Original subtitles

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

[The Promise of Chang'an]

[Episode 45]

If we are not careful, we will make enemies with everyone.

I told you early on.

Back when Father passed away, and then when Xiao Chengrui passed away . . .

Twice you came so close to the throne.

But you gave it all up.

Right now, I only care about two people.

One is Second Brother Chengli. He saved me multiple times.

He showed me grace. I cannot be unthankful to him. I cannot ignore his opinion.

Once Your Highness becomes the emperor, you just have to thrust the Prince of Zheng's children to popularity and treat them well.

That would be enough to pay back his grace.

Right now, there is another person I care about.

Helan Mingyu.

I know it's her.

She and His Majesty are filial mother and son.

If I took away her child's throne,

she'll never forgive me.

Then you will have to wait.

Even if you wait forever, you will never be able to get it.

Though His Majesty goes against me in every way possible,

I still do not want

to be the one who breaks the promise first.

In these days,

no matter what I did,

His Majesty always wanted to go against me.

Today, in the court, he

shoved aside multiple of my important policies.

All of the proposals created by the other ministers

were approved by him overnight.

Even if he heard some rumors,

he still should not use the nation's matters to vent his anger on me.

Chengxu, don't think that way.

What other way is there?

He's never respected me.

Even real fathers and sons quarrel sometimes.

I admit that in the past, Qiyuan was disobedient.

He hurt you. It is all my fault.

It was I who did not teach him well enough.

This child lost his father at a young age.

You, his uncle, always advised and helped him.

Treat him as your biological son.

Give him more room, tolerate him more, okay?

Qiyuan is a kind boy. He's not a bad kid.

Once you both clear up the misunderstanding,

he will be like before. He will respect and follow you.

The misunderstanding is too deep. He hides from me every day.

How could we interact?

You've raised him from when he was young.

You can't just break off this relationship all that easily.

Even if it were just for me, do not let me keep getting caught in between you two.

Both sides hurt me. Okay?

Fine. I unified the four seas for Great Sheng.

I will exchange my sincere heart with his.

How about this? In a few days, I will take Qiyuan hunting. After we leave the governmental atmosphere,

I will have an honest talk with him, man to man.

I believe that the misunderstanding between us will be settled.

If the two of you show up alone,

and you argue brutally because of different views,

and there is nobody who can act as the middleman and calm you down, would it be alright?

Rest assured. Because I promised you,

I will not be petty with him.

If he is angry with me,

I will tolerate and let him.

I see him as my son and I hope

that he will see my as his father.

Chengxu, thank you.

Your Majesty, for what reason are you angry?

You can't even tell me?

I do not want to go hunting. Especially not with him.

This is the reason that Your Majesty is not willing to see your Mother Queen?

I don't want to hear these things.

Your Majesty, you cannot trust everything you hear.

Big Brother told me himself.

Could Big Brother be lying to me?

You know that you are not the eldest prince, nor are you old enough.

Do you know why you were the one who took the throne?

That year when the former emperor died,

your Ninth Royal Uncle and Qihan took two sides and fought

for the throne. Neither tolerated the other.

The danger was evident. It is a good thing that your Ninth Royal Uncle was able to be magnanimous,

and he respected the former emperor's will that declared you the emperor.

This is what forced Qihan to give up.

These slanderous words about your Ninth Royal Uncle

came out of Qihan's mouth. How credible could they be?

If it was a rumor, why would Mother Queen tolerate it?

On this earth, the hardest thing to explain is rumors.

The more you want to explain, the more people will suspect that you are guilty.

They will get worse. It is better to ignore it.

Rumors will always have a day in which they fall through.

Besides, your Ninth Royal Uncle and Mother Queen

both need to care about Great Sheng and you.

How would they have the time to deal with these baseless rumors?

Care? I think he just bullies me every way he can.

Your Ninth Royal Uncle is the regent.

Before taking action, he always has to think from your point of view.

It is just that he is impatient. He is your elder

who watched you grow up.

It is impossible to prevent mistakes.

Zhen 'er.

Mingyu. Are you really not going to see His Majesty off?

I can clearly see that His Majesty's anger has still not cooled off.

There's a knot in His Majesty's heart.

If I went to see him off, I would only be adding salt to the wound.

