Original subtitles

♪Flower petals have fallen, piling as high as mortal mercilessness♪

♪Gone with the wind, as if it has never existed♪

♪I ask for more time♪

♪To rewrite our stories♪

♪We travel together in joys and woes♪

♪Blood bathes this entangled destiny♪

♪For the next reunion in the troubled times♪

♪We tread a treacherous path♪

♪To find each other♪

♪Wars and bleakness, the bright moon shines upon the city♪

♪I will offer my bravery♪

♪Fighting relentlessly♪

♪All for no regrets♪

♪In this life-and-death battle, I will not back down♪

♪Withstand enduring time♪

♪Someone at the end of the world never leaves♪

♪I brave the grim haze to be with you once again♪

=Love of Nirvana= (Based on Xiao Lou's novel of the same name)

=Episode 14=

Wei Zhao has killed countless people.

He's ruthless.

Why is he treating this girl in such a special way?

My Lord.

What do you think?

Kill her.

You're not even afraid of Wei Zhao, huh?

He's a commander.

Why would he care about the life of a maid like you?

Why not?

Take him down!

Did you see the clue I left behind?

Yes, I did.

Yifei!

My Lord!

Your Lordship!

I'm Pei Ying of the main family!

You'll be affected

as well if I'm...

Ci,

are you okay?

Are you hurt?

I'm fine.

Your Lordship.

Come.

We've already arrested them.

Take them away.

They shall await judgment.

Yes, Your Lordship.

Take them away.

Get up!

Wait.

Commander Wei, thank you for the gift.

Miss Jiang,

it's good as long as you're fine.

A gift?

Your Lordship, did you forget?

Commander Wei lost to me when we engaged each other

in a grass duel.

He said he owed me a gift.

After giving it some thought,

I think the pass for Dawn Guards was the coolest gift ever.

I could go wherever I like with it.

I didn't handle the matter properly.

That's why Miss Jiang

was in danger.

Sanlang, you don't need to take this to heart.

But I'm curious about something,

Sanlang, how did you know how to use vinegar

to find the clues that Ci had left behind?

That's how the Dawn Guards track down clues.

It's confidential.

Please pardon me as I cannot share it with you.

I was presumptuous.

Have you found any clues related to the eight major rice stores?

I'm ashamed.

I'm afraid the eight major rice stores

are related to the Pei Clan.

Shaojun, what do you plan to do, then?

I'm afraid I have to check the ledgers of the rice stores

in order to solve the arms case.

If it's truly related to the Pei Clan,

I will not spare them.

Since we have all the evidence and witnesses,

why don't we depart for

Nanling's Provincial Governor's office?

Complications might arise if we delay it.

I have the same intention.

But it's inconvenient for me to show up.

Sanlang, you need to take charge of the situation.

I'm willing to serve.

Ci,

go back and rest.

I'll join you guys.

The court is not a place you should go.

Tong Min will send you to the Changfeng Estate.

I'll hire a physician

to give you a diagnosis.

But I'm also one of the witnesses.

They're cunning and sly.

I'm afraid they'll be hard to deal with.

The more witnesses we have the better.

Why don't we let Miss Jiang

join us?

(Nanling Provincial Governor's Office)

Commander,

we've audited the accounts

of Nanling Foundry Bureau.

All right.

Someone!

Commander,

the accounts of eight major rice stores are here.

The officials from Qingkang have already audited them.

In the past two months,

the stores have each loaned out money in various sums.

The total sum was four million taels.

Present the evidence.

What a coincidence.

In the past two months, the Foundry Bureau here

also had a significant increase in their inventory.

Three months ago,

they had a deficit of over three million taels.

Now, they have an extra several hundred thousand in surplus.

The four million taels contributed by the eight major rice stores

and the deficit of the Foundry Bureau, which was over three million taels,

filled up each other's gaps

within the past two months.

Official He,

can you explain yourself?

It's just a coincidence.

Was it truly a coincidence?

Or did the Foundry Bureau receive four million taels

by borrowing money from the stores?

Magistrate Liu.

Yes.

Is everything as Commander Wei had said?

This...

You have to ask Official Pei Zilian for this.

