[TVB 2011] Relic of an Emissary (洪武三十二) / aka Hongwu 32

[Guest miss scarlett]

Joe Ma, Michael Tse, Sammul Chan, Kate Tsui, Elanne Kwong, etc.

RELIC OF AN EMISSARY (洪武三十二)

Premieres on April 4, 2011 @ 8:30PM

UPDATES:

- This drama was originally rumored to be called The Academy IV, and was suppose to be the sequel to E.U.

- Producer Wong and TVB decided it would be more interesting to change it up a bit, so this drama will not be a sequel to E.U.; instead, it's going to be its period drama version.

- Because this is "revisited" version of E.U., a majority of the actors are from the The Academy series cast but there's gonna be NO Ron Ng or Michael Miu. They were not casted due to scheduling conflicts.

- Costume fitting and press conference for "Hongwu 32" was held on April 9, 2010.

- The setting of "Hongwu 32" will take place in the years between 1398 and 1405... during the Jingnan campaign (a civil war during the early Ming dynasty)

- Joe Ma, Sammul Chan, and Joel Chan will play famous historical figures. Sammul's character is especially important. He's portraying "Zheng He" (or Cheng Wo in Cantonese). If you studied world history, you would have read about this guy.

- Principle filming already started and it will take approximately 4-5 months to film.

- Filming ended 28 July 2010

Trailer 1 | Trailer 2 | Trailer 3 | Promo Clip | 2'30 Trailer

Premise:

(Wikipedia) The story takes place during Cheng Wo's younger years, several years before his voyages. When the Kin-man Emperor ascended to the thrown in 1399, he changed the era name to "Kin-man First Year" (建文元年). After Chu Tai usurped the throne in 1402, he purged all of Kin-man's supporters and ordered all documents that recorded the era name "Kin-man First Year" to be changed to "Hung-mo Year 32" (洪武三十二年) in order to establish himself as the legitimate successor of the Hung-mo Emperor, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Plot:

(Wikipedia) The story begins with the sons of the Hung-mo Emperor returning to the capital city as a show of filial piety to their father, who has fallen extremely ill. Secretly, the princes are harboring intentions to succeed the throne. As a result, chaos surrounds the kingdom, and a chain of conspiracies and schemes begin occurring in the city...

While pursuing a mission, Kamyi Wai agent Ngo Siu-fung loses his memory in an accident. As he begins to slowly piece back memories of his past, he realizes that he was once a vicious, unreasonable, and merciless Kamyi Wai commander. He decides to start anew and change his ways of style, but his colleagues are unable to see past Siu-fung's history of cruelty, and they continue to treat him unfairly. Fortunately for Siu-fung, he saves Chu Wan-man, grandson of the emperor, who has dressed himself in plain clothes to observe the commoners of the city. The two become good friends and Wan-man appoints Siu-fung as his personal bodyguard.

The emperor dies, his posthumous edict robbed, and the kingdom is left with no heir. The princes all desire the throne, leaving the kingdom unprotected from future attacks. Impatient, Wan-man orders Siu-fung to find the edict as soon as possible to stabilize the chaotic situation. The powerful and intelligent fourth prince Chu Tai, titled the Prince of Yin, also sends his most trusted adviser Ma Sam-bo to investigate the case. Fighting to retrieve the edict, Siu-fung and Sam-bo undergo a battle of wits and skill. They start an ambiguous friendship – though they see each other as equals, they are unable to work together because their loyalties lie elsewhere.

The edict is retrieved and Wan-man ascends to the throne, crowned as the Kin-man Emperor. Soon after his coronation, mysterious cases begin to occur around the kingdom. Someone with an ulterior motive is intentionally framing Tai of starting a coup. Though Tai is later proven to be innocent, Wan-man becomes really cautious of him. Aware that the new emperor has intentions in killing him, Tai raises an army to overthrow him. Under the slogan of "clearing the court and pacifying national disaster" (清君側、靖國難), Tai starts a coup d'état, that is later known to be called the Jingnan campaign.

English title: Relic of an Emissary

Chinese title: 洪武三十二 (Cantonese: Hung-mo 32) (Mandarin: Hongwu 32)

Genre: Historical fiction | Crime thriller | Action

Production company: TVB

Country: Hong Kong

Language: Cantonese

Episode count: 30

Producer: Wong Wai-sing

Writer(s): Wong Kwo-fai, Choi Suk-yin

Starring:

Joe Ma as Chu Tai, the Prince of Yin

Michael Tse as Ngo Siu-fung

Sammul Chan as Ma Sam-bo (Cheng Wo)

Kate Tsui as Shum Chin-sam / Wong Chor-chor

Elanne Kwong as Princess Wing-yeung

Joel Chan as Chu Wan-man, the Kin-man Emperor

Ruco Chan as Chu Kuen, the Prince of Ling

Leung Ka-ki as Ma Yan-wai

Gordon Liu as Yim Chun

Skye Chan as Tsui Yee-wah, the Princess of Yin

Sire Ma as Fu Siu-kiu

Lau Kong as Dou Hin

Benjamin Yuen as Grand Viceroy Lee King-lung

Yoyo Chen as Luk Yuen-ting

Fred Cheng as Lau Chung-leung

Macy Chan as Shaoren Gaowa

Charmaine Li as Tim-yee

Au Sui-wai as Ngai Chun

Hugo Wong as Ching Wai

Law Lok-lam as the Hung-mo Emperor

Poon Fong-fong as Consort Suk

Mary Hon as Consort Ong

etc.

[Guest Justalilodreamer]

The cast is ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ..........

