What's this?
The moon sank into the sea and became two gods:
one the god of shadow, one the god of light.
Eight thousand nights they spent at the sea,
the first god hiding away in the Black Palace,
the second god cavorting in the Moon Palace.
And thus, one became the Palace of Seclusion,
and the other the Palace of Pleasure.
Another god became the port of the Palace of Seclusion.
This was the Great Turtle God.
This god had sinned, and was thus rent into eight parts.
The flowing water carried them away from the palace.
Its bones were made one once again, and the white turtle was formed.
This was the Turtle God.
This god could calm the violent seas to protect ships.
The descendants of these gods began the bloodline of the white king, the emperor...
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
Ningguang Hall
Deep in the inner 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...
Episode 6 The Summer King and the Winter King
Baiyan...
Raven Consort, this way.
All right.
What is that?
This is the jade pendant of Princess Mingzhu.
Princess Mingzhu...
She was the second princess of the last emperor of the Luan Dynasty,
and was famous for her beauty.
She was 24 years old when she passed away.
Stop!
After her!
When the imperial guards entered the inner palace,
She went that way!
unwilling to die at her enemy's hands...
she pierced her own throat with a dagger beneath a willow
and passed away.
She was wearing this jade pendant at that time.
So Princess Mingzhu died beneath a willow tree.
Yes. As I was a yuyi at the time, I am quite familiar with the incident.
This is the blade she used to kill herself.
You said she was 24 when she died.
A princess famous for her beauty
was living unmarried in the inner palace at her age?
Indeed, yes.
Why?
I do not know.
Would you like to see Princess Mingzhu?
These are paintings of the six individuals
said to be exceptionally beautiful even for the Luan family.
And this is Princess Mingzhu.
Is that glass comb here in this storehouse?
No. Many treasures were taken from the inner palace at that time.
Numerous masterpieces were scattered and lost.
I see.
This is Luan Bingyue.
Luan Bingyue...
He was a renowned sorcerer.
His beauty was said to be unmatched within the imperial family.
Do you know anything else about him?
Bingyue was the grandson of the emperor.
Since he distanced himself from rule, there are not many records left of him,
but I know several anecdotes about him.
He identified the curse cast upon the empress
and found a lost item for the princesses.
I see. That should be enough.
Thank you for your assistance.
I am unworthy of your kind words.
I would gladly fulfill any request from the Raven Consort.
I am a servant of the goddess Niao Lian.
You said you were a yuyi under the Luan dynasty as well.
Exactly how old are you?
I do not know my birth year.
Get any good information?
Dan Hai, know your place.
It's already dusk.
Hurry, hurry!
Hurry up!
They're closing!
Go on, hurry up.
If you're still out and about after the sun goes down,
Yeyoushen will take you away.
E-Excuse me.
Those are eunuchs from Feiyan Palace.
Don't threaten children like that.
Yeyoushen will take you away, huh?
Is something the matter?
My mother often said that to me as a child.
Kids won't listen to you unless you threaten them a little.
You know, like, "Monsters will eat you if you're a bad boy!"
You mean superstitions?
They say the ends justify the means.
Yeyoushen will take you away.
Who's Yeyoushen?
A god who comes in the night and kidnaps people.
I'd be sad if he took you away.
Then we'd better get home soon.
You're right.
Let's hurry home.
Watch where you're going.
The ghost that appears when the willow blooms is Princess Mingzhu.
She killed herself beneath the tree when the imperial guards came for her.
So, she haunts that place because she died an unfortunate death.
Or she cannot leave because there's something about it
that draws her attention.
Is it true that flowers don't grow at the Ye Ming Palace?
Yes.
Why not?
Because Niao Lian abhors them.
She only likes the peonies I make.
I've heard the Ye Ming Palace was originally a shrine to Niao Lian.
Is she still worshiped there?
Why do you not answer?
Don't poke your nose where it doesn't belong.
It's irksome.
Then I shall not speak, either.
You look unwell. Are you not sleeping enough?
Have you been visited by ghosts?
Don't poke your nose where it doesn't belong.
I'm joking. Did Wei Qing ask you about it?
No, I simply smelled a strange odor coming from your bedchamber.
Wei Qing has not asked me to do anything.
You're a terrible liar.
