Story of Kunning Palace

The chemistry between all the characters is amazing.

If you love angst and "fix-it" type of costume dramas then this is the show for you. I really liked the plot and how they didn't make her personality drastically change from what it was during her original timeline. The only thing that really changed was her realizing how fortunate she was and how many people in her life she had who truly cared about her. I liked that. I also liked how they didn't make the ML's personality do a 180 just because he fell in love and I liked her relationship with ZZ and YL in the second life. I kind of wish there was a part 2 where we could see the original timeline more but this was enjoyable. Lastly, I really liked how the villains were written especially XS who I loved to hate. She was very smart and calculative and didn't just sit around waiting for her doom. I can appreciate that. Although I was disappointed that her death was so light. As for FY...I wish they had shown JXN's grief more over her death. In the parts of the novel I read, she was truly devastated. All in all, this is a great drama and I 100% recommend watching it.

Although, slight warning, the ML is sometimes very aggressive and forceful so if that's not your thing or it makes you too uncomfortable, you might not enjoy the drama as much.

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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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What a good series, and honestly, Zhang Ling He!

I have to admit I had a little trouble following the story at first, but that's me. Once I got the characters down, I couldn't walk away. Despite some very unkind comments I have read, the ensemble cast gave wonderful performances and made me really like (or despise) the characters.

The couples were endearing and believable - and the chemistry between Bai Lu and Zhang Ling He was sizzling hot!! (He would have electricity with a stone, I tell you!) The villains!! What superb acting - I despised them intensely; proof of the great job they did bringing their evil characters to life. The characters that people thought were weak or unimportant, really had their purpose - and it took some care and attention to realize that. Even the character of Xie Wei - he was so broken, so lonely, a product of his past longing for the love he desperately needed to heal.

I especially liked the time and attention to the final episode, and that bonus episode was just the icing on the cake!!! Loved that for the most part, they tied up the loose ends nicely - meting out justice and Karma, but wrapping up the characters' stories. I would have liked to have seen a little more of the end story of Xie Wei's two loyal aides and Xue Ding Fei. But I absolutely loved the lead couple's ending the best. The scene with Xie Wei and his kids was hilarious!

Now... why did I not go for it and give this a perfect 10? You Fang Yin & Lu Xian. They deserved so much more - and a little of the happiness that everyone else received. That broke my heart, especially for Lu Xian. Sorry, writer & director - that one cost you a perfect rating.

I will definitely be re-watching this, probably time and time again.

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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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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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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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Good palace politics, Horrifying ML

OVERALL
This drama is another heaven-and-hell production. Watch it if 1) you LOVE palace politics, 2) you're looking for mature cinematography and filters, 3) you want a drama with a smart(ish) FL. If you're looking for a great ML or a heartfelt love story, I can't urge you enough, SKIP!

THE STORY
So I was looking for another good historical drama after watching Wonderland Love and saw that this one was highly rated, so I decided to give it a try. Uff, what a disappointment! But let me start with the good stuff:
- The premise of FL going back to her youth to change history is interesting (while not original) because you want to see if she'll succeed. This I really liked, and I think the drama does a good job of handling this part of the plot.
- FL is smart (when the drama wants her to be) and in a mature, age-appropriate way
- For once (in a long time), we have mature cinematography with nice, dark(ish) filters and none of that childish quirky music that always plagues Chinese historicals
- Palace politics is thrilling, with the bad guys making the good guys sweat sometimes (which is good, it's boring when the good guys are always ahead)

Now, onto the bad stuff:
- Top of the list, 200%, is ML. He is so boorish, I can't believe a C-drama came up with a character like that in 2023. It's okay to have a cold or slightly aggressive ML when there is enough backstory to make us feel bad for him AND if he redeems himself. Kunning Palace's ML has neither. The backstory is definitely not enough to make me sympathize with him, and he never, NEVER redeems himself. He's just dislikable, from beginning to end.
- Obviously, the love story then falls very short. It was extremely funny (and disturbing) how his outbursts of anger and violence towards FL were romanticized. I just can't...Also, having such nice, 2nd and 3rd ML made it all worse, because in what world would a smart girl like FL EVER choose this abusive ML over her other options? It's hilariously ridiculous.
- The fact that ML is FL's teacher adds an extra layer of weird and bad for me, because of the power dynamics. He's already boorish, then you add to it the fact that he can just boss her around and treat her like a 5 year old as her teacher? Yuk.
- A third flaw in this drama (definitely less important but still worth mentioning) is how brushed aside the story of FL's sister was. I think the character is presented as somewhat important but then we never see what happens to her after a major event, which feels like a loophole.

Overall, if you are not into romance and are indifferent to ML's terrible character, go ahead, watch this drama. The palace politics will keep you going. If you really care about character development and you were craving a good love story, do yourself a favor and skip!

THE ACTING
Good, though nothing out of this world for me. I wouldn't say there was any chemistry between FL and any of the guys in the show either.

THE MUSIC
That, I liked! I'm all for more mature vibes!

REWATCH VALUE
Absolutely null. I'd rather re-watch Yanxi Palace than this, and I used to think Yanxi Palace's emperor was the absolute worse ML hahaha

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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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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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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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Story of how to create a toxic romance

5/10. I’m mad as hell that this type of abusive relationship is romanticized as true love. The plot is weak and got lost along the way.

- FL traveled back in time (same period, not from our future) to correct her evil ambition on becoming queen and the lives she cost doing so. She decided to change her ways. She wanted to right her wrongs and also change the fates of those around her. Sounds like a great plot, right? It is.. if they didn’t lose focus half way through.
- The first half focused on the FL. Long story short, she decided to be a better person. She couldn’t help but get involve in the royal family’s bloody war so to survive, she had to be smarter and less ambitious.
- Wtf happened with the plot after leading our heroine up to this? They shifted the focus on XW the ML. The FL followed him around like a lost puppy while he helped her save all the people she wanted to save but couldn’t. They then decided to give ML this crazy back story with trauma, medical issues, evil schemes, backstabbing, revenge, all of it!
- The evil villain they fought against was dumb af. He got caught in all the traps they laid out. Even when we thought the villain finally did something, it turned out the ML somehow planned it all. Take this formula, repeat it 10x , and you got the main plot. It was boring and too predictable. The endless political battles were childish and overplayed. They tried to be smart about it but it was redundantly mediocre.

Now onto the toxic “romance.”
- She had 3 suitors. The first 2 she turned down were GREAT men. Both were kind, loving, and treated her with the utmost respect. She chose the one who abused her mentally and physically

- ML was the biggest red flag.
- He obsessively claimed her. This was fine for his own delusions but she repeatedly told him, she belonged only to herself. When he couldn’t have her, control her or felt like she didn’t listen to him, he became a psychotic manipulator. 



- He got physical with her on multiple occasions and rarely was he respectful towards her. He repeatedly grabbed her by the throat (the throat!!), by the arm, wrist, and made verbal threats to her. 



- He became madly possessive. She couldn’t look at another man before he choked her and threatened her. 



-Their kisses were grossly forced upon her by him. When he asked her to be intimate, she gave in but left me wondering WTF and HTF did we get here?! This man manipulated her and it was romanticized as love?! 



-She told 3 people she loved him before she even told him. Another WTF moment for me. 



-The ending.. when he deliberately stepped on his son’s shirt to trip him and then kicked the poor boy after? Was that supposed to be funny and playful? Because it failed to be funny and playful to me. Even his daughter was shook. 

I watched 30 episodes and waited for the romance between the leads to start. I endured her giving up two potential great men for the ML only to be given 8 episodes of chaos.

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