Original subtitles

I wonder if it's because

the Crown Princess is expecting,

but she seems much gentler today.

Indeed.

She's usually so reserved

and so aloof.

Yet today, she hasn't stopped smiling.

At a time

of such uncertainty,

His Majesty's health isn't what it used to be.

We'll keep everything simple.

Today is just a family gathering.

Everyone,

please make yourselves at home.

Prince Lie is on duty today.

Send him

some dishes.

That way,

he can still share in this family celebration.

Come.

- Thank you, Your Majesty. - Thank you, Your Majesty.

- May Your Majesty enjoy everlasting health. - May Your Majesty enjoy everlasting health.

- May you live as long as heaven and earth. - May you live as long as heaven and earth.

Come.

Please continue chatting, everyone.

I'll go freshen up

and be right back.

Your Highness!

Someone, hurry!

Assassins!

There are assassins!

Someone, hurry!

Protect His Majesty!

Where are the East Palace guards?

Your Highness.

Protect Mother and the ladies first.

Qing, be careful.

Tian Yuan.

Escort the Crown Princess to the side hall.

Yes.

I'll stay with you.

Don't worry.

Take care of yourself.

Tian Yuan.

Yes.

=Blossoms of Power=

(Adapted from the novel, After My Bloom, All Flowers Wither by Jin Huang)

=Episode 32=

Quick!

Attack!

Changqing!

Go protect the Grand Empress Dowager!

Your Majesty, your safety comes first.

We should leave now.

Quick, keep up!

Tian Yuan.

Go protect the Crown Prince.

But His Highness told me...

I can protect myself.

Go now.

Yes.

Go.

Although Changtai is nowhere to be found,

he harbors deep resentment.

He won't let this end so easily.

He's already at the end of his rope.

The Imperial Guard is heavily guarding the palace.

How could anything still go wrong?

It's because he's at the end of his rope

that he won't care about the consequences.

If anything happens in the palace,

I'll have someone send up a flaming arrow as a signal.

You must bring the troops here at once.

Rest assured, Huayong.

Follow me.

- Yes! - Yes!

Quick!

Bar the door!

Find something heavy, too.

- Brace the door! - Yes.

Yes.

Use this.

- This one. - Over here.

Quick, help me!

- Hurry! - Here.

This one.

Move!

Put it here.

Okay.

Xihe.

Quick!

Come stand over here.

You're with child.

Don't go any closer.

Mother.

What should we do now?

Judging by what just happened,

I'm afraid there's a traitor among us.

They've colluded with the Palace Guard.

I'm afraid they're staging a rebellion.

What are we going to do?

Stop crying.

The guards are fighting in the main hall.

They can't spare anyone to rescue us.

There is no back exit here.

There's no way out.

What could

be more frightening than death?

At a time like this,

what do we still have to fear?

What are you doing?

These gold hairpins

are usually just ornaments.

But now,

they can also serve as weapons to defend ourselves.

Good.

Rather than sit here and wait to die,

we should

fight to the death.

Any daughters of military families

trained in martial arts, step forward.

We'll hold the front.

Everyone else,

fall back to the rear steps.

- Yes. - Yes.

Zhen Zhu, Mo Yu.

Collect everyone's sachets.

- Yes. - Yes.

Here.

Your Highness.

Keep these three.

I'm going to prepare an incense blend.

- Yes. - Yes.

Huayong.

Father.

I trust you've been well.

You ungrateful son!

How could you commit such a heinous act?

Is there

any sense of human decency left in you?

Human decency?

You married me off to a foreign kingdom

and cut off my path to the throne.

Later, after I'd let go of my obsession

and Yanhui and I had fallen in love,

you ordered me

to treat her as an enemy

and forbade me from feeling the slightest affection for her.

In your eyes,

I was never anything more than a living sacrifice,

a tool without flesh or blood.

When have you ever shown me a father's love?

When...

When have you ever truly loved me as your son?

Shut up!

I,

as the Emperor of Daxing,

must bear the burden of the nation.

Born into the imperial family,

the sovereign always comes before the father.

You,

care only about your personal grievances.

