Sir, you can't leave.
I'm going to the government with you.
I want to see my husband.
Please listen to me.
What are you going to say?
Whatever you say,
I'm determined to go because they took my husband away.
Maybe he's back.
Open up the door.
Coming.
Greetings, Lord Liu.
Arise.
Thank you, Lord Liu.
We were sent by the Ministry of Personnel to deliver the sack.
As you instructed,
the sack was supposed to arrive at Wonder Tavern tonight and it has.
Open the sack.
Yes.
Sir, we got an official hat, an official robe,
and a belt of Grand Inspector.
Sorry, who are you?
He's Lord Liu Bowen, a great master of our country.
His Majesty appointed him as the Grand Inspector of Jiangnan.
Greetings, Lord Liu.
Arise, please.
Thank you, Lord Liu.
Come. Follow me to the government.
Yes.
Lord Liu,
if you're a friend of my son-in-law,
then he's...
Um,
you should stop forcing him to be your son-in-law.
You can't afford to irritate him. He's...
I tell you what, his position is higher than mine.
Huh?
I want my hubby.
Baby girl, stop crying.
We've made big trouble.
I don't care.
Here's the criminal.
Lord Feng,
The criminal's name is Hong... Hong...
Hong what?
He calls himself Sir Hong.
Ha? We've got a Sir in our county?
I'd like to see who he is. Bring him up.
Yes.
Get in.
Look at you, are you here to get married?
Ask him to kneel.
Hong guy, kneel!
A rude guy like him must kneel.
You hear that? Kneel and we'll start the trial.
I only kneel to God or my parents. I won't kneel before you.
Soldiers, beat him.
How dare you?
The voice sounds like the emperor's.
Why are you standing still?
H-H-He's a good martial guy.
Two aren't enough? What about four guys?
Tie him up and beat him!
Yes.
Kneel!
You must kneel.
Do I have to be hard on you?
I'm ordering you to kneel!
W-What did you say?
I order you to kneel.
Courtier Li, it's you.
Your Majesty.
I didn't know you were here.
Sorry, sorry.
I deserve to die. I deserve to die.
I'm here to get...
Get what?
Get... Get to see you.
Long live the emperor.
Stand down, minions.
Courtier Li.
Here I am.
You'd better hurry
to the beauty selection
and stay out of it.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty,
about the 1,200 new beauties.
I knew
you had something to say.
Just say it.
Your Majesty, the lengthy war has just ended. Ming has just been established.
Our people need rest and recuperation.
A normal marriage
is about the balance between Yin and Yang.
Arranged marriages, uh,
aren't something that you'd like.
I suggest you take time selecting more beauties.
So you're saying
the 1,200 new beauties...
Are exactly how many you need, Your Majesty.
Exactly how many you need.
I wasn't asking you. Shut up.
So I can't have
a single new beauty?
I wasn't suggesting that. I'm saying
1,200 is too many.
Well, reduce by half. 600, then.
Still too many.
You're bargaining with me.
Fine, reduce by half, again. 300.
Your Majesty, you can't reduce more. You can't.
Can't reduce more.
I obey.
Can't reduce more. 300 it is, then.
I thank you, Your Majesty.
Arise.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
Courtier Liu,
it looks like
the Grand Inspector of Jiangnan has started doing his job.
Your Majesty, I've sent out a letter,
ordering Zhao Lin, the Administrator of Suzhou, to rush to Kunshan
and aid me in the stolen official ingot case.
Feng Tang.
Here.
Relay the file of this case and assist
the Grand Inspector of Jiangnan in solving the case.
I obey.
Lord Liu, this is the file.
Stand aside.
Yes.
Lord Zhao.
Here comes the Administrator of Suzhou.
Lord Liu, sorry that I'm late.
No, no.
So you don't think I'm late?
You aren't. You come either sooner or later.
Lord Zhao, I'm already here ahead of you.
Put down the litter.
Here comes the emperor.
Why are you here?
I've told you to see to the beauty selection.
Even you present the trail, Your Majesty,
how can I, the prime minister of the country, not come?
Long live the emperor!
Arise, all of you.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
Servant,
get a chair for the Prime Minister.
No.
Courtier Li
and stand next to me.
Yes.
Let the trial begin.
Wei-wu.
1,600 taels of official silver ingots were
robbed a long time ago.
The case is full of mysteries and has met many obstacles.
The imperial palace was shocked by how lengthy the investigation has been.
I was appointed as the Grand Inspector of Jiangnan to solve the case.
