Good Bye My Princess (Dong Gong / 东宫)

My Lord, he is the subordinate of the late Yi Moyan.

After the battle, Yi Moyan's army was completely annihilated.

He ended up being saved by refugees.

He hid in the mountain caves and has been dragging out his feeble existence until now.

You have a blessed life.

What's the meaning of you continuing to live?

You want revenge

or do you want to see your enemies living very well?

Might as well just die.

After you die, you'll be able to see

Khan Tömür,

the men that have fought along your side, along with

the family members that you have been longing for. No matter what happens,

it will be better than living like how you are now.

I forgot that you don't have the ability to choose between dying or living right now.

If you want to die, it's fine.

If you expose the conspiracy between the Danchi and Gao Xian back then,

I will then give you a quick and satisfying death.

Maybe, you will hate me.

But I wasn't the person who annihilated Danchi.

So not only should you not hate me,

you should also thank me.

I, the new ruler of Danchi, used only two years

to recover the vegetation and domestication of this place.

All the citizens are living in peace and prosperity.

So, choosing to work with me

isn't betrayal.

Father, I've never seen

his imperial majesty so smitten to a woman.

Ever since she entered the palace, whenever his imperial majesty comes to the harem,

he surely would stay at that vixen's place.

For her, he desolated the other concubines in the harem.

I could not understand it. She is just a commoner,

a lowly servant from a brothel. How could she have smitten his imperial majesty like that?

Daughter, after today, do not say such things anymore.

My daughter, you must keep your head low.

There's no need to fight for affections that will only last for a short moment.

Unlike the past, we are now in a tight position.

It's better to have one less thing to worry about.

I understand, but I'm still angry.

You are a Noble Consort. You have to be tolerant.

The better you are to Mingyue,

the more considerate his imperial majesty will be to you. Am I right?

I know already.

I just wanted to complain.

If you want the emperor to come,

go find the grand empress dowager.

I understand now.

Thank you, Father.

Send some more smart servants to Mingyue's place.

Father, why are you careful to this extent?

One needs to be cautious in order to live longer.

I know now.

Come. Come, come, come.

Leave, leave, leave.

North Subduing Marquis, you've drank the wine and watched the dance.

Just tell me what your motive is for coming here.

King of Shuobo, no need to be nervous.

I am here to give you a present.

Stop going in circles.

This little gift of mine

is not as grand as the gift from Lord Gao of the Protectorate General Office of the Western Borders.

Speaking of Lord Gao

and the cities that he lost to me,

those indeed count as a magnificent gift.

King of Shuobo, you should think about

how things in this world cannot easily

have fallen into your hands.

What are you trying to say?

The conspiracy between the tribes and the people in charge of guarding the borders.

The frontier pretends as if they are no match,

in exchange for more military power and supplies.

The government has no choice but to rely on them heavily

and promote the officials within the borderline.

Day after day, year after year, the border is never at peace.

Then the soldiers that guard the border become more important.

The idea of raising bandits for one's own benefits,

is nothing new.

Maybe in the past, Gao Yuming was indeed

a big tree that fostered shelter for others.

But now, he is facing enemies from all directions,

His imperial majesty's trust for him is less than before.

He is already ordering an investigation.

You, the King of Shuobo, is his last move.

He wants to use the clan of Shuobo in his end game.

You wouldn't want to be his stepping stone

before he falls, right?

I have evidence of the conspiracy between Gao Xian and Danchi.

King of Shuobo, are you interested in taking a look?

Think of how Danchi turned out.

But on the other hand,

if Danchi didn't bring trouble among themselves,

I wouldn't be here to give you this big gift.

Next,

it all depends whether you, the King of Shuobo, would appreciate my kindness.

The way you look like when you play the zither

reminds me of someone.

No wonder, the emperor treasures you.

Also, you have saved his life. It's only natural.

However, I know that you are a smart person.

