Original subtitles

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[The Promise of Chang'An]

[Episode 16]

Oh right.

All this time, haven't you been looking for the maidservant that disappeared?

You guessed correctly.

Empress Mu's death was tied to a great mystery.

Think about it carefully. In the end, whoever took the position of King

is the most suspicious.

It's incredible that you're still so loyal to him.

What do you mean by this? Tell me clearly.

Fine. I can explain clearly.

As long as you promise to let me go,

I will tell you the truth immediately.

You think that just with my strength alone,

Concubine Mu would die?

Think carefully. There were so many Princes at the scene.

Without their agreement, would I be able to make my move?

I'm telling you guys clearly,

The ones whose hands are stained with Concubines' Mu's blood

was not just me.

If you really had a get-out-of-jail-free card,

why didn't you show it in the great hall?

You think I'm stupid? If I showed my hand at that time,

then wouldn't I have died much earlier?

If I only tell the two of you about this,

then wouldn't I get a path out in exchange?

You two are getting a fair bargain.

Prince of Han, you dare to trick us?

If you don't tell the truth, I'll kill you right now!

Come. If you kill me, then you'll know nothing.

- I'll pry open your mouth right now! - Come on!

Brother, why did you pull me out? We should've brutally taught him a lesson.

I don't believe that he wouldn't open his mouth.

Chengxuan, even if he really did speak,

you'd trust what he said as real?

Xiao Chengyao was just sentenced to life in prison by His Majesty,

the person he hates the most

is clearly going to be His Majesty. He knows our weaknesses,

what if he is making a countercharge against Third Brother because of his resentment,

wouldn't we be falling into his insidious trap?

But I can't care about that much.

If the reason for our mother's death is right in front of us,

I need to hear him speak!

Of course, I can determine myself whether he's telling the truth or not.

Chengxuan, how come you're still so impulsive?

Xiao Chengyao, in his heart, is very clear.

This is his only way out.

He will not speak easily. The only thing we can do right now

is see what card he is holding.

But he's in our hands right now, what are you afraid of?

We can't just beat him up. Look at how soft skinned and tender he looks,

- I don't believe he can withstand it. - Why are you so reckless?

Chengxuan, listen to my words.

I will assign people to investigate.

Let's play the long game so that we don't shake the grass and alert the snake

Do you understand?

Who's that? What're you doing?

[Prince of Han's Manor]

You guys, what are you doing?

Prince of Han has been convicted.

We are ordered to inventory all the belongings and military goods. Search!

Yes.

Your Highness, your food has arrived.

Help me send a message to the Prince of Wei's manor,

this jade pendent will be yours.

Prince of Yan, in the past few days,

I've been investigating by using the excuse of making an inventory of Xiao Chengyao's belongings and military good.

We found that he had a secret courtyard.

It's just that, when we went to check, the people in that courtyard

were transferred out early.

What clues did you find?

I am still searching.

However, I found a discarded rouge box in the courtyard.

It doesn't look like a possession that ordinary people would have.

Officer, you are...

This...

Open the door.

Open it!

This was my mother's rouge box.

What if

the people Xiao Chengyao shut in the courtyard

is really Su Qiu?

But I don't understand.

If Su Qiu really knew the Prince of Han's secret,

why wouldn't the Prince of Han just kill her?

Why keep her locked up?

Wouldn't that leave a problem for the future?

Unless...

He wanted to leave Su Qiu not to protect the secret,

but to, at the right time,

expose the secret.

You think that Empress Mu could be killed with my power alone?

Think about it carefully. There were many princes at the scene.

Without their consent, could I have made my move?

I am not the only one

who has Empress Mu's blood on my hands.

I will keep searching into Prince of Han's other properties then.

I can see if there are still any loose ends.

There are almost certainly

more people who know of Su Qiu's existence.

Xiao Chengyao has accomplices.

Report!

Your Highness. Bad news.

The Tenth Prince has taken people into the prison, wanting to interrogate the Prince of Han.

What?

- Tenth, what are you doing? - I don't believe

that I won't be able to get the information I need from out of your mouth.

You dare to torture me privately?

If my noble title is removed, I'll just be a commoner.

You are already a guilty person. What am I afraid of?

Bring the torture device!

Fourth Brother, this is not a normal torture device.

It's forged in hard metal.

If it hits your body,

the skin will be split and the flesh pulverized.

Are you sure you have nothing to say to me?

Xiao Chengxuan, you dare to hit me?

I won't tell you a single thing!

How my mother died, are you going to tell me or not?

I don't have the spare time to waste on you!

