#ling yunche

[jellyfitzjelly]

Please do write that fanfic of Ruyi and Ling Yunche. Both of them deserve the whole world 😭

Anon sorry for leaving you hanging I swear I am working on it! It's an AU where Ruyi marries Yunche instead of Hongli! Here is the beginning of my fic! I might actually post it as a standalone... Under a cut because it's long lol.

Ling Yunche looks between the doors of the Cold Palace every night when he’s on duty, and watches the fairy crying in the moonlight. She reminds him of the beautiful and tragic fox demon of his hometown’s folk song, condemned to cry forever under the moon with no possibility to join her human lover in the underworld. He misses his village so much. The capital is big and foreign to him, and the palace is a whole world contained within high red walls. He is blessed to have his sweetheart and his childhood friend here with him. They form Yunche’s own world, a cocoon of familiarity and warmth.

The beautiful, sorrowful girl looks terribly lonely in comparison.

He hears the other guards talk about her. She’s an Ula-Nara, the precious daughter of a powerful Manchu family now fallen. Her aunt was the lofty empress of the Forbidden City, but she is now locked away in her palace and disgraced. They say the favorite son of the Emperor wanted to marry her, courting his parents’ wrath. The Emperor was so enraged he ordered to have her thrown in the Cold Palace, even though she does not belong here. Yunche finds her lover a very weak man. Who wouldn’t feel chivalrous looking at that delicate face? And yet he lets her rot here, bending like tall weed in the wind to his parents’ will and marrying the women they have prepared for him. He should have eloped with her, he reasons, and escaped the capital. She must be heartbroken to have placed her love in such a fickle man. He always makes a prayer for her to find a better man, though he grimly knows that beautiful women have tragic fates more often than not. His Yanwan is certainly not as beautiful as this fairy, but she is his and she sings like a goddess. They have loved each other since they could remember. Her father was a joyous though incompetent man, spoiling her rotten when he was still alive. Yunche chases away the memories, not wishing to start thinking of his own parents, buried in his hometown. He has grown up a wild child with no parents to love him. But one day, he promises himself, he shall have a family again.

If the heavens have eyes, they will grant this beautiful girl a family too.

He watches her every night, hearing her quiet sobs. This time though, she turns around and in the semi-darkness, the moonlight is reflected in her eyes like precious jewels. Yunche should do the sensible thing and close the doors lest the girl starts screaming, but his hands refuse to obey him. The fairy approaches him slowly, the simplicity of her attire highlighting the porcelain of her skin and the delicate features of her face. It is as if the statue of a goddess had suddenly gained a life of its own.

“Who is this?” the beauty calls quietly.

“I am Ling Yunche, guard of the Cold Palace!” he whispers back. “And you, beautiful fairy, who are you?”

She looks at him, blinking in obvious surprise. He wants to smash his forehead against the heavy doors, cursing his foolishness.

“Beautiful fairy?” she repeats, confused, her brows furrowing.

“Oh, forgive me! You must be a ghost, rather than a fairy,” he jests to hide his mortification.

Her chuckle is a delightful sound, and her smile is as sweet as honey and as bright as the sun in summer. What possessed her man to abandon her?

“I am Ula-Nara Qinying, daughter of Naerbu.”

“So it is true? You are the woman the fourth prince wanted to marry?”

He sees her face contorts in hurt, and he curses himself once again for his blunder.

“Hey,” he continues, eager not to leave her with a dreadful impression of him, “if you need anything, call for me. I shall do what I can.”

“Thank you, Ling Yunche,” she smiles.

After that they speak leisurely when he is on duty at night, and familiarity has yet to succeed in making her startling beauty fade. He shares his cheap wine with her, and tries to make her laugh. She must be a fairy in disguise, he muses. She loves music and poetry, though she cannot dance; she loves to embroider swallows on her younger sister’s handkerchiefs; she likes to look at the moon when it is full. He never knew such a woman existed. Regularly he wonders how unlucky she is to have given her heart to such an ungrateful man. He never visits her, nor enquires after her. He lives his luxurious life, and has forgotten his sweetheart.

