Story of Kunning Palace

The most toxic of romances . . .

This drama's addictive qualities, and thrilling action scenes, do not matter, because the main romance is unbelievably toxic and romanticizes the most dangerous of red flags. It's as if the script writers went down the list of 'high risk factors' for murder suicide relationships :

1) Suicide threats and knives: Xie Wie takes a knife puts it into Ning'er-'s hand and invites her to stab him. This you, or I , or both of us attitude where the abuser takes a knife and points it at the other person, then at themselves, then starts screaming 'fine just do it, kill me, kill us' is usually the last step before the end. The show portrays this as showing intense love instead of an intense nihilism.

2) Strangulation and grabbing by the throat: Xie Wie repeatedly grabs Ning'er by the throat in order to force her to do something she doesn't want to do - including grabbing her by the throat and then kissing her. Strangulation and choking threats are huge red flags, mainly because it is a very vulnerable area to attack and often leads to brain injury. Strangulation/choking/non consensual breath play to initiate or coerce sex is often a sign of the same intense nihilism.

3) Drug use: Xie Wie has been using a highly damaging performance enhancing drug to make up for health issues stemming from his trauma. His friends have been trying to get him to stop, but they and Xie Wie insist that only Ning'er's love can and will get him to stop. Usually drug addiction/misuse cannot be 'solved' through a romance, and this belief causes many people to stay in toxic relationships enabled by the drug users family and friends who want someone else to bear the responsibility.

4) Untreated mental health: Xie Wie has episodes of extreme violence and paranoia due to past trauma. Ning'er and other innocent people are exposed to this dangerous behaviour repeatedly. Yet, there is no explanation on how this could be miraculously cured.

5) Romeo and Juliet sense of 'no one understands us': Xie Wie repeatedly claims to Ning'er that only they can understand each other - no one else can. That they are both meant to be forged through trauma and hardship, willing to go to lengths that other people cannot understand. Xie Wie repeatedly snears at Ning'er s love for Zhang Zhe - claiming that he's too simplistic and good for one such as her.

6) Obsessed with revenge, excellent at power games, petty to a fault: If Xie Wie only had this capacity of revenge for political wrongs, this wouldn't be such a red flag, but Xie Wie also shows a pettiness and jealousy towards the other family and friends in Ning'er's life and an inappropriate level of condescension towards Ning'er 's father.

7) Power imbalance in the relationship: Xie Wie is Ning'er's teacher and mentor at various points, and Ning'er s father and others treat him as one generation senior to Ning'er. Xie Wie often orders Ning'er around whether or not she is 'officially' his teacher at various points. Ning'er for various reasons begs him or kneels to him about various things throughout the show, but Xie Wie never puts himself in the humble position. Even when he's backed into a corner, he dramatically and violently seizes the power back.

There's probably a lot more. This is all to say in this modern age, there's no reason to teach people that these red flags are evidence of intense love - they are not. If you ever encounter anyone like this in real life - beware. That intensity is often simply a stalker like obsession and a strong desire for power and control over you.

It's one thing to portray a toxic individual who is NOT toxic towards the main love interest and is inspired by her to change (as unrealistic and problematic as that storyline is), but it's a whole 'nother thing to be directly harmful and toxic towards the main love interest.

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Never-ending schemes ?

If you think Xie Wei is one step behind, he’s actually two steps ahead. These types of revelations are actually my favorite because they’re satisfying and slightly unhinged. Making me believe that the situation is hopeless, but actually that was just a farce? The scheming and palace politics were really good, I liked how the characters all walked a fine line between being good and “bad”. Those who deserved a bad ending got one, and man was that satisfying. The scene with the eunuch giving Xue Shu the poisoned wine was so funny to be honest😭. The man was too happy to kill that evil woman; it is quite sad how she ended because she did everything to survive but that is what you get when you can’t scheme properly. In the end, she simply couldn’t match Jiang Xue Ning and Xie Wei😏.

At first, I wasn’t very emotionally invested in the show to be honest, BUT it pulled me in regardless, which is why I kept watching it. The more I watched, the more invested I got with the intricacies of the plot, the scheming and how the characters would act next.

The romance was an interesting one: sort of toxic and possessive, and I think Zhang Ling He did a good job playing Xie Wei, I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. I can say the same for Bai Lu! Can’t wait to watch more of her dramas, she has a long catalogue!😎💗

Overall, sort of different from what I usually watch but really nice!

