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[General And I]
[Episode 39]
After all this time, I've thought it through.
If you wish to stay with Prince Consort
I'd never object to it.
He is my prince consort.
He is now and will be in this lifetime.
As for you, you're his childhood playmate.
If I were to rid him of his memories with you
it is impossible.
My prince consort could risk his life to venture into Jin State for you.
I admire him for his loyalty to his old friend.
Miss Bai, I've already made up my mind.
From now on, you'll offer counsel to Prince Consort.
His abilities will be further enhanced if you were to be by his side.
Then the rise of Bai Lan Empire is soon in sight.
Your Highness is truly broad-minded.
You're unlike any other ordinary woman.
I'm deeply impressed.
However, in my lifetime...
In my lifetime, my husband is my one true love.
Even if I were to search heaven and hell to find nothing but vastness
he is still the only one on my mind.
If I were made to marry another, I'd rather die to stay true to myself.
My only wish is to leave this place.
I hope that Your Highness will allow it.
Prince Consort knew that by bringing you to Bai Lan State
he and I would be estranged.
It would also stir up much criticism among officials.
Judging by Prince Consort's intelligence
he should have known that after bringing you to Bai Lan State
he would have a hard time.
Therefore, I do think that he is serious about you.
But all my affection is given to one man.
My husband has my heart and soul.
No one else can have them.
Isn't your Highness just as devoted to Prince Consort?
If Your Highness were asked to accept another man now
could you do so?
My utmost devotion can no longer be reciprocated
with his heartfelt affection because of you.
Bai Ping Ting.
How I wish you'd never showed up in my life.
However, since you already did, you can't just disappear.
As a wife, I can convince myself to accept you.
However, as a woman, I can never forgive you.
Your Highness.
If I let you go free, I'll end up like Prince Consort.
From then on, I'd have to progress with great difficulty.
Life is like a dream.
When you wake up, so much has changed.
All events in life pass by like a fleeting horse, in the blink of an eye.
In just these recent years, the changes in the world
have already caused an upheaval.
As of two geese that parted ways
no longer are we the maid Bai Ping Ting and her master Young Prince of Jing An.
It is now just the princess and prince consort.
The days I had with him are long gone.
It is over.
Never can we get back to how we were.
All that Prince Consort now holds is Your Highness's true affection.
One day, he will understand.
Only Your Highness is his best spouse.
Now that the war is going on
Prince Consort might have the upper hand, but the enemies have yet to back down.
The outcome is hard to tell.
Victory is yet to be determined.
I have no other skills
but I'm willing to assist Your Highness in dispelling your enemies.
If you could protect your home
you could then share one love and start a family.
Spend the rest of your lives together.
After this battle, I shall leave all worldly affairs behind
to spend the rest of my days in the company of my memories.
Your Highness.
Once I take my leave, you and I can both feel at ease.
Isn't that the best outcome?
Do you have a strategy to safeguard the city?
Your Highness has agreed to my request?
Are you negotiating terms with me?
I could have you killed.
Thank you, Your Highness.
You...
I finally understand it now.
A frail woman like you who had no power or authority
could actually instigate renowned heroes in the world
to launch a war and put everything at stake for you.
You are indeed capable of that.
Your Highness, you flatter me.
Your Highness is a wise and intelligent woman
who is truly impressive.
There's no need to flatter me.
We are both women.
I know how you feel.
However, if I were to let you go free so easily this time
I honestly would find it quite a pity.
Miss Bai, you're no ordinary strategist.
You're second to none.
Indeed, you're one rare talent.
But even so, Your Highness would still wish for me to leave.
Under the current circumstances, our army has had the first victory.
Does Miss Bai think that the enemies
still have a chance of taking Yun-An City?
Yes.
Yun-An City might withstand attacks well, but the woods outside the city is dense.
If the enemies were to conceal themselves within the woods
it will be hard to make out their numbers.
Once Prince Consort strikes out hastily
the outcome of the battle could well be turned around.
