Original subtitles

Shulin.

Shulin.

Shulin.

Mr. Lan.

Mr. Lan, how are you?

Sir.

Sir.

Now that you're awake, take the remaining half of the medicine.

That gentleman said that

It may cause redness and swelling on some girls' skin.

That gentleman?

Mr. Gu.

He is the one who sent you and Zhang Ping back.

He also diagnosed your pulse and prescribed an antidote for you.

Mr. Gu?

Sir.

Sir.

Sir.

Where is he?

No idea.

He left after watching you take the medicine.

Did he leave any messages?

No.

My bad.

I will look for him.

No need.

Maybe I know where to meet him.

Unexpectedly,

ten years have passed.

Let's go.

I don't write antithetical couplets or draw New Year pictures.

Kunlun approaches Yanran from the west

What nice handwriting.

Did you write this poem?

If you really want to buy it,

I can give you a discount.

Ten pennies for a piece.

The words worth thousands of gold... suffered such bad luck.

What a pity.

What do you mean?

You will pass the imperial exam next year for sure.

By then, these calligraphy and paintings can't be bought even with thousands of gold.

Your writing is generous, casual and detached.

But your poems are all seven-character octaves,

like shackles in a cage,

trapping all your calligraphic vigour and style.

Your sincerity is difficult to display.

What suits you best is not verses,

but ancient poems.

For example, if you slightly adjust the two characters in this sentence

and change it to

"Kunlun comes to Yanran from the west",

it will be more in line with your calligraphic style.

If you do pass the exam,

I'll congratulate you.

It's just that

I can't help feeling sorry for the trapped true temperament.

That being the case,

it is I who took advantage of you.

Hold on.

I am not selling this calligraphy.

I did write a poem on this subject.

Please correct it for me.

Kunlun comes to Yanran from the west.

May I ask your name?

My name is Gu

Qingzhang.

You can call me Shulin.

I've been admiring the seven sages of the bamboo grove since childhood.

I even stole my father's wine,

drank in the bamboo grove and wrote poems,

playing sword and singing.

Later, in order to reverse my father's case,

I had to be an official,

and I had to study Confucianism and the system to imprison myself.

I didn't expect him

to see through me when we first met.

It is rare to meet such a confidant in life.

People who can see through you are rare indeed.

In short,

Shulin and I became good friends after we got acquainted.

Since the sudden change in my family,

that was the most unrestrained period of time for me.

Ten years ago, Sixian Bookstore

was the favorite meeting place for scholars in the capital.

Here, all scholars talked about poetry,

- Long time no see. - Dukou, Chuncha Pavilion exchanged knowledge,

and also made connections

and inquired about the imperial examination.

Letian. This poem is gentle and suave.

What a masterpiece.

Masterpiece.

I have also read a great book,

which is Ruan Ji's Biography of Benevolent Scholar.

The writing is light and agile,

indulgent and unrestrained, without embellishment.

We disdain to talk with you.

Chuncha Pavilion

And as a descendant of a criminal minister,

I was usually looked down upon by others,

and repeatedly excluded on such occasions.

Biography of Benevolent Scholar

Shulin.

I have nothing to do,

so I come to the bookstore to read.

What a coincidence that you are also here.

Are you also reading this book?

The book is unrestrained, hearty, rich and elegant.

Why not read it?

I guess you like it too.

The good weather can't be wasted.

Shulin. If you have nothing to do, would you like to go with me?

Of course.

It's boring to just sit and talk.

Why don't we go enjoy the lake?

That day we found a shabby house in the middle of the lake,

floating on the lake surface among mountains and rivers.

Outside the window was a glimpse of the lake.

We rented it together and lived there.

When I first met him, we used to drink and sing,

enjoy the flowers and cruise the boat.

But the exam was approaching.

I still had this important thing planned in my mind.

You must have seen those scholars who blocked my house

and wanted to give gifts to make friends.

At that time, I wanted to make friends with influential officials

just like them, trying to figure out the examiner's preferences.

Peizhi.

Your running script is already perfect,

why practicing regular script in small characters?

I got some advice today

that my handwriting is too sloppy,

and I need to practice more regular script and clerical script to improve it.

Who made this review?

Master of calligraphy, Minister Sun.

Nonsense.

Just because he likes regular script,

the whole world has to write it?

Peizhi.

You are throwing the gem into the frying pan,

and chopping the fine wood into a coffin.

