[🔎👁‍🗨The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty👁‍🗨🔍]
[Episode 30]
Cheng.
Mom.
Come here.
Come here!
What is in your hand?
Show it to me.
Take it out!
You pilfered snacks?
I can't believe it!
What did I tell you?
You never learned the good things I taught you!
Did I ever teach you to pilfer snacks?
Don't run! Come here.
Did I teach you to pilfer snacks?
Say it!
You don't eat your regular meals… Yu?
Don't protect him.
He doesn't learn from good examples.
He doesn't eat his meals and he learned to pilfer snacks!
Who taught you that?
It's just some osmanthus crunchy candy.
Give it to him.
No, and I'll tell you why.
We agreed one candy a day.
He just got a piece in the morning.
Then after a short while, he secretly took another piece.
Who taught you to steal snacks?
I can't believe it!
On our prairie, sometimes we can't have even one piece
of such nice crunch candy all year round.
Now you can have a piece every day.
Is that still not enough?
I saw there was only one piece left in the morning.
I was worried Uncle Pei might not get to eat it.
So I wanted to save this piece for him.
You were saving it for him?
Eat it!
Eat the candy now.
I don't allow you to give it to him.
Eat it now.
Faster.
Take bigger bites.
OK, alright.
Why don't you go over there to play?
Come on.
Who taught this boy to do that?
Yu.
What are you pissed off at?
Pissed off?
Men are all the same!
All men are bastards!
Fruit, fresh fruit!
Take a look.
Let's go.
Lady.
Are you waiting for someone?
Don't called me lady.
OK, not a lady.
A pretty lady.
Are you Jin San?
Never heard of the name.
Let me take a look at your face.
How dare you!
I'm not a housebound weak woman!
I'll teach you guys a lesson!
Don't touch me.
Don't hide from us.
Who are you?
Who is this?
This woman is mine!
Ms. Cui of Huanyi Brothel?
Mr. Jin San?
You have such excellent skills.
Cut the crap.
What do you want?
Mr. Jin.
Although we never met in person before,
we do business quite frequently.
You also know Huanyi Brothel
can be regarded as the top entertainment place in the capital.
Well, thanks to you, now
it is also the biggest "ice consumer" in the city.
Although you sold me a lot of ice, still
we did our business with many small amount transactions.
The bookkeeping really gave me a headache.
So I want to discuss with you
that you don't sell your ice to anyone else.
No matter how much you have, just sell all to me.
In addition to the ice used in my brothel, I will help sell the rest.
No matter how much I earn from it, I'll pay you monthly.
My ice has always in good demand.
Right now there are people waiting in line trying to buy some.
Why should I need a distributor to resell it?
First of all, think of the troubles you have
to deal with all the customers waiting in line.
I can take care of it for you in the future.
Secondly, I am famous for my generosity.
I guarantee the price
I offer you is the best you can get on the market.
At last, I have friends in higher places.
So everyone cuts me some slack.
When someone wants to make trouble,
no matter how big the trouble has become,
I have people who can make it disappear.
When doing business, you want to feel worry-free, right?
Ms. Cui really is a wise woman.
And Mr. Jin is so forthright.
Since we have a deal, how much inventory do you still have?
Take me to check it.
I still need to discuss it with my people to make a decision.
Tomorrow you will wait for me at that place I picked you up.
That's fine.
What are you waiting for?
Waiting for you to drive me back.
Get in the carriage.
I will get off the carriage if you keep laughing!
Please, be my guest.
Please don't laugh.
Fine.
I won't laugh.
Turn around.
This is killing me.
Why are you dressed like that?
Working on a case which I can't tell you details.
Are you investigating the black market ice?
You know that?
You are wearing Ms. Cui's clothes.
Of course, you're pretending to be her to investigate the black market ice.
Judged by your sneaky behavior,
they lost the ice in the royal ice cellar?
Since you already know everything, why do you still ask me?
Don't tell me you have solved my case!
If the case was handled by me,
I would have solved it with my eyes closed.
The royal ice cellar is strictly guarded.
Outsiders have no chance to go in or out.
This is obviously an inside job.
Just arrest all the officials and soldiers guarding the cellar and torture them for confession,
someone will talk in the end.
I know that.
I have also been there.
But… I don't care about this small case.
