This article lists characters in the popular Chinese-language television series My Fair Princess (1998–1999) and My Fair Princess III (2003).
Recurring characters CharacterMy Fair PrincessMy Fair Princess IIINew My Fair Princess1998199920032011Xiaoyanzi (小燕子)Zhao WeiHuang YiLi ShengXia Ziwei (夏紫薇)Ruby LinMa YiliHai LuYongqi (永琪)Alec SuLeo KuZhang RuiFu Erkang (福爾康)Zhou JieLi JiahangJinsuo (金瑣)Fan BingbingSun YaoqiQianlong Emperor (乾隆皇帝)Zhang TielinTi Lung Chiu Hsin-chihEmpress UlanaraDai ChunrongJiang LiliSheren TangConsort Ling (令妃)Zhao LijuanChen LiLiu XiaoyeWet-Nurse Rong (容嬷嬷)Li MingqiQiao ChenFang QingzhuoLiu Qing (柳青) Lu ShiyuWang JinduoLiu Hong (柳紅)Chen YingZhou FangFu Lun (福倫)Wen HaiboLei ZhenyuFu Lun's wifeLiu FangChen HuijuanXiaodengzi (小鄧子)Xue YanZhai YujiaQu AohuiXiaozhuozi (小卓子)Li NanLiu WeiZhang TongZhang ZhuowenMingyue (明月)Yu MengjieGong YanYu YingyingCaixia (彩霞)Liu FangyuLi BingqiaoDu MinheMa XiangyiXia Yuhe (夏雨荷)Ruby LinRuby LinFu Ertai (福爾泰)Julian ChenLu HongSaiya (賽婭)Zhang HengChai BiyunJi Xiaolan (紀曉嵐)Liu DanGang Yi Fu Heng (傅恆)Zhang WeiWang WeiguangXing HanqingE Min (鄂敏)You LongYang FengyuLiang Tinggui (梁廷桂)Liu WeiZang JinshengSai Wei (賽威)Miao HaojunYang QuanjingSai Guang (賽廣)Zhu JinglongYe DaoLamei (臘梅)Dong WeiZhou JingjingDongxue (冬雪)Ai Yang Zhang Xinyue Cailian (採蓮)Yang Dong Xie ZhonglingRuolan (若蘭)Zheng JiaxinJenny ZhangEmpress Dowager NiohuruZhao MinfenLeanne LiuQing'er (晴兒)Wang YanZanilia ZhaoXiao Jian (簫劍)Zhu HongjiaHuang XiaomingGao ZiqiHanxiang (含香)Liu DanMadina MemetMengdan/Mai'erdan/MerdanMou FengbinZhang DanfengAli Hezhuo (阿里和卓)Yin WeiNige MutuWet-Nurse Gui (桂嬷嬷)Zhai YuerongZhou GuiyunLi XiaoyanZhen'er (真兒)Li Yaxi Hu QiunanCui'er (翠兒)Fan RuiWeng Wenqian
Original characters Qianlong Emperor Based on a true-life emperor of the Qing dynasty, Qianlong Emperor in this series is portrayed as a benevolent and caring but often short father. Part of the Aisin-Gioro ruling family, Qianlong is of Manchu descent. Like the real-life Qianlong, the emperor in My Fair Princess is a lover of arts and literature. Besides his empress, whom he often neglects, he has many concubines, his favorite of which is Consort Ling.
Qianlong first meets Xiaoyanzi (literally "Little Swallow") on his hunting grounds, into which she broke whilst serving as Ziwei's messenger. Ziwei is the Emperor's real daughter from a tryst the Emperor had long ago. Her attempts to contact her father have all failed and eventually meets Xiaoyanzi, a happy-go-lucky street wanderer, who agrees to sneak onto Imperial hunting grounds to deliver her message during the Emperor's hunting outing. After accidentally being shot by an arrow, Qianlong finds the message she is carrying and mistakes her for his daughter and quickly becomes enamored with her happy-go-lucky charm and her free-spirited ways, unfettered by the protocol and conventions of the nobility. Ironically, though, he later grew to love Ziwei for completely different reasons-her elegance and eloquence, intelligence and sophistication. At one point, Ziwei shields him from an assassination attempt. Xiaoyanzi is taken into the royal household and is dubbed "Huan Zhu Ge Ge", or "Princess Returned Pearl", claiming that she is like a pearl that is lost and then returned; though she is still referred to as Xiaoyanzi by those closest to her. Xiaoyanzi eventually convinces the court to allow her to bring Ziwei into her household, still determined to help her reconnect with her father. Qianlong's feelings for Ziwei prove problematic when he asks her to be his concubine. Although he is upset when he learns that Ziwei is his true daughter, he later forgives them for their deception and serves as a very loving father to both his actual daughter and his newly adopted one as well.
