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 59]

Your Majesty.

An eye for an eye. It's the law.

According to our law,

homicide in any form is punishable by death.

Su Yi Jian is responsible

for the lives of Imperial Physician Dong, Li Zai Feng and Grand Tutor Cao.

He deserves a death sentence.

Please uphold justice, Empress Dowager.

Your Highness, if you don't feel well,

please return to the palace.

Please give a verdict as soon as possible, Your Highness.

Without further delay,

please give a verdict as soon as possible, Your Highness.

Pass my edict.

Su Yi Jian

will be stripped of his position

and sent to prison.

A wise decision, Your Highness.

Lord Su, the Emperor has arrived.

Greetings, Your Majesty.

Drop the formalities.

The Court of Judicial Review had interrogated the two assassins.

They have signed the testimonies

admitting to the assassination of Li Zai Feng

and Imperial Physician Dong.

They were acting on my orders.

I wouldn't have believed it

if I didn't hear it from you.

Imperial Physician Dong had been in the palace for years.

Li also used to be part of the royal family.

Their identities were unique,

yet they fabricated rumours and caused trouble

for you,

sabotaging your relationship with the Empress Dowager.

You ended up being distracted from state affairs

and the Imperial Court is in chaos.

I couldn't let them live.

The Court of Judicial Review has closed the case.

Yes, I know.

I can't avoid the death penalty.

However, I think it's worth it

to die for you and the Empress Dowager.

I know

you're troubled

by the rumours.

I would like to tell you something, Your Majesty.

Go ahead.

The Empress Dowager...

The Empress Dowager is selfless

when it comes to you

and Song.

The Empress Dowager is old now,

yet she still works hard for the state.

Please understand that, Your Majesty.

I know.

I might have misunderstood my mother.

Recently, the Empress Dowager

seems a little unwell.

I'm worried that she might have fallen ill

and kept it from you, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty,

please pay more attention to the Empress Dowager's health.

Your Majesty, please judge wisely.

Yi Jian had no choice but to do this

for your sake, Empress Dowager.

He did it so that you could get along with your son.

Your Highness,

you shouldn't sentence Yi Jian to death.

I didn't wish to punish Yi Jian either,

but those Imperial Court officials

had been eyeing me with hostility

and arguing with me at the Imperial Court

using Song's laws.

Was I supposed

to abolish the law

established by Emperor Taizu?

How would I

answer to the people of Song?

In this whole wide world,

there won't be another person

who is as loyal as Yi Jian to you.

In that case, I'll make a move first.

Your Highness,

Yi Jian has been holding

someone dear to his heart.

He loves the person deeply.

Your Highness,

do you know who that person is?

Greetings, Empress Dowager.

Yi Jian,

the Court of Judicial Review has closed the case.

I know.

My only concern

is Ding Wei.

You can't keep him in the Imperial Court.

Please make a decision soon, Your Highness.

Don't worry, Yi Jian.

Of course Ding Wei will be removed,

but this isn't the right time yet.

I'll spare him for now.

By the way, the Emperor came to visit me earlier on.

Trust me.

The Emperor loves and respects you.

When I had a chat with the Emperor,

I could tell

he had begun to understand your kind intention.

One day,

the Emperor will definitely mend the ties with you.

Yi Jian, I can't just

watch you being sentenced to death.

Since the Court of Judicial Review has given a verdict,

we'll have to follow the law of Song.

It concerns the nation

and the people.

The rules mustn't be broken for my sake

or there'll be chaos.

I plead guilty.

I hope that after this visit,

you won't look for me anymore.

We'll bid each other farewell here.

With the Empress Dowager's support, Su Yi Jian

disrespected other senior officials of the Imperial Court

and ended up in this state.

He deserved it.

Other than Su Yi Jian,

you and I should take this opportunity

and ask the Empress Dowager to return the political power.

Since his trip to Suzhou,

the Emperor has grown wary of the Empress Dowager.

Instead, he trusts me.

