Sword Dynasty
Episode 19
We can catch our breath
now that Her Majesty the Queen
has shifted the blame onto the fish market.
But you'll be in grave danger
if you remain close
to the rebels.
Besides,
Fengming is but a small place.
I can shield you from the Shendu Bureau,
but can you guarantee
your Jiantian Bureau is of one mind?
Keep quiet.
Another unreasonable henchman.
Stop trying to persuade me.
As time goes by,
fewer people will know the truth.
So what?
We must never cover up the truth.
What can you do even if you know the truth?
Your master has been dead for years.
Do you want to
spend the rest of your life living in such agony?
It's been 10 years.
I've been waiting for you over the past 10 years.
Do you have any idea
what my life was like during these 10 years?
I only know
that some people in Dafu Water Dungeon
have been more dead than alive over the past 10 years.
The past is the past.
How are you going to live
if you can't let it go?
I've never thought about living.
All I've wanted is to avenge my master.
Do you care about nobody
but your master?
Let bygones
be bygones, shall we?
I've finally had you back from overseas.
I don't want to lose you again.
I'm tired of my identity as Director Chen.
The infighting and schemes
at the royal court
are of no concern to me.
I've been staying at the Shendu Bureau
solely for your return.
If you like,
we could leave Fengming right now,
getting away from this strife.
What do you say?
I will leave Fengming
after finishing my last task.
I'll go with you.
How dare Liang Lian come here?
My Lady,
they outnumber us.
It'll be hard for us to escape uninjured.
Then we shall strike first.
Fan Zhuo!
My Lady.
Qian has been destroyed.
My Lady is the only descendant left
of the Yunshui Palace.
I'll fight to death to defend My Lady.
You want to fight them on your own?
You should know
that you can't stop me.
It's all right.
It's good as long as it could deflect their attention.
General.
Please think it over.
General.
We let Fan Zhuo go that day
as a favor
to Bai Shanshui,
through whom we could keep
watch on the rebels' movements.
When the rebels
eventually rise in revolt,
we'll be able to catch them all at once.
Despite the conflict at the fish market that day,
with some meditation,
we'll still have a chance for cooperation.
But if you attack the library tonight, General,
all our previous efforts
will be wasted.
The reason why it's taking forever
for me to be made a marquis,
is that I've mistrusted
you lot,
my cowardly counselors.
Get rid of it.
Yes, sir.
Where is Bai Shanshui?
My Lady left a long time ago.
Then why are you still here?
Like a gecko that detaches its tail in danger,
I'm waiting for you, General.
All right.
I'll hunt Bai Shanshui down
after arresting you.
So you're here after all.
My Lady.
I told you that you couldn't stop me.
Fan Zhuo!
Run!
Just run!
Come on! Run!
Catch her.
General.
Where's Bai Shanshui?
A thousand apologies, General.
Bai Shanshui has escaped.
Bring Fan Zhuo's body along.
Yes, General.
Your Majesty,
Liang Lian is waiting at the city gate with the Tiger and Wolf Army
to greet His Majesty.
He's brought Fan Zhuo's body with him.
Is Liang Lian trying to force us
to make him a marquis?
Are you going to ignore him, Your Majesty?
It doesn't matter whether he's made a marquis or not.
His Majesty
knows his ambition very well.
Tell our men to lay down their swords.
Yes, General.
Congratulations, Your Majesty the King, on your triumphant return.
Long live Your Majesty the King! Long Live the great Kingdom of Heng!
Liang Lian killed Fan Zhuo.
Could the Yunshui Palace have been destroyed as well?
General Liang rendered the greatest service
at the Battle of Liangshan County.
Thanks to Your Majesty's protection,
the Tiger and Wolf Army went all out to kill our enemy
and succeeded in fulfilling our mission.
You may rise.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
The enemy states cast covetous eyes on our land
after learning of Your Majesty's trip to Lushan.
The rebels from the Yunshui Palace have been rioting for years.
This man is Fan Zhuo,
a rebel from the Yunshui Palace.
He was a trusted follower of Bai Shanshui.
Your humble servant presents his body
as a gift for Your Majesty's trip to Lushan.
Your Majesty,
may I ask where Marquis Fang is?
General Liang,
you massed your troops
in the suburbs of Fengming with a dead body
and you anxiously inquired about Marquis Fang.
What's the meaning of this?
Please forgive me, Your Majesty.
