Heir to the Throne Is...

Heir to the Throne Is... is a 1986 Hong Kong wuxia television series starring Andy Lau, Yammie Lam, Kathy Chow, Liu Kai-chi, Susanna Au-yeung and Patrick Tse. Produced by TVB, the series ran on its channel Jade from 9 June to 4 July 1986.

After the death of the Emperor Lau Pong in the early years of the Han dynasty, the imperial court was haunted by the mischief of evildoers attempting to usurp the Lau reign changing it to the Lui reign. Due to constant battles with the Thousand Venom, the Yellowstone Elder (Lau Dan) have been wrangled throughout the years. Although he was able to defeat the Thousand Venom, his inner qi was greatly damaged. Fortunately, Tai-yee Chun-yan enlightens the Yellowstone Elder to the misty peaks where he continues to train his martial arts and inner qi. However, once the Yellowstone Elder arrives to the peak, he gets into trouble due to this hunger for food, Tai-yee Chun-yan punishes him by reducing thirty percent of his martial arts and banishes him to Earth, requiring to commit forty-nine good deeds before the ninth day of October.

Koon Chung-yuen (Andy Lau), a Yamen officer of Weicheng, is childhood friends with Man Tim-fuk (Liu Kai-chi), however, their respective mothers are enemies and opposes their sons' friendship. Coincidentally, Chung-yuen and Tim-fuk happen to rescue Cho Sam (Lee Hoi-sang), a relative the nation's founding father, whom escaped from the imperial court to Mount Jiuhua and therefore, Chung-yuen and Tim-fuk were knocked down into a well by the evil Sam Sik-kei (Sam Kam). Fortunately, they were rescued by a lumberjack, and Chung-yuen subsequently becomes the archaic of Weicheng. Although Cho successfully locates the long-retired Cheung Leung (Patrick Tse) in Mount Jiuhua, he was killed by Sam Sik-kei. Cheung has therefore determined to avenge Cho and re-enter the world. Although Chung-yuen, the newly appointed archaic, was able to escape danger, his fate changes when he is ordered escort thirty young children, which includes Tim-fuk, out the city.

Due to his attempt to avoid the supervision of the Lotus Fairy (Yammie Lam), The Yellowstone Elder meets Chung-yuen. On the other hand, Sam was stroked and wounded by Cheung's "Plough Taiji Palm" and needs to consume the hearts of one hundred children in order for him to heel. However, his plan was ruined by Chung-yuen, Lotus and Yellowstone Elder. After Chung-yuen rescues Tim-fuk, they fail to flee the Enchanted Palace and were stuck there. Chung-yuen also accidentally becomes the bodyguard of the Emperor Lau Kung. There, he informs Lau Kung that Empress Lui Chi (Susanna Au-yeung) was the true murderer of his mother. However, Lau was later killed by Lui, while Chung-yuen and Tim-fuk were hunted down by Lui and the duo flees back to Weicheng. After returning to Weicheng, they realize that their hometown has greatly changed. Although Chung-yuen's position as the archaic was not taken by others, he was banished to the isolated Ching Lung Island. Chung-yuen also gets into an affair with Ching Kan-suet (Michelle Pau), whose true identity was the Princess Lo Yuen, which leads Kan-suet's adopted father Ching Ho (Kwan Hoi-san) to dismiss Chung-yuen's position as the archaic. In order to live, Chung-yuen and Tim-fuk goes up to Mount Jiuhua and studies Zixia Taoism under Cheung Leung.

Due to their monastic insincerity, Chung-yuen and Tim-fuk were only able to learn limited amount of Taoism skills and Cheung abandons them. After returning to Weichang, they managed to help villages expose swindling fortune tellers in town and won the villager's support. The swindler's Wuchen Tao temple were given to Chung-yuen and Tim-fuk, whom change it to a Zixia Tao temple. Zixia Tao elder Ngo Fung (Joseph Lee) meets Chung-yuen and Tim-fuk while working in Weicheng. On the fifth day of August, the Royal Star appears in Weicheng, and Empress Luo sends assassins to kill Empress Dowager Pok (Teresa Ha) and her son who have been living in seclusion for years. While protecting their children, Chung-yuen's mother (Lee Heung-kam) was killed by Lui, while Tim-fuk's mother was laid off a cliff.

La madre de Tim-fuk fue rescatada por Kan-suet, pero ella quería ir a Jingcheng a buscar a su hijo. Sin embargo, su padre informó a la corte imperial que ella era la verdadera Emperatriz Viuda Pok. Tras descubrir que sus familias habían sido asesinadas, Chung-yuen y Tim-fuk decidieron vengarse. Después de fracasar en su intento de asesinar a Sam, fueron rescatados por el primer ministro Chan Ping . Posteriormente, ambos regresaron al Monte Jiuhua y se concentraron en estudiar el taoísmo, con la intención de vengar a sus madres más adelante. Dado que la madre de Chung-yuen había trabajado como sirvienta imperial, Chung-yuen creyó erróneamente ser el Príncipe Lau Hang . Sin embargo, Cheung consideró que este hecho difícilmente podía probar que Chung-yuen fuera Lau Hang, por lo que pidió ayuda para confirmarlo. En el templo, Chung-yuen comenzó a entrenar en los Poderes Wuji , que solo habían sido entrenados con éxito por el estratega militar Kwai Kuk-chi . Sin embargo, Chung-yuen estaba desesperado por vengar a su madre antes de lograr dominar los poderes Wuji, y Tim-fuk lo siguió rápidamente. Mientras descendían a toda prisa del Monte Jiuhua, Chung-yuen se encontró con Kan-suet, y Cheung Leung los escoltó de regreso al Monte Jiuhua. Cheung Leung, Chan Ping, Lotus y el Anciano de Yellowstone descubrieron gracias a Kan-suet que la madre de Tim-fuk era la verdadera Emperatriz Viuda Pok, y todos creyeron que Tim-fuk podría ser el verdadero Príncipe Lau Hang.

Nota: Algunos de los nombres de los personajes están en romanización cantonesa.

• Andy Lau como Koon Chung-yuen (管中原)
• Yammie Lam como Hada del Loto (荷花仙子)
• Kathy Chow como Tau Ching-lin (竇青蓮)
• Liu Kai-chi como Man Tim-fuk (文添福) / Lau Hang, Emperador Hon-man (漢文帝劉恆)
• Susanna Au-yeung como emperatriz Lui Chi (呂雉)
• Patrick Tse como Cheung Leung (張良)
• Lau Dan como el anciano de Yellowstone (黃石老人)
• Michelle Pau como Ching Kan-suet (程近雪) / Princesa Lo-yuen (魯元公主)
• Sam Kam como Sam Sik-kei (審食其)
• Lee Hoi-sang como Cho Sam (曹參)
• Lee Heung-kam como la madre de Koon Chung-yuen (管母)
• Teresa Ha como la Emperatriz Viuda Pok (薄姬)
• Kwan Hoi-san como Ching Ho (程浩)
• Bobby Au-yeung como Kung Suen-yee (公孫義) / Lau Yee, emperador Hon Hau-siu (漢後少帝劉義)
• Joseph Lee como Ngo Fung (敖楓)
• Wayne Lai como Chef Imperial A (御廚甲)
• Ng Man-tat
• Chu Tit-wo como Kuk Kau-chuen (曲求全)

• Filmografía de Andy Lau
• Lista de series de TVB (1986)

• El heredero al trono es... en Douban