Imperial Doctress Episode 25-29 Highlights

Introducing the first half of the penultimate arc in Imperial Doctress 女医明妃传, detailing Ye Xian's (Yuan Wen Kang) arrival, the war and Qi Zhen (Wallace Huo) and Yun Xian's (Liu Shi Shi) eventual captivity.

The story is fairly predictable and the opening credits, a dead giveaway of what's to come, yet the process to get there was so painstakingly frustrating.

Ye Xian is an envoy from Wa La, testing the limits with his relentless provocations and exacerbating the discord between Qi Zhen and his stepmother. As the emperor, Qi Zhen responds with an iron fist that results in Ye Xian's uprise against the Ming Dynasty. 

The powerful Ming could have crushed Wa La but through the help of a mysterious strategist, Ye Xian wins, taking over a number of Ming cities in the process.

Meanwhile, it is business as usual for the baddies. Duke Wang manipulates Empress Dowager to continue her tirades with Qi Zhen, opposing Qi Zhen in everything including Qi Yu and Yun Xian's wedding. 

Eunuch Wang covets military power so he hastens the Ming army's defeat in order for Qi Zhen to seize control.

Wang Meilin (Gina Jin) and her father Duke Wang manage to coerce Qi Yu (Huang Xuan) into marrying Meilin much to Yun Xian's dismay; yet Yun Xian can't exactly blame Qi Yu because he did it to save her father from a conspiracy that Duke Wang cooked up. 

It's absurd that the good guys are playing right into the hands of the baddies without the slightest cognition that they are being played. Yun Xian is no exception, falling prey to Meilin's threats and about to end her life in exchange for her family and Empress Qian's (Lin Cheng Yuan) safety. 

Meilin is obviously conniving enough to make good on her threats, but surely, suicide couldn't have been the answer. Empress Qian knocks some sense into Yun Xian and sneaks her out of the palace to join Qi Zhen's troops as a military doctor.

But oh my goodness Qi Zhen turns out to be a total failure as a general. His army left grossly unprepared and majority started getting sick on the first day, thanks to heavy rain and insufficient cover.

To make matters worse, Qi Zhen takes Eunuch Wang's ill advices at every turn, scrimping on medicine when they shouldn't. Yun Xian saves the day as expected, since the entire series serves as testament to her talent as a doctor. 

However, solving the problem certainly doesn't change the fact that Qi Zhen is incredibly rash, impudent and arrogant, which are deadly qualities to have in battle. Surprisingly, they're winning; or should I say unsurprisingly because it is clearly a trap, which is why his Wa La enemies were laughing atop their high horses.

Only Yun Xian and General Fan felt suspicious and while they plead for Qi Zhen to listen, Ye Xian's army strikes, burning their food supply in an instant with a message that says, "The Ming Dynasty emperor has no plan or strategy..," I seriously couldn't agree more.

It's like watching a series of unfortunate events unfold and it's actually painful to see the much-loved hero from previous episodes relegated to an annoying character capable only of stupid decisions, one after the other. 

Yun Xian berates Qi Zhen and he kicks and screams like a child claiming that it wasn't just his wounded pride on the line. He had to pursue Ye Xian's army because they burned everything. I wish someone could spell out to him that his notion is ridiculous because tiring his own soldiers to death in a blind chase is not going to bring back the food that was already burned to a crisp.

Qi Zhen shouts, "Do you think I'm incompetent?" to which Yun Xian replies, "incompetence is not measured by words but by action." Yes, so true.

It was really only a matter of time before Qi Zhen ends up at the feet of his enemy. Eunuch Wang dies for his treachery and Cheng Shi San returns as the villain behind the war.

Imperial Doctress Episode 1

Imperial Doctress Episode 2-7
Imperial Doctress Episode 8-13
Imperial Doctress Episode 14-20
Imperial Doctress Episode 21-24 

Imperial Doctress Episode 21-24 Highlights

It's official, Yun Xian (Liu Shi Shi) is a 6th-ranking Imperial Doctress appointed by the emperor and acknowledged by the Medicinal Bureau.

Yun Xian achieves her first victory as an imperial doctress, defeating fellow doctor Cheng Cun Xia despite being the underdog. I honestly thought that there was hope for Cun Xia who seemed straight as an arrow, ambitious but determined to do right by his craft. 

