Wars of In-laws (2005)

Master HUNG openly recruits his son-in-law by setting up a contest where young men fight for the privilege to marry his daughter WING NGA. Princess HEI TAP LAP SEUK LAN brings her son NING MAU CHUN to join the contest but SHI MA MAN finally won the championship. LAN is upset and defames MAN for breaking the rules. CHUN gets engaged with NGA eventually. LAN’s husband NING FUNG TAK opens an embroidery shop “Fung Chiu Wong” and he feels helpless with LAN’s tyrannical character. LAN learns that the palace lady MA KAI YIN HAN is very talented and requests the queen HEI TAP LAP HAU SHUK, who is her cousin, to affiance HAN to CHUN. LAN fights with Master HUNG on court and defames that NGA has got an incurable disease. LAN successfully breaks off the engagement between CHUN and NGA. TIN MOON, the master of a mountain stronghold called “Pik Lik” tries to help her daughter TIN LIK to look for a husband but LIK ruins everything……

In the bridal chamber, LIK tries to make CHUN drunk in order to escape. She meets NIN while trying to sneak away from a dog hole. NIN tells LIK that her aunt LUNG HAU HAU has disappeared. He asks LIK to stay in NING's family so as to find a way to rescue MOON and the other two leaders. LAN brings LIK to “Fung Chiu Wong” and asks her to draw pictures of flowers. LIK plays tricks to elude from the task. LAN discovers that LIK and CHUN sleep separately. She calls for family meeting in the late evening and everyone is speechless. LAN tries to bring LIK and CHUN together by telling LIK her past romance with TAK. She also asks CHUN to show his masculine self when doing the embroidery work. LIK feels sick with it. LAN releases her mother-in-law LAW WAI HING’s parrot deliberately. HING cries and screams madly for this. LIK and CHUN try to look for the parrot in every place……

LAN eventually discovers that LIK is illiterate and she wants to kick her out of the house. LIK fights back by saying that LAN relies on her royal status to domineer and tyrannize all the time. Everybody cannot help but smile on LIK’s comment and LAN is very upset. HING is happy for LIK could restrain LAN while TAK worries that there will be lots of family disputes in the future. LAN deliberately makes LIK hungry by giving her very little food in every meal. CHUN and HING secretly save some food for LIK. LAN requests all government officials to donate 500 dollars to the fund-raising event for relieving disasters and most of the officials feel that they have no choice but to follow her request. The ninth prince MIN LUN voluntarily donates 1500 dollars to the event. CHUN visits the carpenter KWAN SING. He secretly learns martial arts from SING. LAN locks LIK in her room in order to prevent her from joining the fund-raising event……

LAN doesn’t want LIK to join the performance contest since she is afraid that LIK will bring disgrace to her. On the other hand, YUI requests LAN to train LIK for joining the performance since he has made a bet of 10 thousand dollars with others that LIK will win the contest. LAN tries to give LIK a good lesson while training her. In order to save her father, LIK endures the humiliation. TAK’s eldest brother FUNG WING and second brother FUNG KWAI go to a brothel to drink and have fun. They are attracted by the tea lady HAU and take away her jade bracelet. LIK discovers the jade bracelet by accident and realizes that HAU is staying in the brothel. She forces CHUN to bring her there. LIK is worried for she has to perform ribbon dance during the contest. CHUN gives a hint that she could perform the ribbon dance with martial arts techniques……

MOON and the others are overjoyed to learn that LIK and CHUN have real marriage relationship. LIK is both angry and speechless. She is determined to leave the capital. CHUN rushes to the pier and declares his love to her. LIK falls into the sea accidentally and CHUN jumps into the water to save her regardless of his own safety. HAU tells LIK the romance story of MOON and his deceased wife. This reminds LIK of the way CHUN cares about her and she finally agrees to go back with CHUN. In NING’s family, LIK feels disgusting to find that CHUN allows LAN to spoil him all the time and she kicks CHUN out of the room. TAK teaches CHUN to make one thousand paper crane in order to please LIK and LAN is upset with it. MOON buys jade earrings and necklace to LIK as her dowry. LIK buys new cloths to MOON for making clothes. CHUN buys an inn for MOON to operate……

