Review: The Prisoner of Beauty (2025) 折腰
Summary: Xiao Qiao ft Song Zu’Er is forced to marry Wei Shao ft Liu Yu Ning following an agreement between their clans. However, Wei Shao hates the Qiao family because they betrayed his family and caused the death of his grandfather, father and brother. Though their marriage has a rocky start, the 2 develop trust as king and queen of the Wei kingdom, aimed at bringing prosperity to the people of their land.
Platform: Tencent
Episodes: 36
Airing Date: May 12， 2025
Initial Rating 7.3/10 – (After 20 episodes) Another surprise drop featuring Song Zu’Er. The plot and quality of this drama are better than expected and shines when it’s focused more on the political machinations. I at least want to “chase” it but some secondary characters do hamper the quality. Chemistry between Liu Yu Ning and Song Zu’Er is better than her last drama but folks have not been pleased with Liu Yu Ning’s appearance. If you’re ok with him on screen, this will be fine.
Final Rating – 7.7/10 – The second half actually improved quite a bit from a muddled middle. Strong communication, large set pieces, bigger conflicts and thought provoking character positions added surprising depth to this romance drama. In certain instances, I was proven wrong on initial characterization.
In depth spoiler discussion at the bottom
xiao qiao song zu er
Daughter of the Qiao family. Chose to step in for her sister in an arranged marriage
wei shao liu yu ning
Leader of the Wei kingdom. Tortured by a traumatic past. Hates the Qiao family
wei yan liu duan duan
Wei Shao's cousin with ties to the Bian kingdom
su e huang xuan lu
Queen of the Bian Kingdom. Originally supposed to marry into the Wei family
Plot Overview
As a young child, Wei Shao ft Liu Yu NIng saw his father and older brother die due to a betrayal. As a young man, he takes on the burden of leading the kingdom. But rather than continue to fight via war, he opts to try to find peace and bring prosperity to his people. Due to an agreement, he must marry a daughter of the Qiao family but it is the Qiao family that betrayed the Wei family and caused the deaths of his beloved family members.
Xiao Qiao ft Song Zu Er steps in for her older sister to marry Wei Shao. While both were not happy with the marriage, their shared values helped them build trust into a stronger marriage, one where they aim to quell the conflict between their families.
Initial Thoughts
Another surprise drop for Song Zu’Er. I don’t know what happened in the background but this highly anticipated drama that was filmed in 2023 was suddenly dropped and has done surprisingly well. It has breached 30,000 on Tencent’s popularity index, the 3rd drama to do so this year behind The Guardian of Da Feng and The Glory. The main cast has come out to do live streams and other marketing events so perhaps all of the tax evasion woes for Song Zu’Er has been resolved and she’ll be able to resume work.
The primary criticism of the show from what I’ve read online has been hurled at male lead Liu Yu Ning. He’s garnered a rather unsavory reputation for not being “handsome” enough. So, if you’re super anti Liu Yu Ning, this won’t help. If you read many Chinese comments, a lot will be about his appearance. I will say though that this drama does hide some of his shortcomings. In particular, I often grapple with his poor posture because he’s so tall. He’ll often be hunched over but it’s not as noticeable in this drama. The character of Wei Shao is quite attractive so Liu Yu Ning gets to hide behind a well written character such that I don’t mind him on screen. I actually quite enjoy the chemistry between the main couple and they’re a good pair for this drama.
It is obvious that this show has a large cast, a uniquely sprawling world and is high quality. The costumes are ornate and the set pieces vast. You can tell this show had a big budget. Song Zu’Er and Liu Yu Ning do shine as the leading couple. Where the drama falters are the secondary characters – namely, Liu Duan Duan’s character and Xuan Lu’s character. The quality of the show started dipping starting around ep 12. We’ll see how it performs in the second half.
