Original subtitles

[Legend of Zang Hai]

[Episode 36]

Everything is here, Miss Xiang.

Where is Master Gao Ming?

He went to buy horses.

We have a lot of people and luggage.

Not even three horse carriages can fit.

I've dismissed the indentured

maids and servants.

I also gave them some extra money.

I'm sure you don't mind, Mr. Zang.

No one in the capital

makes more money than you, Miss Xiang.

In the future,

we have to rely on you.

Hai.

Hai.

Look who's here.

Mr. Zhao.

Sir.

Zang Hai.

Are you going to resign and leave the capital?

I've submitted my resignation to the Cabinet.

I plan to tell you

after His Majesty approves.

Are you free

to talk with me now?

A horse carriage

can go left

or right.

Yet,

the rein is in the coachman's hands.

Sometimes, I think

people are like these horses.

They seem like they have a choice

but in truth,

it's out of their control.

I rescued you back then

and asked you to make your own decision.

You chose revenge.

However, I've been thinking all these years.

Was I right

to let a child

make such a cruel choice?

I owed you a debt of gratitude for saving me.

You also asked my masters to take care of me, raise me,

and let me get my revenge.

I will never blame you.

Yes.

You've grown up gradually

and have matured.

Right now,

your third enemy is dead.

You can begin a new life now.

I want you to make another decision.

Sir, spare me some food.

Sir, spare me some food.

Sir.

- Show some mercy. - Sir.

- Have a heart. - Spare me some food.

Sir.

Sir, show some mercy.

Have a heart, sir.

Have a heart, sir.

Sir.

Spare me some food.

Spare me some food.

Spare some food, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Spare me some food.

Be kind, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

- Thank you, sir. - Thank you, sir.

- Thank you, sir. - Thank you, sir.

- Thank you, sir. - Thank you, sir.

Thank you, sir.

- Thank you, sir. - Thank you, sir.

- Thank you, sir. - Thank you, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Take it for him.

Thank you, sir.

- Thank you, sir. - Thank you, sir.

We have food now.

Quick. We have food now.

After so many years,

corrupt officials bled the Great Yong dry.

The nine rivers flood every year.

Imperial exams are mostly rigged.

There are still people who starve to death

under the Emperor's rule.

What decision

are you talking about?

Do you still remember when you first entered the Marquis of Pingjin's Mansion

and exchanged all the gifts you received

into food for the starving people?

Your father

used to do the same as well.

He would ask those who starved to work

in exchange for food.

Many of your seniors

are orphans of refugees.

They had no one to rely on since young

and were raised by your father at his mansion.

However,

that was all he did.

Do you still remember

what I said to you

when you came to my place

to probe me back then?

Before you can

achieve what you set out to achieve,

assume that you have achieved it.

You mean...

Your father could only save them for a while.

Why not go further

and save the people forever?

From tomorrow onward,

I will be the interim Chief Cabinet Secretary.

You have the talent to be a great leader.

If you want to do it,

[Imperial Edict] accept this edict to join the Cabinet

and become an official in the imperial court.

If you want to be free from now on,

just reject it.

Go and live the life that you want

yet can't possess until now.

[Imperial Edict]

Let's go.

Antu.

I have a way.

What is it?

Resign.

Let everyone know that we are leaving the capital

and will not come back again.

If the third enemy truly exists,

he knows who I am

and knows I have knowledge of the Gui Seal and bronze fish.

Do you think he will let me go

and allow me to leave freely?

He will surely keep you by his side where he can see you

and do everything to see

whether you give the Gui Seal and bronze fish to the Emperor or not.

He will make sure that you won't ruin the next step in his plan.

He will even kill you

when it's necessary.

That's right.

The person who doesn't want us to leave the most

might be the third enemy.

He asked me to stay in the capital

and aid him in the Cabinet.

Right now,

he is the only one

who has asked me to stay.

What if he only appreciates you as a talent

and it is all a coincidence?

No matter what, I must give it a try.

Not only will I see him every day

after joining the Cabinet,

but I will also have access to many confidential files.

Whether it is him or not,

I will find out the truth.

Help me keep an eye

on Master.

If Zhao Bingwen is the third enemy,

are we going to suspect

Master Gao Ming as well?

If my benefactor is truly the third enemy,

Master

might have been deceived as well.

However, they share a genuine

relationship.

Whether it's my benefactor or Master,

I can't show them my true self

before the truth comes to light.

Don't worry.

I know what to do.

Why is it always so hard

to write the words Balance and Harmony?

You taught me

it must be without excess and deficiency.

[Balance and Harmony] Precision is hard to attain.

The same goes for calligraphy as well.

A gentleman

is only a person of balance and harmony

if they have the virtues of a gentry.

To interpret it narrowly, it's the virtue of preserving life.

