Sungkyunkwan Scandal

Set during an era when society does not permit females to be either educated or employed, Kim Yoon-hee (Park Min-young) disguises herself as her brother, Kim Yoon-shik, in order to make ends meet for her family. She goes through a series of odd jobs, mainly at a local bookstore, before she gets offered a chance to increase her earnings by becoming a substitute test-taker (an illegal act) for the upcoming entrance examination for Sungkyunkwan, Joseon's highest educational institute. She gets caught by the upright Lee Sun-joon (Park Yoo-chun), who later acknowledges Yoon-hee's talents, and even encourages her to enroll in the university. There, she must bear with the endless mischief of upperclassman Gu Yong-ha (Song Joong-ki), put up with the constant mood swings of her rebel roommate Moon Jae-shin (Yoo Ah-in), avoid getting in trouble with the strict student body president Ha In-soo (Jun Tae-soo), and keep her secret from being discovered, all the while trying to hold her growing feelings for Lee Sun-joon at bay. Together, Kim, Lee, Gu, and Moon form the "Jalgeum Quartet". The background to the drama is the reign of King Jeongjo and his struggles in dealing with the factional politics of his time, struggles in which he enlists the quartet. The final episodes deal with the Geumdeung document (ko). And Sungkyunkwan, that place of Confucian learning, is the place where students and teachers learn from each other, causing radical changes in their thinking, and so sacred a place is it, that even royal guards may not enter.