The Legendary Four Aces - Season 1

1x1 - Episode 1

August 7, 2000

The ‘Suchou’s Three Geniuses’, TONG PAK FU (CHEUNG KA FAI), MAN CHING MING (LAM KA TUNG) and JOR CHI SHAN (AU YEUNG CHUN WAH), represent the Six Art Club and compete with the Seven Stars Club for the championship of the annual National Talent Competition. Although SHAN deliberately loses two games to increase the betting rates, FU manages to score the third triumph for the Six Art Club. The adopted son of Prince LING, KIN, wants to recruit these three geniuses, but fails. So he tries to humiliate them with some difficult questions, however fails again allowing them to win the big prize of a hundred gold bars. From then, KIN hates them. Meanwhile, CHOW MAN BUN (NGAI CHUN KIT) who has come to China with the Persian business delegation, proposes himself to work for KIN based on his ability in memorizing and forging paintings. BUN passes KIN’s tests and is hired to gain revenge on the three geniuses.… ...

1x2 - Episode 2

August 8, 2000

BUN shocks the watching crowd with his flying painting show. FU refuses to take the challenge because he has promised his father, TAK that he will never compete with anyone again. BUN promises KIN that FU is going to take the challenge after ten days. TAK forces FU to retire. FU and his wife, LUK CHIU YUNG have been living together like brother and sister. YUNG persuades FU to take a concubine in order to bring the Tong family a son. SHAN’s sister, LIN likes FU. She feels perturbed after learning of YUNG’s suggestion and has a little argument with BUN on the ferry and makes him remember her. BUN teaches western painting in the Six Art Club. He turns the place into a mess and outrages the owner, CHOW SUN. BUN knows that LIN is SHAN’s sister and arranges her fake disappearance to blackmail the three geniuses to get the Unbeatable Knife from the Cheung Lok Fon.

1x3 - Episode 3

August 9, 2000

FU takes his mother’s charm to break into the Cheung Lok Fon with MING and SHAN. The Unbeatable Knife owner, WONG KU LIK sets up four obstacles for them. FU drops the charm during the challenge. BUN arrives and pretends to rescue the three geniuses while they are trying to overcome the obstacles. KIN pays a prostitute to drug the three geniuses. LIN suddenly appears when they wake up. The three geniuses are accused of using the excuse of rescuing LIN as a pretext to visit prostitutes. They have no way to explain the misunderstanding, which was created by KIN and BUN in order to humiliate the three geniuses. TAK and his wife go to visit their ancestors’ graves and find strange things around the Chow ancestors’ graves. BUN in fact is the Chow’s descendent. The reason that he is in China is to take revenge on FU’s family.

1x4 - Episode 4

August 10, 2000

TAK stops FU from joining the examination for scholar selection because he fears the curse that BUN’s grandfather made on the Tong’s descendents will come true. The Six Art Club is heavily in debt. All paintings from the ‘Suchou Three Geniuses’ have fallen in price since the Cheung Lok Fon incident. So their plan of saving the Six Art Club is ruined. A tattooist, TAK CHUK BING, tattooed a map to a hidden treasure onto four men’s backs, as a safeguard against losing the map. SUN is one of them. BING tries to cheat a Tungchon secret agent, YU, but falls short. So he can only tell her the truth. SUN lets KIN take over the Six Art Club in order to prevent it from closing down. He then tries to hang himself but fortunately is stopped by TAK. The three geniuses reckon the only way to save the Six Art Club is to re-establish their fame. TAK decides to let FU pick up his pen again after considering the situation.… ...

1x5 - Episode 5

August 11, 2000

The three geniuses are competing with BUN on a randomly drawn topic after seven days. They have all signed a will although they do not have any confidence in winning because they are all weak at their respective topics in the competition. A very famous prostitute, SO always reminds YU to find a good man. However, YU is already very occupied in finding the four men who have been tattooed. LIK guesses that FU might be his nephew from the jade that he wears. So he goes to FU’s home looking for his sister, DIP. He tells everyone the history between his father and sister. TAK stops DIP from meeting LIK and even kicks him out. FU plays tricks on LIK and gets sued. So DIP finally meets LIK and asks him to take the three geniuses to Cheung Lok Fon for training before the competition. LIK pinpoints their shortcomings. FU’s weakness is insensitivity to love, so LIK sends YU to make FU understands what love is.

1x6 - Episode 6

August 14, 2000

CHU PING TING does not get on with her father, Prince LING. She leaves home with her servant, ON ON. On the way, they are robbed and luckily saved by MING. TING, however, mistakes MING as the thief. MING and SHAN both finish their training in the Cheung Lok Fon, but FU still has not learnt how to love. During a flag fighting competition in the Cheung Lok Fon, YU’s idea of tattoo matching is also held. FU has a woman picture drawn on his back in order to match up with YU. Meanwhile, she arranges some Tungchon agents to kill all people who have a woman tattooed on their backs and cut off their tattoos. This causes many deaths. TING is suspected as the murderer because of her misleading sayings and handed over to the officials for further investigations. MING and the others study the characteristics of all the people killed and start worrying for FU.… ...

