Original subtitles

[The Autumn Ballad]

Timing and Subtitles by 🍂 The Autumn Ballad 🍁 Team @viki.com

♫ Winter clouds and light skies, the geese fly through leaving a trail of sorrow ♫

♫ I lean against the window and look into the distance ♫

♫ Near the deserted West River ♫

♫ I hear you singing ♫

♫ Every time our eyes meet, the longing is still there ♫

♫ Separated by thousands of mountains and oceans, waiting for the full moon ♫

♫ Just to meet the beautiful lady again ♫

♫ Going through three lifetimes with you while smiling behind the pearl bead curtain ♫

♫ In this life, I will not let you down ♫

♫ I will fly over the lands together with you ♫

♫ Even if everything becomes silent ♫

♫ In this life, I will not let you down ♫

♫ I will fly over the lands together with you ♫

♫ Even if everything becomes silent ♫

[The Autumn Ballad]

[Episode 14]

Fourth Uncle!

Fourth Uncle! Fourth Uncle!

What was the treatment you mentioned earlier?

- It's just a slip of the tongue. - Fourth Uncle.

Her life is important. Please, I beg of you.

Get up.

Look, Child...

Fine. If you want to know, I will tell you.

Your mother is afflicted with an infectious disease (STD).

Do you know where you can get infected by this disease?

Brothels in the southern wharf.

I have a mistr...

A friend was infected last year.

Thanks to an ancestral remedy from a traveling physician, she survived.

I'm not talking nonsense.

When the Renshen River Disease ran amok, he saved half a boat of people.

Fourth Uncle, where is he now?

He is a traveling physician.

God knows where he is now.

However, I still have his prescription with me.

Master, we visited all the apothecaries.

All shopkeepers said the tokay gecko and the euphorbia decaryi

on the prescriptions must be exotic.

They never saw them or found them on the market.

It doesn't mean it's impossible. I'll go find them myself.

Where is Qiu Yan?

She went out to get you medicine. She's not home.

You've worked hard these last few days.

I'm feeling better now.

You can rest now. No need to stay with me.

Song Jin Cha will be back soon.

Don't worry.

Master! Master!

- What is it? - We found it.

Tokay gecko and euphorbia decaryi are rare but if you pay a high price,

you can find them on the black market.

However, the apothecary who supplies the black market was seized last month.

By whom?

By

Main Administrative Office.

Official, please have mercy [Main Administrative Office]

and save my mother's life. [Main Administrative Office]

If you can do us this favor, Official Yuan,

the Firewood Office will surely repay it.

Unfortunately, Lord Liang, this apothecary isn't ordinary.

They didn't only smuggle medicine.

All that was seized must be recorded and confiscated.

If one thing goes missing, troubles will arise.

If you can save my mother, Official,

I am willing to shoulder any punishment,

corporal or other punishment, as you want, Official.

Miss Qiu Yan.

We have rules.

Your filial piety is admirable,

but the Main Administrative Office has its own rules.

I'm sure Lord Liang knows them very well.

Don't do that.

We are colleagues.

I can't accept this kneeling from you, Lord Liang.

I understand your constraint, Official Yuan.

However, this regards someone's life. Exceptions should be made.

Please accept my pleading.

I hope you can make this exception.

Real men do not bow down.

You even knelt on one knee.

I can only say yes now.

However, many mouths are in the office.

It's hard to seal all of them.

That said, I do have a solution.

Lord Liang, we can both put on a show.

Just let me whip you.

I'll summon all my underlings

and say you're willing to take this punishment in exchange for medicine.

No one can fault you for anything.

Yuan Lang, you shamed yourself when you last came to Firewood Office.

And now, you're taking revenge.

I am asking for the medicine.

Official Yuan, if you want revenge, take it out on me!

Lord Liang, are you unwilling to do it?

- Too bad. - Wait.

No!

Saving your mother is important.

Jiang Yun, bring everyone here.

Yes, Master.

Song Jin, take Miss Qiu out.

- Liang Yi. - Miss Qiu.

Liang Yi.

I'll be fine.

How should we do this?

Lord Liang requests a crime. We are all witnesses here.

I don't dare to whip you.

Song Jin, you should do it.

Song Jin.

Master.

Listen to him.

Master, just kill me.

Whip me.

Whip me!

Harder.

You should consult a physician.

It's just some scratches. I'm used to it.

Come, Song Jin.

Take the medicine. Your mother needs it.

Go now.

I owe you this one.

I will repay you.

All right. Go.

Father, I found the medicine.

Mother can be treated now. Father!

