Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (2018): Season 1, Episode 28 - Episode #1.28 - full transcript
After being released from the Cold Palace, Ru Yi seems like a new person. The Emperor continues investigations to clear Ru Yi's name.
♫The sounds from the sheng and xiao die away in the distance, in the sparse, declining light ♫
(T/N reed instrument made of vertical pipes; end-blown flute)
♫ Memories of my past, my companions in youth. ♫
♫ Over boundless years, old affairs have become difficult to recall. ♫
♫ I’ve used a lifetime of truth to put up a pretense. ♫
♫ Parting without opening these cupped hands full of tears. ♫
♫ Clears my vision and permits me to resist ♫
♫ Perhaps when targeted by love it is not wise to separate ♫
♫ The morning wind can not dispel the aftermath. ♫
♫ Whose hidden tears made the blooming flowers blush, ♫
♫ And in the desolate and dreary torrential storms to painfully droop low, ♫
♫ Unwilling to blossom again alone? ♫
♫ The coming day belongs to the young. ♫
♫ As the glimmer of dawn becomes again the setting sun. ♫
♫ Who is this person who does not sleep soundly in the middle of the night? ♫
♫Sitting and watching the autumn wind puff out and penetrate the palace curtains. ♫
♫One strand held in remembrance, shackling sentiment and concern. ♫
♫ Always submerged in the fragrant incense of fleeting time ♫
Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace
Episode 28
(အပိုင္း28)
Zhongcui Palace
ေဇာင္ခ်ဴးနန္းေတာ္
Kexin, where's Yonghuang?
က်ီဇင္း;ေယာင္ဟြန္းေရာ
First Prince isn't finished with school yet.
မင္းသား၁ ေက်ာင္းမဆင္းေသးပါဘူး
I heard today is Consort Xian's returning day.
ဒီေန႔ သခင္မရွန္းျပန္လာတယ္လို႔ က်ြန္မႀကားတယ္
First Prince is very happy.
မင္းသား၁လဲအရမ္းေပ်ာ္ေနတာ
He kept saying he wanted to go see Consort Xian with you after school.
ေက်ာင္းဆင္းရင္ သခင္မရွန္းကိုသြားေတြ႔ခ်င္တယ္လို႔ သူေျပာတယ္
It's only natural since Consort Xian did indeed raise First Prince for so many years.
သခင္မရွန္းနဲ႔မင္းသား၁ကႏွစ္ေတာ္ေတာ္ႀကာရင္းႏွီးခဲ႔ေတာ့ ေတြ႔ခ်င္တာေပါ့ေလ
You must be on your way to Yikun Palace too then.
မင္းလဲ ရီကြမ္းနန္းေတာ္ကို လိုက္သြားလိုက္ပါ
That's right.
ဟုတ္ကဲ႔ပါ
Greetings, Older Sister.
မမႀကီး ေနေကာင္းတယ္ေနာ္
Younger Sister Shen, why are you here?
ညီမေလးရွန္း ဒီကို ဘာကိစၥလဲ
I was going to go to Yikun Palace to say my congratulations.
က်ြန္မက ရီကြမ္းနန္းေတာ္ကိုသြားျပီး ဂုဏ္ျပဳမလို႔ပါ
Who would know that when I just arrived, I saw His Majesty coming out from there?
ဘယ္သူသိမွာလဲ က်ြန္မေရာက္ေတာ့ မင္းႀကီးအဲ႔ဒီကထြက္လာတာေတြ႔လိုက္တယ္
Saying Consort Xian needs rest and she's not to be disturbed.
So you see, I got rejected flat despite my warm thought, so I came to ask a cup of tea from you.
Younger sister, come in and let's talk.
Actually, it was a misunderstanding.
Consort Xian isn't putting on airs.
That was back then, but not so anymore.
Older sister, where is the First Prince?
He's still in school.
Younger sister, take a seat.
Okay.
Sister, though First Prince has been raised by you last few years.
In the past, he was with Concubine Ruyi.
Now that Concubine Ruyi is back,
You plan to just return a half-grown son back to her?
I can't do that.
I've looked after Yonghuang these years without any fault.
Would I just return him to Concubine Ruyi just like that?
Others might think I mistreated Yonghuang then.
That's right too.
You were promoted to Consortship not only because of your merit of birthing Third Prince.
It's also for the toil of raising First Prince.
Since you have two royal princes,
and you're the chief of consorts and our blessing.
But if First Prince wants to go back there,
it will be different then.
Sister, this First Prince is the eldest heir.
Until the empress births a son, the eldest son is most precious.
You can't say that too.
It's actually your four prince that was born in great time.
That's a very precious son there.
How could I be compared to you?
But I would still like to give you a word of advice.
You should be careful or else someone might pick up a easy convenience from you.
By the way, First Prince is coming of age, right?
The son of the Emperor who's at this age,
He's old enough to be appointed a marriage.
Have you any inkling?
His Majesty did say a few grand houses have daughters.
They are all pretty suitable.
Sister, having a good marriage is having a good dependence.
The eighth prince of Emperor Kanxi.
His birth mother was actually a servant in the washing room.
But he got appointed a marriage with the granddaughter of Prince An, Yolo.
That's how he got the qualifications to fight for the throne.
You better worry more about First Prince's marriage.
Don't let some little clan get the better deal.
I know.
Older sister.
Older sister.
Older sister.
Older sister.
Hailan.
You are finally back.
I was about to visit you.
How is the child?
Let's sit and talk.
You've thinned out so much.
You have suffered.
It's my fault for being incompetent. I didn't even know you were poisoned with arson.
It's already in the past. I'm fine now.
Who did all those?
Her Highness, R'Ruo or Noble Consort? This matter must be thoroughly investigated.
Yexin, go out first.
Yes.
I did it to myself.
What?
If one wants to leave Cold Palace, one must put in effort.
I heard you got poisoned by cinnabar.
Has it harmed your unborn baby?
Did you find out who did it?
If I were to say that it's the same as you,
would you believe it?
You did it yourself?
For me?
Jiang Yubin helped you?
Jiang Yubin didn't tell me.
You weren't afraid you could hurt your fetus?
