Spring of The Blade - Episode 1: Deliberately Entering the Xie Residence｜English Subtitles Online

Episode 1: Deliberately Entering the Xie Residence

In the grand and noble Xie Residence, the moon shines bright and clear, while soft, lingering music drifts through the air. Amid the pavilions and terraces, the prominent family gathers to enjoy an opera performance. Old Madam Xie smiles obsequiously as she tells the young woman beside her that this is the tune her late mother loved most. The young woman, moved by the scene, looks deliberately toward the stage. Watching the graceful movements of the lead female opera performer, she pictures what her mother must have looked like when she was alive.
This young woman is Chen Yueya, the former granddaughter of the owner of Chen's Tea House. Her mother was once a concubine of the Xie family, and later entered the Xie household officially after giving birth to a son, as a mother's status rises with her son. However, she was framed by other concubines in the family and was soon charged with murder. Well aware of the dark conspiracies within the Xie family, even though she was covered in injuries, she resolutely fled far away while pregnant.
Later, Chen Yueya's mother gave birth to her child safely, and they lived a quiet life for a time. But even though they sought no conflict with the world, the Xie family continued to press them relentlessly, and finally killed Chen Yueya's mother. Watching her mother die in a fire, Yueya swore to make the Xie family pay for their blood debt. Now that she has finally grown up, the time for revenge has come.
Chen Yueya is now ceremoniously welcomed into the Xie Residence, and has changed her name to "Xie Qingyuan". Her name has been entered into the Xie family genealogy, she has been given her own living quarters, and she enjoys the highest treatment in this noble household. She watches the bustling scene before her coldly, a faint sneer playing at the corner of her mouth.
A month ago, a strange incident suddenly occurred in the Xie Residence. Several lines of writing in blood appeared on the greeting wall of Danyue Pavilion, stating that great disaster was about to befall the Xie family, including fires and unexpected misfortunes. The entire Xie household was thrown into great panic. Old Madam Xie thought it was merely a cheap trick, but soon a major fire broke out in the residence. Reminded of the blood writing that had just appeared, the Xie family could not help breaking out in cold sweat — now that the fire had already occurred, perhaps a great catastrophe would soon follow.
Late at night, in the burning stable of the Xie Residence, a pure white horse burst out of its enclosure with vigorous strides, running directly toward the direction of a familiar whistle. Xie Qingyuan was blowing the whistle, and when she heard the familiar clatter of the horse's hooves, she called its name joyfully and went to greet it. She did not expect that another person was sitting on the back of the horse Yunduo — this person was Yan Rui!
This was not the first time she had seen Yan Rui. The first time was when she wore a bamboo hat to scout the Xie Residence, and she learned that Yan Rui was the newly appointed Imperial Advisor of the Ministry of Revenue who had just arrived in the capital. This man was cruel and ruthless; he had personally killed a disaster victim in the busy market in full view of the public. The disaster victim had complained that the court did not care about the victims when he saw that the porridge provided for disaster relief was little more than clear water. In despair, he had tried to assassinate Yan Rui, but his martial skills were poor, and he was captured and killed by Yan Rui's sword. Xie Qingyuan had witnessed Yan Rui's cruelty with her own eyes and had a bad impression of him.
The Xie family had been plagued by frequent disasters recently, so Old Madam Xie was anxious and intended to invite a Taoist priest to divine the fortune for the residence. Looking at the lot Old Madam Xie had drawn, the Taoist priest commented, "Although it is an inauspicious lot, all things in the world counteract and balance each other. The children of the Xie family will naturally turn ill luck into good."
Old Madam Xie discussed the matter with Concubine Wenzhuo of the Xie Residence. Unwilling to use the sons of the Xie family to ward off the disaster, they thought of Xie Qingyuan, who had been living outside the family. This was how Xie Qingyuan came to enter the Xie Residence.
On the day of the fire in the Xie Residence, Yan Rui was drinking in a nearby tavern. When he saw a horse rush out of the Xie Residence and heard the sound of the whistle, he observed for a few moments, then decisively rode the horse and tracked down its owner. When Yan Rui followed the horse and saw Xie Qingyuan, he told her the cause of the fire: she had hidden flint in a sugar ball tied to the horse's body. When the sugar ball melted, the flaming ball fell into the haystack, setting the Xie family's stable on fire. Xie Qingyuan realized that the man had bad intentions, but he did not seem to want to report her to the authorities to make things difficult for her, so she took the opportunity to escape warily.
Yan Rui seemed to be particularly interested in Xie Qingyuan, so he ordered his subordinates to investigate her background. He found that she was the granddaughter of the Xie family who had been raised outside, and that she had been grandly welcomed into the Xie Residence after the fire. This aroused his curiosity, and he thought that through Xie Qingyuan, he could investigate whether the Xie family was involved in the corruption case.
Therefore, when Xie Qingyuan attended the family recognition ceremony in the Xie Residence, Yan Rui came personally to offer his congratulations, and deliberately teased Xie Qingyuan.

