Different Princess (2024)

Striking.

This drama had been shelved for almost three years and I happened to follow it (along with ‘Echo Of Your Voice’ which is heading towards it's own three year anniversary this year) because of Song Yi Ren, whom I personally find to be an excellent actress.
It dropped out of nowwhere and released it's first trailer and episodes. So, I was unaware about anything except the Baidu synopsis that has been here since 2021.

Striking is the only word I could describe Different Princess as because oh boy. This drama surprised me a LOT. It's the perfect blend of comedy, tragedy, romance, mystery, fluff, politics, scheming and poisons - all in one package that somehow managed to not mess up until the very end. It is one of most well paced/written dramas I've seen and I appreciate the scriptwriters and the crew behind this for their effort. I can see their sincerity towards the characters and the story, and despite being not promoted heavily and even unconventionally pushed out after years with no warning, Different Princess is truly memorable.

I'm digressing, so let's cut to the chase shall we? I shall also explain why I rated this a 9.5.

The opening scene is a dramatic one: a Crown Prince and his consort are both killed off by a ruthless villain, who then takes over the throne.

Flash forward following the opening title card, we learn that this tragedy was concocted by a Web novelist Hua Qing Ge in an attempt at being innovative and making her novel memorable… by killing off the main characters. Her idea backfires in a twisted way – the readers are left enraged instead of upset, and promptly trash her for writing a plothole ridden story with no character logic for sheer popularity. She adamantly refuses to change the ending even after being threatened.
What she does not expect is to be sucked into her fictional world as a self-titled canon-fodder character who is killed at the night of her wedding to the villain Ji Chu.
Thanks to her being the creator of the world, she manages to escape with the help of Ji Yun, the leading character and Crown Prince whom she had killed off in her novel. But, as she decides to dismantle Ji Chu’s plans and seek justice for Ji Yun, she starts to realize that she knew nothing about the characters and the world she had created, including the terrifying arch villain Ji Chu, who is hell bent on thwarting her plans.

Why I Think You Should Give this Drama a Chance.

*THE CHARACTERS*:
The drama has several important characters - the cast has both long time and new actors, but never once did I feel that anybody was miscast. Even the ML, despite of being a newcomer, fit his role well, and did not try to overdo it. Nobody seemed unconvincing and it looked closer to certain serious dramas, rather than an obscure 36 episode drama that decided to drop its trailer and episodes within the blink of an eye.

This is probably the first time I'm seeing a Chinese drama where all the main characters are smart. (Particularly the royal siblings - Ji Yun, Ji Feng, Ji Chu and Ji Wan’er. May it be EQ or IQ. There was tension that could be cut with a knife in scenes where the four of them were together, but there was an unshakeable bond within, whether they admitted it or not.)

Pretty sure that this is what makes the plot move quite quickly and had me on the edge of my seat, because Different Princess does not run out of plotlines to explore.
There are plenty of characters and plotlines. But, I'll start write off with Hua Qing Ge, our eponymous female lead/writer of the novel.

Being a long time reader of novels, I've heard a lot about techniques that writers adopt during the process of outlining a story. I'll give points to Hua Qing Ge for managing to squeeze in plot threads (that she openly admits, she had written to fill up the word count), but I can see that she had zero sincerity towards what she was writing.
It's evident that she has a rich imagination, but within the first two episodes, it's clear that her reviewers were not baseless in their criticisms.
It looked like she wrote the fan favorite male lead Ji Yun with the intend of getting him killed off – and for that to happen, she randomly threw in a villain with a backstory that is gleaned over.
(I know an author who told how hard she cried while killing off a character and realising that there was no other choice. Qing seemed quite happy with the ending, indicating that she had pre-planned it quite earlier, but lacked the patience to execute it well.)

Moreover, she never concentrated once on the process of the story or ‘why’ the villains existed, but rather the ending and perhaps the leading characters, Ji Yun and Xiao Yao.
She ‘is’ smart, but unfortunately for her, the villain is smarter. And she is straightforward, thanks to being thrown from the modern world to the ancient one, bringing hilarity at the least expected moments.
I loved how she tried to maintain her composure and accept her fate.

Ireine Song is perhaps the most apt actress for such a role. I know that most people will skip over this drama, but personally to me, she can pull off any character with ease.
She managed to turn even the most emotional scenes into comedy - - her modern background was never really tamped down, her inner monologues and sudden bursts of hilarity at the most unexpected times made Hua Qing Ge alive.

