The Rise of Ning

kinda mid but still good

it took me a while to finish, I started while it was airing at the beginning. At last got more interesting pass ep 30.
I wouldn’t recommend to someone who wants to watch this only for romance, the romance was mostly a side plot and slow burn. It was more at the end. We’ll get back to it.

The good for me :
- the acting from everyone I would say
- the music
- the costumes, makeup and hair. Everything was good and pretty
- cinematography and setting were good
- both FL and ML are very good and interesting characters. Smart, strong in their own way, beautiful and capable. Them working together. I like how they overturn the evil people plans and were often on step ahead. Like against concubine and the aunt. ML can fight.
- no annoying problems or misunderstandings between the leads
- I was particularly interested in ML story. How he rises to his position, getting first place in the exams one by one and become top scholar
- I think my fav thing about this drama is Duke Ying. Probably became my fav character, I loved him a lot. Such a good and caring dad, a good person, etc… Awnn how he cried when she got married. When they first met, how he seemed nervous and rearranging his clothes and hat. Such a good and refreshing character. Also… for a “middle age men” he was hot ahahaha
- the relationship between FL and her father and biological family. How she got close to her siblings. I liked every interactions of FL and her dad
- I love both grandma
- I really loved the mother character, how she both cared for them as her own children. She’s a good mom and good person.
- second couple was cute I guess even if I didn’t really like them much
- The wedding was beautiful, even if trash guy interrupted.
- happy ending, pretty good and decent ending. Wasn’t rushed and it’s good we got to see them with a kid. The last scene with everyone was very good, seeing the siblings and cousins back (we haven’t seen them since first master wife exile I think). Satisfying everyone on good terms and happy I guess (not really the dad for me, but we have to accept it)
- the last few eps were good and exciting for the most part

Negatives point for me :
- I feel like this at some point for almost every cdramas, even more 40 eps dramas (that’s very long), it get dragging and boring at some point in the middle mostly. But here, not gonna lie, I was bored a lot compared to normally even with the great leads characters. I watched a lot at 1,5-2x. The beginning was good, we were getting to know the characters, ML doing the exams, but I was bored and then after ep 30 got more interesting again. 5 eps+ could have been cut and that could’ve help. 40 eps was too long, Maybe this kind of drama was not for me. Felt slow at time, a lot of talking, scheming family members and not much action. little ML actions moments and fighting were good though. I watched before some cdramas maybe a bit more oriented on family and less on romance too, but I was more hooked. I honestly can’t point out why I wasn’t that into the drama. Maybe if I watched it last years or at another time it could have been different, I will never know
- Personally it was too long for the reveal (it dragged for me, but not surprise Cdramas writers almost always drag things), almost ep 30. FL with her biological family was one of the best thing, we could have got 5 more eps of that at least
- ML dad, he was trash, treated them badly for years, no consequences whatsoever, redemption arc. He became just fine all of the sudden and happy with them at the end
- I don’t think the romance was that good. I say some chemistry and enjoyed scenes. They were cute together though. Few peck kisses and hugs, bed scene was cute, they also look good together
- SML was such a lame and annoying character. The actor did a good job I would still say, he’s handsome and a good actor, second time I see him. He was doing the annoying guy with unrequited love in “A date with the future”. The guy had nothing going on except being obsessed with FL, wanted to be with her and force her. It the only thing I will remember him has. Did he even do anything else ? I honestly don’t remember, wasn’t paying much attention since I just find him annoying and uninteresting. He could have been an interesting character maybe if his point was not only being obsessed with FL. he still got some good moments against ML. Every scene was just repetitive and annoying at some point, I was rolling my eyes at the end. Him and FL “running into each other”, the same interactions all over again through the episodes. It wasn’t necessary… But at least he wasn’t that present and FL was pretty clear. I liked how she wasn’t swamped by him and was trying to keep distance and didn’t care about him. He was delusional till the end. Kidnapping her on her wedding night… that was too much…. and was not needed. Ah can’t stand this guy. At least he’s dead, but kinda easy death… and why did they make him die saving her, just nah
- I’m sorry, but the worst things in all of this for me was FL calling him THIRD BROTHER till the very end, even when they are a couple, married and with a kid! it was already kinda turned off for me to enjoy the developing romance because she still called him “brother” after she find out he was not her brother. that was just so weird to me that she called him that till the end, I don’t know why they wrote this
- FL’s voice is not that bad, people were exaggerating. Maybe a bit at first, but got over it pretty fast. not something to make you drop at all

I still rated it pretty high regardless of these because of the positive point

So since the leads are great and the plot is interesting in general, friendship and good family moments, happy ending, I would recommend

