The Princess Weiyoung (锦绣未央) review

laelene Post in reviews，Tags: chinese dramas, reviews, tv shows

09 December 2020

I consider this to be the first official show I watched once I decided I wanted a dose of Chinese period dramas set in imperial times. I technically saw Yanxi Palace on Netflix first, but that one is only 6 episodes so it’s really just a short story. Meanwhile, The Princess Weiyoung is 54 episodes and the first time I learned that Chinese dramas all seem to be done in 1 season with 45-60 episodes. Some are shorter with 30-ish episodes, but a lot seem to be around the 50 mark.

Thanks to Deer Drama for the recap and fun screengrabs that helped me with my summary.

Total episodes: 54, about 45 min each (I watched it on Netflix, but later I discovered Viki and it’s available there for free)

Listen to the OST on Spotify (close one, but my fav song is Tian Ruo You Qing 天若有情=if the heavens had feelings, with Lai Sheng 来生=afterlife right behind it)

Title in Chinese is Jin Xiu Wei Yang 锦绣未央:
Jin Xiu together is meant to mean beautiful/splendid, but separately, Jin = brocade and Xiu = embroider. Wei Yang is the main character’s name. Wei can mean “not” and Yang can mean “center,” so beautiful person who is not the center? I have no idea what the intended meaning is, it could just be as simple as beautiful Wei Yang (as a name) and that’s it.

Warning: spoilers ahead!

I rated this one a 9/10. Definitely a strong one to start with. It had great actors, characters, costumes, sets, etc. Later on it was a pleasant surprise to discover that the main leads are a real life couple. It makes it cute that they got to work together.

Overall I came out feeling there were too many sad times where Xin’er/Weiyoung and Tuoba Jun had to be mean to each other and suppress their emotions for each other. It was painful to have to watch that over and over again, with very few instances where they really got to be happy and together. Even the ending was so bittersweet, with such a sad underlying tone to it. One of themes that came through in this one that I started to see a lot is sacrificing yourself for the greater cause (usually the good of the country). I wish the personal relationships wouldn’t have to suffer so much to accomplish those goals.

When it comes to Weiyoung’s character, I really liked how she’s very clever and was able to defend herself against those who were trying to harm her. I know it’s not feasible for them to be prepared for everything, but boy do I hate it when the leads get trampled over. That was not the case here, where most of the struggles may have seemed to be doomed, but there was a longer play that would bring them out of it.

The two sisters as very different types of antagonists was an interesting contrast. Changle, the older sister is the one who seems to have it all but really has the most to lose. Changru, the younger sister (actually cousin) is the one who seems demure and innocent but actually has a darker heart than just about anybody. I think they were both well-cast, though Changle’s evil plotting “I’m so furious” face was generally too exaggerated. Speaking of exaggerated things, I found Tuoba Jun’s shivering and suffering scenes to be overdone too.

Of course so much of the misunderstandings and struggles between the sisters are due to the attention of the men in their lives. Weiyoung gets unwanted attention from Tuoba Yu and yet somehow she’s to blame. Tuoba Jun was never into Changle, but she can’t accept that reality and blinds herself into thinking she deserves him. And she blames Weiyoung too. Typical, lol.

I was moderately interested in the real people that some of these characters are loosely related to. There’s a real Tuoba family from Northern Wei with Tuoba Jun, Tuoba Yu, etc. This was back in the 400s A.D. Some of the storyline actually follows reality a little bit, with the order in which the throne switched hands being accurate and a bit about how it all went down having a dose of truth too! Man, life was wild back then.

I put this on 7 lists:

Tropes/themes in this show:

jealous female love rival who thinks she deserves the male lead
male love rival who fights to win the female lead
main leads who need to stay away from and/or be mean to each other to protect each other
main lead’s mother who is of low status and gets bullied
side character who also falls in love with main lead, but can never be with them and ends up finding their own happiness with someone else
main lead who needs to do something completely against their character to accomplish a larger goal; in the mean time they alienate their loved ones and have a falling out
main leads who are able to trust each other innately and trick their enemies by seemingly fighting and losing trust or cutting the relationship
main lead who sacrifices him/herself to save the other

Show Summary:

Our female lead Feng Xin’er is the princess of the Northern Liang dynasty. Her mother dies in childbirth and a fortune teller says she will have an important future. She grows up vivacious and likes to sneak out dressed as a man with her bodyguard and best friend, Jun Tao. She has a very loving relationship with her father (the King) and grandmother (the Queen Dowager), though her father has been away for a long time in the Northern Wei dynasty (kept as a hostage in Northern Wei, to keep the peace). When he is allowed to return to celebrate his mother’s birthday, Xin’er is very excited and goes out to town to get lanterns. She runs into some trouble and is helped out by a mysterious man who turns out to be Tuoba Jun.

