Original subtitles

[Legend of Zang Hai]

[Episode 37]

[Zhao's Mansion]

Is he suspecting something?

Hai administers to the Cabinet affairs with you every day.

He's too busy even to get any sleep.

I doubt he has any other thoughts.

Judging from Zang Hai's intelligence

do you think he's getting farther away

or closer to the truth?

Since you can't

locate the bronze fishes

I won't wait any longer.

It's time to do it my way.

Sir.

Let me search around a bit more.

You won't find what he's hidden

with a simple search.

Then...

Master.

What's wrong?

Mr. Zang invited you to dinner tonight.

I see.

Sir...

I know what you want to say.

Don't worry.

I only want what's best for him.

You may leave.

It's time.

Go ahead.

Understood.

Sir.

Sir.

Please.

Hai.

It seems that you made

quite a few dishes without me.

You always cook for us.

It's my turn to cook for you.

The disciple surpasses the master.

Gao Ming.

You are going to lose your job

as a master.

Sir, please sit.

Where is everyone?

I made enough dishes for everyone.

But Fengliu and Yingqi

dragged Antu to see the lanterns.

Guanfeng and Shilei went with them.

Just like that, I'm left home all alone.

Master, sit.

Alright.

Sir.

I've learned a lot

from you while working in the Cabinet.

Here's to you.

Zang Hai.

You joined the Cabinet

to share my burden

and perfect my work.

I should be the one proposing this toast.

Please help yourself, sir.

Alright.

Try the stir-fried eggs with tomatoes.

Alright.

My mother taught me how to make this.

Our family was too large

for lavish meals every day.

But we had plenty of hens that laid eggs.

Try this one. Cold tofu with green onions.

It's my father's favorite food.

There is a well-known story about this dish.

A minister of the founding emperor

discovered that his hometown friend

and the local officials were accepting bribes.

Instead of covering for his friend

he abided by the law and executed him.

But the local officials were afraid that they would be implicated

and made false accusations against him.

Later, in the winter

that minister served the emperor a pottery jar

filled with cold tofu with green onions.

The emperor caught the hidden meaning.

He punished all the corrupt officials

and did justice to the minister.

Homophone of "incorruptible".

It's a bit like the story of my demotion back in the day.

He didn't win the emperor's trust

with that dish

but with the fact that he had helped the emperor

conquer the world.

It was the same with my father.

He spoke out for you in court

to seek justice

leveraging his connections with His Majesty.

If it weren't for my father

I'm afraid you wouldn't have resumed your officialdom.

Your father helped me

but I failed to repay him.

My father never expected anything in return when helping others.

But even if someone

can't repay other people's kindness

they shouldn't return favors with betrayal.

Mr. Zhao.

Should I call you my benefactor

or my enemy?

Hai.

Zang Hai.

I take it

you're not just probing for information.

You assigned such great masters to teach me everything.

How can you expect to deceive me

with Shi Yiping's death?

Even if your plan was foolproof

it was you who took me to the Shi Residence, after all.

As long as I have a trace of doubt

I'll find out the truth eventually.

What did you find out?

Lu Min.

Lu Min?

He was your classmate at the Academy of Yong.

Back then, Lu Min, Zhuang Luyin, and you

attended the Academy of Yong

and became classmates.

Remember?

A tiny flaw in perfect planning.

I didn't expect

that you'd look into the Academy of Yong.

Zhinu, congratulations.

Finally

you've reached

the end of this path.

Since you're well prepared

I bet everyone is here.

Please come out.

You...

I've considered several possibilities.

For example

you're indeed my third enemy

but you are not the mastermind.

You were one step late

to stop Zhuang Luyin and Cao Jingxian

from killing my family.

Today

I demand an answer.

Because only you

know the truth now.

Zang Hai.

You are a real genius.

I really can't tell

if it's a blessing

or a curse.

But it's a pity

that I'm better informed

and have gotten ahead of you.

However, I don't want to

hide the truth anymore.

I am

your last enemy.

I planned for the annihilation

of the Kuai family.

Even if your father hadn't died at Zhuang Luyin's hands

and had surrendered the Gui Seal

he wouldn't have survived.

After all, you saved me

and kept me alive to this day.

I can make this quick for you.

I am impressed

that you managed to pin this on me.

But you were wrong about one thing.

