The Secret Romantic Guesthouse (2023) Episode 3-4

Despite his obvious skepticism of Dan-oh’s ability, Tae-hwa gives Dan-oh a month to find Lee Seol or forfeit Ihwawon. So Dan-oh starts seeking out former servants of Lee Seol’s family to try and rustle up a few clues. The first contact lives a day’s journey away, and though Dan-oh insists she’s fine to go alone, the boys tag along anyway. Well, Yoo-ha and Shi-yeol tag along — San follows secretly, using his previous run-in with the local bandits as leverage to secure safe passage for Dan-oh and her companions through the forest.

It doesn’t take long for Dan-oh to spot San lurking around town, however, and she teases him for worrying about her, which he firmly denies. This is becoming a pattern for them — San pretends he cares about nothing and no one, and Dan-oh gleefully takes every opportunity to notice when his actions betray that he is, in fact, a considerate person.

Anyway, according to the former servant, Lee Seol was adopted into a noble family to help conceal his identity, and he bears a distinctive red mole on his ankle. And wouldn’t you know it — the man’s description of the young prince could easily fit any of our three Flower Scholars.

Dan-oh reaches out to her own network of servants, tailors, and other workers to see if any have noticed a scholar with a red mole on his ankle (they haven’t). She’s not above checking her own guests’ ankles, either — seeing San napping in the sun, she can’t resist reaching to untie his ankle wrap. Of course, he catches her in the act, and both end up flustered at the sudden closeness and the absence of a satisfactory answer for why she was undressing him.

Dan-oh hasn’t told anyone about her task, and the Flower Scholars (minus San, who overheard her make the deal with Tae-hwa) are dying to know what she’s up to. So they do a little digging of their own and find out the truth, none seeming particularly thrilled with the idea.

Right around that time, Dan-oh receives a letter summoning her to a cabin deep in the bamboo forest and promising information about Lee Seol. There, she’s met with a sword to her throat… but it’s just San, trying to drive home his warning that she’s messing with something that could get her killed. But Dan-oh’s prepared to risk her life to protect Ihwawon — or, as she says, her family.

Though she claims “family” means her guests and livelihood, there’s definitely something else going on here. After the death of Tae-hwa’s son, Dan-oh’s family hid her sister, YOON HONG-JOO (Jo Hye-joo), in the annex to protect her from Tae-hwa’s demand that she follow her husband-to-be in death. And although the official story is that Hong-joo died of smallpox soon after, the “ghost” Shi-yeol encounters in the annex looks rather alive to me…

In any case, the Flower Scholars are as impressed by Dan-oh’s resolve as they are worried for her safety, so they all volunteer to help her find Lee Seol. Dan-oh’s out of contacts, however, so they need to get their hands on the official list of former slaves to Lee Seol’s family. Shi-yeol racks his brain and comes up with the self-proclaimed brilliant plan of bribing a gambling buddy to let them in while he’s on guard duty. It works, and Shi-yeol naps while Dan-oh and San search through record books.

San thinks he’s being sly stealing glances when Dan-oh isn’t looking, but she catches him with a big ol’ grin on his face, prompting another supercharged moment of closeness. As their allotted time runs out, San finds the book they’re looking for. He surreptitiously places it back on the shelf, but Dan-oh spots it anyway, much to his dismay.

The book’s list leads Dan-oh from one servant to another, and finally to a former servant-turned-gisaeng — none other than Hwa-ryung. She’s reluctant to give Dan-oh any answers, warning that looking for Lee Seol can and will make her the target of Lee Seol’s infamous bodyguard: the black-clad swordsman who gave Tae-hwa his scar, A.K.A. “the Watchman.” But, moved by Dan-oh’s plea that lives are at stake, Hwa-ryung offers one clue: Lee Seol possesses a valuable artifact marked with a dragon insignia.

Hwa-ryung isn’t the only one concerned about the Watchman. Tae-hwa, it turns out, isn’t all that interested in what happens to Lee Seol, except that if Lee Seol is in danger, the Watchman is sure to appear — and it’s the Watchman Tae-hwa wants to kill. Left State Minister SHIN WON-HO (Ahn Nae-sang) warns that the Watchman (or rather, Watchmen, as it appears there’s a whole group of secret swordsmen dedicated to protecting Lee Seol’s family) isn’t to be trifled with, but tells Tae-hwa he can do what he wants with the Watchman so long as he delivers Lee Seol alive.

Adjacent to all of the team action, each of our Flower Scholars pursues a personal goal of some kind as well. Yoo-ha and his fellows pick out a secret room, which they declare the perfect spot for planning a revolt. Then they busy themselves translating their prophecy book so common people can read it and join them.

Yoo-ha also has a run-in with his brother, the legitimate family heir, who couldn’t care less that his mother is gravely ill and upends his drink over Yoo-ha’s head for requesting that he visit her. The encounter reveals some sort of connection between Yoo-ha’s father and Hwa-ryung, which means there’s likely a connection between Yoo-ha and Lee Seol as well, though it’s unclear if Yoo-ha knows about it.

San, meanwhile, meets with the former Head Eunuch and warns him to leave town while he still can. In return, the Head Eunuch warns that San’s growing feelings for Dan-oh make her a dangerous liability to his mission. Their conversation makes it clear that San isn’t Lee Seol, but (probably) one of the Watchmen.

They’re interrupted by the arrival of Tae-hwa and his men. As San flees, one of their arrows lands in his shoulder, but he escapes and patches himself up before heading back toward Ihwawon. He bumps into Dan-oh on the street, and when he passes out from blood loss, she bundles him into a passing palanquin to hide as Tae-hwa closes in.

So, if our missing prince isn’t San after all, who is he? Well, he’s been hiding in plain sight all this time, dropping little hints — sleeping in the dog house, making comments about how weird it would be if Lee Seol were among the Ihwawon guests — almost as if he wants someone to figure it out.

Lee Seol is Shi-yeol. Which is exactly who I’d hoped he’d be, even though I really didn’t think the show would actually go there! He’s also planning something, and I cannot wait to find out what.