Episode Summary
A veteran's shooting is revealed to be a setup by Gu Zhengwen to get his agent, Li Qing, close to Nie Xi. Another agent, Weng Lianwang, fails to infiltrate Lin Yiliang's trading post. Wu Shi grows suspicious of the shooting and raises red flags when he requests the Zhoushan weather forecast. Nie Xi rejects Li Qing's advances, telling her he is married. The episode ends with Wu Shi and Nie Xi arriving home to find Zhu Feng, their key contact, unexpectedly in their apartment.
Spoiler Alert
Silent Honor: Episode 15
A Not-So-Random Act of Violence
We open on a chaotic street scene. A disturbed veteran starts firing a gun wildly. People are screaming and running for cover. Li Qing happens to be right in the line of fire. She completely freezes up.
Just then, Nie Xi dives in. He pulls her out of the way and gets his arm grazed by a bullet for his trouble. He then takes out the veteran by shooting him in the leg. Other soldiers arrive and drag the guy away. It all feels a little too convenient.
Li Qing sees Nie Xi is hurt. She immediately takes him to a hospital to get his arm bandaged. Then she insists on walking him back to his dorm at the Ministry of Defense. Back at his place, Nie Xi notices she scraped her leg during the chaos. He gets out a first-aid kit and tends to her wound. After she’s patched up, she thanks him and leaves in a hurry.
The Honey Trap is Set
You probably saw this coming. The whole shooting was a setup. It was orchestrated by Gu Zhengwen. We learn that he recruited Li Qing right after she graduated from college. He knew she hated the Communists with a passion.
Her mission is simple. Get close to Nie Xi. Find out everything about him. Most importantly, figure out his relationship with Wu Shi. Gu Zhengwen is playing the long game here.
But there’s a problem. Li Qing has a conscience. She saw an innocent bystander get shot during the staged event. She begs Gu Zhengwen to send help for the man. Gu Zhengwen tells her to mind her own business. He doesn't care at all. Later, Li Qing can't let it go. She follows a blood trail and finds the man. He’s already dead. The guilt is eating her up.
Political Moves and Bad Agents
On the larger political stage, things are shifting. The American Truman administration sees Chiang Kai-shek's forces losing ground. They start making quiet moves to approach the Communists. When Chiang finds out, he loses his mind. He swears he will double down on his efforts to retake the mainland.
Nie Xi is hopeful that Taiwan will be liberated soon. He wants to be reunited with his family. Wu Shi, ever the realist, tells him not to get his hopes up just yet.
Gu Zhengwen isn't just relying on Li Qing. He sends another agent, Weng Lianwang, on a new mission. Weng is pretending to be a teacher named Zhuang Achen. His goal is to infiltrate the Sanrong Trading Post and investigate Lin Yiliang and Zhang Hao.
Weng shows up at the trading post, claiming he needs protection. He even drops the name Liu Kangfu to sound legitimate. But Lin Yiliang is immediately suspicious. No one should know about this station except for a contact who is already dead. Lin doesn't buy it. He has his men throw Weng out.
Rising Suspicions and a Rejection
Wu Shi notices Nie Xi's arm injury. He asks for the full story. He seems skeptical about the whole thing.
Li Qing keeps up her act. She brings food to Nie Xi's dorm. He asks her why she was even at the shooting scene in the first place. She lies and says she was just buying breakfast. He casually mentions the bystander who died. You can see the guilt hit Li Qing all over again.
Weng Lianwang reports his failure to Gu Zhengwen. Gu is not happy. He tells Weng to forget who he used to be. He must become the communist Zhuang Achen. He needs to live the part, hunger and all. So Weng goes back to watching Lin Yiliang from a distance.
Li Qing tries again with Nie Xi, showing him a lot of care and attention. This time, Nie Xi shuts it down completely. He tells her directly that he has a wife. She gets the message and leaves, looking pretty disappointed.
The Net Tightens
Wu Shi can't shake the feeling that the veteran shooting was strange. He has Nie Xi look into it, but the investigation turns up nothing.
Then Wu Shi makes a critical move. He goes to the weather station to check the forecast for Zhoushan. This is a huge deal. The head of the station, Director Li, has standing orders from Duan Tuizhi. He must report anyone who asks about the Zhoushan weather directly to Zhou Zhirou. Director Li makes the call. The alarm bells are now ringing at the highest levels.
Lin Yiliang is also doing his own digging. He risks his safety to meet with Cai Xiaoqian. He asks if Zhuang Achen is a real person. Cai confirms he is a Communist party member, but they don't have a photo for security reasons. Still worried, Lin asks to see the official file on Liu Kangfu, the name Weng had mentioned.
The episode ends with a shock. Wu Shi and Nie Xi get home after work. They walk in to find Zhu Feng in the kitchen. She is casually making dumplings with Wang Bikui. Both men just stand there, completely stunned.
