EPISODE 23

The rise of Onn Sin continues.

The Emperor asked for Yuk Ying to meet him but Onn Sin intercepted that message and instead of telling Yuk Ying, she told Yuk Ying that she must go to temple to ask for blessings and so Yuk Ying went, as Onn Sin pretended to have stomach ache and could not go with her. Meanwhile Yee Soon was walking back to her room when she saw Onn Sin dressed as an eunuch climbing into the sedan. Yee Soon smiled her devious smile.

The Emperor was not pleased that one of the two eunuchs have dirtied his favourite painting. He was angrily scolding them when it was announced Yuk Ying arrived and smilingly he looked for Yuk Ying but it was Onn Sin. The Emperor was very angry why Onn Sin was in disguised like Yuk Ying and Onn Sin explained that Yuk Ying was not feeling very well and yet could not disappoint the emperor and so she sent Onn Sin. The Emperor didn't quite believe that but well, he was angry about the paintings and Onn Sin helped him solved it and the Emperor recognised that she is very smart. Onn Sin said "Your majesty, I am just a servant hoping to serve her master well, to ensure her master's worries go away and to please him in everyway I could" and the Emperor then walked very close to her and said "Do you know now what I like?" and next thing we know, he was jumping into bed with her.

Wahhhh the emperor so easy to seduce.

Anyway meanwhile Yuk Ying was praying when Yee Soon came and Yuk Ying said "What are you doing here?" and Yee Soon said "My dear sister, aren't you supposed to play dress up and meet with his majesty?" and Yuk Ying said "Well not tonight, but then not that you are seeing him much aren't you?" and Yee Soon smiled and said "Now that's strange. Hmmm..where's Onn Sin? You know, sometimes the person you most trusted may in the end turn on you, after all he is the emperor, who would want to be a servant for life?" and Yuk Ying was feeling something strange was going on. Once back in her room indeed she discovered her golden plaque was gone, her eunuch clothes were gone and Onn Sin was not in her room.

At night Onn Sin returned and quietly put back the stuff when Yuk Ying was there sitting in the dark waiting for her. Onn Sin quickly said something like let her light the fire or something but Yuk Ying said "Why? Why did you do it? I trusted you, why did you betray me? WHY? WHYY?" Oh yeah, she really screamed. Onn Sin could not answer her but could only say "Everybody has their reason, I have mine but I do not wish to talk about it. I was wrong but I had to do what I had to do. The Emperor has a lot of women, not you alone. Just take it that I have betrayed you for material gains" and Yuk Ying said "I treated you like my friend, I thought you were my friend" and Onn Sin said "I was never your friend although you may have treated me as one" and Yuk Ying tearfully said "I grew up in my family not knowing who to believe, who to trust. I couldn't bring myself to trust anyone until I met you and you thought me to trust again and now you betrayed me. Why? How could you do that when I have been so good to you?" and Onn Sin could not say anything more than "I was never your friend and neither was you mine. I am sorry it turned out the way it is.." and she left, leaving Yuk Ying crying her heart out and Yee Soon happily sipping her wine.

Bak Yeung went to see Heung Fau but Heung Fau coldly received him. Bak Yeung asked "Could you please sit with me and have some wine with me?" and Heung Fau coldly said "Of course, you need not ask, after all I am here to serve you if you pay me right" and Bak Yeung quietly said "I have never seen you in that light, you know that" and Heung Fau said "I know but I'd rather you see me as a prostitute because then it will be easier on me. It is not easy for me to receive you knowing well that you came to see me because you could not forget the woman in your heart. It hurts me and I do not wish to feel that way and I prefer our relationship to remain as professional" and tearfully Heung Fau left the room and Bak Yeung sadly went home to see Hau Shu waiting for him. Hau Shu said his father was waiting for him in the study room, he walked in and he saw there were many packages. His father angrily said "That Heung Fau sent all your gifts back. I do not know what is wrong with you but you must wake up!" and Bak Yeung angrily said "Please don't bother with my matters" and the father said "Why did you come home? What is going on? Are you running away from someone? Who are you avoiding? Even Heung Fau knows where to draw the line, why can't you see that? Bak Yeung, WAKE UP! WAKE UP AND LOOK AT THE REALITY!" and Bak Yeung refused to answer his father's questions when an eunuch suddenly appeared and senior Suen shouted "Who is it in the palace who wish to see me now?!" and the eunuch timidly said "The audience of Dr Suen Bak Yeung is requested" and Bak Yeung knew who called him.

