Original subtitles

[English subtitles are available]

[Special Lady]

[Episode 22]

Yu, just see

what is drawn on this paper.

It tells us not to hope for a fluke.

If we don't control our desires and we act absurdly, hoping for a fluke,

after this paper is stained by a drop of ink,

it's no longer white anymore.

You have to read a book many times

so that you can understand its true meaning.

It takes more time

to figure out the personality of a person

and learn about his mind.

Thank you for your guidance.

Wait.

Actually,

I have something on my mind, too.

What is it?

Forget it.

I shouldn't tell you about it.

Just go back.

Brother.

Just tell me.

Don't treat me like a child.

Maybe I can help you think of an idea.

Feiniang, in your opinion,

if a woman has given

a handkerchief with the patterns of mandarin ducks to someone else,

does it mean that

this woman loves that person very much?

Who is it, Brother?

Did she give it to you?

No.

You know these two people, too.

They are Xiao and Zhu.

They...

Teaching Assistant Xiao and Miss Song Zhu?

Forget it.

Just pretend that you didn't hear it.

Why are you here?

Are you still angry?

My dear Qinruo.

I'm here to apologize to you.

Come on. Have a seat.

Sit down.

Look what I've brought you.

I'm not angry.

I don't care.

I embroidered it for a very long time.

You have to accept the gift.

My hand still hurts after I embroidered it.

My hand hurts.

It hurts so much.

Look at this wound.

I didn't ask you to embroider it.

You deserve it as you embroidered the handkerchief yourself.

Yes.

I deserve it as I embroidered the handkerchief myself.

You are my best friend.

If you're angry,

I have to pacify you, don't I?

It won't hurt anymore after I blew on it.

Actually, Yueniang,

I'm not angry with you.

I'm angry with myself.

I knew that

it was a critical moment,

but I just minded the fact that Mr. Xiao held your hand.

Actually, yesterday,

I wanted to make it clear to you.

But I saw Mr. Xiao holding your hand again.

I got

very angry at once.

But I was afraid that I would vent my anger on you,

so I walked away first.

In that case,

I took the blame for Mr. Xiao's mistake.

Since you have given it to me,

it's mine.

You can't take it away.

Ask your Mr. Xiao for it.

Don't be so petty-minded.

Your Mr. Xiao is the most important person.

I'm not important at all. Don't take it.

Who said that?

Yueniang is the most important person.

Really?

Alright.

Since you are so sincere

and like it so much,

I'll forgive you reluctantly

and give it to you.

But this is the most precious thing in the world.

You have to cherish it and keep it well.

Of course.

You're not angry?

I'm not angry.

I have to go.

Don't be angry.

I'm not angry.

I'm not angry.

Yueniang.

What did you forget to take again?

Miss Yan.

Do you have any clothes which you need to wash?

Let me help you wash them together with these clothes.

Feiniang.

No need.

Don't bother.

It's okay.

I usually help my brother wash his clothes.

It's really not necessary.

Thank you.

Alright.

Feiniang.

Look at this.

Yueniang gave this gift to me just now.

Is it beautiful?

Why did Miss Song Zhu always give people a handkerchief?

What are you talking about?

This is her first time embroidering a handkerchief.

It's true.

Then tell me

who else she gave it to.

Song Zhu!

Qinruo.

Did you give Mr. Xiao a handkerchief with patterns of mandarin ducks?

What?

Stop playing dumb.

Whenever there was something between you and Mr. Xiao,

I always told myself,

"Yueniang is your best friend."

"She won't lie to you."

I...

But I actually found out that

you secretly gave Mr. Xiao

a handkerchief with patterns of mandarin ducks.

How...

How could it be possible?

I...

When did I give him a handkerchief with patterns of mandarin ducks?

You still don't admit it?

Feiniang, just say it.

Well...

I'm not clear about this incident, either.

Alright.

I'll figure out

the specific details of this incident.

But it's true that I've never given a handkerchief to him.

The only handkerchief I've ever given to someone

is the one in your hand.

Who would like it?

Yan Qinruo, stop!

There should be a limit for you to make a big fuss.

You only listened to what others said and questioned me.

Do you know that

I feel very wronged because of

your sudden and unjust accusation?

She feels wronged?

She even yelled at me.

Miss Yan.

Miss Yan!

Miss Yan!

Miss Yan, slow down.

The mountain road is rough.

Don't sprain your ankles.

Miss Yan.

Why are you still following me?

I'm here to apologize to you.

Apologize?

Why are you apologizing to me?

