A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES
ADAPTED FROM TIANXIA GUIYUAN'S NOVEL HUANG QUAN
EPISODE 67
If you really want to save Consort Yan, tell me.
Where is Prince of Wei's secret hideout?
Who are the people he talks to?
-"Secret hideout"? -Yes.
I really don't know anything.
Usually, Ning Qi only talks to me about daily life.
He'd never tell me about those things.
They say that you are as smart as Zhuge Liang.
You must have a way to teach Ning Qi what is right.
He's kind at heart.
He must have been tricked by some sorcery.
Headmaster Xin,
you must try to save him. Get him out of trouble.
I looked at her, and suddenly...
Yes.
It was an act of impulse. She wanted me to save Ning Qi.
Who could save Erhua?
Who could save my unborn child?
That day,
I didn't stay because of Erhua's death.
I didn't stay because of my wife's miscarriage.
I rushed there to save you.
What did I get in return?
A commoner, living in the country,
who only wanted to live happily ever after with his mother.
What about those who died? Did they die in vain?
Why don't you understand?
I don't want anyone else to die for me.
That's why I got out of there!
No. You're the one who doesn't understand.
Think about it.
Did people stop dying since you became a commoner?
No.
Since you left the palace,
has the fighting ended?
No.
As long as the throne is there,
there will always be fights and sacrifices.
Even if you win the throne
and become a good emperor that the people love and respect,
and implement lenient laws to change the rules,
it only brings fewer sacrifices but it won't be none.
A good emperor's power is still lusted after by those who are evil.
There are enemies everywhere.
They just change their appearances.
I just want my mother back.
I don't want the throne.
What about you?
You just want to be a famous counselor.
You're the one who's ambitious!
Aren't you?
I understand now.
You're the innocent one. Everyone else is blaming you wrongfully.
I, Xin Ziyan, am the one who's wrong.
You're going to find a crime to pin on me.
Fine.
Ning Qiao, if you can hear me up there,
you saw what happened.
I, Xin Ziyan, have been true to my promise.
I've tried my best to mentor Ning Yi. Today, I didn't betray him.
Instead, Ning Yi discarded me like an old shoe.
All right. After saying that, no one can blame me. Goodbye now.
Stop.
You.
Leave.
-What did you say? -You.
Leave.
Fine.
I pay respect to Consort Qing.
Your Highness, no need for this.
Father has given the orders.
You are my mother now.
How could I not show respect?
His Majesty is thinking of revoking the imperial will.
What are you going to do?
Please rise, Your Highness.
Thank you, Consort Qing.
Father hasn't had a new consort in years.
Now, no one knows where my mother is.
There hasn't been any good news in this palace for a while now.
Now that you've moved into Zhaoqing Palace,
I should visit to pay respect to you officially next time.
What do you think?
Thank you for your thoughtfulness.
My name "Qing" means "happiness,"
so I'm sure His Majesty also wants to bring lots of happiness.
Please let me prepare for a bit.
I hope you'll be able to attend after then.
Of course.
Right. Liulang, Ning Yi, will also be there.
I look forward to it, Consort Qing.
Find a way to get the imperial will.
Your Majesty, Headmaster Xin wishes to see you.
Let him in.
I pay respect to Your Majesty.
That didn't take you long.
What?
You're worried I'll kill Ning Yi out of anger?
You think you can talk me into forgiving him?
Very wise, Your Majesty.
I did come here to ask Your Majesty
to spare Ning Yi from death.
Spare him from death?
Look at Lady Wang.
Look at her.
You want to beg forgiveness for my son,
who killed one of my concubines, in front of her?
Your Majesty,
it's exactly because of Lady Wang
that I want to beg you to spare Liulang, Ning Yi, of death
and also spare Lady Wang's only son,
Ning Qi, of death.
I, Xin Ziyan, am risking my life
to boldly ask Your Majesty to abolish the current Crown Prince.
I, Xin Ziyan, hope that Your Majesty can change your mind
and make the tenth prince, Ning Ji, the Crown Prince.
-Say that again. -Make the tenth prince, Ning Ji,
a new crown prince.
I, Xin Ziyan, am willing to spend my whole life mentoring him
and make him a wise ruler.
I'm willing to do everything I can, even if I die because of it.
Your Majesty.
