WM

I know it's an old post, but as I was actually looking into watching it based on YT clips, I seriously dislike dumb FLs. So, now I'm not sure ;(

This one is really, really good, definitely one of my favourite Revenge Harem Dramas. Chang Dan Dan is not only beautiful, but extremely smart, capable and ruthless on her Revenge track, but two main villainesses are really smart and they don't make it easy for her. Highly recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4biGT53l8xc - this version seems to have the best subtitles.

At least, it would have to be - Exile + Rebellion in Part 2 and winning the war vs Song Dynasty and Xianbei Barbarians (economical and military) in Part 3.

But it still would be difficult, as their Exile was quite an adventure and there were also many events leading to the Rebellion.

Btw, if you want to watch another Drama with an all-around capable/badass FL who rules the country, you can try this one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R576uexlQ-M&lc=

I came here to post this one :)

Very good Drama, with a rare Female Ruler taking over the Court early and fighting various forces to establish herself. The FL is a total badass, with a great combination of scheming, calculating opponents and fighting.

Even the ML/Romance isn't too bad.

Thank you for this tremendous post, I've learnt a lot of business aspect here, very interesting stuff.

Pretty badass FL, but poor subtitles (in the ones I found) and horrible, effeminate looking ML make it an average watch at best.

I didn't see this one listed until now (at least based on her character's name listed in the Drama section) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDzgrVjvP8k

Pretty good Revenge Drama, even if the FL's impact weakened in the final act of it because of the F'n Romance.

From Verticacl Drama world:
"Rise of the Reborn Queen" aka "She was framed by fiancé and spent a night with bandits but was spoiled by the regent"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh9j9Ap8YFc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKt-u7t9qVQ
"She Rose From Ashes, With Him as Her Blade_aka_烬花辞"

Pretty good, if someone is a fan of strong, general-like Female Leads. For once, the FL is even stronger than the ML (but only by a bit, as he's a very powerful Regent himself).

Thank you for the link, very interesting read. I am not surprised that Zhao Lying is her favourite actress - I can see some similarities in their look, as well as the characters they are portraying when acting.

However, the most important info was not something regarding Ma Qiu Yuan, but the fact that Micro Dramas take 7-10 days to film. I wonder, how long it take from the completed filming through post production, legal stuff, etc... to broadcasting?

She looks very pretty, and her acting is decent enough in - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvNyo0uE4FQ

Based on a Novel "A Concubine’s Competitive Life in the Prince’s Household" - she is a successful businesswoman in modern times, who travels back in time and thrives inside the Harem, using various scheming tricks, business-like or not.

Pretty powerful FL, maybe not on Lu Songli's level (but no one is), but still very capable.

In short, it will take her 7 (maybe less?) years to return to the capital after defeating all the enemies and start a new dynasty as the Emperor/Female Ruler, which she will hold for 25 years, before abdicating and making way for her daughter. However, the "New Dynasty" isn't a significant part of the Novel; the road to achieving it spans 95% of the chapters.

She will do some brilliant and then, more brilliant stuff in the meantime (economics, scientific innovations and wars, with the Qin family of course being the major help with the latter), including persuading a lot of talented people to help them (or just her) to achieve it.

And if you like Romance, the ML will be in total love with the FL. She will love him too, just conquering the world pushes down Romance, Sex and all the stuff from this category on the importance list :)
No triangles, no misunderstandings, etc...

In summary - Lu Songli is the most capable FL I've seen/read during my (maybe not so long, but quite intense) C-Dramaland exposure.

After watching a few more Dramas with her and seeing her upcoming work in bigger productions, I'm thinking that she fits the great quote (not sure about the source) of "Talent is like Pregnancy. You can hide it for a while, but it will be visible to the world sooner or later".

I really hope Ma Qiu Yuan will make it big in C-Drama land.

I'm very late, but thank you for the link - never seen this one until now and it was a great watch. It's so nice to find an FL-centric non-rebirth/non-transmigration Drama without Romance and with a great ending :)

And Ma Qiu Yuan was spectacular in this.

For example, Fanmtl has it. You can also use a website translation and read it off the Chinese version, it's pretty comparable (Chinese version has a different and much darker Chapter 520, plus some extra chapters with weird modern storyline).

I didn't watch PG (Princess Gambit?), so difficult to make comparison. I don't find the FL in the "Blossom" particularly witty, but she is definitely smart, calm, cunning, with a very good decision making and overall extremely capable all around.

Another small tidbit - Chapter 520 is entirely different between the original Chinese version I've read (using a website translator, of course) and the Fanmtl version.
And the original version provides one more example of the FL's brilliant and ruthless decision-making.

I don't know if she has any specific background for it, but her Action Microdamas are very watchable, already seen her in four or five of them.

Just finished watching it - very enjoyable, even the Romance scenes were very good (I usually skip them).
And I didn't mind FL's acting, but I don't rule out the fact that her looks blinded me :). I also loved her character as reborn FL.

Looking at her list, it misses "Crown of Shadows- The Empress's Revenge" aka 黑莲花上位手册, which is really good, if someone enjoys the smart, capable and ruthless FL climbing up the ladder in the Harem, while destroying her opponents (in her case, not only other concubines).
Some of her decision-making and ability to think a few moves ahead is absolutely fantastic.

However, it has an open, yet very intriguing ending ahead of the final conflict, so I hope that Part 2 is on the way.

Ma Qiu Yuan, as always, does an exceptional job as the FL, and she probably looks the prettiest among the Dramas I've watched with her. Overall, both acting (Emperor, FL's gang, leading Eunuch and Empress+Imperial Consort) and writing (mostly) are very good here IMO.

Highly recommended. Also, it's one of the rare Vertical Dramas rated at Douban, and it's quite high for their standards at 6.3.