What if His Majesty causes problems?

Will he argue with his Highness, the Regent?

Chengxu promised me.

He'll show tolerance for Qiyuan. I believe him.

In the end, all that we can do,

we have already done. We can only hold our breaths and wait for the results.

Great Sheng and His Majesty's destinies

are chess pieces that can only be won, not lost.

Your Majesty, we have arrived at the hunting grounds.

There is danger ahead. You must dismount your horse and walk.

Great Sheng is famous for its riding skills.

If you want me to get off the horse and walk,

do you want the bystanders to see me as a joke?

I just worry that you will get hurt, that is all.

I do not need you to worry.

Pass on my decree! The first to enter the hunting grounds

and catches prey will be given the title of Great Sheng's Brave Warrior.

I will reward him.

You even managed to make a mistake pulling a web?

Men!

Here!

Drag them down and punish them according to military law!

Yessir!

I was the one who did the web wrong. If you want to punish someone, punish me.

It has nothing to do with them.

Your Majesty, you do not need to ask for grace on their behalf.

Would I have to?

Having bad archery skills and making incorrect judgement in creating formations

was my fault completely.

Yet you are determined to punish them. Are you purposefully doing this to show me?

Fine. This time we failed,

but next time, we will practice more.

Your Majesty, did you know that while hunting,

there are some similar principles in it as in the military?

If we do not tightly enclose our formations, we will leave room for the enemies to escape,

and that might cause us to run into trouble later on.

I hope that in the future, Your Majesty will take that into account. Do you understand?

I will remember your teachings.

Tomorrow's hunt, even when I am here,

all hunters will listen to His Majesty's orders.

- Understood?! - Yessir!

I already said so yesterday.

I will no longer oversee the hunt. Today, all responsibility is left for Your Majesty.

As soon as the horn blows, the animals will be scared enough to flee.

This crossbow.

I made this for you with my own hands.

I would like to gift it to Your Majesty. I wish you the best.

Giddy up!

Whoa.

Draw your bow!

Hurry and draw your bow!

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty, are you hurt? Why didn't you shoot?

As if!

You knew that I couldn't pull this bow.

Yet, you still gave it to me just to embarrass me.

And I trusted you last night.

I'm returning this bow to you.

Let's go.

No one may follow!

Let go! Let go of me!

Here, there is only the two of us. Let's be men

and speak clearly. Why are you always siding against me?

It is you who is always rude and never letting me get involved in official affairs!

It is also you who always shames me!

For example, right now. The only person who dares to take me away this carelessly

to lecture me is you!

Tell me. Who exactly is siding against who?

It is true that there are some matters that I am not considerate enough about,

but the two of us are blood uncle and nephew.

The bow was too hard to draw. I did not take that into account,

but I did make it with my own hands.

Qiyuan, why would I waste my effort on shaming you like this?

I did all of this because I wanted to make our relationship

closer.

No matter how much effort I put in,

you always treated me with so much hate.

Is it really so hard

for us to regain our trust for each other?

It is because you only see me as a disciple. You never saw me as the emperor!

I would only keep my disciples close to me.

Qiyuan. I just want you to live well.

As long as you want to, our relationship

can get closer,

even

be like father and son.

The late emperor is my father. What gives you the right to replace him?

Be like father and son? I think you are not saying this for me.

You are doing this for Mother Queen.

I promised your mother to take good care of you.

Shut up! Don't you mention my mother.

Why would you promise my mother to take care of me?

You're pointing your sword at me?

If you continue to desire my mother queen or mention her once more,

not only will I point it at you, but I will also kill you with it!

You do not have any knowledge. Would you even be able to understand what happened between Mingyu and I?

She and I risked our lives how many times? How many times have we suffered wrongs?

Would you understand how much she has sacrificed for you?

For Mingyu, I endured your wrath many times.

In the future, if you continue creating rumors and spreading nonsense,

I won't go easy on you.

Guards!

His Majesty was forced to leave the palace to go on a hunt. I had worried that you were up to something again.

Today, it looks like it was true.

Regent, what else do you have to say?

Qihan. You only just learned your lesson,

yet you regained the courage to fight against me again?

Xiao Chengxu, just based on what you did just now,

you've disgraced His Majesty.