Xiaoyanzi Xiaoyanzi is first introduced as an 18-year-old who roams the city with her friends, Liu Qing and Liu Hong. Orphaned at a young age, Xiaoyanzi is an independent thinker and knows little about rules and regulations. She earns money using jianghu ways and is not unwilling to do anything to survive. Although mischievous, Xiaoyanzi helps others in need regardless of the circumstances.
Xiaoyanzi's entire existence is altered when she meets Xia Ziwei. The night before their first meeting, Xiaoyanzi had agreed to switch places with a bride who was to marry into the Liang household. The bride was extremely unwilling and planned on committing suicide, but Xiaoyanzi arranged for her to escape. Ziwei happened to be at the wedding as well, for different reasons. When Ziwei helps Xiaoyanzi hide the guards, the two begin to admire each other. They meet again at one of Xiaoyanzi's performances. Through several other meetings, Ziwei agrees to live with Xiaoyanzi. The two become sworn sisters.
As sworn sisters, Ziwei reveals her most important secrets to Xiaoyanzi, including her background (that she is the emperor's illegitimate child). Xiaoyanzi is shocked to find out that she is the sister to a princess or ge ge. However, she vows to help Ziwei find her father. The two decide to intrude on one of Qianlong's hunting trips on a local mountain. However, the feeble Ziwei cannot climb the mountain, so she sends Xiaoyanzi as her messenger. There, Yongqi, the fifth prince, accidentally shoots her with an arrow. Through a series of misunderstandings, Qianlong mistakenly names Xiaoyanzi his daughter, rather than Ziwei. A confused Xiaoyanzi, unaware of the punishments for lying to an emperor, is proclaimed Huan Zhu Ge Ge. Qianlong dotes on Xiaoyanzi greatly, making it more difficult for Xiaoyanzi to admit the truth.
Xiaoyanzi lives an equally adventurous life inside the palace, where she meets her lover, Yongqi, as well as friends Ertai and Erkang. She also becomes rivals with the Empress, Huang Hou, who is jealous when Xiaoyanzi receives so much attention from Qianlong. After discovering the enormity of her mistakes, she vows to return the title of princess to Ziwei but is still too afraid, to tell the truth. Tension grows as Xiaoyanzi struggles to adapt to life in the Forbidden City, violating the rules several times. Additionally, her guilt about stealing Ziwei's title becomes unbearable, to the point where she unsuccessfully attempts to escape from the Forbidden City. Xiaoyanzi later learns that Ziwei is living in the Fu household. She temporarily disguises herself as an eunuch and leaves the Forbidden City to visit Ziwei. Although Ziwei forgives her for taking her title, Xiaoyanzi still intends to return Qianlong to Ziwei.
A fictional romance blossoms between Yongqi, the fifth prince, and Xiaoyanzi in Season 1. Yongqi quickly develops feelings for Xiaoyanzi shortly after meeting her, but Xiaoyanzi's tomboy attitude, along with her false title, causes her to only think of him as a brother. However, after Yongqi learns Xiaoyanzi is not his biological sister, he shares his feelings with her. Xiaoyanzi becomes confused, unsure of how she feels about Yongqi. At first, she tries to have him marry a girl that was planning to get married with a random ball throw catch arrangement, but he res, after a girl named Cailian falls for Yongqi, Xiaoyanzi becomes extremely jealous. She refuses to eat or speak in Yongqi's presence. Irritated, Yongqi calls Xiaoyanzi a girl with no virtue. Xiaoyanzi's anger causes her to act recklessly. When she falls off a horse, Yongqi soon feels sorry about the incident and kisses her. Xiaoyanzi forgives Yongqi after she realizes she is truly in love with him. The challenge between them is their supposed brother-sister relationship. This causes the group to reveal that Xiaoyanzi is not Qianlong's daughter. Although Qianlong is initially angry, he soon forgives them.
