Original subtitles

After trying for one night,

I made no progress.

Sir,

how about asking others for help?

We've already taken a high risk to steal the scroll,

so how could we expose it to others?

I think there must be someone who has an idea

and won't expose you.

I just said it casually.

Don't take it seriously, sir.

I don't want to drink.

Sir,

I've gone to Court of Judicial Review

to ask about the case as you ordered.

How is it?

=A League of Nobleman=

=Episode 19=

It looks the same.

What a coincidence.

This gold leaf could be left by Ma Lian accidentally

when killing Chen Zishang.

Is this the key clue you've mentioned?

Undoubtedly, you made a mistake.

Chen Zishang died after 9 p.m.,

but Ma Lian had been staying in Banyue Pavilion

the whole night since 7 p.m.,

so how could he have time to kill Chen Zishang?

How do you confirm Chen Zishang died after 9 p.m.?

The autopsy might not be correct.

You don't know that.

Chen Zishang's neighbor saw him at 9 p.m.,

which clearly meant he died after 9 p.m.,

right?

Then how could you prove Ma Lian had been staying in Banyue Pavilion since 7 p.m.?

Many people saw him.

Miss Jiexiang, who accompanied him the whole night,

could also prove that.

Ma Lian actually went to Banyue Pavilion

to enjoy music before the imperial examination?

I also feel strange.

But what is stranger is that Cheng Bai,

the vice director of the Ministry of Personnel, invited Ma Lian to a banquet,

but Ma Lian broke the appointment.

The Ministry of Personnel takes charge of nominating and transferring successful candidates

after the imperial examination.

Ma Lian often wanted to bribe me,

but he actually went to Banyue Pavilion to enjoy music

instead of taking the great chance?

So what's your opinion, sir?

Perhaps he just deceived the public by enjoying music.

His real purpose was to trade for examination questions.

Make a preparation. Let's go to Banyue Pavilion.

This is the testimony of Ma Lian and Jiexiang.

It all matches.

The waiter who received Ma Lian,

and some guests who drank with him, could also testify for him.

It can't be wrong

since there are so many witnesses.

(The waiter's testimony 1) The drinkers said

Ma Lian didn't only treat them to drink

but also gave the waiter a high tip.

He's a righteous and straightforward man

who shows solicitude for understrappers.

But I saw him

scolded servants randomly on that day with an overbearing attitude.

Trash. Get the carriage here now!

Yes, yes. Yes.

Don't you think it's a sharp contrast and very doubtful?

It's just your own wishful thinking.

You have a preconception that Ma Lian is the murderer,

so you keep doubting him.

Chen Zishang's death has nothing to do with Ma Lian.

I've found the murderer

and can end the case today.

Who is the murderer?

It's a habitual thief.

He sneaked into Chen Zishang's home and planned to steal,

but he was caught by Chen Zishang.

Anxiously, he picked up the stone, which was used to steady the vat,

and smashed it to Chen Zishang's afterbrain.

Then he managed to cover up his crime for fear it would be exposed.

This part matches your guess.

Where is the murderer?

Could you let me interrogate him, Mr. Tao?

I'm sorry.

When the murderer heard Chen Zishang's death

startled the Empress Dowager,

he was so panicked

that he hung himself for fear of punishment.

What I found is only a letter of confession

and the coroner's autopsy report. Read it yourself.

But Chen Zishang's draft is the same as Ma Lian's answer sheet.

It's the proof of their joint fraud.

There is no fraud.

Ma Lian admitted he had spotted some questions before the examination

and prepared some essays in advance.

Chen Zishang probably discovered that one by accident

and copied it,

so when Mr. Jinghu made the prediction,

he wanted to go home out of guilt.

Everything matches.

Did you simply believe his explanation?

Zhang Ping, people couldn't avoid making mistakes,

and it's not a big deal to make a wrong investigation.

Besides, when you investigated the phoenix head before,

our Court of Judicial Review didn't get any benefit from that.

And the Empress Dowager keeps an eye on us this time,

so I don't dare to let you interfere.

- Mr. Tao. - Goodbye.

I'll stop sending you off.

Miss Jiexiang,

I'll come straight to the point.

What time did Ma Lian come to Banyue Pavilion

on the day before the imperial examination?

Did he meet anyone during that period?

Mr. Ma probably arrived here at 7 p.m.,

and he didn't meet anyone except me.

By the way, he drank with some drinkers when he just came here

and then stayed in my room without leaving.

Who are the drinkers?

Can you recognize them?

They are frequenters of Banyue Pavilion

and were born into rich families.

