White Cat Legend Recap, Plot, Synopsis
White Cat Legend Synopsis
In the Tang Dynasty, during the reign of Wu Zetian, the Da Li Si was in charge of the most important cases in the country.
At a night banquet at the Tang Palace, Li Bing is appointed as the Young Master of the Da Li Si by the empress.
Under the leadership of Li Bing, Chen Shi, Wang Qi, Ali Baba, Cui Bei and Sun Bao are able to clear the "fog" of the divine capital, fighting against fate, supporting each other to uphold justice in their hearts.
White Cat Legend Recap
Episode 1 Recap
In the Shengong era, Wu Zetian held power, and the Tang Dynasty was governed in an orderly manner. The Court of Judicial Review was in charge of criminal cases across the land, distinguishing right from wrong. Beneath the prosperous surface, undercurrents always surged. Three years ago, the Court of Judicial Review Minister was assassinated, and the Court of Judicial Review began to decline, making the situation more unpredictable.
In recent years, legends of a demon cat killing people have spread throughout the capital, causing the common people to live in constant fear. One day, an official went out seeking pleasure. Not feeling satisfied all night, he brought a girl home to continue. As they passed a small bridge by the city edge, the driver felt that the water below the bridge was shrouded in mist and dared not move forward.
The official scolded the driver for making a fuss and got out alone to check the situation. The horse suddenly got startled and broke free from its reins. Just as he was looking around, the shadow of a black cat covered him, and the official subsequently vanished. The next day, Chen Shi, a man from the Central Plains, passed through Mengchun.
He bought a few steamed buns to fill his stomach and ate while admiring the prosperous scene of the capital. A little girl passing by him fell down. Chen Shi helped the little girl up and asked her a few concerned questions. After the little girl left, Chen Shi discovered that the steamed buns and money pouch in his hand were gone, and only then realized the little girl was a swindler.
Losing the steamed buns wasn't a big deal, but the money pouch had to be recovered. Chen Shi followed behind the little girl, daring not to stop. But the little girl clearly had some street tricks, darting quickly through the streets and alleys. Before long, she hid inside a room in a secluded alley. Just as Chen Shi was feeling disappointed, a large, snow-white raccoon cat appeared in the grass by the street, staring directly at him.
Chen Shi walked closer. The raccoon cat handed him a scroll. Just as Chen Shi opened it, a firework was launched into the air. The raccoon cat then used its front paw to write the character "走" on the ground. Chen Shi was completely illiterate and scratched his head helplessly. After the raccoon cat left, Chen Shi found a bloodstained woman's dress discarded in the grass.
Turning around to find a place to stay, a guesthouse was just about to close. Chen Shi caught a glimpse of the little girl who had stolen his money pouch out of the corner of his eye. He walked into the guesthouse to get his money pouch back. The female owner declared the guesthouse was already closed. Immediately after, two Persian men entered the guesthouse asking for lodging.
Seeing that they had full bags and were generous with their money, the female owner quickly served tea, hoping to make a killing. Chen Shi was given the boot. Before leaving, he remembered the bloodstained clothes in the grass and asked about it casually. The female owner stammered. The two Persian men immediately flipped over the table, took out daggers from their chests, and stabbed towards the female owner.
Her martial arts skills were excellent; she subdued both of them in just two moves. Chen Shi took out an umbrella to block his view. The raccoon cat appeared again, quickly rearranged the fight scene. The umbrella handle touched the female owner's face, and the two Persian men controlled her. The raccoon cat then disappeared. The group was brought before Shangguan Qin, the Court of Judicial Review Deputy Minister, in her hall. They recounted what happened.
The two Persian men were Alibaba, the Court of Judicial Review Judge, and Sun Bao, the Court of Judicial Review Director. Recently, there had been a continuous string of homicides in the marketplace. Some people reported that the perpetrators were a pair of male and female master thieves. Wang Qi, the Court of Judicial Review Director, planned this operation to catch the thieves. Chen Shi kept describing his experience of being guided by the raccoon cat.
Shangguan Qin only found it absurd and ordered that Chen Shi and the captured raccoon cat be locked in the same prison cell. Sun Bao was about to lock the door and leave the prison cell. The raccoon cat suddenly jumped onto the railing, scaring Sun Bao unconscious. Chen Shi worried that the raccoon cat would harm Sun Bao, so he went forward and picked up the raccoon cat.
The raccoon cat suddenly bit Chen Shi's arm tightly, and Chen Shi also fell unconscious. The male and female master thieves confessed their crimes, but Shangguan Qin did not intend to release the raccoon cat. Hu Si asked for the reason. Shangguan Qin mentioned the homicide a few days ago. When the Suzaku Gate guards were on duty, they found the official's body hanging from the gate tower, dripping blood. To be able to evade the Suzaku Gate guards and silently place the body on the gate tower, it could only have been done by a demon cat.
Episode 2 Recap
Shangguan Qin ordered Hu Si to guard the raccoon cat and Chen Shi well, saying that solving the recent series of homicides would finally give the court an explanation, otherwise, the Court of Judicial Review would not be secure. The unconscious Chen Shi was dragged out of prison by the raccoon cat. When he woke up the next morning, he found himself lying in a dilapidated study.
In front of him was a handsome man who claimed to be an official of the Court of Judicial Review. Chen Shi then remembered that he had clearly been locked in a prison cell yesterday, so why had he woken up in a different environment?
General of the Jinwu Guard, Qiu Qingzhi, found Shangguan Qin to demand the pair of male and female master thieves who had just been captured, explaining that the two were important criminals who had secretly escaped from the imperial prison. Shangguan Qin, seeing that her功 (achievement) was about to be snatched, was unwilling and sarcastically remarked that Qiu Qingzhi was getting credit without effort.
Qiu Qingzhi, unwilling to be insulted, brought up that the deadline for solving the demon cat murder case was approaching and asked how she would explain it to the court. Shangguan Qin told Qiu Qingzhi not to worry, stating that just last night, she had also solved the demon cat murder case. The murderer and the raccoon cat were currently locked in the prison cell.
Qiu Qingzhi was suspicious, so Shangguan Qin ordered Wang Qi to take Qiu Qingzhi to the prison cell to investigate. The handsome man told Chen Shi that his name was Li Bing. The case had been solved, so Chen Shi prepared to leave. He then remembered the officials responsible for locking him up and asked repeatedly. Li Bing told him there was no need to know too much. Chen Shi then asked about the whereabouts of the raccoon cat.
Li Bing said it was just an ordinary house cat, and he had let it go. Chen Shi was still not ready to leave and asked about the whereabouts of the little girl, thinking that she was forced to steal and must have a very pitiful background. Li Bing replied that the little girl was likely sent to the House of Compassion, but that was not within the Court of Judicial Review's jurisdiction.
Seeing Chen Shi's kindness and enthusiasm, Li Bing decided to treat Chen Shi to a meal. Shangguan Qin took Qiu Qingzhi to the prison cell and only saw Sun Bao lying at the door. The prison cell was empty, with neither the demon cat nor Chen Shi present. Shangguan Qin immediately felt uneasy. Qiu Qingzhi mocked them and left the prison cell, leaving Shangguan Qin and Wang Qi's group spinning in circles.
Soon after, the Empress was going to Mengchun for a sacrifice, and failing to solve the case made it difficult to account for. The Minister had handed the demon cat case over to the Court of Judicial Review for investigation, likely with Qiu Qingzhi causing trouble in between, bullying the Court of Judicial Review because it lacked a head officer.
Shangguan Qin knew Qiu Qingzhi's methods and also understood the importance of solving the case, but she truly had no solution. She explained the stakes to Wang Qi, stating that during the performance review period for upright officials, if the Court of Judicial Review couldn't solve the case, it would soon be disbanded. As the head of the Mingjing Hall, Wang Qi had no idea where to start.
Sun Bao primarily handled external matters, and Alibaba was not an official Court of Judicial Review officer. When it came time to bear responsibility, it could only be him. Should he just follow Shangguan Qin's order to search for the demon cat? But Wang Qi couldn't convince himself; how could a raccoon cat have the ability to harm people? Li Bing took Chen Shi into a restaurant and, without looking at a menu, ordered several signature dishes.
He was clearly a regular customer, but the waiter had never seen Li Bing. Chen Shi told Li Bing that his entire trip was to find his older brother. His parents had died early, and Chen Shi grew up eating meals from various families. He only knew he had an older brother and had decided to find his relative after receiving a letter from his brother not long ago.
Li Bing tasted a few bites of the dishes and, based on the ingredients and the faint smell of mountain pomegranate flowers on the plate, determined that the restaurant owner, Old Boss Wang, had been murdered. He instructed the waiter to report to the authorities first.
Chen Shi was greatly impressed by Li Bing's deduction but had one thing he didn't understand: Li Bing was clearly a Court of Judicial Review official on duty, so why didn't he handle the matter himself and instead specifically sent the restaurant waiter to the Court of Judicial Review to report the case? Li Bing replied that he had more important matters to attend to and it was inconvenient for him to step forward.
The Minister of Rites, Lu Qing, inquired about the progress of the demon cat murder case from Shangguan Qin. Shangguan Qin requested a little more time. Lu Qing repeatedly emphasized the significance of the matter and that there was not much time left before the sacrifice. Qiu Qingzhi added fuel to the fire from the side, mocking the Court of Judicial Review for lacking capable investigators.
Lu Qing sighed, saying that if the late son of the former Court of Judicial Review Deputy Minister, Li Bing, hadn't been killed, he would surely have been a rare talent, but unfortunately, that was all in the past. Lu Qing instructed Qiu Qingzhi to take charge of investigating the demon cat case. Li Bing took Chen Shi to the House of Compassion to visit the little girl.
Li Bing went into the courtyard to inquire, leaving Chen Shi waiting outside the gate. Chen Shi saw a fortune-telling stall by the gate and walked over, wanting to have his fortune told about the whereabouts of his brother. As they talked, the fortune teller recounted the legend of the demon cat causing harm to the people of the capital. A nearby fortune teller was accused of spreading misleading rumors, and his stall was overturned.
Chen Shi stepped forward to intervene. Seeing Li Bing lead the little girl out, he left. Soldiers were posting wanted posters of Chen Shi and the raccoon cat everywhere. Wang Qi was dragged by Alibaba and Sun Bao to a fortune-telling stall to have his fortune told. He unintentionally discovered the woven basket Chen Shi had left behind and began searching in the vicinity.
Episode 3 Recap
Chen Shi saw the wanted poster and didn't know what to do. He repeatedly explained to Li Bing that he had never harmed anyone and also believed that the raccoon cat would not harm people. Li Bing knew the whole truth and also believed in Chen Shi's character. To avoid the spotlight, Li Bing suggested that Chen Shi leave the city for a while.
Chen Shi disagreed, saying that if he just hid like this, he would really be treated as a murderer, and he wouldn't be able to find his brother or help the little girl find her parents. Chen Shi proposed that Li Bing take him back to Court of Judicial Review to explain the situation. Li Bing explained that the time was not right, but the most important thing now was to find out the truth and clear Chen Shi's name.
Wang Qi, Alibaba, and Sun Bao searched for a long time but found no trace of Chen Shi. The fortune teller said that Chen Shi was with an official from Court of Judicial Review. The group speculated whether other colleagues had found Chen Shi first and taken him back. Returning to Court of Judicial Review, they didn't see the apprehended Chen Shi. Instead, Shangguan Qin had been waiting for a long time. The group looked disappointed.
Shangguan Qin stated that she had not paid enough attention to the demon cat case before. From now on, all resources under her command would be available for the Mingjing Hall to deploy, but the case must be solved within three days. Li Bing instructed Chen Shi that if he wanted to help Gu Xiaohuan find her parents soon, he must follow all of his arrangements.
The most important thing was not to be ostentatious and to keep a low profile. To prevent Chen Shi from being recognized by passersby, Li Bing found his own official uniform for Chen Shi to change into. When an official walked on the street, people would deliberately avoid him, and indeed, no one paid attention to Chen Shi's appearance.
Based on the material and paint of the rattle-drum Gu Xiaohuan carried with her, Li Bing roughly deduced the living environment of Gu Xiaohuan's parents. The group walked to Zhang's Horse Stable based on some of Gu Xiaohuan's memories. Boss Zhang was feeding horses. Upon hearing Gu Xiaohuan's voice, he sadly hugged the child, lamenting over and over again how regrettable it was.
According to Boss Zhang, Gu Xiaohuan's father, Old Gu, was a long-term laborer for his family and had always been honest and dutiful. A year ago, Gu Xiaohuan went missing, and Old Gu and his wife were extremely anxious. Old Gu went to the streets every day to inquire and search, while his wife waited for their daughter at the doorstep. Over time, she fell ill and soon passed away. Old Gu continued to search for his daughter.
Unexpectedly, a few days ago, when he was working as a stablehand for the Usher, he was harmed by the demon cat. Now, he is nowhere to be found, alive or dead. Boss Zhang and his wife had no children of their own and had always treated Xiaohuan as their own daughter, so they agreed to take Xiaohuan in as their child.
Li Bing felt that Xiaohuan was pitiful and immediately stated that he was an official of Court of Judicial Review and would thoroughly investigate to give Xiaohuan's parents justice. On the way back, Li Bing took Chen Shi past the moat, where the Usher had an accident. Chen Shi asked if it was true, as rumored by the people, that there was a demon cat appearing. Li Bing explained that so-called demons were just projections of people's minds.
If a person has guilt in their heart, they are easily scared to death by their inner demons. As the two were examining the lime on the railing, Qiu Qingzhi and his attendant also walked to the bridge. Li Bing did not want to reveal his identity, so he let Chen Shi speak up and turn away Qiu Qingzhi and his attendant.
Chen Shi turned back to look at Li Bing and saw that his eyes were red and flashing with a golden light, like a cat's eyes in the dark. In just a moment, Li Bing's eyes returned to normal. He explained that he had remembered some past events and couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. Li Bing took Chen Shi to sneak into the morgue.
As the two were examining the body, Wang Qi and Sun Bao happened to enter. The coroner, Old Bai, said that although there were animal scratches on the deceased's body, there were also human-inflicted injuries, and the entire skeleton was fractured, which was extremely tragic. Hu Si brought some more case files and urged them to solve the case quickly. Back home, Li Bing re-organized his thoughts.
To investigate the current demon cat murder case, he could only start from three years ago. Chen Shi suddenly remembered that he had left his basket at the fortune teller's stall, so the two went out together to retrieve the basket.
Episode 4 Recap
Although Mingjing Hall was forced to take on the case, they had no clue at all. Wang Qi suggested having a good meal first. Hu Si bought a lot of meat and vegetables. Wang Qi ate heartily by himself. The others had no mood to eat at all. Sun Bao started analyzing Chen Shi's whereabouts. The fortune teller Yuan Buer clearly said he saw him with an official from Court of Judicial Review.
Could Shangguan Qin have secretly hidden Chen Shi? As the few were discussing, they heard someone knocking on the door. The person who came was indeed Yuan Buer. He was holding the wanted poster and claimed he knew Chen Shi's whereabouts. This was originally instructed by Li Bing for Yuan Buer to do.
In order to solve the case as quickly as possible, after Yuan Buer revealed Chen Shi's residence, he saw the delicious food on the table and couldn't take his eyes off it. Wang Qi saw through Yuan Buer's thoughts. The few of them couldn't gather much reward money, so they had to give Yuan Buer a piece of pork hock from the table to take away. After Yuan Buer left, Wang Qi and his group immediately took action.
Hu Si quietly followed behind, wanting to find out where the few of them were going. Unexpectedly, Wang Qi, along with Sun Bao and Alibaba, suddenly returned, put a sack over Hu Si's head, and beat him up, which was considered a public report for private revenge. Afterwards, they rushed to Li's residence. Li Bing and Chen Shi stood in the room, not letting Wang Qi approach.
Li Bing pretended to hold a knife to Chen Shi's neck, threatening a hostage, and asked who was currently in charge at Court of Judicial Review. Upon learning that the position of Court of Judicial Review Chief Minister had been vacant for a long time, Li Bing understood the reason for Court of Judicial Review's inaction. He then counter-questioned the few of them whether they genuinely wanted to solve the case or frame Chen Shi. Alibaba expressed his stance.
Li Bing instructed the few of them that they next needed to prove that the demon cat case was unrelated to demons, in order to gain time to collect further evidence. Qiu Qingzhi received news that a waiter from a restaurant reported the case. Someone claiming to be an official from Court of Judicial Review had eaten at their restaurant and determined the boss was murdered based only on the freshness of the food and a faint smell of pollen.
After investigation, it turned out to be true. Qiu Qingzhi suspected that Li Bing must have returned to Shendu. Chen Shi made porridge for Li Bing using wild mushrooms from the courtyard, but he himself had no mood to enjoy it. The series of events that had happened recently left Chen Shi puzzled.
The most suspicious thing was that Li Bing claimed to be an official from Court of Judicial Review, but the few people from Mingjing Hall seemed not to know Li Bing at all. Li Bing's answers to their questions also proved that he had no understanding of the situation at Court of Judicial Review. Li Bing stated that this matter concerned the secret of his forced departure from Shendu, and therefore it was inconvenient to disclose.
Qiu Qingzhi broke into Li's residence to search. Li Bing transformed into a cat and hid himself. Chen Shi was taken away by Qiu Qingzhi's subordinates. On the street, Qiu Qingzhi asked about the whereabouts of his companion. Chen Shi refused to admit anything. Li Bing then used qinggong to rescue Chen Shi. Chen Shi accidentally shouted Li Bing's name, and Qiu Qingzhi directly confirmed his suspicion.
Chen Shi woke up the next day and told Li Bing that the person who arrested him was Qiu Qingzhi. Li Bing said that he knew everything. Next, he was preparing to find Gu Xiaohuan's father, Old Gu. If one wanted to fake a demon cat murder, the timing had to be very precise. Furthermore, since Old Gu had not been seen since the Usher's accident, it indicated that he was very likely still in Shendu.
Wang Qi and his group began to study the illusion technique of making smoke. Hu Si told Shangguan Qin about the group's movements. Shangguan Qin went to the backyard to check. Alibaba explained the principle of smoke generation to Shangguan Qin. For a theatrical troupe, these were the most basic tricks, therefore, the demon cat murder was completely man-made. Shangguan Qin hurriedly reported the investigation results to the Minister of Rites, Lü Qing.
He deeply knew the stakes involved behind this matter. The demon cat case was characterized three years ago, and the testimony was provided by Lü Qing.
Episode 5 Recap
Qiu Qingzhi countered, saying that the demon cat case was characterized by Court of Judicial Review back then, and now they are overturning their own conclusion. Shangguan Qin was helpless and could only order the few people from Mingjing Hall to be suspended and reflect. Li Bing brought Chen Shi back to Gu Xiaohuan's home. The courtyard was empty, with only scattered dry grass.
Chen Shi waited at the door, but when Li Bing came out, Chen Shi was nowhere to be seen. Wang Qi and his brothers analyzed the situation. There were currently two paths: instead of being suspended and dealt with, it was better to continue the investigation. All the brothers agreed, but they had no idea where to start. Li Bing had only hinted at the principle of exposing the trick, but did not indicate the next step.
Li Bing found Chen Shi by listening. Chen Shi was tied up in the courtyard where the demon cat was shot three years ago. Standing next to him was the fortuneteller Meng Kui from the riverbank. Meng Kui trapped Li Bing in an iron cage and admitted that he had planned the Usher's murder case a few days ago because he had suffered unfair treatment and vowed to seek revenge.
According to Meng Kui's account, three years ago, there were rumors of a demon cat case in Shendu. The court ordered the Minister of Rites to solve the case, and the Usher was the specific executor. At that time, there were no clues at all. Meng Kui's parents ran a traveling theater troupe and kept a tiger. The Usher then requested Meng Kui's parents to arrange a magic trick performance for the Minister, offering three times the usual reward money.
There was no reason for Meng Kui's parents to refuse, so they trained the tiger to perform. On the day of the performance, as the tiger was pacing on the stage, it was hit by an arrow shot from a distance. Subsequently, several arrows were fired simultaneously, and the tiger quickly died. The Usher then closed the case, declaring the tiger was the demon cat. Meng Kui's parents and the theater troupe members were all shot dead on the spot.
