Title: 紫禁驚雷; literally Frightening Thunder of the Forbidden (City)
Cantonese/Mandarin: Chi Kam King Lui / Zijin Jinglei
Producer: Leung Choi-yuen
Writers: Ng Siu-tung, Sit Kar-wah
Filming period: November 2010 - February 2011
Genre: Historical fiction
filmed in Cantonese
25 episodes
"Known as the male version of War and Beauty / Beyond the Realm of Conscience / Schemes of a Beauty"
Cast:
Steven Ma as Nip Dorpo
Kenneth Ma as the Prince of Yuqin / the Second Imperial Uncle (Aisin-Gioro Fuquan)
Power Chan as the Kangxi Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Xuanye)
Selena Li as Chiying (Princess Duanming)
Natalie Tong as Kwailun
Elaine Yiu as the Imperial Noble Consort (Mankwan)
Evergreen Mak as Po Chai
Ching Hor-wai as Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang
Tsui Wing as the Prince of Gongqin / the Fifth Imperial Uncle (Aisin-Gioro Changning)
Rosanne Lui as the Grand Consort
Grace Wong as Consort Hui
Christine Kuo as Kinching
Oceane Zhu as Consort Donggo
Katy Kung as Fung Sheung-hei
Lily Ho as Tsuiyuk
KK Cheung
Lau Kong
Felix Lok
Lai Lok-yi
Law Lok-lam
Lo Chun-shun
Jack Wu
Samuel Kwok
Helen Ma
Stephen Wong
Deno Cheung
Ben Wong
Matthew Ko
Benjamin Yuen
Fred Cheng
Jack Hui, etc.
Notes about the plot:
- Sunny Chan will guest star as the Shunzhi Emperor, the father of Kangxi. His favorite consort (Donggo) is played by Oceane Zhu.
- Nip Dor-po (Steven Ma) is the protagonist. He is a third-grade imperial bodyguard who is in charge of protecting Kangxi (Power Chan) and the Grand Empress Dowager (Ching Hor-wai). He is an undercover for the 2nd Imperial Uncle (Kenneth Ma), who he is loyal to.
- 2nd Imperial Uncle was originally suppose to be made Emperor, but due to the tactics of his grandmother, the emperor position was instead given to Kangxi. He regrets this, and vows to usurp Kangxi's power.
- Chiying (Selena Li) is (KK Cheung's character) adopted daughter. She imposes as Princess Duanming to kill Kangxi (she is a Ming revolutionist)
- Nip Dorpo, Chiying, and Fung Sheunghei (Katy Kung) will be in a triangle relationship.
- 2nd Imperial Uncle marries Kwailun (Natalie Tong) for military power (her father is a naval general). He does not love her.
- Po Chai (Evergreen Mak) is the head Imperial Guard.
- Katy Kung and Jack Wu's characters are a romantic pair.
- Tsuiyuk (Lily Ho) is a Ming revolutionist under (KK Cheung's character) authority. She enters the palace as Chiying's maid. She is exceptionally well at martial arts.
- Consort Hui (Grace Wong) imitates the deceased empress to gain favor of Kangxi. She is a villain.
- Both the Imperial Noble Consort (Elaine Yiu) and Consort Hui strive to win Kangxi's favor.
- Imperial Noble Consort, who later becomes the empress, was 2nd Imperial Uncle's lover before she becomes Kangxi's consort.
- Chris Lai plays a character in the past.
Facts:
- Pierre Ngo was originally a part of the original cast, but due to an injury, he got replaced by Jack Wu. Benjamin Yuen replaced Wu's original role.
- Palace-themed, centers more around the scheming between the male characters than the female characters.
- Original working title for this drama was "The Imperial Bodyguard"