Original subtitles

[Spring of The Blade]

[Episode 6]

You want revenge.

Do you think those few martial wanderers alone

can help you?

In this grave called the Xie family,

the living suffer more than the dead.

I'm the only one

who can help you.

Is Your Lordship willing to help me?

I used to just

want you to be obedient,

but I realized you're not one to submit easily.

So I figured

I should change my strategy.

Let's form an alliance.

♪ Sorrowed by many a farewell, comforted by sweet memories ♪

Through thick and thin.

♪ One life, one love, one heart devoted to you ♪

I mean, to protect and support each other.

Are you in?

♪ In the depths of darkness, you are the stars ♪

♪ Trample the abyss, together we run ♪

♪ May we grow deep in years together, sharing one life and one pillow ♪

I have plenty of patience.

♪ Rise and fall as one, whether we're united or apart ♪

You will figure it out.

♪ Hand in hand, we brave all the storms of life ♪

♪ Never to part, forevermore ♪

Mother.

Since you returned to the residence,

we haven't talked much.

You call me Mother,

but I've not fulfilled my motherly duty,

failing to protect you.

I'm so ashamed.

Old Madam

wanted to have a good talk with you

after you returned.

But she's getting on in years

and hasn't been feeling well lately,

so she asked me to talk to you.

That night,

when you were injured,

she was

deeply distressed.

I'm taking her away to protect her.

Any objections?

If she was distressed,

why did she give me to Lord Yan?

You've been away for long,

so naturally, you don't know the rules of the inner quarters.

With Concubine Mei now calling the shots both inside and out

and Nanny Rong emboldened by her backing,

do you realize the predicament Old Madam is in?

In all matters,

when the master speaks,

servants shouldn't question it.

When the husband speaks, the wife shouldn't question it.

When the elders speak,

juniors shouldn't question it.

Do you understand?

Yes.

I will keep in mind

what you just said.

I had this wound medicine

specially prepared

for you.

Apply it for Fourth Lady after you go back.

Yes.

Also,

Old Madam

fined Nanny Rong three months' wages.

That should

right some wrongs for you.

So my body full of wounds

and nearly losing my life amount to

nothing more than 3 months of someone's wages.

Thank you, Mother.

I'll take my leave now

so as not to disturb your rest.

Qingyuan.

These days,

rumors about you and Lord Yan

are everywhere.

Old Madam wants you to

stay in the residence

and not go out until the rumors die down,

to avoid further gossip.

Noted.

That girl...

It's a shame

she looks too much like you.

Go ahead and speak.

Second Madam,

if only you saw it.

In broad daylight,

that girl was

with that man Yan,

tugging at each other

and flirting.

Talk about shameless!

As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

A crooked stick will always have a crooked shadow.

The rich and powerful in Hengtang

all want to cling to that corrupt official for protection.

Keeping Qingyuan in our residence

has its uses.

Second Madam,

what brilliant foresight!

You're so wise.

No wonder you're in charge.

Through and through,

the Xie family still has to rely on you.

Is that a new bracelet?

Looks quite heavy.

You have a good eye.

It's just coated with gold dust,

not worth much.

You manage the Xie Estate.

So many eyes are on you.

At your age,

I shouldn't have to teach you

not to flaunt your wealth.

Are you dying for others to see

your little illicit gain?

Second Madam,

I have no other intentions.

I just want to

handle things well for you.

Alright.

I'm not blaming you.

If I don't feed my underlings well,

that little silver

won't come into my pocket either.

In my eyes,

this thing of yours

isn't really a big deal.

I just hope it doesn't set off suspicion

and lead people to discover the dealings behind the estate.

The consequences will be too heavy to bear

even with the two of us combined.

You're absolutely right.

I'm aware of the gravity of the situation.

[Danyue Pavilion]

My Lady,

you really hit the nail on the head.

I probed into it.

Nanny Rong is

indeed a dog serving multiple masters.

Every night after she gets off work,

she goes to Liuhua Courtyard to tip them off.

She and Mei Yinghua must be

up to something shady in the estate.

No one wakes up early for no reason.

Overseeing such a lucrative estate, they must have

skimmed a hefty profit for themselves.

