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 41]

Open the door!

Whoever's inside, open the door!

Open up!

Open up!

Master! Madam!

Master! Madam!

Wake up. We're in trouble.

Master!

-What's going on? -Master.

We're in big trouble.

The Commissioner of the Privy Council, Lord Su,

and the Minister of the Judicial Court, Lord Cao,

have surrounded the mansion with Imperial Guards.

And they don't look happy.

And the Young Master, he...

What happened to him?

What happened?

Master!

Master!

-Madam. -Madam.

Young Master, here's your steel sword.

Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!

The Pan family is not to be trifled with!

Am I right?

Yes!

Am I right?

Yes!

I will clear out a path of blood for you afterward.

Take my command token.

Find Deputy General Lu in the eastern city barracks.

Ask him to send reinforcement immediately.

Young Master, once...

Once we take this path, there's no turning back.

Turning back?

Su Yi Jian and Cao Li Yong are here with the Imperial Guards.

Do you think they're here to pay us a visit?

Do as I commanded!

Yes!

Fight to the death!

What are you going to do?

What are you people doing?

Father!

Put down the sword.

I've received a tip-off from the palace.

Last night, the Emperor brought Cao Li Yong to Yu Shu's chamber.

Upon leaving the palace, Cao Li Yong

immediately led the Imperial Guards here with Su Yi Jian.

I don't know what exactly happened in Feng Hua Palace,

but all signs point to the fact

that the truth is out.

The Emperor may be one step ahead of us,

but I'm not unprepared either.

Do you know about the eastern city barracks?

You can't.

But Father!

The eastern city barracks

has fought alongside me for many years.

They would sacrifice their lives for our family.

However,

the Emperor has beaten us to the punch.

Did you think the Emperor would come unprepared?

You're trying to crack a stone with eggs.

We must try!

I said

no!

Father, you...

I'd sooner have the sons of my nation spill their blood on a battlefield,

their dead bodies sent back in horse hides,

than for them to die

in this senseless infighting.

Liang'er.

You'll slash your way out

over my dead body.

Father!

We're a noble and elite family.

How can we let others oppress us?

Sure.

Our family conquered the world alongside Emperor Taizu.

We fought his battles from the south to the north.

Our merit is incalculable.

We were awarded titles.

Our glory was unmatched!

But my son,

glory and humiliation

are the inevitable realities of being a gentry.

If our family must fall and die,

we must do so with dignity.

There's no sense

in kicking and screaming.

Come, my son. Let us don our official uniforms.

Open the door now!

Open up.

Break it open.

-Yes. -Not so fast.

Let's wait a little longer.

Privy Commissioner.

Judicial Court Minister.

Please do the honours.

Lord Pan, accept the edict.

Attention, members of the Pan family.

Lord Pan.

Kneel.

By heaven's will and the Emperor's order,

the Judicial Court has confirmed

that Pan Bo Zheng and his son, Pan Liang, have jeopardised the lives of others

by deliberately allowing malicious persons into the palace.

They are guilty of disturbing the order of the palace.

Pan Bo Zheng and son, Pan Liang, are to be suspended immediately

for further interrogation.

The rest of the Pan family will be jailed for further investigation

and their fortunes confiscated.

I, Pan Bo Zheng, accept the edict on behalf of my family.

Master, Master.

Lord Pan, you're a sensible man.

Why would you do such stupid things?

Master.

Cao Li Yong.

Don't think just because you've ousted the Pan family,

that the Cao family will rein freely over the court.

Lord Pan.

I'm only carrying out my duty to the Emperor.

The Cao family

won't end up any better than the Pan family.

Lord Su.

May I ask

what will become of Lady Pan and Princess Shou An?

The Emperor has only

put them under house arrest.

Did the Emperor say what he will do with them?

Not yet.

Thank you.

Take them away.

Master, Master.

Master.

Follow me.

Yes.

What should we do?

Your Highness.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

About Lady Pan...

What else have you to say?

Yuan Kan.

When did you know about it?

Some time ago, I noticed

a scar from a severed finger on Shou An's hand.

Some time ago?

I thought the scar was strange.

It must've been quite serious.

Yet there was no mention of any accidents.