He's the one in charge of the Foundry Bureau's accounts.

I know nothing

about this.

Magistrate Zhou.

Did the Foundry Bureau

borrow four million taels

from the eight major rice stores?

My Lord,

Manager Pei Chen was in charge

of all the loans.

I know nothing about this.

Where are Official Pei

and Manager Pei?

Today's their rest day.

They're not in their residences.

Such nonsense!

I already notified

all of the officials to be on standby at this very court.

Why aren't they here?

This has always been the case.

Commander Wei,

I'll send my men

to bring them here immediately.

Official He,

I'll ask you one last time.

How exactly did that batch

of inferior weapons come about?

Our blacksmiths weren't skillful enough.

I'm sure it was their oversight.

As for the rest,

I have no idea.

If so, Official He, do you know about the tragic conditions

of the starving people at the ruined temple in the west?

Yifei!

Yes, My Lord.

Don't be scared.

Just tell us

what you told me

when you were at the temple.

Yes, My Lord.

Due to a serious illness,

Madam chased me out of Zuihong Pleasure House.

I had no way to make a living.

Therefore, I followed the people of Nanling

to the lakeside to harvest wild rice.

But some days ago,

several burly men appeared out of nowhere.

They captured and kept us inside the ruined temple.

You said you recognize their leader.

Is that true?

That's right.

They call him Zhao Da.

He's the son of He Zhenwen,

the provincial governor of Nanling.

He's also one of He Yonglin's thugs.

They frequent Zuihong Pleasure House all year long.

I've once

served them before.

Commander Wei.

I'm afraid you don't understand the situation.

Those people

aren't starving beggars.

They're bandits who commit all kinds of atrocious deeds.

I kept them in the ruined temple

to prevent them from entering the main city

so that the people wouldn't be harassed.

They couldn't even walk straight due to hunger.

How could they commit any atrocious deeds?

But you,

you twisted the facts.

I saw you guys

killing innocent civilians

just to get rid of all evidence.

Yifei!

Kneel.

Kneel!

Who was your mastermind?

I...

It was Official He.

You!

Shaojun, what do you think?

This man

is Pei Ying, the housekeeper

of the main Pei Clan.

How dare you betray your own clan?

I'm only here to seek the truth.

Forget about my clan members.

I'll resign from my post

without any hesitation

if I go against the law myself.

Shaojun, you're upholding justice at the cost of kinship.

You're our role model indeed.

Official He,

what else do you have to say for yourself?

Since it has come to this,

there's no point in hiding this any longer.

Commander Wei,

Lord Pei,

you guys have no idea.

Forget about Nanling's eight major rice stores

and the Foundry Bureau.

Everything in Nanling

belongs to the Pei Clan.

He Zhenwen!

Official He, are you saying

that the main culprit behind the arms case is the Pei Clan?

The Pei Clan has been

(secretly controlling all the industries in Nanling)

(No one dared to oppose them.)

(Yifeng Fabric Store)

(Nanling Foundry Bureau)

(is just a shadow of its glorious self as the imperial foundry.)

(In reality,)

(it has long been eroded to the point of being just an empty shell.)

(If the submission date is delayed,)

(everyone has to be executed for it.)

(I had no choice)

(but to seek help.)

(Clan Leader Pei.)

(Clan Leader Pei)

(suggested substituting quality weapons)

(with inferior ones.)

He told us to mix the inferior ones with the quality ones.

That's utter nonsense!

After the incident came to light,

(the Pei Clan urgently transferred money from the rice stores)

(for circulation purposes.)

(They assigned me)

(to come up with an excuse)

(and push the blame)

(on all of those)

innocent blacksmiths.

The eight major rice stores

had to hand 500,000 taels each.

Naturally, they don't have enough to purchase new rice.

The rice stores in the city won't be able to sell new rice.

That's a huge flaw.

It'll surely attract our attention.

Therefore,

they transferred old rice from various large warehouses

to cover up the deception.

As long as they can last until

our departure,

the four million taels

will be returned to the eight major rice stores.

This way,

everyone has a happy ending.

But the poor

weren't willing to pay the price of new rice for old rice.

