Nine Layers of Purple: A Reincarnation Story Made Right
You can choose to bloom alone, but you may also want to be tended to and bloom even brighter. This is the reason why this adaptation of the Nine-Layered Purple Flower drama is named Blossom.
Scriptwriting. "When a deer hunter sees a rabbit, he must be patient. When a deer hunter sees the mountain, he must be open-minded." As a sucker for brilliant scripts, I must say this was a gem. It sits on a pedestal with Nirvana in Fire , not quite Rise of Phoenixes, but you get me. While you can say something directly, you can also leave the audience guessing. It took a lot of brain that I had to skip backward to analyze some lines or take screenshots because dang, I found a good line. I have not read the novel, but I guess they stayed true to the original storyline, and the author must be really good.
Plot. Despite censorship on reincarnation, this drama gave us the angst of a bitter past life that planted in us the desire to see a happy ending. It starts of with a powerful episode - one driving an arrow piercing through our main leads, shattering the glass, leading them to fall into the abyss, and waking them up confused and lonely. Whether this was a past life or just a dream, the desire, not just to survive, but to be happy is strong. This hooks you right at the very start. Other reincarnation adaptations either omitted the bitter past life part or assumed we know about the bitter past and just move on but not this one.
Then, as the story progressed, there was a fine line between whether one can truly alter fate or believe it is set in stone. Duo Zhao had the foresight and was able to use it to win in business, amassing the fortune she needed to support herself in the future. She knew about the key players and approached them, using them right for about a third of the story. The rest, she had to navigate on her own.
The conflict was the conspiracy of the empress, Prince Qing, and the rest of the nobles and other distant royal members. This was too huge that when investigating, one cannot be careless. It had to be dealt with within one blow hence pushing the empress and Prince Qing to commit treason, driven to a point of no return. This was a scheme by the emperor who wanted to create a clean government. However, his constant portrayal of favor to the royal family and the nobles has created a divide between him and Duke of Ding (his best friend and one he dreamed of creating that clean government with). He only showed favoritism because he wanted to deal with the villains in one go, but, this created a huge misunderstanding instead especially between him and Song Mo (the greatest fan of Duke of Ding, his uncle). In the end, it was revealed that he only wanted the Duke of Ding's support for the Crown Prince hence he agreed to call back the duke to the capital, however, there could have been other ways to do this. In the end, as we would have it, the problem is solved, and they live happily ever after.
The drama was 34 episodes long. It took me 2 years to finish it lol. I started it and loved it when it was still showing, even recommended it to my niece. But I think I got bored at episode 20 and perhaps got tired of waiting so I only finished it 2026 after the same niece encouraged me to finish it. I rewatched from the start because I forgot what happened. And I did not regret it. The general plot is ok, as a lover of good plots. It is not without flaws like dragging the plot, adding unnecessary storylines, and family drama. Nevertheless, 34 episodes was good enough.
Most iconic scene - Song Mo on his horse, bending down to kiss Duo Zhao as the army exits the gate. Superb!!!
Characters. Duo Zhao, as you would expect is your strong independent woman. A plenty of times she mentioned and proved that she was her own salvation. After a failed marriage in her past life, it is expected that she would be traumatized to try to love again so she avoided it as much as she could. However, a strong independent woman may not need a man, she might deserve a good one. And an excellent one is who she had. Her being through a lifetime taught her to be mature. I love how she always looked after Song Mo when they got married and always initiated communication.
Song Mo, on the other hand, is a bit impulsive. He is not the typical male lead we have who knows exactly how things happen. At first, I was a bit disappointed because he always gets himself in trouble, however, after meeting Duo Zhao, he started to learn how to temper things. And this is good because we shouldn't always have the same hero who is always perfect. His most memorable scene was when he said, "I think my wife doesn't love me." Wahahahaha. He had no idea his wife was around 45 to 50 years old maturity and intimacy was in the bottom of her list. Nevertheless, he was so smitten by her.
Duo Zhao and Song Mo had a rough start including a sword pointed to her neck. It's not exactly enemies to lovers, more of do I trust you if not I will get rid of you kind of way. Then, there was admiration, courtship coated in protection, confession, and then agreement. After marriage, they stayed strong and supported each other. There was open and honest communication. They were a power couple. We actually get a lot of sweet scenes here as compared to other dramas.
As for the other characters, I would like to point out Gu Yu and his lack of presence in the story. Maybe an introduction of him, how they became friends, why does he side with Song Mo instead of his cousin. He could have been used more in the story. Prince Qing and Crown Prince as well deserve more screen time. What is the beef between them aside from just rivals? Is there no way to patch their relationship or whatnot. Some of the characters I really hated tho - Song Han, Ji Yong (for a good amount of time), and the emperor.
Acting. Umm. No. It is hard to not think what if other actors were casted. No offence but Li Yun Rui has a hard time managing his facial expressions. Meng Zi Yi is ok. She portrays a mature woman with a plenty of experiences. Although, when put together, they are good together. Lol.
Music. Not very much. I usually watch sweet scenes because of music even if I don't like the characters but this time, I watch their sweet scenes because I like their chemistry.
Overall, I like this because I am a sucker for reincarnation stories, and this is done the best among other adaptations - Kunning Palace, The Double, and Female General (What a loss. I read the novel. I love Ryan Cheng, but it just doesn't hold a candle.). The script is certainly the top for me, then the plot, then the chemistry.
