Pledge of Allegiance Recap, Plot, Synopsis

Pledge of Allegiance Synopsis

In the third year of the Jianwen era, Wang Kegong from Jinan brought his wealth to Nanjing. Li Wu, a small thief from Ji'e Lane, stole the name card of Li Dongfang, a commander of the Imperial Guards, and sneaked into Wang Kegong's mansion with the dream of stealing treasures and becoming rich overnight.

However, there were hidden currents in Kegong's mansion, and Li Wu was forced into a struggle over the Yuming Lock, which related to weapons from the previous dynasty.

Li Wu, who was originally an outsider, became the owner of the Yuming Lock and was caught in the center of the vortex.

As a child, Song Zhen, who rescued Li Wu from prison, has now become a member of the Imperial Guards, and he and Li Wu are colleagues who do not recognize each other.

Shu Tang, a girl who was once imprisoned with Li Wu, has become an assassin and spy, and she and Li Wu have become a spy couple, working together to complete their missions.

The darkness and cruelty of the political struggles put their relationships to the test. When the moment of change of the dynasty arrives, all the battles and unsolved mysteries will come to an end.

Pledge of Allegiance Recap

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In the 25th year of Hongwu, the Crown Prince died and the situation was turbulent. In the prison of the Zhenfu Division, it was raining heavily outside. Three children ran out of the door and Song Heming followed closely behind and quickly locked the door. Young Song Zhen asked Shu Tang to leave quickly and then turned back to find someone. He saw his father being killed by Li Wu with a bloody dagger. Song Zhen wanted to catch Li Wu for revenge but was injured in the back by him. Li Wu escaped and Song Zhen became the son of a criminal and changed his name to Lu Zheng.

Ten years later, in Ji’e Alley, Li Wu covered a little boy who was stealing and hiding from being caught. He planned to take away the money he stole as a reward. The boy couldn’t get it back and cried loudly. Li Wu saw this and bought him a bunch of buns. Uncle Wang, who was standing next to the restaurant, handed Li Wu a map of Wang Kegong’s mansion. Li Wu was satisfied with the map and wanted to invite Uncle Wang to drink and eat meat in the restaurant but found that he only had one copper coin. He saw that Sister Meng, the owner of the restaurant, was unwilling to give him food so he had to leave.

On the other side, the little boy left only one bun and gave it to other beggars. While walking around on the road, he was caught by a catcher because he bumped into him. The little boy begged for mercy but the catcher still refused to let him go. Li Wu wanted to quietly pass by, but the thought of his childhood experience appeared because of the little boy’s appearance. Li Wu couldn’t help turning around and pretending to be Jin Yi Wei, calling the boy as a grandson lost by an official and making up a story that he was looking for him. The catcher apologized immediately. Li Wu fooled him successfully and changed his clothes with himself and the little boy at Zhangji Silk Shop. After leaving Zhangji Silk Shop, Li Wu asked the little boy to find Sister Meng at the restaurant to do odd jobs for her tomorrow and help him find someone with a knife wound on his back because he hoped to meet that person someday.

On April 25th of the third year of Jianwen, Lu Zheng, the Jin Yi Zong Qi, burned incense and got drunk after reminding by his subordinate Xie Kengran to work night shift. They left together. Inside the Jiaofang Division, Lu Zheng and Xie Kengran came to find Lei Zhen, the Jin Yi Zong Qi. The subordinate lied that he was handling a case and advised Lu Zheng not to bother him. Lu Zheng refused to leave. The two of them worked together to knock down the guards at the door and entered the room. Lei Zhen had already jumped out of the window and escaped, leaving only three tortured women in the room. Lu Zheng walked out of the room and recorded Lei Zhen’s bad behavior in his book.

In the Zhenfu Division, Lu Zheng handed over his book to his adoptive father Commander Daren, and reported Lei Zhen’s behavior. At this moment, Lei Zhen and his father came over. Lu Zheng’s adoptive father brought them into the room for a drink and asked Lu Zheng to tear up his book. After drinking, Lu Zheng’s adoptive father and Lei Zhen’s father stood aside discussing while Lei Zhen mocked Lu Zheng and said that he had taken over the position of Baihu that he had been thinking about.

After they left, Lu Zheng secretly abducted Lei Zhen and locked him in a box on a boat before leaving quickly. Back at the Zhenfu Division, Lu Zheng burned incense in front of his father Song Heming’s tablet. His adoptive father remembered saving an injured Lu Zheng ten years ago and Lu Zheng said that he killed his own father ten years ago for letting go of a child so he didn’t want to let go of any evil person ten years later. He burned one page of his book recording Lei Zhen’s crimes while saying this.

At night, the soldiers at the city gate were about to close the gate when a man on horseback arrived. It turned out that this person was Li Dongfang. Xie Kengran came to the temple to remind Lu Zheng to work night shift. The two of them went to a restaurant in Jiege Lane for dinner. Lu Zheng told Xie Kengran that there were suspected deserters from the north who had come to Jiege Lane recently. While they were eating, a porter sat down next to them. They heard that the porter had a northern accent and deliberately let him take away the book on the table. The porter handed the book to Shu Tang and followed Shu Tang’s orders to pass a message to Li Dongfang. Lu Zheng and Xie Kengran secretly followed the porter onto a small boat by the river.

On the other side, Li Wu came to Zuixian Building and learned from the waiter that all the guests of Wang Kegong’s mansion were staying in this restaurant. Li Wu had just sat down in the lobby when he saw Li Dongfang sitting at another table. Halfway through, Li Dongfang accidentally dropped Wang’s invitation card. The waiter reminded Li Dongfang to put away the invitation card. Li Wu learned that he could not enter Wang Kegong’s mansion without an invitation card.

Lu Zheng and Xie Kengran followed the porter to the outside of Zuixian Building and saw him asking the waiter to deliver something to Li Dongfang, a hundred households who was transferred to Beijing for duty. At this time, Li Wu walked out of the restaurant and bumped into Li Dongfang. Unexpectedly, he was caught by Li Dongfang and had to return the invitation card to him. Li Wu left Zuixian Building, but Li Dongfang followed him. Lu Zheng wanted Li Dongfang to return home and took his place as a hundred households, so he followed Li Dongfang.

Li Wu realized that Li Dongfang was following him, so he hid in the bamboo forest and knocked him out with a brick. He found that Lu Zheng had followed him here too. Just as Li Wu was about to take action, Lu Zheng suddenly turned around and left. Li Wu dragged the unconscious Li Dongfang into the house and tied him up. He fooled an illiterate fortune teller into reading his invitation card and successfully learned about Li Dongfang’s identity. He planned to use his identity to enter Wang Kegong’s mansion.

The next day, Li Wu successfully entered Wang Kegong’s mansion using Li Dongfang’s invitation card. Lu Zheng mistook Li Wu for Li Dongfang and invited him into the room for a long talk. Through Lu Zheng’s words, Li Wu learned that Li Dongfang was also a Jin Yiwei and had a higher position than Lu Zheng, which made him very proud. Knowing that Lu Zheng was the adopted son of a commanding officer, Li Wu wanted to bribe Lu Zheng with money but he not only refused but also repeatedly asked about his purpose in Ying Tianfu and Wang Kegong’s mansion. Li Wu was frightened and expressed his willingness to leave immediately.

Within the Zhenfu Division, Qian Shi official lit incense in front of Song Heming’s memorial tablet. He couldn’t help but recall the scene ten years ago when Song Heming locked the secret of the crown prince in the Yu Ming Suo and then handed it over to him. Ten years later, Qian Shi official planned to hand over the Yu Ming Suo to the emperor. Turning around and seeing Commander Lu Yulin, he asked about Song Heming’s son Song Zhen’s whereabouts. Lu Yulin pretended not to be able to find the child and asked him to hand over the Yu Ming Suo to himself. Qian Shi official was surprised that Lu Yulin knew about Yu Ming Suo. It turned out that he had eavesdropped on their conversation ten years ago.

In Wang Chongxi’s mansion, Li Wu was attracted by Chen Gongzi holding a pile of gold and silver jewelry and stood aside. Lu Zheng asked Li Wu why he hadn’t returned to the north yet. Li Wu hoped that Lu Zheng would give him some money to make up for his losses. Lu Zheng said he would play two games with him. The two came to the table, and Li Wu explained his intentions. Wang Chongxi’s son Wang Chongxi happily let the two bet. After Lu Zheng placed his bet, Li Wu began to shake the dice and made Lu Zheng win alone. In several subsequent rounds, Lu Zheng won every time. At this time, Wang Chongxi suspected that they were cheating, so Li Wu asked for someone else to shake the dice and secretly took away a die in advance. While everyone was looking for the lost die, Li Wu happily took away part of the treasure on the table.

Li Wu quietly unlocked a door and walked into a room but accidentally discovered the Yu Ming Suo hidden in Song Heming’s memorial tablet while searching for jewelry. He put Yu Ming Suo in his arms and saw someone passing by outside the door, so he quickly hid in a box. A maid brought Shu Tang into the room, and the maid cried and begged Shu Tang not to kill her. Unexpectedly, Shu Tang only let her drink a pot of wine.

It started raining outside, and Lu Zheng accidentally walked to Qian Shi official’s room. Qian Shi official was pleasantly surprised to see Lu Zheng and asked him his name. He said that Lu Zheng looked a lot like his old friend, but when he heard that Lu Zheng’s father was Lu Yulin, he asked Lu Zheng to leave quickly.

In the room, Shu Tang locked the box and said that the maid would wake up in three days. She then left the room. Li Wu unlocked the box and planned to leave through a gap in the west courtyard wall with a lot of gold and silver jewelry. Unexpectedly, he ran into Lu Zheng and had to pretend that there were assassins. The two walked back to the mansion together and happened to see Shu Tang wearing night clothes. Lu Zheng fought with her and injured Shu Tang’s shoulder. Shu Tang fled when she realized she couldn’t win.

Li Wu wanted to leave quietly while the two were fighting but ran into Wang Chongxi halfway. Wang Chongxi asked the maid to take him back to his room and left with his servants. Just as Li Wu breathed a sigh of relief, he saw blood in the maid’s hand and realized that she was the black-clothed person who had fought with Lu Zheng earlier.

Ten years ago in the Chaoyang prison, Li Wu failed to open the lock at the door. He wanted to borrow Shu Tang’s hairpin, but Shu Tang said that it was given to her by her father and refused to give it to Li Wu.

At Wang Kegong’s mansion, Shu Tang and Li Wu went to the granary. Shu Tang took the beautiful jade that Li Wu had stolen and asked him to guard the door for her. After a short rest, she returned the jade to him. Lu Zheng followed the bloodstains and found Shu Tang’s night clothes. He remembered that the maid’s clothes were a bit strange. Inside the granary, Li Wu saw that Shu Tang seemed to be asleep and quietly approached her to take back the jade. Unexpectedly, Shu Tang was not asleep and wanted to kill Li Wu. Li Wu quickly told Shu Tang that he was a thief and was willing to give all the stolen treasures to her and help her escape from Wang Kegong’s mansion. During their struggle, Shu Tang saw a scar on Li Wu’s neck and knew that he had also been in Chaoyang prison. Li Wu looked at the hairpin on Shu Tang’s head and remembered a girl who was in the same cell as him.

On the other side, Lu Zheng checked the shoulders of all the maids in the courtyard but found nothing unusual. Lu Zheng returned to the town government office and summoned other guards to go with him to Wang Kegong’s mansion. They refused because they had no orders. Lu Zheng thought that this matter was urgent. Just as both sides were deadlocked, Lu Yulin came over and said that Wang Kegong’s family affairs were not under the jurisdiction of the Zhengfu Division.

Lu Zheng told Lu Yulin that he had found out that Li Dongfang was secretly colluding with Ye Bushou and was not qualified to be a Bai Hu. Lu Yulin said that the position of Bai Hu was not Lu Zheng’s turn and that Lu Zheng only wanted to use the identity of Bai Hu to get the key to the case library to check the case files of Hongwu years. Lu Zheng was determined to find out as long as he lived. Lu Yulin told him that Song Heming’s case could not be reopened and asked him not to interfere in Wang Kegong’s mansion. Lu Zheng couldn’t listen anymore and left.

Early in the morning, Li Wu left Wang Kegong’s mansion through a gap in the west courtyard wall. When he returned home, he saw Li Dongfang wake up, so he knocked him out and put him in a boat box heading to Yangzhou. Li Wu packed his treasures and wanted to leave, but he couldn’t help but take the medicine back to Wang Kegong’s mansion. Lu Zheng saw Li Wu enter Wang Kegong’s mansion through the gap and followed him secretly. Li Wu went to the granary to look for Shu Tang, and Lu Zheng followed closely behind him and asked him to hand over the assassin. Li Wu denied it loudly and wanted to leave the granary. Lu Zheng stopped him quickly, and they fought in the granary. Just as Li Wu was subdued by Lu Zheng, Xie Kongran locked the door of the granary.

At night, Li Wu went to unlock the door of the granary. When Lu Zheng saw this, he tied Li Wu up in the granary and planned to take him back to the town government office after catching the assassin. After leaving the granary, Lu Zheng went to Wang Kegong’s study at his subordinate’s reminder and saved Wang Kegong who was almost suffocated. Lu Zheng asked Xie Kongran to return to the Zhenfu Division to find some manpower while he stayed at Wang Kegong’s mansion to protect him.

In the granary, Shu Tang thought that Li Wu had brought the Jin Yi Wei to capture her, so she opened the granary and released the grain. Li Wu was submerged in the grain and could only hold the two bottles of medicine he had brought with his hands. Shu Tang quickly cut the rope that bound Li Wu and rescued him from the granary. Through Shu Tang’s words, Li Wu learned that Shu Tang grew up under Li Qianzong’s hand in Ye Bu Shou. He accidentally saw a scar on Shu Tang’s neck and seemed to be thinking about something.

On the other side, Wang Kegong couldn’t help but talk to Lu Zheng about his old friend again. Lu Zheng then learned that Ye Bu Shou was looking for Yu Ming Suo. Just as they were talking, Li Wu entered the room through a window and overheard their conversation. He learned that what he got was Yu Ming Suo.

In the granary, Shu Tang took Yu Ming Suo from Li Wu’s hand and handed the jade to him. Suddenly, Li Wu proposed to help Shu Tang find out where the cipher was hidden, while Ye Bu Shou wanted him to steal something from Jin Yi Wei’s case library. Shu Tang agreed to Li Wu’s request. Lu Zheng used the key given by Wang Kegong to open the bottom of the tablet but found nothing. He turned over the tablet and found that Song Heming’s name was written on it.

Ten years ago in the Mu Mansion, the family members of Mu Jinggao were taken back to the Zhenfu Division, but the Mu sisters were left behind. Eventually, the elder sister was sent to the Jiaofang Division and the younger sister was sent to the Zhao Prison. The sisters were thus separated.

In Wang Kegong’s mansion, Lu Zheng was puzzled as to how Li Wu could escape. Li Wu proposed a bet that if Lu Zheng arrived at the roof first, he would know everything. When they reached the roof, Li Wu lied that he had a secret mission and only kept it from Lu Zheng. He handed Yu Ming Suo to Lu Zheng and asked him to keep it safe. It turned out that Li Wu planned to give Yu Ming Suo to Lu Zheng for safekeeping and steal it back when he needed it.

