The Princess Gambit

A 2025 36-episode historical drama.

The story is set during an undetermined time in China's history. There is a main kingdom and two smaller ones. The empress of one of the smaller kingdom arranges a marriage between Princess Cheng Ping | Jiang Taohua (played by Meng Ziyi) and Mu Wuxia, the main kingdom's emperor's fourth son, (played by Biang Cheng.)

As soon as the princess and her entourage arrive at the main kingdom, weird stuff begins to happen. Including the convoy getting attacked by giant feral wolves (!!). Jiang Taohua manages to escape into the city only to get knocked on the head by someone.

AT THE SAME TIME, Shen Zaiye, the main emperor's Left Chancellor, (played by Liu Xueyi) is meeting someone in secret at a brothel. He drinks something he's poured himself and then faints.

They both wake up in one of the brothel's rooms with Jiang Taohua in her underdress and Shen Zaiye on top of her. As they begin to regain consciousness, who walks in but Mu Wuxia (Jiang Taohua's fiance) AND the crown prince Mu Wugou (played by Zhu Jian)!

So, because of all of that, the original engagement is dissolved.

However, Jiang Taohua is determined to stay put. Unbeknown to everyone else, she's actually a spy for her stepmother and was tasked to find some items for her empress. And as an "incentive", the empress not only threatens Jiang Taohua's younger brother's life, BUT also forces Jiang Taohua to take a special poison. This poison is dormant for most of the month until it's not and then she has to meet her handler in order to get a temporary antidote or, you know, DIE.

After some back and forth, Jiang Taohua comes up with the idea of marrying Shen Zaiye so that everyone saves face (but especially her.) Shen Zaiye is NOT into it since he has a Main Wife and 2 other concubines, etc. In the end, the emperor agrees and thus she joins his household as his 3rd concubine.

Jiang Taohua's arrival to her new home kicks off a WHOLE LOTTA DRAMARAMA!


I'll say that the premise was cool. I also found the majority of the cast to be quite standard actingwise. Tip of hat to Liu Lingzi as Meng Zhenzhen (Shen Zaiye's Main Wife.) At some point, I started to watch the show for her cuz her storyline was ridic good.

It's also a well-done drama in terms of cinematography. Lots of beautiful shots. Overall, I was FEELING IT up to a certain point.


Do I have any criticisms?

I do, indeed-y!

My issues begin around episode 16. Prior to that, I'd enjoyed the three mini-arcs. But then, things began to take a lot of weird turns that annoyed me.

SPOILERS for a specific storyline during episodes 16-19

My first problem had to to do with the CP. #Womp-womp Up to ep 15, the story was building them up into becoming a Power Couple. And, as y'all know by now, that's MY JAM.

However, during episode 16, the show drops a misunderstanding between Jiang Taohua and Shen Zaiye that keeps growing until their earlier alliance breaks. AND THEN, Jiang Taohua ends up with amnesia. *sigh* FTR, I don't mind amnesia plots, but the way it's handled in this story was NOT vibing with me.

My gut was telling me the drama was gonna piss me off. So I called it quits right around episode 19. Funnily enough, based on comments I read from ppl who finished the drama, everyone pretty much agreed that the series took a nosedive between eps. 17-19. Which I call the "transition episodes" between arc 1 and arc 2 of the drama.

I didn't like the villains in arc 2. To me, they were all roar and no bite.

Adding to my NO, PLEASE STOP feelings abt the villains, there is an extremely gross (yet weirdly surface level) exploration of a character who was SA as a child and the person who abused and groomed them. Once those two characters appeared, I got one of those "wait a minute cuz something isn't quite okay abt XYZ and ABC's dynamic" feeling whenever those two interacted. And then, when I read the spoilers as to what happened in the second half, I was like 🙅🏾‍♀️🙅🏾‍♀️🙅🏾‍♀️. FTR, NOTHING GRAPHIC happens onscreen, but it's still v. uncomfortable to witness the horrible dynamic between the abused character and their abuser.

