Legend of ZhenHuan [Book 2]

These little pics for book characters are definitely not accurate, but I'm working with a small pool so forgive me :)
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[@saadwaqar3851]

Am I the only one who can’t wait to devour these

[@yuiopajeipotatoes85]

Nah, I be waiting too🤣

[@zoequackenbush8087]

I’m here too!!🎉

[@parriekeet5511]

The TV series is much better than the book

[@UTAU53Yui]

I was afraid it would be another YEAR before you posted a book recap, your quick and careful work is SERIOUSLY appreciated!!!!!! You ate this video and SO DID I

[@dramarecaps4217]

Lmaooo I feel like you guys are always waiting for me to disappear 😂 I've gotta build your trust back up!

[@lizzie_b]

I love to know what happens in the book and compare it to the tv show...sometimes I think it's good to cut parts out; but then I see your recaps and say ''WHY 😩did they leave that character or scene out''?? 😅 I always go back and forth....thank you for making these videos 💜💜💜

[@dramarecaps4217]

It would have been cool to see Zhenhuan's brother for sure! Really makes LingRong's story more interesting :)

[@lizzie_b]

@@dramarecaps4217 Oh yes, for sure...I always thought her character didn't fully develop until after she aligned herself with the Empress.

[@reply514]

I feel like in the show Zhen Huan and An Ling Rong just slowly drifted apart because of how hard palace life is and misunderstandings especially with how low her self esteem is but the book just adds more heartbreak with this brother plot line. They really could've been happy in laws in another life if it wasn't for the emperor choosing them. :(((

[@LisaDeeCanada]

Nian never learns - she and her brother are just too over the top. She reminds me a lot of the Korean concubine in Ruyi's Love in the Palace. Both of them have this evil drawl. The funny thing is that Nian was so sweet and gentle in the series Ode toJoy.

[@acey2481]

Jia Fei!

[@leahburns3278]

The lingrong and brother romance was a great touch!!

[@dramarecaps4217]

I thought so too! And makes total sense for her character. But the drama also did an excellent job coming up with another reason for why she wasn't favored (being too nervous and shaking, turning the emperor off).

[@dramarecaps4217]

13:10 I'm probably in need of a voice actor at this point, I can't take myself seriously and I keep bursting into laughter lol Also, a correction from the last video- The empress and her sister were born on the same day 2 hours apart *to different mothers*, so they are not twins but half sisters. Thanks to @Lily Tay for the correction!

[@TeroTheShortOne]

But we *like* that you burst into laughter and can't take yourself seriously. I'd be sad if you got someone else to do VO

[@moonstarstories1298]

You're delivery is great, I prefer it when you're doing it.

[@MiyuMotou]

I'm just commenting that I love love love your recaps and I watch them on repeat.

[@1997aiya]

This adds such a new perspective. Plus its nice to hear how the author intended the story to be. Plus no "magic" just pure story

[@Number1Bangalore]

Hi, just wanted to say that i love these recaps because they are both entertaining and informative and i would love to see if you could do the recaps for a tv show called "magnificent century" its about a young girl called Hurrem from Ukraine who is kidnapped to be in the Ottoman sultans Harem, and we watch her climb the ranks and go into politics to change her future and those of her children. Its alright if you wouldn't want to as you focus on Chinese dramas but i would love to see you doing other type of series.

[@SignoraVaccari]

Good Turkish drama, you also must watch Kosem!!!

[@Number1Bangalore]

@@SignoraVaccari OF COURSE

[@dramarecaps4217]

Honestly, I'm up for anything after I finish Yanxi, and it looks interesting! I will probably put it up to a vote, I'll add that to the list!

[@Number1Bangalore]

cant wait! :) @@dramarecaps4217

[@BlackBerri707]

Ahh i love the book recaps!

[@missdynofire7558]

Thank you so much! As someone who can't read (ADHD go brrrr), listening to you rehash the novel is a lifesaver

[@dramarecaps4217]

Glad to help! I personally love watching other channels rehash shows/movies I don't want to watch all the way through too

[@missdynofire7558]

​@@dramarecaps4217 I haven't been able to read a book since high school (I'm a second year senior in college) since my ADHD is so severe; I can't get past the first page. This is extremely disheartening because I have always wanted to read my favorite series (LotR, The Hobbit, the Iliad, Odyssey, etc), but I physically cannot. Even though you are not reading the entire novel of the Legend of Zhen Huan, it makes my day better because it is as if I am reading it again through another person. Again, thank you so much! It makes my day listening your commentary over Zhen Huan/Ruyi (also, it was your video that led me to realize that Hailan killed Empress Xiaoxian's son, even though I had watched the series three times at that point and never caught it haha). BTW: it was the Legend of Zhen Huan & Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace that led me to acquiring a chinoiserie vase made during the Qing Dynasty :) I want someone to look at the vase and tell me whether it is authentic or not, however, I have no idea where to start. Any tips on who to contact?

