2. “Investigation”
One day, San runs away to go meet up with Won and Lin, and Biyeon is forced to play the part of her doppelganger to cover up for her. Hiding behind a veil she is approached by a stranger who hints that she knows that the person behind veil wasn’t San.
*
Under the order of Won, Lin is forced into teaching San archery. During the lesson, they both accuse each other of being spies and San, pointing the bow at Lin, warns him that she’ll kill him if he plans to betray Won with his brother Jeon.
*
Back at home, Lin is confronted with an angry Jeon who accuses him of selling his own brother out to the “Mongolian prince”. Unable to contain his brother, Lin feels pressured to find a way to save both his family and the prince, and plans to go meet San.
*
In the meantime, San learns of an attempted assassination on the crown prince and in order to save him, once again, convinces Biyeon to play her doppelganger.
*
The stranger that met with Biyeon is revealed to be a women named Booyoung, a skilled concubine, who is working alongside Songin, the son of a politician. Songin talks about his plans to assassinate Won and how he controls both Jeon and the merchant Baek.
(bed scene)
3. “Hunt”
After losing a sparing match to Lin, San demands a rematch. Won tells her to give up for today and gives her a ornamental dagger to soothe her feelings. San asks if she can help him during the hunt, but Won declines mentioning that due to his bet with the king there’s a member cap for each team.
San begins to make preparation to foil the assassination attempt on Won, but unbeknownst to her she is being followed by Lin the entire time. Having located the assassins camp, San goes into their barracks at night to ransack their supplies, but is surprised when she sees Lin there. Hearing noises in the tent next door, Lin grabs San and falls to the ground, covering their bodies with fur clothing. After the assassins leave, San tells Lin of the assassination attempt, but Lin brushes it off and forces San to go back home.
*
Late at night, Lin goes to meet Won and asks him not to take part in the hunt. Without asking a single question, Won agrees not to go. The next day Won seeks in audience with the King, at the hunting ground, and tells him that he has no attention of taking part in the hunt. On the way back from the hunt, he runs into a little boy and learns that San has been taking in and looking after slaves.
*
San seeks out Lin and asks what happened to Won. Lin tells her that he is safe, but that he lost track of the assassins. San tells Lin that both her father and his brother are just pawns of someone else plan, and without asking any question, Lin tells her that he trusts her and that he considers her a companion.
*
Biyeon disguised as San, is approached, once again, by Booyoung who introduces her to an older man, named Mooseok, whom she promises will help comfort Biyeon.
4. “Tribute”
While helping Won get ready for his trip to Pyeongjoo, Lin is lost in thoughts about the coup his brother is planning against the crown prince. He attempts to speak to the prince about it, but is interrupted by the prince, who after taking a look at Lin promises to protect his family no matter what happens. Moved by Won’s promise, Lin also promises to protect the prince. Won and Lin also worry about the repercussions San could face if the fact she’s sheltering slaves came to light. In order to prevent any backlash against San, Won orders Lin to forge a family register to make the slaves whole again. Lin protests at first as he would be breaking the law, but Won reminds him that sometimes you need to commit a small acts of evil to combat an even greater one. As they continue to talk about San, Won begins to wonder why she isn’t here, as it would his last chance to see her in quite some time, and asks Lin to look after San while he is gone--reminding Lin that San and him are his friends and that he would do anything for them.
*
San talks to Biyeon about the conflicting feelings she has for Lin. San tells her about the time she met Lin watching girls being dragged out of their houses so that they could be sent as tribute to Mongolia. San is furious at Lin for just standing there, watching the events unfold. Lin however, explains that if he were to save them some other poor girls would have to take their place. San complains about how cold hearted he is, but also talks about how she can’t stop looking at him or thinking about him, and finally admits to liking him. Biyeon also talks about her feelings for Mooseok, at which point San encourages her to run away with him and how she would fully support them.
Out on the streets, San runs into more girls being dragged out of their houses and intervenes. Drawing her blade she engages in combat with the guard. Eventually, as it looks like she’s about to lose the battle, Lin jumps in. He forces the guard to leave and returns the girls back to their family. San asks Lin