Episode 4 recap: Yan Zhang Yun was punished for interfering with the dawn.
Xiaoquan was taken back to Qianyu Guard and was mocked by his colleagues for his short stature, saying he was too small to be here. His first day of training was a weighted run, and he took the opportunity to escape from the forest and return to the Emperor. The Emperor had thought Xiaoquan would resent him for not saving him, but Xiaoquan said a lot of sympathetic words to him, making the Emperor feel he had not chosen the wrong friend.
At this time, Yan Zhang Yun came to find the Emperor, deliberately taking away the escaped Xiaoquan, saying his training methods had problems and proposing to increase the cohesion among colleagues, in order to avoid training. Yan Zhang Yun used this to make him wash clothes for the whole team. Xiaoquan took the opportunity to play with bubbles, and the sight of him happily playing with bubbles made Yan Zhang Yun involuntarily recall a childhood memory of himself, when he was seriously injured and was sheltered by a kind family, and the little sister playing with bubbles left a deep impression on him.
To leave this place, Xiaoquan deliberately spilled food on Yan Zhang Yun's face, made bug tea for him, and scattered pastry crumbs, to make Yan Zhang Yun hate him. When Yan Zhang Yun was bathing, Xiaoquan came to scrub his back, which frightened Yan Zhang Yun, as he could not understand why a eunuch would have such intentions towards him.
Wei Tian Jiao's uncle Chen Juncai had brought back precious items from abroad, and Wei Tian Jiao asked his father to prepare 500 taels. It turned out that Chen Juncai and Fang You were using the silver powder, and were arrested by the Qianyu Guard, which had been tipped off.
Yan Zhang Yun wanted to torture Fang You, who then confessed that the silver powder was hidden in Yinma Alley. The next day, Yan Zhang Yun found the silver powder and a lot of treasury silver in Yinma Alley, but Wei Gong claimed someone was framing him, and he was not stupid enough to embezzle. The Prime Minister then mentioned that the case of the Duke of the Nation's Mansion years ago was also related to silver powder, hinting that Wei Gong might be involved.
The Emperor entrusted the investigation of this matter to Yan Zhang Yun. In order to uncover the truth of what happened that year, Yan Zhang Yun had his subordinates go to the Mansion of the Duke of Wei to investigate the account books. His subordinates were reluctant, as the Mansion of the Duke of Wei was heavily guarded. Yan Zhang Yun used the pretext of unpaid military stipends as a reason, and schemed to implicate Xiaoqiangzi.
Xiaoqiangzi, in order to win the reward, voluntarily agreed to accept three challenges from Yan Zhang Yun. She pretended to accept the challenges, but when he came to the Ministry of Revenue to collect the reward, the stipends were nowhere to be found. In order to get the reward, Xiaoqiangzi took the lead in going to Wei Tian Jiao to demand the silver, since his father had embezzled the stipends. Incited by this tactic, the confident Xiaoqiangzi went before Yan Zhang Yun, hoping he would show compassion for his subordinates.
Xiaoqiangzi voluntarily signed up to demand the military stipends, as Yan Zhang Yun had seen that he had the backing of the Emperor, so even if something went wrong, the Emperor would protect him. When they arrived at the Mansion of the Duke of Wei, Yan Zhang Yun initially wanted to negotiate peacefully, but they were met with discrimination. Xiaoqiangzi's colleagues deliberately got into a physical altercation with the people of the Mansion in order to protect him.
Meanwhile, Yan Zhang Yun's personal guard Acheng took the opportunity to search the secret chamber of the Mansion and steal the account books, discovering a large amount of treasury silver. The account books did not record anything about the cinnabar powder, so perhaps the Duke of Wei was framed after all. Xiaoqiangzi, unable to hold his ground, ran back to inform Yan Zhang Yun, as rumors were spreading that Yan Zhang Yun had intentionally stirred up trouble with the Mansion of the Duke of Wei.
The Duke of Wei reported the matter to the Emperor, and the Empress Dowager wanted to have the ringleader Xiaoqiangzi executed. The Emperor pleaded on his behalf, and Yan Zhang Yun also explained the circumstances, taking responsibility for the poor supervision and willing to be punished in Xiaoqiangzi's stead. Yan Zhang Yun was punished with 100 lashes, his back already stained with blood.
To improve the supervision of the Qianyu Guard, the Emperor appointed Xiaoqiangzi to the role of overseeing the guard.
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