[English subtitles are available.]
The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty
Episode 18
Put the table over here.
Commander Wang.
Mr. Sui told me,
if you need anything,
just tell me.
Thanks a lot.
Can you give me a knife then?
This is the imperial edict prison,
of course I can't give you a knife.
Don't get it wrong.
I just need a knife for carving.
Rules are rules.
I can't break the rules.
But
if you pick up something that someone else dropped,
there's nothing I can do.
Do you all understand what to do?
You, repeat your lines again.
Why do you only ask me to repeat?
I'm afraid you might get confused.
What did you say?
Anyway
my sister cannot know about this.
Look!
I got some good radishes today.
How do you want me to cook it?
Yu,
I have an urgent matter and need to go back to the capital.
I'll be back in about three to five days.
Don't go anywhere during this time.
Look after our house.
You're leaving now?
Yes.
Dong!
What were they all looking at
in this shabby room?
Sir,
take a look.
This is a valuable medicinal herb from the Western Regions.
I still have a lot of stock.
Are you interested?
Go away!
Where did this little girl come from?
Don't be angry.
I can give you this as a free sample.
If you have needs, come to me anytime.
This little girl.
Guys, how can I help you?
Let me see.
That's it!
I didn't think we would find it, finally!
Huh?
Guys,
what do you mean?
Sir,
let me tell you.
This is not any ordinary herb.
This is a valuable medicine in the Western Regions called
Jade Bamboo Core.
On our prairie,
this is a life-saving holy grail of all herbs.
Aha and I had searched the whole Central Plains but never found it.
I didn't expect to see it here today.
Sir,
how much inventory do you have?
Name a price.
How much do you want?
How much do you have?
I want all of your stock.
Fifteen taels of silver,
for one stem.
Fifteen?
No way.
I…
I bought one stem
for eighteen taels of silver.
Twenty five then?
Thirty! Then we have a deal!
Thirty!
Two hundred.
Two hundred?
What does she mean?
What our Aha means is
we will buy less since this is the first time.
We'll get 200 stems to check the quality this time.
These six hundred taels of silver is a deposit, which is 10% of the full payment.
What do you think?
Sure!
Deal.
Then we will come to
pick them up in 3 days.
No problem.
Sir, you must make sure to get the thing done.
Consider it done!
Bye!
Bye.
Take care!
Bye.
See you soon!
Where is the little girl who was here?
We didn't see her.
Then hurry up to find her!
-Yes, sir! -Let's go.
That's my money cow!
Why are you guys so stupid?
All the bodies have rice porridge in their stomachs,
except Chef Zhang.
We tested the remaining rice porridge on the scene.
Someone slipped
a large portion of knockout drops in the porridge.
What about Miss Yu?
I can't judge whether
Miss Yu ate the drugged porridge
just by her current state.
But according to the situation of the scene,
Chef Zhang and Miss Yu
put up a fight against the murderer.
So Miss Yu may not eat the porridge.
But Sun is right.
Chef Zhang's wound is indeed suspicious.
I have a bold guess.
But I'll need some time to confirm.
OK.
I also want to go to the crime scene.
Commander Wan, what brings you here?
Her Highness was afraid you might suffer in prison.
So she told me to bring you some snacks.
Her Highness is so kind to me.
Of course.
You had always been serving Her Highness
since you entered the palace as a little boy.
She treats you like family.
Otherwise, why would you, my nephew, help me out
when I had a trouble last time?
Nephew?
You are loyal to Her Highness,
and she also treats you like her own son.
Although I am not much older than you,
since Her Highness is my sister,
I can call you my nephew, right?
Anyway, since we're family,
this time I will help you too
when you are in distress.
I have the final say in cases handled by the Imperial Guards.
I will be partial to you.
But I want to tell you,
it's Shang Ming from Eastern Depot
who wants to destroy you.
He wants to destroy me?
Think about it.
Ever since its founding in Emperor Yongle's reign,
for the past sixty years the Eastern Depot
had domineered over everyone since they grabbed all the power in secret service.
But His Majesty asked you to set up the Western Depot
to counterbalance him.
