Story of Kunning Palace (2023)

May the baddest man win.

This is the drama adaptation of a popular female harem web novel "Kun Ning" (坤宁) by Shi Jing (时镜) with an interesting approach; readers voted on who the female protagonist ends up with. It is a dark and gripping tale of intrigue, conceit, betrayal, revenge and redemption. Jiang Xuening is the alluring but resentful, selfish and ambitious daughter of a court official who ruthlessly parleys her charm and cunning into becoming empress. Her schemes lead to the downfall of the royal family and the ruin of both her childhood sweetheart Yan Lin and the erstwhile incorruptible Zhang Zhe. Desperate and full of regret, she barters her life with the blackbellied Xie Wei to save Zhang Zhe. She finds herself reborn as her 18-year old self with a chance for a do-over. She vows to do better this time, to steer clear of the bastions of power and the malevolent Xie Wei. She tries to use her preternatural knowledge to save Yan Lin and Zhang Zhe from their sad fortune. As she embarks on a journey of atonement, she discovers there is an element of destiny that pulls her towards the center of power. This time, with greater wisdom and insight, she uncovers hidden secrets and unexpected allies that help her better grasp the intrigue unfolding around her. Is that enough to change their destinies or are they doomed to the same tragic fate?

This story explores the causal links between the past, the present and the future.; the idea that if only knowing what we know now, we can go back and do what we should have, could have but did not do. It begins with a Ning'er who is already a fully realised character that is not yet revealed; a charming beauty who had the world at her feet and lived a wicked and self-indulgent life. Even though Ning'er's goals change, her innate nature stays the same. The past is told in flashbacks just before the moment plays out again in the present. This works in terms of the more detailed plot points but dilutes the character and relationship stories. Thus while Bai Lu pulls off her role well overall, the piecemeal telling of the backstory doesn't capture the depth of Ning'er's regret or the layers in her relationships with some of the main characters.

Where the storytelling falls short is in Zhang Zhe's arc. To me, it is the most pivotal love story in the drama. He was the best of men, a morally upright official who betrayed his principles for her. And she was a selfish person who was so moved she became selfless for him. Their emotions were so powerful it pushed them both outside of themselves towards a mutually destructive outcome. Sadly unlike the novel, their do-over relationship is shallow and barely scratches the surface of the unfinished affinity between them. It's a pity that instead sticking to the novel which better fleshes out this arc they wasted a bunch of time on the nasty Consort Shu's boring and tropey petty antics. Wang Xingyue delivers such an empathetic portrayal of Zhang Zhe that I was disappointed his character was short changed by the narrative.

As for Xie Wei, I have a weakness for unapologetic, unspeakably damaged, vengeful and morally ambiguous characters like this. Zhang Linghe delivers an intense portrayal of this dark and complex role. Although he overdoes some of the snarls and sneers, his performance overall deserves praise and is his strongest to date. Every time the full fury of Xie Wei's fiery death glare flashes across the screen, I go weak at the knees and my brain turns to mush. Yups, I am definitely a "may the baddest man win" kind of girl. Xie Wei is far from the best man but they are well matched, morally flexible ends justify means kind of people. Their romance arc only takes off later on but it is worth the wait. A mutual understanding develops gradually between them before things get really hot and steamy. When it does, their audacious chemistry explodes in a way that sets a new bar for passionate kiss scenes going forward.

Even though the political conspiracy is not that complicated, it is well told and riveting. Xie Wei's origins are a bit too obvious early on but I enjoyed how Ning'er and Xie Wei work together to uncover the conspiracy. They are both diabolical in how they manipulate the different factions around like chess pieces. The villains are no pushovers but they are overshadowed by the force of nature that is Xie Wei and Ningér's combined dark ruthlessness. This is not an action heavy drama but all of the fight scenes were well shot. I particularly enjoyed the vicious ferocity and absolute glee with which Yan Lin cuts through a melee. I hope this fight maniac Zhou Junwei's small indiscretion does not stand in the way of future roles in action intensive wuxias. Outside of one unnecessary and infuriatingly gratuitous death, the drama ends on a strong note after a bloody, intense and thrilling showdown.

While I enjoyed this drama immensely, the storytelling left me vaguely dissatisfied; as if I only watched the cliff note version of a story that had a lot more depth, nuance and substance than the drama managed to convey. This director is not great at knowing which plot arcs to give more weight to and has an unfortunate predilection for over-bright spot lights and spinning cameras. The production values are mediocre at best. This is a story that had so much potential it deserved to be in the hands of a better director and a better budget. I still rate this a highly reccomended 8.5/10.0.

