Follow Your Heart (2024) 颜心记
Summary: Jiang Xin Bai ft Luo Yun Xi, prince of Yue Jiang and head of the detective bureau, an office of the 4th rank. He is incredibly acute in his surroundings which helps him in his job because even though he isn’t blind, he cannot tell faces apart. He is in He Man researching a drug called Gui Cao that he wants to destroy for the Empire’s stability. In He Man, he comes across Yan Nan Xin ft Song Yi, a traveling doctor in search of a cure for a weird ailment she got after being forced to drink a weird medication when she was young. This medication causes her to change her appearance every month during her monthly cycle. She has no idea why this happens but wants to cure it. Jiang Xin Bai and Yan Nan Xing cross paths in He Man and work together to solve their personal mysteries as well as the driving force behind the addictive substance, Gui Cao.
Total Episode Count: 40
Initial Airing Date: June 21, 2024
Platform: iQiyi
*Note – English translations may not match official translations.
Final Rating: 6.5/10: A decent production and cast, this comedic historical romance is a bit of fun fluff for the summer. The plot doesn’t move too quickly and pales in comparison with others currently airing but is fun enough to watch passively
jiang xin bai 江心白
luo yun xi 罗云熙
Head of the detective bureau. Acute in most senses but cannot see faces
yan nan xing 颜南心
song yi 宋轶
Traveling doctor who changes form every month
jiang suo luo 江桫椤
chen yao 陈瑶
Princess of Yue Jiang, half sister to Jiang Xin Bai
shang bie li 商别离
cheng lei 丞磊
Head of the imperial guard of the capital
Overall Thoughts
This drama is perfect fluff fodder to have on in the background as a fun romance. You have to just believe the events given as they are with both Yan Nan Xing and Jiang Xin Bai’s medical ailments as well as what is medically possible in this show. I did chase the entire drama passively much to my surprise. If you like a sometimes silly, sometimes touching, sometimes romantic drama, this is a decent candidate. The chemistry between Song Yi and Luo Yun Xi is fine enough and the other cast members round out an acceptable range of diverging storylines to break up the pace. I particularly have a soft spot for Song Yi’s voice which is so charming even when she’s angry.
However, this original storyline definitely did not need a whopping 40 episodes. There just isn’t enough meat in the story to make up for all that screen time so there is quite a bit of filler. And, if you’re watching other dramas such as Joy of Life or the Double, the schemes in this drama just seem rather childish. There isn’t a lot of depth and the abilities of people particularly Suo Luo and Shang Bie Li are rather suspect. They would most likely be eliminated in episode 1 or 2 of Empresses in the Palace. Yan Nan Xing might live to like episode 15 while Jiang Xin Bai might survive to episode 40 (out of 70). The stakes just don’t seem that high because most of the time the cast is focused on more trivial things.
Though, it is interesting to see all of the cameos this drama has given Yan Nan Xing changes her appearance quite often so that we actually see a couple of familiar faces on screen in her place.
Sadly, this drama did not do too well ratings wise. On iQiYi’s popularity index, it only breached 8500 despite the relatively high production quality of this drama. It is overshadowed by the likes of Tale of Rose and The Princess Royal. It marks another “dud” for iQiYi this summer despite heavy investment. Apparently, iQiYi has turned OFF the ability to see how many people are watching a drama at the same time now perhaps because there are so few people watching its current slate of shows. Song Yi had at least her small appearances in Joy of Life Season 2 to keep her in the public conscience but it is unclear how this drama will impact Luo Yun Xi’s career moving forward as this also marks another dud for him.
Karen