Original subtitles

Episode 7

Bastards.

To hell with you all!

I…

Bastards!

My lord,

in my humble opinion,

this is an excellent opportunity,

don’t you think so?

Qi Mu has been an overbearing bully

for a long time.

But you’ve had to suffer his insolence.

And now we have

loyal and righteous Judicial Clerk Ai

on our side.

The yamen staff are now united as one.

Why can’t you just seize the momentum?

Shut up.

Womenfolk like you are so ignorant.

Brother Xu,

we shall drink our fill tonight.

Let’s get drunk. Let’s get stoned.

Yes. We shall drink our fill.

What a bummer!

Brother Xu,

we were planning to give a dinner to welcome you back,

but the restaurant is shuttered.

Never mind.

We want to get a drink, right?

There are plenty of restaurants around here.

Let’s go.

Let’s go.

Make way, young man.

Hua Yunfei.

Go get him, brothers.

Don’t…don’t kill me. Please.

I did it under Qi Mu’s orders.

I’d just frustrated

that Judicial Clerk Ai,

and now Hua Yunfei popped out.

Hunt him down.

Search in and around the county.

Comb the area thoroughly.

Bring him to me,

dead or alive.

Yes, my lord.

My lord,

the rumor about the Hua family

is spreading like wildfire these days.

I’m afraid

it’ll soon become the talk of the entire Hu County.

My lord, I’ve recently investigated

the situation there at your behest.

Although Qi Mu’s carriage and porter service

has monopolized the transportation of the post road,

yet only a dozen men in the service

are his henchmen.

Those porters and coolies

are actually

folks from Gao Village

and Li Village.

Li,

run another errand for me.

Yingying,

what’s the matter?

Nothing. I knocked over the dish rack.

Did you get hurt?

No.

Be careful.

I will.

Tell me what I should do, my lord.

Hire a small sedan chair

and park it at the backyard gate and wait there for me.

What now?

I was trying to cook a dish,

but it exploded the moment I added the oil.

Did you get burnt?

No. Luckily I dodged in time.

Hold on.

I can do without this meal, really.

My lord, you were just saying…

Look.

All the local ruffians in Hu County

have popped out these few days.

And Xu Lin was killed.

So I have to take preventive measures.

Qi Mu is indeed hard to deal with,

so we can’t be too careful.

But my lord, why do you need

that sedan chair?

I’m planning

to visit Secretary Wang.

I think we have a shot

at winning him over.

OK. I’m on it.

Be careful.

Yingying.

Ying…

Yingying, don’t give me a fright.

Yingying?

I was trying to fetch some water to wash the dishes, but I fell into the well.

How...how did you get out?

I climbed out of it. Wasn’t I awesome?

Yeah. You were awesome.

Brother Xiaotian, am I a clumsy girl?

Absolutely.

Luckily, I like you a lot.

So your shortcomings

are cute

as far as I’m concerned.

Why are you staring at me?

You look beautiful

when you’re caring for me.

All right. Go towel yourself dry.

Be careful not to catch cold, OK?

What do you want me to do?

Help you deal with County Magistrate Assistant Meng?

I do wish Your Lordship could help me.

But Your Lordship wouldn’t do that.

You wouldn’t fight County Magistrate Assistant Meng

for my benefit.

Therefore,

I hope Your Lordship will do nothing.

What are you up to?

No.

No, no, no.

Are the odds on your side?

How can I tell that for sure?

Man proposes, Heaven disposes.

That’s all.

I see.

I see.

Well,

do what you need to do.

Thank you.

I’ll be happy

no matter which of you get killed.

Of course,

I’ll sit back and watch leisurely.

I’ll be happier

if he’s the one who dies.

That was so straightforward of Your Lordship.

But I like straightforwardness.

I’ll see to it

that both sides suffer great losses in the strife.

If both sides suffer great losses in the strife,

I’ll come forward to help you.

All right.

The old fox has finally risen to the bait.

Your tricks are child’s play in the eyes

of those old fellows held in the Ministry of Punishments prison.

I was already familiar with them

back when I was a toddler.

I don’t fear Hua Yunfei,

but I don’t want to give Ai anything

to use against me.

Figure out a way to stall him.

Well,

Hua Yunfei has taken so many lives,

I’m sure he dare not go to law against you.

What are you worried about?

Nonsense.

Ai once said that such a major case

can be tried even without a plaintiff.

I don’t want to confront that blasted Ai

before a law court.