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Favorite cdrama in years

I've been watching chinese dramas for YEARS (probably over a decade), and this is the only cdrama I've watched on repeat ever. The characters are well written, the romance is believable, and there's also an endgame/political setup that is emotional and worth cheering for. The female lead's setup is already intriguing, since it involves a female lead that has to (re)navigate her life decisions in a a thought-provoking way, and generally a male lead that is supportive of her throughout this navigating of the court intrigue/personal relationships. For me, the elements that make a truly wonderful and rewatchable drama are as follows:

1) Strong female lead - the female lead has to be written in a way that I want to cheer for her. There are a lot of characters out there, but the female lead has a strong drive/ambition and has a reason for wanting to accomplish her mission that to me reads as noble and worthwhile, while also being spunky and fun (and I absolutely love Bai Lu's acting, she is perfectly cast for this role). It's just super fun to watch a female character acting in her own agency and trying to navigate life

2) Excellent chemistry between both (all?) leads - really good believable chemistry always gets me. enough said here, their scenes speak for themselves :) this also links to that I want both leads to be believable in their chemistry. Good acting to me is where I forget they're an actor, but truly believe they are the character they're portraying, which is definitely done by both here!

3) Good pacing & political intrigue - love me some plotting for the dramatic tension in the storyline, and I think dramas really shine when both leads have a brain and work together, and get to know each other over a shared interest/smarts rather than just a love at first sight. the dramatic tension of first life vs. fixing things in second life also drives the plot and kept me on the hook; when I watch a drama, having it be interesting and an easy watch is v important

4) good quality costuming & scenery - I hate when other historical dramas look cheap or over the top, but I've aesthetically loved the costuming here :) one of the things I appreciate is seeing Chinese-style costuming and scenery, love that aspect of cultural exchange.

The whole support cast is excellent too, hope all the cast members get lots of awards for this show!!

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A bustling place, or a battleground, a life of absurdity, a story of mistakes and regrets - KUNNING

Story of kunning palace is an intriguing spin about Jiang xuening, daughter of a minister official who made her way to being an empress with the price of betrayal towards her loved ones. Her greed lead to her own demise, with woes and regrets. By the grace of God, she gets another chance to turn the wheels of fate, prevent the mishaps, and change her mistakes from past life.
And coming back to main review:
- the plot is fabulous. The acting, dialogue delivery it was all beyond my expectations. The chemistry between all the leads is no joke. It has dynamics between " fl- male bestfriend" " evil lady- upright official", and "enemies to lovers" troupe! And guys, we have ANGST, one of my super fav genre. Romance isn't the main genre since it's a slow burn, but whenever it's there, it's insane level!

The ambigious atmosphere is once again no joke. Some scenes are insanely hot and seducing, gosh, my heart still can't calm down. The fact that she has ambigious vibe with literally all the leads is even more insanely heart fluttering. ( I hope my constant use of the word 'insane' can explain how good this is)

I love the opening in the drama, it kinda sums up the whole angsty past life which answers lots of question in our mind and makes the first few episodes less confusing. The style of using dialogues in opening song is new, and I am loving it.
The story contains lots of twists and turns, revenge, unopened secrets and plottings etc etc etc. it's not just romance guys, there's a lot of more than that to it. The tension of revenge in each scene. The anxiety of being caught or betrayed, the excitement of plotting against enemies, is so satisfying. It's not only well written but also a well delivered plot. I personally did not find plotholes, everything was well covered (ofc unless you are curious about lots of things). Each and every little action serves as great potential for further plot developement.

Most importantly, the growth of each character is so beautifully sketched and that doesn't just include the main leads, but many of the supporting character too. It's a tearjerking yet satisfying revenge.

The rebirth may not have changed some of their fates, but it has given them the happiness and satisfaction of being needed, loved, and gave them the oppurtunity of finding their real selves and holding the mirror to them, the themselves that deserved to be shown to the world.
The acting doesn't need questioning to it, so I won't be wasting time on it.
The costumes were so well planned with their character and personality. I will be writing a spoiler with spoiler alert on it at the very end. It's not exactly a spoiler, but more of costume analysis with character sketch. You can choose to read or not.

Negative points of drama:
1) Not a fan of director's camera. Either the camera angles are weird at few scenes and the blinding lights take away your attention. And also there's green and pink filter making its way home. Hope that could be amended in his new works. But don't worry, that doesn't affect the thrill and excitement much. You are still gonna fall in love with this drama.
2) A certain death did not convince me, not gonna say much about this point since it could become a major spoiler again. But once again these two points are minute points. So you better not hesitate to watch the drama just because of these two points.

So to sum it all up if your are fan of following genre:
- smart, quirky and black bellied fl
- domineering, yandre and black bellied ml
- reverse harem
- angst
- well plot revenge
- power struggles
- best retribution to evil character
This is exactly your type! Congratulations you have a recommendation in your 'must watch list'. Trust me, you wouldn't wanna miss this!
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COSTUME ANALYSIS
Jiang xuening: She mostly wears blue costume with a hint of orange shade which signifies her wish to live a peaceful and serene life, yet her witty, spontaneous and bold personality.

Jiang Xuehui: She is often seen wearing purple which depicts that even though she is a girl who looks calm outside, she has a stubborn personality in her. In the last episode, she is shown wearing light red colour dress which telss us her current life is filled with happiness and the feeling of abundance.

Xie Wei: In the former episodes, he is shown wearing dark black or blue colours which represents him as a sad, evil, mystery, cunning, and rebellious character who is willing to die for his revenge. But in latter episodes after he starts falling for JXN and acknowledges his trusted and close family, he starts realising that revenge and death aren't his only goal in life, he must live with and for his loved ones, he starts letting go of his burdens, and hence with his changing beliefs and growth, his clothes colour change to a lighter shade of blue signifying his wish to live a peaceful life.

