我祖母是为了保全秦府的声誉 不得已才出此下策
“My grandmother had no choice but to hide the truth in order to protect our family's reputation.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
“The fact is, Concubine Liu had a rendezvous at late night, which caused her death.”
我祖母是为了保全秦府的声誉 不得已 才 出此下策
“My grandmother had no choice but to hide the truth in order to protect our family's reputation.”
二位大人若是要罚 就罚在下吧
“If anyone is to be punished, please let it be me.”
“Please spare my grandmother; she had no choice, so blame me instead.”
In traditional Chinese society, preserving the lineage's social reputation often superseded transparent truth, and descendants were expected to shoulder blame to protect ancestral elders.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
to preserve one's reputation or save face
A formal collocation used in serious contexts when trying to protect a family or institutional name.
to resort to this bad plan or inferior strategy
Used self-deprecatingly when admitting that an action taken was regrettable but seemingly unavoidable.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“We heard the Qin Mansion caught fire. Grandma was worried sick.”
“our family will become a joke. Grandma, please calm down.”
“This matter concerns the Qin family's reputation.”
“Given how familiar the murderer is with the mansion, he or she can't be an outsider.”
“But Grandmother's eyesight is poor. She needed a little reminder.”
“It seems Grandmother already has a plan.”