Original subtitles

[English subtitles are available]

[Destined]

[Episode 22]

Who are you?

How dare you come to Heifeng Fort alone?

Arrest him!

Take me to see your Master.

OK. OK.

OK.

Brother.

Take it and look for food.

I'll ask for help nearby.

Let's split up.

Let's go.

[Dehua]

[Jinxian]

[Dehua]

I think I'm the one

who's supposed to be angry, right?

You women

are so ungrateful.

I was kind enough to keep you here

to save your life.

But you

wanted to kill me instead.

You're the one who was wrong.

I was nice enough not to blame you,

but you started ignoring me instead.

I just want you to be my wife.

What's wrong with that?

Besides,

I won't hurt you,

nor force you.

You are a bandit.

Bandits kill, steal,

and humiliate women.

Why should I believe you?

Who said that?

I've always obeyed my sworn sister.

My way of doing things

is to help the people.

Then why did you become a bandit?

I didn't mean

to be a bandit.

I wanted to be a warrior.

I...

Forget it.

I shouldn't be talking to you about this.

[Heifeng Fort]

[Aspiration as Solemn as Autumn Frost]

Master Eagle.

The request from down the mountain

is to kill this woman.

But you handed her over to Assistant Master.

What should we tell the people down the mountain?

We've already kidnapped her up the mountain.

Those from down the mountain won't know if she's alive.

There's no difference.

We took money

from Mr. Zhao, so we should work for him.

We've always got things done for money.

We can't break the rules

for Assistant Master, right?

Assistant Master

has the best martial arts skills.

The whole fort relies on him.

You know his temper.

He's reckless and does anything he wants.

No one can control him.

If we don't obey him,

and he leaves Heifeng Fort,

our business will be even more difficult

in the future.

He only became a bandit half a year ago.

I don't believe it.

Can't Heifeng Fort survive

without him?

You...

Enough.

Rules are rules.

Also, we can't offend Mr. Zhao.

He'll kill that woman

in a few days.

It won't be too late then.

Report!

Master Eagle.

Some outsider is here.

One of our men was held hostage

to escort him up the mountain as well.

He said he's the envoy of the Bandit Suppression Force.

What Bandit Suppression Force?

It's said that it consists of

5000 elite soldiers from Youzhou.

Zhou Gaolang's youngest son,

Chief of Staff, Zhou Ye,

is already heading here with this force.

Nonsense!

Youzhou?

It's so poor that people can't even live there.

How could they afford the military expenses for bandit suppression?

Mr. Zhao has always been

tipping us off from the side.

It's always just an act.

Master Eagle.

What if this time it's real?

Go.

Scope it out for me

to see if there's really a force coming.

Wait.

Bring the outsider in

to see me.

Yes.

Young General.

This cave

is their transfer station.

The grain reserves they smuggled

have been transferred and stored here.

They're trying to stock up and sell them

to other prefectures at a high price.

How's the inventorying going?

Almost done.

According to rough estimation,

there's 450,000 kilograms of corn in total.

Only 450,000 kilograms?

It's not even ten percent of

the total grain reserves.

Where are the rest of them?

Have you sold them?

No, no.

We haven't had time to sell them.

They are still there.

They're hidden in other caves.

There are several places.

I'll take you there.

I'll take you there.

Take him away.

Yes.

So,

you were forced to become a bandit?

It has nothing to do with you.

Judging from your accent,

you're from Cangzhou, right?

Why did you come to Youzhou?

What happened to the other person

you just mentioned?

That man

is just an old bastard.

He took advantage of the chaos in Cangzhou

to humiliate women.

So many people

starved to death due to the famine,

but he still refused to open the granary and distribute grains.

I killed him

without hesitation.

I took my men to distribute all the grains.

In the end, I was wanted by the government.

I had no choice

but to flee from Cangzhou.

What happened later?

Later,

I thought

since my mother is gone,

it's good to knock around.

I wanted to be a warrior,

but I didn't expect that

I'd become a bandit.

It's okay that I'm a bandit.

The title is not that important.

For one thing, I don't kill good people.

