Follow Your Heart Review

I was looking forward to another historical drama with Luo Yun Xi and Follow Your Heart (颜心记) seemed like a good one to binge on. It has a great start but the exhilaration tapers off after a while. Nevertheless, I completed it within a week although I do think 40 episodes is a tad too long for this story. I have the Follow Your Heart review below with more details if you are interested to find out more about this drama.

My rating: 7.5/10
Episodes: 40
Type: Historical Romance
Aired: June 2024
Images credit: iQIYI Facebook

The Cast Of Follow Your Heart

• Leo Luo Yun Xi as Jiang Xin Bai
• Song Yi as Yan Nan Xing
• Sebrina Chen Yao as Jiang Suo Luo
• Huang Ri Ying as Tong Sai Er
• Ryan Cheng Lei as Shang Bie Li
• Gu Zi Cheng as Liu Ruo Qian
• Guan Zi Jing as Yao Qian Shu
• Deng Kai as Yan Bi Qing
• Wen Zheng Rong as Jiang Zhi Yi
• Yue Yao Li as Prince Weiding
• Shi Yu as Lord Lu
• Tang Zeng as Nan Ji Feng
• Cao Wei Yu as Lord Pei Lin Fu
• Hong Yao as Bai Yuan

Main Characters

Jiang Xin Bai

Xin Bai is the Chief of the Investigative Office. He is in charge of investigating criminal cases. Xin Bai is an intelligent man with foresight and martial art skills. His mother’s family has royal connections while his father died when he was a young boy. Xin Bai also suffers from facial blindness due to a childhood incident.

Yan Nan Xing

Nan Xing is a traveling doctor with great healing skills. She is a smart and quick-witted lady. Nan Xing is tough and not one who is easily cowed. But she has to live with the secret of having her appearance change every full moon when she menstruates.

Supporting Characters

Jiang Suo Luo

Suo Luo is Xin Bai’s half-sister. They share the same mother but different father as Xin Bai’s mother remarried after the death of his father. Suo Luo is a petty and vengeful lady who feels aggrieved as she thinks that her mother and grandfather are biased towards her brother.

Tong Sai Er

Sai Er is a young lady who is looking for her fiancee. She is a strong woman who grew up in the mountains. Hence, she has wide knowledge of plants and herbs. Sai Er is an eccentric person but honest and straightforward.

Shang Bie Li

Bie Li is the Commander of the Jinwu Guards which is in charged of the capital’s security. He appears as an arrogant man who sees Xin Bai as his rival. Both of them are distrustful of each other.

Liu Ruo Qian

Ruo Qian is a scholar at the Imperial Academy but his family belongs to the slave caste. However, Ruo Qian is a hardworking young man who bears no grudge against those who look down on him. He is a cheerful and optimistic person.

Yao Qian Shu

Qian Shu is Xin Bai’s subordinate and righthand man. He is a friendly and amicable guy.

Yan Bi Qing

Yan Bi Qing is the Dean of the Imperial Academy. He also has a secret relationship with Suo Luo. Yan Bi Qing is a scheming and selfish man. His father is the Minister of Justice, Lord Yan Jing Lun.

Jiang Zhi Yi

Jiang Zhi Yi is the Princess of Yuejiang. She is also Xin Bai and Suo Luo’s mother. She is a typical noblewoman with a behavior that befits her status. The Princess has a close relationship with her son and is partial towards him as she feels sorry for what happened to Xin Bai’s father.

Prince Weiding

Prince Weiding is the Duchess’ father and Xin Bai’s maternal grandfather. He is a decorated general. Prince Weiding and Xin Bai have a distant relationship as the latter is still resolute in wanting to investigate his father’s death against his grandfather’s wishes.

Lord Lu

Lord Lu is the Assistant Minister of Rites and a suspect in Xin Bai’s investigation. His son-in-law is Lord Li Jun who is the Vice Minister of Personnel while Li Wu Fang is Lord Li Jun’s son.

Nan Ji Feng

Nan Ji Feng is a general in the city of Heman. General Nan is a respected military man but is suspected of being involved in the trading of a banned herb. He is happily married to a tribeswoman named Gaya.

Lord Pei Lin Fu

Lord Pei is the Grand Councillor of the state. He is an influential and powerful official who has the trust of the Emperor as well as Xin Bai’s family.

