Coroner's Diary Episode 9 Recap
> Coroner's Diary Recap
The coroner's findings revealed that Concubine Yang had given birth, a fact Madam Qin had never disclosed. When questioned about this, the Third Madam claimed ignorance, stating that Concubine Yang was already over twenty when she entered the household. She added that Qin An favored Concubine Yang, giving her separate quarters, and as the main madam, she had not even received the tea ceremony from Concubine Yang, only knowing she was exceptionally beautiful.
When the Third Madam was evasive, Yan Chi suggested questioning Qin An directly. Qin An's elder brother stated Qin An had been bedridden and unconscious for two days, prompting Yan Chi to visit him under the guise of concern. Yan Chi then proceeded to Qin An's quarters, where Qin An was feigning unconsciousness.
Yan Chi proposed a gruesome "secret method" involving driving an iron nail into the brain for seven days to drain a blood clot, which instantly shocked Qin An awake. Under questioning, Qin An confessed that Concubine Yang had been abducted. Prefect Huo expressed his shock and disbelief that the Marquis of Zhongyong's own brother would engage in human trafficking, finding it inconceivable.
Yan Chi pressed Prefect Huo on the significant number of abductions in the surrounding counties over the past decade, questioning how many occurred during his tenure. He suggested they prioritize recent cases, noting that as an adult, Concubine Yang would have been difficult to conceal, implying her abduction occurred recently and near Jingzhou.
Meanwhile, Qin Wan rushed to the Purple Bamboo Grove, where she learned from Caihe that Madam Qin had ordered the well sealed immediately after the official investigation concluded, ostensibly to calm anxieties. Caihe also mentioned sealing the well by the flower shed. Upon finding Yan Chi, Qin Wan was dismayed by the sealed well.
Yan Chi explained Qin An's confession, revealing that Concubine Yang had been abducted and had a prior marriage and children, and was confined by Qin An after he purchased her. Qin Wan deduced that Madam Qin was trying to conceal something far more sinister than just Concubine Yang's death. She presented a palm bone, identified as belonging to a girl who had not yet reached maturity, found during the initial examination.
Yan Chi was surprised, noting that Bai Feng had personally searched the well. Qin Wan recalled Qin Li's earlier statement that the Purple Bamboo Grove well, once a water source, had mysteriously dried up. She theorized that someone had filled it in to cover up their crimes before Concubine Yang's suicide. Enraged, Yan Chi immediately ordered the well to be reopened for a thorough re-examination.
Madam Qin, upon learning that Yan Chi had reopened the well and surrounded the Qin Mansion, became frantic. She feigned a sudden illness and instructed Chen to attempt to smuggle Qin An out of the mansion under the guise of seeking medical treatment for herself, lamenting that even the Crown Prince and the Marquis of Zhongyong could no longer protect them. Subsequently, a horrifying discovery was made as many skeletal remains were retrieved from the well.
Yan Chi ordered these grim findings to be displayed in the Qin family's main hall. Qin Wan, deeply moved by the tragedy, insisted on meticulously cleaning each bone, declaring that these girls had suffered enough and she would not allow anyone to cause them further harm. Overwhelmed with emotion, she wept, questioning the inhumane cruelty that led to their demise and burial in the dark well. Yan Chi embraced her, vowing to find the perpetrator and ensure justice.
Prefect Huo confirmed that all the retrieved bones belonged to girls. Madam Qin, furious about the unidentified remains being placed in her main hall, accused Prefect Huo of intentionally ruining her family's fortune and threatened to travel to the capital to petition the Emperor directly. Yan Chi arrived and sternly confronted her, suggesting her hasty attempt to take her own life indicated either guilt or an attempt to disrupt the investigation.
He underscored the gravity of the four recent murders in the Qin Mansion and the horrific case of the girls in the well, then decreed that no one from the Qin family could leave the premises without his personal token, under penalty of 100 strokes of the cane, and anyone obstructing the investigation would be charged as an accomplice. Madam Qin privately confided in her family that protecting Qin An was essential to safeguarding the third branch for Chen's sake.
Despite Madam Qin's instructions, Constable Qi intercepted Qin An as he was being smuggled out under the guise of Madam Qin seeking medical treatment. Prefect Huo then presented the preliminary findings from the skeletal analysis: the victims were likely between 12 and 16 years old and had died at least seven years prior. While their bones showed no fatal external injuries, their limbs, ribs, and finger bones all bore signs of old, healed fractures.
Qin Wan suggested this indicated prolonged, repeated torture, where victims were injured, healed, and then brutalized again. Yan Chi concurred, noting similarities to extreme interrogation methods he had observed, adding that human hearts also possess goodness and righteousness despite the existence of evil. He comforted a distraught Qin Wan, reaffirming her crucial role in seeking justice and promising to ensure that such "monsters" would not easily harm others.
