Junior.
Jing.
What are you still doing here?
Li asked me to look after you.
I'm not a kid.
I don't need you to look after me.
Junior,
no matter what you think,
everything Li did was for you.
I don't believe it.
If she
did everything for me,
why didn't she tell me the truth?
Did she trust the king of Qin
more than me?
Doesn't she know what kind of person I am?
Senior, did you enter the Qin palace
just to protect her?
What do you mean?
Since you had a chance to get close to her,
you had a chance to get close to Ying Zheng.
Have you forgotten what our master taught us?
Why didn't you kill him?
I tried.
You tried and failed.
Is that what you're trying to tell me?
What are you trying to say?
You went to Qin
and became a pawn of the king of Qin.
Am I right?
I won't argue with you.
You've lost your mind.
So what?
At least I know who I am.
It's impossible for me
to share a room with that tyrant
instead of killing him.
What if I kill Ying Zheng?
What would happen to Li?
If Ying Zheng was dead, and I was arrested,
she couldn't leave the palace alone,
let alone with...
What?
Let alone with Ying Zheng's baby, right?
She can't let go of that child, can she?
You!
Junior,
you have gone too far from
what Master wanted you to be.
I hope you can calm down and think it over.
Jing, stop it.
Listen.
It was you and Li
who betrayed our state and our master,
not me.
Take out your sword. Take it out.
Take your anger out on me.
I know you're in pain right now,
but he didn't do anything wrong.
Are you also on his side?
Junior,
calm down.
Let's talk it over.
We have nothing to talk about.
If you want to be a lackey of Qin, go right ahead.
From now on we are no longer brothers.
We're done with each other.
Jing.
Han,
why did Li
torture Jing like that?
Don't they love each other?
If they do,
why can't they be together?
Miss Ge Lan,
it's not as simple as you think.
If two people love each other and can be together,
there won't be so many unmarried men and women
or separated couples in the world.
At the end of the day,
they're gonna have to
figure it out for themselves.
We can do nothing to it.
Despite so many people guarding Zhaode Palace,
an unarmed woman
could just leave.
My palace is a place
where anyone can come and go as they please!
What do I need them for?
Li Zhong.
Yes.
Take those guards out and beat them to death!
Yes.
Zhao Gao.
Yes.
Go get those maids out of Yongxiang Jail,
and have them craned.
If no one can tell you the whereabouts of Concubine Li,
execute them all.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Report.
Your Majesty, Her Highness the Concubine Li came back.
I left the palace without permission,
and caused a disturbance.
I apologize to you.
Someone.
Yes.
Concubine Li has violated the law
by leaving the palace without permission.
Put her in jail now.
Your Highness.
Your Highness.
Your Highness.
Qing.
Your Highness.
Qing.
Your Highness.
Qing.
How could they beat you up like this?
Your Highness, where have you been?
I'm sorry. It's all my fault.
Not at all.
Your Highness,
if you want to know
how much Miss Qing has suffered,
I can give you a try.
Come at me.
It's all my fault.
It has nothing to do with Qing.
Don't you dare lay a finger on her again!
No one has ever
left Yongxiang Jail intact.
If you insist,
I'll let you try it first.
Someone, corporal punishment.
Don't touch her.
Let her go.
Qing. Qing.
Your Highness.
Qing.
Your Highness.
Your Highness.
Your Highness.
Let go of her.
Let go of her.
Here comes His Majesty.
What are you doing?
Your Majesty.
Did I order you to torture her?
Well,
I was acting in accordance with the laws of Yongxiang Jail.
Remove it.
Yes. Remove it.
Someone. Remove it.
Yes.
I'd like to have a word with her.
You have my permission to go.
Yes.
Now will you tell me
why you left the palace without permission?
As you know,
before I came here,
I was free
to go wherever I wanted.
But now
I can't go out to the streets
or practice my sword by the stream at will.
For someone like me,
who is used to playing with swords,
life in the palace is too boring.
You meant you left the palace
just to hang out, huh?
Where did you go?
I walked around alone.
I didn't go anywhere special.
Who were you with?
No one.
Zhaode Palace was heavily guarded.
How did you leave alone?
Did you have anyone to help you?
I've been practicing martial arts since I was a kid.
