Riverside Code at Qingming Festival Episode 21 Recap
> Riverside Code at Qingming Festival Recap
Zhang Zeduan traveled around East Capital, faithfully painting everything he saw and heard. He had heard that Zhao Buyou was investigating the Women's Aid Society and had painted a picture of the society that morning. He brought it to show Zhao Buyou. Looking at the painting, Zhao Buyou noticed a carriage delivering wine barrels to the aid society.
The horse pulling the carriage had a brand mark on its flank, a fish symbol identical to the mark used by Yayuan Mansion. At Yayuan Mansion, to entertain officials seeking pleasure, Luan Hui devised many depraved ideas. He selected Mrs. Xie to be the "brush" for the day. He had her tied up and suspended, using her hair as a brush dipped in ink to write characters.
Mrs. Xie was tormented and cried out for help, but her pleas were useless. Foreign envoy Cui Hong and Minister Ma laughed nearby. Zhao Ban was furious and tried to rush forward to save Mrs. Xie, but two strong men held her back. Luan Hui used Mrs. Xie's hair to write the characters for "Elegance." He called Cui Hong and Minister Ma to admire his work, and they praised it highly.
Mrs. Xie, hanging for too long, began to cough up blood. Seeing the bloodstain on his writing, Luan Hui became enraged. He picked up a stick and began savagely beating Mrs. Xie until she was near death. Zhao Ban shouted for Luan Hui to stop. Luan Hui ordered his men to bury Mrs. Xie and threatened Zhao Ban, saying he would make her try some new tricks.
Suddenly, Ci smashed Minister Ma's wine bottle, causing Luan Hui to curse at her. Terrified, she knelt and begged for mercy. A steward quietly informed Luan Hui that his wife, Zou Ziyin, had returned to the estate. Knowing Zou Ziyin was renowned in East Capital as "his lioness," Luan Hui immediately left in a hurry, telling Cui Hong and Minister Ma to go their separate ways. Zhao Ban was spared for the moment.
Late that night, Zhao Ban tried to sneak away. Wu Mei, another girl in the same room, told her it was useless, there was no way out. Zhao Ban had witnessed Mrs. Xie being beaten to death and did not want to wait for the same fate, nor did she want her family to worry.
Zhao Ban promised that if she escaped, she would inform the family of another girl, but Wu Mei stated she was an orphan with no one who cared about her. Wu Mei offered to show Zhao Ban a dangerous escape route, saying whether she could get out depended on her own fate. Zhao Buyou deduced that Zhao Ban was being held at Yayuan Mansion and asked Gu Zhen and Wan Fu to go and rescue her.
Meanwhile, Luan Hui waited upon Zou Ziyin as she washed her feet, attempting to placate her and present her with a box of gold. Zou Ziyin was unimpressed and verbally abused him. Luan Hui, though resentful, was submissive and obeyed her every command. Zou Ziyin produced sketches of two suspects from the Fan Building case and instructed Luan Hui to silence them quickly. Zhao Ban attempted to escape along the route Wu Mei had pointed out.
She unexpectedly encountered Ci, who offered to lead her. A steward was waiting for them halfway, giving them Yayuan's account ledger containing evidence of the Zou family bribing officials, a map for their escape route, and a dagger for self-defense. Ci then killed the steward swiftly. As they left, Zhao Ban learned that Ci had threatened the steward's family to gain his cooperation.
Ci explained that "they" had killed innocent women like Yingying and those listed on the red silk from the Fan Building. She had risked her life to get the evidence, believing the ledger was the only way to bring them down. Luan Hui opened the sketches and immediately recognized Ci as one of the suspects. He rushed to the secret room to apprehend both Zhao Ban and Ci.
Gu Zhen, Zhao Buyou, Wan Fu, and others entered the area behind Yayuan Mansion and discovered two workers burying Mrs. Xie. Zhao Ban and Ci reached the exit of the underground maze after navigating its twists and turns. Suddenly, Luan Hui burst in with his men. They quickly hid. Wu Mei then appeared, drawing Luan Hui and the guards away to create a diversion, covering Zhao Ban and Ci's escape from the secret room.
Just as Zhao Ban and Ci were about to ride away, assassins from the Stick Society arrived, alerted to their presence. Ci pushed Zhao Ban onto a horse, urging her to deliver the ledger to Lu Sanzhen at the Taoyuan Welfare Center and asking her to take care of Su. The Stick Society had been hired by Zou Ziyin to capture Ci.