Do the ghosts of your mother and friend appear every night?
Yes.
Perhaps they resent me for not being able to save them.
What do you...
I'm not asking you to do anything about it.
I have a prior engagement tonight.
I'm sorry, but I should be going.
You don't need to tell me about all your plans.
Go see your other consorts.
No...
I'm going to the Xiangniao Temple.
I have questions for Xue Yuyong.
Welcome back, Your Highness.
Oh? Where is His Majesty going?
He's wasting his time.
Xiangniao Temple
There was an entry in this document about the Raven Consort.
I'd like to know more about the official named Baiyan who wrote this.
I searched the records,
but there was no official named Baiyan in the previous dynasty's Ministry of Works.
Why is that?
I do not understand your fixation on the Raven Consort.
Shouxue is alone.
She kept no lady-in-waiting or attendants.
Shouxue lived alone in that palace with only a single bird for company.
Such is the nature of the Raven Consort.
You seem unaffected by hearing the name Shouxue.
Did you know the Raven Consort's name?
Only I and those close to her know the name Shouxue.
Who did you hear it from?
It would seem I've gone feeble-minded with age.
I heard it from the previous Raven Consort.
The previous one?
I went to see her when she passed down her title.
Why would she bother to tell you?
Because you both serve Niao Lian?
Yes.
But the Raven Consort does not worship her as you do here.
And if she's a priestess,
why does she reside in the inner palace as a consort?
Let's return to my initial query.
Who is Baiyan?
Your emperor is asking you a question.
There must be some reason you think you don't need to answer me.
We are made to obey the Raven Consort's orders.
What?
Very well.
"Baiyan" is another name for the pintail duck.
Though it has black feathers, it is white from the chest up to the eyes.
Because its patterning looks like smoke, its name means "white smoke."
In other words...
Baiyan is the Ministry of Works.
It refers to all officials, past and present.
So you don't know who wrote it?
No, it was the first official who served the previous dynasty.
That is the story that has been passed down.
Passed down?
What exactly is it that you pass down?
Histories of the past, and our duty to keep them hidden.
Histories?
Could I ask your attendant to leave?
If you can promise to keep it to yourself, then I can tell you, Your Majesty.
The history we pass down is the origin of the Raven Consort.
The truth.
The truth...
Your Highness, His Majesty has arrived.
Show me your Shuangtongdian.
What did you ask the Ministry of Works?
There is another Shuangtongdian, the historical record
passed down from emperor to emperor.
I heard the truth about the origin of the Raven Consort is described in it.
I was told you had a piece of it,
and to have you show it to me.
The Ministry of Works also said you can feel the circling of the stars.
That there is summer in my name and winter in yours.
What does that mean?
Damn it, Xue Yuyong.
What are hiding?
Why are you trying to uncover secrets hidden from you?
Because I pity you.
You pity me?! How dare you!
Your Highness!
If my phrasing displeased you, then I apologize.
But it's true that I feel sorry for you.
Does that offend you?
Your Highness...
This is the fragment you seek.
Try saying that again once you've perused this,
if you can.
Li Niang showed me this a year after I came here.
I've read it so many times, I can recite it from memory.
Niao Lian flew west from her secluded palace
for eight thousand and one nights
and found this island where juniper trees grow.
In this place she rested her wings.
She chose two from among the masses
and made one the king of summer, and the other the king of winter.
Do you wish to hear more?
I do.
The man became the king of summer and presided over rulership.
The woman became the king of winter and presided over worship.
The title of summer king was passed down the bloodline through male heirs,
but the winter king was always a young girl chosen at random by the oracles.
The winter king borrows her strength from Niao Lian and passes on her words.
For five centuries, the nation was ruled peacefully by both kings,
but eventually, war broke out.
Song, the hot-blooded young man that was the summer king,
killed Sui, the winter king.
The exact reason is unclear.
Perhaps Sui rejected Song's romantic advances,
or Song resented her for having an affair with his younger brother.
Sui was a young woman of such clear beauty
that she practically radiated light from inside her body.
Song loved Sui
enough to want to kill her.
For several centuries after that, the forces of the winter and summer kings clashed.
Though several new summer kings came and went,
a new winter king was never chosen,
and Niao Lian fell silent.
