Feud C Drama Review

Feud (临江仙) is a captivating xianxia drama of love and hate. Bai Lu has done her fair share of this type of dramas and this is yet another that has attracted a lot of attention. While the drama has a lot going for it, there is also something with the plot that may not resonate with everyone which I will elaborate on in my Feud review below. Nevertheless, this is a highly watchable drama especially if you are a fan of the leads.

My rating: 8/10
Episodes: 32
Type: Xianxia
Aired: June 2025
Images credit: iQIYI Facebook

The Cast Of Feud

• Bai Lu as Li Qing Yue / Hua Ru Yue
• Joseph Zeng Shun Xi as Bai Jiu Si
• He Rui Xian as Fan Ling Er
• Chen Xin Hai as Zhang Suan
• Liang Yong Qi as Li Mo
• Ayden Sng as Long Yuan
• Zhang Bai Qiao as Fan Jiao Jiao
• Dong Chun Hui as Cang Tu
• Zheng Kai as Meng Chu
• Zhao Zhao Yi as Lv Su Guan
• Zhou Jie Qiong as Qu Xing Man
• Zhang Zi Mu as Ning Yan
• Jin Xu Ze as Yin Tong Zi
• Sarita Sun as Hong Lian
• Hong Yao as Xiao Jing Shan
• Yu Rong Guang as Xuan Wei
• Huang Yi as Qing Yang
• Zhao Yi Qin as Meng Chang Qin
• Chen He Yi as Lin Fan

Main Characters

Li Qing Yue / Hua Ru Yue

Qing Yue is a lowly ranked disciple of the Jingyun Sect. She has poor cultivation powers and her duty is to guard the gates of the sect. Qing Yue is into romance novels and seems like a typical young lady and disciple.

Ru Yue is the Divine God Siling who has been missing and presumed dead. She is a stern and powerful immortal who is regarded as an enemy of the 9th Heavens for past misdeeds against its leader.

Bai Jiu Si

Jiu Si is the Lord of Dacheng. He oversees the 9th Heavens and is responsible for its safety. He is also the guardian of the Infinite Stele which pertains to the stability of the realms. Jiu Si is a white-haired immortal with a painful love experience.

Supporting Characters

Fan Ling Er

Ling Er is the daughter of an immortal in the 9th Heavens. She is good in repairing swords and artifacts. Ling Er doesn’t like her father whom she views as self-centered. She has an independent mind and has her own agenda. She is also seen as being in love with Jiu Si.

Zhang Suan

Zhang Suan is a Jingyun Sect disciple. He is a talented cultivator and senior disciple of the sect but has lost his cultivation powers. Zhang Suan is in love with Qing Yue and her gate-guarding partner. He is a persistent and determined young man. Zang Suan’s master is Zi Yang who is also the sect leader.

Li Mo, Long Yuan & Fan Jiao Jiao

The 3 of them are Jiu Si’s disciples. Li Mo is a skilled healer. He is soft-spoken and amiable. Long Yuan is the most senior of the 3 and has a hot temper. He is very protective of Jiu Si and hates Ru Yue. Fan Jiao Jiao is the guardian of Hell Ruins which houses demonic beasts. His duty is to ensure the demons are sealed in Hell Ruins and do not escape to cause havoc. He is also Ling Er’s father and has multiple wives.

Cang Tu

Cang Tu is the steward of Canglei Palace where Jiu Si resides. He is a kind and understanding immortal.

Meng Chu & Lv Su Guan

Meng Chu is a senior disciple of Jingyun Sect. Su Guan is his disciple sister. She is in love with Meng Chu but it is unrequited as he loves someone else.

Qu Xing Man

Xing Man is from the Yinlian Sect which is considered demonic. She and Meng Chu are lovers but they face objection from Jingyun Sect masters. Her mother is Qu Ke who is the leader of Yinlian Sect.

