Original subtitles

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Episode 9.

Su Residence

Chief, the weather is cold. You should rest inside.

Alright.

Chief, why are you standing in the corridor?

It's cold, please go inside.

Alright, Auntie Ji.

Physician Yan.

Young Master Lin Chen did well to send Physician Yan here.

Your Excellency is more relaxed now?

- Have a seat.- Thank you.

Previously, I was caught in between the Crown Prince and Prince Yu.

I cannot even breath normally.

If this drags on,

I'll be long gone while the case is still around.

Actually, Lantai Province's Magistrate is outside.

Has something happened again?

What's up with me this year? So unlucky.

Don't worry, Your Excellency, I've asked him about it.

It's regarding a beast at Mount Xiaogu.

The beast has been disturbing the villagers and scaring them.

The Magistrate could not capture it. Hence he is reporting it to us.

Aiyah, no need to tell me about such a small case.

- Just deal with it.- Yes.

As long as there are no further cases that involve high-ranking Ministers,

then I'll be grateful to Heaven.

Your Excellency, don't say such words.

You never know what may come true.

Ah! Touch wood, touch wood...

Greetings, Prince Yu.

- Minister Qi, have a seat.- Thank you.

- Serve tea.- Yes.

How was it?

Magistrate Gao is a smart man.

In only one day,

he's prepared all the relevant documents of the Lan Mansion case

- and submitted them to my Ministry of Justice.- Good.

I feel better that this case is in your hands.

This is just my brief report.

Once I investigate this case,

I will

make sure that Minister Lou is punished.

At which time, should the Minister of Finance be removed,

it's up to you, My Lord,

to play your hand.

You need to work harder during this period

and make sure you close this case.

Yes.

You just moved here.

What are you meditating on?

The Crown Prince and Prince Yu have been jousting for many years.

Their division of power in the six Ministries is really quite even.

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The Ministry of Justice,

the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Public Works

are Prince Yu's people.

The Ministry of State Revenue, Martial Affairs and Rites are the Crown Prince's.

You want to take down their pawns one by one.

I want to remove more than the six Ministries.

This is referring to the military.

Duke Qing is aligned to Prince Yu.

The Marquis of Ning is allied with the Crown Prince.

Due to the Lan Mansion's hidden corpses case,

The Crown Prince lost Minister Lou.

In the Bing Province land-grabbing case,

Prince Yu will lose Duke Qing.

But Prince Yu will not necessarily give up hope.

Perhaps he will come to me to consult on how to save Duke Qing?

Chief, Prince Yu is here. He's alighting from the sedan at the front door.

Oh, you are accurate in your prediction.

Then I will leave for a moment.

Greetings, Prince Yu.

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Your Highness Prince Yu, please.

Sir Su, have you heard about the Bing Province land-grabbing case?

I've heard a little.

The plaintiff passed through Jiangzuo and caused a bit of an issue then.

Is there something you're concerned about, Your Highness?

The clash happened because we did not know the rules of the Jiangzuo Alliance. It was all a misunderstanding.

Since Your Highness is so magnanimous, I accept that.

This case has troubled me greatly. I hope you may enlighten me, sir.

Why? Has His Majesty decided to start the trial?

Father summoned Prince Jing today,

and ordered him to be in charge of this case with the help of three judicial departments.

Prince Jing...

Prince Jing, what a rare guest!

You have always been stationed in our army and have been much wearied.

It's rare that Your Highness can take a rest in the Capital, but

why are you here when you should be resting at home?

Your Highness and the Crown Prince didn't object to this arrangement?

Father has made it clear that neither of us is to interfere with this case.

With Prince Jing's temperament, this trial will still benefit the Crown Prince.

The Eastern Palace has no reason to object. As for me...

You want to avoid suspicion, correct?

Sir, you should know that Bai Ye, Duke Qing, has many dealings with me.

It's already lucky that this case did not fall into the Crown Prince's hand.

I'm just worried that with Prince Jing's obstinate temperament,

it will be hard to talk to him.

I thought he still owes you a favor?

Sir, you may not know what kind of person my seventh brother is.

I have never seen such a stubborn and inflexible person in the Court.

Sometimes, even our father cannot deal with him.

