The Conqueror's Story (2004)

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, many rivals are fighting for the throne. Among them, two good friends Lau Bong and Hong Yue are the most renowned. Yue’s only ambition is to overthrow Qin. But, he ends up committing suicide at the Wujiang River. In contrast, Bong is from the lower class and has no political ambition at all. Ironically, he conquers the country. Their different endings suggest that personality determines one’s success, rather than the times or fate. Although Yue has many good helpers, including Fan Tsang, Ying Po his uncle Hong Leung and cousin Hong Chong, his arrogance drives them away one by one. On the other hand, Bong makes good use of his human resources. Many good warriors and intelligent politicians, like Hon Shun, Cheung Leung, Chan Ping, Siu Ho and Fan Fai, devote their life to him. There is always a beauty behind a hero. Bong’s wife Lui Chihelps him immensely. She has a desire for fame……

To YUE’s surprise, BONG does not expose his plot. On the contrary, BONG helps him to hide it, which moves him immensely. They become good friends after that. BONG and other villagers, SIU HO, FAN FAI, HAHAU YING, CHO TSAM and YUNG CHI are good friends. HO and FAI suspect that BONG is hiding something from them, so they interrogate him. CHI meets BONG at where he works. She finds him a hooligan at first. But when she sees his strong leadership, she believes that BONG will make a great leader and a perfect husband. She neglects MAN’s objection and marries BONG. MAN confiscates all her properties, but she just does not care anymore. She is willing to live a poor life with BONG. BONG has a few jobs in order to support the family. CHI gives birth to a boy and a girl. BONG has a heavy family burden. YUE invites him to rebel against QIN. However, BONG turns him down because of his family.

BONG is found out by the Magistrate of Sishui County, TONG, that he is taking outside jobs. TONG orders him to send workmen under escort to build imperial tombs as a punishment. YUE sees BONG off before he goes back to his base Huiji to discuss with his uncles HONG LEUNG and HONG PAK about their uprising. The head of Huiji, YAN TUNG, is planning his own rebellion. He takes HONG LEUNG hostage and blackmails YUE and his army to subdue under him. YUE refuses and kills him. His army beats QIN’s general LUNG TSE’s troop easily. He raises the HONG’s standard and announces his revolt in public. BONG meets a big white snake blocking his way when he sends the workmen. It seems that they have no way out, so BONG asks the workmen to leave first and he himself stays behind to drink. He kills the snake when he is half drunk……

BONG announces his revolt. HO, FAI and the others decide to follow him. On the other hand, YUE is gathering wise men to support him, too. He appoints CHAN PING as his advisor and invites a retired wise man FAN TSANG to help him. CHI uses the Red Emperor story to advertise for BONG, which attracts many people to follow BONG. BONG’s army is enlarging. They live deep inside the mountain and wait for a chance to ambush. BONG meets Lady TSIK in the countryside and is attracted by her innocence. LADY TSIK admires what BONG is doing and is also attracted to him. They spend a night together. YUNG CHI has a crush on LADY TSIK. He asks BONG to tell her about his feelings. When he finds out that BONG has already got LADY TSIK’s heart, he hates BONG deeply. CHI is heartbroken to learn about BONG and LADY TSIK’s relationship. In order to keep the people’s faith in BONG, she swallows her pride though and proposes to marry BONG and LADY TSIK.

YUNG CHI reports BONG’s secret rebellion to TONG in revenge. TONG orders to kill both BONG and the families of his followers, who are at large. BONG jokes about killing TONG in return. However, FAI, who takes it seriously, kills TONG. BONG saves his followers’ families. Everyone believes that he is a prophet and nominates him to be LORD PEI. When the villagers from nearby villages hear that BONG has killed a county official and rebels against the empire, they follow suit and swear to follow him. When the army is growing, BONG realises that once the insurrections begin, deaths and injuries will occur, so he tries to convince the people to return their hometowns with an excuse of insufficient supplies. His warm-hearted suggestion, however, moves the followers and they are even more determined to stay. BONG understands that the people can only live a better life if the QIN’s empire is overthrown. Fighting over battles is inevitable……

