Original subtitles

Episode 36

OK. Get to work.

Yes.

Yunfei.

Tao Tao.

Are you doing the cleaning?

Yes.

A lot of stuff hasn't been tidied up

in this newly built mansion.

What's up?

Nothing.

Mind your business.

If you are free,

please help me to move these to the backyard.

Yunfei.

Hurry up.

There are many things to be moved in the backyard.

Hua Yunfei,

you killed enemies boldly,

but you become so timid now.

Kiss her.

Hug her.

Come on, Hua Yunfei.

Yunfei.

Are you all right?

Yes.

Strange.

Madame.

Master.

You are back.

Cui,

go to bring the chicken soup I made for master.

Bring it here.

You must be tired.

Here.

Wipe your hands.

OK.

Cui, hurry up.

Madame.

Master.

I personally made this ginseng chicken soup for you.

Official business is important,

but you have to take good care of yourself.

I think

we can go to see

County Magistrate Assistant Ye tomorrow.

How is it?

Master.

What's wrong with you?

Xu Boyi has been over.

Ye Xiaotian has no use already.

It's time to deal with him.

Master. Master.

What is going on?

I hire you as my adviser,

but you can openly show up at the time being,

please live in the post station first.

Please forgive me for my impoliteness.

My Lord, you are thoughtful.

I understand.

Ye Xiaotian is full of craft and cunning.

To deal with him,

we can't act rashly

but make careful planning first to beat him at a stroke.

Now,

he will recover from injury soon.

If we wait until he goes back to the office,

it will be harder for me to deal with him.

Do you have any idea?

Rest assured.

I've come up with an idea,

so I came to meet you.

What's your brilliant idea?

My Lord,

we can lure him away here first,

then take bold actions to eliminate him.

Our county is poorer than the Central Plains.

It's barren.

So every time at the end of the year,

the Imperial Court will allocate the relief fund

to aid the victims in disaster-stricken areas.

But our county got

the least fund every year.

However,

it can aid the needed basically.

But in this year,

due to the change of customs,

many common people in Hu County

are exempted from the fund.

So the county government

has worse financial crisis.

As a result,

too little fund

may lead to big problems.

That's really hard.

But what do you want

me to do?

I want you to go to Tongren

to apply for some relief fund on behalf of our county.

What do you think?

I dare not to guarantee

I can make it.

But rest assured,

I must try my best.

Good.

I know you once contacted with Prefectural Magistrate Zhang.

You are more convincing than us

in front of him.

So I bother you to go there.

Otherwise, as you just come back to office once you recover,

I won't

bother you.

It's related to common people of Hu County.

It's my bounden duty to have a try.

If you have nothing else,

I'd like to leave.

See you.

Red Maple Lake

What is he doing now?

Is he missing me?

That heartless

has forgotten me?

My Lady, see who comes.

Xiaotian.

Little girl.

You didn't send me any letter at all.

Have you forgotten me?

You are really here.

I miss you so much.

Really?

Yes.

What are you watching?

Get away.

I miss you so much.

I came to meet you.

I'll be back to Tongren tomorrow.

You'll leave so soon?

Yes.

I have an official mission.

Little girl.

You know what?

In order to meet you,

I traveled at top speed

day and night for five days.

Now I'm exhausted.

Well, since you are so tired as an official,

why don't you quit it?

You know what?

I wrote a letter home a couple of days ago.

My family was so happy

that I became an official.

I said I had brought

honor to the family.

A good man should have great aspirations.

I can't let them down.

I can't let you down.

Me?

Think about it.

If I become a high-ranking official,

I can be qualified

to negotiate with those elders.

By then,

even if we can't reach an agreement,

I can support you

since I'm an official.

By then,

we can buy a big house

and have many babies.

Xiaotian.

Xiaotian.

You must be tired.

I won't stay.

The past sweet aftertaste has wine left only.

Raising head, I let memory and tears flow backward.

I chock the throat to block off the exit of heart.

Wait for me.

I will marry you with

a large sedan chair carried by eight people.

OK.

Branches are broken,

leaving scabs as time passes.

