Destined
Destined is a 40-episode Chinese historical romance drama from iQIYI. It aired from June 18, 2023 to July 14, 2023, and all episodes are out. In the US it streams officially on iQIYI (VIP, episodes 1-5 free), checked October 25, 2026. It is adapted from a novel by Mo Shubai.
Where to watch Destined
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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
Fans of Bai Jingting and marriage-first romances who can tolerate uneven pacing once court politics take over
The story, without spoilers
What to Expect
We haven't watched this one. This section is based on the iQ.com and iQIYI listings, Chinese reports and recaps, and two English reviews, and we'll replace it with a verdict once we have one.
The premise is the "marry first, fall in love later" setup. Chinese write-ups say Liu Yuru drops her demure act once she is in the Gu household. She learns trade from Gu Jiusi's mother and pushes him to quit gambling and study, and he turns out to be sharper than his reputation. Early on the tone is light and comic, and the leads' banter is what reviewers praise most.
Later the scope widens. Chengmusings says the first dozen or so episodes are mostly romance, after which court politics, business rivalry, a struggle over the throne, corruption and flood control crowd in. Both English reviewers found the pacing uneven. Chasing Dramas gave it 6.8/10 after ten episodes and 6/10 at the end, saying the many plotlines caused pacing problems. Chengmusings also gave it 6/10, preferring the first half and praising the production values, costumes and props. Both singled out the leads' chemistry. Both also called the villains underdeveloped.
A content note: the drama includes violence, war, executions, mistreatment within a family and suicide.
The Story
Liu Yuru is the eldest daughter of a cloth merchant in Yangzhou, and her father's concubine treats her badly. After a misunderstanding, she is married to Gu Jiusi, the carefree son of a wealthy family with a playboy reputation. Destined (长风渡, Chang Feng Du) is a 40-episode iQIYI period romance from 2023, starring Bai Jingting as Gu Jiusi and Song Yi as Liu Yuru. Yin Tao (尹涛) directed it, and it adapts the web novel of the same name by Mo Shubai (墨书白). The story is set in a fictional ancient dynasty and mixes a marriage-first romance with family business and court politics. It streams internationally on iQ.com.
Release Notes
Destined premiered on iQIYI on June 18, 2023 and ended for members on July 14. According to the Beijing News, quoting iQIYI's official Weibo, members got two episodes a day at 19:00, while non-members got one free episode a day. After that, members moved to two episodes from Thursday to Sunday. Free viewers would finish later than July 14, but we didn't find that date. CCTV-8 began airing it in late June 2023, and English and Chinese Wikipedia disagree on whether that was June 26 or 27. Jiangsu TV ran it in its Happy Theater slot from February 2024, the Beijing News reports, and Wikipedia also lists a Hong Kong run on TVB Jade, which Chinese Wikipedia says started in late August 2023.
Yin Tao directed. Chinese Wikipedia credits Bai Jinjin (白锦锦), Xi Ruyuan (席如远), Shen Nianqing (沈念青) and Sun Jiwen (孙霁雯) as writers, and iQIYI produced it with Liehuo Pictures (烈火影业) and Shengge Film & TV (盛阁影视). Filming ran from June 15 to November 7, 2022 at Hengdian World Studios.
The soundtrack, per both Wikipedias, includes Qingqing (轻轻) by Jane Zhang (张靓颖), Shi Ni (是你) by Xianzi (弦子) and Li Mao (李茂), and Yuan Ru Chang Feng (愿如长风) by Bai Jingting and Yidong (以冬). The English titles on Wikipedia are not official, so we use the pinyin. Internationally, iQ.com lists all 40 episodes with English subtitles. From the US on October 25, 2026, episodes 1 to 5 were free there and the rest needed VIP. We didn't find a Netflix, Viki or WeTV page for it. No second season has been announced.
Does Destined 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
Destined ends happily for Gu Jiusi and Liu Yuru, though not for everyone around them. According to a Chinese episode recap and an English review, the villain's long revenge plot collapses, an army from Youzhou takes the capital without a fight, and the couple end up as a married pair of officials and business owners who help build a prosperous era. A few side couples end sadly. We haven't watched it.
Full Ending Explained
Full spoilersShow the full ending
This account comes mainly from a TV Mao recap of episode 40, checked against Chinese commentary and the English review on Chengmusings, not from watching. The finale details rest largely on that one recap, so we say where other sources differ.
Luo Zishang and Jiang He. According to the recap, Jiang He takes his own life and Luo Zishang dies with him. Before he dies, Luo Zishang says the fire at the Luo house was not set on purpose. A Tencent News commentary describes the scene differently. In it, Jiang He admits at last that Luo Zishang is his son, wounds him and leaves a letter that explains the truth to the Gu family. It calls Luo Zishang's death near, rather than describing his last moments. Chengmusings found Luo Zishang's ending out of character for him.
