Elsietheone

I saw her as well and thought she looked like Xuan Xuan from 'Please be my family". I could be wrong through since she is not credited as appearing in this drama

I.have.no.words 💕💕💕

I think your appreciation of this drama will depend on the following,
1. Are you a peace-loving person who doesn't thrive on unnecessary drama and misunderstandings?
2. How long and how many cdramas you've already watched but few have failed to fulfill what you find desirable in a 'partnership' where people express their love through unshakable trust and absolute loyalty?
3. Do you find FLs speaking in baby voice annoying and a mood killer whereas Su Zai Zai somehow manages to do 'cute' in an appropriate amount?
Seriously, as much as I liked HL I was annoyed that Zhao Lusi's younger character actor sounded more mature than ZL herself as she grew up. There was already an age gap between the 2 leads in the drama but that speaking voice always made me slightly uncomfortable and took away something from me immersing myself truly into it. They did the same with Love Me, love my voice which spoiled a really good show for me. I still tried to enjoy both shows but heyyyy, the ick was too much
4. Do you somehow feel the writer has a high emotional intelligence with the way she thoughtfully wrote all the characters in this drama not just the leads?

The soapy melodramatic writing that turned up in S2 was uncalled for. Whoever did the scriptwriting for this season need to go back to 2010s soap operas. Not much depth or breadth in the vocabulary either......mianhaeyo, gomapta, 😱 omg i cant...heard these phrases over and over! It was like a different show altogether. They didn't give FL much to work with here thats why ppl like JSM in S1. Her character was so much better there. Even Crown Prince was not enough to salvage this......

This drama is doing exactly what its supposed to do, giving us butterflies and extra cheese which is hard to find in dramaland! So many dramas have claimed to be 'romantic' but adult couples will only kiss twice and call it a day. Or they'll have these unnecessary background stories of some boring workplaces like damn, I spent my day working and the last thing I want is to be bored by another excel spreadsheet in a drama. Make it make sense! This, on the other hand, has all the intimate bits and I'm here for ALL OF IT 😅perhaps I'm biased towards the 'deep male voice' too but there's just something so sexy about it that I'd fall in love too without seeing the person...(of course its not just the voice but also their mind.....more like Deep voice + high IQ/EQ and I'm a goner 😅) . Its not a perfect drama but its pretty close.
Those who do not like intimacy in shows or it makes them feel uncomfortable, there's plenty else to watch out there fortunately.

This has to be the most hilarious cdrama I have ever watched.....it surpasses even those in the comedy genre despite its serious themes!!!! It's a blessing that I put off watching it thinking it would be overrated, but at least I really get to appreciate the artistry which is in its own stratosphere compared to other cdramas in any genre!!!

This is my opinion as someone who watched Empress Ki before Story of Yanxi Palace.... I was thoroughly impressed by Empress Ki that I found myself struggling with SOYP. I had to pause at ep 25 and have not had the heart to go back. I do feel though, that these shows are quite different and I find most chinese dramas too draggy in the middle...the episodes are not as well organised which makes the korean shows slightly different. But just because they're better doesn't mean you'll enjoy the actual plot, anyway, I digress!
Empress Ki was was a well organised show that you can tell the writers knew what they were doing from beginning till the end. You may not like what they do with some of the characters but you'll probably understand why they would do this due to the depth of exploration of most of them throughout the show...Themes of love, politics, friendship and loyalty were portrayed brilliantly.
I just hate the fact that it happened to be the first korean historical drama that I watched that everything else pales in comparison...
As reference here are some historicals that I enjoyed:
Korean
The crowned clown
Grand Prince
Queen: love and war
Moon embracing the sun
Currently airing My dearest
I haven't been able to find legal platforms where I can watch similar legendary k historicals to give a fair comparison such as Queen Seondok, Gu family book etc
Chinese
The rise of the phoenixes
The rebel princess
Secret of the three kingdoms
Nirvana in fire
I dont know why I couldnt finish Princess Weiyoung with only 6 episodes to go but I guess I was emotionally spent.
Nway, I have watched many but from list you can probaly tell that I like political dramas with some romance sprinkled in there...
To truly enjoy Empress Ki you must possess an innate inquisitive nature about anything and everything and it also helps if you believe you're someone with a mature mindset.

