Story of Yanxi Palace

The Story of Yanxi Palace is a Chinese period drama series recounting the struggles of a palace maid in the court of the Qianlong Emperor. This is a historical drama following one of the most famous monarchs, who was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China. It has 70 episodes in total and a full cast to set the tone or what is, in my opinion, one of the best shows ever.

The main lead of this show, Wei Yingluo, is an upright, strong and cunning young woman is ahead of her time in terms of knowledge and reasoning. She uses her innate skills to rise above tangles of conventional palace rivalries to defeat her enemies. This portrayal of a character leaves the audience hanging on every action as they watch as this palace maid skillfully talks her way out of the worst of situations, toppling even the most ruthless of enemies.

The extent of wit and subterfuge that is witnessed in the show also makes for a thoroughly enjoyable watch as there is no shortage of humor or laughable scenes. The Story of Yanxi Palace provides a comical peek into the historical Chinese palace hierarchy (concubines, etc.) as well as the inner court workings and state affairs. However, this drama is less conformative in many aspects with a multitude of unique twists and turns that the audience won't see coming.

I highly recommend this show to anyone and everyone who is looking for something new to watch.

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it was really, really good.

---Story---

The story is just plain awesome. The basic concept is pretty simple, but once you dive more in, the plot is super duper complex. Each scheme and detail flows into one another and the plot keeps on multiplying. We get WeiYingLuo as a maid and her graceful save lets her move up. All the plot points really just make sense and just tie together, and it's super intelligent. I especially enjoyed the first few episodes because it was WeiYingLuo's starting point, and the schemes and tricks were bold, simple, but yet still so intelligent and badass. The middle is also really great and there's also interesting schemes, but the schemes are less innovative, but the characters and new additions are really worth it. And the ending of the middle is also really intriguing and heartbreaking. The last few episodes after a certain character dies, in the last 10 episodes, the plot just loosens. The pacing kinda falls apart and it just isn't that intelligent. I'm a show finisher so I watched it but it just didn't match up with the quality of the previous 60 episodes. Though I will praise this show for its overall good pacing and great storyline.

---Characters, acting/cast---

So, the casting is a pretty good choice and I can remember everyone's face. The acting is also really good, especially for Noble Lady Gao and Emperor QianLong. The way they convey expressions, like Noble Lady Gao subtle eyebrow raise, and the Emperor's veins on his forehead when he gets angry. Awesome. All the other actors are good as well and we really get the emotions and personalities. Now, on to the characters themselves. WeiYingLuo herself is really cutthroat and I love seeing a smart and self-reliant female protagonist who can actually do stuff. Side characters, consorts, Empress, and pretty much everyone is loveable and sympathizable. Now about romance. The first relationship is cute, but the second lacks some chemistry, but it's still pretty good.

---Visuals, music---

The costumes, the props, the setting, the aesthetic. The embroidery looks actually good, and the clothes do too, and the show doesn't just pretend it's good. They show us. They flipping show us. Now, about the music. I think the music was like really, really, dope. I literally do not skip the opening because of the OST and I will never forget this song. Now about the actual music in the show. You don't hear it that much and it functions pretty well without it, but I would like to hear more.

---Conclusion---

This drama is a great, intelligent, well-written, show. I think you'd like it if you watched The Promised Neverland, or Death Note. The intensity and intelligence are on a similar level.

P.S. : If you like rom-coms, this isn't the best for you.

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I have to write this for my parents. They typically only watch Korean drama's, you know, a nice set 16 episodes and they're finished. After watching bits of this and the mini-series on Netflix, I talked them into trying it. They were unconvinced, thinking it was too long, but started anyway. They binged the whole thing within a week, were both sad that there was no more and hoping I could suggest something else.
The female lead is great, she's cunning but not unkind, and I loved the interactions between her and the emperor, the chemistry is great. It was nice to see a woman who didn't whine or scheme, where we weren't sure of how she'd get out of a bind until it happened. The politics between concubines was ruthless and the opening song will be recognisable for the rest of my life.

