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One and Only

Episode 19

You're worried about Shiyi?

Shiyi is in the imperial palace...

Her Majesty knows

she can hold back many forces at play,

so she won't be in immediate danger.

If so, why are you

still worried?

Go to the Residence of Cui.

Residence of Grand Mentor

Your Highness.

How did you enter the city?

I've been here the whole time.

I came here for this.

My troops

in the Central State

can only control the imperial palace,

they can't dominate the whole city.

So it must be solved in the imperial palace

to prevent the vassals from finding out

and rebelling.

So you plan to...

Enthrone a new emperor and dethrone the empress dowager.

When can you set us free?

These days Her Majesty

is busy with the enthronement,

that she has no time for you.

Don't worry.

When Her Majesty is free,

she will see you.

Who will ascend the throne?

The son

of Concubine Jiang.

What are you worried about?

After the enthronement,

all the vassals and prefectural governors

will receive the imperial edicts.

Do you worry that your master will come to a bad end like Empress Gao's brother

after entering the capital city?

Aren't you worried?

My father has many children,

so he doesn't care about me.

He has been on the ascent recently.

Even an imperial edict

can't summon him to the capital city,

because he worries he'll be ambushed in the Central State.

So it's impossible for him

to come to save me.

I have become the grand empress dowager

Yes, Your Majesty have become even nobler.

From today on,

you will serve me in my chambers.

Thank you, Her Majesty Empress Dowager.

Thank you, Her Majesty Grand Empress Dowager.

Stop.

I just want to hold His Majesty

for you.

You're unqualified

to hold the emperor as a mere eunuch.

Your Excellencies,

I salute you.

Lady Cui.

Her Majesty has taken control of the troops in Central State.

Unless absolutely necessary,

you'd better go back to Qinghe early.

Thank you for worrying about me.

I just came to

tell you something.

Please go ahead.

Have you

decided to

enthrone a newborn baby?

Many of the emperors of our dynasty

ascended the throne in childhood.

As long as he is the child of the late emperor,

he can ascend the throne.

What if

Her Majesty were concealing something from you?

Um...

Go.

Greetings, Your Majesty Grand Empress Dowager.

In the future,

you'll be His Majesty's reading partner.

Get up.

Thank you, Your Majesty Grand Empress Dowager.

Follow me.

Taiji Palace

Long live Your Majesty.

Long...

Well...

Ministers, you...

Why do you look at me?

Seeing others

standing still,

I follow them.

Your Majesty Grand Empress Dowager,

we heard that

the Crown Prince had died alongside his mother

on the night of the birth,

and the one in your arms

is not a prince at all.

Is it true?

Nonsense!

You should be beheaded for such words.

I also think it's ridiculous.

Your Majesty,

can you summon someone

to confront this?

Who do you want to summon here?

Tell me.

Who can prove your version of what happened

in the imperial palace?

Cui Shiyi.

OK, I'll summon her here.

Counselor-in-chief,

go and bring her here.

I'll see

what you can get from her.

Yes.

Xuanguang Palace

Her Majesty summons Miss Cui.

Yes.

Know your place.

You only have one life.

Greetings, Your Majesty.

These people have

some questions for you.

Listen

and answer carefully.

Yes.

In this month,

you were the only outsider

living in the imperial palace.

I'd like to ask you a few questions

about the late emperor.

Your Excellencies, please.

Did you see the late emperor

in the imperial palace recently?

Yes.

Yes. She really saw the late Emperor.

Nonsense!

When did you see him?

Her Majesty gave a banquet one day.

I was drunk,

so I went back to my chamber first.

His Majesty secretly summoned me that night.

Impossible.

It was impossible for you to see him.

What did His Majesty say to you?

His Majesty said that

his child was dead,

and he was in poor health,

so he wanted to choose the right successor

from Liu's clan...

Shut up.

Your Majesty, please let her finish her account.

I want to know the truth.

She's talking nonsense.

She didn't see the late emperor.

When she entered the imperial palace,

the late emperor was still alive.

Why is it impossible?

