Katelyn Arshi:

No. 4 is Old Madam Ming

https://youtu.be/hj4-FGZbM3Y?si=sAisBNbrt_jQaqEu&t=84

Yes.  Ooooh there are so many hard spoiler videos around that one. I got lost in them, lol.  Can I go on watching the rest of JOL2 now ???  It may feel like a re-watch, after perusing all that. ? (curiosity kills the cat syndrome).  But that video was really a nice one. Extracting what is relevant to the portrait gallery to find clues for the poster above :

But some of these guys are not on the poster (the three candidates to the imperial exam), and I thought #6 might be Lin Ruofu's subordinate Yuan Hongdao (who was in fact planted as an undercover agent of Li Yunrui)  from S1 and beginning S2 until he got over his neck with the brothel and murder impeachment snare, and reappeared in ep.24. But no, not him.


Anyway, to the first excellent answers, here is a medal that was once sent to me by MDL which I am happy to share with you , Anthony Tumiwa (who spotted the "hidden in plain view" CPP behind the emperor, reassigned as #13.5  , and Katelyn Arshi  who also contributed so much to the Photo gallery on the drama page : thanks to both, but the challenge is still on for the remaining unnamed characters on the poster!  ?

Here is my solution  (pictures from Baidu or screenshots)

#  Name

Related to

First appearing in S1
First appearing in S2
1.  Wǔ Zhú  (五竹)
WZ  -a humanoid robot

Tong Mengshi 佟梦实

Fàn Xián (teacher of “gongfu” and guard as ”uncle Wu”),

Yè Qīngméi (former guard of FX mom)


Ep.1  Savior of baby FX
Ep.26-28

2. Yè Liúyún (叶流云)  one of the four grandmasters

Wang Qingxiang       王庆祥 

Yè Líng’ér (granduncle)

Yè Zhòng (nephew)

Lǐ Yúnruì (clan member)


Not featured
Ep.36
3. Fàn Wújiù  (范无救)

Feng Bing  冯兵

Second Prince (guard and henchman)
Not featured
Ep.3-4, 14

4.  Madame Míng  
(明老太君)

Gui Yalei  归亚蕾

Míng Qīngdà (明青达), head of the family (son)

Lǐ Yúnruì  and Second Prince (faction member)

In charge of Sandafang in Jiangnan


Not featured
Ep.33
5.  Hǎitáng Duǒduǒ  / “Saintess” (海棠朵朵 “Begonia Blooming”)

 Xin Zhilei  辛芷蕾

Emperor of Qi (sister)

Fàn Xián (frenemy)

Kǔ Hé (苦荷), one of the four grandmasters (disciple)


Ep.35 FX met her on the way to Bei Qi capital. She was sent by her martial grandmaster to kill Xiao En. She had fun sparring with FX.

When FX reached BeiQi he realized the “Saintess” was royalty, and close to Bei Qi young emperor.

Ep.14

6.  Xīn Qíwù  (辛其物)

Fu Jia 傅迦 


Crown Prince (faction member)

Fàn Xián (advisor for Department of Rites, as Deputy Chief of Court of State Ceremonials)

Ep. 24 to 26 He helped FX who had been promoted to Vice Envoy at the negotiations with Northern Qi in Jingdu.

Second Prince wanted XQW to switch faction from CP to his.

Ep. 5-6, 9-10, 17
7.  Liǔ Rúyù  (柳如玉)

Karina Zhao / Zhao Ke  赵柯


Fàn Jiàn (wife)

Fàn Xián (stepmom)

Fàn Ruòruò (stepmom), Fàn Sīzhé (mom)

Yí guì pín Concubine (cousin)


Ep.3 She was displeased that FX entered Fan mansion.
Ep.1
8.  Fàn Jiàn  (范建) Minister of Revenue. Count Sinan (司南伯爵)

Gao Shuguang 高曙光

Fàn Xián (foster father)

Liǔ Rúyù (husband)

Fàn SīzhéFàn Ruòruò (dad)

Emperor (Minister)


