The Substitute Princess’s Love Review

I chanced upon The Substitute Princess’s Love (偷得将军半日闲) while scrolling through my YouTube feed. One episode led to another because each episode is only 30 minutes long. So, it is a quick watch and being a low budget production, it is not surprising that the story will be short and simple. Frankly speaking, there is nothing really great about it but it is to be expected. You can check out my review of The Substitute Princess’s Love below if you are wondering what kind of drama it is.

My rating: 6.5/10
Episodes: 24
Type: Historical Romance
Aired: April 2024
Images credit: iQIYI Facebook

The Cast Of The Substitute Princess’s Love

• Dylan Kuo as Wen Ye / Prince Jin
• Zhang Miao Yi as Shen Ke Yi
• Jesse Ren as Zhou Yu
• Liu Zhi Wei as Zuo Shuang Zhi
• Wang Lue Tao as Tang Ti
• Liu Shu Yuan as Wan Shi Wei / Guard Wan
• Wu Yi Jia as Nan Bo
• Feng Li Ping as Yi Fu
• Song Mu Xin as Yun Ying
• Kong Lin as Empress Dowager
• Shen Xue Wei as Emperor
• Chen Hao Wen as Prime Minister Shen
• Zhang Yuan Yu as Madame Shen

Main Characters

Wen Ye / Prince Jin

Wen Ye is a highly respected general of Cang State. He is also a younger brother of the Emperor. Known as the God of War by the people, Wen Ye is responsible, loyal, and upright. He is also feared due to his power as he commands the state army.

Shen Ke Yi

Ke Yi is the illegitimate daughter of Prime Minister Shen. She was brought up by her nanny in the streets after the death of her mother. Ke Yi is young and innocent but possesses inner strength when faced with adversity. Ah Tao is her personal maid in Wen Ye’s household.

Supporting Characters

Zhou Yu

Zhou Yu is a bandit and his father is the group’s leader. However, Zhou Yu is a principled person and not a typical bandit. He is softhearted despite being a robber of the rich.

Zuo Shuang Zhi

Zuo Shuang Zhi is a spy from Liang state. She is a daughter of the Liang Emperor but born to a concubine. They were both thrown out of the palace and her mother died when she was young. Zuo Shuang Zhi is a ruthless and obsessive woman with a secret aim.

Tang Ti

Tang Ti is Zuo Shuang Zhi’s partner in their spying mission. He was sent by the Liang Emperor to keep an eye on Zuo Shuang Zhi but ends up falling for her. Tang Ti is accommodating and loyal towards her despite knowing the risks that she is putting them into to fulfill her ambition.

Wan Shi Wei / Guard Wan & Nan Bo

Guard Wan and Nan Bo are Wen Ye’s personal assistants. They are loyal subordinates who will carry out Wen Ye’s orders. Guard Wan is more astute while Nan Bo can be a little blur when it comes to reading Wen Ye’s feelings for Ke Yi.

Yi Fu

Yi Fu is the steward of Wen Ye’s mansion. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the servants and household. Yi Fu genuinely cares about Wen Ye despite being placed there by Empress Dowager as a spy.

Yun Ying

Yun Ying is Wen Ye’s elder cousin sister. She has been a widow for a number of years and her late husband was a marquis. Yun Ying is a kind and soft-spoken woman. Her personal maid is Mu’er.

Empress Dowager

Empress Dowager is Wen Ye’s stepmother. She is always worried about Wen Ye’s safety and the balance of power between Wen Ye and the Emperor. However, her worries cause her to be meddlesome and cold towards those whom she sees as a threat to Wen Ye’s welfare.

Emperor

The Emperor is Wen Ye’s elder brother. He wasn’t the first choice to inherit the throne as Wen Ye was the late Emperor’s favorite. Hence, he appears to be defensive of his position and distrustful of Wen Ye.

Prime Minister Shen

Prime Minister Shen is the most powerful civilian court official in the Cang State. Even the Emperor has to accord him certain respect due to his long influence and having served previous Emperors. But Prime Minister Shen is a corrupt official who sees Wen Ye as a threat. He is also cruel and selfish whereby his personal interest triumphs over everything else.

Madame Shen

Madame Shen is Prime Minister Shen’s official wife. She is a coldhearted and cruel woman who is abusive towards those beneath her. She has a daughter named Ling Ling with her husband.

