Basic information about the cases and Judge Dee.

Very Well Written :) 

Thank you. This appears to be a very interesting series ... saw the trailer earlier today, and that solidified my interest. I appreciate the background information, especially since I was trying to figure out how a Dutch author came to be writing fiction about a traditional Chinese character.

Case 1. The Phoenix Seal Case (episode 1 to 4)

"A Wise man must remember not to join the wrong side"

There was an underlying theme of fate and coincidence. Di Renjie (courtesy name Huaiying)  almost starts to believe that all the decisions that he has taken were coincidence, probably fate dictated his actions. However at the end of the case Di Renjie throws away the dice in the river where his father committed suicide, before Di Renjie leaves Chang'an. That indicates that he now realises nothing is happenstance, everything is planned. This eye opening will serve him well to be a good judge in future where he will use deduction to unravel the mystery without believing in chance or supernatural forces. 

There is unrest in Chang'an because The Emperor has given lots of power to the Empress Wu Zetian. Many courtiers are of the thought that a mere woman should not have so much governing  authority. Empress Wu has introduced many reforms in various fields that Di Renjie agrees and appreciates but there is a large faction of courtiers who oppose them. The first case establishes the characters and gives a glimpse into their background. 

We also have two bandits,  Ma Rong and Qiao Tai whom Di Renjie has brought from western region to Chang'an. They become his well trusted side kicks, both have diverse and fascinating traits. At the beginning Di Renjie is reluctant to appear in the Imperial Examination due to his father's suicide many years ago but later he passes the exam and is appointed and stationed as a judge/magistrate of Penglai county, a remote frontier. Di Renjie: "My fate must be in my own hands. " At the end of the 4th episode Di Renjie appoints Hong Liang as his inspector, Ma Rong and Qiao Tai as his attendants. 

Summary of episode 1 to 4 (excluding too many spoilers)

 
At the beginning Di Renjie is reluctant to appear in the  Imperial Examination for the Classicists. Hong Lian, has obtained an examination ticket for him. Empress Wu had reformed the examination that year. Irrespective of a person's background or place of residence everyone could appear for the exams to get selected on their merit.

During the course of the first case Di Renjie ends up solving a case of a missing pearl as well. This quickly solved case is used to showcase the deduction ability, observational power, lightning reflexes and  compassion of Di Renjie. 

Unbeknownst to the commers the court is in a upheaval, the Phoenix Seal of the Empress has been stolen and has been used on fake decrees. On top of that many Strange unnatural fires are occurring, Empress favorite Wutong Tree outside the palace suddenly caught fire and burnt down. Was it a man-made or a natural disaster?

 
Di Renjie encounters his old friend, He Dajing who is currently working as an assistant for Grand Secretariat Wei. He Dajing is helping write the documents on new policies introduced by Empress Wu especially the Tax policy. After the examination Di Renjie ans He Dajing visit Jushui Entertainment house that catches fire and burns down killing He Dajing and many others, only Di Renjie survives. Another task that He Dajing was entrusted by Grand Secretariat Wei before his death was to compile records of great families based on their merit. People like Old Grand Commandant Zhangsun will lose their position as it was not obtained on merit. Di Renjie demands 10 days from the magistrate to investigate the Jushui Entertainment House fire. General Kang Zhiyi identifies one dead body from Jushui Entertainment house as that of a palace maid,  Yaxin.

The courtiers including Zhangsun are taking this opportunity of Seal loss to demand that Empress Wu should be punished. Loss of imperial Phoenix Seal means the imperial authority is at stake. It was misused by villains. The strange fires are attributed to Heaven's warning and Wrath.

Di Renjie believes the fires are caused by an enemy of the empress. Mr. Wei believes Empress' reforms have offended too many people. Di Renjie is of the opinion that reforms are beneficial, the new policy of the imperial examination that allows commers an opportunity, the agricultural reforms no longer penalizes displaced migrants, allowing them to settle nearby and giving them farmland.  Mr. Wei states that all the people who support and oppose the Empress are fighting

In the meantime there is a third fire in a farmhouse, all four dead bodies are male have calluses on their palm and purlicues . Di Renjie deducts they were burnt after their death.

 
Clues that Di Renjie finds during the course of his investigation were uncovered by him coincidentally or deliberately left by someone? Someone made a perfect plan to frame Empress Wu but Heaven's plan supersede our own, or does it? Di Renjie recites Confucius' belief said "only women and small minded men are hard to deal with", Should women not be given authority? Is his majesty's acceptance of women considered cowardice by many courtiers? What is the grand scheme, who is to be trusted? Who was the mysterious lady singing Bingzhou Ditty in Jushui Entertainment house that attracted Di Renjie's attention?  Should one support lesser evil to achieve greater good? 

Case 3 - The Golden Mystery case (episodes 8- 12) 

On the deck of a ship carrying bandits/smugglers, a bandit inquires as to why  Wang Lide dropped the anchor in the middle of the ocean during a mild storm. Wang Lide replies that it's too stormy. The bandit retorts that the storm is not that intense, back in the days he had battled in Liaodong,  he had seen waves taller than the mountains. The bandit cautions Wang Lide not to trick him. Wang Lide assures the bandit that he had been on that route a dozen times better to be safe than sorry. The bandit wants to know where rest of the people were, Wang Lide informs him they were all taking rest in the cabin. The bandit goes inside to look for his companions. 

In the kitchen of the ship, the cook has brought an illegal foreign immigrant (from Baekje)as a stowaway and hidden him under the kitchen in the cellar. The stowaway wants to get out as he has an upset stomach, however the cook hands him a slop bucket and shoves the cellar door close, blocking his way. According to the cook, the ship was full of bandits carrying swords if they noticed the stowaway, they would kill him immediately. 

The bandit from the deck passes the kitchen and goes inside the cabin. He is shocked to see all his companions are murdered. Wang Lide  comes in and stabs the bandit.  Wang Lide while stabbing the bandit recites, "Gathered in delight.  A homecoming feast unfolds. The joy is as great as in the song of the Great Wind. "

Wang Lide kills everyone on board except the hidden stowaway.

(10 days later at Penglai Harbour)

Bai kai tries to draw attention of the greedy Director Yi looking at the golden bars hungrily. All the items in the tent were for Commissioner Liu.  Bai Kai's shipmaster Mr.Gu has prepared lots of goodies for Commissioner Liu who has come all the way from the capital to buy for his Majesty.  Commissioner Liu is also trusted by the Empress.  Bai Kai says they must take good care of him. Director Yi is a little offended because they usually offer him some furs and ginseng only. Bai Kai placates Director Yi and tells him that as he was the director of maritime trade who managed the harbour, he was always offered a gift from all incoming ships of Mr. Gu. Bai Kai had also heard that commissioner Liu's intentions were not good  so only if they please him can they make money later hence all the items are being offered to him. 

 Di Renjie has come to Penglai harbour to question a shipowner Gu Mengbin meets an old friend, Hou You (courtesy name Guanshi) there. It has been one year since Di Renjie left the capital. Hou You tells Di Renjie that with the Empress in power, many officers have been either demoted or deposed, he is no exception hence he has lost weight. Di Renjie has been summoning Mr.Gu for three days but Mr. Gu has been evading Di Renjie.  Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Hou You  has accompanied Commissioner Liu from the Capital informs that Mr. Gu was going to hold a banquet that night. The Gu family had made  quite a big scene. Mr. Gu is the biggest ship owner in Penglai. The hundreds of ships in and out of harbour are all his. His ships can sail to  Japan and Baekje.(Baekje or Paekche was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD.)

Mr.Gu warns Director Yi  not to mention Baekje gold in front of Commissioner Liu at the banquet that night. During the banquet, Mr. Gu and Director Yi do their best to flatter and please Commissioner Liu. Commissioner Liu remains unimpressed and comments in an offhand manner that he has little education and loves only two things in life, one listening to songs and second Gold. Upon hearing this, Director Yi tells Commissioner Liu that Penglai doesn't produce gold. Cao An and other performers are booked by Mr. Gu to entertain Commissioner Liu that night. Ms. Cao is called inside to sing for Commissioner Liu. Qiao Tai takes a fancy to one of the female performer, Yusu who happens to be Baekje. 

