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[Beyond the Realm of Conscience]

Episode Twelve

The aroma of the wine is nice. It tastes like grapes.

Please have a glass, General Ma.

Your Majesty, if you get the spare time, you should drink a few more glasses.

Just leave the burdensome national affairs to me.

Great. I need your advice, General Ma I just came to the throne.

Shall I grant a general amnesty to show the benevolence of my administration?

Shall I reduce the feudal taxes and give people more allowances?

How come Your Majesty said the exact thing Director Lee mentioned before?

Did he say the same before?

Your Majesty, Director Lee requests an audience with you.

- Send him in. - Yes, Your Majesty.

- Your Majesty. - At ease.

I want to report something.

I'm drinking with His Majesty. What's so urgent?

I know the imperial city will be renovated.

I implore Your Majesty to change your mind.

Please use the revenue to help the flood victims

along Huai River and Yellow River first.

How dare you! His Majesty has already instructed the Works Department and me

to carry out the renovation.

You aren't entitled to make any comment.

If I didn't come in person to see His Majesty

I probably wouldn't get heard.

You might not learn about the people's discontent, Your Majesty.

You've been demoted to the post of director.

Do you think you're still the Prime Minister?

If you want to talk about anything, you must come to me first.

Now you've bypassed me and talked directly to His Majesty.

You're so disrespectful. This is a serious offense.

Disrespectful? How about deceiving His Majesty and being hanky-panky?

What's the offense for that?

You're just a director. How dare you offend me?

You deserve to be killed.

This is outrageous.

Lee Tak Yue, you've crossed the line.

Lee Tak Yue, I agreed to see you as you've served five different administrations.

But you smeared a loyal officer?

Guards, put Lee Tak Yue in the imperial cell.

I'll deal with him later.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Sir, please eat something.

Everyone knows you're a good official. Many people in the capital owe you favors.

You must eat to stay alive. People need you.

I'm a prisoner now.

I'll be executed sooner or later.

What else can I do?

Here's the imperial order.

Lee Tak Yue, on your knees. Listen to the order.

Yes, sir.

The Emperor says Lee Tak Yue is arrogant and unruly.

He criticizes the administration and ignores the rules.

He's offended a superior officer. He's unforgivable.

He'll be demoted as the Treasurer of Yazhou.

He must go there right away.

Aren't you grateful to His Majesty?

Long live His Majesty.

Please get up. Officer Lee, His Majesty is afraid that someone will hurt you.

So he demotes and transfers you out of the capital right away.

You must understand his kind intention.

I'm grateful to His Majesty for sparing my life.

Goodbye, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty, Lee Tak Yue has already left the city for Yazhou.

I've already ordered the guards to protect him in secret.

He'll be safe on the way.

Your Majesty, it's a major decision to transfer Lee Tak Yue to Yazhou.

Why didn't you tell me?

The paperwork has been sent to the Secretariat already.

Besides, I just demoted an official. Why do you need to be so concerned?

Lee Tak Yue has offended an important officer.

He should be caned to death.

How can he be spared with just a demotion?

You need to summon him back to the capital and punish him severely.

Even if Lee is guilty

he should be punished leniently as he's served five different emperors.

You shut up. You're just a Grade four armed imperial guard.

How dare you give me instructions? This is really so ridiculous!

I'm a junior officer only.

I really have no right to tell General Ma how to handle the case

but do you get the right to tell His Majesty how to handle the case then?

How dare you!

I just came to the throne, I should grant a general amnesty.

I demoted and transferred Lee Tak Yue out of the capital

so that he will perish and die in Yazhou.

This shows my administration is benevolent.

I don't want the other officials to think I'm a brutal person.

Besides, Lee Tak Yue is old. The Treasurer in Yazhou is a minor post.

He can't do anything big. General Ma, you don't need to worry.

Even so, you should discuss with me first, Your Majesty.

You're right. I'm inexperienced. I may make mistakes or act negligently.

Please advise me more often in future.

General Ma, you are Tang's cornerstone.

You're a role model.

I came to the throne all due to your support.

If I err in my conduct, I'll be a disgrace to you.