[Hall of Insight]

Second Miss,

Madam is not here anymore.

She's inside.

I'll look for her.

Miss.

Second Miss, Madam is not here anymore.

Let go of me.

She was infected. They took her body out of the city already.

She really isn't here anymore.

Miss!

That day,

when your biological mother gave you to me

to save your brother,

I know you must have went through h*ll.

But I don't want you to be [Mysterious Cases from Dashuo]

a bitter child.

Your life won't be easy.

Don't shut yourself in because of fear,

because of trust issues.

You'll only suffer more.

From now on,

live well.

I'm worried about you.

From now on, I'll leave the second chamber to you.

Physician Li,

did my mother pass away peacefully?

Second Madam left the world in her dreams.

It was painless.

Min'er.

Sister, did you find the medicine?

It's all right if you can't.

I'm begging our ancestors to grant mother a speedy recovery.

I must burn one short and two long incenses,

then they will grant my wish.

I also must finish copying this last

- chapter. - Mother is gone.

No.

Our ancestors won't lie to us.

Mother is gone.

We even cremated her coffin.

No way!

Our ancestors promised me.

Look. Mother will come back.

What ancestors?

What promise?

All lies!

If they actually see it,

if they have that little bit of conscience,

they wouldn't let mother leave this world alone!

It's all fake!

- Stop! - It's all fake!

Elder Sister,

why tell me mother has left?

I'm sure she's with us. I'm sure.

Elder Sister, can I have a hug?

Hug me like Mother does.

This can't be it.

Mother surely is here.

Mother is gone.

Wake up now.

From now on, no one will pamper you anymore.

If you're still this vulnerable and delusional,

you will spend the rest of your days crying.

Qiu Min.

Qiu Min! Someone! Help!

Qiu Min!

Help!

Qiu Min, don't you scare me!

Stop.

Help!

Qiu Min.

Qiu Min, are you okay?

Qiu Min. Wake up.

Help!

Qiu Min, are you okay?

You're scaring me. Help!

Mother...

You're dismissed for now.

Yes, Master.

You did your best.

She won't blame you.

This spot is for her.

For me, too.

Mother, I shouldn't have said those things.

I know you're grieving.

We all are.

Blood, so much blood.

- Min'er. - So much blood.

What? Did you have a nightmare?

So much blood, Mother must be in pain.

I asked Physician Li.

Mother passed away in her sleep. It was painless.

No, I saw Mother vomiting blood.

What?

That day, I missed her so much that I snuck into her yard.

Hurry and wash it. Then go back inside.

Don't let anyone see this.

Okay.

I was horrified so I went to the ancestral hall

and prayed for Mother's health.

Do you mean you saw

Physician Li and the nurse enter Mother's room without any protective garment?

[Moonlit Stroll]

Second Miss, no one was infected in the temple.

Two villages are at the mountain base, thirty-four households in total.

I visited all of them.

None had contact with the infectious disease.

All right. You're dismissed.

Noted.

If my mother had an infectious disease,

why did no one from Mount Taiying or our family have it?

Don't you think something is strange, Father?

Physician Li discovered the infection early and isolated her from us.

That's how we could escape from the same fate.

Physician Li wouldn't let anyone near Mother's yard.

But Min'er saw he and the nurse went to treat Mother

with no protective garment.

If the infectious disease is that lethal,

why is he as healthy as a horse now?

There's no way this infectious disease can only infect Mother.

Perhaps he misdiagnosed her and prescribed the wrong medicine.

So my mother could never recover.

Yan'er.

I know you're a good daughter.

You're saddened by your mother's death.

I am, too.

But we can't accuse someone of wrongdoing

only because we lost someone dear to us.

I am not.

But my mother left this world suddenly. Father, shouldn't we find out?

Enough.

Your mother was afflicted with an infectious disease and died.

That's the truth.

It can't get any clearer than that.

Father, Min'er will not lie.

The doctor lied that Mother went peacefully.

There must be a reason!

Even if Physician Li said it to console me,

no other cases are in Mount Taiying and here.

Where did my mother get infected?

And what was she infected with? And what happened before she passed away?

Enough!

Everyone is busy organizing the funeral now.

As her daughter, you did not perform a wake or pray.

All you think about are conspiracy theories.

Do you have to sow more chaos into this family until you're satisfied?

Father, if you won't believe me, I will investigate myself.

I will find out how my mother passed away!

You...

Someone! Someone!

See Second Miss to her room.

Watch over her until she apologizes.

Second Miss...

[Moonlit Stroll]

Back then, you groveled to this and coddled to that.

