The Princess Weiyoung
 |
| The Princess Weiyoung | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Historical Romance |
| Created by | Qin Jian |
| Written by | Li Huizhu |
| Directed by | He Shupei Cheng Zhichao |
| Starring | Tiffany Tang Luo Jin Vanness Wu Mao Xiaotong Li Xinai |
| Opening theme | "If Heaven Has Compassion" by A-Lin |
| Ending theme | "Heavenly Gift" by Tiffany Tang and Luo Jin |
| Country of origin | China |
| Original language | Mandarin |
| No. of episodes | 54 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Wang Ying |
| Production location | Hengdian |
| Running time | 45mins |
| Production companies | Croton Media Yuehua Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | Dragon TV Beijing TV |
| Release | November 11 – December 9, 2016 |
The Princess Weiyoung (Chinese: 锦绣未央) is a 2016 Chinese historical television series starring Tiffany Tang, Luo Jin, Vanness Wu, Mao Xiaotong and Li Xinai. It is adapted from the novel The Poisonous Daughter (庶女有毒) by Qin Jian. The series started airing two episodes per day (1 episode on Saturdays) at 19:30 (GMT) on Dragon TV and Beijing TV from November 11, 2016.
Although the princess is named Li Weiyang, the English title renders it as "Weiyoung" to encourage a more accurate pronunciation.
Plot
During the chaotic Northern and Southern Dynasties, in Northern Liang's royal family lived a princess named Feng Xin'er (Tiffany Tang) who was kind, carefree, and loved by all. A marshal from the Chiyun clan of Northern Wei takes it upon himself to overrun Northern Liang for his greed and turned it into a bloodbath, forcing the princess to be left on her own.
Li Weiyang, the daughter of the Prime Minister of Northern Wei, shielded the princess from harm. However, Weiyang dies protecting Xin'er, and the latter assumes Weiyang's identity to reside in her home, where she is disliked and shunned. She thus took it upon herself to fight against the Chiyun clan and unexpectedly became entangled with Northern Wei's prince, Tuoba Jun (Luo Jin). Through her struggles, she gains wisdom and is finally able to find peace for her family and live true to her heart.
Cast
Main
| Actor | Character | Introduction |
|---|---|---|
| Tiffany Tang | Li Weiyang / Feng Xin'er |
The kind-hearted princess of Northern Liang who by chance assumes the identity of Weiyang. After her kingdom is destroyed, she turns vengeful, and becomes a powerful and cunning woman. However, she soon realizes that her personal vendetta is second to the citizens' welfare. She gives up the idea of revenge and stayed by her husband's side, becoming a wise queen. |
| Luo Jin | Tuoba Jun (Prince Gaoyang) |
Bright, sunny, compassionate, Tuoba Jun is the Emperor's favorite grandson as well as the deceased Crown Prince's son. As a result, he is targeted by the Emperor's sons Tuoba Han and Tuoba Yu. However, he doesn’t care about royal politics. His sincerity and unwavering love towards Weiyang despite her desire for revenge makes her fall for him. |
| Vanness Wu | Tuoba Yu (Prince Nanan) |
Cunning, ruthless and cold-blooded, Tuoba Yu's greatest ambition is to become the Emperor and rule the world. He is attracted by Weiyang's intelligence and wit, and plans to use her as a chess piece to realize his ambitions. However, he soon falls for her as she is the only one who can help him overcome his childhood trauma. |
| Mao Xiaotong | Li Chang Ru |
Weiyang's younger cousin, daughter of the 2nd aunt of the Li Family. She has liked Tuoba Yu since she was young. Having been oppressed and overshadowed by her elder cousin Li Chang le, she turns vengeful and seeks to topple her cousin. She hides her hypocritical and scheming nature behind her weak and delicate appearance. She started to treat Li Weiyang sincerely until she discovered that Tuoba Yu has fallen for her, and as a result she betrays Weiyang. She eventually becomes pregnant with Tuoba Yu's child. |
| Li Xinai | Li Chang Le |
Weiyang's elder half-sister, the daughter of Chiyun Rou and Li Xiaoran. Known as the #1 beauty in the capital province, she is arrogant, selfish and cold, and believes no woman is better than her. The appearance of Li Weiyang makes her insecure and jealous. She seeks to get rid of Weiyang and marry Tuoba Jun whom she has had a crush on since long ago. After she frames Li Weiyang for the death of the Crown Princess (Tuoba Jun's mother), she eventually becomes the wife of Tuoba Jun. After knowing that she really murdered Tuoba Jun's Mother, she was to kill herself as a punishment. |
Supporting cast
- Northern Wei
- Ruler/Emperor of Northern Wei, Tuoba Jun's grandfather, Tuoba Yu and Tuoba Han's father. He was betrayed by Zong Ai at the end.
- Liu Meihua as the Empress of Northern Wei
- Ding Ziling as Lu Zhaoyi
- Tuoba Tao's concubine and Tuoba Yu's mother
- Wang Yujing as Tuoba Huang (Crown Prince)
- Tuoba Jun's deceased father
- Xu Rongzhen as Crown Princess
- Tuoba Jun's mother
- Zhang Tianyang as Tuoba Han (Prince of Dongping)
- Tuoba Yu and Tuoba Di's brother, Tuoba Jun's uncle. He tries to murder his nephew, Tuoba Jun, on the hunting grounds by setting a hidden trap, which Chang Le unknowingly used as well to get rid of Weiyang. In an attempt to take down Tuoba Yu, who he saw as a threat in his ambitions to become the successor, Tuoba Han frames Weiyang for attempting to poison the Empress. When the truth of all his schemes and the collusion with local authorities to enclose lands for personal gains was exposed, the Emperor was about to have him and those involved executed, but instead was abolished as a civilian confined in his own manor and not allowed to leave the premises.
