Since the official broadcast of "The Legend of Empress Anping," a seventy-two-episode historical drama invested with 300 million by Jing Tian Entertainment, online criticism has been incessant.
It's not about using popular idols or their acting skills, nor about shoddy costumes.
The main points of contention are focused on the plot, specifically the story that the production team claimed was a complete restoration of historical records. Despite the support from historical professionals, it couldn't stop the vast majority of netizens from voicing their complaints.
"I'm really going crazy. What kind of grand historical drama is this? This is clearly a grand fantasy or mythological drama. The female protagonist was so wronged at the beginning, but after being married off, she suddenly exploded and almost annihilated the entire Wei royal family single-handedly. Was there no buildup for her playing dumb and then showing her true strength?
How incompetent were the Wei royal guards to be so easily defeated by a princess given away in marriage?
And she collapsed the entire imperial court with just a few punches.
Is this saying that the Wei imperial court was built with shoddy materials? If it was, how could the artisans who built it have survived? This is outrageous!"
"I'm speechless. Even those 'strong female lead' wish-fulfillment novels wouldn't dare to film it like this. And the contrast between Empress Anping's early and later self is too extreme. Although her mother's death served as a setup for her descent into darkness, did she really become that powerful just by binge-eating after her blackening?"
"Um, I hope everyone can be a bit more merciful. While the plot is outrageous, honestly, the historical records of the Qi state do record it this way. Many experts have questioned the accuracy of these historical records, even suggesting that Empress Anping might have interfered with their revision later on.
However, there's no definitive proof yet, and many unofficial histories also provide supporting evidence. Some contemporary unofficial histories even claim more exaggerated accounts than the official records.
Precisely because that period of history is so bizarre and hard to believe, historical textbooks usually gloss over it, focusing only on Empress Anping's achievement of unifying the land, and omitting other aspects. So, perhaps many people are not aware, but we history majors, by our third year,
are required to study this period.
I can vouch for the production crew that their plot, though outlandish, is indeed filmed according to the official historical records. If you don't believe me, go buy a copy of the Qi State History and flip through it. If not, you can search online. You can easily find both classical Chinese and modern Chinese versions. Don't just follow the crowd."
"Although this plot seems quite satisfying, it's really hard to watch. The disconnect between the beginning and the end is too obvious, like she's a completely different person.
No, not a different person.
The abilities Empress Anping displayed later on...
They weren't human at all..."
"I heard the screenwriter originally planned to delete or slightly modify some of the unreasonable content in the historical records, but the lead actress felt those plots were quite cool and fit her independent, strong woman persona.
She adamantly refused to let them be removed.
That's why the show ended up like this."
"Heh, if the plot is bad, it's bad. Don't blame our A Xuan. Besides, it's said to be filmed according to historical records, so if the screenwriter changed it, would it still be historical content? That would be purely fabricating history.
Even if there are problems with the TV show, it's the historians' fault. What does it have to do with my A Xuan?"
"Out of curiosity, I flipped through the historical records. I felt like I was reading a cultivation novel that got mixed into a historical account. Invincible body, immense strength, immunity to all poisons, and spoken words becoming reality. She's not just cheating, she's got multiple cheat codes.
If those emperors called 'Sons of Heaven' were spoon-fed by destiny, then Empress Anping is probably the prime example of someone who cheats for herself!"
"No matter how you look at it, this plot is hard to accept. And the more I watch, the more I feel Empress Anping was too excessive. It's true she unified the land, but she couldn't erase everyone else's achievements.
She was at the forefront of every war of conquest, she shattered cities, and annihilated all the royal families. The other generals and soldiers seemed to be just mopping up behind her, offering minor assistance. They didn't do anything else.
Is this possible? This is utterly impossible.
So I suspect Empress Anping probably attributed all the achievements of others to herself.
That's too vain. Da Feng Novel Network.
And how outrageous is it to alter history!"
"Watching this TV series reminds me of something that has been circulating in academic circles for many years: Empress Anping was very fond of gold, and a large amount of gold might have been buried with her. According to relevant records, all the gold collected by Empress Anping after the fall of various nations was deposited into her private treasury.
Afterward, that batch of gold disappeared, directly causing the value of gold in the Qi state to remain several times higher than before for hundreds of years. It wasn't until centuries later, when trade with overseas nations resumed and a large amount of gold flowed in, that the price of gold in Qi essentially leveled with the global average.
There are also unofficial historical accounts.
Empress Anping had a peculiar habit of eating gold bars and ingots.