After the Orchid Banquet held in Wang Kegong’s mansion’s backyard ended, Wang Kegong escorted his guests out of the mansion. Li Wu took this opportunity to inquire about where the cipher was hidden. Just then, Lu Zheng was called to the garden by a servant. Li Wu took advantage of this and stole Yu Ming Suo back while helping Lu Zheng tidy his clothes.

In the garden, Lu Zheng told Wang Kegong about his background. Wang Kegong was moved and when he looked closely at Lu Zheng, Lu Zheng took the opportunity to ask Wang Kegong about his father’s past. Wang Kegong told Lu Zheng that the method to open Yu Ming Suo was in Song Heming’s Wuchang Book. At this moment, Ye Bu Shou rushed down from the roof and killed Wang Kegong with Lu Zheng’s sword. Li Wu arrived and Ye Bu Shou asked him to hand over Yu Ming Suo or he would kill Lu Zheng. Li Wu had no choice but to take out Yu Ming Suo. Suddenly, Shu Tang arrived and fought with the assassin. Li Wu took advantage of the chaos to put Yu Ming Suo back into his arms and left through a gap in the west courtyard wall.

Wang Kegong died and the servants opened the door to escape but found many Jin Yi Wei standing in front of them. It turned out that Si Xiangnan had brought his subordinates here. The Jin Yi Wei came to the garden and found that Wang Kegong had died. Si Xiangnan learned that the blood on Lu Zheng’s sword was Wang Kegong’s and ordered his subordinates to record that Lu Zheng killed Wang Kegong in the Wuchang Book, indicating that the sword was a murder weapon.

In the Wen Hua Hall, Yuan Zhongdao handed a secret letter to Emperor Zhu Yunwen during his lecture. Yuan Zhongdao angrily rebuked Lu Zheng’s behavior. Zhu Yunwen allowed Si Xiangnan to thoroughly investigate whether there were any rebels within the Zhenfu Division.

Li Wu successfully left Ying Tianfu by bribing the city gate guards and ran to the mountains. He buried Yu Ming Suo under a big tree and tied a cloth strip on the tree as a mark. In the backyard of Wang Kegong’s mansion, Jin Yi Wei searched and found Song Heming’s tablet in the box. Si Xiangnan planned to use this opportunity to crush Lu Yulin in one fell swoop and take over the position of commander.

At Zhangji Silk Shop, Zhang Junqing changed out of his night clothes and dressed up before entering the secret room of the bell tower. Yuan Zhongdao also entered the secret room to meet her. Zhang Junqing told Yuan Zhongdao about the whereabouts of Yu Ming Suo and Li Wu’s origin. It turned out that five years ago, Yuan Zhongdao rescued Mu’s sister Zhang Junqing from the Jiaofang Division. Zhang Junqing was determined to find out the truth about Mu’s family’s destruction and was willing to be dispatched by Yuan Zhongdao. Yuan Zhongdao saw that Zhang Junqing killed Wang Kegong and wanted to exchange Yu Ming Suo for Mu’s family secrets. Zhang Junqing was actually a fake Ye Bu Shou, and Ye Bu Shou’s leader was also Yuan Zhongdao’s person. Yuan Zhongdao asked Zhang Junqing to kill Li Dongfang, and Zhang Junqing had no choice but to promise to show loyalty.

In the Zhenfu Division’s training ground, Xie Kengran bribed the guards with food and wine while Lu Zheng quietly arranged his affairs. Soon after, the guard suddenly felt pain in his abdomen and left. Xie Kengran took advantage of this opportunity to untie Lu Zheng’s rope and let him go to Yangzhou to hide. Lu Zheng did not want to leave and said that Li Wu could prove his innocence. Xie Kengran tied Lu Zheng back to the wooden stake and set off to find Li Wu.

Xie Kengran came to Ji'e Lane under the guidance of the shopkeeper. At this time, Wang Shu and Li Wu walked into the city gate. Wang Shu saw that Jin Yi Wei was checking people, so he fell down to attract Jin Yi Wei’s attention. Li Wu took the opportunity to return to his residence, packed his things, and wanted to escape, but was stopped by Si Xiangnan’s subordinates. He took out the cloth strip that Li Wu dropped in the garden and wanted to use Li Wu’s secret of entering the prison to restrain him for life. Xie Kengran followed Jin Yi Wei to Li Wu’s residence and happened to see Li Wu leaving in disguise. Xie Kengran followed Li Wu closely, but Li Wu realized that something was wrong and wanted to escape.

In the 30th year of Hongwu, Lu Wang City on the northern border was in ruins. Li Dongfang waved his sword with fire and killed many guards. He saw the scar on Zhang Junqing’s neck and thought she had been in prison, so he let her take his sword for revenge.

At night, Li Dongfang removed the cloth from Li Wu’s head and Li Wu recognized him as the person he had knocked out. Li Dongfang saw the scar on Li Wu’s neck and knew he wanted him to destroy the files in the document bank. Li Wu realized that Li Dongfang wanted Yu Ming Suo and wanted to take him to Guan Yin Mountain to get it, but Li Dongfang said he wanted to invite him to dinner. The two went to a restaurant in Ji'e Lane where Li Wu was tied up and could only eat food from a bowl while bowing down. Just then, Uncle Wang and other neighbors from Ji'e Lane rushed out. Uncle Wang offered money to spare Li Wu’s life. Li Dongfang said he brought him here to reward him. Uncle Wang offered his own wine to Li Dongfang who then hinted quietly that if Li Wu didn’t bring Yu Ming Suo, someone would come looking for the neighbors of Ji'e Lane.

Zhang Ji Silk Shop, Song Tianyi told Zhang Junqing about Li Wu and Li Dongfang’s whereabouts. Zhang Junqing said that Li Dongfang was a rebel of Ye Bu Shou and left without asking more questions.

A little boy came looking for Li Wu and found out that he was going to run away. He asked him to take him with him or he would tell on him. Li Wu thought the boy was just going back to pack his bags, but the boy wanted to take the neighbors of Jige Lane with him. Li Wu pretended to arrange it but met Ye Bu Shou in the middle of the road. Ye Bu Shou said that whether Li Wu handed over Yu Ming Suo or not, Li Dongfang would kill the people of Jige Lane. If he gave him Yu Ming Suo, he would kill Li Dongfang for him.

Inside the post station in Jige Lane, Xie Kengran asked the manager if he had seen Li Wu and Li Wu appeared at that moment. Xie Kengran asked Li Wu if he had seen the murderer who killed Wang Kegong. Li Wu told Xie Kengran that if he wanted to catch the real murderer, he could only do it tonight. Xie Kengran sent his subordinates back to Zhenfu Division with an emergency document and followed Li Wu.

Inside Zhenfu Division, Lu Zheng shouted and attracted Si Xiangnan who told Lu Zheng about the contents of the document. Lu Zheng asked Si Xiangnan to go to Guan Yin Mountain for reinforcements, but Si Xiangnan untied Lu Zheng’s rope and gave him three hours. After Lu Zheng left, Si Xiangnan reported that Lu Zheng had escaped from prison and ordered the whole city to arrest him regardless of whether he was dead or alive.

At Guan Yin Mountain, Li Wu told Xie Kengran that the assassin who killed Wang Kegong was Ye Bu Shou and told him the secret of Yu Ming Suo, advising him not to get involved. Xie Kengran said he was willing to pay with his life if he could save Lu Zheng.

In the secret room of the Bell Tower, Zhang Junqing told Yuan Zhongdao the contents of the secret letter. Yuan Zhongdao asked her to go to Guan Yin Mountain to kill Li Dongfang and get Yu Ming Suo back. He would then tell her the secret of Mu’s family.

The next morning, Li Wu and Xie Kengran had just found Yu Ming Suo at Guan Yin Mountain when they saw Li Dongfang walking out from behind a tree and Shu Tang walking out silently from the side. Xie Kengran wanted to take Li Wu and Yu Ming Suo back to Zhenfu Division as evidence. Shu Tang and Xie Kengran started fighting. Li Wu pretended to throw away Yu Ming Suo. Li Dongfang picked it up and found out it was fake. He turned around and fought with Zhang Junqing who had arrived. The two were fighting fiercely when Song Tianyi came to help and successfully killed Li Dongfang. Shu Tang left Xie Kengran behind and rushed over to find that Li Dongfang had already died. Zhang Junqing and Song Tianyi surrounded Li Wu from front and back. Xie Kengran arrived in time to save Li Wu but was injured by a sword. Soon after, Shu Tang also arrived to join the fight. While they were fighting, Xie Kengran wanted to take Li Wu back to Zhenfu Division but soon collapsed on the road. Li Wu wanted to carry Xie Kengran back to the clinic but he died on Li Wu’s back due to his serious injuries. After putting him down, Li Wu heard Lu Zheng’s cry for help and had to hide in the nearby bushes to observe the situation. Lu Zheng saw Xie Kengran’s dead body and was heartbroken. He carried him on his back and followed the Jinyiwei who came to pursue them. Li Wu returned to the dense forest and found a group of Jinyiwei searching the mountain. He quickly ran to the riverbank to wash off the blood on his hands and saw Li Dongfang lying dead beside him.

Lu Zheng carried Xie Kengran back to the government office. Si Xiangnan told Lu Zheng that he was a deeply hidden traitor in the Zhenfu Division and threatened him to confess by using Xie Kengran’s funeral. Seeing that Lu Zheng still refused, Si Xiangnan ordered his subordinates to cane him fifty times. Lu Zheng was beaten to vomit blood and still wanted to pick up Xie Kengran’s waist badge that had been thrown on the ground. He eventually passed out and was forcibly detained.

At the riverbank, Li Wu changed into Li Dongfang’s clothes and found Shu Tang lying under the eaves while rushing on the road. He quickly went up and carried Shu Tang into the cave, found a doctor for her diagnosis and treatment, and boiled medicine for her in the cave. After feeding her medicine, Li Wu walked into the city gate wearing Li Dongfang’s clothes and saw a notice that said Lu Zheng was a traitor. After disguising himself, Li Wu came to the door of Zhenfu Division with a cart and heard Jinyiwei talking about Lu Zheng and Xie Kengran without any concern, which made him very angry.

At night, Shu Tang woke up in the cave and realized that Li Wu had saved her. She turned over and wanted to collect Li Dongfang’s body. Li Wu quickly stopped her. He saw that Shu Tang wanted to go out again, so he lied to her that Li Dongfang was not dead because Ye Bu Shou had betrayed them and Li Dongfang only contacted him directly. Shu Tang had no choice but to believe Li Wu’s words.

Li Wu asked Shu Tang to follow him into the city to recuperate. He planned to go to the Zhenfu Division Yamen for his appointment. Facing Shu Tang’s question, Li Wu looked at the burning fire in front of him and took out the cloth stained with Xie Kengran’s blood from his arms. He sighed that he should have died that day. He never understood why Xie Kengran was so desperate to block the knife for him. He wanted to figure out the reason and save Lu Zheng for him by going to the Zhenfu Division Yamen.

The next day, Li Wu settled Shu Tang in the city and went to the Zhenfu Division Yamen for his appointment. When Lu Yulin saw the blood stains on Li Wu’s clothes, he asked if he was injured. Li Wu said that the blood stains were from Xie Kengran. He met Ye Bu Shou on the way and was saved by Xie Kengran, but Xie Kengran was killed by Ye Bu Shou. Si Xiangnan objected that Lu Zheng had already signed and detained himself, and it was he who killed Wang Kegong and Xie Kengran. Li Wu told Si Xiangnan that he had seen Ye Bu Shou kill Wang Kegong with his own eyes and said that he wanted to testify for Lu Zheng and request a holy judgment to investigate whether someone had been tortured into confession and make a big deal out of it.

Lu Yulin said that the emperor had already made a ruling and ordered Lu Zheng to receive death at Zhenfu Division Yamen at three-quarters of an hour after midnight tonight. Si Xiangnan left satisfied when he saw this. Lu Yulin stopped Li Wu who wanted to leave and asked what Li Wu wanted to do for Lu Zheng. Li Wu said that he was entrusted by Xie Kengran to save his close friend Lu Zheng. Lu Yulin said that only Mr. Yuan from Wenhua Hall could save Lu Zheng, and he immediately went into the palace to find Mr. Yuan for Lu Zheng’s plea but feared that there was not enough time. Li Wu heard that it would take at least two hours and quickly turned around and left.

At the Zhenfu Division school field at night, Si Xiangnan asked Li Wu what he came for. Li Wu said that he had found out that Lu Zheng was indeed colluding with the rebels. He asked Si Xiangnan to forgive him and wanted to execute Lu Zheng himself to show his loyalty. Si Xiangnan was very satisfied.

The Jinyiwei took Lu Zheng down from the wooden frame, and Li Wu begged Si Xiangnan for the last bowl of rice for Lu Zheng. Li Wu woke up Lu Zheng with water, hinted that he should listen to him, and handed him the bowl of rice. Lu Zheng heard his words and quickly took the bowl of rice and started eating.

At three-quarters of an hour after midnight, Lu Yulin had already knelt in front of the palace trembling all over and still refused to leave. Seeing that Wang Taijian had reported to the emperor many times but still refused to summon him, Lu Yulin said that he had something important to report to the emperor about the old case in Hongwu years. As a result, Lu Yulin was supported to the emperor and Yuan Zhongdao saw that Lu Yulin wanted to use the secret of the old case in Hongwu years to plead with the emperor for Lu Zheng. Lu Yulin told the emperor about the secret of Yu Ming’s lock and that Lu Zheng was the son of Song Heming, a criminal. Since Wang Kegong and Song Heming have died, Lu Zheng is the only one who knows about the secret code and begged the emperor to allow Lu Zheng to serve him while he himself is willing to be executed by the emperor.

At the Zhenfu Division school field, Li Wu asked the Jinyiwei to press down Lu Zheng while he himself pulled the bowstring against Lu Zheng’s throat and pulled hard.

In the Chao Prison ten years ago, Song Heming and Wang Kegong were interrogating Li Yan. They also caught Li Yan’s son Li Feng and threatened him. Seeing this, Li Yan asked them to send Li Feng to Jining. Li Yan told them that the Crown Prince asked him to bring the words “the first day of the Rendeng Tower, the fifteenth day of the Bi Luo Chun, the sunrise soup boiled eggs, the moon sets and the stars are full of buildings, five, fourteen, twenty-two, thirty-one, forty-seven” to Mu Jinggao.

At Yimen School Field, Li Wu was executing Lu Zheng. Si Xiangnan saw that Lu Zheng had not yet been executed and took action himself. Li Wu could only remove his hand from the bowstring. At this critical moment, a eunuch came to deliver an edict and announced that Lu Zheng was to be escorted to the palace for protection. Si Xiangnan had no choice but to let Li Wu take Lu Zheng to see the emperor.

In front of Jinluan Hall, Yuan Zhongdao asked Lu Yulin about what happened in Hongwu 25 years when he was ordered to arrest people in Mu Mansion. He saw Mu Jinggao commit suicide and apologize with his own eyes. Yuan Zhongdao tried to test whether Mu Jinggao was really dead. Lu Yulin said that the documents in Zhenfu Division’s document bank clearly recorded that Li Yan conspired with Mu Jinggao to kill the Crown Prince. That night Song Heming secretly communicated with rebels and let Li Feng and Mu Jinggao’s second daughter go.

