Riverside Code at Qingming Festival Episode 4 Recap
> Riverside Code at Qingming Festival Recap
Ban rushes home to inform Zhao Buyou that Wen Yue is gone. She left a note saying she does not regret their fifteen years together and asks him to take care of his father and siblings if she does not return. Ban confirms that Wen Yue's clothes and jewelry were still at home.
Remembering that Xiao Yishui, a bamboo merchant, had sent Wen Yue a box of delicacies on their anniversary and hearing from Ban that Mr. Xiao also mentioned looking for his junior sister, Zhao Buyou fears something bad has happened. He immediately collects all the money from Zhao Mo'er and Zhao Ban'er and leaves quickly.
Zhao Mo'er tells him that Mr. Xiao was looking for a woman named Fu Ling, known for "prescribing," whom he visits every time he is in the capital. Zhao Buyou instructs them to go home. A flashback shows a scene fifteen years prior. A master orders his followers, including Wen Yue (addressed as Jiu), to do something big that Qingming night: kill Li Yan on the West Rainbow Bridge.
Wen Yue pleads with the master, saying she knows Li Yan is a good official, but the master ignores her plea and kills Li Yan. Zhao Buyou finds Fu Ling on a boat and, acknowledging her rule, pays her to ask about the man with the surname Xiao. Fu Ling admits Xiao paid her a large sum to "hook up with boatmen of a boat" and she came up with the idea of luring them with women dressed as mermaids.
She saw several people crawl onto the big boat in the dark that day after the boatmen were distracted. She tells Zhao Buyou that Xiao has been in the Fan Building every day recently and is currently in the Meilan Hall there. Wen Yue goes to the Fan Building to find Xiao Yishui. He has her searched for weapons.
Recognizing her scent and calling her "Jiu," he reminisces about the past, mentioning an injury she inflicted on him with a dagger. He tells her that fate has brought them back together and insists he wants both the Li Yan case file and her to return with him. Wen Yue refuses to go back. When he asks if she got the file, she claims she did but doesn't have it on her.
Enraged, Xiao calls her insulting names and yells at his subordinates, beating one violently. Zhao Buyou observes from a distance as Gu Zhen and Wan Fu arrive at the Fan Building, asking for the manager. They are investigating a pig head found in the Bian River which led them to the building via a pig shop. The manager claims the pig heads are discarded waste. Gu Zhen then asks if a strong man named Xiao has been staying there recently.
The manager confirms his presence and directs them to where he is. Xiao Yishui continues to pressure Wen Yue to return to him, claiming it's the life she should be living. Wen Yue asks why he wants the Li Yan case file and what he plans to do, worried it will implicate her. Xiao reveals he wants the file to avenge his father.
He claims his father was killed by the Office of Justice fifteen years ago, and everyone on the banks witnessed it. He questions why the Office of Justice arrived so quickly and killed everyone indiscriminately, finding it illogical and suspecting someone was behind it. Gu Zhen and Wan Fu enter, finding Xiao and Wen Yue together. Gu Zhen questions what is going on and asks about the boat incident.
Zhao Buyou, rushing in, immediately creates a diversion by claiming Xiao and Wen Yue are meeting secretly for a romantic liaison, identifying Wen Yue as his wife. Xiao plays along, boldly declaring he is in love with Wen Yue and challenging Buyou. Wen Yue claims she is meeting Xiao for a business discussion, identifying him as the bamboo merchant. Gu Zhen is skeptical and demands to see Xiao's customs document.
Xiao provides the document, which identifies him as Xiao Yishui from Meishan, Chengdu Prefecture, who came to sell specific types of bamboo. Zhao Buyou emphasizes that Xiao is a Sichuan merchant and Wen Yue makes umbrellas, suggesting their meeting is business-related. Di Lun, a Prosecutor from the Office of Justice, arrives. He recognizes Xiao Yishui and greets him warmly as a fellow native from Sichuan, joking about their hometowns and food, much to Gu Zhen's annoyance.
Di Lun dismisses Gu Zhen's concerns about the situation and, after confirming Xiao's document is valid, indicates to Gu Zhen that they should leave. Di Lun then bids Xiao farewell and also departs, leaving Zhao Buyou, Wen Yue, and Xiao Yishui alone. Xiao drops the pretense, telling them he knows Wen Yue is clever for marrying Zhao Buyou, a copyist whose workplace is convenient for him.
