THE LEGEND OF ZHUOHUA
I think I've fallen in love with this CDrama. It reminds me so much of "Saiunkoku Monogatari", especially the heroine, Mu Zhuohua (played by Jing Tian), whose personality is very much like Kuo Shuurei.
Mu Zhuohua (whose real name is Mu Qi) is the daughter of a rich merchant from the province. Her mother was a former courtesan and one of the lower-ranked concubines of her father so she's treated with disdain by most of her family. Qi is intelligent and decides to escape a promised marriage between her and one of the provincial officials so she can pursue her dreams of becoming an imperial court official.
She travels to the capital and lives among the courtesans, serving as their physician due to the medical skills she had acquired growing up. In one of her errands to see to the medical needs of some courtesans, she encounters Lord Ding, Liu Yan (Feng Shao Feng).
Lord Ding is the younger brother of the Emperor and known as the War God of Southern Chen due to his prowess on the battlefield. However, the last battle that he led had ended in a devastating loss of 30,000 men, which he suspects is due to someone leaking highly confidential battle strategies to the enemy. Lord Ding is trying to investigate the matter even as he supports his brother, the Emperor, in ruling the nation.
Their chance encounter somehow leads to them being entangled in each other's affairs, despite their reluctance. Lord Ding's enemies try to use Zhuohua against him and he's left with no choice but to protect her. For her part, Zhuohua sees in Lord Ding a patron who can help improve her chances of getting into the imperial civil service exam and realizing her dreams. They somehow end up supporting each other along the way, and in the process find themselves unexpectedly falling in love.
What I like about this drama is that the heroine isn't some damsel in distress, she isn't a warrior, nor does she have supernatural powers. She's just an ordinary young woman with big dreams and she uses her intelligence and talents to achieve her goals. The hero, on the other hand, isn't some mighty warrior-god who slays his enemies but a man who has suffered defeat and betrayal at the hands of those whom he trusted most. For all intents and purposes, they are regular people living in ancient China.
It's quite refreshing to watch a xanxia that doesn't have heroes and heroines and immortals flying all over the place. And I must say the actor and actress portraying the roles of Zhuohua and Lord Ding are just lovely to watch and have great chemistry together.
Lord Ding took some time to grow on me because he first came off as very stern and cold, which made the difference in their ages more apparent. But the gradual softening of his character and personality as he slowly falls for Zhuohua changes his overall demeanor, so that when you finally see him smile, you realize that he is actually a handsome man.
Zhuohua, on the other hand, has a look that's both charming and witty yet intelligent and resourceful. She's quite beautiful but she isn't fully aware of her own physical beauty, because she's more concerned about developing her abilities and talents and achieving her dreams. And her emotional maturity is very apparent so that you don't question why she ends up choosing someone like Lord Ding, who's far older than her, over all the young men around her.
I hope I can find more CDramas similar to this one. I'm not averse to fantasy xanxias but it's quite refreshing to watch characters who are ordinary people.
