For a moment I could not remember why I thought this series is getting dumber and dumber until my memory came back with regards to one element; chess. Frankly there were times in series that when the characters were talking about politics I simply didn't get because it was rather deep. This series, I simply didn't get one particular scene where the emperor highlighted his plans to Hin Yeung who seems to be the only one who understood his "brilliant" plan not because it was deep, but because it was plain and frankly quite simply all out dumb. When I get to that scene, you will know and then maybe someone can explain to me, what's his plan again? And many more WHAT?! scenes in this episode itself.
Susanna was going to General Man's place to present new furnishing design to Mrs Man when she bumped onto General Man who held her when she fell and helped picked up stuff which fell from her arms, as a gentleman should but of course Mrs Man could only see Susanna falling into her husband's arms deliberately.
She went in, greeted Mrs Man, showed her the design, explained the design and Mrs Man arrogantly said "What sort of a design is this? This is nonsense!" and threw the design onto the table, and Susanna taken aback a bit said "If madam is not pleased with the design, please do give me some input and I will change it to suit your taste" and Mrs Man said "Do you think you can accept my input? Oh yes, you're after a servant at the bidding of her master. Fine, this is the design I want..." and she went on to talk a bit about the design and new Susanna she said "That sort of design will reflect the longevity of my marriage to my loving husband, until we are both white haired, a concept you as a palace maid can never understand. You may leave now..." and so Susanna biting her lips left.
Pause here.
You see what's wrong with THIS SCENE alone? She said Susanna is a servant, true, serving her master shall need to do the bidding of her master, meaning if she tells her to redesign, she must redesign. And guess what? WHO THE HELL IS THAT MRS MAN TO SAY THAT? Susanna's master is the emperor and she is directly under top madam who is directly under the Empress Dowager! They're her master, not this Mrs Man. Did the series somehow forgot about that fact in their haste and cruel enjoyment of belittling servants and palace maids at every opportunity they get? I understand about garnering pity as a crucial point, to highlight the servant's pitiful existence but for god's sake, at least word it right. At least say "You're a servant doing the bidding of your master, is this how you treat your master's guest?" because she IS a guest isn't she? I was darn pissed off suddenly Susanna's Lady Yuen did not have the fighting spirit anymore.
At night, Susanna was redrawing and the free-est maid in the world came by to visit her and sought her advice about a particular jewelry for the empress dowager which consisted of the colour yellow and Susanna said "Since she is the empress dowager now, there is no problem using the colour yellow" and Sam Hou smiled and said "I understand. Design elements changes with the status" like duh?! Anyway she saw Susanna drawing and asked "Didn't you finish with the design?" and Susanna said "Mrs Man rejected my design or rather she rejected the design because of me" and Sam Hou said "How can she act like that? Why don't you tell General Man the truth?" and Susanna said sadly "I will not stir up old issues. Moreover Mrs Man is right. I am a servant, doing the bidding of her master, that is my life as a palace maid. I am just so tired. I wonder when the heavens will stop bullying me and let me be in peace" and Sam Hou looked on at tearful Susanna with compassion.
