Introduction
This is the first time I wrote a review on a Chinese standard-length drama (> 20 minutes), as I usually write recaps on them because of the many episodes or the complexity of the plot. However, after watching Return of the Queen, I felt like this is a short-length series material. I will explain it in the Review section.
Because all episodes were dropped on the same day, it was pretty much an under-the-radar drama. I was curious to watch it because I was not familiar with the leading actress and the leading actor, considering I watched a lot of Chinese dramas! [face palm]
Regarding the article’s featured image, if you’re a romance-genre watcher, don’t worry, there is absolutely NO love triangle. I only chose this image from others because it’s intriguing, unlike the typical romance drama posters.
Now… why the article title? Please read the review below.
Drama Info
Drama title: Return of the Queen (Native title: 以她之名 )
Alternative Title: Yi Ta Zhi Ming
Genres: Mystery, Business, Romance, Drama
Aired: Sep 16, 2025
Episodes: 24 | Duration: 33 minutes
Director: Chu De Jian( 初的见 )
Screenwriter: Cheng Fang Yuan ( 程方媛 )
Where to watch: iQiyi
OST: Full album (fan audio)
Trailer
This trailer is not on YouTube, but I found it on Douban. So just click or tap the image to bring you to the Douban site.
Synopsis
Ye Hai Meng, heiress to the Yunhai Group, blissfully gets married, completely unaware of her husband’s and his family’s ulterior motives. Shortly after their wedding, the couple travels abroad for their honeymoon, only to tragically get into a deadly car accident. On the very day, 3 years later, the Lu family holds a shareholders’ meeting to seize control of Yunhai Group, as well as hold a faux funeral for the couple, Ye Hai Meng suddenly returns.
Not only has she risen from the ashes, but she stages a dramatic comeback, taking back Yunhai with overwhelming force. This leads to a complete falling-out with the Lu family. Lu Si Yu, the younger son, meets his now ex sister-in-law for the first time, coming home from abroad. He quickly falls for her, and she slowly does vice versa. However, theirs is not an easy love, as his own family stoops to the level of trying to use him as a pawn to destroy her. Will their love and combined revenge succeed, or are they doomed to fall beneath the Lu family’s endless schemes? (Source: MyDramaList)
Characters
Main Characters
Zhang Yi Shang ( 张艺上 ) as Ye Hai Meng
Wu Jun Ting ( 吴俊霆 ) as Lu Si Yu
Supporting Characters
Although we could hardly see the faces, I chose this set of character posters below because, for the mystery’s sake, all characters below at some point in the drama were suspicious. They might have their share of what happened to Ye Haimeng. In other words, these are gray characters.
Ling Ke (Vicky Liang/Liang Jing Ke) – Ye Hai Meng’s personal assistant
Ye Bo Cheng (Qu Yi Cheng) – Ye Hai Meng’s cousin
Lu Si Yue (Zhang Yao) – Lu Si Yu’s older sister
Jiang Lin (Li Zhi Fan) – Lu Si Yue’s husband
Lu Si Nan (Vincent Cao/Cao En Qi) – Ye Hai Meng’s husband/Lu Si Yu’s older brother
Bai Jing Min (Zhang Chu Han) – pharmacist
My Rating
My rating for this drama was based on MyDramaList’s scoring system, which is from 0.0 to 10.0. For any drama/movie/show I completed, I gave a minimum rating of 6.0 to appreciate the hard work of the production team, and to adjust to MyDramaList’s overall score base. From 6.0, this drama has additional scores of:
- 1.0 for the visuals (cinematography and costumes)
- 0.5 for the story, especially the mystery (0.25) and the romance (0.25)
- 0.5 for the Female Lead and the Male Lead characterization
Thus, my final rating was 8.0.
I detailed my explanation as to why I gave such additional scores in the Review Section below.
Review
Story and Plot
Story
Overall, in my opinion, Return of the Queen has a Korean makjang style. In Korean, “makjang” (막장) refers to a narrative style in television dramas that features extremely exaggerated, unrealistic, and often absurd plot lines, filled with outrageous events, morally questionable behaviors, and high levels of melodrama to keep audiences hooked. I don’t want to spoil the story, but once you’ve seen the first episode, you know what I mean. So, if you’re in the mood for a makjang shortie, this drama might be enjoyable.
The heroine was really miserable at the beginning of the story. Her family was destroyed, and she was hunted down. She was seriously injured and suffered every day. If this were a pure revenge drama, it would be particularly enjoyable. But this is an idol drama, so there must be a romance, at the expense of a complex script. The story then focused on the protagonists’ romantic relationships. For the sake of tragedy, the Male Lead happened to be the little brother-in-law from the antagonistic family.
Although the revenge was supposed to be the main theme of this drama, if you’re a vengeful watcher, the act of revenge itself was not satisfying. The revenge only focused on the fight over the proportion of equity. In the end, even one antagonist was let go, living happily, unpunished. Another antagonist just disappeared from the screen.
Plot
At first, the drama was very enjoyable because of the mystery element of the story. The background of what happened to Ye Haimeng and her husband, Lu Sinan, was suspiciously dark. Some supporting characters were introduced one by one to the screen with their own agenda and motives. And the heroine did some sleuthing in her own house because she lived with her former in-laws.
