Joy of Life Season 2 Episode 10 Recap, Plot

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> Joy of Life Season 2 Recap

Qin Ye was not only the Chief Minister of the Privy Council but also held military power and had earned numerous battle merits. He was the number one figure in the Southern Qing military and highly respected by all civil and military officials. Qing Di also viewed him with special regard, always having two chairs prepared for him and Lin Ruofu during court sessions, while Crown Prince Li Chengqian and other princes could only stand.

Qin Ye arrived early and sat in one of the chairs, resting with his eyes closed. Lin Ruofu swaggered into the court. All the officials nodded and bowed to him. Even Crown Prince Li Chengqian smiled in greeting. Fan Xian stood by, watching coldly, surprised that his future father-in-law Lin Ruofu had such prestige. Chen Pingping arrived in a wheelchair. Fan Jian waited for him outside, dismissed the Imperial Inspectorate guards, and pushed Chen Pingping toward the hall.

He suspected Chen Pingping was backing Fan Xian; otherwise, Fan Xian wouldn’t dare to act so boldly. Chen Pingping denied it, but Fan Jian didn’t believe him. Left Censor-in-Chief Lai Mingcheng was furious upon seeing Fan Xian and spoke harshly. Li Chengqian took the chance to stir things up in front of Fan Xian.

Enraged, Fan Xian tried to rush up and argue with Lai Mingcheng, but Li Chengqian quickly pulled him aside, urging them to argue it out properly in court. At the entrance of the hall, there was a small slope. Chen Pingping’s wheelchair was too heavy, and despite multiple attempts, Fan Jian couldn’t push it up. Sweating profusely, he suspected Chen Pingping was hiding something in the wheelchair. Chen Pingping joked that he had hidden thousands of troops inside.

Fan Jian thought he was joking and didn’t take it seriously. Despite his efforts, he still couldn’t push the wheelchair up the slope. Li Chengru also came to watch the commotion. He briskly stepped forward to take over from Fan Jian and effortlessly pushed Chen Pingping up. Li Chengru wanted to see how Fan Xian would deal with the entire Censorate’s impeachment. Fan Xian was confident, but Fan Jian remained worried and reminded Fan Xian not to lose his temper.

Qing Di arrived shortly afterward and had Eunuch Hou distribute Fan Xian’s self-defense letter, which read, “With treacherous ministers in power, what crime is there? ” to all officials. Lai Mingcheng was the first to step out and accuse Fan Xian of accepting bribes and abusing his power. Fan Xian refused to plead guilty and loudly declared his innocence.

Lai Mingcheng produced a thick stack of witness testimonies, but Qing Di didn’t look at them and instead summoned Eunuch Dai to court for confrontation. Qing Di asked Chen Pingping for his opinion on the charges. Chen Pingping expressed suspicion of Fan Xian's misconduct and claimed that everyone looked like criminals to him. Qing Di deliberately brought up Lin Ruofu. Chen Pingping said he looked even more like a corrupt official, causing an uproar among the officials.

Qing Di then asked for Qin Ye’s opinion. Qin Ye strongly supported Fan Xian, praising him highly and even commended him publicly for seducing the Northern Qi Saintess to boost Southern Qing’s prestige. The officials covered their mouths, laughing, while Fan Xian hastily denied the claim in fear. Lin Ruofu was secretly furious but pretended to stay calm.

When Eunuch Dai heard that Qing Di had summoned him to confront Fan Xian, he was so terrified that his soul nearly left his body. The guards had to drag him into the court. He didn’t even notice when he lost a boot. Worried that he would be reprimanded for misconduct, Hong Zhu personally helped him put his boot back on. Eunuch Dai trembled as he entered the hall. Lai Mingcheng presented the testimonies and accused him.

Fan Xian urged Eunuch Dai to confess, saying three thousand taels of silver wouldn’t result in a heavy sentence. But the Censorate had already thoroughly investigated him. Lai Mingcheng listed countless corrupt acts committed by Eunuch Dai during his years at the Vegetable Collection Bureau and submitted the collected evidence to Qing Di. Lin Ruofu opposed the move, accusing Lai Mingcheng of overstepping and causing unnecessary trouble for Qing Di.

He worried that this might lead the Six Ministries to slack off and disrupt court order. Qing Di found this reasonable. Lai Mingcheng and Lin Ruofu argued, and to avoid a conflict of interest, Lai Mingcheng asked Lin Ruofu to recuse himself since he was Fan Xian’s future father-in-law. Lin Ruofu had no choice but to step back. Qing Di asked Eunuch Dai to review the evidence. Seeing that everything had been exposed, Eunuch Dai surrendered.

Qing Di ordered his execution by beheading. Lai Mingcheng begged Qing Di to punish Fan Xian. Instead, Fan Xian accused him of framing Prince Li Chengze, who had also been at the Vegetable Collection Bureau on the day of the incident. If Li Chengze saw Fan Xian taking three thousand taels and said nothing, it would mean he was complicit. Li Chengze admitted he had seen Fan Xian take the money but believed there was a reason behind it.

Fan Xian declared publicly that the bribe was part of a trap to catch bigger fish, and he had handed the silver note to Chen Pingping that same day. Chen Pingping testified for him. Lai Mingcheng, realizing Fan Xian was denying everything, argued fiercely with him. The two engaged in a verbal battle. Fan Xian claimed he was a lowly official and dared not pursue the matter further for fear of implicating more high-ranking officials.

Lai Mingcheng took the bait, vowing the Censorate would investigate all corrupt officials. That was exactly what Fan Xian had been waiting for. Chen Pingping brought out a registry of corrupt officials from various local governments and handed it to the Censorate for investigation. Qin Ye instructed the Imperial Inspectorate to continue gathering evidence. Chen Pingping claimed they lacked manpower and the web of corruption was deeply rooted, even involving royal princes.

He handed the registry to Qin Ye, who declined the responsibility. Chen Pingping then handed it to Lin Ruofu, who firmly refused as well. Lai Mingcheng volunteered to take the registry. Upon seeing Li Chengze’s name on it, he ignored his colleagues' attempts to stop him and insisted on a full investigation to cleanse the court and restore peace and order. Several officials stepped forward to support him.

Fan Xian praised Lai Mingcheng and even offered to take back the “mad barking dogs” scroll. Qing Di publicly announced that the Censorate was to investigate each name on the list. After court, Fan Xian waited for Lin Ruofu outside. Lin Ruofu realized that Fan Xian intended to use the Censorate to investigate Li Chengze and suspected those supportive officials were planted by Fan Xian. Lin Ruofu denied it outright.

Li Chengqian pretended to care for Li Chengze, but Li Chengze saw through it and responded sarcastically. Xin Qiwu secretly informed Li Chengqian that those officials who supported Lai Mingcheng were from his own faction. Li Chengqian had so many subordinates he didn’t know them all, but he realized someone had used his faction to manipulate the situation. Lin Ruofu urged Fan Xian to visit Lin Wan'er.

Since returning from Northern Qi, Fan Xian had been too busy to make time. Lin Ruofu suspected he had an affair with Haitang Duoduo, but Fan Xian firmly denied it and promised to visit Lin Wan'er that evening. Qing Di could tell that Fan Xian was targeting Li Chengze. After court, he kept Fan Jian and Chen Pingping behind, suspecting Chen Pingping was backing Fan Xian.

Chen Pingping denied it, and Fan Jian declared that even if Fan Xian made a grave mistake, he would help clean up the mess. Qing Di was furious, shocked that both of them supported Fan Xian so unwaveringly, and made it clear that he would not punish his own son, Li Chengze.

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