The King's Woman

I was hesitant to watch this drama because I knew beforehand about the ending, but gladly I did watch it for my love to Bin Bin and Raba, really despite the ending, don’t regret at all watching this series and gonna be among my all time favorite dramas. If I did not know that this drama based on historical facts, I would rate it 8/10 only because I wished the King trusted Li Er , but after knowing its truly that he didn’t trust anyone, did not appoint queen and he was the one who united China, So gonna rate it 9.5/10. The acting was brilliant by Bin Bin, the clothes and styles of The king and Li Er are incredible and probably the best ever I have yet to see! I watched countless Historical chinese & Korean dramas, but love this one so much because it’s unique & will be hardly to be forgotten! It’s almost a straightforward, not complicated plot yet magical & super addicting!
I don’t know why but truly this drama has a magic that Keeps me under its spell & makes it hard for me to move on ! I spent sleepless nights watching this series over 3 days !
Bin Bin & Raba are the most gorgeous Asian couple of 2017 & hands down ??
Love also the BGM & OSTs..
I would recommend watching this drama for any fans of the leads, historical dramas or Asian dramas. It was a wonderful journey.

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Opposite Poles Attract Each Other

A Worthwhile Watch If You Can Bear Agony And Complex Relationships.
This series clearly depicts this saying: the characters of the King and Lady Li are paradoxical. What Li possesses in sympathy, chivalry, and love, the King possesses the opposite obsessiveness, ruthlessness, and immorality.

I think the scenarist was trying to portray the story of one of the most famous Chinese historical figures, admired throughout China for uniting the state, but without dismissing his flaws. That's a huge plus, since it was done so implicitly (I even rewatched some episodes after finishing the series and noticed subtle hints and actions showing the King's immorality that I had completely missed the first time!).

The scenarist also crafted the character of Li just to highlight the King’s flaws, by showing through her what he lacks. (How brilliant, Li is like a reversed reflection of the King.)

Li is especially used in the last episode to deliver a universal message: no ruler can successfully establish peace and rule the world without possessing sympathy.

I wouldn't exactly call the relationship between the King and Li "love" (although Li at some point clearly shows affection and true love). It's more of a passion, especially for the King.

The script was slow-paced yet steady and excellent (if we ignore the second male lead, who was really annoying and immature), and the excessive flashbacks (seriously, at some point the flashbacks got on my nerves, hehe).

The part about uniting the six states was fairly covered, and I was completely hooked on the strategies the King used to conquer. It was genius to explain how he thought and what motivated his quest for unification — it really made me sympathize with or at least understand him at some points.

As for Lady Li, at first, I thought she was naïve, but as the events unfolded, I realized her decisions were wise and that she was morally driven, unlike the King.

I loved the cinematic choices, particularly in the last episode — they were grand and meticulously chosen to create an extraordinary ending (not going to spoil it!).

The costumes were just wow, and the music perfectly matched the historical vibes.

Now, about Bin Bin and Dilraba:
They completely stole my attention. What a fascinating portrayal of both characters, their flaws, and their struggles. Dilraba — when she cries, she is divine. Her depiction of Li was majestic; I could truly feel Li’s aura through her — her wisdom, her delicacy.
Bin Bin was only 24 or 25 back then, but his acting was top-tier. I can't imagine any other actor portraying the King like him. He managed to merge distinct emotions in a single glance or a single smile — you could tell he put so much effort into the role.
Although the relationship between the King and Li was wrenching and very toxic, I couldn't help but get more and more absorbed into their dynamic.

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I'm not going to lie, I dropped this drama somwhere in the last 10 ep, when I realized I was watching a wash and repeat of the same self-inflicted angst caused by our pouty king.
 If you're a fan of this genre and are immune or enjoy endings that are meant to piss you off, this is the one.
 If you are new to this kinda stuff, don't feel guilty ff through second lead jerk-face's scenes. You'll still get the idea of what's going on Ff bith hs scenes and what I call "The bad people plotting/doing/discussing the bad things'. I swear the second leads story arc despite the head-scratching simple conflict of the OTP, is the weakest and somewhat unnecessary part of the show.
I found it evtertaing until a certain point, then I just wanted to know how it ended, which as you either know or will find , a lot of stuff is given in the open/ending credits.
I wouldn't watch it again and would only recommend to the male lead's an without reservations. He did look good in this.
Other than this, I wouldn't recommend this drama to those new to historical Chinese shows, under any circumstance. 

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Charming Couple with Chemistry

Personally, I really enjoyed this drama and I even re-watched it a couple of times.

I come back to this drama periodically to get my fix of Vin Zhang. He is truly handsome and manly. I like this height and built. <3

I think that the ML and FL act well and have very good chemistry in the show. I find the FL pretty and the ML very handsome. ML is such a fine actor. He showcases his acting prowess through how he can be power-hungry and cut-throat and yet, he can be obsessively loving and protective when it comes to his darling lady love. When he loves, he loves hard. e.g. My heart fluttered whenever he became crazy and searched for her desperately whenever she was not in his palace / by his side.

