Ep15 was everything 😭😭 I was crying tears of happiness for our FL. That episode was so satisfying ML…
The screenwriters were a team working to adapt the novel Jiang Shan Wei Pin (江山为聘) by Xing Yan Yan (行烟烟) ; they included : *Liu Ting Ting 刘婷婷 , a screenwriter who already worked on several well-known dramas such as 2021 "Fall in Love" Republican era drama (which starred Chen Xingxu and Zhang Jingyi) and 2024 costume minidrama "Lady Revenger Returns From the Fire" (which starred Miles Wei and Xu Lu) * Wang Xinyi , who worked on a handful of scripts such as the one for 2020 costume drama "In A Class Of Her Own", which starred Ju Jingyi alongside Song Weilong, Bi Wenjun, Wang Ruichang * Fei Bi (菲比), and Feng Yue Chi (凤悦池)-no more info about those- completed the team
Is this set in the Tang Dynasty? And Which episode does the FL realize that the ML is the boy who saved her?
ep.15 - And no, it's an imaginary empire, inspired by Tang but not really historical. For instance no dynasty allowed women to take imperial exams or appoint any to court... Even at the time of Wu Zetian, the female emperor. Except the short-lived Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the mid 19th century, when Fu Shanxiang became the first and only woman to achieve the title of zhuangyuan (top scholar) in Chinese history in 1853.
Although there are similar landscapes in several other dramas which were filmed either in Tengger desert in Yinchuan…
You are very welcome, and thanks for having been aware of my "sandfly in the dish" mistype of Shazhou, corrected now 😅
Btw I don't know how to ride one humped camels but did ride the two humped ones old style, on a rug laid between the humps : the caravan leader explained that we needed to balance on the rug, never clinging to the long hair on the hump in front because the camel might get angry and throw rider off (just like pulling on a person's hair might not be well received). So I learned that camel riders got calluses or rubbed their fingers raw on the carpet they sat on, if they were not wealthy enough to afford a big comfy leather saddle strapped to the beast. A bit like riding horses raw without a saddle... But I have fond memories of riding a camel for some hours between oases wrapped in my semi transparent gauze scarf coiled over my sun hat (something I did spontaneously when I found the scarf on a market, thinking it could come handy in a sandstorm). The fabric was very light weight, could be folded or coiled in various fashions and helped keep cool in blazing sun, protected against flying particles, or warming around neck in cool evenings.
As for naan bread, these are ubiquitous in almost all cities in China, where Uighurs or Hui have made them popular with all Chinese because the naan are not too hard nor too soft, one can choose what type dough or filling if any (with or without sesame etc); a quick inexpensive option to snack on even on the go. That and some nuts or fruit are perfect for adventurers before sitting down on open air restaurant areas for a bbq lamb skewers feast for instance on a plaza in Turpan, before or after shopping for microSD electronic storage cards or cooling solutions for the old smartphone or gopro, in the nearby department stores, which are open well past sun down. Preparation for a visit to Jiaohe ruins in the desert ! 😂
C-dramas can trigger memories or curiosity about real places, tastes and experiences, that's one reason I like to watch them, besides added pleasure of watching some actors or actresses weave their magic.
Although there are similar landscapes in several other dramas which were filmed either in Tengger desert in Yinchuan…
Been there in a few places, yeah. The Gobi is vast : many parts are more rocky and steppe like, than sandy. Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia and Yinchuan in Ningxia which have sandy and yardang (wind-eroded ridges like rocks) mixed sand and yellow dust from the loess plateau. Dunhuang in Gansu: those places lie within or on the southern edge of the Gobi desert which straddles the long border with Mongolia north, and stops at the Altai mountains west.
It is far from Hengdian film studios though : the cost for moving cast and crew there would be very expensive and weather can be unpredictable.
The last part of the video I linked, the part about Dunhuang Yardang National Geopark gives an idea about the landscape and how painful a (mild) sandstorm can be. A full blown sandstorm can be much worse.