1x7 - Episode 7

August 15, 2000

FU manages to get away from the agents during the tattoo matching competition but ends up falling off a cliff with YU. YU discovers that it is only a fake tattoo on FU’s back and is totally disappointed. She is injured and FU does not want to leave her alone although he has to rush to join the competition with BUN. So he carries her on his back and this changes her feelings about him. During the competition, BUN beats SHAN and MING with his dirty tricks and even seriously injures MING. When BUN and FU are competing, FU is stimulated after hearing that MING is dead and beats BUN with his magic pen. BUN wants to override the results with his trap but FU accuses him of using unauthorized drugs and finds a doctor to prove it. Eventually KIN gives BUN up and leaves him facing all the consequences alone.

1x8 - Episode 8

August 16, 2000

MING’s death is just a lie to stimulate FU’s ‘love’. The reason why FU has not fallen into BUN’s trap and BUN has been proven taking unauthorized drugs is because of YU’s help, so FU pledges to help her if she needs help in the future. FU wants to make friends with BUN who should be punished by amputation of one arm after losing the competition. BUN, however, does not accept his kind invitation and swears he will make FU suffer double more than what he is suffering. TING is put on trial because of the Cheung Lok Fon murders. During the hearing, she defends herself with old literature and her eloquence and is finally found not guilty. KIN wants to send TING back home but she begs to stay for seven more days. YU gets into the Six Art Club to continue searching for the fourth human skin with FU’s help. FU tells MING his understandings of the examiners’ psychology and everyone starts to realize that FU still wants to join the exam.… ...

1x9 - Episode 9

August 17, 2000

MING is absolutely depressed from being late to the exam. He eventually cheers up under FU and the others’ encouragement. TING keeps sending him presents and money but only gets his scolding in return. She is attracted to him after knowing he is indifferent to fame and material pursuits, and a filial son to his mother. She even sends ON ON to buy all his paintings. TAK understands how much FU wants to take the exam with the others, but is willing to let FU go only if he gets married again. FU tries to find another wife with his drawings. LIN misinterprets him and tries her hardest to find all he needs for this ritual drawing. Finally, she finds the paints from BUN who is working as a portrait painter now. LIN finds someone to forge FU’s drawings and humiliates him in front of every woman in the town after she realizes that FU has never considered her as his wife. This also ruins his marriage plan.

1x10 - Episode 10

August 18, 2000

TING sends someone to renovate MING’s father’s memorial pagoda. It turns out she is scolded by MING and bitten by a poisonous snake. To delay the toxic attack, MING has to send TING to the ‘Sub-zero Cave’ and send someone to Hangzhou to get the medicine for her. MING stays with TING despite the possibility of getting infected. TING is deeply touched by MING’s care and honest behaviour. After getting healed, TING wants to meet up with MING before leaving for home. TING leaves angrily after MING stands her up. But in fact it is a trick that KIN plays. WAH scolds LING for corruption among his men and urges him to take charge of the scholar selection examination to compensate for his fault. YU is kindly treated and moved by SUN in the Six Art Club. But then she discovers that SUN is the one with the fourth tattoo. FU arrives to propose a marriage to YU while she is trying to kill SUN.

1x11 - Episode 11

August 21, 2000

FU suddenly proposes a marriage to YU with a jade hair clip and stops YU from killing SUN. She is totally impressed after seeing FU being bullied and humiliated by prostitutes when he gets her favorite ball back. She decides to leave the Tungchon. Her master, LAU KUN will only let her go if she can handle his ten whips. Eventually KUN softens and only asks her to finish off finding the human skin. YUNG knows that LIN is kidnapped because of FU and gives her the jade hair clip to solve the problem. She also promises to set up her marriage with FU. So FU ends up going to marry two more wives. YU realizes that her dream marriage is not coming true, but she is still calm. LIN however becomes hysterical after knowing that FU has never considered marrying her. DIP and TAK are also arguing a lot about this. SHAN meets his former lover, KUK and feels hurt that she has already married.… ...

1x12 - Episode 12

August 22, 2000

SHAN begs FU to marry LIN. FU agrees to do so because he thinks LIN is committing suicide for him. He, on the other hand, has already proposed YU a marriage. So all people are divided into two groups for whom FU should be married to and fight all the time. FU finally decides to marry both YU and LIN. SHAN still loves KUK and agrees to pay off her husband’s debt by selling his bookstore. Everyone encourages him to date KUK again but he still fails at the end. SUN refuses to write a reference letter for BUN because he can only see hatred in him. BUN loses his temper. On FU’s wedding day, YU still does not want to kill SUN. Tungchon’s agents arrive and set the Six Art Club on fire. TAK asks both YU and LIN to drink three big bowls of wine each to show they do not have any jealousy between them.… ...

1x13 - Episode 13

August 23, 2000

The news that the Six Art Club is on fire stops YU from drinking the third bowl of wine and saves her life. She knows she is poisoned, so she leaves FU a letter explaining she is not able to share a husband with another woman and goes back to Tungchon. BUN is falsely accused of murdering SUN and setting the Six Art Club on fire for various reasons. Although he pleads innocent, lack of a witness brings him a death sentence. At last, the three geniuses realize that BUN is really innocent when they see SUN’s last piece of work. So they appeal to the court for BUN. WAH blames LING overstepping his authority in order to help KIN’s old staff. LING is demoted and decides to overthrow the existing emperor. And finding the treasure with the Tungchon is the first step to achieve his ambition. KIN promises TING that he will come first in the scholar selection examination to please her.

