Have you ever heard about that
the cliff of a snow mountain
once fascinated numerous people?
Legend has it that,
there were treasures at the peak
but also there was a bottomless chasm hidden over there.
The smart, the fool
and the kind people,
all are familiar to you.
On the mountainside, on the cliff,
on the cloud,
and in the human world,
snowflakes are drifting profusely and disorderly.
Joy of Life Season 1
Episode 25
What are you looking at?
Look at that cloud!
You're so relaxed and carefree today.
Doesn't it look like a pile of silver?
That's definitely your style.
What if
I took all the silver back?
How happy my wife and daughter
would be!
Are we going back to the Fan mansion?
Wang Qinian,
have you ever heard of Zhuang Mohan?
I have.
He arrived in the capital city today.
All the scholars in the capital city
went to pay respects to him.
He's so respected!
It's known to all the scholars that
Zhuang Mohan is a literary giant,
a living saint
in the world,
and the teacher to all scholars.
Don't you know that?
Aren't you a scholar, too?
I'm not.
You're so modest.
You've written poems
with universal praise.
You're definitely a scholar!
Let's go.
What's up?
Master Shadow.
=Shadow, Director of the Sixth Division= Master Shadow.
=Shadow, Director of the Sixth Division of the Nanqing Investigator's Office=
Does Chen Pingping have anything for me?
Someone wants to kill the Head.
In the world,
a lot of people want to kill him.
They will attack in less than an hour.
Where is he?
In the Investigator's Office.
Then he'll be fine.
Without massive forces,
no one can break into the Investigator's Office to kill him.
Now no one
is protecting the Head.
What do you mean?
Zhuang Mohan has arrived in the capital city.
How is Zhuang Mohan
relevant to this?
Zhuang Mohan's arrival
leads to the change.
Everyone in the Investigator's Office knows that
the only way to restart the war
is to assassinate Zhuang Mohan.
But the Head has sent the First Division
to protect Zhuang Mohan.
Right.
Zhu Ge from the First Division
has led all his men out.
Fei Jie from the Third Division is not in the capital city.
Martial arts masters from other divisions
have been sent out by me respectively.
Today, all the officials inside
the Investigator's Office are on our side.
Even so, we don't have enough men
to kill Zhuang Mohan.
Zhuang Mohan is just a cover.
The person we're really going to kill
is Chen Pingping.
You're here.
We have no way out.
Let's go to the dungeon.
You all know that
Chen Pingping is the person
preventing us from restarting the war
in the Investigator's Office.
If he dies,
the Investigator's Office will be controlled
by loyal people like us.
By then, it will be very easy
to motivate His Majesty
to destroy Beiqi.
He's also a man.
I've exhausted my abilities
to create a favorable situation for us.
If we don't kill him today, we won't have a second chance.
Kill Chen Pingping! Kill Chen Pingping!
Kill Chen Pingping!
Once Chen Pingping is killed,
the Investigator's Office
will be controlled by us.
What's done is done.
There's no way back.
Let's do it!
Kill Chen Pingping! Kill Chen Pingping!
Kill Chen Pingping!
Mr. Fan?
Miss Lili, let's talk later.
We're being hunted.
Hunted?
Press that.
It leads to
the deepest part of the dungeon,
where the most vicious villains
are locked up inside.
Let's get inside first.
Are we safe here?
Not really.
Many people know this path.
They usually deliver water
and food to the prisoners.
Sometimes,
they have to pull out the bodies.
Then what's the point of hiding here?
It's narrow inside. Maybe we can resist them for a while.
Then we'll have to die sooner or later.
It's a dead end.
This is terrible!
I can't die.
I haven't told my wife yet.
If I die without her permission,
she will definitely be angry.
We're in great danger,
yet you're afraid your wife might be angry.
Life or death, it doesn't matter.
What really matters is whether I've gained permission from my wife or not.
You don't understand.
What will happen to Si Lili outside?
They want to kill me.
They won't leave anyone alive.
Give me the key to her cell.
You can't even protect yourself. Why care about others?
The key!
Wait a minute.
He's a good lad.
What's the sound?
Is there an internal strife in the Investigator's Office?
Why do you save me?
Hurry up!
They could rush in any minute.
Kill Chen Pingping! Kill Chen Pingping!
Kill Chen Pingping!
Kill him!
What's the point of
bringing me here?
I still have to die.
I've promised you to protect you.
