Original subtitles

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This is Xiaoyu's bracelet.

I've checked her palm.

Although she tried to hide it,

it wasn't hard to see

the callus from using a sword.

Oh, yes.

I'm not familiar with the customs

of Yong State.

Is there any organization

that removes victims' pinkies?

Removes pinkies?

In recent cases,

all victims' pinkies were missing.

Only Shadow Guardians

take pinkies as proof of finishing a task.

So, all these crimes

were committed by Shadow Guardians?

Any ideas?

No.

I've never heard of such a thing.

Keep an eye on Floral House.

Maybe we can find some clues there.

Yes.

I guess

we are getting closer

to the man who wants to kill me.

Mu Beiyan! Stop right there!

Constable Yuan.

Yuan.

I'm here.

Don't try to run!

You know kung fu?

Well Mu Beiyan, are you drunk

or are you mad?

How could I be a constable

without kung fu?

This is not right.

That's why I told you

that I'm not Yuan Qingli.

What are you looking at?

Something precious.

You can't see it.

It's just a pouch with two lovebirds.

I didn't know you were so attached.

It's... absurd!

It's ridiculous!

Disgraceful!

Really disgraceful!

I mean this pouch.

The embroidery is disgraceful.

It's so immoral!

Maybe it's related to the case.

I'll impound it in the office.

You said you'd keep watch over me.

If you don't do it,

I'll run away.

I'm leaving!

Wait!

I,

I forgot to feed my cat.

I'll go feed it now.

[Since Qingli came back,]

[the case of her kidnapping was closed.]

[But there are so many]

[questions remained.]

[Is the girl who came back the real Qingli?]

[The girl named Yuan in Qinhe,]

[except for her appearance,]

[she has no other similarities with Qingli.]

[But if she's not Qingli,]

[Mrs. Yuan would have noticed that.]

[She would not sit idle.]

Mr. Zhao,

the officer recommended

by Princess Shengning's husband is here.

He's waiting outside.

I see.

You are brilliant, Master.

After Princess Shengning died,

the authority to recommend officers

is now in your hands.

Princess Shengning was an old witch.

She was smarter than I expected.

She predicted my intentions

and wrote a letter to Prince of He.

I wonder where Xiaoyu hid the letter.

We must find it.

Silly girl.

She really has guarded me all night.

Mu Beiyan!

What are you doing!

I was just trying to warn you.

Your cat does not look well.

Is it hungry?

Kitty,

are you hungry?

Itchy?

Let me scratch it for you.

I'm itchy too.

Come on.

Scratch my back for me.

I...

Alright.

That's enough.

Look at me.

Ever since I met you in Qinhe,

I've had bad luck.

You hit me again and again,

and now suddenly I've become a suspect.

I must be the unluckiest guy in the world.

You are too frivolous.

You asked for it.

Whether you are a murderer or not,

you must have a clear idea.

Of course, I'm clear about it.

In fact, you also trust me,

and know I'm not the murderer, right?

No, I don't.

Kitty, come.

You hungry?

You are so kind to a cat,

yet so cruel to me.

I bought some fish.

How could we

trouble you to feed Yuan's cat?

This is also his cat.

I told you,

if you want me to keep it,

I would keep it.

But if you don't,

then I wouldn't keep it.

You approved it,

that's why it's here.

Did I tell you to keep it?

You didn't say no, so I took it as a yes.

You don't want to feed Yuan's cat?

Then let me feed it for you, okay?

You stay out of it.

Come, eat your fish!

Kitty!

Are you okay?

What's wrong?

The cat is dead.

I said it didn't look well.

Maybe

it had been sick for days.

Or maybe,

it died of old age.

I didn't poison it.

You,

you brought the fish.

Maybe you poisoned it.

Blood?

It doesn't seem like it.

It reeks.

I get it.

What do you mean by that?

Yuan.

I didn't poison your cat.

The cat is the key to solving the case!

Follow me.

Ding Cao,

watch over Mu Beiyan.

Yes.

Hey, my lord.

Did the stench on the latch you noticed

smell like this?

Yes.

But it smelled even worse.

This is fish guts.

That day,

what I smelled was

the smell of rancid fish guts.

How could

it get on the latch?

I deduced,

in the food of Mu Beiyan and Xiaoyu,

there were knockout drops.

As Mu Beiyan said,

after one cup of wine,

he passed out

until Mr. Li woke him up next morning.

Therefore,

although Mu Beiyan was present,

he knew nothing about it.

But if Mu Beiyan is not the murderer,

how did the murderer enter the room?

And how did he leave?

