Juniper
The story has been repeated many times in various Chinese period dramas. A young couple fall deeply in love but are torn apart when the woman is forced to marry the King due to a pressing reason. This happened in “The Promise Of Chang’an” and now it’s in Tiffany Tang’s comeback drama, “The Legend Of Xiao Chuo”. It also stars Hong Kong veteran actress, Charmaine Sheh who plays a woman half her actual age but then so does Tiffany Tang.
In the Liao Dynasty, there’s a power struggle between 3 families as to who will succeed the insane King of Liao. The King in this story is indeed mad as he kills his servants and courtiers at whim. When he goes hunting and there are no animals as prey, he shoots arrows at his servants. He’s always in a drunken state and everyone around him is in fear for their safety.
The Prime Minister of Liao, Xiao Siwen has 3 daughters who marry into the 3 families competing for succession. The youngest daughter is Xiao Yanyan (Tiffany Tang) who falls in love with Han Derang, a lieutenant of the court. They plan to marry but are separated by imperial order when the new King, Yelu Xian plans to marry her. Yelu Xian fell in love with Yanyan even before he became King and thinks she is the ideal candidate for the Queen position.
There are 50 episodes altogether and I just finished watching episode 19 where Yanyan has reluctantly married Yelu Xian. It’ll be interesting to watch how she helps Yelu Xian govern the country and how she struggles being separated from her one true love, Han Derang. Lots of beautiful scenery of the Khitan grasslands and the ethnic costumes are truly beautiful.
