Overview - Phoenix Rising

Just before her wedding, wealthy heiress Louisa So is charged and imprisoned for murdering her adoptive mother. She encounters her long-lost sister Leila Tong, who is a corrections officer, and consequently, is reunited with elder sister Kristal Tin as well. Kristal and Leila run around to try to prove Louisa's innocence.

Unfortunately, things don't go as planned. After Kristal and her boyfriend Sunny Chan give birth to a son, she discovers that she is terminally ill. She decides to take the fall for Louisa and enters prison in her place. Leila continues investigating on her own and is shocked to discover that Kristal's medical report was actually a plot by Louisa. She finds it difficult to accept what her sister has done.

To prevent Kristal from suffering innocently in prison, Leila knowingly breaks the law and helps with Kristal's plan to escape. Louisa wants to eliminate all loose ends and ruthlessly goes after Kristal. But it causes her beloved husband's (Ben Wong) family to be ruined, making her feel extremely guilty. From then on, the three sisters' fate and safety is tied to the barred windows of prison...

Gilded Chopsticks Connection

It is time to complete the relationship chart for the Qing Dynasty!

Let’s go back to The Life and Times of a Sentinel. Sunny Chan was the Shunzhi (順治) Emperor, the first Qing emperor to rule over all of China.

Shunzhi (Sunny) was succeeded by his son, the Kangxi (康熙) Emperor, played by Power Chan.

• Gilded Chopsticks begins during the later reign of Kangxi, now played by Elliot Ngok.
• In GC, Power is the 2^nd eldest son of Kangxi (himself/Elliot). He is named as crown prince, but is twice-deposed.

In TLTOS, Elaine Yiu was Kangxi’s (Power in TLTOS) 3^rd Empress. She died one day after being named Empress. Grace Wong was one of Kangxi’s concubines. She is the mother of his eldest surviving son.

In GC, Kangxi’s (Elliot) consort is Rosanne Lui. She was posthumously named as his 4^th Empress. Rosanne is the mother of Kangxi’s fourth son, the future Yongzheng (雍正) Emperor, played by Ben Wong. She is also the mother of the 14^th prince, Owen Cheung.

Louis Cheung (8^th), Derek Wong (9^th) and Matthew Ko (10^th) are all sons of Kangxi (Elliot), bore by different concubines.

After a lengthy 61 years on the throne, Kangxi (Elliot) dies and is succeeded by the Yongzheng Emperor (Ben).

Yongzheng (Ben) takes Nancy Wu as his concubine. She gives birth to three children, but they all die prematurely.

Yongzheng’s 2^nd Empress gives birth to his eventual successor, the Qianlong (乾隆) Emperor. 

Relationship map continues with:

Beauty at War Connection

↓

The Confidant and Curse of the Royal Harem Connection

The full Qing Dynasty relationship map (click to see):

Overview - The Day of Days

Triad leader Raymond Wong operates a coolie (ie. labourer) business, but runs into financial trouble. Believing that the simple-minded Sunny Chan was a member of an affluent family, Raymond pampers him in order to obtain a contract to build the new docks. But Sunny is actually only an idler in the family and the person with the real power is the family’s eldest daughter, Sonija Kwok. Sonija is a talented dancer with astonishing beauty and courage, but sacrifices her youthfulness for the family business. Her younger sister, Lin Xia Wei, is spoiled and rebellious, who purposely mixes with Raymond to anger Sonija. While the family is oblivious to reality, the Guangzhou mayor Law Lok Lam is shot, shocking the entire city. More surprisingly, Sunny, with a mysterious identity, is appointed as the next mayor of Guangzhou. The hidden troublemakers await the inauguration ceremony on the fifth day of the first lunar month to take action…

Comment: Can't decide whether this one or Inbound Troubles sounds more boring... Another skip.






Character Map:

The Confidant and Curse of the Royal Harem Connection

Here’s how Curse of the Royal Harem connects with The Confidant.

Sunny Chan was the Daoguang (道光) Emperor in COTRH. Jessica Hsuan was his (third) Empress. She bore a son, which was still an infant in COTRH. Nancy Wu was a concubine of Sunny and died in a fire in COTRH. 

In reality, Nancy's character outlived Jessica and was named Sunny’s fourth Empress. One of her sons is Prince Gong (恭親王), portrayed by KK Cheung in The Confidant.

-     Nancy is a palace maid in The Confidant.

-      In COTRH, KK was the loyal eunuch of Gigi Wong (Sunny’s step-mother). He committed suicide alongside Gigi.

-     Prince Gong is a character made popular by Chinese drama Sigh of His Highness.

At age 19, Jessica’s son succeeds his father Daoguang (Sunny) and becomes the Xianfeng (咸豐) Emperor. Among Xianfeng’s wives are Ci’an (Magie Siu) and Cixi (Michelle Yim). These two become Empress Dowagers upon Xianfeng’s death.

Oscar Leung is Michelle’s son and succeeds his father Xianfeng (Jessica’s son) as the Tongzhi (同治) Emperor at age 5. He marries Natalie Tong, a relative of Ci’an (Maggie).

-     KK’s Prince Gong is the uncle of Oscar.

-     I assume most of The Confidant takes place during Oscar’s reign.

Tongzi (Oscar) dies childless at age 19 and the throne was passed to his 4 year-old cousin, the Guangxu (光緒) Emperor. Guangxu was the nephew of Cixi (Michelle), which was why she chose him as successor.

-     Guangxu’s father is the 1^st Prince Chun, 7^th son of Daoguang (Sunny).

-     Imperial convention requires that the throne be passed from one generation to the next, but Tongzhi (Oscar) and Guangxu were cousins of the same generation. Thus, in legal terms, Guangxu was named as successor of Xianfeng’s (Jessica’s son) throne, not Oscar's.

Guangxu was controlled by Cixi for his entire reign, dying just one day before her. Some say he was actually poisoned by her. He is succeeded by his 3 year-old nephew Puyi, the Xuantong (宣统) Emperor, also the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty. 

Confusing? Maybe a diagram will help.

As an aside, in connection to an earlier Qing Dynasty drama, Life and Times of a Sentinel, two emperors were portrayed in that series. Sunny Chan was the Shunzhi (順治) Emperor and Power Chan was his son and successor, the Kangxi (康熙) Emperor. Daoguang (Sunny in COTRH) is the direct descendant of these two emperors.

-    In The Confidant, Power is the personal eunuch of Oscar, the Tongzhi Emperor.