The Magic Pen Episode 20 Recap
> The Magic Pen Recap
The gang leader ordered his men to follow Wen Jingzhan and Tong Zifu to confirm that they were staying at the "Painting Garden" residence. The gang leader believed that their identities were confirmed, and coincidentally, their recent artworks were of average quality, so they could use Tong Zifu's artistic skills to enhance the paintings and raise their value. The gang leader suggested that the woman stay behind while the man is taken care of.
Tong Zifu wrote a secret letter in her room, inviting Wen Jingzhan to meet in Knife Alley. She hurriedly went to deliver the letter to Wen Jingzhan but unexpectedly found him in a disheveled state. Tong Zifu had accidentally entered Wen Jingzhan's room while he was not properly dressed. Using the excuse of delivering the letter, she had forgotten to knock and sneakily looked at Wen Jingzhan's abdomen muscles. Wen Jingzhan quickly put on his clothes.
Wen Jingzhan accompanied Tong Zifu to the alley. She was scared, and he took the initiative to hold her hand. There was no one on the street. Suddenly, they were blindfolded, and just as Wen Jingzhan was about to resist, a dagger was held against his neck. He had no choice but to leave his jade pendant at the scene. Wen Jingzhan and Tong Zifu were kidnapped to the gang leader's hideout. The gang leader claimed to have acquired some masterpieces and needed his "wife," Tong Zifu, to help refine them. Wen Jingzhan agreed to let Tong Zifu help but demanded that they be unbound in return.
Mingyang discovered letters in Wen Jingzhan's room and also found the jade pendant on the ground, suspecting that something had happened to Wen Jingzhan. Wen Jingzhan and Tong Zifu were held captive at the gang leader's hideout, and to prove their "married" status, they had no choice but to share a bed.

To avoid exposing his marital relationship with Tong Zifu, Wen Jingzhan shared a bed with her, leading her to notice his unease. She asked him if he liked her, and he replied that he needed to become a certified artist before he could confess his feelings. Tong Zifu thought to herself that just because he might not pass the exam, does that mean he won't confess? She was not someone who would seek favor with others. The reason Wen Jingzhan wanted to join the military was that his mother, a renowned artist, was killed by bandits while they were stealing paintings. He couldn't forget the sight of his mother dying in front of him.
The conflict between Wen Jingzhan and his father began after his mother's death. He was determined to fight against evil, while his father wanted him to become an artist, as their family lineage was tied to art, and he couldn't let it end with him. Wen Jingzhan said that his father would agree to him joining the military if he passed the artist's exam. Mingyang looked at the jade pendant and decided to wait and see, as he had an agreement with Wen Jingzhan. If something happened, the jade pendant would be damaged. If it remained intact, it would mean everything was under control.
The next day, the gang leader came to find Tong Zifu, but Wen Jingzhan hid behind the door and held him hostage. The gang leader had no choice but to reveal that there was a higher authority involved, the head shopkeeper, and he ordered Tong Zifu to go alone. Otherwise, they would abandon the cooperation. Determined, Tong Zifu set out alone. With her artistic skills, she believed there would be no danger. Wen Jingzhan waited with the second-in-command at the gang leader's hideout for Tong Zifu. If something happened to her, he would kill the second-in-command on the spot. Tong Zifu arrived at a forest with the kidnappers, where she saw a woman's back that seemed familiar from a distance. When the woman turned around, Tong Zifu recognized her; she was Wen Jingzhan's aunt.

Tong Zifu recognized the head shopkeeper among the kidnappers as Wen Jingzhan's second aunt. She quickly put on a veil. Madame Wen asked why she was covering her face. Tong Zifu lied, claiming she was wanted by the authorities and was avoiding them intentionally on her journey. Seeing that Tong Zifu was cautious, Madame Wen asked her to paint in front of everyone. Wen Jingzhan became increasingly worried when Tong Zifu didn't return, so he knocked out the second-in-command and went out to search for her.
Following the hidden clues left by Tong Zifu, Wen Jingzhan arrived at a forest. Tong Zifu had finished refining the painting of a tiger, and Madame Wen believed that adding her seal to such a lifelike painting would surely bring in a large profit. Just then, the wind blew away Tong Zifu's veil, and Madame Wen recognized her. She approached Tong Zifu and demanded that she remove the veil. At that very moment, officials arrived, causing Madame Wen to seize the opportunity to escape, leaving a subordinate behind to kill Tong Zifu.
Mingyang found Tong Zifu and saw her lying motionless on the ground. Wen Jingzhan knelt beside her, crying and recalling their past and his feelings for her. He hadn't even confessed his love to her yet. How could she leave him? He had plans to take her to meet his mother. Wearing the attire of a servant, Tong Zifu tapped him from behind. He turned around and was shocked to find that Tong Zifu was still alive.

Wen Jingzhan thought that Tong Zifu had died, and he cried bitterly. However, he soon realized that Tong Zifu was standing behind him, dressed in the kidnapper's attire. Tong Zifu explained that when the kidnapper was about to kill her, she threatened him with a painting, causing him to accidentally fall and hit his head on a rock, rendering him unconscious. Tong Zifu knew that Madame Wen was his aunt, and in order not to upset Wen Jingzhan, she decided to meet Madame Wen.
Wen Jingzhan sensed that Tong Zifu was deliberately hiding something from him, so he secretly followed her to ensure her safety. Tong Zifu discreetly entered the Wen residence and saw Madame Wen packing up all the paintings. At that moment, Master Wen entered and asked her what she was doing. Madame Wen lied, claiming she had made plans with other ladies to appreciate the paintings. In her haste to leave, a painting fell and Master Wen noticed it was fake and had an official notice stamp on it. Madame Wen, irritated by his nagging, struck him.
Tong Zifu tried to advise Madame Wen to stop and be content with her position as the lady of the Wen household. However, Madame Wen remained unsatisfied. Tong Zifu mentioned that Wen Jingzhan had lost his mother and considered her, his aunt, as family. Madame Wen had strategically plotted her way to her current position with the help of maids, and nobody could stop her. Furthermore, she revealed that she was the one who had arranged for the assassination of the Wen family's main lady. She pulled out a dagger and attempted to kill Tong Zifu, who was associated with Wen Jingzhan. Wen Jingzhan intervened and saved Tong Zifu. He tried to convince his aunt to stop, but she refused to repent and was apprehended by the officials. Master Wen blamed himself for sharing a bed with the murderer for so many years and apologized to his son.
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