Original subtitles

SAY NO TO PIRACY, SUPPORT ORIGINALS

ADAPTED FROM JIA JIN CHAI, ORIGINAL NOVEL BY XIAOJIAREN ON JINJIANG LITERATURE CITY

BAIHU HALL

Her Ladyship has a few heartfelt words for you.

Listen carefully, General.

Before entering the palace, she sent out two hundreds homing pigeons to the people.

You may order your men to shoot them down,

but if even one pigeon makes it out of the city,

war will break out in flames.

Once word spreads that the Crown Prince killed his father to seize power,

the regional garrisons and feudal lords will all rise against him.

How will you withstand them, General Han?

If you want the Crown Prince to take the throne,

you must negotiate with Her Ladyship.

She's cautious indeed.

She knew this rabble couldn't keep her alive,

so she prepared a fallback plan.

Very well.

I'll negotiate with her.

All of you, wait outside!

If I didn't know you'd just lost your husband,

I'd think you were about to get married.

That outfit is quite dazzling.

Don't I look beautiful?

You do.

In this lifeless court, you're the most dazzling flower.

A pity you're poisonous.

Let's get to the point.

You're helping the Crown Prince seize the throne.

He'll never spare my mother or me.

I'd like to ask you

to protect my entire clan.

Liu Shuo has probably been captured by Grand Commandant Zheng.

You two siblings led troops into the palace at night.

You clearly intended to rebel.

If the Crown Prince quells the rebellion

and takes the throne, that's only reasonable.

If we can settle this without bloodshed,

I'd rather avoid a massacre.

Now, everyone's life

depends on your decision.

What do you want, General?

You and the Crown Prince are mortal enemies.

To save you and your mother,

there's only one way.

You must become my wife.

I've only just lost my husband, and you want me to remarry?

Drop the act.

I've seen right through you.

Deep down, you're selfish,

cold-hearted, and ruthless.

No one craves the climb more than you.

Didn't you marry Lu Zhuo for power?

Whatever he offers you,

I can give you too.

I've plotted against the Hans before.

I've built up quite a grudge with you.

I'm afraid you'll break your word and settle the score later.

Others worship you as a goddess,

but I want that goddess in my arms.

Why plot for your brother when you could plot for your own husband?

Wei Rao,

I'm giving you one final chance.

If you refuse,

I'll order the city put to the sword.

The first to die will be your own mother.

Think carefully.

I'll marry you.

Really?

You…

You…

You vile woman…

Poison!

He knew I'd like to have a blade beneath my pillow.

He didn't blame me for it,

instead, he gave me this ring.

How could you ever compare to him?

Xiao! Now!

By imperial decree, Noble Lady Wu'an is here to purge the treacherous.

Lay down your weapons before the Zi hour,

and you shall be pardoned.

Anyone who continues to side with the rebels

will be eliminated!

Your Highness, the Empress Dowager is confined to Changle Palace for now.

Your Highness,

you mustn't hesitate now.

Search!

Find the Imperial Seal at all costs!

Guard His Majesty.

That's oil.

Wei Rao, what are you doing?

Your Highness, you've stormed the palace in the dead of night.

What exactly do you intend?

To kill the wicked consort and rid Father's court of evil, of course.

Your Highness, we've searched everywhere. No sign of the seal.

Where is it?

His Majesty is gravely ill and allows only me to attend to him.

I'm the only one who knows where the Imperial Seal is.

Hand over the seal, and I may leave your corpse intact.

I want to see my daughter.

My whole life,

my mother,

my father and my grandmother,

they all wanted something,

and all of it mattered more than me.

Only he was different.

He stayed by my side

and cared for me.

Even though I pushed him away again and again,

he'd always hold me close again,

asking nothing in return.

In this world,

he was the only one who put me first.

No one could ever replace him.

But you killed him.

How dare you kill my husband?

The truth is, whether he lives

or dies matters not,

he belongs to me.

I want this love to last through every lifetime,

never to fade.

So why should I fear death?

Wei Rao,

-don't… -Don't worry.

Once I've killed you,

I'll go after the Crown Prince!

Han Liao tried to turn Qi Zhongkai and me against each other.

So I devised a plan to fake my death and lure the enemy in.

That day in the Death Valley,

I led my men out along a path on the cliff face

and left a body I'd prepared in advance in my place.

General Lu has fallen, taking the Hutuo soldiers with him!

In every lifetime, she will always be my wife.

As for you, you can go to hell.

BAIHU HALL

Your Highness,

Noble Lady Wu'an wants to burn General Han alive!

