Original subtitles

(The Lament of Autumn)

(Episode 2)

Okay,

I'll bet with you.

If you win,

you'll make good money

to cover some good medicine for your mother.

If you lose,

you shall behave and wait for me at home.

I will go meet you.

Changxuan,

why did you let her go?

She's merely a schoolgirl.

Normally speaking, an experience like this

would have scared her stiff.

Yet she actually had the nerve to provoke me

and bargain with me.

Interesting people are

rare to come by.

By the way, Changxuan,

I talked to Master Jin on the phone.

He said

those assassins

probably sneaked in

during our recruitment

a month ago.

We've lost the trail for now.

I'll try to trace the source of the guns.

Mrs. Zhao.

Pingjun, you're finally back.

Go check in on your mom.

She's been coughing all night.

Thank you.

Hurry.

Mother, Mother.

Let me help you up.

Come on.

What kept you out so late?

I went for an interview at Xiangxi Hotel today

and did a trial shift,

so I'm home a bit late.

Pingjun.

It's all my fault.

I'm sorry

for dragging you down.

You haven't had

a single easy day

or enjoyed any happy moments

growing up with me.

Mother,

what are you talking about?

Being able to stay

by your side

is already a blessing.

It takes several lifetimes

of merit to earn this.

(Yuchun Theater)

Fifth Young Master Yu.

Miss,

Fifth Young Master Yu is here.

Keep

this dried tangerine peel for your lady.

Taking some every day

is good for her throat.

Dried tangerine peel is said to be as pricey as gold.

Miss,

Fifth Young Master Yu

brought you such a precious gift.

He really cares about you.

A woman's heart

is harder than a bullet.

Are you not worried about

yesterday's assassination at all?

Given your capabilities, Fifth Young Master Yu,

you would be fine for sure.

Did you find out who was behind it?

People

who want to kill me abound in Nanhuai,

but few have the guts

to make a move

at Xiangxi Hotel.

When I went to the event yesterday,

I heard them say

someone was interested in the land in Changping Mountain

and was determined to purchase it.

What did you sing yesterday?

"The Phoenix Hairpin," of course.

You still haven't gotten tired

of singing it after so many years?

Ziyi,

Fifth Young Master Yu

risked his own life

to save you yesterday.

That indicates no ordinary relationship.

Have you two

been hooking up for quite a while

and kept it a secret from us?

(Dulcet Singing)

Come here. (Dulcet Singing)

(Dulcet Singing)

Did you see Fifth Young Master Yu?

I think Fifth Young Master Yu

went to Miss Lan Qing's room.

Ziyi!

Lan Qing.

Actually, you don't have to sing here

for the rest of your life.

If you want

to go anywhere in the future,

I'll arrange it for you.

I'm not going anywhere.

I'll just stay here.

Whenever you want to listen to a song,

I'll be here.

Why doesn't this pencil

feel right in my hand today?

Is it good?

Satisfied now?

I'll be waiting for you.

Excuse me,

did Feng Yao come today?

She took the day off

and didn't come to school.

Then do you know where she lives?

Nope.

She transferred here last semester.

None of us know her well.

Seems like

I need to go to Xiangxi Hotel to find clues.

(List of Hires)

Sun Mengxian goes (List of Hires)

(List of Hires)

to the western restaurant. (List of Hires)

to the western restaurant.

Zhou Yanchu goes

to the ballroom.

Yu Lanlan goes to the housekeeping.

Chen Yongli goes

to the reception.

Thank you, Master Jin.

-Thank you, Master Jin. -Thank you, Master Jin.

Thank you, Master Jin.

Ye Pingjun, you are assigned to the opera hall.

You will work in the Yuchun Troupe.

This is Troupe Leader Qian.

From now on, he'll be in charge

of your work assignments.

Thank you, Master Jin.

This way,

please.

Ye Pingjun.

I heard that last night,

Fifth Young Master Yu let you go.

Miss Ye,

you're really something.

Miss Ye, please.

The theater is up ahead.

Troupe Leader Qian,

what exactly

does my job involve?

You will mainly copy scripts

and

read scripts to the most popular artist of our troupe,

Miss Lan Qing.

(Chunfeng Troupe)

This is the Chunfeng Troupe

of our hotel.

The theater is right up there.

("A Dream in the Garden" by Lan Qing)

Miss Lan Qing is really good at dancing with water sleeves.

