A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES
ADAPTED FROM TIANXIA GUIYUAN'S NOVEL HUANG QUAN
EPISODE 33
ONE
Nice!
ONE TO ONE
-We scored! -Yes!
TWO
Great!
Ning Sheng plays like when Lord of Minhai was young.
Good game.
You played well.
I am impressed.
FENGYUN PALACE
Posthumous names are used to commemorate
a person's accomplishments.
I'm here today
to ask for a posthumous name for Investigatory Officer, Lin Renqi.
Please take Officer Lin's loyalty and performance into consideration.
He should be given a posthumous name
for his good deeds.
-Grand Secretary Yao, you may rise. -Thank you, Your Majesty.
Did the Ministry of Rites refuse to do so?
Vice Minister Xu and some other officials
are afraid of Lord of Minhai.
They refuse to give Officer Lin a posthumous name.
I had no choice but to tell Your Majesty.
Your Majesty, if you do not agree,
loyal officials will feel unappreciated.
That's exactly what Lord of Minhai wants.
Your Majesty.
I don't know if I should mention this.
Tell me.
Your Majesty.
There are three kinds of posthumous names.
There are 131 praises
for those who are close to the emperor and those who are respected.
There are 14 sympathetic names
for those who are ordinary
or do not have offspring.
There are 65 deprecations for those who are killed
and those who are useless.
Lin Renqi was a good consultant.
He worked very hard
and never slacked off.
Even though he is controversial now,
I still...
I still lament his death.
Your kindness is our blessing, Your Majesty.
We are sorry for your loss.
-About the posthumous name-- -Your Majesty.
Your Majesty,
Lord of Minhai's carriage has arrived at the palace.
Grand Secretary Yao, tell the Ministry of Rites
to give Lin Renqi the posthumous name of Min
to express my condolences.
I thank Your Majesty on behalf of Officer Lin.
I will leave now.
Zhao Yuan.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Have my imperial carriage
escort Lord of Minhai.
Your Majesty...
I need his help now.
I need to show sincerity.
I understand.
I'll do that right now.
Is Ning Yi here?
We announced it in the afternoon.
This time, Lord of Minhai
probably came with malicious intent.
Your Majesty, would you like me
to be the bad guy or the good guy?
Your Highness,
Lord of Minhai is very arrogant.
His Majesty sent his imperial carriage,
and he actually got into it.
He's Lord of Minhai indeed.
The true ruler of Minhai.
What doesn't he dare do?
If he gets a taste of Fengyun Palace,
he'll probably ask for more power.
I don't understand.
His Majesty is usually very strict about things.
Why is he tolerating him?
Wait and see.
Wu Ying,
maybe you should find time to visit Official Zhao.
Yes, Your Highness.
I'm slow-witted.
Only Official Zhao can teach me what I need to learn.
-Go now. -Yes, Your Highness.
I'm getting old now.
Yet Your Majesty is still in good health.
This is a blessing to the people.
-Give him a seat. -No, Your Majesty.
I wouldn't dare sit.
I don't have the nerve to sit.
What do you mean?
I've followed my fate
and gone into battles with Your Majesty.
I was also fortunate enough to have two sisters
give birth to princes for Your Majesty.
It's the honor of a lifetime. Nothing can top that.
Yet,
there's a terrible person in the Chang family, Chang Hai.
He was loyal to the former Crown Prince.
I'm very embarrassed.
I'm ashamed of myself.
You lost a brother, I lost a son.
That was all because we were unable to teach them well.
Zhao Yuan.
Hurry and help Chang Yuan up.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Wait.
Official Zhao is a dear servant of Your Majesty.
How would I dare accept his help?
You are right, Your Majesty.
As the head of the Chang family,
I should have taught my family members and children
to be loyal to Your Majesty and this empire.
Only by doing so will I be worthy
of the kindness Your Majesty has shown me.
Therefore, I came to the capital this time
to ask Your Majesty for a favor.
Tell me what it is.
