Song of Phoenix (思美人)

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Song of Phoenix

Episode 77

"Since no one will accompany me to pursue the ideal government, I shall chase after Peng Xian and keep him company." - Li Sao (Qu Yuan )

Your Highness, Jing Mo Ao begs to be in your attendance.

He is still unabashed to come?

Let him in.

Obeyed.

Your humble subject greeting Your Highness the Empress.

I came just to congratulate Your Highness.

Upon Prince Zi Heng's return this time,

Your Highness shall soon become the Empress Dowager.

What a joke. As long as His Majesty is alive.

Then I am the empress.

What? Minister Jing, do you wish for something to happen to His Majesty as well?

I don't dare. I am only happy to see that Prince Zi Heng

can return to his land to helm the nation.

You are really so elated about Zi Heng reigning?

If I remember it correctly,

the one you've always praised in royal court

has been Zi Lan.

Spare my life, Your Highness.

Please be kind upon our Jing family's service generation of generation.

Don't pull this stuff with me.

Your words might fool His Majesty, but they won't fool me.

I shall put in my utmost to serve Chu nation from now on.

I shall also, together with my wife,

swear our lives to the service of Prince Zi Heng without fail.

So you know to bring up Madam Jing at a time like this.

And her sisterhood with me.

Forget it. Get on up.

Thank you, Your Highness.

On the account of Madam Jing, I shall forgive you once.

But from now on, you must show your fidelity.

As you help Zi Heng. Got that?

My gratitude, Your Highness.

Your humble subject shall not disappoint you.

I shall commit my life entirely to serving Prince Zi Heng.

Utmost welcome to Prince.

Royal Mother.

Heng'er. My Heng'er.

You're finally back.

I've missed you every moment and every second while in Qi Nation. I missed Chu as well.

Now I am finally back and I've become the King of Chu.

I'm just happy you were able to return safely.

Chu is all in your hands now.

You must carry this responsibility well.

I understand. It was all thanks to Qu Yuan's rescuing me this time.

That I was able to return smoothly to reign. I must not treat him shabbily.

You mean?

Qu Yuan's biggest aspirations in life are political reform and vertical alliance.

Now the vertical alliance is impossible.

As for political reform, if at all possible, let's go with his wishes.

As you ministers know, my royal father's been held captive in Wu Pass for many months.

The royal court has been in panic over the future of Chu nation.

I have returned this time with the goal of reviving our land.

Grand adviser Qu.

In your attendance.

From now on, I command you to continue your efforts to political reform.

To spearhead the court alongside me.

That . . .

What? You don't hear what I say?

Replying to Your Majesty, I believe

the utmost task at hand is not the political reform.

But to use our national powers to bring back His Majesty.

You . . .

Though you are correct,

but currently our Chu is no match against Qin.

How could we bring back my royal father?

Just because we are no match, we should just watch His Majesty be humiliated at Wu Pass?

Minister Qu, aren't you just to ill-mannered towards His Majesty?

His Majesty? You sure acknowledge a new master so quickly.

Then the one getting humiliated at Wu Pass isn't His Majesty?

You . . .

Enough. Getting my royal father back is a grand matter. Let's discuss it another day.

Crown . . .

That Qu Yuan's just too haughty.

I commanded him to take on the political reform in royal court today.

But he even put on airs! So rude to me.

Royal Mother, when will Royal Father return?

I just feel powerless.

You wish for your father to return.

But where will your seat be if he returned?

However, I . . .

You're afraid of Qu Yuan?

Royal Mother.

I don't blame you. That Qu Yuan is His Majesty's beloved subject.

And he is also your teacher. Hence, now that you are seated in the royal throne,

he's become the King's teacher.

And no one in the royal court can keep him at bay now.

What do you suppose I should do?

Do what?

Now, you are no longer the crown prince.

As long as you are seated in the royal throne, you are the king.

But I am still reigning in Royal Father's absence.

Once he's back, I still need to concede the throne to Royal Father.

You really think your father can actually come back?

