Hwang and Seok Ran rush back to Jejoongwon by bike. Do Yang is also riding hard from Jaemulpo.

The minister's daughter is coughing up blood with increasing regularity and the situation is dire. Hwang quickly changes into his Jejoongwon uniform with the aid of his roomie Mr. Goh. Goh's still talking to Hwang in honorifics despite Hwang's entreaty not to. There's a touching moment couched in the urgent circumstances where Goh grabs Hwang's hand and declares that he will always consider the man his friend. Hwang and Seok Ran rush to present themselves to the Minister of War and his daughter's fiance, the Chancellor's son. We're talking a mix of big political power here. Administor Baek is accordingly sucking up for all he's worth. When he catches sight of Hwang, he goes pale and stutters, but manages to keep a polite facade when Seok Ran introduces Hwang as a brilliant doctor-in-training. That facade drops the second he pulls Hwang aside, where he grabs the younger man by the collar and demands to know what the devil he's doing back at Jejoongwon. Seok Ran defends Hwang's presence as necessary. Administer Baek fires back that neither the Minister or the Chancellor's son would accept Hwang's help if they knew who he was. It's surprisingly Administer Oh who steps in as the voice of reason. If Do Yang arrives in time to save the patient, fine. If he doesn't and the girl dies, do they really want to be accused of doing nothing to save her? It's a pretty clear choice. Eyes on the ground, Hwang assures them that he understands the implications of his presence at Jejoongwon, that he will only guide the procedure from the outside even if there's an emergency. Seok Ran will be doing the actual procedure. Hwang is here only in lieu of Do Yang, Administer Baek warns, and no matter what, they have to say that it was Do Yang that helped. They rush to the patient. In a frustrating example of stubbornness even in the face of blood and gore and, you know, lives on the line, Hwang is barred from the operating room. He's a man, the patient is a noblewoman, and her modesty must be preserved. All good doctors can examine from a distance, the Minister declares. I get that it's a true reaction for the times, but I still want to slap a few people upside the head right now. Hwang resorts to calling out instructions to Seok Ran through the operating room window, and as if my frustration isn't enough, the Minister orders the windows covered. Seok Ran is trying to get the last of the phlegm out of the girl's system before operating, and the servant protests the rough way Seok Ran is hitting her mistress' back in the process. Even the administers realize that this can't go on, and they invite the Minister to the office for coffee while Admin Oh stays behind to ensure that no impropriety occurs. The Minister reluctantly agrees. Even as I'm saying hallelujah, there's an air of danger and impending doom following his departure. On the road, Do Yang meets Official Yu and Dr. Horton on their journey to Jaemulpo with the needed supplies. It's a moment of pure exposition, reminding the audience that the Minister once helped with Official Yu's release at Do Yang's urging. Back at Jejoongwon, Hwang determines that the patient is suffering too much. They can't afford to wait for Do Yang. With a last warning to Hwang (never go into the operating room), the procedure commences but goes wrong very quickly. The patient stops breathing and even suction won't remove the mucous blocking her airways. She's suffocating to death. True to form, bless him, Hwang springs into action. If he doesn't go, the girl dies. Admin Oh cries out that if a man goes in there, they'll all die. There's a chance she might not even survive if Hwang takes over. Hwang however refuses to stand by and not offer help. In he goes. The patient is nonresponsive. To get her breathing they make an incision on her trachea. They're operating on the fly here, coming up with solutions as a team in terms of breathing apparatus. None of them has ever done this kind of thing before and have to make joint decisions in a

