01x19 - The Last Goodbye

[bunniefuu]

[Love Like the Galaxy]

[Episode 19]

"By imperial decree, Marquis Quling's fourth daughter, Cheng Shaoshang

is kindhearted in helping the weak, diligent and virtuous, gentle and kind,

well schooled and understands etiquette, peaceful and joyful.

From a civil perspective, she helped the innocent people in Hua County. From a martial perspective, she suppressed the mountain bandits.

She is really considered a role model among the young ladies.

I've heard that the Cheng and Lou families plan to be joined in marital bliss."

- This person he's talking about, is it me?
- "I now bestow her a pair of jade annuli

and ten bolts of brocade."

Bow!

Thank you, Your Majesty.

Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty.

Accept the decree.

Your Majesty, if you are going to send them presents, then could you

bestow Miss Cheng another grace? How about taking this chance at the Lou banquet

to give her a decree in front of all the guests?

It not only recognizes the Cheng family but also gives prestige to the Lou family.

Everyone, please rise.

I will bid farewell.

This is really me?

Did you know Ling Buyi asked for this decree for Miss Cheng?

Really?

I should thank Brother Zisheng then.

No, it should be Shaoshang and I visiting him together to thank him.

No need.

Since General Ling didn't tell you, he must not want people to know.

It's better that you and your wife not visit him much in the future.

Go and take care of the guests, then.

All right, I'll go right now.

General Ling.

In our usual correspondence, you've always called me Zisheng.

Now that we see each other, why are you so formal like a stranger,

Mr. Mo?

How would you know that I'm Mr. Mo?

Do you think I'd believe anyone?

If I didn't know your background fully, how would I easily listen to you?

Indeed nothing can escape Zisheng.

I wonder whether Zisheng came here today for me, or for...

I know that Mr. Mo knows the topography of Fengyi Prefecture like the back of his hand.

His Majesty anxiously needs the map to suppress the rebellion.

If you can extend a hand of help,

your future will definitely be bright.

Except, if we really become colleagues,

I'm afraid we will be seeing each other a lot in the future.

General Ling heard the previous conversation?

In that case, I'll talk straight.

My father died early, leaving me with my widowed mother and younger brother.

A'Yao is innocent-minded, I naturally have to be careful to take care of him so he can avoid getting bullied.

Although I aspire to fame and would also like to rise in the imperial court,

no matter how I value the opportunity,

I wouldn't harm those people that I care for.

I will be leaving for Fengyi Prefecture tonight. You need not worry about your younger brother.

I only came to you for the map.

Since it's a sought-after object by General Ling,

it will definitely be delivered to you by tonight.

Thank you for the trouble.

I'll take my leave.

Eldest Uncle.

You still recognize me as your eldest uncle?

Miss Cheng is awesome.

I was so scared that I didn't dare to breathe just now. Miss Cheng is the one who stayed calm.

It's right for Miss Cheng to be commended by His Majesty.

You're not only well learned and knowledgeable, but you're also easy-going.

Well-learned and knowledgeable? I don't deserve it.

- I don't deserve it, sisters.
- Miss Cheng is so humble.

Are you saying, His Majesty is wrong?

I didn't say His Majesty is wrong. I, Shaoshang, am the one who is wrong.

I am not as good as what His Majesty said.

I'm not like how His Majesty has praised me.

I'm the one who is wrong. I'm wrong.

- Miss Cheng is too humble.
- Too humble.

- It's my bad.
- Let me give you a toast.

- I'll toast you.
- I'll toast you.

Thank you to all the older sisters. Thank you.

Why is His Majesty so dizzy-headed?

How could he praise an ignorant person as a role model?

If you continue to talk openly without consideration, do you want to be beaten by your mother again?

Sister Qiqi, help me.

Come. Here, here.

Young Miss. Young Miss.

Miss Cheng, how did you do it?

- Later.
- Young Miss.

