A finely crafted and immensely satisfying show, The Story of Ming Lan gives you everything: slow burn romance, political intrigue, surprise battle scenes, smart women, a fabulous soundtrack, incredible costuming, gorgeous sets, and the most bitter of enemies - family.The Story of Ming Lan is pretty simple: Ming Lan, the daughter of a dead concubine and a middle class bureaucrat, must navigate the scheming of her relations to marriage and beyond. Unlike Jane Austen's heroines, however, Ming Lan is no Lizzy Bennett (although the family certainly will certainly be familiar to Pride and Prejudice fans!) , but instead channels Anne Elliot (Persuasion) and Elinor Dashwood (Sense & Sensibility) and a little Machiavelli. The power struggle women play are paramount in this story, and well told. An absolute stonker of a series, highly recommended if you like character development and intrigue.