Original subtitles

=To Kill a Songbird=

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

=Episode 16= (Let True Heart Be Laid Bare)

Only if the two of you die together

will this case be sealed beyond doubt.

Besides,

he prepared the tung-oil fuse.

It has nothing to do with me.

Human affection

is as thin as water.

From this day forth,

may you be like a kite with wings,

free to soar any sky as you please.

Stop right there!

Imperial Censor,

Official Liang Andao, is here.

Zhai Lu.

I have read all the evidence Jiang Chun submitted.

I have restrained your men.

More than ten years ago,

I met you on my way to the capital to report for duty.

You were gravely ill on the road,

yet you refused to turn back.

Only then did I learn the reason.

A powerful official had seized common land,

ruining an entire family.

You were a mere court clerk,

yet you carried the written charge

to the capital to accuse them.

When I was in my early twenties,

I was not the man I am today.

Now that you have become a monster,

how can you face your family again?

So be it, then.

Back then,

when Zhao Chengxi sent me silver,

and I agreed to settle that case,

I already knew this day would come.

My Lord,

there is no need to ask how I feel about it.

In officialdom,

integrity and corruption flow together.

Even had I refused his silver,

I would only have taken someone else's.

Had I refused to join their ranks,

I would never have become so powerful.

The east wind wrongly holds the power over blossoms.

A single quiet tune outweighs a thousand in gold.

When you dared to write such verses

at Tunhai House to mock the Chancellor,

you knew you were risking your life.

Judging by what you have done today,

you no longer fear death.

But those with great courage

do not always meet a good end.

Who would have thought,

that the small thrush spared all those years ago

would become the key to breaking the deadlock?

This is truly

the workings of fate

that mere mortals can never fathom.

(The eighth year of Zhenghe,)

(the third day of the sixth month.)

(Overcast.)

(All has passed.)

(Four days remain until the seventh day of the sixth month)

(Lingering Thoughts)

Take the box out at once.

I tricked him into pressing his fingerprint onto the testimony.

Official Liang

clearly does not stand with him.

This case

can be won.

Good.

♪You stepped ahead of the wind♪

♪And unsettled my road home♪

♪I crossed and searched again and again♪

♪Unsure, unaware♪

♪I entrust my woes to the day♪

(I wanted you to be a little selfish with me.)

(I wanted you to ask more of me.)

♪Disquiet came over me♪

(I wanted you)

(not to see me as just anyone else.)

♪The palm print♪

(I said many cruel things to you.)

(I regret them deeply.)

♪The ink left longing♪

(I thought that as long as I stayed away from you,)

(the prophecy of dying upon stone)

(would never come to pass.)

♪If only we had turned away at our first meeting♪

♪And never asked for forever♪

♪Why would one glance bind a lifetime♪

♪Fated to meet, yet never to stay♪

♪Life drifts on like a play♪

♪Lost in the crowd, each at opposite ends♪

♪I see now the deepest pain ♪

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

♪Only the snow stays behind♪

You cried.

♪Falling, year after year♪

Do not cry.

The wound has split open.

Does it hurt?

It hurt a little just now.

But when I saw you crying,

I forgot the pain.

♪You stepped ahead of the wind♪

It's all right now.

♪Throwing me into this turbulence♪

It is alright now.

♪I counted the desolation♪

I left myself a way out.

Whether Official Liang came or not,

I would be safe.

Do I really look that foolish to you?

You lied to me again.

When did I lie to you?

You once lied and said

you did not like me at all.

And now you lie again,

saying you would not die for me.

♪Why would one glance bind a lifetime♪

Lu Yanchong.

♪Fated to meet, yet never to stay♪

Forget about stones

and the prophecy, all right?

♪I see now the deepest pain♪

You were willing to die for me,

but now I want to live for you.

♪Only the snow stays behind♪

♪Falling, year after year♪

♪Only the snow stays behind♪

♪Falling, year after year♪

As for the Thrush Case,

I had already looked into it in secret.

