Goodbye My Princess (东宫; Dōng Gōng; literally "Eastern Palace") is a 2019 Chinese series. It's based on the novel of the same name by Fei Wo Si Cun, and stars Chen Xingxu, Peng Xiaoran and Shawn Wei.
Qu Xiao Feng, princess of Xizhou, is expected to marry Li Cheng Ji, the Crown Prince of Li Dynasty. Instead she falls in love with his brother, Li Cheng Yin, who's disguised himself as a commoner.
There are two versions of the series: the fifty-two episode TV version, and the fifty-five episode director's cut. The director's cut can be watched on Viki
and YouTube, both with English subtitles.
Contains examples of:
- Abdicate the Throne: In the epilogue, Cheng Yin abdicates and gives the throne to his nephew.
- Abusive Parents: The emperor and empress of Li Dynasty. The emperor whips Cheng Ji because he wore mourning for murdered students. The empress beats Cheng Yin — who was a child at the time — because he said he wanted to play with his brothers instead of plot against them.
- Action Girl: A Du, who attempts to assassinate Ming Yuan and duels Gu Jian.
- All Love Is Unrequited / Love Dodecahedron: Xiao Feng and Cheng Yin love each other. But Xiao Feng thinks Cheng Yin is in love with Zhao Se Se, and Gu Jian is in love with Xiao Feng. Mi Luo and Luo Xi both love Pei Zhao, who marries Luo Xi but doesn't love her. Adding to the confusion, Cheng Yin thinks Xiao Feng is in love with Xiao Wu... but thanks to Laser-Guided Amnesia he's forgotten Xiao Wu is the alias he used when he first met her.
- Altar Diplomacy: The reason Xiao Feng's father wants her to marry into the Li Dynasty.
- Anti-Hero: Cheng Yin very quickly becomes one, and comes close to being a Villain Protagonist.
- Arranged Marriage: Almost all of the marriages in the series are arranged. The arranged marriage between Xiao Feng and Cheng Ji (later changed to an arranged marriage between her and Cheng Yin) sets everything else in motion.
- Awful Wedded Life: Xiao Feng and Cheng Yin's marriage soon becomes this, especially for Xiao Feng. Cheng Yin murdered her family and drove her to jump into the River of Forgetfulness. After their wedding he refuses to leave her alone even when she makes it clear she hates him. It ends with her committing suicide to escape him.
- Barbarian Tribe: Li Dynasty sees the Danchi as this.
- Bare-Handed Blade Block: Cheng Ji grabs an assassin's sword when they try to stab him.
- The Big Guy: Danchi's greatest warrior He Shi, whose actor is over seven feet tall.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Se Se isn't nearly as kind and innocent as she pretends to be.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: The YouTube subtitles fall victim to grammatical errors, strange phrasing, and frequently confuse "your Majesty" with "your Highness".
- Blood from the Mouth: Often shows up when a character is injured.
- Blue Blood: The King of Xizhao has at least nine daughters, but out of the nine princesses only the reluctant Xiao Feng is chosen be married in the Li Dynasty. That is because she is the daughter by his queen and legal wife, and has a higher status than her half sisters.
- Break the Cutie: Xiao Feng suffers this when she realises her husband betrayed and beheaded her grandfather. Things just get worse for her later.
- Cain and Abel: Cheng Ye is responsible for the death of his brother Cheng Ji.
- Catch a Falling Star: Xiao Feng attempts suicide by jumping off a wall. A Du catches her before she hits the ground.
- Child by Rape: Xu Niang gets pregnant when Zhang Can rapes her. The empress helps her hide it... by pretending that her child is Cheng Yin's.
- Cool Old Lady: The Grand Empress Dowager can be considered one, she even locks Cheng Yin and Xiao Feng in a bedroom to ensure that they have a child. When She checks in them during that time she catches them when Xiao Feng is tying up a drugged Cheng Yin, making it look like kinky foreplay. The Grand Empress Dowager merely chuckles while shaking he head at the energy of youth.
- Comically Missing the Point: Mi Luo tells Xiao Feng that Ming Yu Brothel is the most famous brothel in Shangjing. Xiao Feng misunderstands and asks if they serve good food there. Mi Luo says no, so Xiao Feng asks why the brothel is so famous.
