All language subtitles for kPVGQQ_Ashes.to_.Crown_.E12_eng

SAY NO TO PIRACY, SUPPORT ORIGINALS

ADAPTED FROM XI XING’S NOVEL
QUEEN CHU ON QIDIAN.COM

THE FIRST YEAR OF TIANSHU

The late Emperor, Xiao Jing,
and I were close from our youth.

I once believed
we would be lifelong friends.

Xiao Jing swore to become a wise ruler,

so I promised to defend the state for him.

The Northern Desert
gathered 50,000 cavalry,

and the commander of Yunzhong
requested reinforcements.

I'll go.

-What did you say?
-Yunzhong is a vital frontier stronghold

that we cannot afford to lose.

But how can I send you

to the most dangerous place
just as I ascend the throne?

You need a victory all the more

as the new emperor.

Chu Ling is hereby appointed Guard General

to command the frontier troops and shall
proceed to Yunzhong Prefecture today.

That day,

he handed me
the Sword of the Loong's Roar,

the symbol of power.

Yet even the sharpest blade
cannot sever what is destined.

In my very first battle
upon entering Yunzhong,

I met her.

Greenhorn from the South,
do you dare to face me in battle?

General of the Northern Desert,
Alan Ruoying.

Later, I saw her on a barren hill,
weeping for her fallen soldiers.

Only then did I realize

that the fierce Rakshasa
of the Northern Desert

revealed a heart beyond slaughter.

General Chu, walking alone at night
without your guards?

Aren't you afraid I'll take your head
to feed my war banner?

I did not come here to argue with you.

I wanted to talk to you.

What is there for us to talk about?

-Peace.
-Peace?

I went alone to see her

and gave her the jade pendant
my mother had left me,

engraved with the word "Peace".

After some hesitation,
she finally accepted it

and gave me a bone whistle
from the Northern Desert in return.

She said she was willing
to risk everything to try.

However, her efforts to plead peace
with the jade pendant

only led to the Northern Desert King

ordering her execution
in front of both armies.

I had no choice but to bring her back
to the State of Chu.

I told her that if the eagle of the desert
loses its way,

let it be a flower still in bloom.

From then on,
there was no longer Alan Ruoying,

only my wife, Mu Mianhong.

Then the imperial decree
arrived from the Capital.

His Majesty

demanded that I break my own oath,

saying that executing the mother
while sparing the child

was for my future

and for the sake of my clan.

What are you doing?

I requested to guard Yunzhong Prefecture
for the rest of my days.

Without an imperial decree,

I shall never cross
into the Capital again.

At that moment, I finally understood

that even the sharpest sword

cannot pierce the calculations
of an emperor.

Powerless, I hid her away
in Cangmu Stronghold,

under the guise of suppressing bandits.

Deliver the victory report!

The bandit leader, Mu Mianhong,

leaped from the cliff

to her death!

To honor His Majesty's grace!

On the day you were born,
she whispered your name.

She said…

I hope that by the time you grow up,

there would be no more wars

and you would be able
to see the sun rise every day.

Like the rising morning sun,

you should be named Chu Zhao,
as the rising sun.

Zhao.

You must grow up without a care.

If anyone asks about your mother,

tell them

she lives

in the Capital

and is skilled

in all the refined arts.

Although she cannot watch you grow up,

she loves you

JOY AND HEALTH FOREVER

more than anyone else.

Zhao.

This is the answer you wanted.

What nonsense are you talking about?

Where did you hear such a story?

It is not exciting at all.

Do not tell it ever again.

I am not lying.

My mother was a noble lady
from the Capital,

a well-bred daughter of a prominent house,

not some general from the Northern Desert.

My father said you are my mother. Are you?

Father,

are all the stories you told me
about my mother over the years lies?

My mother was born
into a high-ranking family

and was skilled in all the refined arts.

From small seal script,
painting, to the guqin.

Can you do any of that?

If you were my mother,

you'd know how to write in that script.

Show me. Do it!

You cannot!

Your hands are fit for nothing
but wielding blades and spears.

You know nothing but killing!

Your hands are soaked in blood!
You are not my mother!

She is nothing like you!

-Zhao.
-Let her finish.

My mother…

had delicate brows

and skin like porcelain.

She is the kindest mother in the world.

