Ye Cheng Fu (2023)

A Hidden Gem

The Kingdom of Great Chu is a female-centric world where women’s and men’s roles are flipped. Women hold power and important office, whereas men stay home and do house chores, tend to the kids and are subservient to their wives. Here, we have a female emperor, and all the generals and ministers are women, and a powerful female shizi (世子) who holds the prestigious title inherited through her family. All families’ heritance and titles are to be passed down to daughters, and men are to be married into the women’s households. Courtesan houses are popular where men serve for the women’s pleasure.

Shen Ye (Yuan Hao) has fallen in love with Shu Cheng (Jia Ze aka Claire Jia) since they were both kids because she had shown kindness towards him. From then, Shen Ye disguises as various characters and hides within her circle, secretly protecting her. As the intelligent shizi, the Emperor is threatened by her prowess and military power her family holds, and secretly sends out assassins to kill her. Time and time again, assassinations fail because Shen Ye always protects her in the dark, and she always comes out unscathed.

After saving Shu Cheng yet again in an ugly humpback cover that leads to her falling in love with him, Shen Ye changes his identity and reveals himself to her as the owner of Feng Lou, a courtesan house where wealthy women come to drink and to be entertained by male courtesans. Here, Shen Ye is considered as a stunning beauty in the Kingdom of Great Chu. He is charming and fast to please, frivolous and loves money dearly; but all these are on the surface. Under that good-looking skin, Shen Ye is intelligent and schemeful; he is always ahead of everyone around him, and always has a solution for every problem he encounters. He has multiple identities which add additional mysteries to his character. Despite being such a complex character, Shen Ye is devoted and willing to give up everything for the one he loves. He has so many secrets that he says he would reveal to Shu Cheng at the appropriate moment, this has created a lot of hilarious suspicions and misunderstandings by Shu Cheng. How Shen Ye continues to overcome such obstacles and maintains Shu Cheng’s love for him is brilliant.

I am intrigued by the Shen Ye character. I almost spit out laughing when he wears a veil covering his face when appearing in public or meeting with other women (think of ancient women wearing veils). His visor-looking veil is really ugly and looks funny on his face. Perhaps this is the purpose – to make viewers laugh. Yuan Hao’s portrayal of the character is very believable. He has a face that can look feminine (to be called beautiful in the land of Great Chu), and yet he is also very masculine.

Shu Cheng has to pretend to be a playgirl to make the Emperor let down her guard and stop wanting to kill her. So, she frequents Shen Ye’s courtesan house and proclaims he is hers; she tries to look as bad as possible. She is taken by surprise when she finds out that the man she’s being decreed to marry by the Emperor is Shen Ye under a different identify, Su Rongqing, the only son of one of the Emperor’s high ranking ministers. Even after they get married, Shu Cheng still doesn’t fully know Shen Ye’s real identity and what is under his sleeves. She loves him and yet doesn’t trust him, whereas for Shen Ye, he respects and loves her with no holding back. Despite their sweet romance, the secrecy spurs the plot on.

This is the first aired drama for Jia Ze playing a main lead. I find her acting better than many better known names. As the shizi, Jia Ze manages to bring out her commandeering charisma, courage, earnesty and upstandingness, and yet she also shows her feminine side when she is tormented by the conflict of her love for a man whom she believes to be a usurper, and her love for her country that she swears to protect. Jia Ze is natural and convincing.

The second couple is amazing with a very compelling story. Both Li Zhehao and Peng Yaqi (aka Yakisa) put up a fine performance as a heart-wrenching couple, Shen Cong and Murong Wanqing, who endure revenge and love, romance and guilt. The Murong Wanqing character reminds me of the sweet-silly characters played by Zhao Lusi. In fact, Peng Yaqi and Zhao Lusi look somewhat alike in their aura and demeanor under certain instances.

My Verdict

Unusual, refreshing, great plot, captivating storyline, intense, lovely characters, good humor, sweet romance, fine writing, directing and production. Unfortunately, not many viewers are watching this wonderful drama because decent English subtitles are not available at the time of airing, therefore, the rating here is lower than it deserves.

An enjoyable watch. Don’t miss it!

P/S: A sneak peek of next season seems to be dark and even more intense with amnesia, deaths, and protagonists turn antagonists.

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The Lovesick Queen Maker and his peace-loving & compassionate Wife.

This would have been insane if they made it longer and if it was handled by a better production company with sufficient budget. The main idea and how the story was set up is something that has been attempted for years and I truly feel bad that a potentially good story like this went to a mediocre company who turned it into something underwhelming—disappointing.

Although the entire show is full of plot holes, like literally left and right, I can really see that this type of narrative could have been built into a more comprehensive and detailed platform where it can be given a chance to elaborate and incorporate the real message of the story with more precision. The way it was created and ended felt so rushed, that I myself started feeling bad that it was treated and squandered like that.

