Series / The Legend of Xiao Chuo

The Legend of Xiao Chuo (燕云台, Yān Yún Tái) is a 2020 Chinese series starring Tiffany Tang, Shawn Dou, and Jing Chao. It's based on the novel of the same name by Jiang Sheng Nan, which in turn is loosely based on historical events.

In the state of Liao during the 10th century CE, Xiao Yan Yan falls in love with Han De Rang and agrees to marry him. Unfortunately, Yan Yan's father arranges for Yan Yan to marry Yelü Xian, the future Emperor Jingzong, instead. She becomes his empress, while at the same time De Rang becomes an increasingly powerful general and politician. Meanwhile Yan Yan's sisters have also married into the royal family, and their husbands believe they have legitimate claims to the throne.

The series can be watched on YouTube and on Viki with English subtitles.

Contains examples of:

• Accidental Kiss: During their fight De Rang falls on top of Yan Yan and accidentally kisses her.
• A Child Shall Lead Them: Long Xu becomes emperor when he's only twelve.
• Action Girl: In her first appearance Yan Yan beats a man in a duel.
• Adapted Out:
  • Historically Xiao Yan Yan and Emperor Jingzong had six children, and Jingzong had another two children with his other wives. In the series Yan Yan and Xian have only three children, and Xian has only one child with another woman.
  • The real Han De Rang was one of twelve children. The series only includes one of his siblings.
• Ambition Is Evil: An Zhi wants to be the wife of a powerful man. Unfortunately for her she's married to Zhi Mo, who has no interest in power and no desire to scheme for the throne. So An Zhi attempts to murder Zhi Mo's half-brother and sister-in-law to force him to take the throne.
• A Minor Kidroduction: A flashback in episode one introduces Xian as a child.
• Annoying Arrows:
  • Yan Yan gets shot in the shoulder. In real life this could easily be fatal, but in the series it's just a minor injury.
  • Yansage gets an arrow right through his shoulder. This is also treated as just a minor injury. Later he gets shot in the stomach, but breaks off the shaft and rides off apparently unharmed. Subverted when he dies of his injuries later.
  • Subverted with Si Wen. He gets shot in the chest, breaks the shaft off and continues to fight, then gets shot again and dies of his injuries afterwards. Then subverted again when it's revealed he died of a stab wound, not the arrows.
• Artistic License – History:
  • Historically Emperor Shizong and his first empress were killed in a coup organised by his cousin Yelü Cha Ge. His second empress (Yelü Xian's mother) wasn't present when this happened and was killed later, also by Cha Ge. Yelü Jing wasn't part of this rebellion and became king after defeating Cha Ge. The series portrays Shizong and both of his wives being murdered at the same time by Jing, while Cha Ge is Adapted Out.
  • It's unknown if the real Xiao Yan Yan and Han De Rang had a romantic relationship, but they certainly didn't get married after Yelü Xian's death. Li Si is a completely fictional character; the real Han De Rang never married anyone.
• As You Know: In his first appearance Xian takes the time to explain to De Rang, who's been his friend for years and already knows all this, who his father was and why he needs help to regain the throne.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Xian gets two: when he's first declared emperor in episode fifteen, and when he arrives at the palace in episode sixteen.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing / From Nobody to Nightmare: An Zhi starts out as a servant understandably afraid of Yelü Jing. Then she marries Zhi Mo and starts murdering her own servants.
• Bittersweet Ending: Yan Yan dies in the last episode (and De Rang dies off-screen), but they're reunited in the afterlife.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: The YouTube subtitles are sometimes awkwardly phrased to the point of being incoherent — for example "agitated the destinies of me", which shows up early in the first episode.
• Blood from the Mouth: Shows up whenever a character is injured or killed.
• Butt-Monkey: Mogulu full stop. The first time he appears he gets beaten up by Yanyan in public and she even takes his horse to add insult to injury. On his second appearance he has his pass to the archery game stolen by Yanyan. Later he gets beaten up by Derang and criticized by by his uncle and father. Not long after that Xian and Yanyan trick him into insulting Gao Xun, a high ranking official who orders Mugulu beaten up and thrown out of a window.