Yet his character is on a downwards spiral, thanks to his evil uncle Cheng Shi San. In hindsight, Cheng Cun Xia chose the wrong path from the very beginning so it's no surprise that he is progressively worse.

Yun Xian and Qi Yu (Huang Xuan) fall into a familiar pattern of fighting, then making up while Emperor Qi Zhen (Wallace Huo) remains Yun Xian's forever friend and confidante.

The contrast is evident with Qi Zhen ready to go against an entire court on Yun Xian's behalf while Qi Yu is first to point a finger at Yun Xian the minute things go astray. Even though Qi Yu and Yun Xian's misunderstandings are largely caused by the baddies, the means certainly do not justify the end.

There are tons of WTF moments and even Qi Zhen is not exempt. He is smart for the most part yet painstakingly dumb when it's convenient. It is almost an endless cycle of scheming between Empress Dowager (Qi Zhen's stepmom) and the Emperor and I hate to see Qi Zhen so easily manipulated.

When Qi Zhen's pregnant wife objects to killing Duke Wang, Qi Zhen's hot-headedness gets in the way and he ends up pushing her accidentally. The thing is, it is already the second time Qi Zhen hurt someone, the first being Empress Dowager who fell into a short-lived coma after the incident.

Fortunately, Yun Xian knocks some sense into the guilt-ridden Qi Zhen and their heartfelt conversation brings about a straight up confession. Qi Zhen declares his feelings for Yun Xian, admittedly saying that he secretly rejoiced over Qi Yu and Yun Xian's relationship problems. He chides himself for it but he wants to know whether Yun Xian ever felt the same way.

I don't believe for a second that Yun Xian doesn't have feelings for him but alas, she claims she doesn't. It was an emotionally charged scene and my goodness, why can't these two just get together. 

Karma is indeed a bitch and Cheng Shi San gets his comeuppance after Yun Xian learns that he was the culprit responsible for murdering Empress Dowager's unborn child decades ago.

Furious over the betrayal, Empress Dowager demands Cheng Shi San's execution and he is subsequently stabbed in a seemingly sudden end to a long-running case. 

His takedown was akin to a series of mindless coincidences that started because of plagiarism of all things. Yes, he plagiarized Yun Xian's book,  got caught, accused her of murdering another concubine's royal baby, busted, only to out himself in the end as the man who tricked Yun Xian as a child to pouring poison into the then Empress' medicine. The resolution felt hurried that it was anything but eventful and it was never really made clear what his motivations were. Nonetheless, I guess a win is a win.

Imperial Doctress First Look

Imperial Doctress Episode 2-7
Imperial Doctress Episode 8-13
Imperial Doctress Episode 14-20
Imperial Doctress Episode 25-29

Imperial Doctress Episode 14-20 Summary

Imperial Doctress 女医·明妃传 is back in full force as Yun Xian (Liu Shi Shi) finally musters the courage to reclaim her identity. After all, what's an imperial doctress without the palace? 

The attack on her family shakes Yun Xian to the core and she decides to remain 'dead', resulting in some few episodes that I conveniently fast forwarded. She finds solace with a traveling circus and meets a teacher adept at medicinal food (Jewel in the Palace?!?!) and Zhu You 祝由 (a peculiar form of healing).

Her time away has made her stronger and better, so she leaves for the palace with renewed confidence to return to Qi Yu (Huang Xuan) and to become the first female doctor of her generation. 

Prejudice rears its ugly head as Yun Xian is ostracized and her skills discounted based on gender alone. But of course, Yun Xian turns out to be the only doctor to cure the ailing Empress Dowager, easily proving that women are just as capable as men.

With success comes jealousy such that Yun Xian is framed for an offense that she did not commit. Not to worry because Emperor Qi Zhen (Wallace Huo) happens to be strolling around the area to save the damsel in distress.

In a scene oddly reminiscent of another palace drama called Chronicle of Life, the emperor takes the unconscious heroine away who wakes to find the man before her belatedly admitting, "I am the emperor." Eeeepppp, ahhhhh, yesssss! It's so cliche but I have been counting down to this very moment.

