Original subtitles

Episode 2

Qian.

Are you all right?

Don't worry, I'm unharmed.

Then I'm relieved.

Your Highness.

It seems that somebody set Mistress up

to make her fall into the water.

Yelan would have rushed to look for you

if I hadn't stopped him.

He really doesn't trust me, right?

Lord

it was Butler Hua who forced me

to send him news secretly.

He threatened my family

so I was afraid to refuse him.

Given my loyalty to you

I can't sleep or eat well.

After listening to Mu Yao's advice

I've come to beg for your forgiveness.

In view of my sincere repentance

I hope you won't sell me.

Some blood ties mean nothing.

They're just the ones who seek benefits

and avoid harm.

Now that I'm given another chance

I can avoid these hidden dangers in advance.

Mistress

you can't blame me for feeling that way

given what happened under your watch.

What a heartless guy.

You only care about your wife instead of me.

What's going on?

Mother, did I miss anything?

Yes, you sure did.

After your senior got married

he only cares about his wife.

And now he starts lecturing me, an old woman.

Senior, that doesn't sound right to me.

Qian.

Come here. Come to me.

My father gave me this as a wedding gift

and now, I want you to have it.

I cannot accept it.

You're a sensible girl

so you know what to do.

Since I've gifted it to you

just take it.

Your Highness...

My mother really wants you to have it

so you should just take it.

Thank you, Your Highness.

I didn't expect that after so many years

some things are still a mystery to me.

I can see that Master and Mistress

are so in love.

Of course

they've known each other since childhood

and they're made for each other.

Why is she so lucky?

What did you say?

Miss...

We're here.

Xinzhu Garden

All this time

my safety has been a concern.

And Hua Man

has caused others to be suspicious of her.

If I don't want a repeat of history

I must start from the cause of everything

that is my father.

You've made my mistress very pleased today.

I've never seen her treating you so well.

Are you saying that she doesn't like me?

My mistress doesn't like to speak much

so she may seem a little cold

but that is not true.

Her Highness only treated me well

because of you.

That's not true.

You're kind and gentle

and others will know it

when they get to know you better.

Zhong Residence

Banxia, come and undo my bun.

It makes my neck sore after a whole day.

- Yes. - Banxia.

Don't undo the bun now.

Mistress, you and Master

haven't had a good meal

since you've been out all day.

I've prepared some tonic soup

to warm you up.

Why don't you send some to Master?

I'd better not disturb him

as he has his business to attend to.

My mistress!

Why don't you get it?

Master didn't even come here

on the wedding night.

It's late now

and he isn't here yet.

If he has been sleeping elsewhere

others would mock you.

When you were in Hua Residence

you knew how to get to a man's heart.

How can you act this way after marriage...

Fine, I'll send it.

Hurry along... hurry!

Master, Miss Mu still refuses to eat.

She said if you don't believe her words

and refuse to restore her family's good name

she won't want to implicate you.

So she insists on leaving.

If she doesn't want to eat, let her be.

Keep a close watch on her

and don't let her leave.

Master

Miss Mu is a wanted criminal.

It's not a good idea to keep her here.

Since she has offered to leave...

I know what I'm doing.

Master, Mistress is on her way here.

Qian, why are you here?

The maids made some nourishing tonic soup.

You should have some.

Don't wear yourself out because of work.

Thank you for being so considerate.

I've been handed more tasks today.

So I'm afraid I'll stay busy for a while.

It's okay. I won't bother you

if you're busy.

Qian...

I'm not asking you to leave.

I just came here to pass you the soup.

Don't keep a late night.

I'm going back to my room.

Come here.

Master.

Get Ji Dong here.

Yes.

Mistress

why are you suddenly so cold to Master?

Because love

will completely change a person.

I'm given a second chance now

so I can't blow it.

Mistress, why are you back?

What happened?

Housemaid Li.

Butler Ji, why are you here?

