"Ashes of Love"
"Episode 30"
You don't like these?
You're not interested in these too?
Then I'll find other stuffs.
I'll take these away first.
Leave it.
Timid and coward,
like a tortoise retracts its head into its shell.
What is this?
My Lord, this...
This is a dragon scale.
A dragon scale?
It is a gift from an immortal who herds deer.
Immortal?
Is that a male immortal or female immortal?
Male immortal.
There is no dragon in this world.
I think you're cheated.
That's not possible.
I've seen it several times.
It is absolutely true.
You've seen it?
How many times have you met?
Why are you so nervous about it?
I'm not nervous.
My Lord, if you don't believe it,
I can summon him.
No way.
You are not allowed to do so in the future.
I have already decreed...
to drive out the alchemists of the nation.
Don't break the national law.
Sure.
According to the book,
a dragon's crescent-shaped reverse scale only grows below its throat.
However,
regarding the dragon's reverse scale,
whoever touches it will be angered, whoever plucks it will die.
No dragon allows people to touch it,
no one is brave enough to pluck it.
This cheater didn't even put his heart into making this dragon scale.
Only you will trust him.
Right, right, right!
In that case,
please return it to me, My Lord.
Since you said it's a dragon scale,
I'll take it as it is the real one.
I think it matches me quite well.
Why don't you give it to me?
No!
This friend of mine is an immortal.
It is a gift of his kindness.
It's inappropriate if I pass it on to you, My Lord.
Give it back to you.
Little tortoise?
You don't give me the dragon scale, but I'm not as selfish as you.
This is for you.
Thank you, My Lord.
Do you think that...
it is similar to you?
Yes, it is.
Similar to me?
Is it similar?
- It is. - Courtesy demands reciprocity.
You didn't give me the dragon scale,
but I have gifted you a little tortoise.
Then you should give me something else.
What do you want, My Lord?
In fact, nothing else.
There is only one thing...
that I want.
What is it?
Think about it.
He wants me to think about it?
Except for the skin of reverse scales.
This is the wound and pain for my entire life.
Please don't say it anymore! Stop it. You're not my son!
Go!
Go away!
You don't have to restrain yourself, Your Highness.
If you need a company,
I will stay.
If you want to be alone,
I will leave.
I'm fine.
I've just recalled something in my childhood.
Have you recalled everything, Your Highness?
Just a part of it.
They are all the long-lasting nightmares.
I remember...
I was living in Tai Lake with my mother when I was a kid.
I once thought I was an odd-looking carp.
I was always bullied by the other children of water tribe.
- Hurry up and leave. - A monster with horns on his head!
- Leave! - Leave! Bastard!
Leave Li Lake!
- Father is a dragon... - Leave!
While mother is a dragonfish.
Why would I be a carp?
Finally, there came a day...
when I couldn't bear it any longer.
I never thought that...
my resistance...
had brought me the consequence.
No, mother.
Mother.
No, mother.
Don't, mother.
Don't do this, mother!
No.
- Be good, Li Er. - No.
Be obedient, Li Er. Just a moment.
Just a moment. Be good.
- No, no way! - Be obedient.
- Don't, mother. - Just a moment.
Don't! Don't!
All my clothes...
were dyed in red by my own blood.
It stained my clothes, layer after layer.
Since I was born,
my mother had been hiding me in...
the deepest, darkest part at the bottom of the lake.
I live in complete darkness.
Do you know what was my biggest fear at that time?
Was it plucking the dragon scales...
and cutting off the dragon horns?
Darkness?
Loneliness?
It's cold.
The extreme chillness after the blood loss...
penetrated into my organs and marrow...
little by little.
Do you know how does it feel like when it's extremely cold?
My organs felt like they were on fire.
My whole body...
and bones...
seemed to be boiling and burning.
It couldn't wait to burn up the remaining temperature of my body...
and take away my last energy.
I still shiver from the cold when I think about it now.
