Original subtitles

ADAPTED FROM THE NOVEL "MY QUEEN" BY XIE LOUNAN

Do you think

I won't kill you?

That's for Your Highness

to decide.

I only remember

that Her Highness loved the world beyond the palace.

She wanted to leave and see the flower fields.

I didn't want her to have any regrets.

Bring her back

in two hours.

I've returned.

I've brought you to see the flower fields.

QING

YING

Li Hongqing,

I'm glad I found you.

It's been seven days and ten hours since I last saw you.

I've been thinking of you constantly.

Unable to eat or sleep.

- Your Highness. - I'm fond of you.

Do you feel the same?

Can you really take me out of the palace?

Can we travel the rivers and mountains,

see the fields of flowers?

Look, Your Highness.

Why didn't you wait for me?

Why couldn't you have waited just a bit longer…

BLESSINGS AND FORTUNE

Ying,

when you were little,

you were born round and chubby.

I loved holding you close to me

in my arms.

Your big eyes

would sparkle at me, smiling.

Your Majesty, Preceptor Du requests an audience.

I've heard about Princess Ying.

Please accept my condolences.

I've copied scriptures for Princess Ying.

I pray she ascends to bliss swiftly.

I didn't expect you

to come to my Xuanguang Hall of your own accord.

I'm merely grieving

for Her Highness.

I heard

Her Highness was regaining her senses.

But after Your Majesty's visit,

she passed away.

My Ying

was always improving and relapsing.

I never thought His Majesty would cause her death.

I understand.

Your Majesty had no choice.

You didn't want Ying to suffer longer in this world.

I don't understand

what

you mean.

The late Emperor died suddenly,

followed by the fire at Luling Palace,

leaving Princess Ying deranged.

Her life

has been full of hardship.

What exactly brings you

here today?

Since my youth,

I've served at His Majesty's side.

I wanted to serve

a wise ruler who could bring hope to Great Qi.

Indeed.

You've always been loyal to him.

But now I no longer wish to be.

I want to help you

eliminate your real threat.

I intend to aid the Prince of Yuzhang in seizing the throne.

Why?

Why?

Perhaps it's because

I've been betrayed.

You give everything to someone,

yet he drifts further away

for an unworthy cause.

Disappointment turns to hatred over time.

Then, hatred festers

until you want him gone.

Surely, you must know

that feeling.

I don't understand your intentions.

Do you know what you're saying?

Unless you do this,

the Prince of Yuzhang's heart will always be with his brother.

You'll never win it back.

You must fan the flames of his resentment toward His Majesty.

Turn the brothers against each other

unto death.

Only then will he fight for the throne.

Princess Ying's death

has lit the first fire.

But it's not enough.

What do you mean?

Does Your Majesty dare to stake your life?

I have a poison here.

Upon taking it, one's breath and pulse quickly cease,

plunging you into a deathlike trance

while you remain fully conscious.

The antidote

will revive you in moments from that sham death.

This slice of ginseng has been pre-soaked in the antidote.

You can have a trusted aide

brew it into tea afterward,

or hold it under your tongue

before you take the poison.

The toxin

will clear

after 48 hours.

Do you think me

so easily deceived?

Please choose one, Your Majesty.

Fortune favors the bold.

No victory comes without risk.

Coming here to pledge allegiance

means I've burned my bridges.

The antidote is right here.

Only you and I are present.

If you doubt me,

don't save me.

Fortune favors the bold.

No victory comes without risk.

It's time to take the gamble.

Father!

Your Majesty, what brings you here?

Physician Li,

didn't you send word to the palace

that my father showed signs of waking?

Me? I…

I don't recall…

Oh, no.

It's Xiao Huan.

Something has happened in the palace.

The Imperial Father-in-law has awakened!

Father.

Father.

You're awake.

Father!

- Cangcang… - Yes? What is it?

Preceptor Du…

Preceptor Du?