Older sister, I'm worried about you and you are worried about me too.
So I told Jiang Yubin not to say. It's not his fault.
But with Jiang Yubin checking the amount,
I was spared any major harm.
And also, in the end you and I had a spiritual connection.
And released you from your bondage.
Older sister, I'm fine. Don't worry.
Older sister, if it's convenient for you, I would like to show you something.
Okay.
How did this happen?
I ate a lot and the stomach grew bigger too.
Ever since I was in the sixth month,
these would appear on my body.
Everything's fine. There are many good medicines in the imperial hospital.
This is definitely curable.
It's useless. I've asked the midwives.
They said that certain pregnant women
would get this after pregnancy.
This can't be cured.
Even if I give birth to the child,
these would still remain on my body.
Think about it. If I were to service His Majesty in bed,
what will he think when he sees it?
After you give birth,
let's find a way.
Palace is only a place based on looks.
Sister, I know my favor has come to an end.
My status isn't high. Once I give birth,
I may not be able to keep it by me to raise it.
At that time, it will be sent to Xifang Hall.
Or bequeathed to others.
Why don't I leave it with you and let it become your child?
Become my child?
Currently,
Concubine Jia's fourth prince is His Majesty's favorite.
Concubine Chun will never return First Prince to you.
But you can't not have your own child.
But you only managed to get pregnant after so much trouble.
And you're having such a difficult pregnancy.
Sister, we are only blood apart.
Must we nitpick about this?
Don't worry.
I will do all my utmost if the child is with me.
If I worry about you,
who else would I not worry about?
Older sister, you are finally back.
We will be together again and never separate.
Put on your clothes now. Don't catch a cold.
Cining Palace.
Greetings, Concubine Ruyi.
Consort Xian, Empress Dowager has tea prepared awaiting you.
This way, please.
Greetings, Empress Dowager.
Stand up.
I've brewed high tea for you.
Sit.
You knew I would come for sure.
If you don't come, you won't be able to try my fine tea.
You're kept yourself very well, Empress Dowager.
It seems residing peacefully in back harem has been good.
It's excellent that you could survive too.
His Majesty didn't dote on you for nothing and I didn't protect you for nothing too.
You are finally out.
You let me persist my life for the one day to come.
Thus, I came here specially to send my regards today
May you be healthy forever.
You are considered good.
You knew after a fire you can't stay in Cold Palace anymore.
So you took a risk on yourself.
Now all the palace.
Even His Majesty is suspicious.
Was it Noble Consort or First Class Attendant Shen
who put arson on you.
Even Empress can't fathom the suspicion.
If you didn't do that on your own,
would you be that lucky to have someone to save you?
Empress Dowager, you are wise.
No wonder His Majesty suspects them.
They have done it before.
They just wouldn't let you go over and over again.
But now that you're out.
What does His Majesty plan to do?
I had no one to lean on.
But you were merciful and I could be spared to stay at Palace.
From now on, I continue to beg your pity.
Empress comes from high nobility.
Fuca is a Manchu banner and well connected with old subjects.
She is also frugal and a great example.
Noble Consort's father is greatly deemed by His Majesty in the royal court.
But I never liked having only one pot of flower in the palace blooming grandly.
A hundred pots of flowers all blooming alluring is true success.
If you understand this then you can preserve yourself well.
I understand it.
Drink tea.
Today's bath water was drawn with peach branch and willow leaves.
Boiled with lilac flower and pearl powder.
It has the effect of getting rid of evil and darkness.
His Majesty especially instructed this.
To wash away your Cold Palace dark air.
Very good, Qinying. You walked out of Cold Palace on your own.
You are indeed a woman of Ula-Nara.
But a Ula-Nara woman wouldn't halt her stops.
You must continue
To reclaim all that belongs to you.
All that belongs to you.
Mistress, did you have a bad dream again?
What bad dream? Stop talking nonsense.
Even since Concubine Ruyi came out from the Cold Palace,
you haven't been able to sleep soundly.
That whore. She won't stay put in Cold Palace.
She comes out to make trouble.
Whore. I can't have her.
I'm not afraid.
I'm not afraid of anything.
I'm not afraid.
Mistress.
Greetings, Your Highness.
Get up and sit.
Thank you, Your Highness.
Concubine Ruyi, it has been a long time since we have seen you.
We've had some misunderstanding before and Consort Xian's had to compromise for a few years.
But now Consort Xian is back again to accompany us.
We must get along well.
Thank you, Your Highness, for your concerns.
Consort Xian, Noble Lady Shen used to serve you.
She's now favored by His Majesty. The both of you must get along with each other.
- Yes.
- Yes.
Though Noble Lady Shen used to serve Consort Xian,
but it's different now.
With His Majesty's favor on her side, she's either reprimanding her servants in her quarter,
or whine loudly about this or that.
She really does whatever she wants at her whim.
Concubine Jia, you must be joking.
I've serviced His Majesty in bed a lot.
How many days do I really have to throw tantrums?
Don't hear wrong now.
Enough. We're in broad daylight here.
Don't keep mentioning service in bed now.
Consort Xian, we've got Concubine Shu and Attendant Qing.
They are new here.
If you have the time, do chat with them.
Your attire today is very undemanding.
The bracelet I gifted to you and Noble Consort back then.
Why don't you wear it?
The lock is loose.
I sent it in to get it fixed.
Once it's repaired, you should wear it every day too.
It's a symbol of our sisterhood from the old manor.
Of course.
Empress's gracious kindness.
I don't dare to forget for a day.
Consort Xian's only just returned so she should rest up.
In a few days, at our family banquet,
I will celebrate grandly for you.
As a token of congratulations.
Thank you, Your Highness.
Older sister, if you are free, visit me at my palace.
Come and see if I am looking over Yonghuang diligently or not.
Yonghuang has been living in your palace. He's already your child now.
How could you not be diligent?
Because you were having a tough time, that's why Yonghuang stayed in my palace.
Now that you are out, I should return him to you.
And Concubine Jia has Yongcheng too.
I have Yongzhang and you'd have Yonghuang and it's good if we're all equal.
You are so thoughtful.