In front of the Throne Room, Lu Zheng met with the emperor and Yuan Zhongdao. Yuan Zhongdao asked Lu Zheng about what happened on the night of April 25th in Hongwu 25 years when he broke into the Chao Prison and stole the key to release a death row prisoner. Song Heming committed a heinous crime to make up for his mistake. Yuan Zhongdao read out an edict that the emperor wanted to find out the truth and exonerate Song Heming and his son. Lu Zheng thanked the emperor for his grace and was determined to find out the truth and clear his father’s name. Lu Zheng was promoted to a hundred households and was ordered by the emperor to handle the rebel case and execute Wang Kegong’s relatives.

Lu Zheng learned that Xie Kangran’s body was put on display in front of Yimen School Field by Si Xiangnan. He hurried back to Yimen School Field and Li Wu helped him bury Xie Kangran. Lu Zheng asked Li Wu how Xie Kangran died, and Li Wu told him the truth. Lu Zheng wanted to kill Li Wu but spared him when he saw that Li Wu did not react after drawing his sword. He then left.

At Zuixian Building, Li Wu suggested that they should live happily together with Xie Kangran’s memory. After they toasted Xie Kangran, Lu Zheng suggested that they should drink more. At Caoyun Wharf, Lu Zheng put Li Wu who had passed out into a box on board a ship. He saw that Li Wu had some fabric bought by Xie Kangran in his arms when he was about to leave. Li Wu woke up and found himself sitting by the roadside. Li Wu asked Lu Zheng if he was going to execute Wang Kegong’s relatives, but Lu Zheng believed that Wang Kegong was not a rebel. Li Wu advised Lu Zheng that only by staying alive could he change this world. Lu Zheng asked Li Wu to return the gift intended for Wang Kegong back to Duke Xu. Li Wu realized Lu Zheng’s purpose and returned Duck Xu’s gift in front of Xu Mansion with great fanfare.

At the entrance of the Zhenfu Yamen, at three-quarters past noon, Si Xiangnan asked Lu Zheng to order the execution. At that moment, Li Wu arrived. Si Xiangnan could not restrain himself and ordered his subordinates to execute the prisoners. Lu Zheng said that he was the emperor’s appointed executioner and that since the auspicious time had passed today, he would detain the prisoners on the spot.

In the Throne Room, Si Xiangnan told Yuan Zhongdao that Lu Zheng deliberately delayed and missed the auspicious time. Lu Zheng said that Duke Xu’s two families were related by marriage, Wang Kegong was a rebel, and Duke Xu was also implicated. The two argued in front of Yuan Zhongdao. Yuan Zhongdao said that he would allow Lu Zheng to do as he wished.

Outside Zhenfu Yamen, Shu Tang pretended to be Li Wu’s wife. Lu Zheng returned the letter and the invitation to Shu Tang and kept testing her identity and Li Dongfang’s background. Shu Tang answered calmly one by one. When Li Wu arrived, Lu Zheng led them to an official residence arranged by Zhenfu Yamen. Li Wu found out that it was Wang Kegong’s mansion. Li Wu said that they had not seen each other for a long time and wanted to talk about some family matters and asked Lu Zheng to leave.

Inside the mansion, Li Wu was surprised to see Shu Tang and asked why she was here. Shu Tang said that she was originally supposed to follow Li Dongfang to his new post and that she did not trust Li Wu. She also asked Li Wu if Li Dongfang had any instructions for her. Suddenly, Li Wu realized that Lu Zheng was eavesdropping outside the window and walked out of the room. Lu Zheng pretended to be repairing the doors and windows and couldn’t help but test Li Wu’s identity before leaving. Li Wu responded calmly.

At Zhenfu Division, Lu Yulin handed over the key to the case file library of Zhenfu Division to Li Wu and instructed that all cases from the Hongwu period must go through Li Wu. Li Wu cherished the key and held it in his hand. At night, the neighbors of Jiege Lane enjoyed food in a restaurant. After getting drunk, Li Wu handed a jade to a little boy named Mei Dou and then staggered and put a bag of silver in front of each household in Ji'e Lane to thank everyone for taking care of him for so many years. Lu Zheng followed him secretly and muttered Li Wu’s name while watching him smash everything in his previous residence.

It was night again. Li Wu asked Mei Dou to put a piece of white paper into a river lantern and let it flow downstream in advance. Li Wu ate the white paper in the river lantern and pretended that it was an order from Li Dongfang. Li Wu deceived Shu Tang that Li Dongfang had seen Shu Tang following him to his new post and said that he was willing to teach Shu Tang how to become a hundred-household wife. Seeing Shu Tang wiping her knife, Li Wu quickly denied that there was no need for Shu Tang to smile and serve him.

Inside the mansion, Shu Tang slowly recounted Li Dongfang’s previous case handling experience and asked Li Wu to remember it. Li Wu said that he had to summarize Li Dongfang’s character and truly become Li Dongfang from the inside out. Seeing Shu Tang’s heroic sitting posture, he put some silver coins in her shoes. Shu Tang put on her shoes and walked a few steps before refusing to practice anymore. Seeing this, Li Wu threatened Shu Tang with Li Dongfang’s authority. Shu Tang looked at Li Wu’s virtuous appearance sewing clothes and had no choice but to continue practicing walking.

Li Wu analyzed that Li Dongfang’s characteristics were honesty and fear of the inside and hinted at Shu Tang. Shu Tang couldn’t help but ask Li Wu what he meant. Li Wu said that they should pretend to be husband and wife, but they had to really live together and proposed that they take turns being responsible for odd and even days. At night, Shu Tang was really wiping the floor in the room. Seeing Li Wu sleeping on the desk, Shu Tang angrily knocked over his shoes and found silver coins inside, coming up with a plan.

In the morning, Li Wu walked out of the room and found that Shu Tang was actually drying clothes on a rainy day. He quickly stopped Shu Tang. Looking at the dishes on the table, Li Wu learned that Shu Tang had given two cooking old ladies one liang of silver. He realized that Shu Tang had taken the silver coins from his shoes after she had said she had no money and was very angry.

The two came to the riverbank, and falling flowers kept drifting down from the trees. Seeing Lu Zheng coming by boat, Shu Tang leaned against Li Wu’s shoulder. Before they arrived, Shu Tang reminded Li Wu again to remember Li Dongfang’s experience, the power struggle of Zhenfu Yamen and the secret signal of not collecting at night. On the boat, Lu Zheng tentatively called out Li Wu’s name. Li Wu pretended not to know and had already clenched the key around his waist in secret.

As soon as Li Wu entered the Zhenfu Yamen, a Jin Yiwei couldn’t help but ask about the case Li Wu had handled before. Li Wu responded while staring at other Jin Yiwei. At the reminder of his subordinates, he learned that every month Jin Yiwei had to report to the Lord of the Ministry of War, Si Xiangnan. Si Xiangnan took Li Wu to the school field and watched as Ji Daren was beaten by Jin Yiwei. Li Wu remembered that Ji Daren was the one who asked about the nine-headed corpse case at the door. Si Xiangnan warned Li Wu to be careful in his words and deeds in the future, saying that the matter of anti-party was a rare opportunity and wanted Li Wu to join in advance and work with Lu Zheng.

Later, Li Wu went to Lu Yulin’s place. Lu Yulin asked Li Wu to work with Lu Zheng so that he could monitor Lu Zheng and tell him about Lu Zheng’s whereabouts. He said that as long as Li Wu agreed with him, then Li Wu would always be Li Dongfang here. Li Wu was shocked that Lu Yulin saw through his identity and had no choice but to agree.

In the prison, Li Wu looked at the open door and recalled his escape from prison. He remembered how Song Heming was killed by a hidden arrow after locking the prison door with an iron chain and how his arm was broken by the killer who stole the book of impermanence. Lu Zheng came and asked Li Wu to check for a person named Li Wu in the case file library. The two walked up to the case file library and watched as Jin Yiwei passed by with scrolls. Li Wu couldn’t help but recall how ten years ago young Lu Zheng let him and Shu Tang go free. The person guarding the case file library told Lu Zheng that there was no scroll for Hongwu’s year named Li Wu. Li Wu breathed a sigh of relief, but Lu Zheng didn’t believe it and could only leave. After leaving the case file library, Li Wu wanted to shake hands with Lu Zheng and agree not to suspect each other anymore, but Lu Zheng knocked him out instead.

Lu Zheng woke up and found himself tied up in front of Guanyin Mountain. Li Wu asked Lu Zheng why he wanted to arrest the people in Ji'e Lane. Lu Zheng said that he had no military order of his own and that they would be sent to the front line as coolies. Seeing this, Li Wu said that Wang Kegong had secretly investigated an old case before his death and that he had been investigating Li Wu’s whereabouts for the past few years. He came to the capital to inquire about whether Ji'e Lane had any relatives or friends of his under Li Wu’s name. Li Wu was very angry and believed that the people of Ji'e Lane were all honest and upright people, but Lu Zheng had arrested innocent people in order to make him confess. Lu Zheng was willing to keep him by his side because of what he had just said, and the two shook hands and agreed.

On the other side, Wang Chan and his group disguised themselves as Nightfall and asked Jin Yiwei to hand over the people in Ji'e Lane. At this time, Lu Zheng rode up on horseback and ordered his men to take them down. Wang Chan quickly explained his identity, and Lu Zheng took out the Book of Impermanence and recorded Wang Chan’s pretending to be Nightfall to collect money and oppress the people.

At this time, Shu Tang woke up from a drunken stupor and found herself in the Jiaofang Division. At this time, a group of Jin Yiwei came to arrest people because they received a report that Nightfall had come to the Jiaofang Division. Seeing that Jin Yiwei Tang Yu actually lifted a woman’s clothes, Shu Tang said that she was Nightfall. Tang Yu saw Shu Tang and recognized her as Baihu’s wife. He thought that Shu Tang was really working at the Jiaofang Division and asked her to go back to the official residence first.

In the morning, Lu Zheng walked into the courtyard with an umbrella, and Li Wu and Shu Tang came out of the room. Lu Zheng showed them the deed, and it turned out that he had bought this courtyard. Lu Zheng said that they could live here, but they had to give him two taels of silver a month or do housework instead.

In the Zhenfu Division, Li Wu watched as Si Xiangnan took the plates confiscated from Wang Kegong’s mansion and used them as evidence of Wang Kegong’s communication with Yan. He also designated their letters as Yan’s intelligence. At this time, Lu Zheng walked over with his subordinates pressing down on Ma Han and Wang Chan. Lu Zheng said that they had claimed to be Nightfall, so he suspected that Si Xiangnan was also a rebel. Lu Zheng ordered his subordinates to arrest Si Xiangnan, but they were indifferent. Si Xiangnan was not flustered at all and said that he was following the rules of the Zhenfu Division.

Seeing this, Li Wu quickly came out to ease the tension. When Si Xiangnan saw that Lu Zheng was suspicious of him, he asked his subordinates to take out his seal. When Lu Zheng still did nothing, Li Wu took out his Book of Impermanence and tore out the contents inside to give to Si Xiangnan. After Si Xiangnan left, Li Wu explained the reason to Lu Zheng. Seeing that Lu Zheng did not listen to his advice, Li Wu handed him the seal and left.

At night, in the mansion, Li Wu asked his subordinates Tang Yu and Lu Yulin when they adopted Lu Zheng. They learned that Lu Zheng claimed to be a beggar from Ji'e Lane and were very puzzled. In a room in the mansion, Li Wu asked Shu Tang if she remembered the little boy in the prison. Shu Tang looked at him and said she had already guessed it.

On the boat, Lu Zheng said that Li Wu should thank him for not putting him in a box and shipping him north when he was drunk. Li Wu asked him what he wanted, and Lu Zheng wanted him to enter the archives and find Song Heming’s Book of Impermanence. In the archives, Li Wu inadvertently opened a Book of Impermanence, and Chen Jizhen suddenly appeared, saying that Li Wu could search for rebels with it and rise step by step. In a blink of an eye, Chen Jizhen disappeared from sight. Li Wu handed the Book of Impermanence to Lu Zheng, who recognized it as a thorn of Nightfall with a ghost face, and the owner of the Book of Impermanence was Chen Jizhen. Lu Zheng remembered that officer Cao, who was in charge of the Ministry of War in Hongwu years, is now also in charge of the Ministry of War. Both were suspicious.

After leaving the prison, Lu Zheng secretly arrived at the Education Office and found that Li Wu had already arrived near his room. Li Wu told him that the official in charge of the transport dock was also at the Education Office tonight, and that this batch of goods was written as transport grain. The two left for the transport dock. Nightfall with a ghost face was watching them nearby. Not long after, Yuan Zhongdao received a secret report from Lu Zheng about intercepting military equipment at the dock in the secret room of the Bell Tower.

In a room in the mansion, Li Wu taught Shu Tang how to use chopsticks correctly. Shu Tang was very irritable because she couldn’t pick up mung beans with chopsticks. Seeing this, Li Wu quickly comforted Shu Tang and taught her how to use chopsticks step by step. At this moment, Lu Zheng came to knock on their door and told Li Wu that he had learned that there were rebels active in Jige Lane and asked Li Wu to go with him. In Ji'e Lane, Lu Zheng heard a group of children singing an unknown ballad and realized that they were talking about cutting fiefs.

At night, Li Wu, Lu Zheng and Shu Tang were sitting in the courtyard of the mansion talking. Shu Tang asked the two about their tasks for the day. Li Wu then told Shu Tang about the songs that have been circulating recently. After listening to Li Wu, Shu Tang seemed to be lost in thought. When she came back to her senses, she made an excuse to leave and left the two behind. In the room, Shu Tang told Li Wu that the song was actually a secret code for Ye Bu Shou’s secret meeting. Realizing that Lu Zheng was secretly standing outside the room trying to eavesdrop, Shu Tang put on her clothes and opened the door. Lu Zheng quickly pretended to be taking a walk to digest his food while Li Wu walked out of the room to help Shu Tang put on her clothes. Lu Zheng still didn’t want to leave so Shu Tang turned around and kissed Li Wu. Seeing this, Lu Zheng quickly left.

At Zhang’s silk shop, Zhang Junqing said that Officer Cao had lost the military handover order on the boat. Lu Zheng would definitely investigate this matter along the canal wharf and ordered his subordinates to find Wang Chongxi as a scapegoat. At Zhenfu Division, Si Xiangnan asked Li Wu how he planned to use the found military handover order and wanted him to bring it over for them to use. Li Wu said that the military handover order was with Lu Zheng and he would find a way to get it. At Document bank, Li Wu told Chen Jizhen that Si Xiangnan might have a backup plan. Chen Jizhen said that what Si Xiangnan had in his hands was definitely not physical evidence. With his reminder, Li Wu remembered Wang Kegong’s son Wang Chongxi.

At Zhenfu Division, Lu Yulin told Lu Zheng that tomorrow’s banquet at Zhenfu Division’s yamen was to celebrate his success in cracking down on smuggled weapons by rebels and that he had invited officials from six ministries. Lu Zheng could use the military handover order to find out who the real rebels were. Therefore, whoever was in charge of this case would definitely die without a doubt. So Lu Yulin wanted Li Wu to take charge of this case instead. It turned out that Lu Yulin had helped Li Wu earlier in order for him to die in place of Lu Zheng. After hearing this, Lu Zheng was very angry and wanted to leave. Lu Yulin told Lu Zheng that Li Wu had found out about Wang Chongxi but hadn’t told him yet.