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Disappointing fanservice

At the beginning I liked sokp much better and thought it was gonna be one of the best drama this year, but it turned out as a mediocre fanservice/wattapad for teens with dark fantasies. The breakup with ZZ felt forced and unnatural how can such a thing not be resolved by communication, it was not believable at all and I wish they stuck with the way the novel made them break up instead but they wanted to rush things probably pressured by fans that wanted the Xie arc, unfortunately that led to my discontent with Xie and what made matters worse is how bad his arc is turning to be forced kiss, forceful grabbing of hands and neck(wtf) forced kiss, overbearing and disrespectful that doesn't really respect jxn and treats her as a young girl that is his student another major eye roll as I am not into teacher/student type of romance its Hella creepy and disgusting.. I wish we can grow out of this weird fase where it's okay for a romance like this to happen in the first place. Unfortunately because of the reason mention the latest episodes began to drag a lot and what was a solid 9 drama became a 7 then a 4.. I felt like something was missing from the intrigue and like that it lost its appeal. Ps all that chocking was so cringe.. Felt like a bad version of 50 shades of Grey

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A Story With a Male Lead Like No Other!

Story Of Kunning Palace unfolds as the past is revealed through flashbacks. At first, the flashbacks gave off a dark vibe to the drama and I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch it. But I realized the FL has dark past and the flashbacks were necessary to inform and contrast her life in the present.

The characters of Story Of Kunning Palace makes it interesting. Zhang Ling He as the male lead was outstanding as Xie Wei. There are scenes where he gets really angry such that there is a dark side of the character yet a times a rather endearing petty side especially when he shows jealousy when there is another love interest for the FL.
The characters are well-written and interesting with a plot that keeps you going from one episode to the next. The romance is slow burn but when the leads finally come together, it is well worth the wait. And of course, Xie Wei as a ML like no other, is well worth the watch! And the kisses....more than worth the wait!

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I’d like to say that the story was worth it, but i can't.

To be honest, I hate dramas where an author appears talking to the editor at the beginning and then we’re shown the story they’re writing. In my opinion, this makes the drama lose depth and creates emotional distance from the plot. I should’ve stopped watching at that point, so it was my mistake to continue.

If I had to rate this drama based on the character Jiang Xuening, it would be a 0. This character was incredibly poorly written. How can someone who knows the future and wants to change it do absolutely nothing relevant to achieve that goal? I remember when the Yan family was exiled, she said, “Despite everything I did, I still couldn’t change fate.” I laughed so hard when she said that, thinking: What exactly did you do that was supposed to change fate? Throughout the entire story, she depends on the male lead, Xie Wei, and a guy she *knew* would eventually become a traitor (Zhou Yinzhi). She spends the whole drama lamenting that she can’t change fate—maybe she’s just extremely incompetent and ineffective. If it weren’t for the ML, she would’ve died a hundred times, even with her knowledge of the future.

The romance is disappointing because, for the first 30 episodes, she’s tangled in plot after plot and a romance (if we can even call it that, since not even she seemed to know if she liked him or not) with Zhang Zhe. Only after episode 30 does the romance with the ML start to be explored more directly, and she clearly doesn’t reciprocate his feelings. But out of nowhere, she says she loves him. Excuse me? When did that happen? Did I miss an episode where her feelings for him were actually developed? There’s no chemistry on her part—absolutely nothing. It just seems like she accepted his devotion to her and called it love.

The story also falls short when it comes to her past life. How did she become an empress with such limited brainpower? The empress dowager didn’t stop her? She held that position for so long and never received the poisoned wine, even though the Xue family’s power continued for many years after her coronation.

You Fangyin’s death was another stupidity. Why did she grab Zhou Yinzhi when he had a sword in his hand? She said she wanted to stop him, but was that really her job? If you’re not capable of doing anything against someone with a sword, aren’t you just asking to die? And if Zhou Yinzhi escaped, so what? We’re not talking about a major villain like Duke Xue or King Pingnan. Was it really worth gambling your life to grab the leg of a small fry like Zhou Yinzhi? Chinese dramas make me furious with situations like this—they just wanted to kill off the character and came up with a stupid excuse to do it.

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GREAT STORY WITH BRILLIANT CAST

I will say the adaptation is the best, they remove some scene and make link to every story arc so is fit 38 episode.

Jiang Xue Ning, she is someone who has regret and willing to fix it. She try to help people around her and changing their fate for something better, she's not perfect but she'll try.
Xie Wei, he complicated person. He use to have everything then lose all of it in a day. He had traumatic past, he know that people is cruel. Like he said he is not a saint. He schemes everything not care about the world.

Their relationship grow a long time, JXN use to afraid XW but then she became to trust him.

For novel reader the ending little bid difference, they tone down some character. They connect story so is more fit and not feeling rush. And of course is HAPPY ENDING.

