Original subtitles

The Scholar and the Emperor

Father.

I have loved Zhili for a long time.

In my heart, Zhili

is more precious than any treasure.

I cannot bear anyone speaking ill of her.

I am establishing my own household

because I want to give her the very best.

I know

this is still not enough to prove my sincerity.

So

I am willing to accept any test Father and Mother set for me.

Anian.

I have watched you grow up.

You have always been brave and disciplined.

Though you are young,

you have always been

steady in word and deed.

However,

as for Zhili's marriage,

we will never force her.

Zhili herself

will make the decision.

Zhili.

Will you marry me?

The Shen family has fallen on hard times.

How can I think of marrying now?

Don't worry.

As long as I, Di Nian, am here,

I will never let anyone slight the Shen family again.

I can ask His Majesty to grant us a marriage decree

so you can marry with full honor

and enter the Di household proudly and openly.

You truly

don't care about what happened to me?

I don't.

Then do you understand

that what weighs on my heart

the knot in my heart won't come undone just because you say you don't care.

Even if I marry you,

I will not love you.

I will never force your feelings.

I know this proposal is sudden,

but I also wish to preserve the Shen family's honor.

I have no intention of taking advantage of your vulnerability.

If one day

your heart belongs to someone else,

I will not stand in your way.

Trust me.

I won't let anyone mistreat you or make you suffer.

Not for the rest of your life.

Zhili.

I understand your concerns.

You deserve every good thing in this world.

Whatever you choose,

the Shen family's spirit will not break.

Anian.

I trust you.

I am willing to marry you.

Don't worry.

Whatever lies ahead, we are all here for you.

Grand Tutor, Madam.

Everything outside is ready.

It's all ready.

Ready.

Xiaolin, light them.

Beautiful.

So beautiful.

This one is lovely.

Don't worry.

Di Nian would pluck the stars and moon for Zhili,

yet he can also give her all the freedom in the world.

Perhaps that, too, is a gift.

By the time they marry,

Fuzhi and Young Lord Shen should be back as well.

Now both the Tiger's Roar Gang and those who shielded it

have been eliminated.

Congratulations are also due to Director Meng

for getting what you wished for.

What I wished for

is also what Your Majesty wanted.

If congratulations are in order,

then I should be congratulating Your Majesty.

I remember you once said

the first snow is a time to make a wish.

Director Meng has earned another great merit.

Tell me what you want.

Your Majesty already knows.

What I wish for

has always been to serve at court.

Not a single wish concerning me?

I believe

walking side by side, lighting each other's way,

would make this life worthwhile.

I do not want to make things difficult for Your Majesty,

nor do I wish to ask for more.

Then let me be greedy on your behalf.

I want you to have real authority

and true love.

These dragon-and-phoenix pendants

were with my father and mother for over thirty years.

The dragon is for the Emperor; the phoenix, the Empress.

Today,

with the snow of Western Hills as witness,

I give the phoenix pendant to you.

I know

you do not seek the position of Empress,

nor do you wish to be confined to the inner palace.

But this is my promise to you.

I trust Your Majesty completely.

But ancestral law will not allow it.

I would rather be your blade or sword,

a minister who speaks truth to you,

so Your Majesty's good name endures.

Ancestral laws are fixed. People are not.

I am reforming the administration and restoring order at court

because I refuse to bow to outdated rules.

A position of real authority—

I will give you that.

A life without regret—I will share it with you.

These have never been mutually exclusive.

The weight of this realm

I am willing to bear with you.

I am willing to stand with Your Majesty

to secure the realm,

care for the people,

and bring lasting peace.

First, bow to Heaven and Earth.

Second, bow to your parents.

Husband and wife, bow to each other.

Perform the joined-cup rite.

Drink the joined-cup wine together.

May husband and wife grow old together.

-Congratulations! -Congratulations!

Wonderful.

Madam.

The Marquis has dismissed the guests.

He said you were tired today

and should rest peacefully in the inner room.

He will sleep on the couch outside tonight

so as not to disturb you.

Zhili.

Why are you still awake so late?

Is something wrong?

Now that we are married,

if we sleep in separate rooms

and word reaches the court,

what will people say?

I'd like to see who dares call our marriage false.

Don't worry.

