When the moon is gone and the darkness is deep,
the Raven Consort becomes unable to contain Niao Lian within her body.
While the bird monster wanders throughout the night,
the Raven Consort suffers pain as though her body is being torn apart.
Your Highness!
You mustn't approach her.
Why not?
This is the fate of the Raven Consort.
It has always been this way.
Li Niang suffered the same.
But...
Owl!
Your Highness!
Are you all right?!
Yes.
I know, I'll bring you some water right away!
Who was that?
Master.
What is it?
I'd like to go to the inner palace.
Feng Xiao Yue
What should I do?
Why would you go there?
Feng Yixing
There is something I must do.
I happen to have a connection.
An old friend of mine serves the palace.
I'll request his assistance.
Thank you.
I must kill the Raven Consort.
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,
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 never kneels before the emperor.
Such is the Raven Consort.
Your Highness, I've brought you an infusion.
Episode 9 Water's Voice
Thank you.
It's for your health. Drink it all down.
I know.
Drink this, too.
Hot water with honey.
Miss Guizi told me I should serve you some with the infusion.
I see.
Your Highness, I'm finished.
Let me see.
You're a quick learner.
Let's take a break.
Um, Your Highness...
Thank you for letting me stay with you.
Where is this coming from?
It makes me happy to be treated so well.
You should be thanking Wen Ying.
He's the one who recommended you.
I'd like to thank Mr. Wen Ying, too.
I'm sure you'll get the opportunity.
Yes.
Would you like another?
I can have more?
You're such a glutton, Yi Siha.
The village I was born in didn't have fruit as tasty as this.
You were born in a fishing village, weren't you?
Yes.
What was it like?
We caught flounders and sharks there.
Sometimes strange things, too.
Strange things?
All kinds of things wash up on the seashore.
At my village, there was an inlet
where people who fell into the sea would always come.
The village elders said the lights were the souls of those who perished at sea.
Oh?
That certainly is strange.
It's beautiful.
You'd be surprised if you saw it, Miss Jiu-jiu.
Xiangniao Temple
Does something happen to the Raven Consort during the new moon?
Whatever do you mean?
Ministry of Works Xue Yuyong
Shouxue is hiding something from me.
Don't visit me tomorrow.
Why not?
I'll be tired tomorrow.
I do not know.
Why do you continue to associate with the Raven Consort
now that you know what she is?
As long as I am the emperor, it is my duty to know about the Raven Consort.
You are too earnest, Your Majesty.
You mentioned previously that Li Niang told you when she passed on her title.
Yes.
Meaning you met with her directly?
No. The late Raven Consort appeared before me.
As a ghost?
Yes. She asked me to look after Shouxue.
Why did she trust you so much?
She was born into my master's family.
Li Niang and I studied under the same master.
So she was an old friend.
After Li Niang was chosen to be the Raven Consort, I entered the Ministry of Works.
For Li Niang's sake?
The Ministry of Works could never help her.
At the time, only those from distinguished families could become officials.
The Ministry of Works is the sole ministry that allowed commoners to join.
That was the only reason.
I see.
But now, many are promoted to officials after gaining experience here.
I heard you're responsible for creating that path.
You keep training students, only to let them move on.
There is one oddball who still remains.
I am thinking of making him my successor.
You wish to retire?
If you'll allow it.
Before you do, could you speak to Shouxue?
The Raven Consort?
Tell her about Li Niang.
I'm sure it would please her.
Very well.
Are you there, Raven Consort?
Who is it?
My name is An Huilan.
I have a request for you.
I'm terribly sorry for coming in the middle of the night.
Court Lady An Huilan
It's fine. I sometimes receive visitors like you.
Come in.
What is your request?
I hear a voice from within the water.
It is the voice of Xi Wanlin, the consort I once served.
I want you to know the truth about her.
And please, I ask that you save her soul.
Lady Wanlin was a lovely girl.
Huilan, listen.
She was exceptional at playing the harp.
Her smile was like a peony.
Her voice was like clear water.
I love you, Huilan.
I swore I'd make her the kingdom's greatest consort.
When she was grown, she was granted the Quechao Palace by Yandi
and entered the inner palace as the Magpie Consort.
But when she gazed upon the small bag she kept, she always sighed.
I fervently admonished her.
The emperor could visit her tonight.
She mustn't be so soft.
Wanlin responded that she never wanted to become a consort.
Apparently, she had become rather anxious.
It happened soon after that.
An eunuch told me the emperor would be visiting that night.
I thought that finally, everything would go well.
I tried to deliver the news to Wanlin, but her palace was empty.
Where could she have been at such an important time?
She needed to bathe and make herself beautiful.
But all I found were her shoes, placed neatly by the lake.
Wanlin had drowned herself, and I was sent to the wash house.
Wash House
Since then, I've been washing dirty fabrics.
I began hearing her voice soon after I was sent to the wash house.
Huilan.
I heard Wanlin's voice coming from the water.
Every time a drop of water falls, Wanlin's voice calls to me.
Her voice rings out beautifully and clearly.