Therefore, you keep reminding and watching me.

I believe you will continue to help me.

You won't overturn what you've done and turn against me

lest the other officials might think you are an inconsistent person

and that you abandoned the emperor according to your own caprice.

They might think you're controlling the emperor to give them orders.

Do you agree, General Ma?

Sam Ho.

Officer Ko, please show due respect.

I know everything.

I was quite upset lately, so dad told me everything.

He asked you to leave me.

Your dad's right. We can't breach the rules of virtue and etiquette.

Right. I've thought it over too.

I can't ignore the rules at this juncture for my own desires.

This will harm my family reputation and get my dad into trouble.

I must consider my good friend as well as national affairs.

By good friend, do you mean His Majesty?

His Majesty treats us as his good friends. He trusts us so much.

We can't just leave like this. It will be an unfaithful act.

Besides, he succeeded to the throne just recently. His foundation isn't solid yet.

Ma Yuen Chi is trying to control him.

Our priority is to assist His Majesty first.

When his position is stable, I'll tell him our situation.

He's kind-hearted. He will allow us to get married for sure.

Trust me.

You must wait for me.

Yes, I will wait for you.

I believe the day will come for sure.

The assassin is over here... Seize him.

Ask everyone to search the palace thoroughly.

- See if he's got any accomplice. - Yes, sir.

- Seize them. - Yes, sir.

There's an assassin in the palace? What did he take the palace as?

General Ma, you must conduct a thorough investigation.

Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will do so for sure.

But apart from killing the assassin tonight

I've got something else too.

What is it?

I received the information that recently a maid did something immoral

and met with a man in the palace.

I happened to find out that the parties involved are Lau Sam Ho and Ko Hin Yeung.

Bring them in. Let His Majesty interrogate them.

- Your Majesty. - Your Majesty.

Just now when I killed the assassin

I noticed that Ko Hin Yeung and Lau Sam Ho were quite intimate.

It's so late at night. Why did they meet at a quiet spot by the riverside?

I was patrolling the place.

I happened to see Deputy Head Lau setting off lanterns in the river

so I talked to her.

I do so on the fifteenth day of every month to pray to my deceased mother.

I ran into Officer Ko by chance only. It wasn't a rendezvous at all.

After I had talked to Deputy Head Lau for a while

an assassin suddenly attacked us.

General Ma showed up at that juncture too.

There's nothing improper between Deputy Head Lau and me, Your Majesty.

How would there be such a coincidence?

I always put lanterns on the river on the fifteenth. I've done it for years.

If you don't believe me, General Ma

you can summon anyone in the Imperial Household Bureau.

They will testify for me.

You are shrewd.

I just stated the fact. I don't mean to be rude.

As this is a misunderstanding, there's no need to make a big fuss, General Ma.

- At ease. - Much obliged, Your Majesty.

Actually, General Ma should pay his attention to catching the assassins.

There's no point to get so paranoid, you should know the priority.

I have my own way in handling cases.

You don't need to worry about it, Officer Ko.

I just don't get it.

There's suddenly an assassin in the palace tonight.

But it appears that you had got the information well in advance.

You were already waiting there with your men.

Of course, I didn't know there would be an assassin tonight.

I was at the scene because I received the information

about the man and the woman who breached the rules.

I wanted to catch them. Maybe Officer Ko is clear from suspicion.

But Lau Sam Ho can't be forgiven.

It's because someone in the Internal Services

receive a love letter from Lau Sam Ho.

I've never written any love letter to anyone.

You are trying to frame me.

There is the letter and a gift. There's concrete evidence.

How can you deny it? You are doomed. You still won't admit it?

General, do you really get the love letter written by Deputy Head Lau?

If Your Majesty wants to read it, I can provide as many as you want.

If you think the love letter isn't admissible as evidence

I can summon witnesses to testify what immoral deeds Deputy Head Lau has done.

Their testimony will be as fascinating as you can imagine.

The question is whether you think I'm making this up

so you want me to produce the evidence.

Your Majesty, to maintain integrity in the palace

you must enforce the law strictly to suppress the immoral deeds in the palace.