1x14 - Episode 14

August 24, 2000

An official has ordered BUN’s execution after three days. BUN manages to find a witness but it turns out that he is slow. He also realizes after all these years that his lifetime mission of taking revenge on Tong’s family is just a misunderstanding. He collapses from despair. On the day of execution, MING and SHAN try their best to delay the execution. BUN, however, has fully accepted his fate. Luckily, FU and the local official arrive in time and prove that BUN could not be the murderer by showing his broken right arm. Three rich Suchou businessmen are willing to award a big scholarship to whoever from Suchou is selected by the examiners. After SHAN’s bargaining, they decide to award 500 kg of gold. BUN decides to live a new life and makes friends with FU and the others. TAK even adopts him as a second son and encourages him to join the examination with the others.… ...

1x15 - Episode 15

August 25, 2000

FU refuses to let LIN go with him. Finally, LIN persuades FU with the excuse of taking care of BUN’s injured arm on the way. On the day of departure, everyone comes and sends them away and the four geniuses march their way towards the capital. FU and the others eventually arrive at the capital after a tough journey. However, they are not welcomed by the waiting crowds. Apparently the Six Art Club in the capital is very poor because all the club members are too busy studying and do not earn much money. So the Clubhouse is ragged and the members can hardly feed themselves. The club master,SHUM even warns the four geniuses that none of the members has ever been selected in the examinations in the past decades. SHAN and MING queue up for the charity rice and find that the donor is TING. BUN’s candidateship for the examination is cancelled because of KIN’s dirty trick. MING can only get help from TING for BUN.… ...

1x16 - Episode 16

August 28, 2000

WAH and his wife, YUK have a son called MO who is simple and upsets them all the time. WAH’s servants pray in a temple and find all the donated money is stolen by one of them, HA. SHAN has just passed by and is accused of robbing. They beat him up and even take away all his grocery money. The leading servant, HEUNG looks exactly like YU and nobody believes him when he tells everyone that YU stole his money. LIN comes out to shop with SHAN again and proves his saying. LIN denies seeing YU in case of FU meeting her again. However, FU bumps into HEUNG in the market but loses sight of her. LIN sees FU daydreaming and becomes jealous. BUN starting off a cooking fire by a crystal makes her happy again. YUK takes a few servants with her to a temple. On the way, FU meets HEUNG again and follows her around.

1x17 - Episode 17

August 29, 2000

FU follows HEUNG to the temple. She takes him as a dirty old man but FU mistakes her not wanting to recognize him. He even rents a boat to chase after her. LING dresses up like a farmer to test MING. He finds him not greedy, very smart but ignoring the reality. So he refuses to help BUN because MING does not match with TING. She makes an ambroidery purse for MING to show her love. SHAN and the others plan to beg WAH to help BUN but fail. WAH’s cook, LAU discovers some valuable dry seafood is missing, so she sends out all the guards to search for the thief. Finally they find out that HA has stolen it to please the other male servants. HEUNG and LAU are having girls’ talk. LAU tells her that she has met someone unkind to her and lost her sense of taste. Now, luckily, she has HEUNG to help her regain it. TING sounds MING out for his love.… ...

1x18 - Episode 18

August 30, 2000

MING apologizes to TING after realising her difficulties. She is happy again seeing him treasure the purse from her. LING plans to get financial support from the Mongolians, so he gives the Mongolian prince a very warm welcome. He also decides to get TING married to the prince. SHAN and the others play all sorts of tricks to get YUK to help BUN. YUK promises to help them if they can get the two pearls from her head clip within seven days. WAH’s 60th birthday is coming. The emperor says he will join the banquet and watch MO’s performance. WAH worries MO will humiliate him in front of the emperor with all his silly games. LAU is bothered by the emperor’s coming visit, so she invites SHAN to help her with the menu as he is a food specialist. SHAN proposes FU get a job in WAH’s House and steal the pearl at the right time. TING flees away from home when she finds out about the set marriage. But she is caught and brought home.… ...

1x19 - Episode 19

August 31, 2000

FU goes to an interview for a job in the WAH House. HEUNG thinks he is chasing after her and deliberately makes things difficult for him. Suddenly, there are riots in the house and MO is kidnapped. FU leads the others to rescue MO and soon finds this is all HEUNG’s plan to test the interviewees’ loyalty. HEUNG fails FU because he has not shown any concern for MO’s safety. Meanwhile, HA is committing suicide by swallowing a hair clip. FU gets her to spit the clip out with a smart idea. So after all, FU and two other members from the Six Art Clubs, CHONG and CHI are hired. FU has also signed a lifetime contract. BUN worries about MING seeing him acting strangely lately. TING does not show any interest in meeting the prince and he thinks she is sounding him out. She has not yet had any reply from MING after sending him many letters and starts to worry, so she begs FA to set up a meeting with him.

