Original subtitles

This letter

was written by Consort Qi to Wei Yan, pleading for help.

Because of a private affair,

Wei Yan returned to the capital midway,

leaving the soldiers of Jinzhou to face the enemy alone.

In the end,

it led directly to that great catastrophe.

…I KNOW YOU ARE TRAPPED IN JINZHOU… THE CONSPIRATORS' SCHEME RUNS DEEP…

FATHER AND BROTHER ARE TRAPPED, YET I AM CONFINED IN THE PALACE. I BEG YOUR AID…

A thief crying thief.

Wei Yan,

you are the true traitor behind the disaster at Jinzhou!

This is Qi Rongyin's letter.

After 17 years, you've probably forgotten.

Let me read it for you.

"To my Yan,

-when you read this, imagine me--" -Silence!

Wei Changyu, if you want to fight, then fight.

Do not defile the honor of a woman long gone.

It seems there are still people the Chancellor cares about.

Seventeen years ago,

my mother hid this letter

in the candy box you gave her.

All these years,

you've committed every evil. That's why your conscience pricks you so.

You don't dare to touch that candy box.

Let me ask you, Chancellor,

in these 17 years,

have you ever repented to my father?

Have you ever pitied

the thousands of fallen soldiers?

Have you ever mourned

your own sister, who took her own life desperately?

A forged letter

and a pair of counterfeit tiger tallies,

and you think that's enough to smear me?

Given this letter, Chancellor,

how many people have you silenced?

If Consort Qi could see your evil deeds

-from the underworld-- -Silence!

Don't you mention her!

To confirm the authenticity of these tiger tallies

isn't difficult.

Tiger tallies are sacred instrument of state.

The Ministry of War keeps records.

Though the archives have been burned,

the man who forged the tallies back then,

Grand Tutor Tao, is still alive.

The Chancellor need only ask him.

Grand Tutor Tao has arrived.

I kowtow to Your Majesty.

Rise.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

Grand Tutor Tao is one of the few witnesses from back then.

To preserve the royal family's honor,

I ask you to examine these military tallies

and determine whether they are genuine.

I obey the decree.

TIGER TALLY

Reporting to Your Majesty.

Back then, I personally supervised the forging of these military tallies.

These marks confirm it.

This is genuine.

Chancellor Wei.

What do you have to say for yourself now?

You'll be empress soon.

Wei Yan, your ambition knows no bounds,

deceiving both ruler and heaven.

Your crime deserves death.

-Imperial Guards! -Here!

-Seize him! -Yes, sir!

Wei Yan, you…

You little Qi brat,

do you dare?

Yigui, don't repeat your mistakes!

Report!

Your Majesty, terrible news!

The rebel Sui Yuanhuai

and his army are storming through the Dayin Gate!

What?

How did they break in?

This day has finally come.

He really knows how to pick his days.

The score between us

must be settled.

But before that,

let me quell this rebellion first.

Let's go.

ADAPTED FROM THE NOVEL ZHU YU BY TUAN ZI LAI XI ON JJWXC.NET

All of you.

Kill for me!

DAYIN GATE

Welcoming the true master back to the palace.

Welcoming the true master back to the palace.

Welcoming the true master back to the palace.

Welcoming the true master back to the palace.

Welcoming the true master back to the palace.

Seventeen years.

I've finally reclaimed what is rightfully mine.

Your Highness ascending the throne once more,

truly heaven's will made manifest.

The mandate of heaven is yours.

The mandate of heaven is yours.

Qianqian,

how about that?

The promise I made you,

I've kept it.

You madman.

Did you really think I wanted to be your empress?

Dream on.

You'll agree to me.

Little brother Sheng,

you've sat in this seat for over a decade.

Has it been comfortable?

Imperial Brother,

I…

I've been waiting here for you so long.

The imperial seal is here.

It's all yours.

I beg you, Imperial Brother, don't kill me.

Please don't kill me.

With you, such a useless fool as the Emperor of Dayin,

do you think that makes up

for the suffering I've endured all these years?

I…

Take him away.

Await judgment.

Yes.

Don't kill me.

Don't kill me.

Don't kill me.

Don't kill me.

Is he really going to be the Emperor?

Report! Unusual movement near Xuan Gate.

Reinforcements may approach from outside the palace.

Damn. It's a trap.

Li Xing conspired with the rebel Sui Yuanhuai, plotting treason.

