Quick Info
- Episodes: 40
- Genre: Historical / Costume, Political Intrigue, Revenge
- Released: 2026
- Leads: Bai Lu as Ye Li, Cheng Lei (Ryan Cheng) as Mo Xiuyao
- Where to watch: WeTV
- My Rating: 7.5/10
Some dramas become instant additions to my watchlist the moment the cast is announced.
The First Jasmine was one of them.
I've become a fan of Cheng Lei after watching Legend of the Female General, Shadow Love, and My Journey to You. Every role I've seen him play has left a strong impression on me, and he's quickly become one of those actors whose dramas I genuinely look forward to. (Don't worry—those dramas will eventually get their own reviews here on My Drama Desk.)
Then I saw Bai Lu had been cast opposite him.
While she isn't necessarily my favorite actress, I've always thought she's one of the strongest actresses working in C-dramas today. Pairing two actors I knew could carry emotionally demanding roles immediately raised my expectations.
Maybe a little too much.
I was actually so excited for this drama that I paid for the Express Package because I couldn't wait to see where the story was going.
Looking back...
I don't regret buying Express.
I just wish the payoff had matched the anticipation.
The first half of The First Jasmine was exactly what I had hoped for.
Ye Li immediately stood out as one of the smartest female leads I've watched in a historical drama. She never needed to announce how clever she was. You could see it in the way she observed people, planned several steps ahead, and quietly turned situations in her favor.
Mo Xiuyao was equally compelling. Instead of the usual cold prince who softens overnight, he felt like someone genuinely weighed down by years of grief and guilt. Watching two emotionally guarded people slowly learn to trust one another became one of my favorite parts of the drama.
Their relationship didn't rely on endless misunderstandings or dramatic love triangles. It grew naturally through shared experiences, mutual respect, and quiet moments that slowly built their trust.
One of my favorite scenes came in Episode 23, when Mo Xiuyao finally asked Ye Li whether she had ever truly taken their marriage seriously.
It wasn't a loud confession.
It wasn't filled with grand gestures.
It was simply two people finally allowing themselves to be honest.
When Ye Li admitted that she had loved him ever since he rescued her in the desert years ago, their relationship suddenly felt complete. Their confession, their promise to each other, and their kiss felt earned because the drama had taken its time getting there.
I remember finishing that episode thinking,
"This is going to be one of my favorite historical dramas this year."
Unfortunately...
That feeling didn't last.
Somewhere around Episodes 20 to 25, I noticed something had changed.
I don't remember the exact episode.
I remember the feeling.
I had stopped wondering what would happen next.
Instead, I started wondering how many episodes were left.
Every time I thought the story was finally about to reach another major turning point, it slowed down again.
I kept telling myself,
"Maybe the next episode is where everything finally comes together."
That hope was honestly the biggest reason I bought the Express Package.
I wanted answers.
I wanted the payoff.
Instead, by the final stretch, I found myself forwarding several scenes—not because I wanted the drama to end, but because I wanted to get back to Ye Li's story.
As much as I enjoyed the romance, Ye Li became the reason I kept pressing "Next Episode."
The biggest mystery in The First Jasmine wasn't the political conspiracy.
It wasn't the revenge.
It was Ye Li herself.
Who was she before Lishan Mountain?
Why did certain scenes feel just a little... off?
Why did she sometimes react differently from everyone else?
Those questions kept me far more invested than the palace politics ever did.
When the truth was finally revealed in Episodes 31 to 34, everything suddenly made sense.
Looking back, Bai Lu's performance became even more impressive because I realized she had been quietly planting the emotional clues all along.
Those episodes were easily the emotional highlight of the entire drama.
Not every storyline worked for me.
I really wanted to care about Feng Zhiyao and Princess Ling Yun.
I couldn't.
I actually found myself forwarding many of their scenes because I was eager to get back to Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao.
Then Princess Ling Yun died.
Instead of feeling emotional, I found myself asking questions.
She was a princess from another kingdom.
Shouldn't there have been much bigger political consequences?
Why did her maid blame Mo Xiuyao when he wasn't responsible for what had happened to her?
