To protect those she cares about, our leading lady spares no effort in her truth pursuit, earning her the admiration of some equally righteous people, one of whom looks strangely identical to our storyteller but is a completely different person.
Now, our heroine is stuck between the man her heart beats for and his lookalike whose heart beats for her.
Bunny S. watches The Tale of Lady Ok on Viu
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02
The Tale Of Lady Ok Episode 3 Highlights
“She is accused of insulting a noble despite being a servant.”
Faced with the murder charges, the nobleman’s parents claim the maidservant was the one who tried to seduce their son and took her life after failing to achieve her goal. But everyone can see they are guilty. To get Tae-young off their back, they have the maidservant’s mother, Mak Sim (Kim Jae-hwa), arrested for framing them when they are “innocent.” But our girl won’t give up on catching the real culprit and protecting those she cares about.
Climbing over the walls for some sleuthing, Tae-young comes across a man with the same face as Seung-hwi, yet clearly isn’t. Mistaking the man for Seung-hwi, Tae-young blurts out too much intel about her relationship with Seung-hwi and then gets embarrassed when she learns that the man isn’t Seung-hwi but Sung Yoon-gyum (Choo Yeong-woo), the eldest son of the new magistrate, Lord Sung (Sung Dong-II).
After that hilarious encounter, Tae-young runs into Yoon-gyum on multiple occasions, including when she puts up a brave fight against some thugs attacking her. Fascinated by her skills and persistence, Yoon-gyum keeps falling for Tae-young more by day. Hearing that no legal advocate wants to defend Mak Sim, Yoon-gyum encourages Tae-young to take on the case herself and helps her sneak into the archive where legal books are stored so that Tae-young will prepare properly to defend Mak Sim.
“Offering a settlement before the verdict is akin to a confession.”
Scared their crime might get revealed, the nobleman’s parents offer to “forgive” Tae-young and get Mak Sim released as long as Tae-young leaves them alone. Yet Tae-young can sense their fear. Thus, turning their “generous” offer down. Needless to say, Yoon-gyum was present during that confrontation, and spotting Tae-young hold her ground and not cower made him admire her more.
As we come to learn, the maidservant was accidentally killed after hitting her head on a rock. Those nasty parents planned for a servant to throw himself at the maidservant and make it look like they were lovers so that their son would sever ties with her. In the middle of defending herself and trying to run away, the maidservant met that tragic fate.
Confronting the nobleman, Tae-young urges him to take responsibility and testify in court. But the nobleman can’t bring himself to get his family executed after their crime is revealed. If Tae-young reveals the truth, justice will be served, yet the servant will be executed too, though he only did it because he was forced. Still, Mak Sim will lose her life if the truth doesn’t get revealed.
Resolving to save both the servant and Mak Sim, Tae-young doesn’t say a word about what happened in court and focuses on getting Mak Sim released, going as far as to offer to take the punishment herself. At the last minute, the nobleman admits to pursuing the maidservant, claiming he killed her. I have to say I find this turn of events unsatisfying since the nobleman sincerely loved the maidservant and did nothing to harm her. Also, those nasty parents needed to pay for their crimes. But I guess we have to take what we can get.
With the case now solved, Tae-young helps the servant escape his nasty masters and Mak Sim returns home. Better yet, Lord Sung declares that treating their servants however they want shall not be tolerated anymore. Thus, getting the nasty town folks provoked and racking their brains over a way to win Lord Sung over.
“Did you always consider Lady Tae-young as your daughter-in-law?”
Approaching Lord Sung with a marriage offer, the town folks want Yoon-gyum to marry one of their daughters. Though he pretends to go along with it, Lord Sung will never join hands with those nasty folks. Instead, he wants Tae-young as his daughter-in-law. But rather than say it openly, Lord Sung has fun messing with Yoon-gyum so that the latter will cave in and admit to having feelings for Tae-young.
Luckily, Yoon-gyum yields and sends a marriage offer to Tae-young. Her feelings for Seung-hwi aside, Tae-young is worried about putting Yoon-gyum’s family in danger if her identity gets revealed. Meeting Yoon-gyum, Tae-young asks him why he wants to marry her, especially when Yoon-gyum knows Tae-young has feelings for another man. Though his answer is pretty convincing, Yoon-gyum can’t persuade Tae-young who argues she is a different person and not the one Yoon-gyum thinks she is. Thus, getting Yoon-gyum baffled.
Following her outside, Yoon-gyum argues that Tae-young doesn’t need to take it too far to reject him. What is this talk about being a different person? Just as she is about to reveal her secret to Yoon-gyum and explain everything, Tae-young spots the nasty lady she used to serve. And it is on this cliffhanger that we close our episode.
The Tale Of Lady Ok Episode 3 Musings
Whoever decided to have Choo Young-woo play both roles is set on confusing us. I mean, when I look at Yoon-gyum, I swoon since that is the face of the man Tae-young loves, so I have to remind myself that the two are different people. It is my second time watching the same actor playing both the male lead and second male lead after The Story Of Park’s Marriage Contract, and I guess we are up for a similar heartbreak.
Romance aside, I appreciate the drama’s realistic portrayal of how tough servants had it during those days, being treated inhumanely. Tae-young might not be able to save everyone, but she will definitely spare no effort to help those people since she knows firsthand how hard their life is.
Watching Tae-young dismiss her efforts makes my heart go out to her. Becoming a legal advocate and defending poor people might have originally been the real Tae-young’s dream, but that doesn’t make our heroine’s efforts less significant. She is doing those deeds because she is a nice person and not just because of the real Tae-young. Believe in yourself, girl!
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
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