Drama Guide · Fan Favorite
楚乔传Chǔqiáo Zhuàn · Princess Agents
2017 · Fictional Western Wei era · wuxia epic
Chu Qiao is a slave with no memory of her past — until a chance encounter with Yan Xun, a young noble fighting for his family's survival, sets off a chain of events that will reshape an empire. As Chu Qiao escapes captivity, masters a hidden fighting style, and eventually commands her own army, she and Yan Xun find themselves on opposite sides of a war neither of them chose — torn between loyalty, love, and the secrets of who Chu Qiao really is.
Chu Qiao
The protagonist
A fierce, resourceful former slave whose hidden past and combat skill make her one of the most capable — and most hunted — people in the empire.
Yan Xun
Chu Qiao's first ally
A noble's son whose family is destroyed early in the story, sending him down a path of vengeance that puts him at odds with everyone he once trusted.
Yuwen Yue
The "Lie Prince"
A cold, brilliant strategist and martial artist who becomes Chu Qiao's mentor, rival, and the show's most enduring love interest.
Li Ce
Crown Prince of Yan
An ambitious heir whose schemes for the throne entangle every major character in the story.
The real history behind it: Princess Agents is set in a fictional "Western Wei," but its world draws on the real chaos of China's Southern and Northern Dynasties period (420–589 CE) — an era of short-lived states, rival warlords, and shifting borders in northern China, where ambitious generals frequently rose to found their own dynasties. The show became a genuine streaming phenomenon, reportedly the first Chinese drama to pass 40 billion online views, and helped launch its leads — Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin — to a new level of stardom.
The "Western Wei" of Princess Agents is fictional, but the chaos that inspired it — and the dynasties that followed — really shaped China.