Story of Yanxi Palace

Hooked me!

I started Story of Yanxi Palace hoping for something longer I could watch for a while between waiting for new release episodes to finally come out for the dramas I was dumb enough to start before all the episodes were available—something nice and long to settle back to, and I'd heard great things about this one. 4 days, almost no sleep, and 70 episodes later...........

I was confused and a bit disappointed with the last ten episodes and the direction they took the story, but it makes more sense now that I know that it was loosely based on actual historical events. I'm not a fan of love triangles, and this one was awful, especially after hearing that it's not historically accurate. So dumb.

But overall, it was a drama that kept me hooked. Now, to go watch Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (which I've heard is more historically accurate).

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Story of Yanxi Palace – A Must-Watch for Everyone!

Hello, drama lovers! This is my honest review of Story of Yanxi Palace, coming from someone who has watched a lot of C-dramas and K-dramas—I actually stopped watching C-dramas as frequently after 2021 because they started feeling too cliché and dragged out. I became a full-on K-drama fan. But every now and then, I come back to check if a C-drama can reignite my old love… and in 2023, this was the one that brought back the teenager in me who was obsessed with C-dramas! ^^

(Disclaimer: I just finished watching, so I might be a little biased. Bear with me! :P)

What Makes This Drama So Special?
First things first—the casting and OST are absolute perfection! I can’t even imagine other actors in these roles. The intro song alone is so exciting and nostalgic. And the actors? Iconic. (Okay, maybe the king has a few cringe moments, but we’ll let that slide! :P)

The story is beautifully crafted, using real history as a base, which makes it way more interesting than your typical palace drama. And finally—a strong female lead who isn’t just a helpless, miserable, crying mess the entire time! :) Watching her get revenge and take down villains one by one is so satisfying. Call me petty, but I am so over weak, tragic heroines who do the most illogical things just to suffer even more. This FL? A breath of fresh air!

Oh, and can we talk about the breathtaking costumes?! <3 Even after watching so many historical dramas, this one really stood out in terms of traditional fashion—it’s pure eye candy. Honestly, this is one of the best costume dramas ever!

Romance, Palace Life & Emotional Damage Alert!
The romance in this drama? Absolutely adorable and so intriguing! <3 It starts off slow but is beautifully built, making you completely invested in the main couple. You can feel their emotions, and their chemistry is just chef’s kiss! :)

But aside from romance, this drama also does an amazing job portraying the life of a woman in the palace during ancient times. It shows just how tough, strategic, and smart a woman had to be to survive in that world. It’s not all glitz and glamour—the palace is a battlefield, and every decision can mean life or death.

And beware—this drama also serves up a major second lead syndrome. (Not gonna spoil anything, but trust me, it hurts.) As the story unfolds, you get super attached to the characters, so prepare yourself to cry your eyes out. ^^

The Only Downside?
Sometimes, it feels like there are jump cuts or that a part of the story is missing. I found myself thinking, Wait, did I accidentally skip an episode? :P It would have been nice if they added a little more depth to some characters.

Final Thoughts – Is It Worth Watching?
Since this drama is based on real history, they probably didn’t want to over-fictionalize it, which makes sense. But even if you hate political dramas (like me!), you’ll still find this one way more enjoyable than most of today’s over-the-top, dragged-out historical dramas. It’s engaging, visually stunning, and filled with emotional highs and lows—the kind of show that any type of viewer can enjoy. :)

So, if you haven’t seen Story of Yanxi Palace yet, what are you waiting for? Highly recommend! <3

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I was very reluctant to watch this show because Harem/Palace settings are not at all my "thing"...But as soon as it started, it
dived me in completly!.

- Characters, historical attention to details (Qing dinastie), Ost, plot, ...everything got me in just within few minutes and I didnt care anymore for those 70 episode lenght :D...

