Luoyang Episode 4 Recap
> Luoyang Recap
Liu Ran was distraught when Baili Hongyi did not return, and although she sent people to search for him, they found nothing. Baili Wu, the housekeeper, dispatched additional men to continue the search. Liu Xiang, Liu Ran’s uncle, grew impatient and urged her to return home with him, stating that he had waited with her all night and questioning why she would stay for someone whose fate was unknown.
Liu Ran, however, firmly declared that she was now part of the Baili family and would not leave, stating, "I, Liu Qiniang, am not some object or decoration," and insisting that her uncle had been the one to insist on her marriage into the Baili family in the first place. Just then, Baili Wu announced Baili Hongyi's return. Liu Ran rushed to him, asking if he had been hurt by the thugs.
Baili Hongyi, seemingly unaffected, simply told everyone, including Liu Ran, to leave. Baili Wu, concerned for his well-being, urged Baili Hongyi to rest, as he had been awake all night beside Baili Yan's body. Meanwhile, Lord Pei of the Grand Court led his men to the Unwelcome Well, announcing that Gao Bingzhu, a wanted criminal, was still at large.
He declared that all entrances and exits to the Unwelcome Well would be sealed, and no one, not even a mouse, would be allowed to leave until Gao Bingzhu was arrested, threatening death to anyone who attempted to do so. The residents protested loudly, pleading with Lord Pei. Wang Dengcheng, a Well officer, explained that their food and medicine were purchased from outside, and if the lockdown was sudden, they would starve.
He detailed that they only had enough food for fifteen days, ten piculs of bran noodles, and dwindling medicine, emphasizing that while the strong could endure, the old, weak, and ill would perish. Another man pleaded for his critically ill son, whose life depended on medicine. Lord Pei remained resolute, stating that if they wished for the lockdown to be lifted, they must cooperate with the Grand Court to apprehend Gao Bingzhu.
Back at the Baili Mansion, Liu Ran, concerned for Baili Hongyi, instructed Baili Wu to remove all the red silks in the garden and replace them with funeral customs. She also ordered him to immediately go to the west of the capital to procure the finest coffin and quickly draft a list of those attending the funeral, emphasizing that in these trying times, they must all work together. Lord Pei's men tracked Gao Bingzhu to Ji Shan Fang.
Inside the bustling casino, Lord Pei questioned Yao, the owner, about Gao Bingzhu's whereabouts, showing her a wanted poster. Yao denied having seen him, citing the constant flow of customers and accusing Lord Pei of trying to shut down her business with such a thorough search. When pressed about her prolonged gaze at the wanted poster, Yao wittily remarked that he looked "decent," implying Lord Pei might be jealous.
Lord Pei then proceeded to search her private quarters, where Gao Bingzhu, hidden, suddenly emerged and took Lord Pei hostage. Lord Pei confronted Gao Bingzhu, blaming him for the lockdown of the Unwelcome Well and the recent murders, including that of a third-grade official, stating that officials cared more about their ranks than human lives. He declared that the Unwelcome Well would remain sealed until Gao Bingzhu surrendered.
Gao Bingzhu, in turn, reminded Lord Pei of a past favor, promising to capture the true culprit within ten days and send him to the Grand Court, but only if Lord Pei ensured the well-being of the Unwelcome Well residents, providing them with ample food and medicine. He pledged that if he failed within ten days, his head would be Lord Pei's.
After Lord Pei left, Yao warned Gao Bingzhu against interfering, pointing out the extreme danger posed by the "cruel and dangerous criminal" whom even the Grand Court couldn't apprehend. Gao Bingzhu, however, dismissed her concerns, stating that he was compelled to act as he had indirectly caused trouble for the Unwelcome Well, and moreover, he had almost died five years ago in connection with the same underlying forces.
Yao acknowledged their agreement not to pry into each other's past but thanked him for saving her life once again. Their conversation was interrupted by a commotion downstairs. Yao discovered that a ship crew owed gambling debts and were attempting to default on them, stating their employer, Lord Baili, the Minister of Works, had died suddenly the previous night, preventing them from collecting their wages.