I hope that you can send Prince of Yan to the Imperial Camp.
I am willing to teach him martial arts myself.
That way, he can help you rule this empire.
Chang Yuan, you are truly family to me.
Your Majesty, would you like me
to be the bad guy or the good guy?
The bad guy.
Your Majesty, I have a small physique.
-Can I really be-- -Don't worry.
I won't let you get hurt.
Your Majesty.
I believe what Lord of Minhai just said is very unfair.
Wei Zhi, where are your manners?
Father is right.
You're just a scholar.
How dare you insult Lord of Minhai? We must punish him.
Wait, Prince of Yan.
Please wait.
I want to hear his explanation.
Scholar Wei,
may I ask you
why it is unfair?
Lord of Minhai,
Prince of Yan is His Majesty's own flesh and blood.
His Majesty has rich military expertise.
He is good at everything.
Yet, you blatantly tell His Majesty
that you're going to teach Prince of Yan for him.
Could it be
that you think you're better than His Majesty?
Your Majesty.
Of course, that's not what I think.
Father,
Wei Zhi's criticism
aims at destroying the relationship between you and Uncle.
He must have an ulterior motive.
Father, you should punish him.
Your Majesty,
Prince of Chu and the seventh prince, Ning Qi, are here.
You may rise.
-Your Majesty. -Your Majesty.
You may rise.
Thank you, Father.
-Uncle. -Father.
Ning Sheng and Wei Zhi look furious right now.
Were they just arguing?
They're just giving their opinions on who should teach Prince of Yan.
Wei Zhi!
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
How dare you tell Father
that you wish to teach the Princes?
Father,
am I right?
Uncle,
am I right?
Prince of Chu, what you said is correct.
Yet,
His Majesty has many sons who are all different.
Your Highness, I would advise you
to listen to your father's words.
To prevent a joke
like Chen Shao from happening again.
Uncle.
Why can't you just let it go?
You are very brave, Uncle.
The whole Tiansheng Court
knows how brave you are.
Yet, you've been bothered by those pirates
all this time, haven't you?
Let me give you some advice.
Get rid of those pirates.
Otherwise, you won't last long.
I also believe
that since Prince of Chu became the Head of the Censorate,
he has corrected the actions of many officials in this empire.
They're now more cautious because of him.
Your Majesty has taught him well.
As for the Chen Shao incident,
it's just a small stain on a perfect piece of jade.
Just a small stain.
That's enough.
I will think about what Chang Yuan just mentioned.
I am the reason Ning Chuan was not a good son.
Therefore,
I have three announcements to make.
First,
I will compile a self-review.
In the future, let us work together
toward the same goal of making Tiansheng stronger.
Your Majesty's determination is very impressive.
Second,
to prevent people from saying I'm unfair,
from now on,
Ning Qi will receive
the title of Prince of Wei.
Thank you, Father.
Third,
I will not be choosing a new crown prince.
The papers for passing on the throne will be kept in this box.
It will only be opened when I turn 100 years old
to determine the new emperor.
I hope that peace will be restored and the turmoil will end.
Very wise, Your Majesty.
This will prevent the officials from getting distracted
and the Princes from being disloyal.
It will also help you stay focused.
All you need to do is get rid of the pirates.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Don't worry, Your Highness.
I believe that the name in the box must be yours.
Ning Ji is still young, he doesn't know anything.
Prince of Wei's mother is not even a consort.
He grew up at the border.
He is ignorant and has no manners.
As for Prince of Chu,
he has always been impudent to His Majesty.
His mother was also convicted of treason.
After thinking about it,
I have no doubt that it must be your name in the box.
You're the son of the Noble Consort.
-Lord of Minhai-- -Minister Peng.
Do you know who's playing with fire?
Father is.
Don't you understand?
Father wants to revoke Lord of Minhai's title.
Wei Zhi and Prince of Chu
are just Father's pawns.
If it weren't for Father's support and orders,
how would they have dared to be so rude to Lord of Minhai?