With me here,

no one will dare bully you.

From now on,

we can live just as we did at the Shen residence.

Go get some sleep.

You preserved the Shen family's honor.

I also do not want

my troubles to tarnish your reputation.

Your standing in the army

must not suffer in the slightest.

Especially now that you've inherited the marquisate.

Since I have married you,

I understand what this marriage entails.

Whatever happens,

I do not want you to suffer any wrong.

From this day forward,

you, Di Nian,

are my husband.

And the Di residence is now my home.

You treat me well,

and I will treat you well in return.

Zhili.

Though we are married,

I will respect you.

I will wait until

you truly come to love me.

You look lovely when you smile.

Zhili.

You sleep here. I will take the couch.

Call me anytime if you need anything tonight.

Director Meng.

The wind is strong today.

Put this on.

Don't catch a chill.

I can do it myself.

Let me.

You still have much to do.

Go attend to your work.

Don't worry.

Everything you entrusted to me,

I have seen to without missing a thing.

There.

I'm off.

In Daning's third year of Jingyuan,

at the Grand Imperial Sacrifice,

may Heaven grant its protection

and bless all the people.

By the Sacred Ancestor's teachings,

our great foundation was established.

Today, His Majesty reverently presents the ritual vessels

and bows before the ancestral temple.

Leading all civil and military officials,

he respectfully performs the grand rite.

May our ancestors graciously accept these offerings.

Kneel and bow.

Bow again.

Bow a third time.

Today is the grand ancestral ceremony.

Before our revered ancestors,

I personally proclaim an edict of reform.

At the founding of the dynasty,

the late Emperor established twelve ancestral laws.

They have endured through three reigns.

But times have changed.

Among them,

the ban on sovereign-subject romance,

permanent slave status,

and the ministers' nomination of the Empress—

these three laws

are no longer suited to our time.

As for the ministers' nomination of the Empress,

it was meant to balance sovereign and ministers,

yet treacherous men nearly exploited it

and brought disaster upon the state.

I have considered this repeatedly.

Any entrenched old law that harms the realm

must be uprooted completely.

Your Majesty.

Since the late Emperor established these ancestral laws,

no one has altered them for three generations.

If Your Majesty abolishes them rashly,

what place does that leave for our ancestors

or the rules and rites of the palace?

Without breaking the old, the new cannot stand.

To follow old precedent in everything

would truly betray our ancestors' intent.

Your Majesty, please consider.

Zhongwan's remnants are still lying low.

If we reform now,

the court will surely fall into turmoil.

If foreign enemies exploit our weakness, I fear...

Without turmoil within, why fear threats without?

If the entire court stands united,

even surrounded by powerful enemies,

what has Daning to fear?

There is no need to debate this further.

My decision is final.

This...

This is the phoenix pendant the late Emperor gave the late Empress.

It was the imperial couple's token.

Your Majesty is not yet married. Such an important token—

how can a mere court official possess it?

How dare you, Meng Tinghui!

You covet the Empress's seat!

During the top metropolitan scholar impostor case,

I already suspected your motives were impure.

You pretend your ambition lies in government,

but in truth you seek His Majesty's favor

to seize the Empress's throne.

Thinking back now,

when she attacked the Right Chancellor and schemed against the Shen family,

ruining Miss Shen's reputation,

was that also to clear her own path to becoming Empress?

That accusation is utterly unfair.

If not for Director Meng,

how could Ling Yunfei and the Tiger's Roar Gang,

even the traitor Gu Qin hidden within the court,

have been brought to justice so quickly?

Stop changing the subject.

Why is the phoenix pendant in her hands?

I gave it to her.

As for this phoenix pendant,

I personally gave it to Meng Tinghui.

Romance between sovereign and subject

is a crime the moment it begins.

Your Majesty's words mean that...

Correct.

I love Meng Tinghui.

I have decided to abolish that prohibition.

Your Majesty says

three obsolete ancestral laws will be abolished,

but perhaps you only mean to abolish this one

so you can place Meng Tinghui

on the Empress's throne.

That witch has bewitched Your Majesty!

Under ancestral law,

she should be executed by a thousand cuts.

Daning's legal code contains 360 statutes,

and no such crime exists among them.

Your Majesty...

So-called ancestral law,

when it no longer suits the age,

must be reformed.

