Let me summarise what happened in the last episode as it is directly connected with this one. Kam Ling was pregnant and as she was gloating about being pregnant to herself, she accidentally stepped on scroll of a picture and hit her tummy on the side of the table and well, no more pregnant. Then Po Yin found out Mrs Man bought a voodoo doll to curse Kam Ling and she advised her mother to burn it as they can't be that heartless to curse the emperor's child but Fei Yin found the burnt doll, Kam Ling actually convinced herself that she lost her baby because of Mrs Man's fault and so instigated the empress dowager and the emperor to punish Mrs Man when she supposedly miscarriaged suddenly (she paid off the royal doctor to lie about the miscarriage for 10 days as the doctor himself was selling royal medicine for his own profit) and Mrs Man signed her own death warrant when she arrogantly pronounced herself as unpunishable as she has a powerful cousin and a powerful husband, both showed great merit in the empire. She was arrested and to be strangled. Po Yin became frantic and wrote to General Man and General Ma whilst she herself waited to see the emperor to beg him to spare her mother's life but the emperor was busy consoling Kam Ling. General Ma was actually sent by the emperor on a long journey to deliver a supposed magical rock to a temple whilst General Man and Hin Yeung were away to deliver government aid to stricken areas in need of that aid.
So now we are back to this episode.
Po Yin waited by that turtle shrine where Sam Hou said he will be but the emperor never turned up. Po Yin then rushed to Kam Ling's place and kneel and hit her head hard on the pavement begging to see the emperor but he did not heed her cries as he was busy sleeping inside and when the eunuch kindly told her "Madam, you better rush to pay your last respect to Mrs Man before it is too late, there is no use begging here" and Po Yin ran and ran but she was too late. Her mother was strangled to death.
Meanwhile you may wonder where the hell is General Ma? He was actually just outside the royal palace but pretended to be sick and so could not rush back. Why?
1. he hated General Man for spoiling his plans to take all the government aid for himself when General Man volunteered to escort the money to stricken area and then arranged for the bandits to kill everyone and steal the money and then General Man went to the bandits' lair and kill them off and took back the money, so he wanted and I feel quite childishly General Man to feel the pain of loss so he decided not to help his own cousin
2. he waned to use this to damage the relationship between General Man and the emperor
Very selfish man. I know Mrs Man didn't deserve help but I feel Kam Ling has so convinced herself that she decided to blame her loss on Mrs Man and Po Yin when it was she herself who caused herself the miscarriage. For once perhaps Mrs Man didn't deserve to die that way. And I really wanted General Man to know how disgusting his wife was but we will never see that because the writer decided this is the way for Mrs Man to go. What a waste of a good story.
Anyway Po Yin looked miserable and she was not supposed to pay respect to her mother (incense, hell money, such) since her mother died condemned but she decided to do it quietly and Sam Hou was there and Sam Hou said "Then let me pay my respect too to Mrs Man" and Po Yin was very grateful that when she was a pariah, at least one was willing to still stand by her.
So Sam Hou and Po Yin prayed and burned stuff when Po Yin noticed there was no hell money and she was very upset she scolded her maid "Why didn't you get me the hell money? How can mother continue her journey in the underworld, how can she bribe the officials and drink the Man Po soup and cross the bridge to reincarnate?" and the maid was crying saying "I tried to but there isn't any and I was told I can only have then in 2 more days, I am so sorry" and Sam Hou consoled Po Yin "Whatever you're burning she will receive and she will receive them adequately. You don't need hell money for that, Mrs Man has more than she needs" and Po Yin again grateful for Sam Hou's explanation became quiet and continued what she was doing. Sam Hou felt her pain as she too went through the same ordeal when she was little when her mother died.
Meanwhile Kam Ling found out Po Yin has been secretly burning stuff for her mom and Fei Yin advised her to tell the Empress Dowager but Kam Ling said "No, the Empress Dowager values fillial piety and this will only enhance that woman's image.. I must think of another way, lest she thinks she can pretend to be pitiful and mourn for her dead mother, how fake!". And then she knew tomorrow or sometime later it will be an auspiscious day and so she decided to make her move.