Even if you have to die,
you must die after me.
Go inside.
Your Excellency.
What's this?
I've told you about
the prisoners locked up here.
The most vicious villains?
Right.
One of them is still alive.
So many chains are used to lock up only one person?
Yes, only one.
Will your life be saved after looking at him?
This way.
He's not here.
Hurry up and find Chen Pingping!
He's not here.
No, He's not here. He's not here.
He's not here.
Where is he?
Go inside and find him!
He's not here.
Wait a moment!
I'm going to die.
Can I at least satisfy
my curiosity?
Is he really dangerous?
Indeed!
His name is Xiao En.
I was paralyzed because of him.
Chen Pingping is inside.
He has no way to go.
-Kill him! -Come on!
Kill him!
-Kill him! -Kill Chen Pingping!
They've opened the door
to the secret path.
-Kill Chen Pingping! -Kill Chen Pingping!
Catch him!
Si Lili.
What?
Beiqi is defeated.
Why do you tell me that?
I'm nervous. I have to say something.
Actually there's another way
to save our lives.
They only want to kill Chen Pingping.
Do you believe they will
let us go?
We can kill him first.
Then we can trade his head for our lives.
This is the only way to save our lives.
Wang Qinian.
Your Excellency.
Let's take the risk.
OK.
What are you doing?
Just wait.
It's Shadow! He's alone!
Kill him!
-He's alone! -Kill him!
Kill him!
All the men outside are martial arts masters.
How long can he hold by himself?
The noise of fighting is further and further away from us.
He has killed a way out?
Are those opponents
too weak?
They are all martial arts masters above the Seventh Dan.
It's really not my idea.
What did you just say?
Shadow wants to test you.
It's not my idea.
What?
Test me?
Are those men outside acting?
They do want to kill me.
Are there other martial arts masters
ambushing in the dark?
There aren't any reinforcements.
Then why do you say it's a test?
Shadow alone can resist one thousand cavalrymen.
I don't know.
I've never seen Master Shadow
in a fight.
Si Lili,
just now when Shadow left
and the other two
were not by my side,
I thought you would hold me hostage.
That might be your last chance
to escape.
I know.
Why did you hesitate?
I dared not.
In Beiqi,
Chen Pingping
is as scary as demons.
Push me out.
Chen Pingping,
don't die. Wait for me to get out.
He's afraid I might be killed by others.
He won't get out.
Let's go.
So you knew
they wanted to kill you?
Yes.
Yet you just let them.
Independent from the Six Ministries, the Investigator's Office
is an important organization with great power.
Though I'm the Head,
I can't guard against the world.
There will always be organizations
finding ways to plant agents
who are good at hiding themselves.
By giving them the chance to kill me,
they would jump out
and be exposed once and for all.
Wang Qinian.
Use yourself as bait.
Smart as they are,
they wouldn't be tricked
without seeing me.
We've walked a long way,
but we've seen no one alive.
This is the consequence of walking into a trap.
I find it safer inside.
There's no sound outside.
It should be safe.
Would you find me ruthless?
They want to kill others.
It's natural for them to be killed.
Moving forward with a heavy burden,
they just can't help it.
Wang Qinian, open the door.
The jade is good.
Head.
I saw Shadow killing our colleagues
when I came back to the Investigator's Office.
I asked him to.
You should be monitoring
Zhuang Mohan from Beiqi.
Why are you back?
Something is wrong.
Zhuang Mohan is missing.
Upon arrival in the capital city,
Zhuang Mohan stayed
in the residence arranged by the Court of State Ceremonials,
and never came out.
I found it strange,
so I asked my man to dress up as
a servant to clean the room.
Master Zhuang.
May I clean your room?
Master Zhuang.
It turned out that
Zhuang Mohan was not there.
Who visited him before?
Officials from Imperial College, Ministry of Personnel,
Ministry of Rites, and Censorate
all visited him.
It seems that they really admire Zhuang Mohan,
so they consulted him in person.
Then why did they
sneak him out?
Head,
Zhuang Mohan is a literary giant.
His words and behaviors can influence
the scholars all over the world.
Now he's missing.
I'm afraid it's a big deal.
List the visitors
for me.
Yes.
I come back to ask for your order
to investigate the capital city
thoroughly.
Just forget it.
Now you're back.
Call back all the Directors
in the capital city.
I have something to say.
Yes.
Head. Your Excellency.
I should go back home
to see my wife.
