IMPORTANT NOTICE

I am no longer updating this episodic thoughts since I am watching faster than I am writing. 5 more episodes and I am done so I might as well write a proper review. Thanks for the comments.

EPISODES 11 - 13

3rd wife did not appear in the next 3 episodes so now I know how this series managed to drag until 50 episodes. However these 3 episodes are very interesting if not very confusing, like something was not told or was edited out.

I seriously can't remember where I stopped last episode and my episodic thoughts did not help. The series started kinda abruptly with a meeting between HES and WXB was there giving his opinion of trying to mend the rift between HES and the Mu of Taiwan by rescuing the 2 Mu girls and sending them back. Meanwhile WXB went and see the Emperor and before he could say anything, the Emperor confessed that the 3 assassins caught were all still claiming to be from the Wu clan eventhough they were tortured. But the Emperor was convinced they were not from Wu can and wanted to find which clan they belonged to and so asked WXB to secretly let them go like a favour and find out where they lead him to. WXB was quite shocked because he planned to rescue the girls and not the guys AND the girls but since the Emperor asked him to do that, he said he will think of a way. And the Emperor reminded him to make the rescue in such a way that they will feel indebted to him and trust him enough to reveal their true identity.

Pause here. Sometimes I do think the Emperor may think too highly of WXB to think that he can persuade others he was on their side instead of the Emperor's side despite wearing the empire's costume. And WXB of course use his ties with HES as an excuse but in the eyes of the Emperor, the Emperor didn't know he has ties with HES. So for me to have the Emperor ask him to do what he was asked to do is like a big leap of faith on the part of the Emperor. Or did the Emperor know something??

Anyway he went to the 3 rebels, spectacularly held in half filled water tanks half naked with many spotlights. He taunted them, teased them, humiliated them and he kinda figured out who is Liu Yichung, the one Fang Yi was asking about. He said things like "Fang Yi must be very disappointed with the man she cared about who revealed himself as a coward and a traitor for working for Wu Sangui, the biggest traitor that all would love to destroy and kill". That sort of things. By the way I think it is Liu Yichung, didn't quite catch the name. He revealed himself as a friend of Fang Yi but they didn't believe him.

Anyway he went to the 2 girls, still bedridden and scantily dressed. I am amazed whole day locked in the room (WXB locks the doors-and by the way why no one ever sweep his dirty messy compound? He forbids them? Looks like a desolute abandoned temple!) and he has yet to FEED them. No food, no drinks at all. No water to wash up, no dress and no medicine for Fang Yi who still has some faint scar on her cheek. In these areas I find this series lacking in realism but what realism should I be looking for when an emperor could ask his most loyal subject that everybody knows is his favourite guy to play friend friend with the rebels of unknown origin? Who would believe that?

Anyway he told Fang Yi that guy is still alive with 2 other guys. MJP (Mu Jianping) and Fang Yi revealed the identities of those 2 guys. So WXB said he will rescue them, which he had to anyway since he was ordered by the Emperor but he didn't tell them that. An opportunist I tell you. Then WXB said rescuing them would mean possible death for himself, his mom, dad, bro, sis, uncle, aunt, grandmother, grandfather, etc etc etc which he said on and on and on all the relations he never had. Fang Yi nodded quietly and said "I know it is not fair for me to ask this of you, this is too much of a burden for you alone to bear" and she looked sad but WXB jumped right onto the bed and said he was willing do risk his life for her but with a condition, that if he fails he will be her slave for the rest of his life but if he succeeds, she will do as he bids. Fang Yi quickly added "If you fail, you will do as I bid but if you succeed, I will willingly follow you to the ends of the world and do as you bid, to be your servant girl and serve you even if you no longer require my service, I will still serve you faithfully and diligently". WXB smiled, MJP looked like she always looked like DUH and Fang Yi suddenly thought "But you work in the palace and I can't follow you in the palace without being found out. How am I to be your servant serving at your side?" and WXB too was thinking about this when she said "Never mind, we think of that later". Then WXB asked MJP "Do you have any lover need saving?" and MJP was like "I have no one special, why?" and WXB teased "So that you too will serve me as my servant girl!" and Fang Yi revealed her possessiveness by kicking him in the face with her bare feet (big deal mind you! bare feet!) and WXB bleeding from his nose laughed and happily hoped to be kicked by her feet again. When Fang Yi refused, he turned to MJP and happily said "Here you kick me too then you will agree to be my servant girl. Come on kick me! No kick? Ok, throw something at my face, come on..." and MJP wanted to shut him up and so threw a cup of tea on his face and WXB was very happy at what she did. MJP did not understand what happened when Fang Yi explained "He said throw something at his face and you will be his servant girl, and by doing what you did, you just agreed to his terms. I suppose you might as well just agree to be his servant girl.." and MJP knew she was tricked. WXB laughed but didn't laugh for long when Fang Yi observed "I am older than you, so I shall call you my little brother" and WXB was quite offended by that term but decided to accept it since Fang Yi is quite a temperamental older woman. So that was that and he was to rescue her man when he asked her "Why don't you write a letter to him? So that he will listen to what I ask him to do" and Fang Yi didn't know what to write and she asked WXB "What should I write?" and he said "Well, like listen to this man who is an honourable brave close friend of mine, like those. Anyway whatever you write it doesn't matter since I can't read and write anyway...". Fang Yi and MJP looked at him with wide eyes and Fang Yi especially looked shocked at the revelation and suddenly she started crying.

Pause here. One thing to be an eunuch servant girl for the rest of her life but to be a servant girl to an eunuch who is also illiterate may be a bit too much for the much educated Fang Yi.

So Fang Yi cried at her circumstances and WXB knew why she cried and flustered he said "Ok! Ok! After I rescue him, I will take you both leave the palace and you're free to return to him. I consider this to be free work, ok? Just write the letter" and when she did, he took it and left his place huffing with frustration that he just agreed to do something for nothing. Fang Yi was grateful though.

He met with the official taking care of the prisoners and revealed what the emperor told him to do. He hatched a plan and he met with the 3 guys. He taunted again and again and who broke first? Who else but Fang Yi's hero who begged WXB "Please save me oh great one, please save me, I am Liu Yichung!!" and that was before he knew for sure who he was. The other 2 guys scolded him for his weakness and then WXB showed them the letter from Fang Yi who told them to follow WXB's instruction and the 3 of them became very grateful. He explained the deputy from HES named WXB saw him and begged for his help to rescue them and they bought his story.

Next scene wine were brought to the torture chamber and all the guards were there and WXB invited them to drink the wine laced with sedatives I think. Can't be poison, too many own guys he had to kill. Suddenly the Empress Dowager's men arrived saying WXB was wanted by the Empress Dowager. WXB didn't want to leave with them and so forced the guys to drink as well, and when they all felt faint, WXB pretended to feel faint as well and they all fainted. WXB then took his faithful all purpose knife and stabbed the men from the Empress Dowager's chamber and killed them all. He released the guys and insisted Fang Yi's lover dressed as an eunuch. Then they were openly smuggled out by HES man, the wine delivery guy. The Mu clan was very grateful and pledged loyalty to HES.

Next he went to the Emperor and told him what happened and what he found out. The emperor already suspected the Mu clan and was glad his theory was right and that it wasn't Wu Sangui who sent them. WXB of course added compliments for the emperor saying the rebels wanted to frame Wu Sangui whom they hate and not really to hurt the emperor whom they love which the emperor just listened with bemused expression. Suddenly the Emperor said he wanted to bring WXB to see the Empress Dowager, and WXB was scared and said no way but the Emperor said this was the only way to save his head.

The Empress Dowager wanted WXB to serve her from now on and the Emperor being a filial son could not say no and so he left alone and poor WXB begging the Emperor to save him, pleading with his eyes and the Emperor could do nothing. Once alone, the Empress Dowager quickly threw the cup to the floor and held his neck, angrily counting how many men she had sent to find him and to bring him to her but none came back. She called for her personal assistant, a big woman and they wanted to kill him when he said "If you kill me you will never know where are the other books of 42 scriptures!!". She ordered the maid to stop and she wanted the books and he said he can get them to her. The empress dowager told the maid to follow him and that "I never ever want to see your face again, understand me?" and I suspect neither do WXB.

Back in his room, Fang Yi and MJP heard the commotion and hid behind the veil whilst still bedridden. So many episodes and still bedridden. Once inside WXB struggled with the maid, attempting to kill her but she was more skilled and powerful and he fell to the ground, desperately trying to grab his faithful knife when suddenly the woman wailed and fell dead. He stood up and saw Fang Yi with a big sword dripping with blood and MJP saying innocently "She was such a mean woman" and WXB quickly destroyed the body with that acid he carried around. Then he told Fang Yi and MJP to dress as eunuchs and leave with him since he can't stay in the palace anymore. Hiding in the scary training room where surprisingly it was Fang Yi who freaked out and hugged WXB tightly instead of MJP who seems awfully quiet in this scene, Fang Yi suddenly said she left behind the hair pin her mother left her. WXB too needed the books he had and some money so he said he will go back. Fang Yi thought he was doing that for her and was touched when in reality WXB is a by the way kinda guy. He never does thing for someone else solely without having an element of himself in everything he does. Selfish yes, but then he would also do what he promised others he would do, however reluctantly so in a way he is selfishly giving, if there is such an oxymoron.

Anyway he went back and was shocked to see a pair of legs remaining of the maid. He took them and the books and the pin and the money and left and bumped into the Empress Dowager having an intimate talk with a man dressed as a palace maid. He thought since the empress dowager was no longer in her room he would play a trick on her. He took the legs with an aim to shock her when she comes back into the room.

Pause here. Security so lax, the empress dowager has ONE maid only and her entire chamber nobody else!

Anyway he went to her bed, and discovered a secret compartment and in it he found 3 books of 42 scriptures which means he now has 5 books. He wondered, "What is so great about this book that everybody wants?". He put the legs in there and closed it when he heard someone coming in so he hid under the bed and it was a palace maid rummaging through the room looking for something. Then the Empress Dowager came back with the guy and the Empress Dowager saw her room was ransacked and went to the secret compartment and discovered a pair of legs and the books missing. The man accused her of killing her own maid and keeping the books to herself and they two argued when they heard something and the other maid appeared and the 3 fought and the Empress Dowager was knocked out whilst the other 2 struggled and WXB stabbed the guy at the back and then a young eunuch appeared and I think WXB killed him too. The maid escaped with WXB and she was very grateful for him help. WXB was quite touched at how kindly she spoke to him and she found out her name which I can't remember, Tao I think and she was the personal maid of the princess of the previous dynasty, Princess Chang Ping. WXB was surprised and wondered what she was doing there and I suspect it had something to do with the books because next she revealed that she suspected the Empress Dowager having connections with some Red Dragon sect or whatever and that they were all looking for 8 books of 42 scriptures. WXB exclaimed "8?!" and she said "There was this hidden great treasure of such immense wealth and all would like to lay their hands on it. The map was divided into 8" and WXB concluded "and hidden in 8 of such books!" and she said "yes". Hmmm why everybody tells WXB everything voluntarily? Anyway she said it was better for him to run and be careful and to take good care of himself. And she said "You may call me ku-ku" and WXB I think thought to himself "I have never had a ku-ku" and he was touched by how concerned this stranger was towards his well being and he remembered his mother. The woman bade him farewell and left and that left a lasting impression on WXB who was very impressed with this woman's sincere concern about him.

