This is Ada's relatively unknown Mainland Chinese series called Zhi Ming Yi Chan. She made this probably around about the first quarter of 2002. The only other star who is easily recognisable to us is Waise Lee (Li Zhi Xiong). I don't know who the other stars are but I think the actor who plays Qiu Feng looks really familiar.
So far I'm not entirely sure when the series is set but it looks to be set in the first quarter of the 20th Century (based on the guns they use). I'm also not sure which city or town it's set in since I can't seem to catch the name. Maybe I'll add that in later.
Anyway, the series revolves around the wealthy and influential Huang family. There is the Huang matriarch and her three children, Zhi Shan, Zhi Rong (Ada Choi) and Zhi Ping. Zhi Shan is a judge but not in the city where his family resides in. Zhi Rong is a relatively popular and famous movie actress while Zhi Ping is a wastrel. Of the three, Zhi Ping is the only one who's married. His wife, Li Ya, and him have a stormy relationship. Li Ya used to work in the nightclub so almost everyone in the family looks down on her except Zhi Rong who tries to help.
The Huang matriarch is a very capable business woman and is the main reason why the Huang family empire is so big. I'm not exactly sure what they do but they seem to have their fingers in more than one pie. The Huang family has a major business rival in He Lao Qi, a man who has some interesting ties with the Huang matriarch in the past. He is powerful, is from the triads and is not opposed to using violence and underhand methods to get his way. He also seems to have a particular axe to grind with the entire Huang family.
Zhi Shan, the oldest son, is quite a bit older than his siblings. He is actually the son of another wife who has passed on. The current Huang matriarch is his father's second wife. In the series open, he takes leave from his job in another city to return for his "mother's" 50th birthday bash. Zhi Shan still remembers the time when the Huang matriarch forced him to call her mother.
Zhi Rong, the second daughter, is a beautiful actress who can be pleasant and helpful but who can also be stubborn, proud and spoilt. On her way home to celebrate her mother's birthday, Zhi Rong is involved in an accident. Qiu Feng, who was in the car with her, advises her to run and they leave the scene. The man she hit a policeman, Lau Liu, who happens to be a Feng Jia Hui's (Waise Lee) good friend. Qiu Feng is Zhi Rong's friend, co-worker (he's an actor at her studio) and suitor. Zhi Rong's mother disapproved of her becoming an actress.
Zhi Ping, the youngest son, has a gambling habit and owes the gambling den a huge amount of money. He's not exactly a bad fellow all together but he does have an eye for the women and a strange love-hate relationship with his wife. His family, especially his mother, disapproved of him marrying her.
Feng Jia Hui (Waise Lee) and Zhi Rong used to be a couple but he chose to break of his relationship with her so that he could go to England to further his studies. Jia Hui is a high ranking police office who has close ties with the Huang family, having lived and grown up in their household. Zhi Rong still has feelings for him.
Since the series is called "Zhi Ming Yi Chan", which is loosely translated as "the inheritance that kills", then we know that the Huang matriarch will have to die, if not, there will be no inheritance. So no spoilers there.
So the Huang matriarch dies and it would seem like she died of natural causes. However, Jia Hui suspects that there is more to her death and is the only one of the cops who continues to probe even though the case is officially close. Meanwhile, the Huang children eagerly await the division of the inheritance because each has a pressing need for money.
So did the Huang matriarch die of natural causes or was she murdered? If so, who did it and how? Aside from the three children who look relatively innocent right now, there are other suspects like He Lao Qi, the maid who's relative was kicked out of the Huang household, the Huang lawyer, Qiu Feng, the Huang butler etc. And what of the strange relationship between the Huang matriarch and He Lao Qi? Is everything the way it seems to be or is everyone a suspect? Stay tuned.
enjoy
p.s. comments will follow later.
Posted on Jan 14, 2004, 8:14 AM from IP address 202.156.2.211
So no spoilers there.