General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Siege in Fog (人生若如初相见)

Siege in Fog (人生若如初相见) is a 2018 Chinese television drama set in the warlord era of early 20th-century China, directed by Hou Shu Pui (何澍培) and adapted from the novel Mi Wu Wei Cheng (迷雾围城) by Fei Wo Si Cun (匪我思存). It stars Elvis Han (韩东君) as the warlord's son Yi Lian Kai and Sun Yi (孙怡) as Qin Sang, the daughter of a high-ranking official whose reluctant marriage to Lian Kai anchors the story.¹

Key fact	Detail
Chinese title	人生若如初相见 (Ren Sheng Ruo Ru Chu Xian Jian); alternate titles include Mi Wo Wei Cheng, If Time Could Stop the Moment We Met, and Color of Night²
Source material	Adapted from the novel Mi Wu Wei Cheng by Fei Wo Si Cun, the fifth of her works adapted for television¹^•³
Director / writers	Directed by He Shupei; screenwriters Jiang Dongyan, Wu Yao, Zhao Shi, and Zhang Han⁴
Run	50 episodes of about 45 minutes; released 2 March 2018⁴
Genre	Family, romance, military, and war drama set in the Republican era⁴
Main cast	Elvis Han (Yi Lian Kai), Sun Yi (Qin Sang), Jeremy Tsui (Li Wang Ping / Pan Jian Chi), Alex Fong, Xu Zhengxi, Zheng Luoqian, Zou Tingwei, Hao Zejia¹^•⁴

Spoilers

Plot

The story is set in the turbulent years of warlord rule in northern China. Yi Lian Kai, the playboy third son of the powerful Yi family, falls in love at first sight with Qin Sang, the daughter of a high-ranking official whose family fortune is declining. Qin Sang's first love is Li Wang Ping, who is sent to study in Japan; under family pressure, she marries Lian Kai instead.¹

The marriage begins coldly. The two treat each other with formal courtesy while Lian Kai keeps up his reputation for philandering and Qin Sang takes no interest in him. The situation changes when Li Wang Ping returns under the assumed name Pan Jian Chi and, by a twist of circumstance, becomes Lian Kai's aide-de-camp. At the same time, the Yi brothers wage a succession struggle filled with schemes, and Lian Kai repeatedly risks himself to protect Qin Sang. Through these shared dangers she gradually falls in love with her husband.⁵

The Yi family and the succession struggle

The Yi household appears calm on the surface but is riven by intrigue beneath. The family patriarch, Yi Jipei, has three sons. The eldest, Yi Lian Yi, was once in his prime until he was plotted against and crippled in a fall from a horse. The second son, Yi Lian Shen, is a brave and capable fighter. The third, Yi Lian Kai, is famous for his idle elegance and pursuit of pleasure. The contest among the brothers for the family's position drives much of the drama's plotting, and it unfolds against the wider chaos of the warlord era, giving the romance a backdrop of military conflict.⁵

Production and reception

The drama is tagged with themes of arranged marriage, power struggle, forced marriage, love at first sight, and the Chinese Republican era, and it runs about 45 minutes per episode across 50 episodes.⁴ On the streaming platform Rakuten Viki, where it is available with English and other subtitles, it holds a viewer rating of 8.5 from 6,669 users.² An official music video for the series was released in May 2018 and has drawn several hundred thousand views.⁵

A similar title, a different drama

The Chinese title 人生若如初相见 is easily confused with 人生若如初见 (without the final 相), the English title A Love Never Lost, a 2025 series directed by Wang Wei and starring Li Xian, Chun Xia, and Wei Daxun. That drama is set in the late Qing and early Republican years and follows a group of young Chinese military students sent to study in Japan; it was originally scheduled for 18 July 2022, pulled from broadcast on its premiere night, and released in a revised form on iQiyi on 13 May 2025.⁶ The two productions share an era and a near-identical title but have different casts, directors, and stories.

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026