Secret History of Kang Xi Emperor 《康熙秘史》 - Xia Yu,wallace Zhong,Hu Jing

[LiYuanZhi]

You know, 90% of the people who watch this series ends up falling in love with Wallace... he's so gorgeous and talented!

But I also really like Hu Jing in this series... especially her transformation, from the daughter of a powerful court official, when she's bold, rash, but loyal, to someone who's lost so much, and becomes serene and wise, to the accepting, talented 'cai nu' she becomes 10 years later.

And Hu Jing is totally absolutely gorgeous in the beautiful costumes in this series.

Together, those two sort of make up for the crapness that was the plot and script.

[yanfeng]

I'm 100% behind that statement about Wallace: NLRR is an incredibly charming and poetic character, add Wallace's ability to give melting glances, and yet to look stauchly brave and decisive, and it all reminds me of a Hamlet quote:
" What a piece of work is a man. How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel,
in apprehension how like a god!"

[sunnysnow]

Chaerim actually has a pretty small role here- as the empress who's quite possessive, but also a relatively kind person underneathe. She is at the heart of one of the political struggles between her family and the family of NLRR who, of course, support NLRR's cousin to be the Emperor's favorite (and bearer of the crown prince). She did a reasonable good job, but she was definitely not given as much screen time as the cousin or Qin Ge-er.

Not sure who the cousin is (sorry don't recall her name) but she is NLRR's childhood love and who NLRR continues to care for all the his life. She is actually super accomplished lady and fits NLRR to the T.

click to show/hide spoilers

The cousin eventually is forced to become Kangxi's concubine and she actually uses her talents and wisdom to help Kangxi think through his problems- becoming one of Kangxi's favorite. She is even the first to bear Kangxi a son, though her son dies almost immediately due to poisoning from the Empress' relatives.

She loved NLRR dearly and fought entering the palace with all her might, but she came to accept her fate, and try to help NLRR from Kangxi's side.

That sounds weird. Series aside, the one who bore Kangxi his first child (who died soon after), as well as his first and only crown prince was Kangxi's first empress. I remember she was called Fang'er in "Shao Nian Tian Zi" (a series about Kangxi's youth) and was a very intelligent and capable woman who came from one of the powerful manchurian clans.

Seems like they made up another character in here with the empress's traits/story instead.

Anyway, is Nalan Rong Ruo all dramatic and passionate in here? He was a lovesick maverick in "Yan Hua San Yue", and fell in love with 3 women, who all died. Benny Chan did a rather good job as Rong Ruo in there but im extremely interested in seeing Wallace's portrayal in here as well. Just that I heard a couple of critiques about the plot/story for this series sometime ago and was hesitant on watching it.

[yanfeng]

That sounds weird. Series aside, the one who bore Kangxi his first child (who died soon after), as well as his first and only crown prince was Kangxi's first empress. I remember she was called Fang'er in "Shao Nian Tian Zi" (a series about Kangxi's youth) and was a very intelligent and capable woman who came from one of the powerful manchurian clans.

Seems like they made up another character in here with the empress's traits/story instead.

Actually she does bear Kangxi a crown prince (though, after the death of her first son) and she is a part of a powerful clan, though she didn't get enough screen time for me to tell if she's intelligent and capable.

Anyway, is Nalan Rong Ruo all dramatic and passionate in here? He was a lovesick maverick in "Yan Hua San Yue", and fell in love with 3 women, who all died. Benny Chan did a rather good job as Rong Ruo in there but im extremely interested in seeing Wallace's portrayal in here as well. Just that I heard a couple of critiques about the plot/story for this series sometime ago and was hesitant on watching it.

He is dramatic at times, though all the characters tend to be (I gather its a Mi Shi series characteristic).

I'm actually a fan of only this of the 4 mi shi serials, mostly because I'm not a Steve Ma fan (find him a tad over-acting) but have become a fan of Wallace. If you're interested in the NLRR character, then this is a good series for you to watch. He and Kangxi really do have an interesting love-hate sort of relationships here!

Not sure what people dislike about the plot- I guess never having seen another historic drama about Kangxi I don't know what's inconsistent with historical records!

