Original subtitles

Episode 1

In the first year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty,

the Capital city

the Emperor was still young,

so the Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng took charge of the state affairs.

He promoted the new legalism,

enriched both the country and its people.

However,

in the seemingly peaceful days,

there hid

numerous crises.

My name is Ye Xiaotian.

People here all call me "Boss".

Who are the people here?

They are prisoners and also

officials before getting here.

They are all above Grade V.

You may ask what rank I am in.

Have a guess.

Boss.

Another prisoner is coming!

Just wait!

See?

Money comes to me.

I'm the Senior Jailer of this Black Prison Cell Zone. My name is Ye Xiaotian.

Tell me your name.

Your lord, Liu Yong,

is the Vice Director of Ministry of War.

Lord?

There are no lords here.

You are all prisoners.

Tell me.

How much can you offer?

Offer?

For what?

One tael of silver for taking off the shackles.

One for hay on the floor.

Two for a bed.

One mace for a steamed bread.

Five for a steamed bread with meat stuffing.

Two taels for a banquet.

And even

you can have a woman to serve you

if you give me 20 taels.

I am here because I lost the military defense map.

I have no money.

Really?

Fine.

Then you can serve me like they do.

President of the Minister of Justice helps bath me.

Director of the Ministry of Revenue carries water for me.

The Banknote Printing Director helps me change my clothes.

Supervisor of the Censors holds soap for me.

What can you do?

My lord.

He looks rough handed.

How could he serve you?

Right.

A loser from the Ministry of War

is useless, I guess.

Captain Ye.

Mr. Liu is my old friend.

Please show some respect

and don't embarrass him.

Old Man.

Let me tell you.

I know Lord Liu well.

He is honest and upright.

He has no money.

You can't find a coin on him

from head to toes.

If you are telling the truth,

I will never make things difficult for him.

But if you dare to cheat me,

Old Man,

you know what's going to happen.

I don't dare to cheat you.

Old Man.

Are you studying "the Book of Changes"?

It's out of date.

What do you mean?

Do you know how many things are out of date in the world?

Are they really out of date?

Even if they are out of date,

it may become popular someday.

You know nothing, boy!

The knowledge behind it

is extensive and profound.

I've learned a lot from it

even though I know little about it.

I am not like you.

You dress fancy clothes every day to take charge of the prison.

You line your pockets with squeeze.

You resort to bribery.

Luckily, I have some money,

or I can't deal with you.

Old Man.

I got to know a Western monk several days ago.

He taught me

the astrology

deduced from

the Western calendar.

It's more interesting than what you're studying.

What?

Astrology? From the West?

It's incomparable with "the Book of Changes".

They are so different.

Well.

You like telling fortunes for people, don't you?

How about me telling your fortune with this Western calendar?

Alright.

I want to see how you teach fish to swim.

I, firstly, will change your time of birth

into the Western calendar.

You are Virgo.

What?

What am I?

What is it?

Virgo.

Virgo?

You're out of mind.

It's nothing but nonsense.

You're wrong from the very beginning.

You said that on purpose.

I…I am a real man.

You said that I am woman.

That's fine.

But you even said I am Virgo.

You…Non-sense.

Are you praising me or abusing me?

Vir…Go! What the hell is that!

It's not funny. Let me tell you.

You said I am Virgo.

And what about you?

You are eunuch.

No wonder

it's so hard to communicate with you.

It's so hard.

Wordy and sharp tongued.

Two major characteristics of Virgos.

Did I say it right?

Senior Jailer Ye.

I'll come back later.

Yang Lin, the former Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel,

accepted bribery and

conferred official ranks for 70,000 taels of silver

and thus he is sentenced to death by hanging.

What's more, the two tales of silver is

for his last cup of liquor.

It's the time.

This is the money for

your last cup of liquor.

You even take this.

I told you not to accept bribes

if you don't dare to die.

Otherwise, you have to return it back in the end.

Well.

I'll leave you alone.

Captain Ye,

I want to ask you a favor.

Don't say it if you want to make me lose my job.

No no no.

I'll never do that.

I just want you to

help me send a letter to my family.

If you do me such a favor,

I will give you some rewards

and show my sincerity.

Gang up with officials and collude with them.

You are dead if someone finds out that.

