Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty Episode 17 Recap
> Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty Recap
After sleeping for twelve hours under the care of Chicken Fed, Dugu Xiashu awakened, as Su Wuming predicted, unable to accept that Qinghong was dead and unwilling to admit to killing either her or Liu Youqiu. Lu Lingfeng confirmed that Dugu Xiashu had completely retracted his previous confession. To help Dugu Xiashu separate reality from his delusions, Su Wuming tasked Pei Xijun with visiting him in Nanzhou Prison, listening to his accounts of dreams and real-life events, and illustrating them.
Dugu Xiashu initially expressed discomfort with Pei Xijun, a woman, being present, but she reminded him that Su Wuming, a disciple of Detective Di, sought only the truth. Pei Xijun returned with her collection of drawings. Lu Lingfeng found one particularly unsettling, depicting Liu Youqiu and Qinghong meeting secretly at Dugu Xiashu's home.
Other images showed Dugu Xiashu confronting Liu Youqiu, Qinghong threatening to expose their affair if Liu Youqiu didn't elope with her, and finally, Liu Youqiu, in a fit of shame, killing Qinghong with a kitchen knife. Dugu Xiashu had insisted these images were neither dreams nor reality, but persistent visions in his mind.
Lu Lingfeng dismissed the notion of Liu Youqiu being the murderer due to lack of evidence, finding Dugu Xiashu's new hallucinations strange, especially after his previous delusions were cured. Chicken Fed suggested that Nanzhou's constant rain could induce such visions, prompting Lu Lingfeng to admit to hallucinating about Stone Bridge Mountain and Su Wuming about returning to Chang'an.
Pei Xijun worried her art was useless, but Su Wuming affirmed its value, stating it confirmed Dugu Xiashu's fragile mental state and suggested he had been drugged or targeted. Later, in prison, Dugu Xiashu continued to accuse Liu Youqiu of Qinghong's murder, fearing he would be seen as blaming the dead. Su Wuming noted the low probability of Liu Youqiu being the killer given the evidence and timeline.
Dugu Xiashu became agitated, claiming a hidden truth he hadn't shared with Pei Xijun due to her gender, which he believed would solidify his claims. When he continued to hesitate, Lu Lingfeng suggested corporal punishment, to which Su Wuming reluctantly agreed. Under pressure, Dugu Xiashu began to recount his version of events, starting two months prior when Qinghong brought him fresh clothes at the Wen Temple.
He described a rainy day where Liu Youqiu, carrying an umbrella, met Qinghong at the temple, explaining that Dugu Xiashu was out buying candles. Liu Youqiu then led Qinghong into the warmer Eastern Hall. Dugu Xiashu, returning, secretly followed them and saw Qinghong wiping Liu Youqiu's wet clothes, leading him to believe they were having an illicit affair. He recalled Ji Xiang, who saw them enter the room, discreetly leaving, which allowed him to follow.
Dugu Xiashu fixated on Qinghong "smelling good" and blamed the rain for Liu Youqiu's "opportunity," later admitting he bought and destroyed umbrellas out of rage. He noticed Qinghong's visits becoming more frequent. During one such visit, Qinghong argued with Dugu Xiashu and Liu Youqiu, accusing them of wasting their youth at the temple without achieving any scholarly success. To calm the dispute, Liu Youqiu offered Dugu Xiashu tea, which he drank before falling into a four-hour sleep.
Upon waking to find Qinghong gone, he suspected Liu Youqiu had drugged him to be alone with his wife. Driven by suspicion, Dugu Xiashu decided to test Liu Youqiu. A few days later, feigning a stomachache from eating pheasant, he asked Liu Youqiu to retrieve the first volume of his Zhaoming Collection from his home. Dugu Xiashu admitted to secretly hoping for proof of their affair, a twisted desire for confirmation.
Liu Youqiu went to the house, and Dugu secretly followed. At the house, Qinghong's suggestive comments to Liu Youqiu about burning books for "fire" and Liu's own interest in her "flame" further fueled Dugu Xiashu's conviction. He confronted Liu Youqiu back at the Wen Temple, threatening to kill him. Dugu Xiashu then surmised that a frightened Liu Youqiu must have then approached Qinghong, proposed elopement, and, upon her refusal out of loyalty, murdered her.
Dugu Xiashu ended his tale clutching his head, repeatedly declaring that Liu Youqiu killed Qinghong. Uncertain of Dugu Xiashu's narrative, Su Wuming sent Lu Lingfeng to the Wen Temple to question Ji Xiang. Lu Lingfeng arrived to find Dong Lang stealing a pheasant and sternly advised him to learn self-reliance instead of begging or stealing.
When Ji Xiang returned, Lu Lingfeng subtly probed him about his life at the temple before asking about Dugu Xiashu's account of Qinghong's rainy day visit. Ji Xiang declared Dugu Xiashu's story entirely false. He revealed that on that day, Qinghong had stumbled upon a secret affair between the "two Jurens" – Dugu Xiashu and Liu Youqiu. Ji Xiang expressed regret for not revealing this earlier to spare their reputations, but acknowledged the gravity of a murder case.
