Original subtitles

Greetings, Your Royal Highness King of Rui.

Wushuang, did you clearly see

the owner of this gem

inside Shangyuan Palace?

Replying to Your Majesty,

it is absolutely true.

Wushuang arrived at Shangyuan Palace by mistake,

touched a secret room switch

and discovered this secret.

Wushuang dares not to lie.

Your Majesty,

this gemstone

is my mother’s legacy.

Since someone saw her

in Shangyuan Palace,

it must be Empress Dowager’s doing.

I ask Your Majesty to issue and order

to allow Fengqing to search the Shangyuan Palace.

Your Majesty, taking advantage of me worshipping the Buddha,

you actually brought people to my palace

without permission.

Do you not have

me in your eyes anymore? (are you disregarding me)

Mother, someone told me

that he found Meiren Ji’s body,

my Fifth Younger Brother’s mother

in Shangyuan Palace.

Please allow your son

to search for the secret room in Shangyuan Palace for Fifth Younger Brother’s sake.

It is truly ridiculous.

This demoness has been dead

for over twenty years now.

How could

her body be in my palace?

Old witch,

do you not dare to let us search?!

Audacious!

How dare you,

a foreign bastard, say such crazy things to me?

Do you want to die?

You!

So many years of gratitude and grudges

have passed already.

Mother,

please allow your son to search for the secret room

in Shangyuan Palace for Fifth Younger Brother’s sake.

It can calm the rumours

of the outside world on the one side

and give Fifth Younger Brother

an explanation on the other.

Well, since some people cannot give up

and others deliberately want to frame me,

then you can go in and have a look

if that demoness is here or not.

I clearly saw that a crystal coffin

was placed here.

How could it disappear?

Did you check it?

Is the body of the person

you are looking for here?

Fifth Younger Brother!

King of Rui!

King of Rui!

I do not want to see you.

Listen to me,

your mother was really in Shangyuan Palace.

Empress Dowager must have hidden her.

You have to believe me.

Nie Wushuang,

you made up such a big lie

in order to lure me back to the palace.

Let me congratulate you.

Your scam succeeded.

After you obtained imperial brother’s favour,

will you be using

your beauty and scheming

to complete your revenge?

I really did not lie to you.

I really saw your mother

inside a crystal coffin.

Don’t mention my Mother!

You can lie to me all you want,

but you cannot use her.

Otherwise...

Otherwise, I will kill you!

Yes.

Withdraw.

I feel gratified

for Your Majesty’s visit.

Did you tell King of Rui

about the secret passage?

This place was built by the late emperor.

One cannot get in here

unless one is not the country’s ruler.

I have never used the passage

in Shangyuan Palace

since I was enthroned.

I did not know that Mother

has hidden such a monstrous skeleton

in my palace.

Your Majesty,

today’s play was really good.

In a standoff between me and King of Rui

you did not choose to betray your family.

That’s because I did not know

what the truth is.

I also do not know how big

the implications are.

Meiren Ji...

is she dead or alive?

Why hasn’t there been any change

in this twenty years?

She is as she was when I met her

when I was a child.

You suddenly call yourself “I” and “we”

and not “son”.

Very well.

I ask Your Majesty

to investigate me immediately.

Mother, son has caught you

behaving contrary to the right conduct overnight.

This is truly

too cruel to Fengqing.

If he knew

that his mother is still here,

he would surely...

He would surely what?

Kill me?

Or would he rather hate his third elder brother

who grew up protecting him

but turned out to be

my accomplice?

Son only wants to know the truth.

The truth?

The truth is

that your father

has loved this demoness too much.

If he did not want to make her the empress back then,

I would have not made a move.

She fell into the river.

Your infatuated father

brought her back

and put her in this crystal coffin,

hoping that she would

come back to life one day.

I could stop her

from appearing in Lan Palace

but I could not prevent her

to appear in this secret chamber.

For more than twenty years

I have been guarding the place

that your father has carefully built for her every day.

This crystal coffin

cannot be split by a knife or worn by the fire.

My heart

is bleeding with heartache.

More than twenty years have passed.

My youth is all gone

but she is still

a peerless beauty.

