General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion (如意芳霏)

The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion (如意芳霏, also romanized Ru Yi Fang Fei and marketed as The Way of Favours) is a 2020 Chinese historical romantic drama produced by iQIYI with Siba Film, directed by Lin Jianlong and Chen Guohua, and starring Ju Jingyi, Zhang Zhehan, and Liu Yichang¹^•². It adapts the novel Chong Hou Zhi Lu (宠后之路) by the Jinjiang author Xiao Jia Ren, and it aired on iQIYI from October 21 to November 26, 2020, in 40 episodes of about 45 minutes each³^•⁴.

Key fact	Detail
Original title	如意芳霏 (Ru Yi Fang Fei); English titles include The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion and The Way of Favours⁴
Source material	Adapted from the novel Chong Hou Zhi Lu (宠后之路) by Xiao Jia Ren³
Run	iQIYI, October 21 to November 26, 2020; 40 episodes, about 45 minutes each⁴^•⁵
Main cast	Ju Jingyi as Fu Rong, Zhang Zhehan as Xu Jin, Liu Yichang as Xu Ping, Wang Youshuo as Wu Baiqi, Xu Jiaqi as Fu Xuan¹
Ratings	7.3/10 on IMDb (549 votes); 9.3 on Rakuten Viki⁶^•⁷
Streaming	iQIYI and Rakuten Viki, with subtitles in English and more than a dozen other languages⁸^•⁷

Spoilers

Plot

The story is set in the fictional Dayu kingdom. Fu Rong, the daughter of the Hengjing magistrate's family and described as strong, intelligent, and lively, is injured in an accident and begins to dream of a different life; when the events of those dreams start coming true one by one, she resolves to change her fate and protect her family⁹. Because she has repeatedly dreamed of being ordered buried alive with the dead because of Xu Jin, the Prince of Su, she tries to keep her distance from him, but fate keeps drawing the two together¹.

A parallel plot thread follows the mysterious organization Ruyi Lou, whose emergence shrouds the kingdom in a series of puzzles, while Lord An secretly lays a larger conspiracy⁹. Fu Rong and Xu Jin face life-and-death trials together, and the drama ends with the two defeating Xu Ping's plot, retiring from public life, and spreading the Ruyi jewelry house across the country¹⁰. A fuller synopsis adds that Fu Rong flees an arranged marriage, meets Xu Jin at a garden poetry gathering, and that the pair solve a gold-vessel murder case, expose the weapons-smuggling of Prince Cheng, and find the true culprit behind the poisoning of Consort Duan¹¹.

Production

The drama was announced at iQIYI's 2019 world conference as a new work from the same production team behind the 2018 summer hit Legend of Yun Xi, with producer Lin Guohua supervising, directors Lin Jianlong and Chen Guohua, and Ju Jingyi again in the lead female role¹². Production companies were iQIYI and Shanghai Siba Film; filming took place at Hengdian; the screenwriters were Shen Mu, Duanmu Qiongfang, Wei Wenting, and Li Yuhan²^•³. The show was positioned as a "light ancient-style sweet" drama (轻古风甜爽剧), a costume romance with a light tone².

Promotion began in October 2020: a promotional song MV for "Ancient Painting" (古画) on October 10, an emotional trailer on October 14, and the official air-date announcement with character posters on October 20³.

Cast

Ju Jingyi plays Fu Rong and Zhang Zhehan plays Xu Jin, with Liu Yichang as Xu Ping in a lead role and Wang Youshuo in a special starring role¹. Supporting cast includes Xu Jiaqi as Fu Xuan, Jiang Shan as Cui Wan, Wang Yiting as Qi Zhu, Gong Beibi as Liu Ruyi, Yang Gen as Zhang An, and Song Xinran as Gu Yuan¹. Xu Jiaqi, Jiang Shan, and Song Xinran were credited with their SNH48 affiliations in the announcement, and Wang Youshuo's role was billed as a special appearance¹³.

Music

The soundtrack draws on the SNH48 family of idols. According to the Asiapoisk listing, the promotional theme is "Ancient Painting" (古画) by Ju Jingyi, the opening theme is "Fu Rong" (芙蓉) by Ju Jingyi, and the ending theme is "Dreams Crossing" (梦渡) by Ju Jingyi and Henry Huo¹⁴.

Reception and performance

In its first full week on air, week 43 of 2020 (October 17 to 23), the drama ranked fourth among all dramas nationwide in heat with a score of 65.04 on the Gudu Media index, behind Aiming, Half Is Sweet, and Chang'an Nuo¹⁵. By mid-November it had risen to first place among dramas in the Gudu weekly heat ranking¹⁶, and in late November it recorded a broadcast index of 64 in the Enlightent weekly table¹⁷.

Audience ratings have been mixed across platforms: 7.3/10 on IMDb from 549 votes⁶, 9.3 on Rakuten Viki from more than 43,000 ratings⁷, and 3.6 on the Japanese service Filmarks¹⁸.

Editing and versions

An IMDb trivia note states that the drama was filmed for 48 episodes but released as 40, and that most of the female lead's prophetic-dream and future-seeing moments were cut from the final television version because of length restrictions and censorship recommendations⁶. iQIYI's international listing for one version of the show counts 44 episodes, and three spin-off episodes plus an ending special were released separately on YouTube in late November 2020¹⁰^•¹⁹.

Availability

The series streams on iQIYI and Rakuten Viki; JustWatch and Moviefone listings show free-with-ads access on Viki in the United States and subscription or free-with-ads access on iQIYI in Canada⁸^•²⁰. Viki offers subtitles in English, Arabic, Portuguese, and more than a dozen other languages⁷.

References

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