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The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty
♔ Follow @skysoultan on Instagram ♔ Episode 41
Who are you guys?
Honey.
Mrs. Gao.
General Gao Yi is back.
This person is not Gao Yi.
Bin.
Do you miss this Governor's official uniform?
You can take it.
My thing is as good as yours.
No. I am feeling sorry
because I was this close to wearing
the uniform of the Assistant Minister of Punishments.
Tang Fan!
Why are you so stupid?
Couldn't you just gratefully obey His Majesty's order
and just say, "Thank you"?
Then you would be the Minister of Punishments now!
Of course
I would
become a third rank Assistant Minister of Punishments.
But look at what I am now!
You came back to be a humble Governor of Shuntian Prefecture
which made me
have to follow you to
become a fourth rank vice governor!
Bin.
To be honest with you,
I have been feeling guilty that
I cost you your job as the governor.
So when we came back this time,
to outsiders you will still be the vice governor.
But in fact
you can do all the work of the governor.
And I will
continue to do a magistrate's job.
Consider it my way to apologize to you.
What about your salary, huh?
If that's the case, shouldn't you give
me your salary as the governor, too?
The court is now in session.
Lady.
Who is this lady?
This is the widow of General Gao Yi,
who was a meritorious general during the Zhengtong reign.
Mrs. Gao.
What did you beat the drum and appeal for justice for?
Sir.
I came to the court
to seek justice for my dead husband.
Who are you suing?
Gao Yi.
Gao Yi?
Sir.
My husband died a long time ago.
This person must be an imposter.
Since you are suing someone for being a sham,
where is the defendant now?
General Gao can't go home.
They temporarily arranged him to stay in the official courier hotel.
Sir. Please find justice for me.
Mrs. Gao.
Can you remember
what physical characteristics General Gao has?
This case involves the past 30 years ago.
We need time to verify the facts.
Mrs. Gao, please go home for now.
Thank you, sir.
Fan.
What should we do?
This is a weird case.
Whether this Gao Yi is fake or genuine,
I have to see him first.
How did General Gao's visiting his family go?
Your Majesty.
General Gao has not returned home.
Why not?
Mrs. Gao didn't recognize him.
What do you mean by recognize?
She believes that General Gao is dead.
Whoever came home is an imposter.
Do you think that's possible?
He was captured a long time ago.
People who knew General Gao back then
either died in battles or died a natural death.
It is difficult to find other witnesses or physical evidence.
Even if we check his files,
we can only find things 30 years ago.
It's really hard to be sure.
You will be in charge of verifying his identity.
If he is genuine,
don't let this old general be wronged.
If he is an impostor,
make sure he pays the price.
Yes, Your Majesty.
The day of the knighting ceremony has been fixed.
I want to know the truth
before that.
I understand.
You can leave.
What can I get you?
Same as him.
General Gao was once wounded in battles.
This is his medical record.
It contains his injury time,
the size and position of the wounds.
Just in time. I'm going to meet him next.
You go to the prairie.
Check General Gao's life there
in the past thirty years.
Yes, sir.
This must be kept secret.
No one else can know about it.
Come in.
General Gao.
I am Tang Fan, Governor of Shuntian Prefecture.
Sorry that I came to visit
late at night.
Mr. Tang, help yourself.
General.
Is something bothering you?
I have a home that I can't go back.
That's exactly why I
am here.
Mrs. Gao went to our court saying
you're an imposter.
I recognized her at first sight.
But my wife didn't recognize me.
It's been thirty years.
But I guess she's still mad at me.
How did you recognize your wife?
How can I forget my own wife?
She gets older,
but her face is still the same
which I will never forget.
General Gao.
You suffered a lot
during the past three decades.
It's water under the bridge.
I can understand you don't want to mention
your experiences being a prisoner of war.
However,
you must also suffered a lot
from your experiences in the countless battles.
I know what you are really getting at.
At that time,
I killed Esen Taishi's horse
to protect the then emperor.
Esen Taishi was a very vengeful man.
He tortured me
burning my whole back by covering
a burning linoleum on it.
My back has been hurting like hell since then.
I am so sorry to bring up your pains.
My own wife doesn't recognize me.
Who else will recognize me?
I am sure doubts will clear up when the facts are known.
I will take my leave.
Your ratio of ingredients
is getting more and more precise.
In a few more days
I will have to
call you Dr. Tang.
I don't want to be a doctor.
I don't want to be your competitor.
Hi, Fan.
Pei.
