Pei Yan and Wei Zhao were both ordered by Emperor Xie Che to go to Nanling to investigate the ordnance case.However, both of them had their own plans: Pei Yan wanted to use this case to establish prestige in the Pei clan and pave the way for the revival of the family. He secretly searched for the sisters Yan Qiaoshuang, the murderers of King Qi, and vowed to uncover the truth about King Qi's murder.Xie Che secretly assigned Wei Zhao to monitor Pei Yan to prevent him from using family power to rebel. Wei Zhao also secretly searched for the whereabouts of sisters Yan Qiaoshuang.

The two of them accompanied He Zhenwen on an inspection tour of the Foundry Department. After seeing nothing unusual, Wei Zhao proposed to use the opportunity of traveling to visit the mountains and rivers to go deep into the private sector to investigate the ordnance case.Therefore, Wei Zhao, Jiang Ci, Cui Liang and others went out early and came back late every day, pretending to play, but in fact they walked through the Nanling market, focusing on rice shops and blacksmith shops, but found no abnormalities. They only felt that the people of Nanling were living peacefully.In good order.However, Jiang Ci found old rice being sold as new at a roadside stall at the same price. Wei Zhao realized that there might be a manipulative hand behind it, intending to cover up the truth about Nanling.

Jiang Ci and the boatman A Yan quickly became close friends. When A Yan took him to relax by the river, Jiang Ci was surprised to find that all the eagle humps around him had been harvested, and he became confused.Nanling is a land of fish and rice, and it is a good year, so people should not eat hummus to satisfy their hunger. She concluded that there might be hungry people in Nanling, and immediately reported it to Pei Yan.Pei Yan decided to split up. He was responsible for checking the rice shop, while Wei Zhao looked for the hungry people.Jiang Ci wanted to follow Pei Yan, but was dissuaded by him on the grounds of protection.

A-Yan witnessed Pei Yan's care for Jiang Ci and was moved by the scene. She recalled her deceased fiancé and was filled with grief.Pei Yan started to investigate the four major granaries in Nanling and found that both the east and west granaries were controlled by the Pei clan, so he sent Tong Min and Yi Fei to conduct an in-depth investigation.When Yi Fei was tracing Zhao Wu, he learned that he once had a wife who was killed for dereliction of duty and his wife and children lived in Nanling. Wei Zhao suspected that Zhao Wu was related to the disappearance of sisters Yan Qiaoshuang and ordered Yi Fei to continue to monitor Pei Yan.Yi Fei wanted to quit, but was scolded by Wei Zhao.

One day, Wei Zhao happened to encounter Jiang Ci in the kitchen making cakes with carved barley. He took the opportunity to provoke Pei Yan, saying that Pei Yan's rice shop was not for hungry people, but actually to protect the interests of the family.Jiang Ci was unmoved and gave him cakes to send him away.When Wei Zhao went out to investigate the case, Jiang Ci sneaked into his room to look for the lost little clay cat, but was unexpectedly bumped into by Wei Zhao.Instead of being annoyed, Wei Zhao took Jiang Ci to the ruined temple in the west of the city and exposed the hungry people hiding there and the inhuman treatment they received, which shocked Jiang Ci.

In order to explore the truth, Jiang Ci and Wei Zhao pretended to be a hungry couple and begged, and were sent to a ruined temple.Jiang Ci made a clever plan and learned from the girl who once worked in Zuihonglou that the hungry people were imprisoned here due to the persecution of Zhao Da under He Zhenwen in order to cope with the upcoming official inspection.Jiang Ci stayed behind to take care of the seriously ill girl, sent Wei Zhao to report the news to Pei Yan, and was given a badge from the Guangming Division to ensure safety.

Pei Yan found substandard rice in the west granary, while Wei Zhao found suspicious footprints near the ruined temple.He Zhenwen learned of Pei and Wei's movements and feared that the matter would be exposed, so he urgently sent He Yonglin to kill the hungry people.Jiang Ci was exposed while protecting the girl and was abducted by a masked man.Pei Yan and Wei Zhao arrived one after another and saw the empty temple and the sachet left by Jiang Ci, which contained the dark night orchid that was difficult to clean, which became the only clue to track Jiang Ci.