Notable Actors/Actresses
Li Kai Xin: Chang Le / Liu Yu Yao
Zhao Yi Qin: Li Che
Jin Ze: Shan Jun Hao
Director:
Chinese Title山寨小萌主
Cute Fake Princess
Network: MangoTV
Mini Recaps
How it all happened: Liu Shen (a minister) threatens Chang Le to replace his granddaughter, Liu Yu Yao, to marry Li Che for three months. Liu Shen has her family and friends as captives. The original Liu Yu Yao committed suicide because Liu Shen had killed her lover. Liu Shen is determined to have his granddaughter marry into the imperial family to harness more power. The current Empress is Liu Shen's daughter. She has a son and the person blocking her son from power is Li Che, the Crown Prince.
During the marriage, normal brides beautify themselves but Chang Le uglifies herself with a single mole. Yes, that will totally make any girl ugly. Chang Le, unfamiliar with fancy shoes, trips and falls right onto Li Che. The mole has done its job: he thinks she's ugly. She's not the only thing that falls on him, her mole also falls on his hand. Now he thinks she's dirty. His impression of her worsens every second. Neither does she have a good impression of him. She thinks he's an airhead.
[Ep2] Li Che also has his reasons for marrying Liu Yu Yao. He wants to capture Liu Shen's weakness. He gathers evidence that Liu Yu Yao is no longer a maiden and plans to expose her during the marriage. However, his plans fail when Chang Le is indeed a virgin. Now he's forced to marry her. But! He's still got one plan up his sleeve. His people plan to kidnap his bride before the wedding night. They send over a fake Li Heng (Fifth Prince, Empress's son, therefore Liu Shen's grandson and therefore Cheng Le's fake nephew) but he's the one who gets tied up by Chang Le instead. Chang Le, who also doesn't want to spend the wedding night with Li Che, uses (fake) Li Heng as a hostage to threaten Liu Shen to free her family. When Chang Le realizes she's captured the wrong Li Heng, she manages to do a second kidnapping the same night of the real Li Heng. Zhu Yan is also innocently captured for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. They both manage to escape though. Three kidnap plans with three different hostages all fall through, lol.
[Ep3] The skinship is short-lived. Our newlyweds awkwardly separate. There is another minor skinship: he stops her talking with his hand on her lips as she's recalling their wedding night to the guards. The BGM enhances the cuteness of this scene. These two start to see each other's virtues over Wang Dong Jie's raping case. Chang Le admires his fairness and righteousness. Li Che appreciates her for the same and her cleverness. He had expected her to help Wang because they're cousins. Instead Chang Le uses that identity to her advantage to solve the case. When Wang Dong Jie questions her loyalty to Liu family, she reminds him she's the Crown Prince's wife after all. Her bandit knowledge also comes in handy when she needs to unlock a case equipped with a bomb.
Second couple: Nong Ying is the maid of Liu Yu Yao. She's strict with little emotions. Gong Sun Mo is Li Che's right hand man. With her intuition, she automatically sense his injured hand and helps him bandage.
[Ep4] Li Che takes Chang Le on a date to a casino. His plan is to make her divorce him by turning her off. Instead, our cute little bandit salivates at the sight of gambling. He pretends to be an expert when he's a first-timer. She pretends to be innocent but she's a true gambler to the bone. He is scammed of all his money, and as the wife, Chang Le can't let her husband be bullied. Omg he's such a cute boy hiding behind his dependable wife. She wins back all his money and more. Li Che wanted to disappoint her but he ends up being enamoured with her. I hope he won't be addicted to gambling xD.
Li Che and Chang Le are onto their second dating course: it's an annual obstacle course for the nobles to participate. Each contestants are paired up; one is blindfolded listening to the other's commands. The game was created by Li Che's mother to reward the couples whose mind and heart are the most in sync. Hence the name of the obstacle course is called "Ling Xi". The winner is none other than Li Che and Cheng Le. To win and show his superiority over his opponent, he aimed at a moving target to knock out his opponent's 10-point arrow.
Third couple: Li Heng and Zhu Yan are the scholarly couple. What a great contrast to our couple who just went gambling. They also participate in the Ling Xi obstacle course. They were technically a close second but because the Emperor somehow hears his two sons are the final contestants, he decides to give two first places. The envoy must have ran at the speed of light to pass on this information to and from the Emperor. It's obvious Li Heng likes her but their families are opposing political parties. Her family supports the Crown Prince, Li Che.
[Ep5] There's a dinner party to celebrate the obstacle course. Mom wanders in like a lost lady looking for her daughter, Liu Yu Yao. She requests her daughter to play some Qin. Fortunately, Cheng Le has musical talent. Both princes are enamoured by their respective ladies. Chang Le successfully passes the Mom test. However, there's still all her cousins. They make her drink wine which should be a breeze for her but Li Che can't let his woman drink with other men even if they're related. As a result, Li Che is red and drunk. He's so drunk, he brings her to a second round in another village, "Tao Yuan". The villagers recognize him as "Wan An". Still drunk, he introduces his wife to everyone having his arm around her the entire night. Following suit, Chang Le introduces herself with her real name instead of Liu Yu Yao.
