The first few episodes of Princess Jie You were a bit too frivolous and childish for me and I found myself watching intermittently. That’s because of the Princess’ background. She was of royal parentage but became a street performer when she was a child and had no knowledge of her royal links until she was an adult. She was carefree and high spirited. By a string of coincidences, she kept bumping into and rescuing General Weng Gui of the Wu Sun tribe from the hands of the Xiong Nu tribe. They fell in love but as fate would have it, they lost each other. Jie You was recognised as a princess and chosen by the Han Emperor as a peace bride to the ruler of the Wu Sun, known as Kun Mi.
Jie You isn’t the typical helpless heroine, this woman can put up a fight and she has brains aplenty. She enter the Wu Sun harem as the second wife of Kun Mi because the Xiong Nu have also sent their royal bride, Hu Gu earlier and she becomes the senior wife. Now this Hu Gu is the archetypal scheming and manipulative woman who spends all her time plotting for power with the Prince of Changshan, a member of Wu Sun royalty.
While Zhang Xin Yi plays Princess Jie You to perfection, the costumes and scenery are the scene stealers as they are spectacular. The costumes are so Arabian Nights, colourful and with lots of sequins down to the hair accessories. The scenery is ideal for the macho men who make up the tribes. Zhang Xin Yi doesn’t have the higher pitched voice most Chinese actresses have. It’s hard not to feel her pain as she looks at the man she truly loves, Weng Gui with anguish. It doesn’t help that she is forced to marry his cousin, the Kun Mi and he is forced to marry Prince of Changshan’s sixteen year old sister.
