A Dream of Splendor
Zhao Pan Er, is a smart and savvy teahouse owner in Qiantang, living alngside her two best friends Sun San Niang and Song Yin Zhang. When she finds out her fiancé left her for another woman of a high ranking officer after becoming an official in the Capital of Bian Jing, she refuses to give into her fate and decides to travel to the Capital in search for the truth. On her way there, she crosses paths with both of her best friends, whose lives she saves and they follow her onward.
Gu Qian Fan, is a commander in an elite Capital squadron nicknamed "Living Devil". He is setup by the very people he swears allegiance to and must find out the truth behind a nefarious scheme involving the imperial court. When he first meets Zhao Pan Er, they don't see eye to eye, however this intelligent businesswoman has caught his attention and as they help each other, they get closer to their own goals.
Once arriving in the Capital, Zhao Pan Er, her two friends, and Gu Qian Fan must weather many storms together and apart but will their strength, care for one another, and sheer perseverance by relying on their own ability to make a small teahouse they opened into the largest and most successful restaurant in Bian Jing? And will they each get the love and happy ending they all so desperately deserve? (MDL-2022)
The word that describes this drama perfectly is "Elegant". From the acting to the costumes, sets, even voice! everything is elegant. It is a very pleasant visually drama, the women are all gorgeous, the background at night and daylight... wow, I was in awe, and not for one minute I was less in awe. Even the filter is nice.. not blinding white like most CDramas, but a warmer color, yellowish which adds the slice of life tone.
I enjoy reading Regency Romance books, and this drama was lke reading a Carla Kelly book. Specially the progress of the relationship between the leads.
My first time watching most of these actors. Needless to say, Liu Yifei as Pan'er and Chen Xiao as Gu QianFan were amazing. Their chemistry was so fun and cute to watch, it didn't get any boring or less special once they get together, but I do admit that the silly misunderstanding... better said, the miscommunication, made their reconciliation very unsatisfactory. I think it may be because the drama had 40 episodes "only", maybe they had to cut many stuff? It seemed a bit rushed, and I wish Gu Qianfan grovelled a bit more to get Pan'er back... it was so out of character of him to be away from her for so long (plus Chen Lian also being far away... a bit cheap in an otherwise a marvelous script).
Also, and which also may have been because of the shortcut, YinZhang's character development was too rushed. She didn't learn AT ALL the first time, after the 2nd time, she has a 180° personality change. The pace was wrong, and while I cheer for her development as much as anyone may have (she was too childish and selfish at first), I wish it was better done.
So except for these 2 facts, I loved everything about this drama. I loved Sanniang as much as I loved Pan'er... if they were happy it was a good episode; when they cried, I shed some tears. I am so glad the scriptwriters gave Sanniang a HEA with a nice man; her son was awful (doesn't matter he was a kid, every man that made her in pain was an a**) and she got what she wanted on her own.
I loved the feminism in this drama. I think most people think "strong woman" means she has to know martial arts, be cocky, cold, fiery, etc (like most dramas with "strong women" have). But the style of PE and SN is the kind I prefer to watch: the resilient type that goes through hard times with pride, confidence, and when that confidence falters, the desire to be better prevails. These women had many good stuff going in her life but they also had to suffer many times, and after shedding some tears, they keep going on. And what is best, they had each other. There are many women in this drama, and some of them are jealous of the other (Gao Hui of PE; YZ of PE; HaoHao of YZ, etc) but they do not schemed against the other; they still help each other. In that sense, the thing with the Empress was a letdown, but not everything can be positive.
While we have realistic portrayals from that time (heck, even now in some places) of the women injustice and chauvinism, there are also more idealistic scenes that in no way diminishes the story. I've read some comments complaining that this show made PE a virgin, which was not true since musical performers were prostitutes in that era (seems they were sort of like geishas?). I think the scriptwriters may have wanted to give PE a better life since everything in her life was tragic, so at least she didn't use to be a prostitute. Same with the happy ending and people cheering on the PE and women's right... I find it hard to believe it would have happened in real life, but it was a nice, idealistic HEA for a beautiful drama. Not everything has to be true to story, it is nice to mix real events with more happier, even if not true, events. I mean, not even GQF's character is very realistic, he is like a LWJ, always supporting PE and always there in case she needs protection but he almost never contradicts her.
The OST is another plus. I didnt' fall in love till ep10 or so, but both OP and ED song suit the drama so well and just listening to them again makes me nostalgic.
Supporting characters were all likeable and the whole 40 episodes doesn't drag at all. There is a bit of comedy (Chi Pan was so funny, but I kinda hated him when he made PE dance and kowtow to him), the Emperor is nice and fair for once, and I love how PE slowly makes people respect her and care for her. Ouyang Xu, while an ass, was an interesting character and while he was a villain, he almost never win so that is a plus XD
Will re-watch this because I watched it on my cellphone, but this needs to be watch on a big screen.
