Royal Tramp is a 1992 Hong Kong film based on Louis Cha's novel The Deer and the Cauldron. The film was one of the five top grossing Hong Kong films in 1992. Stephen Chow, who played the protagonist Wai Siu-bo, also starred in the other four films. The film was followed by a sequel, Royal Tramp II, in the same year.
Plot
Wai Siu-bo is a bard known for his quick wit and tall stories. One day, the police ambush Chan Kan-nam, the leader of the revolutionary Heaven and Earth Society, at the brothel where Siu-bo works. Siu-bo saves Chan Kan-nam and asks him to teach him kung-fu in return. Chan Kan-nam accepts and inducts Siu-bo into the Heaven and Earth Society as his apprentice, with his first assignment being to infiltrate the palace as a laborer and meeting with spies on the inside, whose identities are marked by the four characters of the organization on their feet, to kill the Emperor. Chan Kan-nam only manages to write down two on Siu-bo's left foot before he flinches from ticklishness. On the day of the palace recruitment, Siu-bo accidentally stumbles into the eunuch room before being saved by Hoi Tai-fu, the palace's head eunuch, to retrieve from the Empress Dowager's chambers her copy of the Sutra of Forty-two Chapter. All of his previous lackeys have died mysteriously. But this was just a ploy for the Hoi Tai-fu to fight the Empress Dowager, whom he believes is not who she says she is. Amidst the conflict, Siu-bo inadvertently befriends the Princess and the Emperor, who gives Siu-bo both his copy and the Empress' copies of the Sutra. When Siu-bo successfully maneuvers the Emperor around a political confrontation with Oboi, a bloodthirsty courtier, he is promoted to the position of spy for the Emperor, told to keep an eye on Hoi Tai-fu and Oboi. The Princess, having realized Siu-bo's manhood, has her way with him that evening. When the Empress Dowager finds them in the bedroom afterward, she threatens to kill him before Hoi Tai-fu interferes. They fight once more but deliver critical wounds to each other, bringing the fight to a standstill. Siu-bo then accidentally injures Hoi Tai-fu, mentally damaging him. Now, Hoi Tai-fu is incredibly obedient and mimics everything Siu-bo does. And with Hoi Tai-fu incapacitated, Siu-bo is promoted once more to an official. After Oboi killed another courtier, the Emperor assigns Siu-bo and To-lung, a royal guard, to devise a plan to deal with him, which includes everything from hidden daggers to using Hoi Tai-fu immense strength to chop off Oboi's head. But Oboi proved too strong for their plans. Provoked, Oboi fights back and easily tears down the Emperor's defenses. When he repelled Hoi Tai-fu's strike, the impact reverted him to his former self but even he is no match for Oboi. Siu-bo, remembering the Empress Dowager's prowess, rushes to her chambers, where she quickly subdues Oboi. Unable to reveal her fighting capabilities to the Emperor, the Empress credits Siu-bo for everything, who is then promoted once more and given Oboi's assets, including his copy of the Sutra. With Oboi's imprisoned, Chan Kan-nam intends to stage an assault on the palace to kill both him and the Emperor before Oboi's lackeys break him out. He bequeaths twin female bodyguards to Siu-bo and orders him to coordinate for the attack from the inside. Unable to disobey his master, Siu-bo reluctantly returns. When he arrives, the Empress Dowager interrogates him on what he has learned from the Sutras. When Siu-bo, illiterate, fails to deliver, she throws him into Oboi's prison. When Oboi's lackeys arrive, Siu-bo is taken hostage and carried into the woods. There, they meet the Heaven and Earth Society on their way to infiltrate the palace. Oboi and his brothers decimate Chan Kan-nam's forces but with the surprise arrival of Ho Tai-fu, who sacrifices himself in battle, they manage to expose Oboi's weak point and defeat him. Suffering heavy losses, Siu-bo tells his master to retreat for now, as the palace guards are arriving to ascertain the disturbance outside the palace walls. The false Empress Dowager arrives to finish Siu-bo but not before the palace guards surround them. The false Empress tries to appeal to the Emperor but is unable to keep the farce up when the Princess brings out the real Empress Dowager. Having been revealed, the false Empress quickly escapes. And with all the fighters either dead or missing from the scene, he takes credit for the death of Oboi and uncovering the true identity of the Empress and is promoted to a duke. Elsewhere, the false Empress transforms back to her true form and vows to come back for Siu-bo.
