 |
| The Road to Splendor: Early Ratings, Story, Cast and Why Viewers Are Impressed by the New Period Drama. (Photo: Tencent Video) |
The Road to Splendor has barely had time to settle into its first few episodes, yet the new Chinese period drama starring Ding Yuxi and Deng Enxi is already giving viewers plenty to talk about. Premiering to strong early interest, the drama has attracted attention not just for its cast but for a combination of rapid-fire storytelling, striking set pieces and unusually detailed production design. In other words, viewers have apparently decided that waiting several episodes for a drama to get interesting is no longer acceptable.
The series reunites Ding Yuxi and Deng Enxi after their previous collaboration in Melody of Golden Age, putting the pair back together in a considerably more turbulent story. Ding Yuxi plays Zhao Ling, a salt smuggler who comes from an ordinary background but has ambitions that extend well beyond the life he has been given.
Deng Enxi takes the role of Fu Tingyun, a young woman born into a powerful family whose carefully controlled existence begins to collapse after she is framed by people close to her.
The early response has been particularly notable. The Road to Splendor secured nine brand sponsors at launch, while its popularity score on Tencent Video passed 23,000. The drama also rose to No. 2 on Maoyan’s Chinese drama popularity chart, placing it behind Mystic Nine, led by William Chan, while moving ahead of Genius Girlfriend, starring Tian Xiwei. For a drama that has only just begun its run, that is a fairly loud introduction.
The numbers, however, are only part of the story. Much of the discussion among Chinese viewers has focused on what actually happens on screen, with three particular strengths repeatedly standing out: the unusually quick pace, a collection of scenes that are difficult to forget and a visual style that gives the period setting considerably more weight.
The first major strength is the drama’s pace. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Zhi Zhi, The Road to Splendor wastes little time establishing that life inside the Fu household is not going to be a peaceful family affair.
Fu Tingyun has spent much of her life being treated as an asset for the family, with her future expected to strengthen their social position and secure useful relationships. The problem is that everyone around her seems to have their own idea of what she should be useful for.
That becomes painfully clear when her widowed sister-in-law engineers a trap designed to ruin her reputation. Her friend Fan Yake, played by Fan Shiran, also turns against her when protecting her own future becomes more important than loyalty.
Even Fu Tingyun’s grandmother, who initially appears to be one of the few people genuinely concerned about her, has motivations that are far less straightforward.
The grandmother’s attempts to arrange a suitable marriage for Fu Tingyun are tied not only to her granddaughter’s future but also to the increasingly precarious position of the family itself. Eventually, when Fu Tingyun is no longer considered useful, the person who should have protected her makes an even more drastic decision and attempts to poison her.
That sequence becomes one of the major turning points in the opening episodes. Fu Tingyun is left struggling to survive, while Zhao Ling enters the Fu residence under a false identity as an imperial official. He discovers her in a critical state and becomes involved in the chain of events that follows.
Their alliance is hardly born from a leisurely getting-to-know-you phase; circumstances effectively throw them together and tell them to figure it out later.
The first four episodes therefore move through several different modes without lingering too long in any one of them. What begins as a tightly contained family power struggle gradually becomes an escape story, with Fu Tingyun and Zhao Ling leaving the Fu residence and heading from Jiangnan towards the northwest.
Viewers have responded positively to that transition, particularly because the drama does not spend half its opening run explaining the world before allowing anything to happen.
That briskness has become one of the biggest talking points around The Road to Splendor. There are betrayals, family manoeuvring, a poisoning, a false identity and an escape packed into the opening stretch, which leaves remarkably little room for the characters to simply sit around looking thoughtfully into the distance. For viewers who prefer their historical dramas to keep moving, that has clearly been a welcome change.
The second strength is the sheer number of memorable scenes arriving early. The opening episode immediately establishes a distinctive visual language by placing a wedding and a funeral alongside one another.
It is an intentionally strange pairing, and by the fourth episode viewers discover that neither event is quite what it initially appears to be. The funeral is staged, while the wedding involving Zhao Ling forms part of the escape plan, turning the two ceremonies into pieces of the same elaborate manoeuvre.
Another scene that has drawn considerable attention involves Fu Tingyun after she has been poisoned. Weak and caught in the rain, she desperately searches for a way to survive and resorts to eating leftover food in an attempt to make herself sick enough to expel the poison.
It is an uncomfortable but memorable sequence, largely because the scene focuses on her determination rather than turning her ordeal into a decorative period-drama moment.