Finally, she is allowed to go back to her parents. She still looks heartbroken, but she gives him a smile as she thanks him for taking care of her. He does not see her again, though he regularly dreams of the fairy sobbing under the moonlight.

Yunche is promoted a week later, and he tells himself that perhaps her man is not so much of a cad as he believed him to be.

[roseunspindle]

Jing Chao: What I've Seen Him In

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Harem - Ling Yunche Imperial guard of the Cold Palace → Imperial guard of Kunning Palace → Lanling Imperial guard → Imperial guard of the 3rd rank → Slave → Imperial guard of the 2nd rank → Imperial guard of the 1st rank → Eunuch of Yikun Palace

[fortune-maiden]

HAILAN HOW COULD YOU T_T

[jgys-hat]

Did the writers of this drama have some kind of checklist they went through for all the awful things that could possibly happen to Ling Yunche? I've watched up through episode 78 and I'm not sure how it could get much worse, but it no doubt will! I think his plotline was especially engineered to hurt me specifically. I hate the emperor so very much, and I hope he explodes.

[uraandri]

YOU VILE DISGUSTING LITTLE CUNT OF AN EMPEROR

[fishylife]

spoilers for ruyi's royal love in the palace episode 35

i'll be honest i don't really like yanwan? i know she's supposed to be the 'villain' in the sense that she will threaten ruyi, but i wanted to think that i wouldn't be so easily swayed by that narrative. but i suppose i am lol.

ruyi was on ling yunche's side first and always, since he helped her and suoxin a great deal when she was in the cold palace. any time she helped yanwan, it was for yunche's sake.

to be honest, i initially thought yanwan being transferred from consort chun's household to the florist was a bit bullshit. consort chun and hailan were wary of her, seeing that the emperor took a liking to her. hailan (with her budding cutthroat side) suggested that consort chun send her away so that she wouldn't draw the emperor's attention anymore. i guess i just felt that yanwan's actions were a bit strong to be considered seductive but different times and different standards i guess.

later, ruyi tried to save yanwan from consort jia's household but was unsuccessful. hailan later told ruyi that yanwan had been trying to seduce the emperor. ruyi was disappointed not because she was worried about the emperor taking another concubine, but because she was bummed on yunche's behalf. that, i do believe. the emperor has sooo many concubines, it makes zero sense for ruyi to get jealous now, unless the emperor showed anything similar to what he felt for ruyi. so anyway ruyi left that loose end. but even then when consort jia was openly bullying yanwan, ruyi still tried to stand up for her because consort jia was being unjustly cruel.

with the help of the eunuch jinzhong, yanwan got screentime with the emperor. consort jia getting a talking to was big. but for ruyi, she took the opportunity to try to betroth yanwan to yunche, so that they could have their happily ever after. but seeing that yanwan openly refused it, she sees now that her friend yunche won't get his happy ending.

it isn't illogical to interpret that ruyi's distaste for yanwan is because of her being disloyal to ling yunche. yanwan left ling yunche to try to find a better path for herself, then she asked for his help when she was being bullied. and now she's leaving him again.

yanwan and yunche had a conversation at the end of the episode. ling yunche said that he realized he was just an opportunity/path for yanwan. he felt like she didn't like him, only liked his prospects, and she left him when she felt she had better prospects.

and i think that that's really how it looks, no matter how poorly yanwan was treated. if she was in love with ling yunche, she would have wanted to marry him. but she's decided she likes power more than ling yunche. i guess i don't like her because she's trying to convince herself that she really did love ling yunche. but i think her love is short-sighted. she only loves someone when she's with them. and she cuts them off easily.

maybe it especially leaves a sour taste for ruyi because she truly loves the emperor and she's withstood mistreatment, his wives and concubines, just to be with him. and she feels like yanwan has wasted true love. ruyi would love to have a true love with just qianlong but they can't because of power. and for yanwan to throw away love for power feels so opposite to her.