You're Lord of Minhai!
You're so thick-skinned.
You dare give such a reason.
He's claiming it was lost
and is turning his grave crime of killing a government official
into a misdemeanor for negligence.
Ning Sheng plays like when Lord of Minhai was young.
Good game.
Too much power causes suspicion.
Who knew that the Chang family
would be your biggest obstacle to the throne?
The most important thing right now
is to find out whose name is in the golden box.
If it's my name,
the next emperor will still have the surname of Ning.
Those with too much power
shall be killed.
But what if it's not your name?
Whoever play with the fire
will burn themselves.
Father must have a secret plan.
He's probably trying to harm someone.
No matter who it is, it is a good opportunity for us.
We should take advantage of it.
I see that you already have a plan.
Of course. Not just one plan.
First, fake it until you make it.
-Second, let things play out naturally. -Let me guess.
Let's see if our minds are alike.
Sure.
Are you ready?
-Together. -Fine.
FAKE
NATURAL
I guess they're not alike.
At least Dahua and I are connected spiritually.
It's easy for you to find someone.
Just marry someone.
Poor me.
Father is playing tricks on me.
Now, you are too.
How can you say that?
Bedroom fun,
marriage, and having children are the best things in life.
It's for your own good.
-You-- -Do you dare say
you want me to get married
just for your plan of "fake it until you make it"?
It's kind of related, but not really.
How is it related?
In what way is it related?
Listen to me.
Hu Shengshan's granddaughter,
Yao Ying's daughter, and Chunyu Hong's niece,
are all excellent girls with good backgrounds.
If you marry one of those girls,
you'll be related to favored officials.
They'll treat you like family.
Like family?
They can help me turn the name in the golden box into Ning Yi.
That's what you mean.
I like how clever you are.
Yes.
Then, if I marry all three of them,
won't I be invincible in the palace?
All three of them?
Marrying all three?
That's a great idea.
Three wives.
I'm just worried that your tiny body
-won't be able to-- -You have a great body.
You have five wives.
Let's talk about this later.
-Change the topic. -Another topic?
Your Highness, listen to me.
You're 27 years old now, right?
You've been alone for so long. You must be lonely.
I just want Your Highness
to be able to enjoy one of the best things in this world.
It truly is one of the best things.
-Look at Dahua and me-- -That's enough.
I told you,
we'll talk about this later.
You always say that.
It's an important issue. Let's talk about it.
Do you have someone you like?
You promised, no secrets.
Tell me. Who is it?
Ziyan, let me tell you.
Tell me. Who is it?
If Yao Ying's daughter and Hu Shengshan's granddaughter
become tools to fulfill my goals,
isn't it unfortunate for them?
Not at all.
It's not bad.
If they could marry...
You regret it, don't you?
What do you mean?
What do I mean?
How could you not know what I mean?
When you had just left Zongzheng Temple,
His Majesty arranged for you to marry Qiu Yuluo.
We worked very hard to make him take that back.
Now,
you regret that decision.
You and I are destined for marriage.
Unfortunately, that fate is fake.
You came to find me
because you want to call off this marriage.
From now on, let's not run into each other.
Mr. Tailor.
My name is Feng Zhiwei.
Too bad at that time,
Yuluo wasn't really Yuluo,
and I wasn't myself either.
If everything was fake,
why would I regret it?
Your Highness,
you always call me your brother.
If you really think of me as your brother, listen to me.
The fake Yuluo is no better than the real one.
She's not a good match for you.
What if I don't see you as a brother?
You don't?
You...
How dare you?
-I don't dare. -Ning Qiao had me--
I don't dare.
Then listen to me.
We really aren't in sync.
This love that has just budded
is destined to be doomed.
-Why did he come save me? -Because...
Your Highness, you are her sworn enemy who killed her father.
We can't be certain that she is the child
-of Gu Heng. -No.
I am the only one who can protect her.
She did something for Ning Yan, so he will get rid of her later.
She should find a shelter and hide for a while.