Back in the palace Bak Yeung was seeing a very sad looking Yuk Ying who said "I am not sick, I do not need any medicine" and Bak Yeung said "I have heard what happened" and Yuk Ying said "Master Suen, do you know of any medicine that can make me forget? Any medicine at all that can erase all my unhappy memories so that I can sleep better? I do not wish to remember" and Bak Yeung said "You can forget, just assume you have never met Onn Sin" and Yuk Ying said "How can I do that? I have met her, she gave me such wonderful memories, how can I just assume I never knew her?". Ahhhh a problem that only Yuk Ying herself can solve.

The Empress looked kinda pleased to see that Onn Sin was the concubine, now Onn Kwai Yan and she asked Yee Soon "Where is Yuk Ying?" and Yee Soon said "My sister is still not feeling well" and the Empress said "I do understand how she feels, and so did the emperor but she must understand she is not the emperor's only woman" and Onn Sin looked slightly worried about Yuk Ying when Yee Soon said "I can't blame my sister for feeling betrayed and bitter about this after. After all Onn Kwai Yan was a mere servant to her and now they're equal, it is difficult for Yuk Ying to face with this betrayal when Onn Sin acted behind her back" and Onn Sin denied betraying Yuk Ying and the Empress closed the case by saying "I understand which is why his majesty was very worried how Yuk Ying will take this news. Which was why he gave her this (jewellery) and Yee Soon, please give this to her" and Onn Sin said "Perhaps I should go and see mistress to apologise to her" and the Empress said "Why do you still refer to her as mistress? There is no need to apologise, she will have to accept this. From now on Onn Sin you take good care of the Emperor and with Yee Soon as well take good care of the Emperor" and both said ok.

Then Yee Soon brought the gift to Yuk Ying who was looking at the painting of her mom and herself (which Bak Yeung drew) and Yuk Ying said "What do you want? Quickly say it and leave" and Yee Soon smilingly said "Her majesty asked me to bring this to you, a gift from the emperor" and Yuk Ying looked at it but was not very happy. Onn Sin said "What? You're not happy with this gift? I can understand of course, now that Onn Sin is a kwai yan, equal with you, you must feel awful to have been betrayed"... and Yuk Ying refused to let Yee Soon gloat on and so she said "Don't you worry about me. I will be alright and then I'll get back his majesty's heart so that neither you nor Onn Sin could win" and Yee Soon said "You're very confident, for someone so betrayed by so many people. Do you not realise that painting you love so much is not the original? Oh yes, Suen Bak Yeung drew that, and now you should realise everything Onn Sin did from the beginning was to use you to get near the emperor and Master Suen was merely helping her" and Yuk Ying looked very hurt as Yee Soon handed the original painting and she was in shocked. Yee Soon left the room triumphantly as Yuk Ying felt her whole world crumbling.

Hung Mo was walking by when a sedan was blocking his road and inside was Onn Sin. Hung Mo dared not look into her eyes and simply said "Hung Mo greets Onn Kwai Yan" and Onn Sin pleasantly said "Oh Master Hung, if you have something important to do, you go first, do not let my sedan block your road" and Hung Mo whilst looking on the floor gloomily said "I dare not take your path Master, as you're my master and I am your servant. You continue on with your path as I shall not stop you but I hope you will not regret this path you're taking" and Onn Sin sadly looked away and the sedan passed by an equally sad looking Hung Mo.

Hung Mo then saw Yu Fei who was gently asking asking the bird in the cage to be quiet a bit but when the bird refused Yu Fei pleaded with the bird. Hung Mo was in a very bad mood and so he walked right up and took the cage and said "Allow me to take this cage away" and Yu Fei said "What are you doing? I do not need you to please me this way" and Hung Mo curtly said "Why would I want to please you? You're no longer in power, there is no need for me to do that" and Yu Fei was very angry and Hung Mo equally as angry said "Fine" and he put down the cage but it dropped and the bird flew away. Hung Mo quickly went looking for it, followed by a very anxious looking Yu Fei when Hung Mo walked out and in his hands was the lifeless body of the bird. He said "I am sorry Yu Fei, I was drunk, I should not have behaved the way I did" and Yu Fei sadly said "It is alright. It is only a bird...I never knew how much I missed her until she is gone..." and Hung Mo immediately knew and said "Yu Fei misses little princess?" and Yu Fei did not say anything and Hung Mo said "Don't you worry. I know the eunuch who is taking care of little princess, I can see what I can do to bring her to you so that you can see her".

