comparison between trop novels and show
differences between the characters Feng Zhiwei, Qiu Mingying and Ning Yi.
like i said before, both Feng Zhiwei and Ning Yi are darker in the novels, a lot more sadistic and manipulative in general. in the novels Zhiwei didn’t have the carefree upbringing she did in the show. she spent the majority of her childhood being bullied in the Qiu residence and barely had enough to eat, even during festival times. though both Zhiwei’s have very quick wit, in the novels Zhiwei doesn’t show her intellectual abilities in public to avoid attention, unlike the show. in the novel she was told by her mum since a young age to cover herself both physically and intellectually. even though she doesn’t know she’s the last Dacheng princess at the start of the novels, she complies to her mum’s orders and wears ugly makeup to cover her face and puts on a obedient facade, which is the opposite of the show. she wears makeup to hide her face because 1) it’s safer for her if nobody knows her true image 2) she looks identical to princess Shaoning which will cause questions. this whole depressing endurance + always hiding her true identity thing lights a slow burning fire in her, making her emotionally inaccessible. so she’s pretty much the opposite of the daring, rash, emotional Zhiwei in the show. her unconventional personality also has a more convincing explanation in the novels. the reason she was brought up with access to knowledge that most girls in poor families would never have is because her mum Qiu Mingying was the Fire Phoenix General.
Qiu Mingying is a fierce, knowledgeable master of the martial arts who don’t need no man (i’m sorry rip Gu Heng). she followed her father into battles since she was only ten, saved the country when she was twelve. a legend. if it weren’t for Zhiwei and Feng Hao she would never had degraded herself to endure the humiliation in the Qiu residence. she gave Zhiwei the breadth of her knowledge, her endurance and a sense of pride despite having to stay humble. she has a love triangle thing with the emperor which served a major purpose in Zhiwei’s survival. i was really disappinted that they stripped this from the character in the show, it would’ve given her so much more depth.
Feng Hao is even more of an asshole in the novels. a selfish greedy piece of shit. but he was born to die in Zhiwei’s place so, he served his purpose. made her feel guilty af tbh. in the novels Qiu Mingying thought she adopted both Zhiwei and Feng Hao when in reality Feng Hao is actually her son. the Bloody Pagoda told her her actual son died so that she wouldn’t be soft hearted to give up Feng Hao when she needed to. Zhiwei only found this out in later books and said something along the lines of “she would never have watched Feng Hao die if she knew he was her son, after all these years i know her love overpowers all. it was just another trick by the Bloody Pagoda, how cruel.” i’m 100% incorrect but it’s vaguely something like that.
so in the novels Zhiwei never had a close relationship with Feng Hao, not that she really had one in the show either, but in the novels the only time she showed affection for him was when Qiu Mingying revealed while she was dying that he literally lived to die for her, that’s the entire purpose of his life and that’s why she pampered him, because she owed him. you can imagine how much this added to Zhiwei’s turmoil. i don’t think this was that explicit in the show, which is a shame.
Ning Yi in the novels was all knowing all powerful the most omnipotent character from start to finish. his only moments of weakness is always to Zhiwei. he had none of that “i pretend i’m an idiot so i can survive” facade nor the tailor prince thing. but similar to the show he hid his true strength until he had to execute his plans. also he was never improsoned. he doesn’t have nearly as much affection for his third brother. in fact he was the one who eventually ordered the execution of the third prince. he felt sad for sure but it was never a major driving factor in any of his ambitions. the third prince is only mentioned in about three setences in the entire series so unlike the show his motive was never revenge, it was purely ambition. i think that’s what separates the novels the most from the show, the show portrayed both main characters as good people™, even though they were forced to do some bad things and get blood on their hands they’re very sad to do them and are very good people™. in the novels Ning Yi is not a good person. period. he kills for necessity when people get in his way to the throne and that’s his only goal: the throne. despite the fact a part of the reason he wants the throne is because he hates his dad and wants to avenge his mum who he thought his dad wronged, he really just wants the throne. until Zhiwei popped up of course. then he wanted them both. until she came along he had always had utmost control over every element of his life. so you can say Zhiwei ruined his life lmao.
i liked how the show showed that he didn’t really give a shit about his dad, because in the novels he couldn’t wait for him to die.
because the novels are from Zhiwei’s perspective you get less of Ning Yi’s motives unlike the show, so a lot of the times you’re guessing with her about why he’s done what he’s done.
Zhiwei is i guess neutral at most in the books. she’s not as immoral as Ning Yi but she didn’t have the “i wish all people were equal, i want all birds to fly as high as they will. peace and love” of the show. she was more like “fuck now i’m kicked out i need to find a way to make money. fuck i’m the peerless state scholar now. fuck why is Ning Yi so close to me. fuqck i’m in love with Ning Yi holy shit not a mood.” but in a more emotionless way you know what i mean. every step she took was for her own survival, sure she didn’t want to be bad but she didn’t bother to be a saint. and after the death of her mum her mood changed to “fuck all. i will kill Ning Yi with my bear hands. he will go to hell. but i will go with him.” and Ning Yi is all “i’m waiting for her to put her hands around my neck. if she wants to kill me she needs to do it herself. i accept no less.” it’s a pretty sadistic relationship if you think about it.
unlike the show where their relationship is always pure between themselves, in the novels Ning Yi has seriously considered killing her at least three times because she got in his way. in the show he let her stay close to him because he was curious in her and wanted to protect her. in the novels he allowed her to live to see to how he could use her, which totally backfired.
near the end of book one it says “since the first time she met him, they had been entrapped in eachother’s compositions, they fight, suspect, probe, avoid… they have done everything. only trust has never existed.” i think this best sums up the dynamics between them in all the novels. which is pretty much the opposite of the show because both Chen Kun and Ni Ni said despite having differences and misunderstandings, the characters always trusted eachother. it is really the epitome of a love hate relationship. Ning Yi loves her but hates himself for doing all the things he did to her but wants her nevertheless, she hates him but love him but hates herself for loving him. both of them are really unfathomable.
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