You're worthless!
Didn't I tell you to get this place clean by dusk?!
Those slave traders tricked us.
What an unbearably creepy girl.
From now on, you must live here.
I shall play the best role of all
The saddest role where one kills the most
Even at the ends of this square ocean, people change and are replaced
You forget that you're playing a role in this world
Everyone is just a bird in a cage
We all look forward to the day we can escape
And once it's within our grasp
The great big sky overwhelms us
MYSTERIOUS
Call out the name and bring calm
No one can stop your MYSTERIOUS
My MYSTERIOUS
Now, I shall play the best role of all
Raven of the Inner Palace
Deep in the inner palace,
Ye Ming Palace
there lives a consort known as the Raven Consort.
She holds a special position. Despite her title of consort,
she does not perform nighttime duties.
Though she lives in the inner palace,
she has no contact with the emperor.
It is said that she can use mysterious arts...
Your Highness, you have guests.
I have a request.
I am Huaniang, daughter of the Yun family.
Episode 3 The Whistle
I am the consort from the Yuanqian Palace.
As Second Consort, you are second only to the empress herself.
Indeed. That said, His Majesty does not yet have an empress.
Second Consort Yun Huaniang
What do you want?
His Majesty seems to visit you periodically.
Why is that?
Will you become my consort?
I know not what he wants.
He visits briefly and is gone before I know it.
He is not making any requests of you, then?
He did make a request once.
I shan't tell you what it was.
It wasn't a request for a death curse, was it?
It would be simpler for the emperor to have someone beheaded
rather than to have me curse them.
There are those within the inner palace who do not seem to understand even that.
His Majesty executed the empress dowager.
Some believe he asked the Raven Consort to curse her.
Why would they think that?
It stems from jealousy, I assume.
Jealousy?
His Majesty rarely visits his consorts, but he makes frequent trips to see you.
I am not performing nighttime duties.
No. After all, you're the Raven Consort.
Are you only here to inquire about my affairs?
I came to confirm your nature.
After all, looking after the inner palace is my responsibility.
I am glad to have met you.
I am relieved.
Do you not have a request for me?
I will be back tonight.
The Flower Princess is so pretty.
Flower Princess?
She always keeps a flower whistle in her sash,
even though it's probably bad luck.
Is it?
You mean you don't know?
I'm not entirely unfamiliar with it...
People hang them from their eaves at the end of winter
to mourn those who passed away that year.
They say the dead return on winds signaling the arrival of spring
and blow the whistles.
Why does she wear one, then?
Apparently, she won't tell anyone why.
I see.
Also, His Majesty and Lady Huaniang are childhood friends.
Lady Huaniang is three years older and the granddaughter of Prime Minster Yun.
Prime Minister Yun Yongde
That's how they became playmates.
Are you carrying tributes for the emperor?
If you're headed to the palace, give me a ride.
Le House Eunuch Dan Hai
You're from Shuzhou? That's a long trip.
I heard a lot of people died during the recent upheaval.
That was three years ago.
A strange faith spread among the people.
Its believers caused an uprising.
Really? And then?
Thanks again!
You returned on a merchant's carriage?
Dan Hai, do you even realize you're a eunuch in the emperor's service?
My job is gathering information.
Unlike a certain uptight someone, I like to be flexible in my thinking
so I can acquire useful information on the daily.
Hey, where are you going?
To the Ye Ming Palace.
I've been tasked with protecting the Raven Consort.
The Raven Consort, huh?
Hongqiao, you can rest now.
Your Highness, I told you I'd bring you water if you needed any!
I can get my own water.
But you've got me.
I've managed on my own until now.
I don't need help.
Then there's no point in me being here.
It's rather lively in here.
You've decided to keep both of them at the Ye Ming Palace?
No, actually. I can't keep them around forever.
I do not foresee any issues.
The Raven Consort does not keep ladies-in-waiting.
I only need one servant, as well.
Why?
That's none of your business.
You're the one who caused all of this to begin with.
All this trouble started after you started visiting.
You might be right.
