WARNING: this post 1) contains SPOILERS 2) is humor-free
This short post is dedicated to Shaoning, the bratty, naive, spoiled, and Minnie Mouse – haired princess in Rise of Phoenixes.
Constantly wanting to have Ning Yi assassinated and putting Feng Zhiwei in extremely difficult situations, even nearly killing her once, Shaoning is largely viewed as an antagonist of the story. It is easy to despise Shaoning because she is there to cause trouble and to break the OTP apart. However, the character has a certain appeal which lies in her motives and how the drama does not reduce her into a man-crazed stalker who does things for the sake of being hated. With a bit of analyzing, we (as in… the audience, not just us QuippeQuest) fully understand why Shaoning does what she does and when this is established, we believe her to be more pitiful than despicable.
Shaoning grew up in imperialistic life, deprived of family love and with only one person who’s there for her whenever she needs familial affection – Ning Chuan, the Crown Prince. Therefore, she is determined to be loyal to him no matter what.
After the death of Ning Chuan, Shaoning directs all her energy toward destroying Ning Yi and near the episode where her death takes place, the hate she harbors for Ning Yi and the desire to see him defeated have become stronger than even the vengeance she wanted. She clings on to anything that would give her the chance of killing Ning Yi and lives for it.
Oblivious, Shaoning believes that everything can be resolved by “talking” to her father. Naive, she places her trust in just about anyone who promises her Ning Yi’s death. Spoiled, she refused to acknowledge anyone’s sorrow except her own.
Shaoning is the product of her upbringing and her end is the result of the flaws she was given.
BUT DOES THAT MEAN SHE IS IRREDEEMABLE?
Hardly. Or at least we believe so.
Shaoning is spoiled, but not incurable. She is easily influenced by her surroundings and the writer gave us glimpses of the possibility of redemption for Shaoning during the brief moments she spends with Feng Zhiwei and Ning Ji (10th prince). Had she not been overpowered by vengeance and spent her time around better people than Ning Qi (7th), Ning Sheng (2nd), it would have been possible for Shaoning to return to the right path. Because in the end, she is more an innocent but misguided child than an all-out evil and power-hungry villain.
Perhaps because of this that Shaoning is the only child the Emperor does not calculate against and whose safety he is genuinely invested in.
In a way, she is another Ning Yi, who craves a normal life with his family and would do anything to hold on to the hope of receiving one. But without Feng Zhiwei’s influence, without the resources and guidance Ning Yi has, Shaoning was pulled into the battle between her brothers and pays the price in the end.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS!
Secondary female antagonists with purposes other than being there to make the female lead look good are hard to come by these days in dramas, so enjoy it while you’ve got one, drama lovers.