[@mariealdridge1735]

Yasss! Also I really appreciate you always add in subtitles in your videos. Can really see the love and care you put in to your videos

[@dramarecaps4217]

Thank you so much :)

[@sydneylove0084]

Yay book recap! I’m adding these books to my reading list❤❤

[@user-ix1rp9ff3p]

Notes (potential SPOILER WARNINGS): 1. I actually feel so bad for An Ling'rong & Zhen Huan's brother I wouldn't be surprised if Zhen Huan's TED Talk was the actual reason of Ling'rong's deep-rooted resentment towards Zhen Huan 2. I recently noticed that although Huanbi was an illegitimate daughter, Zhen Yuandao at least had the decency for *her name to have a syllable related to jade* (I know the "bi" is 碧 (jade/green jade/aquamarine) but when I got that "aha!" moment with the jade subtleties I thought it was 璧 (jade annulus/disc usually thought to represent heaven); some fun compound words are 碧玉 (jasper/beautiful girl) & 碧綠 (dark green)) 3. Murong clan, the #2 consort kin (info mostly based off Baidu): 3.1. Shilan's father Jiong (慕容迥) who is *probably the Nian Geng'yao placeholder?* since he's described as "逆臣"... 3.2 Shilan's older brothers Shisong (慕容世松) & Shibai (慕容世柏) 3.3. Shilan's younger sister Shishao (慕容世芍) -from what I gather is *practically Shilan's Huanbi* (minus the illegitimacy) + *partly Songzhi & Caiping* (see below) - *entered the palace as a servant* named *Rong Chishao (榮赤芍)* (Murong Jiong is one clever asshole) and later assigned as part of the *servant taskforce of Xu Yan'yi, Consort Zhen (貞妃 徐燕宜)* - *catches Xuan'ling's eye* and somehow gains the imperial favor, *becoming Imperial Concubine Rong (榮嬪)* -Shishao was in the drama apparently, *probably the one Zhen Huan asked to be spared post-Nian Geng'yao's purge* 3.4. all of the Murong children were named after *revered Chinese flora* : orchid (Shilan), pine (Shisong), cypress (Shibai), & peony (Shishao) 4. Lady Fuca actually consists of 2 people: 4.1. Du Peiyun (杜佩筠) - her *posthumous title eventually becomes "Consort Tian" (恬妃)* 4.2. Qin _fang'yi_ (秦芳儀) - lost her mind after Zhen Huan's *human swine story (based off Lü Zhi of Han Dynasty)* and this is *after Zhen Huan's comeback* 5. you probably had difficulty trying to translate "阿弥陀佛" (lit. Amitabha Buddha) into an equivalent English outburst, didn't you? 6. Fang Chun'yi's *post-mortem posthumous title was "Concubine Chun" (淳嫔)* and her *official posthumous title became "Consort Chunmin" (淳憫妃)* (weirdly her drama equivalent had the same _hanzi_ in her name YET was labelled in a prop as the daughter of a "Manchu bannerman" (滿軍旗)) 7. though Zhen Huan may find Xuan'ling "cold-blooded", I do understand Xuan'ling's self-pitying: after all, *the imperial succession is still unstable* due to *only having one son* that is also unfavored and *no set Crown Prince* (not sure when but Xu Yan'yi eventually becomes the mother of Xuan'ling's 4th son 2nd prince Zhou Yupei (周予沛), later Prince Jin (晋王)) 8. I'm not sure whether this is in the drama or the original novel, but *the Emperor's suspicion towards Xuanqing/Yun'li began when he rescued Zhen Huan without his permission*

[@SignoraVaccari]

Lü Zhi of Han Dynasty was a evil woman, I really like your notes since you began to post them, thanks very much

[@user-ix1rp9ff3p]

@@SignoraVaccari that's why in the original "Ruyi" novel vol. 6, Wei Yan'wan was already being compared by Chongqing & Liyu to *Lady Gouyi of Han Dynasty* (concubine of Wu Emperor & biological mother of Emperor Zhao), then *feared to become Lü Zhi 2.0* due to the future Emperor Zhao merely being a child at the time (not to mention the numerous intrigues involved with her due to being Wu Emperor's most favored concubine) not to mention that both Wu Emperor & Qianlong were in their 60's when they gave birth to their youngest children (Emperor Zhao & 10th princess Jingxian), and the prospect of a dowager regency was evident, hence the comparison must've been spine-chilling when it was pointed out

