The story takes place during the chaotic times of Northern Wei, where innocent citizens are often kidnapped and subjected to a bloody struggle for power. The slave Chu Qiao is thrown into a forest along with other slaves and becomes the next hunting target of the rich lords, Yuwen Huai, Zhao Xifeng, and Wei Shuye, as well as Yan Xun, the Prince from Northern and the 13th Prince of Wei Yuan Song. Upon seeing this, Chu Qiao swears to flee from that place with her younger sisters, however when she draws the attention of the Master Yuwen Yue, Chu Qiao begins a strict training. She also meets Yan Xun and together, they form a close bond.
On the way Chu Qiao meets the cheerful Prince of Wei, Yuan Song and the rebellious Prince of Liang, Xiao Ce, both Princes fall in love with her, despite not having their feelings reciprocated, both men help Chu Qiao in anyway possible.
But she meets the three cruel sons of noble lors like Yuwen Huai, Zhao Xifeng and Wei Shuyou who hate her to the core, but Yuwen Yue is the one who protects her the most, being Chu Qiao's great love.
Yan Xun, the noble Prince Yan, has Yuan Chun as his best friend, they both have a beautiful friendship, they share kindness and laughter, he cares for and trusts her since childhood, they get along well and understand each other, showing mutual loyalty
But when the nobles of Western Wei create intrigues and falsely accuse the Northern Yan family of stealing the military map and revealing it to the Emperor of Wei when really everything was planned by Yuwen Huai and Wei Shuyou. The emperor commands the princes of Yuwen Manor to kill every relative of Yan Xun's family who are marked as traitors. After the incident Yan Xun and Chu Qiao are imprisoned, Yan Xun's attitude changed and he became an ambitious, cold and cruel person, he vowed to take revenge by killing each of Western Wei and Yuwen Manor for his family with Chu Qiao's support.
Chu Qiao gets promoted as the Archery Coach and moves into the Xiaoqi camp, where she meets He Xiao, Wudan Yu, and Geqi who are officers of the Xiuli Army of Northern Yan. To Yan Xun, they are traitors, but is persuaded Chu Qiao to give them a second chance.
On the other hand, Yan Xun still has esteem for Yuan Chun, she is hurt by what happened, so Yan Xun does not blame her until the emperor sees them together, decides to marry them and send them both back to North Yan, without realizing it. that it was all an armed plan to finish off Yan Xun, so he agrees to marry Yuan Chun, but when the day of his wedding arrived, the emperor sent one of his armies to kill him behind his back, Yan Xun, however, is one step ahead and rises in rebellion, Yuan Chun upon learning what happened begs her father to break the engagement, to let Yan Xun go. On the way, Yan Xun meets Yuan Chun, feeling guilty, begs, she humiliates herself in front of him, telling him that she wants him to live, it is her only desire, to which Yan Xun is affected, seeing her suffering and pain, tells her that with her it is not the fight, that it is not he is worthy of her love because he is her father's enemy, he flees thus cutting off their friendship.
Yan Xun becomes king of Northern Yan and begins to doubt Chu Qiao's loyalty and disappoints her on different occasions by casting aside their close friendship while making too many sacrifices to achieve the power of his ambition, Chu Qiao walks away and secretly meets with Yuwen Yue getting closer, both growing their love. Yan Xun orders for his army to assassinate Yuwen Yue and Chu Qiao disappointed by him. The man she once trusted. She breaks their friendship with Yan Xun and decides to fight together with Yuwen Yue to destroy Yan Xun's plans for revenge.
Yan Xun due to so much pressure in the fight and his desire for revenge begins to feel bad for what one of his guards recommends that he be checked, which he accepts, being already in his quarters the doctor comes to check him without realizing that it was Yuan Chun in disguise With the plan to finish off Yan Xun, Yuan Chun, covering her face, checks him to which Yan Xun calls his attention by his voice and his face to which she explains that it was because of the fire, changing the subject. recommends doing acupuncture for the pain in her body but when she takes it out she has a hidden weapon, but not before being interrupted by Yan Xun asking her to give him massages since she heard that she is good at doing it, she accepts his request. Yuan Chun asks for permission to apply the fine needles while Yan Xun remains resting, she takes out the weapon, taking advantage of it and points it to stab him, but one of the servants sees him and screams, to which Yan Xun reacts by taking out his sword and removes her mask. When she was discovered, Yan Xun was immediately surprised, his army surrounded her, but he decided not to hurt her, asking them to leave alone. Yan Xun asks her to leave and apologizes to her for what he has done. To get rid of the memories, Yuan Chun disposes of the bunny tail souvenir he gave her.
