Original subtitles

[English subtitles are available]

[A Journey To Love]

[Episode 36]

Shisan.

I know you sent me away to keep me alive.

Qian is gone.

Lang is gone too.

I'll get to An Capital as fast as I can

and bring reinforcements back.

So you must stay alive.

You must stay alive and wait for me to come back.

[Inn]

My horse!

My horse!

Stop!

[Two days later]

Come.

Ruyi.

You've got the message?

Any news on Tianmenguan or Beipan?

Not yet.

But two days ago,

Second Prince passed by here.

I heard he'll become the crown prince after going back

and marry Princess Licheng.

I hope we're worrying too much.

Meiniang.

Please try to gather more related intelligence.

No problem.

Deng Hui said

he's willing to work with me despite our differences.

I'll write him a letter to warn him about Beipan.

We have to keep riding to Tianmenguan.

We need to change horses.

The horses are ready.

I've also had food prepared for you.

Have some before you go.

Thank you.

Your wounds…

They're old injuries. Don't worry.

What's wrong?

That guy looked familiar.

He seemed to be Yuan Lu.

Are you mistaken?

How could Yuan Lu be here?

Yeah.

He should be with Qian and the others.

Let's go in.

Boss?

Boss.

Boss!

Yeah.

How could Boss and Ruyi be here?

[Two days later, Liudao Hall's division at Zhuangzhou, the State of An]

Chief.

Please.

Prepare water, food,

medicine for wounds, bandages,

and a change of women's clothes.

Okay.

Go prepare them.

Okay.

Chief.

I just got some news.

Something happened at Tianmenguan.

Beipan actually…

How could Second Prince do this?

Cai City and Jing City have sent reinforcements.

But He County is still undermanned.

Beipan's king has gathered an army of more than ten thousand

at Tianmenguan.

He County

will be lost in this battle.

Wu is well-fortified,

so if He County falls,

Beipan is most likely to attack An.

He County is farther from here than An Capital.

Just the two of us going to He County

won't make much of a difference.

The priority now

is to get the emperor of An to declare war

and send reinforcements.

That's the only way to stop Beipan's invasion.

But what if

the emperor of An

has consented to this whole thing Second Prince did?

He once tried to conspire with Beipan.

It was he who sent Second Prince to Tianmenguan.

Could he be the one behind it?

Don't think about that.

Let's rush back to An Capital right now

to force him to send troops.

Keep doors closed. Be careful with fire.

Are you all right, buddy?

Buddy.

Buddy.

What's wrong with you?

I…

Sir.

Is there somewhere I can buy a horse nearby?

Buddy.

There's no horse in this small village.

We only have cows and sheep.

To buy a horse,

you have to go to An Capital or the nearby county

tomorrow morning.

No one can sell you a horse at midnight.

How far is An Capital from here?

About 30 miles.

What day is it today?

Today is the fifth.

Buddy, what happened to you?

You look so pale.

The fifth. 30 miles.

Sir, do you have wine?

Yes.

Buddy.

What's it for?

Please feed my horse for a few days.

Buddy.

Buddy.

Are you running to An Capital?

I can't stop. I can't stop.

♫Life is as unpredictable as the wind♫

Only 25 miles are left.

♫I roar but no one can hear me♫

No. 24 miles.

♫I don't know what the future will bring♫

♫Snow falls on the flames of war, and the setting sun is as crimson as blood♫

♫The night is dark and cold, and the day is long and hard♫

♫You can see on my face that I'm determined to venture out into the storm♫

Yuan Lu, stop running.

♫We drink and sing, not knowing these are the last of the good days♫

Do you want to die?

I told you

to take a rest at every post.

♫Storm clouds are gathering♫

Were you not listening?

♫A life of service♫

♫I only wish to fight the evil and defend the good♫

♫Let's go through ups and downs together♫

♫The dark night seems endless, but we'll wait for the sky to lighten♫

♫Don't blame me for having big dreams♫

♫A life of service♫

♫I only wish to have the courage to overcome all difficulties♫

♫My sacrifice is worth it♫

♫I make hard decisions to change the world♫

I'm sorry, Shisan.

