Original subtitles

How could she die in the blink of an eye?

That's right.

And her body looked so weird.

Could it be possible that evil took her spirit?

Here come officials from the Ministry of Justice.

- Move. Get out of the way. - Move.

The Ministry of Justice is looking into this case.

Seal off this area.

- Bai He. - Here.

Is any suspect on the scene?

Your Excellency, not yet.

But, guests who saw this said Miss Chu died very oddly.

It seemed like her body was frozen and her spirit was taken by evil.

Evil froze her and took her spirit?

Nonsense.

What is the cause of death?

Well...

She is poisoned.

Dilated pupils and black nails

say she was poisoned.

What poison is so bizarre to kill a person momentarily?

It also hardens and cracks her skin.

Anything else?

Although you're talented in the autopsy, there's still a long way to go.

Do you see this smoke instrument?

Since she was performing smoke art, the killer could have put poison in the smoke.

When she was performing, it was smoky.

But if the smoke was poisonous, it would be impossible that Chu Qi'er died and everyone else was fine.

We can ask them.

Mr. Wei.

Excuse me.

When Chu Qi'er was performing, did you feel any discomfort?

I didn't stay long.

I didn't feel a thing.

I was just here to deliver a jar of wine and then I left.

Ask everyone around.

[A League of Nobleman]

[Episode 6]

I just made some inquiries.

This case is quite tricky.

She didn't think it would be such a big deal.

We have to be careful.

She also said that she was afraid that she might have left behind evidence that could lead to her.

- Take care of it as soon as possible. - Yes.

Do we need to Minister Wang in advance?

I can't drag him down with me again this time.

Come on, everybody. Move. Get out of the way.

Zhang Ping? What is he doing here?

Something bad could happen again because of him.

Did you come here together?

Yes.

I'll ask him to leave.

I'll distract him.

Take care of that matter as soon as possible.

- Don't leave any trace behind. - Yes.

I had a headache after the performance.

I felt my head spinning.

I also had some palpitations.

Is there anything else wrong?

When Chu Qi'er was dancing, it looked so strange.

Yes. It seemed that everything around her was flowing.

There is something wrong with the smoke block.

Bai He, find out where this smoke block came from.

Yes.

Please follow me, ladies.

It sounded more like a hallucinogen was put into the smoke.

But hallucinogens aren't lethal.

We haven't started our investigation and you already know it?

I haven't reached a conclusion yet.

You haven't reached a conclusion?

You're just arguing for the sake of argument.

Mowen.

Peizhi?

What are you doing here?

I heard that Mr. Wei was about to paint his last painting here, so I came to see.

I didn't expect this to happen.

Zhang Ping, you're also here.

He was also looking into the case in Banyue Pavilion,

so I asked him to come here with me this time to see what he is capable of. [Grape Wine]

If I win, he'll work for me without complaints.

There's no need for him to work in the Court of Judicial Review.

I even had a nickname for him.

He'll be called Black Eagle.

What if he wins?

Are you going to work for him?

This kid really can brag.

He said his noodle stand needed someone to boil the water and knead the dough.

I wasn't born to sell noodles anyway.

Peizhi, you're a perfect witness.

I don't want to see this kid lose the bet and try to get away.

If you want a real contest, you have so many officials working for you.

But Zhang Ping is alone.

Even if you win, it's just an unsatisfactory victory.

What about... I join Zhang Ping?

That's a good idea.

I can investigate this case by myself.

Kid, don't be ungrateful.

There are only ladies and important guests here tonight.

You're just a commoner. Can you really get information from them?

Let Peizhi help you in case you don't admit that I win.

Bai He, have you found out the origin of the smoke block?

Your Excellency, Minister Lan.

I've made some inquiries.

This smoke art came from nomadic people in the western region.

And they would add hallucinogens to present a wonderful performance.

I can't believe you're right.

But how could Miss Chu know how to perform this nomadic art?

She learned it from an acrobat called the Immortal of Nomadic Smoke.

Miss Chu's smoke block was also made by the Immortal of Nomadic Smoke.

Find a doctor who knows about the properties of medicines to find out the ingredients of the smoke block.

Yes.

Have all the other statements been taken?

It's almost done.

Minister Lan, I don't need your help.

Don't be so hasty.

Chu Qi'er died so oddly.

She can't be killed by some common poison.

What poison can be so toxic?

Chu Qi'er's dressing case. [Chu]

This must be her headdress.

This...

What's this?

If she was killed by poison,

the murderer wouldn't be stupid enough to leave any evidence on the scene to be found.

Zhang Ping, There's something wrong with Chu Qi'er's forehead makeup.

Chu Qi'er's forehead makeup was in the shape of a tree peony.

