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Chu Chu went to the river

and got the mirror back alone.

I knew she did it for me.

But nothing in this world

could be more precious than her life.

I always put her in danger

and make her sad.

How can I really be nice to her?

Phoenix Mountain The light spots in the drawing

indicated the southwest of Phoenix Mountain.

Is there any shelter over there?

There?

There isn’t any shelter.

That’s a marsh land.

There’s a big swamp,

with many vipers and scorpions. It’s a very dangerous place.

Few people go there.

If he went there,

I’m afraid he could hardly survive.

No, no, no, Your Highness.

I didn’t mean that.

Sir Witch Doctor must be alive!

He’s so smart.

He left such a complicated indication.

The danger in the swamp

wasn’t a big deal to him.

Maybe,

he put something there

and then moved to another place.

I mean

it’s hard to get there.

If we want to get there,

we must be well prepared.

Your Highness, I...

I understand.

I’m sorry.

=The Imperial Coroner=

=Episode 21=

Flowers flourish in the Imperial Garden.

But I remember

you like no flowers, but cattails.

Flowers are beautiful, but bloom only in certain seasons.

After waiting for a long season,

people can only enjoy them for days.

Soon, they wither and fall,

leaving nothing, but memories.

Cattail is better.

It looks plain,

but it blooms all year round.

It makes people feel relieved.

It doesn’t sound like you.

Xiao Heng said that, didn’t he?

He doesn’t like flowers.

He likes rocks only.

I heard that

your love token was a pair of rocks.

Yes.

In A Pair of Peacocks Southeast Fly,

“Like rock you should stand all the blast.

I will be a willow twig so pliant.

That, thin like silk thread, remains tough.

A-clinging to the boulder giant.”

Did you get your love token because of this poem?

It’s made of rock?

Yes, rock.

Where did you get it?

I picked it near the pond in my house.

You’re frank.

Do you still remember I’m a princess?

I don’t even want jewels or jade.

How dare you give me a rock

from your pond.

I know you like cattails,

though flowers are beautiful.

Then I know

I can’t touch you with jewels,

but with a rock.

You mean the poem A Pair of Peacocks Southeast Fly?

“Like rock you should stand all the blast.

I will be a willow twig so pliant.

That, thin like silk thread, remains tough.

A-clinging to the boulder giant.”

It’s a good poem, but it doesn’t mean good.

Do you compare us

to the miserable couple in the poem?

I don’t dare to. Please let me explain.

Look, Your Highness.

Cattail mostly grows near shoals,

where there’re many rocks.

On sunny days,

rocks and cattails stay with each other quietly.

On stormy days,

rocks stabilize cattails

to protect them from storms.

I don’t want to be a jade pendant around your waist

as an ornament to your glory.

Instead, I want to be a rock,

to always protect you.

I heard that

you and your husband loved each other.

I didn’t know you loved so much.

Don’t tease me, Your Majesty.

It was Xiao Heng’s duty

to sacrifice everything for our nation.

My sons should do that, too.

It’s tough for you, though.

Your Majesty, if you think

I deserve some pity,

please show some mercy

on Leng Yue.

Don’t let her suffer the same as mine.

You mean

all the officials shouldn’t get married or have descendants?

Xiping,

I kindly make a match between Xiao Jinli and Leng Yue.

As a member of the imperial family,

you should understand what an honor it is!

Don’t be ungrateful!

Your Majesty...

Say no more!

When’s Xiao Jinli’s birthday?

As his mother,

you don’t need to calculate it, right?

Now that you fail

to divine their birthdays for days,

let the Imperial Astronomer do it!

Yes, Your Majesty.

Jinbao,

did His Majesty only say that

to Princess Xiping?

Yes. I don’t dare to lie.

How easy it is

be an emperor in the flourishing age!

There’s no domestic trouble or foreign invasion.

He even tries to be a matchmaker.

All right. Go take care of His Majesty.

Yes.

Master,

His Majesty is quite odd lately.

Think about it.

Yesterday,

he asked about the birthday of Xiao Jinli and Xiao Jinyu.

Today, he brought it up again

to Princess Xiping.

He even pressed for the detailed birthdates in public.

Did His Majesty also think of...?

What?

Master, don’t you remember?

In old years

when Princess Xiping gave birth to the boys,

people gossiped a lot.

Even if His Majesty

was biding his time

or ignoring everything,

he must have heard about it.

