01x45 - Rewarded

[bunniefuu]

[Love Like the Galaxy]

[Love Like the Galaxy 2: Episode 18]

When I traveled around the country, I got acquainted with General Ma Rong.

We could be considered old friends and could chat a few words.

Actually, it's His Majesty's wisdom and righteousness

that made Ma Rong surrender and the people return to the emperor.

I also heard

that County Governor Yan Zhong also had an old friend

who was a son of a noble family.

But Yan Zhong didn't want people to say

that he was weak and capitulated to the noble clans.

So he covered up their friendship.

Whenever the two met, they avoided the crowd.

Brother Lou, do you know about this?

Indeed, nothing escapes General Ling.

That old friend...

was also me.

Back then, I noticed that County Governor Yan was good at planning and governance.

In spite of his aspirations, he was unable to fully realize his ideals.

His experience was quite similar to mine, so I befriended him.

I didn't expect that he would defect to the enemy.

I was deeply saddened but didn't wish to slander the old friend.

That's why I didn't tell anyone else about it.

I wonder then, what does Brother Lou think about

the handwritten letter left by County Governor Yan?

I heard that...

you discovered the letter.

My guess is...

Brother Yan couldn't bear to see his aged mother and young child suffer alongside him.

So he couldn't help but secretly collude with Ma Rong,

with the intent to exchange 2,000 refined copper for his mother and child to stay alive.

Who would have known that Ma Rong would be so ruthless and slaughter the entire Yan family!

Deluded with greed, feeling regrets.

It's really too bad for County Governor Yan.

However, if it weren't for County Governor Yan's defection,

there wouldn't have been Brother Lou's meritorious achievement.

This time, when Brother Lou returns to the capital city,

you will definitely rise high.

I'll congratulate Brother Lou first.

If I could choose,

I really wish Brother Yan hadn't gone astray.

His Majesty has already summoned me to return to the capital city. I still need to pack.

I won't stay to chat with General Ling. Excuse me.

The discovery of the entire Yan family's corpses at the travel station was not announced publicly.

How did Lou Ben find out?

He must have gotten flustered under your questioning and had a slip of the tongue.

He must be connected to County Governor Yan's death.

Actually, I already started to suspect Lou Ben as soon as I arrived in Tongniu County.

He has no official position. It's just empty talk without credentials.

He couldn't have convinced Ma Rong to surrender.

Also, that day in jail,

before Li Feng died, he talked about someone tearing down the bridge after crossing it.

He must have been referring to Lou Ben.

He should know my father's whereabouts.

- I'm going to him.
- Stay calm.

Without any evidence right now, he won't admit it if you question him.

It will also inadvertently alert him.

But he is about to return to the capital city. Once he's gone,

how will I find out where my father is?

It's not only him. My scout has reported that

the messenger with a decree to summon us back to the palace is already on the way.

He will arrive in Tongniu County very soon.

Are we also going back then?

No, we won't go back.

I don't think Ma Rong was stupid.

He very likely left a backup.

In Tongniu County, there should be more evidence proving Lou Ben's crime.

What about His Majesty's summons?

When generals are outside, there are urgent times when they don't have to accept the decree.

This hexagram shows a recovery out of dire straits.

Mother! Grandmother! We'll definitely get out of here.

Your hexagram isn't accurate at all.

You even said that I'll marry before Niao Niao. Right now,

I still haven't married, but I'll have to see God of Mount Tai already.

What a pity for my Qiqi.

- My Qiqi.
- A'Song! A'Song!

A'Song! A'Song!

A'Song.

Why are you here?

I heard you calling my name.

Do you miss me, too? Let me take a look at you.

Why have you become so haggard? Look.

Your eyebags are all dark.

You're overthinking it. Second Brother snores like thunder every day.

I'm the one who hasn't been sleeping well.

A'Song, you've suffered.

Qiqi, why are you here?

You even dressed up like a man. Hurry and go back.