It wasn't until I asked the Imperial Physician

that I found out no one in the Imperial Medical Bureau

had treated Shou An.

Why didn't you tell me earlier?

Concubine Pan puts up a tough front.

She probably didn't want anyone

to know that Shou An was injured.

Besides, all mothers love their children.

Shou An was so severely hurt.

Her heart must've been broken.

So I didn't dig any deeper than that.

The other day, Cao Li Yong reported to me.

Your Majesty, I've found out

that the missing person is a man with six fingers named Zhong Qiao.

Just like a guard in the Pan residence many years ago,

he has the same name and the same six fingers.

I believe they are one and the same.

Did you suspect anything back then?

Yes.

And yet you decided

to take Lady Pan's secret affair into your own hands

and kept it from me.

Your Majesty.

Head of the Imperial Harem, indeed.

Yuan Kan, after all, Shou An has been

calling you "father" all these years.

I thought...

Are you trying

to make a fool of me?

Why would I...

Enough.

You sympathise with them.

But what about me?

Yuan Kan. Yuan Kan.

Your Majesty, you can't enter.

Emperor's orders. No one...

I'll take full responsibility.

Yi Qin, open the door.

Yes.

Your Majesty, the Emperor is still aggrieved.

Are you sure you want to do this?

Shou An is only five years old.

She will get frightened.

But...

I don't think you should defy the Emperor's will.

Or else you...

The Emperor will come around.

Open the door.

Shou An.

Shou An.

-Your Majesty. -Shou An, come here.

There, there.

Shou An.

Your mother

has something to take care of.

Why don't you come and stay with me?

Alright?

When will I see my mother?

When she has taken care of business.

Then she will come and get me, right?

Okay. I'll listen to you.

Good girl.

Get Princess Shou An's qin.

Yes, Your Highness.

Don't worry. It'll be alright.

Your Majesty, please review.

Your Majesty, Lord Pan and his son

have come clean about orchestrating Zhong Qiao and Concubine Pan's

secret affair.

Coming clean

indeed.

I've treated the Pan family well.

And yet,

they committed such treachery against me,

attempting to taint the royal bloodline.

Are they

trying to overthrow the entire nation of Song as well?

Treasonous scum. How dare they?

They're despicable in thought and action.

Your Majesty.

Besides the charges listed in the document,

the Pans might have committed another crime.

There's more?

Your Majesty, I have yet to confirm it.

So we did not dare to include it.

Well, I'll be.

What other...

What other atrocities have they committed?

Murdering the royal offspring.

Leave us.

Yes.

I knew

you would come to see me, Your Majesty.

Deputy Generals Lu Ping and Han Chao,

[Command token]

Lei He, Wang Sheng, and five other commanders

have all been dismissed and investigated.

Those who are above infantry in rank were demoted by three ranks.

The eastern city barracks have been restructured.

The Imperial Guards have been relegated to Prefectural Army.

My father cares...

Shu tried to restore peace but returned defeated.

Lingzhou fell in the north and escaped by the skin of its teeth.

Yizhou

is hiding behind its city walls like a frightened turtle.

How can a general

who's a failure and a coward at heart

understand

the dignity of a soldier

and the integrity of a warrior?

What separates us is only our heritage.

Otherwise, you would be the one

who's sitting in this prison cell, Zhao Yuan Kan.

Since childhood, I've studied alongside you

and trained alongside you.

Whether it's knowledge, martial skills,

wit and cunning,

I'm better than you in every respect.

Don't you realise that?

That's just your wishful thinking.

It was the eighth year of Emperor Taizong's reign.

You had just reached adolescence.

It was the autumn hunt.

And you caught a leopard.

Emperor Taizong was full of praise.

Yet it was I who should've shot that leopard.

Why do I seem to remember

that you missed the shot?

I did that on purpose.

You were the prince. Heaven's chosen boy.

No matter what you did,

everyone had to let you win.

Pan Liang.

Don't be so shameless as to blame

your own weakness on other people,

or on fate.

I have never mistreated you

or your family.

I took Lady Pan as my consort

and gave your family the honour that it deserved.

And yet

you lot were unsatisfied.

You wanted to control the harem and the court.

But you were right about one thing.

The world

belongs to the Zhaos, not the Pans.

