Female Prime Minister 《女相》 - Chen Xiao, Zhao Li Ying, Yang Rong

[Ransi]

I really liked how Dan Niang's death was filmed. I felt like that scene was one of the most poignant in the entire series.

Agreed! I think that was the only touching moment in the drama? I wasn't even that fond of her character and yet still almost cried at the way she died. The heroics were definitely unanticipated.

Chen Xiao as Gao Zhan is handsome as sin but his performance is underwhelming compared to his interpretation of Lin Pingzhi. His character is a lot more interesting when he is not being lovey dovey with Lu Zhen or trying to make her forgive him for whatever he did. He is most appealing when he is trying to protect or defend her rather than when he is actually being happy with her. As a couple they are very compatible but their many scenes quickly starts to pale in comparison to any scene that moves the plot away from them.

Chen Xiao's performance as Lin Pingzhi was definitely what led me to watch this drama. Somehow, his performance as Gao Zhan just seemed awkward. I'm not sure if this is due to the directing, but a lot of his actions and expressions seemed somehow out of place. This could just be me, but I felt that some of his expressions seemed somehow anachronistic as well and almost too contemporary.

I also think the same about his scenes with Lu Zhen. It got to the point where in the final scenes of the series, where they were in some sort of rainbow-colored dreamscape, almost seemed like a mocking reminder of how overly saturated and generic their romance was throughout the series.

[Surferket]

Anyone knows where was the external palace scene shot? Looks better than The Forbidden Palace in Beijing.

[quyenann]

All I can think of is Yun Zhong Ge and Ling Ge Ge

[happyswallow]

All I can think of is Yun Zhong Ge and Ling Ge Ge

That's what I felt originally too! But, seeing the rest of the cast makes me feel a lot better about not having these two be the OTP for YZG. Given ZLY and CX's popularity as a couple since this drama aired, it's almost guaranteed Yu Zheng will be casting them again soon. He'd be stupid not to.

[yannlc]

Sorry this translation took so long! I was terribly busy at work.

We are at Chapter 47 where Lu Zhen receives from Gao Zhan, the clay that she is looking for to make her porcelin. She rushes to inspect the cave and discovers that the clay is piled up on the cave floor and was about to ask why when the cave collapses.

Translated scenes for Shen Jia Yan

Chapter 47: In danger

Unexpectedly the instance I said so, the cave started to shake, following which, the beams supporting the roof of the cave started to split. A huge heap of rock and earth buried her, she only felt darkness pass her eyes and lost consciousness immediately. Unaware of how much time passed before she regain consciousness, unsure of what was crushing the body making her unable to budge, her chest felt smothered and was powerless to breathe, however her left hand felt icy but was swaying lightly.

Following on, a familiar voice could be heard: “Lu Zhen, Lu Zhen, I am Shen Jia Yan, wake up!”

She tried opening her mouth but felt no energy, she didn’t even have the energy to open her eyes. At this moment, an icy cold liquid splashed onto her face, she instinctively tried to suck in a breathe. Immediately, intense pain from her whole body came forth, Lu Zhen moan softly, following which a surprised voice called out “Heard a sound, superior Lu is still alive!”

After that, she felt somewhere on her body a tiny spot beginning to slacken, she narrowed her eyes, completely lacking the strength to budge. Unaware of how much time had passed, she suddenly felt it was no longer that dark before her eyes. A trace of light was steadily coming in, she tried hard to open her eyes but realised that she could not produce a single ounce of strength to do so.

Am I really going to die? Lu Zhen’s mind generated despair, her past whistled passed in her brain.

Dad sighed: “ If only you were a boy…”

Du Shi Yi looked at her sternly: “To become a government official through talent, what kind of great service are you capable off?’

Gao Yan said surprisingly: “If you can turn what you said into reality, this will be of great help to our country!’

Lastly, the image of Gao Zhan floated before her eyes, his hands touching her, whispering into her ears ‘Shall not betray this pining desire ’

‘Shall not betray this pining desire…’

Gao Zhan…

The person outside was Shen Jia Yan, overjoyed after hearing Lu Zhen’s voice, he immediately rushed his subordinates to move the debris. His voice started to panic: ‘You hurry up, move those stones away!’

