I didn't lie to you!
Why wouldn't you believe me? I really...
Meiniang!
Congratulations, Your Majesty! Zhaoyi Wu is pregnant!
she's pregnant just when I have regained His Majesty's grace?
The Prince of Chen is now the Crown Prince,
if Wu Meiniang gives birth to a prince,
His Highness will face a bigger threat.
Prince?
Let's see if she can actually give birth!
An Imperial edict for His Highness Li Zhong, the Prince of Chen.
For the stability of the Tang kingdom,
we pray for the blessings from Heaven and Earth.
The well-being of the state rides on the Crown Prince,
Li Zhong, the Prince of Chen is talented
and has high aspirations for the state.
He's foremost a filial son
and his benevolence will be good for all.
I hereby name him the Crown Prince
with all of you to witness the ceremony.
Thank you, Father!
Congratulations, Your Highness!
Long live His Majesty...
Your Majesty, I have something to say.
Go ahead!
On this joyous occasion of naming the Crown Prince,
Yet I'm rather worried when I think of the prophecy years ago
about "the woman ruler named Wu"..
shut up!
This is not just omens and prodigies.
The late Emperor was rather worried too.
Please act in the best interests of the state.
Revoke the devil's title and banish her from the Harem.
Your Majesty,
deposing her is not enough to appease the people.
Her debauchery has affected the Harem because she's involved with courtiers.
she deserves to be executed.
You...
Please reconsider...
No matter how you interpret the prophecy,
I'm convinced it's a trumped up charge.
Your Majesty, I wish to say something...
In your opinion, how do you compare with the late Emperor, Your Majesty?
I can't compare to him.
He was wise and able, but even he was wary of the prophecy suggested by Li Chunfeng.
If Your Majesty chooses to ignore the words from the bottom of our hearts,
where does that leave the late Emperor?
What about the state of Tang? And your subjects?
How dare you!
I heard the late Emperor left you a posthumous edict
about this seductress named Wu.
Please follow the edict and make up your mind.
How did you find out about this edict?
Well...
There was no such edict!
I'm not my Father, don't use him to pressure me.
Father might have misgivings, but I don't!
I trust Zhaoyi Wu.I have always trusted her, I do now and I always will.
You'd better remember this.
I will never change.
What now? He says he won't change...
Court is adjourned!
Chancellor Zhangsun...
Then His Majesty said,
"I trust Zhaoyi Wu.
I have always trusted her, I do now and I always will.
You'd better remember this. I will never change!
That's awesome!
You should have seen him!
His Majesty was truly awe-inspiring!
His Majesty the Emperor!
Greetings, Your Majesty!
Meiniang!
Tell me, did you lose your temper again?
You're willing to talk to me now?
Your Majesty!
You really don't care about the prophecy?
I only care about you.
Don't touch!
The baby is so tiny. You won't feel it.
Of course I can!
Meiniang, I'm so excited about the baby.
Our baby!
For you and the baby, I don't care what people think.
I'm willing to forsake my kingdom and my life to protect you both.
Your Majesty!
I was wrong about what happened.
From now on, no matter what lies ahead,
I'm not letting go of you!
Her Highness the Empress is here!
Greetings, Your Majesty!
What are you doing here?
Zhaoyi Wu is in labour,
I should come to look in on her.
Over this past year, I know what you've been up to
and who you have summoned to the Palace.
Worshipping the Gods is a good thing,
but if your intentions are evil, you'll only hurt yourself.
I indulge you because you're my wife.
You should stay in Lizheng Hall today.
As you wish!
His Majesty the Emperor!
His Majesty is here!
Greetings, Your Majesty!
How is Zhaoyi Wu?
Don't worry. Everything went well.
Congratulations, Your Majesty!
Congratulations, Zhaoyi! It's a boy!
My baby!
Meiniang! Your Majesty!
Come...look at your son!
Our son!
Yes, he's our son!
son, I'm your Father!
How silly!
Give the baby a name, Your Majesty!
I hope this child will glorify Tang.
How about Li Hong?
Li Hong?
Li Hong...You like that?
Yes!
Hong'er!
Did you hear that, Hong'er?
Look at Father!
Hong'er, I'm your Father!
