I’ve been rabidly following along with the filming of the upcoming period C-drama King of Lan Ling because I desperately need a good period wuxia-esque fare like you wouldn’t believe. Imagine being deprived of one particular food item for a long time and you know the feeling. Starring Feng Shao Feng, Ariel Lin, and Daniel Chan, the drama wrapped filming already and a few months ago released its first trailer. The original release had everyone’s voices, but a subsequent version was all dubbed over, which just makes me sad. I loved the original voice version. That first trailer was more big picture and showed off the politics and intrigue of the backdrop of this story, which is set in the warring dynasties period after the collapse of the Qin Dynasty. Feng Shao Feng plays the titular King of Lan Ling, who was the 4th prince of the Qi Dynasty, and Daniel Chan plays the King of the Zhou Dynasty, with the two men being rivals in love and war. Ariel plays a fictional leading lady caught between the two of them, with her being born into a mythical tribe and having supposed spiritual powers that accordingly to folklore will help any ruling dynasty conquer all of China.

Clearly she’s very valuable property, but really the two men fight for her because they both love her and that’s the way a good love triangle rolls. The drama just released a second long trailer this week (also with original voices) and my jaw fairly dropped on the ground. This looks so up my alley in terms of being gripping romance with tons of fighting scenes. This trailer focuses specifically on the love triangle between the three leads and I find myself totally changing my allegiance back and forth as to which guy deserves the girl. In the end I’m going with the dude in the mask, because Feng Shao Feng has got the smirky glower down pat. I kid, I kid. I do love how machismo this all looks, but at the same time Ariel’s character feels like the brains of this operation. The two guys fight while she just turns her pretty little head and finds solutions to problems. That’s my kind of period heroine. Plus I’m all for destined lovers that probably cannot be, because fate is such a bitch when she’s in a bad mood. Check out the second trailer below where I’ve provided a translation summary of all the dialogue.

Second long trailer for King of Lan Ling:

Xue Wu’s (Ariel Lin) grandmother warns her “that man” (referring to Gao Chang Gong, the King of Lan Ling) will only bring her misfortune. Death is his destiny and she cannot change it. Xue Wu vows that even if she cannot change his fate, she wants to keep him safe on the battlefield (by bringing him his mask). Grandma explains that Gao Chang Gong (Feng Shao Feng), born into royalty as a prince of the Dynasty of Qi, has a compassionate heart but is a fearless warrior. He’s been given the nickname “The God of War”. Gao Chang Gong was forced to enter the battlefield since he was young and he wears the mask to discard his compassionate heart and become only a fighter, because this is a dog-eat-dog world out there. Grandma explains that Xue Wu is the goddess of the mystical tribe and her heir. She has power she was born with, but the outside world is not what she knows. Xue We saves a dying man (Daniel Chan, playing Yu Wen Yong, the King of the Dynasty of Zhou). A village is quarantined because the people in it have an infectious disease. Soldiers come to burn the village to the ground and Xue Wu demands they stop. She and Chang Gong meet again. She tells him that as the ruler he needs to try and save his people.

The subjects in the Dynasty of Zhou discuss that their King has gone missing in the Dynasty of Qi. They worry about the consequences should he be discovered by the Qi soldiers first. The King of Qi tells Chang Gong that they need to capture the King of Zhou now otherwise he’ll continue to be a threat. Xue Wu teaches the people how to filter dirty water and make clean water. Chang Gong’s advisor discusses how Xue Wu is very talented. They discuss this folklore that whomever is in possession of the goddess of the mythical tribe will rule the entire world. Chang Gong tells Yu Wen Yong that capturing him was surprisingly easy. We see Yu Wen Yong killing a tiger and then protecting Xue Wu from the Qi soliders, telling them not to hurt her. Xue Wu is shocked that he can talk. Chang Gong asks Xue Wu why she trusts that man if she doesn’t even know he can talk? Yu Wen Yong tells Gao Chang Gong that in front of the woman he loves, how can he watch from the sidelines. Xue Wu visits the caged Yu Wen Yong and he asks if she’s worried about his wellbeing, or she’s sad that the King of Lan Ling is not as compassionate as she believes. Xue Wu says she and the King of Lan Ling can never be. Her grandma has foreseen it and her predictions are always accurate. There is another that he loves.

Gao Chang Gong greets the King of Zhou, Yu Wen Yong. Soldiers from Zhou come to retrieve their King. Xue Wu yells at him for lying to her, asking if he’s really the King of Zhou? Yu Wen Yong returns to Zhou. A soldier shoots an arrow at Xue Wu and Gao Chang Gong takes the arrow for her, but its poisoned. The advisor says its poison from Zhou and they cannot cure it. Gao Chang Gong tells Xue Wu that she is very special to him. Xue Wu watches over the sleeping Chang Gong. Xue We hands a satchel to Chang Gong, saying it will keep him safe. He returns it to her, telling her to give it to the man she will marry. Xue Wu cuddles in bed with Chang Gong. Grandma voice overs about fate and why Xue Wu and Chang Gong have to meet? Xue Wu goes to Zhou and we see Chang Gong struggling to get up, asking for his sword so he can go bring her back.

Yu Wen Yong tells Xue Wu that he and the King of Lan Ling were born enemies and one of them is destined to destroy the other. Yu Wen Yong says he doesn’t know how Xue Wu managed to save Gao Chang Gong, but he has no soldiers to come attack Zhou. Gao Chang Gong tells his soldiers that they are 500 going to face 100,000. He vows that their battlefield will be their heroic victory ground. He says at most both sides see each other in Hell! Xue Wu tells Chang Gong that smiling is her secret weapon. Yu Wen Yong screams at Xue Wu, asking if she’s gone insane because Gao Chang Gong is about to die. She might have ingested the same poison but he’s only going to give her the antidote and he will make sure Gao Chang Gong doesn’t get it. Xue Wu runs through the forest telling Chang Gong that she wants to see him but she doesn’t think that day will come. Yu Wen Yong says that he will destroy anything in his path, whether its a god or a demon. Because he has her, the goddess, it has energized his troops. He declares that she will always be his. The entire world is destined to be his. Gao Chang Gong says that regardless of whether he lives or dies, he never wants any harm to come to her, that is the vow he made in the Goddess Temple. Gao Chang Gong and Yu Wen Yong face off and send arrows flying towards each other at the same time.