Bai Yuan

Bai Yuan is a leader of a group of bandits based in Tingzhou. He has an obsession for Nan Xing.

Synopsis

Xin Bai is a government official who is investigating the illicit trading of a banned herb which could turn people into addicts. He suffers from facial blindness which is a closely guarded secret. At the same time, Nan Xing is hoping to find an antidote to her secret condition which will cause her appearance to change when she menstruates. They get entangled with each other when the antidote Nan Xing needs happened to be in the residence of a general whom Xin Bai is targeting in his investigation.

Xin Bai and Nan Xing become friends after an initial bad start but she eventually feels he was only making used of her to solve his case. Hence, they go their separate ways but end up running into each other again in the capital. Nan Xing is there to look for the boy who had saved her many years ago when she was forced to be a child bride by a kidnapper. Xin Bai is continuing his investigation into the banned herb case which involves powerful officials in the capital.

Their secret condition makes them lonely people and this helps them to establish a special connection. Together, they support each other and try to bring the crooks to justice.

Follow Your Heart Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)

Follow Your Heart has a happy ending. Lord Pei was arrested and sentenced to death for drugging the Emperor with the banned herb. Earlier, he had forced Nan Xing to drink a potion that he thought would give him the secret of shape-shifting. But the potion, which was prepared by her adoptive mother to cure her condition, is still imperfect. This causes Nan Xing to turn into an old woman without being able to return to her original appearance. Hence, she decides to leave Xin Bai for good.

At the same time, Xin Bai’s old head injury causes him to collapse. After surgery, he fell into a coma. He awakens a few months later and regains his eyesight but Nan Xing is still missing. In Episode 40, he manages to find Nan Xing after looking for her in various places. He knows she is Nan Xing despite her appearance. He tells her that he doesn’t mind if she can’t change back to her original self. They reconcile and Nan Xing gets back her own body while they are hugging because the last ingredient the potion needs is to find the person who started it all.

There is a wedding for all the 3 couples towards the end. Nan Xing and Xin Bai reminisce about the different personalities that she had changed into from the time they met after the ceremony. Bits of Sai Er and Bei Li’s married life then brings the drama to an end.

When Did The Leads Know Each Other’s Secret?

In Episode 10, Nan Xing’s appearance changes but Xin Bai seems unable to recognize her new face. But she drops her sketch book of her different appearances which she has kept as a record which Xin Bai picks up. As a result, Xin Bai suspects Nan Xing could shape-shift while she suspects that he has face blindness.

In Episode 16, Nan Xing admits about her shape-shifting after Xin Bai helped her to escape when she thought that her appearance is about to change. In return, Xin Bai also admits that he has face blindness which is why he is always cautious and suspicious of others.

Sai Er and Ruo Qian know about Nan Xing’s secret in Episode 29 when they go to save her after she was captured by an enemy. Suo Luo finds out in Episode 35 when Nan Xing has an important news to tell Suo Luo and she happens to change her appearance at the critical moment. Qian Shu learns about it in Episode 36 while they are on the run from Lord Yan’s men after they have been framed for being involved in the illegal herb business.

Ms. Bai, who is Xin Bai’s mother’s personal servant, tells Lord Pei about Nan Xing’s condition in Episode 37. She has overheard it when Suo Luo told her mother about it. But Ms. Bai realizes that she was wrong to trust Lord Pei whom she initially thought could save the Jiang family. She is killed by Lord Pei in Episode 39 after she freed Nan Xing whom he has captured.

When Did The Leads Get Together?

Xin Bai hints to Nan Xing that they should be together after they have opened up about their secret in Episode 16. He suggests that they should protect each other. In Episode 18, Nan Xing overhears Xin Bai’s quarrel with his sister whereby he says that Nan Xing is his woman and that he trusts her. This is after Suo Luo successfully plotted to expose Nan Xing and Xin Bai’s marriage to their mother. They had pretended to get married to solve a case in Heman in Episode 6.

Xin Bai willingly knelt down and got stabbed to save Nan Xing after she was kidnapped by Lord Lu’s grandson in Episode 20. She is touched with his action to save her. Xin Bai declares that they are together in Episode 21 after they were found spending the night together in his office. His staff had unknowingly locked them in the previous night.