i usually feel sympathetic for most women in harem dramas and yanwan is no different. i think what sets her apart is that we saw her before she decided to join the palace. she feels like hu shanxiang in ming dynasty to me. these girls are both conniving and goal-oriented, and we saw what they gave up to join the game. and maybe it bothers me because it's like, is power worth giving up what you have? maybe it's because i'm old but i'd rather just work a normal job like hu shanxiang in ming dynasty or run away with someone who loved me like yanwan. but what they chose isn't really wrong, it was just the only opportunity that was open to them to gain power as women.

while we did see consort mei's beginnings as she joined the game as well, we didn't see what she gave up. she already started in the story as a performer in the palace. she just seemed like another conniving girl, not a conniving girl who gave up something and someone important to her.

idk it's a work in process. i'm trying to rationalize why i don't like yanwan but it might not be that deep. maybe i just don't like her vibes. or maybe i just dislike her simply because ruyi doesn't like her.

[mrsonychinus]

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace. Often when I watch the episodes or clips from the show on youtube, one common thing I notice is how many other viewers agree that the title of the drama feels like it doesn't make sense.

Many question, Ruyi's Royal Love? When that love sadly gets stomped on and dies basically halfway through the drama? So I thought about it, too. Many take on the opinion that Ruyi's Love really refers to Hailan, or even Yunche. And these are all great takes.

But I like to personally believe, Ruyi's Royal Love isn't referring to any one person in Ruyi's life. It was about Ruyi herself.

Ruyi's Royal Love -> ->-> the love Ruyi has. Royal because she IS royal, in her heart, and her mind and actions. In a way that someone like Hongli will never ever be.

I think of all the people who's lives she touched. Hongli, yes. But there was also Hailan, Consort Shu, Consort Ying, Consort Chun, Yonghuang. Ling Yunche, Li Yu, Suoxin, Jiang Yubin, Rongpei, all the way to the servants who worked for her that we saw only a bit (Lingzhi and Yingzhi, and Sanbao).

How she showed care even towards people who wronged her, like Aruo, Consort Hui, Consort Jia. How in so many people's final moments, its her that shows up in the end, not anyone else, even the emperor. How she comforted Concubine Mei's fear that she would not be able to recognize her son. How she held no grudge against Consort Rong and gave her the will to go on. Quietly sending food to the abandoned first prince so he wouldn't starve. Applying medicine for Li Yu when he was forced to kneel. Taking care of Aruo despite her being in the wrong and being rightly punished for her behavior. Making sure Suoxin married the good decent man she always dreamed of, and sending her out of the palace after all her sufferings. Saving Liaxin from drowning and helping her get out of an abusive relationship. Having mercy on Yanwan when she was just a maid. Saving Yunche's life from false accusations over and over. Remembering Consort Ying's birthday even when she was barely a month into morning the death of her 3 year old daughter. Showing mercy towards the brothel women when in reality their fates would likely have been death otherwise. Her putting all of her effort to protect Noble Lady Yi and her baby when she lived with her. Sending charcoals to Hailan because she knew, even if she never said it, that she wasn't being given any in the winter.

And many others things I can't even remember.

Ruyi at one point says to Hailan, "In the harem, love is hard to come by, if you let go of even that little amount, what else do we have?"

and I think that summarizes who Ruyi was perfectly. In the decorated chaos and evil that lurks in the palace, it was always Ruyi being there as a beacon of love and care to all of the broken and hurt people. I remember reading a youtube comment that said Ruyi's palace was becoming like a place for the mistreated people to gather, and it's a testament to her character.

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace is a perfect title, and it's talking about her.

[monroeknoxwrites]

I finished my nth legend of ruyi rewatch. as usual, I cried when ling yunche died. his final scene with hailan remains one of my favorites in the whole series. two people utterly devoted to someone, putting that person above all else, and recognizing that fact in each other

and it's really important to me they emphasized the relationship between ling yunche and ruyi was one of mutual respect and understanding, a connection beyond simple romance. in a drama like this it's expected for their feelings to be a forbidden romance so it's refreshing, then and now, for both characters to be clear that their care for one another was like platonic soulmates. of course this only compounds the tragedy of it all

let's not gloss over the scene of wei yanwan forced to kowtow before the prayer flags of all those she wronged. I could've screamed the first time I watched it, incredibly satisfying payoff for her villainous arc

though to be honest my fave murderous consort will always be consort jia. oh boy when she tells ruyi "go ahead ask me anything, I'll tell you. let me think, who else did I wrong? oh yeah! that was me!" she's so broken by a lifetime committed to a man she now sees cares nothing for her. her howling and begging for ruyi to tell her it was false, to take it back now that she has answers. delicious

legend of ruyi has its claws dug deep in me. the only drama I've rewatched more would be nirvana in fire (you want to talk about a satisfying payoff, the scene with everyone pressuring the emperor👌)