Frankly I find this scene a bit odd. What did she do that made him feel so strongly for her?

WXB didn't leave. He in fact went to the emperor and together they went to the Empress Dowager's chamber and discovered dead bodies. The Empress Dowager explained the maid and guard were fighting, thus the commotion. Yeah, like as if they can fight into the room eh? What a story. The Emperor didn't believe it and was confused, as he had confessed to WXB. WXB felt it didn't matter anyway since he was leaving and he took his leave, intending to leave the emperor forever when suddenly he looked back and his eyes met with the emperor and suddenly the emperor lightened up and smiled at him and he smiled back. The Emperor said "Wait for a moment" and he took a special box, opened it and inside were I think western cookies that only the Emperor had the privilege to taste. The Emperor offered them to WXB and said "I am sorry you had to run everywhere today. You must be exhausted. Have a piece" and WXB looked at the Emperor his eyes brimming with tears and thought to himself "I have not been truthful with you, how can you treat me so well when I had lied to you all these years?" and the Emperor thought he wanted to wrestle and so he said "Ok, like old times? Come, I am ready. Let's wrestle!" and the Emperor readied himself and WXB walked foward and said "Are you Xiao Xuan Tzi now?" and the Emperor said "Didn't I tell you when we are alone I am Xiao Xuan Tzi?" and WXB said carefully "Because there are somethings that if I had told the emperor he would not forgive me so easily but if I were to tell Xiao Xuan Tzi, as a friend he may be more willing to forgive me. Should I tell you, are you now the Emperor or are you now Xiao Xuan Tzi?" and the emperor was confused when suddenly WXB kneel down and confessed... "I am not the real Xiao Kwei Tzi. When I was little, I was kidnapped by Hai Da Fu and I blinded him and then killed the real Xiao Kwei Tzi. I wanted to escape but I got lost and that was how I met you...I am not a real eunuch!" and he stood up and the Emperor looked offended and said "Show me" and WXB was like "Huh?" and the Emperor sternly said "SHOW ME" and WXB pulled his pants and the emperor peeked and then suddenly the emperor grabbed him THERE really hard until WXB was in pain and then the emperor walked away and laughed "So what? It was only an eunuch you killed (Emperor sir, you are so compassionate you know?-Funn). It is no big deal But since you're not an eunuch you can't stay by my side and serve me. I will have to give you a different rank..." and then WXB continued "There is more. When I was little, I heard Hai Da Fu's conversation with the Empress Dowager. I heard Hai Da Fu said it himself; that the previous emperor did not die and was living in seclusion as a monk" and this the emperor was totally shocked. He was very emotional and said "What? He's not dead? He is alive? Are you sure? I can send for him to come back! I can do that!" and WXB continued that "I also heard.... that Hai Da Fu was investigating the murder of several concubines (and I think also the empress then) and it was his conclusion that the perpetrator was... was.." and the emperor was shocked over the revelation and said "No, not her..."

Pause here. I always thought the empress dowager, fake as she may be, was faking as his MOTHER but I kinda heard the emperor said she murdered HIS mother. Now I am confused. Can someone confirm whether the fake empress dowager was supposed to fake as his mother or not? At this point he still doesn't know she is fake.

The Emperor quickly went to the empress dowager's chamber with WXB but they hid, hoping to see what was going on when they saw some maid throwing something into the lake. He sent for guards to quietly get what was in the lake and it turns out to be the man dressed as a palace maid's body which was missing when he went to see her earlier. The Emperor was so angry he took a knife and stabbed the body several times and when WXB who was shocked by his behaviour wanted to say somethintg the emperor said "That shameless woman! The adulteress woman! How dare she do what she did? How dare she?!" and then he calmed down. I think he thought she was having an affair.

Anyway he asked WXB to find his father at the temple and decided to give WXB the title of Deputy of Civil Service, I suppose that's how you call it in modern world. And then he cococted a story, that WXB was in disguise as an eunuch to assist the emperor in destroying Aobai and since Aobai is dead, he need not pretend anymore. Actually whatever the emperor says, people will say Yeahhhhhh.

WXB went back to the girls and took them out of the palace and to HES headquarters.

Pause here.

If by this time the emperor still doesn't suspect his connection to HES I don't know what will. Never had I seen someone dressed in full official garb and walk into enemy headquarters and now suspected of anything. Don't the palace have some intelligence department or something?

Anyway he was there and Fang Yi and MJP was disappointed he would not go to the Mu clan with them. He said "I have an errand to run for a friend but I will visit" and the errand was to find the emperor's father and the friend is the emperor. Meanwhile Chen Jinnan was there (I may have confused this with the earlier scene where some unknown young guy appeared, fought them, declared his hatred for Wu Sangui and then left) who promised yet again to teach him kung fu and WXB explained the Mu's plan to frame Wu Sangui never worked anyway and Chen Jinnan curiously asked why and WXB explained that the method was too obvious, with the rebels so readily confessing they're from the Wu clan, so no one would buy it and moreover at that time Wu Yingxiong was in the city and in the palace as well and Wu Sangui would never put his son in such jeapordy where the emperor can hold him hostage. Chen Jinnan was impressed with WXB's analysis and felt WXB was right. WXB smiled and thought to himself "Well I was just repeating what Xiao Xuan Tzi told me!". Meanwhile Chen Jinnan playfully patted WXB's head like a father would to a son and walked away and WXB seemed pleased.

Next episodic thoughts probably he will meet more wives, meet the old emperor and return a decorated hero.

Story wise like I mentioned above loads of holes and illogical scenes but I do enjoy the interaction between Fang Yi and WXB. Especially that scene where she started to cry when she realised he was illiterate! That guy never made an effort to learn kung fu or read and write. Funnily he found out some phrases he always said was wrong! I also enjoyed that scene where he confessed to the emperor of his true identity, especially that line "Are you Xiao Xuan Tzi or are you the emperor?" because there is a big difference between the 2. Like he observed, some secrets can be told to a friend but not to the boss, the emperor. The emperor has yet to realise the difference between the 2 but WXB already knew and the fact that he is the deputy of HES kinda makes the whole situation even worse.

What I didn't like was the confusing storyline with the Empress Dowager who really wants WXB dead, the sudden touching moment between the palace maid and WXB which was weird since what did she do that made him feel so bloody grateful and the sudden aggression and violence depicted by the emperor towards the dead body. I am still confused who is the emperor's mother. That I blame it on my bad Mandarin.

Now, the performances.

I am beginning to enjoy HXM's performance once he just stop acting cute, cuddly, insane, over excited, hyper happy, etc. I like him more grounded and his best scenes are always when his WXB's loyalty is tested or when he wonders whether the emperor is the emperor or his friend. You can see the confusion, the fear, the hesitation, the relief, everything and not one word spoken. I like that kind of acting and not like throwing a chair to show aggression, you know what I mean. I can see him as WXB the scoundrel. He really displayed that scoundrel part in these 3 episodes, at times I find him really disgusting. Everytime I find WXB disgusting, he will do something that makes you feel maybe he is not that selfish after all even if everything starts with him first. He may be a reluctant good guy, but more importantly in the end he chose to do the decent thing, like what he did for Fang Yi and letting her go back on her promise. That was a decent thing he didn't have to do. HXM depicted that well. I can understand also why this voice which is less heroic voice than in the Condor Heroes. Now I am not sure which is his real voice, my bet is Condor Heroes but the voice in here is more slimy, less heroic, less booming so it fits the character. I am getting used to this voice.

Wallace Chung not that good. His worst moments are those aggressive moments or sad moments, anything that requires him to act in a dramatic sense. He falters, he seems confused, he seems beyond his league here. But his bests are those light hearted moments, playful moments which I think he did well although I still can't see the emperor element in him like I see in the young boy who played the same role. Maybe later on since this is still a young emperor in training.

The wives were ok, nothing more I can say since they were bedridden for 3 episodes. But Liu Zi who plays Fang Yi did her role well when she had to, her desperation to save her spineless lover and her sadness that she just agreed to sell herself to an illiterate eunuch! I wonder what she would think now that he isn't an eunuch? I find her quite pretty as well although stern pretty.

Of all the other actors, I am most impressed with Zhu Yanping who plays Chen Jinnan. He really has this heroic father figure face and I find him perfectly cast based on looks alone. Now I really wonder how Wu Sangui looks like! I also like Gao Yuan who plays the Empress Dowager. I find her the prettiest of the lot and she did very well in her role of the Empress Dowager, the restrained anger, the sudden panic, etc. You want emotion without hair flying everywhere? Look at her.

Everybody else was ok, good actors but none particularly memorable. But then these 3 episodes had very few recognisable characters.

All in all very interesting 3 episodes which differs slightly from the previous versions, doesn't mean it is less good but more confusing. And ever since they grew up, we see less and less of the palace and more and more of studio sets! Getting boring here!

EPISODES 9 & 10

And the snooze fest continues as we get introduced to his would be wives, one per episode if the trend continues.

So who he saw which shocked him into speechlessness? Would be wife no. 1, Mu who now stunned him with her ermm acupuncture skill? Anyway he got stilled, she sat him down and whilst he couldn't speak or so we thought, she said "You can speak you know" and she explained that stun thing to her was automatic release after a few hours. So he looked sheepishly and tried to charm his way out of trouble by first threatening her as in her scar on her face won't get better without his help, etc but the girl, whilst naive wasn't exactly stupid. Her face was still half covered with those unknow grime he put on her and as she wiped them off very very slowly, she did mention she knew there wasn't any scar since she checked. He asked why she didn't leave when she could and she shyly explained "I couldn't just leave, you said you were looking for pearls for me, I had to at least say thank you and good bye" and in that small moment of time, he actually was quite touched by her naiveness. But like I said, she wasn't stypid. So he used the next tactic; he said she got the wrong spot as in those "dim yuet" thing and he began to pretend to choke and die and of course silly girl, although not stupid but is silly naive, fell for it and released him. And when she knew it was a trick, he scared her by telling her some ghost story and that silly naive girl fell for it and ran, crawled around in total fear. And suddenly a gust of wind blew the candle and this time WXB was scared as he cried "ghost!!" and told the girl to shut up.

Pause here. This scene was much much longer than I described with their banter and her wiping off the grime taking forever. And you should see how she wipe the grime; no human will do it the way she did. She was forever wiping the grime using the same corner of the miraculously never-got-dirty-hanky and it was really really annoying. And that ghost thing, I was like oh please can we get on with the story? So I shall not torture like I was tortured and we shall move on, like NOW.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew open the doors to WXB's house (compound? room? too big so I shall call it a house) and it was the Empress dowager, in her nightgown and hair down and looking for WXB. She strangled him but then she heard some noises and she left. As she left, she encountered palace guards, fought with them and flew off. A bunch of assassins were in the palaca causing the commotion and they were fighting furiously with the guards at WXB's compound and he saw it all.

Pause here.

I still don't get why the Empress Dowager suddenly appear. Why she suddenly wanted him dead. Why suddenly she appeared in his room looking disheveled? I was so confused and until now I still don't get it.

