Original subtitles

[English subtitles are available]

[My Wife is A Thief]

[Episode 23]

You're very skilled in this.

I've done it for my mother before.

Was it for your mother

or for a lady?

See?

Even if I did it well,

I still got scolded by you.

I wouldn't have done it if I had known earlier.

What? Are you getting tired of it?

I dare not.

Don't move.

What's this?

I bought it when I went out this morning.

I noticed that I haven't given you a gift in a while.

Let's consider this as a token of our love.

Do you like it?

Yes.

Good for you, Darling.

You're getting better in romance.

It's because you are a good teacher, Honey.

Don't be too proud of yourself.

Keep working.

However, this can only be considered an ordinary gift.

As for the token of love, you've already given it to me.

It's really like "the spring breeze bringing a message,

with a precious jade as the matchmaker."

I never thought that the jade pendant my father left me

would bring me such good fortune.

But speaking of which,

I agreed to marry you in place of Su Jinzhen for two reasons.

Firstly,

it was because you trapped me in the room.

That was because I figured out

that you committed the crime with the golden cricket.

And secondly,

it was because my Master ordered me

to steal this jade pendant.

Otherwise,

with one of us being an official and the other a thief,

we probably would never have met in this lifetime.

Your Master told you to steal the jade pendant?

Why?

She said

this jade pendant is related to the flood case in Taizhou.

The flood case in Taizhou?

So the mastermind behind it

must be Duke Su.

But why would he

be interested in my father's jade pendant?

Could there be some secret

behind this jade pendant?

How about we go ask my Master?

Master,

this is the jade pendant you've been asking me to find.

Rong,

since you have already got this jade pendant,

why didn't you give it to me earlier?

How could that be possible?

Xu Muchen just gave me this jade pendant recently.

Right?

Yes.

Forget it.

Muchen.

For you, Rong would rather conceal

the existence of the jade pendant from me.

It shows how much she cares for you.

You must not disappoint her.

Master, don't worry about it.

Master.

do you know why Duke Su wanted us

to find this jade pendant back then?

At that time, I was only commanded

to tell you to steal this jade pendant.

As for its purpose,

I really don't know.

However...

What?

However, Xu Chengsi, Lord Xu,

not only had extraordinary intelligence

but also understood the technique

of crafting mechanisms.

You see, the design of this jade pendant

is slightly different from ordinary ones.

It does seem different.

This jade pendant

looks more like a key to unlocking some mechanism.

My father had evidence

of Duke Su planting Moon Star Herb.

So this jade pendant must be the key

to unlock the whereabouts of the hidden evidence.

If it's a key,

then where is the door?

Look at this side.

Look. Can you see the difference

between this plum blossom pattern and ordinary ones?

This plum blossom has broken patterns.

If these patterns

were intentionally made by Lord Xu,

he must have left some clues.

Plum Blossom?

Take this.

[Plum Blossom Collection]

Mother,

what is this?

This is a plum blossom album your father made before his passing.

Before he went to Taizhou, he said

the peach blossoms there were in full bloom,

and he planned to bring back

a petal for me to tuck into the album,

and to draw a Peach Blossom Collection.

Could it be that book?

Master,

we're going over there now.

Have you found anything?

Mother said this book

was left to her by Father when he was in Taizhou.

But all the drawings in it are plum blossoms.

I didn't pay much attention to it before.

If there is some hidden meaning behind

the plum blossom on that jade pendant,

then this album...

The principle of the Nine Palaces requires the spirit tortoise to decipher.

Two and Four are shoulders, Six and Eight are feet.

Three on the left, Seven on the right, Nine above, and One below.

Five resides in the center.

Gathering all the arts of divination

and all the ingenious techniques.

The Diagram of Gen.

It means Mountain among the five elements.

The Diagram of Qian.

It means northwest direction.

What place is that?

The northwest part of the mountain.

The Peach Blossom Valley.

It looks like Muchen has deciphered

the clues left by Lord Xu.

You go gather

our Watermill disciples to find him.

I'll go to Liu Wenchu, Lord Liu, to mobilize the troops.

To mobilize the troops?

With my many years

of understanding of Duke Su,

he will surely try to stop Xu Muchen from finding the evidence.

Lord Liu's escort

can ensure everything goes smoothly.

Yes.

Mumu.

Mumu.

I finally found you.

Young Master Gongyang?

You actually followed me to Taizhou?

Are you here on orders from the Ministry of Justice

to arrest me and my Master?

I...

Master, you go first.

I'll hold him off.

Gongyang,

I've been deceived by villains

and made many mistakes.

I know my sins are grave and undeniable.

But I do have urgent matters to attend to today

and cannot be entangled with you.

Let me finish my business first,

and then you can deal with me as you wish.

Master,

what are you talking about?