Free-est maid is walking left to right again when she saw General Man sitting and reading. Emboldened and since we are talking about Sam Hou who is protected by 1001 lucky stars, she walked right up to General Man and said "Greeting my lord" and General Man looked up as she said "I am Lau Sam Hou, from the jewelry dept. I would like to speak to my lord about Lady Yuen and your wife" and General Man curious stared at her as she continued "I would hope my lord will advise Mrs Man to not give Lady Yuen a hard time over her designs based on personal reasons. Lady Yuen is already very burdened with her duties, she does not need this sort of stress" and General Man said "Well, aren't you the famous Lau Sam Hou with the 3 goodness; speak good words, do good deeds and show good will. Aren't you not speaking good words? She is a servant, she should take such burden" and Sam Hou said "Yes, I understand but Mrs Man is giving her stress not over work but over Lady Yuen's past with you, which Mrs Man knows and has used that to bear a grudge against Lady Yuen" and General Man said "Well that I can't help. We did have a past and I suppose Lady Yuen shall have to be patient on that. She did chose this life. Let me tell you (REPEAT, AGAIN!), she was supposed to leave with me but she did not turn up but asked someone to deliver to me a cruel separation letter. She chose the palace so she shall have to withstand whatever burden it comes with" and Sam Hou patiently said "My Lord, no one would choose the path of a palace maid, which is frought with hardships. We have no identity of our own and when we die, we cease to exist. Lady Yuen wanted to leave the palace that day but she fell ill with measles. That was why she didn't turn up" and General Man sort of surprised by this news asked "Then why the letter?" and Sam Hou said "One an opportunity to leave has passed, no maid would ever dream of a second chance and there won't be one. Lady Yuen didn't want to burden you with the memory of her so she wrote that letter, so you can move on and you did move on. You became a great general, you married and had a family, something she has hoped you will achieve when she wrote that letter. She did it for you and suffered in silence for you. General Man, with this knowledge, I hope you will help ease her hurt and burden" and General Man now rather shocked with what he heard smiled and said "You're indeed the Lady Lau I have heard so much of. Thank you".
Wow! Sam Hou so famous until her 3 goodness EVERYBODY knows.
Susanna was praying in a temple I suppose in the palace when General Man came in reciting some poetry which I suppose was theirs. She looked at him and he looked at her and said "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you explain yourself and allow yourself to suffer in silence all these years? Lady Lau told me what happened. I should have known. I am sorry, I am sorry for all the hurt I have caused you" and he tried to touch her hand but she moved back and Susanna smiled and said "It was the past. It is no longer part of me" but General Man unconvinced said "I don't believe you. I know why you're in the temple today giving offerings. This was the day I entered the palace as a guard and the first day I met you. You still remember our past! You still care!" and Susanna said sadly "It doesn't matter anymore. I am a palace maid, this is my destiny. I am happy for yours but perhaps we shall henceforth treat each other as friends" and I suppose General Man agreed. Frankly I can't remember what was said here so take the recap as artistic license.
Pause here.
Susanna Kwan's acting in this scene was terrible. She was always someone with a temper sort of voice, she speaks the truth, doesn't play politics but in this scene suddenly she is speaking like it is some Chinese opera with some OTT politeness sort of voice which she spoke through nasal. I find that exceedingly irritating.
Emperor is sick again and General Ma wasn't too happy with him spending his days with Kam Ling and not attending to state business. He in fact argued with the Emperor who said "General Ma, I have already cancelled the choosing of the concubines. I have listened to your advice. What more do you want from me?" and General Ma said angrily "Your majesty, your officials are waiting for you to make decisions! You can't just stay here and enjoy and not do any work!" and the Emperor said "Can't I at least have control over when and how I wish to enjoy myself? Anyway you can handle the work!" and he left and General Ma was huffing and puffing as he said loudly "ALL THESE OVER THAT LOWLY SERVANT?!"
Emperor went to visit the dead turtle (who probably had more visits from the Emperor than the Emperor's later father) when he saw 2 tong ling zhi and knew Sam Hou was there. Sam Hou curtseyed, and smiled and the Emperor said "Do you not think badly of me over what is going on?" and Sam Hou looked at him and said "Your majesty's foolish" and Emperor didn't mind a bit of what she said and she continued "But whatever your majesty is doing, you will never sacrifice your people over something trivial and not attend to state business just because of this trivialities" and he was taken aback by what she said and he said "You believe me? You do not think I am some useless emperor enjoying myself all day long?" and Sam Hou smiled and said "I have known your majesty since I was 6. You have suffered 20 years of hardships and as far as I am concerned, you're still the same boy I once knew. Whatever you're doing now, I know it does not affect your concern for your people and your need and capabilities to be a benevolent emperor" and he was grateful for her trust in him.
Pause here.
Come on Sam Hou, marry him! She really is his match.