That little favor of mine may not be enough to make him listen.

So it's Your Highness's wish that

I should devise a plan to restrict Prince Jing

so that he can let your man live?

If you can save Duke Qing,

I will be very grateful.

Today the Emperor summoned me to the Palace and ordered me to serve the Bing Province land-grabbing case.

The Ministry of Justice, the Grand Court of Review, and the High Court are to assist.

Following protocol, I need two senior officers from the Ministry of Justice to assist me.

The main trial court will also be here.

Minister Qi must also arrange the necessary rooms and guards for the trial.

There is this sort of thing?

I think the order has been delayed.

I have yet to received the Royal decree.

Have you received any orders or documents?

I did not receive any documents.

See?

My presence here today is to pass on the Royal decree.

The Secretariat will issue the official correspondence.

Prince Jing, I'm not trying to embarrass you.

If I haven't received any documents, I can't follow your order.

Plus, there have been too many cases lately.

They've all ended up here, together.

You see, the Mayor's Office has just transferred a big case.

The materials and staff have yet to be allocated.

Since Duke Qing's case has been shelved for a while now,

I believe Your Highness is not in any hurry either.

Then how long do you need to prepare, Minister Qi?

What kind of solution do you have in mind? Please advise.

If you really have this intention,

then I shall be unapologetic.

There are many roads in life.

Why choose a dead end?

What do you mean by this?

You are a Noble Prince,

loved by the Emperor and respected by officials,

high-spirited enough to compete against the Crown Prince.

But you forget.

No matter how much power you hold,

in Great Liang, there is one person you cannot make an enemy of.

That person is your father, the Emperor.

What are you saying? When have I ever done so!?

If you are to serve the case, the documents should be here soon.

Not many staff and materials are required.

No matter what, I won't let Your Highness wait long.

Here, I will rush them.

At most, in ten days or a fortnight,

I promise that you'll get everything. How about that?

Tomorrow, the documents will arrive, and I will come again.At which time,

you can re-consider your answer to me.

Oh, look at what you're saying.

Prince Jing, I am--

Your Highness, who do you think wants to serve this case?

Is it the Crown Prince?

Or Prince Jing?

It is neither of them. It is the Emperor.

Why must he send people from Xuanjing Bureau, who are not part of the Justice ministries, to investigate this case?

Why ask Prince Jing to be in charge of this case?

He wants to use this case to put a stop to the prevalent practice of land grabbing.

You have been jousting with the Crown Prince for many years. The Emperor understands this.

But he will not allow you to block his prerogative to push through reforms.

His Majesty has already 'judged' the Bing Province case in his mind.

If you try to interfere with the case and disturb the Court protocol,

ultimately who'll be the one you end up frustrating?

You are right.

To lose His Majesty's trust in order to save Duke Qing...

Has Your Highness considered which is more important?

Is there really no other way...

Duke Qing is long gone.

You already know that, am I not right?

By Royal decree, the High Court Office is here to arrest the criminals.

Bai Ye, the Duke of Qing and his younger brother Bai Xun,

two sons and three nephews will now be detained.

- Stop there.- Female members will be confined to the inner house.

Further judgment will be passed later.

What are you doing?

Move!

Sir, do you know

how important Duke Qing is to me?

I know.

According to our Court, Civil Ministers and Martial Officers have clear borders.

The military rarely interferes in Court affairs.

Duke Qing is the first and

the only Martial Officer to openly disclose his support for you.

In terms of political merits

or my control over the six Ministries,

I'm not inferior to the Crown Prince.

But on the military side,

I missed the opportunity to garner the support of the Marquis of Ning, Xie Yu.

One wrong move and all is lost.

Sir, you moved so quickly from the Marquis of Ning's manor,

I'm sure there's more to this matter.

I'm just a Pugilist

with no constraints and without any proper etiquette.

I couldn't adapt to the mansion of that serious Marquis.

If you want to live according to your style, nobody can stop you.

With your talent, you can see the situation clearly.

I'm sure you don't need other's advice. But I still want to say that,

regardless of your choice in the future,

as long as you are willing,

my door will always be open for you.

May I ask, whom...

I am a staff officer under Prince Jing, Lei Zhanying.