Gongyang Maocai,

If you dare to lay a finger on my Master,

you'll have to get through me first.

Mumu, I've resigned.

What did you say?

I'm just a commoner now.

As for the Watermill's affairs,

they have nothing to do with me, Gongyang Maocai.

I'm Gongyang Maocai.

Greetings, Ms. Yu Luocha.

Are you saying

you're not going to be an official from now on?

Yes.

Xu Muchen competes with me every day.

I'm tired of it.

I've thought it through.

It's better that I resigned.

That way,

I can live with you freely.

Don't push it.

I never said I would live with you.

Chat with Gongyang another day if you have anything to say.

Muchen's investigation is obstructed,

and he needs your help.

Yes.

You, come with me.

Xu Muchen?

His affairs are not my concern.

Alright.

Stay here and have some tea.

I'll go by myself.

Your affairs are my concern.

Someone is following us.

Don't look back.

Is it Duke Su's person?

Senior Moyan has already sent a message to the capital.

Based on the distance,

Duke Su will arrive in Taizhou soon.

I have already informed Ms. Yu Luocha,

asking her to take my letter

to find Uncle Liu in Taizhou.

What's next?

We'll go to Peach Blossom Valley

to lure Duke Su out.

Your Grace,

the person we sent has been following them all the way

to a peach blossom forest outside the suburbs,

where Xu Muchen's trail disappeared.

A peach blossom forest?

Chengsi.

Your Grace.

Your Grace, please take a seat.

I want to blame you for one thing.

In Taizhou,

there are big mansions everywhere.

If you take a fancy to any one of them,

you can always ask me for it.

Why bother

building a thatched hut in the peach blossom forest?

It is uncomfortable to live in

and cost money to build.

Aren't you afraid that your wife will blame you when you return?

You must be joking.

It's just a thatched hut.

It won't cost much silver.

I hope you will keep it secret for me

when you return to the capital.

For a few pieces of silver,

your wife won't give you a hard time.

But, Chengsi,

if after a few years,

you still worry about being blamed by your wife

because of a few pieces of silver,

that won't be acceptable.

Your Grace, you're right.

Fortunately, my wife is from a well-off family.

She doesn't need me to be rich.

She just wants my modest salary

to live up to my conscience.

Well said.

If everyone in the Jing State

were like you,

we would have peace and prosperity throughout the country,

and the prosperity of our country would last forever.

You flattered me.

Alright, go ahead with your business.

Good for you, Xu Chengsi.

Let's go.

Is it here?

Judging from the layout of this Peach Blossom Valley,

it looks like my father's work.

Let's go in and take a look.

I'll go over there to take a look.

Darling.

Darling.

Why is this niche upside down?

Here.

My Lord.

We're here.

Get into the mountain.

Search.

Yes, My Lord.

When you encounter Xu Muchen, execute him on the spot.

Search!

[Ledger]

[February of the Sixteenth year. Sold: thirty-five boxes of table delicacies from land and sea. Income: one hundred taels of silver.]

[August of the Eighteenth year. Sold: thirty-five boxes of table delicacies from land and sea. Income: one hundred taels of silver.]

[October of the Nineteenth year]

[October 25th of the Third year]

[January 10th of the Fourth year]

[To Su Yu]

[To the Emperor of the Yue State]

[To the Emperor of the Yue State]

[Your Majesty, everything is done in the capital]

My Lord,

the terrain in the valley is complex,

and the weeds are everywhere.

It's difficult to find Xu Muchen's trail in a short time.

The location chosen by Master Xu Chengsi

is not one you can easily enter.

My Lord,

what should we do next?

Have you informed Young Master

to come over with manpower?

Don't worry, My Lord.

Young Master is on his way here.

Set fire to the mountain.

My Lord, that's not advisable!

If we set fire to the mountain,

it's likely to attract the government troops in no time.

By then...

So what if the government troops come?

If we kill Xu Muchen

and burn the evidence,

I will still be Duke Su.

If we can't burn it,

I'll be a traitor of the Jing State

and a spy of the Yue State.

If my guess is correct,

Xu Muchen must have already sent out

the information about here.

He stayed here as bait

to lure me.

Then, by coming here,

aren't you just falling into Xu Muchen's trap?

He only expected one thing,

but didn't expect the other thing.

I guess he thought selling Moon Star Herb

was just for personal gain.

But he definitely would never expect

that I am from the Yue State.

Killing Xu Muchen

would solve everything.

If this plan fails,

we can immediately enter

the Yue State from here.

You're right, My Lord.

Set fire to the mountain!

Yes!

[To my son, Muchen]

[My son, Muchen]

The case back then

has finally come to light.

When my father and Duke Su came to Taizhou to manage the water,

they found that the relief funds had been embezzled.

Furthermore, some farmers in Taizhou had stopped farming

and started cultivating a herb

called Moon Star Herb.