Miss Yan,

stop being angry with me, okay?

I'm sorry.

Stop following me.

Miss Yan.

But I didn't bully you.

Why are you crying?

Miss Yan,

stop being angry with me, okay?

I'm sorry.

I won't do it again.

Alright.

Stop crying.

I didn't yell at you on purpose.

Stop crying.

Since I arrived in Yiyang,

besides my brother,

I think that you've been the one who treats me the best.

Now,

I've made you, the person who treats me the best,

feel bad.

Alright.

Coincidentally, I also want to go out for a walk.

Come with me.

Then you should smile now.

You look so sad.

Aren't you happy to have some soft drinks?

Let's go.

Zhu.

Junior Zhou.

Where is Xiao Yu?

Aren't you the one who knows

where Xiao has gone the best?

You were with Xiao during class,

and you were with Xiao after class.

Anyway,

just go find him yourself.

How come all of them are so weird?

Junior Zhou,

have you also heard about

the handkerchief with patterns of mandarin ducks?

I've never given a handkerchief with patterns of mandarin ducks to anybody.

I saw the gift you gave to Xiao.

I gave him a gift in order to apologize to him.

Besides, I gave him a wolf-hair brush.

But that handkerchief is right inside this dorm.

It's inside this dorm?

How about this, Yueniang?

You can give that to him,

and I'll give this to him.

Then let's give our gifts to him together.

Okay.

You misunderstood it.

Just see what you've done.

Xiao Yu,

answer my questions carefully.

Just answer the questions carefully.

What gift did you get from me?

And what gift did you get from Qinruo?

Say it.

What gifts did I receive?

I...

Well, I mean...

I misunderstood you,

so I gave you a gift in order to apologize to you.

What gift did you get from me?

Don't you know

what gift you gave me?

You gave me a handkerchief with patterns of mandarin ducks.

Miss Yan gave me a wolf-hair brush.

What?

No!

You misunderstood it.

I gave you a wolf-hair brush.

What Qinruo gave you is the handkerchief with patterns of mandarin ducks.

Look.

Now you're clear about the misunderstandings, huh?

How could you misunderstand me?

I apologize to you.

Zhou.

I think I've lagged behind in my studies in the past several days.

Can you give me some guidance?

Sure.

No.

Don't say yes to him.

Go away.

Junior Zhou,

though I've made it clear to you,

Qinruo still has a misunderstanding on me.

Come with me.

Take the handkerchief and go with me

to explain it clearly to Qinruo.

You have to clear up this misunderstanding for me.

Stop.

Let's go.

Stop.

Do you know where Miss Yan is now?

So,

you should go home now.

She will definitely go back to the dorm tonight.

After she goes back to the dorm,

you can explain it to her clearly and it'll be fine, right?

Alright.

Junior Zhou.

Wait! Stop!

Zhu.

This is the boys' dorm, isn't it?

It's inappropriate for you to stay here, right?

I just want to stay here.

I can take this chance to ask Junior Zhou for some advice.

What advice do you want to ask him for?

Zhou promised to give me some advice first.

Go away.

Junior Zhou promised me first.

He promised me first.

Didn't you hear it clearly?

I said it first.

What are you talking about?

Junior Zhou has promised me.

Junior Zhou.

Are you clear about what kind of person she is now?

Junior Zhou.

He provoked me first.

Did you saw that?

I have a question.

My studies are the most important.

Go away.

Miss Yan, you're here again.

Ma'am.

I want to order the food I used to order.

Okay.

Miss Yan,

you've bought too many gifts.

It's okay.

It was my fault after all.

I shouldn't have vented my anger on you.

Sometimes,

I feel troubled because of

my bad temper.

Alright.

Let's sit down and talk.

When I was a kid,

I was the youngest child in my family.

So,

both my father and brother doted on me.

It was even more difficult

to change my bad temper.

Both your father and bother dote on you.

That's great.

Mr. Zhou dotes on you, too.

He has been running around a lot

for your admission to the school.

I know that my brother loves me.

Feiniang,

actually, we know some of the situations

about you and Mr. Zhou

as well as your family.

But I don't think it's a big deal.

You don't mind that?

Why should I mind it?

Mr. Zhou helped me and saved me.

I treat him as a friend.

From now on,

you are my sister.

If you have something on your mind,

you can tell me about it.

Mis Yan,

you're so nice.

Don't cry.

This...

It means...

What about this?

And this one.

So it's...

Zhu.

Are you alright?

Zhou.