Sam Hou went to see Kam Ling and informed Kam Ling "Madam Choi is requesting you to report back to work since the empress dowager is feeling better" but Kam Ling said "His majesty will never let me leave that easily, he will not do so (meaning to say he will miss her if she leaves). I will stay here" and Sam Hou said "But Kam Ling, the whole concubine issue..." and Kam Ling said "I believe there is still a chance and I shall stay here until that time so that I can be near the emperor" but Sam Hou said "But General Ma will do everything he can to stop you" and Kam Ling said "I shall have to wait and see...". Suddenly General Ma's eunuchs came and whisked Kam Ling away.
General Ma walked right up to the emperor and his mother and said "Your majesty, there has been quite some time since you have attened to state business, and you can delay that no longer. You can't abandon your duty for one lowly palace maid, she is unbefitting of you, she doesn't even know who her parents is and she has no status and so she can't be your concubine" and the emperor was clenching his fists, getting rather angry as he said calmly "Which is why I have cancelled the nomination of concubines, what more do you expect me to do General Ma?" and then Sam Hou came rushing in and said to the Emperor "Your majesty, I was with Kam Ling when General Ma's men took her away and I have waited for 2 hours and she has yet to return. I am worried your majesty" and the Emperor looked hard into General Ma's eyes and not demanded but rather said "Is that true? What have you done to Lady Yiu?" and General Ma smiled and said "Does it matter? She is but a mere servant and I can have her executed for seducing your majesty to the point of your majesty neglecting your majesty's duties!" and Sam Hou shocked and Empress Dowager shocked and Emperor shocked said "You have her executed?!" and General Ma said "Oh no, I didn't" and then Sam Hou cried "Kam Ling!" and she was with a few eunuchs and the emperor saw her, relieved as General Ma said "Your majesty's choice of concubines should never be questioned but there are protocols. As your majesty wish greatly to be with Lady Yiu, I have taken it upon myself to adopt Lady Yiu as my goddaughter. With this new status, she is now suitable for your majesty's choosing" and Kam Ling smiled, Emperor said "Why... thank you General Ma! I never knew you have taken upon yourself to consider a solution to my problems, thank you, and well done". So everyone was happy.
And here comes the WHAT?! scene.
Emperor playing chess with Hin Yeung as Hin Yeung said as he placed some chess pieces onto the board "It was a masterstroke your majesty, to let General Ma thinks he can get his way and when he can't, to bend him to your will so subtly" and the emperor said "He thougt he can control everything so I let him. I decided to pretend to play all day and go everywhere with Kam Ling and not care a bit about the states affairs when he has had enough and come to seek me out. I want him to know he can't control every aspect of my life" and Hin Yeung said "And so your majesty concocted this elaborate scheme, even if just with a concubine, to show to him you have some control left" and the emperor agreed and he went on to talk about an official which I didn't catch and Emperor said "This is just the first step..." as Hin Yeung said ".. as we shall attack..." and Emperor won the game and Hin Yeung said "As your majesty's win the game by befuddling the enemy"...
Not exact recap but to that effect.
Now I don't get this at all. Why would emperor think by acting useless, playing all day that that will get General Ma bend to his will? Because you see...
1. if the emperor is useless and playing all day as he pretended to be for that few days, wouldn't that make General Ma a very happy person since all power of decision goes to the General as the emperor dictated? So he would be the de facto ruler and yet General Ma isn't happy. In fact the way General Ma scolded him and got frustrated over Kam Ling seems to suggest he cares for the emperor and wants him to not be seduced and go and do his job as an emperor when we know that is not true. Since emperor refuses to attend to state affair, wouldn't that fit into General Ma's gameplan of having the emperor as a puppet ruler?
2. all these plotting, scheming, and the dumbest stategy ever over appointment of concubines. I know, emperor said at least he regained control in this aspect but by pretending to let go of his duties so that he can pressure General Ma to allow him to take Kam Ling as a concubine is such a trivial strategy. If I were General Ma, I would encourage him to continue playing and enjoying himself with Kam Ling and neglect his duties more! But according to the emperor, General Ma is such a petty person insisting in controlling every aspect of his life and yet General Ma himself must be really that petty since he seems to look at the narrow picture (have goddaughter as his concubine-control the emperor by placing people in strategic positions-bear him a future Emperor, control the throne) and not the bigger picture (running the country as de facto ruler) when he already had that opportunity when stupid emperor pretended to be lazy emperor or rather as General Ma knew, an emperor with a temper tantrum.
