“Stand by Me (SBM)” or previously known as “Dream of Chang’An” is perhaps not your typical palace drama because the struggles involved an all-powerful eunuch, the Emperor and an unknown Third Force, which remains a mystery until 2/3rd into the series. The strength of this costume c-drama lies in its intricate, complex and highly entertaining storyline with various sub-plots. Palace drama will always be compared to “Nirvana In Fire (NIF)” – the gold standard in this type of genre. To me, the plots and subplots of SBM are much better than NIF as you are left guessing and wondering of what would happen next. You are left at the edge of your seats; always looking forward to the next episodes. Even in NIF, you know the ML will eventually achieve his ultimate goal of getting his close friend to the throne. In SBM, this is not so clear cut, as there are choices to be made by the FL whether to side with the killer of her family or with her elder sister bent on revenge.

The first time I was aware of this period drama was when Cheng Yi’s “Love and Redemption (L&R)” and “The Promise of Chang’An (PoCA)” premiered back to back last year featuring the same male lead actor. Cheng Yi was quite unknown before L&R but his popularity sky-rocketed after the double releases and the Studio rode on this sudden and unexpected rise of Cheng Yi’s fame by releasing the stills of “Dream of Chang’an”. More Cheng Yi’s period drama with an almost identical title to PoCA and the cast that resembles a mini reunion of L&R, minus Yuan BingYan. No wonder after its release, the Producer changed the series title to something different and distinguishable as there are tens of historical Chinese dramas with “Chang’An” in their title names.

The cast is not just full of L&R but also PoCA actors. Not surprising since the Producer of “Stand By Me” (SBM) is also the producer of both L&R and PoCA. The actors are mainly from H&R Century Pictures. Personally, I like the line-up and familiar with the works of most of the cast. 3 out of 4 main leads in L&R, except Crystal Yuan, are present in this 49-episode costume drama. Cheng Yi’s role is the typical tormented soul just like in L&R and PoCA. In L&R, he died 9 times and coughed blood on countless occasions. In PoCA, our handsome male lead, who happened to be the most powerful God of War of the empire, did not get the love of his life and died tragically - alone and miserable. In SBM, Cheng Yu is again a forlorn figure – misunderstood and despised by all except the Female Lead (FL). I am so used to seeing this type of acting from Cheng Yu, and his trademark of clenching his fists whenever he’s repressing his true feeling, that his acting does not raise any eyebrow for me anymore. Zhang YuXi plays a porcelain doll who is unabashedly loyal to ML, but with a lethal swordsmanship. A combination of beauty and brawn, but with added naivety, childishness, and innocence with undying devotion towards the ML. Not really my cup of tea for FL characteristics, but this type of stereotype for FL is a favourite character in Chinese dramaland, where all leading ladies even in their 30s of early 40s like Yang Mi, Zhao Liying, Tiffany Tang, Zhang Ziyi, etc love to take up the role.

I love the characters of the other leading figures – Yan Xiu, Princess Misha, Qiu YanZhi, Prince Guang and Cheng Xi. Yan Xiu is a monstrous killing machine who is soft at heart, and in love with his superior – YanZhi. But he does not show any weakness because of his feeling towards YanZhi; and is steadfast and committed in carrying out his countless missions. YanZhi is driven by revenge is in the mould of Mei ChangSu from NIF, and I do wish to see a happy ending for her, but I know that would be impossible. Princess Misha is another lovable character. She is just a side story and I would prefer more screen time for her, but her character reminds me a lot of Mo ShanShan of EverNight series – my most favorite character in Chinese dramaland alongside Zhao Min from the third instalment of the Condor trilogy by Jin Yong. Then, the baby-faced Cheng Xi and her absolute resolve and determination comes what may to get her half brother on the throne. But last but not least, Prince Guang, the miracle physician who should have become the Emperor instead of our ML. You know in any Chinese period dramas, a miracle doctor/physician is a must because you can’t get the ML or FL to die half-way, because they could only die at the end like Bloody Romance, Goodbye My Princess, Legend of YunXi, Legend of Awakening, etc but I digress….