Young Miss.

- Miss Cheng, please tell us about it.
- Tell us!

Sisters, I have something to attend to and will excuse myself first.

You are leaving?

- Miss Cheng, why are you leaving already?
- Just tell us a bit.

Miss Cheng...

Why are you in a rush to talk to me? Look.

They are lining up to toast me, you see that?

Young Miss, General Ling wants me to pass three messages to you.

First, he really does have things to say to you.

Second, he told you to not worry, he won't put you in danger.

He hopes Young Miss can believe in him.

Lian Fang, go and tell him, I definitely won't meet up with him.

This is inappropriate.

There's a third.

General Ling also said, if Young Miss doesn't show up,

he will come to find you.

If things become serious, you can just wait to break the engagement and marry him instead.

If Young Miss really doesn't show up, he will take it as your consent to marry him.

That is absurd!

I, Cheng Shaoshang, will not be threatened by him.

Where is he? Lead the way.

Let's go.

Did you come here after you heard me asking for you?

Or did you come here after hearing that third sentence from me?

General Ling saved my life and helped me so many times.

Of course, I should respond to your warm greetings with the utmost sincerity.

I just don't know, why General...

wants to meet me here.

Sounds like you only came here after hearing all three sentences.

That's fine.

You know how to stay alert.

It's a good thing.

General, if you don't have any matter to discuss, then I will excuse myself.

Miss Cheng,

please allow me to speak with you for a little longer.

Is that okay?

Don't worry.

I have already dismissed the guards here from the Lou family.

I don't want to trouble you with this meet-up.

I also don't want anyone else to know about the meet-up.

General Ling, as you know,

I will marry A'Yao very soon.

You asking me to meet up in a haste like this is inappropriate.

What do you want to do in the future?

I mean...

besides getting married.

I have quite a lot I want to achieve.

I want to recruit a lot of doctors,

and compile their knowledge and insights together,

to make books, and benefit the people.

I also want to improve clumsy farming tools.

This way, we can save on human labor and produce more food.

There's more, I want to build a smelter.

Draw some more tools and see if I can make them.

I also want to...

General Ling, you asked me to meet up, just to talk about this?

You have grand ambition,

you and I are not the same.

Of course.

You are you, I am me.

Right.

You are you,

I am me.

Today is our last encounter.

What do you mean, General?

Is the w*r getting serious?

Where are you going?

How long is your trip?

I'm leaving tonight.

This trip may result in a burial in a horse's hide.
[T/N: a death on the b*ttlefield]

That is the fate of people like us in the military.

Cheng Shaoshang,

I know that you want to leave with Lou Yao to a post outside the capital.

But please don't rush it.

I will ask His Majesty to relocate you to a peaceful region.

Please do not, for the sake of running away from home,

settle down in a poor location.

You have a weak body,

you can't stand it.

Now that I think about it,

ever since we met,

I have never heard you play the flute.

Your trip will be full of danger, General Ling, please take care of yourself.

If General wants to hear me play the flute,

when you return in victory, I will for sure play it for you.

There's no need.

You should save your flute performance for your husband.

I wish you well in your marriage.

If I can survive and return,

you and I will be strangers going forward,

and never see each other again.

That's all.

You should go first.

What about you, General?

I will stay here a little longer.

[Ling Manor]

Young Lord, Eldest Master Lou just now had someone bring the map.

He said he completed the task entrusted to him.

And that he prefers the mountain scenery.

So you do not need to recommend him to join the court.

It seems like Grand Tutor Lou still stopped him from serving His Majesty.

The Lou family's second branch has to rely on other people's will to survive.

When she is married, I wonder...

how it will be for her.

Now that I think about it,

ever since we met,

I have never heard you play the flute.

Your trip will be full of danger, General Ling, please take care of yourself.

If General wants to hear me play the flute, when you return in victory,

I will for sure play it for you.

Young Lord, the troops have assembled outside the city.

