Subtitles by DramaFever
[Secret of the Three Kingdoms]
[Episode 31]
After Dong Cheng left the capital
how long did it take before the poison reacted?
It was about...
three days.
Don't be scared.
His Majesty will return very soon.
Aren't you just as scared?
Do you know what she said to me last night?
She said that she wanted to go home with me.
I've never thought that I couldn't defeat destiny.
So what if I'm in love with a princess consort?
Even when she was trapped in an abyss
I could still pull her out of it.
So why has she ended up in this state...
when we just got back together?
Sister Tang has endured many hardships.
She's very tough.
Since it was by fate that she met you after surviving all of those hardships
she can surely hang in there.
We can only hope so.
Cao Zhi.
Greetings, Your Highness.
Fourth Young Master.
Upon my father's orders
I'm here to fetch Your Highness and His Majesty.
Your Highness, where is His Majesty?
And...
where's my second brother?
You don't fear death, do you?
You didn't kill me. Are you going to use me to threaten my father?
Judging by your father's actions, do you think I'd be that foolish?
Do you think that I can threaten your father by holding you hostage?
I just want to know what you have gone through
to have harbored such rage in you.
Enough of the nonsense.
If you want to kill me, get it done quickly.
When I first held you hostage, I already thought highly of you.
Would you like to learn the best swordsmanship in the world?
What?
The Wangs' Swordsmanship strikes with swiftness and fury.
You're well-suited to learn it now with that hatred and rage within you.
I don't want to learn it.
I'm not interested in your swordsmanship.
I don't wish to live my life like this either.
Aren't you going to avenge your brother?
Kill me.
I'll let you die with dignity.
Take your own life.
I understand how you feel.
It's not that you fear death but that you feel aggrieved, right?
You say that it takes fury to learn your swordsmanship.
You had so much rage bottled up inside of you.
Isn't that agonizing?
Why do you still wish to go on living?
My parents, wife, and child all died in one night.
That was when I mastered my swordsmanship at its peak.
Indeed.
I feel very aggrieved.
I can't stand allowing this darn world to take me down!
Neither can I.
Project your fury and grief into the sword.
Then you'll feel much better.
You wish to kill my father to avenge your family.
But you wish to take me in as your disciple.
Are you insane or am I?
I've only been defeated once in this lifetime.
It was by Tang Ying and Pan Yang's mentor.
His swordsmanship can be regarded as impeccable.
Who would have known that he'd die before me?
He died at the hands of Dong Zhuo's Western Liang army.
In turbulent times when everyone is vying with military power
the era in which rangers can run amuck with their swords and skills is over.
In the eyes of those who hold military powers
rangers are but outlaws.
I have a hunch that I won't live long.
That was why I passed on my swordsmanship to my younger brother.
Who knew that he'd die so young?
He died for nothing.
Although you're the son of my enemy
you have so much potential that I don't want it to go untapped.
Your father isn't fond of you.
You can't take over the world with just plutocracy.
I'll teach you the ultimate skills.
Don't you wish to learn them?
Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you with the swordsmanship you teach me?
Very good!
My disciple should have such an attitude!
However, you can't defeat me with just words.
If you want to kill your mentor...
learn to wield your sword.
Speak with your sword.
Fine.
I accept your offer.
I'll train under your mentoring now.
Mentor.
Stop!
Your Majesty?
Greetings, Your Majesty!
When did Your Majesty arrive in Wuchao?
Do rise.
Your Majesty?
Sister Ren?
- What are you doing here? - I--
Your Majesty, what are you doing here?
It's a long story.
You attacked Wuchao, didn't you?
Where's Mister Fei?
He's dead.
What?
Guo Jia killed him.
Where's Libationer Guo?
Young Master Sima, if His Majesty has gone to Wuchao
he'll be sure to meet up with Libationer Guo.
I think that we should--
Fourth Young Master, say no more.
We won't go anywhere until His Majesty gets here.
But my father ordered me to bring you back to the camp.
He said that he made Sima Yi a promise to drink together.
Let's wait a bit longer.
Report! Young Master, we've done what you instructed.
- Please take a look. - Sure.
Greetings, Your Majesty.
Where are the empress and the princess consort?
They are in the carriage.
Cao Zhi is here to bring us back to the military base.
Mister Fei is dead.
What? If so--
Don't panic. Guo Jia might have a solution.
Where's Guo Jia?
Guo Jia is also down with Mister Fei's poison.
I had Xu Chu escort him back to the military base.
Leng Shou Guang taught me some medical skills
that might save Guo Jia.
