Madam, are you Miss Ye's mother,
the leader of Feng Xiangming Theatrical troupe?
Greetings, Lord Wei.
I haven't had the chance to thank you for bringing my daughter into the palace to perform.
You are too courteous, Madam.
Counting the days, it has been several days since Miss Ye entered the palace. She should be back soon.
I bet she can make the Empress Dowager happy.
I hope she will.
Then, I'll stop bothering you. I will take my leave.
Troupe Master!
So you were here!
Why did you come back? Where is Ningzhi?
Weren't you inside the palace with her?
Don't worry! The troupe is fine.
It's just, my mother is very sick so Ningzhi told me to go take care of her.
How is Ningzhi doing? Did she create trouble?
Everything is fine. Ningzhi is smart!
As soon as she got into the palace, she received the Eldest Princess's favor. The princess was so happy,
she even gave a big gift to Ningzhi!
Really?
That's not all. The Eldest Princess even personally taught Ningzhi congratulatory phrases to make the Empress Dowager happy!
Really?
Hurry and sit and tell me more!
Lord Wei!
I'm returning to the palace right away.
Aren't you going to Ping County?
Human lives are more important!
We entered the palace on the Empress's orders to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday.
Everything was going smoothly. If we didn't say the congratulatory phrases the Eldest Princess taught us,
we wouldn't have fallen to such a state.
Now... what should I do
to protect everyone in the troupe?
- What are you doing? - Come with us!
- To where? - You're not allowed to ask!
His name is Wei Guang. He is my top advisor.
To help save you, he rushed back to the palace.
So you are... Lord Wei.
Hurry and greet the Empress.
Greetings, Your Highness!
Get up and talk.
Thank you Your Highness!
Do you know why I brought you here?
I don't know.
Don't worry. This is Yongde Palace, my territory.
No one will dare to bully you.
I know you have a close relationship with your friends.
So, you wouldn't just ignore your friends.
I have already sent someone to look into their situation.
The people from the theatrical troupe are being interrogated by Dali Temple.[Dali Temple is the Supreme Court in-charge of prison in ancient China]
Do you want to see them?
I do.
Good. Then you just have to tell me.
Those four phrases, did someone teach them to you?
Have you heard of Ye Ting?
If anyone commits a crime, they will be imprisoned there.
Before long, I'm afraid you'll be imprisoned there too.
I don't want to see an innocent commoner suffer like that.
If you tell the truth, I can protect you.
Your Highness, General Zheng is bringing a large group of royal guards here!
He suspects Ye Ningzhi is hiding here!
He says to protect your safety, he must enter to search!
What a joke! Protect my safety?
Go and tell him.
He cannot enter my Yongde Palace that easily!
Yes!
Ningzhi. You are a good child.
You wouldn't let the Eldest Princess continue being so arrogant.
As long as you tell me the truth,
I swear
I will find a way to protect you and the entire troupe.
Your Highness.
The Eldest Princess taught me those four phrases!
Good!
I will take you to Guang Xian Palace
and tell the Emperor everything!
Your Highness, I will say what I should!
[Yongde Palace]
Greetings, Your Highness!
What did you come to do?
I have my responsibilities.
I hope you will be understanding. I am under orders from the Emperor to protect your safety.
I must capture this runaway criminal!
She is a serious criminal the Emperor ordered to be captured!
You want to capture her?
Fine. Whoever dares to bypass me, enter and arrest her then.
Your Highness!
Come with me!
Greetings, Your Majesty.
Get up.
Thank you Your Majesty.
Empress, how could you do something so ridiculous?
Ye Ningzhi is a rebel.
How could you bring her to Yongde Palace?
The Eldest Princess conducted the interrogation for several days without any progress. I was anxious.
Hence, I took the initiative to inquire about the reason.
Perhaps, Heaven is watching us and is fair
and wanted me to ask some questions regarding the doubts in this matter.
I wonder if His Majesty is willing to listen.
Speak.
Ye Ningzhi, there's no harm in saying what you think in front of His Majesty.
Those four phrases...
were indeed taught to me by someone.
Someone taught you? Who?
It was...
Buddha taught me that.
Presumptuous!
Ye Ningzhi, you even dared to lie continuously to His Majesty.
If you spout nonsense again, I won't be able to protect you.
Ye Ningzhi, it's now at this stage.
Are you still going to play tricks?
This was definitely the meaning of Buddha
because those four phrases were signs given to me from Buddha.
When I found out that I was to give congratulatory birthday messages to the Empress Dowager,
I was very happy and nervous too.
I was afraid I wouldn't bring glory to Dowager Empress' birthday banquet.
As such, before I entered the palace, I went to seek for divination in the hope that I could receive guidance from Heaven.
What even more coincidental is that, after praying for my request,
I saw these signs from the soles of Buddha.
Those four phrases were written on them.
I thought it was the will of Heaven.
Your Highness, is this the result of your interrogation?
Dressing as God to play the Devil. It's indeed interesting.
Your Majesty, Her Highness detained the criminal in private
without any regards to the law and was condescending.
You should seize her position as the Empress.
Your Majesty, I think this is a Godsend opportunity.
Why do you say this?
Dare I ask if you think those four phrases are an insult to you?
"The ancestor's descendant is a thief" but I think this phrase doesn't refer to you.
Your Majesty inherited the throne after the deceased Emperor. It's the divine rights of the kings.
Empress Dowager conducted the interrogation to prove that this rumor is not related to you
to prevent the rumor from being implemented and being criticized by the commoners.
Frankly, because I'm usually not present at the Imperial court, I can understand these four phrases better.
It's not considered a fresh topic of mention in the palace today because there were already rumors among the people.
The commoners use this congratulatory message for entertainment. I'm filial to the kingdom.
If these congratulatory phrases were sang by the theatrical troupe at the birthday banquet of the Empress Dowager,
not only will the commoners see the filial piety of Your Majesty,
it will also add to the fun of the Royal family and the people. It will leave a good reputation in history.
Wei Guang, don't think that just because you are a staff from the Empress Dowager,
you can make wild speculations here.
His Majesty hasn't commented yet.
On the contrary, why couldn't you restrain yourself any further?
There's no harm in letting Weikuang elaborate more.
Empress Dowager is celebrating her birthday. It's not appropriate to fight and kill at this moment.
Empress Dowager has a kind heart. I believe she doesn't want to see any bloody disaster too.
Why don't we regard this as a praise?
That's easy for you to say.
Even if you are quick and eloquent,
you can't deny what the people from the theatrical troupe said are disobedient.
Whether it's a denial of their disobedient words, I will let Empress Dowager make the judgment.
If it can make her smile, wouldn't it be considered entertaining?
The health of the Empress Dowager for the past days has been worrying.
We are not sure if she could attend the birthday banquet in three days.
I dare to bet that Empress Dowager will definitely attend the birthday banquet.
And she will surely enjoy it.
Not only the Empress Dowager, but the civil and military officials will also laugh heartily too.
Do you mean it?
Not only this, a few days after that, Empress Dowager will even stop taking her medicines and takes stroll in the Royal Garden.
If none of these four points can be achieved, I will admit defeat.
Admit defeat?
You made it sound so easy.
What will you use for your defeat?
If you really lose,
it's deceiving His Majesty.
As an official, will you be able to bear the consequences based on your jurisdiction?
If I lose,
I will be punished with Ye Ningzhi and die together.
Fine. It's a deal.