Flowers drop to the ground,

being treaded into the mud.

I won't struggle but let memory fade.

Let flowers drop down.

Fearing height, but you even fall into the cliff.

Branches are broken,

leaving scabs as time passes.

Flowers drop to the ground,

being treaded into the mud.

I won't struggle but let memory fade.

The wasteland once flourished in summer.

Tongren

Songyue.

Songyue.

Here.

Your favorite dried persimmon.

Come on. Have a taste.

Let me feed you.

Have a taste.

This couple is so affectionate.

But they can do this here only.

In Central Plains,

even the newly married couple

might dare not to act intimately.

You are a beauty.

The dried persimmon bitten by you smells so good.

Take one more bite.

Watch out.

Don't let others see us.

They won't notice us.

Don't worry. Have a taste.

Eat it.

Songyue.

I don't know why,

but I'm aroused

once thinking of your name.

Fragrant.

I came to Tongren this time

mainly for applying to Prefectural Magistrate

for more relief fund.

You know well

about the offices of Tongren,

so please help me.

Xiaotian.

Among counties under the jurisdiction of Tongren,

only Hu County is changed to be directly under the jurisdiction of Imperial Court,

instead of Tongren Prefecture.

Think about it.

In the eyes of Prefectural Magistrate,

which is close and which is far?

But Hu County is worse this year.

Master.

The Lady is back.

Dad.

I'm back.

Why are you back alone?

Dad.

Isn't it good that I come back often to see you?

You might be blamed by your parents-in-law.

Songyue, let me introduce.

This is Ye Xiaotian I often mention.

Now he is Magistrate Assistant of Hu County.

Xiaotian,

this is my daughter.

Songyue.

You can call each other sister and brother later.

Here are my respects, Senior Sister Apprentice.

Junior Fellow Apprentice Ye.

Dad,

I'd like to see my mother.

Why isn't my son-in-law here?

Isn't that man

her husband?

He is busy with business.

He said he would be back at dusk.

OK.

I see.

Xiaotian.

Sit down.

I'm afraid

it's hard to complete this task.

Now

I need to inquire more

to try my best to get more.

Yes.

I thought you have come earlier.

You haven't booked rooms?

This is County Magistrate Assistant Ye.

Lord County Magistrate Assistant.

This is…

Big brother.

This is Post Magistrate Pang.

Post Magistrate Pang.

County Magistrate Assistant Ye.

You are late.

In early July,

officials from various places came here.

There is no room available in the post.

None is empty?

Yes.

But, Lord Ye,

don't worry.

There is a Tianyuan Temple nearby.

The temple is secluded and refined.

It's also a good place.

You only need to pay some worship fee

to rent a yard.

It's cheaper than here.

No one will disturb you.

All right.

Let's go to live in Tianyuan Temple

for a couple of days.

Minority Headman Zha.

You are back.

He also comes

for the relief fund?

All people try their best to get the fund.

Yes.

All try their best.

It's pity that I only know Master Li in the prefectural academy.

I don't know whether

he can have a say in front of Prefectural Magistrate.

Master Li?

You know my father-in-law?

Is he your father-in-law?

Yes.

It turns out that you are his student.

We are on the same side.

How coincident!

How many daughters

does he have?

Only one.

What's wrong?

It turns out that he is her husband.

Nothing.

Nothing.

My brother hasn't been married yet.

I thought he could marry his daughter.

My father-in-law is in good conditions.

He has a chance.

Your wife cheats on you.

Big brother.

I've agreed with the greeting monks

and rent the left yard.

OK.

Take a rest first.

I think it's nice here.

I want to take a walk alone.

God!

He changes another woman!

The beauty is picturesque.

Here. Beauty.

Twist. I like that you twist your waist.

Even Ximen Qing

in Water Margin

can't do this.

Here comes Prefectural Magistrate.

Here are my respects, Prefectural Magistrate.

Sit down.

Prefectural Magistrate.

This is the account of achievements.

Please have a look.

Dude.

Who is that man next to Prefectural Magistrate?

He is the trusted follower of Prefectural Magistrate.

Prefectural Magistrate Assistant Dai Chonghua.

