The Princess Royal

Another Tragic Second Lead

After we watched a drama, we often remember the tragic handsome second lead in the story more than other character in the story. This happened for me in this drama.

Li Rong, the princess of Xia, was married to Pei WenXuan. Although she did not have much say in the choice of her spouse, the two fell in love. Unfortunately, WenXuan's past engagement to the concubine of Li Chuan, the young emperor, became a point of misunderstanding between the two. With the misunderstanding not properly explained, it resulted in their turning against each other. Thinking that WenXuan had poisoned her, Li Rong ordered the assassination of her husband.

The two woke up from death returning to 20 years ago before they were married. This time, things were more complicated - they were not the only ones who returned with the memories of what might be to come. The other person who also returned was an antagonist who wanted to kill Li Chuan that Li Rong and WenXuan supported, to stop him from becoming emperor,.

In the past one year, this was the third drama I watched which was about a second chance in life. The previous two were The Kunning Palace and Marry my Husband (Korean). Both of these were very good, so I was a little sceptical how this was going to measure up. It turned out to be an interesting story. Zhang LingHe was once again the lead actor (as in Story of Kunning Palace). However, in this drama, he was a little more subdued but infused some humour in an otherwise very serious drama. His jealous reaction to RongQing was entertaining and funny to watch.

There were numerous interesting characters in the story. WenXuan had a hard time convincing Li Rong of his love. Li Rong grew up in the palace with a hardened view on love and a strong sense of distrust. Portraying one who was tough and guided by logical, she actually had a weak emotional side and was completely devastated when she discovered the people she trusted and loved betrayed her.

The handsome talented Su RongQing, who was deeply and secretly in love with Li Rong, was an obsessive and stubborn personality. He had the chance of becoming the prince consort to Li Rong but he threw it all away to pursue his obsession with protecting his family and the noble families. He would protect her with his life but yet stand in opposition to her chosen path. He was obsessed both in love and in his pursuit. He was not quite the villain as he pursue all these with actual selfless goals but insisted on taking a misguided path. So I term him an anti-hero.

Then there was the old emperor who was determined to fight the nobles whom he believed had been standing in his way of building a better country and fighting the war against the northern invaders. However, his obsession led to him to be blinded in the choice of succession to his throne.

The last 4 episodes were intense and suspenseful. I was restless watching it. Although recent Chinese dramas tend to be less tragic, the writer could easily flip the story for either side to win in the last few episodes.

There was not much to criticise except to nitpick on some small matters. When RongQing fell over the cliff with Li Rong trying to save her, they both ended up on the river bank all wet but with their hair wear almost intact. Surely falling all the way into the water should have done more damages.

The last piece of music played by RongQing on the qin was quite lame - like a piece from an old Cantonese opera. I thought they could do better. Really lame compared to the piece played by Rong in this drama, or those play in The Double or The Kunning Palace.

Also in this drama, all the men were such faithful lovers, other than the old emperor. Lol. I don't see this happening in real life - after being rejected, most men would move on eventually and some move on very quickly; only an exceptional few lingers.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend this drama. I think it's greatest strength was in portraying the characters in the story. They were each with distinct characters and personalities.

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It is nothing special about this drama. It is predictable and watchable if you want to kill time.

Princess Royal is a historical costume drama about a second chance at one's life destiny through time travel. Li Rong and Pei Wen Xuan misunderstood each other, and through the misunderstandings, with the help of others, they plotted to kill each other; after they were dead, they both awake back when Li Rong was 18. During that period, they discovered and communicated with each other to change the course of their lives.

Synopsis: Li Rong and Pei Wen Xuan married at 18. Li Rong used Pei Wen Xuan's family background to avoid disaster, and Pei Wen Xuan used Li Rong's identity as Princess to establish himself. They married for political reasons without the slightest bit of affection. Later on, she lost herself amid wine, song, and dance. As for him, he had a home yet did not bother coming home because he already had someone in his heart… Husband and wife for 20 years, yet nothing between them but power. In the end, it was hardly surprising that someone turned them against each other, leading them to die under each other's schemes. However, when they woke up, they had returned to the year when they were 18, returning to the most difficult time in their lives. So Pei Wen Xuan went to look for Li Rong. To be married again but with divorce in mind.

