Original subtitles

[English subtitles are available]

[Unchained Love]

[Episode 27]

[Deer's Reed Residence]

You're finally back.

Mistress.

Does it hurt?

Since you came to my side,

you haven't had an easy time at all.

You've only suffered.

Don't worry. It won't happen again.

We have money now.

Our hard days are over too.

I've saved up a whole house filled with

good food and good things for you.

Let's go. I'll take you there.

[Deer's Reed Residence]

Tongyun.

This pouch is for you.

You like snacks.

From now on, buy snacks freely with this money.

Whatever you feel like eating, buy it.

If the money in this pouch runs out,

just ask me for more.

We won't have to crave for food anymore.

The stitching is so fine.

It must've hurt your eyes making this.

I'm not very good at making pouches.

I hope you don't mind.

Tongyun,

are you hiding something from me?

No, no!

Okay, okay.

Why are you panicking?

Your hometown is in Dongting, right?

I heard that Biluochun tea in Dongting

tastes pretty good.

They say it's extremely fragrant.

Please have mercy, Your Highness!

Why are you

suddenly on your knees again?

How are your parents and siblings

doing back at home?

Oh right.

I've already sent someone to take care of them for you.

Don't worry.

They're asking about you too.

Your Highness,

you're mistaken about me.

I'm very stupid

and not capable of much.

I'm afraid I'll get in the way of your business.

Raise your head.

Aren't you quite quick-witted now?

I'm just going to ask you

to help me with a few small things.

I won't take

Bu Yinlou's life either.

You think about it carefully.

I-

It's getting late.

I'll get the bed ready for you.

Tongyun.

You just came back.

The most important thing is for you to have a good rest.

Go back to your room and rest.

It's my duty to serve you.

Why are you so formal with me

after coming back this time?

Just do as I say.

You don't have to serve me here.

Thank you, Mistress.

What on earth happened to Tongyun?

Weird.

How did you

magically appear out of nowhere?

I waited in the closet for a long time.

Luckily you didn’t let Tongyun stay.

Otherwise, I'd have to stay in there for the night.

Why is there a secret tunnel here?

Are you taking me away now?

Deer's Reed Residence is a royal residence.

There are troops stationed within a ten-mile radius.

We won't be able to leave that easily

without careful planning.

Then why did you make a secret tunnel?

Because I want to see you.

Where does the secret passage lead to?

I bought a house next door.

You bought a house

beside a royal residence?

How could the higher-ups let you buy it?

I'm the higher-up.

This land is under the jurisdiction of Zhaoding Bureau.

How nice it must be to have power and status.

When others have secret lovers,

the most they'll do is climb over the wall.

But you spending so lavishly...

What a domineering and powerful character you are.

You are noble and precious,

Of course you deserve me spending this much.

Please.

[Imperial City, Xiao Duo's Private Residence]

This way.

It's so similar.

Similar to what?

Committing adultery.

We even have a way to meet in secret now.

Doesn't this make us

a true adulterous couple?

Look.

We even have a bastard son now.

By the way, what are you planning to do

about Rong'an?

No matter what, she's still the former empress.

If you go up against her openly,

I'm afraid it'll be disadvantageous to you.

We don't have to do it openly.

Rong'an has

many dirty secrets we can use against her.

Currently His Majesty

doesn't seem to have any intention of turning against her.

So these are probably not enough.

Let's wait for a bit more.

We can definitely find some

incriminating evidence that will end her once and for all.

I want to put an end to her

properly and openly.

Look at this little cunning fox.

You're so scary when you want to be mean.

Hey, that's not fair to me.

The scary cunning fox

is not me.

The one in front of me is the real deal.

[Deer's Reed Residence]

The weather is dry.

Beware of fire.

The weather is dry.

[Deer's Reed Residence]

Beware of fire.

The weather is dry.

Beware of fire.

The weather is dry.

What's that?

Look at how gruesomely he died.

[Shangqiong Palace]

The fox demon is causing trouble.

Recently, people often see

a beautiful woman walking outside

in the middle of the night.

Several people have died

one after another in the city.

They were all men.

Not a single wound could be found

on the bodies.

But they all had extremely happy expressions before they died.

They must have died in a moment of extreme excitement.

Rumor has it that

it was a fox demon with the disguise of a beautiful woman

who lured and killed them.