Peizhi.

Peizhi.

Peizhi.

Peizhi.

Shulin.

Sorry.

Peizhi.

In fact, I know that

Minister Sun is not only a master of calligraphy,

but also the chief examiner of this year's imperial examination.

But with your talents,

you don't have to be like this to be on the list.

There are millions of people in the world.

No one can cover all the bases.

Always pandering will cost you more than you gain.

I had always felt ashamed

in front of Shulin.

So I decided to focus on the present

and temporarily alienate him.

What about later?

Forget it.

Everything ends in smoke.

One finished, all is finished.

After the imperial exam that year, [Xinfeng wine]

I was shocked to hear that the order of the examiners was changed.

I have made the article simple and rigorous.

But the new examiner liked fresh and elegant essays the most.

I felt desperate.

I bought food and drink with the remaining money

and put rat poison in my tass.

Peizhi.

I didn't expect Shulin, who hadn't returned for many days,

to come to our rented house that night.

Peizhi.

Even if your article is so simple and rigorous that

you cannot be ranked among the top three,

at least you can be on the list.

Peizhi.

In the worst case,

if you failed the exam this time,

you can try it again... next year.

He knew that I was in a bad mood,

so he came to relieve me.

But I was determined to die then

and I didn't care about anything.

Cheers.

I thought it was all over.

I didn't expect that the next day I was awakened by the harsh sunlight.

Shulin had disappeared.

I didn't expect myself to be so ill-fated that

even the rat poison I bought was fake.

But later you still got into the official position smoothly.

Because Minister Liu suddenly fell ill and couldn't go over examination papers.

My article was gone over by the original Minister Sun.

I finally got the third place and entered the court as an official.

My only regret is that

Shulin left without saying goodbye

and I've never heard from him.

Now that you're all right,

I am leaving.

I will think about the case.

Go to bed early, sir.

[A League of Nobleman]

Episode 22

Zhang, what have you been doing after the exam?

I could hardly find you.

Well... You are out of your mind

even when you eat.

Chen Chou.

Do you remember the first time we met?

Well.

Who would remember this?

It seems that... It seems that someone said that

a scholar from Xichuan County has a strange temper

and almost doesn't talk to others.

I ran into you.

So I said hi.

And we got to know each other.

How familiar do two people need to be to become confidants?

Zhang, have some tea.

A confidant is hard to come by.

Some people can't become confidants even after being friends for a lifetime.

Are we confidants?

We...

Of course.

Of course we are.

Sir, are you still hesitating

whether to meet that Mr. Gu?

I have to see him anyway.

Why should I be hesitant?

Peizhi.

Ten years on, everything has changed.

I didn't expect the flowers to be as prosperous as they were back then.

That year, on a whim,

we stole his sampan

and had a boat ride on a lake while the old fisherman was asleep.

That's how we found this cottage in the middle of the lake.

At that time, we fled in the boat.

In fact, even if he found out, we just needed to apologize.

I don't understand why we fled.

Peizhi, it's too late to realize it.

- You still remember? - Of course I do.

At that time, you always forgot to bring the key and were locked out many times.

It was my idea.

It's the same here as it was back then.

This...

After I became an official, I was in better condition,

so I bought this place.

We rented such a humble room because it was cheap and quiet.

Why did you buy it?

The good times we had here were precious.

I bought the house as a consolation.

I wonder if the jar of wine is still there

after ten years.

We buried it together ten years ago

and agreed to drink it after the palace examination.

It's still there.

Would you like to drink it?

Sure. Let's get hammered.

What's up?

I would like to ask Mr. Lan how is the torn page going.

He went to meet someone.

He will be right back.

Just wait here for a while.

Cheers.

Shulin.

Why did you leave without saying goodbye?

I didn't leave without saying goodbye.

I just fell ill suddenly

and had to leave.

I remember you were always in good health.

Back then when we swam in the cold lake and slept in the wind,

you never got sick.

Why were you sick all of a sudden?

It was an emergency.

Shulin.

You didn't tell me the truth.

Why bring it up again?

I have been brooding over this matter.

I think that if I can meet you again one day,

I have to ask you about this.

Remember

the last time we met?

Of course I do.

At that time, I thought I was going to fail the exam,

so I got very drunk.

I knew that you were determined to die.

So in desperation,

I exchanged the wine glasses of ours.