But unfortunately, she is illiterate

and can't read new scripts.

She needs someone to read them

line by line.

-Nice! -Bravo!

Miss Tao,

what brings you here to listen to the opera today?

What?

Is this opera only for you, Fifth Young Master Yu,

but not for me?

Then I must thank you on behalf of Lan Qing

for gracing her with your presence.

My sister said

you saved me yesterday,

so I should

express my gratitude.

There's no need for formalities

between us.

Be careful.

Don't wrinkle it.

Troupe Leader.

Troupe Leader Qian.

Troupe Leader.

Troupe Leader.

-Bravo! -Nice!

The one on stage

is the most popular star

of our troupe,

Miss Lan Qing.

So noisy!

Like they've never watched an opera before!

Oh, Taochun.

Lan Qing

is the most popular star

of our Yuchun Troupe.

Cheering for her

brings honor to us.

She hooked up with Eldest Young Master Yu before.

But right after he died in battle,

she just turned to follow Fifth Young Master Yu.

She's got him crazy for her,

keeping his "sister-in-law" as a mistress.

How is she our troupe's top star?

She is literally

the top star of sex scandals!

Oh, my goodness,

watch your mouth!

Do you want to die?

How dare you gossip about Fifth Young Master Yu?

If word gets out,

even our troupe will...

I didn't hear anything.

Here's the thing.

In our Xiangxi Hotel,

you must remember that

Fifth Young Master Yu

is the last one

you can afford to offend.

You have no idea...

-Bravo! -Bravo!

Anyway, just keep it in mind.

-Encore! -Encore!

Encore!

Bravo!

These opera fans are quite generous.

Wow, these hair ornaments!

How lavish!

It's so hard

to read Fifth Young Master Yu's mind.

Yesterday, he risked his life

for Ziyi.

Today, he spent a fortune

on Lan Qing.

She's no more than a humble opera performer.

When men are in a good mood, they have fun with her.

But when they're not, they just discard her

and forget about her.

She's just

a plaything for men.

Where are you going?

Troupe Leader Qian said the contract was signed

and asked you to take a look.

Please go in.

Thank you.

(Yuchun Theater)

Come in.

It's you?

So you are

the real boss

behind Master Jin.

You're quick-witted.

I don't want this job anymore.

You've already signed the contract.

And I've stamped it.

It's now in effect.

For the next year,

you must obey

any orders from the boss.

(Juvenile trainee or apprentice: Ye Pingjun)

If I had known that you were the boss,

I wouldn't have signed it.

(Xiangxi Hotel Employment Contract) I wouldn't have signed it.

(Xiangxi Hotel Employment Contract)

One silver dollar for breach of contract, right? (Xiangxi Hotel Employment Contract)

One silver dollar for breach of contract, right?

Alright,

I'll pay it.

(Juvenile trainee or apprentice: Ye Pingjun) (Employer: Yu Changxuan)

(Needs to pay the employer for breach of contract: 100 silver dollars)

(Needs to pay the employer for breach of contract: 100 silver dollars)

(Juvenile trainee or apprentice: Ye Pingjun) (Employer: Yu Changxuan)

Pay it, (Juvenile trainee or apprentice: Ye Pingjun) (Employer: Yu Changxuan)

(Juvenile trainee or apprentice: Ye Pingjun) (Employer: Yu Changxuan)

and we'll be even. (Juvenile trainee or apprentice: Ye Pingjun) (Employer: Yu Changxuan)

You tampered with the contract arbitrarily.

Are you any different

from a shameless scoundrel?

(Juvenile trainee or apprentice: Ye Pingjun) (Employer: Yu Changxuan) from a shameless scoundrel?

(Juvenile trainee or apprentice: Ye Pingjun) (Employer: Yu Changxuan)

Do you really think (Juvenile trainee or apprentice: Ye Pingjun) (Employer: Yu Changxuan)

law doesn't exist in Nanhuai, (Juvenile trainee or apprentice: Ye Pingjun) (Employer: Yu Changxuan)

law doesn't exist in Nanhuai,

and you can do whatever you want?

The Nanhuai High Court

is located at Jia No. 2, East Street.

Feel free to sue me anytime.

However, just a kind reminder—

our bet

is only for 10 days.

You're running out of time.

Come back.

Sit down.

Since I hired you at a high salary,

I must

test you for Lan Qing.

