# Warm on a Cold Night (九霄寒夜暖)
**Warm on a Cold Night** (九霄寒夜暖) is a 2023 Chinese costume fantasy mystery romance television series in which a cold-averse female constable of the Qian country and a warm-bodied young lord of the Qi clan team up to solve strange murders and defuse a crisis between their two peoples.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Native title / English title | 九霄寒夜暖 / Warm on a Cold Night[1](https://www.spoinc.jp/lineup/list/detail/ondosa/) |
| Broadcast | iQIYI, 25 February to 12 March 2023, mainland China; also on iQIYI International[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Lead cast | Li Yitong as Su Jiu'er, Bi Wenjun as Han Zheng; He Ruixian, Chen Heyi, and Wang Maolei in featured roles[3](https://www.iq.com/album/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96-2023-2azsr8vykm5?lang=es_mx&user=lishan) |
| Audience scores | iQIYI 8/10 (21,486 raters), Douban 6.9/10 (26,492), IMDb 7.8/10 (57), as of early May 2024[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Japanese release | Sold as 「想いの温度差～九霄寒夜暖～」 with DVD boxes released 26 January and 9 February 2024[1](https://www.spoinc.jp/lineup/list/detail/ondosa/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and setting
The story is set in Jiuxiao City of the Qian country (乾国), where the Qi people (祺人) live among the Qian. The Qi came from Shuobei in the north and can take the form of beasts, though in daily life they look no different from Qian people. In the two years before the story begins, Qian law has struggled to restrain the Qi and their innate abilities, and conflicts between the two peoples have grown frequent.[4](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_tbo53ulzal.html)
The opening case is the "nursery rhyme murder case" (童谣杀人案): a mysterious three-scarred Qi person in beast form kills four officials, whose bodies are later dumped in a manner matching the rhyme, spreading panic through the city. The suspect is captured, and the dangerous job of interrogating him falls to Su Jiu'er (苏玖儿), a junior patrol officer of the inspection guard. Su Jiu'er has suffered since childhood from a condition that deprives her of her five senses, and she hides her ability behind an unassuming manner. The "suspect" is [Han Zheng](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-zheng) (寒狰), who is in fact a prince of the Qi clan; he has come to the Qian country to find the real three-scarred man, his friend Mu Yan, and clear him of the charge of stealing the Qi clan's sacred fire before his own people trace Mu Yan's whereabouts.[4](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_tbo53ulzal.html)
The two leads' contrasting constitutions drive both the romance and the plot mechanics. Su Jiu'er is "cold-fearing" (畏寒) and Han Zheng is "internally hot" (内热); touching him restores her senses, and the pair become a "temperature difference partnership" (温差搭档) who work through the conspiracy behind the cases while easing the crisis between the two nations.[3](https://www.iq.com/album/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96-2023-2azsr8vykm5?lang=es_mx&user=lishan) Later episodes extend this device: Su Jiu'er discovers that physical contact with regressed Qi people gradually restores them, and Han Zheng both rejoices and worries that she might one day draw out the fire seed to save the Qi at the cost of her own life.[4](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_tbo53ulzal.html)
### Cast and characters
Li Yitong plays Su Jiu'er, the constable of the Qian country, and Bi Wenjun plays Han Zheng, the young lord of the Qi clan.[3](https://www.iq.com/album/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96-2023-2azsr8vykm5?lang=es_mx&user=lishan) The supporting cast includes [He Ruixian](https://www.edgepedia.org/he-ruixian) as the Qi general Chi Lan (叱兰), [Chen Heyi](https://www.edgepedia.org/chen-heyi) as Wen Jun (文骏), the second prince of the Qian country, Ma Yue as Heyin (和音), Yang Shize as Wen Ying (文婴), and Wang Maolei as Hu Badao (胡八道), Su Jiu'er's adoptive father.[4](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_tbo53ulzal.html) Chen Heyi's character is a gentle, poetry-loving prince; a wrap announcement in September 2021 described his role as the protected second prince who is sincere with people and indifferent to rank and profit.[5](https://www.sohu.com/a/487530281_120463425)
## Production and release
Shooting ran from May to September 2021 at [Hengdian World Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/hengdian-world-studios), and the cast was announced with stills on 11 May 2021.[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink) The production passed its online filing review in October 2022, and promotion through February 2023 included a teaser trailer on 17 February, the confirmed premiere date announced on 20 February, and the opening theme's music video on 23 February.[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
