Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace

''Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace'' (, lit. ''The Legend of Ruyi'') is a 2018 Chinese television series based on novel ''Hou Gong Ru Yi Zhuan'' by Liu Lianzi. Starring Zhou Xun and Wallace Huo, the series chronicles the relationship between Emperor Qianlong and Empress Nara. It is the sequel to the critically acclaimed drama ''Empresses in the Palace''. It aired on Tencent Video starting 20 August to 15 October 2018; during which it was streamed more than 18,9 billion times. It later went on national broadcast and aired simultaneously on Jiangsu Television and Dragon Television from 25 December 2018.

Despite receiving mixed reviews from viewers about the plot and the characters, the series eventually won acclaim for its exquisite props, lavish sets and stellar cast and has a score of 7.5 points on Douban.

Plot

Step Empress Nara grew up as Lady Qingying, the niece of Empress Xiaojing, during the Yongzheng Emperor's reign and was future Qianlong Emperor's childhood friend; he was referred to as fourth prince Hongli prior to his ascension. Initially chosen to be his ''difujin'' (primary consort) when he was a prince, Lady Qingying's status in the Imperial Court was compromised after the Yongzheng Emperor exposed Empress Xiaojing for raising a traitor and trying to usurp his throne, and took third prince Hongshi from the line of succession. Prince Hongli, now the new successor to the throne, is forced to rescind his decision, and takes future Empress Fuca Langhua as his ''difujin'' instead. However, he compromised with Yongzheng Emperor to let him take Lady Qingying back as ''cefujin'' (secondary consort) so that she could stay with him in his Harem. Another candidate, Lady Gao Xiyue is taken as his concubine as well. Ruyi is uneasy with the arrangement, especially the fact that his mother and her aunt are rivals, but Prince Hongli vows to protect her and promises he would not let her suffer despite what had happened to her aunt and the situation regarding her standing in the Imperial Family. All three women are promoted once Prince Hongli became Qianlong Emperor ascended to the throne; Lady Qingying becoming Consort Xian and Lady Gao becoming Noble Consort Hui. The women become new members of the Imperial Harem after Qianlong Emperor's succession.

Due to her involvement with the Ula-Nara clan and her reputation as Qianlong Emperor's favored wife and childhood friend, Consort Xian is initially not well received in the Imperial Harem and Imperial Family. His mother Consort Xi, now the Dowager Empress, initially distrusted Consort Xian but granted her the name "Ruyi" when the latter requested to be give a new name to start anew; she is referred to as Ruyi by Qianlong Emperor and various others in private and informal settings. Empress Fuca feels threatened by Ruyi's favor, with Noble Consort Hui's assistance, they set traps and planted accusations against her in order to make her less favored. Torn between his love for Ruyi and his duty to both the Empress Fuca and the Dowager Empress, as well as imperial affairs and his desire to maintain the Qing's good reputation, Qianlong Emperor often turns the other way when Ruyi is in need or sides against her instead. As a result, Ruyi is eventually demoted to become a commoner and sent to The Cold Palace for years after being accused for harming Concubine Yi and Concubine Mei's children. During her time, she struggles to survive in her new home but endured with the help of her servant Suoxin and low-ranking guard, Ling Yunche. She also discovers Empress Fuca's plans to intentionally make both her and Noble Consort Hui infertile via a bracelet given to both of them as a wedding gift when they first married Qianlong Emperor.

Eventually, Ruyi is able to escape with the help of her allies within the Imperial Harem and return to the Imperial Court as Consort Xian once more. Noble Consort Hui learns of Empress Fuca's bracelet through Ruyi and as a result exposes Empress Fuca's actions to Qianlong Emperor before her death. Empress Fuca began to lose favor and her health went into decline as Ruyi's allies began to gain favor from the Emperor. After nearly drowning on accident, she eventually succumbs to illness. Qianlong Emperor forces everyone to mourn for Empress Fuca to pretend that he deeply cared for her.

