Ning Yi
Sixth Prince of Tian Sheng Empire. Sent by the emperor on a mission to convince the last remnants of Dacheng empire and their loyal guards of Xue Futu to surrender when he was only eight years old, young Ning Yi was severely wounded when the leader of Xue Futu sets off a bomb before he jumped off a cliff while holding a baby (the 9th Prince of Dacheng empire- the last remaining loyal blood of Dacheng…or so they thought.)
Waking up from his coma to find his mother dead, his once loving father now an unforgiving emperor after his older brother had taken all the credit from their mission and became the crown prince, all the warmth in Young Ning Yi’s world is seemingly gone expect the tender care he receives from his kind third brother.
However, even that last bit of tenderness is cruelly taken away from our hero when the Third Prince is framed by the Crown Prince and our young hero is imprisoned in a temple for the last eight years. Harboring no illusions when the emperor released him to act as a pawn to control his other brothers, our now grown up hero sets himself up as the “useless” prince while secretly planning a way to avenge his third brother’s death.
Feng Zhi Wei
The last remaining royal blood of Dacheng empire. Clueless of her birth secret, our heroine grows up believing she is Mama Qiu’s daughter and a twin sister to Feng Hao- Mama Qiu’s son. Thanks to Feng Hao’s disinterest in anything to do with learning, our heroine has been able to attend school as her brother while pretending to be a boy.
As the widow of Xue Futu’s leader (Yap, the one that hurt our hero right before he died), Mama Qiu had no choice but beg her brother, Qiu Shang Qi to take her and the two kids in years ago. Quite disgusted of being forced to accept her husband’s poor relatives, Qiu Shang Qi’s wife promptly thought of our heroine when she hears of the distressing news that the emperor wants to marry her precious daughter to the useless Sixth Prince.
Spunky and exceptionally smart with little patience for “girly” things, Zhi Wei of course wants nothing to do with a marriage that her aunt is trying to foist on her and decides that she should just go tell the Sixth Prince herself that she is not the one he is supposed to marry.
Xin Zi Yuan
As the headmaster of Qing Ming College where future government officials are taught, Zin Xi Yuan has great influence in the palace and is the crown prince’s right hand man…on the surface at least. A good friend of the deceased Third Prince, Xin Zi Yuan is an important ally and friend to our hero as they carefully plan out a way to clear the Third Prince’s name and bring about the Crown Prince’s downfall.
Despite spending most of his free time at the brothel (as a disguise to meet with our hero), Xin Zi Yuan is hilariously afraid of his wife.
Gu Yan (Brother to Gu Heng who was Mama Qiu’s husband)
Forced by our eight year old hero into betraying his brother and Xue Futu, Gu Yan ends up swearing allegiance to the Crown Prince. Resenting our hero but really hating himself even more, Gu Yan will eventually let go of the past and work with our hero so he can make sure his brother’s family can stay alive.
Episode 1-3 (I have covered most of episode one in the character intro so most of the summary will be episode 2-3.)
◦ Worried when sightings of Xue Futu resurfaced along with rumors that the last remaining prince of Dacheng empire is actually still alive, the Crown Prince is afraid that if the rumor is really true then he would lose his position as the crown prince. (He had promised the emperor years ago that all the remnant of Dacheng empire was killed and that was how he was award with the title of Crown Prince so if what he had said turned out to be false then the emperor would have every right to take away his title.)
◦ Zhi Wei befriends Zhu Yin who is a concubine that actually works with our hero.
◦ Showing up at the brothel to return a piece of jewelry Zhu Yin had lost at her house, Zhi Wei meets our hero for the very first time but mistakenly assumes that he is simply a tailor. (Ning Yi had purposefully made sure everyone in the Capital knows him as the prince who wastes his day spinning fabric and making clothes for women.)
◦ Pleasantly surprised to hear that the tailor in front of her is actually one who also works for the Sixth Prince, Zhi Wei stops Ning Yi from leaving and asks him a bunch of questions about the Sixith Prince. Intrigued when Zhu Yin pulls him aside and informs him that the daring young woman is none other than his fiancée, Ning Yi looks back at Zhi Wei with interest.
