Episode Summary
The mystery of General Huo's death is seemingly solved when Aunt Feng confesses to the murder to protect her daughter, Huo Dairong, and then takes her own life. Before dying, she reveals that Dairong is adopted. Suspecting a deeper plot, Xiao Beiming is suddenly poisoned. The search for a rare cure leads Feng Qingzhuo and Zhong Xueman to a perilous encounter in the Ghost Market.
Spoiler Alert
The investigation into General Huo's murder takes a dramatic and tragic turn as suspicion shifts from one family member to another, culminating in a shocking confession and a deathbed revelation that changes everything.
The episode picks up with Xiao Beiming zeroing in on Huo Dairong. His request to see the "health tea" that Aunt Feng procured for the General sends Dairong into a panic, confirming his suspicions. Realizing she is trapped, she tries to create a diversion, but Xiao Beiming follows her every move. Meanwhile, his investigation leads him to a crucial piece of evidence: a flowerpot in the General's study. He astutely noticed that while Dairong had replaced all the tea sets, she had overlooked this single plant, which contained the dregs of the last tea the General drank. Feng Qingzhuo analyzes the residue and confirms it contains a hallucinogenic substance.
With the evidence mounting, Huo Dairong confesses to the crime. She claims she orchestrated the poisoning, using her mother, Aunt Feng, as a pawn. Her motive, she states, was hatred for her father, whom she blamed for siding with Mrs. Huo in bullying her and her mother. She hoped to claim the family fortune after his death.
However, Xiao Beiming isn't convinced by her story. His skepticism proves justified when Aunt Feng intervenes, scolding her daughter for the naive confession before declaring that she alone is the murderer. Aunt Feng tells a harrowing story: six months ago, she was tricked by a "lame immortal" into giving the General a special health tea. Initially, it seemed to work wonders, but the General soon grew addicted and increasingly volatile. On the night of his death, he suffered a hallucination, mistaking Dairong for a "sea cliff ghost" and preparing to kill her. In a desperate act to save her daughter, Aunt Feng admits she added poison to his tea.
To protect her mother, Huo Dairong offers to conceal Xiao Beiming's true identity. But it's too late. As Zhuge Kongyun arrives with evidence also pointing to the mother-daughter duo, Aunt Feng collapses. She reveals she has already taken poison to atone for her sin. In her final moments, she delivers a stunning revelation: Huo Dairong is not her biological daughter. The General brought her home as an infant from the borderlands more than two decades ago. This secret, she explains, is the true reason for the General's cold and distant behavior towards Dairong. With her last breath, she urges Dairong to let go of her resentment, and then she dies.
Even with the confession, Xiao Beiming believes there's a larger conspiracy at play, suspecting that Aunt Feng was coerced into taking the blame. His investigation is abruptly halted when he suddenly collapses, having been poisoned himself.
The focus shifts to finding a cure. Feng Qingzhuo determines the only hope is a risky antidote requiring a rare "Fire Cicada." He and Zhong Xueman venture into the dangerous "Ghost Market" to find it. They locate an elderly man with the cicada, but he refuses money, instead demanding Zhong Xueman's eyes in trade. As a horrified Xueman raises a dagger to her own face, Feng Qingzhuo recognizes the man and stops her. In the ensuing chaos, powder is thrown into Xueman's eyes, blinding her. A mysterious figure in the crowd uses a bell to guide her movements, allowing her to strike the old man down. Just as Xiao Beiming and Tong Shuang arrive, the old man seizes the opportunity to escape.