When do we leave?

Right now.

Yes!

[Ling Manor]

[One month later]

- Greetings, Your Majesty.
- Greetings, Your Majesty.

- Your Majesty, we are lucky to not disappoint your command and have captured Prince Yong and his son alive.
- Good.

General Ling. General Wu. Waive the formalities and stand.

- Thank you, Your Majesty.
- Thank you, Your Majesty.

Is anyone left alive among General He and his sons?

Replying to Your Majesty. I was a little late.

The entire He family has died for the country.

If it weren't for the sacrifice of General He and his family,

Zisheng and I couldn't have so quickly

captured Prince Yong and returned to the capital.

Heaven has made me lose such a loyal subject and good general.

When General He bid farewell to me before he left for the wedding,

his face and smiles are still visible to me now.

Who could have expected, when he returned,

he would be separated from me by death.

Your Majesty, General He had a wish before he died.

What wish did he have? Just tell me.

I will definitely fulfill it.

General He was worried

about his remaining daughter and son. His son is very young.

His daughter, Zhaojun, was originally engaged to the Lou family's son before she was to marry Prince Xiao.

Now that the Xiao rebels have been k*lled or captured,

the Xiao family and the He family's marriage accord is terminated.

The wish is for her to renew the marriage accord with the Lou family's son.

The Lou family's son... Isn't he already engaged?

General He didn't know that Grand Tutor Lou's nephew was engaged to the Cheng family's daughter.

That's why he had such a wish. His trip ended so tragically and stoically.

Even though it doesn't conform to etiquette, it's understandable.

This old subject pleads for Your Majesty to decide.

Decide what? As a subject,

it's one's duty to serve loyally for the country.

This may sound unpleasant, but if one achieves meritorious deeds,

one can naturally demand rewards?

You can't say it like that.
[Lord Zuo]

The He family suffered so many deaths, shouldn't there be more compassion?

According to what the general said, His Majesty should issue a decree to fulfill this wish?

Has General thought about it clearly? If this precedent is set,

from now on, if any family suffers tragic casualties,

can they rely on their merits and request objects from other families?

The Lou and Cheng families aren't married yet, right?

An engagement is a promise. How can it be easily reneged?

But outside of the law, there is also human kindness. The He clan's

loyalty can touch Heaven. General He's last wish should be carried out.

Hey, Old Ji! Which side are you on?

This is a national affair,

and also Grand Tutor Lou's family affair. Therefore,

we should ask Grand Tutor Lou first how he thinks. Grand Tutor Lou,

what do you think about this?

For two families to break a promise, why are you asking the man's family first?

Isn't this taking advantage of my good brother Cheng who isn't in the court?

This is indeed difficult.

What? A'Yao won't be coming over these days anymore?

Blame Yuan Shanjian for blocking me and A'Yao from seeing each other.

He claimed that it would affect my studies and that I should beware of extreme joy that begets sorrow.

His mouth is no less mean than a country shrew's.

Niao Niao, you shouldn't say that.

Teacher Yuan is blocking you two because he cares about Young Master Lou.

Teacher Yuan probably did it because he feels uncomfortable seeing how she and A'Yao like to be stuck to each other.

This is really using poison against poison.

Third Brother, who are you calling poison?

Do you older brothers also look down at A'Yao?

It's not that we look down at Young Master Lou.

It's because we look down on you.

Whenever you see him, you smile gleefully like Er'wang next door chewing on his chicken drumstick.

You're the one who looks like Er'wang from next door!

Sister Qiqi.

Get up.

Don't mind these shallow guys.

Shaoshang, there's big trouble.

What big trouble would make Sister Qiqi run like this?

My father just came back from the palace. He said that in the battle in Fengyi Prefecture,

we won! Prince Yong and his son have been captured and are being escorted back to the capital.

All the people in the capital are watching the excitement at the city gate.

Isn't this good? Why did you say there's big trouble?