1x20 - Episode 20

September 1, 2000

TING hurriedly dresses up, knowing that MING is coming for a visit. LING accuses of him trying to marry her for her money, so he leaves in a rage and writes a letter for TING to ask her to forget him. TING faints immediately after reading the letter. SHAN asks LAU to introduce him into the WAH’s House in return for teaching her some special recipes. LAU refuses. LAU tries the food in KUK’s new restaurant and exaggerates how bad it is. This scares off all the customers. SHAN is informed about this and decides to trade his deep fried dough recipe with her promotion of the food of KUK’s restaurant. LAU is impressed by his love to KUK and agrees to take him into the WAH’s House. SHAN is overwhelmed. SHAN is shocked to see FU being beaten up in the WAH’s House. He encourages him to hang on. FU finds out that HEUNG does not know any Kungfu and she admits that she is really not YU.… ...

1x21 - Episode 21

September 4, 2000

TING is heartbroken. She sends ON to get some insecticide claiming she wants to kill some bugs, but in fact she wants to kill herself. SHAN meets ON and mistakes MING as a love cheater after listening to ON. MING tells him that TING will only live a very poor life if she marries him. SHAN, however, scolds him for causing TING to attempt suicide. MING is shocked and rushes to catch up her cart. The Mongolian prince does not let TING go. SHAN suggests MING takes poison to show his love, and he takes it without thinking. The prince agrees to cancel the marriage with TING and lend out the money as scheduled. LING says he will only let MING marry TING if he comes first in the examination. WAH is sarcastic to LING about his daughter’s cancelled marriage in front of the emperor. So LING decides to take his revenge at his birthday banquet. WAH beats MO up for not making any progress either in studying literature or Kungfu.… ...

1x22 - Episode 22

September 5, 2000

SHAN comes to the WAH’s House to help LAU cooking. FU manages to steal YUK’s pearls from her hair clip and hands them to SHAN. LAU thinks they are fake pearls and insists on putting them on a dish for decoration. FU overhears LING’s evil plan in the toilet. Then he is ordered to send the dishes out to the dinner room and is shocked when he finds some food has been stolen from the dish. The emperor admires MO for his brilliant Kungfu performance. LING grasps the chance to raise his cheeky question to MO. FU quickly solves both the food and the LING crises. WAH values FU’s talents and agrees to change terms on his contract. FU tries to flee but is caught by HEUNG. She feels sorry for him after realizing that he has an examination to sit and he only mixes into the WAH’s House because she looks exactly like YU. SHAN, MING and BUN bring the pearls to the WAH’s House and ask YUK to get BUN a candidateship for the examination.… ...

1x23 - Episode 23

September 6, 2000

LAU bruises SHAN all over for revenge, but finally lets him go because of his loyalty to his friends and forces him to be her sworn brother. FU fails to leave the WAH’s House, so he decides to mess the house up. He teaches MO to write some words and draw with blood. Although WAH is mad, he is not tricked. He tries to beat up every servant to find out who caused the mess and makes FU shameful in front of everyone. LING knows that KIN has found the treasure, so he sends jackets to all the candidates in order to strengthen his power. WAH sees his trick and claims that scholars should not be frightened by cold winds. The emperor asks both LING and WAH to have a competition on a mountain and WAH is nearly frozen by the wind. WAH orders MO to work as a servant to train him up. HEUNG and the other servant maids have joined a talent competition. FU is compelled to be in the cheering team.… ...

1x24 - Episode 24

September 7, 2000

FU realizes that HEUNG is desperate to win the game because of him, so he keeps giving her tips during the competition and helps her win the championship. KWUEN becomes hysterical after been defeated and makes SHAN recognize that KUK is in financial difficulties. HEUNG drags FU to the Wishes Tree. He is totally attracted by her beauty during praying. SHAN borrows money from the club and quarrels with LIN. She vents her anger by gambling and loses a lot of the club’s spending money. BUN pledges that he will win the money back and ends up beating the dressed-up emperor by his ‘Up-dices’ skill. LIN buys BUN dinner for his help and they both feel something strange between them. That night, LIN suddenly screams out from her room. BUN rushes into her room and finds her taking a bath. SHUM witnesses this embarrassment. More blood words and hay-dolls are found in the WAH’s House. All servants are convinced that FU has done it.… ...

1x25 - Episode 25

September 8, 2000

SHAN fails to borrow more money for KUK from the other members. LAU is willing to help. HEUNG and FU find that MO is sleepwalking and it might be related to subjugation under WAH all the time. WAH does not find the emperor in the morning meeting and checks him out in the palace study. He sees him playing dice with the eunuchs and guesses it might be something important about the empire. WAH and YUK are informed that MO is sleepwalking but they are not convinced. WAH promises that if FU can play ‘Up-dices’, he will let him leave. All servants gather together to practice ‘Up-dices’. One of the gardeners, SHUI molests HEUNG. FU points him out immediately but HEUNG does not believe what he has said and leaves FU to get beaten up by the others. LAU manages to borrow money from the other servants at a 10 % interest rate. CHUN, HA and DUNG all tell HEUNG that they have been molested by SHUI before.… ...

1x26 - Episode 26

September 11, 2000

TUNG asks YU to forget FU and make sure that LAU KUN does not know about him. She, however, ignores his kind suggestion. HEUNG tells FU that she has seen YU and leads him everywhere to find her. This makes him feel confused. LAU discovers that KUK loves gambling and owes a loan shark a huge debt, but lies to SHAN that it is her husband’s fault. LAU tries to tell SHAN but KUK manages to make SHAN hate LAU before she can tell the truth. FU learns how to make ‘Up-dices’ and reports to WAH cheerfully. He takes FU to meet the emperor. But then he finds out that the emperor only wants to learn it for fun and is outraged. So he tells the emperor off straight away and gets kicked out of the palace. FU requests WAH to let him go but WAH discovers that FU is actually one the four geniuses which shocks all the servants. HEUNG lets FU leave out of sympathy.… ...

