Original subtitles

XUE LI, COURTESY NAME FANGFEI

Dear.

Dear.

-Who are you? -Dear.

Dear.

Get off me.

Let go!

SHEN RUYUN, MRS. SHEN

-You bitch! -I'm not...

Xue Li.

You dirty and shameless bitch!

Xue Li.

Xue Li.

SHEN BINGXIU, COURTESY NAME YURONG

Dear, you're here at last.

I was set up.

Mother and Yurong are mistaken.

We've been married for so many years.

You should know me.

Dear.

You...

You don't believe me either?

Let's go.

You know I was set up.

Who did it?

Was it you?

Or was it your mother?

Was it your sister?

Shen Yurong.

I'm not a clingy person.

One letter of divorce from you

and I would be gone.

But why are you so cruel?

You want to destroy my reputation

and kill me here too.

Xue Li.

I have no choice.

She could have crushed us

like ants.

Who?

Xue Li.

Close your eyes.

Shen Yurong.

Shen Yurong!

How dare you do this to me?

Aren't you afraid my father and brother

wouldn't spare you?

You'll reunite with them soon enough.

Shen Yurong.

What happened to them?

Duke Xue was sentenced to death

for corruption.

Xue Zhao ran into bandits on his way to visit you.

He died a horrible death.

Was it your doing?

Was it?

Why are you doing this to me?

I'm sorry.

I have failed you

in this life.

Father.

Xue Zhao.

Father.

Xue Zhao...

Stop.

Your feet are dirty.

Are you upset that I called you dirty?

WANNING, ELDEST PRINCESS

Come here.

Tell me what you did tonight.

I handled

Xue Fangfei.

How did you handle her?

I buried her alive.

You buried her alive?

I just wanted to demote her to a concubine

while I become your wife.

That way, she could serve us forever.

How could you be so cruel?

Didn't you order my mother and sister

to ruin her reputation

to force me to kill her?

That's right, I set up everything last night.

You have no idea how powerful

the Eldest Princess is.

I had to intervene for you.

If you don't kill Xue Fangfei,

our entire family will die tomorrow!

The choice is yours.

Do you want to defend her from an injustice?

No.

Smile.

Why aren't you smiling?

Feeling sorry for your wife?

Stop it.

Mr. Shen.

I'm not into murderers.

As the Eldest Princess,

I'm concerned about the suffering of women and children.

I must punish a ruthless heartbreaker like you.

Wanning!

What exactly do you want from me?

You're a murderer now.

Only I can save you.

Beg me.

-I'm begging you. -Kneel!

Good boy.

Tell me.

How did your wife react

when she was being buried?

Did she curse at you

or did she grovel?

Or did she accept death

out of love for you?

Stop pushing me.

At most, we can both die.

Can you bear to kill me?

Can you?

You're my beloved Mr. Shen indeed.

So imposing.

Your wife has just passed away.

You have to take care of the funeral,

so you have a lot to do.

Quit kneeling in my palace.

Hurry home,

my prince consort.

DUKE SU, XIAO HENG

Why are you all standing here?

Are you waiting for a reward?

Are you?

Duke Su.

Mr. Jia.

I'm in a good mood today,

so I'll only ask you once.

Who do you source the salt you're trafficking?

Whoever kills Duke Su gets a big reward!

Run!

Duke Su,

please spare my life.

My lord, let me take care of him.

After a few days in the dungeons,

I'll relay what you want to know,

so he won't pollute your ears.

I'll tell you.

I'll confess everything.

Please spare me, Duke Su.

I...

Out with it.

I...

After him.

Mr. Qin supplied them.

Where can we find him?

I don't know, he's always on the move.

Where's the next transaction?

Helin Temple, Qingcheng Mountain.

-When? -On the mid-month ceremony.

What about the dirty money and salt you're trafficking?

I'll hand them in

with the fine.

I'll hand them in.

Mr. Jia,

well done.

Anything else you want to know?

He's useless to me now.

He's all yours.

CAPITAL OF GREAT YAN

BENEFITTING THE PEOPLE

Watch out.

My lord, I lost him.

Since they wanted to silence him,

it means there's a big fish behind this salt trafficking case.

Let's go home first.

We'll visit Helin Temple in the middle of the month.

The Seal

of the Yellow God

brings souls

toward reincarnation.

COFFIN OF HANLIN ACADEMY SCHOLAR'S WIFE, MS. XUE

Mr. Shen is such a devoted husband.

A few days ago, his wife eloped with another man

and died at Qingcheng Mountain,

causing quite a stir.

Now he's even a pallbearer.

His wife was the most talented girl

in all of Huaixiang.

What a shame.

Shut it. Show some respect for the dead.

My lord, why are you smiling?