Special mention must be made to Mickey He or Qiu ZiLiang. He especially caught my attention in L&R as the father of Cheng Yi (Sifeng) and Master of LiZe Palace. Everytime he appeared on screen, I cringed. His character as the Master of LiZe Palace was like a buffoon, rather than an eccentric figure. In “Stand By Me”, his acting or overacting to be precise was especially bad and atrocious. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry back then when watching L&R and having the sense of deja-vu again in this drama. I get it that Qiu Ziliang was never a likable character. But his constant rapid eye movement and twitching of his cheek were certainly over-the-top. It did not look natural, and a distraction to the whole scenes. There were times when I was perplexed by his reaction and facial expression such as at the end of Episode 31 when Prince An died from poisoning in his presence. I don’t pinpoint any bad acting for as long as I could remember - only bad casting – but Mickey He takes the cake. He stood out like a sore thumb and I have to mention him here to get it off my chest.

Now, to why I consider “Stand By Me” as one of the best costume period dramas of 2021. THE STORYLINE. It has one of the best storylines of palace drama. My pet peeve with c-drama in general is that I could watch the first few episodes, and know how the whole drama is going to end up. There are no surprises. The main plot takes up 80% of the screen time, and various, sometimes, meaningless sub-plots are included to fill up the time-slot. Not here, though. The main plot, ie the love story between Qi Yan n Cheng Ruoyu does not take too much screen time, but still a bit too much for my own liking (not as bad as Ancient Love Poetry). Can’t stand watching a couple constantly professing love for one another. Then various sub-plots from Qiu YanZhi/Yan Xiu, the Third Force, Cheng Xi and the Purple Bureau, the head Eunuch, Princess Misha and her Army, etc. These sub-plots are integral to the whole storyline of the power struggle between the head eunuch and the puppet Emperor, and not just acts as water fillers. Plenty of heart-wrenching moments in the whole storyline, but not so much light-hearted comedic moments – understandable, because the whole premise of the period drama is vengence. As you get deeper into the storyline and its sub-plots, you will be wondering about the following
• Is the good guy going to win here? You bet. The Head Eunuch will ultimately meet his demise sooner or later.
• Are the main protagonists going to end up together even though the ML was responsible for wiping out the FL’s family in the Morning Dew Revolution? You bet, can’t have a sad ending here, can’t you?
• Will Qiu YanZhi get her revenge on His Majesty? I have a strong feeling YanZhi will have a sad ending. Will it be a sad ending for Yan Xiu too?
• What happen with Princess Misha and her army? Will she come to the Emperor’s rescue? Like Cheng Ruoyu, Li Misha cannot get away from the shackles of love.
• How would Cheng Ruoyu react once she finds out that she is the younger sister of Qiu YanZhi, and that the Emperor is their mortal enemy?
• With the Emperor being sick most of the time, will the Third Force usurp the throne? They look like the most potent force in this drama, with connection and people through-out the Empire with a reluctant leader good enough to assume the throne from a sickly and love-struck Emperor.
• Qiu ZiLiang has 40+ episodes to kill all his opponents, who are at his mercy. He does not kill any of his major opponents. Can’t have a bad guy winning, can’t you?
• Despite being on the verge of death so many times, the lead characters (ML/FL) just refuse to die. Typical c-dramas. Suddenly wonder poisons and medicines, cure-all antidotes, miracles physicians, etc appearing – you get the drift.


This is by no means an excellent series. Other than story lines, the other aspects are just AVERAGE. How could an Imperial Palace be so empty all the time – it’s unrealistic. The Producer probably does not have the budget the hire more extras to act as eunuchs, court ladies, servants, court officials, princes and princesses, etc. IMO, this points to lack of budget to drive this drama. The fighting scenes especially between FL and the other girls from Purple Bureau was quite bad or at best, average. The Producer has to make some scenes in slow-motion to compensate for the lack of fighting choreography and lack of swordsmanship in real time.

The series is 4 episodes away from the end. Just can’t wait to see the reaction from the FL when she finally chooses love over her sister’s desire for revenge. At least that is how I believe this series is going to conclude/end. Overall score - 9.0/10.0. Excellent storyline.