For me is pity they don't make longer episode, they are a few scene from novel I think gonna make this drama more greater that ever.

BEST

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cringefest

The biggest problem I have with this drama is the script. There were so many instances where I had multiple question marks thinking how can this be allowed?? ML had so many cringey forced actions and IMO did not convey the complexity of the character well. There were a few cute moments between the leads but the rest of the time, it felt really awkward. Bailu did well but zhang ling he unfortunately fell just a bit short. I watched it at 2x speed and some parts were still so draggy and unnecessary. Halfway through I realised I was just speeding through it for the sake of finishing it, the storyline became so repetitive and boring after a while. The only saving grace of this drama is the music choice, even then I sincerely do not recommend this drama.

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Mastermind In Disguise Of A Pawn

The storyline for this drama was a bit slow in its pace, especially for the romance between Ning er and Juan. So, it would not be a wonder if this drama will not be everyones cup of tea, fortunately, it is well written and the revenge arc was perfectly executed. Each of the characters apart from the leads had their own depth in them which clearly showed their importance in key plots, some of the characters were amusing but some were just plain annoying (special mention to Xue Shu). As for the characters of the main leads, i'd praise how bravely and smart the female lead was written and most especially Xie Juan for being such a calculating genius, a pawn turned into a real dark horse. Despite how Xie Juan is a walking red flag in the real world, I really love how badass he is but to an extent that his darkness balances with light. Clearly, this drama isn't solely carried by how well written the storyline is, the way all the actors and actresses had given life to their characters played a major part in its success. Every scene had my heart pulled in strings, especially during the intense ones and even more so at sad scenes. As for the chemistry between both leads, I have no words because I am completely drawn into every single scene they had. Like, they could have just been standing still and staring at each other's eyes and it is enough to feel tension there. They are indeed oozing with chemistry and I swear their kissing scenes are to die for, there are not many c-dramas with that kind of kissing scenes filled with so much intensity. Bai Lu really is the 'Queen of Chemistry'. I've watched all of her dramas already and her chemistry with her co-stars are always topnotch, however, after watching this drama I must say her chemistry with Zhang Linghe is on top over all the co-stars she ever had. Zhang Linghe on the other hand surprised me with his role in this drama, I have started liking him even more. He definitely nailed his role here. I have so much praise for this drama. I can't believe I almost missed out on it. 'The Story Of Kunning Palace' is definitely worth every time spent watching it. The stellar casting of actors and actresses was a brilliant move from the directors and producers.

If there is one thing I regret, it is the fact that I almost missed out on this drama. It is such a gem and deserves every praise and recognition it gets. I had actually watched this last year when it was still airing but decided to drop on earlier episodes and I no longer even remember why I did lol. My first reason for watching this last year was because of Bai Lu as she is my fave actress then there is Zhang Linghe who I started liking too after watching 'My Journey to You'. I picked this drama back up again because of Wang Xin Yue, I just finished watching 'The Double' and couldn't find any other c-drama to get over it until someone suggested this to me again and i'm glad I actually watched this.

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Let them stay bad and cunning - for that I am grateful.

To sum it up: great pacing, interesting and likable characters, solid chemistry, thrilling schemes, problematic gege throwing hands at both his enemies and his lady (which in this drama was perfection, don’t call me out). On the other hand, I was not crazy about how all the romances developed and in some areas, the acting could have been better.

Still, top level of solid entertainment. Thank god I was watching it as it aired - otherwise I would not be able to stop and binge watching all of the episodes would simply kill me - I’m too old for it.

It truly surprised me how much I enjoyed the pity palace drama. Usually I’m barely stopping myself from skipping this type of scene, but here they were some of the best aspects. I appreciated glorious slaps, calling out stupidity even on your own team, backstabbing for survival - it all sounds so dramatic, but in the drama itself, it’s presented in an engaging, but palatable manner.

What’s more to love are all the women in the drama. Variety of the characters, personalities, strength and weaknesses - exactly what I want to see. You don’t just get your typical - smart and cunning, and dumb, but loyal. They nicely mix it up. We get the asshole who overestimates her abilities, we have a smart and loyal friend. We saw women who push their limits and ones that prefer to not push them. We have bad, good and morally gray.

On the other hand the drama lacks quality men. Those that are fun are not developed enough, those that are developed more are annoying. Xie Wei being the only true saving grace. Yes, Zhang Zhe is cute and righteous, but that’s all he is. Yan Lin might be fun and good at fighting, but he is the definition of the “supporting from background while having little to no individuality”. I enjoyed them as I was watching, but by the end of the show I had little to no thoughts about them.

