Original subtitles

What happened to Prince Man-ho when he was four?

I won’t let anyone harm my son!

I need you two to help me go back to Hong Kong of 2015.

You are not my natural son.

The brother that Cheung Po-tsai asked me to help him look for is me.

Goddess, don't you stand by good people?

Prince Man-ho has undergone so much for the benefit of others.

Why isn't he blessed?

He loves Miss Wong and I can tell Miss Wong loves him too.

Why is Cheung Po-tsai picked in the end?

She is going back to Guangdong with him.

It'll break Prince Man-ho's heart if he learns about it.

Forget the mirror.

A crow can never be a peacock.

Of course. I am not a peacock.

I'm just doing my best as a crow.

Now you look like a man.

Do your official gown justice.

No more fooling around.

Like this?

So my words have fallen on deaf ears...

Sis Kiu, I got it...

Water Mui.

You weren't back till very late last night.

I went to the market for a walk.

Has Prince Man-ho got any news about Po-tsai's brother?

It's like looking for a needle in a haystack,

it's not easy at all.

But I do want to be reunited with him.

Po-tsai, don't worry.

Give him more time.

I'm sure you'll hear from him.

Yes, have patience.

After our audience with Sire, we'll go back to Guangdong.

Have you packed?

Water Mui, is something wrong?

Po-tsai, I am not going back with you yet.

I mean to stay in the capital for a few more days.

Is it because of Prince Man-ho?

Since your mind's made up.

Nothing I say can change it.

Po-tsai, let me spend a few more days with him.

You'll know when I am back in Guangdong.

Please inform Honourable Cheung Po-tsai,

I am here to take them to the palace.

Yes, Lai Gong-Gong.

Honourable Cheung.

Lai Gong-Gong, how very kind of you to come yourself.

Lai Gong-Gong, where's Prince Man-ho?

He's not feeling well.

I am taking you to Sire on his behalf.

He asked me to give this map of the South Sea islands to Honourable Cheung.

You should present it to Sire yourself to show your sincere submission to Court

Sire will be pleased.

Thank you, Lai Gong-Gong.

If Sire is pleased, he may grant us tons of money.

Or make me a Prince Consort.

Dream on.

And mind your words.

If you offend Sire, your head will roll.

Come on, we were pirates.

We were recruited because Sire found us formidable.

Right, what rolling of heads? We aren't going to assassinate him.

Indeed.

Honourable Cheung, it's getting late. We should go now.

Po-tsai, why look so cross?

I'm fine.

Water Mui, you too. Why look so down?

An audience with Sire is a big event.

Listen to me, whatever is bothering you, put it aside for now.

Let's go.

Lai Gong-Gong, we can go.

Water Mui, wait for my return.

I have something to tell you.

Sire, I've told you every detail about my treatment of Prince Man-ho 20 years ago

I've kept nothing from you.

Physician Chan, a great practitioner indeed

You've cured me of my uneasiness with just one dosage.

Prince Man-ho is here.

Sire, greetings.

Man-ho, at ease.

I haven't had a good look at you for many years.

Among my sons, Man-hung, Man-chong and Man-sing look like me.

You, however, have my character.

Man-ho, tell me, how have I treated you these years?

You have been kind to me this year.

This year?

So you mean I have not been kind with you before.

I don't know, nor do I want to think about it.

Why should I be unkind to my own son?

Sire, it has always baffled me.

You had been cool to me since I got well from my illness at four.

However hard I worked since I grew up, you never patted me on the back.

Flood control work in Yunnan,

fighting bandits in the Northwest, and corruption in Zhejiang...

I won no praise from you.

It had cost me many nights,

I kept asking myself,

how come Sire was so hard on his own son?

I was hard on you because...

Of what?

You had a drastic change in character after your illness.

You became much more aggressive.

That's why I was stern with you.

I wanted to mellow you out, to put humility in you.

You were a diamond in the rough.

If you failed to understand it,

then my effort was wasted.

I see...so I was over suspicious.

I thought it was because...

Of what?

Sire...

Man-ho, now that I have poured my heart out

our bond as father and son has strengthened.

You have not hidden anything from me, have you?

Sire, actually...

Don't bother...

Words spoken can't be taken back.

I am glad that I had this heart-to-heart talk with my son today.

It's a big day today. We are celebrating success in recruiting the pirates,

and you making an achievement!

I want to celebrate it with my flesh and blood.

Wow, the palace is so big.

Scholar Suen, I didn't have a proper look at the map.

Could we have another look?

Yes, show it to us.

Hey, this is the palace, a restricted area.

Stop fooling around here.

Honourable Cheung has to present it to Sire

Guangdong pirates have surrendered to our reign, thus

our glory is reaching the farthest ends.