matter of seconds on how to proceed. It's time for the needle, but Seok Ran is shaking too badly to insert it. Hwang takes over. The moment he does, it's clear the girl is going to survive. Goh shouts with joy and even Admin Oh collapses in relief. Do Yang arrives just in time to be too late. It's confab time. Admin Oh fills him in on the details, sounding surprisingly defensive of Hwang's decisions (though I'm fairly certain he's looking out for his own skin again). Do Yang is particularly intrigued by the trachea cutting. It's made known that no one will tell that Hwang did the surgery himself. At Jaemulpo Dr. Heron asks Do Yang's henchmanahem, friendYoon what Hwang was like before Dr. Heron's arrival. He cuts Yoon's diatribe about butchers short, thank god, and begins asking direct questions. When did he come? Did he help develop the small pox vaccine? Did he really go to the butchers' village? While Seok Ran explains the procedure to the girl's menfolk, Do Yang takes Hwang outside to discuss the surgery. It's worth noting that Do Yang is still talking to Hwang without honorifics, even if he does admire Hwang's quick thinking. Hwang on the other hand answers in a sort of lifeless way, as though he's disconnected from life ever since returning to his rightful place. And how much does my heart break when Hwang takes off his uniform? He folds it up oh-socarefully, and just looks completely wrong in his butcher's clothing. He wistfully takes a look around his old room, clearly longing to return there. It's another sweet moment for Goh, who tells Hwang to take his uniform with him. He asks after Yi Gwak/Jak Dae, and then gives Hwang medicine Dr. Horton approved for his father. Both Hwang and I tear up at how nice Goh is. Hwang returns home more defeated than ever before. He tells Yi Gwak/Jak Dae that his heart feels empty. He holds up his hand and says that he doesn't know who it belongs toLittle Dog or Hwang Jung? He can't hold a slaughter knife or a scalpel with it. What is he going to do with this hand, then? The patient wakes up, much to her servant girl's relief. Just when I think the servant is going to do something stupid and spill the beans, she keeps to the story as directedSeok Ran operated and Hwang directed from the outside. To my eternal disbelief, the noblewoman is much smarter than your average minor character. She remembers hearing a man's voice, yes, but how can a man direct an operation from outside of a room? If only your dad had your good sense, and you didn't have that sharp sense of maidenly modesty that I'm beginning to suspect exists... That night she confirms my fears. She remembers more than previously let on. First she goes outside to wash herself in a way that implies she feels dirty. Nang Nang finds her and escorts her back inside. Just when we think that's the end of it, the girl exits the room sometime later. She throws a length of homemade rope over a beam. As she stands on a stool, noose around her neck, we hear in a voiceover her confession. She begs her parents to forgive her disobedience. Though she inadvertently allowed a male stranger to touch her body, she can't prolong her life. She steps off the stool and hangs herself. Nang Nang finds the body the next morning, prompting an investigation by probably the only intelligent police officers I've seen in a Korean costume drama. They reason that she wasn't murdered. The scratches on her neck indicate an instinctive response to live. If someone else killed then hanged her, the scratches wouldn't exist. The location of her death is equally important. She hanged herself in the central hall, where lots of people come and go. What did she want to say to Jejoongwon? Everyone's gathered at the examination of the body. When the hard questions start being asked, Seok Ran and Do Yang reiterate their tale. Nang Nang confesses that she saw the young miss cleaning herself. That's when stuff hits the fan. The young miss' servant breaks down in tears and tells everyone that Seok Ran didn't perform the surgerya man did. I admit that the way she describes events (Hwang holding her, undoing her top, and putting a needle in her back) makes it sound really, really bad. Though Do Yang and Seok Ran rise to

Hwang's defense, the police chief grimly asks Hwang's whereabouts. Poor Hwang gets nabbed in red rope and taken to an undisclosed location that is clearly not in the Bureau. In walks a very pissed off Chancellor's son. My heart sinks to the ground. Mini Chancellor orders his minions to leave. He crouches down next to Hwang and laughs bitterly. He asks if he's a butcher. When Hwang doesn't answer, Mini Chancellor reaches out and lifts his chinonly to slap his cheek, asking how he dares touch a noblewoman. This repeats twice before the Chancellor's son declares that Hwang is going to pay for his actions. He grabs a stout piece of wood and starts to beat Hwang with every merciless bit of strength he has in him. He doesn't beat Hwang to death, though he gives it a damn good try. Hwang is dragged to jail. The chief and Minister of War were in on the beating plan, though the Minister is of the opinion that beheading is too good for Hwang. As an official, though, he's bound by the laws of the land and must follow them. He orders the chief to punish to the full extent of the law. The police chief meets with Do Yang and shows himoh, snap. Little Dog's police sketch from the beginning of the series, complete with long hair. Officer Jung (Do Yang's original henchman) had the sketch in his belongings which the Bureau kept after his disappearence. The artist saw Hwang and recognized him. The chief wonders if Little Dog would have had anything to do with Officer Jung vanishing. Do Yang is starting to connect the dots. Illegal slaughter, Officer Jung, a butcher with long hair...And boom, we've got our Moment of Realization. Because farming is considered the foundation of the nation, the punishment for illegal slaughter is beheading. The punishment for violating a noblewoman is worse, though I shudder to think what that might be. Do Yang has a choice to either let Hwang die, thereby covering his own rear, or doing something. Seok Ran seeks him out, asking about the meeting. Do Yang doesn't admit to anything. Seok Ran asks him tearfully to do something. Hwang has saved so many lives. Why is no one standing up for him? Because of class? Do Yang merely tells her that this is Korea, implying that is simply the way things are done. Seok Ran agreesthis is Korea, and Do Yang hasn't changed. He may have cut his hair for reform but in his heart, he's still a yangban (nobleman). She, on the other hand, isn't going to sit back and let everything happen. The Japanese are making a move to establish their own hospital. It's a clear attempt to get their claws into Korea. Go Jung tells his wife about Hwang's imprisonment while Dr. Heron examines a Russian ambassador with a cataract problem. After the appointment, Dr. Heron expresses his doubts about staying in Korean to Li Min Ok, the queen's nephew. He's disappointed that Koreans would accuse a man who saved someone's life of murder, especially when they don't understand Western medicine. Li Min Ok is dismayed to hear Dr. Heron is thinking of leaving. Even in prison, in the sorriest shape I've seen him, Hwang is helping prisoners with medical conditions. Dude, really, making me fall more in love with you is not getting us anywhere. He's dragged out to hear a reading of his crimes: high treason, illegal slaughter, impersonating a nobleman, continuing that masquerade to join Jejoongwon, violating a noblewoman and thereby causing her to take her own life. The sentence? Death.