EPISODE 25

Tonight is entirely on "Who shall we blame for Suen Bak Yeung's predicament?"

Yuk Ying ran crying to Onn Sin's room and she blamed Onn Sin for Bak Yeung's predicament. Onn Sin cooly and rightly said "The one who planned this was you. The one who involved Dr Suen was you. The one who put him into this predicament was you. And now you're accusing me for something you have done?" and Yuk Ying screamed "If not because of you I wouldn't have done all that! It was your fault!" and Onn Sin said "I know I may be blamed but you're not entirely blameless" but Yuk Ying didn't care and she tearfully screamed "If anything bad happens to Suen Bak Yeung, I swear it that you will never have a peaceful day!".

Oohhhhh, like what are you gonna do Yuk Ying? Screamed me to death? This woman blames Onn Sin when she herself did what she did. What a horrible woman.

Yee Soon was very worried. She didn't know what she should do and she wanted to visit Fook Nga when suddenly she heard news that someone surrendered and indeed as I have predicted it was Fook Nga.

Fook Nga told the empress she wanted Bak Yeung to help sell some stuff and so that was why she met him at the theatre. But the Empress was too cunning. She cooly said "Do you think I would believe that? Go back to where you came from, do not get yourself involved in this. You know you're not the person I am looking for, go if not I will not let you have another peaceful day!".

Yee Soon met with Fook Nga and Yee Soon asked "You could have died, why did you do this?" and Fook Nga reasoned that it was because she felt gratitude towards Bak Yeung. Yee Soon asked "Is that all?" and of course Fook Nga denied anything more.

So now this is interesting. If Fook Nga can't save him, who can?

At night Yuk Ying couldn't sleep. She was having nightmares and reliving the memory of Bak Yeung almost eating that poisoned desert. Yee Soon also couldn't sleep as tomorrow the emperor will be back and before that the empress surely will execute Bak Yeung. So she went to see Onn Sin who was surprised to see her. Yee Soon cooly said "I came here to create a deal with you, a deal which I am sure you will most benefit from because from tomorrow onwards you will have one less competitor. I am not afraid of death, I am only concerned about Eunuch Tsui. I ask only of you to help Eunuch Tsui. You do know I have a very special relationship with Eunuch Tsui and why I am in the palace. I only ask that if Eunuch Tsui were to step on the wrong foot, you could speak some good words on his behalf before the Emperor to spare Eunuch Tsui his life". Onn Sin said "What makes you think I'll agree to your request?" and Yee Soon curiously asked "What more can't you agree? You will benefit most from this" but Onn Sin said "You don't have to sacrifice yourself" and Yee Soon said "You have another way?" and Onn Sin said "Neither you nor I need do anything. By tomorrow morning the matter will be solved" and Yee Soon asked "Don't tell me you believe Yuk Ying will surrender herself?" and Onn Sin said "Call me foolish and I myself have doubted her but I know she will do the right thing. I believe in her" and Yee Soon said "What makes you believe she will surrender herself? She is Yuk Ying, she is selfish and she cares only for herself" and Onn Sin said "I used to think like that too but she has changed" and Yee Soon asked "In which way?" and Onn Sin said "Love changed her. She finally realised she is in love with Suen Bak Yeung and because of love she will do what she can to save her. So it would be wasted effort for you or I to act. Go back and wait. It is a matter who acts first. By morning if Yuk Ying still have not leave her room, I will reconsider your request".

And so 3 women waited.

Pause here.

Why I can remember the bulk of what was said between Yee Soon and Onn Sin because this is one of my favourite scenes in this episode. The translation and retelling may not be accurate but this is by far my most accurate depiction of what happened in that scene.

Come morning Bak Yeung was ready for his execution. His father met him half way through and his father said "Do you have anything to say to me?" and Bak Yeung said "Please assume you have never had me as your son. I am sorry". Senior Suen I think said "There is no need for that. One of the concubines has surrendered herself" and Bak Yeung was very surprised.

Yee Soon was seen walking into the empress' room when to her surprise she saw Yuk Ying. Yuk Ying explained to the empress "I wanted Dr Suen to give me a love potion to make the emperor stronger and more pleasure. I know what I did was wrong but Dr Suen was merely assisting me" and the Empress asked "Is that so?" but nonetheless the empress punished Yuk Ying by house inprisonment and Bak Yeung was demoted and sent home for a few days until the emperor passed a sentence himself.

