Witness to a Prosecution
Witness to a Prosecution is a Hong Kong television series produced by TVB. The original broadcast was on the TVB Jade network with 45-minute episodes airing five days a week from 20 December 1999 to 16 January 2000. The drama stars Bobby Au-yeung as the famous historical forensic medical expert Song Ci. Set during the Southern Song Dynasty of Mid-Imperial China, Witness to a Prosecution tells a fictionalised account of Chee's modest beginnings and the events leading to the creation of his book Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified, the world's earliest documentation of forensic science.
Episodes
CHEE is appointed as the Chief Prosecutor after solving many cases. He brings his two pregnant wives to Hunan for his new post. On the way, he solves another murder case, but loses his wives in a fire. He is heartbroken and resigns to return to his home town. He is nearly drowned in a typhoon, but is saved by a detective, KIT. KIT brings him to work in a funeral parlour, which is run by LUNG. CHU’s job is to apply make-up to corpses in the morgue. When she arrives with LUNG, they see CHEE cutting open a pregnant woman’s body with a chopper. Apparently, he is trying to remove the baby from the body. CHEE has a good friend, FUNG, whose mother can talk to dead people. CHEE asks if she can help find his wives, but she refuses because he doesn’t have enough money. MRS NGAU, who saved CHEE before, is accused of murdering her husband. CHEE helps her to uncover the truth……
CHEE hides the fact that he has done an autopsy on NGAU’s body, and drops hints to LUNG about the cause of NGAU’s death. CHU uses all her money to buy some swift nests. CHEE pushes her over when he pulls a boy from under some heavy weights. CHU’s swift nests are stolen. CHEE decides to help CHU with her family business after learning that her mother is sick. When he goes to collect rent from a whorehouse, he sees a prostitute arguing with a man whom everyone thinks is possessed by a demon. FUNG and her mother ask LUNG to pretend to be possessed and make business by carrying out some rituals. FUNG subsequently annoys LUNG and he decides to tell everyone the truth. Later, LUNG and FUNG are both poisoned. CHEE and CHU do make up for SIU’s body. CHEE reckons that SIU was pregnant and did not kill herself, but her parents do not believe him.
CHU tries to file a lawsuit over SIU’s death, but SIU’s father, WAN, stops her. KIT sees them arguing and WAN accuses CHU of blackmailing him with SIU’s death. CHU, CHEE and WAN end up in the courtroom. CHEE points out some suspicious evidence, but it is all overruled. Suddenly, CHEE gets a headache and cannot continue. CHEE asks to perform an autopsy in the courtroom and proves that SIU was pregnant and that she was murdered. KIT and the other detectives look for SIU’s jade. They find that LUNG has taken SIU’s jade to a pawnshop, and a farmer is witness to LUNG and SIU’s relationship. Suddenly, LUNG is a suspect. LUNG says that he met FUNG the night when SIU was killed, but FUNG denies it. KIT finds a girl, PO, who proves that the farmer is lying and sets KIT free. PO’s mother, NAN, argues with CHU in the courtroom.
LUNG tells CHEE about CHU and PO’s real relationship. CHU says that NAN set her mother up. FUNG performs a funeral service in WAN’s home. WAN’s wife asks her to save her. WAN says that she turned mad after their daughter died. KIT asks CHEE to follow up SIU’s case and finds that WAN has taken SIU’s body away. CHEE forces him to return SIU’s body. CHEE notices a scar on SIU’s back and finds that SIU was not WAN’s real daughter. He finds a weapon which matches the scar on SIU’s back and catches the real murderer. CHU is argumentativeand CHEE advises her to be nice to others. He encourages her with his own sad history. CHEE does not want CHU to get close to him, so he agrees to work as a coroner for Chief Detective KIN. CHEE’s first job is to examine a female body with a missing leg. LUNG wants to work in the restaurant in order to get close to PO, but is rejected by NAN……
LUNG sees CHEE pass by while he is waiting for PO. PO and NAN are kidnapped by a masked man. Luckily, LUNG saves them, but CHEE meets the masked man. Another girl is murdered by having her throat cut and her legs chopped off. CHEE believes that the killer is a cook, so he investigates all the cooks in town but finds nothing. LUNG finds some expensive herbs and a pair of red shoes among CHEE’s belongings and accuses him of being the murderer. Meanwhile, CHEE discovers who is the real murderer, but LUNG knocks him out when he is about to notify KIT. The murderer intends to kill CHEE and CHU. LUNG boasts about how he caught the murderer. PO knows that many outsiders have died in their town and suggests building a crematorium. Some rich people in the village support her. CHEE suddenly faints and is diagnosed with a blood clot in his brain……
