Original subtitles

[English subtitles are available]

[Palace of Devotion]

[This drama is based on historical data and legends.]

[The story and characters portrayed are fictitious.]

[Episode 15]

No, I don't want it.

Your Majesty...

This is a decree.

Noble Consort,

the Emperor did this for your safety.

The Emperor is going to the war zone soon.

Noble Consort, please don't delay anymore.

Take it.

Please stand up.

[Grandfather and Father,]

[the Liao army is approaching and everywhere is dangerous.]

[Our army]

[can only move forward and not retreat.]

All the soldiers of Hebei

are hoping for me to lead our army.

Thus, I'm heading north to Chanyuan today

to raise the fighting spirits of our army.

I hope that Grandfather and Father

can protect me, our country

and our army.

So that we can win the war and chase away the Liao army.

I hope that our country and people can last forever.

Kneel down.

[Qian Yuan Gate]

Long live Your Majesty!

Song will win.

Long live Your Majesty!

Song will win.

Long live Your Majesty!

Song will win.

Long live Your Majesty!

Long live, Your Majesty!

Your Majesty, look.

[White Horse Stage Stop]

Greetings to Your Majesty.

Why are you here?

I want to go with all the armies

to protect Your Majesty.

Do you want to go to the north with me?

Yes.

You would rather disobey the decree

and come with me?

We Timo women like to keep our word.

I want to be with you

no matter what,

even if I have to disobey the decree.

Okay.

Report.

Your Majesty, the snow is blocking the road in front.

Pass down my order, everyone moves slowly and carefully.

Pass down my order, everyone moves slowly and carefully.

Move slowly and carefully.

Move slowly and carefully.

[West Town Gate]

Your Majesty, you are having insomnia again?

You have to take good care of your health.

The closer to the border,

the more I sense

the Liao army's bloodlust.

How can I sleep well with this thought?

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty, the Liao army is getting nearer to the Daming Province.

Wang Chao has 200,000 soldiers

but refused to help.

General Cao Wei of Daming Province

is leading tens of thousands of soldiers to fight with them.

The situation doesn't look good.

Wang Chao is very cautious in using his army.

Now, the Liao army is approaching our border

and

he only cares about himself and refuses to deploy his army.

I had been worrying about this.

Now, it has come true.

Cao Wei just reported that the situation is not good.

Tell me who can send help?

Your Majesty,

I would like to recommend a person.

Who?

The Vice Counsellor, Lord Wang.

Lord Kou, I'm a civil official.

Your Majesty, Lord Wang is good at planning strategies.

He's as good as Lord Ding Wei.

Lord Wang was the one who recommended

Lord Ding who had settled the riots in Western Shu.

That showed that Lord Wang is good at using talents

and good at planning strategies.

Cao Wei may be a good fighter,

but he needs a good strategist like Lord Wang

to plan for him

to defeat the Liao army.

Lord Kou...

Ping Zhong is right.

Let's follow his suggestion then.

Lord Wang.

Yes.

I know that you are a resourceful person.

Please go to Daming Province immediately

to help Cao Wei.

Yes.

Open the city gate.

Quickly open the city gate.

Who are you?

The Vice Counsellor, Lord Wang Qin Ruo.

[Daming Province]

Please inform General Cao Wei to welcome Lord Wang.

Lord Wang has given his order that no one can enter the city.

Please ask General Cao Wei to meet us.

The war is starting soon.

General Cao is busy with the military defence up north.

He is not available now.

Lord Wang Qin Ruo

is the Vice Counsellor appointed by the Emperor.

Your current attitude will make the Emperor angry.

Can you bear the responsibility?

There are so many refugees.

If an enemy soldier sneaks into Daming Province,

and we lose the city,

the consequences will be unbearable.

Nonsense!

The Emperor sent me here

to help General Cao.

Open the city gate first,

and I will enter alone.

Pull him up.

This...

Excuse me.

Bring me in, sir.

Nonsense!

I'm a government official.

Do you expect me to sit in

that wobbly basket as you pull me up?

Open the city gate.

Open the city gate.

Let's go.

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

Don't pull me.

Excuse me. Don't pull me.

Quit shoving.

Quit shoving.

The city gate is open. Hurry up.

Quit shoving.

What happened?

Who asked all of you to open the city gate?

Hurry up.

Lord Wang?

General Cao,

what happened to you?

The Emperor sent me here to help you in the war.

Why didn't you open the city gate?

Are you here to help me in the war?

Or you are here to mess up my army?

What do you mean?

You brought so many refugees into the city.

I have to be responsible for their food and drinks.

The city folks aside,

I have around 30,000 soldiers who are guarding the city.