Unfortunately, Empress Qian (Li Cheng Yuan) is quick to bring along Qi Yu so that the rightful couple can reunite and I cry at the sight of a complicated love square.

The first course of business is Qi Yu and Yun Xian's wedding and a major hurdle to their relationship comes in the face of Consort Dowager Wu, Qi Yu's power-hungry mother.

It soon becomes apparent that Yun Xian chose the wrong man because Qi Yu is an all out mama's boy. From asking Yun Xian to change her name to pressuring her to give up her patients, Qi Yu's unreasonable demands pile up and his casual remarks unintentionally hurtful. Sure, Qi Yu's motivations are misguided by a mother that is pretending to be gravely ill, but to refuse to believe Yun Xian even after she blatantly tells him the truth is beyond me.

Thank goodness for Yun Xian's unwavering resolve. She promptly defends her craft, going as far as to point out that Consort Dowager Wu wouldn't even be alive if not for her. 

Even Yun Xian's handmaiden's words ring true, questioning why Yun Xian is forcing a marriage with Qi Yu when the Emperor is so much better anyway. I agree 100% that she should back out while she still can but Yun Xian then makes a ridiculous vow that she will die a terrible death should she ever develop inappropriate feelings for Emperor Qi Zhen.

Last but not the last is one of my favorite arcs that features the Imperial Doctor Exam. Yun Xian crams many long nights to fulfill her dream of becoming a full-fledged doctor only to realize that the exam has been rigged to fail. 

Nevertheless, Yun Xian manages to pass with flying colors stumping Cheng Shi San and his nephew Cheng Cun Xia and impressing everyone else. Yet, the extent of the evil duo's wtfery really can't be underestimated as the final task proves to be much too humiliating that Head Doctor Liu Ping An intervened. 

Did I say how much I like Head Doctor Liu? He tells Yun Xian to stop because even if she gets in, she will just be mistreated by the very same people that do not want her there. It doesn't matter that people look down on her because he doesn't. Head Doctor Liu promised to accept only the best doctors and he offers to bring her under his tutelage because she is undoubtedly brilliant in her own right.

I love that Doctor Liu goes on to tell Cheng Cun XIa to shut up as he was objecting and for Cheng Shi San to stay out of his business.

Imperial Doctress First Look

Imperial Doctress Ep 2-7
Imperial Doctress Ep 8-13
Imperial Doctress Ep 21-24

Imperial Doctress Episode 8-13 Highlights

I wish this were a recap but 51 episodes is too huge a commitment so I'm settling for episode highlights instead.

Emperor Zhu Qi Zhen (Wallace Huo) and his stepmother, the Empress Dowager, are at it again, throwing jabs at each other every chance they get. We're made to believe that the source of their antagonism is fabricated by third parties, so it's hard to rally behind either of them since their feud seems rather pointless.

Nevertheless, Qi Zhen achieves a small victory for the way he resolves the pandemic, revealing his identity at the opportune moment in order to save the day. He is outright full of himself, but intriguingly so and his grand entrance earns generous praise from the citizens.

Yun Xian (Liu Shi Shi) on the other hand is constantly healing the sick and there are so many from hundreds of displaced villagers to Zhu Qi Yu's ungrateful mother. By the nth patient, I was just itching for the drama to get on with the show because it is getting old.

Yun Xian's dad is still annoying as ever, worse than the villains. He is a perpetual downer, blaming Yun Xian for every little thing even his very own promotion. Dad's brilliant solution is to attempt to marry her off again because that went well the first time.

In hindsight, dad's decision moved the plot forward giving Yun Xian a much-needed push to seriously ponder her love life. I'm glad that things are heating up but I am not happy about where it's heading. Yun Xian receives two satchels and is showered by more gifts from both suitors. I'd be griping except she really is a pretty awesome lady to deserve all that attention.

Unfortunately, the men come with baggage. Qi Zhen already has an empress aka wife, no doubt multiple concubines and probably kids too. His brother Qi Yu (Huang Xuan) is backed by Empress Dowager and Duke Wang and they expect him to marry Wang Mei Lin (Gina Jin). Yun Xian finds herself in a dangerous situation indeed and it ultimately leads to her 'death' by assassins.

