Episode 35
You mean that, in your hearts,
Tu An is so insignificant?!
Niang Niang.
I have let Tu An down.
Sorry to your Majesty and Princess too.
But... even if you ask me a hundred times,
I will still give the same answer.
For Tu An, I can give my life.
These are memorials from various ministers asking to reward General Meng.
This time, during the banquet, General Meng has won credits by saving me.
I wanted to reward him too.
Zhao Gao.
What type of reward will be ideal?
I think...
Since he saved your Majesty's life, any reward will be befitting.
Both of you never got along well.
I thought you would object to the idea.
Your Majesty, our disagreements
all started from our concerns for Your Majesty,
not because of our personal feuds.
General Meng is indeed deserving of the credits.
I am also very happy
that Your Majesty is rewarding him.
Zhao Gao you are really loyal to me.
Thanks for your praises, Your Majesty.
Since you agreed that I'm loyal,
I shall boldly report to you.
Say it.
I am really worried now.
Why is that?
I saw that General Meng's chopsticks
were fast and sharp
and they easily penetrated the zither,
not to mention a human body.
Today he may be loyal and save you.
But what if...
He changes his mind and wanted to kill you.
It's a piece of cake.
Your Majesty, as you have seen,
even if the rules forbid weapons,
experts like General Meng
can use anything as a form of weapon to assassinate you.
What could you do?
You are right.
This time Gao Jian Li was able to attempt an assassination
because I believed him too much.
He came too close to me.
Prepare an edict.
From now on, descendants from the Six Kingdoms are not allowed to enter the Court.
Even if they can enter the Court,
they must be three zhan away.
What do you think, is three zhan enough?
For me, even three ruler lengths is more than enough.
But for General Meng, even ten zhan is not far enough.
I think,
General Meng should not appear in Court again.
But this...
He is the head General.
It's not reasonable to leave him out of the Court.
Your Majesty, you sent Meng Tian to protect the borders before.
I thought you could send Meng Yi to the borders too.
Report:
Your Majesty.
This is an urgent report from the Northern borders.
Quickly bring it here.
This is atrocious!
Those barbarians!
How dare they take over Rong Di's territory?
Summon our army to attack the North!
Your Majesty, if this is the case.
This is the chance to send General Meng Yi on this mission.
Alright, prepare an edict for me.
Order General Meng Yi
to command his army for an expedition to the North.
Yes.
Great. Great.
You have achieved great results with little effort.
You removed Meng Yi's credits so easily.
His Majesty is suspicious of everyone.
Leave us.
After this assassination attempt,
he is more uptight.
Of course, whatever we say, he will listen.
Lord Zhao.
If Meng Yi wins this war again,
what shall we do?
Prime Minister, don't worry.
His Majesty is already wary of him.
If he wins,
I will advise His Majesty to send Meng Yi to the borders again.
If he loses, then we will punish him.
I am impressed by your strategic planning.
I'm flattered.
But still...
I have yet to remove another "thorn in my eye."
Do you mean...
Yu from Ju Xian Hall?
You really understand me.
Since Meng Tian's death,
the Ju Xian Hall case has been put on hold.
While Meng Yi is away,
we can act quickly
to remove all the remnants from Ju Xian Hall,
and remove them from their roots.
That would be great, Zhao.
That will all depend on you.
General your tea is ready.
General.
I'm preparing tea for General.
Thank you.
Assistant General Pang.
General, why did you want to see me?
We have to go out to war again.
Go where?
There is urgent report from the North.
The Xiong Nu (barbarians) are invading us.
His Majesty wanted us to fight them immediately.
What's the rush?
I wanted to discuss this matter with you.
Look here. We are on the defensive side.
Our army strength along the borders are all dispersed.
Each area can only protect themselves.
They cannot help one another.
Our only method is to
divert our inner army.
General. Even if we use our inner army,
we will need at least half a month.
Yes. Even if His Majesty can wait,
our army in the North may not hold on for that long.
General.
Ju Xian Hall is in trouble.
General, we are on the verge of going to war
and now someone sends us this news
without revealing his identity. It's suspicious.
It may be a false alarm
to mislead your mind.
I rather believe in it.
We will be away for a long time.
We cannot predict what will happen to our brothers
in prison.
But we need to go to war
and cannot delay.
