The series is 40-episode, with the 1st episode providing the background of a reincarnation for the male and female leads – Li Rong (portrayed by Zhao Jin Mai) and Pei Wen Xuan (portrayed by Zhang Ling He). In the original lifetime, Li Rong is the Eldest Princess whereby she married Pei Wen Xuan a young and uprising official to enhance their political tractions. Although their relationship starts off on good footing, the journey in the next 2 decades towards power shakes their foundation which result in a lot of misunderstandings. They grew apart with Li Rong spending more time with eunuch Su Rong Qing while Pei Wen Xuan supports the newly crowned emperor (Li Chuan who is Li Rong’s younger brother). As the royal brother and sister grows older, their stance diverge and conflicts further separate their close kinship.
The big pow-wow comes at the deathbed of Li Rong, whereby she orders the assassination of Pei Wen Xuan at Su Rong Qing’s instigation. When the husband & wife passes on, both found themselves as their younger selves before their arranged marriage. Astonished but also relieved for a second chance, Li Rong reviews her chances of changing the course of history and plots for different decisions at critical point of time.
Second Chance & New Perspectives
However, she still ends up choosing Pei Wen Xuan as her husband. When she finds out Pei Wen Xuan is also reincarnated, the couple agrees on the marriage link with clear separation on their private life. As the two maneuver through their 2nd chance in life, they also encounters surprises especially for Li Rong. In her previous life, she is head-strong and hardly pays much attention to the well-being and real needs of others close to her. As she sees a different perspective in this new lifetime, she finds out more about her close family and friends especially comparing her understanding of them during her younger days and what they have become over time.
- Li Chuan – Her brother is a more care-free soul (instead of the prim & proper Crown Prince that she hopes for him to be to be the ruler), who felt extremely burdened and stressed as he takes on the big responsibility as Crown Prince and subsequently the Emperor. As he loses his own freedom, then his love and even his respect for his sister Li Rong, he becomes extremely cornered whereby he describes that there is a demon inside him who is taking over. As Li Chuan grows into his fate of being the Emperor, he becomes a loner and amass his misery not known to Li Rong. The misery becomes resentment, which turns into suspicions and drives significant gaps for the brother and sister.
- Shang Guan Ya – Her friend and in previous life, the Empress married to Li Chuan seems to be virtuous, understanding & gentle. However, as she is exposed to the younger version in the new lifetime, Li Rong finds Shang Guan Ya to be direct, playful, ambitious & tomboyish. To an extent, she is also rejecting the life as a court lady. Overtime Li Rong finds out that Shang Guan Ya agrees to be the Crown Princess to Li Chuan solely to advance her family’s ambition, giving up her only love with Su Rong Hua (Su Rong Qing’s brother). In her own struggles in the palace and holding no love with Li Chuan, she ultimately betrays Li Chuan and had an affair to give birth to a prince. It is precisely because of this, Su’s family is terminated. While Su Rong Qing is spared but still castrated only due to the appeal by Li Rong
- Parents Li Ming & Shang Guan Yue – Even in previous life, Li Rong is always wary of her relationship with father Li Ming. However, she has been able to obtain his trusts by abiding the rules and endearing herself to him. Although both parents Li Ming and Shang Guan Yue are also standing on opposite ends in the power-grab (Shang Guan Yue backed by her powerful Shang Guan family representing the noble family while Li Ming is determined to obtain his own power by redistributing the power & wealth of the noble family). With such contrasting agenda, the Emperor and Empress push and pull, living with suspicions & wariness with Li Rong and Li Chuan in the midst in the tug of war.
- Su Rong Qing – Technically Li Rong’s lover in her past life, she finds her feelings with him entangled but realises she is still wary of Su Rong Qing. The pity she feels for him in the past life is no longer there due to circumstances, but the pushback on feelings seem to lie on the assumptions that Su Rong Qing will always prioritise family over his own personal feelings.
Last but not least the 2nd chance provides a new perspective to her husband Pei Wen Xuan, and totally surprises her. As she goes through another lifetime with him, she slowly realises that she has misjudged him significantly, often misunderstanding his intention in the past. Pei Wen Xuan, in his revival in the 2nd lifetime, reflects significantly on the past. And he also actively strives to change his own reactions as he realises his deep feelings for Li Rong. He becomes less egoistic, emphasising on open communication & transparency in his intention to reduce the misunderstandings.