To interpret it broadly, it's to deliver the people from suffering.

That is why you asked Zang Hai to join the Cabinet

and help you govern the empire and help the people.

However...

Zang Hai is still young.

This is not where he excels.

[One...]

Is this your opinion

or Zang Hai's opinion?

Zang Hai admires and respects you a lot.

This is merely my opinion.

Are you hiding anything from me?

I dare not.

You should

do your job well as a master.

Don't let the past incident repeat itself.

Have you found the bronze fish?

Zang Hai is very cautious.

I still can't take action.

[One Must First Give Something Away] It'll be too late if you don't act soon.

I'm doing this for his own good.

Getting him to stay in the capital and join the Cabinet

is the only way to protect him.

I will act as soon as possible.

Mr. Zhao.

Thanks to His Majesty's grace,

I will take over as interim Chief Cabinet Secretary.

I still need everyone's help

regarding the Cabinet's matters.

Please order us as you see fit, Mr. Zhao.

Everyone is sad about what happened to the Shi family.

Mr. Shi did his best to serve the Emperor.

I hope all of you can follow his ambition

and do your duty in the Cabinet

to share His Majesty's burdens.

Yes.

His Majesty has approved Zang Hai's appointment to the Cabinet.

In the future, he can participate in important matters of the imperial court.

Zang Hai, you can enter the Cabinet's archive

as you wish.

Yes, Mr. Zhao.

All right.

Get ready for today's meeting.

Zang Hai.

If you need any help,

come and ask me any time.

There's no need to be so formal between us.

Yes.

Mr. Zhao,

I have something to ask you.

[Request Granted]

[Deputy Chief Grand Secretary, Zhao Bingwen]

[Deputy Chief Grand Secretary, Zhao Bingwen]

I've gone through the draft opinions in the last few years.

I realized most of them were drafted by Mr. Zhao.

From what he wrote,

his integrity and loyalty are infallible.

In that case,

not only does he not have any flaws,

but the more you investigate,

the more he seems like an official who cares about the empire and the people.

Have we misunderstood him?

I'm not sure

if he wants to nurture me

or learn about the whereabouts of my bronze fish.

There must be a larger objective

for him to put up an act for so long.

Before you achieve

what you set out to achieve,

assume that you have achieved it.

I must keep investigating.

What comes next is a test of patience.

[Landscape of Mount Yuren]

Darn you, Xiang Antu.

You've been ignoring me recently.

What brought you here today?

I'm here to see you today.

Look.

I brewed some premium flower tea for you.

Try it.

I even bought you some fragrance powder.

Not bad.

They are for you if you like them.

That's more like it.

How are you doing with Zang Hai recently?

He just joined the Cabinet

and is busy with court matters with your father every day.

I can't even see him.

I knew it.

You only remember me

when you can't hang out with him.

This painting...

Do you recognize this drawing?

It belongs to my father.

I've seen it since young.

Of course, I recognize it.

This is it.

Why do you have this painting?

This painting was in Shi Yiping's residence.

Zang Hai requested it from the Emperor after his death.

Why would Shi Yiping

possess my father's painting?

Whatever.

Zang Hai is such a sweet person.

He requested

a painting of Dongxia from the Emperor for you

so you won't feel homesick.

That's right.

He has no time to accompany me.

He owes me this painting.

All right.

You shouldn't stay in your house all the time.

Come and have fun with me outside.

Mr. Zhao,

I have something I don't understand. Please guide me.

The documents submitted by the Ministry of Works recently

were all rejected by the Cabinet.

It's spring

and many places suffer from floods.

The Ministry of Works knows the damage it will cause

and wants to improve the flood control system

but for some reason...

Zang Hai.

In recent years,

Yong's treasury has been drained.

Even the Ministry of Rites

struggled to organize the Spring Exam, let alone the Ministry of Works.

If we keep allocating money to every ministry's needs,

we're going to create a bigger problem.

This problem must be dealt with from its roots.

Are you talking about getting rid of corruption?

That's right.

The treasury's money

has gone to the corrupt officials.

It's no use no matter how much money you allocate.

In the end, it's the problem of the law.

A heavy punishment is needed

to get rid of corruption.

But doing this

will bring the opposite effect.

Zang Hai.

If you can think of that,

it's very good.

This is also what I'm most worried about.

The corruption culture in the imperial court

happens mostly due to officials

who can't feed their families with their meager salaries.

If you don't want them to harm the common people,

killing a few of them won't solve the problem.

I've petitioned the Emperor

to increase the salaries of all fifth-rank officials and above

by 30%.

This is the money

that the imperial court must spend.

One must have a roof above their head

and a full tummy.

Officials must be able to feed their families

so they don't prey on the people.

This is a good method indeed.

However...

shouldn't we start

from those working closely with the people?

If the treasury has a lot of money,

I will surely do that.