Meng Kui ran away from the scene, but was also pursued and stabbed. Fortunately, the stab did not hit his heart, and he miraculously survived. After that, Meng Kui began collecting the families of the unjust case from three years ago under the guise of fortune-telling by the river. Old Gu was naturally one of them. As he spoke, he lit the hot air balloon in the courtyard, which had a tiger on it.
Li Bing transformed into a cat and escaped the iron cage. Qiu Qingzhi arrived with troops and immediately took an arrow and shot it at Meng Kui. Meng Kui fell to the ground after being hit by the arrow. Li Bing stepped forward and helped him up. Meng Kui took out a signed statement from his bosom, handed it to Li Bing for safekeeping, and begged him to thoroughly investigate the unjust case of his parents from three years ago.
He then collapsed in a pool of blood. Hu Si was responsible for watching over the Mingjing Hall brothers who were suspended and reflecting. A few of them secretly sneaked out to collect clues. Hu Si pretended not to see them. The hot air balloon rose higher and higher. Qiu Qingzhi shot the brazier, and the hot air balloon began to descend.
Li Bing firmly grabbed a rope and threw another one to Chen Shi, also handing the evidence to Chen Shi along the way. Both of them landed safely. The place where Chen Shi fell was precisely where the Mingjing Hall brothers caught him. Chen Shi took out the evidence, and the few of them quickly handed it to Shangguan Qin.
Upon learning that someone was going to retaliate against Lü Qing near Zhuque Gate, Chen Shi led a few people to escape from the dungeon and rushed to Zhuque Gate after receiving the firework signal. Lü Qing thought he had finally eliminated the trouble and was heading towards Zhuque Gate to prepare for a sacrifice. Li Bing stopped Lü Qing halfway.
Chen Shi brought out the tiger that Meng Kui had raised and forced Lü Qing to admit the fact that he had wronged Meng Kui's parents' theater troupe face-to-face. Afterwards, Lü Qing was hung high in the air by a few people from Mingjing Hall. Qiu Qingzhi arrived to assist, originally intending to save Lü Qing and take charge of Court of Judicial Review in the future through Lü Qing's manipulation. However, Li Bing explained the stakes involved.
Qiu Qingzhi prepared to forcibly apprehend Li Bing. Shangguan Qin arrived at the scene with an imperial decree, announcing that Li Bing was to meet the Emperor and publicizing Li Bing's identity. Qiu Qingzhi did not dare to gamble with his future. After the truth was revealed, the wronged people hiding near Zhuque Gate all came forward to Li Bing to thank him for the imperial decree. Old Gu also no longer hid. Boss Zhang appeared with Gu Xiaohuan.
Old Gu was incredibly emotional. Gu Xiaohuan pleaded with Li Bing for leniency, asking for a way out for her father.
Episode 6 Recap
The Emperor met with Li Bing, questioning why he acted in the name of Court of Judicial Review. Li Bing quickly admitted his guilt, stating it was merely for convenience of action. The Emperor did not blame him, explaining that since the incident with Li Bing's father, Li Ji, Court of Judicial Review had become increasingly dilapidated, leaving many unjust cases unresolved.
He temporarily appointed Li Bing as Deputy Minister of Court of Judicial Review, entrusting him with all matters and the task of reorganizing Court of Judicial Review. For Li Bing, he carried a greater mission, but he had to obey the Emperor's decree. Walking out of the court, Chen Shi had been waiting for a long time.
Chen Shi told Li Bing that the Emperor was enlightened and had reduced many of the crimes for people like Old Gu, who would soon be released from prison to reunite with Gu Xiaohuan. Chen Shi was finally relieved and planned to leave to continue searching for his brother. Li Bing inquired if he had found a place to stay. Chen Shi replied that he hadn't, saying he would take things one step at a time.
Li Bing told Chen Shi that he had received the imperial decree appointing him as Deputy Minister of Court of Judicial Review and needed an attendant. As Chen Shi had gone through the case-solving process with him, he suggested Chen Shi stay at Court of Judicial Review for now to assist him and slowly search for his brother later. When the yamen runner delivered food to Lü Qing in prison, he found the door lock seemed to have been swapped.
Upon closer inspection, Lü Qing was already dead from poisoning. Li Bing assumed his post at Court of Judicial Review. Shangguan Qin ordered Hu Si to arrange lodging for Li Bing. Li Bing said he would just stay in the former Minister of Court of Judicial Review's room. Hu Si replied that the room had been cleaned regularly since Li Ji was assassinated. Qiu Qingzhi went to Mingjing Hall to congratulate Li Bing.
Shangguan Qin was surprised, as Qiu Qingzhi usually acted independently but was unusually polite towards Li Bing. However, Li Bing did not show a friendly face. Qiu Qingzhi told Li Bing that the Jinwu Guard was responsible for criminal justice matters in Shendu, and therefore would continue investigating the demon cat case from three years ago.
Li Bing countered, stating that Court of Judicial Review oversaw criminal justice throughout the land, and even for cases under the Jinwu Guard's jurisdiction, Court of Judicial Review had the authority to review and reconsider. He was currently preparing to start the investigation by interrogating Lü Qing. Qiu Qingzhi dismissively stated that Lü Qing had already committed suicide by poisoning himself in prison. Li Bing went to the prison to investigate Lü Qing's cause of death.
The coroner confirmed it was death by poisoning. Li Bing recalled that when he stopped Lü Qing near Zhuque Gate, the latter had unconsciously used his sleeve to cover his face, revealing a white handkerchief, which likely contained poison. That night, Li Bing transformed into a white cat, climbed onto the eaves, and observed Qiu Qingzhi's movements. Lai Zhongshu reported Li Bing's whereabouts for the day, indicating that Qiu Qingzhi was secretly following him.
The white cat accidentally knocked over an inkstone. Qiu Qingzhi casually picked up a wooden board to drive it away. The white cat quickly jumped onto the rooftop and returned to Li Mansion. Chen Shi had just returned to Li Mansion and was astonished to see the white cat on the rooftop instantly transform into Li Bing.
Li Bing sat on the eaves and asked Chen Shi to find a ladder to climb up, then recounted his experience of transforming into a white cat. That year, Li Mansion was suddenly surrounded by a group of men in black. Li Ji fought with the men in black, bringing his butler along, and instructed Li Bing to release a distress signal flare.
By the time Li Bing released the flare and returned to the main courtyard, Li Ji was already on his last breath. After Li Ji died, Li Bing carried his father's coffin back to their hometown. On the way, they encountered another assassination attempt by men in black. Li Bing narrowly survived, clinging to life. Afterwards, he turned completely white-haired and fainted.
When he woke up, he could transform into a cat form, though he himself didn't know what he had experienced. Li Bing asked Chen Shi to keep his secret. He had previously mentioned having important matters at hand, and it was precisely this investigation. Only then did Chen Shi realize that the intelligent civet cat he had seen before was Li Bing, and he also decided to help Li Bing keep the secret and assist him with all his heart.
Episode 7 Recap
Li Bing took Chen Shi to Court of Judicial Review's Mingjing Hall to tidy up the room. Everything was neat and tidy, and Chen Shi, having nothing to do, felt uncomfortable all over. Li Bing told Chen Shi to slowly get used to it. Early the next morning, everyone in Mingjing Hall was yawning. They had discussed the new Deputy Minister's past all night and didn't sleep well.
Especially Wang Qi, who slept next to Sun Bao, said Sun Bao's snoring was thunderous in the latter half of the night, and he barely closed his eyes all night. Past noon, several people saw that the two Deputy Ministers hadn't appeared yet. It being the first day in a new position, everyone unanimously agreed that whoever arrived at the main hall first would be at a disadvantage.
Chen Shi, holding steaming hot meat buns, invited the officers to eat buns. Just after they finished eating, Li Bing and Shangguan Qin arrived in succession. Li Bing exchanged a few familiar words with everyone, while Shangguan Qin directly announced that every Mengchun (first month of spring) was the season for Court of Judicial Review officials' assessments. She asked everyone to prepare well, stating that merits would be rewarded accordingly, and those whose performance was unsatisfactory would be ruthlessly eliminated.
Wang Qi secretly cursed the cruelty of the system. Li Bing interjected, saying that this system was precisely proposed by him back then. Because it was reasonable and practical, it was initially only implemented in Mingjing Hall and was later promoted to the entire Court of Judicial Review. Shangguan Qin brought up the past year's performance of the four officers in Mingjing Hall, stating that besides the Caisheng Zheshu case and the demon cat case, they had done nothing else.
Several people exchanged glances. Shangguan Qin handed over the responsibility of Mingjing Hall to Li Bing. Li Bing instructed the several people to prepare their reports as quickly as possible. Returning to Mingjing Hall, Li Bing felt a sense of familiarity. When he was in his teens, he had followed his father to work in Mingjing Hall. Now, things were different, which couldn't but evoke a sense of感慨 (melancholy/reflection). The several people took turns giving their reports.
Wang Qi served as the manager of Mingjing Hall. As he came from a Yangzhou merchant family, his thinking was unique and his perspective broad. He oversaw various matters. Cui Bei was responsible for recording and drawing portraits of criminals. Sun Bao primarily handled external matters. Alibaba was diligently preparing for the Court of Judicial Review编制 (official position/examination). Since Alibaba was a 胡人 (Hu/foreigner), Li Bing took out a token from a 胡寺賭坊 (Hu Temple Casino) for Alibaba to identify.
Alibaba hadn't seen a similar style, but decided to discreetly inquire about it later. Hu Si came to Mingjing Hall to distribute salaries to the several people. It was only a few taels of silver. Hu Si explained that Court of Judicial Review paid salaries based on performance. Because the four people in Mingjing Hall had only solved two cases in the past year, they were only allocated a small salary.
After Hu Si left, Wang Qi explained that Court of Judicial Review cases were divided into four categories: Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding. They had indeed received a few Ding category cases, but even solving them didn't bring a sense of achievement, so they had piled up on their desks with no progress. Li Bing scolded the several people for only wanting to claim credit.
From now on, no matter whether a case was Jia, Yi, Bing, or Ding level, they must take it seriously. Chen Shi, not having been assigned a new task and being unable to stay idle, cleaned the inside and outside of Mingjing Hall thoroughly every day.
One day, while buying groceries in the street, a simple-minded girl saw the Court of Judicial Review waist token hanging from Chen Shi's waist and followed him to Court of Judicial Review to beat the drum and appeal for justice. Shangguan Qin told Li Bing that the simple-minded girl was the younger sister of an official from the Ministry of Justice, and she had come to Court of Judicial Review to report a case more than once.
However, after verification, the girl's brother, Yuanwailang (a type of official), had committed suicide by hanging in the Ministry of Justice office three months prior. The case was handled by the Ministry of Justice, and a conclusion had been given. Court of Judicial Review was on the same level as the Ministry of Justice and had not conducted further in-depth investigation, only performing a symbolic review.
The simple-minded girl did not intend to leave and kept kneeling in front of the hall, crying out that she was wronged. Li Bing asked Chen Shi to take the simple-minded girl away first. When Chen Shi took the girl to the dining hall to eat, several managers from Jicitang (a charitable institution) burst in, demanding to take the girl back. The girl was very resistant, retreating repeatedly.
Chen Shi asked the several people to let the simple-minded girl stay at Court of Judicial Review for a few days, but the other party disagreed. Li Bing arrived in time and stated that the simple-minded girl was the plaintiff. Before the case was solved, it was reasonable and appropriate for her to stay at Court of Judicial Review.
Episode 8 Recap
Chen Shi didn't know how to settle the simple-minded girl. Li Bing remembered that there was a vacant room next to Wang Qi and the others' dormitory, so he decided to settle the simple-minded girl there first. But the room hadn't been lived in for a long time and the roof leaked. Chen Shi said he could find a way to tidy it up.
Alibaba took out the token Li Bing had given him a few days ago and told Li Bing that after inquiring for a few days, he knew which casino the token came from. Li Bing praised Alibaba for his outstanding performance and told the others to follow suit and learn. Following the address provided by Alibaba, Li Bing found a casino run by Hu people outside the city.
Li Bing took out the chips that were only half left, the Hu boss immediately understood and led Li Bing into the backyard. The Hu boss asked Li Bing to stay outside the door and went in to report. A moment later, the Hu boss gestured for Li Bing to follow him in. As soon as Li Bing stepped in, the door was suddenly closed.
Passing through a corridor, Li Bing followed the Hu boss and appeared in a fighting arena. Two strong men were fighting in the center of the arena, and there were shouts all around. Only then did Li Bing realize that this casino used the outcome of fights as bets, but since he was already here, he could only abide by the rules. After a fight ended, Li Bing was taken to the fighting arena.
His opponent had already won several rounds. Li Bing used all his strength and barely managed to win. Throughout the entire match, a black-clothed masked woman stood watching backstage. Li Bing knocked his opponent to the ground, and money was thrown from all around. Soon, Li Bing was taken to the black-clothed masked woman's room. The black-clothed woman questioned Li Bing if he was the 'Jia Zi Tou' from three years ago. Li Bing replied that he didn't know him.
The black-clothed woman narrated some deeds about 'Jia Zi Tou'. Three years ago, 'Jia Zi Tou' often came to the casino to fight. Each time he would pick the strongest fighters and could win, but he often wore a mask, so no one had seen his true face. After the last fight, 'Jia Zi Tou' left his mask at the casino and never appeared again.
After speaking, the black-clothed woman walked towards Li Bing with a knife, preparing to stab him. The Hu boss reminded her that the person was a government official, the black-clothed woman didn't dare to act. Wang Qi and his group went to the Ministry of Justice to re-examine the case files. The person in charge didn't want to cooperate at all. Wang Qi flattered him for a while before he was grudgingly allowed into the files office.
Many officials were jointly making records. Upon hearing that Wang Qi had led the team to solve the demon cat case, they all came forward to watch and vied to ask questions. Seeing this scene, Wang Qi left Cui Bei and Alibaba to handle them, while he pulled Sun Bao to the Yuanwailang's house to check the situation. The two secretly snuck into the courtyard, found that someone had locked the room door from the inside.
After squatting for half a day, they found it was the neighboring aunt. The two threatened her with trespassing to force her to talk about the Yuanwailang's family situation. The aunt only revealed that the Yuanwailang was very fond of the simple-minded girl, and therefore remained unmarried in his thirties. Alibaba and Cui Bei also learned from a Ministry of Justice official that the Yuanwailang usually had little contact with people, and thus didn't have many enemies.
On the night before the incident, the Yuanwailang was still working at home in the first half of the night, and in the latter half of the night, he was found hanged at home by the watchman. -------------------- Li Bing found Shangguan Qin and requested entry into the Court of Judicial Review Secret Archive. The two each had half a key, and only together could they unlock it.
Shangguan Qin had never entered the Secret Archive before and also wanted to take the opportunity to look around. The two opened the door together. Shangguan Qin discovered that Li Bing was completely familiar with the placement of various documents in the Secret Archive.
Episode 9 Recap
Chen Shi brought the simple-minded girl to live at Court of Judicial Review. They washed clothes and cooked together, and he even wove grasshopper ornaments for the simple-minded girl. The two gradually got along well and could talk about anything. Li Bing went to the market to find the Hu butcher. The Hu butcher was selling meat. After finishing a busy spell, Li Bing showed the Hu butcher the pendant of his father, Li Ji.
The Hu butcher immediately understood and invited Li Bing to the backyard to talk. After Li Bing revealed his identity, the Hu butcher did not believe him. According to common rumors, Li Bing had already been killed on the way back home while escorting his father's coffin. It was only after Li Bing mentioned the Hu butcher's past as an executioner that the Hu butcher believed Li Bing's identity.
Li Bing found a string of numbers on the back of the mask he found at the Hu people's casino, so he casually wrote it down. Now, showing it to the Hu butcher, the Hu butcher collapsed onto the ground after seeing the numbers and then revealed the name of the prisoner corresponding to the number. The prisoner's name was Yi Zhi Hua. He was the most unforgettable person in the Hu butcher's decades-long career.
After Wu Zetian abolished the beheading penalty, the Hu butcher was transferred to prison to be a guard. One day during a patrol, he noticed Yi Zhi Hua had strange eyes, so he stepped forward to warn him to be honest and follow the rules. However, Yi Zhi Hua grinned wickedly and praised the Hu butcher's teeth for being beautiful. His various strange behaviors were different from the other prisoners.
After several prisoners were executed, the Hu butcher went to the prison to check the situation. Several prisoners had stopped breathing, but Yi Zhi Hua was safely in the corner, holding a string of teeth connected by a rope. It was then he understood the intention behind the earlier praise of his teeth. Afterwards, the Hu butcher, with the help of Court of Judicial Review Minister Li Ji, left the prison.
Three years later, the prison where Yi Zhi Hua had served his sentence suddenly disappeared, as if it had never existed at all. As time passed, few people mentioned this matter again. Li Bing returned to his room and found it tidy, but the mask was missing. Besides Chen Shi tidying up everywhere, there would be no one else, but Chen Shi was not at Court of Judicial Review at the moment.
Li Bing used his ghost cat eyes to check and traced the route to the vicinity of Suzaku Gate. Chen Shi had woven many lanterns and was selling them. The simple-minded girl was standing in front of Yuan Buer's fortune-telling stall, and the mask was placed next to the simple-minded girl. Li Bing quickly retrieved the mask.
It turned out that when Chen Shi was tidying up the room with the simple-minded girl, she found the mask interesting and took it with her casually. Li Bing instructed Chen Shi not to tidy his room excessively in the future. However, Chen Shi also had some gains from selling lanterns for half a day. Yuan Buer calculated the simple-minded girl's age, and she was already an adult, often saying words related to coming-of-age ceremonies.
Li Bing speculated that someone must have painstakingly taught the simple-minded girl, and this person could only be the Yuanwailang. Wang Qi and his group discovered that the roof repairman had been to the Yuanwailang's house that night and was now repairing the roof at Court of Judicial Review, indicating that this person was also suspicious. Several people rushed back to Court of Judicial Review. The roof repairman was preparing to secretly stab the simple-minded girl.
Wang Qi stopped him in time but was taken hostage in return. Chen Shi picked up a porcelain bottle and smashed it on the repairman's head, finally stopping him. According to his confession, the Yuanwailang had previously bullied the roof repairman, so he decided to take revenge. Killing the Yuanwailang was not enough to quench his anger, so he intended to kill the simple-minded girl as well.
After the case was solved, the simple-minded girl could finally return to the Ji Ci Tang with peace of mind, and Chen Shi was reluctant to part with her. Due to the twists and turns in solving the Yuanwailang case, Li Bing was preparing to dismiss Wang Qi. The first time he went to the Ministry of Justice to re-examine a case, Wang Qi only cared about personal relationships and saving face, nearly missing important clues.
Although Wang Qi was unwilling, he could only obey the superior's arrangement. At the same time, because Chen Shi had contributed twice in solving cases, Li Bing asked Chen Shi to quickly learn to read and write. If he met the literacy standard after one month, he could get rid of his attendant status and join the Mingjing Hall to investigate cases together.
Episode 10 Recap
Chen Shi took out all his savings and bought pork for the kitchen, asking the cook to make delicious meat buns for Wang Qi's farewell. Wang Qi ate several buns with tears in his eyes and reluctantly said goodbye to Chen Shi. After Wang Qi left Court of Judicial Review, Sun Bao and Alibaba came out of the room.
Having worked together for a while, they couldn't bear to see the sad scene of Wang Qi leaving Court of Judicial Review, but Sun Bao comforted Chen Shi not to be sad. Wang Qi was living in the mansion across from Court of Judicial Review that Alibaba had bought, so they could meet anytime. Upon hearing this, Chen Shi blamed the two for not telling him sooner, causing him to spend all his money.
Alibaba took out a few taels of silver bits as compensation for Chen Shi. Cui Bei was ordered to collect books at the Yuanwailang's house and quickly completed the task. After bringing the books to Li Bing, he intentionally walked over to Li Bing to look at the official document.
Li Bing had drafted the document to dismiss Wang Qi, but he had not yet stamped it with the Court of Judicial Review Deputy Minister's seal, indicating he was still hesitating about Wang Qi's departure. Cui Bei began to plead for Wang Qi. Although Wang Qi had made mistakes, he had previously managed many tasks, putting in a lot of effort and labor.
