Original subtitles

♪Confessing to the moon in the rustling wind♪

♪Like a boat being swallowed up among the cities♪

♪Watching the flowers fall in unease, worries and troubles fill my mind♪

♪Am I going to where I want♪

♪To stay or to leave, you decide♪

♪Nations are different♪

♪One without desire is one that is not alive♪

♪Looking at the sky side by side♪

♪We've gotten closer with time♪

♪One glance, the city of Chang'an is bare♪

♪Among the ridiculous people and things is me♪

=Dream of Chang'An=

=Episode 2=

(Instead of backing down,)

what if

you take a chance?

I don't have an appetite.

Take them away.

Your Majesty.

Huaizhi.

Yes.

How long have you been in the palace?

I entered the palace at ten years old.

Until now,

it's been 30 years.

What about your sister, Madam Cheng?

Xi'er entered the palace later than me.

But it's been 20 years as well.

Your Majesty.

Why are you asking me these things?

20 years?

Many years ago,

my teacher

once told me something.

A eunuch's power comes from the emperor's power.

Even if Eunuch Qiu is evil,

the reason for the Morning Dew Rebellion

was Li Xu and Zheng Lu's personal feud.

Your Majesty.

Please be careful with your words.

It's fine.

Within the ten-meter area,

no one else is present.

Li Xu is talented with low ambition.

Even if he was friends with Zheng Lu

and worked for my brother together,

after the Morning Dew Rebellion failed,

I captured his confidant

and found out from the investigation

that Li Xu once told him

to kill Zheng Lu

after the rebellion succeeds

to prevent Zheng Lu's accomplishment

from being more than his.

My brother didn't use the right people

and easily believed two villains.

That was why the news leaked out,

and he was restrained by Qiu Ziliang.

So, do you think

that I will trust you and Madam Cheng?

Your Majesty.

Heaven and earth

can attest

to my loyalty

towards you.

Your Majesty.

I'm definitely not like

Li Xu or Zheng Lu.

Go and tell Cheng Xi

that I'll reconsider

her suggestion.

Yes.

"Regardless if it's cold and the horse is freezing,

I only see the wars in the borders and try my best to kill the enemies."

(The timing isn't right yet.)

(So,)

(don't worry, Teacher.)

(I)

(will continue enduring it.)

That was so scary.

Why am I so dizzy?

I don't feel any strength at all.

What kind of drug did I take?

Don't punish me this way.

If I can't practice martial arts for six months,

how can I protect His Majesty?

You may

have been clever today,

but you only saw a small part of the whole picture.

A small part

of the big picture.

Congratulations, Your Majesty.

You dodged a bullet yesterday.

But can you handle

my father's anger?

What are you planning to do next?

House arrest?

A seduction strategy.

I heard that Your Majesty likes hunting.

The weather is very nice today.

It's very suitable to sap your spirit by seeking pleasures.

Your Majesty.

What do you think?

Your Majesty.

It's time for the imperial court meeting.

Today,

I'm going hunting.

Inform the Sword Bearer to get changed.

When I recover,

I must eat to my heart's content.

Who is it?

Sword Bearer.

His Majesty is going hunting today.

He told you to change into hunting attire and go with him.

All right.

I got it.

This is great.

I have a chance to go out of the palace to hunt...

What kind of lousy drug

did Aunt give me?

Why do I feel so weak?

And I'm so dizzy.

I must get changed.

Why are you here?

Where's His Majesty?

His Majesty went ahead.

He told me to wait for you here.

Can you handle it?

Don't force yourself.

I still have the strength

to protect His Majesty.

Why are you laughing?

I'm laughing

because how can a Sword Bearer

with no martial arts skill go hunting later?

Like you,

I don't have any martial arts skill now.

Under such fair circumstances,

do you want to have a competition?

What will we compete in?

Let's see

who can get more preys.

What is the bet?

If I lose,

I'll agree to one request.

As long as it's not against the palace's rules,

it's fine.

What if you win?

If I win,

please return

to the Chess of Generals Camp.

Never appear in front

of His Majesty again.

What do you think?

It's a deal.

- Greetings, Your Majesty. - Greetings, Your Majesty.

Will you tell him,

or will I?

Your Majesty.

The Sword Bearer made a bet with me.

Please be the witness.

The one who gets lesser preys today

must agree to a request from the other person.

If I win,

the Chess Overseer

will disappear in front

of Your Majesty forever.

That's good.

With a reward,

hunting becomes more interesting.

In that case,

let's begin.

