Episode 19 recap: Yan Si Fang's Disappeared Home
Five years ago, Yan Si Fang forged the Haotian Sword for a sect, which became the sect's divine weapon. Yan Si Fang made a good amount of money from it. The other party requested him to forge another sword, so he forged the Potian Sword and earned another 100,000 taels. Yan Si Fang made an agreement with the sect's leader not to disclose that he was the one who forged the divine weapons. At the same time, he requested that the leader not reveal his whereabouts. They went their separate ways after settling their payment.
Yan Si Fang returned to Tuoba Village, but the villagers seemed incredulous. Only the old village chief greeted Yan Si Fang, and it was only then that the villagers warmed up and eagerly asked about Yan Si Fang's life.
Yan Si Fang's previous house was secured with three locks by the old village chief. Yan Si Fang thought that the chief wanted to preserve the appearance of his house, which touched him. However, when he opened the locks, he found that the house had been turned into a storage room filled with valuable items. The old village chief told Yan Si Fang that they were descendants of the royal family and had been living in seclusion to avoid war. Yan Si Fang initially thought the chief was making things up, but he believed him when he saw the imperial jade seal. Yan Si Fang looked at the treasures filling the room and didn't know where to sleep. The old village chief knew that he was only staying for one night, so he told Yan Si Fang to make do for one night and left on his own.
Yan Si Fang used his expertise to refine pills for others and earned a large sum of money to buy things for the villagers in the village. Whether it was food, entertainment, or accessories, everything was available. He also distributed the money he earned to everyone, hoping that the old village chief would not make them go back to farming, as it wouldn't make much money and would be more dangerous to go out and trade.
The old village chief looked at the necklace Yan Si Fang gave him to wear around his neck and informed Yan Si Fang that the village had been discovered. Someone wanted to buy the old items stored in Yan Si Fang's house and promised to relocate the villagers to the city. The old village chief, seeing Yan Si Fang living comfortably, finally decided to take the step of moving out of the village. Yan Si Fang agreed that the old village chief's decision was the right one. However, when he returned next time, he found that not a single tile of the village remained, only a few wooden frames were still standing. Yan Si Fang's home, family, and the entire village were all gone.
Yan Si Fang took advantage of the night to sneak into the treasury of the mansion according to the map. After breaking six locks and opening a secret chamber, Yan Si Fang finally saw the jade seal inside the box. He didn't take the jade seal but examined it carefully before putting it back. Ji Ming Zhao noticed Yan Si Fang's disappearance and became extremely worried. She initially thought of going to the yamen to report the case but then realized that she could receive a larger reward for catching the flower thief if Yan Si Fang's share was divided among the others. So she decided to sleep until morning.
The next morning, Ye Wu Zhi, Meng San Xi, and Ji Ming Zhao sat together for breakfast. They were concerned about Yan Si Fang's empty seat. Just at that moment, Yan Si Fang returned but refused to reveal his whereabouts from the previous night. Instead, he teased Ji Ming Zhao, making her feel embarrassed. After quickly distributing sixty taels of reward money to each person, Yan Si Fang went to check the notice.
It was well-known that Ye Wu Zhi had a gambling problem. This time, in order to keep her money, she lent it to Meng San Xi to buy information. The matter she wanted to investigate was related to the grandmaster. Once Meng San Xi used his sneaky tricks to defeat the grandmaster, she would be able to interrogate him. Meng San Xi felt a bit hurt by Ye Wu Zhi's calculating mindset because he never expected to be seen as so despicable in her eyes.
The ranking of the Nameless Department Store finally rose to fourth place, and Gu Nian Jiu's shop ranking also climbed to fifth place. Gu Nian Jiu's significant improvement was due to her idea of distinguishing between single men and women. By looking at the accessories they wore, one could determine whether they were single or taken. Gu Nian Jiu wanted to give each person a pendant. Yan Si Fang chose the triangular one representing singleness, and Ye Wu Zhi asked Meng San Xi to take the circular one representing being in a relationship. This made Meng San Xi think that Ye Wu Zhi finally came to her senses and wanted to date him. However, Ye Wu Zhi didn't have that intention at all and simply wanted both pendants. She asked Meng San Xi to take a different one from hers so they could swap and wear them. Gu Nian Jiu was overjoyed to see that Meng San Xi and Ye Wu Zhi weren't together yet and immediately gave Ye Wu Zhi another circular pendant.
In order to improve the store's ranking, Ji Ming Zhao came up with a new plan to organize an artistic evening event to increase their popularity. However, the approval process at the yamen would take half a month, even with expedited procedures, it would still take ten days. They only had nine days left. Ji Ming Zhao and the three partners pleaded with the yamen, but they couldn't get it approved. Dai Meng Hui was a double agent, and now he was recognized by the leader of a gang. To confirm Dai Meng Hui's identity as the leader of the Fei Niao Gang, Ji Ming Zhao and the three partners disguised themselves as gang members and presented a lavish gift to the gang leader, asking him to speak favorably for Dai Meng Hui. Unexpectedly, the gang leader wanted to see the divine weapon, the Pangu Sword, forged by Tuoba Linghu.
The root of everything lies in the financial exposure of the Tuoba family. The Liang family robbed the villagers (caravan), and Bei Xiao Hai, unwilling to be tainted, left the Liang family and was subsequently framed and expelled by them. This led to a case of mistaken identity by the Sanqi Sect. However, Bei Xiao Hai has a friend named Nan Xiao Tian, who has been investigating the matter and has swept through both the underworld and the righteous path. It is certain that he will eventually uncover the truth about the Sanqi Sect. The Sanqi Sect considers itself righteous and, in order to correct the wrong, wants to eliminate Nan Xiao Tian but also needs him as a role model. Liu Yun Xiao probably doesn't know the truth behind the entire incident, so he set fire to what he believed was the real culprit. In the end, the Sanqi Sect was also manipulated by the Liang family, resulting in the Sanqi Sect wanting to kill Liu Yun Xiao, and the Qingjing Sect also getting involved. The sect was wiped out, and they are now preparing to seek revenge against the Sanqi Sect. The other factions, of course, also want revenge. That's how things stand.
As for the Wang family's intelligence department, I'm not sure which faction it belongs to. I think it is quite formidable and may be affiliated with the current emperor.