Furthermore, with the heavy workload at Court of Judicial Review now, without Wang Qi, the others would likely be overwhelmed. Seeing Cui Bei's sincerity, Li Bing stated he had his own plan. That night, Yi Zhi Hua suddenly appeared in the prison cell. After using illusions to control the jailer, the jailer obediently handed over the cell keys. Yi Zhi Hua walked up to the roof repairman and said he wanted to play a game.
Before the repairman could react, he was firmly pressed onto a pile of straw by Yi Zhi Hua. Chen Shi brought Li Bing some incense and unintentionally mentioned Wang Qi had just left, looking dejected. Li Bing told Chen Shi that the Yuanwailang case was not over yet. Although the roof repairman had confessed to the crime, he lacked a reasonable motive for murder. Furthermore, the repairman was clearly searching for something.
Before the Yuanwailang's death, he had brought some case files home from the Ministry of Justice, and the repairman was likely searching for these things. Li Bing continued to analyze. On the day of the incident, the Yuanwailang's roof leaked, so there should have been some damp case files. However, the files Cui Bei brought back showed no signs of being damp.
Only on the back of the coming-of-age ceremony booklet the Yuanwailang wrote for his sister were the three characters "一枝花" stamped. Therefore, the repairman was likely looking for files related to Yi Zhi Hua. His dismissal of Wang Qi was simply because he didn't want more people to get involved in this dangerous situation.
He received the case from the Minister of Rites' residence, indicating that Yi Zhi Hua had some connection to the Minister of Rites and the demon cat case from three years ago. As the two were talking, a figure flashed past the window. Li Bing quickly ran out of the room and saw a handkerchief placed at the door, wrapped around a few teeth.
Li Bing immediately felt something was wrong and was about to go to the prison to check when Qiu Qingzhi suddenly appeared, demanding the Yuanwailang suspect from Court of Judicial Review. Shangguan Qin and Li Bing argued reasonably, but then suddenly received news that the roof repairman had died tragically in prison. The group rushed there. Qiu Qingzhi pulled open the repairman's clothes and found another handkerchief.
When combined with the handkerchief Li Bing found, they formed a piece of foreign text. None of them recognized it. Fortunately, Alibaba was a Hu person. After careful examination, he could only decipher the name of a place mentioned in it: slave camp. Qiu Qingzhi turned and left Court of Judicial Review. Li Bing seemed to have discovered something and quietly followed behind Qiu Qingzhi.
When Qiu Qingzhi arrived at the slave camp, Li Bing suddenly appeared, and Qiu Qingzhi realized he had been followed. Li Bing brought up their past together. Several years ago, Qiu Qingzhi was an escaped prisoner from a slave camp. Li Bing secretly took him in without telling his father. Later, after Li Ji learned about the situation, he took Qiu Qingzhi to join the army and fight, promising to help him get rid of his slave status.
After the war, Qiu Qingzhi, through his own efforts, had become the Left Guard General, so Li Ji did not pay attention to his previous promise. However, Qiu Qingzhi had always held a grudge, believing the Li father and son had broken their promise to him. Yi Zhi Hua suddenly appeared at the entrance of the slave camp and told Li Bing to defeat him to learn the secret. Li Bing was clearly not strong enough.
Yi Zhi Hua prompted Li Bing to switch to another form. Only then did Li Bing realize that his ability to transform into a cat form was related to Yi Zhi Hua, and that even Qiu Qingzhi was taking orders from Yi Zhi Hua.
Episode 11 Recap
Li Bing and Yi Zhi Hua fought for a while, neither able to gain the upper hand. Qiu Qingzhi stood in the distance and struck Yi Zhi Hua with a rocket. In just a moment, Yi Zhi Hua was scorched, leaving only a shining metal mask. Li Bing rebuked Qiu Qingzhi for only looking out for his own interests, afraid of being implicated because Yi Zhi Hua had said he held many people's secrets.
Qiu Qingzhi, however, retorted that he acted for the safety of the Court of Judicial Review Deputy Minister. Li Bing could only let it go. Returning to Court of Judicial Review, Chen Shi and the others found a note intentionally left by Yi Zhi Hua at the scene where the roof repairman was killed. Alibaba translated it, leading them to a bundle above the Mingjing Hall plaque.
Knowing it was related to the case, none of them opened it and waited for Li Bing to return to Court of Judicial Review to hand it over to him. Li Bing opened the bundle. It was a diary from after he was rescued years ago. He didn't know why it was in Yi Zhi Hua's hands, much less what Yi Zhi Hua's intention was in leaving it in Mingjing Hall.
Chen Shi told Li Bing that when they were searching for evidence, Wang Qi and the other few people in Mingjing Hall worked together with one heart. Li Bing felt relieved and said to himself, if one day he could no longer investigate cases, perhaps his other brothers could take over. Around the time of the Emperor's Birthday Festival, Court of Judicial Review had a three-day holiday.
Seeing that Chen Shi was struggling to learn to read, Li Bing gave Chen Shi three days of leave. Li Bing returned the document stamped by Li Ji before his death, which redeemed Qiu Qingzhi's slave status, to Qiu Qingzhi. From then on, the two had no more grudges. Yi Zhi Hua suddenly soared into the air from the ruins, muttering to himself that the game had just begun.
Wang Qi got drunk and fantasized that he had been promoted to Court of Judicial Review Deputy Minister, so he wrote a letter home to inform his family. Alibaba prepared a pot of flowers as a gift for Shangguan Qin. Hu Si helped hand it over. Chen Shi's chickens sometimes disturbed Shangguan Qin's rest, so Alibaba asked Chen Shi to quickly send the chickens away. Wang Qi's parents arrived in Shendu to celebrate their son's official position.
They met Chen Shi outside the Court of Judicial Review gate, and only then did Chen Shi realize that Wang Qi had claimed to be the Court of Judicial Review Deputy Minister. Sun Bao quickly stepped forward to greet Wang Qi's parents and took them to Alibaba's mansion to meet Wang Qi. Li Bing entered the palace to congratulate the Emperor on his birthday. Alibaba took Chen Shi to stroll through the Emperor's Birthday Festival night market.
Seeing a stall selling lanterns, he took over the stall, saying he would take them home to write various idioms on them to encourage himself to pass the official examination soon. As the two were talking, Wang Qi's father also came forward to inquire about Court of Judicial Review. Only then did the two realize this was another father who mistakenly thought his son was the Deputy Minister. They quickly took him to Alibaba's mansion.
Cui Bei received Wang Qi's parents. Chen Shi questioned Wang Qi about why he had concealed the truth. Wang Qi told them that he had gotten drunk a few days ago and wrote a letter home while not thinking clearly. He regretted it the next day and quickly asked the post station if it had been sent out.
The post station saw Wang Qi sending a letter in the middle of the night and thought the situation was urgent, so they had already sent the letter out. Wang Qi was unable to defend himself. His father had been very strict with him since he was a child, and if he knew he had been deceived, he would definitely be beaten again.
This made him even more afraid to tell the truth, so his brothers could only continue to play along with the act. Cui Bei played chess with Wang Qi's parents, deliberately letting them win to make the elderly happy. Li Bing entered the palace to attend the Emperor's Birthday Festival. The palace arranged for Hu people to dance. Several of them wore bronze masks, and the leader's movements were particularly exaggerated.
After showing off, he moved towards Qiu Qingzhi, signaling him to drink. Qiu Qingzhi drank a cup. The Hu person then walked to Shangguan Lian's table and put on a mysterious act. Shangguan Lian, who was always straightforward, reprimanded the Hu person and told him to get lost. The Hu person then walked to Li Bing's front and kept stretching his arms, seemingly trying to express something.
Episode 12 Recap
After dancing among several ministers, the Hu person made an asking gesture towards the Empress. Wu Zetian realized that the Hu person seemed to want to convey some message through his movements, so she gave her approval, and also requested that if ministerial cooperation was needed, they should assist to the best of their ability. The Hu person then returned to Li Bing, gesturing for Li Bing to remove his mask.
Alibaba wanted to invite Shangguan Qin to visit the Emperor's Birthday Festival night market with him, so he asked Hu Si for help. Alibaba was always generous, and Hu Si, receiving gold coins, was overjoyed and couldn't stop smiling, agreeing to help Alibaba persuade Shangguan Qin to go to the night market. Seeing Shangguan Qin return to her room with two attendants, Alibaba dismissed the two attendants, saying he would stand guard for Shangguan Qin.
The two attendants knew he was from Court of Judicial Review, and after receiving a tip, they withdrew. Wang Qi's parents suggested visiting Court of Judicial Review, saying that since it was their first time in Shendu, they must experience it thoroughly. Wang Qi could only agree. The few of them walked into Court of Judicial Review heavy with worry. Wang Qi's mother suddenly noticed something strange. Except for Wang Qi, the others were all wearing official robes.
Wang Qi stammered for a long time, and had to ask Cui Bei to find an official robe for him to change into. That wasn't all. The two also proposed that Wang Qi should personally review official documents in front of them. The few of them exchanged glances. Cui Bei still found an official document for Wang Qi. Chen Shi was sweating profusely nearby, feeling that they had gone too far and it would be difficult to resolve.
The Hu person began his physical performance. Li Bing was responsible for the commentary. The commentary corresponded with the Hu person's performance. The Empress was also very satisfied. As the performance was nearing its end, the Hu person kept approaching Li Bing and provoking him. Li Bing vaguely felt that expression was similar to the expression of Yi Zhi Hua when they fought in the slave camp, so he reached out and removed the mask.
Unexpectedly, behind one layer of mask was another mask. Li Bing was greatly surprised. The Empress bestowed her favorite lanterns upon Li Bing and the Hu person. Wang Qi's parents were still excitedly touring Court of Judicial Review. The two even ran into the main hall. Chen Shi calculated that Li Bing might be returning to Court of Judicial Review soon, and signaled Sun Bao to quickly guide Wang Qi's parents back to Alibaba's mansion.
As the few of them were preparing to return to the mansion, Shangguan Qin happened to pass by Mingjing Hall, and encountered Wang Qi's parents. After Shangguan Qin revealed her identity, Wang Qi's parents thought she was their son's colleague, and gave her detailed instructions. Shangguan Qin felt increasingly suspicious, and finally realized that Wang Qi was impersonating the Deputy Minister.
After reprimanding him, Wang Qi's father saw that his son didn't have a waist token, and understood that his son was lying, so he chased after Wang Qi to beat him. Li Bing happened to return to Court of Judicial Review carrying a lantern, and saw the mix-up caused by Wang Qi clearly. Wang Qi's parents pleaded with Li Bing to be lenient.
Shangguan Qin also stated that when she was the sole Deputy Minister of Court of Judicial Review, Wang Qi was relatively diligent. Li Bing decided to keep Wang Qi in Court of Judicial Review, but he must be demoted. If he performs well in the future, he will have a chance to return to Mingjing Hall. After Wang Qi returned to Court of Judicial Review, the few of them took turns teaching Chen Shi knowledge.
Cui Bei was responsible for teaching arithmetic, Sun Bao taught martial arts, and Wang Qi taught how to identify people and objects. Chen Shi felt overwhelmed, so he went to the riverside to confide in Yuan Buer. Yuan Buer gave him a divination, predicting that Chen Shi might have news of his brother in a few days. The news would come from the north, and would be related to water.
As soon as he heard there might be news of his brother, Chen Shi was very happy. On his way back to Court of Judicial Review, he collided with a passerby, and picked up a purse. Chen Shi began looking for the owner. After turning a corner, he saw a cart driver pulling a water cart looking down and searching for something, so he went forward to ask.
The cart driver said he had just lost a purse, so Chen Shi returned the purse to the cart driver. Back at Court of Judicial Review, Chen Shi was given a pile of tasks again. Alibaba told Li Bing that his family had sent him money, and when he went to the dock to receive it, he found the dock crowded with people. Upon closer inspection, a murder had occurred at the Dragon King Temple.
Episode 13 Recap
Li Bing led the Court of Judicial Review officials to the dock. The Ministry of Justice had already moved the body outside the Dragon King Temple. The body was found in a strange, curled-up posture. The Ministry of Justice official explained that when the body was discovered, it was hidden behind the Dragon King statue. The preliminary judgment was that the death was caused by a severe blow to the head.
There were sticks at the scene, which are common tools for moving goods on the dock. The Ministry of Justice also stated that the deceased's name was Liu Fu, and he was a dock guard. After combining the above information, Li Bing believed the case would not be difficult to solve.
Seeing Li Bing's confidence, the Ministry of Justice official took the opportunity to invite Court of Judicial Review to take over the case, suppressing the limelight of the Jinwu Guard. After the Ministry of Justice left the scene, Alibaba speculated about the crime process based on his imagination, but Li Bing thought it was too dramatic.
Wang Qi analyzed that Liu Fu was a night watchman at the freight yard, and he must have discovered something during his patrol, thus being silenced. The murderer was likely a habitual thief. Li Bing also leaned towards Wang Qi's conjecture. Chen Shi had been staring at the Dragon King statue, feeling it looked strange. After a moment of thought, he believed the Dragon King should be holding a plaque.
Looking at the ground, he indeed saw a wooden plaque lying there, but the writing was blurry. Li Bing discovered that the Dragon King statue was hollow inside, which must be where habitual thieves hid goods. There were precious spices like cloves and nutmeg on the ground, indicating that the stolen goods were of certain value. It was also possible that Liu Fu committed self-theft.
To clarify the situation, Li Bing sent a few people to the freight yard to inquire about the situation. Wang Qi went to the freight yard to inquire about the victim, Liu Fu. All the porters avoided him from a distance as if they were avoiding a plague. Li Bing took Chen Shi into a tavern near the freight yard to inquire if any goods had been lost at the dock in recent days.
Just then, someone outside rang a bell, and all the customers deliberately avoided it. The tavern owner also showed strong disapproval and asked Li Bing to leave as soon as possible, saying he had been busy recently and did not accept business from strangers. Seeing the leftover wine on the table, Li Bing smelled it, and the scent was consistent with the wine bottle at the Dragon King Temple.
As Li Bing was preparing to leave the tavern, a beggar walked up to him and sighed meaningfully. After leaving the tavern, Li Bing specifically stopped the beggar and took out silver to ask if he knew about the recent events at the dock. The beggar said that waterway transport was not smooth, and people's lives were difficult, so many people had started stealing, which was a common occurrence in the area.
Alibaba saw a cargo ship operated by Hu people, so he boarded it as a fellow countryman to inquire. He learned that a luxury cargo ship had docked a few nights ago, stayed for only about half an hour, and then left, which was indeed unusual. Regarding the berthing time of ships at the freight station, the dock had record boards, but when Li Bing checked, they had been smeared and covered.
There were blood drops below the record board, so Li Bing followed them to the shore. A masked woman in black left a throwing dart and quickly departed. Qiu Qingzhi led the Jinwu Guard and appeared afterward, asking about the dock case. Back at Court of Judicial Review, Li Bing speculated that Liu Fu should have been an accomplice of the habitual thieves.
Initially, they coexisted peacefully, but it was very likely that an internal conflict occurred on the night of the incident. The record board being smeared was meant to erase the trace of the ship having docked. Wang Qi believed that the masked woman in black was the murderer, but because Chen Shi was held hostage, causing the culprit to escape, Wang Qi blamed Chen Shi for being incapable of success and only causing trouble.
Chen Shi unintentionally overheard Wang Qi and a few others evaluating him, saying he was kind-hearted but of no help in solving cases. He couldn't help but feel discouraged, believing he was not suitable to stay at Court of Judicial Review, so he went to Yuan Buer to confide. Surprisingly, Yuan Buer produced a letter sent by someone claiming to be Chen Jiu.
Chen Shi was very happy and took it back to Court of Judicial Review to ask Li Bing to read it. There wasn't much information in the letter either.
Episode 14 Recap
Li Bing went to a brothel and found a girl. She was the masked woman in black who had held Chen Shi hostage at the dock. Based on the throwing dart left behind, Li Bing found the masked woman in black's residence. She claimed to be a Hu person. Li Bing asked if the murder case was related to the masked woman in black. She denied it but admitted she was looking for something related to Yi Zhi Hua.
Immediately after, the beggar Li Bing had encountered at the tavern was also brutally murdered. When searching his residence, they found two pieces of broken silver in the room, which was the money Li Bing had paid the beggar for information. This indicates the murderer was not after wealth. After the coroner examined the body, he stated the cause of death was almost identical to Liu Fu's, and it was very likely the same person committed both crimes.
Shangguan Qin told Li Bing that the Jinwu Guard wanted to intervene in the dock murder case. The Jinwu Guard governed the capital's waterway transport, which was a normal takeover. But Li Bing did not want the Jinwu Guard to intervene. Shangguan Qin motioned, telling Li Bing to focus on investigating the case, and she would be responsible for keeping Qiu Qingzhi away. For now, clues could only be collected from the freight yard.
However, the members of Mingjing Hall had all investigated at the freight yard, so it was inconvenient for them to show their faces again. Wang Qi disguised himself and prepared to continue visiting the freight yard. Chen Shi took leave. Every day he went to Yuan Buer's stall to inquire about his brother's situation. Just then, he met the person delivering the letter, who was the coachman who had lost his purse a few days ago.
The coachman told Chen Shi that there was an itinerant merchant who often bought water from him, and he looked similar to Chen Shi. After asking, the merchant indeed had a younger brother, so he left a letter for Chen Shi. Chen Shi was very excited and begged the coachman to take him to his brother's residence. The coachman agreed. Wang Qi and Cui Bei disguised themselves as laborers and went to work at the freight yard.
Alibaba and Sun Bao disguised themselves as rich merchants. They wanted to work together to lure the habitual thieves into a trap. After a busy period, the few of them were caught by the leader hidden in the dark and tied up in the lower part of the ship cabin. Cui Bei questioned the bandits, asking if they had killed Liu Fu and the beggar using the same method.
The bandits did not refute him and boasted that they had been soldiers and had countless unjustly killed people under their command, so they didn't care about killing a few more people. They said the lives of these few officials had also come to an end. After saying this, they chiseled a hole in the bottom of the ship, letting water flood into the cabin to drown the few people. Li Bing and Shangguan Qin were waiting in the cabin.
A subordinate reported that someone had cut the ropes and the ship was floating in the middle of the river. Qiu Qingzhi arrived at the dock immediately with the Jinwu Guard. Chen Shi was originally going to find his brother. When he saw the Jinwu Guard team, he told the coachman he would find his brother another day. The Jinwu Guard rescued Wang Qi and the others and controlled several porters.
Only then did Li Bing understand that Qiu Qingzhi had been sending people to watch the movements of Court of Judicial Review. Now Qiu Qingzhi had shown a favor to Court of Judicial Review and wanted to take the suspects away, and Li Bing was not in a good position to stop him. Chen Shi prepared to leave Court of Judicial Review.
After expressing his attitude to Li Bing, Li Bing realized he had been trying to help the shoots grow by pulling them up, being too strict with Chen Shi. Chen Shi had originally come to the capital to find his relatives and had no intention of taking up a position at Court of Judicial Review. Wang Qi and the others also asked Chen Shi to reconsider.
Chen Shi told them that once he found his brother, he would still work hard to pass the examination to return to Court of Judicial Review. Finally, he took out the Jinwu Guard arrow he had found at the dock and gave it to Li Bing. Only then did Li Bing realize that Qiu Qingzhi had been obstructing. So he and Shangguan Qin went to the Jinwu Guard to get the hostages back.
Qiu Qingzhi stated that the three laborers could not withstand the harsh interrogation and had died. Chen Shi found the coachman again. The two of them walked into a warehouse. The coachman indicated that it was indeed Chen Jiu's residence. He also took out half of a pawn ticket and told Chen Shi that the other half was kept at the pawn shop. It should be money Chen Jiu left for his younger brother.
Li Bing led the few members of Mingjing Hall back to the Dragon King Temple at the dock. Wang Qi told Li Bing that perhaps, as the laborers had said, Court of Judicial Review's initial investigation direction was wrong. Li Bing re-examined the situation, believing the murderer should have a position that could cover their tracks. Looking closely at the wooden plaque in the Dragon King's hand again, it was actually a water delivery tally.
Episode 15 Recap
Chen Shi followed the water delivery driver Old Cheng to the warehouse. After receiving the document that was only half complete, he went around looking for pawn shops to verify it. Finally, a pawn shop owner was able to produce the other half of the document, and the pawn shop owner had a purse of the same style as the one Old Cheng had lost and recovered. After matching the two halves of the document, Chen Shi received a box.
