Original subtitles

[Spring of The Blade]

[Episode 29]

-If you have any complaints... -Chunqing.

You can...

Shut up!

The concubines in the residence

hated Xia Yingying

deeply,

but towards Chunqing,

they were jealous.

And Hu Wenzhuo's eldest brother, as Eunuch Xia's subordinate,

had already begun to investigate this matter.

The result would definitely be disadvantageous to Chunqing.

So,

I made a deal with the Hu family

to let Chunqing leave the Xie Residence.

So,

you forced my mother

to leave the Xie Residence

and your side for a second time

for...

It was for her own good.

It was to protect her.

I thought if she left the Xie family,

this place of trouble,

she would be safe.

But I never expected

that she was already pregnant at that time.

Lord Lu even reminded

that fire is forbidden for 3 days during the Cold Food Festival.

and was afraid you two wouldn't have enough to eat,

so he sent over some wheat cakes.

♫ Wheat seedlings are green ♫

♫ Mugwort is sweet ♫

♫ The Bodhisattva of the Lu family spends the cold days ♫

But since things had come to this,

I had to secretly

-to take care of your life. -It tastes good.

This was the best protection

I could give you.

Mother,

have a bite.

Stop working so tirelessly.

-It's time to find Yunya a father. -Old Madam,

we should go.

Let's go quickly.

Old Madam.

Chunqing

harbored the rebel,

the son of Shen Zhibai,

so her house was burned down by the officials.

She...

She

couldn't...

She couldn't escape.

I originally thought

the three of us

still had plenty of time,

and I would definitely find a chance

to bring you and your mother back.

Even if I could only listen from afar

and see that you were safe,

I would be satisfied.

But I never expected that

outside the alley during the Cold Food Festival

was the last time

we would see each other in this life.

After that fire,

I was sick for 3 days.

Since then,

I became a buddhist and vegetarian.

In the past, I didn't believe in anything.

I only believed in myself,

and only believed in the things that power and tactics

brought me.

But after Chunqing died,

I was afraid.

I was afraid of the karma in the world.

I thought if I devoted myself to chanting sutras,

maybe I could accumulate some trivial merits

in exchange for Chunqing

to not to have such a miserable life

in her next life.

Later,

you followed Granny Chen

and gradually grew up.

Although you lived

a poorer life than in the Xie family,

it was peaceful.

Compared to a cruel grandmother like me,

she is more like your real grandmother.

So,

I tried hard to restrain myself

from disturbing your life.

It was until that day...

Old Madam.

Taoist priest Xin Zhen said

finding a mascot

can eliminate the frequent strange occurrences in the Xie family.

A mascot?

That is just

some tricks of a warlock.

The mascot

and the blood-written poem...

were that girl's scheme?

Yuejian.

Actually, our Xie Residence

has fourth lady

who has been wandering outside.

Go and find

her whereabouts.

Yes.

This Qingyuan...

I know.

That was all

carefully planned by you

to get into the Xie Residence.

Since you wanted to get in,

I helped you.

Everything you went through in the Xie Residence,

I know it all.

That wicked Nanny Rong bullied you.

So I found an excuse

and took her life.

Young Master Li

was sincere to you.

I thought of ways

to facilitate this marriage.

And that Yan Rui,

Lord Yan...

How could I not see

his feelings for you?

Many people in the Xie family

saw you as a thorn in their side.

If

Lord Yan protects you,

it might be a way out.

I harbored

the intention of playing along.

But after you entered the Xie Residence,

I secretly made up my mind.

I would do my best to protect you.

I would never let what happened to your mother

happen to you again.

No one is more heartbroken than me

about your suffering.

But I had no choice.

This was all I could do.

This was all you could do?

If you hadn't insisted that night

on exchanging a daughter for a son,

how would there be

all these subsequent sufferings

and bloodshed?

All of this

started because of you.

What did you do to make up for it?

What you did

was just patching up

your previous mistakes.

You are just deceiving yourself.

Qingyuan,

you don't understand.

You are still young.

[Danyue Pavilion]

Before a woman marries,

she must do her best for her maiden family.

After marriage,

she must do her best for her husband's family.

Since I married into the Xie family,

naturally,

passing down the lineage is the priority.

But women cannot inherit the family business.

This is a rule left by our ancestors.

It's not up to me.

But your surname is not Xie.

Your parents,

daughter,

and your blood relatives—

none of them are surnamed Xie.

The world only knows you as Old Madam Xie,

calling you Old Madam Xie.

While your real name,

Lu Lingshu,

is hidden in the cold bronze mirror,

known to no one.

Those achievements you are so proud of

eventually

all became the title of the Xie Residence.

Is this really what you want?

You are wrong.

When people remember the Xie Residence,

they remember me.

My mind is made up.

I will use my old life

to protect the Xie family

for one last time.

This is my fate,

my destiny.

Before you trade your life

for the Xie family,

have you ever wondered

who exactly

killed my mother?

