Original subtitles

[Debit Queen]

[Episode 20]

[Xu Mansion]

Welcome, Your Highness.

Please forgive me for not greeting you in advance.

Mr. Xu.

I didn't expect

we'd meet again so soon.

Your Highness.

There's no need to be overly courteous, Your Grace.

These are

my friends in Linchun City

that I talked to you about yesterday.

So you are the ones

who took care of Her Grace in Linchun City.

I hereby

express my gratitude to you.

After Her Grace went missing,

I've been worried about her day and night.

Now, Her Grace came back to me

safe and sound.

It's all thanks to you.

Your Grace.

You haven't told them

about our engagement, have you?

I...

I haven't even told them

that I'm a princess.

Of course I wouldn't tell them that.

You're thoughtful, Your Grace.

Actually, to be honest with you,

Her Grace and I

have been engaged for a long time.

Ping'er.

You are already engaged?

I...

Who's this?

This is a friend of mine from Linchun,

Wang Zhujue.

He's here for the exam.

It seems Mr. Wang here

doesn't know the rules.

How can you call Her Grace

by her maiden name?

I'm used to it.

Your Highness.

It's because I asked them to call me that.

Your Highness.

Why don't you sit down

and have some tea first?

No need.

I'm only here to pick Her Grace up

and take her back to the Marquis Mansion.

I still have something important

to discuss with Marquis Wei later.

I'll come visit you another day.

Your Grace.

I'll go back today.

See you, Your Highness.

Greetings, Your Highness.

Your Lordship.

Please have a seat, Your Highness.

Please.

Please.

I was discussing the sacrificial ceremony

with Grand Commandant,

so I'm back a bit late.

Please forgive me, Your Highness.

It's okay.

I just arrived too.

I also picked Her Grace up on the way.

I thought since we were going to discuss the marriage,

Her Grace should be here.

Yes.

I ordered a fortune-teller to do another reading.

After the sacrificial ceremony,

it's an auspicious day.

You're really thoughtful, Your Highness.

But since marriage is such an important life event,

of course we should take it seriously.

As for the wedding date, I think

we should wait

until I go back and

set a date with her mother and uncle

through discussion.

After that, I'll come to...

What do you think?

Discussion...

Of course that's necessary.

However, Your Lordship,

my love for Her Grace

is sincere and clear.

Therefore, I'll forgive and forget

that Her Grace bailed on me at our wedding before.

But if

anything goes wrong again this time...

No, it won't.

At that time,

Ping'er was young and immature.

Please don't take it to heart, Your Highness.

Don't worry, Your Lordship.

Her Grace was young and playful.

How could I blame her?

Is it sweet?

It's sour.

Then eat all of it.

I was lying. It's sweet.

Try it.

Can't you two

be a bit observant?

Why do you have to rub salt into my wound?

I... I...

I can't watch it anymore.

Weren't you quite confident this afternoon?

"It's just Prince Xian. What's to be afraid of?"

Didn't you say that yourself?

I was just bluffing.

What do you think I should do?

Will I never

see Ping'er again?

Ping'er only went home. It's not like she became a nun.

If you want to see her,

just go see her.

Or,

you can ask her to come see you at the Xu Mansion.

Right.

I can go see her.

I won't stay here

and watch you two being lovey-dovey any longer.

I'll go back and study.

If I fall behind in my studies,

Ping'er will be angry.

I'll go see her first thing tomorrow morning.

Look at him.

He's quite pitiful.

What should we do

about Ping'er and him?

Wu Qi talked to me

about the situation in Furong.

It was all about Prince Xian.

After spending time with

Prince Xian these days,

I finally realized the ramifications of it.

If Prince Xian doesn't budge,

it's almost impossible for Ping'er

to break off the engagement with him.

But even if he is Prince Xian,

Ping'er is a princess herself.

It's exactly because they're well-matched

that this matter

is even harder to deal with.

So... What should we do?

[Marquis Wei's Mansion]

Did Her Grace agree to see me?

Young Master.

Please go back.

His Lordship said

Her Grace is waiting to be wedded.

She doesn't know any young master out there.

How is that possible?

Her Grace and I know each other.

We are... We're friends.

If His Lordship says she doesn't know you,

then she must not know you.