("Tears on a Cyan Robe")

Read me a paragraph. ("Tears on a Cyan Robe")

("Tears on a Cyan Robe")

Mencius said,

"A sense of shame is so important to people.

With it, one may become a sage;

losing it, one is no better than a beast."

Mencius meant that

the most important thing

for a man is to have a sense of shame.

Those without a sense of shame

will only end up like beasts.

I fired a shot at the training ground today.

It was a fine steed,

and I was also very fond of it.

But unfortunately, it was untamable.

So what was the point of keeping it?

Everything in this world

has its own fate.

Some things are

destined not to be yours to command.

It won't listen to you

even if you take its life.

What a pity.

I'm just a stubborn person.

I was born with a bad habit

of never taking advice.

For a disobedient horse,

I just shot it dead.

For disobedient people,

I'll pull out

their "thorns"

one by one.

What brings you here?

I thought you went somewhere for fun.

It turns out that you're

staring at a little girl here.

Is it fun?

Ye Pingjun?

What are you doing here?

I work at the Yuchun Troupe.

You know each other?

We're schoolmates

and have met a few times.

This is weird.

How did you sneak in?

Even a servant here should have

a father or brother

with some official rank.

But what's your background?

Did you

fake your resume?

Miss Tao, your imagination

is wild.

At school,

you make money by doing homework for others.

After school,

you do part-time jobs everywhere.

Yet you still haven't earned enough?

You've even stooped to serving an opera performer.

You really have no bottom line

when it comes to making money.

You're right.

I'll do anything to make money.

You can also come to me

for anything you need.

Be it doing homework, shopping, or walking dogs,

I can do everything. The more, the better.

Darn it! Are you blind?

Sorry.

Isn't this Director Liang Wenbo

from the Chunfeng Drama Troupe?

Sorry,

I didn't do it on purpose.

Excuse me. Please let me pass.

I heard...

Director Liang, I heard you

just wrote a new play

called

"Elegant Rendezvous."

Yes.

It'll premiere next month.

If you are interested,

you are welcome to come and watch.

The title of your play is quite strange.

What does it mean?

Literally, it means

a secret rendezvous

in an elegant demeanor.

Rendezvous? Elegant? What does that mean?

You'll know if you have a chance to see it.

Excuse me.

I only know that

marrying a good man is the best way to secure your future.

(Exclusively for Xiangxi Hotel)

There's no such name

on the interview list.

Are you sure you remember correctly?

So Feng Yao really didn't attend the interview.

It seems that she is indeed suspicious.

You're back

from Shenyang so quickly.

I was only away for one day,

and something this serious happened.

Therefore,

only with you here

will those underlings dare not make trouble.

Have you found any clues?

The old man is investigating.

He will handle it.

You and your brother

share exactly the same habit.

Jin,

your taste in wine is getting worse.

It tastes so astringent.

But their tempers are as different

as chalk and cheese.

Father,

this is the bullet found at the scene

where Changxuan was assassinated.

It's verified to be from Palm Bolt.

Currently,

only Mu Linsen's army is equipped with it.

Mu Linsen.

He was trying to sabotage

our Yu-Chu allied forces.

This man's been vicious,

always playing tricks in the dark.

The assassins were all death row inmates

who were secretly swapped out

and taken from death row

one by one in a month.

No matter how far Mu Linsen's reach is,

he must have had someone colluding with him from the inside.

Go back to Nanhuai

and get to the bottom of it.

Yes.

Come on,

my future in-law,

I paid this visit today

to specifically apologize to you.

It was indeed my fault

for not telling you

the assassination plan in advance.

But my men knew when to stop

and would never hurt your two precious daughters.

You caused such a commotion,

yet Yu Changxuan

is still alive and well, isn't he?

The Yu family helped Chu Wenfu

seize my turf.

And now they want to join forces with the Chu family.

Going after the Yu family's only heir

is a warning to Yu Zhongquan,

showing him my stance clearly.

Let's see if he will

back out of the alliance

or insist on his folly.

If Yu Zhongquan holds onto the alliance,

do you have a backup plan?

I, Mu Linsen,

only believe in one simple truth.

If I can't have a major force

like the Yu family on my side,

then no one else can.

If Yu Zhongquan is dead-set

on being Chu Wenfu's right-hand man

and going against me,

I will remove

this thorn myself.

Hello?

Anybody home?

Feng Yao.

Feng Yao?

Medicine dregs?

