The Legend of Rosy Clouds

Not worth your time and survival required the skip/fast-forward button

If someone had told me at the beginning that a drama starring a powerhouse cast and based on top-tier source material would result in one of the most logically bankrupt character arcs in recent C-drama history, I wouldn't have believed you. Yet, here we are. The Legend of Rosy Clouds had potential, but the screenwriting for the female lead, Fan Yun, is an absolute masterclass in character assassination, selective naivety, and emotional hypocrisy.

1. The "Selectively Naive" Heroine: Fan Yun is introduced as an ambitious, forward-thinking pioneer wanting to reform the government and serve the people and to prove to the world that female can also perform men dominant positions and better. Yet, when it comes to basic threat assessment and human character, her brain completely shuts off. She spends the entire show falling for Zheng Shi's victim act and total manipulation, acting completely blind to the high-stakes political chess happening around her. Watching her navigate court politics while being utterly clueless about who is actually holding the knife isn't "innocence"—it’s unwatchable writing.

2. Baffling Moral & Emotional Inversions. The most infuriating part of her character writing comes in the final act, where her emotional priorities defy all human logic. Mourning an Abuser over Family: When her own mother passes, the emotional impact feels almost glossed over. But when Zheng Shi—a man who sexually abused her, forced her into marriage, tried to murder her partner, and attempted to burn down half the region—finally dies? Cue endless rivers of tragic tears, deep sorrow, and unending grief. Lying and Gaslighting: She wanted to stay in Jing City claiming she stayed behind to "help Zheng Xi," when in reality, she was lingering over the grave of a traitor who tried to destroy everything. Lying directly to Qi Zheng’s face after everything he sacrificed for her is peak disrespect.

3. Complete Disregard for Protocol & Duty: For someone whose entire storyline revolves around becoming a respected official and changing the rules, she routinely ignores basic operational protocol: Qi Zheng isn't just her romantic interest; he is Her Excellency, the Lord of the City, and she is his direct subordinate. By rule, law, and basic professional duty, her very first task upon returning from Jing City was to report to him. Instead, she plays mind games, have dinner with family and friends and not even to ask where is Qi Zheng, actively avoids him to the point where Wei Ying literally has to set a trap just to drag her into the same place with Qi Zheng.

4. Qi Zheng Deserved Better: Qi Zheng spent 36 episodes carrying the kingdom, the political strategy, and her entire family on his back. He gave up everything, humiliated by her excuse to divorce him, protected her at every turn, and even secured the Zheng clan's future by handing the genuine clan leader ring to Zheng Xi. In return? He gets treated like an afterthought while she pine-mopes over a manipulative villain who treated her like a trophy. The rushed, three-minute "happy ending" slapped onto the finale feels completely unearned after watching her pine over her abuser until the literal last frame.

Final Verdict, in my opinion, lack of intelligence and awareness, and ignorance, so not worth your time to watch, and survival required the skip/fast-forward button. The only way to get through this show with your sanity intact is by smashing the 30-second skip button every time Fan Yun and Zheng Shi share the screen, except the last two episodes. If you're looking for a competent female lead with a functioning brain, keep walking. The Legend of Rosy Clouds set the bar on the floor, drove over it, and kept digging. Fan Yun a.k.a Dumb Dumb

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I only watched this for Deng Wei, and his exit scene was pure campy and ridiculous

I watched the original and the character supposed to portray is insane, yandere, completely unreasonable and totally eccentric. However, his character in the show is okay nice enough, clearly likes her but not crossing any boundaries. Then at episode 28 she goes to his city, he offers to fake marry her to sneak her into the city, says he won't force her. She says 'sure thanks' bc at that point they're friends. Also he is really aware of how much she is dating her boyfriend, played by Joe Zheng. He fake marries her, sneaks her in, and then suddenly he's like 'now we're engaged and you can't leave the house'. What? He's so clever, lord of the underworld, has a shadow army, rich af by his own means, also is the clan heir. And really a sweet, smart kid. And then this suddenly happens? There's no arc, there's no motivation, he just switches. Nothing like the anime. If you're going to switch his personality near the end of the show, let me know why. Does he have a disease? Is he on drugs? Is he eating too many pig brains. The whole set up is just silly.

