Under the Microscope Episode 5 Recap
> Under the Microscope Recap
Feng Baoyu and Shuai Jiamo set out for the provincial capital to file a complaint. Along the way, Feng Baoyu quizzed Shuai Jiamo, even commenting on how good Shuai Jiamo looked in his clothes, and then asked a question about money, joking that they might get 300 taels if Shuai Jiamo performed well.
They encountered a fast courier, prompting Feng Baoyu to explain the system of relay stations: couriers run 10 "li" within three marks on a water clock, passing documents in relays day and night. Shuai Jiamo calculated that it would take approximately 26 hours for a document to travel from the provincial capital to Renhua.
He then posed a riddle, asking at what distance from the provincial capital a document sent from Renhua County at the same time as their departure and after they had traveled for two and a half days would catch up with them, to which Feng Baoyu jokingly responded, "Just kill me." Meanwhile, Cheng Renqing, bored, spent his time at a restaurant, reciting classical poetry, including lines such as "The world's joys are inexhaustible.
Laying out all the books I've never seen. Playing pitch-pot as an offering to Zhai Zun. Speak not of Ma Xiangru." The women around him admitted they didn't understand, so he explained the game of pitch-pot, likening it to understanding a person's "opening" and "stabbing their heart" with an arrow to win. He confidently declared he could hit two hearts at once. Before he could prove it, a subordinate interrupted, informing him that Master Fan urgently needed to see him.
Cheng Renqing rushed to Master Fan’s residence under the cover of night. An attendant informed him that the silk tax case in Renhua County had encountered complications, and Shuai Jiamo was "back at it again." Cheng Renqing dismissed this, confident that he had blocked all channels for filing a plaint in Jin'an Prefecture.
However, Master Fan revealed that Shuai Jiamo had gone to the provincial capital and sternly rebuked Cheng Renqing for such an oversight, despite his knowledge of the Great Ming Code. Cheng Renqing, still dismissive, called Shuai Jiamo an "arithmetic nut" who wouldn't know the intricacies of the provincial "yamen". Noticing Master Fan's grim expression, Cheng Renqing quickly changed his tune, offering to depart immediately for the provincial capital to rectify his mistake.
Master Fan warned him seriously, stating, "A tiger gives its all even while fighting a rabbit. I don't look down on anyone, nor ignore any possibilities. I hope you will do so too." Cheng Renqing promised to ensure Shuai Jiamo would "have nowhere to file his plaint and returns empty-handed," but Master Fan instructed him to only focus on the provincial capital and not concern himself with Shuai Jiamo’s return.
On their journey through the provincial capital, Feng Baoyu and Shuai Jiamo observed lively street performances, including an "iron flower" show. Feng Baoyu expressed his wish to host such a performance for his sister if he were to pass the imperial examinations. However, the sparks from the performance triggered a traumatic childhood memory for Shuai Jiamo: a fire in which his parents died.
He recalled villagers accusing him of being a "dim-witted son" who failed to act, leading to their deaths. Feng Baoyu found Shuai Jiamo curled in a corner, sweating profusely, and comforted him, insisting it was an accident and he shouldn't blame himself. Back at their inn, Shuai Jiamo told Feng Baoyu that his father had given him a book before he died, which contained "something very important" called the "Art of Gathering Projected Steps."
However, he couldn't recall its full title or contents, prompting Feng Baoyu to suggest he stop dwelling on it. Meanwhile, Cheng Renqing arrived at a government relay station and ordered black beans and chicken eggs for his horse, stating he would leave in an hour. The inn owner initially refused him service, explaining that the station was only for active government officials.
Cheng Renqing countered that he was acting on behalf of Master Fan, the Right Censor-in-chief, and presented an imperial document granting Master Fan "access to relay stations on his way back to his hometown." The owner argued the privilege was a one-time use from the capital and only for the official himself. Cheng Renqing challenged him to find such specific limitations in the document, threatening to take the matter to the "yamen" to verify the Great Ming Code.
The exasperated owner complained about officials abusing their authority, but eventually relented after Cheng Renqing offered to help him file a complaint against his superiors if he felt unfairly treated. Separately, Feng Baoyu and Shuai Jiamo met Zhuang Santi. Zhuang Santi questioned their involvement in the silk tax case, as it didn't directly affect them. Feng Baoyu insisted on knowing the proper "yamen" to approach.
Zhuang Santi reviewed Shuai Jiamo's original memorandum, finding it a numerical "mess," and offered to rewrite it for a scribal fee. He then advised them against filing a direct lawsuit as commoners against officials, instead suggesting a "retrial on the basis of correcting an error" at the Provincial Surveillance Commission. Shuai Jiamo quickly grasped that this would give Prefect Huang a pretext to reopen the investigation.
However, Zhuang Santi pointed out two major obstacles: first, the Provincial Surveillance Commission might send the case back to Jin'an Prefecture, resulting in the same Prefect investigating himself; second, filing an "overstepping lawsuit" by skipping local administrative levels carried a penalty of twenty floggings in the "yamen" hall. Feng Baoyu was horrified, but Zhuang Santi explained that for a fee (one tael and five mace), a middleman could arrange for lenient flogging. Shuai Jiamo calculated the cost per stroke.