If you still won't talk, this iron chain will definitely land on you.

It's just a stupid iron chain.

I grew up on the battlefield.

Would I fear any toys that you have?

Come at me! Hit me!

Fine. You're not afraid?

Men, prepare to punish him with branding!

Your Highness, the Prince of Yan has ordered that we can't.

I'll take care of any blame from my older brother. Branding iron!

- Let me go! Let me go! - How did she die? Tell me!

Let me go! Xiao Chengxuan! Let me go!

Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!

Tell me!

Xiao Chengyao.

Xiao Chengyao, don't you pretend!

Let him down! Let him down! Hurry!

Hide all of these tools! Hide them!

Hurry, find some firewood for fire.

Go find them! Go! Hurry, hurry.

Prince of Yan.

Brother!

- How did this happen? - You kept saying we were going to investigate,

but it's been so many days with no new information.

I got anxious!

I decided to ask him directly,

I only wanted to scare him a little, but I didn't know he couldn't take the scare,

and then he died.

Xiao Chengyao has heart problems.

You actually tortured him.

How long could he have lasted?

How come you just refuse to listen to my words?

His Majesty said that he would imprison him,

that didn't mean that he was supposed to get the death penalty!

Now, how are we supposed to explain this?

He has already died. We can't talk ourselves out of this.

Brother! We should set this place on fire,

- and then they wouldn't know! - No!

Third Brother is usually suspicious.

If we do this, then we would only be able to keep it a secret for a little while.

After he places an order to investigate,

with the different mix of people in this jail,

there will surely be a loose end discovered.

But what do we do?

Instead of doing our best to hide this from him,

we might as well tell half of the truth and keep the rest a lie.

We can confess parts of the truth.

This way, it seems like we, in a panic,

are pleading to him for help. Some of it real, some of it fake,

It will be hard for him to see through it.

Brother, how would this work?

As things are now,

we can only try it based on how much I'm worth to him.

How come you're kneeling? Get up, quickly.

You were in a hurry to see me.

For what reason exactly?

Your Majesty.

Our Fourth Brother, in the prison,

died.

What?!

How did he suddenly die

when he was in good condition?

- I'm asking you a question! - Your Majesty, please calm down.

It was all my fault.

I knew that Fourth Brother still hid some military goods,

so I wanted to force him to tell where those things were.

However, the Fourth Brother did not cooperate.

I, out of anxiety,

used some torture devices.

I had planned to scare him,

but the Fourth Brother's heart problems suddenly started up,

and when I tried to save him,

it was already too late.

He truly died because of the heart illness?

Get up.

Ninth Brother, I know that you and the Fourth Brother have never gotten along.

If you tampered with anything,

you would not be able to get that past my notice.

Your Majesty,

the Fourth Brother truly did die from his heart problems.

If you do not trust me,

then you can tell the Imperial Physician to inspect him.

Chengxu, Chengxu.

I had wanted to compliment that you did things calmly,

Why were you so reckless too?

In court,

I pardoned Chengyao.

I wanted him to stay alive, but you're giving me a dead body.

How will the people in court assess this incident?

I know that I've committed an unforgivable wrong.

I'm not here to ask Your Majesty to protect me.

In a little while, I'll immediately turn myself in at the Ministry of Justice.

"A killer must pay with his life."

I will not trouble Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Chengxu doesn't have an impulsive personality.

Tell me clearly. This time, was it Chengxuan who did this?

Your Majesty, the Fourth Brother had heart problems.

This incident was more than likely an accident.

You can't blame Chengxu completely.

Besides, even if you punish Chengxu now,

you still wouldn't be able to save the Fourth Brother.

You don't want to lose both brothers in one fell swoop.

Also,

you promised Concubine Mu.

Your Majesty, Royal Sister-in-laws, a country has its laws,

a family has its rules.

Fourth Royal Brother, it's me who harmed him.

I should pay with my life.

Come back.

Find someone

to make it look like he hanged himself out of fear of his guilt.

Let me take care of the rest.

I will help you keep this matter a secret. Also,

in the future, make Chengxuan do things with his brain more often!

I

thank you, Your Majesty.

Get out.

Your Majesty.

You were right.

I don't want to lose a right-hand man that I took great effort to groom

over someone whose guilt was inexcusable.

How could this have happened?

The Fourth Royal Brother died?

The Fourth Royal Brother was perfectly fine. How could he have suddenly died?

He just recently sent me a letter.

There must be a problem! There must be a problem!

I don't believe it.

I want to inspect the corpse!

