You'll understand after you see this.
I'm just afraid Chancellor Wei's coffin will be covered with black crape tomorrow.
But I don't mind even if it's white.
I've made the arrangements.
Everyone in the swordplay academy is standing by.
The Crown Prince is going to revolt!
What?
Why did we join the army?
Food...comrades who fought with us...
For justice...women...
Good! straight from the heart!
You have followed me all these years,
onto the battlefield and served with distinction.
What did we get in return?
Money, jewellery, fancy clothes and food?
Nothing! We got nothing!
Our division was broken up and scattered here and there.
After our triumphant return from Qara-hoja,
I became a lousy Minister of Personnel.
Brothers like you who have been through hell have either been sent home or transferred.
Our meritorious service has been overlooked.
We are disgraced.
We're not resolved!
Not resolved...
Follow me to the battlefield once again
and reclaim our merit and dignity.
Reclaim dignity...
Li Anyan, lead the cavalry straight into the Imperial city.
Aye!
Win or lose, this is it!
Charge...
Charge!
Hurry...
I have let you down.
You have entrusted your lives and families to me.
I'm left with no choice but to rebel.
17 years ago,
Father faced the exact same situation.
He was abandoned by his Father
and was the underdog in a sibling rivalry,
worried for his life.
Without the Xuanwu Gate Incident,
we wouldn't have had the Reign of Zhenguan.
History will prove
our ambush of Chengqing Hall is the beginning of another golden era.
Long live...
You're really doing it?
I only want Father to pass me the throne as soon as possible.
Have you gone mad?
Why can't you see the upside?
Father will retire, he won't die.
I'll let you stay with him.
Just you alone.
Isn't that what you dream of?
someone like His Majesty,
would rather die than be under house arrest.
He's your Father. How can you be so cruel?
I'm far from that.
Li Ke and Qingque will be exiled, not killed.
I can't compare to Father.
Arrest her!
Take her away! Aye!
spare her life.
she has given me a hand! Lock her up!
Listen to me, or you'll regret it.
Move!
It's time we go to Chengqing Hall.
Long live...
What? Father!
Unusual movements in the Eastern Palace. What?
Hou Junji is leading his old troops
Li Anyan and the left guards in a rebellion.
There are 10,000 men outside Chang'an.
Imbeciles!
Your Majesty,
you must leave at once.
The Crown Prince is coming with his men.
It's too late now.
Yes? Wang De!
Take Jieyu Xu away! Aye!
Your Majesty! Go, it's dangerous here.
No, I'm not leaving!
Don't worry, I'll be fine!
Please come with me, Milady!
Go! Your Majesty!
This way!
Your Highness, the road is clear.
You can head straight to Chengqing Hall.
Right here, Your Highness!
Charge... Charge!
Chengqian, you came for the morning assembly?
Father, I...
You're armed and wearing armour
and you've led this mob into the Palace in broad daylight.
What are you doing? Is this a rebellion?
Father, I want you to abdicate and retire.
You're my son indeed!
I have not lost.
Hou Junji is leading 10,000 men into Chang'an.
You think within this great state of Tang,
Hou Junji is the only general we have?
someone will take care of him.
Look over there!
see?
The smoke is the signal, the bugle is my order.
The person taking out the rebel troops outside Chang'an,
is the famous General Li Ji.
Li Ji? What is he doing in Chang'an?
Do it! Aye!
His Majesty knew?
2 weeks ago, I received the order to bring 30,000 men
and ride day and night back to Chang'an.
sis Wu!
Rui'an, what are you doing here?
I heard you came to the Eastern Palace,
so I came looking for you.
There's nobody here.
They've left with the Crown Prince.
Alert the Imperial Guards.
The Crown Prince is going to Chengqing Hall to force His Majesty to abdicate.
Go! Aye!
Pardon me, Your Highness!
Chengqian, give it up!
I will spare your life.
I know Imperial power is not a game.
That's why there's no turning back for me.
All these years,
you have never been pleased with me.
If I take away your throne today,
perhaps you'll be proud of me.
If I didn't put up a fight and surrender,
you'd be disappointed with me again.
This is the day I've been waiting for.
Please step down, Father!
Don't hurt him!
Please step down, Father!
You're dead if you move any further.
The Crown Prince plans to overthrow His Majesty.
His Majesty is in danger! Let me through!
stand down!
His Majesty wants you to go in.
Why are you here, Gong-Gong?
Cairen Wu,
you'll know when you see His Majesty.
Go on in!
It's over, give it up!
I haven't lost.
Your Majesty!
Wu Meiniang, I really hope
what you and Chengqian have done is a nightmare.
That would have been great!
I don't understand, Your Majesty!
You don't?
Chengqian, do you know
I have decided to let you stay on as the Crown Prince.
But I realised today,
whatever I decided, you're still going to overthrow me.