I'll surely win.

Your Majesty.

Do you really want to keep

a Sword Bearer

who leaves you by yourself?

If I don't keep her,

should I keep you then?

Little rabbit.

Come here.

Don't worry.

After the competition,

I'll surely release you.

I surely won't eat you.

For sure.

This should be fine.

This trap should be big enough.

All right.

Cheng Ruoyu.

Cheng Ruoyu.

Your Majesty.

You scared me.

You almost made my prey

run away.

Where is the prey?

There's nothing here.

There was,

but when you called me,

it ran away due to fear.

Cheng Ruoyu.

How dare you disrespect me.

No.

That's not what I meant.

I spoke without thinking.

I didn't mean to disrespect you.

Cheng Ruoyu.

You can only see a small part of the whole picture indeed.

You say that I only see a small part of the whole picture.

You mean

I should guess the whole picture by just seeing a part?

What are you still doing here?

The competition is about to begin.

Qiu Yanzhi.

Isn't this cheating?

How can you ask the soldiers in Chess of Generals Camp

to help you?

You can also seek help.

But those from the Violet Bureau

didn't come.

That's your negligence then.

Since you came out,

why didn't you bring your subordinates?

Today, let me give you a lesson.

At any time,

you must remember

that you're not alone.

Behind you

is a big organization.

How you use it

and balance it

to achieve your objective

is what you have to learn

as its leader.

All right.

It seems like you're going to lose.

Not yet.

- Your Majesty. - Your Majesty.

Your self-made trap is good.

But since it's a hunt,

it's still better to use a bow and arrow.

Since it's a fox hunt,

only foxes count.

Chess Overseer.

What do you think?

Yes.

Only foxes count, right?

Where are yours?

You don't have any at all?

Qiu Yanzhi, you're going to lose.

You can...

Where did you get so many foxes?

I exchanged my preys before

with a merchant.

Your Majesty.

She's cheating again.

Our bet was

the one who has more preys, wins.

Later on,

based on what His Majesty wants,

it was changed to the one who catches more foxes, wins.

Regardless if we caught the foxes ourselves,

or if the soldiers caught them,

or His Majesty caught them,

or the merchant caught them,

they should all count.

Am I right?

All right.

Next,

I must take my bet now.

All right.

I'll return to the Violet Bureau

and disappear forever.

Who says that's the bet?

What else can it be?

I don't have any martial arts skill now.

I can't do anything.

Don't worry.

You can surely do this.

(Violet Bureau)

Wu.

My dear Wu.

Please.

Help me.

I'll massage your shoulders and legs.

I'm begging you.

Give it to me.

However,

only this once.

I swear.

I won't ever lose again.

Don't worry.

Qiu Yanzhi won

such a big bet,

yet she only told you to do embroidery?

She just wants me to embarrass myself.

However,

I learned something from her.

If I don't know how to do it,

I'll ask my subordinate to do it.

I mean,

if a good friend does it,

of course it would be better.

That's not the style

of Chess of Generals Camp.

At least

it's definitely not Qiu Ziliang's style.

What is Qiu Ziliang's style then?

Take preventive measures,

and take something out by its root.

Madam.

What exactly are you planning?

What are you referring to, Your Majesty?

Yesterday, you forced me to take poison,

yet you intentionally delayed it

for 30 minutes.

Why?

You already heard

the Sword Bearer in the yard,

yet you took the pill out at that time.

Why?

In today's hunt,

you also won the competition,

yet you didn't kick the Sword Bearer out.

Why is that?

Could it be

that you want to use the hunt

to educate her?

Your Majesty is the one

that I want to educate.

Before I joined the Chess of Generals Camp,

I was a maid at Heng'an City's Music Hall.

I personally witnessed the citizens' suffering.

Everyone is hoping

to have a wise emperor

to regenerate the imperial regime

and make our empire prosperous again

in order to live a good life.

That's why

I also hope

to assist a wise king like that

and restore the Xing empire.

Do you think

I'll believe you?

Whether you believe me or not is up to you.

I'll go ahead.

Please reconsider, Your Majesty.

Did Madam Jade and others find out

Qiu Yanzhi's identity and background?

There's something fishy about her indeed.

Eight years ago,

at the Music Hall,

Qiu Ziliang chose Qiu Yanzhi to become his pawn.

Afterwards,

after 77 challenges,

she won against 99 people

and became Qiu Ziliang's goddaughter.

But she was born unhealthy.

She has a heart ailment. She's not skilled in martial arts.

