The Princess Royal (2024) s01e18 Episode Script

1
[The Princess Royal]
[Adapted from Mo Shu Bai's novel,
The Princess Royal on jjwxc.net]
[This is a work of fiction.]
[Episode 18]
Your Highness!
Your Highness!
The Prince Consort is back.
♪In the shower of petals♪
What did you say?
What did you just say?
♪And the stars twinkle. At this moment♪
Did you say Pei Wenxuan is back?
Really?
The Prince Consort The Prince Consort
is back in the capital.
♪It's hard to tell
what's right or wrong♪
♪I forgot to lock both our memories♪
♪Pupils are enchanted♪
Quickly. Ask someone to find out more
and keep me posted.
Besides,
send people
to guard the imperial hall at once.
As soon as there's news
from the imperial hall
that the Qin Family
has been pardoned,
have all the men
of the Inspectorate Office
clear the royal path
to ensure
that the Imperial Decree Bearer
can arrive
at the execution site unimpeded.
Yes.
Go now.
I'll go right away.
♪To take the risk, to make the decision♪
♪To break through♪
♪In the shower of petals,
and the stars twinkle♪
♪Make the decision
to love you to the moon and back♪
♪Don't be afraid of changes,
there's no escaping destiny♪
♪The dream
from the previous life is fading♪
Mr. Su.
Pei Wenxuan
is back.
I heard that.
What you just said
Please forget
about what I said, Your Highness.
Don't take it to heart.
Mr. Xie.
Why are you here?
But I haven't received
an imperial order from His Majesty.
My master said he'd be responsible
for any problems caused.
Execute them first.
[Execute]
[Beibang Inn]
It's time.
Execute!
Now.
The time is not yet up
and the imperial decree
hasn't yet arrived.
How could you execute them beforehand?
How dare you!
You are now in the capital,
the imperial city.
How dare you openly rescue criminals
disregarding the law?
Arrest them!
Halt the execution!
His Majesty has ordered
to halt the execution.
Here's the evidence I've obtained.
Your Majesty, please take a look at it.
Your Majesty, what you see here
are the records I transcribed
of the provisions and funds in transit
from the county offices
along the way that I visited.
I'm listening.
In addition to these records,
I've also asked
the local soldiers and people
to record their testimonies of the war.
In that war, half the soldiers
had suffered from starvation and illness
before the war started.
[A soldier defending Huangping County]
Apparently,
they couldn't fight
without enough to eat.
But under this circumstance,
the Qin Family was still able
to safely evacuate the people in advance
without causing too many casualties.
[A soldier in battle]
In my opinion,
the Qin Family
should not be punished.
Instead, they should be rewarded.
Your Majesty,
don't ever disappoint the soldiers
at the border.
Pei Wenxuan,
do you have any idea
what your words mean?
Your Majesty,
I implore you to thoroughly investigate
the embezzlement
of military provisions and funds
by the towns in Huangping County.
It's a false accusation.
Your Majesty,
he's making a false accusation.
Pei Wenxuan, do you know
how many officials in the Great Xia
will be wronged, humiliated,
and implicated if you make
such a casual remark?
If it's a false accusation,
it'll be found out.
Your Majesty,
I implore you to thoroughly investigate
the Ministry of Justice,
the Ministry of Revenue,
the Ministry of War, and the Censorate
to clear the Qin Family's name
and uphold justice
for the soldiers at the border.
Pei Wenxuan, what are you implying?
The Ministry of Justice, War,
Revenue, and the Censorate?
Are you saying
that everyone in the imperial court
is working together to hide the truth
and frame the Qin Family?
Is it worth it for a mere Qin Family?
Besides, as an investigating censor,
you were not doing your job,
yet you deceived His Majesty
and left the capital without permission.
When you're back,
you've fabricated a bunch of evidence
to deceive His Majesty.
Do you think His Majesty
can be fooled by you?
You checked the accounts.