It is revealed that Empress Fuca and Imperial Noble Consort Hui's actions were manipulated by Consort Jia, a favored consort from Joseon who wanted the title of Empress herself in order to win the love of the Joseon Crown Prince and remove Qing's influence from her home country. Ruyi's ascension from Consort to Imperial Noble Consort to Step Empress was made uneasy due to Consort Jia's attempt to curb her favor with scathing rumors and other actions that led to various injuries and deaths to those Ruyi loved. Eventually, as Consort Jia is demoted and re-promoted over the years due to her scheming, she loses favor from Qianglong Emperor and is humiliated by the women in the Imperial Harem who were wronged by her. Her plan to put her oldest son on the Qing throne for Joseon were revealed and she is demoted by Qianlong Emperor to become a commoner. She dies heartbroken after learning why the Joseon Crown Prince would never love her and all her sons were taken out of the royal succession.

Ruyi's relationship with Qianlong Emperor is challenged throughout their marriage but went into further decline. As wrongful accusations, rumors, and scheming ladies of the Imperial Harem causes Ruyi to lose favor and respect from Qianlong Emperor, her differing opinions also began clashing with his personal desires, expectations, and wants. Consort Ling, a look-a-like of Ruyi and former maid of Consort Jia and Imperial Noble Consort Chun, eventually rose to power as a means of spiting those within the Imperial Harem who wronged her in the past and from financial pressure from her family. As a result of her supporting Qianlong's choices regardless of their consequences, Consort Ling grew in favor over the years and her influence caused the rift between him and Ruyi to grow further. More people within the Imperial Harem and Imperial family began to divide themselves into factions that either supported Ruyi or Consort Ling. More people within the Imperial Palace also died due to Consort Ling's machinations.

The events of the story escalates during a trip to Jiangnan when Ruyi confronts Qianlong Emperor when he falls to Consort Ling's machinations to be in the company of courtesans. This angers Qianlong, whose comparison of her to Empress Xiaoxian and Consort Ling forces Ruyi to admit that his suspicions exhausted their love and scheming made the women of the harem insecure. Ruyi cuts off a lock of her hair in front of him to symbolically end their marriage, an act that was seen as a curse against the Qianlong Emperor, after he forcefully slaps her for her impudence; Ruyi is thus confined. After Yongqi's death (caused by Consort Ling), Ruyi plans to expose the newly promoted Imperial Noble Consort using the help of her closest allies. The final confrontation arrives when Qianlong catches Consort Ling red-handed for trying to name his next successor. Consort Yu and Empress Dowager both give strong testimonies against Consort Ling, both witnesses and proof provided; Consort Ling is sentenced to consume poison for the rest of her life.

With Consort Ling exposed, Ruyi is asked by Qianlong Emperor to return as Step-Empress but she refuses him and refuses to see the harem. She then passes away from tuberculosis, a chronic illness she hid from Qianlong Emperor. Initially, Qianlong Emperor attempts to memorialize Ruyi but discovered that she not only returned her Imperial gifts, which were bestowed on her when she became Step Empress, but also destroyed a painting of herself that was given by him as a peace offering during her house arrest. Qianlong then demotes her to Imperial Noble Consort and is buried as such, though her funeral is much smaller as that of an untitled Ula-nara clanswoman. Records of her are destroyed, which brought controversy throughout China and the Imperial Palace. Thereafter, the Qianlong Emperor designed and dedicated a pavilion to her, spending the rest of his life sitting inside of it, forever haunted by her memory as he grew older. To save their only surviving son from the pressures and tragedies that come from being an emperor, he made Consort Ling's youngest son to be his successor instead.

The series ends with an elderly Qianlong Emperor cutting a piece of his hair and intertwining it with the lock of hair Ruyi cut in front of him years ago and dying peacefully. Ruyi's favorite plant that she left behind for him, the green plum, blooms for the first time in decades, and his last memory of her is the moment that Ruyi came late to his wife selection. The ending sequence states that no woman from Ula-Nara ever entered the Imperial Harem again after Ruyi's death.