You might have mistaken her for someone else.

His Lordship is magnanimous.

He won't pursue this matter any further.

But if you come trouble us again,

we'll report it to the government office.

Why don't you let me in?

I'm really friends with her.

[Xu Mansion]

Ping'er.

Ping'er.

Why is it you?

Wang.

Eat something.

I haven't seen Ping'er for two days.

I have no appetite.

You still have to eat something.

Get up.

It's not like when you were in Linchun,

you could see her

every day.

That's different.

When I went to the Wei Mansion today,

they wouldn't even let me in.

They said

we don't know each other at all.

We've known each other for so long.

How could they

identify us as strangers just like that?

Did they really say that?

What should you do?

I can only miss her by looking at this for now.

Wang.

Act normal, please.

Eat first.

Come on.

After dinner,

I have some good news for you.

Good news?

Good news.

Se said

she’s going to see Ping’er in the next couple of days.

Even if you can't see her,

you can ask Se

to help you give her a message.

Ling Se is going to see Ping'er?

I'll go see her now.

Wang.

Wang, have some more.

[Marquis Wei's Mansion]

Ping'er.

I didn't expect you

to be so good at playing games.

I almost lost.

Why aren't you smiling?

Se.

Be careful

on your way back.

Your dear Wang

asked me to say hello to you.

I couldn't tell you in there.

Also,

he has a lot to say to you.

I found it too cheesy,

so I asked him to write it down.

I can't read it anyway.

Thank you, Se.

Please tell Wang that

I've received it.

Actually,

I prepared a note

for Wang too.

I've been waiting to give it to you

when you come.

Rest assured.

I'll make sure he gets it.

You have no idea.

He's been so depressed these days.

This note

will definitely cheer him up.

But you guys can't

keep passing notes to each other

like this.

You still have to meet in person.

Se.

It's not my grandfather

who forbids me from seeing Wang.

It's Prince Xian.

He has many people

watching me at the gate of our mansion.

I can still see you,

but I'm afraid it'll be very hard

for me to see Wang.

Don't worry.

From now on,

I'll pass notes for you two.

How about this?

Ling Se.

I can't wait any longer.

Just tell me

whether I can

see Ping'er or not.

Should I put this here...

Just tell me.

I asked you

to wait for news at home.

Now that you came to my shop,

you need to give me some advice.

On what?

Help me think

what I should sell

in my shop.

I'm not in the mood to think about this.

How about

you tell me

Ping'er's news first?

And then,

I'll help you think about it carefully.

Okay?

Fine. Fine.

It's only because you look pitiful.

Look.

What is this?

Is this

from Ping'er?

Don't worry.

Ping'er is doing well.

It's just that

it's inconvenient for her to see you now that she's living in the mansion.

From now on, if you have something to say to her,

just write it down and give it to me.

I'll pass it to her for you.

Okay.

As long as Ping'er is doing well,

and as long as she still thinks about me,

everything will be fine.

Alright, Young Master Wang.

In a few days,

I'll find an excuse

to ask Ping'er out.

Then you two can meet at home.

Really?

That's great.

Ling Se.

You're doing me such a big favor.

Let me kowtow to you.

Don't do that. I can't accept it.

If you want to thank me,

help me think

what I should sell here in this shop.

But

I've never opened a shop before.

I really don't know anything about it.

But

there are many students

coming and going on this street.

As for bookstores alone, there are two.

Let me think.

Other than studying,

all students care about is eating and drinking.

But there's already enough catering service on this street.

If Ping'er and I

could have somewhere to go to play games,

that would be great.

Play games?

That's a great idea.

[Yushan Perfume Shop]

Miss, please pay your bill here.

Okay.

Young Master, are you here to buy incense?

Please have a look.

The seasonal incenses in our shop

are Auspicious Snow Incense and Refreshing Incense.

They've both come out.

You look like an extraordinary man, Young Master.

The Spirit-worshipping Incense and White-admiring Incense

suit you so well that it's like they're

customized for you.

If you're buying for a girl,

I recommend the Lotus Incense and the Jade Incense.

Girls love the smell of them.

How much is the incense?

Two taels of silver per box.

Two taels?

Are you selling incense or robbing money?