That gets us to Ji Chu - the villain of Hua Qing Ge’s original story. How she managed to tangle him in a love triangle in her original plot, I have no idea. Because within the first episode, the dude was plain terrifying.
He was an excellent schemer, making back up plans and taking risks, making Qing question his decisions and constantly on her toes. [Different Princess also has one of the most comedic first meetings ever. EP2 will remain my favorite because of this very reason.]
The way he outsmarts Qing in the first few episodes had me laughing.

One thing that is consistent throughout the drama is that Ji Chu ‘is’ not a fairy, although his actions are justifiable. He is ruthless in his quest for revenge, making radical decisions that plays with the life and death of people.
He was a very clear-headed character from the opening scene to the very final shot - the writers clearly knew what they were doing.

To support him, there exists Gong Ye Qi, a physician whose entire family was wiped out by the Liang Royals. Both of them made a dangerous duo and I liked their brotherhood snd sincerity.
Thus is Ding Ze Ren's first drama as a leading character, and although it's evident that actors for Ji Feng and Ji Yun have much more experience
with emotional scenes, he was perfect as the cold-faced and enigmatic Ji Chu, whom no one really knew well. Seeing him genuinely smile was a delight since he was almost always sardonic.

"A person can't be everyone's dream man."

That brings us to the intended male lead of the novel - Ji Yun, the Crown Prince. I can understand why he was the leading character in Qing's story. Or atleast in the rewritten version. He was one of the most genuinely nice character on screen, but his very loyalty to his blood is his Achilles Heel.

The drama does not lack female characters either. Ji Wan'er, described as the smartest character out of everyone by Qing, was surprisingly strong girl. Her scenes with Gong Ye Qi, particularly one at the end of EP28 was one of the most emotional ones I've seen to date.
Xiao Yao (the Crown Princess/Coroner aka the FL of Hua Qing Ge's novel), was the perfect counterpart for Ji Yun. She was calm and perhaps the wisest character. Some of her speeches and dialogues, particularly in EP36 were noteworthy.

Even the Empress and Consort Wei had their moments. You'll have to watch to know why. 😉

*THE PLOT*:

What Qing cooked up, I guess we'll never know. What we do know starts from Chapter 3 of her original novel - where the fictional Hua Qing Ge is killed by Ji Chu.
Qing did plot an excellent tale when it comes to mysteries. She had the key to answers, which gave her the upper hand, but the plot begins to veer off course, and Qing questions if somebody else was writing her story.
What initially begins as a defeat-villain-save-Crown-Prince plot soon starts to pop out hidden characters and plots, before finally terminating at the gates of the Imperial Palace.

The screen time and duration were carefully utilized so that multiple character threads progressed equally well without lingering on anyone in particular.
So, I suggest that you brace yourself for some major fight for power before you proceed.

The last few episodes in particular are plot focussed with no filler, so that might be jarring.

*RELATIONSHIPS*:

The romance was an added bonus and not the focus of the entire story. But, also very integral to it without taking away it's edge.
Ji Chu's budding romance with his ‘victim’ Hua Qing Ge was definitely the other highlight of the show that kept people watching.
Both of them were already a married to begin with, although one of them was trying to murder the other and the victim in question was openly sitting on a throne of thinly veiled lies all the while being directly under her assailant's nose. Ji Chu was not stupid to begin with and I liked how he trapped Qing with her own words. Although, he was dangerous while trying to force the truth out of her.

Their relationship was well paced and made sense.
From murder attempt, plain suspicion, bickering, master-servant, and being fish baited, to finally giving off an old married couple vibes, it's a wonder how they ended up where they are now but the journey there was one of the sweetest I've seen.
Now that I think about it, neither Hua Qing Ge nor Ji Chu ever openly said that they 'loved' each other to their face; rather they were a 'show' not tell couple.
I usually don't feel this way, but I did not want their story to wind up so fast. It was one of those rare 'to infinity and beyond' romances that was worthy of my time.

Gong Ye Qi and Wan'er's plotline was definitely the more dangerous one to me. They had a lot going on and inspite of their contrasting personalities and views, they were sincere to each other.

If Ji Chu + Qing and Wan'er + Gong Ye Qi were a deeply passionate mess, Ji Yun and Xiao Yao were the less lovey-dovey couple. There was an intense understanding and maturity between them. Xiao Yao in particular was exactly whom a character like Ji Yun needed.

The friendships and rapport between several characters, even transient ones did not feel superficial. Xiao Yan, the 24/7 guard of Ji Chu was a scene stealer in this aspect. Mo Yu and Qing's hilarious conversations lightened up even serious atmospheres. Also - the siblings. May it be between Ji Wan'er and Qing, Feng and Wan'er or even Ji Yun and Ji Chu, there was a tacit understanding of each other. T

*COSTUMES:

Ji Chu, the villain had some of the most beautiful costumes and outfit designs I've seen in CDramaland ever. He had both bright and dark coloured clothing and they were coupled with unique head accessories (the star/sun thingy was my favourite) and embroidery that were eye cat hing.
One thing I noted was that Qing and Chu had couple outfits, even though there were not many of them.
Qing had simpler, but elegant attire. Ji Yun’s wardrobe reminded of the Lan Clan from Mo Dao Zu Shi, unfortunately. He was always in blue. Wan’er and Ji Chu had plenty of color in theirs.