Now that you brought it up,

ask your men to check on it.

By the way,

Zhou Han was sent to ask about Duke Chang.

Why hasn’t he got anything yet?

He just hasn’t.

Chang’an isn’t so big.

He should have even searched the entire city.

Why hasn’t he got anything yet?

Master, think about it.

Zhou Han...

It’s hard to comment on him.

You have no idea

what he always does with your award.

The other day, I heard that

he visited Pingkang Residence every day.

He’s very likely

to enjoy himself there, in your name.

If your senior had come back

after searching for Xiao Heng in the Southwest,

I needn’t have used losers

like Zhou Han!

Master, no offense,

but do you really think

my senior ran away

depending on his great martial arts

and has been enjoying his life,

regardless of anything else?

You finally used your brain.

It must be more complicated.

Someone must be opposing me

very secretly!

Master,

could it be Xiao Heng?

Think about it.

We last heard about him

when our men came back from Qianzhou

and told us they found his trace.

Over so many years,

we’ve got no news about him anymore.

But if it’s him, that’s also weird.

He rejected the bright future we offered

and abandoned his families.

What’s he after?

It’s what always worries me.

This is ridiculous.

Not to mention years,

I can’t stay here for even one single day.

At night,

poison gas spreads, snakes and worms run about.

How could Prince Consort

live in such a place?

Your Highness, are you fooling me?

Don’t talk nonsense.

Deputy Magistrate Tan, I’m warning you.

If you keep taking nonsense,

I’ll ask General Xiao to shut your mouth

with smelly socks.

I’ll say no more.

You really have smelly socks?

Put them away. How insulting!

Soldiers like us want convenience first.

We don’t bother about insult.

Your Highness,

walk ahead and we’ll reach the swamp.

I guess it’s where

Sir Witch Doctor indicated.

Now that Father indicated this place,

he wouldn’t try to get us killed.

But it’s quite a big place

without signs to show the way.

How can we find him?

Phoenix Mountain Swamp

Chu Chu, what are you doing?

It’s dangerous. Come down!

I’m exploring the way.

We can’t explore the way in a swamp

unless we climb high.

So many martial artists are here.

You don’t need to climb high. Come down!

Yeah.

I’m better at exploring the way in such a place.

Let me do it!

Look, Chu Chu. What’s that?

Three piles of rocks, I think.

Were they here before?

It’s also my first time to come here.

I haven’t seen them before.

What are you talking about?

They don’t look like nests of animals.

They look like...

Tombs?

Looks like

someone piled the rocks deliberately.

Your Highness, these are rocks

Sir Witch Doctor used to make chess pieces.

What’s wrong, Your Highness?

Father...

He’s in the swamp?

What? How come?

Light spots on the wall

lead to this place

where there’s a large swamp.

The chess game indicates

the exact location in the swamp.

Chess game?

Three piles of rocks

represent three chess pieces.

Rook

Knight

Elephant

Pawn

Pawn The fourth chess piece...

Prince Consort...

No way.

It’s impossible!

He hid the corpse and left a chess game!

He took so much trouble to get us here!

He couldn’t have...!

Your Highness, could Sir Witch Doctor

only leave a clue in the swamp?

Just like the chess game.

It’s a clue,

leading us

to another place.

Yes, you’re right.

It must be a clue in the swamp.

Vice General!

Yes.

Take your men with me and find out the clue!

Yes.

You guys, come over!

Yes!

No.

There isn’t another place.

Why?

I think Chu Chu makes sense.

If Prince Consort doesn’t want to be easily found,

it’s very possible that

he left more clues, leading to many other places.

Like Tan Gui said,

poison gas spreads at night.

Snakes and worms run about.

It even took strong men like us

half a day

to walk here.

Father had difficulty moving about.

When he came all the way here,

calibrated the location,

and piled the rocks,

he couldn’t leave before it got dark.

Couldn’t he come a few more times

and do a bit work every time

before it got dark?

He couldn’t.

Now that he used such a complicated chess game

to hide the clues for this place,

it means this place was crucial

and he didn’t want others to notice.

If he came frequently,

someone might track him down.

Then his efforts on the chess game

would be wasted.

But...

Leng Yue, let’s check other places.

Why?

Come and you’ll know.

Come on.

What exactly do you want?

His Highness is used to thinking of the worst.

But mostly,

for the safety of his subordinates.

This time, he’s looking for his father.

He wants a favorable turn

more than anyone else.

