I don’t think the the casting and production issues around period romance C-drama Revenge (刺棠 Ci Tang) with Zhang Ling He and Lu Yu Xiao are all that unusual or even more than the usual shenanigans that befall a lot of other C-dramas before it. But due to the noticeable decrease of new C-dramas heading into production this year, there aren’t a lot of dramas to talk about hence the ups and downs of getting Revenge to filming have gotten outsized attention. It is close to starting filming scheduled for next month September 2026 and now there is attention due to the casting of the supporting roles. The biggest murmuring is that actress Liang Jie has accepted the second female lead role in this drama, which is a big deal since she’s been playing first female leads for the majority of her career other than when she first debuted. Industry chatter is that she’s fine with this and has accepted the reality but her fandom is super upset about it. Also joining the cast as supporting male leads are Wang Hong Yi and Li Qing, both of them have been supporting stars to date so nothing unusual about it. First female lead actresses that end up in supporting roles have happened before but may really accelerate now with the decrease in roles out there.