At first glance, the premise of Pursuit of Jade 逐玉 may seem fairly mundane since it revolves around a butcher’s daughter who rescues an injured man from the brink of death and brings him home. Due to circumstances, the two pretend to be married.
Early Impressions
So far, the story takes place in their small village, yet the drama quickly proves to be very engaging and perfect for a light comedy. The blossoming romance is heart-fluttering since we have two people matching each other’s wit to provide satisfying resolutions. Tian Xiwei’s heroine is the badass that uses both brain and brawn. The male lead, played by Zhang Linghe, also adds mystery with early glimpses showing an identity as a general who has been ambushed. His tragic backstory will no doubt pave the way for the politicking in court, which we’ve only seen briefly with the appearance of Yan Yikuan‘s minister whose presence even makes the emperor cower in fear.
Much of the appeal also lies in the show’s visual style. Directed by Zeng Qingjie, who is known for his work on Blossom, the series is beautifully shot. Zhang Linghe has appeared in so many dramas lately, yet he’s certainly serving some his best looks here as the “frail” nobleman recovering from his injuries. Likewise, the heroine’s role as a “female butcher” might not sound particularly glamorous on paper, but the drama manages to present everyone with such striking visuals as we are eventually introduced to each of the characters played by Snow Kong, Deng Kai, Li Qing and Ren Hao.
Ratings and Controversies
So far Pursuit of Jade has been topping ratings charts. UPDATE: It hit the 10K/30k heat index on iQIYI and Tencent as of March 11. Considering that it’s airing subsequently on two streaming platforms and not just one, that’s really good even if it’s also somewhat expected for a drama in the costume romance genre with popular stars as leads to do well. Granted some argue that the drama’s popularity is artificial (which Tencent denied but admitted issues with their homepage that would not affect other metrics), but the best way to judge is simply to watch it and see for yourself.
For a show that was surrounded by so much animosity at the start, from fan wars to speculation that the two leads dislike each other, their on-screen chemistry is showing otherwise. The running joke now is that Zhang Linghe and Tian Xiwei’s respective managers, who were said to be feuding for a decade, way back when they represented artists Li Yitong and Deng Lun and had billing issues for the drama Blossom in Heart, should “kiss” and makeup to celebrate the show’s success.