Scriptwriting. "When a deer hunter sees a rabbit, he must be patient. When a deer hunter sees the mountain, he must be open-minded." As a sucker for brilliant scripts, I must say this was a gem. It sits on a pedestal with Nirvana in Fire , not quite Rise of Phoenixes, but you get me. While you can say something directly, you can also leave the audience guessing. It took a lot of brain that I had to skip backward to analyze some lines or take screenshots because dang, I found a good line. I have not read the novel, but I guess they stayed true to the original storyline, and the author must be really good.
Plot. Despite censorship on reincarnation, this drama gave us the angst of a bitter past life that planted in us the desire to see a happy ending. It starts of with a powerful episode - one driving an arrow piercing through our main leads, shattering the glass, leading them to fall into the abyss, and waking them up confused and lonely. Whether this was a past life or just a dream, the desire, not just to survive, but to be happy is strong. This hooks you right at the very start. Other reincarnation adaptations either omitted the bitter past life part or assumed we know about the bitter past and just move on but not this one.
Then, as the story progressed, there was a fine line between whether one can truly alter fate or believe it is set in stone. Duo Zhao had the foresight and was able to use it to win in business, amassing the fortune she needed to support herself in the future. She knew about the key players and approached them, using them right for about a third of the story. The rest, she had to navigate on her own.
The conflict was the conspiracy of the empress, Prince Qing, and the rest of the nobles and other distant royal members. This was too huge that when investigating, one cannot be careless. It had to be dealt with within one blow hence pushing the empress and Prince Qing to commit treason, driven to a point of no return. This was a scheme by the emperor who wanted to create a clean government. However, his constant portrayal of favor to the royal family and the nobles has created a divide between him and Duke of Ding (his best friend and one he dreamed of creating that clean government with). He only showed favoritism because he wanted to deal with the villains in one go, but, this created a huge misunderstanding instead especially between him and Song Mo (the greatest fan of Duke of Ding, his uncle). In the end, it was revealed that he only wanted the Duke of Ding's support for the Crown Prince hence he agreed to call back the duke to the capital, however, there could have been other ways to do this. In the end, as we would have it, the problem is solved, and they live happily ever after.
The drama was 34 episodes long. It took me 2 years to finish it lol. I started it and loved it when it was still showing, even recommended it to my niece. But I think I got bored at episode 20 and perhaps got tired of waiting so I only finished it 2026 after the same niece encouraged me to finish it. I rewatched from the start because I forgot what happened. And I did not regret it. The general plot is ok, as a lover of good plots. It is not without flaws like dragging the plot, adding unnecessary storylines, and family drama. Nevertheless, 34 episodes was good enough.
Most iconic scene - Song Mo on his horse, bending down to kiss Duo Zhao as the army exits the gate. Superb!!!
Characters. Duo Zhao, as you would expect is your strong independent woman. A plenty of times she mentioned and proved that she was her own salvation. After a failed marriage in her past life, it is expected that she would be traumatized to try to love again so she avoided it as much as she could. However, a strong independent woman may not need a man, she might deserve a good one. And an excellent one is who she had. Her being through a lifetime taught her to be mature. I love how she always looked after Song Mo when they got married and always initiated communication.
Song Mo, on the other hand, is a bit impulsive. He is not the typical male lead we have who knows exactly how things happen. At first, I was a bit disappointed because he always gets himself in trouble, however, after meeting Duo Zhao, he started to learn how to temper things. And this is good because we shouldn't always have the same hero who is always perfect. His most memorable scene was when he said, "I think my wife doesn't love me." Wahahahaha. He had no idea his wife was around 45 to 50 years old maturity and intimacy was in the bottom of her list. Nevertheless, he was so smitten by her.
Duo Zhao and Song Mo had a rough start including a sword pointed to her neck. It's not exactly enemies to lovers, more of do I trust you if not I will get rid of you kind of way. Then, there was admiration, courtship coated in protection, confession, and then agreement. After marriage, they stayed strong and supported each other. There was open and honest communication. They were a power couple. We actually get a lot of sweet scenes here as compared to other dramas.
As for the other characters, I would like to point out Gu Yu and his lack of presence in the story. Maybe an introduction of him, how they became friends, why does he side with Song Mo instead of his cousin. He could have been used more in the story. Prince Qing and Crown Prince as well deserve more screen time. What is the beef between them aside from just rivals? Is there no way to patch their relationship or whatnot. Some of the characters I really hated tho - Song Han, Ji Yong (for a good amount of time), and the emperor.
Acting. Umm. No. It is hard to not think what if other actors were casted. No offence but Li Yun Rui has a hard time managing his facial expressions. Meng Zi Yi is ok. She portrays a mature woman with a plenty of experiences. Although, when put together, they are good together. Lol.
Music. Not very much. I usually watch sweet scenes because of music even if I don't like the characters but this time, I watch their sweet scenes because I like their chemistry.
Overall, I like this because I am a sucker for reincarnation stories, and this is done the best among other adaptations - Kunning Palace, The Double, and Female General (What a loss. I read the novel. I love Ryan Cheng, but it just doesn't hold a candle.). The script is certainly the top for me, then the plot, then the chemistry.
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