1x27 - Episode 27

September 12, 2000

LIN returns the crystal to BUN immediately when she sees FU’s return to show there is nothing between them. On the other hand, she is scared to stay alone with FU. BUN is heartbroken. He gets drunk and meets the dressed-up emperor again in the casino, but he does not want to pay him any attention. HEUNG denies that she likes FU but she does not convince the others. The four geniuses attend the examination and find FU’s name is not there. Apparently, WAH has cancelled his candidateship. They all get very upset and file a court case. Unfortunately, the judge decides to beat them up and kick them out of the courtroom after learning they are suing WAH. But they do not give up and try every other department to sue WAH. HEUNG meets FU in the market and all the other people treat them as adulterer and adulteress, so FU admits that he loves her. She is shocked and says that she is just someone who looks like YU to him.… ...

1x28 - Episode 28

September 13, 2000

MING asks LING to help but he sets the condition that he has to leave TING forever. FU feels terribly sorry. Then he finds out that HEUNG will be sent to accompany MO to the west and feels no direction in his life anymore. So FU tells MING that he has an uncle who can help him. MING feels relieved. FU reads the prayer that HEUNG made for him and finds his reason to live again. So he tries all he can to impress her but only gets her bothered. LIN scolds FU for talking about marrying HEUNG all the time, so he tells her that he only treats her like a sister all the time. She slaps him on the face. BUN is kidnapped by the emperor and forced to teach him gambling skills, so he uses the chance to ask the emperor to help FU. During the royal meeting, FU and WAH argue, so the emperor asks if HEUNG likes FU. If she says ‘Yes’, WAH will be fired. If she says ‘No’, FU will be banished. Therefore, HEUNG asks for one hour to think about it.

1x29 - Episode 29

September 14, 2000

HEUNG answers ‘I don’t know’ and says the whole event has been turned into a country issue, so all the citizens should make the decision. The emperor says FU wins if he can get one hundred thousand families to support him. LIN writes a divorce letter to FU and BUN is very happy about this. YU is sorrowful knowing that FU loves HEUNG now. FU and the others try to get support from the citizens but are not very successful. HEUNG tells the queen that FU is only taking her as the replacement for YU and worries that he is not truthful to her when they are on the way to the Water Temple. FU and the others make silly faces to get the citizens’ support in another temple. Suddenly, YU appears and says that FU is a liar and she will kill HEUNG. FU chases after YU to the Water Temple and finds that HEUNG’s face is severely hurt.… ...

1x31 - Episode 31

September 18, 2000

Outside the examination hall, SHUM is selling snacks while TING, KUK, HEUNG and LIN are cheering for the four geniuses. They walk into the hall with full confidence. A few candidates including one of the Six Art club members, CHEUNG who is carrying a pawnshop receipt with him, are discovered cheating. SHUM reveals that LIN helps him selling snacks in order to cheer for BUN. This makes her embarrassed. She returns to the clubhouse and find BUN has done the shopping, gathered firewood and bought her firecrackers. The queen begs the emperor to forgive WAH and is revolted by him. LING persuades the emperor to build an armoury. WAH finds out and rushes into the royal study to scold the emperor. He is then sacked. The four geniuses walk out of the examination hall and find only HEUNG is missing, so FU dashes to the WAH’s House and finds WAH is mentally disordered and blinded.… ...

1x32 - Episode 32

September 19, 2000

LIN is scared thinking BUN might have been hit by a cart. BUN is absolutely delighted to see LIN cares about him and tells her his feelings boldly. TAK sees LIN and BUN’s close act when he first arrives in town and accuses them of being in adulterers. FU has to explain to him immediately. The three geniuses discover the intimate relationship between LIN and BUN and decide to make fun of them. But LIN overhears their plan and takes revenge on them. Unfortunately, she attacks the emperor by mistake and is appalled. HEUNG accompanies the WAH family to Suchou to find YIN. FU is unwilling to let her go. KUK forces her husband to divorce her after losing all his money in the casino in order to marry SHAN if he is selected in the examination. LAU finds out and rushes to her restaurant to scold her.… ...

1x33 - Episode 33

September 20, 2000

The four geniuses are waiting for the examination result in the Scholar Hall while SHUM and TAK are finding out the name list for the selected five scholars. LING decides to play a trick when he knows that their names are all on the name list and MING is one of the candidates for the best scholars selection. The names of the fourth and third runner-ups are announced, but do not include any of the four geniuses. MING and SHAN are extremely nervous. Finally, BUN wins second runner-up and proposes a marriage to LIN immediately. None of the other three geniuses, however, are selected. MING collapses and promises that he will come first in the next examination after being comforted by TING. SHAN wonders how he can gather money now to pay off KUK’s debt. Meanwhile, he finds KUK has already found another man and tells him that he is no use to her anymore. SHAN is hurt. He gets drunk and starts a fight with some rough men.… ...

