Firstly, I am a little confused whether this ongoing drama is called “Dream Of Chang’an” or “Stand By Me”. i binge-watched the first 8 episodes yesterday but can’t go on to episodes 9-12 as the subtitles look like they’re straight from Google Translate, nothing makes sense. The premise of this drama is about 2 sisters who were separated when their grandfather, the PM was killed by a powerful eunuch, Qiu Shi Liang.
Eight years later and the 2 sisters can’t recognise each other any more. The elder sister, Qiu Yan Zhi has been adopted by that same powerful eunuch who is using her. The younger sister, Cheng Ruo Yu is skilled in martial arts and has joined the Ziyi Bureau, the emperor’s elite bodyguard unit. They meet each other but are on opposing sides as the elder sister is intent on bringing down the emperor while the younger sister’s mission is to protect the emperor.
I think that Mickey He is a bit too young to play the aging Qiu Shi Liang. Couldn’t they have found an older actor among the millions of veteran actors in China? The emperor, Qi Yan is controlled by Qiu Shi Liang. Qi Yan is Qiu Shi Liang’s godson and is totally under the thumb of the supposedly old eunuch althoughI don’t see one wrinkle on his face. Qi Yan played by Cheng Yi has a perpetually wooden expression. I watched another Cheng Yi drama and he had the same stoic expression throughout that drama too. I think it may be a Cheng Yi trademark, really quite a stiff look.
Yan Zhi is smart and conniving although she has no martial arts skills. She is obviously the more intelligent sister since she has been tutored to be a schemer by her adoptive father. Ruo Yu is naive and protective of those she cares about. The 2 sisters clash on more than one occasion. Still a bit early to predict how the story will develop but of course empror and Ruo Yu have already started to have feelings for each other.
