The fifth episode of The Matchmakers focuses on several plot twists and revelations that make the story unique. The episode centers around Temple Seonhwa and how Shim Jeong Woo and Yeojudaek try their best to find husbands for the Maeng sisters. Jeong Woo’s execution is being planned by the Left State Minister and his wife. As we see many hearts fluttering and many intentions being revealed in this episode, we understand that the story is about to take even more interesting turns. Will the Maeng sisters finally find their matches? Will Jeong Woo fall into the Left State Minister’s trap? Let’s find out!
Spoilers Ahead
How Does The First Sighting Begin?
There are quite a few old bachelors who are being sorted out by Jeong Woo for the old maidens. The irony lies in the fact that, despite being old bachelors themselves, a majority of them state that they want young and beautiful maidens. This brings out the hypocrisy of the male-dominated society in the eastern parts of the world in old times. When it is time for the maidens to pass by, we see the old bachelors falling into a quarrel among themselves, and Yeojudaek contemplates what has to be done further. As she panics, we see Jeong Woo pacifying the situation by playing the daegeum to resolve the situation and draw their attention to the maidens passing by.
As Ha Na walks by the bachelors, they are amazed by her beauty. It was not very difficult for the eldest sister to get a hold of a groom because of her looks. When Lady Du Ri walks in, Yeojudaek beats the drums slowly to give the illusion of the bachelors’ hearts fluttering. She thinks that it would accentuate their liking for the second daughter, and the trick works, as she is followed by a young man. When it is time for Lady Sam Soon to walk past the bachelors, to capture their attention, Yeojudaek applies a flower extract on her so that the perfume attracts the men like bees. She also sets up lamps on the ground to enhance her looks. Shim Jeong says it is a fraudulent act based on optical illusions. Yeojudaek reveals several of her matchmaking skills during the sight-seeing. Sam Soon, however, rains on Yeojudaek’s parade as she sneezes hard when she walks past, as it is later revealed that she is allergic to flower pollen!
Who Are The Probable Matches?
Yeojudaek had asked the Chancellor’s wife to go to the temple to check on her future daughter-in-law. She is told that she could recognize Ye-Jin as she would be there with her 12-year-old nephew. Ye-Jin, however, does not seem to be interested in the matchmaking and leaves the spot, as a result of which the Chancellor’s wife does not get a glimpse of her. Ye-Jin goes to meet her friend, Orabeoni, secretly, and we see a love blossoming between them. On the other end, we see the Chancellor’s son exchanging romantic glances with Lady Du Ri. He does not seem to be interested in the match that his mother has found him, but he gets fixated on a lady who is older than him. Meanwhile, Jeong Soon Goo chases Lady Sam Soon, as he recognizes her as Hwa Rok, the writer of erotic novels. While she escapes him, she starts imagining a scenario with him and starts jotting it down. When Soon Goo finds it out, he warns Sam Soon to stay away from writing sexually explicit novels, as it could lead to her execution. We also see the exchange of romantic glances between Yeojudaek and Shim Jeong Woo at the temple, which eventually turns into greater closeness between them, and we see them lighting sky lanterns together.
What Did Soon Goo Tell Yeojudaek?
When Lady Jeonggyeong confronts Soon Goo in the temple about allowing Ha Na to go up to Shinmungo, certain secrets are unveiled. He reveals that Prince Gyeongwoonjae had ordered him to give her access. This raises suspicion about the prince’s identity in Yeojudaek’s mind. She asks her brother secretly about the intentions of the prince. He says that the prince may be resentful but has good intentions and does not want to see the common people suffer. Yeojudaek is left confused as to why the prince would order something like that for someone he did not know personally. She is very close to unveiling the real identity of Jeong Woo!
Why Did The Chancellor’s Wife Disguise Herself?
Yeojudaek directly sends the Chancellor’s wife to pick the date of the wedding from Ye-Jin’s mother. She advises the Chancellor’s wife to go in dressed as a merchant to check on her daughter-in-law, as she had missed the opportunity previously. This plan also keeps her from going in front of her mother as Yeojudaek, revealing her identity as a matchmaker. Lady Jeonggyeong however, does not recognize the Chancellor’s wife, and she is told that since Yeojudaek was sick, she had sent her in her place. Upon seeing Ye-Jin, she is satisfied and says that she is the perfect match for the Chancellor’s son.
Why Did The Minister Plot Against Jeong Woo?
Lady Jeonggyeong approaches the Left State Minister and expresses her concerns about Gyeongwoonjae’s actions. She was concerned about his involvement in finding matches for the Maeng sisters. She thought that this meant that he was helping the king hasten the crown prince’s marriage. They initially plan on exiling Gyeongwoonjae, but later think that he will still not stop moving towards his goal until he is executed. They ask Gyeongwoonjae to come and tutor their grandson, Geun Seok, and they will then take the opportunity to execute him. When he is called by Lady Jeonggyeong to her house, he goes there but initially refuses. There are many twists that are yet to come when he discovers that Yeojudaek is the Left-State Minister’s daughter-in-law.
Final Words
The cliffhanger at the end of this episode makes us contemplate whether the real identity of Jeong Woo will be revealed in the next episode! How long will Yeojudaek be able to hide herself from Jeong Woo if he takes up the charge of tutoring her son at her house? The identities of both characters are left to be revealed, and I am just curious about the reactions that they are going to have! We also sense that something ominous is about to befall Jeong Woo for trying to help the king get the crown prince married soon!
