Original subtitles

[Pretty Boy]

[Episode 1]

Dear listeners.

As the saying goes,

a tale

isn't meant for boasting

or exaggeration—

it's meant for telling.

Today, let me tell you

a story about Qing Cai.

Is it Qing Cai (green vegetable)?

It's neither Qing Cai (green vegetable) nor Qin Cai (celery).

It's Qing Cai.

This Qing Cai, as a burly man with a bushy beard,

often punished the ruffians in town.

Where are you going?

Hand over the money.

Give me the money.

Those ruffians

both respected and feared him.

My chest!

You've knocked me silly.

It hurts so much.

I've been telling you all along

that even if you want to be hooligans,

be ones with morals,

aspirations,

and ambition.

But what about you lot?

If I catch you causing trouble again,

I'll strip you naked,

tie ropes to your feet,

and hang you upside down from the beam,

drying you out like cured meat.

That's it. The very sight of you annoys me.

It's the Villain.

The Villain.

Quick, let's go.

Isn't that the Villain himself?

What have I done to you all?

Why are you hiding from me?

Looks like Father was right after all.

You, with your little beard, wander aimlessly

around town every day,

making everyone think you're no good.

Why can't you make things easier

for Mr. Shang Shan and me?

Looks like this mustache needs to go.

Father?

Could something have happened to Father?

There must be an ambush nearby.

I don't see Father anywhere,

which means he's still alive.

Wake up, all of you.

It seems I can only follow these women now

to find out where Father is.

[Mingyi Manor]

[Mingyi Manor]

They're actually from the Mingyi Manor.

Looks like I'll have to sneak in from somewhere else.

I actually ended up back here again.

How did I circle back here again?

Could this place be protected by traps or formations?

Who's there?

Quick, after him!

-Yes. -Yes.

Come quickly!

There's an intruder at Mingyi Manor!

Well, we're all thieves here;

no need to be at each other's throats, right?

Well, I saw you go in just now.

It looked pretty interesting inside.

How about you take me along with you?

We could form an alliance.

Then, let me tell you

a story about this place.

They say this is a thousand-year-old tomb,

and inside is a millennium-old demon.

Every night, it comes out.

What do you want?

If you kill me,

I'm telling you,

I'll come back as a ghost to haunt you.

Why did you scare me?

You... look quite nice... when you smile.

Cut the nonsense.

Give me back my face mask.

Put it here and don't come any closer.

Actually...

your voice is quite pleasant too.

Haven't we found that person yet?

You all, search over there!

Yes.

We can discuss

our next cooperation plan.

This is where we part ways.

Don't say that.

We can exchange our contact information.

Next time, take me inside, okay?

The general has gone too far this time.

He has forced us to recruit disciples from outside.

How about we just kill that bastard general

and end it once and for all?

We've been used by Wang Quan again.

But your move was truly brilliant.

You had Wang Quan send someone to oversee the disciple trials,

letting them fight among themselves.

Dongmei, how could you have failed?

I'm sorry. I was ambushed.

Yinniang, Dongmei has been

so upset over this that she can't eat or sleep.

I think it's because that person was just too cunning.

Indeed.

In terms of martial arts,

Dongmei is on par with me,

which means that the person's martial arts skills

are already at a top-tier level.

Plus, he was familiar with the terrain.

So Dongmei's failure

is understandable.

Boss, Boss, Boss.

I've got some news.

M-M-Mingyi Manor is openly

recruiting disciples now.

This is unexpected.

Yeah,

I heard that Mingyi Manor is all women.

So they're only recruiting female disciples this time,

and the requirements are particularly strict.

Mingyi Manor only recruits female disciples.

If I want to find my father,

I'll have to disguise myself as a woman to sneak in.

Find me someone for makeup.

Why are you staring at me?

Hurry up and do the makeup for me.

Sir, how can I apply women's makeup to you

if you don't shave your beard?

Can't we do it without shaving?

Are you sure?

Look, the Boss shaved his beard.

He looks less intimidating now.

Why did Boss shave his beard?

Are you stupid? If Boss kept his beard,

who wouldn't see he's a man?

So, if the beard's shaved, no one will see he is a man?

Here, take a look.

Wait,

what kind of look is this?

It's not finished yet.

We still need to draw your eyebrows.

Drawing the eyebrows will make it even better.

Look, this is the Mandarin Duck Eyebrows.

This one looks like little earthworms.

It's all the rage.

And this style, the Flying Eyebrows.

No, no, no. None of these are good.

No,

all of this is bad.