Yan Xun and Chu Qiao meet on the road and both of them have a unhappy conversation. Yan Xun asks Chu Qiao to make it clear if she ever loved him, she tells him that she was worried about him when he was mistreated and was unconscious, she even helped kill the lords that wiped out his family, she made efforts to returning home, she took his dream as part of her, giving Yan Xun to understand that she only esteemed him as a friend, which is why Chu Qiao showed no interest in him, even though she knows who she loves is Yuwen Yue, Chu Qiao warns Yan Xun that if Yuwen Yue dies in the North, Yan will never forgive him and they will be enemies at the end. Chu Qiao searches for Yuwen Yue, while Yan Xun turned cold upon learning the truth.
In the North Yan Yuwen Yue being in the frozen lake along with half of his army that the rest are fighting in the forest with Yan Xun's comrades, they are injured leaving Yuwen Yue alone in the fight facing everyone even with the officer who manages to injure him by overestimating him but he manages to stab him killing him, while Yan Xun sees Yuwen Yue taking resistance without surrendering, gives the order to kill him, on the other hand Chu Qiao kills Yan Xun's officer and seeing one of his Yuwen Yue troops he asks him to save him, abandoning his xiulu army against Yan Xun's, Chu Qiao goes after Yuwen Yue to save him having a bow and arrows while there he kills everyone, letting Yan Xun shoot an arrow behind him, piercing Yuwen Yue leaving a horrified Chu Qiao goes after him regretting for having abandoned him, crying, she believes that she can die so she shows her love by giving him a kiss on his forehead and giving him strength, Yan Xun seeing their love together of both and his betrayal of Chu Qiao infuriates him, he realizes that everything was in vain, he was wrong, so he got fed up and sent his army again to kill them both without showing mercy.
Chu Qiao looks at him with contempt, becoming his enemy, takes Yuwen Yue's sword, killing everyone, while the lake splits and sees Yuwen Yue fainted almost dead, Yan Xun's soldiers shoot an arrow that they hook to the ice, pulling Chu Qiao away from him. Yuwen Yue, Chu Qiao screaming and crying runs towards him as he sinks, she follows him to the death and jumps to rescue him, inside the lake she swims where Yuwen Yue is and he sees when the Kung Fu force of Yuwen Yue is activated. ice that the higanbana is drawing on Chu Qiao's left shoulder, until he arrives where Yuwen Yue mentally tells him that he must live, to stay alive, she replies that she will come with him, she wants to be by his side, she will not leave, When Chu Qiao kisses him on the forehead, Yuwen Yue pushes her because she knows that she is going to increase her ice Kung Fu power, so she decides to separate, she calls him in pain and tries to hold him but he falls to the bottom of the lake, from there she he remains meditating and the higanbana is drawn like Fully on her back manifesting, opening her eyes bursts her power staring, Chu Qiao becomes the mistress of the wind and cloud decree.
She is an intelligent, brave and resilient young woman. That after being forced to watch helplessly while her loved ones died, she strives to find a path that allows her to change and thus destroy the injustice that surrounds them.
Her true identity is later revealed, as the daughter of Luo He, the master of Feng Yun's order. After she nearly drowns, she loses her memory and is raised by her adoptive family, the Jings. Later along with her adoptive siblings they become slaves of the Yuwen family. When she meets Yuwen Yue she begins to train with him to become a spy and they eventually develop feelings for each other. Chu Qiao is the only one willing to believe in the Xiuli army, which once caused the fall of two of North Yan's largest cities.
He is the fourth master of the Yuwen Mansion and the heir to the Eye of God. He is a cold man of few words, intelligent, observant and an expert in martial arts. He is a powerful and high noble, who only cared about obeying his grandfather and following the strict rules of his family, however he is gradually influenced by Chu Qiao to be more kinder and soon becomes a fair and empathetic ruler. Yuwen Yue plays an important role in establishing peace in the new world, and although he loves Chu Qiao, he cannot show it openly due to the difference in their ranks, however he is always by her side when she needs him most.
