Original subtitles

He felt uncomfortable with the ban,

so, I lifted it.

I hid out

to fight for my country.

This should have

aroused his conscience.

This is the Royal Order.

This order was issued to kill the generals who committed treason,

Qin Xian, the left-wing vanguard of the Five Barracks Division,

Gao Piao, the left-wing vice general of logistics,

and the General of Middle Army of Divine Machine Division,

Wang Xian De.

Respect this.

But I saw his letter to the enemy

in Oirat Esen Elite Division.

It was he

who encouraged the Oirats

to siege me.

He can see

all the secret memorials

without leaving the house.

He didn't got to the court,

but he was able to make

half of the government officials

to speak highly of him

and stirred up trouble between the officials and me.

He conspired with the general of

Three Elite Military Divisions and plotted rebellion,

and took my tolerance for him

as a joke

over and over again.

Don't they just want

an emperor?

A true Son of Heaven like you

who makes people hear voices

and shivers

at the sight of shadows.

Don't cry.

Good boy.

Yu Er is thirsty.

Go get him some water.

Yes.

You

go and wait outside.

Let me know when the emperor comes.

Yes.

Your Majesty.

You're here.

Why didn't you tell me first?

The emperor said to tell Madam that

tonight's baby shower...

You can leave.

His Majesty wants you

to report that you are ill today,

and that you don't have to

attend the baby shower that will be held.

What does that mean?

Report that I'm ill?

What does this mean?

Your Highness.

What's wrong? It's very late already.

The emperor is having a banquet tonight

for the baby shower.

I came to ask

why aren't you going.

What do you mean by that?

The emperor told me

he wants

to celebrate with you tonight.

He sent someone

to tell me that

he will have a feast with you

and will return to the palace in two days.

Didn't His Majesty tell you?

I see.

What's wrong?

I slept too long today

and may have missed it.

I'll go to the emperor another day and ask for a pardon.

Why apologize for having

a feast with your family?

When will

they arrive?

They're not coming.

Today, I'm your only companion

for this baby shower.

The child...

The child is asleep.

I'll put him in bed first.

Don't touch him.

Let me hold him a little longer.

I have something

to ask you.

From a female official,

you were crowned the consort of imperial grandson,

crown princess,

then empress.

Three posthumous titles are bestowed upon you.

The mother of the nation. How noble you are.

I didn't let you down, right?

I knew all along

that you were recommended by the second uncle's family.

I accepted you

because grandfather wanted to

respect second uncle.

Have I ever been hard on you

because of this

in all these years?

No.

Why did second uncle recommend you?

I have been waiting for you

to give me an explanation.

I've had a hard time waiting.

I thought I could put myself in your shoes,

but I didn't expect that

all I've got

is an ungrateful female thief

with the heart of a devil.

The imperial secret police is searching the city tonight.

By the end of the night,

all things that have haunted me

and humiliated me

will be gone completely.

Your Majesty.

I have done nothing wrong.

You stole the imperial seal

and sent him out of the city.

At that time,

I was puzzled.

Why?

Why?

Do you have any idea

how much effort I put into

bringing him back to the capital

from outside the customs?

And you just let him go.

I almost died in Shandong.

Hurry up.

Your Highness.

What's going on?

It's the imperial order.

Your Highness, please return to your palace to rest.

What orders were given

to arrest the maids and eunuchs

in the harem?

What is this about?

It's the emperor's decree.

You have frightened me with your swords.

You didn't even give me an explanation.

I have no choice but to ask the emperor.

Your Highness.

Please don't make things difficult for me.

This is really the emperor's decree.

Take away

all the palace maids and eunuchs

in the empress' palace,

and all the internal officials

who collaborated with Prince of Han.

Your Highness, please return to your palace to rest.

I want to know the truth.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty. You...

What are you doing, Your Majesty?

Are you out of your mind?

Your Majesty.

You knew.

Your Majesty. What?

All of you knew it.

All of you have been lying to me.

No...

Your Majesty.

Whose lies have you

been listening to?

I...

You came back here to bully a woman

and a child.

Your Majesty.

I told you I just want the truth.

Prince of Han promised to recommend me as the candidate of concubine.

He sent a congratulatory gift.

I wanted to thank him.

So he asked me to steal the imperial seal.

There's nothing I can do.

He has something on me.

That's all.

I haven't done anything else.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Guards.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Keep an eye on them.

Don't let them move.

Don't let them die.

Yes.

Wait for me.

I didn't expect you to

clean up this place so well

yourself.

Your Majesty,

why are you so late?

I have been waiting for you for a long time.

Let's talk inside.

No one shall act rashly.

What happened to the empress?

What else do you know?

I also know you colluded with Mahamud.

And that you told them

Ming army's travel route,

the location of the battalion

and the strength of the army.

What good will

Great Ming's defeat, do you?

Are you going to

give them all the land

beyond the Great Wall?

I thought you were

going to die,

and then I'll clean up the mess.

