Duan Ma
Could it be a trap?
Wu Pin appeared fairly sincere
It doesn't seem to be a trap
If it's not a trap,
then Wu Weiwen has made a ruthless move
Father
What do you mean?
First, he used his connection with the government
to win over the order
That was to show his power
And then he offers to share half the order
to show his generosity
He has displayed both might and mercy
to make us concede to him once and for all
But from what Wu Pin said,
it seems the reason we lost out this time wasn't because we don't have connections with government,
but because we've never completed an order for military supplies before
It was the Ministry of Households that didn't trust us
You believe that?
It does seem logical
Anyway, I've convinced him
to give our Shen family partial credit for this order
so that next time, the Ministry of Households will know of us
Wu Pin agreed?
Remember how he stole a maid from our household?
I told him we'd consider it even
A maid
in exchange for reputation
That's a good deal
So we'll leave it at that
Sir --Aye
Weiwen Brother
Zhicun, you're here too?
I was just sorting out
last season's account with Manager Tong
Perfect, I have something to discuss with you
I have something to discuss with you as well
Oh, you first then
Uh...
Here, come inside
After you
What's the issue?
I heard that you acquired another order for military supplies
The news travels fast
What medicine this time?
Still ointments for wounding
Perfect, I just received a new batch of Dragon's Blood (**red resin from Daemonorops species**)
Better quality than last time, but still the same price
Alright, then I'll get dragon's blood from you
Great
Just arrange it with Manager Tong later
Thank you, Weiwen Brother
I have something else to discuss with you
A few days ago,
Yongmei came over to East House
My wife grows increasingly fond of her
Really? --She tells me, the two kids are getting older now
Maybe it's time we select a date for their ceremony
Definitely, we'll go with your plans,
I have no objections
How about...
...a day in autumn? -- Autumn?
Great, we'll plan the wedding for 6 months from now
It's a deal
Then it's settled
Then my East House will start preparations
Open the gate!
Shen family's ointment is here!
Assess the product!
Wu Pin Brother -- Yuesheng Brother
Hu family's medicinal herbs are here!
Assess the product!
Hey, hurry up everyone
Move all this stuff away
Pretty, like a bride --Me too!
I think this flower is nice too
What are you doing? You should get to work
What's going on?
You didn't know? The young master is getting married!
Every courtyard has a task, so we can make thorough preparations
Getting married? Who is he marrying?
Miss Hu, of course
Who's Miss Hu?
The same Hu family that owns the Gu Yue Pharmacy in Jinyang
Master Hu and our Master go way back
They've been doing business together
for over 10 years now, right? --Yeah, at least
So the families are a perfect match
Not only our families
Miss Hu and our young master
are also a great match
Really?
Is she pretty? -- She's not just pretty
She's knowledgeable, smart, and capable
Master and Madame wanted her married over long ago
so she could help young master at home
Oh yeah, and Miss Hu's calligraphy is beautiful
Look, she wrote that!
Water is fetched. Water is carried
In town, water is dammed.
One day is as
three months of water flow
What does it mean?
Don't ask me, I can't even read
I understand
It means
A person
must fetch water every day
If he doesn't fetch it even for a day, then he is deprived
of water for three months as punishment
So it's the same meaning as "a fist cannot be without a hand" and "a tune cannot be without a mouth"
Young master
Did I read it wrong? --No, you got it all correctly
These 4 lines make a lot of sense
And what do you think of the calligraphy?
I don't really understand calligraphy
That's OK, say what you think
Very ordinary
Rampant and forceful
Dizzying to look at
Young master, I heard you're getting married
Yeah, in half a year
Congratulations, Young Master
Unfortunately, I won't be around for your wedding night
How come?
In 3 months, our class will be graduated
and everyone will go their separate ways
So what are your plans?
The teacher said among all the students
you stand out the most
I think you could stay at the East House of Wu
start out at entry-level, and maybe one day
you could even become a manager!
I still need to find my dad
Your dad?
Oh
I meant my brother
And... after you find your brother?
After?
I'll do a little business
And after that?
After I make some money
I'll be able to go wherever I want
I can fly as high as the sky and talk all the bull I please
You still want to leave
Maybe for the better
By the way, the Shen family still hasn't found
that contract that binds you to their household
but since Shen Yuesheng already gave me his word,
there should not be any problems. Eventually, you be able
to go wherever you please
Young master,
you must have spent a lot of money for me
No, no money, just some thought
Thank you, Young Master
Oh right, almost forgot
I came to consult you about something our Teacher taught today
Here...