Peace has descended on all the territories, so every man is blessed.

Great is our benevolence and glory prevails...

Water Mui told me...

She is staying behind in Beijing.

Whatever happens in the future,

I do hope that you, Water Mui and I can still be friends.

Friends?

And please keep looking for my brother for me.

I really want to reunite with him.

Recruited pirates...

Thank you, Sire.

Please sit.

Do your best to serve the Court.

Sire, to show their gratefulness,

Honourable Cheung Po-tsai is presenting

you with the map of the South Sea islands, as confirmation of their loyalty.

Good! Show it to me.

It's your idea, right?

Thank you.

Map?

Map of the South Sea islands.

Assassin? How dare you!

Protect Sire!

Arrest them!

Stop!

Prince Man-ho, you went back on your word!

You lured us in to exterminate us!

Sire, Cheung Po-tsai was sincere in surrendering to the Court.

I am sure the truth is not what it seems.

Sire...

What truth?

The truth is very clear.

The hidden dagger was for the assassination of Sire.

Man-ho, how careless of you.

For earn your merits,

you brought those desperados back and put Sire in danger.

Sire, if Cheung Po-tsai really had assassination in mind,

I should bear the responsibility.

Could you give me three days to find out the truth?

Assassination is capital offence.

Yet you still vouchsafe for him?

Who is Cheung Po-tsai to you?

Alright, I'll give you three days.

If you fail to find anything,

you'll have to execute him yourself.

Prince Man-jing, come again?

It took me by surprise.

A dagger was hidden in the map.

It's not possible.

I found it odd too.

He's here to surrender to Sire,

how come it could turn into an assassination attempt?

What about Prince Man-ho?

I am sure he's trying to figure out a way to save them.

They've all been thrown into jail.

Assassination is a capital offence.

There were witnesses present.

Brother Man-ho, what can you do?

Hold it! Highness, did you say the dagger was hidden in the map?

He asked me to give this map of the South Sea islands to Honourable Cheung.

I never asked you to give the map to Cheung Po-tsai.

You gave me the order this morning.

Lai Gong-Gong, I have been good to you.

Why are you framing me? Say it!

You gave me the dagger as well.

If you don't want to get involved.

Let me take total responsibility.

You...

If you want me to lie, I'll do it.

Get lost! Get lost!

Wong Tai-mui?

Highness, tell me you are not the mastermind.

But will you believe it?

I so much want to.

But my rational mind tells me,

it's for hiding your true identity,

it's for keeping your identity as a prince,

it's for the chance of becoming emperor.

That's why you could forget about your family and your conscience,

you could frame your brother Cheung Po-tsai, right?

You can ask me a hundred or a thousand times,

my answer is still the same. No!

How can you still lie to me?

Everything points to it.

Why should I believe you?

Because I am true to you.

We've known each other for so long.

Do you really find me a despicable man?

Wong Tai-mui, what you see or what you hear may not be true.

Stop being rational for a change.

Follow your heart.

Believe in the man right in front of you.

I can't do that! I really can't.

Wong Tai-mui.

Highness, what happened between you and Miss Wong?

Prince Man-jing just told me,

Cheung Po-tsai tried to assassinate Sire.

They've been thrown in jail.

What happened?

Ha Sim, do you believe I set Cheung Po-tsai up?

That's why you and Miss Wong had a fight?

I am asking you, do you believe I am a despicable man?

Though I don't know why Miss Wong has this misunderstanding,

I'll never believe you are a despicable man

Goddess Guan Yin, I set Cheung Po-tsai up, I am a sinner.

But I had no choice.

Otherwise, Man-ho's identity will be blown.

Pity a parent's heart.

You were doing it for Prince Man-ho's sake.

Goddess Guan Yin will understand.

She will not blame you.

Lai Gong-Gong, I am so worried.

Man-ho will never forgive me.

Highness... Man-ho!

So you are the mastermind, I should have known.

Lai Gong-Gong would only do it for me,

or for you.

Lady Shun was doing it for you.

Why? Why?

Cheung Po-tsai still doesn't know I am his brother.

He would have gone back to Guangdong tomorrow to be an official.

Why couldn't you give him a break?

Man-ho, you can't wrap fire with paper.

He may not know today,

but he may find out later.

With him thousands of miles away,

it's not so easy to shut him up.

Highness, if you want to be a great man,

you have to be ruthless.

History is full of such examples.

But he is my natural brother.

How could I have the heart to do so?

That's why Lady Shun did it for you.

Shut up!

It's understandable that you don't have the heart to kill your own brother.

But this misplaced kindness can be disastrous to you.

What if Sire finds out you are not his son?

Can you bear the consequence alone?

What if Sire finds out you are not his son?

Can you bear the consequence alone?