On iQIYI, members received two new episodes daily at 20:00 with six on premiere day, while non-members got one free episode daily after a two-episode premiere; the series also streamed on iQIYI International.[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink) Overseas, it appeared on Rakuten Viki with subtitles in English, Chinese, Slovak, and more than a dozen other languages,[6](https://www.viki.com/tv/39591c-warm-on-a-cold-night) and in Japan the licensor SPO released it as 「想いの温度差～九霄寒夜暖～」 on DVD in two nine-disc boxes in early 2024, with rental volumes beginning 6 January 2024.[1](https://www.spoinc.jp/lineup/list/detail/ondosa/)
## Music
The original soundtrack album was released on 28 February 2023, with music by [Zhang Yan](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhang-yan), Hastel, Liu Ye, Jin Xin, "Hutu de Hen," and Zhai Jinyan across twenty tracks.[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink) The opening theme "Zhao Mu" (《朝暮》), with lyrics by [Lin Qiao](https://www.edgepedia.org/lin-qiao), Zhou Ren, Liu Enxun, and Huang Ran and music by Zhang Yu, is sung by Modern Brothers frontman Liu Yuning; the ending theme "Ru Huai" (《入怀》) is performed by Dai Yanni and Gou Chenhaoyu, and "Si Ni" (《似你》) by Wang Jingwen serves as an insert song.[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
## Reception
Audience scores placed the series in the middle range. As of early May 2024 it held 8/10 from 21,486 raters on iQIYI, 6.9/10 from 26,492 raters on Douban, and 7.8/10 from 57 users on IMDb.[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink) On Rakuten Viki it scored 9.2 from more than 11,000 users,[6](https://www.viki.com/tv/39591c-warm-on-a-cold-night) while [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) aggregated about 7.2 to 7.6 from around a hundred ratings.[7](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/warm-on-a-cold-night)
**Critical commentary** divided along the same lines as the scores. The Beijing Youth Daily entertainment desk praised the production's attention to detail, noting that the inspection guard's autopsy model had movable limbs and that Su Jiu'er dons small leather gloves before an examination.[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink) A China Jilin Net review credited the drama with a clear, mature world-building in which the "one cold, one warm" pairing of the two clans mirrors the two leads, with side cases such as the nursery-rhyme body-dumping case and the painting murder case set against the larger Qian-Qi standoff.[2](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink) A Sina News piece argued that the series broke from the fixed formulas of costume idol dramas by layering fantasy, detective work, light comedy, and romance rather than committing to sweet romance or hard mystery alone.[8](https://k.sina.com.cn/article_3840084769_e4e30b210190187w3.html)
Criticism focused on the plotting. A widely read Douban review judged the production and acting solid but the script only barely passing, arguing that key clues and culprits appear without foreshadowing in nearly every case, and that invented items central to solutions, such as the wolf-kiss grass and the qi-yuan stone, arrive too abruptly to be convincing.[9](https://movie.douban.com/review/15036295/) A Qulishi piece similarly found that after a horror-tinged first episode the plot turned flat.[10](https://www.qulishi.com/article/202302/673554.html) In Japan, some viewers objected that certain costumes resembled those of Japanese period dramas, prompting calls online to halt distribution, while other commenters defended the designs as sharing Chinese origins or as acceptable creative elements.[11](https://www.recordchina.co.jp/b910044-s36-c70-d0196.html)
## References
1. [「想いの温度差～九霄寒夜暖～」公式サイト, SPOエンタメ倶楽部](https://www.spoinc.jp/lineup/list/detail/ondosa/)
2. [九霄寒夜暖（2023年李一桐、毕雯珺主演的古装爱情探案剧）, 百度百科](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96/56239224?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
3. [九霄寒夜暖 (2023), iQIYI International](https://www.iq.com/album/%E4%B9%9D%E9%9C%84%E5%AF%92%E5%A4%9C%E6%9A%96-2023-2azsr8vykm5?lang=es_mx&user=lishan)
4. [九霄寒夜暖 分集剧情, 爱奇艺](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_tbo53ulzal.html)
5. [《九霄寒夜暖》杀青 陈鹤一温润古装引期待, 搜狐](https://www.sohu.com/a/487530281_120463425)
6. [九霄寒夜暖, Rakuten Viki](https://www.viki.com/tv/39591c-warm-on-a-cold-night)
7. [Warm on a Cold Night, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/warm-on-a-cold-night)
8. [《九霄寒夜暖》携春而至，古偶剧如何以"5%的创新"突出重围, 新浪新闻](https://k.sina.com.cn/article_3840084769_e4e30b210190187w3.html)
9. [剧本结构的问题很大，非常大（九霄寒夜暖）剧评, 豆瓣](https://movie.douban.com/review/15036295/)
10. [《九霄寒夜暖》李一桐饰演"体寒"女捕快，他的表现如何？, 趣历史网](https://www.qulishi.com/article/202302/673554.html)
11. [リー・イートン主演の時代劇ドラマ「九霄寒夜暖」、衣装が"日本の時代劇風"の声, Record China](https://www.recordchina.co.jp/b910044-s36-c70-d0196.html)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles Sp to Z*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license