Original subtitles

How did you end up in such a sorry state?

Fate toys with us all.

Who could have foreseen this?

But duty bound me.

I did all that I could.

As Military Administrator,

you were charged with overseeing the army.

Yet the rebel Sui Yuanhuai

has slipped away time and again.

You cannot evade responsibility.

This was indeed my failure in duty.

I have already reported it in a memorial to His Majesty

and asked to be punished.

You served under General He for years.

You must know Li Bai's poem South of the City Walls.

The soldiers lie scattered in the weeds While the generals bear empty titles

For the sake of so-called legitimacy,

countless lives have been sacrificed.

What cruelty.

You call it a failure in duty.

Do you know how many soldiers' sacrifices have come to nothing?

How many civilians are trapped in misery?

I carry the shame deeply.

As the eldest grandson of the Lis,

I alone shall bear

the infamy for generations.

A senseless fabricated war.

Fallen soldiers into restless ghosts.

Can you shoulder that weight?

Lord Li,

let me remind you of something.

Do not forget why you entered official service.

What did Marquis Wu'an say?

Xie Zheng…

He likely knows everything now.

ADAPTED FROM THE NOVEL ZHU YU BY TUAN ZI LAI XI ON JJWXC.NET

SESAME FLATBREAD

What sins did the Liu family commit to suffer this?

Their whole household was slaughtered.

WANTED, PUBLIC NOTICE

The bandits are ruthless.

What is one Liu household?

The entire town of Lin'an was wiped out.

No wonder Marquis Wu'an went after Qingfeng Stronghold.

He is truly ridding the people of evil.

That is right.

Look at this young woman. Pretty as a flower.

Yet she calls herself a bandit? Leader of Qingfeng Stronghold?

-Five stuffed flatbreads. -All right.

-Bah. -Here you go.

Watch out where you are going.

Sui Yuanqing…

You heartless bastard.

Where the hell did you disappear to?

The authorities are hunting me.

The outlaws are hunting me.

Even the deaths of 13 in the Liu household have been pinned on me.

Now I am being chased

like a stray dog.

And you…

Not even a trace of you.

Is that not the official from Lin'an?

What is he doing here?

SOVEREIGN AND EFFICACIOUS

Have some hot tea to ward off the cold, Your Highness.

We are not far from the capital now.

Once we arrive there, you will be safe.

Qi Min!

Get out here!

Again?

His nose is sharper than a hunting dog. He truly is impossible to shake.

I will kill you, you wretched bastard,

then go join Father and Mother in the afterlife.

You stole my brother's name and lived under it for over a decade.

Surely you have nothing left to say.

Yuanqing.

Do not call me that.

Yuanqing.

If you resent me,

then please accept my apology.

Believe it or not,

I never meant to harm you.

Never meant to harm me?

Then what about my mother?

What wrong did she ever do to you?

Answer me. Answer me!

Is this what you mean…

by never meaning to harm me?

Yuanqing.

I warned you long ago

not to be so arrogant.

Now I will finish the saying for you.

Those who act so meet a violent end.

I was a fool.

I always treated you as my own brother.

I could not even bring myself to kill you.

Your family owes me a debt!

The entire household of Prince Changxin deserves to die!

Why is it you grew strong and capable,

while I became this half man, half ghost?

Why could you train in martial arts,

ride horses, shoot arrows,

while I was left with sickness, forced to swallow medicine day after day?

The pain in my heart and the wounds on my body

were all caused by Prince Changxin and Wei Yan.

My father. My mother.

I must avenge them.

Every one of you will meet a miserable end!

You speak as if you are righteous.

Yet my mother never treated you poorly.

It was the Crown Princess who killed my brother.

My mother raised you for more than ten years.

You stole my brother's place.

How could you bring yourself to kill her?

Because my heart died long ago.

Of course I could do it.

We must go, Your Highness. This place is not safe.

Sui Yuanqing,

have you forgotten

what I once taught you?

Those who show mercy

have no place in a land of killing.

And do not even dream

of ruling this world.

Your Highness. I came as quickly as I could.

Why not come after I'm dead instead?

It was your Li clan who sent word to me,

saying everything had been arranged.

