Serenade of Peaceful Joy

Drama: Serenade of Peaceful Joy / Held in the Lonely Castle
Chinese Title: 清平乐 / Qing Ping Yue / 孤城闭 / Gu Cheng Bi
Broadcast Network: Hunan TV
Broadcast Website: Tencent

Broadcast Period: April 7, 2020 - May 18, 2020

Air Time: Daily Primetime Drama 20:00 Sunday-Thursday (2 eps), Friday-Saturday (1 ep), released online 24:00 (See Viewing Calendar)
Genre: Historical, Romance
Language: Mandarin
Episodes: 70
Director: Zhang Kaizhou
Screenwriter: Zhu Zhu
Production Company: Daylight Entertainment, China Wit Media
Producer: Hou Hongliang
Origin: China
Related: Poetry of the Song Dynasty
Source: Adapted from a novel of the same name by Milan Lady
Watch Episodes On: Viki (eng subs), Youtube (eng subs)

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Synopsis and Plot Summary

A story that follows Emperor Renzong of Song as he struggles between maintaining his ideologies of governing the country and his love for his daughter.

Emperor Renzong of Song, personal name Zhao Zhen (Wang Kai), discovers that Empress Dowager Liu E is not his birth mother and that his real mother is Li Lanhui, a maidservant of the Empress Dowager. Wracked with guilt, he thought to repay the Li family by marrying off his most precious daughter Princess Weirou (Ren Min) to the Li's descendant Li Wei.

Within the royal court, the emperor takes great pains to keep the balance between tradition and reform. However, he is also troubled by the affairs of his daughter. Weirou has formed deep feelings for Huaiji (Bian Cheng), a eunuch who grew up alongside her. Unwilling to accept the dull and simple minded Li Wei, she gets into a conflict with her in-laws and breaks the strictest rules enforced by the empire, thus forcing the Emperor to face a difficult dilemma.

Fun Facts

• Filming took place in Hengdian World Studios and Wuxi.
• Filming lasted three months from January 5, 2019 to June 28, 2019.
• It is Wang Kai's return to historical drama after Nirvana in Fire in 2015.
• The novel is about a love story between the princess and a eunuch while the drama focuses on Wang Kai as the emperor.
• There were online discussions saying that Held in the Lonely Castle and its Chinese title about a closed off city may be inappropriate given the COVID-19 pandemic and the extreme measures taken by China such as the Wuhan lockdown. On the day the premiere was announced, Held in the Lonely Castle also announced a change in title to Serenade of Peaceful Joy.
• The Apr 6 premiere was postponed one day later to April 7.
• Wu Yue, Amelie Xu, Cao Xiwen, Zhao Da, Che Xiao and Crystal Zhang make special apperances.
• On the day of the finale, Jiang Shuying penned a monologue about being an actress who can't get popular in response to the mixed reactions to her role as empress Cao.
• Teen actor Bian Cheng got in trouble when he first appeared with Ren Min on an interview conducted through livestream where he repeatedy made snide remarks towards his co-star like saying she had stinky feet and saying that he doesn't want to play a couple with her since she could play his aunt instead.
• Ren Min who was born in 1999 is 5 years older than Bian Cheng who was born in 2004.

Cast

	Wang Kai as Song Renzong
	Maggie Jiang Shuying as Empress Cao
	Ren Min as Zhao Huirou
	Eric Yang Le as Han Qi
	Bian Cheng as Liang Huaiji
	Ye Zuxin as Zhang Maoze
	Yu Entai as Yan Shu
	Wang Churan as Zhang Guifei
	Liu Jun as Fan Zhongyan
	Amelie Xu Lingyue as Miao Xinhe
	Wu Yue as Liu E
	Oscar Sun Jian as Fu Bi

