Original subtitles

He is busy with governing

so he can’t come here himself

He sent me to pay his respects on his behalf

And he hopes that you are well

and not be too overwhelmed with grief

The Emperor has bent the rules to allow me to tend to my father

his graciousness is mighty

I am very thankful

But this matter shouldn’t be made public

And thanks to you sirs

and I ask you

to thank Sir Liu on my behalf

Sir Liu and my father are associates

I thank him for keeping an eye on my father

I will definitely pass on your words

to Sir Liu

Associates, forgo the formalities

Sir Long, during your visit here to investigate Sir Shu’s stabbing

Sir Liu asked us to inform you

that me and all of Shanxi’s officers

will assist you in your investigation

If you have any needs

just ask

Thank you to Sir Liu and you associates

It seems like our every move

is playing into Liu De Zhao’s hands

Liu De Zhao’s reach is quite big

He doesn’t show up

but sends a few of his people to come and pay respects

Leader

maybe Liu De Zhao really went to check the condition of the disaster

I don’t believe it

He is definitely not a good character

Leader

I have something that I’m not sure if I should say it

We are not in the palace now

why are you so cautious?

If you have something to say, just say it

Understood!

Leader

all the matters we have faced so far

although we do not have concrete evidence

but every single one of them

shows the involvement of Liu De Zhao

Each of the issues is enough to have him decapitated

If all of it is combined

his death is not enough to make up for his offences

So, I am afraid that if he knows your real identity

he will be desperate enough

to commit high treason

Leader, if you hear anything, or see anything

you have to resist

Let’s wait until we get back to the palace before doing anything

Tai Yuan, Shanxi is Liu De Zhao’s territory

we need to be very careful

Yes

Leader

it seems that the starving citizens are causing havoc outside

They have surrounded the whole building

Let's go, have a look

Let us in...

We want to see the provincial governor...

Let us in

- Move back - Let us in

Everyone, move back!

You rascals want to lose your life?

Open your eyes and take a good look

Do you know what place this is?

The Provincial Bureau! A military base!

Let me tell you

if you dare to force yourselves in, you will be jailed

We are already dying from hunger

would we be still afraid to be jailed?

Ask Liu De Zhao to come out now!

- Yes - Yes!

Where is Yi Huan?

She thinks that her levitation is good

so she secretly entered the Bureau to get some information

This silly girl

she always keeps us worrying

Take a few people with you and go find her

Don’t get into trouble

All right

Come out, Liu De Zhao!

Dear villagers

listen to me

Hold your horses

You can see Sir Liu

but today

he has gone out on his rounds

You are not helping the situation either

If you are not coming out anytime soon

we will force our way in!

Rush in...

Are you looking for death?

Let us in...

Help me up quickly!

I’ll count to three

open the door

Dear villagers

didn’t you want to see Sir Liu?

Sir Liu is here

Let me tell you

before the sun rose this morning

Sir Liu has already visited the areas that were badly affected

Until now, he hasn’t eaten

Have a look, he is pale

and thinner from hunger

Leader

whatever happens next

you need to tolerate for the moment

We don’t want to wake a sleeping wolf

Dear villagers

all of you are so anxious to see me

what do you want to say to me?

Based on the Emperor’s orders

the porridge stall in the disaster areas need to cover three meals a day

the portion is enough to fill the stomach

But we don’t even get one meal a day

and the porridge in the pot is so empty that we can see our reflection

Some of us don’t even have a single grain of rice in our bowl

That is right, not a single grain of rice

How do we eat?

How many have died of starvation?

Dear villagers

I, Liu De Zhao...

I am guilty to all of you!

I’ve been guilty to all of you!

I won’t hide from you

but we are also putting up a bluff

The emergency supplies given by the Emperor

has run out a long time ago

To share the sorrows and hardships with you fellow citizens

my family and I are also practising thrift

we are only eating one meal a day

Besides, our every meal is just like yours

a bowl of watery porridge

Besides aiding the people

I also pray to the altar every night

wishing that the heavens have eyes

and give us a good rain

But I don’t have the ability to change anything

I have requested from the Imperial Court many times

but I don’t have the ability

to persuade the Imperial Courts to give us

more emergency supplies

Villagers

I am guilty!

I, Liu De Zhao is guilty to all

Guilty to all of you

Could it be that the Imperial Court really did not replenish our supplies?