My future husband is in prison. How can I not come?

I begged Father to bribe the prison guards

to let me in to see you.

Who's your future husband? My mother will never allow me to marry into the Wan family.

You better give up.

Y-You said it last time!

You said you'll treat your mother's words like farts!

In this whole world, I'll be the only woman you'll listen to.

I changed my mind.

I'm extremely filial. You are...

so fierce and unreasonable.

Your needlework isn't much better than Niao Niao's...

What are you doing? This is the Ministry of Justice prison, you can't act recklessly.

Furthermore, my third brother is around. Control yourself.

I know your days are numbered.

From tonight onwards,

I, Wan Qiqi, will marry you to be your wife. No regrets for the rest of my life.

Do you know the situation now?

All the males in my family will be ex*cuted.

That's why I'm here.

If you end up dying, I'll remain a widow for you.

I'll never remarry in my life. I, Wan Qiqi, will live up to my word.

If you still refuse,

I'll cut my hair and become a nun. I'll never marry in my life.

I approve.

I approve.

When all the men in the Cheng family are about to be ex*cuted,

we can actually get such a loyal and virtuous granddaughter-in-law.

This old woman is content.

Qiqi,

on behalf of all the ancestors of the Cheng family, I thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

As long as the two of you love each other,

who cares about the gossip?

Today, I'll make the decision

to allow Song'er to marry into the Wan family.

Qiqi, come here.

Qiqi.

Come, hold out your hand.

Take this.

It's from me.

Thank you, Grandmother.

This is solid gold. Keep it safe.

Thank you, Grandmother.

Yuanyi.

On this matter,

do you agree or not?

Mother, you decide.

You don't oppose me?

Mother,

in the past, we were always sharply opposed to everything.

But as we see it today, no matter how we clamor and fight,

the two of us have always been standing up for the Cheng family

and fighting for our children.

We are one family.

Yes.

There is no feud that'll last forever.

There isn't any obstacle that we can't overcome.

You are finally mature this time.

I'm not a petty person.

All of our past grievances are erased at once!

I...

However, I still want the dowry for the marriage.

It's been prepared for a long time.

Your mother and I will each get half.

No. All of it goes to Mother.

Brother Ma.

Brother Lou, you conquered a city by talking.

It's really amazing.

That's right. From now on, I'll rely on Brother Lou to guide me.

Yes, yes, please guide us, Lord Lou.

Thank you, everyone.

- Please.
- Please.

Here. Enjoy yourselves.

Brother Qin.

Congratulations, Young Master Lou.

You have no idea how amazing my eldest brother is.

He persuaded the rebels to surrender all by himself this time.

Even His Majesty has rewarded him and will let him enter the court as an official.

Look at this copper mirror.

This is the token of love that he gave my sister-in-law back then.

He polished it with his own hands.

Have you ever seen such a loving and ideal husband?

In the past, I never heard you mention this eldest brother of yours.

Isn't he your older cousin?

So what that he's my older cousin?

What my older cousin does is also an honor for our Lou family.

Younger Sister, don't show off that copper mirror. My husband won't be pleased.

Sister, you're here. Come sit.

What's wrong with it? He is just shy.

Sister, drink with us. Come, serve wine.

I've been feeling unwell lately. I'll just drink water in place of wine.

All right.

Here.

Sister.

Sister, are you all right?

What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?

I'll get the doctor.

I'm fine. Husband, you need not worry.

Later, after the guests have left, I have good news to tell you.

What good news?

Don't ask. Just consider it as doubling our happy event.

All right.

Sure. Enjoy yourselves then.

Go back to what you're doing.

Lord Lou and Madam Lou are so in love.

Exactly. We're so envious.

Isn't that right?

My older brother polished this mirror all by himself back then.

He even engraved the song "Jian Jia" in ten different writings to give my sister-in-law.

Ten different writings.

Shao...

Young Madam Lou, sorry to intrude.