She accompanied Empress Dowager for a walk when Empress Dowager saw a lot of hell money in the pond and she found out someone has been praying and offering such money to recently deceased and Empress Dowager was very angry that Po Yin dared to foul a good auspiscious day with such an open burning of hell money. "If she had done it quietly I wouldn't blame her, but this is too much! She will be punished. I hereby decree that she will be barred from leaving her quarters for the next 6 months" and Kam Ling was naturally very happy.
Pause here.
For the last few episodes I have been very disgusted with Kam Ling's behaviour. She has become very petty and spends her entire time plotting on how to burden and getting rid of Po Yin and here we are talking about 2 wives here. Imagine a few more! And her purpose is simple; she said so openly that she wants to be an empress. I laughed at that because come on, even if she can bear the emperor 100 sons, she will never be empress because empress belongs to someone of higher status. The failure of this series is not introducing someone of that stature and here we have, sorry to say this, former palace maid dreaming of being an empress. That is delusional. The way Kam Ling goes, I think going crazy is her only option I tell you because she is delusional. Whilst I may not like Po Yin, Po Yin's fault is she is arrogant and spoilt due to her privileged life. She may also be mean but she was never evil in that way. Kam Ling is calculative, plotting and evil. She takes pleasure in other's suffering and she convinces herself she is right. It is everybody's fault but hers. I am
also disgusted with Tavia because ever since Kam Ling became concubine, Tavia speaks with a hushed tone that is hurting my ears and yet when she cries, oh my god, worst crier. I was very annoyed with her performance in that sense.
Anyway where was I?
Po Yin alone in the garden with her maid, looking sullen and quiet when General Man returned and in sadness he said "My beloved wife, I have returned much too late, please forgive me!" and Po Yin cried as she saw her father who told her "Don't grief my daughter, don't be too sad" as suddenly General Ma also returned looking rather sick and cried dramatically "My cousin, I have returned too late! I was on my way but I became too sick! If I hadn't been sick, I would have been able to save you! How can the emperor be so harsh? How can he be so petty to demand for your life?" and General Ma was trying to poke fire you see and General Man calmly said "He is the emperor, he can do whatever he wishes" but his tone was somewhat detached.
The next day he was with Hin Yeung to report on the successful delivery of the aid and the emperor was pleased and said to General Man "You have done well General Man. I feel a reward is due!" and General Man looking arrogant said "I feel such a reward should be given to the people your majesty, I need no reward for what is my duty" and Hin Yeung tried to diffuse the situation and said "Well, a reward is a must. Perhaps there may be something General Man needs?" and the emperor agreed (of course he knew what was pissing General Man off) and General Man walked away and said "I need no reward, I did not seek this job and my position for worldly riches" and the Emperor said "Surely you would be in need of something I can grant you" and General Man angrily said "Grant me? Can your majesty grant me an elixir of life that can raise the dead?" and the emperor knew this was coming and said "My punishment was fair, what Mrs Man did deserve the death sentence" and General Man now face to face with the emperor said "Indeed, you're the emperor, it is your power to order the death of someone, and indeed what my wife did is punishable with death but surely your majesty would also recognise compassion should be granted in her situation! Whatever that happened was a quarrel between the women and nothing more!" and the emperor now raising his voice said "If I can't even restore order, how can I be asked to govern well?" and General Man retorted and quite rightly so "If your majesty can't even control your own backyard, how then can you be asked to govern the country well?!" and Hin Yeung was stuck in the middle, speechless and as the emperor wanted to retort back General Man stopped him and said "What is done, is done. You can no more raise the dead than I can bring her back to life. I only beg your majesty to allow me to take my late wife's body back to her hometown to be buried properly, that is my only request" and the emperor did not hesitate as he said "In view of your contribution to this empire, I grant your request" and General Man, with tears flowing down his cheek said "Thank you, your majesty".
Pause here.