1x34 - Episode 34

September 21, 2000

TING wants to elope with MING by lying to him about visiting the Water Temple together. LING finds out and sends people to catch them. MING insists on returning home when he discovers the truth. During the argument, they fall down the hillside and TING is injured. They then find a cave to hide from the heavy rain and get physically intimate. LING catches TING but lies to MING that he has not found her to make him worry. LAU tells SHAN her past of how she was cheated and lost her sense of taste when she sees him giving himself up. But it does not encourage him much. BUN is called to meet the emperor in the royal garden and finds LIN kidnapped there. Apparently, the emperor has taken revenge on her beating him up before and wants to play a joke on her. BUN impresses the emperor with his painting skills and delights him by making his paper lantern much more colourful.… ...

1x35 - Episode 35

September 22, 2000

The emperor orders the four geniuses make a forgery of the Buddha painting one hour before the ceremony for sending the Buddha away. Unfortunately, MING and SHAN are both confused by love and leave BUN and FU feeling helpless. SHAN messes up a restaurant after getting drunk. He wakes up in the court and admits all charges. He even suggests that the judge give him life sentence and outrages the other three geniuses. LING finds TING is pregnant. He has to let TING marry MING for her sake and the forging plan. SHAN wakes up from his hangover and finds everyone’s hair has turned grey. He realizes that he has been in a coma for 20 years. LAU, who is in her middle age, has bought the restaurant that he was last at to memorize him. SHAN feels terribly sorry for getting his friends into trouble. Suddenly, he realizes that the whole story is just a lie and rushes away angrily.

1x36 - Episode 36

September 25, 2000

The emperor requests to see the other Buddha painting, which is exactly the same as the one that the four geniuses are forging, with the excuse of checking the authenticity of the one that the ambassador is holding. The four geniuses who are dressed up like eunuchs try to remember every detail of the painting and rush to a secret room to prepare the forgery. The emperor worries that the four geniuses will make the forgery exactly the same as the one they have seen when he finds out from chatting with the ambassador that one of the Buddha’s palms was stained by water before. The forgery is successfully returned to the ambassador and the emperor is delighted and promises to reward them and SHUM. SHAN is spending crazily as he has been rewarded with an uncountable amount of gold. The emperor will hold MING and BUN’s weddings as rewards. SHAN takes his bags into the royal bank and understands what is meant by uncountable amount of gold.… ...

1x37 - Episode 37

September 26, 2000

MING suggests to change the armoury into a royal temple on the very first day of his duty. Although the other officials outwardly agree, they all laugh at him deep down. LING is mad about MING’s suggestion and thinks how to convince the emperor again. Suddenly, BUN thinks of building a beauties home for royal visits and the emperor is pleased with the idea. BUN tells the emperor this idea is from LING to please him. MING understands that his royal temple idea has caused him a lot of humiliation, so he plans to return to Suchou and take up a local official post. SHAN is also depressed by owning a lot of money, so both him and MING come to get FU’s help. The emperor promises to grant both MING and SHAN’s requests on condition that SHAN and FU will accompany him to Tai Shan for a prayer. LING is planning to usurp the throne and use the armoury for storing his own weapons.… ...

1x38 - Episode 38

September 27, 2000

BUN sees that LING admires him and feels relieved. MING and TING arrive at Suchou for his new post. MUN forces them to sleep in two separate rooms and prepares a lot of medicines which are good for her embryo. SHAN and FU find nothing to do and start playing football. This gets the emperor interested in visiting the Cheung Lok Fon. They are scared but have to take him there. MING knows that LIK and the head of another casino, LUNG are going to have a negotiation and tries to stop him from going. LIK tells him that it is not his business and not to get involved. MING wants to get an army force from the Suchou officials but he is scolded for being nosy and kicked out. LUNG and his men make plans to take over Cheung Lok Fon. However, he feels too old to do that. The emperor and the others arrive at the casino. He wins a lot after a short while. On the other side, FUNG is also winning a lot. So nobody wants to play with her.… ...

1x39 - Episode 39

September 28, 2000

FUNG finds the emperor in his bathroom. He beats FUNG with his ‘Up-dices’ trick and she slaps him on the face. This gets him interested in her and he swears to win her heart. FU feels insecure working for the emperor when SHAN finds it as a quick way to make money. LING is informed by BUN that the emperor is in the Cheung Lok Fon, so he plans to kidnap the emperor and usurp the throne. MING is bothered about solving LIK and LUNG’s fight. Eventually, he convinces them by his bravery and love. The emperor and the geniuses arrive at the Cheung Lok Fon and find that it is LIK and SO’s wedding. The emperor insists to stay because he has not been to a civilian wedding. Suddenly LUNG appears to challenge LIK. With the emperors stirring, LIK has to accept the challenge and ends up getting hurt. LUNG decides to open a restaurant called ‘LUNG and FUNG’ in the Cheung Lok Fon and secretly use it as a triad house for gambling and prostitution.… ...

