Relic of an Emissary


Relic of an Emissary is a 2011 Hong Kong historical fiction television drama serial produced by TVB.
The 30-episode drama premiered 4 April 2011 on Hong Kong's TVB Jade and TVB HD Jade channels, airing five days a week. Wong Wai-sing, who produced TVB's The Academy trilogy series, serves as the drama's executive producer.
The drama is loosely based on the Jingnan campaign of the Ming Dynasty, a coup d'état that ended the Jianwen Emperor's brief four-year reign over Ming China. The Chinese title of the drama literally means "Hongwu 32", the 32nd year of the Hongwu Emperor's reign.

Background

The story takes place during Zheng He's younger years, several years before his oceanic voyages. When the Jianwen Emperor ascended to the throne in 1399, he changed the era name to "Jianwen First Year". After Zhu Di usurped the throne in 1402, he purged all of Jianwen's supporters and ordered all documents that recorded the era name "Jianwen First Year" to be changed to "Hongwu Year 32" in order to establish himself as the legitimate successor of the Hongwu Emperor, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Plot overview

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, Brocade Guard captain Ngo Siu-fung loses his memory in an accident. As he begins to slowly piece back memories of his past, he realises that he was once a vicious, unreasonable, and merciless Brocade Guard. 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 assign him insignificant tasks to complete. 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 stabilise the chaotic situation. The powerful and intelligent fourth prince Chu Tai, titled Prince Yin, also sends his most trusted adviser Ma Sam-po to investigate the case. Fighting to retrieve the edict, Siu-fung and Sam-po 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 Prince Yin of starting a coup.
Though Prince Yin is later proven to be innocent, Wan-man becomes really cautious of him. Aware that the new emperor has intentions in killing him, Prince Yin raises an army to overthrow him. Under the slogan of "clearing the court and pacifying national disaster", Prince Yin starts a coup d'état, that is later known to be called the Jingnan campaign.

Production

Development

After Michael Tse's successful and popular portrayal of the undercover cop Laughing Gor in Wong's 2009 crime drama The Academy III: E.U., TVB had notions of creating a fourth installment of The Academy that would potentially continue with the character's story. After several negotiations with the company, Wong decided to drop the idea and instead went to produce a costume drama version of the series. The working title of the drama was changed from "The Turbulence of Jingnan" to "Hongwu 32".
A costume fitting and press conference was held on April 9, 2010 in the TVB studios in Tseung Kwan O with a total of 48 cast members. Filming began 18 April 2010 and ended on 28 July 2010.

Casting

First intended to be a continuation of The Academy series, casting for Relic of an Emissary placed an emphasis on keeping the original The Academy cast. Sammul Chan was the protagonist Lee Pak-kiu for all three installments; Kate Tsui was introduced in the second; Michael Tse, Elanne Kong, Leung Ka-ki, and Joel Chan were introduced in the third. After major changes were added to the script, which included story setting and character background, slight casting changes also occurred. Instead of Michael Miu leading the serial drama, Joe Ma was chosen instead. His portrayal of King Fuchai of Wu in The Conquest sparked interest for Wong to cast him as Chu Tai. Wong further mentioned that he wanted Ron Ng to be part of the cast as well, who portrayed the other protagonist Chung Lap-man in The Academy. However, the writers could not afford to write in another male lead.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Relic of an Emissary received mixed reviews. On Douban, the drama earned a rating of 6.8 out of 10 based on over 2700 votes. During broadcast period, the drama received several complaints concerning blatant scenes of violence and sexuality, protesting that such aggressive and intimate content were unsuitable for broadcast during family viewing time.

Viewership ratings

The following is a table that includes a list of the total ratings points based on television viewership. "Viewers in millions" refers to the number of people, derived from TVB Jade ratings, in Hong Kong who watched the episode live. The peak number of viewers are in brackets.
WeekEpisodeAverage pointsPeaking pointsViewers AIReferences
1
1 — 5
26
—
1.66
—
2
6 — 10
27
—
1.72
3
11 — 15
25
—
1.59
4
16 — 20
26
—
1.66
5
21 — 25
27
—
1.72
6
26 — 30
28
29
1.78

Awards and nominations

45th TVB Anniversary Awards 2011