At that time, the late emperor was badly ill

and even couldn't speak.

How could he summon her?

Your words are baseless.

Her words

are also baseless.

You'd rather believe

an outsider

than me?

Given all you have done these past years,

are you worthy of our trust?

Go on.

His Majesty also said that

Grand Mentor Xie didn't die of illness.

-It... -It...

Is it true?

Cui Shiyi,

you spread vicious falsehoods to deceive ministers.

I will have you beheaded!

The Commander of Royal Guards

Yuan Wuchu!

You...

you're trying to frame me.

Miss Cui,

that's enough.

Your Excellency,

why don't you let her go on?

Miss Cui's words

are baseless,

so we can't believe anything she says.

In their confrontation,

we can tell the true from the false.

How dare you

interrogate Her Majesty?

Ministers,

it's related to the reputation

of the royal family.

Please step out for a while

so that I can make things clear.

As a relative of the royal family,

I'll absolutely show no partiality to either side.

Why didn't you help me just now?

Your Majesty, listen to me first.

Zhousheng Chen is in the Central State.

Why has he come?

You?

He asked me to tell you that

you have been driven

into a corner today.

Does he want to rebel?

No.

He wants you to enthrone Liu Zizhen.

How about my grandson?

-He is... -Stop.

You know

he's not your grandson.

If you want to protect the whole Qi family,

you'd better do as he says.

Ministers,

please.

-I...

I have no choice

but to do so.

Ministers,

His Majesty passed away suddenly,

and his son also died with his mother.

If others know that

the late emperor didn't have any descendant,

the country will fall into chaos.

So I had no choice

but to do so.

I had planned to declare to the public

his dethronement

and enthronement of Liu Zizhen

after the country was at peace.

How can you just

enthrone or dethrone an emperor

at will?

You're still quibbling.

Yes, you're quibbling.

It's ridiculous!

I

will issue an edict immediately

to enthrone him.

Mother.

You like this baby?

Someone from the Western State

wants to see you.

Now he's in the chamber where he used to live.

Go.

She treats the baby as hers

and even can't bear to put him down.

Chonghua Palace

-Miss Cui. -Miss Cui.

Why are you all dressed

in the uniforms of the Royal Guards?

His Highness required us to do so.

He is inside?

I'm here.

You wait for me outside.

Yes.

Master.

Go in.

You're going to keep holding him?

Put him here.

Hui ascended the throne at 6

but died at 19.

Only 19 years old.

He was known as a young emperor

all over the country,

but I didn't keep him safe.

You tried your best.

Look, he's asleep.

Is he asleep so quickly?

Babies do fall asleep quickly.

That day His Excellency Counselor-in-chief showed me a note.

It startled me

when I recognized your handwriting.

Thanks to your intelligence,

now the new emperor has ascended the throne smoothly,

and a power struggle has been avoided.

For common people,

it couldn't be better.

Why didn't you leave?

I was afraid you would have an accident

after entering the imperial palace in such chaos.

It's not shameful for you to cry.

I'm not crying.

It's better to stay in the Western State.

With our protection,

nobody would dare bully you.

Of course.

Master,

Feng Qiao and the military advisor

are on their way.

And the reinforcements will arrive within ten days.

OK, I see.

Xiaoyu,

my mother has allowed him

to divorce Her Highness.

Isn't Her Highness pregnant?

No, she isn't.

Having no feeling for each other,

they've wished to divorce.

But they're bound

by the reputation of the Cui and Qi families.

After everything is settled,

I'll ask the prefectural governor of Taiyuan back.

Then you can ask him in person.

Why do you smile?

Your smiles

remind me of the past.

When will you leave?

I don't know.

You don't know?

I still have a lot of things to deal with,

so I won't leave in 1 to 2 months.

Then we still have 1 to 2 months.

This child is unlucky.

He doesn't know what happened,

who his parents are,

and who will take care of him.

I'll take care of him.

You?

In my mansion,

there are ten orphans.

They all have grown up

and lived well.

This is

the Junior Prince of Nanchen guarding the Western State.

Greetings, Grand-uncle.