This is the level

of business we do.

If you think it's too expensive,

there are many stalls that sell incense for 3 or 5 coins

on the street.

What's with the arguing?

Young Master.

Mr. Luo.

It's been a year since we last met.

You truly look radiant.

Young Master is here.

Why didn't you inform me?

I... I didn't recognize him.

Third Uncle changed the name of the shop

to his name.

Isn't it understandable that

the shop boys don't know me?

Young Master, don't say that.

We're living off the Xu family,

and of course, the shop we're managing belongs to the Xu family.

You're the owner of the Xu family's shop.

Even if we are as blind as a bat,

we would recognize you.

Did Manager Wan tell you

when he came here that

Third Uncle is no longer a member of the Xu family?

He... He did.

So why didn't you cooperate

when he came to claim the shop?

Young Master.

Third Master

was right here in the shop at that time.

We wanted to cooperate,

but we didn't dare go against him.

My heart

is loyal to the Xu family.

Loyal to the Xu family?

How can you prove that?

Young Master, please wait a moment.

Here are the title deed, ledger,

and inventory details of the incense shop.

Everything is here.

Please take them all, Young Master.

You could have done this earlier.

Do I have to

come here in person?

[Xu's Incense Shop]

Young Master,

why don't you go in and have some tea?

I'll ask the kitchen

to cook some dishes for you.

Mr. Luo.

I have something else to do.

Okay.

If you have the time,

you might as well teach your subordinates

how to do service work right.

Yes.

You're absolutely right, Young Master.

Smell it.

This incense smells familiar.

It smells like Xu's incense,

but meanwhile, it smells a bit strange.

After smelling it for a while, it's a bit astringent.

Xu's

can never formulate such an incense.

Young Master.

You mean

there's something fishier in here?

This incense used

a total of 10 ingredients.

Nine of them

are in Xu's inventory.

But the last one

can't be found in the entire territory of Qing.

Young Master.

You mean...

I wonder

where Third Uncle got

this ingredient that only grows in Beiyun.

Go and check

who Third Uncle

has been friendly with recently.

Okay, I'm on it.

My Lord.

There's a message from Prince Xian,

asking you to hurry up and deliver the goods

to the other party.

This batch of goods needs urgent shipment.

I'm afraid we're short-handed.

Recruit more men

for the warehouse first.

Yes.

[Xu Mansion]

We agreed to meet here at this time.

Why isn't she here yet?

Ping'er!

Your Highness, Your Grace. Greetings.

No need to be overly courteous.

I happen to be free today,

so I thought I'd get some fresh air

out here with Her Grace.

We didn't have the chance to get to know each other better last time.

Today,

I brought some gifts.

Think of it as me making up for the welcome gifts last time.

Thank you, Your Highness.

Please come in.

Okay.

Your Grace.

Why is Prince Xian here too?

He has been following me.

We didn't know you'd come today,

Your Highness,

so the family banquet was prepared a bit hastily.

Your Highness, please take no offense.

You're too kind, Mr. Xu.

This table of delicacies is good enough.

I only get to enjoy this kind of cuisine

since I came with Her Grace.

As long as Her Grace is happy,

I'm happy.

I heard a lot about Madam Xu from Her Grace,

saying you are as close as sisters.

So why don't you change seats with him

and sit next to Her Grace

so that you can talk to her better?

Your Highness, there's something you don't know.

My husband and I love each other very much.

If we don't sit together

at dinner,

I'll lose my appetite.

You two

really love each other deeply.

I wonder what ranking

Candidate Wang got in this Provincial Examination.

I...

I was

supposed to fail.

I barely made the list

and only took last place

because I got guidance

from a master before the exam.

But being the last on the list now

doesn't necessarily mean

I'll always be the last.

By the time of the Metropolitan Examination,

perhaps my ranking

will be really high.

Even the person who gets first place in the Provincial Examination

may not be able to get a government job.

You are quite confident

as the last one.

I admire you.

Your Highness.

The early bird catches the worm, and diligence can make up for lack of intelligence.

With such ambition,

Wang's dream may actually come true,

right?

Then I wish you

pass the exam with a high ranking, Candidate Wang.

Thank you, Your Highness.

You're welcome.