His Majesty has placed Prince Jing in charge of Duke Qing's case.

Since the plaintiff is under your care,

Prince Jing ordered me to escort him to his estate. I hope the timing is appropriate.

Of course. Since Prince Jing is in charge of this case,

I should let him have the plaintiff. The documents are also ready for him.

You just need to check the documents and endorse it to take the plaintiff.

You have made it so easy. Thank you.

Come on, it's all for the Emperor.

The Crown Prince has sent a message that

Prince Jing is doing hard work. We must not create more trouble.

This way!

Yes.

Sir Su, do you have any other words to say?

In my opinion,

Your Highness should drop Duke Qing

and support Prince Jing instead.

Support Prince Jing?

But he is a Prince and has the Imperial order to do his duty. Who would make things difficult for him?

Why does he need my support?

Prince Jing has the Imperial order to do his duty. Minister Qi won't make things too difficult for him.

But...

he may delay for some time.

It's important for him to gather support from the Ministry of Justice.

But I am not referring to this Bing Province case only.

You mean...?

This case is just the start. After this case is closed,

I'm sure there will be more similar cases.

These cases will also implicateimportant household names.

Just Prince Jing, how can he handle it?

If you can help him

to settle the conflicts and

help His Majesty to push his national policy,

at that time,

Prince Jing will be grateful to you.

You mean that

I should gather Prince Jing's support?

I had that intention since Princess Nihuang's incident.

You have already schemed and planned since long ago.

I am interested to hear your reason.

Duke Qing is nothing.

With regards to military power, two Duke Qings are not even half as good as Prince Jing.

I will be happy to gather Prince Jing's support

but with his character,

I'm afraid that when I need his help in the future,

he may not listen my orders.

Why would you need the army?

Are you trying to stage a revolt?

Why do you say that?

Fine, we will wait and see.

Prince Yu wants to get rid of Lou Zhijing? Alright then,

we won't give Duke Qing a chance either.

Your Highness doesn't need to worry about Duke Qing's case.

Even if Prince Yu tries to do his tricks,

Xiao Jingyan will not give way.

But the Lan Mansion's case is with the Ministry of Justice now

and Lou Zhijing's case cannot be covered up anymore.

The position at the Ministry of Trade will be vacant soon.

Your Highness, you should quickly recommend someone to take over that vacancy.

You are right. Losing Lou Zhijing

is as good as removing one of my arms.

No matter who goes up there,

don't let anyone get this spot!

Your Highness, the current situation may not be rosy,

but we still have control overall.

Your Highness should not be too anxious.

With Mei Changsu around,

how can I stay calm?

Regardless of where he is, you must remove him.

Since you aren't staging a revolt, why do you need the military?

In the Capital, His Majesty has direct control over the Imperial Guard.

General Meng is also guarding the Palace.

If there's any situation, an Imperial edict

would kill all chances of a revolt.

You are right.

Xie Yu's forces are small

and cannot be compared to General Meng's army.

That's why you should work on His Majesty himself.

Those military supports are just a matter of obligation.

Why do you need full control over them?

Think about it again.

If the Crown Prince really placed His Majesty in danger

or opposed an Imperial order,

with Prince Jing's character,

do you think your order is required

to fight back?

That's right. Prince Jing is a just person.

It's good that he doesn't show his support.

Of course, everything should have its limit.

You just need to cooperate and be friendly. You don't need to overdo things either.

Tomorrow, I should visit Prince Jing on your behalf.

He is not close to Court politics and does things without much consideration.

If I don't remind him about it,

he may not realize that Your Highness is cooperating with him.

Please accept my bow.

What is this for?

You deserve this bow for all your hard work and planning.

Rest assured. Since I have already received your answer,

I will guarantee your safety from now on.

If the Crown Prince or Xie Yu tries to harm you, I will protect you.

As for Jingyan, I will depend on you.

Sir Su, your health isn't good. You don't need to see me off.

If you catch a cold, I will feel bad too.

I appreciate it.

-Be careful. -Okay.

Here, Chief.

Why were you talking to Prince Yu for such a long time?

That person is very thorough.

Not easy to handle.

Need to put in more time.

Oh yes,

tomorrow I will make a trip to Prince Jing's residence.

