Original subtitles

=The Road to Splendor=

(Adapted from China Literature author Zhizhi's novel of the same name)

=Episode 29=

How long are you going

to keep up this little show?

Mother has barely been laid to rest,

and already you're so eager

to squeeze every last bit of use out of her,

just as you did to Grandmother.

I truly felt for

and miss your mother.

Everyone,

(In Memoriam) please go back.

As for the funeral,

the Fu family will make the arrangements.

My condolences, Commander Zhao.

When I got married,

Mother was still fine.

How could she suddenly...?

I didn't tell you

because I was afraid you'd blame yourself.

Your mother

had always been

in poor health.

She feared she wouldn't last,

and that her funeral would delay your wedding.

Seeing you married,

she was finally at peace.

And then...

she couldn't hold on any longer.

Father and Mother often argued.

Mother could never win against him,

so she kept all that distress bottled up,

and took a lot of medicine to calm her nerves.

I thought she'd be all right.

I failed to take proper care of her.

Let's stop arguing over this.

Who's right or wrong

doesn't matter.

What matters now

is giving your mother a proper funeral

and a dignified send-off.

I've decided

to build a mourning hut here

and mourn my late wife.

I failed her while she was alive.

Now that she's gone,

I won't fail her again.

Mother's true last wish

was to return home after death,

back to her roots.

I will take her coffin

back to the Xie family in Jiangnan.

Enough.

You are no longer part of the Fu family.

What right do you have to meddle in our affairs?

What about me?

I'm a daughter-in-law of the Fu family.

Do I have the right to decide for Mother?

Don't you dare!

Don't think that just because someone powerful backs you

means you can defy me.

After everything the Fu family has done for you! Ungrateful wretches!

I gave this life of mine

back to the Fu family long ago

at Biyun Nunnery.

Today,

you can talk until you are blue in the face,

but I will still take Mother back to the Xie family in Jiangnan!

You dare defy me!

You...

It wasn't enough that you drove Mother to her death.

Now you want to use her death to polish your own reputation?

Fine.

From this day forward,

our ties are severed!

You can keep your empty grave

and fend for yourself!

Live out the rest of your life however you please!

Fine!

Fu Tingyun, listen to me.

Your mother

belonged to the Fu family in life

and she remains one in death!

She'll be buried

wherever I say she will!

I'll burn her body right now!

Mother!

Mother!

Mother!

I don't want Mother

to remain here another day.

I've already asked Uncle

to make arrangements in Jiangnan.

As soon as the documents arrive,

I'll take Mother

back to Jiangnan.

Mother,

from now on,

you no longer have to be the Fu family's dutiful wife.

You can be once again

the carefree young lady you were in the Xie family.

♪Lone wild geese know not late autumn's woes♪

♪If heaven's will, none can implore♪

The Fu family's ancestral home is in Huaying,

west of the capital.

Yet Fifth Madam Fu's coffin

is being carried south.

Fifth Madam Fu left a final wish:

never to be buried in the Fu family graveyard

or beside her husband.

So her coffin is being taken south,

back to the Xie family in Jiangnan.

Fifth Master Fu prides himself on his filial devotion,

yet both his children

honor their mother and not their father.

That tells you

what awful things he must've done behind closed doors.

I'm planning

to return to Huaying and join your brother.

Father refuses

to leave the capital.

If he causes you any trouble,

write to me.

I'll ask the clan elders to step in

and speak up for you.

You fulfilled Mother's final wish

and took her back to Jiangnan.

You've had to endure plenty of criticism for it.

You've been through a lot.

Your Majesty,

at his wedding banquet, Commander Zhao

publicly vowed to honor Fifth Madam Fu

as his own mother

and care for her as such.

The story was praised throughout the capital.

Now that Fifth Madam Fu has passed away,

Commander Zhao has shown no sign of observing mourning.

If his filial devotion was nothing but empty words,

the people will surely be disappointed.

With such conduct,

how can he set an example for the other officials?

I disagree.

It was merely a ceremonial gesture.

Surely he isn't expected to actually observe mourning.

That would be absurd!

Your Majesty,

I had already intended

to request a hundred days of mourning in filial duty,

to remain with my wife

and see my mother-in-law off on her final journey.

Very well.

Your decision, Commander Zhao,

is an act of true filial devotion.

Granted.

Madam Zhao

has been overcome by grief and worry.

She has just lost her mother.

She'll need some time to recover.

Did I wake you?

Here.

Drink your medicine first.

I added

three qian of candied osmanthus to the medicine.

It won't be bitter.

Why didn't you

attend court today?

Mr. Zhao has set up a memorial hall

for Fifth Madam

and will mourn her for a hundred days.

By custom,

a son-in-law

is not required to mourn his mother-in-law,

much less take leave from office and court.

