WRITTEN BY HYUGA NATSU
THIS STORY IS A FICTION AND ALL NAMES OF FIGURES AND ORGANIZATIONS ARE FICTITIOUS.
MOREOVER, THE STORY HAS NO RELATION TO REAL-LIFE INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.
That whistle! Must be Lihaku.
So he got Maomao out of the fortress.
Basen,
take it easy.
Then let me go ahead first!
Wait, step back.
-Feifa! -Let’s go!
Damn it!
Where is Shishou?
I don’t know! We were tricked, that’s all!
Bold of you to say!
Evidence shows you embezzled national funds, using them to build this fortress!
You know what that means!
We were told, it was for the country!
We thought it was all for the nation!
How merciful of you.
If he is going to be executed anyway,
-you may as well finish him off cleanly. -Shishou!
How relaxed you sound, Shishou.
By imperial decree,
you are under arrest for embezzlement and treason.
The Forbidden Army is here. I assumed an edict had been issued.
Senile, are you? You do not even have a spark.
Down!
How pitiful.
You used to shoot animals for sport, itching to try it on a person someday.
What a pity you never got the chance.
How disappointing.
I never said that!
There's no spark.
It is a new model. It can fire without a spark.
Ah, so you were aware.
I was attacked with one, after all.
A pity.
Had I succeeded then.
Such a waste.
So this is it.
If I had more time.
No, perhaps nothing would change regardless.
What is this?
He sounds like he is reading from a prepared script.
Move in!
It feels like watching a play about this man named Shishou.
A favored retainer since the previous emperor’s reign, now a traitor.
It’s anticlimactic, to say the least.
Such was his end.
We have not done anything!
Lady Shenmei and Loulan are in the back room!
-I am leaving this to you. -Yes, Sir!
-I leave the other side to you. -Understood.
Boom!
Loulan.
Greetings, Moon Prince.
No, for convenience, I shall call you Lord Jinshi.
Would you be so kind as to follow me?
And if I refuse?
That is precisely why I am threatening you.
How obedient of you to come along so willingly.
You were the one who told me to follow you.
But surely, taking this from me would not be difficult for you?
This way.
Sister Suirei, are they not hurting you anymore?
So this is Suirei.
She coaxed the court physician, faked her death, escaped,
and returned disguised as a eunuch.
I always thought her bold.
Loulan, no. That man is.
I brought him to fulfil your wish, Mother.
You have always hated the one
who resembled this figure, haven’t you?
Was it jealousy because she was far more beautiful than you?
Or was it because he chose an attendant who was far younger than you?
Even though you were a senior consort, he never visited your bedroom.
Loulan!!!
Forgive me. That may have gone too far.
Now then, before you fulfil your final desire,
shall we have a little show first??
This happened more than 30 years ago.
The late emperor was a dim-witted man, unable to defy his mother.
As a result, she wielded true power
and was called the Empress in the Shadows.
Tired of her son’s lack of interest in women,
she kept sending beautiful women into the rear palace.
And then, one day.
Shenmei,
is it true you are entering the rear palace?
Yes, as a senior-ranking consort, by request.
But you were to be, with me.
That plan is cancelled.
Do you not understand? This is my chance.
If I bear the emperor’s child, the seat of empress could be mine.
I will not settle for being the wife
of a northern lord!
Shenmei.
She was chosen as the emperor’s senior-ranking consort.
But that was merely the official story.
Official story? What are you talking about, Loulan?
I was brought in as a senior consort by request.
That was your assumption.
I heard it from Grandfather as he lay on his sickbed.
He kept muttering like a curse,
"With my daughter held hostage, I could do nothing."
Hostage?
A high official's daughter may be called a "consort" and taken as a hostage.
Father once gave up on you,
but then something unexpected happened.
The late emperor’s proclivities.
Lord Jinshi, do you know why the rear palace became so large?
I heard Shishou encouraged the Empress in the Shadows.
Yes, he proposed expanding the palace
as a new public project.
A replacement for the slave trade.
Slave trade?
It seems you truly know nothing, Mother.
Do you even know what Grandfather did to draw the empress’s attention?
But back then, slavery was still legal.
I heard they were treated similarly to courtesans in the pleasure district.
But those sold to foreign lands were different.
That is why the empress outlawed the slave trade.
The Shi family, whose trade had long been in slaves,
had no choice but to scale it back after their daughters were taken as hostages.
At that time, with no options left,
Father made a proposal to Grandfather.
What if we use the rear palace
as a destination for the remaining slaves?
Young girls can become maids or palace women,
and the boys, eunuchs.
If we say it is for the emperor, who has no interest in women,
the empress may accept it.
Indeed, families who sold their daughters
may feel less guilt
if they enter the rear palace rather than being sold abroad.
Exactly.
It benefits everyone.
By earning the empress’s trust, Father hoped to restore
the Shi clan’s honor,
and to reclaim you, Mother, held as a hostage.
It must have been hard for you.
Running away earlier
would have been wiser now.
Shishou? How did you?
I made a secret passage. Shenmei,
will you not come with me?
If you wish it, let us escape together.
Escaping from the rear palace is a capital offense.
Making a secret passage is already treason.
I could never give you up.
I could not marry anyone else, and I came this far
because I wanted to see you again.
-Are you sure you want me? -Of course I do.
Now come.
Is that the high-ranking consort who got upstaged by the attendant Taihou?
