I've found Wenniang's killer!
Who was it?
It's...Consort Xu!
You're the fortune teller Yuan Tiangang?
Fuji, why did you bring him here? What do you mean?
Vice Chancellor Li Chunfeng's mentor Yuan Tiangang
is in the Imperial study right now.
Chancellor Zhangsun brought him to the Palace.
If his divination says you are "the woman ruler named Wu".
Even His Majesty can't save you.
Why won't you resort to divination?
Why won't you give it a rest?
Why pick on a weak woman?
What ordinary weak woman
would have the courage to follow the army onto the battlefield,
meddle with military affairs, and convince you to withdraw the troops?
First we had the prophecy of the "woman ruler named Wu".
Now Cairen Wu meddled with state affairs from the harem.
Please resort to divination, Your Majesty...
And if I refuse, you'll remain kneeling.
I won't survive tonight?
If you survive tonight.
Li Yifu will follow you.
Your Majesty, Cairen Wu seeks an audience.
send her in!
Aye!
Your Majesty!
The courtiers kneeling outside,
I know why they're here.
You knew? Don't worry!
I know you wish to protect me.
But if they sling enough mud, some of it will stick.
There's not much you can do.
Old courtiers like Chancellor Fang are old and weak.
How long do you think you can keep this up?
If anything should happen to them,
you'll go down in history as an inane ruler because of me.
You mustn't let that happen.
If I resort to divination,
who knows what they'll come up with?
No, divination is definitely out.
Yuan Tiangang is Li Chunfeng's mentor,
who knows if he'll hold a grudge against me?
What if he wants to avenge his protege?
Besides, any divination is a matter of interpretation.
Who knows what they'll say?
I don't want to put you on the spot
or bear the blame, and die for no reason.
Get up!
Trust me, I'm trying to find a solution.
I won't let them get what they want.
Your Majesty, according to the prophecy,
Venus, the star of Calamity, is within the Palace,
and will wreck the state and ruin its people
Why don't you find an excuse and send me away from the Palace.
If I never set foot inside the harem, will that work?
What if they won't let up?
What can we do then?
Where will I put you?
This is a makeshift plan and also the only solution.
Princess Gaoyang is getting married the day after tomorrow.
I'm willing to have my title revoked, accompany her to the Fang's,
and become a maid in Fengyang Pavilion.
Just send me over there.
There's simply no other way.
Your Majesty, this is the only way.
Your Majesty!
Fuji, as long as it won't hurt the state,
you'll give it a rest?
Yes!
Li Chunfeng said
if the Venus, star Calamity, resides in the Palace,
it will harm the state.
I have decided to reduce Cairen Wu to a lady-in-waiting.
she'll accompany Gaoyang to the Fang Residence.
she's not allowed inside the Palace anymore.
Whether or not she's the "woman ruler named Wu",
she won't be able to hurt Tang.
I'm entrusting Chancellor Fang with her life and possessions.
I will not see her again,
should anyone show her any disrespect
or if her life is in danger,
I'm holding you both personally responsible.
Fuji, Chancellor Fang,
are you happy now?
This is quite sufficient, Your Majesty.
But this is just a makeshift plan!
Zhangsun Wuji!
You're a courtier who serves the Emperor.
Because you're so used to having no one to report to but me,
you have forgotten enough is enough?
Do not push your luck any further.
You may go!
Let's go!
The danger of the battlefield up north could not keep us apart.
I can't believe now that we're back in the Palace...
How did Fuji find out you were in Liaodong?
After your return to the Palace,
did you tell anyone about where you were?
No.
Chancellor Zhangsun has given up the idea of killing me
or resorting to divination.
He's let me go to the Fang's with the Princess.
For me, this arrangement is probably the best.
You're a wise and able Emperor,
don't let me be the reason you confront your courtiers
or you'll send a chill to their hearts.
This so-called wise and able Emperor has let you down.
Your Majesty,
are these the water carts that bring water back from the mountain?
They leave the Palace at 7 o'clock at night
and come back at 5 the next morning.
Can you tie a bell to the cart
and make them pass by
the Fang's Residence every day?
In that case, when they leave the Palace,
the bell would remind you of me.
When they pass by the Fang's Residence,
the sound of the bell would make me think of you.
Milady,
Wu Meiniang's Cairen title has been revoked.
she's banished to Fengyang Pavilion as Princess Gaoyang's lady-in-waiting.