I didn't stage Shi Yiping's death

to deceive you.

I did it to deceive another person.

- Stay put. - Stay put.

You...

We are here to arrest Zang Hai on His Majesty's orders.

Arrest him.

You may leave.

Let me talk to him alone.

Yes, Your Majesty.

You...

Zang Hai.

Do you know how it feels to be an emperor?

No, Your Majesty.

It feels lonely.

I have to make decisions for the entire nation.

I must hold on to power

govern all the ministers

and take care of the people.

It's lonely at the top.

That's why Your Majesty likes carpentry.

It's something you do for yourself.

I have missed my old life

every single day

since I ascended the throne.

But if I hadn't become the emperor

I would have died long ago.

I just don't understand.

Why didn't your father trust me, either?

Your Majesty.

My father didn't betray you.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken the secret

of the Gui Seal to his grave.

I've always wanted to ask your father

why he had chosen

to keep the secret at the cost of his life.

He could have just spilled the beans.

He thought I'd be afraid of those people?

My father died for a just cause.

He wasn't trying to keep your secret.

He just didn't want the Gui Seal to be activated again.

Kuai Duo.

I've underestimated you.

Zang Hai.

You lied to me.

But I won't kill you.

Nor will I vent my anger on your acquaintances.

But

you must hand over the bronze fishes.

The bronze fishes are in Wenyuan Pavilion

hidden under Zhao Bingwen's seat.

These are the bronze fishes that Kuai Duo hid from me.

Your Majesty.

I gave you the Gui Seal

without offering you the bronze fishes

out of appreciation for my father's painstaking efforts.

What makes you think I would activate the seal?

The Great Yong hasn't waged a war against anyone

for over a decade.

As the world bows in reverence, true peace flourishes.

I wanted the Gui Seal

because my father

told me to obtain it before he died.

You hid the bronze fishes

because you feared your father would die in vain.

You wanted to honor his legacy.

But it's the same for me.

Even if Your Majesty never uses the Gui Seal

who can guarantee that every emperor

will do the same as Your Majesty

in all the generations to come?

What about you?

If you keep the bronze fishes to yourself

can you guarantee that your descendants

won't covet the Gui Seal?

Your Majesty.

The Gui Seal is an ominous item.

Countless people have died because of it.

As sovereign of all under heaven

Your Majesty should govern

with benevolent authority.

I implore you to destroy this item.

One more thing.

My third enemy is still alive.

It's Zhao Bingwen.

Everything that happened before

was just a smokescreen

to deceive us.

He told you about the bronze fishes

to prevent me from avenging my family.

It wasn't Zhao Bingwen who told me about the bronze fishes.

It was Cao Jingxian's subordinate.

Your Majesty.

What's going on?

Your Majesty.

The imperial guards caught this person.

He is Shi Quan from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau who has been wanted.

He kept asking to see you.

And he said something

that shouldn't be said.

I want to tell Your Majesty something

about the treasure of Dongxia.

Leave us alone.

Understood.

I remember that you have another name.

I am Mr. Cao's foster son.

My name is Lu Fen.

You two took something from me.

Since Cao Jingxian is dead

how come you're still alive?

I should have killed myself.

But I couldn't die without avenging

my foster father.

How do you want to avenge him?

Let's hear it.

Your Majesty

do you know that it takes three bronze fishes to activate the Gui Seal?

What did you say?

I denounce Zang Hai for hiding Your Majesty's treasure

and deceiving Your Majesty for personal gain.

Sir.

Sir.

You finally came.

I did everything you told me.

Please look into it.

Zhao Bingwen has admitted to me

that he was my third enemy.

Besides, it was him who took me

to visit Shi Yiping.

He instigated Lu Yan to kill Mr. Shi.

He also instigated Lu Fen to snitch on me.

Enough.

I will look into

Zhao Bingwen by myself.

Be careful, Your Majesty.

He must be coveting the Gui Seal.

I'm tired.

Take him away.

I will see what to do about him.

Guards.

Tomorrow morning

summon Zhao Bingwen

to the palace.

Yes, Your Majesty.

[The Great Prison]

What lie have you told His Majesty now?

His Majesty didn't ask me anything.

Why should I lie?

You made Lu Fen snitch on me

and forced me to hand over the bronze fishes.

