Episode 17 recap: The true identity of the Yongchang family's deity is exposed.
Xiaoliang is rescued, and the identities of the corpses are confirmed to be members of the Tong family. Moreover, they have all committed minor offenses in the past. However, everyone in the Tong family denies any suspicion of murder. Despite the denial of everyone in the Tong family, Yan Junjie angrily goes to the Tong house and storms into the ancestral hall, only to find no evidence there and everything is spotless.
Yan Junjie doesn't find anything in the ancestral hall, so he proceeds to search the rooms of other people. In Chen the butler's room, he finds Tong Jiulong's ID card, but Tong Jiulong is nowhere to be found. Unable to extract any clues from Yan Junjie, he decides to take everyone in the Tong family to the police station on the grounds that the Tong family is highly suspected.
Che Suwei goes to the neighbor's house to inquire about Li Hua's situation and learns that a matchmaker arrived at Li Hua's house in the middle of the night, but disappeared after the marriage. Gu Yuan and the others analyze the situation in the Tong family and deduce that Tong Jiulong married Li Hua in order to deceive their creditors, claiming that Li Hua had money to save the Tong family. However, they can't understand why Tong Jiulong married Li Hua but Li Hua is nowhere to be found.
Gu Yuan believes that the Tong family's problem is severe and decides to re-examine everyone in the Tong family. They discover that the changes in the Tong family have occurred in the past year, which coincides with the timeframe when the corpses were killed. Therefore, Gu Yuan concludes that the "Protect the Family Society" mentioned by Wang Tiezhu was established within this year. Just when Che Suwei is about to question Tong Jiulong and Lin Liangsheng, someone finds Tong Jiulong and Lin Liangsheng, and they immediately go to meet them.
Tong Jiulong is inquiring about purchasing new equipment when Yan Junjie arrives with his team and takes Tong Jiulong and Lin Liangsheng for questioning. Tong Jiulong explains that he is unaware of the deity's situation and marrying Li Hua was only to make their creditors believe that he had found a wealthy lady who could save the Tong family. He claims he had no motive to kill Li Hua.
After questioning, Gu Yuan doesn't find any evidence to prove that there is a problem with the Tong family. Therefore, he personally escorts Tong Jiulong back to the Tong house. Both Chen the butler and Cuiping express their dissatisfaction and accuse Gu Yuan. After Gu Yuan leaves, Tong Jiulong locks himself in his room, citing outside dangers.
Yan Junjie witnesses Tong Jiulong being locked up from outside and informs Gu Yuan. Together, they throw smoke bombs into the Tong house, creating chaos. Amid the chaos, Tong Jiulong manages to escape from the Tong house. Gu Yuan initially intends to follow Tong Jiulong and obtain the secret of the "Protect the Family Society" from him, but the members of the society arrive before them.
Tong Jiulong plans to gather his belongings and escape, but the members of the "Protect the Family Society" arrive just in time and attempt to kill him. He can only fight back with all his strength. During the struggle, Tong Jiulong realizes that the person trying to kill him is not Lin Liangsheng. Fortunately, Gu Yuan and the others arrive, allowing him to narrowly escape.
Tong Jiulong goes missing, and Wang Tiezhu is kidnapped by the secret organization because he revealed the secret of the Yongchang family's deity. Wang Tiezhu admits that he accidentally mentioned the deity after drinking, but the deity didn't approve and drowned him in alcohol.
Cuiping came to Gu Yuan early in the morning seeking help, claiming that there was infighting within the "Protect the Family Society" and that they were planning to kill their own people. She had to reveal everything in order to protect herself.
Cuiping informed Wang Tiezhu about the "Protect the Family Society's" plan to harm him and they decided that when the alarm clock rang, they would leave the Tong family together. Cuiping waited for a long time but Wang Tiezhu didn't show up, so she had no choice but to escape on her own and seek refuge at the local police station. After Cuiping reported the incident, Gu Yuan and his team went to the Tong house to rescue Wang Tiezhu, but they discovered that he had already drowned in a well.
While retrieving Wang Tiezhu's body, Gu Yuan and his team heard Chen the butler's cry for help. They managed to rescue Chen the butler just in time and apprehended Lin Liangsheng, who was attempting to kill Chen the butler. After Chen the butler was taken to the hospital, he expressed his gratitude to Gu Yuan and explained that he was not being held captive by Tong Jiulong. Instead, he had discovered something suspicious happening within the Tong family and was trying to protect Tong Jiulong.
Chen the butler revealed that he had noticed suspicious behavior from Lin Liangsheng and had found black robes and masks in his room. Chen the butler confronted Lin Liangsheng directly, who admitted that he had planned to kill Chen the butler to silence him, claiming that he was doing it for the good of the Tong family. A year ago, the Tong household faced bankruptcy due to the low-priced tea sold by foreigners. Lin Liangsheng had suggested industrial production to Tong Jiulong as a solution, but Tong Jiulong rejected the idea and scolded Lin Liangsheng.
When Cuiping secretly met with Tong Jiulong, she asked him for a formal status within the family. However, Tong Jiulong humiliated her instead, which left her heartbroken. Lin Liangsheng overheard Cuiping and Tong Jiulong's conversation about the imminent collapse of the Tong family. He approached Cuiping and proposed that they work together to save the Tong family.
Lin Liangsheng explained the crisis facing the Tong family and Cuiping's desire to become a prominent maid within the family. He suggested that they establish the "Protect the Family Society" and use the power of the family deity to control the Tong family. Lin Liangsheng admitted that he manipulated the family deity's power to turn the members of the Tong family into his informants and eliminate the corrupt elements within the family. He confessed to the actions of the "Protect the Family Society" and admitted to replacing Li Hua's medicine, scaring her to death, because she wanted to divorce Tong Jiulong and take away the Tong family's money, and he had to get rid of her.
After interrogating Lin Liangsheng, Gu Yuan proceeded to question Cuiping to determine the other members of the "Protect the Family Society." However, unexpectedly, Lin Liangsheng committed suicide while being transported to the detention center.
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