YUE rushes a long way from Liyang to save BONG and his men. In order to thank him, BONG presents YUE the red cape that CHI has made him and announces YUE is the real Red Emperor. CHI scolds YUE for robbing BONG’s troops and horses. YUE denies it. He throws the red cape on the floor and leaves angrily. Before he leaves, YUE teaches BONG some tactics of leading an army and gives him some books for his reference. YUE leads his army to attack Liyang and claims his first victory. He meets a beautiful girl LADY YUE in the town. LADY YUE tries to assassinate him for her brothers and father’s death. She scolds him for being crueller than the QIN’s emperor. YUE does not bother to explain. He keeps her by his side to let her see for herself his real personality. HOI does not care about politics. He only wants to have fun, so he follows whatever KO suggests. QIN’s general CHEUNG HON leads an army to attack YUE……

HOI speeds up to destroy some weaker rebellion armies. BONG knows that his army cannot withstand QIN’s force, so he forms alliance with YUE’s army. TSANG reads BONG’s face and notices that a favourable cloud is protecting him, which means that BONG will become King one day. Knowing that BONG will be YUE’s biggest enemy, TSANG advises YUE to kill BONG. YUE refuses to do so and has a quarrel with TSANG. TSANG feels no point to stay and wants to leave YUE. YUE persuades him to stay at last. HON SHUN is from a poor family, but well educated. He suffers a lot of humiliation because of his background. Luckily, LADY HEUNG, who is a dancing prostitute, always stands by him. LADY HEUNG wants him to make good use of his talent, so she encourages him to join YUE’s army. SHUN pledges to marry LADY HEUNG when he comes back with fame and fortune. YUE’s army is growing. HONG LEUNG wants to claim himself King but is objected by TSANG……

YUE wants to find a CHU’s descendent to become the emperor in order to gather the remaining CHU’s people to join his army with a proper reason. CHEUNG HON’s army attacks YUE again. YUE calls for an urgent meeting with CHONG and PO. CHI is annoyed that YUE does not ask for BONG’s advice, so she encourages BONG to fight the battle himself in order to preserve his pride. HO and FAI support him. BONG is very bothered that he cannot defeat CHEUNG HON’s army even though he has the city surrounded for days. Meanwhile, a very eloquent man who is also a hermit LAI SIK KEI agrees to help him. KEI manages to convince the QIN’s army to surrender, which surprises BONG. PAK has found a late CHU’s emperor’s descendent, Prince MAI SUM, at last. YUE uses the CHU’s standard to resume the CHU kingdom. After the news that SUM has been found spreads, CHU’s former official SUNG YI leads his enormous army to follow SUM……

Although YUE is impressed by SHUN’s talent, he feels that it will be hard to master him, so he does not recruit him into the army. SHUN’s confidence is dampened. He gives himself up and lives alone deep inside a mountain. KEI suggests BONG to use the excuse of borrowing supplies to borrow the wise man CHEUNG LEUNG from the emperor of HON. KEI wishes that LEUNG could help to reinforce BONG’s power. LADY HEUNG sets fire to SHUN’s hiding place and forces him to leave. After LADY HEUNG’s encouragement, SHUN picks himself up again. He promises her that he will become important one day. BONG is outraged by YUNG CHI’s indecent act. LEUNG advises him to return YUNG CHI with kindness in order to make his followers even more loyal to him. YUNG CHI wants to overthrow BONG. LEUNG uses this issue to educate BONG how to deal with internal problems. SUM is crowned as Emperor CHOR WAI……

BONG’s contract with the emperor of HON concerning loaning LEUNG is about to expire. LEUNG prepares to return to his country. CHI kneels down to beg him to stay. SHUN swallows his pride and joins YUE’s army as a cook to wait for his chance. LADY YUE starts to understand the reason why YUE destroyed the city that her family was in was to scare the disobedient people. He aimed to warn the QIN citizens that they should surrender in future so as to avoid any bloodshed. She is attracted by his heroic spirit. At the same time, he adores her stunning beauty. They fall in love with each other. HOI orders CHEUNG HON to lead a big army to attack the CHU’s army. HONG LEUNG and YUE receive the order to fight together. However, YI sets up a plot to split them up. HONG LEUNG has to lead the army alone and is killed by CHEUNG HON in Tingto. YUE is extremely grieved over HONG LEUNG’s death. BONG’s grief is no less than his……

