During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, Shaun Tam takes office as the magistrate of Kaifeng. Shaun, his adviser Raymond Cho, bodyguard Owen Cheung, and four bailiffs work together to combat crooked trends. Nancy Wu, the daughter of a merchant, is an eloquent speaker and receives guidance from Raymond as she becomes a lawyer. Elaine Yiu, a maid from Gaochang, is skilled in autopsies. The two women help the seven men of Kaifeng solve many cases. But there are many dangers lurking within Kaifeng. The tyrannical Henry Li repeatedly tries to harm Shaun. Shaun and Elaine have common interests and slowly develop a romance, until he discovers her real identity, which is concealing a huge conspiracy... Nancy's father (KK Cheung) has unloyal ambitions and accuses the Emperor of not being the rightful emperor! Shaun faces his most difficult case. Will he bury his consciousness for the sake of society or reveal the truth?
Heshen (和珅) was a prominent Qing official during the Qianlong era. He is known as the most corrupt official in Chinese history, accumulating a personal wealth that was equivalent to 15 years of the government's revenue.
Heshen was born to a Manchu military official. Both his parents died when he was young, leaving him and his brother, Helin (和琳), to be raised by their family's housekeeper, Liu Quan (劉全). Heshen attended a school for Manchu aristocrats, where he was an impressive student. By the age of 18, he was fluent in four languages and well-versed in the classical texts.
At the age of 22, Heshen entered the palace to serve as a palace guard. Shortly afterwards, he caught the attention of the Qianlong Emperor, and thereafter, began a meteoric rise through the ranks. Within a few years, he held high-ranking positions in all of the key departments, including the Imperial Household Departments, Ministry of Revenue, and Grand Council. He further secured power by marrying his son, Fengshen Yinde (豐紳殷德), to the Qianlong Emperor's youngest princess. Initially, Heshen was an honest official who rejected gifts from people who wanted to bribe him. This was until he got his first taste of wealth when he was put in charge of investigating the corrupt official, Li Shiyao (李侍堯). After Li was arrested, Heshen secretly kept much of the confiscated assets for himself.
Henry Lo plays Heshen in Word Twisters' Adventure.
After the Li Shiyao case, Heshen's greed and ambitions grew. He began to accept bribes and form his own clique. Because he held so many high-ranking positions, he was able to eliminate his political opponents and insert his cronies into key positions. His corrupt network expanded throughout the bureaucracy and across the nation. They routinely siphoned money from public funds, including military and emergency relief funds. Heshen demanded bribes from government officials and turned the imperial examination system into an auction for government jobs. He also established a system where officials who were found guilty of corruption could buy their way out of punishment. It caused systematic, widespread corruption at all levels of government that lasted well past Heshen's time in power and contributed to the Qing Dynasty's decline.
Heshen lived a luxurious lifestyle. He had hundreds of women and servants living in his home. His mansion was comparable to the imperial palace, constructed using materials stolen from the palace and replicating its designs. He frequently hosted banquets and dined on delicacies with golden utensils. He owned a large amount of furniture, vases, art pieces, silk, clothing, animal hide, and other valuable possessions.
The Qianlong Emperor was well-aware of Heshen's corruption, but never sought to punish him. The emperor acquiesced to Heshen’s corrupt conduct because Heshen filled the palace’s coffers to pay for Qianlong’s extravagant spending and southern expeditions. Heshen was also good at flattery, attentive and knew how to cater to the elderly emperor’s tastes. For example, he spent time studying Qianlong’s poetic style and frequently discussed poetry with the emperor. Qianlong was very fond of Heshen’s literary talents.
A Connection With Nancy Wu?