Chengtai. Chengtai!

Your Majesty, I am the Autopsy Officer, Li Ding, from the Ministry of Justice,

respectfully greet Your Majesty.

Tell me immediately. How is your search of the Prince of Han's body going?

Is there anything suspicious?

Your Majesty, Your Highness,

When I was checking the Fourth Prince's body,

I did not find any suspicious things.

The Fourth Prince truly did hang himself.

Hanging himself?

Impossible.

This is impossible! Search again, search thoroughly!

Prince of Wei.

The autopsy has already been completed.

Now, you should let Chengyao's body be buried.

Give him a good burial.

You can leave.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty. I do not believe

that Fourth Brother would be someone to commit suicide.

I think this incident is problematic. I want a thorough investigation.

I cannot let my Fourth Brother die without clarity!

Chengtai. You wanted to investigate, and I let you.

Stop getting involved in everything now.

Your Majesty!

This matter ends here.

Your edict is obeyed.

Mingyu.

Mingyu, I heard that the Fourth Prince died in prison.

What?

The thing I worried about indeed happened.

You're talking about the Prince of Yan,

But the autopsy officer already inspected and said that Fourth Prince died from hanging himself.

Fourth Prince is someone who greedily clings to worldly fortune.

Why would he give up his own life so easily?

That's true,

but that doesn't mean that this matter has something to do with the Prince of Yan.

The Fourth Prince has always been targeting the Prince of Yan.

Last time, he almost caused Chengxu's death.

No matter whether or not it was the two of them, this matter is not that simple.

Right, Chengxu was in charge of surpervision.

After the Fourth Prince died, wouldn't he have been punished?

That didn't happen. I heard that the Prince of Wei was screaming

about punishing the Prince of Yan for not taking the supervision seriously, but His Majesty stopped him.

His Majesty is protecting Chengxu?

It appears that there will be change to the arrangement of several princes as co-regents.

Oh, right, I also heard that when the Fourth Prince died,

there is a shortage for the military, and His Majesty has elevated Prince of Yan in important matters.

Last time, the four cities of Yong Ping were taken.

This time, His Majesty wants to take Prince o Yan with him to personally go on the expedition

to recover the lost territory.

They're going off to war again?

If we use the war horses to carry rocks

and go up that side, then we can attack them on both sides.

While the enemy is caught off-guard,

Let me through. Open your eyes and see for yourself who I am.

I want to see His Majesty.

Your Majesty. I am here to discuss with you.

Have you drank?

I am very clear-headed. I came just to ask you

My Elephant Xiao Battalion was redeployed by you to fight against Ling Feng.

After several battles, many officers and soldiers have been lost.

I wonder what Your Majesty will say.

Any troops, whenever there is wounded and dead, they are given benefits according to established rules.

Why are you asking this way?

You redeployed my troops to give them to the others.

After these battles and subsequent losses, there are less troops now.

I would like to ask Your Majesty to return the troops to me.

Royal older brother, please watch your words in front of His Majesty.

His Majesty uses the troops in consideration of the big picture.

How can there be an arbitrary request to reclaim them.

Ninth Brother is right.

Every battalion's mission has already been assigned.

It isn't just the Elephant Xiao Battalion that was allocated to redeploy troops.

None of the other battalions have come over to ask for an explanation.

Why do you deserve special treatment?

I've always respected you as the king.

But, Your Majesty...

- Get out. - You want me to get out?

Fifth Brother, are you feeling unfair over Fourth Brother's death?

- Stop! - Let's ask my blade first!

Stop!

Are you here to fight the enemies

or to kill each other?

Showing the blade in front of His Majesty? Such an outrageous act of treachery,

what should be the punishment?

You are too much...

No wonder you are...

Hurry and get up!

Kneel to HIs Majesty and admit your wrongs.

Kneel!

Your Majesty, I know I'm wrong.

I've drunk too much horse urine

and spoke nonsense. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.

Please forgive me, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty, Prince of Wei enjoys drinking too much. He must have been concerned about the battles

that he drank a few cups to much and got so drunk.

If I may, I'd like to ask Your Majesty

not to shake the troops' morale for now.

You can make your decision after we've achieved victories.

As Second Brother has already spoken,

let's just do it this way.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

Hurry and get out!

De An!

Prince of Wei displayed a blade and offended His Highness,

but you stood and just watched. What use are you staying by His Majesty's side?

I know I've committed a wrong. I know that Prince of Wei is Your Majesty's brother,

- so I didn't dare. - Shut up!

You only know that Prince of Wei and His Majesty are brothers.