What I Like
- Xiao Qiao’s high EQ intellect: It’s easy to have an “intelligent” female lead but Xiao Qiao is different than many others because she has very high EQ. My favorite scene is the end of episode 10 and into episode 11 when Wei Shao was drugged. How she responded was quite impressive. As Grandma Wei explains, Xiao Qiao can talk up a storm in other instances but knows how to be play dumb in the most important scenarios. Xiao Qiao knew how vulnerable Wei Shao felt after being drugged and instead of crying about it to Grandma Wei as many other women would have, she knew it wasn’t his fault. She is very clear in understanding when he and the rest of the Wei family is being fair to her vs not and responds in kind. Additionally, she knows that she can’t win by force so any of her “schemes” are within her realm of control. Her scenes with Wei Yan, Wei Shao’s cousin, as well are quite heartwarming after we get more clarity on his past.
- Focus on creating improvement for plain civilians – The core trust foundation for Wei Shao and Xiao Qiao comes from the fact that even though the 2 come from families with a troubled history, both of them recognize that the other cares deeply about improving the lives of its people. Because of that, Wei Shao is willing to stand up for Xiao Qiao when she is being framed by saying he believes she wants to kill him and his family, but he does not believe that she will hurt the common folk. This again, helps develop that trust where both sides know the difference between “work” vs “personal” relationships. That adds a layer of depth for viewers to see how a true relationship could build between these 2 people beyond just the fact that they are good hearted.
- Adorable cast of generals – While I do think pacing wise there may be some inconsistencies but I do enjoy Wei Shao’s 4 Wei generals. They listen to Wei Shao and due his bidding but they have a good enough relationship where they’re able to skirt some of his orders and rib him when possible. I do enjoy when Wei Shao keeps them in his office for work late at night when he’s scared to go home and the generals plus the advisor are all yawning like crazy. They’re Wei Shao’s best friends who want what’s best for him even when he doesn’t know it himself.
- Beautiful costumes/high production value – It’s hard to ignore that this is a big set piece/high budget production. Many scenes are beautifully shot and you can tell money is being spent.
What's Suffering
- Her motivation – I feel like this drama is focused on making Wei Shao fall in love with Xiao Qiao but I don’t fully understand how or why Xiao Qiao is 100% aligned with Wei Shao. We don’t see her fall in love with Wei Shao so I often can’t tell if she actually likes him or it’s all a ploy to survive in the Wei kingdom. Yes, I mentioned that the 2 have shared values, but her side of the story seems less developed than his side.
- Side characters – The quality of the show dipped immediately when Liu Duan Duan’s Wei Yan showed up. Perhaps because this character is too similar to the Second Prince from Joy of Life that it was a little jarring. He does better as a secondary person in the background. Same thing with Xuan Lu’s Su E Huang. Perhaps it’s because their plot points are somewhat disconnected from the main couple. They’re focused on revenge, or earning power etc while the main couple want to bring peace and prosperity. They’re operating on another level such that I care more about how Wei Shao and Xiao Qiao unify the land, not deal with Su E Huang or Wei Yan trying to dent their relationship.
- Plot pacing – Certainly many sweet parts of the show where Wei Shao is clearly grappling with his feelings for Xiao Qiao are entertaining, but sometimes I feel like the drama takes too many episodes to focus on just the 2 of them. They work better when they’re a team opposing a certain threat instead of focusing on the “romance” part of it all where he’s being overly thick with his feelings. The best parts of the show are how either side sees through plots against the other and back each other up.
Spoilers!!! Lengthy Ending Discussion
Wei Yan (cousin) really surprised me
Not sure if this was a directorial choice, but the introduction to Wei Yan didn’t particularly draw me. However, the more we saw of him, the more depth the drama showed of him. He was playing up the playboy almost as a way to push buttons to see how much his beloved grandmother and younger cousin would accept. Only until Xiao Qiao entered the picture did someone truly believe him for his good character. That touched him deeply which is why he painted a painting of Xiao Qiao as his “goddess”.
