Original subtitles

Forget it.

I won't wear it.

Yes.

What he remembers

should be what I looked like with black hair.

Back then, I rarely wore hairpins.

I thought they were tacky.

Mi,

am I really getting old?

Do you think Shaoying will be disappointed when he sees me?

You are not old at all, Your Majesty.

You are just as beautiful

as when you sent Young Master Shaoying off to war.

Never mind.

I'll put it on.

It can cover up my gray hair.

This will be our last meeting.

I hope he'll remember me at my best.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty, maybe we shouldn't go.

You've been in so much pain that you haven't slept well for days.

I want to go and hear

what the other life

that little girl talked about was like.

-Let's go. -Yes.

What is the meaning of this?

The Eagle King has ordered

us to protect the Empress Dowager tonight.

Your Majesty,

could His Highness already know

that you are meeting Mr. Yuan tonight?

We are here under the Eagle King's orders.

Tonight, the Jiankang Palace is welcoming Princess Pingning.

Fearing that Southern Ye might cause trouble,

we were specifically ordered to protect you.

I am the Empress Dowager of Northern Qin.

Do my words carry less weight than the Eagle King's?

Step aside!

Are you trying to rebel?

Hold on!

Xie Huaigui?

This is a state affair of Northern Qin.

We will not tolerate outsiders interfering.

Please conduct yourself with dignity, My Lord.

You are now on the territory of Ye.

Naturally, you must abide by our laws.

Besides, the Empress Dowager is an old friend of mine.

I wish to invite her for a chat today.

And as the Grand Tutor of Ye,

would I plot against the Empress Dowager?

Please, Your Majesty.

[Key to the Phoenix Heart]

[Episode 13]

Grand Tutor, you didn't break into Honglu Temple tonight

just to get me

out of this, did you?

Is Hongyan Pavilion in the Capital still there?

It has now been renamed

Lishui Pavilion.

Twenty-five years ago, the An and Lu families

were executed at Hongyan Pavilion.

You still can't let go

of that ill-fated past, can you?

Isn't what you're doing tonight

also to put an end to that

ill-fated past from 25 years ago?

Everyone knows that back then,

you and the youngest son of the Right King of Virtue of Northern Qin,

Mulian Ying, were deeply in love.

But you were forced to marry into the Northern Qin royal court.

The Right King of Virtue amassed military power and acted independently.

He bribed the An and Lu families of Ye with generous rewards

and colluded with their armies to fabricate military achievements.

When the scheme was exposed,

all these families were wiped out.

The tragedy of the past is still vivid

in my mind.

I just want one word of truth from you.

The case of the An and Lu families back then—

were they innocent?

You're unwilling to accept it.

I can understand.

But back then, the An and Lu clans

did collude with our Right King of Virtue of Northern Qin.

The evidence is irrefutable,

and there was no frame-up.

Stop the carriage!

Grand Tutor Xie,

we are both in our twilight years.

The past should be left behind like a flowing river.

Those who should let go

should let go.

Master.

Yaoyao asked me to tell you tonight

that you must get the Empress Dowager safely to Xiyue Restaurant.

Now, only she

can help you keep Lejun.

[Xiyue Restaurant]

[Closed]

My Lady, bad news.

The Eagle King has put the entire Honglu Temple on high alert.

No one is allowed in or out.

Could the Eagle King already know about tonight's plan?

The Eagle King is ruthless.

Once he's cornered,

there's nothing he won't do.

Especially since tonight's plan

will ruin his grand plan.

No.

Shao Yang is in danger.

I must go save her.

♪ A dying memory glimmers low ♪

♪ You appear, but I can't hold you so ♪

♪ Time itself comes to a sudden halt ♪

♪ So desolate ♪

♪ I traded obsession for this loss ♪

♪ If I could lay my heart bare and cross ♪

♪ Would you once more have pity on me ♪

Yaoyao.

Mao.

Why did you bring the Empress Dowager of Northern Qin here?

Did something go wrong?

The auspicious hour has arrived.

Please, Your Highness the Eagle King and Princess Pingning,

perform the ceremonial bows.

Eagle King, please bow.

Princess Pingning, please bow.

Princess Pingning, please bow.

Hold on!

At the risk of my life,

I oppose the political marriage!

Here is my memorial.

