#secrets of the three kingdoms

[dramaddict-and-proud-of-it]

Secrets of the three kingdoms

Year : 2018 | Country : CN | Nb of episodes: 54

My rate: 6/10

Synopsis :

When the twin sons of an emperor and a concubine are separated, one grows up to become emperor and one lives secretly as a commoner.

Twin brothers Liu Ping and Liu Xie (Ma Tian Yu)grow up very differently but end up back together in adulthood with only each other to lean on. Liu Xie is raised by his grandmother, the Empress Dowager Dong, and becomes Emperor Xian while Liu Ping is secretly taken out of the palace and grows up as a commoner with Sima Yi (Elvis Han).

When fighting breaks out among different factions, Emperor Xian loses control of the kingdom to the powerful warlord Cao Cao (Tse Kwan Ho). When Emperor Xian learns about the existence of his twin brother, he summons him to the palace.

Can Liu Ping, with the help of Sima Yi, Empress Fu Shou (Regina Wan) and other Han loyalists, help the emperor save the Eastern Han Dynasty?

“Secret of the Three Kingdoms” is a 2018 Chinese drama series directed by Patrick Yau. It is based on the novel San Guo Ji Mi by Ma Bo Yong.

Main cast :

Ma Tian yu as Liu Xie/Liu Ping

Wan Qian as Fu Shou

Elvis Han as Sima Yi/ Zhong Da

Dong Jie as Tang Ying

Tan Jian Ci as Cao Pi

My thoughts on this drama :

For a historical drama, I believe this is the most serious one I have ever watched. Ma Tian Yu playing two characters (twins) is a big plus, as it added some realism and confusion within the plot. I belive the costumes are also pretty accurate for the era this story is set up in.

It is a long, plot-heavy story so be warned. Romance is not the main part of this show, we are in a political war in this drama, with deep intrigues and dark themes all over.

A Favorite ?

NO

[benevolenterrancy]

(Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett) I think Shang Qinghua and Ponder Stibbons should have tea and compare notes about somehow accumulating so much behind-the-scenes power by doing menial jobs no one else wants that they could basically run the show if they wanted...

meanwhile we have Shen "meh good enough" Qingqiu

[dangermousie]

They don't make them like that anymore.

Yes, this is the drama where the FL's endgame is the identical twin of her husband.

It takes a brave man to fall for a woman who's castrating someone within five minutes of meeting you.

[heybiji]

Roshan walks with the two Potts, gazing around at the fields and forests painted in warm colors by the setting sun. He remarks, "It is a lovely view from here."

Gazing outward, past the broken walls he had put up 20 years ago, Arthund nods and says, "Forgot. Forgot how... how pretty it all is."

I recently finished running an original oneshot for some friends, The Reaching Woods. It was a story about a little village surrounded by a big wall and the nearby forest's sudden overgrowth threatening to crush it all. It was also a story about blame and guilt.

Arthund Potts, when we met him, could barely speak at all. Too many years spent drinking and weeping. If he was even conscious he was all grunts and sloppy gestures. The scene above was at the end of the oneshot (okay, eighteenshot), once the party returned from the dark, evil woods.

[asianwhumpgalore]

Secret of Three Kingdoms (三国机密) | Cdrama | Whump List

Genre: Historical, Romance, Drama, Political, War

Synopsis: The last hope of the crumbling Han Dynasty bears an unspeakable secret with the power to destroy the imperial rule it seeks to save during the turbulent Three Kingdoms era, tied to a cold case related to the unsolved murder of a young man from the countryside.

Length: 54 eps

Whump meter: ▲◭△△△  Whumpy Things: Bro whump, sensitive whumpee

✨ Absolutely fascinating drama with great lead couple, omg. There was unfortunately not as much whump as I would have liked but there's a substantial bit of emotional whump and plenty angst✨

⚠️Trigger Content: Violence, mild gore, s**cide (explicitly shown and talked about frequently by a lead character), usual historical cdrama CWs (most triggering eps at the bottom) ⚠️⚠️Some SPOILERS will be found, proceed with caution⚠️⚠️

Whumpee: Liu Xie / Liu Ping portrayed by Ma Tian Yu

Ep 1 | Concern for loved one, teary eyed, labored breathing | stepped on, winces x2 | In shock.