Such traitors to the state

shall all be apprehended and brought to justice.

You Wei scoundrel,

don't think for a moment

that with this meager force

you can stop His Highness's Five Armies.

Isn't this enough?

This meager force?

Besides, we don't yet know who will

the Marquis of Wu'an's be side with.

Marquis of Wu'an, since you've come to join the fun,

why not cooperate with me?

I've already detained that puppet emperor.

Throw in your lot with me.

After all, I am the true bloodline of Crown Prince Chengde.

Qi Min,

you secretly colluded with the Northern Jue,

intending to use this chance to bring down Dayin.

Did you really think I wouldn't notice?

You claim to be Crown Prince Chengde's heir,

yet you forget the former Eastern Palace died fighting the North.

I, Xie Zheng,

how could I ever serve you?

What?

You dared to collude with the Northern Jue in secret,

handing Dayin's land over to barbarians?

An arrow once loosed never returns.

Grand Tutor Li, it's far too late for regrets now.

You…

What Chancellor Wei did was far worse than me.

Jinzhou fell, its people slaughtered,

12 prefectures of Liaodong ceded to the barbarians.

All because Wei Yan,

in his greed for Dayin's land, brought it about with his own hand.

I'm merely finishing

what he left undone.

You…

Chancellor Wei,

17 years ago,

you bathed the palace in blood.

Did you really think no one knew

of your defilement of the harem?

You bastard, impersonating royal blood,

and still here spouting lies, fabricating facts.

Who's spouting lies?

You know better than anyone, Wei Yan, don't you?

Seize him!

Every traitor present today,

kill them all with no mercy!

Chancellor Wei, look.

Your wife and son are here.

I guarantee, if any of your men dare step forward,

their heads will roll.

I never expected the Chancellor to be so cold-blooded.

Then let you wife and son

descend to hell first.

Kill them!

Kill!

Don't kill me.

Don't kill me.

Don't kill me.

Don't kill me.

I'll make you great generals, alright? Please?

Another word and I'll cut you down.

Time to end this.

Chancellor.

This is between uncle and nephew.

None of you interfere. Step back.

Your swordsmanship has improved quite a bit.

I'll use my father's swordsmanship

to seek justice for my parents and Changyu's,

for the former Eastern Palace, for every soldier

who died in Jinzhou.

Good.

Come on, then.

Give up.

What is not yours,

you'll never have it.

This realm was always mine to begin with.

Always mine.

Do you like it?

Do you?

It's so hard… I don't want it anymore.

Being emperor is too hard.

I don't want to be emperor.

I don't want it.

You've truly lost your mind!

I haven't lost my mind.

I chose to live because of you.

For me?

Fine.

If I die, you'll stop being mad.

I won't allow you to die.

Qi Min. Let Qian go.

Changyu,

don't worry about me.

I can't escape.

Let her go!

Or I'll kill you!

Changyu,

let go.

What's between us shouldn't drag you into it.

I wanted the throne,

and I wanted you.

But in the end,

I'm left with nothing.

Let go. You'll get her killed!

He won't let go.

He's never learnt to let go.

You're selfish, brutal, and moody.

It's all just an act.

You're only hiding your own fear.

You're just pitiful.

Is my love so worthless,

only fit for you to trample on?

That's not love.

It's possessiveness! It's control!

I don't want any of it.

I just want to leave you forever.

For you…

I'm willing to learn.

Xuan.

Xuan!

I took this one

to repay you for saving my mother.

You are

not my father, you bastard.

Xuan!

XIE, MARQUIS WU'AN

The Jizhou army and the Xie army have arrived.

The Forbidden Palace is secure.

All soldiers following Qi and Wei in rebellion, listen to me.

Those who lay down your weapons and surrender,

your lives could be spared.

Those who resist

will be charged with treason,

and your entire clans exterminated.

Chancellor,

your army has fallen.

Still trying to struggle?

Jiuheng,

you haven't let me down.

Chancellor.

Let's retreat. We'll escort you out.

No.

Lost…

is lost.

Seventeen years ago, when I set foot on this path of no return,

this day, this end,

was already written.

Take him away.

Let's go, Chancellor.

It's over.

It's all over…

just like that.

It's over.

Our lives together will be better from now on.

If there really is an afterlife,

let me be the one to find you.

THREE DAYS LATER

Marquis, Lady Wei has arrived.

My lady, please.

Aunt.

Zheng.

Aunt.

