PeachBlossomGoddess

Yups, Tang Yin/Bohu. It would be quite outrageous to turn him into the killer but this new director is quite daring.

Yes and that is why I think Mr Xue is not Lu Zhi. Do you recall any scenes where KID Lu Zhi is actually fishing? He is always going to talk to Lu Zhong who is fishing. Fishing is Lu Zhong's hobby, not Lu Zhi's.

I suspect Lu Yuanbao died of poisoning and was buried before the fire.
The reason I am skeptical Mr Xue is Lu Zhi is bc I have never seen kid Lu Zhi fishing. It was always Lu Zhong. Lu Zhi just always went to talk to him.

I think Lu Zhong is clearly the mastermind of the old case. The present case comes up after 20 years bc the antagonist was a child/young and it took them that long to reestablish themselves and be in a position to take revenge. The only two people that fits that is Lu Zhi and Lu Buyou. I rule out Turtle bc he is not literate.

I would be shocked if they made him the murderer. More likely he is trying to get justice through official means and is guiding the official investigation.
The killing spree started pretty much when Magistrate Wei moved to the county.

Song Chen is modelled on Tang Yin one of the most illustrious poets and painters of Ming Dynasty and the story of his wrongful indictment is true.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Yin

I think Lu Zhi should be dead. Mr Xue should be Lu Zhong. They just swapped actors on us to confuse us. I think Lu Zhi was treated kindly and beloved by Lu Jinxin and Lu Buyou. Lu Jinxin adopted him and schooled him alongside his son. Lu Zhi had no reason to kill anyone anymore, he had the found family he always wanted. Both boys survived and one of them became Song Chen's friend who died under torture. Song Chen and the survivor/Magistrate Wei is probably Lu Buyou are back to reopen the old case/ for revenge. The murderer mocks Confucius - he is someone disappointed by the system and hypocrisy of the classics. The only people who fit that psychological profile would be Song Chen, Lu Zhi and Lu Buyou.

LYB was a very intimidating personality. Can probably out fight him too.

I am starting to think Lu Zhong and Lu Zhi had a falling out. I suspect he became fast friends with Lu Buyou and Lu Jinxin really did adopt him. He saved Lu Buyou and they both went off to take the imperial exams as planned. One of them became friends with Song Chen and was his friend that was tortured and killed. The one that survived is back and taking revenge. More likely Lu Buyou. I think Lu Zhi may be dead. Bc no one in the present reminds me of him. That means Mr Xue is Lu Zhong. - the clue should be he loves to go fishing all the time. And that is why they killed Chen Wang. He was the only one truly loyal to Lu Zhi. Guard Zhang and his brother were actually saved by Lu Zhong. Most likely Magistrate Wei is Lu Buyou or Lu Zhi. Whichever one wasn’t tortured to death. And it explains why Song Chen took a demotion. He wants to uncover the truth behind the fire that killed his friends family. I also found it kind of interesting that the young actor cast as Lu Buyou looks like Qu Sangeng.

I think he was just afraid. He thought LYB was not that drunk. And he realized LYB had a plan to go legit and he was quite interested in that. After he killed all his bandit brothers that way of life was over for him. But as it turns out LYB never made him a real partner he kept him as a housekeeper which is just a servant. Don’t forget he was illiterate it is Lu Zhi that thought him how to read and write.

Of course in hindsight... a boy who knows lots of secrets... hmmm.... I wonder what he will do with that...🤦🏻‍♀️👀😂

I think he definitely had to be forging stuff for them but idk how it would be linked to the brothel.

Douban 8,5 ~11k votes.

Nope. Not even if you like the leads.

Well something obviously happened bc later on he didn't even dare enter the brothel to judge the writing competitions. He sat outside on the street while Lu Zhi ran back and forth with the caligraphy.

They must have used him to forge Lu Yuanbao's will. He is a scholar and was the judge of the handwriting competition. Just like his nephew Turkey, he is a good enough scholar to forge handwriting.

I think I understand why Master Wang was killed:

I think there is an unreliable narrator in there. I am starting to think Lu Jinxin is Keyser Soze.

The video is not available for me but Lu San is Captain Xia’s right hand man, the guy who trapped the demon monkey.

Well if it’s Turkey why would he murder his own uncle? of course it also could be someone reading Lu Zhong’s journal but tbh that won’t be a satisfying conclusion… unless that someone is Judge Song or Qu Sangeng.