Every single character is deeply portraited, and even the evil ones are so well written , acted, that you simply sympathize, and are fully driven to understand with each of them :
Each woman has it's own tool to outshine others, and none are stupid-like or meaningless. They all have something very personnal to express ( my favorites are Empress Fuca Rongyin and Gao Ning Xin ). The main female lead is a pure joy to watch dealing with each impossible situation she was forced to step in. While never forgetting neither herself or her goals. While always progressing.

-Wang Mao Lei who is portraiting Yuan Chun Wang is so subtil that whenever I see again this actor in other drama, I just cheer to see him again...

I Gave it not a full 10 just because I wanted her to - after all she have been trought - end up with her first and protective love, rather than the Emperor.
But trust me...this historical drama can be taken as an exellent farandolle of 70 cup of tea !
Enjoy :)

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Tear jerker have some tissues ready

Updating my review as I have now finished. The middle of this drama was a real tear jerker. I couldn'tbring myself to like the male lead and the last few episodes felt uneccessary.


I've had to press pause on this show because I've only gone and done the worst thing you can do when watching a drama. Yes i have fallen for the second male lead. I know he won't get the girl. Infact I suspect he will probably die.

The story is a bit of a slow start. A lot of uneccessary storylines in the beginning but I guess its to set up the characters and show us thier personalities.
The empress and our female lead have a very strong relationship so i am quite interested to see how she ends up falling in love with the emperor, its kinda like falling for your older sisters ex-husband which is a bit icky.

I am getting a bit tired of the continuous power struggles between the harem, the story of so many women fighting over one man does kind of make you want to smash your head in, yes i get his the king but surely there are other men out there. In fact I'd love to see a drama where at least one or two of the harem have no interest in the king what so ever. You know just tp change it up.
Sighs let me unpause and watch my guy not get the girl.

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A Must Watch Series

Chinese historical dramas are not my cup of tea as they tend to cover more on xianxia. But this series blew my mind. The cast and acting. The plot. The music. Everything was so well-thought and detailed.

Wei Yinglou's mc shield is strong but aside from that, everything was so good and realistic. It's not slow and I have been binged watching for a week now. None stop. I just couldn't help myself to see what will happen next. The plot of internal palace harem schemes and drama is expected. But because of her personality, you'd always wonder what will she do next.

I love how they expressed each character. I want to hate them but I can't, they have reasons why they just used the wrong method and got the best of themselves as any normal person would. From Noble Consort Gao, Empress Hoifa-Nara, Noble Consort Chun. The only one I truly loathe would probably the emperor.

Everything was just a roller-coaster ride of emotions, especially on the Fuca Siblings. The love and devotion Yinglou has for the two was probably the only strong emotion she has given to anyone other than her sister. The strong bond she had with empress Fuca was breathless. She sacrifices herself, for her. She let go of the only man who she truly loved just to give the empress the justice she deserves. This is one of the highlights for me. It didn't focus on (OTP) romance it showed that it's not only romantic love that exists.

But what was the saddest for me was the love Wei Yinglou and Fuca FuHeng had. Yinglou isn't the type of person who falls in love or even thinks of that. She's independent and strong. While Fu Heng had long been used to women flocking over him and is neither interested. I think was they had was true and pure love. They loved each other through their best and worst. He loved even every evil thing she did. And she still loved him even though she swore to forget him and she never did. This kind of love is hard and rare to find. And with their type of personality, they're the kind of people who only love once. They're each other's the one that got away.
Even though she ended up with the emperor, I never think she loved him even a bit. Emperor fell in love with her. But she stayed just to do her role and respect to the late empress to take care of him. I felt that she still has Fu Heng in the back of her mind. And the emperor knows that. I still question his love for her tho. If he loves her. or he loves her because she reminds him of the empress Fuca.

It felt like the series is trying to convey that even though you're meant to be. Reality still slaps. We're humans tend to be vulnerable. Easily to get the best of our emotions. Example: the emperor's selfishness, the harems jealousy, and fu heng's selflessness.

