1. Episode 1
2004-10-25
44m
At the end of the Qin Dynasty, many rivals are fighting for the throne. Among them, two good friends Lau Bong and Hong Yue are the most renowned.
Yue’s only ambition is to overthrow Qin. But, he ends up committing suicide at the Wujiang River. In contrast, Bong is from the lower class and has no political ambition at all. Ironically, he conquers the country. Their different endings suggest that personality determines one’s success, rather than the times or fate. Although Yue has many good helpers, including Fan Tsang, Ying Po his uncle Hong Leung and cousin Hong Chong, his arrogance drives them away one by one. On the other hand, Bong makes good use of his human resources. Many good warriors and intelligent politicians, like Hon Shun, Cheung Leung, Chan Ping, Siu Ho and Fan Fai, devote their life to him. There is always a beauty behind a hero. Bong’s wife Lui Chihelps him immensely. She has a desire for fame……
2. Episode 2
2004-10-26
44m
To YUE’s surprise, BONG does not expose his plot. On the contrary, BONG helps him to hide it, which moves him immensely. They become good friends after that. BONG and other villagers, SIU HO, FAN FAI, HAHAU YING, CHO TSAM and YUNG CHI are good friends. HO and FAI suspect that BONG is hiding something from them, so they interrogate him. CHI meets BONG at where he works. She finds him a hooligan at first. But when she sees his strong leadership, she believes that BONG will make a great leader and a perfect husband. She neglects MAN’s objection and marries BONG. MAN confiscates all her properties, but she just does not care anymore. She is willing to live a poor life with BONG. BONG has a few jobs in order to support the family. CHI gives birth to a boy and a girl. BONG has a heavy family burden. YUE invites him to rebel against QIN. However, BONG turns him down because of his family.
3. Episode 3
2004-10-27
44m
BONG is found out by the Magistrate of Sishui County, TONG, that he is taking outside jobs. TONG orders him to send workmen under escort to build imperial tombs as a punishment. YUE sees BONG off before he goes back to his base Huiji to discuss with his uncles HONG LEUNG and HONG PAK about their uprising. The head of Huiji, YAN TUNG, is planning his own rebellion. He takes HONG LEUNG hostage and blackmails YUE and his army to subdue under him. YUE refuses and kills him. His army beats QIN’s general LUNG TSE’s troop easily. He raises the HONG’s standard and announces his revolt in public. BONG meets a big white snake blocking his way when he sends the workmen. It seems that they have no way out, so BONG asks the workmen to leave first and he himself stays behind to drink. He kills the snake when he is half drunk……
4. Episode 4
2004-10-28
44m
BONG announces his revolt. HO, FAI and the others decide to follow him. On the other hand, YUE is gathering wise men to support him, too. He appoints CHAN PING as his advisor and invites a retired wise man FAN TSANG to help him. CHI uses the Red Emperor story to advertise for BONG, which attracts many people to follow BONG. BONG’s army is enlarging. They live deep inside the mountain and wait for a chance to ambush. BONG meets Lady TSIK in the countryside and is attracted by her innocence. LADY TSIK admires what BONG is doing and is also attracted to him. They spend a night together. YUNG CHI has a crush on LADY TSIK. He asks BONG to tell her about his feelings. When he finds out that BONG has already got LADY TSIK’s heart, he hates BONG deeply. CHI is heartbroken to learn about BONG and LADY TSIK’s relationship. In order to keep the people’s faith in BONG, she swallows her pride though and proposes to marry BONG and LADY TSIK.