As long as your father continues to hold onto Wu County and Qianzhong County and not give them to Qin,

then the Qin nation wouldn't release him.

Heng'er, you just continue to be king.

But what Qu Yuan said, I can't just ignore.

As long as you are seated in the royal throne, you need to bring out the dignity of the monarch.

Concessions and forbearance will only have you end up with nothing.

All these years in the royal palace and I have seen it clear now.

I would concede and forbear before, thinking of others before me.

But in the end? Those consorts. How many truly cared about me?

And now that you're the king,

do you know how many eyes are watching you from behind, looking for flaws to pick out?

If you continue to be so feeble-minded,

you will not be far from your royal father's current ending.

But Qu Yuan is my teacher.

So? No matter how talented Qu Yuan is,

he is still your subject.

Yes, he did help you and me before.

But now you're the king of a nation.

You can't allow someone who's readily criticizing you to stay by your side.

Heng'er, Qu Yuan's full of thorns. He is prickly to everyone.

If you want to protect him, and you end up offending all the other ministers of the royal court,

you'll end up unbalanced.

What is really more important?

Heng'er, listen to me.

A person who is overly righteous cannot be king.

You should not have fought with Zi Heng during today's court.

Am I supposed to watch His Majesty be cornered

without caring at all in regards for his safety?

Actually, you should have thought of this long ago.

When you decided to let Prince Zi Heng take control of the court,

this day was destined to be.

What do you mean?

I ask you, His Majesty has come back.

So what is Zi Heng now?

At that time, he cannot be a king,

nor can he be the crown prince.

If it were you, would you accept His Majesty's return?

But he is His Majesty's son!

That was before.

Now, he is no longer His Majesty's son.

He is...His Majesty.

Why did you bring me here?

Do you remember this place still?

When we were little, we would argue over who would be king.

Did you bring me here just to tell me

that you won in the end?

Do you remember the promise we made before the Crown Prince selection?

We said that no matter who became crown prince,

the other one would be a magistrate.

Those were just jokes made in the past. Why bring them up again?

Now I am but a prisoner, whether you want to kill me or cut me into pieces, I will obey.

If I wanted to kill you, would I have told them to retreat?

What do you want?

What if I said I wanted to make good on our promise?

Are you saying you want to make me a magistrate?

I'm afraid that Father will not be able to come back.

Chu must now be protected by us together.

As long as we are united, Chu will be strong.

Open it.

He Shi Jade?

From today onwards, you will guard the He Shi Jade.

I have put the treasure of Chu in your safekeeping.

Do you still not trust me?

But...aren't you afraid that I will fight you for the throne?

You already fought once, are you going to try a second time?

There's a chance.

Alright. If you become the king,

don't forget to make me a magistrate.

I will.

But, if I become magistrate, what happens to Zhao He?

Zhao He is old, it is time for him to rest.

What about Qu Yuan? He's always fighting against the two of us.

Trying to hold some kind of competition to select the king. Brother was originally the king!

What else is there to choose?

If it weren't for him stirring up trouble between us

we wouldn't be fighting so much either.

Also, if it weren't for him inciting Father to change the laws,

our Chu wouldn't have fallen to this state either.

Right now, Father is trapped in Wu Pass,

and it is all his fault.

How do you think we should deal with Qu Yuan?

As long as he is alive,

is a day he is able to manipulate the laws of Chu.

I believe...that we should get rid of Qu Yuan.

But he...is our teacher.

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Mother.

Mother, I have come to see you.

You still remember you have a mother?

I thought you forgot about this old lady a long time ago.

Mother is still angry at me.

Who would dare to be angry at you?

You are the king of our nation.

Soon enough, you will be the king of all the land under the sky.

Your words weigh heavy, Mother.

No matter how important of a king I become, I am still your son.

Wang'Er.

If you still believe that you are my son,

then promise me to release Xiong Huai.

He is your uncle!

Uncle? You said that you don't have an older brother named Xiong Huai.

He is not your brother,

so how is he my uncle?