He returned to the residence Old Cheng had pointed out to look for the key. Old Cheng took the key from his purse. Chen Shi began to feel suspicious. Old Cheng had said the purse was personally sewn by his mother, so why did the pawn shop owner have the same style? The Divine Capital was so vast, how could finding his brother be so easy? The more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong.
Just as he was about to leave, Old Cheng knocked him unconscious from behind with a wooden stick. Li Bing and the few members of Mingjing Hall discovered the water tally at the Dragon King Temple. He suddenly remembered that before Chen Shi left Court of Judicial Review, he mentioned the water delivery driver helped him find his brother, and that he lived near Court of Judicial Review.
Li Bing guessed that Chen Shi had likely fallen into the water delivery driver's trap, so he began searching house by house. After Chen Shi woke up, he was tied hand and foot and sat beside a cargo box. Old Cheng had an eager look on his face, seemingly not wanting to harm Chen Shi. Chen Shi cautiously questioned him, and Old Cheng finally told the truth. Liu Fu was indeed killed by him.
Originally, several of them were soldiers who had retired from the army. In recent years, waterway transport was not smooth, making it difficult to make a living, so they started tampering at the freight yard. Several of them colluded to steal, splitting the loot at the Dragon King Temple, and it had been quite smooth. Once, they stole a box and opened it to find a strange object inside. This stirred up a painful memory for Old Cheng.
Years ago, he served in the army with his younger brother. His brother was framed for theft, and the object involved was the same as the one stolen from the Dragon King Temple. His brother was subsequently beheaded as a warning, which was a lifelong pain for Old Cheng. Seeing it again now, he naturally wanted to destroy it. However, Liu Fu rushed into the Dragon King Temple, stating the object was valuable and could not be destroyed.
After a struggle between the two, Old Cheng simply beat him to death. Later, Zhao Hua Zi picked up the box but refused to hand it over to Old Cheng, so another life was added. The reason Old Cheng told Chen Shi was that he saw how much Chen Shi resembled his younger brother who had died unjustly – kind and upright. As soon as Old Cheng finished speaking, Li Bing led people and burst through the door.
Li Bing tripped Old Cheng using a move he learned from Sun Bao, and the Mingjing Hall quickly controlled him and rescued Chen Shi. Although the case was solved, there were still doubts. Liu Fu had told Old Cheng that he did not leave a message on the wooden plank, guiding Old Cheng and the others to steal the goods, otherwise he wouldn't have brought disaster upon himself. So, who left the message?
Cui Bei and Li Bing couldn't figure it out. Upon returning to Court of Judicial Review, Li Bing commended the brothers of Mingjing Hall. Chen Shi, by chance, also made a contribution. Li Bing asked Chen Shi if he still planned to leave Court of Judicial Review. Chen Shi said that he would now focus on diligently studying various skills to pass the examination and enter Court of Judicial Review as soon as possible.
Shangguan Lian and his wife asked their daughter to return home for tea and also inquired about official matters. Shangguan Lian reprimanded Shangguan Qin for repeatedly opposing Qiu Qingzhi. If he hadn't mediated, she might have made a mistake long ago. Qiu Qingzhi was a favorite of the Empress, so she should avoid provoking him as much as possible in the future. His wife mentioned preparing to find a suitable marriage match for Shangguan Qin.
Shangguan Qin was not interested and left her parents early to return to Court of Judicial Review. Li Bing found the masked woman from the brothel a second time and asked for more clues. The woman said that the item she was looking for was related to a person named Du Zixu. Three years ago, the Minister of Rites was old and frail, gradually nearing the end of his life.
At this time, a Western Regions man named Du Zixu appeared at the Minister's residence. Using unknown methods, he caused the Minister of Rites' fate to reverse, and he suddenly became much younger. After that, no one ever saw this person again. Soon, the Ministry of War transferred a murder case to Court of Judicial Review. Qin Wan, the younger brother of Qin Shu, the Libationer of the Imperial Academy, was found mysteriously murdered in the morning.
Li Bing went to his residence to investigate. There was a large amount of Five-Stone Powder in the room. Shangguan Qin smelled the strange odor from the body and went into the courtyard for fresh air. Alibaba thoughtfully offered her mint balm. Suddenly, they noticed boxes scattered all over the ground next to the courtyard wall. The murderer likely climbed over the wall and left after committing the crime.
Episode 16 Recap
There were cat paw prints with bloodstains in Qin Wan's courtyard. Shangguan Qin suggested starting the investigation with the cat paw prints. Li Bing believed that storing Five-Stone Powder required ice blocks. Moreover, there were water stains at the bottom of the boxes in the corner of the courtyard wall; this should have been formed after the ice melted, indicating that someone delivered ice blocks to Qin Wan the previous night.
They could first visit a few ice houses in the Divine Capital, while he and Chen Shi would go to the Qin residence to inquire about the situation. Shangguan Qin led the brothers of Mingjing Hall to visit the ice houses. Wang Qi intentionally created an opportunity for Alibaba to be alone with Shangguan Qin and suggested splitting into two groups. Shangguan Qin and Alibaba found an ice house.
The owner said that no one with the surname Qin had come here to buy ice yesterday, and moreover, after noon, the ice shop had basically stopped operating. An assistant asked the owner if they should clear the ice residue. The owner also told the two that some people, looking for cheap deals, specifically collect the ice residue. Yesterday, a person named Du Cheng, an umbrella maker, had bought ice residue. This person usually liked to consume Five-Stone Powder.
Li Bing brought Chen Shi to the residence of Qin Wan's elder brother, Qin Shu, the Libationer of the Imperial Academy. Qin Shu told Li Bing that his younger brother Qin Wan had long been expelled from the family home. Therefore, whatever trouble he caused outside had nothing to do with him. Li Bing still wanted to ask more, but Qin Shu already had a look of rejection and ordered the butler, Uncle Wu, to see them out.
When Uncle Wu saw Li Bing out, he seemed to have a difficult expression. Li Bing cautiously inquired and got a general understanding of Qin Wan's past. Qin Wan was not very clever since he was young, but he was skilled in music. His elder brother, as the Libationer of the Imperial Academy and head of the Grand Academy, was strict with him. Qin Wan became increasingly fearful and developed a stuttering problem.
Qin Shu gradually became disappointed and no longer demanded too much. A few years later, Qin Wan unexpectedly became diligent. Qin Shu was surprised and sent him to a colleague's residence to study with their son. During this time, Qin Wan caused a scandal. Qin Shu then expelled him from the family home. As for what exactly happened, the butler was also unclear. Wang Qi and Cui Bei went to the Grand Academy to inquire and got the same conclusion.
The teacher at the Grand Academy also told Wang Qi that if he wanted to know more about Qin Wan, he could inquire with the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonials. Shangguan Qin and Alibaba walked into the umbrella maker's shop. They saw blood dripping from behind a bright-colored oil-paper umbrella. Pushing aside the oil-paper umbrella, a man suddenly fell to the ground. Immediately after, another disheveled man prepared to attack Shangguan Qin.
Alibaba pushed Shangguan Qin away, and the man slipped out the door. Alibaba quickly notified other members of Court of Judicial Review. Li Bing brought the coroner to the scene. He determined that the deceased, Du Cheng, also died from consuming Five-Stone Powder. Wang Qi checked the sole of the deceased's shoe and guessed that he was the person who delivered ice to Qin Wan. Behind the door was a wooden box emitting a strange fragrance.
Inside were a handkerchief and a stack of Qin Wan's IOUs. Cui Bei inquired and found out that Du Cheng was originally from the Academy of Painting. Later, he was accidentally injured while painting murals, losing strength in his arms and leaving the Academy of Painting. Only then did he start the business of making/selling oil-paper umbrellas. Several people guessed the handkerchief was used to cover a zither. Shangguan Qin went to a pawn shop to look for a zither.
The owner said the zither had been pawned by a woman, who also left a tassel. Li Bing brought Chen Shi to find the masked woman. The other party said that Five-Stone Powder was similar to Du Zixu's miraculous medicine formula; it was just missing the medicinal guide. She had only heard that the medicinal guide was some kind of animal bone. Wang Qi found the Minister and inquired about Qin Wan's scandal.
Qin Shu took Qin Wan to undergo an assessment. Qin Wan stammered and was not in the right state. Later, he went out once and came back much more confident. Despite this, he still mixed up the recitation of essays. Qin Shu severely reprimanded him. Qin Wan was immediately so frightened that he wet himself.
Three months ago, Qin Wan had found him and asked for help in speaking to Qin Shu on his behalf, so he could return home as soon as possible. Judging from the murder case, Qin Shu likely didn't agree at the time. Li Bing asked the masked woman about her motive for investigating the medicinal guide. The woman said that her father was killed along with Du Zixu when they were running a shipping business.
Du Zixu and Yi Zhi Hua had been in prison together. Therefore, she wanted to find Yi Zhi Hua, believing this person was related to her father's tragic death.
Episode 17 Recap
Li Bing and several others from Mingjing Hall were analyzing whether Qin Wan had lied, as long-term psychological pressure makes it difficult to quit taking Five-Stone Powder. Alibaba did not keep up with Shangguan Qin and returned to Mingjing Hall with a dejected look. Shangguan Qin found the accessory shop and saw the female shop owner tied to a chair with her mouth stuffed with cloth strips.
After Shangguan Qin notified Li Bing and his group to rush to the scene, they learned that the female shop owner was named Kou Niang. She was Du Cheng's lover. Du Cheng had asked her to redeem a zither string from a pawn shop before, but Du Cheng usually lived in poverty, so where did the huge sum of money come from? Kou Niang did not know. Du Cheng and Qin Wan had been very close before.
Qin Wan's family was wealthy and he could prepare Five-Stone Powder himself. The powder he made had high purity and was excellent medicine. The two often took the powder together. Later, a medicine peddler surnamed Zhao (also known as the Great Immortal) wanted to buy Qin Wan's formula and found Du Cheng to act as an intermediary, but Qin Wan did not agree. Shangguan Qin speculated that Qin Wan and Du Cheng were likely both killed by the medicine peddler.
The medicine peddler first colluded with Du Cheng to kill Qin Wan, and then killed Du Cheng to silence him. Wang Qi thought that Du Cheng had often sought out a medicine peddler for medication for his previous back injury. The Five-Stone Powder near Shenping Fang all came from Zhao the medicine peddler. Shangguan Qin and Li Bing led the team to Zhao the Great Immortal's cave. Zhao the Great Immortal was performing a ritual, muttering incoherently.
Li Bing ordered his arrest. Zhao the Great Immortal suddenly took a dose of Five-Stone Powder, becoming incredibly strong, shaking Wang Qi and Sun Bao several meters away. Immediately after, he took several more pills to increase his power. A moment later, he foamed at the mouth and died. Wang Qi and Sun Bao carried the body out of the cave. Li Bing found a zither string on the table.
There was powder under the zither string, which was likely Qin Wan hiding the Five-Stone Powder he prepared inside the zither body. The case was solved, but Li Bing felt that many things were too coincidental. Shangguan Qin discovered that the tassel Kou Niang was looking for had Asarum on it. Upon returning to the Lanxin Accessory Shop, they saw that Qin Shu also foamed at the mouth and fell to the ground.
Kou Niang returned to Court of Judicial Review with Shangguan Qin and explained what had happened. Kou Niang had served Qin Wan very early on, and the two gradually developed feelings for each other. However, Qin Wan only liked music and was not skilled in academics, which Qin Shu was very displeased with and often beat and scolded Qin Wan. One time, Kou Niang talked back to Qin Shu and was driven out of the Qin residence.
A few years later, she heard about Qin Wan's situation, and after the two met again, Kou Niang helped Qin Wan quit taking the powder. Qin Wan wanted to pass the imperial examination in order for the two of them to be together legitimately sooner, so he sought his brother's forgiveness. After that, the subsequent events occurred. Zhao the Great Immortal and Du Cheng were able to find Qin Wan because they were instructed by Qin Shu.
Qin Wan's initial use of the powder was also Qin Shu's idea. The truth came to light. Shangguan Qin did not claim credit, instead giving Alibaba credit. Li Bing was still preoccupied with his thoughts. From the beginning with the 'Jia' character, Yi Zhi Hua, and the Longwang Temple tablet, it seemed he was always being led to investigate the case.
As the Qingming Festival approached, a legend was popular in the Divine Capital that during Qingming, the evil energy is heavy, and once tainted, one will be haunted by mischievous spirits. Wang Qi was busy hanging mugwort leaves in front of the Mingjing Hall door to ward off evil and told many strange stories about being possessed during Qingming. Chen Shi was too scared to move.
Li Bing pushed open the main door, startling the few people who were engrossed in ghost stories. Only then did they remember that they hadn't seen Cui Bei all day. They didn't feel anything unusual. Every year during the Qingming season, Cui Bei always went out for a period of time. Where exactly he went, none of them were clear. Returning to the study, Chen Shi asked Li Bing to verify the authenticity of the ghost stories.
Li Bing explained that it was due to psychological illness and slightly emboldened Chen Shi. As the two were leaving the study, they saw Cui Bei rushing back to his room, not even stopping to greet them.
Episode 18 Recap
A few people in Mingjing Hall analyzed that since Cui Bei and Yuan Buer were acquainted, Cui Bei must have believed the rumor about the heavy evil energy during Qingming and sought out Yuan Buer for divination.
After finding Yuan Buer, it was indeed as they had guessed, but Yuan Buer gave Cui Bei a method to counteract it: during the Qingming season, find a place backed by a mountain and stay there for a few days, staying away from crowds as much as possible, to avoid being infected by the evil energy. Li Bing took a few people back to Court of Judicial Review and searched Cui Bei's room.
Sun Bao found that Cui Bei had taken out two sets of clothes, indicating he was preparing to stay overnight. Wang Qi suddenly remembered that after Qingming last year, when Cui Bei returned to Court of Judicial Review, the hem of his clothes was a bit damp. The only shady mountain with water nearby could only be Tianchi Mountain.
As Li Bing was going through some of Cui Bei's notes, a yamen runner reported that the prison had been struck by lightning a few days prior, and the prisoners had scattered and fled. After a period of pursuit, most had been recaptured, but only one major criminal, a bandit who killed and plundered, was still at large.
A secret message had just been received stating that someone saw him hijack a carriage, go to the foot of Tianchi Mountain, abandon the carriage, and go up the mountain alone. Li Bing immediately ordered everyone to go to Tianchi Mountain together to pursue the bandit. When they arrived at the foot of Tianchi Mountain, they found three small paths leading up the mountain. Based on common sense, Li Bing found the one with fewer fallen leaves.
Since Cui Bei went to Tianchi Mountain almost every year and was quite familiar with the terrain, their primary goal was to search for the fugitive. When they reached the middle of the mountain, Li Bing nearly stepped into a void. A thick layer of fallen leaves underneath emitted a foul smell. Chen Shi identified it as the smell of horse manure.
After a long period of fermentation, the moisture in the manure had mostly evaporated, leaving only dry, loose powdery substance. Chen Shi stepped on the horse manure and got colored dry powder stuck to his shoes along the fallen leaves. There were also several footprint-shaped marks nearby, indicating that the fugitive had taken the same path. Cui Bei walked to the back of the mountain and knocked on the gate of a Taoist temple.
Reverend Zhang stepped forward to greet him. Cui Bei picked up a jade pendant and asked if it belonged to Reverend Zhang. Reverend Zhang took the pendant and urged him to hold the purification ceremony as soon as possible. After tidying up his room, Cui Bei took out silver and offered it. Reverend Zhang performed a purification ceremony for Cui Bei by the river. Cui Bei felt the ceremony was shorter than in previous years.
Reverend Zhang said it did not affect the purification effect. Li Bing walked to the mountain peak and climbed a large tree. He saw a Taoist temple on the back of the mountain. Suddenly, a small cat climbed up to him. Distracted, Li Bing fell from the tree. Everyone explained it by saying Li Bing had been contaminated by the evil energy. Li Bing did not think so.
Since there was a small cat, it meant someone lived and raised it nearby. The Taoist temple he had just seen likely housed the person who kept the cat. The fugitive arrived first and knocked on the gate of the Taoist temple. Cui Bei said that Reverend Zhang had gone into the mountains to collect herbs, so the fugitive stayed in the temple to wait. That night, the guest room of the Taoist temple suddenly caught fire.
Reverend Zhang was helpless. Cui Bei soaked his clothes, rushed into the flames, and rescued the fugitive. Just then, Li Bing and the others arrived. The next day, Wang Qi brought the fugitive back to Court of Judicial Review. Cui Bei blamed himself, believing his evil energy had clashed with the temple. He was filled with remorse. Li Bing went to examine the burnt room and discovered a secret passage.
Reverend Zhang seemed unwilling for them to stay in the room for long, so Li Bing directly exposed him for deliberately setting the fire to burn the fugitive to death. Reverend Zhang looked innocent. Li Bing further explained that the fugitive specifically sought out Reverend Zhang, indicating their deep relationship. Reverend Zhang had been hiding in the deep mountains for many years, likely to evade official pursuit. The two must have hijacked official silver.
When they divided the loot, the other person was caught, so Reverend Zhang hid in the deep mountains, daring not to show his face. Reverend Zhang still tried to deny it, but Li Bing tricked him into revealing the truth by using newly minted silver, so he could only confess honestly. Cui Bei was deeply moved when he learned that the brothers from Mingjing Hall had originally gone up the mountain specifically to find him.
He couldn't help but recall the past when his father took him on spring outings in his childhood. Because his mother died in childbirth, Cui Bei had always believed he was unlucky and deliberately kept a distance from people, remaining alone until he left the Imperial Academy. On Cui Bei's bedside table were the case documents regarding his father's death. Fearing that his heavy evil energy had caused his father's death, Cui Bei had never dared to open them. Li Bing, in his capacity as Deputy Minister of Court of Judicial Review, ordered Cui Bei to re-examine the case and restore the truth.
Episode 19 Recap
崔倍终于知道，父亲崔询当年以工部侍郎的身份奉圣命赈济百姓，途中查明兵匪勾结，密奏圣上后被杀害，后朝廷查明真相，匪首畏罪自杀。李饼告诉崔倍，过去之事不可追，如今呆在大理寺秉公执法，正是为了给更多冤案错案一个说法，即便有解决不了的事，也只求尽力而为，但行好事，莫问前程。 Cui Bei finally learned that his father, Cui Xun, acting as Vice Minister of Works under imperial decree to provide disaster relief to the people, discovered the collusion between soldiers and bandits along the way. After secretly reporting to the emperor, he was murdered. Later, the imperial court investigated and found the truth, and the bandit leader committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Li Bing told Cui Bei that the past cannot be chased.
Staying at Court of Judicial Review now and upholding justice is precisely to provide an explanation for more wrongful and erroneous cases. Even if there are things that cannot be resolved, he should only strive his best, do good deeds, and not ask about the future. 几人从道观找到一些贡品香烛，拿到供桌上给崔倍祭拜父亲，既然不能回到家乡，就在道观门前朝着家乡常安的方向烧上几炷香，聊表心意。 The group found some offerings and incense sticks from the Taoist temple and placed them on the altar for Cui Bei to pay respects to his father.
Since he could not return to his hometown, he burned a few incense sticks in front of the Taoist temple gate towards the direction of his hometown, Chang'an, as a token of his feelings. 陈拾提议在天池山附近买一些山货带回大理寺，阿里巴巴负责付账，回到大理寺，开心地与众人分享，孙豹从袁不二摊位求了几个平安符，非要送给李饼，盛情难却，李饼只好收下。 Chen Shi suggested buying some mountain goods near Tianchi Mountain to bring back to Court of Judicial Review. Alibaba was responsible for paying. Upon returning to Court of Judicial Review, he happily shared with everyone.
Sun Bao obtained a few peace talismans from Yuan Buer's stall and insisted on giving them to Li Bing. Unable to refuse his kindness, Li Bing had to accept them. 夜里，崔倍梦到之前一直笼罩自己的阴云突然变成白云飘走，隐约又感到父母走到自己床前，他们从来没有埋怨过自己。 At night, Cui Bei dreamed that the dark cloud that had always enveloped him suddenly turned into white clouds and drifted away. He vaguely felt his parents walk to his bedside; they had never blamed him.