But the makeup on her dresser is in the shape of a herbaceous peony.

Could it be possible that the murderer poisoned her forehead makeup?

After it happened, the murderer must be afraid of leaving any evidence

so he replaced the toxic makeup.

It is different.

Is everything taken care of?

You must be more careful.

Zhang Ping was close to finding you at the culvert.

I managed to distract him.

Thank you, Your Excellency.

I was careless.

What did you find?

Officials at the Ministry of Justice checked it.

The forehead makeup is not toxic.

No harm is done.

We can find other clues.

Thank you, Minister Lan.

But, I still want to look into this by myself.

Be my guest.

I've checked every lady's dress case.

How on earth did the murderer manage to poison Miss Chu?

Culvert.

There was light coming out of here.

There is fresh soil.

Did someone just open this well lid?

Rouge.

How did it end up in a place like this?

Your Excellency, the physician has found jimsonweed pollen in Miss Chu's smoke block,

much more than the common dosage.

But even so, it should not have killed Miss Chu.

Everyone else on the site are safe and sound.

Did the physician find anything else?

Not yet.

Could it be that they added other medicines to Chu Qi'er?

Yeah, you've reminded me of that.

When jimsonweed work with other medicines its toxicity will be multiplied.

Mr. Wang, I've found something new.

I found this rouge at the entrance of the underdrain by the dresser.

Rouge was scattered around and formed an apparent circle.

I guess the circle was the original rouge box.

Someone picked it up later.

But oddly enough, I just asked those ladies, and no one said they dropped a rouge box.

What does that have to do with this case?

It means one of them is lying.

If she just dropped a rouge box, she might as well admit that.

Why does she need to hide this?

There must be a problem with this rouge.

It is highly possible that this rouge box relates to this case.

It makes sense.

You and I had a bet on who'd solve this case first, right?

Why are you telling me so much?

I just want to know the truth as soon as possible.

Since you've shared so much with me, to be fair, I won't hide clues from you.

The physician just checked and found

that the dosage of the jimsonweed in the smock block

is much more than the common dosage of hallucinogens.

The Immortal of Nomadic Smoke is the most suspicious one.

How would you explain this rouge, then?

This rouge might be left there earlier on.

Everyone here wouldn't have known about it.

But when I was checking the forehead makeup,

I saw there was a flash of fire at the entrance of the culvert.

Did anybody else see there was firelight at the entrance of the culvert?

You must be mistaken about this.

Everyone, get back!

Get back!

Get them all back to the Ministry of Justice.

Go! Hurry!

Go!

Your Excellency, I'm sorry for the trouble I caused.

I just took the rouge box and didn't notice there was some rouge scattered in the culvert.

What's more, I didn't expect Zhang Ping to see the light from the firelighter.

I've found a reason for that.

Mowen didn't further look into it.

Go and clear the trace.

Don't let Zhang Ping find more clues about the rouge.

Brother Zhang.

It's toxic.

Oh, I've heard about the bet about the case between you and Minister Wang.

What are you doing now?

I believe this rouge has something to do with that murder.

It's not toxic.

What should we do then?

I'm telling you. Every casino in the capital has started a bet on you two.

If Minister Wang wins, the odds are ten to one.

If you win, the odds are one to ten.

Say something to me.

I bet eighty copper coins on you.

You won't let me lose, right?

I don't know.

Chen Chou,

I'll try my best.

- Minister Wang. - Zhang Ping. Are you still looking into the rouge?

I'm going to Feihua Pavilion again.

Don't bother.

I've solved the case.

The murderer is the Immortal of Nomadic Smoke.

What is the evidence?

When Chu Qi'er died, she was wearing these bells around her neck.

Guess what?

These bells were full of yellow azaleas.

Yellow azaleas are highly toxic.

When they work with jimsonweed, they can cause people to lose consciousness and die.

Can they kill people momentarily?

When people die from this, would their skin be hardened and cracked?

You can try it on someone.

Anyway, yellow azaleas can kill a bull.

I've got the evidence.

I'll go and catch the killer now.

I know I would win.

Your Excellency, you are indeed very wise. I know Zhang Ping can never compete with you.

Right, guys?

Yes.

Mr. Wang's wisdom is a model for us.

Mr. Wang's wisdom is a model for us.

Brother Zhang, didn't you tell me that you were going to Feihua Pavilion?

Why are you back?

Minister Wang has found the real culprit.

Five qian of jimsonweed and three qian of yellow azaleas (TN: 1 qian equals 0.25 grams)

could cause people to lose consciousness and tremble.

Five qian of jimsonweed.

Five qian of jimsonweed

Three qian of yellow azaleas.

Three qian of yellow azaleas

Chen Chou!