Zhangzhe: is mostly shown wearing red official costume signifying his morale and upright personality. He is also shown in light shades of grey and green showing his calm and reliable personality.

Xue shu: She is often shown wearing that unlikeable pink colour which looks pretty from outside, when seen as a small object to huge background of grasses and stones, but looking at it up close could annoy you and disturb your emotions psychologically to the point that you would feel like tearing it off. After you start cohabiting with that colour, it series and disgusts you, giving you vibe of fake superficialness. The pink gives a colour of graceful, kind and compassion to her personality from outside, but interacting her could make you realise that she is exactly that shade of pink which disgusts you after you get acquainted with it, depicting exactly that character of novel, whose mere sight disgusts you, you would feel like slapping everytime you look at her.

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17 Steps Ahead of King Schemey McSteamy

This series surprised the heck out of me because I never even intended on watching it. When it was postponed I never really thought twice. Then I saw ZLH in MJTY and was intrigued plus at the time I hadn't seen BL in anything nor any of the other leads though the supporting cast I was somewhat familiar with. I'm not a fan of palace politics but this series got me curious from all of the excitement it generated once the drop date was announced. I nearly gave it a perfect 10 if it wasn't for the very few cons, I couldn't get past. But it really was the 17 steps ahead of King Schemey McSteamy.

Pros: It should be very obvious who the favorite character is; ZLH's acting has improved leaps and bounds. This was his first morally gray protagonist and he absolutely nailed it. He was like a mad scientist in every way. I have no idea how XW's brain worked. It was like he was psychic and planned things as he foresaw them. The story originally started more on the FL's side and she too just knocked her role out of the park. It was her redemption/rebirth story plus reverse harem so our ML had to be the 3rd wheel for a while, something that with his absolutely insane jealousy streak was heart pounding and hysterical at the same time.

YL was Spider-Man; dude had supernatural abilities when fighting in that heavy ass armor that the actor even said was really hard to move in. What made this series really worth watching is that other then our cast which were all absolutely amazing; I can't say anyone screwed up their parts, was that the plot was always rolling along. You kept waiting for what's next. You never had to ffw or you'd miss something vital. Furthermore, the cast filmed during peak summer months and in extreme heat, they were constantly on the verge of heat stroke. I loved every member of the cast the ones mentioned above, ZZ, the princess, JXH, the hilarious and yet awesome guards of XW, fake DF, and everyone else, even the villains sans Lord Pinghead as I think he was used as more of a plot device to get the leads together. I'll speak more about him below.

The leads chemistry especially Ep. 36; people should know what I'm talking about. King McSteamy was born! I was actually surprised how much made it in. Usually after a passionate kiss, it's cut to spotlight and curtains or next scene. Here we saw more and it was great! And so glad that the kisses were real and XW was an absolute panther. I could probably write a whole review on just his love and lust plus jealousy alone. From what I wrote in the comments: That whole “JXN: I want you” bit? Woof! And then of course…Duke asswipe is all “I’m gonna rule the world.” Our boy goes “Hold my Qin. Back up dog, emperor and I got this on lock before I even left!” Who saw that coming?!?

XW, uncle, cousin reveal actually brought a tear to my eyes. It was a brief but beautiful moment. Plus XW's jealousy of his own son liking ZZ was too funny and a totally face-palm moment. JXN needs to nip that in the bud before the son starts picking up dad's negative traits lol. Daughter was too cute too. There were so many great moments in this drama; even the villains did what they had to do and for the most part were intelligent so it wasn't like some trope or cliche.

Costumes, sets, fights, OSTs, were great! I probably will come back to write something I missed or forgot lol. Just too much goodness.

Cons: Very little of these, but the .5 was knocked off for several reasons. Though I wish the modern day wasn't returned to, I understand it was done so because of censorship; I really would have preferred the 7 minute wedding to be in the last episode instead of an extra one plus do it before the scene with kids, instead of her dreaming of XW killing himself per lifetime number one. We're past that, no need to go back. Furthermore, Lord Pinghead's whole arc towards the end felt off to me because, he's supposed to be this murderous insane villain who killed children and destroyed a city but it looked more like just a ploy to get the leads officially together. He really wasn't much of anything. Just a paranoid killer. Duke asswipe had mountains more on him in terms of evil.

Wish they kept ZZ's rebirth arc because otherwise even to the almost end, it seemed he was still pining for her and it felt incomplete. He should have been given his own proper ending. Should have killed loser Xue son as per the novel too. Why was Duke asswipe allowed to stab XW with so many guards around him just because he was staring at JXN? The poor guy was already pin cushioned 6 ways to Sunday. YL and DQ should have finished the job before he even launched himself off the ground. Lastly and this felt the most unnecessary, was the death of FY. They could have killed ZYZ as is, he held her captive and tortured her. Why did she have to grab hold of him and he stab her? He could have just kicked her away and run; he would have been caught regardless and JXN should have delivered the death blow herself like "You think I can't kill you? Watch this, bitch!" FY's death was completely pointless. I don't understand this portion at all.