Do you mind letting me see the copper mirror?

Sister Shaoshang.

It's wonderful that you can come.

I was even worried that you wouldn't be coming because of the matter with Marquis Quling.

How can a guilty person dare to attend a banquet?

Sister, why did you ask her to come? It's bad luck.

Young Madam Lou, I know that the copper mirror is a token of love from Lord Lou to you.

May I take a look?

Cheng Shaoshang, haven't you seen it before? Why see it again?

It's just a copper mirror. Why not?

When you and General Ling marry, I will have one polished for you too.

Ling Buyi. Yuan Shanjian.

Today is a happy day for the Lou family.

For you to bring guards here,

isn't it a little inappropriate?

Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Yuan Shen, by His Majesty's order,

I'm arresting the suspect who k*lled the entire family of Tongniu County's County Governor.

I hope Grand Tutor Lou will understand.

There are many guests here.

General Ling's actions will inevitably disturb them.

How about we talk somewhere else?

Lou Ben colluded with Peng Kun's General Ma Rong

to deceive Tongniu's County Governor Yan Zhong who entrusted him with his family and the refined copper,

and then slaughtered all of them.

[Tongniu County]

Ultimately, he pretended to persuade Ma Rong to open the city gate to surrender.

And even framed the crime onto Marquis Quling, Cheng Shi,

as a strategy of one stone getting three birds.

How is that possible?

This is impossible. It's impossible!

My older brother would never do anything like this.

General Ling wants to vindicate the Cheng family's guilty charge, I can totally understand his sentiment.

But to convict me,

you can't just rely on speculation and imagination.

You have to produce real evidence.

You work efficiently and fast. All the people who were involved

have almost all been k*lled, even Ma Rong.

Even Ma Rong was k*lled by me?

Ma Rong died at the hands of a Peng Kun remnant in front of many people.

Ma Rong, General Peng treated you well.

You actually betrayed him.

- Die!
- Careful.

Young Master Lou, with a wide circle of friends, you frequently visited Shouchun to befriend Ma Rong.

How could you not know that Ma Rong's adjutant was Peng Kun's foster son?

Although you didn't k*ll him, you fueled the flames and k*lled him with a borrowed knife.
[T/N: incited someone else to k*ll]

You...

There's an assassin!

Guards! Guards! There's an assassin!

Vice Minister Yuan, do you investigate by fabricating stories?

Who said that I don't have real evidence?

Even Li Feng's wife left clues at the risk of her life. Do you believe that Ma Rong

would have no defense against you?

We've already found the evidence.

In the county government office, General Ling found

the letters you wrote to County Governor Yan during those days.

From the time you got acquainted, arranged to meet, actually met, you inciting Yan Zhong

to take his mother and young child to follow General Cheng's guards to transport the supplies,

even to the meeting's times and locations,

we have them all.

My guess is that you wanted Ma Rong to destroy these letters after he entered the city.

You didn't know that he deliberately hid them

as his backup against troubles later.

General Ling, do you want to look at all of my letters in the past?

This is not my handwriting.

I recognize Lou Ben's handwriting. This is not his.

Don't try to frame this on me.

What about the token of love that you gave Young Madam Lou?

This copper mirror.

On the back, there are many different writings carved by yourself.

- I remember Second Madam Lou told me:
- My eldest son is an expert calligrapher.

He even used different styles of writing to carve

the song "Jian Jia" behind the mirror.

Between this and the letters, is there a font that's identical?

Lord Lou, you should know this better than I do.

Husband. Husband. Is what they say true?

Yes, it's all true.

Mother...

Why did you do this? Is this the only way to achieve honor?

It's for the sake of all the aggrievances that we suffered from the first branch,

for A'Yao and his family,

for our future,

for my personal aspirations.

Yanji, as it comes to this, I am too ashamed to face you.

You are still young.

You can still remarry.

What are you saying?

When you say this now, it's clearly wanting me to die.

