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Ye Li, the granddaughter of the venerable Lingshan academy’s headmaster, descends from the mountain. The mountain has been sealed off by the order of the Dowager Empress, and she has only been allowed to leave after almost a decade because she was going to be engaged to the Prince of Ding, Mo Xiuyao.

The prince, however, is disabled from war. He’s bitter, out of favour and certainly not looking forward to beingg wed. In all appearances, Ye Li got the short end of the stick, but she turns her fate around and brings light to his household. However, she has deeper plans than being the best wife to Xiuyao…

The characters

Ye Li (played by Bai Lu): A descendant of the Lishan clan who marries into the fallen household of the Prince of Ding. Beneath her unremarkable surface, she methodically plans revenge against the court officials responsible for harming her clan.

Mo Xiuyao (played by Cheng Lei): The Prince of Ding, a wheelchair-bound man carrying deep family trauma who is pursuing his own path of vengeance.

Mo Jing Li (played by Cai Zheng Jie): The Prince of Li and Ye Li’s childhood sweetheart who operates from the shadows.

The Empress Dowager: An exceptionally capable former top student of the Li Shan Academy who rules the empire with an iron fist.

Ye Ying (played by Yang Shu Yi): Ye Li’s sister and the second female lead of the drama.

Mu Yang Hou: A ruthless marquis from the older generation of court officials and responsible for much of Ye Li and Xiuyao’s suffering.

What I liked

The “show, don’t tell” approach: I absolutely love that the director and screenwriter relied on emotional restraint. Instead of spoon-feeding us with long, tedious monologues or voice-overs to explain a character’s fears, they trusted the audience’s intelligence. For instance, there is a simple scene where Ye Li runs through the pouring rain toward a carriage; not a word is spoken but it beautifully reveals Ye Li’s raw vulnerability without a single word spoken.
Complex, layered characters: Zhou Na, who has written dramas I loved such as Feud and A Moment But Forever, is a master at character-driven stories. She builds every character with care, even the side characters, making them deeply memorable. Because she doesn’t overly explain their motivations, it gives us free rein to interpret their actions, which makes discussing the show so much fun!
Bai Lu’s Standout Performance: For me, this is hands-down the most interesting and unique character Bai Lu has played to date. Here, she completely breaks away from the accusations that she always plays the same types of roles.
A deeply moving journey: I am so incredibly satisfied with the emotional payoff. The show hooks you with an intriguing mystery and great character growth, and I found myself profoundly moved by the episodes, especially as we got closer to the end.
I love the slow burn romance between Ye Li and Xiuyao.
Love is shown as devotion: This may be a tiny bit of spoiler – many modern CDramas have a lot of kissing and skinship scenes. The First Jasmine leans heavily to the conservative side, so much so that I find myself gnashing at the lip for more “action”. However, I also loved that love is shown as acts of devotion and care – feeding your loved one soup, supporting him as he walked.

What I Didn’t Like

Initial “Mary Sue” vibes: At the very beginning of the drama, I was actually quite confused by the female lead, Ye Li. She appeared so strong, overly capable, and multi-talented that I felt she was edging dangerously close to traditional “Mary Sue” territory. While this heartbreak is beautifully resolved once the truth about her situation is finally revealed to the audience, it was confusing at first. Those who didn’t stay around long would’ve missed a precious emotional payoff.
Inexplicable behaviour of Xiuran: There was a moment in the drama where Xiuran’s behaviour defied logic. He came off as ungrateful, unnecessarily cruel and self-absorbed. Although he repented pretty quickly, it felt like the writing wobbled quite a bit there as it went against his character.

Additional thoughts

The acting is pretty good here

To date, this is probably Bai Lu’s most complex and interesting character, and likely her best work. While I don’t watch enough of her dramas to say that for certain—and I usually find her performances just okay—this one has really levelled up.

Bai Lu and Cheng Lei both do their own voiceover dubbing here, which is great because it adds to the emotional resonance of the drama. Bai Lu has significantly improved her emotional delivery; she used to sound quite robotic in previous attempts, such as Story of Kunning Palace, but she is so much better here.

A meditative drama that should be savoured

This is not the kind of drama you should watch live. It requires a lot of patience, and if you watch it as it airs, you will probably think the pacing is extremely slow. However, I feel this is one of a dying breed of dramas where time is taken to explore characters at a steady, leisurely pace. This enables us to appreciate the turn of events when revelations arrive toward the end.

At first, this may seem like a typical revenge flick, and you may think you know where the story is going, but the most worthwhile part is the journey of character development from the first episode to the last, especially Ye Li’s.