Once Guo Jia regains consciousness, we can save Sister Tang.
You mean that you'll save Guo Jia and even take Tang Ying to Cao Cao's camp?
Are you sending Tang Ying back to Cao Cao again?
This is all we can do now.
Sending her back to Cao Cao's camp...
Do you know what that means?
I've lost her again and again.
She's saved us time after time
by walking herself into prison and ingesting poison for us.
For how much longer will the imperial family keep using her?
Zhong Da--
Trust me.
I have the bargaining chips to negotiate with Cao Cao this time.
Greetings, Your Majesty.
Acting upon my father's orders
I'm here to escort Your Majesty and the empress to the camp.
All right.
I'll go to Cao Cao's camp with you.
Greetings, Minister Cao.
How is he?
[Xu Chu, courtesy name Zhong Kang]
[Cao Cao, courtesy name Meng De]
What should we do?
This poison--
Greetings, Minister Cao.
Did you cure him of the poison?
Minister Cao, we have yet to discover any symptoms of poisoning
on Libationer Guo.
Why?
What exactly is the matter with Feng Xiao?
I think that Libationer Guo's ailment was triggered by some unknown source
and he relapsed.
His condition worsened because of it.
Whatever the reason
cure him!
Libationer Guo has been taking too many different medications.
These medications react with one another to strike a balance.
Some are even deadly poisons.
We truly don't know where to start.
There's nothing we can do!
Useless!
Feng Xiao...
Am I to watch helplessly as you die?
Get lost.
Minister Cao!
Minister Cao.
Yuan Shao's past subordinate, Gao Lan, is here with his men to surrender.
Let Zhang Liao handle them.
Gao Lan has also brought a piece of information.
Speak.
Second Young Master has been abducted by Wang Yue.
Yuan Shao?
Master, fret not.
I've already sent my men to search for them.
We'll be sure to bring Second Young Master back safe and sound.
Feng Xiao...
I've won the Battle of Guandu.
But I can't let you pay the price of my victory.
Can't any of the medical officers here in the camp save him?
Miss Ren said that there's one other person who can save Libationer Guo.
Who is it?
His Majesty.
Minister Cao, Fourth Young Master has escorted His Majesty back here.
I haven't seen the emperor in two years...
He's all grown up now.
Who knew that His Majesty would come all the way to Guandu?
What's even more unexpected is that he actually assisted me
in winning this battle.
What?
Your subject, Cao Cao, greets Your Majesty.
Long live the emperor!
Your Majesty, please forgive me for not making the formal greeting
as I have armor on.
Minister Cao has extended my territory to the north and wiped out the rebels.
I'm most fortunate to witness your splendor upon the battlefield.
It's my honor to witness Your Majesty's grand presence.
It's also a great blessing for the imperial family.
Minister Cao, you must have a more pressing question for me.
Let's not waste any time here.
Rise.
Your Majesty, after you!
I can save him.
Why would Your Majesty happen to have the antidote to Feng Xiao's poison?
It isn't that I have the antidote.
I have the remedy.
Mister Fei's poison was concocted to counteract
Libationer Guo's long-term medications.
There's a eunuch in the palace who is highly skilled in medical practice.
He once told me that Libationer Guo's medication had severe side effects.
Once Libationer Guo overdoses on or is given drugs that counteract with it
his life will be in danger.
He once taught me the prescription for such a condition.
It can help relieve the symptoms when Libationer Guo is in a grave situation.
How am I to know if Your Majesty's prescription is real?
Minister Cao is indeed meticulous.
I've brought Princess Consort Tang back with me.
She's also been poisoned.
Libationer Guo has to regain consciousness in order to save her.
However, you'll have to make me a promise.
After Princess Consort Tang is cured, you have to set her free
and announce to everyone that she was killed by Yuan Shao.
Your Majesty is really honest.
If Your Majesty fails to save Feng Xiao
Princess Consort Tang will also have to die.
However, Your Majesty's concern for Princess Consort Tang
can't be more obvious.
How is this any threat to me?
A doctor must treat his patients as if they are his children.
I certainly won't threaten Minister Cao with Libationer Guo's life.
Minister Cao cares greatly for the world.
Surely you won't threaten me with the life of a frail woman, will you?
Fine!
Having seen you today
I realized that I'm not the only one who cares about the world.
Princess Consort Tang's future is Your Majesty's personal issue.
I can choose to overlook it.
However, I hope this frail woman won't interfere with
Great Han's politics again so as not to put Your Majesty in a tight spot.
Your Majesty, please write down the prescription.
