Resumo do episódio 23 de The Imperial Coroner 2
> Resumos de The Imperial Coroner 2
Following the mysterious disappearance of Prefect Liu Shijiang in Jiaozhou, his wife, Madam Yulan, frantically seeks help from Xiao Jinyu and his companions. While Han Ji dismisses the matter, suggesting Liu fled to avoid responsibility for the Nanzhao military threat, Xiao Jinyu senses a hidden tension between Han Ji and Yulan. Choosing to conduct an independent investigation, Xiao Jinyu, Chu Chu, and Xiao Jinli track erratic footprints—indicative of a drunken man—into a nearby bamboo grove.
In the grove, they discover Liu Shijiang’s body impaled by several bamboo shoots. Surrounding the corpse, a swarm of poisonous, bluish-green insects has clustered to form a chilling prophecy: "Jiaozhou is a cursed land; all life shall perish. If a new king is not established, no survival is possible."
Chu Chu observes that the scene is unnatural; had Liu simply fallen while drunk, he would have instinctively reached out to break his fall, yet his body lies in a stiff, defenseless pose. Suspecting foul play, Xiao Jinyu notes Han Ji’s uncharacteristic haste in having a local coroner handle the body, a move clearly intended to prevent the Three Judicial Offices from examining the evidence.
Upon re-examining the imperial decree that had previously forbidden Xiao Jinli from deploying troops, Xiao Jinyu identifies it as a forgery. He points out that several characters are perfectly identical, which is impossible in natural human calligraphy. He concludes the document was replicated using the Emperor’s stolen scrolls from the Wu Liang case. Consequently, he prepares to notify Jing Yi in the capital to root out palace conspirators and confirm the forgery with the Emperor.
Meanwhile, in the Nanzhao camp, the Eldest Prince captures a man claiming to be Zhou Han. This individual reveals he was recruited to impersonate the former Tang officer because of their striking resemblance. He discloses that he has been working for "The Peacock"—who is actually the Second Prince—in Chang'an. He explains how the Peacock used poisonous longevity potions to control Tang officials and staged supernatural ruses.
Having barely escaped an assassination attempt by the Second Prince to cover his tracks, he offers this information to the Eldest Prince, who is eager to use it to discredit his brother. Back at the bamboo grove, Xiao Jinyu finds residue of incense used to attract the insects into their formation.
Chu Chu collects a bamboo shoot that provides definitive proof: a bloodstain on the shoot shows that the bamboo grew several inches through the body after the blood had already spilled. This confirms Liu Shijiang was already dead or incapacitated when he was placed there, and the bamboo slowly impaled him as it grew overnight.
Despite Han Ji’s insistence on it being an accident, the local officials—wary of Han Ji’s public conflicts with the Prefect—urge Xiao Jinyu to take charge of Jiaozhou. Xiao Jinyu accepts and orders Han Ji to be confined to his quarters pending further investigation. The investigation into the Prefect’s household reveals a fractured marriage.
A maid testifies that while the Prefect was initially happy to see Yulan, a private conversation ended with him furiously calling her a "beast" before storming off to confront Han Ji. Chu Chu also learns that Yulan’s pregnancy was only discovered after the Prefect had already left for the capital, suggesting a scandalous secret involving Han Ji.
When Chu Chu attempts to check Yulan’s pulse under the pretext of gifting her a pair of mother-and-child bracelets, Yulan reacts with extreme agitation and smashes the jewelry. The mystery takes a horrific turn when Chu Chu’s autopsy reveals insect egg casings and unhatched larvae inside Liu Shijiang’s abdominal cavity. She concludes the Prefect’s body was used as a living vessel for breeding these poisonous insects long before his return to Jiaozhou.
The insects eventually hatched, rupturing his organs and crawling out of his wounds to form the prophecy at the killer's orchestrated moment. Xiao Jinyu confronts Han Ji, revealing that the Emperor had actually sent Han Ji to monitor the Prefect for treason. Han Ji admits he found Liu doing business with Nanzhao merchants but remains evasive regarding his personal relationship with Yulan.
The lethality of these insects is confirmed when Luo Yan discovers a group of Nanzhao soldiers dead from a similar swarm. She uses bonfires to contain the site. Amidst the chaos, news arrives that Granny Chunxi and a young villager named Guo have gone missing. Realizing that the number of disappearing border villagers has surged, Xiao Jinyu concludes the victims are being kidnapped to serve as live test subjects for this dark sorcery of cultivating insects within human bodies.