You're Her Grace's friend.

I'm supposed to be nice to you.

How about this?

When Candidate Wang

becomes the Number One Scholar,

I will arrange a good marriage for you.

I remember Assistant Minister Liu

has a daughter who's not yet married.

She's a good match

for you, Candidate Wang.

Your Highness, you flatter me.

My biggest strength

is that I know my place.

I won't make

the Number One Scholar.

And some assistant minister's daughter

is way out of my league.

Besides,

I already have someone in my heart.

You haven't achieved anything in your career,

yet you already have someone in your heart.

Candidate Wang.

So what you care about is not career,

but romance.

I wonder which family

that charming girl comes from.

We were too busy talking.

The dishes are getting cold.

Please, Your Highness.

Please.

Here, Your Grace.

Thank you, Your Highness.

This shrimp was for Her Grace.

Sorry.

I've been studying too much lately.

I've got bad eyesight.

I really thought it was for me, Your Highness.

How dare you!

Please forgive him, Your Highness.

Wang didn't mean it.

Please don't blame him, Your Highness.

We're in the middle of eating.

Why did you all stand up?

Come on. Sit down.

Sit.

But

I do have something to make clear.

Back when you were in Linchun,

you didn't know Her Grace's identity.

No matter how you treated each other,

as the saying goes, those who don't know are innocent.

So, whatever happened will not be pursued.

But now, we're in Furong City,

and Her Grace is Marquis Wei's granddaughter.

She will also be my wife, Princess Xian, in the future.

So, please remember

your etiquette.

I won't pursue it

because I have a big heart.

But if this gets out,

it'll be embarrassing.

You're right, Your Highness.

We all got that.

It's an honor for the Xu Mansion

to have you here today, Your Highness.

I heard that you're good at

all the Four Arts, namely zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting, Your Highness.

I wonder

if I may have the honor to see that today.

Yes.

I've heard it before in Linchun

about how talented you are, Your Highness.

I really want to see it with my own eyes.

Did Her Grace mention this to you

yesterday?

Yes...

Yes.

In that case,

I won't let

Her Grace down,

and I won't let Her Grace lose face.

How about this? Let's eat first.

I'll play a song after dinner.

It's indeed my honor

to be able to hear a song

played by you, Your Highness.

Come on, Mr. Xu, Madam Xu.

To you, Your Highness.

Thank you, Your Highness.

Find a way

to let Ping'er

see Wang Zhujue alone.

You're really good at giving me challenges.

This family banquet was supposed to be

a chance for them to see each other.

Who knew Prince Xian would come?

Okay, I'll figure something out.

I did my best.

It was so good.

You're too modest, Your Highness.

I usually

make friends through incense,

and sometimes, I play the zither with my friends.

But today,

after hearing the song you played,

I feel that

all those I heard are unbearable to hear now.

I also like burning incense

to entertain myself when I play the zither.

It seems that the two of us

share the same interest.

Your Highness.

I developed a new incense recently.

It goes the best

with books and the zither.

I'm trying it out in my study right now.

Judging by the time,

the incense

should be best burned now.

Your Highness.

Do you want to come with me and take a look?

In that case,

I'm willing to be

the first one to eat crabs.

Mr. Xu.

Please lead the way.

I won't go with you

to my husband's study.

It so happens that Her Grace and I

have something intimate to talk about.

I'd like to invite Her Grace

to come to my room to catch up.

I also prepared

her favorite food and playthings.

Okay.

Go.

Thank you, Your Highness.

Your Highness, please.

Let's go.

Ping'er.

Wait here.

Wang Zhujue will be here in a minute.

Take your time to talk.

I'll keep watch outside.

Xu Zilu will find a way

to stall Prince Xian.

Okay.

Thank you so much, Se.

Mr. Xu's study

is so nicely arranged.

It's both spacious and elegant.

If I didn't know

you were a businessman,

I would think

I've entered a scholar's study.

Thank you for your compliment, Your Highness.

Are these all your works?

Yes.

Furong doesn't have as many ingredients

as Linchun.

Your Highness, if you have time,

please visit Linchun.

I'll take you to

Xu's and show you

the ancient incense-making technique passed down in the Xu family.

Linchun is a great city.

