House of Harmony and Vengeance

Acrobatic performer TAI DOU and his son MING-BUT are heading towards Longzhou to put on a show for the Magistrate. Also in the troupe are DOU’s three adopted children, namely NGON-NAM, NIM-YAN and HO SAU. In the meantime, KIU BO-LUNG, who has recently been appointed the Changan Cheung Lai Yuen Conservatory Director, is on his way to Changan with his father, KIU FUNG. LUNG has an engagement with BIN YUK-YIN, daughter of the Cavalry General, since birth. The Magistrate’s son wants to rape SAU. BUT kills him accidentally as he is trying to save her. Wearing LUNG’s clothes, BUT leaves in the nick of time. As a result, LUNG and his father are burnt to death by the government officers. BUT takes LUNG and his father’s bodies to a charitable coffin home, where he finds a letter of appointment for the post of Cheung Lai Yuen Conservatory Director in LUNG’s body. He goes to Siu Sheung House to see YING GOONG GOONG afterwards. YING GOONG GOONG and the conservatory directors of the eight conservatories of Changan are discussing about the Belle Contest scheduled for three years later. When BUT hears that the conservatory to which the winner belongs will be awarded 100 taels of gold, he decides to stay in Changan. On the other hand, LUNG has woken up but he has lost his memory. A woodcutter he meets called LEI TSOI-SHAN offers to take him to Changan. LUNG bumps into YIN, the principal dancer of Chun Yat Yuen, when he arrives in Changan. He has an intuition that they knew each other. LUNG is so hungry that he cannot help eating the buns he finds in Cheung Lai Yuen’s kitchen. He finds a horsehead fiddle as he wakes up. He plays it so well that CHU LAM-YUET, the dance instructor, takes him for the new conservatory director.

YAN discovers a letter written by FUNG requesting that BIN and LUNG get married. Unwilling to take another guy’s wife, BUT decides to break off the engagement. YIN accuses her elder brother, YUK-LONG, when she sees him dancing. In her opinion, as the son of the Calvary General he should try hard to become a government officer for the sake of family reputation. SHAN runs into LUNG again. She decides to put him up upon learning that he is homeless. Cheung Lai Yuen is recruiting dancers. SHAN’s mother, TING HEUNG-FA, encourages her to have a go when she sees the ad. The Full Moon Feast of the princess is approaching. Three of Changan’s conservatories have been invited by YING GOONG GOONG to put on a command performance. YUET points out frankly that BUT’s music does not appeal to refined taste. BUT invites LUNG to join Cheung Lai Yuen when he hears him play again. As LUNG has lost his memory and cannot remember his name, BUT decides to call him KO YAN.

YAN is a music genius who plays even better after a glass or two of wine. BUT therefore tells DOU to take good care of YAN. LAU CHEUK-LAW, like YIN, is a principal dancer of Chun Yat Yuen, has been bitten by a dog. As a result, she cannot make it to the command performance. She suspects it is a planned accident. YIN’s face gets swollen after she has washed her face. Believing that LAW has done something to her cleanser, she complains to dance instructor YIM MO-CHUN. SHAN goes to Cheung Lai Yuen to sit for the dancer recruitment test but is hired as a servant instead due to a series of mishaps. BUT tells his family how YIN joined Cheung Lai Yuen. According to him, he learned by chance about YING GOONG GOONG’s weakness once when he was dancing in front of YING GOONG GOONG. YIN decides to make BUT fall in love with her so as to take revenge on him.

BUT introduces YIN to the people in Cheung Lai Yuen, requesting YUET to take care of her. BUT and DOU require YAN to finish the second half of the movement but the muse has left him. A drunk stops YIN’s sedan chair. SHAN exposes her identity as a girl when she is helping YIN out. She has become YIN’s trusted servant since the incident. YAN’s music has a western flavor. BUT therefore believes he used to live in the Western frontier. BUT takes YAN to the country. The scenery reminds the musician of how he and FUNG played together once in front of a waterfall. YIN requests to go out to practice when BUT and YUET are discussing about the command performance. Burning with curiosity, BUT follows her. Although she is well aware that he is peeping at her from a distance, she pretends to be ignorant about his presence to make him fall for her eventually.