I'm also leaving if everything is fine.
Wait.
You should meet them.
Everyone is here.
Let me introduce them to you.
Zhu Ge, Director of the First Division.
Yan Ruohai, Director of the Fourth Division.
You've met them before.
The Director of the Second Division
is working in the frontier.
Black knights, Director of the Fifth Division,
is not in the capital city.
Shadow, Director of the Sixth Division.
Director of the Seventh Division
is still working in the Jiangnan area.
Xuan Jiu, Director of the Eighth Division.
=Xuan Jiu, Director of the Eighth Division of the Investigator's Office of Nanqing=
=Xuan Jiu, Director of the Eighth Division= He's in charge of book publishing.
=Xuan Jiu, Director of the Eighth Division of the Investigator's Office of Nanqing=
You just opened a bookstore, right?
He's in charge of that.
Your Excellency Xuan, good day.
The last one is Fei Jie,
Director of the Third Division.
Fei Jie is not here.
The man taking over the Third Division
for the moment is lying over there.
Is he dead?
=Senior Fellow Apprentice Leng, Acting Director of the Third Division of the Investigator's Office of Nanqing=
This is Fan Xian, Director-General of our Office.
Your Excellencies, good day.
Here comes my junior fellow apprentice.
I'm surnamed Leng. I'm also a student of Master Fei.
So we have the same teacher.
Senior Fellow Apprentice Leng, what's wrong with you?
I developed a new poison.
I took some.
It's good.
Didn't you make the antidote?
I failed.
It's getting worse.
You work so hard.
When I get better, I'll invite you to dinner.
I'll cook myself.
Please don't. No need to bother you.
Fine.
I need some rest now.
Now we've all met.
I'll come straight to the point.
Today, someone set a trap here
to kill me.
Fan Xian saved me.
It was Shadow, right?
I saw him.
You're mistaken.
I'm old.
In future, Fan Xian can take my place.
You should look after him.
Fan Xian is new to the capital city.
He doesn't know us all.
It's no hurry.
I'm not retiring now.
Head,
the Investigator's Office
is the most important organization in Nanqing.
Not anyone can be the Head.
To me,
Fan Xian is not qualified.
Are you mistaken?
I'm not here to asking for your approval.
I'm just telling you.
I think it's good.
I don't know about others,
but our Third Division will definitely
support our junior fellow apprentice.
I'll say it for the last time.
It's settled. It won't be changed.
Whoever feels dissatisfied
should find the chance to kill me.
Go.
We've been through a lot these years.
I originally thought you would be the one
to take over the Investigator's Office.
But his decision today
is really disappointing.
Yan Ruohai,
let me be clear on one point.
I don't want to fight for power.
I'm not competent enough
to take that position.
I understand.
You don't.
Everything I've done
is for Nanqing.
I know.
I've checked the bodies of
those assassinations.
They were bodacious.
Right.
Quite a few of them
had visited you frequently these days.
Why didn't you tell the Head just now?
Yan Ruohai, what on earth are you up to?
Just like you, all my decisions are made
for the benefits of Nanqing.
Why?
What are you asking about?
Handing the Investigator's Office over to me.
Shadow took the liberty
to test you. That's fine.
We can make things clear.
Zhu Ge is right.
I'm not qualified yet.
The Investigator's Office
was founded by your mother.
For all these years,
I've been guarding this place for her.
But I'll have to
return it to you after all.
Circumstances change with the passage of time.
The time may have passed,
but my original intension remains the same.
You've been to the Court of State Ceremonials, right?
It's a good thing.
Peace negotiation after war
is important to the whole county. Take it seriously.
I see.
Just do your work.
Tell me
if anything bothers you.
Tell me also
if anyone makes it hard for you.
I'll help you out.
Anything?
Anything!
However difficult it might be,
I'll handle it for you.
Go back.
You must be tired today.
It's getting colder at night.
Add more quilts to keep warm.
You're still coughing.
I'm old.
It takes time to get better.
I'll grab you some medicine later.
Good.
The heaven, earth and man exist in harmony.
Gentlemen shall not stay up for work.
It's midnight already.
You're upset.
I've been to the imperial palace.
Ruoruo has drawn down the map
to the Empress Dowager's palace,
and I've remembered it.
Then why are you upset?
The Niulan Street assassination
was planned by the Princess Royal.
The person planned the assassination
was actually comforting the target.
Isn't that funny?