Di Renjie is allowed to come inside the tent where the banquet is held to greet Commissioner Liu and he uses that opportunity to question Mr. Gu. Di Renjie wants to inquire about a person named Wang Lide who is supposed to be Mr. Gu's agent for transshipment of overseas goods. Wang Lide has rented a shop on which rent is overdue and Di Renjie is unable to find Wang Lide. The fact of concern is that the cargo found by Di Renjie in one of the shipment was Modao. There were a total of  100 Modao( swords) and 80 Fuyuan Crossbows all weapons of Tang. According to Tang code a person cannot  secretly keep the weapons or sell them.  From the putty store, Di Renjie has found out the number of ships under Mr.Gu ownership that purchase putty to repair leaks. From that information, Di Renjie concludes that Gu family has both legal ships and clandestine ships. Similarly there are also legal and clandestine agents. 

While Di Renjie is presenting his case at the banquet and Director Yi and Mr. Gu are trying to clarify things there is a commotion from outside the  tent. Everyone rushes outside to see another tent's cover has been pulled down, amidst the gifts for Commissioner Liu,  Qiao Tai and Ma Rong were caught snooping. Commissioner Liu is angry when Director Yi clarifies in his  ears that the tent was full of gifts arranged by Mr.Gu for him. 

Commissioner Liu asks the crowd of people surrounding him and Di Renjie to step away from them and then hands over a secret  Imperial Edict from Empress Wu to Di Renjie. As per the Edict, It is heard that gold from Baekje has been flowing into the Capital through Penglai recently. Traitorous officials in the court are using it to buy people's support and disrupt the market with ill intention. Empress Wu orders Di Renjie to solve the case within one month failing to do so he will be as guilty as the gold smugglers. 

Just then an abandoned ship drifts towards the harbour and crashes against the docking board. Upon investigation by Director Yi it was found that there was sign of life but there wasn't anybody on board, there was also no sign of struggle. He jokingly says that perhaps everyone jumped in the sea. The cargo was mostly herbs and furs. It was difficult for Director Yi to determine where the ship was coming from. Mr. Gu denies ownership of that particular ship. 

Di Renjie asks Commissioner Liu's permission to investigate on board the ship if it was suspected that the ship was used for gold smuggling. He goes on board with Hou You and others. They notice that a heavy chest was hanging on the mast pole that has been cut off and the chest was nowhere to be found. In the ship's kitchen based on the size of mushroom growth on food, Di Renjie deducts its 30 days growth. If the ship set sail 20 days ago the country of departure should be Tamna Or  Baekje. In the kitchen, under the barrel of mouldy rice they find a trapdoor to cellar and upon opening a starving, dehydrated unconscious man is found. 

This thin man is saved and taken for questioning at the Magistrate's court in Penglai. Because it is speculated the man is a foreigner, Yusu( Baekje female singer seen previously)  is called for translation. The man acknowledges that he is from Baekje and was a stowaway he wanted to come to Tang for a better life as there were continuous wars in his country. His brother had secretly brought him on the ship but feared the armed men so asked him to stay under kitchen cabin in a cellar. According to him the ship  changed direction a few times during the voyage.Through the crack in the cellar, this man  saw a white island. The ship stopped there for a few days as if waiting for something. On the night of the incident the ship stopped in a vast whirlpool. This man's brother asked him to stay in the cellar and closed the trapdoor with an heavy object. Later this man could not get out and no one answered him. 

Di Renjie shows the man the portrait of Wang Lide and asks the man if he recognised the person. The man is a little confused but he suddenly remembers seeing a strange tattoo pattern on one of the crew member's body and later his brother informed him that all men had the same tattoo. This man is asked to draw the tattoo and everyone is astonished to see the tattoo pattern. 

Later Commissioner Liu recalls the events that happened many years ago associated with the people having such tattoos. He ponders if Heiyan was back. Commissioner Liu tells Di Renjie and Hou You that many years ago, this group of remnants of the former era was arrogant  and all over the state. They were a threat to the late Emperor. In the 14th year of Zhenguan Reign, they were eliminated successfully. The remaining ones went into hiding. The credit for that annihilation was given to Di Zhixun, Di Renjie's father. However there were also allegations at that time that Di Zhixun had colluded with the Heiyan. Later Di Zhixun's case was reversed as there was no direct evidence of his involvement with Heiyan. Di Zhixun was threatened that time so he chose to commit suicide. Heiyan was in hiding for many years and it's making a comeback again. 

Some local people find a man lying unconscious on the beach, it is believed he has drifted to the shore and was originally a crew of that ghost ship. 

In Jail, the Baekje stowaway is given lots of food. He gorges on the food and chokes to death. Later, Hong Liang comments to Di Renjie that a starving person should not be allowed to eat excessively. It was also revealed that he was given the food as per Director Yi's instructions. 

A court trial is held to question the person who had drifted to the shore. Yusu is called again for translation, Magistrate Di, Mr. Gu, Director Yi, commissioner Liu, Deputy Secretary Hou and Mr. Gu's agent Bai kai are also present. This person says he is from Baekje but his ancestors traded in Tang so he doesn't need an interpreter.  His name is Jin Sang. He recognises the Wang Lide from his portrait as the person on the ship responsible for killing all crew members. Jon Sang luckily jumped into the sea when he was being threatened, he took a plank with him and lying on that plank  with the help of his fishing hook, drifted for 10 days before reaching the shore. Earlier inspection by Hou You and Di Renjie of the ship had revealed a water gourd missing. So Hou You inquiries if he jumped overboard with a plank or a gourd? Jin Sang confirms it was a plank that he took. Director Yi asks Jin Sang what could be Wang Lide's motive to kill the sailors. Jin Sang at first refuses to answer that question but after getting assurance of his safety reveals. One day, on the deck Jin Sang overhead Wang Lide plotting with others about a large shipment of gold being smuggled aboard the ship in a big crate. This is related to many big shots in Penglai. Jin Sang names the people whose name he had overhead as Mr. Gu, Director Yi and Magistrate whose last name is Di (Di Renjie). Upon being questioned that one other witness saw strange tattoo marks on all crew members, so did the sailors belong with Heiyan gang. Jin Sang is offended and says they were just poor sailors and volunteers to take off his clothes in the court to check for any tattoos. 

Later Cao An reminisces about another encounter with the masked  caped man  Heiyan when she was younger. Heiyan was wounded and enters Cao An's room. He asks her to play music while he removed the embedded arrow from his chest. Next morning, Heiyan plans to kill her to  keep his presence a secret but doesn't go through with it. Before leaving through her window he asks her to learn Bingzhou ditty and blows a black feather through the window advising her to fly like a lark. Cao An has attached this black feather in her hand fan. 

That night, Di Renjie and Hou You go to check the rumors of the drifted ship being haunted. They find a masked and a cape man on board, they confront him. The man jumps down from the docked ship and runs away leaving behind a bundle. 

Di Renjie finds that inside the cloth bundle was a Map and star- orienting board used to measure stars on long voyages to determine the course, the journey on the map started from Baekje and ended at Penglai. Also on the map was a small island, referred to by both people on that ghost ship. It is speculated that the gold is hidden on that island, Di Renjie asks commissioner Liu to go to that island and verify before someone else hears the rumors of gold and goes there. 

Commissioner Liu decides to set sail for the island. He invites Yusu and Cao An( Di Renjie warns Cao An not to accept but she goes anyway because it was mentioned that Heiyan was involved). Deputy Secretary Hou You, Director Yi, Mr.Gu, Bai kai, Qiao Tai, Ma Rong and Di Renjie are also on that ship along with  the prisoner Jin Sang. Their ship is also accompanied by a fleet of ships provided by the Commissioner of Maritime. 

