Basic information about the cases and Judge Dee.

 ender1979:

thanks for this extensive summaries ! i will be reading them, should there be cases, which i dont understand the solution! for now, i am watching along, coz i like to keep the mystery open! 

Thanks for liking the summaries...You may  read along while watching the show  if you wish because I only include the overview of the case, deliberately excluding the resolution or solution to the case. 

 Kawaii433:

I am seriously loving all of what you wrote. I keep coming back to it as the show progresses. Wonderful work, and it's appreciated!

Thanks for such kind words of appreciation and encouragement. 

 ecwc:

Thank you so much for the recaps. Would you be able to provide a Spoiler/explanation for the Rain Maker case. I watched it but I am not sure I understood the whole connection between the masked man and Yi Er.  It seemed very complicated to me. Thank you!

spoiler Case 5-  Rain Master Legend below..... 

Shopkeeper Zhong loved Ying'er. One time while watching a shadow puppet show, Zhong  noticed that Ying'er was fascinated by the character of the Rain Master while watching the puppet show. Zhong knew Ying'er would never fall in love with an ordinary guy like him, so to get her love, he made a costume of the birdman, Rain Master along with the mask. He used to wear the costume of the Rain master to go and meet Ying'er in her watch tower. Because of her delusional state, Ying'er thought he was the real Rain master, she never knew it was Zhong. He gave her gifts and spent time with her. When he was stabbed by shopkeeper Lin(that was the fatal strike) , his mask had fallen off, when he crawled to the watch tower, Ying'er thought he was an intruder so she stabbed him in the chest. She never knew the real identity of her lover. Even after Di Renjie confronts her, she still believes her lover was the legendary rain master and not a mere human. She jumps off the roof believing her lover the Rain master who was a legend and otherworldly would catch her and save her. But she dies because the human lover who pretended to be the Rain master was dead. So it was a tragic end to their love story. 

were you looking for the above mentioned connection or some other details? 

 Meeno:

Thank you for taking the time to give us a comprehensive summary of the cases thus far. Much appreciated. 

Glad you find the summary useful. 

@Lita

we see this from the viewpoint of an eye witness. In episode 13, The Rain Master legend, an eyewitness who saw shopkeeper Zhong leaving his shop at night said Zhong left the shop in normal clothes, this person (the eye witness) was  standing across the road at his stall when suddenly a gust of wind blew his umbrella, when he looked back shopkeeper Zhong had become a Birdman (probably Zhong has adorned his costume then)  started running and flew away (the camera during that part of narration shows a bit obscured image due to rain drops on the lense, so presumably the eyewitness was not able to see clearly in the rain at a distance and his mind played a trick on him. People are very susceptible to thoughts of supernatural in certain scenario). 

In Red Pavilion case, 

Q. why did he kill himself to protect her? So as not to infect her?
A. Yes, he suffered from a terminal illness like his father. Also because people bitten by sand fleas feel endless pain, their body begins to fester. I presume Li Tao must be in extreme pain suffering from an incurable disease that he feared might infect her. So in my opinion he committed suicide. 

Q. Why did she try to find his will? Shouldn't her name in the will is more likely to make her a suspect?
A. I presume Qiuyue wanted a better future for herself. She had rejected Li Tao proposal earlier because she believed he would just make her a concubine and was not sincere.. Even though she loved him, when she saw he was already dead and had told her some time back about making a will in her favour. She had already lost her lover but she still had hope of securing a better life for herself in future IF HE HAD Actually made a will. So she was searching for a will. 

If the will was actually found, proby she would he the prime suspect... But at that moment her thoughts were more focused on her future than anything else...
Q. Where's the missing will? 
Judge Di in episode 18, deduced that due to the open window, a gust of wind may have blown away the will that might have been on Li Tao's table after he had finished writing it. 

Q Why was the ink still wet after he died?
Probably he had just finished writing the will before he took his life so the ink was wet, indicating ink had been used recently for writing something just before his death.

Many thanks for this excellent info and the other post, detailing the historical background of Judge magistrates :)

I am really engrossed in this great series and thank you for the comprehensive background information  and additional explanatory notes for the cases;  I shall refer to them to augment my understanding as I go along. 

@MsDarkqueen Thank you for putting together this list.  I like to know the span of each case before investing in my time in viewing them.  Unlike Van Gulik's fictionalized novels of this legendary figure, one can read through them quickly unlike watching a TV series with many episodes.