From now on, it'll be peaceful at the Imperial Court.

Gong Yan, you'd better be careful.

Father-in-law, I've always been very careful.

However, this time,

everything is favourable to us.

We should not be fearful.

Hurry, open the door.

All right.

Godfather, it's been a while since you attended the Imperial Court meetings.

I'm here today to talk to you about Yi Jian.

Yes, I know.

In your opinion,

is there any way

to save Yi Jian?

Your Highness,

I've been figuring out ways in the past few days

to save Lord Su's life.

However, he's taken three lives.

According to the criminal law,

Lord Su will be penalised no matter what.

Even corporal punishment,

exile

or banishment to the border

won't work?

Your Highness,

Lord Su has made many enemies at the Imperial Court,

especially Ding Wei and Wang Qin Ruo.

They want Lord Su dead

and won't stop until they succeed.

If you don't punish Lord Su accordingly,

I'm afraid others won't be convinced from now on.

These people might cause trouble again, using this as an opportunity.

Sooner or later, the Emperor will be affected.

During the troubled times,

I also deeply regret

Lord Su's fate.

However, there's no other way for this matter.

Your Highness, please make a decision soon.

Princess Royal,

I've let you down

in this lifetime.

Yi Jian.

Your Highness, didn't I tell you

not to visit me again?

Greetings, Your Highness.

[Obsession]

I made

this long robe for you

as your birthday gift.

Thank you, Your Highness.

I'll put it on right now.

This golden thread bow

was made by Lord Su.

He gave it to me as a coming of age gift.

I was only ten years old back then.

Lord Su told me,

"The country may be peaceful and prosperous now,"

"but as the Emperor of Song,"

"one should master the five classics and the six arts."

"Horseback archery is one of the six arts."

"You mustn't neglect it."

Lord Su murdered those people

for the sake of my mother.

It's to keep that case,

as well as my background, from the people.

Your Majesty,

you were wrong about the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager wasn't aware

of what Lord Su did at all.

Even if the two murders

weren't arranged by the Empress Dowager,

but wasn't my birth,

the case of Consort Chen's delivery,

my mother's doing?

She hasn't told me the truth yet,

and neither has my uncle.

So, my uncle is the culprit,

as well as the victim.

At this moment,

I'm wearing the robe made by you, Your Highness.

What more could I ask for?

Back then, Emperor Taizu gave me poison

and ordered me to commit suicide in the prison.

If you didn't save me,

I wouldn't have survived.

You had heaven's blessings.

I did so in accordance with heaven's will.

Life is unpredictable.

Who would've thought that

today, I'd be required to approve the memorial

demanding your death?

Don't mind that, Your Highness.

Everyone dies.

It's just I'm doing so ahead of you.

Back when the late Emperor was alive,

he discussed with me a few times

about granting you and Ling Yang a marriage.

Who knew you kept giving excuses

and ended up being all alone now?

She's a princess.

As an official, I was unworthy of her.

Don't tell me this character is the reason

[Obsession]

you've stayed single?

Particles settle at the bottom

whereas essence floats on top.

It's great.

I can still drink the tea you make

today.

I have no regrets.

I'm contented.

Yi Qin, what's the time now?

I think it's 3 a.m.

Is it 3 a.m. already?

In my life,

I've had so many obsessions.

The nation and its people are part of them.

Loyalty to the late Emperor is another.

Loyalty to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager

is my obsession as well.

Today,

I have another obsession.

I wish to help you reform the Imperial Court,

so that the Emperor can have

a nation with an ethical government and a peaceful populace.

That's why I am never lonely.

Yi Jian.

I've lived up to your expectations and completed my mission.

Madam!

Madam, it's been tough on you.

I'll bring you back.

It's great.

Go.

All right.

Having met and known you

in my life,

it's all worth it.

The Empress Dowager has arrived.

Greetings, Mother.

I wonder why

you came late at night.

All of you may leave.

Yes, Your Highness.

Your uncle passed away today.

He died because of your background.