It's good, but it's bad for you.

Did you know the entire family of General He died in the battle?

General He's entire family died in the battle?

So pitiful.

But why is it bad for me?

They are bullying our Cheng family for not being in the imperial court.

Isn't there another way to console the He family?

Why do they have to use Niao Niao's marriage to show kindness?

Grand Tutor Lou didn't even say a word?

That old rascal looked like his tongue was cut.

Younger Sister, don't be anxious yet. This matter isn't decided yet.

Why would I be anxious? Since the Lou family doesn't dare to decide right away,

let's wait for them to think it through clearly, then they can talk to us.

That's right. At the worst, we don't have to have this marriage.

Our Niao Niao isn't someone who is unwanted. They were the ones who were desperate in proposing.

Now, they are the ones who are like a turtle whose head recedes into the shell.

I, Cheng Shi, don't need A'Yao as my son-in-law.

But our Niao Niao cannot be humiliated like this.

I've always been unlucky.

I was even curious...

why it's been so smooth to have this marriage.

I didn't know bad luck was waiting for me here.

Don't worry, my niece. As long as the Lou family hasn't expressed their intention,

this marriage is still on.

The Lou family hasn't expressed their intention...

not because they care about our Cheng family,

but because they are weighing this matter...

to see whether they will receive more criticism if they agree

or if they will receive more advantages.

Niao Niao is right. Grand Tutor Lou is an old fox.

If he doesn't get any advantages, he won't decide quickly.

It's just that, Niao Niao, this matter

involves you. Regardless of the Lou family,

what do you yourself think?

What I think has never been important.

My heart aches for A'Yao.

He can finally get a faraway job

and leave that suffocating home.

But now,

it's missing just a step.

I'm not the most aggrieved person in this matter. A'Yao is.

I just won't marry the person I want to marry.

But he...

will have to marry someone he doesn't want to marry.

Immature child!

Eldest Uncle.

Aren't you absurd enough?

Do you have to embarrass our Lou family

before you stop?

Hurry and get down!

You can't even climb over a wall.

You expect to change your fate?

Don't move.

Inform the second branch to carry him back.

Understood.

My leg...

Why are you so careless?

I don't care if His Majesty conferred He Zhaojun the title of Lady Ancheng. Even if she is Princess Ancheng,

I don't want her.

Even so, you should not act recklessly. If something happens to you,

Mother will very sad.

Master told me to pay A'Yao a visit.

I didn't expect you to behave in such a way.

Breaking your leg because of petty romance.

I want to ask. Toward a patriotic family like the He Clan,

with only Zhaojun and her young brother as survivors, you can only think about romance?

I didn't like He Zhaojun ever since she was young.

My poor A'Yao was bullied by her for so many years.

This marriage... I do not accept.

I know you never liked Zhaojun. How about this?

I'll teach her once she marries into our family.

You just enjoy yourself.

Since A'Yao's engagement with Shaoshang, he has been happy every day.

Why are you forcing him to marry a woman he doesn't like?

It's not your place to talk!

You should focus on the big picture. From a general perspective,

General He sacrificed for the country. From a minute perspective, we owe her a favor.

Whether it's for patriotism or loyalty, Zhaojun has to marry into our family.

If it's to repay the He family's favor, why did you rush to get your eldest son married?

If it's for His Majesty, he only stated that He Zhaojun is to marry into the Lou family

but he didn't specify that it has to be our A'Yao.

Why don't you let your second son marry her?

Don't treat us like fools.

Nonsense! How dare you!

Mother is right.

You do not want your son to suffer under He Zhaojun, so you force it on our A'Yao.

I'm going to report you for disobedience.

You are not my mother-in-law, how will you report me?

I'm not going to marry her. If you or Uncle force me to,

on the day of the marriage banquet, in front of all the guests,

I'll expose how the first branch of the Lou family rushed to get engaged

in order to avoid marrying He Zhaojun.

