Fan Fiction |
by MetalAZNWarrior
Mo Yung (Ha Yu) gleefully greets Suet Ching (Rebecca Chan) as she makes her way back to their palace. She had spent most of the day meeting with the Imperial Court and giving a speech for the citizens on the Island. Because of her elevated power in the palace, new "eunuchs" and maids were brought in to cater her every need. Although Suet Ching was the new Island Chief, she wouldn't live in the main palace until her brother (Law Kong) actually passed away.
"May Your Majesty have longevity," Mo Yung declares.
Suet Ching smiles, "You may rise."
Mo Yung escorts Suet Ching to a chair. "Wifey, this day has finally come!"
"I know."
"What are you going to do first with your new power?"
"I will make a change to the Imperial Court."
"What?"
Suet Ching explains, "Even though I'm the Island Chief, I'm still a woman and I feel weird being called 'Island Chief,' so I will make changes and ask the Imperial Court to call me 'Empress' instead. And you, hubby, shall be the Emperor."
"You mean I have power over you?" Mo Yung is excited.
Suet Ching shakes her head, "No, no. You will only be an 'Emperor' in name, but you will still be behind me as my husband."
"Oh." Mo Yung is clearly disappointed. "It's good enough! Wifey, I think you should issue an edict to execute Fiona and Doctor Tsui."
Suet Ching leaves the palace without another word.
[Emperor's Palace]
Bo Gong Gong (Liu Kai Chi) is finally allowed to see the Island Chief. He had bribed one of the "eunuchs" to let him bring the medicine to the Island Chief. Instantly blinded by money, Bo Gong Gong easily made his way into the lairs of the Emperor's palace.
"Your Majesty," Bo Gong Gong kneels.
"Rise," he says weakly from his bed.
"I've come to bring you your medicine."
"More medicine... great." Bo Gong Gong helps the Island Chief up so that he could drink the medicine.
"All done. Your Majesty can rest at ease now," Bo Gong Gong smiles.
"At ease? Bo Gong Gong, do you think I can sleep in peace these days?"
Bo Gong Gong drops to the floor and begs, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I didn't mean to offend you."
Island Chief sighs, "My days are numbered and I feel the tumor is not getting smaller, but bigger. And Fiona..."
Bo Gong Gong is happy because Island Chief had brought up the issue with Fiona even without him mentioning anything. He seizes the chance and says, "What about Her Highness, the Princess Fiona?"
"Bo Gong Gong, I miss her terribly," Island Chief confesses.
"But she is not your daughter."
"I know, I know. I get really angry whenever I think about the affair between Doctor Tsui and Lady Yin."
"Then why do you still think about the Princess?"
"These past twenty-five years, I've watched Fiona grow up into a wonderful girl. I can't bear the thought of not seeing her anymore."
"Then why doesn't Your Majesty release her?"
"She is not of royal blood," Island Chief sighs. "Even if I release her, she cannot remain in the palace otherwise bigger rumors will start and the Imperial Court will try to bring her down and kick her out. Things can never be the same again. Fiona can't remain in the palace."
"If Your Majesty doesn't do anything, Her Highness will surely die."
"Die? Bo Gong Gong, clarify this matter!"
"Pardon me, Your Majesty, I have heard that Island Chief Suet Ching wants to execute Doctor Tsui and Fiona."
"What?!" Island Chief's eyes bulge.
"Your Majesty, these are the rumors that are circulating around the palace."
"Bo Gong Gong, prepare my ink and paper; I have a decree to write. I must stop this," Island Chief says.
Bo Gong Gong smiles and rushes to prepare the ink and paper for His Majesty.
[Imperial Dungeon]
"Your Majesty," the guards at the main entrance of the Imperial Dungeon fall to their knees to pay respect to their new leader.
"At ease."
Doctor Tsui's (Gallen Lo) ear jumps up at the voice. He was confused as to why the Island Chief's voice had become a womanly. Suet Ching enters the Imperial Dungeon and looks at each cell. On Gong Gong (Bowie Lam) trails behind her. The first cell that Suet Ching approaches belongs to Doctor Tsui. He runs towards the front of his cell to see who the two shadows were. Because of Suet Ching's entry into the Imperial Dungeon, the guards started to light up the palace. Doctor Tsui is disgusted when he sees Suet Ching.
"Get the hell away from here!" he yells.
"How dare you talk to the new Island Chief, Empress Suet Ching with that tone?" On Gong Gong wants to slap Doctor Tsui, but the bars that separated the two made it impossible for him to do so.