It's just that, I just came out from the Cold Palace.
my health is still weak.
I fear that I wouldn't be able to take good care of Yonghuang.
I think he should still remain with you.
I will not let you know for sure and look after Yonghuang well.
But older sister, you must nurse your health.
That Noble Lady Shen's been seducing His Majesty for many years and she's not afraid of anyone.
You got to put her in her place to cough up the anger from before.
I wanted to have you move to Yikun Plaace to live with me.
But you've got a big belly and it's not convenient so I'll forget it.
If you give birth to a prince and His Majesty promotes your status,
then you can move to a proper palace.
I don't want to. That was where you lived.
It's still the same as before you left.
I didn't even move it. Just regarding it as keeping a memory.
You're full of strange old thoughts.
And that child of yours, who knows what kind of strange personality it will have once born.
It's kicking me. It knows you're talking ill.
Older sister, you have been back for a few days.
His Majesty never stayed overnight in Yikun Palace?
Or has he flipped your tag?
We've been distant for many years and our emotional knots haven't been untied.
I don't want to be that close.
That's true. Your framing hasn't been justified yet.
And His Majesty must feel awkward.
Tomorrow is winter family banquet.
Everyone in the palace will see you.
At the time, let's see how Empress and Noble Lady Shen show themselves then.
It's so warm to have hand heater in the winter.
Today is our winter family banquet. Royal Mother has the chills and she's reluctant to leave Cining Palace.
Thankfully we have His Majesty who could grant us his presence.
So we can get together like this.
This morning I went to the outskirts of the capital to watch military performance.
I received Empress's invitation there and heard each palace made their own dumplings.
So I came to have a taste and enjoy the company.
Your Majesty, I personally made these dumplings.
Just regular vegetable and meat fillings. Please try.
Fine.
Great. Your skills are on par with the royal chefs.
Your Majesty, I'm not good at wrapping dumplings.
So I only brought a jar of rose vinegar.
Consort Xian, when you eat dumplings, you must have vinegar.
Though your item isn't the most needed,
it's the item that can't be lacked the most.
Consort Xian, no wonder His Majesty cares about you so much.
His Majesty and Empress are two bodies with one mind.
I suppose you think of me day and night too.
It's the same for A'Ruo too. Isn't that so?
Nowadays, Sister Shen is already a concubine.
Why are you still calling her A'Ruo?
I feel like her noble lady attire is so awkward when you call her that.
I keep getting reminded the way she looked when she was your servant back then.
I got used to calling her from before so it's hard to change suddenly.
Alright. Noble Lady Shen, you should drink up to that.
Ruyi was your old boss.
Now she's been released from her undo injustice. Now it's our family banquet here.
As you are her old servant, you should toast her.
Yes.
Here's my toast to Concubine Ruyi.
Fine. First Class Attendant Shen, seeing how happy you are for Concubine Ruyi, I'm happy too.
From now on, let's promote Noble Lady Shen to Imperial Concubine Shen.
Your Majesty, this sudden promotion.
It's a bit too rash, isn't it?
Your Majesty, imperial concubines are mistresses of own palaces and a lofty status.
In the case of Concubine Mei and Shu and Jia,
they've either birthed an heir, or came from noble lineage, or have been favored for many years.
Yes, Your Majesty, Sister Shen lives with me.
If she's a concubine too, then Qixiang Palace --
wouldn't there be two Mistresses then?
No matter how Concubine Shen's promoted,
Qixiang Palace only has you as the mistress.
There's difference in status still.
So let's forgo a coronation for Concubine Shen then.
Yes, Sister Jia gave birth to a royal heir, to have same concubine status,
would still have a ranking within.
Your Majesty, without a coronation, the promotion wouldn't be official.
I value Concubine Shen, above formalities.
I thank Your Majesty for your grace.
Concubine Shen's blessed so I imagine His Majesty wouldn't need to flip the tags tonight.
Naturally he will be accompanied by Concubine Shen.
Empress, you are thoughtful.
Stop there.
You've just been promoted and you've forgotten the pecking order?
You dare to walk ahead of me?
You're a concubine and I'm a concubine too.
We're all the same so who's higher than who?
I'm the mother of a royal heir, and chief of all concubines.
You come from Consort Xian's servant status.
And you dare to mention being my equal?
For your old boss Consort Xian getting out of Cold Palace,
His Majesty gave you the promotion over that.
Thinking about this, it's not right too.
It was you who betrayed Consort Xian and framed her as culprit in the deaths of royal heirs.
But today His Majesty kept saying Consort Xian was framed.
I think this promotion of yours
was just a slap on you instead.
Whore.
You're both servants.
Why bother hitting one of your own?
Wexin, just take this slap for now.
And learn from her just how she got to crawl up His Majesty's bed.
I don't dare to seduce His Majesty behind your back, Mistress.
And I wouldn't dare to frame you.
Regardless of how many slaps I received,
I wouldn't learn these filthy ways.
- You...
- Mistress.
You dare to slap me?
This slap is for you to learn to be good.
It's for you not to forget how you climbed up for the past years.
To be rude to me? Just think of who you are!
I have Empress and Noble Consort as my back.
Is that so? Let's see then
just how many in this palace even accepts you.
You!
They looked down on me.
I've already been promoted to a concubine.
To them, I am only a cheap servant.
Mistress, don't take to heart.
She's just jealous of you.
Today is your great day of being promoted and you have to service His Majesty in bed tonight as well.
Let's go back to the palace and I'll rub your face with an egg.
Let's leave.
A'Rou doesn't seen to have been living greatly these years.
She's got His Majesty's attention so it's hard to avoid hate from others.
Plus how did she betray you back then for her gain?
Everyone knows the truth so of course they look down at her.
Glory and riches she went after.
So she will have to bear the shame and bullying.
You ate so much not long ago and you're eating again.
You are not afraid of getting bloated?
I don't know why I"m always hungry.
If you eat a lot, your stomach will expand more.
This body can't be seen anymore anyway.
Not eating more might be cheating the baby.
That's really not worth it then.
Greetings to Consort Xian, Noble Lady Hai.
Royal Physician Jiang, Noble Lady Hai's appetite is so big it worries me.
