The series is based on Eastern Palace web-novel by author Fei Wo Si. I have been delaying to watch the series Goodbye My Princess since both the novel and series have tragic ending. It is a little depressing to have nothing happy to look forward to in a series. However, the novel is short at 42 chapters, with 5 additional side stories of which are easy ready to be completed in one weekend. I had completed the reading before starting on the series spanning a long 52 episodes.
A good translated version of the Eastern Palace webnovel in English is linked below. Thank goodness for good Samaritans who are into translation!
http://fantasybooksforever.blogspot.com/2016/02/translations.html
The Background & Betrayal
The series revolves around the tragic love story of Li Cheng Yin and Xu Xiao Feng, both prince and princess from opposing end of warring states. Xiao Feng is the princess of Xi country of the western region, living a life of freedom & naïve happiness. Li Cheng Yin is a prince of Central Plains who went to Xi country impersonating himself as Gu Xiao Wu a tea merchant, infiltrating into Xiao Feng’s grandfather turf. In the midst of his mission, he gets to know Xiao Feng and falls in love with her.
Unfortunately, Li Cheng Yin is still focused in his mission and with an army in tow, Li Cheng Yin/ Xiao Wu defeated & killed Xiao Feng’s grandfather. The Western region falls into chaos, and upon realising the betrayal by Li Cheng Yin, Xiao Feng is unable to accept reality.
She tried to commit suicide by falling off the cliff into the legendary Oblivion River, which is rumoured to be able to wipe off a person’s sad & unhappy memories. Li Cheng Yin in his attempt to save Xiao Feng, falls off the cliff and into the Oblivion River together with Xiao Feng. When they are saved, both have lost memories of each other, only remembering events prior to them meeting each other.
Muse #1 : While reading the novel, the direction especially compared with the beginning of the series are quite different. The series provides the ending at the beginning, before going back in time to trace the events that had occurred. The initial chapters of the novel are actually quite comedic, with the portrayal of Xiao Feng as slightly foolish but with a direct, sunny & happy-go-lucky disposition, although a little careless. When the novel takes a 180 degree turn on the direction, especially with the revelations of how both Li Cheng Yin and Xiao Feng have actually met earlier in Western region but has forgotten their memories, it surprises me. Hence, I love that the author is able to bring the readers on a roller coaster ride with the way the story is told.
Regardless of their attempt, fate has tied them together as Xiao Feng is still sent to Central Plain’s kingdom as the bride to the Crown Prince. Li Cheng Yin on the other hand, returned to Central Plain victorious and trusted by the Emperor. When the current Crown Prince accuses his brother Li Cheng Yin of trying to assassinate him, the investigation turns awry against the Crown Prince who then rebels. Li Cheng Yin is tasked to handle the rebellion, which he successfully quelled.
Ascending Eastern Palace
Subsequently, he is crowned as the new Crown Prince of Central Plains. He marries Xiao Feng as his Crown Princess, but also takes a concubine Zhao Se Se from a prominent family. Outwardly, Li Cheng Yin seems to dislike Xiao Feng and prefers concubine Se Se, but it is part of his schemes to investigate and purge people not aligned with him.
Muse #2 : Li Cheng Yin’s character in the novel originally sound like a total scumbag, especially on how he treats his Crown Princess vs his concubine Zhao Se Se. The novel also does not explain much of the scheming that is happening in the background, while the series put a lot more emphasis with direct expansion via other characterisation in the series. Hence, contrary to the feeling for Xiao Feng, I actually like Li Cheng Yin’s character better in the series. He is shown to have more depth in the series, with many of the actions explained vs the novel. Whether this is deliberate or otherwise, I am not so clear but at least I felt like rooting for Li Cheng Yin more in the series. While reading the novel, I was actually cursing at him quite a lot, while scratching my head how in the world did Xiao Feng fall in love with him.
Xiao Feng has a close maid, A Du, who follows her from Western Region. She is mute, but loyal to her, often providing comfort to Xiao Feng who is often miserable in the Eastern Palace since becoming Crown Princess. She is also lucky to be given a maid from Empress Dowager Head Maid Yong, who is meticulous and kind-hearted towards Xiao Feng.
At the same time, Xiao Feng’s Master from Western region Gu Jian is also Li Cheng Yin’s cousin. He regrets keeping his feelings and feels guilty for pushing Xiao Feng towards Li Cheng Yin when they were in Western Region. Hence, he is always around to care for Xiao Feng. With the help of these loyal friends, Xiao Feng who is battling with depressions gets on with her life in the Eastern Palace, living day by day.
Muse #3 : Personally, I like Xiao Feng’s character in the novel more than the series’. I did not like the portrayal of Xiao Feng’s character in the series as she delves too much into feeling sorry for herself. And many of her facial expression & reactions show the level of immaturity she has, often ignoring others’ feelings and the bigger picture especially with her responsibility as the representative princess of the western region. The series portrays all the little nuances to show the selfish side of Xiao Feng, while the novel has taken the liberty to emphasise the loss of memory which exacerbated the slight foolish naivete of Xiao Feng. Combining these, Xiao Feng endears herself more to readers in the novel.
