Can’t Buy Me Love (TVB 2010)

Can’t Buy Me Love <公主嫁到>

Number of Episodes: 32

Producer: Mui Sui Ching

Cast

Charmaine Sheh: Princess Chui Yeung

Moses Chan : Kam Tuo Luk

Susanna Kwan: Ding Loi Hei

Louis Yuen: Kam Tuo Fuk

Fala Chen: Szeto Ngan Ping

Linda Chung: Princess Desin

Sharon Chan: Princess Wing Ho

Edwin Sui: Chui Wan

Selena Li: Yuen Siu Yuk

Raymond Wong: Kam Tuo Sao

Kara Hui: Concubine Wei

Susan Tse: Concubine Dowager

Kenneth Ma as Ding Yau Wai

Lee Kwok Lun as Ding Choi Wong

Mary Hon as Mai Yan Che

Synopsis (Warning!!! Spoilers Ahead!!)

The Kam family manufactured gold but the family found themselves financially unstable due to a fraudulent scheme. As a result, Tuo Luk (Moses Chan) had to marry Princess Chiu Yeung (Charmaine Sheh) to save their business. She married him because she did not want to marry another prince. The couple does not get along and are constantly bickering.

Chiu Yeung moves into the Kam’s household along with her servant Ngan Ping (Fala Chen). There are many rules and routines which the Kam family must follow. Chiu Yeung and her sisters are always competing against each other and the other princesses have tight control over their husbands.

Tuo Sao (Raymond Wong) returns from Shaolin and the family has great hopes for him to become a great soldier. However, Princess Chiu Yeung revealed that he cannot fight and shattered the family’s dreams. Grandma was very annoyed with the Princess and hit her head.

Not only is Chiu Yeung not getting along with the Kam family, she is also having problems with her other four sisters. Chiu Yeung invited the other princesses to her home but they were joking about Chiu Yeung causing Tuo Luk to accidently hit them on purpose.

The three Kam brothers found Ah Sei (Linda Chung) who ate a lot and was really strong. They took her home and she became a servant. Chiu Yeung dropped a gold accessory which was picked up by Yuk. She placed the accessory in Ah Sei’s basket which was knocked over. Ah Sei was suspected of stealing the accessory and was imprisoned. Tuo Sao was sent to fight Ngan Ping to save Ah sei but injured his arm. Ngan Ping on the other hand also suffered from injuries and was almost dying. However, Ah Sei saved Ngan Ping since she knew about the illness. Chiu Yeung releases Ah Sei and allows Ah Sei to become a servant in both the Kam household and the Princess’ home.

The Kam family’s  gold business begins to suffer since Loi Hei (Susanna Kwan) and cousin Ding Choi Wang (Lee Kwok Lun) has opened a new gold business. Ding Choi Wong and his wife, Mai Yan Chi (Mary Hon), had a son Yau Wei (Kenneth Ma) who was a matchmaker.

Ngan Ping wanted to find a husband and visits a matchmaker with Ah Sei. The matchmaker found Yau Wei who decided to go undercover because he heard that the match maker was dodgy. The people running the matchmaking business were arrested and Ngan Ping and Ah Sei had to be witnesses. However, Big Princess (Sharon Chan) and the other princesses arrested Ngan Ping for breaking rules. Chiu Yeung tried to save Ngan Ping by saying that the other princesses have also broken imperial rules. They were all punished.

The other princesses continue to dislike Chui Yeung. Big Princess set up a trap against Tuo Luk and to make it appear as if he had visited a brothel. Chui Yeung decides to divorce Tuo Luk. The other princesses have a bet that they will divorce. However, Chui Yeung can not get permission to divorce so decides to remain married. This shocked Tuo Luk who just decided to stay with the princess since he has no other choice. Chui Yeung persuaded Tuo Luk to join schooling for the other princesses’ husbands. Tuo Luk discovers that the men are tortured there and he decides to speak out and tell the emperor. He complained to the emperor for spoiling the princesses. The emperor admired Tuo Luk for being truthful and said that all the princesses should treat their husbands with respect. Second, Fourth and Fifth princess realised that the emperor favoured Chiu Yeung and they became nice to her. Big Princess became enraged. She paid Cho Kiu (Elaine Yiu) to seduce Tuo Luk and break up Tuo Luk and Chui Yeung’s relationship. Cho Kiu failed her task and Big Princess sent an assassin to kill her. Chui Yeung knew this was a scheme and revealed it to the emperor. The emperor was disappointed in Big Princess who then lost her royal status as a punishment. She became a commoner and had to be looked after.

