Recently,
I sometimes thought of the days
when Zhao Jia and I were hostages in Qin as kids.
I had just taken the throne at that time.
We were indeed very young.
Something has been impressive to me.
I wonder if you remember it.
What is it?
It was extremely cold that winter in Xianyang.
Though I grew up in Yan in the North,
I still found it a bit unbearable.
Zhao Jia and I wrapped ourselves in fox-fur robes,
wore fur hats, and kept warm
at the fire every day.
But you read wearing a thin cotton-padded coat
without feeling cold.
I remember
this matter.
You said
if you couldn't understand the suffering of ordinary people,
you wouldn't know how to rule the world.
Young and arrogant,
I thought you were a fool at that time,
as you didn't wear fox-fur robe to keep warm.
After grown up, I realized that
Zhao Jia and I were fools.
Yan Dan,
I'm not as holy as you said.
I just took the throne at that time.
But Lü Buwei was in power
and my mother was controlled by him.
I felt bitter but I couldn't give vent to it,
so I did that to distract me from the pain.
Though you did that as you were irritated by Marquis Wenxin,
it seems it has paid off.
Qin has become a great state
with you as the king.
After returning to his state, Zhao Jia was deposed,
facing an uncertain future.
And I am
still a hostage now.
Yan Dan,
did you let me win on purpose today?
I know
you are good at chess.
I didn't let you win on purpose.
It's because your skill has improved.
In this case,
it's boring to play chess with you.
Commander is here!
Your Majesty,
Mr. Yao Jia has made contributions as an envoy.
He will come back to Qin these days and report to you in person.
Good.
It seems Yao will succeed in breaking the alliance.
Congratulations to Your Majesty.
Han Shen,
do you know how to play chess?
A little bit.
Play chess with me.
Since Your Majesty has company,
I am leaving.
Li Zhong.
I'm here.
You escort the crown prince out of the palace.
Got it.
No need.
I'll walk around the palace.
When I'm going back to my mansion,
you may dispatch someone to go with me.
Okay.
Come.
Play chess with me.
Crown Prince.
Concubine Li.
Why didn't you
bring your attendants today?
I played chess with His Majesty.
He thought I was boring,
so I came out to take a walk.
His Majesty is playing chess with Han Shen.
With my senior.
Are you presenting the bamboo book to His Majesty?
It's "A Debate on Military Affairs" by Xun Qing.
I mentioned it to His Majesty before.
He asked me to bring it to him.
What does it talk about?
Can you tell me a bit about it?
It appears to talk about the art of war,
but in fact, it's about how to rule a state.
Han Shen,
I lose.
Your Majesty, please forgive me for being rash.
When others play chess with me,
they lose to me on purpose
as they're afraid of offending me.
It's really boring.
Today, I finally lost.
You don't need to feel sorry.
I will not condemn you.
Han Shen,
play chess with me
when you have time in the future.
Thank you for your grace.
Playing chess
tests one's wisdom.
If I didn't play chess with you,
a rival with equal strength,
I wouldn't have the joy for playing chess.
In fact,
life is like playing chess.
If you're alone,
you will feel lonely and bored.
Han Shen,
you've been in Qin for years alone.
Do you ever plan to marry and have children?
Why do you ask this question?
Well,
I just think
you've protected Concubine Li for so many years,
and it must have delayed your marriage.
An ordinary warrior
at your age
must have met his beloved
and had children,
living a free and easy life. Right?
Your Majesty,
I've never wanted to marry,
let alone having children.
I like
to be single.
I really don't want to be a drag on any girl.
Li,
didn't you say
you would bring "A Debate on Military Affairs" to me?
I met Crown Prince Dan of Yan on the way,
and he borrowed it.
Yan Dan?
Yes.
He is very interested in it,
so I really didn't want to refuse him.
He said he would give it to you
after he finishes reading it.
How could you borrow the book to him?
Am I so unimportant in your heart?
I don't think so.
Are you so eager to read it?
Yes.
I need to read it now.
Why are you angry again?