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It’s an amazing drama! Watch Worthy

I first discovered this drama from the ending theme ost, The sound of snow falling; I fell in love with the song and then watched some music videos, and then I decided to watch it. When I saw that it had 70 episodes, I thought I wasn’t going to like it; I was totally wrong. I binged this drama! I finished it in like 6 days? At first, I really shipped Fuheng and Yingluo, but after seeing how adorable the Emperor is towards Yingluo, I love their interaction. I loved the Queen so much. When she died, my eyes were balling! At first, I thought that the Emperor and Yingluo’s relationship was a little weird since he’s much older, but then I came to like it a lot! This drama is really good! Yingluo does not need a man to rescue her. It is a little unrealistic that Yingluo didn’t die from her actions towards the Emperor, but if she did die, then the drama would not be 70 episodes. Watch it!

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Basically the drama is about the politics that happens between concubines in the palace. Concubines with high power will try to manipulate others for their selfish desires. We can make the story of drama in two parts
1. When Wei Ying Luo is a maid in the palace. Because of her smartness she evolves and becomes a close maid to the empress. When the empress died later she will become a concubine because of some situations
2. How she turns emperor attention towards her (I personally liked this part so much).
I like the way the drama has taken.
All characters made their best in acting and the drama is mainly about Wei Ying Luo

This drama is highly recommended for china drama lovers

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My FAVOURITE show!!!

I experienced such an array of emotions whilst watching this drama it is truly amazing. The way that this story was structured, the fact that they were able to have it span over 10 years and it kept me on the edge of my seat the ENTIRE time. Amazing spectacular phenomenal.

I have re-watched this drama at least five times and I still am so engaged during the entire show and even though I’ve watched it so many times I still get emotional during those emotional scenes even though I know what’s going to happen it just still gets me. I feel like at this point I’ve formed an emotional attachment to all of the characters and that’s not something that happens to me usually.

The only other drama or show that can hold a candle to this in my opinion would be Moon lovers: Scarlet Hearts of Ryeo the Korean version. So if you enjoyed this show as much as I did or even a normal amount I would highly recommend watching moon lovers.

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A particularly delighful drama w possible continuity w Legend of Zhen Huan n My Fair Princess (1998)

I watched The Story of Yanxi Palace n Ruyi's Golden Love in the Palace. I found Ruyi so depressingly dismal w how the empress character relied too much on the emperor's kove n trust. Meanwhile, in Yanxi Palace, the characters Yingluo n the Emperor were basically equal. Just love the bickering between the two n how the emperor started off just being intrigued w Yingluo, starting to respect Yingluo as he discovered the depth of her characters n slowly falling in love w her w/o him realising it first. Li Yue character said in one episode where that Yingluo(Ling Fei) treated the emperor as a commoner n that's what make her special. For me, I love that it's the emperor that had to work to earn the love of Yingluo, compared to the usual trope of the heroine falling in love w the emperor first. While for Yingluo herself, we never really know if she truly love the emperor as a man or if she just come to love him as a husband. Love love the female characters in the drama, n how each character has a big moment where the dramatic focus is on them, like the Step Empress impassioned speech in ep 70, the Empress telling the emperor how she felt suffocated by the empress title, Consort Guo admitting that the emperor only pitied her, Consort Chun breakdown, etc.
While Ruyi is supposedly a sequel to Legend of Zhen Huan, I find Yanxi Palace to be a more appropriate to be called a sequel. In Zhen Huan, the heroine had to play palace politics to protect her loved ones. In Yanxi, the Empress Dowager (which could be Zhen Huan) didn't involve himself in political matters, which is reasonable as Zhen Huan wouldn't hv to protect her loved ones anymore once Yongzheng Emperor died n she became the Empress Dowager. In Yanxi, the Empress Dowager loved her deceased princess, Princess He Ang, more than anyone. Which tied in w Zhen Huan where she had a daughter w the 17th Prince, n thus would probably love her the most. In Ruyi, the emperor supposedly love Ruyi (Consort Xian). But, in Zhen Huan, Hong Li didn't like Consort Xian n actually requested Zhen Huan to replace Consort Xian w Consort Gao as his 2nd wife, which tallied w how the emperor treated Consort Xian in Yanxi n that Consort Gao was the 2nd wife. In Ruyi, the empress character was potrayed as someone evil, while in Yanxi, the empress is potrayed as good, which agreed more w how Chinese history wrote abt the empress.
Yanxi's connection w the 1998 drama My Fair Princesd is something that I personally thought of. In Yanxi, there's a period of 10 yrs between ep 64 n 65. The drama told nothing of what happened in that period but in ep 65, we know that the emperor has grown distant frm the step empress. In My Fair Princess, the emperor discovered that he had a daughter w a commoner woman, who he might hv met during one of his tours. The emperor was so taken w thus new daughter as well as her commoner best friend that he bestowed to them the title of Princess n doted on them. Ling Fei became friend w the two princesses. But, the Step Empress got jealous of them n used tactics to get the emperor to hate the princesses n punished them w death. The drama also had the character Lord Fu Heng who helped the two princesses to escape the Step Empress's threats. At the end of the drama, the emperor came to know of the Step Empress's wrongdoings. This then could be the possible reason for why the emperor was distant w the Step Empress in Yanxi, n also how the physician implied to the Step Empress to reign in her jealousy so as not to disturb her health.
So, for me, Legend of Zhen Huan, My Fair Princess (1998) n Yanxi Palace fit in so nicely w eo in term of the storyline n the characters.
Also, in Legend of Zhen Huan, My Fair Princess n Yanxi Palace, the main female characters are portrayed as smart n strong women, while in Ruyi, the main female characters are portrayed as those who are only interested to gain the emperor's love while the Step Empress was so annoyingly ineffectual that all her loved ones suffered due to her own inaction.

