Kam family's "Four Great Beauties" (Sei Dai Mei Yan) consisting of Ah Lo, Ah Mei, Ah Yat, and Ying Gei is a spoof on China's actual historical "Four Great Beauties." The actual beauties are Sai Sze, Wong Chiu Gwan, Lady Yeung (Yeung Gwai Fei), and Diao Chan. These four women are regarded as the most beautiful women in ancient China's history. Their beauty, however, are all ill-fated for they are all "linked" and "blamed" with the donwfall of kingdoms. The Kams' "four beauties" gossip and cause trouble, but nothing as monumental as the actual beauties! Read more about the "four beauties" here.

Episodes 192-193 features a soccer theme because they were filmed during the "World Cup" tournament that took place in 2002. TVB wanted "Virtues" to capture the soccer frenzy along with the rest of Hong Kong. "World Cup" is a world-wide competition that takes place every 4 years. These episodes spoofed the "World Cup" and also made fun of the fact that people were betting on the winning teams and making money out of the game.

Soccer existed during the Ming dynasty. In fact, it originated during the Sung dynasty. Soccer was known as 'cuju' and played with a leather ball in ancient China and was a very popular sport. However, it was banned by the Ming dynasty government for an unknown reason.

TVB 2002 historical costume drama "Where the Legend Begins," starring Ada Choi, Steven Ma, Moses Chan, and Sonija Kwok, was spoofed in a dream segment during episode 296. Ah Lo tells Foon Foon about Cao Zhi and urges him to be as great of a scholar as he. Cao Pi feared that his brother, Cao Zhi, was a threat and wanted to kill him. He commands him to make a poem in "7 steps" otherwise he will kill him. Cao Zhi lost all inspiration for poetry-writing after Yan Fuk was taken away from him and wedded to Cao Pi. Seeing this scene, Yan Fuk smiles sweetly and inspires Cao Zhi to write a poem, thus saving his life. In the series, Ada's character is called "Fuk Yee." In the dream, Cutie Mui plays 'Cao Pi,' Bondy Chiu is 'Cao Zhi,' and Nancy Sit is the beauty 'Yan Fuk.' The entire dream is a parody of the dramatic and climatic scene in "Legend."

Nim Fu refers to his wife as "zombie" while he calls himself the "taoist." Taoists were enlisted to combat the zombies.

The game in episode 85 is a spoof on the British-turned-American game show, "Weakest Link." In this game, a group of contestants work together to answer questions to win money. With each round, each member votes off one player, deemed the 'weakest link' (usually the person who answers the least questions right and/or is a threat). In the final round, only two players remain to compete against the other for the money. Just like in the modern-day game show, the group of contestants are arranged in a circle around Ah Nin, who asks them questions. They also copied the background music and had a similar filming method, making it truly like an ancient version of the "Weakest Link."

Michael Lai's gueststar as 'Kei Lun' and the 'pairing' between he and Nim Chi is reminiscent of the popular Michael and Nancy pairing from the 1970's. In the 1970's, Nancy Sit and Michael Lai Siu Tin had a hit comedy variety show titled "Nancy and Michael." Its success led to a "Nancy and Michael" CD and a movie called "Dog Bites Dog Bone" co-directed, co-written, and co-starring the two!

"Dai Lui Fa" is spoofed in a dream where Sa Sa is Princess Cheung Ping and Man Kwok Kau is scholar Chow Sai Hin. The Kams are maids and eunuches witnessing their tragic wedding night. Ah Lo puts more poison into their wine to ensure that they'll die. They drink a final toast. But, they don't die! It turns out that they drank the antidote beforehand and that the poison was in fumes of the candles. Thus, the Kams die even though the 'script' says that Cheung Ping and Sai Hin should die! The famous melody from the opera is used as background music. (Ironically, this was the case with 2003 remake "Perish in the Name of Love" ending in which Princess Cheung Ping and Chow Sai Hin also do not die!)

Ah Mei dresses up as the seductive 'Poon Kam Lin' in episode 43. Poon Kam Lin is a very controversial woman in Chinese literature because of her flirtatious nature and adulterous affair in a time where Chinese women were supposed to be reserved and conservative, accepting their fate. She had great beauty and was wedded to a dwarf. She was terribly unhappy and had an affair with Sai Moon Hing, a handsome and wealthy man. This led to the murder of her husband and her own execution for her adulterous crime.

Sek Biu and Chun Mui dress up as the 'butterfly lovers' in a dream. In this famous legend, Chuk Yin Toi and Leung San Pak could not get married in their lifetime because of oppositions from their parents due to different family backgrounds. In the end, they die together in the same coffin and turned into a butterfly couple after death. This story is deemed the Chinese "Romeo and Juliet."

Sa Sa says that she'll give the Court Taoist 7 steps to think of a new plan for her otherwise she'll kill him. This is a spoof on 2002 series "Where the Legend Begins" in which Cao Pi instructs Cao Zhi to write a poem in his 7 steps otherwise he will kill him.

Ah Lo, Ah Mei, Ah Yat, and Ying Gei are demons from "Journey to the West" in a dream. Ah Lo is 'White Bone Demon,' Ah Yat is 'Bird Demon,' Ying Gei is 'Spider Demon,' and Ah Mei is 'Turtle Demon.'