◦ Ning Yi’s personal guard, Ning Cheng reports to our hero that the only daughter of Qiu Shang Qi- the one he is supposed to marry seems to be nothing like the girl he met at the brothel. Figuring out quickly that Qiu Shang Qi must be unwilling to marry his only daughter to a useless prince and is trying to pull off a switcharoo with his niece, Ning Yi’s eyes flashes with interest when he hears a commotion outside of his door and realizes that Zhi Wei had come to his house under the disguise that she is a servant from the brothel.
◦ Overjoyed to see a familiar face when she sees Ning Yi, our naive heroine believes him when he promises to take her to the Sixth Prince. Under the guise that he wants to see how brave she is AND mostly to make sure she doesn’t spoil the important plans he had that night, Ning Yi leads a blindfolded Zhi Wei to a pavilion on the lake then locks her in.
◦ While busy playing the dejected prince who just wants to waste his life away making clothes, Ning Yi gets word from his man that his little kitten (our hero’s nickname for Zhi Wei) has escaped from her prison by jumping into the lake and was mistaken by the guards as an assassin. Promptly realizing this could be a perfect opportunity, a “drunk” Ning Yi begins to wail loudly that Xue Futu must be back then breaks into a laugh as he muses out loud that if Dacheng prince is still alive then the Crown Prince is no longer the Crown Prince.
◦ Ning Yi decides to check on Zhi Wei…which gives us the lovely tension filled scene of our heroine changing out of her wet clothes behind a screen while our hero is standing right in the room.
◦ Flustered when our hero reveals his true identity, Zhi Wei kneels down in front of Ning Yi but grumbles Ning Yi is a liar under her breath. Amused, Ning Yi counters that it is Zhi Wei herself who was too foolish to see the truth that was staring at her in the face then declares that a foolish girl and a useless prince might be a match made in heaven after all. Disagreeing with Ning Yi, Zhi Wei argues that Ning Yi is not useless but precisely because he is too useful that he has to pretend to be useless. Entertained by his conversation with Zhi Wei, Ning Yi promises her that he will make sure the emperor retracts his marriage decree.
◦ Qiu Shang Qi’s 5th concubine has Mama Qiu’s son kidnapped in hopes that Mama Qiu would be forced to agree to have Zhi Wei marry Ning Yi. (Turns out that Feng Hao was never kidnapped but was tricked into staying away from the house.)
◦ Mama Qiu meets with her brother and reveals the fact that young Ning Yi was the one that had forced her husband to jump off the cliff so if Zhi Wei is really made to marry Ning Yi, then her wedding day would be the day she kills her father’s killer…which would be considered treason and so her brother’s family would be killed by the emperor soon after.
◦ Mama Qiu’s meeting with her brother has the desired effect and Qiu Shang Qi promptly decides to marry his own daughter to Ning Yi.
◦ Still not reassured after her meeting with her brother, Mama Qiu makes a completely confused and frightened Zhi Wei swear that she will never marry Ning Yi or else, her mother’s (Mama Qiu) spirit would disappear and never be allowed to enter back into reincarnation.
◦ We also find out in episode three that the emperor’s health is directly tied to Ning Yi’s. In a flashback we learn that Ning Yi’s mother had somehow made sure that the emperor and Ning Yi drink something that would tie the father and son’s life together. So when Ning Yi had taken a pill to make himself sick, the emperor also got sick. With no knowledge of what his mother had done, Ning Yi was puzzled when the emperor seems genuinely concerned with his health. As for the emperor, he is furious to learn that Ning Yi had gotten sick after spending time with his brothers and wonders if someone dares to kill his “pawn” (he means our hero).
◦ The emperor summons his four sons and in relating what happened the night before, Ning Yi had to confess he had joked about the Crown Prince not being the Crown Prince if Dacheng prince is still alive. Looking at his three other sons who are eagerly hoping Ning Yi would get in trouble for his “joke”, the emperor laughs heartily to show that Ning Yi’s words were indeed a funny “joke.”
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Eeeeeee….m sooo happy you decided to write quick impressions for this series….thank you so much!!!!
The set-up somehow, visually and story-wise, reminds me of Lost Love in Times….can’t explain the reasoning….but m hoping the show is as engaging and well-done (except the ending) as that one and not like Fuyao!!
Thank you once again!!