I came to find you because I have a more important thing
which I'd like your opinion.
Where do you think Li Zilong is hiding in the capital?
I'm afraid he's no longer in the capital.
Why?
We both know Li Zilong is bold and wise,
and he never fears of putting himself in danger.
Therefore, people will tend to think that he is still in the capital.
So you guys will spend a lot of manpower and energy to find him.
But this person is also sly and farsighted
and often acts unpredictably.
He must have anticipated that the lot of you
would think he was still in the capital.
So, he's long gone.
Even so, I have to turn the capital upside down
to make sure he's not here.
Before I am certain of that,
I need to assume he is in the capital.
Even a low chance
can bring extreme danger.
Sui Zhou!
Didn't you promise me to follow me?
I can forgive that you ignored my safety, but do you know
how embarrassed it was for me to dress like this all the way?
That carriage was too fast that I failed to keep up.
But I have passed my words.
The warding soldiers at all city gates did not see you guys get out of town,
So I think you would be fine.
How did it go? Did you meet Jin San?
You've got the nerve to ask!
I have to go there again like this tomorrow.
It's me who gets embarrassed and gets into danger.
How can you kick down the ladder while you still haven't climbed up yet?
What are you doing? Enjoying yourself at home?
What is this?
I found it on Li Fei and Li You's bodies.
Names and addresses of family members of their dead fellow soldiers.
They are poorly off.
I want to send some money for the Li brothers.
You're sensitive.
I haven't even thought of this thing.
But the rest are dead
without even leaving a name behind.
Vegetables!
Fresh green vegetables.
Pretty lady!
Did you miss me?
Let's go.
Mr. Jin.
We have followed her for several days in a row.
I think this is not as simple as you said.
Ms. Cui, she was… Can you be gentle with me?
Didn't you say when I do business, I want to feel worry-free?
I discussed with my men.
And they can't help
but feel worry about your offer.
You know I have a huge property.
What's there to feel worry for?
But are you really Ms. Cui?
That's right!
What do you mean?
Let's go!
Let's go to Huanyi Brothel now.
You'll hear how those girls call me.
If you are Ms. Cui,
who is he?
He has been following us for two days in a row.
What is he up to?
Judged by his looks and his martial art skills,
he must be a law enforcer.
Then you are a spy from the government.
Honey!
What took you so long?
Didn't you say you will always protect me?
Now these people are bullying me.
You need to help me!
If you don't want to do business with her, that's fine.
What kind of men are you to gang up to bully a woman?
Let's go.
Hold on.
So you sincerely want to do business with me?
Of course.
Good.
But I don't do business with cowards.
I'd like to see how much you can hurt yourself.
I am impressed.
Mr. Jin.
- Mr. Jin. - Mr. Jin.
Hi, guys.
Mr. Jin, how are you?
Mr. Jin.
What do you think of the exchange rate?
That's very fair!
Much fairer than the private bank offered.
Then here you go.
This is for you.
Here, this is yours.
Here you go. Don't lose it.
Were you really going to stab yourself with a knife just now?
What else could I do?
What if he didn't stop you?
I never thought of that.
No matter how much money we have, there are more poor people to help.
In the future, all my ice will be handled and resold by you.
Mr. Jin, you're a kind philanthropist.
I am willing to help you.
But I must be sure I have a stable supply.
My source
is inexhaustible.
As long as you want the ice, I can give you the ice anytime.
Like a hundred chunks?
Three hundred, even five hundred?
At this season of the year, even if you count all the ice storage
in all high-ranking officials and wealthy people within the whole capital,
there are no more than a thousand chunks in total.
Where will you be able to acquire so many chunks of ice except the
royal ice cellar?
You really got it from there?
You just pay for the ice.
The rest is none of your business.
In short, I can give you all the ice you want.
That Jin San said they can get even a thousand chunks of ice.
It seems that we have found the lost ice.
What's going on?
They have access to
the royal ice cellar freely.
This is not a trivial matter.
You mean…
If they can get something out, then they also can send someone in.
I'm afraid security in the Imperial City has a loophole.
It's no longer a small case of some ice being stolen.
We must apprehend Jin San immediately.
I will go back to the Northern Administrative Court now to get started.
I have sent people to patrol and keep a watch on these places.
There is no news of Li Zilong.
Did you check the Wantai Tea House?