Wang De!
Yes?
Pass my order
My 5th son Li Hong will be the Prince of Dai.
I will grant a general pardon and...
Lao Zi should rule... starting tomorrow...
I want a banquet for 7 days...
Li Hong should come forward.
summon all courtiers and ambassadors to join the celebration, this is...
What is it, Your Majesty?
Are you alright?
Your Majesty! I'm fine!
Maybe I got too excited, so...
Your Majesty! Your Majesty!
Get the doctor! Doctor...
send for the doctor! Doctor!
Your Majesty!
I pray to the gods to take her life.
May she perish with the baby and she'll die from uterine bleeding!...
Milady!
Did she give birth?
Yes!
Boy or girl?
Boy!
Didn't they say sincerity will make my wish come true?
Haven't I been sincere enough?
Please contain your anger, Milady!
Liars! They're liars!
Milady, Consort Xiao asks to see you.
What brings you here today?
A storm is coming!
Wu Meiniang gave birth to a son.
Don't tell me you didn't know!
so what?
He's only a younger son.
Tang already has a Crown Prince.
But the Crown Prince can be replaced.
If you have the presence of mind,
why would you indulge in sorcery?
sorcery?
But that's not what you said before!
I didn't realise you'd be so obsessed
and exercise no discretion.
Even His Majesty knows about that.
But then again, maybe Wu Meiniang's life is tough,
praying to the gods can't stop her from having this baby.
spare me your sarcasm.
If praying is useless, your means are no more effective than mine.
since Wu Meiniang was pregnant,
those snakes and scorpions found in her chamber
should be by courtesy of you.
How much harm have you done her?
That's because we were acting on our own.
That's why we failed to bring her any great harm
and she's able to deliver a baby boy today.
A year ago when she was named a Zhaoyi,
we should have known she's the biggest threat to us.
But you had a prince then and refused to work with me.
Now...do you still want to fight alone?
You're right, over this past year, despite the moves we made on her,
she never retaliated. Not even once.
All she did was to give His Majesty a son.
I really can't figure her out.
But that makes her truly scary.
You're right. At this point, we must join forces to save ourselves.
Give him a hand!
Go! After him!
stop!
Come back! stop!
The armours and weapons...
Who are they for?
I really don't know anything.
Wait!
The calluses on your hands
tell me you've been wielding a sword longer than you used a whip.
You'd better tell me the truth.
Inside the torture room of the Grand Court,
we have a 12-course menu.
since its establishment, no one has tasted the full menu.
I'm a patient man, I'd like to see how many courses you can palate.
Guess what name His Majesty gave Wu Meiniang's son. Li Hong!
since the Wei and Jin dynasties, there was a folk saying,
"Lao Zi should rule, Li Hong should come forward".
People believed Li Hong was an alias used by Lao Zi.
He's reborn on earth to ease the people's sufferings.
It proves His Majesty is very fond of this boy.
You suppose His Majesty will name him the Crown Prince?
sit down!
Maybe. Zhinu might even want to make Meiniang the Empress.
The Empress has Li Zhong, Consort Xiao has sujie.
For their son's future as well as their own,
they'll be in constant strife with Wu Meiniang.
If His Majesty wants to depose Empress Wang,
he'll be confronting Zhangsun Wuji.
Isn't this what we want?
But I'm afraid Wu Meiniang may be content with having a son.
Over the past year while she was pregnant with Li Hong,
the Empress and Consort Xiao have provoked her repeatedly,
never once did she retaliate.
I'm worried she has turned weak.
Looks like I should make a trip to the Palace.
Your Highness, this is from Prince Fang.
Aye! You may go!
Yi'ai just got word.
someone was smuggling 100 suits of armour and weapons into Chang'an,
but was intercepted by the patrolling guards.
Zhangsun Wuji is now interrogating the cart driver.
Was it you who did that?
What did Zhangsun Wuji find out?
The cart driver confessed
he's sending the goods to Luoyun Villa, on the west side of the city.
Luoyun Villa?
Consort Yang bought it with her own assets.
Why would they take the goods out there?
Oh no!
Must be Zhangsun Wuji's ploy to frame His Highness!
