Dan Oh, an orphan girl of noble birth, turned her home into a guesthouse to make a living. She is barely scraping by these days, but she is optimistic. However, the past comes back and causes trouble. Previously, in “The Secret Romantic Guesthouse,” Dan Oh made a deal with the chief administrator of the royal palace to save her house from going to her father’s creditors. She promised to find him the deposed prince Lee Seol, whom no one had seen in 10 years.
Spoilers Ahead
What Is Lee Seol’s Unique Physical Feature?
Administrator Jang laughed at Dan Oh’s claim, but she convinced him that no one knew this neighborhood better than her. Jang has nothing to lose, so he accepts her offer. Kang San had been following Dan Oh, and now he knew what Dan Oh was up to. Dan Oh goes to Buyounggak looking for the eunuch Noh of the deposed prince. He already knows about Dan Oh’s deal with Jang and is interested in seeing what lengths Dan Oh can go to. As per Noh’s information, Dan Oh heads to Gwacheon to meet with the person who served the crown princess. She insists on going alone, but all three of the young men follow her, worried for her safety. Except for Kang San, the other two have no idea what Dan Oh is looking for. At Gwacheon, the old man reveals to Dan Oh that the deposed prince was adopted by a family after his caretaker came down with a grave illness. However, he has no idea which family it was, but he clearly describes the prince’s physical features to help Dan Oh recognize him.
Dan Oh now knows a specific and unique feature that differentiates Lee Seol from others. He has a red mole on his ankle. She asks courtesans around Buyounggak if they have seen a man with that feature, but none of them have come across such a man. The head courtesan finds her trying to strike a deal with others and tells her to stop what she’s doing if she cares about her life. The young men at the guesthouse need to know what’s going on, so they meet the head courtesan at Buyounggak and make her reveal the truth. Kang San already knows the truth, and knowing how fast Dan Oh is moving, he tells her that he knows about it and warns her that it could be dangerous to go after the deposed prince. Meanwhile, the carefree Si Young looks concerned and gives off enigmatic energy as if hiding something. On the same day, Dan Oh gets a secret note delivered to her in Buyounggak that asks her to visit Namsan at night alone to find out more about Lee Seol. Meanwhile, the king is still uneasy even after the birth of the prince, and his state minister is investigating the birth because he finds it extremely suspicious. All of the queen’s court ladies disappeared after the queen gave birth.
Why Does Dan Oh Go To Jangyewon?
Dan Oh goes to Namsan alone at night, and as soon as she enters, a sword is at her neck, asking her to stop her search. She asks the person if he is Ok Jin, the deposed prince’s personal guard. It is Kang San who tells her to return or get her throat cut right away, but she is not scared and refuses to comply. Kang San exclaims that Dan Oh just won’t turn back, and Si Yeol and Yu Ha come out of the dark. It was their plan to scare Dan Oh, but it didn’t work. They want to accompany her in her quest to find Lee Seol, but she won’t let them put their lives in danger because of her. Kang San tries to persuade her even after they return home. Among them, he is the one who is most worried about Dan Oh and reiterates that the mission would be harmful to her. The next day, Si Yeol threatens to reveal Dan Oh’s secret mission to Naju, the caretaker of the house, and it leaves Dan Oh with no option but to let the men work on this mission with her. They did not expect Kang San to join them, but he voluntarily agreed to work with them because they could not protect themselves.
All of them gather at their secret spot in the woods for a meeting, but Yu Ha suddenly has to go and meet his stepmother, who has fallen ill. However, the mother wishes to see her own son, Gil Joon. Gil Joon is busy gambling at Buyounggak, and when Yu Ha goes to inform him, he humiliates him, calling him an illegitimate child of dirty blood. While others laugh at him, the head courtesan is concerned. She gets teary-eyed after hearing that Yu Ha is the son of Lord Jung. She could be his biological mother, whom he had never known. On the other hand, the remaining three discuss their plan without Yu Ha. The family of the guard Dan Oh is looking for, is now slaves to the royal palace. However, the slaves are spread throughout the country, and the only way to find out their location is through the government register in Jangyewon. It is impossible to sneak into a government building and not get caught, but this time, Si Yeol’s habit of gambling comes in handy. He knows a guard at Jangyewon and bribes him to let them enter. At Jangyewon, Kang San suspiciously tries to hide the register from Dan Oh, but she ends up finding it anyway.
‘The Secret Romantic Guesthouse’ Episode 4: Ending
Yu Ha, who was missing from the previous operation, accompanies Dan Oh to find the guard’s family. She finds not the entire family but the maid who served the crown prince. The maid doesn’t know the whereabouts of the deposed prince or his guard, but she reveals that one of the court ladies of the prince became a courtesan in Buyounggak. The longest-staying courtesan at Buyounggak is, of course, the head courtesan, and after initially refusing to talk, she mentions an important fact: the deposed prince must carry a dragon emblem. Meanwhile, Kang San has become active elsewhere. He sends a note to the head eunuch Noh to meet him. The royal guards have become suspicious of Noh and follow him, but Kang San kills them all. Kang San called Noh only to ask him to leave Hanyang. Noh knows Kang San’s real identity and asks him to stop Dan Oh on her quest. After seeing the dead guards, Jang thinks that it was done by the deposed prince’s personal guard.
“The Secret Romantic Guesthouse” slightly reveals the backgrounds of the three young men. Kang San appears as if he is the personal guard of the deposed prince, but Si Yeol comes with a surprise. The frivolous young man has a different side to him that he shows no one. When no one is around, an old man brings him his belongings and calls him ‘Your majesty’, suggesting Si Yeol could be the deposed prince. Yu Ha, who is a scholar from a rich family, is part of a secret group that works to make education available to the poor. Rebels are usually born out of such activities. Any of them could be the deposed prince, and the mystery is bound to add more thrills to upcoming episodes.