I still don’t understand this part.

Can you explain it to me again?

This article tells us that...

Zhou.

You explained it so well.

This article tells us that...

I see.

Zhu.

Even if you stared at this for a year, it would be useless.

The word "virtuous"

has nothing to do with you.

You know it but you don't do it,

and it's called dishonesty.

You do it but you fail,

and it's called incapability.

Therefore...

Move your hands away.

Zhu, why don't you take a rest?

Did you hear that?

He asked you to take a rest.

No, you...

I'll take your advice.

Junior Zhou,

I'll go wash your clothes.

-I'll wash the clothes for you. -Those clothes...

Those clothes have just been washed.

Look.

Look at Zhu.

She is so reckless.

I don't know what trouble she might cause.

I’d better go check it out.

Zhou.

For all the questions I asked just now, please leave written comments about them.

I'll go out and take a look.

Leave the written comments for me.

Be good, Feiniang.

Don't cry.

Miss Yan.

Taste it.

Thank you, Miss Yan.

It's very delicious.

I told you so.

The drinks here are delicious.

Miss Yan.

When we were shopping just now,

I noticed that you were away alone for a while.

You bought

that little box for Miss Song Zhu, right?

This is the first time Yueniang has yelled at me.

I think I've wronged her again.

But I've already said those words to her.

Besides, for the handkerchief

which Yueniang had embroidered for me personally,

I even threw it on the ground.

Miss Yan.

Don't worry.

Although Yueniang yelled at me in the end,

I could feel that

she was also very sad.

I think Miss Song must be the same as you.

She must have said something harsh out of anger.

If you give her the gift you bought,

she will definitely make up with you.

Really?

I hope so.

Actually, Feiniang,

all these friends around me

have been on good terms with me

because of my family background.

But only Yueniang is different from them.

Since the first time I met her,

she treated me differently from others.

Do you think mine looks good?

It looks so nice.

Who is that?

Let's go and take a look.

This lady looks so gorgeous.

Yes.

Who is this lady?

Ladies,

my name is Yan Qinruo.

It's my first day at school.

So,

I've brought you some cosmetics.

Please take care of me in the future.

-Really? -Cosmetics?

Let's go and have a look.

Let's go at once to take a look.

Great!

Thank you.

Pick whatever you like.

This one.

I like this one.

All the cosmetics used by Miss Yan are high-quality goods.

They must be expensive.

They are not expensive.

If you like them,

take whatever you want.

Thank you, Miss Yan.

Here you are.

Miss Yan, you're so nice.

It smells so good.

Look at mine. It smells so good.

Miss Yan is so generous.

-Put it on. -Try it on.

Let me wipe it for you.

Okay.

Do I look good?

Yes.

Let me take a look.

Does it match my clothes?

Miss, this rouge is for you.

No need.

I don't like these things.

I like this.

What is this?

Are you curious?

A wreath?

Yueniang, you know how to make this?

From now on, if you need anything at the academy,

you can come to me.

I'll take care of you.

Are we friends now?

From now on, Song Zhu and Yan Qinruo

are best friends.

I'm so happy.

Me, too.

Alright.

It's getting late.

Let's go back.

Okay.

I want to send the pastries to my brother first.

Okay.

I'll go with you.

Thank you, Miss Yan.

Ma'am,

pack these things up for me.

Okay.

Coming.

Come here.

Look.

Why is Senior Song washing clothes in the men's dorm?

Right.

Maybe there's no place for her to wash the clothes at the women's dorm.

Let's go.

-Xiao. -Xiao.

Li.

Are you going to wash your clothes?

Do you know how to wash clothes?

Of course.

I know how to wash clothes.

See?

You're so skillful. I can tell that you don't know how to wash clothes.

A person who seldom does housework

and doesn't know the differences between the five grains

dares to judge me?

Who seldom does housework and doesn't know the differences between the five grains?

I'm good at doing all kinds of housework.

Can you do that?

Do it.

Do it.

I'll do it. I'll do it. I can do it.

I acutally can do it.

However,

I didn't ask to do this work.

Figure out a way yourself.

Xiao Yu, are you trying to cause trouble to me?

Let me tell you.

-I've hated you for a long time. -You broke it by throwing it.

You broke Zhou's clothes.

Don't stay here if you're free.

Just go away.

I really have something to do.

I came here to laugh at you, didn't I?

Xiao Yu, do you want to die?

Brother.

Your clothes are broken just like that.

It's okay.

It's just a piece of clothes.

Don't worry about it.