Finished product top-notch. Quality high, goods genuine
Usually, I ask Wang to help me translate
this mumbo-jumbo. But his mother is ill so he went home
and now I don't understand anything
Finished product top-notch
Quality high, goods genuine
Young Master, it's time to rest
You should rest soon too
Yes, Young Master
Very ordinary
Rampant and forceful
Dizzying to look at
Chun Xing, you can take down this piece of calligraphy
The one that Miss Hu wrote?
Yes
Didn't you praise Miss Hu for her calligraphy
and said to pick a nice one to hang up?
Is this one not nice enough?
Just take it down as I asked
Young Master
Sir, Master wants you at Ren Shou Hall immediately
The rest of the ointments have all been assessed. Nothing amiss
Master, I inspected the raw materials leftover from
creating the ointment. There's nothing wrong with them
Seal up everything
Yes sir
Also
seal up all the account books and
invoices related to
the order of military supplies.
I will arrange for everything immediately
Master!
Official Fu responded. --What did he say?
He doesn't know the details,
just that someone reported that our ointments are fake
The Emperor has ordered a thorough investigation
Who reported us?
Don't know. Apparently it was anonymous
We've provided military supplies for over 10 years
Whether it's medicine, textiles, or grains, everything is always proper
How could there be issues this time?
This time, half the order was completed by the Shen family!
I inspected everything the Shen family delivered to us. There were no issues either!
But we only randomly select a few to inspect
we didn't check every single one!
Providing military supplies is no simple matter. The Shen family couldn't possibly
be so careless
Don't forget...
Initially, Shen's bid was 10% lower than his own cost
That Shen Sihai
regards 1 cash more seriously than anything (**1 tael = 1000 cash (wen))
Father
I've already checked twice
From raw materials to manufacturing process, our Shen family was meticulous
and flawless
If they truly wish to charge us
we're in trouble regardless
whether there were flaws in our product
I knew it!
Wu Weiwen wouldn't be so kind
He was looking for an excuse to frame us
It's my fault
I insisted that Wu Pin give us
credit for our contribution
and now we can't distance ourselves anymore
You're not at fault, all of this
was planned out by the Wu family
From his initial proposal to bid together
to his agreement to share half the order
and that runaway maid
was likely one of his people
Father, what is the punishment for falsifying military supplies?
Best case is exile
worst case...
...execution and raid of our household
I'm going to have a look inside Ren Shou Hall at the East House
Right now?
If I can find evidence there
that proves they're falsifying the product
we can prove our innocence
You can't go now!
If they planned to frame us from the beginning,
then everything will seem in order
You wouldn't find any evidence if you went
Even if you do find evidence, what will you do
if they discover you?
But the Imperial Commissioner will be at Jinyang tomorrow,
Tonight is our last chance!
We have no more chances!
So we're just going to sit on our hands and wait?
Better than acting rashly!
Let me mull this over
Father, I... -- Go get some rest
Father -- Go get some rest!
Yuesheng!
We must not act rashly
Master
Who is it?
It's me, Huo Xin
Master... -- What happened?
Young Master told us to wait for him at the alley...
...and then, then he went to Ren Shou Hall by himself
You two wait here for me, I'm taking a look inside
Don't come out unless you hear me shout
We were outside for 4 hours
and there was no sign of Young Master, so we rushed back to report
4 hours?!
You waited 4 hours before reporting back
Master...
where are you going? -- To look for Yuesheng
Sir, I already sent people out 2 hours ago, just wait a bit longer
Did they check Ren Shou Hall? -- Yes
Send people to check the East House of Wu as well! -- Yes, right away!
Hurry out and search -- Yessir
I forbid him to go but he refused to listen
Tell me
why didn't you stop Yuesheng from leaving in the middle of the night!
Master, it was our mistake, our mistake
I heard the Imperial Commissioner already left the inn
and should arrive before noon
By the way
where are the invoices for the ointment's raw materials?
I have them
Good, keep them at hand
in case the Imperial Commissioner asks for them
Understood
Get a doctor, quick!
Yuesheng Brother!
Master! Master! Master!
Have you found Young Master?
Master, bad news!
Sir,
this lock was pried
Let us through, let us through!
Officer Zhao Baishi is investigating inside and won't let anyone else in
Where is Wu Pin? -- He's also inside
Yuesheng!
Let us through, excuse us -- Yuesheng
Let us in! Let us inside!
Let me in! Let me in!
Brother Shen
Who...?
Who killed Yuesheng?
Brother,
the East House of Wu will do everything in our power
to help the Shen family find the killer
You are the killers! The East House of Wu!
It's him! He's the killer!
The East House of Wu committed murder!
Brother Shen!