Recognizing Ci from the wanted sketch, they killed her on the spot and carried her body away to report back to Zou Ziyin. Gu Zhen, Zhao Buyou, Wan Fu, and others arrived at Yayuan Mansion, searching everywhere for Zhao Ban without success. Officers from the Kaifeng Court found the injured Wu Mei in the underground maze. From her, they learned that Zhao Ban and Ci had fled towards the Welfare Center.
Zhao Buyou and Wen Yue immediately set out for the Welfare Center to find Zhao Ban. Zhao Ban rode quickly back to the Welfare Center, where she learned that Chi Liaoliao was the headmistress. When Lu Sanzhen heard that Ci was in danger, she desperately wanted to go and rescue her. Chi Liaoliao, however, was solely focused on getting the ledger. Lu Sanzhen was heartbroken that Chi Liaoliao only cared about the ledger while Ci's fate was unknown.
Chi Liaoliao argued that they needed the ledger to completely expose Zou Mian, Luan Hui, and the corrupt officials, or they would never be free. Lu Sanzhen asked Zhao Ban to look after Su and went off alone to try and save Ci. Chi Liaoliao then pressed Zhao Ban to hand over the ledger. Zhao Ban, unwilling to give it to her, hid it in a basket hanging from a beam.
He Huan, who was reading in the room, pretended not to see anything. In anger, Chi Liaoliao locked both Zhao Ban and He Huan in the woodshed. Gu Zhen and Wan Fu rescued all the women trapped in the underground maze at Yayuan Mansion, but they did not find Zhao Ban or Luan Hui. Wang Yunshang arrived at Yayuan to help with the search.
Gu Zhen heard that Zhao Buyou and Wen Yue had gone to the Welfare Center and immediately headed there to find them, with Wang Yunshang following closely behind. Wan Fu also brought his men and headed to the Welfare Center. Luan Hui discovered that the Yayuan ledger was missing. He immediately went to report to his wife. The Stick Society members had already delivered Ci's body.
Finding no ledger on Ci's body, Zou Ziyin harshly reprimanded Luan Hui and told him to flee to the south for a while. In the woodshed, Zhao Ban thanked He Huan for covering for her regarding the ledger. He Huan told her that while Chi Liaoliao had a bad temper, she was a good person who cared deeply for the children at the Welfare Center, being an orphan herself.
Zhao Ban learned that He Huan's father was a chief carpenter on a boat on Lake Tai and that he had witnessed his family's tragic death, making Zhao Ban feel his experience was similar to Wen Yue's. Zhao Buyou, Yao He, and Wen Yue arrived at the Welfare Center looking for Zhao Ban. Chi Liaoliao was waiting and wanted to test Wen Yue's skills.
Wen Yue agreed, and Zhao Buyou and Yao He took the opportunity to search for Zhao Ban. Wen Yue easily subdued Chi Liaoliao and pressed her for her true identity. Chi Liaoliao only responded that she had always lived in Wen Yue's shadow. Suddenly, Zou Ziyin and the Stick Society assassins stormed into the Welfare Center, demanding the ledger from Chi Liaoliao and threatening her with the same fate as Ci.
Chi Liaoliao confessed that she was the "orderer" and asked Wen Yue to join forces against Zou Ziyin. Wen Yue and Chi Liaoliao were surrounded. They fought back fiercely but were outnumbered and wounded. Chi Liaoliao, due to exhaustion, was beaten to death. Zhao Buyou fought his way out of the room where he was cornered to protect Wen Yue. Gu Zhen, Wang Yunshang, and Wan Fu arrived with reinforcements just in time.
Wang Yunshang used her father, Governor Wang, to pressure Zou Ziyin. Gu Zhen ordered Zou Ziyin's arrest. Yao He finally located Zhao Ban, who eagerly handed the ledger to Gu Zhen. Zhao Mo'er, having learned about the events at Yayuan from colleagues at the Office of Justice, rushed home. Seeing Zhao Ban safe, he was both relieved and angry and could not help but scold her fiercely. Zhao Ban and Wen Yue pondered where Luan Hui might be hiding.
Zhao Ban remembered the foreign envoy being present in the underground maze. Zhao Li, who had spent time in the palace as a child with his father and could understand some foreign speech, mentioned that foreign envoys could likely be found at the Reception Hall for Envoy.
