A League of Nobleman Episode 20 Recap
> A League of Nobleman Recap
Lan Jue and Zhang Ping continued to interrogate Ma Lian after his confession. Ma Lian explained that despite his prominent family background, he risked cheating in the imperial examination because he felt he lacked ability and desperately wanted to gain recognition. He came to the Capital City seeking opportunities to distinguish himself, and someone approached him, offering to sell examination questions at a high price, leading him to fall for the scheme.
Ma Lian admitted to killing Chen Zishang, blaming him for the situation. They had arranged the transaction for the night of the lot drawing, but Chen Zishang reneged after drawing the Guiyou Sign. Ma Lian had exerted significant effort to get Chen Zishang to agree to write the essay, and with success seemingly imminent, he impulsively killed him and took the essay.
Ma Lian also recounted that the person who sold him the questions assured him the plan was foolproof and that even if caught, the chief interrogator would support him. He described the seller as an old man dressed like a boatman, clarifying he was not the handsome young man Lan Jue had initially asked about. Lan Jue noted that while they had identified the seller, they still lacked a direct lead to Mr. Jinghu, emphasizing the need for further investigation.
Lan Jue then asked Zhang Ping to examine the mildew spot on the examination scroll seals, believing it might contain a key clue to the cheating method. After researching all night, Zhang Ping discovered the trick: a paste made from ground glutinous rice mixed with ink, baked into a thin, almost invisible film. Handwriting underneath was revealed when moisture, such as fingertip sweat, melted the rice paper, leaving a sticky residue that later molded.
This technique was used to mark Grand Tutor Liu Xian's question, enabling Mr. Yang to draw it. Recognizing this as the key, Lan Jue ordered Mr. Yang's arrest. Mr. Yang confessed to assisting in the cheating for money due to his family's financial hardship. He stated that Shao Zhi informed him the scholars would cause a disturbance and nominate him to draw the question, and his role was simply to select the scroll with the sticky mark.
When confronted, Shao Zhi admitted his part, driven by profound gratitude to Mr. Jinghu. Shao Zhi explained his parents borrowed usury loans for his education and were subsequently driven to their deaths by the lenders. He revealed that the person behind the lenders was Chu Fangtong, the Minister of Revenue, and it was Mr. Jinghu who gathered the evidence that led to Chu Fangtong's conviction and punishment.
Such a great debt meant he would gladly undertake anything for Mr. Jinghu, even risking his life, not just participating in exam cheating. Shao Zhi confirmed he tampered with the seals and secretly swapped the lots when Chen Zishang was about to draw to ensure he drew the Guiyou Sign.
He denied arranging for scholars to nominate Mr. Yang, stating that scholar He Xuan, who admired Mr. Jinghu, volunteered and used the poem on the paper crane to disqualify Lan Jue, thereby facilitating Mr. Yang drawing the question through their combined efforts. Some scholars present loudly accused Lan Jue of colluding in the cheating and demanded his expulsion.
Lan Jue attempted to persuade Shao Zhi to reveal Mr. Jinghu's location in exchange for leniency, but Shao Zhi insisted that Mr. Jinghu's movements were unknowable to ordinary people, describing him as akin to an immortal who appears only after a paper crane is placed by Jinghu Lake. Analyzing the case, Lan Jue and Zhang Ping found it puzzling that Mr. Jinghu orchestrated Chu Fangtong's downfall just to secure Shao Zhi's loyalty.
Lan Jue proposed that Mr. Jinghu might also be targeting Tao Zhoufeng, the chief interrogator in the cheating case, speculating a possible connection to the Moluo Village case from twenty years prior. Lan Jue recalled the seller's assurance to Ma Lian about the chief interrogator's support, suggesting Tao Zhoufeng's selection was deliberate.
They realized that Tao Zhoufeng became chief interrogator after Chu Fangtong's dismissal created a vacancy, and due to other officials retiring or being removed, and the Ministry of Justice needing to avoid suspicion, the case naturally fell under Tao Zhoufeng's jurisdiction. Lan Jue inferred that Mr. Jinghu used the exam cheating to expose Tao Zhoufeng's potential favoritism towards Ma Lian (given Ma Lian's upcoming marriage connection to the Empress Dowager's brother) after Ma Lian's anticipated acquittal.
He concluded that Mr. Jinghu's actions, including the paper crane revealing questions and the ghost pen holder incident, were designed to incite the scholars and force a thorough investigation to uncover Tao Zhoufeng's alleged cover-up. They obtained the dossier for the Moluo Village case from twenty years ago, which Mowen had previously brought. Reviewing it, they found no new clues initially, but Zhang Ping noticed Tao Zhoufeng's seal on the document, indicating he was the reviewer.
This revelation provided a new angle. Given Mr. Jinghu's apparent desire for Tao Zhoufeng's death as part of his revenge, Lan Jue suggested requesting His Majesty to commute Tao Zhoufeng's sentence to potentially force Mr. Jinghu to take action again. That night, Zhang Ping was awakened by the sound of a Xun. He found Chen Chou deeply asleep due to incense. He then encountered a mysterious figure whom he identified as Mr. Jinghu.
