Episode 41
Wei Guang.
How's Her Majesty?
She got better after taking Brother Lang's medicine.
Ning Zhi.
I'm returning to the front line tomorrow morning.
Does defeating Prince Guang Ding and the Princess Royal...
make things better?
No.
We're still likely to lose.
Ning Zhi.
I want to hear that word...
from you again.
Chief Commander Wei.
Live.
You must live.
You too.
Please live well.
Eunuch Li.
What brought you over at this hour?
Your Highness.
Chief Commander Wei sent me to deliver this gift to you.
To prevent misunderstandings,
he had to ask me to deliver it to you.
I shall excuse myself.
Be careful.
Lang Kun.
How did it go?
Did Her Majesty get better?
Her condition deteriorated.
Her Majesty has been unconscious.
According to the imperial physicians,
she is living her last days.
Thank you for taking the trouble to come and inform me.
I'll always be here at this tea stall.
I'll be troubling you to keep me posted.
Alright.
Greetings, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty, our sisters from the Pear Blossom Academy came.
Your Majesty.
What do you need, sister?
Ning Zhi.
I'm here.
Lang Kun is still alive.
"Please live well on behalf of me."
Eunuch Li.
Her Majesty...
has passed away.
Alright.
Eunuch Li.
Thank you.
This is a note for you...
from Noble Consort Ning.
It's a message to you from Her Majesty...
before she breathed her last breath.
Charge!
Sir!
I'm the only man...
who deserves to be the supreme ruler.
You made me promise you one thing.
Do you still remember?
Live.
I want to hear that word...
from you again.
Live.
You must live.
Long live Your Majesty!
Your Majesty.
Wei Guang won.
But,
we paid a huge price for this victory.
We're only left with thousands of soldiers...
while Yan Kuan's army was wiped out.
Chief Commander Wei died for the country...
and killed Yan Kuan.
Why?
Isn't this...
the outcome I desire?
Didn't I hope for those two to die?
But I don't feel happy at all.
Why?
I have been restless because of them.
But why am I...
still not freed from this feeling?
Kang Er.
After your coronation today,
you must remember that...
the fate of Liang dynasty is in your hands.
Noble Consort Ning, just like you,
I will treat the folks as my father and mother...
and their children as my children.
Your Highness, I'm still a child.
Please accept the title of the Holy Empress Dowager.
Your Highness.
The prime minister has led all court officials over...
to greet the new emperor.
They requested that you succeed to the position of empress dowager...
and preside the coronation.
At the end of the war caused by the Princess Royal and Prince Guang Ding,
the 6th emperor of Liang passed away,
leaving behind his little prince Pang Kang who succeeded to the throne.
Noble Consort Ning who was honoured as the Holy Mother by the folks...
escorted the young emperor into the court...
under the unanimous approval of the officials.
Long live Your Majesty!
Rise, my loyal subjects.
Thank you, Your Majesty!
Rise.
Let Cheng Xiang Palace remain the same as before.
Yes.
You may all retire.
Greetings, Your Highness.
Eunuch Li.
From now on, you'll be my personal attendant.
Yes, Your Highness.
Have you made arrangements for the war-torn counties?
Your Highness.
We are doing our best to restore the cities.
However...
You may be frank.
The folks in Yandu have no concern for the restoration of the cities.
Since the civil war broke out,
the people have been migrating...
and leaving Yandu.
To this date,
half of the city's population is gone.
Why didn't you inform me earlier?
We were so busy with His Majesty's succession to the throne...
that we overlooked this matter.
I can't believe this.
The day Prince Guang Ding laid siege to the city,
the Imperial Guard abandoned the city despite the crisis...
and left the folks in the city to their own devices.
After the war,
the word got out that it was the late emperor who ordered...
the Imperial Guard to leave.
The folks in Yandu were disappointed by the action of...
the late emperor.
They believe that Pang family does not deserve the throne.
As such,
they left.
Your Majesty.
Do you understand?
This is why you need the people's support.
You must learn from your late father's lesson.
Understand?
Yes, mother.
I remember...
the late empress dowager telling me that...
the emperor is the face of the country.
This face cannot be sullied.
The world is looking at this face.
It must stay clean and shine upon the people.
Kang Er.
Don't cry.
Someone has to take the blame for this.
Let me protect this country for you.
Rise.
Thank you, Your Highness.
Your Highness.
Why did you punish yourself to live in the Cold Palace?
Because I understand why...
one should take the blame...
for the late emperor.
The late emperor loved his people...
and in the siege, His Majesty had no choice...
but to flee Yandu...
and leave behind the Imperial Guard to protect the folks.
Yet, Noble Consort Ning overstepped her authority...
and ordered the departure of the Imperial Guard...
which led to the uncontrolled fire in Yandu.
