A runaway slave gets a golden chance to live as a noblewoman and enjoy the luxury that comes with it. But with choices come responsibilities and our heroine will have to keep her wits about her if she doesn’t want to get caught and lose everything she gained.
Infatuated with our leading lady is our renowned storyteller, who desperately wishes to get together with her. But it seems like fate has another plan for our leads, who end up getting separated every time they meet.
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Opening Week Rating:
The Tale Of Lady Ok Opening Week Story
“If I am lucky, I will live in a small house by the sea, hiding with my father.”
We open the drama in the middle of the story, as our heroine (Lim Ji Yeon) is taken in for investigation on the charges of faking her identity, pretending to be a noblewoman when she is a runaway slave. Except, our leading lady doesn’t seem to worry about anything, holding her head high, daring the police officers to bind her, and remaining unfazed even when people hurl stones at her.
We then flashback to when our leading lady was a slave, living under the name Gu Deok. As typical of life in Joseon at his time, Gu Deok has to put up with her nasty lady who can’t do anything on her own and just keeps threatening to break her legs. Resolving not to submit to her fate, she works hard to save money to run away with her father. Having watched her late mother get tossed out of the house and buried alive after getting sick, she wants to spare her sick father this fate and live a better life together away from those nasty masters.
One day while she is out in the market, Gu Deok (dressed as a man) runs into our male lead, Cheon Seo-in (Choo Young Woo), a nobleman disguised as a servant to collect intel on his potential bride, none other than Gu Deok’s nasty lady. Assuming they are both servants, she treats Seo-in casually until she learns the truth and has to shift into a formal tone. However, Seo-in is a free spirit who doesn’t care about social standing, treating Gu Deok well all along.
So far, Seo-in didn’t have a goal in life and just kept drawing and writing without any purpose. Yet after a conversation with Gu Deok, he realizes how artists can comfort hardworking people and give them hope. Were he to have his way, Seo-in would confess his feelings to Gu Deok and marry her instead of that nasty girl.
Things happen and Gu Deok’s nasty lady gets wind of Gu Deok’s involvement with Seo-in, mistaking the situation that she’s seducing her suitor. Thus, hitting Gu Deok mercilessly and ordering the servants to beat her up and bury her alive. But then, Gu Deok’s lady changes her mind and settles to have her spend the night with her father to wipe out any hope she has for a better future.
Except, Gu Deok would rather die than let that man touch her. Taking revenge for her mother’s death, Gu Deok attacks that man with a sickle and runs away with her father after paying the nasty lady back for all the humiliation Gu Deok suffered at her hands. Luckily, Gu Deok and her father make it out alive, yet her father leaves at dawn to avoid being a burden on Gu Deok.
Coming across a kind-hearted innkeeper, Gu Deok gets a chance to live a normal life as that woman’s “niece.” One year passes like that and then some important guests arrive at the inn, namely an envoy who has been away for a long time and is now returning to his hometown with his daughter, Ok Tae-young (cameo by Son Na-eun). From the first time they ran into each other, Tae-young has always treated Gu Deok as equals and even got her father to adopt Gu Deok so they wouldn’t get separated and stay together.
But fate has another plan for Gu Deok as the night before they leave for Tae-young’s hometown, thugs attack the inn and set it on fire, getting Tae-young’s father and the innkeeper killed. Realizing she won’t make it alive, Tae-young urges Gu Deok to survive and achieve her dream, sacrificing herself to help Gu Deok make it out alive.
“From now on, you will live as Ok Tae-young.”
Opening her eyes, Gu Deok finds herself in the real Tae-young’s room. You see, spotting the real Tae-young’s ring on Gu Deok’s hand (the one Tae-young gave Gu Deok as a gift), Tae-young’s grandmother mistakes Gu Deok for her granddaughter. Poor Gu Deok has no choice but to claim to be Tae-young. Yet, unable to handle the guilt, Gu Deok comes clean about everything to the real Tae-young’s grandmother, from how she is a runaway slave to the kindness the real Tae-young showed her.
Promising to accept any punishment Tae-young’s grandmother (Kim Mi-sook) orders on her, Gu Deok begs Tae-young’s grandmother to let her testify on the thugs who attacked the inn so that they would pay for their crimes. Having given her testimony, she resolves to turn herself in. Still, Tae-young’s grandmother stops her since Gu Deok’s testimony won’t hold credibility if they find out she is a runaway slave.