Because you're stupid.

-What do you mean? -You can't judge a book by its cover.

-What a fool. -I'm not stupid.

I'm smart.

My lady, we'd better pick up the pace.

It's almost sundown. We'll get beaten again if we're late.

My lady.

JIANG RUOYU, COURTESY NAME LI

TONG'ER

Who are you?

What do you want?

Go away.

My lady.

Miss, don't be afraid.

My name is Jiang Li.

This is Tong'er, my maid.

We're here to help you.

You fainted by the river.

Do you remember?

Who sent you?

What do you want?

Hey,

you're so funny.

She's the chancellor's daughter.

Why would she harm you?

Miss, how are you feeling?

Have some water.

Miss, don't be afraid.

We're not bad people.

Go away.

Leave me alone.

Go away.

Go!

Calm down first.

We'll find you some wild fruits.

Because of him,

you're even forsaking your own father?

Father,

please let us be together.

Duke Xue, I swear

as long as I, Shen Yurong, am alive,

I will not let Xue Li suffer.

Officials in the capital

are extremely greedy.

Xue Li stood by me for years

when I was a poor, unknown scholar.

I'm well-known now

and I'll establish myself

to protect Xue Li.

Please rest assured, Duke Xue.

Father, please give Xue Li your permission.

Miss, what are you doing?

Let go.

-Let go of me. -Miss.

-Let me die. -Miss.

-Let me die. -Miss.

Regardless of what happened,

what matters is you're alive.

As long as you're alive, you can start over.

Start over?

I don't deserve that.

I'm a blind,

ignorant fool

who brought this upon myself.

I don't deserve to be alive.

Miss,

don't blame yourself for being blind.

Blame the ones who failed you.

Why punish yourself for their misdeeds?

What do you know?

Miss.

Someone I trusted let me down too.

I know how you feel.

Do you know what they're afraid of?

They're afraid that you're alive,

that we're keen and alert

to witness their end.

Living is the best revenge against those

who want your demise.

Miss, we have to go.

We'll find a chance to bring you some food and medicine tomorrow.

Keep the veil.

FILIAL PIETY, VIRTUOUS, FAITHFUL, UNSWERVING

ZHENNV HALL

GINSENG LUNG-CLEARING PILL

Wait.

KIND AND MORAL REPUTATION

There's no need to collect firewood today.

But Chief asked us to collect half a month's worth.

Wait until the trees are less humid

in a few days.

My lady, if someone catches you sneaking out,

you'll get beaten.

Don't risk it.

All right, I won't go.

Go back to sleep.

All right. My lady, get some rest too.

KIND AND MORAL REPUTATION

Sneaking out in the middle of the night.

Jiang Li,

what were you up to?

NON-ENVY, DISCIPLINE, CHASTITY, RIGHTEOUSNESS

You're refusing to talk?

Then you're twice as guilty!

My lady!

My lady.

Tong'er.

Don't hit Tong'er.

Hit me instead.

-Take her away! -My lady!

-Tong'er. -No!

-Tong'er, get up. -My lady!

My lady!

Be honest,

were you going to meet your lover?

No.

-No. -You still won't confess?

Stop it!

Hit me instead.

My lady. Let me go!

Jiang Li,

Sneaking out is an impure act.

You've tainted Zhennv Hall's reputation.

I want all of you to hit her.

-Yes. -Hit me instead!

Hit me!

I'm begging you. My lady!

My lady!

-Repent. -Stop it.

Hit me instead.

Hit her.

-Come here. -My lady!

Let me go!

My lady!

Hit her.

Don't hit her, please.

Stop it.

My lady.

I'm letting you all participate

as a reminder

that the impure

will be punished,

no one will be spared.

Hit her hard!

Stop it.

My lady.

Stop it.

Stop!

Stop hitting her.

My lady!

Miss,

don't blame yourself for being blind.

Blame the ones who failed you.

Why punish yourself for their misdeeds?

Regardless of what happened,

what matters is you're alive.

As long as you're alive, you can start over.

Do you know what they're afraid of?

They're afraid that you're alive,

that we're keen and alert

to witness their end.

I need to stay alive.

I must live on.

FILIAL PIETY, VIRTUOUS, FAITHFUL, UNSWERVING

ZHENNV HALL

Everyone's collecting fruits.

Why didn't Ms. Jiang go?

She can't even leave her bed

after she got beaten up yesterday.

From now on,

we might have to pick up her slack.

It serves her right for sneaking out.

I wonder who she was seeing.

She deserves it. She's probably meeting a man.

KIND AND MORAL REPUTATION

Tong'er.

Tong'er.

Where's Jiang Li?

If she didn't want to bring you food,

this wouldn't have happened to her.

Get out.