BONG refuses to return LEUNG to the emperor of HON with the excuse that he is sick. The emperor of HON leaves unwillingly. After HONG LEUNG’s death, YUE trains his army day and night, which causes complaints among the soldiers. BONG learns that YUE likes LADY YUE, so he helps him express his feelings for her. LADY TSIK thinks BONG loves LADY YUE, which he denies. The emperor of HON finds out that BONG is pretending to be sick only and demands the release of LEUNG. BONG has no choice but do what is requested. YUE and BONG receive SUM’s order to attack Central Plain and Xianyang. SUM promises that whoever reaches Central Plain first will be made King. BONG does not want to compete with YUE as he always thinks that YUE should be the ruler. He promises to be YUE’s pioneer and waits for him outside Xianyang to let him enter the city first……

LADY YUE decides to keep a distance from YUE so that he can concentrate on the battle. TSANG sends CHONG to kill her in order to rule out any worries. She survives only because CHONG shows some mercy. She witnesses how grieved YUE is when he thinks that she is dead. Although she knows how he feels about her, she leaves quietly in fear of obscuring his future. YI is ordered to rescue the CHIU emperor. However, he refuses to send his troop for personal interest. On the way to Xianyang, YUE ignores TSANG’s advice and go northward to Julu instead to look for CHEUNG HON for revenge. YUE exposes YI’s indecent act and kills him in a rage. YUE defeats CHEUNG HON and takes revenge for HONG LEUNG. This is a famous battle in Chinese history, which is called “the Battle of Julu”. Before the battle, YUE orders his troops to break their pots and sink their boats to show his determination to win……

CHEUNG HON flees with 200,000 soldiers and two assistants, SZE MA YAN and TUNG NGAI, to seek patronage with YUE. HOI pays no attention to the empire, which leads to KO’s dictatorship in the government. HOI has no idea that the whole country is in chaos. He learns it from LADY YUE later that the CHU’s armies are approaching the Xianyang Palace. HOI interrogates KO, but KO has him killed first. YUE learns that the QIN’s armies refuse to surrender and are prepared to fight against him, so he has the QIN’s soldiers killed to control the situation. This, however, causes panic across the country. All the citizens fight hard against him, which delays his plan to take down Xianyang. On the contrary, BONG treats the citizens kindly, so all the cities he passes by surrender to him. He goes straight to Xianyang with no resistance. KO puts the former prince’s son CHI YING in the throne. Although YING is young, he is smart……

BONG has no plan to enter Xianyang at first. However, he cannot stand FAI and HO’s nagging, so he gets through the gate eventually. When he is in the palace, he decides to become king after seeing the QIN dynasty’s glory and its uncountable wealth. HO reminds BONG that if he wants to rule the country, he cannot take a penny. He also advices BONG that if he is to will the hearts of the people, he is to make a pledge with them, to rule by Three Agreements, and to burn all Qin Laws. YUE is angry and swears to kill BONG when he learns that BONG has broken his promise. LADY YUE meets YUE again with SHUN’s help. They are so long for each other. YUE should appoint SHUN important tasks for he has saved LADY YUE. However, YUE does not pay any attention to him because of his arrogance. LEUNG tries to persuade BONG to return Xianyang to YUE to show that he does not mean to compete with him, which BONG has agreed. PAK and LEUNG are good friends……

During the meal, BONG explains to YUE that he did not mean to take Xianyang. He did so only because of the circumstances forced him to. He is willing to give everything back to him. YUE is moved by BONG’s sincerity and does not bear to kill him. LEUNG advises BONG that the best way to defeat YUE is to disperse his troops. BONG therefore persuades YUE to proclaim himself Hegemonial King of West Chu and honoured KING HUAI as Emperor Yee, which is a dummy emperor. He also proposes to YUE that he should appoint eighteen feudal kings, which nevertheless leads to conflicts among them. Meanwhile, YUE takes out the treasures from the imperial tomb and gives them to the feudal kings as rewards, which causes complaints among the QIN’s people. Later, YUE wipes out every descendant of the Qin royal clan and officials to prevent future troubles……

