The Wrong Royal Bride (2020)

A Romantic and Quick Historical Watch — If You Can Handle the Ending

There is one main reason I started watching this drama, and it’s because our (perpetually) second lead male actor Mi Re/Merxat is finally in one of his first leading roles. After completing this drama, I truly have a lot of mixed and bittersweet feelings. Overall (without spoiling anything) I believe this show's strengths include the performances and the overarching plot, although some viewers may take issues with the ending of the series.

Some aspects viewers may like about the drama include:

♡ An Overbearing Yet Powerless King: Merxat does a really great job making Yuwen Yong possessive and quite “black belly,” while also showing how vulnerable he is. You see from the beginning how he is physically and emotionally suffering even though he holds the position of Emperor, and also how few people he has around him that truly care for him. I think this makes the plot itself quite interesting, especially since part of the storyline is not only focused on the romance, but also how he and Liu Jing/Jing'er navigate an environment that is literally and figuratively poisoning him. I have to say that Merxat's portrayal of the ML was very well done, especially with both the emotional and romantic scenes.

♡ A Smart, Mischievous, and Talented FL: Probably one of the best aspects of this drama is its portrayal of women. The female lead Jing'er has her own dreams and aspirations, which do contribute to her romance with Yuwen Yong, but also give her agency and personality separate from their love together. Jing'er not only uses her abilities to help Yuwen Yong, but also works hard to improve herself in order to achieve her own dreams. Most of all, her skills often end up either saving her or the Emperor, and often come in handy whether it be to protect herself or to uncover some of the broader political conspiracies in the palace.

♡ A Romance That Stands the Test of Conflicts: While Yuwen Yong often does some things that can be problematic, such as threatening to make sure Jing'er never leaves, in fact he deeply worries about her and the drama makes it clear that he falls for Jing'er first. I love how in a way their romance and chemistry felt a lot more adult, even if they start off by bickering and misunderstanding each other’s feelings. Merxat does a great job at being a devoted ML, and the drama also shows how both Jing'er and Yuwen Yong are lovers who are mutually equal in competence, despite their differences in status. They work together to solve problems, navigate the political conflicts that arise within the palace, and to support each other with their individual strengths in such a dangerous environment.

♡ Loveable Side Casts: Yuwen Zong plays an adorable and naive little brother, and I found it refreshing that he and Yuwen Yong had an overall supportive and loving relationship in the series. Many of the side casts, from the eunuch to Liu Jing's maid, are also not only close friends and confidantes, but support the main characters together as they go through different challenges. I also surprisingly really loved the tragic love story between the enemies Dugu Cheng and Tang Wan, and felt that they had great chemistry together, and that their screen time was tastefully done and well integrated into the overarching drama. While there are definitely characters that are more hateful, including some of Yuwen Yong’s concubines, I liked how some of the side characters were truly friends with the main cast.

♡ Short Length: The show is not draggy, and I think it really benefited from being a relatively short length as well as adapted from a novel. It’s overall very easy to watch and digestible, especially if you want a historical drama that has a balance of politics and romance without being too complex. I was able to follow the overarching political schemes of the drama without getting bored, and I think the number of episodes is very suitable for the storyline.

However, there are also some things that may be an issue or less enjoyable for viewers:

♥ Casting: I think there was some miscasting going on, or at least I was a little confused about some of the cast choices in this show. Gong Mi looks a little more mature than some of her castmates, and I wished they had simply incorporated this into the script (i.e. made her older than Yuwen Yong) instead of giving her a personality of a young and innocent girl who is still unaware of the world. I think it’s refreshing to have more mature and older women cast as female leads, and therefore I wished that they had just made this into part of the drama. Not to mention that much of the supporting cast, especially Yuwen Zong, looked significantly younger than the main cast. In other words, I think because of the casting sometimes I couldn’t tell whether this show was deciding to go into a youth romance drama territory, or wanted to delve into a more adult historical romance.

♥ Ending: Without revealing too much about the ending, what I will say is to be prepared for a conclusion that may potentially not satisfy you, and also closes off the possibility of a second season. I personally found it a bit strange that the directors decided to take the drama in this direction, because this drama fits a certain niche (light and romantic historical romcom) where this type of ending has not yet been done. At the same time, I emphasize that I was spoiled about the ending before I made the decision to watch this drama, and likely if I had known that this would be the outcome I may not have committed as much time to watching this show. I highly recommend you check out some of the spoilers to prepare yourself if you are considering watching this.

♥ Genre: Again, this is related to the ending, but I felt as if the drama couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a lighter and fluffier romantic drama, or if it wanted to be more introspective and angsty. There are many parts that are fluffy and sweet, but as we get to the latter stretch of the drama it navigates into serious tragedy territory. In other words, I feel as if this drama targeted an audience that may be looking for fluff, but then I warn to prepare yourself for the last five episodes, which deviate quite a lot from the sweetness of the earlier episodes.

♥ Production Value: It’s pretty clear that this is really low budget, even amongst the other dramas that fit the niche of short historical romcom. Some similar dramas that also are part of this genre include Oops the King is in Love (2020), Dr. Cutie (2019), My Dear Destiny (2020), The Love by Hypnotic (2019), and Love Better Than Immortality (2019). And I have to say that out of all these dramas, in this drama the sets and clothes were by far much less high-quality compared to the titles I’ve listed. You can sometimes see very clearly where the longer wig pieces attach to the back of the head, as well as how the majority of the costuming and backdrops are made out of cheaper materials. I also didn’t find much of the music or OST very memorable, which I found to be quite rare for a historical drama. While this is a matter of taste, I also note that the drama went for a more saturated and darker colouring, compared to the usual more pastel tone of shows in this genre.

This was a watch that I found to be relatively good for passing the time, especially while waiting in-between for other shows that were airing. It doesn’t drag much because of the episode length, has solid acting, and I really liked seeing Merxat on screen after such a long time as the male lead. At the same time, however, I would caution viewers about the ending, as well as some of the limits of the series with the lower production value. If you have the time and are interested in a binge-able romantic historical drama, then I would recommend you try this out while taking cautious note of some of its issues.

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