[REBIRTH]
[Episode 22]
Urgent dispatch!
Great victory at Longyin Pass!
Qiao won.
Qiao won!
Look!
This is the victory report!
Which one of you pushed for peace back then?
Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?
Was it you?
Your Majesty,
it wasn't me.
Qiao has achieved extraordinary merit.
I'll appoint her as the Left General of Cavalry!
Your Majesty,
that is my post.
Then, Right General of Cavalry!
That is General Li Qi's post.
Right, right.
I must think of an even grander title
for her.
-Your Highness. -Your Highness.
Please rise, both of you.
Chu Qiao has defeated Yan Xun
and will soon return to Tangjing.
We must act immediately.
Otherwise, once Li Ce consolidates his grip on the throne,
it will be hard for us to make a move.
Are your troops ready?
They will reach the outskirts of Tangjing tonight.
With a single order from you,
we will march straight
into the capital!
In recent days, we've been spreading word
of the Xuri Palace incident.
All of Tangjing is buzzing with rumor.
The truth behind Crown Prince Maocheng's death
has come to light,
and the whereabouts of his heir
have thrown the city into an uproar.
Your Highness,
it's time to reveal your true identity.
Your Highness,
I served Crown Prince Maocheng
and have been lying in wait until now.
For so many years, we've endured humiliation and hardship,
waiting for the right moment.
Now that moment has come.
We must strike immediately!
We must take advantage of the chaos
to reclaim what is rightfully yours, Your Highness.
[Tangjing]
Your Majesty is here again,
waiting for General Xiuli?
This is the highest spot
in Tangjing, where you can see all the way north.
If Qiao comes back,
I'll be
the first to spot her from here.
Come on.
Be careful!
Thank you.
Ever since General Xiuli came here,
Your Majesty has been fond of her.
Now that she's away on campaign,
Your Majesty worries about her every day.
If General Xiuli knew,
she would surely be moved by Your Majesty's devotion.
Her?
No way she would.
She only likes fighting and warfare.
And I don't want to
tie her down with my feelings.
But
when Qiao comes back,
I'll definitely give her
a grand title—
something even greater than Sun Di's and Li Qi's combined.
To thank her for
protecting the territory of Biantang for me.
Li Yan,
you read a lot.
Help me see
if the title I've come up with is any good.
Okay.
Why?
I never intended to kill you,
but we were destined to end up like this.
What a pity.
You will never get to see
your beloved General Chu return.
Qiao...
I can no longer
protect you...
Your Highness,
5,000 imperial guards from nine city gates
of Tangjing
have assembled at the North Gate.
A total of 200 gate sentries have been stationed
at all six gates on the east and west sides,
awaiting Your Highness's orders.
Additionally,
garrison troops from Lingnan and Lingdong
have been deployed 30 li outside Tangjing.
Should anything arise,
they can enter the capital immediately to protect you!
-Your subjects, -Your subjects,
-Xu Su, -Pei Jian,
respectfully welcome Your Majesty!
Long live Your Majesty!
We respectfully welcome Your Majesty!
Long live Your Majesty!
Qiao...
I can't wait for you anymore.
I'm way better
than that stone-faced Zhuge Yue.
♪ The dust in the world ♪ I'm handsome, suave, elegant, and graceful!
I can't spend my whole life playing the role of ♪ Is blown away easily by the wind ♪ a debauched wastrel, drowning in luxury and carnal indulgence. ♪ Who can stay calm ♪ I must first be able to protect myself
before I can protect the people I want to protect. ♪ And not be scared? ♪
♪ A slight ripple ♪ What does it really feel like
♪ Floating life hangs by a thread ♪ to truly love someone? To truly love someone
is to feel what they feel. ♪ The more pulled, the softer it gets ♪ You can sense his happiness,
♪ Who dares to say forever? ♪ so naturally, you can also feel the pain and struggle in his heart.
♪ Let it be ♪ You would find joy through him
and naturally feel pain through him as well.
I, by the mandate of Heaven,
reign over all under the sky!
With clear rewards and punishments,
I uphold the moral order of the realm.
Now,
it has been found that Li Lin, Minister of Revenue,
has embezzled the treasury and engaged in malpractice for selfish ends.