Mr. Jinghu commented that it had been a long time and noted Zhang Ping's friend was sleeping soundly like an innocent child, completely defenceless. Zhang Ping questioned if he was Mr. Jinghu and if he was from the Moluo Clan. Mr. Jinghu only confirmed he was there for the Moluo Clan and deferred explaining the past, stating Zhang Ping would understand when his plan was fulfilled.
Zhang Ping accused Mr. Jinghu of being responsible for the previous cases: informing the embalmer about the Injeeten legend, purchasing the phoenix head at a high price, and sending the assassin who killed Chief of Imperial Astronomy Xuan Ji. Mr. Jinghu admitted to all these actions. Zhang Ping observed that Mr. Jinghu orchestrated his victims' deaths to mirror the crimes they committed during the Moluo Village massacre. The embalmer, who created poison, died by poison.
Chang Wei, who made the sky lantern, was tricked into making another to steal the phoenix head and died because of it. Similarly, Xuan Ji, who aided in the village's destruction to please the Empress Dowager, was led to frame Grand Tutor Liu Xian for her benefit and met a tragic end. Mr. Jinghu confirmed he was merely repaying them in kind. He warned Zhang Ping not to interfere with his plan and not to attempt to save Tao Zhoufeng.
Zhang Ping argued that regardless of the Moluo Clan's suffering, ending killing with killing and involving innocent people was wrong. Zhang Ping awoke the next morning, and Chen Chou recounted a dream of passing the exam and becoming officials. Zhang Ping found a book in his hand: the fiftieth chapter of "Strange Night Talk". He recognized the handwriting as Tao Zhoufeng's and suspected Tao Zhoufeng was his revered idol, the author Mu Yesheng.
He sought out Lan Jue, bringing the manuscript, and requested help to visit Tao Zhoufeng in Judicial Prison to confirm his identity and uncover the truth. Lan Jue accompanied Zhang Ping to the Judicial Prison. Lan Jue asked Tao Zhoufeng directly if he was Mu Yesheng. Tao Zhoufeng initially refused to answer.
Zhang Ping spoke emotionally about growing up reading "Strange Night Talk", considering Mu Yesheng a lifelong role model, even traveling to places mentioned in the books and noting discrepancies, all in the hope of one day meeting him at the Court of Judicial Review. He stated that if Mu Yesheng were merely someone who wove lies in stories, he would rather have never read the books. Moved by Zhang Ping's sincerity, Tao Zhoufeng confessed that he was indeed Mu Yesheng.
He recounted that twenty years ago, as a Junior Minister at the Court of Judicial Review, he reviewed an urgent dossier from Lingnan District concerning the Moluo Village. The report described villagers dying overnight, bodies stiff, gray, and cracked, in what local officials suspected was "condemned by heaven" due to scarlet mist and witchcraft.
Tao Zhoufeng immediately connected this to the recent Hui'an Pharmacy extermination case in the capital, where the embalmer sought revenge against a doctor's family, noting the identical death method. He reopened the Hui'an Pharmacy case and found a poisoned red powder in a specialized Imperial Medical Academy medicine bottle at the scene. His investigation at the Imperial Medical Academy revealed a poison-specialist imperial doctor mysteriously disappeared after the Moluo Village incident.
Tracing his movements, Tao Zhoufeng discovered this doctor, Chief of Imperial Astronomy Xuan Ji, and Official of Ministry of Works Chang Wei had travelled south together before the Moluo tragedy. After the massacre, Chang Wei and others involved, except for Xuan Ji, disappeared, leading Tao Zhoufeng to suspect they were silenced.
Realizing the high-level involvement, he pressed on and discovered the embalmer was a former Imperial Medical Academy doctor favored by the Empress Dowager, tasked with developing poisons for her to eliminate opponents and consolidate power. Tao Zhoufeng concluded the Moluo Village case was likely ordered by the Empress Dowager. Tao Zhoufeng explained that knowing this secret prevented him from continuing to write as the righteous Mu Yesheng; he was forced to stop writing.
Lan Jue surmised that Mr. Jinghu's resentment stemmed from Tao Zhoufeng's failure to report what he knew. Tao Zhoufeng lamented his twenty years of fearful survival and anxiety, accepting that he would die regardless, especially now that the Empress Dowager must be aware of the fiftieth chapter of "Strange Night Talk". Soon after, Eunuch Ying Xi arrived from the Empress Dowager. Lan Jue and Zhang Ping quickly hid.
Eunuch Ying Xi delivered the Empress Dowager's command, granting Tao Zhoufeng a final "reward" of a swift death by poison or dagger, allowing him a complete body, to be presented publicly the next day as a suicide out of shame for shielding convicts. Tao Zhoufeng expressed gratitude for the "grace." As the eunuch prepared, Lan Jue urged Zhang Ping to leave to avoid implicating Mowen.
Zhang Ping hesitated, still seeking answers, but Tao Zhoufeng encouraged him to go and find the truth he couldn't. Lan Jue and Zhang Ping watched helplessly from their hiding place as Tao Zhoufeng faced his fate.