Tell me, is there anyone who dies

and whose body does not grow old or decays?

If she is not a demoness, then who is?

Mother...

If she hadn’t

robbed me of my family back then,

if she did not took away everything from me,

I would not have made a move.

But if I didn’t act,

Xiao Fengqing, that bastard

would be the emperor and not you.

Improbable, Mother.

Fengqing would not

fight for the throne with me.

Since childhood

he was always

giving his best things to me.

He definitely wouldn’t.

When Xiao Fengqing brought Nie Wushuang to the palace

she was wearing

the same gemstone

as that demoness.

I bet

there is an unclear relationship

between her and that foreign bastard.

Nie Wushuang

must be another demon queen of the Great Lan!

It cannot be.

Nie Wushuang

only purpose in her heart

is to pay the slayers of the Miao Family back.

Your Majesty has truly grown up.

You no longer need me.

Everyone in the world

can scold my supremacy.

Your Majesty is the only one that cannot do it.

Because everything I did

was for Your Majest’s sake.

If it wasn’t for me,

how could you inherit the throne?

How could you become the crown prince so smoothly?

It does not matter if you don’t appreciate it.

You still protect this Xiao Fengqing

against me.

My heart is bitterly disappointed.

For more than twenty years

I have been

helping you

to deal with these powerful ministers in the court every day

only to return to imperial harem at night

to keep an eye on this demoness.

How can understand all my hard work?

Who knows how hard I have worked?

Son violated filial obligations.

In this world,

it was me who fought for Your Majesty.

If the mother and son are not of one mind and heart,

it would be better for them to be destroyed

rather than to fall

into the hands of this witch’s son.

You always appear and disappear like a spirit or a ghost.

You are obviously happy

and cannot hide your smile.

I guess you must have missed me?

Nonsense.

I was happier without you here.

The owner of this gemstone

told me about this place once.

Is she here?

Can you take me to her then?

She saved me when I was a child

so I have so many things to ask her.

I also want to find her

but I am not able to find her.

You cannot find her?

How do you know that you will not find her?

Be careful.

King of Rui

I do not want to see you.

Listen to me.

Your mother was at Shangyuan Palace.

Empress Dowager mist have hidden her.

You have to believe me.

Nie Wushuang,

you made up such a big lie

to lure me back into the palace.

I have to congratulate you.

Your scam succeeded.

Are you going to continue

to use your beauty and scheming

to complete your revenge

now, that you have obtained my imperial brother’s favour?

I really did not lie to you.

I really saw your mother

in a crystal coffin.

Don’t mention my Mother.

You can lie to me all you want,

but you can never use her.

Otherwise… Otherwise, I will kill you!

Your Royal Highness!

What are you doing lying there?

Deshun is begging you.

Hurry up and come up.

Look,

it pains Deshun

to see you

lying around like this.

Your Royal Highness

All right...

you can lie like this

if you like

but then come up

to eat and drink something, all right?

You have not eaten even a grain of rice

since we went out

of Jiankang City yesterday. (Jiankang - the old name of Nanjing, especially during the Southern dynasties)

Your Royal Highness,

Deshun has been serving you from an early age.

If you keep going like this

and something happens o you

how will Deshun explain it to His Majesty?

Your Royal Highness,

even if

Deshun will be able to explain it to Your Majesty,

then how should I explain

everything to Zhaoyi Nie

if she were to ask?

Since when

I, Xiao Fengqing, am such an accident-prone man?

If something

really happens to me one day,

just tell my Third Elder Brother

that the kindness I owe him

can only be paid in the next life.

As for that Nie Wushuang...

I will never let this liar off

even if I am a ghost.

Your Royal Highness! Your Royal Highness, where are you going?!

Your Royal Highness! Wait for Deshun!

Your Royal Highness!

Didn’t Zhaoyi always want

to tell me something?

Your Majesty,

Wushuang asked Your Majesty and King of Rui

to search the Shangyuan Palace

for King of Rui’s mother, Meiren Ji.

This incident has caused a lot of trouble in the palace.

I ask Your Majesty to mete out the punishment.

The matter is already in the past.

I didn’t take it to heart

and so Zhaoyi Nie should not care too much about it.