Such a lousy maid must be punished severely according to the law.

This will serve as a warning.

Sam Ho's law-abiding. It's nonsense to say she's immoral.

She's being framed.

I just don't understand why Ma Yuen Chi wants to hurt her instead of other people.

His target is the Imperial Household Bureau.

We had conflicts with him before.

Now that he's got the power, he wants to teach us a lesson.

It will serve as a warning for others.

If so, I'm afraid the Bureau Chief

won't get any positive results going to the Internal Service.

Bureau Chief, how's the situation?

Did Ma Yuen Chi agree to release her?

He said there's concrete evidence. He refused to back off.

The witnesses can lie. The letters can be fabricated.

He frames Sam Ho deliberately.

She's innocent. We can't look the other way.

If Ma Yuen Chi wants to frame someone, who can be immune?

Even someone as high-ranking as Lee Tak Yue can be demoted, not to mention a maid.

Are we supposed to sit back?

Or be sitting ducks?

Don't put pressure on the Bureau Chief.

You know Sam Ho's acquainted with the emperor.

Yet Ma Yuen Chi still wouldn't give face to His Majesty.

How would he give face to the Bureau Chief?

He wants to show us his authority.

For the sake of general good, we should avoid any conflict with him.

- Let's sacrifice Deputy Head Lau. - No.

We are interdependent.

Today Ma Yuen Chi is doing this to Sam Ho.

In future he can do the same to the Imperial Household Bureau.

Back then Mistress Tam led the four departments to kneel before the empress.

It succeeded as we were united. It wasn't because we tried to stay away.

Don't argue anymore. Let the Bureau Chief consider this further.

The Bureau Chief must be tired. Let her get some rest first.

Choi Ut, you help the Bureau Chief to go to her room.

Must we really do this? Shall we inform the Bureau Chief first?

She's got too many things to consider. Other people don't want to be involved.

If this drags on, the outcome won't be good.

The only person who can save Sam Ho now is Empress Zheng.

Mistress Yuen.

- Your Highness. - At ease.

Much obliged, Your Highness.

Mistress Yuen, you came for Deputy Head Lau too?

Yes, Your Highness. I'll be express.

Sam Ho is a maid in the Imperial Household Bureau under Your Highness's jurisdiction.

You can ask the Internal Services to release her.

I've done so already.

But they got Empress Kwok's consent to detain and interrogate Sam Ho.

It really isn't the right time for me to get into conflict with Empress Kwok again.

They know both empresses are paying attention to this case

so they dare not torture Deputy Head Lau.

They just keep her in custody for interrogation.

They can easily frame her.

We can't allow Deputy Head Lau to become a scapegoat.

Your Highness, please intervene to save my good sister.

Maybe we can ask His Majesty to help.

Both His Majesty and I are so concerned. Don't worry.

Deputy Head Lau has done both of us a favor before.

I won't allow her to be framed.

His Majesty has come to the throne for a hundred days already.

He owes it all to you to get such an accomplishment.

Therefore I'm holding this banquet to thank you in particular.

Thank you, Your Highness.

General Ma, you handle the military and head the Internal Service too.

You're really so busy.

As a token of my gratitude, I'll give you a piece of land as a reward.

Where would you like to get?

Thank you, Your Majesty. I would like to get Mount Ting Fung in Lung Yau.

Mount Ting Fung is far away from the capital.

Won't you consider other places?

I want that place only.

Why won't you consider somewhere else, General Ma?

Mount Ting Fung is the place where Tang's ancestors founded the country.

It's the place of the dragon.

I must be drunk. I've forgotten it. I just thought it's such a scenic spot.

I didn't mean otherwise. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.

I'll pick another place then.

How about Mount Chung Nam, Your Majesty?

You want my territory?

You got it before you became the emperor. You've hidden yourself for years.

Then, you became the emperor. This shows your land is blessed.

I want to be blessed too.

If you like Mount Chung Nam so much, General Ma, I'll give it to you then.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

We are so glad celebrating together today. Don't let anything spoil the fun.

Regarding Deputy Head Lau's case

why don't you give her some allowance and be lenient with her?

