The Sleepless Princess Review

Someone commented on one of my posts that The Sleepless Princess (离人心上) is good. The drama is on my ‘To Watch’ list because of Zheng Ye Cheng but I was actually thinking of watching The Heiress first. After seeing the comment, I decided to give this priority instead. And I have to say that I have no regrets. The Sleepless Princess review below will lay out my verdict on this romance drama. Basically, it has an arranged marriage background to it but don’t let that overused theme to deter you. Read on if you want to know why!

My rating: 8/10
Episodes: 35 (36 if you include the extra or special episode)
Type: Romance
Aired: July 2020
Images Credit: MGTV

The Cast Of The Sleepless Princess

• Zheng Ye Cheng as Xue Yao
• Hu Yi Xuan as Princess Xu Chu Yue
• Yang Lin as Xu Xing Chen / Prince Shun
• Huang Can Can as Su Nan Nan
• David Zhou Da Wei as Luo Ji
• Lin Xin Yi as Tao Yao
• Shu Ya Xin as Bai Li Qi / Mr. Bai
• Guo Jun as Emperor
• Peng Bi Yao as Na Xi / Infanta Xie
• Zhu Zhi Ling as Xue Mu
• Li Xin Liang as Dong Shi
• Wang Xi Chao as Prince Ning
• Zhou Zhong He as Uncle Liao
• Zhao Ming Chuan as Tang Ben

Main Characters

Xue Yao

Xue Yao is a tough and battle-hardened general. He is a powerful military commander who is viewed with suspicion by the Emperor. Xue Yao comes from a distinguished military family. His parents died in battle when he was a kid and he enjoyed a close relationship with his late elder brother, Xue Mu. Xue Yao is brought up by his aunt, Madam Xue. His hobby is gardening.

Princess Xu Chu Yue

Chu Yue is an adopted daughter of the Emperor and lives in the cold palace due to her unfavored status. Her biological father was the Royal Advisor and had died when she was a baby. Despite her circumstances, Chu Yue is a cheerful princess who likes to read. She is also kind and trusting.

Xi Xing Chen / Prince Shun

Prince Shun is the younger son of the Emperor. He is an astute businessman who is very wealthy. He loves his adopted sister, Chu Yue, very much and is always thinking of her welfare. They grew up together and have promised to take care of each other.

Supporting Characters

Su Nan Nan

Nan Nan is the daughter of a high-ranking imperial official, Lord Su. She is impulsive and willful but righteous. Nan Nan has been in love with Xue Yao for years as they are fellow disciples of a sword-fighting master. Her paternal aunt is Noble Consort Su who is the Emperor’s favorite concubine.

Luo Ji

Luo Ji is an Assistant General of the Imperial Guards. He used to be Xue Mu’s subordinate and later, serves under Xue Yao. Luo Ji is a good man but clueless when it comes to romance. His love interest is Nan Nan.

Tao Yao

Tao Yao is Chu Yue’s loyal maid. They are like close friends and Tao Yao is always thinking of Chu Yue’s interests. She is one of the very few who knows Chu Yue’s secret.

Bai Li Qi / Mr. Bai

Mr. Bai is Xue Yao’s loyal counselor. He is Xue Yao’s sounding board and knows a lot of his heartaches.

Emperor

The Emperor rules over Nan Sang. He is a suspicious man who is afraid of being overthrown. The Emperor is manipulative and can be ruthless in achieving his aim. He has 2 sons, Prince Ning and Prince Shun.

Na Xi / Infanta Xie

Na Xi is a princess of Xi Zhao which is Nan Sang’s vassal state. She is a good sword fighter but also arrogant and impulsive. Na Xi can be very impatient but resolute in what she wants. General Duo Er Tu is her fellow envoy to Nan Sang.

Xue Mu

Xue Mu is Xue Yao’s late elder brother. He was the General of the Imperial Guards at the palace. Xue Mu died in a fire at the palace’s Hall of Exuberance which houses the royal family’s ancestors’ tablets. He is hailed as a loyal hero for saving those tablets from being burned.

Dong Shi

Dong Shi is the current Royal Advisor to the Emperor. He is an alchemist and in charge of the Emperor’s medications. Dong Shi was a pupil of Chu Yue’s biological father. He knows Chu Yue’s secret and they are close friends.

Prince Ning

Prince Ning is the Emperor and Noble Consort Su’s son. This makes him Lord Su’s nephew and Nan Nan’s cousin. Prince Ning can be arrogant but comical. He is often bullied by Na Xi.

Uncle Liao

Uncle Liao is a mysterious old man who is being hunted down because he possesses half of a book passed down by Chu Yue’s father.

Tang Ben

Tang Ben is a subordinate of a man in a cape. He belongs to a tribe that are mercenaries. He does the man’s bidding as he has been poisoned and relies on him for the antidote.