In the mansion, the three of them were having dinner in the courtyard. Lu Zheng invited Li Wu and Shu Tang to go to Zhenfu Division’s yamen tomorrow for a banquet and use the military handover order to capture all the rebels. Li Wu and Shu Tang’s faces changed. Lu Zheng tried to find out if Li Wu had any other information, but Li Wu only said that he didn’t want to go to the banquet either but there was no other way at present. Lu Zheng put down his wine glass angrily and left.

Just then, Jin Yi Wei came to the door and said that the wife of the assistant invited Shu Tang to go to Danfeng Street together. The ladies arrived at Zhang’s silk shop where Zhang Junqing asked the shopkeeper to take the other ladies to see the fabrics. In the room, Shu Tang told Zhang Junqing that she and Li Dongfang were ambushed when they first arrived in Nanjing and suspected that there was a traitor in Ye Bu Shou. Zhang Junqing said that all his men needed to be investigated and gave Shu Tang a task.

In the mansion room, Shu Tang asked Li Wu to catch Wang Chongxi before Jin Yi Wei did, kill him and then switch the military handover order with him. Li Wu thought it was too risky but Shu Tang said that if other Ye Bu Shou members found out that Li Wu was replacing Li Dongfang, he would be in danger. Li Wu asked what good it would do him if he gave Wang Chongxi to Shu Tang. Shu Tang handed him her hairpin and Li Wu reluctantly took it.

It was pouring rain outside. In the mansion, Li Wu turned around and saw Shu Tang, who was dressed up carefully. He was stunned for a moment. When Shu Tang felt that her shoes were uncomfortable, Li Wu squatted down to change them for her. After the rain stopped, Shu Tang asked Li Wu when he would leave. Li Wu said that if it weren’t for everything that had happened, he could sit with her and watch the sunset. He handed Shu Tang a cup of tea that had been drugged. Shu Tang felt that without all this, they would not have met each other. Li Wu said confidently that he would find Shu Tang again. After drinking the tea, Shu Tang sang the only song she knew for Li Wu. After Shu Tang fainted, Li Wu put her in a box on a boat bound for Beiping and asked the boatman to take good care of her.

On the other side, Wang Chongxi had just run to the front of Wang’s mansion when Lu Zheng kicked him down. Wang Chongxi quickly knelt down and begged for mercy. Lu Zheng slapped him several times. Wang Chongxi became angry and said that he only wanted to live. Lu Zheng grabbed him and said that Wang Kegong entrusted him with Wang Chongxi and Wang’s mansion to keep the secret and that Wang Kegong was a loyal minister. Li Wu hid behind the wall and watched them silently.

In the document bank, Li Wu pulled out a dagger and wanted to attack Chen Jizhen. Chen Jizhen suddenly asked if the matter had been taken care of. Li Wu hid the dagger and begged Chen Jizhen to hand over the case to him so that he could leave the capital and never come back. Chen Jizhen took the dagger from Li Wu’s arms and led him to the inner room. He introduced Li Wu to a man who was tied up with an iron chain in the inner room. The man was Zhou Tiexian, who had been making iron tools for military households in Ji’e Lane during the Hongwu period. Zhou Tiexian angrily rushed forward to grab Li Wu but was held back by the iron chain behind him. Chen Jizhen killed Zhou Tiexian with a dagger and said that he wanted to see Lu Yulin and his son lose everything. He handed the dagger to Li Wu, who looked at him in horror.

At the Yimen gate, Lu Zheng grabbed Li Wu who suddenly appeared and said that the investigation of the rebels was actually a struggle within the court. The organizer of the rebel case was a pawn and was doomed to die. Li Wu shook off Lu Zheng’s hand and said that wealth and honor must be sought in danger, and that they could not be friends. When Lu Zheng saw that Li Wu really wanted to be the organizer, he handed over the transfer order to Li Wu.

At the banquet of Zhenfu Division’s yamen, Lu Yulin told Li Wu that he planned to find an opportunity to transfer Si Xiangnan away and then hand over this major case to Li Wu. In the room, six officials sitting around looked at Li Wu who had passed out on the table. When they tried to take out the transfer order from his arms, Lu Zheng led Jin Yi Wei to open the door and take away these officials. After Li Wu woke up, Lu Zheng told him that he had interrogated a big shot overnight - Wang Zhong, who was in charge of the Imperial Household Department. Just when Li Wu thought he had missed a good show, Lu Zheng suddenly asked him when he would join Yan and who was his backstage in Zhenfu Division. Li Wu was very confused and suddenly saw Lu Yulin and Si Xiangnan standing outside the door, which surprised him greatly. Lu Zheng walked out of the room and said that he was the only organizer of the rebel case.

In the palace, Wang Zhong was brought to the center of the courtyard by Jin Yi Wei. He crawled to Lu Zheng’s feet and begged for a quick death. In the Jinguang Hall, Yuan Zhongdao was very angry when he saw that the note said that officials from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works and local officials were all inclined towards Lord Yan. Lu Zheng told Yuan Zhongdao that Wang Zhong had confessed before his death that he had received a secret order from Lord Yan to transfer Ma Zheng to the Ministry of War. Lu Zheng analyzed the situation in front of Yuan Zhongdao and boldly speculated that Lord Yan wanted to attack the capital. When Lu Zheng was about to leave, Yuan Zhongdao asked him why he had detained Li Dongfang and Lu Yulin. Lu Zheng said that he had falsely accused them of being rebels as a last resort.

At night, Lu Zheng went to Lu Yulin’s room. Lu Yulin told Lu Zheng that Li Wu in the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu had replaced the son of a prisoner in the imperial prison. He was looking for the whereabouts of Yu Ming Suo. In Ji’e Lane ten years ago, young Lu Zheng had just taken a dagger from Blacksmith Zhou when Li Wu snatched it away. Song Heming came on horseback, and Lu Zheng told him that Li Wu had taken his dagger. Song Heming caught Li Wu and took him back to the Zhenfu Division. Young Lu Zheng begged Song Heming to spare Li Wu, but Song Heming only had his subordinates take Lu Zheng back to the official residence. Lu Yulin saw that Lu Zheng still didn’t believe him and said that he could find Yu Ming Suo as long as he followed Li Wu.

Lu Zheng came to a restaurant in Ji’e Lane and heard a child next to him shouting that someone was throwing eggs, but only to girls. He thought about it. On the other side, Zhang Junqing left after drawing a mark on the wall. When Lu Zheng arrived, he only vaguely saw her back. Halfway there, Zhang Junqing was caught by two men, so she killed them with a weapon hidden in her hand.

Lu Zheng stood aside and watched Zhang Junqing and found that many little girls came to get eggs. The little girl wanted to take the eggs home. When Zhang Junqing asked her, she said that she had four brothers at home. Zhang Junqing taught her that she had to eat before she could fight for herself.

By the river, a pleasure boat came, and Lu Zheng helped Zhang Junqing onto the boat. On the boat, Lu Zheng asked Zhang Junqing why she only gave eggs to girls. Zhang Junqing told him that she had lost her sister ten years ago and had been looking for her for ten years but couldn’t find her. She had always wanted to be a court official since she was a child but only realized when she grew up that women were always excluded from the court. Until she met someone who saved her. Lu Zheng said that he was also a criminal and was lucky to have met several noble people. His friend Xie Kengran was killed by rebels wearing ghost masks in Guan Yin Mountain, and he would avenge those who died unjustly.

The Jin Yi Wei took Li Wu to his residence in Ji’e Lane. Lu Zheng untied him and told him that Li Wu’s protection of officials would lead to another war because military equipment would flow into Beiping. Li Wu was angry and said that he had done something wrong and was threatened by others to work for the rebels. Lu Zheng handed him his resignation letter and asked him to leave. Li Wu said that he wanted to get rid of his past without guilt, but Lu Zheng ignored him and left.

In the wooden house in the mountains, Li Dongfang asked his subordinates to deliver the letter to the Antique Studio. The subordinate was puzzled that Zhang Junqing almost killed him, but Li Dongfang still believed her. Li Dongfang said that if Zhang Junqing had missed by an inch when she swung her sword, he would have been dead long ago. However, Song Tianyi, who had fought with him since the 30th year of Hongwu, really wanted to kill him.

At Zhangji Silk Shop, Zhang Junqing told Song Tianyi that her original surname was Mu and she was saved by Yuan Zhongdao, the current Wenhua Dian University Scholar in the Jiaofang Division. She insisted on staying by his side not only to repay him but also to find out the truth and find her sister. Yuan Zhongdao had promised her that he would tell her all the truth as long as she found the Fish Eye Lock. Song Tianyi said that he didn’t care about Zhang Junqing’s identity; he only cared about her. Song Tianyi asked Zhang Junqing to step down from the position of Nanjing Qianzong and promised to help her get the Fish Eye Lock.

At a restaurant in Ji’e Lane, Wang Shu told Li Wu that there was a big deal to be made and took him to a restaurant. Song Tianyi took out a picture of the Fish Eye Lock and asked Li Wu to help him steal it back. Li Wu said that he hadn’t stolen anything for a long time and turned around and left. Li Wu walked out of the city gate to the riverbank and was washing his hands when Song Tianyi came up behind him. Li Wu knew that he would die whether he agreed or not and took off his shoes and wanted to jump into the river to commit suicide. Song Tianyi asked Li Wu to give him the Fish Eye Lock before he died, so Li Wu asked Song Tianyi to serve him for a day before he died. Song Tianyi followed Li Wu and saw his footprints with a crescent moon on the ground.

Li Wu and Song Tianyi came to the cave. Li Wu took out a wine pot and drank with Song Tianyi. The two couldn’t help shouting in the cave, very happy. Song Tianyi asked Li Wu why he came to the cave, and Li Wu told Song Tianyi about his past with Shu Tang, lamenting that the two had missed each other. When Song Tianyi was about to leave, Li Wu quickly asked him. Song Tianyi told Li Wu that there was a mark on his shoe. Lu Zheng walked around in the mountains following the mark. At this moment, Li Wu pretended to hang himself. Lu Zheng hurriedly stopped him. Li Wu saw him walking into a trap and immediately hung him upside down and knocked him out with a stick.

At night, Li Wu took out the Yu Ming Suo from under the tree and put it in his arms. Song Tianyi said that the Yu Ming Suo would only bring disaster to Lu Zheng. Li Wu seemed to be thinking about something. Lu Zheng woke up and asked Li Wu to hand over the Yu Ming Suo to him. Otherwise, if the Yu Ming Suo was obtained by Lord Yan, it would cause great harm. Li Wu was very angry and said that he never understood what Song Heming said back then, “It serves you right to have the surname Li,” and that he hated Feiyu Clothing and Xiu Chun Dao from the bottom of his heart. Lu Zheng told Li Wu that Song Heming, who was killed back then, was his biological father. When young Lu Zheng saw Li Wu pitifully, he broke into the prison and released Li Wu. Unexpectedly, when he turned around, he saw Li Wu killing his own father.

Ten years ago, in the prison, Li Wu wanted to cover Song Heming’s wound with cigarette ash. Song Heming gave Li Wu a dagger and asked him to kill him with it. He said that he could only live if he died after his son. Li Wu had to hold the dagger tightly. Song Heming aimed at the dagger and moved forward. What young Lu Zheng saw was the scene of Song Heming’s death.

Lu Zheng vowed not to let any evil person go unpunished since that day. Lu Zheng guessed that Li Wu had hidden the Yu Ming Suo under a tree. Li Wu pointed to a tree at random and watched Lu Zheng search under it. He took the opportunity to burn Lu Zheng’s clothes and take them off, finally seeing the scar on Lu Zheng’s back. Lu Zheng said that this scar was left by Li Wu back then.

Later, Li Wu and Lu Zheng arrived at a wooden house in the mountains. A woman opened the door. Li Wu said that they had lost a bronze ball while rushing to Guanyin Mountain and asked if she had found it. The woman said that tomorrow was the Central Plains Fair and they might find it at the market. Li Wu and Lu Zheng left Guanyin Mountain on horseback. Lu Zheng asked Li Wu to return to the Zhenfu Division Yamen to resume his post. Li Wu said that he would help Xie Kengran from now on.

Lu Zheng and Li Wu had just returned to the Zhenfu Division when Jin Yi Wei came to report that Si Xiangnan had interrogated more than a hundred people and obtained their names. In the drill ground, Si Xiangnan handed over the confessions to Lu Zheng and said that he had ordered his men to search the home of the official in charge of transportation in Jingji and found silver that was no different from the confessions. They also found letters that communicated with Yan. Lu Zheng went to the palace and handed over the confessions to Yuan Zhongdao. Yuan Zhongdao said that he was currently at war and would capture all of them before deciding what to do with them. Lu Zheng believed that there would always be new people after old ones left. Yuan Zhongdao said that he would think about it carefully.

In front of the palace, Li Wu reminded everyone that they should take care of their health because many officials were kneeling there before dawn. He asked Jin Yi Wei to bring cushions and tea. The leader of Jin Yi Wei took out a blood letter written by a villager from Zhaojia Village for Wang Kegong. When Wang Kegong stood up, Li Wu went forward to help him and stole the blood letter from his sleeve, saying that he had to report it to his superior first.

Li Wu went to Lu Yulin at the Zhenfu Division. Lu Yulin believed that they had brought out the blood letter to bite Lu Zheng back. With Lu Zheng’s temper, he would definitely help Wang Kegong clear his name. If Wang Kegong was not a traitor, the emperor should not have ordered his execution and Lu Zheng should not have been pardoned. Lu Yulin couldn’t help but cry, fearing that no one could save Lu Zheng. At this time, Li Wu asked Lu Yulin what he should do. Lu Yulin told Li Wu that the blood letter must be suppressed no matter what and that Lu Zheng must not help Wang Kegong clear his name.

In the mansion room, Li Wu deceived Lu Zheng by telling him that the palace officials had gone to Dengwen Drum to make trouble because they had not received their salaries for two years. Seeing that Lu Zheng was suspicious again, Li Wu quickly asked him to teach him how to write. Lu Zheng taught Li Wu hand in hand, and Li Wu cherished the note and put it in his waist bag.

Late at night, there was heavy rain. Li Wu saw more than thirty people kneeling in Zhao’s yard with their fingers cut off. Jin Yi Wei arrested the patriarch and Li Wu burned the blood letter in front of him. The patriarch of Zhao’s family shouted that Wang Kegong had saved him and his entire family in the prison of edicts during the Hongwu period. Jin Yi Wei covered up for the patriarch and Li Wu secretly apologized and cut off his fingers.

Li Wu came to a restaurant in Ji’e Lane in a daze and ordered a pot of wine to drink. Li Wu told Song Tianyi that he also wanted to save someone very important and hoped he could help him. Song Tianyi took away the Yu Ming Suo on the table and secretly handed it over to Zhang Junqing.

Jin Yi Wei informed Lu Zheng that they had found the mountain farmer at the market. When Lu Zheng arrived, he found that Jin Yi Wei had already fallen to the ground. He saw Ye Bu Shou with a ghost face and quickly drew his sword forward. Several people fought with Ye Bu Shou. During the fight, Ye Bu Shou’s sachet fell off and he fled in a panic. Lu Zheng smelled the fragrance of the sachet and pondered.

