Love Like the Galaxy
Love Like the Galaxy is a 56-episode Chinese historical romance drama from Tencent Video. It aired from July 5, 2022 to August 18, 2022, and all episodes are out. In the US it streams officially on Viki (free with ads) and WeTV (free with ads), checked October 25, 2026. It is adapted from a novel by Guan Xin Ze Luan.
Where to watch Love Like the Galaxy
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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 The Story of Ming Lan who like domestic detail, big families and a heroine who argues back
What viewers score it
The story, without spoilers
What to Expect
We haven't watched this one. This section is based on the official episode synopses, the production's own descriptions and Chinese coverage, and we'll replace it with a verdict once we have one.
The first part plays like a family comedy with a romance underneath. Shaoshang is clever with her hands, designing gadgets and fortifications, and she is not polite: she argues with her elders, sizes up suitors by their finances and gets into trouble for it. A long early stretch follows her engagement to the gentle Lou Yao, and her verbal sparring with the scholar Yuan Shen, before Ling Buyi becomes the clear romantic lead. Viewers who came for the main couple sometimes complained online that this setup takes too long. Others said it is the point, since the drama is about a neglected girl learning that she is worth loving.
The second part, Yue Sheng Cang Hai, turns darker. Court politics, an old massacre and Ling Buyi's revenge take over, and the couple's conflict is less about misunderstanding than about whether he can put her ahead of his grudge. Chinese reviewers singled out the mother-daughter story between Shaoshang and Xiao Yuanyi, and Zeng Li later won Best Supporting Actress at the 13th Macau International TV Festival for the role. Some viewers found the last third slow and the ending abrupt.
Content notes: there is war violence, references to a massacre of a whole army and its families, torture in imperial prisons, and a character with severe mental illness. The romance is chaste by Western standards.
The drama was a major hit for Tencent. Chinese coverage reported that part 1 passed 200 million views in a single day and part 2 reached 300 million in a day by early August 2022. Its Weibo hashtag passed 3.5 billion reads, and it trended on Weibo hundreds of times in its first nine days. It held a 7.4 on Douban from more than 100,000 ratings in mid-July 2022, according to Jiemian; the score may have moved since.
The Story
Cheng Shaoshang was left behind as a baby when her parents rode off to war, and she spent fifteen years being raised, badly, by an aunt who wanted her quiet and ignorant. When the family comes home, she is a stranger to them: sharp, frugal, inventive and convinced that nobody will look after her but herself. Into her life walks Ling Buyi, the Emperor's foster son and the most feared young commander in the capital, a man who seems to care about nothing except a grudge he never names. Love Like the Galaxy (星汉灿烂) is a 56-episode Tencent Video drama starring Zhao Lusi and Wu Lei, adapted from a JJWXC novel by Guan Xin Ze Luan, the author behind The Story of Ming Lan. It aired in two parts in the summer of 2022, the second under the title Yue Sheng Cang Hai (月升沧海).
The setting is an imagined dynasty loosely modeled on the Eastern Han, a few years after a new emperor has unified the realm by force. Shaoshang's story is as much about the big, noisy Cheng household as about romance: a warm father, a cold mother, cousins, aunts, uncles and a grandmother with strong opinions.
Release Notes
Love Like the Galaxy premiered on Tencent Video on July 5, 2022. The first 27 episodes ran as Xing Han Can Lan, and the remaining 29 began on July 27 under the title Yue Sheng Cang Hai. Members watched ahead of free viewers: English Wikipedia gives the end of the run as August 18, 2022, while Chinese Wikipedia and distributor listings give the full run as July 5 to September 17, 2022. We think the earlier date is the members' finale, but we haven't confirmed it.
The drama was directed by Fei Zhenxiang (费振翔) and written by Zou Yue and An Yimo, and it was filmed at Hengdian World Studios. Internationally it was released on WeTV, iQIYI International, Viu, Viki and, in some countries, Netflix. From the US on October 25, 2026, Viki and WeTV both had all 56 episodes free with ads. We couldn't confirm a Netflix listing for the US or UK.
The theme song, "Love Like the Galaxy" (星汉灿烂), is sung by Shan Yichun (单依纯). Character themes include "String Song" for Ling Buyi by Ayanga, "Star River Sigh" for Shaoshang by Huang Ling, and "Happy Like Me" for Yuan Shen by Li Yunrui, the actor who plays him.
There is no second season. The two parts are one story, and Tencent has not announced a sequel.
