Original subtitles

♫ In the stormy night ♫

♫ The dark hair of a charming woman is reflected in the flame of a candle ♫

♫ Shrouded by year after year of memories ♫

♫ I can do nothing but feign indifference ♫

♫ Outlining your cheeks ♫

♫ Together and apart, just like quicksand ♫

♫ I'm meant to make peace with myself ♫

♫ Rebuild or crumble ♫

♫ Drift away in the clouds ♫

♫ Driving away ♫

♫ Your dashing pretense ♫

♫ A drunken dream ♫

♫ A person I miss ♫

♫ Of course I know if it's real ♫

♫ Even if you're just by my side ♫

♫ I want to hold on to you but I can only play dumb ♫

[In Blossom]

[Episode 32]

[Grand Commandant's Residence]

Please.

Please.

- Mr. Zhou. - Mr. Wang.

How have you been?

- Yes. - It's been a long time.

Mr. Sun, please.

- Mr. Sun. - Please...

- Please. - Please...

Grand Commandant Jia, you look even more impressive in your armor.

Please support us in the future.

Yes, Grand Commandant Jia. Please support us.

Grand Commandant Jia. No, we should be calling you Grand Marshal now.

Congratulations, Grand Marshal.

Thank you.

Mr. Liu. It's a great honor to have you here.

From now on, we will rely on you to protect the nation

so that the people will not have to wander away,

and the royalty will not have to endure suffering.

I will spare no effort to achieve this.

Isn't this Mr. Pan? He is...

Mr. Pan has a good reputation,

but it's a pity that he has a son who's not good enough.

And he's been suspended.

I feel sorry for him, so I'll let him show his loyalty to the Empress.

I know you're still thinking about Jing.

But today is your husband's big day.

I've come here to keep you company.

You should take good care of yourself.

[Grand Commandant's Residence]

The ceremony is about to begin. Why isn't Jiang here yet?

Are you Bai Xiaosheng?

Yes, it's me.

He asked me to find Bai Xiaosheng.

Tell her that I want...

I want to go back to the side of my best friend I've ever had.

Okay?

♫ Looking back, it's autumn ♫

♫ Whose gentle tears fall? ♫

♫ Your heart is troubled, your sigh filled with love and sorrow ♫

♫ You look back, your life's wish ♫

♫ For whom you are playing this tune? ♫

♫ I saw through the parting between life and death ♫

♫ The dream of reincarnation, I'm seeing you off again in my heart ♫

♫ I am still thinking of you in another life ♫

♫ How passionate your love is ♫

♫ The pain of reincarnation ♫

♫ Tore apart the heaviness of the cage ♫

♫ I ring the bell of reincarnation ♫

♫ And look forward to embracing you again ♫

♫ Looking back, it's autumn ♫

♫ Whose gentle tears fall? ♫

♫ Your heart is troubled, your sigh filled with love and sorrow ♫

Here's a trick for you.

Whenever you're sad, you can have something sweet.

The sweetness in your mouth will wash away the sadness.

♫ The pain of reincarnation ♫

♫ Tore apart the heaviness of the cage ♫

♫ I ring the bell of reincarnation ♫

♫ And look forward to embracing you again ♫

♫ The pain of reincarnation is a dream planted in the past life ♫

Promotion announcement.

By order of the Emperor, I am here to deliver a decree.

Jia Quan, listen to the decree.

The Grand Commandant, Jia Quan.

He is a man of virtue and clear mind,

who has been entrusted with authority for more than a decade

and still shoulders the burden of protecting the country.

He undertakes the responsibility

of preaching and spreading my benevolence and righteousness all over the world.

I hereby appoint Jia Quan as Grand Marshal

and authorize him to assume command of the three armies.

Accept the decree.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

Long live, Your Majesty.

Bring up the Golden Seal with Purple Shade.

Bring up the Tiger Token.

Receive it.

Hold on!

- What... - What...

What's going on?

What's Pan Yue doing here?

This is Princess Changle's memorial tablet. Who dares show disrespect?

[The Late Princess Changle, Liu's Memorial Tablet]

- Princess Changle? - You're fugitives!

How dare you break into my residence with a weapon? Take them down!

Your Majesty, there's another cause for Princess Changle's death.

The real culprit is related to an enemy spy.

Your Majesty, I hope you'll allow me to present my defense

so that the princess can rest in peace.