Li Che is even more drunk. Overnight he vows to be brothers with a rooster. Cheng Le had to tie his arms to keep him obedient. She slept on the bed right above him to keep him under her observation. Li Che's morning embarrassment makes Cheng Le smile. She thinks he's cute. He reveals this village is special to him; it's his home. Ah, so he brought her home. This village was established by his mother, Shen (ex)Empress. He also shares his vision with her for peace. In exchange for keeping his village a secret, she asks him to let her play outside for two hours everyday.
They're back in the palace and the Empress requests their attendance. The Empress isn’t happy Liu Yu Yao sent Wang Dong Jie (cousin) to jail. However, she chose the wrong method to punish Cheng Le. She tried to frame her for stealing a telescope but Cheng Le is an expert at pick-pocketing. The plan backfires when Cheng Le sabotages the Empress's maid instead. When Empress reminds her she’s a Liu, Cheng Le once again emphasizes she's no longer her family. She is a "Li". Li Che smirks. After returning to their manor, Li Che scoops her up and spins her around. He's so proud of her for putting the Empress in her spot. Aw. I wasn't expecting him to be so boyish and honest. He gives her a reward and she wants food. He's really taking a liking to her as he personally applies ointment to her injured foot. Chang Le is wearing shoes that don't fit her because Mom had made them for her (Liu Yu Yao). He continues to share more about his mother and how she wanted him to be a gentle and caring husband. Without any hesitation, Chang Le assures him he's done that. Aw.
Second couple: Nong Ying isn't willing to give the telescope back to Cheng Le. To her, there's no such thing as retrieving a present back that was already given. She's just throwing a fit at Cheng Le because she used her and called her a mere servant. However, when Gong Sun Mo wants it, it becomes a much easier task for him even though he also called her a mere servant, lol. When he's studying, she's reminded of her brother (who died). She tells him to make her happy and she'll give him the telescope. To make her happy is simple: read her a book (with zero emotion).
[Ep6] Cheng Le asks Nong Ying to help her put on makeup and accessories for her third date with Li Che. Nong Ying had teased her if she likes Li Che after Cheng Le had teased her if she likes Gong Sun Mo. I like their budding friendship. Li Che takes her to the Lantern Festival like every other Chinese ancient drama. However, I have to admit, this one is a little different. There's a rule for its attendants: they must wear a mask. It's a rule set by his mother once again. It's for two people in love to forget their identities and just focus on themselves and their partner. They're pretty much reciprocating their feelings but Li Che has looming problems that will affect this relationship. His grandfather (his mother's father) reminds him that Liu Yu Yao is ‘tough to handle’. That night Cheng Le is asking a lot of "if" questions (e.g. if she's not Liu Yu Yao or if she's dead). He's upset at hearing all these ifs and promises her he won't let her be in danger or die. It's followed up with a kiss. And another kiss. He takes her home and drops her off to her room. He doesn't want to leave her so he uses an excuse to stall her time. The excuse is he has to put ointment on her healed foot for at least a few more days. He grabs onto her foot until he's satisfied with the time spent with her. He also gives her a goodnight forehead kiss before he leaves.
Li Che's sudden straightforwardness has its reasons. Grandfather advised him to romance his wife because she might betray Liu family for him. Gong Sun Mo doesn't buy it completely that Li Che is strictly business with Chang Le. Li Che also isn't hiding his true feelings very well either. He’s just cute.
Second couple: Nong Ying is mad about being called a mere servant for a rightful reason. She's a fighter, a strong one. She's Liu family's spy and when she returns to Liu manor to report (very little information), she's tailed by Gong Sun Mo. Liu Shen discovers him and orders him to be killed. Nong Ying saves him while suffering an injury to protect him. Gong Sun Mo faints over having no idea who saved him.
Third couple: Li Heng and Zhu Yan also meet each other at the masked lantern festival. He knows it is her but she doesn't know it's him. Or at least she pretends to not know it's him to be with him a little longer. Once he tells her to drop the mask, she can no longer ignore her identity and throws his present, the telescope, into the lake.
[Ep7] Our newlyweds are officially in love. She wants to cook for him but fails. He cuts her hair for her and combs her a new hairstyle. He also wants to buy her a present and asks Gong Sun Mo for advice. He in turn asks Nong Ying for advice. She's sarcastic when she tells him Cheng Le likes books. He believes it and reports it to Li Che who thankfully trusts his own instincts instead. Meanwhile Cheng Le is also making him a present: she's sewing him a pouch. Unfortunately, the loveliness ends when she finds the letter detailing Li Che's seduction plan on her.
Third couple: Cheng Le finds the telescope in Zhu Yan's belongings, which means she went back to retrieve it. Cheng Le gives her hope that if a couple is fated, they can overcome anything. However, her parents are interested in betrothing her to 7th Prince. Li Heng approves of this because that way he can have a date with her. 7th Prince even dives in the water to allow Li Heng to confess. Ha, poor prince. At least his sacrifice was worthy because she accepts Li Heng's confession. She even kisses him.
[Ep8] After learning his betrayal, Cheng Le gets her revenge. As a bandit girl, she steals and frames it on Li Che. Now he has seven days to arrest the criminal otherwise he's the criminal. Cheng Le plans to do her second night of stealing but she catches another suspicious black figure. It's Nong Ying. She learns that Liu Shen had kept her mother as hostage to force Nong Ying to work for him. Cheng Le promises her she'll help her rescue her mother. In return, Nong Ying gives her a letter she stole from Li Che. It details his trust for her. Cheng Lu is happy and forgives him but she remembers she just added more thievery crimes to his name, heh.