Regardless of who really caused
the death of Consort Yan and Lady Wang,
it is clear that Ning Qi and Ning Yi do not get along at all.
One will definitely kill the other in the end.
If we don't deal with this...
Forgive me for saying this,
but the death of a prince is a serious matter,
but the future of the empire is even more important.
Those who put personal matters above the welfare of the empire
do not deserve to rule.
Please, for the people of Tiansheng,
choose another successor, Your Majesty.
I will think about what you just said, Xin Ziyan.
You may leave.
I'll take my leave, Your Majesty.
Do not...
tell anyone else.
Mother...
My Yueling.
"Consort Qing"?
Tiansheng is approaching its end.
EMPEROR AI OF DACHENG
The heavens are helping Dacheng.
Your Highness, I have news from Jinshi.
Helian Zheng is heading toward the capital.
-Start the next step of the plan. -Yes, Your Highness.
Are you lying?
I'm not.
I've heard that Gu Nanyi never lies.
I believe you.
There must be someone you want to protect
if you were forced to do so.
Did the people who abducted my mother
have anything to do with Feng Zhiwei?
Nothing at all.
Prince of Wei, Ning Qi,
abducted your mother.
Where did you find her?
Lift your head. Look me in the eye.
Eat.
Are you eating or not? You won't get any more if you don't.
TOKEN
Come with me.
Who are you?
Why are you rescuing me?
Because you're important.
After leaving the slave market,
I took Consort Yan
to Wei Residence.
Mother.
I'm a terrible son.
Ning Ji has accomplished nothing. He has no power and connections.
How will everyone accept him as a crown prince?
Dare I ask, Your Majesty,
when Prince of Chu left Zongzheng Temple,
did he have any accomplishments,
power, or connections?
During the past two years, how did he end up
controlling three of the six ministries and commanding the vast army of Minhai?
He possessed great power and the people respected him.
If you have a plan, just tell me.
Let him abolish the current Crown Prince.
You mean Ning Qi?
Be it Prince of Chu or Ning Ji,
if he can't win over his brother, the current Crown Prince,
how will Ning Ji gain the trust of all officials and all people?
If you really want to make Ning Ji a new crown prince,
I'm afraid the only way is to let him defeat Prince of Wei.
If the brothers are going to fight against each other,
what's the point of a new crown prince?
If you aren't determined enough, how will you solve this dilemma?
I believe the first step
is to establish authority by investigating Prince of Wei's wrongdoings.
Let the whole palace see the tenth prince's ability.
Second, cajole Prince of Chu
to let everyone see the tenth prince's mercy as a ruler.
This will get rid of Prince of Wei's aggressiveness,
dissolve Prince of Chu's resentment,
and let the tenth prince accomplish something.
This will bring peace to Tiansheng and prosperity to the people.
Servants.
Are Prince of Wei and Prince of Chu waiting?
Your Majesty, Prince of Wei has been waiting outside.
-But Prince of Chu-- -Never mind.
Let him in.
-Yes, Your Majesty. -Be cautious, Your Majesty.
I know exactly what you're thinking.
I just want to keep my eyes on how my two sons do.
Please find out the truth...
about Mother's death, Father.
You must find out how she died, Father.
You may rise.
How do you want me to do that?
I just want you to do
what the law says,
and execute the murderer.
"Execute the murderer"?
Very well. That's right.
Then, could you tell me,
who is responsible for the death of Consort Yan?
Is Consort Yan the only one
in your heart, Father?
What was my mother to you?
Was she just a fling?
I understand
that Lady Wang was never in your heart.
Yet, this Lady Wang
waited for you all alone in the cold, deserted court her whole life.
Even now,
she's dead, and you can't show your love for her?
If I did not love her at all,
how would you be here right now?
I've lost two women I loved.
I don't want to lose two more sons.
Would you be willing to compromise
-for me, your father? -Compromise?
Father,
Ning Yi admitted himself that he killed my mother.
He killed my mother.
How am I supposed to compromise?
Your Majesty.
I believe that Prince of Wei is right.
Tiansheng is an empire ruled by law.
Those who kill will be killed. That's the law.
This is true for commoners,
so of course, it should also be true for those in the palace, right?
That's why I think
that the death of Lady Wang should be investigated.
The death of Consort Yan should be investigated.
The death of Princess Shaoning should, of course, also be investigated.
