Original subtitles

The Scholar and the Emperor

The sandbag is ready.

It will warm you and drive out the chill.

Let me apply it for you, Director.

I can do it myself.

Director Meng.

Now that you're the Empress-designate,

does that mean from now on

we should deliberately keep our distance?

That isn't what I meant.

What's gotten into you lately?

I was just thinking

how quickly everything can change.

The Office of Public Inquiry...

Is it going to be dissolved?

Look.

Just look at all these gifts they sent.

Aren't they wonderful?

Let's see which of those gossips outside

still dares say a word against our lady.

We owe it to the Second Young Master

for standing by us when we needed him.

You're still calling him Second Young Master?

You should call him Son-in-law now.

But come to think of it,

I could tell long ago

that our new son-in-law had feelings for her.

-Madam. -Madam.

Today's the bride's homecoming banquet.

Go fetch the master of the house.

Tell him to stop fussing over the cooking.

-Yes, Madam. -Yes, Madam.

Come, Anian.

Now that Zhili has married you,

there are some things I must say.

Whatever happened before,

from now on, you must support each other

and cherish the bond you now share.

Don't worry, Father.

I will treasure Zhili above all else

and never let her suffer the slightest harm.

Good.

Zhili.

Anian may always give way to you,

but now that you've married into the Di family,

you mustn't be as willful as you were at home

or bully Anian.

I may dote on you,

but I'll stand up for Anian too.

Father.

I will be a good daughter-in-law to the Di family.

Good.

Zhili.

Anian is Marquis Wu's only son.

If you can give the Di family heirs soon,

then our Shen family

we can answer to Marquis Wu's spirit

with a clear conscience.

Father, Zhili loves

your sweet-and-sour ribs most.

When you have time, you must teach me.

Then I can make them for Zhili.

I should have taught you long ago.

If Zhishu heard me say that,

that rascal

would get jealous and compete with you

over who loves Zhili more.

Zhishu always has to join the fun.

You don't know the half of it.

They used to fight over a single rib,

those two siblings,

until their chopsticks became weapons.

But now,

with a husband protecting her,

that rascal won't get a chance to snatch one.

Brother still hasn't returned.

He even missed my wedding to Anian,

and hasn't sent a single letter home.

Your brother is carrying out an imperial mission.

He can't leave his post for now.

When he returns,

we'll all have a proper reunion.

Come, Father.

To our reunion.

Come.

Father.

Is your chest hurting again? Get his medicine!

It's all right.

I'm fine.

It's an old complaint.

It's almost funny.

In the past,

that rascal always made my chest ache with anger.

And now,

I can't even blame him for it.

Your Majesty...

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty!

An urgent express dispatch from Qingzhou!

Your Majesty...

You rotten boy!

Come out here!

I want to speak to you face-to-face!

Zhishu...

While carrying out his orders,

he encountered danger.

Come out here!

Come out!

I serve with the Qingzhou garrison.

By General Huo's order,

we have escorted Young Lord Shen

home.

You...

You must have made a mistake.

Zhishu would never...

leave without a word

and abandon all of us.

Zhishu.

My son...

Zhishu!

My son...

-Father! -Father!

You said that on my birthday,

you'd give me that half of the bronze tally.

By my reckoning,

I won't be back in time.

Can't I have my birthday gift early?

What I said was:

when you can truly stand on your own

and shoulder the Shen family's duty as a minister,

then you may ask for the half of the tiger-head tally.

Father!

You're far too stingy.

I've begged you for that half-tally for three years.

If you still won't give it to me,

-I'll trade my half for wine tomorrow. -You dare!

You insolent boy!

Father, once I've sold it for wine,

I'll bring you back the finest jar money can buy.

Before he left,

he proudly told me

he had been appointed a fourth-rank Censor.

He even asked me for his birthday gift.

I was afraid he would grow conceited,

so I scolded him.

If I'd known it would be the last time I saw him,

this bronze tally...

would have reached his hands.

Zhishu said

that as soon as he returned, he'd arrange the wedding

and marry me.

Miss Yan.

This is your birth-date card.

Please take it back.

Before he left, Zhishu wrote the marriage contract

and prepared the betrothal gift list.

He begged me to prepare the three marriage documents and six betrothal gifts,

so when he returned,

he could marry you with full honor.

I'd like to see who dares lay a hand on her today.

Fuzhi, I'm sorry I'm late.

If I, Shen Zhishu, am to marry,

not one of the Six Rites may be omitted,

and all three marriage documents must be prepared.

When the auspicious day comes,

I will send a grand bridal sedan

and welcome Fuzhi into the Shen family in honor.

I don't believe Young Lord Shen,

surrounded by all the noble ladies of the capital,

would truly give up that garden of beauties

for a merchant's daughter like me

and bind his heart to mine

for the rest of his life.