I feel General Man was right. What she did was punishable by death but the emperor I feel was already prejudiced against Mrs Man who was General Ma's cousin, someone he hated. He ruled not with his head but with his heart. He was being too emotional. General Man's contribution should be one aspect where the emperor should take into account and show a bit of compassion to Mrs Man. To General Ma what happened was a quarrel between the women and superstition, something the young emperor did not see. I feel General Man was right in scolding the emperor and again General Ma's plan backfired since General Man is a fair man, he recognised what his wife did was wrong, what the emperor did was rash but in the end that won't be enough to sway his loyalty. I am beginning to dislike this emperor. I feel he did not see clearly. Like I said however much I dislike Mrs Man, this is one matter which I feel Mrs Man has been unjustly accused.
Hin Yeung went to see Sam Hou who was happy to see him. But he noticed she looked a bit forlorn and Sam Hou explained it was because of Mrs Man. She may not like her but I think she too felt the reason for her death was silly. And they were walking past the pond when Sam Hou saw the eunuchs cleaning out hell money from the pond and the eunuchs said "I don't understand why she was so open about it. If she had been more discreet, she wouldn't have been punished as such" and Sam Hou was curious who they were talking about and the eunuchs said "Concubine Yin" and Sam Hou looked at Hin Yeung and said "That can't be. There wasn't any hell money on that day, which was why Concubine Yin was very upset. I was there, so I know. Someone set her up" and Hin Yeung said "Can you think of anyone who would want to do that?" and Sam Hou thought for a while and in her heart knew who that person was.
Pause here.
The next scene is why I like Sam Hou when she has a temper. She does not hesitate to speak her mind and I like how she just went straight to the point. In fact I am beginning to like her if she continues showing her angry side.
Sam Hou went to Kam Ling and Kam Ling was very happy to see her. Sam Hou saw hell money on the table and Kam Ling explained "I am preparing these to burn for my dead royal son".
Pause here. Interesting how an embryo now became a royal prince you know? Like the shortest pregnancy ever.
Sam Hou said quietly "You better be careful when you are burning those hell money. Don't simply throw everywhere, if not you may end up like Concubine Yin" and Kam Ling looked at Sam Hou and asked "What do you mean?" and Sam Hou said "Concubine Yin was punished from leaving her quarters for the next 6 months because she was accused of throwing hell money everywhere when paying respect to her mother. A curious thing since she didn't have access to such hell money then how then can she have been so blatant in throwing such money everywhere that would attract the empress dowager's attention?" and Kam Ling said "Maybe she somehow got them somewhere?" and Sam Hou now blazing said "Couldn't be. She was paying respect 4 days ago, and was told such hell money is only available 2 days later. That was why she was very upset. I should know, because I was there" and Kam Ling knew where this was heading and said "Sam Hou, what are you saying?" and Sam Hou said "Need I say it clearly? Kam Ling, she has already lost her mother. Is it necessary for you to rub it in the way you did and cause her more grief? Can't you show her a bit of compassion?" and now Kam Ling knew what Sam Hou meant when Fei Yin kneel suddenly and cried "Lady Lau, it was me, I did it on my own accord. I was the one who threw the hell money, I did it to get back at her!" and Kam Ling said "It was Fei Yin who did it for me!" and Sam Hou not distracted at all said "So you knew all along? And you condoned what Fei Yin did?" and Kam Ling now hysterical said "How can a mere maid like Fei Yin could understand my pain and you as my sister could not? I know you're kind hearted Sam Hou, and everything to you is black and white. But that woman and her mother caused me my son by black magic! I suffered the loss of my son! I am in pain, and I lost my son! Sam Hou, do you know what it is like to have a child growing in your and then to lose it so suddenly? Can you understand the pain I am going through? Can you?!" as she cried hard and Sam Hou looked at Kam Ling long and hard as her tears fell down her cheek and as quietly as she stood there listening to Kam Ling ranting about the loss of her child, Sam Hou also quietly turned her back and walked out of that place without a word. Kam Ling looked at her, knowing she has lost her case.
Pause here.