My Reviews:
1. The drama is okay to watch. There were some elements of comedic scenes between Li Rong and Pei Wen Xuan.
2. Zhao Jin Mai and Zhang Lin He did a decent job in this drama, and their onscreen chemistry is better than her onscreen chemistry with Wu Lei in Amidst a Snowstorm of Love.
3. The drama is slow and draggy, and the last five episodes were stupid and long. It would be much better if 10 episodes were cut.
4. The plot is predictable and nothing new; hence, it did need to be 40 episodes long. It shows the emperor and his successor (her brother) are useless. It takes until the end for them to realize that she is more than capable of running and leading the country.

I give it a 7.0 rating because the acting and plot are mediocre. Overall, it is not a bad drama since nothing else special or great has aired in Cdrama this year.

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I was fully prepared to love this drama. I really was.

Let's talk about what I liked first.

• The acting:
Most of the cast did not disappoint with their acting. I've watched a few of Zhao Jin Mai's previous works and loved her in all of them. If you've read the synopsis, you know that this is a "reincarnation" story where both of our leads get a second chance at life after dying tragic deaths in their first life. You'd think after turning back to her 18 year old self, the fl would be more immature or childish. But no, she remains poised. She carries herself with the grace of a 40 year old grand princess who's loved and lost a lot in life. I mean, it is to be expected of her since this is her second life, but I feel like Zhao Jin Mai portrayed this perfectly. Her expressions were on point throughout the drama. It's always a pleasure seeing her on the screen.
I've watched two Zhang Ling He dramas before but I didn't really like his acting in either of those. I'm not saying I hated it, but I felt like he could do better. And he DID. His acting here was superb. In contrast to the fl, the ml can be very childish at times. But despite being playful, he knows when to get down to business. Since Zhang Ling He's micro expressions are really good, he too, portrayed this character perfectly.
An actor I feel like isn't getting much praise from the fans of this drama is Liu Xu Wei. He plays Li Chuan and honestly, among the support roles, he acted the best. He plays the same character in both of our leads' lives, but with different personalities. And he acted out both of those personalities wonderfully. His acting wasn't without flaws, but his line delivery was amazing and his expression control is quite praiseworthy. I'd love to see more of him in the future.
The actor playing the emperor also did an amazing job. Even some of the younger cast such as the actress playing the fl's step sister was pretty good.

•The Production:
Loved the production. Though they didn't spend an ungodly amount of money on this drama, they did best with what they had, and I respect that. Cuz the end result was amazing. There were no unnecessary, flashy camera work, which is sadly, VERY common in historical dramas. Also, the costume designer deserves a raise. The fl's costumes are to die for.

Now let's get to what I didn't like.

• The plot and the pacing :
I didn't wanna make a separate point for the pacing cuz I feel like the reason the plot became kind of boring at times was because of the pacing. Also, some things just remain unexplained. For example, in episode 11, ml confesses to the fl and tells her he loved her the whole time. It was very dramatic, with rain and thunder and everything. But the thing is, the show never tells us how or when the ml fell in love with her. The story was so interesting up until episode 21-22. Later on, it started to become draggy. Ml and fl have a fight around episode 24-25 where the ml really pisses off the fl so she decides to go to a festival to 'hang out' with other guys. This felt incredibly stupid to me. It felt like lazy scriptwriting. Nothing significant actually happens at that portion of the drama. The story didn't progress much. The pacing was bad, so I had to watch a few episodes in 2x speed. It got better later on but it still left a bad taste in my mouth.

• Court Drama:
Political intrigue takes up quite a significant amount of the screentime but it really wasn't intriguing, tbh. The leads didn't actually suffer much. Even if they did, it was only for a short time, cuz they had a backup plan all along :). It just didn't feel realistic.