As long as I want to get out,
I can have a try.
OK.
Even if you could get out of the bedchamber,
there were guards all the way
from the inner palace to the outer palace.
How did you
get through all the gates alone?
Have you long planned for it?
Why did you have to choose this time?
Why didn't you leave here
when you were pregnant with Tianming?
Because I feared to lose the baby.
What about now?
Do you take this place as an inn?
You can come and go as you please?
Do you think that I wouldn't punish you
even if I caught you?
I'm not that arrogant.
I have no defense
against your accusations.
If you want to punish me,
I'm willing to be punished.
Why did you come back
since you knew you would be punished?
Because of Tianming.
I never intended not to come back to the palace.
You can tell me
where you want to go.
You still won't look me in the eye, huh?
I guess I underestimated you.
From now on,
I'm going to clean up my palace
and control access to Zhaode Palace.
If I don't punish you,
I can't enforce my authority in the harem.
Zhao Gao.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Take her to the jail to reflect on herself.
No one can torture her
without my permission.
Yes.
Someone.
Take Her Highness down.
Yes.
Qing.
Your Highness.
Qing. Qing. Qing.
Qing.
I'm fine.
Qing.
I'm sorry. It was all my fault.
Your Highness, not at all.
It was my fault.
I didn't take good care of you.
Qing.
I left the palace on my own.
How can I blame you?
I would do anything for you.
Your Highness, are you okay?
I'm back.
I won't let you suffer anymore.
Jing, you...
I'm fine.
Leave me alone.
You haven't eaten all day.
How about making you something to eat?
I'm not hungry.
Go have your dinner.
Jing,
why not practice swordsmanship with me?
Swordsmanship?
Yeah.
It can not only build your body,
but also make you forget your worries
and focus your mind.
Sword practice is perfect for you right now.
It can
build my body?
What's the point of it?
I've been doing it for more than ten years,
but I can't even protect the one I love,
let alone avenge my master's death or fulfill my ambition.
Go and practice on your own.
Why don't you go to the market with me?
You know what?
I just saw a pair of birds at the market.
They're cute.
Go by yourself.
Let's go. I'll be bored if I go alone.
Come on. Come on. Go with me. Let's go.
I'm telling you I won't go.
Sorry, Lan.
I know you mean well,
but I'm not in the mood for it right now.
Just leave me alone.
You haven't eaten, huh?
Harder.
Yes.
Your Excellency.
What's going on?
Your Excellency, as you instructed me,
I checked
the list of maids and guards on leave
and found the name of Han Shen
who found the son of Concubine Li last time.
What did you say?
Concubine Li left the palace for five days.
Han Shen took leave
the day before her departure,
and hasn't returned yet.
It sounds interesting.
There are no coincidences. Everything happens for a reason.
His leave of absence
coincided with Concubine Li's departure.
There must be a connection.
Go and check his background
before he came here.
Yes.
I don't believe
I can't have something on you this time.
What do you want?
Han Shen,
you've violated the rules of the Qin palace.
I'm arresting you as ordered.
Men. Take him down.
Yes.
Take him away.
Central Regular Attendant is here to see you.
Your Majesty.
I'm here
because I've just caught the traitor
who helped Her Highness the Concubine Li leave the palace without permission.
A traitor?
That's right.
Please allow me to summon him to the court for questioning.
Let him in.
Come on. Bring him here.
Han Shen?
Your Majesty,
I have verified that
he went home on leave
the day before Her Highness left the palace.
When he got enrolled in the palace,
his native place registered on the register
was Puyang of Wey.
It should have taken him more than ten days
to travel by horseback from Xianyang to Puyang,
not to mention that he had to visit his family.
But he returned to the palace
in just five days,
so I'm sure
he didn't go back to his hometown,
but to some other place.
Han Shen, the King is here.
Tell him the truth.
Central Regular Attendant,
even if he hid something,
it doesn't mean
he had anything to do with the case.
Your Majesty, I'm afraid I've made a wild guess.
Here is heavily guarded,
so Her Highness couldn't have left the palace alone.
Someone must have helped her
in secret,
and that person must be Han Shen.
He dared defy
our laws in the palace of Xianyang.
He didn't just
take a concubine out of the palace.