Synopsis

Wen Ye is a great general of the Cang State. An erroneous report that he has been killed in a war resulted in a bride being picked for him as part of a traditional funeral rite. Prime Minister Shen’s daughter with his official wife is supposed to be the bridal candidate but they force Ke Yi to take her place instead. Ke Yi is Prime Minister Shen’s illegitimate daughter.

Thus, Wen Ye returns to find himself being married to Ke Yi. As Prime Minister Shen is a corrupt official who had caused the deaths of Wen Ye’s soldiers, Wen Ye doesn’t trust Ke Yi and suspects that she may be a spy for her family. So, he starts off by treating her coldly but subsequently falls in love with her when he finds out that he has been wrong about her.

Just when the couple is happy to be together, different forces are trying to break them apart for their own selfish reasons. The distrust is made worse when Wen Ye is forced to marry a princess from another state in a marriage alliance.

The Substitute Princess’s Love Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)

The Substitute Princess’s Love has a happy ending. Zuo Shuang Zhi couldn’t get Wen Ye’s love no matter how hard she tries. As a result, she wants to destroy Wen Ye since she couldn’t have him. She also wants to kill Ke Yi who tries to escape but ends up cornered at the top of a cliff. Ke Yi enlightens Zuo Shuang Zhi that to love someone is not to destroy but to protect him before jumping off the cliff. However, Zuo Shuang Zhi didn’t let Ke Yi die but hides her whereabouts from Wen Ye.

After being enlightened by Ke Yi, Zuo Shuang Zhi decides not to cause Wen Ye trouble. Instead of giving the Emperor proof that Wen Ye could potentially rebel since the latter still has the last Emperor’s decree that he was the chosen heir, Zuo Shuang Zhi hands over evidence of Prime Minister Shen’s crimes and collusion with her. Hence, Prime Minister Shen is exiled to the harsh cold environment in the north with all his assets confiscated.

Zuo Shuang Zhi knows she will also be executed for her crimes and is prepared to die. She requests to be killed at the hands of Wen Ye. Hence, she dies after a confrontation with him. Wen Ye then requests the Emperor to allow him to resign from all his posts and become a commoner since he has fulfilled his duties to keep the state safe from enemies. He wants to go and look for Ke Yi.

3 years later, Zhou Yu is still a soldier and intends to keep protecting the state. Nan Bo and Ah Tao are now a couple. Wen Ye and Ke Yi are back together and they are having a wedding for a remarriage.

When Did The Leads Get Together?

Wen Ye learns that Ke Yi is innocent in Episode 5 after she was beaten up by the servants led by those working for the Shen family. He also discovers that Ke Yi is an illegitimate daughter of Prime Minister Shen and a substitute bride in Episode 8. This is after Ke Yi went missing as the Shen family wants to silence her and steal Wen Ye’s jade pendant that she has obtained. The pendant was a gift from the previous Emperor and signifies that Wen Ye’s life is protected and cannot be killed by successive rulers.

After Wen Ye found Ke Yi, she admits that she is an illegitimate daughter and that she had an ulterior motive of stealing his pendant when she first approached him. Ke Yi decides to leave Wen Ye as she doesn’t want to continue being used by the Shen family as a weapon against him. She refuses to go back with him when he asks her to in Episode 10. He forcefully brings her back to his mansion after seeing that she has written him a divorce letter. Wen Ye also asks her to stay when he catches her trying to leave his mansion.

Knowing that Ke Yi is aggrieved over her nanny’s death at the hands of Madame Shen, Wen Ye gets justice for her by having Madame Shen flogged for her crime in Episode 11. Ke Yi is touched by Wen Ye’s consideration for her feelings. They talk things over and Ke Yi is happy to be with Wen Ye from then on as a real couple.

Is There Any Breakup?

Wen Ye is forced to marry Zuo Shuang Zhi who presents herself as a princess from Liang seeking a peace alliance with Cang State through marriage. He doesn’t know how to break the news to Ke Yi and keeps procrastinating over it. When Ke Yi chances upon the decree in Episode 17, she is disappointed that Wen Ye has lied to her. At the same time, Ke Yi has fallen pregnant. In order to keep Ke Yi safe, Wen Ye has to snub her to put on a show that he doesn’t care much about her.