Take a look at Sir Liu’s complexion

He does look like someone who hasn’t eaten well in days

Our Emperor must be busy dealing with Oboi

he doesn't have the time to deal with our situation

Villagers

let me tell you the truth

The Imperial Court has their own difficulties

The ones facing disaster aren’t just Shanxi

Shandong, Zhili, Henan and Hebei

are also facing this drought

At the moment, the Emperor

must be utterly exhausted from overworking

But is the Imperial Court just going to watch the citizens die?

In the Forbidden City, the Emperor

enjoys a few hundred dishes in a meal

How would he know the pain of eating husk and dirt?

Which Dynasty does not have good food wasted behind the Vermillion doors

while in the roads lie the bones of the frozen?

Dear villagers

hold your horses

Right now, the Imperial Court is gathering new supplies

Just be patient for a while more

Please wait a while more

Although I am not abled

but I want to bear this with you all

In hopes

that the heavens

will show us some mercy

Dear villagers

you have seen the situation

There is no use surrounding the area

Sir Liu cannot make supplies appear from thin air

We have to suffer together

Disperse...

Dear villagers

I have ordered the porridge stall

to take a few bags of supplies

from my residence

This evening we’ll have a few more pots of porridge

Don't worry

I will continue sending messages

and rush the Imperial Court

to give us more emergency supplies

Take a look above your heads

the weather is so hot

Dear villagers, please save your energy

and disperse

Go back and take a break

- Take a break - Disperse...

Disperse, let’s go

Wan Xin

in the records, Liu De Zhao wrote 86,000...

68,000...

Leader

it is 68,600 hectares

Yes... that is correct

Then the disaster victim numbers are...

Disaster victim numbers are 234,000

That is right

I informed Songgotu to give supplies

enough for each person to get two silver bars and one stone of rice

There was also additional money for supplies in dire circumstances

Total is...

Total is 500,000 silver bars

and 300,000 stone of rice

Wan Xin

your memory is very good

That day I was playing chess with you in the study

when you suddenly received Liu De Zhao’s report

and read it out loud

I simply remembered it

I didn’t know you have a retentive memory

I don't have any other skills

but I am quite good with my memory

Hopefully, I can be of help to you, Your Majesty

The numbers reported by Liu De Zhao

is doubled the numbers that I’ve collected

in this field study

I arranged the supplies according to the numbers that he reported

Even if he sectioned off some

even if he sectioned off half

the remaining supplies money

should be enough to cover the victims until the next harvest season

So why is this happening?

Maybe Liu De Zhao sectioned off more than half?

But looking at Liu De Zhao’s sickly face

he doesn't look excessively greedy

Brother Long

you have been fooled

Leader

we may draw a tiger in so far as its skin, but it's hard to draw its bones

We may know a man's exterior but not his heart!

We secretly entered the residence grounds

He really wasted his talent

by not becoming an actor

Be careful, lower your voice

After entering the residence, he became a totally different man

Hurry... Lord

Quickly sit down, sit down

- It was so hot - Don’t just stand there

Quick, give me a massage

You must have been so hot

How is it?

These rascal villagers have dispersed

Dispersed?

Although these rascal villagers are unruly

but they are easy to deceive

Thanks to you who thought of using some vegetable sauce to cover the face

this trick is better than whatever I say

Seeing that you look sickly

the rascal villagers won’t kick up such a fuss

but blame the incompetence on the Imperial Court

Do you miss me?

- Yes - Come here

let me give you a kiss

Lord

the vegetable sauce is on my face

How about this, let me give your face a wash

Wash the face, then we can kiss

What do you think of the watermelon?

I freeze it especially for you

This Liu De Zhao

even his youngest wife has ice blocks in her room

I heard that his ice storage

is bigger than the whole residence

The ice stored from winter is enough for them to use the whole summer

Then, Liu De Zhao asked the Surveillance Commissioner

and the Administrative Commissioner and a few close officials

with a few grain suppliers over

to have a meeting, and discuss countermeasures

Sir

I've gone to Shu residence to pay my respects

and met with the Imperial Commissioner, Sir Long

He is ordered by the Emperor

to investigate the stabbing of Shu Jian

The Imperial Commissioner Long San comes to Tai Yuan City, Shanxi

but he doesn’t come to see me at my residence

It seems that he is an unassuming

and difficult person

You must be careful in the future

don't let him get any evidence on you

Don't worry, sir

The Imperial Commissioner is here for the stabbing of Shu Jian

The post assistant has committed suicide, and there is no evidence

He cannot do anything to us

The other Imperial Commissioners

I have some background knowledge on them

and can find some leverage on them

It is only this Long San, whom I’ve never heard of

I am still slightly worried.