Yu Fei was full of hope, hoping that Hung Mo succeed when Hung Mo returned empty handed and he said "I am sorry Yu Fei. I have wanted to take little princess to you but suddenly his majesty requested to see little princess" and Yu Fei disappointed said "It's alright, at least the emperor is seeing her" and Hung Mo said "Yu Fei, little princess is getting better. And since the emperor is now seeing her, I am sure the doctors will not delay in treating her so Yu Fei need not worry so much about little princess' health" and Yu Fei said "Perhaps it is better this way, I doubt I could do much for her in my condition". And then I forgot what happened.

Anyway Eunuch Tsui asked Yee Soon what she planned to do about Onn Sin and told her not to worry so much about Yuk Ying. "Yuk Ying is now the emperor's favourite concubine, Onn Sin is occupying most of his time, he has very little time for you. When was the last time he slept with you?" and Yee Soon said "Don't worry godfather. I have a plan, I will form a pact with Onn Sin to edge out Yuk Ying" and Tsui said "They were so close once before, do you think you can persuade Onn Sin to topple Yuk Ying?" and Yee Soon said "I know I can, after all Onn Sin and Yuk Ying are now rivals" and Tsui said "If this does not succeed, you can always threaten".

Yee Soon met with Onn Sin and she asked Onn Sin to make a pact with her to be one gang since Onn Sin once saved her life and Yee Soon thought Onn Sin was the best candidate but Onn Sin did not agree and Yee Soon said "Do you think Yuk Ying will forget your betrayal? Do you think she will let you go or are you hoping you can still be friends with her? Don't be foolish" and Onn Sin said "Whatever is my relationship with her, however volatile it may be, need not mean I will make a pact with you" and Yee Soon said "Don't be foolish! If you don't make a pact with me, you're then my enemy and I'll do everything within my power to destroy you and those that surrounds you" and Onn Sin panicked and said "Why must you drag everybody else into our fights between the 3 of us? Why must you do that?" and I guess Onn Sin was worried about Yee Soon doing something to Hung Mo and Yee Soon said "Remember what I said and choose wisely" and Yee Soon left leaving Onn Sin very stricken with what she should do.

Onn Sin went to see Yuk Ying. Yuk Ying was not pleased to see her and Onn Sin said "You do realise there are 3 of us in this fight for power and you and Yee Soon can never be one pact and so the decision lies with me.." and Yuk Ying said "Yee Soon came to see you? She wanted to gang with you? Well well well I am sure you two can be sisters then" and Onn Sin said "She did come to see me but I have no wish to gang up with her. I wish to form an alliance with you to oust her" and Yuk Ying said "Why should I trust you after what you did to me?" and Onn Sin said "Think about it" and she left.

At night the Emperor was showing Yuk Ying some paintings of herself and the emperor and Yuk Ying was no pleased with the painting but the emperor said "I know what you're angry at. I know the decision was sudden but I want you to know, neither Yee Soon nor Onn Sin can accompany me to view these paintings, the privilege lies only with you" and Yuk Ying smiled a bit. Then Hung Mo and Bak Yeung came to see the emperor and Bak Yueng explained "I need to take your majesty's pulse and I could not find you and I asked Master Hung to lead the way" and the Emperor said "Oh Dr Suen need not carry out the pulse check now, I trust you. Please Dr Suen, would you mind giving me your opinion on the paintings?" and Bak Yeung said "I do not dare to give my comments to such beautifully painted paintings" and the Emperor said "I have heard Dr Suen is a very good painter" and Yuk Ying said "Well if Dr Suen is reluctant to comment on the paintings perhaps Dr Suen will agree to draw us?" and the Emperor said "Oh yes, yes why not?" but Bak Yeung declined and said "I am not a great painter, I paint as my mother loved to paint and I painted only my mother" and Yuk Ying asked "Dr Suen has never painted anyone else?" (since Yuk Ying knew about the double copy of that painting but Bak Yeung didn't know she knew) and Bak Yeung said "No" and Yuk Ying or emperor, can't remember who said "So your love for painting was nurtured by your mother's love for painting?" and Bak Yeung said "Oh no, she painted in her leisure time and her subject was always my father. My mother painted only the person she loved and I have all these while painted for the same reason" and Yuk Ying suddenly realised what Bak Yeung meant (as in he painted her because he loved her) and she was misty eyed and confused when suddenly the emperor said "Oh well, I will not force you then. Yuk Ying, we will use that two paintings and turn them into kites and for that I want you to know only you have that privilege, not Yee Soon, not Onn Sin" but Yuk Ying was too shocked by what Bak Yeung said to really take in what the emperor said.

