Timing and subtitles brought to you by ⚖Defenders of the Law ⚖ Team @ Viki
["Water and Flame" by Shu Linzuo]
♫ The boundless world is pitch-dark as the night ♫
♫ Your appearance is like a lightning bolt that tore through the night ♫
♫ My birth is neither impure nor pure, neither born nor destroyed ♫
♫ Perseverance is in my heart behaving atrociously, who can comprehend? ♫
♫ The sharp sword that penetrates desire is stained with blood ♫
♫ The season tainted with the hypocrisy of the world is prosperous yet withering ♫
♫ Give me some time, I can change everything ♫
♫ The courageous moth can also extinguish a sea of flames ♫
♫ Sorrow and delight are interweaving with colors ♫
♫ Layers upon layers covered by a dense fog ♫
♫ Numerous obstacles cannot stop me ♫
♫ To uncover the truth ♫
♫ A region of burning fire and deep waters ♫
♫ Calm and blazing both existing ♫
♫ Who will indulge the wicked flames ♫
♫ To boil the deep sea ♫
♫ This is the era of survival of the fittest ♫
♫ Everything will be planned by oneself ♫
♫ Even if it is a proud and aloof predestination ♫
♫ Even if completely incompatible, I’m still here ♫
[🔎👁‍🗨The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty👁‍🗨🔍]
[Episode 17]
Come here.
Put this on your face.
Come on.
Hey.
Does it still hurt?
The 37th time.
This is the 37th time you hit me.
You even keep count of it?
Of course.
I don't mind the past 36 times you hit me because I was in the wrong.
But not the slap today.
Fan.
I understand what you said.
Since you brought me back here last time,
I have completely given up on him and his family.
But I have to endure such a life for Cheng's sake.
If I am not by Cheng's side,
sooner or later his father will…
I have to be there for Cheng. I have to.
Do you understand?
Yu, you also have to think for yourself.
What about your life?
My life?
This is my life.
You have to live for yourself.
You wouldn't understand until you walk in my shoes.
You were once my life.
I was happy as long as you were happy.
Then you gradually earned yourself a bright future.
It made me so happy from the bottom of my heart, you know?
At your age, you wouldn't understand my happiness yet.
I felt like my life was worth it.
And now Cheng is my life.
I'm happy as long as he's happy.
Do you understand what I mean?
Yu…You are so kind.
Whoever marries you is blessed.
- But your husband is a... - You're flattering me again.
Does your cheek still hurt?
Mr. Yu.
Baihu Sui.
My condolences.
This is Mr. Sun, the coroner of Shuntian Prefecture.
He has a lot of knowledge in all kinds of knife wounds.
So I asked him to check the knife wounds on the bodies
to help our investigation.
My sister is still in the hospital.
Here are the bodies of my mother and my brother.
The others are at the back.
You can do autopsy on them.
What do you think?
Mrs. Yu and General Yu had no signs of struggling on their bodies.
I think they died in their sleep.
And the knife cuts show they were killed by the same person.
And on the body of the Chef Zhang and Miss Yu,
there are obvious signs of struggling.
But the wounds on the chef's body
are different from others.
I'd say, they're even a bit strange…
But I can't put my finger on how.
Miss Yu and Chef Zhang were both found in a wing room.
I guess Miss Yu was the last victim.
And Chef Zhang fought against the murderer
in order to protect Miss Yu.
During the fight, they broke the wardrobe in her room.
But in the end, he lost to the murderer and was killed.
And the murderer stabbed Miss Yu later.
Fortunately, she survived.
If you may, I'd like to take a closer look at the bodies.
But it might be an irreverence to the bodies.
I don't know if you'll give your permission.
As long as you can find out the truth,
you can do anything you want.
Mr. Yu, what is this for?
Get up.
Baihu Sui, please take care of my sister for me.
Mr. Yu…
Money! So much money.
Mine, mine!
My name is Yu Zhenglin,
the second son of the Yu family whose members were all killed the other night.
So he is the victims' family.
It's him.
So much silver!
I have 30,000 strings of coins
which are all the property of my family.
Anyone who has
proofs that can prove Wang Zhi, the Commander of Western Depot's misdeeds of
offending the crown, forming a clique for his personal interests, or raising money by selling official titles,
you can come to me for money.
I have an example!
Me too, me too!
- I have a proof of his guilt! - I have it!
If anyone can prove the massacre of my families was done by Wang Zhi,
he can have half of the money here.
- OK! - I can prove it.
- I can prove it! - Me, too!