Fine.
If you want to read it now,
I will take it back for you.
Where are you going?
Don't you want to read the book now?
Let go.
I don't allow you to meet Yan Dan.
If he dares to talk to you again,
I will cut out his tongue.
How could he talk to you and even borrow a book from you?
Did he get my approval?
When we shot arrows in the palace last time,
what did you talk about?
I want you to tell me in detail.
Why do I need to tell you?
What did you talk about?
I want to know.
If you are so interested in our conversation,
why don't you ask Crown Prince Dan of Yan?
Alright.
My good lady.
Do you know?
I played chess with your senior today.
I know.
Crown Prince Dan of Yan told me that.
How was it?
Did you win?
I lost.
Your Majesty, don't be upset.
When my senior played chess
with my grandpa,
they were equally matched.
My grandpa often lost to him.
As long as you're willing to
exchange skills with my senior,
you will make improvement in the future.
Chess is just a small joy.
I want to exchange skills
with you on the bed more.
Tell me
your story in Puyang.
I like to hear it.
It's all old story in my childhood.
It's nothing interesting.
I just want to know
what happened to you,
and what you liked before you entered the palace.
I want to know everything
about you.
Can you tell me?
What do you want?
Nothing.
You stood in my way last time.
So I stand in your way today.
I have something to do.
Please make way.
You asked me to make way?
How dare you!
How about this?
Concubine Chu,
I have a presumptuous request.
If it is convenient for you,
please
stay away from Concubine Li and me,
the farther, the better.
How is it?
Am I respectful enough?
Did I offend you?
You are too bold!
How dare you offend me like that me again and again?
I dare not.
Hadn't you offended me,
I don't have time to talk to you.
A piece of advice for you.
If you want me to show respect to you,
you have to be respectful.
Sorry.
I don't want to waste time for you.
I'm leaving.
Stop!
Remember what you said today.
I will make you regret it.
I heard from the maids that
His Majesty wants to make Han Shen and Qing a match,
so he made the two people go to the wing room in Yanming Palace.
As they stay alone,
surely something will happen.
Your Highness, is this a good idea?
Han Shen and Qing?
Yes.
Good.
That's great.
I can make use of this chance.
I don't follow, Your Highness.
Think about it.
His Majesty loves Lady Li.
Lady Li loves Han Shen.
And Han Shen
has been in deep love with Lady Li.
It is His Majesty's order
to make Han Shen and Qing a match.
If we catch them in bed,
and tell this matter to Lady Li,
she will hate His Majesty
as well as Han Shen
after she knows that.
And she will drive Qing away.
This is killing three birds with one stone.
Why did His Majesty order me to wait here?
Does anyone want to do anything bad to Li?
This palace has been abandoned for a long time.
There is no one else here.
Does His Majesty want to talk with me in detail
how to protect Li in the future?
Who is that?
Let me go. Let me go.
Qing?
Han Shen?
Why are you here?
His Majesty let me come here.
Did he let you come here too?
I...
His Majesty told me
a concubine is moving into Yanming Palace tomorrow,
and asked me to do the cleaning
and dispel bad luck today.
It's dark.
I thought you are a thief.
I see. It's His Majesty's arrangement.
Han Shen...
Can you let go of my hand now?
Sorry, Qing.
I didn't do it on purpose.
So,
Han Shen,
what should we do now?
It's late at night. What dirty thing
are you doing here alone?
Concubine Chu,
I came here to tell Qing
to take good care of Concubine Li,
my junior.
Wait.
Qing,
answer me.
Is what Han Shen said
all true?
Yes.
No.
Concubine Chu, it's His Majesty.
His Majesty brought us
in the same room.
I don't know what His Majesty means.
Because it's an imperial order, we dared not leave.
We would be beheaded if we went against the order.
Han Shen didn't do anything to you?
Yes. He didn't do anything to me.
Did you do anything to him?
I dare not. I dare not.
Listen carefully.
If you dare to lie to me,
you will end up no good.
I'll give you another chance.