Towards the middle, when the business plot kicked in, the plot dragged. In my opinion, the business war dialogues were written carelessly, without the necessary care or thought. There were also some illogical legal and medical plot holes.
The romance plot was not bad at all. The leading actress and the leading actor had a sizzling chemistry from the get-go, thanks to the sensuous cinematography! There was a secondary couple, whose romance I think is a bit forced into the plot. There was also a third couple, though I don’t even know if their relationship could be considered a romance or not! In my opinion, if the side romances were omitted in this drama, it wouldn’t affect the plot.
In my opinion, this is a revenge short drama material pulled into a long drama. Therefore, the story’s structure makes the revenge impact and rhythm insufficient. The production team should’ve just made this a short-length series, then the viewers might forgive the plot holes.
Characterization and Acting
Ye Hai Meng and Zhang Yi Shang
Ye Haimeng got my full attention when she entered the screen, came into her own ‘funeral’ with style. She is strong and independent, the side she always showed to her enemies, even to the ambiguous uncles and to Ling Ke, her assistant/advisor. These were traits that she had learned and developed, as over the years, people have told her not to trust or seek help from others.
To her love partner, Lu Siyu, she showed her vulnerable and natural side, which was a softer and cuter side. These were Ye Haimeng’s natural characters before the accident happened, as shown in flashbacks.
Ye Haimeng was the typical tsundere Female Lead, which was still quite uncommon in romance dramas. A tsundere female lead is a character who is initially cold, hostile, and standoffish, but gradually reveals a warmer, softer, and loving side towards a love interest.
When she loved Lu Sinan and when she loved Lu Siyu, I only thought that Ye Haimeng was a genuine girl who bravely pursued love.
As a bonus, although this is a noona romance, the Female Lead didn’t look and act like the Male Lead’s jiejie (big sister) when she was with him. In fact, she didn’t want to be called “sister” or “sister-in-law” because she disliked the Lu family and didn’t want to be legally connected to them.
Zhang Yishang was very pretty, even when Ye Haimeng was without makeup. Her acting was natural.
Lu Si Yu and Wu Jung Ting
Lu Siyu was the younger man with a “puppyish” and naive vibe. He is gentle and caring, loyal and supportive of the female lead.
To be objective, the Male Lead was a two-dimensional character (since the tsundere Female Lead was the one who underwent character growth).
Many viewers could say that Lu Siyu was a simp Male Lead. A “simp male lead” is a protagonist who is overly submissive, attentive, or desperate for the affection of a love interest. While the internet slang for “simp” is often derogatory, the trope in fiction can be portrayed in a variety of ways, ranging from endearingly devoted to unhealthily obsessed.
Regardless of viewers seeing Lu Siyu as a strong or weak Male Lead, his personalities were created by the scriptwriter for the Opposite Attracts trope. Couples with opposite personalities are featured in stories to create drama, chemistry, and a dynamic relationship that can explore themes of balance and mutual growth.
Therefore, in almost all revenge-themed dramas with strong and independent female leads as the revenge executors, their male lead partners are usually sweet, gentle, and caring.
Wu Jing Ting is cute looking and he has a nice voice.
Cinematography and Special Effects
As you saw, I rated high for the visualization.
Cinematography
Return of the Queen features a contemporary aesthetic in almost every scene. Since the drama is set in a modern urban environment, the female protagonist returns to reclaim her family’s business; the visual style is polished, with a focus on a “fierce” or “independent” image for the heroine.
The cinematography is designed to highlight Ye Haimeng, and her dramatic comeback. Her character is consistently framed as powerful and compelling.
The production value seems high, with attractive visuals and a professional finish.
Special Effects (Costumes, Makeup, Props, Sets)
Because of the business setting and the rich family background, the costumes of most characters reveal the character’s career status, ambition, and personal transformation. Specifically for Ye Hai Meng and Lu Siyu, their costumes were very nice and perfectly highlighted the appearance advantages of Zhang Yishang and Wu Junting.
The sets, which include corporate boardrooms and the family mansion, reflect a sleek, modern, and luxurious look.
I also liked Vicky Liang/Liang Jingxian’s character Ling Ke and her simple yet professional costume and appearance.
Bonus
If you watched and liked the 2023 Chinese short-length series My Lethal Man ( 对我而言危险的他 ), you were familiar with this couple below, as they were the main characters in that drama. The leading actor and the leading actress made a cameo appearance in Return of the Queen, in Episodes 18, 20 (both), and 21 (the actor only). These two dramas were directed by the same director.
For me, this came appearance didn’t affect my rating, because for some reason I didn’t remember, I dropped the drama, lol.
Conclusion
Now you know why I used the title: Enjoy the Beauty, Not the Brain. The production values of Return of the Queen is high. The overall technical quality and craftsmanship, judged by elements like set design, special effects, costumes, lighting, and camera work, were all good. Rather than creative aspects like writing.
Where the logic is not clear, but because the director shot it so well, in addition to the high production values, many times is not at all noticeable that the story is plain.
If you’re a visual person, once in a while, you just want to sit and enjoy the pretty stuff in a drama, and turn off your brain to rest.
Ending Spoilers
What is the ending?
Happy ending for all the couples.
What about the villains?
The uncles were arrested by the authorities. The aunt just disappeared from the screen (assuming she was kicked out of the house?). The sister and brother-in-law got their redemption and moved to a modest home.
