The Rise of Ning (2024)

An Inspiration Not An Adaption

I have read the novel, before attempting to watch this drama, so this would contain novel spoilers. You have been warned!

The overarching story premise was very well written, the flow and the progress, while seemingly slow was actually progressing and in a way to make sense. We are introduced to the FL (Luo YiNing) and ML (Luo Shen Yuan), who are siblings born in scholar family during historical times. FL was born as the Legitimate Child, but wasn't liked by her father and was sent away when she was young returning to the family after 10 years has passed, which was the beginning of the story. While ML was an illegitimate child who wasn't even recorded in the genetically book and was never recognized as part of the family scorned by his father, he didn't even have the right to learn how to read from a teacher. Both leads who weren't raised surrounded by love, began to rely on each other, becoming each others pillar.

ML (Luo Shen Yuan) was a diamond in the rough, a prodigy, he was extremely smart, had his own business that was thriving, and was strong martial arts skill. However, he had to do everything under another identity, because he was an illegitimate child, that was not recognized by his family. His own father wouldn't even let him learn how to read, and he self taught himself, with little guidance from a teacher. The most impressive part of this story was not the romance, but the character development of ML and FL, and for ML while he was prodigy, he lacked love/compassionate. He learned to be righteous from his teacher and fellow classmates, but never really had anyone truly care for him. Which FL teaches him, tries to give him, telling him he's not alone and he doesn't have to do everything himself. Which I liked this premise, because novel to FL was obsession (not a very good one), novel ML and drama ML were both born to be politicians, but novel was much more cunning and ruthless. He didn't really care for anyone, but FL, which to be honest, all the characters written in Luo Family was quite dumb or "not very nice people". Nobody in the Luo family really ever treated ML like family, while in the drama, we see how he is accepted. The scene when gets written in to the genealogy book, perfectly filmed, show the nervousness and the moment to be remembered.

What makes this character even more memorable was the actor Zhang Wan Yi, the slight expressions, movements, and the tension he creates in the room OMG, just such an impressive actor. He perfectly acted how ML slowly falls in love with FL, and his slight changes from how his surroundings changes, like when he goes from being an illegitimate child to Legitimate child, become FL's actual brother on paper. He changed the way he walked, and the air around him goes from being nobody to a confident noble scholar.


I also love the portrayal of FL in the drama compared to the novel, the more I read the novel the more annoyed with FL I got. This drama seems to have taken the criticism towards the novel and rewritten FL setting, and they did so in an impressive way, Lets make one thing clear, novel FL was reincarnated after dying at 17 and then spent 20 years as a soul in a hairpin so she knew of some future event. She knew ML would become a prime minister and did everything to treat him well, but she reincarnated into a 7 years old after 7 years she died. She was married before she died and had a husband which is SML, that was well alive in his late 20s. In the drama, instead of starting FL as a 7 years, because no way is anyone watching a grooming process and pedophile happening, they started her off in her teens who came back after being sent away for 10 years. The good thing the production did was avoid mentioning age at all times, which the novel kept mention (aka shes 10, 12, 14 - the main story ended at 15 and she had kids....). During those 10 years she was sent away, she so happen to come in contact with SML, who was blinded because of an injury, and they become close. SML falls in love with her and he was set on marrying her, but some situation happened that led to FL being badly injured believing that SML tried to kill her. SML develops an obsession with her, while FL has moved on and matured from that experience, which was portrayed very well, she was firm toward SML, not even letting the slightest action to hint towards anything except for her personal hobbies/habits. Novel FL will piss you off, supposedly over him, but some how always thinks of him, remember what he likes, and what he did, and the past, what even gave her away was that she remembered that SML went gambling. Drama FL was mature and intelligent, she grew up in a house with only a few maids and developed an independence by herself. So when she came back to the family, she started her own business, navigated herself away from trouble. Her only weak point, was that she was still too soft towards her opponents, and ML will take care of that, but overall she didn't really need saving from ML and there were even instants of her saving ML. The actress really portrayed YiNing as her natural self of caring and her love/care to ML was what gave comfort to ML, that he would even sharing his deepest secrets with. The relationship was mutual and balanced, with no problems at all, even when FL was hiding her assiocation with SML, and he was deeply jealous, he never forced her to say anything.