Anyway the fighting went on and Mu was hiding with WXB when Mu heard a voice she recognised. It was her big sister (as in sworn sister) Fang Yi and she was very badly injured and was sitting down in pain as the palace guards were somewhere else fighting her people. Mu begged WXB to help her but WXB refused until Mu calls him "Dearest Husband" but she settled for "Dearest boyfriend" (look, he wanted her call him Hao Ge Ge which direcntly translates as good brother but in that context dearest boyfriend is more appropriate) but again longest scene ever, Fang Yi refused his help and stubbornly sat there and WXB offended that at least one woman refused his help insisted on helping her and so carried her off to his bed. And suddenly one dying guard held his leg and said "Assassin Eunuch Kwei, assassin" and WXB just stabbed that poor guard to death. No remorse. She was so injured Mu was panicking as she said "Dearest boyfriend, please please save my sworn sister. She is the nicest to me, she is the gentlest, please" but that woman had an attitude problem that WXB commented on and Mu said "No no she is actually very gentle, if you talk gently to her, she will be gentle" and then Fang Yi cried in pain and so WXB ran to get that grime paste he made earlier since he too was kinda panicking and tore off her top despite her refusal and applied that paste on her right upper shoulder near her right chest with his hands and he was relishing the massaging action in fact and the poor girl had to withstand being molested by thus unknown eunuch.

Yes, molested.

She calmed down a bit and again and again WXB was called out by the guards passing by. He charmed them all and so they went away.

Meanwhile the Empress Dowager wanted to see WXB but he knew she was up to no good. So the Empress Dowager sent her goon to see him and to kill him and not to listen to his words and just kill him, lay him next to the assassins and she will do the rest so that it won't arouse the emperor's suspiscion. And of all the men she can send, she sent a total idiot. WXB had no problems confusing him about his purpose, so much so out of frustration that man rushed into the house and tried to kill him. And of all the men she can send, she sent on that WXB had no problem fighting so you can guess how useless this killer was. In the end whilst WXB was injured by this guy, he had no problem stabbing that idiot to death. He hid his body under the bed. By the way I can't remember how but Mu sprained her ankle which WXB quickly rushed off to find medicine from the palace doctor pretending to have sprained his waist whilst fighting the assassins. Mu was of course very touched by his gesture.

After some time, there was a knock on the door and a few eunuchs were out there saying the Emperor wanted to see WXB dead at night. WXB was obliged to go and then he realised he was tricked since the emperor hardly sees him at such hour and the eunuchs failed to salute him as any eunuchs will with his high stature and all. And he was led to the Empress Dowager's chambers which was all wrong for him so when he found a way, he sneaked away only to bum into the Empress Dowager who held him by his neck and asking him why was he avoiding her. And then they had a long conversation which I can't understand but I have a feeling it is about her fear that the emperor might know of her secrets and WXB telling him or something like that. If you know you fill me in. Anyway he tricked his way out of trouble but she did injured him enough so that he was puking blood whenhe got back to his room, and Mu was very concerned. He was also concerned she would find out about the dead stupid henchman and so he used that acid powder and destroyed all evidence. By this time Fang Yi and Mu formerly introduced their names to WXB whom they only know as Eunuch Kwei and then Fang Yi was nice enough to thank him for killing that henchman who just a few hours ago killed I think 3 of her people. She then asked if he knew anything about a particular guy who came in with her and Mu explained that was her special someone. He was reluctant to ask but agreed he would if he had the opportunity.

Next scene we see two rebels half submerged and hands tied up and screaming as the guards above walked back and forth. So I assume that was her special someone.

Somewhere along the way WXB was asked to see the wine delivery man (who is from HES) and he had to attend a secret meeting and something was discussed. The exact nature I can't remember.

WXB went to see the emperor who playfull congratulated him on another job well done. The emperor heard how he killed a few of the assassins himself. He asked WXB to describe the kung fu of the assassin which WXB did and the emperor was happy with his own conclusion although WXB didn't know what he meant.2 old minister walked in and presented the emperor with a full bag of weapons and their investigation concluded that the assassins were sent by Wu Sangui. WXB remained quiet. The emperor smiled and disagreed with them. He explained "They are not Wu Sangui's men. Wu Sangui would not have sent assassins with weapons so openly bearing the enblem and crest of his name. It is far too obvious. Moreover with Wu Yingxiong, his son in town, he would never so openly jeapordise his son's own safety by sending assassins to kill me. I can only conclude they were sent by some other group and not Wu Sangui".

WXB was impressed and so were the ministers who felt they were really stupid. So they pledged to investigate from this new angle. When they left, suddenly the emperor playfully asked WXB; "Xiao Gwei Tzi, do you want to earn some big money?" and WXB was curious and said why not. So the emperor explained "Take that bag of weapons to Wu Yingxiong and you will earn a lot of money" and WXb knew what the emperor meant and so he left. Before he did he visited the two women in his room and in fact kissed them on the cheeks twice each as he jumped off the bed and left. The girls were stunned but didn't do anything else other than being stunned.

So off he went to Wu Yingxiong's place. Very busy man. By the time he arrived Wu Yingxiong heard of news of assassins pretending to be from the Wu clan and he didn't panic since he knew they didn't send anyone. But WXB came with an entourage of eunuchs, placed the bag of weapons on him and Wu Yingxiong panicked.

Pause here.

I think Wu Yingxiong pretended to panicked. Somehow I see this young turtle as WXB calls him as rather cunning even if he looked or behaved like a drug addict.

Anyway Wu Yingxiong panicked and down on his knees begging for mercy since he said he didn't do what they accused him of. WXB explained the emperor wasn't too pleased but WXB can relate to the emperor the truth of the matter. Wu Yingxiong took the bait and offered an envelope of cash to WXB which he took and said not to worry, he will handle the emperor. WXB bade farewell and Wu Yingxiong said to his assistant "There is nothing to worry. See how 100 thousand can solve the problem?"

And WXB discovered he was just given 100 thousand in bank drafts!! He was like "Wow, this is a lot!" and he took half for himself and reported back to the empror with 50 thousand in hand. The Emperor was very pleased and told WXB to take 10 thousand and to give the rest to the guards, as a thank you gift from Wu Yingxiong. But WXB said "But your majesty, why let him take the credit? Why not just say it is a bonus from your majesty for a job well done?" and the emperor agreed and WXB said " I shall refuse my share of the money, I would like to give it all to the guards" and the emperor was so moved by his gesture that he thought to himself "Xiao Kwei Tzi is such an honest person". Well honest my foot.

Anyway WXB gave the 50 thousand to the chief guard and the chief guard was very happy but in turn he offered it to WXB as a thank you gift. WXB pretended to look offended and insisted the chief guard divide it to the men, more for the injured I think and the chief guard was very pleased by WXB's gallant gesture. Then WXB asked about one assassin that Fang Yi was asking about and the chief guard said "The assassins did not use their real names but do not worry sir, I will find out for you" and so WXB left, leaving a great impression on the chief guard.

I think the episode 10 ended there. I suppose we shall see the 3rd woman next episode.

Anyway with my poor limited Chinese I was frankly very confused why the empress dowager did what she did and all that conversation between stupid henchman and WXB. And I was confused why the assassins came into the palace if they didn't even know Mu was kidnapped in the first place and then I realised that was because they were trying to cause discord between Wu Sangui and the Emperor. You must understand there were a few groups who wanted to topple the emperor from what I remember. HES wants to topple the Qing and bring back the Ming. Mu belongs to the Taiwan gang I think that claims own lineage to the throne and in the end HES and Mu will fight as to who shall be emperor but later would work together to topple the emperor. Then later on there will be Princess Cheung Ping, now a one armed nun who will want to kill the emperor for personal reasons and she could lay claim to the throne. Then there was Wu Sangui, the former general for the Ming who betrayed the Ming to let the Qing in. But now Wu Sangui is a very powerful overlord of whatever his region may be and whilst Wu Sangui did not quite dare to topple the emperor yet, but he is thinking of it since the emperor is so young and vulnerable. But Wu Sangui wouldn't do it when his son is in town. Later on Wu Sangui will go all out against the emperor. Then I think there was the Russians and that small sect that the Empress Dowager belongs to.

And everybody wants the books of 42 scriptures because the books contain the secret to where the hidden treasures are situated and with so much treasure means all parties concerned have unlimited financial backing to do what they want to do; that is to fight the obviously much affluent Qing Empire and the emperor could do well with the money as well.

See the big picture?

Problem is when it comes to small picture I just can't understand what is going on.

Performance wise I kinda miss the guy who played that scary eunuch, Hai Da Fu. Is he really really dead?

Of all the performances in these 2 episodes I was most impressed with the guy who plays Wu Yingxiong. He just fit the character to perfection; the drug addict persona aside, he just gives me the impression he is pretending to be such a small turtle when in fact he is like the crouching tiger and his dad that we have yet to see the hidden dragon. A formidable force.

As for the 2 girls, well one suitably naive and the other suitably temperamental. But is Fang Yi supposed to be much older than WXB? Because the actress looks too mature and frankly I don't think any of the 7 wives were well cast at all. Of the 2, I suppose I dislike Mu the least. Performance wise no comment. The voice dubbing is annoying though.

Wallace Chung has very little role in these 2 episodes and frankly I missed him. I love his scenes with HXM simply because I find the wives unbearable. Why can't WXB MARRY the emperor? Then I would be the happiest since I don't need to see any of his whiny wives. They're best friends of course and I find it quite funny the emperor thought of him as honest. Wallace improved a little, no longer wooden since he didn't have any emotional scenes. He is at his best when he is most relaxed and I like his playful banter and the way he looked at his friend. In front of others he is stern but fair but before WXB he is playful and fair, acting his age I suppose. But I still can't quite see the kingliness in Wallace. Maybe as the series progress we will see that in him.

HXM. What to say? He tried his damnest best to be the playful, cocky, ruthless scroundrel that is WXB. I know there are a lot of criticisms that said he is far too good looking that people tend to forget the scroundrel part of him. I kinda agree because frankly can't good looking people be scroundrel? Of course. I think so far without taking into account those sudden burst of overacting, HXM was bearable mainly because the story didn't go from one sudden high to one sudden low and nothing in the middle. It is basically quite still throughout and the drama as in suspense evenly paced even if I can't understand some of it.

I still miss the boys though. And frankly I am not impressed with any of the 7 wives, picture wise. I just find them too what's the word that those gossip columns always use? Skanky? It just feels that way. The series got it right though with the casting of certains actors for the smaller roles.

Cinematography wise still excellent but less about the palace but more about rooms. Costume, especially whatever Wallace is wearing is great stuff. You can see the budget in the costumes.

Overall a lot of things happen in these 2 episodes but still I felt this certain emptiness that I just can't explain. I just feel the best of this series has already past by and the idea of 40 episodes more is just becoming unbearable to me. Hopefully something drama worthy happens sometime soon.

Videos & Media

Some videos and media such as pictures that I really like for your viewing pleasure as well as where to find the series online. I do not advocate the use of torrents so what is listed in here is merely for your knowledge. What you do with the knowledge is really not within my power, if you get the hint. By the way the DVD is released in the market.

Where to buy
Coming soon

Favourite Scenes
Coming soon

Where to watch online
Quality not good, one episode divided into 5 or more parts but if you so inclined, you can catch the entire series at youtube. To download the clips into your computer for offline viewing, first download the youtube clip as flv file at Clipnabber.com and then get a free FLV player or similar to watch it.