I think Sam Hou knew in her heart Fei Yin didn't do it alone but it was Kam Ling who ordered her to do it. But then with her rant about her lost child, something Sam Hou felt in her heart Kam Ling's pain as well, which was why she too was crying but she also know Kam Ling has acted maliciously and that act of malice to Concubine Yin did not and could not be reconciled with the fact that she lost her child. What more can Sam Hou say? I think she was right to just walk out quietly because Kam Ling was convinced in her own argument and Sam Hou had nothing more to say. Doesn't mean Sam Hou agreed with what she did but then, like I said, what more can Sam Hou say in the face of such grief? I like seeing Sam Hou like this. Her utter disappointment in her best friend and in heart she knew her best friend was changing but still convinces herself Kam Ling is the Kam Ling she once knew. We all know the Kam Ling now is just mad, delusional and darn crazy. She can convince herself of anything I tell you.
Next episode; back to the squabbling "teapot" women. "Teapot" = trouble. We see Susanna offered the Top Madam position but Bo Gut Cheong told Michelle he knew Susanna has one secret which would prevent her from taking that position to which Michelle promptly used and so Michelle became the new top madam. What secret? We shall find out.
There are 2 good scenes from this episode; one would be General Man's outburst which I felt he was right. Then there's Sam Hou confrontation with Kam Ling, and I felt Sam Hou was right. These 2 scenes make this episode very entertaining and in some ways thought provoking, which this series' rarely is. I just find the excuses why General Ma refused to help his cousin was darn stupid.
What this series lack is concubines. 2 women already fight like crazy but unjustifiably crazy. Why not introduce an empress material which will make the fight more interesting? I read some plot synopsis and I feel Sam Hou should have been made a concubine much earlier because I am beginning to tire of Kam Ling's hysterics. I find her tiresome and rather boring as a villain. She is only ever interesting when Sam Hou comes into the picture and I find myself more entertained by Sam Hou's confrontation with her than Kam Ling's plotting.
Performance wise, I know Tavia is a very capable actress but dear lord, I hate it when she cries. As the concubine, she talks with such hushed tone it was annoying and when she cries, of course she lets it all out but if I were the emperor seeing her cry the way she did, I would have walked out. She should practice on her crying. But other than that, I find her rather bland, even as the villain. Maybe Kam Ling herself is bland but Tavia did not make her interesting. I find myself wondering when we would more away from Kam Ling and to somewhere else everytime she is on screen. I just don't find her engaging.
Charmaine on the other hand, when her Sam Hou has temper, she is very engaging. First of, she cries beautifully as she demonstrated in this episode. I like her best when she is silent, standing there, listening, observing. She should play a mute girl. Just don't speak or smile. Just stand there. I find Kam Ling is only interesting when Sam Hou is there. Likewise I find Tavia interesting when she has some heated exchange with Charmaine.
Selena Li was ok in this episode although I believe 2 episodes ago she was terrible, that scene where Kam Ling sent her eunuch to do some magic show and some food to her and the emperor and she was smiling happily, clapping, etc. Smiling happily? Clapping? Her face should have registered pretence of happiness but actual disgust and suspiscions. Very inconsistent performance.
The rest I have no comment as I have already commented above. Actually I have comments but I am still feeling queesy so I think I will just leave this recap as it is.
Posts
December 29, 2010 at 3:11 PM
The Mrs Man's case is the one I said earlier that the Emperor acted with emotions and is the scene I want to applaud General Man.
I was disgusted at the Emperor for trying to placate General Man with meals and rewards to keep his loyalty after what he did to his wife. He thought General Man will have the mood to accept his lunch and material reward right after knowing his wife death under the order of the Emperor? People have feelings. What did he expect? That General will be ok and happy for his rewards? Sorry. The Emperor might be scared to lost the loyalty of General, so, he has all this rewards and stuff (and even said it with a smiling face like nothing has happenned). But, to me, it's an insult to the moaning General Man. I think what the General need more is compassion at this time instead of the Emperor smilingly offering him rewards and arrogantly defending his decision. Just a 'sorry, I had to do it because she broke the law' and show a bit of sadness is better than this.
What more, the Emperor gave the order not out of fairness or justice. It's out of anger that Mrs.Man brought up her cousin arrogantly.