Therefore, they harvested wild rice in the wilderness.

The number of starving people in the city was increasing.

There wasn't enough wild rice for all of them.

Therefore, you guys imprisoned them

and got rid of them.

Official He, did you know

that a single grain of rice

could affect the entire Nanling?

I am

weak-willed and inefficient.

I failed in my duties.

I couldn't fend off the nobles and their corruption.

It was my negligence.

I'm willing

to face punishment.

We're willing to be punished together with Official He.

Are you guys

trying to threaten me right now?

The Pei Clan had bullied us for many years.

We were only able to survive all thanks to Official He.

Shaojun, what do you think?

I shall investigate

my clan thoroughly.

If my clan is indeed involved,

I'll surely report this to His Majesty.

I will never spare them.

Your Lordship.

Commander Wei.

Ci,

are you okay?

Cui.

Can you give this lady a diagnosis?

I'm afraid it's not looking too well.

The sexually transmitted disease she had

had already damaged her internal organs.

I'll try my best to treat her.

But there are plenty of people like her among the starving civilians.

Your Lordship,

can we please help them out?

Your Lordship.

Clan Leader Pei has invited you to his residence.

This lady is pitiful indeed.

Ci,

bring her to our residence.

All right.

What about those at the ruined temple, then?

We can talk about the rest later.

I'm truly ashamed

of what happened today.

Sanlang, here's my promise.

I'll surely give you

an answer in three days.

Shaojun,

I trust you.

I have other affairs to attend to.

Ziming, please send them back to the Changfeng Estate.

Let's go.

Be careful.

Come.

Come.

Let's go.

Regarding the starving civilians

whom Ci had mentioned,

remember to provide assistance to them.

Yes, Your Lordship.

Now, it's a case of the Pei Clan's corruption.

Your Lordship, how do you plan to deal with this situation?

His Majesty

is worried about the arms case

because there are issues with the weapons his soldiers are using.

He's afraid that someone might stage a rebellion.

Now, if the case is just a simple case of corruption,

His Majesty will dispel his doubts

instead.

I don't understand.

Corrupt individuals

still stand a chance to survive.

But those who rebel

have no chance of survival.

Your Lordship, how do you plan to deal with this situation?

Since they've committed such mistakes,

there's no longer any reason to defend them.

Since they always coveted my position,

tonight,

I'll let them fight for it.

Go and prepare some high-quality liquor.

Yes, Your Lordship.

He handled the matter inappropriately.

My dear relatives and kin, please have a seat.

- Yan, please have a seat. - Have a seat.

Uncle.

Have a seat.

Uncle.

An Cheng.

You may leave for now.

Yan, you secretly investigated our rice stores

and exposed Pei Ying's identity in public.

That's an act of betrayal.

Uncle, you see, when you're in my position,

there are many things that you have no say about.

Well,

I know that I've let you guys down.

That's why I've prepared some excellent liquor

as an apology.

Uncle.

If so...

Yan.

I'm only in charge of the loans.

Uncle Zilian is the one who has control

over the allocation of the treasury funds.

Pei Chen,

how dare you backstab me?

Shut up.

Lord Pei

has his own judgment.

However,

Yan, how do you intend to deal with this situation?

You should give us

a clear indication.

Everyone,

please calm down.

Please accept a toast from me as an apology.

As for the rest,

we may discuss them later.

Okay.

Leave.

Father,

have we truly

weathered the storm?

As long as the Nanling arms case is concluded with

the Pei Clan's embezzlement as the verdict.

Cui.

She's already asleep.

Tomorrow,

I'll tell my attendant to fetch this prescription.

Tonight,

I'll make more

medicinal ointment for her.

There should be no problem in preserving her life.

As for the other sick civilians,

I'll surely do my best to treat them as well.

Cui, thank you so much.

Honeysuckle,

Dictamni Cortex,

soapberry,

and Chinese Angelica?

I've seen these herbs before.

I even tried them before.

However,

before this,

I thought they were the same as typical flowers like azalea.

I never expected them to be vital in saving one's life.

Ci,

you have the potential to be a physician.

Cui, I'll read all the books

you lent to me.

