I wonder if they’ll keep the part that Ye Li and Mo Jing Li were childhood sweetheart? Not that it changes about…
Yes, that's what she appeared to aspire for, but that was not what she really wanted. or got in the novel...
The emperor was a paranoid who let himself be hoodwinked by some scheming characters who were not beyond selling out their country for perceived personal gains.
Ye Li and her husband had to be careful so as not to get murdered through attacks on mansion, ambush and abduction in court, all the while trying to save the country from external and internal threats north and south that the emperor unreasonably kept pinning on the once formidable country's hero, despite he had sworn to defend the empire, and not bring down the emperor.
The time travel trope came in handy in the novel to explain how she could be so proficient after her apparent having been raised without training in martial arts: she remembered having been a tough soldier, expert as a sniper (but for some reason, there was no way she could get back to modern day battles -did she die and soul transmigrate, can't remember precisely). So she trained a special hidden squad from elites chosen from the Mo army, and went south with those under a false identity, in search of a special herb to heal her husband's condition. While sending part of the squad to help her husband who had been sent north to further distance the "threat from the Mo army". Despite being fully aware of the dangers, Prince Ding managed to get to the real battle line and reunite with Ye Li.
There are some nice battles to show. Aside from the growing romance between the married pair, growing first from testing and next from respect, and she did become pregnant too, sometime after warning Ye Ying who was now next caught in tangled webs.
So that's how I remember the part I read....I am curious how that could have been simplified in the drama. The time travel trope could indeed be avoided as "unnecessary". But other things may have been changed. Anyway, I am not against a re-telling differently in a simplified way, that may veer away from the novel.
I wonder if they’ll keep the part that Ye Li and Mo Jing Li were childhood sweetheart? Not that it changes about…
I agree, from what I remember reading (but not completing to read) the hefty online novel, they were only betrothed, not really acquainted as in "sweethearts", and I think there was a mistake in the synopsis, either from machine translation or other reason.
Synopsis : umm that's a machine translation of the Douban synopsis, I believe ? I can't remember any reference to an "Opera Prince" in the novel. Could that be a misinterpretation of 黎王 (Prince Li) ?
Mo Xiuyao‘s title was "Prince Ding" 定王 and before becoming disabled he was quite heroic. But he was held at arm's length and distrusted by the emperor, therefore his mansion had gone dilapidated in appearance, not to appear as a threat, and because Mo Xiuyao's condition at times was so severe that he needed to keep out of sight. Therefore, he was not a desirable match for any young princess, except Ye Li who had her own agenda in agreeing to join that mansion as ordered.
And yes, _Xianxia has it right about the villainy of Mo Jingli, Prince Li.
I also removed the character name you suggested before.Maybe you can contact MDL for character name correction?
I am not sure I can, I try not to add to their heavy volunteer workload ;) But perhaps they will add the characters names in the option list for tagging later.
Finished while starting ongoing re-watching to add more into the Companion piece (Notes... housed in Discussions section) This was a gold mine to learn about many things Chinese Opera related, and the protagonist's journey to growth was well-portrayed, with its happy and sad moments. Solid 10/10 for me. I agree with the high 8.2 Douban rating too.
I hate Liu Hong Bing he is the worst male lead and the fact that Qin E will accept him is heartbreaking he is…
He is "the playboy" who becomes the cross to bear for his "suffering wife", the type who seduces and then uses women and dismisses them like used Kleenexes: he is not meant to be likable. If you hate him, that means Shawn Dou played him right ☺️
I heard that she had known 2 years in advance that this role would be hers and had been training for nearly 2…
Yes, he said he needed "ban nian duo de shijian" (more than half a year's time") at 1:17 in the video 😉 I had not come across that video, so thanks for the link!
I heard that she had known 2 years in advance that this role would be hers and had been training for nearly 2…
Even if it did not take two full years (after all she also had to prepare and play the lead in the 2025 airing drama in which she played alongside Song Weilong) she certainly devoted some time to prepare for The Protagonist. She is said to have trained for six months intensively to master the specific Wudan techniques with which she was previously unfamiliar. In a recent interview, she furthermore explained that she had been going through 40 videos which she had to download and study for preparation. She also read the novel attentively before tackling the script and its ongoing tweaks during shooting.
What's the name of the red haired character please?
If you have not got the answer yet, the red haired young woman character is Wang Hua'er (a relative from the Li family and best friend of Li Zhen), played by Nafisa 娜菲莎 Na Fei Sha (the MDL page is under Nafesa which is an alternate translation).
Nafesa is a dancer (?) and actress from the Xinjiang whose bio is uncertain : Douban https://www.douban.com/personage/36606005/ has her born on March 21, 2000, Baidu https://baike.baidu.com/item//娜菲莎/10699880 on December 29 year unknown, (both pages list same filmography). While she is listed as Uighur on the Baidu page, there is no mention of ethnicity on the Douban page.
But why does Wang Hua'er sport this fiery hue hair in Ming times? I have no answer.