For another, I don't abuse women or children.

No matter I'm in Cangzhou or Youzhou,

my principles are the same.

Rob the rich and help the poor.

Suppress the strong and aid the weak.

I also helped the righteous merchants in the city

to smuggle government grain reserves.

Righteous merchants in the city?

Government grain reserves?

You mean

Mr. Zhao has been smuggling dirty goods out of the city?

My Lady.

Do you think those who paid the money

simply wanted to

kidnap you?

A message just arrived.

They want you to

disappear completely.

Can the secret that Jiusi found out be

Mr. Zhao has been smuggling

Youzhou's grain reserves?

Where are the grain reserves?

Of course they are in a safe place.

Master said that

next year,

when famine occurs,

they will all be distributed to the people.

If that's the case,

you are really a warrior.

Not at all.

I still have a long way to go.

In my heart,

there's only one person in the world

that deserves to be called a warrior.

She donated all her family fortune for the people.

She's

an extraordinary woman.

Who's that?

Her name

is also extraordinary.

Liu Yuru.

Liu Yuru?

Why is her name

extraordinary?

Anyway, it's extraordinary.

In my heart,

she's my sworn sister that I've never met.

If I'm lucky enough

to be able to work for her,

I will do my best

and perform whatever she asks me to do.

Hey.

Why are you laughing?

Is it that funny?

Well,

do you know

what Liu Yuru looks like?

No.

But what does it matter?

Even if she's as beautiful as Xi Shi,

I won't have

any evil thoughts about her.

If she's really ugly,

she'll still be extraordinary.

As long as she's willing to take me in.

Why would she?

You're muddleheaded.

And you assisted an evildoer.

You helped that wicked,

treacherous villain, Mr. Zhao,

to smuggle the grains

that Youzhou's people live on out of the city.

And then you sold them at a high price,

thinking you did something good.

Tell me, why should I take you in?

You...

What did you say?

I am Liu Yuru.

Oh right.

You're from the south.

I'm from Yangzhou.

That's not right.

My sworn sister's husband

is from the Gu family, the richest family in Jiangnan.

But you're a Yamen runner's wife.

My husband's name

is Gu Jiusi.

Master Eagle.

I've heard a lot about you.

Who are you?

Yamen runner of Wangdu,

Gu Jiusi.

You really dare to come.

Why not?

There are 5,000 soldiers from Wangdu

heading to Heifeng Fort now.

When the force arrives,

they will behead you as sacrifice.

Really?

Really?

What should we do?

Exactly.

This...

I'm only here to make peace with you

for my wife's safety.

That's some big talk

from you.

If you don't believe me,

I can wait here with you.

I think

you must have sent someone to scope it out.

I'm a man of my word.

If you let my wife

down the mountain safely,

I can protect your lives.

But if you don't,

no one in Heifeng Fort

will survive today.

What should we do?

Mr. Gu.

Have a seat.

Sorry that I mistreated you.

Ask Shen Ming to bring her here.

Yes.

Shen Ming.

You call yourself a warrior.

But if you really think

for the people of Youzhou,

then the real whereabouts of the grain reserves,

and the grain safety of Youzhou

is on your shoulders.

But Master Eagle also said that

he was forced

to become a righteous bandit.

He's also been doing this

for the sake of the poor people.

That's why I recognized him

as Master.

Could there be some misunderstanding

here?

Assistant Master.

Master is asking you to

take these two women to the hall.

What for?

Didn't he say I could have them?

Someone from down the mountain is here.

Master wants them to be there as soon as possible.

Oh no.

That guy from Wangdu

must be here.

He's trying to

kill both of you.

Master Eagle.

According to our men who scoped down the mountain,

there are really 5,000 soldiers

heading to Heifeng Mountain.

They are only a dozen kilometers

away from our fort.

A dozen kilometers away?

Yes, so close.

This...

What should we do?

What should we do?

Master Eagle.

Didn't you agree

to let me have

these two women?

They are mine now.

If anyone dares to touch her,

they'll have to go through me first.

Mr. Gu.

As you can see,

it's not that I don't want to let her go.

