If you have been following us for a while, you would have read our monthly features of the Top 2019 Chinese Dramas to watch in January and February. This particular drama titled “Goodbye My Princess (东宫)” caught our eye (and heart) so much that it deserves a dedicated review before we list it in the Top 2019 Chinese Dramas to watch in March.
Chinese drama “Goodbye My Princess (东宫)” is a 52-episode historical romance (and extremely heart-wrenching) drama aired since 14th February 2019. The Chinese drama series was based on a novel titled “Eastern Palace (东宫)” by Chinese writer Ai Jingjing (艾晶晶), better known as Fei Wo Si Cun (匪我思存). Out of the 18 novels that she has written, 10 of them were adapted into Chinese drama series. That’s honestly quite remarkable!
Trailer – Goodbye My Princess (东宫)
*Spoiler Alert*
Please note that this article contains tons of spoilers, read with caution!
Source: 电视剧东宫 Weibo
Introduction of Main Casts
- Chen Xing Xu (陈星旭)
- Born on 31 March 1996 (
23 year-old ) - Cast as Li Chengyin (李承鄞), Fifth Prince (later Crown Prince) of Li Kingdom, and Gu Xiao Wu (顾小五) as a fake identity when he first arrived in the Western Liang Kingdom.
- Born on 31 March 1996 (
- Peng Xiao Ran (彭小苒)
- Born on 13 December 1990 (
29 year-old ) - Cast as Xiaofeng (小枫), the Ninth Princess of the Western Liang Kingdom who was ordered to marry the Crown Prince of Li Kingdom
- Born on 13 December 1990 (
- Wei Qian Xiang (魏千翔)
- Born on 1 April 1987 (
32 year-old ) - Cast as Gujian (顾剑), Li Chengyin’s cousin and last descendant of the Gu family. His identity as Xiaofeng’s teacher was a disguise to complete a mission.
- Remembered for his role as Han Xiaodong in “Prince of Lan Ling (兰陵王)” alongside with Ariel Lin (林依晨) and Feng Shaofeng (冯绍峰)
- Born on 1 April 1987 (
Source: 电视剧东宫 Weibo
Xiaofeng lived a carefree life as the Ninth Princess on the grass lands of Western Liang. Growing up with her “teacher” Gujian, her crush on him was often brushed off as pure affection and admiration. No matter how much she tried to express her feelings to Gujian, he would skillfully change the topic or casually end the conversation by telling Xiaofeng that he will always care for her like a brother.
Little did she know that Gujian indeed harboured romantic feelings for her but he is forbidden from letting her know. Simply because he was on a “secret mission” by his own teacher. To find out what exactly was that secret mission, watch it for yourself here.
Shortly later, the envoys from different states arrived in Western Liang to ask for the hand in marriage of the Ninth Princess, all for the sake of political stability and harmony. Xiaofeng was as devastated as she could be. As a free-spirited princess who treasured freedom, Xiaofeng couldn’t imagine living thousands of miles away from home after marrying into another state. Out of frustration and helplessness, Xiaofeng begged Gujian to run away with her and leave the state forever. We all know that Gujian loves and dotes on Xiaofeng, which is why he eventually agreed because he didn’t want to witness her marriage with someone she didn’t love.
While Gujian settles some issues on his side, he told Xiaofeng to wait for him at their usual meeting spot and he will reunite with her 3 days later. This was when she met and saved a wounded man – Gu Xiao Wu.
Source: 电视剧东宫 Weibo
The beginning of a nightmare.
Gujian told Xiaofeng that he would introduce the best man in the world to her and this person happened to be Gu Xiao Wu, a fake identity to disguise Li Chengyin’s real identity as the Fifth Prince of Li Kingdom. Gu Xiao Wu’s default identity is a common tea merchant from the Li Kingdom and was tasked to export their tea business into Western Liang and hence the visitation.
The trio went on several adventures together and even made a trip to Danchi, Xiaofeng’s maternal home country where her grandfather lead a tribe of fearless warriors. Being a
Source: 电视剧东宫 Weibo
After a couple of episodes of sweet interactions and watching Xiaofeng slowly falling in love with Gu Xiao Wu, here comes the first climax of the Chinese drama series. Hold on tight!