Prepare the Golden Silk Chain Mail Armor.

Ah! Will there be danger?

Princess Nihuang has sent Tingsheng to Prince Jing's.

I want to prepare a gift for him.

But isn't this gift a bit too expensive?

Besides,

wouldn't giving a gift to a child as a Chief

garner too much attention?

You're right.

Then, what do you suggest?

Fei Liu!

You have been eating melons the whole day.

- Chief?- You'll get diarrhea.

You cannot eat so many in future.

- You can only eat one each day.- Ah?

Ah, what?

Come down.

Do you still remember Young Brother Tingsheng?

Shall we visit him?

Didn't he give you a little eagle?

We need to return a gift.

I've already prepared it.

Tomorrow, you bring it to him.

Are you mad?

You can eat two tomorrow.

Of course,

it's more appropriate for Fei Liu to give him the gift.

Everyone knows about his character.

It's always about whether he is happy or not, willing or not.

I suppose nobody will notice the value of the gift.

Fei Liu is indeed most suitable...

Prince Yu, why have you come personally?

Do you have anything to order me?

I do have something in mind.

His Majesty has issued an Imperial edict

to start the trial of Duke Qing's Bing Province case.

Prince Jing is in charge of the trial and the three judicial departments will assist him.

I'm aware of what to do for that matter.

Just now, Prince Jing came by and

asked me for staff and materials.

But things aren't so easy.

These years, he has been away for too long.

The ways of the Court

are not familiar to him.

It's easy to deal with him.

With a few simple words,

I managed to send him away.

You sent Prince Jing away?

Yes.

Who asked you to do that?

Father-in-law.

Have you sent those people?

Yes, they have left.

Are you confident this time?

We will do our best.

Fei Liu, look at this.

This is the gift for Younger Brother Tingsheng.

Do you like it?

No.

You don't like it because you are highly-skilled.

This is useless to you.

But Tingsheng is young and poorly-skilled.

If he wears this protective vest, he won't be hurt when other people bully him.

I'm sure he will like this.

- Really? - Yeah.

Go.

Chief,

all is resolved. None are alive.

Perhaps this time they'll understand

that the Su Residence is a lot more difficult to invade than the Manor of the Marquis of Ning.

Chief.

Our house and Prince Jing's mansion are just separated by a back alley,

but it's quite far if we go by the main streets.

It took us almost an hour to get here.

I'm 17 years old now.

Father allowed me to have my own residence outside the Palace.

This place was chosen by my big brother.

How is it?

Come on!

Of course Prince Qi's choice would not be bad.

I'm not like you.

Even if I'm 17 years old,

my father will not allow me to have my own residence.

We are good brothers, what's mine is also yours.

-Go! -Let's go!

This place is still the same as in past years.

Nothing has changed at all.

Sir Su.

Prince Jing.

I pay respects to Sir Su.

Here, Tingsheng. Do get up.

Brother Fei Liu.

For you!

Thanks!

Golden Armor.

This is a precious gift.

This gift is too precious. I cannot accept this.

What is the use of telling me that? This is from Fei Liu.

Go tell Fei Liu yourself.

Please come this way, Sir.

Your Highness.

This is Su Zhe.

He is my friend.

Please look after him in the future.

Sir Su.

Zhanyin,

-you will chair the rest of the meeting.-Yes.

They are having a meeting here.

Let's speak in the study.

Please.

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When your name card was delivered, we were just discussing some official matters.

They wanted to see

what this recently-famous Su Zhe

really looks like. Hence...

Hence we took a few more steps...

Please.

Sir Su, what's the matter? You don't look well.

It's nothing. It's just that today feels a little colder than yesterday.

Of course, it's the Winter Solstice.

- Attendants!- Here.

- Bring a brazier.- Yes.

Many thanks.

- Please have a seat, Sir Su.- Alright.

I do not usually keep a fire,so it slipped my mind that you do not savor the cold.

I heard that you moved recently.

Please excuse that I could not personally congratulate you on that.

- How did Your Highness know that?-I heard from Mu Qing.

The reason for my visit today is to extend goodwill from Prince Yu.

Your Highness can investigate the land-grabbing case without worry.

I had no worry to begin with.

Your Highness has been to the Ministry of Justice?