Is she...
Is she really gone?
Are you our enemy or our friend?
Neither your enemy nor your friend.
That Feng Zhiwei is just a pawn.
Are you going to let one stone destroy your entire Go board?
Or...
This...
is the Tiansheng I've dreamed of.
If I need to sacrifice the lives
of those I care about to fulfill my goal,
should I still do it?
Your Majesty,
Headmaster Xin wishes to see you.
Didn't he just come a few days ago?
Yes, Your Majesty.
Headmaster Xin has been looking very depressed lately.
It must be something important.
It's just an academy.
How important can it be?
-Announce his arrival. -Yes, Your Majesty.
Headmaster Xin is here.
What would you like to discuss today, Headmaster Xin?
Your Majesty, I came to apologize.
That's unusual.
What are you apologizing for?
I'd like to hear about it.
Your Majesty was kind enough
to grant me the title of Headmaster of Qingming Academy.
Yet, the former Crown Prince caused much trouble.
Even though he is gone now,
I'm still worried every day.
Now,
Qingming Academy students won't listen to me anymore.
I've let you down.
That's why I'm apologizing.
I can't tell
if you're apologizing sincerely or not.
Xin Ziyan,
what do you really want?
Just tell me. I'm tired.
With my limited power,
I would like to continue to serve Your Majesty.
I will do anything,
even sacrifice my life.
Now I understand.
You're here today to ask for a title.
Fine.
You are now the Counselor of the Palace.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
You may leave.
Your Majesty.
I almost forgot something important.
I came across some problems while compiling Tiansheng Chronicles.
I hope Your Majesty will help give me some answers.
Even Headmaster Xin gets stumped.
I'm sure Your Majesty knows
that Tiansheng Chronicles
includes the classics, history, philosophy, literature,
astronomy, geography, artifacts, culture, and local traditions.
I've gathered all the talents
in Qingming Academy and Hanlin Academy.
All these excellent scholars have come together
for the sole reason of making these chronicles
better than all the previous
-and future ones. -That's enough.
Tell me. What do you want today?
Your Majesty.
Tiansheng is a huge empire.
I've been putting in much effort
in compiling the chronicles,
but I don't have enough time.
I've been neglecting Qingming Academy.
If I focus on Qingming Academy, I neglect the chronicles.
If I focus on the chronicles, I neglect Qingming Academy.
I can't find a balance.
I've been worrying about this terribly.
That's why I am here to ask Your Majesty
if you can find a talented scholar
to help me manage Qingming Academy.
Headmaster Xin,
you have a candidate in mind, don't you?
Who is it?
The Ultimate Scholar, Wei Zhi.
So it is Wei Zhi you want.
That took me a long time to guess.
What are you planning?
Your Majesty, I am not planning anything.
I'm just worried about my students.
This isn't for my own interest.
Ever since Scholar Wei showed his talent and became the Ultimate Scholar,
the students started to admire him greatly.
They aren't willing to listen to me anymore.
I need Scholar Wei
to help me tame those unruly students.
I don't believe you.
It can't be that simple.
I'll let you have him
because I want to see what you're up to
and also because
I want to see how talented this Ultimate Scholar is.
I hope that Wei Zhi can help you wholeheartedly.
This way, Qingming Academy can nurture more talent to enter the Court.
Your Majesty...
I'll allow it.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
FENGYUN PALACE
Wei Zhi pays respect to Your Majesty.
You may rise.
You may rise now.
You've been in the palace for a while now.
You're young, but calm.
You're just as good as those officials
who have been in the palace for decades.
I'm very glad.
Today, I have an important task for you.
I hope you will accept it.
What is it, Your Majesty?
Xin Ziyan
has been compiling Tiansheng Chronicles.
He is very busy.
So I want you to go to Qingming Academy and help Xin Ziyan manage the academy.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Tomorrow, you will go to Qingming Academy.
Your Majesty,
after thinking about it, I think it's a bad idea.
Please take back your order, Your Majesty.