Li Wu went to Zhang Ji’s silk shop and found that Zhang Junqing had returned to her room. He searched around and actually came to the secret room of the Bell Tower.

Yuan Zhongdao was very satisfied with Li Wu’s handling of the Zhao family’s blood book, but was dissatisfied with Li Wu’s reminder to Song Tianyi and tampering with his sachet. Yuan Zhongdao told Li Wu that he had arranged everything properly and that Song Tianyi had died in Lu Zheng’s hands as Ye Bu Shou. Lu Zheng avenged Xie Kengran and got Yu Ming Suo, but because of Li Wu’s behavior, Song Tianyi escaped and now Lu Zheng is doomed to die. Li Wu quickly asked Yuan Zhongdao to save Lu Zheng’s life. Yuan Zhongdao said that he must dispel Lu Zheng’s suspicion of Zhang Junqing and let him personally kill Song Tianyi.

On the other side, Lu Zheng has already arrived at Zhang Ji’s silk shop. When Lu Zheng broke in, Li Wu said he wanted to make a winter coat because he wanted Zhang Junqing to measure it. Lu Zheng asked Zhang Junqing to recognize the sachet on Ye Bu Shou’s body. Zhang Junqing admitted that this flower was indeed only available here. Li Wu helped explain that Zhang Junqing made the flower into a business. Lu Zheng believed the two of them and apologized for misunderstanding Zhang Junqing.

Li Wu came to the lantern festival and saw Song Tianyi disguised as a porter. Song Tianyi told Li Wu his place of residence and left after drinking. Li Wu bought a river lantern and wrote “Together with the horse, not suspicious or negative” taught by Professor Lu Zheng on it, and released the river lantern with Lu Zheng.

Late at night, it was pouring rain. The two arrived at Song Tianyi’s residence in Ji’e Lane and found that it was empty. On the way out, Lu Zheng suddenly stopped Song Tianyi who was disguised as a night watchman and asked him about his sachet. Just as Song Tianyi was about to leave, he actually revealed his identity as Ye Bu Shou. Lu Zheng looked at his weapon and recognized him as the murderer who killed Wang Kegong and Xie Kengran. The two fought, Li Wu stepped forward to block a sword for Lu Zheng, and Lu Zheng successfully killed Song Tianyi. Lu Zheng left with Li Wu on his back, while Song Tianyi looked at the sachet in his hand and died.

On the boat, Li Dongfang was told by his subordinate that Song Tianyi, a traitor who intended to kill him, had died. Li Dongfang walked into the cabin and saw Shu Tang eating and drinking heavily. Shu Tang told him that Zhang Junqing had saved her.

Medical clinic, Lu Zheng anxiously waited outside while Zhao Gou let him into the palace. In the palace, Yuan Zhongdao said that once the Yu Ming lock was in the hands of the emperor, Lord Yan’s thoughts would be forever cut off. However, only Lu Zheng could figure out how to decipher the secret code. Lu Zheng said that he would do his best to unlock the Yu Ming lock as soon as possible. At this time, Yuan Zhongdao recommended Li Wu to be in charge of the case of the rebels and asked Lu Zheng to assist him. The emperor approved.

In the secret room of the bell tower, Yuan Zhongdao told Zhang Junqing that in the Hongwu year, Mu Jinggao made a batch of firearms for the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince did not want to see war and hid these firearms in front of Bintian. The contact person between Mu Jinggao and the Crown Prince was Li Yan. The rebel Jin Yi Wei framed Li Yan and accused him of plotting against the Crown Prince. Li Yan was tortured but still refused to reveal the secret of the firearms. Song Heming used Li Wu to replace Li Yan’s son and left incense for the Li family. Li Yan’s son was Yuan Zhongdao himself. He gave the Yu Ming lock to the emperor to preserve Li Yan’s loyalty and left Zhang Junqing from Jiaofang Division because he felt guilty. He was willing to give his life for Zhang Junqing. Zhang Junqing drew his sword at Yuan Zhongdao but finally threw down his sword and left the secret room.

In a tavern, Li Wu woke up from his serious injury and kept drinking. At this time, someone played music with their eyes covered beside him. Li Wu wanted to donate money but found that it was Li Dongfang who scared him away and he fell down in the end.

Zhang Ji Silk Shop. Zhang Junqing wanted Li Dongfang to kill her so that she could clear herself of suspicion and leave safely. In return, she would tell Li Dongfang about the secret passage that leads directly to the Wenhua Hall in the palace. Li Dongfang couldn’t help but wonder which side Zhang Junqing was on.

Li Wu woke up in bed and found himself in Zhang Ji Silk Shop. Li Wu told Zhang Junqing that Song Tianyi was his friend and that he admired him for enduring so much pain but still having the courage to love someone. Zhang Junqing handed Li Wu a pile of documents, saying that those who had submitted them were traitors and needed to be investigated. Li Wu refused to comply and asked her to call Yuan Zhongdao over to speak with him personally.

In the Zhenfu Division, Lu Zheng believed that Li Wu would not come because he was seriously ill. Si Xiangnan reminded Lu Zheng that it was inappropriate to take away Li Wu’s royal flag. Just as they were arguing, Li Wu arrived with his crutches. Si Xiangnan asked Li Wu what his next move was. Knowing that Li Wu couldn’t hear or speak now, Si Xiangnan wrote down the content on paper and handed it to Li Wu. Li Wu couldn’t understand it and threw it away casually. Then he drew a picture with a pen and gestured to Jin Yi Wei to give orders.

The Imperial Guards arrested the officials and took them to the prison. Li Wu brought a pile of torture instruments and ordered the Imperial Guards to catch Officer Cao who was making noise as a warning to others. The officials had no choice but to obey. Lu Zheng watched as the Imperial Guards stuffed the letters written by the officials into the gate of the mansion. The people in the mansion were ordered to go to the canal wharf to retrieve their deposits. Outside the mansion, people handed over invitation letters and silver to Li Wu. Lu Zheng silently recorded the amount of money brought in on the Book of Impermanence.

The next day, Lu Zheng saw the silver in the yard and scolded Li Wu for his behavior. At this moment, a group of Imperial Guards walked into the yard and Li Wu ordered them to seal up the silver and send it to the palace. Li Wu told Lu Zheng that he did not find any stolen money during his previous house searches, so he made those officials pay for their lives and personally moved the silver to his official residence.

In the palace, Yuan Zhongdao was very angry when he saw what Li Wu had submitted. Back at home, Li Wu told Lu Zheng what Yuan Zhongdao had said in the palace and Lu Zheng helped him analyze Yuan Zhongdao’s words.

At night, the Imperial Guards followed Zhang Junqing to Ji’e Lane. Suddenly, an assassin rushed forward to kill Zhang Junqing. Zhang Junqing looked very frightened, but at this moment, the Imperial Guards intervened and saved Zhang Junqing. The Imperial Guards told Lu Zheng that something had happened to Zhang Junqing. Lu Zheng hurriedly left the mansion. Shu Tang groped her way into a secret passage at Zhang Ji Silk Shop. When Zhang Junqing returned to the silk shop and saw the messy ground, he seemed to be thinking about something.

Shu Tang came to Wenhua Hall through a secret passage. When she was looking through books in the hall, eunuch Zhao Gou came in. Shu Tang kicked him down and asked him where the wine and vinegar noodle shop was.

On the other side, Lu Zheng came to Zhang Ji Silk Shop. The shopkeeper told Lu Zheng that Zhang Junqing had been staying in his room since he was attacked. Late at night, Lu Zheng said that Ye Bu Shou might come again and thought that Zhang Junqing was not safe in the silk shop and wanted him to leave with him. When he heard someone upstairs, Lu Zheng pretended to leave and took Zhang Junqing away. On the way, several Ye Bu Shou surrounded them. Just as Ye Bu Shou rushed forward to kill Zhang Junqing, Lu Zheng intervened and saved Zhang Junqing.

The two left by boat. After getting off the boat, Lu Zheng was trapped by Ye Bu Shou again. Zhang Junqing had to take action to kill Ye Bu Shou and then helped Lu Zheng treat his wounds. Seeing Zhang Junqing shivering with cold, Lu Zheng took off his coat and put it on her. Then he went out to keep watch for her.

In the palace, Shu Tang asked Zhao Gou to bring the immortal drunk that was brought from Beiping. Zhao Gou thought Shu Tang wanted to drink it, but Shu Tang said she was abstaining from alcohol. Under Shu Tang’s threat, Zhao Gou had to pick up the jar and start drinking. After Zhao Gou finished drinking, he found silver in the wine jar. Shu Tang said she wanted him to be a traitor and there was silver in the immortal drunk.

At the mansion, there was a heavy rain. Li Wu ordered his servants to take away all the kitchen utensils and only left the teacup that Shu Tang had drunk from. Just then, Li Dongfang walked into the room and Li Wu was startled. Li Dongfang believed that Li Wu could sacrifice everything for his own benefit and he came here to keep him away from Shu Tang. He took away the teacup on the table and warned Li Wu that Shu Tang was his person. While Li Dongfang wasn’t paying attention, Li Wu stole back the teacup and put it in his arms.

At the drill ground, Boss Shen at the canal wharf didn’t eat or drink or speak. He said that as long as he arrived at Li Wu’s mansion, he would tell everything truthfully. Seeing this, Li Wu had to let Jin Yi Wei take him to his mansion. Boss Shentold Li Wu that his name was Xie Enweier and that he was the father of Hong Jia’s family head who was raided in Hongwu 25th year. Xie En said he bet on Lord Yan to win and brought silver from a silver mine on the other side of the sea to exchange for Ming Dynasty’s porcelain silk tea salt lead. As long as there was a glimmer of hope for his business, he needed Li Wu’s protection.

In Wenhua Hall, Li Wu arrived at Wenhua Hall and saw that the books were turned upside down. He found traces of dye inside. Lu Zheng lied to Li Wu that the person who broke into the palace last night left nothing behind. Li Wu said that the dye in the book was the same as that in Zhang Ji’s silk shop and asked Lu Zheng why he had deceived him. Lu Zheng told Li Wu that Ye Bu Shou wanted to kill Zhang Junqing last night and that he had arranged for her to be taken to a safe place. Li Wu questioned Lu Zheng’s impartiality, and Lu Zheng told him that he liked Zhang Junqing.

Yuan Zhongdao walked into the hall and asked both of them to find out who broke into the palace last night as soon as possible. Afterwards, Yuan Zhongdao asked Lu Zheng why he didn’t keep Zhang Junqing in Zhenfu Division after catching her. Li Wu said that Zhang Junqing was an important witness in the case of the rebels, so Lu Zheng sent someone to secretly protect her. Li Wu told Yuan Zhongdao that Shen, a businessman at the canal wharf, was doing legitimate business and was only exchanging the rebels’ wealth for silver obtained from his overseas trade. He was being used by the rebels. After hearing this, Yuan Zhongdao said that the Ministry of Rites would give him a certificate of approval for his business dealings and allow him to trade more easily.

Li Wu and Lu Zheng left the Wenhua Hall. Lu Zheng asked Li Wu if Boss Shen was really not a traitor and suspected that Li Wu had taken money from Boss Shen. Li Wu felt that he had always been considerate of Lu Zheng, but Lu Zheng still doubted him. Lu Zheng said that he had never hidden anything from Li Wu and was ready to advance and retreat with him, but he had done many things behind his back.

Shu Tang came to the Song family’s old house and saw the Ye Bu Shou pattern painted at the door. She pushed open the door and walked in. Just as Shu Tang walked into the yard, Zhang Junqing happened to walk into the room to comb her cat’s hair and sang a nursery rhyme composed by her father. Shu Tang couldn’t help but ask Zhang Junqing about the nursery rhyme she had just sung. She said that it was composed by her father. Zhang Junqing saw the hairpin on Shu Tang’s head and lied to her that it was sung by a girl who was sent to teach music by the government. Shu Tang quickly asked about it, and Zhang Junqing said that she regarded that person as her sister. That person once said that she hoped her sister would forget what happened before and live for herself.

At the wharf, the servants felt that they were being taken care of by Li Wu, and business at the wharf became better and better. Many officials exchanged their family wealth for silver. Xie Kengran realized that Li Wu was trying to find real gold and silver when he searched their homes.

On the other side, Li Wu led the Jin Yi Wei to raid homes and then let them divide the property in the yard. He took the gun himself. Late at night, Li Wu, who was drunk, came to the restaurant in Ji’e Lane. After talking nonsense to Meng Jie, he left unsteadily. Li Wu went to Ji’e Lane’s residence and found that it was already a mess and was very sad. At this moment, Shu Tang appeared with an umbrella and Li Wu hugged her.

Shu Tang helped Li Wu back to his mansion room and couldn’t help but think of what Li Wu had said to her before he fainted. She turned around and saw the teacup she had drunk from on the table, lost in thought.

Shu Tang went to Li Dongfang and said that she had already greeted Zhao Gou of the Sili Jian and would report any news from the palace as soon as possible. Shu Tang couldn’t help but ask Li Dongfang if he knew that Zhang Junqing had been to the Jiaofang Division and that she had promised to help her find her sister. Li Dongfang thought she was lying to Shu Tang and that she had already joined Nanjing. The two would definitely meet in battle in the future.

Seeing this, Shu Tang wanted to leave. Li Dongfang said that Li Wu was not worth Shu Tang’s affection. Shu Tang followed Li Dongfang since she was seventeen years old, but she didn’t know what she meant to him. Li Dongfang said that Shu Tang was the person closest to him and if she walked out of the door, she would be his enemy. Shu Tang didn’t answer and turned around and left. 

On the Shen family’s boat, Wang Chongxi was brought to meet Li Dongfang. Li Dongfang told Wang Chongxi that Li Wu was the leader of Ye Bu Shou under Lord Yan and that he was responsible for Wang Kegong’s murder. When Wang Chongxi still had doubts, Li Dongfang found a way to get him into the prison.

At the Song family’s old house, Li Wu followed Lu Zheng here. Lu Zheng pushed open the door and found a Ye Bu Shou wearing a ghost mask holding a bloody package and running away. Lu Zheng was very sad when he saw the body in front of him. Li Wu asked Lu Zheng why Ye Bu Shou killed Zhang Junqing. Lu Zheng told him that Zhang Junqing was Mu’s daughter.

Lu Zheng went to the teahouse and handed over the silver to the shopkeeper to help him boil one hundred eggs. After the eggs were boiled, Lu Zheng waited in the courtyard outside for the little girls to come and take them. From the little girl’s mouth, she learned that Zhang Junqing would leave a mark every time she came to distribute eggs. At night, Lu Zheng told Li Wu that he had found the symbol that Ye Bu Shou contacted and wanted to investigate it in plain clothes in the city tomorrow.

The next day, Lu Zheng and Li Wu appeared in the market disguised as servants. Li Wu pretended to be thirsty and asked for water from the mansion. While they were drinking water, a little girl came out of the mansion and bought a sugar man. She drew a mark on a pillar nearby and ran back to the mansion. The two secretly followed the sugar man and found that he drew a mark in front of a door. A woman followed him and quietly wiped off the mark. Li Wu suggested that they split up to pursue them. Shu Tang knocked out the sugar man while Lu Zheng helped her hide him. Lu Zheng chased after the sugar man but only found sugar men left on the ground. He asked Li Wu if he caught anyone, but Li Wu denied it. Lu Zheng saw the sugar mark on Li Wu’s shoes and thought about it.

