Judge Dee's Mystery Episode 23 Recap, Plot

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Di Renjie came to the soup pool downstairs and saw a group of followers who didn't seem easy to mess with. The master, Lang Liu, was relatively polite, exchanging pleasantries with Di Renjie. One, as a merchant, hinted that there are many injustices in the world, while the other, as a quick doctor, vowed to cure all incurable diseases under heaven. The implied meanings were obvious.

That night, Di Renjie was drinking soup and eating cakes in the lobby, and seeing another table of guests bossing Xiaowei around, he intentionally tried to cheer her up. Coincidentally, Lang Liu went out at night with his followers. Di Renjie took the initiative to strike up a conversation to probe him and politely declined his invitation to go stargazing together. Afterwards, he learned from Xiaowei that this person was a silk merchant who owned dozens of warehouses nearby.

Thinking of what Mr. Hulu had said, Di Renjie felt suspicious and went out, seeing the innkeeper, Wei Sheng, rushing away in a carriage. Mr. Hulu suddenly appeared and directly recognized Di Renjie's identity. Di Renjie suspected that Mr. Hulu was Hei Yan, intentionally leading him to Qingchuan. Mr. Hulu neither admitted nor denied it, but instead reminded him to curb his curiosity lest he bring trouble upon himself.

Afterwards, Di Renjie came to the warehouse on the street corner and found some bloodstains inside. Although he had taken precautions, he still fell into a trap and was captured by three masked men with a large net. Fortunately, Hulu Laoren intervened in time, knocking out the masked men in a few moves and helping Di Renjie escape. When Di Renjie returned to the inn, he saw bloodstains on Wei Sheng's carriage and immediately connected it to that warehouse.

Out of instinct, he questioned him. Wei Sheng lied, claiming he had bought a few sheep a few days ago, and even felt that dead cows, dead horses, or dead people had nothing to do with him, suggesting Di Renjie should tidy himself up instead. Wei Sheng took Di Renjie to the carriage to pick a set of clothes.

Di Renjie noticed a piece of wooden hairpin in the clothes, which seemed extremely similar to the hairpin Xiaowei wore in her hair. Xiaowei was scolded a few times by Wei Sheng and brought a bucket of water to wash away the bloodstains. Di Renjie curiously asked her if she knew about Wei Sheng's delivery matters. Xiaowei's response was rather intriguing, hinting that what Wei Sheng was doing was not legitimate business at all.

Just as Xiaowei was lost in thought over something, Di Renjie came over to talk again. He learned that the hairpin was handmade by Xiaowei's mother, who suffered greatly after remarrying Wei Sheng. Later, she met a man who was good to her, but he mysteriously disappeared one day.

Now that Qiao Tai had not yet woken up, Hong Liang had invited all the quick doctors, but none could find any symptoms, so he could only search through ancient texts for a method of treatment. Ma Rong stayed by the bedside all night without sleep. Cao An worried about her health and brought her food, patiently advising and comforting her.

It was also during this conversation that Ma Rong learned that Cao An was not extravagant with money; she earned three hundred coins a month working at the yamen, and the hundred coins she spent on shopping were also from her own pocket, with some of it spent on Di Renjie. Ma Rong regretted having misunderstood Cao An and also felt that Cao An might look down on her.

Cao An said she admired Ma Rong greatly because she was free and uninhibited and did many things that most women would not dare to do in their entire lives. She also understood Ma Rong's unusual way of thinking and did not blame her for taking Chen Xiaoyun to investigate the case on her own, which led to Qiao Tai being poisoned. She simply hoped that instead of blaming herself and spacing out, Ma Rong could do something more useful.

Under Cao An's guidance, Ma Rong finally ate her meal seriously and stopped dwelling on her troubles. After one night, Cao An made a new discovery in the ancient texts. Hong Liang immediately thought of a method of object transference, which would cause the poisoned person to wake up within three days. Di Renjie thought carefully about the people and events he encountered in Qingchuan but found no clues. However, he heard Xiaowei singing in the lobby.

Before she could finish singing, Wei Sheng called her away to help him. Commander Xiao suddenly appeared at the inn. Using the excuse of shoulder and neck discomfort, he went into a room with Di Renjie for a detailed talk.

After confirming there were no outsiders present, he directly stated his purpose, admitting his mistake to Di Renjie and saying that if Hei Yan truly appeared in Qingchuan, he would be willing to bring a hundred or so men to help him. At first, Di Renjie was reluctant to pay attention, but upon hearing that Commander Xiao's ancestor was the fierce general Xiao Yiran, who was demoted here because of his upright character, he was overjoyed. He reached out and squeezed Commander Xiao's shoulder and neck, causing him to let out a painful cry to cover their conversation, and told him to be ready to act at his signal.

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