They are on the same course as Wang Lide when a violent storm separates their ship from the fleet. Someone had also sabotages their rudder and destroyed their mast. They were basically just drifting in the sea. Di Renjie had brought Homing pigeons on the ship as precaution, he writes a letter to Hong Liang telling him of the situation and writing a report to be presented on the court if something happened to them. He hope Hong Liang would be able to send rescue soon. Di Renjie doesn't know who is the person sabotaging them and why he wants to keep them stranded. While Di Renjie is writing a letter to Hong Liang, Hou You plays a new musical piece on the stringed instrument in the same room. Di Renjie that it was a piece he had never heard his friend play. Hou you replies it was was the work of Hu Erniang in the Capital and easy to copy as it has a few notes only. However when Di Renjie goes to look at Hou you'a notation, Hou You hides the hand written notation and distracts Di Renjie with something else. 

Di Renjie also discusses that there was something missing on Wang Lide's chart, the place where all witnesses claim he stopped on the night of the incident as if waiting for someone was not marked on the chart of Wang Lide they had. Meanwhile commissioner Liu also reaches the conclusion that something fishy was going on, the reason they set sail was because they got Wang Lide's chart and map. He interrogates Jin Sang again who reveals that he had overheard Wang Lide boast of having a lover on the shore and she was Baekje. Yusu is tortured as she was Wang Lide's lover, she just confesses of knowing Wang Lide who promised to redeem her and marry her as he was going to be rich when he returned back. However she doesn't know where the gold or Wang Lide were. 

Director Yi is questioned by Di Renjie, that on the night of the incident, Director Yi had taken a big boat of the maritime commission. Why did he go on the same night? Did he meet with Wang Lide. It was turning foggy. Mr. Gu and his agent Bai kai, Di Renjie and Hou You are on Deck. Everyone else in their cabin, when the fog lifts, Director Yi is discovered hanging on the mast of the sails. It is not determined whether it was suicide or murder. 

Yusu is in one of the jail on the ship, Bai Kai visits her and tries to kill her to silence her. However he is discovered by Qiao Tai and Ma Rong. Bai kai when cornered, reveals that he is from Baekje, he was the captain of Huben Guards of Baekje and  was the person buying arms from Wang Lide to supply to Baekje. However Di Renjie wants to know who was the supplier of the arms because Wang Lide was just a minor agent he would not have access to such huge shipment of arms. Bai kai chooses to jump in the sea, without revealing the identity of the actual seller. 

Di Renjie writes another letter to Hong Liang, informing him of the deaths of Director Yi and Bai kai. 

It is very strange that inspite of their rudder and mast being  damaged they are still on Wang Lide's course as per the star -orienting charts. It probably is due to the fact Wang Lide's course followed the current and the ship is also drifting in the same direction being pushed forward by the current. 

Yusu who has been given temporary relief from the prison after Bai kai's death tells Di Renjie that it was Bai Kai who had introduced her to Wang Lide but she is unaware of their business dealings. Yusu remembers Wang Lide fondly as a person who loved playing musical instruments and was quite gentle with her despite his unattractive looks.

what is the real identity of Jin Sang? Is Yusu just an unwitting pawn? Where is Wang Lide? Did they find the gold on the island? Who is the corrupt official involved in selling of  weapons to Baekje in exchange of Gold? Who killed Director Yi? 

Case 5 - Red Pavilion (Episodes 15 -18) 

Di Renjie and the team set off from Penglai to Lan Ward, his next posting. Di Renjie finally plucks up courage, he stands outside Cao An's room and invites her to join him, however he doesn't get any response from inside the room. Di Renjie is dejected and is walking in a sullen mood.  Outside the city gates at a small way side shop, Cao An is waiting for them, upon seeing her Di Renjie's mood changes. Hong Liang and Qiao Tai are happy for him. 

They continue onwards, Di Renjie recollects how he had met Qiao Tai and Ma Rong the first time. They were hungry and fought Di Renjie in a desert as soon as they reached the food and water bags of Di Renjie, they abandoned their weapons and started devouring food. Di Renjie asked them to work for him. 

The team while crossing the desert on their journey encounter a sandstorm, they take cover behind a rock. A briefcase containing old solved cases opens and it's contents along with papers are scattered. Disregarding his safety, Di Renjie starts gathering the scattered contents, Ma Rong and Qiao Tai help him. While picking up the documents, he finds an old wooden peach sword from his childhood days. Di Renjie remembers the day his father committed suicide by jumping in the river, he had jumped in as well to save his father and remembers the sword in the water. Later he picked this wooden peach sword from the river bank. Ma Rong hands him a small sealed box (labeled, Sealed by Penglai Magistral office). 

After the sandstorm at night, the team takes shelter in one of the posts outside Lan Ward. Qiao Tai informs Di Renjie that they have received a letter sent by a pigeon from the city defense team. The letter stated that the city defense team for the next shift was also trapped by the sandstorm. It would take them ten days to arrive. Di Renjie sends Ma Rong and Qiao Tai ahead of them to assess the situation in Lan Ward, he warns them to be careful as the city defense team had not arrived yet. 

After they leave for Lan Ward, Di Renjie has a talk with Cao An. Cao An is admiring the beauty of the peaceful night in the desert after the storm. Di Renjie tells her that he had found a small peach wood sword that he had kept for many years. That small peach wood sword meant a lot to him, it was an important part of his childhood.(probably gifted by his father?) Di Renjie doesn't believe that the peach wood can wward off evil spirits but by bringing it along,  he can always turn ill luck into good. That day he had reunited with it, maybe the sword was trying to remind him that the Lan Ward was a very dangerous place. Di Renjie was not scared himself but was worried that Cao An may suffer. 

When Di Renjie along with Cao An and Hong Liang enters the Lan Ward, he is disappointed by the total chaos. Different factions(gangs) are controlling various businesses in Lan Ward. Just then, Di Renjie sees a fight break out over water distribution, people fighting over a small portion of water and then being beaten by the guards of the faction controlling the well(wharf). A  veiled gentleman wearing long flowing coat, Li Tao intervenes and saves the people who were being beaten. Li Tao gives money pouch to the faction leader so that everyone can get some water. He is thanked by the people. Ma Rong and Qiao Tai report to Di Renjie that the magistral office of Lan Ward has been burnt to ashes. Opposite the burnt magistral office is a building, a pleasure house Red Pavilion. Di Renjie notices there are  various flags next to all business establishments but none on Red pavilion. He decides to lodge there. 

Biyu, the manager of Red Pavilion welcomes them. She gives them rooms for their stay and informs them that all of the lodgers at her place are merchants. Biyu tells Di Renjie that Red Pavilion is not under the control of any flag. She further tells them there are three major factions in the Lan Ward - Green Dragon Gang, Lone Wolf Gang and Black Tiger Gang. Apart from these three major factions there are over ten other factions of various sizes. They rise one after the other. There is constant fight among the factions over the territory. She further informs them that five years ago, Lan Ward was not fragmented but controlled by Heiyan. Five years ago Heiyan suffered great losses and they all disappeared. Since then the factions have risen, they control all kinds of businesses in the Lan Ward and even take Anhua (bounty). They have enough funds to hire soldiers and possess weapons to control the place. 

There is a fight over one of the water well(wharf). The leader of Black Tiger gang, Qian Hao ruthlessly kills the leader of the Lone Wolf gang and eliminates it. Di Renjie warns Qiao Tai that because the gangs are heavily armed with a large number of guards at their beck and call, until the city defense team arrives they have to be careful. 

