The premise of The Princess Royal is a rather unique and intriguing one, but it soon felt like I was walking along a bridge that could collapse at any moment. The bridge looks to be sturdy, but in reality is missing the most important nuts and bolts to keep it standing. I was drawn to the drama due to its lead actors (Zhao Jinmai and Zhang Linghe), beautiful production and seemingly-interesting plot. The first few episodes were enjoyable, but everything soon went downhill.

The Princess Royal is a historical Chinese drama, telling the struggle of a deep, political struggle and the romance between the Princess Royal Li Rong (Zhao Jinmai) and her consort/government official Pei Wenxuan (Zhang Linghe). It is adapted from the very well-received novel "The Princess Royal" by Mo Fei Bai. What sets the drama apart from other period series from the start is that the leads are sent 20 years back into their young selves (18 and 20-year-olds). This was an opportunity for the leads to redeem themselves and prevent past tragedies from occurring. In this sense, Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan were a lot more mature, as they had decades of experience with politics.

I’ll say off the bat that I had no problem with the acting whatsoever. The main leads, as well as the supports, embodied their characters very well. Zhang Linghe and Zhao Jinmai had a decent amount of chemistry, which (arguably) saved some of my sanity as I watched the rest of the drama. They had some cute moments, but even these scenes weren’t enough to make up for the real issue: the overall plot.

As the power struggle between different political parties emerged, I soon got pretty bored with the drama. The plot was progressing in the way that people were plotting against one another for political gains, but it just felt like the drama really wasn’t going anywhere. It was just the usual struggle between two princes for the throne with a few suspenseful moments thrown here and there. I just didn’t feel attached to many of the characters in this drama as there wasn’t sufficient character build-up. Because so much of the precious screen time was given to our oh-so-amazing second male lead, Su Rongqing (hence the title of this review). There was even an episode where Su Rongqing had 28 minutes of screen time (the entire ep is 40 min long). There were plenty of opportunities to cut some of SRQ’s scenes to give the audience more scenes of the lead couple, or even scenes of other characters. Su Rongqing even took up a good portion of the last episode, leaving many viewers (and especially og novel fans) disappointed with the leads’ short ending. Most of the other characters weren’t given a definite/satisfying ending as well. There were also times when SRQ’s actions just didn’t make sense. I have no problem with the actor himself, but the character and his screen time is truly frustrating. I only read part of the original novel, and found many similarities between the novel and drama, but there are some unnecessary-added scenes in the drama (cough cough, SRQ). Who knew what the screenwriters were thinking.

On the brighter side, I appreciated the emphasis on female empowerment in this drama. Shangguan Ya and Qin Zhenzhen are very intelligent and loveable characters, quickly becoming the female lead’s biggest supports. Consort Rou was also put into a major political position. Quite a few women played heavy roles in the political landscape, which contrasts greatly with other political period Cdramas. However, Li Rong still made some questionable decisions, although she had already lived a previous life. Her constant entanglement with Su Rongqing also dragged the show. On one hand, she is telling Pei Wenxuan how much she loves him, but also can't seem to forget about her moments with the SML. Pei Wenxuan has plenty of reasons to be upset. PWX's character was great overall. He, like Li Rong, was very intelligent and thought ahead.

However, I would like to point out that the overall production wasn’t bad. Many of the costumes and hairstyles were gorgeous, and the backdrops and props looked like some thought had gone into them (in other words, they didn’t look cheap). The OST was nice, but I still don’t understand why the production/editing team decided to use music in more scenes between the FL and SML than between the two leads.

In conclusion, there is real eye candy in this drama and the acting is top-notch, but the plot was just lackluster and disappointing. If you’re a Zhang Linghe and/or Zhao Jinmai fan, you could give The Princess Royal a try, but I did warn you! Otherwise, the drama really is a waste of time.