3. and Emperor was so happy he got to do as he wish, not that he really wants to marry Kam Ling but he just wants to have a one up over General Ma that he sort of forgot 2 tiny little issues; he is still under the control of General Ma without much shift of power as he has to marry Po Yin, who we all know is General Ma's goddaughter AND now he is also marrying Kam Ling, who just became General Ma's goddaughter! What is he so happy about?! This episode never told us what discussion Kam Ling had with General Ma, whether they struck a deal or whether her disappearance for 2 hours was just drama but from Kam Ling's point of view, by becoming General Ma's goddaughter and marrying the emperor on that basis, she would be indebted to the General. Surely the emperor being so darn smart would see this coming 1 million miles away?
So really, what is he so darn happy about? For me all his moves backfired. He himself should have asked some high ranking official (like the PM if he is still alive) to take Kam Ling as a goddaughter which isn't unusual and so marry her via that way, than rather take the General's solution which makes it all seem like the emperor and Kam Ling both are now indebted to General Ma for solving the status problem!
How darn stupid is this scene?! I was like scratching my head and my sister was like "What's the plan again?" and I was like "ermmm.. I GIVE UP!!!".
Anyway Kam Ling was very very happy as Sam Hou came in and curtseyed and greeted her "Concubine Lai...". I wonder who gives the titles? Anyway Kam Ling smiled widely and said "You're teasing me! Sam Hou, look at this pouch" and Sam Hou looked at it and smiled and said "Very high quality embroidery" and Kam Ling smiled and said His majesty gave this to me, only for concubines!" and Sam Hou was very happy for Kam Ling and said "Remember you once asked the emperor to take you as a concubine? See now! You really are a concubine! And I became head of jewelry!" and Kam Ling smiled happily and said "Sam Hou, promise me, if anyone ever bullies you, you must inform me and I will protect you" and Sam Hou laughed and said "What if the bully is you? How will you protect me from yourself?" and Kam Ling laughed and said "I will never bully you Sam Hou! I promised Madam we will take care of each other in this palace and treat each other as sisters!" and they both laughed happily.
Meanwhile, Po Yin received the same gift and threw it onto the table which her mother quickly picked it up and said "Be careful dear! This is a gift from the emperor himself for his concubines" and Po Yin angrily said "I'd rather not have this gift! Imagine me, appointed as concubine on the same day as that lowly illiterate servant! We are to be same ranked as well! How can I take such insults!" and her mother said wisely "Which shows how conniving that servant is. I worry for you in there. Remember my advise; be very careful with this lowly servant who will try her best to seduce the emperor and make him ignore you!" and Po Yin arrogantly said "I doubt I will lose to her. I will seduce the emperor myself away from her. Moreover I have godfather's help in this; the emperor practically listens to godfather in everything!"
Yeah but did you forget even your godfather had to give way to this whole concubine thing?
Hin Yeung meets with Sam Hou to tell her "I will be going out for a mission and will probably only be back after the appointment of concubines day. Do please congratulate his majesty for me and is there anything I can get you from ***?" and Sam Hou say "Yes there is. *** is famous for embroidery of flowers and I hope you can back some as samples for me. I wish to make a blanket with *** flowers as theme" and she actually meant her mother's favourite flower, Keng flower so if anyone knows what's that in English (that white flower) do tell! Hin Yeung smiled at her earnestness to better her craft as he said "Ahhhh a blanket to cover yourself" as she said "These flowers are plentiful where my hometown is. My mother always said seeing such flowers as if she was back at home" and Hin Yeung said "A blanket of hometown. Alright, I will". Finally he has a job to do!
Concubine appointment day. Both women were bathed, scented, dusted, powdered and dressed as they await the emperor. Silly isn't it? Now who he goes to first? Why not 2 together eh? Anyway each given a kama sutra sort of book to learn what to do. On that day itself?