**My rating: 9/10**
Gu Qian Fan, is a commander in an elite Capital squadron nicknamed "Living Devil". He is setup by the very people he swears allegiance to and must find out the truth behind a nefarious scheme involving the imperial court. When he first meets Zhao Pan Er, they don't see eye to eye, however this intelligent businesswoman has caught his attention and as they help each other, they get closer to their own goals.
Once arriving in the Capital, Zhao Pan Er, her two friends, and Gu Qian Fan must weather many storms together and apart but will their strength, care for one another, and sheer perseverance by relying on their own ability to make a small teahouse they opened into the largest and most successful restaurant in Bian Jing? And will they each get the love and happy ending they all so desperately deserve? (MDL-2022)
The word that describes this drama perfectly is "Elegant". From the acting to the costumes, sets, even voice! everything is elegant. It is a very pleasant visually drama, the women are all gorgeous, the background at night and daylight... wow, I was in awe, and not for one minute I was less in awe. Even the filter is nice.. not blinding white like most CDramas, but a warmer color, yellowish which adds the slice of life tone.
I enjoy reading Regency Romance books, and this drama was lke reading a Carla Kelly book. Specially the progress of the relationship between the leads.
My first time watching most of these actors. Needless to say, Liu Yifei as Pan'er and Chen Xiao as Gu QianFan were amazing. Their chemistry was so fun and cute to watch, it didn't get any boring or less special once they get together, but I do admit that the silly misunderstanding... better said, the miscommunication, made their reconciliation very unsatisfactory. I think it may be because the drama had 40 episodes "only", maybe they had to cut many stuff? It seemed a bit rushed, and I wish Gu Qianfan grovelled a bit more to get Pan'er back... it was so out of character of him to be away from her for so long (plus Chen Lian also being far away... a bit cheap in an otherwise a marvelous script).
Also, and which also may have been because of the shortcut, YinZhang's character development was too rushed. She didn't learn AT ALL the first time, after the 2nd time, she has a 180° personality change. The pace was wrong, and while I cheer for her development as much as anyone may have (she was too childish and selfish at first), I wish it was better done.
So except for these 2 facts, I loved everything about this drama. I loved Sanniang as much as I loved Pan'er... if they were happy it was a good episode; when they cried, I shed some tears. I am so glad the scriptwriters gave Sanniang a HEA with a nice man; her son was awful (doesn't matter he was a kid, every man that made her in pain was an a**) and she got what she wanted on her own.
I loved the feminism in this drama. I think most people think "strong woman" means she has to know martial arts, be cocky, cold, fiery, etc (like most dramas with "strong women" have). But the style of PE and SN is the kind I prefer to watch: the resilient type that goes through hard times with pride, confidence, and when that confidence falters, the desire to be better prevails. These women had many good stuff going in her life but they also had to suffer many times, and after shedding some tears, they keep going on. And what is best, they had each other. There are many women in this drama, and some of them are jealous of the other (Gao Hui of PE; YZ of PE; HaoHao of YZ, etc) but they do not schemed against the other; they still help each other. In that sense, the thing with the Empress was a letdown, but not everything can be positive.
While we have realistic portrayals from that time (heck, even now in some places) of the women injustice and chauvinism, there are also more idealistic scenes that in no way diminishes the story. I've read some comments complaining that this show made PE a virgin, which was not true since musical performers were prostitutes in that era (seems they were sort of like geishas?). I think the scriptwriters may have wanted to give PE a better life since everything in her life was tragic, so at least she didn't use to be a prostitute. Same with the happy ending and people cheering on the PE and women's right... I find it hard to believe it would have happened in real life, but it was a nice, idealistic HEA for a beautiful drama. Not everything has to be true to story, it is nice to mix real events with more happier, even if not true, events. I mean, not even GQF's character is very realistic, he is like a LWJ, always supporting PE and always there in case she needs protection but he almost never contradicts her.
The OST is another plus. I didnt' fall in love till ep10 or so, but both OP and ED song suit the drama so well and just listening to them again makes me nostalgic.
Supporting characters were all likeable and the whole 40 episodes doesn't drag at all. There is a bit of comedy (Chi Pan was so funny, but I kinda hated him when he made PE dance and kowtow to him), the Emperor is nice and fair for once, and I love how PE slowly makes people respect her and care for her. Ouyang Xu, while an ass, was an interesting character and while he was a villain, he almost never win so that is a plus XD
Will re-watch this because I watched it on my cellphone, but this needs to be watch on a big screen.
**My rating: 9/10**