Coming soon

Where to download online
The file size is huge so why not buy the DVD? Can't get it in your region? So that would be an excuse to go torrent hunting.

Coming soon

Poll Results

Thank you for voting. The following are your choices in the Poll Of The Moment. For the current Poll Of The Moment, look to the left panel of the same title.

21.07.2008
QUESTION
Which of the following if your favourite wife of WXB?

RESULTS
3 votes.

Shuang Er (2 votes)
Princess Jian Ning (0 vote)
Fang Yi (0 vote)
Mu Jian Ping 1 (1 vote)
A Ke (0 vote)
Su Quan (0 vote)
Zeng Rou

Winner is Shuang Er!

23.06.2008
QUESTION
Which of the following actors is your favourite Wei Xiaobao?

RESULTS
5 votes.

Tony Leung (1 vote)
Jordan Chan (1 vote)
Dicky Cheung(1 vote)
Huang Xiaoming (1 vote)
Stephen Chow(1 vote)
Unfortunately, none of the above (0 vote)

The winner is... no one or you can every one. Interesting.

23.06.2008
QUESTION
Which version of Duke Of Mount Deer you like best?

RESULTS
15 votes.

Tony Leung - Andy Lau version (7 votes)
Jordan Chan - Steven Ma version (6 votes)
Huang Xiaoming - Wallace Chung version (2 votes)
Dicky Cheung - Patrick Tam version (0 votes)
Version in own imagination (0 votes)

Winner of your choice is the Tony leung - Andy Lau version.

EPISODES 5 - 8

Where was I the last time? Oh yes, WXB was asked by the boy emperor to go with the old minister to supervise the foreclosure/confiscation of Aobai's property. And so he went, the old minister whose name I have yet to learn (but in all 3 versions he's the one who is the first ally in the palace with WXB) even suggested that he take some of the gold and jewels for himself since the emperor wouldn't mind. And in front of WXB he found out Aobai's property is a few times more than he anticipated and so he suggested a change of numbers on the book and share 50-50 the unreported takings between themselves and the palace servants and other guards, so to keep everyone happy. WXB being the greedy kid that he was didn't think twice about accepting although he did worry it was a bit too much. But the old minister assured him not to worry, the Emperor wouldn't mind. In fact the old minister went as far as to asked WXB to be his sworn brother! WXB of course being the one who follows the wind had to say yes. One funny scene here was the old man reciting the sworn words of being sworn brother, you know "Although we are not born on the same day, same month and the same year, we shall both die on the same day, same month and the same year as sworn brothers and to this I shall swear on my own life to forever be the faithful and loyal sworn brother of Kwei Xiao Bao (WXB told him his name was Kwei instead of Wei, in fact the emperor didn't even know his real name). WXB was of course cheekily thinking "He is so old! Certainly it would in his advantage if we were to die on the same day, month and year since he surely can't live any longer! But I shall have my way out of this.." and I think he recited he will die on the same day, same month and same DAY as the old guy, omitting the word year so he thought "If he were to die in March whatever year, I shall die in March too, but could be 100 years later!". This boy is super cheeky. Anyway he got himself from Aobai's treasure two items that would greatly assist him in future, a protective singlet that no weapon can cut through and a golden dagger than can cut through anything, even the highest graded steel.

And so they went back to the boy emperor and WXB lied about how much Aobai had taken but even that smaller sum (by half) shocked the boy emperor and he was very very angry. And he found the 2 books of 42 scriptures which he gave to the Emperor who gave to his mom. His mom was very pleased. So pleased he was awarded deserts that only the Empress Dowager may eat. Alone with the Empress Dowager's maid, WXB flirted with the maid, and even offered her the desert. And he made her promise to meet him at night so that they both can enjoy the desert together. Yes, the ladies' man even at that age.

WXB went back to coughing eunuch who again prepared dinner and soup for him to drink. Whilst he was drinking and eating, he kept telling himself he shall be leaving this place at night. Meanwhile the coughing eunuch seemed to be up to something as he had a flashback; he was the dead emperor's personal eunuch, most trusted apart from the head monk of a temple. The Emperor pretended to die. To the world he was dead but in actual fact he became a monk after his favourite concubine died mysteriously. But he gave Hai Ta Fu an order; to investigate who killed not just the concubine but I think an empress and one other high ranking concubine. But Hai Ta Fu felt he had failed his master.

At night whilst coughing eunuch, Hai Ta Fu was his name was sleeping, WXB tried to sneak out to see the maid but was stopped by the coughing eunuch who thought he was running away and wondered where his loyalties lie since he knew he gave the 2 books to the emperor. In the midst of their conversation, kinda violent because poor boy was stepped on and punched and all, the coughing eunuch angrily said he knew WXB was the one who blinded him. So WXB angrily said "So you knew I was the one? So you knew I am not the real Xiao Kwei Tzi and you used me didn't you?" and coughing eunuch confessed he did and he planned to kill him. And he said he had fed WXB with poison all these time through the soup and he planned to feed him for 3 months and later he would be poisoned to death in a slow and agonising painful death. WXB of course wouldn't admit it and he said "His Majesty and I knew you were up to no good, which was why I drank only half and threw the other half out! I have outwitted you, you fool!" and then he tried to kill the coughing eunuch with that dagger which sliced his hands but the eunuch one punch threw WXB out of the room. Poor kid! But once outside, he hid and the eunuch who can't see anything assumed either he was dead or ran away. I think more like dead. So he walked away. WXB felt it was time to leave the palace but he remembered the maid and knew he had to bid her farewell first in case she was waiting for him. So he ran to the Empress Dowager's residence and saw the maid. Whilst he was talking with her, the eunuch appeared but he didn't know WXB was there as he quietly hid behind the bushes. The eunuch took the maid by the neck and made her announce his arrival to the empress dowager and then he promptly knocked her out. The Empress Dowager was pissed someone would disturb her at such a later hour and WXB thought he was there to complain about him and all but the eunuch menacingly said "Your highness (I am not sure how to translate her title so I will use your highness), a man from the temple has asked me to convey a message to you, a man you would surely wish to hear from" and she sounded stunned when she said "It is him isn't him?" and after some more talk she walked out and faced the eunuch and said "What has he to say?" and the eunuch confessed his role in the investigation and the Empress Dowager angrily said "So he is still alive? I have suspected as much. He has abandoned his kingdom, his throne, his wife and his child to be a monk just because his beloved concubine died" as she said with scorn and the eunuch said "The deaths are too suspiscious your highness" and she wondered what has that got to do with her and he said "In the course of investigation I have discovered 2 things" and frankly I can't remember the exact words but I think the 1st was the suspiscious nature of the death of the concubines and also second "I believe there lives a kung fu expert in this palace who is secretly teaching kung fu to the emperor and this I know because my personal servant, Xiao Kwei Tzi has been sparring with the emperor and though their ages were not much different than a year or two, the emperor's skills seemed higher and so he must have a great master who is teaching him" and the empress dowager denied she was that master and the eunuch suddenly and gloomily said "Your highness, I am old, blind and I am dying. I was blinded by this bastard child, Xiao Kwei Tzi and I have not much longer to live" and the empress dowager laughed "Good for Xiao Kwei Tzi but don't you worry I shall take care of this matter in the morning" and he said "There is no such need" and she said "He is dead?" and I think he nodded and then he said "I shall take my leave your highness. I have failed his majesty and I shall retire" and as he left the Empress Dowager attacked him since she asked him what then he planned to do and he said "I plan only to inform his majesty (the boy emperor) of my findings and let him decide". WXB heard all that and knew the old emperor is still alive. And so they fought and both discovered although they taught the boys kung fu of a certain sect, they were actually disguising themselves and they were from other sects. But both were equal and very hurt and WXB took this opportunity to attack the eunuch but he was punched by the eunuch but the empress dowager took this opportunity to kill the eunuch. And the eunuch fell to the ground, dead.

Pause here. I am not sure whether Hai Ta Fu died or not. In previous versions he became insane and quite endearing to WXB who still hates him but had to bear with him and I think he died saving WXB's life but that could be the Dicky Cheung version which may have deviated from the text. Anyway he seems dead, although we never really see him buried. But I suppose he is dead and is deader than dead and so yes, he is dead.

The guards heard the commotion and ran there and so the empress dowager ordered WXb to carry her into the room, onto the bed and keep quiet. The Empress Dowager responded to the queries and the conclusion was some eunuchs having some sparring dead at night with Hai Ta Fu dead. On the bed, the empress dowager asked why WXB blinded the eunuch and he kinda told the truth how the eunuch was trying to kill him. And she asked did he hear the conversation and he wisely denied hearing anything and the empress dowager was pleased and told him to leave. He left with a heavy relief, thinking she might kill him but she didn't. Back at the Hai Ta Fu quarters, quite uncharacteristically WXB had a sudden attack of fear that the eunuch's ghost will come back to haunt him and he became very scared. I didn't like this scene since this is so unlike him.

Next day he received news that he was promoted to be the I think the head of the eunuchs but don't quote me here. But he was someone powerful that everybody now suck up to him. He brought food to the emperor and once alone they became casual again and the emperor congratulated him for saving the empress dowager's life and having earned so much merits in such a short time. WXB now felt safe and happy and decided to stay a few more years to earn some more money before going back to his mother. Alone with the emperor, he was offered to share the food with him but WXB understanding his lowly status said no but this angered the boy emperor who emphasised "What is this? In here when we are alone I am Xiao Xuan Tzi and don't you dare play ranks with me!" and WXB became Xiao Kwei Tzi again and happily ate with the emperor and played fighting with the emperor. The boy emperor sighed and confessed his duties have become more and more heavy each day and all WXB could do was to lie next to him and listen. The next day he brought food in again, smiling happily.

And the next scene it was an adult WXB bringing in food for the adult emperor.

Pause here. Let me express my feelings here at seeing HXM, finally...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHYYYYYYYY?!??!?!??! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!!?! I want the boys back! I don't want HXM! Who is Wallace Chung? I don't want! I don't want! I don't want! I want to push the stop button. I want the boys, why must they grow up so soon?!??!?! Why???????

What to do? Which means 35 episodes of adults WXB and emperor. Ewwwwwww...

I can't believe Ep 5, middle of it and the two boys were gone!

Anyway he brought the food in.

Pause here.

Hmmmm HXM so thin. Hmmmm some more; like I predicted like that kid's acting.

He walked in and there was the emperor, now a young man happily greeted WXB.

Pause here.

Handsome maybe but a bit too dark skin. They should have found someone fairer since the boy emperor was so fair. And his acting.... a bit wooden at first and then shifted gear to a strange new level of whatever that I can't name as I shall describe below.

They winked, looked at each other's eye and then went fighting hand to hand but when the emperor charged at WXB, WXB pretended to fall and got hurt and conceded defeat. Now the strange part.

The emperor was very upset and he accused of WXB no longer the Xiao Kwei Tzi he once knew and he was fed up and he shouted "If this is what you want, then so be it! You shall be the servant before me!" and he charged at WXB and kinda beat him into a pulp. WXB thought to himself (a lot of narration in these few episodes) "Xiao Xuan Tzi, what is it you don't understand... that I do. I am the lowly servant and I shall forever be the lowly servant. You were once Xiao Xuan Tzi but now, look at you know, you are now the emperor that I serve, how can I now treat you like Xiao Xuan Tzi even if I am Xiao Kwei Tzi in your eyes?" and then the emperor stopped. WXB bled from his mouth and he fell to the floor. The emperor even more frustrated went punching everywhere when suddenly WXB stood up and said "Fine. If this is what you want..." and he charged at the emperor and they both fought and he even straddled the emperor and spanked him.