Supporting Cast

• Feng Hui as Xia Song
• Zhang Benyu as Ou Yangxiu
• Li Yanan as Fu Bi
• Tan Xihe as Lu Yijian
• Chen Weidong as Wen Yanbo
• Chu Feng as Ren Shouzhong
• Chen Guanfeng as Liao Zi
• Zheng Haoyuan as Su Shunqin
• Yu Jiayi as Yang Huaimin
• Lu Yanqi as Dong Qiuhe
• He Minghan as Wang Gongchen
• Jeffrey Ji Chen as Di Qing
• Hami Xu Xiaohan as Xu Lanshao
• Guo Hong as Li Wei's Mother
• Lu Xing as Li Wei
• Liu Zihe as Yu Jieyu
• Vesta Ding Jiawen as Cao Ping
• Xu Lingchen as Zhang Maoze (Young)
• Zhou Shuai as Cai Xiang
• Tian Luhan as Huan Er
• Chu Junchen as Sima Guang
• Hu Haobo as Liang Yuansheng
• Ren Xuehai as Zhang Dexiang
• Ren Shan as Wang Zeng
• Kang Qunzhi as Princess Zhang
• Yang Shuo as Shi Jie
• Wang Yuanke as Liang Jia Niang Zi
• He Jianze as Bao Zheng
• Xu Maomao as Song Zhenzong
• Yan Jingyao as Zhao Zongshi's Mother
• Xu Zhengyun as Zhang Shixun
• Li Daguang as Deng Baoji
• Hu Xiaoting as Grandma Xu
• Dong Longbin as Li Yonghe
• Claudia Jiang Qinyun as Queen Guo
• Liu Xizi as Zhang Chengzhao
• Ye Kaiwen as Zhong Huaji
• Ren Feier as Zhong Huirou
• Xu Yingzhi as Xue Youxi
• Yang Yue as Gao Taotao
• Wang Wei'an as Du Yan
• Jin Yiying as Jia Qingzi
• Rex Yu Siyuan as Shang Meiren
• Ryan Ding Yuxi as Su Shi
• Cao Xiwen as Jia Jiaoxi
• Zhao Da as Zhao Yuanyan
• Che Xiao as Li Lanhui
• Crystal Zhang Tianai as Chen Xichun

Soundtracks

• Yuan Ge Xing (愿歌行) by Hu Xia (胡夏)
• Xun Guang (寻光) by Zheng Yunlong (郑云龙)
• Shuang Fei Yan (双飞燕) by Cui Zi Ge (崔子格)

Episode Ratings

Hunan TV
Date	Episode	CSM59 Cities (%)
		Ratings	Audience Share	Ranking
2020-04-07	1-2	2.294	7.911	2
2020-04-08	3-4	2.216	7.572	3
2020-04-09	5-6	2.365	8.009	3
2020-04-10	7	2.562	8.152	1
2020-04-11	8	2.450	7.735	1
2020-04-12	9-10	2.751	9.311	1
2020-04-13	11-12	2.562	8.767	1
2020-04-14	13-14	2.699	9.273	1
2020-04-15	15-16	2.798	9.619	1
2020-04-16	17-18	2.690	9.232	1
2020-04-17	19	2.292	7.459	2
2020-04-18	20	2.123	6.713	3
2020-04-19	21-22	2.684	9.041	1
2020-04-20	23-24	3.068	10.534	1
2020-04-21	25-26	2.742	9.602	1
2020-04-22	27-28	2.793	9.657	1
2020-04-23	29-30	2.935	10.547	1
2020-04-25	31	1.926	6.428	2
2020-04-26	32-33	2.874	10.311	1
2020-04-27	34-35	2.428	8.780	1
2020-04-28	36-37	2.397	8.683	1
2020-04-29	38-39	2.316	8.49	2
2020-04-30	40-41	2.615	9.543	1
2020-05-01	42-43	2.407	8.802	1
2020-05-02	44	1.834	6.781	2
2020-05-04	45-46	2.593	9.469	1
2020-05-05	47-48	2.552	9.23	1
2020-05-06	49-50	2.458	9.083	1
2020-05-07	51-52	2.260	8.308	1
2020-05-08	53	2.741	9.554	1
2020-05-09	54	1.521	5.534	3
2020-05-10	55-56	1.573	5.867	3
2020-05-11	57-58	2.032	7.536	2
2020-05-12	59-60	2.184	8.272	1
2020-05-13	61-62	1.938	7.149	2
2020-05-14	63-64	2.147	7.920	1
2020-05-15	65	1.806	6.376	3
2020-05-16	66	1.890	6.907	2
2020-05-17	67-68	2.198	8.079	2
2020-05-18	69-70	2.563	9.794	1
Average	1 - 70	2.420	8.577

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