Just then, Shu Tang pushed open the gate of the mansion and said she wanted to go back to her hometown with Li Wu. Lu Zheng suggested that he would host them at Zui Xian Lou tonight and then took Li Wu away. They walked into the cabin and Lu Zheng asked Li Wu why he didn’t escape with Shu Tang. Li Wu asked Lu Zheng to believe him. Lu Zheng said he pretended not to see Li Wu stealing from his house and pretending not to find out that he was colluding with Boss Shen, but this time Shu Tang returned and Ye Bu Shou was plotting something big. Li Wu knew about it but kept it from him. Lu Zheng asked Li Wu to help catch Shu Tang and they would destroy Ye Bu Shou together. Li Wu agreed with Lu Zheng and said they would see each other tonight.

At Zui Xian Lou, Li Wu watched Lu Zheng and Shu Tang drink together in silence. On the other side, Sister Meng and Mei Dou arrived at Boss Shen’s boat and wondered why Li Wu was so anxious to send them out of Ying Tian Fu, but Boss Shen couldn’t answer.

Late at night, Lu Zheng pretended to be drunk and was escorted away by Jin Yi Wei. Li Wu told Shu Tang that he was arrested by Song Heming in the 25th year of Hongwu and killed Song Heming with a dagger. Lu Zheng, Song Heming’s son, was the one who let them go.

At this time, Li Dongfang looked at his finger which had been cut off and secretly thought that he didn’t believe that Li Wu was his nemesis. When his subordinates asked how to deal with Shu Tang, Li Dongfang said to let her go.

At Zui Xian Lou, Li Wu said that he would not let Shu Tang kill Lu Zheng or let Lu Zheng kill Shu Tang. Shu Tang said she wanted to escape with Li Wu. Lu Zheng led Jin Yi Wei into the room but they had already left. Li Wu and Shu Tang left the restaurant and were surrounded by Ye Bu Shou. Ye Bu Shou said he was acting on orders to kill traitors. Shu Tang fought back while Li Wu used a fire gun to counterattack. Midnight had passed and Lu Zheng ordered Jin Yi Wei to go out and catch them.

The two escaped to Zhang Ji’s silk shop. Li Wu wanted to open the secret room but turned around and saw Zhang Junqing. Li Wu knelt down and begged Zhang Junqing to take in Shu Tang. He proposed that if she couldn’t stab him within three moves, she would agree to his request. Zhang Junqing really stabbed Li Wu. Shu Tang rushed over and was very worried when she thought Li Wu had been stabbed. It turned out that the jade ring in Li Wu’s arms blocked the dagger.

In the room, Li Wu saw the miscellaneous character picture cut by Shu Tang and asked her if she was angry that he had put her in a box and sent her to Beiping. Unexpectedly, Shu Tang said that she had decided to be with Li Wu at that time. At this moment, fireworks began outside and the two ran out to watch them. Under the brilliant fireworks, Li Wu slowly held Shu Tang’s hands and kissed her.

Shu Tang and Li Wu left Zhang Ji Silk Shop. Zhang Junqing put a coat on Shu Tang and she took off her hairpin and handed it to her. Then she left with Li Wu. At the prefectural yamen, Lu Zheng asked Lu Yulin if someone who held power in the prefectural yamen was secretly communicating with rebels, should they be killed if there was a reason behind it. Lu Yulin said that even if they shouldn’t be killed now, there would come a time when they should be killed. Lu Zheng shed tears and said he would rather wait for that day to come. Perhaps that day would never come.

At the city gate, Li Wu led Shu Tang away in a carriage. They arrived in the mountains and as soon as they got off the carriage, they saw Lu Zheng riding towards them. Li Wu drew his dagger and stabbed Shu Tang before pushing her into the river. However, Li Wu’s hand was shaking slightly with blood.

In the evening, Li Wu went to the river to look for Shu Tang. Shu Tang was unconscious and had a high fever after choking on water and falling by the river. Li Wu carried Shu Tang onto a carriage. Surprisingly, Sister Meng and Mei Dou were also there. The four of them took the carriage to a cave. Sister Meng gave Shu Tang medicine while Li Wu watched over her. Shu Tang kept coughing and Li Wu left in a hurry.

At Zhang’s silk shop, Zhang Junqing said she was willing to give up her position as the commander-in-chief of Nanjing to Li Dongfang. Her only request was to maintain the current situation of war. She then told Li Dongfang how she would use a boat to deceive the emperor and the Jinyiwei guards. Only if Li Dongfang was imprisoned in the Zhenfu Si prison would this matter be considered successful.

In the morning, the city gate opened and Li Wu was awakened by the city gate guards while sleeping on a haystack. The guards wanted to drive away the hungry refugees in front of them, but Li Wu stopped them and said that he would invite the refugees in front of the city gate to have a meal in the city today. Everyone thanked him.

At the Zhenfu Si yamen, Lu Zheng gave Li Wu a military order that could mobilize troops with the official seal of Zhenfu Si and said that he would help him. Si Xiangnan came to question Li Wu. Boss Shen wanted to take valuable goods to the north. If these goods became military expenses for the rebels, then the entire Zhenfu Si would be implicated. Li Wu immediately prepared his horse and took them to the pier together.

At the wharf, Boss Shen said that he was ordered to go to sea for trade, but the Jinyiwei still refused to let him pass even after seeing his documents. Li Wu followed him into the cabin when Boss Shen said that there was an important guest on board. At this moment, a group of Night Raiders appeared and Li Dongfang held Li Wu hostage. Li Wu asked the Jinyiwei to step back and let them pass. While both sides were deadlocked, Lu Zheng appeared with the Jinyiwei and killed the other Night Raiders before arriving in front of the two. While Lu Zheng was fighting with Li Dongfang, Li Wu used a chain to tie Li Dongfang’s feet. Li Dongfang was restrained and stabbed by Lu Zheng. Lu Zheng saw that Li Wu had fainted and quickly carried him away.

At night, Lu Zheng was taken by the Jinyiwei to Zhao’s ancestral hall, but everyone inside had already fled. Lu Zheng wondered why they were willing to tell him the truth again. It turned out that Lu Yulin asked them to tell Lu Zheng the truth.

Inside the mansion, Li Wu and the Jin Yi Wei are holding a funeral for Shu Tang. Suddenly, Li Wu faints and when he wakes up, he expresses his desire to become a monk. Later, Li Wu takes Shu Tang’s tablet and Mei Dou to the Jianchu Temple. It turns out that Li Wu wants Shu Tang to fake her death so that she will no longer be restricted and can make her own decisions.

Two days later, Lu Zheng arrives at Jianchu Temple and says that Li Wu’s memorial has been rejected. Due to the case of the rebellious party, many people have been implicated for no reason and Li Wu is not allowed to quit. A month later, Lu Zheng brings a group of matchmakers to Jianchu Temple. A young monk asks Li Wu to sweep the fallen leaves in the courtyard. Mei Dou says that she has already swept them away. As soon as they leave the courtyard, a matchmaker comes forward to introduce Li Wu. Not long after, the young monk comes again and asks them to sweep another courtyard. When Li Wu walks into the courtyard, there is another matchmaker who wants to introduce him. After Mei Dou sends off the guests, Li Wu secretly sees Lu Zheng kicking a big tree in the courtyard.

At night in Jianchu Temple, Li Wu was surprised to see Lu Yulin’s arrival. Lu Yulin took out Li Wu’s resignation letter and said that he could not accept it. Seeing that Li Wu did not respond, he said that he felt the same way as Li Wu did now when he killed Song Heming in the Hongwu year. It turned out that ten years ago, Lu Yulin questioned Song Heming about the whereabouts of the Yu Ming Suo before the imperial prison and pulled out the arrow from Song Heming’s body, causing his death.

Li Wu was puzzled why Lu Yulin would tell him the truth. Lu Yulin said he wanted Li Wu to change his way of life and relieve him of his guilt for the past ten years. Lu Yulin told Li Wu that he saved Lu Zheng in the past for the secret of the Yu Ming Suo and later couldn’t bear to hurt him again. Later, Lu Yulin said that Wang Chongxi was sent to the palace to accuse him and Lu Zheng of communicating with Yan. Li Wu felt that Wang Chongxi’s words were not credible. Lu Yulin said that Yuan Zhongdao knew that he had Song Heming’s book of life and death in his hands, and there was a cryptogram of the Yu Ming Suo in it.

Lu Yulin told Li Wu that if they dared to do this, there must be insiders in the yamen who wanted to overthrow him and Lu Zheng. Li Wu wondered why other officials would conspire against him. Lu Yulin told him that he had released the news that Li Dongfang was related to Lord Yan, and Li Wu must be Li Dongfang, which was good for both the court and the world. Before leaving, Lu Yulin asked Li Wu not to tell Lu Zheng about today’s conversation. If anything happened to him in the future, let Lu Zheng take good care of his book of life and death.

At this time, Lu Zheng in the mansion recorded Ye Bu Shou a secret code he had seen recently on the book of life and death. He found that there were symbols of “Ye Bu Shou” even on miscellaneous characters and realized that there must be a problem with Fanggu Zhai who printed miscellaneous characters. Lu Zheng went to Fanggu Zhai and secretly hid before Shopkeeper Cui came. He saw Shopkeeper Cui making marks on miscellaneous characters.

At the sound of the drum, Lu Zheng asked the official if there was any sign of Xu Huizu being called back from the front line today. The official was shocked that Lu Zheng knew about the secret that was announced before the incense stick was burned. Lu Zheng asked who proposed the motion and the official told him it was Zhao Gou, the supervisor of ceremonies. Zhang Junqing appeared at Zhao Gou’s call, but Lu Zheng was waiting for her in the room. Lu Zheng told her about the secret report he had overheard last night and Zhang Junqing did not deny it. When she learned that Lu Zheng went to Qinhuai River to throw eggs, she asked him if he had feelings for her. Seeing Lu Zheng hesitate, Zhang Junqing hit him.

Li Wu and Mei Dou came to the mountain and Sister Meng told Li Wu that Shu Tang had recovered from her illness but did not know where she had gone. Li Wu said that he was now in charge of the anti-party case and was also a spy who did not sleep at night. He could not help himself and he finally convinced the pacification commissioner and Nightfall that Shu Tang had died so that no one would chase after her again. Sister Meng saw that Li Wu really liked Shu Tang.

In the cave, Sister Meng handed Shu Tang the gold given by Li Wu, but Shu Tang refused it. Shu Tang told Sister Meng about her past and Li Wu secretly listened to their conversation outside. Shu Tang asked Li Wu how Sister Meng knew him and Sister Meng told Shu Tang that they were both people in prison and she survived with Li Wu’s help in a restaurant.

Afterward, Shu Tang walked out of the inner room and realized that Li Wu was eavesdropping outside. She then cried and talked about the past between them. The next day, Sister Meng and Mei Dou told Li Wu that Shu Tang had disappeared. Li Wu looked at what Shu Tang had left behind and realized that she felt she owed Li Dongfang, so she left to find him.

Lu Zheng woke up and found himself in a secret room in the bell tower. Yuan Zhongdao told Lu Zheng that Zhang Junqing was his person and that she had been lurking for many years. Now he wants the two of them to work together to overcome difficulties. He said that on December 28th of the twelfth lunar month, the King of Yan will launch a surprise attack on Nanjing, and the firearms in Yumingsuo will become key.

Shu Tang avoided the Jinyiwei and came to the Prison, where she actually saw Li Dongfang. It turned out that Shu Tang wanted to set fire to the Prison and rescue Li Dongfang in the chaos so that they would no longer owe each other. Li Dongfang asked Shu Tang to assassinate the emperor in the palace, saying that after this matter was over, Shu Tang would be free.

Li Wu hurried to the Prison and was taken to the inner room by Chen Jizhen. Li Wu told him that he had found Song Heming’s only son. Chen Jizhen said that as long as Li Wu handed over Song Zhen, he would tell him where Shu Tang was. Late at night, Lu Zheng stopped Li Wu and Li Wu couldn’t help but punch Lu Zheng. Lu Zheng didn’t care and took this punch as an apology to Li Wu. Later, when the two were chatting, Lu Zheng saw that Li Wu’s sword was broken and wanted to give him Song Heming’s sword from before he died.

In Wenhua Hall, Yuan Zhongdao reported that he received a secret report stating that the treasure on the ship had been transported to Beiping as military funds for Lord Yan. Li Wu knelt down and asked the emperor to put him to death. Lu Zheng admitted that he was also at fault for not paying attention, but he was willing to vouch for Li Wu. Yuan Zhongdao told the two that the incident would be announced as the emperor intercepting Lord Yan's military resources. Later, Li Wu, seeing the emperor's rewards, stated that he had mistakenly persecuted loyalists while purging traitors, resulting in unjust imprisonment, and thus his merits and demerits balanced out. The emperor agreed to let Lu Zheng personally cane Li Wu. At Dengwen Drum, Li Wu asked Lu Zheng to cane him hard, as a way out for himself. Looking at the officials in front of her, Lu Zheng swung the cane hard, knocking Li Wu unconscious.

At night, in the mansion, Lu Zheng told Li Wu that she had deciphered the meaning of the cryptic message, and that the batch of goods had been transported north on a transport ship, and the firearms in the Yu Ming Suo should not fall into Zhang Junqing's hands.

In the palace, Yuan Zhongdao reported that Wang Chongxi accused Lu Yulin of communicating with Lord Yan and secretly keeping Song Heming's book of impermanence. The emperor thought that these were groundless accusations and paid no attention to them. Yuan Zhongdao suggested that the current rebellion was perhaps intentionally allowed by the Jinyiwei (the imperial secret police). Upon seeing this, the Emperor asked Yuan Zhongdao how to deal with the father and son, Lu Yulin. Yuan Zhongdao replied that the father should be punished through his son.

Lu Zheng went to Lu Yulin’s room and asked about the whereabouts of Song Heming’s book of death. Lu Yulin said that he had destroyed the book of death in Hongwu year so that Lu Zheng would never learn from Song Heming and end up with the same fate. Seeing that Lu Zheng was very angry, Lu Yulin couldn’t help but recall the past when Lu Zheng saved him when he was most desperate. He had already written a memorial to clear Song Heming’s name. Hearing Lu Yulin’s words, Lu Zheng shed tears and knelt down to kowtow to Lu Yulin.

In the palace selection hall, Shu Tang mixed in with a group of selected women. Seeing Zhao Gou’s hint, the selected palace ladies did not let Shu Tang leave. Seeing Shu Tang’s attitude, Zhao Gou said that she would never get close to the emperor in this way and reminded Shu Tang to be careful. Later, under Zhao Gou’s arrangement, Shu Tang demonstrated her tea art to the selected palace ladies.

Late at night, Lu Zheng helped Li Wu leave the mansion. The two boarded a boat and found that there was always a Jinyiwei following them from behind.

The next day at the Zhenfusi, Zhao Gou presented an edict that temporarily appointed Si Xiangnan as the commander and then ordered Li Wu to arrest Lu Yulin’s entire family. Lu Zheng was not among those to be arrested because he was a loyal minister. Lu Zheng said that Lu Yulin was not a traitor and that he wanted to see the emperor. Zhao Gou left without answering. After everyone left, Li Wu said that Lu Yulin had petitioned Song Heming for a pardon in order to draw a clear line between himself and Lu Zheng and protect him.