Exactly.

She bought a gold bracelet days ago,

and couldn't stop showing it off.

I wonder how much hard-earned money she's extorted from the tenants.

With Mei Yinghua backing her

and Old Madam giving her free rein,

it's no wonder a nanny like her

is lawless in the Xie household.

She goes around bullying the weak,

shortchanges the tenant farmers,

and runs amok in the residence.

To bring her down,

you have to dismantle her backing

and leave her completely on her own.

You're right, My Lady.

Baoxian.

Do something for me.

Greetings, Lord Yan!

Well,

Lord Yan,

we're all busy with governmental affairs.

May I ask what this meeting

is about?

Well, i-it's not really the time

to be painting the town red.

I was afraid

that you lords are too busy,

so I invited you to revisit this place.

Perhaps you might recall something.

The murderer who assassinated the Xie Estate manager

also came here to drink with courtesans before he died.

I wonder

who he came here with that night.

Was it you?

No, no.

It wasn't me.

Or you?

N-No, My Lord.

I truly have no clue about it.

That shouldn't be.

Only a handful of Zuixian Tavern flower tokens

exist in all of Hengtang.

How did it end up on the murderer?

Lord Guo, I remember you have one.

Take it out and let us see.

Lord Yan,

you must be joking.

How could I have such a token?

Right.

I was just joking.

Why's everyone so nervous?

Sit, sit.

-Come on. Please. -Lord Guo, please.

-Sit, sit. -Sure.

However,

it seems the estate manager lost a ledger before he died.

Lord Guo, do you think

the ledger was hidden by the killer,

or

did it really fall into the river?

Lord Yan,

how... would I know?

Perhaps it really fell into the river.

Fell into the river.

It fell into the river.

Right, right.

Speaking of the ledger,

I've heard a story.

In a certain estate,

the dividends meant for the tenant farmers

were repeatedly deducted.

This left the tenants with no choice

but to borrow money from the government.

Money is easy to borrow

but hard to repay.

The compound interest accumulates quickly.

So the people

could only use their food at home as collateral.

As time passed,

the food ran out,

and they couldn't repay the money.

Take a guess, Your Lordships.

Where did the money

they borrowed come from?

I have no clue.

-Me neither. -Me neither.

I think the real kicker

of this story is that

the borrowed money is exactly

the money taken from the tenants' pockets

in the first place.

Interesting, isn't it?

Yes, yes!

Yes! S-So very interesting.

Interesting.

They say the ledger fell into the river.

Do you believe it?

I don't believe it anyway.

Neither do I.

But Your Lordship,

the ledger hasn't been found yet.

Won't doing this

alert the enemy?

That's exactly why

we have to alert the enemy.

Keep a close eye on them these few days.

They'll definitely lose their composure

and reveal something useful to us.

-Yes. -Yes.

Has Fourth Lady been here recently?

No word from her yet.

[Chuxiang Pavilion]

-Guo. -Second Young Master!

Come, come.

Why did you start drinking by yourself?

Come on, join me.

Why didn't you get a lady to sing a tune or two?

Let's drink.

Guo,

what's wrong?

Seems like you have a lot on your mind.

Did something go wrong with our business?

It's fine.

Second Young Master.

I heard that

Lord Yan has been getting

quite close to your family of late.

Have you heard anything about it?

Of course I have!

You know what?

Lord Yan's taken a fancy to my fourth sister.

They're really a match made in heaven.

-A handsome couple. -Yeah, okay.

A perfect match.

What I really want to ask is

about the treasure

I asked you to keep for me before.

Have you been keeping it safe?

Treasure?

What treasure?

Oh, you mean those picture books.

Yes, yes.

I'm really sorry about them.

My mother found them and confiscated them.

Confiscated?

-I didn't know how to tell you— -W-What about the box?

What box?

The wooden box that held the books.

There's an ink seal of

Jinsu Pastry Shop on it.

Did she take that too?

Second Young Master,

didn't I tell you

to keep it safe for me

and not to give it to anyone else?

-But my mother isn't just anyone else. -You...

What's wrong, Guo?

Why so nervous?

Is that box so valuable?

Relax.

How about this?