• The Caligula: Yelü Jing murders his servants for the slightest offense, including simply walking up to him when he wasn't expecting it, and has his own nephew castrated for sleeping with a maid.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Zhi Mo tells his uncle/adopted father what he thinks of him.
  Zhi Mo: Yelü Jing, who do you think you are? A scumbag who took my father's place. All you know is to drink and act crazy. You don't deserve to be the Emperor of Liao.
• The Chess Master: Both Xian and Yansage. Xian is better.
• Convenient Miscarriage: Hu Nian miscarries her baby.
• Crippling Castration: Zhi Mo is castrated for having an affair with An Zhi.
• Death of the Hypotenuse: Xian dies, allowing Yan Yan and De Rang to finally marry.
• Delicate and Sickly: Xian is a male example.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight:
  • Happens twice in the space of a few minutes. First Liulishou dies in Xi Yin's arms, then Xi Yin dies in Wuguli's arms.
  • A Bo dies in Hu Nian's arms.
• Distant Prologue: The prologue is set eighteen years before the main series.
• Double In-Law Marriage: A complicated version. All three of the Xiao sisters marry men from the Yelü family: Yan Yan marries Xian, Wuguli marries Xian's cousin Xi Yin, and Hu Nian marries Xian's uncle Yansage.
• Driven to Suicide:
  • Li Si decides to drink the poisoned wine meant for De Rang.
  • Wuguli kills herself after failing to murder Yan Yan.
• Elopement: Yan Yan and De Rang attempt to elope when they learn Xian has ordered Yan Yan to marry him. They're caught and Yan Yan is forced to marry Xian anyway.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • All of the Xiao sisters get one. Yan Yan is introduced fighting a duel, Wuguli is introduced tricking other girls into giving her their jewellery, and Hu Nian is introduced making Wuguli return the jewellery.
  • In his first appearance Xi Yin attacks his competitors in the archery competition.
• Evil Uncle: Yelü Jing for Xian and Zhi Mo. After Jing's death his brother Yansage takes over this role and tries to overthrow Xian.
• Exact Eavesdropping: Wuguli overhears Xi Yin planning Yan Yan's murder.
• Eyepatch of Power: Zhi Mo wears one after losing an eye.
• Eye Scream: Yelü Jing has Zhi Mo partially blinded.
• Faint in Shock: Yan Yan faints when she hears about her father's death.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Wuguli is the foolish sister to her responsible older sister Hu Nian. Yan Yan is somewhere in the middle; not as foolish as Wuguli but not as responsible as Hu Nian.
• Foreshadowing: Yanyan despite being a teenage girl has little trouble figuring out that her father, Xian and De Rang are plotting against the Emperor and is savvy enough to recognize that the empire is in decline and change and reform is needed. Expected from a highly successful and famous future Empress Dowager.
• Forced to Watch:
  • Xi Yin and Wuguli are forced to watch Xi Yin's father's execution.
  • Xian is forced to watch Zhi Mo be partially blinded, castrated, then thrown down the stairs.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: The three Xiao sisters grow increasingly hostile towards each other over the course of the series.
• Gorgeous Period Dress: All over the place, on both men and women. Take these costumes and Yan Yan's blue and gold costume◊ for example.
• Half-Breed Discrimination: Yelü Jing looks down on Zhi Mo for being the son of a Han woman instead of a full blooded Khitan.
• Happily Married: Wuguli and Xiyin. Their marriage is one based on mutual love and they are very happy together. But they make others around them unhappy with their behaviour and ambitions.
• Historical Domain Character: Xiao Yan Yan, Han De Rang, Yelü Xian, Xiao Hu Nian, and Wuguli were real people, and so were many of the minor characters.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: The real Yelü Jing, Emperor Muzong, wasn't responsible for Emperor Shizong's death.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Yelü Jing abuses and murders his servants. Eventually they get tired of it and murder him.
• Human Shield: Yelü Jing uses a maid as a shield when he's attacked by assassins.
