Original subtitles

(Fate of Southern Love)

(Episode 12)

My fate is mine alone to decide.

If we were really just puppets being controlled by someone else,

then I'd destroy anyone who stood in my way.

Let me give you a piece of advice, Lady Jin.

You'd better get your head checked.

Just because you watched a couple of plays,

now you think you're the main character in one,

talking nonsense.

If the stage is gone,

what's the point of leaving?

Hand me the pouch.

I know your mother gave you this pouch.

I also know

the hawthorn pills inside have been there for 16 years.

And I know you're the crown prince

who supposedly died in that fire years ago.

You came back to Jingdu for revenge.

You told me

that this pouch is the only thing in this world

that truly belongs to you.

Everything else about me is a lie.

Only this pouch is really mine.

Take it and leave.

Lou Si Yi.

You don't have to believe this picture book.

But whatever you're planning,

the ending is already set in stone.

We're both doomed, no matter what.

This has nothing to do with court politics,

nor with personal gain.

It's all because in our past life,

you risked everything to save me from danger.

So this time,

I'm determined to change our doomed fate.

That's the whole truth.

In our past life?

Lady Jin,

let me make this perfectly clear.

If I really did give up everything to save you,

then I would only despise who I was back then.

I know.

Keeping this pouch around will always be a risk.

It could be my downfall,

but it's also the only thing I have left in this world.

If what you said is true,

and I ever hesitated in my plans,

then it only proves that from the start,

I should've never allowed myself any attachments.

To get what I want,

I can give up anything.

Nothing will stop me from what I set out to do.

Not you, not anyone.

It didn't before, it doesn't now,

and in the future, it never will.

Fine.

Guess I was just meddling in your business.

From now on, we're just strangers.

From this moment on,

we have nothing to do with each other.

What is that thing?

A pouch?

Is that the pouch I'm going to pick up?

Does this pouch play a big part in the story later on?

(Host. Searching up to chapter 9)

(chapter 17, and episode 60)

(the plot all revolves around Lou Si Yi's pouch.)

(He lost it by accident once, )

(and the female lead picked it up.)

(That's how they met.)

(Later in the story, )

(the Empress accidentally finds the pouch.)

(She starts to suspect Lou Si Yi is the crown prince.)

(So she captures you to threaten Lou Si Yi.)

(Lou Si Yi gives up everything to save you.)

(He even loses all his martial arts.)

(But you think it was Zhou Nan Zhi who saved you.)

(So the two leads end up in a painful misunderstanding.)

So Jin Zhu really hasn't forgotten a thing.

She's trying to pull the same trick again.

She wants to get close to Lou Si Yi to escape her fate.

Jin Zhu, this time,

you won't be so lucky.

They say

it was eating these hawthorn pills

that triggered the allergic reaction.

I remember that courtesan

was obsessed with embroidering red hawthorn flowers.

So low-class.

And yet the Emperor still favored her.

Just a lowly seamstress,

and she even gave birth to a prince.

Someone unworthy of bearing a prince

doesn't deserve to live, either.

I've always heard

the Jin family's daughter was gentle and well-mannered,

cultured and sensible.

But now,

why is she acting so shamelessly?

What could have caused this?

It is pretty strange.

But there's someone even stranger.

The flower maid I sent said

someone deliberately knocked over the hawthorn wine.

Who?

Your Majesty,

there's a commoner named Luo Li requesting an audience.

She entered the palace with Prince Ning's medallion.

Let her in.

Yes.

- Your Majesty the Empress. - It's you.

You were the one who knocked over the wine cup at Qingxiao Pavilion.

I only went to Qingxiao Pavilion with Prince Ning.

I had no other intentions.

But what's strange is that Lady Jin Zhu.

I noticed she had something odd on her.

So I tried to get a closer look.

That's why I accidentally bumped into someone.

What was it?

Hand it over.

A red hawthorn flower.

It's that wretch!

But back then,

I saw her burned to death with my own eyes.

If she staged it all those years ago,

it must have been to protect her child.

Jin Zhu?

I never paid her any mind.

(Jin Zhu.)