He knew Preceptor Du was the mastermind,

so he arranged to draw me away from the palace.

Cangcang…

Entrusting the jade seal to you

was his way

of ensuring your survival

and leaving

his last spark of hope.

He won't succeed.

I vowed I'd stand or fall with him.

I can make it. Xiao Huan,

wait for me.

I'm sorry.

For some reason,

I felt I had to say that to you.

Qianqing.

Why are you here?

Ying's cause of death is unclear.

Regardless of what happened,

I can't let her die without answers.

I must investigate.

Her cause of death is unclear?

Weren't you the one who killed her?

If she truly died because of me,

I won't deny it.

Don't bother.

I hate myself

for ever agreeing to let you remove the poison from Ying.

I should have taken her from this palace,

from this wretched place.

Ying's death is on our hands,

you and I.

Xiao Qianqing,

calm yourself and think this through.

Doesn't Ying's death seem suspicious?

Do you want even her death exploited?

Suspicious?

Elaborate.

She was nearly cured,

then this happened out of the blue.

Think harder.

Maybe someone didn't want her to regain her wits.

Lies!

My Ying passed without finding peace.

Qianqing, look at your sister.

How can you be shaken by a few words from him?

Mother,

he has no reason to kill Ying at all.

You forgot.

Ying caused him to lose his child.

The Empress's first child.

Do you really believe

he had no reason to harm Ying?

I've said I won't pursue it.

One can bide one's time for the right opportunity to seek vengeance.

Your schemes run deeper than the sea.

Qianqing, will you never understand?

No.

We grew up together.

Though he's cunning,

he is not that sort of man.

My foolish son.

How can you be so innocent as to believe

in brotherhood and sincerity

within these palace walls?

There's nothing to gain from him killing Ying.

Gain?

Ling Xuefeng already made him wary.

He fears more palace unrest, another upheaval.

He only wants to eliminate opponents.

He claims Ying's death was meant to incriminate someone.

Surely it's aimed at implicating me.

He already took out Ling Xuefeng.

Now, it's my turn. You'll be next.

We will all become sacrifices to his consolidation of power.

Empress Dowager Liu,

stop weaving tales.

- Trust me. - He only wants to find the mastermind.

The mastermind? Who?

He is the mastermind! He killed Ying!

Qianqing…

Qianqing,

would you rather trust him

than me?

Ying.

Your brother

distrusts and defies me

utterly.

I might as well join you among the departed.

Mother!

Mother, what did you take?

Mother!

Qianqing,

you've grown distant

as you matured.

But everything I do is for you.

You may not believe me,

but remember,

here in this palace,

all seek power and gain.

Even if you refuse to contend,

your foes will never spare you.

Do not…

Do not

be deceived

by him again…

Mother…

Mother…

Mother!

Mother…

Are you satisfied now?

Is this what you wanted?

From now on,

my mother will no longer vex your eyes.

My sister will no longer scheme to assassinate you.

- Are you happy now? - Qianqing.

So all this,

including the mastermind,

was you all along! It was all you!

Xiao Qianqing, have you lost your mind?

HEAVEN AND EARTH

YAOQING HALL

Madam,

the Prince of Yuzhang has made a move against His Majesty.

This day has finally come.

Ms. Yan.

Yes, Madam.

You've always called my mother's life fragile as paper.

You're afraid love will destroy me

as it did her.

See here.

My lifespan is long enough now, isn't it?

Madam…

Rest assured.

I will no longer let affections dictate my life.

I will sever

all these ties.

My destiny rests with me, not the heavens.

My only love

is for myself.

If heaven refuses me,

I will defy it!

NANRONG PALACE

Is this a rebellion?

Your Majesty is correct.

Today,

we rebel.

Du Tingxin.

It's you indeed.

You betray me?

I once served Your Majesty

with loyalty.

Yet,

you have deeply disappointed me.

You're the one behind Ling Xuefeng.

