Story of Kunning Palace (2023)

Perfect Drama ​

I watched a very good, high-quality series. Apart from simple mistakes, I watched an excellent series, without any errors or obstacles, everything was in its place. It's a particularly good story, well-constructed and excellently directed. I found little fault with the management. That may also be due to the player. For example; Elisa Ye failed to die. How bad was that? She was already good at playing the bad woman. It must be from there. Fang Yin's death scene affected me the most, perhaps because it was in the last episodes. Actress Melody Tang seems to have been specially chosen for this role. I really saw him as the personality that best suited his role. Such a pure and clean face, the way he played a game accordingly, his performance in the scene where he died impressed me a lot. Here, Melody Tang's and later Bai Lu's games were very effective. I also congratulate the director. I actually cried in this scene. It was a very, very extraordinary scene. The series was completely impressive and gripping. It was perhaps one of the best TV series of recent times. As I said, the story is solid, the editing is very well done, a good director and excellent actors, except for a few people. I liked Bai Lu very much. He's already a player I like. Zhang Ling He is one of the star actors of recent times that I like. Although Wang Xing Yue is young, he is rising rapidly. Zhou Jun Wei appeared little but played effectively. He was also successful in active scenes. It got into my eye. I found it good. I can't help but mention that I liked the veteran actors Huang Hai Bing, Liu Min, Zong Feng Yan. They are very good players. Congratulations. I also liked Wang Zi Teng in this role.
I recommend the series to everyone. You have to watch. You will be sorry if you don't watch it.

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BEST Historical Drama

I started watching C-dramas for the wuxia genre, which is still one of my favorites. Still, I have recently been watching more historical dramas, and this drama, by far, is one of the best historical dramas that need to be on everyone's watchlist, the last historical drama that I really loved and would recommend is "Love Like the Galaxy," but that is now number two on my list. For one, ML and FL are two of my favorite actors, and they portrayed their characters perfectly, the chemistry between them was amazing, I also liked how the ML showed his feelings towards the FL towards the ending spoiler it's intense but amazing. The plot from the beginning to the ending is done amazingly, as well as all the characters in the story their actors portray them to great, making the story more emotional in scenes.

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A "Dream" Not for the Faint Hearted

As a novel fan anticipating this drama, and waiting out those extra months for SoKP to air, I was worried at various points that this adaptation won't meet viewers' expectations. And whilst I felt that it started a tad slow, the momentum picked up and soon turned into a wild rollercoaster ride.

This isn't your typical palace love story. Therefore, you need to be ready for the heart-tugging tears, the constant bloodshed and the playing of your emotions as if you were a Chinese zither in Xie Wei's hands. Add in political palace intrigues and you have a story that keeps you wanting to watch on.

The storyline was always going to be solid. What took it to another level was the cast and their perfect articulation of their characters. Zhang Linghe's Xie Wei is a dark character that screams red flags, but you can't help rooting for him and Bai Lu's Jiang Xuening. They share so much in common and in essence, need each other to heal, to complete each other's lives.

A special mention needs to go to Wang Xinyue's Zhang Zhe. For the first half of the show, I wished that it would be a happy ending for him with JXN, all the whilst knowing it wouldn't be. I am hoping for a third collaboration between him and BL, where he finally gets the girl!

And most importantly, after so many c-drama's awful endings, SoKP gives us the perfect wrap-up. XW and his interactions with his children are one of the cutest scenes in C-drama history.

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absolute ROLLERCOASTER of emotions. love it

Such such a good show i'm actually so sad it's finished I wished I could've seen more of Ning Er and Xie Wei together. Absolutely AMAZING acting, I'm not even gonna lie originally I thought Zhang Linghe was justt a hottie and not all that skilled in acting but...boyyy am I SO wrong. Bro is TALENTED and he can seriously act. Zhang Linghe portrayed xie wei so amazing literally every emotion was conveyed so brilliantly through his eyes.....and lowkkk I love it when he has the crazy eyes 🤭. Bai lu never fails like u know girl will always come in clutch w her acting that's without a doubt. And the chemistry OMG, main leads chemistry is actually insane this shi needs to be studied. anywayy Side characters all did amazing too and the villains... well they sure are good at being villainy I'll say.
ANYWAYSS, highly recommend a watch do NOT miss out on this top TOP notch drama soo good I promise u will love, however get some tissues ready bc this is a rollercoaster, but a brilliant and thrilling rollercoaster.

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You will get regret if you didn't watch this!!!