Then...

Chief Xiao,

what do you think about this case?

We should not believe in rumors involving supernatural forces.

There must be someone behind this

playing tricks.

Judging from the traces

left at the crime scenes,

these murders

have many similarities in common.

The same culprit should be behind them.

What's more suspicious is

the places where the victims were found dead

are all near Deer's Reed Residence.

I'm afraid the murderer is targeting the royal family.

Please allow me to investigate thoroughly.

Didn't I say previously that

all of Zhaoding Bureau's criminal cases

should be transferred to the Court of Judicial Review to take care of?

Chief Xiao, you don't need to worry about this.

Your humble subject greets Your Majesty.

Please rise, Lord Bu.

You came at the right time.

Chief Xiao just told me

about the fox demon case.

This case has great implications.

You have to solve the case as soon as possible

or else even...

even Chief Xiao

will end up worrying about it too.

I will do my best

to put the people's hearts at ease.

Very well.

Earlier Chief Xiao said that

the culprit is targeting the royal family.

What are your thoughts on this?

Chief Xiao is used to

dealing with matters in the inner court

and might be thinking too much

into these trivial cases

happening outside the palace.

In my opinion,

this is just a trivial

murder case motivated by greed.

Saying that it's targeted at the royal family

is rather ridiculous.

But these murders

all coincidentally happened

near Deer's Reed Residence.

I've sent people to investigate along the way.

I believe the case will be solved very soon.

Good.

Chief Xiao, you've been working hard.

I heard that before the court meeting today,

you personally went to the crime scene

to check once more.

In that case,

could I request for you

to do a little more work?

Could you write up the details of the case,

summarize them into a report,

and submit it to the Court of Judicial Review today?

Certainly, Lord Bu.

Zhaoding Bureau will definitely

submit it in to the Court of Judicial Review within today.

Very well.

Oh look at me,

I'm ordering you around

and also taking the Bureau's rights to investigate.

Will you hold it against me?

But this is all

His Majesty's order.

Both of us

can only execute his orders.

You think too much, Lord Bu.

You and I are both the Emperor's subjects.

It's our duty to obey our master's orders.

Besides,

the Court of Judicial Review should be the one

dealing with these criminal cases in the first place.

It's just that when Great Ye was founded,

the Court of Judicial Review's Chief Minister then was a good-for-nothing.

That's why it was gradually handed over to Zhaoding Bureau.

It's only natural to return the rights back now.

After all, Lord Bu is not

such a useless person.

Am I right?

I still have a case to attend to.

I'll make a move first.

Take care, Lord Bu.

We gave him a stage

and he really took on the role.

Godfather.

Since His Majesty

doesn't want us to get involved,

then let's not.

Who cares.

Let His Majesty

favor the Court of Judicial Review.

Let's see when Bu Yulu will solve the case.

This case

is probably not as simple as it appears.

Chief.

Chief,

we have some new information

from the people we sent to Changqing Palace.

Mistress ordered you

to hide this box

in Consort Duan's room.

Take it.

Quickly.

You scared me.

After thinking about it,

I still feel like something is off.

You've become so quiet after coming back this time.

Is there something up?

Is there any secret

between you and Cao Chun'ang?

I heard that

he went to the Dyeing Workshop every day to look after you.

There's nothing of that sort.

I'm going back to work.

Tongyun,

if you have any troubles,

just tell me.

I'll help you.

We can chat any time too.

Mistress.

Actually...

What?

Nothing much.

[Deer's Reed Residence]

The Court of Judicial Review is under orders to investigate.

[Heart Pure as Snow]

Don't worry, Your Highness.

We're just doing a routine inspection.

It's just a formality.

I won't let these vulgar people

disturb you.

Father, you're on official business.

You can investigate as you like.

Okay.

My lord.

Under Her Highness' bed, we found...

We found...

How can you be so ill-mannered in front of Her Highness?

Open it and see what's inside.

Witchcraft?

This paper talisman

has all the names of the deceased victims

and their dates of birth written on it.

At this point,

what else do you have to say?

It has nothing to do with me.

I don't know

why that thing was in my room.

You're still trying to make excuses.

Come on, bring her in here.

I have verified that

she was the one who hid the paper talisman.

In order to seduce His Majesty,

and monopolize his favor,

you even kept a fox demon

and killed people.