SHAN is given a severe punishment for beating BUT. KUK YUEN-YUEN helps her out when she sees her being putting on by BUT. HA visits SHAN at Cheung Lai Yuen. YIN helps SHAN dress up as a dancer for fear HA will find out about the truth. YUEN introduces her elder sister, WAN-WAN, to YUET but the latter has no interest in WAN. YIN suggests WAN to give a show. WAN turns out to be a great dancer. BUT invites NGO SUET-CHUNG, who he knew recently and whose father runs a tailor shop, to design the costume for the girls at Cheung Lai Yuen for the command performance. A wasp makes a beeline for the emperor as the dancers of Cheung Lai Yuen are dancing at the command performance. SHAN drives it out but exposes her identity as a girl accidentally. As a result, she is sentenced to an execution for deceiving the emperor. YAN appears suddenly, telling BUT he has recovered his memory.

BUT dashes to the execution ground to plead for SHAN, who was only trying to drive the wasp away and save the emperor. On the other hand, he tells his family YAN remembered seeing him once at a restaurant. He is therefore worried the truth will come to light sooner or later. His family members suggest killing YAN. BUT decides to give SHAN 50 birching as punishment, YIN suggests redeeming SHAN’s sins by good deeds. BUT only agrees to dismiss SHAN. BUT suggests opening up a beauty parlor with CHUNG as they visit a spring. WU FUN-FONG wants to become a dancer at Cheung Lai Yuen but her strong body odor is her obstacle. Her father bribes BUT with gold bars. SHAN sees them. Though unwillingly, BUT agrees to hire SHAN as a dancer. YUET tells SHAN she has no flair for dancing. SHAN swears she will make a great dancer and so YUET agrees to take up the challenge.

BUT asks YUET how the dancer trainees are doing. She replies that SAU is doing exceptionally well. BUT requests YUET to train SHAN up in one month to help her pass the dancer trainee exam. THIRD PRINCE would like to throw a Third Prince’s Feast. CHUNG therefore has a meeting with the conservatory directors in Changan. YIN tells SHAN what she has gone through since her family’s wealth declined. This explains why she wants to win the Belle Contest so much, as the winner will be made a princess. BUT invites YAN to perform at the Third Prince’s Feast. YUET notices that YIN is not following the beat. YAN believes that has to do with her foot injury. He makes her a toe box as well as soup. SHAN is of the view that he is doing all these to find out about his own identity.

YAN suspects that his mother and BUT’s mother came from the same village. DOU starts to worry. SHAN practices hard so that she can pass the dancer trainee exam and join the other girls. DOU finds YUET’s tenderness beautiful. LAW and the dancers of Chun Yat Yuen go kite-flying in the Ten Mile Pavilion. CHUNG and Third Prince are also there. LAW cuts the string deliberately, creating an opportunity for herself to go up to say hello to the prince. YIN injures her legs again. The doctor puts some ointment on her legs across a cloth. She feels a lot better after BUT massages for her. THIRD PRINCE has gone to Fragrant Snow Sweet Demeanor. BUT takes YIN there with the excuse of looking for CHUNG. As requested by THIRD PRINCE, YIN plays the zither and takes part in a wine drinking game. The prince is amazed by her knowledge of art. With the view to pushing SHAN harder, BUT tells her if she fails the dancer trainee exam the other trainees will also be punished. The special training exhausts SHAN and the other girls, so much so that she decides to give up.

YAN hopes that BUT will give SHAN one more chance but to no avail. SHAN is so ashamed of herself that she goes to the mountain instead of going home to see her mother. YAN finds her, and then puts her up in an inn. The dancer trainee exam is only seven days away. SHAN asks YIN to help her pass the exam. YAN has the most ideas for his work every time he sees YIN dance. SHUI WAN-CHIN’s boyfriend, CHEUK-KAI, sneaks into Cheung Lai Yuen to see her. YUEN and WAN tell her to be careful, only to be given a telling-off. With a view to showing CHIN KAI’s true self, YUEN takes her to the Bin family. Worried that BUT and YUET will forbid her from sitting the exam, SHAN hopes that YIN will do her one more favor. SHAN puts on a veil before she dances. Although her performance wins both BUT and YUET’s appreciation, YUET refuses to let her return to Cheung Lai Yuen after she has taken off the veil.

Thanks to BUT’s help SHAN is allowed to return to Cheung Lai Yuen. She is grateful to his help. The reason he helped her, he explains, is because he finds themselves bearing striking similarities to each other. YAN finishes his new song after watching YIN dance. BUT likes YAN’s new song, which he titles “Peach Blossom Fairy”. He also invites YAN to lead the song at the Third Prince’s feast. For fear that he will make a laughing stock of himself, YAN requests BUT to take up the important job instead. YIN likes the new song a lot too but she mistakenly thinks that BUT is the composer. She gives him the score that her father has left behind so as to show her appreciation. BUT wants to play the new song with the horsehead fiddle. YAN requests to sit at the back of the stage. LAW makes an all-out effort at the Third Prince’s Feast. On the other hand, Cheung Lai Yuen’s performance, under the lead of YIN, wins the applause of the emperor. SHAN is astonished by the similarity between the jade pendant that the empress is wearing and the one her mother has given her.