Ep 2 | In shock, crying | Caught in a fire, saved, weak, comforted, concern for him.

Ep 3 | None.

Ep 4 | [04:35] Struggling to hold someone back, bitten in the arm, in pain, teary eyed, bite mark visible on his arm | [16:17] Wound turned red, arm wrapped up.

Ep 5 | Scolded, concern for loved one, yelled at | [36:20] Concern for loved one, scolded, grabbed by his clothes and pushed against the wall, scolded, yelled at, crying, begging to save loved one.

Ep 6-8 | Distressed, crying, scolded. He cries a lot. (ep 8 - Angry)

Ep 9 | [07:25] Mourning death of loved one, on his knees, crying, angry | [18:55] Guilty, has a breakdown, crying | Slapped.

Ep 10 | None.

Ep 11 | Teary eyed | Yelled at.

Ep 12-20 | None.

Ep 21 | Fought. Restrained, sword held to his neck. Imprisoned.

Ep 22-23 | None.

Ep 24 | Arrested, bound to cross, hit with an arrow a bunch (semi-comedic), dragged away.

Ep 25-27 | None.

Ep 28 | Imprisoned, chained | Weak due to being starved, pale, wrists injured from the chains, struggling to walk | Made to kneel.

Ep 29 | Brief injury reveal, concern for him.

Ep 30-31 | None.

Ep 32 | Slapped x2, emotional.

Ep 33-37 | None.

Ep 38-40 | Emotional, crying.

Ep 41 | Fought in a war | Scolded, slapped, emotional, crying.

Ep 42-44 | None.

Ep 45 | [23:50] Teary eyed | Made to watch his brother be tortured unable to do anything to save him, tearing up.

Ep 46 | Emotional, tearing up.

Ep 47 | None.

Ep 48 | Witnesses loved one die, crying | Emotional, crying x2 | Crying, grabs sword by the blade, bleeding, blood covered hand.

Ep 49-51 | Emotional, crying. Witnesses the death of a loved one (Ep 50).

Ep 52-54 | None.

Whumpee: Sima Yi (Zhong Da) portrayed by Elvis Han

Ep 1 | Told loved one died, teary eyed.

Ep 2-10 | Threatened with a sword held to his neck a couple of times (ep 3, 5, 8).

Ep 11 | [26:26] Throws himself in front of someone to protect them from an attack, stabbed in the shoulder, on the ground, yelps, helped sit up, clutching wound, winces.

Ep 12 | No appearance.

Ep 13 | Recovering from injury, being fed medicine, heavy breathing, pale, moves but is stopped by a sudden pain, clutches chest, coughing, struggles to get up and dressed, labored breathing, winces, groans.

Ep 14 | Sudden pain from previous wound.

Ep 15 | [13:28] Knife thrown at him and stabs him in the leg (off-screen), screams, concern for him, clutching leg, in pain, knife suddenly pulled out, cries out, bandaged up, winces, helped to stand, winces again, helped to walk, limping, winces, labored breathing | Wakes up, winces.

Ep 16 | Using a crutch to walk, struggles to kneel, struggles to get back up | Threatened with a sword.

Ep 17 | Wound touched, cries out in pain, groaning | Helped to walk, limping | Kicked on his wounded leg, crying out in pain, helped to walk. In pain.

Ep 18 | No appearance.

Ep 19-20 | None.

Ep 21 | Restrained, arrested. Bound to cross. Arrested again.

Ep 22 | Imprisoned.

Ep 23-27 | None.

Ep 28 | Fought, kicked to the ground and falls unconscious.

Ep 29-30 | None.

Ep 31 | Emotional, concerned for loved one.

Ep 32-33| None.

Ep 34 | Fought, knocked down, saved.

Ep 35 | Stabbed in the abdomen, falls to the ground, concern for him, passes out | In bed, concern for him, weak | In a wheelchair (pretending) | Recieving acupuncture as a form of torture disguised as treatment, in pain.

Ep 36-41 | None.

Ep 42 | Arrested. In prison.

Ep 43-44 | None.

