WEBVTT

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The Apothecary Diaries

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The Apothecary Diaries

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This story is a work of fiction. The names of all of the characters, organizations, and so on
are imaginary. It also bears no connection to any specific real-life events.

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This whistle... It must be Lihaku.

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He must have successfully
gotten Maomao out.

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Basen.

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No need to be so tense.

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Then please, let me take the vanguard!

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Wait, get back!

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Feifa!

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Let's go!

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Dammit!

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Where is Shishou?

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I-I don't know! We were all tricked!

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What a brazen lie!

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We already have evidence that you embezzled
treasury funds for this stronghold!

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You must know what that means!

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We were told it was for the nation!

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We were only doing it for the nation!

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How gentle of you.

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If he's bound to be executed anyway...

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You should just finish him off swiftly.

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Shishou!

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You seem quite calm, Shishou.

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The emperor's order.

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You are under arrest for
embezzlement and rebellion.

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It's obvious that the emperor made his order,
since the royal guard is here.

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Have you gone senile?
It doesn't even have a lit match!

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Get down!

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How pathetic. You were playfully
shooting at beasts in the wild.

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You were so eager to test it
on humans, as soon as possible.

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Too bad, isn't it?

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I-I never said that!

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Without a lit match?!

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It's the latest model.
It can fire without a match.

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Oh yes, of course you knew.

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I was attacked by one, after all.

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That was so close. If only
I'd successfully killed you then.

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Honestly, it was so close.

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Well, I guess that's the end, then.

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If only I had a bit more time...

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Or not. Maybe it wouldn't have helped at all.

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What is this?

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It's like he's reciting a prepared script...

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Go!

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It's like I'm watching a play
staged by Shishou, an actor.

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The emperor's closest retainer,
there since the last emperor's era,

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and a traitor.

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Abrupt? Disappointing?

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Either could describe his final moment.

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We didn't do anything!

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Episode 47: The Shi Clan

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Shenmei and Loulan are in the room in the back!

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Handle this.

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Yes.

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Check that area.

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Understood.

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Bang.

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Loulan!

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Greetings, Moon Prince.

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Actually, let me call you
Master Jinshi, for convenience.

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Could you please follow me?

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And if I refuse?

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That's why I'm threatening you.

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You're actually going to
obediently follow, hmm?

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You're the one that demanded it of me.

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But it would be easy for you
to get this away from me.

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In here.

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Suirei, my dear sister,
has she stopped abusing you?

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So, this is Suirei.

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She seduced a doctor, and feigned
being a corpse to escape.

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Then she returned,
under the guise of a eunuch.

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I thought she was a bold, daring woman, but...

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Loulan, that man... Could he be...?

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I asked him to accompany me here
to make your wish come true.

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You've always hated him, haven't you?
The person who looked just like that man.

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Were you perhaps jealous that he was
much more beautiful than you?

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Or perhaps because he chose the
lady-in-waiting much younger than you?

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Although he never visited you,
his high-ranking concubine, in your room...

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Loulan!

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I guess that's enough teasing.

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Now, before we allow you to fulfill your
wish, let's have some entertainment.

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This story goes back more than 30 years.

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The late emperor was a fool, who could
not speak up against his mother at all.

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So, the mother was the one
wielding the true power,

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and people referred to her
as "the Empress" behind her back.

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The empress regnant grew impatient with
her son, who showed no interest in women.

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She sent every beauty she could
find into the rear palace.

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Then, one day...

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Shenmei!

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I heard you're going to
the rear palace. Is it true?

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Yes! They practically begged me
to become a high concubine.

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But I... We were going to...

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That deal is no more.

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But...

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Don't you get it? This is a golden opportunity.

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If I can get pregnant in the rear palace,
I could even become empress dowager!

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I can't be stuck here as the wife of
a local lord in these northern outskirts.

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Shenmei...

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Inviting you to become
her son's high concubine...

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That was just a front.

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A front? What are you saying, Loulan?!

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They practically begged me to—

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Perhaps that's how it seemed to you.

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When my grandfather was dying in his bed,
he squeezed one thing out, like a curse.

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That there was nothing he could do,
now that his daughter was held hostage.