I'd like to meet the mistress.

This way. Come.

Mistress, Butler Ji is here.

Greetings, Mistress.

What can I do for you

at this late hour, Butler Ji?

I came here to hand you

the family token and the ledger.

I know they're in good hands

since you're managing it.

I'm not in a hurry

to take charge of it.

This is an order from Master.

Please rest assured

that I'll help you

if you don't understand it.

I shall take my leave now.

I'll leave the task to you.

You're my wet nurse

I can surely trust you.

Mistress, you should learn to do it.

Not now.

Mistress, please take a look.

Here's the gift registry for home visits.

For matters like this

you can do as you deem fit.

Why is she acting so weird today?

Maybe she is tired.

Miss.

It's time for your meal.

Miss...

Master, the guard reported that

Miss Mu has escaped.

You should go if you're busy.

I can go home on my own

I'll be waiting at Hua Residence.

That won't do.

How could I leave you alone?

Don't worry.

You can just go.

Sorry. Stop the carriage.

Let's go.

Last time, he left me just like that.

This time, I asked him to leave.

Hopefully, this will make him forgive me

when I eventually confess to him.

What's this smell?

You beggar!

You can't escape this time.

I kindly offered to introduce you to some jobs

but instead of showing gratitude

you stole my money bag.

How will you compensate me for that?

Tell me!

- You beggar! - Stop running!

Be careful with my stuff!

Block him!

Block him!

- Lord... - Run if you can!

Are you going to run or not?

Did you order the food?

Yes, I've told the man in charge

and they'll deliver the food once it's ready.

Good.

Lord, if you want to buy some food

you can just send us to get it for you.

Why do you choose to do it personally?

The desserts here

are amongst my mother's favourites

so it's only right that I buy them in person.

Besides, the Zhong family's shop is close by

so I can also check out

how the staff are doing...

Where did this beggar come from?

How dare you block our carriage?

You beggar!

This beggar

stole my money bag

so he ran into you while escaping from me.

I'll take him away with me.

Do that and take him far away from us.

Don't bring bad luck to our carriage.

Right... we'll get going now.

Qianzhi, you're not allowed

to call someone a beggar.

Mistress, why do you get off the carriage?

I can handle this.

Don't let these untouchables stain your eyes.

If I hear you call someone a beggar again

you will be fined a month's income.

Did you say that he stole your money?

Mistress, I came here for business.

Yesterday when I was walking in the street

this beggar just bumped into me

and stole my money bag.

So have you found your money bag yet?

No. He stole it yesterday

and he must have hidden it.

I just searched him

and he didn't have a dime.

So you didn't find your money bag

on him, right?

Beggars like him

are liars.

He won't tell me where he hid my money bag

without getting a beating.

Did you steal his money bag?

I'm sure he'd say no.

I...

I didn't.

Rascal, quit lying...

Shut up.

Neither did you find your money bag

nor catch him in the act.

And you beat him up

without any proof.

How can we trust you?

If you insist

that this kid stole your money bag

report it to Magistrate Wang.

But if you can't prove he did it

then you might be punished

more than just

compensating for his medical treatment.

Mr Zhang

you're here to conduct business deals.

It's better not to offend the authorities.

Here. Take it.

Let's go...

What's your name?

Rong... Zhou...

Your surname is Zhou, right?

The money that he gave you

should be enough for you to clean yourself up

and have a good meal.

As there's a big crowd watching

it won't be wise for me to give you money.

You may be young but I think you're tough.

You can find a job to support yourself.

Come look for me at Zhong Residence.

I can offer you a job.

Nan Feng.

Take Mr Zhou to the clinic.

If you meet troublemakers along the way

send them to Magistrate Wang

for serious punishment.

Go!

Come on, get up.

Mistress, how can you do that in public?

Besides, you can't solve

all these vagrant or beggar issues.

You used to stay out of such things.

Good deeds may be rewarded.