You asked my sister to work overtime.
You need to pay her more salary.
Your sister is the one paying me.
She has all my money.
Tell me,
between a married couple,
if you haven't seen each other for 30 years,
will you forget what he or she looks like?
This is unlikely.
Why?
If the two people are in love,
no matter how long they haven't seen each other,
they'll never forget what the other party looks like.
This is to infuse the flavor into the pig knuckle.
Come on, try it.
Turn around and cut it.
What should I do next?
Next
drizzle the caramelized sugar
on the pig knuckle.
Put it into the wok.
OK.
There you go.
Zhou.
An imposter?
I am still investigating it.
But all the scars he had which can be used for identification
were now unrecognizable
because they were ruined by tortures.
There is no clue for me to follow now.
What should I do?
You know me so well.
I want you to meet General Gao.
You both had experiences in the army.
If there is anything suspicious,
maybe you can tell.
It looks tasty.
How is the taste then?
It's good.
The skin melts in my mouth and the meat is so tender.
It's rich and tasty.
Especially the honey works well in it.
Yummy!
Tang, since you moved back,
Sui is in a much better mood.
My name is Sui Zhou. I am from the Northern Administrative Court.
General, I heard about your stories such as
killing Esen Taisha's horse.
With great admiration for you,
I thought I could pay you a visit.
Judging by your physique and the way you walk,
you are also a veteran?
I had defended the borders in Yansui Town
for three years.
Sit down.
Yansui Town.
In the tenth year of the Zhengtong reign,
I was there for months
to supervise the expansion of the frontier defense walls and forts.
At that time I could already feel the terrifying power of the Oirats.
But never had I expected that
just four years later
they defeated us so utterly in Tumu Fortress.
In my years of defending the borders,
I had many engagements with them.
Thanks to the Yansui Defense Wall you expanded, we survived.
Many engagements?
Yes.
The prairie calvary was brave and vicious.
The Datong Commander-in-Chief
was killed on the spot when fighting them.
The fact that you came back alive
shows your extraordinary ability.
I just got lucky.
There is no such thing as getting lucky on the battlefield.
Once our squad was ambushed by their cavalry.
All my fellow soldiers were dead.
I don't know why
I was the only one who survived.
It's right to embrace the fact
that you might die in battlefield.
But if you survive,
you don't have to blame yourself for that.
Being alive
means you and I still have missions to complete.
Let's just keep serving the country.
Thank you for the enlightenment.
What did you learn from
the engagements with them?
Their cavalry is extremely mobile.
They are good at both offensive and defensive.
In a head-to-head confrontation,
Ming's soldiers will find them hard to defeat.
Although their cavalry is tough,
it's not like they have no weaknesses.
Just lure them to canyons and valley terrains,
their advantages will disappear.
I have learned so much for you today.
Mrs. Gao.
I still have some questions to
ask you about your husband.
Sure.
Can I ask how your relationship with him was
after you got married?
After we got married,
we got along well
and respected each other.
But soon he went to a battle with the late emperor.
Since then
I heard little news from him.
Later
we heard that the late emperor's military operation was defeated
and my husband was captured together.
I could only pray to heaven that my husband could return safely.
But one year later,
only the late emperor was released.
When he regained the throne,
he gave titles and rewards to my husband.
It wasn't until then that I learned
my husband killed Esen Taishi's horse
to protect the late emperor.
He became a prisoner of war in a foreign land
and no one knew whether he was alive.
Please excuse my discomposure.
What happened after that?
After another seven or eight years
everyone said
my husband already died there.
I also gradually lost hope.
But I didn't expect
the other day someone even pretended to be him.
I was so devastated by it!
How can you be sure
that person is a sham?
My husband and I were married for some time after all.
Not to mention we were in love.
If it were really him,
I would know at a glance.
Do you know the wounds at General Gao's back from battles?
Do you know the exact positions?
On his back…
There were indeed a few scars.
But I am old now.
I don't remember the exact positions.
I have checked scars
on General Gao's back.
So
what the result was?
They were covered by burns.
So they're unrecognizable.
I am grateful for what you have done
to identify my husband.
You're welcome.
I am only doing my job.
Although I might be old and get dim-sighted,
if it was really my husband,
I can recognize him
no matter what his look has turned into.
Mother!
Mother.
This is Gao Xiang,
my adopted son to inherit Gao's family line.
Mother.
Xiang.
This is Mr. Tang.
How do you do? Mr. Tang.
I will get out of your hair.