An enemy spy?

Your Majesty, they are trying to clear their names by obfuscating the issue.

Today is the Grand Marshal's conferral ceremony.

Don't let the two of them delay the auspicious time.

I suggest that they be sent to jail, and be tried after that.

Your Majesty!

Father.

Your Majesty, the conferral ceremony is important, but it's about an enemy spy.

It's not a trifle, Your Majesty.

I am willing to put my life on the line to beg you

to give him another chance to explain himself, Your Majesty.

Come forward and talk.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

Yang Caiwei committed a murder and escaped from jail.

The evidence is completely concrete.

What else can you claim?

In order to uncover the spy in the court,

the princess went out of her way to ruin her reputation by pretending to be engaged to me.

She was eventually forced to commit suicide.

That's how the spy set up Yang Caiwei to stop us from investigating.

This is not a love murder, but a well-planned conspiracy.

That's impossible. I know Jing well.

No one could make her do anything she didn't want to do.

Let's not even talk about whether or not her engagement to you was real.

What kind of person could force her to take her own life?

The spy used your life to force the princess to give in.

Who's the person you're talking about?

"The incident at Qixia Ridge was due to the spouse."

These are the last words of the princess.

The person who forced her to commit suicide

and the one who killed General Liu and his wife in Luoxi

is your spouse, the Grand Commandant, Jia Quan.

His true identity is a spy of the Jiang clan.

Spy?

That's a load of nonsense!

Ten years ago, my father received a whistle blowing letter

reporting an enemy spy in the court.

My father was killed for investigating this matter.

I've been living in obscurity in Heyang, for the past ten years.

When Pan Yue sought me for marriage, the enemy spy sent someone to assassinate me.

However, they accidentally killed Shangguan Zhi, who was impersonating me.

Pan Yue and I investigated and found out

that the enemy spy established an influence to smuggle halite into Heyang.

[Maintaining the Peace]

He joined hands with the brothel, Shiluo Garden, for the exchange of power and sex.

They got the Custom Clearance Document [Custom Clearance Document]

to smuggle halite to the Northwest, and sell it at a low price,

causing the Northwestern army to have no pay. That triggered a mutiny.

He ultimately framed General Lu with it.

And the ultimate beneficiary of all this is Jia Quan.

He took the opportunity to seize the military power

to make it easy for the Jiang clan to invade.

How eloquent you are. You're full of righteousness.

Pan Yue, you just heard the words "Qixia Ridge" from the princess,

and you made up such an outrageous story.

I know you're still in love with Miss Yang.

You went to great lengths to get her off the hook.

But I don't get it.

In Heyang, you have the reputation of being a great magistrate.

Why can't you distinguish between right and wrong, for the sake of a witch?

Your Majesty, they're blatantly slandering a high-ranking official without evidence.

They should be executed according to the law.

Rules and discipline must not be abrogated,

and the order of the country must not be disrupted.

Your Majesty, please decree an immediate execution.

Mr. Sun, how do you know I have no evidence?

Do you really think you've destroyed all the evidence?

Your Majesty, please allow me to present the witness.

Come in.

[High Aspiration]

Greetings, Your Majesty.

My name is Yunchang.

I am a performer at Shiluo Garden.

I am also the one who wrote the whistle blowing letter to Mr. Yang.

Ten years ago, it was the first time I met Jia Quan.

[Secret Letter]

Why did you come back here?

We've got the letter of the spy official in communication with the enemy.

Besides...

Besides, he's very powerful in Heyang.

When we were discovered, we were afraid we'd be silenced,

so we had to run away at night to talk to you about what to do.

I knew Jia Quan wouldn't let us go, so I wrote to Mr. Yang, hoping he'd bring Jia Quan down.

But not long after,

we heard the news that Mr. Yang had been demoted, and killed on his way to exile.

That's when we realized how powerful this man is.

He has absolute authority.

We'd been living in seclusion in Heyang ever since.

But soon after, Jia Quan found out where we were, and sent his men to kill us.

In order to protect myself, I teamed up with Grand Commandant Jia's henchman, Zuo Jingfei,

to imitate the famous Resurrection of the Heavenly Master Case in Heyang.

We killed three of my friends and faked my own corpse, so as to escape from death.

Everything I've said is true.

This is the secret letter from back then.