•The characters :
Worst part of this drama. Listen, just because I liked the actors doesn't mean I liked the characters. The fl is emotionally constipated so she doesn't know how to express what she feels. She doesn't WANT to say out loud what she feels. Then again, she has severe trust issues. But it gets quite frustrating at one point. The ml, on the other hand, is down bad for the fl and I won't lie but his down badness was very endearing at the beginning. But with that down badness comes possessiveness. He's very, VERY possessive of the fl. Remember the fight I mentioned? Well, after the fight, he goes to find the fl, sees her with another guy, gets jealous and tries to force himself on her. Yep, you read that right. He apologized after and the fl forgave him ( obviously) but that one instance ruined his whole character for me.

And of course, how could I leave out Su Rongqing? Your typical "I love the fl but I don't have the ability to protect her so I'll do something that totally doesn't harm the fl at all and except her to forgive me but she won't so that'll be my villain origin story and then I'll die at the end while confessing my undying love to the fl and then she'll finally forgive me cuz I'm not evil, I'm just misunderstood" sml. The writer really tried to make him a complex, multidimensional character but failed miserably. He was just annoying for the most part. His reasoning for not choosing to stay by the fl's side even though he also "reincarnated" and opting to support the noble families instead was so, so stupid. "I'm doing this to keep my family safe" ok well you poisoned your own father. What's your excuse now?? He's the type who'd rather blame others than own up to his own mistakes. Having said all that, I feel like I need to defend him too. People have been pointing out that towards the end, he got more screen time compared to the ml, and they keep bashing him for it. Let's put our brains to use for a second. What usually happens in these dramas, towards the end? By that point, the fl and ml have gotten together so the show focuses more on the other parts of the story. The non romantic parts. So it makes sense that he got more screen time because he's the antagonist. You, as a viewer need to be aware of what evil plan he's coming up with. It'll make watching the drama more exciting for you. It'll make you curious to find out how the leads will outsmart him. If you're gonna hate on a character, at least hate on them for logical reasons.

Before starting the drama, I had heard only good things about it. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Overall, it didn't make me feel like I was wasting my time ( for the most part ) so it gets a 7.5. This could've easily been a 8/8.5 though. Too bad the cons outweigh the pros.

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Time Travel, Betrayal!

The Princess Royal is a Chinese historical drama that takes its time but pays off big if you stick with it. Yeah, it starts a little slow, but once you get into the plot, it’s addictive. The pacing is solid, giving you enough time to actually understand the characters instead of just throwing drama at you non-stop.

The story follows Princess Li Rong, who is basically a female lead with the kind of power and intelligence usually given to male characters. Some people don’t like that, probably because it’s different from the usual male-dominated historical dramas. The plot has a time-travel twist—Li Rong and her husband, Pei Wenxuan, go through 20 years of marriage full of misunderstandings and betrayals, only to die and get sent back to when they were 18 and 20. Now, they have a second chance to do things differently.

The side characters add even more chaos—Crown Prince Li Chuan, Su Rong Qing, Qin Zhen Zhen, and Shangguan Ya all have their own agendas, and they don’t hold back. Everyone’s scheming, and somehow, in the end, all the blame lands on Li Rong.

Neither Li Rong nor Wenxuan are perfect. Li Rong is sharp but doesn’t trust easily, and Wenxuan is just as complicated. The whole story is packed with betrayals, and no one is completely innocent.

The acting is top-tier. Zhao Jin Mai as Li Rong carries the whole thing—she makes every scene hit hard. This isn’t the kind of show you half-watch while scrolling on your phone; you need to pay attention. But if you like strong female leads, political power plays, and messy relationships, The Princess Royal is definitely worth it.

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Could have been great with better writing

PLOT: The first marriage of convenience between the ML, commoner and brilliant scholar, and the FL, imperial princess, smart but arrogant, ended fatally for both. They come back to life, just before their wedding, determined not to make the same mistakes. However, the ML2 (FL's former friend/lover, castrated) constantly intervenes to foil their plans. Eventually, the ML and the FL agree to prevent the tragedy from happening again... Lots of plots, power games within the Court, with the emperor facing the great noble families in the background.