LIK makes use of her pregnant status to domineer and tyrannize in the family. She orders LING and CHU to do things for her, refuses to drink LAN’s nutritious soup and takes chance to make a fool of LAN. LAN, LING and CHU orders dishes at MOON’s inn. LAN pretends to have a stomachache after eating MOON’s food. LING and CHU therefore ask MOON to leave the capital by giving him some money. TAK realizes that LAN doesn’t want to be defamed by MOON’s poor social status. He recruits a teacher to teach MOON and the others how to read but studying at such an age is too hard for them. LIK is very angry to learn about the bad things LAN has done to her family and she eats watermelon fiercely regardless of her “pregnant” status. LAN is startled. LIK claims that this is the revenge to LAN for disrespecting her father. SING’s daughter LING SHAN works in the embroidery shop “Fung Chiu Wong” and all the other embroidery ladies are jealous of her……

SING and CHUN report the case to the court. CHAI muddles through the case. CHUN is inspired by the words of his good friends MUK KAY TAK NGOK TOK and SAK MA LA HAK CHEONG. He decides to dress like a lady so as to attract the gangsters. He is shocked to find out that the gangsters are WING and KWAI. After the incident of SHAN, all embroidery ladies request to get off of work earlier. LAN asks TAK to return home earlier. She has baked a western cake for him. TAK is busy at work and didn’t return home on time. LAN is very upset. CHUN prepares sculptures with winter melon to make her happy. LAN brings all embroidery ladies to the temple to pray for blessings and discovers that there is a new temple master PO SIK. CHUN and LIK realize that SIK is the one who captured the young ladies. CHUN rushes to report this to the police. LAN is not satisfied with the vegetarian food at the temple……

CHUN is unhappy for LIK only cares about NAME. On the other hand, SHAN admires him for his heroic action. SING teases CHUN for being jealous of himself. SIK reports to LUN on his failure. LUN is upset for SIK has ruined his great plan of selling young ladies to overseas countries. He pledges that he will kill NAME one day. In order to avoid LIK from admiring him, NAME tells LIK that he is cold-blooded. LIK believes that he is lack of concern and care so she decides to make friend with him. CHUN is very upset. YUI says that Concubine SHUN has mesmerized the emperor with western toys and the emperor pays no attention to civil affairs. He asks LAN to think of the some ways to resolve the problem. In order to save LAN, HAU breaks her jade bracelet. LAN asks her to have dim sum together. LAN tells HAU her worries about the emperor’s problem. HAU suggests that she could prepare a delicious dish to attract the emperor……

While telling LAN the stories of her beloved man WAN, HAU catches sight of WAN and she rushes out to chase him. HAU returns miserably and she cries desperately for she has missed WAN again. She is fainted afterwards and MOON worries about her very much. LIK insists to stay with HAU and refuses to go home. CHUN understands that she is trying to keep a distance from him. He therefore dresses in NAME's costumes and asks her out. He intends to destroy the good image of NAME in LIK's mind but has accidentally revealed his true identity. LAN promises to help HAU to search for WAN. She discovers that HAU is very skillful in embroidery work. HAU is knocked down by somebody and TAK rushes to hold her. LAN is overjoyed to find WAN right in front of her. TAK realizes that LAN has been waiting for him for 20 years and he feels ashamed. LIK insists to help the poor with CHUN. CHUN refuses but LIK follows him secretly……

After knowing that LIK is not pregnant at all, LAN is very angry and tries to kick her out of the house. CHUN declares that they are truly in love and would like to leave with LIK. LAN is enraged and faints. The doctor says that LAN has a stroke. LAN is paralyzed and LIK is very ashamed. She takes good care of LAN and prays for her well-being. LAN is actually pretending to be paralyzed in order to torture LIK. She requests LIK to carry her on the back all the way up to the mountain for her to see the peach blossom. LIK discovers that LAN is pretending to be sick by chance. She plays tricks on LAN and LAN's feigned illness is revealed. TAK scolds LAN for pretending to be ill and making everybody anxious. LAN recriminates that it was all caused by LIK. LIK is angry and decides to leave the house. CHUN rushes to the door to console her. LAN is very attentive to HAU's love affair……