[Ep9] Cheng Le wants to help Li Che solve the case (of her own crime). He assures her he can handle it. He does ask her who would she choose between him and her grandfather. For her, of course, it's him because she's not actually Liu Yu Yao.
Li Che refuses to believe that Chang Le is behind the burglaries but Gong Sun Mo insists he investigates her. Nong Ying overhears this. To protect her new best friend, Nong Ying somehow makes Gong Sun Mo fall into the water while saving her. Gong Sun Mo immediately falls ill because he's weak against the cold. When he was younger he risked his life to save Li Che hence his current health. Nong Ying has guilt written all over her face. Gong Sun Mo probes her knowing she's protecting Cheng Le but before he gets any information from her, Cheng Le has already saved herself. Cheng Lu had returned the stolen goods and the case is dropped.
Li Che's sudden straightforwardness has its reasons. Grandfather advised him to romance his wife because she might betray Liu family for him. Gong Sun Mo doesn't buy it completely that Li Che is strictly business with Chang Le. Li Che also isn't hiding his true feelings very well either. He’s just cute.
Second couple: Nong Ying is mad about being called a mere servant for a rightful reason. She's a fighter, a strong one. She's Liu family's spy and when she returns to Liu manor to report (very little information), she's tailed by Gong Sun Mo. Liu Shen discovers him and orders him to be killed. Nong Ying saves him while suffering an injury to protect him. Gong Sun Mo faints over having no idea who saved him.
Third couple: Li Heng and Zhu Yan also meet each other at the masked lantern festival. He knows it is her but she doesn't know it's him. Or at least she pretends to not know it's him to be with him a little longer. Once he tells her to drop the mask, she can no longer ignore her identity and throws his present, the telescope, into the lake.
[Ep7] Our newlyweds are officially in love. She wants to cook for him but fails. He cuts her hair for her and combs her a new hairstyle. He also wants to buy her a present and asks Gong Sun Mo for advice. He in turn asks Nong Ying for advice. She's sarcastic when she tells him Cheng Le likes books. He believes it and reports it to Li Che who thankfully trusts his own instincts instead. Meanwhile Cheng Le is also making him a present: she's sewing him a pouch. Unfortunately, the loveliness ends when she finds the letter detailing Li Che's seduction plan on her.
Third couple: Cheng Le finds the telescope in Zhu Yan's belongings, which means she went back to retrieve it. Cheng Le gives her hope that if a couple is fated, they can overcome anything. However, her parents are interested in betrothing her to 7th Prince. Li Heng approves of this because that way he can have a date with her. 7th Prince even dives in the water to allow Li Heng to confess. Ha, poor prince. At least his sacrifice was worthy because she accepts Li Heng's confession. She even kisses him.
[Ep8] After learning his betrayal, Cheng Le gets her revenge. As a bandit girl, she steals and frames it on Li Che. Now he has seven days to arrest the criminal otherwise he's the criminal. Cheng Le plans to do her second night of stealing but she catches another suspicious black figure. It's Nong Ying. She learns that Liu Shen had kept her mother as hostage to force Nong Ying to work for him. Cheng Le promises her she'll help her rescue her mother. In return, Nong Ying gives her a letter she stole from Li Che. It details his trust for her. Cheng Lu is happy and forgives him but she remembers she just added more thievery crimes to his name, heh.
[Ep9] Cheng Le wants to help Li Che solve the case (of her own crime). He assures her he can handle it. He does ask her who would she choose between him and her grandfather. For her, of course, it's him because she's not actually Liu Yu Yao.
Li Che refuses to believe that Chang Le is behind the burglaries but Gong Sun Mo insists he investigates her. Nong Ying overhears this. To protect her new best friend, Nong Ying somehow makes Gong Sun Mo fall into the water while saving her. Gong Sun Mo immediately falls ill because he's weak against the cold. When he was younger he risked his life to save Li Che hence his current health. Nong Ying has guilt written all over her face. Gong Sun Mo probes her knowing she's protecting Cheng Le but before he gets any information from her, Cheng Le has already saved herself. Cheng Lu had returned the stolen goods and the case is dropped.
It's their fourth date. Li Che takes Cheng Le hunting. He calls her dumb for not knowing how to shoot and she hits his arm when he's aiming. She won't allow him to capture what she cannot. This scene made me smile, it actually looks like a date. I love the music when they're shooting their arrows. He disappears and she becomes worried. Moments later, he pops out to surprise her with a back hug.
[Ep10] Gong Sun Mo confronts Nong Ying of her identity. She confesses that her mother is in the hands of Liu Shen and her brother died because of these shrewd ministers. She has murdered quite a few of them that there's a search warrant on her. He's convinced she has good intentions but he tells her that it's too late to save Cheng Le because Zhu Minister has already sent assassins to her. Nong Ying wants to run out to save her but Gong Sun Mo stops her. She takes off her clothes, which makes him nervous. She just wants to show him the scar on her back to prove to him she’s his saviour. While he’s too shy to look at her she takes the chance to disappear.