+++ Very good actors (all of them) and an awesome CL. They're the ones who keep us hooked to the series. I really like Zhang Ling He, his acting, his micro-expressions.
+++ The secondary characters are well developed and well interpreted.
+++ The production is effective, with the clues given at the right time and the suspense is maintained until the end.
+++ The sets, costumes, OST are of high quality.

### The explanations about returning to life and sometimes the flashbacks make the situation rather confusing.
### The character of Su Rong Qing (very well played by Chen He Yi) is excessive and his behavior is not very consistent.
### Some narrative arcs are too long and we tend to lose focus a little.
### The ending is a bit abrupt (luckily there is the special episode).

=> A good series despite some flaws, thanks to the talent of the actors.
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PLOT: Le 1e mariage de convenance entre le ML, roturier et brillant érudit, et la FL, princesse impériale, smart mais arrogante, s'est terminé fatalement pour tous les 2. Ils reviennent à la vie, juste avant leur mariage, décidés à ne pas commettre les mêmes erreurs. Cependant, le ML2 (ex ami/lover, castré, de la FL) intervient sans cesse pour déjouer les plans. Finalement, le ML et la FL se mettent d'accord pour empêcher la tragédie de se reproduire... Beaucoup de complots, jeux de pouvoir au sein de la Cour, avec en toile de fond, l'empereur face aux grandes familles nobles.

+++ De très bons acteurs (tous) et un CL génial. C'est lui qui nous tient accroché à la série. J'aime beaucoup Zhang ling He, son jeu d'acteur, ses micro-expressions.
+++ Les personnages secondaires sont bien développés, bien interprétés.
+++ La réalisation est efficace, avec les indices donnés au bon moment et le suspense est maintenu jusqu'au bout.
+++ Les décors, les costumes, les OST sont de grande qualité.

### Les explications sur le retour à la vie et parfois les flashbacks rendent la situation plutôt confuse.
### Le personnage de Su Rong Qing (très bien interprété par Chen He Yi) est excessif et son comportement n'est pas très cohérent.
### certains arcs narratifs sont trop longs et on a tendance à décrocher un peu.
### La fin est un peu brusque (heureusement qu'il y a l'épisode spécial).

=> Une bonne série malgré quelques défauts, grâce au talent des acteurs.

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Who ever love feminist plot will definitely love it....

Dear Readers,

Its been a very long time since I wrote my last review.
So, I'm not sure where I should start ..

Let me start with the drama Plot.

The story line is similar to the drama plot (Story of Kunning Palace) where the FL lead accidentally travel back in time and change her fate from wrong doings. The only difference in Princess Royal is all the three Leads ML ,FL & Anti- Villain accidentally travel back in time. Where the Anti- villain character (We cannot say CHY as Su Rong Qing a villain character but his past life changes him drastically to be bad). There was a bit loop holes in some characters were the director could have given them extra scenes. for Qin Zhen Zhen , Shangguan Ya, Li Chuan as their scenes are much lesser together and the story only centered with the lead actors. Other than that the story was perfect to me.

Character Difference:

At some point I was immersed in the FL character (ZJM) as Li Rong. This is the second drama I have watched under her acting it was really beautiful I'm really impressed by her acting. (There was a scene where Li Rong will come to know who killed her in her past life) She really nailed it.....

There are two ML once is of Hero and the other is like Anti-Villain. Both of their performance was good. Previously I had watched few drama's of ZLH as Pei Wen Xuan but my favorite one was "Story of Kunning Palace". I felt the chemistry between the leads did not fit much seems to be like pretending but I loved their (ML & FL) bickering scenes.

As for our Anti- Villain Su Rong Qing his acting was good but there with flaws like the facial expression's he could have done better. I felt the director could have given him few more scenes where he can show his evil character outstanding.

Other actors also did a good job and I felt the pain of story's Love, friendship, betrayal in each characters.

Even though the drama is big with 40 episodes and slow going it is worth watching.

I wish whoever love FL centered character will definitely love this story.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review. Bye & See you again in different drama review.

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Sweet...but that's it.