A popular rumour about why the Qianlong Emperor favoured Heshen so much was because Heshen resembled one of the concubines of Qianlong's father. As a prince, Qianlong enjoyed pulling pranks on people. One day, he saw one of his father's concubines and decided to prank her. He went up behind her and covered her eyes. The concubine, thinking it was a palace maid, swung her arm backwards. Qianlong grabbed her arm before she could hit him, but this caused her to lose her balance and fall into the prince's arms. Just then, Qianlong's mother passed by and saw this. Not wanting any scandalous rumours to affect her son's political fortunes, she secretly forced the concubine to commit suicide. When Qianlong found out about this, he felt guilty for having caused the concubine's death. Years later, when Qianlong saw Heshen for the first time, he was shocked to see that Heshen resembled the concubine and believed that he was her reincarnation. Thus, Qianlong treated Heshen very well.
The concubine turns out to be Lady Nian, which was played by Nancy Wu in Gilded Chopsticks!
Of course, historical facts do not support this story. For one, Lady Nian was a noble consort, while Qianlong's mother was only a consort. His mother would not have had the power to force the higher-ranking Lady Nian to commit suicide. Moreover, by the time Qianlong entered the palace, Lady Nian was already sick. She later died of illness. However, a portrait now displayed at Heshen's old mansion shows that he did indeed look like Lady Nian in some ways.
As the Qianlong Emperor grew older, he often was not able to speak clearly and only Heshen could understand what he was saying. Thus, whenever he held court, he would order Heshen to stand next to him. Heshen would "listen" to what the emperor said and then issue edicts on his behalf. This earned Heshen the nickname as the "Second Emperor".
Upon Qianlong's death, the Jiaqing Emperor quickly stripped Heshen of his official titles and ordered for him to be arrested. He was declared guilty of 20 great sins and was sentenced to death by slow slicing. However, his daughter-in-law, the Tenth Princess, pleaded with Jiaqing to allow him to commit suicide. Jiaqing granted the request and Heshen hung himself at his home. His family was spared on account of their relationship with the Tenth Princess.
After his death, it was discovered that Heshen's personal wealth was worth between 800 to 1100 million taels of silver (compared to the government's annual revenue of only 70 million taels of silver). His net worth is estimated to be about $132 billion USD in today's dollars, putting him among the richest individuals in history.
Heshen's former mansion was granted to Jiaqing's 17th brother, Yonglin (Jonathan Cheung in Succession War), while the gardens were given to his 11th brother, Yongsing (David Do in Succession War). Later, the residence was given the Daoguang Emperor's sixth son, Prince Gong (KK Cheung in The Confidant). The mansion is now a museum in Beijing.
Producer: Mui Siu Ching
Genre: Historical
Cast: Steven Ma, Nancy Wu, Annie Liu, Kenneth Ma, Edwin Siu, Alice Chan, Chrissie Chau, Jacqueline Wong
This series tried to do too much. It started as a historical drama, became a detective series, and then turned to palace scheming, with a mixture of romance and failed comedy in between. The series had a large cast, which meant each also had their own story to add to the clutter.
So much time was wasted on the useless story lines that the final face-off between the Emperor (Steven Ma) and Princess Taiping (Alice Chan) turned out to be a huge letdown. The whole climax was half-baked and poorly edited to fit within a span of less than one episode.
The "scheming" in the series was predictable and overused. Anyone who has watched another palace series can guess what is coming next.
I was expecting a lot more scheming between the four bureau heads. It was a waste of the veteran actresses they lured out of retirement for this series.
The rhyming lines were ANNOYING. The effort to combine a serious historical drama with Can't Buy Me Love style humour was terrible.
The lost sister plot was a big waste of time. The final revelation about the sister's murderer was a mere footnote and irrelevant at the end.
Have you ever seen a palace with so few people working there? Must have spent all the money on the costumes and sets.
Speaking of work, the duties of the palace maids apparently consist of spying on guards bathing in the river, gossiping, and romancing. There is also no regard for palace rules. Servants and maids can enter whenever they please and speak out of turn without consequence.