Prince of Northern Yan.He is the prince of North Yan, he is a prudent man and aware of his actions despite his cheerful and carefree facade, it caused him misfortune and pain for the loss of his entire family due to his identity as a captive prince. He forms an alliance with Chu Qiao and learns to trust her during the most difficult times. He also had a beautiful friendship and affection with Yuan Chun who promised to marry the princess but due to the circumstances it was not carried out, however when he witnesses the destruction of his entire clan at the hands of the Wei Empire, he swears revenge and becomes in a bitter and cruel man, he uses Chu Qiao and distances himself from her, he has a great hatred towards the wei empire even the princes that he is willing to kill them, except for princess Chun'er who was kind, attentive and caring with him, Yan Xun considers it and decides never to hurt her, but to take care of herself and be protected.
Princess of Western Wei.She is the princess of Western Wei, she is a kind, considerate, tender, simple and capricious young woman who is in love with Prince Yan Xun, however a series of circumstances, Yuan Chun changes her mind and refuses to marry him due to Yan's uprising. Xun, she suffered at the hands of Yan Xun's soldiers for rape and mistreatment, Yuan Chun believes that she was betrayed by her father who used her in her wedding with Yan Xun, the person who mattered most to her, this humiliation and pain causes her to become in an unrecognizable person, bitter, cold, vindictive and cunning, he starts to hate the wei emperor, Yuan Chun forms an alliance with Wei Shuye organizes an army to finish off the Xiulu troop, Yuan Chun manages to escape death several times due to sacrifice What do the people who love her do, so much is their suffering and pain that Yan Xun caused, she decides to kill him but she does not succeed, at the end of seeing Yan Xun again he sees him sad, asks her to forgive him and to please take care of herself much to him or that she cries so sadly remembering the moments together, she leaves and forgets it.
Young master of the 3rd household. He is a sinister and manipulative man who is Yuwen Yue's biggest rival in power struggle. He was killed by Chu Qiao after saving the Xiuli Army.
A maid at Qing Shan Court. She is actually a spy from Hong Shan Court and works for Yuwen Huai. She often picks on Chu Qiao due to her jealousy toward Chu Qiao and Yuwen Yue's relationship.
A lady sent by Yuwen Huai to stay by the Emperor's side as a spy. She knows Chu Qiao's true identity and was entrusted by Luo He to take care of Chu Qiao.
Crown prince of Liang, and later the Emperor. He appears to be unruly but is sharp and intelligent. He is in love with Chu Qiao but keeps a distance for her sake and remains as her best friend who helps her when she's in need.
Elder princess of Liang, who is also the top spy of Liang. She wields a great responsibility of protecting her kingdom and family. She has mixed feelings for Yuwen Yue as her pen pal and archenemy.
Cao Xinyue
Qing Wei
A spy assassin of Liang, Xiao Yu's subordinate.
Zhao Xuanqi
Yin Xin
A spy assassin of Liang, Xiao Yu's subordinate. He tried to assassinate Chu Qiao in the past.
A sage of Northern Yan. A good friend of Luo He, and the former strategist of Han Shan alliance. He later comes to assist Northern Yan army. He is in love with Zhong Yu.
A killer of the Past Life Camp who resembles Chu Qiao, and whom was accused of killing Luo He when she in fact saved Chu Qiao. She is imprisoned by Xiao Yu.
Principal photography began on 30 May 2016, at Hengdian Studios, and wrapped up on 21 November 2016.[47][48] Zhao reportedly lost 8 kg for her role.[47] The filming set was opened to fans and the media for viewing in August.[49]
On 26 June, the drama reached a rating of 2.01% with an audience share of 14.88% according to National Average ratings.[53] This broke the record for a drama airing on a non-primetime timeslot on a non-holiday weekday.[54] The series is also the first Chinese drama to break 40 billion views while still airing.[54] It is also popular in overseas countries,[55][56][57]Princess Agents received praise for its unique storyline and stellar performance of the actors,[58] as well as the complex twist and picturesque landscapes.[57]
Despite its success and initial positive reviews, the series was later criticized for various issues in regards to its production quality – such as its inappropriate use of photoshop/green screen, excessively bright palette and the inconsistent dubbing of actors.[59] The writing was lambasted for several reasons – such as making the female character another "Mary Sue" underneath a strong and independent facade; and including unnecessary story-lines and screen-time for unimportant supporting characters; which makes the plot inconsistent and draggy.[60] Additionally, there was controversy about the excessive amount of focus on the second male lead's storyline, with some viewers sarcastically calling the drama "Yan Xun's revenge story". The drama was also criticized for ending in a cliffhanger.