This truly female-centric drama is filled with sweet moments between Li Rong and Pei Weixuan, but don't get me wrong—I’m not complaining about that. In fact, it's the only good thing in this drama.

The overall plot revolves around royal politics, but it fails to engage. Why? Because it's the same old story used in countless other Chinese dramas—cliché and predictable. The political aspect of the drama is especially problematic. Rather than enhancing the story, it overwhelms it, making the romance feel secondary. The political intrigue is replete with the usual power struggles, betrayals, and court manipulations seen in many other Chinese dramas. This lack of originality makes the political storyline just feels stale.

When it comes to the relationship between Li Rong and Pei Weixuan, there are many scenes that can make you swoon—scenes that other Chinese romance dramas should take inspiration from, not just for the moments themselves but also for the chemistry between the characters. However, that’s all there is to their relationship. It’s sweet, but as the episodes progress, it becomes bland. It lacks depth.

Emotional depth in a relationship means that the characters connect on more than just a superficial level. They should share their vulnerabilities, support each other’s growth, and face challenges together in a way that strengthens their bond (Which they do show but only at a a certain level). In this drama, the emotional moments between Li Rong and Pei Weixuan are tied to a few predictable elements:

Misunderstandings that get resolved: These moments can create temporary tension, but they often feel contrived and don't lead to any significant character development or deeper understanding between the characters.

Su Rongqing: The presence of a third party can add drama, but it can also distract from the development of the main relationship. Instead of focusing on how Li Rong and Pei Weixuan grow together, the drama spends too much time on external conflicts.

Imbalance in their relationship: It’s clear that Pei Weixuan loves Li Rong more than she loves him. This imbalance can create tension, but it also makes their relationship feel one-sided and unfulfilling.

Politics: While political intrigue can add complexity to a story, in this case, it detracts from the emotional core of the relationship. The characters are often more focused on external power struggles than on each other.

Reflecting on the drama "Queen of Tears," I realize how much Li Rong and Pei Weixuan's relationship lacks in terms of emotional depth. Their love story feels more like a series of plot points than a genuine, evolving bond. They never reach the point where being apart feels like losing a part of themselves. They don’t cry for each other or display the kind of profound emotional connection that makes their love feel essential to their existence. The focus on political intrigue overshadows their personal connection, making it difficult to invest in their romance.

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A total simp drama

His wife literally humiliated him, cheated on him and killed him in the previous life. But what did he do? He is trying to match his wife and her past lover (also who killed him). I mean, what the f**k. Can you be a bit man enough? It's not a realistic drama at all. The scheme plots till now are so vague that you will not understand actually what happened. I can understand one thing about Chinese drama: why there is always a male second lead, and the heroin is really close to them, but rarely any second heroin, even if there was, she will be treated as air by the hero. Feminism at its peak,

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unrealistic and confusing. there are little spoilers in my review from the first 3 episodes.

I really wanted to like this drama. I have seen the ML before and felt he is a decent actor. I have reach episode 19 and the story remains confusing, unrealistic and clear as mud. The FL i am puzzled by. emotionless and stoney, but maybe that is poor direction i don't know as i have never seen her before. There is almost zero emotion from the FL about anything, after what is suppose to have been in a previous life/dream a 20 years of marriage. I would have given up long ago. She seems to prefer the man who killed her. go figure.
So i am giving up now, and i feel sad. But there it is. you can't please everyone.

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Watching mainly for interaction between Leads

i find ZHAO JIN MAI acting is unique.

Most people will say some acted well when they shout and scream like double lead actress does. She is different beast. But ZJM has unique style of acting in that you dont feel she acts but LIVES in it.

Oh i am watching her first time. First episode was bad . But i got hooked in 2nd episode and when she throw ML into water and they chit chat around after. That is when i noticed her acting. She acted with face , eye and overall mannerism.

I do not think any one can act that good except one. Zhang Tian Ai ( great actress). She never get many chance because she outshine male actors.

ZJM dont do not because she acts different. We can see ZJM is 4 level above ML when it come to acting.

Anyways i plan to watch her other dramas now.

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