Yet what awaited me along the way?

Xie Zheng's personal guards

and that madman Sui Yuanqing.

This was indeed my failing.

Punish me as you see fit.

I know you do not like me.

Protecting me, saving me…

You only do it because your grandfather commands it.

But now that you have boarded this ship,

there is no turning back.

Only by seeing me safely into the capital

will your Li clan have even the slightest chance.

All those years of planning won't be wasted.

Otherwise, I will drag us all down together.

Your Li clan will be wiped out,

and Wei Yan will sit in power for decades to come.

The people will suffer endlessly.

I have heard you care deeply for common folks.

Surely you don't wish for war and bloodshed to rise again.

I will

do everything in my power.

One more thing.

I do not care how you do it.

Kill Yu Bao'er,

and bring Yu Qianqian to me without a single scratch.

Your Highness.

I heard Yu Bao'er is your only bloodline.

I do not acknowledge him.

That bloodline would only be my ruin.

One worthless life

against the fate of the Li clan.

You know well enough which matters more.

SOVEREIGN AND EFFICACIOUS

If you fail to find the person I want,

then the alliance between me and the Lis

ends here.

He repaid kindness with blood. Brother against brother.

Now he hunts his own son.

How can a man with no loyalty or honor

rule as emperor?

If he ever takes the throne,

he will be no wise ruler.

Grandfather,

you truly were wrong.

So you are not dead yet.

Kill me.

Take your revenge.

Fine.

Sui Yuanqing.

Before you die…

I want to ask you something.

Did you ever feel the slightest love for me?

In my life,

I have deceived countless people.

Now that I am close to dying…

I suppose

I should spin some comforting lies

so you would risk your life for me.

But strangely enough…

right now, I do not want to lie to you.

Not even a little.

I never felt the slightest love for you.

With the kind of man you are,

that is probably for the best.

Without you around…

my days ahead…

will be freer than ever.

If you manage to survive,

take this

and go find Fan Changyu.

What is it?

You were with me once.

So I will leave you a way to survive.

Qi Min wants the whole world to suffer.

I, Sui Yuanqing,

only want him to suffer alone.

Why would she believe me?

This is the proper token from me…

to prove your loyalty.

Sui Yuanqing!

THREE DAYS LATER

Your Majesty, I have a memorial to present.

Chancellor Wei's lax discipline has bred near defiance.

Such an offense should be punished severely.

Grand Tutor Li understands my mind. Speak freely.

Your Majesty,

Marquis Wu'an is Chancellor Wei's nephew, brought up under his wing.

He dared cut off the ear

of the imperial envoy, Eunuch Li, before the assembled army.

Such arrogance and tyranny is nothing short of treason.

By the law, he should be executed to serve as a warning to others.

Grand Tutor Li speaks frankly.

Chancellor Wei, what say you?

In my view,

Eunuch Li kept insisting

that Marquis Wu'an intended to rebel.

So I believe

the marquis simply acted in anger and lost control.

After all, not everyone in this world can be as gentle and composed

as Grand Tutor Li's grandson, Military Administrator Li Huai'an.

Even when Your Majesty suddenly changed your decision

and betrothed the Grand Princess to another man,

he accepted it with admirable composure.

Chancellor Wei makes a fair point.

Military men

do tend to act a little roughly.

Chancellor Wei,

half of He Jingyuan's command has fallen into the hands of a mere village woman.

Captain Fan Changyu cannot even read military maps or strategy manuals.

Yet through your private maneuvering,

she is now a supervising commander of Jizhou.

The command office is now in utter disarray.

May I ask, where is the army's discipline?

Where is the law of the realm?

Such a thing has truly happened?

Your Majesty,

both Marquis Wu'an and Captain Fan have rendered great service.

Merit and fault must be judged separately.

What does Your Majesty think?

Report!

Your Majesty!

An 800-li express dispatch has arrived from Jizhou.

-Bring it. -Yes.

Excellent.

Marquis Wu'an joined forces with Captain Fan

and has slain the rebel Sui Yuanhuai.

Prince Changxin and his two sons are dead.

The Sui line is extinguished. The Chongzhou rebel army is no more.