It's just

your wife

and my brother are so lovey-dovey.

It's hard for them to say goodbye to each other.

Sister.

No, I...

Did they give you a hard time?

It's okay.

Let's go home first.

Wait.

Are you guys

going down the mountain just like that?

Can you guarantee

that your promise still counts?

Master Eagle.

As long as you promise that

my wife can go down the mountain safely,

I will stay here to make sure

you are safe.

You're resolute, Mr. Gu.

Escort Mrs. Gu down the mountain.

Go.

Master Eagle.

May I ask you a question?

Go ahead.

Master Eagle.

Are you

working for Mr. Zhao in the city?

Did you kidnap me

because he asked you to?

Right?

Looks like I'm right.

Mrs. Gu.

What do you want to say?

I heard that

you are a righteous bandit, Master Eagle.

Those men you took in Heifeng Fort

are mostly from poor families,

who were forced

to become bandits.

So I wonder,

why did you

smuggle the life-saving grain reserves of the people of Youzhou,

and ignore the people's well-being?

What? Smuggle?

You must be kidding, Mrs. Gu.

What grains?

I don't know about that.

You don't need to pretend.

That batch of grains

was bought by us.

You know very well in your heart

whether you did it or not.

You paid for it?

How could you afford

the grain reserves of the entire prefecture?

Are you kidding me?

That's right.

Do you know

where we are from, Master Eagle?

Yangzhou.

The Gu family

is the richest family in Jiangnan.

Although I can't say we're fabulously rich,

half of our family wealth

equals

20 years of grain taxes in Youzhou.

My husband and I

are both sworn friends

of General Zhou's third son, Zhou Ye's.

You may as well take a guess.

Where's the billions of the Gu family fortune

now?

How much food could we buy?

If it's used for military expenses,

how many bandit suppression soldiers could be provided for?

Mrs. Gu.

Are you messing with me like I'm a three-year-old?

It's such a big deal.

I'm neither deaf nor blind,

so why have we never heard about it?

Well, Mr. Zhao has been imprisoned.

You

don't know about this either, do you?

No way.

How could he be imprisoned?

Exactly.

That's impossible.

That's right.

When you kidnapped me up the mountain,

I was in a hurry to go out.

It was because

Zhou was interrogating Mr. Zhao,

and he asked me to check the amount of money and grains.

Since Zhou didn't see my wife there,

he heard from Mr. Zhao that

you kidnapped my wife.

So he sent a force here for bandit suppression.

Master Eagle, do you know that

if the corn

you smuggled for Mr. Zhao

was really sold,

Youzhou will be desolate

and strewn with corpses of victims of starvation?

Master Eagle.

Is what she said true?

Did you really

sell that batch of grains?

Of course not. The grains...

The grains are meant to

be distributed to the people.

But Mr. Zhao

has confessed everything.

Since you helped Mr. Zhao to smuggle grains

and assassinate the insider,

you could get 30% of the proceeds.

30%?

Master is not that kind of person.

Disgusting.

Master Eagle.

This is a felony that may get you cut in two at the waist or executed publicly.

So what?

I'm a bandit.

It's already a capital crime to loot and plunder.

Do you think I'm afraid that there's one more crime?

Mr. Zhao only

promised to give me 15% of the proceeds.

Did he say in his statement

that it's 30%?

30%? That much?

Hasn't he already taken that 30%?

Dirty money.

How could he do something like this?

Even 15% is a lot of money.

Exactly.

I didn't expect it.

Yes.

We've been kept in the dark.

We were all fooled.

Right.

So,

it's all true.

You've been lying to me.

You made me work for you,

but what you did is evil and wicked.

Master Eagle.

Say it.

A large force is about to

arrive at the fort gate.

We can't run away.

What should we do?

We can't escape.

What should we do now?

I've told you

I'd destroy Heifeng Fort today.

Do you

still want to resist?

This guy

is Zhou Ye's sworn brother.

If we capture him,

we can still live.

Arrest him!

Stop!

Eagle is dead.

I am the Master now.

Listen to my order.

Put down your swords.