Yee Soon could not believe Yuk Ying surrendered herself as she told Fook Nga and Fook Nga said "You wished you were the one?" and Yee Soon said "I wished I have been earlier, I wanted myself to be the one to surrender. Maybe that way I can live better with myself" and Fook Nga said "It does not matter. Even if you do that Dr Suen will not appreciate you, his heart belongs to Yuk Ying" but Yee Soon said "That is not important to me, I just want to know I had been the one to do what Yuk Ying did". Love.

Anyway Eunuch Tsui was beating his wife until she was bleeding because he saw Fook Nga and Yee Soon together. He angrily said "Why didn't you tell me they met one another in the palace? Why didn't you stop them?" and the wife tearfully said "I couldn't have stopped them. They don't know each other, they are just friends. It will be alright, moreover the one person who knows, Dr Suen never said anything" and Tsui asked "Dr Suen knows? Even a stranger can come to such a conclusion more so Yee Soon! I can't let Yee Soon know this, because she will never be loyal to me if she knew I separated the two sisters. Something must be done to remove one of them forever"...poor Fook Nga. She will die.

Meanwhile back at home, Bak Yeung was again blasted by his father, deservingly so. But Hau Shu quickly came in and tried to stop the scolding by saying someone was there to see Bak Yeung.

It was Heung Fau.

"What are you doing here?" asked Bak Yeung and Heung Fau in her usual smiling self said "You wife asked me to come to see you, as she knew you seemed to have troubles and she wanted me to talk to you". Bak Yeung couldn't believe his ears and Heung Fau said "You do have troubles troubling you? You can't let go of your feelings for Yuk Ying?" and Bak Yeung finally confessed "I couldn't" and Heung Fau said "She is the emperor's woman, your feelings for her will go unreturned and it may even harm you and her in the end. You must learn to let go even if you can't. You're very lucky to have a loving family who is concerned about you and yet you were willing to sacrifice yourself and even them for this woman. This shows how important this woman is in your heart and because of that you must strive to forget her. Do it for your family and Hau Shu. Going back home and letting go is really not that difficult" and Bak Yeung agreed his family loved him and he should stay home but he couldn't forget Yuk Ying. Heung Fau said what she have come to say and it is now up to Bak Yeung to face reality. I don't think he can. He's too smitten with Yuk Ying.

Meanwhile Hung Mo was having a conversation with Yu Fei nd Yu Fei told Hung Mo she know about the Bak Yeung - Yuk Ying scandal. Hung Mo said the matter was settled and that Yuk Ying confessed but Yu Fei said "I do not think the problem is Yuk Ying..." and Hung Mo asked "If not Yuk Ying then..." and Yu Fei said "Onn Sin".

What she meant was Onn Sin was the trouble maker.

Onn Sin was helping the empress with her painting when the empress remarked "Onn Sin, help me look at these paintings. Which is the one that makes me look smart and which is the one that makes me look stupid" and Onn Sin knew the empress was trying to tell her something and she said "I am really not that good at paintings so I do not know" and Empress said "Surely you must understand I am the empress and what is my position in your heart?" and Onn Sin said "You're the empress, the respected one" and the empress said "Is that so? You do know Onn Sin that I do not condone concubines trying to outdo one another to gain attention and to take all attention away. To do that I can guarantee, I will not this concubine off lightly. Do you understand me Onn Sin?" and Onn Sin said "Yes I do".

Onn Sin also expressed her disbelief to Siu Luk Tzi about Yuk Ying's actions and also what the empress told her. Siu Luk Tzi said "That means she knows" and Onn Sin said "I was never her favourite, I really do not care". She said "I almost couldn't believe myself she surrendered herself but luckily she was let off lightly" and Siu Luk Tzi said "You can blame yourself and she did what she was supposed to do" but Onn Sin said "I can't forgive myself and quite frankly I couldn't have done what Yuk Ying did. I was evil, Yuk Ying in the end proved herself decent and good. She did the right thing whilst I didn't take that path...".

At night Hung Mo was passing by when a sedan passed by and fell. The sedan was broken and the eunuch asked Hung Mo to look after the concubine inside the sedan for a while as they go fetch a new one. The concubine inside was Onn Sin. Hung Mo walked to Onn Sin who was surprised to see Hung Mo but was happy to see him. But Hung Mo was very stiff towards her and then she knew why; "Why did you do that to Suen Bak Yeung?" and Onn Sin tried to explain "It is more complicated than what it seems" and Hung Mo said "I have always known you were ambitious but I never thought you could do that to Dr Suen" and Onn Sin tried to protest her innocence but Hung Mo refused to listen any further and the new sedan came and so he went on his way and sadly she went on hers.