Episode 3: "Possessed by a Ghost" to Find the Real Culprit

Nineteen years ago, Jin Chunqing was caught by some old nannies and taken to the ancestral hall. Seeing such a battle, she was flustered. The others pressed her aggressively, asking what kind of poison she had given to the concubine. Jin Chunqing was completely confused and had no idea what the poisoning incident was about. Old Madam Xie did not give her a chance to explain and had her tortured severely, leaving Jin Chunqing covered in bruises. Jin Chunqing was Xie Qingyuan's mother. Every time Xie Qingyuan recalled the humiliation her mother suffered, she could not sleep at night.
When Xie Qingyuan returned to her bedroom, soon the nanny by Second Concubine's side brought several servants, saying they were there to help Xie Qingyuan move to another bedroom. Xie Qingyuan was living comfortably, but now she was being asked to move immediately, so she was naturally unhappy. She got straight to the point and said she did not want to move. The old nanny put on a cold face, saying that the black cloak on Xie Qingyuan looked inauspicious. She stepped forward on her own to undo the cloak and stepped on it several times, trying to intimidate Xie Qingyuan as a warning.
This cloak was given to Xie Qingyuan by Yan Rui when he sent her back; he had draped his own clothes over her. Seeing that the nanny had no sense of restraint at all, Xie Qingyuan pushed her directly and reminded her of the origin of the cloak. When the old nanny heard that it belonged to a lord, she immediately put on a smiling face in fright and begged Xie Qingyuan to forgive her. A mere nanny was obviously bullying others by relying on her master's power. Xie Qingyuan did not want to stoop to the level of a servant, so she let the matter go and obeyed the arrangement.
Late that night, screams came from Xie Qingyuan's bedroom. Many servants and masters saw Xie Qingyuan dressed all in white, with her hair loose, sitting slumped on the ground, crying and complaining incessantly that someone was trying to harm her. When Xie Qingrong heard the nannies say that Xie Qingyuan was possessed by her mother's soul, she angrily cursed and asked why she was still here. At this moment, Xie Qingyuan questioned Xie Qingrong in Jin Chunqing's tone, asking why she had not yet found out the murderer who had killed her mother. Xie Qingrong also wanted to know who the murderer was. Xie Qingyuan deliberately turned to the crowd and observed the expression of everyone present. Some were panicked, some snickered, and some were indifferent. It seemed that the Xie Residence really hid too many secrets.
When daytime came, Old Madam Xie invited a Taoist priest to diagnose Xie Qingyuan. The Taoist priest put on a serious act as he looked at Xie Qingyuan's face, confirming that she had indeed encountered some evil spirits the previous night. He said that a bowl of fu water would easily resolve the issue, and that everyone must protect this person well from now on.
After Xie Qingyuan drank the fu water, her condition indeed improved, and she began to talk to her grandmother as usual. Her grandmother believed the "ghost possession" incident was real. In order to restore peace to the Xie family, she ordered all the concubines present not to cause any more trouble in the future.
Soon, Yan Rui came to the Xie Residence and asked to see Old Madam Xie directly. He said that he had a nightmare the previous night, in which the accountant of the Xie Residence came to see him, claiming that he had died unjustly, completely framed by others, and hoping that Yan Rui could uphold justice. Old Madam Xie's expression changed. Yan Rui was an official, so she naturally could not offend him, but his constant troublemaking for the Xie Residence recently was intolerable. To calm the situation, she said she would take out more banknotes to buy relief grain. Yan Rui nodded and smiled. Before getting up to leave, he also told Old Madam Xie to have Xie Qingyuan personally deliver the banknotes to his residence.
Old Madam Xie thought that Yan Rui had taken a fancy to Xie Qingyuan. Anyway, Xie Qingyuan had been raised outside since she was a child, and Old Madam Xie did not have deep affection for her. Since the official liked her, she decisively assigned the errand of delivering the clothes and banknotes to Xie Qingyuan.
When Xie Qingyuan arrived at Yan Rui's residence, she found that there were many maids inside, with singing and dancing everywhere, and skirts fluttering in the wind. There were also many cosmetics and rouge powders in the rooms. He was truly such a dissolute person, Xie Qingyuan sneered, confirming her suspicion once again, unaware that he was already standing behind her.
Yan Rui took the initiative to invite Xie Qingyuan to admire the residence. After Xie Qingyuan handed over the silver and the clothes, she politely took her leave. If it were not for their mutual utilization, Xie Qingyuan would not even bother to put on a show of exchanging pleasantries. After returning from Yan Rui's residence, she went straight to Danyue Pavilion of the Xie family, which was once the place where her mother lived. The past was too painful to look back on. Xie Qingyuan swore over and over in her heart that she must find the real murderer as soon as possible to avenge her mother.