Li Wu and Lu Zheng came with the Jinyiwei to arrest Lu Yulin. Lu Zheng personally helped Lu Yulin put on the shackles. Later, Si Xiangnan stopped Li Wu and said that it was inappropriate to leave Lu Yulin in the Zhenfusi yamen because he had connections with Yan. He ordered the Jinyiwei to take him to the prison of the Ministry of Justice. Li Wu said that the emperor did not order Lu Yulin to wear shackles in public and it was difficult for him to comply. When both sides were deadlocked, Lu Yulin stepped forward and asked the Jinyiwei to put away their swords. He took the initiative to follow Si Xiangnan out.

On the night boat, Li Wu exchanged identities with another person and left the surveillance of the Jin Yi Wei when they were not paying attention. Later, Boss Shen was brought in front of Li Wu. Li Wu asked Boss Shen if what he said about the new world was true or false. Boss Shen said it was indeed false. Li Wu sighed deeply and said that if the new world was false, then Boss Shen was a spy sent by Lord Yan and he would push him outside the Wumen Gate to be skinned alive. Li Wu talked about the past of the Shen family and hinted whether Lord Yan would really help him. Boss Shen didn’t know which side Li Wu belonged to. Li Wu said he wanted to be his own master and asked if Boss Shen would like to be his man.

On the other side, Zhang Junqing told Lu Zheng that the emperor had cleared Song Heming’s name and he should change back to his original name. Lu Zheng said that if it weren’t for Zhang Junqing, the Jin Yi Wei at the Caoyun Wharf would have already brought peace to the world after confiscating Lord Yan’s military funds. Zhang Junqing said she only had short-term plans and no long-term plans. She said she could save Lu Yulin and restore his innocence, but Lu Zheng must stand by and watch when she kills Li Dongfang.

The next day, Li Wu told Lu Zheng that Lu Yulin was not in the prison of the Ministry of Justice at all. He speculated that Si Xiangnan had imprisoned Lu Yulin in the prison of the Zhenfu Division.

The Zhenfu Division’s yamen actually released a document ordering the Jin Yi Wei to arrest Lu Zheng and Li Wu. Li Wu told Lu Zheng that Li Dongfang, who was arrested at the Caoyun Wharf, was both Ye Bu Shou’s general and Lord Yan’s illegitimate child. Lu Zheng felt relieved that Li Dongfang had been arrested and imprisoned. But Li Wu told him that Chen Jizhen was also a rebel. If Si Xiangnan was also a rebel, then the entire Zhenfu Division’s yamen would have fallen. Lu Zheng planned to return to the Zhenfu Division to inquire whether Si Xiangnan had issued an order and thus learn his identity.

In the cave, Lu Zheng looked at Lu Yulin’s book of impermanence and loudly told Li Wu about the events of the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu recorded inside. He was suspicious of Li Wu’s identity when he suddenly fainted after eating poisonous mushrooms.

At the gate of Jinchuan City, Commander Cui said that there would be Ye Bu Shou disguised as refugees tonight and ordered himself to lead troops into the Wengcheng to arrest them. At night, soldiers outside the city reported that they had not found Ye Bu Shou. Zhang Junqing believed that they had been bought off and ordered all the people under the city to be killed. Although Li Dongfang did not agree with her, he did not stop Zhang Junqing’s actions.

Soldiers on the city wall continuously shot arrows with fire, while the soldiers and refugees outside the city gate hurriedly took cover. Li Wu ordered Cui Chen and the soldiers to use the bodies of the fallen soldiers as shields against the arrows. He believed that they needed to stay alive to seek justice for the fallen. Cui Chen and Li Wu went to the city gate and climbed up the wall. Cui Chen angrily questioned Commander Liu, who claimed that the official document stated that Cui Chen had opened the city gate and let in the rebels, allowing them to escape. Cui Chen drew his sword to kill Commander Liu, but Li Wu persuaded him to spare him and used his firearm to scare him away. After Cui Chen left, the soldiers took Li Wu to a room. Suddenly, Zhang Junqing rushed out with a dagger, trying to kill Li Wu.

Learning that Zhang Junqing wanted to kill him for revenge on behalf of Shu Tang, Li Wu used his firearm to force her back, informing her that Shu Tang was still alive but missing after she went to find Li Dongfang. Upon hearing that Li Wu wanted to rescue Lu Yulin and his son, Zhang Junqing insisted that they were doomed. Seeing that Li Wu did not believe her, she told him that Wang Chongxi, who could testify against Lu Zheng and his son, was being held in the commandery. If Li Wu could kill him, they could be safe.

On the other side of the cave, Mei Dou and Lu Zheng heard the sound of the soldiers outside. Mei Dou quickly untied the ropes for Lu Zheng, while he hid in the grass to observe the situation. Sister Meng urged Mei Dou to leave immediately. Later, Chen Jizhen arrived at the cave with the Imperial Guards. Lu Zheng saw Chen Jizhen use a wet piece of paper to cover Sister Meng's face and wanted to sneak into the cave to save her, but he was stabbed by Li Dongfang who suddenly rushed out. Lu Zheng was seriously injured and passed out while looking at Mei Dou who was captured and Sister Meng who was quiet inside the cave.

Meanwhile, Li Wu secretly followed the Imperial Guards into a house and saw Wang Chongxi chained up. Li Wu said he came to kill Wang Chongxi and suggested flipping a coin to decide his fate. Wang Chongxi lost, but Li Wu did not kill him and even asked him to follow him. The two arrived on a boat, and Li Wu handed over a package to Wang Chongxi, stating that he was an honorable person. Wang Chongxi then told Li Wu that Yu Ming Suo's secret code was very simple.

Late at night, Si Xiangnan asked the Jin Yiwei guarding the door who ordered them to detain him, but they did not answer. At this moment, Lu Zheng arrived and fought against the Jin Yiwei with Si Xiangnan. During the fight, Lu Zheng saw the weapons on their bodies and realized that they were actually Ye Bu Shou. Si Xiangnan handed his waist badge to Lu Zheng and asked him to go see Lu Yulin first. Lu Zheng asked Si Xiangnan if he had seen a public document that was chasing him and Li Wu. Si Xiangnan said that all the official documents and seals of the Town Government Office were in his hands after taking office, but he had never published a document before.

The Jin Yi Wei outside the gate finally rushed into the document library. Lu Zheng took out Si Xiangnan's waist badge, indicating that Chen Jizhen, who communicated with Yan, had been punished on the spot. Li Wu and Lu Zheng arrived at the detention room and saw Lu Yulin and Li Dongfang sitting face to face. Under Li Wu's questioning, Li Dongfang admitted that he killed Sister Meng and abducted Mei Dou. When Lu Zheng pointed his sword at Li Dongfang, Si Xiangnan stepped forward to block his sword. At this moment, someone came to announce the imperial edict. The edict stated that Li Dongfang, a hundred-household, was suspected of identity and ordered Lu Zheng to temporarily detain Li Wu. Lu Yulin and Si Xiangnan were secretly in collusion with the rebels and were also imprisoned. The management of the town's peace office will be temporarily handled by Lu Zheng.

In the prison, Lu Zheng took over the imperial edict and read it carefully before acting accordingly.

Zhao Gou brought dumplings to Shu Tang to celebrate the New Year. Shu Tang handed him a jade seal. Zhao Gou quickly hid it in his arms. It turned out that Shu Tang had stolen it from the palace. Shu Tang hinted that she wanted to be closer to the emperor. Zhao Gou said he would talk about it after the New Year. Shu Tang once again suggested that Zhao Gou resign and return home after the New Year.

Li Dongfang drew his sword and threw it to Li Wu in prison and asked if he wanted revenge. Li Wu picked up the sword from the ground and chopped at Li Dongfang but was blocked by him and then subjected to torture. Li Dongfang said that he could only take revenge if he was alive and asked Li Wu to continue pretending to be him before leaving.

Lu Zheng arrived at the Chao Prison and showed his waist badge to the guards in front of him, but they said they had received orders not to allow the Jinyiwei to enter. Lu Zheng turned to the Ministry of War to inquire, but was stopped halfway by Cui Chen. Cui Chen told him that the soldiers guarding the city had shot and killed the soldiers of the Five City Army Department with arrows. They had a transfer order but didn't know who gave the order. Cui Chen wanted to seek justice for his brothers and said that Li Wu had seen the person who gave the order that day. Lu Zheng wanted to take Cui Chen to the Ministry of War to clarify the situation, but Cui Chen went to borrow a lantern in the dark. As Lu Zheng continued forward, he saw blood on the ground. Following the blood trail, he found Yu Bu Shou and they fought, but ultimately, Yu Bu Shou managed to escape.

The next day, the Jinyiwei told Lu Zheng that Lu Yulin and two others were brought to the inner court for trial, while Zhao Gou had already arrived for some time. Lu Zheng entered the inner court and saw the three people kneeling in front of him. He said that they should not kneel and bow if they had not been convicted and wanted his subordinates to remove their shackles and give them seats, but the Jinyiwei did not move. Zhao Gou said that the emperor had a decree, and the emperor ordered him to attend the trial. Lu Zheng silently took out the book of judgment and said that the trial was the Jinyiwei's internal affairs, and the palace officials could not interfere in politics. He questioned whether Zhao Gou was falsely conveying the imperial decree and then ordered the Jinyiwei to give him 20 lashes and drag him back to the prison.

After receiving the punishment of imperial cane, Zhao Gou received an edict from the emperor to have the case of the pacification commissioner handled by the case leader of the rebel party, Li Wu. Li Wu was to clear his name by performing meritorious deeds. When Lu Zheng came forward, Lu Yulin told him that Li Wu was a designated scapegoat and could only be loosened from his punishment, but not have his shackles removed. Lu Zheng granted Li Wu leniency, and Li Wu sat down while still wearing his shackles. Lu Zheng asked Lu Yulin who had sent the official document for the pursuit of the two of them, and Lu Yulin said that he needed to go to the Ministry of War to check the original document for the signature. At this point, the eunuch standing next to Li Wu took out the jade that Li Wu had given to Mei Dou as a warning for him to be careful. Li Wu had to ask Lu Zheng to take the royal banner to the Ministry of War, and before leaving, Li Wu reminded Lu Zheng to be cautious in the slums.

At the yamen, Li Wu ordered the Jinyiwei to take Si Xiangnan away and have them beaten with a stick to show their disapproval. Afterwards, Si Xiangnan was beaten down, and Jinyiwei Wang Can and Ma Han offered to sign the document. However, Li Wu ordered other Jinyiwei to take Wang Can and Ma Han and beat them with eighty sticks, saying that anyone who wanted Si Xiangnan dead was a traitor.

On the other hand, Lu Zheng went to the War Ministry and saw Si Xiangnan's name on the official document. He asked the official if the document had been sealed with a wax seal, but the person said no. Lu Zheng asked his subordinate to take the document back to the Zhenfu Division, and he himself left through the back door. However, Lu Zheng was attacked by Yu Ming Suo, and he was stabbed. He quickly rushed to a nearby carriage and left.

At this moment, the Jinyiwei with official documents returned to the town's defense office. Si Xiangnan saw his own name on the document and looked at Lu Yulin in shock, asking why Lu Yulin wanted to steal the seal and harm him. Li Wu wanted to call for help, but the Jinyiwei hit Si Xiangnan with two sticks and shouted to execute the traitor Si Xiangnan on Li Wu's order. Li Wu was very surprised to see Lu Yulin holding Si Xiangnan in his arms.

At night, Li Wu and Lu Yulin arrived at the prison gate. Lu Yulin lit incense to pay respect to a friend and Li Wu joined him in front of the Hu Tou Gate. Shortly after they entered the prison, Li Wu heard a cry of alarm. Li Dongfang then came to drag Li Wu away. The two of them arrived at the execution room where Li Wu saw Lu Yulin lying there, barely alive. Li Dongfang said that he had endured 24 strokes of the torture instrument known as "pa," but he would let him survive until the next court session. Lu Yulin told Li Wu that he would unlock the "Fish Eye Lock" and give the firearm to Lord Yan. He had already erased Li Wu's name from Song Heming's "Book of Death" and would tell Lu Zheng that he had killed Song Heming himself and that none of this was Li Wu's fault. Li Wu was moved that this was the first time he had heard someone call him a good person. Seeing that Lu Yulin couldn't say goodbye to Lu Zheng, Li Wu, who had no parents, called out "Dad" a few times and kowtowed to him.

As they passed by the prison gate, the Jinyiwei noticed something under the incense burner. Upon examination, they found it was Song Heming's "Wu Chang Book ".

In the clock tower secret room, Zhang Junqing was treating Lu Zheng's wounds. Lu Zheng smelled the floral scent in the room and remembered the scent he smelled during his fight with Yu Ming Suo. He realized that Zhang Junqing was the ghost-faced Yu Ming Suo. Zhang Junqing told Lu Zheng that Song Heming, Wang Kegong, and Lu Yulin were the people sent by Lord Yan to falsely accuse Li Yan of plotting to harm the Crown Prince. Everyone around Lu Zheng was a rebel, and the whole thing was a scam. Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng flipped out the window and fell to the ground from upstairs.

The next day, the Jinyiwei helped Li Wu take off his shackles and put on the Flying Fish uniform, and then handed him Song Heming's book of the dead. Lu Zheng arrived, and Li Wu quickly stopped the bleeding for him when he saw that he was injured. Lu Zheng said that he had almost died from an ambush by Yu Ming Suo, who wore a ghost mask, and that Zhang Junqing was Yu Ming Suo. Li Wu told Lu Zheng that he had seen Lu Yulin in the prison, and that Lu Yulin had endured the crisis and upheld the sky for Lu Zheng, making him a true hero.

It was pouring rain when Lu Yulin struggled into the inner hall, confessing that he had stolen Si Xiangnan's official seal and was the one who killed Song Heming. Li Wu shouted that Lu Yulin was spreading false rumors in the Zhenfu Division and stabbed him with a dagger, whispering in his ear to let Lu Zheng hate him. Lu Zheng rushed forward to support Lu Yulin, watching him die in his arms. Li Wu told Lu Zheng that he was the young man who killed Song Heming on a rainy night in the 25th year of the Hongwu period. Lu Zheng couldn't bear it any longer and drew his sword, cutting off one of Li Wu's hands.

Li Wu wanted to escape but was trapped by the Jinyiwei in the inner hall. Lu Zheng pointed his sword at Li Wu, but Li Wu quickly showed him a note that said "with the same horse, with the same pledge, never suspect, never fail" that he had kept in his pocket. Just as Lu Zheng was struggling with his conscience, Yuan Zhongdao appeared. Li Wu immediately handed over Song Heming's Book of Judgment to Yuan Zhongdao, and under his persuasion, Lu Zheng angrily threw his sword away. Late at night, Li Wu came to the gate of the imperial prison to pay tribute to Lu Yulin, expressing that he now had a clear conscience.

Four months later, Boss Shen handed Li Wu a prosthetic limb, indicating that he had completed the task Li Wu entrusted him with. Li Wu returned to the Justice Office, where the Jinyiwei reported the number of arrests of Ye Bu Shou, but Li Wu told them not to arrest the poor, and instead go after the gamblers.