I have been pleasantly surprised by this little gem, to think I almost didn't start it 😅 . FL and her role were meant to be, so is the ML, kudos to the casting director 👏 Yes, its awesome to see cold FL role for a change.
I usually dont enjoy most modern cdrama but sometimes they do surprise me. Lately, Parallel world and Alliance were ones I thoroughly enjoyed

I feel this show's creativity can only be appreciated by people with an active imagination... Yes, there's a background plot of Yumi's mundane life and relationships but what makes it special is those Cells! You will not find storytelling this unique in all of dramaland! The breaking down of our individual body cells into these many individual characters that truly depict how we as people are complicated with conflicting ideas and emotions going on at the same time. Perhaps people who are naturally overthinkers can relate more.
Not being able to recognise this creativity is truly a shame. Many ppl are just focusing on the relationships that Yumi was going through on the outside world it makes me almost want to tell them to go and watch a mundane predictable non creative melodrama instead...honestly dramaland is full of of those!
And also, if ppl were actually paying attention Yumi was probably right to break up with Wung as he never trusted Yumi with anything important about his life....all he ever really thought about Yumi was that she was cute. Their wiring was a little to different to each other. He wasn't a bad guy, and Yumi wasn't perfect either but just not meant to be.

ZJ and LQQ 's interactions say a thousand words without saying anything.......their chemistry is too 🔥 even I am overwhelmed as a 39 yr old imagine that

What a captivating 20 episodes!!!! Didn't think NiNi and Bai Yu would work but my goodness, was I totally wrong! In any case, its actually the parallel world plot that got me hooked. All my favourite genres in one 😍
Also didnt think a rooster would be vying for favourite supporting character 😅

23 & 24 were super sweet! Thought they'd drag out getting them together but this drama surprises me everytime. Their secret romance is promising to be loads of fun

I'm really glad that I ignored the comments here and continued to watch because it is rare to come across a plot that has everything like this one....and all the components done exceptionally well!
Each political strategy is explained well and execution seems realistic. The battle action scenes in ep 41 were some of the best I've seen in cdrama.
No one here is trying to speak like a child or other annoying stereotypes.
I absolutely love the empress from the beginning and she just had that royalty air abt her

The emporor's ideals, though frustrating at times, could be easily understandable because he is shown as a true diplomat preferring to move hearts rather than weapons
Loved Gou Jia, Sima Yi as their intelligent strategies were showcased really well, not mention providing much needed comedy relief
They did not skimp on the romance either. I'm not finished watching yet but I'm already satisfied as a viewer whatever ending awaits me.

Omg I'm really mad at the writers for not knowing what kind of FL they were writing....as if deep down they have a disdain for women and yet they're women too! Is this what happens when writers dont watch the dramas they write because using those old, tired and tropey misunderstandings as plot drivers is way too cringey in 2023!!!

It seems only Gu Man can make Yang Yang shine...unfortunately he cant just wait around for Gu Man's projects *sigh*

You're talking about what its meant to be but I'm looking at it from the standpoint of the viewer experience. As a viewer watching this production, even though I know that HY and DZY love each other they failed to connect me to their feelings of love. Perhaps HY may have expressed it more but DZY leans more on hate and hopelessness expression wise. Yes, at some point they were emotionally connecting us with them when HY was abt to marry fake DZY but those feelings feel lost. Again like I said I'm speaking mostly from my viewer experience and what I felt not what 'I'm supposed to feel'

The emotional connection between Di Ziyuan and Luo Mingxi throughout the drama was too strong compared to her and Han Ye. Not sure if that was the writers intention but they made it difficult to root for main CP. Like seriously, after this DZY thinks Han Ye deliberately killed LMX, its like they severed even the little robotic feelings that they had for each other. I hope they have really strong justification for reuniting them at the end if they do. I'm not too hopeful abt that though.....

I just dislike that Luo Mingxi is in the middle of everything, connected to everyone basically

I saw that episodes were up and it was already after midnight my time then I told myself I would just check it out for 15 mins....In 3 mins, I was like oh oh (in Joey's voice when he ate his date's chocolate dessert😅) i knew ai was in trouble and i was awake for the next hour and a half! The overall plot might be tropey, but it does deliver quite a bit of unique scenes. I love the 'Hermeś' smile and the FL's manager is a hilarious villain. The only other show I've watched with Yoona was The K2 and I didn't like how her character was written there. This one suits her really well esp when she does the plastic smile. I also love her friends esp the one who has a bossy kid. I will definitely be watching future episodes, they cant come soon enough. I'm sure those in the customer service industry will find it too relatable!

Also, ML's sister hating on him is not entirely 'unreasonable', I'm not condoning it but she obviously feels threatened by his existence alone considering he's a guy and traditionally he wouldn't need to prove himself too much to inherit the company whereas she has been working in that hotel for longer and has more experience but the father insists that they compete regardless

Within those first few episodes you can tell, without even looking up, that there was too much 'middle-aged male' point of view of women in this. Whiny, immature, beauties without brains. There's not even a likeable female character at this point. FL has had 99% of all the embarrassing scenes in this show. That hairstyle on Wu Qian needs to go, she's supposed to be how old again???