I won't gang up with anybody.

Since I was prisoned here,

all officials have cut their connections with me.

I just want to write a letter to my family.

And you only need to take it to them.

That's it?

That's it!

Well, what about the rewards?

How much?

50 taels.

Where is your home?

J-I-N-G and Z-H-O-U. It's not far from here.

Jingzhou.

Jing…

That Jingzhou on the Huguang Road?

It's not far.

It won't take you too much time.

Old Man, are you playing me?

It's over 2,000 km away from here.

I won't go there.

Well.

I'll give you 50 taels.

You go there and then come back soon.

500 taels.

Let me think.

Captain Ye. Captain Ye. Captain Ye.

Lord Ye. Lord Ye. Lord Ye.

500 taels. I will give you 500 tales just for sending a letter.

It's so simple.

Why do you have to think about it?

I'm back.

I won't come back.

Sister-in-law.

What happened?

You such a black sheep.

I will beat you to death today.

Bro. Bro.

How dare you

sell out the shop

without my permission.

I spent all my money I made

as the Senior Jailer

on that shop.

I will beat you to death, you black sheep.

Father.

Hold your horses.

Calm down.

Why are you so angry?

Your big brother is so useless.

He lost money in business

and even sold the shop out.

And now he still owes people over 100 tales.

I don't know how our life will go on!

Bustard! Get out!

Son.

That's all the money I had.

I bought a shop for him.

I expected you could lead a good life.

I never knew that

he just sold it out without telling me.

He is such a prodigal son.

How can you face your diseased mother?

Alright. Dad.

Don't be sad.

Leave it to me.

I'll figure it out.

Lord Li.

You are so early.

I will take Yang Lin to the execution ground today.

You take us to have a check.

Lord Li.

Here is the thing.

That old man

is in a daze now

because he got drunk last night.

It's hard to talk to him.

How about this?

You have a cup of tea here.

I will bring two barrels of water

and get him awake.

Don't hold things up.

I just give you half an hour.

Hurry!

I knew you will come back.

You know nothing.

You just heard me.

Well.

I promise you.

Here is the letter.

I have written in the letter

about the address of the receiver

and the 500 taels of silver

I promised you.

Rest assured.

I will send it to the receiver

since I have promised you.

Father. Big brother.

I have asked the prison warden

to let my big brother take my place

as the jailer.

I'm leaving.

Xiaotian, you are going to lead a hard life.

Your big brother once left for the suburban counties,

while you never get out of the Capital City.

But now you are going to a far place.

I can't imagine

what's going to happen on your way there.

Son.

If you meet bad people,

don't get yourself involved into the trouble.

You are a filial child.

I want to say that,

you are a good boy,

but sometimes,

you are too stubborn.

Son.

Don't behave like that since you are out of the city.

Alright. Dad. rest assured.

I'll come back soon after I finish my work.

Xiaotian.

You should blame me.

It's me who makes you far away home.

Don't say that, bro.

We're family.

Don't be so distant.

Dad. Bro. I'm leaving.

Thank you, buddy.

Let's go.

Take good care of him.

I will.

The missing military defense map covers the details

about Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

Yang Yinglong, the Minority Headman of Bozhou is always ambitious.

I guess he has something to do with it.

I want to ask you to find it out.

What do you think?

I'm willing to devote my life to the Imperial Court.

Bozhou Heavenly King Tower

The Emperor has sent officials

to investigate the case in Guizhou.

You should find out their whereabouts and kill all of them.

He is an official.

I didn't expect he comes here so soon.

He is Ai Feng, the head of the Military Officers Selection Department of the Ministry of War.

He is sent by the Minister of the Ministry of War.

He is going to Guizhou to find out the military defense map

as the new Judicial Clerk of the Hu County.

And he will punish the man who have stolen the map.

Has the Imperial Court known something about it?

In Guizhou,

only the Hu County implements the mobile official system.

In other places,

it's hard for him to stand firm.

Ai Feng

is not going to arrive at the Hu County.

Bro.

May I ask where the Yang family's residence is?

Which one?

Their master is an official in the Capital City.

He is called Yang Lin.

Aunt.

Sis.

Do you know where the Yang family's residence is?

Their master is an official in the Capital City.

He is called Yang Lin.