Right now

is the most critical time in the investigation.

I'm afraid

I'm holding you back.

From now on,

don't ever say you're holding me back.

Mother-in-law treated me with nothing but kindness.

These hundred days of mourning

are something I willingly chose to observe.

This isn't about custom.

It's about what feels right.

Besides,

the court is hardly

going to grind to a halt

without me.

Don't worry.

Going through the account books

takes time and effort,

but I've already made arrangements.

Right now,

what matters most to me

is your health.

We'll see

Mother off together.

Are you still feeling unwell?

I'll get a healer.

It's nothing.

I was just thinking about Mother.

(After One Hundred Days of Mourning)

(Ministry of Revenue)

Every entry must be accounted for.

- Yes. - All right.

(Censorate)

Lord Liu.

There can be no mistakes.

Yes.

Check everything carefully!

Yes.

(Three hundred salt permits were issued above quota)

Your Majesty,

the Anzhou salt-tax accounts

have been thoroughly investigated.

There are indeed irregularities.

Your Majesty,

the Ministry of Revenue reviewed six years' worth of account books

(Revere Heaven and Honor the Ancestors) from regions under the old system.

Upon examination,

the issuing of salt permits,

transport losses, and other entries

are riddled with discrepancies.

In autumn and winter of last year alone,

the shortfall reached

one hundred thousand taels.

Minister Yu,

Anzhou's salt administration

has always been under your supervision.

I did fail in my oversight.

Your Majesty, please punish me.

However...

(Revere Heaven and Honor the Ancestors) Your Majesty,

the Censorate also examined salt-tax accounts across the realm

and found discrepancies in salt-permit figures

and storage losses

to be quite common.

Last year's losses in the three northwestern garrisons

were even greater

than those in Anzhou.

Why is the Censorate investigating this too?

You knew the Ministry of Revenue was investigating Anzhou.

Why didn't we investigate together?

The Censorate acted on its own.

That risks muddying the issue.

If there truly is a shortfall in the northwest,

I am willing to investigate that as well.

Enough.

Salt-tax accounts

have always been a mess.

Now you want to dig through every last one?

Do you think my realm

is too peaceful?

In my humble opinion,

Commander Zhao is examining the old accounts

only to make up the shortfall.

If we can determine an exact amount,

I am willing

to find a way to raise the funds.

Your Majesty,

reasonable storage losses

have always existed.

That's enough

for today.

The court is dismissed!

We respectfully bid Your Majesty farewell!

Commander Zhao.

A young man should know when to stop.

Act too recklessly,

and your family may pay the price.

What do you mean by that?

If you hadn't been so determined to investigate those accounts,

would your mother-in-law

have died so suddenly?

Today,

you are willing to part with your mother-in-law.

Tomorrow,

who else will you be willing to part with?

(Please)

(escort her to the capital.)

(I am willing to reward you)

(ten thousand taels of silver)

(for your trouble.)

(My only wish is that the two of you)

(will always be of one heart)

(and weather every storm together.)

(A blessed union.)

(Bound as one forever.)

(A match made in heaven.)

(Together through a hundred years.)

(May you always)

(ride a fine steed)

(and rise to great heights.)

(Thank you, Mother.)

(Renshen-Aconite Life-Saving Decoction)

Who is it?

(If you hadn't been so determined to investigate those accounts,)

(would your mother-in-law)

(have died so suddenly?)

Do you recognize this prescription?

Commander Zhao,

my eyesight is failing with age.

I can't make it out clearly.

Take another look.

The owner of Rengui Pharmacy in the neighboring county

said you traveled a great distance

specifically to have this prescription filled.

(Madam!)

(Madam!)

My wife

was in poor health.

It was to calm her nerves.

What are you doing?

This medicine

was prepared from this very prescription.

If it's really meant to calm the nerves,

why don't you try it yourself?

You want to kill me?

Zhao Ling.

You don't know who you're dealing with.

You want to kill me?

Do you even know

who's backing me?

You can't afford to cross them!

Who?

The Yu family?

You should be wondering

why I came here tonight,

and who

told me what you've done.

Yu Guodong,

you old scumbag.

You betrayed me.

My son-in-law...

These are all the letters

between the Yu family and me.

Everything I've done wrong...

they made me do it.

And Madam Yu...

she was the one who told me

to have Ms. Li

frame you.

And Xie...

they arranged her death too.

Take them.

They're all yours.

Consider it your father-in-law's love for you.

Don't!

Even if you threw the letters away,

you also have my confession.

You'll bring them down.

Spare me.

My great son-in-law, please spare me.

If you let me go,

I'll never seek reinstatement again.

I'll just live as a retired old man of the Fu family.

The Emperor rules through filial piety.

I'll spread word of your filial devotion

throughout the realm!

