Episode 3 recap: Andehai forcibly abducted a young woman, and the people risked their lives to file a lawsuit.
Andehai sat under a tent, watching the people fighting below, finding joy in their struggles. At that moment, three women on the opposite side found it boring and decided to go home, but Andehai discovered them. He ordered his men to detain them. News of this incident reached Ding Bao Zhen's ears, and he couldn't believe that Andehai would be so audacious. Andehai resented Ding Bao Zhen for not respecting him, and Zhao, one of the officials, tried to mediate. Ding Bao Zhen reminded Andehai to focus on the emperor's upcoming wedding and not to slack off. Andehai realized that he was being driven away.
Afterward, Ding Bao Zhen stated that today was a show of strength against Andehai, while Zhao believed that Andehai was a hornet's nest that shouldn't be disturbed. However, Ding Bao Zhen considered the perspective of the people and would not tolerate Andehai's actions. Andehai was infuriated and suddenly remembered something. He decided to feign illness and stay in Dezhou, relying on the support of the empress dowager. He planned to cause chaos during his extended stay.
Ding Bao Zhen, accompanied by Chen Yunlong and Li Pei Rong, arrived at the market and saw a peaceful scene, indicating that Zhao was somewhat competent. Ding Bao Zhen noticed that some tea leaves were from Wuyi Mountain in the south, and there were also some silk products from Suzhou. Ding Bao Zhen appreciated the exquisite embroidery, but was interrupted by Juan'er, who warned that the streets were not safe and they should close early and go home.
Chen Yun Fei realized that the sellers of the embroidery were not ordinary people, so he followed them to Juan'er's house. When Juan'er saw a buyer chasing them into their home, she was scared and threatened to report them to the authorities. Chen Yun Fei lied, claiming to be a merchant, and was not driven away. An old woman informed Ding Bao Zhen that they used to be a wealthy family in Suzhou. Many years ago, their master came to Shandong for business and coincidentally encountered a flood from the Yellow River. Since then, they had lost contact and came to look for him.
Ding Bao Zhen sympathized with the mother and daughter, so he gave them some silver coins as assistance. Learning that Ding Bao Zhen was the governor, they quickly knelt down in gratitude. Ding Bao Zhen promised to follow up on what they had said. From this incident, Ding Bao Zhen conceived the idea of establishing a weaving bureau, and Chen Yun Fei strongly supported it, believing it would promote the development of Dezhou.
Zhao reported to Ding Bao Zhen about Andehai's disturbance at the brothel, and Ding Bao Zhen gave him a suggestion to record a list of damaged items and later present it to the emperor. Ding Bao Zhen shared his idea of the weaving bureau with Zhao, who assigned it to another official, Lu.
Lu, acting in Ding Bao Zhen's name, visited a household that specialized in embroidery and summoned some skilled female embroiderers, offering them partial wages. Unexpectedly, Lu handed these embroiderers over to Andehai as gifts. Andehai took an interest in Juan'er and rewarded everyone with gold and silver jewelry. However, Juan'er refused to accept the jewelry and was left alone with Andehai. Andehai couldn't resist Juan'er's beauty, but Juan'er falsely claimed to be married and begged Andehai to spare her. Andehai willingly escorted Juan'er home and took the opportunity to meet her husband, Shitou. Andehai praised Shitou for his loyalty and honesty and directly proposed to marry Juan'er, but Shitou flatly rejected the proposal.
Andehai directly ordered someone to present a dowry, and Juan'er's family begged him to spare them, but Shitou was beaten by Andehai, and the old mother fainted. Juan'er had no choice but to agree to marry Andehai in order to save her brother, but on the day of the wedding, Juan'er jumped into the river and died. When Juan'er's body was found, the people directly accused Ding Bao Zhen of offering the woman to Andehai under the guise of recruiting female embroiderers. This incident sparked a public outcry. Chen Yun Fei discovered that Lu Guang had impersonated Ding Bao Zhen and forcibly taken the women.
The people surrounded the yamen, and no matter how Ding Bao Zhen explained, he couldn't gain the people's trust. On the other side, Lu Guang and others were celebrating in a restaurant when Li Pei Rong arrived with a group of people to arrest Lu Guang. Lu Guang repeatedly claimed that he was acting on Andehai's orders. Lu Guang was taken to the county yamen, and because the case was special, Ding Bao Zhen decided to handle it personally and held a court trial.
Lu Guang claimed that there was no evidence against him, but Ding Bao Zhen said he could release him to the people for judgment. The people wanted to kill Lu Guang, but he was safe in Ding Bao Zhen's custody, so he had no choice but to confess. Since the night when he was caught with the silver, he had known about Andehai's preferences for women, so he offered women to please him. Lu Guang revealed all of Andehai's illicit activities, including bribery and forcibly taking women, in his confession.
Based on the information provided by Lu Guang, the officials arrested the individuals involved. Lu Guang was immediately thrown into the death cell. Once the people learned the truth, they apologized to Ding Bao Zhen. That night, Ding Bao Zhen sent someone to find Zhao, as they needed his cooperation as a local official for things to proceed smoothly. Chen Yun Fei was worried about the conflict between Andehai's identity and Ding Bao Zhen, and Ding Bao Zhen faced the blame.
His subordinates handed him a letter from the capital. The Prince Gong suggested capturing Andehai and also came up with a reason: Andehai had gone on a business trip without permission, so he should be punished according to the local law. Li Pei Rong was worried about being used, but Ding Bao Zhen stated that even if they were being used, they had to eliminate the menace of Andehai. Andehai knew that Ding Bao Zhen was going to arrest him and awaited him, planning to capture Ding Bao Zhen and arranging for his men to go to Yuanyang Terrace the next day.
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