01x18 - Episode 18

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= Dominion and Devotion =

= Episode 18 =

I'm Luo Wenjing, the Huiyuan.

I'm appealing for justice.

I request to see Your Majesty.

I'm Luo Wenjing, the Huiyuan.

I'm appealing for justice.

I request to see Your Majesty.

[Luo Wenjing, Examinee]
Hold on.

Let him speak.

First, I accuse Li Changjia,

Chief Censor of the Censorate, of abusing power,

detaining a scholar of this year
without cause, and torturing him.

Second, I accuse
the Court of Judicial Review

of k*lling innocent Qin Yu,
a Juren of this year,

with utmost cruelty.

Third, I accuse this year's Chief Examiner
of leaking, corruption,

rigging the imperial exams,
and wrecking the governance.

I knew it.

You took me out

for some reason.

Your Majesty, forgive me.

This scholar has suffered greatly.

Having heard of my mentor's virtue,
he sought help from me.

Your Majesty, please investigate the case
and bring justice back

to this country's scholars.

Please look into the case,

k*ll vile courtiers,

stop the eunuch scourge,

and bring justice back to the scholars.

The imperial exams are a major state affair.

Even if you hadn't made such a scene,

I would still deal with it.

Huo Zheng,

investigate this case personally.

All officials involved,
regardless of their rank,

will be suspended for a full investigation

and be punished severely
once the truth is clarified.

Yes,

Your Majesty.

Thank

you...

Your Majesty,

Qian Ming is close to Master Zhuo.

Zhuo Shangxian must be
stirring things up behind this.

Your Majesty.

You are injured.

No need for formalities.

Greetings, Your Majesty.

Greetings, Master Huo.

Tell me in detail

about what happened.

Qin Yu and I are classmates and friends.

[Grade List]
[When the list was revealed,]

[we checked the list together.]

Congratulations, Luo.

You're the Huiyuan.

Luo,

you are truly a model for all of us.

Thank you.

[I became the Huiyuan.]

[While Qin Yu, usually outstanding
in talent, failed to rank.]

[That night,]

[I accompanied him to drink.]

[After drinking, I sent him home.]

[And I overheard]

[Ding Shanwen, son of Vice Minister
of Imperial Granary, mention cheating.]

You said you got the exam questions in advance,

yet you didn't rank at all.

Quiet.

[Qin Yu and I followed them to find out]

that it's Chief Examiner Qian Ming
who leaked the questions.

It's a serious matter,

so we went to the Censorate to report it.

But Li Changjia, Chief Censor
of the Censorate, detained us,

forced us to admit that the leak
was a false accusation,

[and drove us out of the city.]

Move.

Stop dawdling.

Hurry up.

Hurry.

With no background, yet you dared
report to the Censorate?

Ridiculous.

It's out of benevolence
that I spared your pathetic lives.

Now get lost.

Hurry up.

[They humiliated us all the way.]

Move.

Get up.

You ignorant fools.

You're lucky to be alive.

Behave yourselves.

Don't return to the capital.

Get up quickly.

Get lost.

If you come back, I'll beat you to death.

I told you long ago.

Fairness and justice?

In their eyes, it all means nothing.

I aimed to retake the exam.

But you made such a big fuss.

I wouldn't have come if I had known.

Why am I so useless?

I admitted false accusation
and signed a confession.

Now I've even left a record
in the Censorate.

This completely ruins my career path.

If you didn't admit it,

I fear you couldn't even
keep your remaining half-life.

Luo was already the Huiyuan.

Now all efforts are in vain.

In this case,

we should all leave

and each look for livelihoods.

I'll return to the capital.

I'll return to file a suit.

Fellow scholars,

are you willing to return with me?

Whoever goes is looking for death.

I advise you all not to follow his madness.

I'll go with you.

[Qin Yu and I decided to return.]

We discussed strategies along the way.

We planned to ask Master Huo to do us
justice once we were in the city.

[South Gate]

Why are the guards suddenly so strict?

They may fear we're not giving up

and will go back.

Let's follow the plan first.

We can fake outsiders
seeking livelihoods in the city.

If stopped,

we can pay to get through.

Go in.

Halt.

Why are you going into the city?

Officer,

times are tough.

I'm trying to find a livelihood in the city.

Go quickly.

Thank you.

Thank you, officer.

[Qin Yu entered the city successfully.]

[But when it was my turn,]

[I ran into a censor.]

Halt.

Name?

How dare you come back?

Tell me.

Where are the others?

The Censorate leaked exam questions.

Where is justice?

The Censorate leaked exam questions.

Take him down.

Where is justice?

Don't come over.

I have expl*sives on me.

If anyone comes over, I'll ignite them.

Stop!

Stop!

Stop!

Later,

I told Master Huo everything.

But when Master Huo
went to inquire about Qin Yu,

he brought back only his corpse.

You should rest well for now

and don't think too much.

Huo Zheng,

start with Li Changjia.

Examine carefully.

Don't overlook any details.

Yes, Your Majesty.

You may leave first.