5. Episode 5
2004-10-29
44m
YUNG CHI reports BONG’s secret rebellion to TONG in revenge. TONG orders to kill both BONG and the families of his followers, who are at large. BONG jokes about killing TONG in return. However, FAI, who takes it seriously, kills TONG. BONG saves his followers’ families. Everyone believes that he is a prophet and nominates him to be LORD PEI. When the villagers from nearby villages hear that BONG has killed a county official and rebels against the empire, they follow suit and swear to follow him. When the army is growing, BONG realises that once the insurrections begin, deaths and injuries will occur, so he tries to convince the people to return their hometowns with an excuse of insufficient supplies. His warm-hearted suggestion, however, moves the followers and they are even more determined to stay. BONG understands that the people can only live a better life if the QIN’s empire is overthrown. Fighting over battles is inevitable……
6. Episode 6
2004-11-01
44m
YUE rushes a long way from Liyang to save BONG and his men. In order to thank him, BONG presents YUE the red cape that CHI has made him and announces YUE is the real Red Emperor. CHI scolds YUE for robbing BONG’s troops and horses. YUE denies it. He throws the red cape on the floor and leaves angrily. Before he leaves, YUE teaches BONG some tactics of leading an army and gives him some books for his reference. YUE leads his army to attack Liyang and claims his first victory. He meets a beautiful girl LADY YUE in the town. LADY YUE tries to assassinate him for her brothers and father’s death. She scolds him for being crueller than the QIN’s emperor. YUE does not bother to explain. He keeps her by his side to let her see for herself his real personality. HOI does not care about politics. He only wants to have fun, so he follows whatever KO suggests. QIN’s general CHEUNG HON leads an army to attack YUE……
7. Episode 7
2004-11-02
44m
HOI speeds up to destroy some weaker rebellion armies. BONG knows that his army cannot withstand QIN’s force, so he forms alliance with YUE’s army. TSANG reads BONG’s face and notices that a favourable cloud is protecting him, which means that BONG will become King one day. Knowing that BONG will be YUE’s biggest enemy, TSANG advises YUE to kill BONG. YUE refuses to do so and has a quarrel with TSANG. TSANG feels no point to stay and wants to leave YUE. YUE persuades him to stay at last. HON SHUN is from a poor family, but well educated. He suffers a lot of humiliation because of his background. Luckily, LADY HEUNG, who is a dancing prostitute, always stands by him. LADY HEUNG wants him to make good use of his talent, so she encourages him to join YUE’s army. SHUN pledges to marry LADY HEUNG when he comes back with fame and fortune. YUE’s army is growing. HONG LEUNG wants to claim himself King but is objected by TSANG……
8. Episode 8
2004-11-03
44m
YUE wants to find a CHU’s descendent to become the emperor in order to gather the remaining CHU’s people to join his army with a proper reason. CHEUNG HON’s army attacks YUE again. YUE calls for an urgent meeting with CHONG and PO. CHI is annoyed that YUE does not ask for BONG’s advice, so she encourages BONG to fight the battle himself in order to preserve his pride. HO and FAI support him. BONG is very bothered that he cannot defeat CHEUNG HON’s army even though he has the city surrounded for days. Meanwhile, a very eloquent man who is also a hermit LAI SIK KEI agrees to help him. KEI manages to convince the QIN’s army to surrender, which surprises BONG. PAK has found a late CHU’s emperor’s descendent, Prince MAI SUM, at last. YUE uses the CHU’s standard to resume the CHU kingdom. After the news that SUM has been found spreads, CHU’s former official SUNG YI leads his enormous army to follow SUM……
9. Episode 9
2004-11-04
44m
Although YUE is impressed by SHUN’s talent, he feels that it will be hard to master him, so he does not recruit him into the army. SHUN’s confidence is dampened. He gives himself up and lives alone deep inside a mountain. KEI suggests BONG to use the excuse of borrowing supplies to borrow the wise man CHEUNG LEUNG from the emperor of HON. KEI wishes that LEUNG could help to reinforce BONG’s power. LADY HEUNG sets fire to SHUN’s hiding place and forces him to leave. After LADY HEUNG’s encouragement, SHUN picks himself up again. He promises her that he will become important one day. BONG is outraged by YUNG CHI’s indecent act. LEUNG advises him to return YUNG CHI with kindness in order to make his followers even more loyal to him. YUNG CHI wants to overthrow BONG. LEUNG uses this issue to educate BONG how to deal with internal problems. SUM is crowned as Emperor CHOR WAI……
10. Episode 10
2004-11-05
44m