You're wrong, Your Majesty. She did something immoral.

If we don't punish her severely, I'm afraid people will take after her.

It's to your disadvantage.

The emperor is new to the throne, we don't want any trouble.

Besides, the eunuchs and maids often chat with each other.

Although this isn't proper etiquette, it's understandable.

Why make a fuss about it, General Ma?

If we are too strict in enforcing the law, many people will be caught too.

They will blame you for that, General Ma. This is no good.

Why don't we leave this to my mom so that you won't make people hate you.

As this is Your Majesty's wish, I dare not say no.

But still what Lau Sam Ho of the Internal Household Bureau did is immoral.

I wonder how you will decide, Your Highness.

She will serve her time at Outdoor Works for a month.

Your Highness is kind. You have a basis in enforcing the law.

For the sake of saving me, Your Majesty and Your Highness were insulted by Ma Yuen Chi.

Although I'm out of jail now, I still feel so uneasy.

I should feel ashamed. I'm the emperor, but I don't get a free hand.

I know they are evil men, but I must still smile in their presence.

Your Majesty had suffered the ordeal for twenty years before coming to the throne.

How can you belittle yourself in face of such a minor setback?

One month will expire very soon. It's just hard work.

It won't be a problem for me. It's the same for Your Majesty.

Right. Sweetness in bitterness. If Sam Ho can endure it, so can I.

Ma Yuen Chi is so arrogant and pompous. All the other officials hate him.

The greater the concession you make for him the more aggressive he will look.

Good. I'll allow his ambition to grow. He'll get burned sooner or later.

- Let me help you. - Alright.

Sam Ho... How are you?

I'm drying and ironing the clothes only. It isn't that tough.

It isn't? This is just the beginning.

When evening comes

your hands will feel so tired that you can't even hold the chopsticks.

No matter how tough it may be, it will be over in due course.

It's a month only. I just treat it as an exercise for training my perseverance.

I can manage for sure. Don't worry about me.

We didn't say we're worried.

Look at you. You talk loudly. You must be strong.

We don't need to worry about you.

- Your Majesty. - At ease.

Grateful Your Majesty.

I went to Outdoor Works just now.

How's Sam Ho doing?

Your Majesty, those working at Outdoor Works

aren't allowed to talk to us.

I could only look at her from a distance. I saw Sam Ho smiling. I think she's fine.

I feel relieved then.

General Ma is so arrogant and pompous. You've put up with him time and again.

You're really so generous.

I model on Sam Ho only.

I've got the confidence to finish off that man someday.

But now Sam Ho is serving her time.

During this period, there's one person less to remind and advise me.

Your Majesty, if you don't mind my ignorance and dullness

I'll be at your service.

You are Sam Ho's good friend, so you're my good friend too.

How will I mind then?

The Buddha figure must be painted with gold.

The lotus stand must be made of ebony.

Only then will it look solemn.

I'll jot it down when I go in later.

The Buddha figure must be delivered

before the hour of Mei on the first day of next month. That's the lucky hour.

We mustn't be late in welcoming Buddha.

I know.

- Missus Man. - Mistress Chung.

Mistress Chung.

Why do you come in person, Missus Man?

If you need anything, you can just send a servant over to inform me.

Something has better be done personally.

Deputy Head Poon, you don't need to see me out. I'll see myself out.

Goodbye then.

Just now I went to see Empress Zheng.

She gave Mistress Yuen and me these two boxes of tribute. They are taro cakes.

This is such a minor chore.

You can ask someone from the Jewels Department to go get them.

Are you so friendly with Mistress Yuen so that you run the errand for her personally?

Our four departments are united, I don't mind doing this.

In my opinion, I think the Embroideries Department should come first.

The Jewels Department makes the hairpins and earrings

to accommodate the clothes your Embroideries Department makes.

Thank you for your compliment, Missus Man.

I really don't understand why Empress Zheng has divided the reward in two.

Maybe she knows Mistress Yuen is narrow-minded.

She doesn't want the two departments to fight.

She's trying to be fair.

Missus Man, you are really observant. You're smarter than a fortune teller.

