Sword Rose Episode 9 Recap
> Sword Rose Recap
Chang Rui took Luoluo to an amusement park, where she joyfully ran around. When Chang Rui went to the restroom, he repeatedly instructed her to wait right where she was. The park was crowded. Luoluo, seeing a man grab a little boy named Dongdong and run, immediately threw down her ice cream and chased after them. When Chang Rui emerged from the restroom, he found Luoluo gone and ice cream splattered on the ground.
As he wondered what happened, he heard Dongdong's mother loudly calling for help. Luoluo ran to the park's entrance and asked a security guard to stop the man carrying Dongdong. Chang Rui and Dongdong's mother soon arrived. Dongdong's mother recognized the man as her ex-husband, Dongdong's father. Chang Rui, identifying himself as a police officer, cautioned the ex-husband not to take Dongdong without permission in the future. The security guard mistakenly assumed Chang Rui and Luoluo were father and daughter.
Chang Rui, not wanting to explain further, simply went along with it. Luoluo was overjoyed and, upon returning to the welfare institute, excitedly boasted to her friends that she now had a father. Deng Yan, reviewing the complex network of human trafficking based on information from Lianqiao, concluded that Skinner was the leader of a girl trafficking gang, while Madam Hong specialized in child trafficking, with Meng Gui transporting the children for her.
Han Yougang's activities appeared to be a separate line, possibly "private jobs" Meng Gui conducted behind Madam Hong's back. However, Deng Yan suspected Han Yougang might be a front for Madam Hong due to her cunning nature. Deng Yan instructed Yang Jiajia to continue investigating Meng Gui's travel history, specifically his van (South C1798B) and SUV (South CC0Y30), looking for extended or repeated stops that might correlate with missing persons reports.
She also told Yan Lei to keep a close watch on Skinner. Deng Yan and Chang Rui then set out to find Han Yougang. They stopped at a roadside restaurant for a meal. While Chang Rui stepped out to take a call, Deng Yan showed a photo of Han Yougang to the restaurant owner. To her surprise, the owner pointed out Han Yougang, who was dining nearby.
Startled, Han Yougang immediately fled, prompting Deng Yan to call Chang Rui to join the chase. Deng Yan and Chang Rui successfully apprehended Han Yougang and brought him in for interrogation. Han Yougang initially denied any wrongdoing, claiming he thought they were debt collectors. However, when he learned that Meng Gui had already been arrested and confessed, he visibly panicked.
He then claimed he had only helped with two "abandoned" children—one for his cousin in Nanyangdian Village and another for a coworker in Xibang Village—and that he regretted it and ran away after the first child was discovered. Deng Yan concluded that Han Yougang was not directly associated with Madam Hong. Meanwhile, Yang Jiajia's analysis of Meng Gui's travel records revealed that his vehicle had been present at the locations of two abduction cases and also in Watai Village.
Curiously, Watai Village had no local reports of missing children. Deng Yan then remembered a cross-provincial assistance notice from a year prior regarding a case where the victim was from Watai Village but the crime occurred in Binliu City, Xinyang Province. Without delay, Deng Yan, Chang Rui, and Yin Jiansheng traveled to Watai Village. The village chief led them to the home of Zhang Xuegui and Cao Guihua, who had reported their eldest son missing a year earlier.
The chief called their neighbor, Wang Baozhu, to provide information. Wang Baozhu immediately recognized Meng Gui as a man who had sold cheap, smuggled cigarettes in the village just days before the child disappeared. He vividly recalled Meng Gui's car parked right there and how Meng Gui had seemed unusually interested in the child, staring at and playing with little Zhang Hao for a long time.
Deng Yan called Yang Jiajia, instructing her to access the DNA database and cross-reference Meng Gui's activity in Watai Village from a year ago with their findings. This revealed that the suspect had followed Zhang Xuegui's family to Binliu City and had been lurking near their hardware store. Further investigation of the van's license plate, South C1798B, led them to a car repair shop.
Surveillance footage from the shop showed that when Meng Gui dropped off his van for repairs, he was picked up by a motorcycle matching the one seen at the crime scene. On the day of the abduction, Zhang Xuegui and Cao Guihua were inside their hardware store when two individuals on a motorcycle rode past and snatched their child. Deng Yan noticed Cao Guihua's disturbed demeanor.
