Original subtitles

[A Dream Within A Dream]

[Episode 17]

What is it?

What's going on?

I heard your Chief Master's called something like "Liu"?

I'm known as "Thriver" on the streets,

specializing in dealing with these famous troublemakers in the martial world.

Hurry up

and tell him to come out to see me!

Boss.

This woman is so pretty.

Miss.

Do I look like your future husband?

More like a fly.

Miss.

So beautiful.

Boss!

Boss!

Are you okay, Boss?

Capture that woman!

Yes!

Stop!

Phantom dragon lurks in the black market.

Radiant lanterns illuminate the Nightwalkers.

♪ Phantom dragon lurks in the black market ♪

♪ Radiant lanterns illuminate the Nightwalkers ♪

It's the Moon Immortal.

♪ In the dark of night, pure dreams run deep and wide ♪

♪ Who dares to join the game? This isn't child's play ♪

Shangguan.

The flute.

Are you the one who's called something like "Liu?"

On the streets, I go by the name...

Sir,

you ruined our stage.

The fine is

200 taels of silver.

On the streets, I go by the name...

Miss,

you broke our wine jar.

The fine is 50 taels of silver.

But this gentleman

disturbed this young lady,

which was truly uncalled for.

In my opinion,

the fine for the young lady

should be put on this gentleman's tab.

Please pay.

On the streets, I go by the name...

Master Thief Shanhu.

It seems this crappy ax

is worth some pennies.

How about

giving it to the young lady

to calm her nerves?

Look.

Your ax has disturbed this young lady again.

Kneel and plead guilty now.

You bastard "Liu" something...

Speedy Yunlong.

Even your boss is already on his knees.

What are you waiting for?

Peonies?

Tacky.

Lotuses?

Mediocre.

Roses?

Dull.

A fine sword suits a noble gentleman;

and jade bamboo is a gift for a beautiful lady.

Miss, may I ask

your gracious name?

No need for honorifics.

I live in the west of the city

outside the Shiqiao Gate, at the Duke of Guangping's Residence,

who's Left Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and concurrently Minister of War.

My name is Song Yiting.

Chu Guihong.

Since you had the guts to shoot him,

how come you don't have the guts to clean up the mess?

And you come here now, expecting me

to clean up this mess for you?

Well...

Father.

You know,

with Heng's skills,

there's no way he would've failed to dodge that arrow.

He must have done it on purpose.

He... He had long planned to kick Guihong out of the capital.

Don't you fall into his trap.

Shut up!

You useless thing.

Your Majesty.

I am to blame for what happened at the stables.

But the Seventh Prince

networks with top officials at court,

forges alliances with underworld forces outside the court,

has control over the major force of the Xuanjia Army,

and even seeks to strengthen his power

through a marriage alliance with the Song family.

Such treacherous ambitions are blatantly obvious.

Please make a wise decision, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty.

Chancellor Gao and the others have arrived at the palace gate.

Are they trying to stage a coup?

What do you gentlemen intend to do?

Don't stir up trouble here!

If you anger His Majesty,

I'm afraid you'll face punishment!

Chu Guihong shot the prince,

which is unforgivable.

I, Yao Qian,

beg Your Majesty to judge wisely.

Your Majesty, please judge wisely!

If you keep sighing like that,

you might just sigh my soul away.

Help me up.

Be gentler, okay?

Your Highness,

what a smart tactic.

You used me to irritate Chu Guihong again.

Now His Majesty is furious in the palace,

and you've made a stir in the entire court.

Don't you think you've gone too far this time?

Didn't you say my tactic was old-fashioned?

As long as it works, right?

You...

Only someone like you

would come up with a move that does even more harm

to yourself than to the enemy.

If I didn't risked myself

to make Chu Guihong commit a grave mistake,

how could you break off the engagement with him?

And I'm telling you,

when they come in a while,

be clear in your mind about

what's safe to say and what's not.

We are on the same boat.

