The Twin Flower Legend Review

Boy, am I glad to finally finished with The Twin Flower Legend (长相守)! This is a long drama with 60 episodes in total. Frankly speaking, it is very hard to describe how I feel about this drama in a few words. I can understand why many people drop this halfway through. But I can also relate to some fans who think this is one of the best costume dramas that they have watched. The bottom line is I won’t go so far as to recommend you not to watch it but you definitely should be warned about what is ahead once you press the play button. The Twin Flower Legend review below will reveal a bit more of the details and my long-winded opinion.

My rating: 6.5/10
Episodes: 60
Type: Romance, Costume
Aired: May 2020
Images Credit: Tencent

The Cast Of The Twin Flower Legend

• Mao Xiao Hui as Hua Mu Jin
• Jim Yu Xiao Tong as Yuan Fei Bai / Sima Ju
• Kenny Kwan Chi Bun as Duan Yue Rong
• Kai Xuan as Hua Jin Xiu
• Chen Zheng Yang as Song Ming Lei
• Yang Yi as Yao Bi Ying
• Zhang Yi Long as Yu Fei Yan
• Huang Jue as Duke Yuan Qing Jiang
• Yang Yu Ting as Madam Lian
• Qiang Chuan as Yuan Fei Qing
• Yuan Zi Yi as Yuan Fei Yan
• Li Hao Bin as Yuan Fei Jue
• Li Yan Ming as Qi Fang
• Lin Shen as Duke Zhang Zhi Yan
• Norman Chui Siu Keung as Premier Dou Ying Hua
• Zhang Jia Yue as Ming Feng Qing

Main Characters

Hua Mu Jin

Mu Jin is the daughter of a sage named Hua Bin. She is a very intelligent and insightful woman who is able to outsmart others by thinking a few steps ahead. She also has a very sharp business mind. When she was young, she had great interests in strategies and inventions. Mu Jin has a kind and pure heart. Her fraternal twin sister is Jin Xiu. Mu Jin is also the 4th sister in their group of 5 sworn siblings known as Xiao Wu Yi.

Yuan Fei Bai

Fei Bai is the 3rd master of the powerful Yuan family and heads the family’s East Wing with its Yuande Army. He is smart and kind-hearted but leads a quiet and unhappy life. He rarely talks ever since his mother was killed and he became a cripple when he was a kid due to revenge by the family’s enemy. Fei Bai is also his father’s favorite son. He has an identical elder twin brother in Sima Ju.

Hua Jin Xiu

Jin Xiu is Mu Jin’s younger twin sister. She possesses a pair of purple eyes that some people deemed as a bad omen. Jin Xiu was more active than Mu Jin and liked playing with swords when young. She experiences a lot of bitterness and unfairness in life which gradually change her personality. Jin Xiu is the 5th sister in Xiao Wu Yi.

Sima Ju

Sima Ju is Fei Bai’s older twin brother and master of the dark palace in which the secret of the cave mine called Purple Mine is buried. He lives among the shadows and cannot be seen as the dark palace is a Yuan family’s secret known only to a select few. Sima Ju is a righteous person and he shares a close bond with Fei Bai.

Duan Yue Rong

Yue Rong is the Crown Prince of Nan Guo but has no actual power. His uncle is the King and keeps a close eye on him to ensure Yue Rong’s father toe the line and doesn’t rebel. Yue Rong is a witty and quick-thinking man. He can also be fun and teasing. While he seems like a playboy, it is his way to appear harmless to his uncle. Yue Rong is a loyal and true friend to Mu Jin.

Song Ming Lei

Ming Lei is a smart man with a talent in strategies. He is the 2nd brother in Xiao Wu Yi. While he appears righteous and tries to protect the people he loves, Ming Lei also carries a secret which tortures his soul.

Yao Bi Ying

Bi Ying is a trustful person who is on the timid side. She also has a kind heart. She is the 3rd sister in Xiao Wu Yi and loves Ming Lei who also seems to treat her well.

