Original subtitles

[English subtitles are available]

[A Journey To Love]

[Episode 28]

My lord.

What did His Majesty say?

I've mentioned Tao Wei,

but he didn't react.

Forget it.

It's just a retired official.

Like how he probably can't remember

that there's still the assassin Left Emissary Ren Xin

from Scarlet Guards who has never failed,

whom was adored by the late empress,

and who even risked her life for her

by venturing into Yaoyue Pavilion alone.

Was it really Left Emissary Ren who took action this time?

Although I have no evidence,

since I found out that First Prince, Duke Wang,

and Tao Wei died,

I already had the answer in my heart.

Apart from her,

who else would remember

the late Empress who has passed away for five years?

Apart from her,

who else would have such guts

and remarkable methods?

Commander Deng, please wait up.

Commander Deng, His Majesty has an oral order.

His Majesty's oral order.

Scarlet Guards failed to serve His Majesty well.

Choose two people each from the Red, Scarlet, and Purple Emissaries,

and fourteen guards.

Today at 5 p.m.,

they'll face the death penalty outside the south gate of the palace.

That's all.

Since His Majesty has decreed,

it's unfair to others

no matter who I choose.

Why don't we leave it up to fate?

Life and death are predestined.

Red means you live, and black means you die.

I'll do it.

Why?

Why me?

Why?

My lord.

My lord.

I'm only 21, my lord.

My lord, I don't want to die.

My lord. My lord.

Take those who drew the black lots away.

Take them away.

My lord. My lord.

Take them away.

I don't want to die.

I don't want to die, my lord.

My lord! My lord!

My lord, I don't want to die.

My lord! My lord! My lord!

My lord.

My lord.

Boss Ning.

Ruyi.

Emperor of An wants to

execute Scarlet Guards at the city gate without reason.

My lord.

It's almost time.

Ruyi.

I have an idea.

It's time!

Wait.

A kind man asked me to tell you

that when you're executing the death penalty,

by placing the bowstring one finger's length below the cartilage and applying force,

70% of them may survive.

Wait a minute!

My lord.

I'll carry out the execution myself.

Place the bowstring one finger's length below the cartilage.

Ready!

Start!

Let's go.

[Siyi Pavilion]

I've been waiting for you.

I know you're upset.

But if you want to stay quietly,

I'll stay with you quietly.

If you want to talk to someone,

I'll listen to you attentively.

For the first time,

I feel like I'm terrible.

I'm actually greatly inferior to Meiniang.

Once she got free,

she gave her all

and used her Jinsha Pavilion

to help her former colleagues.

As for me,

though I hate Scarlet Guards' system

of dehumanizing women,

I

haven't done anything for them

when I even became the Left Emissary.

Even today,

witnessing them being wrongly killed by the emperor of An,

I still couldn't do anything.

But you said

that you'd definitely make him pay.

Yes, I will.

But...

But I still haven't found the right time

to take action.

That's why I can only wait.

I want to help the guards more

and make up for

what I should have done.

But after thinking for a long time,

I still can't think of anything.

No hurry. Let's take our time.

Or we can ask Jin Meiniang directly.

She's been in contact with Scarlet Guards for the past few years.

She knows what they need.

Then, I'll do it with you.

I'll just cry for a while.

Cry if you want.

I'll always be here for you.

How do you know

that one might survive

when the bowstring is placed one finger's length below the cartilage?

The Liudao Hall's Human Path

used to be in charge of executing officials.

Over the years,

I'd surely have acquired some unknown secrets.

Thank you

for saving 70% of Scarlet Guards today.

Come, sit for a while.

Are you feeling better?

That's good.

By the way, what were you doing just now?

Just now,

the eunuch came to deliver an edict.

It said that King of An

raised the ransom to 130,000 taels of gold.

His son has died, yet he's still so greedy.

Who would have thought?

Ying and Mr. Du have sent letters back to Wu Capital.

But the Wu treasury is empty now.

It's impossible

for Zhang Song to give us another 30,000 taels.