So if I ever get into any trouble

maybe someone else will help me, too.

What?

Nothing.

I shouldn't fear doing good deeds in public.

In fact, I wish I could do so more often.

Let's go.

Why do I feel like

she has become a different person?

She might be doing it

as it gets her what she wants.

Really?

Why aren't they here yet?

They should arrive soon.

Come on.

How do I look?

Come on.

- Not here. - What's wrong?

Others are watching us.

Father.

Mother.

Master has some urgent business to attend to.

He'll join me shortly.

Okay.

It doesn't matter.

My dear...

I almost forgot my father has a temper.

But there is no time

to waste on my own sorrow.

Everything's fine.

Your brother left early this morning

when he learnt of your visit.

I don't know what he's up to.

You know he's flighty like that.

Don't blame him.

Come on. Let's go in.

Come.

You must be exhausted after a long ride.

I've instructed the maids

to light some incense in the tent

that will soothe your mind.

Try to have a rest

before your husband arrives.

It's okay. I'm not tired yet.

Where's Father?

He was so excited

when he heard that you're visiting.

He put aside his work early in the morning

to wait for you, only to see you by yourself.

That probably upset him a little.

I think he must be sulking in his study.

Don't worry about him.

He'll be fine

when Master Zhong gets here.

Anyway, what kept him so busy

that he let you come back alone?

I don't know.

It's probably some work matters.

Qian, I've been told

you haven't consummated your marriage.

Don't rest on your laurels

just because you're married now.

Life at Zhong Residence

can get very complicated.

You may be married now

but plenty of women will still try

to get into Zhong Residence.

I know what I'm doing.

Right.

You just got married

so I can understand

that you don't care about what I said.

Although Master Zhong

is only the disciple of the former Lord

you should not forget

that he once

set up all the shops in the South on his own.

That measures him up to the former Lord.

Listen to me.

You should try to bear him a son quickly

to secure your position.

Then you can also help us out a little.

Your brother isn't married yet

and our family depends on you.

I see.

Getting impatient again?

Only I care enough to tell you this.

Yet you pay no mind

to what I said to you.

Do you want your father and me

to still worry about you

after we eventually pass on?

I suddenly remember

that I need to tell Father something.

I'd better go find him.

I'm not done talking yet.

What do you want to say to your father?

Something important.

You...

This girl...

Mrs Hua, don't worry too much.

Now, Master values Mistress a lot.

How could I not be worried?

She has been pampered since childhood.

- Life here is relatively simple. - Right.

She has never suffered any loss.

So she isn't aware of how complicated life gets.

Mistress is intelligent.

Don't worry about her.

Besides, I'll look out for her.

Tell me more

about how Master Zhong treats her.

It was my jealousy

that made my father take the chance

to bring down the Mu family.

So only I can change the course of action.

I must give it a shot.

Father.

Did you hear about

Mu Yunping's exile sentence?

What happened?

I've heard that he's self-righteous

stubborn and inflexible.

After suffering such humiliation

he might have a hard time in prison.

Isn't that good?

Saves me the trouble to deal with him.

Looks like I need to try another approach.

Master and I visited Zhong's Garden recently.

I saw my cousin there

and discovered something interesting.

Would you like to know more?

What did she say?

She...

had someone push me into the pond.

What?

I'm now Master Zhong's wife

so she bears a grudge against me

and wants me to suffer.

Qian.

I took her under my wing.

Why would she turn against you?

Well, you're getting old

and can't read people well now.

She's someone

who only cares for her own interests

and is very petty

yet you still took her under your wing.

Anyway, she said she wanted to talk to me

but she was just digging for information.

If not for my vigilance

I wouldn't have found out

there's a spy in Zhong Residence.

Are you saying

she bears allegiance to the Lord

yet tried to trick you into talking?

You have many informants.

Just check with them.

Anyway, I think you should stay away from her.

