Episode 12 recap: Little Bao lures the snake out of its hole, old friends turn against each other.

The fire at the Lu family residence startled Little Bao from his sleep. He quickly woke up the drunken Lu Bu You and dragged him towards the exit. Zhao Ju Ren accused Lu Zhi, that cunning servant, of forging a will to seize the inheritance. Seeing through Lu Zhi's scheme, Zhao Ju Ren wanted to capture him and report him to the authorities. Lu Zhi was taken to the government office, where Cold Wu Ji stood by watching as Lu Zhi was punished with beatings.

Lu Bu You told Little Bao that he couldn't find Lu Zhi and suspected he was in the steward's room. So he climbed a tree and sneaked into his courtyard, where he discovered a dry well. This piqued Little Bao's curiosity. Lu Bu You entered the well and found a secret chamber. Finally, he climbed out of the well using the tree. They agreed to sneak into the well again that night.

Later that night, Little Bao went to quench his thirst and found that the water cup inside the house and the water jar in the courtyard were both empty, coincidentally missing the shopkeeper who went to silence someone. Chen Wang watched the unconscious Lu Bu You but couldn't bring himself to kill him, so he left. Shortly after, Little Bao came in and fell asleep on the table. Suddenly, a fire broke out, and Little Bao was awakened by the smoke. He carried Lu Bu You and they fled. The whole place was engulfed in flames. Lu Bu You and Little Bao rushed towards the dry well but decided to rescue their parents and sister. Little Bao hurried to the stable to get a rope before entering the well.

Lu Zhi and Lu Zhong returned to the Lu family residence, and Lu Zhi mentioned that he forgot something and stabbed Lu Zhong with a knife when he wasn't paying attention. Lu Zhi realized that Lu Yuan Bao didn't intend to kill him, but Lu Zhong lied. Lu Zhong wanted to claim Lu Zhi as his son.

Lu Bu You witnessed everything, and Lu Zhi also noticed someone about to kill him but was intercepted by a falling ember. He had to leave. Qu San Geng's father saw the fire and banged on a drum while watching Lu Zhi and the others observing the fire. He realized their intentions to escape and was fatally stabbed by Cold Wu Ji.

Afterward, Cold Wu Ji discovered that the corpse didn't match Lu Bu You's, but it had been burned beyond recognition. After the fire at the Lu family residence, Lu Zhi showed the forged shares of the inheritance to Zhao Ju Ren, who didn't believe in the will. Zhao Ju Ren wanted to take Lu Zhong directly to the government office, and Lu Zhi had already anticipated that Cold Wu Ji would beat him there and had arranged it with his henchmen.

This time, Lu Zhi sought justice for Lu Yuan Bao and accused Lu Jin Xin of seizing the family's assets and silencing him. The county magistrate didn't believe it since Lu Yuan Bao had been dead for six months, but Lu Zhi insisted on his innocence and admitted that Zhao Ju Ren was his witness. It turned out that when he sought out Zhao Ju Ren, Lu Zhi not only showed him the will but also bribed him and even produced the IOU signed by Zhao Ju Ren years ago.

To avoid repaying his debts, Zhao Ju Ren agreed to cooperate with Lu Zhi and give false testimony in court, accusing Lu Jin Xin of fratricide and seizing the inheritance. Cold Wu Ji proposed to open the coffin and examine the body, revealing that Lu Yuan Bao died from poisoning, proving that he was murdered. Zhao Ju Ren returned to the government office again, holding the pawned items from Lu Yuan Bao's life. No one knew what was inside except for two tael of silver. Cold Wu Ji inspected the sealing date and found no issues. The county magistrate read the forged will found inside, although the handwriting was weak, it undoubtedly matched Lu Zhi's. Cold Wu Ji, Zhao Ju Ren, and Lu Zhi all agreed and the case was closed, as the Lu family's assets were divided among them.

Afterward, Lu Zhi discussed with the others about leaving and changing their identities, but Chen Wang, who couldn't bear to leave his mother, and considering his gambling habits, Lu Zhi plotted to kill him. The next day, the intoxicated Chen Wang died from drowning. Xue Ju Ren discovered that Wei Zhi Xian was Lu Bu You, and Niu Bu Yan and Liu Shi Qi discussed assassinating Wei Zhi Xian but first killed Lv San, the troublemaker.

Qu San Geng suspected that the killer would target Niu Bu Yan, so he led twenty men to ambush around the Xue family's surroundings, lying in wait for the opportunity.

On the other side, Qu San Geng intentionally reported to Niu Bu Yan that the constables had left the city to chase after Xue Ju Ren, while Liu Shi Qi, hiding behind the screen in Wei Zhi Xian's house, listened carefully. At this moment, Lv San was tracking Xue Ju Ren and had run about sixty to seventy miles outside the city.