Excellent!

A general and his commander working in harmony to defeat the enemy leader.

This is a great fortune for me

and a blessing for Dayin.

The world is like a chessboard. Every move brings a new game.

Since Marquis Wu'an and Captain Fan have won such remarkable victories,

then I shall reward them. And I shall reward them generously.

Your Majesty is wise.

Your Majesty is wise.

JIZHOU YAMEN

PEACE AND PROSPERITY ALONG THE BORDERS

My lord,

the Grand Princess leaves for the capital tomorrow.

Captain Fan has arranged a farewell banquet.

Will you attend?

Also,

at dawn, Marquis Wu'an's men will escort the Grand Princess.

I am too ashamed to face them.

-Come on! -Come on!

Pour it up!

HALL OF LETTERS

-Thirty-two! -Twenty-two!

Cheers.

Drink up.

Everyone's already drunk out of their minds.

Where is Military Administrator Li?

He caught a chill.

He will not make it tonight.

Everyone,

I cannot hold my drink. After this cup, I will take my leave.

Safe travels, Your Highness.

Sit.

Her Highness returns to the capital tomorrow.

If anyone has something to say,

tonight is the night.

-I will go! -Sit down.

All right.

Go on then.

Where is he going?

Is he actually… He really went?

Your Highness! Your Highness, please wait.

-Your Highness. -Her Highness does not wish to see you.

-I only wish to ask a few questions. -Move aside.

I doubt Your Highness would return with doubts left unresolved.

Leave us, Jianjia.

Allow me.

Your Highness.

Why have you suddenly decided to return to the capital?

I have spent more than five months in the northwest.

I am weary in both body and mind.

I've come to my senses.

I won't cling to what's futile.

Surely you must feel greatly relieved, Headmaster.

Since you have reached such clarity,

I ought to offer my congratulations.

But there are words

I have kept in my heart for a long time. I have long wished to share them.

Yet the rules of my clan are strict.

I dared not overstep.

So a few days ago,

I returned to Hejian

and knelt in the ancestral hall for three days.

Only after receiving the clan elder's pardon

did I dare come here

to speak my heart before Your Highness.

Go on.

Changyu.

-I… -Easy there.

I need to drink a few cups with you alone.

Do you still have wine?

Let me… Let me speak honestly.

I, Jin Yuanbao, have never respected anyone, but I respect you.

Before I met you,

I never believed

a woman with such thin arms and legs

could fight on a battlefield.

-With a build like yours? -Never heard of it.

But Changyu can.

That is why I respect you.

-All of us respect you. -Come on.

Come.

Let's all toast to Captain Fan. Come on.

-Come. -Folks.

-Pour the wine. -Fill the cups!

My wife cannot hold her drink. I will drink for her.

Wife? What wife?

She is the head of your household.

Everyone in Lin'an knows that.

You are the Fan family's live-in son-in-law.

Once you marry in, you listen to the head of the house. Right?

That is right.

You walk around these days all dignified.

Yes, yes, Marquis Wu'an.

But you bowed at the wedding altar. You cannot deny that.

You cannot deny it.

What nonsense about live-in husbands? I can drink this myself.

I'm getting old. I can't recall what we were saying.

Not much of a drinker. I could barely hold my cup steady.

My wife and I will take our leave.

-Everyone keep drinking. -Changyu.

Well…

A hundred years ago,

CALMING WAVES PAVILION

the Gongsun clan stood at the height of its glory.

For generations, the empresses came from our family.

But great height draws danger.

Our fall was a tragic one.

During the reign of the founding emperor,

a dragon robe was found inside the Eastern Palace.

Crown Prince Shaoyang was reduced to a commoner.

Two empresses of the Gongsun family

hanged themselves in the palace.

The entire Gongsun clan

had their property confiscated and were exiled.

Even the plaque above the Imperial Library at Luyuan Academy

was nearly taken down.

I know of that case.

It was determined later

that the Gongsun case

was a wrongful accusation, a frame-up by a prince.

In this world, there is no such thing as a flawless frame-up.

In truth, the emperor on the throne simply could no longer

tolerate the Gongsun clan.