Pause here. Now before you go thinking GAY let me say this; they should marry one another. And let me say this also; it was playful like how two boys would. And it shows how close their relationship was that the emperor didn't mind even with his status allowed WXB to straddle him like a master on his horse.

Anyway the emperor even kicked WXB on the groin area and WXB complained "How could you Xiao Xuan Tzi kick me there?" and the emperor feeling strange said "Ermmm well not that you have anything there" and WXB suddenly remembered he was supposed to be an eunuch and so he stood up and went on fighting the emperor until they fell to the floor, exhausted. Everything was ok after that. Anyway they stopped and the emperor confessed his worries to WXB who as usual listened. "I heard he is screaming day and night, making a whole lot of noise. Something must be done" and WXB knew he was talking about Aobai. WXB said "Just tell me what you wish for me to do Xiao Xuan Tzi? I shall do it" and the emperor asked him to pay a visit to Aobai. WXB knew what he meant; he wanted WXB to shut Aobai up forever and WXB gladly went.

Pause here. I find this scene just too odd, too sudden and frankly too emotionally hyped up. It was like so dramatic, with the emperor beating him to a pulp and all that, bleeding and all. This should be later, now so early on. And HXM was just plain weird in here. I shall explain more later.

Aobai was under house arrest, under whole load of chains and WXB ordered the guards out and faced the very angry Aobai. WXB went and taunted him. Outside a bunch of people suddenly appear looking for Aobai, intending to kill Aobai. They went in and saw WXB in there who was too late to realise he was standing too close to Aobai by the door that he was dragged in. They all saw how WXb used his dagger and just stabbed Aobai on the head then once on the stomach and so Aobai died. The guys were stunned and said "He killed Aobai! He killed Aobai!" and they took Aobai's body AND kidnapped WXB who was terrified thinking they were Aobai's faithful followers. The guards couldn't stop them and so WXB was stuffed into a container and whisked away.

The emperor heard what happened and was very angry and ordered for the safe return of WXB and also to find the followers of Aobai.

WXB was taken to some house or inn or whatever and once inside he saw how the many men were paying respect to someone and the man was saying they were from the Heaven and Earth Sect (herein HES) and that they were glad he killed Aobai which they wanted to anyway. WXB was much relieved. Then they asked him "Why do you want to kill Aobai my young friend?" and so he lied. He said he was kidnapped by Aobai, forced to become a eunuch at a young age. Aobai killed his mom, dad, uncle, auntie, first aunt, second aunt.. you get the picture. They sympathised with him and asked "How old are you?" and WXB said "17" and then they realised "But Aobai was not at your hometown back then..." and someone else said "Maybe he meant his father was killed elsewhere" and WXB said "Yes yes yes". They were impressed with his skill and so was WXb impressed to be amongst heroes when they said "Well then we did swear that anyone who kills Aobai will be the deputy (I think deputy) of HES" but they wondered, this stranger? and then they asked "You seem to know us my young friend" and he said "Who wouldn't know heroes?" and I can't remember how his name was brought up but he mentioned Mao 18. They brought Mao 18 in and WXB had a tearful reunion with Mao 18 who was a member of HES.

Alone, Mao 18 said "When I was defeated by that eunuch, I swore I would come back to rescue you but I have been plagued by bad health since then. I worried about you my young friend, constantly wondering what has happened to you and blamed myself if anything bad were to happened to you" and WXB said "I am fine, I am fine now" and Mao 18 tearfully said "Now that we are back together again, we shall not be parted" and WXB said "You just rest, when you're better, you can teach me kung fu" and Mao 18 sadly said "I am no longer how I used to be..." and Mao 18 saw WXB turned his head away and wiped away his tears.

The guys took WXB to see a man; the leader and WXB was surprised to see the condition of the place they were living at "These men are heroes and yet this is where they live? Like a peasant?". Well, heroes don't earn much I suppose. Beggars Association earn much more!

Anyway WXB was introduced to a man who looked so distinguished whilst chopping wood, WXB knew this man was a true leader. He introduced himself as Chen Jingnan (Chan Kan Nam by the way) and WXB was in awe of him. Was even more in awe when Chen Jingnan agreed to take him as his student to teach him kung fu. But he overheard them said "This boy is close to the emperor, we can use this to our advantage" and WXB thought to himself "Soooo they want to use me against Xiao Xuan Tzi, should I agree to join them?". Not like he had a choice. So he was made the deputy which he didn't want to because Chen Jingnan warned him that he must do not evil eventhough his mouth speaks evil, if not he would personally eject him out of the sect and perhaps kill him. WXB didn't like that and became less in awe of this man.

But before he were to leave, Chen Jingnan had a heart to heart talk with WXB. I have this impression Chen Jingnan didn't trust WXb whom he feels was a shady character since he didn't know his background. Although he is a Han, he serves the emperor and his mouth spurts too many lies and stories that he didn't know when to trust him unlike the other members. I have this impression also that the other members of the sect were a little bit too trusting, too honourable in a sense but Chen saw through WXB. So he said to WXB "I did not want to take you in as my student. But I owe a duty to the people and the country that I shall take you towards the path of good so that you will have some use for goodness" and WXB was kinda pissed at that talk but shut up. But Chen promised him he will teach him kung fu one of these days and helped WXB to convince the emperor he was indeed imprisoned for a few days by followers of Aobai.

So WXB went back to the emperor looking like a mess and the emperor immediately hugged him tightly, glad that his friend was back. And WXB led them to that place he was kept and they were all convinced WXB was captured by followers of Aobai.

Later WXB left the palace as and when he wishes and he met with Chen Jingnan. Chen regretfully said he can't teach him kung fu since he had things to do and he only had one day and WXB thought "Well, expected that already" and suddenly Chen gave him 2 books of kung fu and WXB was quite touched at the gesture. Chen even tried to teach him compassion, heroism and humanity, some of which WXB lacked because he was ruthless since a kid and WXB appreciated the lesson because it was like a father teaching his son. A father WXB never had. Then WXB confessed he was poisoned by Hai Ta Fu and Chen helped him to take out the poison. In delirium, he called out "FATHER!" and hugged Chen tearfully only to realise what he had done and he quickly ran out of the room. Chen was quite touched by his gesture and laughed and felt he could trust this kid who is to him innately good. Chen went away again but reminded WXB to learn the kung fu and to learn the value of humanity and compassion and not to do evil. But WXB thought "Well I would be in the palace... he wouldn't know" and he said "Don't worry Master! I will not do anything to smear your good name, I promise. If ever I shall smear my own good name!" and Chen was not happy and said "Xiao Bao, you should never smear your own good name, you're not less than any of us, remember that" and WXB was moved by his master's genuine sincere care towards him and belief in him and so he said "Well I shall then if ever smear the good name of Xiao Kwei Tzi and in turn smear the good name of the Qing Dynasty!" and they had a good laugh.

Pause here. If there is one element I like here, it's the idea of dignity. WXB has no dignity which is why he is a tramp, a scoundrel. The way he kills is not honourable and he feels nothing wrong with crawling to someone and ambushing them. And yet he respects the HES, the heroes in his eyes and I feel he always feels lowly since he is a son of a prostitute. But the Emperor showed to him status did not matter and Chen Jingnan showed to him further than a man now matter what has dignity and to achieve that he must first respect himself. Which is why the conversation about smearing own name and all was significant and I must admit, nicely done.

In the palace, WXB went to see the emperor who was studying. He quietly gestured to the emperor to meet him outside and as the old teacher went on and on and on the emperor quietly left and like old times they played and ran everywhere, climbing to the rooftop with the magnificent view of the palace in front of them and WXB huffing and puffing said "Well Xiao Xuan Tzi, you have indeed improved! You were faster than me!" and the emperor frowned and said "You are sure you didn't let me win?" and WXB laughed and said no. They chatted and the emperor expressed his concern that "Eventhough I am the emperor, no one listens to me" and WXB laughed and said "You're the emperor, your words ate commands to your subjects, how could they not obey you? After all you have the power to sentence them to death" and the emperor sighed "It is not as simple as you think. There was Aobai... then there's Wu Sangui (Ng Sam Kwai, China's most famous traitor in my opinion) and then there's Heaven and Earth sect" and WXB quietly thought "So Xiao Xuan Tzi knows about HES. I must be careful not to reveal too much to the emperor, even if he is Xiao Xuan TZi".

Another meeting with the HES and WXB found out one member was kidnapped or whatever by some Lord with with surname Mu and they were deciding what to do. Frankly didn't quite understand the conversation. Anyway WXB had to leave.

Testing food, he met with a member of the HES in the palace who was there to deliver a special package for his protection. It was a pretty girl and the guys decided it was best he kept the girl since it wouldn't do the girl's reputation any good to be kept amongst them and WXB was confused until he understood what he meant; her reputation would be intact with an eunuch but WXB laughingly thought "I am not an eunuch! Ha, who shall have the last laugh now?!".

Alone with the girl who was too scared to open her eyes and was "dim yuet" by the guy, he mocked her because he knew she was Mu Jianping, a princess and he said "Why won't you open your eyes? Is it because I am nothing but a lowly eunuch? Look at me!" and she refused and so he playfully used a scissors to threaten to disfigure her and then drew things on her face. And when she finally cried and opened her eyes, she could talk by the way, she thought she was disfigured and rather die. But he promised to heal her and concocted some weird potion (disgusting, he even spit on it!) and applied it to her face. He laid her on the bed and was taunting her when he was called on an urgent business. So he left a few biscuits on her lips and said she could eat them when she was hungry but then she can't move right?

Pause here.

This meeting with Mu Jianping was like the longest part of this story and frankly not only was I freaked out by this sadistic side of WXB, it was disgusting and poor girl, smeared with that urggghhhh stuff. And the way he taunted her was like such a long winded story. I was thinking "Ok lar, enough lar, move on lar, oi go away lar, that's it!!!!!!" and yet it went on and on and on. It was boring. Frankly I have no idea who she is. I can't remember her character as well though I am aware of her existence in the 2 versions. What's her connection? She's the daughter of the Lord who kidnapped one of the HES guys? I have vague memories she is the daughter or someone to the Lords from Taiwan? One of the 3 fractions (HES on behalf of Ming Dynasty, the Taiwan nobility and Wu Sangui) who wanted to topple the emperor and claim the throne? That they were pretty useless but they killed Chen Jingnan? Can't remember.

WXB was called out to play special guest to a special guest, that is Wu Sangui's eldest son I think who looks like a drug addict as he snorted what was that? Opium in the bottle? The guy tried to get on his good side but WXB hated him at first site, and so vice versa. WXB said "I can't accept your generous gifts my young lord, I am but a mere servant of the emperor, I don't dare to accept your kindness" and of course Wu Sangui's son was pissed but laughed it off much too eagerly. They went to hear a concert about Chan Yuenyuen's tragic life when WXB busy crying from what he heard saw the sneaky son sneaking upstairs. He followed them and saw him removing a copy of the book of 42 scriptures and hid it elsewhere. WXB followed in and took it and wondered "What is so special about this book that everyone wants?".