He must think of you as a thorn in his eyes.
Really?
So my good nephew,
if you have any evidence against the Eastern Depot,
it's time to get it out.
Firstly,
I can hold it as a leverage to him.
Secondly,
I can use it to save you.
Why are you crying?
Her Highness doesn't want me anymore.
Why would you say that?
She watched me grow up
and she knew my least favorite thing is this peanut crunchy candy.
Now she gave me this.
It's her way to tell me to kill myself!
No, hey!
Don't overthink it.
I'm sure that's not what she means.
She doesn't mean that.
Commander Wan, please go.
Don't worry about other things.
After my death,
your secrets will rot with me.
No one else will know about them.
But my good nephew…
Go home.
Then don't do anything stupid.
Did you find the little girl?
Come on!
What did I hire you guys for?
Go find her!
Young lady!
I finally found you.
Do you remember
the western herb you gave me last time?
How many do you have?
I want all of them.
Two taels of silver for a stem.
How about it?
That's not enough.
It's OK.
The price is open for discussion.
How much do you want?
I will price up a little.
Three taels of silver.
Not enough.
How much do you want then?
Five taels for each stem.
You are such a little girl.
How can you ask for such an exorbitant price like a profiteer?
Forget it.
Wait a minute!
How many do you have?
How many do you want?
I want as many as you have.
I have as many as you want.
Good!
Then I want
500 stems this time.
That'll be two thousand and five hundred taels of silver.
No pay no goods.
Wait here.
How did it go?
Little girl.
Don't worry.
I definitely want the herbs.
But I don't have enough cash in the store.
How about
you go back to pick up the goods first.
And I'll
go home to get money.
Let's meet here later.
No pay no goods.
How about that?
OK.
Wait a minute!
Don't sell your goods to others.
You must leave them to me.
Don't worry.
I'm getting rich!
Dad, mom!
Our family has made a fortune!
What happened? Why are you so excited?
Come here. Sit down.
I'm telling you guys.
I had a big deal today.
If I can close the deal, I'll get a profit several times of the investment.
But I need a lot of cash now.
Big deal?
What deal is it?
Is it reliable?
Look at that.
Six hundred taels of silver.
Does this look reliable?
Let me tell you,
the buyers are suckers.
They gave me so much money just as deposit.
But
where can we get so much cash?
Mom,
give me
your jewelries,
the deeds of our house
and the shop, everything valuable.
Let's go to the pawnshop and change them to cash.
When I get the payment from the buyer,
I'll redeem them.
You're right.
That'll work!
Don't just stand there, hurry up!
Let's go!
Young lady.
Are these the herbs?
Five hundred stems.
Where's the bank note?
Two thousand and five hundred taels of silver,
exactly.
This blood fingerprint is indeed suspicious.
But since there's no suspect,
we can't do a comparison.
Here is where the body of Chef Zhang
and Miss Yu were found.
Chef Zhang had always been
loyal to this family.
So I guess
Chef Zhang put up a fight with the murderer here
trying to protect his lady.
But finally he lost to the murderer and was killed.
It's a bit weird here.
If I remember right,
there was a wardrobe here.
I think it was broken
when the two were fighting.
Where are the remains now?
I think they got rid of them
since it's been a long time.
Find them now.
OK.
My heart really hurts.
Commander Shang has an angina?
Then you must go to see the doctor,
or you might be too late.
Oh, son.
There's no need to be so sarcastic
when you already hit the rock bottom.
You're still too young after all.
Move.
Our Eastern Depot and Western Depot are branches of the same root
and we both work for the royal court,
right?
We are both eunuchs.
Why do you always want to
overshadow the Eastern Depot?
By seniority,
Eastern Depot can be your grandfather.
And I always took the high road when dealing with you.
His Majesty's intention to establish the Western Depot was obvious.
How can you be so oblivious to his intention?
At the end of the day,
you know,
we are both His Majesty's servants.
I can help you
make your trouble go away.
In the future
Western Depot can merge into Eastern Depot
and you can be
my deputy.
Think about it.
I'm already so old.
