Episode Summary
Gao Ying uncovers the tragic past of the Zheng family, learning that her own father, Gao Susheng, was responsible for their ruin. The police officially close the case by framing Zheng Zukang, while Xia Mo continues his investigation in secret. Gao Ying discovers a photograph linking her father's crimes to a new potential victim, Zhang Yunli.
Spoiler Alert
Rosefinch Episode 11: Sins of the Father
Following a tense confrontation, Xia Mo's life is spared, but not by chance. Gao Ying, in a surprising move, had already sent for Tang Boju to intervene, preventing Cao Yin from dealing a final blow. With the immediate danger over, Tang Boju instructs Xia Mo and Tang Zhenyun to report to the police station the next day, close the case, and stay away from the Gao family for good. Though Xia Mo tries to reassure his worried sister, Xia Yingqi, the ordeal is far from over.
The following day, the official investigation is brought to a swift and unjust end. Acting on Shen Lian's orders, Tang Zhenyun falsifies the final report, naming Zheng Zukang as a murderer driven by robbery, completely burying his connection and grudge against the Gao family. While Tang Zhenyun plays the part of a compliant officer, Xia Mo pretends to drink his sorrows away in the autopsy room. In reality, he's keeping a close eye on Zheng Zukang's house. Their plans are interrupted when a young student, Zhang Yunli, arrives at the station, claiming she's being stalked. The two officers agree to escort her home.
However, they are already a step behind. Gao Ying has already been to Zheng Zukang's home, turning the place upside down until she found what she was looking for: an old photograph of a young Zheng Meiyun with another woman, Song Mama.
With the photo in hand, Gao Ying heads straight to the Red Moon House to confront Song Mama. Money loosens Song Mama's tongue, and she reveals the tragic history connecting the two families. She and Zheng Meiyun were once friends, but Zheng Meiyun fell into a severe opium addiction. She came to see her son, Zheng Zukang, as a burden and lost all her money to a man who manipulated her. Though her son's tears stopped her from taking her own life, her addiction proved too strong. In the end, she sold her own son for a single silver dollar.
Zheng Zukang was sold into a living hell, forced to serve countless people and contracting a terrible disease in the process. He eventually escaped and confronted the man who had cheated his mother, but for his defiance, he was thrown into a mental hospital. As Song Mama finishes her story, she delivers the final, devastating blow: the man responsible for destroying both mother and son was none other than Gao Ying's own father, Gao Susheng.
Shaken, Gao Ying leaves. As she drives, she examines other photos recovered from the house. They show not only the previous victim, Hong Xiu, but also three other unidentified young women, and most alarmingly, Zhang Yunli—the very same student who had just reported a stalker. The sins of her father, it seems, are still casting a very long and dangerous shadow.
