A Chinese drama that hasn’t received much promotion until it was suddenly announced it was kicking off filming today is Song Zu Er and Ding Yu Xi‘s historical mystery series ‘The Palace Stewardess‘.
A series I am ‘all in’ for considering it stars two of my favorite young actors, and I have been obsessively watching everything the amazing Zu Er appears in since her incredible performances in The Demon Hunter’s Romance (that crying scene!) and The Prisoner of Beauty.
She’s such an amazing judge of dramas that are likely to be big hits, you know anything she stars in will probably be a standout.
Song Zu Er, of course, recently also finished filming Wish You All the Best alongside Chen Xi Hai, while Ding Yu Xi has been working hard on his own, as he starred in Fight for Love back in October, as well as in Love in Pavilion earlier in the year, and had a guest role in October-release Sword and Beloved.
Both also have an extensive library of dramas they have appeared in over the last decade or so, which makes it easy to get your fix. (Two decades for Zu Er) but, even so, I am always greedy for more.
The two haven’t appeared together in a drama as main leads so far, however, so this one should be an interesting pairing.
Especially as Song Zu Er has incredible chemistry with all of her main leads (look at those oh so sweet scenes with Liu Yu Ning in The Prisoner of Beauty!) and, even though Ding Yu Xi always looks innocent in his everyday photos, man, can that boy look sexy and dark when he wants to.
Tencent Video dropped photos of the pair from The Palace Stewardess‘s booting ceremony today, along with commentary about the C-drama’s plot:
After repeated tests and cautious probes, a romance quietly blossoms; what began as a strategic game evolves into a steadfast alliance. Redeeming one another through love, they walk side by side through the treacherous depths of the imperial palace
Production details for The Palace Stewardess
The Chinese food-themed historical drama (also titled 司宫令 / Si Gong Ling) is being directed by Wang Cheng Xin (Best Choice Ever), and is written by Wang Hong (Fight for Love and Sword and Fairy), which means it should be well-written.
And, generally, although I’m not usually a big fan of food-themed dramas, this one is more than that as it’s all about political intrigue, all kinds of nefarious things going on behind the scenes, and power struggles that threaten both second prince Zhao Ai (played by Ding Yu Xi) and palace servant Wu Zhen Zhen (Song Zu Er).
Alongside Song Zu Er and Ding Yu Xi, the cast also features Ye Zu Xin, Rao Jia Di, Yan Xu Jia, Gao He Yuan, Yang Shu Yi and Kang Ke Ren. So yep, we have a lot to look forward to.
The Chinese drama is currently listed as 32 episodes and, while we only have a very short plot synopsis so far, what we do have looks like this:
Zhao Ai (played by Ding Yu Xi), the second prince of Nanzhao who is returned from being a hostage , and Wu Zhenzhen (played by Song Zu Er), an orphan girl who enters the palace under the false identity of a noblewoman to avenge her mother, go from testing each other to entrusting each other with life and death.
In the end, Zhao Ai purges the court and restores order, while Wu Zhenzhen becomes the Palace Master in charge of the Six Departments.
The two work together to protect the future of their country.
Filming for The Palace Stewardess began in Hengdian today (March 16th), and is currently scheduled to run for 120 days.
I will keep you updated as more information/photos drop but, as of now, enjoy the pics from the drama’s booting ceremony. I mean, Ye Gods, I’m already fangirling hard over that cast, and we’re a year or more away from its release still.
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