- Decadent Court: In the very first episode we learn that the Empress and her uncle conspired to have the crown prince demoted and exiled. And they plan on killing him too.
- Destructive Romance: Xiao Feng and Cheng Yin. Twice. The first time they get married, he kills her grandfather and attacks her people. Their second marriage is even worse and ends in her committing suicide to escape him.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Gu Jian dies in Xiao Feng's arms. Later, Xiao Feng dies in Cheng Yin's arms.
- Downer Ending: Xiao Feng dies. Years later Cheng Yin is still unable to move on, so he goes looking for her and imagines he'll find her.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Xiao Feng's mother. And Xiao Feng herself.
- The empress hangs herself after her plots are revealed and she loses her position.
- Ming Yue stabs herself after the emperor kills her father.
- Drowning My Sorrows:
- Gu Jian spends most of his time drinking after he almost dies and realises Xiao Feng has lost her memory.
- Mi Luo gets drunk when Pei Zhao marries Luo Xi.
- Exact Words: Xiao Feng tortures Cheng Yin by repeatedly declaring how much she loves Gu Xiao Wu and can't forget him. He's unaware that he is Gu Xiao Wu.
- Facial Markings: Danchi men have tattoos on their faces.
- Foregone Conclusion: The English title and the series' opening scene make it clear Xiao Feng and Cheng Yin's story won't have a happy ending.
- Gorgeous Period Dress: All over the place. Since it's set during a fictional dynasty, the costumes stand out even among the Gorgeous Period Dress of other historical C-dramas. Highlights include Xiao Feng's Xizhou and Li costumes, Xiao Feng's and Cheng Yin's wedding outfits◊, and Cheng Yin's black hanfu.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Gao Xian's murder of the envoy isn't shown. We just hear clashing swords and see Xiao Feng's horrified reaction.
- Grande Dame: The Grand Empress Dowager, not even the scheeming Empress dares to contradict her.
- Happily Married: Cheng Yin's tragic, impossible dream for himself and Xiao Feng. Due to harem conflicts, such a thing is impossible for any of the royal families. The closest we get is Ming Yuan and the King of Xizhao, given how concerned he is about her health and how he easily he agrees to her suggestions, still she is not his legal wife.
- Heroic BSoD: Xiao Feng goes through a major one after Cheng Yin's betrayal. Made worse when she returns home to find she's walked into a trap, her mother's dead, and her father's insane.
- Hope Spot: Xiao Feng and A Du escape Danchi and reach Xiao Feng's home... where they find Li troops waiting to recapture them.
- How Dare You Die on Me!: Xiao Feng's reaction to Gu Jian's death.
- How We Got Here: The opening scene shows Xiao Feng and Cheng Yin jumping into the River of Forgetfulness. The rest of the series shows what led to this.
- I Want Grand Kids: The Grand Empress dowager is desperate for Cheng Yin to start having kids, she goes as far as to lock the crown prince and his crown princess consort in a bedroom and only send them food laced with aphrodisiacs.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
- Some of Cheng Yin and Cheng Ji's guards are impaled when their group is attacked.
- Li Yan gets impaled by an arrow.
- A Du and Gu Jian are impaled by arrows. A Du survives. Gu Jian doesn't.
- A Du kills Gao Xian by stabbing him, and she dies when he stabs her.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Ming Yuan has tuberculosis, so this is inevitable.
- I Will Wait for You: Se Se tells Cheng Yin she'll wait for him, even if he's gone forever.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Both Cheng Yin and Xiao Feng get hit with this after jumping into the River of Forgetfulness.
- King Incognito: Cheng Yin pretends to be a merchant when he first meets Xiao Feng.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Zhao Shi Xuan makes sure Gao Zhen's death looks like he was attacked by wild animals.
- Marital Rape License: Cheng Yin is implied to have invoked this after Xiao Feng declared how much she hated him. It does not improve relations between them.
- Missing Mum: Cheng Yin's mother is dead before the series starts. Learning how she died contributes to his Start of Darkness.
- My Own Private "I Do": Cheng Yin and Xiao Feng are the only people present at their first wedding.
- No One Could Survive That!: Everyone assumes Gu Jian is dead after he was stabbed and fell off a cliff. He isn't.