*MUSIC:
The opening and ending songs are haunting and foreboding. Particularly the lyrics. They make me feel that I've lost something.

The Soundtrack and BGMs altered, but never overshadowed the scenes.

**FROM THE WRITER'S DESK*:

I can tell that Different Princess will probably end up getting buried beneath the ridiculously excessive number of CDramas released per year. The Douban oage for the drama is almost dead and to top it all off, the very cookie-cutter plotline of a transmigrating writer never attracts jaded viewers.

I did not regret beginning this. Because Different Princess was indeed a different kind of delight. For a low budget, brushed-under-the-rug drama, it has done better than many of the hyped up budget blowers.
The ending is the best that the writers could've given, inspite of all the everything. I know viewers might not be satisfied, but believe me when I say that this is one of the better endings out there. But, the fact that viewers are dissatisfied itself speaks volumes about how much the writers excelled in making us root for the characters.

A 9.5/10 from me.

There are stories that receive a neatly packaged closure - sometimes hopeful, sometimes tragic. Then there are some stories that are just not meant to end. And Ji Chu and Hua Qing Ge's tale is definitely one of them.

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Amazing Drama to Start the 2024!

This is it! My most amazing drama to start the New Year of 2024!

Much has been written about this engaging drama that oftentimes, I am always at loss on what to write here.
People are giving their reviews on details; that I am always impressed of their skills in knowing everything about this drama.
As I still quite knew to C-dramas, I can only write a brief review here.

"Different Princess" is one such show which I am totally engaged in; this is my first time to watch a show on the so-called "transmigration" and I find it as an interesting story line; that I even want the episodes to be longer than episodes 36.
--- Song Yiren as Hua Qing Ge and Ding Zeren as Ji Chu; the leading leads nailed their role perfectly as much as the supporting casts. I give also full credit and to the crews, notably the director and the scriptwriter of this show.

--- As it is always said: "we came to watch a drama to be entertained and to enjoy it"; and this drama never disappoint me; it give us full enjoyment to watch and be totally engrossed on it.

We need Season 2 of this Lovable Drama!

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Obsessed with this drama now

Hii....! Thank you director for beautiful story, im so obsessed with this drama, especially ji chu & Qing...
Love every episode especially episode 20 , ML the he look at qing after telling her that lets make this marriage real.. Omg, killer eyes killer look,, 🤗❤☺
Ji chu ❤ love story between two is so natural n realistic... Aah..! Love all the characters... Ji chu body guard have another vibe ❤
Blush... Blush...blush whenever qing n ji chu scene use to come... There talks, serious, funny, ❤☺🤗
Lots of love ❤ to JI CHU & QING

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Surprise hidden gem with a polarizing male lead

Being a working mom of 3 whose free time is sparse, I watch dramas purely for entertainment value. Does a drama need to be high budget or have well-known actors to appeal to me? Of course not. This drama was not even on my radar as I was trying (and failing) to watch The Last Immortal. I rarely ever complete a historical/fantasy C-drama as I almost always lose interest and anything with more than 24 episodes is too long for me. In fact, I cannot remember the last wuxia/xianxia that I've ever watched from beginning to end without a whole lot of fast-forwarding. The last historical drama I watched in its entirety was The Imperial Coroner. Under the Power and Maiden Holmes are also favorites of mine so I guess I lean towards mystery dramas with romance. After reading some comments, I decided to give it a try as I did not like either versions of Sword and Fairy that were out and looking for something new to watch. And I am so glad I did! This review will be long, sorry.

Story: Nothing new here as it seems there are a lot of dramas about the female lead transmigrating into a book. I was hooked after the amazing opening scene. It was enthralling and straight to the point and had me rooting for the 'villain', Ji Chu. His cold stare, arrogant strut towards the throne and smirk immediately made him my favorite character. In fact, his character was so great that the actor's sometimes rather wooden acting almost didn't matter. The actor, Ding Ze Ren, was pretty great when he sparred with our Fl but he needs improvement during sad scenes but I'll cut him some slack because he's fairly green. He has a lot of potential, though. Anyway, back to the story. The mysteries were nicely woven into the main plot and all the characters, including small side ones, had an important part to play. The reveal of the real big bad was a surprise. In fact, I was kept guessing a lot throughout the drama, especially Secretary Du being a bad guy. I really did not expect that!