When you went in the fort alone

to trade for me,

were you sure that

Zhou would bring troops here?

To tell you the truth,

I wasn't sure.

That was a bet.

I only sent a letter to inform him.

Whether he could come,

and how many people he could bring

were out of my reach.

But as long as I could

get you out safely,

that's enough.

How could I

leave you there alone?

You were taking a bet. So was I.

I bet Shen Ming

would defect for justice.

Boss Liu.

Your bet

was much riskier than mine.

I learned it from you.

You learned how to tell lies

from me, too?

How was my story?

The two of us

played that one perfectly.

It's like we had colluded with each other.

Liu Yuru.

I underestimated you.

You're amazing.

If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

Jiusi.

Nothing happened

up there.

It's all okay now.

We're both okay.

No.

I mean

I...

Shen Ming is a good man.

I...

Nothing happened

between us.

Trust me.

You have to trust me.

I trust you.

But I don't care

about any of that.

I only care if you're hurt

and whether you can come back safely.

That's the most important thing.

Liu Yuru.

No matter what happens,

you're my wife.

You always are.

And you always will be.

[Commissioner's Mansion]

[Clean and Sharp]

Your humble servant, Gu Jiusi, is here.

Greetings, Commissioner Fan

and General Zhou.

Good.

Good.

Young man.

You didn't let me down.

Brother.

What did I tell you?

You lost the bet.

Yamen runner Gu Jiusi

made his contribution to bandit suppression. He's both smart and brave.

A copper seal and a jade pendant will be bestowed upon him.

An exception will be made and he'll be promoted to Magistrate of Wangdu.

Fan.

What should we do

about the captured bandits?

What's your opinion, Brother?

Heifeng bandits have entrenched there for a long time.

Troubled times call for harsh sentences.

They should all be buried

to deter other rebels.

My Lords.

I have another humble request.

Go ahead.

Most of the Heifeng bandits

are refugees

who are desperate and cornered.

Of course those who killed innocent people

should be executed, a life for a life.

But there are many of them

who have never hurt anyone.

They don't deserve to die.

Especially their leader, Shen Ming.

At the critical moment,

it's because he defected to us

that we suppressed the bandits successfully.

I'm willing to trade the reward of

my contribution to suppressing bandits

for your mercy on them.

I can also prove that.

Shen Ming did kill

the former bandit leader, Eagle.

He made amends for his crime.

At the same time, I'm willing to incorporate Shen Ming

and those who didn't commit any crime.

If anything goes wrong,

I'll take sole responsibility.

Okay, I'll do as you say.

Thank you, Commissioner.

[Fine Wine]

Nonsense!

You're talking nonsense.

That Eagle,

even with five more people of his,

would have been no match for me.

If there were more people than that, I couldn't handle it.

Cut it out.

Eagle is nothing

compared to me.

But his martial arts skills

are definitely not inferior to you.

Nonsense!

If you don't believe it,

how about we go out and compete?

Don't drink too much, you two.

You're starting to talk nonsense.

OK.

Gu Jiusi.

I need to tell you something.

Go ahead.

Actually,

I've thought about it.

If the commissioner and his people

turned their back on me

and wanted me dead,

I'd accept it.

Because most of our men

are refugees.

They didn't kill anyone.

But after all,

what we did was looting and plundering.

It's illegal.

As for Eagle,

his life was taken by me.

So I'm Master now.

If you kill me,

it counts as redemption.

Anything else?

More importantly,

my elder sister,

Warrior Liu.

She's generous in aiding those in need,

and doesn't care about fake fame.

I only respect her

in my life.

Listen, Gu Jiusi.

On the mountain,

I didn't touch her

at all.

But...

But no man

can get over it.

Right?

Fortunately,

those in the main hall

who heard my nonsense

are all dead now.

I'm the only one left.

Kill me,

and my sister's name

will be cleared completely.

Are you done?

Yes.

Do you think I need you to tell me

how great Yuru is?

She is my wife.

No matter what happened,

she's always my wife.

I'll protect everything about her.

Who do you think you are?

Good.

I wasn't wrong about you.