Would I recommend it? 100% would. It was a gem that I didn't expect to fall in love with but did. The pros way outweighed the cons. The plot was very well handled even the portions that deviated from the book. This is how dramas should be written and done with proper endings. Must watch y'all!

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When Love Is a Game of Go, the Couple That Schemes Together, Stays Together

Redemption and vengeance meet in this deliciously wicked, sinfully seductive and electric love story between two morally ambiguous characters who come together to create the most formidable power couple of 2023.

Jiang Xue Ning is an evil empress who has schemed her way to the top and destroyed people for her ambitions, only to meet her downfall at the hands of a ruthless usurper who brings her to her death.

In an interesting turn of events, she gets to go back in time, to fix her wrongs, save the two men who were ruined because of her love and hopefully stop the bloodthirsty rebel and his insidious plans.

However, fate cannot always be changed and sometimes the wrong answer is the right one all along. The Story of Kunning Palace is a fast-paced thrilling ride from beginning to end and comes with its share of pros and cons. Let’s get into it.

✔️The sexiest anti-hero of the year award goes to Xie Wei

He chokes. He kills. He plots but most of all, he knows how to kiss his lady love until she sees stars. Xie Wei is an absolute menace. As vicious and ruthless in his planning as he is petty when it comes to love. He is not afraid to get his hands bloody and use everyone and their mamas if it serves his purpose. Forty steps ahead of his enemies and always one with the backup plan, he is the ultimate edge lord. However, all his plans and strategies come to a stop when it comes to one woman: His Ning-er.

Zhang Ling He did a great job giving life to a character that is both terrifying and vulnerable. A man on a path of vengeance even as a part of him remains frozen with his robbed childhood. He is a person of many flavors as he goes from being the most intelligent and devilish man in the room, to a petulant, almost childish boy in love. He is both dangerous and endearing, villainous and heroic, charismatic and insecure, damaged and wholesome and the ultimate bad guy you can’t help but root for.

✔️The powerful heroine who brings the man to his knees.

Jiang Xue Ning is one of the best female leads out there. She is smart, intelligent and practical even as she has a soft heart. She can be as vicious as the best of men and has a penchant for paying back her enemies. She is a woman who never loses sight of her goal and always stays true to herself. She can be soft when the time calls for it and tough as nails when she needs to be. I think this is Bai Lu’s best role yet and she executed some really great scenes with elegance, grace and a lot of heart.

✔️Steamiest C-drama romance to end all romances

I think this is one of the most rewarding love stories I have seen lately. The two are equally matched in every way and understand each other in a way that nobody can. Xie Wei’s absolute mad, crazy, obsessive love for Ning-er is exhilarating to watch. He is unapologetic, fearless and unhinged when it comes to his need for her. She is the person who shares the darkness in his soul and the only woman who can keep up with his brilliant mind.

For her, he is the man who supports her through thick and thin, the only one who doesn’t handle her with kid gloves, the one person she can break down in front of, be herself with and the man who revels in her wildness as much as she does. Their chemistry is unmatched and their love is believable. There’s no question from the first episode that the two are destined for each other and the angst, obstacles and sexual tension just explodes into the most satisfying, passionate romance on-screen that is complimented with some truly sensual kisses.

✔️Friendship, loyalty, camaraderie and lovable side characters

One of the things I loved about this drama was that they were able to create meaningful relationships for both the main leads that seemed authentic. The male lead’s friends and people who love him unconditionally have their reasons for doing so and aren’t lackeys that exist just for the sake of it. Similarly, Ning-er has strong female friendships that are such a breath of fresh air to watch amidst watching palace women mostly fighting each other over a man.

As such, the drama gives birth to some really great characters like the hilarious fake Dingfei, and Yan Lin who has to be the greenest flag on this earth and the only time an FL’s potential love interest wasn’t annoying.

✔️Action scenes + Dialogues + Music + Comedy

The show has some great action scenes that were especially kind to Yan Lin. The dialogues for both Xie Wei and Ning-er were excellent and captured the intensity of their feelings beautifully. I particularly love the instrumental on this and enjoyed the little bits of comedy that is sprinkled all over the show.

So, overall, the drama comes with a lot of great things. Unfortunately, it also has its flaws, for example:

❌Weak antagonists + false sense of danger

Villains in this story are incredibly weak, overshadowed by the protagonists and make dumb decisions. So, the stakes are never really high because you know Xie Wei and Ning-er will somehow always come on top. The only time the good guys actually suffer a major loss is because of their own lapse of judgment which results in an extremely unnecessary and pointless tragedy. It hardly makes an impact and the protagonists remain overpowered throughout.

❌The boring middle arc + Annoying 2nd Male Lead aka Zhang Zhe the Turnip

A big part of the female lead’s redemption arc right from the first episode is the debt she owes to Zhang Zhe - a man she bargains her own life for. So, it’s unavoidable that the show would devote a lot of screen time to this character. Unfortunately, Zhang Zhe is a poorly written, one dimensional character who is so self-righteous, holier than thou and the unwanted paragon of virtue that not only is he boring to watch, he is flat-out irritating. As a result, his love arc with the FL is the most boring part of the entire drama.

