Adam Cheng's TV series

[ShawAngela]

Three charming smile TVB 1976 update

 

Aafter having watched Shaw Brothers' The three smiles, I can add some comments on this series.

Actually, Adam Cheng plays the well known scholar and poet Tang Bo Hu, who is known for being very fond of women. When he begins to work in the rich family where his lover works, he actually knows the family, since his cousin is the second son's wife.
She immediately recognizes her cousin, but as he seems to be sincere when he tells her that he loves the maid, she doesn't tell the truth to her father-in-law. From what I read in the Chinese subtitles of the series, Tang Bo Hu stayed 3 years in the family as a servant before being able to finally marry the girl he loved...

[ShawAngela]

The assassins TTV 1990

 

 

The assassin TTV 1990

 

In this series made with four different stories, Adam Cheng portrays four assassins of Chinese history. As everybody can guess, there is no happy ending in this series…

 

Story 1 : Jing Ke

 

Coming form the Wei kingdom, Jing Ke arrives in the Yan kingdom, where he saves a young vagabond from soldiers, and the young boy follows him everywhere, calling him master or uncle. They meet a swordsman called Ko (or Kou, the sound was very bad and I didn’t clearly hear his name), who wants to challenge Jing Ke, but this latter doesn’t want to fight and Kou discovers that he brings a wooden sword (if I’m not mistaken, the quality of the print wasn’t very good either…). Jing Ke travels to find a swords maker and before finding him, he meets his student, Yuen, who finally leads him to his master. There, the old man makes a good sword for Jing Ke and this latter leaves the young vagabond and goes to a place where he meets another swordsman and a woman playing drums. From what I heard, the swordsman is a disciple of the same master as Jing Ke, because he calls Jing Ke “ san di “ (third disciple, if I’m not mistaken ) and they quarrel about their first “ brother ” and they finally fight and it’s the woman who badly hurts the swordsman and pushes Jing Ke to kill him.

Later, jing Ke arrives in the Yan kingdom with Yuen, who has left his master, and Jing Ke stops a man called Ouyang from killing a horse seller with whom he was quarrelling and they meet Ouyang’s sister, called Ping Ping, who is an old friend of Yuen. When he sees how much strong is Jing Ke, an old man tries to make him working for him, but as Jing Ke doesn’t seem to be ready for that, with the help of another old man (both are ministers or something like that in the Yan kingdom), they more or less trap him by making him believ that Ouyang will be executed. Jing Ke meets another swordsman called Kao and they become friends and Jign Ke decides to leave the Yan kingdom in order to go to the Qin kingdom.

 

When he arrives, Ying Zheng’s spy (Ying Zheng is the Qin emperor) are already aware of his arrival and a general makes a fake attack in order to approach him and they become friends and later, he brings Jing Ke to a house of pleasures where he meets the boss and becomes her friend.

Later, he is enrolled in Ying Zheng’s army and he discovers that the inheritor of the Yan kigdom, Tai Ze, is prisoner (as a hostage offered by his father in order to get the peace between the two kingdoms, from what I read on a forum) and is humiliated by Ying Zheng every day, and he decides to helps him to escape from the Qin kingdom (I think that it’s the mission the two old men of the Yan kigdom has asked him for). With the help of a woman Tai Ze loves, Fan Yi Nang, Jing Ke manages to help him and his best friend (or the second prince, if I heard well) to escape and he returns to the palace in order to help Yi Nang to escape too, while the boss of the club has been captured by Ying Zheng, who has fallen for her.

 

During their journey to return to the Yan kingdom, Jing Ke and Yi Nang fall for each other and they meet Kou, who wants to fight again with Jing Ke. This latter finale accepts the duel, but they fight with bamboo instead of swords and they become good friends and Jing Ke even ssaves Kou’s life who was poisoned by the Qin general. This latter accepts to give the antidote to Jing Ke only if this latter agrees to fight with him, and during the duel, the general is killed.

Jing Ke and Yi Nang finally reach the Yan kingdom and Tai Ze is jealous because he sees that the two of them are in love. The second prince wants to marry Ping Ping, but she only loves Jing Ke and then, he goes to the inn and wants to marry one of the singers Shao Li, who is in love with Kao, and Yi Nang lures him with a woman who looks like Shao Li, and he is furious when he discovers that he has been cheated.

 

Later, Tai Ze tells Jing Ke that he wants to kill Ying Zheng and after some thoughts, Jing Ke tells him that he is ready to help him, but it will be difficult to approach the Qin emperor, since he is very well guarded, and that he wants the head of a former general of his, Fan Wuji, who is no one else that Yi Nang’s father. Jing Ke goes to see him and explains him what Tai Ze wants, and the old man tells him that he is tired and goes to his room, but actually, he goes to kill himself and when Jing Ke arrives, he tells him that it was the best thing to do in order that he can accomplish his mission.

Then, Yi Nang wants to kill Jing Ke because she believes that it’s him who killed her father, but she loves him so much that she can’t do it and that she only cut his hair with her sword and they finally reunite.

 

Ouyang saves a woman (Cin Cin) who was attacked by two men and they fall for each other, but he doesn’t know that she is actually a spy for the Qin empire. When Yuen discovers that, he wants to tell Ping Ping about it, but he prefers to be sure, but unfortunately, he is killed by the spies who meet Cin Cin and Ouyang and the others are devastated by Yuen’s death.

Kao has a secret fabric of weapons hidden under the club, and the spy discovers it and he and his men go there and kill everybody and try to kidnap Shao Li. This latter is protected by Yi Nang, but he is very strong and when Kao and Jing Ke arrive in order to help the two women, the spy kills and Shao Li and escapes while Yi Nang is hurt.

Later, Kao and Jing Ke find the spies and they kill them.

