There as the smells of metal or garlic
from His Majesty's mouth. His lips were dry.
There were traces of burning on them.
And, his fists were clenched. He had a severe cramp before he died.
I have reason to believe that His Majesty died of arsenic poisoning.
Who would kill His Majesty with poison?
There's something I don't understand. His Majesty was already terminally ill.
Why not let him die of a natural cause?
Why kill him?
Apparently the murderer couldn't wait.
He wanted His Majesty to die as soon as possible.
He poisoned His Majesty while he was seriously sick.
So people would just think His Majesty died of illness.
I really want to find out who was so wicked to kill His Majesty with poison.
I will have him executed.
The prime suspect is Prince Chun.
What's your basis for saying that?
What's his motive to commit the murder?
He has every motive to do that.
His Majesty had a row with Prince Chun.
So Prince Chun had a grudge against His Majesty
and he killed His Majesty with poison for revenge.
Why did they have a row?
Back then His Majesty wasn't that sick yet.
Every day, he, Prince Chun and the Grand Councilors would discuss
implementing constitutional monarchy.
Five days before Guangxu's death.
Five days ago, Prince Chun went to a meeting as usual.
The other Grand Councilors left one by one.
So I went to Yangxin Hall to pick up His Highness.
Lin Gong-gong.
You came to pick up Prince Chun?
He's still talking to His Majesty inside. Please wait.
Prince Chun, you claimed that
you would assist me in the implementation of constitutional monarchy.
But I've noticed that you're just pretending to listen to my instructions.
Actually you're stalling.
You have no intention to help revive Qing.
Has it ever occurred to you that
the imperial system has existed for over 3,000 years in China?
You can't replace it overnight. More haste, less speed.
Have you already forgotten the grave lesson you learned
when the reform from before failed?
That's just an excuse. Everything you say is just an excuse.
Ever since the implementation of the new administration up to now,
you've used this excuse to brush me off.
Now I know your true intention.
You don't need to take part in the implementation of constitutional monarchy.
Since you said that, I'll see how the person
who failed to protect his beloved consort and let the murderer go Scot-free
can carry out his ambitious plan on his own.
What are you talking about?
Are you so naive to believe that
Consort Zhen really threw herself into the well to commit suicide?
Consort Zhen didn't commit suicide? Talk. Who killed her?
I don't mind telling you. Cui Yugui pushed her into the well.
Cui Yugui!
So Prince Chun told His Majesty the real cause of Consort Zhen's death.
No wonder His Majesty was so mad. He went to Summer Palace right away.
I will kill you, slave.
Please spare my life, Your Majesty.
Help, Your Royal Highness. Help.
You two hold His Majesty back.
Please spare my life, Your Majesty.
I'm going to kill you to avenge Consort Zhen
Your Royal Highness.
Slave.
Please help me, Your Royal Highness.
Your Majesty, your conduct is unbecoming.
You say Cui Yugui killed Consort Zhen. Who told you that? Do you have any evidence?
I'm the emperor. Do I need any evidence to kill a slave?
You want to kill one of my people. Of course I have to ask you why.
You just want to protect the offender.
When the Eight-Nation Alliance came into the capital. You left in a hurry.
But you refused to take Consort Zhen with you.
I understand everything now.
Back then you didn't order this slave
back to the palace to pick up Consort Zhen.
It was to have her killed. Am I correct?
How dare you! How could you say that?
You got Consort Zhen killed. Now you're even protecting this slave.
This is really outrageous.
Your Majesty... Summon the imperial doctors right away.
No wonder His Majesty's condition deteriorated so drastically.
I was told that after His Majesty had come to,
he still said he wanted to kill Cui Yugui to avenge Consort Zhen.
Cui Yugui had someone backing him. How could he be killed?
Empress Dowager always protects her people.
It's not easy to take down Cui Yugui.
Perhaps Cui Yugui thought Empress Dowager was getting old.
He was worried that if she died before His Majesty did,
he would lose his protection.
He was worried that His Majesty would kill him then.
So he took the offensive first.
Cui Yugui is not the only person who wanted His Majesty dead.
Prince Chun had motive too.
Empress Dowager just nominated his son Puyi to be the crown prince.
Once His Majesty died, Puyi would then succeed to the throne.
And Prince Chun would become Prince Regent.