Cui,

can you take me with you when you treat

the starving civilians next time?

I can memorize these prescriptions.

Okay.

Miss Jiang, you just escaped from the jaws of death.

You came to my quarters in the middle of the night

instead of sleeping.

Are you here to peek at my body?

Will you allow me to do so, then?

You were injured when you jumped into the well to save me.

You still love to put on a tough front, don't you?

I asked Cui for these ointments.

They're meant for bruises and sprains.

Thank you.

What?

Don't tell me you want me to apply it for you.

Sure.

Miss Jiang, I'll leave this to you.

♪Pluck a red bean, cherish you♪

♪Deep within♪

♪A flower of affection blooms without fading♪

♪Forever in love♪

♪Fold a kite, let it fly with the wind♪

♪Into sweet dreams♪

♪The beautiful moments we shared♪

♪Last through time♪

♪My love sees♪

♪The sun rising and the moon setting♪

♪Your face stays vivid in my mind♪

♪Two hearts♪

♪Bound to each other♪

♪Like flowing water, love and hate continue♪

♪I only wish for♪

♪Your unwavering heart♪

♪You are still there when I turn back♪

♪As passionate as we first met♪

♪I hold your hands through eternity♪

♪Time cannot separate us♪

♪Our longings go on♪

Are you asleep?

♪Pluck a red bean♪

♪Cherish you. Deep within♪

♪A flower of affection blooms♪

It's obvious that he has a handsome face.

How did he end up getting such a vicious heart?

♪The beautiful moments we shared last through time♪

♪We never leave each other♪

♪My love sees♪

♪The sun rising and the moon setting♪

♪Your face stays vivid in my mind♪

♪Two hearts♪

♪Bound to each other♪

♪Like flowing water, love and hate continue♪

♪I only wish for♪

♪Your unwavering heart♪

♪You are still there when I turn back♪

♪As passionate as we first met♪

♪I hold your hands through eternity♪

♪Time cannot separate us♪

So, Miss Jiang,

you already made up your mind

to flirt with me

while using the ointment as your excuse, huh?

You can enjoy being a smart alec for now.

Once this case is over

and justice is upheld for the starving civilians,

I'll leave immediately

and stay away from you guys.

Where are you going?

I'm going to wash my hands.

You want to leave?

I can leave after you return

the clay cat to me.

Shameless Cat is turning into a messy cat.

I never expected the mighty commander

to be this docile sometimes.

Let me ask you something.

Is the case with the Foundry Bureau

considered closed?

That's right.

What about the starving civilians, then?

Will no one uphold justice for them?

To all parties,

they're just pawns

that can be manipulated.

That means

they're the bait they use to bring attention to the Pei Clan.

Since they're just baits,

who would care about them?

What's wrong?

Are you disappointed that Pei Yan

isn't helping them out?

I have no right to be generous on other people's behalf.

And, my disappointment has nothing to do with him either.

However,

we must do our best in everything we do.

Uncle,

let me offer you a toast.

It was tough when I first took over

the Changfeng Guards.

Second Uncle, I want to thank you

for allocating 300 military families under you to my name.

You even provided me with 100 tans of food supplies.

Uncle,

I never forgot about your kindness.

Fourth Uncle,

many of your men served in the military as well.

Half of them were sacrificed

during the battle of Yongzhou.

Fourth Uncle,

I've let you down.

The old clan leader

spoke up for me.

He said they died

for a noble cause.

Uncle.

You're the reason

the Pei Clan are able to reach where they are.

Let me

offer you another toast.

All right.

Yan?

Father.

Father.

I've let you down.

I failed to defend my position

as the clan leader.

I'm afraid the Changfeng Guards will...

Why do you say so?

They brought up the arms case on purpose

and took action against you all

in order to force me

to relinquish the power in my hands.

Right now, my position

is no longer stable.

I'm afraid His Majesty

will back another member of the Pei Clan

to replace me

and take charge of the Pei Clan

and the Changfeng Guards.

Father.

I've let you down.

I've let the Pei Clan down.

Stop right there!

How could you guys leave

before your elders?

I'm a young man.