Don't think about it anymore, Your Highness.
It's better to forget...
such a tragic past.
Kuang Lu.
Though you are my servant,
you are the precious daughter of Immortal Taisi.
You were showered with love since you were young.
And I...
I am a bastard...
who was abandoned by my birth mother.
Why did you bring him here?
Godmother.
It's all my fault.
I was just worried that you will do something...
that you will regret in the future.
Tell me.
Are we on the same boat?
Tell me!
You have saved my life, godmother.
You also taught me the spell.
You have raised me up.
You don't have to worry alone again.
Please allow me to share the burdens with you.
Since you've been missing His Highness day and night,
why don't you reunite with him?
It's unbearable.
I was the princess of dragonfish tribe.
Though our tribe belongs to Heaven Realm,
we've lived in Tai Lake for generations.
We were living an extravagant,
peaceful and honourable life.
I was pampered by father and brothers since I was a child.
I was engaged with the prince of Immortal Qian Lake.
One year, on the birthday of Heavenly Empress,
I went to Heaven Realm with my father to send birthday greetings...
and to present Night Pearl.
I was young and lazy to socialise at that time.
Moreover, I was attracted by the extraordinary views of Heaven Realm.
When I lingered around,
I was lost and walked into Sheng Jing Court.
I bumped into an immortal.
He claimed himself as Night Immortal...
with his alias Immortal Northern Star.
His duty was to keep watch over Sheng Jing Court of Heavenly Emperor.
He was a graceful man with a scholarly bearing.
Two of us hit it off right away.
After that, we dated every dusk.
Every moment spent with him...
was always glorious but short.
Time flies.
In the twinkling of an eye,
we had gotten along for more than 10 days.
You have to oppose in order to straighten it.
You have to bend in order to turn it away.
Calligraphy is just like philosophy of Yi.
It's full of variables.
You have to feel it with your heart.
This is so-called...
the sadness in the past has been left in nowhere.
A good wish is beyond the reach.
All the six realms know that...
Heavenly Emperor was entangled with Flora Immortal before.
I didn't expect that he was...
Flora Immortal will be his love trial forever.
When he was young, for the sake of power,
he abandoned Flora Immortal to marry Heavenly Empress.
How could he let go of her so easily?
After years, I realised that...
he tempted me from the beginning...
because my facial features look similar to Zi Fen.
He was just trying to look for...
Zi Fen's shadow through me.
Catalpa has grown well in Jiangnan,
beauty is incomparable in youth.
I'm a dragonfish, but not a plant.
What a mischievous person.
Crimson dragon pearls fall all of a sudden.
Wish we will never be apart after meeting you today.
I stayed in Heaven Realm with father for over a month.
We were getting back to Tai Lake after visiting all the immortals.
I looked for him the night before leaving...
to bid a farewell with him.
However, he disappeared without a trace like the morning dews.
After I inquired around, only then I knew that...
there was no Night Immortal in Heaven Realm at that time.
No one knows about Immortal Northern Star too.
However, the return date had arrived.
I followed father to bid a farewell with Heavenly Empress.
Unexpectedly,
the Magical Flaming Pearls which was gifted by Heavenly Emperor...
had become the hidden trouble in the future.
Soon after I went back to Li Lake,
I found that...
I was pregnant with his baby.
I gave birth to Run Yu in secret.
However, it was hard to keep a secret.
Father had discovered it.
Good boy.
Father.
Father!
Father.
Dragon.
My father knew his birth father at a glance.
Then only I knew the true identity of Immortal Northern Star at that moment.
I promised my father that...
I would hide the background of the baby well...
without holding our tribe back.
Evil.
From now on,
you are no longer the princess of dragonfish tribe.
Shameless.
He cared only about his own happiness and his amorous lifestyle,
but he left you to suffer alone.
I brought this on myself.
I would rather bear the consequences alone.
My father thought he was at fault...
after what had happened.