The food supply in the army

can only last for less than ten days.

You brought so many refugees from Liao.

If this isn't messing up my army, I don't know what is.

General Cao, what did you say just now?

You have only 30,000 soldiers who are guarding the city?

How can you fight the enemy with such a small number of soldiers?

Liao has 200,000 soldiers.

Why? Are you scared?

I...

You have received the decree from the Emperor earlier.

If you were prepared to let me enter the city alone,

would this situation have happened?

Is it my fault that the refugees rushed into the city?

You're not only neglecting me.

You're neglecting the Emperor.

Enough!

The Emperor sent a scholar.

What can you do?

Look,

the Liao army is deploying their soldiers lately.

I guess

Xiao Ta Lin will attack the city in a few days.

How should we defend then?

General Cao,

about 1,000 refugees rushed into the city.

They are all from Liao.

Are you not afraid that the Liao people in the city

will cooperate with Xiao Ta Lin in attacking Daming Province?

I saw soldiers

and people crying

when I closed my eyes.

I know.

I have heard that

our officials are afraid of the Liao army.

It's normal for Lord Wang to have the same feeling.

What do you mean by "afraid of the Liao army?"

If I were afraid of the Liao army,

I'd have stayed back in the capital

instead of coming to Daming Province.

General Cao,

can you tell me honestly

whether we can guard the city?

I really don't know.

You don't know?

This...

General Cao, you're deploying your soldiers every day.

Are you just acting for me and the Emperor?

I can use my present soldiers if this is a small war.

But we need luck for a big war.

General Cao, are you telling me that we need help from god

to fight the 200,000 soldiers of Xiao Ta Lin?

Isn't this nonsense?

Report!

Deputy Envoy of Chongyi, Cao Li Yong is in front of our city now

and wants to come in.

Lord Cao is here.

We have hope now.

Lord Wang and General Cao.

Greetings to both of you.

Lord Cao, follow us.

Lord Cao,

you're here just in time to help us.

I was thinking of negotiating peace with the Liao army.

If not, we'll lose Daming Province.

General Cao, they're here to negotiate peace.

General Cao, we have been preparing for such a long time

to fight with the Liao army.

Generals, I think there is a misunderstanding.

Let's be straight.

We'll not agree to negotiate peace.

The war is starting.

Don't mess up with the spirit of my army.

Guards.

Yes.

Lock up Lord Cao.

Yes.

General Cao.

Lord Wang.

What are you doing?

General Cao,

the Emperor sent me here.

You'll be committing a felony

if we miss the opportunity to negotiate peace with them.

A fighting general can disobey a decree from the Emperor.

The Liao army has been preparing to fight us and they've sent so many soldiers.

They show no signs of negotiating peace with us.

They are just trying to deceive

civil officers like both of you.

Cao Wei, I'm telling you once again.

I am sent by the Emperor.

General Cao, you're disobeying the Emperor's decree.

Take him to jail.

Cao Wei, you're blatantly disobeying the Emperor's decree.

Let him go!

Lord Wang, you must tell the Emperor!

General Cao, you've transgressed the Emperor's authority.

Do you know the crime that you have committed?

Lord Wang,

if you continue to give me trouble,

I'll send you to the jail together with him.

How dare you?

I'm sent by the Emperor

to help you in the war against the Liao army.

Report!

Lords,

there is indeed a spy

among the refugees who rushed into the city just now.

The spy said that

the general of Liao, Xiao Ta Lin, is leading his army south

towards Daming Province.

Consort Liu and the Eldest Price

are together with him.

Xiao Chuo

is taking Consort Liu and the Eldest Prince as hostages.

We can't start this war.

We must start this war.

Xiao Chuo will not release

Consort Liu and the Eldest Prince

if we don't defeat the Liao army.

General Cao,

inform the Emperor immediately.

Yes.

General Cao, we can't start this war.

Assemble all our elite soldiers to fight against the Liao army.

Yes.

General Cao, we can't start this war.

This...

Your Majesty, the Yellow River is up north.

Report!

Report to Your Majesty.

General Cao Wei

heard from the northern refugees who entered his city

that Consort Liu and the Eldest Prince

are travelling together with Xiao Ta Lin

to the south.

Ask Cao Wei to send someone to save them immediately.

Yes.

Your Majesty, Cao Wei has 30,000 soldiers only.

He may not be able to save Consort Liu and the Eldest Prince

with his mere 30,000 soldiers.

Then send 5,000 elite soldiers from here

to assist him at Wudaoguan.

Anyone who saves Consort Liu and the Eldest Prince

will be rewarded handsomely.

Who is willing to go?