But if Empress Dowager died first,
the political power would be returned to His Majesty.
Then Prince Chun's dream would never come true.
Exactly.
Prince Chun told His Majesty about Consort Zhen's death on purpose,
to make His Majesty's condition get worse.
Hey, you're Prince Chun's bodyguard. You're turning against him?
This is nothing personal.
Before His Majesty died,
who was the last person who went into Hanyuan Hall? It was Prince Chun.
I remember that on the day His Majesty died,
Prince Chun was with Empress Dowager in Summer Palace.
As soon as he was told that Dr To was returning to the palace,
he immediately rushed to Yingtai.
Of course I followed him there too. When we got to Yingtai...
Sometime on the day before Guangxu died.
Why are you all standing there?
I saw the eunuchs and the Commissioner of the Imperial Hospital standing outside.
Your Highness.
Your Highness, we delivered the medicine to His Majesty.
But he refused to take it. He even threw us all out of Hanyuan Hall.
His Majesty refused to take the medicine.
So you're just going to stand there? Losers.
Get out of my way. Linzi, come with me.
I'll persuade His Majesty to take the medicine.
Yes, Your Highness.
After Prince Chun and Linzi had gone inside Hanyuan Hall,
I waited with the other people outside.
After a while, Prince Chun and Linzi came out.
They said His Majesty had lost his temper and refused to take the medicine.
He even spilled it.
His Majesty didn't take the medicine.
That means Prince Chun had nothing to do with His Majesty's death.
You can't say that.
Isn't it possible that His Majesty had taken a few gulps before he spilled it?
Don't forget that
the medicine was delivered by the Commissioner of the Imperial Hospital.
And Prince Chun went inside with Linzi.
Linzi was there. How could Prince Chun put
poison in the medicine in such a short time?
If they were accomplices, then it's possible.
You guys are being unreasonable.
Dr To, I still think that Cui Yugui is the most suspicious.
Miss Ling and I think Prince Chun is the prime suspect.
Yam Sik-kan.
Let's not argue. We need concrete evidence.
We don't have much time. Let's split up to investigate this.
You two talk to Cui Yugui. I'll talk to Prince Chun.
Then we'll meet again here.
OK.
You suggest publicizing the demise of His Majesty?
There's no eternal secret.
I heard that the government officials and consuls of various countries
are wondering what happened in Yingtai.
I'm worried that making an announcement of His Majesty's demise too late
will cause panic.
It will give the foreigners a chance to make trouble.
But I ordered To Chung to investigate His Majesty's cause of death.
Before he finds out what happened,
it's not a good idea to announce the demise of His Majesty.
If To Chung really finds out that His Majesty was poisoned and killed,
I'm afraid the announcement of the truth will seriously undermine Qing's authority.
The consequences could be dire.
Do you think I would really let To Chung
find out what happened and announce the truth?
Then why did you still let To Chung carry on with the investigation?
Your Royal Highness is really meticulous. I have a lot to learn from you.
This is a toy for you.
Thank you, Your Highness.
Go play with it.
Sis, please have some tea.
Soon Puyi will succeed to the throne and you will become Empress Dowager.
I don't have any family in the palace anymore.
I will focus on serving and following you.
Since His Majesty passed away, you're the only person left who's close to me.
Noble Consort Yu.
Puyi, come over. Look what I brought you? The date cakes you like.
Great.
Let me feed you, OK?
OK.
Kids are simple.
They'll naturally show whom they're fond of. Don't you agree, Your Highness?
Noble Consort Yu is right. Puyi will ascend to the throne very soon.
As Empress Dowager,
I will discharge my duty faithfully and teach him to tell right from wrong
so that he can distinguish who's true to him
and who's just pretending to be nice to him.
It seems like Your Highness really wants to be like Her Royal Highness.
You want to rule behind the curtain and realize your ambition.
Too bad there's never any certainty.
Just now Puyi was playing with the ball over there.
Now he's eating date cakes next to me. Puyi, are the date cakes good?
Yes.
Then I'll get you more next time, OK?
OK.
He listens to whoever is nice to him. You can't make him do that.
You hear that?
This is Noble Consort Yu's personal experience.
We must really remember that well.
I will follow both your teachings.
Puyi looks more and more like Prince Chun.