Keeping a fox demon?

How could this be?

Yinlou,

how could you be so careless?

This case is a big one.

The entire Imperial City is watching.

His Majesty asked me to investigate this case.

But I didn't expect that

I'd end up investigating

my own daughter.

You're driving me

into a corner.

Come on!

Take the criminals away.

Yes.

I'll see who dares!

I apologize for being late.

With me around,

I won’t let Your Highness be wronged.

Chief Xiao,

you are obstructing my investigation.

Lord Bu, there's no problem with

you wanting to

act all impartial.

It's just that the prison

n the Court of Judicial Review

has all sorts of criminals in there.

You want Her Highness to go to

such a filthy place and be humiliated?

I'm afraid no one in the Court of Judicial Review

can take responsibility for that.

The Court of Judicial Review

is in charge of this case.

Who are you

to tell me what to do here?

I'm doing this for your sake, Lord Bu.

His Majesty

personally ordered for this case to be investigated.

Since Consort Duan is an imperial concubine,

this is a serious matter.

One careless move will incur the rage of the emperor.

If His Majesty asks about it,

how will you answer to it, Lord Bu?

So what do you think we should do?

In my opinion,

you should send Her Highness

to Zhaoding Bureau's prison.

The royal family is in charge of that place.

It is the most appropriate for Her Highness to be sent there.

I'll inform His Majesty.

If anything happens,

you don’t have to take any responsibility.

Fine.

The imperial prison will do.

Send Her Highness to the imperial prison for a quick visit.

I'll take care of the rest.

Lord Bu,

I’ll make a move first.

Tongyun, are you alright?

How could it be witchcraft?

Didn’t they say

they wouldn't harm my mistress' life?

Will my mistress be executed?

Cao Chun'ang,

go tell Chief Xiao now.

Tell him that my mistress didn't keep a fox demon.

She didn't kill anyone.

I was wrong. I was at fault.

Tong- Tongyun.

Let me finish.

Don’t be afraid.

With Chief Xiao around,

nothing will happen to Godmother.

You're right. With Chief Xiao around,

nothing will happen to Mistress.

Listen up carefully.

We must teach Consort Duan a good lesson today.

Yes.

What are they going to do to my mistress?

Tongyun, calm down.

Actually Her Highness...

Mistress!

Don't hurt my mistress!

You're putting all your weight on me.

Mistress, are you alright?

Your Highness, do you still want to play with this sword?

Why don't...you leave first?

Okay, let's go.

Mistress, I'm sorry.

I was the one who put you in this situation.

It was Queen Rong'an.

She forced me to frame you.

My family is in her hands.

I-

I know.

You know?

You're coming through a secret passageway.

Can you not be so bold?

No.

My men sent a message.

Rong'an secretly kidnapped

Tongyun's family.

She's probably going to force Tongyun to do it.

She already did it.

What do you think?

What about you?

Strike while the iron is hot.

And play along.

You saw through me so easily?

Don't be discouraged.

You didn't hide it too badly actually.

It's just that everything is written all over your face.

By the way,

don’t worry about your family.

Chief Xiao has already sent someone

to rescue your family.

Don't cry.

Mistress, I’m sorry.

It’s my fault.

Please punish me.

Why are you on your knees?

At first,

I was pretty mad at you.

There's nothing wrong with

wanting to protect your family.

But am I not

your family too?

Such a serious thing happened,

and you didn't even

think to discuss it with me?

You should be punished.

I've thought long and hard about

what harsh methods of punishment

I should use on you.

I'll confiscate your snacks.

I'll confiscate your pocket money.

And you're not allowed to eat supper.

But earlier,

I saw you

running here with tears brimming,

and even putting your life on the line to try and protect me.

That made my anger

subside completely.

But you nearly suffocated me to death

by squeezing me so tightly.

That made me quite annoyed.

Mistress, I'm sorry.

I was wrong.

It was my fault.

If it weren't for me,

you wouldn't be here squatting in prison.

Actually, squatting here in prison isn't too...

Your Highness.

Look.

Fresh fruits and snacks.

Sorry for the delay.

Please don't blame me.

The two guys with the swords earlier

are still waiting outside.

How about I call them in

and perform something for you again?

If it's not to your liking that's fine too.

How about

[Show List]

we call in someone to sing?

Or maybe lion dance?

