The Prince's Shadow

Well-versed in both literature and martial arts, KO SING has been a retinue of Emperor KIN LUNG for many years. He helps LUNG to solve all kinds of problems, such as providing effective solution for the over-budget issue in cannon production. Since SING is such a genius, LUNG is jealous of him and never grants him an official title in the palace. Eunuch ON GOONG GOONG has selected some new maidservants for the palace and YUE YEE was chosen to work in the laundry. With the help of SING, LUNG is able to gain full control over the state and its policies. However, he is not able to choose the woman he truly want in the seraglio since the empress manipulates all the results of their “Turn the Tag” activities. LUNG is very upset about it and SING helps him to alter the Tags secretly. In this way, LADY SHUI, a blanked concubine at the seraglio, is able to serve the emperor eventually.

SHUI never gets the chance to serve the emperor again. Out of loneliness, she commits adultery with the chief guard SOK LOK TO. The empress tries to prevent SHUI from serving the emperor in every means and claims that SHUI is sick. LUNG is angry inside and knows that it’s the empress’ trick. In order find out the trick behind, SING sneaks into the seraglio. YEE passes by and misconceives him as a peeper. SING explains his mission to her and she helps him to escape. YEE and SING have a lot of misunderstandings in the beginning but develop good rapport with each other after a period of time. The empress learns that somebody has sneaked into the seraglio and orders TO to catch this person. LUNG meets YEE and falls in love with her at first sight. SHUI is pregnant and asks TO to leave the palace with her. LUNG is angry at the empress’s tricks and claims that he will not practice “Turn the Tag” anymore……

LUNG has a crush on YEE but afraid that the empress will know it. On one occasion, LUNG finds that YEE is SING’s maid and asks SING to arrange a secret date for him. SING passes the message to YEE but she refuses to go. SING doesn’t know how to tell this to LUNG. YEE once discover the secret affairs between SHUI and TO. TO decides to take revenge. He dresses in black and attacks YEE. Luckily, the palace guard CHAU YAT CHING rescues her. TO leaves behind a sachet given by SHUI. CHING picks up the sachet and decides to use it as an evidence for arresting TO. In order to save himself, TO shifts the blame onto CHING by tricks and defames him for committing adultery with YEE. The empress steps in to judge the adultery case between CHING and YEE. In order to be fair, she invites several concubines from the seraglio to be the jury. LUNG wants to save YEE but he couldn’t find a way to do so. He therefore asks SING to sit in during the trial……

In order to enhance the good reputation of the seraglio, the empress asks SING to keep SHUI’s adultery case a secret in front of LUNG. SING has no choice but to do as requested. TO is afraid of being caught and tries to snatch the identical sachet from SHUI. SHUI falls into the well accidentally while fighting with TO and she dies. SING is suspicious about SHUI’s death. He speculates that the man in black attacked YEE because YEE knows his secret. CHING agrees. SHUI dies mysteriously and YEE asks SING to investigate. SING uses tricks to elicit the man in black and finally discovers that this man is TO. SING and CHING try to arrest TO together. TO falls into the well accidentally while fighting back and he dies. SHUI’s case is over and the empress reminds SING to keep this a secret. The empress finds YEE’s portrait at LUNG’s place and realizes that he loves YEE.

The empress is jealous of YEE and plans to send her away from the palace. YEE comes to tidy up SING’s room on schedule and LUNG seizes the chance to approach her. YEE misconceives that SING has arranged this for LUNG and feels like being betrayed. ON sells YEE to some human traffickers. LUNG is enraged after knowing it and beats him cruelly. LUNG cannot forget YEE and uses an excuse to send SING away in order to look for YEE. He also appoints CHING to help SING on the way. SING finds that YEE has been sold to Yangzhou and they are amazed to find plenty of brothels in this small city. SING arrives at Man Fa House. The four famous prostitutes – MAVIS, WARBLER, MAGPIE and CUCKOO – are all very talented and give all customers a test on their knowledge of wine. SING accepts the challenge and achieves a complete triumph. Everybody admires him……