I watched Prince Chun grow up. I have a especially intimate bond with him.
After Puyi has ascended to the throne and Prince Chun becomes Prince Regent,
I think I must really help both of them. Don't you two think so?
Why did you say that to the Queen just now?
She was so sure she would become Empress Dowager.
I hate her arrogant attitude. So I said that to aggravate her.
I'm serious when I say this again. Our relationship is already history.
Don't ever use me to intimidate people again
I don't follow you.
What do you mean our relationship is history already?
It's different now.
I just care about my role in ruling the nation now.
I've long forgotten past romance.
I hope you will do the same too.
What do you mean by that? You want to draw a line with me now?
Let's see what will happen to you
if I tell Her Royal Highness about our relationship. You hit me?
You can't threaten me so easily anymore. Go ahead and tell Her Royal Highness.
She's so good at assessing the situation. Who do you think she'd choose to believe?
I'm afraid you would just end up like Consort Zhen,
stuck in the Northern Three Places until you die.
As soon as Puyi ascends to the throne, I will be above all except one.
Then your life will be at my discretion.
You know I truly love you.
Why are you doing this to me? Why are you so cruel? Why?
I can't believe you're still so naive despite your age.
Do you think there's bound to be a happy ending when you truly love someone?
My relationship with Deling is the best example.
Have you already forgotten what you did to us back then?
Zaifeng...
I've checked.
Ever since Cui Yugui was seriously beaten by His Majesty,
he's been pretending to be recuperating.
Let's go and interrogate him now.
Oh, he really wants to flee.
Princess Wojia, what's going on?
You've packed your stuff. So you want to flee because you're guilty?
Talk. Did you kill His Majesty with poison?
I'm innocent. How would I have the guts to do that?
You're still denying it? His Majesty beat you. You couldn't stand him.
So you killed him with poison.
You've done so many bad things and hurt so many people.
How dare you kill His Majesty too!
No, I'm innocent.
It did cross my mind that
if Her Royal Highness died before His Majesty did,
he would never spare my life.
So I packed my clothes to prepare to flee.
So you admit you wanted to flee because you're guilty?
No... When I was about to leave, I heard that His Majesty had passed on.
So I put the clothes back in the wardrobe.
Then you guys kicked open the door and barged in at that moment.
You really weren't packing to flee?
No.
This slave lies all the time. He's sly. Don't listen to him, Yam Sik-kan.
Don't talk to him anymore. Beat him up.
No... Ouch... I'll talk. I'll talk. I know who killed His Majesty with poison.
Three days before His Majesty died,
I heard by chance something I shouldn't have.
I raised him. But now he's bit me back. This is outrageous.
He's a traitor and a threat. Your Royal Highness must teach him a lesson.
I've spent so many years with him. Now I have to kill him. I can't do it.
Let me do it for you.
Lizi, you must do a clean job Don't make me a suspect.
Yes.
Dr Yam, this is?
It's arsenic.
Shush.
Are you sure this is arsenic?
We have a witness and physical evidence.
In other words, Empress Dowager ordered Li Lianying to kill His Majesty.
Before we confront Li Lianying,
we can't be sure if Cui Yugui is telling the truth.
Confront him? You sure he'll talk?
That's right. If he says he used the arsenic to poison rats,
we can't refute that.
To Chung, what else do you want to know? Go ahead.
I know Your Highness had a row with His Majesty before he died. Is that true?
He was desperate to implement the new administration.
I just told him to consider it carefully.
We had some arguments. But it was nothing personal.
Then why did you tell him that Cui Yugui killed Consort Zhen?
When someone gets mad in a row, of course he'll say anything.
That's not all that surprising.
Didn't it cross your mind that
if you suddenly told His Majesty the cause of Consort Zhen's death,
you'd be dealing him a severe blow?
That's ridiculous.
If he couldn't take the blow and died right there and then,
you guys could say I caused his death by telling him what happened.
But To Chung said clearly that he died of arsenic poisoning.
So how am I liable?
Let's talk about that then.
Before His Majesty died,
he had lost his temper and thrown everyone out of Hanyuan Hall.
I'm given to understand that
Your Highness delivered the medicine to him in Hanyuan Hall.
In other words, you're the last person he saw before he died.
To be exact, I'm one of the last two people he saw.