Ning Yan

Ning Yan is a tree spirit who is chosen to be Qing Yue’s servant in the 9th Heavens. She likes Qing Yue a lot and is loyal towards her.

Yin Tong Zi

Tong Zi is a boy demon who is mischievous and cheeky. He likes to listen and tell stories. He is also super fond of food and has a big mouth to gobble everything down.

Hong Lian

Hong Lian is a demon who is sealed up inside Hell Ruins for a long time. She has strong powers with a lot of evil energy.

Xiao Jing Shan

Xiao Jing Shan is a prisoner in 9th Heavens after he was caught for trying to destroy the Infinite Stele. He is a human cultivator who ascended to become an immortal.

Xuan Wei

Xuan Wei is the Elder of Jingyun Sect. He is also Ru Yue’s disciple.

Qing Yang

Qing Yang is Qing Yue’s master. She likes to drink and has an easy-going attitude.

Meng Chang Qin

Chang Qin is Ru Yue’s disciple in the Mortal Realm. He is also her servant’s grandson. Chang Qin is a man with integrity who likes to help the people. He has a never-say-die attitude once he has made up his mind to do something.

Lin Fan

Lin Fan is Jiu Si’s neighbor in the Mortal Realm. He comes from a family of officials. Lin Fan is very friendly and down-to-earth. He is also a very sincere man.

Synopsis

Qing Yue is a cultivator with weak spiritual powers. A chance encounter with Jiu Si ends up with a betrothal due to an accidental kiss. However, Jiu Si is an immortal and lord of the 9th Heavens. He marries Qing Yue because she looks a lot like Ru Yue who is his ex-lover. Ru Yue and Jiu Si go back a long way with a history of love and deep hatred between them. She had stabbed and sealed him up before. After his escape, he fought with her which ended in her disappearance. Therefore, when Qing Yue appears in front of him, he is willing to marry her as he is suspicious that she is Ru Yue in disguise.

However, Jiu Si keeps a distance from Qing Yue after the marriage. She settled down in 9th Heavens and insists that she isn’t Ru Yue. There are also attempts on her life. But Jiu Si is adamant she is Ru Yue. He is also conflicted by his love and anger for due to her betrayal in the past. But is Qing Yue really Ru Yue? Why did Ru Yue hate Jiu Si so much that she tried to kill him previously?

Feud Ending & Recap

Feud has a happy ending. After Jiu Si dies and fades away to enable Ru Yue to exit the formation set up by Xiao Jing Shan in Episode 31, she defeats the latter and successfully protects the Infinite Stele. Xiao Jing Shan is caged up after losing the fight. But he chooses to die to complete the Time Traveling Sundial artifact. It is his last creation and the last step to complete it requires the creator’s life. He leaves the Sundial to Ru Yue with the hope that she would not disappoint him.

The Sundial enables Ru Yue to go back in time to change the outcomes for that time dimension. Hence, she saves Xiao Jing Shan’s family from being killed by traveling back to the time period. Learning from past mistakes, she also time travels to the different planes to help Hong Lian, Li Mo, Xuan Wei, and her mortal self to avoid lifelong regrets. Thus, the outcome is a happy one for all in that past time dimension.

However, changing the past doesn’t change the future as each life cycle has its predetermined karma. Hence, everything stays the same in the present timeline. After entrusting Jingyun Sect to Zhang Suan, Ru Yue goes to look for Jiu Si. She finds him in the place they first met in the frozen land. He is in slumber and she lies down to accompany him. Later, the Goddess of Time awakens Jiu Si through Ru Yue which allows them to reunite as their love tribulation comes to an end.

Why Ru Yue Hates Jiu Si?