He clearly threatened your safety
and disregarded our palace guards.
How dare I
not investigate such a villain!
Your Majesty,
what Central Regular Attendant said is a guess,
but it isn't without merit.
Why don't we ask Han Shen
if he had
anything to do with the case?
Han Shen.
What do you have to say?
Your Majesty,
last time when Prince Tianming disappeared,
he put his life on the line to ask you
to investigate South Palace.
Afterwards, you offered to reward him,
and he said he'd return home on leave.
But his whereabouts don't match the truth.
He must be hiding something.
Since he won't talk,
I suggest that
he be put to death immediately
to uphold the law of Qin.
Is everything all right in the harem?
Speaking of which,
I do have
one thing to tell you.
What's the matter?
A few days ago,
Concubine Li left the palace while His Majesty was away from Xianyang.
Central Regular Attendant sent her maids to Yongxiang Jail,
ad tortured them,
causing an uproar in Zhaode Palace.
The King sent the Huben guards
to search outside Xianyang after being informed.
How could such a thing happen?
Yes, the King was furious,
but
she rode back
as if nothing had happened.
You know what?
Those maids and guards
almost lost their heads because of her.
Concubine Li
is anyway a first-rank concubine.
Why did she act so wildly?
You said it.
But the King just locked her up
in Yongxiang Jail
and didn't even punish her.
In my opinion,
once the publicity
has died down,
she will return to the palace in peace.
Your Majesty,
I'm really worried about the guards of the palace.
If everyone can go in and out of the palace
like Concubine Li did,
then who will take our safety
to heart?
Your Majesty, calm down.
How can I calm down?
I'm glad you told me about this.
How could such a thing
happen in the harem?
I've been living in Huayang Palace for the sake of peace and quiet.
However, those juniors
don't care about me anymore.
If I don't do something about this,
people will think
there are no rules in our palace.
That would be a disgrace to Qin.
How wise of you.
If you don't speak,
we'll put you in jail
and confront Concubine Li.
What?
She is in jail?
She broke the rules and left the palace without permission.
If I don't punish her,
the public will laugh at me.
Your Majesty,
I abducted Concubine Li.
I had bad intentions for her,
so I forced her out of the palace,
but she was so strong
that she managed to escape.
Your Majesty,
she didn't tell you the truth
because she was kind
and didn't want to harm me.
Is that true?
She has no contact with you.
Why would she protect you?
I don't know,
but it was my fault,
not hers.
Han Shen,
do you think you're not gonna die
if you tell me now?
Why did you come back
in this case?
I ventured back to the palace
to take a chance.
After I committed the crime,
I regretted it,
because I was well-paid in the palace.
I shouldn't have done it.
Your Majesty,
this has nothing to do with Her Highness.
I beg you to punish me.
Your Majesty, there is no truth to it!
Your Majesty,
please don't listen to his nonsense.
Shut up!
Put Han Shen in jail.
I want him to talk to Concubine Li.
Don't come any closer.
Don't do it!
Fengyi, His Majesty has ordered us
not to torture Her Highness.
Why are you so nervous?
I haven't scared her
with our corporal punishment yet.
I'm just here to teach her the rules of the harem
on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen Huayang.
Then you must wait.
I've reported it to His Majesty.
He'll be here soon.
Young man,
just pretend you didn't see it.
Cut off their hair.
Yes.
I dare one of you to come here.
Stop it!
What are you doing?
Who gave you permission to make trouble here?
Your Excellency,
I tried to stop them,
but they're under the orders of Her Majesty the Queen Huayang.
I didn't dare to stop them.
Why are you still standing here?
Get out of here.
Yes.
Those maids in Huayang Palace
are getting more and more outrageous.
Have you figured it out
in the past few days?
I'll ask you one more time.
Who helped you get out of the palace?
I have explained it to you.
I did leave the palace alone.
When you returned to the Qin palace a few days ago,
you were fatigued
and casually excused yourself.
I did you a favor
by not pursuing it.
But now Han Shen has turned himself in,
saying he forced you out of the palace.
What do you want to say?
Men. Bring Han Shen up here.
Your Majesty, the criminal Han Shen is here.
One of you two is lying.
Who is it?
Tell me.
Who the hell is lying?
Why are you defending
a mere guard?