Chen Chou?

You're here.

Chen Chou!

Chen Chou!

Chen Chou! Do me a favor.

Brother Zhang, the eighty copper coins I bet on you is our rent next month.

We would have to live on the street a couple of days later.

Maybe there is still a favorable turn.

Really?

Really.

But you have to do me a favor.

I'll do everything you tell me.

It's right in front of us. Hurry! Hurry!

Brother Zhang,

can it really win our rent back?

It's possible.

Alright.

Brother Mouse, please bless Brother Zhang and me with a house to live in next month.

[15 minutes later]

When Chu Qi'er was dancing, her body suddenly turned rigid and she died momentarily.

And it takes about 15 minutes for the poison to take effect in a mouse.

What's more, Chu Qi'er died with her body turning rigid.

But the mouse died in convulsions.

These two died differently.

S... so?

So, Minister Wang made a mistake.

Or, the Immortal of Nomadic Smoke is not the only one who wanted to poison Chu Qi'er.

Brother Zhang, the odds are one to ten.

We may end up with 800 copper coins!

We underestimated him.

We walked into his tactical deployment of poisons.

That's right.

We were this close to getting screwed by him.

- Let go of me! - Behave!

Do you want to be beaten up again? Give my smoke instrument back! [The Immortal of Nomadic Smoke]

You have no remorse after killing someone.

And you tried to use this thing to poison me.

Are you tired of living?

In order to force me to teach her my own special smoke art, Chu Qi'er killed my daughter!

She deserved to die!

So what if I killed her?

I only regret that I didn't kill her with a thousand cuts.

- Move! - Escort him in.

- Let go of me. - Go. [Ministry of Justice]

Mr. Wang.

Minister Wang.

Let go of me.

Wait a moment!

Minister Wang.

Zhang Ping, Minister Wang was poisoned while arresting the criminal, can you leave him alone for a while?

Peizhi.

Licorice Juice.

An antidote to jimsonweed.

Thank you.

Peizhi, I'm sorry you had to come all the way here.

Don't say this to me.

I'm not an outsider.

I heard that the Immortal of Nomadic Smoke pleaded guilty.

Of course.

So, you did win the contest about this case between you and Zhang Ping.

Zhang Ping, when will you start working for me in the Ministry of Justice?

If you don't like Black Eagle as your nickname, pick one yourself.

Minister Wang, actually, I want to say...

Your Excellency, your capability to solve cases, is not your only shining spot.

Your noble moral principles also deserve our admiration. You really are a role model for us.

Minister Wang! A role model!

Minister Wang! A role model!

I don't like to hear such flattering words.

Minister Wang, the Immortal of Nomadic Smoke did poison Chu Qi'er.

But it was someone else who killed her.

Zhang Ping, don't you think you're overthinking this?

The Immortal of Nomadic Smoke has confessed his crime.

This is just a simple poisoning case. How many murderers can there be?

Maybe the Immortal of Nomadic Smoke does believe he succeeded in poisoning Chu Qi'er.

But I did an experiment at home.

I found after a mouse took jimsonweed and yellow azaleas, it did die.

But the way it died and the time when the poison started to take effect

are completely different from Chu Qi'er's.

It means that Chu Qi'er died of another poison.

Humans and mouses are different after all.

It's natural that they would die differently.

What's more, when it comes to dosimetry, a miss is as good as a mile.

You don't know about the dosage and the compatibility of medicines.

The situation of the body and the time of the poison surely won't be the same.

Whatever you say, they wouldn't be so different.

And the rouge in the culvert...

Zhang Ping, why are you still talking about the rouge?

It has nothing to do with this case, right?

- But... - Zhang Ping, do you have other arguments?

If not, since the Immortal of Nomadic Smoke has confessed his crime,

as a witness, to be fair, I'm here to say you lost this contest.

You're a scholar after all.

Don't you have the courage to admit your defeat?

No. You...

Mowen, in my opinion, this case can be closed now.

No.

There are still some doubts. You can't close this case so rashly.

Give me more time.

Hey, kid, is that difficult to admit your defeat?

It's not about winning or losing.

If Minister Wang is unwilling to further look into this, I'll look into it myself.

The rouge is not toxic.

But it appeared in the culvert at that time.

What is it for?

What is the firelight that I saw?

The rouge is not toxic.

[Ministry of Justice]

What on earth is it for?

Xiao Zhang Ping.

Xiao Zhang Ping!

Where is this kid going?

The rouge is not toxic.

What else could it do?

What's it for?

What's it for?

- Brother Zhang, What are you thinking? - What on earth is it for?

It has been several hours.

You didn't sell one bowl of noodles.

And you're kneading the dough so nonchalantly.

Brother Zhang, I truly admire you.

