Episode 3: Dangerous Ground
A court faction sets its sights on Su Hee-joo, and Prince Lee An intervenes — at a price
Episode 3: Dangerous Ground
Air Date: July 12, 2025 | Rating: 7.8%
Synopsis
Left State Councillor Jo Gye-won (조계원), the most powerful faction leader at court, grows suspicious of the unknown woman living inside the palace walls. He orders his agents to cross-reference Lady Choe against the Gangwon aristocratic registers — if the family line doesn't match, Su Hee-joo's cover is finished.
At the critical moment, Prince Lee An steps forward and invokes royal authority to shield her. But his protection comes with a condition: she must assist him with a secret plan he has been running in the shadows.
Key Scenes
Jo Gye-won's Interrogation
At a formal banquet, Jo Gye-won subjects Su Hee-joo to a seemingly polite but relentlessly pointed cross-examination — reciting the Choe clan genealogy from memory, watching for any slip. Su Hee-joo holds her ground using her historian's knowledge, until one detail trips her up:
She refers to events of "the sinmyo year" (1771) as things that will happen — a phrasing that makes no sense from a Joseon perspective. Jo Gye-won's eyes narrow.
Prince Lee An's Protection
Just as Jo Gye-won moves to press further, Prince Lee An enters the banquet hall and announces — calmly, with the weight of a royal decree:
"This woman is in my service as a records-keeper. I ask that the Councillor extend her due courtesy."
The hall falls silent. Lee An has never shown interest in any woman before. The political implications ripple outward immediately.
Analysis
Writer's Touch: Su Hee-joo's accidental prediction about the sinmyo year events is not a simple blunder. As a historian, she knows exactly what happened — she simply forgot that from inside 1752, those events are still in the future. The scene creates a "dramatic irony" gap: the audience knows what she knows, but the court doesn't. This dramatic irony will deepen throughout the series.
Lee An's Real Motive
His intervention is not romantic — not yet. Lee An has deduced that Su Hee-joo may possess knowledge about certain classified court records: documents connected to a palace incident he has spent years quietly investigating in secret.
Historical Context: The role of Left State Councillor (좌의정, Jwauijeong) was one of the three highest offices in the Joseon government. Jo Gye-won's ability to scrutinize palace guests reflects the era's reality — factional politics (bungdang) meant that no one inside the palace, not even royals, was beyond political threat.
Next Episode
Episode 4: Prince Lee An proposes a secret alliance. The two strangers become uneasy partners — and something more begins to stir…