LAN is very angry and she slaps TAK and HAU on their faces. She announces that she is going to separate with TAK. TAK and CHUN return home and explain to LAN that they have done all these just to cure HAU's disease. LAN commands that TAK should not see HAU again. As soon as TAK leaves, HAU faints and gets a fever. LIK urges TAK to visit HAU again. LAN claims that TAK and CHUN are sick. SHAN shows her concern and LAN develops a good impression on her. LAN is mad to discover that TAK has visited HAU secretly and she returns to the palace angrily. All family members worry that LAN will disclose the secret of LIK's family background to her father. If the emperor knows that LIK has told lies, she will be punished seriously. TAK and CHUN go to the palace to apologize to the emperor but the emperor is very angry. In order to save TAK, LAN shifts the responsibility to LIK……

LIK returns home angrily to question CHUN about his second marriage. CHUN admits and LIK is heart-broken. HAU believes that there is a story behind all these. She asks LIK to calm down and observe first. LIK is very angry to find that CHUN and SHAN are acting intimately but she tries to suppress her anger. LAN is pleased to see her suffer. HAU visits LAN to clarify and explain her relationship with TAK. She asks LAN to stop separating LIK and CHUN. LAN arrives at MOON’s inn and finds that TAK is mending the handkerchief she gave him. She feels delighted and forgives him right away. LAN announces to all embroidery ladies that CHUN will marry SHAN and LIK is embarrassed. LIK cannot suppress her anger anymore. She rushes to CHUN and scolds him for having a new sweetheart. CHUN reveals to her that marrying SHAN is a contingency plan only and LIK is grateful for SHAN’s generous help. The business of MOON’s inn is getting worse and worse……

CHUN takes good care of SHAN when she is ill. SHAN believes that CHUN does care about her and decides to fight for his love. CHUN takes over “Fung Wong Chiu” and discovers that WING and KWAI has changed the embroidery thread supplier to Wing Fat Company. CHUN questions them and they give reasonable excuses. CHUN doesn’t realize that there are some tricks behind. HAU’s Elegance Embroidery has very few customers. MOON suggests her to increase sales by giving away embroidery bags to the customers of his inn and this really works. LIK discovers that SHAN has feelings for CHUN but CHUN doesn’t believe in it. HAU suggests LIK to calm down and observe but LIK cannot suppress her frustration. The emperor orders TAK to make an embroidery picture of mandarin ducks but the eyes of those mandarin ducks that TAK makes are not sharp enough. LIK secretly passes it to HAU for help……

CHUN promises to LIK that SHAN will cancel the engagement with him on their wedding date as agreed. LIK says that SHAN wants to supersede her and she wouldn’t cancel the engagement. CHUN doesn’t believe in her. On the wedding date, CHUN is shocked to find that SHAN really stays in the bridal sedan chair. He finally realizes that LIK’s prediction is right and he refuses to continue the wedding ceremony. TAK scolds CHUN for making use of marriage as a contingency plan. He also blames LAN for creating all these dilemmas. LAN remains silent. The emperor would like to send an embroidery picture featuring the palace park to the king of France. He orders TAK and HAU to work together on this. LAN worries that TAK and HAU will develop an affair. She tries to accompany them all the time in order to keep a watchful eye on them but she falls asleep finally……

LAN forces HAU to return all the money within 5 days. She also plays tricks to stop HING from financing HAU. The great embroidery collector – Master SHEUNG KWUN – is sourcing new embroidery work in the capital. CHUN and LIK immediately bring him to Elegance Embroidery. SHEUNG KWUN asks HAU to finish all the works within 3 days. Otherwise, she needs to make compensation. LAN has bought all the embroidery threads in the capital. LIK realizes that they’ve fallen into the trap of LAN. MOON decides to sell his inn and raises funds for HAU by performing on the street. LAN brings a group of people to Elegance Embroidery to chase for money. This incident has come into the emperor’s attention. The emperor asks LAN and HAU to calm down. He also promises to organize a royal embroidery contest. The winner will be granted a title of “The Best Embroidery Artist”……

