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=Tigers Sniff the Rose=

(Based on the novel of the same name by Yiren Kuikui)

=Episode 31=

Yan Shang,

you made such bold promises,

yet failed to serve me with all your loyalty and ability.

You've failed to live up to my expectations.

I

admit my guilt.

The corruption in Lingnan

was practically out in the open.

Yet you claim you found nothing.

How do I know you haven't colluded with those corrupt officials

and submitted a false report?

For such gross negligence,

even stripping you of your post and executing you

wouldn't be too harsh.

Father!

However,

I've decided to show you mercy.

I'll grant Wanyao's request

and banish you from Sheng'an,

never to return.

Go to Lanyang.

Serve as county magistrate.

Yan Shang,

thank His Majesty.

(Today)

(may be our final farewell.)

(But as long as you choose life, there's hope.)

(Locked in this gilded cage,)

(all by myself.)

(And that's enough.)

(Stay alive,)

(Yan Shang.)

(Huaiji County Financial Ledger; Households, Land, Taxes)

What's this?

Your Majesty,

I've reconstructed from memory

three years of financial records from Lingnan Circuit.

Bring it here.

(Huaiji County Financial Ledger; Households, Land, Taxes)

(Huaiji County Financial Ledger; Households, Land, Taxes)

You wrote all this from memory?

I reconstructed this ledger

from memory while in prison.

Jiang Heng, Military Commander of Lingnan,

secretly conspired with the Crown Prince and funneled him money.

Under the guise of public works, he enriched himself.

Across 93 counties,

fields lie barren and granaries stand empty.

People sell their wives and children, yet still can't pay their taxes.

Bones lie scattered across the countryside,

yet the authorities still demand forced labor.

I humbly beg Your Majesty

to execute these corrupt officials

and bring peace to Lingnan's countless innocent souls!

(Previous Grain Balance: 4,200 shi; New Receipts: 2,800 shi)

With nothing but your eyes and memory,

you remembered all of this?

Father!

He's lost his mind!

He's scribbled all this without a shred of evidence.

How can you believe him?

I ask Your Majesty to choose any year, prefecture, or county

and investigate whatever you wish.

Whether I've fabricated anything

will be clear once the records are compared.

Very well.

I'll summon those involved for questioning

and verify

every page of these records.

Then when you said

disaster relief had been ineffective

and your inspection had uncovered nothing,

you were lying to me?

Take Yan Shang

back to the Imperial Prison.

- Yes, Your Majesty! - Yes, Your Majesty!

Wanyao,

it seems he really doesn't want to go to Lanyang.

Stop!

Move!

Yan Shang,

do you think you're some kind of hero?

Let me tell you something.

You're

the stupidest,

cruelest,

most self-righteous man in the world!

I'm sorry.

What did I tell you?

What did you promise me?

Why did you lie to me?

Yan Shang,

I've always despised

betrayal above all else.

♪Let me be a captive beast bound by the same lock as you♪

♪- Through trails of mud and blood; - Let grief drown in your eyes♪

♪- Soar with the wind; - Plunge into hellfire as one♪

♪Burning bright as a song♪

♪See how roses and green bamboo enchant♪

♪Be the vow I make with all my heart♪

♪If we say forever, then forever it shall be♪

♪Not a single hour less♪

♪However deep the snow, I'll wait if you're there♪

♪We'll be gods above, or wandering souls♪

♪In heaven or the underworld, you're all I need♪

♪If we can stay, let's return to the village of our first meeting♪

♪- May time be free of fear; - Boats rock♪

♪- May time be free of pain; - Lights fade, seasons turn♪

♪You're the only one I need♪

♪Sharp winds or fierce rain, nothing can break us♪

♪- Be my one and only in this world; - Be my one and only in this life♪

♪My last untouched innocence♪

By imperial decree!

Princess Danyang is to reside at Lizheng Hall for the time being.

(Jiang Heng Colluded with the Crown Prince to transfer funds)

(Du Ping, Transport Commissioner of Lingnan,)

(falsified disaster relief expenses.)