Cast

Main

Leading Protagonists

Secondary Protagonists

Main Antagonists

Supporting

The Imperial Harem

Members of the imperial family

Court Officials

Female servants

Male servants

Others

Production

Crew

The series is directed by Wang Jun, produced by Huang Lan, and written by the author of the original novel Liu Lianzi. It also employed William Chang and Tongxun Chen as their overall style director, Han Zhong as art director and Peng Xuejun as cinematography director.

Development

Wu Xuelan, also known as Liu Lianzi, started to write the original novel in 2011, and changed her work several times to achieve the best version in the next five years.
New Classics Media
picked up the series for a 90–episode season (later shortened to 87), with a ¥300 million budget, making it the most expensive television series in China.

Casting

On January 14, 2016, it was announced that Zhou Xun will play the leading role of the Step Empress. The role of the Qianlong Emperor, the male lead, was announced to be portrayed by Wallace Huo on May 27. On August 3, actors Janine Chang, Vivian Wu, Dong Jie, Tong Yao, Jing Chao, Xin Zhilei, Li Chun, Zeng Yixuan and Chen Haoyu were cast in major supporting roles for the drama. Around 5,000 actors competed for roles in the drama.

Filming

Shooting began on 23 August 2016 and took place in various locations including Hengdian World Studios, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, and Hangzhou. The series wrapped up filming on May 5, 2017.

Soundtrack

Reception

The series received mixed responses from viewers.

Many felt underwhelmed by the unaggressive heroine, who was not able to face off the villain consorts even in the second half of the drama, thus making her character design flawed and unconvincing. The drama was also criticized for its anticlimactic story and depressive tone. Critics felt that it was ironic and unbelievable for the protagonist to pursue monogamy in a highly feudalistic context. The slow pacing in the first half of the drama was pointed out, with critics believing that the screenwriters neglected to write with compact story-telling to flesh out the characters.

The series has also received criticism over the age of the leading performers, with viewers saying they made unconvincing teenagers, and criticized the series' producers for not using younger actors to portray the lovestruck teens. Viewers were also divided over the lack of dubbing for Zhou Xun's 15-year-old character, as they felt that her voice was "too raspy" and "mature" for a teenager.

However, there were also praises for the drama. Zhang Hanyue, a writer and critic, said "The show becomes more and more heart-tugging as the story goes deeper." Many viewers agree that Ruyi bears many characteristics of a modern female. Vogue magazine commented that the drama actually recorded "the failure of a high-end girl" because what Ruyi had been pursuing was spiritual connections with her spouse; and such a pursuit represents the taste and ideal of the modern middle class. Critics agree that the drama introduces a new light to and narrative of palace dramas, deviating from the existing patterns of treacherous harem games. The drama won acclaim for its exquisite props, lavish sets, and stellar cast.

Censorship

On January 25, 2019 the '' Beijing Daily'', an official government newspaper, criticized the program for failing to promote socialist values. Four days later, on January 29, the Chinese government cancelled the program and similar programs such as Story of Yanxi Palace. CNN and other media outlets quickly reported on this incident, calling it Chinese censorship.

Ratings

Awards and nominations

International broadcast

On 10 June 2016, Fox Networks Group Asia (FNG) acquired global rights outside mainland China to the series. It was the first epic period drama secured by FNG for markets outside China, and was carried by STAR Chinese Channel (SCC), the flagship Chinese general entertainment channel, starting 20 August 2018 in selected countries, rerun on August 6, 2019, in all countries for return a year.

From 27 November 2018, it aired on Fox Taiwan. From 27 December 2018, it aired on Talentvision Canada. To date it has debuted in 18 countries and regions, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and Philippines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace
2018 Chinese television series debuts
Television shows based on Chinese novels
Television series set in the Qing dynasty
Chinese historical television series
Television series by New Classics Media
Tencent original programming
Chinese web series
2018 web series debuts
2018 Chinese television series endings
Television shows set in Beijing