''The King of Yesterday and Tomorrow'' () is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

comedy television drama produced by Siu Hin-fai and

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...

. It originally aired on

TVB Jade TVB Jade (), or simply Jade, is a Hong Kong Cantonese-language free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) as its flagship service, alongside its sister network, the English-language TVB Pearl. Bro ...

from 27 January to 21 February 2003. According to legend,

Yongzheng Emperor , regnal name = , posthumous name = Emperor Jingtian Changyun Jianzhong Biaozhen Wenwu Yingming Kuanren Xinyi Ruisheng Daxiao Zhicheng Xian()Manchu: Temgetulehe hūwangdi () , temple name = Shizong()Manchu: Šidzung () , house = Aisin Gioro ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

may not have died of natural causes and was actually assassinated. The plot is an imaginative time-traveling story based on the continuation of what happens after the assassination attempt. With an average of 2.21 million viewers (34 points), the drama is the fourth highest rating drama series of 2003. It received five nominations at the

TVB Anniversary Awards The TVB Anniversary Awards (), officially known as the TVB Awards Presentation, is an annual awards ceremony honoring TVB's programming achievements in Hong Kong television; despite claims that it is the region's equivalent to the American Emm ...

, winning four.

Maggie Cheung Ho-yee Maggie Cheung Ho-yee (; born 20 March 1969) is a Hong Kong actress. Career Maggie Cheung Ho-yee competed in TVB's 1994 Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant, reaching the final five but not placing. However she did gain a special award for best "po ...

won the

TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actress The TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is one of the TVB Anniversary Awards presented annually by Television Broadcasts Limited Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Ko ...

and one of twelve My Favourite Television Character awards, while

Paul Chun Paul Chun (; born 26 June 1945) is a Hong Kong actor. He has appeared in more than 130 films and television series since 1949. In 1966, he appeared in ''The Sand Pebbles'', an American film produced and directed by Robert Wise. Early life He wa ...

won My Favourite Powerhouse Actor.

Kwong Wa Kwong Wa (born Chan Muk-wah on 19 November 1961) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. He is known for his portrayals of Chinese historical characters such as Lao Ai (''A Step into the Past''), Xiang Yu ('' The Conqueror's Story''), Tang Sanzang (''Jo ...

was nominated for the

TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actor The TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role is one of the TVB Anniversary Awards presented annually by Television Broadcasts Limited Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong ...

, and won one of twelve My Favourite Television Character awards. The name of the show is a pun as 九五 refers to both the scope of the Emperor's power (九五至尊 means the most respected person who holds dominion over the nine X and five X) and also to office work hours (九五 is short for 九到五, meaning Nine to Five).

Plot

Qing dynasty

The story begins in

, China with

disguising himself among commoners to have a meal outside the imperial courts. At the restaurant he encounters a woman named Lui Sei-leung who was under attack by

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

s for not returning debts. The

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

comes across her situation, and pays off the debt for her. Later during a ship departure, Lui approaches the emperor and thanks him for his deed. She suddenly reveals herself to be a

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

revolutionist and attempts to kill the emperor. The boat is then all of a sudden caught in a time-traveling

vortex In fluid dynamics, a vortex ( : vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in th ...

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

Modern Hong Kong

When they wake up, they are both warped to modern

in 2003. The assassin continues her mission to assassinate the emperor in the city, only to find out that he became a commoner and impersonates Lee Dai-ha (literally Big Shrimp Lee). The emperor is somewhat fascinated by the

Bermuda Triangle The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an urban legend focused on a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterio ...

and was looking for explanations of his time travel. They also learn about the fall of the Qing dynasty including the rise of the 1911

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...

and founding of modern China through a historic TV video, which also mentioned the emperor's death was shrouded in some mystery. Both the emperor and the assassin encounter difficulties with HK daily life, culture and society. They both end up working in a company that sells kitchen

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

s. The assassin saved a company owner from a kidnapping and becomes his bodyguard. The emperor, likewise, ends up working for the same company through a chance encounter. The emperor's talents are noticed and appreciated by the owner, the owner's third son, as well as many other employees. Likewise, after some initial difficulties, the assassin becomes well-liked by her the owner, the owner's third son, as well as many other coworkers for her honesty, friendliness, loyalty, and willingness to help others. The emperor later fell in love with Rachel, the fourth child of the company's owner. The story then becomes a more romantic drama, as the assassin also falls in love with him. She feels there is a special connection between them since they both were from the same dynasty. They end up living together with a host of other characters. The show also contains mini plots such as Ko King getting accused of carrying illegal drugs in a club, Hugo and Kenneth's

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

relationship, and many other side stories.