Mistress Chung, last time you joined me in seeking help

I haven't thanked you yet.

But now you've joined someone to gossip, so your credit will be set off.

You say I can do fortune telling.

Therefore, I can easily tell what kind of person you are.

It seems that apart from Mistress Chung

I've got one more good friend in the palace.

Oh, good friend, this is the taro cakes Empress Zheng gave us.

She told us to share them. Why don't you take one?

- Thank you. - No problem.

- Mistress Yuen. - What's the matter?

There's something I want to discuss with you.

As you're eating snacks, I'll come back later.

Never mind. Just shoot.

I want to take up Sam Ho's job for the time being until she's done her time.

Now that there's a new emperor

the Jewels Department needs to make more hairpins and bracelets for Empress Zheng.

We need to serve Missus Man too.

The workload has suddenly become so heavy.

I know I'm not as skillful as Sam Ho.

I've never doubted your skills.

In fact, even if you didn't ask, I would still make the same arrangement.

That means I'll make the silver bracelets for Empress Zheng too?

Thank you, Mistress Yuen.

How are you Mistress Yuen? Are you okay? It's blood. How are you, Head Yuen?

Poisoned?

The imperial doctor has checked for Tsui Wan.

The symptoms indicate that she's poisoned. Thank God it's discovered in time.

Who's so wicked to poison Mistress Yuen?

Kam Ling, you were with her. What did she drink or eat?

Mistress Yuen was drinking tea and eating taro cakes.

I brought her the cakes, but I'm fine.

Here comes Empress Zheng.

- Your Highness. - At ease.

Grateful, Your Highness.

How's Mistress Yuen?

She's poisoned after eating the taro cakes.

She's fine now.

But I gave her the cakes.

Your Highness, where did you get the cakes?

They are tributes from Jiangnan.

All tributes are sealed when they are being delivered here.

The seal won't be broken until they have arrived in the palace. In theory...

Violet, anything different this time?

Your Highness, the seal had already been

broken before the taro cakes were delivered.

- It's... It's... - It's Empress Kwok?

She knew there were tributes.

She told Internal Service to take them to her for selection first

before they were sent to us.

At last they were given to Mistress Yuen.

She isn't the target.

The person sis wants to poison is...

Oh no, I'm really forgetful.

I thought we would be looking at the flowers later.

Sorry for making you wait.

Never mind whether you are late or early. It's a rare chance to see you.

Don't let anything spoil our mood for appreciating the flowers.

No way. My mood is so nice everyday.

You stand near Empress Kwok.

That isn't necessary.

I've got a jacket.

I don't feel cold. It's just a gust of wind.

You think I will be defeated? It won't be that easy.

Sis, you are healthy and strong. This is really great.

I did so because I care about you, I hope you won't mind.

Sis, you always know how to serve people. How will I mind that?

But you are physically weak. You must look at the flowers more often while you can.

Glamorous days may not last after all.

You are so right. I still remember back then we went to the garden together.

It wasn't so sunny like today.

Flowers bloom and wither. Years have passed.

Butterflies and cicadas live and die. This goes on generation after generation.

There's no certainty, so please don't allow your caprice to cross the line.

As you said, the good old days won't last.

I want to see who will live longer, see how hard my coming days will be.

Even if you want to leave, you must wait till I'm done.

You said that before as the empress

you could order me to sit down or kneel before you.

Now I'm in charge of the palace.

I don't want to see any plots to hurt or kill people again.

If you don't make further trouble, I won't pursue what you've done.

I can't believe you care about Yuen Tsui Wan so much.

She's poisoned.

I'm afraid she isn't the target. Now I'm in charge.

It's my duty to deal with this. I hope you would understand it.

I understand your difficulties. How about this?

Let me go to Cloud Temple personally to pray for Mistress Yuen.

You ask the Imperial Household Bureau to come along to.

I want to show them my goodwill. At the same time, I want to pacify them.

Today Empress Kwok and I come to worship and pray for Mistress Yuen.

Empress Zheng is kind. Empress Kwok is kind.

Mistress Yuen was poisoned earlier. I really hate to see that.

I hope the heavenly father can take away my worries.