Annie Liu is the mandatory goody two-shoes character, which meant that I was automatically going to be annoyed with her, but her accent only made it worse. Why didn't they dub her lines? Annie does look gorgeous in ancient costume though.
Alice Chan had a great presence that was befitting of a princess and trounced all the other women. But her character seemed to have faded into the background during the second half of the series.
I like seeing new faces in TVB dramas, but there was no need to have Chrissie Chau play this concubine role. I was waiting for her character to turn evil, but she remained naive and dumb until the end.
Steven Ma's performance is all about his subtleness. Watch those subtle changes in his facial expressions. It is acting at its finest.
Nancy Wu and Edwin Siu both turned in solid performances, but they didn't really stand out.
Kenneth Ma already seems like a boring person in real life, he does not do well with a boring character like this one. The romantic line between him and Jacqueline Wong was forced and should have been cut.
Savio Tsang deserves a mention for the excellent scene he did in jail before his execution.
Hands down the most cringeworthy acting was by Andrew Yuen as the imperial physician. The scene where he was found guilty and pleading for his life was comically bad.
During the reign of Emperor Shang of Tang, Steven Ma and his aunt Alice Chan stage a political coup. They summarily execute Michelle Yim, who was encroaching on the throne, and support Lee Lung Kei in reclaiming the throne. The palace appears to have returned to a peaceful state, but in fact, there is a surging undercurrent... On the imperial court, the winds are changing as Steven and Alice break into separate camps and become like oil and water. In the inner palace, Nancy Wu leads the Imperial Household Bureau in a fight with all the other concubines as they try to outwit each other. Some people will trade their soul for power, while others will sacrifice everything for their loved ones. The genuine characters of imperial guard Kenneth Ma, revenge seeker Edwin Siu, and palace maids Annie Liu and Jacqueline Wong add a stroke of romance in the inner palace... In the inner palace, unsolved cases are rampant. Careful investigation reveals a shocking secret that has been hidden for many years. Behind the palace's high walls are scenes with soul-stirring emotions of love, hate, passion and revenge!
A keen surfer, Ruco Chan settles in Taiwan, operating a hostel, when he is suddenly attacked by a group of assassins. Ruco is saved by the agile backpacker Nancy Wu, but his adoptive mother is killed. Ruco returns to Hong Kong to search for the truth. His friend Oscar Leung pulls some strings for him and he learns that his adoptive mother's death is linked to Nina Paw. Nina is an iron lady who leads many powerful interests. A single decision is enough to influence the economy and livelihood of society. Her adopted son (Joel Chan) and his wife (Elaine Yiu) are her advisers and Nancy is her personal bodyguard. But Ruco's appearance causes major changes to everyone's relationships. All the powerful interests with close ties to Nina are waiting for an opportunity to act, putting Nina's life in danger. Although Nancy and Ruco join together to fight back, it triggers another wave of bloodshed that threatens the safety of society...
Originally living on Planet Meow, Kristal Tin applies to return to Earth in human form, hoping to help physicist Moses Chan and Nancy Wu resolve their growing problems before it affects her young master Celine Yeung. Ten years ago, Kristal had been the family's pet cat and had established a deep relationship with them. Now she is looking for any way to remain on Earth and get close to them. Luckily, she meets Chinese chiropractor Mimi Chu, who takes her in. By chance, she joins Moses' scientific research company. With her knowledge of advanced technology from her home planet, Kristal immediately becomes a popular figure. Her cat-like instincts enable her to have supersonic hearing and be super agile. She discovers that senior executives Eddie Kwan and Vivien Yeo are plotting against Moses. She is eager to protect her master but unknowingly falls in love with him. It triggers the nerves that only women have in Nancy. At this time, her fellow inhabitants from Planet Meow suddenly appear and Kristal's secret is about to be exposed...
