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[The Promise of Chang'an]

[Episode 18]

Rather than being caught and tortured by that animal,

I should just kill myself.

Older sister!

Stop them!

Older sister!

Helan Mingyu?

- Older sister! Older sister! - Mingyu!

Run, quickly.

Hurry.

Get off.

Brother!

Don't mind me!

Sister, you can control the horse.

Sister! Are you ok?

Mingyu! I can't go back, I can't go back!

- Older Sister, you won't be going back. - He will kill me.

Run, run!

- I don't want to go back. - Get on the horse, hurry.

Hurry!

- Mingyu! Hurry, get on the horse! - Sister.

Sister, run!

Mingyu!

- Mingyu! - Hurry up and get out of here!

Mingyu!

Helan Mingyu. We meet again.

What a coincidence.

Back then, you used your older sister's name

and really fooled me.

Today, you will be ripped apart and cut by me in your sister's place. Enjoy it.

I will skin you

and make a war drum to beat it for the Helan and Xiao families to listen.

You—

Helan Mingyu, aren't you supposed to be very formidable?

You dared to trick me?

Today, you still ended up in my hands.

You're still prideful.

Sadly, you are close to death.

Blunt knives can cut meat quite well.

I'm going to rip you clean

and cut your flesh with every knifestroke.

Tell me, if I carved little holes

all over your pretty little face,

what would you look like?

Are you afraid?

Beg me.

If I'm happy, then I can kill you quickly.

I, Helan Mingyu,

sure am unlucky to have fallen into your hands.

If you want to kill or carve me, go ahead.

Fine, you're still stubborn.

Xiao Chengrui likes your kind of energy, right?

You're despicable!

Older Brother! Older Brother!

Older Brother.

Look. Many people came.

Fine. Then I'll let them see.

- Don't move. - Let me go.

Older Brother.

Let go of me.

Older Brother, you can't.

Situ Kun, you can kill me,

but you cannot insult me.

If you insult me, then you are insulting Great Sheng's side Consort.

You will be insulting the King of Great Sheng's reputation.

You know

that Xi Qi's King is still in Great Sheng's hands.

If you do this,

then you are signing the King of Xi Qi's death warrant.

And you're placing Xi Qi's people

at the tip of swords.

She is right. If you do this, it will be like adding oil to fire.

I fear that in Xiao Chengrui's anger, our father's life will end.

I heard that Helan Mingyu is very much adored by Xiao Chengrui.

We can make her our hostage and exchange them.

We can get them to release our father. This is such a rare opportunity.

Older brother, are you not going to care about our father?

The Young Prince has good logic. Please reconsider, Your Highness.

Please reconsider, Your Highness.

Fine.

Then I will use her to discuss with Xiao Chengrui well.

Didn't Situ Kun promise to discuss with us? It's been multiple days,

but the city's doors do not open, and the generals do not come out.

What is going on?

Situ Kun!

Since you've already submitted a letter, why aren't you showing yourself?

If you disregard

the lives of your father, Xi Qi's soldiers and people,

then we have nothing to discuss.

I think that's not necessarily true.

We can discuss other things.

Let me go, let me go.

Mingyu.

Xiao Chengrui, your beloved Consort is in my hands.

If you want her to live, then let my father go.

Also withdraw Sheng's troops from those Xi Qi cities that you grabbed

to beyond the He River.

Otherwise...

I will slit her throat

and give you her corpse.

Tomorrow, give me a reply. Think about it carefully.

Prince of Yan, His Majesty has ordered that no one may enter.

It's too late. Move.

Prince of Yan. Prince of Yan!

Your Majesty, I have an idea.

You only need to agree to Xi Qi's condition in front of the city gate first.

No. I cannot agree to that.

our Great Sheng has been battling with Xi Qi for several years.

Every city, every victory,

We've buried the lives of countless soldiers.

The King of Xi Qi and half of the Xi Qi cities that we've taken

are won with the blood of our soldiers.

If I gave in to Situ Kun's conditions,

then the soldiers would think that

I, Xiao Chengrui, only care about my harem of Consorts

and would be willing to sacrifice

all of their hard victories for one woman.

