Original subtitles

ADAPTED FROM MO SHUBAI'S NOVEL, THE GRAND PRINCESS ON JJWXC.NET

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION

When Ministry wanted to promote an official,

it was done based on their merit scores.

As for the grading process,

ten marks will be deducted if its from a noble family.

and ten marks will be given to a commoner.

He's being too impatient.

I knew where he was coming from.

I knew what he was trying to do.

But it couldn't be implemented

with just a good policy alone.

He just ascended to the throne.

And he's making a drastic move immediately.

It's normal, that most of the local prestigious families disagreed with him.

Although he issued the order,

his men didn't fully implemented it.

Or they purposely twisted the policy

to increase people's burden.

He wanted to kill who disobeyed him.

But then he realized,

he can't even bring down a second-rate noble family.

In the late winter during the third year of Dexu Era,

he ignored Pei Wenxuan's advice

and ordered Qin Lin to kill the leader of a small local clan.

This led to rebellion in that area for three consecutive years.

Initially, that place wasn't that bad.

But in the end…

it became a desolate place.

With such circumstances,

there's no other way but to reform the system.

By abolishing the noble families,

millions of commoners could be saved.

What if you were in his shoes?

What would you do?

Are you capable to kill someone from a noble family?

Your Highness!

-Your Majesty… -You can leave now.

Your Highness, you might not know,

but Li Chuan locked himself up

in the Imperial Study overnight

every time you questioned him.

I didn't know that.

Because you always treat him like a kid.

But you need to know something.

If an emperor

thinks he's incompetent,

the sense of shame would drive him mad.

The conflict between Li Chuan and the noble families

will never be resolved.

It will only worsen.

Shangguan Ya will be caught between them.

Li Chuan told me this before.

Whenever he saw Shangguan Ya and her valuable accessories,

this reminded him of all starving people.

Your Majesty.

However, Shangguan Ya

thinks that she's inferior to Qin Zhenzhen.

The more she dressed up and being considerate,

-Your Majesty. -the more Li Chuan hated her.

In the end,

they started sleeping in different rooms.

Your Majesty.

That's why, Shangguan Ya asked for my help.

Since this is happening,

I'm not expecting him to love me.

But my family keeps pressuring me

to give birth to an heir apparent.

But they didn't know

that I don't have a chance to sleep with him.

As the Emperor,

you shouldn't favor Qin Zhenzhen alone.

Shangguan Ya is still the Empress.

If people found out that haven't slept with her,

tons of memorials will be sent complaining about you.

I don't like her.

Don't I have the right to choose?

You don't have that privilege until after she gives birth

to an heir apparent.

You're this state's ruler.

Shangguan Ya is the Empress.

Going to Qionghua Palace and to have an heir apparent

is one of your duties as well.

Rong.

Tell me the difference between me

and the courtesans in the brothels.

Your Majesty!

-Call the imperial physician! -Don't.

I visited the Empress after leaving my palace.

I just took some aphrodisiacs.

I'm fine.

Your Majesty, you…

I've done

the task assigned to me by Princess Royal.

Did…

Did Shangguan Ya knows this?

I think she did.

Actually, Shangguan Ya took some aphrodisiacs too.

Shangguan Ya is a dignified woman.

But she's trapped in the palace like an animal

so she could produce an heir apparent.

And suffer in silence alone.

Then, what happened?

Your Majesty!

Leave us alone.

No need for that. Raise your head.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

I know

that you take aphrodisiacs every time you meet me.

From now on,

let's be honest with each other.

You can be the empress that you like.

I can give you all the power that you want.

Let's

drop the act.

For some issues,

we can discuss and resolve them together.

We shouldn't be trapped in this palace.

In the future, you stay out of my affairs.

How about that?

But Your Majesty…

I abandoned myself

and the love that's supposed to be mine

not just to hear

that we should mind our own business

in this palace.

