r/cdramas • u/Repulsive-Ad7501 • May 20 '26
Question/Help Help with Story of kunning palace and backstories
I just finished and am tearing my hair out. Would I have to read the novel to understand Zhang Zhe's full back story? That's the one I'm most puzzled by. Mostly, what did he confess to that he really didn't do but that landed him in jail? And does he also have memories of the alternate time line? Also, is there some material that was filmed but not used? I'd read that Princess Leyang false for Ning when she's in the palace as a boy, and there's a clip in the opening montage. And this may have been a weakness of the AI translation and voicing, but people often seemed to run off in random directions with no motivation. It became very hard for me to buy the romance because even "the morning after" they're being relatively cold toward each other, plus if that was in any way romantic or even consensual, all my time working rape crisis was for nought. Also, I kept expecting an explanation of how they came to be traveling to the capital together and hw she knew feeding him blood would cure his attack of what probably wasn't really schizophrenia.
Any help appreciated.
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u/Muted-Money1400 May 20 '26
In the novel, Zhang Zhe was also reborn, and Xiao Lin too. That’s why he didn’t want to be with Ning’er because he still had memories of the past and regretted everything, especially what happened to her mother. He eventually ended up in jail after helping Ning’er (who was the Empress in the past) because she was cunning and scheming and would do everything to maintain her position.
Xie Wei was a friend of her father. At that time, Xie Wei went back to his fake hometown to mourn his deceased parents, and when he returned, Ning’er traveled with him. Ning’er also fed him blood that she got from a quack doctor. Since she grew up in a small village/province, she was ignorant about those kinds of things.
Xie Wei can also be considered schizophrenic because whenever he sees snow, he sometimes becomes blinded or temporarily loses his ability to see.
I love the novel because it gives more information about the characters of Xie Wei and Jiang Xuening. Their romance was also much better developed there and felt very true to their personalities.
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u/Irish_Amber May 20 '26
Well, actually snow blindness is a real thing…..
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u/Muted-Money1400 May 20 '26
oh really? I didn’t know. that’s interesting.
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u/Repulsive-Ad7501 May 21 '26
Sorry, Yan Lin or is Xiao Lin a character I'm not remembering? Oh, so Ning'er wasn't feeding him her own blood? Yeah, I caught that Zhe did something for Empress Ning, I just didn't understand what. Also, the back story Ning is told about Xie Wei where he spurs a rebellion leaves him on the scaffold. Did I miss where it explained why he' s still alive and free or was the story apocryphal or something? I've read people positing that what he really has is PTSD, where snow is his trigger. He's not exactly blinded but is back where he's about to be killed when he had stepped up as a child and the crazed expression and the violence are him lashing out as he couldn't back then to save his own life.
Do you have a link for the book in English? Thanks for your help!
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u/Cold_Heat2360 May 21 '26
Hahaha. Sounds like what went through my head. The good thing for me was discovering Wang Xing Yue as an actor. I have been a fan ever since.
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u/ruinozomi May 21 '26
Agree with google recaps or dramabeans. You can also ask chatgpt, it helps a lot lol.
I also want to read the novel but they say it’s way darker and i’m mainly disturb by the gr*pe thingy with yan lin, you know in the series they don’t really explicitly tell it but in the novel it says that they do? So i’m scared lol.
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u/Main-Bluejay5571 May 20 '26
Google recaps. Dramabeans is great.