Rao! My Rao!

Where is the seal?

I swear on my honor as Crown Prince to spare you and your daughter.

I'll keep my word!

One last lesson for you.

Break your word, and even if you win the throne,

you won't keep it.

The seal is buried in the peach grove southeast of Xuanshi Palace.

Go and dig it up yourself!

-Hurry! -Rao!

Find the seal!

-Yes. -The Crown Prince gave his word.

-All of you, go! -Rao!

But I didn't.

Rao!

Rao!

Rao!

Shoot!

Rao!

-General Lu. -General Lu!

-Rao! -Mother!

We've followed General Lu's plan and secured the Imperial City.

Zheng Tan has been captured.

Rao!

Seize the rebel leader!

Charge!

What did you…

What did you just call me?

I heard everything.

You offered the Imperial Seal in exchange for my life.

How could the Imperial Seal matter more than my precious daughter?

Everyone, stop!

Aman,

Wei Shu is gone. Go.

Find her.

When the Fourth Prince was brought into the palace,

I said I wanted to come and have a look too.

I'm glad I came.

Make her suffer every punishment

she inflicted on those innocent girls

before sending her to the scaffold.

Let go of me! Let go! I'm the Crown Princess!

A lowly woman like you has no right to judge me!

Where's Wei Rao?

Ask her to come and speak to me.

What? Is she afraid?

That's because she's a night-soil woman.

A night-soil woman!

-Let go! -Had my sister been in your place tonight,

she'd have marched straight in,

held the Emperor to command the realm.

But to settle a private grudge, you went straight to Zhuyu Estate

and wasted your best chance.

You're too foolish and shortsighted to be a worthy opponent for my sister.

Take her away.

Wei Rao!

Come out!

My voice sounds awful.

Xiao,

the guilty have been punished,

and those who died unjustly can finally rest in peace.

They will.

And I wish you, Lady Hongxian,

all the happiness you hope for and a smooth road ahead.

I was blind drunk last night and couldn't come to your aid in time.

Please forgive me, Father.

I've arrested every member of the traitorous Zheng family.

Better to arrive late than to join the wrong side.

Liu Shou has committed high treason

and violated the bonds of family.

He is stripped of his rank

and ordered

to take his own life.

On an auspicious day, I shall inform the ancestors

of the appointment of my fourth son, Liu Shuo, as heir,

to secure the realm.

So that's it.

You were waiting until Liu Shuo was strong enough

to inherit the throne before deposing me.

You foresaw trouble in the palace

and immediately sent men to protect him.

Through all of it, Liu Shuo's hands are the only ones that never shed blood.

Father,

how could you be so biased

and so unfair?

Guards.

Liu Ding,

if you dare harbor treasonous thoughts,

let his fate be a warning.

I would never dare, Father!

Wei Rao.

Your Majesty.

I've seen all that you've done.

You've carried on your father's legacy, stayed true to your country,

served its people, and remained loyal to your sovereign.

Quelling the rebellion, founding the realm

a great service to the state.

I hereby name you the Princess Protector of the Realm

and add 5000 households to your fief.

I thank Your Majesty for this honor.

Rise.

Lu Zhuo.

Your Majesty.

Shuo is Wei Rao's brother.

Henceforth, treat him not as your sovereign,

but as your own brother,

guiding him whenever he strays and supporting him wholeheartedly.

I shall do all I can

to live up to Your Majesty's trust.

Father.

Shuo,

in three days,

I shall preside over your coming-of-age ceremony.

XUANSHI PALACE

An emperor's mind

is truly unfathomable.

He wasn't only testing the deposed Crown Prince.

He was testing you too.

Testing me?

Your Highness,

General Lu,

shouldn't you be thanking your matchmaker?

What do you mean?

The plan was to test you, but Lu Zhuo refused to go along with it,

so I gave him a stronger dose

and stop Zhao Song from sending word.

Otherwise, how would we know your true feelings?

-You… -Lu Zhuo,

you owe me your thanks.

Where else would you find one

so selfless, seeking no reward?

So that's what happened.

That's right.

I certainly owe you my thanks!

The general repays kindness with violence!

Your Highness, mind your manners.

Tell me.

When did you wake up in the coffin?

Just in time to hear you say that our bond is unbreakable

and you can't do without me.

All right, okay, my fault.

How can you cast me aside after all I've done?

-Wait up! -I know.

-It's my fault. -Your Majesty,

why not set state affairs aside for now

and go recover at the traveling palace?

No, I can't.

I must see Shuo secure on the throne.