Yan Chi speculated that Madam Qin's public scene was merely a diversion to aid Qin An's escape, strengthening his suspicion that Qin An was the culprit, though direct evidence was still pending. He also pondered why Concubine Yang chose to end her life in the Purple Bamboo Grove, an area distant from the concubines' quarters. Bai Feng was currently investigating Concubine Yang's abduction.
Yan Chi urged Qin Wan to rest, emphasizing her well-being, and she, in turn, offered him her hand warmer, which he accepted as a sign of care. Qin Wan was meticulously examining an unusual small finger bone that did not match any of the other skeletal remains. Qin Li arrived, marking his first daytime visit to her residence, acknowledging her medical treatment had helped him.
He offered to disclose everything he knew about the bodies in the well, hoping for leniency for the third branch of the family. He explained that his father, Qin An, once maintained a separate compound where he kept and trained purchased girls in various arts. One night, Qin Li secretly observed Steward Liu carrying a rolled-up straw mat near the Purple Bamboo Grove.
The following day, Madam Qin ordered that compound sealed, and the Purple Bamboo Grove well subsequently became dry. He clarified that Concubine Yang had not yet entered the household when these events transpired; it was Qin An's infrequent returns after the compound's sealing that eventually compelled Madam Qin to allow Concubine Yang into the mansion. Qin Li linked Concubine Yang's suicide to Concubine Liu.
He recounted that Concubine Yang, despite her beauty and Qin An's initial favor, was perpetually melancholic and did not strive to please him, often confined to her quarters by Qin An. After Concubine Liu entered the household, Concubine Yang lost favor but gained a degree of freedom. She frequently stood for long periods outside the sealed compound where the girls were kept, a place only accessible to Qin An's trusted servant, Steward Liu. Qin Li often secretly watched her there.
He revealed that Concubine Liu, jealous of Concubine Yang's beauty, frequently tormented her. One day, after a confrontation with Concubine Liu, Concubine Yang seemed to learn a crucial "truth." Qin Li followed her as she rushed into the Purple Bamboo Grove, only to witness her enter the well and never emerge. Her death prompted Madam Qin to seal the dry well with a demon-suppressing stone and later demolish the compound entirely.
Qin Li confessed that fear, triggered by the memory of the straw mat, prevented him from intervening. He explained his deep concern for Concubine Yang stemmed from her beautiful smile, which made him wonder if his own deceased mother might have smiled similarly. In his sealed quarters, Qin An desperately demanded a physician, even an imperial one, but was informed that no one could enter or leave due to the lockdown.
Madam Qin, in despair, declared her intention to atone for Qin An's sins. Meanwhile, Yan Chi received an update from the Eagle Squad: on the night Shen Yi and his wife were killed, a shipwreck occurred downstream on the canal. The following day, two young women claimed their father had drowned and then disappeared after arranging his funeral. Yan Chi speculated these could be Qin Wan and Fuling, but noted the lack of river transport to Medicine King Valley.
He instructed his team to cease the direct search for the Shen family and instead focus on apprehending the traitor within the Ministry of War who leaked his father's border patrol route. Yan Chi then informed Prefect Huo that Concubine Yang's origins had been uncovered. Records from Yang County and neighbor testimonies confirmed she matched the description of a beautiful Yang family matriarch who disappeared ten years ago with her daughter, with rumors of elopement.
Yan Chi speculated that if Concubine Yang was indeed this missing matriarch, then the mysterious compound Qin Li described, though now demolished, might have held her daughter captive. Neighbors also attested to Concubine Yang's profound love for her daughter, suggesting Qin An might have coerced her into compliance using the child. The missing Yang daughter was around 11 or 12 years old and famously had a supernumerary digit on one hand, a rare birth anomaly.
Qin Wan, realizing the significance of the six-fingered detail for the unusual finger bone she had found, confirmed that this uniquely identified Concubine Yang as the missing matriarch. However, she noted that none of the hand bones found so far in the Purple Bamboo Grove well bore any trace of a supernumerary digit, despite her meticulous supervision.
Remembering Qin Shuang's childhood account of seeing something unsettling in the well by the flower shed, and recognizing that the Purple Bamboo Grove was on higher ground, Qin Wan deduced that the buried remains could have been carried by an underground waterway to the flower shed well. She immediately ordered the flower shed well to be dug up, and her suspicions were confirmed when a human skull was uncovered. Yan Chi immediately ordered Bai Feng to apprehend Qin An without delay.