And at this point, you notice he's coughed up blood like twice a little bit in like episode 35-36, but it's not clear why and it is lost in all the action happening during this part. Anyway, she wakes up dressed in a wedding gown. He's all dressed up (and looks fucking amazing *sigh*). He's ready to go. Forces her to perform the ceremony. And after the bows, they have to drink the tea. But she's like 'I've already drank the tea with my boyfriend and I won't drink it with anyone else!' He seems to take this very poorly and the scene isn't over. No conversations have been had. And then he just falls backwards into the ravine, beautiful gowns billowing, and that's it. MAKES NO SENSE.

Next day, she is overhearing some court hearings and finds out the antidote to his poison was the wedding tea.
Zheng Shi: "I am obsessed with an ordinary woman, and I have tried nothing to cure my poison even though the antidote is literally right there, so goodbye cruel world. Maybe if I kill myself in front of you, you'll remember me." *yeet*

It's so poorly executed, it's campy. The lines in this scenes are so funny. Just falling off a cliff mid-scene makes 0 sense at all. Nothing was resolved, he was just left. Also they cut out his 'sexy goth Tushan Jing' sequences, where he's wearing a black veil and now we are all sad because why are we here? And I think someone said he may have come back from the dead, dressed in said outfit, but I'm not sure about that. Also best line by Deng Wei. spoken to her, "You're not particularly special, so ordinary, but I like you." Nothing he does makes any sense, and his totally bonkers character in the anime was FAR more coherent.

It's obvious to everyone that a lot of this was chopped up poorly (it's weird, they had 3 years to finish it, why is it still so unfinished?). Hanging frames, technically unpolished. But Deng Wei for sure it just feels like they had to remove a LOT of his character and scenes. I hope so, I hope that footage exists, bc I would like to watch it. I seriously hope they even wrote it to begin with, because there's gotta be a reason this is so damn ridiculous.

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Wang Yilun, Zeng Shunxi, Deng Wei, Tian Jiarui, Cheng Hongxin

fan yun kamu adalah y/n banget, the protagonist sebenarnya, beneran og fl kamu ituuuu 😭😭😭selain bekingan nya tampan2, juga gak main2 oiiii 😭😭😭 punya Abang angkat yg ternyata kakaknya ketua kota saat ini, ada suaminya si ketua kota, ada juga si kejam seperti villain and maybe pemimpin pembunuh bayangan yaitu tuan muda luo qiyan (tuan muda kedua zheng shi), dan bapaknya sendiri pemimpin serigala hitam 😭😭😭😭🛐🙇🏻‍♀️ maha dahsyat beking an fan yun si tokoh utama🛐🙇🏻‍♀️😭🔫mau jadi fan yun, iri bejir tapi aku juga takut mati oiii wkwkwkwk

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Beautifully packaged show with a weak plot that does not match up

Watched this show because I do enjoy the visuals of the 3 leads, and it was a happy surpise to see familiar faces in the supporting cast who were also visual eye candy. To preface, I don't know anything about the original novel the show was based on, but the introduction was clear enough at the beginning. However, once you got past the first few episodes, the cracks in the plot logic start to show. Yes, the characters are presented, yes, some background context was shown, but somehow they still felt rather flat.

It was really the visuals (in terms of face cards, set design, and costumes that made the viewing more palatable till the end lol). The shots and scenary were actually also really nice, especially the scenes where they went to the mountains to light the fire, and I appreciated how the use of studio lighting was not too obvious so the show does look like a lived in set, and not just a prop/fake set. The OSTs also saved the day especially when you have heavyweights like Zhou Shen and Liu Yuning singing them, you know it will still be enjoyable to a certain extent lol. Especially some scenes with Zheng Shi and Fan Yun and 何故 starts playing and the longing (from Zheng Shi) just HITS you like a truck.