So much money.
- Commander Wan. - Commander Shang, please take a seat.
Commander Wan lives such a leisure life
to invite me to come for tea during workdays.
Today, I asked you to come, hoping you can
enjoy the drama outside.
What do you mean?
All the people all over the capital
are talking about Wang Zhi's guilt.
I think we should add some firewood to this bonfire.
Do you have any good firewood at hand?
I don't know if it's good or not,
but I do have a big bundle of firewood.
Now the fire to burn him is flaming
with people adding fuel in it.
I don't think our contribution is needed.
Besides, we are all His Majesty's courtiers after all,
let's just watch the show.
You are a righteous man.
You never hit a person when he is down, right?
You got me wrong.
I mean if you want to hit him,
hit him right.
Baihu Sui, what does this mean?
These are the drawings showing all the bodies' wounds.
Look at this cut.
It means this cut was made downward
while the victim was lying on their back.
With every wound,
I can judge its angle of entry
and the pose of the victim when he or she was killed.
But there was only one person
whose wounds are a bit strange.
I can't tell the situation when he was killed.
Sir.
Someone just surrendered themselves to the court.
Excuse me.
Sir, I killed them!
I killed them. I killed them!
Your Excellency! What's going on?
These people are all coming to confess their crime.
Confess? What crime?
The massacre of the Yu family. These people all say they are the murderer.
And…
Didn't I already tell you guys? Wang Zhi gave me money to kill them.
Wang Zhi?
Yes. Everyone said Wang Zhi made them do it.
You said you killed all members of the Yu family.
That's right.
Then how many people did you kill?
Eighteen. Eighteen?
Do you know there were only seven people
in the whole Yu family, the cook included.
Take him out and have him flogged for 20 times.
Your Excellency! Sir, it's really me
Sir, it's really me!
Your Excellency! I really killed them.
I know Yu Zhenglin took a lot of money out as bounty looking for evidence of Wang Zhi's guilt.
But you must know that once this case is closed,
the murderer is going to be decapitated.
I will give you another chance.
Whoever lied please leave immediately.
I will not hold them accountable.
If you don't leave, you'll end up like him.
Fine.
What was the weapon you used?
I used a stick to beat them to death alive.
Have him flogged.
Your Excellency! I really killed them.
I used a three-chi sword.
Have him flogged for 20 times.
No, what I said is true. Your Excellency!
I used a…
Knife.
Yes. Just a knife.
What knife?
Um, a precious knife.
Drag him out.
No! Machete? Saber? Hatchet, a pocket knife! Your Excellency!
Have him flogged.
You didn't even ask me! Your Excellency!
Have him flogged. Your Excellency! I buried them alive.
Have him flogged. Your Excellency! They were burnt to death…
Have him flogged. Flogged! Flogged!
Have him flogged.
I did it.
The first person I killed was a sleeping strong man.
He died when I stabbed him just once.
The second one was a sick old lady. Wait.
She woke up but she didn't have the strength to fight.
Who made you say that?
I killed them. No one told me anything.
Which weapon was you holding?
Right?
Stab me.
What?
Stab me.
Come again.
This is for you lying.
What kind of hero are you that an adult bullies a child?
I am not a hero.
I'm teaching you a lesson for your father and mother.
If you keep lying, they will lose a son.
If I don't lie, our family will starve to death.
But if I come here, our family will receive fifteen taels of silver.
They can survive.
Who told you about the Yu family's murder?
Are you gonna say it or not?
It was an old man without beard.
He said if I came here to tell you what he asked me to remember,
he would give me fifteen taels of silver.
Go home now.
And don't ever lie again.
An old man without beard.
- Cheng. - I'll kill you, demon!
Don't run! Father, what are you doing?
Don't hit the child!
He's not possessed by demons. He's just sick.
You see, I brought medicine. He will get better once he takes the medicine. Don't hit him.
Shut up! I asked a fortune telling master.
This child is possessed by a demon!
I have to expel the devil in his body.
Mother, don't!
Father, don't hit the child. Don't hit him!
Mother, Father! Father.
Come on. Just go.
Hurry up and leave.
- Don't hit him. - Just go.
It's okay.
- Evil! - Don't hit Cheng! I'll kill you!
Don't run!
I know we won't be able to be together anymore.
I don't want to waste your time.
We were married once.
I hope you can have a better life.
These are the dowry you brought into our family.
I have them all listed. You can have a check.
He Lin, Cheng's illness is not serious.