Otherwise,

I won't be able to rest in peace.

Shuo is still young.

The feudal lords won't respect his authority.

To secure his throne,

he'll need his sister's reputation with the people

as well as the support from Lu Zhuo and the others.

The Emperor departed this life in the early summer of the next year.

Crown Prince Liu Shuo ascends the throne,

ushering in the Xihe era.

XUANSHI PALACE

DUKE'S RESIDENCE

FOURTH MONTH OF THE THIRD YEAR OF XIHE

SHIZHAI

To kill at close range,

you can't rely only on tricks like hidden weapons.

This move is called Redirecting Force.

Be serious.

Like this?

I'm not showing you. You'll only blame me again.

My brave and mighty general,

am I doing it right?

SONGYUE HALL

Your Highness, Hongxian has sent a secret message.

His Majesty fell from his horse while hunting and was badly injured.

She asks you to enter the palace at once.

Your Majesty. Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Rao, you're here.

Mother cried so hard she fainted.

I've had her taken back to her palace to rest.

His Majesty has been waiting for you.

It was getting late, and the weather in the mountains turned.

I advised to return,

but he insisted on hunting down that wild fox.

Then we encountered a bear.

Who knew there would be a bear there?

It suddenly charged at us and killed two guards.

-His Majesty… -His Majesty needs to rest.

Please leave, Prince Fu.

It was him. It was him!

He led His Majesty into those woods.

His Majesty just sent him off to his fief

and then this happened.

Rao, he's the culprit.

Rao.

I'm here.

What do you want to say?

When Father died,

he told me to be kind to my only remaining brother.

Though you urged me time and again to kill him,

I always showed him leniency.

I know. I know you did.

For three years,

he was cautious and respectful in every way.

But all along,

he was lying low,

waiting for his chance.

Tomorrow's the day,

once in three years,

when the feudal lords come to the capital to pay their respects.

Stop talking. You need to rest.

Your Majesty…

Shuo…

Your Majesty…

I thought I'd live a hundred years,

long enough to be a worthy emperor.

Together, we can build

an age of peace and prosperity.

I never thought…

I never thought

I wouldn't live to see tomorrow's dawn.

-Your Majesty… -Rao.

-I'm here. -Rao.

I'm here.

I…

I'm so afraid.

Don't be afraid.

I'm here. Don't be afraid, Shuo.

It's not fair.

It's not fair.

Shuo.

Your Majesty…

Shuo.

Shuo!

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty!

What ominous signs?

Didn't I succeed?

If I'd known, I wouldn't have waited three years.

All just a woman's foolish fears. I should've made my move long ago.

Lu Zhuo, what are you doing?

This is the imperial palace. How dare you do as you please here?

Seize him.

Lu Zhuo, I'm the late Emperor's son.

You can't kill me.

I want to see the Grand Empress Dowager! I insist!

If the Princess Protector of the Realm wants you dead,

you must have committed an unforgivable crime.

You won't get the chance.

My Lord,

Prince Rong and 13 other feudal lords have arrived in the capital.

The Grand Empress Dowager hosts a grand banquet to welcome them.

Prince Fu is the guest of honor.

BAIHU HALL

It seems they've chosen the next Emperor.

Poor Shuo.

How despicable they are!

Let's go.

To Xuanshi Palace.

It's over.

It's all over.

The princes will enter the palace tomorrow.

With His Majesty dead, the realm will fall into chaos.

Of the late Emperor's sons, only Prince Fu remains.

Prince Fu is dead!

His Majesty loved his brother and chose him to join him in death.

By now,

he's followed His Majesty to the underworld.

But

Prince Rong is still alive.

The Grand Empress Dowager will surely put her youngest son on the throne.

Once he takes the throne,

the Empress Dowager,

you, the Princess Protector of the Realm, and I

will all be doomed.

Oh, Heaven.

Why?

Why?

Whenever I think things are finally getting better,

you just cast me back into the abyss,

driving me

into despair again and again?

How much more do you want to put me through?

Is seeing me in agony the only thing that satisfies you?

Why?

Why?

Shuo!

Shuo!

Rao.

Open the doors

and all the windows.

Issue my orders.

His Majesty has passed away.

The Grand Empress Dowager is in mourning

and should not receive the feudal lords.

As Princess Protector of the Realm,

I shall receive them instead.

XUANSHI PALACE

Whatever trials and disasters may befall me,

I'll get through them all.

I'll find a way to make them submit.

Everything will get better,

as long as I live.

As long as I am alive.

THE END

NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS SHOW