Chinese Drama 2022
New Life Begins (Chinese Drama Review & Summary)
New Life Begins poster
- Genre: Historical Costume Drama Fiction, Romance
- Release Date: 10 November 2022
- Origin: China
- Cdrama: 36 Episodes
- Where to Watch: iQiyi
Cast
- Bai Jing Ting as Yin Zheng
- Tian Xi Wei as Li Wei
- Chen Xiao Yun as Hao Jia
- Liu Ling Zi as Yuan Ying
- Liu Guan Lin as Yin An
- Edward Zhang as Yin Song
- Chang Long as Yin Qi
- Mikan Ryu as Song Wu
- Fan Shuai Qi as Shang Guan Jing
- Liu Meng Meng as Dong Hai Tang
- Wei Zi Xin as Su Shen
- Chen Zi Han as Zhao Fang Ru
- Karina Zhao as Madame He
- Qiu Xin Zhi – [Master of Jin Chuan]
- Ji Xiao Fei as Yin Jun
- Melody Tang as Ruan Si Si
- Gao Shu Guang – [Master of Xin Chuan]
- Yu En Tai as Li Wen Bi
- Hu Ke as Zhu Ge Xiao Mei
- Smile Hu as An Xi Yuan
- Hou Chang Rong as Dai Di
- Wang Yi Yao as Bai Lu
- Wang Zhi Yi as Yu Ping
- Wang Yi Miao as Yu Zhan
- Vinnie Yao as Liu Bao Quan
- Sun Shuang as Shang Guan Yan
- Chris Song as Song Wu
- Xu Tao as Yin Han
- Fu Lei as Yin Kun
- Yue Yang as Lord Yue
- Li Yu as Shopkeeper Zhou
Episode 1
Aww, it is nice to see Bai Jin Ting again.
This first episode is watchable. I thought I was not going to like the female lead because she is always trying to look like a little girl. She does still look like a little girl here but she is not too bad.
Anyway, in this story, the world is divided into 9 continents. There is an arid region, there is also a mountainous region, there is region that is always raining, there is a region of flowers, there is a region where it is matriarchal, there is a region were it is bountiful and so on and so forth.
The nine regions are ruled by the king of Xin Chuan who has 11 princes but one died so ten princes are all in all.
Four of the princes are already married, including Yin Song, the eldest legitimate son, making him the crown prince.
The king summoned all the eligible girls from the nine continents so his princes could choose their wives/concubines.
The girls can’t really say no to an edict from the king so Li Wei had to go despite not wanting to.
When she got to the palace she met an old friend, Hao Jia who was also asked to participate in the wife selection.
Unlike Li Wei, Hao Jia was all for the marriage, in fact, she knows all about the princes and she had already decided to do everything to get chosen as the concubine of Yin Song. She told Li Wei that even as a concubine she will have a better chance in the palace harem if married to the crown prince.
Li Wei’s raison d’etre was food and that was where she was when she met the sickly Prince Zheng.
Prince Zheng or Yin Zheng is a son of a concubine so he is considered illegitimate still, he has aspirations to be king but not through marriage but via his own effort.
He had a nasty stomachache which made him collapse in front of Li Wei who helped him up, not knowing that he was prince Zheng. She took him to the palace.
Li Wei was told by the servants that a carriage was waiting for her outside.
Li Wei was ecstatic thinking that she had been disqualified and her parents were there to take her home.
But when she got to the gate of the palace, a red sedan was waiting for her. She was then told that she was the first one chosen for marriage and she had been selected by Prince Zheng.
Li Wei was shocked.
Episode 2
Li Wei married to Prince Zheng as a concubine without much ceremony or with him present. She was just presented to the many memorials of the king’s ancestry.
Anyway, she overheard that Yin Zheng had only half a month left. She jumped to conclusion that he was dying so she immediately put it in her calendar to start her countdown to widowhood. She started writing to her family to tell them of her news and also requested them to prepared the fatted cow when she returns after the funeral.
Li Wei is not a nasty girl just dim and stupid. So thinking that her husband was about to die she tried to be good to him and make his life bearable.
But Yin Zheng started to think she was weird when she turned his study to look like a funerary with flowers everywhere and in the middle of the room was his silk painting.
One thing that remains the same with Li Wei was her insatiable hunger for food.
Yin Zheng’s bodyguard gave Prince Zheng all the letters that Li Wei had been sending her family.
The guard was aghast but Yin Zheng told him to leave well things alone.
Meanwhile, the Amazonian Zhang Guang Jing was married off to a quivering Prince Yin Qin.
Hao Jia got her wish and married Yin Song but it was not a bed of roses for her because his legitimate wife took a dislike to her.
Episode 3
It was the day of the exam.
Li Wei was told to prepare herself because it was the day for Prince Zheng.
Li Wei did prepare herself which shocked her maids when they found her dressed in her mourning clothes and burning papers for the spirit of Yin Zheng.
They told her to remove her outfit immediately.
Li Wei was so confused but got the shock of her life when Yin Zheng turned up. At first, she thought he was a ghost. Anyway, the matter was cleared.