I'm telling you too.

Breaking off the engagement

and marrying you

are two separate things.

You're the God of Death.

You must keep your word.

Don't try to play dirty, you hear me?

Do you hear me?

It hurts.

Do you hear me?

Who's the one playing dirty?

Your Highness, now you know what pain feels like?

Then why didn't you dodge

that arrow just now?

I...

His Majesty is here.

Your Highness.

Your Highness, are you alright?

Why are you bleeding so much?

Hang in there.

The imperial physician will be here in no time.

My Lady.

Mother.

Why are you bleeding so much again?

I-It was her.

Just now, she...

My Lady.

It's all my fault.

Sorry for making you worry.

Good girl.

You're just too concerned.

Heng, come on.

Be careful, Your Highness.

Slowly.

Be careful.

Slowly.

Greetings, Your Majesty.

Song.

You rise first.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

You!

Answer me.

Yes.

Your Majesty.

Heng is severely injured.

Might he rise first and answer you?

Your uncle is inciting officials outside the palace gate

to stage a coup.

What,

are you trying to defy me here as well?

I dare not.

How do you intend to punish Chu Guihong?

Your Majesty.

Your Highness...

Chu Guihong is the capital prefect

and the only surviving child of Lord Qianyu.

He's also a great talent to our nation.

If he's to be punished,

I believe all the officials will be disappointed as well.

But according to the law of Great Jing,

Article 8 states that

plotting to harm a member of the royal family...

Plotting to harm a member of the royal family

shall be regarded as treason

and shall be executed according to the law.

So, Your Majesty, I'm just as

conflicted as you are.

Being so seriously injured,

yet you're still concerned about

my difficulties.

Heng, you do put the bigger picture first.

But I see your arrow wound

is about an inch above the left side of your chest.

I suppose it's not very serious, is it?

Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty.

But if Your Majesty would

graciously revoke the decree

and annul the engagement

between Miss Song and Chu Guihong,

then the knot in my heart

would be untied,

and I believe my wounds

would heal faster.

So about what happened at the stables today...

I was just fooling around

with Chu Guihong at the stables.

We were merely fooling around,

so a few bumps were inevitable.

It's nothing serious.

Since it's a simple misunderstanding,

this should be easy to resolve.

Song.

Tell me,

do you have feelings for General Chu?

Your Majesty,

I have absolutely no improper thoughts toward him.

Alright.

Though the imperial edict for your betrothal

was issued 18 years ago,

since there's no affection

between you two now,

I

have no wish to add yet another pair of ill-fated couple to the world.

I hereby declare that

this betrothal is annulled.

However,

Song is not young anymore,

and Song Yude is already aged.

He has long hoped to see his children married

and live out his remaining days in peace.

His wishes align closely

with mine.

Although this betrothal has been cancelled,

it must be

made up for with another.

Liu Mingxi.

Your Majesty.

Bring my jade seal.

Today,

in front of the Noble Consort,

I'll betroth Song as Heng's principal consort.

Your Majesty, that's not right.

This is supposed to be just a broken betrothal, Your Majesty.

Thank you for granting our marriage, Your Majesty.

I...

By the way,

there was an old custom in the previous dynasty

that once a prince gets married, he must go and govern his fief.

Now that you've been bestowed a principal consort,

once you recover from your injury,

you shall set out

for your fief.

Your Maj...

Since you're here,

come have a drink with me.

I never expected

this place

to be so complicated.

The good people I once believed in

might not

be so good after all.

And the ones I thought were bad

might

have their own struggles.

Here?

You mean

you came from somewhere else?

But who's not?

We are all visitors here,

unable to escape from this worldly cage.

Everyone

have responsibilities they can't walk away from.

You're like this,

so am I,

and so is everyone.

I never noticed before

that as the second female lead,

you're actually quite open-minded.

The second female lead?

It doesn't matter.

What matters is

you're more persistent than me.

You said you wouldn't get married,

and you've held to it.