Nan Xing agrees to marry Xin Bai in Episode 25 after they are forced to tell the Emperor that the fireworks that lit up the sky was her wedding proposal. Setting fireworks is seen as a sign of disobedience and Lord Lu used it to frame Xin Bai for it. So, Nan Xing and Xin Bai become a married couple in Episode 26.

Is There A Love Triangle?

Bai Yuan who appears in Episode 29 is obsessed with Nan Xing after she fixed back his eye. He goes to the capital to look for her and manages to manipulate her into employing him in her shop in Episode 33. However, Bai Yuan also has dealings with Yan Bi Qing to supply him with the banned herb. He uses Nan Xing’s shop to stock the herbs thinking that she would be forced to leave with him if the authorities and Xin Bai find out that she is involved in the illicit trade. This is despite the fact that she has clearly rejected him twice.

When Bai Yuan’s role is discovered, he is hunted by the authorities. He hides in Nan Xing’s shop. Lord Yan takes the opportunity to attack the shop. Bai Yuan dies to shield Nan Xing from a hail of arrows. Before he dies, he leaves a clue to bring down the Yan family.

Is There A Breakup?

Xin Bai asks for a divorce in Episode 37 when they are being accused of being criminals and hunted. He tells her that his father had failed to protect her father while her current plight is also due to her connection to him. Xin Bai feels that he can’t protect Nan Xing anymore. Furthermore, he needs to take a big risk to return to the capital as a wanted criminal to avenge Qian Shu’s death.

However, Nan Xing has no resentment towards Xin Bai’s father as he was a righteous man just like her father. She is willing to sacrifice her life to protect Xin Bai for a change. Hence, she makes the sole decision to surrender to Lord Yan and claims that she is solely responsible for the banned drug trade together with Bai Yuan.

Childhood Connection

Xin Bai realizes that Nan Xing is the girl he saved when they were kids in Episode 25 after she told him the details about her past experience. She finds out that Xin Bai is the boy she is looking for in Episode 32 after he hallucinated in a field full of the banned herbs.

In Episode 37, Nan Xing’s dying adoptive mother tells Xin Bai about Nan Xing’s biological parents. Nan Xing’s biological mother was her senior. Nan Xing’s father was the witness that Xin Bai’s father failed to protect. He was actually Xin Bai’s father’s spy to uncover the criminal behind the scenes. However, there was little progress on the case. So, Nan Xing’s father used himself as a bait to lure out the mastermind and ended up getting killed instead. His whole village was burned down. Nan Xing survived because her mother covered her with her body. Her adoptive mother had hid the truth from her and told her that she is an orphan.

Xin Bai tells Nan Xing about her parents after the death of her adoptive mother. It fuels his desire to protect her at all cost.

What Happened To Xin Bai’s Father?

Xin Bai’s father was investigating the banned herb case when the witness that he had found was killed just before he could make his report. The witness’ whole village was burned down. Consequently, Xin Bai’s father was accused of dereliction of duty. He was sentenced to death by Lord Lu who was presiding over the trial. Lord Pei defended him and had his sentence reduced to banishment to Yazhou. This is revealed in Episode 14. But Xin Bai’s father was subsequently killed by bandits on the way to Yazhou.

The Ultimate Villain

Lord Lu is just a front for a bigger mastermind behind the scenes. The next level in the hierarchy is the Yan family. In Episode 29, it is revealed that Yan Bi Qing and Yen Wu Shuang are accomplices. They poisoned Nan Xing in the past with the banned herb which had been processed. Many others were also victims as they needed to test the drug which they want to use to control people’s mind. All the victims died except Nan Xing due to her exposure to other poisons. Hence, Nan Xing is the key for their further research to refine the herbal drug.

Yen Wu Shuang is killed when Nan Xing’s mother goes to rescue her daughter together with Sai Er and Ruo Qian after Nan Xing was captured. In Episode 36, the real mastermind is revealed to be Lord Pei. Lord Yan reports to Lord Pei about his hunt for Xian Bai. He also suspects Xin Bai has face blindness and other frailties due to an old head injury.