So what do you think I should do?

Hua Man had me fall into the water

and asked someone to eavesdrop on our chat.

All of that is true.

My recounting is based on that.

So, my story embellishments

shouldn't matter much.

It's a huge taboo

to collude with the Lord's staff.

It's not too late

to cut ties with her.

The Lord should have noticed you now.

So, in my opinion

you should keep a low profile.

I did not mean to casually

bring up Mu's case.

The other day

I overheard the Lord mention

Mu Yunping who's now imprisoned.

He seems to value the Mu family

so he might just try

to ask Magistrate Wang

to pardon his crime.

I was thinking

if you choose to bring this matter up

it could make things easier for the Lord.

Qian

haven't you always hated the Mu family?

I finally got rid of them

as per your wishes.

Why are you pleading for them?

I don't want us to repeat the same mistake.

I heard you've moved into a big mansion

recently.

How did you find time to meet me?

Everyone is so busy.

My father told me

to handle the furniture

so I've come to your place

to get away from the chore.

Why don't you find a reliable broker

for these matters?

Would you like me

to introduce our broker to you?

That'd be great.

I'm new here

and I don't know anyone very well.

These tasks have been troubling me so much.

Don't be so formal with me.

Qian

it's so nice to have you in my life.

Father, do you think this is a good idea?

Mu Yao uses me to get close to Master.

That causes me to worry.

These days, I've noticed that he looks at her

differently.

Mu Yao's father

has not even been here for a year

yet he has taken over

the Zhong family's business operations.

You can't even get close to it.

I also heard

that he always finds fault

with the medicinal material

that you'd already examined.

He complained about you

along with the whole workshop.

If this goes on

I'm afraid that the Zhong family's higher-ups

will follow his lead.

Only Mu Yao and I

know about the broker thing.

If she tries to pin it on me in the future

there's no witness to back her up.

You can arrange an unreliable broker

to meet her

in the south of the city

and tell him to recommend low-quality furniture

which will mess up the Mu family.

Then Mu Yao would have no time

to get close to Master

and her father would have no motivation

to fight you for the butler position.

Qian.

Do you want to rid the Mu family for good?

What do you have in mind?

It isn't easy to fix up a broker.

Besides, the flawed furniture

can be easily noticed.

The Mu family can always

replace the broker then.

Recently

the scent workshop has just received

a large order of agarwood incense balls.

I happen to meet...

a master of the market.

It is said that with his refining skills

aquilaria incense can be made

into agarwood incense within a short time.

Even the scent master can't tell it apart.

That's impossible.

How come I've never

heard of such fraud?

You don't have to know it.

Agarwood incense isn't very volatile

so it tends to weigh heavier

than aquilaria incense over time.

How dare you, a supervisor

try to fool us

by substituting aquilaria incense

for agarwood incense?

That's impossible.

I checked all the agarwood balls

after they were made.

They're indeed top-notch agarwood incense

and not aquilaria incense.

You're still denying it?

I've been working with the Zhong family

for decades

and never encountered anything like this.

Do you know that you've almost ruined

our reputation?

Think about it.

I've been working here for decades as well.

How can I not tell apart

agarwood and aquilaria incense?

I did not switch one out for the other!

I've never done that!

Magistrate Wang, something fishy is going on.

Just give me a few days

and I'll figure it out...

Magistrate, we've found them.

- Bring them to me. - Yes, sir!

Bring them here.

Magistrate, we found this

when I broke a piece of Mu's furniture

by accident.

See?

Mu Yunping

how can you explain this?

You said you'd need more time.

You wanted to destroy the evidence, right?

Magistrate Wang!

This agarwood fragrance powder isn't mine!

They were found in your house

and you said

that you'd inspected the agarwood balls.

It is clear that you did a switch

in order to

steal the agarwood incense.

I've never done this before

in my life.

Nor have I ever been accused of it.

Please help me clarify this false claim!