Synopsis

Chu Yue is a princess who has fallen out of favor with the Emperor who also happens to be her adopted father. She hides a secret which very few people know. Chu Yue cannot sleep during the night because she will dream dreams that could predict the future. This is due to a special birthstone that got embedded in her when she was a kid. If she tries to change the situation predicted by her dream, she will transform into an animal. Chu Yue has done that 10 times and are left with only 2 chances before she would die.

Xue Yao is a powerful general who has just returned triumphant from a war with Xi Zhao. The Emperor decreed him to wed Chu Yue as a means to monitor him while Xue Yao wants to investigate his elder brother’s death. He thinks Chu Yue could be the clue that he needs. Hence, he welcomes the marriage. However, Chu Yue’s adopted brother, Prince Shun, is unhappy over the marriage and is constantly planning to take Chu Yue away.

With Chu Yue hiding a secret and Xue Yao wanting to find out the truth about his brother’s death, misunderstandings and problems arise. Would they be able to overcome them for a happy ending?

The Sleepless Princess Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

Does The Sleepless Princess have a happy ending? The answer depends on what episode you consider as an ending. In Episode 35 which is supposed to be the last episode, Chu Yue is still in a coma in the last scene. Xue Yao has tears flowing down his cheeks as he carries Chu Yue to the edge of a cliff. That scene closes the drama. So, I guess you can consider it a sad but realistic ending. They are together and he cares for her but she is just sleeping throughout their days. Is Xue Yao thinking of jumping off the cliff with her is anybody’s guess.

However, if you watch the extra episode, then you will see Chu Yue waking up in his arms and The Sleepless Princess would have a happy ending. They live as a loving married couple and traveling around. 4 years later, they even have a son who is being taken care of by Prince Shun who is now the Emperor. Everyone else ends up with their respective partners as expected. Luo Ji proposes to Nan Nan and Prince Ning has married Na Xi who is pregnant. You can check out The Sleepless Princess episode summary for the recap of the whole drama.

Who Is The Man With A Cape?

The caped man is Dong Shi. Concubine Yun was his lover. When the Emperor found out that she had committed adultery, she died and covered for Dong Shi. Hence, Dong Shi wanted to revive her from the dead by using Chu Yue’s birthstone. The assassins were all sent by Dong Shi to capture her alive.

At the same time, he also needed the other half of the book left by Chu Yue’s biological father to learn how to use the birthstone to bring back the dead. That is why he asked Tang Ben to hunt for Uncle Liao who has the remaining of the book. Uncle Liao was a friend of Chu Yue’s biological father. Chu Yue was entrusted to him to bring her to safety but was snatched away by the Emperor’s soldiers while escaping.

Dong Shi also killed Tang Ben who was injured when soldiers swarmed their hiding place. In the last episode, his plan to revive Concubine Yun failed and was arrested.

Why Did Chu Yue Fall Unconscious?

As Dong Shi failed to revive Concubine Yun, he wanted everybody to die together. He released poisonous smoke which caused everyone in the chamber as well as the palace grounds to die. Chu Yue dreamed of her father and asked for his help. She decided to turn back time to pre-empt the incident although she was advised against it. The price she had to pay to use that power was not being able to wake up the next time she falls asleep.

So, Dong Shi never got to release the poisonous gas. Chu Yue underwent her final transformation before she fell into a deep sleep after consummating her relationship with Xue Yao.

Who Was Xue Mu’s Lover?

Xue Mu did not have any lover. He was only secretly in love with Chu Yue and admired her from afar. It was a one-sided love which Chu Yue knew nothing about. Xue Mu wrote the Guan Shan Chronicles for her to read. Although he also penned a letter to describe his feelings, he kept it to himself. Subsequently, Dong Shi took it away when he killed him.

Xue Mu knew about Chu Yue’s secret and had been quietly guarding her whenever she transformed. He also suspected someone was after Chu Yue. On the night of the fire, Chu Yue transformed and ran into the Hall of Exuberance. Xue Mu was guarding her. Dong Shi and his men turned up to try to capture Chu Yue. Xue Mu fought with them which resulted in the candlesticks dropping onto the floor and started the fire. Xue Mu brought Chu Yue out of the hall before going back in again to fight the enemies. Dong Shi killed him by piercing him with his sword before his body is burned by the fire.

Was Tao Yao A Loyal Maid?

Yes, Tao Yao was loyal to Chu Yue all the way to the end. Everything that she did was for Chu Yue’s own good. She died after getting shot by an arrow as she rushed to inform Chu Yue about Dong Shi’s plan to poison everyone in the palace and get her birthstone.