• I Have Many Names: Xian has at least three names: Yelü Xian, Ming Yi, and Emperor Jingzong.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: One of Yansage's soldiers gets impaled by a spear.
• Imperial China: The Liao dynasty, to be precise.
• Imperiled in Pregnancy: Yan Yan is pregnant when Xi Yin tries to murder her.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Xian's illness makes him cough.
• Irrational Hatred: Within hours of her arrival Xi Ge becomes convinced Yan Yan is her rival and is conspiring against her. For added stupidity she comes to this conclusion before she even meets Yan Yan.
• It's All About Me: Wuguli. To save her life Hu Nian has to promise to marry a man she doesn't love, and all Wuguli cares about is that she gets to marry Xi Yin. Later Yan Yan is forced to marry Xian, and Wuguli only cares that she and Xi Yin are imprisoned in their mansion.
• Jerkass:
  • Xian knows Yan Yan and De Rang are engaged and Yan Yan will never love him. That doesn't stop him forcing her to marry him. Made worse because De Rang is his friend and helped him take the throne.
  • Wuguli couldn't care less that both of her sisters are forced into unwanted marriages.
• Lethally Stupid: Wuguli sneaks off to see Xi Yin after he's arrested for trying to assassinate the emperor and brings him a pass to help him escape. When Yansage catches them he sees the pass as evidence that Wuguli's father is in cahoots with Xi Yin, endangering Wuguli and her entire family.
• Love Makes You Evil: Xian's love for Yan Yan leads him to force her to marry him even though he knows she's engaged to De Rang.
• Love Triangle: Yan Yan loves De Rang but is forced to marry Yelü Xian. Hu Nian loves A Bo but is forced to marry Yan Sa Ge. De Rang loves Yan Yan, but marries Li Si after Yan Yan's marriage.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: Xi Yin tries to murder Yan Yan by vandalising a staircase so it will break when she stands on it.
• Maligned Mixed Marriage: Emperor Shizong of Liao chose a Han woman as his empress. This contributed to him being overthrown. There is racial tension between the Khitan elite and the Han not so elite.
  • Derang's father bluntly tells his son that Yanyan is way out of his league and Mogulu flies into a rage when he sees Derang on a date with Yanyan.
  • Yelü Jing tells Zhi Mo to his face that being the son of a Han woman disqualifies him from being Emperor of Liao.
• Man on Fire: Several of Yansage's soldiers get set on fire during his attempted coup.
• Marital Rape Licence: Thankfully averted between Yanyan and Xian. While Xian forces her to marry him, he does not touch her until she is willing to sleep with him.
  • The same is true for Yansage and Hunian. He also is willing to wait until she feel comfortable.
• Missing Mum:
  • Yan Yan's mother died before the series starts.
  • Xian's mother is murdered in the prologue.
• Mistaken Identity: When Yelü Jing meets Yan Yan he mistakes her for Molugu because she's carrying Molugu's name-tag.
• Named by the Adaptation: Yan Yan's second sister's name has been lost to history and she's known only as Lady Xiao. The series gives her the name Wuguli.
• Nephewism: Played with. Yelü Jing adopted his nephews Xian and Zhi Mo... after murdering their father. And when Xian grows up he sees him as a rival for the throne. And then there's what he does to Zhi Mo...
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Yanyan saves Xian from being discovered plotting against Jing by Yansage. Her reward for her good deed is Xian falling in love with her and later forcing her to marry him.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Xian asks Derang if an emperor is allowed to take immoral actions. Derang, thinking that he means masterminding Yelü Jing's assassination assures his friend that as long as an emperor rules justly and competently he is allowed to do the occasional underhanded thing. Xian is actually hinting that he plans of stealing Yanyan from Derang.
• Ordered to Die: Yelü Li Hu is ordered to drink poisoned wine after his rebellion.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Wuguli and Xi Yin outlive their son Liulishou (though Xi Yin only outlives him by a few minutes).
• Pregnant Badass: Yan Yan leads her army into battle while pregnant.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Yan Yan calls Wuguli out for her self-centredness.
