sinopsis1

The story is set in Korea under the Joseon Dynasty, during the reigns of King Seongjong, King Yeonsan-gun (1494-1506) and King Jungjong (1506-1544). The story begins with Queen Yun, mother of King Yeonsan-gun (the Crown Prince at the time) being poisoned by a group of imperial guards under the order of the king.
After the incident, an imperial guard, Seo Cheon-soo, who accompanied the group, suffers an accident on his way home. He is rescued by an enigmatic hermit, who tells him that his life will revolve around three women: he shall cause the death of the first woman, he will save the life of the second woman but will also cause her to die, and a third woman who will cause his death, but who will be the savior of many lives. (It does not become clear until much later that the three women are Lady Yun (Yeonsangun's mother), Park Myeong-yi (Jang-geum's mother), and lastly, Jang-geum herself.). Psychological distress from the incident eventually caused him to resign. While this is occurring, Palace cook Park, an apprentice at the Royal Kitchen, witnesses a conspiracy against the Queen Mother by Lady Choi (who had added a toxin to the food) and Park Myeong-yi is in turn indicted on false charges by the inner circle of senior kitchen staff, and secretly executed by their internal procedures (forced to drink poison). She is first saved by Palace cook Han, her best friend in the palace, who mixes antidote with the poison and slips her a letter, and was later on saved, inadvertently by the retired Seo. The two married and secretly lived in a remote village, posing as low class people cheonmin, raising a very bright young daughter, Seo Jang-geum.
In the year 1504, King Yeonsangun orders a massive investigation into his mother's murder, and eventually finds Seo and his family, partly because Jang-geum had immaturely blurt out the truth that her parents were not low-class people, that Seo was a military officer of the palace. This leads to the arrest of Seo and the scattering of their family. Jang-geum and her mother fled, but her mother was fatally wounded by their enemies. Before her death, she tells Jang-geum her last wish, that should she choose to do so, is for her to become the Head Lady of the Royal Kitchen and record the injustice done to her, in the Head Kitchen Ladies' journal or record book (to restore her honor).
source:wikipedia