If you don't believe me,
just punish me.
If you do,
don't go any further.
Your Majesty,
she was taken out of the palace by me.
She didn't mean to leave the palace.
Please punish me, Your Majesty.
I am
at your disposal.
If I admit that
Han Shen is my senior now,
will I be harming him instead?
Senior, why are you so stupid?
Why did you come back?
Fine.
In that case,
I'll take what you said as a lie.
Han Shen
is guilty of holding the concubine hostage.
Someone.
I'm here.
Put her in the harem.
No one is allowed to visit her
without my permission.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Please, Your Highness.
Zhao Gao.
I'm here.
Han Shen violated the Qin law.
Do what you have to do
with him.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Men.
They love someone so deeply
that they don't mind even if they can't get a response from the beloved.
They feel contented
as long as they can stand beside their beloved silently.
I hope you can value yourself
more than others,
especially when you are in distress,
you must not burn your bridges.
You must remember that
you can always ask me for help.
I am right by your side
Senior,
why are you so stupid?
Let me take the blame
for what I've done.
What
should I do now?
Han Shen.
I didn't expect
the story between you and Her Highness
to be so wonderful and complicated.
You don't know.
When she rode back to the palace alone,
she was bright and brave
instead of being frightened
and helpless like a hostage.
So
there's something we don't know.
Han Shen, you're a man of real fiber.
But do you think
I can't guess what's in your mind
if you don't say anything?
Did you run away with her?
Otherwise,
you wouldn't have come back so willingly.
There are other fish in the sea.
She's indeed a beautiful woman,
but for a woman alone...
You!
How dare you!
Han Shen, I'm telling you,
I've done you a favor by not killing you.
You've violated the Qin law,
and you're guilty as charged.
You won't get out of here alive today.
Someone.
Yes.
Beat him.
Beat him hard.
Yes.
You have my permission to go.
Yes.
Qing,
I need you to help me with something.
I'll do whatever you want, Your Highness.
I must see Han Shen.
Your Highness,
you had a hard time getting out of jail.
It's too dangerous for you to go.
Qing, listen to me.
There's a lot of security outside the house.
It'd have been tough for me to leave
without your help.
But if he dies,
I can't rest easy for the rest of my life.
I know this is going to put you in a difficult position,
but I can't
think of any other way.
If I may ask,
what is
your relationship with Han Shen?
Did you go out
with him last time?
Qing,
our relationship isn't
what others say it is.
I'll explain it to you one day.
He's a nice man.
I can't let him die that way.
Your Highness,
I come from a poor and humble background.
But after I served you,
you treated me very well.
I wish I could serve you
for the rest of my life.
Whatever you want me to do,
I'll do it with all my might.
But...
But...
But I'm afraid.
I don't want you to be in danger again.
Qing, I know what I did last time
has dragged you into trouble,
but
no matter what happens this time,
I won't leave.
I'll protect you.
Please just do me a favor.
OK.
I'm tired. Come on down.
Your Highness, I'll leave you to rest.
Stop!
What's the matter, Your Excellency?
Is Her Highness asleep?
Yes, she is.
You may go.
Your Majesty,
I questioned Han Shen
last night in the jail.
From beginning to end,
he insisted that he took Her Highness,
indicating that she was innocent.
I don't understand.
If she was taken,
then Han Shen was a villain.
Why didn't she tell you about this
when she returned to the palace?
It's reasonable that Her Highness the Concubine Li
doesn't want to mention
what she suffered outside the palace
for the moment.
However, it's deeply perverse that
she refused to
come forward to defend herself
after knowing that Han Shen was arrested by us.
It's still so strange
even if Her Highness the Concubine Li treats anyone with tolerance
and disregards gains and losses.
After all, it's the villain who held her hostage.
It's unethical for them
to stay outside together for several days.
Why doesn't Her Highness
come forward and defend her chastity?
Unless there is already a hidden relationship
between them.
What are you talking about?
Your Majesty.
Since you're here,
just stay.
You're still thinking about that man until now.
For him,
you'd like to sacrifice yourself, right?
Your Majesty.
The outcome turns clear.
Han isn't the senior
of Her Highness at all.
I think
it's time to ask General Meng Wu to stop,
or he'll be killed.