I pray that all the wicked plots and tricks will go away

so that there's peace in the palace again.

Do you mean under your rule

the then existing peace in the palace has disappeared?

I've been in charge of the palace for four different administrations.

No one has ever been poisoned before.

Now the new emperor has come to the throne for a few months only.

And something so terrible happens. Why?

Do you mean it's my fault?

Someone said before that she's the head in the palace.

She's responsible if something happens.

I did say so. But...

But what? Did you give the order to conduct a thorough investigation?

You thought I did that, right?

Heavenly father, I swear in the name of my descendants

and the destiny of the country that if I did poison someone.

I will be punished and my offspring will suffer.

Sis, you've investigated the case for so many days.

There isn't any progress at all.

If you aren't competent enough to catch the offender

why don't you surrender your authority to me?

I'm glad to take it up for you.

The four departments in the Imperial Household Bureau

compete with each other incessantly in secret.

Now it's even worse. Someone's poisoned.

It can't go on like this.

If I am in charge of the palace again

I would certainly replace all the maids. I'll make changes definitely.

The case is still under investigation, we don't know who did it.

Now you want to make changes so soon. It's too early to say so.

How long do you think it should take before it it's too late?

Is five days enough?

Fine. Make it five days then.

In five days, I'll give you an answer for sure.

Fine. I'll wait for your answer then. I'll see how competent you are.

I really can't believe Empress Kwok would swear in the name of her offspring.

Is it possible that she really isn't involved in the case?

Did we get her wrong?

I don't think so. When a person is wicked, she isn't afraid of God.

What's the big deal to swear in front of others?

Although Empress Kwok is a bully

she's never so serious in making an assertion.

If she really tried to poison Empress Zheng

it doesn't make sense that she put poison in one of the boxes only.

If Empress Kwok isn't the culprit, who will it be then?

If this isn't a mistake, then the target is still Mistress Yuen.

Who hates her so much to poison her?

What do you guys mean? I didn't do it.

You argue with her most of the time.

You did it, but you won't admit it.

You got the four departments in trouble because of your own personal grudges.

You are so wicked.

It's true that I'm at odds with her.

But if I wanted to hurt her, I don't need to wait till now.

I could have done so years ago.

Besides, Mistress Yuen picked one of the boxes randomly the other day.

If I really tried to poison her

I wouldn't know which box she would pick.

Back then there were just the two of you there.

Mistress Yuen hasn't recovered yet.

You can say whatever you like.

Deputy Head Poon was there too. You guys can ask her.

After I had walked Missus Man out, I went inside. I didn't see anything.

Alright, alright. Knock it off. The five day deadline will come soon.

Don't fight each other, use your best effort to find out who did it.

Missus Man?

Earlier the Embroideries Department was really busy.

You've moved in for so long, Missus Man, but we haven't sent you any gift yet.

Please don't be mad at us.

You're really so kind, Mistress Chung. You're so busy.

But still you've made the dress for me. I haven't said thanks to you yet.

It's great you like it. To be honest, I came today to ask for your favor.

No problem. I would do whatever I could to help.

I want you to be my witness.

Mistress Yuen was poisoned after eating the taro cakes.

I guess you've heard about it, right?

Even God has punished her.

I happened to bring her the taro cakes. You were there the other day.

You saw her pick the box. It wasn't my idea which box she picked.

That's true.

Therefore I would ask you to go to the Imperial Household Bureau

to clear my name.

How can I clear your name, Mistress Chung?

Ma'am, you just need to tell them what you saw.

If the one who put the poison there wanted to hurt Mistress Yuen

she could put the poison in both boxes.

Only you know whether you have eaten the taro cakes.

Who else saw it? I didn't.

It isn't the case that I don't want to help you, I simply can't.

I have no knowledge about this case, I don't want to say anything wrong.

It will only cause you trouble.

My husband told me all the time that I should stay out of trouble.

I shouldn't listen to gossips. Most important of all, I shouldn't gossip.

I hope you will understand, Mistress Chung.

It's good to take a walk more often, you will feel better.

That's right. I'll come to see you more often once I get the time.