Your Majesty, this is not what I meant.

I just need you to pretend to agree to their terms.

Pretending will not work either.

No matter if it is real or fake,

once the words come out, the soldiers will feel uneasy.

Transmit my order, let the troops prepare to battle

against the enemy in front of the city.

Your Majesty!

Xi Qi's troops are gathered at the south gate.

Xiao Chengxu, I want you to lead the Wolf and Eagle Batallions

attack its rare and take down the north gate,

kill them while they're unaware.

Third Brother, you can't act like this.

Then Consort of Li will be cut to pieces.

Consort of Li is such an innocent victim.

Of course I know that

but she

can only be an innocent victim.

She doesn't have to be sacrificed.

Third Brother,

if you pretend to accept their terms

and keep stalling

then I will carry all the risks myself.

You don't know

how much I treasure Mingyu,

but I'm a king.

I can only put my country first.

You can go.

Do you want to disobey my order?

Your order is obeyed.

I am sorry.

Brother, what does Xiao Chengrui mean by this?

Brother, look.

What's the meaning of beating the drums?

Xiao Chengrui rejected all of our terms.

He said that he won't return Royal Father and will definitely not retreat from those cities.

When you said we would use Helan Mingyu to discuss terms, the result was this?

I didn't realize that he was that fierce either!

Xiao Chengrui, you don't even care about your own woman?

Mingyu!

As your husband,

it's my fault to have let you get stranded in the enemy's camp,

but you and I are Great Sheng's King and Consort Li.

On our shoulders is the burden of making a good future and protecting our commoners.

But, if I am forced to disappoint you today for the sake of the country,

later, I shall definitely trample Xi Qi flat, and

I will make the entire Xi Qi pay for what they did to you.

- Revenge! Revenge! Revenge! - Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!

Xiao Chengrui, if you don't care about the life or death of your woman,

then I'll cut off her head and throw it down to you!

Xiao Chengrui! Let me ask you one more time,

if you still don't send an order to let my father go, I will immediately take her life!

One,

two,

Prepare for battle!

- Yes! - Yes!

You saw that?

This is your family's hero.

Too bad that this hero only sees power and territory and not his love.

You are just a toy he can throw away whenever he pleases, right?

I think this is what he should do as the king.

But you, the enemy troops are at the gate,

your country and home are lost,

soon you'll become a homeless stray dog.

You're at death's door, but you still dare to lash your tongue at me?

- I'll kill you! - Stop!

Chengxu.

- Father! - Father!

Situ Kun, if you want your father to live,

then let Consort Li go immediately!

Fine. If you want me to let her go, I can,

but you must bring the carriage alone.

If you dare to pull any tricks, I will take her life immediately!

Your father's life is in my hands as well.

A life for a life.

You must take Consort Li out of your country's borders alone.

Someone, come.

Your Majesty, do you want me to stop Prince of Yan?

Wait.

Xiao Chengxu, your King would rather she die than let my father go,

yet you brought my father here to trade for this woman.

What is your scheme?

Your goal was to rescue your father, wasn't it?

Now he is right in front of you.

What are you still afraid of?

Kun'er, do what he says.

Kill them.

Yes!

Attack! Kill him!

Protect Consort Li. Go!

Chengxu. Chengxu!

Chengxu!

Chengxu! Chengxu!

Report!

Your Majesty, Situ Yin has died of stray arrows when he was escaping with his family members.

Most of the Xi Qi troops inside the city have been captured by us,

except for Xi Qi's Prince Situ Cheng who has escaped with some troops during the chaos.

Good.

Very good.

This expedition has won victory in its first battle.

It's all because of our Great Sheng's troops being united from top to down

to fight and kill the enemy with bravery.

When we return to the capital, I shall

met out rewards by merit to show recognition.

Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace.

Reporting!

Your Majesty, Prince of Yan has returned after pursuing the enemy.

Your Majesty, here is Situ Kun's body.

Please inspect it, Your Majesty.

- Xiao Chengxu. - Present.