You deserve to be my brother-in-law.

Bottoms up for me.

I've investigated every bandit

in Heifeng Fort.

Those who don't deserve to die

are all incorporated in the army.

As for you, the head of the bandits,

you have your own place to go.

The new magistrate

suppressed Heifeng Fort all by himself.

The new magistrate

is a bandit suppression hero.

-Of course. -What are you talking about?

Boss.

Have you heard?

We have a new immediate superior.

When did this happen?

Last night.

We only heard about it

when we got here this morning.

The new magistrate is said to be

a bandit suppression hero.

He exterminated Heifeng Fort once and for all.

He was promoted on the spot.

The seal was bestowed by the commissioner himself.

Is Heifeng Fort really exterminated?

It can't be fake.

The head of bandits, Eagle, died on the spot.

Assistant Master and hundreds of bandits

were captured alive.

They are all detained in the barracks now.

Great.

The people can finally live in peace.

Who is this new magistrate?

I don't know.

I heard that

he took the lead and went up the mountain himself.

He helped the barracks

to retrieve all the grain reserves,

not even a cart was missing.

He's both smart and brave.

He is no ordinary man.

Being able to work

for this kind of hero

is our honor, too.

Be alert.

Leave a good impression on the new magistrate.

Yes.

Is everyone here?

Only Gu Jiusi isn't present.

Him again?

This loser.

He was absent yesterday.

He didn't go to the city gate for roll calling either.

I don't care what background he has.

I must punish him hard this time.

Who do you want to punish?

Isn't this Gu Jiusi?

-Gu Jiu... -Yes.

This...

Is this our new magistrate?

Gu Jiusi?

He is our new magistrate?

Greet Magistrate Gu.

Greetings, Magistrate Gu.

We're all acquaintances.

No need to be so courteous.

Since I'm taking office,

I'm supposed to be fair in meting out rewards and punishments.

Yesterday, as a Yamen runner,

I was absent due to family matters.

My punishment will be five days' salary, according to the rule.

It'll be deducted at the end of the month.

Huang Longfei.

Yes.

Do you know why I called you?

[Head of Department]

You're quite smart.

You knew I'd retrieve your badge

before I even speak.

[Head pf Department]

Stop there.

Huang Longfei, head of the security department,

has always put the people first

and served his duty dedicatedly.

You are now promoted to Lieutenant,

and you'll be in command of all the Yamen runners of the county.

You'll get a raise of two taels of silver per month.

Two taels?

Did I hear it right?

Two taels.

Who would have thought of that?

Lieutenant Huang.

Come and get your new badge.

[Lieutenant]

The other Yamen runners also worked hard.

Your salary will be raised by 20 copper cents per month.

Thank you, Magistrate.

All right, get back to work.

Yes.

Magistrate Gu.

I have something to say to you.

If you regret it after that,

you can take the badge back.

Go ahead.

To tell you the truth,

the person who trapped you with a sack

and beat you up in the north alley early this month

was me.

What a coincidence.

The one who trapped you with a sack and beat you up

in the same north alley the next morning

was my wife.

Magistrate Gu, I'm a vulgar person.

From now on,

I'll try my best to serve you.

All right, take your office.

Yes.

Magistrate Gu,

I have another question that

I can't figure out.

I heard that

you used to be the young master of a rich family. A playboy.

Why did you become a Yamen runner

and live such a humble and hard life?

You know I used to be a playboy.

My money's gone due to that.

Go ahead.

Jiusi.

Didn't you say

you have something to tell Mother?

Go ahead.

Mother.

Try the West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy.

It's very fresh.

It was me

who put the vinegar in it.

Try it.

Mother.

I learned the recipe of the bruised pork

from the chef

in Chengnan Street.

It's the authentic taste of Yangzhou.

Try it.

It's very authentic. Try it.

You can do everything.

You two are really capable.

Something bad almost happened to Yuru,

but I wasn't informed

at all.

I'm not 50 years old

yet.

But you've started to treat me as if I'm deaf and blind,

and started to coax me, right?

No.

We just didn't want you to worry.