Wushuang seeing with her own eyes

Meiren Ji and the crystal coffin

was really true.

I ask Your Majesty to give Wushuang an explanation.

Why is Zhaoyi Nie persisting?

If one cannot get

to the bottom of this matter,

Wushuang, in the eyes of others,

will be a person who cannot distinguish right from wrong

and who provoked Empress Dowager

and stained her relationship with King of Rui.

In King of Rui’s mind

I am already a thorn that cannot be pulled out

But is Zhaoyi Nie

willing to become a thorn

that cannot be pulled also for me?

Take the blame of being misunderstood?

I made Wushuang suffer.

Official Du pays a formal visit to Your Majesty.

Stand up.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

Is Zhaoyi Nie sick?

Your Majesty,

all the concubines who have been favoured

need to have their pulse checked by the imperial doctor,

without exception.

After that, we have to report everything to Her Majesty.

I have something to say to Imperial Physician Du.

This humble one shall take his leave.

I want to share a secret

with Imperial Physician Du.

I should really learn from other people’s scheming.

In comparison to you,

Nie Wushuang entered the palace late

and yet managed to be favoured.

And you? What strange disease do you have,

that makes a rash appear on you

whenver you approach a man?

It is truly hopeless.

Who said I cannot cure this disease?

I have found a prescription

that will cure my disease.

Reporting to both Imperial Concubines,

Imperial Physician Du has arrived.

Official Du

pays a formal visit to Imperial Concubine Shu and Jieyu Bao.

Imperial Physician Du, forego all the ceremonies.

Since Empress Dowager and Princess Yunle

were infected with plague at Donglin Temple,

Imperial Physician Du has benefited from misfortune.

His Majesty not only did not blame

Imperial Medical Bureau but commended it.

It is all thanks to Zhaoyi Nie’s

miraculous panacea.

Imperial Physician Du,

can you tell me whether

there is something odd

with Zhaoyi Nie’s pulse

since you were in Cuihua Pavilion just now?

Replying to Imperial Concubine,

apart from His Majesty and Her Majesty,

other people in the harem are not entitled to know

the information about concubines’ precious health.

May Imperial Concubine forgive me.

It is not convenient for this official to disclose it.

We are all sisters in the palace,

I am just concerned about it.

I did not think Imperial Physician Du

would be so repulsive to my question.

Imperial Physician Du, I heard that Du Ruo from your family

has entered Imperial Medical Bureau recently

to be your assistant,

willing to follow the footsteps of his father.

My son has been determined to inherit his father’s business since childhood

and practice medicine in order to help the people.

He learned some of my medical skills already.

At present, he is indeed a page in the Imperial Medical Bureau.

I heard that Imperial Physician Du’s son

was born very well.

He has tender skin, bright eyes and white teeth,

beautiful body and graceful demeanour.

His eyes are more water than those of a young girl

that did not marry yet.

This official… this official got his son in the middle age.

He has pampered him to some extend.

He indeed looks somewhat like a child.

Imperial Physician Du, have you heard

that the situation at the border defense is tense.

I heard that

Young Lord Du’s greatest wish

is to become an imperial physician.

An imperial physician is also a doctor.

Medical officers are also doctors.

I think

it is better to send him to the frontier army.

After he gains some military achievements,

how about bringing him back to the palace

to become imperial physician?

This official has only one son.

I implore both Imperial Concubines to have mercy.

Then let me ask you

how is Zhaoyi Nie’s health?

Did His Majesty really favour her?

Yes.

Was she a virgin

before being favoured?

Replying to Imperial Concubine,

before being favoured

Zhaoyi Nie

was indeed a virgin.

Impossible!

Was she not a female entertainer?!

How is it possible

for her to still be a virgin?

- It is really impossible! - Enough.

I understand.

Imperial Physician Du, please withdraw first.

If there is anything else, I will send a message to ask you again.

Yes.

It seems that

King of Rui and Nie Wushuang are innocent.

Strangely enough,

he saved such a great beauty

and did not touch her

but he also sent her to the palace.

I wonder if there is something wrong

with King of Rui’s body

or if he has other inclinations. (as if he is interested in men)

That’s because King of Rui

does not like this wench.