❌Petty politics + low production value

I think others have also pointed out that the production value on the show is not the greatest with some truly terrible CGI. While I did enjoy some beautiful shots, I wasn’t happy about the unflattering close-ups and weird angles of characters that made intense scenes look a little comical. Fortunately, they are easy to ignore.

Story-wise, I think the strongest aspect of the drama is the slow burn love story and while it’s exciting to see Xie Wei and Ning-er plot and scheme and brilliantly execute their strategies, considering the antagonists are so one-note and the palace politics are quite petty and simplistic, I won’t lie and say that the drama comes with an impactful plot or masterful writing. Instead, it’s actually a super basic plot with a lot of tropes that’s done so well that it’s enjoyable.

✅Overall, the drama is mad fun to watch and its flaws are nearly not enough to weigh it down. It almost feels like the younger sister of The Rise Of Phoenixes with diabolical characters in love, except it comes with an ending that’s easy on the heart.
Definitely, Jeana approved.

8.5/10

Jiang Xue Ning, run away then. Run to the ends of the world but I am telling you, no matter where you run, I’ll find you.
-Xie Wei

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SOKP: Where Royal Intrigues Are More Complicated Than Your Ex's New Relationship Status

HOLD ON TO YOUR IMPERIAL HATS, DRAMA ENTHUSIASTS!!!
Because "Story of Kunning Palace" is the kind of show that's more addictive than a caffeine IV drip. SOKP is not your typical tea-sipping, romance-infused drama—it's a captivating enigma wrapped in a historical conundrum, with more plot twists than a labyrinth. Its a tale where reverse harem meets mystery, and every character is so swoon-worthy, even the palace walls are blushing.

Bai Lu, our badass heroine, here as Jiang Xue Ning isn't just conquering hearts; she's slaying political foes and looking fabulous doing it. But hold on—enter Zhang Zhe and Yan Lin, both vying for her attention like contestants in a royal reality show. It's a reverse harem showdown, and Jiang Xue Ning is the unwitting queen bee, swatting away admirers like they're pesky palace mosquitoes. Jiang Xue Ning's heart is like a Rubik's Cube, and the poor guys—Yan Lin, Zhang Zhe, and Xie Wei—are all trying to crack the code. Basically It's a love triangle turned hexagon.

Now, our man Zhang Ling He as Xie Wei—handsome as a Greek god and jaw sharper than a ninja throwing star (HAD TO MENTION THAT LMFAO)—isn't just part of the harem circus. He's the unsung hero, & a guardian angel silently dropping nuggets of wisdom and occasionally facepalming at the chaos around him. He is the guy secretly supporting Jiang Xue Ning like a love-struck ninja in the shadows. Beneath his sarcastic remarks & harsh words, lies a love so deep it makes Titanic's Jack and Rose look like they had a casual fling. It felt as if watching a superhero show where the hero doesn't realize he's the hero, and the audience is collectively screaming, "Dude, she's right there!"

The Xie Wei Men's Trio, they are real comedy gem in this drama. The hilarious sidekicks, the MVPs of comedic relief, and the reason you'll be snorting your tea while trying to keep up with palace politics.

But let's talk plot! Jiang Xue Ning, after a bad ending in her past life, is back in the same palace, courtesy of fate's twisted sense of humor, i guess. As if someone hit the "replay" button (quite literally) on her royal misadventures, and she's trying to navigate the maze of intrigue with the grace of a cat on roller skates.

Xie Wei, our handsome hero, is so oblivious to his own feelings, it's like watching a rom-com where the main character doesn't realize they're in love. Jiang Xue Ning is the oblivious queen, Zhang Zhe and Yan Lin are the competing court jesters, and Xie Wei is the dashing hero with a heart so hidden even he can't find it. Jiang Xue Ning remains blissfully unaware of the love vibes radiating from him, and Xie Wei himself is probably wondering why his heart does the cha-cha every time she's in the room.

Enter Xue Shu, the queen of making you simultaneously root against her. She's got more schemes than a Bond villain. Is she the villain, the anti-hero, or just a girl boss ahead of her time? The plot is so mysterious and intriguing that an award winning storywriter would be taking notes.

Now, let's talk about the cast—stellar performances that could make a stone statue emote. It's like watching a masterclass in acting, with every eyebrow raise and dramatic pause deserving an award.

"Story of Kunning Palace" isn't just a drama; it's a royal rollercoaster of emotions, a comedy of errors, and a mystery that'll have you yelling. Seriously, the chemistry is so palpable; I'm surprised the screen hasn't caught fire yet. This drama isn't just good; it's so good it's suspicious. its almost like finding a four-leaf clover in a field of dandelions—rare and borderline unbelievable.