Together with Yi Nang, Jing Ke return to see the swords maker in order that he makes a weapon that he’ll be able to hide in a scrolling map in order to kill Ying Zheng. During their journey, they meet again Kou, who agrees to help Jing Ke to kill the Qin emperor and they choose a date to meet again, but unfortunately, Kou is killed by treachery during a duel and it’s Ouyang who is chosen to replace him. When this latter discovers that his wife is a spy, he wants her to kill him, but she kills herself instead and he is devastated. He tells everybody that he isn’t afraid of his mission, but it’s all the contrary.

The second prince has asked a chemist to put poison on the weapon that Jing Ke will use, and he gives this latter a poisoned pill in case of the mission would fail.

 

Finally, Jing Ke and Ouyang arrive in the Qin kingdom and they are kept prisoners in a room without any food nor water during several days. The boo of the club has now become the queen and she is pregnant, and we discover that Cin Cin has faked her death, and that she is the maid of the queen. This latter tries to help Jing Ke, giving him a jade pendant (maybe something who could have helped him to leave the country after his mission) through the maid who finally brings some food to the two men.

 

Ying Zheng is happy to discover Fan Wuji’s head and Jing Ke scrolls the map little by little and when he arrives at the end, he takes the weapon and jumps to kill the king, but unfortunately, during the fight, he receives an object on his head and is hurt, which allows Ying Zheng to use his sword, while Jing ke is pushed against a pillar by the soldiers. Ying Zheng is so cruel that he doesn’t hesitate to kill his own soldiers just in order to get Jing Ke, but this latter has already eaten the poisoned pill and he just kills a dead corpse…

 

Story 2 : Zhuan Zhu

 

Zhuan Zhu is a very strong villager who lives with his mother and has a good friend called Hu, and they sell meat in the street. One day, Zhuan Zhu learns that his mother plans to marry him and he disagrees with that and escapes. Then, his mother makes Hu believe that she is dying by sadness and Hu goes to search Zhuan Zhu. Believing that his mother is dead, this latter runs to the house and he hurts a woman who is no one else than the girl he must marry, Ling (or Ying, I didn’t hear clearly). They are immediately married and Zhuan Zhu still doesn’t want his wife and humiliates her and becomes drunk.

 

One day,Hu and Zhuan Zhu save a swordsman called Wu Jixü (if I heard well) who later helps them to get rid of bandits who had kidnapped the women of the village, including Zhuan Zhu’s mother, and this latter and Wu become blood brothers. Wu Jixü has decided to work for Prince Guang and he asks Zhuan Zhu to go with him. Zhuan Zhu hesitates, but finally agrees and they go to another town, where Zhuan Zhu meets two other swordsmen, one called Bai Bushen and the other one Bai Li Hui (or Kui, or Gui, I didn’t hear well) and they become friends after Zhuan Zhu has saved one of their men’s who had his leg prisoner of a heavy rock.

In this town, Zhuan Zhu meets a beautiful girl called Shize and this latter’s grandfather teaches him the “ fisherman kung fu “ and when Hu tells Zhuan Zhu that he has fallen for Shize, he doesn’t want to admit it and says that he only considers her as his sister, but when a young noble called Qing Zi seems to be interested in the girl, he becomes jealous and they even fight to win the marriage ribbon. Qing Zi uses a trick to win it and Zhuan Zhu protests, but his wife has come in the village and when she saw that, she escapes and Shize is furious to discover that Zhuan Zhu is married.

Zhuan Zhu returns at home completely drunk and he is furious because his wife doesn’t even show any anger against him. When he awakes, she isn’t here anymore and he goes to search her and he saves her from being badly hurt by a cart, and then, he realizes that he loves her and they take a shelter from the rain in an abandoned temple and Zhuan Zhu begins to swear that he’ll never cheat his wife, but she stops him. When she sees that Zhuan Zhu is with his wife, Shize is furious and she begins to date Qing Zi in order to make Zhuan Zhu jealous, but he doesn’t want to see her anymore.

Later Hu meets a young girl and her parents while he was looking for Zhuan Zhu and he saves her from being hurt by a snake. He and Zhuan Zhu eat with the family and they go to Zhuan Zhu’s house, but when they return to the girl’s house, they find that the parents have been murdered and the girl is hurt, and they find a piece of black clothe in the father’s hand. When Zhuan Zhu sees that a piece of  Bai Bushen’s belt is missing, he is convinced that it’s him who killed the girl’s parents and he wants to kill him, but Bai Bushen shows him that he has the missing piece with him and that  he cannot be the murderer.

Then, the two Bai decide to protect Hu and his loved one, together with Zhuan Zhu and his wife and during the lantern festival, the two couples decide to go for a walk in the streets but they separate and Hu and his girl chase a masked man who finally kills them, but before dying, Hu has torn the mask and has recognized Bai Li Hui and when Zhuan Zhu arrives, he has just the time to tell him the word Bai before dying, so, once again, Zhuan Zhu is convinced that it’s Bai Bushen the murderer and Bai Li Hui arrives and tells him that he must be right, of course.

 

So, the two of them go to ask Prince Guang to punish Bai Bushen (the prince and Bai Li Hui has plot in order that everybody believes that he really is guilty and have even paid a fake witness), but this latter says that he is innocent and he tries to escape and he falls from a cliff and everybody thinks that he is dead.

 

Later, Wu Jixü meets an old man who tells him that he is looking for Bai Bushen, who was supposed to visit him the same day the couple has been killed (if I understood well) and he begins to have doubts regarding Bai Bushen’s culpability. Later, Wu helps a beggar and recognizes a former servant (or guard) of his (I think so, since the guy calls him “ shao ye”) and he brings him to the palace and helps him. He then discovers that Bai Li Hui is a spy for Prince Guang and that this latter has ordered him to kill a minister who had disagreed with him.

After a last attempt to try to get Zhuan Zhu’s love, Shize agrees to marry Qing Zi and this latter’s father sends men to beat Zhuan Zhu. He is saved by Wu Jixü and they think that it’s Qing Zi who ordered this and Zhuan Zhu hurries to stop the marriage and tell the truth to Shize, who escapes with them.