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Good start, Mediocre end

First 20 Episodes are actually quite good, pacing story just nice. However towards the next 20 episodes it become dull, I fast forward the last 20 episodes. I think this series will be good if it just ended at 24-30 episodes to not make the audience bored with unnecessary scenes
Music is good, costumes also good
Acting:
1. Applause acting to second male lead Ci Sha who play Lu Jia Xue, actress who play mother Lin Hai Ru and actor who play Duke Ling. And the duck who always tried to take out the ribbon around its neck :p
2. Cast : The story mentioned that Luo (Wei) Yi Ning is a fragile weak lady, not sure why Ren Min cast and play this character? She doesn't portray weak and delicate lady at all.. a lot of Chinese actress have that features with better acting skills. The actress playing 5th sister and 6th sister act better than her.
3. No chemistry between the ML and FL.
4. This is second series that I watched for both FL (Ren Min) and ML (Zhang Wan Yi)
Compare to the other series that Ren Min play (I watched the longest promise) her make up here is much better and I think she lose weight so her face does not looks that mega big (still big though in certain scene). Acting wise, looks slightly better than in the longest promise, however her smile is indeed still fake, there's no different on her facial expression between angry and shock.. all looks the same with her effort on widen her eyes.
Zhang Wan Yi acting looks the same with the other series that I watched (Lost you forever). Either the character is the same or?

Overall it is still watchable and enjoyable (especially the first 20 episodes).

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Pleasantly surprised!

I was pleasantly surprised by this drama, and it's not like I was planning to watch it before it even aired but I was in a mood for an historical piece and a Zhang Wanyi fan, so why not?

The story, we have all seen before, but there's something about an underdog rising among the ranks of his family and court that's very satisfying to watch, particularly when it's deserved and well developed.

I confess I wasn't all that interested in most of the supportive characters. An ensemble cast ca be tricky and, most of the time, supportive characters get overlooked. In this drama, this doesn't necessarily happen but, however, I do think most of the supportive cast serves as a player to push the leads' story forward and, most of them, don't get their own story per se. This doesn't mean the story is not good but, compared to other dramas like this one, it's a little lacking on this part.

Ren Min, Zhang Wanyi and Ci Sha do most of the weightlifting in the story, all of them giving really solid performances with the first two perfectly casted as the leads, and the latter delivering one of the most unnerving obsessive characters I have seen in a while.

Overall, I think this was a really good watch and enjoyed it.

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The Rise of Ning – Courage and steady love

🔹 The kind of story that feels calm but slowly works its way into your heart

📖 Overview
🔹 36 episodes, historical romance
🔹 Adapted from the novel Shou Fu Yang Cheng Shou Ce by Wen Tan
🔹 Bai Jing Ting plays Luo Shen Yuan, the brother who protects with quiet care
🔹 Song Zu Er plays Luo Yi Ning, the daughter who’s been hurt but learns to stand tall
🔹 The story begins when Yi Ning comes back home, faces old wounds, and starts to uncover the truth about her mother’s death

✨ How It Felt Watching
🔹 More family drama than palace battles, but still full of emotion
🔹 Their bond grows slowly, from keeping distance to standing side by side
🔹 Felt warm, hopeful, and sometimes heavy when the past caught up
🔹 Themes of loyalty, healing, and choosing love

🎭 Cast & Performances
🔹 Bai Jing Ting as Luo Shen Yuan, calm and steady, always showing up when she needed him
🔹 Song Zu Er as Luo Yi Ning, closed off at first, then let us see her
little by little
🔹 The rest of the cast kept the story moving, with moments that added humor and tension

🎵 OST
🔹 Splash Ink (泼墨) by Liu Yu Ning
🔹 Rather (宁愿) by Curley Gao
🔹 Peaceful (安宁) by A Lin
🔹 Double (双) by Zhang Yuan and Chen Zhuo Xuan

🎨 Visuals & Production
🔹 Sets and details made the family world feel lived in
🔹 Costumes fit each role without taking over the story

🏆 Final Thoughts
🔹 What I loved most was how the romance remained steady even when the family drama became messy.
🔹 Would I rewatch? No
☕ SpillTheDramaTea’s Rating: 8/10, a nice brew, I enjoyed it

✏️ As SpillTheDramaTea, this story illustrates how love grew stronger with each choice.

✨ Which moment made you believe they were all in?

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Definitely worth the watch, but could've been a few episodes shorter

If you like romance costume dramas with all the typical tropes, you should enjoy The Rise of Ning. I really enjoyed it despite its flaws. And really by flaws I am only referring to the character Lu Jiaxue, but more on that later.

Standouts for me were Zhang Wan Yi (because of course) and Zhang Yao. Honorable mention to Huang Meng.

WheneverZhang Yao was on screen, I was entirely captivated by her elegance. I thought she was the best actor (actress) in the entire show. I don't know how Chinese awards work, but I felt like she deserves a nomination for this role. She was perfect in every scene from her expressions to her mannerisms to how she delivered her lines.

The chemistry between Yining and Shenyuan was great, despite some annoyance I had with Yining. Watching him fall in love with her was delightful and I wish the romance had more time to truly develop. How she never really showed any romantic feelings towards him until way later made her seem so naive, and that is not who she is for any other part of the show. The way it is, it was like 35 episodes of him falling in love with her, and her just being the best sister ever, then a few episodes of romance with of course all kinds of trauma and chaos and finally a happy ending. There was so much more potential that could have developed between them as a couple.