Even though she entered before Lady Anshi.
I hear the emperor has never visited her chambers, not even once.
Do not make a fool of me!
You would have me escape with that shame lingering on me?
That is not it!
Get out!
Was it that you could not trust a man willing to throw away
his own status for you?
There is no way I could trust a man like that!
Right after my father collapsed,
he took over the clan and then married this woman’s mother!
Sister,
forgive me please.
That is the phoenix hairpin!
Yes. As you well know,
this ornament,
like the qilin design,
is only worn by those of imperial blood.
Lies! The late emperor never acknowledged her!
It seems he carried guilt.
He worried about the baby he cast out of the rear palace.
From time to time, he would visit, aided by Father.
He once denied it,
but eventually recognized her as his daughter.
And so, he made a request of Father.
I want you to take my daughter as your wife.
Father accepted the child born between attendant Taihou and the late emperor
as his wife.
And eventually, they had a child of their own.
We have named her Shisui.
Shisui, a fine name for one of the Shi clan.
Lord, you said you would grant any wish of mine.
Then please, grant me Senior Consort Shenmei
as a reward.
When the late emperor saw his grandchild
bearing the "Shi" name, he was satisfied.
There was no longer any need for a hostage.
And so, Mother, you were given to Father.
The late emperor was a foolish man.
He never realized how selfish his wish was
and how deeply it would affect the lives of Shishou and his daughter.
Lies!
All lies! Don't talk nonsense!
Nonsense, is it?
Even though Father did it all for you?
Knowing there was no salvation at the end of it?
Do you not even understand why Lord Jinshi is here?
How did Father meet his end?
He laughed as he said his final words.
That man only ever wanted power!
He married me just to show off his new position!
And yet, it was you who wielded more influence than he did within the clan.
Do you know what your flatterers
were doing at court?
You mean the embezzlement from the treasury?
Yes. They took bribes, stole from the national coffers,
and anyone who dared speak out was removed.
All that remained was rot.
Father took it all upon himself, acting as the traitor
to bring down the rot in the Shi clan.
Lord Jinshi, they called Father a tanuki,
but tanuki are timid creatures.
It is precisely because they are timid that they try so hard to outsmart others.
If that story is true,
rear palace expansion and embezzlement should be judged separately.
Shishou played the villain, gathering the nation’s corruption onto himself.
What a thankless role.
Did he play the villain
well enough?
And do you have proof this is the truth?
Thanks to this, much of the rot in the palace has been cleaned out.
And what if it had not worked?
Then we would have simply taken the country as our own.
If the nation collapses from this fragility, let it be gone.
So you were always with him,
lying to me?
I only did what you always said, Mother.
You wanted the country to fall, did you not?
Surrounded with fools who only told you what you wanted to hear,
did you believe you could defeat the Forbidden Army?
Loulan!!!
Is that not why you had this made?
It is too much for you to handle. Give it to me.
Shut up!
What is so funny?
It is just…
You really are such a small, petty woman.
Loulan!!
A gunshot?
Lord Basen!
I am a terrible daughter, am I not?
If I had truly understood my father's intentions, I wouldn't do this.
Did you stuff something inside the barrel?
The newer models are more complex in design.
Lord Jinshi, did you never consider taking it from me then?
You had plenty of chances.
You wanted to convey something, right?
If only you had been just another pretty fool.
Mother. Father has died.
The least you could do is shed a tear.
He waited for you all this time.
If you had just shed a single tear,
even I might not have done something like this.
Was there truly no other way?
Perhaps there was.
But we were never that clever.
Shenmei wanted to destroy the country that scorned her.
Shishou did everything for her, and yet,
he was still a loyal subject who could not turn his back on the nation.
Lord Jinshi,
this may sound selfish, but,
may I ask two things of you?
What are they?
Thank you.
Then, take this.
To be honest, I meant to use it as a bargaining chip to beg for my life,
but it did not go as planned.
What is written there,
are the things that may soon befall this nation.
This is my first request.
Those among our clan who still think clearly
were exiled by Mother and have discarded the Shi name.
My sister is one such person.
Please, consider them already dead,
and spare them.
I will do what I can.
Then, you will spare the ones who are "already dead."
Thank you.
And the second?
Now for the second request.
Thank you.
Mother, this is all I could do.
I wonder, could I ever become a greater actor than Father?
Should I have stopped her?
No. I could not.
The woman reached her century's greatest villain status.
I could never destroy it.
Nor could I look away.
That was the last time I saw Loulan.
My body feels heavy.
Come to think of it, I have not properly slept in days.
Where is that girl?
She is safe.
More importantly, you should rest a little.
Where is she?
It is best not to get too close.
They are the children of the Shi clan, those who died.
Why are they sleeping here?
She insisted. Once she did, none of us could say no.
Terrible. She looks terrible.
So do you.
I knew that if I came back with a wound on my face,
my subordinates would be punished.
And yet, I still granted Loulan’s request.
It doesn't matter what happens to me.
Still. It was for the best that the General was not here to see this.
Yes, very much so.
Wait outside.
If I had not been here,
she wouldn't have ended up like this.
What exactly are you doing,
Lord Jinshi?
I…
PREVIEW OF THE NEXT EPISODE
The next episode is "The Beginning."
MAOMAO SHISUI
Subtitle translation by: Abhishek Chand Ramola not here to see this.