When Her Highness gets married,
she'll leave the Palace and move into Fang's Residence.
You may go!
Aye!
Wu Meiniang!
After all this, why are you still alive?
Milady, Wu Meiniang left word.
she wanted to meet you in the Imperial Garden.
Very well! You may go!
Aye!
Greetings, Your Majesty!
Get up!
Thank you, Your Majesty!
Rui'an, you have something important to tell me?
Your Majesty,
Cairen Wu sent me.
Meiniang!
I just heard.
Don't worry, I'll think of a way
to get you back from the Fang's Residence.
sis...
did you spread rumours in the Palace
and said the last few years I was away
I was actually with His Majesty up north?
You invited me here to interrogate me?
Don't forget,
I wasn't the only one in the Palace who knew you were up north with the army.
More than one letter was sent out that contained that information.
Over 10 courtiers received the same letter.
Here...I tried very hard to get my hands on a copy.
Take a look, see if you recognise the handwriting.
Meiniang...
Yes, it does look like Rui'an's handwriting.
But there was something I forgot to tell you
I didn't exactly tell you the whole truth the other night.
I never told Rui'an about this.
He knew nothing.
Maybe there are others who knew I was up north,
but you're the only person who thought Rui'an knew.
I see, so you've suspected me all along.
Yes, I sent the letter to Zhangsun Wuji.
What can you do about it?
You told Wenniang to intercept Rui'an
and swapped the note I wrote the Crown Prince,
to make him think he had been deposed.
What a shame, even when His Majesty thought you were involved in the coup,
he still didn't want to kill you.
You killed Wenniang!
I was actually quite fond of that girl.
I never treated her like a maid.
But she'd rather take your side.
she gave me no choice.
Why?
Why did you do it?
You really hate me that much?
Hate you? since we came to the Palace,
I treated you like my own sister.
I risked my life to protect you.
What did you do to me?
You repeatedly told me
you were disappointed with His Majesty.
You gave me hope.
Then you kept throwing yourself back at him.
You completely shattered my pathetically tiny bit of hope.
You let me down first. You betrayed me.
Remember there was a time...
I was alone with him in the Imperial study?
He purposely kept his distance from you.
He was very good to me.
We talked and laughed,
until one day, he told me to grind the ink block
and absent-mindedly, he called me Meiniang.
I finally knew then...
Only when the world is rid of you can I be happy and content!
That's why you tried so hard to kill me.
You think by doing that,
His Majesty will finally love you?
The harem belongs to me now.
If I wanted to kill you,
you think you'd still be around?
Everything I have done
was to make you leave His Majesty.
Meiniang, even if you have betrayed me we can still be like sisters,
as long as you leave the Palace.
As long as you promise me
never to return and be embroiled with His Majesty,
I can promise you anything.
Please? I beg you! Meiniang...
I beg of you...please?
I beg you...
Never come back after you move into the Fang's Residence.
As long as you stay away, I still have a chance
to be the old kind and gentle Xu Hui.
Meiniang...
You'll promise? Yes?
All these years, you must have wondered.
In terms of looks and wits
you're everything my equal.
Why is it His Majesty doesn't love you
and you never won him over.
What's inside matters, not appearance.
Who do you think he is?
He has seen it all.
Obviously he knew you're foul within.
How can he possibly love you?
Even if I don't come back,
you think he'll fall in love with you?
stop dreaming, Consort Xu!
You will, for the rest of your life,
live in my shadow.
You're destined to lose.
spare me your act.
I'll lose?
You don't think so?
The things you possess and so proud of
are dispensable to His Majesty.
The best memory you have with him
including the first time you climbed into his bed
only happened because of me.
To me, you're nothing but
a pitiful wretch forever living in someone else's shadow
and only capable of being a replacement.
No!
Look at you!
Just take a look at you!
You're no different from a shrew from the market.
The lady of the harem?
Don't you think it's the biggest joke?
shut up!
You've slapped me already.
That ought to make up for our years of friendship.
Consort Xu, from now on,
we start from a clean slate.
If you try to hurt me again,
you'll get a 10-fold return.
Don't push me! You gave me no choice!
You're digging your own grave!
I know you rule supreme over the harem.
But we're within reach of each other now.
If I had a dagger,
I could kill you now!
But I won't.
Because the sis Xu whom I respected
and who loved me dearly is already dead.
standing in front of me is just a walking corpse wearing her skin.
Give it up! Enough of your evildoing!
I already know how you'll end up.
