As Promised
As Promised is a 24-episode Chinese historical romance drama from Tencent Video. It aired from September 21, 2026 to September 29, 2026, and all episodes are out. In the US it streams officially on WeTV (VIP, episodes 1-2 free), checked October 28, 2026. It is adapted from the novel The Villain Teaches Me How to Chase Girls by Lan Sanjiao.
Where to watch As Promised
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Is it worth watching?
Final verdict coming soon. It goes up once our editor has seen the ending. How we rate
Viewers who want a fast, funny time-loop romance with palace scheming that they can finish in an evening
What viewers score it
The story, without spoilers
What to Expect
We haven't watched this one. This section is based on the official synopsis, the episode summaries on Baidu Baike and listings and reviews on MyDramaList, and we'll replace it with a verdict once we have one.
A time loop with a twist. Most rebirth dramas give the heroine a second chance at revenge. Here, He Xiaoyuan has been quietly sabotaging her own loop: in every life she fails on purpose, because restarting is the only way to see her exiled family alive again. Zhao Baiqing, who needs the loop broken, has to convince her that power is the way to save them this time.
Comedy first, then a hard turn. Baidu Baike files it as a costume comedy, and the early episodes play like a makeover romance: the feared Seventh Prince clumsily paints her eyebrows and sends for paintings of beauties to get it right. Around episode 11 the tone changes: a conspiracy behind all 33 lives comes out, and the second half is mostly palace scheming, poison and lost memories.
Fast. Each episode runs about 13 minutes, so the whole drama is roughly five hours. MyDramaList reviewers liked the leads, especially He Landou, but several said the pace is so quick that things happen before you can take them in, and that the last episode rushes through a lot. Another loved the first two thirds but said a late plot twist turned the clever male lead into a different person.
Reception. Tencent reported a heat index above 19,000 on launch day, and Tencent Video users rated it 9.0 from about 16,000 votes. On MyDramaList it scored 7.5 from 335 users. It has no Douban score yet.
Content notes. A house fire that kills the heroine's family, poisoning, an attempted murder, self-harm threats and a scene where starving refugees are ordered killed.
The Story
He Xiaoyuan is a palace maid who has lived the same life 33 times. Her fate is bound to the Seventh Prince, Zhao Baiqing, a man the whole court is afraid of, and the loop only ends if two things happen: he takes the throne, and she wins the Crown Prince's true love. Every time they fail, both of them wake up back at the start. In the 34th life, Zhao Baiqing stops leaving it to chance. He turns tutor, drilling her in dance, music and manners so she can catch the Crown Prince's eye, and the two of them start falling for each other instead. As Promised (如期) is a 24-episode Tencent Video costume comedy starring He Landou and Zhao Yiqin, with episodes of about 13 minutes. It came out in September 2026.
Zhang Ao directed it from a script by Wu Huan and Wu Yuqing, adapted from a Zhihu story by Lan Sanjiao.
Release Notes
As Promised premiered on Tencent Video on September 21, 2026, at noon. Members got six episodes on day one and then two a day, and MyDramaList dates the finale to September 29. Non-members got two episodes a day from October 7. It was registered in September 2025 on the NRTA's list of key micro-drama projects and filmed from January 27 to February 10, 2026.
Internationally, WeTV carries all 24 episodes. From the US on October 28, 2026, episodes 1 and 2 were free and episodes 3 to 24 needed VIP. It isn't on Viki. MyDramaList also lists iflix, which we haven't checked.
The songs are "Fu Sheng Jie" (浮生劫), "Po Meng" (破梦) by Hui A Ling (徽阿令) and "Wei Liao" (未了) by Cang Bing (苍冰).
Does As Promised have a happy ending?
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We have not finished this one ourselves; this is based on outside sources.
In Brief
Ending spoilerShow the ending in brief
As Promised has a happy ending. In the 35th and final life, Zhao Baiqing stops the Crown Prince's wedding to He Xiaoyuan, the Crown Prince's poisoning of the Emperor is exposed, and he is deposed. Zhao Baiqing becomes heir and then emperor, He Xiaoyuan becomes his empress, and the loop is over. Fu Yang marries Princess Yunfang.