She's not skilled in martial arts?

Why do you only have information about her for the past eight years?

That's the strange part.

Where she came from

and why she was sold to the Music Hall

cannot be found.

But this girl

is so smart and knowledgeable, and she has a good memory.

I think she must not have come from an ordinary family.

It seems like

someone intentionally eliminated the information.

Instruct Madam Jade and the others

to continue investigating.

Even if they have to dig deeper,

they must find Qiu Yanzhi's roots.

(Hanyuan Hall)

Greetings, Grandmother.

(Grand Empress Dowager, Madam Guo)

Come.

Sit down.

Thank you, Grandmother.

Your Majesty is so busy.

Instead of attending to state affairs,

you came here.

Won't that delay important state affairs?

Duke Chu

and the officials are managing the state affairs.

I don't need to worry about it.

I watched you grow up.

Since you were little, you've been smart,

and you have good martial arts skills.

Even when the late emperor

was talking about you,

he was so proud.

It's not bad to have ambition.

Legitimacy belongs to the victor.

Since you ascended to the throne,

that means you're capable.

However,

why did you only use

your capability

against your own brother?

Why don't you use it

in regenerating the imperial regime?

The Xing empire is facing

the breakaway and occupation of territories on the outside

and frenzied eunuchs on the inside.

It's corrupt

and has a low population.

Could it be that you're just

after the throne

and the title?

Go.

I'm tired.

I'll get going.

Accept defeat if you're willing to gamble.

Why didn't you ask me

how I embroidered this?

You asked someone else to do it.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Are you going hunting again today?

You didn't attend the imperial court meeting yesterday.

How can you not attend today?

Huaizhi.

Yes.

Teach your niece how to speak nicely.

Yes.

Your Majesty.

How can you speak with His Majesty this way?

But we can't let

His Majesty do ridiculous things.

You...

Your Majesty.

Is Qiu Yanzhi

forcing you to be absent from the imperial court meeting?

Do you want to learn how to use the bow and arrow from me?

Ride on my horse.

I don't want to attend the imperial court meeting either.

Why?

I can't do anything even if I attend.

I'd just disappoint the officials.

Instead of disappointing them,

I should just be absent.

That can give them something to hope for.

It's just like hunting.

From the start,

if the prey dies from one arrow shot,

then the round will be over.

If the prey

doesn't show up,

then

you can only patiently wait.

Nice shot.

So,

as a prey,

do you know what to do now?

If you're not capable enough yet,

hide.

When the hunter is exhausted,

kill him with one shot.

Watch out!

Your Majesty!

Search for the assassin!

Your Majesty.

Are you all right?

Does it hurt?

It hurts because you pushed me.

(Chess of Generals Camp) There are a total

of 120 guards on duty

on the imperial hunting ground today.

Six of them are suspicious.

They were supposed to be on duty,

or they left in the middle of duty.

I've already ordered them to continue torturing them.

We'll get an answer soon.

Didn't they fail?

Why do you act like you're faced a great enemy?

The assassin's motive wasn't assassination,

but framing someone.

Who?

Me.

Today, Qi Yan encountered an assassination attempt,

and I happened to have no soldiers with me.

It was like I intentionally did that.

Who can it be?

Violet Bureau.

Father has a lot of enemies.

We can't be careless.

Before 5am,

I want to see the confession.

Also,

eat outside.

Are you going to confess or not?

Tell us!

Your Majesty.

We must thoroughly investigate this.

We can't just let this go.

It must be Qiu Yanzhi.

This is...

While you were helping me walk,

I took the opportunity to get it.

There's no poison on this arrow.

There's also no blood groove.

Even if they shot you,

you won't get seriously injured.

This person

didn't want to kill you.

Then why?

Who knows

that we were going hunting today?

Qiu Yanzhi.

And who

can sneak into the heavily secured

imperial hunting ground?

Those people in the Chess of Generals Camp.

If I get injured,

who will benefit the most?

Qiu Ziliang.

Your Majesty.

Since we already know the answer,

I'll teach them a lesson now.

It's precisely because the answer

is too obvious

that it's not the answer.

Then...

If Qiu Ziliang wants to do anything to me,

he just needs to say it.

He doesn't need to do this.

There's a big loophole

in what happened today.

A loophole?

The assassin knows

that I was bringing you and the Chess Overseer

to go hunting.

You don't have any strength.

The Chess Overseer doesn't have martial arts skills,

and she has soldiers with her.

If you were the assassin,

how would you think?

