Period drama The Long Ballad 长歌行 stars Dilraba as Tang-dynasty princess Li Changge, daughter of crown prince Li Jiancheng. Her father was assassinated at Xuanwu Gate in a palace coup by Li Shimin, and she has sworn to get revenge by overthrowing her uncle.
Li Changge escapes death at the hands of her uncle by cross-dressing as a man. She travels to Youzhou in an attempt to raise an army against Li Shimin, and befriends Qin Huai (Wu Lei) along the way. In one of the battles with the Turkish Khaganate, Changge taken captive, and is stunned to find out Qin Huai is actually enemy general Ashina Sun.
While a prisoner in the tribe, she discovers the Khan’s ambitious plans to wreak havoc on Tang, and must choose between personal vendetta and the greater good of the Tang Dynasty. Zhao Lusi (The Killing of Three Thousand Crows) and Liu Yuning (Hot-Blooded Youth) costar.
Based on the manhua of the same name by Xia Da, the 50 episode drama is directed by Zhu Ruibin (Ashes of Love, Skate into Love) and written by Pei Yufei (The Locked Room).
Very interesting
Dilraba is such a good pick! Wasn’t her mother uyghur in the manhua?
But Wu Lei is 20 and still looks like a baby…I don’t think he can pull off a warrior like Ashina Sun yet (who was also supposed to be older than her in the manhua…)
Yup, her mother was Uyghur. When the casting rumours first started, I did see complaints saying Dilraba looks too Uyghur – the manhua clearly describes her as having a traditional “Han appearance”, which is why her maternal relatives weren’t able to recognise her in the first instance.
Dang, Dilraba looks like the real-life version of that manhua character. And yes, hopefully Wu Lei will surprise us! They were super adorable in that photoshoot.
Dilraba is perfect for the role! On-the-run “mixed” princess turned revenge vigilante. I’m a little disappointed that it’s not Qu Chuxiao since I think he would’ve also been a perfect fit for his role, but hopefully Wu Lei can surprise us.