大理寺进行一年一度的演武考核，由孙豹作为考核员，胡四负责记录，孙豹当过兵，武术方面无人能及，公平起见，孙豹让其余上卿选择比赛项目，有人建议掰手腕，几轮过后，多数人都败下阵来，王七和崔倍陈拾在一旁看孙豹独占风头，不禁开始了风言风语，讽刺孙豹狂妄自大，轮到崔倍接收挑战，崔倍知道自己文弱书生，根本不是对手，直接认输。王七选择比摔跤，两人在沙堆上来回走步，王七故意声东击西，分散孙豹注意力，但孙豹不上当，好几把都直接将王七撂倒在地，王七被打得连连求饶。胡四即将宣布结果时，陈拾小心翼翼提到自己还没参与，基本也没人把陈拾计算在内，既然提出来，就给陈拾一次机会。 Court of Judicial Review held its annual martial arts assessment, with Sun Bao as the assessor and Hu Si responsible for recording. Sun Bao had been a soldier, unmatched in martial arts. For fairness, Sun Bao let the other Senior Officials choose the events. Someone suggested arm wrestling. After a few rounds, most people were defeated.
Wang Qi, Cui Bei, and Chen Shi watched Sun Bao steal the spotlight, and couldn't help but start gossiping, mocking Sun Bao's arrogance and conceit. When it was Cui Bei's turn to accept the challenge, Cui Bei knew he was a weak scholar and no match, so he surrendered directly. Wang Qi chose wrestling. The two walked back and forth in the sand pile.
Wang Qi deliberately feigned an attack to the east while attacking to the west to distract Sun Bao, but Sun Bao didn't fall for it. Several times, he directly threw Wang Qi to the ground. Wang Qi was beaten and repeatedly begged for mercy. Just as Hu Si was about to announce the result, Chen Shi cautiously mentioned that he hadn't participated yet.
Essentially, no one had included Chen Shi, so since he brought it up, they gave Chen Shi a chance. 陈拾用弹弓和孙豹比赛击中铃铛，结果两人打了平手，孙豹忽然意识到，每年演武考核都以自己为核心，似乎对其他上卿不公平，建议以后改变考核方式。 Chen Shi used a slingshot to compete with Sun Bao in hitting a bell. The result was a tie. Sun Bao suddenly realized that with the martial arts assessment centered around him every year, it seemed unfair to the other Senior Officials, and suggested changing the assessment method in the future.
— 李饼重新分析一系列案件中的关联，礼部尚书和杜子虚都已经不能再开口说话，两人均与一枝花有关，所谓“药引”也还完全没有头绪，想到这里，李饼便到青楼找蒙面女子，对方不在房间内，李饼用猫眼幻术查看，一枝花曾来过此房间。 Li Bing re-analyzed the connections in a series of cases. Both the Minister of Rites and Du Zixu could no longer speak. Both were related to Yi Zhi Hua. There was still no clue about the so-called "medicinal primer. " Thinking of this, Li Bing went to the brothel to find the masked woman. She was not in the room.
Li Bing used his cat eye illusion technique to check and saw that Yi Zhi Hua had visited this room. 离开青楼，李饼走进一家饭店，不一会邱庆之也到同一家店吃饭，席间，两人发现有人劫持小孩，便合作救下小孩，配合十分默契，李饼向邱庆之打听经营赌坊的西域女子去向，邱庆之表示西域女子是探子，已经被金吾卫抓捕。 Leaving the brothel, Li Bing walked into a restaurant. Soon after, Qiu Qingzhi also arrived at the same restaurant to eat. During the meal, the two discovered someone kidnapping a child, so they cooperated to rescue the child, working together very smoothly.
Li Bing asked Qiu Qingzhi about the whereabouts of the Western Regions woman who operated a gambling house. Qiu Qingzhi said the Western Regions woman was a spy and had been arrested by the Jinwu Guard. 兵部侍郎冯简请大理寺联合办案，有一名叫赵如意的男子被发现死于家中，身上伤痕累累，显然死前受了很多折磨，赵如意几年前是远近闻名的江洋大盗，擅于开锁，坐过几年牢后改邪归正。李饼询问神都最近是否由柜台被盗，经查询果然有一家钱柜。 Vice Minister of War Feng Jian requested Court of Judicial Review to collaborate on a case. A man named Zhao Ruyi was found dead at home, covered in injuries, clearly having suffered much torture before death.
A few years ago, Zhao Ruyi was a notorious bandit known far and wide, skilled in lock-picking. After serving a few years in prison, he mended his ways. Li Bing asked if any counters in Shendu had been robbed recently. Upon checking, there indeed was a money shop. 掌柜告诉李饼，自己也是刚刚知道自己店里被挖了一条地道，其中一家主顾的柜子有开锁痕迹，半截钥匙留在锁里，但钱财一分没少，几人开始议论作案者的动机，李饼让明镜堂分两班打探消息，孙豹走到街上，表示作案者手段很像军中斥候，但两者很难联系在一起。 The shopkeeper told Li Bing that he had just found out about a tunnel dug in his shop.
One customer's cabinet had signs of being picked open, with half a key left in the lock, but not a single coin was missing. The group began discussing the perpetrator's motive. Li Bing ordered Mingjing Hall to split into two groups to gather information. Sun Bao walked onto the street and said the perpetrator's methods were very similar to military scouts, but it was difficult to link the two.
Episode 20 Recap
Wang Qi and Cui Bei found Zhao Ruyi's old lover to inquire about the situation. She said Zhao Ruyi was very loyal and even bought her freedom. Afterwards, the two of them ran a dye shop together. Zhao Ruyi washed his hands of the trade, and even chopped off a finger as a symbol of his resolve. This time, he committed the crime entrusted by a friend. Zhao Ruyi's lover was not clear about who the client was.
Sun Bao and Alibaba caught a habitual thief who was stealing at the market. They asked about Zhao Ruyi. He said Zhao Ruyi was a loner, never worked with others, and his stealing methods were beyond ordinary people. Li Bing found the money shop owner to talk, who was a middle-aged man dressed like a ruffian. He spoke disrespectfully in front of Li Bing and showed great contempt for the court.
Li Bing checked the key the man held, and it matched the lock, so he prepared to let the man go home. Sun Bao happened to return to Mingjing Hall and saw Lu Chenghuang's godson in the hall, so he directly beat him up fiercely. Wang Qi and the others quickly pulled Sun Bao away. After Lu Chenghuang's godson left, Sun Bao explained the reason for his hatred. Years ago, Sun Bao fought with the army.
When he reached Huangsha Valley, he accidentally got hit by a stray arrow, injuring his leg and making him unable to move. His good brother Xu Hu carried him out of the wilderness with his last breath, saving his life. Later, the two entered the yamen together as constables, known as the "Tiger and Leopard Duo". The area they were responsible for patrolling had a notorious ruffian, who was Lu Chenghuang.
Because he often looted the belongings of fallen soldiers on the battlefield, he was also known as "Lu the Locust". Lu Chenghuang gradually accumulated some wealth, gathered a few street ruffians, and committed all sorts of evil. One time, he brought in a batch of smuggled goods. Xu Hu investigated alone and was found dead, his body dumped in the moat, a day later. A few years later, the Jinwu Guard conducted a public security crackdown in Shendu.
Lu Chenghuang started his business with ill-gotten gains and engaged in legitimate business. The owner of the money shop was also Lu Chenghuang; his godson was just a runner for him. Li Bing decided to meet Lu Chenghuang. Lu Chenghuang's house indeed had many valuable items. Seeing Li Bing arrive, he first distanced himself from Zhao Ruyi's tragic death. He then reprimanded his godson who had disrespected Li Bing. When asked about anything else, he claimed to know nothing.
Sun Bao visited the lock shop. The lock shop had very strict control over the mold for each lock, with multiple layers of security. Walking into the mold warehouse, Sun Bao saw at a glance that the room's window had been pried open. Looking closely at the box, it had been cut from the bottom and re-sealed. Such familiar methods were similar to military scouts.
Sun Bao asked Alibaba to go back first, as he wanted to find an old friend. Wang Qi and Cui Bei learned from the counter owner that a customer wanted to deposit money, hesitated for a long time, and then withdrew the money. The two suspected this person was Zhao Ruyi's accomplice, so they asked the owner to describe him and drew a portrait. Li Bing examined the portrait and found it was the fugitive arrested together with Qiu Qingzhi.
Li Bing went to the Jinwu Guard prison to interrogate the fugitive. Vice Minister of Justice Feng Jian also happened to arrive. The fugitive told Li Bing that he had previously received a favor from Zhao Ruyi, so he helped scout the location. After some time, Zhao Ruyi told him to leave town to avoid attention, and then he was apprehended by Li Bing.
When Li Bing and Feng Jian were about to leave the prison, Lai Zhongshu reminded Li Bing not to be dragged down by people around him, meaning Sun Bao. He also told Li Bing that the Jinwu Guard had been looking for Xu Hu. Feng Jian followed Li Bing back to Court of Judicial Review and directly apprehended Sun Bao.
Feng Jian stated that the Ministry of Justice coroner found a wolf head pendant in Zhao Ruyi's throat, which is an honor worn only by top scouts, so he was likely killed by Xu Hu. Sun Bao countered that after Xu Hu was killed, anyone who picked up the wolf head pendant could frame someone. Feng Jian frankly admitted that the Ministry of Justice had been paying attention to Xu Hu for a long time.
Lu Chenghuang committed numerous evil deeds, but Xu Hu was the last victim. Since then, there have been no more wrongful cases caused by Lu Chenghuang. Lu Chenghuang had a grudge against Zhao Ruyi, so Zhao Ruyi was likely killed by Xu Hu. Feng Jian took Sun Bao away. Alibaba suddenly remembered that Sun Bao had mentioned several times that many of the crime methods were similar to military scouts.
Episode 21 Recap
Li Bing took Chen Shi to visit Xu Hu's adoptive father, Old Yang. He then recounted the battle three years ago to Chen Shi: the Zixu Kingdom from the Western Regions invaded, and the imperial court pacified them in just three months. Wang Qi suddenly reported that another murder had occurred at the city gate. Li Bing rushed to the scene and found that the deceased was Wu Liu, a fugitive just released by the Jinwu Guard.
The cause of death was the same as Zhao Ruyi's. Several villagers from the charitable burial ground carried the body away. Chen Shi suddenly remembered that Old Yang from the charitable burial ground had said he personally prepared Xu Hu's body. Therefore, Old Yang likely tampered with it. Li Bing decided to re-examine Xu Hu's body. Sun Bao had a premonition that Xu Hu was not dead.
At night, he tricked the jailer into giving him the key and went to the room where Xu Hu's body was kept to check. Several checkpoints were set up at the door, all of which Sun Bao evaded. Opening the coffin, the body inside was indeed not Xu Hu's. Immediately after, Xu Hu stood behind Sun Bao. After confirming there was no one else, the two sat down and talked about the past.
Xu Hu recalled that after saving Sun Bao on the battlefield three years ago, he returned to Huangsha Valley alone to check for survivors. He unexpectedly discovered that the deceased were not from the Western Regions, but were from the Shendu army. There were signs of bodies being searched at the scene. A carriage nearby contained a pried-open stone coffin, which was empty, clearly already searched by Lu Chenghuang.
Xu Hu guessed that someone must have been secretly transporting something and encountered his army along the way. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, and finally, Lu Chenghuang picked up the transported items. When Lu Chenghuang returned to Shendu, he suddenly seemed to have a protective umbrella. Xu Hu became more convinced that the treasure Lu Chenghuang found in Huangsha Valley could constrain the power controlling things from behind. So, he faked his death to hide his identity and investigate secretly.
Unfortunately, he was never able to find the location where Lu Chenghuang hid the items. While the two were talking, a group of black-clothed masked men kidnapped Old Yang. After killing him in front of them, they retreated. Immediately after, Li Bing arrived with Mingjing Hall and the Ministry of Justice simultaneously. Xu Hu handed Sun Bao a pouch and continued to hide. Li Bing only saw Sun Bao and the assassinated Old Yang.
Sun Bao had escaped from prison and was now implicated in a murder case, so he was quickly taken away by the Ministry of Justice. Regarding Xu Hu's whereabouts, Sun Bao remained silent. The Ministry of Justice had no solution. Lai Zhongshu found Feng Jian and expressed Qiu Qingzhi's intention: Li Bing would definitely find clues to save Sun Bao as soon as possible.
This would cause a complete falling out between the Ministry of Justice and Court of Judicial Review. At that point, it would be better to hand over the case to the Jinwu Guard. Li Bing guessed that Xu Hu was likely hiding in Zhao Ruyi's wife's dye shop. Leading Mingjing Hall, he indeed found Xu Hu. Just as they had him under control, Feng Jian from the Ministry of Justice ordered his subordinates to take Xu Hu away.
Li Bing quickly found Feng Jian and exposed him as Lu Chenghuang's backer. Therefore, he paid special attention to Xu Hu's appearance, sent people to kill Zhao Ruyi and Wu Liu to frame Xu Hu, guessed that Sun Bao could find Xu Hu, and arranged subsequent matters. Feng Jian tried to argue, but Li Bing had Qiu Qingzhi disguise himself as Xu Hu and appear before Feng Jian. Feng Jian was completely flustered.
Only after seeing Qiu Qingzhi's face did he realize it was too late. It turned out that Li Bing had gotten the beeswax pouch Sun Bao secretly slipped to him and had found Qiu Qingzhi in advance to help him stage a play. He also predicted that if Lu Chenghuang learned the two were arrested, he would definitely check if the items were missing.
Li Bing had Sun Bao and Xu Hu search Lu Chenghuang's house while he asked Qiu Qingzhi if he knew about what happened on the battlefield. Qiu Qingzhi had personally witnessed someone burying soldiers alive but claimed it was the first time he had heard about it. Sun Bao and Xu Hu found the box Lu Chenghuang had hidden. Lu Chenghuang suddenly appeared and threatened them. Sun Bao created a diversion, and the two jumped out the window to escape.
Immediately after, a cold arrow shot from the ceiling beam hit Lu Chenghuang, killing him. Sun Bao handed the box to Li Bing and Qiu Qingzhi. Inside were records of the spoils split between Feng Jian and Lu Chenghuang. After finishing these tasks, Xu Hu took Old Yang's body back to his roots for burial. Sun Bao told Li Bing that the two of them had not fought with Lu Chenghuang, so Lu Chenghuang being hit meant there was someone else in the room.
Episode 22 Recap
Chen Shi went to the market to buy vegetables for cooking. When he passed by the salt shop, the clerk went back to the warehouse to get goods and found someone had died tragically on the salt pile. When Li Bing arrived at the salt shop with Mingjing Hall, the coroner Lao Bai had already examined the body. There were several knife marks on the deceased's arm, clearly indicating it was a homicide.
Since the deceased was a female, Wang Qi asked the salt shop owner if he had any connection with her. The owner hurriedly clarified himself. Li Bing noticed the skylight was open, and there was a ladder propped up outside the warehouse, suggesting the deceased likely climbed into the salt shop warehouse through the skylight. There were scattered bloodstains outside the salt shop.
Chen Shi followed the direction, but because it was in a prosperous area of Shendu, the bloodstains had long been covered by footprints. Li Bing took Chen Shi back to Court of Judicial Review to continue the autopsy. Wang Qi took people to inquire with the neighbors, and they heard children on the street casually singing a nursery rhyme: "The cat eats people, the thief leaves empty, the medicine fails, the cup fills with blood.
" Alibaba stopped a child and carefully wrote down the nursery rhyme. They found it strange that the first few events had already happened, and wondered if the last line, "the cup fills with blood," would happen soon. Wang Qi interrupted, suggesting they not worry unnecessarily and scare themselves. Lao Bai re-examined the body and determined the cause of death was excessive blood loss.
Based on the thick calluses on the deceased's hands, he guessed she was a seamstress, so he had Cui Bei draw a portrait to inquire in the neighborhood. Immediately afterwards, another murder occurred. The tea house owner, Wang Po, was found dead in the tea house's backyard by a storyteller. The cause of death was exactly the same as the female seamstress, with only neat rows of knife marks left on her arm.
Li Bing believed the two murders had something in common and ordered the two cases to be investigated together. Li Bing found the first deceased's tailor shop and learned her name was Zhao Erniang. Chen Shi felt that Wang Qi and the others had been acting strangely lately, being serious and not joking around.
Cui Bei, while sorting through the case files, found a female homicide case from two years ago with a similar cause of death to Zhao Erniang and Wang Po. Wang Qi led a team to Zhao Erniang's tailor shop and apprehended a man named Zhao Xun. At first, the man claimed he was Zhao Erniang's customer, but fearing being accused of theft, he admitted he was Zhao Erniang's son.
Zhao Erniang had never cared for him since he was a child, and it seemed she only recently had a change of heart and started taking care of him. Zhao Xun also implicated Niu Er from the gambling den. After finding Niu Er, he stated that Zhao Xun had borrowed money from him, and Zhao Erniang was the guarantor.
After inquiring with a client, it was learned that Zhao Erniang didn't have much money saved after opening her shop and didn't seem to care much about money after that. Half a year ago, an orphaned girl named Sun Xiaoying followed Zhao Erniang to learn tailoring. The client heard that she got married recently, which was probably when Zhao Erniang paid off Zhao Xun's gambling debts. Alibaba secretly found out that Wang Po was a human trafficker.
This connected Sun Xiaoying's disappearance to Zhao Erniang and Wang Po. Li Bing quickly found an account book in Wang Po's house, recording the time and price of Zhao Erniang selling Sun Xiaoying to Wang Po. He also asked the buyer, who said someone offered a higher price. Li Bing searched all the houses under Wang Po's name, and finally found Liu Er, the girl who was sold together with Sun Xiaoying, in a remote house near the city gate.
Liu Er told Li Bing that when they were being selected, the buyer actually chose people by smelling them. During transportation, they were intercepted by a masked man, and she was eventually rescued. The man was very disappointed when he discovered she wasn't Sun Xiaoying. Just as Liu Er finished recounting her experience, Court of Judicial Review received another report: twelve female bodies were found in the wilderness.
The coroner Lao Bai confirmed the cause of death, which was similar to the two murders today. The twelve bodies had been dead for a period spanning two years, and were all young women who had never been pregnant. They were likely used as blood slaves. While organizing the bodies to leave the wilderness, someone found an embroidered shoe, which, after being identified, was confirmed to have been worn by Sun Xiaoying.
Episode 23 Recap
Li Bing collected fragrances from several brothels for Liu Er to identify. Liu Er smelled a fragrance with a number, and Alibaba said it came from Jiyun Ju. Li Bing had Alibaba and Sun Bao disguise themselves as rich merchants waiting at the door, and dressed Wang Qi in women's clothes to go to Jiyun Ju as a master to sell a maid.
The manager didn't know Li Bing's identity and, seeing them openly leading a maid into Jiyun Ju, quickly stated that their business was legitimate. Li Bing mentioned the maid bought from Wang Po, and only then did the manager tell the madam. Wang Qi was led into the main hall of Jiyun Ju. The madam wanted to examine her. Wang Qi was evasive and played hide-and-seek with the madam.
Suddenly, she saw a robe on the screen, and the embroidered phoenix on it was the same as the one seen in Zhao Erniang's tailor shop. Wang Qi asked where the robe's owner was. The madam said he had just been sent out. The two, one running and one chasing, made quite a scene. Li Bing and Cui Bei turned around and became buyers again, selecting female slaves in the courtyard. Suddenly, they heard Wang Qi shouting for help.
Wang Qi circled around with several servants from the brothel, shouting that someone had just been taken away, signaling Li Bing to hurry and investigate. Li Bing and Wang Qi were forced to the center of the courtyard by the servants. They showed their Court of Judicial Review waist tokens, and only then did the madam signal for the servants to stop. Sun Bao and Alibaba were guarding the entrance and didn't see any carriage leave.
Li Bing grabbed the manager and learned there was a secret passage in the room leading to the market. Li Bing suddenly realized that the robe Wang Qi found was Liu Er's clothes, and the so-called mysterious man was fabricated. Liu Er was secretly seeking revenge for Sun Xiaoying. Liu Er was taken to a mansion by a man. The man directly stated that he wanted to buy Liu Er's youth and beauty.
Saying this, he showed a posture of sucking blood. Liu Er immediately pulled out a dagger from her bosom and stabbed the man. Li Bing happened to find his way into the courtyard. The man escaped the room and bumped directly into Li Bing. Liu Er pursued relentlessly. Seeing Li Bing had arrived, she directly admitted that she had killed Zhao Erniang and Wang Po to avenge Sun Xiaoying.
