Episode 28 recap: Di Ren Jie cracked the case of the Pure Jade murder.
Hong Liang went to Tongkang Village to investigate the scene and discovered a pair of pictures on the broken fragments of a pottery jar. He recognized it as the habit of Di Ren Jie's brother, so he informed Di Ren Jie about it. It was then that Di Ren Jie learned why Chu Lei had taken away his wooden sword. The character "Ying" on the sword did not refer to him, but to Di Ying, his brother.
Hong Liang admitted that Hei Yan was Di Ren Jie's brother. Di Ren Jie didn't know if he would end up fighting against his brother from his memory. Two bodies appeared on Lanfang Street, and Qiao Tai noticed that the sizes of the wounds on the bodies were different and not caused by a single weapon. He suspected that the killer was among the onlookers. Soon, he identified the culprits, who turned out to be individuals from different professions. Investigating the motive for the murders, they discovered that it wasn't for money or revenge. It was simply because of a notice released by Hei Yan, stating that if anyone left the city without permission, he would randomly massacre one person in Lanfang City. When these four individuals heard about the deaths, they conspired to leave Lanfang, but they were surrounded and killed by others who wanted to save their own lives. They believed they were innocent, and the people echoed their sentiments. This made Di Ren Jie feel absurd. He angrily questioned the scholar, asking if Hei Yan wanted to kill his entire family to save the lives of the county's people, would he choose to die with his family? The scholar turned the blame back on Di Ren Jie, accusing him of failing to capture Hei Yan, which led to the danger faced by the people of Lanfang.
The people of Lanfang were filled with fear because of Hei Yan. In order to save their lives, they not only marked themselves with the symbol of Hei Yan but also made Hei Yan flags, praying that he would not harm them. Hong Liang initially advocated seeking assistance from the provincial governor to send troops to suppress the situation. But seeing that the entire Lanfang was in this state, he realized that Di Ren Jie was right. This plan was fundamentally unworkable. Not to mention the innocent people, even the county prison couldn't accommodate so many people.
Ma Rong and Qiao Tai went on patrol and found that the shops on the street were closed, and occasional passers-by carried the flags of Hei Yan. This made Ma Rong very angry, and he directly tore down the flags. It was the first time he felt like there was no need to patrol this street. Di Ren Jie pondered on the case and made corresponding deductions. He speculated that the Pure Jade case was the key. He wanted to take the initiative and not let Hei Yan lead him by the nose. So, he went to see Lady Lang to inquire about the Pure Jade matter.
Lady Lang spoke frankly. At first, she liked Pure Jade, who was beautiful and skillful. However, Pure Jade lost her smile after marrying into the Lang family. She had a bad relationship with her husband. It wasn't until Pure Jade was taken away that Lady Lang learned that Pure Jade had never consummated her marriage with her son. She was still attached to Chu Lei, whom she had promised to be with for life. Lady Lang was furious. Di Ren Jie questioned Lady Lang why she didn't divorce early knowing that Pure Jade's heart wasn't with the Lang family's son. It turned out that the Lang family was a prominent household in Tongkang Village and couldn't afford the disgrace. Moreover, the Lang family was not at fault. It was Xiao, the shopkeeper, who interfered and prevented Pure Jade from marrying Chu Lei, which was why she didn't want to divorce.
Di Ren Jie couldn't help but sigh. If Lady Lang had allowed Chu Lei and Pure Jade to be together earlier, the people of Tongkang Village wouldn't have suffered, and Lady Lang's son could have lived a good life. Lady Lang deeply regretted her actions. Di Ren Jie had already deduced the truth behind the Pure Jade case. To confirm his judgment, he first probed Xiao, the shopkeeper, to see if he knew that Pure Jade had no marital relationship with the Lang family's son and that she had a secret meeting with Chu Lei. Di Ren Jie understood that the paper figure taken away by Long, the butcher, when he saw Chu Lei enter Pure Jade's room was made by Pure Jade herself. Di Ren Jie speculated that Long planned to take advantage of Pure Jade's valuable belongings and killed her after robbing her. Since Long was illiterate, he left behind the wrapping paper that contained the meat to wipe his knife, not realizing that Pure Jade's earrings had fallen on the street when he abducted her.
Chu Lei didn't find Pure Jade at the designated meeting place and came back to look for her. He found the earring on the ground. Xiao, the shopkeeper, in order to protect his reputation, escalated the situation when Long reported Chu Lei's discovery to him, resulting in Chu Lei being imprisoned. Xiao didn't know that his own daughter was killed by Long. When the truth emerged, Xiao tearfully confessed and was taken back to the yamen.
In order to address the people's panic regarding Hei Yan, Di Ren Jie arranged for the county yamen to provide all the people with armbands bearing the symbol of Hei Yan, except for himself. He wanted to provoke Hei Yan to come after him. Lin Fan believed that this move was too dangerous and his gaze flickered as he inquired about Di Ren Jie's next plan.
Cao An was feeling restless. He played the zither to ease his mood. When he heard a commotion outside the door, he immediately went out and saw Lin Fan's figure. He already suspected that there must be a deeper meaning behind Hei Yan sparing his life. He asked Lin Fan to take him to meet Hei Yan. Cao An left a letter, intending to resolve the chaos in Lanfang on his own. Di Ren Jie became deeply worried and immediately sought out Lin Fan, asking him to take him to meet Hei Yan.
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