Qu San Geng and Shi Cong disguised themselves as night watchmen patrolling the streets, while Wei Zhi Xian went to find Song Dian Shi to discuss the injustice. Song Dian Shi had been imprisoned for bribery in the past and had betrayed his good friend to save himself from the punishment. His friend had no choice but to die in order to prove his innocence. This was the greatest injustice suffered by Song Dian Shi. Now, he worked as a court official to atone for his sins.

Lv San came to stay at the inn, and the bearded man eating by the roadside noticed him and immediately turned away to avoid Lv San's gaze. Meanwhile, Wei Zhi Xian finished writing the case file, recounting the case of the Land House fire from years ago. Cheng Yi Zhi, fearing that he would be next after the deaths of Cold Wu Ji and Master Wang, turned himself in. He had thought that Cheng Yi Zhi had gone mad and sent him away, but three days later, he was unexpectedly killed.

In reality, Cheng Yi Zhi was killed by the bearded man that night. At this moment, Wei Zhi Xian fabricated testimonies from Zhao You Ren and others. Song Dian Shi became more suspicious as he thought about it, so he called Qu San Geng aside. Song Dian Shi drew a portrait and asked the owner of the millstone to identify it. The owner recognized the person as the one who purchased the millstone, and that person was Wei Zhi Xian. Now Wei Zhi Xian knew that Xue Ju Ren had deliberately led Lv San away from the mountain, and he planned to use Liu Shi Qi to assassinate himself. This way, the fabricated testimonies he made would be put to good use. At this moment, Wei Zhi Xian also left a suicide note, stating that if he were to be killed, it would be the work of Xue Ju Ren, who could come and go freely. He was willing to sacrifice himself to clear the grievances of others.

Qu San Geng was captured by Song Dian Shi. It turned out that Song Dian Shi had long known that Wei Zhi Xian was Lu Bu You and the murderer. He also suspected that Xue Ju Ren and Lu Bu You were working together because Qu San Geng wanted to avenge Cold Wu Ji.

Song Dian Shi took Wei Zhi Xian away, and then a black-clad stranger quietly sneaked into the room. The person who came was not Liu Shi Qi but a unfamiliar green-forest bandit. While everyone was restraining this bandit in the courtyard for interrogation, Liu Shi Qi, who was hiding on the roof, shot and killed everyone, including Song Dian Shi. Wei Zhi Xian and Liu Shi Qi shot each other with their guns, resulting in Liu Shi Qi's death and Wei Zhi Xian being severely injured.

Qu San Geng had originally intended to use Xue Ju Ren's hand to kill Wei Zhi Xian and avenge his master, but unexpectedly, Liu Shi Qi killed Song Dian Shi and his brothers. He blamed himself for letting everyone down. Wei Zhi Xian and Xue Ju Ren were deadlocked on both sides, both being murderers. Qu San Geng didn't know how to choose, but he came up with a plan. He pretended to take Niu Bu Yan out of the city under the pretense of official business and tricked him into going to the yamen. Niu Bu Yan wanted to save his own life, so Wei Zhi Xian asked him to testify and clarify the truth about the fire twenty years ago. However, Niu Bu Yan distorted the facts and made up a story in his own favor. Wei Zhi Xian agreed to spare his life until the case was closed, but afterwards, it would depend on Niu Bu Yan's fate.

Qu San Geng obtained a deposition from County Magistrate Wei and carried the fire ticket from the Nie Tai to arrest Xue Qi. His official position had already been stripped.

After a twenty-year separation, Lu Bu You finally realized that the charred corpse in the courtyard was Lu Bu You himself, and the present County Magistrate Wei was actually Xiao Bao. It was Lu Bu You who had saved Xiao Bao when he almost got burned. That night, Xiao Bao hid in a dry well and narrowly escaped death. The next day, he accidentally overheard a conversation between Lu Zhi and Leng Wu Ji, where they mentioned that Lu Bu You must die.

After that, Xiao Bao survived for several months by hiding in the dry well. He accidentally discovered gold and left. A year later, Xiao Bao returned to the dry well and took away all the gold. Based on the records left by Lu Zhong before his death, he learned the whole truth and vowed to clear the Lu family's name.

Wei County Magistrate and Xue Qi were curious about the incidents involving Cheng Yi Zhi and Master Wang, and Wei County Magistrate whispered something to Xue Qi, causing them both to burst into laughter. Then, Xue Qi stabbed Wei County Magistrate and committed suicide. Qu San Geng hurriedly embraced Wei County Magistrate, repeatedly murmuring about butter-soaked snails. Butter-soaked snails were the first snack that Lu Zhi had brought for Xiao Bao.

After the deaths of the two men, You Er was killed once again.