Tell me the truth!
I never dare to
lie to you, Your Highness.
Everything I said is true.
Please spare my life.
Leave.
In your opinion,
did nothing happen between them?
In my opinion,
they seem to have done nothing.
Why didn't they do anything?
Your Majesty, Your Highness.
The breakfast is ready.
Qing,
did you have a good time last night?
Your Majesty, I...
Qing,
what's wrong?
I am leaving.
It seems she didn't have a good time last night.
What's wrong with Qing?
I made an order last night,
letting Han Shen
and Qing stay in the same room.
It seems Han Shen is really self-disciplined,
and he didn't do anything to Qing.
Otherwise, she won't be so shy.
How could you make such an order?
Is that a wrong order?
Han Shen
is so lonely and poor.
I just want to make them a match.
Is that wrong?
Of course it's wrong.
They are both my close attendants.
No matter what you want to do to them,
you should talk about it with me.
If I talked about it with you,
would you agree?
I wouldn't, of course.
Though Han Shen is good terms with
Qing,
they are not in a relationship.
And they never want to start a relationship.
They don't like each other.
How could you make them a match?
Though they are not in a relationship,
they are both single.
I just want to make them a match.
Can't I do that?
If they feel embarrassed when they meet in the future,
how can I mediate between them?
Don't worry.
If they really feel embarrassed,
it shows that they have feelings for each other.
If they don't have any feeling for each other,
they won't be embarrassed.
They don't have any feeling for each other.
My senior is not that kind of person.
What kind of person is he?
He will not fall in love with someone easily.
Do you want to say that
Han Shen is into you,
so he won't fall in love with Qing?
What are you saying?
Do you really enjoy
the feeling that Han Shen likes you?
So you don't want him to like Qing.
No, I don't think so.
What are you thinking?
Anyway, this is what I really care.
Can you not find faults with me?
I did all this for his good.
I don't want him to continue the unrequited love without result.
I even wanted to give him an official position,
so that he could live a free and easy life outside the palace. Am I wrong?
Forget it.
I shouldn't have a hand in this matter.
Qing,
you wait for me aside.
I'll have a few words with Han Shen.
Got it.
Senior.
Junior.
I know
what happened last night.
It does not matter to me.
But it may be harmful to Qing.
She is an innocent girl.
I'm afraid it'll cause a bad impact on her future life.
In fact, I've been thinking about one thing these years.
Maybe I am too selfish.
I shouldn't have let you stay in the palace.
You didn't let me stay.
I want to stay in the palace.
But,
I didn't fully consider
your mood.
I've regarded you
as my most important family.
Family affection can never be replaced
or abandoned.
Weren't it for me,
you would probably have become
a carefree swordsman in the martial arts world.
You would meet a good girl,
get married and have children.
Li,
I just want to stay at your side,
and I have never regretted it.
But I feel guilty for you.
Maybe His Majesty's view
is correct,
but what he did is too extreme.
He just wants me to leave you.
I am a man.
I understand him.
Senior,
listen to me.
Leave Qin palace where you're apt to get into trouble
and get married with
a good girl to build your family.
Li,
don't try to persuade me.
I will not leave.
I know
I can't win your love.
But it doesn't matter.
I feel at ease
as long as I can see you and Tianming safe.
What a touching conversation!
It turns out that Han Shen is in deep love with Concubine Li.
I didn't hear anything.
Go on with your talk.
Go on.
Eat this
to replenish your strength.
Eat it.
When we arrive at Anyi
and settle down in Mr. Tian Guang's place a few days later,
I'll find a doctor
to prescribe you to heal your wound.
Is it sweet?
Very sweet.
Jing, you're so good to me.
Thank you.
Silly girl, don't say this.
You suffered and got injured
because of me these days.
I feel guilty for you.
So don't thank me.
You don't need to feel guilty for me.
I am willing to
die for you.
Don't say such stupid words.
I don't deserve
your sacrifice.
And,
if anything bad happens to you,
I don't have the face to see Swordsman Ge again.