We have evidence and a witness.

Mu Yunping.

No matter how you plead

such an act will never be tolerated!

I sentence you

to sell all your family members, as payback

to Councillor Gu and the Zhong family.

You're hereby sentenced to

life in exile by the borders.

You can spend the rest of your life there

for reflection!

Send help! Mu Yunping committed suicide!

Death proves my innocence -Somebody...

Somebody!

I'm not trying to plead for the Mu family

but now that our family has some power

it's inevitable that the Lord fears you.

Otherwise, when I was at Zhong's Garden

the other day

they wouldn't have been so wary of me.

I've suggested this plan

for the good of our family.

Our good?

What do you mean?

After all, you're someone

that was trained by the former Lord.

If the current Lord can't trust you

he'll find a new butler

to go up against you.

We've had our differences with the Mu family

and sometimes they turned into fights.

Now, if you offer

to plead for their pardon

it'd lower the Lord's guard

and also let others know

that the Hua family is fair

and remains loyal to the Zhong family.

Qian, do you know

hidden dangers must be removed completely?

You should know

I loathe the Mu family.

If I had better options

why would I let you plead for them?

Injure one and you injure them all.

There's no chance for them

to restore their reputation.

If we act too ruthlessly

tongues will wag.

After all

you know the full story better than I do.

Qian, you've grown up.

Have you decided what to do?

Leave it to me.

Qian.

Have some tea.

Mistress, why are your hands sweaty?

He might be family

but it's not easy persuading someone

who hasn't faced death

to be kind-hearted.

Mistress?

Nothing. Let's go back to our compound.

Huang, hurry up! Keep up.

Huang, hurry up!

Hurry up!

How rude of me.

I was just looking for something

and bumped into you accidentally.

What are you looking for?

Do you need my help?

I'm looking for the jade

that my mother gave me before she died.

What a filial girl you are!

Why don't you follow me back to my quarters?

I'll send someone to help you find it.

Why is my brother so fat now?

You can have as much jade as you want.

It's kind of weird.

Isn't he always like this?

That's true.

He lost a lot of weight

when he was in exile for a year.

He's still acting so frivolous.

Thank you!

Qian...!

Qian!

Qian!

- What's the matter? - This...

I bought this brocade satin a few days ago.

It's white, your favourite colour.

There's no other like it.

I heard you'd be visiting today

so I spent a lot of money to get it for you.

Make an outfit with it

and Master will be so charmed by you.

I don't like white anymore.

Save it for your concubines.

They're not worthy of it.

You're born beautiful

and deserve this precious piece of cloth.

Praise me if you will

but don't put others down.

That will cause trouble for me.

I'm just being honest.

Anyway, I don't like white anymore.

I've other things to do. Don't follow me.

Sister!

Sister!

Why is my sister so grumpy?

I know.

Zhong Yelan must have made her mad.

Why are you so cold to your brother today?

Life is already so difficult.

How can I like such a troublemaker

who pretends to be smart?

Bonus footage

- Let me think about it. - Sure.

Sir.

Is this the money bag you lost?

I saw you falling down here the other day

and you ran away before I could get to you.

Does this belong to you?

Is it true what you just said?

Yes.

Well, Mr Zhang.

In this case, it seems

that you did do that little beggar wrong.

What did you say?

He pushed me, I fell over

and I gave him a good beating.

That makes us even.

Mr Zhang.

B-But that's because you stepped on him first.

Why do you talk so much?

Who's the boss here?

You are.

That's right.

Mr Zhang, I'm sorry!

Who's the boss here?

I...

I...

I...

I'd wanted to

beat you up a long time ago.

I am sorry!

Waiter, another bottle of wine.

Okay, right away.

Enjoy.

Sir, are you here for a meal

or to stay the night?

I heard you're hiring helpers.

Are you here to apply for it?

Yes. That's why I'm here.

I want to get a job.