But this still was not enough to hide the glaringly abrupt scene edits/cuts, weird gaps in plot and illogical character development/incoherent character motivations. Certain things also just did not make sense, whereby I cannot reasonably believe that the same character carried out those actions or thought/said certain things, because it just does not align with how you would expect them to behave. The FL also charges towards her goal with little thought about romance along the way, and neither were there moments showing any chemistry of an unknowing sort of budding romance with either of the male leads, so it was hard to root for any romantic pairing there...in fact I thought she had more chemistry with Jiang Shu during one moment they had together in the library RIP LOL. On top of that there were other moments where the FL's actions felt a bit...inconsistent....or unrealistic. Though I would say both MLs did play their part and show their longing towards the FL, but I'm biased towards Deng Wei lol. However even his face card cannot help me understand or accept the actions and decisions that Zheng Shi did. What do you mean he's a big baddie at one moment rolling in the dough, and the next he's a big softie? And then he becomes a super perverse baddie AND softie at the same time at the last moment??? Make it make sense. At this point I am just watching because of all the beautiful cast members and suspending logical thought to be able to continue watching the show.

Notable relationships such as that between Elder Zheng and Zheng Shi, Shi San and Gao Ran, and even that between Yan Jiang and Fan Hui were lovely to watch. It was also enjoyable to watch Tian Xing / Tian Yue.

side note - maybe some of my motivation to finish the show was to see if Jiang Shu finally revealed his face he he. And of course just to see more moments of Deng Wei's acting lol. TLDR watch if you like the cast and if good visuals can make you look past glaring plot holes.

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Lighthearted, but also kind of lackluster and sloppy

I almost quit this show after 6 episodes, but some online advice suggested waiting it out past 10. I do think it gets better after episode 10- a new chapter starts for the FL and all the abrupt and emotionally void developments before that can simply be treated as premise- but unfortunately the show itself is still not that good.

My main issue is probably that the main characters are really one-dimensional and uninteresting. The show is very focused on the FL, but she’s as generic as they get, a “good person” in the most direct and bland way possible: she wants to be an official to serve the people.

In principle this concept (career-building power woman) could be done well, it’s just poorly executed here. Her desire to help the common people is way too emphasized and seems to be her only defining feature. She just cheerfully persists in the face of blatant prejudiced mistreatment. She doesn’t have much other personality, nor does she have any particular abilities or good ideas. I didn’t actually dislike her, I just didn’t particularly like or care about her.

And yet two guys are head over heels in love with her. One is very green flag- just wants to help her achieve her dream- and the other is very red flag- keeps trying to help her but can’t seem to understand basic concepts of morality. Both ML and SML, like the FL, felt to me like one-dimensional stereotypes taken to the extreme. Their romantic entanglements are a weak part of the story because they’re not properly built up, nor is Fan Yun extraordinary enough to merit all this- I simply could not understand why they were both so obsessed with her- yet unfortunately this aspect is also quite central to the plot.

By the way, the ML is a “governor”, but he seemed more like an emperor to me (court, eunuchs, palace, deference, etc), which he also was in the source material. I found everything made more sense and also felt more impactful if I just mentally replaced “governor” with “emperor”.

This show does have a lot of side characters I like- fun and interesting, many helping to contribute to an overall lighthearted tone. For example, the ML’s two lovable ministers. The second romance is also not bad, particularly because Wei Ying is chaos. But many of the side characters seem to get dropped and their stories feel incomplete.

Which brings me to my next complaint. I think the plot, in addition to being overall boring, is just sloppy. There are some pacing issues with many things developing too quickly, and then- setting aside meaningfulness, how about just tying up your storylines? The show isn’t completely incoherent, but some story arcs seemed to move on without proper explanation (like the epidemic), and some characters are given two seconds of development and then dropped. The villain situation is also somewhat confusing and muddled, which isn’t helped by Fan Yun being so cheerful about being mistreated.

I do credit this show for having a fun, lighthearted feel, which I thought is integrated and executed well. It made me actually enjoy a lot of the show despite some of my other problems with it. There are also some genuinely heartfelt moments that made me feel moved or touched.

But I don’t think these are enough to offset the sloppy writing or the boring and lackluster plot. I may have surface-level enjoyed the lighthearted tone, but I had to watch the show at accelerated speed, and I couldn’t stand more than maybe 1 episode a day before I got bored. To be fair, it worked out well for a period of my life when I didn’t have much time to watch and being properly addicted to a show would have been inconvenient.

For the acting, I think it’s actually pretty good. Joseph Zeng does comedic expressions really well. Li Yitong is very pretty but I felt her character is too bland for her to do anything with it. The supporting cast also did quite well, but that can’t save a plot.