Clear the way! -- Wu Pin
Are you OK, Wu Pin? -- Father, I'm fine
You killed someone, and you're fine?!
Return Yuesheng to me!
Father
I must go with Officer Zhao to his yamen (**administrative office**)
I'll leave everything here to you
Alright
Go ahead -- Don't leave! You can't leave!
Officer Zhao
Officer Zhao, please do right by us
Who are you?
He is Shen Yuesheng's father, Shen Sihai
The murdered must be avenged
I implore Officer Zhao to bring the murderer to justice
Please do right by us!
Rest assured, I will definitely be impartial and just
Thank you, Officer
Carry on, carry on! Go home!
Brother Shen
This debt will be repaid
in blood
Master...
...shall we attend the yamen, or...?
What was Shen Yuesheng doing
in our treasury in the middle of the night?
I don't know
Maybe
it was concerning the military supplies?
Where is the Imperial Commissioner now?
He should be here in 2 hours
Let's take a look inside
Have you found the injury causing death? -- Yes
Please take a look
I've never seen this kind of wound before
Could I have missed something...
...at Ren Shou Hall?
See if anything looks unusual
Master, this bag seems to have been moved
Young Master and I checked this yesterday. The bag was not sealed like this then
Open it up
Master, this isn't Dragon's Blood, it's dyed rosin
When I inspected it the other day, it was all proper Dragon's Blood
What...
What the heck...?
Keep looking, see if anything else was tampered
(Ren Shou Hall)
Master
I've inspected everything, only this bag of Dragon's Blood was swapped
Imperial Commissioner is almost here
We must deal with this immediately --Why don't I throw it out?
We must not
This must be connected to Shen Yuesheng's death
Master
Most likely Shen Yuesheng swapped it
Master, the Imperial Commissioner is here!
Wait wait
Take the back door
Master, how is Wu Pin doing?
I just sent off the Imperial Commissioner
haven't had the time to ask about that yet
Rumour on the street is that he killed Shen Yuesheng?
Ridiculous, of course not!
But he was taken to the yamen!
I'm worried he will confess under duress
He won't. Officer Zhao wanted to ask him some questions, not take him to court
But he's been there all day without a word from him
Master, you need to think of a plan
to get Wu Pin home -- Yes yes, don't worry, I've already sent someone
Master, Master, look
Wu Pin!
Everything OK? -- Father, I'm OK
Mother
Talk inside
Thank goodness I inspected the treasury just before the Imperial Commissioner's arrival
otherwise we would be in big trouble
So, where is that bag of fake Dragon's Blood now?
I asked Yang to put it somewhere safe
so we can investigate more thoroughly
after the Imperial Commissioner leaves
If Shen Yuesheng swapped that bag of fake Dragon's Blood,
then it proves that the Shen family
is behind falsifying the military supplies
That's the only logical reasoning
Then, who could have killed him?
I don't know
But one thing is for sure
Someone wants to mess with our Wu family
Who could that be?
I don't know that either
We can only take it
one step at a time
Father
even though Officer Zhao has determined
that we have nothing to do with Shen Yuesheng's death,
he died in our treasury, that's for certain
We can't distance ourselves for this
Outsiders will inevitably have their suspicions
What are you thinking?
If we can
find the killer
and prove that it wasn't the East House
it will give closure to Shen Yuesheng
and also safeguard our household
Even Officer Zhao cannot find any leads,
how do you plan to find the killer?
I...
I'll try to get people to ask around
Officer, officer!
Kneel!
Officer,
how could you let Wu Pin go?
It was merely an interview
But, Yuesheng clearly died at the East House of Wu!
I meant to ask you about that
Why was Shen Yuesheng
at the treasury of the East House of Wu?
Yuesheng must have...
discovered something shady about them
so they had to silence him, and then reported it afterwards
Shen Yuesheng's blood had already coagulated
which means he died during the night
If Shen Yuesheng had discovered something sinister
the Wu family could have easily killed him
in the name of catching a thief
and claim it was a mistake
Why would they leave his body in the treasury
and wait until morning to report it?
After they killed Yuesheng...
...they were looking for ways to hide it
That's why it took until the morning!
If they wanted to hide anything,
why leave the corpse in their own treasury?
Would it not have been better to dispose of it in the wilderness?
Officer!
You are deliberately protecting them!
I am incapable
I was unable to find the killer at this time
As for the conflict between the Shen and Wu families,
I cannot say that the East House of Wu is entirely innocent
but there are too many unexplained circumstances
surrounding Shen Yuesheng's death
so I cannot declare
that someone from the East House of Wu is the killer
How much money...
...did Wu Weiwen give you?
I can pay you twice as much
I only ask you to
investigate this case impartially
Shen Sihai!