Ye Li may feel odd or “off” at first, and you’d probably think that her character being distant is Bai Lu being wooden or she’s written to be perfect like a Mary Sue. But as revelations come, you will totally understand. When you look back at those early scenes, you realise exactly why Ye Li was behaving that way.

Prince Li’s story is … underdeveloped

Beware of slight spoilers
The drama was written by the screenwriter Zhou Na, and even the side characters get fascinating development. However, I have to complain that Prince Li got the short end of the stick:

Theoretically, I understand his motivation as the rightful ruler who wants to take back the throne, but the drama did not develop him as well as it should have.

He could have been a deeply sympathetic character, but his obsession with Ye Li didn’t feel smart. He came off as maudlin.

As a result, you almost think that his motivations are childish and immature; that he just wants things because he feels he has a right to them.

The Empress Dowager is a fascinating character

Beware of slight spoilers

The Empress Dowager is another fascinating character. You understand towards the end why she did what she did. In this world, in Lingshan, she was one of the most capable students. Yet, as a woman, she is confined to the palace harem and subjected to the petty quarrels there. She felt that the only way for her to either survive this environment or elevate herself was through ruthless means.

Throughout the drama, I have always felt that while she is modelled after Wu Zetian, she was never ruthless enough to truly secure her position. Why preserve the lives of Prince Li and Xuyao and still give them positions in court? I feel it is almost her guilty conscience enabling her to do this; I have two theories:

Subconsciously, she allowed them to be there so that they would eventually take her down.
A part of her wants to be merciful, while another part feels she must be ruthless to ensure proper governance of the country. She’s constantly conflicted between the two.

She justifies a lot of her actions because of that. Was she wrong? Yet, when you look through the lens of history, you realise that so many other rulers have done what she did. I suppose you can consider her a more human Wu Zetian!

Cheng Lei as Xiuran

Cheng Lei is great as Xiuran, of course. He portrays the prince in a magnetic way, and I enjoyed seeing the development his character got.

The most interesting thing is how he reacted to the revelations around Ye Li. I loved how love is shown in subtle ways here: not outright kisses and soft-hued room shots, but instead through actions such as his character feeding her soup, doing household chores for her, or just holding her hand and playing along. As much as I love hot scenes, I feel that these tender moments conveyed his character’s deep love for her even more.

The ‘scandal’ that distracted viewers

If there is one thing I truly dislike, it’s the outside noise surrounding the show. It breaks my heart that the drama only managed a 6.3 rating on Douban. I strongly believe the score was unfairly dragged down because Bai Lu was caught up in severe public blowback over crazy “diva” rumours right as the show was airing, which is a massive shame considering the acting improvements she has made and how phenomenal the script is.

Final Rating: 4 out of 5

In a sea of “explosive”, fast-paced dramas – long or short – The First Jasmine is a rare drama that tries to take its time unfolding the stories behind the characters.

#4Stars #baiLu #CDrama #CDramas #ChengLei #ChineseDrama #CostumedDrama #TheFirstJasmine #TV

#4stars #bailu #cdrama #cdramas #chenglei #chinesedrama

Sino Theater @[email protected] · 2026-07-07 · 02:18 UTC

#bailu #cdrama #chinesedrama #chinesedrama2025 #love #wangxingyue

Sino Theater @[email protected] · 2026-07-05 · 03:38 UTC

#bailu #cdrama #chinesedrama #chinesedrama2025 #love #wangxingyue

Sino Theater @[email protected] · 2026-07-03 · 02:50 UTC

#bailu #cdrama #chinesedrama #chinesedrama2025 #love #wangxingyue

Sino Theater @[email protected] · 2026-07-03 · 02:02 UTC

#bailu #cdrama #chinesedrama #chinesedrama2025 #love #wangxingyue

Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 @[email protected] · 2026-07-01 · 09:56 UTC

It's been a tough few months for me personally, and CDrama watching has moved at a snail pace. But the fortunate thing is that I am now on long leave which means: Lots of CDramas to catch up on! I share my thoughts on the CDramas I've seen and what I think about June and July's dramas.

#CDrama #CDramas #BaiLu #ChengLei #TheFirstJasmine #ZhanZhaoAdventures

https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/2026/07/01/spill-the-dramatea-4-the-first-jasmine-zhan-zhao-adventures-and-more/

#cdrama #cdramas #bailu #chenglei #thefirstjasmine #zhanzhaoadventures

Sino Theater @[email protected] · 2026-07-01 · 02:18 UTC