Don't you think

that's strange of me?

No.

Not at all.

I think it's a good thing.

You should always hold on to

everything you desire.

Don't ever let worldly norms,

responsibilities,

or royal orders weigh you down.

Since you've thought it all through,

why are you still here

drinking away your sorrows with me?

Because things are out of my hands.

The one I like doesn't like me back,

the one I don't like was injured by me,

and there's another one who I want to run away from but can't

because we're bound by fate.

I understand.

In the past,

I didn't know what love was.

But now that I know,

I'm not as carefree as I used to be.

You fell in love with someone?

Could it be...

Be...

Be...

Nan Heng?

Of course not.

That's good.

You scared me.

Remember, Song Yiting.

Once you get involved with Nan Heng,

it'll be the beginning of your misfortune.

You must never

have any contact with him,

especially not

by the water,

in private rooms,

or during any assassination attempts.

Never.

Do you hear me?

Aren't these exactly the things

you went through with him?

This... This is different.

How?

You don't like Nan Heng,

but you spend a lot of time with him.

Affection inevitably grows over time.

Instead of worrying about me,

you should worry more about yourself.

At least,

I know how I feel.

But what about you?

Do you really know

what kind of person

you truly like?

Of course I do.

I like...

I like...

You like Father and Mother,

you like Zhixia and Yingqiu,

and you like me.

You seem to like everyone,

but it actually shows that

you don't love anyone.

Sometimes,

I think you're a bit weird.

You seem to be happy around everyone,

but you've never really

had feelings for anyone,

nor have you ever really tried to know anyone.

Song Yimeng.

If you keep treating this place as somewhere else,

you'll never live this life well.

So His Majesty knows that

sending princes to govern fiefs is merely an old custom from the previous dynasty?

But since the founding of our dynasty,

there has never been a precedent of

a prince being sent to a fief upon marriage.

Is His Majesty trying to use you as a pawn,

sending you far away

to pave the way for the Eighteenth Prince?

His Majesty

is so biased.

Why are you here again, string puller?

Chief is injured. I'm here to check on him.

Also,

someone

asked me

to give this to you.

Enjoy your drinks.

I... I'll just put

it here.

Come back.

Anything else?

What is it?

This... This...

Open it.

I don't think it's appropriate. It's a gift for you.

I...

His Highness asked you to open it.

Do I have to repeat it?

Hurry up!

You...

[Painting of the Exiled Immortal Under the Moon]

[Painting of the Exiled Immortal Under the Moon]

Painting of the Exiled Immortal Under the Moon?

This...

This...

[Painting of the Exiled Immortal Under the Moon]

Miss Song Yiting intends to befriend you, Chief,

so she specially left you this painting,

hoping you understand her feelings.

I guess she's fallen in love with you.

Fallen in love with me?

I've never even gotten a clear look at her.

How could there be any feeling between us?

Well...

Explain it!

[Gentle Breeze, Pleasant Weather]

My Lady.

It's so late.

What are you doing?

I'm meditating.

Logically speaking,

I should first marry Chu Guihong,

then break the engagement,

then get stabbed by Nan Heng,

and only after all that should

the story move to me marrying Nan Heng.

Why is the plot developing

so quickly all of a sudden?

Could it be

I've really changed my fate?

My Lady.

You're about to be the Prince's consort.

It's time you got rid of

those superstitious habits.

[Slacker Escape Plan]

I'll never be

the Prince's consort.

And once the plot is changed,

there's no going back.

As for breaking off engagements,

I'm familiar with it now that I've done it once.

Nan Heng

wants to marry me?

Bah!

Let him dream on.

[Slacker Escape Plan]

My Lady.

[Iconic Scenes in the Script]

[3. Family Rift over Wild Vegetable Foraging]

[Song Residence]

His Majesty hereby decrees,

the eldest daughter of Song Yude, the Duke of Guangping,

Left Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, concurrently Minister of War,

is gentle and obedient by nature,

calm and tolerant.