When have you ever understood

the burdens of being an emperor and a father?

Huayong.

Open your eyes.

This is our good father.

All he sees is his throne,

his realm, and his power.

To him, we sons

are nothing more than pawns

to be weighed and sacrificed at will!

Fine.

Father.

Then today,

I will

put an end to all of this!

Huayong.

Now that you know the truth,

why do you still try to stop me?

Changtai.

If you stop now,

there's still a way out.

Even now,

you still believe his lies?

You're beyond saving.

Prince Lie. I am Zhao Zhenghao.

Upon seeing the signal,

I came under the Crown Prince's orders

with Embroidered Envoys to rescue His Majesty.

Good.

Follow me.

Move!

Quick!

Your Majesty!

Guards!

Your Majesty!

Watch out!

San Zhi!

San Zhi!

Huayong.

Huayong.

Huayong!

Father!

Your Highness!

We can't win this.

Retreat now!

Huayong.

Retreat!

Huayong!

- Your Highness! - Huayong!

Protect His Majesty!

Yes.

Everyone, follow me!

- Yes. - Yes.

Changtai.

Changtai.

Stop now.

For the sake of our brotherhood,

I won't kill you.

Go before Father and confess your crimes yourself.

Changying.

I've always envied you.

Although you were never Father's favorite son,

you grew up under your own brother's protection.

No wonder you're so innocent.

I am Father's son, too.

Yet now,

I have become

a traitor everyone in Daxing wants dead.

When did I ever have any brothers?

When...

When did I ever have a father?

I was nothing more than a living sacrifice,

a bargaining chip to be weighed and traded.

Yanyan.

I'm coming.

Changtai!

Changtai!

Yanyan.

Yanyan.

All your life,

you've always yielded to me.

You've suffered so much.

No matter how reluctant I am,

this time,

I'll do as you wish.

Yanyan.

Yanyan.

Changtai.

Farewell.

Huayong.

I'll go find the Imperial Physician for you.

Rest here in the main hall.

There's no need...

I want to ask you something.

Go ahead.

Who was it,

that poisoned me?

I want to know.

That person...

was it really you?

Huayong.

Huayong.

Over the years,

I've suspected many people,

but I never suspected you.

And more than anything,

I hoped it wasn't you.

So today,

I want to hear it from you.

That person...

who was it?

Was it really you?

Huayong.

It wasn't me.

I didn't poison you.

I never once intended to harm you.

If a single word I say is false,

I'd rather die by your sword.

Huayong.

For more than ten years,

I've searched tirelessly for the culprit.

Sadly,

there's still no trace of them.

Huayong,

I have failed you.

Huayong.

Huayong.

Huayong.

Father.

Father.

I'll never forget

that after I was poisoned,

I was bedridden for months.

Apart from attending court,

you stayed in the East Palace day and night

to care for me.

You held me in your arms as I lay dying

and knelt at every ancestral shrine.

Your fatherly love

is still vivid in my mind.

If not for your love,

I would never have lived to this day.

If you say you didn't do it,

then I believe you.

Huayong.

My Huayong.

I have failed you.

Grand Empress Dowager, are you all right?

I'm fine.

Where's the Crown Prince?

He's been in the main hall with Father.

Xihe!

Mother.

Huayong.

What are you doing?

Father.

My condition

is beyond cure.

I beg you, Father,

to grant the child in Xihe's womb

the name Junshu.

Junshu?

This is a name reserved for an emperor.

I...

understand your intention.

You wish to secure a safeguard

for Xihe and your child.

How difficult life will be

for the Crown Princess of the East Palace without her husband,

and for the young heir of the East Palace without his father.

My final wish

is that Xihe and our child

may live in peace

and be safe year after year.

I beg you to grant my wish.

Huayong.

I promise you.

Whether it's a boy or a girl,

the child shall be named Junshu.

Thank you, Father, for granting my wish.

Come.

Where are you going?

To find Xihe.