- Chen Yuqi as Tuoba Di (9th Princess)
- Tuoba Yu and Tuoba Han's sister, Tuoba Jun's aunt. She initially dresses as a man to make fun of Li Min De, thinking he was the one who wanted her hand in marriage. After learning archery and spending time with him, she falls in love with him. Although her love was initially unreciprocated, she accepts it and continuously helps Li Min De protect Weiyang. Near the climax, she gets injured and was in critical condition after saving Li Min De. When all hope seems lost, she returns from the brink of death. They then get engaged and share several kisses, which she had been keeping count of.
- Hou Ruixiang as Zong Ai
- The Emperor's personal eunuch who is actually Tuoba Yu's underling. He was caught for his betrayal after trying to steal the Account Record that proved the Crown Prince's innocence.
- Meng Fei as Gao Yun
- Rui Weihang as Cheng De
- Tuoba Jun's follower, Jun Tao's love interest
- Wu Hong as Cheng An
- Zhang Yuechi as Jiang Zuo
- Guan Shan as Qiu Yi
Li Household
- Wang Liyuan as Old Granny Li
- Li Xiaoran's mother
- Bai Fan as Li Xiaoran
- Prime Minister of Northern Wei
- Lily Tien as Chiyun Rou
- 1st lady of the Li family, Li Xiaoran's wife, Li Min Feng and Li Chang Le's birth mother. An evil woman who conspires to kill Weiyang so that she will not overshadow Chang Le. She dies from poisoning herself in a scheme to rid of Weiyang.
- Hu Caihong as Wen Weiyi
- 2nd lady of the Li Family, Li Chang Ru and Li Chang Xi's birth mother
- Wang Wanjuan as Zhou Xuemei
- 3rd lady of the Li Family, Li Min De's adoptive mother
- Liu Jie as 7th concubine
- Li Weiyang's birth mother
- Nan Fulong as Li Min Feng
- Eldest son of the Li family
- Peng Doudou as Li Chang Xi
- 4th young mistress of the Li family
- Zhou Meiyi as Chun Ming
- Chiyun Rou's accomplice and personal servant
- Mu Le'en as Bai Zhi
- Li Weiyang's loyal servant. She later dies at the hands of Li Chang Ru.
- Tian Yixi as Zi Yan
- Another one of Li Weiyang's servants. She betrays Weiyang as she is manipulated by Li Min Feng. She later dies with a child in her womb.
- Chang Shixin as Tan Xiang
- Li Chang Le's personal servant
- Peng Yingying as Cui'er
- Jin Pohan as Rong'er
- Li Chang Ru's loyal servant who is her accomplice in killing Bai Zhi
- Zhu Xingyu as Ping An
Northern Liang
- Leanne Liu as Queen Dowager
- Feng Xin'er's loving grandmother who sacrifices herself to protect her granddaughter
- Tan Kai as King Hexi of Northern Liang
- Feng Xin'er's father
- Sun Wei as Uncle Ming
- Jun Tao's father and head of the royal bodyguards
- Wang Yanzhi as Jun Tao.
- Feng Xin'er's royal bodyguard. She later continues to stay by her side as a confidante, after Xin'er assumed Weiyang's identity. She kills Li Min Feng and later attempted to kill Chiyun Nan. She was rescued by Li Min De. She is Cheng de's love interest.
Chiyun Household
- Tang Jiayang as Old Granny Chiyun
- Jin Han as Chiyun Nan
- Great general of Northern Wei, Chiyun Rou's nephew. He plotted and framed King Hexi of Northern Liang for rebellion in order to satisfy his greed. He eventually works for Tuoba Yu after he saves his life.
- Li Xiaobing as Chiyun Si
- Zhang Shenghao as Chiyun Wei
- Yang Zuqing as Hong Luo
- Chiyun Nan's faithful follower who is in love with him
Rou Ran Royal Household
- Liang Zhenlun as Li Min De / Prince Yuan Lie
- Prince of Rou Ran. He was adopted as the 2nd young master of Li Family by Zhou Xuemei. He likes Weiyang initially, but later falls for Tuoba Di.
- Wang Wei as Princess An Le
- Prince Yuan Lie's sister
- Li Ang as General Jiao
- Minister of Rou Ran Kingdom. He secretly protects Li Min De
Others
- Li Yixiao as Li Weiyang (real)
- Dai Chunrong as Madame Liu
- Tan Songmei as Mother Luo
- Zhang Hengping as Fortune Teller Monk
- Liu Fenggang as Physician Liu
Music
- China
- If Heaven Has Compassion (天若有情) – A-Lin
- Heavenly Gift (天) – Tiffany Tang and Luo Jin
- Next Life (來生) – Li Qi
- Fate Because of Me (緣因我) – Jin Han
- Growing Old Interdependently (白首相依) – Jin Chi and Sun Bolun
- Illuminating Jade Treasury of Wisdom (玉燭寶典) – Cui Zige
- Hong Kong
- Lifetime Waiting (一輩子守候) – Hana Kuk
Reception
The drama reached 18 billion views within a month. It achieved peak viewership ratings of 2.494.