(If you dare betray Lou Si Yi, )

(Lou Si Yi will kill you.)

(But if you keep insisting you know nothing,)

(the Empress will kill you.)

(Both of them want you dead.)

(There's no way you'll survive this time.)

Lady Luo,

let me take you out of here first.

My lady, what's been going on with you lately?

You keep saying things I can't make sense of,

and doing things I just don't get.

You won't tell me anything, either.

My lady,

you don't dislike me now, do you?

Silly girl.

I just

don't want to drag you into this anymore.

My lady, what are you saying?

No matter what happens,

I'll always be with you.

Even if it means dying, I'm willing.

No, you can't.

You can't die for me

or for anyone else.

In this life, I want you

to live just for yourself,

and live freely.

Fu Gui,

there are some things I just can't tell you.

But no matter what,

I will never marry Zhou Nan Zhi.

But the birthday banquet is tomorrow.

If His Majesty orders the marriage,

you can't go against the imperial decree.

Until the very last moment,

there's still a chance.

Fu Gui. Tomorrow, find a few people

to pretend to be Mount Jing bandits

and kidnap me in broad daylight on the street.

As long as I avoid the banquet,

everyone in Jingdu will start to suspect

I'm no longer a virgin.

Then everyone at court

will oppose me becoming the Princess Consort of Ning.

At that point, His Majesty

would never grant a marriage between me and Prince Ning.

No, that would ruin your reputation completely.

Fu Gui, trust me.

I won't die from losing my reputation.

But if I marry Zhou Nan Zhi,

that's a dead end for me.

There's no time left to hesitate.

Tomorrow morning, we have to put on the kidnapping act for real.

Alright, I'll take care of it right away.

Why wasn't everything burned?

Chancellor.

Yes, the pouch is gone.

But it may not be a bad thing.

This way, you have one less thing to worry about.

Tomorrow is Prince Ning's birthday banquet.

If Lady Jin...

Whatever she does tomorrow

has nothing to do with me.

I'll go get you some fresh wine.

Steamed buns!

Freshly steamed hot buns!

Pork and chicken buns!

Lady Jin and I are heading out to shop.

We'll be back before noon.

- Help! - My lady! Who are you people?

How dare you lay a hand on someone from the General's Residence?

- We're Mount Jing bandits! - Go after them!

What's the point if we don't snatch someone important?

Hurry, save her!

Lady Jin.

We meet again.

Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress.

That foolish maid of yours

went around hiring people to pretend to be bandits.

She staged a fake kidnapping.

That suits me perfectly.

If your body ends up dumped in the wild,

or you're sold off to a brothel,

no one will blame me.

After all, plenty of people saw you being taken by bandits.

Chancellor. According to the Shadow,

Lady Jin was taken away by the Empress.

Lady Jin knows your secret.

There's no guarantee she won't betray you.

If your identity is exposed,

16 years of planning will go up in smoke.

You will eventually die a miserable death.

She can't be allowed to live.

I don't know how I offended Your Majesty.

Please, enlighten me.

Do you know where you are right now?

16 years ago,

I burned someone alive,

a lowly seamstress who once climbed into the Emperor's bed.

And with her,

her son died too.

Right where you're kneeling.

I never imagined something like that happened in the palace.

I'm young.

I've never heard of this person.

Then do you know what that wretch loved most?

I do not know.

It was hawthorn flowers.

She especially loved to embroider

unique red hawthorn flowers.

Take a look.

Doesn't it look just like the ones on this pouch?

My Nan Yan is the most noble son in the world.

I will not allow anything to go wrong with this.

If I find out that wretch is still alive,

or that child is still alive,

and you knew but didn't say anything...

Lady Jin,

do you know

what will happen to you?

I dared to kill a prince,

so the daughter of the General's Residence

means nothing to me.

Of course,

if this pouch isn't yours,

just tell me everything you know.

I can guarantee your safety for life.

Oh, right.

You don't want to marry Prince Ning, do you?

If you tell me the truth,

I can help you get out of this marriage.

How about it?

His Majesty intends to arrange your marriage to Prince Ning tonight.

You know that too,

don't you?

This pouch...

It belongs to me.