This is an action punishable by death.

Then try it.

I am here to protect His Majesty. Do not think that I do not dare to kill you!

Regent, should we kill them?

You are cowardly rats. Why worry?

Looks like in the end, Your Majesty still believes in your eldest brother most.

He tried to hurt me! I order you to kill him!

Your Majesty, if I remember correctly,

this is the second time you're trying to kill me.

Looks like you really want me dead.

Yes.

Fine. I'll wait

and see if you can kill me.

Mingyu. His Majesty has returned.

That's good.

Let us go. Come with me to welcome them back.

Mingyu, but I heard that His Majesty returned to He Yuan Hall first.

He came back without greeting me first?

He went back to He Yuan Hall?

Something must have happened.

Mother, today I killed someone that deserved to be killed.

Who did you kill?

Yan Hai.

Yan Hai?

Your Majesty, Yan Hai is the Regent's personal guard. How could you . . .

Empress Dowager, Yan Hai brandished his blade in front of His Majesty. It was within our rights to kill him.

The regent chose to rebel against his superiors. Yan Hai took the regent's orders

and took his blade out to threaten His Majesty.

The regent wanted to harm His Majesty.

It is one of the greatest offenses.

You were not there.

Why do you act so certain?

It isn't a coincidence. By chance, I happened to be at the scene.

What? You also joined the hunt?

It was I who allowed him to come along

to protect me.

The regent was scheming against me. He first pretended to be kind to me,

and then he ruined my reputation.

In the end, he even wanted to attack me.

If it hadn't been for Big Brother,

I don't know what could have happened.

You got there at the perfect moment.

As the former emperor's eldest,

protecting the ruler is my duty.

Mother Queen. The regent continues to anger me.

Killing Yan Hai was nothing.

Mother Queen, please pass a decree to bring the regent to the Ministry of Justice.

- No way. - Why not?

He can harm me, but I am not even allowed to investigate him?

Mother Queen, are you protecting the Regent?

Leave us.

Your Majesty, I don't care what's happened between the two of you.

However, today, your Ninth Royal Uncle went to hunt with you

because he truly wanted to repair relations with you.

You let down his goodwill.

Goodwill?

Mother Queen, do you know what he said to me?

He said he wanted to

be like a father to me.

Who is he for him to think that he can replace Father?

For him to say that, he thinks he's above Father, above you.

He just has inappropriate desires for you! I want to remove his title!

Your Majesty, your Ninth Uncle is not like that.

How can you think that?

Even up to now, you're still speaking on his behalf.

Mother, just whose side are you on?

Qiyuan, I know that you have flames of anger in your heart,

but you must not cut all ties with your Ninth Royal Uncle over this matter.

Great Sheng will descend into chaos.

But I do not want to watch him continue to be so arrogant!

Think about it carefully.

Your Ninth Uncle and Xiao Qihan has always been at odds.

Yet you took him to hunt with you. How could he not be angry?

Today, you even killed his closest advisor.

This is an even greater wrong.

Now, you need to find a way to comfort him

instead of anger him further!

Mother Queen, since you chose to trust him,

you no longer need to talk to me about this.

Anyway, Mother Queen has never stood on my side.

- Your Majesty. - Xiao Linzi, let's return to my palace.

Xiao Qiyuan dared to use the excuse of catching assassins to kill Yan Hai?

How dare he!

We should attack right now and see who the real ruler of Great Sheng is.

We must not.

If we cause a big scene, then the belief that we are traitors will be solidified.

- Then we will be meeting our downfall. - You know that?

If you stopped my brother from going hunting, would today's event have even happened?

Though that is true, if these events did not occur,

how would we have known the exact extend of His Majesty's hate toward the regent?

This way, we are able to make preparations beforehand.

Because he killed Yan Hai, he is determined to be my enemy!

Brother, what should we do now?

The order to kill Yan Hai

was started by Xiao Qihan.

Chengxuan, bring troops to surround the Prince of Su's manor.

Xiao Qihan, you asked for this type of downfall.

As for Qiyuan, let him watch

what happens to the people who

fight against me.

- Mingyu. - Well?

The regent does not want to come.

It looks like this time, Chengxu really is going to start something.

How could things have gotten this out of hand?

Qiyuan is too angry.