So we decided not to pay

and invade the pagoda to save them instead.

For this period of time, we also need Ying

to visit the various officials

and pretend like

she's trying to make the King of An withdraw his order,

so that they'd let their guards down.

It was so chaotic at Scarlet Guards today.

Is Yong'an Pagoda's defense weakened?

On the contrary, it's tighter.

Think about it.

So many people died.

Whether it's the guards outside the pagoda

or Scarlet Guards,

no one dares to let down their guards.

Today,

they even lit all the candles in the pagoda

and are patrolling around the pagoda throughout the night.

Then wouldn't your emperor of Wu

be unable to sleep all night?

The emperor of An will suspect us.

But he couldn't find any evidence,

so he had to come up with this method of violent interrogation

to torture people.

But what worries me the most now

is that Ying will visit the pagoda tomorrow.

I'm afraid

he'd probably torture Ying.

[An Capital, Yong'an Pagoda]

Ying.

Can you take me away from here?

I can't stay here for even a day.

Right now, immediately.

Can you take me out of here right away?

Ying.

Your Majesty, please calm down.

I won't get up.

If you don't take me away, I won't get up.

These days,

I've been mediating things with the An officials.

But the emperor of An suddenly raised the ransom

to 130,000 taels of gold.

Then go get the money.

Am I not worth

a mere 130,000 taels of gold?

Ying.

I just want to leave here and return to Wu Capital.

The war

has exhausted all of Wu's national power.

It’s not easy to raise another 30,000 taels of gold.

Please bear with it for a while more.

I've been trying my best to...

Check over there.

Yes.

Okay, let's go.

Mr. Ning is making arrangements

to rescue you out of the pagoda.

When?

We need to wait for the right time.

Didn't I

already give you the puzzle box?

By then, follow Liudao Hall's order

and that will do.

Wait?

Again?

When will the waiting end?

You... right now,

you keep mentioning Mr. Ning.

You keep mentioning Mr. Ning.

You two clearly conspired to lie to me.

Deceiving the emperor

is unforgivable, you know?

Then please punish me now.

Find another capable official to save you.

How dare you be rude to me?

I just want you to realize the reality.

It's not me or Mr. Ning who've caused you

to end up in this plight,

but yourself.

I'll kill you now.

Too bad you can't kill me.

This is highly poisonous.

Before you strangle me,

I just need to use a little strength...

Fine.

Go back and tell Ning Yuanzhou

that if within seven days,

I still can't escape this rotten Yong'an Pagoda,

I'll tell the emperor of An that you're a woman.

I can also present you to the emperor of An

as his palace maid.

What do you think?

Since I can't leave,

we'll stay together.

We'll die together.

Are you crazy?

Yes, I am.

As long as I can leave here alive

and return to Wu Capital,

I can do anything!

Since Your Majesty is crazy,

I have to wake you up.

Ning Yuanzhou?

How did you get up here?

Do you think

we're doing nothing in Siyi Pavilion every day?

If we didn't sincerely want to save you,

why'd we take the risk

to personally inspect the terrain?

The weather is nice today.

Am I right, Scarlet Guards?

Behave yourselves.

Otherwise, don't blame us for being rude.

Step back.

Don't move!

Step back. What are you doing?

What are you doing?

Say it again if you dare.

Back off! Back off!

He pulled out his sword!

How dare he pull out his sword when I didn't even pull out mine?

Step aside.

I think you Scarlet Guards are just trying to make trouble.

Move aside. Don't you dare move.

When I was playing with swords,

you were still babies.

What are you talking about? Are you trying to a stir?

Am I right, Yuan Lu?

Back off! What are you doing?

What do you mean?

Don't move.

Stand still.

I'll keep watch for you.

Have a good talk with His Majesty.

Sit. Let's sit down and talk.

Is what you said true?

I'm not some loyal and righteous person.

I'm even resentful because Your Majesty

was unwilling to avenge my Heaven Path comrades.

But because of that,

I disdain lying.