Then, I was never convinced by the CP. 😕 I liked that both characters have complicated stories (she's a spy working against the emperor he's loyal to; he has a v. twisty background and a v.specific goal he's worked his whole life to achieve). And they're deffo a FREAK4FREAK couple, but it takes AGES for them to establish an actually romantic relationship. I have to admit that part of my I'M NOT SURE ABT THESE TWO comes from something that happens early in the drama…

MAJOR SPOILER FOR THE CP (which includes mentions of Intimate Partner Violence

So, Shen Zaiye is RUTHLESS. He will kill anyone (yes, including children--this isn't shown, only alluded to as something in the character's past) who stands in his way. And this is shown by the v. rough way he treats Jiang Taohua. By which I mean he LITERALLY TRIES TO KILL HER AT LEAST THREE (YES, 3 TIMES) within the first ten or so episodes. Including their first meeting back at the brothel (where he nearly strangles her death.)

Dude is the REDDEST OF ALL RED FLAGS OUT THERE, IJS.

After the third attempt, things begin to settle between them.

Usually, I'd have bounced by the second attempt, NGL. However, I was never actually worried for Jiang Taohua (the way I'd have been abt anyone else) because the show had given viewers enough of her backstory to feel reassured she'd make it to the end somehow. Had this been her first experience on the receiving end of violence, I'd have been more concerned. *Hands*

The other reason was me being v. curious as to how the show was gonna flip Shen Zaiye's characterization into one of a someone who is in lurve with a person considers an enemy/doesn't trust. And it happened! He most deffo fell first. Something that made sense because Jiang Taohua's situation was more urgent (the poison and her little brother being in danger) than Shen Zaiye's long goal.

IMO, the show takes a bit too long (and/or perhaps it's too subtle at first), but they do eventually manage to switch Shen Zaiye's flag from oxblood red to a light orange, LOLsob.

Speaking of the slow burn…

Based on what I've read (after admitting to myself that I wasn't going to sit thru approx. 14 more hours hatewatching this drama), it's not until ep. 30 or 31 (out of 36 eps total) that Jiang Taohua acknowledges that she's in love with Shen Zaiye.

They are meant to be a Power Couple and the show does a lot to set that relationship during the first 14 eps. But, instead of staying on track, the drama decides to hit the pause button around eps. 16-18 and then make everyone wait until the last 6 eps for the romance to get fully reactivated?

NAH, BRUH, I'M GOOD!

Another thing that doesn't help this situation is that there's not a lot of chemistry between the actors. Both are at the same level talentwise (which is fine) and are good looking. However, once the kissing scenes began, I could only go "I guess?" while wondering why was this the least swoon-worthy "romance" scenes I'd seen in a while. :|


What's the FMC's plot armor level?.

Medium.

By the time the story begins, it's stated that Jiang Taohua has endured a lot of psychological and physical abuse from the empress. And, throughout the story (or, at least up to ep. 19), bad things happen to her.


How does the show handle the inevitable "Oh noes, the emperor's in danger of losing his throne!" storyline?

It's a little complicated cuz it's abt the actual!succession line, I gotta 'fess up that I wasn't invested at all. *Hands*


Do I recommend it?

No, LOL.

There are some v. random turns that lead to plot holes, the story meanders a lot, the drama pulled back from the romance just as everything was ready to go, the CP chemistry was nonexistent, etc. What a disappointment.


Queerness level

It's at a low-medium level (though quite unsatisfying.)

OTOH, there are are 4 characters who could be read as queer couples.

One of the couples is HORRENDOUSLY TOXIC and

HUGE SPOILER

they're related by blood

The other couple is extremely wholesome, sweet. and fun. But then,

here's another SPOILER

that couple only lasts 3 episodes after which one of the character ends up getting murdered.

So I would NOT rec it watching it for the M/M ships (subtle as they might be.)


Le trailer

Watch on YouTube

IMO, this trailer is kinda misleading. The tone leans heavier into comedy than what is actually shown in the drama. Still, I share it cuz it does give a good idea of the dynamic between Jiang Taohua and Shen Zaiyen.

Under the Moonlight (YouTube)

A 2025, 36-episode historical drama.


The premise

It's the story of Luo Shu (played by Hu Bingqing) who was abt to debut as a courtesan. Due to ~plotty reasons, she got a job with Han Munzi (He Peng), the new local magistrate, as a kind of consultant detective of sorts. (I know, I know. Just go along with this.) Then, Qi Menglin (played by Zhai Zilu), the governor's son, showed up and SOMEHOW ended up tagging along in the investigations.