Chen Pingping said
he would hand the Investigator's Office over to me.
He asked me to tell him
if anything bothers me.
Tell me also
if anyone makes it hard for you.
I almost told him about
the Princess Royal.
If you want to kill someone, I'm a better choice.
Do you want to kill the Princess Royal?
She's the mother of Wan'er after all.
Do you want to kill her?
The Princess Royal values power over life.
We should take her down and kick her out of the capital city.
To her, that's even worse than death.
That is beyond my ability.
I'll do it myself.
As you wish.
Uncle.
We should postpone our plan of
breaking into the imperial harem to steal the key.
We should wait for a better chance.
It's up to you.
Uncle.
Do you know?
Shadow from the Investigator's Office
is really good at martial arts.
I know.
Is he a Great Master?
He's above the Ninth Dan.
Aren't there only a few
martial arts masters above the Ninth Dan in Nanqing?
Uncle.
Have you ever seen
Shadow's face?
No.
Uncle, do you know?
I've been to the deepest part of
the dungeon in the Investigator's Office.
A man was locked up there.
It's so scary.
He was locked up by chains all over.
Please.
Your Excellency, you're the Deputy Receptionist.
Please sit here.
OK.
Your Excellency,
I've never negotiated with an enemy country.
I feel a bit nervous.
I don't know what to say later.
Take it easy.
Negotiation is a verbal battle between two countries.
The most important thing is to
mind our choice of words.
We should be kind and generous when talking.
In other words, we should be polite and courteous.
Only then can we demonstrate
the dignity and magnanimity of a powerful country.
Anyway, later
just leave it all
to me.
OK!
We definitely won't return you
the prefecture taken by our powerful army.
That is our territory.
Your territory?
Really? If you want it back,
just send your troops.
How about this?
I'll announce that
the talk is suspended.
We can resume our talk
after the battle.
Will that work for you?
You! You are despicable!
I know how shameless you are
long before!
Is that real?
Of course.
Let me tell you in detail.
Mr. Zhang,
this way, please.
Let's discuss the details in my mansion.
The specialty wine of this house
is really good.
Waiter!
Coming!
Waiter, come here!
Change the music for me.
OK.
Your Excellency,
we should resume the talk
in the afternoon.
So we'd better drink no wine.
That's the right music.
It suits us scholars the best.
Your Excellency,
are we going a bit far
in the talk just now?
We should be aggressive.
Don't we have to demonstrate dignity and magnanimity of our country?
Our soldiers risked their lives
to win the battle.
If we're not aggressive,
we fail those soldiers.
Nice tea.
Its fragrance is lingering,
and its taste is profound.
The prefecture occupied by our army
will not be returned. Moreover,
you'll have to pay for
the marching expenditure of our army.
How can we continue our talk if you keep acting like that?
There's nothing to talk about in the first place.
Your Excellency Xin, we won't
concede in this talk.
Are you suddenly out of your mind?
There's a piece of new information on the paper.
All our conditions are on it.
You can have a look.
We'll talk tomorrow.
You can check the authenticity of the information.
Gosh! It's bad news!
This is a secret report sent from Beiqi just now.
Head, you want to see me.
There's something you should know.
Bingyun was held hostage.
The Imperial Guards of Beiqi did it.
Shen Zhong caught Bingyun in person.
Is he still alive?
Yes.
Beiqi wants to use him
as a bargaining chip.
What do they want?
Firstly,
they want to take back the prefecture.
Secondly, they ask us
to release the prisoners of war
and compensate for the dead soldiers.
The last
is the most hateful.
They want to exchange Mr. Yan
for Xiao En and Si Lili.
Xiao En?
The one locked up in the dungeon of the Investigator's Office?
Right.
He is a vicious villain
from Beiqi.
He was equally famous as Chen Pingping.
Back then, Chen Pingping led
the black knights on a long-range raid
and caught him back
at the cost of his legs.
How can we send him back?
That's right.
But we won this battle
so easily because Yan Bingyun
inquired about military information
and sent us secret reports.
Moreover,
he's the son of
Yan Ruohai from the Investigator's Office.
No way!
We can't return the land we've taken!
We can't return the land we've taken.
Actually, what they really want
are Xiao En and Si Lili.
We can't let Xiao En go.
If he goes back to Beiqi,
he will retaliate like a mad dog!
As a citizen of Nanqing,
I can't accept that.
We don't release him for nothing.