[Dear buddies, I've already set up a plan in Heyang.]

[We can make huge profits from smuggling the halite into the country.]

[With money and the imperial connections of the princesses, ]

[I'll be on my way to the top in a few years. I'll be working with you guys.]

[The Central Plains will fall into the hands of the Jiang clan.]

[Yuchi Changqing.]

Your Majesty, I've never seen this woman before, and I've never been to Shiluo Garden.

They bribed a prostitute to forge a letter, and pin such a big crime on me.

Your Majesty, please judge it wisely.

Pan Yue, this letter carries a lot of weight.

But how do I know you didn't forge this letter?

A letter can be forged but not a fingerprint.

We can verify it by comparing it with Grand Commandant Jia's fingerprint.

I'm an important official of the country.

I can't let you, a suspect, examine and humiliate me with just a few accusations.

What do you think are the rules and order of the country?

We'll find out if it's a fabrication once we verify it.

Grand Commandant Jia, you can't do it, or you dare not do it?

You...

How could Jia Quan be a spy?

Grand Commandant Jia, just take off your gloves.

- Your Majesty... - Take them off.

Yes.

His fingers are injured.

- What to do? - Yeah. That's hard to say.

This can't be true, can it?

The day before, Grand Commandant Jia was traveling with the Emperor,

and the young Crown Prince was almost run over by a carriage.

Grand Commandant Jia's fingers were run over by the carriage to save the Crown Prince.

The fact that he was trying to cover it up shows that he is guilty of something.

Please judge it wisely, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty. Give a dog a bad name, then hang him.

Pan Yue must have known about my injury in advance,

so he made up a letter of accusation that I couldn't prove it wrong.

I have been an official for more than ten years.

I dare not say that I have made great achievements,

but I do believe I always do my best and I have never done anything wrong.

I can't prove what I haven't done.

If Your Majesty or any of the officials still have any doubts,

I ask to be demoted to the status of a commoner from today.

Please fulfill my request, Your Majesty.

You saved the Crown Prince's life. How could I suspect you?

Help him up already.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

Pan Yue, if there's no more evidence, you'll be punished as a false accuser.

Your Majesty. There's someone at the door.

She says she's got some crucial evidence to present.

Summon her in.

♫ Worshiping the dead ♫

♫ Boiling a pot of bitter wine ♫

♫ As decades of spring and autumn pass ♫

♫ I watch the surges of unending waves ♫

♫ I wish upon you all that is well ♫

♫ Let out a cry that ends all relations ♫

♫ Staying in this boundless realm of purgatory ♫

♫ Just to protect your tenderness ♫

♫ Even with great tact ♫

♫ How do you plan for love and revenge? ♫

♫ Longing turns to ashes, ashes scatter to thin air ♫

♫ Wait for a chance to start anew after the past life ends ♫

♫ Despite countless thoughts ♫

♫ What should I do with my aching body? ♫

♫ Attracted by the setting moon and refuse to leave ♫

♫ Don't forget the way you came ♫

♫ A bright heart worn by tragedies ♫

Caiwei,

Jiang left a last message

saying he wanted to return to the side of his once best friend.

I think he was trying to pass on some kind of clue to you.

He must have tried to tell us something.

I'll let you have the ledger before the seal-giving ceremony.

After we bring down Jia Quan, let's go back to Heyang with Xiaosheng.

Does it have anything to do with the ledger?

There's nothing on him.

Is the key piece of evidence you're talking about a dead man?

Your Majesty, the dead can talk.

Please allow me to perform an autopsy.

What an outrageous request.

Your Majesty.

Pan Yue and Yang Caiwei haven't produced a single piece of substantial evidence so far.

And now they want to desecrate an imperial ceremony with an unknown corpse.

It's a sinister intention.

Yes, it's improper to conduct an autopsy at a ceremony.

Exactly. That's inappropriate.

Indeed.

Your Majesty,

what Pan Yue and Yang Caiwei said just now is really appalling.

I worked with Yang Ji'an for many years, and I know he was upright.

Nevertheless, he died in mysterious circumstances.

This has always been a concern to me.

Now the new case has not been solved, and the old case has been reopened.

Your Majesty, please give them another chance

so that no truly loyal official will be wronged and be left with no peace.

Mr. Liu.

Since Mr. Liu has said so, it's fine, then.