Zhu Master takes Li Che to safety leaving Cheng Le alone to face her assassins. She's saved by someone she knows, she refers to him as Qin Brother. However, he disappears when Li Che returns to save her. Cheng Le doesn't know how to explain why everyone's dead. Luckily Nong Ying appears and says she killed them all. When Li Che privately questions Nong Ying of her identity, she vows that Cheng Li (Liu Yu Yao) only loves him and is not involved with Liu Shen's plans. Li Che kept a strict face on up until the point she mentioned that his wife only loves him.
Zhu Master takes Li Che to safety leaving Cheng Le alone to face her assassins. She's saved by someone she knows, she refers to him as Qin Brother. However, he disappears when Li Che returns to save her. Cheng Le doesn't know how to explain why everyone's dead. Luckily Nong Ying appears and says she killed them all. When Li Che privately questions Nong Ying of her identity, she vows that Cheng Li (Liu Yu Yao) only loves him and is not involved with Liu Shen's plans. Li Che kept a strict face on up until the point she mentioned that his wife only loves him.
Gong Sun Mo convinces Li Che to hire a new guard to confirm Cheng Le's loyalty telling him there's no harm in that. It happens to be her Qin Brother (who's name is Qin Fei Yu). Right now Li Che's people are all concerned about this "Duan" family heir and whether Cheng Le is related to Duan. Nong Ying seems to be aware of something but she won't share it. She even conceals this from Cheng Le. Qin Brother helps Cheng Le overcome this "Duan" obstacle by staging a fake kidnap to convince Li Che and Gong Sun Mo of Cheng Le's innocence that she doesn't know anything about the Duan family.
[Ep11] After almost putting Cheng Le's life in danger, Li Che guards her the entire night while she's sleeping. In the morning, he's about to sneak in a forehead kiss but Nong Ying interrupts to inform him that the Emperor demands his attendance. Li Che is reprimanded for not catching the thief last time because the thief has made another move again. It's a plot schemed by Liu Shen. In response, Cheng Le makes a series of petty revenge on Liu Shen (salting his well water, tampering his chair, destroying his valuable tea set lol, etc.). It's effective. Liu Shen is now very wary of the formidable forces behind Li Che. Pft.
[Ep12] Cheng Le's cover is blown. There's an attack on Li Che and to save him Cheng Le reveals her fighting skills, something Liu Yu Yao could never possess. She also uses a throwing star that is unique to Duan family. As a result, Cheng Le is chained up, whipped, and drowned in water. Li Che's grandfather is questioning her identity. She tells the truth that she's Cheng Le. She learned all her skills from her master who's name she does not know. Grandpa does not believe a word she says. Nong Ying is also captured. Gong Sun Mo is interrogating her but when he wants to leave, the guard stops his tracks. Seems like Gong Sun Mo is also trapped in the prison cell. Li Che isn't better off. He's free to roam around but still quarantined in the shack. The boys know their girls are innocent but Grandpa won't listen to anyone.
Second couple: Both trapped in the prison cell, Nong Ying asks Gong Sun Mo if he would also plant a Loquat tree if she dies just like the story he had read to her about a man who grew a tree for his late wife. He hesitates on answering.
Third couple: Some weird Taoist made a prophecy that the Emperor must marry a certain lady with a certain birthday. It happens to be Zhu Yan. So that's how the Emperor takes his son's one and only true love.
[Ep14] Chang Le and Qin Brother's plan to save her family and friends from Liu Shen fail. Qin brother is curious where she learned her bandit skills from. He asks if her master is Duan Nian Er (female) but Cheng Le doesn't know her master's name. She shares with Qin Brother that her master had died and she buried her at a very specific.
With the previous ambush failure, Liu Shen loses trust in Cheng Le. To regain that trust, Li Che risks his safety by pretending to fall into Liu Shen's trap. His life is almost taken had it not been Ye Ming Guo's Third Princess, A Li Ai Ti.
Third couple: Liu Shen helps his grandson, Li Heng, kidnap Zhu Yan. With Zhu Yan's disappearance, Zhu Minister is forced to work with Liu Shen.
[Ep15] A Li Ai Ti is here to fulfill the promise she had with Li Che. He promised to marry her. Chang Le throws a jealous fit at Li Che. There's a cute scene where he was explaining to her that he was too young to know what marriage was back then. Cheng Le isn't one to hide her jealously. She makes sure every single person knows it.
Second couple: Sun Mo makes a comment on how scary women are when they're jealous. Nong Ying cutely tells him she doesn't get jealous. Lol.
Third couple: They're happy. There's a lot of their scenes this episode and they're too boring for me to write about.
[Ep16] Li Heng and Zhu Yan are getting married but Liu Shen won't have his grandson give up the throne for a mere woman. He sends men to kill the old couple who's witnessing their marriage, preventing him from achieving his happiness. However, Liu Shen does this all under Li Che's name. Meanwhile Li Che is busy trying to juggle two jealous and drunk women who are fighting for him.
Second couple: Nong Ying is cute when she force feeds Gong Sun Mo. This is the episode Sun Mo finally has an inkling that she likes him. However, he's got about three years left in him because of all the poisons and wounds he suffered. There's a physician that tells him he has the one magical herb that can save him but he'll only give it to him if he can exchange it with a specific treasure map.
