Maiden Holmes Episode 26 Recap
> Maiden Holmes Recap
Following the lead on the unique Bai Liang brocade, Su Ci and Pei Yanzhi visit Xu Mengchang, the master of the Xu family. Su Ci questions him about the origin of his late wife's weaving technique. Xu Mengchang claims ignorance, stating only that his wife inexplicably acquired the skill after a half-month of seclusion, during which she met no one new. When Su Ci brings up the family's declining business, Xu Mengchang dismisses it as a minor issue.
Seeing an opportunity for a large business deal, he eagerly agrees to show them his silkworm house. Inside, Xu Mengchang boasts about their unique sericulture techniques. Su Ci examines a sericulture diary and asks about He Da, their most skilled worker, only to be told he has died. Su Ci feigns shock, lamenting the loss of an experienced artisan.
Xu Mengchang reassures them that his late wife trained other workers to produce high-quality silk, strong enough to hold eight copper coins. Realizing their lead has gone cold with the death of the technique's sole master, Pei Yanzhi suggests they leave. Su Ci confirms the brocade uses the Bai Liang technique.
With the clan wiped out, she believes the only remaining link is a palace maid from the Laundry Bureau who faked her death seven years ago, and they resolve to follow this new lead. Meanwhile, Dong Rushuang confronts Xie Beiming, who has been avoiding her. During an herb-gathering trip, she accuses him of having a change of heart and demands honesty. Fearing she is overthinking, Xie Beiming quickly denies her accusations and offers to carry her heavy basket.
Su Ci and Pei Yanzhi decide to investigate the Sun family, the Xu family's rival. At the Sun's silk shop, a worker boasts their silk is the best in town, able to hold five copper coins.
When Su Ci mentions the Xu family's silk has a better sheen, the worker scoffs, claiming their business is failing and that the ability to produce "eight-coin silk" died with the late Lady Xu and their skilled worker, He Da, who could only manage six. As the worker showcases their unique turquoise-dyed silk, an elderly woman arrives, frantically accusing Sun Bo of abducting her "lady." The worker dismisses her as a madwoman.
Su Ci and Pei Yanzhi follow the woman and learn she is looking for Xu Qingmei, assuring her that Xu Qingmei is safe with them. Later, returning to the Sun family's dyeing workshop, they find a panicked worker who announces that Sun Bo has been murdered, attributing it to the "curse of the Silkworm Empress." At the crime scene, Su Ci finds water stains on a table and eight scattered copper coins, a clear message referencing the legendary eight-coin silk.
She determines Sun Bo died of suffocation, though he appeared to have drowned, and his body was moved from the table to the floor. The worker can't recall any suspicious visitors besides the elderly woman and notes that Sun Bo's only real enemy was the Xu family. Pei Yanzhi and Su Ci visit the Xu family again and subtly reveal Sun Bo's death, describing how his head was wrapped like a silkworm cocoon with eight copper coins found nearby.
Xu Mengchang and his second wife, Xu Xiaoying, turn pale. Xu Xiaoying mutters fearfully that it must be retribution or a "ghost," as they had planned to marry Xu Qingmei to Sun Bo. An enraged Xu Mengchang throws them out. While Pei Yanzhi suspects Xu Mengchang's anger is a sign of guilt, Su Ci finds Xu Xiaoying's mention of a "ghost" more intriguing, as everyone else blames the curse.
They question Xu Qingmei's elderly caretaker, who reveals a dark secret: Xu Mengchang and Xu Xiaoying murdered Xu Qingmei's mother. The caretaker, taken in by the late Lady Xu ten years prior, explains that Xu Xiaoying was a maid rescued by her mistress but quickly became Xu Mengchang's concubine and poisoned the kind Lady Xu to become the main wife.
To expose the truth, Su Ci and Pei Yanzhi plan to exploit the couple's superstitious fears by having someone impersonate the late Lady Xu's ghost, whose portrait Su Ci has seen. Xie Beiming volunteers for the role and, with some makeup from Su Ci, looks surprisingly convincing. However, that night, before they can execute their plan, an unknown assailant attacks Xu Mengchang, wrapping his head in silk in the same manner as Sun Bo.
The terrifying event causes Xu Xiaoying to faint. Upon waking, she breaks down, begging the "ghost" of the first wife for forgiveness and confessing to her role in the poisoning. A terrified Xu Mengchang also confesses, admitting he resented his late wife's control and was convinced by Xu Xiaoying to murder her. It is also revealed that Xu Xiaoying took the copper coins from He Da's body to obscure any connection to the late Lady Xu.
Later, Su Ci learns that local silkworms are "four-moulters," but a "five-moulter" could produce the legendary eight-coin silk, a feat no one in Nanxun has achieved. Meanwhile, Xu Qingmei expresses her gratitude to her caretaker, who has looked after her for seven years—the same period since her mother supposedly received the "blessing from the Silkworm Empress" and the family's business boomed. The caretaker becomes distraught upon learning Xu Mengchang's will leaves everything to Xu Xiaoying's daughter.
Overcome with rage and guilt, she tries to tear up the will, but is told another copy exists at the government office. Xu Qingmei tries to console her, insisting that the caretaker's well-being is more important than any inheritance, but the elderly woman remains heartbroken, lamenting that she has failed her former mistress. As her grief crescendos, someone shouts, "Stop!"
