Judge Dee's Mystery Episode 13 Recap, Plot

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Officer Li saw Di Renjie was so insistent on the corpse, so he let him take it, reminding him that plague was prevalent recently and he needed to be extra careful. Di Renjie asked Officer Li why he only burned the corpse at noon after finding it this morning.

Officer Li was slightly stunned, but quickly reacted, stating frankly that the four child soldiers responsible for patrolling last night went out messing around and lost their military knives, and he found a pawn ticket from "Zhongji Pawnshop" on the corpse. Di Renjie and his group returned with the corpse.

Ma Rong guessed the child soldiers most likely went out for pleasure, and Qiao Tai agreed with Ma Rong's guess, saying that teenage boys in the military camp are energetic and thinking about women is inevitable. But regarding Zhongji Pawnshop, Ma Rong immediately thought of the report to the officials, and the stub of the pawn ticket was still with the shopkeeper, so he speculated the deceased was likely the missing shopkeeper Zhong Fang.

Afterward, Di Renjie and Cao An watched a shadow play. The story recounted the love between the Rain Master and a mortal woman, whose removal of the mask caused the Rain Master to turn into a bird and eternally hover in the air without being able to land, making the audience sigh at the capriciousness of fate.

Cao An knew well that Penglai was humid and about to enter a month-long misty rain season, so she personally sewed a well-fitting coir raincoat for Di Renjie, filling Di Renjie with joy. He wanted to express his feelings for Cao An, but found it hard to speak. Shopkeeper Lin came to identify the deceased. Upon seeing the corpse, he was deeply saddened and confirmed he was the head of the household, Zhong Fang.

On his way to Zhongji Pawnshop, Di Renjie unexpectedly learned that someone had witnessed Zhong Fang turn into a bird-man and fly away, which aroused his suspicion. Shopkeeper Lin described Zhong Fang as kind-hearted and simple, whose dream was to run Penglai's largest pawnshop. But ever since watching the shadow play by the troupe, he became listless, often going out in the middle of the night and returning in the early morning.

Furthermore, Zhong Fang also made many losing deals, always moved by the love stories of those swindlers, and even paid large sums for fake and inferior items. Di Renjie found a stack of scrolls at Zhong Fang's residence, took them back to the county yamen for careful study, and confirmed through comparison that they depicted the image of the Rain Master from the shadow play. Meanwhile, a maidservant delivered the coir raincoat, but Di Renjie was not there.

Ma Rong stepped in on his behalf, returned the raincoat, and warned Cao An to rein in her thoughts, revealing the news that Di Renjie was about to be transferred. Di Renjie remembered Huang Ying'er and went alone to the watchtower. Seeing her in a state of madness, alternately crying and laughing, with a valuable pawned item from Zhongji Pawnshop on her wrist, he quietly left and detourned to Mingyue Lane.

Cao An felt sad because of Ma Rong's words and was cold towards Di Renjie. When asked about Huang Ying'er, she revealed she had seen Huang Ying'er in the opera troupe, but Huang Ying'er was obsessed with the Rain Master, and each time she would ask how to resurrect the Rain Master, seemingly unable to distinguish between the play and reality. Ma Rong returned to the residence late at night and was discovered by Qiao Tai.

He admitted he went to see Cao An, and pulled out a conch from behind him. Qiao Tai realized he had gone to steal again. Just as Qiao Tai was about to criticize Ma Rong, Di Renjie returned from outside, clearly heard their conversation, and angrily rebuked Ma Rong for not changing his bad habits. Ma Rong felt upset and stood in the courtyard in the rain, unwilling to enter the house.

Later in the night, after Di Renjie finished sorting out the case clues, Qiao Tai felt pity and subtly reminded him, only then did he remember to call Ma Rong into the house. Seeing that Di Renjie was willing to forgive him, Ma Rong couldn't help but burst into tears.

To ascertain the truth, with the assistance of Hong Liang and others, Di Renjie successfully restored the image and equipment of the Rain Master and appeared before Huang Ying'er wearing it. At first, Huang Ying'er mistook him for the person she loved and embraced the "Rain Master," but upon seeing his eyes, she realized someone was impersonating the person she loved.

Di Renjie no longer pretended, removed the mask, and questioned Huang Ying'er about her relationship with Zhong Fang and the cause of Zhong Fang's death. Huang Ying'er seemed provoked, shouting and picking up a dagger to stab Di Renjie, but he easily subdued her. Upon closer inspection, the dagger turned out to be a military knife. Afterward, Di Renjie discovered Wang Sanlang hiding in the corner and peeping.

He immediately arrested the man and took him back to the county yamen prison. After interrogation, Wang Sanlang admitted to personally killing Zhong Fang.

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