Maiden Holmes Episode 25 Recap
> Maiden Holmes Recap
Following up on their lead, Dong Rushuang and Xie Beiming located the old palace maids at a temple. After examining their pulses, Dong Rushuang confirmed they were expelled not for illness, but because their palms had suddenly become red and swollen. Seven years later, many of their hands were severely deformed. Dong Rushuang deduced that while the maids' condition was chronic, the late emperor's sudden death suggested a catalytic agent must have accelerated the poison's effect.
Meanwhile, Xie Beiming was laughing uncontrollably, baffling Fei Yuan and Su Ci. Dong Rushuang revealed she had given him laughing medicine to cheer him up from his gloomy mood. His stomach aching from laughter, Xie Beiming begged for the antidote. Dong Rushuang agreed to provide it if he promised to remain cheerful, directing him to a white bottle on her desk.
Later, Dong Rushuang expressed her concern to Su Ci and Pei Yanzhi, noting that Xie Beiming had been avoiding her and seemed to have a secret. Pei Yanzhi advised her to give him space, and she resolved to patiently support him until he was ready to confide. Dong Rushuang concluded that the maids' poison resembled a rare chronic poison called Fei Yue, which is catalyzed by Bletilla, an herb used in blood-invigorating tonics.
However, when Pei Yanzhi provided the late emperor's prescriptions, Bletilla was not listed. Determined, Dong Rushuang went to a pharmacy, where she overheard a customer asking for "Magnolia Ginseng" and learned from the shopkeeper that it was an old name for Bletilla. Realizing this was the missing link, Su Ci questioned who had given the late emperor the tonic.
Pei Yanzhi informed her it was the Empress Dowager but, knowing of her deep affection for the late emperor, speculated that someone had exploited her to administer the poison. He offered to subtly question her. Pei Yanzhi approached the Empress Dowager, claiming to need a tonic for old battle injuries and asking about the one the late emperor took, which he recalled being very effective.
The Empress Dowager casually mentioned that Princess Consort Yun had put considerable effort into finding that tonic. Upon hearing this, an agitated Su Ci wanted to immediately report Prince Yun to the emperor, accusing him of ordering the fabric to be poisoned and using his consort to present the tonic, thereby killing the late emperor and framing the Bai Liang Clan. Pei Yanzhi cautioned her, explaining that Prince Yun wielded immense power.
He emphasized that inferences were not enough; they needed irrefutable evidence to expose the conspiracy and prevent him from preparing a counter-attack. Su Ci grieved for the late emperor, her parents, her clan, and the soldiers who died in vain, yearning for justice. Xie Beiming later bought Dong Rushuang numerous fabrics for her experiments, intending to use the leftovers to make her new clothes.
Su Ci immediately recognized one piece as Bai Liang brocade, a weave whose technique was never taught outside her clan. At the silk shop, the owner confirmed the fabric was sourced from the Xu family in Nanxun. Traveling to Nanxun, the group rested at a tea house and overheard locals discussing a plague, which they blamed on the Xu family for angering the Silkworm Empress.
They spoke of a recent celebration where the deity's statue mysteriously caught fire, followed by the discovery of a Xu family worker, He Da, dead in the silkworm house, his head wrapped in white cloth like a cocoon. The locals also recalled that the Xu family had prospered seven years prior after the first Lady Xu mastered a complex weaving technique, suggesting her subsequent death was divine "backlash."
Continuing their journey, Xie Beiming spotted a woman jumping into the river and rescued her. She was Xu Qingmei, the eldest daughter of the Xu family. She recounted that after the statue caught fire at the celebration her family hosted, a man named Sun Bo incited the townspeople to blame her father, Xu Mengchang, for the disaster and the plague. Sun Bo then offered to resolve the conflict if Xu Mengchang agreed to marry Xu Qingmei to him.
Disliking Xu Qingmei as she was his late wife's daughter, Xu Mengchang agreed. Feeling betrayed, Xu Qingmei had attempted suicide. Su Ci and Pei Yanzhi proceeded to the morgue to examine He Da's body. The coroner, believing in divine punishment, noted the head was wrapped like a cocoon with no other wounds. He confirmed the body was reported by Xu Mengchang and his wife. Observing the victim's purplish-blue face, Su Ci concluded the cause of death was suffocation.
Meanwhile, Dong Rushuang stayed behind to investigate the plague's source. Before visiting the Xu family, Pei Yanzhi and Su Ci went to a jade shop, where the owner mentioned the Xu family had cash flow problems and hadn't paid for an expensive Hetian jade pendant they ordered. Pei Yanzhi purchased the jade, telling Su Ci it was for the case. They then bought luxurious clothes, disguising themselves as wealthy merchants.
At the Xu mansion, they expressed interest in buying Xu Mengchang's properties. Eager to sell, he showed them his finest brocade. Su Ci confirmed it used the Bai Liang Clan's weaving technique. When Pei Yanzhi remarked on its similarity to Bai Liang brocade, Xu Mengchang grew nervous and denied it. Su Ci feigned an apology, her suspicions confirmed. Xu Mengchang explained that his deceased wife had mysteriously mastered the technique after half a month in seclusion, claiming not to know how.