I will definitely go there if I have a chance.

Okay.

Actually, I'm usually quite bored

in Furong City.

I only get to do the Four Arts

on a superficial level.

A few months ago,

I went to Lingnan

and collected a few sets of Four Treasures of the Study.

Next time we meet,

I will give you a set as a gift.

The Ink Pavilion in Lingnan

is indeed the best.

I wonder if you've been there, Your Highness.

That's exactly where I went.

Their inkstone is second to none

in the Qing State.

I heard that the orders

have been lined up to the year after next.

I had to take full advantage

of my status

to cut the queue and got three sets.

I've also heard a lot of nice things about Ink Pavilion.

But last month when I was there in Lingnan,

I didn't get a chance to visit it.

It's really a pity.

Last month?

I remember

there was a freeze disaster in Lingnan last month.

The road conditions were tough.

Mr. Xu.

Why did you go there at such a time?

Xu's has a Laurel Garden

in Lingnan.

It was severely affected by the disaster this year.

I was there to comfort the victims.

I wanted to go to Ink Pavilion

after I finished my work,

but I didn't expect that

I'd have an accident along the way.

Accident?

Yes.

There was an emergency at home.

On my way back,

I ran into a bunch of bandits.

I almost died.

There has been no report of bandits in Lingnan for years.

How come there were bandits out of the blue?

I also found it strange.

Those bandits were really fierce that day.

One of my companions was killed.

I was lucky

to have survived.

Someone got killed?

So what happened then?

Did you report it to the government office?

How did the government office deal with it?

I was saved by the villagers.

After I woke up, I went to report it to the government office.

But I was in a hurry to return to Linchun,

so I didn't pursue the outcome.

There have been many disasters in the south this year.

If natural disasters are met with man-made disasters,

the people will have

a even harder time.

Yes.

If the bandits are rampant,

I must report this to His Majesty

to pacify the bandits.

Mr. Xu.

Do you remember

the victim's name?

And where was that person from?

Go after them!

Young Master!

A bunch of people are after us!

Dear Young Master.

The stuff inside this parcel

is very important.

If anything happens to me,

please take it

to Furong City.

Furong City?

Well,

I don't know about that.

But

that person seemed to be

from Furong City.

Furong City?

Let's not talk about this.

After this ordeal,

you'll definitely have great luck

and have a bright future, Mr. Xu.

Thank you for your kind words, Your Highness.

Ping'er.

I saw that

you didn't eat much today,

so I brought some chicken drumsticks

from the kitchen.

Have some.

Wang.

How have you been these days?

I'm all right.

Everything is fine.

It's not that I didn't want to see you,

but my family...

Ping'er, you don't have to explain.

I understand.

We can figure something out together.

No matter how powerful Prince Xian is,

as long as you don't want to marry him,

we'll find a way to get you out of it.

There must be a way.

I only escaped back then

because I didn't want to marry him.

That's why I escaped from Furong City to Linchun.

I didn't even want to marry him back then,

not to mention now.

Wang,

will you wait for me?

I will.

No matter how long it takes,

I'll wait for you.

But Prince Xian

is nice on the outside and indifferent on the inside.

He's very cunning.

Wang.

Promise me.

Don't

provoke him again.

And pretend to be a coward?

That's what I'm best at.

At worst,

I'll avoid him from now on.

I won't let him

have anything on you.

From now on, I'll stay in the mansion and study.

I won't go anywhere.

I won't provoke him.

Okay.

I'm relieved then.

Ping'er.

Take good care of yourself.

Eat well.

I've understood

all the learning techniques you taught me.

I will work hard.

I'll pass the Metropolitan Examination.

I promise I won't let you down.

Wang.

Take good care of yourself too.

Eat well.

Ping'er.

It's a deal then.

Okay.

It's a deal.

Deal.

Young Master.

You don't know that person's name

or his facial characteristics.

There's no clue whatsoever.

How should I investigate it?

Isn't this a clue?

But isn't this

just a dark little box?

This is not an antique.

But the craftsmanship is quite delicate.

There's no logo

or pattern on it either.

This is obviously

from a rich family for home use.

Just follow this line of thought

and investigate.

Young Master, there are

countless families

that can afford this in Furong City.