[hansayellow]

Ling Yunche is a great man and didn’t deserve that ending. Also, his feelings for the Empress??, ‘a sentiment that is beyond woman and man’?? The writing in this show is killing me!!!

[mydaylight]

The plot line in Legend of Ruyi about Yongji's kidnapping at the Mulan Hunting Grounds really suffers from a severe case of "we took out stuff from the book but now the result makes no sense". In the book, Yongji's kidnapping was more of an impromptu occurrence, but in the show, they changed it so the entire incident was planned in advance by Eyinzhu (and Yanwan?), except the whole execution seems so messy and hopeless? If the intent was to kill Yongji from the beginning, the assassin should have struck first and then tried to get away as soon as possible, but he sort of lingers on indecisively after he captures Yongji and then when everybody rushes into the scene Eyinzhu immediately goes "well you have no chance surviving now you might as well do it" ... It's as if there was very little thought put into the actual logistics of trying to assassinate a prince in the presence of the Emperor's entourage and how risky and unlikely it would be for it to succeed and even the assassin she hired didn't seem to know what he should be doing. (I know they wanted to pin the blame on the Han tribe for the assassination, but they didn't have to wait for Qianlong to show up to do that)

In the book, Ruyi and Yongji come upon Lanxi (Concubine Xun, who is not in the show) having a secret meeting with a man called Anuoda, who turns out to be Lanxi's former childhood sweetheart. Ruyi is preparing to break them up and forget the whole thing happened, but Eyinzhu shows up and starts shouting that there's an assassin (Eyinzhu has a chip on her shoulder re: Lanxi for political reasons). Only then do Lanxi and Anuoda take Yongji as a hostage because they know they'll be executed since they were found out and want to negotiate with Qianlong to let them go. This makes so much more sense than what we got in the show, Yongji's kidnapping was not premeditated but was an action of the last resort, so of course everything is sloppy and doesn't work out in the end. I feel the show needs the kidnapping to happen to raise Qianlong's suspicions and jealousy towards Ling Yunche, but they took out Lanxi's character so they had to replace her with somebody else... I guess Eyinzhu was the obvious option, but I wish they had adapted it differently, because as it is it just makes Eyinzhu appear dumb all over again.

[jellyfitzjelly]

fuck, i have another ruyi/ling yunche idea coming in my head....

[christaline]

I hate hate haaaate ling yunche’s dumb bitch wife i wish she was written like a real person and not a shitty contrived plot mover uuuugghhhhhhhh

[fortune-maiden]

I suddenly realized I have less than 30 episodes of Ruyi left and the Emperor and Ruyi still have a pretty good relationship

Just...how downhill are things about to go? D:

[jgys-hat]

Also, Yanwan is so two-faced and I hate her terribly, but I love whatever's going on between her and Jinzhong. They are both terrible people and they thoroughly deserve each other...

[uraandri]

i can be good to you and you're not happy? YOU CALL THIS GOOD

[consortmadness]

Historical Chinese Drama Deaths That Broke Me (11/?)

Ling Yunche, Eunch of Yikun Palace (Again the Emperor’s a asshole)

With Ling Yunche the only reason he died was because of this crush on Ruyi. I don’t hate Hailan at all of what she did because Hailan should not have had to do that if Emperor wasn’t a asshole just like this father but the difference is that Ruyi was completely innocent where as with Zhen Huan no one wouldn’t have know if Yunli (the Emperor’s half-brother) didn’t bring her up every time he wrote to the Yongzheng Emperor.