1x40 - Episode 40

September 29, 2000

The emperor is obsessed about FUNG. He orders FU and SHAN to think of a way to get her and upsets FU. FU finds that YUK is mentally disturbed seeing WAH’s condition deteriorate. He is very sympathetic towards HEUNG when she blames herself for this family tragedy. Suddenly, she proposes to flee and live in Mongolia with him but he hesitates. Eunuch TAK threatens SHAN to arrange FUNG to sleep with the emperor by force. He can only go to buy some drugs with FU to dope FUNG. Unfortunately, FUNG discovers their plan and they are hung up naked on the street. They are discarded by the citizens and also the emperor. FU feels wrongly blamed and HEUNG takes the chance to persuade him to leave China for Mongolia. Apparently YU pretends to be HEUNG and retains HEUNG in a wood hut. HEUNG realizes that YU is her sister but YU beats her up and accuses her of stealing her man. She swears to get FU back from her.

1x41 - Episode 41

October 2, 2000

LING’s wife is pregnant and he takes it as a good sign for his usurping the throne plan. His wife does not see it that way. He implicitly tells the officials his plan on the day of finishing construction on the armoury and forces them to submit under him. BUN can only obey him. FUNG discovers that the emperor is the man behind the doping trick and punishes him with kneeling and kowtow, but the emperor follows her instruction surprisingly. FU looks down on him from then on. WAH notices that YU is pretending to be HEUNG and tries to tell FU with a secret slip. HEUNG manages to untie the ropes and flees away from the hut but finally gets caught again. FU finds it hard to believe what WAH has said in the slip and sounds YU out. YU passes his tests and FU is relieved. WAH waits for FU in the mayor house and tells him that he is pretending to be sicker only because he knows that something is wrong about HEUNG.… ...

1x42 - Episode 42

October 3, 2000

FU and the others all rush to the woods to find HEUNG but only recover her hair clip. YU ties HEUNG on a pillar near the seaside and tries to kill her with the rising tide. The emperor tows FUNG’s wood-cart to the countryside to please her. YU kidnaps him seeing that TAK is not around. KUN gives YU medicines to counteract the poison in her body when she hands in the emperor and takes away all her Kungfu. She then happily dashes to meet FU. FU interrogates her about HEUNG’s location. FU and the others find no sign of HEUNG when they get to the beach and FU cries desperately for HEUNG. YU then tells FU that she is a Tungchon agent and has handed KUN the emperor. She faints after her confession. WAH guesses that LING is the black-hand behind the kidnapping, so he dashes to meet General WONG for discussions. FA begs KIN to take her away from LING in case he will find out that she is carrying KIN’s baby.… ...

1x43 - Episode 43

October 4, 2000

WAH and WONG gather an army outside the palace gate and want to forge a royal order to save the emperor. Unfortunately, a tip of the emperor’s chop is broken, so the three geniuses get into the WAH’s House secretly hoping to find a piece of jade to forge the chop. While they are leaving town with the jade piece, BUN and his soldiers catch them. They all accuse him of being a traitor. BUN holds MING to make a forge chop. When it is done, he cuts MING’s arm abruptly to get more of LING’s trust. LING announces fake news that the emperor has died suddenly and he is going to be the new emperor when BUN tries to kill the emperor in the armoury. WONG receives a death order from the emperor when the real emperor suddenly appears. LING is informed that the emperor has escaped and WONG’s army is getting through the palace gate, so he sends his army to defend, but it fails. After that, he sends KIN to carry on the defence again.… ...

1x44 - Episode 44

October 5, 2000

LING kills after the failure of his uprising. FA is sentenced to banishment. KIN forces her to dry off some abortion medicine on the day of her departure. She cries out desperately that he kills his own son for money and fame. FU misses HEUNG a lot and turns the details of how they meet each other into a story. He lives his days meaninglessly. SHAN and LAU go to a temple for prayer. She asks the god what her marriage will be like. Seeing SHAN being nice to her, she starts tasting sweetness on her tongue again. The emperor decrees SHAN can marry LAU and gives her a thousand kilograms of gold as a present. SHAN receives the order happily for the gold. KIN is honoured as a marquis and put in charge of the army dressing. Everyone laughs at him. LAU is surprised that the emperor has decreed her marriage with SHAN. She has regained her sense of taste. WAH takes her as his sworn daughter. Everything together makes her overwhelmed.… ...

1x45 - Episode 45

October 6, 2000

SHAN takes her to KUK’s restaurant. He plans to use the gold from the emperor to buy her the restaurant and then he will go back to Suchou alone with half of the left over gold. LAU is shocked. FU and the others blame SHAN for being so cruel to LAU. SHAN realizes how much LAU loves him and decides to marry her eventually. FU writes his story with HEUNG into a Chinese opera script to memorize her. The emperor cannot forget FUNG and sends BUN to settle her in the armoury. LIN notices BUN acting strangely and suspects him of having an affair, so she rushes to the hotel and starts a fight with FUNG. BUN manages to stop them in time. They are all feeling insecure secretly hiding FUNG in the armoury behind the queen’s back for the emperor. FU is frustrated when he cannot recall HEUNG’s face for a drawing. Suddenly, he sees a painting of HEUNG wearing Mongolian dress on the street. LAU is too busy preparing for her wedding.… ...