[*.:AnGeL*BAbII:.*]

wow this seems very different from the other "academy" series .... especially if its based in really really olden days...

as if ron ng isnt going to be in it when its "The Academy IV" ! if sammul or ron isnt in it.. it cant be counted as part of the series >=(

[Guest AhYee]

^ Agreed. Can't have either one missing. With that being said, the cast is only mediocre imo.

I can't help but cringe every single time I see Elanne come on screen, and Kate.

I hope to see improvements, if I end up watching this.

[Guest miss scarlett]

^ I agree, Elanne and Kate are kinda... 8| But the male leads are awesome, and the plot sounds very interesting, so I'm looking forward to this drama nonetheless. It's my kind of drama, lol.

First day of filming was today 8) Credits are watermarked.

Sammul Chan holding his script. He likes to doodle his name all over his scripts lol

Elanne Kwong

Elanne Kwong with Charmaine Li

Michael Tse on set

Joe Ma on set

[Guest AhYee]

^ Thanks for the pictures!

Gaaah, Sammul looks dashing haha, and I haven't seen Charmaine in a while!

The last time I saw Joe in period was when he did that drama with Charmaine Sheh with the four generations [can't remember name]. I don't like him with the beard =S

Best of luck to them!

[Guest momoko*]

are you serious..?

so are they or are they not making a part 4 because if this is a different movie, it would not be called a sequel to EU

ughh i dont like costume dramas..i dont understand them.

who here actually likes watching costume dramas?

because i never understand what they are saying lol

[Immortal_Angel]

are you serious..?

so are they or are they not making a part 4 because if this is a different movie, it would not be called a sequel to EU

ughh i dont like costume dramas..i dont understand them.

who here actually likes watching costume dramas?

because i never understand what they are saying lol

Actually this is not part 4 of The Academy. People is calling it the sequel just because Sammul, Michael and Elanne is in. Its still in debate/talk if there will be a part 4 to the series. So its not confirmed if there will be part 4 yet but due to the hype I think TVB will make part 4 but not that soon yet.

PLEASE PEOPLE THIS IS NOT A SEQUEL!

I don't get why its called the sequel or the prequel cause it got nothing connected to the original. people are claiming it to make it all hype up but other than that its just a regular ancient drama. The only reason I'm watching this is because Sammul is in it.

[Manyhx3]

I hope this historical drama is good, TVB has lost its gem lately and yeah they're not that good.

i am looking forward to it, mostly because Joe Ma and Sammul Chan is in it.

[Guest ponkie]

I wouldn't have connected this to EU, except for some of the casts. Disappointing, was expecting a sequel. Elanne has such thin upper lip; it's like a kinda curvy line.

[Guest miss scarlett]

The first episode premiered Monday! A weak opening (except for that epic fight between Michael Tse and Sammul Chan), but the later episodes get a lot better.

Everyone's really good in here, with the exception of Elanne Kwong, lol. XD Kate Tsui is also surprisingly really good. By far the best performance I've seen her in. The role suits her really well.

Michael Tse is not bad, but he could have done better. Joe Ma is excellent, as usual, and Joel Chan is finally not playing a villain. FINALLY. And he's pretty good too! Sammul Chan is also really good - in fact, I'd say Zheng He is my favorite character overall. I normally don't like Sammul's characters, but Zheng He is an exception. Extremely intelligent, well-trained in martial arts (he wields a metal fan, now that's legit), and he has hazel eyes. LIGHT GREEN HAZEL EYES. So pretty. *________*

Oh, and he's a eunuch, which make things a lot more tragic because he likes the princess D8

[Guest _Gigi_]

An Academy Ancient Version...I Really Liked E.U It was very good. I Hope I like this one too, cause normally I like Modern Action, Gangster-ish types of films. Elanne is super cute, I like her. Aww Ron Isn't going to be in this =( Still Joe Ma and Charmaine Li is back

[bebemui]

i need to watch this as soon as my exams are over~ think this drama is the last one sammul filmed as a tvb actor, so sad he's not lead actor =\.

[Immortal_Angel]

Sammul Chan is also really good - in fact, I'd say Zheng He is my favorite character overall. I normally don't like Sammul's characters, but Zheng He is an exception. Extremely intelligent, well-trained in martial arts (he wields a metal fan, now that's legit), and he has hazel eyes. LIGHT GREEN HAZEL EYES. So pretty. *________*

Oh, and he's a eunuch, which make things a lot more tragic because he likes the princess D8

I know when I saw Sammul as Zheng He I was already into his character (maybe I'm bias toward Sammul haha) but his eyes are soooo pretty!! and I love his character already from episode one, the loyalty he had for the prince and his martial art skills is awesome. He's the only character I look forward to every episode! I read that his character is mixed with persian blood so he wore color contact to make his character more realistic

i need to watch this as soon as my exams are over~ think this drama is the last one sammul filmed as a tvb actor, so sad he's not lead actor =\.

Haha you should totally watch this. Well Sammul did mention he may filmed a TVB series again but not anytime soon since his market is toward mainland china series. I'm disappointed he's not main character at all and his picture is like behind the girls which is sort of unfair I mean he's an important figure. I dear hope TVB do not cut off his scenes just because he's not an TVB contract like what they did to him in The Four >.<

[Guest MqN]

I thought everyone was fine except for the princess. she's obsessively annoying.. yes, obsessively... as if she doesn't think she's annoying enough.

[Guest miss scarlett]

Here's a two and a half minute long trailer. It pretty much summarizes the whole drama, lol.

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/C2EaGJU-qD0/

[Guest AzureCeres]

another one with Michael. TVB needs to stop promoting him.