Acting/Cast: Song Yiren nailed her character. She was smart, cute, silly but not overly to the point of obnoxious. I wish they hadn't dubbed her voice because I like her real voice. She and Ding Ze Ren had good onscreen chemistry which is always a deal-breaker for me. If the leads don't have chemistry, I tend to get bored and drop a show. Thank goodness, they did. In fact, their bickering in the beginning had me laughing a lot. Of course, once the ML fell first and made it clear his pursuit of the FL, I was left swooning and squealing. The bathtub scene, the 'child-bearing pill' scene, the real first kiss scene, the 'forced kiss', and of course, the unexpectedly short, sweet and hot bed scene. That's how you show so little but make it suggestive, people! They had so many more scenes in between, too. Like, from the very beginning, the FL touched Ji Chu a lot. And he's a germaphobe yet he let her touch him all the time...so many cute moments. I can go on and on but please, do yourself a favor and watch it yourself.

Pros: I have to give some kudos to the beautiful sets and costumes. Never have I seen such memorable outfits, especially for the ML. The colors and hair styling really suited him. He and the FL also had a lot of complementing couple's outfits which was nice. The music was also great...the ending ost is on repeat for me.

Cons: I wish they had cut the whole arch with the little emperor and his sister and given us one whole episode of the leads being in the modern world. I knew that would be the ending but was hoping for longer than a 1 minute of them just meeting each other.

Overall, while this drama is not perfect, it's perfect for me because it held my attention, made me laugh, smile, and cry. In the end, it had everything I love and it'll be hard for me to move past Ji Chu and Hua Qing Ge's love story.

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Rewrite the story...

Oftentimes I have read authors' interviews in which they stated that sometimes they have a different story in mind but once they start writing, some characters refuse to behave in the way the author intended and take on a life of their own.

In this series, the Female lead(Ireine Song) who is an author of the novel 'The Tale of Yun and Xi' is transmigrated inside her novel because the ending she wrote of the male protagonist(Ji Yun, the crown prince) and female protagonist(Lin Xi Yao) dying at the hands of the villain(Prince Lv-Ji Chu) was unacceptable. According to her story, Ji Chu the third prince of Liang was kept at the Southern border as a hostage since young. He was abandoned by the imperial family of Liang causing him to suffer. Thus he vowed to get revenge. He overthrew the Southern border at the age of 20, returning to the kingdom with a vengeance. Since then Liang wad plunged into a bloody storm. He advanced step by step, subverted the courtiers one by one, drove a wedge between the imperial family, initiated a revolt when his brother ascended the throne. He ignored the life of his beloved and slaughtered the imperial Court. Ji Chu got his revenge and usurped the throne. Changed the era's name to Xiande.

As soon as she enters her own novel as a minor character(Hua Qingge, niece of the current empress) who was married to the villain, Ji Chu and was going to be killed by him. The plot changes due to her action of running away preventing that character's immediate death. As per the phenomenon of 'Butterfly effect' (The 'butterfly effect' rests on the notion that the world is deeply interconnected, such that one small occurrence can influence a much larger complex system. The effect is named after an allegory for chaos theory. ) the story takes on unexpected turnings and twists leaving the author as well as the viewers guessing.

In order to change the outcome, Qing( Ireine Song) has to change Ji Chu(Ding Zeren) from a devil to a human. She tries to change his nature by being kind towards him, making him breakfast, grinding ink and rushing in his bedroom to tell him bedtime stories. Displaying care and concern to mitigate his revengeful thoughts. He is also changing, Qing's clumsy attempts to change his disposition are working.

Ji Chu is trying to find clues to his mother's death. His mother was killed as she displayed demon like symptoms. He is successful in reopening investigation of his mother's death after the brilliant physician and co-conspirator of Ji Chu, Gong Ye Qi(Chen Ze) simulates similar symptoms on other person. With the help of the crown prince, Ji Yun(Sun Zu Jun) and the female coroner Lin Xi Yao(Zhu Rong Jun), Ji Chu and Qing are successful in finding the real culprits but due to the identity of the perpetrators they are not able to get immediate justice because politics and popular support complicate things. Also thrown in this mix is the princess, Wan'er(Zhang Yue Nan). Wan'er is a kind person who has retained her goodness and is like a ray of sunshine even in the midst of schemes and plots.

Qing has to successfully complete her task of changing the story ending. Her presence brings out the best in Ji Chu also enabling her to experience true love. Ending of the story is mostly predictable, nonetheless the relationship development of all characters makes it an engaging watch.