I'll ask them to judge on this matter.

See how they view the first branch's scheming.

It's not up to you to cancel the engagement or not.

I will send a request to the Cheng family and have them call off the engagement.

You have changed since your engagement with Fourth Miss Cheng.

Now you know to fight for your rights.

Shaoshang told me...

I need to fight for the life I want.

How mighty you are, General Ling!

You've actually kicked out all the guards in the Ministry of Justice jail.

What? You want to talk to this prince

on some heart-to-heart stuff?
[Prince Yong]

That's right.

Prince Yong has always been in Fengyi Prefecture these years.

When His Majesty sent for you, you were either sick or wounded.

It's a rare chance to meet Prince Yong.

Shouldn't we have a good talk?

What is there to talk about?

The winner becomes king, the loser becomes a bandit. I accept fate. Everything that's been done

was all my doing. My son was only following my orders.

My death isn't worth pitying. I only wish that

His Majesty will remember our past camaraderie and let him live.

Prince Yong is really a kind father.

I just wonder, does everything

include the case of the lone city from years ago?

What are you saying, General Ling?

I don't understand.

If you really don't understand, why did you

rebel as soon as you received the imperial decree? You clearly knew that if it were only about Prince Xiao selling weapons,

His Majesty wouldn't k*ll you for your possible disloyalty.

But if it included your stealing and reselling military weapons in the lone city back then,

leading to the loss of the lone city and the deaths of His Majesty's sworn brother's entire clan,

His Majesty surely wouldn't let you off.

Just as we thought! My son told me that

he got the weapons through Xu Jinzhong's channel,

but Xu Jinzhong fell into your hands.

I knew that none of this could be hidden from you.

What a pity. I actually bestowed the name "Jinzhong" to him.
[T/N: total loyalty]

He was disloyal and unrighteous.

If I hadn't promoted him back then,

he would have still been a stinky blacksmith.

If he hadn't betrayed me

and confessed to the lone city's incident, I wouldn't have to take this risky military strategy

and ruin my life's meritorious achievement.

Prince Yong really likes to speculate about others by your own measure.

For your selfish gains, you put all the soldiers in the lone city into dire straits.

That's unrighteousness. You didn't obey His Majesty and led troops to rebel.

That's disloyalty. You are disloyal and unrighteous,

how can you expect others to keep your secrets for you?

However, you are wrong about one thing.

Xu Jinzhong didn't tell me these things.

Before I could interrogate him, he had already died.

His Majesty ordered you to return to the capital in order to hear your own explanation and to spare your life.

But you...

You suspected that you were already betrayed by Xu Jinzhong, so you immediately led your troops to rebel.

It's your own stupidity that has ruined your life.

Impossible! It's because His Majesty wants to k*ll me, that's why I rebelled.

I didn't make the wrong choice.

This is retribution!

[Shuye City]

Do you know, because of you,

how many of the lone city's soldiers died without closing their eyes?

How many people became homeless?

Let me ask you.

All these years, in the middle of the night,

have you slept peacefully?



♪ The flames of w*r strike against the frost and snow ♪

♪ It lightly covers the lingering illness of the past ♪

♪ Your back is against the light,
the galaxy reflected in your eyes ♪

♪ I hum a tune, the sun and the moon respond ♪

♪ The brilliance that penetrates the eyes ♪

♪ was extinguished by dust and lit again ♪

♪ The edges of earth, Kunlun, and netherworld
feel remorse for someone ♪

♪ The ocean is waking, the forest of steles
are like a mountain range ♪

♪ There are veiled criticisms in the corridor, a narrow door cannot easily close off one’s intentions ♪

♪ The challenges of one’s life become advice for the future ♪

♪ You and I will be in the same galaxy ♪

♪ We’ll use our absolute sincerity to
bring radiance to the ordinary ♪

♪ Bring radiance to the ordinary ♪