On the night of the birthday banquet, the King’s entire family is ambushed and he is framed as a rebel. In reality, Chiyun Nan, a (very young) general for Northern Wei was greedy and wanted that area and its natural resources for himself. The King is murdered while his daughter and mother watch horrified, hidden away. The women escape with Jun Tao and her father (the head of the royal guards) protecting them but the Queen Dowager stays behind to slow down the troops since she’s old and can’t run very fast and she doesn’t want to hinder the princess’s escape.

Xin’er gets separated from them when they create a diversion so the enemies will think Jun Tao is the princess. She is discovered and saved by Li Weiyoung, the daughter of the Prime Minister and a concubine. Weiyoung was raised in the country, sent away from the family due to her low status and birth date being considered unlucky. She grew up being bullied but she is kind and gentle. The two become fast friends.

Weiyoung’s grandmother wanted her back and sent people to go retrieve her from the countryside to return to the Li Manor. The Prime Minister’s wife didn’t want that to happen, so she sent people to attack Weiyoung. Weiyoung dies protecting Xin’er during the attack and asks her to care for her birth mother, the 7th concubine. Xin’er then decides to take on the identity of Weiyoung so she can repay her friend and also seek revenge. The Prime Minister’s wife is from the Chiyun family and she is the aunt of the general who killed Xin’er’s family.

The Li grandmother’s people show up and take Xin’er (now Weiyoung) back to the Li Manor. Since nobody in the family knew what she looked like, that was easy enough. Along the way, there is another plot to kill Weiyoung and she is saved from a fire by Tuoba Jun, who happens to be staying at the same inn that night. They’re still strangers at this point and neither knows who the other is.

At the Li Manor, Weiyoung meets the Prime Minister’s wife Chiyun Rou, the older half sister Li Changle (Chiyun Rou’s child), the younger female cousin Li Changru, and the younger adopted male cousin Li Minde. The family keeps making excuses to not let Weiyoung see “her” mother the 7th concubine, who is hidden away in one of the courtyards that nobody is allowed to visit.

I’ll try to write more details later… quick synopsis for now: Weiyoung gets framed for being unlucky and is eventually thrown off a mountain, then saved by Tuoba Jun. During her recovery, they bond and fall for each other. Li Minde finds a way to discount Weiyoung’s “cursed” presence and she is brought back to the manor. Weiyoung eventually meets Tuoba Jun officially and thinks he’s her enemy once she learns his identify. She is later is betrayed by Changru once Tuoba Yu (Tuoba Jun’s young uncle) shows interest in Weiyoung (because Changru is in love with him), has multiple struggles with Changle trying to destroy her (because Changle feels like Tuoba Jun should be hers due to the childhood engagement between the two), then is framed for killing Tuoba Jun’s mother the Empress. Along the way she nearly dies a few times, saves Tuoba Jun a few times, gets framed again and again, loses her status, then gets acquitted and given the title Lady Anping. Her servant girl gets killed by Changru when she overhears Changru’s evil plans.

Tuoba Yu forces Tuoba Jun to marry Changle and Tuoba Jun has to pretend to be protective of Changle while keeping her at bay and actually trying to keep Weiyoung from danger. It’s a hot mess and the lovebirds often have to be pretty cruel to each other in public. But they do sneak in some date time. Minde finds out he’s actually the prince of Rou Ran, a neighboring country. Tuoba Yu eventually ascends the throne, Tuoba Jun is poisoned and driven out of town, and Weiyoung promises to marry Tuoba Yu.

As a side story, Minde meets and falls in love with Tuoba Di, a princess. He returns to his country to resume his rightful place and comes back eventually. She almost dies during some attack, but I believe she makes it and they become a couple.

Weiyoung was with the emperor when he died and he secretly told her about passages under the palace, so she finds a way to get the message out, which Tuoba Jun and Minde eventually use to return on the wedding day to overthrow Tuoba Yu. Tuoba Yu and Changru die, but Tuoba Jun is still poisoned and now Weiyoung gets poisoned too. There is only one antidote pill, which they give to Weiyoung. Tuoba Jun lies to her and says he took one too.

They ascend the throne and rule together. Later she finds out his health is declining and they enjoy their final years together. It’s such a sad scene to me, the heartbreak of her knowing he’s dying and trying to cherish every moment. It’s interesting that they did not go crazy trying to seek more antidote somehow. They have a son, who she mentors as the next great leader of the country after Tuoba Jun dies peacefully next to her. I think I was streaming tears at this point, thinking of the future she faced being alone raising her kid to rule the country, carrying on the hopes that her husband had.