Me, Lai Gong Gong, your brother Man-jing...

none in this residence can get away.

Not to kill my own brother is misplaced kindness?

Not to be ruthless will mean the death of everyone here?

Goddess, so I am the one in the wrong, whatever Mother did for me was right?

I was right, you wouldn't forgive me.

Goddess, I am alone responsible for the lives of Cheung Po-tsai and the others.

Let your wrath befall me, leave my son alone

Mother, please...

It's not his fault.

Goddess Guan Yin, let me go to Hell. I am willing.

Let me alone pay for the deaths of Cheung Po-tsai and the others.

Stop it!

I won't let Cheung Po-tsai die.

Even if it means my true identity will be blown,

I won't let my natural brother die!

It's too late now.

I have had poisoned wine sent to them in jail already.

Cheung Po-tsai only has hours to live.

What?

Man-ho, bear this in mind.

Whatever I did, I was doing it for what's best for you.

Man-ho, I was doing it for your sake.

I am here to interrogate the prisoners on Prince Man-jing's order.

Yes.

How sumptuous. And wine as well.

This is called the last supper.

I think we are doomed.

How could I be so stupid to believe in Prince Man-ho?

The recruitment was actually for . wiping us out.

I did you guys in.

Master Po.

Po-tsai, don't blame yourself.

Chief got it wrong too.

Who would have known the righteous Prince Man-ho is actually so despicable.

But what good does it do him?

We have surrendered already.

It's to silence the witnesses.

Silence what witnesses?

Po-tsai, Prince Man-ho is the brother you are looking for.

I spared no efforts in looking for him.

Yet the first thing he did is to silence me

He took me by surprise.

A surprise indeed.

See how sumptuous the last supper is, with meat and wine.

It is for his conscience.

It's to make himself feel easier.

Hold it.

Do you mean it's from Prince Man-ho?

Yes, it's what the guards said.

Is it silver?

Highness.

The supper for Cheung Po-tsai, delivered?

Yes. You had it sent over.

It's just been delivered.

It really is laced.

He can't wait for the execution.

He means to kill Po-Tsai with poisoned wine.

The key. Yes.

He's my own brother. How could he be so ruthless?

It's like a prerequisite for great men in history.

Whoever gets between them and the throne has to die,

be they their parents or children.

It's common in history.

He'll pay for it. He'll go to Hell.

Right.

Prince Man-ho, are you here to kill me?

Just do it.

I knew it already.

Your natural brother will not get between you and your throne.

Just do it.

If killing me will make your life easier, just do it.

Kill me!

You asked me to believe in you.

I tried. I told myself you wouldn't lie to me.

Even if things looked too much of a coincidence, I still believed in you.

Ask me a hundred times or a thousand times now,

I'll never believe you again.

So to you, I am a man that can't be trusted.

So to you, I am a ruthless and heartless man.

Yes!

Highness...no...

You know it's laced, why?

It doesn't work.

Even if you kill yourself to prove yourself

they won't believe it.

Lady Shun is the mastermind.

You have suffered so much for them.

Yet they still wrong you and distrust you.

They don't deserve you.

You were wronged yet I still misunderstood you.

Brother, I am sorry.

I should have believed you.

I am sorry... Sorry...

Sorry...

Prince Man-ho risked getting Sire angry vouchsafing for Cheung Po-tsai?

He would clear his name in 3 days?

Though Prince Man-ho has recruited him,

he didn't have to go this far for him.

Something's not right.

Where's Fok Yee-tai?

I've summoned him.

How come he hasn't shown up yet?

Highness...

Fok Yee-tai is here.

Highness, greetings.

So now you wouldn't show up without repeated summons?

Uncle, you may have been demoted,

but you have put on more airs.

We are entitled to fall ill once in a while

Highness, I have caught a cold.

I asked you to keep an eye on Prince Man-ho and his gang.

What have you found out?

I said I had caught a cold.

I couldn't go anywhere.

I spent the last couple of days sleeping at home.

Really? Yes.

Tung-suet.

Your maid Siu-ting was planted there by Highness.

She has just come in for debriefing.

You have not caught a cold.

You've been out all day in the past couple of days.

You...

You put a spy in my house?

I'm your uncle! How could you not trust me?

I learnt that from you.

What do you mean?

I do care about kinship.

And I don't?

Back then you had a rift with Lady Shun

You planted me by her side as her personal maid.

I was already betrothed to a good family.

But you sacrificed my happiness for your own gains.

Who doesn't have kinship in mind?

You are now a royal consort and you want to settle the scores with me?

What about you? What have you done after you gained Sire's favour?

For fear that Sire would find out about your past,

you made me frame that good family of yours

They were all silenced.

A most wicked woman. That's you.

What are you talking about?