That night,

Mu Beiyan visited Xiaoyu,

and then they had food

laced with knockout drops.

Mu Beiyan was drunk before he arrived,

so he lost consciousness immediately.

Xiaoyu didn't eat much,

so she was still conscious,

but her body went limp.

When she realized that something was wrong

and wanted to run away,

the murderer arrived.

What do you want?

He sent you here, right?

Please.

I'm pregnant right now.

Please let me go.

Wake up!

Mu Beiyan!

After killing Xiaoyu,

in order to cover his trail,

the murderer set it up,

so he could leave the crime scene

like a ghost.

How did he set it up?

The killer must have already known

that Xiaoyu kept a cat in her room.

After killing her,

he took out fish guts he'd prepared,

and tied it to the latch.

After he left,

the cat smelled the fish

and climbed up to eat it,

latching the door in the process.

But how could the killer make sure

that a cat would do as he wished?

Do you remember?

The procuress Ling Gu told us,

someone sent the cat to Xiaoyu as a gift.

So, it's possible the cat was trained.

Right.

The cat was trained

to eat fish guts

and latch the door,

creating the false impression

of a locked room.

The killer is so meticulous.

He worried that

someone would notice the cat.

So before he left,

he took all the food

laced with knockout drops,

and poisoned the cat,

so it would die several days later.

If you hadn't kept the cat,

no one would have noticed

the cat had died.

Well,

you're right.

The cat was trained,

and Xiaoyu was also trained.

She was an assassin.

Xiaoyu?

Wasn't she

the star prostitute of Floral House?

Think about it.

Xiaoyu's build was exactly the same

as the guy who killed Zhi Ge.

Moreover,

don't forget about this.

Mischief must have followed her

to Floral House,

and tore a piece of curtain in her room.

But Mischief can't speak,

and was afraid of her,

otherwise,

he should have led us to her.

We intended to

continue questioning Zhi Ge the next day

to see who

cut off Princess Shengning's pinkie,

and left Ashbringer

right next to me.

It seems now that

she killed Zhi Ge to silence him.

That night when Mingxin

felt someone had entered the room,

it must have been Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu was there to steal the letter.

If the letter

was related to the death of the princess,

then Zhi Ge killed the princess

possibly at Xiaoyu's instigation.

Xiaoyu was following orders

of the mastermind of the case.

But for some unknown reason,

he also murdered Xiaoyu later.

The same gang were behind it,

so all the victims' little fingers

were cut off as a mark.

Yuan,

sometimes it's better to know less.

The perpetrators were the same people,

they are cunning,

and hiding in the dark.

None of them were directly involved.

They put the princess's death on me,

and then made Zhi Ge to take the blame.

They shifted Xiaoyu's death onto Beiyan.

A murder in a locked room.

Without solid evidence,

there's no chance to prove his innocence.

You think Mu Beiyan is not the murderer?

Because I noticed

Mu Beiyan is left-handed.

He eats,

writes,

and gets dressed

with his left hand,

and does them smoothly.

But the bruise on Xiaoyu's neck

was made by a right hand.

It's a pity that

even if we can clear Mu Beiyan's name,

there's no clue of who the murderer is.

Mr. Jing,

are you serious?

There are many clues in Xiaoyu's case.

Who sent her the cat?

And for the baby she's carrying,

who is the father?

No.

I have to pay a visit to Floral House.

Mr. Jing,

come along.

Are you afraid of ghosts?

With you around,

nothing can scare me.

Xiaoyu told me,

she was from Suzhou.

She was sold to me this spring.

Who sold her to you?

Her uncle.

Did you check her identity?

Why should I bother?

Xiaoyu was a real beauty.

I was so satisfied with her

that I paid for her

immediately.

Why would I check her identity?

Ling Gu,

do you know who sent the black cat

to Xiaoyu?

I guess it was one of her admirers.

She went out shopping one day,

and came back with the cat.

I asked her,

but she didn't give me a straight answer.

I thought

it's just a cat,

nothing serious,

so I let it be.

Xiaoyu was pregnant,

did you know that?

What?

She,

she never mentioned it to me.

Ling Gu didn't

give us any useful information.

Come on.

Let's go eat something,

see if we can find more about Xiaoyu.

Sir, your food is ready. Enjoy.

Miss Jiang is really a great cook.

No wonder so many people love the food

in her restaurant.

It's you, Constable Yuan!

Oh, it's you, Miss Fu from Floral House.

Come on. Join us!

It's Mr. Jing's treat today!

What do you want to eat?

Help yourself.

Sit down.

Sit here.

No thanks.