I'll ask him something alone.

I know the whole story

of this matter now.

But

I have a question.

I know

you are a woman.

I lied to Your Majesty.

I deserve death.

I am a bit curious.

Why did you dress as a man to take the exam?

My real name is Luo Wenxi.

Luo Wenjing was the name
of my elder brother.

He obtained the title of Juren
but soon passed away due to illness.

My family struggled to live.

So my father forced me to be a concubine
of a moneylender in the city.

I couldn't accept that.

I have my own aspirations.

So I borrowed my elder brother's name

to take the metropolitan exam.

You may rise.

I'd like to hear

what your ambition is.

I fear Your Majesty

might find my ambition amusing.

Speak freely.

As a child,

I had read and written
together with my elder brother

to be cultivated.

I thought more than once

that if one day,

when people talked about a woman,

the first thing they thought wasn't
her virtuous character or her compliance,

but phrases

like "boundless ambition"
and "great aspirations."

How great that would be.

Therefore,

my ambition since childhood

has been to stand in court like a man,

to cultivate myself,

to govern the country,

and to bring peace to the world.

If that could be achieved,

I would die without regret.

You're already the Huiyuan.

You're just one step away from the court.

I've never heard of a precedent
of a woman in the imperial court.

To me, this step is like

an insurmountable gap.

You heard it all?

Your Majesty,

what's on your mind?

If Zhuo Shangxian wants money,

there are better means
than cheating in the imperial exams.

What he wants

is to use the imperial exams

to place trusted aides in court

and gradually expand his power in court.

He aims at the ruling power.

For so many years,

how many of his people
have been planted in the court?

I'm afraid they are fully prepared.

But there is one person

who might be the breach.

- Ding Shanwen. - Ding Shanwen.

It's a big issue.

Why didn't you tell me earlier?

Are you seeking death?

Since you knew about the leak,
why didn't you silence them?

[Li Changjia, Chief Censor]
Calm down.

I didn't expect

that those few scholars
could cause such a big issue.

No one expected that they
weren't afraid of death.

So annoying.

And the evidence destruction?

Rest assured, Master Zhuo.

All relevant evidence has been destroyed.

There won't be any traces.

[Qian Ming, Minister of Personnel/Chief Examiner]
Related scholars will keep quiet.

Who did those scholars say

they learned about the leak from?

Ding Shanwen, the only son
of Ding Qiyuan, Vice Minister

of the Imperial Granary.

Where is he now?

He's probably

at home.

Probably?

Master, Huo Zheng didn't see you at your mansion.

Your butler

said you're here.

They are heading here now.

Li Changjia,

go with Huo Zheng.

When you're there,

you should know what to say

and what not to say.

Rest assured, Master Zhuo.

I know what to do.

I have been helping you for so many years,

and now I am implicated.

If anything happens to me,

it will be complete chaos.

I'm afraid all of you

will go down with me.

You are still safe.

I will settle this matter.

Then I'm relieved.

Where is she?

Who?

My wife.

She may be in the backyard.

You are here too.

Are there any other instructions?

Any other?

Who else?

[Ding Qiyuan, Vice Minister/Ding Shanwen's father]
Master Pei.

Master Zhuo, I must thank you.

I didn't know what to do about it.

Fortunately, Master Pei arrived in time

and took Shanwen away to hide.

When did he come?

Where did he go?

Half an hour ago.

They went to the suburban Yunqi Villa.

I won't say anything.

Master Li, I will give you another chance.

You detained the scholars,
tortured them to make them

admit that their accusation
of the leak was false,

and expelled them
to cover up the leak itself.

You even k*lled Qin Yu,
the scholar who told the truth.

Do you admit guilt?

Master Huo,

don't be like the commoners

and believe those rumors.

It is true that those
scholars were detained.

It's because they bypassed proper channels
to report, and they must be checked.

I detained them according to the law.

And the sentence of expulsion

was already a light one,

as I took their youth
and impetuosity into account.

As for Qin Yu,

he carried expl*sives,

trying to blow up the city gate.

It was witnessed by many people.

A decapitation sentence

was totally just.

Open the door.

Yes.

You have official duties.

You may leave now.

- Yes. - Yes.

What's with the whip?

♪ Candle lights the halls
through springs and autumns ♪

♪ Love and hate are written in a few strokes ♪

♪ Imperishable ♪

♪ Bloodstained vows with a touch of tenderness ♪

♪ Fate is written by the universe ♪

♪ Unending ♪

♪ Heaven falls ♪

♪ No concern for cause and effect ♪

♪ On the throne ♪

♪ Is it a shackle ♪

♪ Locking you and me up ♪

♪ Break through the wind and clouds ♪

♪ A dream lasts a lifetime.
The world has changed ♪

♪ One step forward, gaze back at the youth ♪

♪ At a glance, all beings bow their heads ♪

♪ I'm in the midst of chaos ♪

♪ At the end of the night ♪

♪ Having the loneliest dream in this world ♪

♪ Move on ♪

♪ Don't look back ♪