This series is also meant to two fold satire, firstly it satirizes the current trend where the audience is more vocal about their preferences and expect the writers, actors and other public figures to be 'perfect versions of their vision', behave and present their work as per the majority voice, frowning on each imperfection of these people. Tolerance and acceptance for different thoughts and tastes is getting lesser day by day. Secondly, it satirizes the authors who write the characters superficially without giving much thought to their actions and motivation. Sometimes the audience rightly feels that they are cheated of a good story merely because the writer is sloppy, writing the story devoid of logic, giving one dimensional trait to the characters.

Fun fact: the author( Qingge) is as clueless as the viewers so we are together in this race till the end, uncovering hidden motives and discovering the truth.

Overall: This series is quite uncomplicated yet interesting to watch. This felt like a breath of fresh air to watch during short breaks from work.You don't need to continuously analyse the plot, sit back and enjoy the mystery unfolding.

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Murder crimes with slow burn romance. Modern girl falls for the villain of her story.

This drama is about a modern day girl who travels to her novel but has to change the ending of her original story where the villain wins (and in the process totally falls in love with him). At first glance this drama to me looked like a typical light-hearted transmigration novel with not much substance. But I was pleasantly surprised. The main plot of the drama is solving complex murder cases which are all related to the main characters. These cases and the mystery around them truly elevated the plot and kept me engaged until the end. The fact that the female lead was changing her novel story from the inside provided great character development, especially for the male lead. I truly feel like if the drama had a more famous cast, it would have become a hit. Regardless of that, all the actors did a good job.

However, I do have mixed feelings about this drama or rather the ending of it. I loved the plot, characters and how everything was executed until the final episode. I didn’t have any expectations about the ending and yet somehow I felt dissatisfied. In my head I kept thinking “Is that it…?”. The ending made sense which is important but at the same time I wasn’t happy with how the story wrapped up for the characters and couples. I just needed something more and the fact that it kind of has a happy ending but it’s not really happy, doesn't sit well with me.

POSITIVE:
- Male lead is an actual villain. His personality doesn’t drastically change from a bad guy to a total sweetheart. He stays true to his villain personality however his perspective changes. I truly appreciated how he was written and his character development was perfect.
- Engaging crime investigation cases that directly connect to the characters and don’t feel like side stories/fillers.
- Great mix of comedy, romance with mystery and suspense.
- Slow burn romance.
- No love triangles. Despite the male and second male lead both liking the female lead, there was no stupid drama about it.
- Awesome plot twists. The story takes unexpected turns and always surprises you.
- Side couple (Princess and Medicine guy) became my favourite. Their story could seriously be a separate mini drama because it’s THAT good.
- Real villain is well written. Most villains in cdramas are kind of meh but this one here was an actual threat which I appreciated.
- Supporting cast and the side couples are fun to watch.
- Revenge plot done well.
- Awesome OST (I never skipped the opening and closing credits).

NEGATIVE:
- Annoying mother character that made my blood boil like crazy. I had to fast forward through all of her scenes because I literally couldn’t stand her squeaky voice and ridiculous mannerisms. Thankfully she is gone about halfway through the drama so I didn’t have to suffer till the end.
- Unsatisfying ending. As mentioned above, I didn’t like the final episode and how the story wrapped up for the characters and couples.
- Side couple (the original male and female lead in the novel story) was not executed well. Instead of focusing his story on falling in love with his girl, he was turned into a second male lead that liked the female lead. Their relationship felt quite one-sided all the time.

OVERALL:
If you are looking for a transmigration drama with murder crimes as a main plot and romance on the side, where the male lead is a very cool and sexy villain, watch this drama.

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Good acting by ML, hoping to see more dramas by him

If u are looking for a time travel drama with bits of romance, suspense, thriller and comedy then it's a much watch drama !! If I talk about storyline and characters the ML portrayed the cold grey character quite well, even though he's a positive character. The overall styling of ML is awesome i haven't seen such traditional costumes so far so hats off to the designer. Also the glitter makeup on FL is really good i would love to try it ! The osts and background music is good . I loved there were different storylines of various characters it's not boring and it keeps u intrigued to see what will happen with each character.

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Entertaining Watch

This drama was entertaining. It had some predictability with other stories that have the same themes but overall was still fun. Not everyone will find the charm in this but make your own decision on whether to watch.

The Good

Hua Qingge was one of the most consistent characters throughout the series. I would say her acting was on par with the chosen character. We got to see the cheerful, witty, smart, cowardice and kind woman from a modern time period, live in a time that was cast with palace corruption and violence and still stay true to her overall self. Her common sense didn’t randomly fly out of the window when falling in love like we see in some CDramas. Although she had biases towards her written characters and their actions, as an author, she quickly learned to reshape her perceptions as the story changed without sacrificing her nature. The overall plot was well thought out and continually reminded the audience that this was a novel in which the author lost control to fill in any holes or gaps.

