Heila

The Glory is very similar to many other revenge-focused cdramas out there, but what stood out for me was the characters.
Although the drama was quite predictable, most of the drama was quite thrilling to keep my attention going. If you're looking for a romance drama, I'd suggest looking elsewhere - The Glory focuses on revenge, and revenge was what they achieved.

Our heroine is a morally grey abandoned female, Zhuang Hanyan played by Chen Du Ling, who found her way back home at the beginning of the drama. Within no time, she has been caught into endless schemes among her family, hatred from even her own mother, yet she would always fight her way to victory. What makes her morally grey is the fact that her own plans can be backfired, she would eventually lose a sense of herself for revenge and it's something rarely seen in any C-drama with revenge as the main plot. But at the end of the day, what or who really was behind it all? Everyone is a pawn, but they did not realize it.
Once Hanyan realize who truly was the mastermind, she did not stop, not even for the male lead, Fu YunXi.
Zhuang Hanyan is an intelligent, strong-willed woman but unfortunately due to her upbringing it can cause her harm as well. This is why she is a morally grey character - she doesn't know what's right from wrong sometimes and in those times, Fu Yunxi has to wake her up.
Chen Du Ling played Hanyan really well, I really enjoyed every moment of her acting because it's so natural and convincing. Some of the scenes I had to repeat because it displayed the experience she had from her long history of dramas over the past decade or so. I've seen CDL play as a villain more than once, and now she's a leading actress. The Glory is an amazing drama to place her on the spotlight!

As for Fu Yun Xi played by Xin Yun Lai - I don't have much to say as there wasn't much romance in this drama. Fu Yun Xi's role in this drama was very secretive throughout and his emotions were very stoic. Sometimes I wonder if it's the actor's poor acting (lack of facial muscle usage and esp no eye acting ) or if it's really the character. Now that I've watched the entire drama, I must say that Yun Lai really needs to work on his acting. His character is definitely full of secrets, but to say whether or not he loved Hanyan is difficult because it just felt like he was just a close friend by the end of the drama. I did not feel any chemistry between the leads. Perhaps it's because of Yunlai's poor acting that made it difficult to connect the two together. CDL carried really hard between the two. Most of the time, if he's not angry, Yunlai just looks like a dumbfounded lost puppy. Due to that, i thought the romance was not needed at all, maybe it was poor script as well but his character is useless in terms of romance. I have seen Yun Lai in The Legend of Shen Li and was quite excited to see him here but unfortunately was very disappointed by his performance.

With that aside, the veteran actors and actresses did a phenomenal job especially Wen Zheng Rong who played Ruan Xi Wen, she was always known to be a villain and in this drama, she played her role beautifully! I really love her character's love story and really wished for her happiness! The mother suffered so much and it's because of her is why Zhuang Hanyan was dead set on revenge. Yu En Tai did an amazing job, he had everyone convinced that he was a fragile, middle-aged man who would do no harm. But I was always suspicious of the way he acts and talks. With that, I applaud his amazing acting as Zhuang Shiyang!

Did the heroine get her revenge?Yes. Was the revenge satisfying? Compared to other revenge dramas, I'd say this was the best because the revenge was done by a family member. :)

If you enjoy revenge plots, thriller, and schemes - I highly recommend this drama. If you're looking for romance, this isn't for you.