(Jiang Heng; Du Ping)

(Labor-tax cloth:) Pei Xuanming,

(2,000 bolts due, 1,600 received;) Director of the Bureau of Operations

(Jiang Heng; Du Ping; Pei Xuanming) accepted bribes from the Crown Prince.

(Wang Heling, Vice Minister of Revenue,)

(falsified salt and iron tax records.)

(Jiang Heng; Du Ping; Pei Xuanming; Cheng An)

(Wei Feng, Cao Jiashi, Zhang Ran, Liu Mingzheng, Liu Lingming, Liu Dong,)

(Zhou Dewei, Wang Jianian)

(Funds transferred to the Crown Prince's household.)

What's the current

troop deployment at Anwu Gate?

Rest assured, Your Royal Highness.

By the third quarter of the Yin hour tomorrow,

all the Jinwu Guards at Anwu Gate

will have been replaced by our men.

For now, the only troops we can rally

are from the Shence Army's Right Battalion.

Then we can...

Who dares barge in?

Your Royal Highness.

It's too late.

By imperial command,

I must escort the Crown Prince to Liangyi Hall immediately.

As for everyone else,

arrest them all!

Your Royal Highness!

Your Royal Highness!

- Move! - Hurry up!

Your Royal Highness!

Move!

Your Royal Highness!

- Move! - Save me, Your Royal Highness!

Your Royal Highness!

Your Royal Highness!

Your Royal Highness.

This way, please.

Take a look.

Apart from these people,

(Jiang Heng; Du Ping; Pei Xuanming)

have I missed anyone?

(Liu Mingzheng; Liu Lingming; Wang Jianian)

Xun,

don't you owe me an explanation?

Father,

if I'd had nothing at my disposal,

how could I

have rescued you from Yu Cheng'an

at the hunting grounds that day?

Father,

all these years,

I've lived in constant fear for my life.

Right under Yu Cheng'an's nose,

I risked my neck recruiting troops and forging armor.

Why do you think I did all that?

Don't you understand, Father?

Get up.

But Yu Cheng'an

was executed over a month ago.

Why have you never submitted

an official report on the funds, provisions,

and private troops under your command?

Why?

Xun,

that sword you turned against Yu Cheng'an...

Will you

turn it against your own father tomorrow?

Since you've already made up your mind,

why bother asking?

You brought me

here today

and demanded an explanation.

You just wanted to humiliate me again, didn't you?

Just like

Yu Cheng'an did back then.

How dare you!

Father,

the two of us...

What a ridiculous pair we are.

Absolutely ridiculous!

(Universe in Harmony)

(Lizheng Hall)

(Your Highness,)

(those commanders)

(merely fear the Crown Prince's power.)

(Do you think they're truly loyal?)

(They're not men who would die for you.)

(They're predators who would turn on their own master.)

(They're not your allies,)

(but the very men who could bring about your death.)

(Those who bargain with tigers)

(ultimately become their prey.)

(As time goes on,)

(I fear you'll sink into the same mire.)

(How would you be any different from the Crown Prince?)

That's true.

To fight my way out of this swamp,

I'm bound to get covered in mud

and resort to whatever it takes.

But I won't become as rotten as they are.

(In the end,)

(Yan Shang,)

(you still don't believe in me.)

(You don't believe I can forge my own path,)

(or that I)

(can survive without bowing to anyone.)

Hurry up!

Keep moving!

Hurry up!

Keep moving!

Keep up! Keep up!

Yan Shang!

I never thought I'd run into someone I know in here.

I didn't expect His Majesty to act so quickly either.

I suppose

the officials in Lingnan and other circuits

who had secret dealings with the Crown Prince

have been dealt with by now.

You...

I still don't understand

what you're trying to achieve.

You'd already made it back alive.

All you had to do was keep quiet,

and neither of us would be in this prison!

Yang Si,

when I first came to Sheng'an,

I never expected to return home alive.

And now,

nothing has changed.

Move!

(Serene and Content) Your Majesty confined the Crown Prince.