Later Di Renjie has drawn a rough map of Lan Ward. He sits in his study looking at the small peach wood sword, letter YING has been inscribed on it. At that moment, a beautiful young prostitute of the Red Pavilion, Qiu Yue screams. Di Renjie takes Qiao Tai and Ma Rong to the room from which her scream was heard. They see Mr. Li (who gave money to poor people earlier for water)  lying dead on his bed, his wrist has been cut and there is a pool of blood on the floor near the bed. Qiu Yue is quite shaken by the sight, she says she had come to give some food to him when she saw that he was dead. She further reveals that some time ago Mr. Li had proposed to her in public, promised to buy her freedom from Red Pavilion and marry her. He had promised, both of them would leave Lan Ward and settle someplace far away. Qiu Yue had refused his proposal at that time. According to Qiu Yue he committed suicide because of her refusal. Qiu Yue says that she hadn't touched anything in his room when she found the dead body. However Mr. Li had told her sometime back when she had gone to serve him some food that at that time he was writing a will in her favour. Qiu Yue upon being questioned about noticing any strange behavior of Mr. Li states that recently he had always been in a bad mood and often looked at his image in the mirror. 

Biyu arrives in the room and promises to report the murder at the magistrate's office the next day. She couldn't report anything immediately as the office had been burnt down. She promises to lock the room at night so as not to disturb any evidence and ensure the dead body is not moved. She states that she has been the manager of Red Pavilion for over ten years and everything had been peaceful before. At night, Di Renjie asks Ma Rong to break the lock. Qiao Tai, Ma Rong and Di Renjie enter the room to investigate the crime scene. 

Qiao Tai and Ma Rong put on the seluthing hat. From the crime scene inspection they find the ink on the writing table was not dry yet (Qiu Yue said something about Li Tao writing a will in her favour). The lower part of the cut wound on his left wrist was deeper than the upper part. He must have held the knife in his right hand. The blood had congealed  but the ink was not dry. The wound was not above the pool of blood. Ma Rong concludes someone had moved the body. Ma Rong also finds a red mark on his neck, so assumes it's a needle mark, someone must have injected him with a drug to render him immobile then must have slashed his wrist. Then the conclusion was that he didn't commit suicide.  There are lots of IOU notes in his room, on all IOU notes it was mentioned that the money need not be repaid. Qiao Tai says he must have gone broke  so he committed suicide. There was no sign of another person in the room. Di Renjie piecing together the clues concludes that Qiu Yue must have lied to them about not touching anything in the room. Just then Biyu enters the room with Magistrate assistant Li Luo. Li Luo informs Di Renjie that the magistral office had been burnt last month. Except the previous magistrate who had abandoned his post and fled, all staff would report to the new magistrate the next morning. 

Biyu had informed the magistrate's office because she wanted Mr. Li to inspect the crime scene so that she could give explanation to Li Tao's family later. Biyu says that she did not know any personal details about Mr. Li. He had been her lodger for 47 days. He was a good man, kind and respectful. He loved Qiu Yue and never got close to any other ladies in her pleasure house. 

Li Lou tells Di Renjie and his team Biyu's background after she leaves the room because Ma Rong was curious about  it. Li Lou tells them that Biyu was a legendary figure in Lan Ward. She has been juggling various forces for years. That's how she was able to keep Red Pavilion intact. There are a lot of stories about her. There was a rich gentleman Mr. Lu. He was deeply in love with Biyu. He wanted to marry her but Biyu refused because she didn't want to part with the ladies of Red Pavilion. Mr. Lu committed suicide because of her rejection. After that her social position was elevated. All the ladies of Red Pavilion tried to imitate Biyu. Ma Rong thinks that Mr. Li must have been killed by Qiu Yue who wanted to imitate Biyu. 

From the emblem on the painting in Mr. Li's room, Di Renjie finds out his identity. He was the son of the former governor Li Wejing of Tingzhou. After retirement Li Wening was residing in his home town. Di Renjie takes Magistrate Assistant Mr. Li to visit former governor's residence. Li Wejing's health is not good. He coughs continuously while talking, he doesn't allow Di Renjie to speak about his runaway son. He shows Di Renjie and Li Luo the flowers that are in abandance in his house. He says that his late wife loved the flowers. Those flowers were Tulips. Li wejing says they were in abandant in Western Regions. He loved these kind of flowers. He had planted them in his house and took care of them for many years, they were finally blossoming. He says "When the tulips withers, the spring is about to end". He confesses he is in bad health. His son was a good human being, kind and benevolent. His son ran away from home due to disagreement with him, he requests Di Renjie to take care of his son if he finds him and to tell his son to return back home as his father didn't have long to live. Di Renjie is unable to tell Li Wejing that his son is dead. 

Boxes full of official documents are brought by Mr. Po - Magistrate assistant and Mr. Bai - Secretary to Red Pavilion.  Li Tao was a benefactor of many people in Lan Ward, they gather on a street outside Red Pavilion, burn paper money to mourn his death. Di Renjie decides to hold court in a makeshift tent. However nobody trusts the legal justice system.  Di Renjie is informed that the magistral office was not burnt down by people, it was burnt due to natural fire and lightning but nobody bothered to put out the fire because what was the use of the office when the actual power was held by different factions in Lan Ward. 

Li Tao's dead body is taken to Bupo medicine shop. Mr. Hu the coroner as well as the physician is performing an autopsy. Mr. Hu doesn't seem reliable, he keeps mumbling and commenting on irrelevant details about the size of the deceased feet and the size proving that the deceased is a male. Mr. Hu immediately determines that the cut on Li Tao's hand was self inflicted. Di Renjie draws his attention to the red mark on Li Tao's neck and inquires if he had been poisoned. Li Luo assures Di Renjie that Mr. Hu was the only physician who did not make a mistake. However looking at Mr. Hu's state and his rumblings, Di Renjie was skeptical about his ability. 

Cao An and Hong Liang are sorting files at Red Pavilion. Cao An inquires of Hong Liang if in the case files of Zhenguan era, the mentioned Shangshu  Zuocheng was Di Renjie's father. Hong Liang replies that his master(Di Renjie's father) was not a traitor. The bandit leader of Heiyan was  master's schoolmate. The bandit leader wanted to use Huaiying (Di Renjie) to compel Mr.Hong's master to cooperate with him and send weapons to chang'an so as to stage an armed rebellion. But Di Renjie's father wouldn't agree. Di Renjie's father feared that Huaiying would face danger so he committed suicide. Cao An says that it was because of Minister Di, Di Renjie's father that the court found out what Heiyan intended to do and finally annihilated them. Hong Lian sighs and says  what good did it do, though the previous Emperor rehabilitated his master, he had already died he could not be restored to life. Hong Liang says the way Di Renjie now buries himself in cases,  he tries to popularize the Tang Code it has something to do with the misfortune that happened that year. Ms Cao says that was the reason Di Renjie was holding court in rubbles, for him serving justice mattered. Cao An finds another detail while going through official case files, since the 20th year of Zhenguan era there were many records depicting the stories  of Heiyan in the local documents of Lan Ward. But these group of Heiyan bandits were totally different from the ones the imperial Court had annihilated. They didn't do anything against the court but they controlled all the businesses of Lan Ward. Sometimes they also committed murders. Although their businesses covered the whole Lan Ward, they were restricted within this place. Hong Liang replies that they were just some survivors of Heiyan. They were reconciled to failure and gathered together to do some disgraceful business. Cao An says the last time the Heiyan showed up in Lan Ward was at the beginning of the fifth year of the Gengshen cycle,  it was the year when the Penglai war occurred. All of the Heiyan from Lan Ward went to Penglai to loot gold and weapons (alluding to the gold case).  Hong Liang acknowledges that the war was lethal to Heiyan. They took risk but their leaders were killed. Heiyan thus suffered a great loss. Hong Liang is glad that Heiyan has disappeared. He feared Di Renjie (Huaiying) would face the same situation as his father. While talking Hong Liang is looking fondly at the small peach wood sword of Di  Renjie, on which the word YING is inscribed. Cao An asks Hong Liang why YING was inscribed on his childhood toy sword because as per her Huaiying should be a literary name of Magistrate Di after his enlightenment. Hong Liang deflects the query by saying he doesn't remember such old things. Hong Liang says he should put aside the sword. 

