Ripe Town Episode 5 Recap
> Ripe Town Recap
After the Wei County magistrate's two requests, the county government finally began to take the recent string of murders seriously, dispatching Head Constable Xia to investigate in Du County. Upon taking office, Xia immediately reprimanded all the constables for their lack of progress. Beyond punishing them for the lack of breakthroughs, it was more important for Xia to establish his authority. Faced with Xia's dominance, Magistrate Wei remained silent.
Hearing that Qu Sangeng was continuously investigating the murder of Leng Wuji, Xia approached to inquire about any leads. Qu Sangeng mentioned a man named Chen Wang, a former servant at the Lu Mansion, who had hung himself outside the city a few days ago with no further clues. Xia mocked Qu Sangeng, considering him the favored disciple of Leng Wuji. Despite the incident occurring some time ago, Xia believed that even with basic inquiries, there should have been more findings. Without hesitation, Qu Sangeng responded that he had already disbanded the local inquiries, saving a considerable amount of time for Head Constable Xia.
As an outsider, Xia had originally planned to start with local inquiries. Learning that Qu Sangeng had disbanded the "Five Halls Division," he was furious and questioned Song Chen about the permission. Song Chen, surprisingly, directly pulled out a tooth root for Xia to examine, implying that not only did he approve the disbandment of local inquiries, but he had also interrogated the suspects, and the case was now transferred to the county government.
Qu Sangeng and Gao Shicong went to Wuleizhai to find Feng Kezhui and discovered her preparing a special pigment. Feng Kezhui informed them that applying the pigment to a painting could make the paper appear aged, similar to an ancient masterpiece. Qu Sangeng was puzzled, questioning the authenticity, as color could be added to paper, but the strokes wouldn't lie. Feng Kezhui assured them that, apart from her uncle's calligraphy in the entire county, no one surpassed her skills, and copying was beneath her.
Suddenly inspired, Qu Sangeng decided to use Feng Kezhui to forge a prescription from Wang Master's preserved "Shanghan Lun," imitating Cheng Yizhi's handwriting. When he presented it to Cheng Yizhi, the latter was initially surprised but then explained that he had never written such a prescription. Cheng Yizhi clarified that even a small amount of Thunder Vine was enough to cause instant death, and a pharmacy wouldn't randomly dispense such a dangerous concoction.
Qu Sangeng directly asked if Cheng Yizhi knew about Lu Yuanbao's death, to which Cheng Yizhi denied any knowledge. According to Cheng Yizhi, Lu Yuanbao was poisoned to death by his brothers, and the case had long been closed by the authorities. After a moment, Cheng Yizhi seemed to change his perspective, refusing to let Qu Sangeng interrogate further and stating that, even if the magistrate fell ill, he himself would be the one to diagnose, not taking orders from a mere constable.
Having served for only a month, Xia, eager to solve the case quickly, assigned old cases to each constable, leaving Qu Sangeng isolated by not participating in local inquiries. As expected, several constables, fearing they couldn't complete the task within Xia's timeframe, surrounded Qu Sangeng, but Song Chen intervened, helping Qu Sangeng out of the predicament.
Seeing Qu Sangeng's predicament in the constable division, Leng Guier offered assistance, asserting that they couldn't let Xia bully him. To turn the situation around, they needed to exploit Xia's weakness, which was his concern about not solving the case on time. Qu Sangeng suddenly got an idea – Xia's greatest strength was his stability and experience, and that could also be his fatal flaw.
In another investigation, Gao Shicong's team was looking into a theft of jewelry at the Wang family. After verifying with local pawn shops, they discovered that Wang Master intentionally pawned the jewelry for a neighbor in need. This revelation left Gao Shicong both amused and frustrated.
Song Chen called Zhang Jizu to the yamen, intending to inquire about the Lu family's massacre. When Zhang Jizu arrived, Song Chen was in the middle of interrogating a villager involved in a land seizure case. After applying some force, the truth came out. Song Chen deliberately designed this scenario for Zhang Jizu to witness.
Song Chen initially brought up Zhang Jizu's recent inquiries about purchasing property in Yanzhi Alley. Zhang Jizu understood Song Chen's intent, questioning whether Song Chen wanted information about another property, implying Lu Mansion. Song Chen no longer avoided the topic, and Zhang Jizu informed him that he had no knowledge about Lu Yuanbao's case. Moreover, as the steward for Zhao, he wouldn't be interrogated like an ordinary person by Song Chen.
Leng Wuji's son, Leng Rui, got into a fight with Liu the Carpenter's son. Leng Guier cautioned Qu Sangeng not to interfere in children's affairs. Qu Sangeng promised to explain the situation to Liu the Carpenter. Gao Shicong advised Qu Sangeng to act quickly since people were avoiding monkey demons, locking their doors early in the evening.
According to local legends in Du County, one year, a monkey performer arrived from another county and quickly attracted the locals. All the students from Wuleizhai also ran to the streets to watch the show. Concerned about their neglect of studies, Wang Master went to the streets to bring back his students, leading to a commotion. The audience dispersed, and no one rewarded the performer. Wang Master asked for donations from a few wealthy young men, only to be ridiculed. Enraged, Wang Master severely beat the instigator, Shi Liu of Zhaofeng Lane.
Soon after, Leng Wuji arrested the monkey performer, revealing that he trained monkeys to steal from people's homes. After a severe beating in the yamen, he died shortly afterward. Rumors spread that the monkeys he trained were monkey demons, and the tragic deaths of Wang Master and Leng Wuji were due to the demons seeking revenge.
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