Someone is sick in Feng Yao's family?

Ephedra, notopterygium, poria.

This is almost the same

as my mom's prescription.

So you mean this girl.

Yeah, I know her.

She comes here

to get meds every month.

Then

when was the last time

you saw her?

Her father has lung disease.

The meds he uses are very expensive.

She's barely scraped together

enough money for them.

Well, then,

do you know

where she moved to?

She moved?

I honestly have no idea.

I hope she moved to a good place.

What do you mean?

The little girl's lived a tough life.

It's

just her

and her seriously ill father at home.

She takes care of him all by herself.

She is such a filial child.

It makes me feel sorry for her.

Tomorrow night

happens to be when she usually comes to get meds.

I wonder if she will come.

(Yuchun Theater)

Miss Lan Qing,

I'm done copying the script.

Let me read you a paragraph.

Okay.

"Beneath the moon hanging high in the sky,

clouds drift close along the path.

Chilled to the bone, I even dread a dream of autumn.

What in the world runs deeper than love?

It leaves only soul-crushing heartache."

Miss Ye,

although I can't read,

I can tell that

your handwriting

is prettier than others'. You put your heart into it.

Miss Lan Qing,

I'm flattered.

We'll be spending a lot of time together,

so you can take it easy

and just call me Lan Qing from now on.

Then...

You can call me Pingjun.

Pingjun.

Du Liniang

and Liu Mengmei in this play

may have had a brilliant love story,

but you never know what life will bring.

They were separated by life and death.

This is fate.

Women inside and outside the play

share

the same bitter fate.

That's not true.

I actually want to compose a play

to show everyone that

women are not just like duckweed at the mercy of fate.

Women can also use the pen

for their own life stories.

Then when you finish,

you must read it to me first.

Deal.

Deng Yaohui,

your two dogs

bit quite a few people,

yet you still walk them to show off?

It's just for thrills!

I'll just pay for the damages.

You bumped into me and didn't even apologize?

I'm sorry.

Ye Pingjun.

I heard you've been

doing odd jobs in a troupe lately.

Didn't your family teach you

decency

and manners?

Did you forget?

She is fatherless

and ignorant.

How could she know decency and manners?

People like you

who make trouble out of nothing

and badmouth others

are the truly ignorant ones.

How dare you insult me?

Do Second Young Lady Tao and the others

hold any grudge against Ye Pingjun?

You're pretty eloquent.

Can you sing?

Come on.

Sit here and sing for me.

Sing one song,

and I'll reward you with 10 silver dollars.

How does that song go again?

♪ Oh, dear ♪

♪ You are my beloved sweetheart ♪

♪ Why are you always so cold to me? ♪

You don't want to make such easy money?

I'll give you 10 more silver dollars.

Don't touch me!

You hurt Young Master Deng.

But Young Master Deng

is a gentleman who's nice to ladies.

If you kneel down

and kowtow to him 3 times

nicely and loudly,

he might just let you go.

-Yeah. -Just kowtow loudly.

Do it!

We're all waiting.

He got handsy first.

Why should I apologize?

You've got some nerve.

You asked for this.

Bring the dogs over here!

Bring them over!

Scared?

You're done for.

Don't do anything crazy.

Now you're scared?

These two dogs are really fierce.

They've already hurt quite a few people.

Listen,

with your small figure,

you wouldn't even be a mouthful for them.

I'll count to 10.

If you still don't kneel,

we'll let them loose.

Kneel.

Kneel!

One.

Two.

Changxuan,

it'll be a mess if she really gets hurt.

I'd like to see

how long she can keep being obstinate.

Three.

Miss.

Miss!

Miss, there's trouble!

Young Master Deng and Young Master Yu

are bullying Miss Ye

with two giant wolfhounds!

Where are they?

Are you going to kneel or not?

Kneel down!

Kneel!

Kneel!

Just kneel!

You're throwing your weight around here,

simply riding on your ancestors' coattails.

Without your fathers' titles,

what do you have left?

You want me to kneel to people like you?

Honestly,

you don't deserve it.

Release the dogs now!

Bite her!

Yes, bite her!

Bite her!

Bite her!

Bite her!

Bite her!

Bite her!

Let's see if you

still dare to run your mouth.

Xinxin!

Xinxin!

Who?

Who fired the gun?

Fifth Young Master Yu?

What are you doing?