By the way,

I heard that

a new opera theater

opened in the capital.

They're pretty good apparently.

Have a look and see which show you like.

You're supposed to be in prison now right?

Yes.

Are you sure it's appropriate to be

doing this in prison?

Enough.

Stop staying here.

Go back to your room.

There's someone still waiting for you.

I'll get going then.

You're back from

Godmother's so soon?

I thought

you'd have a bit more fun there.

You know everything?

Yes.

You ran away

before I could tell you.

Then why are you still here?

Waiting for you so we can eat together.

Here.

Have a seat.

You must be starving after all that happened today.

Even I'm hungry.

Here, eat it while it's still warm.

Even after I did this kind of thing,

My mistress isn't mad at me.

You're not mad at me either?

I am.

I was so angry.

I'm mad at you because

you didn't even tell me

after all this happened to you.

Empress Rong'an

threatened you with your family's lives

to frame Her Highness.

You must have felt

very helpless at that time.

It..

must have felt terrible for you.

If something like that happened to me,

I wouldn't have known what to do either.

It's all my fault.

I should have figured out that

something was up with you earlier.

Come on, eat.

Do I come across as

very untrustworthy to you?

I know, I'm not like Godfather.

I'm not as capable as him.

I entered the palace when I was very young.

I didn't study much.

So I don't really know much.

Indeed, I don't seem very reliable.

It's not like that.

You don't have to comfort me.

I know,

I'm a nobody.

But at least,

we are still good friends.

If you encounter any difficulties in the future,

don't keep it to yourself.

Talk to me more.

Seeing you

make yourself feel terrible,

makes me feel terrible too.

This hairpin you gave me last time...

I didn't mean to come across that way

with what I said earlier.

Don't feel burdened.

This is just my concern for you

as a friend.

You- you carry on eating first.

I have something on.

I'll head back first.

Cao Chun'ang,

listen to me finish...

I guess I'll tell you next time then.

[Zhaoding Bureau]

[The news that objects of sorcery being found at Deer's Reed Residence spread from Changqing Palace.]

[To the Chief]

Godfather,

haven't you

agreed with the Court of Judicial Review

to suppress the news and prevent others from knowing?

The news got out from Changqing Palace.

Then should we

approach some important ministers

and get them to shut people up?

There's no need.

Since Rong'an wants to make a big deal out of it,

let's help her

and make things even worse.

How dare they submit a petition asking me

to sentence my own consort to death?

I don't know how

all the officials in the court found out about

the whole fox demon saga in Deer's Reed Residence.

Lord Bu,

I order you to investigate this case thoroughly.

How is the investigation going?

Is there any evidence to prove Consort Duan's innocence?

Your Majesty,

I'm incompetent.

Incompetent, incompetent!

I entrusted you with this

so that you could deal with Xiao Duo.

Good on you!

Now you're even going to lose

your own daughter.

Your Majesty,

I originally wanted to

deal with the Deer's Reed Residence case

in a discreet manner.

But Chief Xiao

pressured me to send Consort Duan

into the imperial prison.

I'm afraid that was what

caused a stir,

which led to the news leaking out.

In my opinion,

Chief Xiao wants to take over

this case.

Xiao Duo doesn't want this case.

He wants to take back the investigation rights

that I took away from him.

Your Majesty.

Consort Duan is my own daughter.

My heart aches for her

even more than Your Majesty.

People say I'm taking advantage of her status

and relying on my daughter to curry favor.

But I only have

utmost sincerity towards Your Majesty.

I've already done my best

for Consort Duan.

My heart aches terribly today.

I'm ashamed both as a subject,

and as a father.

I deplore

Your Majesty to please punish me.

Punish you?

How can I punish you? Sentence you to death?

What's the use?

Forget it. Get up.

Queen Rong'an seeks an audience.

Greetings, Your Majesty.

What brings you here, imperial sister-in-law?

I heard that over a hundred court officials

submitted a joint petition

asking Your Majesty to sentence that demonic concubine to death,

in order to appease the people's resentment.

Rong'an.

Me being courteous to you before

doesn't mean I'll let you

pressure me into killing my own concubine.

What do you mean by this, Your Majesty?

Rong'an is doing this for the country.

Great Ye has always banned witchcraft.

That demonic concubine Bu Yinlou used evil magic

to lead the ruler astray

and harm the people.