What do you intend to do with Meng Zaishi?

There's one major difference between Meng Zaishi

and Meng Baiyu and Mu Xianqing.

Do you know what it is?

I've heard something about it.

The soldiers under Meng Zaishi

would all lay down their lives for him.

He united the Central Circuit in remarkably little time,

not because

he is a Meng,

but because of

how he leads his troops and treats his men.

Exactly.

The Central Circuit's forces

have effectively become Meng Zaishi's private army.

But as long as

he remains here in Sheng'an,

his loyal soldiers

won't dare make a move against me.

Your Majesty is wise.

With one man in your hands,

you can control an entire army.

However...

What is it?

I just wonder

how long this can last...

Your Majesty!

It's nothing.

Perhaps I've overworked myself these past few days.

I'm tired.

I'll go and rest.

General,

I've brought the pastries you asked for.

(The ambush is in position.)

Here they come!

They should be cut to pieces!

(Wontons; Flatbread) It's them! Look at those people!

They deserve to be cut to pieces!

Keep moving!

They deserve to die!

Exactly!

They never did anything good!

Bad people!

(Bamboo Goods Shop) Kid, come here!

Come here!

Bad people!

Where are your parents?

They starved to death because of them!

How does dirt taste?

You corrupt officials!

Corrupt officials! Scoundrels!

Stand back!

Stand back!

Get back!

Move along! Hurry!

Everyone, calm down!

Please, stay calm!

Everyone, calm down!

Make way! Move aside!

Make way!

Get lost!

Back! Move back!

- Xiaozhou's back! - Father!

Brother!

Something's happened!

What happened?

Wonderful news!

Wonderful news?

Father,

I heard the court sent troops

to arrest the Military Governor of Lingnan.

Nearly all the corrupt officials have been arrested too.

When I went to the county market,

I saw lots of people who'd fled the famine

returning home in groups.

And when I got into town,

I saw a notice posted at the city gate.

What did it say?

New disaster relief funds will arrive within a month.

They'll review land records and return land to the people,

and give landless refugees plots to cultivate.

And...

There'll be no taxes for three years.

Three years!

It was Shang.

Shang did this!

Wanyao.

Your Majesty.

What?

Are you angry

because I made you reflect on your actions?

Everything Yan Shang wrote

has been verified.

Chancellor Liu said hardship had strengthened his resolve.

He was right.

Just look at you.

You were so picky,

and look who you ended up with.

How foolish!

Even as the husband of an ordinary woman,

he'd never put his wife and children first.

How could he possibly be

a suitable husband for a princess of Huai?

Your Majesty,

I've already given up on him.

Sit down.

Wanyao,

do you remember

the story I once told you

about Zhuangzi's

useless tree?

Being useless

is what saves it from the axe.

If you could simply be content as a princess

and stop meddling in things,

you could keep yourself safe.

That night at the hunting grounds,

my own safety never crossed my mind.

You're the second person to bring up that night with me.

Do you think

I'm also trying to claim credit and beg for mercy?

If all women were this sharp-tongued,

they'd only invite trouble.

Think of your mother.

How magnificent she looked drawing her bow!

And look how she ended up.

Weapons like these

can't protect a woman.

They only bring deadly trouble upon her.

Being gentle and yielding

is the key to survival.

Remember when you were little?

You were gentle, sweet, and sensible.

If you could be like that again,

obedient and well-behaved,

I would protect you

and cherish you.

Just keep your hands

away from things

you have no business touching.

What happened to the Crown Prince?

Huai

no longer has a Crown Prince.

You're different from him.

You're my precious daughter.

Now that Yan Shang is gone,

you can continue living in the palace.

What's more,

I've even made the best arrangements for you.

No.

I want to return to my residence.

Your residence has no guards now.

Don't go back.

Stay here

and keep me company.

Back then,

for the stability of Huai,

you agreed to marry the Military Commander of the Central Circuit.

Now, Meng Zaishi...

I won't do it!

Why not?

Meng Zaishi is in his prime,

and he's devoted to you.