You are the real feast to my eyes.

Watching you will be satisfying enough.

Miss Fu,

you flatter me.

You just came from Floral House, right?

That's right.

We went to investigate Xiaoyu's case.

But Ling Gu

wasn't willing to tell us anything.

We've been running around all day,

but found nothing.

You fools!

Ling Gu only cares for what benefits her.

Of course, she's reticent.

Even if she knew something,

she wouldn't tell you the truth.

So, what can we do?

A witness is right in front of you.

Mr. Yuan,

why don't you ask me?

Ask you?

What do you know?

I know a lot of things.

Honestly,

I know who killed Xiaoyu.

Tell us who.

As everyone in Floral House knows,

I was not on good terms with Xiaoyu.

Usually, if we

met each other,

she would curse me,

and I'd always curse back.

We were essentially archenemies.

Then on that day...

I've had no parents.

Ever since I was a little girl,

I deferred to my uncle.

I never questioned his decisions.

Later he sold me to this place,

leaving me in a miserable state.

I am just a pawn

with no control of my fate.

Life has been so hard.

I've always felt so sad.

I just hope

that one day

when I have a child of my own,

I won't let him live a miserable life.

I will do whatever I can

to give him a stable life.

A child?

Right, Manqing,

I got a new pot of rouge recently.

It'll help

make you more enchanting.

Our enmity was my fault.

Please accept it,

and try to forgive me.

Are you trying to fool me?

Please trust me, Manqing.

Jade is the secret forest.

Obscure is the message.

No barrier to the cold.

No sill inside my door.

I hope there will be a day

when our wishes come true.

So you mean that

what Xiaoyu said that day

contains other implied meanings.

Mr. Yuan,

let me tell you this.

Xiaoyu has an admirer

named Chen,

who lives in Xialiang Village.

They would meet

every two or three days.

So the murderer is..

That day Xiaoyu talked about

the child out of the blue.

As I look back now,

she was carrying Chen's child,

so she wanted to elope with him.

But this is not enough evidence

to conclude that he killed Xiaoyu.

Mr. Yuan,

even if a girl wants to elope with you,

that depends on your willingness, right?

What do you mean?

I presume,

when that man heard Xiaoyu was pregnant,

he tried to deny it and didn't accept it,

and even tried to abandon Xiaoyu.

So, because of their dispute,

the man killed Xiaoyu

on an impulse.

Therefore,

the murderer

must be Xiaoyu's

secret admirer.

Xialiang Village.

You can't go there!

I, I didn't say I was going!

Fu Manqing said Xiaoyu's lover

lives in Xialiang Village.

I know you well.

You are planning to go there.

But think about it,

if Xiaoyu's admirer

wanted to get rid of her,

there were many other ways.

There's no need to kill her.

What's more,

Xiaoyu was not an ordinary woman,

and, the murderer was no ordinary soul.

I don't care about that.

We have to find him anyway.

The entire case

is hard to understand from the beginning.

Don't act impulsively.

But this is the only clue we have.

How can we abandon it right now?

I meant it when I said no!

Can you stop being so impulsive?

Don't take any action

before I finish my investigation.

Go back to your room.

You prevent me from doing anything

and take me as a fool.

But before you came here,

I caught many thieves

without you.

I will show you

that I'm a qualified constable.

Miss,

where are you going?

Xialiang village.

Xialiang village?

No, no, no!

That's the border of two counties.

It is awash with bandits.

You can't go there.

I'm a constable.

It's my job to deal with criminals

and bandits.

Of course, it will be risky.

What if there are bandits?

With justice in my heart,

and sword in my hands,

there's nothing to fear.

Even if I run into them,

I'll arrest all of them

for the good of the people.

But you can't leave right now.

It's getting late.

Jing Zhiwan won't allow me to go,

so I must go.

If I arrest the murderer,

he will have to stop lecturing me.

Hey, Miss.

She's so determined,

will everything be okay?

This is not the road to Xialiang village.

Is this the way?

Mr. Jing?

Mr. Jing,

you agree with my opinion,

and therefore decide to join me, right?

I checked up on it.

Xialiang village is in the county nearby,

and it had been overrun by bandits.

Its governor sought help from His Majesty.

His Majesty will soon

send an army to suppress the bandits.

So, do you think that Xiaoyu's admirer

is still in Xialiang village?

Then... why didn't you tell me earlier?

I told you to wait

till I finish my investigation.

I was trying to solve the case.

I thought I could come here,

and if there was any problem,

I would ask you for help later.

Yuan,

even if you mean good,

you can't be so impulsive.