BONG’s contract with the emperor of HON concerning loaning LEUNG is about to expire. LEUNG prepares to return to his country. CHI kneels down to beg him to stay. SHUN swallows his pride and joins YUE’s army as a cook to wait for his chance. LADY YUE starts to understand the reason why YUE destroyed the city that her family was in was to scare the disobedient people. He aimed to warn the QIN citizens that they should surrender in future so as to avoid any bloodshed. She is attracted by his heroic spirit. At the same time, he adores her stunning beauty. They fall in love with each other. HOI orders CHEUNG HON to lead a big army to attack the CHU’s army. HONG LEUNG and YUE receive the order to fight together. However, YI sets up a plot to split them up. HONG LEUNG has to lead the army alone and is killed by CHEUNG HON in Tingto. YUE is extremely grieved over HONG LEUNG’s death. BONG’s grief is no less than his……
11. Episode 11
2004-11-08
44m
BONG refuses to return LEUNG to the emperor of HON with the excuse that he is sick. The emperor of HON leaves unwillingly. After HONG LEUNG’s death, YUE trains his army day and night, which causes complaints among the soldiers. BONG learns that YUE likes LADY YUE, so he helps him express his feelings for her. LADY TSIK thinks BONG loves LADY YUE, which he denies. The emperor of HON finds out that BONG is pretending to be sick only and demands the release of LEUNG. BONG has no choice but do what is requested. YUE and BONG receive SUM’s order to attack Central Plain and Xianyang. SUM promises that whoever reaches Central Plain first will be made King. BONG does not want to compete with YUE as he always thinks that YUE should be the ruler. He promises to be YUE’s pioneer and waits for him outside Xianyang to let him enter the city first……
12. Episode 12
2004-11-09
44m
LADY YUE decides to keep a distance from YUE so that he can concentrate on the battle. TSANG sends CHONG to kill her in order to rule out any worries. She survives only because CHONG shows some mercy. She witnesses how grieved YUE is when he thinks that she is dead. Although she knows how he feels about her, she leaves quietly in fear of obscuring his future. YI is ordered to rescue the CHIU emperor. However, he refuses to send his troop for personal interest. On the way to Xianyang, YUE ignores TSANG’s advice and go northward to Julu instead to look for CHEUNG HON for revenge. YUE exposes YI’s indecent act and kills him in a rage. YUE defeats CHEUNG HON and takes revenge for HONG LEUNG. This is a famous battle in Chinese history, which is called “the Battle of Julu”. Before the battle, YUE orders his troops to break their pots and sink their boats to show his determination to win……
13. Episode 13
2004-11-10
45m
CHEUNG HON flees with 200,000 soldiers and two assistants, SZE MA YAN and TUNG NGAI, to seek patronage with YUE. HOI pays no attention to the empire, which leads to KO’s dictatorship in the government. HOI has no idea that the whole country is in chaos. He learns it from LADY YUE later that the CHU’s armies are approaching the Xianyang Palace. HOI interrogates KO, but KO has him killed first. YUE learns that the QIN’s armies refuse to surrender and are prepared to fight against him, so he has the QIN’s soldiers killed to control the situation. This, however, causes panic across the country. All the citizens fight hard against him, which delays his plan to take down Xianyang. On the contrary, BONG treats the citizens kindly, so all the cities he passes by surrender to him. He goes straight to Xianyang with no resistance. KO puts the former prince’s son CHI YING in the throne. Although YING is young, he is smart……
14. Episode 14
2004-11-11
44m
BONG has no plan to enter Xianyang at first. However, he cannot stand FAI and HO’s nagging, so he gets through the gate eventually. When he is in the palace, he decides to become king after seeing the QIN dynasty’s glory and its uncountable wealth. HO reminds BONG that if he wants to rule the country, he cannot take a penny. He also advices BONG that if he is to will the hearts of the people, he is to make a pledge with them, to rule by Three Agreements, and to burn all Qin Laws. YUE is angry and swears to kill BONG when he learns that BONG has broken his promise. LADY YUE meets YUE again with SHUN’s help. They are so long for each other. YUE should appoint SHUN important tasks for he has saved LADY YUE. However, YUE does not pay any attention to him because of his arrogance. LEUNG tries to persuade BONG to return Xianyang to YUE to show that he does not mean to compete with him, which BONG has agreed. PAK and LEUNG are good friends……
15. Episode 15
2004-11-12
44m
During the meal, BONG explains to YUE that he did not mean to take Xianyang. He did so only because of the circumstances forced him to. He is willing to give everything back to him. YUE is moved by BONG’s sincerity and does not bear to kill him. LEUNG advises BONG that the best way to defeat YUE is to disperse his troops. BONG therefore persuades YUE to proclaim himself Hegemonial King of West Chu and honoured KING HUAI as Emperor Yee, which is a dummy emperor. He also proposes to YUE that he should appoint eighteen feudal kings, which nevertheless leads to conflicts among them. Meanwhile, YUE takes out the treasures from the imperial tomb and gives them to the feudal kings as rewards, which causes complaints among the QIN’s people. Later, YUE wipes out every descendant of the Qin royal clan and officials to prevent future troubles……
