The Wanted Detective Episode 5 Recap
> The Wanted Detective Recap
Two months ago, a group of women were forcibly taken from a carriage to the Hu Mansion in the capital. Amidst the chaos, one woman, Hibiscus, managed to escape, briefly finding refuge in a guesthouse before being recaptured, bound, and held in a woodshed where she was ultimately killed. On the same night, Xiao Beiming and Zhong Xueman, disguised as villagers, calmly made their way towards Huaman Mountain with a group of abductors.
Xiao Beiming noticed they were being followed by Zhuge Kongyun's team. Realizing Zhuge Kongyun was uncertain of his presence and feared alerting them, Xiao Beiming had already discarded his bamboo hat to blend in. Due to Huaman Mountain's complex terrain, Zhuge Kongyun eventually lost their trail. The grand sacrificial ceremony at Huaman Mountain commenced. Marquis Jingshan, a respected figure, also arrived.
Years prior, he had protected the Emperor's family during an attack, suffering a leg injury that left him permanently disabled. For this, he received immense favor from the Emperor. Soon, the Saintesses were brought onto the stage, surrounded by devout villagers. As fireworks burst, illuminating the sky, the Saintesses seemingly vanished into thin air. The stunned villagers quickly knelt, believing it to be a divine manifestation.
Zhong Xueman and Xiao Beiming observed, deciding to wait for an opportune moment to uncover clues related to the corpse-sewing case. Afterward, Zhong Xueman exposed the deception. She deduced that Sada, the ceremony's leader, had used the dazzling fireworks to distract the crowd while scattering luminous stone powder into a fire basin. The powder produced an intensely bright light, causing people to shut their eyes.
Sada then activated a hidden trapdoor beneath the altar, causing the Saintesses to fall through and creating the illusion of their disappearance. Zhong Xueman opened the hidden compartment, discovering the abducted women. With his trick revealed, Sada confessed that a man named Hu Shisan was involved in selling the women after each sacrifice. At that moment, a group of mysterious black-clad figures appeared and rescued Sada.
Xiao Beiming restrained a pursuing Zhong Xueman, urging her to prioritize the rescue of the captive women. Witnessing Xiao Beiming's actions, Feng Qingzhuo began to see him in a new light, questioning if he had truly been framed. He also observed that Zhong Xueman's behavior towards Xiao Beiming went beyond merely preventing his escape; she desperately pursued other leads as if they were her only hope, which she wouldn't do if she truly believed him to be her father's killer.
Later, Zhuge Kongyun infiltrated Zhong Xueman's residence to ambush and capture Xiao Beiming. When he confronted a cloaked figure and removed the hat, he found it was Tong Shuang. Realizing he had been tricked, Zhuge pointed to bloodstains on the ground. Feng Qingzhuo claimed it was animal blood for a new medicine, but Zhuge insisted it was human blood. Zhong Xueman then covertly applied a substance to Zhuge Kongyun, causing him to cough up blood.
She wittily explained it was Tong Shuang's "waste blood" expelled after taking the medicine, forcing a humiliated Zhuge to leave. Xiao Beiming sought refuge at Dingfeng Pavilion, a place holding cherished memories with Zhong Xueman. Meanwhile, Zhong Xueman discovered that a woman named Hibiscus was missing from the list of rescued women. A trafficker recalled that Hibiscus had escaped two months prior but was recaptured after the other four Saintesses revealed her location.
The next day, Zhong Xueman's group found Hibiscus's body in an abandoned courtyard, buried in a makeshift grave marked with hibiscus flowers. Hu Shisan was also found dead nearby, his corpse sewn. The investigation revealed Hibiscus was pregnant and had died from blunt force trauma to the head, likely killed in a rage by Hu Shisan after her escape attempt.
They also recalled that one of the black-clad men who rescued Sada had been wounded in the shoulder, leading them to suspect Marquis Jingshan's two highly-skilled bodyguards, who were also from Nanyue and followers of the Blossom Skies cult. Zhong Xueman went to Marquis Jingshan's mansion to investigate but was met with strong resistance from the guards. Chief Fang soon arrived with the Elite Constabulary Unit.
Zhong Xueman declared that the two guards before them had rescued Sada the previous night and challenged them to prove their innocence by showing their shoulders. Marquis Jingshan intervened and ordered his guards to disrobe. However, they were covered in numerous minor cuts, a clear attempt to conceal the specific wound. Undeterred, Zhong Xueman pressed to search the mansion, warning the Marquis of the severe consequences of obstructing an investigation potentially linked to the "Yesha case" from three years ago.
At that critical moment, a servant reported that the Marquis's son, Ajia, had gone missing, with blood found in the backyard. Seizing the opportunity, the Elite Constabulary Unit began a full search of the mansion. Several courtesans were found drugged and unconscious. Examining the scene, Feng Qingzhuo found a piece of coarse cloth on a thorny bush and detected the distinct scent of iron and salt.
He deduced that the culprit frequented a place where large quantities of salt and iron were stored. In the capital, the only such place was the state-controlled Western Salt and Iron Works. The Elite Constabulary Unit immediately assembled and set off.