Well.
The most important thing is to heal your wound now.
Have a rest.
I'm going to fetch some water nearby.
It's cold at night.
Have a bowl of soup to keep warm.
Thank you.
It is already late at night. Aren't you going to bed?
His... His Majesty
treats me so well.
I have to write a better strategy to enrich the country and increase the military force
to repay his grace.
You have concentrated on the ruling strategy for years,
but you have any vanity
of the officialdom.
And you are still sincere.
I
really admire you.
I am
not an official.
I'm just an ordinary person from another state serving Qin.
I admire King of Qin and want to repay his help and encouragement.
You're being modest.
You are gentle and graceful and treat me so well.
In... in the future, I will request His Majesty
to allow you to go back to Han with me. What do you think?
Do you still want to go back to Han?
Don't... don't you want to go back?
Don't you miss your family and friends in the hometown?
King of Han is fatuous and self-indulgent.
The people are destitute.
Some people are even sold as slaves.
I was forced to leave Han because of this.
My family has broken up.
So I won't miss
such a home state.
You are right.
It is because I was not
valued by King of Han,
I had the chance to come to Qin.
I am thoughtless.
My greetings to Your Highness.
Stand up.
I know you are busy with government affairs.
Sorry to let you come in person today.
It is my pleasure to be summoned by you.
We already met
before Queen Huayang.
Please just tell me
what you want me to do.
Good.
You're straightforward.
So I will get straight to the point.
After Han Fei came to Qin,
he has gained favor and trust of His Majesty.
It seems you
have more and more enemies.
Since Marquis Wenxin lost power and Lord Changping came to power,
Queen Huayang has wanted to find someone
who can consolidate the forces of Jingchu.
However, Lord Changping has long lost his love for his home state
as he has come to Qin for years.
I am thinking who will be
the Prime Minister of the Left.
Your Highness,
what are you suggesting?
There are only several positions in the court.
If you want to seize the power and take the position,
you have to eliminate some opponents.
Han Fei has come to Qin for several months,
and he always wrote a letter to Han
to report his safety to his family.
I happen to know a teacher
who can imitate others' handwriting vividly.
Even the person imitated
can't tell whether it is authentic.
This...
This is my handwriting.
It's so vivid.
Yeah.
His Majesty
is prone to suspicion and is moody.
By then,
you can say something
at the court.
Han Fei has a clumsy tongue.
I don't think he can defend himself.
Your Highness,
what do you want me to do?
The Qin army was defeated
because we underestimated the strength of the Zhao army.
The Qin army advanced rashly,
so we failed to capture the land
and suffered a great loss of picked troops.
The Zhao army always has Qi as backup.
Now we were defeated by Zhao,
so we
are facing two enemies, Zhao and Qi, at the same time.
Han Fei,
this situation was caused by your advice of attacking Zhao.
What do you want to say about it?
His... His Majesty,
Zhao has won a new victory.
The worst thing is that Zhao agitates four-state alliance.
It will be unfavorable to Qin.
The key...
The key of the loss in this battle is Li Mu.
As long as we can eliminate Li Mu,
we will defeat Zhao in the near future.
I
have written a strategy. Please read it, Your Majesty.
Enough!
I don't want to talk about stratagems on paper!
Qin has been defeated in several battles,
but you still advised to attack Zhao.
What are you up to?
I... I just...
Just... just...
You just have an ulterior motive.
You want to protect Han.
You don't need to defend yourself anymore.
Your Majesty,
it is not a lie that Han Fei colluded with King of Han.
I have verified it with human testimony
and material evidence.
What... what?
I... I didn't.
Hope Your Majesty allows me to summon the witness.
Summon.
Summon the witness to the court.
My greetings to Your Majesty.
As ordered by His Majesty,
I sent someone to keep an eye on Han Fei.
Someday, I saw Senior Palace Woman was in panic,
so I asked her.
It turned out that
when she was cleaning up Han Fei's desk,
she found a fish-shaped case.
It contains the letters from Han Fei to King of Han.