LIK reports LAN’s murder case to the court. CHUN doesn’t believe that LAN will kill anybody. CHAI explains that it is hard to judge the case since HAU’s body is not found. HING would like to sell Elegance Embroidery. TAK expresses that he has lost faith in “Fung Wong Chiu” and decides to take over Elegance Embroidery so as to continue HAU’s dream. LAN is shocked to learn that TAK has given up “Fung Wong Chiu” and taken over Elegance Embroidery. She separates with him angrily. LIK wants to bring LAN’s murder case to the emperor’s attention and CHUN asks her to give up. LIK refuses and the couples fall out. The emperor is very angry to learn that HAU is dead and he scolds LAN for making troubles all the time. He also takes away LAN’s princess title as a punishment and LAN is downgraded to a normal civilian. LAN dismisses all servants but swears that she will get everything back……

LAN stands on the street to wait for CHUN but she is driven away by others. LAN follows the beggar to CHAI’s house to snatch some rice and money. LAN observes the tyrannical behavior of CHAI’s wife and realizes that she was doing the same in the past. LAN passes by Elegance Embroidery and overhears TAK and HING’s discussion and comments on her. She is ashamed of the bad things she has done in the past and thinks of committing suicide. CHUN and LIK arrive at CHAN village and finds HAU eventually. HAU explains to them that it wasn’t LAN who set up the fire. On the day of fire, SHUN was dating with a man secretly and HAU was the witness. CHUN and LIK find LAN at a slum area but LAN refuses to return home. LAN thinks that she has been too tyrannical in the past and this is the punishment that God gives her. CHUN discovers that SHUN’s adulterer is LUN SI YEAH……

CHUN tries a sentimental way in persuading LAN to return home but fails again. LIK believes that HAU is the main cause for LAN's guiltiness. She makes up a plan to solve the problem. NING's family discovers HAU's dead body in the sea and LUN is relieved. LAN prays in front of HAU's grave to ask for her mercy. At this moment, HAU and TAK appear and persuade her to return home. LAN finds that HAU and TAK share common interest in embroidery. She believes that they are meant to be together so she writes a letter of divorce to TAK sadly. However, TAK declares to LAN that she is the only woman he loves. LAN and TAK find that CHUN and LIK are still fighting with each other so they play tricks to help them reunite. After being rejected during the wedding ceremony, SHAN is mentally ill. SING is heart-broken and works hard to earn money for treating her. SIK persuades SING to work for LUN but SING rejects……

CHUN is put in jail. TAK appreciates him very much after knowing that he is NAME. The emperor interrogates him directly. He believes that CHUN has no regrets for killing LUN and gives him a death sentence. LAN asks for the emperor's mercy and they are granted 3 days to look for SIK so as to provide other evidence. LIK finds the dead body of SIK outside the town and worries that they cannot save CHUN. SHAN's condition is getting worse and worse. SING is very depressed. He swears that he will take revenge to CHUN. CHUN suspects that SING is still alive. He asks LIK and the others to look for him so that they could identify the real murderer. LAN and LIK go to Sing Wong temple to pray for CHUN. Somebody attacks them and they faint. They wake up later and are shocked to find SHAN's dead boy and the scary SING. After investigation, CHEONG finds that SING is the murderer BLOOD HAND MA SZ and CHUN is shocked……

LIK and all family members are very anxious to learn that CHUN's death sentence will be executed very soon. LAN remains calm and believes that she could solve the problem. LAN and LIK cry and kneel down in front of all civilians and ask them to help fighting at the execution ground for the release of NAME. However, all the civilians scold LAN for being tyrannical all the time and refuse to help her. The emperor is very angry to learn that LAN is agitating the crowd. However, since LAN is wearing the Yellow Jacket of the royal family, the emperor is not able to punish her. He is enraged and insists on killing CHUN. TAK arrives on time with SING's dead body as the evidence to save CHUN. The emperor still wants to punish CHUN but LAN asks him to forgive CHUN since everybody make mistakes. The emperor says he will release CHUN that if LAN can prove that he has made mistakes too. HAU pretends to be a ghost in front of SHUN……