Jiang Li.

Jiang Li.

Jiang Li.

Miss.

What are you doing here?

You're not safe here.

Go.

Jiang Li.

You shouldn't have risked your life to bring me things.

When I first came here,

I also tried taking my own life.

If it weren't for Tong'er,

I might be dead by now.

Seeing you

reminds me of myself.

When one feels hopeless,

one hopes someone will reach out,

so I thought I'd reach out to you.

It's only a beating.

It's not as if I've never been beaten up before.

But why do I feel

so drowsy this time?

Jiang Li.

Miss,

am I dying soon?

Jiang Li, hang in there.

I'll go down this mountain

and ask the Jiang family

to come get you.

Miss.

When I saved you,

I was hoping

you could deliver a message to my family.

Tell my father

I've had enough.

I was wrong.

I don't want to stay here any longer.

But now, it seems like

it's too late.

It's not too late.

Just hang in there.

Miss.

They accused me of killing my mother and younger brother.

I didn't do it.

I really didn't.

TEN YEARS AGO

Mother, I'll make you some chrysanthemum tea.

That day, I brought

the chrysanthemums I planted to my mother.

She complimented them,

so I wanted to bring her to Fangfei Pavilion to admire them

and make some chrysanthemum tea for her.

Mother, where are you going?

But...

Hurry, somebody!

Help Madam up.

-Madam. -Madam, are you all right?

-Madam. -Goodness.

Help Madam up.

Let me see.

Excuse me.

Let me see.

Madam, there's blood.

Madam, it's blood.

It's blood!

Blood.

Madam, are you all right?

-It looks serious. -You...

Jiang Li,

I treated you kindly.

Why did you do this to me?

My stepmother was kind to me

and she was known to be virtuous.

I was once glad

to be her daughter.

Never would I have thought

-that her accusation -Hurry!

-that day -Go!

would make everyone think of me as someone

who tried to kill my mother and brother.

After that,

I've been confined to Zhennv Hall for ten years.

Ten years.

No matter how hard I tried to explain,

no one listened.

No one believed me.

I believe you.

I believe you're not that kind of person.

Miss.

I've told you everything about myself.

Please just do me a favor.

You don't need to beg me.

You rescued me from the swamp.

I'll do anything for you.

In the past ten years,

I've never left Zhennv Hall.

No one in the Jiang family asked about me either

or came to see me.

Perhaps to them,

I'm already dead.

Besides the people here,

no one knows what I look like.

My mother gave me this hairpin.

This can prove my identity.

Miss.

Please...

Please bring it

to my father.

Tell him

I'm suffering greatly and filled with resentment here,

but I've done nothing wrong.

I never did anything wrong.

I hate him.

I hate the entire Jiang family.

Even in the netherworld,

I would curse them all to a tragic end.

Jiang Li.

You said it yourself.

Living is the best revenge.

Hang in there.

You must carry on.

Jiang Li, what are you doing?

I planted this pear tree

when I first came here.

It never blossomed before.

YE ZHENZHEN, JIANG YUANBAI'S FIRST WIFE

Mother?

-Li'er. -Mother.

Have you come to pick me up?

I miss you so much.

It's so beautiful.

My lady.

My lady.

My lady, wake up.

Wake up.

My lady.

My lady, wake up.

The heavens sure like to play jokes.

The innocent...

My lady.

...are suffering here,

-My lady. -while the wicked

go unpunished.

My lady...

Chief.

Jiang Li should not stop working.

She's still in bed at this hour.

It was only a few hits

and now she's pretending to be sick.

I'll kill them

and make them pay for her ladyship's death.

What are you doing?

Do you want to avenge her?

Then listen to me.

The heavens are unjust.

I'll seek justice

for us.

How dare you sleep in the day and not work?

Quit pretending.

Get up.

Jiang Li.

Who are you?

I am...

your benefactor.

Nonsense.

What's your relationship with Jiang Li?

Shouldn't you be worried

about the one who's killing her?

I see.

So you killed an official's daughter.

I'm going to report you.

Have you forgotten?

You girls beat her to death.

Even the authorities need a witness.

Everyone here can testify

that you, the outsider

who broke into Zhennv Hall,

killed her.

Your testimonies are nothing

compared to hers.

Come and see for yourself.

Look.

The dead can't lie.

Her body is covered in wounds,

including countless scars over the years.

When the autopsy comes out,

can the Zhennv Hall get away with it?

Let go of me!

When the Jiang family claims her body,

you girls will be tied up to kneel in her mourning hall.

Let go of me.

The Chief Secretariat's daughter dies in Zhennv Hall.

Do you really think you'll get away with it?

I have a perfect solution.

What is it?

Starting today,

I...

will be Jiang Li.