Her words always conform to the rules of history,

and her conduct follows the standards of propriety.

She's worthy to be favored in the imperial palace

and to share the noble duty of a prince's wife.

Song Yude's daughter shall be wed as Consort to the Seventh Prince.

The relevant officials are hereby instructed to prepare the ceremonial rites and official decree.

[Imperial Edict]

Miss Song.

You strove so hard to secure this marriage.

Accept the edict.

Eunuch Liu.

May I ask,

what happens if

I don't accept this imperial edict?

Defying the imperial edict?

That's simple.

The family shall be raided and wiped out,

torn limb from limb by five horses,

the males conscripted into forced labor,

and the females sold into servitude.

Miss Song.

The choice is yours.

Alright.

I understand what you mean.

Well,

I have another question.

Does the Seventh Prince know

that you're coming to announce the edict today?

Didn't His Majesty say yesterday that

when a prince gets married,

he'll be sent to govern a fief?

I think

I'd better discuss this with the Seventh Prince first.

Look...

This edict is for you, Miss.

You don't need to worry

about His Highness's part.

Miss.

Go on and accept the edict.

Otherwise...

I... I'll accept it.

Wait.

Father?

Honey?

You mustn't.

Mr. Song.

Are you trying to defy His Majesty's order?

I'll go back to the palace

and report this to His Majesty.

You don't have to go alone, Eunuch Liu.

I'll go with you to see His Majesty.

There's something

I want to ask His Majesty in person.

18 years ago, His Majesty issued the edict solemnly,

and now, he's going back on his words.

Can His Majesty face the noble spirit of Lord Qianyu in the afterlife?

Is this part of the script?

Father!

[Scene 13, Episode 17 Dream of Qingning]

Chu Guihong and I

were betrothed by our parents.

There's no affection between us.

But it's different with the Seventh Prince.

We are truly in love with each other.

The iconic scene?

It can't be here, right?

Honey!

Honey!

Are you out of your mind?

You've always adhered to the Doctrine of the Mean

and handled matters with tact.

You especially avoid making enemies.

If you go defy the imperial edict,

you'll be offending the entire royal family.

Are you giving up your position?

Are you giving up our entire Song family?

Shut up.

Only by self-cultivation and family harmony

can a noble person shine virtue across the land.

Step aside, you all.

I've made up my mind.

Honey!

Father, please calm down.

This marriage

has already displeased His Majesty.

If you continue to defy the imperial will,

you'll only make things worse for Yimeng.

Honey, if you insist

on defying the imperial edict,

step over my body!

Master, please think twice!

Master, please think twice!

Honey...

I've been an official for decades.

I still have some dignity in the court.

My daughter

will never marry the Seventh Prince!

No one can stop me!

Father... Father...

Shut up!

Father!

[Persistence]

Father.

Go now.

Go and defy the imperial edict.

I'm begging you.

Don't stay here watching my drama unfold.

Go now.

[Persistence]

Go.

Go!

Father!

Father!

Chu Guihong and I

Chu Guihong and I

were betrothed by our parents.

were betrothed by our parents.

There's no affection between us.

There's no affection between us.

But it's different with the Seventh Prince.

We truly love each other, Father.

Even if one day,

he becomes the crown prince,

I'll stand with him through thick and thin.

If he falls from grace and loses everything,

I'll stay by his side till the very end!

I'll stay by his side till the very end!

♪ Eyes dulled, enduring all the scorn ♪

Do you really mean that?

So everything you said to me before

♪ Pages curled, spare me more thorns ♪

about wanting to avoid the Seventh Prince at all cost

♪ I've seen through every illusion ♪

♪ Strip the paint, let me choose what's true ♪

was all a lie?

Of course not.

I wish to run away as far as I can right now.

♪ If the heart has glimpsed the fire on the plain ♪

Yes!

♪ Then let me be the moth again ♪

Even if today

I'm condemned by all

and cast out by my own kin,

I'll still marry him!