What the hell is that?

The local people here are so rude.

Fattier.

Do you know where the Yang family's residence is?

Give me one.

You can tell me now.

I don't know.

You brat!

How can you fool me around?

I am not fool.

Ge Long.

Just be patient.

You don't know that.

Our Xia family has a lot of men.

My little sister Yingying

is the only girl.

She is the apple of the elders' eyes.

Right. That's true.

So please forgive her.

Just be patient.

Bro Xia.

I'm willing to wait for her

no matter how long it will be.

She's coming.

She's coming.

She's coming.

Where is she?

Bro, where is Yingying?

What…what happened?

Where is she?

She was inside just now.

Go find her back.

Go.

Hurry!

Go.

What happened, bro?

I've told you.

Yingying is a wild girl.

She doesn't want to get married,

you can't force her.

Ge Long is the No. 1 Warrior of the Tongren Prefecture.

He deserves her.

I finally get here.

It's so magnificent.

Ge out.

You don't even check out where this place is.

It's not easy to cheat me, Yang Sanshou.

Butler Sanshou.

I am an old friend of Lord Yang.

I ran out of money when I arrived here.

I just want you to give me some travelling expenses.

When did my master have

such an old friend as you?

You are just a beggar.

Men. Beat him!

Till he tells the truth.

No.

No. No. No.

Stop it.

Stop it.

I…I have nothing

to do with Lord Yang.

I don't know who Lord Yang is.

Alright. Alright.

What did you say?

I…I have nothing

to do with Lord Yang.

Louder!

I have nothing to do with Lord Yang.

You finally told the truth.

You shed no tears until seeing the coffin.

What the fuck!

Yang Lin even fooled me before his death.

Look at that old man!

I guess he refuses to call his mother even in her face.

It's not easy to

ask for 500 taels from him.

Hey. You!

Who are you?

A passerby.

I just pass by.

Go inside.

Go.

Hey.

What happened?

I heard that

Ms. Yang is

greedy for money and mean.

She doesn't have a good fame.

I didn't expect that

it is true.

Mrs. Yang

is so greedy for money?

That's true.

She doesn't treat their daughter well

because she is not her own child

and expels her out of the house.

The mistress lives in the small house in the lane over there.

She only gives her two bowls of rice every day.

Do you want to take advantage of them?

Just leave now.

You must make it since you have promised me.

You must make it!

Or, you will be hated,

detested

or killed.

I beat you to death, naughty girl.

You dared to run out.

You didn't listen to me.

I asked you to stay in the yard

and not to go out.

I asked you to stay in the yard.

Didn't you hear me?

Didn't you hear me?

Didn't you feel hungry?

What are you doing?

Who are you?

This is the Yang family's business.

Who the Yang family is?

I don't care.

Who are you then?

Are you her grandma?

She is so young.

How can you beat her like this?

Grandma?

I don't want such a girl as my granddaughter.

Get lost.

Don't come over.

Now I know.

You are so old and ugly.

You couldn't be her grandma.

Then why did you beat her?

How dare you poke your nose into the Yang family's business?

Fine.

Stay here.

Don't leave.

I won't leave.

Old woman.

Girl,

is this your house?

Why didn't your family

come out to stop her just now?

My mother passed way last year.

After that,

Mrs. Yang called me hoodoo and

expelled me out of the house.

Leaving you in such a small yard,

they are so disgraceful.

Where is your father?

He is an official working in the Capital City.

He seldom comes back home.

Do you have other relatives?

I have an aunt.

My mother told on her deathbed that

if anyone bullies me,

I can go to my aunt for shelter.

Sis. Look.

This is the address my mother gave me.

Tongren.

Do you want to find your aunt?

I'll take you there.

Really?

Yeah.

Anyway, I don't want to go back home now.

And I don't have a place to go.

Anybody?

They are coming again.

How about this?

You put it well.

You have my word.

I will do

what I have promised you.

Don't be afraid.

Anybody home?

What do you want?

The only people I care about now

is my daughter.

She was given birth by my concubine.

My wife doesn't like her.

I'm afraid if I pass away,

my wife will bully her.

So I want to write a letter

and ask you to take it back.

This letter is actually my last words.

I want to divide up my properties.

I want to leave some money to my daughter

as her dowry.