I heard Huaniang paid you a visit.
Only because you keep coming here.
You should go see your consorts.
I do visit them, just often enough to keep them from complaining.
You needn't visit me, then. Begone.
Good evening.
If you have a request for the Raven Consort, I should leave.
No, you are welcome to stay.
I had this whistle made for a certain person,
but it's never made a sound.
Why do you think that is?
Does it remain silent because he won't return to me?
Who is this person of which you speak?
He was my lover.
His name was Ou Xuanyou. He passed away three years ago.
I waited for his soul to return,
but the whistle never made a sound.
Why is that? Why won't he return to me?
Can you make this whistle sound?
Can you summon him?
Is that your request?
Yes.
Very well. I shall attempt to call his soul.
You can do that?
I can only summon a soul from paradise once.
Keep that in mind.
Is Xuanyou his courtesy name?
Yes.
And his given name?
Xiao.
I cannot call him.
What?
I cannot find the soul you're looking for in paradise.
There is no response to my summons.
But...
Is Xuanyou perhaps still alive?
If not that, there must be some other reason I cannot summon his soul.
How did he die?
Three years ago, Ou Xuanyou was appointed to Shuzhou.
He lost his life in the uprising that took place there.
At the time, an odd faith known as the Yue Doctrine had become popular.
A man named Yue Xiaweng was revered as a living god.
Allegedly, he could predict the future and accurately guess the past,
but I hear he was not a practitioner of magic.
I wish to know more about this Yue Xiaweng.
Dan Hai.
He is my ears.
I just happened to make some good connections in Shuzhou.
The merchants I became friendly with will surely be useful.
This is the Yuanqian Palace.
Yuanqian Palace
You should plant flowers at the Ye Ming Palace, too.
Flowers don't grow in that place.
Would you like to take one?
Thank you, Your Highness.
No need to thank me.
You both look wonderful.
We received various items from a merchant.
Among them are unusual wares from countries across the sea.
Would you like to see them?
It is fine. I would like to know more about Ou Xuanyou.
I suppose you could say Xuanyou was like boiled water that had cooled.
Warm and gentle.
Though he could be passionate at times, he never used that heat to burn anyone.
But, boiled water is only the perfect temperature for a short time.
He, too, was gone before I knew it.
Cooled boiled water is good for you.
Perhaps his soul is lost in Shuzhou.
He could be careless, after all.
What do you think of His Majesty?
What do you mean?
He seems to have changed some since he met you.
I never know what he is thinking.
He's expressionless, unsociable, and rude.
He feels like winter.
Silent and still, and though there is warmth in the sunlight,
something hides in the shadows.
As a child, His Majesty laughed and became upset freely.
He stopped expressing his emotions because of his mother's death
and what happened with Ding Lan.
Ding Lan?
His Majesty made this whistle for me.
He made that?
He's skilled with his hands.
He studied under a eunuch named Ding Lan, whom he loved very much.
But Ding Lan died a horrible death.
You mustn't mention his name in His Majesty's presence.
Yua Xiaweng is long since dead.
He was sentenced to whipping and banishment from the province,
but he died before he received a hundred lashes.
What were his prophecies and arts like?
Finding lost items, conjuring illusions, and performing transformations.
No one knows if they were real or fake, though.
Some say there was more than one Yue Xiaweng.
What do you mean?
Sometimes he seemed like another person,
as though he was possessed.
Possessed...
Also, this is just a rumor as well,
but he was apparently a member of the previous dynasty.
That's all we learned.
I'll let you know if we learn more.
Don't throw things at me.
They're dried apricots.
Are you trying to feed monkeys?
Huaniang said you'd changed recently.
Changed? Changed how?
I don't know.
She must be mistaken.
I have a request for the Raven Consort.
Please come to the Yuanqian Palace as soon as you can.
You want me to find a lost item?
One of the items we received from a merchant the other day has gone missing.
That's all? I thought this would be more serious.
It is serious.
Those items belong to the emperor.
We'll be made to take responsibility for anything missing.