♪ Eyes dulled, enduring all the scorn ♪

You disgraceful child!

♪ Pages curled, spare me more thorns ♪

Guards!

♪ I've seen through every illusion ♪

Take her away and keep a close watch on her!

♪ The future is hazy, I wander with the flow ♪

Before marrying Chu Guihong,

she's not allowed to take a single step out of her room!

Yes, My Lord.

♪ Why does the pain run deep as I seek the path back ♪

Father! Father!

♪ In a single night, all turns to hollow sorrow ♪

Please let me marry the Seventh Prince!

We truly love each other!

Father!

Father!

Father!

Father!

Father!

[Pure of Heart]

Song Yude.

You were my childhood study companion.

Ever since I ascended the throne,

I've always protected you

and trusted you.

You're now

the Minister of War,

a man above all others!

I just don't understand

what you still have to complain about!

I

earnestly plead Your Majesty to revoke the decree.

It was your daughter who failed to uphold propriety first,

stirring public uproar by entangling with Heng.

What I did

was solely to grant their union!

Your Majesty.

18 years ago,

Your Majesty were intent on having the Eighteenth Prince succeed the throne

someday, so you betrothed my daughter to General Chu.

Now that

the Eighteenth Prince's conduct has faltered,

Your Majesty fears that the Seventh Prince

is cunning and difficult to control,

so again, you intend to use my daughter

as a snare to control

the Seventh Prince completely.

[Pure of Heart]

Among all the civil and military officials in the court,

only you cunning old eel

have the audacity to speak such words to me.

[Keep Calm]

So in your opinion,

who should I choose to be the crown prince?

Your Majesty, your uncertainty about this betrothal

actually reflects

your uncertainty about the choice of the crown prince.

Now, the Gao family's support for the Seventh Prince is gaining momentum,

while the Chu family behind the Eighteenth Prince

has declined due to their defeat in Pingrong.

At this very moment,

my daughter has intensified the conflict between the two sides,

with hostility at its peak.

Should the two forces clash,

the Eighteenth Prince will undoubtedly

be the one to lose out.

Your Majesty is trying to balance the court

and protect the Eighteenth Prince

by agreeing to let my daughter marry the Seventh Prince.

This way,

the Seventh Prince

won't make a move against the Eighteenth Prince for the time being,

and his power will be weakened

due to his departure from the capital to govern a fief.

You cunning old fox.

Perhaps I should let you

sit in my throne for a change.

I dare not.

The sovereign governs and the minister obeys;

father and son each play their part.

But those who fear aren’t always the ones of lower rank.

Your Majesty is wise.

My daughter defied the imperial order,

and I'm filled with dread.

What Song Yimeng defied was your order,

not mine.

Then what the Seventh Prince defied was his fate,

not Your Majesty's will.

What if Song Yimeng's fate

is to marry Heng?

Your Majesty.

I believe

my daughter

should marry someone who truly cares for her

and enjoy their wholehearted love.

Your Majesty's love for your sons is sincere,

so is my love for my daughter.

Then how do you know

who truly cares for her?

Is it necessarily Chu Guihong?

Song Yude.

[Pure of Heart]

My consent to Heng and Song Yimeng's marriage

was supposed to be an expedient with multiple benefits,

yet you openly defy the imperial edict.

What punishment do you think you deserve?

I deserve to die.

[Pure of Heart]

Song Yimeng actually agreed to the betrothal?

Could it be that Miss Song

has long been in love deeply with Your Highness?

Just look at her.

Does she look like someone deeply in love?

Besides, the one she was arranged to marry today

was Nan Heng,

not Li Shiliu.

Your Highness, you've put on too many acts.

I really can't tell anymore at this point.

Well,

since Miss Song agreed,

doesn't that mean Your Highness has to go govern a fief?

What should we do now?

Song Yimeng agreed,

but Song Yude might not.

He wouldn't be willing to

marry his precious daughter off to me.