Dr. Pei said just take care of him carefully… Like we all said,
Cheng is not sick, He's just possessed by a demon. A famous fortune teller said so.
Listen to me. Ok?
If you go on like this,
Cheng will not die from his disease. He will be killed by you guys.
What is his last name?
He has the same surname as me, right?
So he is the He family's member when he's alive, and he will be buried in our graveyard if he does die.
I don't want my dowry. I just want Cheng.
Give me my Cheng.
OK.
You said it, not me.
I said it! You didn't try to take advantage of me. I said it!
This is a mutual divorce agreement I have prepared.
It's written in the agreement that you won't get any of your dowry back.
Sign it.
Fine.
Bye.
Wait.
Where's Cheng?
What about him?
You promised me!
Wait!
You promised me as long as I gave up the dowry, you would return Cheng to me.
You promised me!
When did I promise you?
The agreement!
It's stated clearly in writing.
- But there is no mention of Cheng. - Give me the agreement!
- Get up! - Give me the agreement!
Let go of me, you hoodoo!
Give me my son!
Cheng!
Yu? What's going on?
Yu!
Your sister caught a cold.
But the most important thing is
she's extremely traumatized.
She needs rest.
Aha, wait for me!
Step aside!
What are you guys trying to do?
On the prairie, if others took your child, you should take him back!
We're taking the child back!
Stop it. This is not your prairie.
It's Ming's territory where we must follow the laws of Ming.
You don't care if she's hurt by them?
I do care! She is my sister.
But now the other party has the agreement with her signature.
We are already at a disadvantage.
If we go take Cheng back with violence,
it'll only make things worse rather than seek justice for us.
What should we do then?
Don't make an emotional decision. We'll win with wisdom.
Use here.
Come in.
Your Excellency.
Is there any progress with the Yu family's case?
Not yet.
Why is that?
There are too many people handing themselves in.
- Where are they? - We released all of them.
You released them all?
Why?
They can't even give accurate information of the murder.
All the people who came to hand themselves in said they did it under the orders of Wang Zhi.
So I suspect the large scale confession was orchestrated by someone.
Stop.
Let me ask you.
- How long have you been in the Northern Administrative Court? - More than three years.
So you do know you've been here a long time.
Do you still need me to babysit you?
Whether it's orchestrated or not, as long as there is a witness,
you should bring the suspect back for questioning.
Where is the suspect Wang Zhi now?
I know you are close with Wang Zhi in private.
But I also advise you,
don't think you can bend the law for your friend because you're Her Majesty Zhou's relative.
You saw what happened to Duke Zhu Jianmou.
Since there's evidence,
you should bring the suspect to justice.
Don't do anything you're not asked to do.
Do you understand me?
Are these all memorials impeaching Wang Zhi?
Your Majesty, yes, they are.
Read them to me.
I, Wu Yong, am from Ansai County, Shaanxi.
I passed the imperial exam with the title Jinshi at the fifth year of the Chenghua reign.
I was the County Magistrate of Guangning, Liaodong…
Stop!
This Wu Yong really is useless as his name suggests.
His lengthy nonsense is wasting my time.
What is the general idea of it?
Your Majesty, he's accusing Wang…
Commander Wang
took huge amount of bribes when he was inspecting Liaodong.
Next memorial.
Your Majesty,
this one is accusing Commander Wang
for murdering all members of the Yu family.
The same old empty talk again.
Do they have evidence for these allegations?
It is difficult to tell if the accusations are true for the time being.
But I believe there's no smoke without fire.
Moreover, all the officers at court are united to impeach him,
so we can't just ignore them.
Your Majesty, I heard within just one day,
many people surrendered themselves to the Northern Administrative Court.
They said Commander Wang paid them
to commit that massacre of the Yu family.
But these testimonies can be overlooked for the time being because
I'm investigating the authenticity of them.
But it is true that Commander Wang and the Yu family
had been holding a grudge against each other for a long time.
I remember Yu Zhengpeng
had been suing Commander Wang for forcing his father to commit suicide.
Right?
I think we cannot let anyone guilty get away with it,
but we also can't wrongly accuse innocent people.
The Ministry of Punishments, the Ministry of Personnel,
the Court of Judicial Review and Censorate will need some time
to investigate if what these memorials said is true or not.
But at the same time
it's obviously not appropriate for Commander Wang
to continue to lead Western Depot during this period.
Wang Zhi is temporarily suspended from his duties while the investigation is ongoing.
Go home waiting for further notice.
Western Depot's work will temporarily be handed over to Eastern Depot.