Soldiers, bring Wang Lv to the court.
Wang Lv is called to the court.
Greetings, Your Majesty.
Arise.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
Greetings, Lord Liu.
Name?
My name is Wang Lv. W-A-N-G is how my surname is spelled.
L-V is how my first name is spelled.
Lv means shoe.
Let me ask you,
why did you sue Feng Tang in the Government of Suzhou?
My lord, Feng Tang bought
a painting from me with 50 taels of silver.
What painting?
The Picture of Cottage in Mount Fuchun.
A masterpiece. A masterpiece, indeed. I'm impressed.
I dare not to keep this invaluable painting to myself.
Are you saying...
Only you can have it, prime minister.
I found out that the ingot Feng Tang gave me
had the maker's name “You Shiyi” on it.
It was an official ingot that had got stolen.
You handed the ingot
to Lord Zhao in public?
Yes, in public.
How did Lord Zhao sentence Lord Feng?
Lord Zhao didn't sentence Lord Feng,
nor did he summon him to a trial.
Lord Zhao just kept the ingot, saying it's a piece of evidence
and the court was adjourned.
Let me ask you another question.
How did you become
a wanted suspect by Suzhou and Kunshan?
Uh, Lord Zhao and Lord Feng know better than I do.
I went back to scrutinize the name on the ingot.
It was You Shisan instead of You Shiyi.
I said “you're mistaken”.
He insisted that he didn't and that he'd keep on suing Lord Feng.
He spread the slanderous rumor against me.
I'm an official.
I'm clean.
That's why I convicted him of the crime of libel.
Lord Liu, after I got your letter,
I returned the ingot to Wang Lv.
Wang Lv, have you got the ingot with you?
Yes.
Present it to the court.
Let me see the ingot.
It is You Shisan.
Very precise, it is You Shisan.
Carry on.
Yes.
Lord Zhao,
why didn't you summon Feng Tang to the court?
Lord Feng is in Kunshan, I'm in Suzhou.
I wanted to summon Lord Feng
to Suzhou for the second trial the next day.
Yeah. When I got the summons,
I went to Suzhou the next day
and learned that Wang Lv had admitted his mistake.
It's a misunderstanding.
No misunderstanding at all.
I saw You Shiyi very clearly.
Soldiers,
summon You Shiyi to the court.
You Shiyi is summoned to the court.
Greetings, Your Majesty.
Arise.
Thank you, Your Majesty.
Greetings, Lord Liu.
Are you You Shiyi?
Yes, I am.
I came from Yingtian to Kunshan for this trial.
Take a look.
Did you make the silver ingot?
I did.
My lord, I did make
this silver ingot, but not quite.
What do you mean?
My lord,
I did make similar ingots.
But this one
has my brother's name, You Shisan, on it.
Answer me this,
how much do your ingots weigh?
50 taels.
Just 50 taels?
Just taels. No more, no less.
The Ministry of Revenue checks my ingot,
if one ingot was several grams short,
my head would be chopped off.
What about the 50-tael ingot that your brother makes?
The same. Must be precise.
When the Ministry of Revenue weighs the ingots,
they use very accurate scale.
Do you have a scale?
My lord,
the subpoena didn't say a scale was needed.
I got one.
Good.
Weigh the ingot on the spot.
Two grams short.
Two grams short? So what?
Yeah, it's acceptable.
No, two grams short is unacceptable.
If the Ministry of Revenue found out,
my brother's head would be chopped off.
Is something wrong with your scale?
The scale is OK.
This is an ingot that I got from the Ministry of Revenue,
before I left the capital city, which has your name on it.
A 50-tael silver ingot.
Weigh it.
To see if there's anything wrong with the ingot
or the scale?
OK.
You Shiyi, is it the ingot that I made.
This is the ingot that I made. 50 taels, very precise.
My brother is going to be decapitated.
I'm afraid it isn't your brother
but someone else is going to decapitated.
Zhao Lin, stand into the court.
Lord Liu,
why?
Remove his official robe and hat.
Lord Liu, this is a bit arbitrary of you.
Silence!
Quickly, remove your robe and hate.
Yes.
Zhao Lin, the criminal, kneel!
How come I am the criminal?
I order you to kneel, you kneel!
Answer me this,
after you got the ingot from Wang Lv,
what did you do?
I don't know. What did I do?
You added two lines to the character “yi”
so it became “san”. Be honest!
Everyone can take a look,
are the two lines added afterward?
It is “san”. I can tell.