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This drama is worth the hype and high rating. Although I really don’t like harem plots this one was an exception. I admit that the first 20 episodes or so did not impress me but after a point (I forgot when) the episodes became exciting and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest. I like how Wei Lingyou’s character is smart and witty and that she is not a saint, she can punish and fight back when needed. The chemistry between the main leads was good even though the romantic scenes were limited and mostly implied this should not deter one from watching. Just the anticipation of when Wei Lingyou would show her love to the Emperor and how the Emperor would show his devotion to WL is enough as romance. Most of the cast did a wonderful job acting although some bits of overacting didn’t affect the drama as a whole. Cinematography was excellent. Locations, sets and costumes were high quality. My only complaint about this drama is the length. Even though the span of the story is about 25 years I think they could have shortened while keeping the span. I would have given this drama a perfect 10 if it was kept at 60 episodes or less. I love the happy ending between Wei Lingyou and the Emperor that they truly loved each other and also the promise of Wei Lingyou to protect/be together with Fuheng in her next life. Overall, this is one of my all time favorite historical dramas and I highly recommend.

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My first review of 2025! I never pictured myself watching a historical Cdrama since these type of shows tend to have a lot of episodes. But despite that, I was surprised on how much I enjoyed this series. Even though it did started to drag a bit towards the ending of the show, I loved how fast paced and quick the plots were introduced and resolved. I love all the drama and scheming and I loved the female lead in this.

Even though there's comments on her being a bit Mary Sue ish, I love how fierce and determined she was when it came to accomplishing her goals. It made the show much more enjoyable to watch because I don't think I will stick around this long if she was passive and crying every episode. The romance in this series don't really hit for me like I wanted it to. I originally wanted Yingluo with Fuheng but why did Fuheng gave up on her so easily?? I don't like Yingluo with the Emperor... I never got the vibe that Yingluo truly loved the Emperor and I still hold some resentment on the way he treated the original Empress.

Overall, the drama is what kept me hooked but I think the first half of the series was stronger. After the Empress died, the show was still good but I felt like certain plots were becoming too repetitive and I felt like every new girl character that was introduced was just there for the sake of hating on Yingluo. This is a show that I enjoyed quite a lot but I don't see myself rewatching the series. The episode count is a bit too much for me. Maybe in the future, I'll watch the short sequel series on Netflix. Maybe...

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For me, no other drama will ever top Yanxi Palace

I could watch this every 3 months because it is the epitome of a great drama that encompasses perfect writing, beautiful cinematography, and characters with more layers than a mille-feuille. It's also one that gives the most believable depiction of the Qianlong Emperor unlike Ruyi's Love in the Palace which became all about Ruyi's martyrdom.
Also, I wonder why there aren't more strong female characters like Wei Ying Luo because if the viewing numbers are anything to go by, it at least tells us that audiences want a heroine who can triumph over adversity by the sheer power of her intellect and yet C dramaland is littered with the ghosts of limp-noodle, baby voice heroines who can't find their way out of a paper bag.

Anyway, watch this if you like a fast-paced and unpredictable plot with multiple strong female characters.

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