When the moment came, only I came to take care of you.

Come eat with me.

I'm not hungry.

Honestly, why cross your father?

Your father already has a lot on his plate.

Yet, you bothered him with something he doesn't wish to hear.

Come eat and stop brooding.

You know, anything can change within seconds.

At first, I thought I could never be the legal wife.

And I might have to be a concubine forever.

Things change so quickly.

Oh, we should coddle your father now.

One day, your father might make me

his legal wife because of your brother.

And then, you'll be the legitimate daughter.

So you cried so much just now

and hugged Qiu Min, saying you would love her and protect her.

All that was for show?

How can you say that?

In the second chamber, Old Madam loves Min the most.

If I don't bring her to my side now, someone else will.

- I'm not dumb. - Go away!

You...

What are you doing? I'm your mother!

No, you're not.

Fine.

Fine!

You want to be the pious daughter. Go ahead.

The day when your father makes me his legal wife,

I'm sure you'll come to me and call me "Mother."

Careful.

Careful.

Condolences, Uncle Qiu.

Condolences, Official Qiu.

Thank you.

Both of you brought me so many medicines to fight infections.

Allow me to thank you on behalf of the Qiu family.

It's all Lord Liang's doing.

He searched all apothecaries in the capital and amassed so many medicines.

You're most welcome, Official Qiu.

Lord Liang.

My wife passed away suddenly, and it only delayed the marriage.

I was supposed to meet you to discuss it.

Uncle Qiu.

The marriage can wait.

The funeral for your late wife is more important.

Thank you.

Uncle Qiu.

Where are Qiu Yan and Qiu Min?

Both are deeply affected by their mother's death.

Min'er is now bedridden

and Yan'er

remains too stubborn to admit

that her mother passed away due to the illness.

Do you remember your favorite poem, "Far-off Journey"?

You always say you're envious of how the men in the poem

can travel around.

Although your wish won't come true now,

making a miniature world in this square ceramic plate

should realize your dream in a way.

I shall then ride this noble steed, travel with my mother,

and visit all of Jiangnan and everything beyond.

You're not holding a noble steed.

You're holding the mythical giant, Kuafu.

Yan'er.

As women, we might be confined to the house for the rest of our lives.

But if you have an adventurous spirit,

the world

will exist in your heart.

Done.

It looks beautiful.

[Moonlit Stroll]

Miss, Young Master Qin wishes to visit you.

Tell him to go back.

I'm too tired.

Qiu Yan.

My wet nurse told me

that when someone passes away,

his or her soul will linger around the ones they loved.

If Aunt Qiu sees you

suffering like this,

she will worry about you.

[Solemnity]

Lord Liang is here.

- I'll summon Third Miss then. - No need.

The loss of a dear one cannot be alleviated with words of consolation.

Please take good care of Miss Qiu Min.

May she recover soon.

As for the void she feels inside,

only time

can heal that.

Give this to her.

See you.

I'm not hungry.

Just one bite.

- You must move on. - I can't.

My hunch is never wrong.

My mother died under odd circumstances.

If I can't find out the truth, I can't move on.

Qiu Yan, sorrow has blinded you.

An infectious disease is dangerous.

If the royal family contracts it, even they may not survive.

Won't you believe me?

It's not that I don't, but the coffin was burned to ashes.

"The devil is in the details."

I'm sure I can find something.

I will investigate whatever is suspicious.

Thanks, Master.

Have a safe trip, Master.

See you.

Go.

Miss Qiu Yan, it must be stuffy inside.

Where's Lord Liang?

Over there.

Lord Liang, let's go.

Perhaps we can intercept the physician.

- Song Jin, go to Firewood Office and send people to block all city exits. - Yes.

Follow me, all of you.

[Amaze Apothecary]

[Closed for an undetermined amount of time]

He took his savings with him too.

I don't think he's coming back at all.

Something's up then.

It's still warm. He's not far away.

[Staging post]

It's the only staging post outside the city within a hundred li.

The city gate watcher reported that Li Zheng Yuan and his daughter left on foot.

Without a horse carriage, the furthest he could go is here.

Master, come in, please.

Firewood Office.

Did a middle-aged traveling physician and a young woman come here?

Not at all.

Stop right there.

You mother couldn't stop coughing,

but her pulse was normal and vigorous.

My benefactor asked me to say that she had an infectious disease.

Was her pulse normal?

What was the cause of my mother's death?

She...

She vomited blood before she died.

After she passed away, red spots appeared on her skin.

It looked... it looked like red safflower poison.

Are you saying

someone poisoned my mother?

