The Story of Ming Lan

Both series follows intelligent plot line with genius leads. In both series leads are trying to uncover truth behind death of their loved ones. Both leads teach harsh lessons to the people who tries to hurt their loved ones. Both leads are very good in foshadowing the future conditions and can manipulate other people and plays them like chess pieces.

female centric view of ancient china
female planning ahead to achieve goals for palace.
some funny stories lines as well

Both are beautifully shot costume romantic dramas with beautiful actors. Both have marriage life and typical Chinese palace power struggle.
But the stories differs much, while Ming Lan is quite smart and restrained, the FL of Ru yi is not; Story of Ming Lan is more realistic, Ruyi Pavilion (aka Snowfall of wishes) is just sweet and fluffy.

—> FL also has a close relationship to the grandma.
—> also got married after missing the initial chance and after a good solid foundation understanding one another, totally wasn’t love at first sight…
—-> there is also a revenge/family mishap on the ML’s side

Different stories but same feel. Similarities between the two are:

1) Smart and Witty FL
2) FL has a different love interest initially
3) ML falls in love first
4) Once the Lead couple get together they are loyal and trust each other
5) Both are slow paced drama
6) Amazing chemistry

If you like one, definitely give the other a try.

If you like low profile scheming protagonists bent on revenge, you'll enjoy these two. Story of Ming Lan's protagonist is similar to Legend of Zang Hai's second son of the marquis in that their mothers were both killed by one of the other women in the harem. Both stories also involve clever villains though their styles are different. They also both make references to classic texts, and borrow strategies from the Art of War (even if not explicitly explained). Both also feature strong willed protagonists who are kind at heart with hidden fierceness.

Both dramas explore the complex relationships within extended families and the strict hierarchy between prestigious families. The shows' slow pace enables them to build well fleshed out characters.

Similar plot in terms of FL awakens something in the ML to improve and become a person worthy of FL’s love, trying to get as many accomplishments on the battlefield as possible to marry the FL. The ML ends up rescuing the nation and royal family a few times over.

Zhang Jing Yi is the FL in both. The chemistry is natural. The relationship had depth. However, BEITD does not have a satisfactory ending.

The female character is very smart just like our female lead in SOKP. The story is very well paced and ending is satisfactory. Moreover, we get to see the male lead support his wife and all of her schemes.

Both depict the story of how it was growing up in a particular time period. Although they include the main characters love stories they equally concentrate on their family life, social issues and the influence they had on the lives of these characters. Romance is not the most important part of the story, it's simply part of their lives, as is family, friends and everyday obstackles they have to overcome. If anything, they are the stories about family, growing up and what kind of adults they became while dealing with changes in the world that surrounds them.

basically if you want to see Li Yi Xiao playing the same character and having fun with her being over the top, this is your drama

I have no idea why these are two similar, only that everyone who adored Ming Lan reports that it is by the same director/writer and is just a great plot and extremely well written. I will return to edit this after seeing Battle.

Both drama:
The acting is top-notch and not just pretty faces.

In "The Story of Ming Lan", female lead suffers from neglect from her family especially her father, fortunately she receives love from her grandmother. The female lead is intelligent and witty.

In "Jun Jiu Ling", female lead is a princess but live as other identity to revenge.

Although both drama is not the same situation, I think both just have a great plot and extremely well written.

If you like Ming Lan, you will like Jiu Ling too.

Ml and fl are a husband- wife duo who work together to solve problems for the people
Mls family is evil
Fls mom died when fl was a kid and she gets revenge
Ml helps out fl when they are younger