I've lied in bed for a few days, I feel much better now.

At first Chief Choi wanted to come visit you

but she's busy looking for the offender. She feels so troubled.

Tomorrow is the deadline, we still don't have a lead.

I do worry that the Imperial Household Bureau can't survive this.

If Empress Zheng doesn't get an answer, Empress Kwok will take action.

She will restructure the Imperial Household Bureau and replace all of us.

Actually it isn't difficult at all to solve the problem.

The most suspicious person is Mistress Chung.

If we turn her in and say that the offender is caught

then Empress Kwok won't have any excuse. The case will be closed.

The Imperial Household Bureau will be saved.

You are at odds with her all the time. Everyone knows that.

Besides, she did give you the taro cakes.

Let's turn her over to the Empress to solve the problem.

What you two said sounds right.

But without any concrete evidence

we can't take reckless action no matter how suspicious Mistress Chung is.

But tomorrow is the deadline.

If we can't deliver the offender

the Imperial Household Bureau will be in trouble.

The four departments will be saved if one person is convicted.

This is the only way out.

You'd better reconsider our proposal.

There's no need to consider it.

I will never agree to it unless there's concrete evidence.

Kam Ling, have you brought me the food?

Help me into my room.

Mistress Yuen, you look much better now.

The doctor says my pulse is normal now.

I believe after taking several doses more the poison will be excreted.

I'll be fine then.

If you are poisoned, you can still be treated.

But if a person is wicked, that's incurable.

You shouldn't say so. They are just too naive.

Empress Kwok wants to suppress Empress Zheng.

The problem won't be solved just by turning someone in.

That's true. There must be evidence.

Otherwise, Empress Kwok could hold us liable for doing a lousy job.

She will still find us guilty.

In face of danger, everyone wants to survive.

They even betray their friends for preservation.

They think there's a chance to survive by doing so.

But there are always exceptions.

You're an example, Mistress Yuen, you're the victim.

But you won't team up with them to frame Mistress Chung.

The exception I talked about is Sam Ho and you. You two are like sisters.

That shows there are real friends and real friendship in the palace.

Mistress Yuen, I've made the silver bracelet for Empress Zheng already. Look.

Does it need any modification?

It's so delicate. But you can still enrich the patterns on it.

Put some gold sheets over the pistil, it will be more glamorous then.

Will do.

How are you, Mistress Yuen?

My stomach aches.

Shall I get you the imperial doctor?

No. Maybe my stomach is still weak, I'll be fine after taking some rest.

You... Can you get me some tea please?

Okay.

Mistress Yuen.

Do you feel better now?

The five day deadline will come very soon.

Whether the Imperial Household Bureau will remain like this is still unknown.

I invited you guys to dinner for saying thanks or farewell to you.

I'm sorry for giving you guys so much trouble.

I've made some taro balls. Please try them.

I haven't eaten the food you made for years.

Go ahead then. Later you may not get the chance.

There are really so many uncertainties in life, right?

- Bureau Chief, this is yours. - Okay.

- Mistress Tam. - Thank you.

Mistress Chung.

You think I've put poison in it? You dare not eat it?

How would I think so? You gave it to me. Of course I want to eat it.

Mistress Wu.

Thank you... Oh no, I'm really so clumsy I'm sorry, Mistress Yuen. I'll help myself.

Never mind. I'll get you another one.

Taro is yummy. But it will blow up when it comes into contact with water.

We shouldn't eat too much.

It's no good to eat too much, you will get poisoned.

On the contrary, some poisonous stuff like arsenic powder can be used in medicine

to cure people if the appropriate amount is used.

Apart from arsenic powder, diamond powder is toxic too.

But it's alright if you use the appropriate amount.

Take the Furnishings Department as an example.

It got some new stock last month, right?

That's right.

You must really be careful. Don't make any mistake.

If it is mixed with our food, it will really be troublesome.

Diamond powder is toxic. Of course I'll be careful.

I've locked it up in the secret box of the Furnishings Department. What's the matter?

Just now I went to the Furnishings Department.

I also opened the secret box, but I didn't see any diamond powder inside.

You are the one who poisoned me.

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