His fight with Wei Shao when Wei Shao found out about the painting revealed his pain. He felt like a dog rather than a human being. Though Wei Shao pushed back that it was Wei Yan who thought that way and no one else, I see that as Wei Shao not fully grasping the difficulties of Wei Yan’s upbringing. Because of his birth parentage, as his grandmother said, she could never fully trust him. Meanwhile, Wei Shao had the full love and trust of his grandmother.
On his affections, Wei Yan didn’t give the impression he was fully “in love” with Xiao Qiao. But rather, I felt like he appreciated her or more had a crush. However, the key line he said when he decided to leave is that there is more important love in life than romantic love. He knew full well how his affections would impact his cousin and opted to remove himself from the Wei kingdom because family love was more important to him. He loved his maternal grandmother more than anyone and in the same vein didn’t want to jeopardize the stability of his cousin’s marriage and the kingdom’s alliance. So he opted to leave.
Impressively, Liu Duan Duan was able to showcase his acting chops when Wei Yan knew what his stronger purpose was. Watch his posture and the sharpness of his gaze. He turned into a bonafide and convincing general in the late game of the drama when at the beginning of the show, he was often hunched over and slanted. Many online comments from Chinese social media shifted from “omg Wei Yan is such an annoying character” to “OMG Wei Yan as a general is so HOT”. THAT is the result of a good actor.
Da Qiao’s (older sister’s) Viewpoint
If there ever was another reason why people should NOT watch too many previews or trailers before an episode actually airs, Da Qiao’s discussion with Xiao Qiao. There was a trailer/previews of Da Qiao refusing to ask her husband to help Xiao Qiao’s husband and Da Qiao was getting skewered in the comments. But when you watch the actual discussion, I thought it was quite well done.
On one side, Xiao Qiao arrives to ask Da Qiao to ask her husband to lead troops to help Wei Shao defend Pan Yi after Liu Yan implements a 2 pronged attack. Xiao Qiao initially thought Da Qiao would help immediately, but that’s not the case. Da Qiao is heavily pregnant and refuses to as her husband Bi Zhi. Her response initially was getting skewered but let’s think this out.
Da Qiao is a completely different personality/entity compared to Xiao Qiao. Da Qiao is more focused on her “small love”, meaning her nuclear unit, her life with Bi Zhi away from politics or scheming. She just wants to live a simple life. Additionally, she does make a great point on the relationship with her family. Her father never accepted Bi Zhi for his birth and refused to send troops to help them when she needed. So why, should she tell her husband to turn around to help the Yan kingdom? Bi Zhi has no political ties or obligation like Wei Shao. The only person who could “order” him around is his wife Da Qiao and she says that she cannot use her “love” to force him to risk his life for her and her family. That is not fair to him.
I thought this line of reasoning was actually quite understandable and why we saw the tragedy in the last episode. Xiao Qiao similarly recognizes how she was imposing on Wei Shao to help her family such that he is risking his life for her on the front lines.
My biggest pushback to Xiao Qiao’s refusal is that she should have let Bi Zhi make the decision on his own. She stripped him of that opportunity. He may have wanted to lead troops regardless. Additionally, I saw comments online that I quite agree with. If Bi Zhi didn’t lead troops and Wei Shao was defeated, Bi Zhi/Da Qiao’s Bo Ya would also fall so it would make sense for him to defend his kingdom. What do you think about Da Qiao’s point of view and her decision?
Liu Yan – the self aware antagonist
Another person I was surprised by. He was actually quite self aware with how he was different than Wei Shao. In his monologue, he states that he also wants to BE that upstanding leader who cares for the people. But unlike Xiao Qiao and Wei Shao, he grew up with no support from his maternal family which made his existence very hard. He said the line that he doesn’t see the world of people as ants because he IS one of those ants. That was quite an introspective and added a layer of helplessness to the character. While I don’t fully understand how he was able to fall in love with Su E Huang, he recognized that both of them are the same type of person. They both always had to scheme and struggle their entire lives because they were not loved or favored by their family. None of this excuses the fact that he killed his entire family to take the throne and is entirely ok with leading men to their deaths but I’m reminded of An Ling Rong from Empresses in the Palace here.