Yu Fei Yan

Yu Fei Yan (not to be confused with Yuan Fei Yan) is a strong, big-sized man but with a compassionate heart. He is the eldest brother in Xiao Wu Yi and loves all his sworn siblings. His talent lies in the battle frontlines with his great strength.

Duke Yuan Qing Jiang

Duke Yuan is a powerful warlord whom Emperors see as a threat. He is an ambitious man who is also manipulative and shrewd. He is cautious with a suspicious mind. Duke Yuan also has a few concubines but the one he loves the most is Fei Bai’s mother.

Madam Lian

Madam Lian is Duke Yuan’s official wife. However, he does not have a lot of affections for her. Madam Lian is also the Empress’ sister which makes her protected in many ways. She is an arrogant, fierce, and cruel woman who would not hesitate to harm others to achieve her objectives.

Yuan Fei Qing

Fei Qing is Duke Yuan’s eldest son. He was kept at the royal palace for 10 years supposedly as a playmate for the princes. Fei Qing is not a particularly talented man and is always afraid of losing out to Fei Bai. He controls the Yuan family’s West Wing with its Linde Army. Ming Lei is his trusted subordinate whom he treats as a good friend and brother.

Yuan Fei Yan

Fei Yan is Duke Yuan’s daughter and shares the same mother with Fei Qing. Hence, they are close to each other. Fei Yan is a willful and calculative woman who will resort to unfair means to get the things that she wants. Ming Lei is the love of her life.

Yuan Fei Jue

Fei Jue is another of Duke Yuan’s sons and the 4th master of the Yuan family. His mother is the Queen of Gong Yue and Fei Jue is expected to inherit the throne when the time comes. Fei Jue is young and immature and hence, can be impulsive. He has poor eyesight but a sharp nose. He also has a crush on Mu Jin.

Qi Fang

Qi Fang was a hot-tempered kid who was taken in by Immortal Jingu to be his disciple. He came from the same village as Mu Jin and Jin Xiu and they used to be playmates. Qi Fang is good in martial art and hates corrupted officials.

Duke Zhang Zhi Yan

Duke Zhang rules Jiang Zhou which is a prosperous and strategic state. He is a smart and perceptive man with principles who cares for his people.

Premier Dou Ying Hua

Premier Dou is a ruthless and ambitious man who is also coveting the throne. He is Duke Yuan’s greatest enemy in the fight to gain power in Dong Ting.

Ming Feng Qing

Feng Qing is Ming Lei’s aunt. She is a cruel and cold woman whose only objective is to gain revenge against Duke Yuan who had killed almost all the members of her family many years ago.

Synopsis

Mu Jin and Jin Xiu are fraternal twin sisters. Their father, Hua Bin, was a sage and some people were after him as his knowledge could help them rule the world. He wrote down his knowledge into 2 books and passed them down to Mu Jin with the reminder that they should not be given to hypocrites. One of the books contains military strategies while the other business strategies. Premier Dou came looking for Hua Bin who refused to surrender the books. He killed him and the villagers including Qi Fang’s parents. Mu Jin and Jin Xiu’s mother sacrificed herself to allow a chance for her daughters and Qi Fang to escape. Just before she died, she sold them off to the Yuan family so that they have a chance to live.

Duke Yuan was recruiting kids to be trained up to help him achieve his ambition. Mu Jin and Jin Xiu met Yu Fei Yan, Ming Lei, and Bi Ying who had also been sold to the Yuan family. Together, they became sworn siblings and named their group Xiao Wu Yi. Qi Fang was taken away by Immortal Jingu to be his disciple due to his bad temper.

Many years later, the Xiao Wu Yi kids are now adults and serving the Yuan family in various capacities. Their relationship with each other begins to crack due to untold secrets, misunderstandings, jealousies, and self-survival. Amidst all these is the pain of unrequited love. Gradually, some of them turn ruthless to achieve their personal agendas as they are drawn into the power play among the different factions of the Yuan family.