Your Majesty,

I'm willing

to save them.

Yi Jian...

General Li, you've been guarding the north for so many years.

You must be very familiar with the geography there.

Don't you want to go

together with Lord Su?

Lord Kou,

since I've been appointed as the frontliner of the Emperor's army,

the safety of the Emperor is my utmost priority.

I can't leave the Emperor now.

It's okay.

General Li will stay here to protect me.

Noted.

Yi Jian.

Yes.

Lead the soldiers to assist Cao Wei immediately.

Yes.

Jing Zong.

Yes.

Send my order to the armies

that we'll be continuing our journey.

Yes. Continue our journey.

Continue our journey.

Continue our journey.

Take a rest at this place.

We'll continue our journey to the south after eating.

Stop.

Take a rest at this place.

Mother, where are we now?

Mother,

when can we go home?

We'll be fine. Don't be scared.

Your father will save us.

Come.

-Be careful. -Be careful.

Come.

We have to find a place to rest.

Let's eat something.

Are you hungry? Let's eat some dried food.

Sister, I'll find some water.

Okay.

I'll go together with Wan'er.

My water bottle is empty too.

Take care of him.

Okay.

Be careful. Come back quickly.

General, dried food.

Someone ambushed us.

Chase them.

Wan'er!

Wan'er! Ji'er!

Consort Liu, I'm Cao Wei.

The Emperor sent me here to save you and the Eldest Prince.

Is the Emperor leading the army to the north?

Yes.

Ji'er!

Wan'er!

Ji'er!

Quick, protect Consort Liu.

Follow me.

Eldest Prince,

the Emperor sent us here to save you.

Protect the Eldest Prince.

Mother!

Someone come quickly.

What do you want to do?

Shut up!

Take them away!

Come with us.

Let me go.

Wan'er!

Ji'er, don't be scared.

Consort Liu, quickly come with us.

If not, we'll not be able to escape.

No.

Ji'er is in their hands.

But...

Sister.

Ji'er!

-Mother! -Ji'er!

Consort Liu, quickly come with us!

If not, we'll not be able to escape.

Can't you see that Ji'er and Wan'er

are in their hands?

Mother!

Mother!

You should go now.

Tell the Emperor that

Ji'er and I are still in their hands.

The vanguard of the Liao army is approaching the Yellow River.

We'll lose Chanyuan

if our military aid doesn't arrive in time.

But Consort Liu...

Retreat!

Consort Liu.

No!

Ji'er!

Retreat!

Mother.

Let's go.

Mother.

Wait a minute.

There may be another ambush.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Queen Mother, you treated them as our guests.

But they

collaborated with the Song army to ambush us

and kill you.

Queen Mother, do you still want to keep them?

We're in Song now.

Isn't it normal for the Song army to protect their country

from foreign invaders?

Shut up!

Your Majesty, I understand that

General Cao brought only a small number of soldiers.

They have come

only to save Liu E, the Eldest Prince and Wan'er.

They didn't intend to start a war with us.

Cao Wei and his allies have retreated.

Empress Dowager,

since the Song army has retreated,

please return Ji'er to me.

Let us be together.

Ji'er will stay with me temporarily

to avoid another ambush from the Song army.

Empress Dowager...

You don't have to worry.

I'll treat your Ji'er very well.

Keep them under strict observance.

Empress Dowager.

Empress Dowager, please return Ji'er to me.

Empress Dowager.

Empress Dowager.

Queen Mother,

you are too tolerant of them.

Zhao Heng sent someone to ambush us

because he was worried about them.

When we want to attack their city later,

both of them will come in handy.

Be patient for now.

Su Yi Jian has brought elite soldiers to assist Cao Wei.

Wang Qin Ruo has been sent to Daming Province too.

Now

is a good time to start the war.

General,

I've asked all the military leaders

who are travelling to the north.

They have agreed

to be under your command.

We can start the war today.

Okay.

Assemble all of them here

to discuss the armed remonstrance.

General Li, Lord Kou requests to meet you.

Lord Kou, this way, please.

Lord Kou.

General Li.

Lord Kou,

may I know what the matter is?

General Li,

the vanguard of the Liao army has arrived at the north of the Yellow River.

Chanyuan is in an emergency state.

I hope that General Li can send some elite soldiers to secure Chanyuan.

Lord Kou,

the general of Chanyuan City

is my brother.

Although I'm worried about the safety of my brother,

my responsibility is to ensure

the safety of the Emperor.

I'm sorry that I can't send assistance there.

General Li,

this is a decree from the Emperor.

Does that mean General Li will be disobeying the Emperor's decree?