Prince of Wei, let me ask you this.
For those who have wrongfully died in the palace,
should we punish their killers?
Should we investigate all those cases?
Whatever Father wants
is what I want.
I will obey Father's orders.
If Ning Yi won't give up,
then forgive me, Father.
I'll have to protect myself.
I'll take my leave now, Father.
Your Majesty.
As I said earlier,
if you aren't determined enough,
how will you solve this dilemma?
I don't believe it.
How is it a dilemma?
Do you really think that the two brothers can reconcile?
Yes, I want the two of them to shake hands and make peace in front of me.
That goes against fate itself.
If I can't go against fate,
how can I call myself the Emperor?
I have all the power in the world.
This is merely a family dispute.
It's trivial.
Prince of Chu is unwilling to come see you.
How are you going to resolve this family dispute?
Your Majesty, Consort Qing wishes to see you.
I made soup for you, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty, since I'm now the mother of the princes,
I'd like to hold a family banquet
for Your Majesty and all princes.
Would Your Majesty grant my wish?
Yueling, you are truly my brilliant wife.
A family banquet.
Very well. Good idea.
Family disputes
should be resolved with a family banquet.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
Your Highness, defeating Ning Yi is just a matter of time.
I'm sure we can kill him to avenge your mother.
He's not
whom I'm talking about.
Sun Hong!
I need the help of Hu Shengshan. Can you make it happen?
Of course, I can.
Are you sure you've thought this through?
Have I?
Peng Pei,
you've seen how Ning Chuan and Ning Sheng
died in the hands of the father and the son.
You think they didn't think it through?
You think they got what they wanted?
Now,
if he has no brotherly love,
I don't need to show mercy either.
If they want my title,
let's see what they can do.
I'll gather the other officials and prepare our plan.
Zhiwei.
I haven't given you the family you deserve.
While on the battlefield,
I received a letter from Mother.
She said that I had a new sister.
I never slept soundly through the night.
I was happy and worried as well.
My poor sister.
You were happy
because you were no longer alone in this world.
You were worried
because you might not have a chance to see your sister.
-Right? -Zhiwei.
You are right, yet wrong at the same time.
Your birth allowed me to understand
that this bond we call family is a blessing from the heavens.
No matter whether we could meet or not,
your existence brought warmth to my heart.
I always thought about you.
Yes.
Someone once told me,
"It's rare to have true family bonds when you're royal."
He just wants to remember the happy memories.
Back then, I didn't understand.
Qiu Mingying, Feng Hao, and I lived a poor life together.
But we had many fond memories to look back on.
Why would the royal family,
with all the wealth in the world,
lack true family bonds?
That's why I am truly grateful to Madam Gu.
I am grateful that she raised you like how a commoner family
would raise their daughter.
Thanks to Madam Gu, I was relieved of my worries.
I was worried about you, that you would awake startled at night.
You cried all night probably because you had perceived your difficult life.
Actually, I carved this sword out of walnut wood.
I wanted to have someone bring it to you to help you sleep at night.
My brother, I'm sorry.
I thought that I had no family in this world anymore.
That's why I cherished my relationships with Zong Chen and Nanyi.
They were always by my side.
Now that I'm meeting my real brother, it feels...
It feels strange.
And you feel doubtful, don't you?
That's fine. I'm in no rush.
Zhiwei.
From now on, I'll always be by your side.
That's enough for now.
I need to do business now.
Zhangsun Hong, wait.
Zhangsun Hong.
I don't want to doubt you,
which is why I have to ask you this.
Are you hiding something from me?
What are you hiding from me?
-Yes. -Yes?
What is it?
Zhiwei.
I promise I won't hurt you.
Can you stop asking for now?
I just want to know, does it have to do with Dacheng?
No.
Just some personal matters.
Let me think about it.
If it's not about Dacheng,
I have an idea. Would you want to hear it?
I'm your brother. You can tell me anything.
Zhangsun Hong, I used to serve in the court in Tiansheng.
I know some things about Prince of Wei.
I almost died by his hands back then.
He is sly and calculating.
You shouldn't get too close to him.
I understand what you're saying, Zhiwei.
But, Zhiwei, if I want to keep the slave market running,
I have to rely on him.
It's fine if I starve to death,
but the people of Dacheng
must survive.
Our empire is gone, yet the loyalty remains.
