The Princess’s Gambit (桃花映江山) is another one of Liu Xue Yi’s historical dramas. If I’m not mistaken, this is his 4th costume drama since last year. I think he has another 2 coming up including the 2nd season of The Blood Of Youth. The same goes for Meng Zi Yi who seems to be doing well with historical dramas. Hence, there is a certain level of expectations with these 2 leads cooperation in their latest drama. I have watched it and The Princess’s Gambit review is posted below if you want to find out more about this production.
My rating: 7.5/10
Episodes: 36
Type: Historical romance
Aired: June 2025
Images Credit: WeTV Official Facebook
The Cast Of The Princess’s Gambit
- Liu Xue Yi as Shen Zai Ye
- Meng Zi Yi as Jiang Tao Hua
- Liu Ling Zi as Meng Zhen Zhen
- Shao Wei Tong as Meng Huai Jin
- Wang Wei Hua as Meng Zhong Yan
- Zhu Jian as Mu Wu Gou
- Yi Yun He as Mu Wu Hen
- Gao Han as Mu Wu Yin
- Bian Cheng as Mu Wu Xia
- Zhang Zheng Yang as Emperor Qi
- Fan Jing Wen as Xiang Qing Ying
- Dai Si as Yang Wan Qing
- Maggie Huang as Empress Lv
Main Characters
Shen Zai Ye
Zai Ye is the Left Chancellor of Qi state. He is a ruthless official and seen as cold and heartless. He appears to come from a humble background and has the trust of the Emperor. Zai Ye is assisted by Zhan Lu who is his righthand man. He has an official wife from the Meng clan as well as 2 concubines from the Qin and Duan clans respectively.
Jiang Tao Hua
Tao Hua is Princess Cheng Ping from Beiyuan state. She is an unfavored princess who has been confined to the cold palace by the Empress. Tao Hua is a smart woman who is always thinking a few steps ahead. She is a great schemer and risk taker. But Tao Hua values those close to her and has kindness towards the weak. Qing Tai is her personal servant and bodyguard. Tao Hua also has a beloved younger brother, Chang Jue.
Supporting Characters
Meng Zhen Zhen
Zhen Zhen is the legitimate daughter of Lord Meng. She is also Zai Ye’s official wife. Being a member of the Meng clan, she has to work for the family against her own husband’s interest. Zhen Zhen is a cautious and patient woman.
Meng Huai Jin
Huai Jin the the eldest son of Lord Meng and Zhen Zhen’s elder brother. He is also the Crown Prince’s study companion since young and his closest aide as they are cousins. Huai Jin is a strategist and careful young man.
Meng Zhong Yan / Lord Meng
Lord Meng is the Right Chancellor of Qi state. The Meng clan is a very powerful and old noble family with deep roots in the royal court. Lord Meng is a hardhearted man who will do anything to keep the Meng clan’s power and status.
Mu Wu Gou
Wu Gou is the eldest prince of Qi state. He is also the Crown Prince and his mother is from the powerful Meng clan. Wu Gou is a cruel and impulsive man who doesn’t always listen to advice.
Mu Wu Hen
Wu Hen is the 2nd prince of Qi state. His mother is from the Qin clan which is the second most powerful clan in the state. He doesn’t get along with Wu Gou as they are fighting to be the heir. Wu Hen is opportunistic and arrogant.
Mu Wu Yin
Mu Yin is the 3rd prince of Qi state. He doesn’t show any interest in being the heir and seems to spend his time away from palace matters.
Mu Wu Xia
Wu Xia is the 4th prince of Qi state. He is an unfavored prince who grew up away from the palace. His mother died when he was young. But Wu Xia is a young man with strong principles who believes in the rule of law.
Emperor Qi
Emperor Qi is the ruler of Qi state. He has 4 sons with Wu Gou being the Crown Prince. He is a cunning man who would sacrifice principles for political expediency in order to balance competing powers in the royal court.
Xiang Qing Ying
Qing Ying is Zai Ye’s younger sister. She is an impulsive young lady but is kind and helpful. She is very gung-ho in ensuring justice is upheld.
Yang Wan Qing
Wan Qing is the owner of a boutique in Qi state on the surface but is working for the Beiyuan Empress in secret.
Empress Lv
Empress Lv is the power behind the throne in Beiyuan state. She wields vast powers and is an ambitious woman.