Huilan.
Wanlin's soul must be wandering that lake.
She's asking for help through the water.
Poor girl.
Raven Consort, could you please save Wanlin?
I humbly beseech you.
Do you know a court lady named An?
She's an old woman who served as the Magpie Consort's lady-in-waiting under Yandi.
You're a skilled artist.
Did she ever mention hearing the late Magpie Consort's voice within the water?
What kind of woman was she?
You don't know what she was like.
"Everyone thought she was eerie and kept their distance."
What are you doing?
My, this is good!
Hongqiao drew it.
Really?!
It's you.
This is me?
Miss Hongqiao, you're a great artist!
Your Highness, I have returned.
How did it go?
It is as you suspected.
I see.
I'd like to visit the lake at the Quechao Palace.
I will take you there.
Jiu-jiu.
Yes?
Look after Yi Siha.
He should be arriving soon.
I'd like you and Hongqiao to help him with his writing practice.
Very well. He'll make excellent progress under us.
I'm counting on you.
Quechao Palace
Lady Wanlin.
Do you hear Wanlin's voice?
Raven Consort, you came.
This is the place. Wanlin is here.
You don't resent her?
You were sent to the wash house because of Wanlin's death.
Living there must have been difficult.
There's no point in resenting her for that.
Now I want to help Wanlin. That's all.
In order to send her ghost to paradise, I must ask you several questions.
What are they?
You said that Wanlin didn't want to become a consort.
What did she desire instead?
You served her at her side.
Perhaps you noticed something.
I do have some idea.
Just before Wanlin entered the inner palace, a thief broke into the mansion.
Come with me.
I can't.
Wanlin!
You brute! Someone help!
He was the young bookseller who frequently visited the mansion.
Wanlin knew him well.
I thought he was a fine young man, too.
What happened to him?
He was beheaded in the yard.
Fortunately, news of the incident didn't reach the emperor,
and Wanlin entered the inner palace.
If I hadn't noticed, something terrible would have happened.
Was Wanlin in love with that man?
Perhaps, but either way, it was a trifling thing.
Wanlin was to become the emperor's greatest consort
and seize power within the inner palace so she could help her father.
Huilan.
Did you hear her voice again?
Yes.
Why do you fear hearing her voice so much?
What?
What happened the day Wanlin drowned herself?
Even if it wasn't what she really wanted, she had already made up her mind.
So why did she drown herself?
Something must have made her do it.
I...
You're the one who said you wanted me to know the truth.
Tell me what you know.
Wanlin kept a bag close to her.
Inside the bag was dirt.
Dirt?
It smelled like blood.
And I...
This worthless thing!
Stop!
Let go!
No!
Let go!
You should forget about him!
Wanlin was holding onto the dirt stained by that young man's blood.
I scattered it across the ground and crushed it beneath my shoes.
I did it for Wanlin.
I hardened my heart for her.
There's no need for further deceit.
You never loved Wanlin.
You go too far.
I gave Wanlin everything I had.
I'm the one who taught her to be a consort
who would not embarrass herself at the inner palace.
I did a good job.
But still, Wanlin...
She was so ungrateful.
Perhaps you cared for Wanlin in your own way,
but Wanlin is dead.
Yes, Wanlin is dead.
She must resent me deeply. I know that.
That's why I fear her grudge.
She calls to me so she can drag me to the bottom of the lake.
Before that happens, I want you to save her—no, to save me.
I'm not the one who can save you.
Don't say that, please—
Wanlin has already crossed over to paradise.
You're the ghost.
I'm a ghost?
It seems you died last night from a lung disease.
Huilan.
Then where is that voice coming from?
Listen closely.
Huilan.
It's your own voice.
No...
What you fear is yourself, for driving Wanlin to her death.
No, no!
Wanlin.
I won't be able to hear the voice in the water.
Your Highness, what is this?
It's a sorcerer's spell.
This will trap An within the lake.
Are you unable to exorcise that ghost?
Destroying it would be simple,
but I'd rather not.
It's not up to me to decide which souls are allowed to exist and which ones are not.
That ghost needs time.
Perhaps the water will save her soul.
This is all I can do for her.
But Li Niang could have handled this better than I did.
I have a letter from His Majesty.
Throw it away.
What?! But...
Give it here.
Yes, Your Highness.
What is he thinking?
What is it?
Gaojun wants me to meet with the Ministry of Works.
What is your reply?
I have no—
Give me a moment.
Your Majesty, this is from the Raven Consort.
From Shouxue? How unusual.
Understood.
Yi Siha.
Yes?
I'd like you to deliver something to the Raven Consort.
Could you do that for me?
Yes, Your Majesty!
Oh, my!
These are marvelous, Your Highness!
Is he telling me to write him more letters?
How exciting.
It's a nuisance.
What's wrong?
This is...
Your Highness, where are you going?!
Did An break the barrier and flee?
No, I sense...
the owl.
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?
You lost someone important to you.
Who are you?
Shall I help you meet him?
Bringing the dead back to life isn't so difficult.
Episode 10
The Masked Man