Yes.
There was no sign of him.
And it seems that he has no other property in the capital.
So he just disappeared into the thin air?
Father.
There might be a loophole to get into the Imperial City.
So you already knew?
What does this mean?
It means the person was telling the truth.
What are you looking at?
I'm talking to you.
My eyes are up here!
Commander, you want to see me?
From today, Xue Ling will be your superior.
You will take orders from him.
Yes.
I'm Mr. Sui's superior?
Isn't this inappropriate?
Do I look like I am kidding with you?
No, sir.
Okay.
Leave.
Yes, sir.
Sir.
What's wrong with his face?
Don't ask.
I think He got punched by someone and vent his angry at you.
Can you stop?
But sir!
Asking you to start from the bottom is already humiliated for you.
Now he asked you to be my subordinate?
I can't bear it even if you can.
Then you go to reason with him.
If he was a reasonable person,
I would have.
Find some trustworthy people.
We are going to arrest Jin San.
Yes.
Remember.
Keep the operation quiet.
Yes.
Mr. Tang.
Bin?
It was all my fault that you got demoted.
What does this have to do with you?
I don't blame you.
Zhu Jianmou deserved it and you brought justice to the victims.
But he was a royal member after all.
Since it impaired the royal family's reputation,
there must be someone to take the blame.
No. I still feel it' my fault.
If it weren't for me to act impulsively,
you wouldn't have been demoted by three ranks
and became a humble sixth rank official
in this Office of Transmission.
I told you I don't blame you.
Actually I have a good time here.
Don't try to make me feel better.
I know your ambitions back in the years.
It must be hurtful for you to end up here.
Come on. Have some tea.
Come on.
Actually, I have been thinking about a question these days.
Fan.
What do you think being an official is for?
Since we studied so hard and finally entered the royal court,
no matter what position we are, we're doing our bit for the country.
But after many years in the royal court,
I had long been dominated by the rules of playing politics.
I struggled in the officialdom
and had done things I am not proud of in order to protect myself.
So I must have departed from
my original intention of being an official.
But since I came here this time,
I have become more down to earth
and I feel my conscience is clearer than before.
I have done a lot of practical things actually.
If you really think so, then I still owe you an apology.
Why?
I should have got you demoted sooner.
I…
Tang Fan!
As your senior, I have been degraded to this state,
and you are still making fun of me?
Very well.
Since Mr. Tang just took office, I want to ask you,
do you know what the Office of Transmission does?
Don't call me Mr. Tang.
Please do enlighten me.
Now you have the right attitude.
Let me tell you,
all over the country,
wherever people think there is a wrongful conviction,
or the case has been dragged too long without any result,
or people report a local tyrant
who harmed the village, they can all report to us
in forms of letters.
Then what the two of us need to do is to review
these cases and complaints, and then hand them to the cabinet.
But if we suspect there is a big case or high-profile case,
then we have to report to the Court of Judicial Review
for them to consult.
That's it?
Yes.
So what we have to do is to give comments on
all difficult yet trivial cases in the whole country?
Good summary!
Mr. Tang really has an ability to summarize things.
I admire you.
Why are you laughing?
I'm so happy.
You see, there are so many cases coming in.
I also don't think it's right to make arbitrary decisions.
This is just great.
Now that Mr. Tang is here, I feel much more at ease.
How many cases?
The stack over there.
Let's have some tea.
And the whole room behind you.
Bin!
OK, there, there.
Mr. Tang, don't get angry.
If you get sick because of anger, who can I count on to share my work?
Where are you going?
I drank too much tea.
I need to go to the toilet.
Yeah, yeah.
Do it quick.
If you have to pee, you have to pee.
Tang Fan!
I'm telling you what, you can't run away from your work!
He's using the same trick again.
Little rascal!
Embroidered umbrella!
All kinds of umbrellas!
Pei.
What happened to you?
Your sister went to the clinic to find me.
There happened to be this open and shameless girl… Got it.
You don't!
Of course I got it.
The girl likes you, but you don't like her that much.
I don't like her at all!
It was totally just a misunderstanding!
Your sister only saw she hugged me,
but she didn't see the part where I turned her down!
Did you turn her down in the physical aspect
or in a psychological aspect?
How can you say that?
From my soul to my body, from head to toe,
I had turned her down in all aspects I could!