Lord Kou,

whether this is an order from you

or the Emperor,

I'll meet the Emperor now and ask him.

Okay, I'll go with you.

That's not necessary.

Since Lord Kou is here, you don't have to go back anymore.

Guards.

What are you doing?

You're a smart guy, Lord Kou.

You must have taken precautions against me.

In that case,

I won't hide it from you anymore.

Today, I want to execute an armed remonstrance

and force the Emperor to abdicate.

How dare you?

Lord Kou,

I'm sorry.

Someone, tie up Lord Kou.

You... What's the meaning of this?

General Li.

Lord Su.

Aren't you going to meet the Emperor?

I'll bring you there.

Lock him up.

You betrayed your master for the sake of glory!

A rebellious official is punishable by everyone!

Lord Kou,

luckily you have noticed this earlier.

We almost lost because of him.

Lord Su,

our enemy is right in front of us,

yet this person doesn't care about the safety of our country,

choosing instead to cause more internal chaos. He should be sentenced to death.

[Qian Yuan Gate]

[Cao Si Qi, Duchess Ji]

Your Highness.

How dare you run away?

Your Highness, let me down.

I'll punish you.

I'm not letting you down.

No, you can't.

Why?

I'm pregnant.

Why didn't you tell me earlier?

When did that happen?

I've been pregnant for about three months.

The nanny has seen my body.

She said that there's a dragon-like mark under my navel.

This baby must be a son.

Great!

Your Majesty, you have five sons already.

I hope that

I can give birth to a daughter for you.

No, this is the first son we have together.

He is different from the other sons.

What is the difference?

If one day

I sit on Dragon Throne with my back to the north,

you'll then be the empress.

And he

will be the prince.

Your Highness,

you shouldn't say something like this.

I don't want to be the empress.

I just want you to be safe.

If I become the emperor,

your father will become an elder statesman.

He doesn't have to endure the Guo family anymore.

Father.

Si Qi,

please go out first.

I have an important matter to discuss with His Highness.

Yes.

Your Highness,

this is the news that I received from the border.

[Our plan failed. I'm in jail.]

I have been worrying that Li Ji He will face problems.

What should we do now?

Your Highness, don't worry.

Although Li Ji He is a careless person,

he won't reveal that you're the mastermind.

I wonder how long he can endure

under all the cruel punishments.

He'll reveal our identities sooner or later.

The Emperor will not let me go.

The Emperor has a close relationship with you.

He'll cut off all your supports

but he'll not kill you.

Father-in-law, let me leave the capital city

and bring Si Qi to Jinling.

You can't do that.

The Emperor ordered you to protect the capital city.

If you leave without his order,

it shows that you're guilty.

Then what should I do?

I can't sit here and await my doom, can I?

You...

Li Ji He is a prisoner now.

Can Wang Chao do anything?

The Emperor has placed his people

in the palace too.

People like Bi Shi An and Wang Dan are his people.

They can arrest us anytime.

I can't be arrested.

Father-in-law, do you know that

Si Qi is pregnant with my child?

Since Si Qi is pregnant now,

you have to be even more careful.

You don't have to do anything now.

You just have to be patient and observe any changes.

I'll handle everything.

Li Ji He has been arrested by Lord Su.

Your Majesty, what should we do with him?

Li Ji Long and his brother,

one of them is loyal and good and the other is full of bad intentions.

They are so different.

Li Ji He

is still angry about

the incident of his sister, Empress Dowager Li.

Thus, he became rebellious.

Empress Dowager Li intended to rebel too

and was caught by me.

I didn't kill her

because she took care of the late emperor.

But Li Ji He

was not grateful at all.

He didn't appreciate the Emperor's kindness

and has been holding a grudge for a long time.

When Your Majesty left the capital city,

Lord Su and I noticed something was suspicious about him.

Li Ji He will not plan this rebel on his own.

He must be in cahoots with someone.

Your Majesty,

I have interrogated Li Ji He.

According to him,

his conspirator is Wang Chao.

Wang Chao?

Regional Commander of the Jianxiong Army, Wang Chao, refused to take action.

I have sent five emergency notices to Dingzhou

but I haven't received any news.

The Liao army is approaching Daming Province

and preparing to attack Chanyuan City.

If he doesn't take any action now,

what use is his 200,000 soldiers?

No wonder.

No wonder Wang Chao doesn't want to send any assistance to Daming Province

even though he has 200,000 soldiers.

We still need to investigate whether Wang Chao is involved in this.

Wang Chao has control over many soldiers.

We must have a good strategy to arrest him.

But we have established that Li Ji He is a traitor.

We must execute him.

He'll definitely be sentenced to death.

Noted.

