Maiden Holmes Episode 23 Recap
> Maiden Holmes Recap
Still grappling with her feelings for Pei Yan Zhi, Su Ci reconsidered her mistrust, recalling how he had risked his life for her and his dedication to the Bai Liang case. Early the next morning, she saw him preparing for a watch at the Li family graves and insisted on joining him. As they lay in wait, Pei Yan Zhi asked if she was worried about him. He then explained that they were in the middle of an elaborate trap.
The plan involved announcing a new water channel project that would require relocating the real Li family cemetery, which they hoped would compel the supposedly deceased Li Mu to appear if he was still alive. Meanwhile, this second, fake gravesite where they were hiding served as a lure for the mastermind's followers. He emphasized the need to see the deception through, as their actions had likely alerted their true enemy.
Just then, Prince Yun's men, who had been tailing them, appeared and realized they had fallen into an ambush. Pei Yan Zhi's forces emerged, eliminating most of the attackers, though one managed to escape and was pursued. Simultaneously, at the real Li family cemetery, Xie Beiming captured a group of workers who admitted they were paid to relocate the graves. One man confessed that a masked individual had offered him a tael of silver to arrange the job.
Su Ci, observing the scene, noticed rosin powder spread around the graves. She deduced that since strangers were hired, spreading rosin powder—a custom reserved for family members to guide ancestral spirits—was highly suspicious. This detail confirmed that the man they sought, Li Mu, was hiding among the workers. As they cornered Li Mu, assassins sent by Prince Yun arrived and fatally struck him with a hidden weapon.
Before dying, Li Mu recognized Su Ci as a member of the Bai Liang Clan and urged her to find the answers she sought "between the two graves." Pei Yan Zhi, in pursuit of Prince Yun's last subordinate, was severely injured when he shielded Su Ci from a powerful blow, causing him to cough up blood. Jiang Xiwen arrived just in time to dispatch the final attacker.
A worried Su Ci helped the injured Pei Yan Zhi to a nearby cave. Inside, as he removed his upper garment to tend to the wound, Su Ci saw a distinct bite mark on his arm. He recounted that he had received it while saving a little girl during a past military campaign. Recognizing the mark and the story, Su Ci was overwhelmed with guilt, realizing that Pei Yan Zhi was the one who had saved her as a child.
She apologized profusely for misjudging him and even contemplating revenge. While she gathered medicinal herbs, he reassured her, saying he only desired her complete trust and promised to stay by her side regardless of the outcome. He showed her other battle scars to prove his current injury was minor in comparison. Deeply moved, Su Ci tore a strip of her own clothing to bandage his wound and then kissed him, vowing never to leave him again.
Later, Su Ci reflected on her parents, whom she barely remembered—her father, tall and strict, and her mother, gentle with a beautiful smile. Pei Yan Zhi expressed his sorrow for all she had endured. Su Ci shared that after her clan’s destruction, she had wandered, enduring hardship until a senior nun adopted her. The nun taught her to survive by abandoning her feminine identity and trained her in investigation, eventually sending her to the Mingjing Office.
She sadly added that the nun had since passed away, leaving her with no living relatives, to which Pei Yan Zhi lovingly reminded her that she now had him. Soon after, Xie Beiming, Fei Yuan, and the others, who had been searching all night, finally found them. Relieved that Pei Yan Zhi was recovering, Fei Yuan rushed off to prepare a nourishing meal.
Su Ci then asked Xie Beiming to thoroughly investigate Li Mu's grave, certain they were on the right path. Both she and Pei Yan Zhi suspected their movements were being leaked, but couldn't identify a spy among their small group. Xie Beiming's search of the grave uncovered a hidden box containing Li Mu's confession. The letter revealed that Li Mu had a frail younger brother, Li Lin, whose ominous birth chart meant he had to live in seclusion.
To pay for his brother's treatment, Li Mu had agreed to forge a letter implicating the Bai Liang Clan. The letter detailed how Li Lin, knowing assassins were coming for his brother, had locked Li Mu in their secret room and sacrificed himself, allowing the attackers to kill and burn him in Li Mu's place.
Xie Beiming also found a second letter, this one in Lei Zheng's handwriting, which confirmed that Lei Zheng had instructed Li Mu to forge the treason letter by mimicking the handwriting of Bai Sheng, the Bai Liang Clan's leader. As Xie Beiming recounted how Lei Zheng had used Liang Feng to find Li Mu, and how Liang Feng later blackmailed Lei Zheng for his son's promotion, Su Ci grew visibly pale and distressed.
Xie Beiming was confused by her somber mood now that they had found such crucial evidence. Pei Yan Zhi held Su Ci's hand tightly as she revealed her true identity: she was Bai Sheng's daughter and the sole survivor of the Bai Liang Clan. She explained that while she had intended to keep it a secret until the case was solved, she had to tell them now, as their involvement had put them all in increasing peril.
Her friends expressed deep concern, understanding the dire consequences if the court discovered the identity of a "Bai Liang fugitive." Pei Yan Zhi quickly proposed a solution: Su Ci could hide at Feiyun Manor's remote inn in the vast, sparsely populated desert. Fei Yuan then wryly remarked that for a man used to an idle life, "chasing his wife across a thousand miles" seemed like a worthwhile endeavor for Pei Yan Zhi.