[Ep17] Cheng Lu passes the test in her drunken state. Li Che only cared for Cheng Lu the entire time and neglected A Li Ai Ti. The reason why our leads are going through all these tests is because the man who's testing them has the map to Liu Shen's trap laden dungeon. It was designed by Duan Nian Er (Cheng Le's master).
Jealousy is still abound. A drunk A Li Ai Ti is searching for her Li Che but Cheng Lu won't have it especially when A Li Ai Ti's callings for him interrupted their kiss. Cheng Lu fakes as Li Che to fool A Li Ai Ti. Cheng Lu then locks out Li Che from the room all to ask the drunk A Li Ai Ti more about her past with Li Che. Even Gong Sun Mo helps Cheng Lu dig up more dirt on Li Che such as telling her there's eighteen more princesses potentially lined up for Li Che.
The next mission for Cheng Lu and Li Che is to find a treasure map. It's the same map Gong Sun Mo needs as well to save himself. Gong Sun Mo has no intentions to reveal his need for the map but Nong Ying can't just sit and watch him die. Her plan isn't to steal the map though but to steal the herb, However, the doctor rather burns his herb than let her steal it. Now there's no medication.
Cheng Lu and Li Che are off on their mission to retrieve the treasure map. They're now trapped in this room with their legs cuffed but don't forget who Cheng Lu is. She easily frees herself. This mission is like an escape room except they're trying to enter the room; it's the perfect place for a clever bandit like Cheng Lu.
Cheng Lu and Li Che are off on their mission to retrieve the treasure map. They're now trapped in this room with their legs cuffed but don't forget who Cheng Lu is. She easily frees herself. This mission is like an escape room except they're trying to enter the room; it's the perfect place for a clever bandit like Cheng Lu.
[Ep18] The man who's guarding the treasure map swears to not betray the owner of the map but once Cheng Lu promises him money, all loyalty is forgotten. After a few rounds of bargaining, Cheng Lu and Li Che retrieve the map. The map is fake though, it never existed in the first place. They were sent on that mission to purge the greedy man of a his money scamming ways. Now that all his traps are exposed by Cheng Lu he can't scam anymore people with the treasure map. The person who sent them on the mission was none other than Qin Fei Yu (Qin Brother). He literally brought them around in circles when his master was the one who owned the map. Basically. Qin Fei Yu tricked our leads to do meaningless tests and missions (which was a good deed) before giving them the map to Liu Shen's dungeon that Qin Fei Yu could have easily gotten in the first place.
Cheng Lu takes Qin Fei Yu to Duan Nian Er’s grave. However, her corpse is no longer there. She’s alive.
Li Heng is out for revenge against Li Che because his beloved Zhu Yan is married to the Emperor. Li Heng thinks it's all Li Che's fault as a result of Liu Shen's scheming.
Li Che has a dilemma of his own. A Li Ai Ti is here to marry him as per her father's request. The father owes a favour to Li Che's mother and is willing to be his political support to win the throne if Li Che marries his daughter. Li Che is deliberating on the marriage while A Li Ai Ti patiently waits for his answer. She even helps Li Che hide their potential marriage to Cheng Lu.
As for the plan to save Cheng Lu and Nong Yin's family in Liu Shen's dungeon, Li Che needs the help of the villagers from Tao Yuan. He reveals his identity as the Crown Prince to the village of refugees that his mother saved. He understands that the villagers may choose to leave because it was his country that made them refugees. All the villagers go silent and leave. Moments later, they all return with broomsticks ready to fight for Li Che. Villagers check. A Li Ai Ti is working on her side of the plan and requests from the Emperor to host a competition among the princes. Whoever wins will be her husband.
Second Couple: Gong Sun Mo reached out to grab Nong Ying's hand but retracts once he recalls that he doesn't have long to live.
[Ep20] The plan to save Cheng Lu's family and friends is as follows: A Li Ai Ti is in charge of organizing a competition that forces the two princes to take part which allows the villagers to take them as hostage to force Liu Shen (a general) to leave his manor to protect the Princes. This gives time for Cheng Lu, Nong Ying and Qin Fei Yu to search Liu Shen's dungeon. Prior to the competition, Cheng Lu and Li Che even faked an argument to make it look like Li Che was determined to win himself a consort. The punch Cheng Lu threw at him was real though, lol. She threatens him that he better not try to win.
Cheng Lu and Nong Ying save their people and another random old man. The plan also takes another detour when Shen General (Li Che's grandfather) shows up and almost kills Liu Shen. In response, Li Heng takes Li Che as hostage. The four men circle around each other: Shen Grandpa has Liu Grandpa as captive; Li Heng as Li Che as captive. When Cheng Lu joins the circle, Team Liu Shen is outnumbered. I don't understand why Cheng Lu doesn't fight Li Heng to save Li Che but take Shen Grandpa's place to keep Liu Shen hostage. While everyone is momentarily distracted, Li Heng pulls Li Che right to the door of the tent.
In the next scene, everyone is out of the tent and alive. Shen Grandpa lies to the Emperor that it's due to Liu Shen's heroic efforts they're all safe hence he’s the only one who suffered an injury.
Second Couple: Nong Ying had said she would leave after she rescued her mother. Gong Sun Mo was so close to asking Nong Ying to stay but he chickens out when the carriage they’re in shake
[Ep21] What really happened in the tent: When Li Heng went by the door, he released Li Che and threatened everyone else that he was going to open the tent's door for the Emperor to witness everything. Shen Grandpa conceded and frees Liu Shen. I like how Cheng Lu walks out first leading all the men.