I drank the poisoned wine.

Later, seeing that you were drunk,

I pretended to go out, vomited the poisoned wine,

and immediately went to the doctor.

Although I was out of danger,

I couldn't treat the root

and left behind a chronic disease.

Why didn't you tell me?

I saw that you were so sad,

and I was afraid you would be more worried,

so I chose to leave alone, hoping to slowly heal this chronic disease.

How could you do this?

Over the years, I have searched all over for detoxification,

and gradually cleared my poison.

It is precisely because of this

that I became attached to the plants and learned some medical skills.

Otherwise, I couldn't make an antidote for you.

It's true that everything has an intrinsic connection.

Shulin.

You've suffered all these years.

We got along with each other sincerely

and became confidants.

Back then, you should have told me

how depressed you were.

I was burdened with the shackles as the son of a criminal minister,

and everything I did was for the sake of becoming an official through the imperial examination

and overturning my father's case.

I didn't explain to you

because I was afraid of dragging you down.

Peizhi.

I got you.

Why did I fall asleep?

I'm starving.

Zhang Ping.

So early.

Let me introduce.

This is my old friend Gu Qingzhang, or you can call him Shulin.

- This is Zhang Ping. - Nice to meet you.

Shulin is knowledgeable and understands herbal medical science.

Zhang Ping, if you don't understand anything in this regard, ask him for advice.

By the way, did you come looking for me because of any progress of the case?

No, so I'm here to ask how is the torn page going.

The words on it are very involved and abstruse.

I have searched all over the ancient books and compared them word by word,

but it is still difficult to form a sentence.

I have collected a few ancient books, which may be of some help.

In this case, thank you in advance.

Zhang.

Zhang.

- Zhang. - Why are you here?

You haven't come home all night, and I guess you're here.

I have good news for you. Come home with me.

I have to investigate the case with Mr. Lan.

Put the case aside for now.

Look at you. You don't care about anything else.

Are there two people with very similar voices in this world?

Of course.

Why are you asking this?

Come home with me to hear the good news.

Zhang.

What's the good news?

Don't worry.

Look. What did I cook for you today?

Eggs.

Then think about why I cooked eggs.

No idea.

Because they are round.

This is called the Banquet of the First Scholar.

Wait.

The 20th Year of Yongxuan's Palace Examination Selected List

10th Place Zhang Ping Zhang, you entered the palace examination.

Ma Lian was dismissed for cheating.

You, as number eleven, became number ten.

This imperial list is posted all over the streets and alleys.

I just took one back as a souvenir.

It's such a wonderful thing.

You have to seize the opportunity.

After taking this meal, in tomorrow's palace examination,

you will definitely win the first place.

But I don't want to take the palace examination.

Why?

I took the imperial examination

to follow in the footsteps of Mu Yesheng.

But seeing Mr. Tao's end now,

I don't know whether should I become an official or not.

Zhang Ping.

Which scholar didn't persevere in his studies in spite of hardships,

and came to the capital after suffering a lot?

Anyone who has this chance would be grateful.

But you want to give up.

Have you ever thought about the feelings of someone like me who failed the exam?

Chen Chou, I didn't mean that.

That being the case, don't take this meal.

You won't need it anyway.

My good intentions are in vain.

Zhang Ping.

Back then when I saw you were obsessed with investigating cases

and had an upright personality,

you were very much like me back then.

But the reality is so.

If you were me,

what would you do?

Shulin, here you are.

Do you have eyes in the back of your head?

How did you know it's me?

You are the only one who comes and goes without permission.

No. So does Zhang Ping.

What are you hiding?

Could it be...

It's chestnuts.

I didn't know chestnuts back then,

so I ate a big bag of it and drank cold tea.

I'm afraid it's the laughingstock of my life.

You are the first one I have ever seen

who ate so many chestnuts that you had to take digestive medicine.

Sir.

Zhang Ping. Come on.

You came just in time.

Don't you also like chestnuts?

Presumably you came here for the torn page again.

Although there is no breakthrough in the sentence, there is a new translation today.

Read it to see if there are new clues.

What?

Anything in your mind?

It is easy to stagnate liver qi if you keep it all inside.

You might as well speak out to release yourself.

What happened?

Peizhi.

Every autumn and winter, my cough gets worse.

I'll be fine after taking the medicine for a few days.

It's okay.

[A League of Nobleman]