The Judgment

Run-Qun Li as Dau-ngo
Milton Fong as Cai Jung-cheung

SYNOPSIS:
A newly appointed judge, presumed dead, returned home, and encountered a convicted woman about to be executed as heavy frost suddenly started to fall in June. This unusual occurrence prompted him to investigate; he discovered that the convict was his devoted wife wrongly accused.

BACKGROUND:
This story dates back to the Yuen Dynasty (AD 1210 – 1300.) An orphaned girl, Dau-ngo, sold herself, for her parent’s burial expenses, to Widow Cai as a bride for her son, Scholar Cai Jung-cheung. Three days after the marriage, the scholar left to take his exam. The wealthy neighbor, Cheung Leui, coveted the young woman. He arranged to drown the scholar, forced Dau-ngo and Widow Cai out of their home, and put poison into a bowl of soup meant for Widow Cai. However the soup was mistakenly drunk by Leui’s mother. With bribery, Leui then had Dau-ngo convicted for murder. Fortunately, the scholar was not killed, but actually excelled in the exam and was appointed judge by the emperor. On his way home, he saw frost falling in June, and stopped the execution of his wife just in time.