After saving her bandit family, Cheng Lu's brothers want to test if Li Che is sincere about Cheng Lu. Thus Cheng Lu lies to him that she's leaving him for her family and giving up her fake identity as his wife. Li Che tells her that he'll ditch everything (including the throne) to be with her. Li Che has passed the test with flying colours. The brothers are satisfied.
Unfortunately, Cheng Lu is leaving this episode. She's leaving because A Li Ai Ti is forcing her otherwise she'll reveal Cheng Lu's identity to the Emperor and bring Li Che down. Cheng Lu acknowledges she is of no use to Li Che and decides to leave with Qin Fei Yu to find her master instead. Cheng Lu thinks she left Li Che in good hands but what Cheng Lu doesn't know is that A Li Ai Ti is working with Li Heng's mother to dethrone Li Che so that he has no choice but to return to her country with her.
Third Couple: Gong Sun Mo runs after Nong Ying after hearing that she's leaving. He climbs atop a carriage just to spot her. She never left. She was watching him looking for her. Before she can respond to his feelings for her, she accidentally overhears A Li Ai Ti threatening Cheng Lu. Nong Ying is such a good friend, she puts her romance on pause to be with her friend, Cheng Lu.
[Ep22] This episode all of our men are lonely without their love. Cheng Lu left Li Che; Nong Ying never returned to find Gong Sun Mo; Zhu Yan married the Emperor leaving Li Heng in depression.
A Li Ai Ti and the Empress frames Li Che of raping A Li Ai Ti. She sneaks into bed so that the next morning, the Emperor can catch Li Che in the act. However, the woman who's sleeping next to Li Che in the morning is Cheng Lu. A Li Ai Ti never intended to betray Li Che, her real motive is to bring down the Empress by framing her for framing Li Che.
[Ep23] Despite it being the Empress's scheme, the one who is punished for framing Li Che of rape is Li Heng. It's because Li Heng can't explain his whereabouts last night. He was drunk and fell asleep in Zhu Yan's room but he can't tell the Emperor that. The Empress is caught in a tight spot. There's no one to help her. Liu Shen, her father, had just woken up from his injuries (from Episode 20) to find that the sky has fallen on him, lol. Anyways. The Empress has one more trick up her sleeve. She had sent men to attack Gong Sun Mo. Don't worry, Nong Ying has that covered and together they survive the attack. Gong Sun Mo has sustained an injury. Nong Ying glimpses at it and snickers that such a small injury can make him cower like that. Cute. Li Che and the girls rush over to the scene. For some reason Gong Sun Mo decides to fake his death to prank Li Che. The girls find it odd and realize he's not dead. It's only Li Che who cries and hits Gong Sun Mo's corpse out of desperation. He then dramatically turns around and declares that he's going to leave Gong Sun Mo. The prank is now on Gong Sun Mo who then quickly bounces back up. Pft. The girls are surprised Li Che figured it out (I have to admit I was surprised too. I guess none of us thinks he's smart, ha). There's only one thing Li Che hasn't figured out: why was Cheng Lu in his bed that morning. Everyone else laughs and walks away on this couple. How this plot evolved to this point started when A Li Ai Ti forced Cheng Lu out of the city only to capture her again so that the girls can trap the Empress into believing A Li Ai Ti is on her side.
A Li Ai Ti is an angel. Despite not receiving an ounce of Li Che's love, she did everything she can to secure Li Che's Crown Prince title. She also apologizes to Cheng Lu for being inconsiderate to her. Now that her mission is complete, she leaves to her country.
Cheng Lu and Li Che are back to being lovely. He visits her bandit village again and browses through her room. He calls her his wife (it's different from how he usually calls her) and talks about how he first met her when she was the bandit who tried to steal him to be her bandit husband. He also talks about their future: he wants children with her. They spend the night together and the two are truly husband and wife now. When our couple returns to their home, she packs her stuff and moves in to his room.
The Empress plans to confess her crimes to save her son but Zhu Yan does it first. Zhu Yan tells the Emperor, she is Li Heng's alibi because he was in her room the entire night. Zhu Yan is punished and locked in a secluded ward never to see daylight again.
[Ep24] Our couple is happily together but Cheng Lu wants to find her master, Duan Nian Er. Li Che approves of it but he's already missing her before she even leaves him.
Nong Ying leaves again. This time she is leaving to retrieve the medication. She tells Gong Sun Mo if he wants her to stay she'll stay. He wants her to stay. Nong Ying smiles and pushes for more; she asks, "For how long?" He takes her hand and puts it to his chest and tells her "Forever." She kisses him and tells him to wait for her.
Li Heng is a changed man. After Zhu Ya's detriments, he's determined to take the throne and rid is obstacle: Li Che. Li Heng learns of Nong Ying's mission to retrieve the herb and finds it before she does to threaten her to do his biddings.