Yao, unfazed by their story, dismissed it as nonsense, accusing them of using a death to shirk responsibility. When they offered the Baili Mansion's goods on their ship as collateral, Yao still refused and ordered her men to beat them. Gao Bingzhu followed the crew to the pier in the west of the capital, posing as a porter to board their ship.
He quickly realized the crewmen were fake when he noticed one had no calluses on his hands, despite claiming to be a boatman. He cornered one, who confessed that someone had paid them to impersonate boatmen and lure Gao Bingzhu into the ship's cabin, where a specific individual would appear, and that this individual also provided the ship. As Gao Bingzhu absorbed this information, masked assailants suddenly appeared, killing the fake crewmen with hand halberds.
Realizing he had been set up, Gao Bingzhu fought back desperately against the masked attackers in a fierce struggle aboard the ship. He repeatedly tried to unmask his opponents but failed, and both sides sustained injuries. Eventually, the masked assailant plunged into the sea, with Gao Bingzhu pursuing closely behind. Meanwhile, at the Baili Mansion, during Baili Yan's funeral, Baili Hongyi tearfully bade his final farewell. He noticed unusual red rashes on Baili Yan's chest.
Baili Wu dismissed them as mere heat rash. However, Baili Hongyi, recalling that the Grand Court's autopsy had mentioned no such rashes, carefully examined the marks. He realized that the wound on his father's chest, near the heart, should have caused blood to splash high onto the walls of the study, yet there were no stains. He deduced that Baili Yan's blood must have coagulated "before" the knife wound was inflicted, indicating he had been poisoned first and then stabbed.
He then retrieved a bowl from a trash bucket in his father's room, confirming his suspicion that the white fungus soup had been poisoned. Gao Bingzhu, having barely managed to swim ashore, discovered that the masked assailant he had been pursuing was dead. He picked up the hand halberd that had fallen, then proceeded to the graves of his fallen brothers. He poured their favorite Pine Leaf Wine, talking to each of them by name: Buyi, Xiaoqi, and Xiaojiu.
He spoke of Buyi's son, Xiaoqi's fondness for wind chimes, and how Xiaojiu would now be seventeen. Though he had avenged them, Gao Bingzhu admitted to feeling a profound emptiness. He promised them that once he had settled their families, he would join them and apologize for what he owed them. Later, Gao Bingzhu confidently returned to the Unwelcome Well, openly confessing his past wrongs to the families of his fallen brothers and declaring he had avenged them.
However, the residents refused to accept his words, vehemently accusing him of being a criminal who had brought disaster to the Unwelcome Well. They forcibly drove him out, despite him leaving all his money for them as he departed. Back at the Baili Mansion, Baili Hongyi summoned all the maids to inquire about the precise process of preparing the white fungus soup on the wedding day. A maid confirmed she had distributed the soup to guests.
Baili Wu then detailed the preparation: Miss Zheng picked the white fungus, Wang Xiaohei fetched the water, Miss Chen cleaned the lotus seeds, and Xiaoju kept the fire burning for two and a half hours. He confirmed that he personally tasted it before sugar was added and it was served, and no external servants were involved. Baili Hongyi concluded that someone had poisoned the white fungus soup. Later, Lord Chu received delayed news of Gao Bingzhu's ambush at the dock.
He suspected a spy within the Intelligence Services was intentionally blocking information, expressing deep concern about this internal threat. He inquired about the cases of the seven murdered Unwelcome Well residents, the informer Lin Zhong and his daughter, and Grand Court official Chen Que, all of whom had been killed in different locations. He also learned that Lord Baili, the Minister of Works, had been killed at Baili Mansion.
The Grand Court had dismissed the dock incident as a dispute among associations, but Lord Chu found this absurd. He ordered his agent to investigate and bring him detailed files on the Unwelcome Well murders. Gao Bingzhu, replaying the events in his mind, realized he had been misled. He distinctly remembered the masked assailant's hand halberd falling into the water when he jumped overboard, yet the same weapon had been found on the dead man's body.
He recognized that the person he had killed was not the true culprit. With this realization, he covertly infiltrated the Baili Mansion that very night to investigate and gather evidence, only to find Baili Hongyi waiting for him. Baili Hongyi, who had dismissed everyone from his father's wake to be alone, immediately recognized Gao Bingzhu, stating that he knew Gao Bingzhu would come and that he was not his father's killer.