Ep.1 He carried baby FX to safety in Danzhou, to be raised by his mother ; and saw him again as a grown lad in ep.4 in Jingdu.
Ep.1
9.  Lín Wǎn’ér, princess (林婉儿)

Li Qin  李沁


Fàn Xián (fiancée, wife after marriage ep.25)

Lín Ruòfǔ (daughter) ; Lin Dàbǎo, Lín Gǒngelder half brother in S1 (half sister)

Lǐ Yúnruì (illegitimate daughter) ;
Emperor (niece) ;
Second Prince (cousin)

Yè Ling'ér (best friend)

Ep.3 under the “altar” of the Qing Temple, eating a chicken drumstick and bewitching FX at first sight.

After misunderstandings caused by FX she finally got written proof that FX was the one she had fallen for, in ep.11.

Ep7, 12-13, 24-25
10.  Lǐ Yúnruì  (李云睿)

Li Xiaoran  李小冉

Emperor (foster sister),

Lín Wǎn’ér (birth mother)

Second Prince (aunt and accomplice)

Fàn Xián (her enemy who had her exiled from Guangxin Palace 广信宫 to Xiangyang)

Ep.3 mentioned by FJ as a powerful woman whose daughter with LRF was the reason FX was brought to Jingdu : FX was to marry Wan’er. (Both LYR, FX, and LE were very displeased by that edict, then)
Ep.2, 24-27, 31
11.  Lín Ruòfǔ (林若甫) Chancellor, Prime Minister

Yu Yang  于洋 

Lín Wǎn’ér (dad)

Lín Dàbǎo, mentally handicapped (dad);  Lín Gǒng  林珙 in S1 ep11 &17 (dad)

Fàn Xián (father in law)

“allowed to retire in ep.22”

Ep.6 He brought an accounts book to the Emperor and asked for a cup of tea.
Ep.13...
12.  The Empress  (皇后)

Faye Yu / Yu Feihong 俞飞鸿 

Crown Prince Lǐ Chéngqián (mother)
Not featured
Ep.6, 25, 31-32
13.  Emperor of Qing (庆帝) 

Chen Daoming  陈道明


Fàn Xián (secret dad)

Yè Qīngméi (secret wife)

Princes and Crown Prince (father)

Chén Píngpíng (partly trusted confidant and head of secret services)

Ep.3 Mentioning the scroll painting collection of Gong Dian (Deputy Director of the Imperial Guards; eighth-grade martial arts master.)
Ep.1
13.5  Chén Píngpíng  (陈萍萍)

Head of Qing Inspection and Control Bureau, part control of Black cavalry

Wu Gang  吴刚 

Fàn Xián (protector)

Emperor (head of secret services)

Everyone in the Overwatch council (boss)
Ep1 (he let Fan Jian take FX to Danzhou to be raised by old lady Fan)
Ep.1
14.  Fàn Xián, 
“bastard prince” (范闲、 张庆)

(named Fàn Shèn (范慎) before transmigration)

Courtesy Name: Ān Zhī (安之)


Zhang Ruoyun 张若昀  


Fàn Jiàn (adoptive dad) ;  Liǔ Rúyù("stepmom") ; Fàn Ruòruò (adoptive sister and doctor), Fàn Sīzhé (adoptive brother and publisher)

Emperor (real father)  Yè Qīngméi (mother)   Lǐ Yúnruì (arch enemy mother-in-law) Princes and Crown Prince (secret half brother)

Lín Wǎn'ér (fiancé to husband) ; Lín Dàbǎo (ward and brother-in-law) ; Lín Ruòfǔ (son-in-law)

Hǎitáng Duǒ duǒ (frenemy from Qi who comes to help him in need)

Chén Píngpíng (“uncle” and mentor, protector) ; Dèng Ziyuè (subordinate in First Division) ; Overwatch council (colleague)

Wáng Qǐnián (subordinate and closest friend) ; Teng Ziji (closest friend in S1 first part)

Fèi Jiě (teacher of poisons);   Wǔ Zhú (protector and teacher of "qinggong")

+Professor Yè in modern world

Ep1 in modern world  (+as baby, as child) Ep.2 as young man

Although he apparently had been called to Jingdu to marry Wan’er, he got repeatedly ambushed by killers, such as in Cow Pen street, where a monstrous wrestler had been brought in (Cheng Jushu, 8th-grade martial arts expert, disciple of Reverend He.)