- Not What It Looks Like: Xiao Feng is seen leaving Cheng Yin's bedroom with her face red and her clothes a mess. It's actually because they had a fight and she was angry, but everyone jumps to the more obvious conclusion.
- When the Grand Empress Dowager locks Cheng Yin and Xiao Feng in a room and sends the aphrodisiac laced food, Xiao Feng has to tie up an amorous Cheng Yin. The Grand Empress Dowager and her attendants come exactly at that moment and think that the married couple are just being kinky.
- Obfuscating Disability: A Du pretends to be mute so she can stay with Xiao Feng.
- Off with His Head!: King Tömür is beheaded by Cheng Yin.
- Parental Marriage Veto: Xiao Feng's mother attempts this. Her husband overrules her.
- Prince Charmless: Cheng Yin starts out a relatively decent guy who genuinely loves Xiao Feng. Then he betrays and murders her grandfather within hours of their wedding. It all goes downhill from there. He still loves Xiao Feng, but his way of showing his love is to let his family torment her, pretend he hates her in a misguided attempt to "protect" her, and refuse to let her leave even when she makes it clear how miserable she is and how much she hates him. It ends with Xiao Feng killing herself.
- Princeling Rivalry: Between Cheng Yin and all his brothers.
- Rebellious Princess: Xiao Feng. It ends badly for her.
- Royal Harem: A lot of the drama is due to harem politics.
- Xiao Feng's marriage is initially a suggestion by Consort Ming Yuan, and her mother opposes it mainly because she resents her husband's concubine. Ming Yuan's intention is to ensure peace between Shangjing and Xizhao but making decisions about the queen's biological daughter future is a breach of protocol and makes the queen lose face.
- Empress Mei Niang plots against the original crown prince Cheng Ji because he is not her official son and gains nothing from his prosperity. But if her legal son Cheng Yin is the crown prince and future emperor, it means that in the future she will be Empress Dowager and retain her status and power.
- Zhao Sese's schemes are from her need to secure her position in Cheng Yin's harem. Unlike a legal wife, a concubine is disposable. The Empress also despises her for supposedly having Cheng Yin's love and potential to influence policy.
- Royally Screwed Up: All the royal families to some degree, but special mention must go to Li Dynasty. The emperor beats and demotes Cheng Ji for demanding he investigates a crime, the empress was responsible for the death of Cheng Yin's mother, Cheng Ye plots to kill his father and brothers, and Cheng Yin eventually becomes as ambitious and manipulative as the people he hates.
- Runaway Fiancé: Xiao Feng runs away to escape her arranged marriage.
- Slashed Throat: How Xiao Feng dies.
- Start of Darkness: Cheng Yin becomes increasingly vengeful and cruel after he learns who killed his mother and Cheng Ji.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Xiao Feng and A Du are disguised as men when they meet Mi Luo.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Gu Jian's love for Xiao Feng is a one-sided version.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Xiao Feng wears one after she regains her memories.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Cheng Yin kills the man about to kill Cheng Ji by throwing his sword from horseback.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Cheng Yin starts out a genuinely nice guy. But when he decides he wants to be Crown Prince, he becomes more and more cruel.
- Uncanny Valley Makeup: The empress's make-up is off-putting by modern standards. Her shaved-off and painted-on eyebrows are especially odd. Truth in Television, though; that style of make-up was common in the Tang dynasty.
- Undying Loyalty: General Pei, for Cheng Yin.
- Unknown Relative: Cheng Yin and Gu Jian are cousins. Cheng Yin only finds out when Ming Yuan tells him.
- Villainous Breakdown: Cheng Ye has one after Li Yan's death.
- Wedding Smashers: The celebrations after Cheng Yin and Xiao Feng's first wedding come to an abrupt halt when the camp is attacked.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Cheng Ji dies early in the series.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The epilogue shows Cheng Yin and Pei Zhao many years after Xiao Feng's death.
- White Shirt of Death:
- Cheng Yin wears a mostly-white outfit when he and Cheng Ji are attacked. It very quickly gets splashed with blood. Subverted, since he doesn't die, but almost everyone with him does.
- Xiao Feng commits suicide while wearing a white dress.