He originally already had hate for Chengxu.

He completely ignored Chengxu's goodwill

and started to cause problems with him about everything,

but I never expected

that in between them, Xiao Qihan would suddenly cut through.

He took advantage of their bad relations and added fuel to the fire.

I didn't notice.

His Majesty now thinks that Qihan is on his side,

but he does not know that his eldest brother is actually more dangerous.

In the past, out of respect for the former emperor,

I always tolerated his unruliness.

It looks like now, we can not leave him be.

Even if we leave him be, Chengxu will not let him go.

If Chengxu attacks,

then His Majesty will make a bigger fuss out of everything.

Because of that, we must move first.

This way, we can quell the flames of fury in Chengxu's heart.

[Prince of Su Manor]

De An? What are you guys doing?

Prince Su, my apologies.

Search the place.

You!

De An, you are betraying your superior!

I found something!

General, this is a secret letter I found that was sent from the Prince of Dong Ling to the Prince of Su.

Prince of Su, no wonder we were never able to take down Dong Ling.

All along, Your Highness was always collaborating with the enemy.

- Arrest him. - You dare?

What do you mean, Prince of Dong Ling? I've never seen him before!

That . . .

De An, you dare to slander me?

According to the orders of Empress Dowager Xianzhen,

The Prince of Su, Xiao Qihan, collaborated with the enemy and became the country's traitor with proof.

From this point forward, he will be turned into a commoner and sent to the emperor's mausoleum.

He will guard the former emperor's mausoleum and never be able to venture outside of it.

Take him away!

Let go of me!

I want to see His Majesty! You can't just set me up like this!

His Majesty has no time for you. Take him away.

Let go of me! Let go!

Empress Dowager! Regent!

They set me up!

I won't let this go! Helan Mingyu!

You're framing me because of Xiao Chengxu! I want to see His Majesty!

Let me go! Let go!

Brother, everything is arranged.

Immediately surround the Prince of Su's manor and entrap Xiao Qihan.

Yessir.

- Regent, General De An requests an audience. - Did we not already say?

Tell Empress Dowager Xianzhen that the regent has fallen sick

- and cannot go into the palace? - Your Highness.

De An is not asking you to enter the palace.

He wants to bring you an order.

What does the order say?

You can call back the soldiers.

The Empress Dowager already took care of Xiao Qihan.

What's the meaning of this?

All she did was force him into the mausoleum and order that he never leave! He is still alive!

This is Mingyu's strategic move.

What else did De An say?

De An also has a message for you.

[One heart, one life]

Regent, De An is waiting for your reply.

What should I tell him?

Brother, did you become soft-hearted again?

Can these little graces that she gives

cancel out all of your sufferings

and the taking of Yan Hai's life?

Now, this matter is no longer just between me and Mingyu.

Reply with six words: "People become separated. Yesterday cannot return."

Yessir.

Empress Dowager has arrived.

Xiao Linzi, tell her I'm not seeing anyone today.

Okay.

Even me?

Empress Dowager, why are you here?

Such a big mess.

Everyone in the palace knows of it.

You still plan on keeping it from me?

You're not in good health. I'm just worried about you.

Your Majesty is worried about me.

In the same way, I'm worried about you.

Your Majesty, do not be like you were in childhood

and get overly angry about little things. It isn't worth it.

Ninth Uncle wants to hurt me. That's a small thing?

Empress Dowager, you're not going to be like Mother Queen and speak for him, are you?

Qiyuan, you are the Emperor now.

On this earth, there are tens of thousands who wish to harm you,

but as long as you are the one sitting on the throne,

that means that you are still the victor.

Besides, you are not alone.

Your mother queen and I follow you.

Empress Dowager, you follow me. I know that, but Mother Queen's position is not certain.

Clueless child! For you, your mother queen

suffered so much and wasted so much effort.

There's no one else in this world who has sacrificed more for you.

Empress Dowager, have a seat first.

You have to watch your health. Why'd you come here in such a rush?

I came so you can promise me

that no matter what happens, you can't blame your mother.

You can never hurt her.

Qiyuan, do you remember

when you were young, there was a time when

a batch of fine silk was brought here from the south?

From the left side, the silk was purple,

but on the right side, it was green.