This is a slow burn drama, for more than half the episodes FL still didn't know ML was not her biological sibling, but what I appreciated was the character growth of the characters. Like how Luo Yi Xiu and Lin Mao (i kind of skipped alot of their story), growth from each other company and to be honest while Luo Yi Yu didn't have much screen time, her character growth was probably the most interesting one. Luo Yi Yu was raised to be a proud scholar girl by her mother madam chen, and madam chen always wanted better for her kids, so her strictness towards her children was suffocating especially to Luo Yi Xiu and Luo Shan Yuan. While YiYu was her mothers perfect child, she initially was slightly arrogant, but she wasn't a bad person when Liu Ming proposed, she initially didn't like him because his family wasn't exactly known/wealthy, nor was he good looking, and he didn't score on the yearly examination. However when encountering a family crisis, he was the only one that didn't ostracize her and she finally understood, to live a good a life you don't need all the other worldly things, just having someone there to stay by you was the most important. I do with they expanded more on how FL finds out shes in love with him, because they kinda of wrapped up everything pretty quickly near the end. The pacing wasn't bad, I wish there was more.

Somethings I do wish they kept in the drama was novel Lin Mao's character setting, they revamped him to a guy whos terrible at studying and in to medicine. However novel Lin Mao was a very interesting character, he was carefree and does pretty crazy thing like he caused an explosion because he was trying to create an elixir XD. Lin Mao characters was smart, but he was very eccentric and liked to do things by impulse. I also wanted them to keep ML confidence, novel ML was confident in everything he did, no matter what trouble FL caused, he always had a back up plan, while drama ML did portray him as smart, they took out the absolute confidence he had in his plans, which to be fair make sense with the character setting they set for him as he does fail.

I highly recommend this drama, do not even bother reading the novel, you will not like it. The character growth and the story flow, is the quality point and you won't get bored of the interactions between characters. There is no misunderstandings and if your a fan of mutual support relationships, this is for you. FL and ML supported each other through out the novel and they never overshadow each other. They both have their expertises and their own strong qualities, and how these qualities come together to support each other is most fascinating to watch.

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It's good enough to kill time

If you like in-house fighting, ensemble casts and multiple plots this might be the one for you. The first few episodes almost turned me off. It was messy for lack of better words. But once you get passed it, things started getting better.

It's my first time seeing Ren Min in anything but I've seen many people praising her acting chops before. So color me surprised that I find her acting only passable here. Plenty of it has to do with her line delivery. (I've seen many comments on her high pitched voice but that's a non-issue for me, how can I fault her over something she's born with.)
Instead her intonation and inflection feel flat to me and lack of emotion. This flaw is especially exacerbated because her dance partner in this drama Zhang Wanyi is streets ahead of her in terms of voice acting. It's one of his strong points. This is one of the rare instances that made me wish they dubbed the FL. In terms of acting, many times I feel like she's cosplaying here. When I'm told by the script that the FL is smart, I expect layers but her Luo Yining lacks depth and charisma. It's a pity because I have a feeling that this is not her in her full capacity.

Zhang Wanyi is an excellent actor. And I have to give him the most credit because he’s my biggest motivation to keep tuning in. As an actor he's grounded, understand his character well, and very good at conveying emotions through his expressions and small gestures. In this drama I want Luo Shenyuan to succeed more than anything, for his family who always looks down on him to eat crow and for his enemy to fall.

The chemistry and rapport between the leads are nice and easy which I think is fitting because they started as faux siblings.

Lu Jiaxue is supposed to be a domineering character and Chisa did a good job to make me feel really annoyed at how overbearing and oppressive Jiaxue is.

As an ensemble drama, the other supporting characters are good and mostly suited their roles. You'll like the ones you're supposed to root for and will most probably hate those you're meant to hate.

In conclusion, this series is a bit frustrating for me because it has potential to be so much more, but it's not. But the good parts outweighed the bad parts so it's still worth to check out.