That Ai

is a mad dog.

Who knows he might bite?

Then find a way

to have him suspended from his duties.

On what grounds can I do that

when he’s so influential these days?

He insisted on prosecuting Xu Lin and the others,

and those men were killed soon after their release from prison.

Doesn’t that make him a bit suspicious?

You’re right.

OK.

Don’t worry. I’m on it.

Thank you.

What does it say?

I don’t get it.

Hello, Lord County Magistrate Assistant.

Sorry that I can’t rise to greet you

because of my injuries.

Please forgive me, Your Lordship.

Ahem,

we’re officials,

not bandits.

Is that so?

We aren’t bandits?

Is Your Lordship sure of that?

Yes.

We are not bandits.

We’re worse than bandits.

Shut up.

I’ve been putting up with you for quite long time.

You denounced me at the law court.

I chose to ignore you,

do you know?

But you’re ungrateful,

insatiable

and gone from bad to worse.

Listen,

Xu Lin and the dozen of his men died on the streets

soon after their releasing from the county yamen,

what do you think about it?

What do I think about it?

It wasn’t right

to resort to illegal punishments.

You arranged for them to be killed.

I arranged for them to be killed?

Didn’t you?

Shut up.

You old scoundrel

wants to frame me?

You think I can’t tell that?

Bastard.

You call me a murderer?

Have you got any evidence?

Brat, how dare you insult me?

Do you know who I am?

Who cares?

You burst in on me and started finding fault with me.

Do you know who you’re talking to?

Listen,

I’m the chief judicial official in Hu County.

I’m your immediate superior.

Here is Signature Office.

It’s my territory.

Have you forgotten yourself?

You think I’m at your mercy

since I’m stuck in here?

Meng, you don’t know me at all.

I was born a troublemaker.

This place is in my charge.

Constables, arrest him.

Didn’t you guys hear me?

Your Lordship wants to arrest me?

What are the charges?

You arranged for people to be killed.

You murdered six or seven people.

Wasn’t that a terrible crime?

Is there any evidence?

What evidence?

My words are evidence.

Listen up.

What I call black

is black.

What I call white is white.

Blathering bastard.

You’re evidence?

Sue me for destroying evidence if you dare.

How dare you beat me?

What is Your Lordship talking about?

When did I beat Your Lordship?

When did you beat me?

I’m bleeding.

This is evidence.

Your Lordship,

the blood on your head

only proves that you’re injured.

It doesn’t prove that I did it.

This is my Signature Office.

I have the final say in this matter,

as I’m the authority here.

My words are evidence.

All right.

All right. Just you wait.

Come here. Help me up.

My lord.

Are you all right, my lord?

My lord.

Please get up.

My lord, are you all right?

Just you wait. Just you wait.

I’m going to Lord County Magistrate.

He’ll deal with you.

My lord,

I can testify on behalf of Lord Judicial Clerk.

Lord Judicial Clerk didn’t hit you.

Why would you say that? Look here.

Have you forgotten, my lord?

-Cool down, my lord. -Those aren’t fresh wounds.

Lord Judicial Clerk

really didn’t hit you.

My lord, you had bruises on your forehead

when you walked in.

What nonsense!

Yeah.

He’s right.

I didn’t have any bruises

when I walked in.

My lord, when you walked in,

you had a big lump of bruise on your forehead,

don’t you know?

Where?

Here.

When did I have a lump of bruise here?

Are you sure?

My lord.

Be careful, my lord.

My lord, don’t worry.

It’ll turn black and blue tomorrow.

Lord County Magistrate Assistant,

you’ve got many muddy footprints

on the small of your back.

No. I don’t think so.

Take care.

-My lord, take care. -Stand up, my lord.

Be careful.

Take it easy.

My lord,

you’ve got so many footprints on your bottom.

They’re of different sizes,

so they can’t be

my brother’s work only.

My lord, do you have a concussion?

Do you?

You remained silent the whole time,

but I know you’re the worst of them all.

Listen carefully,

you’re going to pay for this.

None of you shall leave.

Just you wait.

Wait.

What did you just call me?

I heard

County Magistrate Assistant Meng passed out from an attack.

But he’ll come to eventually.

Lord Wang,

could you give me some advice?

Lord Ai,

don’t ask me that question.

Would you have fallen out with him

if you hadn’t had a well-thought-out plan?

I just dealt with him

as he did to me.

He accused you of arranging for people to be killed,

so what crime are you going to accuse him of?