Do you know?

Making you die is the same as making me die.

General Ling, do you know this? Everyone longs for living in a peaceful and prosperous era.

I, however, really hate that I wasn't born a few decades early.

Years ago, heroes rose up everywhere. It was a gathering of shining stars.

With your talents, if you were there at that time,

you would have achieved in guiding the country.

While I'm here, I'd like to thank General Ling

for the kindness of understanding me.

I know you are full of ambition and aspirations, but progressing step by step

to accumulate official positions is the proper way to become a nation's pillar.

But you've already gone astray.

This is the temperament I was born with. I cannot force myself to take others' biddings.

You tell me to start as a lowly government clerk.

My great ambitions will be spent on insincere compliments

and wasted on innocuous dealings.

I would rather never step into the court my whole life.

But why do you have to do such terrible things?

Our Lou family isn't unknown.

You could have gradually progressed.

Uncle, stop the playact.

Everyone says you are loyal and sincere.

But does anyone in our family not know your

little tricks?

General Ling recommended me many times,

saying that I am a great talent in strategy and governance and should have an opportunity to show my strengths.

However, His Highness the Crown Prince didn't use me because of your deliberate obfuscation.

My wonderful uncle was full of humility and declined the offer from His Highness the Crown Prince.

You said that I was still young and needed a few more years of experience before I could do the job.

See? This is all my fault.

It's all because I believed your aunt's instigation.

Don't push it to Eldest Aunt.

A man who pushes all the dirty deeds

to a woman, only you can do it.

If Uncle really wanted to recommend me as a court official, would Eldest Aunt eat you?

Actually, you secretly wanted your own sons

to excel over their peers.

Too bad that these cousins are all idiots.

You're afraid that, if I stand out, I would hinder

your sons. That's why you've been blocking the second branch's future.

Aren't I right?

You are spouting malicious slander!

You two, uncle and nephew, one is calculating, the other isn't content.

That's why Yan Zhong's whole family was slaughtered.

You wanted to use it as a stepping stone to advance your career.

You even k*lled Ma Rong and Li Feng.

Tell me. Where is my father now?

If you want to know, we must talk alone.

How about it?

What do you mean by this?

I only want to know where my father is.

I've seen mountains, rivers, and the sea, as well as the sun, moon, and stars.

I drew the world with my brush.

I'll gift it to you, Shaoshang, as a token of apology.

I hope that, in the future, when you are mired in a predicament, you can see Heaven and Earth

instead of being trapped by your heart.

After traveling everywhere for many years,

I drew this map of China with my own hands.

All the court officials want to obtain it.

This is truly a treasure. If you present this treasure to His Majesty,

I believe he would treat you more leniently and give you a way out.

To achieve what the heart desires, if it's won with difficulty,

then it's not easy to lose.

If it's achieved easily,

then it's also easy to lose.

Whether it's difficult or easy, it's up to one's own heart.

The cause is the consequence.

The consequence is also the cause.

It's how it is with me. It's also the same with you.

Our family is unfortunate. Our family is unfortunate.

I originally thought that your second branch made some great merits outside.

Who knew that he's committed such shameful acts!

It's enough if he's untalented. Why can't he learn from your older cousin and live his days contently?

Why must he harm others and himself?

Today, you second branch committed such a major crime. What if it implicates the entire family?

Shut up!

If you dare to continue to humiliate my husband and mother, I'll cause your blood to splatter for five paces.

You actually dare... You actually dare!

[Map of China]

Halt! Don't you dare come closer.

- You disobedient child!
- Husband.

You disobedient child! Misfortune has befallen our family!

Misfortune has befallen our family!

Master! Hurry and help Master inside.

- Older Brother.
- Misfortune has befallen our family!

Take her.

You are also an intelligent person. Between us,

there's no need to destroy indiscriminately.

Release Shaoshang. Tell us Cheng Shi's whereabouts.

I can plead to His Majesty for leniency on your behalf.