Later, Bai Bushen reappears and meets Ling and asks her to bring him to Zhuan Zhu and this latter still believes that he is Hu’s murderer, but Bai Bushen tells him that it might be Bai Li Hui, since he is also called Bai and the two men capture Bai Li Hui and decide to bring him to the prince, but he succeeds in escaping and he goes to see the prince in order that he helps him. It’s only due to Wu Jixü and his friend’s help that Bai Li Hui is finally unmasked and the prince orders that he is poisoned because he has no other choice if he doesn’t want that everybody knows how low he is. However, he decides to take revenge on Bai Bushen and this latter is killed in trying to protect Zhuan Zhu, his mother, his wife and Shize.

After other twists in the plot, Zhuan Zhu and Ling are in a town and they go for a walk in the forest, and when they return, they discover that Qing Zi’s father (who is the king of Liao, is I heard well) has ordered his men to slaughter the whole village and Wu Jixü is sent by Prince Guang (who wants the Liao kingdom, if I understood well) to kill him, but Zhuan Zhu stops him because he would have been killed and then, Wu asks Zhuan Zhu to kill the king of Liao, but Zhuan Zhu doesn’t want to because he doesn’t want that anything bad happens to his mother and the two women he loves and he tells the same thing to Prince Guang who also comes to ask him for the same thing.

 

When she hears that, Zhuan Zhu’s mother kills herself in order that her son can accomplish his mission and he leaves for the town and leaves his two loves at home and Shize learns that Ling is pregnant but she didn’t tell it to her husband in order that he can fulfill his mission.

 

The king of Liao has invited Prince Guang to a banquet (or vice versa, I didn’t understood well) and during the banquet, Guang makes everybody believe that he has a headache and he leaves the banquet, while Zhuan Zhu arrives with a big fish in which he has hidden the sword Guang has given to him when he visited him at home in order to ask him to kill the King of Liao. Then, Zhuan Zhu uses the sword and succeeds in killing the king, while Shize arrives disguised as a guard and tries to help him to escape, but she is hurt and when he sees that, Zhuan Zhu is distracted and he is also hurt and both of them die after taking each other’s hand. Then, Prince Guang arrives and takes the kingdom without any sadness for what has happened…

 

Story3 : Nie Zhe

 

Nie Zhe lives with his mother, his sister Nie Rong and her fiancé in the kingdom of Wei. One day, his future brother-in-law sends him to his master (who is a kind of Beggar So who likes drinking a lot) who himself sends him to a master of martial arts who teaches him other martial arts than the ones he knows.

When he returns at home, Nie Zhe goes to the quarry where his brother-in-law works and he helps an old man hurt by a heavy carved stone and he meets this latter’s daughter, Jie Shu and it’s love at first sight for the two of them.

As the workers are mistreated by the director of the quarry, they revolt and ask Nie Zhe to talk in their name to the director. When he sees that Nie Zhe is more intelligent than the workers and that he won’t be as gullible as them, the director asks his men to get rid of him and they pay one of the workers to sabotage Nie Zhe’s brother-in-law work, and this latter is put in jail.

As Jie Shu’s father finds that it’s a worker who is responsible of his friend imprisonment, he is killed by the soldiers, as well as the worker, and Jie Shu is welcomed in Nie Zhe’s family as this latter’s mother’s god-daughter.

 

When Nie Zhe goes in order to plead for his brother-in-law, he learns that his friend risks to be killed and the director’s men try to bribe him in order that he doesn’t side with the workers, but he finds out the truth and he fights with the soldiers who guard the quarry and, as he is very strong, he accidentally kills the director of the quarry and he has to escape with his whole family.

 

At the beginning of the series, Nie Zhe has met a noble called Yan Zhong (if I heard well) and they became blood brothers, and he also met a young man using a whip to fight and they became friends too. Yan Zhong has a friend called Xia Lei, who is also a noble.

After several highs and lows, Nie Zhe and his family finally find a house in another town (and maybe country, I’m not sure) and Nie Zhe works in the town, selling animals skin, or food.

 

Meanwhile, Xia Lei decides to become a high minister in the Han kingdom (if I’m not mistaken) and he uses all means to succeed and he finally gets what he wants. He is so low that he even gives his own daughter to the Han king in order to get a high position. When his friend Yan Zhong goes to see him, he doesn’t want to see him and he despises him. Yan Zhong is very disappointed but he succeeds in being welcomed by the Han king. Xia Lei is so furious that he asks his men to get rid of him and they plot to make the Han king believe that Yan Zhong is a spy of the Wei kingdom, so, Yan Zhong is arrested and he is saved by his men. He then gets mad after Xia Lei and he decides to ask for Nie Zhe’s help in order to get revenge on Xia Lei.

 

He offers a lot of money to Nie Zhe’s mother, but she has understood that he wants something from her son and the chases him and asks Nie Zhe to promise her that he won’t go to the Han kingdom in order to fulfill Yan Zhong’s demand and he promises that he’ll only help his blood brother after her death.

 

When he learns that, Yan Zhong doesn’t hesitate to send men in order to kill Nie Zhe and make him believe that it’s Xia Lei who sent the assassins. Nie Zhe runs to his house and discovers that his mother has been murdered and Jie Shu hurt and he swears that he’ll kill Xia Lei in order to get revenge for his mother’s death.

 

Jie Shu is desperate and she doesn’t want that he leaves her and they finally become husband and wife and, if I understood well, she tells Nie Zhe that she’ll let him go when she’ll be sure that she is pregnant with his child. When this day comes, she prepares his clothes, his sword and his shoes and she leaves the house in order that he doesn’t see her crying when he’ll leave the house.

 

During his journey, Nie Zhe finds one of Yan Zhong’s men and this latter leads him to his master. When this latter knows that Nie Zhe has finally decided to help him and in order to convince him to really do it, he transforms himself as an old man with white hair and doesn’t hesitate to break his teeth and when he sees him, Nie Zhe is more and more furious against Xia Lei and he promises Yan Zhong that he’ll avenge him.

