The Empress knows martial arts?
Not only knowing martial arts
but also an expert at concealing it
It's not unusual
for an empress to know martial arts
As a noble consort,
not divulging her capability of wielding weapons
is understandable
Just now when De Miao was exposed,
She kneeled down in a panic
I noticed
She wasn't kneeling down to the Emperor
But to the Empress
Your Majesty
It's not like that
De Miao was about to speak
The Empress just flicked a finger
De Miao could not say anything else
Other than the technique of striking meridian points,
it could be only one other way
Parasite
If this was the case
the Empress' previous parasite infestation
was her own doing
That is to say
the Empress and De Miao
Are co-conspirators
How is that possible?
His Majesty and Her Highness love each other
Why would she kill His Majesty?
That is also
what I want to find out
One Qu
Present
If I vanished in the palace tonight
You must assume the post of Security Commander
of the Plough Department
Sir
What are you thinking about doing?
His Majesty is poisoned by Soul Snatching
with no cure possible
Tomorrow
The new Emperor will accede
The Empress will become Empress Dowager
If she is with the villains
The results would be unfathomable
I must face her tonight
to ask questions myself
If she showed anything suspicious
For our great country of Song
I will lay down my life
in order to execute her on the spot
The Crown Prince is kind and benevolent
His view of the Plough Department has always been favorable
If it comes to that
You just need to report to him the truth
I believe that he will not mistreat our Plough Department
No Sir
I can not let you go by yourself
I am going with you
We are going too
I'm going too
Going with me to die, easy
Upholding the Plough Department,
protecting our great country of Song,
Difficult
You are still young
Don't you want to shoulder this weighty mission of the Plough Department?
Since it's an easy over a hard choice,
Please let me come with you
Anyway the Plough Department still has Sir Yin Quan and others
No need to worry about not having anyone to carry on
It's easier to argue the case if I went by myself
If you all went with me
It would look like the Plough Department rebels against the court
The Plough Department
is entrusted to you
Greetings Your Highness
Sir Dong Min, what say you?
Your Highness
There are a few things I find baffling
I hope you can give me advice
It's allright to tell me
Previously, Your Highness was for no reason infested by parasite
Afterwards, Your Highness for no reason improved
De Miao said you were cursed by sorcery
His Majesty believed it
I did not
I believe that you did not believe it either
Is there more?
Just now
When De Miao knelt down in a panick to beg for mercy
Your Highness just flicked your finger
De Miao immediately silenced
From what I know
This was not striking meridian points
Then what type of martial arts
did Your Highness use
I hope Your Highness can enlighten me
As might be expected, I can't hide anything
from your keen eyes
In actuality, I am one of the nine disciples
of Grand Master Do Mu
I believe that you
already knew
who my Grand Master is
Then Your Highness was not a random lowly entertainer
when you met His Majesty years ago
It was all arranged
It was a move in the game set up by Grand Master
He needed to have eyes in the palace
so he secretly placed a chess piece there
And I
was that piece
Then what does Grand Master Do Mu want?
I believe you are aware
of who the Grand Master is
If I guessed correctly
Grand Master Do Mu
is the best martial artist Miao Qing who served the Grand Emperor
and was our Plough Department's previous commander,
the first Yin Quan star
That's right
In the year that Grand Emperor passed,
It was His younger brother and not His son who inherited the throne
Miao Qing was very disturbed by this
He thought Father Emperor planned the death of Grand Emperor to take over the throne
Because of this, Miao Qing betrayed our Plough Department,
took on the identity of Grand Master Do Mu and went into hiding
Many years have passed
He still has not changed his mind
persevering in taking back the throne
to return it to Grand Emperor's lineage
Duke Hsien
That's right
Then has Duke Hsien
participated in this scheme?
Can I believe what Your Highness are saying?
All of you, please disperse
Please disperse
Please go
Crown Prince
I want to see my Father
You should go then
I have to see General Tao
to assure the palace and the capital's security
I appreciate your help
Even before His Majesty inherited the throne,
Miao Qing already arranged for you to be by His Majesty 's side
You've gained His Majesty's affection and devotion
Then why haven't you acted against Him all these years
Dethroning
is not like ordinary vengeful killing
It's not as simple as just killing off the emperor
What do you mean?
Grand Master has the utmost respect for the Grand Emperor
So he does not wish Grand Emperor's heir
to bear any stain on his honor
He wanted Duke Hsien
to succeed the throne righteously
and not as a murderer of the ruling emperor
and his heir
to upsurp the throne
It was a difficult line to walk
That's why
His Majesty summmoning the crucial officials
to abdicate to Duke Hsien
was Miao Qing's doing?
