Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace


Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace 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 marriage of Qianlong Emperor and Hoifa-Nara, the Step Empress. 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 15 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, the series eventually won acclaim for its exquisite props, lavish sets, affecting storyline and stellar cast and has a score of 7.4 points on Douban.

Synopsis

Ularana Ruyi is the niece of the Empress and the childhood lover of Hongli, the fourth prince. She was initially chosen to be the third prince Hongshi's difujin, but fell out of the selection. Hongli's mother Niohuru Zhenhuan reveals to the Emperor that the Empress had killed the former Empress. Ruyi's aunt is locked away and she is poisoned by Zhenhuan. Before she dies, she tells Ruyi to become Hongli's Empress. With the Ulanara clan in disgrace after Empress Yixiu falls out of favour, Ruyi learns the politics of the harem. She faces the schemes of Fuca Langhua the Empress, and her underling Gao Xiyue.
Ruyi is eventually forced to reside in the Cold Palace and separated from the Emperor. There, she meets Ling Yunche, an imperial guard who helped her survive. She also finds out the reason why she hasn't had a child is because of a bracelet that Fuca Langhua gave her. In order to help Ruyi, her close friend Keliyete Hailan decides to win Qianlong's favor and Ruyi is saved from the Cold Palace. After Gao Xiyue is exposed, she lost the favor of the Emperor. Ruyi approaches Gao Xiyue and tells her that the reason why she wasn't able to have a child is because of the bracelet that Fuca Langhua gave her. Gao Xiyue is saddened and eventually dies in the snow, after exposing Langhua's evil deeds to Qianlong. Xiyue's servant causes Fuca Langhua's son to die to comfort her owner. Fuca Langhua's daughter Jingse is also married to a Mongol Prince after Empress Dowager Zhenhuan refused to send her daughter for heqin. After Fuca Langhua almost drowned, she succumbed to illness out of grief.
Yet, Gao Xiyue and Fuca Langhua's downfall is actually the result of the schemes of Jin Yuyan, a Korean woman who loves the King of Joseon. After Jin Yuyan's plans are revealed, she dies heartbroken when the King of Joseon refused to see her one last time. Another consort, Su Luyun also lost Qianlong's favour after she wanted her son to become the next Emperor. Consort Shu Yehenara Yihuan loves the Emperor, but willingly set herself on fire after realizing the Emperor never wanted her to have his children. Even after surviving multiple conspiracies at the hands of scheming concubines and successfully proving her innocence, her relationship with Qianlong eventually becomes irreparable. Ruyi eventually becomes disillusioned with her husband and the harsh reality of life in the Palace.
With the love and trust between them fading, Ruyi is put aside by Qianlong in favour of Wei Yanwan, who seeks to one day displace Ruyi as Empress. Wei Yanwan is eventually promoted to the rank of Imperial Noble Consort, but her ruthless and biased actions in managing the Emperor's harem create enemies amongst notable concubines such as Hailan, Balin Meiruo, and Han Xiangjian, who work to take her down. Ling Yunche, who was Yanwan's previous lover, tells Hailan about her endeavors and sacrifices himself to save Ruyi. Eventually Wei Yanwan's numerous evil deeds are exposed, and Qianlong delivers a stoic apology to Ruyi, knowing their relationship cannot be repaired. Wei Yanwan is given a slow-acting and extremely painful poison, for which she must ingest the antidote on a regular basis to prolong her suffering. The Emperor and Empress Dowager, knowing that if Wei Yanwan lives until her son becomes emperor she will live a life of luxury, permit her the release of death.
The series ends as Emperor Emeritus Qianlong cuts his hair and intertwines it with the lock of hair that Ruyi cut decades earlier when she declared she no longer wanted to be his Empress. Qianlong dies with the two locks of hair in his hand as Ruyi's favorite plant blooms for the first time in decades.

Cast

Main

Supporting

The Harem

Imperial members of the Qing dynasty

Officials

Male servants

Female 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.
The series also employed William Chang and Tongxun Chen as their overall style director, Han Zhong as art director and Peng Xuejun as cinematography director.

Development

, 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.
picked up the series for a 90-episode season, and each episode cost approximately S$1.95 million, 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 Hoifa-Nara, the Step Empress.
The role of 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 feel 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 anti-climax 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 neglecting a 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 deep". 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.

Ratings

Awards and nominations

International broadcast

On 10 June 2016, Fox Networks Group Asia and Turner Broadcasting System Asia 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, 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.
RegionNetworkDatesNotes
Fox Networks Group20 August 2018Dubbed with English
and Southeast Asia CountriesStar Chinese Channel20 August - 18 December 2018Rerun on 6 August 2019 at 15:00 and next day 1:00 in all countries
VietnamHTV71 September 2018Dubbed with Vietnamese
Fox Taiwan27 November 2018Original Language
Talentvision Canada27 December 2018Dubbed with English or Chinese
WOWOW TV29 May 2019
GMA NetworkComing SoonA part of GMA The Heart of Asia and dubbed in Filipino