Now that he came to the conclusion,

he must have weighed all possibilities

in his heart.

As he was weighing the possibilities,

his hope was gradually shattered,

just like being dismembered.

Do you know how miserable it was?

The more he explains, the more pain he has to experience.

If you trust him,

ask no more.

All right.

I was impetuous just now.

What about Chu Chu?

She understands.

What she told His Highness

that it was the clue in the swamp...

She didn’t even believe that.

But she never lies to His Highness.

Everyone knows how to lie,

but they just don’t want to or don’t need to.

If Prince Consort really died,

what will happen to Chu Chu?

Will your father let go of her?

Don’t worry. When I’m around,

I won’t let anyone from my family hurt Chu Chu.

Chu Chu…

Say no more, Your Highness.

I trust you. I know it.

I believe whatever you say.

Thank you.

Jinyu, is Father really in the swamp?

Yes.

He’s waiting for the Handsome Judge.

After staying in the swamp alone

for five years,

what does Father still have?

His skeleton,

or even not a complete skeleton?

Your Highness...

Just tell me.

Could he…

not have even crushed bones?

No, I didn’t mean that.

Your Highness, do you remember the corpse

your father hid

in the wall?

He would also have a corpse like that.

It’s called

wet corpse in our industry.

Wet corpse?

Fishes, shrimps and shellfishes

can hardly survive in a swamp.

Because the swamp is totally airtight,

corpses can be easily preserved.

They’ll be preserved in a better way

than your father used

to store the eunuch.

Wrapped in water-proof oilcloth,

a man would be in the swamp...

As if in a natural coffin.

General, we found him!

Jinyu,

if Father arranged this,

how did he wrap himself?

How...? How come?

General Xiao, may I borrow a dagger?

I’m a coroner.

After getting on with Sir Witch Doctor for so many years,

I know how to recognize him.

Let me do it.

I can recognize him.

He... He’s...?

You know him?

Does he have a scald

on his left arm?

You...?

He gave you the pendant,

didn’t he?

The Handsome Judge let out a sigh of relief

and felt ardent.

No matter

how long or how deep

one thing is hidden,

it always waits

to be rediscovered.

It’s him.

Considering his appearance,

his height,

the wound on his leg

and the scar on his arm.

Your Highness,

I’m finished.

How was he dead?

Facial vessels There’re many blood dots

in his eye ground, corners of his eyes, his face and neck.

Blood dots on the neck His neck has obvious blood stasis.

Blood vessel engorgement He was suffocated to death.

You mean he was alive

before he was thrown into the swamp

and he was drowned by someone?

He drowned himself.

Why? Why did he do that?

The answer may be in the casket.

What... What do the numbers mean?

The numbers are in groups of three.

I think they’re ciphers.

Ciphers?

Numbers or symbols are used

to replace words.

If we want to understand the ciphers,

we must know

in which way

the numbers are translated into words.

Numbers are translated into words?

For example,

one six three. There may be a book.

One represents the first article

in this book.

Six represents the sixth line of this article.

Three represents the third word

in the sixth line.

So, one six three leads to

a certain word.

You mean

if we want to understand this,

we must find a book first?

Sort of.

But there isn’t any book here.

We searched Sir Witch Doctor’s house,

but found no book, either.

Could it be an article he wrote

or his favorite book?

His favorite book is Intrigues of the Warring States.

I remember

all his letters and articles.

It can’t be any of them.

Wait.

It’s not something related to him.

In the house he stayed in

and on his corpse,

he left no clue

about his real identity.

He knew that

the one who solved the chess game and found his corpse

might not know his real identity.

The way to decode the ciphers

has nothing to do with him.

But there’s nothing more in the casket.

Wait a second.

There’re words on the casket.

Yes. Let me have a look.

There’re words on the cover, too.

Looks like a poem.

Peach blossoms by the river.

A boy sits aside on the boat.

The lady picks...

Picks...

I can’t read this word.

Cress.

The lady picks cress on the river.

Water ripples.

It’s also a poem on the casket.

Spring flowers wither and summer leaves grow.

The moon shines over the bridge.

I can’t help thinking of the past.

Countless sorrow comes in clouds.

What... What’s this?

I’m so sad to leave.

Can’t help missing you on rainy days.

What do the poems mean?

Are they the codebooks?

I never heard of these two poems.

I think Prince Consort wrote them.

But they’re mere doggerel.

