Riverside Code at Qingming Festival Episode 8 Recap
> Riverside Code at Qingming Festival Recap
Waking early, Wen Yue found Zhao Buyou was not home. He eventually climbed back over the wall, and Wen Yue smelled the scent of rouge on him, instantly suspecting an affair with Zhang Qiniang. Despite his attempts to explain, she was furious and ignored him. Zhao Mo'er and Zhao Ban'er also arrived, sharing Wen Yue's suspicions about Zhao Buyou's whereabouts the previous night.
Zhao Buyou, anxious to appease Wen Yue and deflect their questions, offered them some chilled lychees he had brought back. They eagerly took them, but Wen Yue was too upset to make breakfast. She gave Mo and Ban money to buy food, promising to cook dinner when she returned from the umbrella shop. When Zhao Buyou asked for honey-glazed tofu, she gave him the cold shoulder, although she agreed to make cinnamon-vine soup for Mo.
At her mansion, Zhang Qiniang reflected on the previous night. She had invited Zhao Buyou to her private chambers after witnessing his skill in handling the "Hat Demon" incident. She tried to entice him, but he steadfastly refused her advances. He made it clear he was married and deeply loved his wife, Wen Yue. When pressed about his motives for helping, he insisted he was only interested in the monetary reward posted on the notice.
Annoyed by his lack of interest in her wealth or beauty, Zhang Qiniang was left seething after he left. Kang Qian, her steward, cautioned her about Zhao Buyou, but she dismissed him. Zhang Qiniang then instructed Kang Qian to hire two skilled guards to enhance security around the mansion. The next morning, Wen Yue arrived at Zhang Qiniang's mansion. The gatekeepers tried to prevent her entry, but she easily overpowered them.
Kang Qian, alerted by the commotion, brought out the newly hired guards to deal with her. Wen Yue, armed with a cinnamon-vine stick, quickly defeated them. Recognizing her formidable skills and suspecting she might be there regarding the property agency incident, Kang Qian quickly adopted a deferential attitude and invited her inside. Zhang Qiniang herself came out to receive her. When Wen Yue hadn't returned by evening, Zhao Buyou made dinner.
Zhao Mo'er suggested they wait for Wen Yue to make cinnamon-vine soup. Zhao Ban'er, still curious, questioned Zhao Buyou about his activities with Zhang Qiniang the previous night. Zhao Buyou, unable to disclose that he was hired with a hundred taels of gold to kill Zhang Qiniang and was actually there to investigate the "Hat Demon" claim, offered vague excuses.
When he learned that Mo, Ban, and even Wen Yue had seen him getting into Zhang Qiniang's elaborate carriage, he was dismayed. He tried to explain that he was just seeking the reward money to buy a larger house with two south-facing rooms for them. Mo and Ban remained unconvinced and expressed their disdain for his actions. Later, Zhao Li accidentally found the pouch containing the hundred taels of gold.
Recognizing the pouch as a "royal artifact," he suspected the money came from Zhang Qiniang and warned Zhao Buyou not to accept such ill-gotten gains, leaving Zhao Buyou speechless. At Zhang Qiniang's mansion, she offered Wen Yue a special face cream. Wen Yue was impatient, wanting only to know why Zhang Qiniang had summoned her husband the previous night. Upon realizing that Wen Yue was Zhao Buyou's wife, Zhang Qiniang became openly sarcastic.
She exaggerated her interaction with Zhao Buyou, claiming he had peeled lychees for her and complimented his smooth hands. Unwilling to back down, Wen Yue retorted that Zhao Buyou's hands were usually busy washing her feet and that peeling lychees must have been an unusual task for him. Zhang Qiniang was left without a response. Zhang Qiniang, through Kang Qian, gave a substantial sum of money to Wan Fu, asking him to smooth over the Hat Demon case.
Wan Fu showed the money to Gu Zhen as was customary before distributing it to the veterans. Gu Zhen, upon learning that Wan Fu had arrested an errand boy named Sun Bo as a scapegoat, instructed him to return the money to Zhang Qiniang. Recognizing that Wan Fu couldn't handle the complexities of the Zhang family's involvement in the case alone, Gu Zhen advised Wan Fu to assist Zhao Buyou with the investigation.
The night before, after leaving Zhang Qiniang, Zhao Buyou had visited Gu Zhen to inquire about Zhang Qiniang's background. Gu Zhen revealed that she had powerful connections and warned Zhao Buyou not to provoke her. He recounted the case of a young tutor and his family who disappeared after the tutor began working for Zhang Qiniang, suggesting her potential involvement despite the lack of concrete proof.
He also mentioned Zhang Qiniang's possessive attitude, citing her saying she would "paste a yellow seal" on things she liked to claim them as her own. Gu Zhen emphasized the importance of investigating the case thoroughly, rather than letting it be buried at Zhang Qiniang's behest. Meanwhile, Song Qiyu successfully negotiated with his boss to revise and print the article he wrote about Zhao Mo'er, changing "bitter ashes" to "bitter soil."
He proudly gave a copy to Zhao Mo'er, which Zhao Ban'er greatly admired. The three of them, along with Yao He, decided to continue their investigation and returned to re-examine Wu Xiang's body. Although they found only minor, non-fatal injuries to his head and no signs of poisoning, Zhao Ban'er noticed Wu Xiang's right eye was bloodshot and felt a slight depression on his head, regretting she hadn't felt it more carefully earlier.
Upon further examination and consulting Yao He's father's coroner's notebook, they concluded based on the location of "livor mortis" (discoloration) that Wu Xiang had died while lying face-up, meaning he was already dead when he was hung up, disproving the "Hat Demon" theory. Zhao Buyou arrived at Wu Xiang's home to investigate the crime scene, joined by Wan Fu and his men. Zhao Buyou meticulously searched the house.
In Wu Xiang's room, he found evidence of worship of Han Xin for wealth, noting the presence of a censer and the inscription "Grant me wealth," contrary to Wan Fu's initial suspicion that the family were spies studying military strategy. Zhao Buyou also observed an oil mark on the table where an oil lamp should have been, indicating a missing item. Zhao Mo'er, Zhao Ban'er, Song Qiyu, and Yao He arrived to report their findings about the head injury.
Zhao Buyou, concerned for their safety, sternly told them to stop interfering in the dangerous case, particularly since the crime scene had been tampered with. He sent them away, leaving Zhao Mo'er feeling frustrated about her uncertain future, having been dismissed from medical studies and feeling she made a significant error as a coroner. Yao He tried to comfort Zhao Ban'er, expressing his feelings for her indirectly by saying he couldn't be without her because he was easily frightened.
Later, Zhao Buyou visited a female wrestling arena, where Hei Sijie and He Sainiang were competing. He inquired about Wu Xiang, learning that he was a frequent visitor with terrible gambling luck who had recently lost a fortune equivalent to a house's value in a single round and had even fainted on the spot. While he was there, Zhang Qiniang arrived, stating she wanted to ensure he wasn't slacking on the investigation. She pressed him to let her join him, but Zhao Buyou refused her persistent invitations, eventually leaving to investigate on his own.