Enraged by this revelation, Lu Lingfeng returned to prison and punched Dugu Xiashu, accusing him of lying. He asserted that there was no rain, no shared umbrella between Qinghong and Liu Youqiu, and that Qinghong had discovered Dugu Xiashu and Liu Youqiu's secret relationship, not the other way around. Overwhelmed with shame, Dugu Xiashu repeatedly whispered, "They found out," and attempted suicide by banging his head against a pillar, but was saved by Chicken Fed.
Chicken Fed encouraged Dugu Xiashu to live and seek answers, no matter the hardship. Lu Lingfeng defended his actions to Su Wuming, viewing Dugu Xiashu's suicide attempt as an admission of guilt. Pei Xijun, however, chastised Lu Lingfeng, arguing his words were overly cruel and that Dugu Xiashu's profound love for Qinghong made a homosexual affair unlikely.
She believed Dugu Xiashu's soft and image-conscious nature meant his suicide attempt was not necessarily a confession, and that they were likely missing crucial details. Su Wuming agreed with Pei Xijun, suggesting they meditate to reconsider the case. During their contemplation, Headman Huang rushed in with urgent news. A dispatch from Linzhou confirmed the existence of Ling Jian, a cat burglar from ten years ago, responsible for multiple murders and thefts, including the provincial treasury.
Ling Jian was notorious for his steel needle hidden weapons, each shot proving fatal, and had vanished a decade prior. Additionally, Huang reported that Liu Youqiu's father had committed suicide by self-immolation that night, presumably out of grief for his son. Su Wuming and Lu Lingfeng went to the Liu residence.
Su Wuming quickly determined, through a preliminary examination of the body, that Liu Youqiu's father had been murdered "before" the fire was set, as there was no smoke or ash in his respiratory system, indicating he was not alive to inhale them. Both realized this murder was connected to the previous cases, and that they had overlooked important details. Meanwhile, Ji Xiang was preparing to leave the Wen Temple for a new life.
Su Wuming intercepted him, expressing admiration for his intellect and offering to recommend him for a position in the prefectural governor's mansion. Ji Xiang, politely declining, stated his desire to achieve success independently through his own hard work. Su Wuming allowed him to depart. However, Lu Lingfeng, disguised as a bandit in a bamboo hat and straw cape, ambushed Ji Xiang outside the city. Lu Lingfeng questioned why Ji Xiang, a supposed scholar, carried an umbrella on a clear day.
Ji Xiang, admitting his ambition to transition from a "grassroots" life to an official position, was challenged by Lu Lingfeng to recite the "Preface to Tengwang Pavilion." As Ji Xiang recited, Lu Lingfeng subtly revealed his identity. Exposed, Ji Xiang attacked Lu Lingfeng first with his umbrella, then with steel needles. Lu Lingfeng deftly dodged the projectiles, and with the timely assistance of Chicken Fed and Xue Huan, Ji Xiang was captured in a pre-set trap.
Back in prison, Su Wuming confronted Ji Xiang, identifying him as Ling Jian, the notorious Linzhou cat burglar. Lu Lingfeng's earlier confrontation had forced Ji Xiang to use his distinctive steel needle hidden weapons, which, after a second autopsy, confirmed Qinghong was killed by such a weapon. Su Wuming further revealed that Ji Xiang had killed Liu Youqiu's father and, before setting the house ablaze, stolen a letter from him.
This letter was a crucial recommendation from Liu Youqiu's father to influential contacts in the capital, meant to pave Liu Youqiu's path to becoming an imperial scholar. Ling Jian intended to use it for his own ambitious pursuit of an official career in Chang'an. Lu Lingfeng explained he had deduced Ji Xiang's true identity from his peculiar pheasant-hunting technique. Cornered, Ling Jian confessed.
Ling Jian revealed he was an orphan from He County, adopted by a master who taught him martial arts and hidden weapons. After his master died in a conflict, he avenged him and became a drifter, fleeing to a temple in Linzhou where he adopted the name Ling Jian to escape pursuit. Initially, his double life as a monk by day and a cat burglar by night provided him with a thrilling existence.
However, by his thirties, he found it all tedious. He "washed his hands" of his criminal past, moved to Nanzhou, and funded the construction of the Wen Temple, where he lived as the humble handyman, Ji Xiang. Three years prior, Dugu Xiashu arrived at the Wen Temple to study. Ling Jian initially tried to scare him away with ghost stories.
However, Dugu Xiashu proved fearless, remaining for half a month before admonishing Ling Jian, quoting Confucius that a gentleman does not speak of "extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, or spiritual beings," and urged him to read more. Influenced by Dugu Xiashu, Ling Jian began borrowing books and gradually developed a passion for reading. Dugu Xiashu even praised his intelligence as "genius," which deeply elated Ling Jian.
This sparked a new, profound ambition: if others could pass the imperial examinations, so could he. He believed that with focused study, he could achieve success in Chang'an, creating a dramatic and stimulating contrast between his former life as a bandit and a future as an esteemed official. This new aspiration became his overriding goal until Qinghong's arrival.