You have achieved a great merit.

I thank you.

I was merely following Your Majesty's secret order use the tactic of release first in order to capture.

Killing Situ Kun, saving Consort of Li,

it was all relied upon Your Majesty's thoughtful planning and prediction.

I was merely following Your Majesty's order. What merit is there?

Your Majesty has incomparable wisdom and bravery that is outstanding in this world.

Long live Your Majesty for 10,000 years and forever more!

Long live Your Majesty for 10,000 years and forever more! Long live Your Majesty for 10,000 years and forever more!

You achieved merit by killing Situ Kun.

But you disobeyed order and took unauthorized action,

how can I explain it to the entire troops?

I disobeyed your edict and made an unauthorized decision.

I know that I can't avoid punishment by death after violating the military code.

Please met your punishment, Your Majesty, and I have no complaint at all.

You know that the punishment is certain to be death,

but you still went to rescue Consort of Li.

Can you give me an explanation?

Even though Consort of Li and I grew up together,

but I wouldn't have disobeyed your edict based only on that relationship.

Why then?

I know very well that Your Majesty needed to take down Xi Qi in this expedition

so that Great Sheng will never have worries in the rear.

But, with Consort of Li in Situ Kun's hands,

Your Majesty was worried. "One wants to kill the rat but don't want to hurt the favorite vase that the rat is in."

You couldn't favor your personal need but let the results

that were hard won by the soldiers' sacrifice be destroyed.

I couldn't bear to see Your Majesty stuck in a dilemma.

So I decided to fight at the risk of death. If I succeeded,

- then it's Heaven blessing Your Majesty. If I didn't succeed— - If you didn't succeed,

you would have died under Xi Qi's random arrows.

I was reckless and only cared to achieve glory.

I'm more than deserving of death.

Get up then.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

Since you pursued wholeheartedly for justice,

I will spare you from death for now.

I won't make an exception next time.

Thank you for forgiving me, Your Majesty.

The death punishment can be waived,

but you must be punished for taking an unauthorized action.

Go down to receive 50 canes of punishment.

I hope you will learn from this warning.

Thank you, Your Majesty, for the grace of forgiving me.

Your Majesty, Consort of Li is here.

Tell her to come in.

I shall take my leave.

Greetings, Consort of Li.

Your Highness Prince of Yan, you can forgo the formalities.

Greetings, Your Majesty.

Your injury hasn't healed, why don't you stay resting?

I came here to thank Your Majesty for rescuing my life.

It's thanks to Chengxu risking his own life so that you're saved.

To thank, you should thank Chengxu first.

Yes.

Thank you, Your Highness Prince of Yan.

I was only following orders.

If Consort of Li wants to thank, you should thank His Majesty.

I'll take my leave.

It's all my fault. You've suffered.

Will you blame me?

I don't blame Your Majesty.

I've always respected you as my female military strategist.

In this chaotic world, you've helped to advise me on many matters.

When the two armies were facing each other, even though I was

already prepared for the worst ending,

but I really couldn't bear to lose you.

Now that you have returned safely,

I hope you won't hold a resentment over this incident.

Why would I think like that?

This incident started because I went to rescue my older sister

and carelessly fell into Xi Qi's hands.

It's my own mistake. I can't fault anyone else.

Besides, you are the monarch of a nation,

your kingdom and sovereignty should be your greatest concern.

Even if you unavoidably give me up

for the sake of the kingdom and people,

I shall not hold any resentment nor regrets.

Furthermore, Your Majesty has

given great consideration for me.

For now on, I will not allow anyone to violate you.

You don't need to say anymore, Your Majesty. I understand from the bottom of my heart.

I cannot be grateful enough for

Your Majesty's sincere heart to me.

Ultimately it's because I haven't been mindful enough

to have let you suffered so much.

From now on, I will doubly cherish you and compensate you.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

Chengxuan.

Chengxuan, what's wrong?

It's all because of you!

You're already His Majesty's consort, why are you still entangled with my older brother?

For you, he didn't care about his life.

What did he get in return?