What's the meaning of this? Get up, quickly.

Zheng.

I beg you to spare the Chancellor's life.

Please, sit first.

Aunt.

He didn't even care about you and your son's lives.

Why plead for him?

Besides, the law of the land cannot be defied.

The Chancellor is not beyond redemption.

Without him,

Xuan and I would have died long ago.

What do you mean by that?

Xuan's father

was one of the Chancellor's men.

His father and I pledged ourselves to each other in secret,

but he died on the battlefield.

My family

wanted to drag me back and drown me in a pig cage.

The Chancellor saved me.

He said

Xuan's father was his old subordinate.

He never planned to marry,

but his family kept pressing him.

I was desperate, carrying a child,

with nowhere to go.

He said it was a solution that worked for both.

The Chancellor's kindness to us…

It's as heavy as a mountain.

Zheng,

I beg you, for Xuan's sake, for that arrow he took for you,

please spare the Chancellor's life.

Aunt,

did he never marry

because of Imperial Consort Qi?

The Chancellor's heart runs deep.

I don't know.

Zheng,

if the law truly cannot be bent,

I beg you, for the sake of your bond as uncle and nephew,

let the Chancellor keep his body whole.

The Flower-Adorned General has arrived.

CASTING OFF SPLENDOR

Changyu!

How are you? Are your wounds okay?

I'm fine.

Come here.

Mother.

Empress Dowager.

Mother.

Wei Yan is captured.

My brother is lost to madness.

The world has already changed.

What purpose does your silence serve now?

The world did change.

It has changed since 17 years ago.

When Imperial Consort Qi first entered the palace,

she was a woman of extreme reserve,

never vying for the emperor's favor.

QIYI, THE LATE EMPEROR

Not until she was found with child.

The imperial physician determined the month of conception

didn't match the records of the Palace Domestic Service.

Did Consort Qi really have an affair with Wei Yan?

Qi Rongyin was three months pregnant.

Counting backward,

the conception would have been around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

That year at the palace banquet,

Wei Yan got drunk,

lost control, and violated a palace maid.

By ill chance, the late emperor and his ministers

happened upon the scene while admiring the moon.

A mere maid.

The late emperor couldn't make a scene then and there.

So he bestowed the maid upon Wei Yan.

The royal house knows no mercy.

After Consort Qi was found with child,

she was interrogated night after night.

Until that night,

when Qingyuan Palace suddenly caught fire.

Minister Wei.

-The Imperial Guards on patrol -Now scram!

rushed to put out the fire…

QINGYUAN PALACE

…and discovered Wei Yan,

without summons,

had entered the Forbidden Palace.

Get out!

Zhao Xun once testified

that the palace fire was set by Crown Princess Chengde.

Could there be more to it?

Have you ever seen water poured on a fire,

only to make the flames leap higher?

I have.

That fire reeked of tung oil.

The palace was surrounded.

The roar of slaughter filled the sky,

just like the other day.

Later, the imperial physician who examined her took his own life.

In his suicide note, he wrote

that Consort Qi had never been pregnant at all.

So, the one who set the fire was Crown Princess Chengde.

And the one who burned Consort Qi to death

was the late Emperor.

Thank you, Empress Dowager,

for sharing this piece of history.

Jiuheng, you've come to see your uncle off on his final journey?

I have come to finish

that unfinished game of Go Chess with you, Chancellor.

That boy's father, General Xie, died horribly in Jinzhou.

The truth back in the days,

he absolutely will not let it slide.

It was the late Emperor who set the trap.

So why did you take the blame all these years?

What did you gain from it?

This game of Go,

surely you're quite familiar with it, Chancellor?

Have you made up your mind?

If not,

will you allow me to rest a while longer?

Yan, you're cheating!

You said you'd use only 30% of your skill to keep me entertained.

This is clearly

a full-force encirclement and interception.

I really did only use 30%.

Then just say it outright.

I am not a good player, and I'm no match for you.

I quit.

Fine. Let me retract one move.

Let me think carefully

how to lose gracefully while using only 30%.

Losing at Go isn't hard.

Let me give you a hand, brother.

Little sister, stop.

Brother, you blockhead.

Be careful. If you keep winning, you'll scare my sister-in-law away.

Wan said you were playing Go here.

I thought I'd join the fun.

No need for formalities.

Sit.

When a piece falls into an isolated, unsupported position,

you must quickly find a way to bring it back to life.