[Ep25] Li Heng poisons his own father (Emperor) and mother. He then incriminates Li Che of it by using Nong Ying to put the poison in his room. Li Heng is now in control of the palace. His first task is to rescue Zhu Yan from her imprisonment but she has lost her sense of sight after being in the dark for too long. Li Heng also keeps his word to Nong Ying and gives the herb. Despite having control, Li Heng has no interest in the throne. He intends to make his brother, 7th Prince, the Emperor and kill Li Che. When Zhu Yan tries to tell him that Li Che isn't the one responsible for their current detriments, Li Heng refuses to believe her.
[Ep26] With the herb, Gong Sun Mo is all healed up. Nong Ying catches a glimpse of his exposed chest and smiles at it. She asks him how he's going to repay her. He casually tells her with his body. It's finally Nong Ying's turn to be shy. Gong Sun Mo shares that he's actually sweating, something he hasn't done in ages. Nong Ying happily touches him all over including his chest. Gong Sun Mo teases her that if she wants to take advantage of him she can just be honest with him. He calls her his wife and hearing that, Nong Ying asks him if they can marry on the spot. However, their happiness is short-lived when Gong Sun Mo realizes Li Che is in trouble and the person responsible for it is Nong Ying. He wants to save Li Che but Nong Ying freezes him. She's not going to let him hurt himself again and promises she'll right her wrong. She goes with Qin Fei Yu to save Li Che.
Cheng Lu returns to the palace to save Li Che but she ends up being captured. Fortunately, she's saved by her master, Duan Nian Er who took on the appearance of Liu Yu Yao's mother. As they're escaping they bump into the real mother but luckily Duan Nian Er and the mother are friends. All these twists. It's revealed that Liu Yu Yao is actually Cheng Lu's twin sister and they're the daughters of Duan family. Duan Nian Er is their aunt. The mom was pregnant when she saved one of the twins (Liu Yu Yao) but had a miscarriage hence she raised Liu Yu Yao like her own daughter. The mom also helps them retrieve the antidote to cure the Emperor's poison. In the process Nong Ying suffers a fatal injury. She's back with Gong Sun Mo. He wants to bring her a doctor but she stop him knowing there's not a lot of time left. Nong Ying tells him to use her real name (Liu Shuang Shaung). She asks him if she can forgive him now that she found the antidote. He tells her he never reprimanded her for it. With tears in her eyes, she asks if they can marry right now. Sniffle. Gong Sun Mo cries and nods.
Qin Fei Yu and Duan Nian Er save the Emperor with the antidote while Cheng Lu stops Li Che's beheading. However, their plan is falling apart: Liu Shen stops the Emperor from leaving the palace to save Li Che; Cheng Lu is captured again to be beheaded with Li Che. Don't fret. Duan Nian Er and Qin Fei Yu show up in time with the Emperor's royal edict. Li Che and Cheng Lu are free. They embrace but Li Che tells her he has something important to do right now; he needs to capture Li Heng who had just fled.
Cheng Lu returns to the palace to save Li Che but she ends up being captured. Fortunately, she's saved by her master, Duan Nian Er who took on the appearance of Liu Yu Yao's mother. As they're escaping they bump into the real mother but luckily Duan Nian Er and the mother are friends. All these twists. It's revealed that Liu Yu Yao is actually Cheng Lu's twin sister and they're the daughters of Duan family. Duan Nian Er is their aunt. The mom was pregnant when she saved one of the twins (Liu Yu Yao) but had a miscarriage hence she raised Liu Yu Yao like her own daughter. The mom also helps them retrieve the antidote to cure the Emperor's poison. In the process Nong Ying suffers a fatal injury. She's back with Gong Sun Mo. He wants to bring her a doctor but she stop him knowing there's not a lot of time left. Nong Ying tells him to use her real name (Liu Shuang Shaung). She asks him if she can forgive him now that she found the antidote. He tells her he never reprimanded her for it. With tears in her eyes, she asks if they can marry right now. Sniffle. Gong Sun Mo cries and nods.
Qin Fei Yu and Duan Nian Er save the Emperor with the antidote while Cheng Lu stops Li Che's beheading. However, their plan is falling apart: Liu Shen stops the Emperor from leaving the palace to save Li Che; Cheng Lu is captured again to be beheaded with Li Che. Don't fret. Duan Nian Er and Qin Fei Yu show up in time with the Emperor's royal edict. Li Che and Cheng Lu are free. They embrace but Li Che tells her he has something important to do right now; he needs to capture Li Heng who had just fled.
[Ep27] Gong Sun Mo and Shuang Shuang complete their wedding vows. Ughhhhhhh, don't die Nong Ying. As they finish their bows, Shuang Shuang collapses. NOOO. How could the drama do this to Gong Sun Mo. Sniff. Where are my twists? Drama, I know you can make her come back to life.
Li Che menacingly marches in the palace in his golden armour ready to take down Li Heng who's sitting on the throne. The two brothers battle it out but Li Che doesn't take Li Heng's life. Li Che wants him alive to know who the real mastermind is. It's Liu Shen. This man is so low he even sheds all the blame to his own daughter, the Empress and his grandson, Li Heng. Liu Shen has a long list of crimes that he can't just simply swindle his way out of. Duan General (Cheng Le's father and Duan Nian Er's brother) was framed by him for betraying the country. The random old man that Cheng Le had saved from the dungeon has now healed and is the key witness to Liu Shen's crime.