My father found that this herb, if consumed for a prolonged period,

would be fundamentally harmful to the human body.

It seemed that someone was manipulating it behind the scenes in Taizhou.

Later, during the investigation,

my father intercepted a secret letter.

According to its contents,

he discovered that Duke Su was not from the Jing State,

[Your Majesty, I'm living in the Jing State]

but a spy sent by the Yue State,

[Yours sincerely, Su Yu]

with the sole intention of weakening our country

to annex it.

Although my father found the evidence,

Duke Su was too powerful in Taizhou.

He couldn't fight him.

So he could only leave all the evidence here temporarily.

He then inscribed the clue onto a jade pendant,

just in case.

Duke Su learned that my father

had uncovered the truth about the Moon Star Herb.

He was preparing to destroy the dam to bury the evidence.

That's impossible.

That's impossible.

It's about thousands of lives.

Dad.

What's wrong?

No.

I have to ask him.

Dad!

Where are you going?

To protect the people there,

Father gave up the chance

of leaving Taizhou safely

and went to stop Duke Su.

After that day,

I never saw my father again

After my father's death,

Duke Su slandered him for embezzlement

and using inferior materials to pass off as superior ones.

He covered up the incident of destroying the dam with it.

My father was innocent.

It turns out Duke Su is from the Yue State.

No wonder he did so many bad things.

Darling.

Look. There's smoke.

It seems that someone arrived here

faster than we expected.

Keep the jade pendant safe.

They can't enter without the jade pendant.

There's a gap over there.

Let's get out of here now.

If we go out now,

won't we be falling into their trap?

If my estimation is correct,

Uncle Liu should be on his way.

It all depends on our luck.

The four top experts from the Yue State?

Have you heard of them?

When they attempted to assassinate the Emperor that year,

all the Imperial Guards were dispatched.

But they managed to escape.

Be careful.

Muchen, you are quite insightful.

Is the evidence

collected by Xu Chengsi back then

hidden in the woods behind you?

Exactly.

But who would have thought

that Duke Su, who has made great contributions to the Jing State,

is actually a spy from the Yue State?

Do you feel that

you've found out a bit too late now?

Duke Su, you have reached the highest ranks,

serving in key positions of government.

Why would you insist on colluding with foreign powers

and sowing discord?

When chaos erupts,

it's the innocent people who will suffer.

Colluding with foreign powers?

Xu Muchen,

do you know

that, to me, this place is the foreign land?

So what if two countries are in conflict?

The casualties will inevitably be soldiers and commoners.

But it will achieve

the glorious legacy of our country for generations to come.

How crazy.

After committing so many wrongdoings,

can you sleep soundly at night?

You don't need to worry about this.

Only the dead can sleep soundly.

Do you think by eliminating the Zhao family

and exposing my identity,

you can make anything different?

The Moon Star Herb trade in the Jing State

will still have someone secretly supporting it.

In less than five years,

the provinces throughout the Jing State

will be like Taizhou.

By then, without using a single soldier,

our country will reap the benefits.

The beautiful land of the Jing State

will become our possession.

Could it be Senior Moyan

who's controlling the business?

Rong,

you've been with Xu Muchen for too long.

Even if I want you to live,

I can't do that.

Rong,

your Master was killed by Xu Muchen.

Instead of seeking revenge for your Master,

you're now mingling with the killer.

If your Master could see it in heaven,

she would never forgive you.

Your Grace,

sorry to disappoint you.

But my Master is not dead.

I see.

Xu Muchen,

have you been setting up multiple layers

of schemes against me just for today?

If not for that,

how could my Master see through your ambitions?

Your Grace,

for the sake of the relationship between me and Jinzhen,

if you surrender now,

we'll spare your lives.

Then I thank you

for your filial piety.

What took you so long?

It's none of your concern.

I can come whenever I want.

Senior.

You and Young Master Gongyang...

Darling!

My Lord, go!

Hurry! Support Lord Xu!

Yes!

-Yes! -Yes!

My Lord, let's retreat.

Where is Ning?

He'll be here soon.

Dad, are you alright?

I'm fine.

Uncle.

Jinning?

Liu Wenchu?

It looks that the Jing State really has no one useful.

Even you have been dispatched.

The law is fair and just, leaving no loopholes.

Duke Su,

it's time for you to repay the debt you owe

to the people of Taizhou in the past.

Just based on you guys?

Liu Wenchu,

when I lead the army to conquer the Jing State,

you'll be the first one I'll use as a sacrifice to our flag.

Even at this point, you're still stubborn and unrepentant.

Guards!

Yes!

Take him down!

Yes!

Escort my dad to leave!

Yes!

My Lord, let's go.

Lord Liu, let's go.

My dad and his people have left.

Jinning,

with your martial arts skills,

can you stop me?