Naturally, I walk and leave faster.

Hey,

do you think they don't have the goods on you?

Clan Leader Pei.

I'll look after His Lordship.

Your Lordship.

Seems like

they'll accuse and report each other's crime

by tomorrow.

Not many people in the world

can withstand the temptation of power.

You...

You...

The accounts don't add up!

This is...

(Nanling Provincial Governor's Office)

(Nanling Provincial Governor's Office)

(Nanling Provincial Governor's Office)

Commander,

the Pei Clan had reported each other's crimes.

This book contains all of their crimes.

Aside from extorting the people and acting tyrannically,

there were also some unsolved cases.

My Lord, please take a look.

Shaojun.

This is heavy indeed.

The mistakes of my clan members

are too numerous to list.

I'm ashamed of myself.

Shaojun, you don't need to be ashamed.

It only took you one night

to convince your clan to sacrifice

their ties for the greater good.

It is already a great act of justice.

However,

Shaojun, I'm curious

as to how you made it work.

I appealed to their emotions

and enlightened them with reason.

My clan has occupied a high position for many years.

They do make mistakes from time to time.

They can only survive

if they reflect upon their actions.

I'm afraid the legacy of

the Pei Clan of Nanling will fade in the future.

All lands under Heaven belong to the emperor.

The Pei Clan of Nanling exists

to share His Majesty's burden with him.

That is the sole reason

for our existence.

Shaojun, you're loyal indeed.

In the future, I'll surely tell His Majesty

about your loyal deeds.

(Changfeng Estate)

Pei Yan!

Who do you guys think you are?

How dare you stop me?

Stand back.

Uncle, it's my honor for you to be here.

Please come inside and have some tea.

Uncle, what do you mean by this?

What do I mean by this?

Seems like

you have forgotten about the Pei Clan's teachings completely.

You are to be filial to your uncles

and protect your own clan.

But you?

You drove a wedge between the clan members

and instigated them to turn against each other.

You...

What are you up to?

I truly regret my actions.

I shouldn't have taken you and your mother in back then!

Uncle,

I never forgot about your kindness.

Send the clan leader back to his residence.

The members of the Pei Clan are not to leave

their residence before the official notice

from the Ministry of Justice is posted.

Yes, Your Lordship.

Pei Yan!

Pei Yan!

You've landed the Pei Clan in huge trouble!

How can you face our ancestors?

There are numerous accounts of the Pei Clan's crimes.

If we send all of them back to Qingkang,

Pei Yan will definitely face severe consequences.

Pei Yan would never engage in a losing deal.

It may seem like he's harming himself,

but in reality, it's beneficial to him.

Can you please explain that?

Pei Yan got rid of his kin

using their corruption as an excuse.

He already got rid of his enemies

without needing to make an appearance.

He also dispelled the doubts His Majesty had

toward the Pei Clan due to their power.

He'll be reinstated

sooner or later.

He's cunning and devious indeed.

How bold must the Pei Clan be

to embezzle the funds meant for the imperial weapons

and commit such a heinous crime?

I'm afraid corruption

isn't the only thing involved in the arms case.

♪Pluck a red bean, cherish you♪

♪Deep within♪

♪A flower of affection blooms without fading♪

♪Forever in love♪

♪Fold a kite, let it fly with the wind♪

♪Into sweet dreams♪

♪The beautiful moments we shared last through time♪

♪We never leave each other♪

♪My love sees the sun rising and the moon setting♪

♪Your face stays vivid in my mind♪

♪Two hearts bound to each other♪

♪Like flowing water, love and hate continue♪

♪I only wish for your unwavering heart♪

♪You are still there when I turn back♪

♪As passionate as we first met, I hold your hands through eternity♪

♪Time cannot separate us♪

♪Our longings go on♪

♪My love sees the sun rising and the moon setting♪

♪Your face stays vivid in my mind♪

♪Two hearts bound to each other♪

♪Like flowing water, love and hate continue♪

♪I only wish for your unwavering heart♪

♪You are still there when I turn back♪

♪As passionate as we first met, I hold your hands through eternity♪

♪Time cannot separate us♪

♪Our longings go on♪