The local police chief confirmed that Cao Guihua had suffered from mental instability since childbirth, and her condition had worsened considerably after her child was stolen. The chief also mentioned that they had recently rescued a trafficked woman named Liu Shumei, originally from Linshan, who was now hospitalized and undergoing treatment after being sold by another trafficking group while fleeing and subsequently beaten severely. Deng Yan immediately recognized Liu Shumei as Meng Gui's wife.
Deng Yan and Chang Rui brought Meng Gui in for another interrogation. They confronted him with the horrific details of Liu Shumei's plight—how she was trafficked, sold, and savagely beaten to the point of being hospitalized and fighting for her life. Initially, Meng Gui tried to deny involvement in the Watai Village case, claiming he had only abducted one child.
However, as Deng Yan pressed him, describing his wife's dire condition and the possibility of a reduced sentence if he cooperated, Meng Gui finally broke down and confessed to all his crimes. Based on his detailed confession, the authorities were able to locate the abducted child, Zhang Hao. Zhang Hao was safely reunited with his parents, bringing immense relief to the family.
For Deng Yan and her team, restoring a family on the brink of collapse was the most rewarding outcome, and Meng Gui's confession also brought them closer to uncovering Madam Hong's whereabouts. Later, Xiao Wenjin and Han Liang arrived at the Anti-abduction Office to see Deng Yan. Xiao Wenjin initially adopted a stern and critical tone, questioning their procedures and past performance. However, he then dropped an official letter from the Binliu City Public Security Bureau.
The letter formally recommended that the Linshan City Anti-abduction Office be awarded a Second-Class Collective Merit for their exceptional work, especially in the recent Zhang Hao case, which involved complex cross-provincial organized crime. The team members were all thrilled upon reading the commendation. Separately, Chang Rui contacted Officer Huang of the anti-vice task force to inquire about Skinner's whereabouts.
Officer Huang revealed that Skinner was a significant target for their unit, the ringleader of a large prostitution syndicate with over a hundred people working across several nightclubs in Linshan. Officer Huang also shared that they had located one of Skinner's key bases in Luojiang County. Chang Rui quickly found Skinner's hideout in Luojiang County and infiltrated it by pretending to be a client. He was led to a room where a young woman named Pingjiao was assigned to him.
Chang Rui immediately revealed his identity as a police officer. Pingjiao, relieved, admitted she had been trafficked and had been held there for three to four months. She confirmed there were about seven or eight other girls like her. When Chang Rui showed her photos, she recognized Zheng Weiwei as one of the girls held with her. Pingjiao explained that they were always blindfolded when moved, so she didn't know the exact location where the other girls were kept.
Chang Rui assured her that they would work quickly to rescue all of them. Inside the compound, a pimp known as Mo attempted to sexually assault Zheng Weiwei, but she fiercely resisted and bit him. Skinner arrived and furiously reprimanded Mo, reminding him that Zheng Weiwei was "new merchandise" meant for a client and needed to be delivered soon.
Deng Yan, having finalized meticulous plans, led a massive overnight raid on Skinner's various hideouts, deploying over 600 officers from seven sub-bureaus. They successfully rescued many trafficked girls. However, Chang Rui noticed Zheng Weiwei was not among them. An apprehended pimp claimed Mo had taken Zheng Weiwei and gave a location for Skinner, but this turned out to be a false lead. Chang Rui then intensely interrogated another pimp, who, under pressure, finally revealed Skinner's actual hiding place.
At Skinner's true location, Mo had severely beaten Zheng Weiwei, leaving her bruised and battered. Skinner arrived, once again berating Mo for damaging his "merchandise" and instructing him to prepare her for the impatient client. Shortly after, Deng Yan and the Anti-abduction Office officers arrived at Skinner's apartment, only to find he had already fled. They searched the premises and discovered a barely conscious Zheng Weiwei hidden inside a freezer. They immediately rushed her to the hospital for emergency treatment. Zheng Weiwei's parents soon arrived, heartbroken and distraught upon learning their daughter was fighting for her life and undergoing resuscitation.