The plot is intriguing and engaging enough for me to ‘chase show’ (and to come back to it when I need my fix of Vin). Everything comes together in that the plot lines are well-linked and everything is wrapped up well.

What I liked a lot:
- explosive chemistry between female lead and male lead is definitely present
- strong and manly male lead who fits the role of king well; seriously, he can act so well
- feisty female lead who is smart, pretty, capable and endearing
- plot that is intriguing and engaging

What I didn’t like:
{spoilers}
- so many deaths
- a lot of bloodshed
- so many people do not get their ‘happily ever after’ and I’m a sucker for happy endings so I’m not pleased
- a lot of scheming

Anyway, this is a very watchable drama!!

Excellent acting!! Interesting plot that makes you want to find out what comes next. Highly Recommend!! <3

Most significantly, ML is a total charmer in this drama (despite his 'toxic love', obsession with FL and whatnot). Enjoy this drama to delight in seeing ML on your TV screen!! <3 What a man! Team King all the way!

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If it is based on true story then I have no words

A king, known for his cruelty, crosses every limit under the excuse of uniting the world. In the end, he is left with nothing.

I decided to watch this drama solely because of the male lead. However, his character was cruel. Since I like the male lead, I always sought the good in his character, becoming biased and overlooking his wrongdoings.

From the beginning, the king made many mistakes. Since childhood, he loved a girl because she had saved his life. When he meets her again, he recalls that she saved him twice—she is his benefactor. However, his kindness toward her soon turns into an obsession. By any means—fair or foul—he wins her over and forces her to stay with him.

One day, he learns that she is carrying another man's child and tries to get rid of it. However, she threatens to take her own life if he does so. For her sake, he accepts the child. Over time, she begins to fall for him, touched by his kindness toward her and her child. But she doesn’t know what fate has in store for her.

If this story is based on real events, I have no words to comment. But if it is purely fictional, I am not at all happy with it. The story brings a tragic ending for all the main characters. Sorry for the spoiler. Also, I was not satisfied with the ending.

Lastly, I want to appreciate the female lead’s attire and hairstyle—both were amazing.

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Vin Zhang so cool....

One word for this drama. Wow... I've never been more enchanted by Vin Zhang. Vin Zhang here is so cool... At that age played this kind of role & be this good is really something.

One thing this drama plot is not conventional, where the male lead (ML) is a good man. Here is the opposite the ML is the bad guy in the drama. Seeing how the ML never change until the end is really something, usually they became better or good man in the end. How the ending of this drama also really perfect. The ending gives me chill...

I also like dilireba here. She's not acting cute like her usual drama. In my opinion she and Vin Zhang give their best performance here.

I also like the romance between Gongsun Li / Lady Li and the king / Ying Zheng. How the hate became tolerance and eventually became love. The acting between dilireba and Vin Zhang also very supple, because they already in a lot of drama together so no awkwardness here.

But sometimes the more i think the darker this drama became. When we really want to take time to ponder the plot its actually the psychological condition where the victim became depend with the kidnapper, sometimes they became 'fall in love' with the kindapper ^_^.

So if you looked for drama that different from usual drama plot watch this. This is a very good drama to escape from boring plot. If you also looked for romance, this drama also offer that to you, enough romance but not too overwhelm. If you fans of dilireba and Vin Zhang of course you have to watch this drama, give you new perspective to them. ^_^

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A bit conflicted storyline.