Ummmm where should I start? From the beginning when I started watching this, I had many expectations for this as I wanted a drama to watch every evening. Not surprisingly, they didn't disappoint me but surprisingly, it was just more than I expected: the best watch where I enjoyed the drama every second and minute.
The story, the plot, the plot twists, the higher and higher climax, the characters, everything was just perfect. Personally, as a person who adored novels, I genuinely love this drama and how it can give me a mysterious attractive feeling like I'm reading a novel or like I'm actually in that universe sometimes from outside and sometimes from the characters.
There are many side characters who are good, loyal, evil, selfish etc. One thing that made the story better was how unique each character was and how the plot, characters, their actions and consequences are so relevant.
I don't want to say much as you would be able to taste the best feeling without any spoilers.
However, in the end, I must say the most important point of the drama which continuously pulled me towards it; chemistric romance between the female and male lead. The way they talk, look, stare, gesture, smile, hold or even kiss, all the things they do just express their thoughts, feelings and chemistry beautifully. What makes it more appealing to me is how they changed their behaviours and words as they developed feelings for each other. At first, I was curious and worried about how they would fall for each other. Nonetheless, this slow-burn love became the biggest piece of the most magnificent puzzle picture. Only with the touch or kiss between the main characters, it's worth watching!

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Excellent!

Excellent drama! Very enjoyable!
The cast was beautiful and acted well all around. The sets, costumes, hair makeup was all beautiful.
The story was interesting and kept me chasing episodes! Chemistry was very good between ML and FL as well as with the SFL and SML.
Bai Lu delivers as always in costume and looks good with Zhang Ling Hei. She has good chemistry with both males. Zhang Ling Hei is good but he his acting can still improve a little bit. He has good screen presence and excellent chemistry with Bai Lu. Wang Xing Yu was excellent as thr SML! I cant believe he is so young.

Overall highly recommend!

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#mustwatch

Congratulations to the production team for choosing a great cast!! the actors and actresses played their parts beautifully! Their portrayals and emotions were 👏👏👏👏👏

The adaptation, the music, the cinematography were 10/10. The story progressed just right, providing the right closure to each character. The music was superb. I hope the OST wins. The use of lightings was smart and provided the right setting for each scene. The action scenes were not excessive and enjoyable, great acting to the father and son tandem. Xie wei's crew provided the right icebreakers and were cute and funny.
Bailu and ZLH played their characters very well. They are well matched. I could feel their passion and strength in their portrayals. Their characters are both 'dominant' and both ZLH and Bailu were on point in their acting. Zlh greatly improved in his acting so i am looking forward to his projects. Bailu is empress material and very beautiful.
Congratulations director! I became your fan after Ashes of Love. This is another masterpiece. 👏👏👏

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My Perfect Kind of Drama

SOKP is so unreal, like the way it has everything I want: fix-it rewrite, isekai, villain x villainess leads, enemies to lovers, intricate costumes, beautiful actors, exploding chemistry, and heavy pining??? How is it possible to be that perfect?

I love everything about it, especially the pining. The way the ML was pining for nearly the entire drama is literal gold, and the leads have this tension every time they met, like a string stretched so far wide without them knowing and then near the end it finally snapped. I loved it. They both are morally grey, yet unapologetically loyal, strong and truthful and I loved that about them.

The chemistry is perfect. Everyone has great chemistry with everybody, and I love how the leads all have this presence about them that makes their appearance so magnetic to see, and I find it hard to skip scenes because all interactions are so beautifully executed. All the casts look majestic and I think they really nailed the casting on this one.
What's interesting for me, though, is that I find Zhang Linghe's look serene and peaceful by default, so seeing him playing a red-flag, cunning character is a surprisingly nice experience for me.

The story plots are consistent through the end, and although the ending could use a bit more closure, I am perfectly happy with how it turned out and everyone got the ending the deserve. Also I liked how the evil people are out in the open and consistent throughout the drama, so I didn't have to expect sudden character betrayal or some sorts. Neatly written, brilliantly executed.

P.S: Thankyou SOKP for making Zhang Linghe a father character I'm actually crying real tears he looks so good with the kids. Also every drama with Bai Lu in it, I don't think we have to worry about chemistry because she nailed it every time, no doubt about it.

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Perfect Ending

As I have read the novel I really wanted Ning Er to know that XW had special feelings for her in previous lyf as well in the drama, as he commits suicide after she dies, this was beautifully shown in the form of a dream which Ning Er has in the end.

Their relationship had hints of comedy as well, when he 1st kisses on her forehead and her father see them 🤣🤣🤣, when they fight causing XW to stab himself and everyone around them knows abt it 😁😁😁.

Overall it was really a very good drama, with a hint of every emotion, I really enjoyed it. Now my lyf feels empty as I dnt have to count every hour and wait for new episodes anymore 😔😔😔

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If we have a chance to relive our lives, can we change our lives? Or is it all fated?