As the journey through the 2nd lifetime, Li Rong starts to appreciate Pei Wen Xuan’s thoughtfulness. Wary to reciprocate, she is selfishly guarding her own feelings but Pei Wen Xuan is not giving up so easily. Early on, Pei Wen Xuan is already well-aware of his deep feelings for Li Rong and aligns his actions to her. The chemistry for the leads are average, but I do find myself rooting for Pei Wen Xuan as he has sacrificed himself too much for Li Rong. The only one scene that I find Li Rong having a bit more consideration for Pei Wen Xuan is when he is bullied and caned in his own family home, whereby she finds how difficult the path is for Pei Wen Xuan – building from nothing but scratch to a big cobweb of spies, relationships & official titles. Even with such understanding, she stood up for Pei Wen Xuan but still does not fully open her heart to the poor guy. The worst treatment she did to Pei Wen Xuan is when she totally annihilates his “intended romance” of spending time with her in a sea of her favourite flowers. Instead of enjoying the time spent, she is more invested to use the situation to rid her enemies, totally resulting in the clueless (and slightly romantic fool) Pei Wen Xuan into such a foolish situation. Poor guy…
The series also uses the fight for throne as the backdrop, with the noble family fighting for their survival. The Emperor (Li Rong’s father) is always wary & suspicious, providing a platform for his consorts and two legitimate princes to fight for the throne. His downfall is the method he has used to sow discords, resulting in the lack of trust within the family. Although the story is told as such, there seems to be a lack of chemistry and the story-telling is quite lacking on this important arc. Even during the rebel, the story seems to pivot towards Li Rong, rather than how the struggles of the royal family
Su Rong Qing’s character is meant to be the antagonist but the way the series portray the character is a little confusing. He starts off with avoiding Li Rong (even though he is also reincarnated). He seems to struggle in a conflicted manner to protect his family and wanting to be part of Li Rong’s life. As the stories unveiled, instead of learning from his past mistakes, he takes the offensive and seems to turn into a cold-hearted person taking decisions that isolate himself more. The chemistry he shares with Li Rong is just not right. The stubborness in Su Rong Qing’s character and ego probably spells his doom.
Comparison with Webnovel
There is an unfinished English translation of the webnovel below. Haven’t finished reading the webnovel, thusfar, the series is very much reflective of the webnovel. My main grouse is I felt that the series paid much more attention to Li Rong as a character, smoothening her rough edges to make her more likeable. When I was reading the early part of the novel, Li Rong comes across as self-absorbed and extremely selfish. Almost bull-headed in her decision-making, never taking into consideration of others’ feelings. Her wariness and lack of openness to kindness by others are driven by her own suspicions. On the other hand, the series totally neglected the growth of Pei Wen Xuan as a character especially in his journey in the 2nd lifetime.
Reading the novel, the character that calls out to me is actually Pei Wen Xuan. The one who learns from his mistakes, sensitive, kind, compassionate & always conceding to achieve harmony with Li Rong. The reincarnated Pei Wen Xuan gives a lot of space and time to Li Rong, which luckily she finally realises how much Pei Wen Xuan means to her. Without Pei Wen Xuan’s care & warm heart, she will not be able to turn around many of the tragic lives of her family and friends.
Conclusion : 7/10
The series is quite fast-paced, quickly picking up pace to tell the backdrop and introducing the main characters of Li Rong and Pei Wen Xuan, and the supporting characters. I am invested in the story solely because of Pei Wen Xuan the character in the story. Very unfortunately, the series has downplayed the character, slightly diminishing his role & magnamity in the series. Reading the novel provides a lot more nuances to the character, and his thought process. Watch the series if you want a strong female lead with a supporting spouse. If you are looking for an equal footing of both male and female leads, better to catch another series such as Prisoner of Beauty.
For the ending, it is kind of apt especially considering how ambitious is Li Rong. Li Rong gets the throne, and fully supported by Pei Wen Xuan in her ruling. But I really hated the ending. I felt that she doesn’t deserve the throne. The series painted her as a likely benevolent ruler, giving up her peaceful life to protect her reluctant Crown Prince brother, finding a balance between the noble families and the greater good of the country. I felt that she has always been ambitious, and she is likely to fight for the throne. She is lucky as her naive & kind brother is not interested to be the ruler and prefers a carefree life with his love. I would really rather the series give her a bit of a backbone, to show her more ambitious side, supported by a willing & loving spouse in Pei Wen Xuan. That would have been a more satisfying & believable storyline to me.
Cheng's Musings 