Pause here.

Why is everyone so careless? It couldn't have been a trap. Isn't the book so important? So why was it removed and hid again in full view. What made them think no one would follow them?

WXB returned to the palace, carrying boxes of very expensive gifts and pearls which he had promised to buy for the girl to use to beautify herself. Once in his room, he saw the girl in the exact same position with the same pieces of biscuits and frankly, he was kinda moved by her.. ermmm... immobility? What was he so moved about anyway? Anyway, he thought "This girl is cute". He brought the pearls to her and then turned back to put the boxes when he turned and saw something that made him go "HUH?!".

What was the HUH?! about? Ahhhhh .. in episode 9.

Story wise, the moment the boys were gone, the entire story went from bizarre to disgusting to plain weird. That OTT emotional scene between the emperor and WXB, that loooooooooooooong scene between Mu Jianping with the girl keeping her eyes shut was just boooooooooooring. Then there was suddenly Wu Sangui's son. Episode 8 already so many people walk in and out. The pacing seems a bit rush for certain characters and seems way too longwinded for some. And he has got 6 other women to meet so I can only imagine how looooooooongwinded the director shall be.

And did Hai Ta Fu really really died? What was that thing with the servant girl earlier on? What happened to her?

Performance wise, the two boys were excellent although I didn't get the scene where young WXB freaked out over the eunuch's murder. He never had conscience before so why now? But I so so so so so so miss them. Which brings me to the adults.

HXM is not a bad actor. I am not saying he is terrible. I am saying he is just plain weird and inconsistent. One second cunning, next second plain sadistic, next second plain confused, scared, mad, etc. A whole lot of emotions, a whole lot of interpretation of one single scene and yet not one distinguishable moment that made me go wow! Maybe not yet. He overacts sometimes, not like "OH MY GOD" overact but just that certain scenes just doesn't require such OTT moments. I blame it on the writer and director I suppose, like that scene arguing with the emperor. I hate also his voice was dubbed. Whether with his own voice or not I am not sure. If Condor Heroes was his own voice I believe this voice was dubbed and I would have preferred his real voice. I like the way he sounds in Condor Heroes better, in fact more sinister, at times more playful. The young WXB was playful, cheeky, witty and cute. HXM felt tired, looked tired. I felt he was livelier and more cheeky in Condor Heroes than in here eventhough WXB is a character more playful, more cheeky and bloody flirtatious. So far I see none of those although his chemistry with Wallace Chung was evident. I am glad that still exists but overall he seems to be sleepwalking. Then there were the confusing scenes like one second he doubted HES, next he was into HES and yet he seems to still doubt Chen Jingnan.

Compare to Jordan Chan, I am sorry to say Jordan Chan was more consistent. I could see however a scoundrel Jordan Chan was as WXB, he felt a genuine respect and admiration for HES and he really wanted to be a hero like them although he feels no allegiance to the Ming Dynasty. He sincerely respected Chan Kan Nam and yet he knew he can't betray the emperor to whom he clearly respected and loved as a friend. The dynamics of these 3 way relationship was clearer in the 1998 version and someways even in Dicky Cheung's version but in this version it is muted, perhaps some careless callous editing must have ruined the moment which makes HXM seems unsure about his WXB as opposed to the young WXB who is clear who he is loyal to.

This in part is because of the weird interpretation of Chen Jingnan. The actor looked honourable, sounded honourable and I felt displayed a whole aura of heroism, machoism and great leadership. You could sense a fatherly affection with WXB but some spoilt by the constant doubt on his part of WXB's character. And even then the moments of doubt were like short term amnesia. One moment there, one moment it is gone. So that makes his Chen Jingnan like a suspiscious fool instead of genuinely concerned about WXB's character and yet believed in his ability to be a good person. The actor was right, the characterisation did not justice to the heroic Chen Jingnan. I have an impression Chen Jingnan is a man of his words, a hero which is why WXB greatly admired that man. In here, not so much could be seen. But the actor looked the part.

Wallace Chung is not so good looking and in more ways than one is a direct opposite of HXM in terms of acting. HXM is capable of so much emotions, he could show so much that sometimes he seems uncontrollable and just spoils certain scene with his constant and immediate shift between one emotion to the next, making him less sincere than he appears to be. Like one moment sad, suddenly cheeky, then sad then cheeky then sad in a matter of 30 seconds. How can you believe his genuine sadness if so much changes in such a short time? Wallace Chung is at best wooden. But the emperor is more controlled in his emotions but like how the young boy who played the emperor, Shi Lei was his name, don't mistake controlled emotions with being wooden. He feels a lot as that boy in that still my most favourite scene showed. He could burst but he controlled himself. Wallace Chung did not give a controlled performance, his performance was simply wooden. He comes slightly out of his slumber when he is with HXM but then when he is alone, wooden again. The emperor is my favourite character but he didn't display enough of worries as the emperor. After all he was 17, under attack no less than 4 sectors? Remember I think Russia also right? So whenever the emperor sighed with worries, WXB as his best friend felt compelled to ease his worries which is why whilst WXB may be ordered to do something, and he reluctantly did it, in the end he did it first to safeguard his head, secondly and more importantly for the emperor. So the emperor had to really look worried enough to worry WXB and this emperor was well... wooden. Maybe he will improve later on, and I look forward to that. But so far, the boy Shi Lei remains my firm favourite.

I would go further to suggest that perhaps HXM should be the emperor and someone else be WXB because I want to see HXM as someone steady, serious and don't have the emotional fluctuation like someone high on drugs and want more drugs.

The girl. Liu Yun I think. Don't know her and hate her voice. Dubbed I am sure, those high shriek pitch sound that is both irritating and painful to hear. Not so pretty, quite cute and since WXB is 17, she must be 14? 15? So far only the empress dowager looked the part and she was pretty and sound is good but this one... no opinion.

Could you believe it? 6 more wives?

The actor who played Hai Ta Fu, Hua Zi according to the cast list was excellent. He is by far the best Hai Ta Fu in the 3 versions I have seen and he was menacing, creepy and plain weird all at the same time. Voice dubbing was great too.

So why must the women all sound like high pitch?

And why isn't Crystal Liu in here? She is young, she is pretty and can better. And she looks more innocent than the 7 women in the pictures I have seen. In fact sorry to say none of them looked distinguished enough and quite frankly looks too modern for my taste.

Anyway I am still saddened by the fact the kids were no more. Not fair at all. Can we have a children version of DOMD? Please? These kids can act the socks off the adults, any of them any time.

Cinematography wise, excellent. The colour mood enhances the atmosphere of certain scenes and that scene where the 2 guys stood on top of the roof facing the palace was simply breathtaking. Can still see spotlight and wind and here done to great effect and not like everywhere. Costumes are good too except why does the empress dowager have the oversized hat? Seems to big for her head.

So far so good except for some weird OTT scene. Bad editing or writing perhaps. I wonder, what was the HUH?! about? Have to watch Ep 9 to know it.

So far how's your DOMD aka Royal Tramp experience? I know 8TV in Malaysia is showing it and perhaps you're watching online too. Do share but please no spoilers about future episodes. But if this is like the 2 versions, I already know lar.

EPISODES 1 - 4

AMENDMENTS AND APOLOGIES
Why on earth do I keep writing Red Flowers Association (RFA) when I am supposed to write Tin Dei Wui as in Heaven And Earth Sect? I made this mistake throughout this intro and Ep 1-4 summary. My apologies. I had to check back my DOMD 2000 review to realise I got it wrong. Please ignore RFA and just replace it with HES since I am too lazy to correct these two posts. And please tell me I got it right!

My first thought was WTH?! How come Wei Xiaobao is a little boy? What happened to HXM? And then I realise this director upped the game.

All previous versions started the story with a young WXB, not a child but a man. This one, oh dear, young kid? Definitely a long way to go before his 7 wives come into the picture so what now? We are shown background story of WXB? Do I have to endure purely imagined story of WXB as a child, like how he was abused and jeered at? What of the part where he is a storyteller in the prostitute house?

Well it looked like it that way. It started with a kid WXB being bullied by young ones and how he peeked and saw his mother, on the bed serving a man who was torturing her, he rushed in and kicked that man out of the bed and ended up hugging his naked mother. Then it is shown how he met Mao 18 (probably on of the RFA gang member?) who was under attack by ruthless mean guards of the Qing dynasty who bullied even young WXB and how he then followed this Mao 18, leaving his home. Then at some inn they encountered some bullies and they ended up being kidnapped into the forbidden palace by the coughing eunuch that any Duke Of Mountdeer fans would instantly recognise who then kicked Mao 18 out of the palace but still held on to WXB. Then how this eunuch suddenly had a coughing fit (he was very sick) and his own personal eunuch servant, Xiao Gui Tzi who was busy trying to get him medicine when WXB trying to escape stabbed Xiao Gui Tzi to death. The eunuch after being fed an overdose of the medicine thanks to WXB became blind and from thereon to survive and also because he was too playful for his own good, WXB stayed by the side of the coughing eunuch, to assist him and also to plan his own escape but of course the coughing eunuch was so highly skilled in kung fu, he knew what WXB was doing. WXB thought the coughing eunuch thought he was the dead Xiao Gui Tzi but in actual fact the coughing eunuch knew who he was but needed someone to assist him.

Stop for a moment.

I hated the new version up until this point. I thought why start the story when he was a child if it was to be the same story? There is nothing new, no background story, and I did not see the wisdom of starting the story proper when he was a mere child. More so when he killed the arrogant abusive guard like 15 minutes into the story and later on he will kill another young eunuch (same age as himself) and together with the boy emperor, they would stab Aobai. And then he would gamble, scheme his way into and out of trouble. Basically same story as the 2 versions except falling in love and goggling at women with lust in his eyes. That would be so wrong for his age, right? I was frankly horrified. Same story, different age. And someone so young stabbing to death another equally as young boy, even if he expressed a slight shock at what he did to the arrogant guard and then to this boy whom he felt did him wrong (both beat him you see) still didn't quite sit well with me. More so when his slight shock was for a mere 5 seconds and then he playfully smiled and was his cheeky self assured kid again. I felt like I was watching a remorseless serial killer in the making and it is scary. It's not cute, it felt wrong and it felt offensive. It was different with Aobai, since that guy was practically about to strangle the boy emperor so you could say self defense and all that but still it felt really really wrong. Wrong also was that OTT scene where he witnessed his mom being abused and he ran in. I mean of course he loved his mom and they cried and all and it was pretty moving except again, must the director be so in your face? The mom was practically naked under the sheets, the man was straddling her and we hear her moaning in pain and the boy rushed in. This is for TV and it just felt overdone. Of course the scene was also horrible for the overacting, like the boy screaming and the mother crying and playfully and all. I just felt it was odd that WXB felt very little discrimination and being a prostitute's son, living in a prostitute house and way back then in that era kinda felt all of it too cheery and happy and no stigma. If the director intended to up the story a bit, a bit of background would be nice. I would like to see a bit of stigma, that the mom wasn't exactly the most famous prostitute so surely she couldn't have had such a nice idyllic life. It would be even better to show a sharp contrast between these 2 boys and emphasis on WXB as something like a rat, as in what sparked his survival instinct, how cunning he was rather than just how ruthless or temperamental or whatever he was. I would love to see a cut to the boy emperor's boring daily routine as sharp contrast to the carefree life than WXB has so that when they meet, the boy emperor would give WXB the prestige and respect that probably WXB appreciates and WXB would give the boy emperor the childhood he never had. So that would explain why the boy emperor loved WXB and why WXB was so loyal. In fact this factor was lacking in all versions, we just assume so if there is any shift in the story, it should be like this instead of what was shown in this version; same adaptation but changing just the timeline. Things were annoying me, that is until he met the boy emperor.

