Episode 14 recap: Fan Xian reported Chen Ping Ping for corruption.
Fan Xian and Li Cheng Ze engaged in a fierce power struggle, neither willing to give ground. Li Cheng Ze had Fan Wu Jiu expelled from the capital, but Fan Xian managed to capture him, hoping to use him to gain leverage.Fan Si Zhe came to seek refuge with Hai Tang Duo Duo, calling her "sister-in-law", but Hai Tang Duo Duo angrily beat him up.
As soon as Fan Xian dispatched people to have Fan Si Zhe take refuge in Northern Qi, Li Cheng Ze sent Fan Wu Jiu to secretly track Fan Si Zhe, hoping to capture him. Although Fan Wu Jiu was not a top-tier cultivator, he was still a formidable fighter. But before he could act against Fan Si Zhe, he was knocked unconscious on the spot by the powerful Hai Tang Duo Duo, and taken back to the capital by the inspectors.
Li Cheng Ze arranged for three assassins to kill the Golden Lady at Baoyue Pavilion, then deliberately exposed their tracks to be captured, framing Fan Xian as the mastermind. Li Cheng Ze hoped to use this case to thoroughly destroy Fan Xian and Fan Si Zhe, but instead he fell into the trap laid by Fan Xian. Fan Xian played the card of Fan Wu Jiu, pushing Li Cheng Ze into a desperate situation.
Li Cheng Ze dared not reveal Fan Wu Jiu's pursuit of Fan Si Zhe, nor did he want anyone to know that he had sent people to kill the three assassins to cover his tracks. This round ended in a crushing defeat for Li Cheng Ze.
Lin Ruo Fu already had doubts about the relationship between Fan Xian and Hai Tang Duo Duo. When Fan Xian had Hai Tang Duo Duo apprehend Fan Wu Jiu, Lin Ruo Fu was both amazed by Fan Xian's meticulous planning, yet also uneasy. He was reluctant to entrust Lin Wan Er to Fan Xian, until Fan Xian repeatedly explained that his and Hai Tang Duo Duo's relationship was purely a mutually beneficial cooperation, with no emotional entanglement.
Xie Bi'an came to the prison at night to see Fan Wu Jiu, reminding him not to implicate Li Cheng Ze. Fan Wu Jiu knew his fate was sealed, and his only regret was that he would miss the imperial examinations. Li Cheng Ze had already guessed his thoughts, and had Xie Bi'an bring him a book.
Hai Tang Duo Duo brought Fan Si Zhe to the capital of Northern Qi. Witnessing her unparalleled martial arts, Fan Si Zhe shamelessly fawned over her, even calling her "sister-in-law". Enraged, Hai Tang Duo Duo gave him a harsh beating, terrifying Fan Si Zhe into silence.
Hai Tang Duo Duo brought Fan Si Zhe to an oil shop, which was an intelligence liaison station set up by Fan Xian in Northern Qi. Guo Baokun was on guard there, and he boasted extensively about his important contributions to the Northern Qi spy network in front of Fan Si Zhe, but Fan Si Zhe was not interested, as he only wanted to take over the oil shop as soon as possible.
Guo Baokun was impatient to find out when Fan Xian would rescue his father from prison, but Fan Si Zhe had no knowledge of this, so he told Guo Baokun to go ask Fan Xian himself. Guo Baokun and Fan Si Zhe packed their bags early and quietly boarded a carriage to leave the capital city. A spy from Northern Qi reported this to Wolf Peach, who instructed Hai Tang Duo Duo to secretly follow their carriage.
The young Emperor of Northern Qi, Zhan Dou Dou, was a fan of the Red Chamber novel, and she asked Hai Tang Duo Duo to write a letter to Fan Xian urging him to update the story quickly so she could enjoy it. Hai Tang Duo Duo was very angry, and Fan Si Zhe suspected that she had a private relationship with Fan Xian, to the point that even Zhan Dou Dou misunderstood their relationship.
Fan Wu Jiu took all the blame upon himself, strenuously denying any connection with Li Cheng Ze. He revealed that Li Hong Cheng and Yuan Meng were old acquaintances, and after Yuan Meng took over the Baoyue Pavilion, he secretly helped sign several slave contracts behind Li Cheng Ze's back. When this was discovered, he hired an assassin to kill the person, but the assassin was caught. So he had to kill the witness to cover it up, and he even deliberately framed Fan Xian.
The Censorate received Fan Wu Jiu's confession, and the imperial censors investigated the case, but lacked sufficient evidence. Lai Ming Cheng personally came to seek Fan Xian's help, wanting to review the case files in the Jiancha Yuan for reference. He even bought some red dates to help nourish Fan Xian's health, and Fan Xian agreed to cooperate with him, letting him go examine the relevant materials.
Seeing the luxurious and magnificent Fan mansion, Lai Ming Cheng suspected that Fan Jian and Fan Xian were corrupt, and he decided to impeach the father and son before Emperor Qing after reviewing the files. Fan Xian was amused by this, and deeply admired Lai Ming Cheng's integrity as an upright official.
Two days later, Lai Ming Cheng submitted his impeachment of Fan Jian and Fan Xian, and all the civil and military officials came to watch. Emperor Qing summoned them to the imperial study, where Fan Xian publicly reported Chen Ping Ping's corruption, providing the rare treasures Chen had gifted to Lin Wan Er as evidence.
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