♫Hope we're all safe and sound when the dust settles♫

This time,

I have to disobey you.

♫Life is as unpredictable as the wind♫

[Yuan Lu]

♫I roar but no one can hear me♫

♫I don't know what the future will bring♫

♫Snow falls on the flames of war, and the setting sun is as crimson as blood♫

♫The night is dark and cold, and the day is long and hard♫

Silly boy.

♫You can see on my face that I'm determined to venture out into the storm♫

♫We drink and sing, not knowing these are the last of the good days♫

♫Storm clouds are gathering♫

♫A life of service♫

♫I only wish to fight the evil and defend the good♫

♫Let's go through ups and downs together♫

♫The dark night seems endless, but we'll wait for the sky to lighten♫

♫Don't blame me for having big dreams♫

♫A life of service♫

♫I only wish to have the courage to overcome all difficulties♫

♫My sacrifice is worth it♫

♫I make hard decisions to change the world♫

♫Hope we're all safe and sound when the dust settles♫

♫A life of service♫

♫I only wish to fight the evil and defend the good♫

♫Let's go through ups and downs together♫

♫The dark night seems endless, but we'll wait for the sky to lighten♫

♫Don't blame me for having big dreams♫

♫A life of service♫

♫I only wish to have the courage to overcome all difficulties♫

♫My sacrifice is worth it♫

♫I make hard decisions to change the world♫

♫Hope we're all safe and sound when the dust settles♫

Out of my way. Out of my way!

[Shengye Gate]

Stop! Who are you?

Out of my way!

Who are you?

I came with an urgent military report.

Let me in.

Why is the commandant of Hexi Cavalry here?

You can't go in.

Second Prince will be proclaimed crown prince soon.

We've been ordered to cross-examine everyone

before letting them in.

Stop him!

You can't go in!

Why are my steps lighter and lighter?

It's as if I had wings.

[Duke Qing's Mansion in An Capital]

That dumbass Li Zhenye is back now.

I invited you over

to tell you to run away.

Once he becomes the crown prince,

you can never leave here.

I told you.

I'm not leaving.

Then don't blame me for not helping you in the future.

Li Tongguang.

Li Tongguang.

Li Tongguang.

Who is shouting outside?

You heard it wrong.

Li Tongguang.

I've said everything I need to say.

Quiet.

Li Tongguang!

Stop!

Yuan Lu!

Release him!

I order you to release him!

Yuan Lu, wake up!

Why are you here, Yuan Lu?

I have ginseng.

Send for a physician.

-Hurry. -Yes.

Open your mouth.

Yuan Lu.

Beipan…

Beipan's army has breached Tianmenguan.

We held He County at the cost of almost 1,000 lives.

This is the military report.

This is General Wu's blood-stained clothes.

He died defending He County.

Hurry.

Go save Shisan.

They're about to lose.

I'm going to the court now.

You'll all be at Her Highness's command.

Yes.

Let's go.

Get me a physician!

I-I ran for days to finally get to An Capital.

I traveled for more than 300 miles.

I-I'm good at running, aren't I?

You're great.

You're the best.

There are many things

I'm not good at.

B-But in Liudao Hall, I'm the one

who r-runs the fastest.

I know.

I'm the fastest one.

I know. I know.

You run the fastest.

-You don't know. -I know.

You don't know.

That night on the roof,

you didn't know anything.

Do you have someone you like?

Yes.

Well, sort of.

But she'll never like me.

So I'll never let her know.

♫Suddenly encountering the joy of meeting and the sorrow of parting♫

♫Like rain and snow flying everywhere♫

Unluckily,

I can't live long.

♫Just like the tears in the corners of our eyes♫

I didn't dare to tell you.

♫They're so close to falling♫

Boss Ning w-went back to find you.

We haven't heard from him for days.

♫I'm afraid the world is like water♫

I thought

something must have happened

♫Not between the eyebrows, but in the heart♫

to you and Ruyi.

♫Drowning you and me, there's no way out♫

It doesn't matter.

Here I am, back to find you.

♫I don't dare ask♫

In the next life,

♫If this tragedy♫

can we…

Can we…

Let's… Okay?

