Tae-young used to serve makes an appearance, and it seems she is in marriage talks with Lord Park. That will probably mark the beginning of “Tae-young’s” downfall and culminate in the scene we got in the premiere where Tae-young was taken in for investigation. We knew Tae-young’s life wouldn’t be a bed of roses, but the drama just gets crazier over time. And as things stand, it won’t stop anytime soon before reaching its climax.
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