Your Majesty, I'm not here to fulfill your wish either.

I'm not here to fulfill your wish

of getting the love that you want.

Don't you want to leave the palace?

What do you want then?

I…

I want a child.

You!

Bring us the liquor.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty, I would like to apologize.

From now on, I won't mind who visits you at night.

But you have to promise me.

What else do you want

apart from having a child?

To be the Empress.

Sure.

You'll be the Empress

as long as I'm the Emperor.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

As for the child,

I will help you to complete such task.

Then, Your Majesty,

I hope you can give some time to conceive the child.

All right. I understand.

Your Majesties,

the Imperial Academy of Medicine

announced that Consort Qin is pregnant.

She's pregnant?

Hurry. I need to see her now.

Your Majesty, go and check Consort Qin.

Let's go!

What is this all about?

His Majesty has decided

that he will never be intimate with another woman

in the harem besides Consort Qin.

This morning, Consort Qin was confirm to be pregnant.

Therefore…

I need a man.

Anyone is fine.

I need to have a child.

A child?

Then what happened?

Back then,

you were about to leave the capital.

Li Chuan's evil intentions are unmistakable.

If he really help a commoner prince to ascend the throne,

by then…

it's the end of the noble families.

Mr. Shangguan, I'm sure you know this too.

I'm just a common traveler.

This has nothing to do with me.

I'm leaving.

Ya is having a hard time in the palace.

She needs someone.

She needs a man.

Greetings, Your Majesty.

Why are you here?

To be with you.

Leave.

I don't want you to be here.

But you don't have a choice.

And it's too late for me to back out now.

I don't want you…

to see how pathetic I am.

In this life…

I'm willing to be in hell with you.

To be in the underworld with you.

Two months later,

Shangguan Ya becomes pregnant.

But the birth date of her child is a little confusing.

Until now, I don't have idea

who is the father of her child.

Did Chuan knows that?

Back then, Li Chuan didn't even know

that Su Ronghua and Shangguan Ya had an affair.

When the commoners

saw that Li Chuan favored Qin Zhenzhen

and that she was pregnant,

they started spreading rumors

and fabricated miracles.

Officials from humble backgrounds even submitted memorials

saying that her child would be the eldest son.

They claimed that it will be the Crown Prince.

They're actually cornering Qin Zhenzhen.

Most of the commoners are from humble families.

They know nothing about the dirty politics in the palace.

And Qin Zhenzhen

also knew that she was in danger.

To express that they had no intention to seize the throne,

she even submitted a memorial,

hoping Li Xin would be the Crown Prince instead.

I do understand now

how frustrated he was back then.

Back then, Li Chuan

didn't wish to start a conflict with the noble families.

He felt guilty to Shangguan Ya too.

That's why,

he instructed me to draft an imperial decree.

He planned to select Li Xin as the Crown Prince.

But all of a sudden, rumors started to spread like wildfire.

They said a strange bird alighted at Qingfeng Temple.

They said it was a phoenix and that's a sign

that the Empress would be dethroned.

The noble families couldn't tolerate it any longer.

And Su Ronghua poisoned

Qin Zhenzhen to her death.

Initially, you wanted to take Li Ping's life.

But Qin Zhenzhen was with Li Ping all the time.

She lived and ate with him.

She tasted every food, medicine, and water

before she fed him

In the end,

Qin Zhenzhen was poisoned.

She protected Li Ping.

I really tried to kill a child?

Ronghua, don't beat yourself up.

You're just cursed by Shangguan Xu.

After Qin Zhenzhen's death,

Li Chuan could no longer tolerate

the noble families.

It's not just because of the death of his beloved.

But because

he finally realized how incompetent he was.

He was gone mad.

When he was keeping vigil beside Qin Zhenzhen's coffin…

MEMORIAL TABLET OF NOBLE CONSORT ZHENJING OF THE QIN FAMILY

The Crown Prince hasn't been chosen.