"Gucci" hand bags and "Giorgio Armani" clothing were mentioned and shown in several episodes. These are very popular and expensive modern American brands.

Ah Nin sees a poster for the English play "Romeo and Juliet" and dreams that he is Romeo and Princess is Juliet. In the Shakespearean play, Romeo kills himself with poison because he thinks Juliet is dead. In the "Virtues" dream, their roles are switched with Juliet taking poison because she thinks Romeo died.

Sa Sa dresses up as an ancient-day Miss Hong Kong pageant winner once during a dream.

The procedure and selection of new concubines for the emperor is a spoof on the "Miss Hong Kong" pageant.

When Ah Hong learns kung-fu from Ling Gong Gong, one of the key steps in mastering the kung-fu was to castrate himself. He dreams that he is Dung Fong Bat Pai after having castrated himself and became a martial arts master. Dung Fong Bat Pai is a character from Jin Yong's novel "The Smiling Proud Wanderer" (also known as "State of Divinity") who castrated himself to learn his powerful kung-fu.

Ah Nin sings a song from the opera "The Butterfly Lovers" in a dream where he imagines that he's too late and the Princess has already been married to the Persian prince and has a daughter with him.

Sa Sa dresses up as the Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin, in order to do a spell.

When Sa Sa learns English, the way that she says the words makes them sound like the names of some famous actors and actresses. "Orange" is pronounced to sound like Liza Wang's name (Wong Ming Chuen). "Lichee" is pronounced as "lai chi" (sounding like Gigi Lai). Sa Sa says that because it's the Ming dynasty, the fruit should be called "lai ming," the name of Leon Lai, instead.

Sa Sa prays to 7th Sister (Chat Jeh) in hopes of finding love and getting a good husband. In ancient times, this was a tradition of women. They prayed and offered goods to 7th Sister in hopes that they would marry well.

Siu Yuen and Ah Tai dream that they are "Cheung Chui San" and "Yan So So" and land on "Fire Ice Island" and escape from society. They have a son named "Mo Kei." This dream is a spoof on Jin Yong's novel "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre."

Leng Bo and Sa Sa put on the opera play "The Butterfly Lovers."

Nim Chi dreams that she is "Cheung Mo Kei" in an episode.

Nim Fu dreams that he is Na Ja and on trial in front of the Dragon Emperor for pulling out the horns of the Dragon Prince. This is a spoof on the myth about the god "Na Ja," who was very naughty. The story of "Na Ja" can be seen in the 2001 TVB series "Gods of Honour." Benny Chan stars as "Na Ja."

The characters really enjoy Chinese opera because this was huge in ancient times, mostly because it was one of the few recreations available.

The Kams put on the play "Ban Yuet" for the autumn festival. "Ban Yuet" consists of two legends, which are "Chang Er flies to the Moon" and "Hou Yi shoots the Sun." This is a famous fantasy myth consisting of the heavens and magic.

Man Kwok Kau says he wants girls like "Sin Nei" (Sonija Kwok) and "Si Man" (Charmaine Sheh).

Bak Hup dreams that she is the Fairy Enchantress who seduces the Emperor Qi from Chung Mo Yim. The story of "Chung Mo Yim" is a famous Chinese folk legend. It tells the story of Chung Mo Yim, who has an unattractive red birthmark on her face. She had a predestined marriage with the Emperor, but because of her appearance, she has to go through much troubles to win his affection. The Fairy Enchantress is one who has a male and female persona. In its male persona, it loves Chung Mo Yim. Thus, to win her heart, it becomes a female to seduce the Emperor and drive him away from Chung Mo Yim. (In Bak Hup's dream, however, she seduces the Emperor (Man Kwok Kau) only so that she can have him and drive Chung Mo Yim (Hung Min) away.)

Ah Yat praises Ah Nin to be the reincarnation of Justice Pao, who was a legendary judge who helped many people get justice.

Half-a-Day God sings a song that uses the melody of the famous children's song, "London Bridge."

The character of "7th Brother" is a spoof/reference to the classic fairytale "Snow White."

Half-a-Day God says that the "Four Beauties" will have danger in three steps. Ah Yat laughs that he thinks he must be greater than Cao Zhi, who made a poem in seven steps.

The infamous "seven steps" of Cao Zhi was satirized in several scenes.

Putting a limbless person in a jar was an actual torture used in the palace in ancient days. Man Gwai Fei's order to punish the Empress by chopping off her limbs (arms and legs) and putting her in a jar was not an unusual punishment.

In the episode where the Emperor asks for Ah Yuet's "secret" to making sons, Ah Yuet tells him that it's most important to lead a healthy life by eating healthy foods and the right amounts of every food. The modern food pyramid is given an "ancient" look and Ah Yuet goes on to explain the different food groups and how much one should eat. He stresses that it's "simple" and easy to follow.

The eunuch Tsui On shares the surname and first name of "Virtues" producer, Tsui Yu On!

Ying Gei says that only "Monkey King" can subdue a vixen, referring to the "Journey to the West" legend.

Nim Chi was brought up in "Kowloon City Stronghold" to become the infamous bandit, Tai Fung Wong. "Kowloon" is a district in modern-day Hong Kong.