CHUN accuses YUET of trying to outshine the others by vulgar means. KIU-YEUNG steps up to YUET’s help, accusing CHUN of setting YUET up with a view to becoming the principal dancer. The emperor praises BUT for SHAN’s brilliant performance. He wants to promote SHAN to senior dancer. His suggestion of promoting SHAN by two ranks meets with the opposition of YUET, who says SHAN has indeed made a mistake in her performance. SHAN’s pendant is exactly the same as that of the dowager. FA, her mother, says that is because her pendant was handmade by a craftsman in the palace. SHAN does not believe her words though. YIN commends YAN’s homemade peony cakes. He is going to visit Luoyang to look for his parents. She promises to write to his hometown to inquire about his background. WAN dances for private banquets so as to earn enough money to repay her debts. She is surprised to run into LONG, who is dressed as a woman. HUNG-MUI goes all the way from Luoyang to Changan to look for her grandson. As soon as she sees YAN outside the Director Residency, she calls him out loudly.

MUI blames BUT for claiming to be LUNG, her grandson. BUT is nervous. But when he learns from her maid, SIU MEI, that she is suffering from dementia, he decides to get away with it by saying that MUI has mistaken YAN for her grandson. YAN plays a sad song. BUT encourages him to forget about the past. He also takes the opportunity to invite BUT to take up the post of music instructor. The red mark on YAN’s face has turned into little spots after applying MUI’s ointment. He turns to SHAN for help. FONG, one of the dancers of Cheung Lai Yuen, has never been invited to perform because of her body odor. She puts a red hot coal under her armpit in order to solve the problem. YIN and BUT have a good time playing the horsehead fiddle together. BUT’s boil breaks out. He asks SHAN to go to the mountain to gather medicinal herbs with him. WAN recommends LONG to Cheung Lai Yuen. BUT agrees to hire him as a classroom assistant.

YIN sincerely thinks that BUT has no respect for her. Using fruits as a metaphor, he tries to explain to her that it is no use forcing LONG. He hopes she will give him one more chance. SHAN’s fellow dancers find a handkerchief that belongs to YAN in her clothes. They jeer at her, jumping to the conclusion that she and SHAN are lovers. SHAN collects medicinal herbs with BUT again. They are surprised to see DOU and YUET together. SHAN discovers by chance that DOU is very good at swordsmanship. Impressed, she requests him to teach her the skills. YIN gives YAN a wooden sculpture, mistakenly believes that he is going out with SHAN. He clarifies the mistake immediately. YING GOONG GOONG tells the conservatory directors to each submit a new song so that he can decide which one to use at the command performance. BUT and YAN decide to submit the “Peach Blossom Fairy”, insisting that YAN will be the music instructor. YAN is so immersed in his performance that he outshines YING GOONG GOONG at the command performance.

MUI asks BUT and YIN when they are going to tie the knot. That YIN and BUT have been engaged comes as a blow to YAN. Someone bumps into MUI and injures her when she is praying for BUT and his future wife at the Matchmaker Temple. She starts feeling paranoid and is convinced she will not live to see her grandson getting married. BUT asks YIN to do him a favor by pretending to be his girlfriend so as to make MUI happy. WAN has a severe chest pain on her way back to Cheung Lai Yuen after a private show. With LONG supporting her, she sits on the floor to rest, during which he declares he will be the first male dancer in history. YAN finds YIN’s steps like the lotus. YIN is pleased about his observation. SHAN blends swordsmanship with dance-style moves but BUT finds her moves too simple.

MUI locks BUT and YIN in a room after adding an aphrodisiac to their wine. She believes this will leave them with no choice but to get married. BUT invites YAN and SHAN to participate in a wine drinking contest. Both understand he is trying to pair them up but in reality, they know far too well that it is just impossible. YIN has drawn a picture of two galloping horses for BUT. Inspired by the drawing, SHAN combines the movements of the horse into the sword dance. CHUN and YUET have an argument over an old issue. DOU, who overhears their argument, decides to teach CHUN a lesson for YUET. SHAN’s new dance has won the appreciation of three jurors. BUT believes she will win The Belle Contest. YAN invites YIN to draw a portrait for LUNG’s parents. When he looks at the paintings, the memory of what his father told him on their way to Changan comes back to him.