Sir, don’t worry

I have asked all my contacts in the Capital

to get some information on this Sir Long

Usually, Imperial Commissioners that has never been heard of like this

they usually come from a humble home

It could be

that he came from a very rural area

He may seem serious and calm

but there is a possibility that we can bribe him

At most, we can spend some money

and feed him well

That is right

All right

I want to see how he can feed me until I’m full

I want to see how much money he can give

These people are very experienced

in dealing with Imperial Commissioners

They are on guard with your presence here

but they are not too bothered

They changed topics swiftly

and started to discuss business

They continued discussing the price of grain

using the emergency supplies to gain more money

At the same time, they exaggerated the condition of the drought

to the Imperial Court to get more emergency supplies

In regard to the victims who protested in the streets

he sent someone to murder them

Also

his brother-in-law, Qiu Gui was also present

He mentioned that the enclosure movement is complete

and Yang Huai Village is now under Liu family’s business

How about this

I want to meet Liu De Zhao under the identity of Long San

and ask him to release the silver bars and grains

Leader, don’t be rash

The imperial edict in your hand clearly states

that you are here only to investigate Shu Jian’s stabbing

It does not mention that you will interfere with Shanxi’s politics

Liu De Zhao has already asked them

to move the emergency supplies out of the military storage

So when he brings you

to an empty storage unit to look around

he will say that the supplies have all been handed out

You won’t be able to link anything to them

Then I will get him to show me the records of the handouts

But you don’t have the Imperial edict in your hands

to give you the authority to interfere

Liu De Zhao won’t follow your orders

and show the records

It is also easy for him to fake the records

How many disaster victims

what are their names, where are their homes

would you go and check out every one of them?

How about this, let’s think of a way

to check where the emergency supplies are kept

Once we found the supplies

we can force him to hand it out

Brother Long

I've already thought of this with my brother earlier

And we’ve already found the place

- Really? - I’ve told you before

you take care of me in the palace

and I’ll take care of you when you come out

It seems that Liu De Zhao’s brother-in-law, Qiu Gui

is Tai Yuan City’s biggest grain supplier

So, after their meeting

we secretly followed him

- I will see myself out - Mister Qiu

- I will see myself out - Sirs

- Please... - Please

I'll take my leave...

The heavens are on our side

the drought is here at the right time

Brothers

some day we should go the temple

and burn an incense

to ask for the protection of the Goddess of Mercy

that it will come every year

- Yes - Yes

Hua Yue Restaurant

- My treat - All right...

Let's go...

Then we realised that Qiu Gui

has a manor outside of the city

In the manor, there are a few storage units

filled with grains

There is a huge drought this year

where would he get so much grain to keep in his storage?

It must be the emergency supplies from the Imperial Court

We also found a safe

in his manor

There are stacks of shiny silver bars in it

They are official silver bars all in stacks of five

You don’t know

the rats in there are bigger than regular cats

Spoiling the grain supplies

Isn’t Liu De Zhao a big rat himself?

How about this, we’ll take the disaster victims

to Qiu Gui’s manor

and let them see the emergency supplies

I want to see how Liu De Zhao will respond

Leader, at this time

we cannot have direct conflict with Liu De Zhao

Liu De Zhao dares to murder the victims who protested

I don't think

he won’t dare to murder the Imperial Commissioner Long San

Your Majesty

you know that your current identity

is just as an Imperial Commissioner, Long San

Why would an Imperial Commissioner

act so rashly?

Something happened and instead of informing the local officers

you bring the starving victims to create havoc

Liu De Zhao won't need any reason to murder you quietly

He can openly deploy forces

to suppress us

Then

he can use the excuse of you bringing victims to create havoc

to send you back to the Capital

He could also send people

to murder you under the guise of a burglary

on the way back

We cannot afford

a single mishap

That is right, Leader

Sir Suo is right

Tai Yuan is not like the Capital

The officers here are not like the officers in the palace

It is best you don’t show yourself in public

Your Majesty

Leader

actually, we don’t have to show ourselves

We just need to spread the news to the disaster victims

I was too impulsive

Although I shouldn’t show myself easily

but I really wanted to see how Liu De Zhao

will deal with the disaster victims

All right

you can count on me

I will make sure no one recognises you

What do you think, Brother Long?

Not bad, right?

My art of disguise

is very good

Not only those Shanxi local officers

who’ve only met you once at Shu family funeral

even the eunuchs and concubines in the palace

won’t recognise you

You are right

You really are my boss

You are more talented than me

That is not right

I am now your grandfather

Filial grandchild

let me rub your head

- Filial grandchild - Go away

Looking at you now

I can see that you are very young

how can you be my grandfather?