The truth.

Milady, little prince should be hungry by now.

Let me check on him.

Stay!

Tung-suet, didn't Uncle recommend you to me as my maid?

It's for spying on me, right?

Please forgive me.

I have hidden nothing from you.

Allow me to be presumptuous.

Milady, Honourable Fok,

you have a common enemy.

Prince Man-ho stands to gain from your falling out.

You two should reconcile.

What an old fool I am!

Kin should stick together against outsiders.

Uncle, a family feud blows over easily.

If you find me overstepping my bounds next time,

reprimand me as an elder.

Highness, you are too kind. Have some tea.

Uncle, now tell me what you've found out.

I tailed Prince Man-ho to the Eastern Mausoleum.

He ran out looking distraught. as if he'd suffered a great blow.

The Eastern Mausoleum?

Did he meet anyone there?

Yes, Leung Gong-Gong.

Highness, you want me to go south tomorrow to assume the position?

You must have heard of the Cheung Po-tsai fiasco.

Guangdong Navy is now left without a leader.

The situation there is unstable.

I need you to go there to put things under control.

Highness, I won't go.

What nerve! This is defiance!

Highness, Ha Sim has told me everything.

You're sending me to Guangdong to keep me from danger.

I am not going.

I am not asking you, I am telling you.

I am not going.

This is not loyalty, this is stupidity.

If my true identity is blown and puts the court to shame,

Sire's wrath will cost many lives.

By taking you out of danger,

I want you to safeguard the Navy.

I want to protect the people in Guangdong. Do you understand?

I do, but I am not going.

Get lost!

Siu-fu, Highness...

Highness, I accompanied you in the southern expedition.

I have pledged my life to you.

You live, I live.

You die, I die.

Good...

I think you should change your name.

You are as stubborn as an ox.

You are now Ox.

The newly appointed Guangdong Admiral is Ngo Siu-fu, but I am Ox.

I'll ride through this crisis with you.

Highness, not just Siu-fu, I am not going anywhere either.

Come hell or high water!

Alright, so Heaven won't let me die a wronged man.

Be it a mountain or an abyss in front,

I'll find a way out.

The fewer know about my birth the better.

Go to the Eastern Mausoleum to get Leung Gong-Gong.

Put him in a safe place.

Yes, Highness.

Tell me!

No, I won't.

Tell me!

No!

Tell me!

No!

Tell me!

See? You could have spared yourself the suffering.

So Prince Man-ho was a changeling,

He is a substitute for the dead prince.

Let me take you to Lady Yim.

You have to tell her everything.

Come on.

Faster...

We came too late.

Chase...

Leung Gong-Gong, come with me.

I won’t let you harm Prince Man-ho!

I'll kill you first!

We'll see.

You thwarted my last hope?

Drop dead!

You should have long been dead!

You have caused the deaths of so many brothers in the navy.

Yet you still want to do more harm.

You want to harm Prince Man-ho.

If Heaven is blind,

let me carry out justice on its behalf!

Siu-fu...

Ha Sim...

Watch out!

Siu-fu...

Go!

Heaven is not blind.

Its eyes were never open.

Heaven wants me to teach you the so-called righteous men a lesson.

So you want to play the hero?

Prepare to die incognito!

No...

Siu-fu...

Ha Sim, cut it off!

Ha Sim, no...don't do it...

Siu-fu, I can’t!

Ha Sim, I am contented to take Fok Yee-tai with me.

Do it!

Ha Sim, no!

We promised Highness we'll go through thick and thin with him.

You can’t die!

Fok Yee-tai has to die if we want Prince Man-ho to live.

Cut it!

Ha Sim...no...don't do it...

I can't hold on anymore! Do it!

Ha Sim...no...

Do it!

Siu-fu...

Cheung Po-tsai and the others are held in jail.

Though as a prince I can gain access to them,

without Sire's decree I can't take them away.

What should I do?

Highness...

Don't worry. I am trying hard to find a way to get them out.

I am here to say I'm sorry.

I shouldn't have doubted you.

You were right.

What we see and what we hear may not be true.

But sometimes a true heart may be false.

I doubted you and broke your heart.

I am sorry.

But things work differently from where I came.

We talk about proof, explanations, rationality.

The people there, including me,

have forgotten how to follow one's heart.

Could you give me another chance to believe in you?

Ha Sim...

How come you are back alone?

Where's Siu-fu?

Ha Sim, what happened?

Where's Siu-fu?

Siu-fu...He's dead.

What?

In order to keep your secret,

he died with Fok Yee-tai.

Siu-fu...He's dead...

Siu-fu...

Cheung Po-tsai's assassination attempt...

Man-ho couldn't wait to be emperor.

He's the mastermind!

He wants to seize the throne!