The First Jasmine

A breath of fresh air with wonderful storytelling and fantastic character development

Directing/screenwriting
You can definitely tell that every part of this drama was well thought out, from plot and character continuity down to lighting and motifs. Where some might gripe about the slow pacing towards the end and an 'unsatisfying' revenge, I would strongly disagree.
The drama is centred around its main character Ye Li (Bai Lu) and this is reflected in the mood and pacing of the drama which mirrors her calm and inquisitive personality. It was never meant to be about her revenge, but her journey to healing her fractured mental state and isolation. Revenge is only a small part of that journey and I would argue that the story beats do a great job mirroring her internal world – it peaked when she was finally forced to face her delusions and ebbed as she began the long healing process to make peace with her past. The ending was reflexive and poetic, the villains all met their just ends and every character large and small had a full circle moment that perfectly completed their own stories.

Acting/characters
Bai Lu and Cheng Lei do an incredible job in The First Jasmine to bring out their characters' grief and loss. I'm particularly impressed with Bai Lu whose work I haven't enjoyed since Arsenal Military Academy (perhaps it was bad script and direction to blame!).
The main leads' romance is understated, but it fits the tone of the drama. Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao (Cheng Lei) share a quiet love that stems from their healing roles in each other's trauma. This forms a deep understanding of each other's psyche, helping them fit together like two puzzle pieces. The romance is a breath of fresh air amongst recent dramas that rely purely on sizzling chemistry and aesthetic visuals at the cost of all else to carry a drama.
What's most compelling about this drama is the level of character realism in the supporting roles that's rarely seen in idol c-dramas. Here, character presence from side characters is so strong and interwoven into the plot that it makes it seem like the plot was created to better tell their stories rather than the side characters serving their purpose to advance the plot. There is continuity to the supporting characters – by the time they leave the screen and come back, you can see their development and feel the passage of time. In this drama, everyone is truly the main character of their own story and by the end, they are all able to achieve meaningful closure to their stories.

All in all, a fantastic watch with banging OSTs. Heartbreaking at times but so worth it if you need a drama that you can sit with for a while.

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A light drama

I liked the drama, although it did not have many interesting or emotionally engaging elements. The story began by showing the injustice the leads had suffered. The female lead was sent to an academy when she was just a child. There, she lived with her grandfather (I think he was her maternal grandfather) and his disciples. She learned medicine and swordsmanship there.

After growing up, she left the academy and returned to her father's house, where she was not treated well. Even the man she was supposed to marry ended up marrying her sister instead. She was then married to a prince who was physically disabled. He had become crippled after injuring his leg in a war.

The prince had also suffered injustice. His brother and his army were falsely accused and sentenced to death. However, he survived for some reason and later served under the king. Together, the prince and the female lead cleared his brother's name and eventually lived happily ever after.

The drama also had two or three cute romantic scenes. I liked the leads, and they looked adorable together.

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Healing isn't always enough

I think what I'll remember most about this drama is its characters. Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao are both shaped by trauma, and I loved that their relationship never tried to "fix" either of them. Instead, they slowly became a place where the other could feel understood, and that made every step of their journey feel genuine. Ye Li is the emotional core of the story, and while she often seems almost impossibly capable, you gradually realize that her strength is simply the way she's learned to survive. I also found myself getting attached to several supporting characters, which made it a little disappointing when some of their arcs never reached their full potential. Mo Jingli, in particular, deserved a more nuanced conclusion, as he was far more layered than the ending allowed him to be. My biggest issue, though, was the finale. After such a strong emotional build-up, I expected the revenge storyline to deliver a more satisfying sense of closure, but it never quite reached the impact I was hoping for. Even with those shortcomings, I was deeply invested in these characters from beginning to end, and that's ultimately why this drama worked so well for me.

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The First Jasmine Will Stay With Me for a Long Time

The First Jasmine actually finished airing back in June, but I was stuck on episode 39 for the longest time. Not because it got boring, but because I genuinely didn't want it to end. I knew the moment I finished the last episode, I'd have to say goodbye to this story, and I just wasn't ready for that.

At first I watched it for Cheng Lei and Bai Lu, obviously. They're already enough reason to hit play. But after a few episodes, I completely forgot I started because of the cast. Their acting was so good that I got attached to Mo Xiu Yao and Ye Li instead. Watching two people who couldn't fully trust each other, yet had to become husband and wife, slowly grow into partners who always understood and completed each other was honestly one of the best parts of the drama.

The cinematography deserves so much love too. Every shot was beautiful, and the battle scenes looked incredible. I was a little sad they didn't include Mo Xiu Yao's final battle because that would've been absolutely insane to watch, but I get it. With the runtime they had, some things had to be sacrificed.

