Zhang Meng's In Love with Power Interview on her character Hailanzhu

Hailanzhu - The Pearl of Revenge
In Love with Power devises the character of Hailanzhu to undergo some drastic transformation. Hailanzhu and Dayu'er grew up together in the great plains of Mongolia. The former is dubbed as the "Grassland Star of Disaster" while the latter is called the "Grassland Star of Good Fortune."  Hailanzhu's mother is the maidservant of Dayu'er's household. They shared the same father but are birth by different mothers. Because her of low social standing, Hailanzhu experiences quite a lot of hardships and often gets ostracized by her own tribe. Later when Dayu'er falls in love with Hong Taiji, Hailanzhu inadvertently becomes the love of his life.

Even though Hailanzhu has a soft exterior but her inner self can be as hard as metal. Leading a nomadic life within her father's tribe, she can only put her head down when people bully her mother, her brother, and herself. Fortunately, she harbors no resentment toward Dayu'er for her unfortunate situation. She geniunely cares for her half-sister and looks after Dayu'er since they were children. Her fiancee, Zhuolin, is the great  warrior of the Mongolian plains. He gets sent off to fight in a war, and news of his death travels back on the day before their wedding. From that moment onward, Hailanzhu's nightmare begins and she plots for revenge. Later, she discovers Dayu'er birth mother was the culprit behind Zhuolin's death and she also witnesses her own mother's death in Dayu'er mother's hands.

Two loving sisters get torn apart because of their mothers

In order to "pay" back Dayu'er mother for all the woes she has to suffer, she plots to hurt Dayu'er. In her last words, Hailanzhu's mother advises that the only way her daughter can change her life is to marry Hong Taiji. Consequently, Hailanzhu's initial feelings for Hong Taiji are based solely on practicality. She uses him to improve her station. For the sake of her fiancee, she tries to get near Hong Taiji. Even the child she bore for Hong Taiji is not a product of love.

Toward the end, she never expects herself to gradually fall in love with Hong Taiji and experiences random spurts of jealousy and moodiness. Hong Taiji shares the same passionate love for Hailanzhu. When she experiences a difficult labor, he lends his hand to her to bite and scratch on. When she almost dies in the labor, the doctor says she needs the blood of an "auspicious beast," the so-called dragon. Without any hesitation, Hong Taiji uses his own blood to save her. He loves her with his life. Prince Dorgon also loves Dayu'er with his life. In this drama series, the women don't have tears, it's the men who shed all the tears. 

The smiles of this girl are hidden with daggers, at least that is how I perceived her. She has a very meek and delicate exterior because she's used to being passive and endures all her hardships in silence. She gets yelled at, gets beaten, and gets bullied. Her mother even suffered a broken leg to harvest Bird Nest for Dayu'er's mother. Such instance reoccurs countless times. Thus, she's able to bear it all and not shows too much of her emotions.

Hailanzhu, Dayu'er, and Zhe Zhe (Hong Taiji's principal wife) all have their own hidden agendas. Each woman also harbors different emotions for Hong Taiji. Dayu'er genuinely loves him. Zhe Zhe marries him for the welfare of her clan while Hailanzhu marries him for revenge. Although Hailanzhu plots to hurt Dayu'er, when she succeeds in getting Dayu'er arrested and almost executed, she still feels pain and sorrow because they are still blood sisters. Their blood ties can never be broken despite all the dramas that surround them. The internal battle still reigns though. There are many ups and downs with extremities in the series. One story arc barely settles and another immediately begins.