Back then, I only gave in to Yu Cheng'an

for your sake and Mother's.

And now,

my own father is the one forcing me.

Oh, you silly girl!

How is that the same?

Back then, you had to marry

and moved far away to the bitter cold of the Central Circuit.

But now,

Meng Zaishi is at the palace.

I won't allow him to leave Sheng'an.

You want us both to become

a pair of declawed, defanged playthings

for your amusement?

Do as you're told!

Be obedient.

You're my precious daughter.

As your father, I'll

arrange your marriage

and grant you both

the right to settle in Sheng'an.

A wolf will never become a vegetarian.

He won't agree.

He already has.

What rotten luck!

What's with all this spooky behavior?

Excuse me.

Is today

the fifteenth?

What time is it?

Can't you see that huge moon?

It's just past the hour of Hai.

That physician

was right after all.

General Meng has been granted the title of Prince Consort.

His Majesty asks Your Highness to make preparations.

The wedding will take place in three days.

How could he agree to such humiliation?

He's lost his mind.

The Court of Imperial Sacrifices and the Court of State Ceremonial

are urgently working out the wedding arrangements.

What does the Court of State Ceremonial have to do with this?

Because the Prince Consort

made a request of His Majesty.

Your Majesty has shown me boundless generosity

by granting me the Princess's hand.

I'm deeply humbled.

I have only one wish.

I humbly ask Your Majesty to grant it.

For my wedding to Princess Danyang,

I ask that we follow the wedding customs of both Sheng'an and North Jing equally.

For this is not merely a celebration for my family.

It is an honor for all three military districts of North Jing.

The wedding protocol

must be revised by both courts and the Ministry of Rites.

However,

the ceremonial robes, headdress, and jewelry for Your Highness

are already prepared.

Come in!

(Suicheng)

(Wenmo Pavilion; Suicheng; Inn)

Sir!

Sir!

My master...

He's been dismissed and imprisoned.

All his family's land and property

have been confiscated.

If I'd been any later,

I wouldn't have escaped,

and I'd never see you again.

Take your time.

Tell me everything from the beginning.

Master left a message.

He said the Liu family's downfall

is all Yan Shang the Collator's doing.

That is,

your former classmate, sir.

Now,

the entire Liu family is ruined.

He said

only you

can avenge the Liu family.

Shang.

It's me.

Wenji.

I've wronged you.

Why do you say that?

The Lingnan case...

It's mostly been settled by now, hasn't it?

Your family...

You can't manage that yourself, can you?

I'll feed you.

I'm sorry.

My family is ruined.

I know.

This medicine

improves circulation and reduces bruising.

It's very effective.

Wenji.

Thank you.

Shang,

I've been in the palace long enough.

Do you think I can't see what's happening?

His Majesty was the one who sent you to Lingnan.

The moment he made that decision,

my family was already doomed.

If this is the outcome His Majesty wanted,

then it wouldn't matter

who he sent.

Even if he'd sent me,

I'd have had no choice but to put justice above family.

Wenji...

What happened to your eyes?

While I was in Lingnan,

I had a little accident.

I've lost my sight.

Don't worry.

I'll find a way to help.

I'll get an imperial physician to see you.

No need.

That won't be difficult to arrange.

His Majesty doesn't want you dead yet.

There's something else

you probably don't know.

His Majesty has arranged a marriage.

Meng Zaishi

is to marry Princess Danyang.

We're stuck again?

I'll get out and take a look.

Pacification Commissioner,

you may have to get out.

I'm afraid

we can't go any farther.

(North Jing)

General Meng can't come back,

so they sent you instead?

They claim to have a written order.

Show me!

(An Shahe, Meng Zaishi's Personal Guard) All is well.

I'll return soon.

Didn't that darned emperor say the same thing

when he let you return?

It's all just empty promises!

General Meng wrote this himself!

Do you think he'd be pleased to hear you say that?

I also have a decree from His Majesty.

When Yu's faction plotted rebellion,

the imperial court was thrown into chaos.

You led the Gray Wolf Cavalry

and rushed to my rescue.

