Episode Summary
Qiao Renyu endures torture in Hong Kong while He Xian gets a major promotion in Macau. The Japanese cripple Macau's economy by voiding the Hong Kong dollar. The resistance realizes they need to steal special paper from Hong Kong to print their own currency. Mary infiltrates a POW camp to rescue William, hoping he can lead them to the paper and Qiao Renyu, but William is too scared to cooperate.
Spoiler Alert
Silent Tides Episode 16
The Price of Silence
We start in Hong Kong, and things look grim for Qiao Renyu. The Japanese military police have him in their torture chamber. He is in bad shape. Despite the pain, he refuses to crack. He insists he never gave those unsigned banknote numbers to anyone.
Sawa Eisaku isn't buying it. He tells his boss, Yazaki Kanji, that Qiao is definitely the leak. He also figures out the Macau connection is He Xian. Yazaki doesn't care about the details as much as the result. He wants total control over Macau's finances. To him, this war is just a battle of resources.
Moving Up in the World
Back in Macau, He Xian is the man of the hour. His work during the currency war impressed the right people. Rodrigues calls a meeting and drops some big news. He appoints He Xian as the bank's business manager. This is huge because he is the first Chinese person to hold that title there.
Over at the British service station, Mary has new recruits, Xiao Feng and Fei Qiang. But she has a problem. She has no money. She hasn't paid anyone in over a month.
Yang Chang is busy with his own mission. He is watching a merchant named Zhang who sells pig bristles. Mary is confused. Yang Chang explains it simply. Weapons like cannons and planes rust. You need to paint them. The best brushes for that paint come from Chinese pig bristles. It sounds boring, but that hair is a strategic resource.
Family Tensions
He Hongshen is in a tough spot. Saito wants to promote him to manager at Lianchang Shipping. Saito likes that Hongshen cut his losses early during the currency chaos.
Hongshen's fiancée hates the idea. She thinks working for the Japanese is dangerous and shameful. Hongshen knows she is right. He worries people will judge him. He Xian overhears this and you can tell he feels for the guy.
Qiao Yinwan is not handling her brother's capture well. She locks herself in her room. She won't even see Luobo. She blames He Xian for everything. Guo Qiwen tries to talk some sense into her. Yinwan admits she understands why He Xian sacrificed her brother to save the economy. But understanding it doesn't make the pain go away.
A Win for the Resistance
Yang Chang brings Mary some good news. First, that pig bristle merchant is gone. Second, they have a new codebook.
It turns out Colonel Lyons survived and told his superiors about Mary's team. The Allied command is impressed. They officially recognize Mary's group as a special intelligence station for the Macau front. Mary breaks down in tears. She waited a long time for this validation.
She celebrates by teaching Yang Chang Morse code. She wants him to be able to send messages on his own. They spend a lot of time together, and their bond is getting stronger.
The Money Problem Returns
The celebration is short-lived. The Japanese army declares the Hong Kong dollar void. They force everyone to use military scrip. The people of Macau panic. They don't trust the new money. Trade stops completely. The Japanese control all imports, so they are effectively choking the city.
Ke Lin has an idea. He wonders if the Macau government can print its own money. He Xian shoots that down. Portugal won't allow it.
Yang Chang remembers something. He saw the Japanese secretly shipping boxes of special paper at the docks. They go to Yinwan for help. She remembers her brother talking about two "bombs" at HSBC. One was the unsigned cash. The other was a stash of special printing paper. If they find that paper, they can print their own money and break the blockade.
The Rescue Mission Begins
Ke Lin calls his brother, Ke Zhengping, who is operating in Hong Kong. He asks him to find the paper and Qiao Renyu.
Zhengping reports back quickly. He found Qiao Renyu and William. They are both prisoners. But he doesn't know exactly where Qiao is held. He knows William is in a specific POW camp.
The team makes a plan. They need to grab William first. Maybe he knows where Qiao is. Mary volunteers. She disguises herself as a nurse and sneaks into the medical center. She finds William. But the guy is a wreck. He is terrified and refuses to help with the escape plan.