  Yan Yan: You only care about your wedding and think about yourself. Have you ever thought about Hu Nian and our family? In order to save you, Hu Nian had no choice but to marry Yansage. You're ruining her life now, but you still feel at ease and justified.
• Related Differently in the Adaptation: Historically Yelü Jing was Emperor Shizong's cousin. In the series they're brothers.
• Royally Screwed Up:
  • Yelü Jing murdered his brother for the throne. Because of this he's paranoid that someone plans to murder him. He murders his servants, and when he learns Zhi Mo is having an affair with a maid he has him castrated and partially blinded. Eventually his guards get tired of his craziness and assassinate him.
  • Xian knows Yan Yan is engaged to De Rang, but he forces her to break up with De Rang and marry him instead.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Most of the royals, both good and bad. On the good side there's Yan Yan, who personally shoots Yansage. On the bad side there's Yelü Jing, who murders his servants, and Yansage, who attempts to kill a baby and overthrow Xian.
• Scarpia Ultimatum: When Wuguli is imprisoned Hu Nian goes to Yansage for help. He promises to help as long as Hu Nian marries him, so she reluctantly agrees.
• Secret Other Family: Xian takes a concubine and has a child with her without telling Yan Yan about it.
• Sibling Murder:
  • Yelü Jing murdered his brother Emperor Shizong.
  • Attempted when Wuguli plans to murder her sister Yan Yan. Averted because her plans fail.
• Snow Means Death:
  • Emperor Shizong and his army are killed during a snowstorm.
  • It's snowing when Hu Nian hears of Yan Yan's death.
• Spirited Young Lady: Xiao Yanyan at the start of the series is a lively, bright girl that can easily win duels against trained solders.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Historically Hu Nian was executed on Yan Yan's orders. In the series she outlives Yan Yan.
• Stop, or I Shoot Myself!: Hu Nian holds a knife at her own throat and threatens to kill herself unless De Rang lets Yansage go.
• Together in Death: The epilogue shows that after De Rang's death he and Yan Yan are reunited in the afterlife.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • Liulishou. His father has just been exiled (and only narrowly escaped being executed) for murder, so what does he do? He decides to help his father attempt a rebellion, and in the process ensures both of them are executed.
  • Wuguli. Her husband and son have been executed because of their own stupidity, so she decides she'll try to murder Yan Yan. She kills herself after her attempt fails.
• Unfriendly Fire: Si Wen is literally stabbed in the back by someone supposedly on his side.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Xian. He knows Yan Yan and De Rang are engaged, and De Rang has always been his friend and loyal supporter. That doesn't stop him ordering Yan Yan to marry him.
  • Before even knowing his name, Yanyan helped him evade Yansage's attempt to catch Xian plotting treason.
• Unknown Rival: Xi Ge arrives at the palace as a concubine to Xian, she immediately starts seeing Yanyan as a rival to defeat. Yanyan barely even registers Xi Ge's existence. And Xian only accepted Xi Ge as a concubine in an attempt to make Yanyan jealous.
• Uptown Girl: Yanyan for Derang. Yanyan belongs to the main branch of the Xiao clan and they are known as the family where the empresses and imperial consorts come from. Even when the Han family is elevated to the rang of Wang aka prince, Derang is still not Yanyan's social equal.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Justified, since Chinese period dramas rarely aim for historical accuracy, and it's based on a novel that's already a fictionalised version of events.
• We Need a Distraction: Yan Yan sees De Rang and Xian are being chased, so she sets a group of horses free to distract their pursuers.
• What the Hell, Hero?: De Rang calls Xian out for ordering Yan Yan to marry him.
  De Rang: You have come to power now. Why don't you care about your empire instead of taking my love away?
• Worst Wedding Ever: No one comes to Wuguli and Xi Yin's wedding reception.
• Would Hurt a Child: Yansage arranges to have Long Xu poisoned.
• Youngest Child Wins: Yan Yan is the youngest of the Xiao sisters. She's also the series' protagonist, the empress of Liao, and by far the most famous of her sisters.

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