There's nothing we can do.
Oh no. What can we do?
Why not...?
Xiong Nu is always disturbing us.
I want to hit them hard this round,
to stop them from invading us again!
General Meng, how's the preparation for the war going?
Your Majesty,
to prevent Xiong Nu
from attacking us from behind,
we need to station more army along the borders.
But our army strength is not strong enough.
If we divert our army from other parts of the country, we need more than half a month.
According to General Meng,
we have to delay sending our army?
Your Majesty, what I mean is that it's taking too long to wait for the armies to collate
and they cannot help the urgent situation.
Why don't we follow custom
and use the prisoners in the war.
That sounds good. It's a good idea.
Your Majesty is wise.
There are members from Ju Xian Hall in the prisons.
They are all trained in martial skills.
They can fight better than normal folk.
Plus all of them want to gain credits to cover their wrongdoings.
They will surely do their best.
It's a good choice to use them.
That's not a wise idea.
The verdicts from Ju Xian Hall have not been concluded yet.
If they decide to rebel,
it's like releasing the tigers back to the woods if we release them from prison.
That's correct, Your Majesty.
They might try to escape.
Or even surrender to the enemy.
Your Majesty, if they think about rebelling,
I will kill them on the spot.
If they don't,
they will fight bravely to the end.
Whether they rebel or not,
both of you need not worry.
Your Majesty.
Keep quiet don't say anymore.
I promised Meng Tian
to review the case of Ju Xian Hall.
But since Meng Tian has died,
and this case cannot be concluded...
Now is a time for talents.
We shall send them to the battlefields.
Let Heaven decide their fate.
Relay my orders.
All suspects from Ju Xian Hall in prison shall be sent to the army.
Those on the run may also join the war
to clear their punishments.
Yes.
De Xiang, just leave those on the table.
Return early for a good rest.
I forgotten that De Xiang is from Xiong Nu.
De Xiang. No. Please don't.
Please don't force me to do it.
Please forgive me.
I swore that
I will protect you with my life.
But I'm from Xiong Nu.
Since young, I have declared
that I shall kill all enemies of Xiong Nu.
But tomorrow,
you will attack Xiong Nu with your army.
My promise
cannot be realized.
I don't want to be an ungrateful person.
General, please kill me.
General.
Pang, please don't stop General Meng.
This is my wish.
I will not allow anyone to harm you.
General.
Assistant General Pang.
I know your thoughts.
I know that
it's cowardly and selfish to choose death.
But please put yourself in my shoes.
Tomorrow, my next of kin and my loved ones will fight each other in the battlefields.
I will be the saddest.
Assistant General Pang.
Please forgive me.
Forgive my selfishness, just for once.
I came to Xian Yang (capital of Qin) with hate,
but I can 'leave' with memories.
I am already contented.
Forget me, a woman from Xiong Nu.
General, I have one last request.
After I've died,
please follow our Xiong Nu custom and give me a 'water' burial.
Let my soul
flow with the water
and return to Xiong Nu.
General, kill me now.
Today, I will replace head with hair.
I have cut your hair to replace your head.
In front of me, you have already died once.
From now on,
you are not my slave.
De Xiang, I can give you freedom
but I cannot stop this war.
I will fight for Qin.
Also, I cannot stop you
if you want to fight for Xiong Nu and your family.
But I can give you another option.
You may leave, get away from this battlefield,
as far as you can to look for your lives.
You tore your army uniform.
Never mind.
You will mend it for me.
I may not be able to do it.
Yes, we can.
You have to promise me...
General Meng, please accept my final bow.
I wish the best for you.
Go.
Sir, we have some leads on this.
We asked an expert on poison.
He smelled a funny scent in the wine
and the blacken silver has another scent,
beside the scent from the wine.
Two scents?
That's right, Sir.
This expert heard of
such rare substances from Northern Tu An.
It's very special.
It's harmless to eat either one of the two substances,
but if both were taken together, one will surely fall into a coma
and will bleed to death seven days later.
He suspects that these two scents are from those two substances.
This poison here is really special.
No wonder the others were fine after drinking the wine.
It seems that...
If Gao Jian Li had not disturbed the banquet that day,
I wonder who would have died.
The mastermind is a meticulous person.
He wanted to poison His Majesty
without leaving a trace or even exposing himself.