I wonder what's wrong with her.
Noble Lady Hai has a good appetite and the baby is strong so it's no trouble.
But the baby does seem
to be quite a bit bigger than fetuses his age.
Mistress, your prenatal medicine.
Alright, just put it aside to let it chill.
May I ask if you're eating the medicine by my prescription?
Of course. Is there anything wrong?
This medicine is not right.
Wufu, could you bring the medicine to me to see?
It's right outside. I'll go fetch it now.
I didn't see it wrong. This prenatal medicine.
Someone's added quite a bit to it.
But what they add wasn't anything bad.
Just good prenatal medicines.
However, the amount was much higher than what I prescribed.
I prescribed this. And the medicine was filled by the royal medicine court.
After it was made, I saw nothing was wrong with it.
I brought this from the royal physician's court and I have been very cautious.
Straight from there to you, no one else put a hand in it.
Someone's adjusted the ratios of this prescription.
So the effect will heavily stabilize the fetus.
You were weak to start out with, so after this medicine,
though it's fine on the royal heir,
but all your blood will be absorbed by the fetus.
And your body will be weakened with the fetus overly strong.
When you are in labor, you will --
have a hard time.
Imperial Physician Jiang, please investigate this fully.
I will definitely investigate this when I go back.
May you be assured, Consort Xian and Noble Lady Hai.
I will be extra careful from now on.
What are you doing?
I came to serve Your Majesty.
I beg you to allow me to service you in bed.
How many years have you served me in bed?
You should know what the rules are for your service.
What is it? You want things done by house rules?
Your Majesty. I have serviced you in bed for three years.
But you've never touched me.
It's been so long, so allow me to service you just once.
You want to become my woman so badly.
Pleading and begging and I allowed it.
And I have you a title dignified enough.
From now on, you are a person of Forbidden City in life.
And you're a ghost of Forbidden City once dead.
You can't ever escape.
You know why I don't touch you all these years?
I am dim-witted.
I keep you by my side and give you favors.
It's because I have use in keeping you.
But don't you forget.
You are forever the slave of Consort Xian. You're my slave.
Before others and behind others, don't lose your place.
I understand.
Who slapped you?
You favor me.
Concubine Jia is angry.
She slapped me.
All slaves get slapped by the mistresses.
If you want to enjoy this kind of royal favor,
you'll have to take these abuse with a content heart.
I beg you to give me a clear answer.
Why do you treat me like this?
Do you remember the title I gave you?
Shen. It means for you to be prudent.
You should think about the good I offer you.
If I didn't favor you, who knows what would've happened to you.
Do you think
that I framed Consort Xian?
So you're tormenting me to avenge Consort Xian's anger?
Avenge anger?
Consort Xian will come seek that from you in time.
Today I want to ask you clearly.
Who instructed you that day?
No one instructed me.
It was Consort Xian who committed crime.
I see that's how it is.
Then I shall sleep first.
Your Majesty, it's time
Mistress, you must be fatigue from servicing in bed last night.
I've prepared you morning tea for you to rest.
Service in bed?
I am tired indeed.
I am already Concubine Shen that His Majesty personally titled.
Why is it that everything in here looks to belong to merely a noble lady?
Why is interior bureau such a sloth?
They said Empress and Emperor want to be frugal and simple.
And you haven't had your coronation yet so the decor was not done.
What title?
He just wanted me to have an empty title anyway.
Mistress.
You can't. Mistress.
Mistress. This was from the day you were named concubine.
You can't do that. If others find out --
What will they say about you?
I am Concubine Shen. My stuff.
I can break if I want.
Who can do what to me?
Mistress.
Mistress. You can't. Can't!
This was given to you personally by the emperor when you became a noble lady.
You can't break that.
Just hit me instead if you're so angry.
You can't harm you and His Majesty's fondness.
Mistress.
Mistress.
Mistress.
His Majesty.
Does he care about me even?
I'm just a toy.
Let others throw me around.
I've served Concubine Shen these years.
I've discovered her temperament is getting more and more fussy.
She will ask me often too.
If His Majesty really favors her.
She is already so favored so what more does she want?
His Majesty favors her.
But yesterday at the family banquet he kept saying,
mistress and servant, obviously belittling Concubine Shen.
Yes. His Majesty also said Consort Xian was framed before.
You go back first.
If any movement at Concubine Shen's don't forget to report to me right away.
Yes.
Will His Majesty dig up what we did that year?
Now with Consort Xian out,
His Majesty will have to find an excuse to say she was framed.
Or else others won't be pacified.
Push comes to shove, we'll throw A'Rou out.
Saying she sold out her mistress for her own gain.
But Concubine Shen, wouldn't she cough us up?
Her father works for my father.
If we keep him as our hostage, she won't dare to talk.
Even if she didn't do it, she has to swallow it still.