He offered to terminate my engagement with prince of Immortal Qian Lake.
He apologised and offered gifts to them.
But Immortal Qian Lake was raging and unforgiving.
Not long after, he brought my father to trial...
in Heaven Realm for breaking our engagement.
The Heavenly Emperor punished us.
Thirty-six miles of our marshland in Tai Lake...
were all assigned to the bird tribe.
Well, he most probably took Tai Lake from us...
because he wanted to earn the favour of Heavenly Empress.
You are still young, Yan You.
I was young too.
I never associated anyone with evil.
But thereafter,
when my child and I were barely struggling to stay alive,
he had not done so much as lending a hand.
He disappeared without saying anything at all.
Only then I realised that,
at the beginning itself,
I'd fallen into a trap that was cleverly laid out.
At last,
Tai Lake and Qian Lake had grown hostility towards each other,
the southeast water tribes fell apart.
Through the bird tribe, Heavenly Emperor gained control of...
the richest Tai Lake which stretched across 800 miles.
And the one who helped Heavenly Emperor to ascend the throne,
Water Immortal, the most superior immortal in Heaven Realm...
was found to have his power weakened and controlled.
He had killed three birds with one stone.
The work was meticulous, cunning and cleverly hidden.
Truly unprecedented.
Under the orders of the Heavenly Empress,
the birds circled above Tai Lake all the time...
to watch our movements under the water.
The Heavenly Empress still had not realised that...
I had already given birth to Run Yu in secret.
In order to conceal my child's identity,
escape from the wrath of Heavenly Empress...
and hope that my people would treat Run Yu equally,
I named him Li Er.
He disguised as a carp and hid deeply in Li Marsh.
We were alone and lived our lives in disgrace and hardships.
Li Er.
But I didn't expect that...
Li Er's identity would eventually be revealed.
Li Er!
- Mother! - Li...
- Mother! - Li Er!
Mother! Mother!
Mother!
- Mother! - Li Er!
- Get Out! - Yes!
- Mother! - Li Er!
- Li Er, Li Er! - Mother!
Li Er! Li Er!
Li Er!
Who is this?
He is my son with Heavenly Emperor.
Retreat!
Immortal, Master Yin Que wants us to check...
whether there is anything extraordinary beneath the water.
If we return now,
we might not be able to give an explanation.
Since when my Luo Xiang Mansion needs to answer to the bird tribe?
The bird tribe's territory is that of above Tai Lake.
Beneath the water, there is no place for the chirping birds.
You are right, Immortal.
I have checked in detail just now,
the ripples on the waters...
show nothing extraordinary.
Its movement is a normal sign of tides...
as it's close to full moon.
If the Heavenly Emperor asks, give him this answer.
Yes.
Take good care of the child.
If the Heavenly Empress finds out,
she will not let him go easily.
Nothing must happen to Tai Lake.
Mother, no! No, mother!
- Who taught you Water Gush spell? - I am sorry!
Tell me, who taught you this?
What Water Gush Spell?
They hit me too hard, so I screamed out loud.
Promise me, son.
Don't scream like that next time.
Promise me, quick, promise me, promise me!
Why do they always make fun of me? They bullied and insulted me!
Must I not defend myself nor scream even when I am beaten to death?
Do you wish me dead, mother?
Li Er!
Li Er,
I am so sorry.
I cut your dragon thorns,
I shaved your dragon scales,
hoping that you will be a normal fish.
Koi, Arowana, anything.
You cannot take on the fate of a dragon.
Neither do your mother, uncle, and all souls in Li Marsh,
could take on this fate.
When I gave birth before my marriage,
I was labelled as my family's shame.
I was isolated and cornered,
and I had to remain alert for Heavenly Empress' spies who'd harm my son,
I directed my anger towards Li Er...
for his father's betrayal.
My love and hatred for Li Er intertwined.