Between the two contenders, Qi Zhen win hands down because it's Wallace Huo (kidding.. wasn't evan a fan of Journey of Flower but if I wasn't a convert then, I am now). Objectively speaking, the drama does appear to go out of its way to develop the relationship between Qi Zhen and Yun Xian. I like that despite Qi Zhen hiding his identity as the emperor, Yun Xian is perceptive enough to understand his backstory and to know him as a person. They're like old friends, similar in ideals, constantly bickering but comfortably familiar such that Yun Xian even teases Qi Zhen by calling him Yuan Bao (his pet name). 

There's a significant amount of fan service and I say keep them coming. My favorite part is when Qi Zhen guesses every riddle with surprising ease and he calls her stupid for not keeping up, which of course demands a comeback along the lines of no, you're the one who's stupid. 

I swear my writing doesn't do the scene justice and it's much cuter on TV. Moving on, the non-couple also frolic in the snow on a lonely New Year's eve and Yun Xian promises to keep him company on the same day of every year. Why she said that when she supposedly loves someone else? I don't know. 

And why the drama does that if it's going to veer left anyway? I actually don't mind Qi Yu who has been nothing but sweet. It's a fairy tale of she saves him, he saves her and fate brings them together again, yet it feels superficial at best since the couple don't get much screen time together. Nonetheless, I can see why her heart flutters at the sight of him but I just can't ship them.

Imperial Doctress First Look

Imperial Doctress Ep 2-7
Imperial Doctress Ep 14-20

Imperial Doctress Ep 2-7 Highlights

After a strong start, the momentum continues through increased interactions between the characters and their stories fleshed out for our full enjoyment. At this point, I've decided that I'm in it for the long haul (yep, all 50 episodes) regardless of who gets the girl. 

They couldn't hold out on us forever and Wallace Huo finally makes his appearance in the second episode as Zhu Qi Zhen aka Ying Zhong. He is portrayed as impudent, rash, ill-tempered but kind hearted and heck, he is the emperor so he's bound to have some sort of a superiority complex. 

I love our heroine because she has none of that stupidity so often abound in dramas. In fact, she is the exact opposite, driven, smart and highly-capable. Liu Shi Shi pretty much owns the character and shines as Tan Yun Xian, deserving to be a female icon in a male-dominated society.

Her backstory is tragic because what protagonist doesn't have one. As a little girl, she was fooled into poisoning the current Empress Dowager leading to the deaths of her grandfather and older brother. Despite carrying the burden her entire life, she maintains a positive attitude and pursues her goal to become a doctor in her brother's stead.

Unfortunately, the road she chooses is is riddled with difficulties not only because social conventions would never allow it but also because her father who already blames her for being the black sheep forbids anyone in the family from practicing medicine. Yun Xian repeatedly gets into trouble, is reprimanded and even whipped but she preserves a never-give-up attitude by coming up with ingenious workarounds to secretly practice.

Huang Xuan as Zhu Qi Yu doesn't seem to get as much screen time or I might just be noticing the other two more because I was clearly onboard the Wallace Huo and Liu Shi Shi ship since long ago and it's too little too late to turn back now. 

Nevertheless, Zhu Qi Yu as an all-around good guy is very likable and the actor is slowly growing on me. His bromance with Qi Zhen, his older half-brother, is a heartwarming display of unwavering trust from years of friendship and I'd really hate to see the fallout, which is likely going to be because of Yun Xian or the Empress Dowager who is hell bent on turning the brothers against each other. 

Imperial Doctress spares no time setting up the love story from the first moment Yun Xian saves Qi Yu to the moment he saves her in return. It is a case of young love meets Prince Charming and I find myself smiling at their giddiness. Imagine my facepalm moment when Yun Xian's father wants to disown her for rejecting Official Xu's marriage proposal. To Yun Xian's father, she should be with royalty for goodness sake!

The catch 22 is that the drama spends an equal or actually more time building up the other leg of the triangle in the form of a budding friendship between Qi Zhen and Yun Xian. Even though he often leans towards acting like a douche thereby ruining the moment, Yun Xian is perceptive enough to be aware of Qi Zhen's good intentions even during times when he deliberately tries to mask his kindness.

