Skip to content
Michelle topham logo with white border

Michelle Topham

Everything C-drama

Primary Menu
  • C-Drama News
  • Reviews
  • Drama Titles
  • Posters and Stills
  • Drama Music
  • My Favorite Douban Comment
  • Who is Michelle Topham?
  • C-Drama News

Cheng Lei and Song Yi’s Shadow Love exceeds 1 million pre-orders – watch C-drama’s trailer

Michelle Topham August 17, 2025

Cheng Lei and Song Yis Shadow Love earns 1 million reservations poster

The upcoming iQIYI war-themed romance drama Shadow Love has exceeded 1 million pre-orders, with no word yet as to when it is scheduled to premiere.

It is, however, likely to be soon, with rumors currently coming out of China that it will be dropping its first episodes on August 23rd. (Update: The drama’s premiere has now been confirmed for August 24th).

Cheng Lei Shadow Love still

Shadow Love‘s filming schedule

The Chinese drama stars Cheng Lei (Legend of the Female General) and Song Yi (Joy of Life).

It began filming on May 13th, 2024 and completed its filming at Hengdian Film and Television City on September 2nd of the same year. The C-drama then received its broadcast license in December so, as Chinese dramas go, Shadow Love received permission to air quite quickly.

Shadow Love exceeding 1 million pre-orders was announced by iQIYI on their Weibo account this morning with a celebratory poster (above), and the comment:

#与晋长安预约破100万# #Shadow Love 1 million reservations#

Love at first “encounter,” a mutual devotion.
Countless adorations, “Jin” right before your eyes.

Li Shuang (aka Song Yi — @宋轶songyi) and Jin An (Chen Lei — @丞磊) invite you to experience a bittersweet triple-layered romance~

Pre-orders still ongoing.

Shadow Love drama starring Song Yi
Shadow Love still of Song Yi

The Shadow Love plot

Shadow Love should be an interesting one, as it is directed by Deng Ke (The Prisoner of Beauty and Guardians of the Dafeng) and Gao Cong Kai (The Prisoner of Beauty). So, if it’s anything as good as either of those dramas, we are definitely in for a treat.

The Chinese romance drama is co-written by Sun Zi Yan (My Naughty Classmates) and Sun Ting Ting. and comprises 38 episodes.

RELATED: A huge number of character visuals have been released for Shadow Love as C-drama gets ready to premiere

According to Baike Baidu, its exciting sounding plot goes like this:

The Great Jin’s female general, Li Shuang (played by Song Yi), is a fearless warrior renowned for her battlefield prowess. Tasked with uncovering a hidden traitor within a month, she stumbles upon a gravely wounded man with no memory and brings him back to camp.

The man pleads to stay by her side, joining her in battle. Li Shuang names him Jin An (played by Cheng Lei), symbolizing lasting peace for the Great Jin.

Together, they expose the traitor but face relentless sabotage from a newly appointed army supervisor and repeated invasions from the neighboring kingdom of Dayao.

Jin An’s exceptional cunning helps them overcome each crisis, and amidst the turmoil, their bond deepens into unspoken affection.

However, as Jin An gradually regains his memories, he discovers his true identity…

Check out the trailer released for Shadow Love a couple of months ago, and I will be back here on Michelle Topham as soon as we have more definitive information about its premiere date.

About the Author

Michelle Topham

Michelle Topham

Administrator

British-American journalist currently residing in Vienna, Austria and obsessed beyond measure with C-dramas, a subject I have been writing about for more than two decades. How many C-dramas have I watched? Many many hundreds. How many are still in my backlog? Hundreds more.

View All Posts
Tags: Bi Wen Jun Chinese Historical Drama Chinese Romance Drama Chinese War Drama iQIYI Ryan Cheng Shadow Love Shi Ce Song Yi

Post navigation

Previous: Li Xian and Li Yi Tong’s A Prophet wraps filming – drops slew of character visuals
Next: Moonlit Reunion reservations hit 5 million as C-drama premieres tomorrow – Xu Kai and Tian Xi Wei poster drops

What is Michelle Topham?

Mmm

A blog dedicated to Chinese dramas founded by Michelle Topham -- a British-American journalist who spent almost two decades living in Asia, and wrote about Chinese series for most of that time. That's me!

Come on, if I'm this obsessed with C-dramas, you need to be as well.

CURRENTLY WATCHING

The epoch of miyu

The Epoch of Miyu starring Wallace Chung and Zhu Zhu. Streaming on WeTV.

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA

X - @AnimePowered

Flipboard -  @MichelleTopham

Pinterest - Michelle Topham

Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy and GDPR Statement
Michelle Topham ©2026 - All rights reserved.