Ep 45 | [23:50] Arrested | Tied to cross, interrogated, hot iron tool pressed onto his chest, groaning in agony, screaming, sweating, iron removed to reveal burn, threatened with another, saved, wound pressed, groaning.

Ep 46 | Imprisoned, curled up on the floor, pale, weak, wound visible on his chest.

Ep 47 | None.

Ep 48 | Told loved one died, crying, mourning.

Ep 49-50 | None.

Ep 51 | Stabbed in the shoulder with the tip of a sword, winces, sweating, clutching wound.

Ep 52 | Punched, bloody lip, coughing.

Ep 53-54 | None.

Whumpee: Cao Pi portrayed by Tan Jian Ci

Ep 1-4 | No appearance.

Ep 5-7 | None.

Ep 8 | Fought | Labored breathing, sweating, blood on his face.

Ep 9 | None.

Ep 10 | Crying, angry | Made to kneel to receive punishment, beaten repeatedly with a rod, scolded, concern for him, saved.

Ep 11 | [14:00] Held hostage with a sword to his throat, sword pressed to his neck, bleeding, kicked onto the ground, slashed in the neck, falls to the ground, concern for him, bleeding a lot, spasming, wound treated hastily, unconscious, neck bandaged | Carried away, still unconscious.

Ep 12 | [41:15] Lying in bed, struggling to sit up, raspy voice and struggling to talk, weak, pale, blood staining the bandage around his neck, grunts, struggles to lie back down.

Ep 13 | Asleep in bed, weak, barely moving, raspy voice, struggles to sit up.

Ep 14-15 | No appearance.

Ep 16 | Still bed-ridden, weak, pale.

Ep 17-18 | No appearance.

Scar visible on his neck from this point onwards.

Ep 19-20 | None.

Ep 21 | Fought, kicked in the chest, kneed in the head, falls onto the ground, unconscious | Imprisoned, still unconscious. Stirs awake, coughing, clutching head, struggling to get up, weak, groaning.

Ep 22 | Arrested (off-screen). Bound, swords held to his neck, made to kneel, grabbed by the collar, shoved, saved.

Ep 23 | None.

Ep 24 | Punched, clutching jaw, bloody lip, restrained, arrested. Bound to cross.

Ep 25 | Still bound, lip bruised.

Ep 26 | None.

Ep 27 | Swords held to his neck, restrained, arrested. | Slapped x3, stumbles | Bruise visible on his cheek, bound to cross, whipped in the chest x3, groaning, labored breathing, knife held to his neck, teary eyed. | Saved, collapses onto saviour, weak, helped to walk.

Ep 28 | Fought.

Ep 29 | None.

Ep 30 | Bound, kicked in the back of the knee and falls onto his knees. In shock, emotional |Fought, defeated, on the ground, bruise on his cheek, sword held to his neck.

Ep 31 | Unconscious on the ground, stirring awake, clutching head, groaning.

Ep 32 | Emotional, crying, slapped.

Ep 33-34 | None.

Ep 35 | In pain after kneeling for very long.

Ep 36 | Sword held to his neck.

Ep 37 | Made himself bleed from the finger.

Ep 38 | Emotional, accidentally(?) cuts his hand with his blade.

Ep 39-46 | None.

Ep 47 | Fought, special move™ performed against his chest knocking him back, kicked on the shoulder, falls onto the floor, unconscious, concern for him.

Ep 48 | Recovering in bed, unconscious, pale, emotional, crying.

Ep 49 | Digs until his hands bleed.

Ep 50 | None

Ep 51 | Stops blade with hand, bleeding. Hand bandaged.

Ep 52-53 | None.

Ep 54 | Hit with an object. Bleeding from the mouth. Teary eyed | Emotional, crying, bleeding from the mouth again, spits blood.

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

Eps to watch out for violence, gore & s**cide:

Ep 1: Slight gore. Ep 17: Mild gore, s*icide (pretty graphic). Ep 28: Mild gore [33:12 - 33:30] Ep 38: Bloody death (beginning)

[three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat]

I like how Zelda's powers in botw/totk include light, sealing, time travel, rewinding things, and spontaneous generation of flowers

[frankencanon]

The one negative when it comes to watching asian dramas that were based off of novels is that often times things won't make sense and you just have to accept that.