The credit goes to His Majesty. His beloved woman is in someone else's embrace.

But him? He is only getting punished by 50 canes.

50 canes? Chengxu is getting beaten? Is he alright?

Is he alright?

After 50 canes, even a skin made of iron would be smashed.

My brother is made of flesh and blood. Do you think he is alright?

Chengxu!

Mingyu, why are you here?

You don't have to worry, I'm really feeling fine.

You're already like this. How could you be fine?

I grew up learning martial arts,

these flesh injuries don't matter much to me.

In a few days, they'll be better.

Don't worry.

You achieved merits,

why did he still punish you?

If you continue crying like this,

my heart will hurt to death.

It's because

I let SItu Yan go.

You lied to me,

He punished you because you made an unauthorized decision

in violation of military code.

Did that stupid brat Chengxuan talk nonsense in front of you again?

No. He didn't say anything to me,

but even if he didn't say anything, I still know

that this wasn't His Majesty's plan,

it was you who did it on your own and risked great dangers.

His Majesty had let me go long ago.

Chengxu, in this world,

you're the only person dumb enough

to sacrifice everything for me,

but I can't do anything for you.

I always cause you to get hurt.

Aren't you the same?

All of the suffering you've gone through,

you dealt with alone.

No matter how much I misunderstood and blamed you,

you never explained.

How did you get this purse?

The ninth day of the ninth month was my wedding day,

but I didn't feel any kind of happiness in my heart at all.

My whole brain and heart was wondering

why the person I loved

was forcing me to marry a different woman.

Why she could let go of our relationship so easily.

Chengxu, I'm sorry.

But when I saw this purse,

I realized that your heart was still mine.

This handwriting, I can recognize it upon one glance,

but the moment I saw it,

all of my pain and my feelings of hopelessness

all disappeared

because I know

that she still loved me.

That is enough for me

because

my wishes are very simple.

I can have nothing,

want nothing, I just want you

to be happy and peaceful. To me,

it is the best blessing from Heaven.

Chengxu, since you understand my heart,

then you should know that I ask of nothing.

I just want you to live peacefully and smoothly.

Promise me that you won't risk anything for me anymore.

Don't get hurt because of me again.

I can't guarantee you anything or promise you anything.

Loving and protecting you

has because a habit of mine in these past years.

If you really can't rest assured,

then help me finish stitching

this purse.

Let's die together then.

Wanyin?

Brother!

Brother, I had another dream about...

Wanyi, I know that you're worried about Mingyu,

but I am here to tell you good news. I just recently learned

that Mingyu was saved and not injured in any way.

After I learned of it, I came immediately to inform you of it,

worried that you would be worried about her.

Wanyi? What are you thinking about?

Nothing much.

The fact that Mingyu can be peaceful and out of harm's way makes me feel much at ease.

Exactly. It's great.

It's all thanks to Moon Goddess's blessing that Mingyu is saved.

I'm going to the Temple of Blessing to burn incense and express gratitude for her.

Rest well.

Princess, did you have another nightmare?

Even you know that I'm been harassed by nightmares.

The person who was supposed to care about me most was my older brother,

but he didn't ask about me and didn't detect anything.

His Highness never was a very considerate person.

Princess, don't take it to heart.

Brother might not necessarily be inconsiderate,

he's just not considerate to me, right?

No matter if it's grandpa

or brother, in their hearts,

Mingyu is the only one.

Princess!

Situ Cheng isn't as shrewd as his father,

but when doing things, one must plan first before doing it, and never be reckless.

I understand, thank you very much, Your Majesty.

Qihan, even though you are responsible for supervising the army,

your Ninth Uncle has frequently been in battles, and his extensive experience

is far beyond your reach.

So you should often learn from your Ninth Uncle

on everything.

Your order is obeyed.

I'd appreciate learning from Ninth Uncle.

You and I are nephew and uncle, so of course we should help each other.

Brother, if you hadn't taken the initiative to save her,

Sister Mingyu probably would have spilled her blood at the city gate.

[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 a delicate bloom ♫

♫ 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 ♫