BONG begs YUE to let him stay in Xianyang. When BONG changes his mind later, YUE is outraged. CHI pleases LADY YUE deliberately and calls her sister. She hopes that LADY YUE can help to persuade YUE to send BONG away. YUE agrees to let BONG go, but he demands BONG to leave his children, parents, brother and sister-in-law behind as hostages. BONG has no choice but agrees. TSANG, who has always believed that LADY YUE is a femme fatale, has never liked her. She, nevertheless, does not mind at all and tries hard to please him instead. Seeing that BONG is not in power now, his army has decided to desert. BONG is upset about the desertion. CHI is there to cheer him up and promises to help him start anew. BONG is deeply impressed. When BONG arrives in Bazu, he follows LEUNG’s instruction to set fire to the plank way. LEUNG’s reason in doing so is to show YUE that BONG has no intention of going back east and thus YUE’s suspicion can be quelled……

LEUNG is gathering learned men for BONG. He finds SHUN a military genius and so tries hard to persuade SHUN to leave CHU for HAN. SHUN leaves Xianyang for Bazu successfully with PING’s help. He follows LEUNG’s instruction to meet HO at the Talent Recruitment Centre. HO is amazed by his talent and recommends him to BONG. However, BONG learns that SHUN used to crawl under someone’s crotch and so despises him. He only appoints SHUN Grain Supply Lieutenant to supervise granary. TSANG advises YUE to stay in Xianyang. However, LEUNG provokes him by saying that if he has glory and fortune but doesn’t go back to his native place, it is like walking in the dark in finery – no one will see it. Together with the fact that LADY YUE is homesick, YUE sends TSANG to persuade SUM to move the capital and let YUE base in Pengcheng. SHUN comes with a solution “In with the new, out with the old” in organizing stock and has put the granary in a fine order……

SHUN feels that he will not gain BONG’s trust and decides to leave. HO is shocked to learn that SHUN has left and runs out to chase SHUN in no time. HO swears to BONG that he will leave with SHUN if he does not appoint SHUN any important tasks. BONG asks SHUN how he plans to lead them out of Bazu as the plank way has been burned now. SHUN tells him the plan he has come up with, which is to fix the road on the surface while going through Chencang Footpath secretly. BONG believes now that SHUN really is a rare find as his idea is exactly the same as what LEUNG has written in a sachet he has left behind. BONG names SHUN Supreme Marshal and builds a Marshal Altar to honour him. FAI is annoyed that SHUN is appointed without any contribution. When he complains to BONG, he is punished. As soon as YUE has settled in Pengcheng, he announces that he will marry LADY YUE and name her queen. TSANG wants to stop him but fails……

YUE has set the three Qin kings, including CHEUNG HON, at Bazu’s exit. SHUN orders FAI to fix the road which requires at least three years to finish so as to make YUE believe that BONG can never come out soon. SHUN’s idea is to divert the three Qin Kings’ attention so that BONG can leave with his soldiers along some dirt tracks. CHEUNG HON is surrounded by BONG’s army, which is under SHUN’s order. SHUN admires CHEUNG HON’s talent and persuades him to leave CHU for HAN. However, CHEUNG HON would rather kill himself than surrender. CHEUNG HON commits suicide not long after. The HAN’s army has reached Xianyang. YUE is enraged and wants to fight back. However, TSANG stops him and asks him to wait for the right moment. TSANG scolds LADY YUE for telling YUE to let BONG and SHUN go, which leads to the dangerous situation they are in now. She is very sorry for what she has done. She decides to leave YUE to avoid causing him any more troubles……

The three Qin kings are settled. Both TUNG NGAI and SZEMA YAN surrender to BONG. BONG then proceeds to move to Xianyang. The people of Xianyang welcome BONG’s return along the streets, which moves him. SUM is annoyed with YUE for forcing him to move out of Pengcheng. YUE sends PO to assassinate SUM in fear that he will take revenge later. LEUNG publicizes HONG’s crime to the world so as to ruin his reputation and call on all the kings to strengthen BONG’s forces. PING secretly seeks patronage with HAN for he cannot stand YUE’s growing arrogance. TSANG worries too much about YUE’s empire and eventually falls ill. LADY YUE takes good care of him. CHI knows that YUE has been relying on TSANG for strategies. So she decides to sow discords between them. YUE mistakes that TSANG is spreading rumours in the camp that his recent setbacks were caused by LADY YUE, so he stops TSANG from going to battles with him.

