King Qian's defining moment came when, as ruler of a kingdom, he made an extraordinary decision: to relinquish the throne of Wuyue and peacefully surrender to the Song Dynasty in order to spare his people the devastation of war. In 978, 18 years after Zhao established the Song Dynasty, Qian led more than 3,000 members of his imperial clan on 1,444 ships to Kaifeng to submit, bringing over 550,680 households under Song rule. Wuyue thus became the only regime in that turbulent era to achieve reunification without armed conflict.
"Though the tide of history may twist and turn, the allegiance of the people and the well-being of the common folk remain the ultimate measure by which all choices are judged," Dong says, reflecting on Qian's decision.
The screenwriter holds a particular fondness for Qian. When the protagonist first appears, he is depicted as a mischievous, high-spirited teenager from a coastal city, more adept at preparing sashimi than contemplating matters of state. But his carefree youth soon fades. He witnesses the horrors left by war — starving refugees driven to cannibalism — and endures the political turmoil that follows his elder brother's death, and is confronted with the severed head of his beloved uncle. These experiences sober him. Gradually, a deep longing for peace takes root, outweighing any desire for power.
"That has made Qian a more profound and complicated hero, as each of his choices is not about winning more on the battlefield, but about losing less — at the cost of fewer innocent lives and less destruction of civilization," says Yang Lei, the drama's director.
As a historical epic, the drama features over 230 characters, based on real-life figures, with over 8,000 costumes tailored for shooting across more than 550 settings spanning areas exceeding 38,000 square meters.
"All the actors would come to me and tell me what kind of person their character was, when they were born, and what they might have done. Every actor was vividly telling their character's story, striving to find the feeling of that person truly living within history," recalls Yang.
When recalling the most impressive sequence, Dong and Yang both mention a quiet but emotionally resonant moment: the three young men, alongside Sun Taizhen — a brave woman who later marries Qian — make a wish after enduring a bloody battle and gaze upon the war-torn land beneath the sun. "May the day come when we can share a cup of warm wine together in a time of peace."
"It was an era marked by chaos and turmoil. Yet, heroic figures like Qian, Zhao, and Guo carried within them a deep yearning for peace and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to that goal. Such a longing — which still resonates with audiences today — forms the emotional core of the script," says the director.
