Like many others, I was attracted to this drama because of Xiao Zhan and Li Qin. I've never seen Darren Wang in anything before so this was new.
Basic plot summary, the story is about a guy (Darren Wang) that was raised by wolves and then subsequently saved by the king. The king brings him up, teaches him how to talk etc and makes him a Prince as an adopted son. The guy gets reunited with his childhood friend who was his first ever friend (Li Qin), the 2 are in love with each other but lots of drama happens between the two of them. It's a bit of an ill-fated lover story - you know the drill.
My thoughts on the drama... *SPOILERS AHEAD*
SIGH. I don't even know where to begin. It's not a car crash of a drama but then again, it wasn't as great as I hoped it would be. I think I was really hyped for this drama because there was so much anticipation from everyone for this drama's release, there were promos for it since like 2 years ago, then it got delayed because of COVID and when it finally released towards end of 2020/start of 2021, everyone was expecting a lot. To be honest, I think a lot of the hype came because Xiao Zhan is a main character (albeit, not the main male lead).
Having just finished the drama today, it's been a bit of a slow burn. When I compare to something like Love and Redemption and Goodbye My Princess, it wasn't a drama I was hooked into and powered through all the episodes on. There are a few points I want to touch on in this drama.
Plot / Relationships etc.
The plot was mediocre, from the beginning you knew Prince Bo and Zhaixing were never going to be a happy couple. What I actually disliked the most was this hot and cold feeling that Prince Bo and Zhaixing were giving us. The whole 49 episodes was basically the flip flopping of who loves who, who hates who and who betrays who. I was intrigued the first time when Prince Bo betrays Zhaixing, when she gets captured and he reveals who he really is but then the second part of the drama fell a bit flat for me. The sudden change in Zhaixing's personality was another thing I didn't really appreciate. I know she was led to believe that Prince Bo killed her family and then the identify reveal that she is actually a Princess of Jin, so much happening that it would change someone but I felt the whole persona of her being cold and ruthless like Prince Bo was a bit extreme - if that's not who you are, that's not who you are.
I also HATED the fact that Ji Chong (Xiao Zhan) was the guy that gave everything and got nothing, he even ended up marrying Zhaixing FFS and even then he didn't get the girl. Or maybe I just had massive second lead syndrome. I've read a few reviews of people saying Xiao Zhan saved the drama and I sort of agree, if his character wasn't there, this would've just been a huge mess of these 2 people constantly hating and then loving each other.
I will say the music in this drama was ON POINT, the OST is great - was definitely one of the best things about this drama, plot aside.
That Ending... *MAJOR SPOILERS*
I never actually expected that Zhaixing would die tbh, I knew Prince Bo was dying but the ending that Zhaixing wanted Prince Bo to be locked up and she sacrificed herself so that Prince Bo could live out his remaining 6 months was quite touching. I actually teared up at the scene where she dies in Prince Bo's arms and then Ji Chong arrives and sees that she's dead, then Prince Bo carries her off in the rain.
One thing I have struggled to find the answer for is why and how did Zhaixing get poisoned?? In episode 48 it was revealed that she had black blood like Prince Bo so meaning she got poisoned and was dying (therefore happy to sacrifice herself instead of Prince Bo as she had less time to live than he does). Did Prince Bo infect her somehow with his poison? I've been trying to find out online but haven't had any answers so if anyone knows, please tell! Someone said it was passed on as an STI which I lol'd at.
I'm happy that Ji Chong finally found love (I hope!) with Princess Bo Na, most of the time I would find someone like Bo Na extremely annoying - which I did at the start when she was a rival for Zhaixing for Prince Bo's love - but I actually ended up adoring her! She's young, naive and uses her brother for power and permission but I love that she is 100% out there for her friends and people she cares about and would be willing to do anything to help them. It was definitely heart warming at the end when Ji Chong returned the amber to her saying it saved his life and then asked Bo Na to travel the world with him, which is what he wanted to do with Zhaixing, basically meaning that he has accepted Bo Na as the woman for him.
I'm disappointed that it wasn't a happier ending for Prince Bo and Zhaixing and it's also ambiguous what actually happened to Prince Bo. The 6 months later ending scene was narrated by Prince Xun who ascended the throne as the new king and he said something along the lines of Prince Bo was never seen again after he carried Zhaixing off. Then he said something about not long after he "followed" her, which I thought he meant he died as well and makes sense given that he only had 6 months to live following. But... the final scene shows Prince Bo reaching for a butterfly in some meadow setting - is he alive or not? Typical ambiguous, open-to-interpretation type of ending for a Chinese drama.
Overall, it was a good drama, it wasn't terrible and I made it through - it's a 7/10 for me.
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