Back then, his eunuch Linzi went into Hanyuan Hall with me.
Linzi was the one who carried the medicine inside.
How could I put poison in it to kill His Majesty?
What is this?
This is rat poison.
The butler said there were rats in the Mansion's kitchen.
So I took a packet from the pharmacy.
What are you doing there? Why are you searching my things?
Your Highness said the rat poison
would be given to the butler to poison the rats.
Why is it still here?
Just now To Chung came to investigate His Majesty's death.
Then you came in here to look for the rat poison.
So you think I killed His Majesty with poison too?
I dare not think that.
I'm just worried that if you get in trouble,
what will happen to Pujie, Puyi and me?
Let me tell you, this really is arsenic. But it's just for poisoning rats.
It has nothing to do with His Majesty's death.
But To Chung suspects that His Majesty died of arsenic poisoning.
I don't want to become a suspect. So I put away the packet of arsenic.
If you don't want Puyi and Pujie to become orphans,
you must forget this immediately.
If this is made known, I really won't be able to explain it away.
Do you understand?
Yes.
This is His Majesty's bedroom. Why am I here?
Please spare my life, Your Majesty.
Slave, you poisoned me with arsenic. I want you dead now.
Your Majesty, I'm innocent. I didn't kill you with arsenic.
I know you're hiding a packet of arsenic. Don't deny it.
It wasn't used to kill you. It was used to kill Little Wong.
Little Wong.
Have you forgotten? That's Her Royal Highness's dog.
Dog?
What did you say? Li Lianying, you killed Little Wong?
This is Little Wong's body.
Slave, how dare you kill Little Wong with arsenic!
I did it on Her Royal Highness's order.
Nonsense!
She loved Little Wong more than you. Why would she kill him?
He bit her.
You're lying.
Why were you hiding the arsenic just now?
Dr To is looking into who killed His Majesty with arsenic.
If he finds arsenic in my bedroom, he'll think that I did it.
You slaves have wasted so much of my effort.
Actually the two eunuchs who served His Majesty are the most suspect.
You mean Caizi and Linzi?
They love gambling. Linzi in particular. He was heavily in debt.
He would do anything to repay his debts.
Princess Wojia, you're looking for Linzi too?
Honestly, ever since we cleared His Majesty's bedroom last night,
I haven't seen him again.
I asked lots of people in the palace.
But no one knows where he is.
Did you notice anything out of the ordinary with Linzi lately?
You know gambling is prohibited in the palace. But we do that sometimes.
Hey.
Ouch...
Someone told me that Linzi's heavily in debt. Is that true?
He owed me money from gambling too. He used to repay his debt bit by bit.
But a few days ago,
he suddenly gave me a draft to repay all his debts at once,
like he had suddenly received a fortune.
Suddenly? Where's the draft he gave you? Do you have it you?
Yes. His Majesty suddenly died. I haven't had time to cash the draft yet.
Government draft. Promises to pay the bearer 50 taels of silver.
Aeunuch called Linzi, who served His Majesty,
used this draft to repay his debt.
I found out that you issued this draft, Officer Yuan.
What's your relationship with Linzi?
I'm a generous man.
Linzi asked me to lend him money. So I did. What's the big deal?
He was heavily in debt from gambling.
But he suddenly repaid it in full a few days ago.
In other words, you weren't just lending him 50 taels.
He served His Majesty. You lent such a huge sum to him.
There must be some conditions attached.
You mean I bribed him to poison His Majesty?
Empress Dowager ordered me to investigate His Majesty's cause of death.
Please forgive me if you feel offended.
I'm most willing to cooperate with you two.
What did Linzi tell you about the loan?
Too bad he disappeared after His Majesty died.
That means you don't have a witness because he's dead?
Dead? So you know someone killed Linzi to shut him up?
I don't want to argue with you two. I have no comment on this either.
Come talk to me again when you've got evidence.
It would be perfect if you could find Linzi.
There's poetic justice.
I believe we will find Linzi whether he's dead or alive.
We'll find evidence on him showing who killed His Majesty.
Then I hope you find the evidence to avenge His Majesty.
Search carefully. Don't leave behind any leads. Understand?
Yes, sir.
It's such a tedious job to search the body.
How could we ask Officer Yuan to do it? Why don't we do it for you?