1x46 - Episode 46

October 9, 2000

SHAN is ordered to draw a portrait of FUNG. She forces him to take her to the emperor’s study after not seeing him for a few days. The queen meets FUNG and knows that the emperor is going to marry her, so she slaps her on the face and denies the emperor’s plan. The emperor cannot do anything about it. When KIN finds out about this, he cheats FUNG telling her that the queen is planning to poison her and suggests she should get the emperor’s trust and love. The emperor is notified that FUNG is leaving for the Cheung Lok Fon. To prove his love to her, he starts a huge fire in the palace to play with the officials. A huge troop of soldiers rushes into the palace. All the citizens are scared while some people grab the chance to rob. The whole capital is in a riot. When everything is settled down, the emperor knows he was wrong but still insists on marrying FUNG.… ...

1x47 - Episode 47

October 10, 2000

HEUNG, who is dressed up with Mongolian dress, wakes up from a nightmare. Apparently, the Mongolian prince has saved her from a slave trader and started loving her. BUN goes to Mongolia for work. KIN uses FUNG to remove the four geniuses by starting quarrels between them. On his wedding day, SHAN accuses FU of drinking all his wine, leaving him no excuse to refuse going to bed with LAU, so he can only get her drunk and sneaks out of the room. He drinks at a restaurant and finds FUNG there. They decide to get drunk together. FU tries to commit suicide a few times but fails. He sees SHAN walking by holding FUNG. SHAN wakes up finding himself in the armoury and panics thinking he might have done something with FUNG who has disappeared leaving a letter for the emperor. He suspects that she is having an affair with one of the three geniuses, so he asks them to find out who is the adulterer.… ...

1x48 - Episode 48

October 11, 2000

FU decides to take the blame for SHAN and asks SHUM to publish his story. BUN visits the Mongolian prince and he asks him to help getting the girl that he fancies. LAU gets help for SHAN from a monk. Later he finds out that he is a cheat and dashes to save LAU. MING thinks that FU has a molesting habit and suspects him of molesting many other girls. The Mongolian prince proposes a marriage to HEUNG in front of all his people and shows his love to her by walking on a burning charcoal road. HEUNG panics. BUN notices that HEUNG is the girl that the prince loves and tells her about FU’s sorrow after losing her immediately. HEUNG turns the prince’s proposal down and walks on the burning road to show her determination. FU pretends that he really has a molesting habit by attacking TING as well. MING, however, sees through his trick. FU asks to see the emperor telling him that he does not want to live anymore after losing HEUNG.… ...

1x49 - Episode 49

October 12, 2000

FU calls for a beauty selection to further prove his molesting habit. MING tells SHAN off and asks him to admit his crime to the emperor himself. SHAN pretends that he will do it but flees with LAU to another province. MING is outraged. HEUNG is heartbroken seeing FU picking wives. Among the eight girls lined up in front of him, FU is stunned to find HEUNG is one of them. She slaps him on the face and runs away. He chases after her and sings the song about how he met her the first time. She shows up and delights him. The emperor realizes that SHAN is the adulterer. He calls for FU and uses him to find SHAN. LAN and SHAN arrive in Shandong. She sees him running away after cutting off someone else’s kite line and blames him being irresponsible and living like a turtle all the time including his one night stand with FUNG. He is speechless.

1x50 - Episode 50

October 13, 2000

SHAN arrives and stops the execution of FU in time. The emperor insists on giving him a sentence. LAU suddenly appears and says that SHAN was with him on their wedding day, so he cannot be the adulterer. The emperor, however, insists to kill him anyway. MING and the queen both point out the FUNG is not yet a royal mistress, so SHAN having an affair with her is not a very serious crime. Besides, FUNG is not present for investigation. The emperor is upset. LAU realizes that SHAN does not love her at all and decides to leave him forever. FU finds a dying prostitute and she tells him that FUNG is in the Moon Temple. When he and MING arrive there, they find that FUNG has been dead for a long time. Meanwhile, the emperor arrives and accuses them of killing FUNG out of despair. He sends the three geniuses and their families into prison. TING even gives birth to her son inside the prison.… ...

1x51 - Episode 51

October 16, 2000

The four aces investigate the whole Moon Temple and find nothing. Then they surprisingly find some hints on FUNG’s body. KUN meets KIN and tells him that the emperor has found out a way to prove who the murderer is and they decide to destroy the body at night. They then find out it is just a trap. While the three geniuses are celebrating regaining their freedom, BUN tells them that the Mongolian prince has come to win HEUNG. He raises up two questions, ‘writing in water’ and ‘painting with nothing’ and give the geniuses seven days to solve them. FU and HEUNG go to find the Holy Mount while the other three are busy figuring out the answers. Ink will diffuse into water, so SHUM suggests them to practice fast writing but it still does not work. Suddenly, MING gets inspiration from TING’s pig feet in sweet and sour sauce.… ...

1x52 - Episode 52

October 17, 2000

The Three geniuses manage to write ‘Long Live Ming Dynasty’ on the Jade Pool. Everyone claps their hands cheerfully except the prince. It is almost time for the second question, FU and HEUNG finally arrive in time. When FU is about to start drawing confidently, he is shocked seeing that the Mongolian General is the shepherd he met when the prince asks the General to pass a drink. FU realizes that it is a trap and everyone is disappointed. While the prince is laughing loudly, a miracle happens……The geniuses win and get awards from the emperor. But SHAN and FU refuse to take an official post as reward. Seven years later, the Cheung Lok Fon looks more lively. Someone who looks like YU just walks by there. What are the Legendary Four Aces up to? How are they going to handle the challenges from some Japanese geniuses?