Thank you.

Not at all.

The relief fund allocated by the Imperial Court has arrived.

As for how we allocate it,

you can have a discussion.

My Lord,

some accidents occurred in my division before the New Year,

which led to great decline of my county's tax.

Look, My Lord, I…

You just slightly decreased the tax last year.

But my division is remote

with bad and isolate

living environment.

We can depend on relief fund every year.

Your division is next to Sizhou Prefecture.

But my division is

isolated from the outside world.

Now even I

can eat a meal of meat every two days.

Come on.

You feel poor as you have a meal of meat every two days?

My division was stricken by draught last year,

harvesting nothing.

We haven't had meat for half a year.

Shame on you to pretend poor in front of me.

My division is deep in mountains

and can't grow crops.

We can only eat plant food

and meat of birds and beasts.

How poor I am!

My Lord.

Minority Zha is a flourishing place.

We should take priority to education.

Please allocate enough education fund to the prefectural academy.

I agree with Master Li.

It takes ten years grow trees,

but a hundred to foster talents.

Who are you?

I'm County Magistrate Assistant of Hu County, Ye Xiaotian.

Hu County is so poor.

It's the poorest.

None is poorer than Hu County.

Please be merciful

and allocate more fund to Hu County.

You pretend to be poor with your fine dress?

Your robe

is made of Sichuan figured satin, right?

Your hair clasp

is made of white jade, right?

Your belt,

that diamond on your belt nearly dazzles me!

You shoes are so delicate.

The cost of labor must be two taels.

How can you such a greedy official

dare to pretend to be poor?

Shameless.

Too shameless.

In my opinion,

the relief fund for Hu County

has to be decreased greatly.

Yes. Agreed.

No.

I borrowed this robe.

You borrowed it?

Borrowed it?

Liar.

I mean it.

I mean it, my lord.

I did borrow this robe.

The rich always pretend to be poor,

while the poor pretend to be rich.

County Magistrate Assistant Ye.

In front of Prefectural Magistrate,

watch your mouth.

Prefectural Magistrate Assistant Dai,

I didn't lie to you.

I came to Tongren Prefecture yesterday.

Because I had no money,

I could only buy some dried persimmons

to allay my hunger on Qinglang Street.

To save money,

I could only stay overnight in Tianyuan Temple.

Do you think

I'm poor?

By the way,

at ordinary times,

I like to watch

operas of secret meeting of lovers.

But I'm so poor

that I can't afford the theater,

so I can only

search for such operas on street.

Maybe I can

see some scenes of love affairs

for fun.

What do you think?

My lord.

Since you all have disagreement,

I will consider carefully

your opinions.

Let's discuss it tomorrow.

I'm tired.

You can leave.

Farewell, Prefectural Magistrate.

County Magistrate Assistant Ye. Wait.

What's up, My Lord?

You are so bold.

How dare you keep an eye on me!

You wronged me, My Lord.

I happened to visit Master Li

on Qinglang Street.

As for that scene in Tianyuan Temple,

I saw it accidentally

because I found lodging there.

What do you want?

You are my superior.

I dare not offend you.

Even if we are at the same rank,

gentlemen won't force others

with their secrets.

I dare not

force you with this.

Why did you mention it then?

I thought

since I could see it,

others might also see it.

So I just wanted to remind you

to be more careful.

That's all?

Hu County

has financial crisis

and badly needs relief fund.

If you can speak good for me

in front of Prefectural Magistrate

to increase the relief fund

by 50% than usual,

I'll be grateful to you.

No way.

If you hear about some rumors later,

please remember that

it's not me who spread it.

What on earth do you want?

I just lack money.

To tell you the truth.

In the past, for this relief fund,

all sides tried their best

and took all means.

You Hu County came so late this year.

Others have reached agreement through the back door.

It's extremely hard

to increase 10%.

Therefore,

I need you to help me.

All right.

You can get 10% more than usual.

I think

40% more than usual

is just right.

Just right.

You are asking for more!

Please help me.

Fine.

I can give you 10% more at most.

I can't give you more,

or let's make the negotiation fail.

