{year}=2025{episode}=EP.04{type}=TV{ongoing}
Plot Summary
New Life Begins is a satirical and humorous tale that mocks the ancient feudal society of China. It is set in the fictional kingdom of Xinchuan, which rules over eight other provinces, or chuans. Xinchuan is the poster child for all the sad aspects of the patriarchal society that has dominated most of China’s 5,000-year history. Every three years, eligible young beauties from the provinces are sent to be chosen as the bride or wives of the Prince of Xinchuan. While these unsuspecting monsters eagerly await the bride’s arrival, little do they know that the very foundation of their kingdom and their faith is about to shake the Chuan Dynasty to its core.
As fate would have it, a subversive element has infiltrated the bride candidates that year. These elements are so evil that they cannot be taught and cannot be taught the rules of respect for women. The kind of marriage envisioned by the Xinchuan dynasty could not have been imagined. The mastermind is Li Wei, a deceptively harmless foodie from Jichuan, a province where men and women are equal and monogamous. She finds a kindred spirit in the scheming Hao Jia, the fierce Shangguan Jing, and the ambitious and ambitious Yuan Ying. Together, they brave the often-life-threatening suffocation of the Inner Palace of Xinchuan to carve out an existence of their own free will. Their daring and hilarious exploits come to blows with the oppressors and set the Inner Palace, and then the capital, on fire. As it turns out, behind every great man in Xinchuan, is a woman who rolls her eyes. Despite the era setting, the ideals in this story are very modern. It’s a great depiction of the kind of power women can unleash by working together rather than turning on each other.
This isn’t to say that the ten Xinchuan princes are all bad, although most of them make very bad husbands. With some, it’s just a matter of training, while others are kicked to the far corners of the empire. The business-savvy male lead, Prince An, who thinks he’s the sun that the solar system revolves around when he’s really the moon, is the one that made me laugh the most. That said, the entire cast delivers a lively comedy that brings joy to the world. In a mostly light and positive, but humorous, manner, the story touches on many female themes. Hua Jia’s arc is the darkest and most complex, and sounds like a serious warning about disgruntled female employees. The subplot is short, and while the villain makes my blood boil, it’s not clever or complicated. That’s because the villains are actually the tyrants of the patriarchal feudal system, and they’re all victims of their own shortcomings.
Everything unfolds around the evolving relationship between Li Wei and Yin Zheng, the disgruntled sixth prince. Ironically, this woman who lives to eat finds herself tied to a man who eats to live! With the help of MVP Butler Su, she tries to talk down the fat man inside who’s just waiting for Yin Zheng to explode. In fact, food is her secret weapon. She worms her way into everyone’s heart through their stomach. Both Bai Jingting and Tian Xiwei have good comedic expressions and they are great at turning funny moments into heart-stopping moments. While their story is fun and well-written, it is too much of a fairy tale. Neither of them have any serious flaws and every cloud has a silver lining. In fact, Li Wei’s constant crying got on my nerves at times. While Yuan Ying is a great and scary character and I understand that one woman’s treasure is another’s trash, the whole situation is too good to be true. I also didn’t like how their relationship jumped from sweetness to the comfortable rhythm of a long-married couple, turning the best part of the romance to the end. It broke the natural momentum of the relationship and diverted the audience’s attention from other points. In fact, this story is more about sisterhood and the story of women than about love. The production should have more confidence that the well-written, funny, and engaging plot can stand on its own without dragging down the romance to keep the audience engaged.
This is a rare time when it’s the second couple, Shangguan and Yin Qi, who steal my heart. I have a soft spot for characters as colorful and unusual as these. Yin Qi’s situation is far worse than Yin Zheng’s – he’s seemingly unlovable and he’s not very talented to begin with. In The Bride Lottery, he finds himself sacrificed to the fierce Princess Shangguan, a princess from Danchuan who is powerful and noble. But he has a giant heart along with a cheerful smile that makes the fiery Shangguan forgive him for always saying the wrong thing. Their bickering and bickering made my shoulders shake with laughter as they poke fun at each other’s real challenges and difficulties. Eve