Why do you laugh?

You're his grand-uncle.

Come on.

Get up.

Why do you embrace me?

Father often told me that

you're a good man.

He knows

who can protect him.

Come on.

Are you afraid of being an emperor?

Yes.

Emperor Gaozu ascended the throne at 5,

and the late emperor 6.

Neither of them was afraid of it,

so you don't need to be afraid.

I want to find

a good grand mentor for you.

Before that,

Miss Cui

will be your teacher.

Here are my respects, Miss Cui.

Am I qualified?

Your uncle used to be the grand mentor,

so I believe you can do it, too.

Your Highness, the Prince of Guangling wants to see you.

Ask him in.

Yes.

Your Highness, we're leaving.

Let's go.

Your Highness, please go in.

Uncle, thank you for saving me.

You're welcome.

Uncle, can you allow me

to chat

with my fiancée alone?

OK.

I heard from the palace maid on the way that

you had been imprisoned in the Eastern Palace for several days.

After experiencing that,

I couldn't wait any longer.

Let's get married next month.

If you want to get married early,

let me tell my mother first.

I'll tell her.

Where have you stayed these past few days?

I stayed in Xuanguang Palace.

The simply-furnished Xuanguang Palace

was deserted for a long time.

You deserve better.

I'll send

some daily necessities

to your chambers later.

Thank you, Your Highness.

Greetings, Your Highness.

Get up.

The smell of herbs here is too strong.

I heard that Palace Attendant Cui

spoke for me in the court.

I just told the truth.

After Cui Guang's death,

you want to be the chief of the Cui family.

I dare not.

What daren't you do?

Daren't you tell the truth?

Go to summon the general here.

Yes.

Thank you, Your Highness.

Greetings, Your Highness.

Get up.

You want to serve a wise master,

while I want to find a trusted subordinate.

I've shown you my sincerity.

I've controlled the Royal Guards.

Knowing you're

used to staying in Nanchen Royal Mansion.

His Highness worries that you're not used to staying in the Central State,

so all the good things of the Eastern Palace

have been moved here.

The royal mansion is not as luxurious as you imagine.

I just stayed

in a common house there.

What does the royal mansion look like?

There're only soldiers and servants.

Only I had a maidservant

from my family in my house.

Doesn't His Highness

keep any beauties in his mansion?

No.

The members of the royal clan in the capital city

have countless beauties in their mansions,

but they still often

ask Her Majesty for palace maids in the imperial palace.

Yeah.

His Excellency Counselor-in-chief is old,

but he also has dozens of beauties in his mansion.

I didn't lie to you.

Can I ask more?

What does His Highness look like?

Is he really

a truly handsome man

rare among all those in the world,

as others have said?

He...

Or has his appearance been exaggerated

since he is His Majesty's grand-uncle?

He is better still than what others think of him.

Your Majesty.

Your Highness.

This is the Junior Prince of Nanchen,

my grand-uncle.

Your Highness.

I want to talk to my teacher.

You can leave.

Yes.

He wanted to come

to see his brother

after I just taught him to recite for a while.

If you teach His Majesty,

he won't need me.

No.

Yesterday you taught me:

"The people are the most important element in a country;

next is the country; least is the ruler himself."

Good job.

Master,

Her Majesty is cutting her hair.

Zhousheng Chen, spare my life.

Zhousheng Chen, help me.

Zhousheng Chen, help me. Zhousheng Chen.

Zhousheng Chen.

To see me,

you cut your hair.

Go ahead.

What do you want to say?

Hui,

Hui wanted to kill me.

He wanted

to kill me, his real mother.

Should I just let him do that?

Zhousheng Chen,

you have no child.

You can't understand my feelings.

My

own son

imprisoned me

and wanted to poison me.

How I wish that

I hadn't given birth to him!

So you admit

you killed him.

No,

I didn't.

It was Qin Yan.

Qin Yan poisoned him.

Qin Yan is your man.

Once it is known by the rest,

you won't be able to convince anyone that you weren't involve too.

The traitor in my army

will be punished by military law.