Goodbye.
That's what happened.
She rejected to recognize Gao Yi?
How could this happen?
I do not know.
Where is he now?
In the official courier hotel.
Official courier hotel.
I heard the Ming's royal court
is already investigating Gao Yi's identity.
Go to arrange
for me to see him.
Yes, sir.
Come on. Have some more.
It's been a long day!
Try this.
Noodles are coming!
Thank you, Ms. Dong!
Call me your big sister.
Mrs. Gao checked out, at least that's what I thought.
What she said sounds right.
But there are still some details
which made me feel strange.
Strange?
She claimed that
she and General Gao were in love.
But she didn't know the positions of the scars on his back.
But if they were not close,
how can she be sure
she would recognize General Gao
when she saw him?
I talked about this with General Gao.
He said that he left home for the battle right after they got married.
So the two of them didn't spend much time together.
Then why would Mrs. Gao lie?
I can't figure it out now.
After you met General Gao,
did you find anything weird?
General Gao masters the art of war.
His words and deeds
are typical of a general.
That sounds that there is no problem with General Gao's side, either.
This is exactly where the problem lies.
This Gao Yi
sounds like a general too much.
Well, he had been fighting for years before he was captured.
It's normal he still sounds and looks like a general.
I was once captured by the enemy.
I have also seen many captives of both ours and the enemies.
As a prisoner of war,
the experience will absolutely leave indelible marks in you.
When General Gao spoke of
how he was tortured,
he sounded calm.
Maybe he had already recovered from the trauma?
No matter how much you recover,
after being a captive for thirty years,
he shouldn't have the current momentum.
At least not like a general.
Whether he is an imposter or not,
our conversation
undid a knot in my mind.
It's right to embrace the fact
that you might die in battlefield.
But if you survive
you don't have to blame yourself for that.
Being alive
means you and I still have missions to complete.
Let's just keep serving the country.
He's gone for thirty years.
We have no lead to follow at General Gao's side.
What are you going to do?
Since General Gao is a dead end,
let's check Mrs. Gao first.
She has been staying in the capital for the past 30 years.
So it should not be difficult
to investigate her situation.
Where are you going?
Huichun Pharmacy.
Mr. Tang.
I have another favor to ask you.
It's my pleasure.
What can I do for you?
Did Mrs. Gao ever get her prescriptions and buy medicines here?
Which Mrs. Gao?
General Gao Yi's wife.
Sir.
There are many well-known families in the capital
coming to us to get and fill their prescriptions.
We do keep their records.
Then I'd like to see her medical records.
I can't do that.
The reason we can become a time-honored pharmacy in the capital
is we put emphasis on our customers' privacy.
The records of medicines they bought
is a private matter of those blue bloods.
Keeping them secret is our obligation.
I can't give them to anyone
except the Eastern and Western Depots or the Imperial Guards.
Please forgive me.
Zhou!
Mr. Li said he would only hand the records to the Imperial Guards.
I told you
this Flying Fish suit
looks best in you.
I haven't seen you for days,
-The records. -You're promoted to baihu again.
Yes, sure.
I'll get it.
See? This uniform works every time.
Mrs. Gao's records are here.
Gentlemen.
I will return it as fast as possible.
It's OK.
Take your time.
Pei!
Help me check these prescriptions!
Where did you
get the prescription records?
I transcribed them.
You transcribed them?
Why?
And whose records?
It's about the privacy of others.
I can't tell you.
What can you tell from the records?
It seems that
the owner of these records
must suffer from some private tragedies in the early years
and had been sad over it for a long time.
So look,
there were a lot of prescriptions for soothing the mind.
Immediately after that
she slowly recovered.
Probably 20 years ago,
she was pregnant.
Pei,
don't talk nonsense!
Are you sure?
I am sure!
Look.
Semen strychni, arisaema aridum, and aconite Root
are all herbs for an abortion.
Scutellaria, atractylodes, macrocephalae and donkey-hide gelatin
are all for miscarriage prevention.
But there is just a short interval
between the two totally different prescriptions.
So
there is only one possibility.
She didn't abort the child successfully.
So she had to protect the fetus.
Starting here onwards
are all medicines for recovery after giving birth.
Going further forwards,
these are tonics
needed for a baby, and then a toddler all the way growing up.
I see.
On that yellow mountain
there is a yellow rainbow.
I remember my mother who fed me.
My heart is overwhelmed by missing her.
Let's go.
Let's go back early.
-We'll come again in another day. -Today's ballad is good.