Why is Fifth Young Master Yu

protecting her

in front of everyone?

Fifth Young Master Yu,

this mere waitress

is so arrogant.

Pingjun.

She's the one to blame!

Fifth Young Master,

Pingjun is my copyist.

She is still so young.

If she did anything

offending these young masters,

could you please do me a favor

and let her go just this once?

If someone dies here

and ruins this place,

how can they keep doing business?

Ziyi!

Take the dog away.

Yes.

Are you alright?

Lan Qing,

It's windy outside. Don't catch a cold.

Go back inside quickly.

Okay.

Miss Ye.

Do your job properly.

If there is a next time,

you probably won't be so lucky.

Let's go.

Fifth Young Master Yu's

acting a bit weird, isn't he?

Listen to me!

Look,

Fifth Young Master Yu let her out

and even killed

Deng Yaohui's precious dog

for her.

He's not the type

to show tenderness to women.

I got it.

Could it be that

Fifth Young Master Yu

simply doesn't like that dog?

That doesn't seem right either.

Be honest with me,

is it...

Is it your place to guess his thoughts?

I should have asked

someone else, not you.

You...

It was pointless asking him.

The Commander has told Changxuan

again and again to lay low.

But look at him,

turning a deaf ear to his father's words.

He got involved

in an assassination the other day.

And now,

he runs out every day.

Mom,

I've heard that

Changxuan and Second Young Lady Tao

have grown quite close lately.

He

and Daiti were childhood sweethearts.

But ever since Daiti

went to America,

the girls around Changxuan

have been changing like a revolving door.

You know what?

I actually quite like Daiti.

If she were here,

maybe Changxuan would listen to her.

This cousin of mine

is indeed

very outstanding.

She graduated from a top women's college in America.

And my uncle

is a pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church,

who is highly respected.

He's attached

great importance to her education since she was little.

My cousin

is certainly

no ordinary woman.

If Daiti really becomes my fifth sister-in-law,

I'm afraid our family

will have to worship two different gods.

What do you mean by "two different gods," Jinxuan?

Isn't that obvious?

Mother is a Buddhist, and Daiti is a Christian.

Wouldn't our family

have to worship both Guanyin

and Jesus?

I just wonder if these two gods

will clash.

Jinxuan, you've thought

of every detail.

This is impressive.

As for Second Young Lady Tao,

her father is in charge of the financial sector,

with a bright future.

These girls are both quite good.

As long as Changxuan is happy,

I will agree to whoever he likes.

It's just that you never know how fate

will unfold.

But anyone who can marry into the Yu family

is lucky.

Is this what you want?

Thank you, First Madam.

(Treat men and women of all ages in internal and external medicine)

Miss,

I'm closing soon.

That girl might not come.

What are you going to do?

Sir,

I'll buy these meds.

(Treat men and women of all ages in internal and external medicine)

Freeze.

Don't worry,

I won't scream.

Don't follow me.

Feng Yao.

I don't know

how you found this out,

but you'd better stay out of it.

Just pretend you didn't see me.

You knew the consequences

of assassinating Yu Changxuan.

We've had no grudge against each other.

Why did you make me the scapegoat?

I have no idea what you're talking about.

You were there during the application

but gone during the interview.

Where did you go?

They looked down on me

and didn't even let me attend the interview.

What about the fountain pen?

How do you explain that?

There are so many identical fountain pens.

How can you be sure it's mine?

If you really

didn't frame me,

wouldn't your first question

have been,

"What fountain pen?"

That day,

I didn't know it was you.

I planned

to just pin it on a random guy.

The servants there

all have some good backgrounds.

Although they might suffer a bit,

their families

would bail them out.

It was just a coincidence

that I passed by you.

But you were risking your life,

assassinating Yu Changxuan.

Why did you do that?

My family of five

was all killed by Yu Changxuan.

So even if it costs me my life,

I will make him pay for it with his life.

Run!

I'll stall them.

Go!

Go ahead!

Fifth Young Master Yu.

What are you doing here?

I came to get meds for my mother.

Where are the meds?

I was just about to fetch them.

Didn't you just

get some for your mother a couple of days ago?

Why do you need more?

Besides...

isn't there a pharmacy

at the entrance of the alley to your home?

Why bother going all the way here?

I came out

to buy yunpian pastries for my mom

and thought I'd get the meds, too.

Yes! It was her!

She came to me

to identify a girl.

That was her.