You surely know to do things with propriety.

I understand. I will remember your words, Grand Empress Dowager.

Do you usually read books?

I do not read books very often.

I only read poems when I have nothing to do.

How about the "Lessons of a Woman," have you read that?

You haven't read it.

Alright, bring it here.

This is a gift from me, read it.

Everyday, you will copy it three times everyday.

This is both beneficial and helpful to you.

Thank you, Grand Empress Dowager.

My Lady.

What's the matter?

The Grand Empress Dowager wnet to Mingyue's place, and left her a set of the "Lessons of a Woman".

She also told her to copy it three times a day.

Really?

Of course, it's real.

You always have great ideas. This time,

that vixen can't live life as easily.

Only making her copy it three times？

The way I see it, three hundred times doesn't even sound like it's too much.

My Lady, just wait. She is now being watched by the Grand Empress Dowager.

We don't have to worry about not having something interesting to watch.

Grand Empress Dowager.

The palace will be quite lively these days.

Earlier, when Xiao Haizi was passing by the Imperial Food Service,

he saw Noble Consort Gao heading towards our place from afar.

What else could she be here for?

We cannot really blame her for coming here.

I heard that since Miss Mingyue from the brothel entered the palace,

his imperial majesty never visited anyone else's place.

Just say that I am resting.

You won't see her, Grand Empress Dowager?

I won't.

Everything's my fault.

It's me who killed everyone,

because I fell in love with Gu Xiaowu.

I knew early on that

he is not my Gu Xiaowu.

My Gu Xiaowu already died.

But why...

Why did I remember again?

Is God punishing me?

Punishing me, so I fell in love with the same ruthless person.

Punishing me because I killed so many innocent people by my side.

Punishing me

to be always lucid and live in pain.

Punishing me...

Punishing me...

Crown Princess Consort, take a sip.

Your Highness Crown Prince.

How many days has she been like this?

Ever since A'Du was brought back here, she has been like this.

Has she eaten food?

She hasn't even drank a little water.

Take a rest. Even without you, A'Du will not die.

But if you keep going on without eating, drinking and resting,

maybe you won't be able to continue living.

Drink the porridge.

If you don't drink it,

then I will order my men to carry A'Du somewhere else.

You won't see her again.

Men!

Carry A'Du out.

Or she might transfer any illnesses to the Crown Princess Consort.

Yes.

I finished drinking it. You can leave now.

If I find out again that you did not take any of your meal,

then I will order them to take A'Du away immediately.

Your Imperial Highness, a secret report from Lord Zhao from the border.

When I went to Bingzhou to work on the case, I thought it will be full of obstacles.

But who would have thought that everything went so smoothly?

Wherever I went,

It's like someone already arranged it, and was waiting for me to find out.

All of the spearheads are pointing towards Prime Minister Gao.

I don't know who would made such painstaking efforts

to bring forward such a huge bloody storm.

This person's position cannot be lower than Prime Minister Gao's.

Hence, you're hesitating?

Because you don't want to become someone's chess piece, right?

Yes.

You, I, and every single official

is the mortise and tenon of this imperial court.

It is because we strictly stick by our duty, hence, it is able to be stable.

If we waver, this huge building will then collapse.

No one can keep themselves out of this!

If you read all those books of good conduct and virtue for nothing,

then you can wait and see

how this imperial court fall apart and collapse.

It will bury everyone, including me and you!

Alright.

Since Lord Xi has already put your life and death aside,

then I will accompany you! Even if my life is at stake,

I will investigate this case til the very end!

Father, it turns out that the one who led the mass suicide of the examiners

then was an old xiucai . [ 'xiucai' is the term given for examiners who has passed initial local exams and qualified to take the imperial civil exam ]

His hometown is Bingzhou, from the administrative division as Zong Huan.

Thirty years ago, Zong Huan's initial studies started with this person,

so he is considered as Zong Huan's benefactor.