Now, you can't get them, either.

Something happened to His Majesty last night.

His life is at stake.

You were the last person to see him

and he put you in jail.

Mr. Sun knows what happened.

- He wouldn't... - I'm the Chief Cabinet Secretary

deeply trusted by His Majesty.

His Majesty was in trouble.

Sun Defang and Xue Zhao failed to protect him.

I've put them in jail.

Now, His Majesty is under my protection.

Getting the bronze fishes and the Gui Seal

is as easy as taking candy from a baby.

Zang Hai.

What a pity.

All this is destined to happen.

If you hadn't discovered my real identity

I could release you

as the Chief Cabinet Secretary right now

so that you keep working for me.

There are so many things

we can work on together.

One lie needs a hundred more to cover it.

Sooner or later, the truth will be revealed.

If deception is a conspiracy, then strategy and diplomacy

represent a trap set in broad daylight.

Fight dirty if you must

but prevail by undeniable means.

Can you grasp the difference?

When did you start plotting against me?

When you told me

that Kuai Duo gave the Gui Seal to His Majesty.

I learned where the Gui Seal was

but it made me deeply concerned.

Because you had His Majesty's support.

But the real challenge

lies in getting the last bronze fish from you.

So you placed the bronze fishes and the Gui Seal

at Shi Yiping's residence.

This is about framing Shi Yiping as the fall guy

allowing His Majesty to secure the Gui Seal

and lay his doubts to rest

and driving a wedge between His Majesty and me

with the bronze fish I have.

You have to give something

to get something.

General.

There is no one here.

It seems that they've run away.

Put the whole city under lockdown.

Understood.

You want me to weigh

personal revenge

against world peace.

If I hand over the bronze fishes

the Gui Seal may be activated at any time.

But if I don't

I can't prove it to His Majesty

that you're my third enemy.

I know you

all too well.

You crave revenge.

But you can't change who you are.

In this world

being good

just makes life harder.

Because your ties and worries weigh too heavily.

As long as you make the same decision as your father

you can't use His Majesty against me.

You know my father so well.

Is your story with him

true or false?

The most powerful trick

is to deceive people by telling the truth.

Mix one lie

with nine truths.

That's the art of deception.

Kuai Duo did speak out for me in court.

I did write a petition, asking His Majesty to punish the culprits.

However

we have no correspondence.

I have never received any letter from him in Yuezhou.

The letter was sent to me by Zhuang Luyin.

I asked Gao Ming to stay in Yuezhou on my behalf

and hurried back to the capital.

I told Cao Jingxian to guard the city gates

with Surveillance Officers.

Sure enough

we found your father's tracks that day.

But then he vanished into thin air.

Little did we know

that he took the secret passage to the palace.

Anyway, we waited for him

near the mansion.

So I was right.

You manipulated the bandits into getting caught

and made them admit to killing my family.

Then you implored His Majesty to punish the culprits.

That was how you killed everyone involved.

After that

I've been waiting

for someone to do Kuai Duo justice.

I waited for the person who hid the Gui Seal to show up.

But I didn't expect

that Kuai Duo's death was like a rock sinking into the sea

which never stirred anything up.

Eventually, I learned from you

that His Majesty held the Gui Seal.

Zhuang Luyin tipped you off.

Cao Jingxian guarded the gates for you.

You managed to make them

follow your plan

and keep you behind the scenes.

Are you interested in what happened at the Academy of Yong?

I was born in a border town constantly caught up in wars.

[Academy of Yong] My father named me "Bingwen"

to uphold King Wen's morality

and become a court official one day.

In the end, I lived up to his expectations

and was admitted to the Academy of Yong at the age of ten.

[Hiding brilliance and biding time]

There

most students were children of noble families.

Soon, I became a thorn in their eyes.

Because my family was poor

but I was extremely talented.

Let go.

You want to be someone like us?

In your dreams.

The physically imperfect

are barred from the imperial court.

I will cut off your finger

and stop you from daydreaming.

The son of a defeated general dares to stand up for him?

You're losing a finger, too!

Master, come here. They are there.

Consider yourself lucky.

Just you wait.

Are you hurt?

No, I'm fine.

I am Lu Min.

He is Zhuang Luyin.

What is your name?

Zhao Bingwen.

Just like me, Lu Min was born

into a poor family.

