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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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EpisodeReducing 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, 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...

91
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You poisoned Concubine Lishu's soup.

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What do you want?

93
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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.

112
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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.

121
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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.

126
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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.

129
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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?

136
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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.

141
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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.

143
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Does this incident have
anything to do with that?

144
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No, the decision was made a while ago.

145
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It was the emperor's call.

146
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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.

152
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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,

156
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she could hide the cause of the baby's
death from Concubine Ah-Duo.

157
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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.

161
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Fengming was executed.

162
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Concubine Ah-Duo is set to leave
the rear palace tomorrow.

163
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Oh, someone beat me here?

164
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You're that girl who came
to help clean the other day.

165
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I'll leave right away.

166
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No.

167
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Care to join me for a drink?

168
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Whoa! Booze!

169
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Thank you very much.

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Pretty masculine, aren't I?

171
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I feel like you're giving
that impression on purpose.

172
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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.

175
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I never thought I'd become a concubine.

176
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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.

178
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Why cling to it for so long...?

179
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She probably would have said the same
things to whoever she'd met up here.

180
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It must have been cold in that water.

181
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It must have been painful.

182
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You're probably right.

183
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Stupid, don't you think?

184
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Perhaps she was.

185
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We're all stupid.

186
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Perhaps we are.

187
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I think I get it now.

188
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That servant was indeed a suicide.

189
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Concubine Ah-Duo noticed that.

190
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Maybe Fengming helped set it up.

191
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To take suspicion away from Concubine Ah-Duo,

192
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the servant chose to sink down
into the cold water.

193
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To keep her secret hidden,

194
00:15:55,829 --> 00:15:57,915
Fengming chose to step up to the gallows.

195
00:15:59,833 --> 00:16:01,919
Regardless of Concubine
Ah-Duo's own wishes,

196
00:16:01,919 --> 00:16:04,922
there are those who
sacrifice their lives for her.

197
00:16:06,924 --> 00:16:09,843
I should go now, too.

198
00:16:12,930 --> 00:16:14,848
What are you doing?

199
00:16:18,852 --> 00:16:20,854
Ow... Who's that? You startled me.

200
00:16:20,854 --> 00:16:22,856
My bad.

201
00:16:22,856 --> 00:16:24,775
Master Jinshi? Why are you here?

202
00:16:24,900 --> 00:16:26,902
I should ask the same of you.

203
00:16:33,367 --> 00:16:37,287
Neither of them seem hungover.

204
00:16:37,329 --> 00:16:39,331
Concubine Ah-Duo, in order
to leave the rear palace,

205
00:16:39,331 --> 00:16:41,375
returns the crown signifying
her as Pure Concubine.

206
00:16:42,334 --> 00:16:48,298
That crown will be bestowed on another girl
who will join the rear palace later.

207
00:16:54,346 --> 00:16:56,348
Ah, I see.

208
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I knew she resembled someone.

209
00:16:59,309 --> 00:17:01,353
It's Master Jinshi.

210
00:17:02,396 --> 00:17:06,358
Those two might as well swap outfits...

211
00:17:07,317 --> 00:17:08,360
Swap...

212
00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:12,364
After my son left me...

213
00:17:12,364 --> 00:17:16,368
"Left me," she said. Not "died"?

214
00:17:17,327 --> 00:17:20,330
I can almost interpret that
to mean he's still alive.

215
00:17:20,330 --> 00:17:25,335
Concubine Ah-Duo's child and
the then-empress dowager's child...

216
00:17:25,335 --> 00:17:28,297
What if the two babies were swapped?

217
00:17:29,298 --> 00:17:33,302
It must have been clear to Concubine Ah-Duo,
through her experience in childbirth.

218
00:17:33,343 --> 00:17:36,305
What are you doing?! I must
tend to Concubine Ah-Duo...

219
00:17:36,305 --> 00:17:37,347
The empress dowager takes priority!

220
00:17:37,347 --> 00:17:39,349
N-No!

221
00:17:39,349 --> 00:17:44,354
After all, she was just a nurse's daughter,
a childhood friend of the prince.

222
00:17:44,354 --> 00:17:49,359
Her son would live a better life
as the empress dowager's son.

223
00:17:50,402 --> 00:17:55,324
Maybe she wasn't in a state
to decide what was right or wrong.

224
00:17:55,365 --> 00:17:59,328
But if the decision resulted
in her son surviving...

225
00:17:59,369 --> 00:18:03,290
That would have been all that
Concubine Ah-Duo could have wished for.

226
00:18:03,373 --> 00:18:07,336
What if people found out
the babies were swapped later?

227
00:18:07,377 --> 00:18:10,339
If that was after the one baby had died,

228
00:18:10,339 --> 00:18:16,303
that would explain why my dad would be
physically punished for not noticing.

229
00:18:17,346 --> 00:18:19,306
And if that were the case,

230
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it would explain why the emperor's younger
brother is in a delicate position,

231
00:18:23,310 --> 00:18:26,313
and why Concubine Ah-Duo,
who's supposed to be a realist,

232
00:18:26,313 --> 00:18:28,398
stayed in the rear palace for so long...

233
00:18:32,319 --> 00:18:35,364
Complete nonsense.
An idiotic delusion of a story.

234
00:18:35,364 --> 00:18:36,365
Please, wait!

235
00:18:36,365 --> 00:18:38,325
Lady Lishu!

236
00:18:41,370 --> 00:18:43,372
As always.

237
00:18:45,290 --> 00:18:49,294
As a lonely concubine, to have
a lady-in-waiting she can trust...

238
00:18:50,295 --> 00:18:53,298
How reassuring that must be.

239
00:18:55,300 --> 00:18:56,301
Lady Lishu!

240
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At that moment, her masculine, noble face
suddenly took on the expression of a mother.

241
00:19:19,283 --> 00:19:22,286
Here is the list of Fengming's family
and those connected to them.

242
00:19:23,328 --> 00:19:26,373
I heard she was kidnapped and sold off, but...

243
00:19:26,373 --> 00:19:31,295
Jade Pavilion
Maomao

244
00:19:32,296 --> 00:19:35,382
Not just some superficial sweetness

245
00:19:38,343 --> 00:19:43,307
I want more warmth than I can even use, oh

246
00:19:44,349 --> 00:19:49,354
Having these selfish idealistic thoughts

247
00:19:49,354 --> 00:19:54,318
I swallowed them again today
before putting them into words

248
00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:59,323
Still in my memories,
the scent of fragrant olive

249
00:19:59,323 --> 00:20:02,326
The color of twilight in the city

250
00:20:02,326 --> 00:20:07,331
We were laughing...

251
00:20:07,331 --> 00:20:19,301
Filled with sadness,
the tears welled up in my eyes

252
00:20:19,384 --> 00:20:27,351
I found a glow during those days

253
00:20:27,351 --> 00:20:31,355
I guess I took everything for granted

254
00:20:32,314 --> 00:20:44,326
The wind was so loud I covered my ears

255
00:20:44,326 --> 00:20:52,292
I gotta stop being like that

256
00:20:52,292 --> 00:21:00,300
Even if I stumble over the words of love