This person, just who is it?
All of you must be tired.
Collect your rewards quickly.
Thank you, Sir.
This poison originated from Tu An...
Could this have been done by Tu An people?
It may not be their doings...
But I can still implicate Concubine Li Fei.
After I remove her, it will be easier to deal with Meng Yi.
Someone come.
Yes.
Who are you?
Why are you following us?
It's my master.
My master wanted to speak to the 'Honoured Guests' from Tu An.
I doubt that you will reveal the truth.
Lady.
Kill him.
Master, you have misjudged them.
They are all cowardly.
Sir Gao, I'm coming to meet you.
Hold on!
What do you mean... Sir Gao?
Kneel down and reply.
Gao Jian Li. Sir Gao.
We hated the cruel Emperor
and plotted this assassination with Sir Gao.
But we failed
and Sir Gao died.
What else do you want me to say?
Just kill me if you want.
I thought we were on the same side.
I never thought that
you were on the Emperor's side!
Sir Gao is not blind. We are!
To assassinate the Emperor is a disloyal sin.
How could we be in this with you?
The others may not know, but we all know.
You traveled from afar to enter Xian Yang (capital)
and plotted to put the two types of poison substances
into the food and wine,
and avoided the detection of the food tasting eunuch to poison the Emperor.
You were on the verge of success,
but you never expected
Sir Gao to strike during the banquet too.
If we collaborated with each other,
Sir Gao would have never been killed.
The Emperor should be the one who died.
Lady, he knew all the details so clearly.
We should slience him quickly.
That's not enough.
We must capture all members of his gang.
If he dies, the others may expose our moves.
We should keep our options open.
Listen to him first.
Have you decided?
This may be a ruse to trick us for your own gains.
What are you laughing at?
Are you guilty?
I'm laughing at you three.
You don't have the guts.
If I wanted to expose you, I would have already
and you wouldn't be standing here today talking to me.
To accomplish big things one must be brave and scheming, but must also be meticulous.
We know nothing about you.
How can we trust you?
Fine.
If you have the guts,
I can ask my master to meet all of you.
If the three of you are really brave and knowledgeable with a plan.
My master would like to collaborate with you.
Take him away.
Yes.
But treat him well.
Understood. Move it.
Lady, I have taken care of him well.
What should we do next?
I want to test my luck.
My Lady, we should be cautious.
There is some risk,
but if we are afraid
we will accomplish nothing.
We cannot depend on Yu'Er.
We can only depend on ourselves.
My Lady.
You should act cautiously, just in case.
I understand, you mentioned before
even if we silence that man, it's not wise to kill only him.
We must kill everyone who knows about it.
Do you mean...?
General Jin. Gather your men.
When we meet up with them,
you will ambush them from nearby.
If they dare try anything out of ordinary, we will kill all of them.
Yes.
Empress, this is my Master.
I'm here to meet you as requested.
Shouldn't you show me your face?
The identity of my Master is a secret so he cannot show his face.
How unreasonable.
Our queen is here... but he refuses to show his face.
We cannot continue our meeting and collaboration!
My Lady, let's leave.
Hold on.
The plan to kill the Qin Emperor is not going to work without my Master.
I don't believe that.
We cannot do it ourselves.
It's useless to continue our talk! Let's leave!
Wait a minute.
Hold your feet.
Don't be too anxious to leave.
Don't you people want to know who I am?
After you left me,
your plan to kill the Qin Emperor could not be accomplished.
Since we are already exposed, why don't we fight it out?
Yes.
Action.
Your Majesty.
They are brave, smart, and steady.
All of this really scares me.
You have gained big credits.
I shall remember this.
Lady, that's all you have?
Its belittling me, the Emperor.
Lady, don't worry.
I will cover you and get you out safely.
General Jin, you are the only one who can escape.
Go quickly and alert Tu An.
No way.
It's my duty to live and die protecting My Queen.
This is not the time to die.
Think of a way
to save Yu Shu
and escape with her.
Quickly, go.
Lady.
Do you want Yu Shu to die too?
Quickly, go!
Lady.
Quickly! Go, go!!
Take care, My Lady.
Those who block my way shall die!
Take care, my Lady!
Those who block my way shall die!
Kill him! Kill him! Chase him!
Niang. Niang. You're already captured.
Stop putting on airs.