MING encourages CHEE to live on. TUNG knows that MING was the royal physician, but he accidentally killed a general and became a fugitive. CHEE decides to help MING find out the real cause of death of the general. While he and LUNG are looking at the general’s body, TUNG and another general, HO, suddenly appear. CHEE is forced to reveal his true identity, but no one believes him. HO gives CHEE five days to send him a post-mortem report. CHEE wonders why TUNG stopped him from investigating the general’s death. KIN and KIT find a soldier who is taking the report to HO. They steal the report and send it to the court. MING is caught by TUNG and sent for execution when he is about to put needles through CHEE’s head. Luckily, the report arrives and CHEE writes a declaration to prove his real identity. A princess, HA, insists that CHEE is a fraud……
CHEE finds some poisoned needles in the general’s body and reveals the real killer. At the time of execution, HA carries the emperor’s gown to try to save the murderer, but the wind blows the gown again and the murderer is executed. CHEE stays in the Pine Mount and works as a prosecutor. CHU has an argument with PO when she retrieves a piece of jade of CHEE’s wife. FUNG accidentally scars PO’s face. PO sues FUNG and she has to stay in prison for three days. CHEE tells CHU that does not intended to start another relationship and asks her not to treat him so nicely. PO asks LUNG to take her to see CHEE and returns his wife’s jade. CHEE asks PO to drop her lawsuit, but she requests 100 pieces of gold in compensation. FUNG tries to raise some money by selling her hair. CHEE and a rich man support her. A servant maid jumps into a well and dies. CHEE finds out that the mistress had accused her of stealing her jewellery.
KIT’s mother, LUI, wants to pull CHU and KIT together. A prostitute, MON saves FUNG from being bothered by some customers. KIT finds her nice. PO loses in a pageant. LUNG thinks that she is going to jump off a cliff and stops her. PO suggests that LUNG should learn post-mortem technique from CHEE. LUNG asks CHEE to be his mentor in front of everyone. CHEE refuses at first, but he accepts the request on condition that LUNG performs a post-mortem alone next time someone dies. LUNG is late for his first lesson and destroys some evidence at the scene. CHEE refuses to take him on as his student, after which PO rejects LUNG. PO meets a man, FOK. He is attracted by her pretty face. LUI asks LUNG about CHU’s background. CHEE tells him all the good things about CHU. LUNG interrogates CHEE as to why he wants to pull KIT and CHU together. FUNG wants to open a restaurant, but has no capital. MON agrees to help her……
LUNG is sorry that he cannot help PO. FUNG tries to cheer him up with her own experience. MON sees two little girls begging and believes that they are being used by kidnappers. When she reports it to the police, they laugh at her, but KIT believes her. Soon, they start seeing each other. LUI and HANG try to pull KIT and CHU together, but they do not like the idea. When CHU finds out that KIT is seeing MON, she tries to cover it up for them. CHEE praises KIT in front of CHU. She pretends to agree. CHU and MON follow the beggars and are caught by the kidnappers, whodemand a ransom. CHEE and KIT are very nervous. They try to trap them, but fail. FUNG is kidnapped too. LUNG kills the kidnappers by accident. MON and CHU are not found. CHEE tries hard to find clues on the kidnappers’ bodies and succeeds.
A businessman goes missing. CHEE and the other investigators conclude that he is dead, but they find no body. LUNG thinks of a way to find the body. CHU and FUNG praise him in front of CHEE. In fact, CHEE lets LUNG find the body, so that they can become mentor and student. FUNG tells CHU that she will match up with a man born in the year of dragon. She is delighted to find out that LUNG could be the one. LUNG accidentally misplaces some evidence. He is touched when CHU finds it for him. CHEE asks LUNG and CHU to recreate the crime scene. LUNG feels something strange about CHU when he holds her up. MON is bothered by her customer when she is shopping with KIT. KIT beats the man up. When KIN discovers their relationship, he objects to it. KIT insists on getting MON out from the whorehouse, but he is short of money. LUNG asks CHU out. She is shocked and thinks that he is joking.