I'd heard some rumblings abt this drama and was confused as to why it wasn't more popular.

Hu Bingqing as Luo Shu gave a solid performance: her pragmatic view of things and cleverness w/r/t the way ppl behave. As for the rest of the cast, the majority of them were good. Especially the actors for the secondary characters.

The mysteries (well, I only watched the first two out of the 10) were actually cool. They were complicated enough to warrant a few episodes per case. The solutions were logical too. NGL, the mysteries are a big part of the reason why I stuck with the show (even as I had soured on other things.)


Do I have any criticisms?

Well...😬

My ability to suspend my disbelief was nearly broken. I understood that the premise was pretty ridic to begin with. But then, for reasons, Luo Shu (once she stared consulting) did a crummy job in disguising herself as a man. Which included her fake persona being given the rank of captain which EVERYONE IN THE MAGISTRATE OFFICE (down the lowest ranked officer) was A-OK with... 🙃

What makes this so OTT was that the crimes were V. SRS BIZNESS (including sexual assault and grusome murders). At times, I had to ignore the fact that Luo Shu (despite her good powers of observation) had received ZERO training for this kind of job, but OK, drama. XD

THEN, there's the casting of Hu Bingqing as Luo Shu. OTOH, she could convey a character who's ultimately optimistic, focused, smart, and dedicated. OTOH, however, the show made it v. clear that her character was EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD. This was brought up many times during the first 2-3 eps.

Unfortunately, though, Hu Bingqing looked (at best) to be around 10 yrs older. FTR, she was around 31-32 when they'd filmed this drama. In an ideal world, the character would've been aged up OR the production team could've cast someone closer to the character's age.

After all, Zhai Zilu as Qi Menglin was 21 when the drama was filmed (the character's supposed to be 24, IIRC.) This meant that, when the characters are together, Hu Bingqing looked like an older relative of his or someone who is deffo older than him.

Again, Hu Bingqing acted the fuck out of that character, BUT she carrieed herself as someone who is way more mature than the character was supposed to be (given the whole 'SHE'S 18!" thing.)

And then, there's my SECOND issue: Qi Menglin. He's handsome and had some charisma. That said, his personality in this drama was so childish that it put me off. I think this character would've fit better in another type of drama (a romcom one) vs. plotlines that go IN abt how someone killed someone else. So, seeing him bumble his way and act all jokey rubbed me the wrongest of ways. .

AND FINALLY, I didn't believe the CP at all. At first, Qi Menglin was v. rude and bratty toward Luo Shu cuz he thought she's a guy. Once he discovered the truth, he decided to court her cuz why not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I didn't like how hard the show tried to make the CP happen. ALSO BASED ON

SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING

he never really grew out of that jokey/prankster mode? And eventually they get married, but not cuz she fell in love with him. Instead, it's more like he wore down her resolve

Which NO, THANK YOU. I'M NOT HERE FOR THAT. As I understand it, the romance was supposed to be a slow burn. Unfortch, there's ZERO chemistry cuz there's NO attraction between them, LOLsob. Instead, they had sibling energy. IJS


What's the FMC's plot armor level?

Fairly strong. Bad things have happened to her (such as being sold to a brothel when she was young, almost getting sexually assaulted onscreen, etc), but all of the terrible things happened to other characters and not her in the end.


How does the show handle the inevitable "Oh noes, the emperor's in danger of losing his throne!" storyline?

NO IDEA! I bounced before any of this was brought into the story. BUT, I'm sure there's some dramarama afoot in the latter half?


Do I recommend it?

No. It's not a terrible drama, but all of the things I complained abt added up to a big "let me stop here and move on." I only watched 6 out of the 36 eps. The series is available on YouTube.


Queerness level

There's a ~vibe between the Magistrate and his second in command that's sort of explained as the two of them being lifelong friends? Though they deffo have MARRIEDS vibe, IMO.. FTR, the show makes it v. clear that neither character is queer (but when has that stopped anyone, LOL?)

Le trailer

I could only find this version of the trailer. It has Portuguese subtitles. Trigger/Content Warning: The first 25 seconds show people getting murdered by different methods. It's graphic enough (there's blood (no gore, tho) and violence) for me to give a heads up.

Watch on YouTube

Re-Reads. HUH.