In the Han kingdom, Nie Zhe meets again with the whip fighter and the two of them go to kill Xia Lei and Nie Zhe literally cuts him in two pieces. In order that no one can recognize him, Nie Zhe disfigures himself after the murder and kills himself.

 

When she has learnt that both her brother and her sister-in-law have disappeared from their house, Nie Rong has understood that her brother has gone to the Han Kingdom and she leaves her baby and her husband in order to go there.

At the same moment Nie Zhe dies, she feels that he is dead and when she arrives in the town and sees his dead body hanged on a pillar, she cries and tell all the people around what is the whole story that lead her brother to become an assassin, and then she kills herself.

 

The “ Beggar So “ alike master comes to Nie Zhe’s family grave and finds Jie Shu and he understands that she is his wife and he tells her to go with him and become his god-daughter.

 

 

Story 4 : Yü Rang

 

Yü Rang works as a soldier for the ministers Fan and Zhong in the Jin kingdom and he has a best friend called Tin Qi (if I understood well). As the two families despise him, he decides to leave the country, but Fan’s son chases him with his men in order to kill him. Among his men, there is Tin Qi.

Yü Rang takes shelter in the house of the woman who loves Tin Qi, Hui Hui, who lives there with her grandfather. As Yü Rang doesn’t want to go out, Fan tells him that he doesn’t go out, he’ll kill Tin Qi, so, Yü Rang goes out and Fan forces Tin Qi to fight with his best friend. The Prince Zhi comes and stops the fight and goes away with Yü Rang, who becomes his most important soldier, which provokes Minister Tian’s jealousy.

Zhi’s daughter Xiang Ling falls for Yü Rang, but he only thinks of being a good soldier for Prince Zhi. This latter decides to defeat Fan and Zhong and he allies with the kingdoms Han, Wei and Zhao and the two ministers are killed and Tin Qi escapes.

 

Xiang Ling is very jealous of the new wife of her father, Tie, and she doesn’t want to be kind with her, but when she falls ill and she discovers that it’s Ti who has taken care of her day and night, she finally becomes friend with her.

Later, during a banquet, Yü Rang finally meets Zhi’s wife and he discovers that she is his own wife he had lost ten years ago : during a duel, he had been badly hurt by a man who left a scar on his forehead and kidnapped his wife, who thought that her husband was dead.

 

During a walk in the forest with Zhi and some men, Tin Qi tries to kill Zhi and Yü Rang stops him and they fight. Ti Qi’s armour is suddenly broken and Yü Rang kills him by accident. He is so devastated to have killed his best friend that he falls ill and Xiang Ling cures him. When she hears that maybe Yü Rang won’t recover, Tie goes to see him by night and when he discovers her, they cry in each other’s arms and Zhi arrives very furious (Tie’s maid has told him what happened) and Minister Tian, (who was suspicious when he saw how Tie and Yü Rang had react when they met during the banquet) puts Yü Rang in jail, while Zhi beats his wife. This latter explains him that actually, she is Yü Rang’s wife and, after a discussion with an old minister who is Yü Rang’s friend, Zhi decides to give Tie back to Yü Rang and let them live together.

When she learns that, Xiang Ling is so furious that she leaves the palace and Yü Rang promises Zhi that he’ll bring his daughter back and he asks his servant Xiao Bai to take care of his wife.

 

During her journey, Xiang Ling (disguised as a man) meets Zhao Wang, who helps her when she is chased by bandits and while they are attacked, Yü Rang arrives and helps them and even saves Zhao Wang’s life, because he has been bitten by a snake. The two men finally become blood brothers and, while they are returning to Zhi’s palace with Xiang Ling, they are attacked by Minister Tian’s men, this latter having asked them to kill both Yü Rang and Xiang Ling. One of the two assassins is killed by Yü Rang, but the other is saved by Prince Zhao’s men.

 

When they return to the palace, Xiang Ling discovers that her father has another wife, who is a courtesan he met thanks to Minister Tian, and that the second wife is pregnant and she becomes furious.

 

Zhi then decides to invade Zhao kingdom and he allies with Wei and Han kingdoms in order to succeed. Though Yü Rang doesn’t agree with his plans, as well as the old minister, Zhi listens to Minister Tian’s ideas and the old minister dies. Then, Yü Rang elaborates a strategy to win the war, he diverts the river in order that the town is destroyed by the flood during the storm.

Wei and Han kingdom then decide to ally with Zhao and Minister Tian, and they also divert the river, which lead to Zhi and his men being surrounded by the river. When he discovers that his allies have betrayed him, and when Minister Tian tells him that his wife is actually his mistress and that she is pregnant with his own baby, Zhi is furious and there is a fight, and he is decapitated by Zhao, who takes Zhi’s head as a cup for his wine.

 

Yü Rang succeeds in escaping and he hurries to the palace in order to save Xiang Ling and his wife, and they escape with Xiao Bai, but Xiang Ling’s maid, Xiao Yü, can’t follow them (Xiao Yü and Xiao Bai are in love).

 

Yü Rang and Xiao Bai swear to avenge Zhi’s death and they go to Zhao’s palace and decapitate Minister Tian, but Yü Rang is hurt on the leg and they are prisoners. Zhao asks Yü Rang what he wants and Yü Rang tells him that he wants to avenge Zhi’s death because he is loyal to him. Zhao’s elder son and his uncle want Zhao to kill the two prisoners, but Zhao’s younger son, who is no one else than Zhao Wang, asks his father to let them go, because Yü Rang is his friend. Zhao agrees to let them go and Yü Rang asks him to give him both Minister Tian and Zhi’s heads and he leaves, together with Xiao Bai.