During the investigation,
Wang Zhi is prohibited from leaving the capital.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty made a wise decision.
Zhou, have you been investigating the Yu family's massacre?
Yes.
His Majesty has ordered the Northern Administrative Court to be in charge.
A few days ago
I was setting you up with Lady Yu.
I didn't expect such a tragedy would happen!
Your Majesty, I am sorry for your loss.
I heard that the murderer is that eunuch.
Just a good opportunity I want. You must do a thorough investigation.
We can't let him get away with it.
You better take this opportunity to alert His Majesty about him.
Your Majesty, we cannot prove Wang Zhi is the culprit yet.
But please rest assured that as the chief investigator of this case,
I will definitely find out the truth
and give the Yu family the justice they deserve.
Commander Wang.
The biggest suspect of the Yu family's case is you.
Ever since Minister Yu killed himself,
the whole Yu family saw you as their irreconcilable enemy.
This matter is no secret to everyone in the capital.
You don't need to explain to me.
I know you didn't do it.
But others don't think so.
So?
So I suggest you come back with me to the Northern Administrative Court to clear things up.
Finding the truth of the case is your job, not mine.
I have more important things to do.
You don't have to be so formal. Get up.
Your Highness, I wonder what you called me back to the palace for?
What? You are so busy and important now
that I can't call you to have a casual chat with me?
I know about the Yu family's case.
How about you stay in the palace serving me to take a break for a while?
Things outside can be out of sight and out of mind.
I will inform His Majesty for you.
Your Highness, please forgive me.
I may not have the time to accompany Your Highness right now.
Actually, I am not worried about the Yu family's case.
But now there is a more important job for me which has no room for error.
Since you have official duties, I won't keep you here.
But you have to remember who you are.
Tread very carefully.
I shall remember Your Highness's instruction.
And also I can tell you lost weight recently.
Take time to have proper meals.
This is Yunhe's official silver ingot.
How do you know that?
I have been working in the treasury for more than thirty years.
I can tell differences of official silver ingots from different local mints by touching.
You don't even have to look?
The treasury is heavily guarded
and sunlight barely shines into it all year round.
We could only do our jobs by touching.
The dim light also caused my blindness.
I don't need to see it.
With a touch I can tell you the source of this official silver ingot
as well as its weight and authenticity.
So is this one authentic official silver ingot?
This was indeed minted from a mold of Yunhe Mintage Supervision Bureau.
The shape is exactly the same.
But the weight…
What about it?
This silver ingot is not pure silver.
Let's go!
Go after him!
Over here.
Sir.
Hide in here.
Where is Wang Zhi?
Let's go.
Who are you?
Why did you bring a pig to the court?
This is just ridiculous!
Your Excellency! Please set things straight for me.
Stand up and tell us what happened.
Stop crying.
Your Excellency! This profiteer ordered this pig from me three months ago.
We originally agreed I would deliver the pig to him right before the New Year.
But now he said he doesn't want the pig anymore.
Your Excellencies!
Please set things straight for me.
Is that true?
Why did you break the contract?
Do you know Tongzhou values the credibility of merchants very much?
Liquidated damages will be 10 times of the contract value.
Your Excellency! I didn't mean to break the contract.
I wanted to get this pig for the New Year.
And I also paid a deposit.
But now my whole family will move to the south.
We can't move with a pig.
So I wanted to return the pig.
According to the terms of the contract my deposit will be deducted for returning the pig.
So I said he could keep the deposit.
This is not a breach of contract, right?
It is true.
Your Excellencies! You can't let him do that.
This pig was supposed to be sold to him for three taels of silver.
At that time, he only paid me 30 coins as a deposit.
But by now the money I spent on raising this pig is far more than 30 coins.
He said he didn't want it now.
Where can I find another buyer?
Besides, our family worked hard for half a year.
We're counting on the three taels of silver to cover the New Year's expense.
Your Excellency!
Mr. Tang, what are you doing?
Come on.
The two of you, get up. Harmony brings wealth.
Stand up. Harmony brings wealth.
Harmony brings wealth.
Give each other a hug and let's forgive and forget, ok?
But…
Mr. Tang, this verdict is too casual.
What happened to you today?
Are you feeling sick?
No, I am totally fine!
On the contrary, their dispute has solved my problem.
Your Excellency Lu, do you have three taels of silver with you?
Can I borrow them?
Remember to pay me back.
I'll buy this pig.
Go home and have a good new year with the silver.
Thank you! Your Excellency!
Your Excellency, it's still months away from the New Year.