♫Is the end of our story♫

Don't worry.

I'll die young.

I'm not lucky enough to be a princess's husband.

Take that back. Take that back!

♫Beautiful dreams are like fragile bubbles♫

♫But I'd rather have bubbles than have nothing at all♫

I promise you.

♫Time ticks by♫

♫Everything I want is slipping away♫

I promise you.

Yuan Lu.

Yuan Lu!

♫I'm afraid the world is like water♫

Yuan Lu.

♫Not between the eyebrows, but in the heart♫

Yuan Lu!

♫Drowning you and me, there's no way out♫

Yuan Lu.

You're scaring me, Yuan Lu.

This is not funny, Yuan Lu!

♫I don't dare ask♫

Yuan Lu.

♫If this tragedy♫

♫Is the end of our story♫

You know Yuan Lu. He'll pretend to be your attendant.

Why don't we let Prince Li have a rest

and take the exam another day?

You're doing good.

Don't worry, Your Highness. I got you.

♫Beautiful dreams are like fragile bubbles♫

Well done, Your Highness.

Yes. Go further.

Your Highness.

The birds the delegation uses to send messages to An

♫But I'd rather have bubbles than have nothing at all♫

are from Wu.

Whenever you want to hear them chirp,

I'll make them chirp for you.

Jerk.

Your Highness, sorry for coming late.

♫Time ticks by♫

Yuan Lu!

I promise. You won't look ashen after you die.

Then can you ask him

to make the poison tasty?

♫Everything I want is slipping away♫

I want it sweet.

It'd be best if it was sour-plum-flavored.

It's very bitter.

Then why do you enjoy eating it?

♫Beautiful dreams are like fragile bubbles♫

Because taking pills

means I'm alive.

I'm glad to be alive.

Then we should both stay safe.

♫But I'd rather have bubbles than have nothing at all♫

When everything is settled here,

we'll attend

Yuanzhou and Ruyi's wedding together.

Deal.

Deal.

♫Time ticks by♫

♫Everything I want is slipping away♫

♫I fear that dreams will wither and turn to ash♫

Yuan Lu.

♫ I can't tell if I'm awake or drunk♫

Yuan Lu.

♫Time, would you not go by so fast?♫

God.

Why did you have to do this to him?

♫The old days are gone forever♫

♫Time, would you not go by so fast?♫

♫The old days are gone forever♫

You look

very much like the young me.

Great.

You've been through a lot since you left the capital.

It's my honor to have been ordered to inspect the border.

It was the first time

I went beyond Tianmenguan.

I learned a lot.

I've read your reports.

Fortifications at Tianmenguan are nearly finished.

During your journey, did you hear anything

about Beipan people?

No.

After the proclamation ceremony,

I'll pay more attention to them.

I dare Beipan people to do anything.

-Duke Qing. -Forgive me for barging in.

Duke Qing.

But it's urgent.

Princess Licheng's attendant

brought an urgent military report from He County.

He County?

Are Wu people

trying to reclaim the land they lost?

Father, don't listen to him.

I just came back from there.

Everything was perfectly fine.

You!

How dare you!

Your Majesty, read the military report first.

Then you can punish me.

Leave.

Tianmenguan. Beipan soldiers.

Impossible.

It's absolutely impossible.

I swear on my life

that this report is true.

Idiot!

How dare you

collude with Beipan and keep me in the dark?

You don't deserve to be my son!

Father!

Father!

Father!

Father.

I'm wrong.

But I had no choice.

They threatened to kill me. I had to do it!

I just led them to He County.

That was Wu's place anyway!

This is General Wu's blood-stained clothes.

He died defending the city with the civilians.

On the back of the report,

there are the fingerprints of ten esteemed old people of He County.

Your Highness, do you dare to say those words again

to General Wu's blood-stained clothes?

Your Majesty.

Beipan people are coming back.

There'll definitely be deaths and bloodshed again.

Your Majesty, I beg you to punish

Second Prince for treason.

No. No.

Father.

The penalty for treason is death.

I…

When you let Beipan's army pass Tianmenguan,

didn't you know the penalty for that was death?