YUE’s men almost revolt because of LADY YUE. If not for Fan Tsang, who shows up in time, there would have been a mutiny. As he gets to know LADY YUE better, TSANG knows better that how she loves YUE. Together with her tender care when he was sick, he finally changes his hostile attitude towards her and is friendly with her. BONG admires a dancer LADY POK’s beauty during her performance. BONG wants to attack Pengcheng but he is stopped by SHUN. Yet SHUN insists that they have to wait for the right moment. When BONG asks for the reasons, he, however, refuses to tell him. The kings from different districts come to seek alliance with BONG. His army suddenly increases to 600,000. Refusing to take order from YUE forever and hoping to make his name in history, BONG snatches SHUN’s Marshal seal and leads his troops straight to YUE’s territory Pengcheng.

YUE troops are out on their Qi campaign; BONG captures Pengcheng. BONG is thrilled to bits and believes that he has taken over the country. Not long after, YUE leads an army of 30,000 to recapture Pengcheng and fights the 600,000 troops led by BONG. BONG’s troops are totally routed and suffer a great casualty. The remnant troops run for their lives. To revenge the fall of Pengcheng, YUE’s army does not spare the HAN troops and pushes them to the north bank of Suishui. The HAN army is totally wiped out. BONG retreats. CHI escorts her children to get out of Pengcheng. After a long, hard seeking, she eventually meets up with BONG. However, the CHU army is after them. In order to let BONG go, she jumps off the carriage with her children to distract the soldiers. When YUE knows that BONG has fled again, he brings his men to look for him. YUE should have chances to catch BONG. Maybe it is fate, BONG gets away once again.

YUE shoots an arrow at BONG. Seriously injured, BONG falls into a river. YUE holds CHI and BONG’s family hostage. When LADY YUE tells CHI that BONG is hurt, CHI worries to death. LADY POK has saved BONG and takes good care of him. YUE’s men are looking for BONG everywhere. LADY POK uses her beauty to distract the soldiers. The now successful SHUN goes back to his hometown to marry LADY HUENG, only to learn that she is dead. He is devastated. He renovates her tomb and puts up a tombstone for her as if she was his wife. A great search is conducted to capture BONG. After some narrow escapes BONG is tired out and it seems the doom of him. BONG bumps into LEUNG, who uses SHUN’s Marshal standard to scare the CHU’s army away. BONG retreats to Yingyang. He regrets that he did not listen to SHUN, and that he has ended up in such a situation. He asks SHUN for help, but SHUN, who is still mad at him, refuses.

BONG learns that SHUN and his troops are now in the outskirt of Yingyang, so he sends KEI to meet him. SHUN gives KEI a hard time because he wants BONG to welcome him in person. BONG apologises sincerely to SHUN and returns him his seal. SHUN is moved and agrees to regroup BONG’s force to fight against YUE’s when the chance comes. SHUN drags the CHU’s troops to Yingyang and surrounds them with battle carts. Meanwhile, TSE comes with a big troop to rescue YUE. SHUN retreats and YUE backs off too. SHUN loses 100,000 men and is seriously injured over the battle in Yingyang. PING plots to stir conflicts between YUE and PO. This makes everyone turn their back to YUE and leaves him. KEI is ordered by BONG to try to convince the QI’s emperor to withdraw from the battles. However, SHUN causes some misunderstanding between the QI’s emperor and KEI, which leads to KEI’s death……

SHUN blackmails BONG to appoint him to be the Nominal King QI after conquering QI. Though furious, BONG has to agree to keep the situation under control. YUE leads a troop of 100,000 to attack Yingyang. LADY POK is called into the palace to perform some dancing. She tries to get close to SHUN, but he turns her down. She has a weak moment and tells him her story. He pities her and has a relationship with her. TSANG makes use of SHUN’s war-eager weakness and leaves BONG alone. BONG meets LADY POK again. He takes her his concubine to thank her for saving him last time. He follows LEUNG and PING’s advices and spreads rumours among YUE’s troops. No matter how hard he tries, LEUNG can only stall YUE’s advance. LEUNG’s tricks are blown by TSANG; YUE’s troops are marching towards Yingyang in full speed. SHUN hates BONG for stealing LADY POK from him and bears grudges against BONG. TSANG dies from illness. YUE is devastated……