Since you are so just,

I won't drive you into a corner.

However,

I have to remind you in advance.

I just try my best

to persuade Prefectural Magistrate.

I can't ensure the success.

As long as you help me sincerely,

we can make it for sure.

Lord Tian.

You are here.

Care-laden.

What did you do?

Nothing.

I… I'll go…

Come back.

Tell me.

It's not a big deal.

When I stayed with a woman yesterday,

but we…

You were caught by someone.

I've told you before

not to seduce those common women.

But you didn't listen to me.

If you can't change this bad habit,

you will die because of women sooner or later.

Your life is not important,

but if you ruin

the plan of our two families because of this,

I won't spare you even if you die.

I won't do this.

I promise.

Tell me.

Who ran across you?

From your vexatious look,

it must be not an ordinary person

Yes.

He is County Magistrate Assistant Ye from Hu County.

Then he coerced me

into increasing the relief fund by tens of percent.

That's not easy.

Is Fatty Zhang easily persuaded?

Ye Xiaotian?

Yes. You know him?

I've never met him.

But the man I plotted in Hu County

was ruined by him.

How can he, a tiny Acting County Magistrate Assistant

compete with you!

He relied on the Imperial Envoys.

I can't even show up because of this.

That man I've fostered for long

has been missing.

Tongzhou Wharf

We've reached Tongzhou Wharf.

Get up now.

It's Tongzhou.

We are going to enter the palace.

I tried all means to climb upward,

aspiring to be a close minister to the emperor

some day.

Now,

now, I'm finally close to the emperor.

I'm close to him.

But I…

Let's go, dude.

Are we going

to serve the emperor in the palace?

Stop daydreaming.

You want to serve the emperor?

We can't even serve

the concubines or crown prince,

let alone the emperor.

We can only wash clothes

or clean the floor.

No.

I remember that

when Western Depot was established,

the administrator eunuch Wang Zhi

was a criminal captured

during the Rattan Gorge Rebellion.

Eunuch Wang?

He was a kid when he entered the palace.

But how old are we now

when we are…

Let's go.

Eunuch Wang could do it.

I can also do it.

I want to serve the emperor.

I want to be superior following the emperor.

I want to be powerful.

I want to revenge.

I…

Must do it.

I have an idea.

What's it?

You can advise Fatty Zhang

to ask Ye Xiaotian to govern the chaos of Shuiyin Mountain.

If he succeeds in governing it,

he can get 20% more of the fund.

Why do you want him

to solve the chaos of Shuiyin Mountain?

You intentionally provoked

the chaos of Shuiyin Mountain

to damage Fatty Zhang's prestige

and make all Minority Headmen

unsatisfied with him, right?

But you want Ye Xiaotian to solve it now?

Can he make it?

The belonging of Shuiyin Mountain

is a messy account

beyond God's ability.

I want him to go to Shuiyin Mountain

to let him die there.

Let Shuiyin Mountain

be more chaotic.

Good idea!

My lord.

The relief fund…

It's surely allocated to the counties

and towns under the jurisdiction of our prefecture.

As for Hu County,

let it aside.

But Ye Xiaotian

can be regarded as a student of you.

I'm afraid you can't save your face

if you decline him straightly.

I racked my brains yesterday night

and finally came up with a good idea.

How about you make a condition

that whoever can solve the chaos of Shuiyin Mountain

can get 20% more of the relief fund.

Then the rest fund

will be allocated to the proportion of last year.

In this way,

none can disagree with it.

In addition, all headmen know

Shuiyin Mountain is very troublesome

and they won't take this task.

But Ye Xiaotian

is a known able official.

He is bold as he is young.

Let him take this task.

I can't even handle with that bad account of Shuiyin Mountain,

can he make it?

My Lord,

if he can't make it,

we won't give him the relief fund.

If he makes it,

he will solve a big problem for you.

Other Minority Officials,

won't stir troubles by then.

It suits them both, right?

We are really poor.

It's hard. Successive years of drought.

Prefectural Magistrate understands

your hardship.

He wants to satisfy all of you.

However,

one can't make bricks without straw.

At present,

we just have such a relief fund.

