WEBVTT
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The Apothecary Diaries
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The Apothecary Diaries
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This story is a work of fiction. The names of all of the characters, organizations, and so on
are imaginary. It also bears no connection to any specific real-life events.
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Episode 11: Reducing Two to One
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A letter from Concubine Gyokuyou?
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Yes. I was ordered to deliver it directly.
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Lady Ah-Duo is away on a tea party.
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There's something I would like to
discuss with you, Lady Fengming.
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I understand.
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The luggage is all packed up.
That must mean, as I thought...
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Please.
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So, what did you need today?
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We've finished cleaning this place.
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When are you moving out?
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You're a smart one.
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The big clean-up was an excuse.
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In order to welcome a new high-ranked
concubine during the new year's celebration,
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Concubine Ah-Duo must leave this palace.
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Concubine Ah-Duo can't have
children anymore, can she?
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What happened when she gave birth?
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I fail to see how that's any of your business.
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It is my business.
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The doctor who attended
that birth was my father.
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My guess is the misfortune was
that Concubine Ah-Duo,
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the prince's concubine at the time,
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gave birth at the same time
as the empress dowager.
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When is the doctor coming back?!
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He's still at the empress dowager's.
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Lady Ah-Duo!
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Lady Ah-Duo, it's all right!
Fengming is by your side!
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The empress dowager was given higher priority,
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and Concubine Ah-Duo's childbirth had to wait.
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Lady Ah-Duo.
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That must have been when
Concubine Ah-Duo lost her uterus.
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The child that was born to Concubine
Ah-Duo then passed away soon after.
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Lady Fengming, are you
blaming yourself for that?
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You must have been the one taking care of
the baby instead of Concubine Ah-Duo.
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You've figured it all out,
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despite being the daughter of the quack
who couldn't help Lady Ah-Duo.
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You're right.
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...Luomen, expelled...
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It's thought that the cause
of the baby's death was
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the same toxic make-up
from the other incidents,
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but that's not the case, is it?
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That doctor you call a quack
must have banned that powder.
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You're a wise person. You wouldn't
have let the baby die from that.
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The real cause of death was this.
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Many flowers have poison in them,
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like aconite or azalea.
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Their nectar can be poisonous, too.
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I am aware.
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But back then...
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you weren't.
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You didn't realize regular
honey with no poison,
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the medicine you thought was good for health,
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can be harmful to a newborn baby.
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Thank you for your help as always, Fengming.
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It's no trouble at all, Lady Ah-Duo.
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Please rest and recover soon.
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And thus, Concubine Ah-Duo's child passed away.
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The cause was treated as a mystery.
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My father Luomen, the attending
doctor at the time,
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was blamed for the repeated mistakes,
including the one at childbirth.
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He was expelled from the rear palace.
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But later on, you accidentally learned
the true cause of the baby's death.
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Someone taught you that honey can be
poisonous to infants, didn't they?
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You had to make sure
Concubine Ah-Duo didn't find out.
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She couldn't know you were
the one who killed her only child.
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So, you tried to eliminate them.
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That person is...
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Concubine Lishu.
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During the previous emperor's reign,
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Concubine Lishu was close to
Concubine Ah-Duo, who was her elder.
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Concubine Ah-Duo was also
fond of Concubine Lishu.
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A young girl, taken from her parents,
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and a woman who could no longer give birth.
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There may have been a type of
codependency developing.
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During that time, you learned
from Concubine Lishu
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that she almost died eating honey as a baby.
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To make sure Concubine Ah-Duo
never heard that story,
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you started to chase Concubine Lishu
away from the Garnet Pavilion.
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Later, the previous emperor passed away,
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and Concubine Lishu was forced to leave the
rear palace, unaware of why she was chased out.
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You must have felt quite relieved.
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But Concubine Lishu, who you
thought you'd never see again,
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returned to the rear palace.
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As another high-ranking concubine.