Good, good.

Now, I only need Your Majesty to remain calm.

I promise I'll ensure you leave the pagoda safely.

No problem.

Official Ning, as long as you keep your promise,

I can forgive your rudeness just now.

Thank you for your benevolence, Your Majesty.

Official Ning, you don’t have to be so courteous.

In fact, I trust you the most.

I absolutely believe

that you wouldn't forge a name clearing edict.

Because before I went on the expedition,

I've already had an agreement with my ministers.

When I leave the capital,

every imperial edict

would have my secret flower seal.

Otherwise,

it'll be regarded as a counterfeit edict and won't be obeyed.

Your Majesty is really thoughtful.

But unfortunately,

if you could've applied this thoughtfulness to how you manage military affairs,

then tens of thousands of Wu soldiers

wouldn't have become wronged souls.

This

is the remnant of the Wu flag

that Chai Ming held onto before he died for you in battle.

The next time you want to go crazy

or throw a tantrum,

you can look at this.

Search your conscience.

Are you worthy?

I should leave now.

But before I leave,

let me give you a piece of advice.

I came here this time

because Prime Minister Zhang forced me to and Her Highness asked me to.

I'm doing it for the country and the brothers,

not for you.

Really?

His Majesty strictly ordered against the leak of First Prince's death.

The Noble Consort finally got the news,

so she asked me to risk my life to report it to you.

Noble Consort also said

that although His Majesty has no evidence,

he vented his anger on Second Prince.

I'm afraid that since Second Prince left for Tianmenguan,

it won't be easy for him to return to the capital this time.

So Her Majesty is rushing to

register Third Prince, whom Palace Maid Jiang gave birth to,

under her name.

I believe it won't take long

before I'll prove myself to you.

Hurry and go get Yue here.

[Official deed]

Yue.

When you meet Marquis Changqing tomorrow,

give him this gift.

You want to give Fengyuan's defensive fortress, troops, and horses

all to him?

This is the most important part of Grandmother's dowry.

When Brother asked you for it several times,

you always refused.

Because only in this way

can we prove our family's sincerity to him.

Also,

from now on,

everything in Shaxi Tribe, including the cavalry slaves,

will be divided into half.

Half to your brother and half to Marquis Changqing.

Because Marquis Changqing

will climb higher than me.

What does that mean?

He has proved himself.

Your aunt just conveyed a message from the palace.

First Prince suddenly died during exile.

And His Majesty thinks

Second Prince did it.

Actually, Li Tongguang did it?

He wants to support Third Prince

and become a minister himself.

This won't do. Even the slightest carelessness in such a matter

could endanger our entire family.

I... I have to

break off the engagement with him immediately.

How about I ruin my face?

Yue!

Father!

Don't be silly at such a time.

I'm not.

I'm more clearheaded than ever.

You think Shaxi Tribe

is more important than your marriage.

I'm very pleased by that.

But since His Majesty granted the marriage,

Shaxi Tribe has been tied to Marquis Changqing.

His Majesty is paranoid and ungrateful.

The two princes are also in trouble.

There will be a bloodbath in the court.

Once Li Tongguang took action,

the two princes

were subdued efficiently at once.

With such methods and scheming,

even the former emperor wouldn't have been able to deal with him.

Your brother is mediocre.

It'll not be easy to maintain success in the future.

For the future of Shaxi Tribe,

I have to take this gamble.

Yue, promise me.

When you meet him to give him the gifts,

you must try to get along with him.

Don't mess around anymore.

You can't beat him.

Okay.

We can give him

the defensive fortress and horses first.

But the troops

have to belong to me.

If you regard this marriage

as a cooperation,

I have to

have something in my hands

to control him.

You're more thoughtful than me.

But when you meet him,

don't use a harsh tone.

Be gentle with your words.

Only in this way

can you live a peaceful life.

Understand?

Everything I do

is for your happiness.

Nonsense!

I said I don't know anything about gold or jade.

I only know this.

Actually, he treats me quite well recently.