Why is that?
It's not that I'm not dedicated enough.
I just think that Qingming students all come from prestigious backgrounds.
They're either rich or influential.
I'm just a humble peasant.
They won't listen to me.
You are the Ultimate Scholar I chose myself.
Who wouldn't listen to you?
Your Majesty,
I haven't been in the palace for long.
Now I'm being sent back to Qingming Academy.
Those who don't know about this
would think that I'm being punished for something
and got kicked out of the palace.
If that happens,
there will be rumors about me.
How will I have the credibility to teach the students?
Please consider that, Your Majesty.
That does make a lot of sense.
That's no problem. Don't worry.
I'll make you Director of Studies. Your rank will go up two levels.
This...
I'll also grant you
the Royal Token.
How about that?
Thank you, Your Majesty.
Come here.
Wait.
Help me up now.
Huaishi.
I think what happened today was very weird.
I asked His Majesty for titles and tokens,
and he agreed right away.
That means he really wants me to go to Qingming Academy.
Do you think
there's something going on?
Didn't His Majesty want you to learn from Grand Secretary Yao?
Maybe you could ask him.
No.
Qingming Academy has always been Headmaster Xin's territory.
Apart from His Majesty, no one dares meddle with its matters.
If His Majesty and Headmaster Xin have different opinions,
that would cause Grand Secretary Yao trouble.
Why don't you just ask Headmaster Xin?
Are you afraid of him?
He's my teacher.
I always feel like he's watching me.
Just be polite and everything will be fine.
If he's your teacher, he'll be glad to answer your question.
"Culture of Dacheng and Minhai."
Give it to the Headmaster.
I know
that you've been working on Tiansheng Chronicles.
I thought this would be helpful, so I brought it to you.
How thoughtful.
This is wonderful.
I'll accept it.
-Anything else? -No.
I just came to give this to you.
I'm very busy lately. I have lots of things to do.
You know it's hard work to write a book.
If there's nothing else, I'll...
Headmaster Xin.
What is it?
I haven't been here in a while
since I left Qingming Academy,
Are you not going to have tea with me?
So you know you haven't been here in a while.
Do you still remember Qingming Academy?
Do you still have me in your heart?
I thought that you would look down on me
because you're the scholar His Majesty adores right now.
That's not true.
His Majesty kicked me out of the palace and sent me back to Qingming Academy.
Back to Qingming Academy?
Is that what you think of Qingming Academy?
Not everyone can come to manage Qingming Academy.
I suppose you don't really want to come back.
Is that right?
That's not true.
I'm just worried.
Worried?
Even you worry about things.
What are you worried about?
I'm not talented enough.
What if I ruin Qingming Academy's reputation?
I hope you will share with me wisdom
on how to manage the students
and this huge academy.
All right.
Sometimes, it's a bad thing
to be too smart.
Those who are smart think too much.
Thinking too much complicates things.
Complicated things can lead us astray.
Straying from paths
often brings disaster and bad luck upon yourself.
Do you understand?
What do you want me to do?
Just cut to the chase.
I'm just a lowly scholar.
I may not understand your words.
I'm just a pawn.
It doesn't matter where I am put.
I just hope I don't get in your way
and become an obstacle to you.
That would be terrible, wouldn't it?
That's right.
Never get in the way of Headmaster Xin.
I appear to be kind, but I'm indifferent inside.
Whether you become an obstacle in my path
or a stepping stone to me,
I don't need to worry about you. I'll just kick you away.
But some people aren't like that.
Some people get attached to the stone.
That puts me in a dilemma whether to kick the stone away or not.
His Highness and this stone met at House of Lanxiang.
They seemed like a good match.
But the opportunity has passed.
The stone
didn't want to get married
or have a family.
Do you understand?
Headmaster, you are very wise.
You know this very well.
How could a stone
have a heart?
Good.
I'll leave now.
I won't send you off.
-Where's my tea? -Next time.
Subtitle translation by Sophie Chang