Chui Yeung and the Kam family are getting along better and she even has dinner with the family.

Yan Chi was kidnapped by her servant. Yau Wei and Choi Wong had no money so they went to the Kam family and asked to borrow money. Hei refused to lend the money because she believed that the person who did it was nearby and they might kill Yan Chi. They planned a scheme but Hei also got herself kidnapped along with Choi Wong. The three people were reunited and resolved their previous problems. Luckily, they were rescued by Tuo Luk. The two families resolved their issues and left the past behind them.

Tuo Sao is starting to have feelings for Ah Sei and she is feeling the same. However, Hei finds that Hei’s status is too low and wants to accept her as a daughter instead. Ah Sei pretends that she does not like Tuo Sau and really hurt him.

Meanwhile, Ding Choi Wong’s cousin had returned and wants to find a wife for Yau Wai. His mother does not want him to marry somebody and got him and Ngan Ping to pretend to be a couple. However, they develop feelings for each other. Yau Wei discovered that his parents were not really his real parents. To keep this secret from his mother, he had to marry another girl and pretend that he has never liked Ngan Ping. This really hurt Ngan Ping but when Yau Wai explained everything, she accepted it.

Tuo Fuk wants to run the Kam’s business and wanted to become the keyholder. As a result, there was disagreement between him and the rest of the family. Hei decided to leave him in charge of the business and he constantly needed Tuo Sau’s help. The workers did not get along with him. During a drinking session, Tuo Fuk lost his keys. They managed to find the thief. Tuo Fuk wanted to return the keys and felt guilty about the arguments. Hei left the keys with him and said they will support him.

Concubine Wei had always disliked Chui Yeung. She sent an assassin to attack herself and then told the emperor that Chui Yeung wanted to kill her. She told the emperor that Chui Yeung was not his daughter but Ah Sei was the real princess. She claimed that Chui Yeung wanted concubine Wei killed in order to hide the secret. Chui Yeung was imprisoned and Ah Sei was taken to the palace. Ngan Ping tries to clear Chui Yeung’s name and investigates the case. She was badly injured and was rescued by Yau Wei. The two decides to get married. However, Ngan Ping was captured and also imprisoned. The Kam family were all suppose to face the death penalty for being related to Chui Yeung. However, Ah Sei convinced the emperor to release them. Tuo Luk wants to die with his wife and he was imprisoned. The emperor knows that Chui Yeung would not harm Empress Wei. He finds someone to admit to the crime. Chui Yeung and everyone were released but Chui Yeung was no longer a princess. She became a normal civilian called Yeung Chui.

Yau Wei and Ngan Ping are to become a couple but their destiny clashes. Yan Chi does not want him to marry Ngan Ping. She was then saved by Ngan Ping and agrees to allow them to marry. Yau Wei’s real father was a judge who later discovers the truth. He tries to seek revenge on Yau Wei’s parents and envied them. However, it turned out that he was working for somebody.

Grandma Kam has become very ill and is suffering from dementia. She gets things confused and mix up people’s names. Yuk discovers that she is pregnant.

Ah Sei is in the palace and misses Tuo Sau. Concubine Wei forbids Ah Sei from doing different things and was very harsh towards her. Ah Sei then discovers that many servants were dying and that she was not really a princess. She wanted to tell the emperor but he was not in the palace. She pretended to hate Tuo Sau and sends him away from the palace causing him to be really upset.

Concubine Wei wants Chui Yeung dead. She sends an assassin to poison Chui Yeung. Chui Yeung was poisoned and dies. Ah Sei tells the emperor that Chiu Yeung was really the princess and she is now dead because of Concubine Wei. Concubine Wei denied killing Chiu Yeung and said that Ah Sei cannot prove anything. Ah Sei said she can and Chui Yeung walks in. Concubine Wei is defeated and admitted everything. She tried to kill Chui Yeung but ended up killing herself.