It will only help your reputation and career.

I'm begging you!

Please let me go!

If Mother were still alive

and you had brought these out then...

perhaps for Quanhui's sake,

I might have still seen you as my father-in-law.

But if I accept this now,

what would that mean for her?

Zhao Ling,

you're a fourth-rank official now.

A fourth-rank official.

In five years, you reached

what I couldn't achieve in my entire life.

Are you willing to throw away such a promising future?

Please spare me!

According to you,

this bowl of medicine...

is just for calming the nerves.

I don't want anything anymore!

Please let me go!

Zhao Ling!

Even if I am a heartless wretch,

I am still Fu Tingyun's birth father!

You two will pay for this!

I'll bear...

the consequences myself.

I am

the consequence you deserve.

I don't want anything.

Please, let me go.

Please, let me go!

(Yunshe Hut)

Clean everything up.

Leave no loose ends.

Don't let them get anything on us.

Yes.

Madam,

servants from Fifth Master Fu's household

say they have an urgent matter

and wish to see you.

Let them in.

Come in.

Ninth Young Lady.

Something happened to the Fu family.

Please,

you must tell us what to do.

The day Mother's coffin was taken away,

I made it clear

that I had severed all ties with Fifth Master.

I was no longer part of the Fu family.

What happened this time

that you came to me for answers?

Fifth Master...

is gone.

What did you say?

There was heavy rain yesterday.

The thatched hut was leaking badly.

Master ordered us

to cut wood in the mountains

to repair the roof.

We worked through the night.

When we returned at dawn,

the hut had already been

burned to ashes.

I...

The villagers said

that around midnight,

they saw flames shooting into the sky.

They called out for a long time,

but no one answered.

Didn't you just say

there was heavy rain last night?

The hut was soaked through!

Then how did such a fire start?

I...

truly don't know.

Seventh Young Master has already taken the coffin home.

There's no one left in the household to take charge.

Next,

the death report, burial arrangements, and all related procedures

must be reported to the authorities.

We can only beg you

to take charge!

Before Tingzhuo and his wife left,

they left their personal seal with me.

Get a visiting card prepared,

and take it to the authorities to report the death.

I'll send word back to our family in Huaying.

Keep the funeral simple.

I'll have the accountant prepare

a list of the coffin specifications

and burial clothes we need,

and in an hour,

I'll give it to you both.

I'll also provide

all the money you need.

Thank you, Ninth Young Lady.

You are willing to handle his funeral arrangements,

and this gesture

is enough to repay the bond of blood between you.

If you don't have the strength to handle everything,

tell Mr. Zhao.

Let him take care of it for you.

Mr. Zhao...

He didn't come home all night.

He only returned early this morning.

The Fu family sent word this morning.

They said the hut caught fire.

Father...

didn't make it out.

He had grown used to living in that hut while mourning.

With incense burning day and night,

accidents could happen.

Where were you

last night?

Were you at the yamen?

I had already cut all ties with him.

We had nothing to do with each other.

Why did you still get involved with him?

He is still my father.

No matter how many reasons there were,

you shouldn't have done this.

Least of all, you.

Fifth Master had committed grave sins.

What happened with Ms. Li before

was arranged by him and the Yu family.

They colluded from within and without.

Rather than guarding against a thief every day,

I thought it would be better...

Quanhui,

you resent me.

I just can't understand...

What reason did you have

for crossing such a line?

There were ten thousand reasons not to kill him.

But Mr. Zhao's reason for killing him

was the ten-thousand-and-first.

Why not tell her?

If this continues,

it will only drive a wedge between them.

You tell her.

No way.

You do it.

How could I?

This concerns family ethics.

If Madam Zhao finds out

that her own father caused her mother's death,

then...

My heavens,

you might as well be asking Mr. Zhao to rip out his own heart.

(If you hadn't been so determined to investigate those accounts,)

(would your mother-in-law)

(have died so suddenly?)

(Today,)

(you are willing to part with your mother-in-law.)

(Tomorrow,)

(who else will you be willing to part with?)

(The Yu family...)

(I'll make you pay for every drop of blood you've shed.)

(Xie Residence)

Commander Zhao,

what a pleasant mood you're in today.

You went out of your way to invite us here.

Don't tell me

it's just to watch fish.

Lord Wei, don't underestimate these ornamental carp.

They may look ordinary,

but they have quite a history.

This one in particular is quite impressive.

Commander Zhao,

what makes it so special?

This fish

came from Yongning Prefecture.

Its lineage has long been tied to noble families.

One of its descendants

was once kept in the Hanlin Academy's pond.

Now it has even taken on the prestige of the Grand Secretariat.

It is anything but ordinary.

This fish

has lived in the capital for years.

And now,

the entire pond

belongs to it.