What crime?

I’m still pondering over it.

Lord Ai, you’re busy with the case,

so I won’t bother you any longer.

Search the place.

What are you doing?

How dare you search Meng’s mansion?

That’s why we’re here,

do you know?

Search the place.

Don’t move.

Take all the inscribed articles

to the county yamen

for Lord Judicial Clerk’s examination,

whether they’re on the walls,

desks or shelves,

whether they’re made of paper,

porcelain, clay,

bronze or iron.

Take them away.

Keep down.

My lord,

we found the cellar Secretary Wang mentioned.

Yuncong,

go check it out.

Yes, my lord.

Xue, have you noticed anything unusual?

Captain, look,

what treasure is this?

Ahem, who threw me into this cell?

I’m the Magistrate Assistant of this county.

County Magistrate Assistant, do you know?

How dare you arrest me?

You…you two,

come here.

Come here.

Listen to me,

Ye Xiaotian is a fake judicial clerk.

Ai Feng, the real Judicial Clerk Ai, is dead.

Ye Xiaotian is an imposter.

Why is County Magistrate Assistant talking nonsense?

I heard that the ruffians had hit him on the head.

He’s got a concussion, I reckon.

You’ve got a concussion.

Let me repeat myself:

Ye Xiaotian isn’t the judicial clerk.

Ai Feng is dead.

Ye Xiaotian is an imposter, do you understand?

You don’t have a concussion.

You don’t have a concussion. You don’t. You don’t.

You don’t have a concussion. You’ve gone crazy.

You…

He doesn’t have a concussion. He’s gone crazy.

No. You stay here,

I need to report this to His Lordship immediately.

Wait for me.

Where are you going?

Don’t you get it?

Ye Xiaotian is an imposter.

He really is an imposter.

Ye Xiaotian, what on earth are you up to?

You’ve got guts.

You threw your immediate superior into prison.

Meng Qingwei has committed a felony.

He has to be dealt with.

A felony?

Do you have any proof of this claim?

Gunpowder!

Your Lordship, Meng Qingwei has been smuggling gunpowder for years.

We found all these

in his cellar.

County Magistrate Assistant Meng has unlawful possession of gunpowder?

Gunpowder is contraband.

So now

does Your Lordship think I did right

to arrest Meng Qingwei?

Why are you, a fake judicial clerk,

so fond of being a meddler?

Your Lordship,

we all have a bottom line in our heart.

I can muddle along

and laze away

as long as they don’t cross the line.

But once they do cross the line,

I’ll fight it out

to the last day of my life.

Don’t forget

that County Magistrate Assistant Meng is Qi Mu’s henchman.

You’ve crossed the line in Qi Mu’s heart

by arresting County Magistrate Assistant Meng.

So what?

It’s not a big deal.

Your Lordship

needn’t always fear

that the sky might fall.

Sometimes

your apprehension may be caused

by your own guilty conscience.

Lord Wang,

my master says that

he’ll owe you one

if you can rescue County Magistrate Assistant Meng.

You’ll be generously rewarded.

Lord Wang,

my master knows about the bad blood

between you and County Magistrate Assistant Meng.

But if County Magistrate Assistant Meng falls from power,

you’re probably going to be suffered next.

That Judicial Clerk Ai

is a lunatic.

Lord Wang,

you must know that

if the lips are gone.

I don’t need you to lecture me.

Our country magistrate

has long lost his lofty aspirations,

He’d be no match for me

even without County Magistrate Assistant Meng’s involvement.

Compared with the county magistrate,

County Magistrate Assistant Meng is my arch-enemy.

So…

So…so what?

So, to hell with him!

He paid no heed to me?

Fan Lei.

My lord.

Tell our men

to turn Hu County

upside down.

Yes, my lord.

This is outrageous.

The ruffians are absolutely lawless.

Sweep through the entire county immediately

to crack down on local bullies and criminal activities.

Yes, my lord.

Hu County

All the side roads we’ve covered on this journey!

One side road after another.

This month I’ve walked

my share of side roads in my lifetime.

We’ve run out of money and we sold our horses.

What are we going to do?

We shouldn’t have gone out.

Third Butler, let’s go home.

My name is Yang Sanshou.

I’m not Third Butler.

I’m Chief Butler!

What the heck is Three Big Butlers?

Oops. What the heck is Third Big Butler?

You…you’re a moron, aren’t you?

Boss,

you’re a moron.