When I go back,

I'll ask her about it.

You must ask her. Please.

You have to.

Come. Let's drink.

Mother!

Mother,

where did I put my wooden box?

Mothe—

Mother, you're here.

My wooden box...

Oh! There it is—

W-What is it?

Are you really dumb or just pretending?

Don't you know what's in it?

What's wrong?

It's just a few books of eroti...

erotic art.

Underneath those books of yours is

the ledger for the illicit sale of relief grain.

W-What?

Why didn't I know?

No wonder Guo Baofeng was so nervous.

So he passed the hot potato

to me!

You can't even manage a small estate well.

If this thing

falls into Yan Rui's hands,

when implicated,

you'll be beheaded!

Mother,

I'll go beg Lord Wei now.

You...

Why'd you deliver yourself to his door?

Wei Changyan would love nothing more

than for you to die for him now.

Listen carefully.

You can't let anyone know

that this ledger is in our hands.

Also,

if Guo Baofeng asks,

just say

I burned it.

Okay.

Yes, I got it.

Second Madam!

-Second Madam! -You may leave.

Okay.

-Second Madam. -Goodness.

What's the panic?

Second Madam,

our estate is

in big trouble!

What could've happened?

Didn't we withhold the tenants' wages?

They heard about our usury business.

Having nowhere else

to turn for their money,

they're now inciting people to riot!

A disaster also hit us this year,

and all the money lent out can't be recovered.

With all this going on,

things are

going to get real messy.

Everything and everyone is a headache.

Where did those tenants

get such reliable news?

Could someone be

leaking information behind our backs?

I'm also wondering about this.

It wasn't me, Second Madam.

I absolutely did not leak a single word.

Second Madam.

About us moving the money,

only you and I know.

If it wasn't you,

could it have been me?

I'm innocent.

You know that

I guard our estate

like my own life.

Why'd I leak it?

I value my life and this prosperity

too much for that.

Right?

Alright.

I'll figure something out.

You may leave.

She's losing her marbles.

Keep a close eye on her.

Don't let her handle

anything important.

Second Madam,

if this gets out, we can't keep it under wraps for long.

We need to plan ahead.

Here, Qingyuan.

Thank you, Second Madam.

What's the occasion today?

You actually thought of

inviting Qingyuan for a meal.

Old Madam,

Nanny Rong and I are getting up there in years.

I fear we may no longer have the stamina to oversee the estate

day in and day out.

If we don't visit,

we can't keep the subordinates in check.

So after thinking it over,

I thought it'd be better to find someone from the younger generation

to help me out.

It's so kind of you to care about this old servant.

With these old bones of mine,

I'm used to working.

If I had nothing to do,

I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

Qingyuan,

you've suffered so much outside all these years.

Now that you're back in the Xie family,

I must make sure you're treated with the utmost care.

But you have a strong personality.

You're certainly not one to accept

gifts of gold and jewels.

So I thought I should

hand the estate over

to Qingyuan to manage.

Second Madam.

Do you think I'm cut out for business?

Besides, isn't the estate

usually managed by Second Brother?

If I take it over so abruptly,

it might be inappropriate.

What's inappropriate about it?

Your second brother caused such a big mess

at the government office.

He can't even take care of himself.

How could I leave the estate to him?

You have the skills and the guts.

I'll feel at ease leaving the estate to you.

Old Madam, what do you think?

Handing over the estate is no small matter.

Why rush, Second Madam?

Why not wait for the patriarch to return?

It won't be too late to let him decide.

The patriarch has so many things to deal with.

No need to bother him with such a small household matter.

But Fourth Lady is of noble and precious birth.

She probably can't even tell wheatgrass from chives.

Old Madam, I'm just a foolish servant.

But even in the hardest of times, the estate's never

let the household go hungry, has it?

Nanny Rong, you're right to criticize me.

I'm not as capable as you.

But I don't know where I heard that

the estate spends hundreds of taels of silver yearly

to build some canal.

Yet, for some reason,

the tenant farmers there

can't even dig a well.

I wonder where that canal

leads to.

What canal?

There's no such thing.

On the contrary,

why is my bracelet on your wrist?

First Madam, look.