The facts are largely clear.

You may both rest assured.

I will reopen the case at once.

- Thank you, Official Liang. - Thank you, Official Liang.

What is going on?

Hiding it from you

was because of the prophecy.

I did not wish to involve you.

Now,

none of it matters anymore.

I am from Luoyang.

My family had some means,

but I was sickly.

So I was raised dressed as a girl.

I was the second son.

I had an elder brother,

and a youngest brother

everyone doted on.

There was never much place for me at home.

At the time, a cousin lived in Huachang County.

So my family used that as an excuse

to send me there to recover.

I saved a little money in secret,

and asked my cousin

to find someone to teach me my letters.

After looking around,

he chose Li Ji.

His fees

were lower compared to others,

and more importantly,

he was willing to teach poor girls.

That was why.

I studied there only six or seven months,

yet every day from that time

is still clear to me.

I know.

You remember everything you see.

Yes.

In those hundreds of days,

every book, every painting, every manuscript

still lives clearly in my mind.

My teacher

only taught me for a few short months,

yet what he gave me went far beyond that time.

Things I did not understand back then

only made sense

after I grew older.

Only then did I know

what true clarity

and real intelligence meant.

Back then, I was playful,

never fond of studying.

I hardly ever went to the academy.

Did we ever meet?

But everyone said

the Second Young Lady was a little tyrant,

a troublemaker.

Every time I saw you,

I would keep well out of your way.

And after that?

And then,

when the Thrush Case broke out,

we children were all dismissed.

All the academy's books

(Pure And Righteous Mind) were confiscated.

I heard the teacher had been convicted,

and I was heartbroken.

But I was still just a child,

what could I possibly do?

Later on,

I heard the teacher took his own life in prison.

A month passed,

(Marginal Notes to the Book of Songs) and my cousin

was heading to the capital on business.

He took me with him.

I thought I would return to the academy once more,

I still had

a few scraps of silver,

enough to give to the teacher's family.

(Pure And Righteous Mind)

And that day,

I saw how tragic it was.

I devoted myself to my studies.

I became an officer.

Everything I did

was for the sake of returning here.

I wanted to know the truth

of what really happened back then.

I never believed

that my teacher,

your brother,

could ever have been a murderer.

Fortunately, Official Liang has agreed

to reopen the case soon.

Set your mind at ease.

Years of hardship

will one day fully melt away.

Good morning, Mr. Cui San.

Mr. Cui San,

you did know my brother, didn't you?

In the fifth year of Chongning,

there was a severe locust plague.

Many county records and documents

were damaged by insects.

Your brother helped repair

and copy the files at the magistrate's office

In that time,

we worked together for three months.

When he was convicted,

I should have spoken up for him.

But back then,

I did not have the courage.

Justice Liang truly lives up to his name.

In just a few days,

with the files Mr. Cui preserved

and the evidence from the Thrush Case,

everything has been sorted.

Only the hearing remains.

Official Liang learned of our background

and sympathized with us.

He restored our household status

and returned our principal funds.

I plan to leave Haining County with Huiyi

to start a small business in the capital.

Official Liang mentioned

that Bianjing is flourishing.

I would like to see it.

I hear you may be promoted.

I may be transferred to the Guard Command.

My mourning period has ended,

and I will soon depart for the capital.

Uncle Cen Zhong,

you are an official too?

Once you all leave,

it will just be the two of us.

You have only just taken office.

Stay here and be

a good county magistrate.

Keep an eye on him

so he does not lose his mind and set fires again.

Father, Mother, Brother,

the mist have finally cleared.

This time,

I am no longer a fledgling waiting to be saved.

I am a falcon,

a hunting hawk.

Magistrate Lu.

Miss Li.

You are

Official Liang's personal guard?

He asked me to deliver

some fine medicinal salves to you.

Much obliged.

He also has

a message for you.

What message?

The next time you court death,

ask yourself whether your skin is thick enough.

Thank Official Liang for me.

His right arm is injured.

♪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♪