What are you saying?

I fail to understand.

Report!

Preceptor Du, we've searched the entire palace.

The Empress is not here.

You let Ling Cangcang escape!

Relay my orders.

Should the Empress return, kill her on sight.

Understood.

Du Tingxin,

you dare!

I have already rebelled.

Why should I balk at one more death?

- Kill him! - Stop!

He is the Emperor of Great Qi.

You cannot kill him on a whim.

Prince of Yuzhang,

he has betrayed you so.

Don't you want his life?

My sister died.

My mother died to prove her cause.

Killing him outright would be too easy on him.

Take His Majesty away to rest.

Prince of Yuzhang,

- I'm helping you. - Helping me?

All these years, your fealty was to Xiao Huan.

Yet now you turn to aid me instead?

I am the Imperial Preceptor.

I serve Great Qi.

My loyalty is not to one man,

nor just to Xiao Huan.

But to the world, to Great Qi.

I choose

to support Your Highness's ascension.

Do you think

I would trust a madwoman?

I have never sought the throne.

You will want it.

Your brother, the current Emperor,

slaughtered Princess Ying and drove the Empress Dowager to despair,

all to secure his throne.

If he desires the throne so,

why not take it from him?

When you become Emperor,

watch how remorseful

your brother will be.

That will be justice served.

Why?

Why do you revolt then?

If you wish to ally with me,

I must know why.

Or how can I trust you?

Why do I rebel?

He gave Ling Cangcang the remedy meant to save himself.

His very life I wrested from death's grasp,

tending cauldrons through endless nights,

testing remedies, needling meridians without respite!

If he won't cherish his life,

then I must be the one to destroy it.

You truly are a pitiful lunatic.

Indeed.

Thus, I can no longer indulge in such affections.

Either way,

I no longer deserve to.

On the day my mother and Ying are laid to rest,

I want Xiao Huan to die as penance.

But until then,

I want him alive.

Very well. It shall be as you wish.

LINGQUAN PALACE

Leave us.

Your Majesty.

I know you can hear me.

That's why I'm here

to speak with you.

You've always known who I truly am.

You've never received the late Emperor's love,

so you refuse to let any woman he favored live.

My mother had to be sacrificed.

Isn't that right?

The truth is, the poison I gave you

won't truly take effect

for three days.

By then,

you'll already be sealed in your lavish coffin.

Mother,

rest easy.

I'll reclaim everything this world owes me,

piece by piece.

If heaven and earth reject me,

so be it.

XUANGUANG HALL

SPIRIT TABLET OF EMPRESS DOWAGER LIU OF GREAT QI

Kneel.

Prince of Yuzhang, pardon my impertinence.

But where lies Princess Ying's remains?

Why is Her Highness not given a funeral and interment in the Imperial Mausoleum?

This defies all custom.

I despise your prattle of rites and tradition

while meddling where you don't belong,

cloaked in false virtue.

Ying spent her life confined in the cold palace.

When did you ever treat her

as a princess?

Now that she's freed at last,

you all suddenly remember her title.

When she was alive, she languished in the cold palace.

In death,

must she be trapped in the Imperial Mausoleum too?

His Majesty has been in indisposition.

As Your Highness handles state affairs in his stead,

you should tread carefully and uphold rites above all.

Rites?

What rites

do you speak of?

Please grant Her Highness the proper rites befitting her title,

and bury her swiftly.

To heck with them!

Your Highness…

Minister Ding, how fortunate you must be that your family boasts

four generations under one roof.

If you've never known the grief of losing kin,

I can arrange for you to experience it now,

so you shall never spout

such utter nonsense again!

I…

You all enjoy fatherly piety,

filial children,

and family bliss.

So why can't you allow one departed princess

her ascent to heaven?

Must you deny her peace in life and death alike?

I know you're grieving too deeply to hear anything now.

So I'll say just this.

I'll always be by your side.