Zuo Shuang Zhi marries Wen Ye in Episode 18. She informs Empress Dowager about Ke Yi’s pregnancy in Episode 19. Empress Dowager then orders Yi Fu to poison Ke Yi so that she will miscarry. Yi Fu didn’t carry out the order. Zuo Shuang Zhi does it instead and kills Yi Fu in the process in Episode 20. She could then conveniently lay the blame on Yi Fu. She also tells Ke Yi that it is Wen Ye who ordered the abortion and that she was his lover when they were young.

Ke Yi nearly loses her baby. Zhou Yu arrives just in time to rush her to the doctor and helps her settle down away from Wen Ye. Ke Yi divorces Wen Ye in Episode 21 after the incident. She doesn’t want to tell Wen Ye that their baby is safe and gives birth to a baby girl in Episode 23. However, Ke Yi realizes that time is precious and she should give her relationship with Wen Ye another try after Yun Ying’s death.

Is There Any Love Triangle?

Zhou Yu also loves Ke Yi and Wen Ye knows it. In fact, he openly tells Wen Ye so in Episode 10. After Wen Ye forcefully brings Ke Yi back to his mansion, Zhou Yu tries to get in touch with her. He is disappointed when he sees Ke Yi hugging Wen Ye in Episode 11 after the latter helped her to get justice for her late nanny. Ke Yi rejects Zhou Yu when he offers to take her away from Wen Ye in Episode 12. She tells Zhou Yu that she is happy to be with Wen Ye and wouldn’t leave him.

Side Couple

Guard Wan takes care of Yun Ying after she was shot by Liang assassins in Episode 14. He has feelings for her all along but she is a widow who has been trying to keep their relationship at a proper distance. in Episode 17, Yun Ying wants to return to her in-laws place to offer prayers at their ancestral hall. Guard Wan asks her not to go as her in-laws are always bullying her. He tells Yun Ying that he admires her and that she should live for herself and not others. Yun Ying asks Guard Wan to give her some time to reciprocate his feelings.

In Episode 21, Yun Ying performs one final prayer for her late husband and his ancestors before cutting ties completely with her in-laws. Guard Wan arrives to support her and keep her safe. Yun Ying who has been sickly suffers deterioration in her health after the harsh treatment at her in-laws place. Guard Wan takes care of her and confesses that he likes her in Episode 22. She acknowledges his feelings.

Wen Ye obtains a decree from the Emperor before leaving for a war that allows Yun Ying and Guard Wan to marry. The couple has their wedding in Episode 23. Yun Ying dies from her illness in Guard Wan’s arms after their wedding ceremony.

Other Key Events

• Ke Yi finds out through Zhou Yu in Episode 8 that her nanny had died earlier.
• Zhou Yu’s father kills himself in Episode 13 when Zuo Shuang Zhi forces him to cooperate with Liang spies. He refuses to be a traitor.
• Madame Shen is executed for deceiving the Emperor in Episode 16. Prime Minister Shen sacrifices her to keep himself safe and reports to the Emperor that it was his wife that forced Ke Yi to take her stepsister’s place to marry Wen Ye.
• Zuo Shuang Zhi betrays Tang Ti to earn Wen Ye’s trust in Episode 20. Tang Ti willingly dies at Wen Ye’s hands to protect Zuo Shuang Zhi.
• Wen Ye breaks off ties with Empress Dowager in Episode 21 after he finds out that she was partly responsible for driving away Ke Yi.
• Zuo Shuang Zhi reminds Wen Ye in Episode 21 that she was the girl he saved years ago when he wants to kill her for murdering Yi Fu and forcing Ke Yi to leave him.

The Substitute Princess’s Love Review – Cliche Historical Romance

The Substitute Princess’s Love is not going to impress anyone. It is a low budget historical romance that relies on a cliche forced marriage plot to sell to the audience. The reason why people keep lapping this type of stories up is the simplicity of it all. You don’t need much concentration and brains to watch them. The romance makes you feel good and gives you a certain amount of pleasure despite a plethora of weaknesses in such dramas.

So, The Substitute Princess’s Love will be enjoyable if you get onboard without caring much about plot holes and other weaknesses. The episodes are short at half an hour each and the story moves rather quickly. Hence, there is no opportunity for boredom to set in unlike longer dramas. This means it is rather easy to get addicted and I could finish this within 2 days. Basically, you just want to quickly get to the end once you have started watching. It is not that it is a great drama and you will be returning for a rewatch. It is just that this is a breeze to sit through and nothing more.