♫Intoxicated by the falling flower petals in the plum garden♫
♫ as if this life were our first time we have met. ♫
♫ Black silken hair reflecting the frosty moonlight, ♫
♫ Hands joined together, for our innumerable mortal lives. ♫
♫ The burden of concern on my mind has paled rose-kissed cheeks, ♫
♫ Yearning now turns into confusion. ♫
♫ Glistening teardrops cover the pledge, ♫
♫ joining hands for a lifetime, when in the past did he change it? ♫
♫ Flowers start out blossoming in splendor, but are easily destroyed ♫
♫ Who is that plucking on qin (zither) strings? ♫
♫ When love becomes deep, people are prone to separate. ♫
♫ Alone, I sing the sad song of parting. ♫
♫ Twilight is tardy, spring is late. ♫
♫ With graceful reasoning, like it had been empty dream, with sighs. ♫
♫ Let it flow away with the river of time. ♫
♫ Vast years apart, with no clear date of return or hope, ♫
♫ Regretfully not admitting the care held deep within my heart. ♫
♫ Moonlight flows like water, washing away the pretentiousness of the past affairs. ♫
♫ Sincerity now is the only thing left to depend upon. ♫
♫ In the endless night, I cannot put down the gray hairs to pursue youth. ♫
♫ Nor dare to look at you quietly from afar. ♫
♫ If we can have another lifetime together, may we both be commoners. ♫
♫ Reunited, and again pledging faithfully to stand by each other. ♫
(T/N reed instrument made of vertical pipes; end-blown flute)
♫ Memories of my past, my companions in youth. ♫
♫ Over boundless years, old affairs have become difficult to recall. ♫
♫ I’ve used a lifetime of truth to put up a pretense. ♫
♫ Parting without opening these cupped hands full of tears. ♫
♫ Clears my vision and permits me to resist ♫
♫ Perhaps when targeted by love it is not wise to separate ♫
♫ The morning wind can not dispel the aftermath. ♫
♫ Whose hidden tears made the blooming flowers blush, ♫
♫ And in the desolate and dreary torrential storms to painfully droop low, ♫
♫ Unwilling to blossom again alone? ♫
♫ The coming day belongs to the young. ♫
♫ As the glimmer of dawn becomes again the setting sun. ♫
♫ Who is this person who does not sleep soundly in the middle of the night? ♫
♫Sitting and watching the autumn wind puff out and penetrate the palace curtains. ♫
♫One strand held in remembrance, shackling sentiment and concern. ♫
♫ Always submerged in the fragrant incense of fleeting time ♫
Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace
Episode 28
(အပိုင္း28)
Zhongcui Palace
ေဇာင္ခ်ဴးနန္းေတာ္
Kexin, where's Yonghuang?
က်ီဇင္း;ေယာင္ဟြန္းေရာ
First Prince isn't finished with school yet.
မင္းသား၁ ေက်ာင္းမဆင္းေသးပါဘူး
I heard today is Consort Xian's returning day.
ဒီေန႔ သခင္မရွန္းျပန္လာတယ္လို႔ က်ြန္မႀကားတယ္
First Prince is very happy.
မင္းသား၁လဲအရမ္းေပ်ာ္ေနတာ
He kept saying he wanted to go see Consort Xian with you after school.
ေက်ာင္းဆင္းရင္ သခင္မရွန္းကိုသြားေတြ႔ခ်င္တယ္လို႔ သူေျပာတယ္
It's only natural since Consort Xian did indeed raise First Prince for so many years.
သခင္မရွန္းနဲ႔မင္းသား၁ကႏွစ္ေတာ္ေတာ္ႀကာရင္းႏွီးခဲ႔ေတာ့ ေတြ႔ခ်င္တာေပါ့ေလ
You must be on your way to Yikun Palace too then.
မင္းလဲ ရီကြမ္းနန္းေတာ္ကို လိုက္သြားလိုက္ပါ
That's right.
ဟုတ္ကဲ႔ပါ
Greetings, Older Sister.
မမႀကီး ေနေကာင္းတယ္ေနာ္
Younger Sister Shen, why are you here?
ညီမေလးရွန္း ဒီကို ဘာကိစၥလဲ
I was going to go to Yikun Palace to say my congratulations.
က်ြန္မက ရီကြမ္းနန္းေတာ္ကိုသြားျပီး ဂုဏ္ျပဳမလို႔ပါ
Who would know that when I just arrived, I saw His Majesty coming out from there?
ဘယ္သူသိမွာလဲ က်ြန္မေရာက္ေတာ့ မင္းႀကီးအဲ႔ဒီကထြက္လာတာေတြ႔လိုက္တယ္
Saying Consort Xian needs rest and she's not to be disturbed.
So you see, I got rejected flat despite my warm thought, so I came to ask a cup of tea from you.
Younger sister, come in and let's talk.
Actually, it was a misunderstanding.
Consort Xian isn't putting on airs.
That was back then, but not so anymore.
Older sister, where is the First Prince?
He's still in school.
Younger sister, take a seat.
Okay.
Sister, though First Prince has been raised by you last few years.
In the past, he was with Concubine Ruyi.
Now that Concubine Ruyi is back,
You plan to just return a half-grown son back to her?
I can't do that.
I've looked after Yonghuang these years without any fault.
Would I just return him to Concubine Ruyi just like that?
Others might think I mistreated Yonghuang then.
That's right too.
You were promoted to Consortship not only because of your merit of birthing Third Prince.
It's also for the toil of raising First Prince.
Since you have two royal princes,
and you're the chief of consorts and our blessing.
But if First Prince wants to go back there,
it will be different then.
Sister, this First Prince is the eldest heir.
Until the empress births a son, the eldest son is most precious.
You can't say that too.
It's actually your four prince that was born in great time.
That's a very precious son there.
How could I be compared to you?
But I would still like to give you a word of advice.
You should be careful or else someone might pick up a easy convenience from you.
By the way, First Prince is coming of age, right?
The son of the Emperor who's at this age,
He's old enough to be appointed a marriage.
Have you any inkling?
His Majesty did say a few grand houses have daughters.
They are all pretty suitable.
Sister, having a good marriage is having a good dependence.
The eighth prince of Emperor Kanxi.
His birth mother was actually a servant in the washing room.
But he got appointed a marriage with the granddaughter of Prince An, Yolo.
That's how he got the qualifications to fight for the throne.
You better worry more about First Prince's marriage.
Don't let some little clan get the better deal.
I know.
Older sister.
Older sister.
Older sister.
Older sister.
Hailan.
You are finally back.
I was about to visit you.
How is the child?
Let's sit and talk.
You've thinned out so much.
You have suffered.
It's my fault for being incompetent. I didn't even know you were poisoned with arson.
It's already in the past. I'm fine now.
Who did all those?
Her Highness, R'Ruo or Noble Consort? This matter must be thoroughly investigated.
Yexin, go out first.
Yes.
I did it to myself.
What?
If one wants to leave Cold Palace, one must put in effort.
I heard you got poisoned by cinnabar.
Has it harmed your unborn baby?
Did you find out who did it?
If I were to say that it's the same as you,
would you believe it?
You did it yourself?
For me?
Jiang Yubin helped you?
Jiang Yubin didn't tell me.
You weren't afraid you could hurt your fetus?
Older sister, I'm worried about you and you are worried about me too.
So I told Jiang Yubin not to say. It's not his fault.