Prince Zheng topped the test and was now ready to consummate the marriage. Li Wei plotted to prevent him from sleeping with her. She ate the spiciest roast lamb which made her lips swell like a Kardashian’s. Prince Zheng left her but prevented her from ever stepping into the royal kitchen again.
She was saved from any amorous intention from Yin Zheng with the arrival of his spoilt foster sister who wanted to sleep at Li Wei’s bedroom because it was her supposed favourite room.
The King wanted his third son to return to the palace. Yin Zheng volunteered to bring him back. He took Li Wei with him to look for the prince.
Li Wei was so excited to see the prince because he had a reputation for being drop-dead gorgeous and cultured after all, he has a harem that comprises of 24 ladies named after heavenly bodies of the Solar System.
When she saw Prince An, Yin Zheng could not help the smirk on his face as he looked at the disappointment on Li Wei’s face.
This drama is cute.
Episode 4
Despite being always starving, Li Wei was bored with the sameness of food that Prince Zheng was partial to so she contrived with the chef to be more adventurous with the vegetarian menu he was serving the prince.
Episode 5
Li Wei, Hao Jia, and Shang Guan Jing were all punished by the harem etiquette nanny for misbehavior.
Yin Zheng was very supportive and caring of Li Wei which she appreciated very much, so much so that she told him that he reminds her of her mother. This did not go down well with him as he was not maternal.
Guan Jing and Yin Qi are not getting along because Yin Qi always compares Guan Jing to the lady-like Hao Jia.
Yin Song ordered Hao Jia not to hang out with Li Wei and Shang Guan Jing anymore which made her sad because she will become more isolated with no friends to back her up.
The King asked Yin Zheng how to go about bringing in relief goods to the flooded Danchuan region.
Yin Zheng consulted Li Wei who gave him more of a background of the area. This made Yin Zheng able to suggest to the king the best way is by land rather than by water to prevent the food from becoming spoiled due to waterlogging.
Li Wei and Yin Zhen are getting along just find so Li Wei asked him if she could be in charge of the catering for the Royal Mid-Autumn Festival.
Episode 6
Li Wei’s idea at first was dismissed by Yin Song as amateurish but the King when he turned up with the Queen loved the idea of buffet. Just choose what you wanted from the smorgasbord of food.
Hao Jia was beginning to realise that she made a mistake in choosing Jin Song as her husband because he would always put his legitimate wife above all others.
The King was so impressed with the food and the atmosphere of buffet dining that he allowed Li Wei to travel to see her family.
But she is such a dim-witted girl, she brought in barbecue to the palace illegally. She almost burnt down the palace because Song Wu poured petrol/oil into the charcoal.
She instead of being allowed out to see her family, Li Wei was confined to the palace.
She was so sad about it but Yin Zheng had already arranged a surprise for her. He smuggled her family into the palace to see her.
Meanwhile, Shang Guan Jing was beginning to thaw over Yin Qi especially when he specially made spicy mooncakes for her. But he ruined it by asking her to allow him to have at least one concubine.
The King found out that Guan JIng left the palace to return home to Danchuan. He ordered Yin Qi to go to Danchuan to bring back Guan Jing. He also told Yin Zheng to do an ambassadorial visit to Danchuan.
Yin Zheng asked if he could bring Li Wei with him. This was granted.
Episode 7
The visit to Danchuan was eventful and got too much for Prince Yin Qi. So Yin Zheng had to step in on his behalf to win back Princess Shang Guan Jing for his brother.
Yin Zheng impressed everyone with his prowess in archery. This, however, created a problem for him because the Queen of Danchuan had proposed marriage between her and Yin Zheng for the sake of their nations’s alliance.
Episode 8
Yin Zheng was shocked by the turn of events but the Queen explained that since his sister opted to leave Yin Qi but their two nations still need an alliance then she will marry Yin Zheng instead.
Yin Zheng said that he cannot marry her because he really likes Li Wei.
Shang Guan Jing turned up and told her sister to stop making trouble for Yin Zheng and Li Wei. She added that she made a mistake and though Yin Qi is a complete moron, she can still live with him and prepared to go back with him. The Queen warned Yin Qi not to take any concubine otherwise she will have him castrated.
To sweeten the alliance with Danchuan, he gave his proposal to the Queen on how to best prevent flooding.
There was a bit of festivities where they partook wine. Yin Zheng got so drunk, he had to be carried to bed where Li Wei tended to him.
He asked her if she does not really like him or even hated him. Li Wei said they were forced to marry but she really does not mind him at all anymore but she was not sure if she liked him.
So he kissed her and she did not evade him but when she was just getting into the rhythm, he fell asleep and when he woke up the next morning he can’t remember what happened.
Li Wei was confused but she had a bit of alcohol as well so she was not now 100% sure whether they did kiss or not
Xin is now in deep shit trouble because their treasury is absolutely empty and the Jin empire was asking for loan payments. Mr Dai asked Yin Zheng for resolution to the problem.
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