Yun-An City might have abundant rations
but both water sources are located outside the city.
Once the enemies cut off your water supply...
It's also the dry season now.
A prolonged battle will be unwise.
Prince Consort is very likely to follow up with his first victory.
If I were him, I'd never pursue the enemies
without knowing for certain what they have planned.
However, if it were Prince Consort...
Then how can we determine if the enemies have feigned retreat?
Your Highness, fret not.
The wind is blowing from the southeast direction now.
The enemies are stationed to the northwest of Yun-An City.
For Bai Lan State, it's downwind.
It's best to attack with arrows now.
Attack the enemies with burning arrows.
With the wind, the fire will surely rage on.
If so, how could the enemies not take any action?
We could then easily make out the current status of our enemies.
Then we could follow up with the attack.
We might not know the enemies' current status
but I fear that Prince Consort would act recklessly.
This strategy must be made known to Prince Consort as soon as possible.
Miss Bai, thank you.
Is there anything else, Your Highness?
By the way, Miss Bai
would you like to know which general is leading
the enemies in this battle to attack Bai Lan State?
The trend of the events in this world is now no longer a concern of mine.
Friend or foe, attack or defense...
None of that matters to me.
I just hope that Your Highness will keep your promise
to release me after attaining the strategy to dispel your enemies.
What if I should say that their commander is Chu Bei Jie?
Who is it?
Chu Bei Jie.
He is your one true love.
Your husband.
No longer do you need to search heaven and hell for him
or find yourself in nothing but vastness.
He is now right outside the city waiting to take you home.
I just hope that he will be alive by then to do so.
Sister Bai.
Sister Bai!
What happened?
Why am I so foolish?
I should have known that it's the army of Jin State.
The army of Jin State?
Zui Ju.
Do you know who has Yun-An City under siege?
Who is it?
Ping Ting!
What is the matter?
Are you all right?
It's him.
He's not dead.
I was wrong.
I've gotten him into trouble.
I should have believed in him.
I should have waited for him to come home.
Ping Ting, what are you talking about?
Did that Princess Yao Tian bully you?
I really am too foolish.
I spent three days embroidering that lone goose.
Yet during those three days, my hands weren't stained at all.
They weren't stained by any dye from the thread.
It means that the thread has been kept for some time already.
You can get anything in Prince Consort's Manor.
How could you not have any new silk thread at all?
The only possible answer is that
no new silk thread is imported into Bai Lan State.
Silk is Great Jin's largest export product.
All official households purchase silk thread from Great Jin.
Bai Lan State and Jin State have long been estranged.
Why would Jin State now attack Bai Lan State so abruptly in full force?
Zui Ju...
It's your Brother Bei Jie outside the city now.
Brother Bei Jie?
He...
Isn't he...
He's not dead.
He's come for me.
Brother Bei Jie isn't dead.
Isn't this the best news we could ever have?
Ping Ting, you can now be together again!
Your family can be reunited!
Ping Ting, since Brother Bei Jie is still alive
we should pack our bags now.
We'll head back to Mount East country house.
I'll go and pack now.
I can't see him again.
Why?
Do you wish to stay as a concubine here in Prince Consort's Manor?
Ping Ting, could you have already forgotten Brother Bei Jie?
You're still carrying his child!
I can't forgive myself.
How could I face him?
He came here for me.
He's out there fighting with his life, but what about me?
What have I done?
I've just told Princess Yao Tian how to dispel his army.
He went all out to come for me...
Yet he will suffer at the hands of my strategy.
Zui Ju...
Why?
Why have I put his life at risk again and again?
Ping Ting, don't blame yourself.
Brother Bei Jie is really powerful.
That He Xia is no match for him.
If he knows that everything you did was to protect your child
he will forgive you.
You said that he's leading the army in battle
so it means that he is doing very well.
We should be happy for him.
We should go to him happily.
Ping Ting, don't hesitate.