Poor Onn Sin. It was Yuk Ying who created the trouble and now Onn Sin was blamed. Even Hung Mo misunderstood her.

The rest of the episode is on Yu Fei.

Yu Fei was sitting alone on the snow waiting for Hung Mo to take her to see her daughter as she doodled on the ice someone's face. I wonder who; either her baby or Hung Mo. Anyway she stared far too long at the white snow when Hung Mo came she faced him and discovered her eyes was very blurry. She panicked but when she calmed down in her room she said "Ahh you're not from around here so you wouldn't know this illness. It is temporary blurry eye sight caused by myself staring way too long at the white snow, I will be fine" but she wasn't because she couldn't see where the cup was when the maid handed it to her. Hung Mo was worried and said he will inform the emperor to get permission to seek medical opinion but Yu Fei said "No! You don't have to. I don't want you to do that! Let it be!".

Next Hung Mo was having a chit chat with the emperor where the emperor confessed "I am troubled by recent events. If it was state matters I could have handled it well but the troubles amongst the concubines is not comforting. I shouldn't have raised the rank of Onn Sin, that caused a whole lot of trouble. Yuk Ying only wanted to have my heart and so she did what she did." and Hung Mo said "Your majesty, you must trust Dr Suen" and the emperor said "I do trust him, I believe him. I am not as heartless some think of me, and that was what many thought of me when I raised the rank of Onn Sin for wanting the new and forgetting the old" and Hung Mo said "You can't be said for wanting the new because you're the emperor, it is your right and I don't think your majesty has ever forgotten the old" and the emperor agreed and Hung Mo said "Surely then your majesty remembers Yu Fei" and the Emperor said "Yu Yuet? I have not seen her for a long time. How is she?" and he said this with a bit of longing. He still loves Yu Fei, no doubt. Hung Mo said "She is sick..." and he explained her condition.

Next thing Yu Fei was told the empress and Senior Suen came to see her and her eyes was still as bad as ever. But she held her head up high and walked out. The Empress wasted no time to mock her but Yu Fei stomached it all. Then the empress said "Ok then, let's have Dr Suen inspect your eyes" and Yu Fei said "There is no need for him to do that" but the empress said "I have to inform the emperor I have at least let Dr Suen inspect your eyes. Oh come on dear sister, let Dr Suen to what he must do, at least let us all pretend it was done" but Yu Fei said "There is no need" and the empress said "Oh, ok" and she left.

Pause here.

The empress clearly meant she didn't come here to let Dr Suen to inspect her eyes and even if she did she would probably have asked Dr Suen not to cure her blindness. Very vindictive woman but I still can't pity Yu Fei.

Senior Suen scolded Hung Mo why Hung Mo had to inform the emperor as he could have informed Senior Suen who would have secretly go to see Yu Fei. Now he was very worried about Yu Fei's eyesight and he knew Yu Fei will refuse treatment because of pride.

Pause here. Senior Suen remains as the voice of reason. Very strong character.

Anyway Yu Fei meanwhile did not take her worsening eye sight lightly. She was angry with the empress and she wanted to see her baby. She didn't want everybody to say she depended on Hung Mo to even see her baby and so she went by herself and got lost. Then suddenly she heard Hung Mo's music (which was taught by Onn Sin) and she followed the music. Hung Mo knew Yu Fei was lost and the palace was very big so he thought of playing the flute hoping that will catch her attention. And then suddenly he heard "Is that you Hung Mo?" and Yu Fei was saved.

Yu Fei explained to Hung Mo why she refused medical treatment as "I don't people to think I need them and that I depend on them for my wellbeing. I do not wish to be seen in this light as I am down enough right now.." and Hung Mo confessed; "I should have apologised to you a long time ago but I didn't know what you would think of me. I knew about the Buddha jade incident and it was I who ratted you out because I wanted to save Chan Song. I caused you to be in this state, I am sorry. But I believe even if that didn't happen, I would have helped you to see little princess because I wanted to. Please let me help you with your eyesight problem" and Yu Fei forgave him and accepted his help, finally realising this was one person who was willing to help her without any agenda.