If King of Rui dislikes her

then could he actually like you?

This siren is here to destroy King of Rui

and emperor’s feelings.

Enough.

Don’t make waves without wind. (don’t make trouble out of anything)

Your Majesty was fond of King of Rui since childhood.

The question of whether I should help you

will have to be discussed after King of Rui

returns to the palace.

Their feelings

are indestructible.

Jiuliao assaults Li?!

The enemy has reached our gates

and you, Prime Minister Gu,

want to resign from your position?!

You have truly changed your mind!

Your Majesty, please calm down.

This minister made so many mistakes

that it will be truly shameful of me

to keep the position of the Prime Minister.

Minister of War, Yang Lida, has a memorial

to present to Your Majesty.

Speak.

Although Prime Minister Gu's mind is set on resigning,

he has never forgotten about the affairs of the state.

In the past few days,

he was working with other ministers to think about

the countermeasures against Jiuliao

without eating and sleeping.

They have been all written down here.

Jiuliao has captures Shouzhou and Dingzhou.

Did you see what is written in here?

It is all about persuading me to go to Lan

and beg them to save Li!

Your Majesty, please calm your anger.

Sending someone to Lan State to bring reinforcements

is the best policy for us to fight against the enemy together.

This minister has written a memorial,

I ask Your Majesty to review it.

If Your Majesty agrees

just put your seal on it

and we can quickly dispatch someone to Lan State.

Is this the last gift Prime Minister Gu

wants to give me

before resigning?

Prime Minister Gu really loves me.

He even wrote a letter of credentials for me,

knowing that I would be too embarrassed

to ask Xiao Fengming for help.

How about this,

I will pass the decree to you.

You will definitely cover for me, right?

Go then!

This minister is guilty of a crime for which one deserves to die ten thousand times.

You deserve to die!

Xiao Fengming has just healed

the knife wounds you have given him

and you have the guts to write a letter

urging him to bring in reinforcements.

What will they think of my Li State?

What will they think of me?

I will lose

all my self-respect because of you.

In the end, Prime Minister Gu,

it would not be enough to kill you a hundred times for this!

Your Majesty, calm your anger.

Things happening in the world are of the utmost importance.

Jiuliao is close at hand.

What is wrong with enduring it?

Even if I am willing to sent the envoy,

will Xiao Fengming be willing to dispatch his troops?

The refugees from Li State

brought disease to Lan State.

In the end, whose personal vendetta

brought disaster to Great Li?

I actually think

we should bring Prime Minister Gu's head

back to the Lan State.

This will appease Brothers Xiao's anger

appease Nie Wushuang's anger

and Miao Minghu' anger.

Your Majesty, if this minister's head

can appease their anger

and keep Great Li safe,

this minister is willing to die.

Do you think I dare not do it?

Bring me the knife!

Imperial Brother!

If Imperial Brother

chops Prime Minister Gu's head off,

it will be more insulting for our country

than asking Great Lan for help!

Every time I have to deal

with Prime Minister Gu,

Imperial Younger Sister

always wonderfully

appears in front of me.

Please be rest assured, Imperial Brother.

Yan'er

will never get so deeply immersed in love

to endanger the national security.

This time

Yan'er is also responsibile

for the refugees from the south' disease.

Although I have been willful since childhood,

I would never run into a disaster that I cannot shoulder.

I also have another opinion

on the letter of credentials for Lan State.

Tell me.

Even if bringing Gu Qinghong's head

to Lan State

wil appease Lan State's anger,

sending their reinforcements here

wil not be genuine.

While waiting for the pacification of the Jiuliao

they will definitely despise Li State.

Additionally, Imperial Brother's prestige

was definitely damaged by the refugees from the south' issue.

Therefore, Gu Qinghong's chopped-off head

is not the best gift to ask them for help.

What should I give

so that the Lan State will send their renowned troops?

Sending troops on the basis of peace and kinship

is the only way for the two countries

to amenably fight against foreign enemies.

Yan'er is willing to marry into the Lan Palace of the Lan State.

Peace by marriage?