He'll be killed,

but we won't mitigate

your punishment.

You also killed Grand Mentor Xie, right?

No.

No,

I didn't.

Don't attribute his death

to me.

He was related to the Gao family by marriage

and sent by your brother

to watch you.

I eliminated him.

You should thank me

instead of killing me.

Tell me

yes or no.

I'm your sister-in-law,

Zhousheng Chen.

Among those concubines in the imperial harem,

I was

the only one who risked my life in giving birth to a son

for your brother.

He loved you since your childhood.

For his sake,

please spare my life.

Please.

Qi Zhenzhen,

you killed

the late emperor,

plotted a rebellion

and persecuted the faithful and honest.

In this case,

you'd better plead for your family

rather than defend yourself.

I dare you!

I dare much.

You must offer up your life

for poisoning the late emperor.

Only after you die,

can your family members survive.

Attendant!

Her Majesty want to shave her hair

and go to the Baima Temple

to pray for Beichen.

From today on,

there is no empress dowager in the court.

Take her to the temple.

Yes.

-Cheers. -Cheers.

Cheers.

When you joined the army,

I warned you that

if you betrayed the royal army,

I'd kill you

no matter where you went.

Keep silent, or you'll be killed.

He betrayed Nanchen Royal Army.

Ask your prefectural governor

to send his head to the Central State.

Nanchen

Grand-uncle.

Can't you write?

The Prince of Guangling said

he'll marry Miss Cui next month.

Yes,

next month.

What should I

give her?

As her Master,

you must know what she likes.

She likes...

likes books.

Mother said

the Cui family's collection is larger

than that in the palace.

That's true.

So there's no use giving her more books.

What else does she like?

What did you give her?

I gave her

seals of conquered generals.

You've watched them the whole tonight.

Are these things important?

Yes.

These are the seals

of conquered generals

my master collected from each victorious battle.

What do you want to say?

My hometown is in the west.

We were saved by Nanchen Royal Army.

Please tell us more about His Highness.

Yes. Yes.

OK.

Where is your hometown?

Qingcheng.

Qingcheng.

The royal army

fought their longest defensive battle there.

I was a little girl back then.

My mother told me,

without Nanchen Royal Army,

we would have been slaughtered.

I was a little girl, too.

My senior brother told me about that.

After Qingcheng was surrounded,

my master rushed there through day and night

to reinforce them with 10,000 of his cavalry.

However, there were 130,000 enemies.

They held that position for over half a month.

Twenty days later,

when the reinforcements arrived,

they held no strong hopes.

But suddenly,

dozens of pieces of raven-blue long cloth

could be seen hanging from the city wall.

Qingcheng

The ragged cloth

flew in the strong wind.

Raven blue is the color

of His Highness' flag.

The flying cloth

over the city wall

meant that the city still held.

The 200,000 reinforcements

burst into cheers

and called him by his title at the top of their voices.

This is the Victory of Qingcheng.

Go ahead.

What else do you want to know?

Did Miss Cui cry

when she left your mansion?

Didn't she?

She did,

but she tends to

cry alone,

so I didn't see it.

Central State

What's wrong?

This is the hometown of His Highness

and also

the most dangerous place to be.

Let's go.

Master, we're here.

Xie Yun and Cui Feng haven't arrived yet.

Xie Yun wrote several letters,

to let us know that he has learned to ride a horse,

and can lead troops Eastward

as your vanguard at any time.

Let him stay in Beichen

and guard the border.

I'm just worried

about Cui Feng.

The new emperor is about to ascend the throne.

The regional princes and the prefectural governors

have been called back to the capital city.

Only Cui Feng hasn't responded yet.

Why don't we have Shiyi

write him a letter and call him back

on family matter grounds?.

What family matter?

Don't keep us guessing. Just spit it out!

Asking her cousin to come back

for her wedding ceremony

would be the best excuse.

You heard nothing.

No.

Advisor Xiao is right.

I'll go write to him right away.

There's paper and a writing brush here.

You can write here.

No.

I need to think

carefully how to write such a message.