The 30-episode series is very fast-paced, and quite different from the usual series that are on air in recent times. The storyline is rather unconventional as the female lead is originally the villain. The series starts off with the hunt for the villainous female lead Hua Qian (portrayed by Zhou Ye who has been exiled) where she faces her final moments but wakes up to a scene which happened 2-years ago. Realising that she is now back in the past, she is regretful of her previous misdeeds and determined to turn over the leaf for a better outcome for her family and herself.
In her past life, Hua Qian is deeply obsessed & deemed herself in love with Zhong Ye Lan, a key incense producer & merchant of the Zhong’s family. Using unscrupulous manner to get Zhong Ye Lan to marry her, she achieves her objective but is unable to maintain any semblance of loving relationship with Zhong Ye Lan. The more she is obsessed with Ye Lan, the more he seems to be driven towards her nemesis Mu Yao. In her memory & perspectives, Mu Yao is able to get the sympathy of many admirers while she feels vindicated even though she has tried her best to fight for what she wants.
In re-living her “new” life, Hua Qian is still marrying Zhong Ye Lan. But she takes a step back to think deeper and choose other methods in dealing with the situations. As she manoeuvres through her past life, she gets different perspectives to the same situations, realising her past one-track mind misses out a lot of “bigger picture”. Slowly she tries to make amend to various people and do more kind deeds, in a way to ensure good karma for her family.
Muse #1 – Obsession drives us to one-track perspective, with no appreciation of the perspectives of others. Hua Qian’s reliving her second life provides a lot more opportunities for her to see things clearly – that she is actually a selfish person who obsessed over Zhong Ye Lan’s affection. By first admitting her own mistakes, she takes the first step to redemption through making different choices along the way. Zhou Ye the actress is able to bring out the determination to redeem herself, at least ensuring my sympathy and ultimately rooting for her to turn over a new leaf.
In the original love triangle – Zhong Ye Lan-Mu Yao-Hua Qian, is joined by Mu Yao’s admirers in the form of Zhong Xi Wu (Zhong’s family head) and Wu Shuo Muo (Wu Family’s next-in-line). In the new life, Hua Qian wins over people with her change in attitude & kindness, including Hua Rong Zhou a beggar-turned-guard who is dedicated to ensuring the safety of Hua Qian. Even Zhong Ye Lan is also subtly changing his heart towards Hua Qian, but ultimately in a dilemma over his own feelings towards Mu Yao. The surprise is Zhong Xi Wu’s interest in Hua Qian, turning from skepticism & doubts to admiration to love, and finally to an obsession as well.
Muse #2 – From the beginning, the chemistry between Hua Qian and Zhong Ye Lan has always been a little off. Hua Qian is obsessed with Zhong Ye Lan’s affection, while Zhong Ye Lan feels guilt & sympathy with Hua Qian. There is little understanding of each other’s values. Frankly, I never feel that Hua Qian is truly in love with Zhong Ye Lan. Even when she gives up on Zhong Ye Lan by asking for a divorce, I did not feel that she feels sorry about it. Through her journey in her second life, she loses more of her obsession, allowing her to feel the views of others’ feelings.
Muse #3 – Even in early episodes, Zhong Xi Wu’s reactions towards Hua Qian have always been a mix of optimistic skepticism, admiration & appreciation. In the original life, I would have been very puzzled how the head of the Zhong family would end up in love with a totally selfish spoilt brat as Hua Qian. In the new life, Hua Qian and Xi Wu’s chemistry sizzles and provides a lot of under-current for the development of their relationship. Zhong Xi Wu admires the steely determination of Hua Qian in managing the situation, but is at first doubtful of her intention. As he gets to know her better and building the trust, he is totally smitten and almost devotes his attention to ensuring her well-being is taken care of. It is quite frustrating that Hua Qian doesn’t appreciate these little gestures, often times missing his original intent to provide a safe haven for her.
Muse #4 – Zhong Xi Wu’s internal conflict of his responsibilities as the head of Zhong’s family and his need for Hua Qian’s love is quite an interesting view. All the way till the end, he has tried to bury his feelings. When he has a chance upon Hua Qian’s divorce, he quickly grabs it. Doing all that he can to protect Hua Qian and showing his deep love. Unfortunately, what is really missing is two main ingredients – mutual communication & trust. Hua Qian lacks the trust in Zhong Xi Wu. Zhong Xi Wu lacks the respect to communicate & explain. How do you trust a person who explains by saying I am doing this for your/ our good? Surely there is a better way to communicate & explain the actions. At the later stages, Zhong Xi Wu is also quite obsessed with his determination to protect Hua Qian & keep her at his side. His obsession spells the doom of their already brittle relationship, and drives Hua Qian further away. I love Zhong Xi Wu’s character the most, and the actor Wang Xing Yue is great at this character. Looking forward to more of his series.