Suet Ching says, "Doctor Tsui, don't you regret denying my wishes before?" Her heart stings looking at how pitiful Doctor Tsui was. He was dirty and raggedy and there were cuts and bruises all over his face and body. "If you had accepted what I wanted in the past, you wouldn't have been in here today. You could enjoy riches and power with me along my side, but... too bad." She shakes her head and walks away. Her eyes appear to be wet.
Fiona (Sherming Yiu) is in the next cell that Suet Ching walks across.
"Auntie!" Fiona calls.
"Imbecile! What status do you have that allows you to call the new Island Chief Empress Suet Ching 'auntie?'" On Gong Gong sneers.
Fiona begs, "Auntie! Speak to me! Please, help me get out of here!"
Suet Ching ignores Fiona, turns around, and orders the guard to turn off the lights. She leaves the Imperial Dungeon.
Fiona is surrounded by darkness again, but a new light had clicked in her head. The pieces of the puzzle finally came together. Suet Ching and Mo Yung had framed her for the sole sake of taking the throne away from Fiona. She couldn't believe it. She had lost it all because of a power struggle. As she wept more tears, what upset her most was that power to her meant nothing in the first place. All she ever wanted was to live peacefully and love her father.
[Palace of Gathering Essence]
"On Gong Gong," Suet Ching beckons.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Prepare some ink and paper for me. I must issue my first decree."
"Wifey, the ink and paper are already set up on the table!" Mo Yung says as he enters the palace.
"Really? Great." Suet Ching walks over to her desk and starts writing the decree.
[Emperor's Palace]
Bo Gong Gong's heart wants to leap out of his chest. He was so ecstatic because the Island Chief's decree for the fate of Fiona was almost complete. Just when he finishes writing the final word, Island Chief collapses on the desk. The words are smeared. Bo Gong Gong shakes His Majesty and begs, "Please! Wake up! You have to finish this edict! The Princess doesn't have much more time to wait!" It was useless. Island Chief was knocked out cold. He had used up all of his energy and his emotions had run too high.
[Palace of Gathering Essence]
Suet Ching stamps her seal on her edict and hands it to On Gong Gong, "You must follow it."
On Gong Gong nods his head, "I will put my life to see it is done."
Mo Yung grins, "Finally, our thorns will be out of our sight."
Suet Ching's eyes look sad.
[Imperial Dungeon]
On Gong Gong reads the imperial edict before Doctor Tsui in his cell. "Her Majesty has decided the fate of Tsui Tin Choi. On this sixteenth day of August, Doctor Tsui will hereby be stripped of his rank as the head Imperial Doctor. Furthermore, he will never be allowed to step foot in the palace again. He is to go into exile on the outskirts of the Island. Any money and property that he owns will be taken by the Imperial Court." On Gong Gong finishes reading and asks Doctor Tsui if the orders were clear. He bitterly says, "Of course, Your Majesty."
As On Gong Gong leaves the cell, he finds it puzzling as to why there wasn't any word about Fiona in the edict.
[Imperial Garden]
Suet Ching is waiting for On Gong Gong in the Imperial Garden. She knew he would pass by this way because the Imperial Garden was in the direct path to the "Palace of Gathering Essence" from the Imperial Dungeon.
"Your Majesty, what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see if my decree was carried out."
"Of course, Your Majesty, it is finished. Doctor Tsui is being taken out of the Imperial Dungeon now and will walk to his place of exile soon."
"Good."
"Your Majesty, why did the edict say nothing regarding Fiona?"
Suet Ching replies, "Because I want to deliver that order to you in person."
She motions for On Gong Gong to bend over and whispers something into his ear.
[Imperial Dungeon]
A black-clothed man breaks in the Imperial Dungeon and knocks the Imperial guards unconscious. He steals the keys and emerges into the lair where the prisoners were kept. He finds Fiona's cell and quickly opens it up. She is scared and screams, "What do you want? Guards! Guards!"
The man tells her to be quiet and that he's here to save her.
Fiona looks at the man and tries to see who it is.
The masked man sets Fiona aside while he goes and frees Ah Sing (Hawick Lau).
"What the hell? Who are you?" Ah Sing puts up a fighting stance.
The man grabs Ah Sing by the arm and goes back to fetch Fiona. The three of them run out of the Imperial Dungeon. Imperial guards were chasing them from behind. The man quickens his speed and urges Fiona and Ah Sing to run faster.