How did you know that I didn't sell one bowl of noodles?

You forgot your noodle strainer.

What can you sell?

Brother Zhang, I'm not judging you.

But some battles you win, some battles you lose.

It's common. Stop fixating on that.

It doesn't matter whether I win or lose.

What's important is that the murderer is still on the loose.

I'm not mad at you.

I'm mad at myself because I didn't catch the murderer.

That's right.

I wanted to start a business of writing plays to earn our rent back.

I've been to every theater in the capital, big or small, but I didn't get a job.

All I got was just laughter.

They said my plays were too childish.

They don't get me.

Forget about it.

We can live on the street.

Or...

I can sell more noodles and earn more money.

Brother Zhang, do you know where you put your noodle stand today?

Is this our place?

I...

I... Recently, all I thought about was the case.

But Chen Chou, how did you find me?

I've eaten your noodles for so long.

I can even smell your noodles when I'm having a dream.

Not to mention this place.

Even if you put your stand in some covert corner, do you think I won't be able to smell them?

Smell?

The cuvert has passages in all directions, just like an underground labyrinth.

Even the well lids are the same.

It's not easy to find the specific exit.

The fragrance of that rouge is intense and long-lasting.

Could it be that the murderer used it to find direction by smell?

I have to go to rouge shops.

Shopkeeper, do you sell this rouge?

No.

Can you have a look at it and tell me if there's anything special about this rouge?

I don't know.

I haven't seen it before.

This...

Do you want to buy rouge or not?

I don't know.

I've asked around every rouge shop in the capital.

Why did everyone tell me that they didn't know about it?

How could I know?

This is just a common rouge.

Every shop has it.

Who knows where did you get it?

Thank you.

Young Master, have a cup of tea.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

Are you making rouge?

Yes.

We often supply flowers to the rouge shops in the capital.

I've learned a bit from what I hear and see.

Can you have a look at this rouge and tell me who made it?

I don't know.

But it's a little special.

Why is it special?

When you're making rouge, you need to add some alum so the color stays on the skin.

But you see, this rouge can easily be wiped away.

There must be no alum added to this rouge.

This rouge is definitely not good then.

You don't know about this.

Girls' skin is very delicate.

And alum can easily cause allergies.

It may cause redness and swelling on some girls' skin.

So, many rouge shops also sell this rouge without alum.

Many?

This rouge is very common then.

And it would be easy to tell, right?

Of course.

Even I can tell, let alone those rouge shopkeepers.

It looks like someone knows I was looking into the rouge,

so rouge shopkeepers were all bought off.

Chen Chou.

Brother Zhang,

how's it going?

Can we get our rent back?

Maybe.

But you need to do me a favor.

You can get all the information you want in the capital, right?

Do me a favor, find out who, among the ladies in the contest,

has the most sensitive skin and can only use rouge without alum.

That's easy.

I'll show you what I'm capable of.

Be quick.

Don't miss it if you're passing by.

Have a look at these!

Hot wonton!

Sir, have a bowl of wonton.

[Hanhui Pavilion, Ning'an]

Hot wonton!

Brother Zhang, I've made some inquiries.

On the day of that contest, the ladies asked a makeup shop to send a dozen of hairdressers to dress them.

But the shop owner told me that only Lady Yuzhen has sensitive skin.

She brought rouge by herself that day.

Young Lady Yuzhen?

Yes.

The granddaughter of the Minister of Rites.

Gong Yuzhen is amazing.

She's good at every instrument.

Zither, flute, drum, panpipe, pipa, qinse.

There's not an instrument that she can't play.

And she looks so sweet.

She was the perfect choice to be drawn in the last painting by Painter-sage.

But strangely enough, she said she wanted to quit the contest and turned to play for Chu Qi'er.

I also heard

that after the contest in the Feihua Pavilion that day, Young Lady Yuzhen never came back home.

The granddaughter of the Minister of Rites.

What?

Is there something wrong?

Except for officials of the Ministry of Justice, the only one who knows I am looking into that rouge is Minister Lan.

And Minister Lan was always, intentionally or not, leading Minister Wang to the Immortal of Nomadic Smoke.

That day, the one who misled me in Feihua Pavilion was also Minister Lan.

Zhang Ping, Chu Qi'er's forehead makeup was replaced.

Minister Lan?

Why did he have to get himself involved?

Could it be that he wants to cover up for Minister Gong's family?

How come it's you?

I thought you were Zhang Ping.

Go. Go. Go.

It's a trap.

If Minister Lan did interfere in this matter,

he must know Young Lady Yuzhen's whereabouts then.

I'll keep an eye on him.

Maybe I can find some clues.

Miss Gong.

[A League of Nobleman]