Wow... completely mesmerised.

Jiang Xue Ning was an unscrupulous woman who schemed and plotted her way to the position of empress. But her reign was short-lived as Xie Wei, someone she had once saved, rebelled and seized the capital together with Yan Lin, her childhood sweetheart. As Xie Wei stormed her palace, she pleaded with him to spare the life of Zhang Zhe, a righteous man who had loved, pitied and helped her, but was sentenced to death as a result. She regretted her evil ways and offered her life for his.

She fell to her death, but to her surprise , she woke up as her 18 year old self. Armed with the knowledge of the 'future', she set to right the wrongs she had done. But along the way, things started to happen again as what she had experienced in her 'previous' life. She wondered whether it was all fated. Were things going to turn out differently for her? Would all the tragedies happen all over again?

What I like about this drama?

1. The story was very interesting. Although there had been a lot of back to the past type of dramas and movies, what made this interesting was someone had the opportunity to redress her wrongs. So you would be wondering how things is going to turn out for her this time. The previous and the current lives were very well intertwined.

2. The chemistry between Bai Lu and Zhang Ling He, the two main leads, was amazing. More accurately, the chemistry between Bai Lu and all the three male leads were amazing. What made it more interesting was that it was difficult to tell in the earlier two thirds of the story who she would choose among her 3 suitors, or would she somehow end up with Prince Linzi again, this time against her will? Even though she said to Yan Lin she only treated him as a good friend, but would his sincerity changed that? Would the stern and scary Xie Wei win her heart? And when she and Prince Lanzi ran into each other again, would Prince Lanzi mistook her for his love and rekindled feelings for her? Would she and Zhang Zhe whom she felt so indebted be together in this life?

3. Zhang Ling He was an amazing actor. He portrayed such a diverse set of emotions so well - the evil traitor, the psychotic, the stern dignified teacher, the jealous lover and the emotional nephew when he saw his uncle. He is one of the few actors who looks handsome when stern. And of course Bai Lu was very good too: the nasty resentful teenage girl, an empress full of regrets and the determined girl fighting for the people she cared for.

4. The overall cast did very well with very little shortcomings among them.

5. The costumes were beautiful and the backdrop was good.

6. The drama started with the scriptwriter not wanting to end the story as a tragedy was interesting: a departure from a scriptwriter drawn into the story as one of the characters. Also, this hit a note with me as I dislike tragedies which left me unhappy.

7. Although an intense drama, there were light-hearted and seriously humorous moments, for example when the carriage driver flipped the carriage curtains only to revealed Xie Wei kissing XueNing, to her stunned father, in old conservative China. And the way the fake Dingfei made fun of his 'father' was rather amusing. When his annoyed 'father' told him he was a disgrace to the family, he gleefully offered to change his surname to Yan (the rival family), and I burst into laughter.

8. There were touching memorable moments, for example the series of events leading to Yan Lin going into exile - Xie Wei recited a poem at Yan Lin's coming-of-age ceremony - the poems were all hinting at what was to come - and his playing the qin at the city gate when he was exiled.

8. This was one of the few occasions when I actually liked the ending. There were the last moment twists.

What I dislike about this drama?

1. There were some comments on Mydramalist about flashing bright light in the background but I was so engrossed in the story that I did not notice.

2. Music was generally good and two of the theme songs were melodious, but not outstanding. I must say music standards seemed to have deteriorated in dramas released since the pandemic. I did not come across many outstanding pieces that left a lasting impression except for those in Till the End of the Moon.

3. A couple of scenes were rather contrived, for example the two scenes that Xie Wei ended up in bed with XueNing.

What I liked about this drama largely outweighed what I do not like. You can therefore understand why I gave this drama a rating of 10.

This time I made an effort to check on the director and screenwriter as well. The director is Chu Yui Bun whose accolades include Starry Love, The Blue Whisper, The Long Ballad, Skate into Love, Eternal Love of Dream, Ashes of Love. Success of a drama production depends a lot on the teamwork: excellent cast, director and script are the obvious, then there is the editing, makeup artist and more.

To add an advice: don't watch any trailer on how the drama would end. Let it hold you in suspense until the end. Then the twist and turns would be less predictable and more striking.

Finally, it would be great if there could be a prequel to this drama. I was wondering how XueNing became the empress given a domineering Dowager who had someone else in mind for the position, and a scheming rival who more than matched her wit. But the main cast for the prequel must match this drama. Of course, this would be a tall order as I had not seen many sequel successfully completed or had seen sequels which were disappointing flops.

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