Full Ending Explained
Full spoilersShow the full ending
This account comes from the episode summaries on Baidu Baike, not from watching.
Life 34: the tutor. Zhao Baiqing coaches He Xiaoyuan to imitate Mu Tingting, the Crown Prince's first love, and she wins a prize lingzhi at the flower banquet to treat her parents (episodes 1-5). In episode 8 she works out that the boy who rescued her ten years earlier, the reason she loved the Crown Prince, was really Zhao Baiqing sent in his place. She takes a blade meant for the Crown Prince in episode 9, and he confesses to her, while she and Zhao Baiqing are secretly in love.
The conspiracy. In episode 11, the National Preceptor Zhixuan turns out to be from the old dynasty's royal line. He has been bending the stars to twist fate: He Xiaoyuan and Zhao Baiqing were the destined pair, and their union would make him emperor. Zhixuan rewired their fate toward the Crown Prince to wreck the dynasty's luck, and this is the 34th and last life he can force. His assassins burn down the He family home, and her parents and sister die.
The stolen bride. He Xiaoyuan agrees to marry the Crown Prince. On the wedding day, Zhao Baiqing carries her off and tells her the truth about Zhixuan (episode 12). He then turns on Zhixuan's faction and is thrown into prison. His farewell letter reveals that this life was his own sacrifice to disturb time one last time (episode 13).
Life 35: everything is wrong. She wakes up as the Crown Prince's bride-to-be. Zhao Baiqing has no memory of her and plans to arrange her death, until they find out they are linked: when one is hurt, the other feels it (episodes 14-15). The Crown Prince, it turns out, remembers his past lives too. Zhixuan had convinced him that Zhao Baiqing had killed him with his own sword 33 times, and he sends Fu Yang to spy on his brother (episode 17).
The love gu. He Xiaoyuan is poisoned shielding Zhao Baiqing from an assassin (episode 19). The Crown Prince then uses a love gu, a kind of magical parasite, that grafts a person's memories and feelings onto someone else. When Zhao Baiqing's memories come back, they come back attached to Mu Tingting, and the Emperor approves their marriage (episode 20). He Xiaoyuan exposes Mu Tingting, and when the gu turns on Zhao Baiqing she draws it into her own body to save him (episode 21).
The frame. At the Mid-Autumn banquet, the Emperor is poisoned and the Crown Prince accuses Zhao Baiqing. Fu Yang testifies against him, but it's a plan the two agreed on to put the Crown Prince off guard (episode 22). Fu Yang also learns that Zhixuan has been dead for years: life 35 was a last round he forced at the cost of his own soul.
The wedding. In episode 24, Zhao Baiqing interrupts the Crown Prince's wedding to He Xiaoyuan. Fu Yang reveals that the Crown Prince was never the destined emperor: men in his mother's family carry a blood disease and don't live past 35, and the late empress hid it. The Emperor, revived by He Xiaoyuan disguised alongside a physician, arrives in person. The Crown Prince is stripped of his title and confined to the Eastern Palace, with Mu Tingting staying with him. Zhao Baiqing becomes emperor, He Xiaoyuan becomes empress, and Fu Yang marries Princess Yunfang instead of her being sent to marry a northern ruler for peace.
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Cast and characters
Also starring
- He Xiaoyuan (He Landou): quick, stubborn and braver than she looks. After 33 lives she only wants her parents and sister to survive.
- Zhao Baiqing (Zhao Yiqin): the Seventh Prince, cold and ruthless in public, gentle with her in private. He has been afraid of fireworks since his mother died on the night of the Lantern Festival.
- Zhao Junyao (Li Kaiwen): the Crown Prince, the target of He Xiaoyuan's courtship, who grows more controlling and dangerous as the lives go on.
- Princess Yunfang (Li Qinger): the Crown Prince's sister, who sides with He Xiaoyuan.
- Fu Yang (Wang Yinxiang): the National Preceptor's son, who keeps switching sides. MyDramaList reviewers spent a lot of time trying to work out which side he was on.
- Mu Tingting (Tian Xuanning): the Crown Prince's first love, later placed close to Zhao Baiqing.