The subordinates dared not neglect the orders, following the miners, using their utmost effort, the pieces of stones were moved quickly. Just when it looked like they were going to succeed, a problem that they didn’t think of arose. There was a huge boulder crushing on Lu Zhen’s body. If you were to solely use the weight of a log of wood, it would be impossible to move the boulder. Moreover, Shen Jia Yan dared not act rashly, if the log of wood were to break, Lu Zhen would have to suffer another round of shock. When that time comes, it would not bod well for her.

Just when he was panicking, he heard someone yell “Crown Prince has arrived!”

He immediately turned his head and saw Gao Zhan’s hurried figure: “How is it?”

“Doesn’t look encouraging. The log of wood cannot withstand the weight of that huge boulder.” Shen Jia Yan answered truthfully.

Gao Zhan walked towards Lu Zhen’s side, looking at her tiny face that had change beyond recognition.Taking in a breathe of cool air, his heart too distressed “Lu Zhen, Lu Zhen, I am coming!”

Seeing the state of confusion Gao Zhao was in, Shen Jia Yan calmed down instead, “She just fainted, she cannot hear you.” Hearing what Shen Jia Yan said, Gao Zhan took a long around, Gao Zhan was right, the situation did not look good. He could not refrain from beating at the cave ferociously. Earlier, he still swore to himself that he would protect her, but in a split second, he permitted her to face such danger, recollecting that he was the one who delivered the clay into her hands, Gao Zhan wished he could suffer in Lu Zhen’s place.

Shen Jia Yan hurried pulled him and warned: “Don’t move! The wooden supports here are very fragile, if they too were to break, you would be buried here too.”

Gao Zhan looked in desperation at Lu Zhen’s motionless body, saying weakly; “Let it break then, if she cannot be rescued, what is the meaning of me living?”

Shen Jai Yan looked at Lu Zhen resolutely and suddenly answered : “ok, I shall accompany you.” Gao Zhan suspiciously raised his head ‘What do you mean?’

Shen Jia Yan pointed his sword and explained ; “See that thing? That was the original wooden beam that was supporting the boulder, if I was to get someone to break that wooden beam, there is an 80% chance that this cave will most likely continue to collapse, but there is a 20% chance that boulder would also move to the side. I had originally hoped to rescue Lu Zhen myself before the cave collapsed , but now, are you willing to help?’

Gao Zhan immediately understood Shen Jia Yan’s meaning, he was gambling, using his life to gamble, taking two lifes to gamble for a 50% chance of hope, success would mean being alive together, failure would mean three lives would be buried here together. Gao Zhan knew that he could absolutely accomplished what he set out to do (ie to die trying to save Lu Zhen) but it was unexpected for Shen Jia Yan to do so…

Gao Zhan’s heart was moved(1), ‘Shen Jia Yan, she is my woman.’

Shen Jia Yan evaded this comment and asked faintly: ‘I asked you, do you want to save her?’

Gao Zhan looked into his eyes and then looked at the almost lifeless Lu Zhen, and resolutely nodded: ‘Rescue!’

End of Translation

(1) the words are '心一动' so i translated as above but i dont think Gao Zhan was 'moved' by Shen Jia Yan's actions. if you consider the statement he uttered. He sounded jealous...

This scene is pivotal for me. For me, it highlighted the character differences between the 2 men. As a reader, I would choose Shen Jia Yan over Gao Zhan. I think this scene also demonstrates how the TV adaption has watered down Shen Jia Yan’s role.

[swtaznlaydee]

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[Surferket]

You can watch the whole series in good quality here:

http://tv.letv.com/zt/luzhen/index.shtml

[Suet Seung]

Just got around to starting this series. I hope it's good. Oh, wow, I didn't realize Maggie Cheung Ho Yee is also in here with Liu Xue Hua (tough no surprise on Ms. Liu).

[yooong7]

Hi all, i'm currently watching this series on dvd, but the subtitle is on and off.
May i ask u at eps 52 of 59, why lu zhen promoted directly to third level minister from fifth level? She never at fourth level?
I wonder what colour of her outfit at fourth level.
I really love lu zhen costumes in this series. 8th until 3th level had fabulous colour with korean-tasted style. As well as gao zhan's robe, he got many outfits and all is adorable. Thumbs up for this series outfits designer. Nice Job !