A few days ago, she was about to be sold from the brothel. Having no desire to live, Liu Er prepared to hang herself. Sun Xiaoying stopped Liu Er, persuading her that escaping would be better. Previously, Liu Er had resigned herself to her fate, but encouraged by Sun Xiaoying, she began to plan an escape together. Unexpectedly, they were discovered by Wang Po and sent back to the brothel. On the way, the two hijacked the coachman.
Sun Xiaoying said she was an orphan with no ties and told Liu Er to leave first. After that, there was no news of her. Li Bing took the opportunity to ask the man where he was hiding Sun Xiaoying. The man denied it. When Liu Er wasn't paying attention, he took her hostage. Liu Er mocked him, and the man became enraged and killed Liu Er directly. He then returned to the room and locked the door.
Li Bing, still in his transformed shape, slipped in. The two fought in close combat. The man fell onto an iron pestle. He then pulled out the iron pestle and threw it at Li Bing. Li Bing immediately transformed into a cat shape. It turned out that the dagger Liu Er used to stab the man was highly poisonous. The man's blood had been infected. The poisonous iron pestle contacted Li Bing's skin, causing Li Bing to deform.
Li Bing pointed out that the man was Wang Zhi, a death row inmate who escaped from prison twenty years ago. He regained his youth by sucking the blood of young women, which was very similar to Du Zixu's pharmacy. He then asked about their relationship. Wang Zhi admitted his identity and showed a fond look towards Li Bing who had turned into a cat.
Before breathing his last, he pulled down the curtain, revealing Sun Xiaoying's hanged body and an animal stone statue. The stone statue held a bone in its hand. Li Bing guessed it should be the "medicine guide" mentioned by the brothel women. Even Alibaba felt that since Li Bing returned to Court of Judicial Review, the murder cases encountered seemed to have been deliberately orchestrated.
Moreover, when the bloodsucker was killed, he was only in the room with Li Bing, and the specific cause of death was unknown. Wang Qi visited the owner of the courtyard and found that it was under the name of Wang Zhi, the death row inmate who had previously escaped from prison.
Episode 24 Recap
Night. Li Bing secretly visited a private house, was injured by a hidden arrow, got blood on his hand, immediately transformed into a cat shape, and quietly returned to the room through the window blown open by the wind. Wang Qi and Sun Bao were also curious about Wang Zhi's identity. All four members of the Mingjing Hall began their secret investigations but did not reveal them to each other.
Chen Shi brought Li Bing a late-night snack, saw bloodstains on Li Bing's hand, and asked about Li Bing's whereabouts in the past few days. Li Bing replied that he was re-examining all the murder cases. Since getting the bone from Sun Xiaoying, he concluded that it was the "medicine guide" that Hu Ji mentioned. The missing item from the Dragon King Temple at the dock and Lu Chenghuang's hidden treasure were likely this item.
Yi Zhi Hua should not be dead, just not appearing in public. As someone involved, Yi Zhi Hua might also want to know the secret within. That's why he revealed clues to Court of Judicial Review bit by bit. The next day, another murder case occurred in the capital. The victim was Butcher Zhao. This person usually lived and worked in the South Market, but he died in an inn in the North Market.
Furthermore, he had only paid for one night's lodging the previous night, clearly having come to the North Market temporarily for something. Coroner Lao Bai analyzed that Butcher Zhao and the murdered bricklayer in prison had the same cause of death: broken teeth. The most bizarre thing was that after Butcher Zhao died, he held a note in his hand, written in blood, stating that only Court of Judicial Review's Mingjing Hall could solve the case.
Returning to Court of Judicial Review, while the few were analyzing the case, Lai Zhongshu told Li Bing that the North Market was under the jurisdiction of the Jinwu Guard, and thus they were preparing to take over the Butcher Zhao murder case. The others strongly argued for it, but Li Bing readily agreed and stated that he was preparing to return to his hometown to pay respects to his father, with Chen Shi accompanying him.
Chen Shi also found Li Bing's decision quite puzzling. Li Bing explained the reason: he had previously secretly visited Butcher Zhao, and Zhao's murder at this time must have hidden circumstances. Therefore, he planned to use the excuse of returning home to investigate secretly. Previously, in all cases related to Yi Zhi Hua, the Jinwu Guard obstructed them everywhere, indicating that Qiu Qingzhi was also looking for answers.
It would be better to use this opportunity to see what Qiu Qingzhi experienced in Huangsha Valley back then. Saying goodbye to the Mingjing Hall, Li Bing and Chen Shi traveled to Eighteen Mile Post. They rested by a small river and watered their horses. Li Bing told Chen Shi that this was the path he took when escorting his father's coffin back to his hometown.
At that time, he vaguely felt a Court of Judicial Review official watching from a distance and sending a fire signal. It was likely his father's only friend in Court of Judicial Review, but three years had passed, and he still didn't know who the person was. As the two were talking, they heard the sound of hooves in the distance. Li Bing realized it was Jinwu Guard soldiers and prepared to ride ahead.
Cui Bei also investigated Butcher Zhao's former profession and concluded that Li Bing's return home to pay respects to his father was just an excuse and that he must be secretly investigating the case. Shangguan Qin knew that Hu Si was an informant placed in Court of Judicial Review by her father and therefore began to distance herself from Hu Si. Li Bing and Chen Shi passed by an inn and discovered a skeleton in the courtyard.
There were deeply carved characters on the skull, indicating that the person was a serious offender during their lifetime. Immediately after, a male assassin jumped out of the dry well in the courtyard and used powder to blur Li Bing's vision. When he was about to assassinate Li Bing, Chen Shi blocked him, and the black-clad assassin jumped onto the roof and left.
Cui Bei told the others that he had long found a habit of pulling out teeth in the case files related to the serious offender Yi Zhi Hua, and thus speculated that Yi Zhi Hua was not dead at all. The bricklayer and Butcher Zhao were very likely killed by him. Cui Bei also re-investigated the past of Du Zixu and Wang Zhi. Several cases with no leads all began three years ago.
The four members of the Mingjing Hall also prepared to start investigating. Li Bing found the characters "Taixing" carved in sea mud on the wooden sign in front of the inn and prepared to start the investigation with a boat named Taixing.
Episode 25 Recap
Court of Judicial Review received a report. As Li Bing had temporarily returned to his hometown to pay respects to his father, Shangguan Qin took over the case. Shangguan Qin asked the Mingjing Hall members to accompany her to the scene. Wang Qi intentionally created an opportunity for Alibaba to be alone with Shangguan Qin. As many known clues were related to the Jinwu Guard, Wang Qi and Sun Bao visited the vicinity of the Jinwu Guard headquarters.
There was a wonton stall in front of the Jinwu Guard gate. Generally, except for major holidays, vendors were not allowed in front of government agencies. Seeing that the tableware had clearly been used for a long time, it must have been there for a long time, very likely an informant deliberately placed in front of the Jinwu Guard gate. Wang Qi speculated that it was unlikely Qiu Qingzhi acting mysterious. The person with such authority might be Lai Zhongshu.
In order to figure out the owner behind the wonton stall, Wang Qi started thinking of a way. Shangguan Qin took Alibaba into a brothel. The informant was an actress. She said that when she was bored every day, she would see pigeons flying past her window at a very regular time. A few days ago, she opened the window and saw a dead pigeon in front of it. A note was tied to its leg, written in Hu text.
The first two characters were "locust". After reading the note, she didn't understand the reason, so she casually threw the pigeon downstairs. When she looked again, the pigeon was gone. The next day, two people claiming to be Court of Judicial Review officials came to verify with her, but when asked for their specific positions, they were hesitant.
Shangguan Qin remembered that the murder case Li Bing had just solved involved Lu Chenghuang, and it was likely related to this matter, so she began looking for places where pigeons were raised. Li Bing took Chen Shi back to the dock and asked the boatman about the Taixing boat. The boatman said the boat had long been abandoned and its wreck was nearby. Li Bing took Chen Shi and carefully walked into the abandoned Taixing boat.
In the bottom cabin, there was a wooden box with a nine-ring lock. At this moment, a thick smoke drifted in from the cabin window. Chen Shi blocked the window, and Li Bing quickly unlocked the nine-ring lock and opened the wooden box, which led directly into the river. The two plunged into the water together and saw a bundle floating on the surface of the river. The two opened the bundle. Inside was Wang Zhi's death row prisoner tag.
Another tag only had the character 'Du' written on it. Li Bing finally connected several things. Du Zixu disappeared after entering the Ministry of Personnel, he should have been imprisoned in the death row. Hu Ji from the brothel had said that her father had a boat and was murdered on the boat with Du Zixu three years ago, suspecting the killer was Yi Zhi Hua.
Besides this, there was a door nail in the bundle, similar to the door nail at Li Bing's home. Wang Qi pretended to be a ruffian and caused trouble at the wonton stall in front of the Jinwu Guard gate. Someone quickly reported to Lai Zhongshu. It turned out that the wonton stall owner was Lai Zhongshu's uncle. Lai Zhongshu was drafting a confession.
Hearing about the disturbance, he put the confession away in a leather pouch, put it away carefully, and looked back cautiously before going out. Sun Bao was hiding on the beam and secretly saw everything. Shangguan Qin and Alibaba found the place where pigeons were raised, and then followed a pigeon to a Hu camp. The note on the pigeon's leg said: I have already seen Li, the mask is in his hand.
As it was Hu text, Shangguan Qin could not understand it. Cui Bei re-examined the case files and discovered that the Jinwu Guard was looking for Wu Yiren, a former Director of the Mingjing Hall, who was later imprisoned in death row for offending someone. If this person could be found, they would know Du Zixu's whereabouts. Li Bing took out a note from the door nail at his home. It recorded the reason for Du Zixu's murder.
Qiu Qingzhi suddenly brought people and broke into Li Bing's residence. Seeing Li Bing at home, he advised him not to interfere with the case and also wanted to inquire about what Li Bing knew regarding the several murder cases. Li Bing was unwilling to share. Qiu Qingzhi then went to Court of Judicial Review, preparing to arrest the other Mingjing Hall members to take them back to the Jinwu Guard for interrogation. Shangguan Qin arrived in time and exchanged a pigeon for the Mingjing Hall members.
Episode 26 Recap
Li Bing finally understood that although he was worried about bringing unforeseen danger to the other members of the Mingjing Hall, everyone had already started assisting the investigation using their own methods. Shangguan Qin was also involved and asked Li Bing to definitely trust her. Li Bing thanked her first and would apologize to Shangguan Qin after the case was solved. Shangguan Qin suddenly remembered that just now in the Hu camp, several Hu people tried to drive her away.
After Alibaba revealed a plaque, the Hu people immediately knelt on the ground and admitted their mistake. When investigating the 'Fifty Dispersions' case, Liu Yaoshi originally didn't take anyone seriously, but after Alibaba appeared, Liu Yaoshi completely changed his attitude. So she asked Alibaba what trick he had used. Alibaba said that he was actually a prince of the Hu country.
The king had over a hundred sons, so he wasn't particularly favored, but the Hu people valued seniority and etiquette, so they still showed him respect. Chen Shi and Wang Qi, squatting behind the door, were greatly surprised to hear Alibaba's identity. Alibaba continued, adding that he had two attendants, one named Shuidao and the other named Qucheng. The reason he often used the idiom "水到渠成" was because these two had provided him with many clues.
At night, Li Bing sneaked into the Jinwu Guard compound alone, found the room where Hu Ji was held, and was about to act when a masked man in black appeared at the door first and dealt with the guards. Li Bing walked up behind him and quietly stated that he was there to help. After saying that, he opened the chain lock. The two of them together rescued the injured Hu Ji and brought her to Li's residence.
The man in black revealed his identity as Wu Yiren, former Director of the Court of Judicial Review. He had been entrusted by Li Ji to enter the death row prison to contact Du Zixu. Three years ago, Li Ji had already confirmed that more than one official was using Du Zixu's method to maintain longevity, and the medicinal ingredient was actually human blood.
As a result, many common people in Shendu went missing without reason at that time and their whereabouts remained unknown. Li Ji had hidden the clues he had gathered in a secret chamber. After Wu Yiren infiltrated the death row prison, Yi Zhi Hua was also locked up there. Wu Yiren intended to rescue Du Zuzixu. One night, for reasons unknown, the death row prison suddenly fell into chaos, and many prisoners escaped.
Du Zixu and a boat merchant got on a boat, and subsequently, both were killed. Hu Ji was the boat merchant's daughter. The two of them started investigating together in order to find the murderer of Du Zixu. Hu Ji told Li Bing that she had indeed made a new discovery over the years: the person who killed Li Ji was not Yi Zhi Hua, but the Black Rakshasa.
As the group was talking, the Black Rakshasa suddenly broke into Li's residence, used powder to knock Li Bing unconscious, and was preparing to assassinate Li Bing when Qiu Qingzhi suddenly appeared and blocked an arrow for Li Bing. Wu Yiren fought with the Black Rakshasa, and in the end, he and Hu Ji were both killed by the Black Rakshasa. Before she died, Hu Ji used all her strength to release a flare.
The next day, after Li Bing woke up, he found the bodies of Hu Ji and Wu Yiren laid out in front of him. Wang Qi reported that Qiu Qingzhi was severely injured. There were signs that the two bodies had been moved. Wu Yiren was holding a stone in his hand. Incense ash had fallen on the table, forming a date: the seventh day of the sixth month.
Li Bing asked Wang Qi to find the origin of the stone, but after asking many people, he learned it was just an ordinary stone. Wang Qi then casually threw it into the water tank. Regarding the date formed by the incense ash, Li Bing consulted the almanac and asked Cui Bei to find all personnel in the Court of Judicial Review whose birth dates and times matched the almanac's hints.
The next day, the group met up on the street and heard a melancholy zither melody. Li Bing followed the sound and found Kou Niang tied to the city gate, playing the zither. Li Bing quickly flew onto the city gate, untied Kou Niang, and was just about to pull her towards him when a cold arrow shot from within the room, directly piercing Kou Niang's throat. A piece of white paper also fell to the ground.
Episode 27 Recap
Two acquaintances being killed one after another made Li Bing feel that Yi Zhi Hua was not far from him. The four brothers of the Mingjing Hall and Shangguan Qin also had the same guess.
While the several people were gathered together analyzing the next potential victim Yi Zhi Hua might target, Shangguan Lian suddenly burst into the Court of Judicial Review, accusing Li Bing of acting arbitrarily and wielding excessive power, not respecting the Jinwu Guard, and offending many people. He stated that regardless of Li Bing's decision, his daughter Shangguan Qin absolutely must not be implicated, and after saying that, he took Shangguan Qin back to his residence. Shangguan Qin was very confused.
Shangguan Lian said she didn't need to know too much, that this case involved a wide range of people, and a few Court of Judicial Review officials couldn't do anything at all. Shangguan Qin directly questioned whether her father was involved, but Shangguan Lian did not express his stance. - - The Black Rakshasa's note indicated the next victim was at the dock. Li Bing led the several people from the Mingjing Hall to the dockside tavern.
The shopkeeper was not in the tavern. Following footprints along the way, they found the shopkeeper hiding in a mud pit by the river. He returned to the tavern with Li Bing and said that someone had tried to silence him an hour ago. Li Bing asked if he saw the killer's face. The shopkeeper leaned closer, suddenly pulled out a dagger and prepared to stab Li Bing, but was stopped by the several people from the Mingjing Hall.
He then frothed at the mouth and lost consciousness. After the tavern shopkeeper died, a note was left behind. The several people analyzed the destination was the East Market. The Mingjing Hall had saved Zhao Ruyi's wife in the East Market, so they quickly split up to find Mrs. Zhao. Li Bing stood high up directing them. After Wang Qi and Sun Bao found Mrs.
Zhao, she already had a dagger in her waist, and a purse was left beside her. Returning to the Court of Judicial Review, Li Bing took out a few small stones and a note from the purse, deducing that the Black Rakshasa's next target might be the Imperial Secretary's sister. Wang Qi ran to the Jici Hall to inquire.
The manager explained that the day before, he had taken the Imperial Secretary's sister up the mountain for worship, but they took a wrong path on the way back and haven't found her since. Li Bing remembered that he had often taken the Imperial Secretary's sister to Yuan Buer for fortune-telling, so he ran to Yuan Buer's fortune-telling stall to inquire. Yuan Buer hadn't set up his stall at all.
Li Bing and Chen Shi went to his home, and found that Yuan Buer was also dead at home. As Chen Shi was feeling sad, Li Bing walked into the courtyard and found a jar tightly covered. The Imperial Secretary's sister was hiding in the jar, almost asleep. It turned out that the Black Rakshasa had discovered the Imperial Secretary's sister the day before but didn't act.
After Yuan Buer understood the situation, he let the Imperial Secretary's sister hide in his courtyard, and he acted as a substitute. Wang Qi dressed in women's clothing, waiting for the Black Rakshasa to act, but the entire plan was in vain. Li Bing ordered Chen Shi to take the Imperial Secretary's sister to stay at Li's residence. The two of them played hide-and-seek together. The Imperial Secretary's sister hid in a secret room.
Chen Shi couldn't find her, so he went out to look. After that, he didn't return to Li's residence for a long time. After Sun Bao discovered Chen Shi was missing, he quickly reported to Li Bing. Based on the Imperial Secretary's sister's unclear description, Li Bing roughly understood. He walked into the secret room and found a long-forgotten case file.
After a moment of thought, he went to the street, and using his cat eyes, saw Chen Shi being taken away by a man wearing a bamboo hat. Shangguan Qin was bored at home, so she secretly snuck into her father's room. She heard Shangguan Lian talking to a strange man. The man said he had done what he was supposed to do, and it was now Shangguan Lian's turn to fulfill his promise.
After the man left, Shangguan Qin found a case file on the table. She had just opened it when Shangguan Lian discovered her. Shangguan Qin asked Shangguan Lian if he was secretly associated with the Black Rakshasa. Shangguan Lian admitted it. For his daughter's safety, Shangguan Lian ordered his subordinates to guard Shangguan Qin more strictly.
Episode 28 Recap
Two acquaintances being killed one after another made Li Bing feel that Yi Zhi Hua was not far from him. The four brothers of the Mingjing Hall and Shangguan Qin also had the same guess.
While the several people were gathered together analyzing the next potential victim Yi Zhi Hua might target, Shangguan Lian suddenly burst into the Court of Judicial Review, accusing Li Bing of acting arbitrarily and wielding excessive power, not respecting the Jinwu Guard, and offending many people. He stated that regardless of Li Bing's decision, his daughter Shangguan Qin absolutely must not be implicated, and after saying that, he took Shangguan Qin back to his residence. Shangguan Qin was very confused.
Shangguan Lian said she didn't need to know too much, that this case involved a wide range of people, and a few Court of Judicial Review officials couldn't do anything at all. Shangguan Qin directly questioned whether her father was involved, but Shangguan Lian did not express his stance. - - The Black Rakshasa's note indicated the next victim was at the dock. Li Bing led the several people from the Mingjing Hall to the dockside tavern.
The shopkeeper was not in the tavern. Following footprints along the way, they found the shopkeeper hiding in a mud pit by the river. He returned to the tavern with Li Bing and said that someone had tried to silence him an hour ago. Li Bing asked if he saw the killer's face. The shopkeeper leaned closer, suddenly pulled out a dagger and prepared to stab Li Bing, but was stopped by the several people from the Mingjing Hall.
He then frothed at the mouth and lost consciousness. After the tavern shopkeeper died, a note was left behind. The several people analyzed the destination was the East Market. The Mingjing Hall had saved Zhao Ruyi's wife in the East Market, so they quickly split up to find Mrs. Zhao. Li Bing stood high up directing them. After Wang Qi and Sun Bao found Mrs.
Zhao, she already had a dagger in her waist, and a purse was left beside her. Returning to the Court of Judicial Review, Li Bing took out a few small stones and a note from the purse, deducing that the Black Rakshasa's next target might be the Imperial Secretary's sister. Wang Qi ran to the Jici Hall to inquire.
The manager explained that the day before, he had taken the Imperial Secretary's sister up the mountain for worship, but they took a wrong path on the way back and haven't found her since. Li Bing remembered that he had often taken the Imperial Secretary's sister to Yuan Buer for fortune-telling, so he ran to Yuan Buer's fortune-telling stall to inquire. Yuan Buer hadn't set up his stall at all.