However, Zhao’s elder son and his uncle take men and chase them in order to kill them. They are helped by a former officer of Zhi, but he is killed and fortunately, Zhao Wang arrives and tells his brother that if he wants to kill Yü Rang, he’ll have to kill him first and there is a fight. When he sees that his brother shoots an arrow to Yü Rang, he throws his sword. The sword cuts the arrow and kills his brother and then, the fight stops and both Wang and Yü Rang holds their dead friend and brother and separate with sadness.

 

Yü Rang, Xiang Ling, Tie and Xiao Bai go to another town and Xiang Ling is so desperate because she doesn’t have any family, that Tie asks Yü Rang to marry her and they both swear in front of Zhi’s funeral tablet that they’ll give him a descendants (if I understood well).

Later, Xiao Bai and Tie meet with Xiao Yü and the two servants marry. Yü Rang still thinks of avenging Zhi’s death and Tie is desperate. Then Xiang Ling gives birth to a boy and Yü Rang and Xiao Bai then leave the house and ask Xiao Yü to take care of the two wives and the baby.

 

In order that Zhao doesn’t  recognize him, Yü Rang asks Xiao Bai to cut his hair in order that he looks like a beggar, he rubs his face with some herbs that leave buttons and scars on his face and he asks Xiao Bai to return to his family and take care of them, while he begins to beg in the town. One day, he meets his two wives in the street and when Xiang Ling recognizes his voice, he escapes and swallows charcoal in order to transform his voice too and later, he goes to his house to beg some food and there is only Tie who recognizes him and is desperate when he leaves ; he also goes to Hui Hui’s house and she gives him some food, but she is not sure to have recognized him, while his grandfather knows who the beggar is.

Yü Rang also meets Zhao Wang, who finally recognizes him after he’s gone and he is desperate to see what his friend has become.

While he is taking a walk on a bridge, Zhao is attacked by Yü Rang and this latter has to fight with Zhao Wang, who begs him to give up his vengeance.

When he sees how faithful to Zhi Yü Rang is, Zhao hesitates to kill him and Yü Rang asks him to let him at least destroy his clothes with his sword before killing him. Zhao agrees and after cutting the coat with his sword, Yü Rang kills himself and Zhao falls ill and dies several days later.

 

 

I didn’t find many informations on Jing Ke, Zhuan Zhu, Nie Zhe and Yü Rang on the internet (only a few lines on each of them) and I don’t know how faithful to History this series is, but it’s a very good one. Jing Ke and Yü Rang’s stories are the most serious ones. There is a little bit of humour in Zhuan Zhu and Nie Zhe’s stories and, in my opinion, these two ones are the most touching ones, showing how bad people have taken advantage on two naïve men by using their loyalty and righteousness in order to kill others.

I read somewhere that this series didn’t have a great audience and I really wonder why : Adam Cheng’s performance is very good in this series and  he succeeds in portraying four different characters without using the same way of acting, and each of them is endearing.

 

I don’t know who is the woman who sings the themes, but the songs are very good too, as well as the martial arts, though the fights are very quick so, it’s a little bit difficult to see all what happens, and sometimes they are short too, but it’s good fights.

I really enjoyed this series ; it’s just too bad that the quality print wasn’t very good, as well as the sound, and there was even an episode without any sound, but well, at least, I finally got it and I don’t regret it !!

 

 

 

Additional comment : I read somewhere that Nie Zhe's story was also told in the Shaw Brothers' movie The assassin, Wang Yu playing Adam's role in the movie and from what I remember, it's true since when I saw the scene with Nie Zhe's sister crying and telling everybody who the dead body was, it rang a bell in my mind...

 

[ShawAngela]

Storm in Shanghai ATV 1989

The characters

Ma Xiao Tian (Adam Cheng)

Suen Xiao Dong (his lover)

Lu Fo Shen (his servant, considered as his brother by Ma Xiao Tian)

Boss Cao

Wong Yu Lan (this latter mistress)

Xiao Hao (a young vagabond)

She Xiong (Xiao Dong’s best friend ; he loves her but never tells her due to her love for Xiao Tian)

Chang Bun (Ma Xiao Tian’s best friend, son of a magistrate)

Ma Yi Wen (Ma Xiao Tian’s elder son)

Ma Yi Wu (second son)

Ma Yi Chuen (third son)

Ma Yi Sai (last son)

Ma Yi Mei (Ma Xiao Tian’s adoptive daughter)

Yu Hong (love interest on both Ma Yi Wen and Ma Yi Wu)

Ku Yu He (Wong Yu Lan’s son)

Hua society members

Xiao Hao’s godfather (a former skilled gambler)

Boss Huo (Lee Tao Hung)

Tien Ze (Fo Shen’s son)

 

 

 

Ma Xiao Tian is the son of a rich family and his best friend is Chang Bun, the son of the magistrate of the town. One day, an officer comes to the Ma’s and tries to steal two jade horses and Xiao Tian threatens him with his own gun in order that he leave the horses and his father lectures him and tells him that they will have problems due to what he done.

During a students’ march, while Xiao Tian and his servant Fo Shen return at home, their carriage hurt a young girl, Suen Xiao Dong and Ma Xiao Tian remarks her. Xiao Dong is the best friend of her neighbor She Xiong and she helps him to take care of his blind mother. She Xiong is a teacher who leads the students’ march and he is hurt by the soldiers.

Ma Xiao Tian has a pocket watch and he has a friendly sword fight with Chang Bun who wants the watch, but it’s him who wins. Later, the two of them go to watch an opera show and Xiao Tian recognizes Xiao Dong among the artists, but Chang Bun is also interested in her. However, Xiao Tian goes to see her in the back stage and he offers her his pocket watch in order to compensate for the accident. Later, he meets She Xiong and wants to help him to escape the soldiers, but She Xiong doesn’t have any confidence in him because he is a rich man.

 

Chang Bun’s father wants to take revenge on the Ma’s and he  frames the old Ma, telling that he hides drugs (actually, it’s him who deals with the drugs) and he puts him in jail, while Xiao Tian escapes according to Old Ma’s orders and he hides in She Xiong’s house.

