Episode Summary
Yu Qian’s quest for justice ends tragically when corrupt officials frame and execute him. Yuan Shaocheng manipulates Du Liang into targeting rival Hai Yiping, while Ye Ping’an orchestrates a bold trap to expose Du Liang’s crimes—only for ruthless enforcer Li Jun to intervene, killing Du and arresting Ye. Brotherhood tensions flare as the Yuan siblings confront betrayal, and dark alliances unravel.
Spoiler Alert
Twelve years after narrowly escaping death, Lu Danxin crosses paths with Yu Qian, an imperial censor returning to her hometown to investigate corruption. Horrified by Lu’s account of kidnapped women and systemic abuse, Yu vows to expose the truth—unaware that provincial officials Zheng Yuan and Du Liang are backed by powerful figures in the capital. The corrupt duo frames Yu Qian for embezzlement and human trafficking, leading to his public execution and scattering the ashes of his entire family. Meanwhile, Yuan Shaocheng meets Du Liang, feigning loyalty while revealing that naval commander Hai Yiping plans to secretly hoard half the military funds in his private estate. Du Liang seizes the opportunity to eliminate his political rival.
Ye Ping’an, however, anticipates Du Liang’s greed and manipulates the game from the shadows. Tensions erupt between the Yuan brothers when Yuan Hesheng discovers Shaocheng’s covert dealings with military funds. Shaocheng defends his secrecy as protection, confessing that Ye Ping’an masterminded the scheme. Later, Ye orders Shaocheng to delay attacking Du Liang, insisting they exploit him for more intel. Across town, courtesan Ni Chang and scholar Jin Fuzi uncover a ledger exposing bribes to Du Liang through a gambling den—and a trail of dead witnesses from his past.
As Du Liang storms Hai Yiping’s estate to “expose” the hidden funds, the Yuan brothers execute a counterplot: Yuan Hesheng’s crew distracts Du’s household with arson while smuggling the military silver into Du’s own estate. The trap snaps shut when Du Liang returns to find his courtyard flooded with incriminating loot. Ye Ping’an confronts him, using a hypnotic bell to force hallucinations of his victims. But the victory sours when ruthless investigator Li Jun abruptly kills Du Liang, cutting off Ye’s interrogation.
In a final twist, Li Jun arrests Ye Ping’an for “stealing” the military funds—a move Ye suspects was orchestrated by her own ally, Yuan Shaocheng. With Du Liang dead and Ye imprisoned, the shadow war escalates… but the true puppetmaster remains hidden.