I am the mother of a country!
How dare you speak to me in this manner!
Could it be the Qin Emperor who doesn't know respect?
What?!
Stop!
The Queen has a point.
I shall personally interrogate you.
Back to the palace!
Yes.
Check this place!
Zhao Gao!
What are you doing?
Concubine Li Fei, do not be alarmed please.
His Majesty has asked me to invite Your Ladyship over.
His Majesty?
This way please, Your Ladyship.
This way, please.
Your Ladyship, you haven't brought along your instrument.
How dare you! Slave! Slave! Rascal!
Please pardon me!
Slave! Such insolence!
My Lord, please pardon me!
Slave! Dog of a slave!
Okay. Okay.
I'm telling you, you dog of a slave.
If not for Her Ladyship pleading on your behalf, you'd have a lot to pay.
Quickly. Thank Her Ladyship.
Thank you, Your Ladyship, for your mercy.
Thank you, Your Ladyship. Thank you, Your Ladyship.
This way please, Your Ladyship.
Your subject, Zhao Gao, greets His Majesty.
Your wife greets His Majesty.
Rise.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty, I've invited Concubine Li over.
Sit.
Bring a chair!
Your Majesty, what has happened?
You still haven't understood?
Your Ladyship,
your plans to assassinate the Emperor has been uncovered!
Zhao Gao, why are you insulting me like this?!
I did not know the musician personally.
I merely appreciated his music.
Your Majesty, this Concubine can really act.
Your Majesty, please do not listen to his nonsense!
Your wife has a clear conscience!
If Lord Zhao suspects,
then take out the evidence!
Your Majesty.
Bring them up here!
Yes.
Your Majesty, I've brought them.
Your Ladyship, look carefully.
Do not tell me you do not know them.
Mother, what are you doing here?
Aren't you supposed to be in Tu'An?
Nanny, just what is going on?
Mother, please tell me.
Just what has happened?
You still know your mother?
I thought you were enjoying yourself here and had forgotten about me.
Why is Mother saying this?
How would Yu'Er dare to forget about Mother?
What sort of Mother am I?
You won't even do what I tell you to do.
If you had listened to me earlier, the assassination attempt would have succeeded long ago!
If you did not repeatedly refute me,
I wouldn't have needed to hurt my head to threaten you
and I wouldn't need to walk into this danger
and fallen into their trap!
Mother!
Don't tell me, today you really...
That's right!
Actually, we already started long ago.
That day at the banquet, both your and the Emperor's wine goblet
already had half the poison.
If not for Gao Jian Li's sudden appearance and disruption to the banquet,
both you and the Emperor would have eaten the other half of the poison -
... and DIED TOGETHER!
Mother!
You're are really cruel enough!
For the sake of assassinating me,
you're willing to sacrifice your own daughter!
If big things are to be accomplished,
a sacrifice has to be had.
I think Your Majesty, you should understand this even better than I do!
If I succeeded, I'd be the one laughing.
I didn't kill you, so I have to die.
That's the price I have to pay.
There's nothing to regret.
Your Majesty, since such preposterous words have come out of her mouth, hand her over to me.
I will definitely not let this go lightly and will punish her on your behalf.
The Emperor should know that since ancient times, heads of state have diplomatic immunity.
Furthermore, I am the mother of a country.
Since I have already laid all the facts out clearly
and have hidden nothing,
Your Majesty should go according to old tradition
and let me die with honor,
and not hand me over to Zhao Gao! Such a despicable person!
Your Majesty, you must not forgive her easily.
As the owner of all under heaven,
how can I do anything that will be laughed at by those under heaven?
We'll do it the old way.
Give her the wine!
Yes.
Your Majesty!
Mother.
Please.
Empress!
Empress! No!
You scoundrel. Even as a ghost, I will not let you off.
I know that you will never let me go.
Don't worry. I also will not harbor any thoughts of revenge.
In fact, I will take good care of Concubine Li.
Please.
This is good wine that His Majesty has given.
At my death, I am still an Empress.
But at your death,
you'll still be a dog!
You're not fit to be counted as a Man.
Please.
Empress, don't!
Mother! Mother!
If you had joined forces with me to eliminate the enemy,
I wouldn't be in this state!
Mother! Mother!
Empress! Empress!
Empress!
Mother!