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The Rise of… Third Brother

After watching the whole thing, I really hoped they named this drama with a different title. The Rise of Ning wasn’t t just about Yi Ning. It was mostly about Shen Yuan’s quest to rise up to the top and avenge his teacher and fellow disciple. It’s a beautiful drama. The FL calling Shen Yuan “Third brother” up until the last episode was just kinda weird. I know they’re not blood related, but still. How can you have feelings right away with a person who’s from the same family and you call him “Third brother” all the time? Anyway, I know it’s fiction, and I’m not the writer. The adoptive sibling trope is a little tricky for me. There’s not much romantic scenes between them. Kisses were meh. I wanted to see more. Great acting goes to the actor of Lu Jiaxue. Great job. He really got under my skin. I adored the fight scenes very much. I love the female empowerment message here. Love the characters, especially Duke Ying. Best dad ever! I just wish they didn’t spend so much time on the wedding scenes. We all know what happens in wedding scenes anyway. 40 episodes should have been cut down to 32. A lot of people were complaining about how Yi Ning should be more successful having a business. I mean, she does have a business. They had their struggles. It became successful with the help of her sixth uncle and his wife overtime. We don’t have to see everything. The FL is pretty, but her voice. OMG it’s like listening to a little girl. I get a little distracted by that. Especially when she keeps calling Shen Yuan her brother here. I blame it on the writers. Overall, I’m happy with the ending. I watched this because of Zhang Wan Yi. He’s a great actor to me.

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Love Moves in Mysterious Ways

The narrative revolves around the Luo family, as each member strives to establish their position within the household.

I will always support a strong, witty, and smart lead. FL doesn't always rely on the ML, but she has the ability to stand independently.

Definitely my favorite is Zhang Wan Yi because of his wonderful microexpressions. This guy knows how to use his eyes to captivate the audience. Ren Min also did a wonderful job. I recognize her as Princess Huiro from TSOPJ, and she has significantly improved.

What I really love is the plot itself. The plot delves into the past and effectively resolves every issue. Another noteworthy aspect is the meticulous handling of the sibling relationship between the leads. They are aware of their boundaries, and in the end, the anticipation of becoming a true couple is well worth the wait.

Everyone did a fantastic job. They got their own spotlight. Even Duke Ying, who appeared after 20+ episodes, became the greatest dad ever. 

We highly recommend this if you love The Story of Minglan, The Sword, and the Brocade.

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Strong ML with a clever FL

I gave this a solid 8/10. There were just some things I could't get pass.
I loved Yining's character. She was clever, bold and stood up for herself. Despite growing up with the father's concubines who continuously plotted against her, she fought herself out of the situation. When she met Luo Shen Yuan after coming back home, they first developed a bond and wanted to help each other find the truth about wrongful deaths.
I won't say much on that part as you will need to watch it for yourself lol.
Now, Lu Jia Xue was obsessed to the very end. OMG he was sooooo determined lol and annoying with his actions.
What made me give this an 8/10 is because she kept calling in "third brother" to the very end. Like come on writers, you didn't have to make it so weird to the end. She should be now more mature and leaving that childish part behind her.
I am always here for perfect endings and we got it.
Overall, it was good - slow burn - lil romance at the end - a few comedic scenes....

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Intelligent and sweet

If you are a fan of intelligent leads, healthy relationships and green flag couples, watch this drama. I stumbled on to this drama because I was looking for other dramas by featuring Zhang Wanyi and I am so glad I did.
The acting from the whole cast is stellar, the villain was human with shades of grey and not just evil alone. The OST is beautiful and the sets gorgeous. In the beginning, I thought it reminded me of The Story of Ming Lan, there are some parallels there, then it stopped doing that in the second episode and became its own show. It's much lighter, sweeter and faster paced than TSoML where I found the atmosphere much more oppressive and gloomy and I definitely enjoyed TRoN more.

The biggest positive for me were the leads who were all in when they thought they were siblings, all in when ML knew they were not siblings and all in when their relationship changes to more. its a healthy, intentional and reciprocal relationship of two equals with small misunderstandings, easily and quickly resolved through honest communication on both their parts. Can we please see more of these???
This drama has very quickly been added to my favourite historical dramas and let me tell you that is no easy feat.

I highly recommend it, whether as an easy binge watch or as a serious drama craving, it satisfies all your drama needs.

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The underdogs became the winners

Family dynamics and politics were nicely depicted in this drama. The story was interesting. On two fronts, both the lead characters had cases on their hands to investigate and uncover.