As the grand tradition of slow burns, 'Story Of Kunning Palace' leaves us with a burning desire for more—more romance, more drama, and definitely more Zhang Ling He & Bai Lu moments that have us reaching for fire extinguishers. If you're not watching this drama, you're missing out on a hilarious, heart-throbbing, and mysteriously addictive masterpiece. Grab your popcorn and prepare for a journey so entertaining, even Shakespeare would've been jealous

Signing off
Thanks for reading the review <3
Yours, Angel

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Best 2023 Historical Drama. Brilliant palace politics with dark romance

This drama tells the story of a female lead who goes back in time 2 years prior to her death to change her fate. In her first life, she is a selfish and manipulative woman who uses all means necessary to achieve her goal of becoming an Empress. In her second life, she realises the many mistakes she has made and tries everything in her power to change her fate and right her wrongs.

Note, the main focus of this story is the palace politics (female lead’s redemption and male lead’s revenge). The romance is a secondary focus but definitely worth it especially in the last 8 episodes. It’s reverse harem so there are three love interests. The female lead loves them for different reasons but only one is her perfect match/true love.

POSITIVE:
- Reverse harem romance is done right! We don't see the female lead jumping from one man to another or loving them at the same time. Each love interest has his own time to shine. We are first introduced to her childhood friend that loves her, then the second man who she admires for his righteousness and goodness, and then the third man who represents the perfect enemies to lovers trope.
- No love triangles or stupid misunderstandings/miscommunications.
- Dark romance with VERY hot kiss scenes.
- Main lead chemistry is hot, hot, hot. Did I say hot!
- Brilliant palace politics talks.
- Morally grey female and male lead that are both smart, cunning and wicked in their own ways.
- Male lead who achieves his goals through his intelligence rather than muscles. It’s rare in costume dramas to see a male lead who destroys his enemies with badass strategies without lifting a weapon.
- The most satisfying happy ending. The story wrapped up well and everyone gets what they deserve.
- Top-notch performance from all the cast and especially the main leads Bai Lu and Zhang Ling He.
- Slow burn romance for the main couple that is totally worth it and all the wait pays off!
- No annoying characters, no unnecessary fillers or draggy plot lines.
- Flashbacks and parallels between the first and second life were fantastically woven into the story.
- Great character development for all characters, main and support. Everyone’s motive for what they did and why made sense!

NEGATIVE:
- Cinematography is a let down but it still does not take away my enjoyment! The director really went crazy with the camera lights which irritated many viewers including me. Especially towards the end of the drama where there are many flashbacks, the blinding lights were showing up every 5 minutes which felt very, very excessive. Also, there were weird spinning effects, pink hue filters and unflattering angles as well as random “wind” blowing the actor’s hair even when they were indoors.
- As a hopeless romantic I would have loved to see more romance between main leads (or at least in earlier episodes) as their chemistry was off the charts however with how the story is set up, it makes sense why it was a very slow burn.

OVERALL:
For me this is THE BEST historical cdrama I’ve ever watched. The political plot is executed brilliantly, the dark romance is chef’s kiss and most importantly the drama portrays beautifully the female’s lead story of redemption and the male lead’s story of revenge. You will miss out a lot if you don’t give this a chance!

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ive watched over 50 dramas, SOKP tops the list

i wanna keep it short and simple but i can't, my love for this drama is literally through the roof.

STORY - most revenge plots lack good pacing, meaning a wonderful original novel could be ruined and not truly appreciated. sokp political plot was intriguing, the villains weren't written as filler characters; they had depth. romance wise i love how the second and third male leads have chemistry with the FL and get screentime together, sometimes it's conflicting to choose who to root for. i like how none of the relationships are overly toxic, they all have each other's best interests in mind. also it's amazing when FL and ML are both smart, there's always tension in the air romantic or not <3

ACTING - lord this cast is insane, i can't find a single pet peeve about the cast. the entire supporting cast did phenomenal, especially loved xueshu and luxian's portrayal. also chemistry is THERE, not a single moment do i look away or feel bored. i literally wanna jump through my phone screen and yell at the characters to get together. morally gray characters are also made interesting SOKP, bailu and zhanglinghe both made great efforts to understand their characters, and showed thanks to director zhu as well!

MUSIC - when i found out the ost was on spotify i was losing my sht, ive studied for 5 hours with it on shuffle. listening to the tracks make me reminisce my joy of watching the show, it's heavenly music.

REWATCH VALUE - this is always based on personal preference, but for me it's a 10. while waiting for new episodes i would endlessly rewatch even if i what events would occur. wonderful acting always keeps you on the edge of your seat, if i like a drama i seriously wont stop rewatching. it's a complex plot but somehow conveyed well enough for an unobvservant person like me to pick up on the little details.

I LOVE THIS SHOW IN IT'S ENTIRETY, ONE OF THE FEW DRAMAS THAT CAN BE TRULY CONSIDERED A 10/10 IN MY OPINION! also this show is like crazily popular in china compared to internationally, hope it receives more love
- don't hesitate "what if i get bored?" you won't "i don't like love rivalry" you will after this show "i'm planning on watching it later" never delay your own happiness, achieve it now!

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Let them stay bad and cunning - for that I am grateful.

To sum it up: great pacing, interesting and likable characters, solid chemistry, thrilling schemes, problematic gege throwing hands at both his enemies and his lady (which in this drama was perfection, don’t call me out). On the other hand, I was not crazy about how all the romances developed and in some areas, the acting could have been better.