Let me give you a voice-changing pill

It is guaranteed that your voice will change within 12 hours

But this voice-changing pill is expensive

One pill is worth almost one silver bar

What?

One silver bar?

Do you think I am a silly Emperor who doesn't know the difference?

No, you... you tell me

what... what are the ingredients?

One silver bar, is it worth it?

Brother Long, you are smarter now

I can’t fool you anymore

Boss

if you want to be an unscrupulous merchant

it will be difficult

You are a stingy Emperor

But compared to before when you were wasteful

I prefer how you are now

- Really? - Really

Is it comfortable?

Comfortable

I couldn’t believe

that this Shu Wan Xin is quite capable

She entered the palace for only two months

and she has become a Noble Lady

You petty little woman

what is wrong?

Are you jealous?

Why do I need to be jealous?

Our Lord is Tai Yuan City’s Emperor

The benefits in the residence

is not incomparable to the Palace

Your little mouth

you really know your way with words

Let me tell you

Shu Wan Xin

will definitely come for me

for what I’ve done

He will ask the Imperial Commissioner

to continuously find fault with me

Then what should we do?

How about we do as before

send this Imperial Commissioner some gifts

and sound him out first

It is not the time yet

I have sent people to find out Long San’s background

He just came to Tai Yuan

if I send him gifts now

he will be suspicious of me

We should just wait and see

It is still you who knows best

Here, give me a kiss

Sir!

Who is it?

Something happened at Lord Qiu’s manor

Open up...

Since you mentioned

that you didn’t misappropriate the emergency supplies

then open up all your storage units in the manor

and let us have a look

- Isn’t that right? - Yes...

- Open up... - Let us have a look...

Make noise!

Continue making noise!

This is my private property

On what basis do you want to enter?

Just a group of rascal villagers

You must have a guilty conscience

that is why you won’t let us see

Let us have a look

What is it?

According to you rascals?

No way

Let me tell you

based on Qing Dynasty’s law

breaking into a private property is considered a robbery

I can execute every one of you

do you know that?

Dear villagers

since we are already going to die of hunger!

Qiu Gui!

If you dare, just kill

all of us!

Kill us all...

What are you doing?

What are you doing?

Stop!

Do you see that? Sir Liu is here.

Do you want to revolt?

What are you making noise about?

Move aside...

Brother-in-law...

You are here!

Dear villagers

it is so late already, why are you here

in front of Qiu residence?

Liu De Zhao

You have moved all of the emergency supplies

given by the Imperial Court

to your brother-in-law’s manor

But you lie to us

and blamed on the incompetence of the Imperial Court

You are a liar who deceived the Emperor!

- Yes - Liar...

What are you making noise about?

What are you making noise about?

Shut up!

Liar...

You are rumour mongering

If it creates an uprising

will you bear the consequences?

- He says we spread rumours - Your brother-in-law’s manor

is filled with grain supplies and silver bars

I saw these with my own eyes

You are talking nonsense

Which eye did you see it with?

Did you see it with your own eyes?

This old man

do you have heaven eyes?

Can you see through walls?

Did you grow wings on your arms

that can fly over these walls

and have a look inside the storage units?

Let me tell you

stop creating rumours

or I will execute you immediately.

Liu De Zhao

You don't scare me!

An hour ago

two masked swordsmen

brought two of our elder victims

over the walls

and to the storage units to take a look

Inside, the grain supplies have been piled sky-high

Take a look!

Dear villagers

- Have a look - It is really rice!

This was the rice that I took

from the storage units in the manor, just now

Yes!

The rice in my hands

were found in Liu De Zhao’s brother-in-law’s manor

Why didn’t you give us supplies?

How do you explain this?

How do you explain this?

Dear villagers, let me tell you

these two masked persons are Jiang Yang bandits

They are leftover evils from the Ming Dynasty

You are talking nonsense!

They want to take advantage of this drought

to create an uprising

They are not Jiang Yang bandits

or leftover evils from Ming Dynasty

they are vigilantes

- That is right... - They are vigilantes

But you

Provincial Governor Liu De Zhao

you and your wolves for officers

are the real Jiang Yang bandits

Although you are under the salary of the Imperial Court

but you disrespect the Emperor, and disrespect the citizens

You are a bigger threat

to Qing Dynasty’s state power

than the leftover evils from Ming Dynasty

- Yes... - Ruining the country and people

Brother-in-law.

All right!

Even if you say that the storage units in his residence

is filled with official silvers and grains

but how can you say

that it is the emergency supplies given by the Imperial Courts?

You’re right

Listen up...