Due to budget or time constraints or censorship laws, etc etc etc, things will inevitably have to be changed, modified, or left out, and often times things that would have made perfect sense in the novel will either be left unexplained in the drama, or be modified in such a way that it no longer makes any sense.

Probably one of the most obvious/well-known examples of this would be in The Untamed, when Wei Wuxian asks Lan Wangji to lend him his headband to use as a blindfold.

I don't think I need to explain why that sounded absolutely ridiculous to drama-only fans (myself included).

[lyselkatzfandomluvs]

Tán JiànCì 檀健次

Elle China - December 2023 (1/3)

[autumn-may]

thinking about the chess game in kh3 and yes I know it’s symbolism but honestly what the frick even was that. Imagine you’re playing chess with your bestie and after you beat him he just says ‘there’s more to light than meets the eye 😈’ and takes his king and moves it back to the beginning??? And puts seven more pieces on the board?? And Xehanorts just like cool with it???? Honestly if I was Xehanort and Eraqus did that to me I wouldn’t even have waited 64 years I would have taken him out right then and there

[silviakundera]

lmaooooooo at ep 16 of Secret of The Three Kingdoms and Cao Cao better come home soon before Emperor Babygirl adopts his whole family. The opposition moved his ass into their mansion to better monitor him and in like 3 weeks he & murderous wifey have encouraged teen son's revenge killing, saved said teen from assassination, come to prescribe medicine at his bedside, charmed the mom, and now teen daughter has decided he is her pathetic mew mew and she's sneaking him candies to cheer him up.

And he's actually on purpose targeted Cao Cao's #1 super most brilliant A++ strategist.

team imperial dynasty: shit! he's back!!! we gotta get rid of him!!! WE NEED A PLAN

babygirl: alright so what we're gonna do is I invite him to come lecture me on politics 💁

[chinesedramaoutfit]

Fu Shou, Empress of Eastern Han

[minsarasarahair]

Tan Jianci's roles I watched while waiting for FHLJ back then.

Chen Renxiang (Winter Begonia) - A famous Chinese Peking Opera performer. He was introduced as Shang Xirui's(MC) rival but eventually became friends. He was devastated when the woman he love left him so he killed himself during his final performance. This cdrama is based from a Danmei webnovel but they changed it to bromance because of censorship. If you're fine with suffering characters, this is for you. It has great visuals and expensive production.

Cao Pi (Secret Of The Three Kingdoms) - A character based from historical figure. Throughout the story, he try to gain favor from his father who only look at his brother by studying military, martial arts, politics etc. In the ending, he manage to became an emperor through underhanded tactics but sadly, the woman he love is not happy with this achievement because the one she love is Cao Pi's past self before he gained power. As you can see, this is a complex bad character so I tried to watch it. Unfortunately, I'm bored watching this and only watched Cao Pi's scenes so my understanding of his character might be wrong lol

Shen Yi (Under The Skin) - A talented young artist arrested because his art was used for crime unknowingly that killed a police officer and he can't remember the face of the criminal who requested him to draw it. Because he felt guilty about it and can't move on from that incident, he decided to become part of forensic to use his artistic skills to help solve cases and hopefully find the answer to his questions. Its a mystery case solving bromance. I actually enjoyed this one. Good news is it has season 2!

Now imagine! Combine all of this for his portrayal of Gu Yun! We've been robbed!

[dangermousie]

Never did finish this so time to try to do so.

Secret of the Three Kingdoms is one of the best examples of hardened damaged schemer woman finds happiness and softness with a gentle, sweet man.

MMMMMMMM

[electricsoul-rpg]

fc: Wan Qian (万茜) / Regina Wan

ethnicity: Han Chinese

[j-august]

Zhuge Liang was surprised when he heard what had happened. "Who is this?" said he. "Who has thus seen into the dark depths of my secret plan?"

Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms (trans. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor)

[joys-ramblings]

It is exceptionally funny to me when cdramas try to pretend monogamy was the gold star standard back in the day. Dude historically had a million wives. Ah yes, he would definitely refuse to marry this one person out of faithfulness to his wife.