As a child, Luo Yi Ning who lost her mother was sent away from home to the countryside villa after being accused of causing the miscarriage of her step-mother. When she returned years later, she was determined to prove her innocence. Back home, she began to suspect that her mother was poisoned. If it was not her stepmother, then who did it and why?

This episode on Yi Ning's eviction from the Luo family because of her stepmother was similar to that of the Double. Who plagiarised who - I could not ascertain which story was published earlier. The Double was aired earlier; so the natural conclusion was this drama plagarised.

Her half brother, Luo Shen Yuan was not what he appeared to be - the uneducated and unfavoured son. He was secretly the student of a mandarin who was accused of corruption and was executed. Very intelligent and conniving, he lay low while investigating his tutor's case as it might involve someone very powerful.

ShenYuan was a maverick and schemed his way to solve his tutor's case. He was so smart that he lay all the traps to catch the evil lord and stole the necessary evidence to nail him. What appeared to be a bad turn of events was actually a scheme of his. In this regard, it was a little unconvincing for such a young lad to be able to solely do all these without an older, more experience adult as advisor or helper.

When Yi Ning was repeatedly schemed against by her stepmother and half sister, he stepped in to help her. While trying to find a cure for her ill-health, he discovered that she might not be a child of the Luo's family and started to develop romantic feelings for her. The investigation of his tutor's case brought him in direct conflict with Marquis Lu JiaXue, YiNing's former love interest who now became his love and political rival.

Also I actually did not feel there was much chemistry between Ren Min (Yi Ning) and Zhang Wan Yi (Shen Yuan). The romantic scenes between them felt quite bland and obviously just a show. Zhang Wan Yi was the male lead in Lost You Forever. Comparing his chemistry with Ren Min and Yang Zi, the chemistry with Yang Zi was a lot more convincing.

Additionally, they chose the wrong voice for Ren Min. The childish pitchy voice did not help in building the character. She acted in the drama, the Longest Promise, with Xiao Zhan and the drama was a disappointment. I think she should stay on for another 2-3 years as a second lead to outstanding lead actresses to learn from them before taking up lead acting roles.

I found myself feeling sorry for the second lead. He did love Yi Ning truly although in an obsessive manner. Would have been better if a different ending had been crafted for him. At some parts, it looked like MingZhu was interested in him. Yet, the screenwriter did not capitalise on this further.

The last four episodes were totally unnecessary as they seemed to be added to drag the drama on. The drama could easily have ended at episode 36 and would have fared better in my rating. The extra four episodes would have been better used to craft a different ending for the second lead.

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So so

It was entertaining, but while I love the cast, there was absolutely no chemistry between the leads. I don't know if it was because thought they were siblings at first or what.... The rest of the story was good, but the pacing was terrible. It was like they suddenly realized there were only 10 episodes left, and they'd forgotten to resolve a majoe co flict, so they rushed to accomplish that. In. Two. Episodes. 🤦‍♀️ I DID love the focus on relationships and forgiveness over wealth and power. It brought a nice change to the revenge driven tropes that are too prevalent in C-dramas.

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DONT UNDERSTAND WHY FL ACTED LIKE THAT

FL once loved 2nd ML. she is smart and understanding. but when it came to Lu Jiaxue, she became so clueless. such as when LJ interrogated her, when LJ blocked her way, LJ forced her, LJ being cruel to the Luo family members, she became so passive and submissive. she should tell LJ directly that she didnt love him anymore, hate him and etc. she was not smart here.

she was not being honest to ML. she was angry to ML cause he didnt tell her a secret. but she also got a secret between her and LJ (she told ML later). i felt it kinda annoying.

2nd ML repeatedly harmed her in many ways. but she still respected him everytime he went to see her. she didnt feel scared or at least feel disgusting or annoyed, i just dont understand. it potrayed as if she allowed LJ did everything to her.

not to mention her acting was a bit “wooden”. her tone was almost same when she was angry, sad, happy, confused or scared. her facial expressions though were very bad.

i really dont satisfy with her acting. i wont complain about her voice. but her acting was really not up to par with ML. sorry i need to rate low because of her.

ML did a great job. but fl needs to improve her acting in next dramas.

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