He Grew Up, She Built an Empire 😂
Apparently I watched 40 episodes of this drama and then proceeded to forget half of what happened. 😂
But the things I did remember say a lot about why I liked Destined.
I remembered the character growth.
I remembered that Liu Yuru actually had a backbone.
I remembered that she developed her own goals and career instead of making her entire existence about her husband.
And I remembered her in-laws being surprisingly wonderful.
After refreshing myself on everything that happened, that makes complete sense because Destined is really a story about two people growing up together.
They start out married mostly because circumstances throw them together, and neither one is exactly thrilled about it. By the end, they're not just husband and wife. They're actual partners who have helped shape each other into completely different people.
That part I loved.
The three-year separation?
Apparently my brain deleted that for my own protection. 😂
The Setup
Liu Yuru grows up in a family where she basically learns that survival means being careful, obedient, useful, and hopefully marrying the right man.
Her original life plan is pretty much:
Step 1: Marry well. Step 2: Be a perfect wife. Step 3: Hope life doesn't destroy you.
Very inspiring. 😂
Then she unexpectedly ends up married to Gu Jiusi, one of Yangzhou's most infamous spoiled rich boys.
He gambles.
He avoids studying.
He has money.
He has approximately zero interest in becoming a responsible adult.
Basically, his parents have a grown son who desperately needs a software update.
Their marriage doesn't start from love, but that's actually what makes the growth so satisfying.
Because neither of them stays the person they were at the beginning.
Liu Yuru: THANK YOU FOR HAVING A BACKBONE 👏
One of my favorite things about this drama is Liu Yuru's growth.
She begins the story thinking that her future depends on choosing the right husband because that is basically what she's been taught her entire life.
Then Gu Jiusi of all people tells her she should figure out what she likes.
And that changes everything.
She discovers that she has a talent for business.
Not because her husband hands her a cute little hobby to keep her occupied.
Not because somebody magically gives her a company.
She studies.
She learns accounting.
She watches how businesses work.
She starts making decisions.
She opens her own rouge business.
Later, she becomes powerful enough in the business world to secure supplies, build commercial connections, and make major economic decisions.
THIS is the kind of female-lead growth I like.
Her dream doesn't become:
“My husband is successful, therefore I have succeeded.”
No.
She has her own abilities.
Her own work.
Her own reputation.
Her own accomplishments.
And eventually she becomes successful enough that she is secretly helping finance Gu Jiusi's work.
Excuse me???
That is how you write a power couple.
She supports him, but she does not disappear behind him.
And She Can Actually Stand Up for Herself
Liu Yuru isn't some fearless warrior from Episode 1.
Her strength develops.
That makes it better.
She spent years learning how to survive by swallowing things she didn't like. Over time, she learns that she doesn't have to keep doing that.
When people threaten her family?
She fights back.
When circumstances become dangerous?
She makes decisions.
She travels for business and military supplies.
She goes back into danger to save Gu Jiusi.
And when somebody later basically suggests she should just share her husband with a princess?
Liu Yuru's answer is essentially:
Absolutely not. Find another husband. This one is occupied.
😂👏
Correct answer.
There will be no concubine starter pack in this household.
Gu Jiusi: From Spoiled Rich Boy to Actual Adult
Gu Jiusi might have one of my favorite kinds of male-lead growth arcs.
Because this man starts out with money, privilege, and the work ethic of someone who has never experienced a bill.
😂
But underneath all that nonsense, he is genuinely kind.
Liu Yuru gradually realizes that.
Then life absolutely smacks him across the face.
His family loses almost everything.
People die.
They have to flee Yangzhou.
Suddenly being the funny spoiled rich kid isn't enough anymore.
And he grows up.
He studies.
He passes the examination.
He starts at the bottom doing actual government work.
He learns what ordinary people deal with.
Eventually he becomes someone who genuinely cares about public welfare, government corruption, taxation, flood control, and protecting people.
That transformation works because the drama doesn't just tell us:
Look! Gu Jiusi is mature now!