What if I cut down every peach blossom?

Then...

clear away every last flower and weed around you,

every one of them,

and ask me again.

I promise you,

if I ever chase another woman again,

you may leave me without another word.

Wait for me to come back.

Zhishu and I never bowed before Heaven and Earth,

but in my heart, I already chose him.

If you will accept me,

I wish to be a daughter-in-law of the Shen family.

Silly child.

You're still in the bloom of youth.

Don't sacrifice your whole future.

-Please, get up. -My mind is made up.

Unless...

you truly cannot accept me.

Only today do I understand

why Zhishu gave his heart to you.

To have you love him so sincerely

was my son's good fortune.

Good child.

Please, get up.

Good child.

From now on, we're one family.

One family.

Father.

Mother.

Rest assured, Director Meng.

This medicine will let Miss Yan sleep for a full day.

She hasn't closed her eyes the entire journey.

A little calming tea was the only way

to make her get some proper rest.

Lord Meng.

Manager Yan...

How is she?

What kind of question is that?

Just thinking that we'll never see Young Lord Shen again

makes my heart ache.

Imagine how the manager must feel.

Only last month, Young Lord Shen

helped us finish blending a new wine.

He said he'd taste it when he came back.

What monster did this to him?

Young Lord Shen

was one of us at the Office too.

I won't let his death go unanswered.

And I won't let you

spend every day drowning in tears.

Your Majesty.

Your wounds from the whip haven't healed.

You mustn't keep practicing.

If they split open again,

how could this old servant answer to the late Emperor?

I'm wounded,

not dying.

Chief Steward You.

Let me.

Director Meng.

Please talk some sense into His Majesty.

Not only is he practicing swordplay while wounded,

he hasn't eaten a thing all day.

I know Your Majesty is grieving.

I am willing to avenge Young Lord Shen.

If you discovered

that someone you knew was in the Blood Moon Society,

what would you do?

Your Majesty, rest assured.

Though Situ Xue and I get along well,

I know where to draw the line.

If the Blood Moon Society harms Daning's people,

I will show them no mercy.

Your Majesty's wounds haven't healed yet.

Let me apply the medicine.

Your Highness, it is past midnight.

Our contact still hasn't arrived.

Something may have gone wrong.

Wait a little longer.

Your Highness.

The Blood Moon Society cannot be trusted.

Last time, they not only broke their word,

they even killed our secret envoy.

Can you truly trust people

who change their word so easily?

Last time, everything happened too suddenly.

I've always suspected there was more to it.

I must negotiate with the Blood Moon Society in person again.

But the First Prince

strongly favors a policy of conciliation.

This time,

if Your Highness contacts the Blood Moon Society,

I fear...

My elder brother

is indecisive

and hopelessly naive.

Does he truly think one marriage pact

can buy lasting peace?

When Ying Gua rejected the marriage alliance,

Beijian's honor

was already trampled underfoot.

A wolf does not wag its tail and beg.

Only a dog does.

For the past two years, Daning

has poured troops into the border,

stockpiling grain and building fortifications.

They may well be planning

to trap us in the northern desert until we die.

This time, I will make Daning

see for itself

what Beijian's iron cavalry truly means.

And I will prove to Father

that the world

is not won by kneeling and begging,

but by fighting for it with sword and steel.

Your Highness, someone's coming.

Sir.

I've cleared up the misunderstanding with Beijian's Second Prince

and confirmed someone did impersonate our Society

to sabotage the alliance.

The Second Prince of Beijian

has agreed to join forces with us

and continue the war against Daning.

Their blood will not have been shed in vain.

Daning's blood debt

must be repaid with mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Daning's court is in turmoil now.

Our Princess

is about to rise to the pinnacle of power.

Once her bloodline memories awaken,

we will welcome the Princess at once

and restore our realm.

Welcome the Princess! Restore our realm!

Welcome the Princess! Restore our realm!

Welcome the Princess! Restore our realm!

Welcome the Princess! Restore our realm!

Grand Tutor!

The Young Master's spirit has returned!

Father.

Mother.

I'm home.

Brother!

Brother!

Your unfilial son

has made you worry.

My son...

You're home. That's all that matters.

That's all that matters.

My husband...

Fuzhi.

Shen Zhishu!

You've gone too far!

Do you know how many paper offerings I burned for you?

Do you know how heartbroken I was?

How could you joke about life and death?

Let me see.

It'll frighten you.

Father.

Are you...

disappointed in me?

All your life, Father,

you've achieved great things.

I'm afraid I may never equal you.

The only thing I had that could compare

was this face of mine.

Now I've lost even that advantage.

You are the eldest son of the Shen family.

You grew up studying beside His Majesty.

At twenty,

you could enter officialdom through family privilege.