Let me raise this pig for you until then.
Mr. Tang. You even went so far as paying from your pocket for the folks in Tongzhou.
But if you go on like this, you will go bankrupt in a few days.
It's okay.
Consider the pig as a celebration in advance.
Fine. Court adjourned.
What delicious food did you bring?
I am starving.
There is a guest at home asking to see you.
Who is it?
He asked me to keep it secret.
What is he doing here? I don't want to see him.
OK, OK. Put them all back.
What are you standing there for? Didn't he want to see me?
Let's go home.
Your humble shed is too small to raise pigs.
I suggest you watch your attitude; otherwise, I won't help you.
Help me?
You do everything for your own interest.
You came all the way to send me snacks?
Definitely something happened, and it's serious.
We have a problem in Yunhe.
Yunhe is the main source of the Ming Dynasty's official silver ingots.
In the past three years, we often heard reports saying
they found silver ingots mixed with lead with Yunhe's mark on it.
Is it an inside job in Yunhe Official Mint
or someone illegally minted official silver ingots?
We don't know yet.
You know the importance of official silver ingots.
Many official payments, from officials' salaries to military supplies,
are all made with silver from the three official silver mints.
If the situation continues,
the Ming Dynasty is in grave danger.
No one knows about it yet, except His Majesty and me,
and now you.
You have to remember, never reveal any news to anyone about it.
Otherwise our country will be in big trouble.
Do you understand me?
Yes.
I understand you're in trouble,
and it's a big one this time.
You are not sure whether you can get through it this time.
That's why you came all the way to Tongzhou to entrust this serious matter to me.
to entrust this serious matter to me. Right?
If you don't speak, I'll take it as a yes.
In fact, it is not difficult to guess.
A domineering person like you
must have made a lot of enemies with your peer courtiers.
But you have always been careful
so they didn't have any evidence to go against you.
According to my guess, something must happened in the capital which got you involved.
And your enemies took the opportunity to hit you.
Although you did do a lot of bad things,
this time you are wrongly accused.
The one who knows me the best…
Stop it! Don't give me goosebumps.
How about you stay in Tongzhou and let's discuss this matter thoroughly?
I can't.
I must return to the capital before the city gate is closed today.
It's getting dark. I have to go.
Tang.
What should we do with this pig?
Keep it alive today. It shall die another day.
Today the city gate is closed.
Wait until tomorrow to enter the city.
Sir, please do me a favor.
I want to see Sui Zhou of the Northern Administrative Court.
My beloved ministers, what do you want to tell me?
Your Majesty, Wang Zhi left the capital without permission yesterday.
Today I sent people to search for him,
but they couldn't find him.
I believe Wang Zhi escaped.
Your Majesty.
Your Majesty. I can prove Wang Zhi did intend to flee to escape punishment.
Last night after the city gate was closed,
patrolmen of the capital saw Wang Zhi's carriage wandering outside the city gate.
They notified the Imperial Guards.
Fortunately, we arrived in time.
Wang Zhi has been arrested now.
Summon Sui Zhou to bring Wang Zhi into the palace.
I want to interrogate him myself.
Sui Zhou, did Wang Zhi try to escape?
Your Majesty.
Your Majesty. Someone tried to assassinate Wang Zhi.
It was a close call but fortunately he was OK.
To prevent the assassination from happening again,
all the last night Wang Zhi took refuge in the Northern Administrative Court.
Sui Zhou, think carefully before you speak.
It's just such a simple fact.
What's there to think about?
I think as long as Wang Zhi is outside
you would feel uneasy, right?
How about this?
Wang Zhi, in order to reassure everyone,
you may stay in Imperial Edict Prison.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Timing and subtitles brought to you by ⚖Defenders of the Law ⚖ Team @ Viki
♫ Out of the mud but not tainted with the world of mortals ♫
♫ The sea drifts along while the heart is calm for a fraction ♫
♫ All alone in the world with no love nor hate ♫
♫ Being too slow-witted is also an innate intelligence ♫
♫ The cold fireworks branded the palm lines of predestination ♫
♫ The naked eye cannot easily break through worldly affairs, it can only hold on to one’s pure inherent quality ♫
♫ Hold his hand, don’t let him sink into degradation ♫
♫ In this mortal world together, both wandering to the end of the world ♫
♫ Brushing past each other, there’s no need to be bothered with the past ♫
♫ A fish leapt over the dragon gate (after becoming successful), you eventually forgot your original identity ♫
♫ I only ask for you to always remember my expression as I gazed back ♫