Every year, sand flies in seasonally to Beijing and other cities, carried by strong winds from Mongolia Gobi sand areas and all the way from the Taklamakan (a bit like Sahara sand also gets blown into southern Europe seasonally, although that sand is not felt as gritty and abrasive as the orange sand in Beijing, which needs clean up of windows and exteriors for a few days after they abate). In April 2025 hundreds of flight cancellations and park closures were caused by sandstorm, and in February 2026 they triggered severe air pollution warnings. During the sandstorm, all who can stay indoor, or are careful to protect their faces, noses and eyes from the very abrasive sand if they have to go outside (it feels like having one's face stroked with sandpaper and can cause eye injuries!). Fortunately, these storms in the capital are generally brief, with dust and wind conditions clearing within 24 to 48 hours. People are used to it.
There are some interesting views in this vlog of the crowded dunes off Crescent Lake near Dunhuang : I am thankful to have been able to visit there and other desert spots in Tengger, Ningxia, off Turpan etc, a few decades ago, when they were really "desert". Today, finding a really desert spot is very difficult in China!
does the scene on desert is true desert place? or is it AI or CGI things play there? the scenery is beautifulso…
Although there are similar landscapes in several other dramas which were filmed either in Tengger desert in Yinchuan or Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia, or closer to Beijing, such as in "The Story of Pearl Girl", "Love in The Desert"and other ones, the filming location mentioned in the Baidu drama page only mentions Hengdian film studios (which has ample sets for all sorts of scenery and capabilities for reusing stock landscape pictures and rework them with CGI, or now AI.)
So, given the relative low budget of the drama (genuine financial trouble happened mid way during filming. "Community discussions indicate that original investors pulled out during production, causing filming to stop until new investors could be secured" ; "The lack of funds manifested in cheap-looking costumes, poor CGI (particularly in desert scenes)"), I don't think the cast and crew would have been taken on a trip to an actual desert over 2,000 km away.
same! i am liking txw so far but the ml isn’t convincing me with his acting plus i am not liking his character…
She is Yang Chen Xi (杨晨汐) a "new" one with not much info about.
As for me I am among those who have a soft spot for Hu Yitian, liked him in various oddball or even romantic roles not only with CZY but also as troubled sharpshooter and tortured prince. He can totally play the gifted admirer of a very bright overachiever person struggling as almost social misfit. So, I think it is unlikely that this little youth and coming of age romance here, which starts so well, will bore me too much. Just completed ep6 and looking forward to watch on.
Director is Zhang Yan Jie who previously directed Rebirth (the Princess Agents sequel)Yes, I also noticed the…
You are welcome ! Let's hope this drama will be a success !
We'll surely hear CZY's real voice as he'll promote it, as happens for most dramas, and hope someone will put the videos on YouTube or elsewhere so all can see them 😊
Zhao Bin has been in many dramas, nice that you noticed him 😁Watching a football drama and next a costume one…
Sorry, you are wrong. Both Baidu, MDL and dramawiki cast lists confirm "Zhao Bin as Shen Wuchen, Grand Tutor. Shen Zhishu's father" (in Royal Betrothal) and "Zhao Bin as Wen Ruigang, Wen Chengye's father" (in Road To Success).
Yan Yuchen is credited as young Shen Zhishu in Royal Betrothal, and as the young football player Wen Chengye in Road to Success. Not as their fathers 🤣 The actor who plays their fathers is Zhao Bin.