Pretend to be a soldier

and blend into the secret guards.

However,

Qiu Yanzhi didn't bring any soldiers with her today.

That's the loophole.

The final objective of this person is

to frame Qiu Yanzhi.

If my guess is right,

if we investigate

who made this arrow,

it must be the Qiu Residence.

Your investigation is done?

They're dead.

What?

The six of them

almost vomited blood at the same time.

They're all dead.

Before we caught them,

they were already poisoned.

What was the poison used?

Common rat poison.

What should we do next?

Wait.

If it happens once, it will happen again.

I don't believe that they won't pull another stunt.

Your Majesty.

I'm not late, aren't I?

Your Majesty.

If you won't attend the imperial court meeting today,

what do you want to do?

Since that kind of thing happened yesterday,

you won't go hunting for foxes again, won't you?

Your Majesty.

How about walking around Heng'an City?

That's great, Your Majesty.

Then let's eat biángbiáng noodles.

Biángbiáng noodles?

What's that?

Your Majesty has never eaten that?

It's so delicious.

I'll bring you there.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Officials.

His Majesty is busy today.

You're dismissed!

(Shencai Army Central Commander, Wang Lin)

Grandfather.

You must take care

of today's state affairs again.

I

originally thought that after the new emperor ascends to the throne,

I can have an easier time.

But I didn't expect

that His Majesty would only think about having fun.

You can't do this.

Move!

Well...

(Imperial edits, Reports)

(Heng'an)

Sir.

You have a prestigious status.

You won't come east of the city.

That's why you're not aware.

The most famous food east of the city

is biángbiáng noodles.

After eating one bowl,

you'll be full the whole day.

You'll have the strength to work.

Where is it then?

It's everywhere.

But the most famous one is...

Mrs. Li's biángbiáng noodles from Old East Shop.

How do you know that?

I have a friend

who's been a glutton since she was little.

She loves sneaking out to eat

Mrs. Li's biángbiáng noodles.

If you can't find her,

just go to Mrs. Li

at the Old East Shop.

She's surely there.

Your friend is an expert.

But it's not Mrs Li's now.

It's called Cai's Wine Store.

Then it sells biángbiáng noodles on the side.

Why?

Because Mrs. Li

passed away due to an illness.

She had no children,

so she could only

pass on her ultimate skills

to Mrs. Cai next door.

But don't worry.

The flavor

is still the best in Heng'an city.

Sir.

We're here.

Mrs. Cai, I'm here!

(Cai's Wine Store)

Sir, please come inside.

(Cai's Wine Store)

The noodles are here.

The noodles are here.

They're hot.

Mrs. Cai.

Just place that bowl over there.

Sir, bill, please.

All right.

Sir, this way please.

This is the flavor.

- Go ahead please. - Aren't these noodles

the same as botuo?

Botuo?

Botuo is just as wide as a finger

two inches in length.

You won't get your fill when eating it.

This is more like it.

By the way,

do you know

why it's called biángbiáng noodles?

You don't, right?

I know.

It's because

these noodles and the table

produce a biángbiáng sound when made.

That's why it's called biángbiáng noodles.

Please go ahead.

I see.

Please go ahead.

Please go ahead.

It's not hot anymore.

Here.

All right.

It's not poisoned.

Eat.

Go ahead please.

Since we're outside,

there's no need for courtesy.

I won't be shy then.

Sir.

You must eat these while they're hot.

Eat.

It won't be good when it's cold.

All right.

What's the matter?

It's too sour.

What the heck is this?

Why aren't you eating too?

I tried them once.

I found them sour too,

so I stopped eating them.

Sir.

Aren't you afraid of the sour flavor?

I must try it precisely because I'm afraid of it.

(Lv's Exotic Meats)

♪Life is a dream, how long do happy times last♪

♪In the windy rain, where will my heart settle?♪

♪The sword can't break this karma♪

♪Look how blurry and lonely the world is♪

♪Fate can't do anything about the bleak bonds of this world♪

♪Still can't let go of this life as time goes by♪

♪Even the iron and golden dagger-axe cannot extinguish the fire in my heart♪

♪Remembering the past and letting time while away♪

♪The past is in front of you♪

♪Forgetting while piecing it together♪

♪Like when I sincerely put my hands together♪

♪I only wish that you can be saved♪

♪The past is in front of you♪

♪Forgetting while piecing it together♪

♪Like when I sincerely put my hands together♪

♪I only wish that you can be saved♪

♪I only wish that you can be saved♪