Right?
Take him away!
Wu Meiniang, you lied to me!
Liar! How dare you lie to me!
Liar!
Come with me!
I want to know why
you collaborated with the Crown Prince to betray me.
I did not.
You did not?
What is this?
You tipped him off about my decision to depose him.
You're quite brilliant, Wu Meiniang.
You conspired with my son to overthrow me.
It doesn't matter what I say now.
Just kill me, Your Majesty.
I have no regrets if I die in your hands.
No! Not because I'm benevolent.
I need to remind myself
at my age
because of a woman
I almost lost everything.
Your Majesty,
all the assassins have been killed.
Hou Junji has been taken into custody by General Li.
The rebel troops are under arrest. Good!
What should we do about the Crown Prince?
send him to jail.
Your Highness!
sis Wu!
Your Highness!
Your Highness, don't!
she conspired with the Crown Prince in a coup.
His Majesty ordered us to send her to Yeting
to repent her sins.
You must not go near her.
No way!
sis Wu, you....
couldn't possibly have helped Chengqian to overthrow Father.
There must be some misunderstanding.
Don't worry,
I'll plead your case to Father in Taiji Palace.
I won't let anything happen to you.
Don't be silly, I deserve what I got.
I'm lucky to be alive.
Zhinu, you should care
more about your Father!
Move!
Don't worry, sis Wu!
I'll get you out of this bind and clear your name.
Tell me how I can help you!
If you really want to help,
ask His Majesty to spare the Crown Prince! Alright!
If he refuses, keep pestering him,
even kneel before him.
If he can feel any better, that's all I want.
Move!
If he feels better, that can help your case?
sis Wu...
That's too exaggerated.
After all, His Majesty is safe,
that look is not necessary.
No, that's too calm. I see no sadness.
Your Highness,
you should worry about His Majesty's safety,
but is saddened by the Crown Prince's outrageous act.
Try again.
Now that's more like it.
You're suppressing your worries,
displaying honesty and benevolence but not pretentious.
When His Majesty and the courtiers see you,
they'll admire you and praise you.
I've been practising for years,
but it's still hard to get the hang of it.
It's a small matter.
I must congratulate you, Your Highness
in making the Crown Prince dig his own grave
he's finished for good.
Here, take this.
You've been too good to me already.
This is not necessary.
This is not for you.
Take this to your mother.
Your Highness!
Thank you, Your Highness!
Don't forget,
do something about Gegan Chengji.
Rest assured,
as long as we have his family,
he'll do as we say.
Good! I'll go see Father now.
How is that possible? How could that have happened?
His Majesty has dismissed the morning assembly.
second ranked courtiers or above,
please follow me to the Imperial study.
Princes and the others can go.
This is very serious!
Your Highness!
Please follow me.
Qingque!
Congratulations!
You've finally got your wish.
Isn't that amazing?
You'll never feel hungry for the rest of your life.
stop teasing me.
Right now, I only feel worried about Father and Chengqian.
There's nothing to be happy about.
But then again,
Chengqian is so out of luck.
It's something he's destined to have.
Just because he wanted it sooner,
he ended up like this.
It appears, one must know his limitations and have self-discipline.
Yet people like to live in a dream world.
Fools like that deserve to meet his doom.
Zhinu? Ke!
The morning assembly is over. Why are you here?
I want to see Father.
You can't fix this.
You should stay out of it.
The Crown Prince should face the consequence of his own action.
He can only pray for himself.
In your opinion,
what will Father do to Chengqian?
Who knows?
Plotting a rebellion is a capital crime.
Where are you going?
Back to my mansion.
standing next to someone who stinks makes me want to throw up.
Zhinu!
Chengqian's mess gives me a headache.
I'm heading back to the Literary Hall.
Haven't felt so good about a situation in a long time.
Wei Zheng is dead, Chengqian fell from grace,
What about Wu Meiniang?
Right! The Crown Prince is out!
What is it?
You seem rather depressed.
Maybe because
Chengqian is still my mother's son.
I have imagined this for so many times.
How delighted I'd be when I replaced him.
But when the day is finally here,
I feel awful.
Just now, Li Ke flung insults at me.
Only when I'm with Zhinu,
I can feel a bit brotherly warmth.
But on this point,
it's not a bad thing you have no children.
At least you don't have to witness
how they're at each other's throats.
Too bad Wu Meiniang is still alive.
Xu Hui is working for us,
even she betrayed Wu Meiniang,
she's beyond redemption.
Besides, Father is suspicious of her
and she has lost her will to fight.
she's no threat to us anymore.
Leave her alone.
Really? I hope so.
It's about to rain. Let's go!
Wait...
For what?
For Father to come from the meeting;
for the rain to start;
and for me to show off my generosity.
