Original subtitles

=Glory Back=

=Episode 2=

The design of this robe is quite unique.

Your Highness, why not put it on?

So we can marvel at it.

Your Highness, please try it.

This robe is magnificent. Only Your Highness's grace can match it.

You will surely shine radiantly when wearing it.

(Could it be Concubine Cao)

(who wants to harm Wan?)

(I remember seeing snake-tongue grass here before.)

(Its roots can neutralize the toxicity of corydalis pollen.)

This was meant for my elder sister.

Seeing this reminds me of her. Forgive my sentimentality.

Yinsheng, put this away for now.

Yes.

Wait.

(Meng Shu, Noble Concubine)

The nation's vital affairs lie in rites and warfare.

You're as frail as a feather now.

You likely cannot manage the Silkworm Ceremony.

It would be better if I took charge.

The Silkworm Ceremony has always been the Empress's duty.

Now that my elder sister has just passed,

how could I bear to delegate this rite to another

and still face her memory?

The Empress is gone.

And you're unwell.

I think only of the greater good.

Let go. It's Her Highness's sericulture robe.

Noble Concubine Meng.

This breaches propriety.

(Yingzhu, Palace Maid)

How dare you, insolent wretch!

Your Highness,

Head Chen specifically instructed

that this robe must not be handled by others.

You wretch!

Am I inferior to some lowly head of Imperial Wardrobe Office?

Slap her!

Please calm your anger. This robe was tailored for Noble Consort Wan.

It likely won't fit you.

Please allow Imperial Wardrobe Office to sew a new one for you.

That sounds sensible enough.

Very well, as you say.

Hurry and make a new one for me.

Yes, as you order.

Since there's no further business, I take my leave.

I take my leave.

Don't sully our palace any longer.

Get out of here. Go make a new robe for Noble Concubine Meng.

Yinsheng.

Yes.

Enough.

My quarrel with Noble Concubine Meng

isn't about which of us a maid chooses.

Don't make it hard for her.

Your Highness is kind.

(Yinsheng, Palace Maid)

If Her Majesty were still here,

she'd never let you suffer like this.

Yinsheng,

I will never be as capable as her.

I am weary. Let's return to my chambers.

Yes.

Rise.

Your Highness, please understand.

I acted out of necessity in that urgent moment.

I wasn't flattering Noble Concubine Meng.

It's fine.

Why is your face dirty?

Wipe it. This is yours.

Thank you.

(The one who orchestrated the fire remains unknown.)

(It could endanger Wan)

(by revealing myself recklessly now.)

(Better to stay hidden, with Feng Qing's identity, )

(and wait for the chance.)

(Though we cannot acknowledge each other yet, )

(I will reclaim the Silkworm Ceremony)

(that is)

(rightfully yours for you.)

His Majesty returns to the palace! Clear the way!

♪ Flowers bloom and fade, gone without return ♪

♪ Time rushes by, flowing towards decay ♪

♪ Earthly entanglements, ever-changing, helpless yet ♪

♪ No right or wrong ♪

This bracelet was placed on my wrist by Your Majesty.

I thought it held Your Majesty's love,

so I wore it day and night.

But I never imagined

it concealed musk inside.

If I hadn't damaged the bracelet today,

I might have been deceived my entire life.

Why?

I'll explain the reasons to you in time.

Alright.

Then let me say it.

Because Your Majesty fears the Gu family.

Because I bear the Gu surname.

Because Your Majesty dares not let Gu Empress bear an imperial heir.

Do you think it suitable for us to have an heir now?

If you were to bear an heir,

would the Gu clan threaten me?

Or would you rule secretly like your aunt?

Your Majesty actually thinks this way?

Fine.

It seems Your Majesty

has never regarded me as a partner to walk through life with.

♪ Wake to see once more ♪

(Past events are all like dreams.)

(Given another chance, )

(I will never endure as meekly as before.)

(The board is set, and pieces await placement.)

(Even if it seems a hopeless game, )

(I will break the stalemate.)

I wonder how thoroughly the mourning hall was burned.

Right.

If we could find the late Empress's jewels,

we'd be set for life.

(Gu Xuan, Military Physician)

Coveting the Empress's relics

and disrespecting the Empress is a death-worthy offense.

I thought returning to the capital to mourn my aunt

would let me see you.

But though I traveled day and night,

all I found was a handful of your cold ashes.

Qing,

it's been five years since we last met.

Why didn't you wait for me?

(Ice silk is exceptionally sharp.)

(It's rarely used in ordinary embroidery.)

(Why is it at the mourning hall after the fire?)

Darling, what took you so long?

Let go! What are you doing?

It's the palace maids' quarters.

Palace maids' quarters, is it?

(Eunuch Sun, Imperial Ritual Bureau)

Imperial Wardrobe Office has always been under my jurisdiction.

I've come specifically looking for you.

(Among Directors of Imperial Wardrobe, )

(only one was Eunuch Sun, who later joined)

(Imperial Ritual Bureau.)

Sir, please let go of me.

Since you're here for me,

why don't you take a seat

and allow me to serve you properly?

Head Chen said you'd come around.

Sure enough, after nearly dying once,

you've transformed completely.

(So Eunuch Sun colluded with Head Chen to ruin Feng Qing.)

(No wonder she attempted suicide.)

Sir, I have a new technique.

I wonder if you

would like to try it.

Sure.

I must try it.

The moment I came in,

I smelled that wanton smell

of yours, you vixen.

Don't rush, sir.

Or

You might spoil the mood.

What's this?

What kind of move is this?

Why can't I see anything?

Do you like it?

I do.

Strangulation

hates haste most of all.

You wretch! How dare you!

Within the palace,

there is nothing I, the Empress, dare not do.

The Empress?

You are?

Eunuch Sun, corrupt in office and debauched within the palace,

you've violated palace rules and shall be strangled immediately.

I'll grant you a swift end.

In my eyes, there is no vengeance in the next life,

only karma in this one.

Being a military physician all these years,

I saved countless soldiers,

yet I couldn't save you, trapped within the palace.

Qing,

the imperial family is cold.

If there is a next life, may you become a crane carrying clouds,

no longer confined to a cage.

(As I left the capital, )

(you gave me this sachet.)

(I carried it with me every day.)

(I never imagined that our farewell)

(would become an eternal separation.)

(Qing)

Qing,

if someone harmed you,

even if I must shatter these nine-layered palaces,

I will make the entire harem your funeral retinue.

(Palace Service Bureau)

(Xuan? Isn't he supposed to be at the military camp?)

You must be from Imperial Wardrobe Office, given your attire.

A mere palace maid dares to kill at night and dump a body in the well?

Do you know it warrants death?

Your attire suggests you're not from the palace.

An outsider man appears in the inner palace during curfew hours.

Do you know it warrants death too?

(This palace maid shows no fear)

(and even dares to retort.)

(Should I reveal myself to Xuan?)

Since you've discovered me,

maybe I should follow your example and silence you.

♪ Once a lonely sail, without a guiding light ♪

♪ With the warmth you lent me, how could I fear loneliness ♪

♪ Day and night together, sharing joys and sorrows ♪

♪ Searching all under heaven, my heart won't change ♪

♪ Fate in haste, looking back countless times, you swayed for me ♪

♪ Among a vast sea of people, faintly seeing the old self ♪

♪ Scenery along the way, looking back, love finds its echo ♪

♪ Watching the bustling world together, we write more verses ♪