Today Your Majesty breaks one law for her.

Tomorrow you may abolish a hundred more.

If this continues,

the court

will answer only to you and Meng Tinghui.

Then what use are ministers like us?

What is wrong with reform?

Everything I have done

is not for Meng Tinghui alone.

But her presence

has strengthened my resolve to reform

and made me act more swiftly.

Your Majesty may have a thousand reasons,

but in the eyes of the people,

you have merely been bewitched by this demoness.

Do you not fear losing the people's support

and being condemned as a foolish ruler?

This realm is mine.

I will bear its burden myself.

I have already issued an Edict of Self-Reproach.

I will proclaim to the world

that my reforms—

their rights and wrongs, merits and faults—

may be judged by future generations.

An Edict of Self-Reproach?

Your Majesty.

Meng Tinghui, though a woman,

holds the power of state oversight.

That alone violates ancestral law.

And now, with Your Majesty...

This is an omen of disaster for the state.

The late Emperor granted me this Dragon-Headed Staff,

to strike a foolish ruler above

and corrupt ministers below.

Before our ancestors today,

on behalf of the late Emperor,

I will discipline Your Majesty.

A baleful star has descended,

throwing the court into chaos.

Today I will restore order

and purge the evil beside the throne.

-This... -Left Chancellor...

Left Chancellor.

I tolerate this one blow

because you have served three reigns.

Late Emperor...

The duty you entrusted to this old minister

I have failed to fulfill.

Please rest assured,

even if it costs me my life,

I will not let His Majesty persist in error

and bear the infamy of a foolish ruler.

-Chancellor! -Chancellor!

-Chancellor! -Chancellor!

Chancellor!

-Chancellor! -Chancellor!

Attendants! Summon an imperial physician!

Wait.

Your Majesty.

Unless you withdraw the Edict of Self-Reproach

and execute that witch,

I would rather

die here in this hall.

Left Chancellor,

you cannot die!

If anyone must die, let this old servant die!

I am the one who has failed our ancestors!

Your Majesty.

Daning's foundation was hard won.

Please heed the Left Chancellor

and withdraw the Edict of Self-Reproach.

Please withdraw the Edict of Self-Reproach!

Please withdraw the Edict of Self-Reproach!

Please withdraw the Edict of Self-Reproach!

Execute Meng Tinghui by a thousand cuts!

Please withdraw the Edict of Self-Reproach!

Execute Meng Tinghui by a thousand cuts!

Your Majesty.

I admit my guilt.

I ask to be imprisoned.

I submit to any punishment.

Meng Tinghui.

I have no regrets.

But if because of me, Your Majesty

drives a veteran of three reigns to his death,

even ten thousand deaths could not atone for my guilt.

I beg Your Majesty to put the realm first.

Director Meng, this drug will make you appear dead.

For twenty-four hours after you take it,

you will have neither breath nor pulse.

Even an imperial physician will not be able to tell.

What are you doing?

Getting you out of here.

I will not leave.

In the great hall,

the ministers were enraged.

That is why I asked to be imprisoned.

Besides,

this gold chain broke suspiciously.

You were only bewitched for a moment

and lost your judgment.

So I used this gold-softening agent to give you a push.

Two hours from now,

when incense is burned for the ancestors,

the gold will give way and the chain will snap.

Do you regret it?

Do you truly believe he will

make an enemy of the whole realm for you?

His Majesty is not doing this for me alone.

He means to abolish the ban on our love,

but also to cut away Daning's rotten old laws.

This road may be hard.

But just because it is hard,

should we simply give up?

Your Majesty.

These three ancestral laws were decreed by our forebears.

They cannot be defied.

His Majesty sees farther than we do

and is willing to set a new precedent.

As his ministers,

we should respectfully follow his lead.

Look at the fine disciples Grand Tutor Shen has taught.

Every one of them

relies on your backing

and treats ancestral law like a game,

joining His Majesty in this madness.

Elder Xu.

Rites change with the times,

and laws must change with the age.

Breaking with the old and creating the new is the tide of the times.

It takes a resolute sovereign

to dare lead the way.

Though you and I are old ministers,

we must not become defenders of the obsolete.

The Grand Tutor speaks truly.