While SING is competing with SAM, a group of snakes suddenly appears. SAM misconceives that SING comes all the way to make trouble and fights with him. Chief cop NIN MAU LAM brings them back to court. Judge YEUNG KOO realizes that SING and CHING are appointed by the emperor and treats the case cautiously. KOO later finds that it was only a misunderstanding and releases them. Local tyrant CHAU YAT BING is CHING’s cousin. After they have reunited, BING uses CHING’s name to manage human trafficking black market with LAM. SING feels ill after eating unhygienic food and KOO worries that SING will blame him for poor management of the city. SAM understands KOO’s worries and suggests him arrange a banquet for SING so that SING will develop a good impression on Yangzhou. SING finds that items from the palace are being sold in shops and he speculates that YEE has been sold to this place……

CHING is penniless but agrees to pay high price in the auction to save YEE. BING’s partner CHUNG PONG requests CHING to settle the payment before the deadline and persuades him to put his guard belt in pledge for the money. Man Fa House appears to be a brothel but is actually a shelter for the poor girls. SAM teaches the girls special skills to make a living. SAM learns that YEE has been sold to the human trafficker. SAM always behaves righteously and decides to rescue YEE. SAM makes use of PONG to buy YEE at a higher price from CHING. CHING is very upset. YEE misconceives that SAM wants her to become a prostitute and hates her very much. YEE runs away from Man Fa House and meets CHING on the way. They meet SIU YING who runs away from the human traffickers and realize that many other poor girls are trapped in the warehouse. YEE rescues all the girls recklessly. LAM and BING witness all these……

SING is angry with SAM, mistaking that SAM is forcing YEE to become a prostitute. SAM explains her motives to him and SING realizes that he has misunderstood her. LAM arrests YEE, pointing that she has set the warehouse on fire and YEE denies. KOO orders YEE to compensate for the lost of the warehouse owner PONG. In order to help YEE, SAM puts Man Fa House in pledge for a loan. YEE is puzzled that SAM has helped her again and again. She realizes that she has misunderstood SAM after hearing her explanation. In order to save YEE, CHING asks PONG to borrow money from triad member BAK AP FU. SAM tries to take out all her savings but they’re still insufficient and she is distressed. SING and SAM are both worried about YEE. They chat and resort to drink together. CHING pays the money to PONG and YEE is released. CHING realizes that BING has used his name to cheat in town and he is enraged……

LAM kills BING and imputes the blame to YEE. YEE mistakenly believes that she is the murderer. A warrant is being issued for the arrest of CHING and YEE. While trying to protect YEE, CHING is arrested. CHING loves YEE and is willing to take up the blame for her. SING understands CHING’s mind but persuades him to tell the truth. SING collects evidence from the murdering location and finds a lot of doubtful points. KOO is afraid of troubles and refuses to investigate further even if he knows that this is a case of injustice. YEE finds SING secretly and tells him about the devilment of LAM. SAM accompanies YEE to the court for a righteous judgment. LAM suddenly comes and tries to kill them. Luckily, SING rescues them and subdues LAM in time. SING saves Man Fa House. YEE and CHING are released. SAM and other members from Man Fa House are all very grateful. They set up a banquet as a celebration but KOO comes with a bad news.

KOO claims that the real warehouse owner is KWAN CHEONG. CHEONG provides evidence of ownership and chases SAM for compensation. CHEONG loves to collect LUNG’s belongings. SING draws a painting in the name of LUNG and earns a great sum of money by selling it to CHEONG. He uses the money to purchase Man Fa House and becomes the new owner. SAM and other prostitutes are very grateful. In order to please SING, the four famous prostitutes fight with each other and SAM tries to stop them. YEE wants to start a new life in Man Fa House rather than going back to the palace. SING respects her decision. The four famous prostitutes teach YEE their special skills. YEE is smart and spends only one day to learn all the skills and techniques. After going through all the difficulties, YEE gradually develops affections towards SING. SAM notices that SING also likes YEE a lot and encourages him to reveal his love to YEE……