Sir,

what kind of makeup do you want then?

How would I know?

What other styles can you do?

Well, women, to please men,

sometimes need to wear special makeup.

Men are always fickle, aren't they?

I want to please men?

Who told you to give me a makeup look to please men?

Please men.

Sir,

do you want me to do your makeup or not?

Yes.

Take another look.

What on earth

did you smear all over my face?

All the girls in our house

like this style.

What house are you from?

The Yihong House.

Yihong House! Yihong House!

Don't you know some normal makeup?

I do.

This woman looks familiar.

There is even a woman who looks so much like a man.

Looks like I won't be exposed.

Today is the first time in the history of our Mingyi Manor

that we are recruiting disciples from outside.

However, our Mingyi Manor

only accepts capable disciples.

Now, each of you

will demonstrate your skills.

Does everyone have to demonstrate?

Yes.

But I came to Mingyi Manor just to learn martial arts.

Learn martial arts?

That can be very tough.

Tougher than cooking or frying dishes?

It's much tougher than that.

Then forget it.

Next.

My name is Hu Jiao,

a maid in the Wang family.

I've learned martial arts to protect my lady.

Go ahead and demonstrate.

My name is Han Aizhen.

I've been learning martial arts from my master since childhood.

I aspire to become a female knight-errant in the martial arts world.

Next.

My name is Gan Pu.

Next.

My name is Gao Yin.

I've been learning from the Divine Doctor since childhood,

skilled in both medicine and poison.

Next.

My name is Qing Cai.

I grew up in a coastal fishing village.

To defend against invasions by Japanese pirates,

everyone in the village has learned martial arts.

You five

are fortunate to become trial disciples of Mingyi Manor.

After training,

you may have the chance to become official disciples.

Next, let me introduce

your training instructors.

First, please, let's welcome Sun Li.

She will be teaching you to dance.

Why do you smell like a man?

Are you born in the Year of the Dog?

How did you know?

Do you know how to read faces?

Read my palm for me.

When will I find my true love?

You've been through many men.

That's right.

Take a closer look for me.

When will I

meet the man of my dreams?

Alright.

I've already revealed too many of heaven's secrets.

I can't say more.

You should think about it yourself from now on.

When will it be my turn?

Did you forget about me?

Oh no, I really did forget about you.

Alright.

Next, let's warmly welcome Liu Yiyi.

My name is Hong Hui.

Hong Hui.

He will teach you how to apply makeup.

Then let me take a look at your makeup.

The mole is nice; well done.

What's wrong with your eyes?

Your ears are nice; well done.

These are my natural ears.

This little girl.

Your nose is nice.

Well done.

Yeah, thank you.

Your eyes are quite big.

Well done.

Strange,

why does your makeup look different from the others?

What's the reason?

It seems like...

there's something extra.

What... could it be?

You also want to have her read your face.

Read face?

You are a heartless man.

B-B-But your heartlessness

comes from caring too much.

Yes, yes, that's right.

I indeed care too much.

You've already found the love of your life.

But you found her in your dreams.

I'm always searching for the love of my life, even in my dreams.

People who care too much are especially vulnerable to getting hurt.

How pitiful.

How lamentable.

It's the first time someone has truly seen into my inner world.

You're amazing.

I've found it.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I got caught in the moment.

How can you be so rude?

How dare you grab a woman's hand!

You're so annoying.

Another teacher has been driven away.

A-A-Are there...

are there more teachers?

Oh no.

I forgot another one.

Next, let me warmly introduce our musical prodigy, Zhang Fang.

Let me warmly introduce our musical prodigy, Zhang Fang.

Stop calling.

This teacher must have run away too.

If he's gone, so be it.

You!

Read my palm too.

Next, let me show you around

the various facilities of Mingyi Manor.

This is the woodshed.

There aren't any monsters in this woodshed, are there?

There will be if you go in.

This is the kitchen.

Let me ask you something.

It's full of leaks.

When we cook, are we eating water or mud?

Don't you wash the pots before cooking?

I don't wanna.

This is the storage room.

Don't go in unless necessary.

It's way too dirty in here.

You can clean it up when you have some free time.

Next, I'm pleased to introduce

the study hall, where you'll

be spending most of your time.

You can look around.

Don't touch anything.

All of our valuable items are here.

All of Mingyi Manor's most valuable assets

are here.

Petty.

These are the facilities

you'll be using during your training.

It's quite fun.

Please handle them with care.

Are we going to learn how to play this drum too?

Yes.

I know; don't touch it.

Everyone, please be careful.