I don't know anything else.

My benefactor told me to leave so I wouldn't be involved.

I did this to repay a favor I owed.

Who is this benefactor of yours?

You stayed in my house for more than a decade.

I treated you like my own daughter [Memorial Tablet of Beloved Mother in Qiu Family, Han Ruo Gu]

and felt sorry for you all this time.

I had to do what I did.

Don't blame me.

- Second Miss, let me inform her first. - Move aside.

Second Miss. Second Miss.

Why?

Why did you do that to my mother?

My mother treated you with respect.

What did she do that you had to burn her corpse too?

- Nonsense! - Nonsense?

My dear grandmother bribed a physician to poison my mother.

Is there anything else crazier than this?

Old Madam. You did this, didn't you?

Total gibberish.

Old Madam Qiu, we discuss a life here.

Please explain yourself.

Ridiculous!

A daughter who lost her mother started spouting nonsense.

No explanation is needed!

Physician Li Zheng Yuan is now in Firewood Office prison.

If you won't admit it, I will interrogate him

and invite you to Firewood Office another day.

Lord Liang, this is my family business.

I shouldn't burden you with it, Lord Liang.

Yan'er, come here.

Father, I found Li Zheng Yuan.

My mother didn't have any infectious disease. She was poisoned by red safflower.

Old Madam asked him to rule it as an infectious disease.

All right.

Old Madam poisoned my mother.

Yan'er, go back to your room.

My mother continued your bloodline.

She was killed, and don't you want to find her killer?

Physician Li said your mother was poisoned.

Where is his proof?

Without proof, it's just an accusation.

Old Madam rushed to cremate my mother to erase evidence of her crime!

Enough.

Take her away.

Uncle Qiu, Qiu Yan was right to question it.

That physician behaved oddly.

Lord Liang.

We are both government officials.

Just two days ago, you called me Father-in-law.

And now, you accused my mother of a crime.

Is this how you're supposed to treat your future father-in-law, Lord Liang?

If Second Madam of Qiu Family was poisoned, it's a criminal case.

The Qiu family cannot hide it forever.

Lord Liang, sounding the drum to be heard is a case.

Going to court to complain of injustice is a case.

My wife died of an illness and my family struck with sorrow.

That's just my family business.

Please don't meddle in this, Lord Liang.

Your Lordship, I, Qiu Yan, a commoner,

ask that my mother, Han's death be investigated.

Qiu Yan. Get up now.

- Are you crazy? - Yes, I am.

I can't compromise or be soft.

I can't learn all my mother had to teach me.

If fighting is what it takes to appeal for my mother,

then I'm prepared to die for it.

You...

Lord Liang.

Old Madam of the Qiu family poisoned my mother, Han.

May justice be served!

Qiu Yan, you're...

The insolence!

Official Qiu.

If Old Madam Qiu is innocent

and Madam Han truly died of disease,

she has nothing to fear.

Yan'er.

Your mother passed away.

Do you think you're the only one suffering?

She was my wife for many years.

My heart is bleeding right now, too.

And now,

you accuse my mother of killing my wife.

Yan'er, do you know you're just adding insult to injury?

Father,

you can be the pious son and take your mother's side.

But I will also be the pious daughter

and find the truth of my mother's death.

I just want the truth.

And the truth is your mother died of an infectious disease.

Tell yourself that lie then.

Yan'er.

Are you my daughter or not?

If being your daughter means

I must accept my mother died mysteriously, then no.

You...

Uncle Qiu, please calm down.

You...

Timing and Subtitles by 🍂 The Autumn Ballad 🍁 Team @viki.com

♫ The roof's eave blocks the moon, letting through only a shimmer ♫

♫ Your sweet smile warms my heart ♫

♫ As if the night haze were a silk garment ♫

♫ Only your appearance can bring color to the silk ♫

♫ Looking in your direction ♫

♫ All the images flood my mind ♫

♫ As I trace your eyebrows ♫

♫ I am willing to wait a lifetime for you ♫

♫ The roof's eave blocks the moon, letting through only a shimmer ♫

♫ Your sweet smile warms my heart ♫

♫ As if the night haze were a silk garment ♫

♫ Only your appearance can bring color to the silk ♫

♫ Seeing loved ones parting ways ♫

♫ I hope the story goes your way ♫

♫ I remember your promise ♫

♫ I am willing to wait a lifetime for you ♫

[Produced by Quhe Film Pictures Production (Beijing) Co., Ltd.]

[Produced by Shanghai Tencent Penguin Film Culture Communication Co., Ltd.]