Release Date: Oct 12, 2026
Total Episodes: 40 Episodes
Where to watch: Viki
Leads: Ryan Cheng (Legend of the Female General) and Xu Ruo Han (The Best Thing)
Synopsis: Set during the Republican era of 1920s China. The Lament of Autumn is a high-stakes, dangerous romance between our heroine, an ordinary student trying to make ends meet to support her sick mother, and our enigmatic hero, the only surviving son of a powerful military family with a dark agenda despite his playboy reputation.
First Impression: ‘I am in trouble! I am definitely going to stop watching after this episode!’ was the internal squeal that kept going off in my head as I watched one episode after another. I finally listened and stopped at episode 8.
One of my C-drama rules for myself is to stay far, far away from Republican era dramas. It was such a turbulent time in China’s history that very few C-drama set in that era can end happily. At best, if the scriptwriter was really pushing it, they could give the audience either an open or a bittersweet ending. For this reason alone, despite being interested in the history and fashions of the 1920s China, I can’t think of a single C-drama I have ever finished that was set in this period of time. I HAVE come close to breaking my own rule a few times since, as one can see from the Lament of Autumn, some of our best-looking male actors look extra dashing when they are dressed in the Republican era military outfits.
So with that said, why did I even start The Lament of Autumn? Sigh…I had just finished watching Legend of the Female General for the second time and the promotional trailer of The Lament of Autumn with Ryan Cheng in his military uniform caught me at my weakest moment…much to my shame.
The Lament of Autumn’s story setup is actually a bit predictable. Handsome and powerful hero falls for a grassroots, hardworking heroine who refuses to bow down to him. What makes The Lament of Autumn work is the great cast, the fast pacing of the story, and the sizzling chemistry. I took a look at the novel this one is based on, and boy, am I glad that the scriptwriters made some big changes to the main characters. The interesting thing is that (at least judging by the first 8 episodes) the scriptwriters actually kept a lot of basic premises and the general character sketch of the novel, but they made enough tweaks to give the story a completely different feel. Our heroine in the drama was given a lot more chance to show off her spunky intelligence, and our hero’s character had a whole lot more depth with his added backstory with his brother.
The novel itself is a story that focuses on the hopelessness and tragic fates that faced the women of this era. Often the pawns of men in powerful positions, the women, in every station of life, seemingly have no control over their own fate, no matter how hard they fight. As you can guess, a story based on that sort of premise would not be giving off heart-melting vibes. Thankfully, judging by the first eight episodes, while the drama will highlight some of the injustices the novel focused on, the drama should have a very squeal-worthy romance (which was definitely not the case in the novel), and if the drama production’s promise come true- a happy and a hopeful ending.
So here is the million-dollar question: Am I going to finish The Lament of Autumn? Umm…maybe? That answer completely depends on whether or not the drama production sticks to their promise of giving us a happy ending. If my will holds firm, I will only go back and finish The Lament of Autumn once it finishes airing. My faith in drama productions’ promise of a happy ending has been utterly wiped out thanks to A Journey to Love, so I am not taking any risks.
Novel Ending Spoiler Ahead….
Seriously…. Spoilers….
Novel Ending: (I don’t suggest reading this until the show ends if you are currently loving the show and don’t want anything distasteful in the novel to leave a bad taste in your mouth.)
*Happily engaged to her boyfriend, Ye Ping Jun’s dream of a blissful marriage was dashed when her boyfriend was thrown into prison, and the only way she could save him was to agree to become Yu Chang Xuan’s woman.
*Yu Chang Xuan didn’t force Ye Ping Jun to accept him right away but was very patient with her until she finally opened her heart to him. The couple shared a blissful time until an encounter with some thugs caused Ye Ping Jun to lose the baby she and Yu Chang Xuan had been very excited to welcome into their lives.
*Yu Chang Xuan mistakenly believes that Ye Ping Jun suffered a miscarriage because she had voluntarily thrown herself into the path of harm in order to save her ex, Liu Dong Qin. Furious that Ye Ping Jun would sacrifice their baby so easily for her ex, Yu Chang Xuan flies into a jealous rage. Heartbroken over the loss of her baby and Yu Chang Xuan’s willingness to believe such ridiculous lies about her, Ye Ping Jun leaves.
*Ye Ping Jun and Yu Chang Xuan do get back together briefly later on, but Ye Ping Jun would then be kidnapped by her ex and held hostage. Physically and mentally tortured by the very man she had once loved and sacrificed her dignity for in her youth, Ye Ping Jun loses all hope after she gives birth to Yu Chang Xuan’s baby and sees Yu Chang Xuan’s marriage announcement in the paper. (The baby was supposed to be killed under Liu Dong Qin’s order, but the delivery doctor was able to smuggle the baby out.)
*Horrified that Liu Dong Qin is ready to inject her with drugs in order to control her, Ye Ping Jun runs her head straight into the wall. By the time Ye Ping Jun recovers from her head injuries, she talks and acts like a young child.
*On the morning Yu Chang Xuan’s army finally takes over Liu Dong Qin’s city, Ye Ping Jun manages to kill Liu Dong Qin with a dagger. Yu Chang Xuan would pass right by Ye Ping Jun on the street. He, in all his glory, while she lies on the back of a horse-drawn buggy being carried away, thin as a stick. Ye Ping Jun most likely would’ve been able to catch Yu Chang Xuan’s attention if she really wanted to, but judging by the fact that her last remaining thought was that sweet whisperings of love are just useless imaginations, she probably didn’t see the point.
*The story then jumped 18 years later…and took an even more disturbing turn. Yu Chang Xuan gets involved with an 18-year-old girl before finding out that she might actually be his daughter with Ye Ping Jun. Understandably horrified, he then does the strange thing of killing the girl’s parents and her brother. Her innocent and passionate love turned to pure hatred, the 18-year-old girl poisons Yu Chang Xuan’s daughter and then gleefully informs him that Ye Ping Jun gave birth to a boy. So, yes, Yu Chang Xuan not only killed the couple who were kind enough to save his son and raise him as their own, but he also killed his only son.
*It is interesting that, as harsh as the fates the author gave to the women in the story were, the men really weren’t all that happy either. The men ‘loved’ sincerely…it’s just that their sincerity seemed rather useless and laughable when it didn’t stop these men from hurting the women they ‘loved’.