She had done the people wrong...
and for this, she is deemed unforgivable.
She shall be punished to live in the Cold Palace...
for the rest of her life...
to redress the injustice done to the people of Liang!
That is all!
Dear all.
To celebrate the new emperor's succession to the throne,
tax will be exempted! Yandu will be free of tax for 3 years...
for the people's rehabilitation!
Hurray!
Thank you, Your Majesty!
Long live Your Majesty!
Ten years later
Mother, today is my coming of age.
I came to greet you.
Kang Er.
You've grown up.
It's been hard on you over the past 10 years.
I'm taking you out now.
Back then, we announced to the entire nation that...
I will live in the Cold Palace for the rest of my life.
This is a decree.
It cannot be taken back.
Mother.
Even though you've been living in the Cold Palace,
you've never failed to guide me.
You taught me to be a good emperor...
and I want to be...
a filial and benevolent emperor.
Today,
I came to take you away from the Cold Palace.
I understand that you want me...
to live comfortably.
But, let me ask you a question.
Do you think...
life is uncomfortable here?
Will I only feel comfortable...
if I have expensive clothes and food?
You think my life is uncomfortable...
because you don't know the sufferings of the people.
My son.
This is what you need to know.
I will keep this in mind.
I will learn more about the people's lives.
But, you took the blame for another...
and became the subject of condemnation.
It's been 10 years...
and you've never stepped out of Yong Lun Palace.
This is like imprisonment.
I can't bear to see this.
I want to restore your reputation.
Reputation is just...
a facade that matters to...
the royalty and powerful.
Behind our masks,
everyone looks about the same.
Only the reputation of the emperor must not be tainted.
The reputation of Noble Consort Ning...
is worthless.
Let them condemn me.
Mother.
Am I not allowed to do anything for you?
If you really want to do something for me,
then announce to the nation that...
Noble Consort Ning who caused the huge disaster back then...
died of illness in the Cold Palace.
Mother, are you going to leave me?
Kang Er.
You've grown up.
You can now rule independently...
and be a good emperor.
It's time I leave.
You're the emperor.
No one can control you...
including me.
In life,
as long as you stick to your conscience,
when you look back at the end of your life,
you'll no regrets.
Kang Er.
Can you do this?
I will do as you advised.
I will be a good person...
and a good emperor.
I wasn't supposed to be in the palace.
Back then,
the first time I set foot in the palace,
I hated this place.
But, fate pulled a prank on me...
and got me trapped in this palace.
This is a prank...
gone wrong.
This place has become unfamiliar to me.
Because everyone is no longer here.
I can no longer see your warm smile...
and listen to you while you talk about the folks who are like your children.
I can no longer hear your bossy voice...
and argue with you.
No one calls me "sister" anymore.
I don't have to worry about your cover being blown anymore.
I don't feel anxious...
or fight alongside you anymore.
I no longer have that hand that held mine...
and those shoulders to lean on.
I no longer have that person who made me sad...
and captivated my heart.
Because of you all,
this place is still the same.
Your virtues earned the people's support.
You put your life on the line...
to protect our last hope.
You stood by me unconditionally...
and made me feel safe.
You left behind...
a light in my heart...
that guided me.
All my life,
I've been in control of my own life.
Now,
it's time I walk out of the palace.
Go back and rest well.
-Thank you. -Goodbye.
Thank you.
Noble Consort Ning.
You came at last.
I'm no longer Noble Consort Ning.
I came as soon as I received your letter.
Where have you been?
Back then,
after Her Majesty's passing,
I left for Ping Cheng County.
Wei Guang and Yan Kuan's troops were having a showdown there.
Yan Kuan's troops were everywhere.
I heard that Wei Guang died alongside Yan Kuan.
So, I snuck into the battlefield...
in order to bury Wei Guang.
Surprisingly,
Wei Guang was still breathing.
So, I treated him immediately...
and saved him from the verge of death.
Wei Guang...
Wei Guang didn't die?
Then where is he?
He went out to buy a flute.
He said that...
once you come,
he can play the flute...
while you play the zither.
Why didn't you all come to me?
We wanted to.
But, Yan Kuan's remaining troops were killing every person in sight.
We fled to a big ship with the refugees...
and encountered a storm.
Not knowing how long we were trapped in the ship,
we ultimately landed at Nanzhou.
Nanzhou?
We were there over the past decade.
I made a living by treating people...
and Wei Guang became a teacher.
We saved our money to make a ship and return to Liang.
Over the past 10 years,
we made 6 attempts...
and failed every single time.
We were either forced to return because of a storm...
or obstructed by submerged reefs.
Ning Zhi.
A phoenix like you...
still flew out in the end.
I prefer a simple life over a life of luxury.