I don’t think the production is that good. Some of the scene transitions look really funny and a lot of the fight scenes are weird, too. I saw people defend that it’s a bit of an older production, but come on, it’s not like standards were that different a couple of years ago.

The styling and costumes look good- everyone looks good and the makeup is not too heavy. I also like the music. I think the BGM is fine but I really love the OST, several songs made it onto my permanent playlist. But again, can’t save the plot.

By the way, I am not familiar with the source material, though I understand it’s quite popular. In the beginning I read some reddit posts explaining some of the character backgrounds (since it wasn’t properly developed in this drama) and I was surprised at how much more depth and meaning they had in the original. But I stopped looking into that because it was turning the characters into something different. I would guess the source captures the imagination a lot better than this show does.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





This show has a happy ending, unless you count a somewhat sad fate for the SML (but he was pretty unhinged by the end). I don’t think it’s wrapped up that well, though. Like the immediate conflicts are resolved and it ends with reunion and kiss, but there is no view of how things would play out after that. Endings like this aren’t unusual but I still never find them satisfying; in this case, the story wasn’t epic enough for me to want a Happily Ever After and I didn’t care enough about the characters to be upset.

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bad story

i only started watching this drama because of tian jiarui. He is also the only reason i watched until the end.
This drama was so boring in its storyline. I love a power woman but woman like this who think they can do everything is very annoying. Tian jiarui was the only reason and deng wei i watched. there is also no romance and it was very annoying how the female lead did not cath the message that the male lead was in love with her. With everything the male lead did and she did not even fall in love with him. or even if she did it did not look like it. like if youre not gonna act in love them dont bother to kiss.

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DIFFERS FROM THE ORIGINAL WORK. WORKS GREAT AS A STAND ALONE!

Objectively this is a really nice drama to pass time however base on the original work/ source material it’s falling flat to most viewers who has seen the original.

I cannot directly speak in regards to that or make the comparison since I’ve yet to see the anime; however in my personal opinion I believe that though it differs a lot from the original work, People should give it a watch as a standalone.

It seems some scenes were cut due to copyright. But i strongly believe outside of that, the acting is solid, there’s chemistry between the leads and the comedy is on point. The politics aspect is just a tad bit draggy but nothing too bad.

Final verdict, if you’ve seen the original work and go in expecting a “live adaptation” then you’ll probably be disappointed. However if you’re able to treat this as a stand alone show then there’s a high chance you may enjoy this a bit. In my opinion it’s not very heavy and all the different parts are balanced enough to me. We also have a side couple that also has a funny dynamic.

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An Amazing Cast, and A Light Hearted Story Line that Felt Deeper Then It Looks

As many of you may know, this drama has been delayed for airing by nearly 3 years, starting in 2023 and finally airing in 2026. You can obviously see the low-budget cuts and how the scene transitions were just not up to par. Not to mention the stunning costumes that were repeated too many times and action scenes that just didn't quite meet what I was hoping for. Basically this drama straight out screams that they were on a low budget.

First off I have too talk about the title of this review. Until the last scene I didn't realize how heavy this drama was on the inside. (At least in my opinion) On the outside this drama seems super light hearted and feel good. Especially with all the humor that got mixed into the plot. But when I watched the last episode I realized that this drama isn't just about laughs, but actually it's about longing for love, figuring your feelings out, and letting go. That's what I feel like the real message of the drama is.

- The Cast
I have to say that this is an amazing cast. Joseph Zeng, Li Yi Tong, Deng Wei, Dai Lu Wa, Riley Wang, Cheng Hong Xin, and Tian Jia Rui all in one drama is basically like a dream come true. But due to the messy story line I feel like the full potention of the cast is straight out wasted.
Even though the plot was rather disappointing I have to say the acting was exceptional and awesome! I really enjoyed watching Joseph Zeng as Qi Zheng. He was goofy and funny but also calculating and clear when the scene needed it.

- Setting and Costumes
I have to say that the Qi Mansion and other destinations in this drama were absolutely stunning and so well designed! Although the costumes were repetitive, they were gorgeous and fitted the Wuxia vibe very well.