Anyway Emperor alone in his office so to speak when he asked what time it was and it was very late as the eunuch quietly said "Your majesty wishes to attend to Concubine Lai or Concubine Yin? Concubine Yin is General Ma's goddaughter..." and the emperor knew he was stuck and in the end said "I will spend my night here" and so both women waited until morning, each thinking the other got the emperor when neither did. Po Yin was in a bad mood, Kam Ling was in a sombre mood.
In the morning they dressed to greet the empress dowager, Po Yin oppulent, Kam Ling beautiful but less oppulent when they bumped into each other. To give Kam Ling credit, Kam Ling did soften a bit after that night alone and when she saw Po Yin, Kam Ling actually smiled kindly and nodded towards Po Yin as a greeting when Po Yin without any word walked right up to her and slapped her hard on the cheek. Shocked, Kam Ling didn't know what was going on until Po Yin said "Don't you smile so satisfactorily like that! Just because the emperor was at your place last night does not mean he will be there every night" and so Po Yin blew her own cover so to speak and Kam Ling knew the emperor was at neither's place said arrogantly "Well, if his majesty chooses to sleep with me what is there for me to do? I am sorry for you to miss out..." and Po Yin said "Don't you think you can win everytime! You're still a mere servant! You can never be compared to me! Don't you forget, you got this position thanks to my godfather" and she walked away as Kam Ling's servant rushed to her and asked "My Lady, are you alright?" and Kam Ling, now very angry touched her bruised cheek and said mostly to herself "I swear it to you Concubine Yin, I shall repay this slap of yours one thousand fold in future, you will see!"
Well, I do hope she does. Po Yin was terrible.
With the empress dowager, who greeted them both when immediately Po Yin called Kam Ling sister as in younger sister and Kam Ling reciprocated and said sister as in older sister. The Empress Dowager suspected something was wrong but smiled at how Kam Ling held herself when she said "I must say.. Concubine Yin's make up today is excellent. Perhaps Concubine Lai could learn to apply such makeup expertly from Concubine Yin.. because I can see one cheek of yours redder than the other" and I think the empress dowager knows since she too was a victim of abuse and Po Yin stopped smiling ad Kam Ling continued to smile and said to Po Yin "Indeed my sister, I have much to learn from you, do teach your younger sister" and Po Yin smiled back when Sam Hou came in and Empress Dowager said "I have ordered the jewelry dept to make 2 jewelry to celebrate your nomination. Each of you may choose one" and one was a hairpin and the other a golden bracelet and immediately Kam Ling held the bracelet looking at it longingly and then put it back and Po Yin looked at Kam Ling hard and said "You seem to like the bracelet more my sister" and the empress dowager was watching intently as Kam Ling said politely "Sister, please do choose first" and as Po Yin's hands went to the bracelet, Kam Ling's eyes narrowed and thinking Kam Ling wanted the bracelet, Po Yin chose the bracelet and yet Sam Hou turned to Kam Ling with the tray and the hairpin on it and smiled a small smile and Kam Ling took the hairpin.
Later as Kam Ling and Sam Hou were walking back, Kam Ling laughed and said "She thought I wanted that bracelet! So I played her game. She didn't even know quality when she sees one! Sam Hou, the hairpin is beautifully made!" and Sam Hou laughed as well. So it was a trick! Brilliant! She actually wanted the better quality one, the hairpin and Sam Hou said " I would think so you would know quality since you were in the jewelry dept!" and Kam Ling said "She thinks that by calling me young sister and I calling her older sister she will be higher ranked than me. It's so silly since I am older than her! I thought after I become a concubine I need not struggle anymore but I was wrong. At least the other maids were easier to deal with, and now I feel like I am still stuck in my struggle" and Sam Hou curious asked "Why would you say that?" and Kam Ling said "This morning she came right to me and slapped me hard" and Sam Hou shocked as she continued "She thought the emperor was with me last night when he spent the night at his own place" and Sam Hou said thoughtfully "I know Concubine Yin sounds impossible but Kam Ling, do remember she lived a privileged life so I suppose she never had to struggle much. Be considerate to her, perhaps life will be easier" and I suppose Kam Ling wasn't listening. But I suppose Sam Hou would have touched Po Yin with her sincerity and kindness since Sam Hou is SUPER SAM HOU!!!!!!!
