of China. Oscar Leung as the Tung-chi Emperor (同治帝), the teenage son of Chee-hei, and the current emperor of China. Natalie Tong as Empress Bo-yum (寶音皇后), a relative of Chee-on and Tung-chi's wife Cheung Kwok-keung portrays Imperial Prince Kung (恭親王), Tung-chi's uncle. Aimee Chan as Princess Wo-shek (和碩公主), Tung-chi's aunt. Selena Li portrays Dowager Concubine Yuen (婉太繽), Ham-fung Emperor's concubine residing in King-yan Palace. Imperial servants Wayne Lai as Lei Lin-ying (李連英), the main protagonist, a eunuch who initially serves Concubine Yuen. Raymond Cho as On Tak-hoi (安德海), a seventh-ranking eunuch who directly serves under Empress Dowager Chee-hei, and Lin-ying's best friend. Raymond Wong Ho-yin as Yiu Sheung-hei (姚雙喜), a eunuch who serves in the medical department. Edwin Siu as Ling Tim-sau (凌添壽), a eunuch, and Lin-ying's apprentice. Power Chan as Pang Sam-shun (彭三順), a seventh-ranking eunuch who serves in the management bureau. Nancy Wu as Sin-yung (倩蓉), a palace maid who initially serves Concubine Yuen. Elliot Ngok as Chan Fuk (陳福), the Head Eunuch. Chung King-fai as Lau Dor-sang (劉多生), an elderly eunuch who serves in the archives room; he is also the sifu of Lin-ying and Tak-hoi. Production Pre-production and casting Catherine Tsang, one of the deputy chief directors of TVB's drama department, initially created the idea of producing a drama based on Li Lianying. A pre-production trailer was filmed in late 2010 for TVB's 2011 Sales Production Presentation, and it was the last and longest trailer to broadcast at the ceremony. At the time, the temporary cast featured in the trailer consisted of Wayne Lai as Li, Michelle Yim as Cixi, Bosco Wong as the Guangxu Emperor, Tavia Yeung as Consort Zhen, Susanna Kwan as Li's mother, with David Chiang, Elliot Ngok, and Chung King-fai as prominent government officials. When production for The Confidant was announced, only Lai was confirmed to star. The drama was originally slated to begin production in March 2011, but it was pushed back to end of the year due to production difficulties. In October 2011, TVB confirmed that the drama would begin filming in December 2011, and would move its location filming to Hengdian World Studios in March 2012. To compete with the three new free broadcasting television stations in Hong Kong, TVB invested an additional 40 percent to the production budget. Maggie Cheung Ho-yee, Maggie Shiu, Ruco Chan, and Raymond Wong Ho-yin were officially announced to join the cast in October