What kind of authority do you have
as an investigating censor
that allows you
to check so many existing accounts?
Why would they give you those accounts?
How did you exactly get those accounts?
Your Majesty,
I implore you to look into this.
- Your Majesty,
- Your Majesty,
- I implore you to look into this.
- I implore you to look into this.
Your Majesty,
I implore you to look into this.
- Your Majesty,
- Your Majesty,
- I implore you to look into this.
- I implore you to look into this.
Your Majesty,
I implore you to look into this.
Your Majesty, the soldiers at the border
are not only guarding the border
but also the land
and the people of the Great Xia.
Pei Wenxuan, you've had a long journey.
This case is of great importance
and involves a lot of people.
Let me think about it.
You must be tired.
You can leave now and get some rest.
Your Majesty
What? Did I not make myself clear?
Yes, Your Majesty.
Wait.
Now, Pingyue is grounded
at Beiyan Pagoda.
Go and pick her up.
You can go home together.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Your Highness,
working with the noble families
to help the Crown Prince
ascend the throne
is the best path for you.
If the Inspectorate Office
is to be established,
you still need
to have a sense of proportion.
Power struggles involve strife.
Please be careful, Your Highness.
I don't want to be your enemy,
Your Highness.
I just hope you can lead a good life.
I've lost
this one.
Your Highness, you must have
a lot of things to attend to.
I'll take my leave now.
Su Rongqing.
Are you also?
Nothing.
Take care.
You didn't attend
today's morning audience,
but you've come
to Beiyan Pagoda for a stroll.
It seems like you're in a good mood.
I came to see Her Highness
for something.
It seems to be something urgent.
Mr. Pei,
you are afraid of me
meeting Her Highness, aren't you?
It's broad daylight.
What nonsense are you talking about?
Why would I be afraid
of you meeting Her Highness?
You asked me
to be your groomsman to fetch
Her Highness on your wedding day.
You intended to curry favor
with Her Highness.
But then you found out
that she liked me.
Right?
So what?
I'm the one
who's with Her Highness now.
Pei Wenxuan.
How can you feel at ease
when you say things like that?
Don't forget
that if it weren't for His Majesty's
fear of the imperial relatives,
you wouldn't have even been able
to get close to Her Highness
in your life.
Not to mention
to be with Her Highness.
Let me remind you of something, too.
If you miss it, you miss it.
Since I'm with Her Highness now,
I won't give her up to anyone else.
No matter whether it's in the past
or the future,
you won't get another chance.
Aren't you curious
about what I told Her Highness?
I told Her Highness
that I'd like to marry her.
Unfortunately, you're back.
Pei Wenxuan.
I don't know why you are so confident.
You think that you can
totally own Her Highness from now on?
But the way to protect Her Highness
is not to ask her
to go against everyone
in the imperial court with you
or to make her take on the burden
of supervising all the officials.
If you ever put Her Highness
in this kind of danger
in the future again,
then remember
you will never get to
stand by Her Highness again.
Pei Wenxuan.
You won't always be so lucky.
Su Rongqing, listen here.
You are no one to judge
how I treat Her Highness.
Besides,
I don't care what you've said
to Her Highness
because I know
Her Highness won't say yes to you.
Whether Her Highness agrees or not
is something you should find out
for yourself.
I'll still say the same thing.
Don't let Her Highness down.
Conduct yourself well.
Your Highness!
The Prince Consort
The Prince Consort is at the foot
of the pagoda.
[Beiyan Pagoda]
Your Highness!
Your Highness, slowly.
Be careful.
You're back.
Pei Wenxuan.
Rong.
I'm here to take you home.
Well
We haven't seen each other in a while,
so I've forgotten myself.
If I've offended you in any way
Does it hurt?
Your injuries.
Yes, it does.
It hurts everywhere.
Mr. Tian, you'd better confess.
The Prince Consort is already back.
The evidence he obtained is enough
to put a lot of people at risk.