The circumstances he met the boy emperor was exactly the same. He sneaked into a room to taste the deserts in there and hid when he heard someone walking in. It was the boy emperor, inside alone to practise his kung fu when WXB thought he was a eunuch and so he revealed himself, much to the annoyance of the boy emperor and they fought and became fast friends. The boy emperor introduced himself as Xiao Xuan Tzi (or Xiao Yuan Tzi, anyway in Cantonese Siew Yuen Tzi) From thereon they met daily for a fight, which was how they bonded. Along the way the coughing eunuch was intrigued by the story of this young boy who knew a bit of kung fu and he knew a highly skilled kung fu master was hiding in the palace and was teaching this boy. He suspected it had something to do with an investigation entrusted on him many years before by one of the Lord I think. So he taught WXB a bit of kung fu and I suppose in the process grew fond of WXB even if he intended to kill him later because WXB did kill the real Xiao Gui Tzi. And as they met daily, WXB gave the boy emperor something he craved; freedom or at least for that few moments because WXB did indeed had a more carefree life even if it was a life where he was probably bullied or disrespected whilst the boy emperor was under constant scrutiny and is in a pressure cooker so to speak, given a heavy burden. Anyway they played, they tumbled, they confessed their fears, and one time even stole a beautifully carved something that could have gotten the careless cook a death sentence and to the cook's relief, the boy emperor sent a message he didn't want that item for dinner.

Then there was the issue of Aobai, the senior advisor to the boy emperor who was slowly trying to usurp the boy emperor's powers and killing off other supporters of the boy.

Stop for a moment.

At this point the story again revealed nothing new. Previous versions showed a more rounded Aobai and I felt this version rushed the story a bit. It was implied Aobai was bad, trying to usurp power and all. I would have wished the director gave a more fair presentation of Aobai, showing how history wrote that he wore the yellow robe under his own robe and I think how one time he actually flaunted his power in the face of the boy emperor. Aobai thought he deserved his wealth and position since he served the emperor with loyalty and so he thought and he began to develop an ego and a huge mistake; that he was above the emperor although he was however high ranking, a mere servant, something WXB understood from the beginning. So it would have been nice to see a more powerfuk, scary Aobai rather than this muddled fool. In Jordan Chan's version the Aobai was to me satisfactory whilst the Aobai in Dicky Cheung's version was more crazy than scheming. So I find this version rushed what should have been a golden opportunity to showcase a different approach and I though with 50 episodes, surely the director can spare a few more episodes.

By the way, the Aobai here is the SAME Aobai in Dicky Cheung's version! I think more lion like white hair than in this version? Seriously, but this time I thought the acting was a bit better back then though he had little to do, up until this point.

Anyway, one day WXB was waiting for the boy emperor when a young eunuch came and said the boy emperor would be late. The fact was he was busy attending to state matters in the hall, under pressure by the much older officials to make some heavy duty decisions. Cut to WXB, he playfully explored the palace when he stumbled into the main hall where the politics were going in. He stumbled in, one old minister saw him and thought he was an intruder-assassin and shouted to protect the emperor. Realistically shown, the emperor was immediately swamped by eunuchs and guards, by the dozens as the other guards ran after a very frightened WXB whose for once cheekiness and cunning mind couldn't escape from his own mistake. As he was carried off, he saw the boy emperor as the emperor, and he screamed for help whilst the boy emperor fearful of what happened rushed forward and tried to stop what was happening but he was surrounded by guards and you get the feeling at this point that though he is the emperor, he had little choice in many things. When he managed to shout the guards to move away, he defiantly stood on top of the stairs, at the throne and wiped away his tears.

WXB was locked in a scary looking torture room when he was released by the orders of the emperor. It was not shown but I have a feeling the boy emperor had to go against a few elders, such as Aobai to get him released.

The next scene is my favourite of the 3 episodes and which showed that if he had been this attentive, the director would have given more punch to the story. It was WXB kneeling with his head on the floor, begging for the emperor's forgiveness for not knowing he was the emperor, really scared and begged that his life be spared. The boy emperor stood on top of the throne (high up mind you in a really big dark hall) and as WXB begged and begged and was scared to look at the boy emperor, the boy emperor tearfully said;

"So now I am no longer Xiao Xuan Tzi? I am now the emperor? I don't want to be the emperor. You be the emperor. Why must I now be the emperor to you when I am Xiao Xuan Tzi? Stop calling me the emperor! I am Xiao Xuan Tzi! Stop it! Stop it! I don't want to wear this stupid robe! I hate this robe!" and he threw his hat, his belt and was disrobing himself and threw them all at WXB who was still muttering in fear "I am so sorry your majesty, I did now know you were the emperor, I thought stupidly the emperor was old" and after a while as the emperor cryingly shouted "Why am I now not Xiao Xuan Tzi anymore? Call me Xiao Xuan Tzi! I am not the emperor!!" and suddenly WXB looked up and shouted "Stop it Xiao Xuan Tzi!" and the boy emperor stopped and WXB smiled cheekily "You will always be Xiao Xuan Tzi to me" and then he rushed up to the boy emperor and all was well again. And so the boy emperor can now let WXB into his daily routine, no longer does he need to hide his true identity and WXB felt privileged and the emperor felt free.

Stop here for a moment.

Frankly like I said that was my favourite scene thus far. The acting was flawless and the emotions just right. I also loved how they frolick around as friends and their bonding moments. And suddenly I understood the wisdom at starting the story at such a young age. The real Kangxi disposed off Aobai when he was 13 or 14 and before that he became emperor at I think 6. Whilst these two were a bit too young then but I felt for once why it would be proper to start them young. It make their bonding believable, it made a pressured emperor even more pressure since he was so young and he had to make such decisions that would affect lives and it would be credible how much bullying he would have gotten from a much much older Aobai and why he was scared of Aobai. It just made sense, but the boy killing boy was still scary to me although in retrospect I suppose children grows up really fast back then. I love the interaction between these two boys and their bonding were heartfelt and sincere. I believed in their friendship, moved by their concern for one another and frankly the acting and chemistry was pitch perfect in that scene I described above. I was especially impressed with the dialogue where the boy emperor kept crying he doesn't want to be the emperor whilst WXB was too scared to look up. The boy emperor saw WXB as an equal and he longed for a true friendship that was not based on fear and he cried because he was frustrated at the thought that now WXB feared him instead of respecting him as a friend. WXB was of course scared witless of the idea of offending the emperor until he realised their relationship was not one of power but one of common interest and friendship.

Here I must add in what will happen in later series as in the other versions which I loved.

They met as equal, bonded as friends as children but we all know, the emperor is always the emperor and WXB knew he will always be the servant even if they were friends. He could never say no to the emperor because WXB wants to please his friend and the other because he didn't want to anger the emperor after all WXB knew from the beginning he was like I said the servant. In Jordan Chan's version, at one point sadly WXB noted the emperor grew up and the dynamics of their relationship changed although the emperor, even if pressured by the freedom fighters and protestors always viewed WXB as a friend but country comes first. When WXB met his 7 wives, he too grew up in a sense now it is no longer his life alone but it involves 7 others and so although he sees the emperor as his best friend, his wives would come first. Even then, he would always be at the emperor's side protecting him even if the emperor may prioritise his country first and foremost, in the preservation of the dynasty. I hope to see this dynamics in this version and more emphasis place on it. Frankly I am not concerned about his 7 wives. What defines WXB is not his lust or love for his wives but how he manouevered his way between his loyalty to the emperor his best friend and his loyalty to the RFA and yet try to preserve himself. To him it was never about dignity or integrity but rather his life.


Now the story changes gear and moves into politics even if it involves 2 children.

WXB began to have a peek into the emperor's daily lives. At the same time he told the coughing eunuch what happened but the eunuch already knew so WXB felt stupid. The eunuch with all the gambling and teaching of kung fu actually wanted WXB to get into the Royal Study and to retrieve a book called the 42 Scriptures (sorry, translation very poor and I have yet to consult my other reviews) that even the empress dowager wanted. By the way the eunuch overheard the empress dowager teaching the emperor kung fu so he knew who was the master in hiding. Anyway WXB failed miseably to get the book, for one it was a big study, two he couldn't read and three he was quite busy with other stuff going on. But now that the emperor was the emperor, he could walk in and out of the royal study anytime and search for that book. One time he snuck in to find the emperor when he saw Aobai walked in. He hid in the corner and heard how Aobai demanded the emperor to sign the death warrant of one of the loyal old minister for something like treason. The boy emperor was smart, he thought the punishment was too harsh and tried to argue his point with Aobai eventhough he was scared. Aobai was offended his view was being overridden. Aobai kept saying "You are but a mere child, the politics are difficult to understand for someone your age. I am your advisor and is it my view that..." and all these while WXB listened. And when the boy emperor refused, quite gently, Aobai threatening walked towards the boy emperor who got very scared (I have an impression that Aobai was about to hit him or something) and suddenly WXB rushed out, pushed Aobai away and said "How dare you approach the emperor like this? He is the emperor, he will make whatever decisions he wants to" and Aobai was offended that a young nobody dared to talk to him that way but WXB was cunning and he shouted "You dare to question his majesty's wisdom? Are you threatening his majesty and committing high treason?" and Aobai knew his mistake and immediately begged for forgiveness and left, but gave WXB that killer stare. The emperor sighed in relief, so too was WXB and the emperor said "For a moment I thought... phew! That was close!" and the emperor confided in WXB that something had to be done about Aobai and to WXB he didn't understand why the emperor as the emperor couldn't do something and suddenly the emperor ordered for a transport (as in chair) and left for a secret location. WXB followed along and they went into a room where WXB was surrounded by a dozen or more ermm diaper (?) clad young eunuchs and a big one in the middle attacking him. The emperor confessed he has been secretly training these young eunuchs to take down Aobai one day and frankly WXB was quite impressed with the emperor's plan and cunningness. He said "Well you now do act like an emperor should!" and the emperor was pleased with his best friend's seal of approval.

Stop for a moment.

Again the entire confrontation with Aobai was not done very well because there was virtually no background story to Aobai, who he is and why the boy emperor feared him. A look into the Jordan Chan version I suppose would be enough to explain why. The boy emperor's father died young and left a young throne to an equally young son who was I think 8 then. So he appointed several (4 if I remembered correctly) of his most trusted advisors and generals as regents (one of whom this series mentioned as executed by Aobai) to guide the young emperor in his governance of the empire since obviously the emperor needs help. These few individuals actually held the power of the court until the emperor comes of age. Aobai was one of them and he was actually one of the generals or something that helped established the dynasty in China so he was highly respected. He did do his duty for the dynasty and he served the dynasty well. Unfortunately over the years he became ambitious and too arrogant for his own good. He basically vetoed the emperor but because he was so influential and powerful, the boy emperor waited for his time to takeover the dynasty. Aobai was so rude that he would often walk right up to the emperor's face and make demands and he was slowly usurping the other trusted advisors' role. It came to a point the emperor knew he had to do something. He can't just kill him. He had to have an excuse and so he secretly train a bunch of eunuchs for his plan. Frankly Aobai probably was too arrogant to notice what the boy was doing since he dismissed the emperor as a young boy who knew nothing. What he didn't realise was the young Kangxi was actually learned and politically savvy and was bidding his time. And he didn't kill Aobai. Aobai died in prison. Somehow I think the emperor felt he couldn't kill Aobai since he can't ignore Aobai's merits before all the mess. The boy was 14 at that time.