If I were

that capable,

would I still be working here?

I would've been an official in the government office.

Chen Bin.

Young Master.

Investigate this item

for me.

Leave it to me, Young Master.

Not to mention you have this,

even without it,

I can

find out the truth.

Come here.

Put it down.

Didn't you ask me to investigate it?

Why do you have to take this with you

for investigation?

You're clumsy. What if you lose it?

I can do it without taking it with me.

Because I've seen

all the details.

Liufeng.

Yes, Your Highness. Any order?

Have you found Yetian and Mu?

Not yet.

So,

you haven't found that thing either?

I'm incompetent.

Go investigate Xu Zilu.

I want to know

if it's possible that

he has that thing.

Are you suspecting

Xu Zilu has something to do

with the spy sent by the Ministry of Justice, Your Highness?

During the freeze disaster in Lingnan last month,

Xu Zilu made a trip there.

I want to know

if he knows something.

Do we need to silence him?

Silence him?

What good would that do me

if we silence him now?

Killing him is not a big deal.

But what if you

ruin my plan because of it?

I was wrong.

Use your brain

when you work.

Follow him for the time being.

We'll make a plan after finding out what he's up to.

Yes.

Young Master.

Prince Xian sent someone to Lingnan.

Lingnan?

Why did he think of Lingnan all of a sudden?

I also find it strange.

This never happened before.

So what has he been doing these days?

Just as usual.

He's still been visiting the same shops.

Yesterday, Prince Xian went to the mansion of Imperial Merchant

Xu Zilu.

Mr. Xu is really something.

He's only been here a few days,

yet he got Prince Xian to visit him in person.

Did Xu Zilu

go to Lingnan last month?

Yes, he actually did.

All right.

Ask your men

to keep watching Prince Xian.

Empty the private room upstairs.

I have a guest to meet there.

Yes.

It's quite busy here.

Pardon me,

you two.

We have quite a lot of guests today.

You may have to wait

for two more hours.

We are friends of Wu Qi,

Mr. Wu.

He's booked a private room upstairs.

I see.

This way, please.

Thank you.

I prepared a simple meal

to welcome you to the capital.

You call this a simple meal?

Mr. Wu.

You gifted me a shop,

and now you're treating us

to dinner at such a nice place.

It must have cost you dear.

Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Wu.

I will

treat you to dinner in turn another day.

It's a great time

to eat silver carp now.

One of the reasons why I invited you two here today

is to enjoy delicious food together.

The other reason is that

I'm really curious about

how the preparation

of Young Madam Xu's shop has been going.

I've thought about it.

Your shop

is quite close to the academies.

The students there have nowhere to go for fun

after school.

So I decided to

open a game shop.

Young Madam Xu.

You're even more imaginative

than before.

You flatter me, Mr. Wu.

But

the gaming equipment

will cost a lot of money.

Mr. Wu.

Are you interested in

making an investment?

Okay.

I'll pay for

all the gaming equipment

in the shop.

Thank you in advance then, Mr. Wu.

Here.

I look forward to working with you.

Happy cooperation.

Congratulations,

you three.

Your ordered

our signature set meal today.

So,

you got a lucky draw.

Besides, the winning rate is 100%.

You can send a representative

to try your luck downstairs.

Darling.

Go.

I'm not usually lucky.

Okay.

I'll go then.

Please.

I've already

sent my wife away for you.

Go ahead.

What is it?

Has Prince Xian

been to your mansion recently?

Did you arrange someone

to keep watch at my mansion?

Why do you know everything?

Given my relationship

with you two,

I don't need to arrange anyone there.

I could ask you directly.

I'm just curious about

why Prince Xian went to your mansion.

I think I can tell you.

Prince Xian

has some connections

with Ping'er, who's in my mansion.

Ping'er?

Just Ping'er?

Prince Xian didn't mention Lingnan?

You've been talking to me about Prince Xian the last couple of times we met.

Why is that?

Mr. Xu.

Given your connections with Prince Xian,

of course you'll take to business like a duck to water.

It's just that in business,

besides making money,

safety is the most important thing.

I wonder

if you think so too, Mr. Xu?

Yes.

My family's safety

and happiness

come first.

May

our wishes come true then.