Please review it, Your Majesty!

♪ Mother won't marry off her daughter ♪

♪ The daughter is longing for her love ♪

Step after step, I journey on;

through a thousand miles of snow, I return.

We haven't seen each other in years.

Shaoying, you've gone gray.

I'm nearly fifty.

Gray hair is hardly surprising.

If you had made it back on the day I was married,

and we'd left together...

how do you think things would've turned out?

Shao Yang...

No one's...

called me that in a very long time.

Shao Yang.

Back then, was it you

who suggested that the late Emperor

have my father killed?

Is this cup of tea...

poisoned too?

Perhaps the Empress Dowager of Northern Qin

had her own reasons.

Mao, if it were you,

would you still want to see this person you once loved?

How...

has Lejun been?

Tonight is the night the Eagle King

comes to wed Lejun.

Aren't you going to see her off?

I won't let Lejun leave.

So you went to Cui Mansion?

You asked Chief Clerk Cui to contact the noble families

to help Lejun reject the marriage, didn't you?

The foundation of Ye

relies on the descendants of the noble families.

If we send Princess Pingning to Northern Qin now—

those Northern Qin people are from a barbaric land.

They are uncivilized

and lack proper etiquette.

Making a noble lady marry a barbarian

is an insult to all noble families.

Your Majesty, have you forgotten the incident of Wenxi?

In the past, the late Emperor reduced the lands of the nobles,

and internal strife plunged the realm into chaos.

Your Majesty, Empress Dowager,

you must not repeat the same mistakes!

Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, we beg you to reconsider!

Your Majesty, Empress Dowager.

I do not want to marry into Northern Qin,

nor do I want to disgrace Ye's prestige.

I beg you to retract the order!

If the political marriage fails today,

the alliance will be voided.

And the three prefectures will return to our Northern Qin.

In this puppet show,

do none of us get a good ending?

Jiayu doesn't know—

you didn't want to see me.

You wanted to kill me.

I just want to know

if you have let go of your hatred—

your hatred for my son

and the Northern Qin royal family.

I have.

You are lying.

If you had truly let it go,

why would you forge weapons under Xiao Wuyi's command?

All these years, you've been helping the Beifu Army.

You have hated us all along.

You hate me, my son,

and everyone in Northern Qin.

If you had the chance to overthrow Northern Qin,

you wouldn't miss it, would you?

So...

before I die,

I have to kill you.

If I die,

will you truly be at peace?

Yes.

Alright.

My life...

is yours now.

Young Lord Xiao has arrived!

Young Lord Xiao is here?

Why is he here?

Your Highness.

This is an everlasting Ruyi lantern I made myself.

I'm presenting it to you as a celebration of your wedding.

Greetings, Your Majesty, Empress Dowager.

Since you came to congratulate,

why did you wait until the auspicious hour

almost passed to finally show up?

Tonight

is the wedding of the Eagle King and Princess Pingning.

All the people of Jiankang lit lanterns to pray.

Though it made my carriage difficult to move,

it shows the hearts of the people.

Ye and Northern Qin have formed an alliance through a political marriage,

ceasing war, nourishing the people, and reopening trade markets.

There will be no more soldiers shedding blood.

This is truly a blessing for all the people.

You are wrong, Your Highness.

Our noble families have a century-old heritage.

We are the pillars of Ye

and the orthodox lineage of the world.

Now, to form an alliance,

we actually resorted to a political marriage,

groveling and flattering, disgracing our national ethos.

We absolutely cannot...

Your Majesty.

I also have a memorial to present today.

Present it.

During the severe flood last year,

the Cui family, the Lu family of Fanyang,

and the Wen family of Qinghe,

under the guise of praying for the people,

held a winding stream banquet.

In reality,

they took the opportunity to seize the people's land.

May I ask—

is the dignity of the noble families Chief Clerk Cui spoke of

referring to this?

Now,

can you rest assured?

Why?

After so many years,

don't you hate me?

I know you were the one who advised the late Emperor

to kill my father.

I also know

that you were already pregnant at that time.

You were no longer just my Shao Yang.

Rest assured!

Yuan Xiaoliu won't die!

I have already swapped the poisoned tea.

Actually, I knew that the Empress Dowager

came to tonight's meeting

in the name of love,

but in truth, she came for your life.