The two of us looked at the left and right multiple times.

I remember.

The things that happen on earth are the same.

Right and wrong,

viewing them from left or right,

the results may be different.

But no matter how I view this, I just want to know.

What's between Mother Queen and Ninth Royal Uncle?

If you really have doubts in your heart,

why don't you just go ask your mother queen?

Xiao Linzi, call the imperial physician!

Qiyuan! This is just an old illness. It is not serious.

However, if you do not promise me,

then I will not be at ease.

Empress Dowager.

I promise you, I won't be mad at Mother anymore.

Good, Qiyuan.

Mother Queen.

Here. Drink some porridge to put out your anger.

Are you still angry with me?

I don't dare.

I promised Empress Dowager

that I won't be angry with you anymore.

Sister Qi, she knows what's happened?

What did she say?

She said that she wants me to be a good ruler.

She wants me to tolerate the things that commoners cannot

and accept the things that commoners cannot.

So right now, the only way I can combat Ninth Royal Uncle is to tolerate him.

Qiyuan, didn't I say that you misunderstood your Ninth Uncle?

No matter what Qihan said to you, you must not trust it so easily.

Your Ninth Uncle really is true to you.

Mother Queen. I do not like to be blind to everything.

Especially when the matters are concerning you. I would like to know the truth.

What do you want to know?

During the hunt, the Ninth Royal Uncle told me

that you depended on each other,

and when he thought of you, he would feel pain.

He hates himself.

What's between you and Ninth Royal Uncle?

Okay.

Then l will tell you

everything from the beginning.

Before your Father,

I first met your Ninth Uncle.

We were in love.

We thought we'd be together forever.

Who knew that every step of the way was filled with obstacles.

I ended up marrying your father.

We could only endure our pain

and let go of fate.

If I were to say that I no longer have these feelings in my heart,

that would be lying to myself and others.

However, the rumors that others spread

were completely false.

Then how come even though you love him, you do not leave?

Because I know that in the end,

I am your Royal Father's Consort.

I am your Mother Queen.

Our relationship started with love,

so it must be broken by fate.

Humans, as humans, must adapt to things kindly.

If for love, we acted as we pleased,

Then besides causing trouble for ourselves, what else could we possibly gain?

- Really? - It's true.

Otherwise, how could I face your Royal Father,

the Empress Dowager, and you?

If you still don't believe me,

I can swear before the heavens,

Mother Queen.

I believe your words.

I cared too much about these things.

I will never believe in baseless rumors again.

But there's something else.

I do not want the Ninth Royal Uncle to help me anymore.

You still don't believe your Ninth Uncle? You're still on guard against him?

But it is true that he does not respect me.

Besides, we already had complaints about each other since long ago.

He most definitely hates me for this time's events.

Besides, I am done with being an emperor who cannot make decisions.

Then what do you want to do?

I want to be the sole ruler.

Mingyu, today, His Highness the regent did not enter the court.

It looks like the regent does not want to take the way out you carved for him.

This time, I fear that the regent really got angered.

Do you want to think up another plan to coax him?

I'm afraid this time

coaxing him will not work.

Long ago, he said that his life and mine were one and the same.

But today, he said that we are going our separate ways

and the days of yesterday cannot return.

Zhen'er. No one

can keep a promise forever.

Wasn't the person who changed her heart first

me?

How could I ask him never to change?

In the future, I can only take one step forward and one step back.

I made you worry for me even when you were sick. It was my wrongdoing.

However, today, Qiyuan and I reconciled.

You no longer need to worry. Recover at ease.

Ever since the time they went hunting,

Chengxu has been holding this anger and never went to court.

He did not come to the Empress Dowager's Hall, did he?

From what you see, he is trying to...?

What happened this time was Qiyuan's fault.

Chengxu's anger was naturally justified.

We should let him calm down. The events that come after can be decided another day.

As for Qihan...

When the former emperor was still alive,

he predicted that Qihan would have a day

where he would, due to his paranoia and arrogance,

die by the hands of Chengxu.

He provoked His Majesty like this.

You cannot tolerate him. I understand.

Never mind. At least, his life was spared.

I have already made an example out of him.

I would like to see

within the court, who still dares to use the emperor

to settle their anger with the regent.

[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 ♫