Mr. Jing,

is this because you worry about me,

that you came in such a hurry?

Mr. Jing.

What now?

Don't let others know what happened today.

Good night.

Is that a yes?

Do you mean

Princess Shengning, Zhi Ge

and Xiaoyu from Floral House,

all had their pinkies removed?

Right.

Taking pinkies to His Majesty

when tasks are complete

is the tradition of Shadow Guardians.

So I'm wondering

maybe it is related to His Majesty.

We both are clear about

Jing Ci's identity.

If Xiaoyu worked for His Majesty,

she wouldn't have tried to kill Jing Ci.

Maybe Xiaoyu tried to kill Marquis Duan

under duress,

rather than His Majesty's order.

If so,

Xiaoyu betrayed His Majesty,

so it's understandable she'd be killed.

If His Majesty wanted to kill a traitor,

he would order me directly.

I would do it for him once for all,

rather than drawing so much attention,

and involving Prince of He.

That's right.

Last time, when you took the order

to assassinate the traitor,

Commander Cheng Zhirun,

you didn't alert anyone of the North Base.

Even Prince of He didn't notice anything.

I've completed the task, Your Majesty!

Death is deserved

by all traitors!

Zuo Yanxi,

you've done well.

The Shadow Guardian has never let me down.

What's more, Xiaoyu's public identity

was merely that of a prostitute.

Homicide cases keep happening in Qinhe.

There must be a conspiracy behind it.

Go back to the office

and covertly protect Jing Ci.

The man behind Xiaoyu

is dangerous.

His intention is as yet unclear,

but I'm afraid he is a threat to Jing Ci.

Yes.

Thought Xialiang village might be a lead,

yet I knew nothing about its situation,

and the clue eluded me.

I was too impulsive,

and made a trip in vain.

Luckily Zhiwan stopped me in time.

There must be another clue.

There must be.

Jade is the secret forest.

Obscure is the message.

No barrier to the cold.

No sill inside my door.

I hope there will be a day

when our wishes come true.

Jade is the secret forest.

Obscure is the message.

No barrier to the cold.

No sill inside my door.

-Secret message is inside. -Secret message is inside.

Fu Manqing is in danger.

Yuan must be hungry now.

It's a good time to send her snacks.

It's so late.

Where are they going?

The rouge Xiaoyu gave me is here,

yet she is already gone.

Life is so unpredictable.

To Prince of He.

It's you!

Come on, officers,

haven't you investigated everything?

Today, Manqing

is not feeling very well,

so she has gone to bed already.

She's an honest woman.

She told you everything

without considering the outcome.

What else do you want to ask?

Your so-called honest beauty

isn't honest enough.

She hasn't told us everything,

that's why we keep returning.

Well,

now I will take you to her.

Officers,

this is Manqing's room.

Wanna run?

Not gonna happen!

Wait!

It's him.

What happened?

Someone come quickly!

Help!

Who did this to you?

It's not Mu Beiyan.

Then who is it?

There.

Zuo Yanxi,

do you know what you've done?

Master.

You are here.

Everything is settled. Be at ease now.

Xiaoyu did leave a message.

She betrayed me for a mere child!

How ridiculous!

Fortunately, you got it

before Jing Ci.

Otherwise, there would have been trouble.

Hand me the message later.

And cover Xiaoyu's duties.

We can't surrender all efforts

we've made in Qinhe.

I understand, Master.

Tell me, you naughty kids,

what's going on here?

Didn't you go there for Xiaoyu?

Why bring back Fu Manqing's body?

Don't worry, Mr. Li.

It's not a difficult case to solve.

Fu Manqing was killed by Zuo Yanxi.

We saw it with our own eyes.

Constable Yuan,

I didn't kill Fu Manqing.

Mr. Jing and I

saw you kill her and ran from the window.

Mu Beiyan helped me stop you.

There are witnesses and evidence.

How can you deny it?

No one would believe you.

-I do. -I do.

You...

Yanxi,

what happened exactly?

Beiyan was framed.

My father was worried.

I wanted to uncover the truth

and ease his concern,

so I went to Floral House to investigate

but I was too late.

You mean it was someone else

who killed Fu Manqing,

and you were just there by chance?

Even a storyteller

couldn't dream up something so absurd.

Believe it or not.

Miss Fu had been stabbed before I arrived.

I felt the knife handle was still warm,

So, I guess,

it was the killer's body heat.

That meant the killer was still around.

So I put down the knife

and went after him.

But you mistook me as the murderer.

Alright,

you said you were chasing the killer,

then can you tell us,

where the killer is now?