Take responsibility? You mean executed?
One of the court ladies has gone missing.
Are you saying she fled with the missing item?
She wasn't the type of person to do anything so audacious.
But recently, she's been acting strange.
Acting strange?
Sometimes she acted like a different person.
Sometimes he seemed like another person.
Take me to this court lady's room.
What is her name?
Ye Qingcheng.
Stay where you are.
Are you Ye Qingcheng?
Who can say? I do not know her name.
Who are you?
Are you associated with Yue Xiaweng?
Oh? What makes you say that?
You've tamed my raven.
That's not something an ordinary person can do.
And judging by the characters on that jar, you're a sorcerer.
I see.
I am Bingyue, Luan Bingyue,
Raven Consort.
Luan?
Like you.
Isn't that right, Raven Consort?
My name is Liu Shouxue, not Luan.
I'm not interested in fake names.
Your blood calls to me.
It tells me you're family.
I'm impressed you survived.
I was captured and beheaded.
Whose soul is trapped inside that jar?
It would seem you wish to summon the soul of a man who died in the uprising at Shuzhou.
Could it be?
Souls that die far away from their homelands become lost.
I gather them up and seal them inside this jar.
I originally thought to make them my servants,
but I unexpectedly found another use for them.
What do you mean?
You may have the soul of Ou Xuanyou.
But in exchange, I have a request.
A request?
It's the reason I came to the inner palace.
What is your request?
Why did you come here?
If you'll do as I ask, then I'll tell you.
But, if you can't...
Then I'll kill this woman and flee.
This lost soul will never return.
What will you do?
No need to threaten me. I will hear you out.
Put down your blade!
Ou Xuanyou.
Wen Ying, how is she?
Merely unconscious.
I see. Thank you.
Raven Consort, why do you allow yourself to remain cooped up in the inner palace?
Everything could be yours if you desired.
Did you hear what he just said?
Hear what?
I'm going back to the Yuanqian Palace.
This is the soul of Ou Xuanyou.
It's warm.
Not too hot, like cooled boiled water.
Wait. Just a little longer.
Xuanyou!
He will return to you again in spring.
Huaniang gave me this for summoning a soul.
She threatened to throw it away if I refused to accept it.
There's no resisting Huaniang.
You should accept it.
Why is she at the inner palace?
After Xuanyou's death, Huaniang had nowhere to go.
Since her lover was dead, she had no choice but to marry into another family.
But she refused to consider it, so I granted her this position.
She instructed me to wear those clothes and visit her at the Yuanqian Palace.
I'm sure you'll make good companions.
The Raven Consort does not gossip over tea with other consorts.
I was empty once.
It was the previous Raven Consort who filled that void.
She took me in after I lost my mother and was sold by slave traders.
She said, "From now on, you must live here."
She said that was my destiny.
She gave me a new name and taught me how to do everything,
such as how to read and write, how to speak as I do,
and how to use the Raven Consort's arts.
She made me promise I would never take pity
on those who made requests of the Raven Consort.
Why is that?
Because it would tear me apart.
Allowing my emotions to be affected would cloud my judgment.
Perhaps she was right,
but Huaniang said you were the kindest person she's ever met.
This will go well with the clothes Huaniang gave you.
I don't—
If you don't want it, then throw it away.
You're all terrible.
Don't come back here.
Don't be so angry.
This is no place for an emperor.
The Raven Consort and emperor are like oil and water.
What does that mean?
My fate had tainted
The heavily falling snow black
The sun shines in gradually
And freshly melts it away with its summer warmth
The dream you saw in your eternal sleep
I'll do whatever I can to make it come true
(I want to help you, it's true)
Because you made your wish to me
Just like the sun shining through the darkness
The bouquet of light
That you had given me
Still connects the seasons that will never meet
The proof of this pain
Wei Qing.
Yes, Master.
Get in touch with Xue Yuyong of the Winter Palace.
Will it be able to stay the snow that falls in the summer?
Tell him I have questions about the Raven Consort.
Episode 4
The Skylark Princess