Ep.1

15.  Fàn Sīzhé  (范思辙) “businessman”

Guo Qi Lin 郭麒麟 


Fàn Jiàn (father)

Fàn Xián (younger stepbro)

Fàn Ruòruò (half brother)

Liǔ Rúyù (mother) ; Yigui (nephew) ; Third Prince (cousin)

Lín Dàbǎoo (friend)

Owner of Dan Bo bookshop selling Fàn Xián's books

Ep.3  Flustered that FX challenged his status as eldest son of the Fan family, FSZ wanted to beat up FX.

Ep.3, ... 27-29


16.  Fàn Ruòruò  (范若若)

Song Yi 宋轶 


Fàn Xián (younger stepsister)

Fàn Sīzhé (sister)

Fàn Jiàn (daughter from first wife, deceased), Liǔ Rúyù (step daughter) Yí guì pín (niece)

Lin Wan'ér , Yè Líng’ér (friend)


Ep.1 (as a child)
Ep.3   Overjoyed at seeing her older brother again ; she was the one who always trusted him whatever was said.
Ep.1, 27-32
17.  Consort Yí  / Yí guì pín concubine (宜贵嫔)

Sui Junbo  隋俊波

[Deng Tong Tian in S1]

Third Prince Lǐ Chéngping (mom who doesn’t spare the rod)

Fàn Xián, Fàn Ruòruò, Fàn Sīzhé (aunt)

Emperor (concubine)

Liǔ Rúyù (cousin)

Ep.24   She met FX who had been taken along by her sister Liu Ruyu, to be introduced to the harem and to the Dowager (who was FX target, as he wanted to find a certain key). FX also got introduced to Concubine Shu, Ning and to Li Yunrui. 
Ep.16, 31
18.  Eldest Prince/First Prince /Lǐ Chéng Ru  (大皇子李承儒)

Fu Xinbo 付辛博 


Emperor, "talented concubine" Ning in S1  (son)

Crown prince ; Second Prince ; Third Prince (brother)

Fàn Xián (half brother)

Princess of Běi Qí (engaged)

Not featured
Ep.5-6, 12, 23
19.  Eldest princess of Northern Qi

(北齐大公主, Běiqí dà gōngzhǔ)

Mao Xiaotong  毛晓彤 

First Prince (fiancée)
Not featured
Ep.5-6, 12
20.  Yè Líng’ér (叶灵儿)

Gina Jin / Jin Chen  金晨  [voiced by He Wen Xiao]

(Han Jiu Nuo in S1)

Second Prince (fiancée)

Lín Wǎn’ér (best friend)

Yè Liuyun, grandmaster (grand niece)

Yè Zhòng, Chief Guard (dad, exiled to Dingzhou in S2ep31)


Ep.5 Ling’er had brought a chef to cook meat-like food for her friend Wan’er, who was sick and forbidden to eat meat despite her craving it.
Ep.7, 12-13
21.  Second Prince / Lǐ Chéngzé  (李承泽)

Liu DuanDuan 刘端端 

Emperor of Qing (son)  Concubine Shu (mom, in S1)

Fan Xián (half brother & rival);  First Prince ; Crown Prince ; Third Prince  (brother)

Princess Lǐ Yúnruì (aunt)

Lín Wǎn'ér (cousin)

Yè Líng’ér (engaged)
Ep.7 Second Prince was impressed by the Du Fu poem ; next, in the gardens of his close friend prince Jing/Li Hongcheng (南庆靖子王世子nán qìng jìng wáng shìzi  李弘成 introduced ep.5 35:30)

Second Prince was impressed that FX was not frightened by Xie Bi’an, his guard and 8th grade swordsman.
Ep.(1), 4
22.  Crown Prince / Lǐ Chéngqián  (李承乾)

Zhang Haowei 张昊唯 


Emperor of Qing (son)   Empress (son)