I heard that
Marquis Fang got injured when fighting Lian Ying in Lushan,
so I took the liberty of inquiring
about him out of concern.
You don't need to apologize.
I'll grant to you
what you deserve.
I've heard of Liang Lian's siege
of the Yunshui Palace.
And he even dared to frame the fish market.
What a hateful man!
But I don't think you can win singlehandedly.
You'd better cherish your life,
since Fan Zhuo sacrificed his life to save yours.
At the end of the day,
my limited strength was to blame.
Are you inclined to cooperate with me?
Yes.
But our strength combined
is still too weak.
Miss Shang, do you mean…
Let's wait and see.
You'll have business very soon.
Greetings, Your Majesty.
You may rise.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
The great Kingdom of Heng
is like the rising sun.
Long live Your Majesty the King! Long Live the great Kingdom of Heng!
Liangshan County has been recovered
as a result of the Lushan Alliance Meeting.
Li and Mo
offered their fiefs as well.
The Kingdom of Heng
has finally avenged its insult.
Get your reward, Liang Lian.
Yes, Your Majesty.
I grant the title of marquis to you, Liang Lian,
Commander of the Tiger and Wolf Army,
for your effort to boost our army's morale
by defeating enemy troops with a force inferior in number
and for your elimination of the evil and protection of the people
by getting rid of the rebels from the Yunshui Palace.
You're now one of the Eleven Marquises of the Kingdom of Heng.
Your humble servant Liang Lian
is grateful to Your Majesty the King for the reward.
Liang Lian,
Heng
and Xian
are destined to have a war one day.
When that day comes,
you and your Tiger and Wolf Army shall serve
as the vanguard to tear up the walls of Xian.
I shall take it as my bounden duty
to expand territory for Your Majesty.
I'll never stop until I occupy the capital of Xian.
You may rise.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
Heng always gives credit that one deserves.
Despite the raging flames of war,
as long as the men of Heng
keep fighting,
we're sure to
rise above the other three states
and reign over the world one day.
Long live Your Majesty the King! Long Live the great Kingdom of Heng!
Your Majesty,
I heard that
young Ding Ning displayed the power
of our kingdom by challenging a fifth-realm wizard
as a third-realm practitioner
at the Lushan Alliance Meeting.
Should we reward him as well?
Ding Ning did pretty well.
How do you think we should reward him, my queen?
Prince Liling is gone
and his mansion remains unoccupied.
We might as well grant the mansion
to Ding Ning.
So it shall be.
Grant Prince Liling's Mansion to Ding Ning.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Ye Zhen,
keep an eye on the people
Ding Ning associates with
after he returns to Fengming.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Ding Ning is so generous.
Yep.
He shared out the reward
the King of Heng gave him.
Yes. That's right.
Yeah.
We must praise him
when he comes back.
Yes. Yes.
We must all praise him.
Ding Ning is back.
Come on.
Ding Ning.
Ding Ning. Ding Ning. Ding Ning.
Come on.
Good lad.
You've won honor for our Wutongluo.
Yeah.
You look so different
after returning.
Nothing different.
This small achievement of mine
wouldn't have been possible without your support.
Don't forget
to visit us often.
Of course we will.
Yeah.
We'll drop by to see your aunt,
if not to see you, right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Please make yourselves at home.
I've just returned from a long trip,
so I'll go upstairs to freshen up.
I'll come downstairs to talk with you later.
OK.
OK. Go ahead.
Ding Ning.
Don't forget
to ask your aunt to come downstairs.
Come on. Let's have some wine.
Come on.
The wine here
surely tastes divine.
Aunt.
What's this all about?
I could've asked you the same question.
I'll get rid of this traitor on his behalf.
Did you see something
or hear something?
Let me explain, OK?
I thought you were loyal to him,
but now you've come home
a changed man.
With a reward from Yuan Wu himself,
you'll have immense wealth and power.
You must be gloating, huh?
Can you hear me out
before you kill me?
At the top of Lushan,
Yuan Wu grew suspicious of me
and wanted to sound me out,
so he asked me to fight the practitioner of Li.
I won the reward
after a desperate fight.
But you accepted his reward.
How could I have done that?
I gave his reward to the people of Wutongluo
as a shelter.
You did?
Everyone in town knows it.
Promise me it won't happen again.
Stop.
If the reward
could cure my yang hyperactivity
and if I accepted it,
would you be so intent on killing me, Aunt?
Yes.
So I'm just a tool you can use,
not family.