Tao Yao was also secretly in love with Xue Mu and missed him after he died. She initially thought he was always looking at her but knew later that he was actually eyeing Chu Yue. When she died, she is seen meeting Xue Mu again in the next world.

Did Prince Shun Confess To Chu Yue?

No, he never did. Prince Shun has always been in love with Chu Yue but never knew the direction of his feelings until Episode 14. He thought he loves her like a sister but that changed when both of them accidentally consumed aphrodisiac. However, Prince Shun has always been a gentleman with Chu Yue and only wants her to be happy. He knows she only loves Xue Yao and hence, keeps quiet about his own feelings for her. In fact, he was always angry with Xue Yao whenever the latter ended up hurting Chu Yue.

In Episode 33, Prince Shun accepted that he could only love Chu Yue quietly in his heart when she reconciled with Xue Yao. He seemed resigned to fate that his type of longing for Chu Yue will remain a question mark in Episode 35. Although he ends up alone, he has become the Emperor in the epilogue and having a busy time being an uncle and babysitter to Chu Yue and Xue Yao’s son.

How Did Chu Yue’s Father Die?

You can say that he committed suicide because he refused to do anymore prediction for the Emperor. He wanted to save the last prediction for his own daughter. When the Emperor threatened him with a sword, he walked forward and pierced himself with it.

The Emperor then raised Chu Yue as an adopted daughter thinking that she could inherit his father’s ability and role. He was good to her until the birthstone was lost. It got embedded into Chu Yue by accident when she naughtily sneaked into a room where it was kept. It became her secret thereafter.

The Sleepless Princess Review – Worth It!

I know many viewers complain about the ending to The Sleepless Princess but overall, it is a drama that is worthwhile to watch. Furthermore, there is an epilogue in the extra episode that will put to rest all the ambiguities for a firm conclusion. Hence, if you are skipping it because of the ending, then do think twice. However, MGTV has yet to release the extra episode on its YouTube channel at the time of writing. Hopefully, they will release it soon for the benefit of fans.

Why I Find It Worthwhile

There is more to The Sleepless Princess than just romance and yet, the plot is not complicated at all. There is no confusion like what you would see in Dance Of The Phoenix whereby important details are left out. Instead, the story is very easy to follow and it also gives you a certain level of suspense. You will be left guessing who is the bad guy as he is not revealed until Episode 28. At the same time, you would also wonder about the story on Xue Yao’s brother. There is a twist there which is unexpected to me. But it is also why it makes the drama more interesting as the plot is not as predictable as I thought it would be.

Furthermore, I find the pacing is good overall. The story moves along smoothly. It doesn’t feel dragged out unlike And The Winner Is Love whereby the drama becomes bogged down by long-winded conversations and a lacklustre romance. While there is a push and pull cycle in Xue Yao and Chu Yue’s relationship due to misunderstandings and doubts, I think their chemistry and heartfelt moments more than make up for the repetitiveness.

Chemistry

Personally, I prefer this pairing than the one Zheng Ye Cheng had with Zhao Lu Si in Love Of Thousand Years. Perhaps it is because I like Chu Yue’s character more as she is a cute and cheerful princess unlike Qin Chuan with a lot on her shoulders in Love Of Thousand Years. Nevertheless, whether you prefer one or the other, I think Zheng Ye Cheng and Hu Yi Xuan still did put up a respectable performance to make the pairing oozing with chemistry. When the scenes are supposed to be sweet, they made them incredibly so with their expressions and loving touches.

For the heartfelt moments, the tears just flowed for the leads. They can certainly break viewers’ hearts with their crying skills and anguish over the obstacles in their relationship. Both the leads look good together and make a compatible on-screen couple.

My Verdict

I would give The Sleepless Princess review a score of 8/10. The last episode is a bit rushed to me as the ending for certain characters are not properly accounted for. It is good that they came up with the extra episode to satisfy viewers. Otherwise, this romance drama might well be cursed for its unsatisfactory ending after an enjoyable ride throughout. So, whether you are after a sad or happy ending, I suppose you will get to see both with that last episode followed by that special epilogue.

Overall, this drama has suspense, friendship, sibling love, and romance. There are also some comedic scenes. It is a good mixture that prevents the drama from becoming a bore. Of course, there are plot holes and the ups and downs of the couple’s relationship can be infuriating. They will be happy one moment and then a crisis will split them up again. But just like Here To Heart, the sizzling chemistry of the leads saves the drama and pulls it up a notch rather than ending up as an average production.

In conclusion, watch The Sleepless Princess for the romance that contains both sweet and bitter moments. You can get diabetes watching the sweetness of the couple but it will also be heart-wrenching when they face obstacles. Basically, it will touch your heart as you follow the couple’s story. The added bonus is watching Zheng Ye Cheng in his general role. He fits it to a tee with his good looks and aura!