If you are unsatisfied with my judgement,
you can appeal to the municipal governor
or even the provincial governor
However, if you wish to accuse me
of abusing the law for personal gain...
I may only be a 7th-level official, but I still put integrity
above everything else. I will fight your accusation until the end
Court dismissed
That tiger you were talking about before... What happened in the end?
In the end...?
In the end...
my dad killed and ate it
You've eaten tiger meat?
What does tiger taste like?
Tiger... Young Master is back!
Young Master -- Sir, Zhou Ying has waited a long time for you
You chat with Young Master, I'll go steep some tea
Chun Xing
Steep this one, 3rd Uncle just sent it
Let Zhou Ying have a taste
"Tribute heaven
towards luck". Famed tea!
What...
Did I read it wrong again? -- "Lucky Tribute to Heaven"
I only got the order wrong, that doesn't count
Alright, it doesn't
Young Master...
I heard about what happened to Young Master Shen
and also about the military supplies order
Are you OK?
I'm fine
What about the East House?
East House will be fine too
That's a relief
Oh right,
thanks for reminding me. Shen Yuesheng
never gave me your contract. And now he's dead,
the Wu and Shen families have become enemies
it's likely they'll make a big fuss out of this issue
For your safety...
you should leave soon
Leave now?
Fu Lai!
Sir!
Get Housekeeper Yang to prepare a wagon
to head to Henan province first thing tomorrow
Henan province?
Aren't you from Henan?
Here,
I will write you a note
Take it to accounting and get 110 taels of silver
10 taels for your trip
Didn't you want to open a small business?
You can use the 100 taels as capital
Oh and,
get Housekeeper Yang to prepare
some of East House's medicinal herbs, plain fabrics,
and Fu tea, to bring home
to your relatives
What?
You don't want to leave?
Aren't you always talking about
finding your brother?
Young Master
Actually, I... -- I know...
I know you want to finish your classes before you go
but your contract is still at the Shen household
If they reported you to the officials,
you would surely be sentenced back to their household
And once you go back, they...
All in all,
it's best to leave
before they act
It's getting late
you should rest soon
OK, I'll head back then
Tea is ready, where did Zhou Ying go?
She has a long journey tomorrow
I told her to get some rest -- Where is she going?
Home
Oh,
wrap up these tea leaves for her
to drink at home. And...
Gather some of her favourite food, clothing, and games
Oh and warm clothing, she'll need warmer clothing
It will be a long trip, best not get a cold
Yes sir, you have some tea
"Tribute Heaven Towards Luck"
Famed tea!
Only she could think up something like that
Young Master, I lied to you
What?
I'm not a refugee. I'm not from Henan province either
I don't have a mother or a little brother. I don't have an older brother either
I just have an adopted father
We wander the land and busk for money
Everything I told you before was a lie
Everything was a lie?
So the guy who tried to scam me
wasn't your older brother?
I don't know that person at all
I saw that he couldn't scam you
and I got tempted to try for myself, so I used him to scam you
I just wanted
to sell you that piece of jade
And I actually believed you...
I'm sorry, Young Master
So other than that...
what else have you lied about?
Tell me the truth
I've never seen a tiger before
That story about the tiger
is also completely made up
Besides me,
who else have you scammed?
There are too many
Many?
I've traveled the country with my adopted father since childhood
if we didn't scam people, we couldn't get any money
In order to survive, we had to keep scamming
Have you ever harmed others?
Never, never! Never that
We just scam enough money for food and lodging
So why are you telling me the truth now?
You saved me
You brought me to East House and you're so kind to me
If I continued to lie, I would loathe myself
That's why I had to tell you the truth
So how do I know...
...whether you're lying or telling the truth now?
Young Master!
Everything I say now is the truth! Not a single word of lie
If I say a single lie,
may my face be pock-marked too!
I don't have any money right now...
The money I owe you
and that I owe East House, I will repay
When I've earned some money, I'll repay you slowly
Is that OK?
I can write you a debt slip
Zhou Ying
Has it ever occurred to you...
lying
can only earn small returns
just like when you scammed me
you only got 5 taels from me
But not lying
can in fact bring great returns
Great returns?
How did the East House of Wu
become what it is today?
Honesty and integrity
which means we do not scam people
Understand?
Then can you promise me
you'll never scam anyone again?
No one can be lied to?
Of course
whenever, wherever,
whomever
What if the other person is evil?
What if I'm being hunted by bad people
and I must lie to survive?
What if I am lying to a bad person to help a good person?
Put it this way
When it is necessary,
you can use some trickery
But absolutely no lying to obtain money
Alright
I promise you