But Your Majesty, I also wanted you to see

the lingering affection between you two.

Yuan Xiaoliu could have left,

but he wanted to see you one last time.

There's no need

for you two to fight to the death.

I can spare your life,

but I need a promise.

As long as you live,

you must never set foot in Northern Qin.

I promise.

I will give the order.

Northern Qin won't send anyone to hunt you down anymore.

From now on,

you can live freely.

Watch out!

Yaoyao!

It's Mulian Yu's men.

He wants me dead.

If I die in Southern Ye,

the peace talks will be ruined.

Shao Yang!

Come with me!

Shao Yang, hang in there!

I will get you out safely!

Your Highness, we can continue.

Your Highness, to achieve your goals,

you really do whatever it takes.

Princess Pingning is not only

the sister of your best friend,

but also like a sister to your secondary concubine.

Don't you have any mercy?

You keep saying it's for the people of Southern Ye,

but it's just for your own

lust for power and ambition.

So what?

For the Beifu Reform

and to reclaim the Capital,

I can sacrifice anyone.

So, Your Highness, you have no choice tonight.

This pact must be signed.

What if I don't?

Bad news!

There's been a murder at Xiyue Restaurant!

It's just a place of entertainment.

What's to panic about?

The Empress Dowager of Northern Qin was also there!

Did you think

I would only send people to kill Yuan Xiaoliu?

Having fought with you for years,

I naturally knew you'd have a backup plan.

So I had people ambush outside Xiyue Restaurant.

If Xie Jiayu really managed to resolve

the grudge between Yuan Xiaoliu and the Empress Dowager,

then I might as well kill the Empress Dowager too.

If the dignified Empress Dowager of Northern Qin dies in Southern Ye,

what will the situation be?

Since Southern Ye broke the alliance and the marriage agreement first,

then sent assassins to kill our Empress Dowager,

-and... -Prince Qi has arrived!

Qing Long and Yan Yue?

It's Xiao Wuyi.

He knew long ago

that I brought Yuan Xiaoliu to see the Empress Dowager of Northern Qin.

Let's go!

Eagle King, Mulian Yu,

receive the decree of the Empress Dowager of Northern Qin.

Eagle King Mulian Yu, receive the decree!

Since you entered Ye holding the tally of Northern Qin,

you should follow the etiquette of the world.

Canceling the marriage agreement with Princess Pingning

and restoring the peace agreement

is an act that follows the will of heaven and the people.

You're ordered to sign the peace agreement immediately

and return the three prefectures to Southern Ye.

Thus decreed.

No.

Xiyue Restaurant is in a sea of fire right now.

Our Empress Dowager...

Your Empress Dowager has now

returned safely to Honglu Temple.

And she asked me to tell you

that she has long been aware

of your actions tonight.

Impossible.

Impossible?

You can ask Young Lord Xiao about this.

Lejun.

It's all right now.

Wuyi.

Although I said

I couldn't hide behind you all the time,

for what happened tonight,

I still want to thank you.

No need to thank me.

You should thank Xie Jiayu.

I originally wanted to watch from the sidelines,

but she didn't give up time and time again.

I couldn't help but admire her.

So I placed spies in Xiyue Restaurant

to ensure absolute safety.

Where is Xie Jiayu?

She was injured in Xiyue Restaurant.

Your Highness, please wait.

Your Highness, are you going back on your word?

The one who just promised to cancel the political marriage

is your Empress Dowager.

I always keep my word

and never go back on it.

Then what do you want to say?

On the day of the match,

I took a fancy to you.

Wanting to marry you was my selfish desire,

but not a pretense.

Don't talk nonsense. Shut up.

This is our custom in Northern Qin.

If you want someone,

you shout it out loud

so that heaven will know.

Li Lejun,

with or without the political marriage,

I want to marry you.

If you are unwilling,

I won't force you.

If you change your mind one day,

come to Northern Qin to find me.

My Eagle King's Mansion

will always open its doors for you!

How is your injury?

I'm fine.

Ruisheng used

the finest wound ointment on me.

It won't leave a single scar.

It seems to have succeeded.

Thank you for today.

Why thank me?

You saved the life of the Northern Qin Empress Dowager.

