It was a dark and snowy night. A woman with bare, bloody feet stumbles along. A mysterious man with a cocked hat offers her a pair of straw shoes. Don't think he's a good Samaritan as he then promptly ties the woman up. Unable to deal with her fallen status in life, the bound woman runs to the edge of a cliff and throws herself into the water to drown herself.
We go back now to when the woman, Gook In Yub (played by Jung Yoo Mi) was a Somebody with a fine house, fine clothes and servants to wait on her. She's not about to ride in a sedan chair that's got peeling paint.
It's the Defense Minister Heo Eung Cham's birthday and a feast is being prepared. The servants are all running around with their tasks. One maid, Dan Ji (played by Jun So Min), is taking a break so she can roll around in the hay with the boss's son, Heo Yoon Seo. I can't say that I blame her as the guy has very nice shoulders. He gives her an expensive ring he lifted from his sister's room.
Upstairs, Lady Yoon (played by Jun Mi Sun) is meeting with a matchmaker to discuss a potential candidate for her daughter, Heo Yoon Ok (played by Lee Shi Ah).
Somewhere again, our mysterious guy from the beginning, Moo Young (played by Oh Ji Ho) is having a meeting with Lady Han (played by Jin Hee Kyung). It appears Lady Han is also in the mood for a roll in the hay. Moo Young's honor is saved in the nick of time by the timely interruption of the lady's son, Kim Eun Gi (played by Kim Dong Wook).
Moo Young is heading back to the Defense Minister's house at the same time that In Yub's sedan chair is being carried through the streets. Suddenly a pair of CGI bulls start stampeding through the streets. It's up to Moo Young to come to In Yub's rescue. She thanks him by slapping him with some daisies and ordering Moo Young to help carry her in her chair.
While everyone else is heading for the party, it appears that In Sub's father, Gook Yoo (played by Jun Noh Min) is heading for an execution. The story is set during the Strife of Princes and Gook Yoo is having to walk the razor's edge as to which prince he is loyal to.
Back to the party. The Defense Minister is enjoying the Finance Minister Kim Chi Kwon's birthday present: Ga Hee Ah, the new It Gisaeng in town. Right in the middle of this stag party, In Yub barges her way in. With her dance interrupted, Ga Hee Ah leaves the area. As she passes by Moo Young she stops to give him a look. Does she recognize him from somewhere else? Or does she just want a roll in the hay like everyone else on this show?
In Yub is here to beg for the Defense Minister's help in getting Gook Yoo back home alive. Later, believing her begging has been successful, In Yub hooks up with her gal pal, Yoon Ok. The girls go to take a look at Yoon Ok's prospective husband. In Yub is shocked to see the guy is Eun Gi as they had made plans from childhood to marry each other.
Ga Hee Ah runs into Moo Young again. She did know him from the Before Time. She offers him a business partnership but he turns her down.
Yoon Ok shows her dark side as she tells In Yub that Gook Yoo is really dead. Then Lady Yoon comes in to twist the knife even more as she's furious over In Yub interrupting the celebrations.
In Yub wraps herself up in what is left of her dignity and tries to leave only to find Dan Ji has been wearing her shoes. In Yub refuses to wear the shoes after they've touched Dan Ji's feet. (I keep wanting to type Jan Di instead of Dan Ji.) The problem is how to get out to where the sedan chair is without walking on the ground. Moo Young offers to give In Yub a piggy back ride out there but In Yub is offended. In jest Moo Young asks if she wants him to roll out a silk carpet for her. In Yub says sure, that'll do.