Those who rebel

or forsake their duty to the Emperor

are seeking their own doom.

To the victor goes the spoils. I admit that.

Then again, I didn't fail miserably,

did I?

I suppose everyone in the capital

has heard of your present circumstances.

If Pan Liang dies and the Pan family falls,

what will you gain?

You know that full well.

You're frustrated and at a loss.

But you can't tell anyone.

Isn't that right?

Go to hell.

Looks like I've won.

Pan Liang.

As usual,

you overestimate yourself.

Impossible.

Too many signs indicate that

the Crown Prince's birth was too uncanny.

Yuan Kan.

Yuan Kan.

I know I'm going to die anyhow.

But can't you

grant me an honourable death

for old times' sake?

Yuan Kan!

Your Majesty.

Whatever the truth may be,

aren't you afraid I'll spread it?

And plant the seeds of doubt in the people's hearts?

You won't have the chance.

[Don't you want your family to be revered for generations?]

[So I'm going to grant all of you a respectable death.]

[Issue an edict.]

[Pan Bo Zheng and Pan Liang are to be executed immediately.]

[The men of the Pan family will be put into military service.]

[The women will be exiled to Shamen Island.]

[Lady Pan, the Lady of Complete Beauty,]

[will be granted death by poisoned wine.]

Lady Pan.

Eunuch Zhang.

What will become of Yue'er?

Death by flagellation.

You've served me all these years,

and I still haven't found you a good husband.

My lady.

I will always be at your side.

Let's leave this world together as mistress and servant, alright?

Alright.

Don't be afraid. I'll be there for you.

I'm not afraid.

In the end,

it is you alone who stuck with me.

Yue'er, don't cry. Don't be afraid.

My lady.

I'll be going now.

My lady!

My lady.

Mother!

Shou An.

Shou An.

Mother, are you done with your business?

I'm done.

But I have to go somewhere really far away.

I want to go too.

You can't go.

It's too far away.

I can't take you along.

I don't want to leave you, Mother.

I don't want to leave you either, Shou An.

Don't cry, Mother.

Don't cry.

I won't go with you, alright?

I'll be a good girl and wait for your return.

You've grown up. You've matured.

Mother,

I look forward to getting your feedback

on "A Phoenix Seeks His Mate."

I've finally mastered it.

You're so smart, Shou An.

I want to play it for you.

But my qin is in the Empress' chamber.

Some other day.

Play it for me some other day, alright?

I'll play it for you

when you come back.

Sure.

Shou An, while I'm away,

you must listen to the Empress,

got it?

I'll listen to her, I promise.

Good girl.

I need to speak to the Empress.

Why don't you go outside?

Princess, come with me.

Princess, let's go.

Mother, promise me you'll come back soon.

Go, go.

Thank you for letting me bid farewell to Shou An.

She's innocent after all.

I have another favour to ask of you.

I'll take good care of Shou An.

I can't guarantee

she'll retain her status.

I can promise you that she'll be safe

for the rest of her life.

Get up.

You and I

have nothing much to say to each other.

Perhaps you've never regarded me

as a rival.

Because you didn't think I'm worthy

and you couldn't care less.

It was one sided.

Just like my fate with the Emperor.

The Emperor must be extremely abhorrent of me now.

He used to love you sincerely.

Used to?

Perhaps.

If it weren't for you,

I'd have believed that.

I have never thought of

stealing anything away from you.

I believe you.

I didn't believe you in the past.

But now I do.

Your Majesty, my last question is,

what became of my father, my brother and the rest of my family?

You father has long been ill.

Before his execution came,

he had already died in the prison.

Fearing punishment, your brother took his own life in the prison.

Your mother and the women

have all been sent to Shamen Island.

All the men of the Pan family

were put into military service.

I used to think that

all the misfortune and problems in my life

were caused by my father and brother.

My lady.

My whole life

has been a mistake.

I beseech you, Your Majesty.

Please grant me the honour of death.

I have a question.

You must answer honestly.

Ask away, Your Majesty, and I shall hide nothing from you.

How much did you know about the Pans' wrongdoing?

Your Majesty,

from what I know,

the Pan family had pinned

all their hopes of grandeur

on your love for Concubine Pan.

