Im Ji-yeon has achieved her first victory, opening the door to the life of a lady.
In the third episode of JTBC's weekend drama ‘The Tale of Lady Ok’ (written by Park Ji-sook, directed by Jin Hyuk and Choi Bo-yoon, produced by SLL and Corpus Korea), the courageous actions of the fake Ok Tae-young (played by Im Ji-yeon) to protect her precious family and create new connections were thrillingly depicted.
The viewership rating reached 8.1% in the metropolitan area and 7.8% nationwide, surpassing its own record once again, peaking at 8.9% in the metropolitan area, showing an upward trend. (Based on Nielsen Korea's paid households)
To protect those she must defend, the fake Ok Tae-young removed her headscarf in front of everyone and accused the Baek family, suspected of being behind the murder of Baek Yi (played by Yoon Seo-ah), of murder. However, due to a counter-operation by the Baek family, who hired outside help, Mak-sim (played by Kim Jae-hwa) was taken away, and on top of that, Ojak (who had confessed to being bribed by the Baek family) took his own life overnight, complicating the situation.
In response, Ok Tae-young directly visited the Baek family, engaging in a psychological battle with Lady Song (played by Jeon Ik-ryeong) and conversing with Baek Do-gwang (played by Kim Seon-bin), who seemed to have a connection with Baek Yi, but she could not find a decisive solution. In a situation where she had a strong suspicion but no evidence, Ok Tae-young secretly climbed over the wall of the government office to find out how the investigation was proceeding, but mistakenly confused the officer Seong Yoon-gyeom (played by Choo Young-woo) with Cheon Seung-hwi, causing an unintended faux pas.
However, during this process, Seong Yoon-gyeom learned that Ok Tae-young was the owner of the deceased servant Baek Yi, and later saved Ok Tae-young, who was being chased by bounty hunters. Impressed by Ok Tae-young's spirit as she climbed over walls and wielded a sword against the bounty hunters, Seong Yoon-gyeom encouraged her to defend Mak-sim directly and began to help her by allowing her to see legal texts at the government office.
Meanwhile, the situation turned again when the Baek family's servant Dol-seok (played by Lee Myung-ro) visited Ok Tae-young. Lady Song, unable to bear seeing her son Baek Do-gwang infatuated with a mere servant, ordered Dol-seok to assault Baek Yi in front of Baek Do-gwang. However, during the struggle, Baek Yi accidentally died, and as the situation escalated, Dol-seok, believing he would soon die anyway, confessed this to Ok Tae-young and apologized.
Moreover, after hearing from Dol-seok that Baek Yi referred to Baek Do-gwang as her "true love," Ok Tae-young went to inform Baek Do-gwang of this fact, shaking his heart. Eventually, when the investigation concluded and everyone gathered at the government office, Ok Tae-young confidently recited the law to defend Mak-sim against the Baek family. However, when they were acquitted and Mak-sim was sentenced to ten lashes, Ok Tae-young declared that she would take the lashes in his place, prompting Baek Do-gwang to falsely confess that he had killed Baek Yi, allowing both Ok Tae-young and Mak-sim to be safely released.
Meanwhile, as the ongoing drought led to an imperial decree mandating that noble families marry off their children, the Cheongsuhyeon noble family also began searching for marriage partners for their children. While pretending to seek a mutually beneficial relationship with the local government office, Hyun-gam Seong Gyu-jin (played by Seong Dong-il) was secretly eyeing Ok Tae-young as a potential daughter-in-law, showing frustration at Seong Yoon-gyeom, who only recommended Ok Tae-young as an outsider without mentioning her as a marriage candidate.
However, the urgent arrival of Grandmother Han (played by Kim Mi-sook) from Hanyang surprised everyone when she handed a marriage proposal received from the Hyun-gam family to Ok Tae-young. Nevertheless, Ok Tae-young could not easily accept the proposal for fear of her identity being revealed, and just as she was about to confess this to Seong Yoon-gyeom, she unexpectedly encountered her former mistress Kim So-hye (played by Ha Yul-ri) from her servant days in the marketplace, casting a shadow over Ok Tae-young's future once again.