When he regains consciousness
tell him about Princess Consort Tang immediately.
Don't worry.
Sima Yi.
We meet again.
Greetings, Minister Cao.
Are you also worried about Libationer Guo?
Libationer Guo is remarkably talented.
How can I not be concerned about his well-being?
My old friend's son is already a grown man.
How time flies.
Don't worry.
His Majesty will cure Feng Xiao.
However, the morale of the army must not be affected.
I have the banquet prepared.
I promised to drink with you to our hearts' content.
This way!
Sister Tang...
Even if it's just for his sake, you have to hang in there.
How is it going with Guo Jia?
Guo Jia has taken the medication.
His pulse is much more stable now.
It turns out that Leng Shou Guang's prescription really is effective.
Fortunately.
Your Majesty, why didn't you stay with Guo Jia?
When he wakes up, you can have him save Sister Tang.
The first person Guo Jia wishes to see when he wakes up
is probably Sister Ren.
Eat!
Here!
Is this the ration from Yuan Shao?
This is such a huge victory for Meng De.
It was worthwhile that Meng De came to welcome me while barefoot.
Young Master Sima!
Your father once recommended me to an official post.
He once said that I was only fit to be a county commandant.
Do you think that today, I'm good enough to be a county commandant?
I think that when my father recommended Minister Cao back then
you were just suitable as a county commandant.
Sima Yi!
How dare you speak so rudely to Minister Cao!
Why would General find my statement rude?
Master Zhuangzi once said
"If the wind is not piled up deeply enough"
"then it doesn't have the strength to support great wings."
Heroes are made through challenges and the tide of the times.
When Minister Cao was just a county commandant
you were fair in recruitment and tough in combating tyrants.
That is a truly talented county commandant.
But then the world was plunged into turbulent times
and Dong Zhuo revolted.
Minister Cao raised an army of loyal subjects
and defeated 300,000 rebels.
You defeated Yuan Shu, suppressed Lü Bu
and assaulted Yuan Shao.
This is how you've united the Central Plain today.
Carry out duties required in your position
and do them well.
That's the true demeanor of a hero.
Could it be that when you were just a county commandant
you already aimed to rank the highest of all officials, as you do today?
Well said!
When I was a county commandant
I did only want to be a good county commandant!
Your father's recommendation brought me to the beginning of my career.
Today, I shall return his favor with another.
I shall also recommend my old friend's son.
How about that?
Minister Cao, thank you for your appreciation.
However, "while the parents are alive, the son may not go abroad to a distance."
I have to report this matter to my father first.
Drink!
Here, drink!
You've woken up?
Guo Feng Xiao, you're awake!
What did you feed me?
Why is it so bitter?
You really are lucky!
Why haven't you left yet?
You even came here right under Duke Cao's nose.
You asked me to bury you.
How would I dare to leave before you breathed your last?
Is my junior, Leng Shou Guang, here?
No, it's His Majesty.
His Majesty not only assisted Duke Cao in defeating Yuan Shao
but he even saved my life.
His Majesty really isn't what I had expected at all.
Princess Consort Tang has been poisoned.
It's Mister Fei's chronic poison.
She is still in a coma.
Did His Majesty save me so that I can save Princess Consort Tang?
His Majesty wasn't certain that you'd be willing to save her.
Therefore, he didn't save you just for that reason.
You should know His Majesty better than I do.
It's fine to be hated by a beauty
but it's unbearable to be despised by a beauty.
Take me to her.
Can you walk?
If not, are you going to carry me there?
You died once and you're still being such a glib.
It did feel as though I died...
I thought that you'd fall into an abyss
so I kept you by my side.
I thought that if so, I could still pull you out of it when necessary.
I never thought that you'd be the one to pull me out of an abyss.
You...
When did you find out about my true identity?
Isn't that simple?
Which other woman in the world could have such good looks
apart from Diao Chan?
Where is Sima Yi?
Minister Cao has detained him.
He must be so anxious right now.
I know what poison it is.
It's very similar to the poison Mister Fei passed on to me.
Can you cure her?
I'm afraid it will take too long to gather all of the required herbs.
It will be too late.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
What medication is it?
I'll do my best to gather the ingredients.
Feng Xiao.
There's one person who can concoct this medication rapidly.
Who is it?
There should be traces of this medication in my blood
since I've been taking it for years.
As long as the medicinal effect in my blood is strong enough
it can cure her.
You're saying that we have to use your blood?
Would we need a lot of your blood?
We'll let her take my blood with the other medicinal herbs three times.
It's about three bowls of blood.