Bearing the pain of having lost his family, Ruco Chan returns to the Walled City in hopes of finding his long-lost sister. The neighbourhood that he grew up in has become an unruly place dominated by evil forces. Ruco conceals his background as a disciple of "Eight Extremities Fist". Using a new identity, he meets feisty hair salon owner Nancy Wu, dentist Benjamin Yuen and labourer Jazz Lam. He also gains recognition from martial arts master Yuen Qiu.
In order to re-establish order in the Walled City, Ruco forms an association to stand up against the evil forces. This puts him in conflict with Yuen Qiu's son, Philip Ng, a champion black market fighter. Just as things appear to get on track, a key member of the triad is mysteriously killed with Eight Extremities Fist. Ruco and Nancy team up to investigate and discovers a connection to Grace Wong, who leads a striptease troupe. Subsequently, the truth about the death of Ruco's father is revealed. But what Ruco cannot get over is that someone close to him is part of an extremely cruel assassin organization. At the same time, he is forced into a preordained battle with his buddy that is 15 years late...
When his father (Lau Kong) suddenly dies, Bobby Au-Yeung, as executor of his father's will, summons his younger siblings home. According to their late father's wishes, the four siblings must live together for nine months before they can sell the house. Against her Mainland husband Tsui Wing's objections, Joyce Tang moves back to Hong Kong with her daughter. The profit-minded Jonathan Cheung and his equally snobbish wife, Koni Lui, immediately report home. Youngest brother Bob Cheung, who was on a work vacation, also returns home quickly upon hearing the news. Daily frictions occur between the family. Bobby discovers that a pair of happy spirits, Wu Fung and Helena Law, have been living in the house for a long time. The two seniors use their magic to help the family resolve disputes, but they often make things worse, producing many comedic moments. The old house is in need of repairs, leading Bobby to hire technician Nancy Wu. The two of them clash immediately and constantly squabble. But Nancy develops an indissoluble bond with the family and also finds a cure to her chronic insomnia...
A regime change has brought the imperial era to an end. Three recently unemployed eunuchs - Wayne Lai, Power Chan and Raymond Cho - become commoners and must rely on themselves for survival. Unfortunately, they encounter a con-artist posing as a eunuch (Edwin Siu). The three of them end up being sold into the Kam family as servants. Nancy Wu is the head of the household and runs the family's rice business, which appears glamorous on the outside, but is actually full of problems internally. The family's eldest daughter, Rosina Lam, who likes to dress as a male, is always getting into trouble. The village is suddenly plagued by a curse and Nancy is pressured to find a husband to counter the bad luck. Through a series of accidents, Wayne becomes the family's new son-in-law, which shocks the four eunuchs. A rivalling family sends a spy (Natalie Tong) into the Kam family to spread rumours. She becomes entangled with the uncle (John Chiang) and Edwin. With the family on verge of falling apart, Wayne stands up for his wife, but cannot reveal his true identity. Nancy employs soft and hard tactics to pressure Wayne to produce a heir. Wayne and his buddies tries to turn things around, but instead makes the situation more chaotic and dangers spring up everywhere...
Newly hired by an architecture firm, Kristal Tin makes a mistake that causes architect Moses Chan to lose an international award. She is promptly fired by the administrative manager, Nancy Wu. Thereafter, she gets caught in a series of bizarre incidents. An electrical leak from her knock-off cellphone accidentally kills Nancy. But Nancy's soul remains inside the phone and only Kristal is able to see her. Nancy, who has a crush on Moses, returns to the firm through Kristal. She helps Kristal rise rapidly within the firm and they develop a mutually dependant bond. Nancy discovers a conspiracy between the general manager, Eddie Kwan, and board member Vivien Yeo. Luckily, with the help of hacker Ram Chiang, they can temporarily deal with the devious characters at the office. As Kristal exhibits shades of Nancy, Moses slowly develops feelings for her, which make Nancy jealous. However, her existence is closely related to the phone. Once the phone's battery dies, she will disappear and everything that Kristal has will also be lost...