YEE realizes that SING has caught a cold because his bathtub is too small. She therefore searches around the city and finally buys a big one for him. SING is delighted to have this special gift from YEE and he feels like living in the palace again. After a series of training, YEE is on stage eventually. With her beauty and extraordinary encounters, many customers are attracted to Man Fa House. LUNG gets the news of SING and sneaks out of the palace to meet him without informing the empress. LUNG arrives at Yangzhou and is amazed by its prosperity and splendors. He is very happy to discover that SING has bought Man Fa House by selling a painting in his name. SING worries if LUNG will blame him for creating the fake painting but LUNG is actually satisfied with his action for Man Fa House will make an ideal place for him to stay close to YEE. YEE worries that she need to serve LUNG but SAM consoles her that there should be alternatives.

SAM knows that LUNG is fond of women. In order to please him, SAM asks all famous prostitutes to play and drink with him. After several days, LUNG is bored of the games and asks SING to “Turn the Tags” for him so that a woman would be selected to serve him personally. SAM is being selected. SING wants to help her but he is afraid of offending LUNG. SAM is reluctant to serve LUNG. She rebels against LUNG and finally subdues him. The empress suddenly appears to take LUNG away from Man Fa House. The empress advises LUNG to return to the palace but LUNG claims that he needs to visit an important courtier, CHAN SAI KUNG, in Haining. SING has to follow LUNG to Haining and he says goodbye to all the members in Man Fa House sadly. While waiting for LUNG in Yangzhou, the empress visits her old home and offers sacrifices to her ancestors. SAM has a bad experience with hooligan HA SHAN FU. She gives him money and asks him to leave Yangzhou.

SHAN loses all his money on gambling. He steals money from the gambling table and is beaten fiercely by local tyrants. On one occasion, SHAN meets a penniless teacher LAU MAN CHAI who earns a living by selling his paintings. LUNG is surprised to find that the people respect and support KUNG very much. The Seven Sister Festival is round the corner; the empress goes to a market for sightseeing and meets her puppy lover CHAI again. LUNG wants to know why his deceased father respected and trusted KUNG a lot so he visits KUNG to figure out the reason. In order to hide his true identity, LUNG dresses in foreigner costumes with SING to join KUNG’s birthday banquet. KUNG’s wife is overjoyed to see LUNG and hugs him affectionately. LUNG is puzzled with her behavior. SHAN has offended AP. CHAI is innocently embroiled into the conflicts and is beaten by AP fiercely. The empress tries to help CHAI by leaving a valuable bracelet at his home……

SHAN put up posters all around the town to insult SAM as revenge and SAM is enraged. CHAI takes back the bracelet from SHAN and gives it back to the empress. SHAN follows CHAI and discovers their relationship. SHAN coerces CHAI to disclose his relationship with the empress but CHAI refuses. They fight with each other and SHAN is killed accidentally. CHAI leaves in no time. SAM goes to argue with SHAN but discovers that he is dead. She is accused of murder innocently. KUNG explains why the former emperor respected him and LUNG’s doubts are resolved. During the trial, all evidences are against SAM. On the day of SHAN’s death, ON had visited him but found him dead. ON therefore knows that SAM is not the murderer. ON is afraid that the empress will be embroiled into the case and advises her not to interfere. The empress wants to know the truth and requests ON carry out investigation. YEE is worried for SAM and seeks for SING’s help……

SING raises a number of suspicious points of the murder; KOO agrees to judge SAM’s case on a later date. In order to help SAM, SING asks her to reveal her past story and animosity with SHAN. SAM was captured and humiliated by SHAN long time ago. She only got the chance to escape when SHAN’s enemies ran after him. SAM hates SHAN deeply. SING discovers that SHAN had pawned a jewel before his death and this jewel belongs to the empress. He realizes that the empress might be involved in this case and he tries to be cautious when carrying out the investigation. Afraid of punishment, CHAI attempts to commit suicide in an old temple. Fortunately, SING comes to stop him. In order to eliminate possible troubles, ON asks some bodyguards to set a fire at the temple so that CHAI would be killed. The empress discovers his plan and rushes to the scene to stop them. SING discovers the relationship between CHAI and the empress……