During the night, the magistrate Chang asks old Ma in order to know where  his son is and as he doesn’t want to talk, he puts the prison on fire, though Chang Bun asks him to not do so. Fo Shen succeeds in escaping from his cell and he tries to save his master, and when Ma Xiao Tian, She Xiong and several students and people of the Ma’s arrive, it’s only to find Fo Shen escaping with the burnt body of his master on his shoulders. Old Ma dies in his son’s arms and Chang Bun is as sad as the Ma’s people and Xiao Tian want’s to kill his father, but he has to escape due to the soldiers and their guns.

Later, during a show of the opera troupe, Ma Xiao Tian plays an artist in the troupe and with She Xiong, Fo Shen and Xiao Dong’s help, he finally succeeds in killing his father’s murderer, but Chang Bun swears that he will take revenge on him and the  four of them have to escape, She Xiong being hurt by a gun.

 

They arrive in Shanghai without any money and they witness a young vagabond stealing a woman’s purse and some bandits chasing him. The young vagabond takes the money out of the purse and leaves a note book. When one of the bandit finds the note book, he sees that it’s full of informations regarding his boss’ business and he decides to sell it to another boss of the town. Later, Xiao Tian sees the guy selling the note book to the other gang.

The four fugitives find a shelter under a bridge but they are almost chased by the young vagabond, who tells them that it’s his place, and they finally become friend with him. His name is Xiao Hao and he leads them to a restaurant in order to have a good meal, planning to steal another purse in order to pay. But Xiao Tian don’t let him steal again and they are about to be chased from the restaurant when a boss arrives and his men recognize Xiao Hao and they want to kill him, telling that it’s him who stole the note book. Xiao Tian and Fo Shen fight in order to save him and Xiao Tian explains what he saw to the boss, who decides to help him and gives him some money in order that they can find clothes and a place where to stay.

 

Later, Suen Xiao Dong finds a job as a singer, and Ma Xiao Tian becomes a rickshaw puller and he meets boss Cao, whose mistress Wong Yu Lan has a crush on him. As Xiao Tian helps Boss Cao several times against the other boss (I forgot his name), he becomes his chauffeur.

Meanwhile, the other boss wants to take revenge on him and Fo Shen, Xiao Tian, Xiao Hao and Xiao Dong find a shelter in a kind of shanty town where lives Xiao Hao’s godfather, who welcomes them without any problem, though he is very poor.

Wong Yu Lan tries to seduce Ma Xiao Tian, but he doesn’t want her, first, because she is Boss Cao’s mistress, and second, because he is in love with Suen Xiao Dong. She makes him believe that she understands, but she does all what she can to cheat him. She pays men to rape Xiao Dong, and then, on Fo Shen’s wedding day, she pays the same men to rape the bride, but Fo Shen and the others arrive and Fo Shen kills two of the rapists. The other two are so angry that they kidnap Wong Yu Lan and Ma Xiao Tian, Fo Shen and She Xiong go to save her and She Xiong realizes that there is something wrong when she kills one of the kidnappers in order to avoid that he tells the truth. He tells everybody that she isn’t a good person, but nobody wants to believe him. When she discovers that it’s Yu Lan who planned her rape, and when Yu Lan tells her that Ma Xiao Tian won’t want her anymore when he’ll know that she isn’t pure anymore, Suen Xiao Dong leaves the shanty town and Xiao Tian is devastated.

In order to find money to pay back the “ owner “ of Fo Shen’s wife (who was a prostitute and was pregnant when Fo Shen saved her),  Xiao Hao’s godfather, who was a great gambler in the past and had his hand cut due to some rules in a gamble, decides to play again and he meets his former opponent and then, it’s Xiao Tian who plays thanks to his teaching and he wins. The organizer of the play was Boss Cao, but Boss Huo (who seems to be his friend but is actually his enemy)  pays men to kill the old man and on the night of the funeral, they put the shanty town on fire and Fo Shen’s wife dies when trying to save him. Ma Xiao Tian is so angry that he believes that it’s Boss Cao who did it and he wants to kill him, but his daughter Pei Shan (who he met a while ago and who has a crush on him) tells him that it’s impossible and Boss Cao promises him that he will find who the culprit is and that he will punish him.

Boss Huo has a crush on Suen Xiao Dong and he takes her to his house. Meanwhile, he has a secret basement where he experiments some mortal gas. She Xiong meets a former teacher he knew and she tells him that another teacher has disappeared when he was investigating on Boss Huo’s business.

Ma Xiao Tian and She Xiong finally discover what Boss Huo does and they go to tell the French legation what happens, but when they arrive, everything has disappeared.

When he finds that Xiao Dong lives now with Boss Huo, Xiao Tian is even more devastated and he is so drunk that he sleeps with Wong Yu Lan.

Meanwhile, Boss Cao finally discovers that Boss Huo has paid people to put the shanty town on fire and to frame him and he tells Xiao Tian the truth, and he also tells him to marry his daughter who is in love with him and that if he refuses, his relatives would suffer. So, Xiao Tian agrees to marry Pei Shan, but this latter hear a dispute between Xiao Tian and Xiao Dong, who has told the truth to She Xiong. Xiao Tian wants her to return with him, but she doesn’ t want to because Boss Huo, after raping her, has agreed to not kill Xiao Tian as long as Xiao Dong will stay with him (but she doesn’t tell that to Xiao Tian, of course. Before the agreement to the marriage, they had planned to escape, but Boss Huo discovered that Xiao Dong was still in love with Xiao Tian and that’s why he raped her) and Pei Shan is very sad, but they still marry.

 

On the wedding day, Boss Huo’s men kill Boss Cao and this latter shows him with his finger to Xiao Tian before diying and Xiao Tian swears to take revenge on him, but Pei Shan asks him to give up because she doesn’t want to loose him. So, despite all the bad deeds Boss Huo does, Xiao Tian holds on his revenge until he finally succeeds in proving to the French legation that Boss Huo has this mortal gas in his possession and then, there is a fight between the two men and Xiao Tian finally kills Boss Huo who wanted to take Xiao Dong as hostage.