My mother,

even in death,

would never abandon me.

If she were still alive,

she would never deceive me.

Do you think you're worthy?

-Zhao.
-Did I say anything wrong?

Is this not what you told me, Father?

My mother was a noble lady
from the Capital who died of illness.

You told me every single bit of this.

Or have all of these been lies

you fabricated over all these years?

What is real, exactly?

The mother you spoke of is fake,

and you hid your critical illness from me.

What in the world is real?

Enough!

You are right.

I am not your mother.

The General is too ill to distinguish

between stories and reality.

Since my father is talking nonsense,

take this worthless piece of junk
that nobody wants

and leave my house.

JOY AND HEALTH FOREVER

Why…

would you say that?

She is

not only your daughter,

but also the Grand Princess
of the State of Chu.

Her mother couldn't be
from the Northern Desert.

And it should not be me.

Alan.

What right does she have to decide
how I should live my life?

Perhaps she only wanted to keep you safe.

Safe?

For 19 years,

I have spent every single day
yearning for my mother,

who I thought was dead.

Now I realize

the cruelest irony
isn't that I wept over an empty grave,

but that she chose

to cast me aside from the very beginning.

When someone truly does not care,

they do not even bother to lie.

When I was eight,

my mother sent me back to the Xie Family

with a promise

that she would return for me,

yet

she never did.

Are you trying to tell me

that their lies

were an act of love?

Lies come in many forms.

Some deceive to inflict pain,

while others hide the truth

to protect.

But I deserve the truth,

and I don't want protection built on lies.

And I have no desire

to remain a fragile soul,
forever shielded from reality.

Nineteen years.

They kept me in the dark for 19 years.

Now that the truth is out,
what do you plan to do?

Will you stay here demanding answers,

or will you return

to your father,
who has so little time left?

Zhao,

trust is not for debating right and wrong.

The General is fading away.

Do you really want to waste
these final moments placing blame?

-But--
-There are no buts.

You've missed 19 years.

Do you really want

to let these last moments
become another regret?

Uncle, are you feeling any better?

It warms my heart to see you
so concerned for me, Yu.

I will be well again very soon.

Your Majesty,

Deng Yi has approved the frontier memorial

and has dispatched riders posthaste
to Yunzhong Prefecture.

Mr. Deng never fails to deliver.

Yu, do you know the parable

of turning a man's own weapon against him?

No matter. I shall teach you.

You two, to that position.

The two of you, guard that sector.

Stay alert.

I heard the court
has approved your rewards.

You'll soon be heading
to the frontier to take up your post.

-I'll set out tomorrow.
-Wonderful.

Whether your clan
can restore its former glory

depends on the feats you accomplish.

This success was merely
a stroke of fortune.

Fortune?

We were disgraced and out of favor.

Promotion and reward were never certain.

Fortunately, a benefactor
lent their support,

and given the shifting tides of the court,
it was finally approved.

A benefactor?

Anyone who helps my family rise again
is a benefactor to me.

I heard the reward list
was issued by the Grand Princess.

She is, indeed, no ordinary woman.

Apply some ointment for that burn.

Father loves to eat my jujube cake,

so I must finish making it.

It is hard to mix this filling
with chopsticks.

Try using this instead.

You and the General loved each other
yet were forced apart.

Why refuse to admit it?

We did love each other.

But Zhao

cannot have a mother
from the Northern Desert,

just as Chu Ling

cannot have a wife of such origin.

If you truly care for them,
ask no more of this.

May I ask you a question?

Have you ever had regrets?

About what?

Leaving her

and letting her believe she had no mother

and growing up burdened by that sorrow.

Some things

-cannot be changed by regret alone.
-But what about now?

She is inside, shattered and inconsolable.

Can you really bear to see her like this?

What can I do?

Should I acknowledge who I am

and force her to bear
the shame of enemy blood,

or should I strip her

of honor

and plunge her into infamy?

This hairpin was meant

for her coming of age.

I can see

that you truly cared for her,

so please give it to her.

Do not tell her it came from me.

Just say

that it is a gift from you.

They are merely desperate fugitives,

so what is there to fear?

I only worry that they harbor resentment
over Wangcheng

and refuse to cooperate
with us any longer.

Wangcheng?

What does that have to do with us?