Luckily, I'm agile enough.

Alright.

Here we are.

You'll be living in there.

Well, we're all sleeping together?

Of course.

Our Mingyi Manor is very poor.

We don't have that many rooms for you.

Didn't we just pass many empty rooms?

Why do we have to squeeze into one room?

How many times do I have to say it? Those rooms are dangerous.

Can't we repair them?

We don't have enough people.

How can we women sleep in the same room?

I'm just kidding.

You can go in now.

I'll go in first.

Choose your beds.

You can bring your luggage in later.

Aren't you going?

Can I sleep outside? It's cooler.

Do as you like. Whatever makes you happy.

We've found out.

It was those town hooligans spreading rumors,

causing such a stir in the town.

Someone must be behind this.

That person has started seeking an opening.

I'll keep an eye on those trial disciples.

People from various factions

should be among them.

Otherwise,

those factions wouldn't remain this silent.

Next step,

we need to closely monitor these trial disciples

and wait for their next moves.

Finally, my Jiaoniang

can come out for some fresh air.

Why is there a cat here too?

This is Jiaoniang.

Jiaoniang?

Where does her name come from?

The "jiao" in my name, Hu Jiao, and the "niang" means mother.

You're not saying it's your mother, are you?

Why couldn't it be?

She's even more important to me than my mother.

I heard you're a doctor.

Look, all of these are for my cat.

This one's for coat improvement.

And this one.

Want to go for a walk?

Sure, let's go.

You two, come with me.

-Yes. -Yes.

Sorry, this is a restricted area.

You trial disciples are not allowed in yet.

So is the entire Mingyi Manor a restricted area?

No.

The place where you're staying is also part of Mingyi Manor.

Are you here for a walk too?

This area is off-limits.

I'm going to wander around the mountain.

Are you interested?

That fortune-telling thing you did earlier—

what was that about?

I don't know how to tell fortunes.

Besides, you should have noticed it.

That was just standard speech.

What you said about that makeup artist later was quite obvious.

What about the dancing one before?

Pure coincidence.

I saw her sniffing around like a dog,

so I was just teasing her.

Who knew she was really born in the Year of the Dog?

She actually bought it?

You were just guessing and making things up as you went along, right?

You're an old hand.

This was just a lucky guess.

I made all that up.

In these remote mountains,

how can we find the caterpillar fungi that's good for Jiaoniang?

There are only more insects in the deep mountains.

Let's go ahead and take a look.

Let me take a look.

Is it here?

There's nothing here.

You insisted there were caterpillar fungi on the mountain

that would be good for my cat, so we came.

How can we possibly find anything in such a vast mountain?

There's simply nothing here.

What kind of place is this?

Jiaoniang!

Alarm.

Be careful.

What kind of place is this?

Jiaoniang!

Jiaoniang.

-Jiaoniang. -Jiaoniang!

Jiaoniang.

Jiaoniang!

-I didn't expect the restriction to be so tight. -Jiaoniang!

Jiaoniang!

Jiaoniang!

What's wrong?

Jiaoniang is missing.

Jiaoniang, where are you?

Oh my goodness.

Jiaoniang, come out quickly.

It seems all these people have their own agendas.

-Breaking this restriction definitely won't be easy. -Jiaoniang.

Jiaoniang!

Hu Jiao.

Jiaoniang, where are you?

Why is it you again?

Why are you here again?

The three of us were just taking a walk.

We only came after we heard the warning bells.

Jiaoniang! Don't go.

Jiaoniang!

Don't go.

What's going on?

Jiaoniang.

What happened?

Stop yelling.

There are so many of you. Quickly help me find Jiaoniang!

If I can't find her, I'll eat you all!

Stop yelling.

Help her find it.

Jiaoniang, don't be afraid.

Come out quickly.

Jiaoniang.

Where are you?

Jiaoniang!

Jiaoniang.

It seems like they are still on guard.

Jiaoniang.

What are you doing?

Hu Jiao's cat is missing.

These signs mark restricted areas.

You can't go in there.

If you get killed by mistake, don't blame me.

Finally, I found Jiaoniang.

Is there a place to bathe the cat around here?

There's a pond behind the mountain.

The water there is very clear.

You can go there.

That's great.

I'll go now.

I'm going to bathe my cat

to calm it down.

Why did you come back so slowly?

I have an idea.

I think we need to

strengthen the bond between us.

How to strengthen it?

Let's bare it all.

What do you mean?

Bathe together.

Are you interested?

Bathing sounds fine.

How can women bathe together?

Why do you always act so weird?