Wasn't it

because your mother harbored

her friend's orphaned child,

angering the imperial court

and bringing disaster upon herself?

No.

Before the guards arrived,

my mother was already dead.

Before she died,

she wanted to meet you again.

I'll take you downstairs to play tomorrow.

Sure.

I saw there were

a lot of wild pheasants downstairs.

Those are wild ducks.

No matter if they're pheasants or ducks,

let's go downstairs and catch them tomorrow.

Sure.

Let's get a net and catch a bunch.

Who's still up so late?

You little rascal.

You're so naughty.

Run,

go to sleep early.

Be a good boy.

I'll make you lots of yummy food tomorrow.

Okay!

You little rascal.

I'll spank you.

You didn't even cover yourself properly.

Little Loser.

Little Loser?

Lu Lingshu.

What should I call you?

Should I call you

Old Madam,

[I respectfully address this letter to the dressing table of the revered Old Madame Xie. I would not dare presumptuously refer to you as mother.]

or

Mother?

Today I finally realized

you didn't protect me

out of courtesy,

nor was it because I am your daughter-in-law.

It was a mother's

love for her flesh and blood,

and her way to make amends.

But what kind of reason

made it worth doing this?

If you cared about me,

how could you bear to abandon me

and hand me over to that alcoholic, gambling,

notorious beast,

making me call him

father?

I was treated like an animal at his command since childhood.

While still young,

I was reduced to making a living in a theater troupe.

On top of that,

the silver I worked so hard to earn

would be taken away by him immediately.

His creditors harassed me every day.

Even he himself,

more than once when he was drunk,

had filthy thoughts about me.

And you?

You stayed deep within the Xie Residence,

behind countless doors,

just watching me.

Watching me covered in mud

and enduring all kinds of humiliation,

yet never revealing a hint of the truth.

To keep it so watertight,

it must not have been easy for you.

I should have been grateful

for your kindness.

But right now,

how can I not feel hatred?

Yet I can't bring myself to hate all of this.

♪ Waiting for a dream to sink into the depths of the night ♪

The real murderer of my mother

♪ Waiting for rain to wash away the heat burning in my eyes ♪

is your fake son,

♪ Waiting for a few flowers to bloom, then quietly fall ♪

Xie Shu.

♪ Only then do I understand right from wrong, and the bitterness ♪

Xie Shu?

♪ Through the courtyard, pear blossoms flutter like snowflakes in a song ♪

♪ Singing the silence of love and hate ♪

That bastard.

♪ Which moment is hypothetical, and which is a real choice? ♪

How dare he kill Chunqing.

♪ Who is drifting aimlessly in the wind? ♪

How dare he kill my daughter!

♪ I wonder why joy is always so scarce in this world ♪

♪ I wonder, is that tear a loss or a gain? ♪

♪ Two souls trapped on the opposite banks of life and death ♪

[Danyue Pavilion]

♪ May you and I overcome karma's bonds ♪

You bastard!

All this karma

and disaster

were deeply seeded

on the night you replaced your daughter

with a boy.

Since things have come to this,

are you still going to take the blame for Xie Shu?

Can you bear to watch

the murderer who killed your daughter

continue to get away with it

and enjoy a life of luxury?

What did you live

your whole life for?

And what are you dying for?

Wait.

Qingyuan.

Now,

do you hate me?

Can you forgive me?

Can you, for one more time, call me...

Yes.

I hate that you defended

these unfair rules.

You are the root of all these disasters.

But I pity you more.

Because you are the one

who has been trapped in this house

for the longest.

Don't make the same mistake again,

Grandmother.

Mother.

The sun is high

and half the day is already gone.

I

came specially to pay my respects.

Pay your respects?

I'm afraid you're reminding me, this old eyesore,

that it's time to pass on.

Mother, why do you say that?

All my life,

my only thought

has been for you

to enjoy longevity and good health.

Only if you are well,

will the Xie family be well.

Bastard.

I originally thought

you still had some true feelings for Chunqing.

That's why I allowed you to marry her.

But you, despicable man,

took her life with your own hands.

So you knew everything.

That's good too.

Now there are no more secrets

between you and me.

Being completely honest with each other,

this is what a real mother and son should be like.

But she was my daughter,

my own flesh and blood.

That doesn't sound right.

Since childhood, I have listened to your earnest teachings.

That's not what you taught me.

You said that

in the face of the Xie clan,

nothing

matters.

Not family,

not friends,

and not even our own lives.

Why today,

are you suddenly getting sentimental

and acting selfishly?

It's not like you

In the eyes of outsiders,

you, Xie Shu, are a highly filial son.

But deep down,

you hate me to the core.

No way.

How could a son hate his mother?

Of course I am a filial son.

I am the most filial son in the world.

And today,

I will carry out my filial duty to the very end,

Mother.

Don't call me Mother.

Every time you call me that,

I hate you a little more.

Since you were a baby,

I should have seen

that you were born a vicious demon.

Mother,

isn't it a little late for that?

Not at all.

