Sword Rose Episode 23 Recap
> Sword Rose Recap
Zhou Hongcai, cornered and desperate, contacted Madam Zhang, falsely claiming to have information about Ranran’s whereabouts. He initially demanded one hundred thousand yuan, but settled for ten thousand yuan when Madam Zhang stated she didn’t have that much, instructing her to come alone to the Qingcheng Road bus stop. Believing him, Madam Zhang took the money from her Tuanyuan Restaurant and left in a hurry.
Xiaoxing, noticing Madam Zhang’s frantic departure, quickly followed her and called Director Deng, providing the taxi’s license plate number. Director Deng immediately relayed the information to Jiajia, instructing her to track the vehicle. Meanwhile, Zhou Hongcai, also at the bus stop, tried to arrange a ride to Xingtan, but the black cab driver demanded five hundred yuan. Jiajia swiftly located Madam Zhang’s taxi on Yingbin Road, heading east.
Director Deng immediately rushed to the scene, instructing her colleagues to notify Mr. Yin and Chang Rui to follow. At the Qingcheng Road bus stop, Madam Zhang urgently pressed Zhou Hongcai for Ranran’s location as he demanded the money for his escape. Just then, Director Deng, Chang Rui, and Mr. Yin arrived and apprehended Zhou Hongcai. Director Deng then escorted Madam Zhang back home.
Chang Rui and Mr. Yin were transporting Zhou Hongcai to the Anti-abduction Office for interrogation when their car’s tire was punctured by road spikes. Chang Rui had to stop the car to check. With no phone signal, Chang Rui left Mr. Yin to guard Zhou Hongcai in the car while he went to find a signal nearby. Suddenly, a large truck sped toward them, deliberately ramming their vehicle off a cliff. Chang Rui, hearing the devastating crash, rushed back.
Zhou Hongcai was dead at the scene, the truck driver had vanished, and Mr. Yin was gravely injured. Chang Rui frantically called Captain Han to report the tragedy. Despite the medical team’s best efforts, Mr. Yin succumbed to his injuries. His wife collapsed from grief, while Jiajia and Yan Lei tried to console her. Unable to reach Chang Rui, Captain Han informed Chief Xiao of Mr. Yin’s passing.
Director Deng arrived at the hospital, stunned by the news of Mr. Yin’s death. A somber memorial was held for Mr. Yin, where his colleagues paid their respects to the fallen hero. Subsequent investigations revealed that the offending truck had been stolen a month prior, leading authorities to classify the incident as premeditated murder. The provincial authorities, taking the case very seriously, formed a task force, appointing Captain Han as its leader.
After Mr. Yin’s death, the Anti-abduction Office was gripped by sorrow. Ai Xin, Jiajia, and Yan Lei helped pack Mr. Yin’s belongings, while Chang Rui was consumed by guilt. Director Deng, despite Captain Han’s advice to rest, returned to work, understanding the immense challenges of dealing with victims’ families. Madam Zhang visited Director Deng at Tuanyuan Restaurant, offering her a comforting bowl of soup and words of encouragement, reminding her that loved ones, even unseen, wish her well.
Meanwhile, Xiaowu, who was the truck driver, reported to Gang that he had "handled" everything, including killing the police officer. Gang berated Xiaowu for killing a police officer, then instructed him to go into hiding until further notice. Chang Rui, determined to investigate Mr. Yin’s case, requested a transfer to the task force.
Captain Han refused his request, emphasizing that Mr. Yin’s case was a high-profile one reserved for designated task force members and that Chang Rui's priority should be his ongoing anti-abduction duties. Unyielding, Chang Rui independently visited the crash site, enlisting Yan Lei’s help to gather information about the truck. Yan Lei discovered that the offending truck had refueled three times near the crash site and multiple brake marks indicated the driver had rehearsed the collision.
Chang Rui was convinced that Zhou Hongcai had been the actual target. He again sought to join the task force, but Captain Han again dismissed his request, admonishing him for acting unprofessionally and reiterating the critical need for Chang Rui to remain focused on the Anti-abduction Office, especially with Mr. Yin gone and Director Deng suspended.
Captain Han later informed Chief Xiao that their investigation into Director Deng had found anomalies on her door lock, suggesting someone had deliberately planted the eighty thousand yuan to frame her. Chief Xiao urged Captain Han to quickly secure solid evidence and reinstate Director Deng. Director Deng visited Mr. Yin’s grave, where she found Chang Rui already there. Chang Rui spoke of Mr. Yin’s final heroic act, shielding Zhou Hongcai with his body, which led to his own death.
He reassured Director Deng of her innocence, asserting that the traffickers' desperate actions—killing Zhou Hongcai and framing her—proved their own vulnerability. He believed her conviction, like Mr. Yin's, would ensure her reinstatement. Elsewhere, Ye Xiuming, facing a financial crisis at his Shencheng branch, summoned Wu to his office, demanding an immediate resolution to their funding issues and the stalled contract with Fu Haochen.
Wu proposed a risky solution: Fu Haochen’s daughter, Wenwen, had died from congenital kidney disease, leaving his wife mentally unstable. Wu suggested leveraging their connections with "Bring Lost Children Home" to find a child similar to Wenwen for adoption, believing that resolving Fu Haochen's family issues would secure their business deal. Separately, Cripple confronted Gang about the recent commotion, particularly Xiaowu's fatal encounter with the police officer and Wai's death.
Gang explained that Wai was about to expose their past activities and that Xiaowu had acted on his own initiative in dealing with the officer. Cripple calmly stated that he had already arranged for Xiaowu to hide. Cripple then ordered Gang to "get a child." Gang, citing the current high risks, also used the opportunity to ask Cripple for help with his complex overseas labor company paperwork.
Cripple agreed to arrange for Fei Yan in Qinmang Guo to assist with the company. Gang, now increasingly fearful that Cripple might eliminate him next, resolved to uncover Cripple’s true identity. Cripple then revealed he had already found the child and would send the details, instructing Gang to deliver the child to Shencheng, reminding him of the effort put into grooming him.
On Guang'an Road in Linshan City, a frantic woman called 110, initially misstating her location as Renmin Road, to report that her child had been snatched. When officers from the Linshan Anti-abduction Office arrived at what was initially reported as a sideswipe accident, the woman, involved in the collision, explained the situation. She stated that she and a friend were driving her child to a early education center when they got into a collision.
While her friend was outside arguing about the accident, she was in the car comforting her crying child. When the child insisted on being held by her mother, she took the child out of the car. Suddenly, a blue van pulled up and abducted her child. With no surveillance cameras at the intersection, the police assured her they would spare no effort to locate her child.