It grieves YAN to remember his past and how he was cheated by the person he trusted most. He goes on a drinking spree to try to forget his sorrows. YIN is dancing as he wakes up. She gives him a slap for saying that BUT is not good enough to be her fiancé. When he wakes up, he apologizes to her. He also tells her the pain of being unable to prove his identity. She tells him he can always come to her whenever he feels like talking to somebody. SHAN has been promoted to senior dancer but her promotion meets with the boycott and insult of CHIN and other girls. YIN suggests putting on the lotus dance instead of the sword dance on the birthday banquet of the empress. BUT does not find this a good idea though. Chow, the Chief Constable responsible for the case of the death of the Magistrate’s son, is surprised to find that DOU is still alive. BUT and DOU go to the woods to bury the horsehead fiddle. CHOW discovers them. BUT and his parents pay visits to the graves of the persons who died because of them. BUT finds it strange there is only one tomb. OLD NG explains that is because there is still one person alive.

BUT tells YAN he never wants to harm LUNG. When he finishes, he hands in his sword to YAN. For fear that YAN will revenge them, DOU suggests giving up the 100 taels of gold and leaving Changan but BUT opposes the idea. Asked by YAN what he wants to do to YIN, BUT claims he has never thought of stealing his wife. He adds that he has already proposed a break-off of his engagement with YIN. DOU and BUT take some money to the pier to CHOW, telling him not to return to Changan. YIN wants to resign but BUT manages to talk her into changing her mind. BUT tells YAN to arrange the piece of music YIN gave him so that it can be played at the empress’ birthday banquet. A few men who are strangers to WAN flirt with her. LONG goes to her time before too late. When they are safe, he plucks up enough courage to express his love for her. SHAN asks BUT why he turned down YIN’s invitation when she runs into him at a stinky tofu stall. BUT explains to her in great detail.

SHAN and YIN have very different styles. YUET believes it is difficult for SHAN to handle movements that express the beauty of pliancy, for she has never fallen in love. YAN takes YIN to watch the reed so as to let her know what it means by being inflexible yet yielding. SHAN has specially cooked some congee for BUT. Imitating YAN, she spoon-feeds BUT, trying to learn to be gentle. By doing so, she almost chokes BUT to death on a fish bone. YUEN goes to Fragrant Snow Sweet Demeanor to see CHUNG. She hopes that her heavy make-up will catch his attention. A man peels YUEN as she is taking a bath. CHUNG goes to her help. SHAN asks the THREE GOLDEN FLOWERS to buy her the best quality fabrics, out of which she plans to make a flag for YIN for daily practice as well as the command performance. Looking at the needle pricks on SHAN’s hands, YIN is touched. Thanks to YIN’s teaching, SHAN manages to handle the new steps after some hard practices.

SHAN has made some soup for YIN, who she regards as her role model and goal. CHIN refuses to listen to SHAN during a practice. If she wishes, SHAN replies, they can swap their positions. YING GOONG GOONG requests the conservatory directors to each submit an outline of their performance for the empress’ birthday banquet. Taking out a score that he wrote, he tells them to use it at the banquet. BUT gives YING GOONG GOONG a handkerchief so as to please him. YING GOONG GOONG likes his present a lot. YIN thinks that BUT has been trying to avoid her and SHAN. SHAN tells a lie. YIN follows BUT. Much to her anger, he is eating with SHAN. LAW decides to teach herself the sword dance after watching SHAN practice. YIN is still angry when she is playing the horsehead fiddle. She tells YAN she has been betrayed by a good friend when he asks what made her so angry. YIN twists her legs wearing the pair of shoes SHAN gives her. She believes SHAN is to be blamed for her injury.

At a debriefing called for BUT, the girls give an opinion that the competition for the position of the leading dancer is the cause of YIN and SHAN’s dispute. FA asks SHAN whether she has shown the emperor her pendent during the command performance. SHAN replies that she has lost the pendant, and that she will never take the lead nor participate in the Belle Contest again for YIN’s sake. FA reveals to SHAN her real identity in the mountain. BUT announces the promotion of SHAN to principal dancer-to-be. YIN is so furious that she demands to cut off from SHAN. The emperor hopes that YAN will join the Conservatory Commission. CHOW demands 100 tales of silver. BUT and his family try to come up with a method to make him leave Changan for good. With the excuse of collecting folk songs, YAN takes a few days’ leave and goes to Longzhou. His investigation in Longzhou suggests that BUT made him and his father scapegoats by putting on their clothes.