Even the ingot-maker can't tell,
how can you be so sure?
So let's get to the bottom of this.
Wang Lv, get the carving knife here.
Let You Shiyi add two lines to another ingot
and change it to You Shisan.
My lord, it is done.
Now, weigh it.
Lord Liu, two grams short.
The two lines take two grams away.
Lord Liu, you're very smart.
My brother is safe.
Thank you, Lord Liu. Thank you, Your Majesty.
Zhao Lin, do you plead guilty?
No. Why?
Soldiers, punish him with 20 beatings.
Yes.
Get up.
Go.
Does he plead guilty?
Do you plead guilty?
Not guilty! Not guilty!
No? Keep beating him.
Calm down, Your Majesty, it's bad for your health.
Your health is very important, Your Majesty.
No, Your Majesty, it wasn't me.
Do you plead guilty or not?
Your Majesty, it wasn't me.
Not guilty? Beat him hard! Beat him to death!
His Majesty has ordered to beat him until he dies!
To death! Figuratively!
Such a scoundrel
is better off dead.
Lord Liu, he's dead.
Dead?
The imperial order told us to beat him until he dies.
So we hit him on the head, then he died.
Your Majesty, Zhao Lin was beaten to death.
Your Majesty,
sorry that I misinterpreted your order
but I was indignant.
Lord Liu, you, I and His Majesty
are all indignant at him.
Enough. He's dead, then he's dead.
He committed a capital crime.
But Your Majesty, he shouldn't be dead right now.
Now that he's dead, the lead ends here.
Huh? So it'll be a cold case since he's dead?
No.
But...
Look what you've done.
I didn't really want him dead.
You misinterpreted my order.
Your Majesty, I was a bit rash,
I did have slightly misinterpreted
your order.
Your misinterpretation has led to a completely different situation.
Your Majesty, it is what it is. I have a request.
Could you and the prime minister leave for now?
I need to go to another place to re-investigate the case.
Permitted. Courtier Liu,
you're in charge of the investigation.
Go. Don't make trouble here.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Feng Tang, kneel in the court.
Soldiers, remove his official robe and lock him up in his house.
I'm going to hold another trial in his house.
Yes.
Get up.
Go.
Lord Wang.
Here.
Please assist me.
Yes.
Drink.
We all know that you're aggrieved.
A good man like you
would never kill his wife.
Let's not talk about it.
Wine is the second wife of mine.
After the jug of wine is finished,
both of my wives are gone.
And my life is over, too.
Come on, let's play figure-guessing.
Who loses drinks.
It's on.
Two bros,
five honors,
six and six,
-Eight horses. -Seven horses.
You lose. Drink.
Come on.
Let's change the rule.
You get all the drinks.
OK.
Six and six,
seven lucks,
eight horses,
five honors.
Five honors.
Feng Tang,
you've committed a capital crime.
But I won't confiscate your possessions for now.
Be honest, where do you hide the ingots?
Lord Liu, I got nothing to confess.
The ingot I paid for the painting was made by You Shisan.
Zhao Lin is dead,
who else can prove my innocence?
Wang Lv,
you're now my son-in-law,
you can't frame me up.
Do you think the arranged marriage
can shut me up?
Silence.
Whatever have you done,
I still want Wang Lv.
Wang Lv? Wang Lv?
Wang Lv is now our enemy.
Open up, open up.
Open up the door, I'd like to see my husband.
Quit shouting. You can come out when you're wanted.
Stay in there and be good.
Damn.
It looks like you're unrepentant.
All right, fetch me a writing brush and ink.
Feng Tang, come here.
Come here.
Lord Liu, what are you doing?
Give me your hand. Palm up.
I
am going to writing the character of “silver” on your palm.
You get up and stand under the sun.
Follow me.
Feng Tang, kneel.
Show me your palm and raise your head.
Feng Tang, God is up there.
You mustn't lie under the sun.
If you lie, see?
The character will disappear quickly.
Lord Liu, I'm not lying.
See, the character is right here.
Very well.
You two.
Hit the sacks.
Hit them hard.
Hit them hard.
Stop.
Feng Tang, be honest with me.
If you lie, you'll be like the sacks.
Think about how Zhao Ling ends.
Wang Lv.
Here.
You stay here and interrogate him.
I'm going back to the room and wait for the character to disappear.
Yes, Lord Liu.
Where does he come from?
The guy is said to have murdered his wife.
The girl died young because he was impulsive.
Yeah, yeah.
Execute him.
He deserve to die.
Wait.
Who is intruding on the execution site?