Why don't you keep yourself safe first?
Trying to trick me
into talking about it?
You're too young for that.
If you insist,
I'll write a memorial
about you
and submit it to the Censorate.
Mr. Tian,
think about it carefully.
Wait.
Recently, Tian Zhong and the others
have disappeared one after another.
The situation is not encouraging.
I'm afraid
they've got something on them.
All these people
have been reported
by the Censorate, right?
What are you
going to do about them, Mr. Shangguan?
They've been warned to be careful
with their words and actions,
but they just won't listen.
I'm afraid they can't stand the torture
and will speak out of turn.
We need to get rid of the misfits
in the noble families
with Pingyue's help.
Is he all right?
Don't worry, Your Highness.
There is no vital injury.
He only needs to have a good rest
to recuperate.
That's good.
But please still prescribe
a few remedies to help nurse his health.
Yes.
Thank you.
Your Highness,
the Qins have been settled.
You can go to see them at any time.
I'll go over there and take a look.
Take care of your young master.
Yes.
General Qin.
Thank you, Your Highness.
Get up. You're still wounded.
No need for these formalities.
Your Highness,
you've saved my entire family.
You have shown us great kindness. I
Get up first. Get up and we can talk.
Slowly.
Okay.
Come on. Say thank you to Her Highness.
- Thank you for saving our lives.
- Thank you for saving our lives.
- We'll return the favor in the future.
- We'll return the favor in the future.
You asked
to be expelled from the capital
in exchange for time
to clear my family's name.
You have shown us great kindness.
In the future, I, Qin Yun, am willing
to repay you with my life.
Please get up.
Please get up now.
Her Highness has always disliked
such formalities.
I just hope you can stay alive
to do the right thing
and help the country.
That would be enough.
Please make yourselves at home.
Take care, Your Highness.
Come on, see Her Highness out.
I thought you walked me out
to thank me again.
The word "thank you"
never means anything.
What I can repay you
is the military power in the Northwest.
That's what you want the most,
right, Your Highness?
You're pretty confident
in your abilities.
It's not me
who has confidence in myself.
It's you who have confidence in me.
Otherwise, you wouldn't
have forced the Crown Prince
to go to Jiulu Mountain
several times to see me.
That's true.
Your Highness, please.
You must have
a lot of work ahead of you.
Don't get delayed.
His Majesty has arranged
for Qin's Mansion to be returned to you.
So,
you can either stay in my mansion
or go back to your mansion
today.
Such an honest man of character.
[Testimonies]
Xun Chuan and I got these testimonies
to help you overturn the case
for the Qin Family.
Okay.
If things go on like this,
my uncle will want to come to me soon.
But I'll get to the bottom
of the military provisions
and funds case.
You must find a way to persuade him
to take this opportunity
to rectify the Shangguan Family.
Of course,
it's awkward for Uncle to do it himself.
When the time comes,
you can take the initiative
to suggest the Shangguan Family
conduct an internal investigation.
This way,
I'll be able to have a say
in the Shangguan Family.
I can even talk to my father
about letting me
represent the Shangguan Family
to negotiate with you.
How confident are you?
It depends on how far you will push him.
I see.
I'll take these back and read them.
I'll get going now.
You're going back already?
Why don't you stay
and we'll play several rounds?
I don't want to play with you.
Pei Wenxuan just came back today.
I have to go back early.
Your Highness, I'll stay here
to discuss the details
with Miss Shangguan.
I'm glad you guys are working
so well together.
Be careful.
I'm leaving.
What's on your mind?
I'm thinking
Do you think Her Highness
likes Su Rongqing more
or the Prince Consort more?
Is that what you should
be thinking right now?
You're such a serious person.
It's so annoying to think
about serious things all the time.
It's so much fun gossiping
about Her Highness.
Finish your work
before you run into
Su Ronghua again.
You're so serious. Boring.
You scared me.
You scared me, too, Mr. Tong.