The conflict escalates when one of Yun Xian's patients suddenly dies and Official Xu, the widowed husband, looks to exact vengeance upon Yun Xian for writing the prescription that killed her. Even when it was becoming apparent that Yun Xian is innocent, Official Xu's bloodlust was never going to let her off and the Imperial Doctors were willing to make a scapegoat out of her.

The two powerful men in her life are naturally rushing to the rescue but Emperor Qi Zhen beats Prince Qi Yu to the punch in the most rewarding resolution to the entire debacle. It's always a treat to see big bad put other baddies in their place because they do it so incredibly well fervently basking in the glory of a takedown. I also like how the drama comes full circle by showing that good things comes to those who do good deeds.

The reason Prince Qi Yu couldn't help Yun Xian in person was because he is imprisoned by Empress Dowager until such time that he agrees to overthrow the Emperor. Without any other option, he uses the Princess (Gina Jin) to send a message via fixing her pendant in a knot that only he, the Emperor and the Empress would understand. He successfully makes contact with Qi Zhen but his affectionate gestures towards the Princess will surely come back to haunt him in the future. 

Though I gotta admit, the baddies have been extremely helpful so far other than their occasional roles in the widening the rift between stepmother and son. Dong Chang's head eunuch Wang Zhen and his lackeys are a plot device to mislead the Emperor and Duke Wang and his daughter Princess Wang add fuel to the fire by spouting lies to the Empress Dowager. Somehow, the Emperor and Empress Dowager helplessly fall right into their manipulative hands and it's odd that the seemingly intelligent Emperor can be so easily deceived.

But those scenes in episode 7 when Qi Zhen's relentless provocations jolts her to recover from her emotional trauma to become a doctor again, twas intense! 

I just realized that I literally sang praises left and right, maybe the prolonged hype has really robbed me of my ability to be objective or maybe it is that good. What do you think? 

Continue to Imperial Doctress Ep 8-13

First Look: The Imperial Doctress

After years of being teased with 5-minute trailers, oh-so-picturesque stills and then being peeved that Wallace Huo might end up the 3rd wheel, Imperial Doctress 女医明妃传 finally airs last Saturday and the first two episodes look promising.

Episode 1 begins by setting up the stage for a Ming dynasty where a woman's place is relegated to the home. Hang Yun Xian (Liu Shi Shi) attends a birthday celebration in her father's stead but her family can only afford a modest gift, which is regarded with contempt by the other guests. However, Yun Xian is not the least bit concerned as she cares more about a rare medicinal herb that she finds in the compound.

Suddenly, Zhu Qi Yu (Huang Xuan) springs out from hiding threatening Yun Xian to handover the medicinal herb. Qi Yu is the king's brother and he is being chased by assassins to stop his meeting with the Empress Dowager who intends to make him king. Realizing that the man before him is desperate because he is poisoned, Yun Xian ends up helping him instead. 

Dong Chang eunuchs enter the scene in search for Qi Yu and a series of events transpire with the end result being that Qi Yu escapes with the help of Wang Mei Lin (Gina Jin) and Yun Xian is punished harshly by her father for practicing medicine.  

First Impressions: Gender inequality is still a topic for discussion in this day and age so I can't begin to fathom how women survived in ancient China where the times were far more restrictive. 

Nevertheless, the drama might be exaggerating the circumstances stating that women were not even allowed to accept cure from a doctor for fear of gender differences. I have never heard or seen that before but then again, my references are mostly works of fiction so I'm hardly a reliable source. 

Regardless of whether it is fake or factual, the prejudice and societal pressures that Yun Xian has to overcome makes for a very riveting account of her rise to become a royal doctor.

Liu Shi Shi knows how to choose her projects and she delivers as the strong-willed, intelligent and principled Tan Yun Xian who dives headfirst to question the blind foolishness of adhering to tradition.

Wallace Huo as the emperor did not appear in episode 1 but the narration seems to portray him as someone terribly misguided for placing trust in the eunuchs of Dong Chang. I already sneaked a peek at episode 2 and I think, I hope, surely there is more than meets the eye behind the emperor's careless facade.

The writing is fast-paced, solidly introducing many of the characters with enough depth to be intrigued by their motivations both good and bad. It is not chock-full of angst as one might have anticipated and I can't wait for more.

For synopsis, cast and ratings, see 2016 popular cdrama listing.