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Hostage?

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Taking the daughter of
a high official as a hostage,

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while outwardly referring to her
as a concubine, is quite common.

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Father gave up on you once, Mother.

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But something completely
unexpected happened:

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The late emperor's inclinations.

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Master Jinshi. Do you know the reason
why the rear palace grew so large?

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I heard that Shishou convinced
the empress regnant to expand it.

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Yes, he suggested the expansion of
the rear palace as a new public project.

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To replace the slave trade, that is.

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Slave... trade?

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Mother, you are truly ignorant.

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About what Grandfather did to draw
the attention of the empress regnant.

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But slavery was legal back then.

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I hear they were treated similarly
to pleasure district courtesans.

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However, that was not always the case
for slaves sold to other nations.

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That's why the empress regnant
banned the slave trade.

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The Shi clan, with their daughter held hostage,

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had no choice but to cut down on slave
trading, which was their family business.

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When Grandfather felt like he was out of
options, Father came and suggested this...

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Why don't we use the rear palace
as a place to send the leftover slaves?

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Young women could serve
as servants and court ladies,

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while men could serve there as eunuchs.

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Expanding the rear palace could be
sold to the empress regnant

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as an idea to get the emperor
to take an interest in women.

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You're right. Also, the families
who sold off their daughters

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would feel less guilt if their girls went to
the rear palace, instead of a foreign land.

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Yes.

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It's a win for everyone involved.

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Father tried to earn the trust
of the empress regnant,

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so that he could restore the status of the Shi
clan, and get you, the hostage, released.

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You were so troublesome, Mother.

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To think, this would all have been simpler
if you had escaped back then...

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Shishou?! How did you get here?!

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I built a secret path.

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Shenmei, let's run away together.

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What...?

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If you desire it, we can run away together!

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Leaving the rear palace is a serious crime!

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Building a secret path
is already a serious crime.

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I couldn't give up on you!

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I couldn't accept having anyone
other than you as my wife!

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I couldn't resist coming to see you...

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Are you sure I'm good enough for you—

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Of course!

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Come.

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Is that the "high-ranked" concubine who
lost to her lady-in-waiting, Taihou?

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To think she entered before Lady Anshi did!

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I heard she hasn't ever received
a nightly visit, even once!

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Don't insult me!

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You want me to run away, ashamed and insulted?!

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No!

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Go away!

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You couldn't trust the man who would
throw away his status just to be with you?

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There's no way I could have trusted that fool!

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He took over the family immediately
after my father fell ill,

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and took this girl's mother as a wife!

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Excuse me, my dear sister.

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What?! Is that...

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A phoenix hair stick?

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Yes. You know this too, Mother.

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The only ones who can wear
this symbol, alongside the kirin,

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are those who carry imperial lineage.

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Lies! The late emperor never admitted it!

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It seems he felt guilty the whole time.

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He was worried about the baby
he threw out of the rear palace.

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Apparently, he came to see her
occasionally, with help from Father.

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He did deny it once, but he
knew she was his daughter.

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That's why he asked Father,
who was single at the time...

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I want you to take my daughter as your wife.

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Father accepted the daughter

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born between the emperor and
your lady-in-waiting as his wife.

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And later, a child was born between them.

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I've named her Shisui.

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Shisui... A good name for
a member of the Shi clan.

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Your Majesty, you told me
you would grant me a wish.

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May I have Shenmei,
the high-ranking concubine, as a gift?

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With the "Shi" name given to his grandchild,
the late emperor was relieved.

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He no longer felt it necessary
to hold a hostage.

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And thus, you were bestowed
upon Father, as a gift.

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The late emperor was a fool.

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He had no idea

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what effect his selfish wishes would have
on his own daughter, and on Shishou.

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Lies! Lies, all lies!

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All of it, utter nonsense!

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Nonsense, you say?

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Father did everything for you.

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Even knowing that, in the end,
it would all end in catastrophe.

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Don't you even see why
Master Jinshi is here right now?

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How were Father's final moments?

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He died laughing.

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All that man ever wanted
was power for himself!

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He only took me as his wife

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in order to flaunt his position
as leader of this clan!