But I don't think that's possible, as gold is indigestible. Eating it would be akin to committing suicide by swallowing gold. Therefore, I believe that the inexplicably disappeared batch of over a thousand tons of gold is likely in Empress Anping's tomb. I heard that they are preparing for a protective excavation of the water-damaged tomb of Empress Anping.
I wonder when we'll get a result!
And when this thousand-year mystery will be solved."
"The plot is too trash, I'm dropping it, dropping it..."
"The plot gets more and more outrageous as it progresses. Everyone is constantly sacrificing themselves. To put it bluntly, even modern male-oriented wish-fulfillment novels aren't written this way anymore. And the female protagonist's power is so inexplicable. Cultivation literature at least has a process of cultivation, but for Empress Anping, she just blackens and becomes powerful after her mother's sacrifice?"
"I'll say it weakly, although I don't understand some of the plot points, the part where she changed her surname and posthumously honored her mother as Empress, I found it incredibly moving. In that era, she must have been so disappointed and despairing with her father to have such thoughts!"
"Why is there no romance at all? I originally thought I'd see a harem with seventy-two handsome men surrounding the female protagonist, but she remained unmarried?"
"I was wrong, I was really wrong. I shouldn't have held onto any illusions. This show, damn it, it's illogical. I never guessed the direction it would take.
When I first saw the female protagonist being married off, I thought she'd elope with someone halfway, or have a romance with that rather handsome Wei prince, Wei Xiangxun, or at least with Du Kui.
But nothing happened on the way.
Then I thought, maybe she'd have a tragic love affair with the not-so-old Wei Emperor. Initially, he'd torment her a thousand times, and then there'd be a 'chasing his wife' scenario.
But the Wei Emperor died less than three minutes after appearing.
And it was the female protagonist herself who strangled him...
So, if there's no romance, could you have just told me from the beginning? You made me guess the whole time.
If I had known there was no romance, I wouldn't have guessed!"
"Uh... is the person above okay? Even if historical books don't detail Empress Anping's life extensively, her lifelong unmarried status and lack of heirs were taught in middle school history class!"
...
In just one month, "The Legend of Empress Anping" concluded amidst a storm of criticism. Due to its extremely low ratings, it couldn't even sell its second broadcast rights and had to be moved to online streaming.
However, what the production team never expected was that
half a month later, the show would experience a turnaround.
This was because, after the successful rescue excavation of Empress Anping's tomb, the excavation team unearthed an intact, lifelike corpse of Empress Anping that even the most advanced cutting instruments could not damage.
This discovery directly validated the historical period, which had been controversial in academia and considered a forgery by many historians, confirming it as true.
Simultaneously, through the study of the Empress's remains,
relevant researchers basically confirmed that the historical accounts of the Empress's immense strength, invincibility, and immunity to all poisons were true. While 'spoken words becoming reality' could not be verified, given that the first three were true, the possibility of the latter being false was very low.
And if all these were true, then many difficult-to-understand events, even seemingly impossible ones, in the historical records would be explained.
Putting aside how related researchers continued their in-depth studies, the basic information was leaked not long after.
"The Legend of Empress Anping" experienced a surge in viewership.
Some people even began to apologize.
"We are truly sorry, we wronged the production crew. It's not that your plot was outrageous, it's that Empress Anping herself was unscientific, and you recreated her perfectly!"
"Ah! I'm going crazy. So what exactly was Empress Anping? Why could she remain preserved for a thousand years?"
"So, what's the situation now? Does this mean the outrageous plots in the TV show actually happened? Oh my god!"
"I have a bold guess. Do you think Empress Anping might have been a bionic robot? Her invulnerability to weapons could be due to her body structure using special alloys, her immense strength because she's a robot, and her immunity to poisons likely for the same reason. As for 'spoken words becoming reality,' could it have been a naked-eye 3D projection?"
"My heavens, I knew that period of history felt strange. So Empress Anping herself was an anomaly. So, was she an alien, a robot, or a cultivator?"
"A person who was invulnerable, immune to all poisons, and impervious to weapons only lived for over a hundred years. Isn't that a bit unreasonable? Could she have ascended?
Aren't there legends of 'corpse immortals'?"
"I feel like Empress Anping's corpse must hold many secrets. Even a little bit of deciphering it could bring us immense benefits. I look forward to some results!"
"Since knowing that the content in the TV show was all true, I suddenly feel the plot isn't that awkward anymore. In fact, I'm even envious. Indeed, sometimes reality is more bizarre than fiction, and that's true."
"Um... could Empress Anping's lifelong unmarried status be due to her special physical condition?"
"I think this TV series, which originally had very low ratings and was even on the list of bad movies, will see a reversal. After all, if the plot is all true.
Then we can't say the plot is bad.
We can only say it's a 100% true restoration..."
...