A 40-episode series, with focus on the journey of an unlikely couple – Ning Yuan Zhou, Head of Six Direction Department of Wu Kingdom and Ren Xin/ Ru Yi, previous Left Envoy of Red Guard of An Kingdom. Ru Yi infiltrates the Wu Kingdom in her attempt to investigate the murder of the Empress of An Kingdom, for which she is accused of murder. In her journey, she meets Ning Yuan Zhou, who is tasked to accompany Princess Yang Ying (who disguises as Prince Li of An Kingdom) to negotiate for the release of Emperor Wu who is captured during the Wu-An battle. Ning Yuan Zhou reluctantly agrees to accompany Princess Yang Ying in order to seek royal pardon and redemption for his comrades who were accused as traitors during the losses in the Wu-An battle. He negotiates a pact with Ru Yi who will assist with training Princess Yang Ying.
In their journey to An Kingdom, Ning Yuan Zhou brings together a team with their specialties consisting Yu Shi San (the flamboyant ladies’ man with special attacks with hidden weapons), Sun Lang (the happy-go-lucky warrior with great strength and a love for cats), Yuan Lu (young genius creator of various devices for warfare) and Qian Zhou (serious introvert with medicinal knowledge). As they travel the thousand of miles north to An Kingdom, they faces various challenges.
During the journey, Princess Yang Ying matures the most. From a timid princess, she learns the hard & cruel life on the road. Facing off with bullying officials, she learns to use her royalty status to intimidate the bullies. Having to disguise as a prince and male, she learns to read in between the lines and the strategies during discussions. Her enlightment comes when she is waken up from her love-stricken status with royal guard Zheng Qing Yun who betrays her. In her anger, she kills him and hardens her own heart to face the life of a true royal princess with values. As she learns to maneuvre the politics & diplomacy of the 2 kingdoms, she treasures the freedom in choices she has. Although ambitious, she retains her love for the people and treasures the sacrifices that people made. Her ideas for solutions to her problems are out of the box. I love the fact that she offers herself in marriage to salvage the situation in An Kingdom.
Muse #1 : I actually like Princess Yang Ying’s character. Her growth shows her good fundamentals & beliefs, a good person at heart. She absorbs all the good teachings, allowing her to differentiate between good and evil, making her own choices as she goes along. Timid at the start, growing confidence as she experiences life.
Her brother, the Wu Emperor, also matures as a person. Initially a cruel & selfish emperor who chooses to go to war at whims, he is imprisoned in his rival’s kingdom. Meanwhile back in his own kingdom, the royal family is already fighting an internal battle to reign supreme for the new emperor’s title. As he is rescued, he faces off with the harsh reality that he has no loyal nor trusted subjects, and barely gets the respect as an emperor. Feeling the guilt & remorse, he changes for the better with better understanding of the sufferings of the people.
The An Emperor on the other hand, is one person who is cruel with bad intention all the time. Liaising with Beipan tribe for benefits, cruelly using Red Guards and spies to do his dirty deeds, never trusting his own family and worst, never putting his own subject’s well-being at heart. His ending is apt but abrupt, and I keep thinking how can the security for the royal family so bad.
The series also introduces Duke Qing (Li Tong Guang) who is the disciple of Ren Xin. With a humble background as the illegitimate son of the eldest princess of An Kingdom, he is bullied and the underdog. An eccentric warrior, he is cold and calculative, only with eyes to seek revenge for his mentor Ren Xin, whom he thinks died in prison. When he finds his mentor still alive, he goes berserk with his emotions thinking he is in love with his mentor. After Ren Xin rejects him, he chooses his own ambition – liasing through a proposed marriage with Chu Yue of Sha Xi tribe and targets to be the Regent, assisting the child 3rd Prince to govern the country.
Muse #2 : This character is really an eccentric one, and very difficult to like. As an underdog, his character should be easy to root for. However, his focus is always wrong. His obsessions with his mentor Ren Xin, acceptance by others and especially for power are so powering that it often clouds his judgement. He is overly emotional, stubborn and always loses his mind when it comes to choosing the safety of his mentor and the road to power. Although he is given so many chances, and teachings by both Ning Yuan Zhou & Ren Xin, he still turns emotional and unable to think for the greater good. A disappointing character.
The other team members within the journey are also individuals on their own journey. Each with their personality, but holding on to great comradeship during battle. Their close friendship is great to watch, but a little sad as many of them died in battle. The camaderie & the jokes at the early part of the series for the group is really enjoyable. But their death at the end is realistic but saddening. In a way, it also shows great leadership in Ning Yuan Zhou who is able to attract followers who are faithful and loyal. His deep care and concern for his team members with good understanding helps foster great teamwork.
The love story between Ning Yuan Zhou and Ren Ru Yi is actually an anti-climax. Their initial attraction to each other and the chemistry is great. As they got together early on in the series, the later part of the series give less importance to their love story, but will on and off remind the audience of their deep love for each other. Ren Xin/ Ru Yi is actually a loner, but has received the grace of the Empress of An Kingdom which preserves her naivete in the political struggles of the royal family. Ning Yuan Zhou on the other hand, is often the big brother pulling the team together. With many similarities in their jobs, both are able to empathise with each other and hits it off quite immediately. Their romance is also considered healthy with a lot of mutual respect and discussions, rather than guessing games.
Muse #3 : Taking some lessons from the couple’s journey, it is really a good lessons on forging great relationship & staying together. Respect, discussion, open & honest. All great values for relationship. I think I like Ru Yi the best for being so decisive to have Ning Yuan Zhou as the father to her child, without even much consideration for love. 😀
Muse #4 : However, while the couple is filmed with quite a number of kissing scenes, I kept wondering whether how Liu Shi Shi’s husband will take it. 😀 And when Liu Shi Shi first appeared at the beginning as Ren Xin the assassin, she looks a little different compared with her previous series. Am a little taken aback.
The ending actually feels rushed, and trickled with big battle scenes which are unfortunately not the best. There are many opportunities for expansion on some of the characters, their own stories and the subsequent lives they had. The story ends up feeling messy, with sacrifices of many people at the end. The final marriage for Li Tong Guang and Princess Yang Ying is a surprise, although I do feel that it is likely that Princess Yang Ying will be a positive influence and a calming hand to manage the emotional Li Tong Guang.
I think the worse is the death of both Ning Yuan Zhou and Ru Yi for the sake of saving Li Tong Guang, to ensure he lives as the Regent. The final 5 minutes tried to remedy this by giving an open ending showing a potential scenario that the two are still alive after more than 10 years, with children of their own.
Muse #5 : Frankly, a lame open ending and so unnecessary. I would have way preferred it to keep the leads as dead, and move on. There are quite a number of loose ends which I thought the series could do better to provide some insights into the choices that the characters made. Example – the royal family of Wu Kingdom which turns out way better than An Kingdom. The abrupt end also made me curious about Li Tong Guang’s reign as Regent, with his partner in Princess Yang Ying. Well – it is what it is.
Conclusion : 7/10
Reluctantly giving this a 7 only for the fairly good storyline of the side characters. Perhaps my expectations are a little raised for this series, especially with the 2 leads in Liu Shi Shi and Liu Yu Ning. Unfortunately, I keep thinking if only the series or the plot is better written, or if only the character is a little more rationale, or if only the direction of the story could focus on some of the side characters. If only….. which indicates the waste from the direction of the series which leads to the final product. Watch it only if you are a fan of the leads.
Cheng's Musings 