LUNG enquires about SAM’s court case but SING tries not to disclose the details. The empress warns SING to keep the secret of her past affairs with CHAI, if not those who know about the secret will be killed. SING acts with the famous prostitutes from Man Fa House during the trial in order to save SAM. He also wants LUNG to realize the importance of a pure reputation for women and their poor experience in the past. CHAI confesses that he is the murderer but refuses to tell the reason for his sin since he wants to protect the empress. When KOO announces his sentence to CHAI, LUNG reveals his identity and comments that KOO’s sentence is unfair. He therefore decides to take up the judge’s post. SING wants CHAI to tell the truth without hesitation. He asks LUNG to give an order that allows CHAI to tell the truth without mentioning the name and identity of the woman involved. LUNG agrees. CHAI tells the whole story and everyone is moved……

CHAI’s case is over and the empress is relieved. LUNG downgrades KOO and kicks him angrily as a punishment. LUNG decides to enjoy some romantic moments at Man Fa House before going back to the palace and SING is worried. In order to save the prostitutes, SAM boldly asks the empress to help them. LUNG arrives at Man Fa House to find that the empress is right there chatting with SAM and he feels tasteless. YEE is jealous to find SING and SAM drinking and chatting happily together. YEE goes to her hometown to visit her grandfather AH FOOK. She runs into a bad and nasty gangster LIU HUNG who tries to humiliate her neighbor MAN. YEE therefore steps in to help. YEE quarrels with HUNG and their dispute is being brought to the court. The judge KOO believes that this is only a misunderstanding and gives HUNG a very light punishment. YEE is dissatisfied. HUNG is vindictive. He comes to FOOK’s store to make trouble and attempts to rape YEE……

CHING escorts HUNG to another court nearby for judgment. They meet a righteous judge TANG who is a follower of KUNG. TANG gives a sentence of 30 bangs on HUNG’s bottom as a punishment. HUNG returns to take revenge. He kills FOOK and attempts to rape YEE again. CHING arrives in time to fight with him and he accidentally kills him. HUNG’s mother works in KUNG’s home as a servant. She gives pressures to KUNG for helping her deceased son to fight for justice. KUNG says HUNG should take full responsibility of his death and refuses to help. During the trial, SING claims that CHING kills HUNG legally since he is trying to protect YEE from being raped. However, HUNG’s mother is very cross and defensive. She destroys the evidence that supports CHING so that SING couldn’t save him. SING continues to investigate and finds that HUNG’s mother has some special relationship with KUNG……

Many years ago, YUNG CHING exchanges his baby girl with KUNG’s baby boy. This boy is LUNG. Since LUNG is not accustomed to other nursing mother’s milk, HUNG’s mother was invited to the palace to give milk to LUNG. HUNG’s mother realized that she had known a great secret of the imperial family. In order to protect her family, she collects a little footprint from LUNG as an evidence for future use. In order to ensure that HUNG’s mother will keep this secret, KUNG helps to protect HUNG from punishments all the time even if he had done a lot of sinful things. SING finally finds a way to save YEE and CHING. He also helps HUNG’s mother to realize that she is the one who should take full responsibility of his death. HUNG’s mother is struck by this and becomes mad. No one believes a word from her since then. CHING and YEE are released and everybody is overjoyed. LUNG requests SING and CHING to return to the palace……

LUNG misses the women at Man Fa House and has no interest in selecting any palace lady. LUNG secretly moves Man Fa House and all the prostitutes into the palace. LUNG knows that SING would help the prostitutes so he transfers SING to the Martial Arts House. LUNG is upset with SING for he tries to stop him from getting close to YEE all the time. In addition, LUNG also feels insecure for SING knows his birth secret. In order to avoid possible troubles in the future, LUNG decides to kill SING. LUNG fights with SING but loses. SING escapes. LUNG searches over the palace including Man Fa House but he finds nothing. SAM and YEE succeed in eluding the bodyguards to find the empress. The empress agrees to help. She asks all prostitutes and SING to dress in the costumes of a palace lady for LUNG’s selection. Same as before, LUNG only gives them a glance and asks them to leave the palace……