The two male leads were aware that their plot will inevitably hurt Xiaofeng in many ways. While Gujian hid his feelings, Gu Xiao Wu had to gain Xiaofeng’s trust and went all out to make her fall head over heels for him during their stay in Danchi. How despicable, you must be thinking. Bear in mind that what you see may not be the truth. The people of Danchi was suspected to be the mastermind behind the assassination of the Crown Prince, who was on the way to Western Liang with Li Chengyin to ask for the hand in marriage of the Ninth Princess. The Emperor of Li Kingdom was furious and determined to seek revenge. Did Xiaofeng’s grandfather kill the Crown Prince? Watch
Gu Xiao Wu brought his troop of soldiers and returned to Danchi with the map which was drawn from his memory of being blindfolded. Officially appearing as the Fifth Prince of Li Kingdom, this was the day when Gu Xiao Wu is unofficially dead. Prideful as they can be, Xiaofeng’s grandfather refused to surrender and chose death in exchange for the life of his people. Nothing could be worst that seeing Gu Xiao Wu beheading her grandfather with her own eyes. Xiaofeng’s world came crashing down and in split seconds, her eyes met with his and she passed out from the extreme grief. No one expected Xiaofeng to escape from the tent where she should be hiding for safety.
Source: 电视剧东宫 Weibo
A dream or reality?
When Xiaofeng first regained consciousness, she felt like as though she just woke up from a horrible nightmare. In split seconds after she saw Gu Xiao Wu then and now Li Chengyin, the memory came flooding back and flashbacks of what happened that night replayed through her mind. This was the moment Xiaofeng’s world collapsed again for the second time. Watch the very heart-wrenching episode here.
Watch the snippet below for the most iconic scene of this Chinese drama series – Xiaofeng falling into the River of Wang Chuan, rumoured to have the magical abilities to remove one’s memories.
Source: 电视剧东宫 Weibo
Still not convinced why you should absolutely start watching this Chinese drama series? Alright, let us tip you off a little more.
After the faithful jump, the scene was shifted back to the Li Kingdom. Days passed normally as if the battle at Danchi was merely a dream which no one ever brings up. Xiaofeng resided in the Li Kingdom as the Ninth Princess of Western Liang who was set to marry to the Crown Prince (currently the Second Prince after the first Crown Prince was assassinated) in time to come.
Source: 电视剧东宫 Weibo
What exactly happened? The magical powers of the River of Wang Chuan happened. That’s right, both Xiaofeng and Li Chengyin lost their memories of each other completely including the battle in Danchi.
Skipping the unnecessary details, Li Chengyin eventually rose up to the title as the Crown Prince after the Second Prince tried to overturn the current Emperor due to his excessive greed.
Source: 电视剧东宫 Weibo
What’s meant to be will always be.
Fate eventually brought them back together and they finally held their royal wedding. Did I miss out that the lovebird already held a tribal wedding back in Danchi? This was the second most heart-wrenching scene after the fall into River of Wang Chuan. Flashbacks of their first wedding intersecting the on-going royal wedding will ruin you indefinitely. When exactly will they regain their memories, you may wonder. Don’t worry, you are not alone in this.
As of 11th March 2019 while this article was written, we are eagerly waiting for new episodes updated twice a week. We sincerely hope that by the time you’re reading this, all the episodes would’ve been completed so that you can skip the pain the waiting for new episodes.
Source: 电视剧东宫 Weibo
Seeing how sweet this pair of lovebirds are before and after their memory loss, we really dread the day when both of them regains their memories. Up until now, we also see how people living with the memory (e.g. Gujian and Xiaofeng’s sidekick) are having a harder time than people who have forgotten this part of the unwanted memory such as Xiaofeng and Li Chengyin.
Source: 电视剧东宫 Weibo
You may choose to ‘spoil’ yourself further by reading the original novel written in Chinese here. We have secretly binge-read the chapters while waiting for new episodes. All we can say is that the Chinese drama series plot is following very closely to the original novel so
Happy watching! Feel free to share with us your thoughts on the Chinese drama series below!
Other reads you might be interested in:
Top 5 Chinese Drama to watch in 2019 (January 2019)
Top 5 Chinese Drama to watch in 2019 (February 2019)
Top 5 Chinese Drama to binge-watch (2018 Edition)
Top 5 Chinese Drama to binge-watch (2017 Edition)
Article by Xuan Lin @ KAvenyou.com