Jinglan,
it's been a long time
since Her Highness and my young master
haven't seen each other.
Yeah.
Then why are they still busy
with their own businesses?
Haven't you noticed
they've been acting strange
since they got back?
They're strange indeed.
It can't go on like this.
I have an idea.
Young Master.
Young Master.
You've got to talk to her.
Talk about what?
Don't you know what you have to do?
This is really serious.
Get to the point.
Her Highness refuses to sleep.
She was grounded in Beiyan Pagoda
for a long time.
It's a humid place.
She's already in poor health,
but she doesn't care.
She's still preoccupied
with state affairs.
If you don't persuade her, then
I got it. You can go and get some rest.
Okay.
Don't Don't get too worried.
What are you doing?
Go to bed.
Go to bed?
Come on.
What's wrong?
Be careful.
Nothing. Just go to bed.
It's late now.
Well, why did you come over here
all of a sudden to ask me to sleep?
I'm worried about your health.
It's late yet you're still
reading the memorials.
But you are still up too.
So I'm here to keep you company.
Come on.
You're mad?
I'm not mad.
I'm worried about your health.
Let's stop.
You're getting more and more aggressive.
It's like you're trying to devour me.
Did I hurt you?
Not really.
Well,
you're really heartbroken, aren't you?
Today,
I've lived for myself once.
Rongqing,
I hope
you live for yourself
for the rest of your life.
Since Her Highness doesn't want
to give up on the Inspectorate Office,
I can only use Consort Rou's power
to balance Her Highness's power
so that she won't become
everyone's target.
I told Her Highness
I'd like to marry her.
Are you unhappy
because you think
that I don't care about you?
When you weren't around,
they all thought you were dead.
But I knew
you were not.
I'm grateful for your faith in me.
You have always been confident in me.
It's not just because
I was confident in you.
It's also because I was afraid.
I was afraid
I wouldn't know
what to do if you died.
So whether I was confident
in you or not,
I had to believe you were alive.
What are you looking at me for?
It's embarrassing
to say this kind of thing,
so I don't like to say it.
What's so embarrassing about it?
I just want to look at you.
What's there to see? Sleep now.
Your Highness.
On my way to get evidence,
I was thinking about looking at you
like this every day.
No way, you
Your Highness.
I know you have me in your heart,
which makes me happy.
What are you doing?
I would like to give you
the joy of the world.
So I can repay your favor.
Here.
Stay still.
♪A dream takes me through eternity♪
♪Waking up to the warmth of the sun♪
♪Only wrinkles on one's sleeves♪
♪Then, you wave to me♪
Don't move.
What are you doing? No.
Be good.
No.
I don't need it.
I don't need it.
No, I can't have this.
- Don't move.
- I don't need it.
What do you think?
♪Talking about everything♪
♪I'm glad to have you in my world♪
♪By my side♪
♪We watch the moon and sun♪
♪We share the fate♪
♪We climb the high tower♪
♪Then we light up a lantern somewhere♪
♪The years pass♪
No.
I
I've heard
that Mr. Su has asked
for your hand in marriage.
Don't worry.
I'm just reminding you.
Don't be fooled by Mr. Su's good looks.
I can give you
everything you want.
Whenever you want
to be served,
I'll be at your service at any time.
I got it.
I got it.
Please forgive me, sir.
I'm sorry for having failed
to do my job.
Don't let anyone know
that you'd once left the capital.
Otherwise, even I can't keep you safe.
Sir.
Yes.
How dare they
to try to advance the execution.
They're forcing me to make a move.
Pei Wenxuan is a sharpened sword now.
I shall try him on you.
What are you standing here for?
I'm afraid these people
will mess with you.
They won't dare to when I'm here.
I'll be back to my place
when we get inside.
You underestimate me.
They can't beat me up
in public.
As long as they don't hit me,
we'll see who'll win.
Yes, you're right.
Can I just stand here
to shield you from the wind, then?