Your Majesty, please choose your heir as soon as possible.

Please choose Li Xin, the Empress' son, as Crown Prince

to set the record straight.

When you deal with the devils,

you have to be a devil too.

Only then will you stand a chance to win.

Pass on my decree.

To stabilize the foundation of the state,

I will choose Li Xin as the Crown Prince.

Let's go back.

Let's go.

All the officials are waiting--

They are all waiting for you.

Waiting for your decision.

You have tons of memorials to review.

Look at you right now.

Are you going to disregard

the state's affairs just for a woman?

Have you forgotten all of your duties?

Have you forgotten who you are?

Who am I?

You're the Emperor.

No.

I'm Li Chuan.

Li Chuan.

I'm Li Chuan!

That time, I thought

Chuan changed.

The noble families also thought

that Li Chuan had made compromises.

But in reality,

Li Chuan turned into a tyrannical ruler after that.

He was emotionally unstable and imposed heavy taxes.

He favored the commoners and killed the nobles randomly.

He didn't care about the ongoing war,

the people, and justice.

He just wanted to crush the noble families.

In those years, the Great Xia faced chaos, with wars raging everywhere.

He favored the commoners and killed the noble families randomly.

Many officials from humble backgrounds turned out to be corrupt and greedy.

No one lived in peace.

Our family tried everything we could

to persuade the new ruler and comfort the people.

We spent most of our wealth to support disaster relief,

using up all our troops and food.

He supported Qin Lin's troops with tax money.

He purposely approached Shangguan Ya

to deceive people

that he adored Li Xin.

But in reality,

he was using Shangguan Ya as his protective charm.

And that time,

he was using the local troops

to deplete the forces of the Shangguans.

In the end, it turned out

that those were all parts of Li Chuan's plot.

He wanted to suppress the noble families

through rebellions.

Through my investigation,

I also found who killed Qin Zhenzhen.

It's actually him.

Your Majesty.

What are you planning to do?

Why did His Majesty summon us here?

I have no idea too.

-Aunt. -Ya?

Aunt, did you summon us here?

This is…

This is bad! Run!

Run!

Chuan, what are you doing?

How did Qin Zhenzhen die?

Whose son is he?

Your Majesty, I don't know what you're talking about.

Your Majesty, he is your son.

Chuan, your offspring concerns the foundation of the state.

You shouldn't talk nonsense without any proof.

You won't tell me the truth, right?

Father!

Father!

If you want to kill them,

then kill me first!

Tell me!

Whose son is he?

He's your son!

Your Majesty, if you don't believe me,

why don't we took a blood test?

Fine.

You!

Your Majesty.

Do you have anything else to say?

You promised me.

You said you wouldn't

dethrone me as long as you're the Emperor.

I'm somewhat responsible

for Qin Zhenzhen's death too.

If I trade my life…

for Ya and Xin.

Will you be happy?

Why did you kill her?

For Shangguan family's sake.

All right.

I'll grant you your wish.

Aunt!

Aunt!

Father!

Father!

Father!

Why?

Li Chuan, why did you have to do this?

I will go on another expedition to the North.

Prepare for it.

Your Majesty, you don't have to go!

Your Majesty.

Our country has been on expeditions for years.

The treasury is drained.

We can't afford such expenditures.

We can't afford it?

We don't really have money?

But they didn't understand.

The expedition wasn't the true goal at all.

His Majesty merely wanted to use their military power

to suffocate the noble families.

In the eighth year of the Dexu Era,

Li Chuan gathered a great number of forces.

He wanted to slander Prince Su for plotting a rebellion.

He asked our family to send our troops and suppress the rebellion.

Prince Su intends to plot a rebellion.

After thinking about it,

I realize only your family can be trusted.

Are you willing to send your troops for me?

His Majesty wanted to get rid of Prince Su for so long.

But he wants us to do the dirty work for him.