Look around it.

All its followers gather around it, don't they?

But this fish

feeds only on lotus stems.

If we wish to preserve this pond of blossoms,

it must be removed.

The question is,

whether you gentlemen are willing to lend me a hand.

Help me build a new pond today,

and when we harvest the lotus seeds in the future,

I will be sure to share them with you.

I've loved lotus flowers since childhood.

I've long had enough of this greedy fish

that has ruined the entire pond.

Hearing that from you, Commander Zhao,

I feel much more at ease.

Come here.

I'll lend you my support.

I...

I'll help you as well.

Commander Zhao,

you have my support too.

Mine as well.

I'm willing to assist you, Commander Zhao.

Commander Zhao,

you know me well.

Whether it is

helping you catch the fish,

or taking your lotus seeds,

I still need

to go back

and seek approval first.

Lord Wei...

(Prayers offered for Fu Shichang's peaceful rebirth.)

A man like Fifth Master Fu...

when it came to raising children,

only did his part for a brief moment.

The nurturing and upbringing

were all handled by Fifth Madam alone.

In the end,

this seven-day Buddhist memorial service

has finally settled

the bond between you and him.

It's a pity he left so suddenly.

Fifth Madam

would probably still blame him even now.

He and my mother were never on the same path.

They will not meet again in the afterlife.

Do we

have guests?

Mr. Zhao has guests today.

We didn't expect you back so soon,

so he didn't say anything.

Who are the guests?

Lord Wei from the Ministry of Personnel,

and Lord Zhu from the Ministry of Revenue.

If word gets out

about what you did today,

you'll be accused of forming a faction.

The Yu family has tremendous power.

One cannot stand against such power.

There was no other choice.

But why rush into it now?

There are things

Grand Secretary Yu can do,

but you cannot.

Take forming factions, for example.

These people

may throw stones at you in this pavilion today,

but tomorrow,

they'll throw blades at you in the court.

You hold a high position now.

Why not learn from Grand Secretary Tian?

Today,

where did you go?

I smell sandalwood.

You went to the temple?

At Tanshui Temple,

I prayed to cleanse away obstacles and seek blessings.

You arranged a Buddhist memorial service for Fifth Master Fu?

I didn't do it only for him.

I did it for you.

Mr. Zhao.

I don't think I understand you anymore.

Do you think

I'm beyond forgiveness?

You took the blame

for him.

A prudent man does not put himself in harm's way.

Mr. Zhao,

there's a raging fire ahead.

Rushing straight into it may feel satisfying,

but you could destroy yourself.

We've come so far to get where we are today.

Why must you rush this?

Could you...

Could you take a more measured approach?

Please, do it for my sake.

There's no time.

Grand Secretary Yu and I are already locked in a fight to the bitter end.

I cannot back down now.

Why?

Back in Linchun Town,

you listened to me.

Even though officials and merchants walk different paths,

you still chose to investigate the case with me.

And in Yongning Prefecture,

you listened to me then too.

Even when you wanted nothing more than a quiet life,

you still chose to join the army.

So why now, when I'm only asking you to slow down,

can you no longer listen to me?

Quanhui.

Court battles may not spill blood,

but they are far more dangerous than wars at the border.

Everything depends on this.

I have to win.

Only then can I protect everyone.

Only then can I keep you safe.

But I want to protect you too.

(Next Episode)

The Northwest

is where Mr. Zhao comes from.

I simply cannot

stand by and watch him fight alone.

He couldn't have pulled off

something this flawless on his own.

I only hope this bloodstained garment

will finally see the light of day.

You are a Grand Secretary of the court.

How could you commit

such a violation of human decency?

Insolence!

This is clearly a frame-up.

Commander Zhao

is simply trying

to take revenge.

If you insist on fighting head-on,

you'll be the egg that cracks.

♪The past brushes by like a falling leaf♪

♪So light, yet my steps still pause for you♪

♪Through every rise and fall, our memories remain without regret♪

♪Carved into the rings of time♪

♪How I wish I could stay a little longer, but I can't♪

♪I turn away, afraid goodbye will fill my eyes with tears♪

♪Etched deep within my heart, yet buried without a word♪

♪The warmth of your hand in mine♪

♪Still makes us want to believe♪

♪One promise for a lifetime, echoing long after we part♪

♪For one fleeting moment, I found you in the crowd♪

♪Without a word, you lit up half my life♪

♪In silence, a love too deep for words♪

♪Kept close within my heart♪

♪From now on, no one else is worth waiting for♪

♪I turn away, afraid no one will ever come home to me again♪

♪If we can build our future together, no storm can chill my heart♪

♪The warmth of your hand in mine♪

♪Still makes us want to believe♪

♪One promise for a lifetime, echoing long after we part♪