BONG is injured by YUE’s unexpected arrow. Luckily, the injury is not life threatening. BONG’s army needs desperate help, but SHUN refuses to send help, which worries BONG. YUE demands CHI to write to BONG to urge him to surrender. Worried about BONG’s safety so much, she agrees to do so. Nevertheless, BONG follows LEUNG’s advice and does not show any sign of concern when he reads the letter. LEUNG’s aim is not to let YUE know that BONG misses his family otherwise he will have no bargaining power in future. BONG is sorry for stealing LADY POK from SHUN. He has found SHUN a cultivated lady who is from a distinguished family, YAN CHEUNG, as his wife to beg for his forgiveness. YUE thinks of boiling BONG’s family to death to force him to surrender. LADY YUE fails to stop him and is ordered to leave the camp. YAN CHEUNG is very understanding……

YUE learns that there is a gap between SHUN and BONG, so he tries to persuade SHUN to ally with him. However, SHUN is grateful to BONG for trusting him and despises YUE for looking down on him. YUE is humiliated and leaves with rage. BONG asks SHUN to send help quickly, but SHUN says that the right time has not come yet. Feeling that he cannot win YUE, BONG listens to LEUNG and makes YUE believe he is willing to negotiate, which is in fact a tactic to buy time. YUE is shocked when he hears that LADY YUE is in danger. He leaves behind the military situation to look for her. When he meets with her again, he knows that having her is more important than having the world. YUE decides to stop the war and live a quiet life with LADY YUE. He also returns CHI to BONG to show his sincerity. CHI is jealous when she learns that BONG is marrying LADY POK. CHI insists to attend the peace meeting. PING, HO and the others fail to stop her……

BONG blames CHI for causing the meeting to fall apart. She claims that she only wants to fight for his best interest. After more meetings, YUE and BONG have not yet reached an agreement. YUE starts to worry. LADY YUE takes YUE to a market. He hears a little child saying bad things about him and decides that BONG must have spread the rumour. He hates BONG more after that. When YUE meets BONG again, they have a fight. BONG scolds YUE for forgetting their friendship and tries to kill him all the time. YUE thinks hard about what he says. They eventually agree to stop the war, use Honggou as boundary, and split the country. The East belongs to CHU and the West belongs to HAN. YUE and BONG became enemies because of the war. Now that the war is over, they become good friends again. The two friends travel together on horseback. Having followed YUE to battles for so many years, LADY YUE is overjoyed that YUE had decided to stop the war.

While YUE is retreating back to Pengcheng, CHI and SHUN suggest BONG to ambush him. BONG has already signed the peace agreement and refuses to attack YUE. It has been SHUN’s dream to defeat YUE and by doing so, he believes he will make his name in history. And so SHUN insists on ambushing YUE and BONG fails to stop him. CHI, HO and the others think this is a good opportunity too. If they defeat YUE, BONG will be the ultimate conqueror. BONG asks LEUNG for advice. LEUNG points out that SHUN has already left for battle and a conqueror can bear no mercy. BONG eventually thinks it through and lets SHUN ambush YUE. CHU’s army is completely defeated. SHUN uses his military talent to push YUE’s troop to Jiulishan and has it surrounded. SHUN then turns to psychological tactics and orders musicians to play Chu tunes around YUE’s camps. Hearing the poignant tunes, the Chu troops become homesick and lose their will to fight……

YUE is encircled in Gaixia. Knowing that he has no way out, he orders his subordinates to send LADY YUE away. He himself stays behind to fight with BONG. LADY YUE does not want to leave YUE, for she knows that he will fight until the last minute. To save him from any worries, she kills herself by cutting her throat after biding farewell to him. YUE leads 28 men to break out of the encirclement and reach Wujiang. Looking at the water, YUE thinks of his only defeat in his whole life. Instead of crossing the river and making a comeback, he cuts his throat. LEUNG understands very well that his task has finished, so he leaves causally after saying goodbye to BONG. BONG ascends the throne as emperor, known as Han Gaozu in history.