♪Time is like a river flowing backward♪

♪The story is sketched anew♪

♪The moonlight is sewn together by the dusk♪

♪The tide engulfs the lines on my palm♪

♪Pushing me to converge with you♪

♪Sifting for joy in a sea of sorrow♪

♪I step onto this winding path♪

♪What was swept away?♪

♪Joy and sorrow show no emotion♪

♪The clouds twist into a vortex♪

♪Reaching out to touch you♪

♪Only to find it's just a bubble♪

♪Scene after scene of yesterday♪

♪Lies between the sky and the water♪

♪The stars are sinking♪

♪Like a sunken vow♪

♪You drifted away alone♪

♪Without a single word of goodbye♪

♪Leaving no room to turn back♪

♪I can only stay there forever♪

♪In the coming years, I'll always remember that year, my graceful lover♪

♪Love hangs on the crest of the waves♪

♪Waiting for regret to swallow me up♪

(Jade Terrace and Auspicious Dew)

Xihe.

It's so good to see you.

Your Highness.

Let me take you to the Imperial Physician.

Don't go, all right?

I want to talk to you.

I've imagined countless times

what my final moments would be like.

But I never imagined

they would be this beautiful.

The one I love

is right before me.

We're watching the snow together.

It's beautiful.

Xihe.

Do you still remember

the day the maple leaves were at their reddest?

After our afternoon nap,

we quietly

drank plum juice together.

By the little window,

with the gentle breeze drifting in...

That simple kind of life

was life's greatest blessing.

Your Highness.

We promised

that this year,

we'd watch the maple leaves together again.

Next year,

we'd count the apricot blossoms together.

Year after year,

we'd stay by each other's side.

Xihe.

I'm afraid

I have to break that promise.

I barged into your life,

only to leave before you.

I'm sorry.

I only hope

you'll never

regret marrying me...

Marrying you in this life

is something I will

never regret.

♪Let it all go, give my tears to the flowers♪

♪Beneath my feet, eternal doom is more than wind and sand♪

♪That perfectly plotted love hides in the clamor♪

♪Between us, it's both treacherous and flawless♪

♪I want destiny, and also tender words of love♪

♪As night stains my eyes, I'll gaze once more at the rosy clouds♪

♪I have a dream of a long wind in my sleeves♪

♪My heart rises and falls, we embrace in a sea of clouds♪

♪In this eternity, you are a part of it♪

♪My longing can level mountains and cross countless rivers♪

♪Drunk or sober, it's all like a dream♪

♪Stars sink into my hair, the moon slips through my fingers♪

♪For how much joy do we share this life together♪

♪Withering and flourishing, year after year♪

♪I have a dream of a long wind in my sleeves♪

♪My heart rises and falls, we embrace in a sea of clouds♪

♪In this eternity, you are a part of it♪

♪My longing can level mountains and cross countless rivers♪

♪Drunk or sober, it's all like a dream♪

♪Stars sink into my hair, the moon slips through my fingers♪

♪For how much joy do we share this life together♪

♪Withering and flourishing, year after year♪

♪May the sand and dirt in my sleeves♪

♪Become the tears in the corner of my eyes♪

♪And blossom into a flower♪

What he could do,

I can do as well.

From beginning to end,

I have always been your husband.

Why was it Xiao Huayong,

and not me?

In this world,

no one can compare to him.

If even the gods refuse to save me,

then I'll save myself.

Shen Xihe.

She will become my consort.

♪I've hidden so many words♪

♪Too reluctant to tell you♪

♪So never uncover♪

♪The sand that slips away with one grasp♪

♪The flower that withers after one bloom♪

♪Silently buried deep inside my heart♪

♪Every answer I gave♪

♪Was both bittersweet and absurd♪

♪Hiding my tear-filled eyes when I hurt you♪

♪How hard it truly was?♪

♪The wounds that healed with just a little comfort♪

♪The lies made whole with a single embrace♪

♪Pretending to be brave as if I'd never been hurt♪

♪It's a shame I never could♪

♪Give you a moon in return♪

♪With the same open heart you loved me♪

♪I've crossed the wasteland of memories♪

♪Never knowing I was lost♪

♪Why don't you take me away?♪

♪Lead me out of this endless game of hide-and-seek♪

♪You'll never♪

♪Know how much I long to, long to♪

(No animals were harmed in the making of this film)