None for now.


I DNF'd

I actually finished everything I started. O__O


Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)

* Away Games by Misha Horne (M/M Romance) - A 35k novella that takes place a few months after the ending of Book 2. It has too much football (including an excess of practice and game scenes). The last chapter is a ridic (yet sweet) long porny scene between Caleb and Logan that segues into them talking abt their futures post-high school.

To me, the whole thing read like an epilogue draft since it didn't add anything new to Logan and Caleb's story and it wasn't far enough in the future (say, during their second year of university) to make any kind of impact. I gave this a 2 out of 5.


* She Didn't See It Coming by Shari LaPena (Mystery) - Bryden is happily married to Sam. They have pretty good careers, are the parents of a sweet 3-y.o., and seem to have a fab life. That is, until Bryden disappears...

Extremely readable novel. Good writing (no typos or weird turn of phrases.) Having read most of this author's books, I knew that I was in for domestic suspense, a whole lotta POVs (10 different characters in this novel), and some O___o kind of drama.

I wasn't AS taken with the mystery as I was with the MESSINESS of everything else.

Starting with 2 super chaotic evil characters who were fun to read abt. Even though they gave me the impression to have come in from a totally different book. There's also a 3rd character whose life went off the rails at some point...and that whole thing was never resolved?

Finally, a fourth character had a v. late in the book turn that made me ?????. And, to explain why, I gotta

dive into FULL SPOILERS

This fourth character is not only an abuser, but also a functional drug addict (Oxycontin). This is revealed in the next-to-last chapter and grants that character a full alibi (?!). This character--who has their own POV chapters--is never shown to be thinking abt drugs and/or getting high nor experience any type of physical withdraw from, again, their everyday usage.

It was v. odd that there were no hints abt this from the fourth character or anyone else who also had POVs. This was so UNBELIEVABLE that I 🙄 as the book came to a close.

Had I not been familiar with this author's usual style and that I had borrowed this from the library, I'd have probably DNF'd this book. Although I'm not quite putting this author on 'reader probation' yet, I will reconsider after reading whatever she publishes next. I gave this a 2.3 out of 5.


* Those We Run From by Fiona Zedde (F/F Romantic Suspense) - After finding out that Tilly, her ex-girlfriend from 20 or years ago, is on a hit list, almost-retired assassin Sterling heads to Miami to protect her and find out who wants her ex dead...

OTOH, this book had a v. diverse (in terms of race, sexuality, and gender) cast. I also really liked that the majority of the characters were 39+ years old. Oh, and the author can write actions scenes (including gunfights, knife fights, etc.) really well. She's got a knack for timing and describing the goings on.

OTOH, I had three issues with this 120-page novella.

1. The worldbuilding was incomplete. This story takes place in Miami (FL), the Bahamas, and southern Georgia. But there was no actual sense of place. Like, whenever the story moved to Miami, characters would inevitably think or say "wow, it's so hot/humid." And that was abt it. Same with the Bahamas.

2. Given the premise, i was ready for some goofiness plotwise. But then, a little near the halfway point, when the reason why Tilly has been targeted is revealed, the book moves on permanently to DEEPLY UNSERIOUS LAND. I mentally threw my hands in the air and said "I guess?!", NGL.

3. This last thing is the main reason why I gave it such a low ranking. This involves a mild spoiler w/r/t one of the MCs, but I don't consider it worthy of hiding behind a spoiler tag. Though, again, this is gonna be a MILD SPOILER.

So it turns out that Tilly has a twin sister named Nora. They've never gotten along and it's been a while since they've spoken with each other.

The book never uses words like autistic, autism, etc. However, it's clear that Nora is neurodivergent. The issue is the extremely negative way autism is shown. Especially when the chapter is from Tilly's POV.

Examples from Chapter 21 after Nora shows up. This is 100% from Tilly's POV (Emphasis mine):

It was bizarre seeing her sister again. Hearing her talk. They were identical in looks, but in temperament, in the way they processed things, were as different as dawn and midday. No doctor had been able to explain why. Nora was the analytical and brilliant one their parents never stopped praising. The one who was an ice cube but excelled at everything academic from her very first exam.

They start talking:

Tilly swallowed a few times. "What exactly do you mean by showing up here?"