Not late at all.

Arrest him!

Have those disobedient people

been dealt with?

-Yes. -They've been dealt with.

Mother,

this is the ginseng soup

Yuejian made for you.

Yuejian?

Sixth Concubine.

Bastard.

I was planning to go keep Chunqing company anyway.

Yes.

But Mother, you're the one

who raised this bastard.

When it comes down to it,

who really killed Chunqing?

It was you.

It was your Xie family.

It was the ancestors of your Xie family

represented by each of those

golden ancestral tablets

who killed her.

Well said.

Lu...

Ling...

Shu...

I know.

The one who deserves to die most

is me.

It's time for me to go.

Farewell, Mother.

Chunqing.

My biggest regret in this life is

that I never held you properly,

nor did I ever hear you call me

"Mother."

Chunqing,

I'm coming to find you.

Mother.

They are all dead.

Grandmother is dead too.

Yunya.

Shen Run.

So,

people really can spend their whole lives

on an empty fame that doesn't belong to them,

giving up everything,

giving up the ones they love.

At the end, they end up

trapping themselves in a cage,

causing so many tragedies.

Master.

Old Madam's confession

has been sent out.

Please... Please rest assured.

You...

I won't say anything.

I don't know anything!

I won't say anything.

Do you want

to be the second Hu Wenzhuo?

You don't deserve to be.

That old woman married you to me

just to humiliate me.

She just wanted to tell me

that you and I are the same.

From birth,

no matter how smart,

talented,

hardworking,

or good-looking you are,

no one can change

this wretched fate in your bones.

But

I changed it.

Changed it completely.

The Xie family is mine now.

The Xie family's

century-old foundation is all mine.

[A lifetime of fame and success, yet I never knew the truth.]

[My biological daughter was left away from home and died tragically in a fire.]

This is the minister I trust.

His methods are indeed brilliant.

Xie Shu has inherited the Xie Residence for decades

and greatly benefited from the Xie family's protection.

Now,

he claims not to know his background and origins,

which is truly unconvincing to the public.

Xie Shu is well aware of this.

He sent a confession letter,

betting on Your Majesty to accept

his sincerity in offering his adoptive mother's life as an apology.

It is easy to be a foolish ruler,

and not difficult to be a wise one.

The hardest part is knowing that your subjects

are patronizing to your face

and hypocritical,

but for the sake of the big picture, I have to keep them!

Your Majesty wishes to implement new policies,

and shouldn't be hindered by those of the past.

Lord Ye,

within this deep palace,

to govern a vast empire,

one must rely on people.

To rely on people,

one must turn a blind eye

to their selfish desires,

and tolerate being deceived.

Of course, I could have Xie Shu sliced to pieces,

set things right,

cut off old corruptions,

and immediately implement the new policies.

But Xia's faction has just retreated,

and the court is not yet stable.

Without Xie Shu to balance things out,

the gentry and noble families of Hengtang

would be a sheet of loose sand.

Even I

could do nothing about them.

Your Majesty!

I have to focus on the overall interests.

Although accumulated corruptions exist,

the people can still carry the burden and move forward.

But once the country falls into chaos,

there will be far worse factional disputes and wars.

Implementing new policies

requires slow pushing and enduring,

outlasting one Xie Shu after another.

This matter,

let it end here.

Since Old Madam Xie has apologized with her life,

I will leave the Xie family with their last fig leaf.

Let's leave it at that.

Do you think

you're a phoenix?

You're nothing but a beast kept in a cage.

Someday, when I'm in a good mood,

I'll pluck your feathers,

slice your meat,

and see how you taste.

Did you hear me?

Xie Shu!

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu!

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu!

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu!

Xie Shu!

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu.

Xie Shu?

All of you, come out!

The patriarch is here.

The patriarch is right here!

Where are you!

When I catch you,

I'll skin you alive, one by one.

Qingrong!

Donglin!

Don't let me catch you!

Is there anyone alive?

You little brats...

You little brats,

get out here!

Where is everyone?

[Fuyu Pavilion]

[Danyue Pavilion]

[Hanxiang Parlor]

[Huifang Garden]

Master.

Where are you going?

Got you!

Let me ask you,

where did all of them go?

-Master... -Where is Sixth Madam?

Sixth Madam has gone mad.

She was sent to the estate.

I have to leave too.

Master,

my old mother is seriously ill at home.

The kindness you've shown me,

I will always remember.

Hengtang

now belongs to me, Xie Shu, alone.

Donglin, it's ours now!

Donglin... Hey! Dong...

I was about to promote you!

Donglin!

Bastard!

♪ The immortal with green hair ♪

♪ Lazy and flirtatious ♪

♪ Drinking toasts ♪

♪ A furrowed brow betrays her sorrow ♪

Chunqing?

♪ Why keep your heart so guarded against me? ♪

You called my mother's name.

It seems

you still care about her.

Qingyuan.

So beautiful.

Well sung, Qingyuan.

This is your mother's dress.