Does Love Like the Galaxy have a happy ending?
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We have not finished this one ourselves; this is based on outside sources. The drama changes how the novel ends.
In Brief
Ending spoilerShow the ending in brief
Love Like the Galaxy has a happy ending. Ling Buyi completes his revenge, and Shaoshang, hurt that he never planned for a future with her, breaks off their engagement. They spend years apart. In the final episodes he saves her from a deadly fire, she forgives him, and they reunite with both families' blessing. The drama doesn't show the wedding; the novel goes much further.
Full Ending Explained
Full spoilersShow the full ending
This account comes from published episode synopses and Chinese and Taiwanese entertainment coverage (mainly Marie Claire Taiwan and beauty321), not from watching. Where sources disagree, we say so.
Ling Buyi's revenge. Ling Buyi is really Huo Wushang, the last surviving son of the Huo family, whose army and household were wiped out at Gucheng years earlier. The man responsible is Ling Yi, Marquis of Chengyang, who betrayed the Huo army to its enemies. Ling Buyi spends his whole life preparing to expose him. In the second part he finally strikes, bringing Ling Yi's crimes into the open in a way that puts his own life and position at risk.
Shaoshang's choice. Shaoshang learns that he went ahead without a thought for her or for what would happen to her if he fell. She still rides out to save him, and her family helps, but once he is safe she coldly asks to end their engagement. She tells him, in effect, that someone who would throw his life away for revenge has no room for her.
Five years apart. Shaoshang stays in Changqiu Palace (长秋宫), serving the sidelined Empress Xuan, who has become something like a second mother to her. Ling Buyi is sent to the northwest frontier. Chinese recaps describe a five-year separation, after which he comes back to the capital.
Empress Xuan. The Empress's illness and death are the emotional turning point of the final stretch. She has loved both of them and urges them toward each other, and her loss pushes the two back together.
The fire. In the finale, Wang Yanji, who has a grudge against the Lou family and has allied herself with rebels, lures Shaoshang into a hidden room and sets it alight. Ling Buyi breaks in and carries her out. The rebels' plan, led by a man named Tian Shuo, involved stockpiling fuel at Guo village to burn the harvest. Shaoshang and Ling Buyi foil it together and rescue the Third Prince, who is now the heir, and the villagers.
The last scene. Shaoshang forgives him. Both families agree to the marriage and preparations begin, but the series ends before a wedding is shown, with the couple under the starry sky that gives the drama its name. Yuan Shen remains her friend. Several side couples reach their own endings: Cheng Yang marries, Lou Yao marries He Zhaojun, and Shaoshang's brother Cheng Song marries her friend Wan Qiqi. Taiwanese coverage says many viewers wanted more, which is part of why the novel's epilogue gets discussed so often.
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Cast and characters
The novel behind it
The drama adapts Xing Han Can Lan, Xing Shen Zhi Zai (星汉灿烂，幸甚至哉) by Guan Xin Ze Luan (关心则乱), serialized on JJWXC. The same author wrote the novel behind The Story of Ming Lan, and the two share an interest in big households, domestic detail and a heroine who wins by being smarter than her elders. As far as we know, there is no official English translation.
Differences from the Novel
Ending spoilerShow the differences
Chinese coverage, mainly beauty321 and Marie Claire Taiwan, points to these changes:
- The ending stops early. The drama closes before the wedding. The novel continues through the marriage and years beyond it.
- Side characters. The novel gives fuller endings to supporting couples, including Cheng Song and Wan Qiqi, Cheng Yang and her husband, and Lou Yao and He Zhaojun. The drama settles them more briefly.
- Wang Yanji. Her arc in the novel is reported to be darker and more drawn out than the drama's version, which compresses her into the finale's villain.
- Pacing. Chinese viewers often noted that the drama spends many episodes on the early family chapters, which in the book read faster.
Novel Ending
Full spoilersShow how the novel ends
According to Chinese recaps, in the novel Shaoshang and Ling Buyi marry, and he takes a post as a provincial governor with her at his side. They have several children. When Emperor Wen dies, they are called back to the capital to help the new emperor, the former Third Prince, settle his reign. Ling Buyi serves for about three more years, then resigns, and the couple leave court life behind to travel. We haven't confirmed these details from the book itself.
- Original title
- 星汉灿烂，幸甚至哉
- Author
- Guan Xin Ze Luan 关心则乱
- First published
- JJWXC
- In English
- No official translation that we know of
Words and customs you'll hear
How courtiers, consorts, and servants address or refer to the emperor, especially in dramas set in the Qing dynasty.