His crimes are beyond dispute, a flagrant violation of heavenly law.
By law, he is to be executed.
I hereby order the execution of his entire clan
as a warning to all!
It is noon.
Prepare for the execution!
Mother!
Execute!
Old man,
how long are you going to keep me here?
Not yet.
Wait another hour until your son comes back from the imperial court
and tell us how things stand outside.
Then I'll decide.
He's just a sixth-rank deputy commander.
Why did you let him go to the court?
Not anymore.
I had him resign on your behalf, citing illness,
and hand over your military tally
as a show of loyalty to Li Yan.
Li Yan has promoted him three ranks as a reward.
He is now a General.
You asked him to hand over my military command?
Who gives you the right to make decisions for me?
Sun Di!
You're my daughter's husband.
What you do affects not only yourself
but also the lives of
my daughter and my whole clan!
At a time like this,
never mind military command—
as long as we can keep our lives,
even if you have to play the fool,
you must keep playing along!
Li Yan is nothing but a treasonous rebel who usurped the throne!
I'll lead my troops
into the palace and kill him right now!
And then what?
The late emperor is dead.
Who will take the throne?
Who will take charge of the overall situation in Biantang?
Or do you...
want to become the next Li Yan?
Close the door
and add a few more locks.
No one is allowed in or out.
Let this fool cool his head.
The imperial edict of investiture has been issued.
You are now Empress.
Your Majesty,
why do you put yourself through this?
Ask them all to leave.
Your Majesty...
His Majesty has arrived!
Leave.
Chun'er,
what's wrong?
I've been on the throne for over a month.
Yet you still refuse to
wear the empress's robes.
And you've declined to accompany me
to every state banquet and ceremony.
What exactly are you unhappy about?
You're now the most honored woman in all the world.
All the pain you've endured before
is in the past.
What more do you want?
Or is it that...
I have not treated you well?
Li Yan.
Who exactly are you?
When I first met you,
you said you were just a scion of a noble family in Biantang.
But when I came to Tangjing with you,
I found out you were the Prince of Luo.
I believed you,
thinking you were marginalized outside the imperial court
and humiliated,
so I wanted to help you reclaim a little of
the dignity a royal descendant should have.
But then you transformed
into who you are now.
It's not that I refuse to be your empress.
I'm just bewildered—
who are you, really?
It feels as though I've never truly known you.
Will there come a day
when I stand atop the walls
of Tangjing in my empress's ceremonial robes,
only to die
in your arms the very next moment?
Zhao Chun'er,
you think you are the only one
who has suffered grievances and pain?
If you don't want to
wear the empress's attire,
I won't force you.
Biantang is in chaos right now.
Just stay in the palace and rest well.
[Ministry of War Office]
Why are you here?
How is General Xiuli?
My situation is a bit complicated right now.
Lord Sun.
You know
what this is, right?
Minister Xu!
Bad news!
Sun Di...
Sun Di has mobilized troops from the Southeastern Guard Camp,
50 li east of the city, into the palace!
He may be plotting rebellion!
Sun Di?
The military tally is in my hands.
How did he mobilize anyone?
Go assemble the imperial guards immediately.
I'll go to the palace to protect the Emperor myself.
Yes, sir!
Minister Xu!
The Ministry of War has just sent word
that someone broke into the office last night,
and the military tally of the Southeastern Guards is missing!
Come with me!
You told me once
that in this deep palace,
power and the throne
matter far more than blood ties.
At first, I didn't understand.
I even blamed you for not wanting to acknowledge me.
I'll take my leave.
But now I understand.
And I've done it—
even better than you, Mother.
And I understand it more deeply than you.
Mother,
if you were still alive
and could see who I am today,
you would probably be
proud of me.
I knew
Xu Su's men couldn't kill you.
I knew you would come back for me.
You knew I'd come to kill you
for Li Ce?
I knew.
But I'm not afraid.
Because this is my fate.
Li Ce was not your enemy.
Why couldn't you let him go?
From the very beginning,
it was always one or the other— Li Ce or me.
If I hadn't killed him,
one day he would've discovered my true identity
and moved to eliminate me all the same.
He wouldn't.
Move aside!
I need to enter the palace to see His Majesty!
Lord Xu,
I've received His Majesty's order to protect him.