The relationship between Zhao Ling and Fu Tingyun is also introduced through some clever visual details. During their first encounter, Zhao Ling is still hiding behind his false identity, and the pair communicate while separated by a screen.
When they meet again and Zhao Ling appears as himself, he physically moves beyond that barrier and comes face to face with Fu Tingyun. The simple movement gives their changing relationship a visual explanation without requiring either character to deliver a speech about it.
Then there is the rather extravagant display of wealth involving the Fu family scattering salt across the floor. It is exactly the sort of detail that makes viewers pause and wonder how much money a household must have before wasting salt becomes a flex.
Yet within the drama’s world, the moment works as another indication of the family’s wealth and status, while also reinforcing the importance of salt to the story surrounding Zhao Ling.
The third major strength is the production itself. The Road to Splendor has put considerable effort into making its period setting feel substantial, with costumes and styling playing an important role rather than simply providing attractive clothing for the cast to wear. Around 800 costumes and 500 different looks were reportedly created for the production, with garments made specifically for the series.
The costume work draws on references to Ming Dynasty clothing systems, incorporating styles including aoqun, yuanlingpao, xiapei, damao and mamian skirts. Embroidery, jewellery, accessories and intricate patterns add further detail, giving the characters distinct visual identities while helping the drama establish a convincing sense of period life.
Director Deng Ke also uses framing and composition to reflect the changing circumstances of the characters. That is particularly noticeable in scenes involving Zhao Ling and Fu Tingyun, where physical distance, barriers and positioning often communicate tension before the dialogue catches up. It gives the series a more deliberate visual identity than a production that simply points a camera at an expensive set and hopes everyone notices the costumes.
The use of real locations has also helped. The Fu family residence and government offices seen during the opening episodes were filmed at traditional architectural complexes rather than relying entirely on digitally created backgrounds.
That gives the drama a physical texture that is difficult to fake convincingly, particularly in wider shots where the architecture becomes part of the storytelling rather than a backdrop that exists only to make screenshots look pretty.
There is also more visual variety still to come. Later episodes are expected to move into extensive desert locations as Zhao Ling and Fu Tingyun's journey develops, suggesting that the drama will gradually expand beyond the enclosed family environment that dominates its opening chapters. If the production maintains the same attention to location and composition, those sequences could become another major talking point.
Another reason viewers are warming to Ding Yuxi and Deng Enxi is the chemistry between them, which feels convincing both on and off screen. Their names may already sound like a neatly matched pair, but it is their natural rhythm together that makes the reunion especially enjoyable to watch.
In The Road to Splendor, Zhao Ling and Fu Tingyun have a relationship built on tension, trust and an increasing sense of partnership, and the two actors appear comfortable playing off each other rather than forcing every interaction into an obvious romantic beat.
That ease also carries beyond the drama, where their friendly rapport and familiarity from Melody of Golden Age have made their latest pairing feel less like a carefully assembled screen match and more like two performers who already know how to bring out the best in each other.
Viewer reactions, naturally, are not completely unanimous. The strongest praise has centred on the pace, visual presentation and memorable opening sequences, while the dense plot can also feel relentless for anyone who prefers a slower build.
Some viewers are clearly hooked by how quickly the story moves, whereas others may need a moment to catch their breath as one problem arrives almost immediately after another. That divide is hardly surprising when the drama seems determined to introduce a new crisis whenever the previous one has barely finished.
Still, the early response suggests The Road to Splendor has succeeded at the most important task for a new drama: giving audiences a reason to return. Ding Yuxi brings an increasingly familiar confidence to the role of Zhao Ling, while Deng Enxi gets a much more demanding character in Fu Tingyun, whose story requires both vulnerability and resilience.
Their reunion after Melody of Golden Age is therefore attracting attention in its own right, but the drama's early momentum suggests the series is not relying on its pairing alone.
With its rapid storyline, carefully constructed period world and collection of scenes that viewers are already discussing, The Road to Splendor is shaping up as one of the more closely watched Chinese dramas of the summer. Whether it can maintain that momentum once Zhao Ling and Fu Tingyun's journey moves beyond the opening family conflict will be the real test.
For now, though, are you enjoying the drama's fast pace and visual style, or do you think the story is moving a little too quickly? Share your thoughts on The Road to Splendor, especially your favourite scene so far, because this one looks like it could give viewers plenty more to argue about before the journey is over.