First His Majesty died. Then Linzi disappeared.
I've long suspected that he was killed. Now it's confirmed.
I just said it casually just now.
You didn't really think
we could find evidence against you on Linzi's body, did you?
Is that why you couldn't wait to come here to destroy the evidence?
I just don't want to be accused of killing His Majesty.
That's why I had to find Linzi as soon as possible,
to see if there's evidence on him pointing to the real murderer.
If you didn't kill Linzi, why do you know where he's buried?
I'll tell you the truth. I did bribe Linzi.
I asked him to report His Majesty's every move to me.
We used to meet in these woods.
We agreed to meet here earlier. But he didn't show up.
I was already suspicious.
Just now I noticed that the soil here looked odd.
So I asked them to dig immediately. Then we found Linzi's body.
Officer Yuan, you lie so well. How can you make up such a story?
Did someone bribe Linzi to kill His Majesty with poison
and then kill him to shut him up?
It's easy to accuse people.
Now that Linzi's body has been found. You've got what you want.
Go ahead and look for the evidence. I've done nothing illegal.
You guys will prove my innocence in due course. Let's go.
This Yuan Shikai really is an old fox.
We caught him red-handed. But he didn't show any signs of panic.
We don't have any evidence. We can't touch him.
Let's see if there are any clues on Linzi's body.
To Chung, come take a look at this.
It looks like Linzi is holding something in his hand.
It's a snuffbox.
I remember this snuffbox. It belongs to Prince Chun.
Yes, this is my snuffbox. How did you guys get it?
During my investigation of His Majesty's death,
I realized that Linzi, who used to serve His Majesty had suddenly disappeared.
Then we found out that
he had received a huge sum of money from Yuan Shikai.
We followed Yuan and saw him order his servants to dig up Linzi's body.
Yuan denied killing Linzi. We found this snuffbox in Linzi's hand.
What's your point, To Chung?
Yuan Shikai admitted to bribing Linzi for intelligence on His Majesty.
Since Linzi took money from Yuan Shikai,
I'm sure he'd be willing to take money from other people too.
Before His Majesty died,
Your Highness was the only person who had entered Hanyuan Hall.
Linzi also went in with you.
You mean I bribed Linzi and told him to kill His Majesty with poison?
Then I killed him to shut him up?
If you didn't do that, then how do you explain the snuffbox in Linzi's hand?
You two should remember that I told you to find Linzi and confront him.
If I had killed Linzi, would I be so stupid to make such a suggestion?
You had killed and buried him thinking we'd never find him.
Too bad you missed something. You forgot Yuan Shikai.
We found Linzi's body because of him.
Then we got a hold of this important piece of evidence.
It's that Yuan Shikai again!
I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. I did bribe Linzi.
I asked him to report His Majesty's every move to me.
But I didn't tell him to poison His Majesty. I didn't kill Linzi either.
As for why would my snuffbox be in Linzi's hand,
Yuan Shikai led you guys to the place where Linzi was buried.
It's possible that he had sent someone to steal my snuffbox beforehand.
Then he put it in Linzi's hand on purpose to frame me.
You didn't say anything just now. What are you thinking?
There's something I don't understand.
Hey...
Youlan, are you OK? Why are your eyes so red? Were you crying?
No, I just got some sand in my eyes.
Don't lie to me. What happened?
We're good friends. Tell me what happened.
Nothing.
Come on. What happened to your finger?
It just got scorched by boiling water.
Tell me please. What happened?
Nothing. Don't make wild guesses.
I need to see how Pujie's doing. I can't talk to you anymore.
Arsenic poisoning?
According to Princess Wojia's description,
the festering on Youlan's finger should be from coming into contact with arsenic.
The wound was poisoned by the toxin.
Really? Then we can prove there's arsenic in Prince Chun's Mansion.
Given Youlan's character, I think she found arsenic in the mansion.
She knew His Majesty died of arsenic poisoning.
And we're investigating Prince Chun. So she panicked.
Let's investigate further through her.
I'm sure we'll find evidence against Prince Chun.
You mean we'll find more evidence for you to frame Prince Chun?
What do you mean?
You're really good at planting evidence,
but you've forgotten that I have a good memory.
We followed Yuan Shikai to the woods where he dug up Linzi's body.
