"Lung Ting Tsang Pa" is one of many Eddie Cheung - Gallen
Lo collaborations. I can name a few off the top of my head: Plain
Love, The Hunter's Prey, and Cold Blood Warm Heart. It is also one
of many Eddie Cheung - Margie Tsang collaborations, although they
weren't paired up together in this series.
"Lung Ting" is unique in a way that Eddie is the lead,
and he is (ultimately) the bad guy. I don't know if there is an
official English title for this series, but I once saw it translated
as "The Battle in the Royal Court" and found it to be
quite accurate. This is a tale of one prince's bloody struggle
to get to the throne, eliminating those precious to him if they
stood in his way. But he wasn't all that bad to start with...
in fact, quite the opposite. So the story begins.
Eddie is the fourth prince of the Ming Dynasty, obviously far
removed from the next line in throne since he has three older
brothers. The first prince, Bobby, is sickly and can be indecisive.
The second and third princes are evil and conspire to get rid
of the first prince so they can be in power. Eddie takes on the
responsibility of taking care of his oldest brother. Eddie is
indeed a prince charming - well-educated, good in martial arts,
handsome, has good manners, you name it, he has it all.
Gallen is a member of the White Lotus Sect. The sect is on the
brink of extinction because they are constantly hunted by the
government. This goes all the way to the beginning of the dynasty
when the founder, Chu Yuen Cheung, was afraid of the sect's rebellion
and ordered them to be annihilated. Ever since then, the sect
members have been running about, hiding and secretly building
their power in hopes of restoring their previous glory.
When Eddie and Gallen meet, despite their differences, they soon
become good friends. Gallen has hopes in Eddie that he will help
the people of their nation and his sect. Eddie and Gallen fall
in love with Eugina and Margie, respectively. Eugina is the foster
daughter of a well-respected former general, and Margie is a spoiled
princess from the neighboring nation. Gallen's older brother,
Nathan, is a hot-tempered but good-natured guy. Nathan accidentally
reveals that Gallen is not his "real" brother, even
though they have camaraderie like no other. Gallen seeks for his
biological father, who ends up being Eugina's foster dad.
Fast-forwarding a little bit, Eddie's two evil older brothers
throw a failed coup and in turn, end up begging for their lives.
Eddie promises to spare them, but ends up killing them instead.
This upsets his father, the emperor, greatly, and cements his
decision to make Bobby as the next emperor. Eddie is so upset
by this that he confronts his father. "Why can't you see
that I will make a better emperor, that I am more talented?"
ponders Eddie. He ends up killing his father as well. This is
sort where Eddie starts going bad, but people don't know his true
colors yet.
Eddie asks Eugina to marry him and she agrees. Margie and Gallen
frequently quarrel, but are supportive of each other. Nathan finds
companionship in Lam Kei Yan, who is the daughter of Eddie's henchman
(not a good guy).
Somewhere along the series, Bobby is captured by Margie's sister
and father (who are not as nice as Margie). He almost goes deaf
and is humiliated, while his younger brother, Eddie is filling
in for him back in his country. Eddie is enjoying being the "temporary"
emperor - until Gallen safely rescues Bobby.
Eddie is really bad by this time, trying to kill Bobby so he
can be the emperor. His wife, Eugina, gives birth to his son.
She is disgusted by the way he has changed, so she takes off with
her baby and Eddie is furious. Gallen finds out that Eddie murdered
his dad (also Eugina's foster father) and vows to get revenge.
He sides with Bobby, who now wants to fight against his beloved
brother. Eddie seems to be winning in this fight - Gallen even
loses Nathan, who was captured by his girlfriend (Lam Kei Yan)'s
dad and was turned into a zombie. Nathan started attacking Gallen,
until he snapped and realized what was happening to him. He demanded
Lam Kei Yan to kill him so he wouldn't hurt any more people, so
she does so - and takes her own life while giving his funeral.
In the end, Eddie goes full on crazy and even causes Eugina's
death. The final duel results in Eddie and Gallen falling off
the cliff and dying... or so, Bobby thought. Bobby mourns for
Gallen's death (Eddie is really dead). But we see Gallen alive
and in disguise, following Margie so they can leave and start
their lives in peace.
For some reason, this series did not air in Hong Kong, only overseas.
I liked seeing the cool assortment of costumes of the late 80's
and a short, 20-episode series focusing on the Ming royalty vs.
the White Lotus Sect. It was also nice to see supporting actors
like Miu Siu Wai (as Eugina's maid) and Bobby (who was starting
to gain a bit of weight here). Carrie Choi starred as Bobby's
love interest, though she died tragically.
I watched this series when I was much younger, and I was dismayed
by Eddie's fate towards the end. I thought he would've made the
better leader and his surroundings had caused him to turn bad.
But thinking back on it, I change my mind. It's better for a nation
to have an emperor who has compassion and generally cares about
the well-being of his people, like Bobby did, than Eddie who killed
his own family to get to the throne. I think he showed signs of
being a warmonger and winning at all cost, which is never good
news for the people who live in his country.
However, I really liked seeing Eddie in this costume drama and
couldn't help rooting for his happiness. Also, why wasn't he paired
up with Margie like he usually was? That would've been a nice
addition, though her ending would've been pretty tragic also.
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