The Twin Flower Legend Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

The Twin Flower Legend has a happy ending in general. But if you are supporting certain characters like Jin Xiu, then it may be less than satisfying. In the last episode, Fei Bai is installed as the Emperor after his father died. Not long after, he and Mu Jin ditch palace life as they have never coveted the throne. Fei Bai secretly abdicates and gives the throne to Sima Ju. As only a select few know about Sima Ju’s existence, nobody suspects anything amiss. So, Sima Ju rules as Fei Bai.

2 years later, Mu Jin, Fei Bai, Duke Zhang, Qing Mei, and Yu Fei Yan meet up with Yue Rong. They have a plan to establish business all over the world by combining their resources so that they could help the people. Then, it is narrated to the viewers that years later, Emperor Fei Bai dies and Fei Liu succeeds him. Mu Jin with her Jun Mo Wen identity re-appears with Mr. Snow (Fei Bai’s nickname). They use their trade and businesses to help stop wars.

For a detailed recap from start to finish, you can read The Twin Flower Legend episode summary that I have put up.

Did Jin Xiu Die?

No, Jin Xiu did not die despite committing many sins. Emperor Yuan wanted her to die with him but Sima Ju begs Fei Bai to spare her life. So, in the end she is sent back to An Le Temple which has a strict regimen to study scriptures. Jin Xiu doesn’t seem repentant when Sima Ju brings her there. She hates him for what he has done to her and she wants him to remember the pain she has brought him in return.

Jin Xiu has also asked his eldest brother to take care of Fei Liu for her when she was in prison. She wants her young son to forget her as she will only be a burden for him as his mother.

Did Ming Lei Get His Revenge?

Ming Lei is actually a Ming family member. Duke Yuan brought down the Ming family and killed almost all of its members in one night. Hence, revenge was ingrained in him by his aunt who had also saved him back then. Ming Lei was still plotting to kill his father-in-law up to Episode 59. He brings his men into the palace and tries to kill Emperor Yuan but ends up stabbing Fei Yan instead as she shields her father. So, Ming Lei didn’t get to kill him with his own hands. But he plays a part in accelerating Emperor Yuan’s ailing health with his actions that end up hurting Fei Yan.

Although Ming Lei used to love Mu Jin, he is touched by Fei Yan’s undying love and sacrifice for him. That was why he married her and eventually comes to love her towards the end. When Fei Yan finds out what Ming Lei has done and how he has lied to her, she is devastated. She leaves the palace after her father died. Ming Lei searches for her and finds her after a few months. Fei Yan is already pregnant with their child. Ming Lei thought she would hate him but she asks him to stay.

Duke Yuan’s Fate

Duke Yuan did become Emperor after bringing down the Xuan dynasty. He is a responsible ruler but is always wary of threats to his throne. In the end, he only gets to rule for about a year before his health gradually weakens because of Jin Xiu’s poisoning. As Immortal Jingu has predicted, he will only be paving the way for Fei Bai to rule and will never be the true Emperor. Before he dies, he names Fei Bai as the Crown Prince.

While on his deathbed, he tells Fei Bai that Sima Ju should now be allowed out of the dark palace. He also wants Jin Xiu to die with him because he thinks she will cause disaster with her unbridled ambition.

Sima Ju And The Dark Palace

While Sima Ju takes on Fei Bai’s identity to sit on the throne, he is a lonely man who still pines for Jin Xiu. He rules for a number of years before dying of illness and passing the throne to Jin Xiu’s son.

Sima Ju is formerly known as Yuan Fei Dai. When he was 10, he volunteered to be the master of the dark palace to save Fei Bai from having to do the same. The dark palace is a well-kept secret of the Yuan family. Inside the dark palace is a cave mine called the Purple Mine. The dark palace was established by a man surnamed Sima a few generations ago. Together with his sworn brother, surnamed Yuan, they found a treasure in the cave which also contains secrets to be deciphered. The Sima descendants had been studying the secrets for years as masters of the dark palace.

