Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain (Traditional Chinese: 寒山潛龍; literally "Cold Mountain, Hidden Dragon"; ) is a 2014 Hong Kong period drama produced by TVB, starring Kenneth Ma and Rosina Lam as the main leads, with Pierre Ngo, Power Chan, Raymond Cho, Selena Li and Lau Kong as the rest of the main supporting cast. Filming began in May 2013 and finished in October 2013. Indoor scenes were filmed at TVB studios in Tseung Kwan O, New Territories, Hong Kong. Outdoor scenes were filmed on location in mainland China at Xiangshan Film and Television City and Tiantai Mountain. The series began airing June 30. 2014 and will be broadcast weekly from Monday to Friday at 8:30 PM.
Pre-release The series was previewed at the Hong Kong FILMART 2014 event on 24March 2014.
Story
During the chaotic period of Imperial China, before the unification of the country, there exists two opposing regimes: the Song and Jin. The story focuses on the exploits of the Tin Kei (Phecda) Bureau of the Northern Song. It's a special investigative unit that answers directly to the emperor, who is headed by Commissioner Fung Nam Tin (Lau Kong). With his highly skilled group of constables, Fung Nam Tin was able to protect the realm against criminals and enemies of the state.
Prior to the main events of the story, Fung Nam Tin raised and trained a talented protege, Chu Cheung Sing (Kenneth Ma). A talented investigator and strong martial artist, Cheung Sing was to be groomed to become the next commander of the bureau; Cheung Sing ends up leaving the agency due to differences with Fung Nam Tin. Cheung Sing was secretly undercover to expose a triad gang led by Sou Fu. After Cheung Sing had Sou Fu's gang arrested, he and Nam Tin had a dispute over handling the fate of Sou Fu's family. He resigned to live a simple and peaceful life and eventually married his beloved Tou Fa (Selena Li). Together with Tou Fa, Cheung Sing spent the next decade being a supportive husband and help run their tavern until the bureau came looking for him.
In between, Fung Nam Tin continues to maintain his bureau and recruited some talented constables to his service. Ma Chuen Kung (Power Chan), Ngau Dai Lik (Pierre Ngo), and Yeung Mau (Lin Xiawei) are Nam Tin's more recent members to the Phecda Bureau. Ma Chuen Kung is the childhood friend of the current Emperor Chui Juk Hei and a talented martial artist as well as herbalist. Chuen Kung's family name was tarnished after his father, General Ma, was accused of betraying the kingdom and committed suicide. Chuen Kung loses his only sister and the rest of his family is gone; he was given amnesty for his father's charges of treason against the court. Yeung Mau, a beautiful tomboyish constable; she believes in the importance of service and is determined to prove she's as capable as the rest of the men. Ngau Dai Lik, a former talented thief who turned a new leaf, he wishes to prove his worth and bury his history.
Ten years later, Sou Fu escapes prison and demands to even the scales with Cheung Sing. Nam Tin dispatches Ma Chuen Kung, Ngau Dai Lik, and Yeung Mau to arrest Sou Fu. With Cheung Sing as their only lead, the three finds him and the quartet successfully arrests Sou Fu. Afterwards, Cheung Sing was drawn back to the Phecda Bureau. Partially due to Cheung Sing missing his old life, his loyalty for Nam Tin, and his wife's desire to have him utilize his full potential at the bureau, he returns to the Phecda Bureau and leads the Sun Team.
Back in his old town, Cheung Sing's return was met with mixed feelings. Seh Bak Nin, a fellow orphan adopted by the bureau, has always aimed to lead the bureau one day. However, with Cheung Sing's return, he felt threatened and jealous as Cheung Sing resolved great cases that brought glory to the Sun Team of the Phecda Bureau, but he and his Moon Team suffered under their shadow. However, Cheung Sing was welcomed back by old friends, such as his underworld best buddy, Hung Sup Kau (Raymond Cho), heir to the Dragon Society.
Although their city was peaceful, things become complicated when a series of corrupted characters arrived to town. Three brothers, each involved in abusing their privileges as being related to Empress Dowager Gung Shun Bik, had the town at their mercy as no court dared to prosecute them for their crimes. No longer able to tolerate such injustice, Chuen Kung becomes a masked vigilante that would expose some of the worst and protected villains of society by beating them and then publicly shaming them for their crimes. Because he used yams to stuff his victims' mouths, he earned the moniker Yam Man. Although not his intention, Yam Man had taken a life of its own and even became an idol to the public that suffered under the court's incompetence.
Knowing that the emperor had lost the public's respect, Chuen Kung helped the emperor realize the error of his ways and successfully made him a better ruler. However, Empress Dowager Gung Shun Bik and Fourth Prince Chui Chun Dhun (uncle to the emperor) plots to undermine the emperor and aims to destroy his supporters, including the Phecda Bureau. With the emperor setting the court to a better direction, Chuen Kung retires as Yam Man, but Prince Chun Dhun takes advantage of Yam Man's absence and caused a series of extreme murders against the corrupted to force the emperor to call for the arrest of Yam Man. Prince Chun Dhun put the Phecda's investigative capabilities to the test, knowing they would fail and he would destroy the Phecda Bureau.