Zhuang Santi further detailed additional expenses, including new official paper for their plaint (as their own was deemed non-compliant) and fees to expedite the process, as the Provincial Surveillance Commission only accepted plaints on specific days, known only by junior clerks and the Assistant Surveillance Commissioner-in-charge. Feng Baoyu complained about the mounting costs, but Zhuang Santi emphasized that not paying would render their previous expenses futile.
As Zhuang Santi led Feng Baoyu to the "yamen", leaving Shuai Jiamo to wait near what Feng Baoyu called a "gambling house," Shuai Jiamo’s cat suddenly escaped his grasp. The cat darted into the street, startling Cheng Renqing’s horse, which bolted. Cheng Renqing, riding the horse, passed Shuai Jiamo, and their eyes met for a moment before the horse and rider plunged into a ditch. Onlookers gathered, but Shuai Jiamo immediately jumped into the water to rescue Cheng Renqing.
Once ashore, Cheng Renqing, though asserting he could swim, thanked Shuai Jiamo for saving him. Shuai Jiamo confessed that he would be "scared and sad" if someone died in front of him again. Cheng Renqing called Shuai Jiamo a "dummy" and "a good person," remarking that in this age, "only dummies can be good people."
When Shuai Jiamo asked if Cheng Renqing was a good or bad person, Cheng Renqing replied that he was "a knife," serving whoever paid him, and that the intentions of the user were irrelevant, just as no one cared about a knife's thoughts. Shuai Jiamo admitted he didn't understand. Before leaving, Cheng Renqing warned Shuai Jiamo that since he was now in the provincial capital, all of Shuai Jiamo's plans were "doomed to fail."
Shuai Jiamo informed him that Feng Baoyu had already gone to submit their memorandum, to which Cheng Renqing simply replied, "We shall see." Later, at a gathering with old classmates, Cheng Renqing reminisced about being framed for cheating in exams, which led to him being banned for life, and how his love, Yunniang, was lost. His friends noted that the hated Ma Wencai had become highly successful, while Cheng Renqing had suffered.
Cheng Renqing denied being framed and claimed he was better off, enjoying life without the toil of official business, unlike his friends. He dismissed his past aspirations of being a "gentleman who was of service to the world" as "childish," declaring that "only money is real." Shuai Jiamo and Feng Baoyu waited to submit their plaint at the Provincial Surveillance Commission. Their number, 10, was repeatedly skipped.
Feng Baoyu became agitated, and the middleman eventually discovered that their memorandum had been rejected, stamped "unreasonable," with the note that Jin'an Prefecture had already made a judgment, so no retrial was needed. The middleman declared that someone was deliberately targeting them and that their case could not proceed at the local level. Shuai Jiamo realized that Cheng Renqing was behind this.
Feng Baoyu, seeing their provincial capital efforts thwarted, suggested they pursue the Grand Coordinator's Office or the Regional Inspector's Office. Zhuang Santi explained that the Grand Coordinator only handled appeals from the local level, and they wouldn't even be able to access his "yamen". Shuai Jiamo then suggested the Regional Inspector, who, as a court-appointed monitor with no local ties, would have fewer considerations.
Zhuang Santi agreed this was a viable path but warned them that the Regional Inspector, being constantly on "inspection" tours, would be hard to find in the provincial capital. He speculated that the Regional Inspector would likely be in Yanzhou Prefecture. As Yanzhou was on their way back to Renhua, Feng Baoyu and Shuai Jiamo decided to head there. As they were discussing this, Cheng Renqing reappeared, mockingly advising them not to return to Renhua for the time being.
Feng Baoyu dismissed his advice, reminding him that his sister only trusted half of what Cheng Renqing said. Cheng Renqing simply wished them "good luck." That night, Feng Baoyu and Shuai Jiamo stayed at an inn in Yanzhou. Two men, implied to be assassins, were waiting, expressing impatience about their "brother's" lack of success. Suddenly, soldiers arrived, stating they had received a report of robbers in the inn and ordered everyone to assemble.
Feng Baoyu identified himself as a government student from Renhua County, Jin'an Prefecture, and presented his travel papers. Shuai Jiamo identified himself as being from Renhua County, Jin'an Prefecture, and explicitly stated his purpose was to file a plaint regarding the silk tax case. He tried to elaborate with numbers, but Feng Baoyu quickly intervened, explaining that Shuai Jiamo was "a nut for accounting" and "a dummy."
The officer then questioned another man, who identified himself as Lu Feilong from Tongyang County, Jin'an Prefecture, claiming to be there to collect debt and showing his travel papers. The officer noted the unusual number of Jin'an residents. Feng Baoyu then exposed Lu Feilong, revealing he was actually from Lanxi County and ran a gambling house in Renhua, not Tongyang.
The officer pulled Lu Feilong aside and, in a hushed conversation, indicated he was aware of Lu Feilong's gambling operations in Yanzhou and expected to be included. Lu Feilong quickly agreed. The officer then declared no robbers were found and dismissed everyone. Lu Feilong's accomplice asked if they should proceed with their attack. Lu Feilong, now wary of the officer's suspicion, decided against it, stating that if Shuai Jiamo and Feng Baoyu were killed, he would be the prime suspect. He then told his accomplice to "sleep."