You betrayed our country when grandfather

led his army personally for the one last time,

and has caused the Ming army to suffer a great defeat.

Grandfather's blood is on your hand.

That old man was already in poor health.

I was going to confine him to death.

I didn't expect

you to step up.

Zhan Ji,

shouldn't you

thank your uncle

now that you're emperor?

You know about so many things.

Then, do you know

how your father died?

Do you still remember Hou Tai,

your father's personal eunuch?

He was promoted by your father

from the Medical Bureau.

He knows a little medical skill.

Every time your father

was in poor health,

Hou Tai would get your father

some tonic medicine.

However, those medicines

were all brewed

in King of Han's mansion.

It is formulated with the

best kanto sea cucumber and toad.

Unfortunately,

a slight increase of dosage

for each formula of this medicine

will turn it into a poison.

I was going to

come back and help you

with your father's funeral,

and then confine that old man to death.

Wouldn't that bring peace to the world?

Your Majesty.

Turn him into ashes,

just like he was never

born into this world.

Hou Tai.

Bring Hou Tai to me.

Get Hou Tai.

Don't kneel here.

Go and find Hou Tai for me.

Go...

Bring Hou Tai here.

Have all the rebellious generals

of the three elite military divisions

beheaded?

Ask the people of Warden's Office to come to see me.

Run along now!

By the way,

where was I going?

It seems that

someone is waiting for me.

Your Majesty,

you were at Empress' palace just now.

Yes.

What was I doing there?

Your Majesty,

Hou Tai died of illness last year.

Where is his hometown?

Ask the imperial secret police to capture him.

He is not dead.

Your Majesty, I've asked around.

Hou Tai died in the palace

and had no descendant.

His friends buried him.

You are also Prince of Han's people, right?

Your Majesty, I'm not one of his men.

Your Majesty.

I belong to you, Your Majesty.

Get lost!

Where did you say

I was going?

You were at the Empress' palace

when you suddenly went to King of Han's mansion.

Right.

Why...

Why don't I remember?

Your Majesty.

He is begging for death.

He is begging for death.

Guards.

Guards.

Zhan Ji.

Third uncle.

Where is second uncle?

By the emperor's will...

By my will...

Do you like it?

Why are you here?

I've come to bid farewell to my second brother.

When I was young, I used to go to war

with my second brother.

At that time, he told me

just charge ahead with my eyes closed.

'I'll shield you from

the incoming sword.'

It sounds as if

it happened in a previous life.

Don't pull a long face.

Are you unhappy?

All those

who plotted the rebellion

are dead now.

And all the snitches

in the palace were removed.

I have never lied to you.

Why?

What why?

Why does the second uncle want to die?

Why did you lie to me?

You still don't understand?

What chance do we have?

You are really clever, boy.

You've blocked

our way out completely,

and won the battle.

You're well revered and unique, one of a kind.

I said,

'Gao Xu,

maybe we can't get revenge

even after 20

or 30 years.'

Gao Xu then said

'What about 50 years,

100 years,

200 years?'

Now that you have won,

we have to beat you in time.

We'll let everyone in the world know that

Xuande Emperor of this dynasty

killed both his uncles

with the recorded history in the future.

Gao Xu is so smart.

I am not as clever as him.

You've lost.

Zhan Ji.

Now, could you

please send me

to accompany your second uncle?

The winner can't die.

He has to live.

I'll get you a small yard,

provide you with three meals a day and clothes for all four seasons.

I'll take care of you.

It's just that you can't talk to anyone.

You can stink and fester

with your secrets.

Why are you following

the emperor every day?

Can't you

give me an answer?

What's wrong with the baby shower?

What are the emperor and the empress quarreling about?

Why is the empress

avoiding me?

Your Highness, I've asked about it.

The empress has a high fever.

I was afraid she couldn't answer me,

So, I touched Her Highness' forehead.

It was burning hot.

She couldn't even speak properly.

Your Highness, some foreign officers want to see you.

Bring them to the study room.

I'm sorry for bothering you, Your Highness.

I don't need such formality.

What exactly is wrong with the emperor?

We thought Your Highness knew about it.

You don't know?

The city of Beijing is in a riot.

You really don't know?

Do you really not know?

I don't know.

This is what we've

come up with.

Perhaps it is because of the Prince of Han.

What did you say?

The emperor killed the Prince of Han,

banned the Prince of Zhao,

beheaded six generals of Three Elite Military Divisions,

imprisoned 33 officials

who had colluded with the Prince of Han,

all in one night.

All of a sudden, the city of Beijing

was in a state of jitters and panic.

The emperor suddenly hid himself.

Everyone is even more frightened.

They want the cabinet to give an explanation.

In one night?

What you said is true?

Your Majesty,

the officials are waiting for you outside the temple.

What Ten Courts of Hell?

What magistrate official?

Or eternal infamy?

I don't care at all.

A lifetime is a lifetime.

If you are willing to wait, feel free to wait.