I was delirious all the time,
I couldn't wait to die to bring an end to all these.
The hardships and tortures you faced were daunting.
- You have suffered much, mother. - No.
It was Li Er who suffered the most.
He healed very quickly.
It didn't take him long...
to grow new dragon horns and scales.
I had to torture him, again and again.
The cycles repeated itself.
He was better off dead.
At last,
Li Er even did that to himself.
That was terrible.
Everyday,
I wanted to kill myself...
After I grew up,
I could take a human form.
Hence, I rarely reveal my true form before others.
The scars beneath my scales,
the ugliness,
the shame,
they are all too horrible.
Thank you.
Later,
I learned, by accident, from an old green fish that...
fishes will die without living in water.
That night,
I was determined...
and I jumped out of the water.
All fishes on the shores could fly.
So many night pearls are hanging on the night sky,
it's so beautiful.
I have no regrets.
Fairy?
Am I dead?
Are you here to lead me to the heaven?
Do you really want to go to the heaven?
Staying in the lake was so torturing.
I am willing to go anywhere except for the lake.
But if you leave,
what will happen to your mother?
Poor child,
will you follow me to the heaven?
If I leave,
will my mother stop crying and feeling sad?
As long as you obey my orders and follow me,
then you will never need to suffer anymore.
What about my mother?
Your mother will also be relieved.
Come, give me your hand.
Now I know that, she never abandoned me.
It was me.
It was me who left her.
What happened later was a popular knowledge.
The Heavenly Emperor refused to give up Flora Immortal.
He kidnapped her to the Heaven Realm by force,
and held her captive in Qi Wu Palace.
In the Heaven Realm, rumour had it that...
Flora Immortal would take the place of the Heavenly Empress.
In attempt to strengthen her position...
Heavenly Empress went to Tai Lake herself,
burned Li Marsh down...
and took my Li Er away.
Zhen Ze!
Heavenly Empress!
There are no disagreements nor grudges between you and me,
why are you doing this to us?
You killed my son and exterminated my tribe!
You failed to educate your daughter, her promiscuous behaviour...
has put a shame on the heavenly family's bloodline!
I will not tolerate your tribe.
You are a despicable foe!
I swear today...
that even if my tribe has left nothing but one man standing,
we will exterminate the bird tribe!
Father!
Father.
Father!
Go, go quickly!
Father, I will not go!
I, I...
for... forgive you.
You must stay...
alive.
Father!
You murdered my family and took my son away,
I'm going down with you!
You overestimated yourself, you witch!
Destroy this place!
Spare no one!
Yes!
Where am I?
My face,
what happened to my face?
You are awake.
Immortal,
what is this place?
This is Yun Meng Marsh in Dong Ting Lake.
Why am I here?
Shouldn't I be at Li Marsh?
As I rushed there,
everything has turned into a ruin.
Father,
Li Er, you are all gone!
Why did you leave me in this world alone?
Don't stop me, Great Immortal.
My family has fallen apart, I don't wish to live anymore.
I only want to reunite with them in the afterlife.
Please fulfils my wish, Great Immortal.
Do you wish to abandon your son?
Li Er.
Where is Li Er?
He is still alive.
The Heavenly Empress brought him to the Heaven Realm.
- What are they going to do to him? - Calm down.
He is still the eldest son of the Heavenly Emperor after all.
The Heavenly Empress has no child too.
So, no matter what, they will take good care of him.
He is your own flesh and bones.
No one in this world could do you part.
As long as you are alive.
Eventually,
you will reunite with him.
Can I wait till then?
There are always hope as long as you are alive.
It is better than to live without a single spark of hope.
You are not in my place, Great Immortal.
You don't understand the sadness within me.
What if I insist to die?
We will all die someday.
Most importantly, we must not put shame on our ancestor.
Secondly, we must not put shame on our own body.
This is Dragon's Blood Regeneration Ointment of Flora Realm.