Where's the bracelet?

Preposterous!

First Madam,

my bracelet...

I...

What bracelet?

On my arm,

there are only scars left by you, Nanny.

It hurts to have my scars

on display for everyone.

It's so humiliating.

What a loyal servant you are.

It's not enough that you took the law into your own hands

and harmed Qingyuan before.

Now you dare to be even more insolent

right in my presence!

Misappropriating funds and abusing your master!

Confiscate her badge!

The estate will be

handed over to Qingyuan.

She's our own flesh and blood.

No outsider gets to mistreat her.

And you.

Bring such filth near me again,

and you'll be stripped

of your management rights

over this household.

Old Madam, you're right.

You old servant,

how dare you bully Qingyuan?

See how I deal with you.

Chuntai, beat her hard!

I've lost my appetite.

Careful.

Old Madam!

I clearly saw

my bracelet on your arm.

Is this what you're talking about?

You did do it on purpose.

Come with me

to report to Old Madam.

Let's settle this head-on.

Nanny, you must be getting senile.

So what if I did it on purpose?

I'm Old Madam's biological granddaughter.

Settle this head-on?

Do you think she'll side with a servant like you?

You deliberately set me up.

I've endured for decades

in the Xie Residence.

You, a bastard who came out of nowhere,

have no right to steal the estate from me!

Bastard?

What a familiar title.

Nineteen years ago,

when you beat my mother black and blue

and she begged you for mercy,

you called her that too.

My mother never hurt anyone.

Why did you mistreat her like that?

So you came for revenge.

What does your mother's business have to do with me?

I was just following my master's orders.

If you're that capable,

go target those high and mighty masters!

How did you know?

That is my plan.

Justice has a long arm.

The evil you committed back then

has finally caught up with you.

What long arm of justice?

Give my bracelet back!

I'm just a servant who climbed the ladder!

Give it back!

If you have the guts, go after them!

Look at yourself.

How pathetic.

You spent your entire life clawing your way up,

only to become

a mere dog for a high official's concubine.

[Danyue Pavilion]

My Lady.

The estate Mei Yinghua gave you

is indeed problematic.

They say

the estate has been using the tenants' money

for usury for years,

delaying the payments owed to tenants.

Now the matter has blown up.

I'm afraid it'll be hard to suppress.

It might reach Old Madam soon.

It's fine.

One step at a time.

I'm already studying

the estate's ledger.

Did you find any clues

in the ledger?

Since she had the nerve to hand it over,

she must've scrubbed it clean.

This ledger shows absolutely nothing.

Only by going to the estate to crosscheck

might I find some holes.

To bring down Nanny Rong,

you took on this hot potato.

That's a massive price to pay.

And look at your body full of wounds.

What kind of heiress chooses to live like this?

Baoxian,

it's all thanks to you

for swiping that bracelet for me.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to

take over this hot potato so smoothly.

Granny.

My baby!

Come here.

I missed you so much.

Granny.

I brought you a gift.

Why do you always bring me gifts when you come back?

I don't care about those things.

All I care about is

you coming back early to be with me.

Granny,

now's not the time yet.

But I promise you

I'll be as quick as I can.

As for that money,

just look at it as

holding onto it on my behalf.

Alright!

Just now, I smelled

my favorite pear curd.

You can't eat this.

I saved it for a regular customer.

If you want some,

I'll make it fresh for you

with extra honey.

Granny,

I've only been gone a few days,

and you have a new regular I don't know?

It's that Young Master Yan from the capital.

He's been coming to support my business lately.

He's very nice

and has no airs.

A couple of days ago, he even

helped me move flour.

He was worried I'd fall and sprain something.

Does he come often?

When?

Why didn't I know?

It's quite a coincidence.

You two always arrive one after another.

You leave, and he shows up right after.

What's wrong, Dear?

Why the frown?

Are you still misunderstanding him?

He's really a nice person.

Granny,

the human heart is hard to gauge.

Anyway, don't trust outsiders easily.

Outsiders?

Fourth Lady, your words are

truly heartbreaking.

Yan,

you came at the right time.

Look,

the soup is ready.

This time,

it's perilla, ginger, and jujube soup.