I killed the woman, not him.
He's already convicted.
We got all the evidence and witnesses.
And he's pleaded guilty.
You say he's not a murderer based on what?
I killed his wife.
He took my blade away
and I ran away.
He was drunk and couldn't explain himself
so he was falsely accused of murder.
Also,
I robbed the official ingots,
I'm here to turn myself in.
These are the stolen ingots.
So you're willingly turning yourself in?
Yes, I am.
He's a good guy, I can't stand him being unjustly executed.
Murder and robbery are both felonies. Just kill me.
OK. Seize him.
Take both of them to the government.
Soldiers, take Feng Tang's wife to me.
Listen,
I interrogate you here
because I know that
some of the stolen ingots
are hiding right in this house.
No. What stolen silver ingots?
It looks like you're being uncooperative.
Let me ask you again, do you or do you not have the ingots?
How many times have I told you?
Why would we have stolen silver ingots in our family?
Watch it.
Don't let it disappear.
Listen. Wang Lv.
Here I am.
Ask Feng Tang if silver is still there.
Sure.
Is silver still there?
Yes. It's still here.
Louder. Is silver still there?
It's still here.
Louder.
Silver is still here.
Silver is still here.
You hear that?
Your husband says silver is still here,
why did you tell me otherwise?
Even your husband can't take the beatings,
can you?
Still not talking?
Soldiers.
I'll talk, I'll talk.
The silver ingots are buried under the clove tree in the backyard.
Soldiers.
Here.
You take them to dig out the silver ingots.
Follow her.
Yes.
Go.
Soldiers.
Here.
Bring Feng Tang to me.
Yes.
Get up. Get up.
You're full of lies.
Am I?
Here is silver. Look.
Lord Liu said that if I lie,
the character will disappear.
It is still here.
The character is here, so silver is here, too.
What are you talking about?
Let's go.
Lord Liu.
Lord Liu, please spare my life, Lord Liu.
Lord Liu, please spare my life, Lord Liu.
Lord Liu, someone has turned himself in at the execution site.
Let me see.
Take the criminals to the government.
Yes.
Bring Feng Tang and his wife to the court.
Feng Tang, do you plead guilty?
I do, I do.
Was it “You Shiyi” on the ingot that you
paid Wang Lv for the painting?
My wife gave me the silver ingot,
I didn't get a clear look. Your turn.
Say something.
My lord, our silver ingots were put together
with Fei Dao's,
so I just randomly got one.
I didn't look close enough, neither did him.
If I had known, I would...
Not until Lord Wang
sued me Suzhou Government with the silver ingot,
did I realize I was in big trouble.
Desperately, I rushed to Suzhou,
gave the painting to Zhao Lin
and asked for his help.
Is the painting
still in Zhao Lin's house?
My lord,
all I know is that Zhao Lin gave the painting
to a high-ranking official in the capital city.
Which high-ranking official?
My lord, I don't know.
Soldiers, take Fei Dao to me.
Fei Dao, why did you murder the woman?
I didn't intentionally murder her.
I didn't know her.
She slept with me
after we first met.
She was a wanton woman.
That was a one-night-stay.
I could've left.
But she nicked my wallet
and refused to give it back to me.
I killed her out of anger.
Afterward, her husband came in and saw me.
He came to snatch my blade from me
and I jumped out of the window. He really loved his wife.
At the execution site, I reflected on myself
and my conscience told me that a good man couldn't die in grievance.
So I turned myself in.
Also, I committed the silver-ingot robbery,
those were two capital crimes.
I deserve to die anyway.
I'm not eloquent,
but I'm willing to be executed.
Listen, Fei Dao the criminal,
you did have committed capital crimes.
You should be executed for committing
the robbery alone.
However,
you also have done two right things.
First, you killed a woman who deserved to die.
Secondly, you saved
a good man's life.
Also, you have turned yourself in.
So I hereby sentence to be exiled to Hainan.
Change yourself and make amendments.
You may receive commutation a few years later.
Thank you for not killing me.
Listen up, you two.
You two have committed a capital crime. You'll be sent to prison and wait to be decapitated.
Return the 1,600 taels of silver ingots to the National Treasury.
The trial is over.
My dear.
I'm home.
I once said...
Drinking is good
because when I'm drunk,
I see two wives.
Now, I have none.
Oh, majestic.
Yes.
Spectacular.
Very energetic.
Wonderful.
So vivid.
It really is unique.
It's magical.
Yes.
The eyes do make a difference.
look
Music