Fàn Xián (half brother rival);  First Prince ; Second Prince ; Third Prince  (brother)


[CP Residence: Yanhua palace]

Ep.3 Gong Dian informed CP that the Emperor had met Fan Xian.
Ep.(2), 4, ..17 ...
23.  Third Prince / Lǐ
 Chéng píng 

(三皇子李承平)

Guo Zifan 郭子凡 


Emperor of Qing (son)   Consort Yí guì (son)

Fàn Xián (“cousin”, half-brother)

First Prince ; Second Prince ; Crown Prince  (brother)

Sāng Wén (boss, at Bao Yue Lou brothel)

Fàn Sīzhé (cousin and part owner associate of Bao Yue Lou brothel)

Not featured
Ep.4, 16, 31
24.   Yuán Mèng (袁梦)

Wang Xiaochen 王晓晨

Sāng Wén (indentured pipa player courtesan of Bao Yue Lou)

Mrs. Wang (acquaintance)


Not featured
Ep.3
25.  Sāng Wén (桑文)

Wang Churan  王楚然 

Fàn Sīzhé at Bao Yue Lou (“Moon embracing pavilion”) brothel (boss of boss)
Yuán Mèng (boss)

Second Prince (through network)

Not featured
Ep.3-4
26.  Hè Zōngwěi  (贺宗纬) scheming scholar

Xuan Yan 宣言

( Huai Wen as guest t role in S1)

Fàn Xián (enemy)

Censorate (newest member, by edict of the Emperor, ep.22)


Ep6  He was buttering up to Guo Baokun, "looking for a Master" during the trampling on Red Chamber's Dream incident. (Introduced as "He Zongwei, Southern Qing Jingdu scholar" ep6 30:26)
Ep.16, 21-23
27.  Guō Bǎokūn   (郭保坤)

Jia Jinghui 贾景晖 


Guō Yōuzhī (郭攸之)Ministry of Rites (son)

Fàn Xián (enemy to ally)

Chén Píngpíng (boss, as Head of Spies in Northern Qi)

Ep.5   GBK trampled on the Red Chamber’s Dream, admonishing the crowd not to read the "filthy" novel.

He got beaten up (ep.9) by Teng Zijing, FX first friend in Jingdu, after FX and Teng suspected him of killing Teng’s wife and son. Mei Zhili, the judge who had to try the case was “retired” in ep.10. 

Ep.14, 18-19
28.  Dèng Ziyuè (邓子越)

Yu Ailei  余皑磊 

Chén Píngpíng (boss, as registrar of the Overwatch Council First Division)

Fàn Xián (devoted helper since FX reawakened his ideals)


Not featured
Ep.8 ...
29.  Wáng Qǐnián  (王启年)

Tian Yu  田雨 

Chén Píngpíng (boss at First bureau)

Fàn Xián (helper & friend)

BàBa (father)


Ep2. He sold a fake “map’ of Jingdu to FX. In Ep5, he was selling unauthorized copies of the Dream in the Red Chamber novel.
Ep.1
30.  BàBa / Wáng Bà  (王霸)

Li Luo An  李珞安 


Wáng Qǐnián (daughter)

note :   Bà means "tyrant"!
Not featured
Ep.1-2
31.  Madame Wáng  (王夫人)

Gao Lu 高露 


Wáng Qǐnián  (wife)
Not featured
Ep.1-2
32.  Yán Bīngyún (言冰云)

Wu Xingjian  吴幸键 

(Xiao Zhan in S1)


Yán Ruòhǎi (son)

Chén Píngpíng (boss, as member of the Fourth Division. Former subordinate of Teng Zijing. In charge of the spies situated at Northern Qi)


Ep.2 + Ep.14 flashback of his pointing a blade from behind the curtain of his carriage.

(He was taken as hostage by BeiQi to be exchanged with the “worst” monster who had crippled CPP: Xiao En.)