But do you know that they are also monarch and subject?

Reporting to Your Majesty, Liang's general Ling Feng has sent a letter through a messenger.

Bring it up.

Your Majesty, is it a letter of war?

It's not a letter of war, it's a letter of surrender.

Forgo the formalities.

General Ling, you are both intelligent and brave.

I have long been in admiration.

I'm ashamed.

King of Sheng Zhou, my father has always been loyal to Great Liang,

and treats the people as well as his children.

How that your army has been at our gate to surround us for several months,

my father cannot bear to see the people get harmed,

that's why he issued the order to open the gate.

He has ordered all the officers to submit to you. We plead that the King of Sheng Zhou

will honor the promise and avoid further slaughter.

Of course.

General Ling, please rest assured.

Like the saying, "A promise is worth a thousand taels of gold,"

Great Sheng will definitely not slaughter not revenge.

Keeping the people in peace and strengthen the nation is Great Sheng's sincere wish.

Good.

I can rest assured then.

Protect the king!

General! General! General!

Father! Father!

If you don't want to surrender, then why do this?

We could have fought a battle to death!

No. We should surrender, but

I made the decision to surrender.

I wrote the letter of surrender.

I alone am responsible for it.

If this is recorded in the history books,

let me be the only one to be reviled

by the future generations. I surrendered for the sake of the people,

the troops, and for you.

I die... for myself.

My whole life, I've been unyielding with an iron will.

Only death can show my loyalty.

I am fulfilling my wish to be virtuous.

I... can

face myself

without shame.

Father! Father!

Father!

Father!

Young General Ling, your father's fervent integrity

is truly admirable. I hope you can restrain your grief.

Leaves fall down to return to their roots. I should escort my father on the journey.

Besides, my wife, children, and mother are still in Jinzhou city.

King of Sheng Zhou, please allow me to go back and bring them out.

I will work from the inside to help you to take Jinzhou city.

Young General Ling, go on back without worries.

I trust you.

Thank you, King of Sheng Zhou.

Such a shame.

That Ling Feng is a great general

and also a real man.

He didn't even frown and died with a smile.

Probably because he saw his father die,

so Young General Ling wavered in his pledge to surrender.

I let him go to Jinzhou, and haven't heard anything since then.

At that time, I also thought that perhaps he would regret,

but I still let him go.

It is because of your majesty's kindness and tolerance,

someday Young General Ling will submit to you willingly.

How do you know?

I believe that the commanders and soldiers of Great Liang

will realise one day that the Northern Border is not the same with Great Liang.

And that they would finally understand

that a talented person chooses a trustful leader. Proverb: A fine bird chooses a tree to nest in.

Worthy servants choose their leader and responsibility.

I have remembered something.

That day, when Prince of Wei was rude,

Chengxu scolded the guard and said,

"You only know His Majesty and Prince of Wei are brothers,

but don't you know that they are also monarch and subject?"

After hearing this I felt at ease.

Mingyu, you weren't wrong.

My young brothers and nephews' skills are the only skills worthy of my implication in talent cultivation.

The Prince of Wei's past contributions cannot be questioned,

but Your Majesty has always been fair in meting out punishments and rewards.

When the Prince of Wei previously achieved merits, Your Majesty always rewarded him.

This time, when he made a mistake, if he isn't punished for his crime,

it will be against a nation's law and the military code.

I plead for Your Majesty to reconsider.

Then, let's take away Prince of Wei's seven-stringed crown

and demote it to five-stringed crown.

Prince of Wei disregarded military codes and will not be be able to discipline his subordinates.

Therefore, he is also dismissed from the position of the leader of the Great Xiao Battalions.

The Elephant Xiao Battalion will be given to Prince of Yan to be in charge.

I am at Your Majesty's Command!

The Bear Xiao Battalion that Prince of Wei was supervising temporarily

will be given to Prince of Su to be in charge.

Thank you, Your Majesty!

Your Majesty, I know that I have commited a mistake.

But... my mistake can't be much.

Li Wencheng.

I am here.

On that day, if Prince of Wei had intended to pull the blade against me,

what would have been the punishment?

Your Majesty, if Prince of Wei had really done that,

the crime's punishment would have been execution.

Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace.

Your Majesty, I think,

as Prince of Wei has already been forbidden to wear the seven-stringed crown,

he shouldn't be sitting alongside Your Majesty to administer court affairs.

We've always been siting alongside each other. If we suddenly change,

wouldn't there be some resentment among the brothers?