However, prioritizing the small officials

over the powerful officials

is not something even the Emperor can do.

As the saying goes, "If one intends to take something,

one must first give something away."

You are involved in the imperial court now.

You must remember this in the future.

Yes.

I will remember it.

Tong'er came today

and recognized the painting to be Mr. Zhao's.

She even asked why the painting ended up in our place.

It's his indeed.

This is very suspicious indeed.

I've never lied to Tong'er before.

I didn't tell her the truth today

and I feel a little guilty.

She is my best friend.

I really hope Mr. Zhao is just your benefactor

and not your enemy.

Tong'er.

Father.

What are you looking for?

Father.

Did you give Shi Yiping this painting?

Which painting?

The "Landscape of Mount Yuren" painting

that was kept here previously.

That painting?

Previously,

I went to visit the Shi residence

with my colleagues

for a so-called painting and calligraphy appreciation session.

I brought this painting with me without much thought.

To my surprise, he loved it.

He forced me to give it to him

so I did.

I went to hang out with Antu today

and saw this painting at her place.

I thought I was mistaken

but when I came back and looked for it,

the painting was indeed yours.

This painting should belong to the imperial court

now that Shi Residence was seized

following Shi Yiping's death.

How come she possesses the painting?

She said

Zang Hai purposely asked the Emperor for it

to be given to her as a gift

because it was a painting of Dongxia.

I see.

Tong'er.

Sit with me for a while.

Since your mother passed away,

both of us have been relying on each other

so I allowed you

to go to Zhen Tower as a man

to tell stories.

Right now,

you are no longer a child.

It's time to act your age.

But I enjoy

reading and telling stories.

You've been rebellious

since your childhood

because I've always doted on you.

You do things without caring about the consequences.

You will regret it one day.

Father.

Zhen Tower is gone now.

You should cease thinking about telling and reading stories anymore.

From now on,

you should stay home and accompany me more.

Master.

I'm going to work.

Go back and rest.

Zhao Geng.

Yes, Master.

Tong'er is a lady now.

When she goes out in the future,

assign a few men to follow her

in case anything happens to her.

Yes.

Mr. Zang, it's late.

Our work is endless.

Continue tomorrow.

I still have work to do from the Ministry of Works

and Imperial Astronomical Bureau tomorrow.

Mr. Shi used to reprimand me in the past

for being lazy and carefree.

If he sees you now,

he will surely appreciate you.

I'll be going back.

What a pity.

I joined the Cabinet too late.

Otherwise, I could learn from Mr. Shi.

Having a superior

who keeps giving me reminders

in political affairs

is a lucky thing.

You are different

from what I imagined.

What do you mean?

Mr. Zang,

you served Zhuang Luyin in the past.

You became an official through recommendation.

However, you caused a mess in the imperial court.

In Mr. Shi's opinion,

you broke

the balance he spent his whole life maintaining.

Balance?

But didn't Mr. Shi

turn a blind eye

on what Cao Jingxian did?

Cao Jingxian and Zhuang Luyin

were two authoritative figures no one would dare offend.

Mr. Shi has been going against them

by leading the Cabinet.

Both of them are dead now.

Unfortunately, Mr. Shi passed away as well.

However, rumors in the capital are saying

that Mr. Shi was close to Cao Jingxian.

However, he was killed

by Cao Jingxian's surveillance officers.

They say both of them had a falling out

and turned against each other.

Impossible.

I don't believe it.

Mr. Shi was my superior for many years.

I know him

very well.

Mr. Zang,

let me show you something.

This is the name list of Yong's officials.

Mr. Shi gave it to me back then.

He started writing this name list

when he was the Vice Minister of Personnel.

Everyone said Mr. Shi

remembered every official of Yong

when he was the Vice Minister of Personnel.

I suppose good memory still has to make way

for note-taking.

Before the New Year,

Mr. Shi saw I was busy working

[Zhuang Luyin, the 19th Year of Zhenshun era, Dead]

and gave me this name list.

The name list has always been kept at the Cabinet

with no one to retrieve it.

[Cao Jingxian, Lu Min]

Lu Min?

[Cao Jingxian, Lu Min]

Lu Min...

I noticed this before.

This should be Cao Jingxian's name before he entered the palace.

All his foster sons have the Lu surname.

He just couldn't give up on passing his lineage.

Sir.

I didn't know you were coming.

Sorry for the poor reception.

Sit.

Thank you, sir.

You may leave.

Are you the eunuch, Mr. Liu?

Yes.

You were the one who taught the new eunuchs

the rules in the past.

I want to ask you about someone.

If I know something,

I will tell you honestly.

Lu Min.

Lu Min?

Lu Min...

I remember.

Do you still remember?

I do.

He wasn't castrated

when he entered the palace.

He never had manhood

to begin with.