In the original life, Hua Qian is quite the spoilt brat as she is doted on by her parents. She also does not have many trusted confidantes. In the new life, she realises the greed of her father who schemes to obtain wealth & power and the rotten attitude of her elder brother who bullies & molests women (sometimes to their death). She tries both soft and hard approaches to sway her family towards a simple life, and remove them from power-grabbing schemes. Similarly, she makes connection with her trusted maid Qian Zhi in the new life but maintain her hard attitude towards people who betray her.
Muse #5 – Hua Qian’s father is really a greedy person coveting power and wealth. It puzzles me why he would want the power and wealth only to ignore the cultivation for his next generation. Hua Qian’s brother on the other hand, is just a simpleton who is spoilt silly. His attitude and behaviour as a bully are all learned-behaviour. He does it because he could and he gets scot-free from such behaviour. He has never been taught on righteousness, respect & equality. His sacrifice in Hua Qian’s new life indicates that he truly loves his sister and willingly save her without any other ask.
The major plot twist in the final episode is actually a shocker for me. Although I hated the last episode very much (and the ending plot twist), stepping back, the plot twist does make sense. In a way, I think the series really provides a realistic view of the situation, reflecting a fundamental need of a villain who is very much in need of salvation for herself.
Spoiler Ahead – The plot twist is necessary to be explained to provide the context of the final feel about the series.
Hua Qian seems to be living a good life at the country-side along with Hua Rong Zhou at her side. When she awakes in a state of weakness, her second chance in life comes crashing down. All the early clues provide indication that she is in a long self-induced coma under the influence of a special incense to prolong her life. Her journeys in her new life, is just a fragment of her imagination & dream, likely coming from a deep need for redemption.
Muse #6 – Hua Rong Zhou’s character in Hua Qian’s new life is a totally new character. One that she has never met in her past life. And yet, one who is dedicated to her with no ask of anything in return. Her final decision to stay with Hua Rong Zhou is more of convenience, rather than for love. There is hardly any indication that Hua Qian loves Hua Rong Zhou. Of which I would surmise Hua Rong Zhou’s character is a manifestation of Hua Qian’s need to protect her own heart & physical body from harm.
Facing off with Mu Yao who still harbours deep hatred for the Hua Qian who destroyed her family, she faces off with the reality that she has lost her parents & brother to execution, she has been in exile, she has lost her obsessed love of Zhong Ye Lan, and she has also lost her dignity. As she turns hysteric that she is now re-living the third time of her family & loved ones’ prosecution, she returns to a state of unconsciousness, very willing to live in her second chance dream where she is well-loved and happy with the simple life.
Not giving up, her saviour in Zhong Xi Wu (who is shown to be willing to give up his own position as the Head of Zhong family) coaxes her in her sleep, massages and cleans her, providing her with the best medication to heal. The dedication of it all, only for the final scene of his name being uttered by none other than an awakened Hua Qian. An open ending for the audience to interpret.
Muse #7 – I really like Zhong Xi Wu’s dedication towards Hua Qian. Sweetness overload on all the gestures & things that he does behind the scene for Hua Qian. I really hated it when Hua Qian closes up her own heart in order not to complicate the relationship. I believe Hua Qian does not dare to have the expectations for their relationship to flourish, but her rejection really hurts poor Zhong Xi Wu. Realistic in real life, but what a bummer for a love story. 😀
Now, after all the lessons learnt, I also have questions un-answered.
One major one – what does Zhong Xi Wu see in the original Hua Qian? There is one scene where they show their younger selves which depicts Hua Qian as a kind soul even as a young girl. Prompting the questions – did the interest begin from young? And did the spoiling during Hua Qian’s upbringing really changes her base personality?
Next one – There are indications of a deeper conspiracy theory of an internal struggle to covet the Zhong’s family power & wealth in the incense industry. But near the end, the conspiracy theory kind of falls flat in the mess of the death of Hua Qian during the fire & the subsequent plot twists. Who are the antagonists & adversaries within the Zhong’s family power-struggle? What happened to the dreaded Mu family and the threats?
Conclusion 8/10
My final takes – admitting one’s mistakes are never easy but is the starting point of the road to redemption. In life, not everyone gets to have a second chance. But everyone deserves a second chance. Realistically, one needs to move on in life. Having the good and bad experiences enriches our perspectives for us to strive to be a better version of our selves. Always.
Even a villain has their day. There are always different perspectives to any situation encountered. Have compassion & empathy.
The series and the lessons learnt thereof are really my cup of tea. The messaging is definitely better than the usual revenge story, an eye-for-an-eye. I have to say, Zhou Ye portrays the character so well that I was rooting for her second chance all the way. At first, I was so sad that she decides to against the relationship with Zhong Xi Wu. Then with the plot twist, I am sadder still that she really didn’t get the chance to redeem herself via her second life.
The series actually has many surprises and plot twists. On top of that, the pace of the series is very fast, whereby the story-telling scenes guides the audiences along a well-told story. As this series came recommended by friends, I had waited for the full episodes to be fully aired prior to commencing the series. Lucky as the series is just fast-paced and once I started, it is very difficult to stop halfway. What are you waiting for? Grab some chips for the weekend to enjoy this series.
Cheng's Musings 