You sung a wonderful ballad of
the battles with Tartars at the east and Uihurs in the west.
Thank you.
Who is the Black General mentioned in the ballad just now?
The Black General
was an alien general who was captured by Esen Taishi.
He was once a general by a Ming's emperor's side.
After surrendering to our Khan,
he made great contributions to us.
Who is this Black General
in the story?
Why do you want to know?
What do you want?
To what do I owe
the pleasure of your visit?
Where is Gao Xiang?
Xiang hasn't returned yet.
Then I'll wait for him here.
Did Xiang make
some kind of mistake?
Mrs. Gao.
Let me tell you a story.
Please.
A woman was just newly married
when her husband had to travel far away from home
and she had never heard his news ever since,
not even he was still alive or not.
This woman experienced
pain, sadness, despair
but recovered slowly after that.
At this time there was a man who
appeared in her life.
This woman who had been lonely for a long time fell in love with him.
However, this woman
was already honored by the royal court as a dead man's chaste widow.
Under all kinds of pressure,
this man finally chose to leave her.
But then the woman found out she was pregnant.
She thought about aborting this child,
but she gave birth to him in the end.
After the child was born,
in the name of inheriting the family line,
the woman took her own flesh and blood in, as an adopted son.
But she did not expect
years later, her husband suddenly came back.
The woman didn't know how to face her husband.
So in a panic attack, she pretended that was not her husband.
Everything is my fault.
I am willing to be punished
without any complaint.
But
please don't punish Xiang.
He is innocent.
Go ask Xiang to come out.
Honey.
Do you know me?
Although you don't know me,
I like you very much.
I didn't expect
I can still have a son
in such an old age.
This is really a happy event.
Xiang.
Greet your father.
Father.
Good boy.
Come on, get up.
Good.
Yi, I…
Honey.
Honey…
Honey.
Sorry for what you've been through
for the past years.
Although I'm a loyal minister to the royal court,
I am not a good husband to you.
I hope you can forgive me
and give me a chance
to let me make up for what I owed you over the past thirty years.
Honey…
General Gao Yi
has been brave and fierce.
He protected the late emperor by
killing Esen Taisai's horse.
During more than thirty years of suffering in the northern deserts,
he has stayed loyal to Ming
and unyielding.
The Heaven and Earth is witness of
his loyalty.
So I am now bestowed him as
Earl Anding.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
I'd like to make a toast to General Gao.
General.
How was my father like in the Oirat army?
Although the late emperor was captured by the enemy
he always maintained the integrity as an emperor.
In the face of threats and temptations of Esen Taisai,
he refused to go south with them or a marriage with the Oirat princess.
This toast is for
the loyalty that you showed by killing Esen Taishi's horse
to protect my father.
And also for the suffering
you had in the
more than thirty years being imprisoned by the Oirats.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
I can't imagine
the pains you must have suffered.
It's nothing because everything I did
was for our Ming.
But
there is something
I don't know whether I should say to Your Majesty.
General, please do share.
The late emperor once trust the eunuch Wang Zhen unduly
which led to his decision of personally leading the troops to a battle.
The decision harmed the country and made himself
become a prisoner of war.
A total of 66 civilian and military officials
going with him
were almost killed in the battle.
Fan Zhong, who was also a leader of royal bodyguards,
killed Wang Zhen with his last stroke before he died.
Because he was afraid if Wang Zhen was still alive,
he would continue to harm the country and the people.
So I venture to
ask Your Majesty to take this as a lesson
to stay away from treacherous court officials.
Never trust an eunuch's words readily.
Did Jia Kui send back any news?
Not yet.
Urge him.
And tell him to return to the capital right after the investigation.
Yes.
This is a God-given opportunity.
Why did you follow me?
Because you asked around
about the Black General in the market.
So someone sent us to kill you.
Kill me?
Did you put it here?
An old man put it here.
Who was it?
He came in a carriage.
He just left.
What kind of carriage?
A brown carriage
with a black horse.
Take a look at it!
Take a look at my goods.
Sesame cake!
Sir,
people from all over the country coming to the capital to discuss cooperation with you
have arrived.
Let's meet up.
Why haven't you moved?
Sir.
Do you want to see them together,
or do you want to meet one by one?
Then let's meet them together all at once.
I don't
like to repeat my words.
Yes, sir.
Congratulations, General Gao.
Mr. Tang.
I don't think your visit
is just for congratulating me.
I want to ask you to dine with me.
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