All ladies in the pavilion know them.

Did anyone of them give something to you,

such as essays or manuscripts?

No.

Did Ma Lian bring his book box here?

Did he recite any manuscripts during the period?

No.

He said he couldn't focus on reviewing books any longer

and came with nothing.

Even his book box was sent to the exam room by his servants in a hurry

the next day he attended the examination.

Sir,

Jiexiang's answer isn't leaky.

Ma Lian seemed to only drink and have fun in Banyue Pavilion.

It had nothing to do with trading for answers.

And the time couldn't match if he murdered Chen Zishang.

I saw Mr. Chen here on that day.

Are you sure he was alone?

Yes.

And are you sure the time was 9 p.m.?

Of course.

Wasn't it going to rain on that day?

I was busy getting in wheat in the field

and didn't go back home until late at night.

At that time, I happened to hear the bellman ring the bell of 9 p.m..

Since it was 9 p.m.,

it must be very dark,

so how could you confirm that man was Chen Zishang?

I bumped into him by accident that night,

and my wheat was spilled at him.

Sorry.

However, Mr. Chen didn't complain.

I'm sorry.

I'll go on with my work.

(Guiyou)

Mr. Lan is still grounded.

How did you enter here?

You haven't known that, have you?

Court of Judicial Review has ended the case,

and the grounded order has also been canceled.

The government troops at the door have all retreated.

The case is ended?

Ma Lian is acquitted.

What?

Tao Zhoufeng is very cunning.

He is good at muddling.

If Ma Lian is successfully exonerated from the charge,

he'll never admit his connection to Mr. Jinghu.

Besides, he's the fiance of the Empress Dowager's niece.

Even if I want to play artifices,

I'm weak in power.

Yes.

If we don't have evidence to reverse the verdict,

I'm afraid it'll end up with nothing settled.

Mowen,

actually, I have some evidence.

It's just...

I also want to help you,

but I can't interfere in this case.

My father and Shangfeng set the examination,

so people may doubt the evidence

that I handle with,

which will put you at a disadvantage.

But apart from me,

there is another person who can help you.

I know you can't let it go,

but it's because you two investigated respectively

that Tao Zhoufeng took the advantage.

If you delay any longer,

when can we find Mr. Jinghu?

Make the choice

yourself.

Please bend the rules, misters.

I really have something important to talk to Miss Jiexiang.

You're crying for the moon.

Get out, and don't be an eyesore since you're poor.

- Get out. - Is this the way you receive guests?

Isn't that Mr. Lan?

Mr. Lan, please come in.

And so do you.

(Banyue Pavilion)

Thank you, Mr. Lan.

It's just a trifle. Don't take it seriously.

Well,

I'll leave now.

Wait.

Don't you come to Jiexiang?

Me, too.

Go.

Please.

Mr. Lan. I've repeated Mr. Ma's matter for many times.

Do you have any other doubts, sir?

It should be...

You misunderstand me, Miss Jiexiang.

I don't come to investigate the case but to enjoy music today.

Enjoy music?

I've chartered here,

so just continue playing, Miss Jiexiang.

What happened to your hand?

I played music the whole night for Mr. Ma on that day,

so my fingers were rubbed.

Didn't Ma Lian feel bored after listening to music for one night?

Didn't he hire some singers or dancers to add to the fun?

No.

No one came here except servants serving food.

Miss Jiexiang, why did you commit perjury for Ma Lian?

It's not too late to tell the truth.

You must be joking.

I've been telling the truth all the time.

According to your words,

Chen Zishang didn't come here that night, did he?

Of course not. I've never met Chen Zishang.

Then why is his thing in your room?

The germinant wheat was left by Chen Zishang.

To be exact,

it was left by Ma Lian who dressed up as Chen Zishang.

Chen Zishang's neighbor said

it seemed to rain on the day of the murder.

He wanted to get in wheat before the rain,

so he didn't go back home until 9 p.m..

He met Chen Zishang on the way home,

and his cart was overturned by accident.

The wheat was spilled to Chen Zishang.

What he didn't know was that the man he saw wasn't Chen Zishang

but Ma Lian.

It was dark at night, and Ma Lian's shape was similar to Chen Zishang's,

so the neighbor couldn't see the difference

and thought Chen Zishang was still alive at 9 p.m..

Mr. Ma.

What's wrong?

Serve me to shower.

When Ma Lian returned to Banyue Pavilion,

he brought back a few grains of wheat accidentally.

When he changed Chen Zishang's clothes, the wheat fell into the pot.