He castrated himself.

There are many rules and forms of etiquette in the palace.

Those who graduated here

can have a chance of becoming a eunuch at the inner palace.

Lu Min was hardworking

and liked to study.

It didn't take long for him

to learn most of the skills

from veterans like us.

When it was time for him

to change his name and enter the palace,

he was

more capable than the eunuch,

several years his senior.

What did he change his name into later?

I don't remember.

I remember

he went to work at the Imperial Stables Directorate.

Lu Min was educated

and he could read.

He spoke in a formal and elegant way.

He used to say

that he shouldn't become a eunuch.

He said if he participated in an exam,

he would surely become a highly-ranked official.

He told me

he used to study in the best academy in the capital.

He studied at the Academy of Yong.

Sir.

All the original documents and files

since the establishment of the Academy of Yong

are stored here.

You may leave.

I can search for it myself.

Yes.

[Books and Sutras]

[15th Year of Wuhe]

[Academy Student Name List]

[Lu Min]

[Zhuang Luyin]

[Zhao Bingwen]

Master.

You're back?

We are having Fried Bean Sauce Noodles tonight.

Wait for a while.

I'm too tired today

and don't have an appetite.

I want to rest for a while.

The Cabinet

is a difficult place to be.

Seriously.

You hold three positions at once.

There are too many things you need to do.

I feel exhausted for you already.

All of these responsibilities

are too many

and too heavy for me.

Why don't I tell Bingwen

and ask him to relieve you of your burden?

I'll think about it.

Once I think it through,

I'll tell him myself.

Hai.

You're like a stranger to me now.

You won't even chat with me.

Have you forgotten about me

after you have Miss Xiang?

When you put it like that,

I have no choice

but to chat with you.

That's more like it.

Peel the garlic.

Master,

do you still remember when you asked me

what kind of life I would want to live

after getting my revenge?

I couldn't answer you back then.

You also told me

the day would come soon.

You were right.

I've made my choice

and I'm still an official with my benefactor.

But I want to know

your answer.

Me?

My benefactor asked you

to aid me in my revenge.

Now that I've taken my revenge,

haven't you thought about

what you want to do?

Are you calling me useless now?

Since you're in the Cabinet now,

you no longer need the things I taught you.

That's not what I mean.

I know that's not what you meant.

I was just teasing you.

Do you really want to know?

Royal silver.

Master,

do you still remember the time when you took me

to trick a corrupt official when I was young?

I remember.

Look.

I have

gotten the newly minted royal silver now.

Look how much you've achieved.

The royal silver I used back then

was the tuition fee I received from your benefactor.

Yet,

I spent all of it in the first lesson.

You are good at pretending to be an official.

Did you learn it from my benefactor?

Why don't you become an official?

That won't do.

I'm just a fraud.

I'll be exposed if I become an official.

I don't think so.

As a person,

we don't need to live

for a certain goal.

Living our days

with people we care about by our side,

doesn't it sound good?

You are in the capital

and your benefactor is also in the capital.

Where else can I go?

I'll just serve you

and become a cook.

If I can't teach you anything else,

I'll feed you instead.

You used to tell me

that no matter how capable I was,

I still wouldn't surpass you.

Enough.

You've been busy the whole day.

Go inside your room and sleep.

I'll slowly make these noodles.

You can eat them when you wake up.

I won't need to wake you up.

The smell of the noodles will do just that.

Go on.

Sure.

Mr. Zhao.

My benefactor.

My third enemy.

I used to think my obsession

with vengeance

compelled me to keep investigating

until the truth came out.

Have you thought about what you are going to do?

Should you tell the Emperor directly?

No.

I've hidden the bronze fish as well.

We can't go through the Emperor anymore.

We must deal with it ourselves.

Since I've chosen this path,

I have to see through it until the end.

All right.

Move forward

for your past and current self.

Antu.

Make some preparations.

I want to invite Zhao Bingwen to my residence

and confront him.

♪Conceal the ambition in my eyes♪

♪In my palm, I hold a dangerous desire♪

♪Turbulent waves hidden in my sleeves♪

♪Silent thunder echoes around♪

♪However cunning you are♪

♪I can see♪

♪Right through you♪

♪Schemes are my armor♪

♪Overt plans are my weapons♪

♪With restrained fury♪

♪I purge the world's corruption♪

♪The night is not dark♪

♪Because♪

♪My heart burns bright♪

♪I control the shifting clouds♪

♪I command the falling rain♪

♪The compass of the human soul is unpredictable♪

♪There will always be ups and downs♪

♪I hold the power of life and death♪

♪I grant and I take away♪

♪When faith burns like the scorching sun♪

♪I will sing aloud with you♪

♪I am the sowing season♪

♪I am the autumn harvest♪

♪I am the world♪

♪I am the people♪

♪And you are also me♪