Li Bing and Chen Shi went to his home, and found that Yuan Buer was also dead at home. As Chen Shi was feeling sad, Li Bing walked into the courtyard and found a jar tightly covered. The Imperial Secretary's sister was hiding in the jar, almost asleep. It turned out that the Black Rakshasa had discovered the Imperial Secretary's sister the day before but didn't act.
After Yuan Buer understood the situation, he let the Imperial Secretary's sister hide in his courtyard, and he acted as a substitute. Wang Qi dressed in women's clothing, waiting for the Black Rakshasa to act, but the entire plan was in vain. Li Bing ordered Chen Shi to take the Imperial Secretary's sister to stay at Li's residence. The two of them played hide-and-seek together. The Imperial Secretary's sister hid in a secret room.
Chen Shi couldn't find her, so he went out to look. After that, he didn't return to Li's residence for a long time. After Sun Bao discovered Chen Shi was missing, he quickly reported to Li Bing. Based on the Imperial Secretary's sister's unclear description, Li Bing roughly understood. He walked into the secret room and found a long-forgotten case file.
After a moment of thought, he went to the street, and using his cat eyes, saw Chen Shi being taken away by a man wearing a bamboo hat. Shangguan Qin was bored at home, so she secretly snuck into her father's room. She heard Shangguan Lian talking to a strange man. The man said he had done what he was supposed to do, and it was now Shangguan Lian's turn to fulfill his promise.
After the man left, Shangguan Qin found a case file on the table. She had just opened it when Shangguan Lian discovered her. Shangguan Qin asked Shangguan Lian if he was secretly associated with the Black Rakshasa. Shangguan Lian admitted it. For his daughter's safety, Shangguan Lian ordered his subordinates to guard Shangguan Qin more strictly. Shangguan Qin was under house arrest. Alibaba was very anxious.
In order to rescue Shangguan Qin, Alibaba found Hu Si, who was still unaware of the situation. Although Hu Si was Shangguan Lian's informant, he had never forgotten his identity as a Court of Judicial Review Registrar, and was even more loyal to Shangguan Qin. Hu Si knew that Alibaba sincerely liked Shangguan Qin, so he drew a map of Shangguan's residence, allowing Alibaba to rescue Shangguan Qin.
In order not to arouse suspicion, he even had Alibaba tie him up with a belt. Alibaba sneaked into Shangguan's residence and found the back window of Shangguan Qin's room. He pulled out the window latch from the outside. Shangguan Qin was also trying to escape from the room, using her hairpin to move the window, then bumped it outward from inside the room, hitting Alibaba's head outside the window.
The two of them were about to leave together when they suddenly heard Shangguan Lian's voice, so they had Alibaba hide behind the table in the room. Shangguan Lian said he could tell his daughter what he had done, but Shangguan Qin didn't want to listen anymore. Alibaba moved a few times behind the table, and the careful Shangguan Lian noticed him. Then he snatched the knife from Hu Si and wanted to kill Alibaba.
Shangguan Qin stood in front of Alibaba, which greatly surprised Shangguan Lian. Hu Si pleaded on both sides. Alibaba directly expressed his feelings for Shangguan Qin, saying that he was a Hu person and was not interested in the rights and wrongs of the capital. The reason he stayed in the Court of Judicial Review was because of Shangguan Qin.
Seeing that Alibaba was a sincere person, Shangguan Lian withdrew his sword and let Shangguan Qin leave in a prepared carriage. Shangguan Qin still wanted to ask questions, but Alibaba pulled her into the carriage and left. On the way, Alibaba had arranged for Shui Daoqucheng to block the road halfway, so that Shangguan Qin could stay in the Court of Judicial Review. Suddenly, several masked men in black appeared and intercepted the carriage.
Hu Si stood in front of the carriage and fought with them, but he was quickly overwhelmed and assassinated. Then they opened the carriage and saw that Shangguan Qin was not inside at all, and the group hurried away. Shangguan Qin was heartbroken to see Hu Si's tragic death. Alibaba was worried that she would do something impulsive, so he forcibly locked Shangguan Qin in a safe place. Li Bing finally found Chen Shi's blood drops in an abandoned courtyard.
After entering the room, he followed the blood drops to a secret room. A man with a similar appearance to Chen Shi was preparing to attack Li Bing. Li Bing took a closer look and saw that the man was Chen Shi's older brother, Chen Jiu. Ever since Mr. Yuan's divination, Chen Shi had discovered his brother. Later, when he was playing hide-and-seek with the Vice Minister's sister, the Black Rakshasa appeared.
Chen Shi guessed that it was his older brother Chen Jiu, so he followed him to the Black Rakshasa's secret room. Chen Shi was locked in an alchemy furnace, listening to Li Bing and his brother fighting with swords outside, but he was unable to stop them. Wang Qi and Sun Bao climbed into the abandoned residence of the Minister of Rites, Lu Qing, and found a secret passage in the garden.
They walked along the secret passage for a long time and found Li Bing fighting the Black Rakshasa. The hem of the Black Rakshasa's clothes was covered in grease. When he jumped over the fire, the hem of his clothes caught fire, and he was quickly engulfed in flames. Chen Shi shouted for help in the alchemy furnace. The others quickly opened the alchemy furnace and rescued Chen Shi.
Seeing his brother buried in the fire, Chen Shi was at a loss, feeling that fate was cruelly mocking him. A series of murders had been solved, but because they were so widespread, they caused shock to the capital. The Emperor ordered Li Bing to rest first, and Lai Zhongshu, who was strongly recommended by several veteran officials, would take over Shangguan Qin's position.
Episode 29 Recap
After Shangguan Lian was imprisoned, he asked Li Bing to help take care of Shangguan Qin. Lai Zhongshu took over all the affairs of the Court of Judicial Review and repeatedly instructed Li Bing that the case was closed and he should not get too entangled. For a period of time, whenever Chen Shi thought of the scene of Chen Jiu being burned by the fire, he felt sorrowful and sad.
He recalled three years ago, when the two brothers lived on a big tree outside the village. Although they were poor, they were happy. To give his younger brother a comfortable life, Chen Jiu went to the capital to make a living, originally thinking of helping his brother after becoming successful, but he didn't expect such an end. On Lai Zhongshu's first day in office, Li Bing handed over the official seal to Lai Zhongshu.
Sir Zhi Jia, Sir Zhi Yi, and the coroner Old Bai all took leave together. Lai Zhongshu transferred the owner of the wonton stall in front of the Jinwu Guard gate to the Court of Judicial Review kitchen and drove away the chef Uncle Cai. Wang Qi and a few others complained to Li Bing. Li Bing advised them to continue doing their duties well.
The Emperor ordered him to temporarily stop managing Court of Judicial Review affairs, so he was preparing to return to Li's residence to rest. Chen Shi couldn't eat or sleep all day. Li Bing comforted Chen Shi to mourn appropriately, saying that the Black Rakshasa was just a killer and someone else must have been directing him from behind. Chen Shi knew his brother's nature best. Now that he had become a killer, he must have had some unspeakable difficulties.
Even for his brother, he had to follow Li Bing to thoroughly investigate the series of murders. Cui Bei organized the case files. Shangguan Lian's confession basically explained everyone involved in the murders. As the few people were discussing the next plan, Lai Zhongshu's attendant walked into the Mingjing Hall and demanded that they immediately vacate the dormitory. Wang Qi was indignant. At Sun Bao's suggestion, they put a sack over Lai Zhongshu's head and severely vented their frustration.
Lai Zhongshu brought Wang Qi and the others in front of Li Bing, implying that Li Bing had secretly trespassed into the Jinwu Guard to rescue Hu Ji, Wang Qi and Sun Bao had jointly stolen case files, and Alibaba had assisted Shangguan Qin in escaping. Lai Zhongshu now had complete control over both the Jinwu Guard and the Court of Judicial Review, wielding absolute power.
Li Bing was worried that the four brothers of the Mingjing Hall would be framed, so he accused them of defying their superior and ordered them expelled from the Court of Judicial Review. After Lai Zhongshu left, Li Bing ordered Chen Shi not to follow him anymore either. Chen Shi had nowhere else to go. Li Bing couldn't worry about too much; he didn't want Chen Shi to be involved in the disputes anymore.
Chen Shi packed his luggage and walked reluctantly to the door. A Court of Judicial Review Sir Zhi happened to come in to give Chen Shi his waist token. It turned out that after the assessment a few days ago, Chen Shi had been selected as a Registrar. Chen Shi took the token and once again felt that fate was mocking him. The next day, Chen Shi prepared to return to Chen Family Village.
Not long after leaving the city gate, two middle-aged men with a carriage passed by Chen Shi, saying they were going that way anyway and could give Chen Shi a ride. Chen Shi didn't think much and got in the carriage. After traveling for a while, he felt something was wrong, so Chen Shi tried to sneak away. The two men chased him relentlessly. After grabbing Chen Shi, they questioned him about Li Bing's next actions. Chen Shi remained silent.
The two men began to show ferocious expressions. Suddenly, the four brothers of the Mingjing Hall appeared in the woods. The few of them joined forces to subdue the two carriage drivers, only then realizing they were Jinwu Guard soldiers. Wang Qi had already guessed that Li Bing would not give up easily and must have revealed the next plan to Chen Shi.
Chen Shi told Wang Qi that before Chen Jiu died, he told him to be sure to go home and look, guessing that the letter he sent him before must contain a secret. But three years ago, he was illiterate, and the content of the letter was relayed by a fellow villager. Wang Qi divided the four people from the Mingjing Hall into two groups. One group would accompany Chen Shi back to Chen Family Village to find the letter, and the other group would send a reply to the Jinwu Guard every two hours to avoid suspicion.
Episode 30 Recap
Wang Qi accompanied Chen Shi back to Chen Family Village, where the village chief seemed reluctant to mention the Chen Shi brothers. Wu Zetian's personal attendant saw a demon cat in the palace and ordered Lai Zhongshu to enter the palace for an audience. Lai Zhongshu knew he couldn't handle it. Wu Zetian demanded that the demon cat must be caught, otherwise, she would give the position to Li Bing. Qiu Qingzhi's major injury was not yet healed.
Lai Zhongshu took off the Jinwu Guard Commander's bracelet from Qiu Qingzhi's wrist, unable to conceal his desire for power. Returning to Court of Judicial Review, Lai Zhongshu asked about the whereabouts of the four Mingjing Hall brothers. Learning that they had all been expelled from Court of Judicial Review, Lai Zhongshu ordered that the four be completely silenced to avoid threatening him. After making arrangements, he walked to the riverside, rang a bell with the bracelet.
Several boatmen covered their heads with black sacks and brought Lai Zhongshu to meet the person behind the scenes. Sun Bao and Alibaba sent messages to the Jinwu Guard on time. Alibaba suddenly remembered a sculpture he had seen at Wang Zhi's home, which he had secretly investigated.
It was a statue worshipped by the people of Zixu Kingdom in the Western Regions, but one arm of the statue was broken, indicating that Li Bing might not want people to see it. While the two were talking, they heard horses hooves passing by; it was a Jinwu Guard messenger. Sun Bao intercepted him and only then learned that Lai Zhongshu had ordered the killing of the four Mingjing Hall brothers.
Although unwelcome, Chen Shi still brought local specialties from Shendu for a few of his relatives in the village. Village Chief Chen Datang repeatedly emphasized that he had not received a letter from Chen Jiu. One-eyed Chen Qi suddenly walked into the room and declared that he was keeping Chen Jiu's letter but would not give it to Chen Shi.
It turned out that Chen Jiu had once set a trap for Chen Qi during a hunt, causing Chen Qi to lose the sight in one eye. Chen Qi had always held this grudge and proposed that there was a spiritual beast outside the village; if Chen Shi and his companions could capture it, he would hand over the letter.
Chen Qi made this demand because Chen Shi had been kind since he was a child and couldn't bear to hunt any prey, concluding that Chen Shi definitely wouldn't be able to complete it. However, Chen Shi was eager to investigate the cause of his brother's death and couldn't afford to worry too much. After discussing it, Chen Shi decided to act as bait himself to lure out the prey.
As Chen Shi walked outside the village, he heard a mysterious sound reach his ears, guessing it should be Yi Zhi Hua. Chen Datang found Chen Shi and his companions, saying that Chen Qi was just sulking and speaking in anger, and asked them to leave quickly.
Chen Shi was annoyed and ran to Chen Qi's house to inquire further, only to find that Yi Zhi Hua had put a hunting trap on Chen Qi's head, forcing him to reveal the Black Rakshasa's letter. Chen Shi told Yi Zhi Hua that he knew the content of the letter and demanded that Yi Zhi Hua release Chen Qi so he could tell the secret alone. Yi Zhi Hua kidnapped Chen Shi outside the village.
Chen Shi asked about the relationship between Yi Zhi Hua and Chen Jiu. Yi Zhi Hua did not hide anything and finally asked if he believed Li Bing was a demon. Chen Shi defended Li Bing in every way and took the opportunity to send a fire signal, causing Yi Zhi Hua to leave in a hurry. Chen Qi was moved by Chen Shi and handed over Chen Jiu's letter. A patterned symbol was drawn on the letter.
Chen Jiu instructed that if he encountered difficulties, he should find someone who recognized this symbol. Li Bing was summoned into the palace for an audience. Lai Zhongshu also suddenly burst into the palace, stating that there was a very important clue that required Li Bing's cooperation in the investigation. After Wu Zetian agreed, Lai Zhongshu led Li Bing into the prison.
Using pre-arranged mechanisms, he directly trapped Li Bing, then took out a powder and sprinkled it towards Li Bing. Li Bing quickly turned into a white cat. Li Bing, who had turned into a white cat, walked directly out of the iron cage and began fighting with Lai Zhongshu. Several officers shot arrows. Li Bing dodged to the side, and the arrows directly hit Lai Zhongshu.
Li Bing knew he couldn't explain the situation any better, so he prepared to escape from prison. Just as he reached the door, he was hit by an arrow from Qiu Qingzhi, who was standing on the city wall, and fell heavily to the ground.
Episode 31 Recap
Li Bing recalls Qiu Qingzhi. Qiu Qingzhi shot Li Bing to the ground. Li Bing directly pulled out the arrow and escaped along the city wall roofs. Qiu Qingzhi relentlessly pursued him from behind and shot Li Bing again. Li Bing was injured and fell heavily to the ground. Before he lost consciousness, he released a fire signal. The four Mingjing Hall brothers and Chen Shi had already returned to Shendu.
Seeing the fire signal, they rushed to Li Bing's side, only to find Li Bing had turned into a white cat's head. Chen Shi originally thought everyone would be frightened, but Wang Qi exclaimed that the Vice Minister was incredibly cool, practically a cat hero from mythology. Alibaba couldn't help but muse aloud that Li Bing was the demon cat, but then felt something wasn't right. For safety, they first took Li Bing to a dilapidated temple.
Qiu Qingzhi searched for the injured Li Bing but did not find him. Inside the dilapidated temple, the group gathered around the unconscious Li Bing and finally believed the legend of the Phoenix-Born Beast of Zixu Kingdom. Wang Qi also realized that during every case before, Li Bing's keen sense of smell was because he could transform into a cat's body.
Cui Bei analyzed that Li Bing gained the ability to transform when he was escorting Li Ji's coffin back home after his murder. Something special must have happened at that time, definitely related to Yi Zhi Hua, who liked to take people's teeth. The Zixu text note left by Yi Zhi Hua when the bricklayer was murdered in prison probably also hid many secrets.
The Jinwu Guard soldiers they had just seen in Chen Family Village were actually Yi Zhi Hua. The reason Li Bing had kept his secret hidden since the demon cat case began was that he did not want to implicate the four Mingjing Hall brothers. Li Bing was still sleeping soundly, and the moments he spent with Qiu Qingzhi reappeared vividly in his hazy consciousness.
Three years ago, Qiu Qingzhi, who had secretly escaped slavery, accidentally broke into the Li residence. Li Bing, seeing how pitiful he was, took out many pastries for Qiu Qingzhi to eat. At that time, the Zixu Kingdom was paying homage to Shendu. Li Bing really wanted to see the Zixu people with his own eyes. When his father, Li Ji, found out, he scolded him for being too curious.
Because Li Bing had been frail and sickly since childhood, he directly canceled the plan. Qiu Qingzhi, who was hiding in the room eating pastries, heard the conversation between the Li father and son. Soon after, he found a sheepskin scroll with Zixu text on it and gave it to Li Bing to express his gratitude. Through this back and forth, the two gradually became familiar. Qiu Qingzhi was orphaned and fended for himself.
One time, while setting up a stall in the market to sell medicine, he was bullied by a thug. Li Bing, upon discovering this, used knowledge from books to help Qiu Qingzhi out of the predicament, giving the thug a good lesson and incidentally venting the frustrations of the oppressed common people. After some time, Qiu Qingzhi encountered the thug again. The thug tried to snatch the sword from Qiu Qingzhi's hand, but was accidentally cut by Qiu Qingzhi.
They ended up in court again. Li Bing defended him with reason, but the official had received a lot of benefits from the thug and completely ignored his arguments. Li Bing simply took out the Court of Judicial Review seal, and the official quickly backed down. In the end, it was ruled that Qiu Qingzhi should return to slavery, which at least saved him from the danger to his life. The two returned to the Li mansion together.
Li Ji severely reprimanded Li Bing for secretly taking the Court of Judicial Review seal, but strongly approved of his actions in saving Qiu Qingzhi. From then on, Qiu Qingzhi stayed at the Li residence. Although he was a servant, he could study and practice martial arts with Li Bing. Li Ji treated Qiu Qingzhi very well. A few years later, Qiu Qingzhi made rapid progress. Whether it was in writing or martial arts, he surpassed Li Bing.
The imperial court issued a notice recruiting soldiers to suppress the Zixu Kingdom. Qiu Qingzhi was interested in giving it a try. Li Bing saw Qiu Qingzhi's intention and encouraged him to actively sign up, and generously provided him with travel expenses, hoping Qiu Qingzhi could achieve something. Waking from his slumber, Li Bing discovered that his secret had long been known to everyone. Qiu Qingzhi went to the prison to see Shangguan Qin. Shangguan Qin seemed to have expected it and motioned for Qiu Qingzhi to pass a message to Yong'an Pavilion, telling them not to think that silencing her would give them peace of mind, and that she knew everything, including things about Yi Zhi Hua.
Episode 32 Recap
Li Bing gradually recovered. The group hid in the dilapidated temple, analyzing recent events in Shendu. Li Bing had originally attracted the Emperor's attention and could reopen the demon cat case, but Lai Zhongshu, thinking he was clever, took over the investigation and adamantly insisted that Li Bing was the suspect in the old case. Lai Zhongshu is not someone who can remain calm.
His sudden move could only indicate that he received instructions from elsewhere, meaning he knew Li Bing's identity long ago but kept it hidden. The only organization with a rank higher than the Jinwu Guard is Yong'an Pavilion. The pattern in Chen Jiu's letter also pointed directly to Yong'an Pavilion. Li Bing continued his analysis. Qiu Qingzhi shooting him indicated that he was serving Yong'an Pavilion as a Jinwu Guard General.
As the group was talking, Li Bing heard footsteps outside the door, quickly retreated into the courtyard, and caught a scout. He searched him and found a Jinwu Guard waist token. Just as he was about to ask for more details, Sun Bao knocked the scout unconscious with a palm strike. The scouts were put into sacks and dumped outside the Jinwu Guard gate. After being rescued, they reported Li Bing's previous hiding place to Qiu Qingzhi.
Qiu Qingzhi ordered a thorough search within a ten-mile radius, determined to find Li Bing. Alibaba secretly obtained several sets of theatrical costumes. The group had to go into disguise to evade the Jinwu Guard's pursuit. Li Bing was preparing to meet Shangguan Lian again. The other party must have many secrets he hadn't revealed. Qiu Qingzhi prepared a carriage, intending to secretly send Shangguan Lian out of the city and silence him halfway.
After the carriage traveled for a while, Shangguan Lian realized the route was not towards the pier, understood he was being tricked by Qiu Qingzhi, and jumped off the carriage to hide. Soon, assassins surrounded the carriage and fiercely fought with Shangguan Lian. Li Bing brought Sun Bao to rescue him and brought Shangguan Lian back. What Shangguan Lian cared about most was his daughter's safety.
