The interesting premise where both main characters are reborn adds a nice twist to the typical rebirth drama. The drama is inspired by the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420CE—589CE) so the aesthetic, from set design to costumes pay homage to that time period. I rather enjoy the references as there aren’t too many dramas set in that time period. 

The main couple have decent chemistry with fans are really digging their off-screen marketing pushes for this drama. Zhang Ling He has found his groove in this drama. He’s much better in the two recent dramas that I’ve seen him in compared to his dramas last year. The drama has breached 10,000 on Youku’s popularity index, which is another win for Youku this summer. It’s taken the lead in July as the other offerings haven’t fared too well. 

I guess this summer is the summer where many of the books I’ve read over the past 3 years have decided to turn into dramas and air! This is a decent adaptation of the source material and fleshes out several of the side characters. I believe there’s at least one more of the author’s works are being translated to the small screen. 

Final Thoughts

The main aspects of the drama that I didn’t like in the first half of the drama kept getting magnified to a point where I just dismissed my earlier quibbles of Zhao Jin Mai’s costume issues. Towards the end though, all of the negative aspects just kept compounding until I got too frustrated. This bloated drama left a rather bad taste in my mouth because I kept on waiting for the drama to finally get better. The source material is solid but a better drama just never surfaced. The character of the Princess Royal and Pei Wen Xuan all lived 40-50 years and now have the chance to rebuild the country but the actions they take are just so childish. Earlier on, the two still communicated openly, but then as the drama progressed, they just stopped talking to each other and misunderstandings kept on surfacing. I was waiting for the Princess Royal to “grow up” into a true Princess Royal who can hold her own but that never happens.

This then goes onto the major issue I had with the drama. The Princess Royal Li Rong doesn’t have much agency even though it is her story. Almost everything she learns comes from Pei Wen Xuan and Su Rong Qing and then she decides to react. What was laughable was that she was the one in the dark on almost all of the major events that happened in the previous life. In the drama, she joked that her life was a joke and my reaction is, yes it was, then do something about it! But when she does do something, it’s with the help of everyone guiding her to that decision. She doesn’t come to it on her own. From what I recall of the book, Li Rong chose to fight for her younger brother and plotted to keep everyone else safe. She chose to reject Su Rong Qing. She was the one who finally understood her feelings and decided to consummate her marriage with Pei Wen Xuan the second time around. In the drama, we don’t see this version of her. The men all make the decision for her. She never becomes the regal and decisive Princess Royal, but rather the protected flower who is dragged along the way.  

The main couple that I kept comparing the Princess Royal and Pei Wen Xuan to was Du Gu Ban Ruo (ft. An Yi Xuan) and Yu Wen Hu (ft Xu Zheng Xi) from The Legend of Du Gu (2018) 独孤天下. They were a couple who had gravitas, understood the factions at court, unabashedly power hungry, stood on opposing sides, but still fiercely loved each other. That was a sparring and coupling of equals. Du Gu Ban Ruo was intelligent, scheming, and had to make many tough choices but yet I still rooted for her because she deserved my respect. She also didn’t have the benefit of another life’s worth of memories. 

Zhao Jin Mai and Zhang Ling He garnered a lot of shipping fans during the first half of the drama but even those fans were highly disappointed with the final cut of this drama. Luckily for them, they’re set to reunite in Ying Tao Hu Po 樱桃琥珀. I hope they get a better script in that drama.

What I liked

• Zhang Ling He: This is my first drama where I finally “get” Zhang Ling He. I think this is his best leading man role thus far. He really embodies the character Pei Wen Xuan as a sunny, handsome, somewhat calculating, yet besotted young man. I just wish his character grew to more than just that though. He can’t really pull off the “cold” persona that he’s forced to in his other dramas. He’s much more at ease and believable here as a man who wants to protect his wife and wish the best for her. I personally think when his hair is in a bun, he looks very clean and handsome. We can focus on his face! His other dramas where his hair is billowing behind him really detracts from his overall features and stature. 
• Communication (at least in the first half)!: The two main characters actually TALK through their issues! Well, it took them a whole lifetime of guessing, scheming, and plotting so the second time around, the two decide to discuss their feelings. Oftentimes, when I thought the two would end up back in their own shells again, one of the two (usually Pei Wen Xuan) pushes to have a conversation on why they feel that way and how they can move forward. This is really the tactic for Pei Wen Xuan to win Li Rong’s affection this time around. There’s a lot less guessing and a lot more frank discussion which moves the plot forward!
• Clan Warfare: A lot of Chinese books now focus on the power of family clans and I’ve been going down a rabbit hole as to how family clans had a stranglehold on empires in Chinese history. This drama does a pretty decent job depicting how families will stop at nothing to retain power in the name of family rather than for the best interest of the empire. It’s frustrating to watch but it’s understandable and gives more nuance to the motives to all of the characters in this drama.
• Emperor Li Ming: I feel like the Emperor was the only one who was diligently dragging the plot along by having an actual motive. He wants to be rid of the influence of the Clans and will stop at nothing to do it. He was a complex character even though I didn’t like him. The actor also portrayed him with enough gravitas and cunning that I believed him to be formidable foe. He’s over there actually scheming for the empire while the main characters are out battling amongst themselves like children. The domestic violence though, no thank you.

Cathy