Ru Yue hates Jiu Si because he sealed her powers and left her in the Mortal Realm to return to the 9th Heavens after a disagreement over her action during their love tribulation. She had a soft spot for mortals and liked to use her powers to help them change their fate which is disallowed. Jiu Si disagreed with her actions but tolerated it until she killed a celestial dragon that brought drought and hardship to the people. The Heavens was angry with her. But what she did not know was that Jiu Si stopped the Heavens’ Emissary from harming her. He returned to the 9th Heavens to take severe punishment on her behalf. Jiu Si sealed her powers to show that she was also being punished in the Mortal Realm.

However, Ru Yue found out that she was pregnant after Jiu Si left. She gave birth to a son whom she named Shi An. A few years later, a war and plague broke out. Her house was looted and she had to use her powers to save Shi An from a looter. Shi An subsequently died from the plague because he didn’t have an immortal body like his parents as Ru Yue’s powers were sealed when she was pregnant. That is why she hates Jiu Si as their son’s death is related to his doing. As the looter saw her using her powers, she was also accused of being a demon which resulted in the death of her disciple when he tried to protect her. Ru Yue feels that all her sufferings were the result of Jiu Si’s action.

When Did They Get Back Together?

Ru Yue and Jiu Si didn’t get back together until the very end. However, Jiu Si learned what happened to Ru Yue after he left her during their tribulation with the help of the Goddess of Time in Episode 23. His heart aches for her for the death of their son and all the sufferings that she went through. As for Ru Yue, she found out the reason for Jiu Si’s abandonment in Episode 27 through Xiao Jing Shan. Xiao Jing Shan had casted a Life-Link spell that bound his life to Zhang Suan. But Jiu Si transferred the link from Zhang Suan to himself so that Ru Yue would not hesitate to kill Xiao Jing Shan and him along with it. After all, she had always wanted to kill Jiu Si.

When Ru Yue learned that Jiu Si had suffered from the punishment that he took on her behalf, she couldn’t bring herself to kill him anymore. But the hurt was too deep for her to forget. The tension between them eased when Jiu Si lost all his memories except for those relating to Ru Yue and turned childlike due to the damage to his primordial spirit. By the time Jiu Si recovered and they professed their love for each other in Episode 31, he died to allow her to get out of the formation set up by Xiao Jing Shan to trap them.

Note: Full episode summary for Feud is available on my YouTube channel.

Feud Review – A Story Of Love And Hate

Basically, Feud is a story about 2 immortals that spans millions of years. They were born from the same source but fought for thousands of years until they fell in love with each other. But she ended up hating him to the extent that she wanted to kill him. The why is not revealed until much later and it forms the crux of the story. Thus, you will be sitting through a deep layer of hatred before it becomes clear what motivates the female protagonist to want to kill her ex-lover.

As the whole plot is built upon this hatred, the events that took place to cause it must not only make sense but be convincing. I think this is where it can get debatable. It does make sense to me why she hates him so but it doesn’t fully convinced me that the deep level of hatred is absolutely justifiable. At least, not to the extent that her whole life is dedicated to killing him and pulling everyone along with it including her disciples. After all, he was not directly responsible for some of the things that happened to her.

If we flip it the other way and look at it from the male lead’s perspective, he could hate her too for what she had done to him. In short, they have hurt each other but only the female protagonist ends up with a hatred so deep. If this hatred explanation resonates with you, then Feud should be a masterpiece. If it is not too convincing, then the whole story will weaken somewhat. However, it is still a great drama for its plot twists and storytelling.

Interesting Plot Twists

One thing that Feud does really well is to lead viewers down a certain path only to surprise them with a twist at the end. What is brilliant about it is that you don’t see it coming until it hits you in the face. This element of surprise is what makes the whole drama engaging. It doesn’t just tell the story but it jolts you with something that you least expect.

Besides the clever way of executing the story, it also moves away from the immortal vs demon plot that is typical of the xianxia genre. From Love In Pavilion to A Moment But Forever, there is always an evil demon lurking around to be sealed up or killed. While there are also demons and a villain in Feud, the bulk of the drama is about the protagonists’ love and hate for each other. So, it is not so much about slaying the villain but the feud between the protagonists.