It can turn rotten flesh into fresh skin.
Dragon Fish Tribe is always highly respectable.
If you wish to ask for death,
you should be buried honourably.
I don't need that,
I don't need that!
It is this face of mine which caused me to lose my family!
I am the culprit!
That's what I am!
I am the culprit!
I am!
Without you,
he would still find a way...
to banish your dragonfish tribe from Tai Lake.
Great Immortal, why do you say so?
This is the Heavenly Emperor's tactics,
you will understand it in the future.
The God has spared your life,
now the news about your death has spread across the Heaven Realm,
why do you need to die again?
Be strong and don't give up your life.
You will reunite with your son again someday.
Dong Ting is under my control,
so the Heavenly Empress would not be able to reach her fingers to you.
Stay here and recuperate.
Water Immortal was also being watched by Heavenly Emperor.
I am afraid that he could not save his own skin.
Despite the pressure,
he was willing to offer a refuge to you.
He is a truly respectable man.
A friend is best found in adversity.
At that time,
I was drowning in my hatred.
I didn't even remember that...
when Heavenly Emperor imprisoned Flora Immortal...
and forced her to break up with Water Immortal,
the hatred and rage felt by the Water Immortal...
was nothing less compared to mine.
He is a true man.
Since the Water Immortal had lent his hand to you,
why did you still take advantage of Jin Mi then?
Unintentionally, I flipped through...
your indecent collection of the beauties in the six realms.
I found that Jin Mi bears a resemblance to the Flora Immortal.
I guessed that she would be Heavenly Emperor's daughter.
I planned to reveal it to all the immortals...
on Heavenly Empress' birthday banquet...
I was sure that Tu Yao would not give in so easily,
there would be a grudge between Tai Wei and her.
Maybe by then,
my tribe could rise from the ashes.
So that was what happened.
But Jin Mi is the daughter of Water Immortal.
I only learned of this later...
from the Rat Immortal.
I'd nearly committed a grave mistake against Water Immortal.
Jin Mi and I are close friend,
I will explain this to her in the future.
She is someone who is compassionate and loyal.
She will definitely understand you.
At this point in time,
I have no other choice.
Everyone thought that I died in Li Marsh,
in fact I have been in hiding here for a few thousand years.
My only purpose was to fulfils my father's death wish.
Even if dragonfish tribe has left only a lone man standing,
he shall take upon himself the obligation to avenge our tribe.
As the last princess of the dragonfish tribe,
it is an inevitable obligation.
In those years,
I was exposed to a myriad of spells and classics at the Shen Jing Court.
For my revenge,
I practised diligently.
It doesn't matter whether the spell is evil or not,
as long as it could increase my powers,
I would learn it.
I located the old forces and brought in new blood.
I rebuilt the Yun Meng Marsh to resemble the Li Marsh back then...
to ease my sadness. I've sworn to take revenge.
From now on, we, the warriors of the dragonfish tribe...
- shall be at Your Highness's disposal! - At the disposal of Your Highness!
No wonder that even if the prince has never set foot on the Yun Meng Marsh,
he seemed to know about all the turns and corners as if it's his home...
and he found his own path here.
Oh, right.
Mother, you were only in the Shen Jing Court for a month.
How did you remember such a great number of spells?
What do you think the Rat Immortal was doing at the Heaven Realm?
Playing chess?
The pain of losing my son...
and the hatred for exterminating my tribe...
are firmly embedded in me.
I was pondering all these years,
the most complete revenge...
is to let Run Yu take over the Heavenly Emperor's place...
and take control over the Heaven Realm.
But the road to taking the throne is risky and dangerous,
it's too unpredictable,
taking a single step wrong will cost us everything.
Before a victory is guaranteed,
he must never be involved.
A parent's love towards his child has no boundaries,
the prince is indeed your flesh and bones.
Yan You, you are a good child,
you will help your godmother, right?
To her, I am never her own flesh and bones.