Zhuang Luyin's father died in a battle at the border.

His family fell from grace.

After that

the three of us were excluded by the other students

and we were often bullied.

We tried to fight back.

But even the masters sided with them.

Right then, I realized

that there is something in the world

called power.

If you don't want to be bullied

make him scared of you.

You go first.

How dare you hit me?

Behave.

I won't let you off.

I will tell my father.

Once he comes

he will kill you all.

Stop running.

Help...

Help...

Help...

Does it mean

that we won't be bullied anymore?

Sooner or later, someone else will bully us.

We can only survive

by constantly gaining power.

But we couldn't hide the truth forever.

Nor would hatred disappear.

Lu Min's wounds made people believe

that he was related to the drowning.

[Jinghe Gate]

Lu Min's life was destroyed.

He could no longer stay at the Academy of Yong

and had to enter the palace as a eunuch.

Let's go.

Since you've taken this step

the outside world no longer has anything to do with you.

Many years later

Lu Min, who had long been renamed Cao Jingxian

became the Seal-Holding Eunuch Director.

Zhuang Luyin defeated the Dongxia army

and became a prominent general.

I also became the deputy chief grand secretary.

Only we knew

that we were true allies.

If it weren't for you

they wouldn't have ended up like this.

[Wanted]

Miss, take it easy.

We will hear from Guanfeng soon.

Antu.

Tong'er, you finally came.

Antu.

I finally lost the tails.

But I can't stay long.

How did you find this place?

I thought you had left.

Zang Hai made this place a safe house.

We rushed here once the imperial guards

left last night.

Antu.

You're wanted throughout the capital.

Be very careful.

But His Majesty promised to set us free last night.

Why are we wanted today?

What happened to Zang Hai?

Come here.

I don't know

what Mr. Zang said to His Majesty.

But everyone in the palace is saying

that he attempted to kill His Majesty.

He wouldn't do that.

He was set up.

Where are you going?

To save him.

Zang Hai is in jail.

How can you save him?

Maybe you'll be arrested

even before you get to see him.

I'll go to Prince Yongrong.

He can save Zang Hai.

He is the most powerful member of the imperial clan.

That makes him

the major suspect.

Besides, he's locked up in his mansion

and can't even go out.

Who can save Mr. Zang now?

Antu.

Calm down.

We will figure something out.

Should I ask my father for help?

Tong'er.

What I'm about to say

may put you in a difficult position.

But I have to tell you, anyway.

It's about my father?

Why did you save me?

Why did you train me?

If you hadn't told me about the third enemy

I might be kept in the dark forever.

How are you going to live

without hatred?

I told you about your three enemies

so that you would keep taking revenge

until you help me find the Gui Seal.

You are the Chief Cabinet Secretary.

Why are you obsessed with the Gui Seal?

The Great Yong is a huge place.

There's way too much work.

And we need loads of ministers.

As long as those people exist

even His Majesty can encounter obstacles.

I want to change the world.

However

we can't count on people like Kuai Duo to do that.

But the Gui Seal is different.

As long as I obtain it

I can turn all the people in Dongxia into ghost soldiers

and form an invincible army.

I will make all rulers submit to the Great Yong

and make their people

work for the Great Yong.

That will only

bring endless war.

The great unity

must be achieved through harmony.

History

will record you as a scourge of the nation.

Only losers

will be despised.

As long as I succeed

history will write my praises.

♪Conceal the ambition in my eyes♪

♪In my palm, I hold a dangerous desire♪

♪Turbulent waves hidden in my sleeves♪

♪Silent thunder echoes around♪

♪However cunning you are♪

♪I can see♪

♪Right through you♪

♪Schemes are my armor♪

♪Overt plans are my weapons♪

♪With restrained fury♪

♪I purge the world's corruption♪

♪The night is not dark♪

♪Because♪

♪My heart burns bright♪

♪I control the shifting clouds♪

♪I command the falling rain♪

♪The compass of the human soul is unpredictable♪

♪There will always be ups and downs♪

♪I hold the power of life and death♪

♪I grant and I take away♪

♪When faith burns like the scorching sun♪

♪I will sing aloud with you♪

♪I am the sowing season♪

♪I am the autumn harvest♪

♪I am the world♪

♪I am the people♪

♪And you are also me♪