Kudos to the director. Because even though I'm watching beautiful scenes of Fu Heng and Yinglou, the emperor and empress Fuca. I feel so much joy but still ended up crying to such beautiful scenes knowing everything in the palace is short-lived.

The series doesn't need a sequel. And I'm okay with the ending though a very depressing one. It will always be in my heart that Fuca FuHeng and Wei Yinglou, Emperor Qianlong and Empress Fuca Rongyin are the ones made for each other.

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STOP now if you do not like intelligent, well portrayed, long, sumptuous scenes/costumes and history dramas. This will not meet your needs. This is for lovers of SOLID, well delivered historical drama lovers. This is an investment of time and love.
Story: Not new - Qing era - power - harem & survival- politics- love- abuse of powers - loyalty. The writers & production team brought us into the Forbidden city, behind the doors and inside the lives of the women & men who are simply wanting to live - some greedily others - some for revenge - some just for love.
Actors/Cast: YL & the Emperor were MAGNIFICENT with screen chemistry rivaling any modern drama. They both portrayed their roles with grace, power and depth. There were so many moving parts(cast members) that performed brilliantly, all the while convincing us the power & survival within - surrounding the harem life. Not one terrible actor!
Music: the score was PERFECT for the drama, while the opening soundtrack of the opera singing set the tone for the entire drama.
ReWatch: at 70 ep, may come back after I get some rest. Worthy of re-watch - REALLY!
Overall: Costumes, scenes and actors delivered a compelling drama riddle with logic, philosophy and relevance to survival & love, period! The final ep of the dialog with YL and Chun is the final learning offered to us as to survival in the forbidden domain of love. Watch if your are serious about Cdramas. Brilliant!

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Ultimate palace revenge story

Initially, I was drawn by the epic music, costumes, and set, but I stayed because of the FL. She's capable and outwits her enemies through fairly dramatic, but more importantly, refreshing schemes for a palace concubine drama. This is shown right when she first enters the palace. Sure, she has ppl helping her out, but a lot of it was also her machinations and quick thinking. Throughout the drama, we are introduced to many different characters, all with their own motivations, and I like that FL does not always win against them. Characters in the story are drawn to her for her fearlessness and straightforward demeanor - she fights injustice and helps others where she can, but she's not stupid. She doesn't suffer losses without paying them back and she always has her eye on the bigger picture. She actually learns from her failures, too. Because most of the main characters are concubines and the plot is mostly in the palace, this is a "palace concubine" drama, but ultimately, it's a revenge story.

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This is a very good period drama. Although it is a solid drama for content and performances, and the actors did a great job bringing these characters to life, the romance lacks energy. If you are looking for romance, this is not the drama that will satisfy that genre. The story is about Wei Yingluo and her journey from palace embroiderer to Imperial Noble Consort. The drama explores the dynamics within the Emperor’s harem and how everything is related to the never-ending schemes to gain the Emperor’s favor. Although Yingluo, through a series of unfortunate events, becomes one of the Emperor’s women and eventually falls in love with him, she buried her true love, Fuca Fuheng, in the most inner part of her heart to pursue justice for his sister, Empress Fuca Rongyin, whom she regarded and loved as her mentor and sister.

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Saw the final episode's ending credits not more than 15 minutes ago, and I told myself I'll write a review the moment I finished this mammoth of a series.

Wanted to give this a 10 (I wanted to. Really did): music overall was timely, tastefully placed. Acting was believable. The story was great .... for the first half.

Two different roles Wu Jinyan had to play (Ying Luo the servant, avenging her sister. And Ying Luo the consort). She played the first exceptionally well, but I found the second role (and not just the acting and fit, but the storyline) lacking. Wanted to love this with all my heart.

Having said that, it was still a gripping plot. The first half (and I still stand by this) was solid.