I…

Boss is a moron.

I…

Boss is a moron.

Boss is a moron.

Boss is a moron.

Boss is a moron.

Boss…

What a nutcase!

Moron. Moron.

Hurry up.

Boss, I’m hungry.

Let’s grab a bite here, all right?

OK.

Sir, we’d like a pot of tea.

It’s on the table. Help yourselves to it.

Well...

Wang Ning is such an ingrate.

I shall visit him myself

and hear what he has to say.

My lord. My lord. Bad news.

The constables arrested a few of our men,

saying that they had ambushed County Magistrate Assistant Meng.

That crazy bastard has gone too far.

There’s a limit to my patience.

Muster our men. I’m going to the county yamen to get them out.

My lord,

let’s rescue County Magistrate Assistant Meng first.

Great patience makes one a Buddha, you know.

Even the Buddha wouldn’t put up with this insult.

I’ll lose my influence in Hu County

if I swallow the insults.

Muster our men right now.

Yes, my lord.

What’s going on?

Boss, it’s too dangerous here. Let’s go home.

Escort our master back to the mansion.

Arrest the three of them.

The others just follow me.

-Yes, sir. –Yes, sir.

Let’s go home.

Let’s go.

Stop.

What do you want?

Who’s your boss?

Boss, they want to talk to you.

You…

You…

No,

we don’t have a boss here.

I’m the Chief Butler of Yang’s mansion from Jingzhou.

I’m not their boss.

Yes, Boss.

But he just called you Boss.

No, no, no. It was…

It was a slip of the tongue.

-Really? -It was a misunderstanding.

Could it be just a coincidence?

Well,

coincidences do happen sometimes.

I’m not the boss,

but he called me Boss.

It was a misunderstanding.

A misunderstanding?

We’ll check out whether it was a misunderstanding or not.

Take them to the water dungeon.

Yes, sir.

-No. -Move.

-No the water dungeon. -Move.

Hurry.

I’m afraid of the water.

Move.

My lord,

the evidence against Meng Qingwei is conclusive,

so Qi Mu must have been his accomplice

who’s profited

from gunpowder trafficking.

Thus, I suggest

that we take Qi Mu into custody.

Meng Qingwei has confessed?

How could he have confessed?

He’s waiting for Qi Mu to get him out.

But think about it, Your Lordship,

who else could have been

Meng Qingwei’s accomplice?

What you said makes sense,

but we’re officials, so our assertions

need to be evidence-backed.

Since we don’t have evidence…

Your Lordship,

this is a rare opportunity for Your Lordship.

What opportunity?

Think about it.

The officials

who’ve long been hampering Your Lordship

are Meng Qingwei and Secretary Wang.

Of the two men,

Meng Qingwei is the more overbearing.

And now,

if Your Lordship unseats Meng Qingwei,

Secretary Wang will surely admit defeat, too.

In this way,

Your Lordship will never have to be

at the mercy of those two again.

Are you sure of it?

Your Lordship,

we wouldn’t be able to do anything

if only we were absolutely sure that it would pan out.

With Hu County

being in such a state of corruption,

we should treasure this opportunity.

Therefore,

I believe

it’s worth a shot.

Well,

we’d better think before we leap.

Your Lordship.

My lord.

Who’s beating the drum outside?

It’s Qi Mu.

What?

Mr. Qi…

Lord County Magistrate, I have a suit to file.

I thought it was Mr. Qi Mu who had a suit to file.

As the Qi mansion’s butler,

I want to file a suit on behalf of my master.

Can’t I do that?

Yes. Sure.

We shall start the court trial.

What court trial? I’m here to file a suit.

You’re to arrest the accused.

What’s the point of holding a court trial

if you haven’t arrested the accused yet?

Who do you want to sue, Mr. Butler?

I want to sue Hua Yunfei, a hunter from Qing shan gou, Hu County.

The man is perverse and brutal.

He’s had a feud with us due to a tiger-skin.

Later his parents met an untimely end,

which unfairly blamed on us.

He murdered Xu Lin and Brother Xiang,

and he didn’t stop there.

Today, he made an ambush outside our mansion,

and attempted to assassinate my master

when my master was going out.

Qi Mu is dead?

Is Mr. Qi all right?

Thank you, Lord County Magistrate,

my master is unharmed.

Great. Excellent.

Blessed are the good men.

The county gentry feel insecure

as that Hua Yunfei has taken so many lives

in defiance of the government and the law.