I'm sorry, Junior Zhou.

I’ll buy you a new one later.

No need.

You were kind enough to wash my clothes.

There are too many people here.

Let's go back first.

Okay. Let me help you.

Junior Zhou.

Yueniang.

Qinruo, you came just in time.

Otherwise, when you return to the dorm tonight,

I'll still need to go to see you.

Teaching Assistant Xiao.

Explain the misunderstanding to Qinruo clearly.

I...

What should I explain?

You...

How can you be so useless at the critical moment?

Give me the handkerchief.

Do you remember that day when we went to select some gifts?

You would give him a handkerchief with patterns of mandarin ducks.

I would give him a wolf-hair brush.

The shopkeeper packed these two gifts wrongly.

How could such a mistake happen?

Alright.

Now the misunderstanding has been cleared up.

The injustice for me

has been cleared up, too.

Yueniang.

Teaching Assistant Xiao.

Come and take a look at once.

Come and take a look at this chess game.

Come and take a look.

Your favourite slingshot.

And your little Qinruo whom you like more.

Stop being angry.

So you think that you can pacify me with this slingshot?

The workmanship is not very good.

Right.

How can this workmanship be compared with Yueniang's?

How about this?

After you improve it,

let's still use it to get some fruits.

Let's talk about it when there are fruits.

Look at you.

Do you know how bad

your temper was when you blamed me?

If you dare to do this again,

I'll shoot you with this slingshot so that you can calm down.

I'm sorry.

Just punish me as you like.

That's more like it.

So you're not angry now?

I'll forgive you this time.

Stop.

Anyway,

you're one of the people who

caused this trouble.

Don't you have anything

to say to Qinruo?

I caused the trouble?

I have something to do.

I'll go inside first.

You two talk.

It's up to you now.

Yueniang.

Wait. Make it clear.

Mr. Xiao.

Brother.

I've washed

these clothes for you previously, haven't I?

They've got dirty again after I've worn them these two days.

Feiniang.

Miss Song Zhu.

Miss Song Zhu.

I talked nonsense previously,

which made you and Miss Yan fall out with each other.

I know I was wrong.

I'm sorry, Miss Song Zhu.

It’s okay.

I've explained it to Qinruo clearly.

Don't worry about it.

Really?

Great.

Miss Song Zhu, have a seat.

Miss Yan bought some pastries.

Sit down and let's eat together.

Okay.

Brother, stop working.

-Come and have some pastries. -Okay.

I'm sorry, Mr. Xiao.

I misunderstood Yueniang

and caused you a lot of trouble.

Mr. Xiao.

I'm fine.

It doesn't matter.

It's all right as long as you've explained it to Zhu clearly.

Here you are, Miss Song Zhu.

Thank you.

Junior Zhou, eat it first.

Feiniang, eat it first.

Okay.

It suddenly occurred to me that

I had something to do.

I have to go back first.

Enjoy the food.

Feiniang, be careful on your way back.

Miss Fei.

Teaching Assistant Xiao.

Miss Yan.

Why did you come out alone?

Where are they?

Miss Song and my brother are eating pastries inside.

If there's nothing else,

I'll go back first.

I haven't finished washing my brother's clothes.

Just go.

Bye, Miss Yan.

Bye, Teaching Assistant Xiao.

Mr. Xiao.

What are you looking at?

Nothing.

Are you worried about Yueniang?

Yes.

Yes.

Zhu.

Junior Zhou, eat it first.

By the way, Junior Zhou,

for what happened today...

Don't worry about

what happened today.

We've figured out

the truth, haven't we?

Mr. Xiao,

do you have a crush on Yueniang?

What do you mean?

It's the literal meaning.

You don't talk, and it means that you have a crush on her.

I don't have a crush on her.

That's good.

However, isn't it good that Yueniang and Mr. Zhou

are inside the room?

Zhu is alone with Zhou

in the dorm.

I'm afraid if others see them,

it'll be bad for her reputation.

Don't worry, Mr. Xiao.

I believe that Junior Zhou

will handle such things well.

He won't let others gossip about Yueniang arbitrarily.

If there's nothing else,

I'll go back first.

Then I won't disturb you any longer.

By the way, Zhu...

After school tomorrow,

shall we go to the Wenjing Hall together?

The Wenjing Hall?

Yes, let's go together.

It suddenly occurred to me that

I still had some homework to do.

See you tomorrow.

See you tomorrow.

I'm leaving.

Song...

Zhou.

Is there a happy event?

You keep smiling.