I'm wrong.

Father, please forgive me.

Your Majesty.

Please make the hard decision.

For your country and people,

you must not condone your son's behavior.

Tongguang, let me ask you.

Besides Princess Licheng,

who else knows about this?

Marquis Wuyang, what are you doing?

Open the door!

I'm just carrying out the order.

Duke, calm down.

What's going on?

It seems the emperor of An has put us under house arrest.

Have you really talked with Beipan people?

Yes.

Beipan has a tactician.

He reached out to me first.

Then take my seal

and tell him

I can offer him

the maps and defense layouts of He County and its surrounding area.

After the war, I'll also give him 100,000 stones of grains,

50,000 taels of silver, and 50,000 bolts of silk every year.

My condition is

that they win a few battles at first

and then let me defeat them somewhere.

After that,

whether they want to return to the north or invade Wu,

I don't care.

A great victory over Beipan

can surely help you regain the people's support.

But can I…

Can I still be the crown prince?

What do you think?

Li Tongguang, Princess Licheng,

and everyone else who knows about this

have been put under house arrest by me.

Before the proclamation ceremony,

I'll deploy troops with Duke Chu as the commander.

I'll raise him high.

The harder he falls,

the greater my military achievement will appear.

[Three days later]

Your Highness.

They don't taste good,

but you still need to eat to recover better.

I don't have an appetite.

You haven't eaten much lately either.

The food An people sent us

is simpler and simpler.

I'm fine.

I'm young. I can take it.

Eat.

Or I'll be angry.

By the way,

how is Duke Qing?

He's young and proud.

This is a huge blow to him.

I'm worried about him.

He's been quiet

and brooding.

He knows martial arts, so I asked him the day before yesterday

why he didn't climb over the wall to escape.

He just pointed at the archers on the wall

and left.

How can he be the cabinet grand secretary?

Yuanzhou overestimated him.

Your Highness.

Duke Qing got all his glory from two sources.

One is his mother Princess Qingning.

The other is the battles he won.

Now that the emperor of An has taken Yulin Guards from him

and confined him,

what can he do after escaping?

Is he to wander around and be a normal civilian?

It'd be better to stay and play it by ear.

After all, he didn't commit any capital crimes.

Are you okay?

Not eating well recently

is making my stomach hurt.

It's my fault.

We don't even get to drink hot water these days

yet I forced you to eat these cold dishes.

Wait for me.

I'll heat them for you.

Your Highness.

Tongguang.

What Ren Xin did last time

really embarrassed me.

The proclamation ceremony is coming.

If something goes wrong now,

what will the officials think of me?

I'm tired.

Why did you put out my fire?

Do you want to die?

Why are you burning aconite?

It's poisonous.

There's no such plant in Jiangnan.

I just saw

some dried plants over there

and took some to…

Since this plant is poisonous,

can we gather some more

and burn it to knock out the guards outside?

What did my master teach you?

This outer palace is so big.

How much aconite will you have to burn?

Master only taught me

never to be a sitting duck.

You've lost the Yulin Army

but still have your dukedom.

If we can escape…

Fine. I'll drop the subject.

You're a princess

but can actually start a fire to boil water.

My mother was made a palace maid only after she died.

Winters in Jiangnan

can be freezing cold.

As an unloved princess, if I hadn't learned to do these things,

I would've long died.

When I was young,

I often ate cold pancakes too.

You had a father who was the emperor,

but I didn't even have a father.

Are you trying to make me feel better?

Take this taro root as a thank-you gift.

It's cooked and tastes better when hot.

Let's share it.

Here.

If Master knew

I used her Qingyun Sword to cut a taro root,

what would she think?

She wouldn't give a fig.

This sword is called Qingyun?

What's wrong?

I knew someone

whose name was also Qingyun.

I hope you have a better ending than him.

Was he your lover?

But you're wearing mourning clothes for Yuan Lu.

What's the problem?

Who says a woman

can only fall in love with one man in her life?

Do women

have to conform to the stereotype

that expects us to stick to one man

no matter what kind of person he is?