Prince Consort shouldn’t have written such poor poems.

Why do you think they’re poor?

These words are difficult one after another.

Groups of three numbers for two poems.

How can we decode them?

Only about 50 words in two poems.

But there’re more than a hundred

numbers and ciphers.

Not to mention

if the poems can be translated

into another meaningful sentence,

even the numbers don’t match.

Lord Jing, what does this word sound?

I didn’t hear clearly.

Cress, sound likes chess.

The same pronunciation?

The reverse phonetic notation!

The two poems weren’t written for no reason.

In this first poem,

there’re 23 words.

All initial consonants are different.

Also,

in the second poem,

there’re 36 words.

The compound vowels are different.

The numbers in groups of three

represent a word from the first poem

and a tone from the second poem.

Then we can mark the pronunciation of each word

with the reverse phonetic notation.

I’m Censor Xiao Heng,

working for Emperor Wenzong.

I’m leaving the ciphertext,

wishing a scholarly and brave man

to solve the puzzle of my haunted house, figure out the chess game,

and find where I drown myself,

so that the grievance will be redressed

and loyal men in Jiannan can be vindicated.

In the ninth year of his reign,

Emperor Wenzong wanted to wipe out eunuchs.

With a secret imperial decree, I asked Military Commissioner Chen Ying

to go to Chang’an for coordination.

Chen Ying was about to leave.

Unexpectedly, Incident Ganlu failed.

Eunuchs controlled His Majesty and killed officials.

Loyal generals including Chen Ying were slandered to rebel.

At the behest of His Majesty,

Military Commissioner Chen Ying rebelled with his troops!

They’ll be executed right here!

Go!

Go!

Kill!

-Chen Ying! -Censor Xiao, leave!

We rely on you to vindicate us!

Leave the eunuchs to us!

Leave!

Xiao Heng ran away! After him!

I broke through, with the secret decree.

But I was encircled and badly wounded.

I had no choice, but to jump off the cliff.

Luckily, a Witch Doctor saved me.

I was in a coma for over a month.

When I woke up, I couldn’t retrieve the situation.

Eunuchs faked an imperial edict,

and tried to lure me out

with a heroic title and the rank of nobility

so that they could kill me to destroy the evidence.

If I took one wrong step,

I wouldn’t vindicate the loyal generals,

and would also implicate more innocent people.

In desperation, after the Witch Doctor died of disease,

I took over his job

and dwelled in Pingle Town, Guanling, for the future plan.

Luckily, the Chu Family took care of me.

I never forgot my mission.

However, Guanling County has a difficult terrain.

One can’t leave unless he uses a sliding rope.

Eunuchs never stop searching for me in the Southwest.

My legs were broken and I can hardly walk.

Local officials keep killing subordinates

of Military Commissioner of Jiannan

who escaped to this town.

I’ve never had a chance to contact people in Chang’an.

Later, a eunuch tracked me down alone.

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I was lucky enough to kill him.

I hid his corpse and sword in the wall,

as the evidence.

Unfortunately, my health condition gets worse

and I’m dying soon.

I don’t want to die,

but this is all I can do.

♪Where it starts and ends♪

♪Play the role of myself♪

I’m writing this letter and will drown myself in the swamp,

burying myself in nature

and hoping that someone will vindicate me.

♪What stays in my eyes♪

♪Is the galaxy♪

♪I don’t want to♪

♪Tear it apart♪

♪In madness and obsession♪

♪you’ve become a skeleton♪

♪Make flesh and blood♪

♪Into shackles♪

♪And become amber♪

♪Trapped in life♪

♪Your soul is imprisoned♪

♪However hard I try♪

♪I can’t restore your appearance♪

♪Lies are everywhere♪

♪There’s light where the mist clears away♪

♪In the parallel world♪

♪Everything you missed is happening♪

♪Its wry face♪

♪Appears and disappears♪

♪From time to time♪

♪Uncover the incomplete book♪

♪And restore real and fake fragments♪

♪Before it comes to an end♪

♪Don’t close the last page♪

♪In the parallel world♪

♪Disconnected answers connect♪

♪A good show is on♪

♪It ends where it starts♪

♪I don’t want to♪

♪Tear it apart♪

♪In madness and obsession♪

♪you’ve become a skeleton♪

♪Make flesh and blood♪

♪Into shackles♪

♪And become amber♪

♪Trapped in life♪

♪Your soul is imprisoned♪