It's an exchange.
We can get Bingyun back.
I'll go north tonight
to sneak into the capital of Beiqi,
so as to save my son.
It's extremely difficult to go north
and save him.
As a father,
I have to go.
Exchange or not, it's not up to you.
Head!
Nor me!
Only one man can make the call.
Eunuch Hou.
Yes.
Ask the Investigator's Office to release Xiao En and Si Lili right away.
Your Majesty!
Also,
tell the Court of State Ceremonials that
no land taken by my army
shall be returned. Not an inch!
The rest are open for discussion.
Yan Bingyun
must be back alive.
Yes, Your Majesty.
That's the decision of His Majesty.
We can't let Xiao En go!
Your Excellency Yan,
His Majesty has a verbal instruction.
His Majesty knows
what kind of a person Xiao En is.
If the Investigator's Office can catch him once,
then you surely can catch him twice.
By bearing disgrace and a heavy burden,
Yan Bingyun lurked in the capital of Beiqi.
He's worked his heart out.
I've known it all.
Exchanging a dying old man
for a promising young man of our county,
it's really worth it!
Your Excellency Yan and the rest of you,
His Majesty also said that
Young Master Yan should come back alive.
I
accept the imperial edict and thank His Majesty for showing mercy!
We thank His Majesty for showing mercy!
Fan Xian, give me the token for Director-General.
Give it to me!
Fan Xian,
we'll meet again.
Your Majesty,
The Court of State Ceremonials and Beiqi mission
have reached an agreement.
Dongyi mission
has offered all their gifts
and is ready to leave.
Despite the twists and turns,
the Court of State Ceremonials has done a good job.
Pass on my order.
A banquet will be held at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest tomorrow night
for a joint celebration.
Yes.
Wait.
Invite the Beiqi and Dongyi missions to the banquet.
Hurry up!
I see. I'll handle it.
At the banquet tomorrow night, Nanqing officials,
Beiqi courtiers, and Dongyi mission
will have a joyous gathering.
What an event!
What about Zhuang Mohan?
Who?
Zhuang Mohan.
He didn't seem to take part in the negotiation.
Indeed!
He disappeared once upon arrival in the capital city.
After that, he's never left his room.
He does nothing
but reading books quietly.
That's weird.
A literary giant came all the way
to the capital city
without achieving anything,
only to enjoy a banquet tomorrow night.
If anything happens in that banquet,
the world will know it in no time.
Head, you mean
Zhuang Mohan will make a move
in the banquet.
If he's up to something, he must make a move tomorrow night.
Then what should we do?
Nothing.
Just wait and see.
Will we lose the initiative?
There's no other way.
Without knowing what he's been up to,
we certainly can't take any precautions.
One more thing.
According to the information sent from Beiqi,
my son was caught
because his identity was disclosed.
By secret agents from Beiqi?
No, not from Beiqi.
You mean from the capital city?
He was betrayed by someone from the capital city.
Bingyun lurking in Beiqi
is a top secret.
Besides His Majesty,
only officials from
our Investigator's Office know it.
Can it be someone from our office?
Why not?
Head.
I think we should carry out
a thorough investigation right away.
No need.
It's a serious problem.
It ends now.
Never mention it again.
Yes.
The Investigator's Office has been established for so many years.
Time passes so quickly.
It's time to replace some old stuff.
In the river of history,
time goes round and round.
Memories about the former and present lives
join each other in an endless way.
In the long drunken Milky Way,
one season follows another in a flash,
and the wild geese are flying south.
I just can't give up
to be with you for my whole life.
I have been hovering in the dreams for hundreds and thousands of times.
I can't even say a word when I watch the flowers falling.
Year after year in the wandering,
I count the remaining years.
Even though we can't meet each other anymore,
even though we have ended up the destiny,
I never feel regretful.
In such a chaotic world,
I still miss you as ever.
I can't fall asleep under the moon.
With a gentle heart,
I cherish our remaining years.
Even though we have to go through
all the hardships along the journey,
you always stay by my side,
watching the falling flowers, speechlessly.
Year after year in the wandering,
I count the remaining years.
Even though we can't meet each other anymore,
even though we end up the destiny,
I never feel regretful.
In such a chaotic world,
I still miss you as ever.
I can't fall asleep under the moon.
With a gentle heart,
I cherish our remaining years.
Even though we have to go through
all the hardships along the journey,
you always stay by my side...