All these not in this series. Why? WHY? I am sure WXB can bear witness to all these. The same scene where WXB ran out to protect the emperor who was being bullied by Aobai can be seen in all versions and whilst I like this version as well, more so the emperor being so young and WXB was very brave to do what he did, I felt again the story or lack of story in terms of Aobai failed this scene.

Anyway the plan was at work. Historically as I read it quite accurate and in fact same as all versions except as I have often repeated we are dealing with really cunning young boy emperor here.

The boy emperor knew he couldn't be seen stabbing to death Aobai so the task is if I remembered it correctly left for poor WXB. And imagine that, young kid you know. Sorry if I still can't get over that fact of how young this WXB is.

Aobai was invited by the emperor to his study and on the pretense of showing off his new eunuch-fighters for Aobai's comments (who was so egoistical he didn't suspect anything since he was supposedly the best fighter in the kingdom) and when the emperor gave his cue (cup dropping to floor) they all attacked. Aobai welcomed the fight and fought and was winning when he was held down by the boys and WXB ever the opportunist too the chance and stabbed him on the leg. Aobai was furious and called WXB a coward for stabbing him like that but WXB denied he did it. Again the fight went on when the net was dropped on Aobai and this time it was the emperor who took the knife and stabbed him on I think the stomach. Aobai was still ok and furious he defeated the eunuchs (I think killing them in the process) and he rushed to the emperor and held the emperor by the throat when WXB threw some powder to his eyes and everybody cornered him and defeated Aobai.

Later alone with WXB a few dead eunuchs in his study, 2 loyal ministers were summoned and they were shocked to see the chaos and also Aobai in chains in the cupboards. The boy emperor said "Aobai threatened my life" and the two ministers suspected what actually happened and one of them suggested they must move quickly to apprehend Aobai's men. The boy emperor agreed.

Later the empress dowager wanted to meet WXB who by then thought to himself "Well well well, Aobai has been defeated. Now that is done, it is time I should leave this place!" but the empress dowager whom he couldn't see her face said congratulated WXB for helping the emperor to rid a menace and then gave WXB a new eunuch rank of 6th standing or whatever you call it and dictated he now serve the emperor. The emperor was happy whilst WXB secretly thought "Whatever, I am leaving".

Back with the Coughing Eunuch, WXB confessed what had happened and the coughing eunuch suddenly held him by his throat and craddled him like a child and said "You are very lucky. One has to serve a decade (or something like that) before one achieves that rank and you at such a young age already achieved that. Lest you forget, do remember to fetch me the book of 42 scriptures" and WXB of course said "Well, now that I am the emperor's eunuch it is easier for me to get into that room! I will surely get you the book!" but of course he was lying.

Back with the emperor in his study, the 2 ministers report how Aobai's men were arrested and Aobai amassed such a big fortune that the emperor was shocked. The emperor wisely dictated that all fortune seized by the wronged minister that Aobai wanted to to get rid off earlier (which the emperor disagreed but he went ahead anyway) to be returned to the dead minister's children whilst the rest should be taken by the state. "And I heard Aobai had 2 books of 42 scriptures" and WXB suddenly came alive on hearing that, "I want you to fetch them to me because Empress dowager wants them. Xiao Gui Tzi will follow you" and WXB agreed. The old minister thought "Ahhh he must have sent this young eunuch to check on me, I must be careful" and WXB playfully said "I am pleased to learn from you" and the old minister said "Oh no, please don't say that. We shall learn from one another" and this is from an old man to a kid!

Story for the 1st 3 parts ended here.

Frankly I really enjoyed the story of these 2 young men even if the beginning was really OTT. Whilst I would have hoped it have been given more punch and Aobai more story and even a proper background intercut with one another with regards to WXB and the boy emperor, I was pretty impressed at the simple stroke that changed the story's dynamics. Basically the story is still the same, in fact everything was the same except we have 2 young children instead of HXM and the actor who plays the emperor from the beginning. Which means WXB would have been in the palace for a decade? Which means his mom missed him for a decade? So the rise of power here is more believable, in the other versions it was too meteoric so I kinda like this version's change of age. However I am still very bothered by the scene where WXB stabbed an equally young eunuch to death and then felt remorseless. That was simply not right.

The performances in here thus far centred on the 2 young boys who played diverse roles but with equal ease. I have yet to learn their names and I hope I get to learn their names before the end of the childhood (which won't be long).

The boy who would be HXM looked like HXM. Tan and handsome, he was charming, playful, cheeky and terribly noisy at first. Oh I hated him in the beginning because he was just so darn noisy and his acting OTT. But when he went into the palace, he was less annoying but ever as cheeky and his acting whilst still hyper and all, was more subdued than the 1st 30 minutes of the 1st episode. I felt he did his scenes very well and I wonder was that his voice? A pity he was dubbed and yet some scenes seemed like the voice was recorded on set. Anyhow, I love his scenes with the boy emperor but I also like his scenes with the coughing eunuch. The way the coughing eunuch would cradle him and speak to him which is quite threatening and since he was blind, the eunuch didn't see how he did stabbing motions to the eunuch's eyes and all. Pretty funny. But this young kid can be unrestrained as well and tend to overact in certain scenes that require subtlety such as the killing of the eunuch scenes. But then it could be the lack or wrong direction of the director rather than his acting. Overall I was very impressed with the quality of Chinese child actors and this kid definitely could act. My fear though is when HXM takeover, he would be as hyper as this kid was and that would be boring because then it was like young Yangguo all over again.

The boy who played the boy emperor was equally as handsome, although in a more refined way. Where did the director find these actors? He really looked the part of a well fed learned would be wise Kangxi, but I suppose more handsome. There is a certain nobility with this boy's face that suggest in time he would be cunning, wise as well as ruthless. I was far more impressed with this boy than the other although both did different roles that are very different. My friend didn't quite like this boy's performance but I appreciate subtlety. His best scene was the scene where he was crying when WXB was too scared to look at him and at many points this boy displayed maturity beyond his age in dealing with adult matters such as the politics. He made Kangxi at that age believable and the joke is, Kangxi was that young when he was given the task to run a country. I can't praise enough this young man's performance and I love his chemistry with the boy who would be HXM. They really played off each other so well I do believe them they're best friends even if they were acting. And this boy's performance was so good that it was perfectly believable to hear him give orders to old ministers who would obey this young man's orders and even began to look at him in new light; that is to fear him. If they ever want to make a series proper for Kangxi, I think this boy can still play the well respected emperor known to be wise and noble. By the way this boy was in The Promise! Who? Nic Tse's character? That's the only boy I remember. And he seems like a veteran actor from the list I saw in Dramawiki. The boy who would e HXM seems like a newcomer.

There used to be a time where China actors, children or adults are just not that good looking but look at these 2 boys; handsome. Look at HXM, even if I suspect him of doing some work on his face, like chin and eyes, he looks handsome enough. What are they eating?

These two boy would have broken the series and made it into a farce and yet they not only managed to make the series credible, they may as well continue on with the series and just forget about HXM and the adults. I wouldn't mind watching a children's version of Duke Of Mount Deer, I am sure these 2 boys can act the socks off the adults. In fact personally I felt the boy who would be HXM acts better than HXM himself and I have a feeling the boy who played the emperor is a far better actor than the actor who plays the adult emperor. We shall see.

The adults were well cast and the acting were wonderful. Nothing much to say except Aobai, same actor, same performance, less story, less screentime, a big pity. I was however very much impressed with the new coughing eunuch. So all previous versions coughed. Version 1 was an actor's whose cantonese was really hard to understand but he looked sick. Version 2 if I remembered correctly was Ng Man Tat and I hated how sentimental his death scene was because it didn't fit. This version I felt got the right actor. The coughing eunuch has always been creepy, sinister and has his own agenda. Nobody bothers him, nobody wants to bother him and he is a skilled fighter although really sick and blind. I always felt he feels a certain affection for WXB who grew to be quite affectionate with him although not as sentimental as to call him "father! father!" as in Version 2. Now that WXB is so young, it would be interesting to watch how the dynamics change from hate to fear to perhaps respect in future. I wouldn't know and I think the director can take a few liberties in changing the relationship a little if he wants to. The actor by the way was fantastic. The way he cradled WXB, strangled him and all, the actor was just simply superb in showcasing how sinister and creepy this coughing eunuch can be. I was however quite embarassed to watch the scene where he was suffering whilst sitting in bathtub slapping the water around. A bit too OTT. In fact I have been using the words OTT so often. It's true, this director tends to go overboard with visualisation and I am preparing myself with the scene where HXM shall lie with 7 wives. I hope not. The idea is just I don't know, disgusting to me.

Overall whilst I disliked episode 1 since I was shocked at the change of age of the characters, once the story kicked in and thanks to the performances of the 2 young boys, it didn't matter anymore. I will miss them when the big guys take over and I just wish they wouldn't. I like this version thus far but frankly since the director has takenliberties of changing age and all, can't he just take out the 7 wives? Waste of time to watch him go after 7 women in 50 episodes. I'd rather watch 30 episodes of his childhood and then 10 episodes of hid adulthood, 5 of RFA, 3 of his wives and 2 of the ending. Now that would be perfection.

As for the atmosphere, thank goodness no dripping roofs or blowing winds or spotlights. But there are some artistic elements such as the dim lightning of the halls, the flowing clothes, the spotlights in a room and the very shiny marble floor. I love the fact that a scene showed some construction going on in the palace, mud somewhere but overall so clean. Did they film this at the real forbidden kingdom? The floor was so shiny, the hall so huge, the main courtyard, if you call it that was oh my god beautiful. I also love the fact that this director has such high level to the attention to details. Notice Mao 18's sword, covered in dried blood! Yeah! Notice how many servants accompanied the emperor whenever he is carried on a huge chair from point A to point B even if 100 metres away! Yeah! Notice how when he wanted to go to his chair he did not walk to his chair, he was carried to his chair. Yeah! Notice the hall where the ministers were having an audience with the emperor, filled with people! Yeah! TVB, you ain't never gonna get this much people in a scene! Yeah!!

And the scenery, oh my God. The start of episode 1 showed WXB running away from bullying young ones and he jumped into a boat that was cruising along a ermm narrow canal? What a beautiful scenes. Definitely got cinematography. I mean if this is the same director as the Condor Heroes director, if he could make wet caves sexy and beautiful, what more when he is given such beautiful natural beauty and such beautiful architecture?

That being said, he still couldn't help himself with the sweeping camera work, spotlight and fan as evidenced in the scene where WXB's mom was screaming for him on I think a bridge?

And can we have on the spot voice recording? Please?

Verdict
Overall I shall continue with this series. Liked it for what it is, would have loved it for it should be or could have been but really loved it for the 2 boys and the coughing eunuch.