At night, Li Wu quietly sneaked into the Wenhua Hall wearing night clothes. It turned out that Lu Zheng had been kept in the palace by Yuan Zhongdao, who said he no longer trusted Zhang Junqing and others, and handed Song Heming's Book of Judgment to Lu Zheng. Yuan Zhongdao said he had been studying the Yu Ming Suo with skilled craftsmen for a long time but had not been able to crack it, and Lu Zheng said he would give him a reply soon.

Li Wu asked Boss Shen for a big boat, pretending to celebrate his birthday and inviting many officials to attend a banquet on the boat. The officials brought a lot of gold and silver treasures to the banquet, and Li Wu asked Boss Shen to keep an eye on them. He then dressed in his night clothes and went to the palace.

In the Wenhua Hall of the palace, Shu Tang was drinking, and Li Wu accidentally barged in. Li Wu pretended to be sent by Li Dongfang to steal the Yu Ming Suo, and asked Shu Tang when the Jinyiwei guarding the Wenhua Hall would change shift. Shu Tang asked him to go back and wait for news. Later, Shu Tang distracted the Jinyiwei guarding the Wenhua Hall and reminded Li Wu to watch for the sky lantern every night at three quarters past the hour of the pig. Li Wu told her to be careful and left through a secret passage.

Outside the Zhenfu Commandery, several officials were kneeling in front of the gate. Li Wu's subordinate told him that Lu Zheng had interrogated and arrested Guo Di and his associates overnight. Li Wu turned around and saw many greeting cards piled up at the gate, feeling very annoyed.

The imperial treasury was being inspected by the Emperor, who was examining the account books. Yuan Zhongdao was complaining about the expenses and shouted that the war had already emptied the national treasury. Just then, Shu Tang lazily walked out from the inner chamber. Yuan Zhongdao questioned Zhao Gou, a palace maid, about why she wasn't working and was caught drinking the royal wine. Shu Tang showed that she had memorized the account books perfectly, and when the Emperor asked her a question about it, she answered accurately. Impressed, the Emperor ordered Zhao Gou to put Shu Tang in charge of the harem's finances.

At night, it was Lu Zheng's turn to stand guard. After he left, Yuan Zhongdao asked Zhao Gou to summon Shu Tang to the Wenhua Hall. At the third quarter of the hour of the pig, a sky lantern slowly rose, and Li Wu saw it ascend in front of the Wenhua Hall, where he also saw Shu Tang leaving with Zhao Gou.

In the palace value room, Lu Zheng, who is a male, is sleeping on the table. He dreams of ten years ago when Lu Yulin, who is also male, told him the meaning of "Yu Ming Suo". When Lu Zheng wakes up, he realizes something and immediately gets up and leaves.

In the Wenhua Hall, Li Wu, who is also male, finally finds "Yu Ming Suo", but he hears a noise outside the door and has to put it back in place. Yuan Zhongdao and Lu Zheng, both males, enter the hall. Lu Zheng puts "Yu Ming Suo" in the water, and it spits out a cipher. Yuan Zhongdao looks at the cipher and finds out that it is the word puzzle that Li Yan told Song Heming years ago. Li Wu, who had overheard the cipher, leaves to confront the emperor and brings Boss Shen to help him.

In the Bell Tower Secret Room, Yuan Zhongdao felt he owed Zhang Junqing and wanted to betroth her to Lu Zheng. Lu Zheng refused, saying that Zhang Junqing's heart already belonged to someone else. Yuan Zhongdao understood Lu Zheng's intentions and reminded him to remember his identity as a loyal subject. After Zhang Junqing left the secret room, she suddenly fell to the ground. Lu Zheng helped her back to her room and then wrote a divorce letter, leaving it on the table.

In the palace value room, Li Wu and Shu Tang, both wearing night clothes and masks, meet to discuss the cipher Li Wu overheard. Shu Tang writes down the cipher and together they deduce that the weapons are hidden on a boat that has been floating along the canal. As Li Wu confidently speaks about their plan, Shu Tang can't resist standing up and taking off his mask, revealing that she knows it is him. Suddenly, Li Wu pours alcohol for Shu Tang, causing her to pass out.

Li Wu goes to the canal station to check the numbers on the cipher, and the station master, Wang Shu, warns him that the ships are all illegal. At night, Lu Zheng, disguised as a worker, searches through the boxes on the docks and finds the weapons. Meanwhile, Li Wu and Boss Shen sit in the cabin and watch as Lu Zheng is deceived into believing there are only a few guns and two cannons. Li Wu suggests that they intercept the weapons halfway through the journey by using a secret passage in Zhang Ji Silk Shop and transport them to the Bell Tower.

The next day, Li Dongfang told Li Wu that he knew about what he and Boss Shen were doing behind the scenes. Li Wu pretended that he and Boss Shen were only trying to make money. Li Dongfang asked Li Wu if he really didn't know anything about firearms, and Li Wu said that he was very afraid of the punishment in the prison, so he didn't dare to lie. Finally, Li Dongfang left the yamen satisfied.

Outside the city, Boss Shen borrowed the rice porridge to hide the firearms in the boxes and cans, then followed a group of commoners to the city gate. Li Wu arrived on horseback, expressing the emperor's sympathy for the people and ordered himself to open the city gate to let the refugees in. The city gate opened wide, and the firearms were successfully transported into the city. On the other side, Lu Zheng, who thought he had intercepted the firearms, led the Jinyiwei to rush into the courtyard but found that many boxes contained stones.

At night, watching the No.47 ship sailing in, Li Wu led the Jinyiwei to search the ship. Just as the Jinyiwei was desperately searching on the ship, a group of "Ye Bu Shou" suddenly appeared. Li Wu and the Jinyiwei finally broke out of the ambush and got out of the cabin. Li Dongfang thanked him for delivering the firearms to his hands. Li Wu sneered and revealed Li Dongfang's identity as the illegitimate son of the Lord Yan. Li Dongfang drew his sword and pointed it at Li Wu, while Lu Zheng appeared with a cannon. Li Wu revealed that he was the child in the prison of the imperial edict back then and asked Lu Zheng if he still remembered the grudge of killing his father. Lu Zheng yelled that he had not forgotten and ordered the cabin to be shattered by the cannonball.

A month later, Lu Zheng told Yuan Zhongdao that the firearms were not in Lord Yan's hands. Yuan Zhongdao said that Lord Yan retreated to Longjiang because he was intimidated by two cannons, and he didn't know that the firearms were not in the emperor's hands. Yuan Zhongdao said that he wanted to take Lord Yan's life for the emperor, but Lu Zheng believed that he would be responsible if Lord Yan was assassinated. Yuan Zhongdao told Lu Zheng that this would only ruin his reputation because he was leaving the city as a rebel. Lu Zheng laughed and said that he didn't care.

At night, Shu Tang took care of the just-awakened Li Wu, and he later woke up to find that Boss Shen was the one in front of him. Boss Shen told him that Shu Tang risked going out of the palace every day to take care of him, and that his plan was successful.

Meanwhile, Lu Zheng changed out of his Fei Yu Uniform and had a Jin Yi Wei cut his neck before entering the prison. Afterward, Lu Zheng, covered in injuries, was released through the city gates. Boss Shen brought Li Wu to the room where the firearms were hidden, and said that now the whole Ming Dynasty would listen to him.

Zhao Gou brought Yuan Zhongdao to meet Zhang Junqing at the Jiaofang Division. Yuan Zhongdao expressed that Shu Tang was sent to assassinate the Emperor as a way of repaying Li Dongfang's favor, but he was worried that Li Dongfang wouldn't spare her life. Seeing that Zhang Junqing was eager to leave, Yuan Zhongdao quickly stopped her and instructed her to use the secret passage to enter the palace at midnight, while he would take Shu Tang to Wenhua Hall, where she could be saved.

Bainianshan, the leader of the Jin Yi Wei, came to the boat and was surprised to find that Li Wu was still alive. Li Wu asked Bainianshan to release Ye Bu Shou from the prison and deliver a message to Lord Yan, proposing to exchange Li Dongfang for the firearms. As the Emperor fell ill, Zhao Gou had time to visit Shu Tang and invited her to go home with him. Shu Tang asked him to go home quickly and not to worry about her anymore. Zhao Gou asked Shu Tang why she sang a folk song from his hometown and revealed to her that the song was actually a secret code disguised as a fireworks formula.

Li Wu arrived at the Wenhua Hall and saw Yuan Zhongdao coughing incessantly, so he urged him to rest as soon as possible. Li Wu told Yuan Zhongdao that he had stolen several ships' worth of firearms and had already sent messengers to negotiate with Lord Yan. He wanted to be the master of the people of the world. Yuan Zhongdao asked if he was really planning to rebel and told him about Lu Zheng's offer to assassinate Lord Yan. After hearing this, Li Wu quickly grabbed the Yu Ming Suo and left.

Outside the city, Lu Zheng followed the refugees on a small path. Suddenly, a group of generals on horseback arrived, and Lu Zheng asked them to let him stay and serve in the front lines. At the city gate, Boss Shen said that Lord Yan had agreed to the exchange, but only if Li Wu went alone. He believed that it was too dangerous for Li Wu to go alone into enemy territory. Li Wu told him that Lu Zheng was also there and that he had to go.

Outside the Yan army camp, Li Wu was taken to the camp. Just as Li Wu was about to fall asleep, the sound of drums came from outside. Li Wu saw soldiers leaving one after another and realized that Lord Yan was about to attack the city. Just as Lord Yan’s soldiers surrounded Li Wu, Jin Yiwei arrived to save him. After learning that there had been a change in the palace, Li Wu still chose to take Bai Nianshan to save Lu Zheng first. Li Wu and Bai Nianshan hid in the stable and secretly investigated the situation in the house. Suddenly, a meat seller passed by. Li Wu wanted him to give drugs to the people in the room. Unexpectedly, that person suddenly drugged Li Wu and knocked out Bai Nianshan with a pig leg.

It turned out that the man was a general under Lord Yan, and the general asked Lu Zheng to interrogate Li Wu and Bai Nianshan. In the room, Lu Zheng felt that Li Wu should not have come to interfere with him. Li Wu said he wanted to hand over the Jiangshan of Daming to Lord Yan. Lu Zheng was angry and drew his sword. Bai Nianshan couldn’t listen anymore and told Lu Zheng that Lu Yulin had received twenty-four strokes of the Pa punishment before going to court. The two were clearly brothers, why couldn’t they reconcile? Lu Zheng said that once war broke out, there would be a lot of casualties in Tianfu, so he had to go and assassinate Lord Yan. Suddenly, Li Wu ran out of the room shouting that Lu Zheng was going to assassinate Lord Yan. The general stood outside the door confronting the three of them. Li Wu said he wanted to discuss the matter in the letter with Lord Yan. The general said he did not know about the letter, and Li Dongfang went into the palace to negotiate with the emperor.

The general believed that Li Dongfang had evil intentions and said that there was no relationship between Lord Yan and Li Dongfang. He even handed over a letter written by Lord Yan to Li Wu. Li Wu asked them to prepare horses for him, but the general was not willing to let them go. Li Wu warned that if he was not released, the firearms would be handed over to the emperor tonight. The general said that Lord Yan had rebelled and there was no turning back when the troops were at the city gates. They were willing to take this gamble and drew his sword towards the three people.

At this moment, Lu Zheng suddenly laughed and said he was willing to help Lord Yan open the Jinchuan Gate and assist him in taking over the world. The general agreed to let them go, but when they were leaving, he injured Bai Nianshan and forcibly kept him behind. Li Wu and Lu Zheng returned to the city, and Boss Shen told Li Wu that Li Dongfang had ordered Shu Tang to assassinate the emperor tonight. In the palace, Shu Tang entered the Wenhua Hall, saying that she had come to take the emperor's life. Unexpectedly, Li Dongfang entered the hall and claimed to have come to rescue the emperor, then drew his sword and killed Shu Tang. Yu Ming Suo locked the palace gate from the inside, making it impossible to break through. Li Wu then climbed over the wall into the palace with the help of Lu Zheng.

Sitting in the hall pretending to be the emperor, Yuan Zhongdao urged Li Dongfang to kill Shu Tang quickly. Shu Tang expressed her willingness to return her life to Li Dongfang, but he told her not to move or speak anymore. Just then, Li Wu walked into the Wenhua Hall and saw the scene in front of him. He immediately picked up his gun and aimed it at Li Dongfang. Yuan Zhongdao said that whoever kills Shu Tang tonight would be Li Dongfang. While the two hesitated, Yuan Zhongdao threw the candle on the ground, which caught the spilled alcohol on fire, and the Wenhua Hall was filled with flames.

Shu Tang talked about her experience of being a part of the "Nighttime Collection" and expressed her true feelings to Lu Wu. Unfortunately, they cannot become a real couple. In fact, she felt that her true self was when she followed Li Dongfang and drank and killed people like a knight in the desert. Li Dongfang looked at Shu Tang and said that she was his only relative. He then went ahead and pulled down the curtain, only to find that Yuan Zhongdao was sitting inside. After Li Dongfang stabbed Yuan Zhongdao with a dagger, he left the Wenhua Hall. Yuan Zhongdao reflected on the fact that he finally repaid his debt to the emperor before dying. Shu Tang expressed that the sword in her chest could not be removed and asked Li Wu to leave quickly. However, Li Wu refused to leave and shouted that he must save Shu Tang. He finally managed to pull out the sword with all his strength, but they were stopped by a fallen pillar at the door when they tried to leave.

Outside the Wenhua Hall, Lu Zheng presented a handwritten letter from Lord Yan, stating that Li Dongfang was impersonating a royal offspring and planning to assassinate the emperor. Lu Zheng claimed to have come to take Li Dongfang's life in the name of Lord Yan. Li Dongfang, holding the letter, shouted in confusion, "He didn't say that!" Ye Bu Shou, who was guarding outside the hall, saw this and quickly fled. Li Dongfang, in anger, drew his fiery sword and knocked Lu Zheng down. Just as the situation was critical, Zhang Junqing arrived to help Lu Zheng. Li Dongfang was stabbed twice and finally died.

Lu Zheng and Zhang Junqing rushed into the palace hall. Lu Zheng lifted a pillar on fire to let Li Wu and Shu Tang leave. But Zhang Junqing suddenly turned around and threw a hairpin to Shu Tang, indicating that she was not Shu Tang's sister, and that Mu Gu Niang wanted Shu Tang to live for herself. Lu Zheng watched Zhang Junqing rush towards the figure in the hall, unable to help but call out her name, and was eventually pulled away by Li Wu.

After seven days, Boss Shen said that Li Wu had been waiting by the shore for seven days and nights, hoping that Shu Tang wouldn't hurt him like this. Shu Tang felt that it was better to forget the past than to wait for him, so she let Boss Shen set sail. When Li Wu saw that they were going to sail, he quickly grabbed the rope to stop them. Li Wu pretended not to care about Shu Tang, but he tightly held onto the rope. Shu Tang said that besides liking Li Wu, she also had something to do and would come back to find him after finishing it. Li Wu remembered their previous conversation and ultimately let go of the rope when he couldn't hold it anymore.

Li Wu watched Shu Tang's boat leave, feeling very sad. When Lu Zheng arrived, Li Wu pretended that he hadn't cried and showed him a new code he had created. He also gave Lu Zheng the Yu Ming Suo. However, Lu Zheng returned it to Li Wu and asked him to keep the secret. The two men tightly held the Yu Ming Suo, hoping that this secret would never be revealed to the world.

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