Still, top level of solid entertainment. Thank god I was watching it as it aired - otherwise I would not be able to stop and binge watching all of the episodes would simply kill me - I’m too old for it.

It truly surprised me how much I enjoyed the pity palace drama. Usually I’m barely stopping myself from skipping this type of scene, but here they were some of the best aspects. I appreciated glorious slaps, calling out stupidity even on your own team, backstabbing for survival - it all sounds so dramatic, but in the drama itself, it’s presented in an engaging, but palatable manner.

What’s more to love are all the women in the drama. Variety of the characters, personalities, strength and weaknesses - exactly what I want to see. You don’t just get your typical - smart and cunning, and dumb, but loyal. They nicely mix it up. We get the asshole who overestimates her abilities, we have a smart and loyal friend. We saw women who push their limits and ones that prefer to not push them. We have bad, good and morally gray.

On the other hand the drama lacks quality men. Those that are fun are not developed enough, those that are developed more are annoying. Xie Wei being the only true saving grace. Yes, Zhang Zhe is cute and righteous, but that’s all he is. Yan Lin might be fun and good at fighting, but he is the definition of the “supporting from background while having little to no individuality”. I enjoyed them as I was watching, but by the end of the show I had little to no thoughts about them.

I’m glad plot wise the overall arc was well explained. I understood the motivation of all the characters, why they made the choices they made and what was their goal. Some strived for power, some for survival and some for redemption. I do wish the drama was longer. While they wrapped up everything quite skillfully, I still wanted to see more. Especially in terms of romance.

And that’s my biggest regret. Not even a flaw, since the final execution was done well, it just made me crave for more. All the romance driven plot lines were quite sidelined, so by the end, they tried to put 20 episodes worth of development into maybe 8. I enjoyed every second of it, but I wanted more.

Acting was good. Bai Lue did what she does best. In no universe she could fail delivering a character like that - it’s made for her and her only. Zhang Ling He was great in some scenes, not so great in others. Wang Xing Yue and Zhou Jun Wei both did not really have a space to show any skills - how the characters were written did not really allow that. I’m glad that the whole cast had a great chemistry though - be it platonic, romantic or rivalry. And them kissing scenes… we do not get kissing scenes like that often.

I know many people complained about the make up, personally I liked it. The over the top magical red eyeliner that showed up when Xie Wei turned into his toxic hot gege persona. Yes, the eyebrows for the female characters were… a choice, but after a few episodes I just stopped paying attention to them.

Overall, high level of entertainment. Story of Kunning Palace has such a high binge watchability, it’s actually scary and could be a health risk if you are not careful. It’s both exciting, but approachable - balances well between how dramatic, but also easy to digest it wants to be.

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Most satisfying cdrama that I've watched

This has to be one of my favorite cdramas ever. I loved almost everything about the drama from the story to the acting, etc. Even initially, I was super intrigued by the synopsis and I went in with high expectations. I was not disappointed.


The plot of this drama was not only paced well and logical, but it was the perfect amount of revenge, palace intrigue, and romance. The flashbacks of the past life were also placed well. The pacing of the story was quite even throughout, although at the end, it got somewhat quicker, most likely due to the fact that certain scenes may have needed to be cut to meet the current 40 episode limit. Still, it did not impact the pacing too much. The way the revenge was done felt extremely appropriate but also satisfying. There were multiple things that happened that I did not entirely see coming. The romance was quite slowburn regarding the leads, which I think we necessary given the characters, but it also made it so that each of the 3 MLs had their own story with the FL and that nothing was rushed. I think that the climax and the ending were done really well. Everything was tied up really well and almost everyone got the ending that they deserved. I am glad that the end scenes were shown with all the characters that mattered since it made the drama extremely satisfying.

I think that all the actors did a wonderful job portraying their characters. In particular, I think that Zhang Linghe did fantastic as Xie Wei and really made me believe that he was as broken and as vengeful as he was portrayed as. His facial expressions in particular have really improved from his past projects. Bai Lu also did amazing as the FL. I just love watching her because her acting is always on point. The supporting characters held their own and the villains acted heinous enough to the point of believability of their character and actions.

The only thing that could have been improved on was the lighting and angles. There were multiple extremely weird angles shown that took me out of the plot because they were so awkward and weird. In many scenes, there was also extreme lighting shown which made everything super lit. That also took me out of the story. However, compared to how amazing the drama is, they honestly pale in comparison.

Overall, I really enjoyed this drama and will definitely rewatch it. I'm glad to finally get a cdrama that has only minor flaws and issues and that is as enjoyable and satisfying as SoKP is. I'm going to recommend this to as many people as I can because it is just that good.

