EPISODE 15

Today's episode highlights why Ming Dynasty was doomed.



Poor Yoke Han was accidentally murdered. Ok, so murders can't be accidents and accidents aren't murder. She went and stole the letter which contains the written testimony of a doctor who killed himself some episodes before, and the testimony is something about Tin and her evil ways, how the Queen was falsely accused of evil plots and all. The servant girl who was on Tin's payroll saw everything and Yoke Han was taken to Tin's place. In an attempt to wrestle the letter from Yoke Han, Yoke Han fell on the stairs, knocked her head and obviously died. Right at that moment Superman came in and saw dead Yoke Han. Tin told Superman to dispose off the body at the nearby pond and so Superman, who was very spineless by calling Tin "Mother" reluctantly took the body and threw her into the pond. Her jade ornament thingy went with the body by accident and Superman freaked out. So she ran to Cheung Ping and told Cheung Ping half truth; the lie being she threw a stone at a servant girl who called their mother some derogatory names and the girl fainted. The truth was she left her jade with that girl. So she begged and begged and begged and begged Cheung Ping to say that jade was hers and she threw that stone. Stupid Cheung Ping admitted these to the arresting officer who asked her, "If this jade from Kuang Ling Palace" and Cheung Ping said "Yes, it's mine, I did it, how is she?". Poor girl was then thrown into jail, saw Sai Hin who didn't believe she killed Yoke Han and only then Cheung Ping knew something was amiss. Dear sister refused to see her and daddy refused to investigate further. At the meantime Superman was happily preparing to see her future general husband called I think Po Lun who was the cousin of evil Tin. That general looked quite alright but Superman disliked him because he grabbed her hand, fondled her hand and refused to let go. He's not Sai Hin you see, the perpetual gentleman who only just hugged Cheung Ping. Anyway this General looked brutal and abusive. I do think Superman deserved him.



Now there are several reasons why I said what I said in the first line of this episodic thought of mine and there are many more reasons why I feel this episode, the entire plot, the scripting and the execution are not only over the top, they're all plain ridiculous and really stupid. I am being blunt here because this series, and this episode really did stupefy me, if there is such a word.



1. Yoke Han had to die. If not how can Cheung Ping and Sai Hin get together at last to kill themselves? I thought Yoke Han would leave or even marry Sing Hing but well I think Sing Hing will die also.



2. Why was Superman in such a panic? The pond is a public place, she can just say she dropped her jade into the pond which accidentally got attached to that body. It could have happened that way.



3. Tin ordered the body to be thrown into the pond. I thought the pond is like not very deep, so the body will resurface? Can't she just order her men to burn the body somewhere else?



4. The palace may be a big place but I really doubt nobody could have seen Superman carrying that bloody body all the way to the pond. I doubt Tin would order the body to be thrown into her own backyard pond. And what happened to the blood which dripped onto the floor as Superman carted the body to the pond?



5. Why would Yoke Han steal the letter in the middle of the night with her dad sleeping nearby? For dramatic sake? Why can't she do it in the morning when her dad was away at work? How come the letter was kept in a box in a cupboard in a room? I thought that letter was like mega important so shouldn't it be kept in a more secretive place? Whatever happened to secret compartments?



6. The King took just one day to conclude the case and never told anybody what was his conclusion. Be practical, he can't kill Cheung Ping because there won't be any story thereafter. Everybody, even Yoke Han's father begged him to investigate and the king gave them 3 days (and later an extra one day) to give him one reason why he should reopen the case. They couldn't find any. So the king threw a tantrum and said something like;



"It took me just a few days to come to a conclusion whilst I worry about my country. Many of my citizens are dying, we are being attacked. In these four days, what have you all done? (To Yoke Han's dad) You were too busy investigating your daughter's death, you did not even care about your country. You failed in your duties as a minister, you're just plain lazy! (To Sai Hin) You cared only for love and love, what about your country? (To Sing Hing) I have nothing to say about you! I hereby close this case and you (Yoke Han's dad) will retire back to your village."



And all of them looked extremely guilty for wanting to investigate about poor Yoke Han's death and not worry about the citizens' lives. It just amazes me that the scriptwriter could write such a horribly stupid scene just to show how dedicated the king is and all that. I thought this scene magnifies the king's stupidity and arrogance. It would seem that ONLY HE the King cared about the country, only HE the king was doing something to save the country from falling into the hands of either rebels or outsiders. Only HE was using his brains in achieving this end. I am like "Excuse me sir, excuse me, if you can't take care of your own family, if you can't give justice to your wife and to poor murdered Yoke Han and let bad people keep getting away with murders in the name of saving your dynasty, how can the people trust you? How can the people respect a man who can't even take care of his own personal affairs?" I thought the king was pretty useless and all those useless ministers and Sai Hin never once told the King in his face that he was wrong, everything starts with family, justice begins at home. However busy he may be with trying to fend off enemies, he must get rid of the enemies within. Clearly the writer was expecting viewers to be in awe with that speech. I wasn't.



Then we see Cheung Ping crying alone in the prison cell asking herself;



"How can Yoke Han die? What happened?"

Ask your sister Superman.



"How come Chiu Yan isn't here yet to see me?"

Dear girl, you were set up. Pretty obvious. For someone who studied so much, you must realise by now your sister who took such a long time begging you must have been up to no good.



What I was expecting her to say is "How come daddy would treat me this way?" and I expect Cheung Ping to get angry. Nope, she is still meek weak Cheung Ping. She should be in prison, anything to toughen her up and make her smarter. At this moment I do think Cheung Ping is really really stupid. Gullible, naive, sweet, kind, whatever. She's just stupid.



But the worst of the worst of the worst person in this episode is the Queen's reaction. Of course she was worried and tearfully asked Sai Hin how was Cheung Ping. But she was now the servant girl standing next to the King. How come she felt such low esteem that she can't even just whisper to the king "Don't you trust your own daughter? She is my daughter, I trust her, investigate this". Nope, she just stood there, weak meek mom. Useless woman.



Overall this episode was horribly scripted. Can't say much about the acting though, but did I see Sonija smiling when she was supposed to be sad? What a horrible actress. So was Charmaine Sheh. I am so darn tired of watching her crying for Sai Hin. Slap her! Slap her silly. Got problems scream Sai Hin. When is she going to be so angry she would stand up and fight for herself? Is she so paralyzed emotionally and in strength that she can't defend herself?



One really ridiculous scene showed Cheung Ping at her worst. You know kind Cheung Ping loved her mom so much she never shed a tear since last episode for her mom's predicament? Maybe because mom now is dad's servant so that is supposed to be a good thing? And I thought the empress dowager called her mom the bad luck woman so why is she serving the king?



Anyway this scene was when Superman begged sister to take the blame. Remember she said the servant girl said something derogatory remark about their mom? Of course Superman pretended to be very angry. And how did Cheung Ping react to such an insult (though told by her sis but I bet if the servant girl really existed and really said those nasty thing this would still be her reaction)? She told her sis, "Oh, well we have to be patient, let it be".



CHEUNG PINGGGGGGG!!! You have let it be for like 15 episodes, you still let it be? What disgusted me was her non reaction, or maybe her "I'm ok with it" reaction. What is this man? What is this?!?!? You shouldn't be ok, nope. Nooooo when people insult her Sai Hin, ahhhh then you see her being angry.



I can't take this anymore! Where is Ng Sam Kwai?!!!!