When I die,
both Eastern Depot and Western Depot are yours.
Don't you think?
But
right now,
there is Wan Tong
in our way.
Son,
why are you so benevolent
in the children trafficking case?
Hurry up
and hand over all the evidences against Wan Tong.
Don't lie there!
You haven't
suffered enough in the prison?
Grandpa,
actually
I always consider the Eastern Depot
and you as my seniors.
But His Majesty asked me to keep a close eye on you,
and I could only do it as I was told.
And
I accidentally discovered some of your secrets.
For example, on the thirteenth day of last month,
you blackmailed Minister Su of the Ministry of Punishments.
Under helplessness,
he had to bribe you with 1,500 taels of silver.
You…
Grandpa, don't worry.
I haven't reported
these hundreds of secrets of yours to His Majesty, yet.
Because
I always wanted to give you a proper funeral.
Sorry, no.
Take care of you when you get older and then, give you a proper funeral.
But
You can't always get what you want.
If His Majesty wants you to die, you die.
But Grandpa, you can rest assured.
No matter which one of us die first,
these little secrets
will stay between us.
They will rot with me.
OK.
My grandson.
Carry it away.
I know what happened!
Now in the royal court,
eunuchs take all the power.
People are living on the edge of starvation.
My whole family was killed by
treacherous court official!
I am insignificant and no one listened to what I said.
I could seek revenge
and bring justice to my family.
Today
I'm going to burn myself here.
He's burning himself?
I just hope
my death can deliver a message.
Stay away from him!
It's so dangerous.
Let's go!
Stay away from him!
He means it!
He's going to die!
We found the murderer!
You found the murderer?
The murderer is Chef Zhang.
Chef Zhang?
You mean
Chef Zhang killed himself after killing everyone else?
It doesn't make sense!
His wound is in the heart.
How could this be done
if he committed suicide?
At first we also felt
the shape of his wound was strange.
It was beyond common sense.
It wasn't until later that I finally figured it out.
Chef Zhang had been loyal to us.
Why did he do that?
His motive of the crime was related to Miss Yu.
Chef Zhang had been in your mansion for many years.
Actually, he had a secret crush on your sister.
After your father passed away,
he had been staying in your mansion.
I think he wanted to try his luck with her.
But Her Majesty the empress dowager arrange her marriage
and his dream was disillusioned.
So the furious chef killed everyone.
Miss Yu was the first victim.
I guess something she said
accidentally irritated Chef Zhang
and caused him to make the final decision.
Also because this murder was not premeditated,
and he didn't have a thorough plan,
Miss Yu survived.
He put drug
in your mother and your brother's meals
and killed them after they were unconscious.
And you
escaped by the skin of your teeth
because you were mourning at your father's grave at that time.
How could this happen?
Why?
Your Majesty.
This time, you must not tolerate the evil Wang Zhi by letting him go.
How many dynasties
were impaired or even perished
because eunuchs perturbed political orders?
Let's take the closest example.
Does Your Majesty remember Wang Zhen?
Emperor Yingzong mistrusted Wang Zhen
and personally led the army to battles where he was unfortunately captured by the Oirats.
What a shame to the royalty!
The Ming Dynasty also almost perished in this disaster.
Your Majesty.
Now Wang Zhi has taken all the power.
There are unambiguous evidences
that he murdered loyal officials.
Your majesty must never repeat the same mistakes your father did.
Shut up!
These memorials
accused Wang Zhi of taking bribes in Liaodong.
I asked the Ministry of Revenue to check.
On the day Wang Zhi returned to the capital,
he handed all the bribes to the Treasury.
And not just Liaodong,
every time someone tried to bribe him,
Wang Zhi would turn the money to the royal court.
The Ministry of Revenue keeps a more detailed record than yours.
These ones
accused Wang Zhi of trying to get involved in the army.
They said he planted his trusted follower and excluded dissidents
in the garrisoning army in Liaoning.
I asked the Ministry of War to check that, too.
This Chen Yue who you call his follower
has been in the army for twenty years
with meritorious military service.
I do wish Wang Zhi
install more of such great generals in my army.