Di Renjie questions Qiu Yue who tells him her sad story. When she was a child and travelling with her father they were caught in a sandstorm. As a result everyone travelling along died except her. Many caravans passed by her that day but none wanted to spare water to save a dying girl. Only Biyu was the one who stopped to save her. Lan Ward was a place of predators and opportunist so Qiu Yue joined Red Pavilion to survive. Li Tao was very gentle and kind, he fell in love with her but she did not trust his feelings hence she declined his proposal. After her refusal, she noticed a change in Li Tao's behavior towards her. He avoided her and became indifferent to her. When she would take food to his room, he would angrily shove her out. She says the night she found his dead body, she had searched his room to find the will that he told her about. However she did not find it. If she had found the will it would be evidence that she was telling the truth. Di Renjie accuses her of trying to imitate the legendary Biyu. 

Li Tao's father had already known of his son's death when Di Renjie went to visit him. He has arranged for Bounty (Anhua) to be given to the person who catches/kills his son's murderer.  The gang members are killing innocent people on the streets hoping to get the Bounty. Black Tiger Gang leader, Qian Hao is the most ruthless of all. He tells Di Renjie that whomever he questions as a suspect will be killed off by Qian Hao to get the bounty. Someone burns Bupo medicine shop. Mr. Hu is found unconscious outside his burning shop, Di Renjie and his team go inside the shop and see Li Tao's dead body has been completely burned. Di Renjie suspects one of the staff from Mr.Po, Mr. Li and Mr.Bai to be an informant who is leaking information to the gang members. Qiu Yue's life is in danger being the primary murder suspect. Di  Renjie fears Qian Hao who is ruthless and wishes to collect the bounty may harm her. 

Did Qiu Yue really murder Li Tao? Who is the informant from the magistral office? Was Li Tao's death murder or suicide? Was Di Renjie successful in abolishing the gangs from Lan Ward?


Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

 "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

👆my favorite quote from Sherlock Holmes series

Di Renjie (episode 18, Red Pavilion) - 

"when you exclude all the possibilities, the remaining ones, however unbelievable, are the truth"

👆This dialogue is so Sherlock Holmes.

Did the script writer take inspiration from Sherlock Holmes?? 🧐

Case 7 - Hollow Gourd ( Episodes  22- 25) 

Di Renjie wants to propose to Cao An so he is trying to hunt a wild goose which would be used in the ceremonial proposal. However it is much easier to find deer than geese in the desert area. Qiao Tai and Di Renjie scout the area but weren't able to find the geese then they came across a dead goose as if it was a gift for Di Renjie. Di Renjie finds the emblem of the Heiyan beneath the dead goose. Not to look at the gift goose in the mouth, he takes it home. Cao An is shopping in the market accompanied by Ma Rong who doesn't seem too pleased to be on the escort duty. Ma Rong is dissatisfied that everyone has become very mellow and domesticated. She wants some action in her life. Qiao Tai is plucking the feathers from the goose, Ma Rong obliquely warns him of the possibility of the goose being poisoned as it seemed a gift from an unknown source, possibly Heiyan. In the Desert an unknown person receives notes carried by an egale about Di Renjie. 

Ma Rong learns that a member of the Green Dragon gang, Chen Xiaoyun who was currently in their custody mentioned about the leader of Heiyan meeting the gang leaders of Lanfang at a particular place during the new moon in the woods. Ma Rong takes Chen Xiaoyun to verify the information, in spite of being warned by Qiao Tai and Di Renjie that it was not advisable to follow the clue. Qiao Tai intercepts Ma Rong and joins her on the night expedition. Upon reaching the said place they see many dead bodies hanging from the branches of trees in that area. Suddenly they are ambushed and shot at by some men. Chen Xiaoyun runs in the chaos, Ma Rong follows him. Qiao Tai gets hit by an arrow when he too follows Ma Rong. Ma Rong finds someone has pierced through Chen Xiaoyun's upper body with a sword and pinned him to the trunk of a tree. Even though Qiao Tai is not vitally hurt, it seems he is in a drugged poisoned state. Coroner Hu while examining the dead body of Chen Xiaoyun out of the blue tells Di Renjie that Qiao Tai is not in any danger, he will sleep for some days and wake up on his own. Coroner Hu believes Qiao Tai is having dreams of the fairy of ninth heaven and kylin. He is having good dreams that can make people forget their worries. Qiao Tai will be alright. 

Some guard shouts outside, Di Renjie goes to see what the commotion was about and finds another dead goose on the ground, an arrow with a note is pierced on the ground next to the goose. The note reads, "Nightmare for a day, wake up in three days. Boqi devours dreams. Read the dream in Qing Chuan." Di Renjie is discussing the note with Cao An and concludes the person who wrote the note (leader of Heiyan?) must be in Qing Chuan. Qing Chuan's location is special. It is at the junction of Shannan Circuit, Jiannan circuit and Longyou Circuit. The folk customs are mixed there. The environment is even more complicated. Cao An thinks Di Renjie may face danger if he goes there.  Di Renjie assures everyone in Lanfang that Qiao Tai was not in danger but the person deliberately poisoned Qiao Tai and if Di Renjie wants to read the dream, he must go to Qing Chuan. 

Di Renjie decides to go alone, he promises Mr.Hong that he will return back within 30 days. Cao An wishes him farewell and gives him gloves(that she had purchased earlier for Di Renjie)and his baggage. Di Renjie says that he had prepared all the betrothal gifts except the goose(which he was unable to catch till date) . Cao An replies that such formalities doesn't matter to her, she hopes he will return back safely. 

Di Renjie has to cross the woods to go to Qing Chuan. He hears a phrase echoed in the woods "Life is all empty. Dreams must eventually wake up".On the way he encounters a group of armed men. At first there seems to be a possibility of a fierce fight between the group and Di Renjie but a strange elderly bearded man on a donkey intervenes. He tells the armed group of men that Di Renjie was healer Lin,  the elderly man tells the armed group of men that Healer Lin must go to Qing Chuan to treat some prostitutes who have encountered a strange disease, it would not be good for them to kill the healer. The group leaves after hearing this. The man riding a donkey has a gourd with him. Di Renjie wants to know his name. The man refuses to tell his name because the name was not important, he further tells Di Renjie that he was a travelling alchemist. Di Renjie inquires if there was some elixir in the gourd that the man carried. The man turns the gourd upside down to show it was empty. The man says the gourd was empty because if it was not empty he couldn't put anything in it when needed. 

The man tells Di Renjie that he would accompany him to Qing Chuan. Upon reaching the outskirts, the man tells Di Renjie to address him as Mr.Hulu. When they enter the city gate, they see that people are unsettled, they have crowded the streets. There are dead bodies of two men( two men out of the gang of people Di Renjie met in the woods) that the officer has come to pick in a cart. Onlookers are commenting that in such a world nobody knows how many days they have left. The officials are useless. One man comments the way the dead person is dressed doesn't look right, it must be ill gotten gains. The officer riding a horse asks the guards to pick up the dead bodies and draw them away in a cart. A little girl is observing this and seems to be in the way of the officer, the officer doesn't slow his horse's stride, Di Renjie picks up the girl out of the harms way. A man standing in the crows shouts at the girl to go back to the inn. 

Mr.Hulu comments  "A moment ago run amuck, The next die violently in the streets". Di Renjie parts way with Mr.Hulu and goes to meet the officer in charge of the area. Officer Xiao is a drunkard who drinks during day time duty, he is not concerned much about the welfare of people.  Di Renjie informs Officer Xiao that the leader of Heiyan has infiltrated Qing Chuan. Officer Xiao asks if those two people were killed by Heiyan. Di Renjie says that he couldn't answer that without an autopsy. Officer Xiao says that he has already buried the bodies without the autopsy, according to him much fuss should not be made, it was a case of two bandits being killed. Officer Xiao has heard rumours that something big is about to happen in the city. Di Renjie hopes that officer Xiao would provide troops if required, officer Xiao says that he doesn't have sufficient men, they can only maintain civilian security. Di Renjie suggests that Officer Xiao should report to the military office immediately and ask for reinforcement. Officer Xiao doesn't take Di Renjie's suggestion seriously. 