[thisisablackout]

I finished this drama in early June, and I found it to be pretty decent. I was excited when it came out, but only because I have been wanting to watch it and CX ever since I finished watching XAJH. I feel like the drama revolved too much around GZ and LZ's relationship and less of the rest of the story. Even though I liked the drama, I feel like CX's performance was not as good as his was as LPZ. But I'm sure that's only because my expectations were too high. In my world, CX will always be LPZ, and though this drama was enjoyable, it was forgettable.

[thisisablackout]

Agreed! I think that was the only touching moment in the drama? I wasn't even that fond of her character and yet still almost cried at the way she died. The heroics were definitely unanticipated.



Chen Xiao's performance as Lin Pingzhi was definitely what led me to watch this drama. Somehow, his performance as Gao Zhan just seemed awkward. I'm not sure if this is due to the directing, but a lot of his actions and expressions seemed somehow out of place. This could just be me, but I felt that some of his expressions seemed somehow anachronistic as well and almost too contemporary.

I also think the same about his scenes with Lu Zhen. It got to the point where in the final scenes of the series, where they were in some sort of rainbow-colored dreamscape, almost seemed like a mocking reminder of how overly saturated and generic their romance was throughout the series.

I agree! Dan Niang's death definitely came as a surprise for me because it was very unlike her character to perform such a mature and heroic action. And yup, CX's LPZ was his best performance up to date.

[iheartsoftware]

I am very late to the party, but i recently saw the cantonese version of the female prime minister posted on this site for download, but sadly that site got cancelled:
http://www.tvbmediahub.com/

does anybody here knows, where else I could find the cantonese eps for download?
I cannot understand mandarin, and i dont want to watch the show subbed.
thank you!

[Ryofu]

Are there any other good shows like this one?

[Dmm19]

I finally got around to watching this and despite the trademark shitty dialogues characteristic of Yu Zheng productions, I found myself really enjoying this a lot. Can honestly say I am addicted and although I tend to skip with a lot of draggy series, which certain parts of this series are guilty of - I have managed to watch every second and anticipated every episode.

First off, I love everything about the character of Lu Zhen - she is resilient, capable, and intelligent as she can be naive, stubborn and cunning, but at end of the day her heart is still in the right place no matter how she doesn't hesitate to punish or get back at those who have wronged her. Above all, she is fair and has a good sense of who deserves what. I especially like that she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty (within reason) because the other person truly deserved it (usually for something they did to her anyway) and she doesn't mope over it too much.
Best part is she is pretty consistent about that from beginning to end though her naivety also landed her some growing pains which only seasoned her political sense. Inexperience seems to be the only thing that has ever held her back from doing or being that much more. For those reasons, her character seems real and not one dimensional, which is why she is a heroine I feel many can relate to.

As for the actress herself Zhao Liying is just cute as a button, and has very appropriate acting chops makes Lu Zhen that much more likable. I love how she did not overact for her first female lead role (although some of the many fight scenes between Gao Zhan & Lu Zhen were guilty of that.. probably not the actors' fault though)
Definitely can see why Chen Xiao x Zhao Liying was all the OTP craze when this series aired. Their chemistry is great for the most part (though inconsistent at times) but the spark is always there between these two beauties. After watching them, I refuse to believe nothing happened between these two off screen. There must have been some kind of attraction even though their relationship never went beyond rumors.


Anyway I love watching Lu Zhen work her way up the ranks and all the scenes as she did her job in the various departments. This aspect was in balance with the love story, neither overshadowing the other. Her friendship with the Emperor was also another I enjoyed and remained platonic. Interesting enough, Gao Zhan is the one who gets all the love in the drama as it seems like almost every other female is charmed by him, which really makes things annoying as the handful of main/supporting characters who are gaga over him are annoying themselves as it is. On the other hand, Gao Zhan only has one real love rival when it's the other way around- his good buddy General Shen Jiayan, but by comparison Shen Jiayan is legitimately a good character who is not annoying and would've been a great guy for Lu Zhen if Gao Zhan was out of the picture, and she does seem to realize that.
This series doesn't even make it a competition between Gao Zhan and Shen Jiayan since OTP is pretty clear-cut at this point and hence no love triangle, but I wouldn't have minded one to make things even more interesting and wish they explored his character a little bit more (saying this because I love Shen Jiayan's character and wanted him to have bit more game than that lol).