Horrified, the Empress slaps the tea away, and the liquid is shown to corrode the table's wood, along with the golden flower image engraved into the wood.

Prince Jai refuses and kills himself, and as he does so, his blood spills into another cup of poisoned tea that has been brought to the Empress, turning the tea red. The Emperor responds by offering to pardon Prince Jai if the he cooperates in the Empress's poisoning.

Prince Jai says that he did not rebel to obtain the throne, but for his mother's sake. At the table, the Emperor expresses disappointment with Prince Jai, saying that he was already planning to give Prince Jai the throne. At midnight, the Double Ninth Festival begins as scheduled. Behind him, the courtyard is cleaned with mechanical efficiency by a legion of servants, with bodies being removed, floors being scrubbed and laid with carpets, and pots of yellow flowers being replaced, making it seem as if the entire rebellion never even happened. Prince Jai rises from the sea of bodies and is taken captive. However, thousands of silver armored soldiers appear, being the reserve army of the Emperor, bearing shields, pikes, and bow-and-arrows, and they slaughter the golden soldiers down to the last man. They overpower the assassins and proceed to the inner square of the palace, trampling upon the bed of golden flowers arranged for the ceremony. Meanwhile, the outer square of the palace is assaulted by 10,000 soldiers wearing golden armor and golden flower sigils, with Prince Jai in the lead. Crown Prince Wan confronts the Empress, and when she admits to planning a rebellion, he is anguished, and tries to kill himself with a knife, but survives. When Crown Prince Wan meets with Jiang Chan to say goodbye, she informs him that the Empress has woven 10,000 scarves with golden flower sigils.

The Emperor decides to pardon her and to promote the Imperial Doctor to governor of Suzhou. As it happens, the woman is Jiang Shi (Chen Jin), the Imperial Doctor's wife, whom the Emperor imprisoned a while ago and who was believed dead, but somehow escaped. The Empress hires a mysterious woman to discover the type of poison which she is suffering from, but the woman is captured by Crown Prince Wan and taken to the Emperor. Prince Jai agrees to be the leader of the rebellion. The Empress explains that the tea she drinks has been poisoned for some time by the Emperor, but that she is planning a rebellion to overthrow him. Prince Jai notices the declining health of his mother, and is confused by her sudden interest in chrysanthemums, the golden flowers.

White melody of curse eng sub