Although failing to win Best Drama at the TVB Anniversary Awards, The Confidant <大太監> garnered a legion of fans during the historical drama’s broadcast in the last two months. Today, it has been reported that TVB is moving forward with a sequel to the Li Lianying biopic. “The sequel is where the epic stuff comes in,” an insider revealed. The Confidant 2 will start off where The Confidant ended, beginning with the enthronement of Emperor Guangxu in 1875, and ending with the death of Empress Dowager Cixi and Guangxu in 1908. Li Lianying and Empress Dowager Cixi will suffer drastic changes in their characterization, and they will turn from being the story’s main heroes to the story’s main villains. According to the source that disclosed the plot, the purpose of portraying Li Lianying and Cixi in a good light in the beginning was so the sequel could have a better platform to elaborate on their dramatic character development. The insider also revealed, “The sequel will talk about the open strife and veiled struggle between Cixi and Guangxu. There will be an Eight-Nation Alliance, the Hundred Days’ Reform… the plot will be all about fighting for power. The sequel will not be as nice and heartwarming as the first one. Li Lianying will be in a very powerful position, and to protect himself and Cixi, he will do many ruthless things.” Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), Michelle Yim (米雪), Power Chan (陳國邦), and Cheung Kwok Keung (張國強) are slated to return for the sequel. Raymond Wong (黃浩然), whose character leaves the palace in the finale of The Confidant, may also return. There are also talks in reviving Nancy Wu’s (胡定欣) character. Her character was implied to have survived an assumed fatal assault in the alternate ending of The Confidant. Wayne Lai, who plays Li Lianying, expressed that he has heard that sequel is in the making, but no one has approached him about the project. Cheung Kwok Keung, who plays Prince Gong, also said he was never approached, but exclaimed that he would definitely return for the sequel if given the chance, “I’ve never gotten a notice, but if it is true, I would have to wait until I complete Rosy Business 3 <巾幗梟雄之諜血長天> before I’m available. If they want me to return, I will definitely return, because I had a lot of fun working on The Confidant!” Creds: ihktv
i'm fine with a sequel, if I remember correctly, Lianying's historical accounts were at its high points during GuangXu's reign...he was still rising to power during TongZhi's reign... and also, there was even more of a power struggle as GuangXu revolted against CiXi which got him under house arrest. so a sequel definitely wouldn't be that bad
The sequel definitely sounds more interesting, and it'll be a nice opportunity for Wayne to play a villain--it's been the same heroic "look" over and over again lately, it's really starting to get boring.