The Bad

Production value was on the lower end but doesn’t necessarily deter from the show. Where they fell a little short was Hua Qingge’s clothing being too oversized and being able to see the lace front on the wigs at the guys hairlines. Also the fight scenes wasn’t too great either. Not everyone’s acting was of equal level, with some main characters like Ji Chu doing pretty bad at the crying scenes. Lastly, the ending seemed a little lazy or unfinished which took away from the final climax.

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Don't take this one too seriously, and you're in for a fun ride

This is an unexpectedly entertaining costume/period drama with some fantastical elements. While not an original concept (the author entering her own novel), the story has solid characters that develop logically throughout the story and a well-placed plot with villain(s) that keep things moving.

I really enjoyed Song Yiren's performance here. She strikes the right balance of comedy and drama, which is needed is such a story as this. Ding Ze Ren as the ML is a relatively new actor, and he does generally well here, although he does have a way to go in the more angsty scenes.

January 2024 was disappointing to me as far as Chinese dramas (period/costume in particular), but this one was a nice little gem.

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Loved it

Honestly, “Different Princess” reminds me of Scarlet Heart, my all-time favourite time-travel romance. This however doesn’t discredit the drama’s excellent production, story writing, and it’s ability to keep topics light hearted. Even though the show kills way more of its characters, it felt right for the plot. The plot is amazing because it gives you hints, then does a 180. For example they were hinting Du Wen Shu was a villain, but it was so unexpected for the empress being a villain.

What I love about this drama, Different Princess has the elements I loved from Scarlet Heart: the dimensional thing, not belonging in this world, and pain knowing she has to leave. that’s different from Scarlet Heart is how light and playful watching this show is. In Scarlet Heart the characters would be heartbroken, sad, but those moments don’t drag for episodes. Instead the cast accepts and learns or move on. It’s common in Scarlet Heart for later episodes to have a sad, grieving, heavy mood/theme which isn’t exactly a distress/comfort show. It is my comfort show if I’m feeling like crying, but not all the time.

That said, main casts acting could be improved, but nothing was over the top cringe and unwatchable. In some cases the music saved some moments. The OSTS are reallyyyyy good!! On a second note, the Gui Fei’s acting was horrendous and she didn’t have that “GUi Fei” maturity or cunningness. HOWEVER, they chose the best cast for the Empress, who I would NOT have expected to be so evil. Maybe they chose the Gui Fei to contrast the Empress.

Overall, this show has good comedic qualities and I would totally watch a season 2, in fact they better make one!! Ji Chu’s Gu Zhuang outfits were so delicious, especially him in purple. The modern haircut was questionable.

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Can I Please Go in the Novel with Ji Chu

How would you like to become a female lead in your own novel? Such is the drama of Different Princess. Hua Qing (Ireine Song) is a novelist who has been writing her novel online. Hua Qing was proud of herself as an author for being innovative and keeping the villain evil up until the very end--killing off the male lead successfully. She had thought this idea would captivate her readers. As the novel uploaded “The Tale of Yun and Xi,” Hua Qing was excited to see all the comments. Only they were not as positive as she had hoped, as a matter of fact, the readers were livid. She had killed of their beloved male lead. The readers began to type, “Curse her, Curse her.”

Being the author, she didn’t care and told them to go ahead and curse her. She was never changing the ending and a bad ending is an ending too. Well, be careful what you wish for. Her keyboard began to move on its own and her screen turned red with the words ‘Curse.” Taken aback she wiped her eyes to make sure this was what she was seeing.

The following words appeared: ‘Dear Author, your reader enmity level has reached its limit. Please change the ending of “The Tale of Yun and Xi.” Revive Ji Yun and make him topple Ji Chu. If not, the plot will backfire on you.”

Of course, Hua Qing thought it was nonsense. Reader enmity? What kind of stupid setting is this, she thought.

Then the next choices came up:
A. Change the ending.
B. No way in hell.

You know she picked “B” – no way in hell. Her computer went black and cut off. As she banged on her keyboard as well as her screen--nothing happened. She thought it just died. Tired from all the nights of getting the novel completed, Hua Qing went to sleep. Falling asleep, her computer cuts back on and takes the pages of the novel back to Chapter 3: To suppress Ji Chu, Hua Qingge marries into Liang. She was murdered by Ji Chu and thrown into the pond.

Waking up, she finds herself in wedding attire as Ji Chu with sword in hand—kills her.

Her computer states: “You’ve been killed by the backfiring plot. As you failed to change the plot, the plot shall be replayed.”