Su E Huang – the true man slayer and spy queen
While Liu Yan is very self aware, Su E Huang was definitely not all the way until the end. She was a great foil for the main couple in the drama and EVERYONE online was like “when is she getting her nose cut off! Geez!”. This character I had more problems with. For one, HOW does she just get all the juicy gossip to use against Wei Shao so readily? Her younger brother/cousin sweet talked his way to learning that Wei Shao and Xiao Qiao never slept together? Isn’t that super private info? And then it just so happens that Xiao Qiao drops a handkerchief that Wei Yan picks up which is seen precisely by Su E Huang. Um…that’s WAAY too coincidental but ok.
Additionally, she had 3 KINGS/would be kings truly love her? HOW??? She lied to EVERYONE about her good luck peony but she still had 1) Wei Shao’s brother love her when he knew the peony was fake, 2) the king of the Bian kingdom truly love her and left her 50,000 troops PLUS 3) Liu Yan love her and wanted to keep her safe at the end. At least 2 of these men knew that she was lying about a whole host of things but were able to say they still wanted to love her. Color me impressed.
Last Thoughts
Generally Good Communication
One of the best parts of the romance between Wei Shao and Xiao Qiao is that most of the misunderstandings were solved rather quickly, either through good scheming from Xiao Qiao or just open and honest communication. When Wei Shao felt a hint of jealousy/misunderstanding that Su E Huang may have been betrothed to him in the past and Xiao Qiao may have thought the two had feelings, he promptly returned home to explain that Su E Huang was in talks to marry his brother instead.
When Su E Huang was framing Xiao Qiao’s younger brother of harming and attacking her, Xiao Qiao came forward quickly with a rather simple but brilliant ruse that exposed Su E Huang’s lies. Xiao Qiao didn’t have to say anything further and Wei Shao immediately knew who was lying. When Su E Huang wanted to stay longer in Yu Jun, Wei Shao did come forward to discuss this with Xiao Qiao immediately rather than hide it from her.
There were several other instances, where sure things got emotional in the heat of the moment, but then it’s usually Wei Shao that realizes he was being emotional and comes to apologize to Xiao Qiao. Later on, during war, both Xiao QIao and Wei Shao recognize the hardships/sacrifices the other makes for each other which further re-emphasizes their love. What’s not to like about a solid, trusting relationship?
He Ren Dong’s Cameo
There are many laugh out loud moments in the drama. The 4 Wei generals were quite adorable and Wei Shao is always hilarious when he’s oblivious. I definitely rewatched several times the episode where Xiao Qiao’s punishing her brother for having gone to a brothel and Wei Shao arrives to try to get her to reduce his sentence and it turns out poorly. Liu Yu Ning’s voice crack in that scene had me burst out laughing.
But the FUNNIEST cameo was definitely He Ren Dong’s cameo as the scholar Gao. Wei Shao immediately gets jealous and one ups the scholar but then in one scene, the scholar Gao needs to repair a stone slab that Wei Shao’s men damaged. The entire time the scholar Gao is saying that he’s never practiced martial arts and can’t lift a single thing. BUT, we see his exposed arm as he’s trying to fix the stone slab and he is ABSOLUTELY JACKED. Wei Shao immediately becomes shocked at how muscular the scholar Gao is and feels self conscious. I mean, idk how much I believe that because Wei Shao is supposed to be a general too so he can’t be THAT weak but the comments were hilarious. Why? He Ren Dong the actor in previous dramas portrayed many well known generals or martial artists. So people were saying, it’s ok, Wei Shao, you’re up against a well known general from the Three Kingdom’s era.
What had me actually cackling is that He Ren Dong (who is nearing or in is 50s!!!) posted selfies of himself in the gym absolutely chiseled with the caption “I really can’t lift a finger”. I died when I saw that. Hahahahaha.
Lots of thoughts there. Let me know what you thought of the drama!