Does my life
mean nothing to you?
Ding Ning.
My brother-in-law.
I'm going out.
Ding Ning.
Have you seen my brother-in-law?
No. No.
Have you seen my brother-in-law?
No. No.
My brother-in-law…
I haven't seen him.
Right.
Have you seen my brother-in-law?
No.
Have you seen my brother-in-law?
No. No.
Ding Ning.
My brother-in-law.
Ding Ning.
Look. Look.
Ding Ning.
Here comes the landlady.
The landlady.
Here comes the landlady.
That's the landlady.
Aunt.
I heard my brother-in-law has won honor.
I heard he…
He's ill. Take care of him for me.
I'll go get the doctor.
Get… get the best doctor.
I'll pay… the bills.
I've got money. Leave the bills to me.
Stay here and keep an eye on the place.
Yes, sir.
Xiang.
Restrain yourself
and hide your anger.
My brother, you're already exhausted
from the battles you had to fight every year,
so why were you assigned
to fight Lian Ying?
His Majesty grew jealous
and suspicious of me
for my reputation as an invincible general
who won every battle he fought.
His Majesty bid me fight Lian Ying
in order to
take back my military power.
The King of Mo
did the same to Lian Ying.
Liang Jingmeng is dead,
and that's still not enough?
Does His Majesty want to kill
all his loyal ministers?
Keep quiet.
Don't make such a remark ever again.
Misfortunes come out of the mouth.
Xiang,
my brother.
I feel indignant.
Restrain yourself.
You must restrain yourself.
Never act on impulse.
Listen to me.
Spend the rest of your life
in peace.
Don't bother about the state affairs again.
You're the only hope
of the Fang family.
Your Majesty had Ding Ning investigated.
Is there a problem?
You're interested in him as well, right?
Come on.
Tell you what,
Ding Ning is no ordinary lad
judging from his experiences.
In Lushan,
the old King of Xian paid close attention to him.
There must have been something unusual
about him if he attracted
the attention of a dying man.
Did Your Majesty
get injured in Lushan?
Why didn't anyone tell me?
What shall I do?
I didn't say anything about it
for fear that you'd get worried
about me
and arrange some useless things for me.
We must be on the safe side,
as Your Majesty once told me.
I'm injured,
but there are things
that I can do in person.
Your Majesty has become estranged from me.
My queen
looks aggrieved.
Tell me
about your grievances.
I failed to persuade the Crown Prince to stay in Fengming;
a tavern boy refused
to accept my reward;
and Liang Lian practically ignored me today
at the ceremony for granting him the title of a marquis,
even though I was the one who had him transferred back to Fengming.
What I said
might be presumptuous indeed,
but I do feel aggrieved.
I spoke my mind
because I'm your wife, Your Majesty.
No wonder you feel aggrieved,
with so many burdens in your heart.
Liang Lian.
I knew his character
as early as a decade ago.
It wasn't a bad move
to take Ding Ning as a trusted subordinate.
Ding Ning's passing Liling Mansion on
to the victims of the calamity
wasn't a disgrace to you.
As for Zichu,
I'd failed to give him enough guidance,
but we had a long talk
in Lushan.
My son
indeed has great potential in governance.
This wouldn't have been possible
but for your guidance and instructions.
I no longer feel aggrieved
after this heart-to-heart talk.
We're husband and wife.
The order of the Kingdom of Heng
shall be upheld with our joint effort.
During the trip to Lushan,
Your Majesty declared war against Xian, Mo and Li.
Given our current military strength,
it's still a bit difficult for us to fight three at once.
I wonder what plans Your Majesty has.
I sent a punitive expedition against Xian
in order to deter Mo and Li.
With Lian Ying's death,
Mo must be in chaos
and would be too distracted to send out troops to help Xian.
Li was nearly destroyed
by Heng.
Besides, the King of Li cared for nothing but saving his skin.
He wouldn't dare to send troops to attack Heng.
Your Majesty is right.
That being said,
Mo and Li
fear the strength of Heng,
but surely they'd join hands
in attacking us
when seeing our national strength
and many of our sword masters weakened
after our prolonged war against Xian?
That was an insightful observation.
Your Majesty might as well advance the Minshan Swordsmanship Tournament
and select and train young talents from various sects
for wartime needs.
Good.
So it shall be.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Fresh vegetables.
Would you take a look at these?
Excuse me.
Come and take a look.
