Episode 6 of Bon Appetit, Your Majesty mainly focuses on the challenge of impressing the Ming Dynasty Envoy. I had assumed that the competition would happen this episode, but somehow the show has dragged it on so much that the competition will take place next week, but more importantly, it’s not a one-time thing but will take multiple days (wowza). Additionally, Ji-Young’s dreams of returning are crushed after she learns that the Mangunrok isn’t in her bag. I won’t deny I’m enjoying this show, but I really wish the episodes weren’t so long. Especially with this one, we could have the translations from Chinese to Korean happen simultaneously as the man is talking to speed up the show, especially since we’re just seeing a man talk without understanding a word. With that said, though, let’s jump into episode 6.
Spoiler Alert
Is The King In Love With Ji-Young?
Bon Appetit, Your Majesty episode 6 begins right where episode 5 ended, with Ji-Young falling onto Yi Heon. He immediately gets awkward, but when he realizes she’s scraped her hand, he rushes to check on her. Clearly, the man’s crazy about her already. She says it’s not a big deal and then talks about how she’s going to get to go back to the future now that she has her bag. But she’s shocked to see that there’s no book in the bag. They even go to Sung-Jae to check if he lost it on the way, but he too says there was no book in the bag. This makes the king secretly happy, though. On the other hand, Ji-Young is tasked with preparing a special dish for the envoy, who did not like the food prepared for them earlier. Technically, they didn’t even try it. Ji-Young also learns that the eunuch who is leading the envoy is a very special person to the Ming emperor. With so much pressure, she decides to present the king and his guest with the most spectacular snack she can think of, the macaron (Girl is really using all her French cooking knowledge in the Joseon era. Good for her.
After tasting the macarons, even the chief envoy is enraptured by the chief royal chef’s cooking, but this means war, so he suggests a competition between them. Yi Heon is quick to note that the competition is only a ploy to up the stakes for the tribute to the Ming Dynasty, but he’s very confident in Ji-Young, and he thinks she can save the name of Joseon. Ji-Young is very unconfident, but the king tells her that he might help her find the book if she wins the competition. The Dowager wants Ji-Young to win for Joseon, too, but Kang doesn’t feel the same way. The Dowager plans on sending the envoy a letter written by herself because of her relationship with the Ming imperial family. Prince Jesan and Kang discuss how if Ji-Young loses, then the Ming dynasty will be able to harvest ginseng, which will give them a good enough reason to replace the king. Jesan sends the Ming chief envoy a gift, material he could use to blackmail him as a white flag. He obviously wants Ji-Young to lose, but the king sends a spy who sees this exchange.
On the other hand, Ji-Young decides to dry the chilis to make gochugaru as a special ingredient for her competition. She tells the king she needs to go to the mill to get the chilis powdered, but the king agrees to go with her. He then tells her that she needs a disguise to step out into the outside world, and of course, there’s a montage of outfit changes. She honestly looks great in them all, because hanboks just look that stunning, but ultimately, he chooses one because he’s mesmerized by her beauty. At the market, Ji-Young finds a charm that matches the one she remembers from the Mangunrok. The king notices her picking it up and then decides to buy her a bunch of new things, including the charm. Meanwhile, she goes and finds flowers that are meant to be soothing and calm a person down for the king so he can rest comfortably. Aww, they’re always considering each other. There’s a romantic moment in the market. Of course, they like each other. At the same time, one of the Ming chefs shows up at the royal kitchen and challenges the chefs to a knife-off. They have to chop spring onions, but none of them has her level of skill. When Ji-Young returns, she knows this means war, and she returns the favor by ruining the knife the Ming chef left behind to show them that she’s ready to fight too.
What Are The Stakes For The Competition?
At the end of Bon Appetit, Your Majesty episode 6, the competition themes are decided. There will be three rounds, each with a different theme. The theme for the first round is a meat dish that has never been seen before. For the second round, the chefs need to exchange dishes, i.e., Joseon will cook a Ming dish and vice versa. The final round will be a soup with ginseng. This is a tough round for Joseon, specifically because soups are Ming’s forte. The two groups have 5 days to prepare for the competition, but the stakes have been upped on both sides. The Chief Envoy says that the tribute will be a license to grow ginseng in Ming if Joseon loses the competition. In return, Yi Heon says that Joseon should be allowed to buy as much flour as they want if they win. The chief envoy says he can’t make such a decision but ultimately agrees, saying he’ll convince the emperor. Ji-Young is ready to show the chief envoy a “hot” flavor. She’s going to get a pressure cooker made in Joseon. I think all of episode 7 is going to go into finding the ingredients and an assassin going after Ji-Young. I wonder when the actual competition will take place.