Then She Xiong and Xiao Dong decide to leave. Ma Xiao Tian asks Xiao Dong to stay with him, but she says that he is already married and that it’s impossible, so, he is even more sad than before when he sees her leaving.

 

Chang Bun appears in the town and he wants to take revenge on Ma Xiao Tian for his father’s murder and he begins to try to ruin all Xiao Tian’s business. When Xiao Tian finally finds out who is trying to ruin him, he tries to explain Chang Bun that he had been him, he would also had avenge his father’s death by killing Xiao Tian’s father, so, he asks him to forgive him, but Chang Bun doesn’t want to. Meanwhile, the Ma’s have met a young girl and have given her the job of teacher of their four boys, Yi Wen, Yi Wu, Yi Chuen and Yi Sai. It appears that this girl is Chang Bun’s lost fiancée and when she discovers that her fiancé wants to kill her boss, she tells him that she doesn’t want to marry anymore. For the sake of her love, the two men finally decide to forgive each other and they become friends again. However, it doesn’t please other bosses of the town (I don’t remember if this happens before Boss Huo’s death of if it’s him who plans what I describe after this) who try to frame the two men by making them believe that they want each other’s death.

The Changs are now parents of a little girl, Yi Mei. During a chase, a guy tries to kill Chang Bun, who faints near a cliff, and Xiao Tian and Fo Shen go to save him and Xiao Tian kills the killer, while Chang Bun’s right hand man has been hurt. When he awakes, Chang Bun sees Xiao Tian with the gun who comes near him and he thinks that he wants to kill him and, without listening to what Xiao Tian says, he attacks him and they fight and Chang Bun falls form the cliff. Xiao Tian tries to save him, but Chang Bun falls and dies and his man sees only one thing, his master is dead and Xiao Tian was there, so, he believes that it’s Xiao Tian who killed his master.

When she learns about her husband death, Miss Chang doesn’t want to believe that Ma Xiao Tian has nothing to do with it and she decides to kill him. Unfortunately, instead of killing him, she kills Pei Shan and she is killed by the French police. Before diying, Pei Shan asks Xiao Tian if he really loved her and she also asks him to take care of Yi Mei and she dies when he tells her that he loves her. Of course, Xiao Tian is devastated…

 

 

Years later, in the 1920’s

Ma Xiao Tian is now a very famous boss in Shanghai and one of the other bosses is jealous of him because his son looses to Yi Wen and Yi Wu in a fencing competition.

The fourth son, Yi Sai is very capricious and seems to be simple minded. Though he loves his father and his father loves him, they can’t communicate properly because Yi Sai thinks that his father doesn’t love him and he is always crying and shouting. One day where he is drunk in a bar, he meets a guy, Tu Huan (if I heard well) who is the boss’ son and he offers him money to drink, play and go to the girls. There, he meets a prostitute and falls for her and he becomes addicted to opium. In order to get more money and more opium, he hides opium in his father’s merchandises and when the other bosses discover that, they tell Ma Xiao Tian to go to his warehouse and see if they tell the truth. When he discovers what Yi Sai has done, Ma Siao Tian is furious and the other bosses ask him to kill his son, but of course, he can’t do it, and while he is arguing with his men, Yi Sai steals his gun and kills himself.

Fo Shen’s son, Tien Ze, and Yi Wu decide to avenge Yi Sai’s death and they kidnap Tu Huan and make him being addicted to opium as he had done to Yi Sai.

Meanwhile, Xiao Dong’s friend, Xiao Ming, arrives in Shanghai and she goes to the Ma’s in order to give a letter to Xiao Tian, in which Xiao Dong asks him to take care of Xiao Ming. She immediately falls for him, but he only sees her as a friend. Tu Huan’s father kidnaps Xiao Ming and Yi Mei and agrees to an exchange for his son, one for one. He then releases Yi Mei, but keeps Xiao Ming and there’s a fight and finally Xiao Tian kills him when he was about to kill Xiao Ming. As Tu Huan is already punished by being drug addicted, Xiao Tian tells him that he won’t kill him and he let him go.

A Japanese guy called Ku Yu He appears in town and he approaches the Ma’s by becoming Yi Wu and Yi Wen’s friend and by courting Yi Mei. First, she doesn’t want him, but he acts so well that she finally falls for him, but he is only interested in Xiao Ming and tries to seduce her too, but she doesn’t want him.

Ku Yu He has a supposed cousin, Yu Hong and when they see her, both Yi Wen and Yi Wu fall for her, but Yi Wu acts first and they begin to date, while Yi Wen gives up for his brother’s sake. However, Yu Hong makes each of the brothers believe that she in love with him and she even tells Yi Wen that Yi Wu has raped her and there is a fight between the two brothers, and later, when she makes them believe that she is pregnant, Ma Xiao Tian and Ku Yu He agree on the wedding between Yi Wen and Yi Wu. Of course, Yi Wu is desperate and none of them is aware that Yu Hong is actually Yu He’s mistress and that he has planned all that. On the wedding day, Yu Hong makes Yi Wu believe that she wants to kill her and Yi Wu takes the gun in order to avoid that she does it and when Yi Wen arrives, they fight and Yi Wu accidentally kills his brother during the fight. Of course, Ma Xiao Tian is devastated and he asks his men to lead Yi Wu out of Shanghai, but he escapes from the train and returns to Ku’s house and tells Yu Hong that he wants to escape with her and marry her elsewhere. When she sees that he really loves her and that Yu He has only eyes for Xiao Ming, Yu Hong decides to agree.

Yi Chuen loves women and he falls for a supposed drunken woman he met in the street and when he awakes in the morning, he discovers that the woman is dead in the bed and a photograph takes a picture of him near the corpse and asks him for money if he doesn’t want that all the town believe he has killed a woman. Yi Chuen tries to rob his father, but he falls form the window and he stays handicapped.