C-dramas are unique in a sense that things normally only start gaining momentum around episode 10 or so. For this, I found the first episode to completely demand your attention; it was so well done, details executed to perfection.

While I wish I could say the same for the second half, I still love the thought put in the last episodes. They didn't have to wrap things up the way they did, but it was reqlly generous of them to.

Overall, I give this a 9. Well deserving of the hype.

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What exactly do the women of the inner palace do all day?

In many big epic historical dramas, the pettiness, boredom and despair hinted at by the inner palace is never truly explored. This explores the characters of various women in the inner palace, with beautiful design, costumes and cinematography, and a nuanced, take on many different types of romance to boot.

The true strength of the series is that it's all about the characters and their relationships - how they all struggle to keep some sense of self-worth whilst competing for the attention of a very impatient and somewhat distant emperor and the current harem favorite.

The weakness is the plot points can get repetitive (multiple poisonings, very important things mysteriously disappearing, at least two women do the evil cackling going mad thing), but I kept a high score because I never felt the need to skip - the dialogue, acting and character revelations made me want to watch every minute.

The acting is generally extremely good. The opening credits are the most beautiful, haunting TV credits I think I've seen in my life. There are many scenes that I like to revisit again, but due to the repetitiveness of the plot points, I don't know if I'd ever watch the series again from start to finish.

I will note that this series does feature many petty/cruel/torturous acts.

I have other criteria I score by:

Complex Themes - 9
(The series does not jump from random plot element to plot element, but actually builds on concepts regarding patriarchy, revenge/justice, trying to live above the fight vs. engaging with it, and different types of romantic love and love between friends)
Character Growth - 7
(Characters do not undergo huge changes but they do exhibit full ranges of emotions - it's not just angry, serious all the time, but there are lots of moments of sillyness, joy and tearful gratitude as well.)
Nuanced Women -10
(Women everywhere! Esp. liked the characterisations of the main character - Wei Yingluo, the empress Fuca Rongyin, and Mingyu. Even the straightforward characters, would show surprising strengths or weaknesses).
Cinematography/Production Values - 10
(Just incredibly gorgeous and beautiful. Lovely colour combinations and interiors - whilst not too many exterior sweeping shots - the ones that did happen were very well done.)

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good palace drama

i started this cuz i watched the actress in 'the double',
70 episodes is longg but i Enjoyed it (for a person who doesnt like 30/40+ episodes drama)

spoilers :
- FL did a gud job in acting; shz quick witted,
i felt in the starting 20+ episodes she was too obsessed with revenge for her sister's death & it was too exaggerated, also she is always saved by the empress/ fuheng/ emperor(unknowingly) which in reality doesnt happen everytime ; nonetheless i liked her plots n schemes for her revenge whether its for her sister/empress/for fight against other concubines n consorts.

- xu kai(fuca fuheng) role was short, but his story wid FL was amazing, their romance should have been explored/shown more;
he ditched FL first i get it so FL avoids any kindof interaction btwn them, but his love for her was until his last breath which is truly hard to see in a palace cdrama (without any expectation/response frm FL).

- Emperor was easily swayed along for eg: doubts regarding his birth mother, his concubines/consorts, various plots n schemes(imo);
also with whoever he was infatuated with at that moment/situation like in the case when he supported FL regardless if she was wrong/right (he loved FL unconditionally)

- empress/ex empress/ fuca rong yin ruled justly, loved the emperor but didnt receive his love, faced too many tragedy's regarding her offsprings, also her role was short i feel

- chunwang & FL relationship was good, they understand, depend on each other
his revenge for his birth right was ok but there no need for him to go plotting n scheming against her.

Summary :
the drama was good with its plots n each actor played his/her role well, their stories were worth watching
highlight is obviously the FL, her story

Rewatch :
i would watch it again maybe, to understand subtle details, schemes right from their start

-> to those who are contemplating whether to watch or no :
Just give it a tryyyy, & decide for yourself to watch further or no

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