I’m glad plot wise the overall arc was well explained. I understood the motivation of all the characters, why they made the choices they made and what was their goal. Some strived for power, some for survival and some for redemption. I do wish the drama was longer. While they wrapped up everything quite skillfully, I still wanted to see more. Especially in terms of romance.

And that’s my biggest regret. Not even a flaw, since the final execution was done well, it just made me crave for more. All the romance driven plot lines were quite sidelined, so by the end, they tried to put 20 episodes worth of development into maybe 8. I enjoyed every second of it, but I wanted more.

Acting was good. Bai Lue did what she does best. In no universe she could fail delivering a character like that - it’s made for her and her only. Zhang Ling He was great in some scenes, not so great in others. Wang Xing Yue and Zhou Jun Wei both did not really have a space to show any skills - how the characters were written did not really allow that. I’m glad that the whole cast had a great chemistry though - be it platonic, romantic or rivalry. And them kissing scenes… we do not get kissing scenes like that often.

I know many people complained about the make up, personally I liked it. The over the top magical red eyeliner that showed up when Xie Wei turned into his toxic hot gege persona. Yes, the eyebrows for the female characters were… a choice, but after a few episodes I just stopped paying attention to them.

Overall, high level of entertainment. Story of Kunning Palace has such a high binge watchability, it’s actually scary and could be a health risk if you are not careful. It’s both exciting, but approachable - balances well between how dramatic, but also easy to digest it wants to be.

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Best Costume Drama of 2023

This drama is solid, and the characters are well-written, so I wanted to give it a 10/10. Xiaobo, the sweet kid who helped ML, was done wrong by the writers, so they only received a 9.5/10. Apart from the prince and princess and the one who denies relations, the Xu family is dreadful, and they can catch these hands. Watching Duke Xu's son be arrogant and hateful throughout the show was triggering to the point that even I wanted to fight him.

Now let's talk about two of my favorite characters:
Xie Wei is dark, flawed, and sometimes unhinged, and this show did not disappoint. I remember reading a comment that described the ML: "He is a walking red flag, but I am colorblind," and yes, I too am colorblind; I might have early memory loss too, because when he says 'Ning'er,' especially in that angry deep tone I forget everything and fall deeper. It's like I'm hypnotized; ML is captivating. It's like being enchanted by a beautiful voice, even when you know the speaker is threatening, which he is most of the time. ML makes no secret of the fact that he is no saint. He is like yes, I am terrible, but love me. He is entertaining to watch and very petty and jealous, even at the end. The character wasn't written for people to sympathize with. He is who he is, and I love that. The FL's relationship with him is a delicious mess because he is sometimes unhinged, and I enjoyed it.
Overall, it was an excellent performance, and I'm looking forward to more of this actor's work. Now I have to watch everything this actor has acted in because he is so talented. I was today's old when I found out he was in 'Love Between Fairy and Devil.' honestly, I have struggled to watch that drama. I don't find any enjoyment in it, and I blame all the people who hyped it because my expectations were set high. Stop the overhyping of dramas.

Now, let's talk about Yan Lin; usually, I'm not too fond of characters like this due to how they are written. However, these writers did this character justice. He is loveable, and I wanted to protect him, and he deserves the world. This beautiful character is the opposite of Xie Wei. He is the guy you yearn to be with; all your family and friends want you to be with, but too bad you are addicted to the bad guy. He is a loyal friend, an excellent son, and a loyal brother. Honesty, most of my favorite scenes from this drama include him. The scene where he gave a well-deserved ass whopping to Duke Xu's hateful son after he disrespected the FL and slapped her. He said, 'You wouldn't disrespect her not in front of me.' Next is the scene where he is in prison and talks to the FL. He asks her why she doesn't like him when she thinks he's so great and is willing to do anything for him. I love his relationship with the FL lead; it is healthy and well-written.

I have no complaints about this drama except for how they treated Xiaobo, which makes me angry. He was loyal, cute, and deserved better.

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The whole package!

Wow! Just completed 38.5 episodes in 3 days. Did not feel long at all. Fantastic entire cast, rational storyline (every detail), beautiful scenes, great pacing, perfect ending. Captivating episode after episode. One of THE best historical C-drama I’ve watched. Highly recommend to everyone, and I’m not a big historical drama fan and I LOVE every minute of it. I don’t usually rewatch dramas but this one was done superbly. I didn’t know the ML before watching this drama and wasn’t a huge fan at first but I totally fell in love with him, in fact, all three love interests. Loved how the story unfolded throughout the storytelling. Especially love the added bookends of modern day.

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