Cast

/ Lee Dai-ha (李大蝦) *

Maggie Cheung Ho-Yee Maggie Cheung Ho-yee (; born 20 March 1969) is a Hong Kong actress. Career Maggie Cheung Ho-yee competed in TVB's 1994 Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant, reaching the final five but not placing. However she did gain a special award for best "po ...

as Assassin Lui Sei-leung (呂四娘) *

Melissa Ng Melissa Ng Mei-hang (born 5 May 1972) is a retired American Hong Kong television actress born in China. She had been under contract to the television station TVB since 1996 after coming second in the Miss Chinese International Pageant, retiring ...

as Rachel Shum Yat-oi (岑日愛) *

Gilbert Lam Gilbert Lam Wai San (born 6 July 1962) is a Hong Kong actor formerly with TVB and ATV. Career Gilbert Lam joined TVB's actor training course in 1985, but failed to gain an artist contract with TVB. In 1990 he went to Malaysia, appearing in s ...

as Frankie Shum Yat-lai (岑日禮) *

as Shum Shiu-hong (岑兆康) *

Anthony Tang Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

as Hugo Shum Yat-hau (岑日孝) *

Ram Chiang Ram Chiang Chi-kwong (born 2 July 1961), Although TVB's website lists his birthday as July 1 Ram Chiang has gone on record saying that date is wron is a Hong Kong people, Hong Kong actor and former singer-composer, currently under Television Bro ...

as Brian Shum Yat Chung (岑日忠) *

Halina Tam Halina Tam Siu-Wan, also known as May (born 6 September 1972) is a model, singer and actress. She is best known for her role in ''Legend of the Demigods'' and '' The Gentle Crackdown'' with co-star Wayne Lai. Career Tam was the winner of the Mi ...

as Tina Wan Tin-la (尹天娜) *

June Chan June Chan (born June 6, 1956) is an American lesbian activist and biologist. The organizer and co-founder of the Asian Lesbians of the East Coast (ALOEC), Chan raised awareness for LGBT issues relating to the Asian-American community. Biography ...

as Po Chu (寶珠) *

Lo Meng Lo Mang is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor who was born as Lo Kwan Lam in Hong Kong on 23 July 1952. Primarily known for starring in '' Shaw Brothers'' kung fu movies during the latter part of the 1970s and into the 1980s. He is a member of ...

as Po Fei (寶飛) *

Joe Cheng Joseph Cheng, () (born 19 June 1982) is a Taiwanese model, actor and singer. Although he started his career as a model, Cheng is well known for his role as Jiang Zhishu in Taiwanese drama serial version of Japanese manga ''Itazura Na Kiss'', '' ...

as Ko King (高勁) *

Jack Wu Jack Wu Lok Yin (born 23 August 1977) is a television actor and host from Hong Kong, working for TVB. Jack debuted as a singer by joining singing competition and released two albums in 1997 before joining TVB as an artist. Personal life Jack ...

as Po On (寶安) *

Gordon Liu Gordon Liu (Lau Kar-fai ); born Sin Kam-hei () August 22, 1951) is a Chinese martial arts film actor and martial artist. He played the lead role of San Te in ''The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'' (1978) and its sequels, and later played two roles in Qu ...

as Heung Yeung (向陽) *

Akina Hong Akina may refer to: * Akina, a character in the 3D-CG Hong Kong donghua TV series ''Zentrix'' * Mount Akina, name for Mount Haruna in the ''Initial D'' series of manga and anime * Akina, New Zealand, suburb of Hastings City, in the Hawke's Bay Regi ...

as Szeto Yuk-ming (司徒旭明) *

Edmond So Edmond is a given name related to Edmund. Persons named Edmond include: * Edmond Canaple (1797–1876), French politician * Edmond Chehade (born 1993), Lebanese footballer * Edmond Conn (1914–1998), American farmer, businessman, and politic ...

as Kenneth Ma * Mark Kwok as Marco *

Derek Kok Derek Kok Jing-hung (, born 18 November 1964) is a Hong Kong actor who had worked for TVB from 1986 to 2015. He filmed over 70 dramas. He is specialised in action and Chinese Kung Fu performance. Career His career started when he entered the N ...

as 14th Imperial Uncle (十四皇爺) *

Savio Tsang Savio may refer to: People ; Surname * Carlos Fernando Savio (born 1978), Uruguayan footballer * Daniel Savio (born 1978), Swedish musician * Dominic Savio (1842–1857), Italian saint * Ernesto Savio (1899–1945), Italian partisan * Edit Roma ...

as 8th Imperial Uncle (八皇爺)

Viewership ratings

The following is a table that includes a list of the total ratings points based on television viewership. "Viewers in millions" refers to the number of people, derived from

ratings, in Hong Kong who watched the episode live. The peak number of viewers are in brackets.

References