No one is allowed to enter the palace.
Go back.
Sun Di,
you're no longer the Left General of Cavalry.
Your son resigned on your behalf two days ago,
and His Majesty approved it!
Otherwise, do you think you and your family
could still live peacefully in Biantang?
The military tally is here.
I'm acting on His Majesty's verbal decree.
There are rebels among the imperial guards in the capital.
I was ordered to mobilize troops from the Southeast Camp
into the capital to protect the Imperial City.
By His Majesty's order, none may enter without imperial authorization.
How dare you, Sun Di!
You broke into the Ministry of War Office
and stole the military tally of the Southeastern Guards!
This is a capital crime that warrants the execution of your entire clan!
Lord Xu, you must be talking nonsense.
His Majesty handed the military tally to me personally.
You must have forgotten.
All soldiers, listen to my command!
You're Biantang's soldiers!
I'm the Minister of War!
The criminal Sun Di has stolen the military tally
and committed treason!
Seize him immediately!
The military tally is here!
I am the General of Cavalry!
Who dares move?
Li Ce
was never worthy of this dragon robe from the day he was born!
General Chu,
this is a family matter between Li Ce and me.
You didn't have to get involved.
Li Ce helped you,
but he also did it to use you.
If you hadn't helped him,
he wouldn't have sat on that throne for even a single day.
If you hadn't saved him,
he might have been killed by my mother long ago.
Yes.
She was also his mother.
Come to think of it,
we were true brothers by blood.
Did you not help Li Ce
simply to rebuild your Xiuli Army?
You and Li Ce were allies, true enough,
but I can give you all of that too.
In the royal family,
even blood ties mean nothing—
let alone the meager friendship between you two.
How can
friendship be more reliable than interests?
What do you want?
General Xiuli?
Prince of Xiuli?
Or Queen Xiuli?
An assassin is in the palace!
Soldiers, heed my command—
enter the palace to protect His Majesty!
General Chu,
we can make a deal.
Li Yan,
Li Ce was not
a bargaining chip for power.
He was my friend.
The new Emperor Li Yan is dead.
There is no need to protect him.
Chu Qiao has assassinated the Emperor!
Her crime is unforgivable!
Kill Chu Qiao immediately!
Xu Su, guilty of treason and regicide,
has already been executed!
Soldiers, hear my command!
Seize all of his personal guards!
Imperial guards who acted unknowingly
under Xu Su's orders—
surrender,
and you will be pardoned!
♪ The dust in the world ♪
♪ Is blown away easily by the wind ♪ Qiao is the world-renowned General Chu. ♪ Who can stay calm ♪ "General Chu Meets the Crown Prince of Biantang By Chance— ♪ And not be scared? ♪ Fake Drama Turns Into Real Fate." ♪ A slight ripple ♪
♪ Floating life hangs by a thread ♪
♪ Who dares to say forever? ♪
♪ Let it be ♪
♪ Grudges and grace were never meant to be ♪ Qiao, I'm giving these 3,000 imperial guards to you. ♪ Why must you take and demand so much? ♪ They shall guard you just as they ♪ Go weaving ♪ protect me. ♪ Grand and glorious excuses ♪ Li Ce, I haven't fulfilled my promise to you yet.
♪ We once beheld ♪
♪ A mirage on earth ♪
♪ Beauty never ♪
♪ Lasts for long ♪ [Mihe Abode]
♪ No matter how a jade is carved ♪
♪ It's just a stone ♪
♪ It will eventually disappear ♪ Xing.
I want to avenge Li Ce.
I must kill the Prince of Luo!
Xing,
Li Yan is already dead.
You killed him with your own hands.
No!
Xing.
Everything is over now.
Li Ce has been avenged.
It's all in the past.
It's all over now?
You've done
everything you could.
And you did it well.
A weak ruler over a strong state
is an omen of instability for the nation!
General Xiuli, Chu Qiao, is hereby conferred
the title of Imperial Consort Xiuli!
I'll leave the 500 guards
Li Ce promised me to you.
Where have you gone now?
Miss!
I have a favor to ask of you.
No matter how the royal clan schemes
or how chaotic the world becomes,
nothing shall ever separate us again.
Don't come over.
Don't come over!