Original subtitles

=To Kill a Songbird=

(Adapted from Shen Xiaoguan's Bird Kills Seven People)

=Episode 8= (No Honor Among Bandits)

If you came to investigate this case,

you're looking for the wrong man.

The one who paid for a fake head

was Zhao Chengxi.

Zhao Chengxi.

He's who you should be after.

Too bad

you won't live to see another day.

Die!

(In the third month)

(of the fifth year of Chongning,)

(Huang Baocheng starved his father Huang Agen to death,)

(severed his head,)

(branded it with a false mark, and buried it at Qili Slope.)

(He acted under orders)

(from a man named Zhao Chengxi,)

(who paid him in silver)

(to do it.)

He won't wake up for another six to ten hours.

Keep the confession with you.

Why did you rush out?

You saw me signal you to stop.

Were you trying to get yourself killed?

I saw it.

But I don't take orders from you.

Indeed.

You're the last person who needs to listen to me.

You prefer County Magistrate Jiang over me.

You only listen to him.

Well, now look at us.

We're stuck at the foot of the mountain.

We'll have to wait for the rain to stop before we can go back up.

(You and her)

(were poisoned.)

(You risked your life to feed her the antidote,)

(yet she didn't appreciate it at all.)

Why did you give me the antidote?

You deliberately used yourself as bait

to lure Huang Baocheng out and trick him into confessing, didn't you?

This is my case.

You didn't have to go that far.

You have a blessed life.

You're the disciple of the chancellor.

You have a brilliant future ahead.

Yet you risked your life for this case.

Don't tell me

you've taken a liking to me.

I favor well-bred ladies

from respectable families,

as well as gentle, soft-spoken women.

However, I've no interest in temperamental lunatics.

Investigating cases and eradicating criminals

are my duties.

Don't overthink it

and make trouble for yourself.

And one more thing…

What are you doing?

I'm testing whether you meant

what you just said.

And what's the verdict?

Your breathing's steady. Your heartbeat's normal.

You were telling the truth.

Good.

Where'd you learn such a lowly trick?

Don't go trying it on anyone else.

You might just…

I'm fine.

Tomorrow, I'll…

By tomorrow, you'll already be dead.

♪You stepped ahead of the wind♪

This is the only thing I've got left that'll work.

Within a quarter of an hour, it'll stir certain thoughts and desires,

and force the poison out through sweat.

♪Unsure, unaware♪

♪You crossed rivers beneath your umbrella♪

♪Yet no one came to keep the promise♪

♪Across snow and mountains without end♪

♪Unknowing, unawakened♪

♪This love brings tears to our brows♪

♪The zither falls silent, the ink left longing♪

♪Had we never met♪

♪This obsession would not exist, we'd never meet again♪

♪Had I known one look could bind my life♪

♪I would've turned away at first sight♪

♪Tears fall at my fingertips, love coiled into a sleepless song♪

♪In this fleeting life, who will sing the final note?♪

♪In the end, it's nothing but goodbye♪

♪Only the snow stays behind♪

♪Falling, year after year♪

Don't look at me.

Stay still.

Don't touch me.

The Blended Harmony incense is meant to make you feverish, sweat,

and to let your instinct take over.

Why isn't it working?

I need you to follow your heart right now.

Is there anything you want to do?

All

you want to do is comb my hair?

It looks like a pile of straw.

Hurts my eyes just looking at it.

Anyone can tell you don't bother taking care of it.

You're nothing like the other ladies.

You should've been like them.

We found them!

They're here!

Get the carriage up here!

Master Lu's badly injured!

(Gathering Auspiciousness With the Sun)

Once there were two brothers,

both greedy for money and power.

The elder brother, for the sake of wealth,

could even starve his own father to death.

What he didn't know was that

his younger brother,

who appeared indecisive and harmless,

had an even more vicious heart.

Their father hadn't died of starvation.

He was poisoned by the younger brother.

That's why his face turned

that terrifying shade of purple when he died.

Years later,

someone in the stronghold was poisoned the same way.

When the elder brother saw it, he came up with a plan

and chopped off those men's heads.

The younger brother saw this and came up with a plan of his own.

He played the madman

and set up the Zhong Kui tale of devouring men,

all so he could later

frame his brother for the killings.

Once that happened, the entire stronghold

would fall into the younger brother's hands.

Then, the authorities arrived.

He planned everything with great care.

Meticulously,

he pinned the crimes

and fake evidence on his brother.

He had gone mad, after all.

At worst, he'd be an accomplice.

Isn't that right, Huang Baotian?

Huang Baotian.

You set me up!

(It was the eighth year of Zhenghe.)

(The 29th day of the 5th month.)

(It was drizzling.)

(No sun in sight,)

(yet life bloomed silently.)

(Nine days until the seventh day of the sixth month)

(To die by your greed)

(is the ending you deserved.)

I knew you'd go looking for those brothers.

Watching them go through questioning

so numb and painless

didn't sit right with me.

I only told a few truths.

I didn't kill anyone.

That's hardly a crime.

If I ever killed someone,

would you take me in?

Where are you going?

To find Master Jiang

and ask him to help me look into Zhao Chengxi.

Sir, a hatred that cuts to the bone

is something you've probably never experienced in your life.

You wouldn't understand why I'd risk everything

just to fight for the truth.

I see you've disregarded all propriety with me.

You don't trust me, and you've no interest

in a madwoman like me.

What do I have to fear?

Does your maid

not know about your condition?

Why don't you have her perform the acupuncture for you?

No one knows about it except you.

Brother…

(A hatred that cuts to the bone.)

(I have one as well.)

(I favor well-bred ladies)

(from respectable families,)

(as well as gentle, soft-spoken women.)

(However, I've no interest in temperamental lunatics.)

(Investigating cases and eradicating criminals are my duties.)

(Don't overthink it)

(and make trouble for yourself.)

Magistrate Lu,

the Huang brothers are dead.

♪A thrush's song pierced the endless night♪

♪Blood splattered on the bamboo cage, reflecting the cool moonlight♪

♪Thirteen years of frost and snow sealed the old study window♪

♪I twisted the needle, prying open the past♪

♪A cold stone marrow presses against my palm♪

♪My older brother lay buried afar♪

♪Flames licked across that place♪

♪A list of righteous hearts♪

♪Who laughed in the dark at the panic?♪

♪I'm the shadow caged within as well as the flying light♪

♪Only when hatred burns out did we know how scorching our obsessions were♪

♪You said you'd die if you hit a stone♪

♪Yet you crashed into my fate's web♪

♪Pear blossoms fell all over the wound on your shoulder♪

♪The wind in the bamboo forest dispersed the hexagrams♪

♪The thrush carried the past away♪

♪I stood at the end of the fireworks and gaze♪

♪You lifted a lantern to illuminate♪

♪That page♪