[LiYuanZhi]

Chaerim here plays Kang Xi's first queen- "He She Li". She's the grandaughter of Suo Ni, who is the leader of the 'si da shou fu da chen' (four court officials whom Kang Xi's father asked to support Kang Xi when he was still young). This series starts wih the death of Suo Ni, and then the other three remaining officials fight to be the leading official. Apparently she was a very good queen, and Kang Xi respected her and loved her very much. She died giving birth to the crown prince (who is the second brother; Hui Fei- the cousin concubine- having borne the eldest surviving son), and as a demonstration of the love (or at least respect) to her, Kang Xi named her son as his successor basically from the time he was a baby. I think Kang Xi's feelings for her are evident by the love and tolerance he showed towards her son, who really wasn't a very good crown prince, but Kang Xi gave him so many chances to change. But ultimately, that was not to be, and he was ultimately locked away. But yeah, 'er fei er li tai zi' (he was twice crowned as the successor to Kang Xi, but had the title removed twice). Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that Kang Xi really really loved this son, which was why he was so indecisive when it came to whether keeping him as his successor, and this is at least partly to do with his love for the mother. (btw, this isn't in the series at all, I'm just talking history here)

And as to the bad plot I was referring to, it wasn't just about not being accurate to history (because let's face it, none of the Mi Shi series are very historically accurate at all), but mostly because a lot of the plot is illogical (for example, NLRR saying to his cousin that she will be the only one he will ever love, and then the next episode saying to QGE that he needs her in his life and that without her, he became an empty shell without a soul). And the dialogue is pretty dodgy too.

[sunnysnow]

Actually she does bear Kangxi a crown prince (though, after the death of her first son) and she is a part of a powerful clan, though she didn't get enough screen time for me to tell if she's intelligent and capable.

Oh! Pardon me, I thought u were referring to the cousin character in your previous post

Chaerim here plays Kang Xi's first queen- "He She Li". She's the grandaughter of Suo Ni, who is the leader of the 'si da shou fu da chen' (four court officials whom Kang Xi's father asked to support Kang Xi when he was still young). This series starts wih the death of Suo Ni, and then the other three remaining officials fight to be the leading official. Apparently she was a very good queen, and Kang Xi respected her and loved her very much. She died giving birth to the crown prince (who is the second brother; Hui Fei- the cousin concubine- having borne the eldest surviving son), and as a demonstration of the love (or at least respect) to her, Kang Xi named her son as his successor basically from the time he was a baby. I think Kang Xi's feelings for her are evident by the love and tolerance he showed towards her son, who really wasn't a very good crown prince, but Kang Xi gave him so many chances to change. But ultimately, that was not to be, and he was ultimately locked away. But yeah, 'er fei er li tai zi' (he was twice crowned as the successor to Kang Xi, but had the title removed twice). Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that Kang Xi really really loved this son, which was why he was so indecisive when it came to whether keeping him as his successor, and this is at least partly to do with his love for the mother. (btw, this isn't in the series at all, I'm just talking history here)

Yeah I've known about this part in history from various film adaptations on Kangxi's life though there's usually little emphasis given to his first empress probably because she died very young, though she's been written and portrayed in history as a capable woman who Kangxi respected alot.

[Lady Zhuge]

You know, 90% of the people who watch this series ends up falling in love with Wallace... he's so gorgeous and talented!

...and the other 10% are straight men.

I finally started watching this series. It's interesting to see Ao Bai "humanized" and painted in a relatively positive light compared to other series I've seen. The actor who plays him, Du Yu Lu, played Nalan Ming Zhu in Yan Hua San Yue.

Nalan Xing De's cousin is Nalan Hui Er, played by Shi Xiao Qun. I'm kind of glad the cousins aren't able to be together in that way. Hopefully she'll eventually fall for Kang Xi and Xing De will end up with Qing Ge Er.

[yanfeng]

But I also really like Hu Jing in this series... especially her transformation, from the daughter of a powerful court official, when she's bold, rash, but loyal, to someone who's lost so much, and becomes serene and wise, to the accepting, talented 'cai nu' she becomes 10 years later.

And Hu Jing is totally absolutely gorgeous in the beautiful costumes in this series.

Together, those two sort of make up for the crapness that was the plot and script.

Couldn't agree more! Hu Jing's growth as a person was lovely to watch- specially toward the end when she leaves the capital... her gift for NLRR in the parting scene was very touching and 'grown up' of her, and even when she was far from the capital she still worked hard for the people and the government. (She is beautiful in her costumes... she really did make the other women in the show look almost drab! )

Wallace Chung and Hu Jing have great chemistry too- the sort when you first see them on the screen together, you immediately want them to end up with each other!

[Thuy Lan Khoai Lang]

PLEASE, is there an english version of this drama ? ENGLISH SUBS, help ! I feel already hooked !