Full explanationNiangniang娘娘 · niáng niangA respectful form of address for an empress or high-ranking consort, used by servants, officials, and lower-ranking women.
Full explanationCourtesy names
Educated men in imperial China had a given name and, once grown, a courtesy name used by friends and peers. Ling Buyi's is Zisheng, and Yuan Shen's is Shanjian. Calling someone by his given name could be rude or intimate depending on who says it, which is why the drama makes a point of who uses which.
Marquises and the new nobility
The Cheng family are new nobility: Cheng Shi rose as a general in the wars that founded the dynasty and was made a marquis for it. Old aristocratic clans like Yuan Shen's look down on families like the Chengs, and that snobbery drives a lot of the early plot. If you're keeping track of court titles, our glossary covers huangshang, the way characters address the Emperor, and niangniang, the honorific for the Empress and consorts.
Engagements
An engagement in this world is a formal contract between families, not a private promise. Breaking one hurts both families' standing, which is why Shaoshang's request to end hers is a scandal and why Lou Yao's family makes it so hard for him.
Eastern Han inspiration
The drama is set in a fictional dynasty, but its look borrows from the Han era: wide-sleeved robes, low tables and seating on mats rather than chairs, and early palace architecture. That makes it look different from the Song or Qing period dramas many international viewers know.
Love Like the Galaxy FAQ
How many episodes does Love Like the Galaxy have?
Love Like the Galaxy has 56 episodes, each about 45 minutes long. Tencent released it in two parts: 27 episodes as Love Like the Galaxy and 29 as Yue Sheng Cang Hai, sometimes listed as Part 2. International platforms such as Viki and WeTV list all 56 as a single season.
Where can I watch Love Like the Galaxy with English subtitles?
From the US on October 25, 2026, all 56 episodes were free with ads on both Viki and WeTV, with English subtitles. It has also been on iQIYI International and Viu in parts of Asia. In China it streams on Tencent Video.
Is there a season 2 of Love Like the Galaxy?
No. What some sites call season 2 or Part 2 is Yue Sheng Cang Hai, the second half of the same 56-episode story, which began airing on July 27, 2022. Tencent hasn't announced a sequel, and the novel's story ends where the drama's does, plus an epilogue.
Does Love Like the Galaxy have a happy ending?
SpoilerShow the answer
Minor spoilerReveal whether it ends happily
Yes. Shaoshang and Ling Buyi separate for years after his revenge plot nearly costs him his life, but they reconcile in the final episodes, and both families bless the match. The drama ends before a wedding scene, which frustrated some viewers; the novel shows their marriage and children.
Who is Ling Buyi really?
SpoilerShow the answer
Ending spoilerReveal Ling Buyi's real identity
Ling Buyi is Huo Wushang, the only survivor of the Huo family, whose army was betrayed and massacred at Gucheng when he was five. He has spent his life planning revenge on the man behind it, Ling Yi, Marquis of Chengyang. The secret shapes his engagement to Shaoshang.
Why do Shaoshang and Ling Buyi break up?
SpoilerShow the answer
Ending spoilerReveal why they break up
Ling Buyi carries out his revenge against Ling Yi without telling Shaoshang or thinking about what would happen to her if he failed. She helps rescue him, then ends the engagement because he put his grudge ahead of their future. They spend about five years apart before reconciling.
Is Love Like the Galaxy based on a novel?
Yes. It's based on Xing Han Can Lan, Xing Shen Zhi Zai by Guan Xin Ze Luan, published on JJWXC. She also wrote the novel behind The Story of Ming Lan. The drama follows the main story but ends earlier, before the couple's marriage, and trims several side plots.
Can I read Love Like the Galaxy in English?
Not officially, as far as we know. We can't find a licensed English translation of Guan Xin Ze Luan's novel, and the original is in Chinese on JJWXC. Fan translations may circulate, but we don't link to them. If an official English edition is announced, we'll add it here.
Who sings the Love Like the Galaxy theme song?
The main theme, "Love Like the Galaxy" (星汉灿烂), is sung by Shan Yichun. The soundtrack also includes "String Song," Ling Buyi's theme, by Ayanga; "Star River Sigh," Shaoshang's theme, by Huang Ling; and "Happy Like Me," Yuan Shen's theme, sung by actor Li Yunrui.
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