"I made a gamble I shouldn't have and didn't factor in that I might have been gambling with your life, too." Nora faintly grimaced.

The scream crawled higher in Tilly's throat. "you talking to me like a robot isn't making the situation clearer."

"This is how i talk. There is no other way I can express myself."

That much was true. Tilly let out another sigh. [...]"

And the conversation continues with Nora talking and Tilly being judgy and on the defensive for no reason at all. The book does show Nora interacting with other characters just fine? There's one specific (but v., v. spoilery) convo Nora has with another character in which the other character never remarks on how 'odd' or 'robot-like' Nora is talking to them. So it's basically a Tilly-only issue, IMO.

At best, the way this book approaches a neurodivergent character is quite off-putting and, at worst, is truly worrisome and weird.

On top of that, it simply does not make any sense that Tilly, a 39-y.o. character who works with a variety of clients (she's a boudoir photographer) AND who has a really colorful group of friends AND gives the impression of being quite a worldly character wouldn't know or even consider the existence of autism. Especially in relation to her twin sister. Keep in mind that the story takes place in our world in contemporary times. That's all I'm saying.

ETA: I think I wouldn't have had as much of a problem if one of two things had happened:

1. If Tilly and Nora had been raised in an ultraconservative and super religious community. Since those types of groups tend to avoid/disregard anything that wouldn't be considered "normal".

OR

2. If the story has been set anywhere in the 1970s to 1980s. At those times, the general population's awareness of ADHD, dislexia, autism, etc was v. limited and prejudiced.

But that's not what happened here.


FTR, I was super grossed out by this part of the story, but it was such a short novella that I ended up. No idea if I'll read anything else by this author. I gave this a 1 out of 5.


Good vibes all around

* Comfort Me, Daddy by Misha Horne (M/M Romance) - the 444-age sequel to Hurt Me, Daddy. Logan has moved in with Caleb. There's a big chemistry test he HAS to pass if he wants his scholarship to continue AND some v. important football games he's gotta train for...

The writing continued to be good (no typos, no weird turn of phrase, etc.). There was enough space in the book for Logan to get some more character development. Which isn't to say that he became suddenly mature, but that he had changed (for the better) when it came to his self-esteem and relation to the world. Another thing that was v. clear was how much care this author had in creating all of the characters. Logan, Caleb, Walker, Ellis, and the rest of the guys had distinct personalities and behaviors and that made all of their interactions pretty interesting to follow along.

Most of the Logan/Caleb scenes (both in and out of bed) were fun and/or spicy.

OTOH, the author could've deleted 100-150 pages. Like, the author could've gotten rid of 8 or so chapters (out of 40) and tightened the story a lot.

Then there's a late-in-the-book dramarama involving Logan's mother. It felt kinda spliced into the book because there hadn't been anything working up to it. That said, I figured the author felt it necessary to give Logan some kind of closure regarding that aspect of his life? IDK.

Finally, I finished the book feeling quite dissatisfied with Caleb as an MC. There was so happening (and a lot of it being terrible) to Logan in the first book, that Caleb's steady and focused presence was v. welcomed. However, this book really showed that Caleb (both as a Daddy and as himself) had an infinite amount of patience (as well as all of the answers, I guess.) It flattened him as a character. I wish there had been at least one scene, moment, chapter in which Caleb had an off/bad day. If only to balance out all of the scenes of him being the perfect boyfriend.

Because, even though his care, love, and support of Logan made him a likable character, he didn't have anything else to him as a person. YMMV. I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5.


Current fic tally

Have picked up 160 fics, DNF'd 78


Some Thoughts

Not much in terms of satisfying reads, but I'm not actively regretting picking up most of the books (I still 😒 at Those We Run From, tho.) Thankfully, i have avoided falling into a reading slump, so I'm calling this a win (of sorts, LOL.)


Up Next...

Last time: "I'm now halfway thru the second book of the "The Brat and The Beast" duology, a mystery/thriller, a queer femdom (?) M/F set in space, and a historical paranormal that is NOT cozy."

Finished the first two books, am halfway thru the third one (which is NOT set in space)--though IDK if I'll finish it, and ended up renewing the fourth book before it was due back to the library. I'm also in the middle of another book which is the last one in a series. 🤞🏾 for good reading ahead!