Your Majesty, If Princess can really

marry into Lan State,

- it will be the best gift to ask for help. - Shut up!

I only have one Imperial Younger Sister.

I have lost hundreds of birds!

Am I also to lose my sister?!

How can it be?

Imperial Brother, rest assured.

Yan'er

will bring the missing birds

and the thing that the birds are looking for

back to Imperial Brother.

Yan'er! Yan'er!

Since when does Prime Minister Gu

call me Yan'er?

Prime Minister Gu was always calling me "princess".

And now, when you should call me "princess"

you actually call me Yan'er.

Me and Prime Minister Gu

are always out of step.

Prime Minister Gu, what a serious look you have.

This decision was made by me

after a careful consideration

and is by no means impulsive.

Prime Minister Gu dares to risk his own life

and I will just use this way

to cut off the ties of love.

Compared to Prime Minister Gu, your decision was crueler.

You said it yourself.

Is this your way

to setting us free?

Yes, I will not be able to get rid of it otherwise.

My heart became silent...

But when I think

that after marrying into Lan State

I will see Nie Wushuang again,

maybe

I will deal with her for you.

Maybe I will fight with her

for the second many in my life,

Xiao Fengming, the ruler of Lan.

Maybe I will always live

with her in the harem

that will always belong

to the two of us

and fight with her to the bitter end

until we are both exhausted.

When I think about it,

I feel like I have regained

the peak of my life.

I am now worried about where the hidden treasure is

than about Jiuliao attacking Li.

Is it really true

that all the birds pay homage to the phoenix?

I ask Your Majesty not to worry.

Have a Buddhist to accompany Your Majesty

to help Your Majesty to find the bird

and then pursue it.

That supreme treasure

will help Your Majesty unify the north and the south.

But I can't sleep at the thought

of the half treasure map that Xiao Fengmin

still holds in his hands.

Princess is aware of Your Majesty's heart.

Therefore, she is willing to enter into a peace marriage with Lan.

When the time comes, she will

find the half of the treasure map for Your Majesty.

Yan'er is not entering the arranged marriage

because of her affectionate feelings towards me

or because of her obligations towards the nation.

My imperial sister

was trapped in love

and was tired by love.

I am afraid she will let Gu Qinghong go

and fall in love with Xiao Fengming.

When that time comes,

I will put righteousness above family loyalty.

Your Majesty should not be too suspicious.

Jiao Tong will definitely keep

Your Majesty's words in mind

and use methods beneficial to Your Majesty

to advise the Princess.

I ask Your Majesty to allow

Jiao Tong to accompany Princess during her marriage

and travel south to Lan Palace.

Jiao Tong is worthy of being the junior of the Buddhists.

You always know what I truly mean.

I do not know if the Buddhists have made any progress

in pursuing the phoenix.

Xiao Wai, Xiao Dai,

Qingyuan has tried to hand you over

to mama duck and mama goose

so they can hatch you out

but you refused to come out.

I guess I will have to

put you back.

Are you perhaps stones

that only look like eggs?

You should become guardian stones

of this pond then.

Qingyuan will come to see you when I have the time.

Xiao Wai, Xiao Dai.

You know?

When I was dreaming,

I dreamed that you were shining.

When I closed my eyes

the whole world was lit up.

It disappeared the moment I wake up

But when I closed my eyes again,

I had another dream.

It disappeared again

as soon as I opened my eyes.

Has the phoenix really appeared?

It turns out the divine bird is at Donglin Temple.

But why hasn't it appeared yet?

Could it be that the time is not right yet

or that it hides in the water?

Sacred woman,

you have been hiding for so many years.

Don't you have the heart

to protect your nation's divine bird?

Is it tasty?

Imperial Brother greets Imperial Sister-in-law.

No wonder the flowers in the imperial garden

are so beautiful today.

It turns out King of Rui has returned.

Your Royal Highness King of Rui

It has only been four days since leaving the palace.

Why does King of Rui look so haggard?

Thank you for your concern.

Jiangnan is a beautiful place

I was singing and dancing day by day,

it is completely normal to be tired.

What is Ziyan eating?

Will you give me some of it?

Zhaoyi Nie is really mindful.