You're not a man, are you?

How is that possible?

I'm just...

I think I'm fresh enough today.

I don't need to take a bath.

I'm going to take a bath anyway.

Anyone want to join me?

I want to take a bath too.

Let's go.

Come on, let's go take a bath.

Let's go.

Why aren't you going?

Let's go take a shower together.

I don't need to.

We need to bare it all.

I don't need to.

Put me down now.

Let me go.

Let me go!

Put me down!

What are you doing?

We're here for a bath. Take off your clothes.

Come on.

Vegetable.

Everyone's in the water.

Why don't you get in the water?

I'm afraid of water.

I nearly drowned when I was young.

Now I'm scared whenever I see water.

Don't be afraid.

The first time is always the hardest. It gets easier.

Once you get in, you won't be afraid anymore.

Come on.

Not scared anymore, right?

It's you.

I'm not here to peep.

I didn't see anything.

You're not here to peep?

Then why were you standing there?

I followed her here.

I didn't know you were bathing.

Why were you following me?

I was a bit worried about you.

I feel uneasy when I can't see you for a while.

-So I followed you. -No, you…

What do you mean by that?

What else could he mean?

He's into you, obviously.

Does liking someone give you the right to peep?

You pervert.

I really wasn't peeping.

I saw you taking off your clothes,

and immediately I closed my eyes.

See? You did see us.

You think you can fool someone as smart as me?

I didn't!

If my eyes had been open,

how could I have been hit on the head?

I would have dodged for sure.

You dare to dodge?

He fell unconscious on his own.

Don't worry. He's fine.

There you go.

Stop playing dead.

I've found out your secret.

Yours are small, so you're afraid people will see, right?

Let me tell you,

mine used to be small too and only grew bigger later.

There's still hope for you.

You should learn from me in the future.

Use your brain more for everything.

Then you won't have so many troubles.

Forget it. Let's go.

[No Entry]

[No Entry]

Wait, wait, wait...

You've been following me.

We can work together.

Why should I trust you?

At least I'm not a member of Mingyi Manor.

I won't turn you in.

How can you prove it?

This is a thousand-year-old tomb.

It's said that inside is a millennium-old demon.

It comes out at night.

You're that bearded fellow.

That's me.

I...

Now I can confirm.

You're that smooth-talking guy from the other day.

Here's a little punishment for you.

Who's smooth-talking?

You're a man.

I...

You're a man.

So that day you were cross-dressing as a man too.

No wonder I couldn't recognize you.

How did you recognize me?

I always thought that you looked familiar.

And just now, you were so familiar with those traps

and the way you used the crossbow.

That's how I recognized you.

What are you doing?

Your beard that day was fake, wasn't it?

It was pretty convincing, though.

When you tugged at your beard,

you were grimacing and yelling.

It was all an act, wasn't it?

You really are a crafty one.

Let me ask you.

What are you trying to do by sneaking into Mingyi Manor?

Steal things, of course.

Didn't we agree to steal together?

Steal things?

What things?

Pots and pans?

Yeah.

Liar.

You...

Don't, don't, don't...

Alright, alright, you're the boss, okay?

You're the boss.

I submit to you, okay?

What boss?

How vulgar.

Then, "Sister," is that better?

Sister.

If you really want to steal something,

just follow me closely.

There are lots of traps and restrictions in here.

Let's go.

Are you some famous thief

in the martial arts world?

Well, well...

What's your alias then?

Can you tell me

so I can admire you?

I've told you to shut up.

You're so noisy.

That room has more restrictions.

It looks like an important place.

It doesn't look like living quarters.

It's more like a place to keep people locked up.

Could this be where people are kept in confinement at Mingyi Manor?

Doesn't seem like it though.

Confinement is supposed to be voluntary.

There's no need to have so many restrictions

as if guarding against thieves.

And that door is so thick.

It looks like it might trigger traps if touched.

Could it be a treasure vault?

Can we get closer and take a look?

No.

We were just in that area this afternoon.

That area must be guarded.

We'd definitely be spotted the moment we got close.

The restrictions within the courtyard are even harder to deal with.

It's tough to break with ordinary methods.

We need specialized tools to do it.

Do you have the tools?

Special restrictions require specialized tools.

But I don't know

what they will be like

after triggered.

So I can't do anything about it.

So you're saying

we need to trigger them first to know how to break them?

You're so smart.

Isn't that a dead end?

If we trigger them,

the people at Mingyi Manor will know.

If we don't trigger them, there's no way to break them.

You're here to rescue someone, aren't you?