If you do, who knows what He Xia and Princess Yao Tian will do to him?
No...
It will only put Bei Jie at a great disadvantage if I stay by his side.
Again and again, it was all because of me
that he was framed in the imperial court and pitted against King of Jin.
He now launched war upon Bai Lan State for me
and put thousands of soldiers' lives at risk.
He's now in danger again because of me.
It's all my fault...
It isn't, Sister Bai!
I should be condemned and reproached by all!
No!
How could I ever face him again?
It's not like that.
Ping Ting, what is the matter?
Here, let me read your pulse.
You're all right.
You got too agitated and nearly affected the baby.
I'm begging you.
Please stop torturing yourself.
Brother Bei Jie wants you to be happy.
Look. We've been trapped in this huge manor for so long
and now Brother Bei Jie is actually alive.
Should anything happen to you and your unborn child
how could you then face Brother Bei Jie?
Ping Ting.
Don't get too agitated. Don't cry.
This child isn't even born yet and I've already put them through so much torment.
How am I still fit to be a mother?
Ping Ting, how could you say so?
In my mind, you're already the best mother in the world.
You endured the loss of your husband.
I believe that you and your child will be able to live happily.
I witnessed how you and Brother Bei Jie met
got to know each other, and then fell deeply in love.
You went through love, grief, and separation.
Since the moment He Xia put you into the horse carriage
I swore to myself that I'll always watch over you and your child.
I will stay by your side.
I'll be with you when you deliver your child.
Ping Ting, I haven't given up yet.
So how could you?
Don't be upset anymore.
We will be fine.
Zui Ju.
Ping Ting.
Prime Minister, how could you send your men
to assassinate Bai Ping Ting without my consent?
Your Highness, the witch Bai Ping Ting must not stay.
I do know that she must not stay here and I have ways to tackle her.
Prime Minister, you're in no place
to take unauthorized action and mess up my plans.
I was just trying to rid Bai Lan State of danger and threat!
Prime Minister, your lifetime of cleverness
is marred by a moment of stupidity.
What use is it to kill Bai Ping Ting?
Bai Ping Ting is greatly cherished by Prince Consort.
She's even more precious than anything in the world to Chu Bei Jie.
If Bai Ping Ting is dead, how will you answer to Prince Consort?
How will you answer to Chu Bei Jie, who already launched war upon us?
Do you think that Prince Consort would spare you?
Would Chu Bei Jie spare us?
You cannot pacify civil unrest or dispel foreign invasion.
In my opinion, you're not getting rid of danger and threat.
You're just setting the scene for another war!
I've made this mistake due to my negligence.
It's just that I begrudged Bai Ping Ting for making two states fight over her.
I...
Please punish me.
It has already come to such.
What use is it to punish you?
Prime Minister, get up to speak.
Thank you, Your Highness.
That assassination attempt did prove to be of some help.
It made Bai Ping Ting come to me for assistance.
I've sounded her out at Prince Consort's Manor.
She is determined to leave.
It's good that she wants to leave.
That saves me much trouble.
By then, she will put on an act with me.
Everyone in Yun-An City is my witness.
I had wanted wholeheartedly to get Prince Consort a concubine.
By then, Prince Consort will have no other choice.
Your Highness has indeed planned well in advance.
I'm impressed.
Prime Minister has always known me well.
However, this must be done perfectly.
Your Highness, rest assured that I won't let you down again.
If so, I'll take my leave now.
Lu Yi, get the ink and brush ready.
Yes.
Deliver this letter to Prince Consort.
Tell him to act according to the plan.
Yes.
In addition, it's time to make him rejoice at having a concubine.
Yes.
Did I see it right?
It's a proposal parade to Prince Consort's Manor?
I don't know of any lady in his manor to be married.
I can't figure it out even by looking at this.
- Prince Consort's Manor indeed. - It is quite a parade.
Miss Bai, please get dressed.
Hold on.