We hope that Your Lordship

could bring this murderer to justice immediately.

That’s for sure.

As the magistrate of this county,

I’m duty-bound to protect the folks here.

I shall summon my county assistants and head officials

for a meeting to discuss the matter.

This is an urgent matter,

so why are you organizing a meeting

to discuss it?

What nonsense!

He’s right.

To prevent the murderer from killing more people,

we must apprehend the murderer immediately.

Brothers,

let’s search every sleazy area,

every household, every street

in every village

and township in this county,

and we’ll crack down

on every lawbreaker.

We won’t indulge the evildoers.

We won’t indulge the evildoers. We won’t indulge the evildoers.

Let’s go.

Let’s go.

Come on.

My lord,

These constables are all the strength we’ve got.

Those sheepish yamen runners

and township militias

are barely helpful.

If you ask me,

we may stand a chance against Qi Mu

if we muster all our constables.

But we’re so short-handed now.

All we can do

is build up the momentum.

I hope

this will deter those local ruffians.

Yes, my lord.

I hope so.

Brother. Brother.

My grocery store will be opened up tomorrow,

and many classmates will be there, too.

Do come and join us.

Who says we’re short-handed?

What?

What kind of true man

fights with his own people all the time?

Fight the outsiders if you dare.

I’d call you a hero for that.

What are you talking about? Watch your tongue!

Why are you shouting at me?

Some men out there are more arrogant than you guys.

-Who do you mean? -Who?

-Out with it. -Tell us.

There’s a man who acts against the law,

bullies his fellow townspeople

and scourges the area.

What do you think we should do about him?

-Beat him. -Thrash him.

Yeah. Punish him.

Do you know who that man is?

Who is he? Tell us.

Qi Mu.

Dare you punish him?

Adults and kids.

Move.

Move.

What are you doing?

How about a kiss?

Let go of me.

Over there.

Come on.

-Hurry. -This way. –Come on.

What are you doing?

What are you doing?

Move. Move. Come here.

Move.

My lord,

have some more wine.

Move.

Make room. Make room.

Move along. Make room.

Move along, guys.

Make room.

Move along.

Come on.

Move along.

Get in there.

We’ve arrested all the ruffians

in Hu County, I reckon.

-Hurry. –Indeed.

-The place doesn’t see a single customer in three years. –Hurry.

-But when it does, it gets a profit that can last three years. –Move along.

-Move along. –This is the first time

I’ve heard that saying

applied to a prison.

Get in there.

Stop packing more people in here.

Stop it.

Or we won’t have an inch of land to stand on.

Hurry. Move along.

Yes, over there. Move along.

Yes. Hurry up. Yes.

Boss.

I’ve told you a million times.

I’m not Third Butler

or Boss.

I’m Chief Butler.

I’m hungry.

I want to have dinner, Boss.

Drat it.

I’m Chief Butler.

Charge.

Charge.

Charge.

Come on.

Charge.

Charge.

Charge.

Please be careful, my lord.

He looks a bit smug, oddly enough.

A petty official is no commoner, after all.

My lord, let me tear it down.

No.

My lord, they put it up here to mock you.

This couplet is often hung on the columns of the temple of the God of Land.

The God of Land

is the pettiest god.

And judicial clerk

is the pettiest official.

So we’re not at a disadvantage

when they put up here a couplet

that’s usually applied to the temple of the God of Land.

How could I, a lowly judicial clerk,

expect to be more prestigious than a god?

It’s all right. It’s OK.

My lord, it’s out of place.

Li, think about this in a different way.

Would Qi Mu’s men have resorted

to this method to vent their resentment

if it were a few weeks ago?

You’re right, my lord.

They’d have broken in

to smash the place.

That’s right.

What a pity.

We haven’t found conclusive evidence against Qi Mu

even though we’ve apprehended so many lawbreakers.

My lord.

My lord.

Hua Yunfei broke into Qi’s mansion last night

and has been besieged by Qi Mu’s men.

The two sides are still in a stalemate.

What?

Charge.

Qi Mu!

Tie him up.

Impressive. You’re the first man

in Hu County who dare challenge me,

and also the last one.

Stop.

Illegal Punishments are out of the question.

I’m taking him into custody.

I was the one who caught him.

The Qi family has caught the criminal

before the county yamen did.

I feel so ashamed of our inefficiency.

He’s killed a dozen of our men,

and attempted to assassinate my master several times.

Then he must be wicked in the extreme.