Something I initially like about this drama is its phasing—It went by so quickly not wasting any episodes throughout its first half but ended up ruining the other half eventually. All I can say is that their idea of putting up the story like that escalated pretty quickly which causes it to backfire at the very end. I still find it crazy how they leaped through the most important events like it was nothing important. It genuinely felt like the climax was skipped over just so that they can end it—which is a very dumb decision to be very honest.

Another thing I find ridiculous is the fighting and martial arts scenes. They tried so hard to make it look great at first but I guess they gave up on it as the story goes on because the way it was executed on the succeeding episodes was simply terrible you won't even have to think twice to say it's really that bad. It was too evident and crystal clear like they didn't even try hiding it. Hahaha!

Lastly, I just wanna say that the way they depicted women here with resolute resolve is something I truly like. However, the execution is where it all went wrong... such scenes could have ended great and inspiring but for some reason it looked prematurely done. The power and determination is there but the lack of conviction and weak representation made it feel and look like a literal staged play—an act.

P.S. The ML (Yuan Hao) is an expert in playful-cuddly-romantic scenes. I swear! He makes my heart leap countless of beats everytime he acts like that.

Story - 8.5, It is promising and is actually good, however, the people who directed and created it is disappointing otherwise. How I wish it was handled by a better director, script writer and production company with sufficient funding.

Acting/Cast - 7.5, The acting is very inconsistent! I had to pause multiple times and mentally consider a lot of things i.e. dubbing, voice syncing and all because I thought the problem may have been caused by that. But at the end of the day, none of those are the reason why I was bothered. The problem really lies on the facial expressions, emotions and overall body langauge of the actors'. Most of the time I think they do not even know how to act their scenes and is just doing the best they can do and as a result it turned out pretty awkward and bad. Yuan Hao did great though!

Music - 9.5, Music is Good. There's this one song they used I believe on Ep.8 that I can't find the tittle of which I really love and I will surely hunt that one down. For sure!

Rewatch Value - 8.0, It was not that bad for me not to rewatch it. I would say it's worth my time and as I mentioned, is a potentially promising production and could have been more, with better team working for it.

Overall - 8.5, I contemplated so much with this rating. I was set to give it a 9.0 - 9.5 however the unexpected ending made me retract on how I feel about this drama. I understand that they lack the resources and all but I cannot accept that they chose to off screen most of the exciting scenes and eventually ruling all the commotions they have started from the very beginning to a draw. Like, did you all just wasted your entire effort from the very beginning for nothing? Hahaha!

IF you find my review helpful please let me know.

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An interesting romance drama about a female-dominated society.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “liked”.

Things I liked:
That it portrayed a female-dominated society. It made for an interesting twist. I liked the chemistry between the leads—especially Shen Ye towards Shu Cheng (gave me some Ye Hua after he found Bai Qing again vibes). I loved the sis-mance between Murong Wan Qing and Shu Cheng. I liked that the Crown Princess and Shu Cheng worked together in end. I liked that Shu Cheng stood her ground against Shen Ye about what she wanted for her life and refused any other option. I liked that Yuan Hao was the ML in this—its actually why I started watching it b/c of watching The Romance of Hua Rong (though if YH is going to wear a wig, it MUST be a sides-braided one like the one he wore for RHR, because…well, just watch RHR and you’ll know why *fans self, contemplates cold shower *).

Things I disliked:
That it portrayed a female-dominated society as if it would mirror a male-dominated one. As in, the only difference in the portrayal of the society was the gender of who was in charge. I would have liked to see a bit more creativity and critical thought going into what a truly female-dominated society would look like.
The MF little bits of hair in front of the ML lead’s face! OMG! Why do that do that? I spend every second fantasizing about cutting them off. The only thing that saved it (I have literally refused to watch dramas [I’m talking about YOU Novoland Pearl Eclipse!] where they do this to the ML’s wig because it bugs me so much) is that when he was in his role as her husband, his hair was different.
I didn’t like that the two servants always with Shu Cheng were treated like background pieces—in that they had no roles other than to stand there and to obey without question. I get that is how many servants were treated in the historical setting this drama was based upon, but they had so much screen time, it would have been nice for them to have actual personalities and interactions.

Final thoughts:
I ended up watching this twice. The first time on YouTube and then again when it came to Viki. I enjoyed it both times. It’s a good pallet-cleanser. I could put it down when I needed to go do something else, but I never left it on hold for a long time, either. I’m curious to see the four main leads in other things. 

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It had so much potential

I don't know if it's the editing or the screenplay but something is off about this drama. Also, the FL is a poor actress and everytime she is onscreen with the supporting FL, my focus naturally moves to the second FL because she’s just much more charismatic an actor. Then the story feels like we were dropped in the middle of it, there’s no gradual building of plot. Nothing. And then we’re supposed to root for them because why?

