The Litchi Road Episode 26 Recap
> The Litchi Road Recap
Ten years ago, Li Shande first arrived at the Office of Imperial Parks. He was sent by Chief Liu to Leyouyuan to care for flowers and plants. Li Shande was ordered to release carp with his colleague Supervisor Song. Supervisor Song secretly threw many toon buds into the pond, which were fatal to the carp. Li Shande pulled Supervisor Song to go complain to Chief Liu.
This was a customary practice at the Office of Imperial Parks: using toon buds to poison the fish, and then applying to the court for funds to buy new fish. Li Shande, being new, had no idea about this and insisted on a thorough investigation into the poisoning of the fish. Chief Liu hinted for another supervisor to take two Songjiang perch from the ice storage, told Supervisor Song to apologize to Li Shande, and give him these two fish.
Li Shande firmly refused to accept, as these were rare fish presented as tribute to the Emperor. Li Shande pleaded with Chief Liu to strictly investigate the person who threw the toon buds. If it wasn't Supervisor Song, he would rather be fined a month's salary. Chief Liu was speechless with anger. A colleague secretly replaced the poisoned large carp with a lively one to clear Supervisor Song's suspicion.
Li Shande instantly saw that the fish had been swapped, but his colleagues unanimously insisted it was this fish. Li Shande was consequently fined a month's salary. Li Shande was stood up by Yu Chengen, and his transportation method, which he had painstakingly prepared, was also tricked away. Li Shande completely saw through the darkness and corruption of the officialdom. He regretted taking on the death-defying task of transporting lychees.
A Mita specially bought Hu cakes that Li Shande liked to eat and tried to persuade him kindly. Li Shande held a grudge and stubbornly refused to transport the lychees anymore. A Mita also poured out her troubles to Li Shande; she was determined to avenge her father Hai Hu, but felt powerless due to her low status.
A Mita immediately decided to return to Lingnan to assist Yun Qing in obtaining evidence and completely overthrowing He Youguang and the Right Chancellor. But Lingnan was He Youguang's territory, and He Youguang would definitely not let her off. She wanted to go back as Li Shande's assistant, so He Youguang wouldn't dare to lay a deadly hand on her.
A Mita sought help from Lu Huan, asking Lu Huan to help Li Shande get the approval document, so she could use her status as Li Shande's assistant to gain immunity from death. Lu Huan did not want to help. The Right Chancellor was making a big show of preparing for Consort Yang's birthday banquet. If the lychees were successfully transported back to Chang'an, the Right Chancellor would definitely claim the credit for himself.
A Mita bitterly pleaded with Lu Huan, saying that Li Shande was an honest and kind person and had taken on this deadly task because he was tricked. If Li Shande could not bring the lychees back, he would surely die. A Mita was certain that Zhao Xinmin, the Chief Scribe of the Prefectural Office, held evidence of He Youguang's crimes. She wanted to return to Lingnan to instigate Zhao Xinmin.
Lu Huan thought this was feasible, but it was inconvenient for him to step forward, so he provided A Mita with a way to meet the Right Chancellor. The more Zhao Xinmin thought about it, the more something felt wrong. He went to Yun Qing's bookstore to buy information and happened to run into Zheng Pingan. Zheng Pingan was holding a woman's folding fan. Although he tried every way to argue, Zhao Xinmin was certain it was for Yun Qing.
He remembered Zheng Pingan's various unusual behaviors when he first arrived in Lingnan and suspected he was not Ma Guiyun but a confidant of the Left Chancellor. His wife advised Zhao Xinmin to report to He Youguang. Over the years, He Youguang had constantly abused and insulted him, and he had endured humiliation. Fortunately, he held evidence of He Youguang's crimes.
Zhao Xinmin did not want to sit idly by and wanted to use the evidence in his possession to overthrow He Youguang. Zheng Pingan saw that Zhao Xinmin was suspicious of him. He was worried about his identity being exposed. Yun Qing sent Zheng Pingan to find a way to get the evidence of He Youguang's crimes left by A Tu before his death. Zheng Pingan heard that A Tu's lover was A Chai.
He immediately went to A Tong for help. A Tong promised to inquire about the situation from her aunt A Chai. Having nowhere else to turn, Li Shande had no choice but to go to the Left Treasury Office to find Xu Leping and inquire about Yu Chengen's whereabouts. He even specifically went to Pingkang Fang to buy Yulu Tuan to please him. Xu Leping and Li Shande were classmates.
He knew Li Shande was an upright person and agreed to help inquire about Yu Chengen's situation. Xu Leping truthfully told Yu Chengen what Li Shande asked him to inquire about and also gave the box of Yulu Tuan pastries to Yu Chengen. Yu Chengen was very happy and invited Xu Leping to a private gathering. Lu Huan revealed to A Mita that Shiqi Niang's backer was the Right Chancellor. A Mita immediately told this news to Li Shande.
Li Shande decided to go to Shiqi Niang to convey a message. Li Shande knew Shiqi Niang was difficult to deal with, but for a moment, he couldn't think of a better solution, so he decided to bite the bullet and give it a try.
Yu Chengen hosted a banquet for the relevant officials from the Left Treasury Office, the Court of the Imperial Treasury, and the Ministry of War, urging them to provide funds and approval documents for Li Shande's transportation of lychees. They made various excuses to shirk the responsibility. Yu Chengen was very angry, so they had to nod in agreement. Only Assistant Minister Ma refused to cooperate.
Yu Chengen invited the Bai Wangren, Zhou Sanlang, to threaten and intimidate Assistant Minister Ma, who then had no choice but to comply obediently. Li Shande came to Shiqi Niang to ask for help in getting an introduction to the Right Chancellor. Shiqi Niang flatly refused. Li Shande bitterly begged Shiqi Niang to relay a message to the Right Chancellor. Shiqi Niang still wouldn't budge and urged Li Shande to raise money as soon as possible.
Li Shande took out the deed to his old house and mortgaged it to Shiqi Niang. Only then did Shiqi Niang reluctantly agree to convey a message to the Right Chancellor. She went to find Yu Chengen that night.