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As a threat to Concubine Ah-Duo's status.
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That insolent child tried to visit
Concubine Ah-Duo many times,
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as if trying to be with her mother.
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To protect Concubine Ah-Duo,
who is incapable of childbirth,
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and to hide the issue with the honey...
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You poisoned Concubine Lishu's soup.
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What do you want?
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There's nothing.
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Anything. Just ask.
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You must know that's meaningless.
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Hey. Do you know what's most precious
to the person most precious to you?
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The moment I met Lady Ah-Duo,
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I knew I would never serve anyone else again.
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Despite being a woman,
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she had a strong will, and the ability
to speak on even grounds with the prince.
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I had nothing but the deepest
respect for Lady Ah-Duo.
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Compared to me, who just followed my
parents' orders to become a lady-in-waiting,
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she was such an astonishing person.
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Despite that, I...
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I took what was most precious
to her with my own hands...
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I took him away!
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The baby that Lady Ah-Duo loved so dearly!
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With these hands!
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Back then...
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Lady Ah-Duo told us this.
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Do not blame yourselves for this.
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Babies can die for any
reason until they're seven.
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Even the slightest illness
can easily kill them.
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My baby simply followed
the will of the heavens.
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And yet, I knew she cried
herself to sleep every night!
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What was her mental state like, as she served
Lady Ah-Duo for the past sixteen years?
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Without having her own partner,
sacrificing everything for Concubine Ah-Duo...
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I can't relate.
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I don't have it in my heart
to keep someone so close.
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If he hears my story, Master Jinshi
will surely apprehend Fengming.
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There's no way she'd
escape capital punishment.
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She's a smart woman. She knows all of that.
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I have a suggestion.
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The only thing I can do is to take
your two motives and make it one.
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It won't change the results.
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But if that's still preferable
to you, please hear me out.
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So tired...
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A bath... No, it's too late for that.
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Guess I can at least get changed.
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I wore layers of stiffened
oil paper, just in case.
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Glad I didn't need it.
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Getting slashed would hurt.
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And so, Fengming turned herself in.
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Do you know anything about it?
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What do you mean?
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I heard you had Gaoshun
collect some information.
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Yes. I'd hoped to figure something
out, but it was all for naught.
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Fengming's motive, as you said,
was to try to make sure
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Concubine Ah-Duo could stay in the
position of one of the four concubines.
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I see.
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But Concubine Ah-Duo has already been
determined to leave the rear palace.
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She'll live in the detached
palace to the south.
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Does this incident have
anything to do with that?
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No, the decision was made a while ago.
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It was the emperor's call.
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I see.
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This flower.
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Hongniang came by earlier to put it on display.
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Yes, it's out of season.
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It's sweet.
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Poisonous, though.
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It's not lethal. Don't worry.
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My suggestion to Fengming, back then...
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The poisoning of Concubine Lishu.
The cause of death for the baby.
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If these two motives become one,
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she could hide the cause of the baby's
death from Concubine Ah-Duo.
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Even if her own death is inevitable...
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That was the best I could do,
as a girl with no power.
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I can't sleep.
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Maybe I'll take a walk.
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Fengming was executed.
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Concubine Ah-Duo is set to leave
the rear palace tomorrow.
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Oh, someone beat me here?
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You're that girl who came
to help clean the other day.
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I'll leave right away.
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No.
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Care to join me for a drink?
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Whoa! Booze!
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Thank you very much.
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Pretty masculine, aren't I?
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I feel like you're giving
that impression on purpose.
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You're an honest one.
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After my son left me, I became
the emperor's friend, not his concubine.
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Or rather, I returned to being his friend.
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I never thought I'd become a concubine.
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I was a concubine in name only,
given the role out of pity.
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I wanted to hand it off to someone
else as soon as possible.
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Why cling to it for so long...?
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She probably would have said the same
things to whoever she'd met up here.
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It must have been cold in that water.
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It must have been painful.
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You're probably right.