I shall give you another chance.

No strange objects in the abdomen.

It's called "Peace in four cardinal directions".

My mother taught me this.

She said this will keep me safe when I'm out there.

This way, you'll be safe when you fight with others.

What have you found?

The wounds on Jiang's body were all from whips and beatings.

But you can see that these three stab wounds

look like they were inflicted by a sharp instrument.

And the force was applied evenly.

If someone else had done the stabbings, he would have avoided them because of the pain.

They wouldn't be in that fine order.

So you're saying that Jiang did all the stabbings himself?

Yes.

But what was he trying to tell us by stabbing himself?

Up here is the Yutang acupoint, and down here is the Jianli acupoint.

The left Qimen acupoint is injured, but the symmetrical Qimen acupoint on the right is not.

The Qimen acupoint is the uppermost point of the liver meridian.

According to Huangdi Neijing,

the oriental green color goes to the liver, which is similar to grass and trees.

Could what he's trying to tell us have anything to do with this?

Jiang must have been exposed when he was looking for the ledger.

Oriental.

The green wood.

Could it mean where the ledger is kept?

- That's possible. - Pan Yue, what have you found?

Your Majesty, through the autopsy, I suspect that the ledger on the halite smuggling

is in one of the eastern rooms of Grand Commandant's Residence.

Please allow me to lead a search.

- Your Majesty. - Your Majesty.

It's a matter of country justice and life and death.

It's better to be careful.

If my husband

is truly innocent,

I hope he can clear his name in public.

- Eunuch Gao. - Yes.

Go with him.

If he can't provide evidence before the incense burns out, he will be executed.

Oh, no.

Pan Yue hasn't come back yet.

Time's almost up.

Green color.

Green color.

Green color.

It's this room.

Time's up.

Yue...

He checked everywhere and found nothing.

Take them down. No one is allowed to ask for mercy.

I'm sorry to have made you suffer, for clearing up your suspicions, Grand Commandant.

Your Majesty, I don't mind.

Loyalists uphold the highest regard for justice.

As long as the truth is found, it's okay for me to suffer a little.

Pan Yue started a rumor and slander in public.

I'll let you decide what to do about him, Grand Commandant.

Yes.

Pan Yue,

you've disregarded the Emperor's grace, let the princess down, and committed a great crime.

And you still won't repent.

Now, I can only punish you to death as a warning to others.

You and I both know you're the one who deserves to die.

So what?

The winner takes all.

And now the victory has been determined.

It's not certain who's going to win.

You're right.

The winner takes all.

The victory has been determined.

The green wood.

Your Majesty. A search of the study yielded nothing.

[Found evidence against Jia Quan, don't alert him yet]

The evidence of Jia Quan's complicity with the enemy is solid.

Jia Quan, what can you say about your disregard for the Emperor's grace?

Pan Yue,

you're smart indeed.

But do you think I don't have a way to escape?

This...

What... What's with all these people?

Jia Quan, how dare you rebel?

- Why not? - Darling!

Whether I rebel or not, I'll die still.

It's not a bad thing that I have so many honorable people to die with me.

Grand Commandant Jia, you...

Let me go.

Or everyone will die.

Pan Yue!

Mr. Pan.

[Ledger]

Thanks to Mr. Pan's foresight, he found the ledger, and sent someone to get help.

Jia Quan, you've betrayed the country, murdered the princess, and framed loyal officials.

All of which are worthy of death.

Guards! Take him to jail to await punishment!

Qi.

I'm sorry.

It's all right. Don't say you're sorry.

For the rest of your life, you'll just have to be true to yourself.

[Pan Mansion]

[Jia Quan's Conspiracy Case]

It's out of ink. Grind it.

It's you.

I've come to say goodbye.

Today, I've asked the Emperor for permission to go back to Heyang to be the magistrate.

Okay. Go ahead.

I'll find out the rest of Jia Quan's gang.

Yue.

Father.

Take care.

[Shuyu Abode]

I'm sorry that I lied to you for so long.

It's Zhi's fault. You didn't do anything wrong.

I won't blame you.

In fact, I came here today to see you

and...

see Zhi again.

Ian, you're back.

Ian, why are you like this?

Ian, please promise me.

Zhi.

Mr. Shangguan.

Perhaps...

if I could see another Zhi alive in this world,

that...

would be enough for me.