Lock Li Ji He in jail for now.

I want to interrogate him later.

Yes.

Lord Wang!

Lord Wang!

What is it?

Something bad has happened. The Liao army has started their attack.

Let me wear my clothes.

Lord Wang,

squat down and watch out for arrows.

Okay.

The Liao army is approaching Gaoyangguan.

They are just opposite the river of Daming Province.

200,000.

General Cao, I saw it.

From the top of the city gate,

I saw Empress Dowager Xiao and Xiao Ta Lin.

They are opposite the river.

Lord Wang, I saw it at dawn already.

Why are you nervous?

The Liao soldiers are strong

and not afraid of death.

Why aren't you

sending your army to fend them off?

Why haven't you set up your army formation yet?

Do you want us to die in this city?

General Cao,

if you want to go your own way,

I...

I'm willing to face those 200,000 soldiers alone

and repay the kindness of Song

and the Emperor.

Lord Wang,

this is unbecoming of you.

Even if you are scared of the Liao army,

you shouldn't make a commotion here

and disturb my soldiers.

You're the one who wants to sit and die

instead of facing the enemy.

You just want us to die together with you.

I think Lord Wang is too scared.

General, what should we do?

Seize him

and lock him up with Cao Li Yong

so that both of them can plan together in jail.

Cao Wei!

Guards.

I'll tell the Emperor what you did!

Take Lord Wang to the jail.

You didn't do anything in front of the enemy.

Take him away.

Do you want to destroy Song?

Why did you arrest me?

Come on. Let's go.

Hurry up.

Hurry up, come out.

Hurry up.

Lord Wang,

what is happening?

How come you're here?

Lord Cao.

Go inside.

Lord Wang, Lord Cao,

please stay here.

I'm just following orders.

General Cao will release you two

when he's not angry anymore.

Come back!

Tell Cao Wei that he's nothing but a brute.

This is an outrage! An outrage!

Are the pikemen ready?

Yes.

How about the archers?

Yes.

Good.

How about the crossbow battalion?

They are ready.

Good.

The Liao army is here.

If we can protect Daming Province,

we'll be able to protect Chanyuan.

If we can protect Chanyuan,

we'll be able to protect Song.

Thank you, everyone.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

I'm with the city, I'll not retreat.

Lord Wang,

you're the Vice Counsellor.

They're not even here yet

and you're already scared.

There are 200,000 soldiers in the Liao army.

We only have 30,000 soldiers.

Cao Wei is brave but he has no strategy.

He can only defend to the death.

We'll lose Daming Province.

Will we...

Will we die here?

Even if we die here,

it'll be worth it.

The Emperor sent me

to negotiate peace with Liao.

I didn't expect that Cao Wei

would ruin everything.

You are supposed to negotiate peace?

Why didn't you go to the north directly?

Why did you have to come here

and meet with Cao Wei?

I just wanted to...

Quick, follow me to the city gate.

Only one person should stay here.

Yes.

Let's go.

Brother, come over here.

Lord Cao, anything?

Cao Wei disobeyed the Emperor's decree. He'll be executed.

Although you're under his command,

you'll be executed too.

Lord Cao,

I don't have a choice.

I want to ask a favour from you.

If you can help me, I'll protect your life.

Lord Cao, how can I help you?

I'll do my best to help.

I want to write a letter to my father.

If you can help me,

not only will you be spared, but you'll be rewarded.

Lord Cao is right.

I'll be his guarantor.

Yes.

Thank you, lords.

Get the brush and ink.

Yes.

Thank you.

Brother, come over here.

Thank you very much.

Don't worry.

I'll try my best...

Is there anyone here? Go to the city gate now!

Hurry up! Go to the city gate now!

Brother, how's the situation now?

[Song]

Xiao Ta Lin,

don't run if you're brave enough.

Come over here.

I'll fight you to the death.

Lord Wang,

stop sleeping.

It has begun.

The Liao army has retreated.

The Liao army has retreated?

The jailer said so.

Daming Province is safe.

Lord Cao,

if the Liao army has retreated,

how come Cao Wei is not here yet?

Cao Wei...

Cao Wei is nothing but a brute.

He missed the chance to negotiate peace with Empress Dowager Xiao.

More soldiers will die.

Lord Cao,

we're in Cao Wei's turf.

What can we do?

He still doesn't want to release me.

How can I negotiate peace?

Yes.

Cao Wei is nothing but a brute!

General.

General,

our spy just reported that

the Commander of Deqing, Zhang Dan and Zhang Li She

were here to assist Daming Province before the war started.

But they were outnumbered by the enemy on their way here.

They were arrested.

This...

[End of Episode 15]