Chinese Drama 2023
A Journey To Love (Chinese Drama Review & Summary)
A Journey To Love poster
- Genre: Historical Costume Drama Fiction, Wuxia, Romance
- Release Date: 28 November 2023
- Origin: China
- Cdrama: 40 Episodes
Cast
- Liu Shi Shi as Ren Ru Yi / Ren Zi
- Liu Yu Ning as Ning Yuan Zhou
- Alen Fang as Yu Shi San
- Li Huan as Sun Lang
- Chen You Wei as Yuan Lu
- Wang Yi Zhe as Qian Zhao
- Chang Hua Sen as Li Tong Guang
- He Lan Dou as Princess Yang Ying/Prince Li
- Chen Hao Yu as Chu Yue
- Zhang Fan as Deng Hui
- Ye Xiao Wei as
- Yuan Ruo Hang
- Wu Hong as Zhao Ji (Laodi Hall)
- Zhang Qiao
- Chen Du Ling as Xiao Yan
- Chen Xiao Yun as Imperial Concubine Chu
- Maggie Huang as Jin Mei Niang
- Zhang Zhi Xi as Jia Ling
- Lu Xing as Chief Secretary Du
- Yin Zhu Sheng as An Di [Emperor An]
- Zhang Tian Yang as Wu Di [Emperor Wu]
- Zhang Zheng Yang as Zhang Song (Prime Minister Song)
- Wang Yan as Empress Shao Jie
- Gou Chen Hao Yu as
- Ye Qing as
- Wu Qiang as
- Su Meng Yun as
- Wang Jia Xuan as Zhu Yin
- Zhou Lu La as
- Chang Cheng as
- Zeng Ke Lang as Prince Danyang
- Jing Ru Yang as
Snippets
- 24 November 2023: It was announced that this drama will broadcast from 28 November 2023.
Episode 1
Wow! Liu Shi Shi is really meant for wuxia costume dramas. She is gorgeous, graceful and elegant doing dance and martial arts.
Anyway, the drama started with an emperor being assassinated. Since the death of the emperor, it had been chaotic time with the Northern Province being in constant battle with the Central Plain.
The Central Plain alone which comprises of nine states have endless disputes especially between the State of An and the State of Wu.
The Emperor of An was a brilliant martial artist but let down by being ultra greedy.
As the State of Wu is prosperous, the Emperor of An wanted to subjugate them. This resulted in a six years battle where Emperor WuDi himself joined in the fight.
Ruyi, who is a spy for the White Sparrow of the Scarlet Guard of the State of An was able to infiltrate Sun Shiyi Mansion at the Wu Capital. She was there as one of the dancers together with her ‘sister-co White Sparrow’. Their mission was to steal the grain map.
However, the mission went awry when Inspector Zhao Ji of the Laodi Hall (Imperial Police) turned up and had the dancers arrested and ordered to be executed for cavorting to the lyrics that the general was dead. Zhao Ji took offense to the lyrics as their General was none other than Emperor Wudi.
Despite rumours that the Emperor had died, Zhao Ji was having none of it.
But his uncle, Prime Minister Song was ready to proclaim Prince Danyang as the new Emperor but Empress Xiao Yan turned up with a letter saying that the Emperor is not dead but was a guest of the An Guards.
Anyway, Empress Xiao announced that she was pregnant and was advised by Imperial physicians that she was likely to have a baby boy.
As this was the case, Prince Danyang was relegated once again to being a prince in waiting.
In the battlefield, Ning Yuanzhou who has an arrow on his shoulder was pretending to be dead. But when the An Guards were making sure that everyone was dead, Ning Yuanzhou stood up and fought the soldiers. He saved his general but later on, Ning Yuanzhou proclaimed that he was going on his own way for some peace and relaxation.
But this might not happen as the Wudi guards were looking for him to return to the Capital. Ning Yuanzhou was supposed to be the leader of Liudao Hall but something happened.
Prime Minister Song however don’t trust his nephew Zhao Ji who he thought lacked foresight especially when he found all the drawers of cabinets in the Liodao Hall HQ had been emptied. All the intels and documents had been destroyed by Zhao Ji because he wanted his ciommand to start from scratch.
Prime Minister Song ordered Zhao Ji to find Ning Yuanzhou within seven days or his aunt will be lighting a candle for him at the day of the dead.
Ruyi found that Linglong, her sister assassin had been killed. Ruyi fought off guards who burned down the An cottages. She was poisoned when she was cut by a sword in the shoulder.
Episode 2
I have to say I was really surprised how fast-paced this drama was, there is no beating around the bush.
Anyway, Zhao Ji and his men were hunting for an escaped assassin when they realised that the number of the dead assassins does not tally. After extensive search, Zhao Ji realised that their target was a woman.
They ended up at the Ning Mansion.
Yuan Lu, Ning Yuan Zhou’s manservant prevented Zhao Ji and his Liudao Hall men from coming in. But because they were many and the soldiers were trained by Yuanzhou, Yuan Lu was eventually overpowered and would have killed if Yuanzhou had not shown up in time.
Zhao Ji made a song and dance that he was now the leader of Liudao Hall and Yuanzhou must show him respect.