Synopsis
Tao Hua is a Beiyuan state princess who is forced to take up a marriage alliance with the neighboring Qi state in exchange for her brother’s safety. Her brother’s life is at the mercy of the Beiyuan Empress. She has also been poisoned and has to rely on a periodic antidote that would only be given to her if she does as told. Hence, Tao Hua has to spy on the happenings in Qi state for the Empress. She is arranged to be married to the 4th Prince of Qi but an entanglement with Zai Ye, who is the Left Chancellor, on her arrival gives her an opportunity to change her marriage partner to Zai Ye instead.
Tao Hua believes being married to Zai Ye will give her a better chance to save her brother. However, Zai Ye is suspicious of Tao Hua and doesn’t pay her much attention when she moves into his residence as his concubine. Things change when he needs her help in solving a case involving the Crown Prince and his secret agenda. Their relationship becomes an uneasy alliance as they make use of each other to achieve their aims.
Eventually, Tao Hua’s intelligence and values begin to earn Zai Ye’s admiration and respect. But as threats from their enemies increase and dangers abound, would they be able to trust each other enough in this high stakes power game?
The Princess’s Gambit Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)
The Princess’s Gambit has a happy or open ending depending on your interpretation. Zai Ye and Wu Xia pressure Emperor Qi to clear the Xie clan of wrongdoing after obtaining Right Chancellor Meng’s confession. He had framed Zai Ye’s father as the latter wanted to re-establish the imperial exam system which would be a threat to the noble families. Emperor Qi is angry that his mistake is being exposed but still clears the Xie clan’s name to preserve his legacy. Zai Ye resigns as Left Chancellor after admitting his real identity and achieving his goal of clearing his family’s name. Wu Xia is going to be the new Crown Prince.
Back in Beiyuan, Empress Lv has killed the sickly emperor and wants to be the new legal ruler. But State Preceptor Qian has managed to get Emperor Beiyuan to issue an edict to appoint Chang Jue as his successor before he died. State Preceptor Qian was Tao Hua’s and Chang Jue’s master in the past. While he seems to have betrayed them to work for Empress Lv, he has done so to secretly ensure Tao Hua and Chang Jue could live. In the end, State Preceptor Qian sacrifices himself to kill Empress Lv and save Zai Ye and Tao Hua from a burning cave.
Tao Hua’s Poison
The cave has the rare flower needed to cure Tao Hua’s poison. Zai Ye has also willingly taken the poison to be a drug tester for Tao Hua earlier. But when Empress Lv sets the cave on fire, Zai Ye could only grab one stalk of the flower which is insufficient to cure both of them. He lets the unconscious Tao Hua take the full dosage while he consumes the smaller portion. While it keeps him alive, he falls into a coma due to the different poisons in his body from the drug testings.
Fortunately, Zai Ye also saved a seed from the flower which Tao Hua planted in the cave where the flowers were found. Gradually, the plant grows and the flower blooms. But Zai Ye didn’t wake up immediately after consuming the antidote. His body has been ravaged by poisons and needs time to heal. The drama ends with him meeting Tao Hua under a peach blossom tree which implies either he has woken up from his coma or it is Tao Hua’s dream.
When Did The Leads Get Together?
Zai Ye starts to treat Tao Hua better in Episode 11 after the clue in the form of a painting that she gave him proves to be accurate. The painting depicts the location of Wu Gou’s illegal mine. While working together with Zai Ye to bring down Wu Gou, Tao Hua also discovers that Zai Ye is not as heartless as he appears. In Episode 13, Tao Hua shields Zai Ye from an arrow and nearly loses her life in the process. Zai Ye feels the stirrings in his heart for her.
In Episode 19, Zai Ye is heartbroken and full of regret after Tao Hua has fallen off a cliff and presumed dead. He has distrusted her earlier and thought she wanted to kill Wu Xia. But then he learns that Tao Hua has been poisoned and both her and her brother’s life are under Empress Lv’s control. From then on, Zai Ye remains steadfast in protecting Tao Hua although she keeps pushing him away. Tao Hua doesn’t think they have a future together as they are serving different masters. Moreover, she doesn’t want him to get involve in her troubles as that would put him in danger.
They get together in Episode 31 after Tao Hua thought Zai Ye has died in an explosion while trying to retrieve her antidote. She is happy and relieved when he is still alive. Tao Hua is thankful for the chance to be with him and confesses the feelings in her heart.
Is There A Breakup?