Yes
Grand Master recruited De Miao who is skilled at magic
To induce His Majesty's superstition
He thought it was the God's wrath
Grand Master also arranged for me to
concur with seeing the vision as De Miao concocted
to suggest to His Majesty to abdicate
Unfortunately,
Duke Hsien vehemently refused
even reported to Empress Dowager
to make His Majesty change his mind
Otherwise,
there would not have been this grave threat to His life like now
His Majesty and I
would be living in peace
Your Highness are too naive
If His Majesty had abdicated to Duke Hsien,
Miao Qing would still want to eliminate any possible threat
Would His Majesty be able to stay alive?
I've not thought of this point
that you brought up
Since you are skilled at wielding parasites,
the parasitic infestation was your own doing
What was your purpose
in doing so?
Even though I was arranged
to be by His Majesty's side
But His Majesty and I are husband and wife through thick and thin
These many years
he's been faithful and devoted
from the beginning to end
How could I not love him back
I've long given up
the original purpose that brought us together
But the Grand Master
has immense power
He can come and go
anywhere he pleases in the palace
I can not openly go against him
I was afraid he'd harm His Majesty
even more afraid he'd expose my identity
also afraid he'd get rid of me
and find others to place by His Majesty's side
I've been between a rock and a hard place
But fortunately
Grand Master has not wanted to use force
in dethroning
So I've been able to manage the situation until now
When Grand Master found De Miao
to insinuate herself by His Majesty's side
I knew what he wanted to do
So I infested myself
to implicate De Miao
to force her away from His Majesty's favor
Who would have known
Grand Master realized this right away
He came into the palace to pressure me
I could only give up my plan
Your Highness said
Miao Qing does not want to usurp
Then what happened today,
How do you explain?
I don't know
I hate it
For His Majesty's safety
I've struggled so much between the two sides
But now
it's all in vain
What you've said
was in a most honest manner
I'd rather believe you
But
You are Miao Qing's agent
and can not remain by His Majesty's side
I am willing to bear the disgrace of a betrayer
Your Highness
Please forgive me
You may proceed
His Majesty does not have long to live
I don't want to live either
Your Highness
What's wrong?
I used my lifeline parasite
to extend His Majesty's life
Lifeline parasite
Lifeline parasite is linked to the owner's life
Your Highness
His Majesty's poison
has no cure
But my lifeline parasite
can prolong his life
Your Highness
The Soul Snatching poison will continue to exert its effect
shortening the victim's lifespan
Your doing so
can only extend it a short while
His Majesty will soon loose his life
There's no meaning for me to live
Though I can not save him
But at least I can buy him some time
to allow him to get his affairs in order
to prevent the chaos
that happens with a sudden death of an emperor
Your Highness has the foresight
I have the utmost admiration for you
Your Highness
His Majesty's life is in peril
The Crown Prince is not of age
The nation can not be in upheaval
I hope Your Highness will shoulder the burden
Sir Dong Min
Your Highness
I only know that you are the Empress of this dynasty
About your background
I don't know a thing
Crown Prince
I've heard
everything just now
Whether you are in collusion with the villains or not
To me
You treat Father
like a loving wife would
Treat me like loving mother would
Son
Mother
Are you rebelling?
We pledge to follow you to death
I misunderstood Her Highness
Privately, Her Highness has treated His Majesty with love and loyalty
Publicly, she's offered him support and assistance
She is
a kind Empress
Grand Master
Who let you decide on your own to kill the emperor?
Meng Dong said
it was you who ordered me to take him to the palace
In addition
he didn't say it was to kill the emperor
He just said he needed to assess the situation in the palace
Is it possible
that he falsified your order?
I can speak!
Then why did you use the Rain Storm Pear Blossom Darts?
You already know what happened so quickly
Were you there at the time?
Grand Master
I didn't mean it
The emperor wanted to kill me at the time
I didn't know what else to do so I...
My hands
My face
Grand Master
Please cure my poisoning
Grand Master
I told you from the beginning
This poison has no cure
I can't save you
Grand Master, save me!
No cure
Grand Master
Save me
Soul Snatching
has no cure
It hurts
What
Grand Master
It hurts
It's the empress
She meant me harm
At the time, I begged her to spare me
She applied parasite
to silence me
What
What is going on here?