With your condition,

you need to eat more things

that warm the stomach and dispel cold.

Thank you, Granny.

It smells so good.

I'll pour a bowl for you.

Come out with me for a second.

Lord Yan,

I don't know why

you're relentlessly pursuing me.

I've already gotten

the things you wanted for you.

I've also done what you asked me to do.

Why won't you let me go?

Granny doesn't know a thing.

All your schemes to get close to her are useless.

You won't get anything out of her.

Have you never truly given anyone

your heart?

Is that why you question the sincerity of others?

I have no ulterior motives towards Granny Chen.

She just reminds me of my loved ones who are gone,

so I want to look out for her.

That's all.

I swear every word

I said is true.

♪ Spring comes to the long gate, green grass sprouts ♪

You'll say anything, won't you?

What do you mean?

I'm completely sincere.

♪ Red plums bear dewdrops, bright and serene ♪

♪ Year by year, time drifts along ♪

You two are...

♪ Warmth and chill of mortal meet and part ♪

Granny Chen,

I forgot to tell you that

♪ No need to heed the wind's soft whisper and ask about your return ♪

Yunya and I survived

ordeals together in the Xie Residence.

Now we've buried the hatchet.

Ordeals?

♪ Wild geese soar through deep clouds, waiting for the moon to rest ♪

Dear,

did you suffer?

No, I didn't suffer.

Don't listen to his rubbish.

Really, I didn't suffer.

♪ Old memories lie heavy, haunting every dream ♪

Look,

aren't I perfectly fine?

Don't you lie to me!

I know you have your difficulties,

but the older generation...

♪ Rises and falls take turns ♪

I mean, you're so young.

♪ Phases of the moon, unplanned to wax and wane ♪

Your happiness and comfort

matter the most.

♪ Count fallen blooms, yet never count all pains of parting ♪

Don't take everything upon yourself.

That's right, Yunya.

Don't always push yourself so hard.

♪ You, tender yet sharp, with thorns by your side ♪

Yan.

♪ Like a dim yet blazing candle ♪

Although I don't know who you really are,

but since you have dealings with the Xies,

you must be no ordinary person.

♪ The wind and rain sigh, the road stretches far ♪

Please take good care

of my little girl.

♪ Blossoms drift with streams, affections softly stir ♪

What are you saying?

I don't need his care.

♪ Half real, half illusion; one cup of spring awakes me ♪

Let's go, Granny.

Don't worry, Granny.

I'll take good care of your dear Yunya.

♪ Burned and released, held by fate's hand ♪

Let's go.

Slow down. Jeez.

[Heng River Ferry Terminal]

Pay up! Pay up!

Listen to me, everyone!

[Xie Estate]

It's been hell for us!

We've weathered storms all year,

just relying on this little harvest

to earn some pennies to survive!

Yes!

As for them,

they claim natural disasters affected the harvest,

but secretly embezzled our money

[Bountiful Years and Abundant Harvests]

for private usury!

Is there no justice?

There's no justice!

There's no justice!

Folks, we must make them pay up!

[Bountiful Years and Abundant Harvests]

We can't let them treat us like fools!

Yes!

Let's smash this place!

Smash it! Smash it!

[Bountiful Years and Abundant Harvests]

Smash it! Smash it!

[Tea]

What a brilliant move, Your Lordship.

Falsely claiming that the estate manager's ledger was recovered

and leaking news of the estate's deficit

really added fuel to the fire for Xie Estate.

Your Lordship,

right after you mentioned the ledger,

Guo Baofeng went to see Second Young Master.

So the ledger

must be hidden in the Xie Residence.

That's right.

The estate manager is dead,

and the ledger is in Xie Residence.

They can run, but they can't hide.

Our best option is to wait for a chance

to look around the estate.

I really feel sorry for Fourth Lady.

She got caught in the crossfire for no reason.

I'm afraid this violent spectacle

will reduce her to tears.

Not necessarily.

After all,

she is the lady I chose.

Fourth Lady is here.

She really came.

Pay up! Pay up!

Pay up! Pay up!

Pay up! Pay up!

My Lady, it's dangerous here.

If it doesn't work out, let's just leave.