Wait until the prosperous

Reign of the Xuande Emperor comes.

I will live until that day.

Where is His Majesty?

Your Highness,

His Majesty is praying at the temple.

No one is allowed to enter.

He has been praying for two days

without eating or drinking.

Is he planning to be immortal?

Open the door.

I don't dare to.

Don't dare?

Your Highness.

Move aside.

I don't dare to.

It's all right now.

Yu Er.

How long did I sleep?

Do you remember that

you asked me for water

when you woke up at noon?

Thank goodness.

You've come through this again.

The physician said

you were too heaty,

and all your veins were blocked.

If you didn't wake up,

I would be left alone

in the world.

Don't worry.

I won't live long.

The emperor won't let me live.

His Majesty locked himself up

in the temple

for days already.

He didn't even touch

all the food and drinks,

and the clothes that were given to him.

The imperial secret police said

he sleeps every day.

Sometimes he'll wake up

and talk to himself for a while,

then falls asleep again.

He killed the Prince of Han.

Yes.

Leave.

He'll come and kill me soon.

I really

should have taken you away at that time.

During Jingnan rebellion,

you should have taken me away

when our parents were killed,

but you ran away.

Years later,

you came back

and asked me to call you sister.

You said you wanted to take me away

and teach me how to behave.

Funny, right?

You're right.

I've been

keeping this in my heart for many years

and I didn't dare to mention it.

I feel guilty

for not being able to hold on to you

at that time up until now.

Sister.

Man Yin.

Sister.

No matter what you've done wrong,

it's all because of what I did.

But then,

I was a child.

We'll go

our separate ways.

Don't shed

crocodile tears any more.

Man Yin.

Do you know what's

my biggest mistake?

To be born as a human.

I'm really sorry.

Right or wrong, it doesn't matter.

I'm a bad person.

I go my own way.

If His Majesty is still not coming out,

I'll go in and get him out.

Even the empress dowager was driven away by him.

You really have no shame.

What about these?

If His Majesty stays there for ten years,

we don't have

to do anything.

His Majesty regretted killing his blood relative.

What regretted?

What's done is done.

I found a lot of letters

from Prince of Han in Mahamud's tent.

He has been cooperating with the enemy.

He did deserve

to die for this crime.

His Majesty

looks unconcerned.

In fact, he is a refined

and arrogant man

who suffered far more hardships

than our emperor Taizong.

How would he know

the Prince of Han and Prince of Zhao

would conspire against him

to tarnish his reputation?

It's okay if he feels puzzled.

These words have hit the nail on the head.

What's the use

of that?

This temple is dedicated to

the spirits of Dynasty Ming's emperors.

We're all outsiders.

Do you dare to go?

I've thought of something.

Empress Sun

used to work for the crown prince.

Her Highness should be able to talk him out of it.

We should let her try again.

Even the empress

is kowtowing at the door.

How dare you?

Do you want to die?

Your Majesty,

you've been hiding in here

for 11 days.

It would be a joke

if you're still going to stay in here.

I've been instructed by the empress dowager

to advise you.

Get out.

I will,

but I have a few words to say.

Yu Qian wanted me to

tell you that

the fire has a smoke manifold,

water has sewers,

the king has a plot.

Everything in this world

has its defects.

Your Majesty, if you hide in here

like a living dead

to protect your reputation,

you might as well go into the mountains

to practise meditation.

The worst result is to break up.

We won't waste your time.

He is the only one

who dares to say such outrageous things.

I'm not done yet.

The imperial physician did a blood test.

He said

Qi Yu

is indeed your son.

The empress is regretful.

She is very ill in bed.

She said,

on the day of Jingnan rebellion,

you stepped down from the stage and lifted her up.

Then only she was able to

avoid slaughter under your protection

and was able to stay alive.

You may not remember who she is

but she always will remember that.

She also said that

she could kill herself at any time,

and return her life to you.

Your Majesty.

Everyone around me

all left

one by one.

I really don't want to lose you again.

I know

it's hard

to survive.

However,

you still have empress dowager,

your son,

and also me.

Your Majesty.

Hear my decree.

Empress Hu is shallow and cold.

She is incapable of the role she has.

From today on,

she will enter the palace to meditate,

and accumulate virtue for a lifetime.

She will return all the gold as well.

And shall be divorced.

That's all.

I, Hu Shan Xiang, accept the decree.

What is

His Majesty's arrangement for Qi Yu?

His Majesty said

Qi Yu is his flesh and blood,

but the thought of him angers him.

His Majesty said

you can take him with you

to relieve your loneliness.

Is there anything else

that needs to be conveyed?

I heard that His Majesty's health

is getting worse.

Please ask him to take good care of himself.

I will pray for him every day

at the Taoist temple,

and I'm willing to reduce my life

to increase his life.

And also,

I still have a box of jewellery left.

It's of no use to me anymore.

Please give it to Empress Sun

as my gift.

Take care, Your Highness.

My millet rice is ready.