Father, Rongqing.

Just sacrifice me.

You knew that those were all excuses.

Even so, you still stood up for Prince Su.

I was once Prince Su's tutor.

I swear to my life

that Prince Su has no intention to betray you.

Swear on your life?

All right. I'll grant you your wish.

He convicted you of conspiring with enemies.

Our whole clan was arrested.

He wanted to execute our entire clan.

You!

The Su family is rebellious and immoral, wanting to rebel.

They're conspiring with Prince Su.

Pass my decree.

The entire Su family

will be executed.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty, I'm innocent!

Your Majesty!

Our entire family was executed?

What we face today is what you will face tomorrow!

That time,

I had no idea that you had an affair with Shangguan Ya.

It's just unfair for us.

Princess Pingyue

knew that our family was humiliated.

She wanted to rescue us.

Your Majesty, the Su family

has been a renowned clan for a century

and contributed to the foundation of the state.

If you execute their entire clan,

the people will be utterly disappointed.

Your Majesty, as the Princess Royal, I beg you

to spare the Su family.

Well.

They will be spared from execution,

but they will be punished.

Castrate Su Rongqing.

Your Majesty.

Su Ronghua took his own life with this jade hairpin.

Ronghua!

He still needs to be castrated.

What do you think

about this hairpin?

It looks nice.

But it looks like

its been used.

I wonder

who's the owner of that hairpin.

I got this from Su Ronghua.

I heard that you two were very close.

So, I was thinking

to give it you as a token.

But he's quite brave too.

He could have survived if he endured the castration.

But he used this hairpin

to stab his own neck instead.

He's dead.

He's dead!

That time, I missed you very much, Your Highness.

You were like the only light in the entire palace.

All lights will be out eventually.

Only you

could move forward with courage forever.

Due to the different wars,

the people had suffered more than enough.

And the noble families were becoming impatient.

As of my knowledge,

no less than 20 noble families

wanted to start a rebellion.

During those eight years, the commoners rose from their ranks

while the noble families fell from grace.

They were already a spent force.

He couldn't just corner all of them.

Or they'd perish together.

That's why he chose to cultivate immortality

and make you the Regent Princess Royal,

supervising the state on his behalf.

It's his way of telling the noble families

that he's on truce,

so they can have peace.

That's why, he couldn't do anything to Shangguan Ya

even if he wanted to.

He's not brave enough.

He could only wait for a perfect opportunity before he acted.

I was the head of the commoners

while you represented the noble families.

We balanced each other out and formed an alliance.

The next decade in the Great Xia

was spent to heal all those wounds,

and finally leading in a new golden era.

However, a decade…

A decade was too long.

The decade after that

was so long that everything had changed.

It was that long that they actually forgot what it really looked like.

They can no longer see the path ahead.

They also forgot their way home.

The fate has started changing once again.

It was another decisive moment.

Your Highness.

Now you know all the past,

will you still abandon

the Crown Prince?

Ronghua.

The story is over.

Will you still stop me…

from stopping the Crown Prince?

I understand what you're saying.

Yes.

He does have his own difficulties.

But I can't just forgive him

for what he did.

When it comes to suffering,

everyone is the same.

I understand.

Tomorrow,

We will visit the Crown Prince.

Then, we will see Su Rongqing.

Are…

Will you be alright if I work with Sun Rongqing?

Whatever you want to do,

I will follow.

It's fine as long as you understand

what you truly wanted

and don't regret your decision.

Rongqing.

Is that dream

true or not?

I've tested it.

It's true.

Was that the reason

why you worked with Consort Rou?

To prevent the Crown Prince from ascending the throne?

Yes.

If you kill the Crown Prince,

you're destined to be Princess Pingyue's foe.

Have you given up on Princess Pingyue?

That's right.

Don't you think it's a shame?

Why don't you try and change it?

Change it?

Ronghua.

How can I change it?