The capital. The recap says Zhou Gaolang's army from Youzhou reaches the capital, and Gu Jiusi walks out in official robes with the late emperor's decree to open the gates. After Gu Jiusi, Ye Shian, Liu Yuru and Zhou Ye urge him to put the family grudge aside, Zhou Gaolang takes off his armor and enters, and he becomes the new ruler. Chengmusings says the same, that the young characters overthrow Fan Yu and a new kingdom forms under Zhou Gaolang. In the recap, Fan Yu is spared and given a comfortable title as an idle prince.
Years later. The recap's epilogue says Zhou Ye governs well as regent. Zhou Gaolang then reunites the realm and passes the throne to Zhou Ye. The recap gives the new reign name as Zhaoming (昭明), while a Chinese article describes the era differently, so we leave the name unconfirmed. Gu Jiusi holds high office in this period. The recap says left chancellor, while iQ.com, TVmaze and D-Addicts say he becomes Minister of Revenue and works to ease the tax burden. The recap also mentions a wealthy "Madame Gu née Liu" who runs charity halls and builds trade ties. It doesn't name her, but iQ.com's synopsis gives Liu Yuru the same charity halls and business ties.
Side characters. According to the recap, Ye Shian becomes right chancellor and Zhou Ye stays unmarried after the death of Qin Wanzhi, who is honored as his crown princess. Chengmusings agrees that Zhou Ye's separation is a sad one, and adds that Ye Shian ends without a romantic partner and that Ye Yun and Shen Ming become a couple.
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Cast and characters
- Gu Jiusi (Bai Jingting): the carefree son of a wealthy Yangzhou family, known as a playboy.
- Liu Yuru (Song Yi): the eldest daughter of the Liu cloth-merchant family, married into the Gu household by mistake.
- Luo Zishang (Liu Xueyi): a figure from Liu Yuru's past who is out to bring down the Gu family.
- Ye Shian (Zhang Haowei): the son of the Ye family, whom Liu Yuru once hoped to marry.
- Zhou Ye (Zhang Rui): a young general who becomes close to the couple.
- Gu Langhua (Sha Yi): Gu Jiusi's father.
- Jiang Rou (Zhao Ziqi): Gu Jiusi's mother, who teaches Liu Yuru business.
- Ye Yun (Zhang Weina): Liu Yuru's close friend.
- Liu Xuan (Zhang Xilin): Liu Yuru's father, head of the Liu family.
- Zhang Yue'er (Hu Ke): Liu Xuan's concubine.
- Wang Shanquan (Zhang Shaogang): the commissioner who takes over Yangzhou and breaks the old families.
- Jiang He: the father of Luo Zishang, according to Chinese commentary and recaps. We haven't confirmed who plays him.
Identity Reveals
Ending spoilerShow identity reveals
The central secret in the villain's story is who Luo Zishang really is. The official synopsis doesn't mention it.
Ending spoilerReveal Luo Zishang's parentage
According to Chinese commentary, Luo Zishang is the son of Jiang He and Luo Yishui (洛依水), and he never knew it. A NetEase piece says he believed Gu Langhua had wronged his mother, which it gives as one reason he turns on the Gu family. Part of this commentary says it follows the novel rather than the drama, so the series may tell it differently. Tencent News says Jiang He only admits the truth at the very end.
The novel behind it
Destined adapts Chang Feng Du (长风渡), a web novel by Mo Shubai (墨书白). Chinese Wikipedia lists it as a Jinjiang Literature City (晋江文学城) serial and gives the drama the alias Jia Wan Ku (嫁纨绔). The Paper, a Chinese news outlet, says the novel was first titled Jia Wan Ku and was renamed Chang Feng Du. We haven't read the book. We found no official English edition, and no reliable comparison of the novel's ending with the drama's, so we can't say whether they differ. One of the commentary pieces we read says it draws on the novel for Luo Zishang's backstory, which suggests the book includes that material.
- Original title
- 长风渡
- Author
- Mo Shubai 墨书白
- First published
- JJWXC
- In English
- No official translation that we know of
Words and customs you'll hear
The title
Chang Feng Du (长风渡) puts "long wind" (长风) before du (渡), which means to cross or a ferry crossing. The producers haven't explained the title in anything we found. The ending song Yuan Ru Chang Feng (愿如长风) shares the "long wind" phrase, which may be a nod to the title, but that is our reading. Chinese Wikipedia lists the novel's earlier title as Jia Wan Ku (嫁纨绔), roughly "marrying a playboy", and the word wanku (纨绔) names the idle rich young man that Gu Jiusi is first taken to be.
Real places, invented dynasty
The show names real cities such as Yangzhou, but sets them in a fictional dynasty, so don't look for a historical period to match. Chengmusings noted that the series gives merchants a large share of the credit for the realm's prosperity.