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Mastermind in Disguise of a Pawn

The storyline for this drama was a bit slow in its pace, especially for the romance between Ning er and Juan. So, it would not be a wonder if this drama will not be everyones cup of tea, fortunately, it is well written and the revenge arc was perfectly executed. Each of the characters apart from the leads had their own depth in them which clearly showed their importance in key plots, some of the characters were amusing but some were just plain annoying (special mention to Xue Shu). As for the characters of the main leads, i'd praise how bravely and smart the female lead was written and most especially Xie Juan for being such a calculating genius, a pawn turned into a real dark horse. Despite how Xie Juan is a walking red flag in the real world, I really love how badass he is but to an extent that his darkness balances with light. Clearly, this drama isn't solely carried by how well written the storyline is, the way all the actors and actresses had given life to their characters played a major part in its success. Every scene had my heart pulled in strings, especially during the intense ones and even more so at sad scenes. As for the chemistry between both leads, I have no words because I am completely drawn into every single scene they had. Like, they could have just been standing still and staring at each other's eyes and it is enough to feel tension there. They are indeed oozing with chemistry and I swear their kissing scenes are to die for, there are not many c-dramas with that kind of kissing scenes filled with so much intensity. Bai Lu really is the 'Queen of Chemistry'. I've watched all of her dramas already and her chemistry with her co-stars are always topnotch, however, after watching this drama I must say her chemistry with Zhang Linghe is on top over all the co-stars she ever had. Zhang Linghe on the other hand surprised me with his role in this drama, I have started liking him even more. He definitely nailed his role here. I have so much praise for this drama. I can't believe I almost missed out on it. 'The Story Of Kunning Palace' is definitely worth every time spent watching it. The stellar casting of actors and actresses was a brilliant move from the directors and producers.

If there is one thing I regret, it is the fact that I almost missed out on this drama. It is such a gem and deserves every praise and recognition it gets. I had actually watched this last year when it was still airing but decided to drop on earlier episodes and I no longer even remember why I did lol. My first reason for watching this last year was because of Bai Lu as she is my fave actress then there is Zhang Linghe who I started liking too after watching 'My Journey to You'. I picked this drama back up again because of Wang Xin Yue, I just finished watching 'The Double' and couldn't find any other c-drama to get over it until someone suggested this to me again and i'm glad I actually watched this.

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The most toxic of romances . . .

This drama's addictive qualities, and thrilling action scenes, do not matter, because the main romance is unbelievably toxic and romanticizes the most dangerous of red flags. It's as if the script writers went down the list of 'high risk factors' for murder suicide relationships :

1) Suicide threats and knives: Xie Wie takes a knife puts it into Ning'er-'s hand and invites her to stab him. This you, or I , or both of us attitude where the abuser takes a knife and points it at the other person, then at themselves, then starts screaming 'fine just do it, kill me, kill us' is usually the last step before the end. The show portrays this as showing intense love instead of an intense nihilism.

2) Strangulation and grabbing by the throat: Xie Wie repeatedly grabs Ning'er by the throat in order to force her to do something she doesn't want to do - including grabbing her by the throat and then kissing her. Strangulation and choking threats are huge red flags, mainly because it is a very vulnerable area to attack and often leads to brain injury. Strangulation/choking/non consensual breath play to initiate or coerce sex is often a sign of the same intense nihilism.

3) Drug use: Xie Wie has been using a highly damaging performance enhancing drug to make up for health issues stemming from his trauma. His friends have been trying to get him to stop, but they and Xie Wie insist that only Ning'er's love can and will get him to stop. Usually drug addiction/misuse cannot be 'solved' through a romance, and this belief causes many people to stay in toxic relationships enabled by the drug users family and friends who want someone else to bear the responsibility.

4) Untreated mental health: Xie Wie has episodes of extreme violence and paranoia due to past trauma. Ning'er and other innocent people are exposed to this dangerous behaviour repeatedly. Yet, there is no explanation on how this could be miraculously cured.

5) Romeo and Juliet sense of 'no one understands us': Xie Wie repeatedly claims to Ning'er that only they can understand each other - no one else can. That they are both meant to be forged through trauma and hardship, willing to go to lengths that other people cannot understand. Xie Wie repeatedly snears at Ning'er s love for Zhang Zhe - claiming that he's too simplistic and good for one such as her.

6) Obsessed with revenge, excellent at power games, petty to a fault: If Xie Wie only had this capacity of revenge for political wrongs, this wouldn't be such a red flag, but Xie Wie also shows a pettiness and jealousy towards the other family and friends in Ning'er's life and an inappropriate level of condescension towards Ning'er 's father.

7) Power imbalance in the relationship: Xie Wie is Ning'er's teacher and mentor at various points, and Ning'er s father and others treat him as one generation senior to Ning'er. Xie Wie often orders Ning'er around whether or not she is 'officially' his teacher at various points. Ning'er for various reasons begs him or kneels to him about various things throughout the show, but Xie Wie never puts himself in the humble position. Even when he's backed into a corner, he dramatically and violently seizes the power back.

There's probably a lot more. This is all to say in this modern age, there's no reason to teach people that these red flags are evidence of intense love - they are not. If you ever encounter anyone like this in real life - beware. That intensity is often simply a stalker like obsession and a strong desire for power and control over you.

It's one thing to portray a toxic individual who is NOT toxic towards the main love interest and is inspired by her to change (as unrealistic and problematic as that storyline is), but it's a whole 'nother thing to be directly harmful and toxic towards the main love interest.

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