Currently Watching: The Long Ballad
A drama about court politics with love, comedy, and tragedy. Are you considering whether to watch this new drama?
WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS!
C-Drama: The Court Lady | |
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Where to Watch: Genres: Airing Schedule: Airing Dates: # of Episodes: | Viki, Hanyu Ent (Youtube), On Demand Historical, Romance, Life Thursday, Friday, Saturday April 15 to May 23 (2021) 55 |
Synopsis
A story of a Duke's son and a merchant's daughter.
Sheng Chu Mu is the son of the Duke of Lu and was the number one playboy in the city. On the other hand, Fu Rou is a merchant's daughter, who is skilled at embroidery. In order to gain Fu Rou's hand in marriage, Sheng Chu Mu decided to become better a man and starts learning war techniques and martial arts while letting go of his previous lifestyle as a playboy. However, soon, Fu Rou was sent into the palace and needs to survive through court related politics, while Sheng Chu Mu became a general and has to deal with his family's enemy: the family of Duke of Cai.
While the two of them are attempting to find a way to be together, the court is unsteady. The Empress does not have long to live and wants to stabilize the Crown Prince's position. The Crown Prince starts to doubt people around him, including his biological brother, Prince Han, and falls into several schemes. Each court lady tries to protect her own husband at the cost of friendship with others. As Fu Rou and Sheng Chu Mu rise in ranks, the court plot becomes thicker and thicker. Even the smallest, unseeingly death becomes important, and the story turns from comedy & romance to schemes & trust.
Important!
This drama can be classified into two parts.
The First Half is more focused on Sheng Chu Mu and Fu Rou's romance, where they are attempting to get together through several obstacles, such as Fu Rou's new identity as someone working in the palace, and Chu Mu's higher-status family. This section is also where Fu Rou rises in ranks to become Directress Fu, Sheng Chu Mu becomes a general, and the conflict between the Duke of Lu family and the Duke of Cai family.
The Second Half is more focused on the Crown Prince and court/palace politics. This section is also where the main characters start getting more involved in the political and war side, and the drama turns into something more serious and is a complete tragedy. ~currently still ongoing~
Characters
Side note: Although there are a lot of side characters, it is definitely not to the point that it is overly confusing!
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| Sheng Chu Mu (Actor: Xu Kai) | Fu Rou (Actor: Li Yi Tong) |
| Sheng Chu Mu is the eldest son of the Duke of Lu with two younger brothers and an elder sister. He went from a playboy to a skilled general, and from only caring about love to caring about the country. | Fu Rou is the daughter of a merchant with two other sisters and one brother. She is skilled at weaving and embroidery. With high intelligence, she moved up the ranks as Directress Fu. |
Royal Family | ||
Emperor  | Empress  | Crown Prince  |
Consort Yan  | Prince Zhou  | Prince Han  |
Princess Xin Nan  | Prince Liang  | Grand Emperor  |
Duke of Lu Family | Duke of Cai Family |
Sheng Xiao Jing (father of Sheng Chu Mu)  | Lu Yun Ji  |
Sheng Chu Jun & Chu Lin (brothers of Chu Mu)  | Lu Qi (son of Yun Ji)  |
Consort Han (sister of Sheng Chu Mu)  | Lu Ying Ying (daughter of Yun Ji)  |
The Fu Family | |
Fu Tao (brother of Fu Rou)  | Fu Yin (sister of Fu Rou)  |
Themes
Here are some things to look forward to and to be aware of before watching. Therefore, the following can be both positive and negative, depending on personal preferences of certain themes in dramas.
Family
The Sheng Family (Duke of Lu Family) The family consists of Sheng Xiao Jing (Duke of Lu) and his wife, they have four children: Consort Han, Sheng Chu Mu, Sheng Chu Lin, and Sheng Chu Jun. The six of them have an amazing relationship, and despite occasional disagreements, they are also supportive and encouraging to each other. These characters also bring comedy into the drama. The picture on the right is the four siblings together when Sheng Chu Mu returned home. |  |
| The Lu Family (Duke of Cai Family) The family consists of Lu Yun Ji (Duke of Cai), Lu Qi, and Lu Yingying among other relatives. Lu Yun Ji is the father of Lu Qi and Lu Yingying. Although Lu Yun Ji and Lu Qi have done their fair share of illegal things, both of them always want the best for Lu Yingying with any cost. Similarly, Lu Yingying does her best in protecting her family as well. | The Fu Family The family counts as a minor family, but the Fu Family includes several critical characters to the plot: Fu Yin, Fu Tao, and Fu Rou. Their relationship with each other is pretty strong, especially after an unfortunate fire incident. Although they fought previously for position in the family, they have become tighter after the first few episodes. |
| The Royal Family The relationship in the royal family counts towards both good and bad. The Empress has three sons and one daughter, including the Crown Prince, Prince Han, and Princess Xin nan, whereas the only other main consort is Consort Yan, whose son is Prince Zhou. For the first half of the drama, each of the characters in the royal family have a relatively good relationship, but after somewhat outside forces start to influence the Crown Prince around the middle of the drama, there starts to be doubt. | |
Romance of Side Characters: Side Couples
| Prince Han and Consort Han Although Prince Han has other consorts, he pays no attention to them, and despite the Empress's wish to replace Consort Han, Prince Han is also firmly with Consort Han. Prince Han has a good relationship with his in-laws. |  |
 | Yan Zi Fang and Lu Ying Ying Lu Ying Ying falls in love first. However, Lu Ying Ying's father killed Yan Zi Fang's family, so there remains hatred. After some family issues, Lu Ying Ying marries Prince Liang, and it remains to be seen how their relationship goes. |
| Lu Qi and Fu Yin Fu Yin's mother is killed by Lu Qi, and she initially enters his manor for revenge. It just so happens that she starts falling in love with him, becomes his consort, and he falls in love with her as well. They eventually also have a baby together. |  |
 | Sheng Chu Lin and Princess Xin Nan This is a really cute couple with several secret meetings in the garden. Although he is from the Duke of Lu family, Chu Lin is the second born, so there is a big difference in class, especially since Xin Nan is the Empress's daughter. |
| Crown Prince and Crown Princess In the beginning, the Crown Prince disliked the Crown Princess, but eventually, they came to be together. This mighty couple is easily influenced by others, and the Crown Princess does a lot of wrong things for the Crown Prince out of love. |  |
 | Sheng Chu Jun and Sun Ling Wei Both of them were innocent to politics in the beginning and live in their romance. However, Sun Ling Wei is the Crown Princess's sister, and it so happens that the Crown Princess is targeting Chu Jun's family, so complications occur. |
Notes:
Strong Emotions: This is a key drama for those who are currently in a drama slump. During this drama, it is highly likely that you will meet characters that you wish a horrible, terrible death. Sometimes, you might even feel extremely frustrated for the not-very-smart move certain characters make or the wrong-yet-obvious choices they make. With comedy in the beginning and a serious turn towards the end, this is an ideal drama that covers several genres and invokes strong emotions.
Screen Time: Arguably, the side characters have more screen time than the main characters.
What are your thoughts? Will you be watching this drama?
