Resumo do episódio 33 de The Heir
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The miners' riot has plunged Huizhou and Ningguo into severe turmoil, leaving countless refugees stranded outside the city gates of Huizhou. Fearing potential unrest, local guards scramble to consult Magistrate He on how to handle the influx. At the Li household, Li Zhengliang returns with a precious bag of rice, though he notes with dismay that the price has skyrocketed by nearly fifty percent in less than half an hour.
He informs his family that Magistrate He has called upon local merchants to establish porridge distribution centers to pacify the desperate refugees. Despite the cut-off trade routes, Li Zhen assures her family that she has secured enough raw materials to fulfill their outstanding ink orders. She looks forward to the arrival of General Yu, whom Marshal Qi is expected to deploy to restore order, hoping to spend some quiet time with her family.
Meanwhile, Tian Benchang receives a letter from Young Master Wu, delivered by his brother Tian Bensheng. The letter reveals that an inquiry into Qi Jiu's background with the Ministry of Revenue showed nothing suspicious; his original name was Wang Fuquan, a northerner who joined Marshal Qi's army in the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing's Reign after his family passed away. However, the mention of the north and the specific year triggers Benchang's suspicions.
He recalls that they moved into their current mansion three years ago, shortly after the downfall of the Luo family, whose second son, Luo Wenqian, was rumored to have fled and died in the north. Suspecting that Qi Jiu is actually the fugitive Luo Wenqian, Benchang sends Bensheng to Nanjing with a letter and instructs him to find Officer Zhang at the prefectural office to retrieve Luo Wenqian's original arrest warrants.
At the Literary Association, the local ink workshop managers gather in despair. With the trade routes blocked, raw materials are scarce and finished ink cannot be shipped out. Third Master Chen warns that the crisis is unlikely to improve before spring. Li Zhen urges the managers not to lose hope, pointing out that General Yu is on his way to quell the riots.
To survive the rising costs, she proposes that President Hu negotiate with the material suppliers to temporarily stabilize prices. While President Hu agrees, he warns against predatory competitors who might exploit the crisis to drive down prices and force smaller workshops out of business. Li Zhen suggests drafting an industry-wide agreement to forbid such behavior, though some managers remain skeptical about whether everyone will honor it.
In the Tian household, Tian Huai'an proudly admires an exquisite wood carving sent by the Wu family, praising his sons' connections with Young Master Wu. However, his pride turns to fury when he confronts Benchang about his secret involvement in illicit foreign trade, a capital offense. Benchang remains defiant, arguing that high risks bring immense wealth. Backed by the Garrison Commander's son, Benchang believes they are invincible as long as Garrison Commander Wu remains in power.
He dismisses the prestigious title of Tribute Ink, declaring his ambition to buy an official position within the Directorate of Imperial Utensils and become a rule-maker rather than a lowly merchant. When his father warns him of the Luo family's tragic fate, Benchang scoffs and claims he will turn the ongoing riots into his own golden opportunity. At Yihousheng, Qi Jiu learns that the trade routes are entirely severed, and no merchants dare to transport goods.
He orders his men to closely monitor the newly returned Tian brothers and dispatches a messenger to inform General Yu of Huizhou's desperate state. Later, Qi Jiu meets Li Zhen to escort her home through the unsafe streets, offering her a warm snack. Concerned for her safety, he suggests moving her family into the city, but Li Zhen explains her heavily pregnant sister-in-law cannot travel easily.
When she laments the struggle of their workshop, Qi Jiu offers to use Yihousheng's remaining connections to ship her ink. Generously, Li Zhen proposes sharing this shipping quota with other struggling workshops, explaining that the Huizhou ink industry must stand together to survive. Deeply impressed by her noble vision, Qi Jiu admits he judged her too narrowly. Soon after, Ji Xiang reports to Qi Jiu that he has spent months tracking the Tian family's cargo ships.
He observed that the crew carried enough food and water to sustain them for several months, far exceeding the requirements for a standard southern voyage to places like Quanzhou. This massive cargo capacity confirms they are engaging in illicit foreign trade, though Tian Benchang's paranoia has kept solid evidence out of reach. Meanwhile, a tragedy unfolds in the city as Tian Bensheng and his men forcefully take down the signboard of the Pan Ink Workshop.
Despite Manager Pan's desperate pleas for a few days' grace, Bensheng mockingly hands him the plaque, claiming the Tians legally purchased the mortgaged shop from the money shop. Bensheng sneers at the onlookers, warning that their workshops might be next. Qi Jiu consults Wang Cuiqiao to locate the Tians' underground ink workshops. Since the Tians cannot manufacture illicit trade ink openly, Qi Jiu deduces they are using the small workshops they recently acquired.
Cuiqiao agrees to investigate using her own network to avoid raising suspicions, but she warns Qi Jiu that powerful figures in the Capital, backed by Nanjing Garrison Commander Wu, are digging into his past. Though Qi Jiu believes his falsified identity is secure, Cuiqiao reminds him of the danger to Marshal Qi. Meanwhile, Third Master Chen leads an angry crowd to the Tian residence, throwing stones and cursing them for destroying their peers.
He reveals the Tians slashed the price of Styrax resin ink by forty percent, freezing the cash flow of the Chen and Li workshops. Their anger is cut short when news arrives that Manager Pan has drowned himself in the Xin'an River. At the Literary Association, Manager Pan's widow and his son, Pan Ruogu, weep bitterly, begging for justice. President Hu explains that the Tians' relentless harassment drove Manager Pan to despair before Magistrate Yan could intervene.
While President Hu suggests raising funeral funds, Li Zhen insists they cannot simply wait for ruin. She proposes going to General Yu to request a military escort for their trade routes. Despite other managers' fears that merchants are too lowly to negotiate with the military, Li Zhen argues that their taxes fund the army and that General Yu is a righteous man. Assisted by Qi Jiu, Li Zhen successfully enters General Yu's camp.
Though General Yu is initially angered by the breach of discipline, Li Zhen presents the Pan Ink plaque and eloquently explains how predatory pricing and blocked trade routes are driving honest citizens to ruin. Li Zhen argues that by clearing the trade routes and reviving local commerce, the city can offer employment to desperate people, thereby quelling the riots far more effectively than bloodshed.
General Yu, moved by her logic and realizing Qi Jiu supported her plan, agrees to discuss the matter with Marshal Qi. Shortly after, Tian Bensheng informs Benchang that while Luo Wenqian's arrest warrants and portraits have been thoroughly erased from all official archives, this complete lack of records only proves a cover-up. Benchang plans to capture Qi Jiu and hand him over to Commander Wu to implicate Marshal Qi for harboring a fugitive.
Meanwhile, the trade routes are successfully reopened as Mr. Liao and his escort soldiers take charge of twenty carts of ink, providing a lifeline to the Huizhou merchants. While Ji Xiang identifies three suspicious workshops used by the Tians, Cuiqiao arrives with grave news. The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of War, and the Liaodong Military Commander are all actively investigating Qi Jiu under Commander Wu's orders.
Knowing Commander Wu seeks to destroy Marshal Qi, Cuiqiao urges Qi Jiu to flee to Annam or Siam immediately, leaving General Yu to claim they were deceived. Qi Jiu refuses, realizing his flight would leave his benefactors vulnerable to Commander Wu's wrath. He declares that the only way to protect Marshal Qi and the Li family is to find undeniable proof of Tian Benchang's illicit foreign trade, exposing the treason of the Wu family.
To shield Li Zhen from the coming storm, Qi Jiu resolves to completely cut ties with her and the Li family, planning to claim he only used them as unsuspecting pawns in his schemes.