Really?

[An Capital, Marquis Changqing's horse riding arena]

Princess, please forgive me.

Scarlet Guards are everywhere in the capital lately.

I'm afraid there's a higher chance of others seeing you travel to meet him.

This horse riding arena is quite quiet.

Lead the way.

Yes.

Your father is generous indeed.

There are thousands of troops.

If I give them all to you at once,

it's inevitable that news would leak out.

So they're left to my care for the time being.

I'll take care of them for you.

Anyway, His Majesty is aware of

my training of the cavalry slaves.

Tell me how you want them to be trained.

Be it tactics, archery,

or attack formations, I've learned them all.

You're a princess.

Why did you learn these?

Why?

Are you the only one allowed to have lofty ambitions?

I've been dissatisfied since I was young.

The first Duke Chu of Shaxi Tribe

was a female general.

But my father and grandpa always think

that the tribe's leader position

can only be inherited by my brother.

I learned these since I was young

so that some day, I can prove

that I'm not inferior to my brother.

I've dealt with your brother before.

You're better than him.

You're actually praising me.

This is really unprecedented.

Why? Are you in a good mood today?

I defeated those who bullied me for over ten years,

planted my trusted aide in the Ministry of Revenue,

and even got such a huge gift from you.

Of course I've to be nice to my rich master.

Snowy Walk!

Why is a black horse called Snowy Walk?

Why not?

Isn't your white horse called Black Cloud?

How do you know my horse is called Black Cloud?

I...

I don't know whose horse is better.

Let's compete.

Sure.

Let's go.

Let's have a fair match today.

Good skills.

I won!

I know you held back in the end.

But even if someone gives way on the battlefield,

a good general won't show mercy.

You make it sound like you've been on the battlefield.

I haven't, but I might in the future.

And I may not necessarily be inferior to you.

Then I wish you

imminent success.

Thank you for your blessing.

Tell me.

How nice would it be if we could always get along like this?

I told you

I'll do my best to treat you with respect.

Please tell Duke Chu

that I thank him for his trust.

I'll be careful with my actions

and not let him down.

Okay.

First Prince's death hasn't been announced in the palace yet.

Bring back the prey I gave you

and tell them you were out hunting.

No one will suspect it.

You're so thoughtful.

Thank you. See you again.

Wait.

And this.

Li Tongguang.

I love this place.

Can I come here often in the future?

You can come anytime if you like.

Your face is as red as this tape.

Don't tell me it's because of Marquis?

No, don't talk nonsense.

But my mother said

that there are no couples without quarrels.

Actually, some relationships

have to be developed gradually.

Look.

He rode horses with you and gave you wild game.

How sweet.

Shut up.

I don't like him.

I just don't want to be his enemy forever.

He already said

we should respect each other for a long time.

Naturally, I can't be indifferent.

Right? Let's go.

Let’s go.

Since the emperor of Wu used his flower seal

to nullify the method of forging the name clearing edict,

we can only invade the pagoda now.

How confident are you of the success?

At most 30%.

The security inside and outside of Yong'an Pagoda

is much stricter than we thought.

There are bells hung on wires all over the pagoda's exterior.

If we try to go up from the outside,

it's hard to avoid touching them.

Besides,

every floor of the pagoda is full of traps.

Last time, Her Highness could go up safely

because they deactivated the traps in advance.

But if outsiders go up there,

it'll be even harder.

At any time, we may touch the wires.

And there are also flying arrows.

Not to mention His Majesty,

even I

have to be very careful to get through it.

There are traps in every floor of the pagoda.

If we use knockout drugs on the Scarlet Guards

in charge of the traps,

will it work?

This might have worked before.

But now,

the defense of the entire pagoda is much stricter than before.

It's just breaking into the pagoda.

If nothing's feasible, let's just break in by force.

We'll lose our lives at most.

Sorry, I was impulsive.

It's okay. If we can't think of a way now,

let's put it aside for now and think about it later.