Di Renjie asks Officer Xiao to prepare a new identification certificate for him in the name of Lin Muzhi a healer from Ganzhou.  After getting the identification certificate, Di Renjie decides to stay at the green bird inn. Officer Xiao tells Di Renjie that the owner of the inn, Wei Sheng was a miser whose wife ran away with a guest of the inn. The owner curses his wife everyday. The owner has a young daughter, Xiao Wei   (the girl whom Di Renjie had saved earlier and the man who ordered her to go back to the inn). 

Di Renjie registers as a guest of the inn with Wei Sheng. Xiao Wei takes him to his room, she tells Di Renjie that she was Wei Sheng's foster daughter (stepdaughter?)and did all the work of a handyman. Di Renjie wanted to take a bath, the girl told him to go downstairs but cautions him not to let others know he is a rich man. Di Renjie goes to the bathhouse that is already occupied. Two armed guards bar his entry, someone from inside asks the guards to allow Di Renjie to enter the bath. Miss shiyi(a trained martial artist) opens the curtain to allow Di Renjie inside, a man is sitting in the wooden bath tub taking his bath. He says he is a merchant who is passing through on business, his name is Lang Liu. Di Renjie tells Lang Liu that he is a healer. Di Renjie wants to know from where Lang Liu has come, where he is going, what he is selling. Lang Liu deflects the questions and answers that just as a doctor cannot have a cure for all diseases similarly a merchant may not sell everything. He refuses to answer Di Renjie's questions but invites him to use another bath tub in the bathhouse for his bath. Mr. Wei the innkeeper eavesdrop on their conversation from outside the bathhouse's door for a moment. Di Renjie expresses his wish to cure all incurable diseases.

After bath Di Renjie is having supper, Xiao Wei is serving food. Mr. Lang's bodyguard complain the food is too bland so Xiao Wei offers to give them some slat but keeps mumbling while serving Di Renjie that more like she would give them ants. Mr. Lang comes down dressed for an outing in the night, Miss Shiyi accompanies him. Di Renjie inquired where he was going, he answered for a moonlight stroll. After they leave, Di Renjie asks Xiao Wei if she knew what Mr. Lang sold, she said he sold silk and satin, he has booked the best rooms in the inn. The warehouse around the corner also belonged to him. Di Renjie tells her that he thinks her stepfather doesn't like Xiao Wei too much, Xiao cuts him off, replies that nobody likes her and leaves Di Renjie. While eating Di Renjie speculates everything and suspects Mr. Lang, possibly he may have something to do with the rumors of unrest. 

Di Renjie goes outside after eating, he sees Mr. Wei driving a cart with something hidden under the covers. Mr. Wei speeds up when Di Renjie tries to get his attention. Mr. Hulu sees Di Renjie on the streets at the same time and comments that Di Renjie must really like the night. Di Renjie is astonished that Mr. Hulu knew his real identity. He wants to know why Mr. Hulu invited Di Renjie to Qing Chuan. Mr. Hulu replied that Di Renjie was the famous magistrate of Lanfang county, what was so surprising if he  knew Di Renjie's real identity. Di Renjie wants to know if Mr. Hulu was staying in the inn. Mr. Hulu says he spends the time wherever his donkey stops and that night it had stopped at that place. Mr. Hulu says that it was getting late, if Di Renjie continued to follow people, he may get  into some accident. Di Renjie is quite suspicious of Mr. Hulu. Di Renjie asks if Mr. Hulu was Heiyan. (Mr.Hulu doesn't answer any of his questions directly). Mr. Hulu states that Di Renjie was too curious and sometimes it's good not to know some answers. 

Di Renjie recalls Xiao Wei telling him that Mr. Lang had a warehouse around the corner, he goes there to investigate. Di Renjie finds lots of blood stains in there. Just as he is trying to determine what had happened, he is trapped in a net thrown from above. Three masked men want to know who he is and are about to kill him. Mr. Hulu comes in and with his big staff that he uses as a crutch, he beats all three goons and leaves after pushing a sword in Di Renjie's direction to  free himself from the net. Di Renjie frees himself from the net and goes back to the inn. He notices Mr. Wei the inn keeper outside with his carriage. Di Renjie also sees bloodstains on the carriage boards. Mr. Wei explains it was the sheep that had died the meat had become bad, he couldn't serve them so had gone to sell them to earn a few coins. Xiao Wei comes outside at that moment, Mr. Wei asks her to wash the carriage. Di Renjie inspects the blood on the carriage and finds a  broken piece of a hair clip. Xiao Wei comes with a bucket of water and throws it on the blood. Di Renjie goes to the inn counter and asks Mr. Wei again about what he was transporting. Mr. Wei indicates at Di Renjie's soiled clothes and takes him to a back room where he kept all forgotten items of previous guests. He opens a case full of clothes hoping to sell one of the cloth to Di Renjie. Di Renjie notices a red wedding dress of a woman, The innkeeper tells Di Renjie that it belonged to his wife and was not for sale. Mr.wei said his wife always flirted with rich customers. Di Renjie asks the innkeeper about his wife and if he knew with which customer she had ran away. Mr. Wei is more interested in selling second hand clothes to Di Renjie. After Di Renjie purchases a coat and comes out of the room in the main hall of the inn. Mr. Wei sees Xiao Wei sitting morosely at a table looking at a wooden pin. Mr. Wei reprimands her but Di Renjie sympathetically converses with her. He asks her if the wooden pin was special. Xiao Wei replies that it had been made by her mother. Her mother was of the opinion that no matter how poor a person was they could look pretty. Xiao Wei looks at the clothing purchased by Di Renjie and says it belonged to that man. Xiao Wei wants to know if Di Renjie thinks that her mother would come to pick her up from the inn to take her daughter away. 

Mr. Lang and Miss. Shiyi stand on the upper floor and look at both of them conversing. Miss. Shiyi says the second hand coat that Di Renjie had purchased belonged to the messenger. Miss. Shiyi says that she hadn't expected Di Renjie to find it so quickly. 

Back in Lanfang county, Hong Liang is worried about Qiao Tai. Ma Rong was so worried that she wouldn't eat anything. Cao An says she will try to talk with Ma Rong, she goes in the room where Qiao Tai is lying, Ma Rong is kneeling by his side and crying. Cao An has a heart to heart talk with Ma Rong and tells her that she was strong and had her own experiences. Cao An says that she admires Ma Rong for being independent, able to support herself. Cao An had also purchased Enlightenment book for Ma Rong. Cao An reveals that when she purchases any item from the market it is with her own salary of the accountant and does not spend Di Renjie's money. Ma Rong is impressed and decides to eat the food. 

Di Renjie in Qing Chuan's inn is trying to piece together the puzzle. Mr. Lang, Miss Shiyi, officer Xiao, Mr. Wei, Mr. Hulu, two dead people... He is trying to figure a connection between them. 

In Lanfang, Cao An shows Hong Liang a medicine book as per which an Indian herb named Upas would have similar effect as that of Qiao Tai. Hong Liang reminisces an earlier incident when Di Renjie had brought cypress leaves for his father back in his childhood days when his father showed the same symptoms as Qiao Tai. Hong Liang says that if Qiao Tai was really unconscious due to Upas then as Di Renjie had told them, Qiao Tai will wake up in three to four days. SOMEONE, many years ago had told Hong Liang the same thing. 