Chui Yeung and Ah Sei switched places. Nevertheless, the emperor still likes Ah Sei and treats her as a princess.

Chui Yeung sees Fifth princess (Charmaine Li) arguing with her husband. They split up and Chui Yeung tries to have a word with her but she got annoyed with Chui Yeung. However, their relationship was repaired when Chui Yeung helped prevent her from marrying somebody far away. All the princesses then became very close.

Yu Man Kit (Vincent Wong) had pretended to like Ah Sei but was really plotting to overturn the throne. Yu Man Kit was hoping to cause rivalry between the emperor and the other tribe. Yau Wei’s father was working for Yu Man Kit and this was discovered by Yau Wei one evening. Yau Wei learnt that he was of a different race.

Tuo Luk was asked to take care of some goods but problems arose. Since he had failed his duties, he had to die along with the rest of the family. Chui Yeung was told by the Fifth Princess that Tuo Luk was going to be killed. Chui Yeung rushed to the Kam family’s house and slapped Hei just as the guards appeared. She divorced Tuo Luk and no longer had any relations with the family.

Chui Yeung immediately requested to see the emperor who refused to see her. The other princesses joined her. The emperor said that Tuo Luk must die. He ordered the guards to keep Chui Yeung away.

The Kam family had to drink poisoned wine and they all collapsed. Chui Yeung managed to escape with the help of the princesses. She managed to see Tuo Luk before he collapsed.

At night, Chui Yeung went to see the emperor who explained the reason for the death. Chui Yeung and Ah Sei was out and caused trouble. They noticed that wedding goods were being delivered despite Ah Sei explaining to Yu Man Kit that the wedding should be cancelled. The two went to see Yu Man and Chui Yeung noticed a letter being half burnt. Yu Man noticed that they have discovered something. He kidnapped them.

Yu Man was going to attack the emperor but he was arrested. The emperor walked out with Tuo Luk. Yu Man said that although he has failed, Chui Yeung and Ah Sei were going to die anyway. He killed himself refusing to say where he has hidden them.

Chui Yeung and Ah Sei were hidden in an old building. Chui Yeung told Ah Sei that the Kam family were still alive and it was just a scheme to catch Yu Man.

Tuo Luk and the emperor tries to find Chui Yeung. Tuo Luk went to a forest and found paper messages thrown out by Chui Yeung. They managed to find the girls.

The three couples, Chui Yeung and Tuo Luk, Tuo Sau and Ah sei and Yau Wei and Ngan Ping all got married together. They had children and the family’s gold business was expanding.

CAST AND COMMENT

Charmaine Sheh as Princess Chui Yeung

Her character was quite annoying at the start since she was so demanding and nasty to the Kam family. However, I started to like her character. Charmaine delivered good crying skills but I find that she has trouble holding her laughter.

Moses Chan as Tuo Sau

He did a great job here as Tuo Luk and was very funny. He had may long scripts and managed to say them all.

Fala Chen as Ngan Ping

She looked really pretty in this series and really liked her in this series. Her Cantonese has improved so much.

Raymond Wong as Tuo Sau

I am not really a fan of his acting but he was funny in this series. I realised that he does have comedy skills too. However, I did not find any chemistry between him and Linda.

Linda Chung as Ah Sei

Her character was well played too but found her voice rather annoying sometimes.

Kara Hui as Concubine Wei

This lady was EVIL and was pretty scary. She delivered a very memorable performance.

AWARDS

Best female character: Chui Yeung (Charmaine Sheh)

Best Male Character: Tuo Luk (Moses Chan)

Prettiest Princess: Fourth Princess (Yoyo Chen)

Best Princess pairing: Sharon Chan and Edwin Siu

Prettiest Female: Fala Chen, Selena LI

Most Evil: Concubine Wei (Kara Hui)

Funniest Character: Kam Tuo Fuk (Louis Yuen), Ding Choi Wong (Lee Kwok Lun).

Overall

A very good series. Not the best series and I found it a bit too draggy and boring at times. When it got funny it was really funny but when it’s sad, it is really sad. I found that it was a slight replica of Pearl Princess: the evil empress and a princess who was taken to the palace and a mix up between the princesses. Actually one of the poems cited in the series was in Pearl Princess too. However, one of the best series this year in terms of ratings.

Rating

Review written by Colly