Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (Chinese: 如懿传; pinyin: Rúyì Zhuàn) is a 2018 Chinese television series based on the novel by Liu Lianzi. Starring Zhou Xun and Wallace Huo, it chronicles the marital relationship between the Qianlong Emperor and Empress Nara. The series aired on Tencent Video from August 20 to October 15, 2018; during which it was streamed more than 18.9 billion times. It later went on national broadcast and aired simultaneously on Jiangsu Television and Dragon TV from December 25, 2018.
The highly anticipated sequel to the popular Empresses in the Palace, the drama's release and plot were affected by Chinese censorship, and it was ultimately a critical disappointment. It generated controversy over the lead actors' pay, its underlying values, and allegations of plagiarism, though it was praised for its elaborate props and lavish sets. In January 2019, after Beijing Daily criticized palace-intrigue dramas for their negative influence, the series was temporarily removed from the Chinese stream service. It was again removed in China on 27 September 2020.
Contents
Synopsis
The story follows Empress Nara and her life during the Qianlong Emperor's reign.
Originally known as Ula Nara Qingying, the niece of Empress Ula Nara, she is childhood friends with Fourth Prince Hongli and initially chosen to be his primary consort. However, when the Yongzheng Emperor exposes Empress Ula Nara for her role in helping Third Prince Hongshi become a usurper, Hongli is forced to rescind his decision, taking Fuca Langhua as his primary consort instead. Qingying is banished from the imperial palace upon Empress Ula Nara's house arrest. Hongli compromises with the Yongzheng Emperor and is allowed to take Qingying as a secondary consort in exchange for also taking Gao Xiyue as a mistress.
All three women are promoted once Hongli ascends to the throne as the Qianlong Emperor; Qingying becomes Consort Xian, Langhua becomes the empress and Xiyue becomes Noble Consort Hui.
Due to her connection to the Ula Nara clan and her reputation as the Emperor's most favored woman, Consort Xian is not well received in the harem and imperial family. Empress Dowager Chongqing initially distrusts Consort Xian but grants her the name "Ruyi" once trust is later established.
Threatened by Ruyi's favor, Empress Fuca, Noble Consort Hui and her maid A'ruo conspire against her, resulting in Ruyi being blamed for the deaths of imperial heirs. She is demoted and sent to the Cold Palace where the truth about her infertility surfaces and where she forms a friendship with lowly imperial guard Ling Yunche. Ruyi is able to return to the harem with the help of her allies. A'ruo is then banished to the Cold Palace, Noble Consort Hui is abandoned by Empress Fuca and Empress Fuca is isolated from her allies.
Devastated by the deaths of her two sons and forced to marry her only daughter off to Mongolian allies, Empress Fuca falls into water during winter and nearly drowns. On her deathbed, the Emperor confronts her for her evil deeds. In return, she curses his future empress to endure his coldness until her death.
It is revealed that the late Empress and Noble Consort Hui were both manipulated by Consort Jia, a foreign consort who wants to win the love of the head of her tribe. Ruyi's elevation from noble consort to imperial noble consort to step-empress is made uneasy due to Consort Jia's curbing her favor with scathing rumors and an attempt to frame her for adultery. Furthermore, she rallies her maiden tribe and well-known noblewomen to convince the Emperor to name her eldest son as crown prince. Eventually, Consort Jia loses favor and is demoted to a commoner. On her deathbed, to have her confess to her crimes, Ruyi reveals to her that the head of her tribe exposed the fact that she isn't a noblewoman, which is why he never loved her. Ruyi is unaware that Consort Jia's downfall is due to the scheming of the unfavored Consort Ling.
Cast
Production
Crew
The series is directed by Wang Jun, produced by Huang Lan, and written by the author of the original novel Liu Lianzi. It also employed William Chang and Tongxun Chen as their overall style director, Han Zhong as art director and Peng Xuejun as cinematography director.
Development
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.
New Classics Media picked up the project for a 90–episodes series (later shortened to 87), with a ¥300 million budget, 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 Empress Nara. The role of the 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 August 23, 2016 and took place in various locations including Hengdian World Studios, Beijing, Inner Mongolia and Hangzhou. The series completed filming on May 5, 2017.
Reception
The series received mixed responses from viewers.
Many felt underwhelmed by the unaggressive heroine, who was not able to fight the villains even in the second half of the drama, thus making her character design flawed and unconvincing. The series was criticized for its anticlimactic story, depressive tone and slow pacing in the early episodes. Critics felt that it was ironic and unbelievable for the female protagonist to pursue monogamy in a highly feudalistic context.
The series has received criticism over the age of the leading actors, with viewers considering they made unconvincing teenagers and criticizing the 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".
However, there was also praise for the series. Zhang Hanyue said that "the show becomes more and more heart-tugging as the story goes deeper". Many viewers agree that Ruyi bears many characteristics of a modern female. Vogue China commented that the series 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 series introduces a new light and narrative to palace dramas, deviating from the existing patterns of treacherous harem games. The series won acclaim for its exquisite props, lavish sets, and stellar cast.
Censorship
On 21 January 2019, after Beijing Daily criticized palace-intrigue dramas for their negative influence, several such series, including Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace, were temporarily removed from Chinese streaming services, though the series remained available on overseas platforms. On 27 September 2020, it was again removed from streaming platforms in mainland China.
International broadcast
On 10 June 2016, Fox Networks Group Asia (FNG) acquired global rights to the series outside mainland China. It was the first epic period drama secured by FNG for markets outside China, and was carried by STAR Chinese Channel (SCC), the flagship Chinese general entertainment channel, starting 20 August 2018 in selected countries and re-run on August 6, 2019 in all countries.
From 27 November 2018, it aired on Fox Taiwan. From 27 December 2018, it aired on Talentvision. To date it has debuted in 18 countries and regions, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and the Philippines.