But with Jiang Yubin checking the amount,
I was spared any major harm.
And also, in the end you and I had a spiritual connection.
And released you from your bondage.
Older sister, I'm fine. Don't worry.
Older sister, if it's convenient for you, I would like to show you something.
Okay.
How did this happen?
I ate a lot and the stomach grew bigger too.
Ever since I was in the sixth month,
these would appear on my body.
Everything's fine. There are many good medicines in the imperial hospital.
This is definitely curable.
It's useless. I've asked the midwives.
They said that certain pregnant women
would get this after pregnancy.
This can't be cured.
Even if I give birth to the child,
these would still remain on my body.
Think about it. If I were to service His Majesty in bed,
what will he think when he sees it?
After you give birth,
let's find a way.
Palace is only a place based on looks.
Sister, I know my favor has come to an end.
My status isn't high. Once I give birth,
I may not be able to keep it by me to raise it.
At that time, it will be sent to Xifang Hall.
Or bequeathed to others.
Why don't I leave it with you and let it become your child?
Become my child?
Currently,
Concubine Jia's fourth prince is His Majesty's favorite.
Concubine Chun will never return First Prince to you.
But you can't not have your own child.
But you only managed to get pregnant after so much trouble.
And you're having such a difficult pregnancy.
Sister, we are only blood apart.
Must we nitpick about this?
Don't worry.
I will do all my utmost if the child is with me.
If I worry about you,
who else would I not worry about?
Older sister, you are finally back.
We will be together again and never separate.
Put on your clothes now. Don't catch a cold.
Cining Palace.
Greetings, Concubine Ruyi.
Consort Xian, Empress Dowager has tea prepared awaiting you.
This way, please.
Greetings, Empress Dowager.
Stand up.
I've brewed high tea for you.
Sit.
You knew I would come for sure.
If you don't come, you won't be able to try my fine tea.
You're kept yourself very well, Empress Dowager.
It seems residing peacefully in back harem has been good.
It's excellent that you could survive too.
His Majesty didn't dote on you for nothing and I didn't protect you for nothing too.
You are finally out.
You let me persist my life for the one day to come.
Thus, I came here specially to send my regards today
May you be healthy forever.
You are considered good.
You knew after a fire you can't stay in Cold Palace anymore.
So you took a risk on yourself.
Now all the palace.
Even His Majesty is suspicious.
Was it Noble Consort or First Class Attendant Shen
who put arson on you.
Even Empress can't fathom the suspicion.
If you didn't do that on your own,
would you be that lucky to have someone to save you?
Empress Dowager, you are wise.
No wonder His Majesty suspects them.
They have done it before.
They just wouldn't let you go over and over again.
But now that you're out.
What does His Majesty plan to do?
I had no one to lean on.
But you were merciful and I could be spared to stay at Palace.
From now on, I continue to beg your pity.
Empress comes from high nobility.
Fuca is a Manchu banner and well connected with old subjects.
She is also frugal and a great example.
Noble Consort's father is greatly deemed by His Majesty in the royal court.
But I never liked having only one pot of flower in the palace blooming grandly.
A hundred pots of flowers all blooming alluring is true success.
If you understand this then you can preserve yourself well.
I understand it.
Drink tea.
Today's bath water was drawn with peach branch and willow leaves.
Boiled with lilac flower and pearl powder.
It has the effect of getting rid of evil and darkness.
His Majesty especially instructed this.
To wash away your Cold Palace dark air.
Very good, Qinying. You walked out of Cold Palace on your own.
You are indeed a woman of Ula-Nara.
But a Ula-Nara woman wouldn't halt her stops.
You must continue
To reclaim all that belongs to you.
All that belongs to you.
Mistress, did you have a bad dream again?
What bad dream? Stop talking nonsense.
Even since Concubine Ruyi came out from the Cold Palace,
you haven't been able to sleep soundly.
That whore. She won't stay put in Cold Palace.
She comes out to make trouble.
Whore. I can't have her.
I'm not afraid.
I'm not afraid of anything.
I'm not afraid.
Mistress.
Greetings, Your Highness.
Get up and sit.
Thank you, Your Highness.
Concubine Ruyi, it has been a long time since we have seen you.
We've had some misunderstanding before and Consort Xian's had to compromise for a few years.
But now Consort Xian is back again to accompany us.
We must get along well.
Thank you, Your Highness, for your concerns.
Consort Xian, Noble Lady Shen used to serve you.
She's now favored by His Majesty. The both of you must get along with each other.
- Yes.
- Yes.
Though Noble Lady Shen used to serve Consort Xian,
but it's different now.
With His Majesty's favor on her side, she's either reprimanding her servants in her quarter,
or whine loudly about this or that.
She really does whatever she wants at her whim.
Concubine Jia, you must be joking.
I've serviced His Majesty in bed a lot.
How many days do I really have to throw tantrums?
Don't hear wrong now.
Enough. We're in broad daylight here.
Don't keep mentioning service in bed now.
Consort Xian, we've got Concubine Shu and Attendant Qing.
They are new here.
If you have the time, do chat with them.
Your attire today is very undemanding.
The bracelet I gifted to you and Noble Consort back then.
Why don't you wear it?
The lock is loose.
I sent it in to get it fixed.
Once it's repaired, you should wear it every day too.
It's a symbol of our sisterhood from the old manor.
Of course.
Empress's gracious kindness.
I don't dare to forget for a day.
Consort Xian's only just returned so she should rest up.
In a few days, at our family banquet,
I will celebrate grandly for you.
As a token of congratulations.
Thank you, Your Highness.
Older sister, if you are free, visit me at my palace.
Come and see if I am looking over Yonghuang diligently or not.
Yonghuang has been living in your palace. He's already your child now.
How could you not be diligent?
Because you were having a tough time, that's why Yonghuang stayed in my palace.
Now that you are out, I should return him to you.
And Concubine Jia has Yongcheng too.
I have Yongzhang and you'd have Yonghuang and it's good if we're all equal.
You are so thoughtful.
It's just that, I just came out from the Cold Palace.
my health is still weak.
I fear that I wouldn't be able to take good care of Yonghuang.
I think he should still remain with you.