But your sister didn't even give me a chance to explain.
She didn't even let me in.
How can she do that to me?
In a time like this, no matter what the truth is,
you must apologize to her first.
And then that?
Then you observe her reaction.
If it still doesn't work after the apology, you have to praise her
and it must be sincere.
You can't fake it.
Praise her. Got it.
And then what?
If praising her still can't make her forgive you,
then you have to prepare a gift for her.
For example…
Why are you here empty-handed?
You should bring a gift at such a time!
Gift means sincerity, and sincerity equals to a gift!
Apologize while showing her your sincerity.
If this still won't work, you just wait to be punished physically.
Anyway, my sister won't really hurt you.
Don't worry.
Do you understand now?
Yes, sir!
Mr. Pei.
What can I do for you?
I'm sorry.
Forgive me.
Mr. Pei, you didn't do anything wrong.
We are the ones who owed you a lot.
Not only did you save Fan's life, you also cured Cheng's disease.
I can't pay back these huge favors in this life.
In my next life, I'd wish I were your servant to pay you back.
Tang Yu Actually, I…
I'm ready to catch Jin San.
How many people do you get?
Me, Xue Ling, and others.
Six people in total.
No.
Jin San has many henchmen.
You only got six people. That's too dangerous.
You need to get more people.
I can't.
Why?
I'm just a junior official now.
I can't get more people unless I report to my superior.
But once it's reported
Sun Da's dereliction of duty in guarding the ice cellar
will be exposed.
Exactly.
And also Jin San's gang has been secretly helping poor people.
Although they used an illegal way to do it, they are not bad people.
I don't want to alarm the law enforcement departments
because I don't want them to get killed.
You are thinking of the Li brothers again.
If I had caught them sooner, they wouldn't have robbed the bank.
Then they could at least still be alive by now.
You've changed.
That being the case,
we have to find a way to outsmart the ice thefts.
Mr. Tang, how can I help you?
That matter.
Oh, that matter.
Look at my poor memory.
I am sorry.
Qingge is receiving a costumer.
We can't interrupt them now.
Mr. Tang, maybe another time?
Receiving a customer? Sure!
I am also a customer.
No to mention
I am a VIP customer for life.
Get me all the girls you have.
I remember last time you said
all my bills here will be on the house, right?
And also since you have a rule of
no one can interrupt when customers are with girls, tonight
no one can disturb me for having fun with all the girls.
Mr. Tang, you're look for Qingge, right?
Please help yourself.
Qingge is waiting for you in her room.
Qingge,
I have come here for you several times.
You won't even let me see your face.
Tonight you must let me see you, okay?
I'm different from the ordinary customers here.
I am not only rich,
I am also talented.
I heard that you're full of literary talent,
so I just want to see your face and we can compose verses together.
That's all I want from you.
Qingge.
Who are you?
I am just a poor scholar.
I have something important that I need to see Qingge tonight.
You might want to go home.
You think you can just come here asking to see her?
And also I booked her for the whole night.
You poor scholar.
Go home.
What do you mean you booked her?
She is a human being, not an object.
You…
Gentlemen, please calm down.
Since both of you want to see me tonight, then you can have a duel.
Okay.
How does the duel work?
Qingge, you call it.
Then let's supply the antithesis to a given phrase.
I will say a given phrase
and see which one of you can supply the antithesis.
How does it sound?
No problem.
Recalling our encountering and falling in love, I feel sad for I don't know when I'll see you again.
And at this moment, I can't help but shed tears by the overwhelming emotions.
She who is a peerless beauty loves him.
He who is the emperor of the generation favors her.
That's a nice one.
I shall not regret to die if I can meet the love of my life.
I shall not want to be immortal if I can be love birds with you.
I didn't expect you are such a talented woman.
I am flattered.
But I guess you come tonight not just for the poetry?
Oh right!
I almost forgot my real business.
Commander Wang.
You want to see me?
Go talk to the palace guards for a job you guys need to coordinate.
In two days,
an official of Bureau of Provisions of the Ministry of War
will bring something to see His Majesty.
What is it?
There are some questions you shouldn't ask.
So, you don't know either?
Since His Majesty did not tell me, he didn't plan to let me know.
Since I can't know the answer, of course you can't know, either.
Yes, sir.