Sam Hou saw the Emperor or rather he saw her after her father came by for a visit and he wanted to seek his advice on gardening (yeah right! You want to see her!) when they spoke about flowers and what they each signify when Sam Hou said gently "Your majesty, promise me you will take care of Kam Ling and not let her be abused or bullied by anyone, and that you will treat her with love and respect and nurture her as she honours you" and the Emperor said "I promise to follow whatever you say" and Sam Hou was happy, he was happy. Actually they said many other things along the same line but I just am not bothered to recap every line.
At night, Kam Ling enjoying a drink with the emperor outside as the emperor remininsced about a flute and some music and Kam Ling said shyly "Your majesty, I have commissioned the servants to make you a flute. Would you like to retire to my place to try the flute and we enjoy some music?" and he looked at her as she looked at him expectently and he said I suppose after remembering Sam Hou and all "Yes, I very much like that and I will play you a song". Kam Ling was very happy and they left hand in hand when ... Po Yin arrives! Po Yin said "I apologise for disturbing your majesty but I have just received these beautiful potted flowers" and again I did not catch what's the flower and the emperor said "Ahhhh such must be seen immediately. Alright" and Kam Ling looked sad when he said "Concubine Lai, you shall come along and enjoy such flowers" which didn't please Po Yin but pleased Kam Ling as the emperor held their hands, hugged both of them, one left, one right as he said "I shall enjoy such flowers with both my beloved concubines with me" but the women eyed each other with hatred.
Next episode, Po Yin tried to slap Kam Ling but Kam Ling stopped her and slapped her back and General Ma vowed to kill Kam Ling for hurting his beloved goddaughter.
My comments as to the content of this episode is as stated earlier. One of the worst written episode with OTT politics which I can never get but that Kam Ling deceiving Po Yin scene was brilliant. Imagine, just 2 women already fight like that. And how can the emperor ever consummate the marriage if everyone he wants to do it wil one, the other come to whisk him away and likewise with the other?
Anyway too much powder on the concubine but Tavia does look very pretty albeit with thick make up. But she will get scarier I suppose.
Tavia did very well. I thought as concubine she did try to make peace with Po Yin whose one slap sort of settled the whole peace making matter. Tavia's reaction was good and I love it when she doesn't talk loudly, doesn't cry too hard and just you know be subtle. No need to go all out evil with evil face to tell everyone "I AM EVIL!!!" when no one supposedly knew.
Charmaine is still her smiling self. No comment.
Susanna Kwan was horrible as I have stated earlier. Ermmmm where is Michelle?
Cheung Kwok Keung was effective but not much for him to do anyway.
Oh I hate Mrs Man and so Yvonne Lam is it? She was effective as the villanous Mrs Man
Selina Li was ok. I am just glad she is off that god awful helmet hair of hers.
Selina Li was ok. I am just glad she is off that god awful helmet hair of hers.
Lee Kwok Lun is burderned with a very confused character in my opinion. His acting is good but in the context of how his character is supposed to be, I thought he was misguided. I still don't get General Ma and after this episode, I doubt I will understand him much later.
Mary Hon very little used.
Moses... one look to rule the entire episode so to speak. Not a great performance. I want the emperor to have temper!
Kevin Cheng... no comment. What more can I say to a VVVVVVVVVVVVVVIP character? So VVVVVVVVVVVVVVIP that you can say he is the kelefe in the capacity of a 2nd leading hero?
Posts
December 22, 2010 at 12:11 PM
The PM already gone. I think you might have missed a scene or 2. There's a scene after Li Yi became Emperor where he sent the PM to exile. He visited the PM in jail and told the PM he did this to save the PM's life from General Ma. I forgot the incidents that lead him to take this action. Maybe some other readers can enlighten you.
On the 'Keng' flower.
Chinese name: 瓊花 (traditional), 琼花 (simplified)
English name: Viburnum