CHU mentions to FUNG that LUNG has asked her out and she will give him a chance. CHEE asks LUNG to put on thick clothes and jumps off a building to find out how a victim died. He is injured and CHU takes good care of him. Both CHEE and FUNG feel upset seeing them together. KIT and MON want to run away, but KIN and MON’s employer catch them. MON gives up trying. CHU revises some post-mortem cases with LUNG. She asks him to save up for their future. MON once lent some money to a man, SHING. He has now become rich and wants to free her from prostitution. Although she wants KIT to do it, she has no choice. CHEE and CHU help a beggar. She gives them a butterfly knot each as a present. KIT falls ill from missing MON. LUI tells him that she is leaving with SHING. He runs to find her, but she tells him that she has never loved him. After KIT begs her to stay, she admits that she does not want to ruin him……
When MON testifies, KIN is nasty to her. He announces in the court that KIT is a suspect. Luckily, CHEE and LUNG are his alibis. TSUEN, who used to fight with SHING over MON, says that KIN wants to take revenge for his son. FUNG wants to watch some shooting stars. LUNG asks CHU to go, but she refuses,so LUNG goes alone and meets FUNG. CHU scolds LUNG in public when she finds out that he has not finished his report because he went to see shooting stars. LUNG has diarrhoea after eating FUNG’s congee. CHEE thinks that he is lying. In order to prove LUNG is not lying, FUNG eats the congee and ends up having diarrhoea as well. MING tries to cure KIT’s blood-phobia and succeeds. CHU loses her butterfly knot and is terrified. CHEE gives his to LUNG. MING finds out that the swift nests that SHING has given to FUNG and CHU are fake and reports it to CHEE. LUNG suspects that SHING’s blood is mixed with animal blood……
MON is detained for further hearing. CHEE has proved that there is pig blood inside SHING’s body. FUNG mentions that a bucket of pig blood was missing behind a congee store on the night when SHING was killed. Everyone rushes to the back street to look for evidence. Unsurprisingly, there is a blood print made by a ring on the wall and CHEE finds the real murderer. The suspect runs when he sees the police are after him. KIT catches him bare-handed without fearing fresh blood on his body. After this case, the relationship between KIT and KIN seems improved. LUNG goes to gamble on his rare day-off and forgets to cut his hair. FUNG hires someone to help him. When they are alone, LUNG has a special feeling for her. He asks FUNG whether he should be with CHU. FUNG asks him to leave. Later when LUNG returns her earrings, he pulls her into his arms. CHU mentions to CHEE that she is babysitting LUNG more than dating him……
CHEE finds out that the lover of SHUN’s wife killed SHUN. LUNG sighs that SHUN and his wife do not match and he was killed because of that. LUNG passes a dating slip to FUNG. However, both CHEE and CHU have seen the slip. When FUNG meets LUNG, she refuses to see him against for CHU’s sake. CHEE and CHU hear their conversation. CHU interrogates LUNG. He admits that he really likes FUNG. CHU tells FUNG that she is relieved that LUNG likes FUNG more. A matchmaker points out that CHU has either to marry a retard or no one. CHU has an argument with her and moans that she does not need to get married. LUNG passes the coroner test. Meanwhile, PO, who has already married, returns to the town and meets LUNG. She gives LUNG a safety charm and puzzles him.
PO meets her sister-in-law, LEE, in a temple. LEE accuses of PO having adultery. PO pretends not to hear her. LUNG thanks PO for his career. MO asks FOK to sponsor for the charity. FOK agrees to lend his house for the event. MO and PO go to check out the house and a worker dies at the same time. CHEE and LUNG examine the body, so LUNG has a chance to show off in front of PO. There is a plague in the newest town. CHEE and MING are assigned to investigate. As soon as CHEE leaves the town, FOK dies. LUNG examines his body and reckons that FOK dies from a stroke. However, LEE insists that CHEE should examine FOK’s body again. CHEE and MING meet a government official in during their trip. They all go to investigate the plague situation and eventually finds out its cause. KIT finds out that PO’s servant maid has bought some Persian spices and suspects that something is going on.
FUNG asks LUNG why he hides the fact that he has met PO. When CHEE is examining PO’s spices, CHU suddenly arrives. Under the influences of the spices, CHU asks CHEE why he refuses to admit falling in love with her. They then kiss each other. Meanwhile, KIT and MING arrive. MING says that they are meant to be together. CHEE uses his butterfly knot and jade pieces to test their love. CHU sees PO hugging a man. PO suddenly loses her control and cuts CHU’s face. When CHEE wants to tell CHU about his love over her, she loses too much blood and faints. CHEE carries her to find MING. MING says that she will have a permanent scar. CHEE agrees to marry CHU, but she refuses his pity. CHU suspects that PO is having adultery with FOK’s brother, ON. So he arranges FUNG and MO to test her. CHU and CHEE hike up mountains to find a special herb for curing CHU’s wound. CHEE slips and falls into a cave. CHU worries a lot for him……
PO proposes to split the family. LEE objects. Later, LEE finds out that she is pregnant. PO and ON feel that it is even more difficult to furnish their plot. PO meets LUNG for a drink. FUNG learns about that from HEUNG and feels jealous. Soon, LUNG is drunk. Meanwhile, LEE is burnt in a temple. FUNG passes the temple and sees a family shadow before the fire is put on. FUNG testifies seeing PO at the temple. However, LUNG insists that PO was drinking with him. ON is jealous seeing that PO and LUNG get intimate. CHEE experiments PO’s spices with a dog and finds out some mixture could kill. He suspects that PO kills her husband. MON is molested and saved by PO. She invites him back home for dinner. She lights on the fragrant sticks that PO gave her. ON thinks that PO wants to kill him and MON together, so he goes to scold her and reveals their plot.