Was Qi Min cooperating?

No matter if he cooperates or not, this case will be dealt with in the manner that it should.

Ready!Kill!

Fei Liu-gege,these are the practice grounds of the Prince's Hall.

I need to train here for six hours each day.

Sometimes, even Prince Jing comes to guide me.

Ready!

He is really weak.

Fei Liu, watch your tongue.

Uncle Meng is better.

How can you compare Commander Meng with Prince Jing?

I am the best.

General Bian, do you know who that is?

No...

Regarding this case, what does Your Highness think?

I have reviewed the list of evidence. It's not a hard case to examine.

Duke Qing not only connived, he's the principle culprit.

Duke Qing is a Marquis General of the second rank,with the right to receive a pardon from the Emperor.

Since he committed three murders,no pardon can be bestowed.

He was in the Capital. The murders were not committed by him personally.

There are illicit letters as evidence for the massacre at Zhu Village.

They were not written by him, but by a clerk in his employment.

I invited the clerk here last night.

Today he's given me a confession.Not an unyielding man.

Oh, Your Highness 'invited' him.

That you were able to discover this missing link

from the chain of evidence presented by Xuanjing Bureau,

and to counter so quickly and effectively,I am impressed, Your Highness.

Our Lord has fought for years on the battlefield.

Who are you to question his abilities?

I am Fei Liu.

- Fei Liu?- Oh,

are you the Fei Liu, who attends to the Master of the Jiangzuo Alliance, Mei Changsu,

the one who challenged Commander Meng after arriving in the Capital,

and also defeated Executive Officer Xia Dong?

You are correct. That is me.

At the moment, what the Court is most worried about

is that the Lords from the various states may form an alliance.

Hence, Your Highness, when dealing with different cases, you must strike the right notes.

For some, be lenient. For others, be harsh.

Don't let them know your intentions. In this way,

the gains of the various households will be so different that they will suspect each other,

and so, an alliance will have no chance to form.

What you say sounds reasonable.

If I make no exceptions, perhaps

we won't achieve the effect we're after.

Since Prince Yu is willing to assist,

do give him some face.

Should Your Highness find someone aligned to him,

pick some excusable ones,

and be lenient as a way to acknowledge his assistance.

He should be utilizing all his powers to protect Duke Qing.

Why would he use someone so useful to him to extend goodwill to someone like me?

Your Highness, you are quite important to him at the moment.

To make me seem important,

to convince Prince Yu to give up on Duke Qing,

and to make Xie Yu slip up,

I am grateful to you for this.

Your Highness, why are you not willing to record my merits?

Go! Go! Go!

I understand what you mean,

but I don't want people to think thatI'm aligned with Prince Yu.

Neither the Crown Prince nor Prince Yu.I don't want to align with either of them.

The grievances Your Highness has suffered all these years are known to many.

People will understandshould you lower your standards a little.

I care not for the views of others,

but the noble souls of the departed are watching.

I cannot allow them to think

that I, Xiao Jingyan, have succumbed.

Being noble souls, they'll know your heart.

What's the matter? Sir, are you still cold?

No, it's nothing. I'm a bit numb from sitting so long.

Just need to stretch my legs.

Don't touch it!

My apologies.

Sir, please don't take offense.

This is a personal effect of my friend.Before he died,

he did not like others touching his things.

The fault was mine. I beg your pardon.

It's the Ministry of State Revenue!How can a mediocre person like Zhao Shijie handle it.

Assistant Minister Zhao has great talent.How is he mediocre?

- How can you talk to your elder brother like this?- This choice is really inappropriate.

I cannot be bothered to argue with you on this.

- My Lord Father. - My Lord Father.

Okay, okay, enough!You've been arguing for over an hour.

Even if you are not tired, I am.

Discuss this another time. You may take your leave.

- By your leave.- By your leave.

Your Majesty. Deciding who should replace the former Minister of State Revenue Lou Zhijing

is an important state affair.

It is only appropriate that the two Princes have their own opinions.

Look at these suggestions. So many choices,

yet none can please all.

At this rate,

the Ministry will be a mess.

Shen Zhui, the acting Minister has been taking care of things.

For a short while, there should be no difficulties.

Shen Zhui?

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