Cheng's Musings

Synopsis

Legend of Anle is based on the web novel of Di Huang Shu 帝皇书, which chronicles the journey of a young head-strong girl who is determined to seek justice for her family accused of treason. The Di Family, who are close to the royal family, is suddenly accused as rebels and all members of the family are executed. The daughter of the Di family, Di Zi Yuan (who is close to the young crown prince, Han Ye) is also the only offspring of the Di family allowed to live on but at a monastery in exile. 10 years passed by in a blink of an eye. Han Ye and his sister, Princess An Ning are respectful of the Di family still, never believing the accusation against them.

When the head of the pirate, Ren An Le, bumps into Han Ye (who is in disguise in the nearby town) she saves him and leads her troops to a victory against enemies at the sea border. Surprised with An Le’s courage & straight-forward nature, Han Ye is smitten but cautious. When An Le rides into the royal court to seek for a marriage to the Crown Prince, everyone is caught by surprise, including Han Ye. As Han Ye has promised Di Zi Yuan to be his Crown Princess, he is reluctant to ally with An Le, even as a concubine. As they are thrown into court scheming & assignments to fix the issues of the people, they develop deep bonds and feelings for each other.

To complicate matters, Di Zi Yuan is finally released from exile to return to the royal abode. However, Han Ye and Princess An Ning find her a totally changed person. From a gregarious & open personality, Di Zi Yuan is now refined, meek and courteous, hardly ever a threat to anyone. She is often bullied by the Empress Dowager, who is hell-bent of not allowing any family of Di to marry into the royal family. As the bullying continues, she is often assisted by Han Ye and Princess An Ning, but slowly showing her true colours as well. She is determined to be Han Ye’s wife, but pretends to weak to obtain his trust. Then, the plot twist is revealed, that the current Di Zi Yuan is a fake of whom official Luo Ming Xi (who is loyal to the Di family) arranges to replace the real Di Zi Yuan. The real Di Zi Yuan, true to her strong personality & gregarious character, has gone off to live with the pirates in the form of Ren An Le in the past decade!

As Di Zi Yuan investigates the accusation against her family, with the assistance of official Luo Ming Xi, she touches the nerves of many high-ranking officials. As the investigations deepen, Han Ye becomes suspicious of the situation. While lost during one of the expeditions in the woods, Han Ye finally finds evidences to support his suspicion that An Le is his long-lost fiancé. However, unable to restore her position and clear her family’s name, Han Ye decides to support her.

Upon the final reveal, it is the Empress Dowager who is eager to ensure a smooth path for her son, whereby she pushes the treason accusation towards the Di family. In her eyes, the Di family is a threat to her son’s crown. Upon the reveal, the Emperor grants amnesty to the Di family, including Ren An Le/ Di Zi Yuan.

Unfortunately, Han Ye is injured and loses his eyesights. Determined to cure him, An Le obtains the help from her great-aunt. Finally cured, Han Ye reunites with An Le taking on the Crown Prince role with his Crown Princess in tow.  

Muses

The series is quite typical at 39-episodes, starring leads with Dilraba as Di Zi Yuan/ Ren An Le, Gong Jun as Han Ye, Liu Yu Ning as Luo Ming Xi. At the beginning of the series, it is considered quite fast-paced with the plot exciting enough to prompt the audience ahead. Unfortunately, not even to the first 10 episodes, the storylines really start unravelling unevenly. The pace and storytelling is subpar, whereby I hardly empathise with the characters nor the storyline.

The series paint a love story of Ren An Le and Han Ye. Unfortunately, there is very little sparks for the two. Dilraba is always looking great in any of the characters she holds, but she really doesn’t come across convincingly as a pirate-leading trooper. 😀 The latter part of the series is even more cringey, especially when Han Ye is in the dilemma of being interested in An Le, but holding on to his concept of loyalty towards Di Zi Yuan (who ironically is also Ren An Le!). Worse, the director re-hashes the old tricks of a sick male lead unwilling to burden the female lead at the end. Frankly, a matured Crown Prince and his love interest surely would be better in communication to manage such triviality. The fake Di Zi Yuan is actually convincing in her role, totally getting the audience to “hate” her. Unfortunately, I find her arc a little nuanced. She is given a second chance to repent, and she takes it. But ending with a get-away with her loyal subject Mu Qing is too lenient on the character. I actually find it hard to believe with her tendency to have the greed for more. But well, at least it is a happy ending.

When the direction of the series gives a happy ending to a “villain” in the fake Di Zi Yuan, you would have thought perhaps they had soft heart and will definitely give Princess An Ning a good ending. But no. The director decides to annihilate Princess An Ning by portraying her as a female hero dying to defend the city – with the corrupt officials not helping out, while the lost Luo Ming Xi decides to detour to save An Le. And the worst, she is betrayed by her very close confidante in Leng Bei, the prince of enemy country in disguise. Originally, I thought there is some level of trust & love between the two, but the direction suddenly shifted to continuous hatred from Leng Bei. Poor An Ning died horribly.

Then, there is the lost Luo Ming Xi. Determined to assist An Le to over-turn the verdict of the Di family as rebels, he is invested in the full investigations. Falling in love with An Le is obviously not in the picture, and I like Liu Yu Ning’s depiction of the character. However, I find the direction of the series really shallow. The director puts a love interest for Luo Ming Xi, of whom he neglects and ignores. In the meantime, he is engrossed with An Le. At least he has the decency to be of assistance, and not be in the way.    

Conclusion 5/10

While reading the first few chapters of the novel (I never did finish the novel as the series came out faster and derailed the intention to finish the novel :D), I had the impression that the author paints a slightly laid-back story of a young girl determined to overturn the treason accusation for her family. Lying along the way is her love interest – Crown Prince Han Ye, the often-unfathomable Emperor and the coloured-view of the Empress Dowager, and many other challenges. And the dangerous route that she is bound to encounter. Unfortunately for the series, the direction takes a wayward route. It is not a love story, neither is it a redemption story, nor even a revenge story. The characters are not well-fleshed, the story-telling is flawed with confusing & often unexciting sequences. At the end, I wasn’t even sure what was the storyline all about after all 39 episodes. Perhaps, this series can be skipped.