LUNG is upset that KIT and CHEE are investigating PO behind him. He swears that he will never return to the town before he gets famous. NAM and CHU’s father, CHEUNG, ask HANG and CHU to save PO, but they refuse. PO is executed at last. HANG dreams of her every night and falls ill. CHU and CHEE decide to get married. NAM is disturbed and curses their marriage. MING meets NAM when he goes to see HANG. NAM is muttering that she is going to give HANG a present. HANG’s shop is on fire. Two strangers move MING and HANG out from the shop. MING dies and HANG manages to give CHU a wedding present before she dies. CHEE performs an autopsy to MING and HANG’s bodies and finds that MING had fractures and was tortured before death while HANG was not. It shows that MING was the target. CHU finds two coffins inside the shop and insists that NAM has killed MING and HANG. When CHU meets NAM, she wants to take her to see the police……
NAM dies and CHU is turned into a suspect. CHEE finds that NAM was rapped before she was killed. HIN and LUNG show up in the town. LUNG works under HIN now. When LUNG checks MING’s body, he finds that some tree rubber was put on MING to make it look like torture marks. CHEE exclaims that he has not put anything on MING to save CHU from being suspected. HIN asks LUNG to hand over the case. CHU tells CHEE that she has met SHEUN. When they try to find her, she is nowhere. LUNG becomes very distant. He points out that KIT did not check for fight marks on CHU. He is also very cold to FUNG. He leads his subordinates to FUNG’s home and finds some of CHU’s clothing, which has blood from the day when she met SHEUN. CHU is locked up. CHEE suspects that there is someone planning everything. Later when he is investigating inside HANG’s shop, someone hurts his hand.
CHEE tells HA that MING is dead. HA clarifies that she comes back for TUNG. CHEE meets LUNG and points out that all three people die only after he has left, so he has become the enemy’s pawn. LUNG is upset and accuse CHEE of hurting his confidence. MON sells cakes to raise money for orphans. KIN is moved by her kindness. An old man burns some incence to scare the ghosts. He tells FUNG that he has seen NAM and CHU in the woods before NAM died. HIN and his subordinates get the news and meet up with KIN to find that old man. CHEE finds the old man’s body early that them. KIT finds CHU in the woods when he was investigating the case. He also finds her cutter there. In the court, LUNG accuses CHEE of helping CHU in killing NAM and the old man. Luckily, HO can prove that CHEE was not at the scene when the murder was happening. CHU is turned into the only suspect.
CHEE and KIT try to sneak into the morgue to check on MING’s body again, but is caught by LUNG. KIT is suspended. FUNG asks LUNG why he wants to convict CHU. He takes the chance to drug and rape her. CHU refuses to confess no matter how much torture she is receiving. CHEE promise to quit his job if LUNG will save CHU. LUNG lies to HIN that he finds some new evidence after checking on MING’s body again and asks to see HA. LUNG has a deal with HA. If he gets to be the top prison warden, then CHEE will be framed and killed. LUNG meets CHEE in the woods and they find some poisonous needles and bamboo cases. In the court, LUNG lies about that some of CHEE’s fingerprints are found on the weapon which was used to kill the old man. CHEE has expected LUNG to do this to him. LUNG threatens FUNG to team up with him in order to kill her and her mother alive.
FUNG tells CHEE that the Duke is going to meet him at a pier. Meanwhile, a black suited man takes CHU from the prison to the pier and pushes a sword into CHEE’s hand. HIN arrives and charges of CHEE killing the prison warden. In the court, CHEE asks FUNG to prove that the Duke wants to see him. However, FUNG denies it. Both CHEE and CHU are disappointed with FUNG’s lie. They are eventually given death sentences. CHU and CHU wants to get married in the prison, but HA stopped them. The Duke and HO try to save them, but fail, on the day of execution. When LUNG passes HA CHEE’s head, both HA and LUNG are poisoned. Meanwhile, CHEE and CHU appear. HA suddenly tries to stab CHEE with a knife. CHU gets in front of CHEE to save him. CHEE thinks that everyone he loves is cursed and leaves immediately. Does CHEE really have to live a lonely life?