Back then I noticed that Linzi's hands were loose and open.
He wasn't clenching his fists.
After Yuan Shikai had left, you asked me to look at Linzi's fists.
To Chung, come take a look at this.
You even found a snuffbox in his hand. Isn't that funny?
Actually when you suggested assisting me
in investigating His Majesty's cause of death,
I was already doubtful of your motives.
When I saw you plant the evidence against Prince Chun
and put the blame on Yuan Shikai, I understood that you actually want to
use the investigation of His Majesty's cause of death
to stir trouble between them.
Yes, that was my objective. I'm a member of the revolutionary party.
It was such a good opportunity. Of course I couldn't let it slip away.
You knew I had to find out
His Majesty's cause of death as soon as possible.
But you misled me
in the direction of investigation time and again for your own objective.
I'm really so disappointed in you.
Actually you can't say I misled you.
All the evidence and leads suggest that the two of them are the most suspect.
Actually they're not the only suspects.
You're a suspect in His Majesty's murder too
I told you I accidentally dropped the jade pendant
when I went to Guangxu's bedroom with you last time.
You're still lying to me?
I'm sure that from the moment you kicked open the bedroom door and dashed in
to the moment we left together, you never dropped anything.
You didn't drop your jade pendant.
You misled me in my investigation
because you wanted to cover up the fact
that you're the one who killed His Majesty.
I agree that I'm the most suspicious.
But if I told you that I didn't kill Guangxu, would you believe me?
You think I'd still believe what you say?
My objective for coming to the palace was to assassinate Guangxu.
If I had succeeded, why would I deny it?
I really wish that I had killed Guangxu.
It's a pity that when I got to his bedroom, the poison had already kicked in.
Then he died.
Yingtai.
Shortly before Guangxu died.
Why are you guys standing there?
Your Highness.
Back then I had gone to the palace on the pretext of seeing the two consorts.
I followed them to Yingtai to visit His Majesty.
Since Guangxu was in a critical condition, it was chaotic outside.
He even threw us all out of Hanyuan Hall.
His Majesty refused to take the medicine. And you're just standing there? Losers.
Get out of my way. Linzi, come with me.
I'll persuade His Majesty to take the medicine.
Like Kot Kan said, I saw Zaifeng and Linzi come out of Hanyuan Hall.
He told the Commissioner of the Imperial Hospital that
Guangxu had spilled the medicine and thrown them out.
After Zaifeng, Kot Kan, the Commissioner and all the others had left,
there were only two eunuchs standing outside Hanyuan Hall.
So I grabbed the opportunity to sneak into Guangxu's bedroom.
Consort Zhen... You're taking me to heaven?
I'm so useless. I failed to protect you. I just want to be with you in heaven.
I couldn't believe Guangxu still missed Consort Zhen so much before he died.
To make his death more dignified, I decided to put him in his bed. Then I left
Guangxu was dead. I thought my mission was accomplished.
But then something else happened.
Cixi ordered To Chung to investigate Guangxu's cause of death.
Apparently To Chung thinks Guangxu didn't die from his illness.
Guangxu's sudden death
is a great opportunity for us to start a revolution.
But Zaifeng and Yuan Shikai are in control of substantial military power.
If they join hands, it will be a great obstacle to our cause.
So we should put the blame on Zaifeng and Yuan Shikai and make them the suspects?
They're both high-ranking and powerful. They can easily prove their innocence.
Let's make use of Guangxu's death to drive a wedge between them.
If they don't like each other, they won't work together.
This will remove a huge obstacle to our revolution.
So you have to do this yourself.
Me?
Last time you defied my order and saved To Chung.
I haven't punished you yet.
This time you must exhaust all means to alienate Zaifeng and Yuan Shikai.
There's no room for failure. Do you understand?
OK.
So you investigated the case with me on the pretext of offering me protection.
Then you planted the evidence
to stir trouble between Prince Chun and Yuan Shikai.
You've been using me all along.
You can't say I just used you.
At least I helped you find out the illegal things they've done.
You abused my trust in you. You're still bringing that up?
Actually, you've never trusted me.
So how can you say I abused your trust?
At this very moment, you still suspect that I killed Guangxu.
My mission is already accomplished. I don't need to lie anymore.
Believe it or not, I didn't kill Guangxu.