Yes, Mother.

Look.

Nothing happened to me.

I'm back safely.

If you weren't back,

I wouldn't have known.

Magistrate Gu.

Magistrate's Wife.

You two are really something.

If we are any good,

it's because we took after you, Mother.

Back then,

you only used a few tricks,

and you unified Jiangnan's business circles.

It was also made possible by your ability

to stay calm in times of crisis.

Right?

Yes.

The credit is all yours, Mother.

Yuru.

Why are you also flippant

now, just like Jiusi?

Mother.

You can blame me if you want.

It's all my fault.

It has nothing to do with her.

Are you caring less about me since you have a wife now?

Who was the one

that cried

and refused to get married?

I hadn't made up my mind at that point.

In the past,

I only knew Yuru was capable.

I didn't expect

that one day,

Jiusi would become a magistrate.

There have been

ministers and chancellors in our family.

I'm just a magistrate.

What's there to praise?

That's different.

Jiusi, you got the position

by your own efforts.

Just like Yuru.

You also managed to operate

Huarong so well by your own efforts.

In the first half of my life,

I've been hoping

that my son could be someone important some day.

And now,

I can finally rest assured.

I'm happy

that you are so successful, Son.

Let's have a couple of drinks

to celebrate.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Come on, eat.

Mother.

Right, the pastries.

The pastries.

I almost forgot.

My Lady, remain seated.

I'll go get it.

What pastries?

So fussy about it.

It's a good thing.

The best pastry shop of Jingdu,

Baiyujing,

has opened a branch

in Youzhou.

It's right across Huarong.

I wanted to buy a box of pastries

for you to try today.

But guess what?

Baiyujing's owner said that

he's heard a lot about the famous merchant, Jiang Rou.

He insisted on gifting you

a box of their signature plum cake.

He wouldn't take my money,

no matter how hard I tried to pay.

Look.

Although you don't show up in public anymore,

you still have admirers.

Baiyujing's pastry.

Even the box is so delicate.

I only ate it

in Eastern Capital when I was little.

Mother.

Such exquisite pastries

require the most exquisite tableware.

Yinhong.

Follow me to the kitchen

to get some fine plates and bowls.

Mother.

What's wrong

with the plum cake?

Baiyujing used to be the business of

my maiden family.

How come I didn't know about that?

It's not just a pastry shop.

Actually,

your uncle set up

a big net to deliver important information.

If it's ordinary news,

Baiyujing wouldn't have

done this.

The plum cake was

delivered to me today.

It means

something big had happened.

Yan.

She's still thinking about me and Nianming.

It's a letter from Aunt Chen?

After we succeed,

I look forward to reuniting with you in Eastern Capital

and catching up.

Speaking of her parents,

Yan wasn't lucky enough.

She was still a baby

when her parents died of illness.

My father

was her father's closest friend.

So she was adopted

and raised in our family.

At that time,

she, Nianming,

and I.

The three of us grew up together.

Yan is naive and gentle.

She's only done one thing that's obstinate

in her whole life,

that is to marry Lord Liang.

Check out her letter.

When she becomes the Empress,

Nianming will be Prime Minister,

and I'll be First-class Titled Madam.

If that really happens,

our family

can reunite in Eastern Capital

like when we were little.

So you mean,

we'll turn to Aunt Chen?

Yan...

She won't hurt me.

I also believe that

my aunt must be hoping for our good.

It's just that she trusted the wrong person.

Lord Liang is unscrupulous.

He treats people completely differently when he needs them and not.

Do you still remember that

he traded my marriage

and our family

for bargaining counters in politics?

He isn't

a kind and righteous person in the first place.

The Jiang family, the Gu family,

and the people

are all political pawns

to him.

Besides,

the reason why Lord Liang can target at Eastern Capital is that

all the commissioners

have been staying put

and making him stand out.

Even if he really managed to become the emperor,

he's still a traitor.

How long can he hold on

with all the prefectures eyeing him covetously?

I'm old.

I'm short-sighted.

Fine.

Now you are in charge of

the Gu family.

Where we'll go eventually

is up to you.