Compared with scholars born to humble families,

you have been extraordinarily fortunate.

But with the honor of such a family name,

you must possess civil talent

as well as martial skill.

As His Majesty's trusted friend,

you must never openly hunger for power,

but neither can you be wholly without ambition.

More importantly,

on your shoulders rests

the entire Shen clan

and the duty to carry its honor forward.

I demanded so much of you

because I feared one achievement would make you complacent.

That is why I...

why I kept putting you down.

After hearing what happened to you,

there was something I kept wanting to say.

You are the pride of the Shen family.

I was wrong.

I never thought

I'd hear the words "I was wrong" from a stubborn old man like you.

If I'd come back half a month later,

would you have handed the whole Shen family over to me?

You little...

You little rascal.

That must hurt terribly.

Compared with the beatings Father gave me as a boy,

this is nothing.

Though I was wounded, misfortune brought a blessing.

I was carrying the Blood Moon Society's scepter

when members of the Society found and saved me.

While recovering among them,

I learned something important.

Mr. Shangguan of the Blood Moon Society

is not only alive,

he is hiding among the officials at court.

I should have known.

A man like him would never die so easily.

Your Majesty, shall we investigate the entire court at once?

If we mishandle this, the ministers will turn on each other.

Then if the Blood Moon Society and Beijian strike together,

we'll face enemies within and without.

But the marriage proposal from Beijian's First Prince

clearly shows he broke with the Blood Moon Society first.

Mr. Shangguan is colluding with the Second Prince.

Most likely.

I've heard the Second Prince has never gotten along with his elder brother.

And compared with the First Prince,

he is far more warlike.

His intentions are hard to fathom. We cannot let our guard down.

Whatever happens,

if Your Majesty rejects this marriage alliance,

war on the frontier may be unavoidable.

What inch of this realm

was not won by sword and cavalry?

Beijian has a wolf's nature.

Whichever prince it is,

if he can secretly collude with the Blood Moon Society,

why would he keep his word later?

This marriage proposal

only proves they fear our frontier cavalry.

The misunderstanding between Beijian and the Blood Moon Society

will be exposed sooner or later.

My father once said

Beijian is ravenous and deceitful, full of schemes.

I am ready to go to war at any time.

But before that,

we must find Shangguan.

I suspect Shangguan

is someone close to us.

When Your Majesty first ascended the throne,

I had not yet entered the court.

Yet I boldly asked for a post at the Office of Public Inquiry

and was even rebuked by Your Majesty.

I still remember looking at you then,

so outrageously bold,

and knowing no one but you

could lead the Office of Public Inquiry.

And now,

you've fulfilled every word you said then.

In fact, you've done

even better than I expected.

When I entered the court, I had no attachments.

Only Fuzhi was someone I worried about.

That was why I never hesitated.

Exhuming bodies, investigating cases,

pursuing Ling Yunfei...

I never once faltered.

But now,

there are more people I want to protect.

So I've learned what fear is.

We're both afraid of losing those we love.

These past days,

I have watched helplessly

as one person after another close to me was taken away.

What happened to Zhishu

has made me more afraid than ever.

I may possess this entire realm,

yet perhaps I still can't keep the people I treasure.

I won't leave Your Majesty.

I want to remain at the Office of Public Inquiry

and continue serving you.

Meng Tinghui.

Let's get married.

The court is settled now.

No one can stand in our way anymore.

This hairpin...

I spent three months making it myself.

I've waited to place it in your hair and crown you,

then proclaim you to the entire realm.

Your Majesty.

Right now,

I cannot marry you.

Why?

Your Majesty knows me.

Everything I've fought for

was to root out entrenched abuses throughout the court and government.

The Blood Moon Society seeks

to overthrow Daning itself.

What frightens me even more

is that Shangguan is hidden within the court.

So I beg Your Majesty

to let me investigate the Blood Moon Society thoroughly.

Ask me for anything else.

But not the Blood Moon Society.

I have given the Blood Moon Society case

entirely to Zhishu.

Your Majesty is hiding something from me.

I once asked Your Majesty

whether we had truly opened our hearts to each other.

So it turns out...

we haven't.

The burden of the realm is immense.

The palace has depths upon depths.

Even to you,

I cannot lay every secret of my heart bare.

I will take my leave.

Shen Zhishu!

How long are you going to hide from me?

Fuzhi.

We should part.

Don't come looking for me again.

Part?

What about the marriage contract you wrote yourself?

Are you taking it back?

I failed to keep our promise.

I came back scarred.

Even my face...

It's only a scar.

A real man can weather far worse.

What's the big deal?

I think

that scar

makes you look even more gallant.

I'm serious.

As a minister,

I gave up any fear of death long ago.

Daning now faces dangers within and without.

