Joy of Life (2019) [Qing Yu Nian] is a Chinese drama television series produced by Chen Ying Jie. It is based on the internet novel Qing Yunian by Mao Ni. It stars Zhang Ruoyun, Li Qin and Chen Daoming. The series aired on Tencent Video on November 26, 2019 through January 20, 2020.
Zhang Qing is a present-day college student majoring in culture and history who wants to take professor Ye’s postgraduate class. In order to impress Professor Ye, he decides to write a fictitious historical novel to elaborate on his ability to analyze ancient history with modern concepts. As a character in his novel, Zhang plays a young man, Fan Xian.
Fan Xian (Zhang Ruo-Yun) is the adopted son of the head of a royal agency that operates in the government of the despotic Emperor of the Qing (Chen Dao-Ming). Despite the Emperor’s tyrannical ways, Fan Xian remains devoted to the imperial cause. The agency chief believes Fan Xian has great potential and sends him away to learn about poison and martial arts. Fan Xian is also ordered to marry the chancellor’s daughter Lin Wan’er (Li Qin), in order to seal a political alliance. The two quickly form a tight bond, and she becomes his closest ally. However, during the course of his studies, Fan Xian’s loyalty is shaken when he discovers that the Emperor secretly ordered assassins to kill Fan Xian’s mother – fearing that she had become too influential at court. Things get even more complicated when he discovers that he is actually the natural son of the Emperor and that his adoptive father was a long-term admirer of Fan Xian’s mother. Fan Xian vows to take revenge upon his biological father – and a bitter power struggle ensues, with the very future of the Qing Dynasty at stake.
Episodes: 46