I also loved how this drama could switch from emotional to hilarious so naturally. Ye Li chopping down that tree is still one of the funniest scenes ever. And the moment she casually used Mo Xiu Yao's wheelchair to block the door... I seriously lost it. She was way too brave. Then every time A Yao had to go looking for Ali because she disappeared again, he'd become so unbelievably naggy the second he found her. Those little moments made them feel so real.

The Lishan Mountain arc completely broke me. Seeing Ali fall into hallucinations was painful enough, but what surprised me even more was how the drama handled trauma and mental health. It didn't just use it as a plot device. At first A Yao almost made the wrong choice by trying to force Ali to face everything, but after learning about her past, he changed. He stayed by her side, protected her, and patiently helped her heal instead. I really appreciated how mature that whole storyline was.

This drama also left me with so many messages that actually stay with you after it's over. Everyone has painful memories and things they'd rather forget, but we can't spend our whole lives trapped there. No bad day lasts forever. The sun will always rise again, and better days will eventually come.

That's why one of my favorite lines is when A Yao looked at Ali while she was crying and quietly said, "Ali, the sun has risen." It wasn't only about the sunrise in front of them. It felt like he was telling her that a new day had finally arrived, and it was time to keep moving forward. Such a simple line, but it carried so much meaning.

Now that I've finally finished it, I still don't know if I'm happy or heartbroken. I'm satisfied with the journey, but I already miss these characters so much. This is definitely one of those dramas that leaves an empty feeling after the credits roll. I already know I'll end up rewatching it someday because I'm really not ready to let this drama go.

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My goodness, it's incredibly beautiful visually speaking. The sets and costumes are lavishly designed. They really went all out. Lots of light textiles, jade, scarlet red, and gold. The background music is top-notch, with intoxicating strings and choirs. Always a pleasure to start an episode knowing that the music will be there to delight our ears. I really love that solo cello with the echo around it and the pauses between phrases ; it creates a sense of suspense. Lots of ninth chords and open fifths. It's all so, so lovely ! Beautiful, nostalgic songs during the climactic moments. Overall, the music is always exquisite and charming. Everything is sublime.

Episode 1 doesn't reveal much, doesn't really introduce any plot elements, and yet it remains captivating. But… I must admit that the beginning really tested my patience. I understand why the first five episodes were released all at once. We clearly see the heroine receiving secret messages, but we don't know why. She talks to an imaginary friend at times. It's unclear, this whole thing, and they don't revisit it, so oh well... And then, what were we doing in the Lishan Mountains that keeps coming up all the time ? We'll see. Or maybe not. (perhaps)

In any case, as soon as I saw Bai Lu in the cast, I decided to give this C-drama a chance. And you quickly realize that you have to let the series unfold at its own pace. Just enjoy what’s being offered.

I watched this alongside Ashes to Crown, where, on the contrary, a lot happens in every episode. What a contrast. It took a full 13 episodes for the husband to start questioning all those suspicious deaths linked to his wife, just as she arrives in the capital. What a phenomenal coincidence. Anyway, here we are at episode 20 out of 40, and we're still wondering what the series is even about. Everything remains so vague. And mesmerizing. We're denied access to the characters' thoughts and motivations.

"Don't let your life be nothing than a show for them"

Bai Lu first plays a bubbly, lively young bride. She goes for a run every morning in her gilded cage. She sneaks a drink. She makes people happy with her radiant presence. But she's playing a double game, just like her husband. Cheng Lei plays a more reserved role, with intensity ; at first withdrawn and on the verge of exploding, then letting his frustration and anger at being trapped in the past spill out. We're left in the dark about these two characters' pasts and why they act the way they do. The more we learn, the more interesting it gets. But I was disappointed by the slow pace ; the "revelations" don't live up to expectations.

These two spouses are going to get to know each other. They heal each other, thats really the heart of the story : they're both fixing each other. A forced but happy marriage… well, okay. Let's go with that. And they're the most formidable couple in the empire. And they lived happily ever after and apparently didn't have any children ; fine by me.

"_From now on, we'll have each other. No matter what path you take, smooth or thorny, I'll be with you. You won't be alone anymore.
_Once I'm better, I want to hear that again."

Not many fights, but they were all beautifully executed. Bai Lu in an alley. Or the wheelchair fight in episode 22 ! My God, that was classy. And then the spear fight ! Definitely some of the best scenes.

When the show first aired, Bai Lu was accused of firing the writing team so she could rewrite certain episodes to her liking. But I don't quite understand how that's possible. With 40 episodes, a sudden change in the writing would be noticeable, especially since the series is apparently faithful to the novel it's adapted from. So, I don't know, it seems unlikely for such a lavish production. And should we blame an actress for this (if that's even true) or should we be concerned about the production's lack of backbone when dealing with its stars ? If you sign a contract to star in a series, you act, you don't write and you don't fire people. It's easy to pin everything on a woman after you've failed.

