Legend of Zang Hai Episode 21 Recap, Plot

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> Legend of Zang Hai Recap

Zang Hai took the initiative to approach the Prince of Yongrong and learned that on the night his entire family was murdered, the Prince was hosting a banquet on a pleasure boat. This ruled out the Prince of Yongrong as the third killer. Zang Hai heard that Grand Secretary Zhao Bingwen had once sought justice for his father, Kuai Duo, and hoped to find a breakthrough through Zhao Bingwen.

Zang Hai visited Zhao Bingwen, and upon entering, saw Zhao Bingwen repairing the roof himself. He found Zhao Bingwen different from other officials. Zhao Bingwen invited Zang Hai to the study and warned him not to be too reckless. Lately, the memorials impeaching Zang Hai had piled up like a mountain. Zang Hai was unfazed—he refused to stand idly by while officials neglected their duties. Zhao Bingwen advised him on how to navigate officialdom.

Zang Hai had offended many royals and nobles, putting his life at risk, but he didn’t care. He wanted to stir up the murky waters of the bureaucracy and bring the corrupt to justice. Zhao Bingwen reminded him to protect himself first before taking action. Zang Hai found the advice invaluable. Zhao Bingwen had to attend a cabinet meeting and asked Zang Hai to help repair the roof tiles in his absence. Zang Hai agreed readily.

After Zhao Bingwen left, Zang Hai sent away the servant and quietly entered the study. He found an official document showing that Zhao Bingwen had been dispatched to provide disaster relief in Yuezhou on the day Zang Hai’s family was murdered. Midway through his journey, Zhao Bingwen remembered he had left a memorial from the Provincial Administration Commission in the study and rushed back, only to find Zang Hai missing from the front yard.

Zhao Bingwen headed straight to the back study and saw Zang Hai coming out from a distance. Zang Hai claimed a servant had asked him to help deal with the dampness in the study. Zhao Bingwen ordered the steward Zhao Geng to summon all the servants for Zang Hai to identify. Zang Hai claimed he couldn’t remember clearly. None of the servants admitted it, so Zhao Bingwen threatened to punish them all.

Zang Hai pleaded on their behalf, but Zhao Bingwen became suspicious of Zang Hai’s motives and pressed him for an explanation. Just then, Zhao Bingwen’s daughter, Ba Gongzi, arrived and defused the situation. She firmly claimed it was she who had asked Zang Hai to address the dampness issue in the study. Since she often dressed as a man, Zang Hai had mistaken her for a servant. Zhao Bingwen found nothing unusual and apologized to Zang Hai.

Zang Hai later reported the findings to Gao Ming—Zhao Bingwen was indeed in Yuezhou providing disaster relief the night his parents and sister were murdered, ruling him out as the third killer as well. Zang Hai asked Gao Ming to find a few rare storybooks, which he gave to Ba Gongzi as thanks. However, Gao Ming believed the one Zang Hai should be grateful to was Xiang Antu—she had asked Ba Gongzi to help Zang Hai.

Ba Gongzi liked the storybooks very much and wanted to read them that night. She told Zang Hai to go thank Xiang Antu. Zang Hai suspected Xiang Antu had a secret, and she demanded one of his in exchange. Zang Hai refused. Early the next morning, Zang Hai joined the civil and military officials at court. The Emperor did not arrive to review memorials, so Cao Jingxian heard the officials’ reports and responded to them one by one.

Finally, Chief Eunuch Cao Jingxian announced the Emperor’s edict—Fu Zhisong was to be buried with the late Emperor, and the entire burial ceremony would be entrusted to Zang Hai, who was given only two months to complete it. Zang Hai realized Cao Jingxian was deliberately making things difficult for him, but he did not dare to disobey. Zang Hai personally oversaw the work at the imperial mausoleum.

Shi Quan cooperated fully, but Zang Hai discovered that all the craftsmen were inexperienced young men who had no grasp of the work, leading to constant mistakes. Fearing the project wouldn’t be completed on time, Zang Hai went to the Ministry of Revenue to request an additional forty craftsmen from Zhuang Zhifu. Zhuang Zhifu made all kinds of excuses, so Zang Hai pleaded earnestly and even invoked Zhuang Luyin to pressure him.

Zhuang Zhifu agreed to send eighty men but only gave him forty—keeping the wages for the remaining forty for himself. Zang Hai flatly refused. When Zang Hai returned to the worksite, only Shi Quan was left. Zhuang Zhifu had reassigned the young craftsmen to repair the palace instead. Just as Zang Hai was at his wits’ end, Cao Jingxian’s adopted son Lu Ran came to deliver refreshments. Lu Ran asked to tour the mausoleum, and Zang Hai accompanied him.

Lu Ran advised him to be tactful and invited him to a family banquet hosted by Cao Jingxian. Zang Hai could see that Cao Jingxian wanted him dead. He refused to bow to Cao Jingxian and had no intention of colluding with officials from the Inspectorate. Gao Ming urged him to yield for the sake of survival—if he wanted revenge, he had to stay alive first. But Zang Hai stood firm and would not give in.

Episode 20 Recap

Episode 22 Recap

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