I know I can't defeat you.

But...

Jinning,

you know what Duke Su has done in the Jing State.

Are you going to help him make more mistakes?

Most conflicts arise from differing perspectives.

It's hard to tell what's right and what's wrong.

Why is that hard?

Seeking wealth at the expense of lives is wrong.

Killing the innocent is wrong.

Trafficking Moon Star Herb

and harming the people are even more wrong.

These are all naturally unacceptable!

Rong.

You're not me.

You don't need to lecture me with these moral truths.

I am Duke Su's son,

a citizen of Yue State.

This is my fate.

How do you expect me to turn back?

Should I hand my father over to the Zichen Department?

Considering his actions,

he would surely face death.

I am just an ordinary person.

I cannot harm my own family for the sake of righteousness.

Rong.

If you truly want to capture my father today,

then kill me first.

Jinning.

Go.

Thank you.

Jinning!

The next time we meet,

we'll be enemies.

By then...

Rong!

I won't see you again.

Rong.

Why did you follow me?

Uncle Liu has already captured the people from the Yue State.

Where is Duke Su?

Duke Su...

I couldn't catch him.

I intended to chase him,

but I was intercepted by Jinning.

He threatened me with his life

and blocked the way.

I was thinking that although Duke Su is extremely guilty,

Jinning at least didn't do anything

extremely immoral.

So...

I see.

It's okay.

You must be very angry, right?

As for Duke Su,

we need to discuss it further.

Gongyang Maocai is injured.

Let's go check on him.

Wu Zhao, why are you here?

It was all because of Xiao Qiu.

Since she found out

you left the mansion,

she has been too sad to eat or drink.

She forced me to come to Taizhou with the Lord

to bring you back

as soon as possible.

Senior Brother.

How's Gongyang's injury?

He's fine.

There's nothing serious.

However,

you should pay more attention to your Senior Brother.

When I was risking my life, you were nowhere to be found.

Now you're suddenly busy here.

You really know how to show up after the battle.

Gongyang Maocai,

is your wound not hurting anymore?

It hurts, Mumu.

What are you doing?

Young Master Gongyang was right.

Your Senior Brother is too weak

and can only do these trivial tasks now.

No matter how much Young Master Gongyang bullies me,

I can only endure it.

Stop pretending.

Senior Brother,

if I were you,

I wouldn't treat him.

I would let fate decide whether he lives or dies.

Mumu?

Young Master Gongyang.

Out of the mouth comes evil.

If you want to marry Mumu,

be cautious with your words and actions.

Your wanted posters are still in the capital.

Do you believe I'll...

Mumu.

Gongyang is threatening me.

Gongyang Maocai,

do you want to die?

I don't want to die, Mumu.

Continue with your business.

Am I right, Senior Brother?

Yes.

I'm thirsty. Go boil some water.

Gongyang,

if you marry Mumu,

you must be careful.

Darling.

What are you thinking?

Nothing.

Are you blaming me for not catching Duke Su?

My wife has a good heart.

How could I blame you?

Besides, Su Jinning

hasn't done anything evil.

If I were you,

I wouldn't want to see him die before my eyes either.

It's just that I wonder if my late father in heaven

would blame me

for not catching Duke Su personally.

This is what I found in Father's secret chamber.

Dad, Mom!

Chen.

What happened?

Who did you fight with?

Dad, Mom.

Gongyang Maocai spread rumors.

And people outside are all saying

that my father is a poor scholar pretending to be noble

and a hypocritical pseudo-gentleman.

I couldn't bear it

and ended up fighting with them.

It must have been the wife of the Gongyang family who said that.

I must confront her about it.

Don't. Honey.

Come on, Muchen.

Let me tell you,

right and wrong don't depend on a few idle words

but on the ways of the world and people's hearts.

If I can't handle idle gossip,

then there's no need for me to hold office,

right?

Chen is still young.

He doesn't understand

what you're saying.

Gradually,

he will understand it in the future.

This is something I just made.

Take it and play with it.

Thank you, Dad.

Fly!

Fly!

Be careful. Don't fall down.

Slow down.

I didn't expect my father

to have kept this with him all along.

Even in times of crisis,

he still thought of you.

Now that his name has been cleared,

and seeing you grown into an adult,

he must be very proud up in heaven.

My father left me since I was little.

I really wish he could see

what I've accomplished,

and scold me a bit.

Who says he can't see?

Remember when you taught me to look at the stars when we were kids?

Look at the brightest one.

That's Father.

Maybe he's looking at you right now.

You're right.

Stop.

My Lord,

what's wrong?

Dad.

Are you okay?

I'm fine.

I'm just a little thirsty.

Take my father and leave first.

Make sure to take good care of him.

I'll go find water and be back soon.

Yes, Young Master.

Let's go.