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35 Episodes In, Then It Panicked

The First Jasmine is like a song with a great hook. It has captivating verses, a pre-chorus that builds anticipation, but right when it should hit a crescendo, it crashes into awkward silence instead. That silence outweighs the rest of the brilliance.

To be clear: beyond vague character outlines and names, the drama has no relation to the novel. It borrows the concept, then carves its own path. Fair enough; the novel would need 100-200 episodes to do justice, and 40 isn't doing anything. If you've read the novel first, forget it. If you plan to read it after, just treat it as a different story.

Strengths

Performances, visuals, music, costumes, production - all strong.

Bai Lu makes Ye Li intriguing in her usual effortless style - artless scheming, cleverness, vulnerability, will to survive. She's pretty to begin with; the costumes just make her prettier.

Chang Lei plays Prince Ding Mo Xiuyao, and I'm slowly becoming obsessed with his performances. I went in expecting the larger-than-life Xiuyao from the book, so it was hard at first to reconcile him with this depressed, beaten-down version. But once I got past that, his understated Prince Ding held my interest like a marching band. Depression, hopelessness, careful hope, steadfastness, quiet love, all beautifully done. Shout out to his voice actor too; that deliberate tone adds real depth.

Supporting cast does a decent job. Visuals and music are a treat throughout.

Relationships between women: healthy. No other word. No catty fights over the hero. Stepmother, sister-in-law, step-sisters.. all handled with maturity. It's heartening to see mature female characters actually act mature.

Weaknesses

The last 5-6 episodes. OMG. Once the Lishan mystery resolves, the show has nowhere to go, but still needs 40 episodes, so it hits every costume-drama cliché: coup, spitting blood, gravity-defying jumps, a closing scene for everyone (even if you don’t care about some of them), forced sympathy-backstories for the villains. Check, check, check.

The narrative loses its grip. At the climax, we get a prolonged fight between villains and random extras and some NPCs, while the actual hero/villain showdown lasts 5.25 seconds. Why put Chang Lei in a full suit of armor if he's not going to fight?

Some suspension of disbelief needed too. A few too many "why does that happen" moments the drama can't answer since it insists on ignoring the book.

And the lovesick-puppy energy of the SML - yikes.

The two dowagers cause a mountain of grief with barely any consequences. My bloodthirstiness needed a better outlet. Didn't get it.

Overall
Overall, it's a good drama that forgot it was a drama for the last five episodes. Watch it, love it, and then gaslight yourself into forgetting the finale ever happened.

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Engaging but Never Gripping

The drama serves as an interesting, casual watch that easily holds my attention, even if it never quite hooks me enough to make me binge-watch it. The absolute peak of the series is the heartbreaking and intense sequence where Ye Li remembers the tragedy at Mount Li. It is a beautifully poignant moment that genuinely moved me to tears, and the OST playing during that scene was excellent.

While the main characters have a convincing bond, the lack of romantic scenes left me wishing for more. Because both Ye Li and Prince Ding are victims who share a common enemy, they could have made a truly spectacular team; instead, they go about their revenge in their own separate ways. The pace definitely dragged during the final three episodes, but it wasn't a total loss—just an okay finish.

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This was good

It was light and went against the typical political dramas. It was not swallowed up by unnecessary plot twists ... however .......

I believe the show should have been 30 episodes or even less.

The FLs story was fascinating and the focus at the beginning was great to watch, I was excited to see where she would go as her initial revenge/skills were slowly achieved and presented to us as an audience ... but it went away ... disappeared.

Even though I did not like the MLs response to finding out the ‘big secret’, I like the FL and MLs reaction and eventual resolution. The scenes on the mountain and finding out about the horrors Ye Li had to endure could have been pushed a little further and deeper, but I liked it.

The MLs role as a whole was a little lacking though; I think all those extra episodes would have been a great opportunity to show us more of his struggles and feelings I wanted to see more emotion, he went from a great warrior to being wheelchair bound, he was made to marry and was looked down upon ...... such a shame we were robbed of that story.

All the side characters were fine, but their stories were lacking depth and seemed more like episode fillers. Their end game was also flat and seemed bittersweet ... yet it wasn't?

Ye Li family seemed to get away with murder ... hmmm. Where did they go ... Did I miss something?

I guess Mo Jing Li / Prince Li was a 2nd ML? the closest thing to it anyway ... but where was his story? His reason for doing what he was doing ... was that it? His drive, his past, his mental state, ... to escape and lead so many men ... to become capable of doing those things yet fail so miserably ... It would have been nice, as an audience to go through that with him. The actor did such a great job, but I feel like he was not given the opportunity to show his acting ability.