Your Highness is wise.

I heard from the Song Residence that

Mr. Song locked

Miss Song in the woodshed in a fit of anger.

She was in despair and trying to end her life in there,

threatening to starve herself

to resist the order.

She actually threatens to starve herself in defiance?

I don't understand, either.

Logically speaking,

Miss Song

wouldn't starve for Your Highness, right?

She's not doing it for me.

She's only worried about Li Shiliu.

So Miss Song

wants to get out and see Li Shiliu?

Why are you here again?

Chief.

Something bad happened in the palace.

[Jiuyao Gate]

Guihong.

The purpose of us coming here today

is to save Mr. Song.

You're doing this for your Song Yimeng,

and I'm doing this for my Yiting.

That's why we must...

That's why you mustn't act impulsively, Your Highness.

How could I be that kind of person?

I...

Heng.

Stop right there!

What's this supposed to mean?

You didn't even greet me.

Are you looking down on me?

Chu Guihong.

His Majesty will surely punish Mr. Song

for defying the imperial edict.

The Song family is in trouble today.

If you've come for the same purpose as me,

why don't we let go of our old grudges

and resolve this matter together?

What do you think?

Mr. Song has a long-standing relationship with the Qianyu Mansion.

That's only reasonable.

He left just like that?

[Imperial Study]

Song Yude.

You defied the imperial edict

and spoke insolently.

You deserve death.

Yet, considering your years of service to our nation

and your considerable merits,

I sentence you to the punishment of 30 lashes.

Do you acknowledge your guilt?

I

acknowledge my guilt.

[Imperial Study]

Eunuch Liu.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Carry out the punishment.

Please calm down, Your Majesty!

Your Majesty.

Please calm down, Your Majesty.

Are you two also here to defy my order?

Please wait a moment, Father!

Me too!

What are you doing here?

The Imperial Study

isn't a place for you to just drop by.

No, I...

Please calm down, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Mr. Song is aged.

If he were to take the 30 lashes,

it would be like a death sentence.

Besides,

your birthday is in 10 days.

Blood shall not be seen in the palace.

Ridiculous.

If that's the reason,

I would rather not celebrate my birthday.

Your Majesty.

His Highness is right.

Your Majesty has been wise all your life.

You must not be stained with the reputation of cruelly killing a loyal minister.

We are risking our lives to offer this counsel,

only so that Your Majesty's name could be

preserved with honor in the records of time.

I'm standing here just fine, aren't I?

There's no need to think about the records of time.

Father!

Shut up!

Your Majesty.

Mr. Song is aged.

I'm willing to bear the punishment in place of Mr. Song.

Well, well, well.

One is

my son,

and the other is the Empress's nephew.

Yet today,

you're both openly defying me

for the sake of an outsider.

You both want to save Song Yude, right?

Very well.

I'll give you a chance today.

Whoever is willing to hand over 10,000 soldiers

to guard the border in Dongshuo,

I will grant their request.

Your Majesty.

This cannot be done.

The Seventh Prince and Mr. Chu

are both pillars of our country.

How can they be punished because of me?

I want to hear it from them personally!

What?

Why are you both silent now?

Don't you both want to marry Song Yimeng?

Aren't you both willing to suffer

physical pain for a woman?

As soon as you heard about giving up military power,

you both went quiet.

Lost your voices?

Guihong, are you crazy?

Father!

How about

I take the punishment for Mr. Song?

Get lost.

I... I...

Your Majesty.

I'm willing to bear the punishment in place of Mr. Song.

Good.

Your Majesty.

However,

your 10,000 Xuanjia Army soldiers

will never return to your command again.

Heng.

You'd better think it through.

I have.

Song Yimeng

is the principal consort I worked so hard to secure,

which makes Mr. Song

my father-in-law.

It's only natural to bear the punishment

for my father-in-law.

In that case,

I'll grant your wish.

Eunuch Liu.

Carry out the punishment.