The slaughter of those remnants
of the Northern Desert

was entirely Chu Zhao's doing, was it not?

-Indeed, Your Highness.
-Speaking of the Northern Desert,

I have another matter to ask you about.

I told you

goods logged under the stables

must never bear
the Xiaonan Prefecture insignia again.

This is my transgression.

Those goods were meant to take
the northern official road.

I only thought a hidden mark
would make it easier to identify.

The fire at Wei Village five years ago

wasn't enough of a lesson for you.

How dare you put transport markings
on the goods again?

I'll handle it immediately.

Have you found

the boy from Wei Village named Xiang?

Your Highness, not yet.

Please check on my father.

Please save him. Hurry.

No need.

Zhao, stay.

I have a few words for you.

Father. I am here.

Zhao.

Do not resent your mother.

Being born in the Northern Desert

was not her fault.

Trying to protect you

is no reason for you

to hate her either.

Back then, she had nowhere else to turn.

Leaving you

was the only way to keep you safe.

Your mother is a good woman.

And she loves you very much.

The fault is mine…

and the fault of these troubled times,

which robbed her of the chance

to watch you grow.

Alan, come here.

Father.

Zhao,

I do not have much time left.

I ask for nothing more

than the chance to bid your mother

a proper farewell.

When we parted all those years ago,

we swore

we'd never meet again.

Now death draws near,

and truly,

we never shall.

They call me

the God of War,

but without the woman I loved,

I have been nothing more

than a hollow shell for 19 years.

Alan.

Yes. I'm here.

MIGHT AND RIGHT

The Xie Family's crest?

Someone.

Yes.

Take this to the Army Physician
for examination.

Yes.

VALIANT GUARDIANS OF THE LAND

Your Highness,
I have examined this medicine.

It is refined from several deadly poisons.

For a short time, it can accelerate
the flow of qi and blood,

greatly enhance
muscular and skeletal strength,

and even give the dying
a final burst of vitality.

It bears a striking resemblance
to a strange deadly poison

recorded in ancient texts
called the Bloodburn Pill.

When did my father take this medicine?

I remember on the Double Ninth Festival
in the 16th year of Tianshu,

the General was struck by a poisoned arrow

and was on the brink of death.

He took a pill

that wasn't part of the army's supplies.

Wasn't it examined at the time?

It was an emergency and there was no time.

And after he took it,
nothing seemed amiss.

So it was not investigated further

and was only briefly recorded
in the files.

No wonder the General's health
has been declining.

This is not a life-saving medicine
but a death warrant.

After one takes it,
toxins accumulate within the body,

gradually eroding the heart
in an irreversible way.

Ancient records state
that once this medicine is consumed,

a second pill must be taken
three years later

in order to extend life
by another three years.

If the follow-up pill
is not taken in time,

the body will undergo rapid decline

beyond any possibility of recovery.

You just said

that wasn't part of the army's supplies.

Then where did it come from?

Speak.

It was given…

by Jiu.

In my past life,

when the Anping Rebellion broke out

on the eighth day of the eighth month,
in the 19th year of Tianshu,

Jiu delivered me to Xiao Xun

and rode straight back
to Yunzhong Prefecture.

In other words,
if he provided the medicine,

Father would have taken the second pill
in time for the Double Ninth Festival,

granting him three more years.

Only to have the poison manifest
in the third year of Anping.

But in this life,

in the 19th year of Tianshu,

the wedding was called off,
the Anping Rebellion came early,

and because of me,

Xie Yanlai was appointed
Imperial Guard Commander,

detaining him long in the Capital,

making him miss the time
to give Father the pill.

That is why Father
succumbed to the poison.

Thus, the only one
who could have given him the medicine

is Xie Yanlai.

Did you give this to my father?

Yes.

The Army Physician said
this is a drastic drug that saves a life

only to end it later.

-What did you say?
-I'm asking you…

what your true intentions were
when you gave my father poison.

Yanlai.

This secret medicine, accessible

only to the direct lineage
of the Xie clan,

has the efficacy to revive the dying.

Keep it with you,

just in case.

The pills.

You lied to me.

Yes,

I gave the General the pills.

If you want revenge,

you can take my life right now.

Is this your only explanation?

Xie Yanlai,

do you honestly think I won't kill you?

Do it.

Why?

You claimed you owed me.

Now…

we are square.