Zai Ye has slowly fallen for Tao Hua but her presence in Wu Xi’a library room raises his suspicion in Episode 17. This is after Zai Ye learned that there is an attempt to kill Wu Xia. Wan Qing has indeed ordered Tao Hua to kill someone. But Tao Hua only learns the person she has to kill is Wu Xia when she is carrying out the mission. So, she aborts it midway. In Episode 18, Tao Hua is forced to finish the job but she tricks Wan Qing and leads her to believe Wu Xia is dead. In actual fact, Tao Hua has tampered with the poisoned incense that Wan Qing had given her to just make Wu Xia fall asleep.
However, Zai Ye thinks Tao Hua is a killer and imprisons her. Tao Hua is frustrated with Zai Ye for not trusting her and asks for a divorce. She has also made plans to kill Wan Qing. But the plan fails and both of them fall off a cliff when cornered by Zai Ye and his men in Episode 19. Tao Hua survives but her memory is vague due to injuries and thus, stays away from Zai Ye. She regains her memory in Episode 23 but pretends otherwise to make it easier for her to keep tabs on Wu Yin.
Tao Hua also tells Zai Ye that they should part ways in Episode 24 and Episode 28. She doesn’t want him to be drawn into her problem due to the danger. But he still follows her all the way to the border town to protect her although he knows he is being lured there by Empress Lv in Episode 29. They reconcile in Episode 31 after Zai Ye risked his life to retrieve her antidote.
Wu Xia’s Relationship With Zai Ye
It is revealed to the viewers that Wu Xia is Zai Ye’s cousin in Episode 10. However, Wu Xia is not aware of Zai Ye’s identity as his cousin is supposed to have been killed together with the whole clan when he was still a kid.
In Episode 11, Zai Ye’s flashback reveals that his father, Xie Guan Yu, and Wu Xia’s mother, Consort Shu, were siblings. They were accused of using witchcraft and the Xie clan was massacred by Right Chancellor Meng supposedly with the Emperor’s decree. Zai Ye’s servant sacrificed himself to save him. He burned himself alive during the commotion so that Zai Ye could assume his identity and live on.
In Episode 18, Tao Hua notices Wu Xia’s hanky has the same pattern as the one she saw in Zai Ye’s secret drawer in his study. She then knows the 2 men must be cousins. Wu Xia only finds out that Zai Ye is his cousin brother when he is taken hostage by Right Chancellor Meng’s guard in Episode 32. Zai Ye has used the information to confuse and distract the guard and subsequently kills him to free Wu Xia.
What Happens To Meng Zhen Zhen?
After Huai Jin’s death, Right Chancellor Meng pressures Zhen Zhen to poison Zai Ye in Episode 15. She is actually relieved when she gets caught as she is tired of being her father’s tool. Zai Ye and Tao Hua plead with the Emperor to spare her life. Zai Ye also uses the opportunity to ask the Emperor to grant him a divorce with Zhen Zhen and his 2 concubines.
After the divorce, Zhen Zhen leads a quiet life. But Right Chancellor Meng wants to adopt a distant relative, Huai Rui, and makes him heir to replace Huai Jin in Episode 22. He also agrees to betroth Huai Jin’s beloved to Huai Rui. To stop her father, Zhen Zhen offers to take up Huai Jin’s role and convinces him that she can sacrifice for the family like her brother. In order to claw back the clan’s status, they start to cooperate with Wu Yin with the thinking that he could be made the next Emperor.
Right Chancellor Meng wants assurance from Wu Yin that his clan will not be discarded after Wu Yin gets the throne with his support. So, Wu Yin agrees to marry Zhen Zhen to reassure him in Episode 31. Zhen Zhen doesn’t agree but overruled by her father. When Wu Yin’s rebellion fails, the Meng clan is implicated in Episode 33. Right Chancellor Meng is imprisoned.
Zai Ye makes a deal with Zhen Zhen to spare the female members of the Meng clan in exchange for her father’s confession on framing the Xie clan and Wu Xia’s mother. Zhen Zhen persuades her father to take the blame for the sake of the Meng clan just like what he did to Huai Jin. So, Right Chancellor Meng writes the confession and then commits suicide in prison.
The Hidden Villain
Tao Hua discovers that Wu Yin is Empress Lv’s associate in Episode 16 when she goes to look for Wan Qing to get her antidote. But Wu Yin mistakenly thinks the person who had spied on them is Wu Xia due to sheer coincidence. In Episode 21, Tao Hua discovers Empress Lv’s bracelet in Wu Yin’s hidden chamber. Hence, she knows they must be in a secret relationship. Wu Yin is promising Empress Lv that Qi state will be hers soon as he yearns for her love.