[@TheSilverfox600]

"Clever asshole" Is such an unexpected satirical term 😂

[@user-ix1rp9ff3p]

@@TheSilverfox600 to the untrained ear, _shìsháo_ (lit. "world peony") & _chìsháo_ (lit. "red peony") sound so close in Mandarin & the first syllable has the same diacritic sound (4th tone) plus, adding the fact that 容 & 榮 sounds the same in Mandarin & spelled the same in pinyin: _róng_ Murong Jiong just removed the first syllable of the surname & _voilà_ different person (another showing of Liulianzi's replacement goldfish trope though it's Murong Jiong's knockoff version)

[@dramarecaps4217]

1: Wait till book 3 :/ 2: Yes! I love how much information can be communicated just through a name. More info on her history and mother coming in book 4! 3: ‘potential’ spoilers seems a bit disingenuous when you’re giving out huge spoilers from the last book- we haven’t even met ChiShao yet 😭 4: Right 👍 5: My second choice would have been the Empress saying “OMG!” 😂 6: Interesting 7: He treats the pregnant women so poorly that it’s hard to believe he only has one son. I suppose part of it is that he’s still young and doesn’t yet feel the pressure to reproduce 8: No way to know the Emperor's thoughts, but that's a good a guess as any. It was quite wild for XuanQing to break the rules and run into the harem like that, especially as someone who has never cared a fig for any of his other sisters-in-law.

[@SignoraVaccari]

That's why I wish these harem books novels were translate at least in english. so much fun to read

[@amuletheart259]

Just wanted to tell you before I forget. There is a manga about empresses in the palace with 8 whole chapters (even though there is more, but it’s not translated). Just wanted to help you, I love your videos and reviews!

[@dramarecaps4217]

Woah, had no idea this was a thing! Definitely going to check this out!

[@gojiberry7201]

Thanks for the video! I'm currently on episode 74 of the series (I think) ... just lost Guowong 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Looking forward to Xi GuiFei and Ning Fei kicking some a**.

[@user-ix1rp9ff3p]

spoiler alert: She Lan'yi is much more badass and savage in the original novel

[@tsukareta_27]

I've been rewatching all you recaps so I can match it with the novels ☝️🤓

[@tsubaki-42]

Looking forward the your Videos ❤

[@dramarecaps4217]

Thank you!

[@Haystacks]

Your videos are always so good - I imagine they are a lot of work, but I just want to say I appreciate them so much.

[@dramarecaps4217]

Thank you so so much! Yes, from the reading/translating to actually making the video, they certainly take up quite a bit of time. That's why my uploads are so sporadic haha 😂 anyway, thanks for watching!

[@terrisarhoden5249]

I'm so glad u started post my depression level has lowered frl😂❤

[@dramarecaps4217]

Damn, I better keep posting then 💀

[@leahburns3278]

Thank you SOOOO much for your hard work!!!!

[@Monica-by4me]

Yesss I was waiting for this

[@NathalieO]

Yesssss

[@martinemariemc]

Where can I get those dangling ornaments for my hair that they wear?! I LOVE the purple 💜 ones the empress is wearing

[@dramarecaps4217]

Depends on where you live, but I'm sure amazon has them lol. I bought the nail guards before! :D

[@cephalopuppy8684]

The nail guards I found look more like bugle chips on the models fingers, did you see any that looked like the enamel ones shu was wearing when the dowager slapped her?

[@dramarecaps4217]

@@cephalopuppy8684 Very descriptive lol. I live in Beijing actually so there are tons of nicely crafted Qing dynasty knickknacks going for fairly cheap. I can’t imagine the foreign market is anywhere near profitable enough for it to be worth trying to export anything but the cheapest to produce though…

[@DisJawnBeOut]

keep em coming !!!!!

[@rosebud2854]

can you do the story of minglan pleasee

[@dramarecaps4217]

Maybe one day! So many people have recommended it

[@bagladysendtheferalspinner3761]

Thanks.

[@bassantisamess4279]

Yes I'm finally early!!

[@stanley3384]

Thank you!!!!

[@Monica-by4me]

So in the books who was responsible for the cat plot? I didn’t understand it 😅

[@its99pm]

The book only tells us what Zhen Huan knows, and she doesn't know who was behind the cat I think? At least at this stage she doesn't know.

[@dramarecaps4217]

Exactly what @its99pm said, Zhenhuan doesn't know. Que was probably involved (since she was holding the cat) but she could also have just been used by someone else.

[@ri9759]

When the next book is coming 🥺

[@dramarecaps4217]

Just now! :)

[@terrisarhoden5249]

First