As long as you manage your expectations that this is not in the same league as first tier dramas, I think it should be fine overall. However, the very first thing that you have to accept might be the vast age difference between the leads.

Leads’ Age Difference

The age difference between Dylan Kuo and Zhang Miao Yi is 21 years in real life. In the drama, the male protagonist is around 30 years old while there is no mention about the age of the female character. He definitely looks more matured compared to her although I don’t see it as a major mismatch with all the foundation and makeup. There may be signs of aging on the guy’s neck if you pay close attention to his features but it doesn’t bother me much.

Despite the large age gap between the leads, this is not an older man younger woman romance like Dating In The Kitchen. This is a historical romance drama after all whereby men keep concubines in that era. So, age gap is not something that is explored at all in the story. It just boils down to personal taste whether you see the big age difference between the actors as something that will turn you off.

Chemistry-wise, they are presentable to me as a pair of lovers. It is not overflowing chemistry like the more popular couples in Till The End Of The Moon or The Legend Of Shen Li, but there is just enough of it to make things work for the drama. Maybe I’m not too particular about the age gap in the first place which makes it easier for me to accept their partnership. I think I have watched enough dramas to learn that even a much older man can get really hot with a much younger actress and The Forbidden Flower is a case in point. But at the end of the day, you will have to watch and see for yourself whether this is something that will bother you in The Substitute Princess’s Love.

Lacks Depth

The Substitute Princess’s Love has a simple tried and tested plot of an innocent girl being forcibly married off to a prince as a sacrificial bride. There is nothing fresh about this story and there is no high quality scriptwriting here. So, this is not something you should watch if you want your dramas to have high standards. With the weakness in the script and a fairly fast paced story, plot holes will naturally appear. So, some details don’t quite match up or are simply glossed over.

The leads’ disagreement is also woven into the plot to create angst so that the romance will have some ups and downs. But it is another lovers’ quarrel trope that we could do without. Some viewers might even ship the female lead with the second male lead who seems to be more genuine and sensible where she is concerned.

As you go further down the road, the messier the story gets with no real depth in terms of character and plot development. Everything is very superficial including the villain who suddenly turns into an obsessive lovestruck woman from an ambitious and rational top spy. This could be due to a rushed storyline especially towards the last few episodes.

Rushed Ending

The drama has a very hasty ending that doesn’t bother about the details. Thus, it is a bit of a mess as the conclusion nears as things happen at accelerated speed. As mentioned, there is no depth to all these happenings. They just fly by and all differences that matter are resolved in a blink of an eye such as the male protagonist’s relationship with his Emperor brother. A time lapse is also used to do away with certain explanations to hurriedly bring you to the conclusion. It feels as if there is not enough time to tell the story and the editor and scriptwriter trim what they could to fit within the 24 episodes.

Hence, there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of story execution. But the good thing is the story is still understandable overall. The last few minutes will also tie things up well enough to leave viewers reasonably satisfied. I suppose the quicker the story progresses, the faster you could complete the drama. After all, this is not a title that you would want to invest too much time on.

My Verdict – Nothing Impressive

Honestly speaking, you are not going to miss anything if you skip The Substitute Princess’s Love. It is just another drama that is good enough for you to pass your time if you have nothing better to do. Because it is somewhat entertaining and short, it is easy to keep watching to the end. However, do bear in mind that there is no originality to the story.

The drama is sweet towards the middle if you like a romance between a respected (and older) general and a lively young girl. At times, I get the feeling that she is like a little girl to him. But this is also what melts his heart as she offers him love and warmth in a very open and spontaneous manner while he has to be guarded with people around him. However, you can’t escape from cliches which will mar some of the pleasure.

For this review of The Substitute Princess’s Love, I think a rating of 6.5/10 would be fair. It is not a drama that will remain in your memory after you are done watching. The leads’ pairing is fine while it lasted but you won’t be asking for another round from them. The story is quick-paced which is good to avoid boredom but lacks depth. Its biggest selling point to me is the simplicity with its short length. Just try to filter out the plot holes and lack of details and you might just find this entertaining. That is if you can accept this pairing in the very first place.