I understand now
Soul Snatching originally has no cure
But
together with Wind Stopping parasite
The two negative effects cancel each other out
and produce such an astonishing change
My recovered my martial arts
Take my strikes to see
Very good
You've recovered your martial arts
Not only impervious to weapons
increased exponentially in power
But also poisonous all over
But my hands
and my face too
It's only skin deep, it doesn't matter
Your martial arts right now
are a lot more useful than before
But my face
Enough
Meng Dong and you caused a real mess
I have to go clean up your acts
Grand Master
There are a lot of upheavals outside
You stay here temporarily
I will have someone
provide meals for you
When the time comes
I will let you out
It's all the emperor's fault
It's all the Plough Department's fault
I will take revenge on you
I will take revenge on you!
I, Wei Lin
with all my sincerity
kneel and submit to punishment
Submit to punishment
Minister Wei
What are you doing?
His Majesty is tired
He is resting
Eunuch Lei
You don't know
If I don't explain to His Majesty
I will drown in other people's condemnation
Is that what's going on?
Who dares to disrepect minister Wei?
Everybody is condeming me
saying that I conspire with the evil De Miao
And spreading rumors that I stole funds
in the Crystal Jade Palace construction project
That never happened
I am right now is like the night pot
stinking everywhere I go
I can't live
No one believes my innocence
Minister Wei
You really had nothing to do with that evil De Miao
But you recommended De Miao to His Majesty
I
But I was also
fooled by her
I was fooled by her
I understand
Come, come, come minister Wei
Get up get up
Minister Wei
It is said ministers are immensely benevolent
Don't pay attention to trivial things gossipmongers say
They have mouths
We can't control what they say
If it bothers you
I'd say
you should try to let it go
I can't
Eunuch Lei
Three make a crowd
You don't know
For these people, saying a good thing is not necessarily good
Saying a bad thing is really really bad
Words can be like swords
I'm afraid His Majesty might
be fooled by them
Minister Wei
I don't like to hear you say such a thing
His Majesty
is brilliant and all knowing
Who can possibly fool Him?
That's true
Who who who can fool fool Him?
But didn't you say it just now?
This stinky mouth of mine
I didn't mean that
It's only that they upset me so much I didn't know what I was saying
Eunuch Lei
I've been minister for the past 7 years
I've been loyal to a fault
Faithful and steadfast
Working hard for the court
I
I'm not here to toot my own horn
I just want His Majesty to understand
My conscience is clear
Minister Wei
Please get up
Please get up before you talk
Minister Wei
His Majesty is awake
His Majesty is awake?
What did His Majesty say?
His Majesty is not feeling well
He is not in the mood to see you
Message from His Majesty to minister Wei
Stay home and repent
Wait for judgement
Eunuch Lei
You must say a few good words to His Majesty about...
In my humble opinion
You'd better go home
Eunuch Lei
Your Highness, are you allright?
I'm fine
Your Majesty please don't move
I'd say
You have been so busy these days
You should rest when you have time
Just now Wei Lin
Prepared a generous present
and came to my palace
I gave it back to him
What?
This Wei Lin
still playing politics
How audacious!
Your Majesty
Please don't get upset
Your Majesty
Please don't get agitated
I hate to see you hurt
I feel it in my heart
Ok
I won't cough
won't cough, it'll be ok
What would you say, Wei Lin
is really corrupted, lawless
disdained to superiors, lying to subordinates
Speaking the truth
I'm also not happy with him
However
to think about it
Don't manhandle him
Since
he's been with me
for decades of good service
Again
I'm ill at the moment
It's not the time to mete out harsh punishment to senior officials
Our dynasty traditionally
values academics and intellectuals
to assist in administration
Ancestral edicts
Ancestral edicts rule against persecution of scholars
Your Majesty
I'm allright
How about this
Let him volunteer
to cite health
to retire back to his ancestral home
Let that be
a less embarrasing way for him to leave
Your Majesty is so kind
Conveying His Majesty's directive
Considering the past service of Wei Lin
I will not pursue his lapses in judgement
He is to resign tomorrow at early court
return to his ancestral home
That's a way to let him save face
I
will obey
with deep appreciation to His Majesty
Minister Wei
I've conveyed His Majesty's words
You know what to do
Eunuch Lei
You failed
I've told you
You're too soft and weak
You can't achieve anything
Preposterous
Who am I
that you dare to lecture
We've placed a lot of trust in your grand plan
But what we want
has not been delivered
What I've promised you
I will give you
But
You have to wait until my great plan is accomplished
When will you succeed?
I thought
using De Miao's magic
to create a god figure
to entrance the emperor
to abdicate himself to the heir of the Grand Emperor
was the most stable way
Though the throne changes hands
the country can maintain peace and security
Too bad
How unfortunate
You can't control everything
That's why you still failed
I
Still have another move