You will come to no good end.
Conduct yourself properly.
No!
In this harem, it's win or lose, not right or wrong.
I have done nothing wrong.
You didn't beat me.
You hear me, Wu Meiniang? I beat you.
sire...
Anyone...
How odd!
Where's everyone else?
save your breath! Except for me,
there's no one else in Jinle Palace.
Pardon me for not greeting you, Your Majesty!
You're excused.
Aye!
Just now when you were speaking to Meiniang in the Imperial Garden,
I was standing nearby.
You have something to ask me?
Chengqian would not have rebelled if you hadn't set him up.
Is that right?
You killed your own lady-in-waiting, right?
You repeatedly planted evidence to frame Wu Meiniang.
Is that right?
You're not worried I'd hate you when I found out?
Hating me is good.
Love and hate go hand in hand.
Hate is also a kind of affection.
At least that's better than turning a blind eye to me, right?
Your Majesty, without me,
you could have been with Meiniang forever.
Without me, the Crown Prince wouldn't have started a coup.
Without me,
Li Tai would not have been banished from Chang'an.
Do you know everything I did was done for you?
Thanks to me,
you can now enjoy such a contented life.
Please kill me, Your Majesty!
If you order to have me killed,
at least you'll always remember me.
I won't kill you. That's too easy for you.
You'll still be the Able Consort.
You'll continue to reside in Jinle Palace,
but all by yourself.
Your Majesty!
If you kill yourself, I'll execute your clan
Everything I did
I was doing it for you.
Your Majesty...
Wenniang,
Xu Hui is now under house arrest in Jinle Palace,
where she'll spend the rest of her life.
Wenniang, sis Wu and I avenged you.
Wenniang, we avenged you!
Rui'an!
sis...
Don't cry! You should be happy.
Look, you took revenge for Wenniang.
Xu Hui got the punishment she deserved.
It's time for me to leave.
It's my fault.
If I hadn't been so persistent about avenging Wenniang,
I wouldn't have uncovered the truth.
And it's very likely
you'd still have your best friend.
It's not your fault! she brought it upon herself.
I'm leaving the Palace tomorrow.
I wanted to see you before I go.
There must be something wrong with the feng shui of Jinle Palace.
It's the most ominous place in Taiji Palace.
Don't scare me!
What's wrong with Jinle Palace?
First, Consort Liu hung herself inside.
Now it has become a cold palace for Consort Xu.
Isn't that ominous?
Let's get out of here quickly.
Don't make any stops.
Excuse me!
What's all the racket outside?
Didn't you know?
Princess Gaoyang is getting married today.
Meiniang?
You may go.
Meiniang, there's a long way to go.
What's with those water carts?
I don't get it. Don't you get tired of it?
Gaoyang, stop drinking!
Everyone in the Fang mansion can tell me to stop.
But not you.
You know how miserable I am.
We're being tortured
by the fact we're separated from someone we love.
We should pity each other because we're in the same boat.
Unless you enjoy your house arrest.
How bad can it be?
I'm well fed and clothed. I can come and go as I please.
I have more freedom than when I was in the Palace.
You can go anywhere you like
except to see Father inside the Palace.
so you look at the water carts as a consolation?
What a joke!
Here! since we're both depressed,
let the wine help...drown our sorrow.
Here, bottoms up!
I wonder when days like this will end.
(When flowers were dying,
How much?
5 coppers.
Thank you.
Your change.
You think there's something wrong with these half-moon coins?
I'm willing to use my shop
to guarantee they are real.
Half-moon coins?
The mark on the Kaiyuan tong bao.
Don't you think it looks like a half-moon?
Oh no!
The crescent-shaped mark isn't too bad.
Your Majesty!
sire, take a break and have some ginseng soup.
You can leave that to Chancellors Zhangsun and Fang.
They have done enough for me this past year.
If you think I'm old,
they're even older.
How is Gaoyang? Is she behaving?
I was just about to tell you.
she's becoming very fond of drinking.
she often holds poetry meetings with the literati
and would invariably get very drunk.
Why doesn't Fang Yi'ai say something?
He's very much in love with Her Highness
and tends to give in on every occasion.
Luckily, Cairen Wu is there.
Only she can try to dissuade her
so that she won't be too depressed.
It has been so long,
in my opinion,
perhaps you can try
to bring Cairen Wu back.
An Emperor must keep his word.
Besides, as long as Meiniang stays away from the Palace,
she'll be safe.