The investigation was rigged and the Phecda Bureau was incriminated by Prince Chun Dhun that the bureau was harboring Yam Man. However, Nam Tin anticipated such a plot and brought his own Yam Man (faked by Sup Kau) to confuse the investigators. The Phecda Bureau all attacked Yam Man as a display of their innocence and loyalties. After successfully "killing" Yam Man, the bureau was exonerated, but it didn't stop Prince Chun Dhun from trying to undermining the emperor. Feeling cheated out of his destiny as ruler and unable to tolerate his nephew's inability to lead the country, the prince plots to a coup to take control of the kingdom himself.
Realizing the people and the court wouldn't be so easily swayed to his side without coercion, Prince Chun Dhun sets a series of events to make the emperor desperate for help to manage his health and kingdom. Resorting to a cult leader for spiritual guidance and health, the emperor did many drastic social impositions that angered both the people and the court, creating the perfect conditions to take over as the new emperor. However, thanks to the interference of the Phecda Bureau, the prince's plans were thwarted. Prince Chun Dhun was banished to a Buddhist monastery and Empress Dowager Gung Shun Bik lost all her influence to the court due to her treason.
In between, Tou Fa and Cheung Sing had separated. Tou Fa had trouble giving an heir to Cheung Sing and just when she finally got pregnant, she got into an accident and had a miscarriage. Feeling guilty she destroyed Cheung Sing's dream of having children, she left him and encouraged him to find another woman to procreate with. Not long after Tou Fa's hiatus, a new courtesan amongst the brothel scene had won great acclaim, Yan Mei Neong. To Cheung Sing's surprise, Yan Mei Neong looks just like Tou Fa. Believing her to be his wife faking her identity as some strange way to get back at him, he made it his mission to woo his wife back, but realized it wasn't her because Yan Mei Neong knew martial arts and his wife wasn't trained. It would be later revealed that Yan Mei Neong is Tou Fa's long lost elder identical twin sister.
Yan Mei Neong was admired greatly by many and became attracted to Cheung Sing because he's the only man that couldn't be enthralled by her charms. Realizing he is missing badly for Tou Fa, Mei Neong easily fooled Cheung Sing by mimicking her younger sister and spent the night with him, leading her to be pregnant. When the real Tou Fa returned, Cheung Sing wasn't sure how to explain himself and things got complicated when Mei Neong reunited with Tou Fa as sisters. After the secret was blown, Tou Fa was hurt and decided to leave Cheung Sing to make it easier for him to love her sister and take care of his child. However, Cheung Sing was ever loyal to his wife and even publicly embarrassed himself by officially making it a court case to prove he was duped into sleeping with Yan Mei Neong and not because he was unfaithful. Once it was proven he was tricked into infidelity, Tou Fa returned to Cheung Sing's side, but earned the ire and wrath of Mei Neong.
Later on, the fate of the Song Kingdom will be threatened again. Fung Nam Tin is secretly a plant operative for the Jin Kingdom. After the bureau had saved the emperor from his corrupt officials, the emperor developed a reliant trust on Nam Tin and made him his right-hand man of the court, High Chancellor of the court. Secretly though, he had made moves to slowly strip away the emperor's influence and power. Nam Tin secretly had the good court officials quietly murdered and recruited the corrupt to defect and serve the Jin. Nam Tin gave Cheung Sing a chance to live out his days with his wife in peace and comfort, but Cheung Sing's sense of duty and investigative nature motivated him to uncover the truth; it resulted in Tou Fa's death.
Due to Nam Tin's and Mei Neong's trap, the Sun Team was incriminated for crimes against the court. Because the evidence was still too murky to be conclusive, the emperor couldn't execute Cheung Sing, Chuen Kung, Dai Lik, nor Yeung Mau. Due to their past services to the court, they were forgiven of all charges, but they must be stripped of their fortunes and must never be involved with the court ever again or risk execution. Cheung Sing later became a grieving widower that makes a living by collecting excrement buckets. Chuen Kung's ever persistent nature to save his emperor and friend resulted him to become a Buddhist monk. Dai Lik and Yeung Mau married, but now spent their days recovering damaged junk to sell refurbished furniture and repaired kitchen wares as a living.
At the court, Nam Tim helps Mei Neong get close to the emperor and is now his favorite concubine. Sleeping with the emperor, she managed to convince him that the baby she carries is the future prince of the country and not Cheung Sing's. At the bureau, Seh Bak Nin's desire for power and respect motivated him to betray his country and work with Nam Tin; Bak Nin was promoted as the new commander of the bureau. Bak Nin's dream came true at the price of killing his Moon teammate and lover, Mao. All seems well for Nam Tim to set his coup into action for the Jin.
In the most ironic of circumstances, Chuen Kung meets Prince Chun Dhun at the monastery. Both are aware that their kingdom is poised to fall under the Jin due to the emperor's incompetence. With Nam Tim controlling the court as "acting emperor" and the emperor entranced under Mei Neong's charms, Chuen Kung pleads with the prince to take back the court to save their kingdom. However, the prince is reluctant and even pointed out his failed coup was meant to prevent such a situation to happen and points out the irony of things. However, the prince secretly builds a small force. Utilizing unusual methods, the prince recruited the social underworld to aid him in their mutual goal to save their home from the Jin. After watching the Dragon Society work hard to save the good court officials, Dai Lik, Yeung Mau, and Sup Kau joined forces with the prince and eventually Chuen Kung as well. The last person they wanted in their ranks was Cheung Sing.