Before he makes a move on Brother Ke,
we must try to turn things around.
If he's charged with treason he'll be in great danger.
Turn things around? There's no time. What can we do?
That's why I think rather than racking our brains in planning,
we should take a chance and set things right once and for all.
Your Majesty!
You're awake!
Meiniang!
Did I scare you?
Your Majesty!
You've been having these dizzy spells for some time.
And within this past year, it has been happening more frequently?
Your Majesty has been working very hard to run the state,
if you hadn't fallen ill, you probably wouldn't have accepted any treatment.
Wang Gong-Gong, has His Majesty been getting headaches lately?
They were quite severe but didn't last very long?
That's right!
I remember since His Majesty ascended the throne,
he's been having these headaches.
Each time I offered to send for the doctor, he'd always say "no"
and said he'd be alright soon.
Doctor,
let's have a word outside.
Aye!
Milady...
Tell me the truth about His Majesty's condition.
Milady, His Majesty has fengji.
He would start with mild headaches,
which will become progressively severe
until he gets splitting headaches.
It'll affect his eye sight and he may even go blind.
You're gifted doctors. There's nothing you can do?
Well...it's a recurring illness resulted from being out in the rain
and was overcome by wind, coldness and wetness.
Over the years, I've been trying to invigorate him
and delay the onset of the illness.
There's no actual cure. Please forgive us.
After all, I'm responsible for his condition
I'm the guilty one.
Meiniang!
Your Majesty!
Go easy on them.
My Grandfather, Emperor Gaozu also died of fengji.
Father was inflicted with it too, except the onset came much later.
All I can do is live with it.
It's incurable.
Please punish us for our incompetence.
Man's abilities are limited.
I can only blame the bad lot of the Li clan,
that passed on the illness from one generation to the next.
It's not your fault! You're excused.
Thank you, Your Majesty!
Your Majesty!
What is it?
I...
I'm sorry!
It was my fault. If I didn't ask you to plead Chengqian's case, you wouldn't...
Meiniang, I order you never to say you caused my condition again.
What's wrong? If they can't cure me, it doesn't mean no one else can.
We can offer a huge reward to recruit outstanding doctors, alright?
Look at you! Don't be silly!
Don't worry about me.
What you should do is get enough rest.
You just gave birth, you should eat more and sleep more.
It's alright, Meiniang!
That's how things happen and such is life.
Good fortune and bad go hand in hand.
Meiniang,
I don't want you to suffer any grievances.
You gave me Hong'er.
It's the biggest joy of my life.
I want to name you the Royal Consort.
From now on, there'll be Royal, Noble, Pure, Virtuous and Able Consorts.
You'll be the head of the 5 Consorts.
I don't want that.
This is not a spur of the moment idea.
I've been giving this much thought.
If I have not been diagnosed with this illness,
I probably still couldn't make up my mind.
You're worried Uncle will object?
I've had this all figured out.
Don't forget Father appointed more than one regent.
Wait to hear my good news.
silly!
Your Majesty!
Your Majesty, you...
Prepare 10 carts of silk and satin
and a cart of gold and silver articles for the Prince of Wu.
Aye!
Your Highness, since you left Chang'an, we were like lost souls.
Now that you've come back, we finally feel alive again
We finally have hope...
That's right!
But we have worked hard, got promoted and have made money over the past year.
Even the powerful Zhangsun Wuji
dared not show off in the Ministry of Defence.
That's right!
I'm overjoyed thinking about it.
The only thing lacking is that His Majesty still doesn't fully trust you.
Or else why would he use Zhangsun Wuji's men as Imperial Guards?
Don't say it! such nonsense!
Your Highness!
He's drinking too much!
You should call it a day, Gentlemen.
Wanche is probably drunk.
Let's call it a day today.
Go now! Let's meet again in a couple of days!
Yes... I'm not drunk!
Goodbye, Your Highness! What are you doing?
say no more! I won't walk you out!
What is it?
What do you need to tell me that you can't say in front of my friends?
Do you realise the trouble you're in?
Hong'er...
You may go! Aye!
What's going on with the Empress?
Milady,
she caned to death several sorcerers she has been supporting.
But 2 hours later,
she sent someone to Zhongnan Mountains to look for more.
