LayarHijau – The short drama Yield to You (折腰), starring Yue Yuting as Xiao Qiao and Wu Xize as Wei Shao, was suddenly removed from the Hongguo platform less than 24 hours after its premiere. The drama is a mini adaptation of the historical romance series The Prisoner of Beauty (执曜) starring Liu Yuning and Song Zuer The series was launched on October 15, 2025, at 10 a.m., but by that night, it had already vanished from the platform.
Viewers who had reached episode 27 were left hanging as the story abruptly ended just when major plot points — Zhang Pu’s true identity and Wei Yan’s fateful decision — were about to unfold. Those trying to rewatch found only a message: “This program has been removed.”
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Suspected of Being Too Explicit
The sudden removal sparked heated discussion across Chinese social media. Many speculated that Yield to You was taken down due to its excessive sensuality. Scenes from the original novel — such as bathing together, forced kisses with aphrodisiac herbs, and intimate encounters behind silk curtains — were all brought to screen with little restraint.
Episode 7 even featured a full consummation scene, with breathing and sound effects left unfiltered. Critics accused the series of disguising itself as a costume romance while essentially serving softcore content, Baijiahao Baidu reported.
“The female lead was completely rewritten — from a clever, calculating noblewoman into a seductress who advances the plot with her body instead of her brain,” wrote one Weibo user.
Ironically, the production team used the tagline “showing what long dramas don’t dare to show” as a marketing hook. The hashtag #短剧折腰尺度好大# (which means “The short drama Zhe Yao has extremely daring scenes”) quickly went viral, amassing over one billion reads in a single day. But that very buzz also caught the attention of regulators.
Accused of Plagiarism
Apart from the issue of “crossing moral boundaries,” Yield to You was also accused of plagiarizing the original The Prisoner of Beauty. Everything from military flag designs to cinematography and background music appeared to be directly copied from the Liu Yuning and Song Zuer version.
To make matters worse, its marketing campaign even mocked the male lead’s looks in the original drama, angering fans further.
Fans of the novel and the original series lashed out, saying Yield to You stripped away all the political intrigue and emotional complexity, leaving only shallow eroticism.
“When your biggest selling point is the bedroom scene, your ending is already written,” commented one netizen.
[…] Shao, the series premiered on the Hongguo platform at 10 a.m. on October 15, 2025 — only to be removed from all platforms that same […]