[Island Port]
After hours of running, Ah Sing and Fiona were wiped out. However, the chase was still not over. The Imperial guards were still on their trail. Luckily, the Island's shore was visible and a boat was waiting at the port.
They finally reach it and the masked man throws them onto the boat. He orders the rower to quickly sail off.
"Wait! Who are you?" Fiona asks.
"Leave! Leave the palace! Never come back to the Island! Death will wait for you and take your life if you do! Run far away!"
The boat sails off. Seeing the nearing Imperial guards, the masked man dives into the water and swims away.
[Cliff]
Suet Ching journeyed to the highest point on the Island. She uses her telescope and watches the boat that carried Fiona and Ah Sing. "It's all over now," she says softly. Tears drip from her eyes and she waves farewell to the shrinking boat.
[End of Flashback]
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Concluding thoughts/tidbits
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After 8 chapters, the palatial flashback is finished! I didn't expect it to be this long! However, I'm pleased with how it turned out. At first, it was very difficult for me to write because I wasn't sure how to lay everything out. I thought I had everything planned out, but it turns out that the story I had in my head was not good enough and failed to be convincing enough for me. Luckily, a stroke of inspiration came to me and I thought up the character of "Doctor Tsui." It was after thinking up this character and also adding in "Lady Yin" that everything became smooth sailing for me. I had so much fun with this subplot! It was very exciting and crafty for me to write. I finally had the chance to experiment with an "ancient" palatial storyline! Although it's been long, every chapter has been worth it and I really enjoyed this. It's so refreshing!
Those who enjoyed this palatial subplot will be pleased to know that this isn't the end. There will be parts II and III coming up. My favorite chapters out of the flashback would have to be "Misleading Evidence" and "Leaving The Palace." What I like about "Leaving the Palace" is that it ties up the story nicely, but also raises up a bunch of questions. Why did Suet Ching act the way she did? Who was the masked man? What will happen to Doctor Tsui? What happened between Doctor Tsui and Suet Ching in the past? What will happen to the Island Chief? Why did the blood of Fiona and Doctor Tsui mix? These questions and many more will be answered in parts II and III. Part II will be coming up in late chapters 80's/early 90's while part III will be in chapters 150's+. I hope you guys enjoyed this breather of palatial drama! Those who loved it, please stay tuned for more! For those who didn't like it because it was too serious and dramatic, I'm sorry...
I hope to read some long comments on this subplot as a whole!
Explanations
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- This palatial drama was inspired by "Jewel in the Palace" and "War and Beauty."
- Doctor Tsui's surname is "Tsui" because it is the surname of the heroine from the ancient Korean drama "Jewel in the Palace" (Dae Jang-geum/Dai Cheung Kam). Jang-geum's surname in that series is "Seo," which is "Tsui" in Cantonese. "Tsui" is also the surname of VOH's own producer, Tsui Yu On!
- Tin Choi means "genius" or "gifted"; in this case, Doctor Tsui is gifted in medicine, hence he is a "tin choi." Yin Jee means "swallow," which is a type of bird. Those who watched the Taiwan drama "Princess Returning Pearl" (Huan Zhu Ge Ge) will know that the main character was called "Siu Yin Jee," a reference to this "yin jee." Suet Ching sounds like "clear" or "not ambiguous"; however, because her surname is Ng, this comes to sound like "mm suet ching," which means "ambiguous." The reason I chose this name is because it's not clear whether Suet Ching is evil and what her true intentions are. Mo Yung sounds like "useless."
- Those who know me will know that I hate the TVB series "My Family." Thus, I casted Ha Yu as Mo Yung so that I could torture him for irritating me in that series. Haha. This also explains why I made his name sound like "useless." As for Bowie Lam, I'm not too keen on him because his acting is not good, so I casted him as an evil "eunuch." Liu Kai Chi is casted as Bo Gong Gong to continue his character from the ancient VOH.
- The issue with the Imperial concubines and being of noble blood... this is actually my take on the Ching dynasty rule that the concubines had to be of Manchu blood and their family has to be from a group of Bannerman. I changed this into being of noble blood or a family of high prestige. Because Lady Yin's family had lost everything, she was considered a peasant in society and had she not been cleaned up and taken under a rich woman's family, she would never have become an Imperial concubine.
- The court etiquette and mannerism were based on "War and Beauty."
- I actually did some research on eastern medicine for chapter 74. As for the plot with the Island Chief having brain cancer, I based that on my father's own battle of three years with brain tumor. The thing with Suet Ching calling Mo Yung "hubby" and he calling her "wifey" is from real nicknames I use with someone.