If one of you are satisfied,

others will be unsatisfied.

So now, Prefectural Magistrate decides that

whoever can expel his biggest worry

can get 20% more

of the relief fund than usual.

20%. 20%.

20% more. So much.

Prefectural Magistrate Assistant Dai,

what's the worry?

Yes. Please tell us.

Yes.

Shuiyin Mountain.

Shui…

How is it?

Who wants to take this task

to ease the worry for Prefectural Magistrate?

Who?

Who?

I'm County Magistrate Assistant of Hu Count, Ye Xiaotian.

I'm willing to share Prefectural Magistrate's burden.

Can he make it?

He said he can.

Can he?

But I don't know what happened

to Shuiyin Mountain.

Can Prefectural Magistrate send a man to accompany me?

I think Prefectural Magistrate Assistant Dai is very suitable.

No, no, no.

It's my bounden duty

to share Prefectural Magistrate's burden,

but I'm occupied with business.

I'm not free.

OK.

No problem.

Prefectural Magistrate Assistant Dai.

You go with him.

Yes.

Mr. Dai,

where on earth is Shuiyin Mountain?

What happened there exactly?

Shuiyin Mountain

is between Shiqian Prefecture and Tongren Prefecture.

Most importantly,

Shuiyin Mountain has cinnabar mines.

There are two Minority Officials

on Shuiyin Mountain.

One is surnamed Zhan

and the other Huang.

Zhan?

Is it the Zhan family

that's hailed as one of the Eight Guarding Warriors of Monitory Headmen?

Exactly.

It's Ning'er family.

Zhan Village

Cousin.

Uncle's birthday is coming soon.

But Ge Long

is very actively recently.

Don't let him

influence uncle's birthday party.

Ge Long?

Him?

Even if I give him the guts,

he dares not to trouble here.

Who is that? What do you want to do?

Beat them!

Beat them harshly.

Bad news! Bad news!

What's wrong? Calm down.

Ge Long leads his men to trouble here

and hurt many of our clan.

Outrageous!

Ge Long.

Who gives him the guts?

I'll go up the mountain first.

You summon men.

Go.

Summon our elites.

Yes.

Hurry up.

Hurry up. Hurry up.

This way.

Catch up. Go.

Quick.

There are also two Minority Officials

on the other side of Shuiyin Mountain.

Once is surnamed Ge

and the other Yu.

The reason for the dispute of Shuiyin Mountain

can be traced back far.

Reputedly, over 200 years ago…

Over 200 years ago?

The Yu family gave Shuiyin Mountain

to the Zhan family as the dowry.

Kill!

However,

tens of years later,

Shuiyin Mountain

was given to the Ge family as the dowry.

Then later,

in this way,

the Zhan family and the Ge family were involved.

Withdraw!

Withdraw! Withdraw! Withdraw!

The Yu family said,

Shuiyin Mountain belonged to the Yu family earliest.

They had agreed that

once the dowry was given,

that family that took over the dowry

had to pay the tax to the Tian family.

Wait.

How come is there a Tian family?

Yes.

The Tian family.

Surely, the Tian family has been declined.

At present,

only the Yu family is subordinated to the Tian family.

He has to pay the Tian family the tax.

Therefore…

I'm sorry.

Anyway,

the Shuiyin Mountain must be returned.

Understand?

Are you clear

with my words?

It's not important.

It's not important. Go.

Stop.

Cousin.

Why are you here?

You fight for me,

how can I look on and do nothing?

Where are they?

It's her.

Catch this little girl back

for me.

Dude,

are you daydreaming now?

Kill them!

Uncle. Aunt.

I'm coming.

You came at the right time.

Teach those bastards a lesson with me!

Kill!

It's the Yu family.

They even profit in a confused environment.

Stop them!

After several days of journey,

my waist and legs are a bit exhausted.

Mr. Dai.

Is this Shuiyin Mountain?

Yes.

It's picturesque and quiet.

It seems that disputes of the villages

hasn't reached the fatal tension.

We are likely to succeed in

mediating them.

People are

are indeed quiet

when they don't fight.

Big brother.

Look.