For some reason the FL and ML seemed absent, in the literal sense; so much screen time was given to side characters.

The OST was hidden in the background of the show, in some scenes it did eventually show up, and that was nice. All in all, it was OK, was it re-watchable ... not so sure.

EDIT: I am about to watch this for the 3rd time ....................................

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Based on novel

arrange marriage pertama yg ngasih pov si cowo. kayanya selama ini selalu bias ke pov cewe, gak jelasin perasaan si cowo. and i enjoyed the show
mo jingli stresss edunnn, ga memaklumi dia ngejar yeli dengan obsesinya. walaupun dia punya cerita sendiri, keluarganya dibunuh, gapunya siapa" lagi..takutt bgt sebenernya arah cerita ini kemana. pertama, keluarga mo jingli dan mo xiuyao difitnah dan dipersekusi. keluarga dan sodara yeli dari lishan academy juga dipersekusi tanpa jelas siapa yang ngasih perintah. terusss ini pasti mau acara balas dendam kan??
i love how in the end of story, semua orang berjuang dalam kesendiriannya masing-masing. mo jingli dengan ambisi dia, ibu suri dengan niatnya menguasai pemerintahan. yeli yang pada akhirnya nyerahin balas dendamnya ke ibu suri pada takdir yang menjemput kematian guo jin. pada akhirnya, mo xiuyao yang mau nemenin yeli, dan yeli yang dapat penyembuhan lewat mo xiuyao. heartfelt story <3

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Every petal carried another wound

The First Jasmine has been on my most anticipated list ever since the cast announcement. Bai Lu and Cheng Lei are two actors whose works I genuinely enjoy, so seeing them paired together already felt like a dream. Thankfully, they completely lived up to the hype. Their chemistry is honestly the biggest reason I stayed invested until the end. Both of them are incredible at micro-expressions—the silent yearning, the restrained tears, the heartbreak, the quiet comfort. Sometimes they don't even need dialogue because their eyes are already doing all the acting. Bai Lu especially surprised me with Ye Li. Compared to her previous roles, her eyes here always carried a lingering sadness, perfectly portraying someone who looks healthy on the outside but is quietly battling years of trauma. I also adored Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao's relationship. Instead of the usual over-the-top romance, we got two broken people healing each other. Ye Li slowly heals Mo Xiuyao's leg, while Mo Xiuyao patiently helps Ye Li face the scars left by the destruction of Lishan Academy. He isn't a perfect green-flag husband either—he gets disappointed, says things he regrets, and makes mistakes—but that's exactly what makes him feel so human. He never lets his pride win for long, and watching him choose his wife over his ego every single time made their relationship one of the healthiest I've seen in a historical drama.

The first twenty episodes were genuinely my favorite. Ye Li's revenge unfolded like a carefully planned chess match, and I loved watching her quietly outsmart everyone from behind the scenes. That's why I was a little disappointed once the story shifted gears. I kept waiting for Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao to truly combine their intelligence and bring down the villains together, but somehow that payoff never fully arrived. The pacing also became noticeably slower, making the second half feel less engaging. Still, one thing I really appreciate is how this drama refuses to create purely evil characters. Even the Empress Dowager, the mastermind behind almost every tragedy, isn't written as a one-dimensional villain. She was ambitious, intelligent, and probably capable of ruling the nation, but she was trapped in an era where women were never allowed that position. Her lack of empathy ultimately turned her into someone willing to sacrifice innocent lives for power. Prince Li is another example. He's still a villain, but after losing his entire family and being forced to live like a puppet under the Empress Dowager, it's impossible not to understand how he became that way. This drama constantly reminds us that understanding someone's pain doesn't excuse the evil they commit, and I think that's one of its strongest qualities.

Ironically, my biggest disappointment is also the emotional core of the story: the Lishan Academy massacre. We, as viewers, already knew from the beginning that the Empress Dowager massacred nearly fifty innocent people without mercy. That tragedy shaped Ye Li's entire life, so I kept waiting for a massive public reveal where the whole kingdom would finally learn the truth. Instead, it was simply brushed aside as an epidemic. That's it? After building this mystery for dozens of episodes, the payoff felt incredibly underwhelming. The Empress Dowager's ending also felt far too easy considering everything she had done. Then there are plot holes that become harder to ignore toward the end, especially Princess Changbei's arc. The writing definitely isn't perfect, and the soundtrack never left much of an impression on me either. Thankfully, the beautiful directing, strong performances, and emotional chemistry between Bai Lu and Cheng Lei carried the drama through its weaker moments. Despite its flaws, this is still a touching story about grief, healing, and people trying to find light after unimaginable loss. It may not have delivered every payoff I hoped for, but I'll definitely remember it for its heartfelt performances.

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