I am also very touched by those loyal subjects of Dacheng.
But,
Dacheng has been gone for 20 years now.
Maybe it's time that they go out and see the world.
It's a different empire, but the same world.
Throughout the long river of time, we are just passersby.
Maybe...
Zhangsun Hong,
maybe, we can persuade them
to become subjects of Tiansheng.
You and I, we'll travel around the world
and be with each other.
Zhiwei, you don't understand them.
If that was an option,
why would I bear all this pain and suffering
just to keep Huofeng Gang running?
Zhiwei, to them,
Dacheng is their home.
Now, their home is gone.
Yet, the dream lives on.
How would I bear to crush their dreams?
King of Jinshi? Why are you here?
Can't I come for some tea?
I should go. I'll come see you in a few days.
Why are you here, King Helian?
I regret it.
Give me the divorce papers.
King Helian. Why torture yourself?
You're the King of Jinshi, Helian Zheng. You can find many wives.
I don't deserve you.
Please leave.
"Extreme intelligence only hurts oneself.
The deepest love does not last."
You and I both cannot get out of this fate.
Zhiwei, you know more than anyone else
how much I love you.
King Helian, I don't dare respond to that.
Come back to Jinshi with me.
Just like the old times.
You can like whomever you want.
I'll be content
just to see you safe.
Tiansheng is no longer your home.
"A sword wants to return home, but it couldn't find its sheath."
Do you have...
Don't worry, King Helian. I'm fine.
I know that some things cannot be avoided.
It's my destiny.
King Helian,
listen to me.
Go back to Jinshi. Please.
Just one month.
Let me be with you for one more month.
After that,
you and I will become strangers.
We won't talk ever again.
What do you think?
Currently, among the six ministries of Tiansheng,
the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate
are controlled by Prince of Chu.
Prince of Chu is a commoner now, but they won't listen to Prince of Wei.
But without the support of any princes,
these ministries are currently a mess.
That's why I think this is the best time for you to control the three ministries.
Why are you telling me this today, Headmaster Xin?
Don't you understand?
I don't understand.
His Majesty is going to make you the Crown Prince.
Congratulations, Your Highness.
Why is Father...
No.
Throughout history, a crown prince has always been selected by age.
I have two older brothers.
A crown prince may also be the one who is most talented.
In vision, courage, and skills,
Ning Yi is far better than I am.
So, I'm afraid I have to refuse this title.
Good.
Very good.
You're very humble.
You hide your capabilities. I was right about you.
Headmaster Xin,
I have to go to Father right now.
-I'll ask him to pick someone else. -Your Highness.
Are you disobeying the Emperor?
Don't worry, Your Highness.
His Majesty ordered me to mentor you.
I will do everything I can and teach you everything I know.
From now on,
I will be your loyal servant.
I will help you become a wise ruler.
Headmaster Xin, I have no intention to fight for the throne.
I don't need anyone to be loyal to me.
If you're not here to teach me about the Five Classics,
I'll leave now.
As a prince,
if you don't have the ambition to make Tiansheng a better place,
what's the use of studying the Five Classics or learning about history?
That's odd.
Have you forgotten what you always tell me?
"Without wisdom, we will be in darkness forever."
I study the classics and history to be wise.
To not lose myself in the dark.
I admire your virtue, Your Highness.
But as a son,
are you going to let your father be in danger?
Father's in danger?
Shouldn't you ask yourself
why His Majesty is looking for a crown prince?
I think I can tell you the truth now.
Prince of Wei is planning to overthrow him.
If nobody stops him, His Majesty will be in grave danger.
The empire will fall into chaos.
Prince of Chu is a commoner now. You are the only prince left.
Are you going to watch His Majesty be overthrown
and watch Tiansheng burn to the ground?
Fine.
If it's true that the seventh prince is planning treason,
I'll have to step up.
I'll protect my father as a prince.
But,
please understand this, Headmaster Xin.
I don't care for the title of Crown Prince.
If you really care about Tiansheng
and want to bring peace to the empire by supporting a wise ruler,
you should persuade Father to bring back Ning Yi.
Because only he deserves the title of Crown Prince.
I want to pray for His Majesty.
You may all wait outside.
-Yes, my lady. -Yes, my lady.
"From now on,
we shall be strangers."
Subtitle translation by Sophie Chang