Waking up the next time, she is still in wedding attire, and very much alive.

After avoiding death, she discovers that she had now become a character in “The Tale of Yun and Xi.” Where she is Hua Qingge, Princess of Fuyu to be married to Ji Chu the villain. Her mind goes back and sees the novel in her head and remembers that she is the niece of the current empress. She came all the way from Fuyu to marry Ji Chu. People thought she died because she fell into the pond by accident, but he killed her on their wedding night.

Since the princess died on her wedding night this caused a huge conflict between the two kingdoms. That was also the reason why Ji Chu committed the deed. Under the emperor’s order, everyone acknowledge the fact that Hue Qingge slipped and fell to her death. They buried her in secret.

Thus begins Hua Qing’s journey with rewriting the novel.

The drama gives us everything that you would want – palace intrigue, villains, jealousy,
misunderstandings, poisons, deaths, stabbings, fights and solving crimes. Pretty exciting, huh? You will not be disappointed in the least.

Hua Qingge found herself at every turn trying to dissuade Ji Chu from his villainous ways, but little did she know that he had his reasons. She remembered that his mother had been poisoned, turned into a demon and killed at the emperor's birthday. Ji Chu was out for revenge to prove that the empress was the killer of his mother and plotting a rebellion.

Empress Hua Yunni always lived in the shadow of Ji Chu's mother who the emperor adored. So much so that he kept her picture hidden behind another one just to look at her. You see, he wanted Ji Chu's mother to be the empress, but jealousy prevented that by her being killed by Empress Hua Yunni who wanted her son, Ji Yun (Sun Zu Jun) the crown prince to have the throne, not Ji Chu.

We also have Ji Wan Er who was the sister to both Ji Chu, Ji Yun and Ji Feng. Sadly, Ji Feng dies at the hands of the empress. Ji Wan Er falls in love with Gong Ye Qi, owner of the Mystic Medicine House. The two fall in love. But the empress had other plans and broke them up and decided to marry her off. Then we have the marriage of Ji Yun to Lin Xi Yao. Ji Yun had his heart set on Hua Qingge, but he knew that Ji Chu would never give her up because he truly loved her.

There isn't a story without the other woman and in this case, it was the Princess Wei Nan Yi from Liang that protected Ji Chu as he was an envoy there along with Gong Ye Qi as his friend and doctor. She turned out to be a good person that knew when to give up fighting for Ji Chu but was willing to give advice to Hua Qingge in understanding him.

I found the saddest and most preventable death was that of Ji Wan Er. Ji Chu did help his sister by faking her death as she went to the other kingdom for marriage. He eventually told Gong Ye Qi who was in love with her that she was still alive. They got married and she were expecting a child. After the rebellion started by the empress at the palace, Gong Ye Qi went to settle the score of her killing his family. Getting ready to kill her, one of the panels to the hallway opened. But that time, he had already thrusted the blade towards the empress, but it was Ji Wan Er that he stabbed not the empress. She unfortunately opened the panel just as he was going to stab the empress. To see his anguish, he killed both mother and child. He never recovered from the loss.

So shall we talk about Ji Chu (Ding Ze Ren). This man will send your pulses racing. Yes, they will. His smoldering eyes, those pillow-kissed lips and that voice. You can’t help but swoon when you see him. Your eyes cannot leave him. Especially when he is with Hua Qingge. At first, we know they will not get along but when he finds out he loves her and can't be without her. You will be screaming for her to stay with this man, even though it is a novel.

Sadly, Hua Qingge realizes that the novel is coming to an end as she notices her hand fading. She makes the decision to start pushing Ji Chu away from her.

As Hua Qingge sits on the floor crying and fading, she says, "I still have so much to tell you. I haven't seen you let go of your hatred. I can't leave." Ji Chu is walking away from her until he hears her scream his name. Turning around quickly, "Qing, Qing, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me. Qing." She jumps surprisingly into Ji Chu's arms still crying, "Ji Chu, I've never betrayed you. I just wanted to duplicate a fake fish-shaped token for the empress." Comforting her as he held her in his arms he says lovingly, "I know Qing. As long as you say the word, I'll always believe you no matter what."

But as time goes by, Hua Qingge knows she has to leave him without saying a word. Ji Chu goes to find Hua Qingge but when he doesn't find her, he becomes frantic. He sends his men out to search for her. He eventually finds her fending off a would-be attacker, and of course, he gets rid of him.