When Di Renjie wakes up in his room, he hears Xiao Wei singing in the main hall of the inn where everyone is eating food. He sees even officer Xiao is present there. Officer Xiao approaches Di Renjie and requests to be treated for his neck and shoulder pain. Di Renjie takes him in the back room. Officer Xiao's attitude towards Di Renjie has changed. He apologies to Di Renjie for his earlier behavior and wants to help Di Renjie if something big is going to happen in Qing Chuan.
Officer Xiao tells Di Renjie that his ancestor was Xiao Yiran who was the subordinate of Mr. Cheng Yaojin, who was also named Mr. Zhijie. They helped emperor Taizong to conquer the whole country. He says that his ancestors would be ashamed of his behavior. Officer Xiao also reveals that the earlier he was on a very high post in the army but due to his straight forward nature, he has been banished to this place and hence he had become indolent. Di Renjie warms up to him after knowing his background. He tells Officer Xiao that in case he needed his help he wouldn't hesitate to ask for it. 

Miss Shiyi tells Mr Lang that she has searched everyplace but she wasn't able to find what they were searching. 

What was the item that the merchant was searching for? Did Heiyan really make an appearance in Qing Chuan? Who had lured Di Renjie there? Why was there blood on Mr. Wei's cart? Who was Mr. Hulu? 

A major revelation is made in episode 25 about Di Renjie's family, in spoiler below.

 
* Di Renjie has an elder brother named Di Ying who had been estranged from their father due to difference in their philosophies.

 
* viewers were not able to get the direct reference till episode 25, when Di Renjie recalls his past after solving the Hollow Gourd case on his was back to Lanfang county.

 
Flash back scenes previous episodes:
1.Di Renjie's father is angry at an adolescent young boy and asks him to kneel down. Di Renjie's father is unhappy that his elder son, Di Ying has been referring to the manual published by the Heiyan. However Di Ying doesn't feel it was wrong to read the book because from the book he had learned to counteract things where one thing can suppress another. Though it was not medicine it has remarkable effects against poisons. For eg Cypress against Upas,  it has remarkable effects against poisons.(earlier Hong Liang referred to someone telling him the way to supress Upas, viewers presumed from the flashback that it was Di Renjie but it turned out it was Di Renjie's elder brother Di Ying who had found the cure for his father back then from Heiyan's manual).  Di Renjie's father is angry at his elder son because according to him the book is filled with strange tricks and heterodox methods which can harm a person. Di Ying declares that he has learnt a lot from that book. Di Renjie's father is of the opinion that if a person with ulterior motives gets theri hands on such books they can misuse it and cause harm to people. Later the conflict between Di Renjie's father and his elder son escalates to such an extent that his father asks his elder son to leave his house and disowns his elder son.

 
2. Another oblique reference of Di Ying  was during the case of Red Pavilion, when Di Renjie reunites with the small wood peach sword. The viewers were led to believe that the sword belonged to Di Renjie. Cao An while having a conversation with Hong Liang also asks him why the word "Ying" Had been carved on the sword because as per her Di Renjie would have got his courtesy name   'Huaiying' after enlightenment not when he was a child. It turned out YING on the sword was the name of his elder brother Di Ying. 

* All this indicates that probably the leader of Heiyan is Di Renjie's elder brother Di Ying. Di Ying was also the person who had saved Cao An earlier.

Case 9 - Zhao Yun Library (Episodes 30 -32) 

Some unknown place, A young man in white clothes is running for his life some people are following him. The man runs through a tunnel in which a memorial tablet of Pei Shinian, a loving father is placed. 

In Lanfang county, noticing how preoccupied Di Renjie is after the events of the previous case, Cao An suggests that they should take an outing more as a distraction. Cao An says she has read in the "Records of the Supernatural" there is a rare spring South of Lanfang county that looks like the Cresent moon "The Cresent Spring" and is never dry. It is believed that drinking from that spring will relieve a person from their worries, the heart will be reborn. One can realise one's wish. Cao An says if they hurry they will reach there in five days. Di Renjie agrees to her request of an outing. 

Di Renjie and Cao An are getting ready to leave towards Anxi Protectorate. Hong Liang advises Cao An that the North of the mountains and South of the water are Yin. They should be careful on the roads. They shouldn't offend Buddhist or Taoist temples or tombs. After they leave Hong Liang sees that Di Renjie has forgotten his sword at home. On the way to the Cresent Spring, Cao An and Di Renjie stop at Tongfu inn. They are warmly ushered by the waiter who offers them tea. Di Renjie asks for two best rooms in the inn. While they are having tea, awaiting goat soup, an elderly lady rushes in, She inquires whether anyone had seen her grandson. His name was Wei Xiaobao,  he was as tall as her upper waist, had a mole on the right side of his face. He was wearing white clothes and white shoes when she had last seen him. She is frantically asking all the guests of the innif they had seen her grandson. The server/innkeeper says that she was a mad woman she often asks about her grandson, he doesn't know if what she was saying was correct. The next morning Cao An points out to Di Renjie, the direction of the Cresent Spring. The weather seems to take a turn for the worse, if is quite foggy. Di Renjie decides to continue their journey. 

On the way, it starts snowing. Di Renjie sees many refugees coming from their opposite direction. They are hurrying along carrying luggage. Di Renjie spots a family who is trying to dislodge their carriage wheel from a ditch. Di Renjie stops his carriage and goes to help the family. While jostling the wheel free from the ditch, Di Renjie scratches his hands on some poisonous thorns. His thorn pierces through his gloves. The family is thankful for his help, they say they were coming from the direction of Anxi Protectorate. Di Renjie advises them to go North to Lanfang county and take shelter and help from the magistrate's office. 

Cao An dresses Di Renjie's wound on his hand. They decide to return back to  Lanfang county due to bad weather. While driving back Di Renjie becomes feverish due to poisonous infection. He falls off the carriage. Cao An sucks the poison out from his wound, puts him inside the carriage and herself drives the carriage homewards. Di Renjie is delirious due to his fever. It is snowing heavily and getting dark. Cao An spots Zhao Yun Library on the way and decidese to take shelter there for the night. Cao An knocks on the building door.

 A student,  Zhou Li opens the door. Cao An wants to meet Mr.Cui the person in charge and their teacher. Zhou Li refuses her entry citing that his teacher has ordered not to let anyone inside. Cao An informs Zhou Li that she had accompanied Di Renjie the magistrate of Lanfang county and they needed help. Zhou Li closes the door and informs Li Miao. Li Miao also tells Cao An that he will help dress Di Renjie's wound but they should leave after the medical aid, they are instructed by Mr. Cui not to allow any outsiders while he was in seclusion. Mr. Cui was assigned by the Minsiter of Rites to compile the local history of the place. Mr. Cui has been writing in retreat. Before his retreat Mr. Cui had repeatedly warned everyone there not to allow any outsiders.  Li Miao tells Cao An that he can't allow them to stay the night. Cao An threatens him that if anything happened to Do Renjie they will be held responsible. In desperation Cao An takes Li Miao to see the feverish Di Renjie, looking at his bad health Li Miao has no choice but to allow them to spend the night in the library. 

Li Miao says that they did not have any spare room so the guests will have to stay in the room where old papers and books are kept. He instructs two students supporting Di Renjie to take him inside the inner room. 

Hong Liang gets information from the refugees who have reached Lanfang county from the South about the bad weather condition. He sends Ma Rong and Qiao Tai to go South in case Di Renjie and Cao An require their help. Ma Rong and Qiao set off on horseback, Hong Liang gives Qiao Tai, Di Renjie's forgotten sword. Inspite of  Qiao Tai's assurance of knowing the way. Ma Rong and Qiao Tai get lost. 

After settling them in the old books room, Li Miao  applies medicine on Di Renjie's wounds. He says Di Renjie's pulse was disordered. He was just not poisoned but he may have been suffering from excessive internal heat due to overwork. He promises to send some herbs. Just then Di Renjie  wakes up, upon knowing they are at Zhao Yun Library where  Cui Haoran was present, Di Renjie insist on meeting Mr. Cui to pay his respect as he admired his work and considered Mr. Cui to be a great scholar. Li Miao takes them to meet Mr. Cui, Cao Am supports Di Renjie who is very weak due to his condition. Li Miao warns them not to wander around by themselves, the roads in the library were intricate, especially due to snow it would be easy to lose one's way. 