Director is Zhang Yan Jie who previously directed Rebirth (the Princess Agents sequel)Yes, I also noticed the…
No, Director Zhang Yan Jie was not involved in "The Double". But executive producer for "Royal Betrothal" Lü Xiao (aka Lû Hao JiJi) was, as Director of "The Double" (together with other directors Bai Yun Mo, Ma Shi Ge). He was also Director for "Rebirth", together with then assistant director Zhang Yan Jie. Lü Hao JiJi is also production designer for "Royal Betrothal". Chen Chao was action director for"Rebirth" and now for "Royal Betrothal". So that's all the intersection between crews of those dramas. 😊
Of course the pairing of Chen Zheyuan and Wu JinYan should be interesting. Btw, we shall miss out on their real voices since they are dubbed, by Wei Yifan (who has dubbed many actors in hit dramas such as Ding Yuxi in "Love Game in Eastern Fantasy") and Qiu Qiu from famous dubbing Bian Jiang Studio (who already was the actress' voice in "The Double" and who is dubbing director for "Royal Betrothal", as well as for a handful other well known dramas such as recent "Shine on Me" and "Moonlight Mystique"). Costume and action dramas are most often dubbed or self dubbed anyway because of machinery noise on sets, or actors' accents that are deemed undesirable for diction, but experienced voice actors can and do often add improvement, since they are less likely to not follow lips movements. Nowadays, accents are ok in modern dramas, if they have some relevance to setting and cast, but in costume "historical" dramas, standard putonghua is preferred.
2 
5 
1 
1 
1 
*Liu Ting Ting 刘婷婷 , a screenwriter who already worked on several well-known dramas such as 2021 "Fall in Love" Republican era drama (which starred Chen Xingxu and Zhang Jingyi) and 2024 costume minidrama "Lady Revenger Returns From the Fire" (which starred Miles Wei and Xu Lu)
* Wang Xinyi , who worked on a handful of scripts such as the one for 2020 costume drama "In A Class Of Her Own", which starred Ju Jingyi alongside Song Weilong, Bi Wenjun, Wang Ruichang
* Fei Bi (菲比), and Feng Yue Chi (凤悦池)-no more info about those- completed the team
And no, it's an imaginary empire, inspired by Tang but not really historical. For instance no dynasty allowed women to take imperial exams or appoint any to court... Even at the time of Wu Zetian, the female emperor. Except the short-lived Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the mid 19th century, when Fu Shanxiang became the first and only woman to achieve the title of zhuangyuan (top scholar) in Chinese history in 1853.
Btw I don't know how to ride one humped camels but did ride the two humped ones old style, on a rug laid between the humps : the caravan leader explained that we needed to balance on the rug, never clinging to the long hair on the hump in front because the camel might get angry and throw rider off (just like pulling on a person's hair might not be well received). So I learned that camel riders got calluses or rubbed their fingers raw on the carpet they sat on, if they were not wealthy enough to afford a big comfy leather saddle strapped to the beast. A bit like riding horses raw without a saddle... But I have fond memories of riding a camel for some hours between oases wrapped in my semi transparent gauze scarf coiled over my sun hat (something I did spontaneously when I found the scarf on a market, thinking it could come handy in a sandstorm). The fabric was very light weight, could be folded or coiled in various fashions and helped keep cool in blazing sun, protected against flying particles, or warming around neck in cool evenings.
As for naan bread, these are ubiquitous in almost all cities in China, where Uighurs or Hui have made them popular with all Chinese because the naan are not too hard nor too soft, one can choose what type dough or filling if any (with or without sesame etc); a quick inexpensive option to snack on even on the go. That and some nuts or fruit are perfect for adventurers before sitting down on open air restaurant areas for a bbq lamb skewers feast for instance on a plaza in Turpan, before or after shopping for microSD electronic storage cards or cooling solutions for the old smartphone or gopro, in the nearby department stores, which are open well past sun down. Preparation for a visit to Jiaohe ruins in the desert ! 😂
C-dramas can trigger memories or curiosity about real places, tastes and experiences, that's one reason I like to watch them, besides added pleasure of watching some actors or actresses weave their magic.
It is far from Hengdian film studios though : the cost for moving cast and crew there would be very expensive and weather can be unpredictable.
The last part of the video I linked, the part about Dunhuang Yardang National Geopark gives an idea about the landscape and how painful a (mild) sandstorm can be. A full blown sandstorm can be much worse.