And these
recorded
all the court officials who were "murdered" by Wang Zhi.
But I want to ask,
which one was innocent?
Their guilts deserve,
more than the death sentence.
I am aware of the death of everyone listed.
You guys
are just jealous of a man of talent.
Show some restraint in the future.
Where is this place?
Tongfu Inn?
Where is it?
Sir.
This is Yangzhuang, right?
Yes.
Where is this Tongfu Inn?
Tongfu Inn?
I never heard of an inn called Tongfu Inn.
Can't you see this is the end of the road?
If there was such a place,
it should be here.
How did the Tongfu Inn
become a temple housing the village god？
My money!
Tongfu Inn…
Liars, big liars!
Freeze! Don't run!
Freeze!
Give me my money back! Freeze!
Come out.
Tang Fan?
What are you doing here?
It was you!
You set me up!
You are a magistrate,
so how can you break the law when you know it better than anyone?
I'm going to sue you!
He Lin.
Listen to me.
This first slap is for my sister.
This second slap is for my nephew.
You said I break the law when I know it better than anyone.
Then let me ask you.
They gave you a very generous deposit on the contract, right?
According to Fraud Section of Penal Code in the Law of the Ming Dynasty,
if the buyer and the seller want to terminate the contract,
the responsible party shall compensate according to the deposit amount.
Do you know that?
Let ask you again.
Did anyone force you to accept an order and sign a contract?
Did anyone force you
to buy high-priced medicines from the girl?
Did anyone force you to mortgage your property to raise money?
Yes, I tricked you.
But you took the bait
all because you were greedy.
So you have nobody else to blame.
Mr. Tang.
No, no, no.
My dear brother-in -law.
I know I did something wrong.
Spare me this time.
Give me the money back
for the sake that I was your brother-in-law.
I beg you.
I beg you to return the money to me, OK?
This is a mutual divorce agreement which
states that you will let my sister take Cheng
and return
all her dowry she brought into your family.
Read the terms carefully.
Don't say I forced you.
When you got married,
I gave all our family property
to my sister as her dowry.
I just hoped she wouldn't be looked down upon by anyone,
and that she wouldn't be bullied in her husband's house.
I actually thought about it.
If one day your marriage didn't work,
you were a couple once.
For the sake of you spending so many years together,
you could get an amicable divorce
and move on.
I didn't expect you would turn the divorce into such an ugly drama.
After all you were once a couple.
Even if you don't love her anymore,
at last
you could have shown some integrity.
Happy!
We get a few things done.
We can finally celebrate today.
Dig in!
Get your hands on them!
Big monster! I am a big monster!
I'm gonna catch you!
Where are you running?
You guys are leaving?
I've been away for too long.
I need to go back to take care of business.
Why are you here again?
You helped me by solving the Yu family's case.
I came to thank you.
You are unbelievable.
You said you came to thank me,
and you did it by asking me to draw a painting for you.
I want to get one thing done.
Only your painting can help me.
I knew it.
You came all the way to Tongzhou
definitely not just for showing your gratitude.
Grind some ink for me.
In my whole life
I only ground ink for two people..
Stop.
Do you want the painting or not?
Good painting.
You're really talented.
But
it'll be better
if there is inscription on it.
You're insatiable.
Say it.
What do you want me to write?
Anyway, I have drawn a painting for you.
An inscription won't make much difference.
Without great ambition,
how can a minister assist a ruler in governing a great country?
Shao Ye's poem is good
but it stressed too much on his own fame and vanity.
It doesn't fit the painting's artistic conception.
Without hardships and pains,
a person's thoughts will not be far-reaching, and his interests will not be broad.
Get up.
Your Majesty.
The matter of Yunhe can shake the foundation of this country.
I am afraid things will get serious if we don't deal with it soon.
I have the same worry.
So I have got a plan for Yunhe.
I will send you to Yunhe.
What?
You don't want to go there?
It's not I don't want to go there.
There are just a few things that prove I am not the best candidate.
First, even though I am in charge of the Western Depot,
I'm still a chamberlain of the palace.
It's unreasonable for me to involve in the local authority to investigate.