Ep.1
33.  Yán Ruòhǎi  (言若海)

Li Qiang 李强 


Yán Bīngyún (dad)

Chén Píngpíng (boss, as head of the Fourth Division, responsible for supervising officials outside of the capital city as well as agents and military organizations)


Ep.14 He resented FX who had been a cause for his son’s demotion out of the city.

(Head of the 4th Division, supervising officials and agents outside of the Jingdu. He appeared to be at odds with CPP, but was loyal and despite his dislike for FX, helped him against Lord Zhu.).


Ep.1

The characters in the above chart refer to the poster below ;  13.5 is hiding in plain sight behind 13


@Frost_edelweiss : well done boss, very detail.

btw, no.17 made an apperance in S1, Liu Ruyu brought Fan Xian to see the harem (forget what episode), they met first prince's mom, second prince's mom, third prince's mom, grand princess Li Yunrui, empress dowager , but minus Empress (crown prince's mom) because she was sick.

and Ye Liuyun should be grandpa of Ye Ling'er, not brother

Yes that's a nice poster too !  Will you tackle it?  So many characters !  I counted 53 ?  But so tiny it's hard to figure them out.

 I do have a big list of characters from dramawiki, but not sure I can recognize everyone + got a bit too tired and fidgety with the last episodes after FX was "operated" on, which were too rushed and choppy, from my point of view. So I am not looking forward to re-watch immediately. Despite the later half of ep36 was a nice end to this "Season" : "I'm back again" said he.  Will we be back for a S3 in 2025 or 2026? Perhaps?  Then, knowing who is who might be useful.

You're right about Liu Ruyu  I seemed to remember that scene but while re-watching on speed to check I could not find it again, so assumed it was my bad memory since Yi in S2 did not look like the one I remembered. Yigui was indeed briefly in S1 ep.24 and was played at the time by another actress. Correcting then.  

And I thought I'd heard Ye Ling'er had a brother, so anticipated he must be Ye Liuyun, but of course, attaining that level was not for young people, and so, I'll change the description to grandpa if you're sure (or is he just a relative from older generation?)   I  have not read the novel, so take what I remember from drama only  :)   edit : tackling the book now, and Ye Liuyun was in fact the grand uncle of Ye Ling'er.

You've earned another medal from my share-able MDL stash (don't know what else to do with them, lol)

@Frost_edelweiss 


 Frost_edelweiss:
Yes that's a nice poster too !  Will you tackle it?  So many characters !  I counted 53 ?  But so tiny it's hard to figure them out.

you missed 2 people. "Shadow" and Wu Zhu. so that's make 55. The person who created this poster is really awesome, he can make people fail to notice these 2 figures, similar to their identification in drama 

 Frost_edelweiss:
Yes that's a nice poster too !  Will you tackle it?  So many characters !  I counted 53 ?  But so tiny it's hard to figure them out.

image upload to mydramalist , the resolution always be reduced. i upload to my blog, so anyone who want the higher res of this poster, please see it here :

https://www.cerita-silat.net/p/joy-of-life-2-gallery.html

Yes, you're a hawks-eyed expert !  So here with Shadow as 54 to left and Wu Zhu perched up around the column  as 55 to right (corrected now) :

Your higher resolution pictures do help better recognizing the faces on the picture. Thanks for sharing! Shall we announce another challenge to name them all ?

And another "medal" for you :

In case you want it, I have an even higher resolution of that poster above, 13285 x 6294 24.5MB

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kEM8dl-KpYBrVOlt5I-F89Floa_4BCnU/view?usp=drive_link

 Frost_edelweiss:

thanks, but  I didn't get "authorization" to open that link...  Will ask my son who is the tech expert in my family,  lol.    Or just have a look at Anthony's higher res posters, while I take my time to tackle the novel, as I toyed with that idea lately, despite the daunting length.

This week, as expected, JOL2 got #1 spot among the TV series viewed in China, and more surprisingly, JOL1 got #4 among the ones on streaming.  Marcus thought "My guess is lots of ppl are watching JOL S1 to prepare for S2, or to refresh their memories."

Sorry, just realized it was set as private. I've changed the setting to anyone with the link can get access.

 Katelyn Arshi:

Sorry, just realized it was set as private. I've changed the setting to anyone with the link can get access.