LUO WENSONG ISN'T DEAD LUO WENSONG ISN'T DEAD LUO WENSONG ISN'T DEAD LUO WENSONG ISN'T DEAD LUO WENSONG ISN'T…
umm,in this drama, Luo Wensong is played by Cao Lei as "guest role" so... perhaps he played out his part already, sadly. Luo Wenqian now " Mr Qi Jiu" is the ML looking for revenge.
But I also really would like Luo Wensong and his aunt to have escaped from the fire and somehow hid themselves somewhere to reappear later. How, though? Just shouting they are still alive may not be enough despite I agree with the optimistic wish.
The drama version although based on book is, to my understanding, veering away from original writing in more than minor details. I don't feel tempted to read and compare or anticipate wrongly. Book and drama may well be two different universes and that's fine by me.
has anyone checked on Elvis because this dude is looking like a clone.
No he is not a clone, but an actor who has been around on screen since The Romance of Condor Heroes in 2014 and is also well known as a car racer. In fact he played a car racer in Macau in 2024 "Begin Again" recently after having already played a car racer in 2018 "Speed". He may be seen as playing more in modern times dramas. But he also played in other period dramas, like the minguo spy story "The Guardians" in 2025, and in the Han dynasty era era 2018 "Secret of Three Kingdoms" which got good ratings.
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5 
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The emperor was a paranoid who let himself be hoodwinked by some scheming characters who were not beyond selling out their country for perceived personal gains.
Ye Li and her husband had to be careful so as not to get murdered through attacks on mansion, ambush and abduction in court, all the while trying to save the country from external and internal threats north and south that the emperor unreasonably kept pinning on the once formidable country's hero, despite he had sworn to defend the empire, and not bring down the emperor.
The time travel trope came in handy in the novel to explain how she could be so proficient after her apparent having been raised without training in martial arts: she remembered having been a tough soldier, expert as a sniper (but for some reason, there was no way she could get back to modern day battles -did she die and soul transmigrate, can't remember precisely). So she trained a special hidden squad from elites chosen from the Mo army, and went south with those under a false identity, in search of a special herb to heal her husband's condition. While sending part of the squad to help her husband who had been sent north to further distance the "threat from the Mo army". Despite being fully aware of the dangers, Prince Ding managed to get to the real battle line and reunite with Ye Li.
There are some nice battles to show. Aside from the growing romance between the married pair, growing first from testing and next from respect, and she did become pregnant too, sometime after warning Ye Ying who was now next caught in tangled webs.
So that's how I remember the part I read....I am curious how that could have been simplified in the drama. The time travel trope could indeed be avoided as "unnecessary". But other things may have been changed. Anyway, I am not against a re-telling differently in a simplified way, that may veer away from the novel.
Synopsis : umm that's a machine translation of the Douban synopsis, I believe ? I can't remember any reference to an "Opera Prince" in the novel. Could that be a misinterpretation of 黎王 (Prince Li) ?
Mo Xiuyao‘s title was "Prince Ding" 定王 and before becoming disabled he was quite heroic. But he was held at arm's length and distrusted by the emperor, therefore his mansion had gone dilapidated in appearance, not to appear as a threat, and because Mo Xiuyao's condition at times was so severe that he needed to keep out of sight. Therefore, he was not a desirable match for any young princess, except Ye Li who had her own agenda in agreeing to join that mansion as ordered.
And yes, _Xianxia has it right about the villainy of Mo Jingli, Prince Li.
and thanks for adding the visual documents, B !
The duo Bai Lu & Cheng Lei : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY6FXOumtgA
The single from Zhou Shen : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXOYSOLK_uE
Peachey Blossom already translated lyrics for 心世界 (Heart World) the Zhou Shen song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBHg3VkacFU
and for the Bai Lu & Cheng Lei duo 方寸之间 (Within A Square Inch) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV84_fp6B4M&
I had not come across that video, so thanks for the link!
She is said to have trained for six months intensively to master the specific Wudan techniques with which she was previously unfamiliar. In a recent interview, she furthermore explained that she had been going through 40 videos which she had to download and study for preparation. She also read the novel attentively before tackling the script and its ongoing tweaks during shooting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjyA3_rfy_4 h ❤️.
Thanks for the Weibo links!
Nafesa is a dancer (?) and actress from the Xinjiang whose bio is uncertain :
Douban https://www.douban.com/personage/36606005/ has her born on March 21, 2000,
Baidu https://baike.baidu.com/item//娜菲莎/10699880 on December 29 year unknown,
(both pages list same filmography).
While she is listed as Uighur on the Baidu page, there is no mention of ethnicity on the Douban page.
But why does Wang Hua'er sport this fiery hue hair in Ming times? I have no answer.
Luo Wenqian now " Mr Qi Jiu" is the ML looking for revenge.
But I also really would like Luo Wensong and his aunt to have escaped from the fire and somehow hid themselves somewhere to reappear later. How, though? Just shouting they are still alive may not be enough despite I agree with the optimistic wish.
The drama version although based on book is, to my understanding, veering away from original writing in more than minor details. I don't feel tempted to read and compare or anticipate wrongly. Book and drama may well be two different universes and that's fine by me.