What that means is,

Yu Cheng'an was terrible when he controlled the court,

but General Meng saved His Majesty

and rendered great service.

He is hereby promoted

to Commander of All Military Affairs in North Jing,

with a fief yielding revenue

from 500 households.

In short,

His Majesty has rewarded him generously

and invited him to stay at the palace a little longer.

You...

I get it now!

That darned emperor is holding General Meng hostage!

No! General Meng will come back!

When will he be back?

Is that up to you?

No, wait! Let him go first!

Let him go!

Let go! Let go!

Let go!

What do we do?

The general must be in danger.

(Gu Han, Meng Zaishi's Personal Guard) Muster the troops! We march now!

As for these two,

kill them now!

Go ahead and march!

You'll be the ones who get General Meng killed!

General Meng gave no such order,

yet you're mobilizing troops without his permission.

Are you really worried about his safety,

or are you trying to seize his position in the chaos?

Nonsense!

If you're truly concerned for General Meng's safety,

then let him finish!

If His Majesty really intended to kill General Meng,

why would he send us with a message?

To invite North Jing's army to lay waste to Sheng'an?

Mu Xianqing is dead.

All of North Jing now follows General Meng's command.

With 100,000 soldiers under his command,

if His Majesty were to kill him,

wouldn't he fear a rebellion in North Jing?

He's the top scholar!

All he knows is reading classics and writing essays.

He couldn't even kill a chicken!

He brought only me, a defenseless woman,

to deliver this message,

without a single armed soldier.

Doesn't that prove Huai's sincerity?

That emperor is cunning.

He sent these two helpless lambs here.

Who knows what he's really plotting?

Kill them!

General Meng is unharmed for now,

but his life truly hangs by a thread!

What?

Every word I've said is true.

Think carefully, and you'll understand.

What His Majesty fears

isn't General Meng himself,

but another Rebellion of the Seven Military Governors.

As long as you hold your positions here,

the court

won't dare lay a finger on General Meng.

None of that matters!

Just answer me!

Why is that emperor holding General Meng?

Isn't it obvious?

General Meng is a hostage now!

Which means,

the person most afraid of anything happening to him

isn't any of you,

but the Emperor of Huai.

Take them away

and get them settled.

(Next Episode Preview)

Don't let your general down.

Don't let him die for nothing!

I'm going back

to demand justice

for General Meng.

Princess Danyang has returned from North Jing.

♪Be the ferry where you wait for the sun♪

♪Be the blue silk that catches your tears♪

♪Be the sleeve we held, worn by dust and years♪

♪Let's conspire to grow old together♪

♪Let me be a captive beast bound by the same lock as you♪

♪- Through trails of mud and blood; - let grief drown in your eyes♪

♪Soar with the wind; plunge into hellfire as one♪

♪Burning bright as a song♪

♪See how roses and green bamboo enchant♪

♪Be the vow I make with all my heart♪

♪If we say forever, then forever it shall be♪

♪Not a single hour less♪

♪However deep the snow, I'll wait if you're there♪

♪We'll be gods above, or wandering souls♪

♪In heaven or the underworld, you're all I need♪

♪If we can stay, let's return to the village of our first meeting♪

♪- May time be free of fear; - boats rock♪

♪- May time be free of pain; - lights fade, seasons turn♪

♪You're the only one I need♪

♪Sharp winds or fierce rain, nothing can break us♪

♪Be mine in this world; be mine in this life♪

♪My last untouched innocence♪

♪If only we could return to the village where we first met♪

♪Stay by me; help me forget the frozen dream of last night♪

♪Fireflies glow, flowers kiss our lips; just us, through dawn and dusk♪

♪- May time be free of fear; - boats rock♪

♪- May time be free of pain; - lights fade, seasons turn♪

♪You're the only one I need♪

♪By your side, through joy and pain, is that eternity?♪

♪Till fireworks flood the town♪

♪Till the lake is still and clear♪

♪You're the only one I need♪

(No animals were harmed or mistreated in production.)

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