What is this? Pleading for leniency?

How ridiculous!

All these years, I, Lou Ben, have traveled extensively.

Most only know about my literary talents and erudition.

But they don't know that I aspire to use the stars as the chess pieces on the game board of mountains and rivers.

It's a pity that the heir to the throne takes my uncle's words as sound advice.

I have a heart full of aspirations,

yet I have no place to put it to use.

Yuan Shanjian, I truly envy you.

At such a young age, you can have a place at the Ministry of Justice.

I naturally regard my talents to be not less than yours,

yet I have no place to plant my roots.

Eagles cannot fly under low eaves. Kunpeng cannot swim in a shallow pool.
[Kunpeng: a mythical giant fish that can transform into a bird]

Since I was young, I've been wanting to enter the center of the government.

I didn't know I would end up this way.

Time and destiny made the difference.

My son, why do you have to do this?

Isn't it all right not to be a court official?

Mother.

All these years, Eldest Aunt has bullied and humiliated you.

If I were a high official, it wouldn't have happened.

As the eldest son, I should hold up the family to have our own place in the world.

I don't want A'Yao's and my descendants to

also be so humble and cowardly in our clan.

Older Brother, I'm married and I've grown up.

I don't have to be protected by your wings all the time.

Older Brother, you don't have to shoulder everything.

Let Shaoshang go.

General Ling keeps his word. He will definitely plead leniency for you to His Majesty.

That's right. I've already married into the Lou family.

With the He family's support, Brother will never suffer this kind of aggrievance again.

Thank you, Sister.

But if I don't even want to implicate my own wife,

why would I rely on the borrowed influence from Sister's family?

A'Yao, now that you've grown up, don't cry anymore.

The Lou family will depend on you from now on.

Husband! Don't keep on making mistakes.

We can repent and find a way out. Let's forget about fame and fortune.

I only want to live simple days with you, okay?

Yanji,

I probably won't be able to accompany you to visit the East Sea in search of the fairyland.

I'm sorry.

Listen to me. Get up, you. I'm pregnant with our baby.

How can you be so cruel? Don't do this...

Get up. Get up!

No! Move aside!

Get up! Get up!

Husband. Husband.

Lou Ben has committed suicide in fear of a guilty conviction.

I'll have to take the corpse back to the Ministry of Justice. Young Madam Lou, please excuse me.

All of you, get out! You all forced him to die.

You even want to take him. No way! Go away!

Get out!

Husband.

You all are the ones who forced him to die.

You all forced him!

To achieve what the heart desires, if it's won with difficulty, then it's not easy to lose.

If it's achieved easily, then it's also easy to lose.

Whether it's difficult or easy, it's up to one's own heart.

The cause is the consequence. The consequence is also the cause.

Where is your horse?

- Right outside the manor. Why?
- I'm going to find my father.

Just now, Lou Ben told me, "The cause is the consequence and the consequence is also the cause."

Since the cause is the 2,000 refined copper,

then the consequence is also at Tongniu's copper mine.

They must have imprisoned my father there.

I'm going to find my father.



♪ The flames of w*r strike against the frost and snow ♪

♪ It lightly covers the lingering illness of the past ♪

♪ Your back is against the light,
the galaxy reflected in your eyes ♪

♪ I hum a tune, the sun and the moon respond ♪

♪ The brilliance that penetrates the eyes ♪

♪ was extinguished by dust and lit again ♪

♪ The edges of earth, Kunlun, and netherworld
feel remorse for someone ♪

♪ The ocean is waking, the forest of steles
are like a mountain range ♪

♪ There are veiled criticisms in the corridor, a narrow door cannot easily close off one’s intentions ♪

♪ The challenges of one’s life become advice for the future ♪

♪ You and I will be in the same galaxy ♪

♪ We’ll use our absolute sincerity to
bring radiance to the ordinary ♪

♪ Bring radiance to the ordinary ♪