With the thugs getting their punishment, Gu Deok plans to go on her way. Yet once again, Tae-young’s grandmother stops her. But this time, she wants Gu Deok to continue living as Tae-young forever. At first, Tae-young’s grandmother argues this is the price Gu Deok must pay, as the real Tae-young sacrificed her life to save her. But it doesn’t take long for Gu Deok to win over Tae-young’s grandmother after the latter realizes how smart and competent Gu Deok is. (Side note: From now on, we will refer to Gu Deok as Tae-young.)
Two years pass after that. Tae-young has settled into her new life and seems to be on good terms with her grandmother. Things are pretty much the same, with Tae-young residing in her quarters most of the time and barely stepping a foot outside or meeting anyone from outside the house. One day, Tae-young’s maidservant has Tae-young tag along to watch the famous storyteller, Cheon Seung-hwi, who is visiting Tae-young’s hometown on a tour.
Interestingly, the novel Seung-hwi wrote mirrors the story of how Tae-young met Seo-in. Hence, piquing Tae-young’s curiosity. And wouldn’t you know it? Seung-hwi is none other than Seo-in, who became a storyteller and changed his name after leaving his family, having discovered that he is an illegitimate son born out of wedlock and not an adopted one, as he believed before.
During the three years they were apart, Seung-hwi (as we will be referring to him now) has searched low and high for “Tae-young” without giving up. And his hard work pays off, having come across Tae-young while performing on the street. Figuring both Seo-in and Seung-hwi are the same person, Tae-young rushes away. But the look on Tae-young’s face isn’t lost on her maidservant who plays matchmaker and helps Seung-hwi meet Tae-young, assuming they are lovers, wholly oblivious to their past connection.
Seung-hwi looks at Tae-young with a loving gaze, but his yearning is reciprocated with an indifferent attitude from Tae-young who wants nothing to do with him, though we can see she isn’t completely unaffected by him. The next day, Seung-hwi climbs over the wall and takes Tae-young on a trip to the seaside where she wishes to build a house and live with her father.
Catching up about the time they were apart, Tae-young seems to have softened up a bit, considering accepting Seung-hwi’s offer to elope together. But when she returns home that day, Tae-young finds her maidservant dead. Though it is initially ruled as suicide, some loopholes suggest foul play. Further, the second autopsy confirms Tae-young’s suspicions that the maidservant was killed.
Resolving to get the real perpetrator caught, “Tae-young” settles to forget about the past, including Seung-hwi, and commits to living as the real Tae-young and protecting the people she cares about. Meeting Seung-hwi for one last time, Tae-young urges him to forget about her and continue with his life. And though heartbroken, Seung-hwi wishes her well and accepts her decision.
Having heard from the other servants that a nobleman used to lurk around the maidservant and urged her to run away with him, Tae-young requests a reinvestigation and drops by the nobleman’s house with the new magistrate in tow who gets the nobleman’s family arrested at suspicion of murdering the maidservant.
The Tale Of Lady Ok Opening Week Musings
What an intriguing ride! The opening scene was enough to get viewers hooked and curious about what on earth happened when “Tae-young” got caught and what would happen to her after that. We appreciate the drama took its time to set up the story without dragging on things or feeling rushed. Also, we like that our leads have a past connection that goes back to our heroine’s servant days. Hence, their upcoming romance feels earned and makes more sense.
Another thing to notice is how layered and well-written our leads are. They are both poor souls who struggled too much at the hands of others and found comfort in each other’s presence, only to get torn apart every time they meet.
Watching them struggle easily makes the audience want to go through the screen to comfort them. The scene where “Tae-young” tells “Seung-hwi” that her wish is to age gracefully and die a natural death broke my heart. It is such a simple wish but Tae-young had to live her life feeling scared all the time about being beaten to death.
Though it is sad to see our leads get separated for the second time, we can understand Tae-young’s fears, since only death awaits her if she gets caught. Still, Seung-hwi would put his life on the line to protect her. I mean, the guy handed over all the money he had to the slave hunters so that they would leave her alone.
Anyway, the drama is only getting started. We still have more characters to meet and the plotline of our heroine achieving the real Tae-young’s dream of becoming a legal advocate and defending the people who can’t stand up for themselves. All in all, the drama was off to a strong start. Here is hoping things remain the same throughout the drama’s run.
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