He takes them to an underground culvert, suggesting it's a place where people disappear unnoticed. He demands the Li Yan case file. Wen Yue tries to shield Zhao Buyou, claiming he knows nothing and she went to the Office of Justice alone. Zhao Buyou learns she went to the Office of Justice and knows about his dismissal. Wen Yue offers to take Xiao to get the file if he frees Buyou. Xiao refuses to free Buyou.
When Wen Yue insists on freeing both, Xiao orders his men to bury Buyou alive, demanding the file again. Wen Yue secretly cuts the ropes binding her. Xiao realizes she doesn't have the file and was trying to sacrifice herself for Zhao Buyou. He orders his men to untie Buyou. As Wen Yue urges Buyou to escape, Xiao taunts her about her willingness to die for Zhao Buyou.
To protect Wen Yue and demonstrate his capability, Zhao Buyou recites the entire contents of the Li Yan case file from memory, stating he knows all the files in the archive. He warns Xiao that if he harms his wife, he may forget the file's contents. Impressed, Xiao asks Buyou why he didn't reveal his knowledge earlier. Buyou explains his suspicion of Xiao based on the circumstances of the Li Yan murder and the Office of Justice's sudden appearance.
Xiao reveals his real goal is to find the name of the person who closed the case, believing this individual framed his father. Zhao Buyou recalls the person's name was Cheng Rui, an Administrative Judge, but states he died three years ago. Xiao dismisses Cheng Rui as being capable of framing his father and believes the true culprit is still alive and is the same person responsible for the fake auspicious sign today, which he destroyed to provoke them.
He claims he can prove it's the same person. Xiao produces two secret letters: one from the employer who hired his father fifteen years ago and one planning today's fake auspicious sign, asserting their handwriting is identical. He says he wanted the Li Yan file for comparison. Wen Yue admits that the archive caught fire and the file was burned, calling it a coincidence. Xiao asks who set the fire.
Wen Yue doesn't know but identifies Luo Zhun as the last person to leave the archive, though she isn't sure if he was the arsonist. Xiao claims he knows how to confirm if Luo Zhun set the fire. He tells Wen Yue he will pick her up at her house once he is finished and leaves with his men.
Wen Yue confesses her past to Zhao Buyou: she became an orphaned refugee and joined the southern pirates because she couldn't afford to eat. Gan Liang discovered this and threatened her, which is why she killed him. She explains how Xiao Yishui, disguised as a bamboo merchant, lured her into a meeting which was a trap.
He knew about her past, showed her the destroyed auspicious sign, and forced her to steal the Li Yan case file from the Office of Justice by threatening her family. She confirms she was the person Buyou saw in the water, having put on clothes from a dead boatman after Xiao pushed her in. She concludes her confession, acknowledging that Buyou learned about his own dismissal from the Office of Justice when she went there.
Wen Yue presents Zhao Buyou with a divorce letter she prepared. She explains that her connection to Xiao poses a danger to his family and that she cannot stay, especially after lying to them. She gives him her savings of 800 guan, earned from making umbrellas, insisting he use it to buy a house to protect his family's reputation and allow them to live peacefully after she leaves. Zhao Buyou vehemently refuses to sign the letter, burning it in anger.
He expresses his hurt but agrees to buy the house, saying he will live there with a future wife, while she can only watch. He asks her to reserve the south room for his father. Wen Yue agrees. Zhao Buyou tells her that if she is ruthless, he will not be kind either. Zhao Mo'er and Zhao Ban'er overhear the argument about divorce and are distressed. Their father, Zhao Li, arrives.
Wen Yue states she is the one seeking the divorce, claiming it's because she has not had a child for the Zhao family. Zhao Li dismisses this, blaming Zhao Buyou instead and arguing against the divorce as they are already burdened enough with the siblings. Zhao Mo'er and Zhao Ban'er declare they will leave with Wen Yue if she goes, while Zhao Li attempts to calm the situation and stop Wen Yue from leaving immediately.
The next morning, Zhao Buyou takes Zhao Mo'er to the Great Shop of Mules and Horses to buy a horse for Wen Yue. Zhao Buyou likes a white horse and recognizes the shop owner from fifteen years ago. They bargain and agree on a price. While there, Zhao Mo'er notices a foreign man with an accent whose sleeve has residue resembling the powder left on his sleeve when he experimented with ingredients for the fake auspicious sign.
Zhao Buyou is intrigued. When the shop owner mentions that selling horses to foreigners is illegal, someone suddenly attempts to kill the foreign man with a dagger. Zhao Buyou yells, scaring off the attacker, and quickly takes the foreign man away with him, telling him to come along if he doesn't want to die.