[Tomb of Zhuo Lanjiang]

[Tomb of Zhuo Shanju]

Jiang,

you once said we'd go back to Heyang together, and get drunk for three days

after bringing down Jia Quan.

The osmanthus wine from our usual place to my best friend.

I'm fine, Caiwei.

But I want to spend more time with him.

You may leave now.

[Tomb of Zhuo Lanjiang]

Jiang?

It's going to rain. This weather is really...

Why are you running away?

You...

You're a woman?

Why? You can only badmouth people behind their backs, huh?

I'd say the same thing to your face.

I want to teach you how to be a man. I'm going to give you a good lecture.

♫ The dream of reincarnation. I'm seeing you off again in my heart ♫

I'm different from you guys. All you talk about is love.

Why do you believe me?

When I questioned you at Ghost Market,

you didn't betray your friends even though you were scared.

I think you're trustworthy.

Don't you dare touch her.

Zhuo Lanjiang.

You're pretty smart. Good teamwork.

Don't worry. I'm here. You'll be fine.

Oh, right. Little Liar...

♫ Looking back, it's autumn ♫

I only feel like a person

when you're around.

♫ You look back, your life's wish ♫

♫ For whom you are playing this tune ♫

That day, I made a wish under the Tree of Love.

I said

I hope I'll be there for you through thick and thin.

♫ How passionate your love is ♫

Unfortunately, that's not going to happen.

♫ Tore apart the heaviness of the cage ♫

It's a pity.

[Tomb of Zhuo Lanjiang]

But that's okay.

I've already married you

a million times in my heart.

Do you remember when I first came to Heyang?

Of course I do. Your arrival in Heyang was a sensation.

How can I forget the scene where you were adored by the women?

At that time, Heyang was still an evil city

where the virtuous could only be silent and brutality was rampant.

Even you almost became a scapegoat.

Yes.

That's why I was thinking that I hoped that one day, Heyang's unjust cases would be solved

and there would be no more innocent graves in Heyang.

But I didn't expect to pay such a big price.

Both Jiang and the princess, you and me,

or even everyone in the world, are often out of our depth.

No matter what, we all have to hold onto our beliefs to make the journey of life worthwhile.

♫ That left half my life stranded ♫

♫ How to not sigh at the parting sorrow as flowers fall ♫

As long as I have you, I won't be afraid of the journey ahead,

and my life will be worth living.

♫ Every stroke is your brilliance ♫

♫ Endless thoughts on the wind and moon ♫

♫ Never letting down or forgetting this glimpse of a life ♫

♫ If not for my solitary delight ♫

♫ Why not attend it alone? ♫

Sir, this is Jia Quan's token.

[Two]

How come it's two?

- Could it be wrong? - I found it myself. It can't be wrong.

Send it to the evidence room right away. No one is allowed to come near it.

Yes.

[One]

♫ Like the dew, we wait for the glimmer of light to greet the morning ♫

♫ How many looks do we need to affirm each other? ♫

♫ It's sincerity that fools me ♫

♫ But it's seriousness that traps you ♫

♫ The depth of the past is best left unexplored ♫

♫ How many more falls do I have to experience ♫

♫ Before I can face love and hatred with grace? ♫

♫ Don't ask if it's a moment ♫

♫ Of liberation or cowardice to let go ♫

♫ Perhaps it's a misstep into your heart, it's a hasty feeling ♫

♫ It's an unwillingness to be just a passer-by with you ♫

♫ Even if I were to die after a few intense struggles ♫

♫ I would have lived a life worth living ♫

♫ If grasses and trees are sharp blades, if mountains and waters are temples ♫

♫ It's good to be alive even for a short moment ♫

♫ I wish I could be worthy of the thoughts ♫

♫ And I wish I could be worthy of the love ♫

♫ Perhaps it's a misstep into your heart, it's a hasty feeling ♫

♫ It's an unwillingness to be just a passer-by with you ♫

♫ Even if I were to die after a few intense struggles ♫

♫ I would have lived a life worth living ♫

♫ If grasses and trees are sharp blades, if mountains and waters are temples ♫

♫ It's good to be alive even for a short moment ♫

♫ I wish I could be worthy of the thoughts ♫

♫ And I wish I could be worthy of the love ♫

♫ Be worthy of this love ♫