Put the things down first. I'll do it.
- Get that done. - Yes.
Hurry up.
Step out!
Quickly!
Leave the room! Now!
Sister Bai, what should we do now?
I didn't expect it to turn out like this either.
But if you put on this outfit
there will no longer be a Princess Consort of Zhenbei.
Princess Consort of Zhenbei...
Such a beautiful title.
I'm afraid that I'm no longer fit to have it.
Ping Ting.
So many have died because of me.
Wherever I am, one scheme comes after another.
His Highness...
His Majesty...
Young Master...
Everything in my life is like chains and locks around me.
Even if I'm willing to take on all the punishment
I don't wish to implicate anyone else.
If it weren't for the child I'm carrying
I wouldn't have dragged out my life shamelessly for so long.
Zui Ju.
We'll go to Great Liang.
Great Liang?
We'll go to Great Liang.
I've thought it through.
My best friend Yang Feng is there.
She was once a musician in Great Yan.
A tune from her zither could draw in all the birds.
They will surely take us in.
Ping Ting, I've decided.
I'm willing to follow you wherever you go.
If you have yet to make up your mind, I'll go to Great Liang with you first.
When you have cleared your doubts, we'll go to Brother Bei Jie.
You're destined to be with him.
I believe that you will surely reunite.
How beautiful...
Miss Bai, does the bridal gown fit?
It does fit very well.
I thank Her Highness for her graciousness.
Miss Lu Yi, please inform Her Highness that I thank her for her gift.
I have nothing to repay her with, but I won't let her down.
I will fulfill my duty.
I'd have to trouble Miss Bai then.
Do you know who that woman in Prince Consort's Manor is?
- I don't know. - Who is it?
Bai Ping Ting.
Bai Ping Ting?
That name sounds familiar.
I don't know her.
Isn't that the Bai Ping Ting in the storyteller's tale?
She's the legendary woman who rode thousands of miles to save her husband.
I heard that she's even Jin State's Princess Consort of Zhenbei.
A princess consort?
It isn't just that.
- Exactly! - Exactly!
She is quite someone.
Before Bai Ping Ting was made Princess Consort of Zhenbei
she was our Prince Consort's personal maid.
Personal maid!
Did you not see the grandeur of that parade outside the manor?
- Yes! - We saw it.
Today, the princess has made a proposal for Prince Consort.
Bai Ping Ting is the concubine
that Her Highness is bestowing to Prince Consort.
There's such a relationship?
I heard that Jin State is attacking us so ferociously because of Bai Ping Ting.
This...
Her Highness must be joking.
Exactly!
Bai Ping Ting first betrayed her master and then abandoned her husband.
This... This woman is trouble itself!
Exactly!
A witch like her will only bring about calamity!
How could they start a war over a woman?
Report!
Prince Consort!
Her Highness sent this urgently!
Great!
How remarkable!
- Anyone there? - Present!
Convey my orders.
Get all armed services ready.
We'll send Chu Bei Jie to his doom tonight.
He shall die unburied in the wilderness!
Is this true?
He would go all the way to war in Bai Lan for a woman who betrayed him?
Why should we sacrifice ourselves for that?
Prince of Zhenbei has led us to numerous victories.
- Who are you to complain? - Exactly.
This matter might not be as it seems.
There could be a misunderstanding.
- Right? - Women can bring calamity.
His Highness has his woman. I have wife and children!
- Exactly! - As the commander-in-chief
did he care for our lives?
All this for a woman?
Just for a woman?
Some damn prince he is!
What did you say?
Beat him up!
What are you doing?
Beat him!
How dare you beat me?
What are you all doing?
Ever since I lead the army, all generals and soldiers fought with me in battles.
You are my brothers.
We share wine and meat together here in the camp.
You're still my brothers.
Yet now, my wife is in distress.
Even if I had to venture into lands of peril and fight to my last breath
I'll still make it until the end with the determination to win this war.
I believe that you would do the same if you were me.