Once back in her room she hung the two same paintings side by side and her maid curiously said "My lady, why are you hanging these two paintings together? They are the same" and Yuk Ying said "I too didn't realise how similar both are until now" and the maid said "But they're somewhat different. I like this one (pointing to the one Bak Yeung drew) as my lady's portrait looks very life like, very real, and anyone can see the painter must have used his feelings and attention when drawing my lady" and Yuk Ying smiled and said "I noticed too..." and then suddenly she said "Please call Onn Sin for me, I wish to see her now...".

Tomorrow, Yuk Ying swear to hurt somebody real bad but don't know who. Maybe Onn Sin?

Anyway interesting episode. I have not much comments as making Onn Sin a concubine to me is a step closer to melodramatic usual TVB stuff that takes away a certain uniqueness of this series. I mean she wanted to hurt the empress and yet she allowed herself to act in such devious way and got involved in the mess between Yuk Ying and Yee Soon. I was wondering, wanna hurt the empress? Leave the palace and marry Hung Mo, leave a happy life rather tha be dictated by the empress. We all know the empress wanted her to stay, thinking that by killing the grandma Onn Sin will stay and dedicate her life to serve the empress. BUT imagine if you will if Onn Sin insisted on leaving and technically the empress can't stop her unless she kills Hung Mo leaving Onn Sin with nobody. Wouldn't that hurt the Empress more by defying her and leading a life that is happy and based on free will? I don't quite like Onn Sin becoming a concubine.

Worse still the speed in which the emperor jumped into bed with her is shocking. It's just sex, at the end of the day but the emperor could find himself with a surplus of Kwai Yans at the rate he is going.

Anyway most memorable scene had to be Onn Sin meeting with Hung Mo halfway and what he told her. Very sad.

Performance wise, Gigi Lai was LOUD but after watching tonight's episode I can't blame her Yuk Ying for screaming. But not that loud but anyway you know but.. I have a lot of buts with Gigi's performance tonight. Not bad at all, as she conveyed the shock, teh betrayal, the realisation all very well and her performance not that over the top except for that screaming at Onn Sin part which is totally understandable.

Charmaine Sheh has very little to do nor is she expected to show any other expression other than a smiling observor.

Maggie Cheung was good, as she conveyed the hurt and doubt everytime Yuk Ying or Hung Mo is mentioned. The pain is there. Very good performance.

Bowie Lam did well too whilst his scene with a shouting Chan Hung Lit was very well done. This father and son relationship is unique and very interesting to watch to see them loving and respecting one another and yet angry with one another. Very complex relationship.

Yu Yeung was horrible as an actor.

Moses Chan did well tonight to convey his frustration and the way he talked to Yu Fei at the beginning was rude but appropriate. A good performance that I am very satisfied with.

Last but not least, Sheren Teng conveyed her sadness over missing her baby and her disappointment very well. I still don't pity her Yu Fei but her missing her baby is quite pitiful.

I must comment a bit more on Yu Fei. I think I have said before she never really cared for her daughter and even used her daughter to win the emperor's trust. Tonight Yu Fei confirmed my opinion of her when she sadly said "I never realised what I've got until I lost it" meaning she never really loved nor appreciated her baby until her baby was taken away. Consistent development and a good one as this shows Yu Fei has finally come down from her high horse and looking at things at a much simpler way; is her baby well and all that. This part of her story I like but again I must say, still don't like this Yu Fei.

- For screencaps of this episode do check out Sehseh's WAB page -