This is the evidence of his disguise as Chen Zishang.

How did you know the wheat was dropped on that day?

What if it was dropped by others a few days ago?

This is new wheat, which is early to sprout now.

It will only sprout after being exposed to the rain, but it hasn't rained in Capital City

except the night before the imperial examination.

It means the wheat was brought back by Ma Lian after he left Banyue Pavilion

and dressed up as Chen Zishang.

And you committed perjury for him.

Besides, I found a gold leaf broken by an external force

was next to the murder weapon for killing Chen Zishang

at his home.

- And this gold leaf (OS: Stop looking.)

belonged to Ma Lian's necklace of precious stones.

It means he fought with Chen Zishang and touched the murder weapon.

With the evidence, we can deduce

that Ma Lian had murdered Chen Zishang before 9 p.m.

Then he thought as long as he dressed up as Chen Zishang

to postpone the death time after 9 p.m. and colluded with you

that he had never left Banyue Pavilion after 7 p.m.,

he would have a perfect alibi to be acquitted.

Miss Jiexiang,

the Emperor and Empress Dowager ordered to investigate this case in person,

but you committed perjury, which was a crime of cheating the Emperor

and all your relatives should be executed as a punishment.

Ma Lian has a powerful background, so he may run away from punishment,

but what about you?

You'd better think it twice.

Sir, I was so dumb

that I agreed to commit perjury for Ma Lian.

Please spare my life.

That night, Ma Lian indeed gave me money

to let me lie that we were together for the whole night

and help him to sneak out

without being discovered by the guards.

As for the murder, I really knew nothing, sir.

If you're willing to withdraw your testimony, I can help you.

Yes, I am.

Thank you for today,

Mr. Lan.

If there is nothing else to talk to me, I'll leave now.

You worked hard at investigating today,

so why not go to my mansion to have dinner?

It's very late now, so it'll be troublesome if you go back to make dinner.

If you go to my mansion to have dinner,

we just need to add your tableware, which is simple.

Although the pretzels' side dishes are very normal, they taste delicious.

I liked them the best when I was young.

Zhang Ping, thanks to the evidence you found today

so that we can see through Ma Lian's trick.

I...

I think Zhang Ping is starving.

Sir, please have dinner first.

Okay.

You have gastropathy, so you can't starve, sir.

Please grab a bite.

Fortunately, you came to Banyue Pavilion today.

Otherwise, Miss Jiexiang

wouldn't have withdrawn her previous testimony.

Do you also know this way of eating?

How did you know that?

I seemed to be taught by someone when I was young.

I created it myself in my childhood.

Perhaps

as Xuan Ji said,

my mother took me when she went to Capital City 20 years ago.

And I learned the way of eating pretzels

from you.

It doesn't matter if it's true or not.

Sir,

I've made the decision.

If we finally find out

my mother killed your family,

I'm willing to prosecute myself to the Empress Dowager

to reverse the verdict for your father.

Zhang Ping,

no matter what answer Mr. Jinghu will say,

I will never be mad at you, nor should I do that.

You said you would keep investigating.

Does it count now?

Let's eat.

Mr. Tao, Miss Jiexiang withdrew her testimony.

Please retry the case.

What is going on?

Why did she contradict herself?

Mr. Tao, how is your decision?

I have to deliberate the testimony.

Stop deliberating it, Mr. Tao. Miss Jiexiang confessed everything.

She was bribed by Ma Lian and committed perjury for him.

I've seen through the way Ma Lian postponed Chen Zishang's death time,

and found the evidence of his murder.

Zhang Ping,

since Jiexiang could commit perjury for Ma Lian because of money,

couldn't she also withdraw the testimony for money?

Doesn't the evidence you found become inconclusive

without her testimony?

Mr. Tao.

Since Mr. Tao is suspicious,

why don't we ask Ma Lian and Jiexiang to confront each other?

I'm really confused.

The evidence

of this case is clear,

and the murderer left a suicide letter to commit his crime,

so why do you insist on investigating the case?

You come to Court of Judicial Review

to shout for reversing the verdict because of this fictitious evidence.

Are you critical of Ma Lian

or me

or the Empress Dowager?

- We just... - Zhang Ping

Since Mr. Tao firmly believes his judgement is right,

we can't help that.

Goodbye.

- Mr. Lan. - Go.

[ Spirit Tablet of Chen Zishang ]

Chen,

we come to mourn for you.

Mr. Jinghu flew paper cranes a few days ago,

saying you had grievance to say on the 7th day after your death.

Now we are here,

so reveal yourself

if you had grievance.