Ci Sha's Lu Jiaxue was ultimately a very pitiful character. I feel like they tried to make us sympathize with him far too much, and maybe I could have if his arc hadn't lasted so long. Honestly, it took up far too much of the show. The saving grace is how easy on the eyes he is, but I still really ended up hating his character only because there was too much of him. I did not feel like there was a good balance between his evilness and his (delusional) love for Yining. Every time he came on screen I thought "here we go again" and frankly, I had that too many times.

A bit of the inner harem drama was unnecessary but what is a costume drama without it? Still, it isn't one of my favorite aspects of the shows. I definitely have a love-hate relationship with them.

Also shoutout to the romance between Lin Mao and Luo Yixie. They were absolutely adorable and were so fun to watch.

I truly appreciated the homage to The Story of Ming Lan. I thought it was done very well, but I will admit at the beginning that I was a bit turned off thinking I was going to be watching essentially a remake. Fortunately, this is not that, and in my opinion it worked very well.

Give it a watch. I think it was worth my time.

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A truly happily ever after

This drama was a nice and engaging series that touches on complex family dynamics/drama and politics. It was a slow burn type of story, but wasn’t one that dragged on due to the steady flow of events. I really appreciated the way the main leads were written - they were both extremely bright and talented and made the perfect team. Through supporting each other when no one had their backs, you get to see their relationship blossom into love with a strong foundation of trust and respect.

Highlights:
- The acting by the main leads especially the ML and 2ML, they were so good and natural. I became a fan of Ci Sha who played Lu Jia Xue, the change between his his micro expressions was done really well. He really pulled off the obsessive and slightly unhinged character.
- The bond between the family members was touching, whether it was between Yining and her grandma or her father. I love Yining’s dad, he was so funny and endearing. His facial expressions aware on point.
- Action scenes - It’s a shame we didn’t get many of these but the ones that were shown really impressed me (especially ep 6 when the two MLs fought).

The lows:
- I feel the 2ML was under utilized as he was just a romantic plot device, which is a shame because he had so much potential. He is supposed to be a formidable character but we didn’t get to see much of the complex scheming or political intrigue. I didn’t understand Yining’s attitude towards him a lot of the time, it seemed a bit out of character for her. I get how she would be traumatized but knowing her curious and logical personality, you would expect that she would at least hear him out to clear up the past before moving on. She always ran away so there was never real closure which they both needed. Even at the part when he died. As crazy as he was, I pitied him because of that.
- The filler scenes (including the very long wedding episode). Even though it was nicely paced for the most part, I still think they could have condensed some things or used that time for the plot (ie more political intrigue)
- The perfect ending. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have a HE for once especially after seeing what the main leads had to go through. But it was a bit too perfect for the some members of the Lou family (looking at you papa Luo). Considering everything that happened, it was a bit odd seeing everything living so harmoniously.

I knew I would enjoy this one after watching the trailers, probably because we get to see Zhang Wan Yi playing a role similar to that in Lost You Forever (I was a fan of huge him there). However, unlike in LYF, he gets a perfect ending here. I also got to meet some new actors through this series. Overall, a nice easy watch. I recommend.

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A tale of intrigue and love

The Rise of Ning offers a captivating blend of intrigue and romance, skilfully balancing the narratives of its two central characters. Luo Yining, the resilient female protagonist, returns to the Luo Residence after years of being away. As she decides to stay in the Luo Residence for good, she was determined to defy the mistreatment she endures. Meanwhile, Luo Shen Yuan, the enigmatic male lead, embarks on a quest to uncover the truth behind a wrong committed against his revered teacher.

This drama is particularly engaging as it delves into Yining's clever yet dangerous schemes against her adversaries, aided by resourceful brother, Shen Yuan. As their journey unfolds, a surprising revelation emerges: they are not blood-related. This unexpected twist sets the stage for a blossoming romance that adds depth (and the romance) to the already intricate plot. the focal point of the drama had always been on the central characters, which made people hooked on to the show.

While the early parts of the drama are full of suspense and intrigue which caught the viewers attention, the later episodes became somewhat predictable. The character of Lu Jia Xue, the second male lead, suffers from an obsession with the female protagonist, leading to repetitive and tiresome plot lines. The extended runtime towards the end results in some redundant scenes that could have been trimmed have also lead to some fatigue towards the end of the drama.

Despite these minor flaws, the performances by the lead actors are commendable. Zhang Wan Yi, a rising star (in my opinion), delivers a strong performance as Shen Yuan, effortlessly embodying the character's strategic mind and martial arts prowess. Ren Min also did a spectacular job as Yining, capturing her complex character with both strength and vulnerability. Ci Sha also did a great job as the obsessed Lu Jia Xue, who was willing to do whatever it takes to get Yining by his side again.

Overall, the Rise of Ning is a worthwhile watch for fans of historical dramas, offering a compelling blend of romance, revenge and mystery.

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