Maiden Holmes Episode 27 Recap
> Maiden Holmes Recap
Su Ci meticulously revealed the full extent of the Madam's deceptions, confronting her with a forged document. The Madam confessed to her deceit, admitting she intended to kill Xu Bingjie to ensure the family property returned to Qingmei's hands. Su Ci then exposed the Madam's involvement in Sun Bo's death, detailing how she had drugged Sun Bo before arriving at his shop.
Unable to struggle, he was suffocated by a white cloth that tightened around his face as water continuously dripped from drying fabrics above him, eventually causing him to fall into a pool and drown, which explained the drag marks on the table. The Madam justified Sun Bo's death, claiming he coveted Qingmei. Su Ci further accused the Madam of murdering Xu Mengchang and He Da.
The Madam admitted to killing Xu Mengchang, labelling him ungrateful for squandering Lady Xu's hard-earned wealth and treating her coldly. She explained that placing eight copper coins by Sun Bo's body was a warning to Xu Mengchang and his wife. As for He Da, the Madam revealed that his death occurred a day earlier than believed, on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, not the tenth.
She had replaced the silkworms in the Xu house with five-sleep-cycle silkworms, causing the third sleep cycle, which He Da recorded, to occur a day earlier, creating a false alibi for herself. She also sealed the room and used charcoal to raise the temperature, obscuring the time of death. The Madam then confessed to tampering with the Silkworm Empress statue, wrapping white phosphorus in wax pellets and placing them beneath it.
The summer heat caused the wax to melt, igniting the phosphorus and burning the statue, leading people to believe it was a curse. She explained she killed He Da because he was ungrateful, planning to take the silk-making skills Lady Xu taught him to the Sun family. Su Ci pressed the Madam about her arrival date, noting that she claimed it was ten years ago, but everyone remembered Lady Xu producing a rare brocade seven years ago.
Cornered, the Madam confessed her true identity: she was the palace maid from the Laundry Bureau who poisoned the Bai Liang brocade seven years prior, faking her death to escape. Lady Xu had saved her from being hunted, and she had hidden in the Xu family ever since. She revealed that He Da had discovered her secret, necessitating his death.
Overhearing Su Ci and others discussing the Laundry Bureau maid, the Madam chose to proactively eliminate problems for Qingmei, both to repay Lady Xu's kindness and to protect her own identity. Finally, the Madam admitted that Prince Yun had ordered her to put poison in the laundry water. Overwhelmed with guilt, she consumed poison and died, imploring Su Ci to take care of Qingmei.
Despite the confession, Pei Yanzhi and Su Ci acknowledged the lack of a living witness to directly implicate Prince Yun. Su Ci vowed to stand by Pei Yanzhi to bring justice to the Bai Liang clan and all innocent victims. Meanwhile, Fei Yuan noticed Xie Beiming's recent coldness towards Dong Rushuang and offered him unusual advice from a folk book: the best way to make a woman dislike you is to openly show affection for another woman.
Following this, Xie Beiming went to Vermilion Bird Street and deliberately got drunk at a brothel. Dong Rushuang, concerned, found him and took him back, only to discover traces of lipstick and rouge on his clothes, infuriating her. She immediately dragged Su Ci to a rouge shop. There, they witnessed Xiwen, also known as Brother Jiang, violently assaulting a man named Tian Yong, who had been harassing Xiwen's sister-in-law, Song Yao.
Pei Yanzhi arrived, defusing the situation and praising Song Yao for her self-sufficiency, while also gently scolding Xiwen for his impulsiveness. While at the shop, Dong Rushuang questioned Song Yao about who had recently bought "cherry red" lipstick. Song Yao confirmed Xie Beiming had bought that specific color for his "sweetheart," even explicitly mentioning his name. Overhearing this, Dong Rushuang stormed out in a rage.
Later, Xie Beiming appeared, holding a woman named Wenwen's hand, and cruelly broke up with Dong Rushuang in front of Su Ci. He asserted that he and Wenwen were in love and that he would soon buy her freedom and marry her. He disparaged Dong Rushuang, claiming Wenwen was prettier, gentler, and more talented, questioning what Dong Rushuang knew besides medicinal herbs.
He further declared that his family's Feiyun Manor could not accept a "village tomboy" and his adoptive father would never agree. Dong Rushuang retorted by calling Wenwen a prostitute, but Xie Beiming defended Wenwen, saying she was pure and lived by her artistic skills. Heartbroken, Dong Rushuang poured out her pain to Su Ci.
Su Ci urged her to think logically, suggesting that a man who loved her at first sight and was willing to die for her would not suddenly fall for someone else. She pointed out the strangeness of him telling the shopkeeper his name and bringing his new love to confront his old one, speculating that he was pretending and encouraging Dong Rushuang to seek the truth herself.
Pei Yanzhi, aware of the turmoil, believed Xie Beiming was hiding a deep difficulty. He found a perpetually drunk Xie Beiming and offered his help, but Xie remained tight-lipped. Pei then revealed he knew Xie Beiming was Prince Yun's adopted son. Shocked, Xie admitted the truth, expressing regret that his negligence had inadvertently led to their whereabouts being exposed. Pei reassured him that he was merely used and not to blame.
Xie grappled with his loyalty to Prince Yun, who had given him everything, versus his understanding of right and wrong. Pei countered that continued loyalty to someone who disregarded lives for selfish reasons was a distortion of truth, questioning why Xie would be drowning his sorrows if Prince Yun truly cared for him.