There is a gradual build up to the story which generates anticipation of why there is such a feud between them helped along by the plot twists. These twists will automatically make you wonder why the female lead has such deep hatred for the male lead and you won’t know the truth until more than 20 episodes in. It is unlike dramas such as Legend Of Zang Hai and The Prisoner Of Beauty whereby the motive for revenge is presented upfront. It is a long wait to get there for Feud and having a bit of patience would be good.

Moral Ambiguity

What is attractive about Feud to me is also its moral ambiguity for some of the happenings in the story. In other words, it can get you thinking about right and wrong. For instance, is breaking rules to help others overcome their sufferings acceptable? This is the main disagreement the main couple has with each other in the drama. And after both have hurt each other, how do we decide who is right and who is wrong?

The protagonists in Feud are definitely flawed characters that are ridden with heartache and betrayal as well as love and regret. Hence, the drama is emotionally engaging in that sense as the characters’ feelings and motivations are effectively conveyed through the storytelling. No one is totally right or wrong as each one has their own perspective of things. It adds richness and layers to the characters rather than boxing them up as righteous and forgiving.

While it is not a complex drama like Joy Of Life, it does open up the space for reflection. It is this morally grey area that sparks conflicting opinions from the 2 protagonists that eventually lead to their heartbreak. The way their pain is explored without blaming one or the other is a delicate balance which the script got right. Of course, viewers will have their own biases as they watch and this is where the depth of the female protagonist’s hatred may become debatable as mentioned above.

Acting & Chemistry

Bai Lu has had great success with her last 2 xianxia or fantasy dramas, namely Till The End Of The Moon and Moonlight Mystique. Feud adds to that success. She shines here as Qing Yue and Ru Yue. They are actually the same person and Bai Lu’s portrayal leaves a subtle difference to the before and after. As Ru Yue, her performance is powerful to project the aura of a divine god. She can also show her fragile side when need to for the heartbreaking scenes that resulted from a failed love.

I haven’t seen Joseph Zeng in a xianxia drama before but I think he matched well with Bai Lu. He is an experienced actor after all and some of his popular dramas include Mysterious Lotus Casebook and Heaven Sword And Dragon Sabre. As Bai Jiu Si in Feud, he delivers and makes an impact to me. There is quiet sorrow and yearning in the depiction of the character which will make you relate to him.

While there is no passionate romance in the drama, both Bai Lu and Joseph Zeng display remarkable chemistry to lift the drama up a notch. You can feel the tension and connection between them. I think this is what makes this pairing memorable on top of the great script.

My Verdict – Watch!

Feud is by no means perfect. It relies on hatred and a failed relationship to fuel the story. So, there is a certain level of darkness and abuse there which may not resonate with those who want more positivity in their dramas. But it is a story well-told. It doesn’t keep to the safe route of making things clear upfront and telling the story in a sequential manner. Instead, you have a missing context at the start with no backstory to narrate what happened. Some may find this haphazard and the story repetitive with the continuous revenge loop. But I like it for the mystery and anticipation of what had gone wrong between the protagonists.

On top of that, don’t expect a sweet romance for this drama. It may seem like a very romantic story but it is not. If you have gotten used to having passionate kisses for Bai Lu’s dramas, you will have to readjust your expectations for Feud. Yes, it is still a love story but a painful rather than a fluffy one.

For this Feud C drama review, I would rate it 8/10. It doesn’t bore you with lengthy set-ups but jumps straight into a major event from the start with a marriage. It doesn’t rely on attention-grabbing CGIs typical of xianixia dramas but painful emotions, ideological conflicts and plot twists to sell its story. Personally, the only weakness that is glaring is the female protagonist’s hatred for the male protagonist which seems irrational at times. Hence, the plot crumbles a little to me as a result. But overall, Feud is a highly watchable drama that is emotionally engaging.