At least she could survive with that.

Are you Miss Yang?

I'm Ye Xiaotian

from the Capital City.

Your father entrusted me to…

Over there.

I…

That brat pokes his nose into the Yang family's business.

It's not him.

It's a pretty girl.

Carp.

I have to go now.

See you the other day.

Catch him. Don't run.

Where are you going?

Hey, don't run.

Stop!

You want to run?

Where can you go now?

Take him.

Yes.

Be gentle.

Get inside.

Don't touch me.

Don't be so rude.

Sanshou, what happened?

Madame,

this brat sneaked into our garden and

ran away once he saw me.

I caught him.

I asked where he came from,

but he never told me a word.

I guess

he may be a thief.

You are a thief.

My lord.

You are the County Magistrate here.

Let go of him.

You're right.

I am the County Magistrate here.

My lord,

I am not a thief.

My name is Ye Xiaotian

from the Capital City.

I come here this time

because I was entrusted by Lord Yang Lin on his deathbed

to send his last words to his family.

Last words?

Bro. Last words.

Madame.

Last words?

What? My brother-in-law

has passed away?

Brother-in-law?

Sister, sorry for your loss.

Sister?

Where is his letter?

Right.

Where is the letter?

Take it out.

Well.

Do you want to cheat on me?

Man. Search him.

Stop it.

I will take it out.

Let me do it.

Here it is. My master.

What did he say in the letter?

What the hell?

The County Magistrate is Mrs. Yang's brother.

That woman

is greedy for money.

If she knows what he wrote in the letter,

I guess I will have no time to write my last words.

My lord.

As it said in the letter,

I came here this time to

take my fiancée away.

Fiancée?

Yeah.

My lord. I am a jailer

working in the Celestial Prison.

When Lord Yang was prisoned there,

I cared him a lot.

To thank me,

he wrote this letter before his death,

and agreed to marry his daughter to me.

So this time,

I want to take my wife

back to the Capital City with me.

I hope you can help me.

Bullshit.

She is just a child.

Well…

Child?

It is clearly written in the letter.

If you don't believe me,

you can ask him.

That's right.

What he said is true.

Although my niece is young

and his plan is not reasonable enough,

he always is straightforward.

It seems like he would make such a decision.

Now that this is his last words,

I won't disobey his willings.

Come.

Take mademoiselle here.

She…

Sister.

Yaoyao.

Don't be afraid.

I'll protect you.

Nobody dares to bully you.

Who is she?

She is my niece, Yaoyao.

S…She…

This…

This…

This…

The Capital City is far from here.

You came from afar.

I guess you may feel tired.

How about staying in my house for several days?

I'll ask people to help you come up the road.

Road? This is to…

Thank you, my lord.

But I still have parents

to take care of in my home.

I am anxious to return.

I want to

go back home

with my wife now.

So you are here for a match-making?

I thought his daughter is…

You casted eyes at me?

Listen to me.

That old bastard

didn't forget to make plans for his little hussy ass

before his death.

Bro, he didn't mention to

marry her to anyone else.

You don't know.

That guy was so smart.

He must have heard the rumors about you,

He knew

it's impossible to take 500 taels from you.

So he went to Yaoyao,

but he never thought Yaoyao was taken back by Sanshou.

Then he saw I am the County Magistrate here

and thought that I could support him.

Then he was willing to take out the letter.

He never imagined that you are my brother

so he just changed his plan in emergency

and told us he was here to escort his wife.

That's right.

Yaoyao is your thorn in the side.

If you have the chance to expel her out of the house,

you must be delighted.

He just wanted to dodge the bullet by this chance.

If it were not for my intelligence

and made up an excuse,

that greedy mad woman

would have sent me to the prison.

What bad luck!

I came here from afar

but encountered such a thing.

Why are you following me?

Do you really think

I will marry this little girl?

That's impossible!

We can't let him go.

Why?

He came here to send the letter

just for the 500 taels.

But now he got nothing.

He won't give up.

The letter is in our hands now.

He could do nothing even if so.

Bro, don't forget that

"the laws of the Ming Dynasty" says that

three people's statements make the letter legal.

We don't know whether that old bastard tells others about

how to divide up his properties before his death or not.

And that little girl is with Ye Xiaotian now.