Fresh vegetables.
Come and take a look.
Green vegetables.
Make way.
Out of my way.
Make way. Make way.
Make way.
Get out of the way.
Out of the way.
Make way.
Watch where you're going.
Come on. Do me this favor.
Hurry.
Come on.
Miss Zhangsun,
may I have a word with you?
I was following you,
and saw that you and Ding Ning
were under surveillance.
So I had to do that.
So
you came for Ding Ning.
Who are you?
I'm Li Yunrui of Xian.
I've got something left behind by our king
that I need to hand over to Ding Ning.
The King of Xian is dead?
We haven't heard of the news.
Why would I believe you?
I rode whip and spur
and reached Fengming before Ding Ning did.
I've inquired
about Ding Ning's story
over the past few days.
I can understand
how you'd protect your nephew.
But I had no other choice
but to come here
and lay bare my intentions to you.
This is
what my king bid me hand over to Ding Ning
before he passed away.
We may be able to protect our safety
by guarding against each other,
but by doing this we'll never achieve our respective objectives.
I'd like to take the initiative to show my sincerity.
You want to meet with Ding Ning,
but I don't want anything from you.
Ding Ning has fallen ill.
If I'm right,
you're headed for the fish market in search of a physician.
I'm versed in the art of healing,
and the object in the box is beneficial
to Ding Ning's future practice.
That'll be what you want, I reckon.
But it'd arouse even more suspicion
if I turned to a physician of Xian for help.
Don't worry, Miss.
I've arranged everything for you.
I'm Han Yuchun, a wandering physician
with Xuanhu Clinic.
Nothing will go awry
if anyone should look into the matter.
Dr. Han, this way, please.
Go investigate that physician.
Yes, sir.
Aunt,
where did you get the physician?
I'm Han Yuchun from Xuanhu Clinic.
Would you mind waiting outside?
I've heard about Xuanhu Clinic,
but I've never heard of you before.
Besides, it's not giving birth to a baby,
so why wouldn't you let me watch his diagnosis?
Come out with me.
You're finally awake.
I heard your voice before, Your Excellency.
May I know why you're here?
Mr. Ding Ning.
What's this?
My king passed away
after the Battle of Lushan.
This is what he entrusted to you at his deathbed.
Please accept it
and help Xian.
The old King of Xian
passed away?
In Lushan, my king
saw you and the King of Heng weren't of one mind
and believed that you could work with Xian
to deal with the King of Heng.
I'd be committing treason
if I helped you.
The King of Heng is cruel and evil.
His kingly way only concerns more territory
rather than the common people.
That remark from a native of Xian
may have some selfish motives.
Think of it
as a gift from a friend.
This is a special heart-nourishing pellet made in Xian.
Though it can't cure
your chronic yang hyperactivity,
it can help you soothe your mind.
I came here
to help fulfill my king's dying wish.
It's up to you
how you choose to use it.
Make way.
I'm here to see His Majesty.
Let me in.
Why bother like this?
His Majesty the King would've long summoned you
if he wanted to.
I'd have met with His Majesty many times
if you villains hadn't stopped me.
His Majesty owes the prosperity of the kingdom
to my envoy work between the two kingdoms.
And now
His Majesty is supposed to fulfill his promise.
How dare a good-for-nothing like you
call yourself an envoy after running a few errands?
A brute like you
want to be the chancellor of Xian?
Get over yourself.
I've rendered outstanding service for Xian,
so I deserve a reward.
A native of Heng refusing to leave Xian,
that's unheard-of!
You must have an axe to grind, I see.
You're trying to steal information about Xian.
What nonsense!
I disdain to associate with villains.
My Father is dead;
please restrain your grief, Mother.
My son ascended the throne only a few days ago,
and now he looks quite majestic.
I owe it to your wise instructions, Mother.
So what did you invite me over for?
Do you remember Sun Xing, Mother?
It was thanks to his lobbying
that I managed to persuade the late king to get you back.
Yes.
The man
made contributions to my successful return,
but his identity as a native of Heng
is rather unsettling.
Your Majesty is suspicious of him?
He's just a stranger.
If he did have an axe to grind,
he'd have long exposed his intention
when working as an envoy to Xian.
Mother,
a stranger's mind is hard to fathom,
not to mention that he eagerly seeks an official position,
the chancellorship of Xian, to be exact.
You've got a plan then, Your Majesty?
Mother, I'd like to ask you
to put on an act with me.