I will not let you know for sure and look after Yonghuang well.
But older sister, you must nurse your health.
That Noble Lady Shen's been seducing His Majesty for many years and she's not afraid of anyone.
You got to put her in her place to cough up the anger from before.
I wanted to have you move to Yikun Plaace to live with me.
But you've got a big belly and it's not convenient so I'll forget it.
If you give birth to a prince and His Majesty promotes your status,
then you can move to a proper palace.
I don't want to. That was where you lived.
It's still the same as before you left.
I didn't even move it. Just regarding it as keeping a memory.
You're full of strange old thoughts.
And that child of yours, who knows what kind of strange personality it will have once born.
It's kicking me. It knows you're talking ill.
Older sister, you have been back for a few days.
His Majesty never stayed overnight in Yikun Palace?
Or has he flipped your tag?
We've been distant for many years and our emotional knots haven't been untied.
I don't want to be that close.
That's true. Your framing hasn't been justified yet.
And His Majesty must feel awkward.
Tomorrow is winter family banquet.
Everyone in the palace will see you.
At the time, let's see how Empress and Noble Lady Shen show themselves then.
It's so warm to have hand heater in the winter.
Today is our winter family banquet. Royal Mother has the chills and she's reluctant to leave Cining Palace.
Thankfully we have His Majesty who could grant us his presence.
So we can get together like this.
This morning I went to the outskirts of the capital to watch military performance.
I received Empress's invitation there and heard each palace made their own dumplings.
So I came to have a taste and enjoy the company.
Your Majesty, I personally made these dumplings.
Just regular vegetable and meat fillings. Please try.
Fine.
Great. Your skills are on par with the royal chefs.
Your Majesty, I'm not good at wrapping dumplings.
So I only brought a jar of rose vinegar.
Consort Xian, when you eat dumplings, you must have vinegar.
Though your item isn't the most needed,
it's the item that can't be lacked the most.
Consort Xian, no wonder His Majesty cares about you so much.
His Majesty and Empress are two bodies with one mind.
I suppose you think of me day and night too.
It's the same for A'Ruo too. Isn't that so?
Nowadays, Sister Shen is already a concubine.
Why are you still calling her A'Ruo?
I feel like her noble lady attire is so awkward when you call her that.
I keep getting reminded the way she looked when she was your servant back then.
I got used to calling her from before so it's hard to change suddenly.
Alright. Noble Lady Shen, you should drink up to that.
Ruyi was your old boss.
Now she's been released from her undo injustice. Now it's our family banquet here.
As you are her old servant, you should toast her.
Yes.
Here's my toast to Concubine Ruyi.
Fine. First Class Attendant Shen, seeing how happy you are for Concubine Ruyi, I'm happy too.
From now on, let's promote Noble Lady Shen to Imperial Concubine Shen.
Your Majesty, this sudden promotion.
It's a bit too rash, isn't it?
Your Majesty, imperial concubines are mistresses of own palaces and a lofty status.
In the case of Concubine Mei and Shu and Jia,
they've either birthed an heir, or came from noble lineage, or have been favored for many years.
Yes, Your Majesty, Sister Shen lives with me.
If she's a concubine too, then Qixiang Palace --
wouldn't there be two Mistresses then?
No matter how Concubine Shen's promoted,
Qixiang Palace only has you as the mistress.
There's difference in status still.
So let's forgo a coronation for Concubine Shen then.
Yes, Sister Jia gave birth to a royal heir, to have same concubine status,
would still have a ranking within.
Your Majesty, without a coronation, the promotion wouldn't be official.
I value Concubine Shen, above formalities.
I thank Your Majesty for your grace.
Concubine Shen's blessed so I imagine His Majesty wouldn't need to flip the tags tonight.
Naturally he will be accompanied by Concubine Shen.
Empress, you are thoughtful.
Stop there.
You've just been promoted and you've forgotten the pecking order?
You dare to walk ahead of me?
You're a concubine and I'm a concubine too.
We're all the same so who's higher than who?
I'm the mother of a royal heir, and chief of all concubines.
You come from Consort Xian's servant status.
And you dare to mention being my equal?
For your old boss Consort Xian getting out of Cold Palace,
His Majesty gave you the promotion over that.
Thinking about this, it's not right too.
It was you who betrayed Consort Xian and framed her as culprit in the deaths of royal heirs.
But today His Majesty kept saying Consort Xian was framed.
I think this promotion of yours
was just a slap on you instead.
Whore.
You're both servants.
Why bother hitting one of your own?
Wexin, just take this slap for now.
And learn from her just how she got to crawl up His Majesty's bed.
I don't dare to seduce His Majesty behind your back, Mistress.
And I wouldn't dare to frame you.
Regardless of how many slaps I received,
I wouldn't learn these filthy ways.
- You...
- Mistress.
You dare to slap me?
This slap is for you to learn to be good.
It's for you not to forget how you climbed up for the past years.
To be rude to me? Just think of who you are!
I have Empress and Noble Consort as my back.
Is that so? Let's see then
just how many in this palace even accepts you.
You!
They looked down on me.
I've already been promoted to a concubine.
To them, I am only a cheap servant.
Mistress, don't take to heart.
She's just jealous of you.
Today is your great day of being promoted and you have to service His Majesty in bed tonight as well.
Let's go back to the palace and I'll rub your face with an egg.
Let's leave.
A'Rou doesn't seen to have been living greatly these years.
She's got His Majesty's attention so it's hard to avoid hate from others.
Plus how did she betray you back then for her gain?
Everyone knows the truth so of course they look down at her.
Glory and riches she went after.
So she will have to bear the shame and bullying.
You ate so much not long ago and you're eating again.
You are not afraid of getting bloated?
I don't know why I"m always hungry.
If you eat a lot, your stomach will expand more.
This body can't be seen anymore anyway.
Not eating more might be cheating the baby.
That's really not worth it then.
Greetings to Consort Xian, Noble Lady Hai.
Royal Physician Jiang, Noble Lady Hai's appetite is so big it worries me.
I wonder what's wrong with her.
Noble Lady Hai has a good appetite and the baby is strong so it's no trouble.