We don't know

whether it is disclosed to other people or not.

Why are you following me?

I'm not following you.

I just want to send Yaoyao back to her aunt's.

I can't let her suffer in the Yang family.

That must be the best.

Well, I wish

the two of you

a pleasant journey and everything goes well.

I'm leaving.

The best plan

is to get rid of them.

Beat him to death.

Beat him to death

and then dump his body to the wild.

It's hard to identify

the body dumped in the wild.

Let them investigate.

Where could they head for?

Run! Run fast!

Why are you stalking me?

I'm heading for the Capital City

while you are for Tongren.

We are not in the same direction.

I don't know how to go to Tongren.

So do you want me to take you to Tongren?

That would be good.

That would be impossible.

Well.

You take us out of the Yang family.

You must help us to the end.

Alright. Alright.

I can take you to Tongren

if only you give me 500 taels.

500 taels?

Are you out of mind?

If you can search out one tael on me,

you are really capable.

Okay.

Then I will search you out.

What are you doing?

I ran away from home to avoid the marriage.

I have no money.

Then you dare to run away.

You are so capable.

If you have no money to pay me,

you can make some sacrifices.

If I escort her to Tongren,

you make some sacrifices for my help.

How about marrying me?

Pervert!

Why do you all want to force me to get married?

I just ran away from home

and now you force me to marry you.

Plan A or Plan B?

Can I choose Plan C?

You can.

Get lost!

Is he the butler of the Yang family?

It's him.

Mrs. Yang is really greedy for money.

She even wants to kill us.

Kill us?

They don't take bedding with them,

so they must not go very far.

What's more, they are running so fast.

It's not like they are hurrying along.

They are heading the north.

What could they do

if not kill us?

Where are you going?

I want to run

instead of waiting for death here.

Why are you heading the west?

They are heading the north,

so I have to take a detour.

Well, since you are heading the west,

how about we go with you?

Bro.

What's up?

Do you agree to marry me?

Don't talk about this.

We can talk about something about money.

How about this?

You send Yaoyao to her aunt,

then I will give you 5,000…

5,000 taels.

What the hell?

He is leaving before I finish my words.

Has he left us alone?

Yaoyao, what should we do?

Sister,

you can just marry him.

I can just

marry him.

That's settled then. Don't regret.

Let's go.

Where did he come out?

Let's go.

They are on foot

while we ride horses.

How could we not catch up with them?

Two possibilities.

One is they are not running away.

The other one is

we are in a wrong direction.

We are now in the wild.

The world is so big.

Tell me.

How could we find them out?

I heard that

Yaoyao has an aunt in Guizhou.

If they are not heading north,

they must be on the way there.

Right.

Tomorrow,

we are going to head west.

Help!

Rogue!

You took advantage of me.

You are shameless.

You rogue!

Are you silly?

If I really want to take advantage of you,

I wouldn't do it while you are asleep.

You admit it.

You are so shameless.

You beast.

When did I admit it?

You beast.

I…who is shameless?

You beast.

Sister,

you slept over there last night,

how do you sleep with him this morning?

Did you

roll to brother's side yourself?

What happened?

Explain it.

That's impossible.

If it's not you who pulled me over here,

it must be you who pushed me here.

You rogue!

Fine.

All people in the world want to hurt you.

Old man.

Have you seen a young man and a young woman

with a little girl about six or seven years old

passing through

this village?

Your drawing

is so ugly.

I just asked if you see them or not.

I am not asking the likeliness.

About the three people you drew on the paper,

I've never seen them.

But I have seen a pretty lady

and a handsome man

taking a cute girl with them.

Tell me.

Where are they heading for?

Well.

Give him.

Okay.

They're heading over there.

There is only one way.

After them.

It's so bustling here.

Uncle.

Could you please tell me

how to get to Guizhou?

Do you want to go to Guizhou?

After getting out of the Huangzhou City,

you go west for one kilometer.

You will see a crossing there,

then you choose the road on the left.

Go south on the left.

And then you can arrive at Guizhou.

Okay, thank you.

Let's go.

We're going to arrive at Guizhou.

I have to find a chance to get rid of him.

Or, he may take me back and ask me to marry him.

What should I do then?

Is that the butler of the Yang family?