Your Highness.
Mr. Pei.
Mr. Pei, aren't you standing
in the wrong spot?
Shouldn't you be over there?
Mr. Su,
as the Prince Consort,
what's wrong with me
standing next to Her Highness?
Enter the hall!
Pingyue,
how's the case I asked you
to investigate going?
Father,
the Qin Family's case
is basically ready to close.
The case originated
from the Ministry of War.
The Ministry of War failed
to keep the Military Record,
resulting in missing pages
in the record.
An official noticed
that the battle
in Huangping County was unusual
and blurted it out.
[The Qin Family's case originated]
Then, a kind man went to Mr. Wen Ping
[from the Ministry of War]
and reported the Qin Family.
So Mr. Wen worked with Mr. Cui Shuyun
of the Ministry of Justice
to investigate the case.
But they neglected their duties
in the course of investigating the case,
resulting in a wrongful conviction.
Now that the Qin Family's name
has been cleared,
I hope that you can severely punish
Wang Xi,
the Director of the Ministry of War,
Wen Ping of the Censorate,
Cui Shuyun of the Ministry of Justice,
and the others involved in the case.
In addition to the Qin Family's case,
I've also sorted out the embezzlement
of military provisions and funds
related to this case.
I've also provided a list
of the names of those involved.
I implore you to allow me to conduct
a thorough investigation, Father.
Well done.
Look.
When I first wanted
to establish the Inspectorate Office,
you stopped me.
You said Pingyue was too young
to do anything.
So, how's the case going?
I think it's going very well.
It's been investigated clearly
and there's not a single mistake.
If it weren't for Pingyue,
I wouldn't know that you officials
were so capable.
Your Majesty, I think
it's fortunate
that by the grace of Heaven,
Her Highness is able
to supervise the officials
with great success.
The Shangguan Family has begun
an internal investigation,
and we'll get rid
of all those involved soon.
These evil actions
are not what the Shangguan Family wants,
even if it's just one man's corruption.
I guess Ya convinced him.
In that case,
the establishment
of the Inspectorate Office is necessary.
Then,
do you have any objections
to the establishment
of the Inspectorate Office?
I have no objection.
Good. It's decided, then.
From today on,
Pingyue is officially in charge
of the Inspectorate Office.
All affairs of the Inspectorate Office
can be reported directly to me.
No need to report to the two Chancellors
and Six Ministries.
Pingyue,
you can handpick the internal staff
for the Inspectorate Office.
Mingsheng Military Drill Ground
in the north of the city
will be the office of the Inspectorate.
The Ministry of Revenue
should make a budget
for the establishment
of the Inspectorate Office
and submit it to Pingyue.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Not less than 30,000 taels per year.
Your Majesty, isn't that too much?
There are many places
where money is needed.
Her Highness needs so much
You can't even spare 30,000 taels?
The Ministry of Revenue collects
tens of millions of taels of tax
every year.
Now you can't even spare 30,000 taels?
How do you do your job?
Pingyue,
I've established
the Inspectorate Office for you.
You have to share my burdens
in the future.
Yes, Father.
Well.
The Qin Family's case and the military
provisions and funds case
These two cases
are both assigned
to the Inspectorate Office.
Now that the Inspectorate Office
has been established,
I'll find an assistant for you.
Assistant?
With so much power in your hands,
you'll need someone to assist you.
I'll choose the Su Family's eldest son,
Su Ronghua.
Su Ronghua was Prince Su's mentor
and he is from a noble family.
He'll definitely keep a close eye
on Her Highness.
Having someone from the Su Family
as an assistant
is a way to appease the noble families.
It's decided then.
Have the Central Secretariat
prepare a decree.
Pingyue, pick a date
to establish the Inspectorate Office
as soon as possible.
Yes, Father.
I'm afraid Father has developed
a distrust of us.
[Mingyue Palace]
Sir.
If the ruler is not upright,
what should the ministers do?