Second,
everyone knows that I am Your Majesty's henchman.
If I appear in Yunhe,
the whole world will know something serious happened in Yunhe.
The big news of official silver ingot mixed with lead will be out.
What do you think?
I think
we must tread very carefully to handle this case.
There is a candidate in my heart.
The painter has average painting skills.
But this inscription…
What do Your Majesty think?
This inscription quotes Xuncius' words.
Although it sounds slightly sad here,
it shows his ambitions to contribute to the country and the people.
It's interesting.
This was written by the person you recommend?
Who is he?
Your Majesty.
It's a person who was supposed to die.
Is it Tang Fan?
Your Majesty has excellent judgment.
I know that day
although you said he should be killed in the royal court,
you were secretly helping him under the surface.
Nothing can escape Your Majesty's eyes.
Then tell me.
How to deal with him?
In my opinion,
Tang Fan is a bit stupid
so he couldn't figure out Your Majesty's brilliant intention.
But he is quite capable
when it comes to handling cases.
He's the best candidate
to go to Yunhe.
I was summoned to the capital immediately?
I knew I was right.
You just came to the local government to enrich your resume.
You'll get a big promotion when you're back.
I have to congratulate you in advance.
Your Excellency Lu
You must be kidding.
What happened?
This is a good thing, right?
To be frank
I do not know if this is a good thing or not.
But I do know there are dangers lurking. One wrong move,
I won't be able to drink, or play Go with you.
This time we were so close to
bring Wang Zhi down.
But he got lucky.
At the crucial moment
a hero came to the rescue.
What hero?
You can just say it's your subordinate Sui Zhou.
Wang Zhi left the capital privately that night.
This is itself an offense to His Majesty.
This alone can nail him.
Who would have thought this Sui Zhou
resolved this matter
effortlessly.
So Sui Zhou is a hero to Wang Zhi.
Stop!
I received a confidential tip that
you have banned books written by rebels in your house.
Don't you?
Commander.
We found them.
Oh my God.
Sutra of Sansha Jiegui?
Sutra of Zhaoxianlu?
Sutra of fantianjiedi Soushen?
These are books banned even since the tenth year of the Chenghua reign!
You dare to read them?
You've got some nuts!
Take his knife.
Yes, sir!
Take him to custody.
Yes, sir!
Let's go!
The Crown Prince's spear skills are getting better.
Over time,
the Crown Prince's skill in martial arts is no different from that of His Majesty.
After all, they're father and son.
Your Majesty.
Have you heard of Sutra of Sansha Jiegui?
You mean the White Lotus Sect's cult evil scripture
His Majesty ordered to ban few years ago?
Exactly.
His Majesty's
has always been determined to seal
books of a cult such as White Lotus.
He shows no tolerance.
Whether it is a royal house member or common people,
as long as he possesses the banned books,
he will be punished severely.
The sentence varies from being exiled for thousands of miles
or executing every one of the family.
You're talking about
Sui Zhou, Baihu of the Northern Administrative Court
being framed.
It seems that Your Majesty already knows about it.
But as far as I know
there is conclusive evidence.
No body framed him.
His Majesty is kind and generous.
But he's also fair in meting out rewards or punishments,
and discerns right from wrong.
He never lets a traitor get away,
and of course,
he won't wrong a loyal official.
But the banned book can't just
walk into his house themselves.
Naturally, the books can't put themselves there.
But some incompetent
who's jealous of the ability of his subordinate can plant the books there
to frame him.
What do you mean, Your Majesty?
What do you mean, Noble Consort Wan?
What do you think?
How to deal with this matter?
It is a felony to possess banned books.
This crime can lead to death sentence
so we must have conclusive evidence to convict the suspect.
I think
we should suspend him pending the outcome of the investigation.
The incident happened in the Northern Administrative Court,
so the Imperial Guards should not participate in the investigation.
Other departments
should be in charge.
If he's guilty, punish him.
If he's innocent, clear his name.
If there is someone who tried to frame him…
What should we do?
Severe penalty
to set an example to other officials.
Good!
Let's just do as what the Crown Prince said.