Destined FAQ
What is Destined about?
Destined is a 2023 Chinese period romance on iQIYI. Liu Yuru, a cloth merchant's daughter, is married by mistake to Gu Jiusi, a carefree playboy from a wealthy family. She learns business from his mother, and the couple grow closer as unrest forces the Gu family to leave Yangzhou and start over.
How many episodes does Destined have?
Destined has 40 episodes of about 45 minutes each, according to iQ.com, the iQIYI Chinese page, English Wikipedia and D-Addicts. All of them have aired. It is a single season, and the story is told in full by the finale. No second season has been announced, and we found no statement from iQIYI about one.
When was Destined released?
Destined premiered on iQIYI on June 18, 2023. Members finished on July 14, 2023, according to English Wikipedia and the Beijing News, while free viewers got one episode a day and would finish later. CCTV-8 aired it from late June 2023, and sources disagree on whether that was June 26 or 27, so we can't give the exact day.
Where can I watch Destined?
In China it streams on iQIYI and aired on CCTV-8. Internationally, iQ.com lists all 40 episodes with English subtitles. From the US on October 25, 2026, episodes 1 to 5 were free and the rest needed VIP. We found no Viki or WeTV page for it.
Is Destined on Netflix?
We couldn't find a Netflix page for the Chinese drama. The Netflix title that comes up for "Destined" is Destined with You, a Korean drama, which is a different show. The Chinese Destined streams on iQIYI, and iQ.com lists all 40 episodes with English subtitles, the first five free in the US.
Who is in the cast of Destined?
Bai Jingting plays Gu Jiusi and Song Yi plays Liu Yuru. Liu Xueyi plays Luo Zishang, Zhang Haowei plays Ye Shian and Zhang Rui plays Zhou Ye. Sha Yi and Zhao Ziqi play Gu Jiusi's parents, Gu Langhua and Jiang Rou. Zhang Weina, Zhang Xilin, Hu Ke and Zhang Shaogang are also in the cast, and Wikipedia lists many more.
Is Destined based on a novel?
Yes. It adapts the web novel Chang Feng Du (长风渡) by Mo Shubai (墨书白), which was reportedly first titled Jia Wan Ku (嫁纨绔). Chinese Wikipedia lists it as a Jinjiang Literature City serial. We found no official English edition, so check bookstores before assuming one exists, and we haven't read the book.
Does the Destined novel end differently?
We don't know. We found no reliable comparison of the novel's ending with the drama's, and we haven't read the book. One piece of Chinese commentary says part of Luo Zishang's backstory comes from the novel, so the two share at least that material. Until we find a reliable comparison, treat any claim about a different ending with caution.
Is Destined worth watching?
Reviews are mixed. Chasing Dramas and Chengmusings both gave it 6/10 and praised the leads' chemistry, and Chengmusings also liked the production values. Both said the later court-politics plot made the pacing uneven. We haven't watched it, so this is only what critics say. It suits viewers who like marriage-first romances more than politics.
Is Chang Feng Du the same drama as Destined?
Yes. Chang Feng Du is the pinyin of the Chinese title 长风渡, and Destined is the English name used by iQ.com, Wikipedia, TVmaze and D-Addicts. Chinese Wikipedia also lists Jia Wan Ku (嫁纨绔), the novel's earlier title, as an alias. All of these point to the same 40-episode iQIYI series from 2023.
Is there more than one Chinese drama called Destined?
We found only one. Searches for the English title turned up this 2023 iQIYI series, 长风渡, and no other Chinese drama. Destined with You is a separate Korean drama, and the name Destined is shared by other shows elsewhere. If you want the Bai Jingting and Song Yi series, search for Chang Feng Du or 长风渡.
Does Destined have a happy ending?
SpoilerShow the answer
Minor spoilerReveal whether it ends happily
Yes for the leads, per a Chinese recap and an English review. Gu Jiusi and Liu Yuru stay together and help build a prosperous era, and the villain's plot collapses. A few side characters end sadly. We haven't watched it, and the finale details rest mainly on one recap.
How does Destined end?
SpoilerShow the answer
Ending spoilerReveal the finale
Reportedly, Zhou Gaolang's army reaches the capital, Gu Jiusi opens the gates with the late emperor's decree, and Zhou Gaolang becomes the new ruler. Years later Zhou Ye succeeds him. This comes mainly from one TV Mao recap and one English review, and we haven't watched it, so treat the details as unconfirmed.
Do Luo Zishang and Jiang He die in Destined?
SpoilerShow the answer
Ending spoilerReveal their fates
Reportedly yes. A TV Mao recap says Jiang He takes his own life and Luo Zishang dies with him, while a Tencent News commentary says Jiang He wounds his son after admitting the truth. The accounts differ on the details. We haven't watched it, so treat this as unconfirmed.
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