This game of Go, like life itself,

there must be giving and taking.

"This game of Go, like life itself,

there must be giving and taking."

Grand Tutor,

those were your words.

At this point,

no more riddles with me.

I never believed

you orchestrated the Jinzhou tragedy.

But why did you rush back to the capital back then?

What really happened?

Remember the New Year's Eve banquet 18 years ago,

the osmanthus wine feast at the Eastern Palace?

Grand Tutor, you were there too.

That night, young and reckless,

I planted the seeds of disaster with my careless words.

THE FIFTEENTH YEAR OF QISHUN

Tonight, New Year's Eve,

I've specially invited you all

to taste the osmanthus wine brewed right here in the Eastern Palace.

Fine wine in the cold of winter,

roasted venison on the fire…

QI YUAN, CROWN PRINCE CHENGDE

Could there be greater pleasure?

LI JING, CHANCELLOR OF IMPERIAL ACADEMY TAO YI, MINISTER OF WORKS

Thank you.

This osmanthus wine,

its rich fragrance fills the air.

WEI YAN, CENTRAL COMMANDER XIE LINSHAN, PROTECTOR GENERAL OF REALM

Truly a fine brew.

Come, Your Highness the Crown Prince,

allow me to offer you another toast.

General Xie.

Tonight, have you been given permission

to drink your fill?

I suggest you take it easy.

Leave a little for the rest of us to savor, hm?

The Commander speaks truly.

Linshan can drink like a fish.

If you don't restrain yourself,

the rest of us will have none left.

-You… -Grand Tutor.

It's only osmanthus wine.

As long as you all enjoy it,

there's plenty to go around.

Excellent.

-Drink up! -We've got wine to drink!

-Come. -Drink up.

Fine wine, good food,

loyal ministers, a wise ruler,

friends to share it with.

This is the greatest pleasure in life.

Qilin,

this may be the last time we keep the vigil together.

I'm leaving the capital soon…

HE JINGYUAN, GENERAL MILITARY ADMINISTRATOR

…bound for Jinzhou.

Jingyuan.

WEI QILIN, HUAIHUA COMMANDANT

The northwest border is harsh and barren.

Jinzhou, Chongzhou, and Jizhou are especially impoverished.

You must take good care of yourself.

A true man should make his mark,

far better than bowing

and scraping in the capital, fawning over the powerful.

What a pity.

I won't be here when my nephew is born.

It will be your niece!

You prefer a girl?

Jingyuan, you've read more books than I have.

Help me pick a name for your niece.

Why don't you let your lord pick a name?

The Commander is too important.

I'm afraid it would overwhelm the child.

Dear Chancellor,

our boy Jiuheng is quite clever.

When will he be able to enter your Imperial Academy

and study a few books?

Xie Zheng is still a child,

and you're his uncle.

His own father isn't worried yet.

Who says I'm not worried?

You don't know.

This boy is a terror now.

Mischief all day long.

I'm not joking.

I want to send him to the Imperial Academy right now.

Let you properly educate him.

Changyu.

Changyu?

Yes.

Wei Changyu.

"Long may we bask in grace's light,

where jade steps see spring grass bloom bright."

How's that?

That's a good name.

When the time comes, I'll bring her to kowtow to you.

Good wine.

-Good wine. -Next year, when you leave for Jinzhou,

if the General is willing,

I wish to accompany you.

Together, we'll face the nation's crisis.

Your Highness's safety

concerns the stability of the court and the realm.

This cannot be taken lightly.

Indeed.

"A prince does not sit beneath a dangling eaves."

Your Highness, please reconsider.

You may not know.

This summer, floods ravaged the south.

I went to provide relief,

but the Jia family obstructed me at every turn.

The victims suffered terribly.

My father was furious.

Yet he didn't punish

the Sixteenth Prince or the Jia family.

Instead, he blamed me

for inadequate relief efforts.

All these years,

my father has been harsh with me,

yet lenient with the Jia family

and the Sixteenth Prince.

My heart is lost.

Perhaps,

only by leaving the court,

making my mark at the frontier,

can I

find my way out.

Family affairs.

I've made you…

all laugh.

Your Highness possesses both benevolence and virtue,

wisdom and courage.

You are the only choice for succession.

I don't understand.

Why is His Majesty so partial?

If the Emperor lacks virtue…

let him abdicate, then.

NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS EPISODE

Subtitle translation by: Wanjiao Song