Since we're here,

we can't be afraid.

Isn't that the manager?

Let's go!

Let's go!

Let's go!

Pay up! Pay up!

Pay up! Pay up!

Pay up! Pay up!

Pay up!

Pay up! Pay up!

Pay up! Pay up!

Pay up! Pay up!

Pay up! Pay up!

Pay up! Pay up!

Pay up! Pay up!

Everyone!

Silence!

Pay up!

I'm Xie Qingyuan, the Fourth Lady of the Xie family.

The elders have

put me in charge

of this estate.

Whatever grievances you have,

you can let me know.

I'll do my best to

solve your problems.

Solve our problems?

How will you solve them?

You just want to repudiate the debt!

They took our money,

and now they've got a woman to talk to us!

-Can you hear me out? -What's there to hear?

Xies are all the same; all scum!

Let's take her to the authorities!

Wait.

Can you...

Can you hear me out first?

What are you doing?

-Let go of My Lady! -My Lord.

Let go!

Let me go!

Move!

Your Lordship, Fourth Lady is...

That's right.

I am a Xie.

But I didn't grow up in the Xie household.

Since I was little,

I wandered outside alone.

My mother died early,

and I had no one to rely on.

I used to

perform on the streets

and beg for food.

Sometimes,

for a bowl of porridge,

I'd kowtow in front of a porridge stall.

For a steamed bun,

I'd beg over half of Liuzhou.

I've seen countless ugly faces of the rich.

Your suffering today

was my visceral pain yesterday.

Believe it or not,

I, Xie Qingyuan,

sincerely want to

solve the problems for you.

-Why should I trust you? -Yeah! Why should I trust you?

Because I know

that for every day this money is delayed,

more people will go hungry.

You can choose not to believe me,

and I cannot represent the Xie family.

But I, Xie Qingyuan, guarantee with my

reputation and conscience

that if the Xie family doesn't pay back this money,

I, Xie Qingyuan,

will compensate you in full!

My Lady!

Your Lordship.

Bring me your IOUs.

And mine.

-This is mine. -Here's mine.

This is my IOU.

-Fingerprint mine first! -Mine!

Excuse me.

Mine! Mine!

Don't push.

Don't push.

Is this real?

My blood

is my seal.

Within 7 days,

with the IOU bearing my fingerprint,

you can ask the estate for money.

If the estate really owes you money,

it'll be repaid threefold,

and your rent will be halved!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

She actually managed to put out

the fire I started.

[Bountiful Years and Abundant Harvests]

As I thought, such a situation doesn't faze you at alll.

Lord Yan, you sure are in high spirits.

When I was in grave danger just now,

you just hid in the back watching the drama unfold.

You have a sharp mind.

If I intervened rashly,

wouldn't it ruin the good show?

However...

if you fail to keep your promise,

the tenants' backlash will be beyond disastrous.

How do you know I can't keep my promise?

Then how will you solve it?

Are you curious?

Lord Yan, since you love watching the drama

and care so much about Xie Estate,

I must take you to see it for yourself.

If I tell you in advance,

it'll ruin the fun, won't it?

[Xie Residence of Hengtang]

Oh, Lord Yan. Stop.

My darling,

how's the task I assigned coming along?

It's been completed, of course.

It's worth everything I've done

to get you the estate.

You have incredible foresight, My Lord.

Second Madam is indeed

behind the private usury.

But the account is in a deficit now.

That's why the tenants were making a scene.

Years of managing the household have made

Concubine Mei very resourceful.

Even if we get evidence,

she'll never admit it.

She'll just have someone take the blame.

That's of course.

Second Madam is behind the scenes.

Nanny Rong is the one

who actually handles everything.

When Nanny Rong

is arrested...

Did I hear something?

Maybe it's a stray cat.

You sure know how to joke.

When Nanny Rong

is arrested and executed,

the truth will be buried.

By then,

Concubine Mei's name will be cleared.

You'll also have unearthed the truth

and can answer to Old Madam.

Yes.

She's just a mere nanny.

Who will care if she dies?

So Second Madam put Nanny Rong in charge

just to leave herself a way out.

Then you should get ready

to report to Old Madam tomorrow.