Lord Yan and Yan Bi Qing are arrested in Episode 38 after the banned herb is discovered in their residence. Bai Yuan has planted it to give himself leverage over them. The tip-off is given by his subordinate after Xin Bai told the latter that his boss was killed by Lord Yan. Lord Pei silenced them while they are in prison as they are now useless and he has achieved his aims. Lord Pei is arrested and sentenced to death after Xin Bai and Bei Li break into the palace to save the Emperor in Episode 39. He has been drugging the Emperor with the poisonous herb which Nan Xing manages to detoxify.

Second Couple

Bei Li begins to develop feelings for Sai Er after she became his source of encouragement to face up to his past. He employs her to work in his residence in Episode 19 and asks her to treat it as her home in Episode 24. Sai Er tells Bei Li that she wants him to be her sibling in return but he turns hesitant as he has a different kind of feeling towards her. He is affected when Sai Er accidentally kisses him in Episode 31.

Sai Er didn’t think much about it but begins to feel unhappy when she sees Bei Li with another lady. She realizes that she has feelings for Bei Li after chatting with Ruo Qian about her problem in Episode 32. She starts to avoid Bei Li who then overhears her conversation with Ruo Qian on why she is doing so in Episode 33. Bei Li confesses his feelings to her in Episode 34 after she got angry when she thought he has gone on a date with a potential suitor. They become a couple after his confession.

Third Couple

Ruo Qian takes up job at Suo Luo’s residence as a cleaner to earn more money to help his family which enable them to see more of each other. He comforts her after she was humiliated when she asked for support from certain ministers to pave the way for her to become a government official.

Ruo Qian realizes that he actually likes Suo Luo when he becomes unhappy after hearing the news that she and Yan Bi Qing will be getting married in Episode 32. However, he also knows that his lowly status means he has no right to fight for her. She overhears his conversation with Sai Er in Episode 33 on why he is avoiding her. But Ruo Qian still manages to summon up his courage to hug Suo Luo and she kisses him back to acknowledge her feelings for him in Episode 34.

However, Ruo Qian is aware that he is powerless against Yan Bi Qing. He decides to leave her and take up Yan Bi Qing’s offer to be a teacher in another city in Episode 35. But Suo Luo stops him from leaving and makes it public that Ruo Qian is her man instead. They reaffirm that they belong to each other in Episode 36 when Ruo Qian and Sai Er are jailed for being Nan Xing’s employees after her shop is implicated in the banned drug trade.

Other Key Events

• Xin Bai’s mother thought he is gay after Nan Xing’s appearance changed into a man in Episode 23. As a result, she is no longer antagonistic towards Nan Xing but wants her to capture his heart quickly instead.
• General Nan is killed in Episode 24 while on an investigative trip to another county.
• Xin Bai creates rift between Lord Lu and Lord Li Jun which enables him to get the evidence of their crimes. But Lord Lu kills Lord Li Jun and then commits suicide in front of the Emperor during their questioning in Episode 26.
• Suo Luo and Xin Bai officially bury the hatchet in Episode 27.
• Qian Shu dies in Episode 37 to protect Xin Bai from Yan Bi Qing’s assassins.
• Nan Xing’s adoptive mother dies in Episode 37 because she has been trying out potions to cure Nan Xing’s condition.

Follow Your Heart Review – A Bit Of Everything

Follow Your Heart isn’t a masterpiece to me. It could have been but the extra needed to make it truly engaging is missing. It gives me the feeling that the drama is too long with a bit of everything being thrown into it to mesh together 40 episodes. You have revenge, multi-couples, childhood connection, investigation, sibling rivalry, and 3 layers of villains that takes quite a while to unearth. As a result, the plot becomes a little loose unlike The Double whereby the quest for revenge remains tightly focused throughout.

The romance also takes up quite a substantial part of Follow Your Heart which is why the investigative part of the story is dragged on. It is hardly touched on in some episodes as the attention switches to the leads’ relationship and other subplots. However, it is not a very boring drama overall because of the comedy and nature of the story involving the female lead’s secret condition whereby she will get a new appearance whenever she menstruates. So, this will create funny situations at times. It is just that if you prefer a more focused investigative plot, then this drama could have been shorter by 10 episodes or so.

Generally, Follow Your Heart is not a complex story but more towards a light watch with the occasional laughs. It has a refreshing angle with the female protagonist’s condition but the problem is the characters are not so well-written.