If anything had happened to her in Jiankang,

the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Actually, I was just lucky

and won the bet.

But if you don't want to do something,

no one can make you do it.

You knew early on that I took Yuan Xiaoliu,

so you had Qing Long and Yan Yue guard outside Xiyue Restaurant,

didn't you?

But if it weren't for your repeated insistence,

things wouldn't be like this.

The Northern Qin Empress Dowager

has agreed to the peace terms.

Later, the Northern Qin Empress Dowager told me

that she didn't want the Eagle King to gain the support

of the Southern Ye royal family in the first place.

She just wanted to see Yuan Xiaoliu.

That's why she made this trade.

Do you think Yuan Xiaoliu and she

really let go of each other?

What's wrong?

Yizhi...

wants to see you.

-Yaoyao. -Mao.

How's your injury?

Does it hurt badly?

I'm fine. It's just a flesh wound.

Lejun's marriage agreement has finally been canceled.

You two siblings

don't have to be separated anymore.

When I leave Jiankang with you,

I'll figure something out for her.

Mao.

I know you won't leave.

I also know

you're about to marry a girl of the Cui family.

Although neither of you told me,

I already knew

when you went to the Cui Mansion.

Yaoyao.

Do you hate me?

Why would I hate you?

Sometimes I wonder

if it's because I was too childish before

that neither you nor Xiao Wuyi

was willing to tell me the truth.

I was a bit angry at first.

You have such ambitions,

but why didn't you ever tell me?

But later I thought,

it was always me wanting to do something

and dragging you to accompany me.

But I didn't know what you wanted.

Actually,

I never truly understood you.

It's not like that.

I just wanted to protect you.

I hope you will live easily and happily

for your whole life,

and never see this world's

cruel side.

Yaoyao.

Are you willing to enter the palace?

Are you asking me to be your consort?

I mean in the future.

One day,

I will truly hold power.

At that time, there will be no He family

or Cui family.

There will only be us.

I think

you can divorce Xiao Wuyi first.

Do you know there is a Bureau of Devices in the palace?

You can be a female official there.

Don't you like mechanical devices?

How could the craftsmanship outside the palace

be as good as that inside?

But I don't like it.

Mao.

This is not the path I want to take.

I have grown up.

Between cruel truths and false illusions,

I want the former.

You just chose

what you thought was more important.

So you don't need to feel guilty,

nor do you need to worry about me.

So you still want to leave?

But you have never left Jiankang,

and you will be all alone...

The road is beneath my feet.

Only by traveling far

will I know where my home is.

It seems that right now,

I still can't keep you here.

You should be grateful

that you survived.

Phoenix Bone Poison Pill.

Actually, today, it wasn't just her who wanted to kill me;

I also wanted to kill her.

It was Jiayu's appearance

that finally stopped me.

What a waste.

This girl Jiayu

is always so drawn to the light

and so passionate that the dark

in one's heart

has nowhere to hide.

It makes me reluctant to be too cruel to this world.

Is this also the reason

why you fell for her?

The last time I saw you drinking like this

was at Jiuzhang Plain,

when there was no way out.

Now that she's not leaving,

is it possible for the two of you to...

I don't have much time left.

Xie Jiayu...

Xie Jiayu was never my responsibility.

And I have never expected her to be.

I promised her mother

not to involve her in danger.

Haven't I told you?

I read the fortune for you two.

Your destiny with her definitely won't just end here.

You two are...

I never believed in destiny.

If what destiny leaves for me

never belonged to me in the first place,

I will personally...

What?

Cut it off.

Cut it off?

You're back?

Why haven't you gone to bed yet?

Tonight...

the moonlight is quite pretty.

Have you...

talked it out with Yizhi?

Maybe ordinary people like us

and people with lofty ambitions like you

were never meant to walk the same path.

Not having great ambitions

doesn't mean having no backbone.

Xie Jiayu,

you're a very good person.

I have decided to take Yuan Xiaoliu as my master.

From now on,

I will follow him to improve my skills in mechanics and construction.

I will leave Jiankang.

Maybe I will follow him to your Beifu.

Xiao Wuyi.

Yuan Xiaoliu's Cangfeng Forge

works really well for me.

Can you ask him to share half of it with me?

Who told you that Cangfeng Forge belongs to Yuan Xiaoliu?