Zai Ye knows Wu Yin is involved in Wu Hen’s murder in Episode 26 when he is investigating the case in order to clear Wu Xia who has been framed for the killing. Tao Hua also informs Zai Ye about Wu Yin’s secret relationship with Empress Lv. The latter is also known as Ah Hua and Tao Hua seeks his assistance to check her background in Episode 27. Ah Hua was Wu Yin’s palace maid who took care of him after his sister passed away. But her palace records are missing and no one knows what happened to her.
In Episode 30, Tao Hua tells Wu Yin that Empress Lv is just using him as a pawn to gain power. He becomes psychotic after Empress Lv is prepared to let him die in order to achieve her aim of killing Tao Hua, Zai Ye, and Wu Xia. He confines Empress Lv and wants to control her so that she would forever remain by his side in Episode 31. In return, he will grab the throne of Qi state as she desired. His father has already been gradually poisoned with his addictive pills.
Wu Yin’s Ending
Wu Yin forces his father to abdicate and pass the throne to him in return for his pills in Episode 32. He arranges a wedding with Empress Lv together with his coronation on the same day. Right Chancellor Meng has been tricked that Zhen Zhen would be the bride. Tao Hua exposes Wu Yin’s and Empress Lv’s crimes during the ceremony to the officials present as she stalls for time to await reinforcements in Episode 32 and 33. Their plan to usurp the throne fails with Emperor Qi having been rescued by Zai Ye and they arrive with their soldiers.
Wu Yin and Empress Lv retreat to the palace where he once stayed when he was a kid and Empress Lv was his maid. He is prepared to die with her there. The place holds his happiest memories. On the contrary, Empress Lv hates it as it reminds her of the humiliation and abuse she suffered. She became a target when Wu Yin treated her as his favorite maid and she hates him for it.
Empress Lv is not prepared to die with Wu Yin. She stabs him and tries to escape. Wu Yin burns the place down and dies in the fire. Empress Lv is presumed dead. However, she manages to sneak away through a secret passageway that she discovered while she was a maid there and returns to Beiyuan.
Other Key Events
- Huai Jin is revealed to be Wu Gou’s cousin in Episode 8. His father is Wu Gou’s maternal uncle.
- Wu Gou is deposed of his position as Crown Prince in Episode 14 after he tried to kill the miners to wipe out the evidence that he operated an illegal mine and got caught by Zai Ye.
- Huai Jin is asked to take the blame by his father so that the Meng clan can disassociate themselves from illegal mine case involving Wu Gou. So, he commits suicide in prison in Episode 14 as asked.
- Wu Hen is found dead in Episode 25. He is hurt by Meng Huai Rui when they had an altercation after Wu Hen refused to sell him the imperial examination question. Wu Yin’s aide finished the job as instructed so that Wu Xia could be framed to take the blame.
- Tao Hua reunites with her brother in Episode 29. She is threatened by Wu Yin to go to see her brother in the border town. The motive is to lure Zhai Ye to the same place so that he could be killed.
- Wu Xia and Qing Ying become a couple in Episode 33. He confesses his feelings for her after the danger of rescuing his father and putting down his brother’s rebellion.
The Princess’s Gambit Review – Recycled Plot
The Princess’s Gambit reminds me a little on a recent drama with an arranged marriage theme which is Youthful Glory. So, the start already isn’t something new. The princess in this case chooses to marry a ruthless and powerful official in a marriage alliance between 2 states when the opportunity presented itself. She takes a gamble that her interest in freeing her brother from the clutches of the evil empress of her home state is better served with him as her husband.
So, there is a phase of distrust and making used of each other for mutual benefit before admiration and love step in. But the whole story of revenge, clearing the family name, power struggle, and the romance feels recycled. You will get the feeling that you have seen all of these before even down to the details if you have watched enough of historical C dramas. The poisoning and the monthly antidote, how the villain grabs power, and the amnesia from falling off a cliff are some of the tropes you will find in The Princess’s Gambit.
Of course, tropes are okay if the story is executed well. Legend Of Zang Hai also begins with the same overall theme of revenge and hiding his identity but the thrill factor is high because of the storytelling. I think this is where The Princess’s Gambit mainly fails. The thrill and intensity aren’t there for a drama that should thrive on distrust and suspicion to drive it. As a result, the cliches become glaringly obvious.
Romance Fails To Inspire (Spoilers Alert!)