Li Miao takes them to the room where Mr. Cui is meditating. Di Renjie and Cao An look through the  window screen standing outside the room at a white haired man sitting in deep thoughts at a desk. Di Renjie smells strong aroma of sandalwood. Li Miao says after reading the historical  materials  in order to write the facts smoothly, his master would meditate tocalm his mind and burning sandalwood helped in his concentration. Di Renjie offers Eaglewood from Yunshui village, burning that would help Mr. Cui. Li Miao invites them inside the room to present it to Mr. Cui themselves but Di Renjie declines as he didn't want to disturb Mr. Cui. Li Miao goes in the room places the Eaglewood stick on the desk. 

Li Miao takes Di Renjie and Cao An back to their rooms, on the way back they meet a harried Zhou Li. He says he had lost his way, he wanted to get some firewood for Mr. Cui's room. Li Miao shows the correct direction to the woodshed and reprimands him for always losing his way. Di Renjie lies down in the room, Cao An accompanies Li Miao who goes to prepare medicine for Di Renjie. While Di Renjie is alone a breeze of cold snowy wind opnes the door to his room, Di Renjie gets up to close the door when he sees a young child in white clothes running across the yard. Di Renjie tries to follow the child but in his weakened state stumbles and falls on the ground. Cao An upon her return, finds him unconscious lying on the snowy ground in the yard. Taking him inside, Li Miao asks him what he had seen. Di Renjie says he saw a child in the yard, at first Li Miao chalks it up as Di Renjie's hallucination because they don't have any student  who is a child. All close student of Mr. Cui are adult males. However when Di Renjie  insists that the boy was real and not a figment of his imagination, Li Miao agrees to send students to search for a tresspasser boy around the yard. 

There is a black cat roaming in the yard. Cao An heards some noise at the door of their room. When she opens the door she sees one heavy set of foot prints going from their room to the yard, she follows the footprints. Meanwhile some people with chasing Zhou Li. Zhou Li climbs the roof top and starts running wildly on it, calling fir the evil spirits to catch him. Suddenly he stops at the edge of the roof, a crowd of students has gathered in the yard, Cao An is also watches helplessly from below. Cao An sees that Zhou Li is looking at something  with horrified expression as if he has seen a ghost. Then he bites his thumb to draw out blood, writes something on his palm with his blood, waves the palm in Cao An's direction and jumps to his death from the roof. Cao An and others rush to his fallen body, the word written on his palm was "ghost".

Inside the room, Di Renjie feels cold wind blowing, he lifts his head and sees a child running between the rack of old books. The word 'Huaiying' echoes in his ears. 

Cao An goes to the  hall where Zhou Li's dead body is kept. She shows the word on Zhou Li's palm to Li Miao. Cao An wants to see Zhou Li's living quarter. The male dormitory is  plain and utilitarian. Cao An finds weird pictures painted by Zhou Li at his desk. His fellow student says Zhou Li had been acting weird lately. Zhou li had joined the school 10 months ago, he came from a nearby village. 

Di Renjie dreams of his childhood and Di Ying calling out his name. The door to the room blows open by the wind, Cao An finds an old pictorial ritualistic book on the floor, pages scattered on the floor due the wind. She looks through the weird pictures, she feels as if someone is watching her in the room. She gets up to walk around the room, finds a door ajar, outside the door on the threshold, she finds the stick of eaglewood wrapped in green cloth that Di Renjie had gifted to Mr. Cui earlier, curious as to how it ended on their doorstep, Cao takes a lantern and goes towards Mr. Cui's rooms. She remembers the way from earlier. It seems students are searching for someone, they have lit their torch and running around the yard. Just as Cao An reaches the staircase to Mr. Cui's rooms, she overhears two student at the top of the stairs discussing. She doesn't want to be seen outside her room, so she panics and blindly ducks inside a nearby open room, she walks to the end of the room and manages to open a door. The door leads her to lit underground tunnels. Walking along the tunnels she comes across an altar room. While she is trying to figure out the use of the room, Li Miao comes and stands behind her. 

Li Miao admonishes her and asks her not to walk around casually. The place was an altar, Li Miao was carrying a memorial tablet of Zhou Li and je said he had come to the altar to redeem Zhou Li's soul. Li Miao says that the people in the library don't worship gods or Buddha,  they pay homage to the dead. The dead of Zhao Yun Temple. Li Miao divulges the history of the place, around 200 years ago that place was a Taoist temple it's name was also Zhao Yun. It was a tumultuous period at that time. Besides the Taoist, lots of commoners, scholars residing there. One night, a group of roving bandits attacked the temple in order to get the possibily non-existant treasure. The bandits killed all the Taoist, commoners and scholars there. It was a massacre. Later on, the place because and isolated haunted abode. It had been deserted for 100 years. Later about 40 years ago, the world became peaceful again. Their teacher Mr. Cui came at the place by chance, he renovated the place and kept the bones of the dead in that altar that had already existed. Li Miao puts the memorial tablet of Zhou Li on the altar with the other tablets. Their teacher asked them to bring some offering there whenever there was a climate change or when there was a festival. Altho they don't perform a religious rite, they believe these offerings can sooth the souls of the dead. Li Miao inquires as to why Cao An was there. she said that she had been lost  as nobody was around to show her the direction and had wandered into the altar room. Li Miao informs her that the srudents had been searching for the child wearing white clothes who had been seen by Di Ranjie, however they were not able to find such a child on the premises. Cao An thinks that may be Di Renjie was hallucinating due to hight fever and there was no such child on the premises. Li Miao wonders if Di Renjie was hallucinating due to his obsessions. In future there maybe some explanation for the unknown things like gods, ghosts,spirits, buddha etc. For now all the unkown things may be understood as magnetic field. Also the change in weather causing Yin Qi heavier, may be responsible for Di Renjie's hallucinations. The old wishes in his heart were projected into air. The obsession may be with the recently deceased. 

Cao An looks troubled upon hearing this, she confesses that she would like to take Di Renjie away from that place as soon as possible. Di Renjie wakes up some time later feeling partially better, he walks out of the room as he is all alone. He see some people gathered around a dead body(Zhou Li's) and inquires the details. Li Miao informs him that they have given all details to Cao An. Cao An is relieved to see  Di Renjie feeling better. Cao An takes Di Renjie back to their room, she relates everything that had happened since the last time Di Renjie was awake. The suicidal jump, letters on the palm, one heavy set of footprints leading from their room to the yard, her finding the altar and Li Miao's explanation. 

Cao An wants to leave the place as soon as possible however Di Renjie feels there are too many unanswered questions, so he couldn't leave yet. Cao An is uneasy, she says ever since she came there she feels as if a pair of eyes are watching her, moreover a solar eclipse was coming soon, they shouldn't offend the dead. This statement of Cao An offends Di Renjie and he says the dead won't bother the living. Di Renjie is sure what he saw was real and not some hallucination due to his obsession or weakness. Di Renjie says that maybe Cao An hasn't forgotten Heiyan but Di Renjie will not let Heiyan(Di Ying) bother him. After Heiyan's death, Cao An's relationship with Di Renjie is a little strained and there is a strange barrier between them. Li Miao brings freshly made medicine for Di Renjie that he drinks. Cao An takes some rest, Di Renjie goes outside the room to explore the clues. He takes the same path as Cao An took earlier. He goes to the tunnels. Suddenly he sees a boy there, however he realises his mind is playing tricks with him, he becomes agitated feels as if he is losing his mind and faints. 

After Di Renjie is carried back to his room. Cao An decides to immediately leave the library even though Di Renjie is unconscious and it's night time. She asks Li Miao to prepare her carriage and assign some students that will help carry Di Renjie's body to the carriage from their room.

Why did Zhou Li jump from the roof? Has Di Renjie really lost his faculties? Was the boy Di Renjie saw real or just a hallucination? What will be the fate of Cao An and Di Renjie's estranged relationship?