Thanks Katelyn !  I'll have a look there too.

Ooh very clear, very nice.  Now who is up to the naming challenge  ?

  1. Eunuch Dai
  2. Qin Ye
  3. Hong Zhu
  4. Eunuch Hou
  5. (no name, bookkeeper) Mr. Xu of Jiangnan
  6. Li Hongcheng
  7. Li Chengping, Third prince
  8. Imperial Consort Yi, mother of Li Chengping
  9. Li Chengru, First prince
  10. Li Chengyu, Crown Prince
  11. Chen Pingping
  12. No Name, Eldest Princess of Northern Qi
  13. Empress
  14. Emperor
  15. Fan Xian
  16. Li Wan'er
  17. Li Yunrui
  18. Fan Ruoruo
  19. Fan Sizhi
  20. Fan Jian
  21. Liu Ruyu
  22. Lai Ming Cheng
  23. Yan Ruohai
  24. Yan Bingyun
  25. Fei Jie
  26. surname Leng, Acting Director of the Third Division who is good in poison
  27. Yuan Meng
  28. Gao Da
  29. Yuan Hongdao
  30. Guo Zheng
  31. Deng Ziyue
  32. Sang Wen
  33. He Zhongwei
  34. Lin Dabao
  35. Lin Ruofu
  36. Madame Wang (wife of Wang Qinian)
  37. Baba
  38. Wang Qinian
  39. Ye Ling'er
  40. 2nd prince,  Li Chengze
  41. Haitang Duoduo
  42. Granny Ming
  43. Ye Liuyun
  44. Ming Qingda
  45. Xie Bi'an
  46. Fan Wujiu
  47. Xin Qiwu
  48. *between Ye Chong or Gong Dian
  49. *between Qin Heng or surname Jing, deputy chief of the 5th division of investigation center
  50. Hou Jichang
  51. *between Yang Wanli or Cheng Jialin
  52. Shi Chanli
  53. *between Yang Wanli or Cheng Jialin
  54. "Shadow" 
  55. Wu Zhu

Missing characters (on poster above):

  1. Ye Chong or Gong Dian (see above)
  2. Yun Zhilan, senior disciple of Si Gujian
  3. Xiao Zhu
  4. 3 Great Workshop of Jiangnan: Xiao Jing, the supervisor of first workshop, Ma Xiong Jian, supervisor of 2nd workshop, Hu Jin Lin, supervisor of 3rd workshop.
  5. surname Jing, deputy chief of the 5th division of investigation center
  6. Guo Baokun
  7. Guo Youzhi
  8. Old Man Jin
  9. Daughter of old man Jin
  10. The Head of Qingyu Hall
  11. Android of immortal temple
  12. Miss Shen (wife of Yan Bingyun)
  13. The Widow, Mourning girl that work for emperor and He Zhongwei (ep21 & 22)
  14. Musician, friend of Chen Pingping
  15. Lang Tao, senior disciple of Ku He 
  16. Jing Ge?
  17. Lao Jin Tou, vegetable seller


Hasn't appeared yet in S1,S2 drama:

  1. Prince Jin (little brother of emperor)
  2. Ku He, one of the 4 grandmasters
  3. Si Gujian, one of the 4 grandmasters
  4. 2nd director of the investigation center
  5. 7th director of the investigation center

"Shadow" 54 position now corrected in the poster copy with numbers (ty for making me look again at the high res poster! It was too blurry on my initial copy so he "faded into the background"!). 

 In fact we should now spot and name 21 more characters in addition to the first 34 in the "river outing" poster, I think?   (btw about Prince Jin, he was the one who had organized the first poetry meeting in S1. He's got two names, also known as Li Hongcheng, so he should be #6 beside Third Prince #7 in the last poster.  Somehow you got a numbering glitch?  I don't recognize #5...)

Sorry for not tackling those 21 remaining  myself : I've caught a bout of flu or mild covid (not life threatening, just very annoying for concentration on pictures)... Maybe next week or later then.

edit: I missed a "g" - it should have been "Prince Jing"