Of course,

they wanted Concubine Pan to have a seat in the Main Palace.

As to what they were plotting

and what Lord Pan and his son were up to,

I had absolutely no idea.

Get up.

Thank you. You're too kind.

Although you're related to the Pans by marriage,

you're not related to them by blood.

The divine memorandum incident was to your credit.

I have yet to reward you.

I guess I can overlook your fault in light of that.

Thank you for your mercy.

Your Majesty, I'll take my leave.

Your Majesty,

Concubine Pan has drunk the poisoned wine.

Did she

have any last words?

I do not know.

But before she died,

the last person she saw was the Empress.

Anything else?

Your Majesty,

the Empress

has ordered the servants to escort Shou An out of the palace.

When?

Just now.

Such haste, setting off in the middle of the night.

After all, Shou An has been

calling you "father" all these years.

Are you trying

to make a fool of me?

Why would I...

Enough.

Is the Empress afraid I might do away with Shou An?

Princess Shou An has just left the palace.

Should I send someone to go after her?

Is all of creation

not my domain?

If I really want to kill Shou An,

it won't matter where the Empress hides her.

The palace is no longer safe for Shou An.

For an emperor,

His Majesty has been warm and forgiving.

But Lady Pan and Zhong Qiao's affair

has not only insulted

the Emperor's dignity as a man,

but completely disrespected

the Emperor's authority as the supreme ruler.

When the son of heaven is provoked,

corpses will pile up and rivers of blood will flow.

The Emperor had no choice

but to punish the Pan family with an iron fist.

You're right.

The Emperor won't let his anger jeopardise Shou An.

But think about it.

A princess with a convicted mother

and a tumultuous past

growing up in a complicated palace.

She'll inevitably be shunned.

Instead of condemning her to a life of misery,

why not remove her shackles

and set her free?

Of course,

I don't want the Emperor to see Shou An

and be hurt again.

Sister.

Sister.

Sister, what brings you here?

Come, Sister.

Shall we dance?

Sister, you know something?

This was the very dance

I danced for the Emperor the other night.

And it was on that night

that I made an important decision.

To bear a child

for you and the Emperor

and fulfil your wish.

I have no regrets.

Sometimes I think to myself,

if I never entered the palace,

what would my life be right now?

Meeting you

is the luckiest thing that's ever happened to me.

We can share weal and woe.

Sister,

I'm so glad that I met you.

And the Emperor!

Yes, the Emperor, too.

Although I was duty bound

to offer myself to the Emperor,

His Majesty's gentleness and kindness

made me feel as though I was falling in love for the first time.

Sister, you know something?

Although the Emperor only has eyes for you,

but I

couldn't help but fall in love.

Wan'er.

Sister, you know something?

At that time, we were both with child.

We were pregnant, Sister.

So I thought,

wouldn't it be great

to watch our children grow up together

and to raise them with the Emperor?

What do you think?

Wan'er, I've done you wrong.

The Emperor and I have done you wrong.

If I knew it'd come to this day,

I would rather we never met.

No!

Even if I get a thousand lifetimes,

I would spend them all with you, Sister.

And I would become the Emperor's consort.

Wan'er.

The happiest moments of my life

were thanks to you and the Emperor.

I must thank you, Sister.

Wan'er, feel free to bear a grudge against me.

Feel free to hate me.

No, no.

Why would I hate you, Sister?

Never did and never will.

It's just that...

It's just that I have a question for you.

During the fire that night,

what did I give birth to?

Really.

What

was he?

It was that child.

Right?

You don't have to answer me.

Nor do I

want the answer.

Wan'er.

From now on,

this is where I will live out my life.

Forever confined in Yu Chen Palace.

Forgive me, Sister,

for not being able to see you.

You and I

will never see each other again.

Wan'er.

I owe you your freedom.

Wouldn't it be great if I call you "sister" from now on?

Of course.

I can use another sister.

[Although you didn't ask it of me,]

I hereby give you my vow

and my promise

that for the rest of my life,

I will give everything,

including my life, to protect our child.

This is the Crown Prince of Song

and the Empress' newborn prince.

Bring the Crown Prince back to the palace now.

This is Wan'er's child.

[End of Episode 41]