Your... Your Majesty,
I never want to collude with King of Han.
Bring it to me.
Han...
You... Why do you frame me up?
Your Majesty,
since Han Fei came to Qin,
he has always advised not to attack Han.
He has deceived us with sweet talk and hidden his teeth. He strongly recommended to attack Zhao,
so that the Qin army suffered a disastrous defeat.
His intention is to put Qin in chaos.
Your Majesty, hope you can punish him according to law.
If he continues to stay in the court,
there will be endless trouble, Your Majesty.
Your...
Your Majesty...
Don't bother to see me out.
Your Highness.
Your Highness.
Something big happened!
What happened, Qing?
Something big happened!
Take a breath first.
His Majesty...
His Majesty put Mr. Han Fei in jail.
What?
I heard that Senior Palace Woman Han said that
Mr. Han Fei colluded with King of Han,
intending to do something bad to Qin.
Lord Yao Jia and Commandant of Justice
have verified it.
How could this happen?
Senior Palace Woman Han works for Concubine Chu.
Why did Concubine Chu
do this to Han Fei?
You did a great job.
This is a small gift for you.
This is the finest nine-eye colored glass beads
from Chu.
Wearing these beads,
you can avoid and dispel evil spirits.
As you know, Chu people believe such things.
Only the royal family
can wear the nine-eye colored glass beads.
So,
you're my person in the future.
Thank you for the award.
I will try my best to serve Chu in the future.
As long as you listen to me,
I will treat you very well.
Got it.
Now Concubine Li
is anxious about Han Fei.
He went to meet His Majesty
and asked him to release Han Fei.
So she had a conflict with His Majesty.
Lady Li is really a busybody.
How could she intervene in
the court affair?
But it doesn't matter.
Soon,
she will unable even to protect herself.
Did Concubine Li
do anything wrong?
Why will she be unable even to protect herself?
Because she offended me.
Who is coming in?
This is Concubine Li.
She is here to see Han Fei.
Go in.
Please.
Han Fei, someone is visiting you.
Your Highness, please.
Thanks.
You... you...
You are Concubine Li.
Why do you come to visit me?
Because I believe
you are honest and frank,
and you will not engage in trickery.
You will not want to do harm to Qin
while helping Qin.
But you're from Han after all.
No one will believe that
you don't have the heart to protect Han.
But I still believe that
you advised His Majesty to attack Zhao
not because you wanted Qin to be defeated to reduce Qin's military forces.
Am I right?
Yes, you are completely right.
I really respect and admire His Majesty,
and I never want to do any harm to Qin.
I have never been valued by King of Han.
When I was in Han, he never put me in any important position.
They said I colluded with King of Han after coming to Qin,
and I even left the evidence.
I was wronged.
The letter written on the fabric was forged.
Please... Please save me!
Senior Palace Woman Han took out the letter written on the fabric?
Senior Palace Woman Han works for Concubine Chu.
And this matter was exposed by Commandant of Justice.
They are all from Chu indeed.
But this alone
can't prove
they have any reason
to frame you up.
Central Regular Attendant Zhao Gao is from Zhao.
As you advised to attack Zhao,
it's normal that he doesn't like you
and takes the side
of Commandant of Justice.
But don't worry.
I will not sit by and do nothing.
I will clear your name.
But during this period, you have to
stay in the prison.
Thank you. Thank you.
I am leaving.
Okay. Okay.
Li,
where are you?
Who ordered you to kidnap me?
Concubine Li,
who do you help?
Whose way are you standing in?
The answer is very simple.
Don't you know?
Li Si?
Anyway, someone wants you to
disappear from Qin palace forever.
Go.
Does King of Qin treat you well?
Senior,
have you accomplished Swan Falling Swordsmanship completely?
Lan stayed with me in Mount Song for half a month.
To take her out of the mountain,
I had to learn it.
So Lan has been with you.
Lan is a good girl.
She likes you very much.
It's good that
she is with you.
She is a good girl.
I will cherish her.