In Part II of the series, they are arranged to be married with a lot of love. Throughout the series, they go through many fights, but eventually, they always reconcile with each other. Many times, they have also feuded about Yongqi being unable to accept her commoner ways because he's a prince and of biological royalty. Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi are very stubborn towards each other when they argue because both refuse to be wrong, but Yongqi usually winds up being the first to cave. Many times, he's there to catch her in both a literal sense and expression. When they run away from the Forbidden City, Yongqi gets jealous of Xiaoyanzi's close relationship with Xiao Jian, before it was revealed that he was her brother. At the end of Part II, they get married.
In history, Yongqi never had a serious romance. Their love story is purely fictional.
Xiaoyanzi's past is never known for certain. In Season 2, she meets Xiao Jian, a man who claims to be her older brother. However, this is merely based on the account of a nun who raised Xiaoyanzi during her childhood. If Xiaoyanzi is truly Xiao Jian's younger sister, then her birth name was Fang Ci. When Xiaoyanzi was but a baby, her father was beheaded at the order of Qianlong for writing a poem that offended the Qing Dynasty. Her mother died shortly after, committing suicide. Xiaoyanzi's other family members were beheaded as well, but Xiao Jian and Xiaoyanzi managed to escape. Xiaoyanzi was sent to north, in Beijing, and Xiao Jian was sent to the south, in Dali. This is ironic as Xiaoyanzi later became Qianlong's adopted daughter. Tension grows because of this situation.
In the third installment of the series, it is confirmed that Xiaoyanzi is indeed Xiao Jian's sister. After the turmoils of the third installment, Xiaoyanzi, and Xiao Jian, along with Yongqi, Ziwei, Erkang, and Qing'er go to Dali, where they meet Xiao Jian's foster parents. Xiao Jian's foster parents reveal that Fang Ci has a birthmark on her body, but at first, they are reluctant to say out loud where her birthday is. Eventually, much to Xiaoyanzi's embarrassment and everyone else's amusement, they tell Xiaoyanzi that if she is the real Fang Ci, she would have a mole on her buttock. In the scene after this, Yongqi pulls Xiao Jian aside to confirm this fact, albeit with much amusement at Xiaoyanzi's expense.
Xia Ziwei Xia Ziwei was named after the crape myrtle, because that flower bloomed particularly beautifully when she was born.
Ziwei's single but talented mother, Xia Yuhe, had a romance several years ago with the Qianlong Emperor. The two never marry, and business matters soon require Qianlong to leave Jinan. After Qianlong departs Jinan, the city where Xia Yuhe resided, Yuhe gives birth to Ziwei out of wedlock. Of half Han Chinese descent and half Manchu descent, Ziwei is unaware of her special background until her mother is on her deathbed. Then, she reveals to Ziwei that she is of royal blood, and tells her to find her father. She gives Ziwei two items, a fan, and a painting, both given to Yuhe as a present from Qianlong. Like her mother, Ziwei is multitalented. She can play the zither, sing, paint, write calligraphy, participate in literary discussions, and play chess, an unusual amount of talent for a female. More quiet and gentle than Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei is a fragile beauty.
Ziwei takes on this arduous task with her faithful servant, Jinsuo. However, after arriving in Beijing, she discovers how impossible it is for her to reach her father. She is not allowed to enter the Forbidden City, and cannot find an official who is willing to help her. She attempts to seek the assistance of royal officer Liang Da Ren, but her efforts do not succeed. Finally, she attends the Liang household's wedding, in hopes of getting in touch with Liang Da Ren. There, she meets Xiaoyanzi, her future sworn sister. She reveals her secrets to Xiaoyanzi and sends Xiaoyanzi as her messenger to Qianlong.