- Love and Romance
I normally dislike love triangles but for this one I actually enjoyed watching. A lot was on changing the way the world felt about anyone can be officials and the struggle the way there

< Male Lead, Qi Zheng: I love how pure his love for Fan Yun is. He cares for Fun Yun with his whole heart and devotion. He would always put himself in front of Fan Yun in terms of danger. I really love this of him.
< Female Lead, Fan Yun: She really made me lose my mind for the whole drama. It wasn't until episode 32 when I feel like she final figured out what her true feelings were. I do think that her hard work and perseverance for "women can also be officials" is truly admirable
< Second Male Lead, Zheng Shi: Personally I think Deng Wei did a really good job with the whole love triangle situation. He portrayed his character really well.
< Second Couple, Gao Ran and Wei Shisan: I loved this couple so much while I was watching. In the beginning Wei Shisan was completely heed-over-heels for Gao Ran, while Gao Ran didn't feel the same or didn't know how to express his feelings. Over time though he ended up finding his way and expressed his love to Wei Shisan in his own way. This couple truly earns a like!

-OST Thoughts: In my opinion a good OST can level up a drama so so so much. I really enjoyed listening to these songs during the drama, and they match the vibe perfectly. Also it included my one of my all time favorite OST singer Liu YuNing! Two OST's that really stood out to me are 浮生若梦 (A Dreamlike Life) by 周深 (Zhou Shen) and 何故 (Why) by 刘宇宁 (Liu YuNing).

- Ending Opinon's
In conclusion this drama is not a total masterpiece or anything really phenomenal. But it's special in its own way and the humor was definitely one of the best parts. Indeed the flaws in this drama are practically countless and improvement is definitely needed.

But really this drama isn't something I'd never watch again, as I mentioned before the OST's are amazing and I will definitely continue listening to them long after finishing this drama! 🌹☁️

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Ein gute Film mit hübschem Schauspieler Joseph Zeng

Ich habe The Legend of rosy clouds gerne vom Anfang bis zum Ende geschaut. Habe 2 Mal Vip gekauft und das Schauen bis zum Ende hat sich gelohnt. Ich verstehe die schlechten Rezensionen nicht. Die Schauspieler haben sich Mühe gegeben u. es können nur Antifans sein, die schlechte Renzensionen geben. Joseph Zeng spielt den hübschen vielfältigen Qi Zheng, der in lustigen Szenen mich zum Lachen bringt und ein guter Kämpfer ist, er überzeugt in seiner Rolle. Die lustigen Szenen habe ich mehrmals zurückgespult u. hatte sie mir öfters angeschaut. Ich werde mir den Film noch einmal anschauen, dann noch andere Filme von Joseph Zeng anschauen.

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Cute and light-hearted drama that shines in its own way!

Despite the rating on MDL, we still need to understand that it is a fan site so judging solely based on ratings isn't quite logical.
While the drama was still airing, I saw people writing reviews and rating episodes that haven't even aired back then, like how on Earth do you rate an episode 2/10 that hasn't even aired yet smh🤦‍♀️!!! This is the main reason I don't blindly believe such fan sites, it's best to see for yourself and then judge.

Now as for my own experience, honestly what i felt was the drama started to pick up after the first 6 episodes and by episode 10 it had a good foundation and pacing. To me, I never fast-forwarded any scenes, I always waited for upcoming episodes and didn't feel like finishing episodes was a burden. I personally really liked the cast, from main roles to the supporting roles, to me each of them shone in their own way, none of the characters felt unnecessary instead just felt right.

The drama itself is very light-hearted and not dense or too serious, the comic scenes were good too. There are many reasons why the drama may have disappointed viewers it's because it was shelved for THREE freaking years!!! Can you imagine a drama that was done filming in 2023 but was released in 2026!? Obviously the editing and visual effects are gonna seem underwhelming and then comes the copyrights issue which was the reason why so many scenes were cut🤦‍♀️. Not to mention this was a low production drama and it differed from the actual anime like what more could you have expected from this.

In my opinion the actors saved the drama, I honestly feel bad for them for being criticised, like it's not their fault. Both the Screenwriter and Director are at fault, like why bother doing a drama inspired from an anime if you are going to change the contents of it🙄. Nonetheless, I personally enjoyed it and those who haven't tried it yet or dropped it after 5/6 episodes, I recommend them to give it a try it's not as horrible as SOME people are making it seem😒.

Hope this review helps!😊🎀

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