However, when the last of the Sima descendants died, Duke Yuan had to get his son to continue the legacy. He asked Fei Dai and Fei Bai to decide between them who should be the master of the dark palace. Fei Dai volunteered as the elder brother. From then on, Sima Ju was born and Fei Dai no longer existed.

Sima Ju has managed to decipher the secrets of the Purple Mine for a few years already but keeps it hidden from Duke Yuan because he knows it will only bring more wars if revealed. The secret is the mine contains ingredients to make very sharp weapons and he has figured out the formula for it.

Did Yue Rong End Up With Mu Jin?

No, Yue Rong rules Nan Guo alone and did not marry anyone as he only wants Mu Jin to be his Queen. He has said a number of times that Mu Jin is free to go back to him if the Yuan family mistreats her although Mu Jin’s heart lies with Fei Bai whom she eventually marries. The consolation for Yue Rong is he has their adopted daughter, Xi Yan, with him and he has made her his heir.

In the final scene of the last episode, he meets Mu Jin together with Fei Bai again. They are roping him in to join their plan to establish trade and businesses across different countries.

Fei Qing Finds His Niche

Fei Qing becomes a skilled envoy towards the end of The Twin Flower Legend. He realizes that this is what he loves to do rather than commanding an army and fight in battles. While Fei Qing is ambitious in the beginning and wants to bring down Fei Bai to be Duke Yuan’s heir, his thinking gradually changes over time. He is not a ruthless man and does not like killing people. It also worries him to see Ming Lei changes into someone cold and overly ambitious. His wife patiently stands by him although he didn’t love her in the beginning as she was thrust upon him. In the end, they become a sweet couple.

Fei Jue And Bi Ying

Fei Jue’s story ends after the death of Bi Ying and his character is not mentioned again after Episode 43. He inherits the Gong Yue’s throne from his mother and he has a young son with Bi Ying. Fei Jue used to love Mu Jin but lost his memory after knocking his head against a rock. He thought Bi Ying is Mu Jin and married her. Bi Ying also gradually fell in love with him. When Fei Jue regained his memory, he knew he had fallen for Bi Ying although she felt ashamed and guilty for using Mu Jin’s identity. She died when she shielded Fei Jue from being stabbed by her own mother.

Bi Ying’s mother is Ming Feng Qing which makes her part of the Ming family. But she never knew this fact until she had married Fei Jue. She was born out of wedlock and sent to live with foster parents. Within the Ming family, Bi Ying was thought to be Ming Feng Yang’s illegitimate daughter to avoid embarrassment. Ming Feng Yang was Ming Feng Qing’s elder brother and also Ming Lei’s father. That is why Ming Lei treated Bi Ying very well as he thought she was his half-sister while she took it wrongly as romantic interest. Ming Lei kept the truth from Bi Ying to protect her as he didn’t want to drag her into the revenge plot.

The Twin Flower Legend Review – Addictive But Also Frustrating

The Twin Flower Legend can be addictive because the story itself is interesting as viewers follow the lives of the 5 sworn siblings. It starts off very well for the first few episodes as the foundation of the story is laid out. You will be curious as to what will happen to this bunch of kids who were thrown together by fate. However, as the story develops and these kids become adults, it begins to get a little dark for some characters. So, in a way, it is addictive but also frustrating or annoying to watch. For me, I just want to know how it ends which is why I kept watching despite the drama’s many weaknesses.

The Plot

Basically, the themes for the whole drama center around love, revenge, and power struggle. It is nothing new but compared to the usual costume dramas, this one has quite a few characters with their own stories to tell. It is unlike, say, And The Winner Is Love or Ashes Of Love, where the main leads dominate the screen time from start to finish. For The Twin Flower Legend, there are the 5 sworn siblings plus the different members of the Yuan family. Hence, the screen time gets divided among these different characters rather than concentrating mainly on the main couple of Mu Jin and Fei Bai.