Li Che menacingly marches in the palace in his golden armour ready to take down Li Heng who's sitting on the throne. The two brothers battle it out but Li Che doesn't take Li Heng's life. Li Che wants him alive to know who the real mastermind is. It's Liu Shen. This man is so low he even sheds all the blame to his own daughter, the Empress and his grandson, Li Heng. Liu Shen has a long list of crimes that he can't just simply swindle his way out of. Duan General (Cheng Le's father and Duan Nian Er's brother) was framed by him for betraying the country. The random old man that Cheng Le had saved from the dungeon has now healed and is the key witness to Liu Shen's crime.
Li Che's punishment for Li Heng is to banish him with Zhu Yan to be peasants. What. How can they have a happy ending and not Gong Sun Mo and Nong Ying?? They've done nothing wrong and they don't get a happy ending. Omg. The Emperor also relinquishes his position to Li Che. He's too tired from being poisoned by his own son, schemed by his father-in-law, and overwhelmed by his wife's death. There's one more, his son (Li Heng) just stole his wife (Zhu Yan). Li Che is now the Emperor and Cheng Lu is his Empress.
Gong Sun Mo ): is promoted but he's not there to receive the promotion. He's in the woods and reading the book he had read to Nong Ying (Liu Shaung Shuang). They had talked about it in the prison cell (from Episode 12). She had asked him whether or not he would plant an loquat tree for her if she dies. He hesitated on answering back then but now we see that he has planted one right next to her grave. My Gong Sun Mo is going to be lonely forever. He's going to wait by the loquat tree for the rest of his life thinking of her. I'm still crying for them. The drama had planned her death from the very beginning. Meanwhile Li Heng and Zhu Yan get a happy ending and I don't even want to talk about it. It's so unfair.
Qin Fei Yu skips the proposal and directly takes Duan Nian Er as his wife. He princess carries her in her new home to complete the wedding rites. There's one more happy news: Cheng Lu is pregnant. Li Che happily listens to her belly. He's serious about listening and he thinks he hears something. It's her stomach grumbling.
Happily ever after.
Remarks
[First Impression (Ep1-8)] I found the first four episodes really fun. The kidnap among the kidnap among the kidnap was creative. Costume Cdramas love to insert modern ideas and this one is no different. I like the obstacle course, the masked lantern festival, and her bandit knowledge as well. I did get a little bored of it when the main couple reciprocated their feelings rather quickly but it won me back in episode 8 with how Cheng Le responded to Li Che's supposed betrayal.
There are parts in this drama that makes me put my brain on pause for a bit. For example, we get a forensic report out of nowhere. I also have to get over the fact that Liu Grandpa and Dad are evil idiots who killed their own granddaughter/daughter for their political win. The drama gets over the bad real quick to get to the good. I guess I can appreciate that.
There's two other couples in this drama. I find Li Heng and Zhu Yan boring. I'm looking forward to Gong Sun Mo and Nong Ying though. They bring unexpected laughter.
[Actors/Actresses] I really liked Zhao Yi Qin in "My Youth". I still like him better there even though he looks so much younger and cuter here. I just prefer Lan Tian Ye over Li Che, heh.
[Episode 13 Update] My favourite episode thus far.
[Review] This drama has a lot more quality behind its silliness. What places this drama above many others of similar style is that it’s chock full of content. Good content. Startling twists. Some had me laughing, some had me impressed, some had me crying. There were happy tears and sad tears. I was expecting to lose interest when our leads got together pretty quick but the plot picks up its pace from there. So many episodes have mysteries at the end that I need to click the next episode to figure out how everything happened. Near the end I was bawling my eyes for scenes I never expected to develop the way they did. Despite my tears, I don't regret watching those scenes at all.
I’m rating this higher because I really appreciate the creativity: three hilarious kidnappings in one episode, three times the antidote was shoved back and forth, this person framed that person to frame this person. It just felt like the author poured in a ton of effort before writing each arc. The romance wasn’t my favourite type though. Li Che is just too good of a boy, ha. He’s obedient, filial, gullible and innocent. They’re cute though, especially with Eleanor Lee as his partner. I stand by my comments in my First Impression for the secondary couples. I love Nong Ying and Gong Sun Mo pair. They made me feel a whole range of emotions, perhaps more than the main pairing.
[Episode 13 Update] My favourite episode thus far.
[Review] This drama has a lot more quality behind its silliness. What places this drama above many others of similar style is that it’s chock full of content. Good content. Startling twists. Some had me laughing, some had me impressed, some had me crying. There were happy tears and sad tears. I was expecting to lose interest when our leads got together pretty quick but the plot picks up its pace from there. So many episodes have mysteries at the end that I need to click the next episode to figure out how everything happened. Near the end I was bawling my eyes for scenes I never expected to develop the way they did. Despite my tears, I don't regret watching those scenes at all.
I’m rating this higher because I really appreciate the creativity: three hilarious kidnappings in one episode, three times the antidote was shoved back and forth, this person framed that person to frame this person. It just felt like the author poured in a ton of effort before writing each arc. The romance wasn’t my favourite type though. Li Che is just too good of a boy, ha. He’s obedient, filial, gullible and innocent. They’re cute though, especially with Eleanor Lee as his partner. I stand by my comments in my First Impression for the secondary couples. I love Nong Ying and Gong Sun Mo pair. They made me feel a whole range of emotions, perhaps more than the main pairing.
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