Muse #4 : Gu Jian’s character in the novel is less explained, a lot colder and there is a mysterious aura about him. In the series, Gu Jian plays a more important role whereby he is given a lot more airtime.
Upon being the owner of Eastern Palace, Li Cheng Yin plans his actions meticulously, often pretending to be a foolish & ignorant Crown Prince but slowly but painstakingly removing moles & spies, and the replacing incompetent and scheming officials.
Li Cheng Yin is dependent on General Pei Zhao, Advisor Chai and to a certain extent Gu Jian in his journey to control the imperial court and replace officials who are competent and loyal towards him.
Muse #5 : As the title of the novel insinuated, Eastern Palace is the main theme for the storyline. And the story really paints Eastern Palace as such a miserable scheming place to be living in. The 2 successive previous Crown Princes died horrible deaths, before Li Cheng Yin is even considered for the position by the Emperor. To top it off, Li Cheng Yin has to fake his reactions & emotions in his relationships with so many people. Even those close to him. I find it so tiring for him. It is as if he is living on tenterhook all the time, and he has to pretend and wear different masks with different people.
Muse #6 : Gallen Lo portrays the Emperor of Li Kingdom, and he can play the villainous role very well. His arching of his brow really paints a total scheming thoughts.
Crown Prince Weeding Out Enemies
Li Cheng Yin’s journey as the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace is arduous and lengthy. In his journey, he unmasks so many enemies of his over the period:
- his own Empress Mother’s deeds, finally exposing her to be the murderer of his own birth mother.
- Counsellor Gao’s tight control of the imperial court, finally getting rid of him and his family.
- Even Zhao Se Se, who is not so innocent after all. Originally I really thought Li Cheng Yin is really in love with Se Se. His betrayal of Se Se is just blatantly another mask that he wears to weed out the Zhao family’s influence.
Muse #7 : Zhao Se Se’s character is considered as a third wheel in Li Cheng Yin and Xiao Feng’s relationship, although in the novel at the beginning, it is not so clear-cut. I was never able to root for Se Se’s character, although I have a little more empathy for her in the series as she grows into the personality that she was in the later days in Eastern Palace. As she loses the “love” from the Crown Prince, she loses her security and develops a ruthlessness to protect herself. Defensive stance, at the expense of others.
A Tragic Ending for the Eastern Palace Owner
Ultimately, he is successful in weeding out all his enemies. However, he also loses the love dearest to him, finally losing Xiao Feng. His ending is apt, for him to continue to take over as Emperor but experiencing the lonely at the top. In the novel, he has children with his other concubines even after losing Xiao Feng. However, he never experiences love subsequently, often reminiscing his times with Xiao Feng.
Key Themes
The series actually paints a lot more clarity on the betrayal imposed by Li Cheng Yin to many people. His schemes to keep his position as Crown Prince and at the same time, his focus to rid his enemies and incompetent shows a dark side to the Crown Prince, whereby he seems to be driven by results with whatever means are necessary. Actor Chen Xing Xu manages to portray a more sympathetic Crown Prince with a little more heart. Reading from the novel, I would not have felt any sympathy for Li Cheng Yin.
Driven by such targets in the Eastern Palace, it is really no wonder why people are so ruthless in the pursuit of power. Xiao Feng’s character is just not suited to survive in Eastern Palace. She is too naïve. The series implied her growth in character, whereby she faces the challenges of a calculated life but comes out still untainted and pure. I did not feel the development in her character nor growth. If she really faces off with the issues, she would not be committing suicide & jumped off the cliff into the Oblivion River. If she has really developed, many of her actions in the series will show some level of maturity.
The only thing I felt for her – she really could not face the truth that her family had perished & she is betrayed by the one she loves. I also think she is also unable to face and accept the Li Cheng Yin who wears many masks and hats in real life. In her heart, she loves the Li Cheng Yin (or Gu Xiao Wu) whom she met in Western region who is mischievous, lively and righteous. Unfortunately for her, Gu Xiao Wu is just one of the masks.
Conclusion (7/10)
As you can conclude from the above, I way prefer the novel than the series. The series is a tad too long, expanding too much from the novel. The tragic love story has milked out all the tears that the lovers could have.
The series got a 7, a slight up from an original 6 I wanted to give, mainly due to 2 contributing factors. Chen Xing Xu’s portrayal of Li Cheng Yin, which I like very much and the novel’s influence in the series.
Although not a fan of sad and tragic ending, I am glad that they decided to keep loyal to the novel’s ending. Frankly, after such betrayal from Li Cheng Yin, cold-hot treatment of the lovers and terrible communication lines, it just does not make sense for the two lovers to be together. The trust is totally broken, and how can they even face each other moving forward? Hence, good that the series kept to the tragic ending, slightly different from the novel but near enough.
Cheng's Musings 