Last scene was a naked Onn Sin with the emperor sleeping next to her with his hands over her stomach. She blankly looked at the ceiling and then gently pushed the emperor's hands away.

Anyway next 5 episodes are the last 5. Wahhh so fast eh? Episode 1 was like yesterday only! Anyway next 5 episodes got trouble as Yuk Ying sleeps with Bak Yeung and many more. It's ending soon. Can't believe it's ending soon.

Wow! What a last scene! Excellent scene which shows everything. She doesn't love the emperor, she hates her life now and probably regrets leaving Hung Mo. She should have married Hung Mo and get on with her life. I really do blame the writer for screwing up this character. Don't we have enough of fighting concubines?! So sad for Onn Sin. Even Hung Mo refused to believe her.

Anyway let me say tonight's episode is full of quotable quotes. What Heung Fau said to Bak Yeung, what Hung Mo said to Onn Sin, what Onn Sin said to Yee Soon and what Yee Soon said to Fook Nga, all are quotable quotes and very memorable. But to me the most memorable had to be the Yee Soon-Onn Sin scene because I was totally in disbelief that Yee Soon loved Bak Yeung so much to want to die for him and Onn Sin didn't think it was necessary. Very good dialogue and very memorable scene. But one must understand even if Yee Soon surrendered herself she can't die because if she did, that means Bak Yeung had to die as death means they did something wrong. I think I should term it more clearly; Yee Soon may have to lose her position and be subject to gossips, something Fook Nga highlighted but Fook Nga said "I am ok with that since I am out of favour, it doesn't matter what people say". But to Yee Soon and Yuk Ying it may matter a lot. I also like the scene where Yee Soon looked at Yuk Ying in disbelief and back in her own room she stared at Yuk Ying, not believing she actually gave herself in.

For that, I must applaud Charmaine Sheh for giving an excellent performance tonight. Excellent because she managed to bring out Yee Soon's troubled decision and her determination to save the man she loves without screaming, kicking, pointing or even emoting at all. Emotiong means facial expressions. Yee Soon gave me an impression is a very "yau wat" person as in very sad and Charmaine Sheh rarely smiled in this series, more so in this episode. Her worries that no one will save Bak Yeung as she waited for that one night was well done as she had tears and sick with worry. Her Yee Soon is quiet but cunning, deceitful but loyal to love and is not unwilling to seek help if she had to. Very layered personality that is all highlighted tonight. Also looking very pale. I like her performance tonight. Which makes sense for me to repeat that she should have been nominated for most improved and not best actress because quite frankly she has improved but she is still beyond the league of really good ones. At least she would have a chance at winning something other than just turn up and smile.

Gigi Lai was simply over the top. Ok in terms of emotions but over the top in the way she delivers her lines, screaming and all.

Maggie Cheung had the honours of playing the most misunderstood character tonight and she did it well.b I particularly like the last scene where she pushed the emperor's hands away with her disgusted type of looks.

Bowie Lam merely had to look serious and worried tonight but still a good performance.

The actress who played Heung Fau was quite ok, always with a smile whilst Rebecca Chan, looking very beautiful tonight was in top form as the evil Empress. She is particularly nasty and I think Rebecca must be enjoying herself.

Moses Chan did decently tonight but his best scene is with Maggie Cheung as he refused to look at her as he said the accusations. I can't quite understand why not many like this character because I find Hung Mo a very interesting and charismatic character and Moses Chan a very charismatic actor. Let's put it this way; he is not a fantastic dramatic actor but at least he is consistently average which in a way is good. I like consistency but he does have his moments.

Sheren Teng was ok. I think I'll comment more on her in my review proper.

Everybody else was ok.

Can't believe it is ending soon. In a way good because I am running out of comments, very tired of typing. I think for this series I have more recaps than giving my opinion. What more can I say?

Oh ya one major point. I think there is a technical mistake in here. That scene where the empress came to see Yu Fei, Yu Fei sat at the head of the room which is usually sat by the master of the house. Guests will sit by the side, like the empress did which is uncharacteristic of the empress. You must remember she is powerful, high ranking and very arrogant when it comes to Yu Fei and she relishes all opportunity to step on Yu Fei and mock her. So the Empress should be sitting where Yu Fei was sitting, more so she is of higher rank, like a big sister and is the master. Yu Fei should have sat on the chair meant for the guest. Clearly a very huge technical mistake in my opinion.

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