Every year, sand flies in seasonally to Beijing and other cities, carried by strong winds from Mongolia Gobi sand areas and all the way from the Taklamakan (a bit like Sahara sand also gets blown into southern Europe seasonally, although that sand is not felt as gritty and abrasive as the orange sand in Beijing, which needs clean up of windows and exteriors for a few days after they abate). In April 2025 hundreds of flight cancellations and park closures were caused by sandstorm, and in February 2026 they triggered severe air pollution warnings. During the sandstorm, all who can stay indoor, or are careful to protect their faces, noses and eyes from the very abrasive sand if they have to go outside (it feels like having one's face stroked with sandpaper and can cause eye injuries!). Fortunately, these storms in the capital are generally brief, with dust and wind conditions clearing within 24 to 48 hours. People are used to it.
Btw, for those curious about Shazhou cuisine lamb meat dishes, that we see so much of in the drama, I found this vlog part : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXWEbPNfh0A&t=656s 😅
There are some interesting views in this vlog of the crowded dunes off Crescent Lake near Dunhuang : I am thankful to have been able to visit there and other desert spots in Tengger, Ningxia, off Turpan etc, a few decades ago, when they were really "desert". Today, finding a really desert spot is very difficult in China!
So, given the relative low budget of the drama (genuine financial trouble happened mid way during filming. "Community discussions indicate that original investors pulled out during production, causing filming to stop until new investors could be secured" ; "The lack of funds manifested in cheap-looking costumes, poor CGI (particularly in desert scenes)"), I don't think the cast and crew would have been taken on a trip to an actual desert over 2,000 km away.
As for me I am among those who have a soft spot for Hu Yitian, liked him in various oddball or even romantic roles not only with CZY but also as troubled sharpshooter and tortured prince. He can totally play the gifted admirer of a very bright overachiever person struggling as almost social misfit.
So, I think it is unlikely that this little youth and coming of age romance here, which starts so well, will bore me too much. Just completed ep6 and looking forward to watch on.
We'll surely hear CZY's real voice as he'll promote it, as happens for most dramas, and hope someone will put the videos on YouTube or elsewhere so all can see them 😊
Both Baidu, MDL and dramawiki cast lists confirm "Zhao Bin as Shen Wuchen, Grand Tutor. Shen Zhishu's father" (in Royal Betrothal) and "Zhao Bin as Wen Ruigang, Wen Chengye's father" (in Road To Success).
Yan Yuchen is credited as young Shen Zhishu in Royal Betrothal, and as the young football player Wen Chengye in Road to Success. Not as their fathers 🤣 The actor who plays their fathers is Zhao Bin.
But executive producer for "Royal Betrothal" Lü Xiao (aka Lû Hao JiJi) was, as Director of "The Double" (together with other directors Bai Yun Mo, Ma Shi Ge). He was also Director for "Rebirth", together with then assistant director Zhang Yan Jie.
Lü Hao JiJi is also production designer for "Royal Betrothal".
Chen Chao was action director for"Rebirth" and now for "Royal Betrothal".
So that's all the intersection between crews of those dramas. 😊
Of course the pairing of Chen Zheyuan and Wu JinYan should be interesting.
Btw, we shall miss out on their real voices since they are dubbed, by Wei Yifan (who has dubbed many actors in hit dramas such as Ding Yuxi in "Love Game in Eastern Fantasy") and Qiu Qiu from famous dubbing Bian Jiang Studio (who already was the actress' voice in "The Double" and who is dubbing director for "Royal Betrothal", as well as for a handful other well known dramas such as recent "Shine on Me" and "Moonlight Mystique").
Costume and action dramas are most often dubbed or self dubbed anyway because of machinery noise on sets, or actors' accents that are deemed undesirable for diction, but experienced voice actors can and do often add improvement, since they are less likely to not follow lips movements. Nowadays, accents are ok in modern dramas, if they have some relevance to setting and cast, but in costume "historical" dramas, standard putonghua is preferred.
Watching a football drama and next a costume one ... I am not the only one, then ? 🤣
Yes, I also noticed the familiar OST tune in bgm of episode 2, about 11'30 timestamp ; it does remind of the one of the tunes performed in the Double.