Whose is it then?

It's mine.

Then can you share half

of your Cangfeng Forge with me?

Anyway, after you go to the Northern Border,

you won't use it anymore.

Let me think about it.

You need to think about it?

Why can't I think about it?

Even if I'm not at home,

this home is still mine.

With such a petty personality,

no wonder you can't find yourself a girl.

I already have 3 concubines in my mansion,

which is annoying enough for me.

Do the three of us

have anything to do with you?

If you keep acting like this,

you'll be single forever.

In case you die in the future,

no one will collect your body.

Taking heaven and earth as one's grave

is also a kind of beauty.

I don't need a partner.

And I definitely don't need a weakness.

I don't believe you don't have anyone you like.

No, no, no.

That look in your eyes—

you definitely have someone you like.

What does she look like?

Tell me about her.

What does it have to do with you?

Just gossiping.

It's precisely because it has nothing to do with me that I can ask.

Why are you staring at me?

Anyway...

she is prettier than you

and more sensible than you.

She's better than you in everything.

Impossible.

In this world,

there can't be such a person.

Didn't you write a divorce paper

for Yuanji?

Before you go to the Northern Border,

write me one too, will you?

Aren't you not in a hurry to leave?

Why do you need a divorce paper?

Stop pretending.

I saw your discarded draft

on the desk that day.

Just be a good person to the end.

Who told you I'm a good person?

Didn't you say earlier

that I would laugh at you from the bottom of my heart?

How could I be a good person?

[Honglu Temple]

Mulian Yu,

you attempted to assassinate me

and committed rebellion against the throne.

According to the law, your nine clans should be executed!

But I am willing to spare you the death penalty,

because you are the right-hand man of Northern Qin.

Our territory

still needs

a blood-stained sword like you to guard it.

Thank you, Your Majesty, for sparing my life.

Recorded in this roster

are the unextinguished hidden forces of our Northern Qin.

Now I'm entrusting it to you.

And Xie Huaigui.

His obsession with avenging the An and Lu families

is the sharpest blade for stirring up turmoil in Jiankang

and hindering Southern Ye's northern expedition.

You should know

how to use him.

Your Majesty, I,

with all due respect, would like to ask one more thing.

Regarding the case of the Right King of Virtue conspiring with the enemy and committing treason,

was the evidence truly irrefutable,

or was it a grand miscarriage of justice?

Of course it was a miscarriage of justice.

Otherwise, why would Mulian Ying

hate me to the core?

It was me who personally presented

this vicious scheme to the late Emperor.

And it was me

who wiped out the entire Mulian family.

♪ The past is dust, we're passing through ♪

♪ No regrets for what we've lost and won ♪

♪ The shape of time begins to fade ♪

♪ Half by choice, half washed away ♪

♪ If fate is fragile, what is right or wrong ♪

♪ We only live for what we can't let go ♪

♪ Love and hate fade like the shifting sand ♪

♪ What's right or wrong is better left unsaid ♪

♪ Every soul is bound by cause and fate ♪

Memorial on the Beifu Reform.

♪ The past is gone, so let it slip away ♪

After deliberation by the ministers of the Commandant of Justice,

♪ The heart's a cage, but peace will break the chains ♪

the Regent requests His Majesty's review and approval.

♪ No need to speak, just leave it all to fate ♪

The "Memorial on the Beifu Reform" submitted by

Xiao Wuyi, the Grand General of Beifu, is excellent.

It has received His Majesty's approval.

Xiao Wuyi, Grand General of Beifu, is appointed

Commander-in-Chief of the Six Prefectures.

He shall oversee all military and administrative affairs of Beifu

under the authority of the Regent.

He shall urge the various prefectures to provide troops, horses,

provisions, and supplies without delay,

with all matters to be coordinated under one command.

♪ If fate is fragile, what is right or wrong ♪

Xiao Wuyi shall immediately lead his troops back to the Northern Border.

Xiao Yao is appointed Director of Waterways

♪ We only live for what we can't let go ♪

and shall oversee all matters concerning the repair of military supply routes and provisions.

Thus decreed.

♪ Love and hate fade like the shifting sand ♪

Thank you, Your Highness.

♪ What's right or wrong is better left unsaid ♪

♪ Every soul is bound by cause and fate ♪