While some people would find it interesting to have more characters with their lives being intertwined, the downside is it can give you the feeling that the whole story is one big mess at times. There are quite a few of these A loves B but B loves C kind of scenarios. Add in the layers and layers of misunderstandings and secrets that cannot be told, and you have that big mess that I’m talking about. So, depending on your taste in dramas, The Twin Flower Legend can be addictive and/or plain frustrating to watch.

Acting And Chemistry

The main couple is far from inspiring and the leads lack chemistry. Mao Xiao Hui and Yu Xiao Tong can certainly do better to give us a more convincing couple. I don’t know whether it is because of the nature of the 2 characters or their screen time together as a couple is limited but their interactions are a little stiff to me. So, if you are expecting a Eternal Love Of Dream kind of chemistry for the main couple, you won’t find it in The Twin Flower Legend.

On the other hand, when Mao Xiao Hui and Kenny Kwan interact, their performance is more up to the mark. You can hate Kenny Kwan’s Yue Rong for being clingy but I think he did a better job to draw out the Mu Jin character in Mao Xiao Hui than Yu Xiao Tong was able to do. But then again, Kenny Kwan is a more seasoned actor between the 2 of them.

Lacklustre Performance

On his own, Yu Xiao Tong also fails to give Fei Bai a more commanding on-screen presence. The character lacks aura which makes him a little bland when he is supposed to be the hero. I know Fei Bai is an aloof person but many other actors have managed to give a cold and serious character a bit more depth and personality such as Allen Ren in Under The Power and Mark Chao in Ten Miles Of Peach Blossoms. Maybe Fei Bai has more feminine characteristics compared to the usual heroes but Yu Xiao Tong still fails to deliver in terms of facial expressions and body language.

To me, Kai Xuan is actually interesting to watch in the way she portrayed Jin Xiu. Hers is a character that you should hate but also pity. It is a very conflicting emotion because of her life experience. So, I think she did fairly well to be able to bring up that conflicting aspect of the character.

My Verdict – A Risky Time Investment

If you like dramas with manipulative characters and behind the scenes power plays, then The Twin Flower Legend has plenty of those. And if there is one thing that this drama succeeds in, it is the annoyance that you would feel for certain characters. That could certainly put you off and make you drop this drama halfway through. But as mentioned, this drama has quite a few more main characters than usual. This means you could concentrate on those you like to make you watch until the end. Moreover, everyone’s life seems to be affecting one another in the overall scheme of things in the drama and that will push you to want to know the ending for all these different characters. That is also how I soldiered on and finished all the 60 episodes.

What Could Possibly Annoy Viewers

Different people would react differently to what they see on-screen. But there are quite a few issues that could possibly put viewers off. Firstly, Fei Bai’s eye makeup is overdone. It takes some getting used to for me to watch this character with the way they had styled him. Secondly, the plot is messy. So, you can’t skip episodes or you may find it rather confusing. Thirdly, the chemistry of the main couple and their acting leave a lot to be desired. Lastly, certain characters’ behavior will be grating on your nerves but that is how the plot goes.

Personally, I would only give a rating of 6.5/10 for The Twin Flower Legend review. I think it could have been a very compelling drama like Legend Of Fuyao and The Untamed if only the producers streamlined the story a bit more and give it a better cast. More thought should also have been done on how to project certain characters to viewers. If the behavior of the heroine is already debatable, it would naturally be hard for the drama to have a high level of acceptance among viewers. Therefore, as it is, The Twin Flower Legend simply fails to draw in enough viewers who would care to give it a good review.

The conclusion I can give you is this drama is risky to invest your time in. The fact that it is 60 episodes long makes it more daunting. I wouldn’t say it is unwatchable but you will need to stomach a lot of bad parts along the way. If you can do that, then The Twin Flower Legend will be pretty addictive. Otherwise, I can bet you that you will drop this after 10 episodes or so.