One of Zhao Lusi’s first dramas, The Romance of Tiger and Rose. I’m late to the party but have seen how good Zhao Lusi can be with comedies. Let’s see what episode one of this drama has to offer.
EPISODE 1 RECAP
In a city, where people are gathered, princess Qianqian (Zhao Lusi) is causing chaos on horseback.
Even with the hammer hairdo and the theatre outfit, Zhao Lusi is still adorable.
A carriage approached, Qianqian’s horse abruptly stops and throws her off its back into a… flying position. The man inside the carriage zooms out and catches her. White-robed and everything. According to the narration, the accident was planned by this man so he could interact with the princess.
Although, things don’t exactly go as planned, he wanted the Second Princess of this kingdom. Qianqian is the Third. Oops, dignity is gone. He messes up a little early for a guy who dons the famous white robe.
With ulterior motives, Qianqian declares she will marry this man, Prince Han Shuo.
No way, Han Shuo is half-shocked, half-frightened. What would he do with a weirdly-dressed and mean-spirited princess in this MATRIARCHAL kingdom?
At this time, the scene switches and we travel to the present to meet the real female lead, who is actually the author of this story. Thank god, I thought the princess’ outfit was really a choice from the production team. It’s just a bit of the writer’s wild imagination.
Anyway, the writer is struggling to finish her story. That day, she goes out to meet a man who seems to be a manager of a film crew that she’s trying to pitch her story to and also a lead actor.
He tells her he doesn’t like the way she delivers feminism in her story, and that the attempt at gender equality is too shallow. Are we really taking writing advice from a guy who thinks that sword-fighting with a K-pop suit and sunglasses on is cool?
The writer works on her script some more afterwards, pouring everything she has into it, bringing her laptop everywhere even to the bathroom.
Isn’t this more inconvenient than if you’d just gotten back to work after finishing with the toilet, though?
One night, she falls asleep exhausted. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a strange place. People call her ‘princess’, a naughty princess in a women-ruled country who drinks and sleeps around and bullies servants. Ohhh, she has gotten lost in her own story.
And this is the chapter where she will marry Prince Han Shuo, the man who will poison her on their wedding night and try to take over the kingdom — according to her script. Dark, scheming fictional men are appealing until you become the target of their schemes, aren’t they.
On their wedding night, Prince Han Shuo has to do everything maidens are expected to do in the real world back then, including covering up his face with a veil, talking to a matchmaker about what’s proper, learning about his duty to produce a daughter and his wife’s right to divorce him should he fail. Girl… maybe the guy in the beginning was right, your writing needs major work.
Princess Qianqian (who is now the writer) is sure that she will die by poison tonight, so it surprises her that nothing the prince gives her seems to contain poison. Not the food, not the wine, not the cups. Qianqian believes that if she dies here, she will be able to return to her world, so she desperately searches for the poison. Imagine being the prince and having to watch this girl frantically accuse him of not committing the crime she thought he would commit against her.
And while she does all of this, her servant is just kind of standing on the side and watching. This must not be the craziest thing this princess has ever done.
In the end, she comes to the conclusion that the poison must be on his lips, it’s the only way. Erm… this man wants to be alive and steal something after poisoning you, remember? It’s not a suicide mission!
Qianqian kisses him and — tough luck — no poison there, either.
COMMENTS
I’m extremely curious as to how this drama handles more serious scenes down the line. So far, it has been all jokes and goofing around. Most of the jokes aim to make fun of typical drama tropes, which is something to appreciate.
The “romance” aspect of the drama isn’t convincing yet, mostly because the lead actor does not give a strong performance as Zhao Lusi. So far, it seems she is leading the story and the prince is simply an embodiment of tropes she needs to fix — which is kind of good enough already — more than a love interest.
I love this show. Can you do more recaps?
Thanks for stopping by! I’m following another drama, so I’m not sure about recaps for this one yet. Hopefully I’ll be able to get to it.