I'll kneel outside the Imperial study
and beg Father to spare Chengqian.
someone benevolent like me who repays evil with good,
must be named the next Crown Prince, right?
Who else is more qualified?
Fuji, what's the situation?
He only said one thing,
"Do as Father sees fit".
After that, he said nothing.
Hou Junji has confessed and signed off on his statement.
Is Wei Zheng involved?
According to Hou Junji,
indeed he was involved.
Your Majesty,
Wei Zheng and Hou Junji instigated the Crown Prince to rebel.
For such treasonous acts,
they don't deserve to be listed among
the 24 meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion.
Their names should be replaced.
Nobody is perfect.
I built Lingyan Pavilion to commemorate them
for their previous contributions not today's mistakes.
One flaw cannot obscure their virtues. We'll take these separately.
That's all for today. You may go.
Your Majesty, though the Crown Prince has been deposed.
Naming a replacement should not be delayed.
Or else the northern expedition against the rebel army becomes idle talk.
Fuji, I've already said it.
That's it for today. I'm tired.
Your Majesty! Your Majesty!
The Prince of Jin is here! Zhinu?
What does he want? He...
came on behalf of the Crown Prince.
He said he couldn't bear to see his brother meet his doom.
He said on account of his kind disposition,
either the Crown Prince was bewitched,
or there must be a good reason.
He begs for your leniency
and spare the Crown Prince.
Nonsense!
I have solid proof of Chengqian's rebellion.
There's no cause for leniency.
Tell him not to get involved.
Get him to go back.
But, sire...
He said if you refused, he wouldn't get up.
He's kneeling outside.
Tell him this is a state matter,
not something he can solve by whining or acting like a spoilt child.
Your Majesty!
If he wants to kneel, let him kneel!
Aye!
Your Highness, His Majesty orders you to leave.
No, unless Father promises to spare Chengqian's life,
I'm not getting up!
Your Highness!
Your devotion to your brother
is truly commendable.
They say haste makes waste.
You need the proper means to get something done.
The deposed Crown Prince broke His Majesty's heart.
The way you keep begging is not helping the situation.
His Majesty may get more disgusted with the deposed Crown Prince.
Please get up, Your Highness!
Listen to me.
Go back and think of a better plan
and plead your case again.
If he refuses, keep pestering him,
even kneel before him.
Your Highness! Wang Gong-Gong!
Your Highness! Please go!
You...
Zhinu, what are you doing here?
Qingque!
Your Highness, so good to see you.
Please dissuade the Prince of Jin.
He came to beg His Majesty to go easy on the deposed Crown Prince.
He's not getting up if His Majesty refuses.
He's been in the rain for a long time.
What if he catches a cold?
I don't know what to do.
I'm afraid I can't help you.
Why is that?
You're known for your eloquence.
Because the reason I'm here is the same as Zhinu's.
Father, Qingque is outside.
Please exercise leniency
and go easy on Chengqian.
Qingque! Your Highness, you...
You two...
You... Go back, Wang Gong-Gong!
But...
Among my sons,
someone has a heart.
It wasn't easy to plead Chengqian's case.
What do you think?
Your Majesty,
the two boys...
one has a kind heart, one is shrewd.
What do you mean?
Don't drag your feet on naming a new Crown Prince.
I have come to a decision.
Chengqian will live of course.
But he can't stay in Chang'an anymore.
It's not that easy to name a Crown Prince.
I know the matter gives you a headache.
But everyone is waiting,
you must do it quickly.
You must also decide
what to do with the deposed Crown Prince.
Ke is impossible, given his background.
Qingque no doubt is resourceful,
but the thought of handing the throne to him
makes my flesh crawl.
You have more than 3 sons, Your Majesty!
Him?
Zhinu is just a good boy.
He doesn't look like a good Emperor.
Your Majesty,
though he shows no ability to rule,
have you given him the chance?
I think you can let him try.
What makes you think he can?
Haven't you noticed,
since these children have grown up,
the Crown Prince, the Prince of Wu and the Prince of Wei
are locked in an intense rivalry,
but they all got along with the Prince of Jin
and care about him like they used to.
Because he poses no threat to them.
You have a point.
But I think what's more important
is that to the Prince of Jin,
all three are his brothers.
Imagine this for a minute...
When he ascends the throne,
which one of his brothers will he kill?
None! None of them!
They can all live.
You're most wise!
The Prince of Jin's benevolence is only second to yours.
None of the otherss is his match.
Why are you pleading Chengqian's case?
I'm worried about him.
That's it?
I know you're worried about him,
but to pester Father
until he caves in
is so unlike you.
Tell me, who put you up to it?
You must promise me not to tell anyone.
Of course!
Actually, it's...
Zhinu!
serves you right for upstaging me!
Zhinu passed out!
Help! Zhinu passed out!
Zhinu...
Hurry!
Zhinu...