Did our family let down Li Chuan?

Or do we have that influence and power?

As a ruler, Li Chuan

only had wild ambitions.

He's complete ignorant.

He acted out recklessly, started wars,

burdened the people, damaged the economy,

made reforms without proper planning, and suppressed the noble families.

He favored the commoners and corrupt officials

and disregarded the people of Great Xia.

Do you think his tricks weren't absurd enough?

When he assumed the throne,

the population of Great Xia was about 90 million.

After eight years,

only eight years,

the population is less than 70 million.

Those 20 million people…

Even if I want to change it, where should I begin?

That was what his attitude back then.

He just looked ethical on the surface.

Ronghua.

I do love Princess Pingyue.

However, I have my own boundaries.

Rongqing.

We don't need to justify ourselves so pretentiously.

We just have to admit it.

The noble families are the scars of the Great Xia.

So Ronghua…

Do you still want to help Li Chuan ascend the throne?

That's it?

I'm not helping anyone.

Rongqing, rest well.

I'll discuss this with Father.

Can you not tell him about this?

I'm still wounded.

I'm worried that Father might get mad.

I might not be able to endure his punishment.

Don't worry.

Just rest and heal.

Take care of yourself.

Zhenzhen.

Lin, how are you?

Follow me. Let's talk over here.

All right.

Lin, I've been asking for your whereabouts

ever since I escaped from the military camp.

They didn't find your body.

I knew

that you were still alive.

Sorry for making you worried.

I've been hiding here

as I am wounded.

Lin, I bring some ointment.

Your wound will heal faster

if you use this.

What are you going to do now?

Our foundation is in the Northwest.

We have to regain control over the military forces.

You dare to return?

You're pretty careless, aren't you?

Were you so certain

that I am already dead?

You shouldn't have betrayed yourself.

-Retrieve the tiger tally. -Yes.

I have the tiger tally! Warriors, heed my order!

I've killed the traitor, Cui Qinghe!

Those who wants to follow me, come out!

Those who not,

you may leave.

I won't make things difficult for you.

-Well… -This…

General Qin.

You've taken great care of us.

General Qin, all of us

know you so well.

General Qin, we're going to follow you!

General Qin, we're going to follow you!

Your Highness, we received a news from the palace.

They say that Prince Su is no longer in critical condition

and is fine now.

If that's the case,

I think no later than tonight,

His Majesty will make his move.

Should we visit the Crown Prince now?

If we don't go now,

we might not have the chance do it too.

You already said,

I don't think I have a choice.

Su Ronghua.

Su Rongqing lost his mind earlier.

He formed an alliance with Consort Rou

and decided to support Prince Su.

He framed Pei Wenxuan by using Hongde.

The military provisions, the imperial exam fraud,

and the assassination, he was involved in all of them.

He won't allow the Crown Prince to ascend the throne.

And now, the Crown Prince will no longer tolerate him.

At first,

I thought His Majesty was the only major obstacle

between us.

I thought we could be together

once the Crown Prince ascended the throne.

Actually, you were right.

I make some conclusions too.

But later, I slowly realized

that Su Rongqing couldn't tolerate the Crown Prince.

And you

wouldn't turn your back on Su Rongqing.

I once asked you

if you're willing to be the master of the Su family.

Now,

I'll ask you again.

Are you willing to do it?

I guess you don't want to.

The Crown Prince is the foundation of the Shangguan family.

It's impossible for me to give up on the Crown Prince.

I can't betray my family either.

That's why, you see,

our relationship will only

end in dilemma.

Ronghua.

Let's me say this to you one more time.

I'm very grateful to you.

Thanks for showing me

that we can still be true to ourselves

even though we're descendants of noble families.

But I'm sorry.

In my life…

I will never gamble again.

Ronghua.

Let me hug you for the last time.

Su Ronghua!

Leave.

Go and visit some places.

Go and travel the world.

Don't ever come back again!