Besides,

Yuan Lu and I were in the kind of relationship you think.

Fine.

Anyway,

my master is the only woman

I'll ever love.

Life is long.

Who knows what will happen in the future?

By the way,

I want to thank your subordinates.

After Yuan Lu died,

they immediately arranged his funeral for me

and set a memorial tablet for him in the temple.

You're welcome.

Instead of thinking about him,

you should think about what my uncle, the emperor of An,

will do to you in the future.

Li Zhenye has colluded with Beipan.

I'll in no way marry him.

Actually,

I've been in contact with Liudao Hall's

An Capital Branch.

If they find out I'm under house arrest,

they'll surely come to save me.

I believe once Yuanzhou and Ruyi

know what happened,

they'll come to help us out too.

The water is hot. Do you want some?

No, thank you.

Who are you?

Don't kill me.

I'm here to help you.

Chu Yue?

I'm really here to help you.

What's going on?

My father and brother

were sent to He County with reinforcements a few days ago.

Once they left the capital, they noticed that everything was wrong.

The reinforcements were carrying too few provisions.

There were enough bows

but arrows were 60% short.

My father thinks

His Majesty is not serious about the war against Beipan.

So he wrote a letter to me

and asked me to keep an eye on things in the capital.

This morning,

Ren Ruyi and Ning Yuanzhou

came to my mansion.

What?

My master went to see you?

It's true.

Ren Ruyi said

your sword is called Qingyun.

She gave it to you at the drill ground.

It used to belong to Empress Zhaojie.

Ning Yuanzhou said

his mother's surname was Gu.

She was your preceptor

and taught you from when you were three to seven.

It's really them.

Go on.

They received messages from Liudao Hall

and Jinsha Pavilion halfway.

Then they hurried to An Capital

and interrogated an attendant of Li Zhenye

to find out that you're under house arrest.

The guards here are from Shaxi Tribe.

So they asked me to get you out.

They didn't know them.

Why?

Because Ning Yuanzhou said

His Majesty wants to conspire with Beipan

and has sent my father to his death.

He plans for my father to be defeated by Beipan's king.

He wants to sacrifice the whole Shaxi Tribe

in exchange for a big victory

so that he can cover up all the scandals

and stay on the throne.

I knew it.

There will be chaos after the proclamation ceremony.

Time is running out.

The guards change shifts every half an hour.

Change your clothes now.

Liudao Hall's men are waiting for you outside.

With their help,

we can be safe outside.

I think you need this more than I do.

Yuanzhou gave it to me.

Press here and a needle will be ejected out.

Whoever gets shot will faint immediately.

Use it to protect yourself.

Thanks.

Your Highness.

[Animal]

Take care.

My Lord.

Although I've been trained to fight,

I've never fought in combat before.

I'll lend you all my cavalry slaves.

Bring them

to save my father and brother.

Why did you say

there will be chaos after the proclamation ceremony?

Where are Ning Yuanzhou and my master?

Ren Ruyi and Ning Yuanzhou

will expose His Majesty and Li Zhenye's crimes

in front of all the officials at the ceremony

to force His Majesty to issue an edict

to unite the country against Beipan.

I'm afraid they may fail,

so I hope you…

Fail?

Why do you think they may fail?

Because neither of them

is at their best.

The two of them

rode for days and nights

to get to An Capital.

Ren Ruyi is suffering from old injuries

and Ning Yuanzhou's internal force seems unstable.

-They… -How is my master?

She looked good.

About four guards in my mansion fought her together

but none was her match.

It's just that she…

-Stop it. -She…

You want me to save your father and brother, right?

Lend me 50 guards from Shaxi Tribe first.

What for?

By the will of God,

this edict is issued.

Here it goes.

The second prince Li Zhenye

is talented, benevolent,

dutiful, and loyal.

Therefore,

the second prince Li Zhenye is now proclaimed crown prince.

All courtiers and officials, heed my words respectfully.

Support my heir.

Make An prosper.

Spread this edict far and wide to let all be informed.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Long live the emperor of An.

Long live the crown prince.

If you don't want me to break his neck,

you should all stay back.

Ren Xin?