Bureaucrats shield one another,

and they actually made a dead person a scapegoat

while the true criminal is still getting away with murder.

Chen,

we're burning everything you had to you.

We hope you can study hard and be at the top

in the hell.

Chen,

although we weren't very close to you,

we admired your talent.

If you can see what happened in the world,

never let Ma Lian and those fatuous officials in Court of Judicial Review go.

What's wrong?

What is going on?

Chen's ghost is revealing itself, right?

Chen must want to tell us his grievance through this brush holder.

Right.

Yes.

Mr. Jinghu said something abnormal would happen when we mourned for Chen today.

We must seek justice for Chen.

Yes, we must do.

Let's go.

Let's go to Imperial Palace to submit our appeal.

- Yes. - Right.

Let's go to Imperial Palace to submit our appeal.

Let's seek justice for Chen.

Let's submit our appeal.

Go.

I heard the scholars gathered to mourn for Chen Zishang today,

and the brush holder actually burned under the public gaze.

Perhaps because the brush holder had white phosphorus,

it spontaneously combusted under the heat of the burning basin for mourning.

But none of the scholars at the scene saw through this little trick.

Or they saw through it, but they didn't want to expose it

and made a big fuss,

which showed Court of Judicial Review's judgement of this case was unsatisfactory.

I also couldn't figure out why Mr. Tao behaved perfunctorily.

The evidence was obvious, but he was still insensible.

You shouldn't have taken me away at that time.

He's been an official for a decade, so he has been sophisticated.

His meaning was very clear.

Ma Lian was the fiance of Empress Dowager's niece, so Mr. Tao didn't want

to investigate Chen Zishang's case deeply in fear of offending Empress Dowager.

It'll be useless even if you don't stop pestering him.

Do you have other ideas?

Only one person could confront the Empress Dowager.

I am Liu Xian, and I have something to report.

Go ahead.

Recently, Chen Zishang's murder case has been bubbling with noise.

The scholars doubted that Court of Judicial Review covered up for Ma Lian

and submitted an appeal to the Imperial Palace,

asking the court to retry this case.

I think

selecting talents through the imperial examination is ancestral

and the foundation of a country,

so we must find out the truth and give the scholars justice.

They are just mobs and made use of this case to elaborate their own ideas.

Just disperse them.

Please think it twice, Your Majesty.

The scholars are indignant, so if we don't retry the case,

I'm afraid the court's reputation will plummet.

Mother and Mr. Liu,

stop arguing.

I've found out the truth of this case.

Yesterday,

Zhang Ping submitted the evidence of Ma Lian's crime.

Are you Ma Lian?

Yes.

What are you going to do?

We're arresting the criminal by His Majesty's order.

Take him away.

Wasn't I sentenced to be innocent?

What? What are you doing?

Let me go. Do you know who I am?

After the interrogation,

Ma Lian admitted his crimes of murder and fraud.

Court of Judicial Review just acquitted Ma Lian,

and the judgement was simply overturned now.

After changing it again and again, you're bringing shame to the court.

Mother,

I think

as long as people trust us,

our reputation remains.

If not,

the court just has a reclame.

Now we've made the mistake, and people are unsatisfied.

Only when we set things right can we redeem the court's reputation.

If you still think it is improper,

I have another idea.

The Immortal Instrument is about to be constructed,

so we can celebrate for it,

remit criminals, and free people from tax for one year.

Only when we oblige people can we redeem our reputation.

And people

will also be thankful for your kindness.

You're considerate.

I'll agree.

Your Majesty is wise and judges properly.

I am dumb and failed in dealing with the case.

Your Majesties,

please forgive me.

I

Should punish you,

but it's not because you failed in dealing with the case

but that you broke the law, although you knew that.

And you deliberately covered up for Ma Lian by using a fake murderer.

Your Majesty,

I didn't dare to cover up for the criminal even if I have guts.

It's because Ma Lian was so cunning

that he deliberately used a fake murderer to confuse me.

Mr. Tao, you've been muddling all the time,

and do you think you can make it the whole time?

I've found out

the fake murderer was an abandoned corpse,

and it was drowned two days before the imperial examination.

You took it away in the name of Court of Judicial Review,

froze it for one day before pushing it into water,

making up the scene of its drowning from palpitation.

Cemetery's guard could prove that.

You cheated everyone above and below you and ignored the court's law.

What punishment should you bear?

I should

be punished to death.

Guards.

- Yes. - Put Tao Zhoufeng

into Judicial Prison.

Yes.

[ A League of Nobleman ]