She should be executed for her crimes.

The case has not been concluded yet.

How dare you talk nonsense here?

The Court of Judicial Review has already

found evidence of it in Deer's Reed Residence.

All evidence clearly points to her.

There is no doubt about it.

I deplore Your Majesty to issue a decree

to execute the demonic concubine.

How dare you

threaten me?

I dare not.

But the Empress Dowager

is extremely worried about Your Majesty.

If Shangqiong Palace doesn't issue the decree soon,

the Empress Dowager will start drafting

the decree to execute her.

Who else can take over this case?

Who else can take over this case?

Who else?

Right now,

I can't think of a suitable candidate.

Your Majesty, you...

Please allow me to take over this case.

Chief Xiao,

say it again for me.

I'm willing to share some of Your Majesty's worries

and take over the case from Lord Bu to thoroughly investigate.

But as you can see,

everyone in the court

including my imperial sister-in-law,

are kicking up a fuss about executing Consort Duan.

I can't buy much time for you.

If I can't solve the case

within three days,

you may behead me.

Fine.

I'll give you three days.

Zhaoding Bureau shall fully take over the case of the fox demon.

I thank your benevolence, Your Majesty.

Let's head out of the palace to the prison in the Court of Judicial Review.

Your Highness.

Consort Duan isn't in the Court of Judicial Review's prison.

Then where could she be?

I heard that after what happened at Deer's Reed Residence,

Chief Xiao insisted on sending Consort Duan

to the imperial prison.

Chief Xiao really knows how to protect people.

He's protecting her so well.

Your Highness.

The people we sent to Tongyun's hometown

are uncontactable too.

I'm afraid something is amiss.

It seems that

I was deceived.

Hurry and find someone to clean things up

to prevent Xiao Duo

from finding something to use against us.

Yes.

We found this type of rouge

in every victim's nose.

The rouge contains thorn apple.

Thorn apple?

Thorn apple causes people to have illusions.

If you inhale too much, it may lead to death.

Seems like they're just using sorcery as a cover.

There's no fox demon at all.

The thing that's killing people

is actually this poisonous rouge.

Search every single rouge shop in the capital.

Yes.

[Imperial City, Qiongshui Pavilion]

We searched every place

in the capital that is involved in

selling rouge.

We're only left with Qiongshui Pavilion here.

Search!

[Qiongshui Pavilion]

Search over there.

So many people here.

Something is going on.

Looks like there's no need to search.

All the evidence has been moved away.

All of the errand boys are dead in the backyard.

Only the owner's body

is yet to be found.

There are wheel tracks over there at the back.

He probably ran away.

Oh, you must be

the owner of Qiongshui Pavilion, right?

This way please.

Your Highness, our man at Qiongshui Pavilion

fell into the hands of Chief Xiao.

Seems like Xiao Duo

is determined to drive me into a corner.

But I didn't lose.

The rouge has been removed and destroyed.

Without any physical evidence,

he has no proof to back up his claims.

I can't just sit here and do nothing.

Yilan,

go get me all of Xiao Duo's

palace records and documents

from when he first entered the palace.

Yes.

[A Thousand Iridescent Clouds Gather]

The accomplice has already confessed

that it was all Queen Rong'an's doing.

Come with me to Changqing Palace

to arrest the evil queen at once.

Chief.

Chief.

There's someone from Changqing Palace

asking you to go over alone.

Perfect timing.

Your Highness.

We're already at this point.

I hope you didn't call me over

just to watch you do your makeup.

I've checked

the records and documents

since you entered the palace.

I found something interesting.

May I interest you in it?

You’ve been in the palace for eight years.

In the first two years,

you were working in the Wine and Food Bureau

as a lowly unknown eunuch.

Until six years ago,

somehow,

you suddenly became a completely different person.

You did everything you could

to join the Zhaoding Bureau.

Slowly you proved your abilities

and became the youngest

chief of Zhaoding Bureau.

You were the first to do this

since the founding of the Great Ye Empire.

Later I thought,

how could a person

change so drastically?

It's almost as if there were two different people.

So I went to check with

the old eunuch who brought you to the palace

and your old neighbors.

They told me

you have an older brother

who looks very similar to you.

But he suddenly disappeared six years ago.

So,

I thought of a story.

Do you want to hear it?