She knows that Ziyan likes to eat rose cakes

so she brought some over.

Since King of Rui is here,

let's sit together.

No need, Imperial Sister-in-law.

Imperial Brother is still waiting in the imperial study

to discuss with me

whether to send troops to Li State.

I will take my leave first.

Can King of Rui accompany Wushuang then?

As it happens, His Majesty is also waiting

for the rose cakes she made.

Forgive Xue Ke for speaking out of turn.

Your Majesty has deliberately

let Zhaoyi Nie go with King of Rui.

Zhaoyi Nie said

that King of Rui's mother is still in the palace.

People who envy her in the harem

are waiting for a good show.

Even His Majesty

was not allowed to say whether this matter is true or false

so naturally there must be a knot in Zhaoyi Nie's heart.

Only when King of Rui no longer cares about it

can this matter be settled.

I did not lie to you.

I really saw it.

What exactly do you want?

I just hope

you do not misunderstand me.

Sometimes being misunderstood

is not necessarily painful.

You can even learn to enjoy it.

I have been

misunderstood since I was a child

and only my Third Elder Brother

did not misunderstood me

so I felt very happy instead.

It does not matter whether you are misunderstood or not.

What is important is

that my Third Elder Brother believes you and that's enough.

I never knew

that the woman you cannot let go of

as your mother.

I never wanted

to use your mother to make an issue of it.

It does not matter anymore.

From now on, the most important thing is

that you should take good care

of His Majesty.

You and I are even.

I have promised it before.

I said that

I will forget everything.

I hope you can do the same.

Do you understand?

I do.

Wushuang will not fail to live up to King of Rui's expectations.

This minister pays his respects to King of Rui and Zhaoyi Nie.

I have to trouble Imperial Physician Du

to help me send these rose cakes

to the imperial study and give them to His Majesty.

Your Royal Highness King of Rui,

what's wrong with Zhaoyi Nie?

This woman is truly

a hopeless creature.

Imperial Physician Du,

tell me. Can this be cured?

Is there a medicine for it?

King of Rui's complexion looks really bad.

Are you feeling unwell?

I heard that Imperial Physician Du's son

was able to distinguish herbs at the age of four,

read medical books at the age of six,

prescribe medicine for others at the age of ten,

enter a medical school at the age of twelve

and see the patients.

I feel absent-minded recently

so I will give you a chance

to take my pulse.

King of Rui's pulse is very fast.

Much faster than the average person's.

Have you not heard of it in the palace?

Everyone says

that I am a son of demoness.

My pulse

is naturally different from others.

Come, take it again.

What is your diagnosis?

King of Rui is impatient and is getting easily irritated.

Your liver is in discomfort and the preoccupied mind makes you anxious

I fear that...

You fear what?

I fear that it is a heart disease.

What heart disease?

A disease you should not have.

For example, being trapped by love.

What trapped by love?!

I am handsome

and have outstanding talents.

What woman

can I not get?

Why should I be trapped by love?

Is King of Rui going to the imperial study then?

Since King of Rui is going to the imperial study

then why did Zhaoyi Nie

give me these pastries?

Because I am in a bad mood!

What an unreasonable attitude!

Zhaoyi Nie's pastries!

My medical box! You...

Stay away from me

when I am in a bad mood

in the future.

This...

Judging from the pulse, personality and behaviour

he is really different from ordinary people

You are truly hopeless.

My medical box!

Reporting to Princess,

King of Rui came back to the palace

King of Rui is my Fifth Elder Brother.

I do not like him.

What does his coming back to do with me?

That's true.

When I was a child,

Imperial Elder Brother and Fifth Elder Brother

loved me the most.

I once said

that I will marry them when I grew up.

But I was only three years old at that time.

I thought that when you like someone

you have to marry him.

The two of them always played tricks on me

and were often dueling to make me laugh.

Princess was really happy.

The rule

of the duel between the two of them was

that whoever wins

he was forbidden to marry me.

It made me cry every time.

The two of them were beside each other

laughing themselves silly.

Forgive Qiu Zi for being bold.

Between Your Majesty and King of Rui

if Princess were not the princess,

who would Princess like?