- Yu Feilin (Gao Yaohan): a noble daughter who wants the Crown Princess title for herself.
- Zhixuan (Jiang Tianyang): the National Preceptor, who reads the stars for the court.
Identity Reveals
Ending spoilerShow identity reveals
There are two big ones. The boy who rescued He Xiaoyuan as a child, whom she thought was the Crown Prince, was Zhao Baiqing (episode 8). And the National Preceptor Zhixuan is descended from the dynasty the current royal family overthrew, which is why he has been bending fate across every life (episode 11).
The novel behind it
As Promised adapts The Villain Teaches Me How to Chase Girls (反派教我追女生) by Lan Sanjiao (蓝三角), a story published through Yan Yan Gu Shi (盐言故事), the paid short-fiction line of the Q&A platform Zhihu. MyDramaList lists it as a web novel and keeps the original title as one of the drama's alternative names. As far as we know, there is no official English translation, and we haven't read it.
- Original title
- 反派教我追女生 · The Villain Teaches Me How to Chase Girls
- Author
- Lan Sanjiao 蓝三角
- First published
- Other
- In English
- No official translation that we know of
Words and customs you'll hear
Zhihu stories
Zhihu (知乎) is China's biggest question-and-answer site, a little like Quora. Its paid fiction line publishes short, punchy stories, often only tens of thousands of characters long, built around a hook in the first lines. As Promised squeezes one of them into 24 short episodes, which helps explain the pace.
The National Preceptor
The guoshi (国师), translated as National Preceptor or state preceptor, was a court title for a religious adviser to the emperor, often a monk or Taoist master. In costume dramas the character usually reads the stars and interprets omens, and often turns out to be the one pulling strings behind the throne.
Love gu
Gu (蛊) is an old idea from southern Chinese folklore: a poison or curse bred from insects and used to control someone. Costume dramas use "love gu" (情蛊) as a plot device for magically forcing or transferring feelings. The one in As Promised, qingu qiansi (情蛊千丝), grafts one person's memories of love onto someone else.
As Promised FAQ
How many episodes does As Promised have?
As Promised has 24 episodes of about 13 minutes each, roughly five hours in total. It premiered on Tencent Video on September 21, 2026, with members getting six episodes on day one and two a day after that. It has been complete since late September, and WeTV carries all 24 episodes.
Where can I watch As Promised?
From the US on October 28, 2026, WeTV had all 24 episodes, with episodes 1 and 2 free and the rest needing VIP. It isn't on Viki. MyDramaList also lists iflix, which we haven't checked. In mainland China it streams on Tencent Video, where it first aired in September 2026.
Does As Promised have a happy or sad ending?
SpoilerShow the answer
Minor spoilerReveal how it ends
Happy. In the 35th life, the Crown Prince's plot is exposed and he is deposed. Zhao Baiqing becomes emperor, He Xiaoyuan becomes his empress, and the loop finally ends. Fu Yang and Princess Yunfang marry too. Reviewers on MyDramaList say the final episode wraps everything up very quickly.
Do He Xiaoyuan and Zhao Baiqing end up together?
SpoilerShow the answer
Ending spoilerReveal whether they end up together
Yes. After 35 lives, a stolen wedding, lost memories and a love gu that attaches his memories to another woman, Zhao Baiqing stops her wedding to the Crown Prince. He takes the throne and she becomes his empress. We haven't watched it, so we can't describe the final scene in detail.
Who is the villain in As Promised?
SpoilerShow the answer
Ending spoilerReveal who is behind the loop
The National Preceptor Zhixuan, an heir of the old dynasty, twisted He Xiaoyuan's and Zhao Baiqing's fate and kept the loop running for 34 lives. In the 35th life the Crown Prince, who remembers his past lives and believes his brother killed him, becomes the main threat.
Is As Promised based on a novel?
Yes. It adapts The Villain Teaches Me How to Chase Girls (反派教我追女生), a story by Lan Sanjiao published through Zhihu's paid short-fiction line, Yan Yan Gu Shi. MyDramaList lists the story's title as one of the drama's alternative names. As far as we know, there is no official English translation.
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