Episode 4

Scene 1: Beijing, Courtroom of the Board of Punishment

The emperor is outraged at the situation and asks Shi Lang whether he is willing to admit his guilt. When Shi Lang insists that he is not guilty of anything, Kangxi asks him to explain the significance of the portrait of Aman. Shi Lang says he doesn’t know. Kangxi inquires why he disturbed the execution. One official proposes to check the portrait for hidden messages and it is sent away for inspection. Another official hurries in to report that Shi Lang’s incarcerated son Shi Shibiao has written a rebellious poem with his own blood upon hearing about his father’s trial. Kangxi reads the poem out aloud which in short expresses the feeling that the present chaotic situation makes it hard to see where true loyalty is to be found and that father and son are crying tears of blood. Laita and Giyesu are outraged and point out the impertinent intention behind Shi Shibiao’s poem to the emperor.
Laita asks about the letter Shi Lang received that allegedly states his son Shi Shizong’s defection. Shi Lang submits himself to the emperor’s judgment but remarks that he thinks the letter has been forged. When Kangxi asks where the letter is he has to admit that he has torn it to pieces. Also, he reports that an officer of the Zheng regime named Hong Xu brought the letter; Shi Lang claims he wanted to report about this, but that members of the imperial guard helped Hong Xu to escape. He suspects Laita to have something to do with this. The emperor then again wonders about the tears of blood from the poem and decides to let Shi Lang speak. Shi Lang then passionately talks about the necessity to conquer Taiwan and names several reasons for the importance of this cause. When Kangxi asks Giyesu and Laita for their opinion, they depict Shi Lang’s plans as thoughtlessly concocted and destined to fail. Shi Lang points out how long he has already thought about this subject and names nine arguments, for example the will of the people for unification and the great superiority of the Chinese military forces. At the end he kneels down in front of the emperor.
At this point the portrait is brought back from examination. A poem has indeed been written as a secret message on it by Aman’s mother: it is a “Song about the Princess of Heaven”. Kangxi is touched by the poem, which talks about separation and yearning. He decides to write an answering poem on the portrait, anticipating that the end of these sorrows is near. Zhu Lin gives tearful report of his mission to deliver a message to emperor Kangxi from of the young regent of Taiwan, Zheng Kezang, who also wishes for a unification with the Imperial mainland. He also mentions the letter that Feng Xifan received from Laita. The emperor is impressed by Zheng Kezang’s determination and asks Zhu Lin to convey to him that he also is in favor of a peaceful solution. However, he also warningly points out that this has nothing to do with lack of military strength. For the sake of peace, he agrees to concede to Taiwan the privilege of paying no tribute and not having to submit to the Qing dress code, but he strictly objects to Taiwan’s independence.
In the end, Kangxi dismissed Zhu Lin and turns his attention back to Shi Lang. Kangxi regards Shi Shibiao’s poem as patriotic rather than rebellious, but for Shi Lang’s misbehavior of marching into the execution ground he orders him to stay in the seclusion of his library for the next three months and work out a strategy to annex Taiwan. Finally, Giyesu is praised for his good services while Laita is severely criticized and ordered to stay away from the Taiwan matter.

Scene 2: Jinmen, coastal defense position of Zheng regime

A messenger reports to Feng Xifan about the latest events in Beijing. Feng Xifan furiously commands the coastal patrols to be reinforced.

Zhu Lin and Aman kneel in front of Shi Lang. Zhu Lin thanks Shi Lang for his effort to save their lives. After being urged to stand up by Shi Lang and his wife they sit down and Zhu Lin asks Shi Lang for one last favor, namely to let Aman live at his house for some time. He reveals that originally it was Aman’s father who planned to bring the letter to Beijing. But Feng Xifan got him killed when he found out about his plans. Since Aman has came to Beijing in her father’s stead she cannot return without getting killed herself. Shi Lang and his wife are happy to adopt her as their daughter.

Shi Lang accompanies Zhu Lin for a little while on horseback. As they say goodbye Shi Lang asks Zhu Lin to send him news of his captive son Shi Shizong.

Shi Shizong and Shi Mingliang are brought out of a hut for lunch. When being asked by an officer whether he has thought the whole situation over, Shi Shizong proudly declines cooperation.

Zhu Lin, first on horseback then by boat on his way back to Zheng Kezang.

Zhu Lin reports on his experiences on the imperial mainland and emperor Kangxi’s words to the regent. Zheng Kezang is delighted at Emperor Kangxi’s kind words. But then Zhu Lin also mentions that the emperor is preparing military precautions led by Shi Lang in case the peace negotiations might fail. Zheng Kezang does not like this news. Finally, the regent advises Zhu Lin to go into hiding for some time as Feng Xifan has found out about his trip to Beijing.

The three months of house arrest are over and Shi Lang’s family is awaiting his return from the imperial court. Aman studies hard to prove herself worthy of the Shi family. At the same time, the three youngest sons of Shi Lang are shown playing with Shi Lang’s scale model of Taiwan, the Penghu archipelago and Fujian coast; they play act searching for their captive brother on Taiwan. Outside Aman, Shi Lang’s wife, Shi Shilun and another son are discussing why the emperor does not have trust in Shi Lang’s capabilities and experience. They are wondering whether the support of an official close to the emperor might be helpful. Li Guangdi seems to be a good candidate for this, but Shi Shilun doubts this would work out since Li Guangdi has a reputation of being arrogant and inaccessible. When Shi Lang arrives they continue with this issue after some small talk. Aman asks her adoptive father how Li Guangdi might be convinced to plead for Shi Lang’s cause at the imperial court. His wife suggests to use Fu Hongji, who is also from Li’s hometown Jinjiang, as a middleman. Suddenly there is a noise in the library. Everybody hurries to see what has happened and they find the three boys to have broken the scale model. Shi Lang furiously starts beating them until they tell him they were looking for their brother. Moved by this he tells them to get up and holds a touching speech about his plans for uniting Taiwan to the imperial mainland for which he has endured so much over the past decade.

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