Female Lead Becomes Damsel In Distress

The female protagonist starts off as strong and witty. But as the drama progresses, her independence and smartness seem to have disappeared at times. So, there is no consistency to her character traits. Towards the end, she is trusting the wrong people and her idea of saving the male lead is to surrender to the villain and causing everyone to worry about her. Thus, if you are looking for a strong female lead type of drama like Blossoms In Adversity and The Legend Of Shen Li, Follow Your Heart falls a little short in this department.

The male lead is a typical hero with an aim to uncover the person behind his father’s death and bring him to book. He doesn’t jump out to me as a memorable character once the drama is over. His sister is one annoying character though for at least half of the story. She will grate on your nerves as you watch her willfulness and silly jealousy towards her brother. The good thing is she gets better as the drama progresses. After all, she is one of the main supporting characters with a romantic subplot in the drama.

Rom-Com Feel

Due to the comedy bits, the drama has a rom-com feel to it at times despite the overarching serious investigative plot on a banned drug. If you like a more lighthearted drama, this could be pretty entertaining. But if you want something serious that makes sense, the female lead’s condition will seem out of this world. You just have to accept that this is how she is.

The unfortunate thing is the scriptwriter has not done a thorough job to clearly explain certain development pertaining to her condition. For instance, when the story begins, she will mutate during the full moon. But as the story progresses, her appearance changes become more and more irregular. The signs are there that it is tied to her menstruation cycle but it is not clearly spelled out to the viewers what exactly causes her to be a freak and how the poison works on her. Therefore, while the story begins with her trying to look for an antidote, this part actually fizzles out after the first few episodes to be replaced by romance and investigation into the drug case.

Her secret condition is what gives rise to the comedy in the drama as her mutation means she will end up being a man, woman or kid with different body sizes. It is also part of the reason why the drama can end up with 40 episodes. So, it becomes an entertaining watch if you like the rom-com bits. Conversely, it will seem like a silly drama if you prefer something more serious and realistic.

Acting & Chemistry

To me , Follow Your Heart is not Luo Yun Xi’s best project. He is okay here and delivers what he should for the role of Xin Bai. The actor is too experienced to really fumble in any role that he has to play. But the character doesn’t really stand out to me unlike the one in Till The End Of The Moon whereby there is much more room for him to show his acting skills as his role there is much more complex. If you are interested, you can vote for your favorite Luo Yun Xi drama in this poll.

Song Yi is also good as Nan Xing although I cringed at one of her crying scenes. It is overacting to me although one can argue that exaggeration is part and parcel of a rom-com. In terms of chemistry, I prefer her partnership with Bai Jing Ting in Destined. It is not that Song Yi and Luo Yun Xi have no chemistry between them, but the level is not there to make me swoon and ship them as a couple.

The other 2 side couples are also watchable in terms of compatibility and chemistry. At the very least, you don’t feel that they are a waste of time like many dramas with multi-couples. This is indeed a big plus for a 40-episode drama.

My Verdict – Give It A Try

I think Follow Your Heart may be a hit or miss title. It starts off strong but the way the plot moves may not resonate with everyone. The scriptwriter fails to blend the various going-ons in the drama into a tightly focused story. Although it doesn’t stray too far off but the various subplots and couples mean a lot of time is spent away from the overarching goal of uncovering the main villain and bringing him to justice. If you don’t mind a looser plot, then well and good. But if you don’t, then things can get a bit draggy as it takes a long time to get to the real mastermind behind the scenes.

Personally, this is not a bad drama but neither is it an awesome one. It is somewhere in between. It is good for some mindless entertainment and it is not a chore to sit through it all the way to the end. This is because the comedy will help to relieve some of the boredom. There is also the anticipation of when the female lead will change her appearance again and who she will turn into. But once you have got through it, the urge to rewatch isn’t really there as the emotional investment in the story and characters is kind of lacking.

For this Follow Your Heart review, I would rate it 7.5/10. The costumes, cast, and cinematography point to a quality production. The story has a new element of mutation but the some cliches remain such as a childhood connection. It is watchable especially if you are a Luo Yun Xi fan but it is definitely not his best drama. I think treating it as an easy and relaxing drama rather than a serious one would be more in line with overall expectations.