That storyline ended without giving me the closure I expected.
There were also a few moments where I genuinely paused the episode because I thought I had missed something.
Take Episode 1, for example.
I know Ye Li's original dowry had been prepared by her mother long before she passed away, so that part wasn't confusing.
What I couldn't figure out was how Ye Li already knew her stepmother had secretly switched the dowry before anyone else discovered it.
She and Li Feibai also seemed to have everything perfectly orchestrated. The truth came out at exactly the right moment, her original dowry was recovered, and everything unfolded according to plan.
But...
When did they even plan all of this? And how?
Were Ye Li and Li Feibai secretly communicating while she was still living on Lishan Mountain?
If they were, I really wish the drama had shown even one short scene explaining how they stayed in contact. It would've made Ye Li's planning feel even more impressive instead of leaving me wondering if I had missed something.
The same thing happened with Lu Changfu.
I understood that Ye Li deliberately had him wear robes treated with white phosphorus, and I saw the young eunuch accidentally bump into him, causing the robes to ignite.
But after the scene ended, I found myself asking even more questions.
Who approached the eunuch?
Who convinced him to do it?
Was it really that easy to bribe someone working inside the imperial palace?
At that point in the story, Ye Li had only recently returned from Lishan Mountain, so I kept wondering how much influence she actually had behind the scenes.
And honestly...
Wouldn't everyone have found it suspicious?
A palace eunuch suddenly bumps into a high-ranking official, the official immediately bursts into flames, and... nobody investigates?
Maybe there was an explanation that I overlooked, but I kept waiting for the drama to show how the entire plan had been arranged rather than simply revealing the successful outcome afterward.
There were a few scenes where Ye Li and Li Feibai discussed the results of their plans after everything had already happened, but I wanted to see the planning itself.
Watching Ye Li carefully outsmart people was far more satisfying than simply hearing that everything had gone according to plan.
Then there was Mo Xiuyao's white hair.
I understand the symbolism.
Shock.
Grief.
Despair.
But when his hair turned completely white in what felt like only a few hours...
I actually paused the episode and said,
"Wait... seriously?"
That moment completely pulled me out of what should have been one of the drama's most emotional scenes.
The same goes for the divorce.
After spending so much time building such a mature relationship, I expected a more emotionally layered conflict.
Instead, it happened so suddenly that I wasn't heartbroken.
I was simply surprised.
But despite all my frustrations, there was one part of The First Jasmine that completely broke me.
Ye Li.
More specifically...
Her grief.
When the truth about Lishan Mountain was finally revealed, I realized that Qing Shuang had never actually been beside Ye Li after she left the mountain.
Every conversation they shared.
Every meal they ate together.
Every night Qing Shuang slept beside her.
None of it was real.
The same was true for Master Zhu.
Whenever Ye Li believed he had appeared to guide or protect her, he had already been gone for years.
What we had been seeing all along wasn't simply memories.
It was Ye Li's way of surviving.
Her mind refused to let go of the people she loved because accepting their deaths would have meant reliving the unimaginable tragedy she had already endured.
That realization completely shattered me.
I cried because I suddenly understood every quiet moment that had felt slightly unusual earlier in the drama.
She wasn't pretending.
She truly believed they were still with her.
And somehow...
That made her loneliness even more heartbreaking.
More than the romance.
More than the revenge.
More than the political intrigue.
That became the story I will remember.
When I finished the final episode, I realized why I felt so conflicted.
The acting wasn't the problem.
The romance wasn't the problem.
Even the mystery worked for me.
What disappointed me was knowing how incredible this drama could have been.
I wanted more of Ye Li's planning.
More of her strategies.
More of her quiet brilliance.
Less time spent on storylines that never fully connected with me.
Do I regret watching The First Jasmine?
Not at all.
Do I regret paying for Express?
Honestly...
No.
Because despite everything, I genuinely wanted to know how Ye Li's story would end.
Would I watch all forty episodes again?
Probably not.
But I'll remember Ye Li for a very long time.
And for me, that's what ultimately makes The First Jasmine worth watching.
⭐ My Rating: 7.5/10
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