We actually watch him become mature.
The irresponsible man Liu Yuru married would never have been capable of doing what the later Gu Jiusi does.
And she is a huge part of that growth.
But I also liked that she doesn't magically “fix” him.
He still has to do the work himself.
THE IN-LAWS 😭
Can we please discuss the Gu family?
Because Liu Yuru wins the ancient Chinese in-law lottery.
Especially Jiang Rou.
Her mother-in-law doesn't spend 30 episodes accusing her of being infertile, scheming to introduce concubines, screaming about family status, or trying to poison her because she looked at the ancestral tablets incorrectly.
A miracle. 😂
Instead, Jiang Rou sees Liu Yuru's intelligence.
She teaches her business.
She encourages her.
She trusts her.
At one point, she even gives Liu Yuru the option to divorce Gu Jiusi and prepares property for her so she could support herself.
WHAT???
A mother-in-law giving her daughter-in-law financial independence and the choice to leave her son?
In a costume drama?
Someone alert the historical-drama authorities because this woman is dangerously reasonable.
😂
Later, Jiang Rou trusts Liu Yuru enough to place the Gu family's affairs in her hands.
That relationship was one of my favorite parts of the drama.
Honestly, if I were Liu Yuru and somebody asked whether I wanted to stay with my birth family or the Gu family, I would already be loading my luggage onto the Gu carriage.
Bye. 👋
The Romance ❤️
This is definitely marriage first, love later.
And I liked that the love grows through everyday actions instead of one dramatic confession suddenly changing everything.
Gu Jiusi starts protecting her.
Liu Yuru starts trusting him.
He encourages her to find her own interests.
She pushes him to stop wasting his potential.
He becomes proud of her business abilities.
She becomes proud of the man he grows into.
They gradually become each other's person.
By around the middle of the drama, these two are basically married in every emotional sense even though it takes them considerably longer to actually consummate the marriage.
Episode 18 and his mother discovers they STILL haven't done it.
Ma'am was probably wondering what exactly these two had been doing for eighteen episodes.
😂
The real romantic strength here isn't nonstop kissing or skinship.
It's partnership.
They trust each other.
They protect each other.
They make decisions together.
They admire what the other person becomes.
That's why the relationship works.
But Then We Need to Discuss THE THREE YEARS 😑
Okay.
Apparently my memory protected me from this.
Because YES.
There is a three-year separation.
No, they do not break up.
No, neither one stops loving the other.
No, there is no stupid “I don't love you anymore” lie followed by 14 episodes of crying in separate cities.
Thank goodness.
But Liu Yuru is forced into a fake-death situation, Gu Jiusi genuinely believes she has died, and they remain separated for three years while each one builds their own accomplishments.
Three.
Years.
You know how I feel about this.
😂
I don't care if the Emperor ordered it.
I don't care if everyone became successful.
I don't care if the Yellow River itself needed emotional development.
THREE YEARS IS THREE YEARS.
Straight to the separation jail.
This is probably one of the biggest reasons this sits at 4/5 instead of 5/5 for me now that I've refreshed the plot.
Thankfully, once he discovers that she's alive, there is no emotional nonsense between them.
He loves her.
She loves him.
They reunite.
Moving on.
As they should.
The Politics Took Over a Little
The early part of Destined is very focused on marriage, family, business, and personal growth.
Later, the political story gets much bigger.
War.
Government.
Corruption.
Succession.
Flood control.
Rebellions.
Imperial drama.
Everybody has an official title approximately seventeen words long.
😂
The political plot isn't bad, and it matters because it shows how much Gu Jiusi and Liu Yuru have grown.
But I do think the drama loses some of the intimate charm of the earlier episodes once national politics starts taking over.
I came for:
spoiled husband + competent wife slowly falling in love.
Eventually I got:
LET US DISCUSS THE ECONOMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE FUTURE OF THE DYNASTY.
Sir, I was watching a marriage.
😂
Still good.
Just different.