First I d like to say as a non Chinese speaking person I was really sad at the subtitles being small, white, and barely readable. Plus no music lyrics were translated in this series nor signs, etc which I feel gives a viewer a better effect and understanding for the series effort made by all involved. I love knowing the signs on the buildings. Call me crazy but it all goes into the entire effort of the production. That being said I would like to next say I love Bin Bin in everything he does, even as a bad guy role, but honestly in this series I feel like he carried the entire series and was the good guy. I didn't like the little crybaby role of Jing as he just couldn't get through life, drinking, whining, even Han did better in moving forward in finding a path of action to feel alive . I felt Jing didn't deserve any woman he was so conflicted. I was very interested in the historical aspect of this drama but will have to look it up separately to see what was real. I am aware of the concubine issues however and how the politics of them became extremely out of control at times and eventually subdued and changed. (I think..,? ) Anyway I did not like Dal in this role, but I did not even like the female lead created for this role at all. It was extremely unbelievable. The king has this sweet memory of who she was and how she protected him but in the action she seems unaware of who he is and treats him pitifully even though choosing to go live w him to save her lover? I just didnt even find this believable. Also the sleeping together stuff. She slept w both guys but do we know if she really could be carrying the Kings child in reality and not Jings? She is so naive in general just unbelievable and then running away w/o her child. ,??? No way. Bad mom. Again not believable plus getting a soldier killed and her maidservant beaten etc. How could she not know this in these times if the king was so awful. Then comes back and tries to kill the king w a hairpin. Again I'm rolling my eyes thinking really unbelievable. How much hate and vengeance when she could have just stayed w Jing. And her reasons were like blah blah blah I have no brain. So between this crazy stuff and Jing acting even less interesting in character I really focused even more on the Kings good attributes and the harem soap operish drama scenes of the mean girls club like effect which were really funny and enjoyable to a point. I wanted to see the Dowager cut off FL s hair in prison Lol. I felt she deserved it based on her brainless behavior. Plus in real life I'm pretty sure she would have gotten worse. Also her maid comes back w no scares. C'mon people slashes across the face make scars even w the greatest of medicines. I think it would have added even better drama for the maid and Han to keep their slash scars to seal the effects of FLs selfish behavior. Plus scars on the face show great character in drama roles ...Ok anyway ..... lol . I will continue to watch this to the end only as I would like to see who lives and dies and if lil Tian really becomes a good man due to the King who seems to be the only sensible person in the lead roles. It sure wouldn't be Dil who is always full of hate and seemingly not kind or gentle with any nice redeeming qualities shown thus far. She also is a liar. Hypocrite. Calls everyone else a liar while she lies. This is why I can't buy into her character in general. (I do like her as an actress in general though, just not this character role) ...Just nothing there to like plus far too many blank face looks which shows lack of depth. In closing I absolutely loved, loved the costumery, clothing, hair, settings, and the visuals, the fight scenes and the elders cast in those drama. Fine acting there. It was all very beautiful, enticing and great work there. I loved the dress Dil wore in her sword dance. Beautiful!! The look backs get boring and tedious, had to scroll past the umpteenth time of seeing the same ones over and over again. I do like the storyline in general despite the FL s just not making any sense overall .
Ok so the ending was a joke. I mean really?? FL just made no sense, had no loyalty and ruined everything she touched. She was the bad person. Not the king.

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Story/ Entertainment:
It’s pretty good. I mean end credits/ opening credits songs, really tell you all the story and plots. And it is kind of that love story we are pretty much seen a lot. But they way story carries out is not bad. It’s still entertaining.

Cast/Acting:
Acting is good. So if you have good looking actors and actresses who knows how to act, that helps a lot with this type of story. I like most of the cast in this series, they are pretty good in most TV series I have seem them.

Production Values:
I actually like the productions.... set/ costume.... they are pretty good as well as actions/ camera movement...


Expectation:
Just dont think too much about it. It’s not a bad series.

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Recommended solely if you are a fan of the actors or like historicals.

This has been on my ptw list since I joined mdl 2 almost 3 years ago. It wasn't like I was putting it off but I just honestly kept forgetting to watch- it's not bad but not all that great.
My 2 issues is the story got laggy. This could have totally been cut to 30 POSSIBLY 40 episodes which could have made the story more impactful. The other issue is character development wasn't really there which to me means crappy writing.
One good thing about these historicals are the sets and costumes which this obviously had- A1.
The acting was... idk how to describe it. Like not the best but not the worst either. I've seen several of Dil and Bin Bin's dramas and at this point it's the same thing just different characters- there's no range and even though they aren't terrible, I would like to see a different side to them.
Overall I enjoyed it even though it got repetitive and I would stop paying attention during some scenes but it's to be expected with these long dramas.

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Childhood sweethearts cum fellow disciples Sun li and Jing ke gets separated when the Qin emperor hunts down the beautiful Sun li and makes her his concubine. The power struggle of the harem and the palace politics are also the main themes apart from the Qin emperor 's ambition and effort in unifying all states into one.

Dilaraba played the part of concubine Sun li beautifully. The ruthless emperor Ying Zheng played by Zhang bin bin , Jing Ke played by Liu Chang (found him smoking hot) , the sweet gentle eldest senior Han shen who supports Sun li in all her decisions played by Li Tian - all were awesome.

Loved the title and ending songs.

I watched till episode 14, put it on hold for months because I found the story dragging and boring. After a few months, I watched the remaining episodes and thought would put it on hold if I found it dragging. But from episode 15, I watched it non stop and even if the story gets dragging a bit somewhere in 30s episodes and in early 40s episodes, I completed all 48 episodes. What this means is story is predictable in between but it was not boring enough to put it on hold for me, hence I was able to complete all 48 episodes.

Will Sun li be able to survive the power struggle and politics of harem and the Palace? Will she be able to assist the Qin emperor Ying Zheng in his ambition in unifying the states? Will she fall for the emperor or is her heart still with Jing ke? Will Ying Zheng love Sun li's baby as his own or the baby just a means to keep Sun li by his side? Watch the drama to find out.

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