Meanwhile, Ku Yu He has planned a kind of war clans, making some bosses believe that their men are killed by Ma Xiao Tian and making Ma Xiao Tian believe that his men are killed by the  Hua society’s bosses, so, there are a lot of misunderstanding and during one of them, Fo Shen cuts his own hand in place of Ma Xiao Tian. This latter later agrees to go to see the Hua Society’s members for another reunion, and Ku Yu He tells Ma Yi Wu that he’ll give him money in order that he can escape with Yu Hong and leave the town only if he helps him to kill someone he hates and Yi Wu agrees, without knowing that it’s his father that Yu He wants him to kill.

So, Ma Xiao Tian’s car is trapped and there is a gun fight. When she understands that Yi Wu is about to kill his father, Yu Hong hurries to the place where there is the gunfight and she is killed, as well as Yi Wu, who tells his father that he didn’t know that it was him in the car. Xiao Tian goes to the Hua society with his son’s corpse and tells them that since they have killed his son, they will see how he takes revenge on him, but they all say that they aren’t the murderers. Among the society’s members, there is one who is loyal to Xiao Tian and they go to another room in order to discuss and they make a plan in order to discover who tries to frame both the society and Xiao Tian.

 

Ku Yu He discovers that Yi Mei isn’t Ma Xiao Tian’s daughter and he also finds Chang Bun’s right hand man and when he is supposed to take a walk with Yi Mein they meet the old man who tells the whole story to Yi Mei, and tells her that it’s Ma Xiao Tian who killed her parents. She is so furious that she wants to kill Xiao Tian, but of course, she can’t and she leaves and goes to Ku’s house.

Xiao Tian finally discovers that it’s Ku Yu He who has planned all what happened to his sons and to him and the Hua society’s members and he is about to kill him when Wong Yu Lan appears and tells him that he can’t kill Yu He because he is their son. Both men are furious, because Xiao Tian doesn’t want to accept this monster as his son, and Yu He doesn’t want to be a Chinese and doesn’t want Xiao Tian as father.

While he is prisoner in Xiao Tian’s house, one of his ninjas takes his place and kills himself with a bomb, making everybody believe that Ku Yu He is dead. Wong Yu Lan tries to kill Xiao Ming in order to avenge her son’s death, and she finally kills herself in Xiao Tian’s bed.

 

I forgot to tell that Xiao Hao has returned from England and that he has become one of Xiao Tian’s men and has helped him against Ku Yu He, and that he has fallen for Yi Mei. After Yu He’s “ death “, Yi Mei returns at home, but only to tell Xiao Tian that she doesn’t want to stay and that she leaves with Xiao Hao to England, and Xiao Tian feels so sad once again.

 

After his mother’s death, Ku Yu He reappears and there are other deaths among Xiao Tian’s people and Xiao Tian is framed for a murder and discover that his illegitimate son is again behind all this. While Xiao Tian and Tien Ze are away, Ku Yu He and his men go to the Ma’s and they kill Yi Chuen, and Fo Shen’s wife and when Xiao Tian, Xiao Dong (who has returned on the same day Xiao Tian married Xiao Ming), Xiao Ming and Tien Ze arrive, Tien Ze sees that there is a bomb on Yi Chuen’s corpse and he jumps on it in order to save  the others. Xiao Dong, Xiao Ming, Fo Shen and Xiao Tian goes to the loyal boss of the Hua society in order to hide and cure Xiao Tian’s wound. Meanwhile, Fo Shen decides to avenge his son’s and his wife’s death and, after disfiguring himself with vitriol, he attacks Yu He when he leaves the Hua society, where he killed one of the bosses and threatened the others if they help Ma Xiao Tian, and he takes Ku Yu He in his arms in order to explode with him, but Yu He pulls off electrical cables and poor Fo Shen dies electrocuted and exploded.

 

When he learns that, Xiao Tian is devastated and he goes for a duel with Ku Yu He. Meanwhile, Xiao Ming has gone to see this latter and has offered herself to him if he doesn’t kill his father, but Yu He doesn’t want her and there is finally the duel, but Xiao Tian only hurts his son and he goes away with Xiao Ming and Xiao Dong.

 

Yu He’s chief in the Japanese legation has finally learnt that he is Ma Xiao Tian’s son and he doesn’t want him anymore because he is Chinese and Yu He shouts that he is Japanese and he finally kills himself with the samurai sabre in order to prove that he is a real Japanese.

 

As they both love Xiao Tian, Xiao Dong and Xiao Ming have a long discussion, but I’m unable to tell what they said. The result is that Xiao Dong leaves again, though Ma Xiao Tian asks her to stay, but she doesn’t want to, since he is married to Xiao Ming. But Xiao Ming also leaves him because she knows that he still loves Xiao Dong, so, poor Ma Xiao Tian stay alone, without any wife nor children…

 

 

What a superb series, full of twists, fights (sword, knives, bare hands, guns), and emotion !

I said in another review that I wasn’t really interested in triads’ stories and that Once upon a time in Shanghai had made me change my mind a little bit, but this series is even better than Once upon a time in Shanghai and I enjoyed each second of it. Of course, there are some parts of the plot that I didn’t tell and what I wrote is only a part of the plot, since I don’t understand everything and there are no subtitles, but what a plot and what a wonderful series !

 

I didn't like Yi Sai's character, always crying, shouting, opposing to his father !

 

What a so sad fate Adam's family has in this series just because of the crazy love of a woman for him ! Adam brought such emotion in the sad scenes that he made me cry ! What a superb actor he is !  I know that I already said that, but this series has proven me that I was right since the beginning in my appreciation of his talent !

 

Of course, if I made some mistakes in the plot or in the names, you're welcome to correct me, as usual...

 

 

The beginning theme is excellent, and the ending one is a little bit less good, but still good. And the locations are beautiful.

 

For those who speak Mandarin, don’t miss this series, it’s worth watching !!