Yuan Zhou, however, reminded Zhao Ji of Liudao Hall’s rule no 9, 10 and 13 as he stabbed Zhao Ji in the neck. He told the dying Zhao Ji and the soldiers that a member of Liudao Hall must not turn against a member, must not put a member in danger and so on and so forth but Zhao Ji had contravened the three rules and the punishment was death.
The soldiers agreed with Yuanzhou as they carried the dead Zhao Ji out of the mansion.
Yuanzhou told Yuan Lu to lock the gate. He then opened one of the coffins and in out Ruyi who had been hiding inside.
Ruyi pretended that she was an innocent victim who was at the end of her tether. She got so desperate that she could only hide inside the coffin.
Yaunzhou did not buy her narrative and told her that he saw her used a technique by White Sparrow. Still Ruyi denied it as she fainted on Yuanzhou’s arms.
He tended to her and when she woke up the next morning, he told her to go but she refused and begged him to let her stay. He agreed under some condttions, she had to be the housemaid.
Meanwhile, at Sun Shiyi Mansion, it was found that Emperor Wudi was a hostage of An. They were willing to let him go for a ransom of 100,000 tael of gold and that it should be delivered by one of the princes.
The number one candidate was Prince Danyang but he was reluctant as going to An not only endanger the Wu State as well as himself. Plus the fact that they don’t trust the An to just let Emperor Wudi go.
Empress Xiao mentioned to Princess Yang Ying that she would give 3,000 fief to a prince who would willingly go.
Episode 3
Princess Yang Ying who was desperate to gather at least 800 fief so she can be free to marry anyone of her own choice presented herself as the Fourth Prince.
Prince Danyang and Empress Xiao were complicit in making Yang Ying into Prince Li, the official envoy to State of An.
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Episode 6
Ren Xin told Ning Yuanzhou that she wanted to have a baby with him. It would be uncomplicated as she will raise the baby herself and he was void of any responsibility.
Ning Yuanzhou categorically refused.
Episode 7
The gossip spread fast amongst the soldiers. So they started working out topless hoping that Ruyi would choose anyone of them as the baby-father.
Yang Ying had a mental breakdown when she found out that she was a collateral damage as far as Prince Danyang (her brother) and Empress Xiao are concerned.
She drugged the soldiers so she could go back to the palace to confront her brother. She was persuaded by Ning Yuanzhou to continue on pretending to be Prince Li after he emotionally blackmailed her for having it too easy while most of their people were living from hand to mouth.
Meanwhile, General Zhou Ji An received a message from Prince Danyang to kill ‘Prince Li ‘and his escorts, take the gold and keep half while returning the other half to the palace.
Ning Yuanzhou, managed to persuade General Zhou Ji that it was all a misunderstanding. They were going to An State to rescue the Emperor.
Episode 8
They knew that it would not be long before General Zhou realised that he was duped so Ning Yuanzhou and his guys prepared for an attack from General Zhou’s army.
Ren Xin told Ning Yuanzhou that she would help but under one condition that he will find out for her who killed Empress Zhao Jie, her mentor at An.
The battle with the soldiers was fierce. Though Ning Yuanzhou won against the 300 strong men of General Zhou Ji, poor Yuan Lu was on death’s door because he used too much of his qi when he had a congenital heart disease.
Qian Zhao told them that a silver snake could save Yuan Lu.
Everyone tend to cosset Yuan Lu because with is illness, he is not expected to live passed his 20th birthday.
Without any question, Ren Xin volunteered to go as she knew the mountain where they could find the rare snake. Yu Shi Shan opted to go with her. It was good too as Ren Xin was not at her best having been injured during the battle but had not sought medical help.
When Ning Yuanzhou learned that Ren Xin and Shi Shan left for the mountains, he went after them immediately.
It was good too as he saved Ren Xin from falling into a ravine. As Ning Yuanzhou was looking after Ren Xin, Shi Shan told them that he will return with the snake as time is of the essence fro Yuan Lu.
Yuanzhou and Ren Xin had a romantic moment. She agreed that having a baby was not really for her afterall as she can’t really stand them.🤣🤣🤣
Meanwhile at the palace Empress Xiao and Prince Danyang were talking about not wanting Emperor Wu Di to return that he was better off dead.
It seemed there is a romantic history between Prince Danyang and Empress Xiao. Prince Dangyang told the Empress that he would make her his Empress but Empress Xiao turned him down because the real power is being an Empress Dowager to her still unborn child. As a guardian to her baby, she will be standing in for him and manage the court. She will be the Emperor in situ.
Episode 9
Despite Ren Xin fully integrating with the group, Qian Xiao continues to be wary of her. Ren Xin, however, is taking being a mentor/master to Prince Li.
As a sideline, Yu Shi Shan ws working with Ren Xin to make Ning Yuan Zhou jealous and it was working.
He was not indifferent to Ren Xin at all.
Meanwhile, at the An State, Noble Consort Chu was irate because the Emperor of An was thinking of marrying Chu Yue to Li Tong Guang.
Noble Consort Chu herself was obssessed with Li Tong Guang.
Episode 10
Qian Xiao’s gut instinct not to completely trust Ren Xin seemed justifiable because he followed Ren Xin who was in disguised and met up with Scarlet Guard.
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