The couple’s relationship in The Princess’s Gambit is like the one in The Prisoner Of Beauty at the start. There is a trust deficit especially on the guy’s side. But the difference is, unlike The Prisoner Of Beauty, the guy’s revenge target isn’t the girl’s clan. They may come from different states and serve different masters, but they are not bitter enemies. In fact, the girl just wants to rescue her brother and save herself.
Hence, the distrust between the leads becomes overplayed to me. One honest communication would have solve all the problems. Unfortunately, this phase is dragged out with the trust and distrust going back and forth. This also sinks the romance with sweetness being out of the question for the 20 episodes that the distrust is prolonged.
Then, the memory loss kicks in which causes the drama to go further downhill. Although the phase is short but what follows is another cliche of parting for your own good. The guy falls hard and ends up being a simp. Sacrificing his health and possibly life to test drugs for the girl’s poison just seems overly dramatic and unnecessary. It doesn’t seem romantic anymore but foolish.
Smart Lead Characters
The smart protagonists would be one of the drama’s strengths. With all the obvious weaknesses, at least the lead characters are depicted as intelligent in terms of strategy and forward planning. This is true for about half of the drama whereby the tension between the leads is at its highest. The female lead matches the male where the battle of wits is concerned. This push and pull in their relationship as the male protagonist tries to figure out the girl’s intention is probably going to be the best part of the drama before it starts to drag and feel like another average production.
One word of warning about the male lead is that he is a high-ranking official with a wife and 2 concubines before the female protagonist joins his household as his third concubine. These women are sent to spy on him and/or gain benefits from his power for their families. Therefore, this is not a one-woman household although the guy is shown to have zero interest in his harem in the drama.
While the leads aren’t annoying for the most part, the same cannot be said for some of the other characters such as the male lead’s sister. She is childish and impulsive. Her relationship with a scholarly prince is just meh. They are hardly compatible. Apart from that, one of the villains is creepy and a psycho. His partner-in-crime is also his obsession which makes the whole relationship weird. Unfortunately, their backstory is not adequately fleshed out. So, what you will get is just a superficial reason why one turned obsessed while the other power-crazy.
Acting And Chemistry
With an average script, I think there is nothing much that the actors can do to salvage it. They did their part as expected of them. Liu Xue Yi is no stranger to this kind of role – a cold, ruthless, and powerful man. His role in Kill Me Love Me is one such example. In The Princess’s Gambit, he is again a powerful official with a ruthless streak. As Shen Zai Ye, the restrained anger, shrewdness, and suspicion are all in his expressions which are consistent with the character’s traits.
Meng Zi Yi plays a discarded princess with a mission to save her brother. She is cunning with strong survival skills in a foreign land. As Jiang Tao Hua, the actress gives the character dignity, independence, and strength. But it is certainly not Meng Zi Yi’s best performance to date. Perhaps the character is not so well-written with the constant lies she has to tell due to being blackmailed by the villain.
As for the leads’ chemistry, it is okay overall. I don’t find anything extraordinary with this pairing. They are watchable together but I can’t say that they are oozing with chemistry either. It also can’t beat the sparks Meng Zi Yi has with Li Yun Rui in Blossom to me.
My Verdict – An Average Watch
The Princess’s Gambit actually has a promising start. I think it is easy to get drawn into the story from the first few episodes. In fact, it is pretty interesting for at least a dozen episodes, if not more. The story of a poisoned princess being blackmailed to spy on her husband in a marriage alliance between 2 states should make an exciting story. So, you will get this anticipation early on. The unfortunate thing is the script fails to carry that excitement all the way to the finish line. It falters about midway through. Tropes and predictability are part of the problem with this drama.
I guess whether this drama will be a great one for you will depend on how much you enjoy the leads’ romance. It is the focus of the story although there is a power struggle and political plot running at the same time. To me, I don’t feel that the couple’s love story is touching or sweet. So, it fails to move me after all that time spent building up their relationship. But if palace politics is your thing, the lack of intrigue also doesn’t make it an addictive watch.
So, for this review of The Princess’s Gambit, I would rate it 7.5/10. It is nothing too exciting but more of an average production. Perhaps the standards for Chinese dramas are getting higher and higher that recycled plots just don’t cut it anymore if there is no unique value-added factor in them. Having said that, The Princess’s Gambit is still watchable if you temper your expectations. It may not be a masterpiece but I don’t feel that it is a complete waste of time either especially if you are a fan of the leads.
Leave a Reply