Nothing.

But the pastries I ate just now were too sweet.

Too sweet.

Really?

Let me taste it, too.

Eat more.

Miss Yan bought them.

Young Master.

During the daytime, I carefully investigated

the leader of the local ruffians who caused trouble to the villagers,

and found out that he's the brother of Li Shancai's wife.

His name is Zhao Shoucai.

They colluded with each other.

Li Shancai oppressed the street vendors through him.

In that case,

though they paid the protection fees to the local ruffians,

actually, the money was given to the people of the local government.

The phenomenon of the government secretly instigating the local ruffians has become a serious problem.

I think the source of the problem

is the loopholes in taxes.

Currently, it seems

to be the case.

After all, the key is the source of the problem.

People in the world are divided into five ranks.

People of the top three ranks are exempt from taxes.

People of the lower two ranks are evaluated according to the contributions of their ancestors.

With more contributions, they can pay less taxes. With no contributions, they have to pay more taxes.

Those people without contributions are mostly commoners,

pedlars, menial servants, landlords and tenant farmers.

Li Shancai made this scheme.

He must have considered that those people without contributions

have no privileged backgrounds or backers.

That's why he used the local ruffians' power more unscrupulously,

and charged Safety Money on the basis of taxes.

Such protection fees are neither legal nor illegal,

and are collected with neither a legitimate nor a clear reason.

It's surprising that Li Shancai

dares to use the loopholes in taxes to make profits.

He's so bold.

Report this case to the Crown Prince as soon as possible.

Yes.

Young Master.

Li Shancai is just a magistrate of Yiyang.

How dare he be so unscrupulous?

Does he have a bigger backer behind him?

The corruption case involves many people.

Is it possible that

the Yiyang Acadmey has something to do with Li Shancai?

There's no time to lose.

Let's go to the Li Mansion tonight

to see if we can find some clues.

It turns out to be you, little thing.

It's late at night. Don't run around.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Uncle Hu.

This one.

It's hollow.

I think it's a secret compartment.

There must be a mechanism.

Young Master.

It's indeed a secret compartment.

An account book?

[Duke Yue's Fund Raising Account Book]

What does this mean?

This should be the donation money Duke Yue has acquired

from these fifty people.

1,000 taels a month.

It's the donation money given to the Four Academies.

Why is this account book in Li Shancai's house?

Besides, they hid it so carefully.

There's something even weirder.

Look.

950 taels.

Young Master.

If all the donation money

was given to Li Shancai in the end,

what does that mean?

It means that Li Shancai has even embezzled the donation money.

This is the donation money raised by Duke Yue.

He even dared to embezzle it?

Was he really that bold?

So, maybe Duke Yue

colluded with Li Shancai.

We need to investigate this case carefully.

Yes.

We have to investigate not only Li Shancai

but also Duke Yue.

By the way,

we also need to investigate Song's Academy

and the other three academies.

Why are all of them written in this account book?

Without these several academies being the covers,

this money wouldn't have flowed back to Li Shancai.

There's one more thing that's very weird.

Didn't these donors

learn about

where the money they had donated would be taken to?

If the money they had donated was not used for charity,

would they not notice it

and would they keep donating money?

Unless...

Those donors were also the beneficiaries.

The donors were the beneficiaries?

What benefits could they get?

They could avoid taxes.

Have you forgotten the case

where Zhao Shoucai used the loopholes in the city gate taxes to accumulate wealth?

Their ideas are the same, though the methods are different.

You mean that

they used the donation as a cover

to avoid taxes?

Then these academies have become institutions for

money laundering and tax evasion, right?

Just now, I read the account book and noticed that

all the people behind Duke Yue were merchants.

There were no officials.

This is a loophole in taxes.

Officials don't need to pay taxes.

People don't need to pay taxes for donations.

But merchants need to pay taxes.

Duke Yue and Wan Li are good friends,

and Lord Zuo is Wan Li's trusted aide.

Both of them are related to Li Shancai.

Did Wan Li also get involved in this case?

Or,

was he the mastermind?

But now,

we still need to figure out the truth about the account book

and solve the corruption case as soon as possible.

Uncle Hu.

Let's split up to take action.

You should go outside and investigate the case.

Start from Li Shancai to find out about the details.

I remember that Xue Hanfu in the academy

seems to come from a merchant's family, too.

I'll go sound him out

to see if there are any valuable clues.

Yes.

Uncle Hu.

Do you think that

something is missing in the account book?

What is it?

How come there are only incomes and no expenditures?