The country fell into ruin, and dynasties died out as soon as they were born.
But, one day...
An army appeared in the countryside that tore through all opposition
as it charged towards the capital.
Known as the Silver General for his silver hair,
his name was Luan Xi.
Not even 30 years old, he was like a young lion.
Luan Xi had a young girl with him.
Her name was Xiang Qiang.
She was 12 years old.
Luan Xi gave her that name...
because, as a former slave, she had no name.
Xiang Qiang was the winter king chosen by Niao Lian.
A golden rooster led Luan Xi to Xiang Qiang.
He saved her from her slave masters.
Xiang Qiang used her power to help Luan Xi.
With the winter king on his side, it didn't take long for Luan Xi to gain control.
He was 28 when he became king.
After nearly a thousand years of separation,
the summer king and winter king were reunited.
Luan Xi knew that the thousand years of conflict began
because the winter king had been lost.
Without the winter king, the summer king falls as well.
It is the winter king that allows the summer king to exist.
Niao Lian's long silence was her punishment against the summer king
for killing the winter king.
For the summer king to continue to exist,
the winter king must not be lost.
But Luan Xi did not allow Xiang Qiang to call herself a king.
He claimed having two kings would spark war once again.
Perhaps he wanted all the power to himself,
or perhaps he truly feared another war.
We don't know what his reason was.
Luan Xi ordered the construction of the inner palace...
and he shut away Xiang Qiang there.
Cut off from the priests and deprived of any real power,
she was named the Raven Consort and counted among the other consorts.
But he never sought her services in bed.
He knew the summer king's love for the winter king was what started the war.
Xiang Qiang knew this as well.
She accepted her confinement and said nothing,
because she loved Luan Xi.
Xiang Qiang confined Niao Lian beneath this palace and became her guardian.
Ever since then, the Raven Consort has protected Niao Lian at the Ye Ming Palace.
Luan Xi created a false historical record.
The names of the two kings were buried.
The Baiyan even created a false origin for the Raven Consort
and made her the descendant of priestesses who worshiped Niao Lian
because that was what Xiang Qiang wanted.
That's more or less the story.
Is everything you just told me true?
If you don't believe it, then that is fine.
I know nothing else on the subject.
My grandfather took over the throne from the Luan dynasty
and kept the capital and palace the way it was.
Are you saying that is reason he was able to seize the throne?
Because he didn't disestablish the Raven Consort—the winter king?
Are you saying I'm able to be the emperor because you're here?
And that the Raven Consorts, you included, are okay with this?
Having their title stripped from them and being trapped in here?
What do you want me to do?
Call myself the winter king once again?
It could cause needless war.
So you'll live out the rest of your days here in silence?
You have no obligation to do that.
Why not quit being the Raven Consort—
If I could, I would have long ago!
Who would choose to be the Raven Consort?
But Niao Lian has her talons in me.
Niao Lian chooses the Raven Consort—the winter king.
The golden rooster simply indicates who she is.
That night, she sank her talons into me.
That night?
The night my mother took me and fled.
Hide here.
No matter what you hear, do not move.
Stay perfectly still.
Don't make a single sound. Understand?
It was a moonless night.
Only on moonless nights does Niao Lian slip out of the Ye Ming Palace
and wander about as Yeyoushen.
That night, I was probably chosen by Niao Lian on a whim.
Niao Lian ties the winter king to this place so she cannot leave.
I cannot take a single step outside the palace,
because I would be betraying Niao Lian.
What do you mean?
Niao Lian holds the Raven Consort's life in her hands.
If she sets foot outside the palace, the Raven Consort dies.
There is nothing I can do.
I cannot flee this place.
With all the dignity of the winter king, the Raven Consort shall maintain her silence
in order to protect these secrets and prevent unnecessary harm.
That is what Li Niang taught me.
Trapped within the Ye Ming Palace, I must desire nothing,
form no close relationships, and never flee.
Do you understand what that's like?!
Now, tell me again that you pity me,
as though it's none of your concern!
Jiu-jiu, leave them.
But...
We cannot have you hurting yourself, Your Highness.
Jiu-jiu!
Don't move, Raven Consort.
Bingyue!
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
Will it be able to stay the snow that falls in the summer?
Episode 7
Glass Prayer