Ratings
Episode #
Original broadcast date
Average audience share (CSM52)
Average audience share (National Average)
Ranking on its timeslot
Ratings
Audience share
Ratings
Audience share
1–2
5 June 2017
0.841
5.526%
0.89%
7.27%
1
3–4
6 June 2017
0.937
6.430%
1.01
8.46%
1
5–6
7 June 2017
1.120
7.424%
1.37
10.27%
1
7–8
8 June 2017
1.273
8.354%
1.40
11.30%
1
9–10
12 June 2017
1.193
8.049%
1.15
9.680%
1
11–12
13 June 2017
1.400
8.139%
1.30
9.62%
1
13–14
14 June 2017
1.480
9.691%
1.36
11.13%
1
15–16
15 June 2017
1.233
7.957%
1.41
10.97%
1
17–18
19 June 2017
1.299
8.387%
1.28
10.09%
1
19–20
20 June 2017
1.246
7.930%
1.34
10.38%
1
21–22
21 June 2017
1.455
9.284%
1.60
12.63%
1
23–24
22 June 2017
1.584
9.793%
1.71
12.80%
1
25–26
26 June 2017
1.705
10.424%
2.01
14.88%
1
27–28
27 June 2017
1.815
10.922%
2.07
15.05%
1
29–30
28 June 2017
1.899
11.547%
2.05
14.78%
1
31–32
29 June 2017
2.125
12.556%
2.28
15.33%
1
33–34
3 July 2017
1.892
11.272%
1.94
13.66%
1
35–36
4 July 2017
1.785
10.560%
2.28
15.65%
1
37–38
5 July 2017
2.005
12.338%
2.24
15.84%
1
39–40
6 July 2017
1.936
11.488%
2.48
15.33%
1
41–42
10 July 2017
1.999
11.854%
2.09
14.52%
1
43–44
11 July 2017
2.236
13.051%
2.36
16.51%
1
45–46
12 July 2017
2.289
13.936%
2.82
18.99%
1
47–48
13 July 2017
2.193
12.993
2.86
19.29%
1
49–50
17 July 2017
2.277
13.312%
2.70
18.19%
1
51–52
18 July 2017
2.232
12.638%
2.71
18.04%
1
53–54
19 July 2017
2.525
14.644%
2.78
19.11%
1
55–56
20 July 2017
2.358
13.743%
2.68
17.83%
1
57–58
24 July 2017
2.137
12.441%
2.52
17.44%
1
59–60
25 July 2017
2.101
12.117%
2.55
17.56%
1
61–62
26 July 2017
2.199
13.585%
2.57
18.11%
1
63–64
27 July 2017
2.3457987253df
12.54%
2.86
19.12%
1
65
30 July 2017
0.794
7.250%
0.93
10.26%
1
66
31 July 2017
1.760
17.694%
1.64
19.28%
1
67
1 August 2017
1.841
16.964%
1.88
20.58%
1
68
2 August 2017
0.941
1.964%
0.18
10.58%
1
Average
1.741
10.84%
1.97
14.62%
1
Note: A week before the drama finished airing, Hunan changed its airing schedule to Sunday-Tuesday at 23:00 CST to promote their upcoming drama during Princess Agents' timeslot. This greatly impacted ratings due to audience not knowing of the new time slot and the drama airing an hour later than usual.
The source novel 11 Chu Te Gong Huang Fei (11处特工皇妃) was alleged to be plagiarized from several novels including Novoland: Pearl Eclipse (斛珠夫人) by Xiao Ruqin, Novoland: Eagle Flag (九州缥缈录) by Jiang Nan and Kun Lun (昆仑) by Feng Ge etc. In August 2015, the author Xia Xiang Dong'er admitted the allegations of plagiarism.[66] In her announcement, she promised to provide a "clean" version in which all the plagiarized parts would be deleted so that the adapted TV series would not infringe the copyrights of the original authors.
When the TV series was first released in June 2017, the original authors still alleged that the TV series contained plots and lines plagiarized from their works. Xiao Ruqin, the author of Novoland:Pearl Eclipse (斛珠夫人), posted on Weibo that she would be taking legal actions to protect their copyrighted works.[67][68]