I've contacted Jin Meiniang

to see if we can bribe some of the Pagoda's Imperial Guards.

Yuan Lu.

Think about it too.

See if you can find something

that can cut thin wires

without triggering the bells.

Shisan.

Continue searching around Yong'an Pagoda

to find the perfect evacuation route.

Okay.

You go with Shisan.

It'd be best to set up more reception spots around the temple.

Understood.

Qian.

Prepare more knockout drugs

in case we need it.

Okay.

Ruyi, I need you to...

I know An Capital better than all of you.

I'll talk to Li Tongguang

to find a safe and efficient evacuation route

from Yong'an Pagoda to the city gate

for everyone.

Good.

What's good about that?

You're so generous.

You're sending Beauty to meet your love rival?

Don't you know of the play called "Careless Negligence in Jingzhou"?

I did hear of a play

called "Jin Meiniang Beats Up the Unfaithful Man".

I can't live anymore.

What are you looking at?

Don't try to persuade me. It's useless to persuade me.

He used to bully me alone.

Now, the two of them are ganging up to bully me.

What's wrong?

You're wrong.

Now, there are three people.

Four people!

And me!

I can't withstand any more!

Shisan and the others knew you were in a bad mood,

so they were fooling around to cheer you up.

Thank them for me.

But I think

you don't look well today.

What's wrong? You didn't sleep well last night?

I've been dreaming of those five Scarlet Guards.

I've killed many people before,

but I've never had nightmares.

I really don't like

how irresolute I've become.

Having compassion doesn't mean being irresolute.

Maybe Scarlet Guards think

compassion is a sin.

Plus, you have a strong personality.

You think assassins

shouldn't have any emotional fluctuations.

But Ruyi,

you're a human, not a puppet.

All these years, you've helped Scarlet Guards

subdue many corrupt officials

and countless tyrannical politicians.

Even if it's for justice,

even if the five people the emperor of An executed yesterday

have nothing to do with you,

they were all living people.

So, as they accumulate over time,

you'll feel more and more burdened.

I'm so burdened that I feel like I can't breathe.

I have a solution.

Let's go.

When I was young, my mother told me

that if I have any regrets or sadness in my heart,

I must write it out.

Then, I'll feel much better.

My guilt towards Scarlet Guards,

my hatred towards the emperor of An,

and not finding out Second Prince’s true identity sooner.

Except these,

I have no other regrets.

Didn't you

tell me that you've always hated your father?

Why don't you write that down too?

My father sold me.

I don't know my last name.

Other than that, there's nothing else.

♫If the world is like a wave♫

♫Drowning the past♫

♫Who will steer the boat with me into the distance♫

♫Look through the world filled with clouds♫

♫The blade's glint hides the tears♫

♫Love is a lie between one's lips♫

♫Searching for normality between life and death for you♫

♫I waited, but I couldn't have♫

♫Two people for eternity♫

♫I waited and I got♫

♫This long journey where one shadow became two♫

♫At the end of the road, it's a dream♫

♫Even if we're not destined, it can't be forgotten♫

What about you? What did you write?

♫I thought I saw through fate♫

♫But when I wake from the dream, I'm still lost♫

The emperor of Wu refusing to write a name clearing edict,

♫Who will drink with me half a lifetime's wind and frost?♫

failing to protect my comrades,

♫Exchange myself for a sliver of light♫

and

not seeing my mother for the last time.

♫If love does exist♫

♫Let's look back in our next life♫

Yuanzhou.

I suddenly figured it out.

If I want to know

what else I can do for Scarlet Guards,

I should personally go look for them.

I'll ask Meiniang to help me

♫The dream lingers for a while♫

to figure out what they want.

♫Teardrops fall onto the robe after the farewell♫

Okay.

♫Have you ever promised♫

But no matter what you do,

♫Two passionate hearts staying together forever♫

I'll always be with you.

♫Who will drink with me half a lifetime's wind and frost?♫

♫Exchange myself for a sliver of light♫

♫If love does exist♫

♫Let's look back in our next life♫