Zhan Zhao Adventures Episode 26 Recap
> Zhan Zhao Adventures Recaps
Zhan Zhao confronts a beggar on the street, who is actually Yao Yu Shan in disguise. He points out that unlike real beggars who do not fear the gaze of passersby, Yao Yu Shan had given himself away by avoiding eye contact. Although Yao Yu Shan is skeptical that a mere investigator can truly overturn an unjust case against powerful corrupt officials, Zhan Zhao urges him to think of his family.
He warns that if the corrupt faction fails to find Yao Yu Shan, they will undoubtedly target his wife and daughter next. Swayed by Zhan Zhao's determination and the threat to his family, Yao Yu Shan agrees to testify against Governor Luo Wen Jie. At the Suwen Assembly, Yao Yu Shan recounts the events of fifteen years ago.
When a devastating plague hit the town, Jin Xue Wen insisted he was in the mountains gathering herbs to treat the victims, even going so far as to draft an antidote prescription. However, after Jin Xue Wen was thrown into prison, his formula mysteriously vanished. As the plague intensified, Yao Yu Shan's suspicions grew. His doubts were confirmed when his colleague, Wang Xing, discovered that the sword marks at the crime scene had been deliberately erased.
These wounds, though non-fatal, proved a third person was present, but Governor Luo Wen Jie bribed both men to keep their mouths shut. Fearing they would eventually be silenced for good, Yao Yu Shan secretly salvaged and hid the partially burnt case files. Though incomplete, the surviving pages support his story. The angry crowd condemns the corrupt governor.
Seeing his scheme fall apart, Luo Wen Jie desperately deflects the blame onto his clerk, Qiu Han, claiming he stayed indoors during the crisis and left the case entirely in the clerk's hands. Suddenly, Shao Ji Zu, the military commandant of Xiangzhou, arrives with troops to surround the hall. He claims he is acting on the orders of Chief Justice Cheng Hao of the Dali Court to arrest Luo Wen Jie and seize all evidence and witnesses.
Zhan Zhao confronts him with Prince Hui's token, but Shao Ji Zu is skeptical and orders his subordinate, Feng Shao, to drag the witnesses away. Before blood can be shed, Prince Hui, Zhao Zhuo Qing, steps out of his carriage to assert his royal authority. Outmatched, Shao Ji Zu is forced to back down. Meanwhile, Zhan Zhao notices a suspicious figure slipping away. It is Qiu Han, who is also the mastermind Si Ming.
He has escaped through a secret passage behind the Medicine King statue leading to the back hills. Borrowing a horse, Zhan Zhao pursues him. On the run, Shao Ji Zu catches up with Si Ming, who stresses that they must retrieve the other half of a vital ledger, as its recovery by Zhan Zhao would destroy their master's years of influence in the imperial court.
Moments later, Feng Shao arrives with news that Zhan Zhao is already closing in on their position. To buy time for Si Ming to escape, Shao Ji Zu sets up an ambush within the city. As Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang escort the witnesses and the prince back, they are suddenly attacked by death warriors from the Zhongxiao Court. During the chaotic skirmish, a carriage carrying Si Ming speeds away.
Despite fighting with injuries, Bai Yutang pursues the vehicle but is ultimately intercepted by Shao Ji Zu, allowing Si Ming to slip away once more. Analyzing the situation, Zhan Zhao deduces that Si Ming is not heading to the governor's office, but rather back to his own residence to incinerate the incriminating ledger. He instructs Bai Yutang to stay and protect Prince Hui while he and Huo Linglong infiltrate Si Ming's estate.
Upon arrival, they cross paths with Tang Tian Hao, who has recently succeeded as the Chief of the Tang Sect and has been ordered to burn the evidence. Inside the study, Zhan Zhao uncovers a private record book meticulously kept by Si Ming. Among the pages is a case from the second year of Jingyou, in which a man named Kang Liang sued Zhuang Yu for abducting his daughter.
The girl had died from striking a pillar in resistance, and the lawsuit was eventually withdrawn due to a lack of witnesses. However, further investigation of household registers revealed that Zhuang Yu was the cousin of Zhuang Duo—who faced a similar abduction charge in Yi County—and that the two ran a brothel together. Suspiciously, Kang Liang fell to his death from a cliff just three days after withdrawing his complaint.
Si Ming had compiled these dark secrets of local officials to hold them under his thumb. Simultaneously, Prince Hui personally seals the Xiangzhou prefecture court, while Huo Linglong successfully recovers the missing half of the Zhongxiao Court ledger. Reviewing the documents, Prince Hui laments that Qiu Han possessed an extraordinary talent for detecting loopholes in old cases and exploiting them to control the local administration, though it was a tragedy that such a brilliant mind strayed into corruption.
Meanwhile, the elderly servant Xu An reveals to Jin Zhenping that he had recognized the murder weapon, a custom dagger, in Jin's room years ago but hid the truth because Jin Zhenping was the sole remaining heir and hope of the family. Terrified of being exposed, Jin Zhenping meets with Tang Tian Hao in the woods and tries to coerce him into murdering Zhan Zhao's group.
He threatens to expose the Tang Sect's involvement in the Seven-Day Drunken Dream poison fifteen years ago if he is caught. Refusing to be blackmailed, Tang Tian Hao asserts that the Tang Sect is already ruined and decides that killing Jin Zhenping is the simplest way to silence the past. When Tang Tian Hao attacks to kill them, Bai Yutang suddenly steps in to save them and stop the violence.
However, Tang Tian Hao manages to seal two of Bai Yutang's major acupoints, leaving him powerless. Bai Yutang sternly warns Tang Tian Hao not to become the wretched sort of person Huo Linglong would despise. Stirred by the mention of Huo Linglong, Tang Tian Hao abandons his murderous intent and walks away.
Unpredictably, the ungrateful Xu An seizes the opportunity and drives a blade straight into Bai Yutang's chest, justifying his actions by claiming that only Jin Zhenping can carry the weight of the family's future. As Bai Yutang lies mortally wounded, Jin Zhenping finally breaks down and confesses the dark truth of fifteen years ago.
Driven by a lifelong envy of his brother Jin Xue Wen's natural medical genius, Jin Zhenping had desperately wanted to win the Suwen Assembly to secure his position as family head. During the plague, he went into the mountains to find a cure, only to stumble upon a secret tryst between his fourth aunt and Tang Ji. He discovered that the epidemic was actually caused by the Seven-Day Drunken Dream poison they had engineered.
When Tang Ji attempted to silence him, his fourth aunt intervened, teaching Jin Zhenping the poison's toxicology in hopes that he could synthesize the antidote and take credit for saving the town. Despite his efforts, Jin Zhenping was unable to formulate the cure. He then followed Jin Xue Wen and overheard his conversation with Huo Linglong’s aunt.
Realizing his brother had easily created the antidote and fearing the aunt would expose the poison’s origin, Jin Zhenping decided they both had to die. He brought knockout incense to Pagoda Alley, only to find another assailant had already attacked the aunt. Delivering the final fatal blow himself, he framed his brother for the murder. He further reveals that Qiu Han later deceived Jin Xue Wen into writing a confession in exchange for a staged death.
Though Jin Xue Wen initially complied, he ultimately refused to sign to prevent his younger brother from living under the shadow of a criminal's sibling, prompting Qiu Han to forge his signature after his death.