Your Majesty, in the past, thanks to your blessing,

we've been sitting alongside with you,

it's already making me feel unsettled in my heart.

Prince of Yan is right, even though we are brothers, we are also monarch and subjects.

From now one, Your Majesty should sit in the throne by yourself

in order to show your dignified prestige.

Your Majesty should sit in the throne by yourself

In that case, I will then follow your wise advice.

Your Majesty is an enlightened sage!

Your Majesty is an enlightened sage!

Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live! Long live!

Older Brother, you are good.

Fifth Brother lost his military authority.

Second Brother is busy in protecting himself.

Step by step,

he is securely holding the power in his hands.

The way to be a monarch appears to be using people to control people.

He is kind to us,

but if he uses us to suppress other people's strength,

or, later on, uses others to suppress us,

it's not a contradiction.

So you think that everything he's done is right?

Older Brother, could it be that you've been gradually and unconsciously won over by him?

But I...I don't trust him. I don't trust him not a single bit!

I'll say those words again,

before we figure out the truth, I will not hate aimlessly.

I don't want to jump to any conclusions.

Our highest priority now

is to strike it while the iron is hot, get Xiao Chengtai.

It wasn't even that expensive!

Zhen'er, this is my present for you!

Your Majesty! Your humble slave doesn't know how to use this!

From where have you popped up?

- Shoo! Shoo! - Yes...

Your Highness!

Zhen'er...What happened?

The Princess has something she'd like me to ask you.

The new horses that were sent over from the northern border recently,

are they being distributed by Prince of Yu?

It was indeed Chengxuan, why?

The princess recently went around to ride the horse.

and discovered that the new horse offered to His Majesty is of poor quality. It's really not right.

It's a good thing that today, His Majesty was occupied by problems. He had not gone to the horse stables yet.

The Princess wanted me to tell you that you need to change that horse immediately.

That way, His Majesty will not be angered, and it will prevent unnecessary problems.

Also, the Princess wanted me to remind you

that, among all the younger princes, His Majesty only regards you with high hope.

Therefore, she asks that Your Highness must exercise caution in progressing.

Your must not make a mistake.

She even knows that

every month I visit the Royal Consort to pay my respects to her.

So that's why she sent you here.

Tell Mingyu that I have understood.

I will return.

Alright, Ling Zhen'er.

Your Highness, what's the matter?

I am saying that you have just seen me.

I have just greeted you! What are you running away from?

So it seems that throwing a stone at someone now counts as a greeting.

You cannot tell between good and bad...It wasn't because-

Are you crying? Who has mistreated you?

Tell me! I will take you to him and make him pay for this!

I have told you earlier, if you moved in my mansion

and you became my side Consort, who would dare to bully you anymore?

Come! I will make him pay for that!

Your Highness!

Your Highness, you are babbling nonsense again!

No one bullied me! And this is not a matter Your Highness should get involved in!

Also, I have already told you.

I have no interest in becoming Your Highness' Consort!

I still have some errands to run. I have to go.

- Ling Zhen'er...You don't even want to take a look at me! - Your Highness...

Do you not know that I am already commanding over a battalion?

From now on I can only improve myself! I cannot be inferior to anyone!

Later you dare not regret your decision!

Fine! I, Ling Zhen'er congratulate Your Highness.

May all your Highness' wishes come true! Your Highness shall go all out!

[The Promise of Chang'an]

Timing and subtitles brought to you by Impossible Promises @ Viki.com

"Falling Fate" - Singer: Li Yugang

♫ Who is swaying at dusk on the riverbank by the gently fluttering willows? ♫

♫ That beauty dances between the clouds and the rippling moonglade ♫

♫ Dancing lightly like the startled birds and your graceful face is like delicate blooms ♫

♫ Longing in the wind, with glistening eyes looking toward the ripples ♫

♫ I could not take my eyes off such a sight to behold ♫

♫ It seems brief, my adoration for you has been for years ♫

♫ You come or go as you please, my soul is being led by dreams of you ♫

♫ These are foolish and infuriating times, I still wish we could be together forever ♫

♫ Destiny leads you into my life to make me whole ♫

♫ My love for you is like an ink-mark that never dries ♫

♫ As the snow scatters in the wind, as the clouds shield the moon ♫

♫ As I have to be drunk to sleep through the night ♫

♫ Like you, the paper I write on is full of melancholy ♫

♫ Destiny leads you into my life, times of great changes separate us ♫

♫ My tears fall and fill the curtained carriage along the way ♫

♫ This homeward journey, this boundless life ♫

♫ It is fleeting, and filled with joys and sorrows ♫