Sigh. It’s a waste of such an interesting idea and I wish I could say it's manageable.
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Non ci siamo

Ci troviamo in un mondo cinese antico di fantasia, dove comandano le donne e gli uomini sono sottomessi. O dovrebbero esserlo, perché se ne vedono molto pochi, e quei pochi che si vedono o sono soldati o sono intrattenitori delle case di piacere per le donne ricche (dove però, molto pudicamente, le donne si limitano a bere e ad assistere a qualche castissimo spettacolino di danza…). O dovrebbero esserlo, intrattenitori, solo che sono anche qualcos’altro e, insomma, il protagonista maschile Shen Ye è un uomo astuto e bellissimo dalle diverse identità, i cui scopi non sono chiarissimi. Quel che è certo è che vuole raggiungerli sposando la principessa Shu Cheng, rampolla di una potentissima famiglia. Dice di amarla, fa per lei qualsiasi cosa, ma quali sono i suoi fini? Sullo sfondo di una lotta per il potere fra l’imperatrice e la famiglia Shu, in mezzo ai soliti cliché di antichi massacri, tradimenti, complotti, false identità, malintesi e ingiustizie, si sviluppano due storie d’amore molto travagliate.

Purtroppo lo svolgimento lascia alquanto a desiderare. Le situazioni sono spesso ripetitive, o talmente assurde da far cadere le braccia per terra. Sembra si faccia a gara a minacciare di uccidere, o uccidersi, o farsi ammazzare, o sacrificarsi per la famiglia o la “causa” e così via cantando, e la cosa diventa parecchio stucchevole. Il drama è ambientato in un regno – chiamiamolo impero, visto che c’è un’imperatrice – ma la corte, ovviamente tutta femminile, è minimale, così come le ambientazioni, pochissime, e alla fine ci si riduce a portare avanti dei complotti risibili nelle solite quattro stanze in croce, tra i membri di tre famiglie o giù di lì. Pesante. Aggiungiamoci che solo le donne sono ufficiali dell’esercito ma, quando si tratta di scontrarsi con qualche uomo fra i personaggi principali, le donne perdono sempre, chissà perché. Anche le protagoniste, che dovrebbero essere dominanti, finiscono in realtà per essere sempre vittime della forza o dell’astuzia del maschio di turno. Inutile inventarsi un mondo matriarcale quando poi il motore della storia sono i maschi. Peggio: è umiliante per le donne. Non solo le dipingono come meschine guerrafondaie, esattamente come gli uomini, che ci potrebbe anche stare: il potere corrompe. Ma sono pure incapaci, messe di fronte all’asso pigliatutto maschio.

Il sale del discorso, più dei complotti per ottenere o mantenere il potere, pare essere il continuo scontro fra Shen Ye e Shu Cheng. Lui dice di essere innamorato di lei, che finisce anch’ella per innamorarsi di lui, ma è presa in mezzo ai giochi di potere e non può fidarsi del dolce maritino perché le racconta troppe bugie. Problema è che, a qualunque piatto tu aggiunga troppo sale, alla fine risulterà immangiabile. Il sedicesimo episodio pare terminare in maniera quasi soddisfacente, anche se non risolve nulla e non spiega proprio tutto. Il problema nasce nel successivo epilogo di pochi minuti, in cui ci suggeriscono un finale completamente diverso, che dovrebbe proseguire in una seconda serie. Non so se la faranno, il punteggio di questo drama non pare indicare un gran gradimento da parte degli spettatori. Conviene ignorare l’epilogo o, meglio, non guardarlo proprio.

Che dire degli attori? Indubbiamente Yuan Hao è un ragazzo bellissimo e un bravo attore, adatto al ruolo che gli è stato assegnato, per quanto non abbia fatto faville. Altrettanto non posso dire di Claire Jia, la protagonista, che non mi è piaciuta moltissimo. In realtà, gli attori mi hanno lasciato tutti abbastanza indifferente, forse perché anche il drama in sé non mi è piaciuto molto. Le protagoniste più anziane le ho trovate rigide e poco comunicative e, se la Wan Qing di Yakisa è stata abbastanza convincente nel suo ruolo poco entusiasmante (chi la paragona, almeno nell’aspetto, a Zhao Lusi, non sbaglia), il secondo protagonista maschile è stato terribilmente statico, modello faccia di pietra, ma forse è dipeso dal personaggio. Carini, ma niente di più, i caratteristi.

Il commento musicale è dimenticabile – e infatti non ricordo nulla – mentre i costumi, pur se non cambiati spesso, sono abbastanza gradevoli. Con una eclatante eccezione: il “velo” metallico che hanno inflitto sul viso del povero Yuan Hao quasi come una museruola è qualcosa di indecente, da tanto è assurdamente brutto! Scenografie anonime e un editing abbastanza carente completano questo drama a basso budget che avrebbe potuto essere decisamente migliore. Sorge spontaneo il paragone con Romance of Tiger & Rose: un paragone che Ye Cheng perde su tutta la linea.

Il lato positivo della questione è che si tratta di una serie molto breve, rispetto ai soliti standard cinesi, quindi non mi ha impegnato più di tanto. Probabilmente, se fosse stata più lunga, l’avrei abbandonata prima della fine, e già così ho faticato un po’. So che ci sono spettatori entusiasti di questo titolo, che non saranno per niente d’accordo con me. Pazienza. Io comincio sempre la visione sperando di incappare in un capolavoro, se non succede, non è colpa mia!

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