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Stupid, don't you think?
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Perhaps she was.
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We're all stupid.
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Perhaps we are.
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I think I get it now.
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That servant was indeed a suicide.
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Concubine Ah-Duo noticed that.
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Maybe Fengming helped set it up.
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To take suspicion away from Concubine Ah-Duo,
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the servant chose to sink down
into the cold water.
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To keep her secret hidden,
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Fengming chose to step up to the gallows.
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Regardless of Concubine
Ah-Duo's own wishes,
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there are those who
sacrifice their lives for her.
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I should go now, too.
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What are you doing?
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Ow... Who's that? You startled me.
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My bad.
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Master Jinshi? Why are you here?
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I should ask the same of you.
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I'm sorry. I'll get up now—
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Could you let go?
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Let go, please.
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Don't wanna. It's too cold.
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You'll catch a cold without a coat.
Please go back to your room.
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Are you drunk?
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I had to. I was sharing a drink with someone.
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Sharing, huh?
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The host invited me to drink,
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loaded me up full of booze,
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then just took off.
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When she finally came back,
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she told me she was satisfied
now, and threw me out.
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I didn't know anyone in this rear
palace could treat this guy like that.
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But that's not related to this right now.
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I don't want to put up with a clingy drunk.
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Wait... Come to think of it,
he did catch me as I fell.
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Maybe it's rude to just make him let go
of me without even thanking him.
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Master Jinshi—
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Just a little longer.
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Keep me warm, just a little longer.
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Neither of them seem hungover.
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Concubine Ah-Duo, in order
to leave the rear palace,
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returns the crown signifying
her as Pure Concubine.
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That crown will be bestowed on another girl
who will join the rear palace later.
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Ah, I see.
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I knew she resembled someone.
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It's Master Jinshi.
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Those two might as well swap outfits...
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Swap...
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After my son left me...
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"Left me," she said. Not "died"?
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I can almost interpret that
to mean he's still alive.
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Concubine Ah-Duo's child and
the then-empress dowager's child...
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What if the two babies were swapped?
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It must have been clear to Concubine Ah-Duo,
through her experience in childbirth.
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What are you doing?! I must
tend to Concubine Ah-Duo...
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The empress dowager takes priority!
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N-No!
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After all, she was just a nurse's daughter,
a childhood friend of the prince.
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Her son would live a better life
as the empress dowager's son.
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Maybe she wasn't in a state
to decide what was right or wrong.
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But if the decision resulted
in her son surviving...
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That would have been all that
Concubine Ah-Duo could have wished for.
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What if people found out
the babies were swapped later?
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If that was after the one baby had died,
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that would explain why my dad would be
physically punished for not noticing.
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And if that were the case,
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it would explain why the emperor's younger
brother is in a delicate position,
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and why Concubine Ah-Duo,
who's supposed to be a realist,
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stayed in the rear palace for so long...
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Complete nonsense.
An idiotic delusion of a story.
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Please, wait!
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Lady Lishu!
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As always.
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As a lonely concubine, to have
a lady-in-waiting she can trust...
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How reassuring that must be.
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Lady Lishu!
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At that moment, her masculine, noble face
suddenly took on the expression of a mother.
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Here is the list of Fengming's family
and those connected to them.
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I heard she was kidnapped and sold off, but...
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Jade Pavilion
Maomao
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Not just some superficial sweetness
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I want more warmth than I can even use, oh
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Having these selfish idealistic thoughts
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I swallowed them again today
before putting them into words
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Still in my memories,
the scent of fragrant olive
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The color of twilight in the city
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We were laughing...
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Filled with sadness,
the tears welled up in my eyes
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I found a glow during those days
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I guess I took everything for granted
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The wind was so loud I covered my ears
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I gotta stop being like that
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Even if I stumble over the words of love
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Next Time
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Next time: "The Eunuch
and the Courtesan."
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Episode 12: The Eunuch and the Courtesan