JC: "You are wandering around the streets in the middle of the night instead of going home. what are you trying to do?"
Hua Qingge walks away from him only for him to get in her path.
HQ: "What is it that you need, Prince Chu?"
JC: "You are my princess consort. Of course, I'm here to take you home."
HQ: "I already told you very clearly. Why do you want to keep me by your side? The marriage between us is just a conspiracy. If everything went as planned, I would've been dead already."
JC:"I was wrong before this. But now, I can't be without you anymore."
HQ: "I'm a spy sent by Her Majesty. You know that."
JC: "I don't care."
HQ: "I do. Ji Chu we are doomed, to begin with, you are with Wei Nan Yi and are meant to be together. The two of you grew up together. Both of you are childhood friends."

Best moment ever (trust me, there are several with this man)! Ji Chu, he doesn't let her speak another word and he gave her the most passionate "don't say another word kiss". Ever, wow! His hand is locked behind her head, and he is working, I mean working that kiss. He took her breath away and will yours too. The way he looks at her after the kiss...his eyes, the love in them is really overwhelming. If you look at her, I think she even surprised herself, for the passion that she had for him.

JC: "Qing, I've never fallen for any woman other than you. How many times do you want me to tell you that? (Once is good for me) You are the only one in my heart."
She starts to fade again, and she leaves. As Ji Chu goes to grab her his hand goes right through her.
JC: "Your hand."
HQ: "Ji Chu, isn't it better to let me leave quietly?"
JC: "Leave? What's wrong with your hand? Stop keeping it a secret from me."
HQ: "Ji Chu, I'm not from this world. I am an outsider. I come from another world. I'm going to leave soon. And I won't be able to return!"
JC: "You are not from this world. Of course, you are not from here. You came from Fuyu. When everything has settled down, I'll take you home to visit your family."
HQ: "You know that is not what I meant."
JC: "If you think that's not enough, I'll conquer Fuyu after this. If you want to live in Fuyu, I'll make Fuyu the capital city of Liang."
HQ: "I'm not talking about Fuyu, Ji Chu!"
JC: "I know. I'm arrogant and cold-hearted. And I'm emotionally unstable. I'm not proactive enough and not considerate enough. Qing, if I change all of my bad habits, can you stop leaving me? " (Didn't that just break your heart?)
HQ: "Are you just going to ignore the truth?"
JC: "How much time do you have left?"
HQ: "I don't know."
JC: "Hua Qingge, I don't care who you are or where you are from. You are not allowed to leave me."

From that moment on, Ji Chu became very possessive of Hua Qingge, so much so that when he was doing his work, he made her sit on his lap while he read. (Not a bad option in my opinion). But Ji Chu did want to have a more meaningful wedding and night with Hua Qingge, and it was a good one from the looks of it.

But the novel was ending, it was time for the demise of Hua Qingge. As the empress was going all crazy and tried to kill Ji Chu. The empress holds a knife to Hua Qingge's throat. Instead of Ji Chu dying, Hua Qingge takes the knife that the empress has and slits her throat. Ji Chu is devastated. He cradles her in his arm and cries and cries as her body disappears, only to leave her gold bracelet.

Hua Qing wakes up in her bed as if no time has passed. She is crying and calling out for Ji Chu. The clocks begin to tick. She jumps up from the bed and goes to her computer and there is a new ending.

On the day Ji Yun ascended to the throne, he took poison to atone for his mother's sins. Fortunately, Gong Ye Qi saved Ji Yun. From then on, Ji Yun and Lin Xi Yao lived in seclusion at Melodious Serenity Abode, leading a peaceful life. With Gong Ye Qi's treatment, Emperor Xuanqi was saved from the brink of death but still required long-term bed rest. Therefore, Emperor Xuanqi abdicated in favor of the third prince, Ji Chu. After Ji Chu ascended to the throne, he changed the era to Xian De ushering in the flourishing age of Liang. Emperor Xian De mourned the passing of the late Princess Consort, Hua Qingge. He lived the rest of his life without remarrying, passing away peacefully in old age. - The End

The novel was well received and a guaranteed blockbuster. Leaving the office, the assistant told Hua Qing that her boss was interested in seeing her. She said that she really didn't need to see him and for him to just offer a higher copyright fee. She just bought a new laptop. She was broke. Rushing to leave, she turns around and standing in front of her is Ji Chu. She drops her new laptop. If you pay attention closely you will see the slightest uplift of his brow when she drops it. He opens up his suit coat, drops down on his knee and says, "Hua Quingge. Do you actually have no feelings for me? Are you picking me up and tossing me off?"

The ending is open to your interpretation but if you remember his parting words on the palace steps when he was the new emperor, you will understand:

"Xiao Yan, do you know what is my current wish? I'm now impatiently looking forward to finishing this life. Then go to Qing's world and take a look. "

Wouldn't we all like to take an opportunity to go into a novel? I know I would, Ji Chu, I'm coming....

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