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But once the dust settled, it was you,
Mother, who took control of our clan.

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Do you know what the clan members
who suck up to you did at the palace?

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Are you referring to the embezzlement?

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Yes. They took part
in all manner of corruption.

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The sane ones who spoke up against it
were ousted, so only the rot remained.

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Father took on the role
of the traitor to destroy

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every rotten element of the Shi clan
in one explosive catastrophe.

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Master Jinshi. People referred
to my father as a scheming tanuki,

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but did you know tanukis are
actually very timid creatures?

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That's why they try to trick others.
Their lives depend on it.

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If what she's saying is true,
I should have separated the two issues...

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The expansion of the rear palace
and the embezzlement.

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Shishou played the role
of the necessary evil,

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to gather all of the rot
in the nation in one place.

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But for this, he'll see no reward.

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Did my father adequately fulfill
his role as the evil mastermind?

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Is there any proof that all you've said is true?

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The palace rot should
mostly be cleaned out by now.

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Did you know for certain
that this would all work out?

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If it hadn't, we could have
simply taken over the nation.

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If the nation is that weak,
it doesn't deserve to exist.

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You and that man both were
tricking me this whole time?!

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I merely did as you ordered, Mother.

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You said it yourself: this nation
deserves to be destroyed.

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You surrounded yourself
with smooth-talking idiots.

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Did you really think you could defeat
the royal guard that way?

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Loulan!

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That's why I had these made!

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You can't handle it. Give it back, please.

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Sh-Shut up!

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What's so funny?!

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Oh, Mother.

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You're so insignificant.

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Loulan!

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A gunshot?!

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Master Basen!

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I'm such a bad daughter.

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Were I true to my father's intentions,
I would never have done this.

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You blocked it so it would backfire?

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This new model has a complex build.

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Didn't you think of taking it from me?

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It would have been easy for you,
with the right timing.

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You had something you wanted to tell me.

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Oh, if only you were just
an idiot with a pretty face.

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Mother, Father is dead.

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Won't you at least shed a single tear?

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He waited for you most of his life.

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If only you had a tear to shed for him,
I wouldn't have had to do any of this...

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Was there no other way?

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Perhaps there was.
But we just aren't that smart.

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Shenmei wanted to tear down the nation
that kept making a mockery of her.

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Shishou wanted to do
everything for Shenmei,

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but was also a loyal retainer
who couldn't let go of the nation.

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Master Jinshi.

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I know this is a lot to ask, but I have
two favors I would like from you.

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What are they?

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Thank you.

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First, please take this.

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My original plan was to use that
as leverage to beg for my life,

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but I guess that didn't work out.

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Written there are things that could
happen to this nation from now on.

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My first wish is this:

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Clan members who can think rationally

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have all been ousted by
my mother and lost their names.

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My sister's situation is similar.

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As they have already died once,
would you consider sparing them?

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I'll do what I can.

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So, you'll let those who've died once go.

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Thank you very much.

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What's the other?

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Well, here is my other wish.

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Thank you.

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Mother, this is the best I can do.

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I wonder if I can be a better
actor than my father.

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Should I have stopped her?

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No, I couldn't have.

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The final performance of
a once-in-a-generation evil...

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There was no way I could ruin it.

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Nor could I avert my gaze from it.

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That was the last I ever saw of Loulan.

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My body feels so heavy.

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Come to think of it, I haven't slept
much at all over the past few days.

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How's the girl?

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She is safe.

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Please, you must rest a little...

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Where is she?

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You shouldn't get too close...

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The dead children of the Shi clan.

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Why is she sleeping here?

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She begged me to allow her, I couldn't refuse.

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She's a mess.

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As are you, sir.

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I knew the cut on my face would cause
a subordinate to get punished.

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But I still accepted Loulan's wish.

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Don't worry about me.

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We should be glad
the strategist isn't here, right?

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Yes, indeed.

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Wait outside.

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If I wasn't here, she wouldn't
have had to go through this...

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What are you doing, Master Jinshi?

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Hmm? Is that...

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Next Time

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Next time: "The Beginning."

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Episode 48: The Beginning

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Maomao

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Shisui