Episode Summary
In this episode, a seemingly simple murder of a flower shop owner gets complicated fast. The investigation points to two debt collectors, but a witness reveals the real killer was a mysterious figure in a white robe. This new lead takes Su Wuming and Lu Lingfeng to a Zoroastrian festival, where they witness a second, very public murder during a sacred ritual.
Spoiler Alert
A Moment of Peace in Chang'an
After the whole "Flag Pavilion" mess, Lu Lingfeng and Su Wuming are just standing on the city wall. They're looking out over Chang'an. It’s a rare quiet moment for them. They talk about the poets from the last case. They respect how those guys were good with a sword but also valued loyalty and love above all. Real heroes.
Lu asks Su a deep question. What is the true meaning of the Tang Dynasty? Su says it's simple. It's all about "swords and poetry." He thinks Chang'an is a place where beauty and danger live side-by-side. Su seems really happy that Lu gets it. They share a deep bow. It’s a nice bit of respect after everything they’ve been through together.
Trouble Brewing at Home
Then we cut to a completely different scene. A woman named Wei Jia is trying on her wedding dress. Her sister-in-law, Ju Niang, gives her some soup. Wei Jia drinks it without a second thought. Suddenly, her brother, Wei Tao, bursts into the room. He looks absolutely furious. Wei Jia starts crying, saying her brother won't let her get married.
Ju Niang runs after her husband to calm him down. Here’s the interesting part. This guy, Wei Tao, is the Chang'an County Magistrate. He can solve any crime in the city. But he’s a total disaster when it comes to his own family.
A New Case at the Flower Shop
The Body and the Scene
A call comes in from Fengle Fang. There's been a murder. The owner of the Qianzi Flower Shop, a man named Hua Fu, is dead. Lu Lingfeng and Su Wuming head over. They find the new magistrate, Wei Tao, already there.
The new coroner is pretty green. So Su Wuming steps in to examine the body himself. He finds the man was killed by a heavy blow to the back of the head. He also has a sickle wound on his neck.
The Victim's Story
No one actually called in the murder. The employees just found him. Lu decides to let Magistrate Wei Tao take the lead on this one. Wei Tao starts by questioning the shop manager, Zhang. Zhang says his boss, Hua Fu, was in a great mood earlier. He even gave all the employees a half-hour break. Hua Fu stayed out front to arrange some new peonies that had just arrived. When the staff came back, he was dead.
Su Wuming finds a bloody sickle at the scene. He and Wei Tao learn that a debt collector from a group called An She had visited the shop. The manager, Zhang, then gives them more background. Hua Fu's real last name was Wu. He used to sell charcoal but fell deep into debt. He borrowed a ton of money from An She. Then he heard on the black market that peonies were hot in Luoyang. So he switched from charcoal to flowers. He even changed his last name to Hua, which means "flower." The plan worked. His business took off, and he had the money ready to pay back his loan.
Chasing Down the Debt Collectors
The Confession of Qing Cong
Wei Tao orders the arrest of the debt collector, a guy named Qing Cong. At the station, Qing Cong confesses he works for An She. He and his partner, Dou Lang, are known as the "Debt-Collecting Duo." But his partner is a mess. Dou Lang is a gambler and a womanizer. On the day of the murder, Dou Lang used a secret meeting with a lover as an excuse. He made Qing Cong go collect the debt alone.
Qing Cong says he only took the sickle to scare Hua Fu. During their talk, Hua Fu claimed he joined a group called the Golden Light Society. He warned that if anything happened to him, the society would get revenge. Qing Cong insists he didn't kill him. He is in love with a dancer named Mei Mei and needs money to buy her freedom. He admits he went back to the flower shop later to steal cash. That's when he found Hua Fu's body. He panicked, dropped the sickle, grabbed some silver, and ran.
The Other Half of the Duo
This makes Dou Lang the top suspect. Wei Tao sends men to arrest him. Su Wuming and Lu Lingfeng decide to check out the Persian House where Mei Mei dances. They catch Dou Lang in the back alley, trying to escape with her.
Back at the magistrate's office, Dou Lang admits he told Qing Cong to steal the silver. But he swears he didn't kill Hua Fu. He and Qing Cong just stand there yelling and blaming each other.
A Twist and a New Lead
The Manager's Secret
Chu Yingtao was tailing the shop manager, Zhang. She saw him sneaking around with a heavy bag. The bag rips open, and a bunch of silver ingots spill out. Busted.
In front of everyone, Zhang admits he's a thief. He was spying on his boss to figure out where he hid his money. That's when he saw the real murder. He says a masked person in a white robe came in and attacked Hua Fu from behind. Zhang was about to steal the silver himself when Qing Cong came back into the shop.
The Zoroastrian Connection
A masked person in a white robe. That clue points the team in a new direction. They suspect the killer is a Zoroastrian. Lu Lingfeng, Su Wuming, and Wei Tao decide to split up to cover more ground. Wei Tao heads to the local Zoroastrian temple. Su and Lu go to Jinggong Fang, another district in the city.
A Murder at the Festival
When Su and Lu get to Jinggong Fang, a big festival is underway. Su explains one of the rituals to Lu. It's called the "Seven Saints' Blades." It's basically a performance using illusions. Seven participants hold knives. They pretend to stab each other or themselves, getting covered in fake blood to show their devotion. The priest uses tricks to make it look like a god is appearing.
As night falls, they watch the ceremony from the crowd. People are running through a flaming cloth banner for good luck. The banner is lifted, and one of the seven performers, a man named Ma Kui, drops to the ground. He's dead. There's a knife sticking out of his neck. This was no illusion.
Lu Lingfeng immediately takes control of the scene. The local magistrate for that district, Du Yu, arrives. He gets into a heated argument with the head priest, He Bi. These two clearly have some bad history. Du Yu angrily orders his men to take the other six performers and the body into custody. The priest, He Bi, just carries on with the festival.
