Tientsin Mystic Episode 4 Recap
> Tientsin Mystic Recap
During the autumn rainy season, Uncle Gui, the butler of the Xue mansion, along with several servants, carried a red wooden coffin containing a dead infant into the Xue residence and placed it beside the coffin of Miss Xue Yuanyuan. Xue Yuanyuan's coffin had not yet been sealed. Guo Deyou, observing Xue Yuanyuan inside, appeared somewhat uneasy. His curiosity, much like Ding Mao's, often led him to hands-on investigation.
After the infant's coffin was brought back, Guo Deyou used the excuse of dispelling bad luck from Uncle Gui to ask for a cigarette, a crucial element for his "cigarette divination for justice" technique. Meanwhile, at the wooden fort where the Old River God resided, Ding Mao and Old River God Guo Chun were discussing Guo Deyou's allergic constitution.
Old River God Guo Chun explained that anyone sensitive to irritants, like smoke, could experience choking, coughing, hallucinations, amplified senses, or even suffocation. As they spoke, inside the Xue family ancestral hall, Guo Deyou had already entered a trance through his ritual. Xue Yuanyuan appeared before him in the vision, surrounded by clues intimately connected to her death. Upon emerging from the trance, Guo Deyou, true to his allergy, was overcome by the smell of smoke.
He noticed that Xue Yuanyuan had been wearing jade earrings when her body was recovered. Later, as Ding Mao was changing, Uncle Hu, the general manager of the Caoyun Chamber of Commerce, entered his room. He informed Ding Mao that Xiao Lanlan, the daughter of the secretary general of the municipal government, was getting engaged.
Although the Chamber of Commerce and the Xiao family had a generational feud, Uncle Hu believed this engagement presented the perfect opportunity to mend their strained relationship and requested Ding Mao attend. That same day, Xiao Lanlan visited the police station to report that her fiancé, Qian Zixian, had been missing for a week, expressing a premonition that he wouldn't show up at their engagement party that evening.
Captain Fu dismissed her concerns, suggesting Qian Zixian was merely being playful before the wedding. He tried to assure her that Qian Zixian, a prominent figure in Tianjin and soon-to-be son-in-law to Secretary General Xiao, was likely just relaxing. However, Xiao Lanlan asserted that while the Qian family might prioritize reputation and delay reporting, she didn't care for such face-saving and wanted the police to take the matter seriously.
Despite her fiancé's disappearance, she insisted the engagement party proceed as planned. That evening, the engagement banquet was held at the prestigious Juhua Hotel. Outside, amidst the dazzling neon lights of Tianjin, Vice Mayor Xu, Colonel Luo of the city defense regiment, Feng shopkeeper of Suxin Fang, and President Sun of the Charity Hall were among the notable guests arriving with extravagant gifts.
Gu Ying and her mother, the divine shaman, attempted to enter the lavish event without an invitation or a gift. Dressed unusually, they were promptly stopped by the guards. Gu Ying's mother, irritated, threatened the guard with a "diarrhea spell" if he angered her, claiming she was there to help the family, as a hexagram she cast for the host predicted dire trouble for the bridegroom.
Ding Mao arrived just in time, vouching for them and allowing them entry, while his gift of 500 silver dollars was announced. Gu Ying's mother quickly slipped inside. Guo Deyou also appeared at the hotel entrance, ready to inform Ding Mao of Xue Yuanyuan's true cause of death, promising to solve the case by morning.
Accepting the proposal (and confirming the previously promised 50 silver dollars for investigation), Guo Deyou confirmed their meeting for the next day to investigate Xue mansion. The next morning, before the sun was high, Uncle Gui had arranged for eight masked porters from the docks to carry Xue Yuanyuan's coffin for burial. However, Guo Deyou, Ding Mao, and Gu Ying forcefully entered the Xue mansion, halting the procession.
Guo Deyou, without hesitation, openly accused Xue Qingyang, detailing the actual circumstances of Xue Yuanyuan's death. Xue Qingyang, enraged but unable to refute the facts, called for the trio to be thrown out. Ding Mao intervened, stating that the murder weapon was still within the mansion. Guo Deyou then presented his evidence: although Xue Yuanyuan's nails had been repainted, scratch marks from grappling with a hard object, likely varnished mahogany furniture, were still visible.
He also pointed out that her body, unlike a drowned victim's, was impeccably clean, and her hair carried the scent of high-quality Longjing tea, while her jade earrings held fragments of rice paper soaked in tea. These details, he argued, proved she died in her boudoir, not in the river. Since the Xue mansion was well-guarded, the perpetrator had to be an insider. Cornered, Xue Qingyang confessed to accidentally killing his own daughter.
He explained that Xue Yuanyuan, a daughter of a distinguished family, had conceived an "evil child" out of wedlock, which brought disgrace to the family and ruined their reputation. He believed she deserved to die for it. In a flashback, Xue Qingyang was seen confronting a pregnant Xue Yuanyuan who was trying to escape. He tried to stop her from leaving with the baby, desperately attempting to "cover up" the scandal.
In their struggle, he accidentally killed her while attempting to prevent her from bringing further shame to the family. He confirmed that the baby had been taken by a mysterious, limping man shortly after the murder. As he finished his confession, the hired porters suddenly seized the coffin and ran out of the mansion.
Guo Deyou and Gu Ying gave chase, while Ding Mao pressed Uncle Gui for more details about the mysterious man, learning he was not an acquaintance and had a persistent cough. Uncle Gui admitted he hired the porters from the docks to discreetly handle the burial, unaware of their ulterior motives. Guo Deyou and Gu Ying relentlessly pursued the porters, eventually catching up. However, upon opening the coffin, they discovered Xue Yuanyuan's body was gone.
One of the porters, revealing they were "robbers" who "see the money, not the faces of the buyers," admitted they were only instructed to transport the body to Yaowa Wharf for someone else to collect. Gu Ying, furious, knocked him out and immediately headed for Yaowa Wharf. But she arrived too late. At the wharf, she witnessed a man carrying Xue Yuanyuan's body jump into the river. Gu Ying wondered if it was a tragic act of lovers dying together.
Later, by the riverbank, Ding Mao, Guo Deyou, and Gu Ying discussed the situation. Gu Ying reiterated that she saw the man and the body plunge into the water and not resurface, though she was unsure due to the darkness. Ding Mao offered Guo Deyou money to retrieve Xue Yuanyuan's body. Guo Deyou, initially hesitant, negotiated a fee per corpse, likening the search to "gambling on stones" where he could either find nothing or uncover a major case.
Ding Mao agreed to Guo Deyou's proposed rate of 50 silver dollars per body, prompting Guo Deyou to dive into the murky water. Underwater, he discovered Xue Yuanyuan's body bound to the propeller of a large, sunken ship. As he resurfaced, hundreds of other bodies began to float up, victims discovered within the tightly sealed compartments of the sunken vessel, appearing to be dock workers who had been transporting cargo.
The horrifying sight of hundreds of floating corpses left Gu Ying and Ding Mao speechless, confirming their suspicions that Xue Yuanyuan's death was far more complex than a simple family tragedy, hinting at a much larger, sinister plot.