However, I understand that you have families to care for.
I also couldn't bear to have you lose your lives
and leave behind your families for my wife.
Today, I speak to you not as your superior.
This is not a military command.
You can choose to leave or stay. I have no objection!
Your Highness! We believe in Princess Consort!
We will follow your command!
With your command, we will show Bai Lan State that
none of us in Jin State's army are weaklings!
When have we feared losing this head of ours?
Am I right, brothers?
Yes!
Good!
I drink a toast to you!
Thank you, Your Highness!
Today, we're as close as kinsmen.
If you should die fighting, I'll care for your family all my life!
If I should die in this war
I ask that you find my wife to tell her I have let her down.
Drink!
Rest assured, Your Highness! We swear upon our lives to follow you!
Ping Ting.
Here.
Ping Ting.
Leave quickly.
Stop right there!
Sister Ping Ting!
Where are you going?
Listen.
Don't try to stop us.
The princess has allowed us to leave!
You...
Zui Ju.
Young Master is fighting on the frontline right now.
If you really leave, what will Young Master do
if he can't find you here when he returns?
Have you considered his feelings?
All this time, he's been smiling less and less
and staying up at night more and more often.
I've been looking forward to having you here
so that Young Master could feel the warmth of your affection again.
Ping Ting...
You grew up with Young Master.
Don't you feel bad for him at all?
- Dong Zhuo. - Sister Ping Ting.
Have you really grown so cold and distant?
Dong Zhuo.
I have to leave.
Ping Ting, I'm begging you to stay!
Please stay by Young Master's side!
If Young Master loses you, he could never be himself again.
Dong Zhuo.
Do you really think that we can get back to how we once were?
Do you think that Young Master is still the same man you knew?
He was the one who set me up.
He was also the one who made me be condemned by everyone.
He was also the one who killed the man I love the most.
I'm now imprisoned and kept here against my will.
He did that to me as well.
If you really wish to keep me here, all you will get is a corpse.
I'm no longer the Sister Ping Ting you knew.
If I should die today
do you think Young Master would be happier or more upset?
What about you?
Will you be happier or more upset?
Sister Ping Ting, I...
I know that you can't bear to see me leave.
I can't bear to leave you either.
If you think that I shouldn't leave this place today
kill me right now.
Then I could also be liberated.
No!
Step aside!
Zui Ju.
My good brother. See me off once again.
Leave now.
Just pretend that I never saw you here.
Dong Zhuo.
Take care. Look after yourself.
Ping Ting.
- Leave! - Take care of Young Master.
Go!
- Sister Bai, leave! - Leave or I'll change my mind!
Let's leave now!
Sister Ping Ting.
Stop.
Get ready!
Look! What is that?
- What is that? - Look!
Where did that come from?
I don't know.
Who set them?
I don't know.
- Look! - Look!
- Get up! - Get up!
- Look! - Look!
It's drifting over to us!
What is it?
I don't know.
Look! There are more over here.
Get up! Look!
They are drifting over to us!
What are they?
There are so many of them!
I don't know.
There's more here and there!
They are drifting over from there!
Release!
It's caught fire!
- It's caught fire! - It's caught fire!
Put out the fire!
- Run! - It's on fire!
Run!
Put out the fire quickly!
- It's caught fire! - It's caught fire!
Run!
- It's caught fire! - It's caught fire!
Your Highness.
It is as you expected.
He Xia has used the fire strategy on our camps.
The ditch is already dug. Everything is ready.
Fire is indeed the best method to tackle enemies in the woods.
However, he's forgotten that he is up against me.
I've already anticipated every strategy he can think of.
This time, He Xia has lost.
Convey my orders!
I'll take 5,000 elite soldiers with me
to act as if we're breaking siege to the west and lure the enemies away.
- Mo Ran. - Present.
You'll lead the main army.
Be sure to put on a good show for Prince Consort.
I accept the command.
- Set out! - Yes!
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