What His Majesty said that day

was a wake-up call to us all.

And hearing the Grand Tutor today

has helped those of us younger officials

see the path clearly

and has greatly inspired us.

Exactly.

We are willing to support His Majesty

in sweeping away outdated laws

and opening a new era.

Have you not seen these three years under His Majesty's rule?

The court is full of new vitality,

and Daning itself

has been transformed.

His Majesty arrives!

Bring forth the Founding Emperor's Punishment Whip!

Your Majesty.

The Founding Emperor's Punishment Whip is here.

But someone must carry out the punishment.

Left Chancellor.

Grand Tutor Shen.

Ancestral law carries great weight,

but His Majesty is the sovereign.

His Majesty's health concerns the fate of the realm.

How could he be harmed in the slightest?

Chief Steward You.

You do it.

This old servant would not dare.

I am willing to take all seven lashes in Your Majesty's place.

Chief Steward You.

You know how hard it was for me to come this far.

Help me this once.

That lash does not count.

Again.

Your Majesty...

Chief Steward You.

You know how it must be done.

The first lash must draw blood.

The second must tear flesh.

The third must jar the bone.

This old servant deserves death.

The first lash

punishes me for defying our ancestors' will

and abolishing the ban on sovereign-subject romance,

permanent slave status,

and the ministers' nomination of the Empress—

three ancestral laws.

The second lash

punishes me for defying the ministers

and proclaiming my resolve to reform.

Your Majesty!

Imperial Physician Li, quickly...

The third lash

punishes me, the Son of Heaven,

for issuing an Edict of Self-Reproach

and subjecting this imperial body to the pain of the whip

to beg forgiveness from the people of Daning.

Continue.

Your Majesty.

My resolve is fixed.

I also proclaim this to every official at court:

no matter how deep their seniority

or how illustrious their achievements,

whether palace rules and ancestral laws

or old precedents of the dynasty,

Daning's stability comes before all else.

No one will ever again use private interests

to sway my decisions.

From this day forward,

the ban on sovereign-subject love,

permanent slave status,

and the ministers' nomination of the Empress

shall be removed forever from Daning's ancestral laws.

It is time to let the morning sun

shine upon the fresh snow before this hall.

So the court can do without this old minister after all.

Long live His Majesty! Long, long may he reign!

Long live His Majesty! Long, long may he reign!

Long live His Majesty! Long, long may he reign!

For His Majesty,

you knelt in the snow for a full day and night.

You truly risked everything.

What if the cold leaves lasting damage in your legs?

What will you do then?

What His Majesty endured

was a thousand times heavier than what I bore.

His name as a wise ruler must never be tarnished.

History should remember him as an enlightened ruler.

Your feelings for each other run so deep.

Now nothing can separate you.

By the way,

Fuzhi still has not written back.

I wonder whether her father and stepmother

have been giving her a hard time.

Don't worry.

With my brother there,

Miss Yan will not be mistreated.

A carefree young lord like him

would actually settle down for one person.

His Majesty is the same.

Even if he must stand against the whole realm,

he will remain by your side.

It is enough to make one envious.

How are things between you and Anian?

We have been together since childhood.

Now, it is simply

much the same as before.

Do you feel even a little affection for him now?

If you have a good man beside you,

perhaps you should give each other a chance.

He is such a good man.

I keep feeling

that I am holding him back.

Mengmeng.

Tell me.

Why do you think I

agreed to this marriage in the first place?

When pain becomes unbearable,

we all need someone to lean on.

Anian was the lamp in the fog

that guided you forward.

Because you know each other so well,

he can give you the peace you need.

But I do care about him.

I cannot bear to see him hurt,

much less see him unhappy because of me.

You needn't feel guilty.

I only hope you can slowly lower your guard.

Anian is worth it.

Zhili. Director Meng.

What brings you here?

My patrol is finished.

You were gone so long,

I was worried about you.

Zhili.

Go on home.

I bought the last basket of crab-roe buns

from the shop on West Street.

If we don't go now, they'll be cold.

And one more thing.

For tomorrow's return gifts,

I followed Father and Mother's tastes

and added several bolts of cloud brocade.

See if that covers everything.

It's so cold.

Why come all this way?

Because it is cold,

That's exactly why I had to come.

I'll be going.