Alibaba informed him that Shangguan Qin had been sent to his country and was very safe. Shangguan Lian finally felt relieved and revealed more secrets. Du Zixu was a spy from Zixu Kingdom, searching for treasures scattered in Shendu under the guise of presenting a medicinal formula. The key to the formula was the bones of the Zixu Kingdom's divine beast, Fengshen Beast.
Du Zixu's supply of beast bones would eventually run out, which is why there was a campaign to suppress Zixu Kingdom. Li Ji discovered the truth about the national war and was immediately silenced. Shangguan Lian's previous statements were also made under the instruction of Yong'an Pavilion. Li Bing had one last secret remaining, concerning Yi Zhi Hua. Suddenly, the room's candle was blown out by the wind, and a wild cat appeared on the roof.
Li Bing went to the door to check. When he returned to the room, Shangguan Lian's throat had been slit. They could only go to the Shangguan residence to look for clues. Alibaba helped find the letter Shangguan Qin left in the flower pot, but the writing was already blurred. Next, they had to race against time with Qiu Qingzhi.
Li Bing arranged for the group to split into three teams, respectively investigating what exactly happened in Huangsha Valley three years ago, where the fishermen who salvaged the sunken ship were now living, and what treasure Yi Zhi Hua was searching for. Qiu Qingzhi brought the secret he discovered to Yong'an Pavilion. Citing his ability to find Yi Zhi Hua, he requested entry into Yong'an Pavilion. The Pavilion Master agreed.
Sun Bao and Alibaba disguised themselves as wealthy merchants and went to the pier to inquire about contracting large ships, and incidentally requested several fishermen with sunken ship salvaging experience to guard the goods. Wang Qi and Cui Bei dressed up as courtesans and found a letter writer named Liu Sheng to inquire about matters. Li Bing and Chen Shi found a Zixu Kingdom captive who now made a living by digging manure.
They secretly followed the captive to his residence and found many women and children there. It happened that the Jinwu Guard was checking household registers. If the remaining captives were discovered, they would certainly be wiped out. Li Bing and Chen Shi disguised themselves as manure carriers to help them escape this danger. Only then did the leader reveal the secret about Yi Zhi Hua. The battle in Huangsha Valley that year happened suddenly.
The king disregarded the lives of his subjects, demanding that all citizens participate in the war and defend with their lives. Later, a young man shot the king with an arrow, and only then did a few people manage to escape by chance, were sold, and finally ended up in Shendu, where they hid and dared not show themselves. Regarding the legend of human-faced beasts, the captive stated that they were deities of the Zixu Kingdom.
They gained divine power by defeating divine beasts in the past and were later worshipped by the Zixu Kingdom as deities. The item placed in the coffin on the Huangsha Valley battlefield was precisely a deity of the Zixu Kingdom.
Episode 33 Recap
Wang Qi and Cui Bei tied up the antique dealer Lao Liu, forcing him to say if he had seen the treasure from Zixu Kingdom that had ended up in Shendu. The antique dealer naturally didn't want to cause trouble and firmly denied ever seeing it. Cui Bei moved to the display shelf behind the antique dealer and made the sound of breaking porcelain. The antique dealer cared most about his collection, so he had to tell the truth.
The treasure was the armor of a Zixu Kingdom warrior who defeated a divine beast, more precious than the king's dragon robe. Alibaba and Sun Bao investigated the truth about the sunken ship at the pier. A blacksmith claimed he personally salvaged the sunken ship. Sun Bao enticed him to talk about what happened three years ago. Qiu Qingzhi ordered an intensification of the search, determined to find Li Bing. The blacksmith's apprentice was Qiu Qingzhi's informant.
After reporting the whereabouts of Alibaba and Cui Bei to Qiu Qingzhi, they were quickly apprehended by Qiu Qingzhi. Qiu Qingzhi interrogated the few people about the clues they had gathered. The small wooden box found by Alibaba was taken by Qiu Qingzhi. As he continued searching the room, Li Bing suddenly appeared, held Qiu Qingzhi hostage, and exchanged him for the Jinwu Guard officers releasing the four brothers of Mingjing Hall.
After the few people left safely, Qiu Qingzhi opened the small wooden box and saw a blurred note. Li Bing broke into the Jinwu Guard warehouse and found a set of armor. Yi Zhi Hua arrived soon after. After the two met, Yi Zhi Hua discovered it wasn't his armor and realized he had been tricked by Li Bing.
Jinwu Guard officers discovered someone trespassing in the forbidden area, so Li Bing suggested changing the meeting location with Yi Zhi Hua. Wang Qi and his group brought the map and found Yong'an Pavilion. The layout of each room was different, but they couldn't find where the armor was hidden. Walking into the inner room, there was a clay soldier statue wearing armor. Sun Bao determined it was the shuttle armor from the Huangsha Valley battlefield.
As they were about to remove the armor, several hidden arrows shot out. Sun Bao told the others to leave first and he would handle the aftermath. Li Bing brought Yi Zhi Hua to Yi Zhi Hua's residence. Chen Shi had prepared a trap beforehand. When Yi Zhi Hua appeared, he was directly confined in an iron cage. Yi Zhi Hua explained the reason he came to Shendu. He was originally from Zixu Kingdom.
Several years ago, there was an immortal divine beast in his hometown, the Fengshen Beast. Its appearance was similar to a cat, and it survived by feeding on human blood. The king used one slave every day to feed the Fengshen Beast. One day it was Yi Zhi Hua's turn. Unwilling to become food for the monster, Yi Zhi Hua fought with the Fengshen Beast and finally managed to kill it.
He accidentally came into contact with the Fengshen Beast's blood and began to grow fangs. Afterwards, he was treated as a monster. Unable to continue living in his hometown, a mysterious physician appeared in the country at that time, claiming he could make people stay young forever but they must consume Fengshen Beast bones. This person was Du Zixu. To cut off the Fengshen Beast's bones, a special dagger must be used.
Afterwards, the dagger ended up in Shendu, so he then traveled to Shendu to search for the dagger. After saying these words, Yi Zhi Hua drugged Li Bing, who fell to the ground. Qiu Qingzhi brought men to control Chen Shi, who was nearby. Li Bing was taken to Yong'an Pavilion and subjected to a private interrogation by Qiu Qingzhi.
Qiu Qingzhi asked where the dagger was hidden, noting it was the item the two used together when they killed fish in their youth. Li Bing said he had no idea. Qiu Qingzhi brought Yi Zhi Hua back to the Jinwu Guard and told him that he already knew where the dagger was hidden. Yi Zhi Hua asked what he wanted to exchange for the dagger, longevity or power. Qiu Qingzhi said neither.
He incidentally mentioned the national war in Huangsha Valley three years ago. At that time, Qiu Qingzhi made military contributions, but the general thought his slave status made him unworthy of claiming credit. Qiu Qingzhi argued forcefully, but instead, the general ordered his execution.
Episode 34 Recap
Qiu Qingzhi fought back and killed two soldiers, then secretly returned to the camp. He heard that an important person would appear that night, and after the task was completed, all slave soldiers were to be silenced. Driven by curiosity, Qiu Qingzhi discovered that a stone coffin had been transported in at night.
The next day, when passing through Huangsha Valley, Qiu Qingzhi deliberately created a disturbance to draw the officers back to the camp for support, and he opened the stone coffin himself. After opening the stone coffin, before he could clearly see what was inside, the general had already returned with many officers. A fierce battle broke out between the two sides.
Suddenly, he heard a sound from inside the stone coffin, followed by a monster with a human face and a beast body standing up. Just as Yi Zhi Hua was recalling the scene of their first meeting in Huangsha Valley, he was knocked unconscious by a palm strike from Qiu Qingzhi. Subsequently, the stone coffin was escorted away from the Jinwu Guard. The four brothers of Mingjing Hall were taken to the death row execution ground.
Just as the execution was about to take place, a soldier hidden in the shadows suddenly attacked and saved them. After killing the Jinwu Guard soldiers, they discovered it was Sun Bao. Without time for more explanation, the few of them changed into Jinwu Guard clothes and disguised themselves to leave the death row prison. Alibaba suddenly asked Sun Bao how he knew about their situation.
Sun Bao said that the day before yesterday, outside Yong'an Pavilion, while he was fighting fiercely with the officers, Xu Hu suddenly appeared, gave him a map, and told him to leave first and rescue the brothers according to the map's location. Cui Bei analyzed that for Xu Hu to know their situation, someone must be instructing him from behind. The most important thing now was to leave death row.
Along the way, the few of them found a rusty iron door. After opening it, the inside was full of incomplete white bones. There were marks carved on the faces of several skeletons, indicating they were slaves when they were alive. Chen Shi suddenly remembered that Wu Yiren had shown Li Bing similar white bones.
The few of them speculated that the place they were in must be the death row where Yi Zhi Hua and Du Zixu were once held. The few from Mingjing Hall continued to walk forward, and suddenly saw Li Bing with red eyes. Li Bing was disoriented, but recovered shortly after and then disappeared.
Qiu Qingzhi reported to the Emperor, stating that an auspicious omen had appeared in Shendu, and requested permission to leave the palace in three days to welcome it, which was also the intention of Yong'an Pavilion. Li Bing walked to a dilapidated temple and saw a blind old woman mourning for her son's spirit tablet. After chatting for a bit, he offered to see the old woman back to her village.
Suddenly, his eyes glowed, and he was mistaken for a monster by the villagers. The few from Mingjing Hall arrived in time and clarified Li Bing's identity. Li Bing told the few of them his speculation. Currently, the most suspicious target was Yong'an Pavilion, which might have incited the national war for longevity, but Qiu Qingzhi and Yi Zhi Hua were also suspects.
Although there were many doubts, the few from Court of Judicial Review working together made him feel relieved. The blind woman brought a villager to find Li Bing, requesting help to investigate the rumors of a water ghost. Her son was harmed by the water ghost, so she wanted the truth. The villager described what he had seen before, that there were once ghostly soldiers passing through, but no one believed him when he told them.
A few days ago, while fishing, he saw a strange object on the river surface again, thinking it was the water ghost causing trouble. A young man who never believed the stories insisted on going to the river to see for himself and hadn't returned to the village since. That young man was the blind woman's son. Wang Qi speculated that the ghostly soldiers the villager saw were likely veteran soldiers who had escaped from prison.
Li Bing walked to the riverbank and found a boat at the bottom of the river, which was a hidden pier. Alibaba said he had previously asked Shuidao Qucheng to investigate the terrain near the Dragon King Temple pier, and this place was not far from there. Li Bing suspected that someone was constantly transporting supplies to the old soldiers, indicating that the old soldiers' hiding place was nearby.
After avoiding several ambushes by the river, they found an empty field. Walking a few more steps forward, it was actually an open square, arranged completely like a military camp. Based on this, they guessed that the escaped veteran soldiers had been hiding here all along. As Li Bing was looking for signs of life, a shout came from a secret room. The few of them opened the door, and the person calling for help was the blind woman's son. The man said he was brought here and, apart from not seeing his family, he lacked nothing in terms of food and drink and was not troubled by anyone, but three days ago, everyone suddenly left and he didn't know where they went.
Episode 35 Recap
Li Bing speculated that the veteran soldiers in hiding were very likely controlled by Yong'an Pavilion. If this was the case, Yong'an Pavilion might hold the Emperor hostage during the sacrificial ceremony three days later. They urgently needed to return to Shendu immediately to protect the Emperor, but the city gates were already closed, and furthermore, the few of them were wanted criminals and could not enter the city at all.
Li Bing suddenly remembered the hot air balloon from the opera troupe, so he asked the villagers to find rattan and cotton cloth to make a hot air balloon. Thus, a hot air balloon flew over the city gates of Shendu at night, and the few of them successfully entered the city. On the day of the sacrificial ceremony, Wang Qi and the others dressed as Yong'an Pavilion elders and entered the palace to meet the Emperor.
The personal guards noticed something strange and questioned their identities closely. Wang Qi removed his hat, explained their identities and intentions, and advised Empress Wu Zetian not to leave the palace to avoid falling into Yong'an Pavilion's trap. Qiu Qingzhi was escorting Yi Zhi Hua towards the sacrificial ceremony when he was intercepted by Li Bing halfway. Li Bing asked where the dagger was hidden.
Suddenly, many soldiers were stationed on the city wall, firing densely at the two of them. Qiu Qingzhi hid behind a stone lion and shouted loudly to Li Bing on the other side that the plan had changed and told Li Bing to return to the palace first to protect the Emperor. After Li Bing left, Lai Zhongshu appeared at the city gate with a troop of soldiers.
It turned out that Lai Zhongshu had also ingested animal bones, allowing him to recover promptly after severe injury, and he had also intercepted Qiu Qingzhi's homing pigeon, thus deliberately disrupting Qiu Qingzhi's plan. Yong'an Pavilion no longer trusted Qiu Qingzhi, and Lai Zhongshu had become the new informant. Yong'an Pavilion's subordinates entered the palace to urge Wu Zetian to proceed with the sacrifice.
Just as the few from Mingjing Hall were about to be unable to hold on, Xu Hu led a troop of veteran soldiers to protect the Emperor in time. When Li Bing arrived at the palace, Yong'an Pavilion's subordinates were already under control. Wu Zetian ordered everyone to withdraw, leaving Li Bing to talk with her alone. Wu Zetian already knew about Li Bing and also knew about Yong'an Pavilion's manipulations behind the scenes.
A few days prior, when Qiu Qingzhi submitted his memorial about the sacrificial ceremony, he attached a secret letter explaining Yong'an Pavilion's instigation of the national war that year and Li Bing's transformation into a cat. Wu Zetian issued an order, requiring Li Bing to thoroughly investigate the national war three years ago and cleanse the imperial court. Xu Hu told the few from Mingjing Hall that he had been following Qiu Qingzhi for a long time.
The cave Li Bing found a few days ago was where Qiu Qingzhi kept his soldiers. Qiu Qingzhi truly wanted to vindicate the veteran soldiers. Back in Huangsha Valley that year, Qiu Qingzhi was the first to find Yi Zhi Hua. Everyone thought Yi Zhi Hua was a monster, but only Qiu Qingzhi was not afraid. He struck him repeatedly.
Afterwards, they encountered quicksand, and Yi Zhi Hua was almost swallowed, but Qiu Qingzhi saved Yi Zhi Hua again and tamed him. Subsequently, Yi Zhi Hua asked Qiu Qingzhi what he wanted to gain from him. Qiu Qingzhi sought neither fame nor fortune, which made Yi Zhi Hua feel that this person was different. The auspicious sacrificial ceremony was proposed by Yong'an Pavilion.
Qiu Qingzhi originally intended to publicly expose Yong'an Pavilion during the sacrifice, but he did not expect Lai Zhongshu to survive and start working for Yong'an Pavilion. Li Bing returned to Court of Judicial Review again to look for the dagger, telling the others to rest and provide support. Inside Court of Judicial Review, Qiu Qingzhi had been beaten by Yi Zhi Hua until he was on the verge of death.
Yi Zhi Hua told Li Bing that it was time to reveal the truth. That year, Qiu Qingzhi asked him to turn Li Bing into a cat demon because Yong'an Pavilion would definitely get rid of Li Bing, so only by making him immortal would he have a chance for revenge. Qiu Qingzhi was already severely injured. Yi Zhi Hua encouraged him to drink human blood, but Qiu Qingzhi refused to become a monster devoid of conscience.
He held on to his last breath and handed Li Bing a purse, the one Li Bing had given him for travel expenses when he left the Li residence that year. He then died from excessive blood loss.
Episode 36 (Ending) Recap
After Qiu Qingzhi died, Li Bing recalled the details of their meeting in their youth and couldn't help but feel immense sadness. Yi Zhi Hua felt a strong sense of defeat because Qiu Qingzhi did not suck human blood as he had expected. In the end, he had meticulously orchestrated an absurd game. As he prepared to leave Court of Judicial Review, Sun Bao and Xu Hu stopped him.
They started fighting, and after a while, Sun Bao and Xu Hu became overwhelmed. Li Bing put down Qiu Qingzhi's body, turning grief and indignation into strength, and fought Yi Zhi Hua with all his might. Yi Zhi Hua used a trick, placing a knife against Sun Bao and Xu Hu's necks, threatening Li Bing to kneel before him. Just as they were in a stalemate, Wang Qi sprinkled a potion behind him.
Yi Zhi Hua's eyes blurred, and then his hands were pinned down by Sun Bao and Xu Hu. Li Bing thrust his sword directly into Yi Zhi Hua's heart, and Yi Zhi Hua fainted. Chen Shi, Wang Qi, and Cui Bei entered the city and found that all the vendors near the city entrance had changed owners. Just as they felt something was strange, Lai Zhongshu appeared with a large troop, pursuing the remaining members of Court of Judicial Review.
Wang Qi told Chen Shi to escape first, while he and Cui Bei were captured by Lai Zhongshu. Lai Zhongshu reported back to Yong'an Pavilion that he had captured most of the members of Mingjing Hall, with only Chen Shi still at large, who was unlikely to pose a threat.
The head elder of Yong'an Pavilion, seeing that Lai Zhongshu's mission was complete, ordered an assassin to slit Lai Zhongshu's throat, preparing to use his blood to awaken Yi Zhi Hua. Chen Shi hid and dodged in the streets but was still discovered by the pursuers. As he desperately fled, the carriage driver, Old Gu, pulled Chen Shi onto his carriage and took him back to his home.
Although Chen Shi was temporarily safe, he constantly worried about the other members of Mingjing Hall. He felt he should do something and suddenly thought he could write down the truth so that the common people, after learning the truth, could go to Yong'an Pavilion together to rescue his Mingjing Hall brothers. After writing down the truth, Chen Shi distributed it everywhere. People swarmed in, following Chen Shi and breaking into the Yong'an Pavilion dungeon.
The soldiers could not resist and had no choice but to let the people rescue Li Bing and his Mingjing Hall brothers. Yi Zhi Hua was taken to the sacrificial site. The Yong'an Pavilion elder took out the dagger. Yi Zhi Hua discovered that the Fengsheng Stone was missing from the dagger. That was the medicinal catalyst he had been searching for to turn himself back into a normal person.
For years, being treated as a monster was the greatest pain in Yi Zhi Hua's heart. The Yong'an Pavilion elder had no idea of the Fengsheng Stone's effect. Li Bing arrived at the scene and took out the purse Qiu Qingzhi had given him before he died. Inside was the Fengsheng Stone. Qiu Qingzhi had found the Fengsheng Stone ahead of Yi Zhi Hua and left it behind at the cost of his own life.
Li Bing said he could give Yi Zhi Hua the Fengsheng Stone to help him become a normal person. Yi Zhi Hua didn't believe him at all, because Li Bing also needed the Fengsheng Stone to get rid of his cat demon identity. Li Bing told Yi Zhi Hua that no matter if he was a person or a cat, he would always be loyal to justice and distinguish right from wrong.
And the reason Qiu Qingzhi was able to subdue Yi Zhi Hua twice when he first discovered him was that he was not afraid of Yi Zhi Hua at all from the bottom of his heart. He did not see him as a monster, only as a pitiful person who had been isolated. The Yong'an Pavilion elders were all captured for instigating the national war. Yi Zhi Hua finally realized that what he needed most was to be understood.
The game was over. Although he had lost, he didn't seem sad. Li Bing resumed his position as Court of Judicial Review Minister. A series of cases were finally resolved. Li Bing thanked the four brothers of Mingjing Hall and Chen Shi for their full support. The few of them were not shy and directly put forward their requests. Wang Qi, currently a recorder, requested to be promoted to Si Zhi.
Sun Bao requested that Court of Judicial Review accommodate Xu Hu to handle cases together. Alibaba requested to pass the official rank 8 examination directly. Cui Bei hoped someone could help him organize his documents. After deliberation, Li Bing reinstated Wang Qi to the position of Si Zhi. Alibaba's request to skip the examination was not granted, but Shangguan Qin was preparing to return to Shendu, which was great news for Alibaba.
When Si Zhi Jia and Yi were off duty, they sent Hu Si's remains back to his hometown. Li Bing returned to the Li residence and stood at the entrance, seeing again the moment three years ago when Qiu Qingzhi said goodbye to him, intending to pursue his future. In the end, both of them made their greatest efforts for the justice in their hearts, just like when they first met in their youth.
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