LayarHijau – The long-awaited sequel to Princess Agents (Princess Agents Season 2) has officially premiered on April 8, 2026, under the title Rebirth (冰湖重生). The drama arrives nearly nine years after the original version ended on an iconic cliffhanger at the frozen lake, now continuing directly the story that was once left unresolved.
In this new version, the character Chu Qiao is no longer portrayed by Zhao Liying, but by Huangyang Tiantian—an actress who interestingly once played the younger version of the same character in the 2017 drama. Meanwhile, the male lead is now played by Li Yunrui, alongside Zhang Kangle and a new supporting cast. The complete recasting becomes one of the most striking changes compared to the original version.
Next articles
As a direct continuation, Rebirth opens from the final scene that had long been debated among viewers. The fate of the characters that was once unclear is now gradually revealed, bringing in a wider and more complex conflict.
However, behind the return of this story to the screen lies a long history that cannot be separated from it: the plagiarism case involving the original novel, 11处特工皇妃 (Special Agent Consort from Division 11) written by Xiao Xiang Dong Er.
Since 2015, the novel had already faced accusations of plagiarism from several authors. The most serious allegation came from Xiao Ruse, the author of Novoland: Pearl Eclipse. She claimed that parts of 11处特工皇妃 bore similarities to her work, not only in terms of ideas but also in writing style, including scene descriptions and narrative structure.
In the same year, Xiao Xiang Dong Er admitted that there were problematic sections in her novel and stated that revisions would be made. However, when Princess Agents (Princess Agents Season 2) aired in 2017 and gained massive popularity, the controversy resurfaced and eventually escalated into a legal case.
A formal lawsuit was filed in 2018 by Xiao Ruse at the Chaoyang District Court in Beijing. After a lengthy process, the court ruled in 2020 that 11处特工皇妃 had indeed committed plagiarism, but only on partial content.
In its ruling, the court found around 15 to 17 passages with substantial similarities at the level of expression, such as detailed descriptions and scene construction. This means the violation was not about the overall story concept, but rather the way certain parts were expressed.
As a consequence, Xiao Xiang Dong Er was ordered to remove or revise the infringing sections, issue a public apology, and pay compensation of around 50,000 yuan (approximately $6,900 USD) to Xiao Ruse. In addition, the uncorrected version of the novel was prohibited from further publication.
However, the key point of the case is that the court did not invalidate the entire work. Copyright over the original parts was still recognized, and there was no ban on adapting or continuing the story in other formats.
In other words, only a small portion of the content was considered infringing, not the entire work. After those sections were removed or revised, the remaining story was still legally usable.
This ultimately opened the path for the continuation of the IP. With a large fanbase since 2017 and an unfinished storyline, a sequel like Rebirth could still be produced as long as it no longer used the legally problematic material.
Now, with Rebirth currently airing and beginning to resolve long-standing mysteries, the long journey from legal controversy to story continuation has finally reached a new chapter that fans have been waiting for.