The ministers should admonish him
with their lives.
And if the ruler doesn't accept it,
what then?
As those in front fall,
those behind take up their positions.
What if it still won't work?
If that's the case,
choose another wise ruler.
All right, that's all for today.
Mr. Su, thank you for the lesson today.
Your Highness.
Come on, bow to Mr. Su.
Your Highness.
I accept this honor on one condition.
I wonder what you can offer me.
What do you want?
But Your Highness
and Prince Su may not agree
to my condition.
Just tell us.
From now on
you will do whatever I say.
- Greetings, Your Highness.
- Greetings, Your Highness.
It's in my mansion.
Uncle, you don't need to be so formal.
Please sit down.
Thank you, Your Highness.
Your Highness, there are so many things
in the Shangguan Family
that I can't handle them all.
Now that a mistake has been made,
I'm here to ask you
to close the Qin Family's cases.
Now, the Qin Family is involved
in two cases,
the military provisions and funds case
and the case of framing.
How much do you know
about these two cases?
Your Highness,
my father didn't know anything
about them.
To be honest, Your Highness,
the Qin Family's case was already
a case with solid evidence
when it came to my father's attention.
Despite his selfish motives,
he's not a man who can't distinguish
between right and wrong.
What's going on then?
His Majesty takes sides with Mr. Xiao
in the fight for military power
in the Northwest.
My father was afraid that His Majesty
would believe slanders,
so he sent someone
to investigate the Qin Family.
My father's intention was
to rectify any mistakes
and let them go
if there were no mistakes.
And then what happened?
But the word then became
finding out the Qin Family's fault.
The Ministry of War found nothing
after the investigation.
So they tore up the Military Record
and submitted it to the Censorate
for reporting
on the fulfillment of their duties.
The Censorate
saw that Yang Quan was a traitor.
The Qin Family was working under him
at that time.
In the battle to defend the city,
our soldiers and enemies were
in equal numbers, yet we lost the war.
It was very strange.
Hence,
the Censorate made evidence
out of nothing
and made Luo Juan a witness.
In fact, even if the Ministry of Justice
had got Luo Juan's testimony,
it would not have been enough
to convict the Qin Family.
But the Ministry of Justice thought
that my father wanted
to thoroughly investigate the Qin Family
and the Qin Family seemed
to have deserved it,
so the Ministry of Justice
added another piece of evidence.
During the search,
the taels of gold and forged letters
were planted in Qin's Mansion
to form complete evidence and clues
together with Luo Juan's testimony.
And, Uncle, you felt
that Father had gone too far this time,
so you wanted to give Father a warning
and decided to go ahead
with this big case.
When I started looking into it,
they started panicking,
trying desperately
to cover up their guilt.
And you thought
I was being used
and deceived,
right?
Now that things have come to this,
I don't want to argue any further.
I just hope that you can stop here
and discontinue the stalemate.
I understand your determination.
But the Shangguan Family
is the foundation of you
and the Crown Prince.
Your Highness.
You must be clear about this.
How can you call a group of people
who can't be kept in check
and want to cause you trouble
your foundation?
♪Who gazes at the sky from afar?♪
♪Who gazes at the sky from afar?♪
♪In the night's chill breeze♪
♪What is she singing for?♪
♪The wind caresses the hills♪
♪The wind causes ripples on calm water♪
♪Moonlight graces passing souls♪
♪Her steps get slower and slower♪
♪She's trod a lengthy path♪
♪Memories lost then found♪
♪Gazing idly as clouds roll by♪
♪She holds a red candle♪
♪To brave the thick fog♪
♪Life can be bitter sometimes♪
♪Experience it with grace♪
♪Like a fleeting dream♪
♪Like a fleeting dream♪
♪Neither warmth nor cold will last♪
♪Like a fleeting dream♪
♪Like a fleeting dream♪
♪The moon is reflected in her eyes♪
♪In her gaze,
the unwavering faith remains♪