A surviving branch of our clan

has lingered on at Luyuan Academy for a hundred years.

The first rule in our clan law was this.

No Gongsun may enter official service.

The truth is,

the day Your Highness arrived at Luyuan Academy,

I already knew you were a woman.

When we first played the Go chess game at the Imperial Library,

I realized something else.

The one who broke my position in the Rain Pavilion was you.

But when I learned

that the woman I had admired for so long

was the Grand Princess,

I felt no joy.

Only the feeling that fate was mocking me.

Then why tell me

all of this now?

I wish to ask for Your Highness's hand.

I have

admired you for a long time.

Tonight, I dare ask Your Highness this.

If one day

I help Jiuheng

bring down Wei Yan and the Li clan,

is Your Highness

willing to live with me in Hejian,

free from the cares of the world?

Your Highness need not worry.

My family has means. We would live comfortably.

Your Highness would not suffer.

-Though Hejian may not compare to-- -And if I say no?

Then…

I have spoken out of turn.

Please forgive my presumption.

You blockhead.

I will take

the 10,000 volumes in your family's library

as my bride price.

Do you agree?

Are you hesitating?

Yes. Yes, I agree. I agree to everything.

The Gongsun family has 12 library halls.

May I ask, Your Highness,

which one you want?

All of them.

Good.

Very good.

Let go of me.

Where are you taking me?

You've had too much to drink. Let's get you to bed.

I am not drunk, Marquis.

That word again. Marquis.

Can you stop calling me that?

Call me anything,

except that.

Yan Zheng.

Your name is Yan Zheng.

From now on,

can I call you Yan Zheng?

Your hand…

Does it hurt?

Changyu.

Kiss me.

If you miss me, write me a letter.

I may not understand it fully, but still.

I should be going.

Safe travels.

I am leaving.

If you hate to part so much,

why did you not see her off yourself?

If I had gone, I might not have let her leave.

A promise is a promise. Since I gave you my word, it stands.

Since when did it become my fault for ruining your chances?

We have made an agreement.

Once everything is settled, we will return to Hejian

and find a quiet place to spend the rest of our lives.

But the storm in the capital

can no longer be ignored.

Then it is time to return to the capital

and finish

what must be done.

THE CAPITAL

Not bad, not bad.

Have another drink.

-I want that one. -Here.

-Drink up. -All right.

-Do not fuss. -One more cup.

Mr. Li Huaiqin.

I was wondering why I had not seen Yueli these past few days.

Turns out someone has been holed up at Jingque House and refuses to leave.

Wei Xuan,

are you not supposed to be serving in the northwest?

LI HUAIQIN, LI XING'S YOUNGEST GRANDSON

I heard Marquis Wu'an has returned.

What is this? Stepping aside to make way for him?

Get out.

Seems the stray can never compare to the real son of the house.

From the looks of it, Marquis Wu'an

must be Chancellor Wei's true flesh and blood.

Everyone leave.

Yes.

Say that again.

Why play dumb?

The entire capital is talking about it.

They say the Chancellor and his wife are at odds.

And that you are not even his son.

Wei Xuan, you dare?

You are just a bastard.

All day, you throw your weight around on Chancellor Wei's name.

And your mother? She's nothing.

Everyone knows Chancellor Wei's true love was Lady Qi from the palace.

Li Huaiqin,

you're spewing utter nonsense.

If this were the battlefield, I would have taken your head already.

I will give you one chance.

Shout three times, "Li is inferior to Wei,"

and I will spare you today.

Bah!

Who do you think you are, Wei Xuan?

Li inferior to Wei?

Wei is inferior to Xie!

Wei Xuan!

END CREDIT SCENE

Changyu and the Marquis…

-They… They… -What is it?

Come look for yourself.

Look, look!

-The Marquis… -What Marquis?

I was just about to curse him out.

One moment, he pretends to be a meek Fan family live-in son-in-law.

Next moment, he is putting on airs as Marquis Wu'an.

Now he'll marry the princess and become imperial consort.

Let me tell you.

If he dares betray our Changyu,

I will… I will…

What can you even do?

I will stay mad at him forever!

NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS EPISODE

Subtitle translation by: Jiaxin Wang