But... in your current condition...
No, this won't do.
We'll give it a try.
If we don't give it a try
I'll be too ashamed even if I can go on living.
Guo Jia can be out there killing the enemies
but to be indebted to another in gratitude and failing to repay the favor
is too much of a disgrace.
Minister Cao.
Shen Pei defended Ye City.
Xin Pi surrendered and opened up the city gate.
I've captured Shen Pei and his son.
Good!
We're one step closer to uniting Hebei Commandery!
Bring in Shen Pei and his son!
Bring them in here!
Duke Zheng Nan.
It's over for Yuan Shao.
Why would you be insist on such blind loyalty?
Look at Xu You.
Isn't he now my distinguished guest?
I should have had this treacherous man killed in Ye City.
Duke Zheng Nan.
It's wrong of you to say so.
Please do get up.
In the past, we each belonged to a different faction.
Hence, the conflicts.
Now that we're both here under Duke Cao's tent
I won't hold a past grudge.
Why don't I recommend you?
Minister Cao treats all men of talent with kindness.
He's 100 times better than Yuan Shao.
If Duke Zheng Nan is willing to join us
your post and wages won't be lower than mine.
Minister Cao.
Since you wish to have me surrender to you
why are you behaving so impolitely?
Meng De, look!
I still have to do the talking, right?
Untie Duke Shen.
Untie him.
Duke Zheng Nan.
You've made a wise choice.
Duke Zheng Nan, you've suffered.
You're a smart man.
What a pity.
Duke Shen...
do you really refuse to surrender?
I receive wages from Yuan Shao, so I'll be of service to him.
Today, I was captured after the defeat.
Death is my only choice.
Duke Shen, do you not care that your son is still young?
I... I'm not scared!
I'm willing to follow Father to death!
There are such loyal subjects in Hebei and yet they refuse to serve me.
How disappointing.
Forget it.
We'll fulfill their wish to remain loyal!
My master is in the north.
Do not make us die facing the south.
Fine, behead them facing the north.
Bury them generously in the north of the city.
Take them away!
Hold on!
Young Master Sima, what is the matter?
I have a few words to say.
It's Duke Shen's wish to be executed.
However, Young Master Shen is still young.
A loyal subject shouldn't be left without an offspring.
Kill the father to fulfill his wish to remain loyal.
Spare the son for the sake of filial piety.
Leave Duke Shen a son to pay respects to him
and allow the people to know how much Duke Cao appreciated Duke Shen.
Sima Yi, I don't need you to plead on my behalf!
Kill the father for loyalty and spare the son for filial piety, indeed.
I won't kill Shen Rong.
I wish to follow Father to death!
Rong...
It's better that you stay alive.
Go and become a scholar.
Don't take any official posts again.
Thank you!
Father!
Father...
Young Master Sima is very skilled in winning people over.
Drag him out of here.
Feng Xiao!
Libationer Guo.
I'm all right.
Once the medication is decocted, mix it into the three bowls of blood.
Feed her a bowl every two hours.
That should cure the poisoning.
Libationer Guo, thank you for saving her life.
I've already told Your Majesty that I'm repaying your favor.
We can now call it even.
Young Master Sima.
You have yet to answer me if you're willing to take an official post.
I'll be so bold as to ask if this is Minister Cao's command
or just a recruitment?
So what if it's a recruitment?
What if it's my command?
If it's your command, that leaves me no choice.
If you're just recruiting me, I'll be honest with you.
I'm not willing to take an official posts for 10 years.
Why?
You said so yourself that a hero is a product of the times.
Heroes are best made known in times of great turbulence.
I'm not one to be docile.
I'm very competitive.
Under your leadership
I'm bound to vie against Libationer Guo in wits and courage.
Minister Cao, you're not some weak and ignorant master either.
I'm worried that I'll dig my own grave.
Your excuse is really unique!
You already want to compete against Feng Xiao in wits.
There aren't that many who are are confident as you.
That's why I wish to return home to study for a few more years.
I need to work on my tolerance and temper.
How do I know that you won't vie against Feng Xiao in some other place?
Minister Cao has now pacified the Central Plain.
Henei Commandery is also within the Central Plain.
I wouldn't dare act otherwise.
Fine!
I won't stop you from going home.
But I believe your father will make a wise decision.
Thank you, Minister Cao!
Don't worry.
The medication is taking effect.
This is great.
You should get some rest.
I'll keep you company.
You should get some rest.
You can come and take the next shift.
If so...
we'll take turns.
How is she doing?
She's much better now. Don't worry.
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