Then Consort Xiao went over to Lizheng Hall,
and had a long talk with the Empress.
What can they possibly talk about?
Probably the old cliche about conspiring against me.
What about Xu Jingzong? Is he back in Chang'an?
Yes, he came back yesterday.
Like Li Yifu, he pledged his allegiance to you.
Good!
Tell Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu to come to Taiji Palace tonight.
I have something important to discuss with them.
Aye!
Hong'er!
What?
Over 100 suits of armour and swords were being delivered to Luoyun Villa?
If you didn't bring it up,
I have almost forgotten about that place.
This is a setup!
But Zhangsun Wuji doesn't think so.
If His Majesty read the driver's testimony, he probably won't either.
No, His Majesty would never doubt me.
Xue Wanche was right.
Even if His Majesty treats you well, he still has misgivings about you.
100 suits of armour are good enough for a coup.
I believe compared to His Majesty,
Zhangsun Wuji is more capable of interfering with this case.
If he persists, His Majesty may reluctantly give in.
We have seen enough of that happen since we came back to Chang'an.
Are you still willing to entrust your life and future to someone else's hands?
If His Majesty believed in the slanders
and found you guilty of treason,
what could you do then?
We must strike first.
Once Zhangsun Wuji and Li Zhi are dead,
with the support from Li Ji, you can ascend the throne and rule over Tang
Nonsense! Life and death is nothing compared to burying my conscience.
Qingxuan,
if there comes a time when there's nothing we can do,
I'll risk everything to send you away from Chang'an.
For me and my Mother, I know you have made sacrifices and suffered grievances.
If anything should happen to me, I won't get you involved.
I want you to live a free and easy life.
No, I'll never leave you.
Alright...say no more.
As if something is really going to happen.
I sounded like those were my last words.
Imagine we're likely to be scaring ourselves
If His Majesty wants to come after me,
he probably would promote and reward me so that I'll let down my guard.
Look, nothing is happening.
It'll be alright!
His Majesty the Emperor!
Greetings, Your Majesty! Your Majesty!
At ease!
Please have a seat, Your Majesty!
What brings you here?
I've been so busy
and we've had no time to chat.
I know over the past year, it has been unfair to you.
We're brothers. Don't say that!
I know you have your problems.
Problems? It's because I have been indecisive.
But something happened today and I came to my senses.
Life is short,
I don't want to see those I care about and love suffer anymore grievances,
especially you.
I'm here to tell you something.
General Cheng Xuan is getting on in years, I intend to let him retire.
I want you to replace him
and take over the 16 divisions of the Imperial Guards.
I'm afraid you'll face enormous objection.
Don't worry!
I won't issue an edict to appoint you
but I'll order a tournament and appoint the winner.
No one could object. Just like I know no one can beat you.
Thank you, Your Majesty!
By the way, I also need your help with something else.
What is it?
Meiniang gave me a son, I want to make her my Royal Consort.
Why don't you take a nap, Father?
I believe very soon, we'll know the owner of Luoyun Villa
and we'll get to the truth.
"Lao Zi should rule, Li Hong should come forward."
His Majesty gave Wu Meiniang's son such a name.
Where is he now?
He just left to see the Prince of Wu.
Notify the Chancellery
if His Majesty plans to make Wu Meiniang a consort,
tell him the number of concubines is fixed and inappropriate to add more
and overrule it.
I understand.
If His Majesty wants to name a consort,
why did he go to see Li Ke?
He didn't go to see Li Ke,
he went to see someone who could keep me in line.
I'm afraid he'll be disappointed.
He won't get involved in His Majesty's domestic matters.
sir,
the Prince of Wu is the owner of Luoyun Villa.
send Imperial Guards to his mansion.
Aye!
You should inform the secretariat if you wish to name a consort
and issue an edict.
You and I both know, with Uncle around,
what I want will never be approved by the Chancellery.
The only person who can somewhat keep Uncle in line
is Minister Li Ji.
But he's been calling in sick and refuse to see any courtiers.
You're the only one who can contact him.
You want me to persuade him?
I hope you'll come with me to visit him.
I have a question.
If I refuse, is it true that you won't make me a general?