The Shen clan bears a heavy duty.

The next time I carry out an assignment,

I may suffer far worse than a wound.

Then I'll wait for you to come back.

And if you never do,

I'll wait for you for the rest of my life.

I loved the flirtatious young lord

who once drunkenly picked flowers for me.

Of course I did.

But now,

this brave man with a scar on his face

makes my heart ache even more

and is worth loving for a lifetime.

Mengmeng.

His Majesty truly

treats you wonderfully.

He even granted you this imperial hot spring.

And that's not even mentioning

how he overturned ancestral law for you.

That shook the entire realm.

Who wouldn't envy you?

When did you become his advocate?

Now even my closest friend

has been won over by him.

It seems behind my back,

I truly have no one left.

Dear Mengmeng.

Whatever happens in the future,

I will always stand behind you.

What matters to me isn't some grand principle.

It's you.

It's just that

I truly think there is no one in this world

worthy of standing beside you

except His Majesty.

I've seen how hard

you've fought to come this far.

That's why I still wish

there were someone powerful enough to protect you.

Fuzhi.

Marrying His Majesty

means placing myself under countless watching eyes

and accusing fingers.

If I become Empress,

even one extra word with him

would have the entire court saying

the Empress is meddling in state affairs.

I don't want the glory of an Empress's crown and robes.

I want to stand openly and honorably in court.

I want him to become a wise ruler for the ages.

But I won't sacrifice half a lifetime of ambition

to be confined behind the Empress's seal.

Of course I understand.

It's just...

do you truly not want to marry him?

All right. I won't say any more.

Let's not talk about things that trouble you.

Today, let's just...

relax and enjoy ourselves.

Mengmeng.

When did you get that mark on your body?

What mark?

It looks like a bird.

A red one.

A red bird?

This mark on your back

is rather unusual.

Which mark do you mean, Your Majesty?

This drawing.

Do you recognize it?

Yao'er.

Brother Shangguan.

That's my father's Black Bird.

It's the most powerful divine bird of all.

Brother, draw one for me too.

Draw one even bigger than the Black Bird.

No.

My husband has to draw mine first.

Draw my Black Bird in red.

My brother won't draw one for you.

-My brother is mine! -No, he isn't!

My father said

Brother Shangguan

will be my husband someday.

-Brother Shangguan is mine! -He's mine!

Yao'er, quickly!

Someone's over there. After them!

Are you all right?

Brother Shangguan.

-Your hand... -Keep your voice down.

Where's little Xixia?

She died in your place.

Yao'er, remember this.

You must live.

Forget today. Forget who you are.

Retreat! Quickly!

Brother Shangguan!

What happened?

What's wrong?

Your Majesty.

Let's marry.

Have you thought this through?

I don't want you to force yourself.

By Heaven's mandate,

I rule all under Heaven.

Meng Tinghui of the Meng clan

is valiant and virtuous,

possessing noble character

and truly fit to embody the virtues of an Empress.

I hereby invest her as Empress,

to serve as mother of the realm.

The proper offices shall choose an auspicious day and prepare the Six Rites.

I shall personally ride forth in the imperial carriage

to welcome her into the Central Palace.

Let this decree be carried out.

Yin Qing.

Three years...

and I never once noticed

the scar on your hand.

You devoted yourself entirely to punishing evil.

Why would you notice such a small detail?

But

everything has its proper time.

Seeing it now is not too late.

Some choices could have...

Some choices,

once I've made them,

I never turn back.

This newly compiled Records of the Realm

states in its third chapter

that after the waterworks in Daning's seven prefectures were completed,

grain output rose by thirty percent.

Have you read it?

I only wonder whether that extra grain

can fill the bellies of those

forced to dig the canals and build the dikes.

Beneath prosperity,

there are always shadows.

These past years, Daning

has indeed been peaceful and prosperous.

Peaceful and prosperous?

Beneath the scent of ink,

how much blood and how many tears are hidden?

This peace written on paper...

how many bones lie cold beneath it?

I live in Daning.

As one of its people,

I have watched Daning grow more prosperous each day,

the state wealthy and its people strong.

And as an official,

I've watched His Majesty labor from dawn until night

so his people may live and work in peace.

The peace we seek

is not far away.

And what of those who won't live to see it?

I believe

the rain will soon pass and the skies will clear.

The Rain Bell

was made to create illusions.

You've stared at it for so long

that you've forgotten

the rain never stopped.

Even this rainbow is false.

Mengmeng.

Our Director Meng, who wouldn't blink

even if Mount Tai collapsed before her,

can actually get so nervous her hands shake.

You are marrying the Emperor of Daning.

I wouldn't believe you if you said you weren't nervous.

Come. Tonight, we don't stop until we're drunk.

Cheers!

-Cheers! -Come on.