Chinese Drama 2020

The Chang’An Youth (Chinese Drama)

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Chang’an Youth poster

• Genre: Historical Costume Drama Fiction, Romance
• Release Date: 20 April 2020
• Origin: China; Web Drama
• Cdrama: 24 Episodes

Cast:

• Caesar Wu as Yang Zi’an
• Wang YuWen as Shen Yiyi
• Xie Bin Bin as Tang Jiu Hua
• Liu Yi Chang as Dugu Mu Xue
• Qi Pei Xin as Li Xin Yuan
• Xing Yang as Doctor Ling

 

11 March 2019: This drama had started shooting today.  I heard that there is a slight shade of Hana Yori Dango to this but of course in a historical setting.

I am so looking forward to this as Caesar Wu was my favourite in Meteor Garden 2018. 🙂

Episode 1 & 2

Yiyi was a very poor orphan. She was crouching on the ground, protective of a dumpling she was eating while other children took turns to kick her.

Suddenly the kicking stopped and then she saw why. The children were picked up by the guards of a beautiful girl who was her age.

The girl was Die Ye.

Ten years later…

Yi Yi had turned into a lady but not completely as she still some rather rough mannerism.  She was now working as a personal maid to Die Ye, who kindly taught her to read and write.

Die Ye was to marry Tang Jiu Hua but as bad luck would have it, just days before the wedding, Die Ye collapsed and died from coughing.

It was rather problematic for Mr Shen to cancel the wedding so Yi Yi volunteered to become the bride pretending to be Die Ye.  She wanted to do this not to marry Tang Jiu Hua but to investigate the parentage of Die Ye, who turned out to be an adopted daughter of Mr Shen.

As Die Ye was being buried a wedding cart came to fetch Yi YI to take her to her groom in Chang’An.

On the way, Yi Yi arranged for someone to kidnap her.  Unfortunately, Tang Jiu Hua was rather tenacious and found her immediately.

He was so tenacious that he always finds her every time she tried to run away.

Tang Jiu Hua had been in love with Die Ye since ten years ago.

He fell more for her (Yi YI) because of her feisty behaviour.

Yi Yi noticed though that Tang Jiu Hua was rather devoted and very kind to her (as Die Yi).

When she tried to tell him that the real Die Ye was dead, he laughed it off because he said that he saw himself dying first before her.

He mentioned to her that if she was not ready to get married then they could wait another four years.

She was intrigued with this.

Tang Jiu Hua said that he remembers that she wanted to find her real parents and the best place to find out about this kind of things was in Shangyi School, which happened to be holding examinations for the new school year.  The thing though was that Yi Yi had to dress up like a boy because only boys were recruited.

Yi Yi agreed to attend the examination with Tang Jiu Hua because she was planning to fail it so she could get away from Tang Jiu Hua.

While he was cramming for the exam, she was playing about.

During the day of the examination which was over-subscribed and well attended, Yi YI and Tang Jiu Hua met other recruits.

One was Zhang Zi’an, who was working as an undercover for the Emperor.  The Emperor was supposed to promote him but sent him to investigate the corruption that was going on in the school which honed recruits to be civil servants for the empire.

Zhang Zi’an had a very bad impression of Yi YI.  He thought that she was a loudmouth and crash. While she thought he was a snob and supercilious.

There was also Dugu Mu Xue, who was Zhang Zi’an’s main rival at school.  He was still very mysterious, obsessed with martial arts.

And their core group will be completed by Li Xi Yuan, who was a real prince who was trying to get away from his bullying older brother, the Crown Prince, who tells him that his mother was a concubine and he should behave and does as he was told.  Li Xi Yuan thought that Shengyi School will be a safe haven for him.

During the exam, Mu Xue was neck and neck with Zhang Zi’an.

Yi Yi tried everything to fail the test.  She almost succeeded as she got the 61st place during the early trials.  And Tang Jiu Hua got 60th place.

But before she could really celebrate, she learned that the things which she did to delay her progress actually helped her to get in.  She was commended for helping a lady and an old man.  Apparently these were part of the hidden exam which she, with the help of Tang Jiu Hua were the only ones to pass.

Then there was the final exam.  The written one.

She passed.

Episodes 3 – 4

For some reason, Yi Yi became top of the exam/class and Zi’an was only second to her.

Their dorms were then allocated. Yi Yi was shocked because she had to share a room with someone.  That someone was not even Tang but with her enemy, Zi’an.

Yi Yi was so annoying and temperamental that Zi’an would sometimes sleep somewhere else rather than share the dorm room with Yi Yi.

Zi’an’s brother was the teaching assistant had had warned Zi’an that he would be especially tough on him because of their relationship.  And the brother was more than tough bordering on being really cruel.

His cruelty bonded Yi Yi, Tang, Xin Yuan, Mu Xue and even Zi’an.

Episode 5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24