Haven't you been investigating

your own background?

I think

it's about time to tell you the truth.

Actually, I'm not your mother.

I

have always suspected

that I'm not your son.

It's just that

I dare not believe

this is the truth.

However, I've been treating you

as my own.

As time goes by, our relationship

becomes deep and lasting.

During the late Emperor's reign,

Song's Imperial Harem didn't have

many children.

All your elder brothers died before they became adults.

There were rumours all around,

saying the late Emperor was destined to have no offspring

and the royal lineage would be disrupted.

They even concluded that

he wasn't destined to be the Emperor.

Moreover, the officials conspired with each other at the Imperial Court.

The late Emperor worried a lot.

It happened that

Consort Chen and I were both pregnant.

The late Emperor was overjoyed.

It's a gift from the Emperor.

It'll ward off any evil spirit.

However, things didn't go as planned.

When I was about to give birth,

the baby didn't survive.

I had a miscarriage.

However, if the news was spread,

the palace and the society would be in turmoil.

It might even threaten the late Emperor's throne.

The late Emperor thought

Consort Chen wouldn't be able to educate her son.

So he entrusted her son

to me

and asked the nanny to find a healthy newborn outside the palace

for Consort Chen.

If that's the case,

why didn't that happen?

The child found by the nanny wasn't born on the due date.

Madam!

Madam, push harder!

He wasn't born on time.

On the other hand, when Consort Chen was giving birth,

a fire at the inner-depository

plunged the palace and the surrounding area into chaos.

The labour room was surrounded by flames.

The nanny, who was also Consort Chen's midwife,

only managed to save the prince.

At that time, Consort Chen was still inside the room which was on fire

and all of us thought she wouldn't survive.

Afterward,

a raccoon stumbled into the baby blanket.

Later, thank goodness,

Consort Chen survived due to a downpour.

However, the raccoon which was burnt to death in the baby blanket

was saved by others who assumed it was the prince.

Everyone else saw it.

Come to think of it, it's just a mistake.

Was I

the prince

who was saved by the nanny from the fire?

Was my mother

Consort Chen?

Consort Chen had been by my side

ever since I entered Duke Xiang's residence.

We shared through thick and thin.

We were as close as siblings.

I cared for you with everything I had.

I did it for the sake of Song,

as well as Consort Chen.

Tomorrow,

I'll open the coffin

to take one last look at my biological mother

so that she can rest in peace.

Greetings, Your Majesty.

Greetings, Empress Dowager.

Rise.

Thank you, Your Majesty and Your Highness.

Your Majesty,

when Consort Chen was buried,

the Imperial Pharmacy suggested

embalming her corpse with mercury

for preservation purposes.

When we open the coffin today,

we'll see if it truly worked.

Open the coffin.

Wan'er,

Shou Yi is here to see you.

Mother,

I didn't fulfil my filial duty

when you were alive.

I'm sorry.

Wan'er,

Shou Yi is all grown up now.

He's about to get married.

After his wedding,

I'll return the political power to him.

Shou Yi is a filial and kind child.

He will be a wise Emperor.

Wan'er, you can rest in peace.

What's written on this yellow silk?

Could it be

the late Emperor's decree?

That's right.

Father left it for my mother.

Let me have a look.

As decreed by the Emperor,

an Emperor reigns over the nation,

respecting god and abiding by the law. This is always the case.

When I pass away,

the Crown Prince of Song

will be enthroned in front of my coffin.

The Empress will be the Empress Dowager.

She will be in charge of military and state affairs.

Consort Chen will be Consort Dowager.

Together, she and the Empress Dowager will share honour and longevity,

until the new Emperor reaches adolescence.

By then, the Empress Dowager will return the political power to him

so that the new Emperor can handle the state affairs by himself.

If the Empress Dowager continues to administer state affairs,

court officials can bring this written decree to announce to the people

and support the new Emperor.

Whoever that sees this decree will treat it as my decree.

Let it be known.

[End of Episode 59]