But the baby does seem
to be quite a bit bigger than fetuses his age.
Mistress, your prenatal medicine.
Alright, just put it aside to let it chill.
May I ask if you're eating the medicine by my prescription?
Of course. Is there anything wrong?
This medicine is not right.
Wufu, could you bring the medicine to me to see?
It's right outside. I'll go fetch it now.
I didn't see it wrong. This prenatal medicine.
Someone's added quite a bit to it.
But what they add wasn't anything bad.
Just good prenatal medicines.
However, the amount was much higher than what I prescribed.
I prescribed this. And the medicine was filled by the royal medicine court.
After it was made, I saw nothing was wrong with it.
I brought this from the royal physician's court and I have been very cautious.
Straight from there to you, no one else put a hand in it.
Someone's adjusted the ratios of this prescription.
So the effect will heavily stabilize the fetus.
You were weak to start out with, so after this medicine,
though it's fine on the royal heir,
but all your blood will be absorbed by the fetus.
And your body will be weakened with the fetus overly strong.
When you are in labor, you will --
have a hard time.
Imperial Physician Jiang, please investigate this fully.
I will definitely investigate this when I go back.
May you be assured, Consort Xian and Noble Lady Hai.
I will be extra careful from now on.
What are you doing?
I came to serve Your Majesty.
I beg you to allow me to service you in bed.
How many years have you served me in bed?
You should know what the rules are for your service.
What is it? You want things done by house rules?
Your Majesty. I have serviced you in bed for three years.
But you've never touched me.
It's been so long, so allow me to service you just once.
You want to become my woman so badly.
Pleading and begging and I allowed it.
And I have you a title dignified enough.
From now on, you are a person of Forbidden City in life.
And you're a ghost of Forbidden City once dead.
You can't ever escape.
You know why I don't touch you all these years?
I am dim-witted.
I keep you by my side and give you favors.
It's because I have use in keeping you.
But don't you forget.
You are forever the slave of Consort Xian. You're my slave.
Before others and behind others, don't lose your place.
I understand.
Who slapped you?
You favor me.
Concubine Jia is angry.
She slapped me.
All slaves get slapped by the mistresses.
If you want to enjoy this kind of royal favor,
you'll have to take these abuse with a content heart.
I beg you to give me a clear answer.
Why do you treat me like this?
Do you remember the title I gave you?
Shen. It means for you to be prudent.
You should think about the good I offer you.
If I didn't favor you, who knows what would've happened to you.
Do you think
that I framed Consort Xian?
So you're tormenting me to avenge Consort Xian's anger?
Avenge anger?
Consort Xian will come seek that from you in time.
Today I want to ask you clearly.
Who instructed you that day?
No one instructed me.
It was Consort Xian who committed crime.
I see that's how it is.
Then I shall sleep first.
Your Majesty, it's time
Mistress, you must be fatigue from servicing in bed last night.
I've prepared you morning tea for you to rest.
Service in bed?
I am tired indeed.
I am already Concubine Shen that His Majesty personally titled.
Why is it that everything in here looks to belong to merely a noble lady?
Why is interior bureau such a sloth?
They said Empress and Emperor want to be frugal and simple.
And you haven't had your coronation yet so the decor was not done.
What title?
He just wanted me to have an empty title anyway.
Mistress.
You can't. Mistress.
Mistress. This was from the day you were named concubine.
You can't do that. If others find out --
What will they say about you?
I am Concubine Shen. My stuff.
I can break if I want.
Who can do what to me?
Mistress.
Mistress. You can't. Can't!
This was given to you personally by the emperor when you became a noble lady.
You can't break that.
Just hit me instead if you're so angry.
You can't harm you and His Majesty's fondness.
Mistress.
Mistress.
Mistress.
His Majesty.
Does he care about me even?
I'm just a toy.
Let others throw me around.
I've served Concubine Shen these years.
I've discovered her temperament is getting more and more fussy.
She will ask me often too.
If His Majesty really favors her.
She is already so favored so what more does she want?
His Majesty favors her.
But yesterday at the family banquet he kept saying,
mistress and servant, obviously belittling Concubine Shen.
Yes. His Majesty also said Consort Xian was framed before.
You go back first.
If any movement at Concubine Shen's don't forget to report to me right away.
Yes.
Will His Majesty dig up what we did that year?
Now with Consort Xian out,
His Majesty will have to find an excuse to say she was framed.
Or else others won't be pacified.
Push comes to shove, we'll throw A'Rou out.
Saying she sold out her mistress for her own gain.
But Concubine Shen, wouldn't she cough us up?
Her father works for my father.
If we keep him as our hostage, she won't dare to talk.
Even if she didn't do it, she has to swallow it still.
♫Intoxicated by the falling flower petals in the plum garden♫
♫ as if this life were our first time we have met. ♫
♫ Black silken hair reflecting the frosty moonlight, ♫
♫ Hands joined together, for our innumerable mortal lives. ♫
♫ The burden of concern on my mind has paled rose-kissed cheeks, ♫
♫ Yearning now turns into confusion. ♫
♫ Glistening teardrops cover the pledge, ♫
♫ joining hands for a lifetime, when in the past did he change it? ♫
♫ Flowers start out blossoming in splendor, but are easily destroyed ♫
♫ Who is that plucking on qin (zither) strings? ♫
♫ When love becomes deep, people are prone to separate. ♫
♫ Alone, I sing the sad song of parting. ♫
♫ Twilight is tardy, spring is late. ♫
♫ With graceful reasoning, like it had been empty dream, with sighs. ♫
♫ Let it flow away with the river of time. ♫
♫ Vast years apart, with no clear date of return or hope, ♫
♫ Regretfully not admitting the care held deep within my heart. ♫
♫ Moonlight flows like water, washing away the pretentiousness of the past affairs. ♫
♫ Sincerity now is the only thing left to depend upon. ♫
♫ In the endless night, I cannot put down the gray hairs to pursue youth. ♫
♫ Nor dare to look at you quietly from afar. ♫
♫ If we can have another lifetime together, may we both be commoners. ♫
♫ Reunited, and again pledging faithfully to stand by each other. ♫