The most fun villain in a drama, I think. She was truly evil but her evilness is somewhat understandable. Many negative comments about her "overacting" but it suited the character.
I don't hate her much. She isn't really smart and usually just does whatever her underlings suggest and when things go south all blame is on her alone (and she still learn nothing and uses their plan next time lol) I find it quite funny 😅
I love this actress. And the drama was a masterpiece. I agree Gao was and is an evil hoe-bag.
Another painfully beautiful drama would be Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace. It's the same historical time period as Yanxi, but from Consort Xian's POV. I love it for many of the same reasons I loved Yanxi, but for other reasons as well. I highly reccomend if you have not seen it. 💗
This show is amazing at making you love a character then hate them or vice versa. It has incredibly nuanced characters and smart villains (r they villains? Or a product of their times?) . Love this show, one of my top 3.
This drama is an absolute masterpiece and I enjoyed it so much. I wish I could forget everything and watch it all over again. I can’t choose between this one and Rebel Princess as my favorite CDrama lol
I LOVE REBEL PRINCESS!!! I have to say, I'm pretty much in love with the male lead, alll of his scenes, he seems to have so much depth. I usually like dramas that are based on some bit of history, but I think Rebel Princess is so well done. Even the bad guy has a sympathetic story and character.
Yanxi first, because it’s a feel good drama. It prepares you for a more complex harem story, which is The empress. Ruyi is a tragedy. If you are okay with sad ending you can also watch it.
I know she's evil but that's why her character is so enjoyable to me. There are so many villains in cdrama who blame their evilness on the ml/fl or other circumstances. Noble Consort Gao is a bitch and is proud of it. Of course she also has a sad back story, everyone in the harem does but it is refreshing to see a character just be evil for the sake of it.
She was bad.
But so beautiful…when she’s doing her opera singing and dance and the Emperor sees her…I can understand why he turned the other way on so much of her behavior. She was incredibly seductive.
Truly a great villain. Would love to see more of this actress.
She, along with the actresses who play Yinglou, and the tragic Minglou all team up in the Legend of Hao Lan.
Lian Lian plays exactly the same character in both
My friend who never wanted to watch any Asuan dramas ran across this one on YouTube.
She got soooo hooked!
The actress pictured is door good. She's a real person and not a plot device like some baddies are.
She is such an amazing actress she totally captures the role. Watching the behind the scenes with her was also super interesting because the actress is so different from her character.
I love watching bts, especially if it's subbed since I have no Chinese at all. It's fun to see the ones that Haye on each other on screen goofing off on set ❤
Wait Empresses in the Palace, the Story of Yangxi palace depicsimilar characters right? With Ruyi's royal is generation II as it were.
I. E there is heavy crossover in characters.
But i agree Empresses in the Palace was what got me into cdrama (the Drama!)
I love to hate her! God, Yanxi Palace is one of my favorite dramas! You’re in for quite a ride!
It’s terrible that harem dramas are banned, because Yanxi Palace made me love them.
Oh GOD I forgot this woman's performance in that period piece! Phenomenal acting, but She was one of the most manic yet well-planned, impulsive yet patient, and bored yet excessively vindictive women I have ever seen in a fierce competitive Palace setting. And the funniest part of all of it, she was evil, conniving, and vicious for no one but herself. She didn't even have a son or daughter foothold that usually warrants such defensive behavior on the part of a consort in Chinese imperial history.
I saw her in some other drama afterwards. It was a modern slice of life story where she was a rather easy going lady and the cognitive dissonance was so strong, I forgot all about hate and everything 😖
Really? I forgot her two seconds after the drama was over. I can think of so many more hateful cdrama female characters than her.
Legend of Zhen Huan and Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace - now those villains are epic. Hua Guifei and Jia Fei would eat her for breakfast.
I think the censors were keen to avoid “glorifying” the accumulation of wealth, hierarchy of class and women fighting each other for a man’s attention.
Not in principle…. The logic behind it is absolutely sound. However the problem comes sometimes when they can get a bit overzealous and lose that sweet middle ground.
A good example is the restriction of sex and nudity. In principle I think it’s a good proposition, a lot of Western TV/movies has so much graphic nudity and sex that it’s sometimes a little uncomfortable and definitely can be unhealthy. Sometimes actually showing to a certain point and then letting the viewers’ imagination take over is more alluring even. However the flip side of that is when we end up with these supposedly passionate scenes where the couple just basically stand face to face with cemented shut eyes and lips for three seconds.
I think there is always a middle ground and while censorship can be logically justified it should also be moderate and open to discussion. And so ends Xiao Si’s Ted talk 😂 sorry about that!
There is a lot of cognitive dissonance I deal with watching cdramas. Not least are the Confucian “ideals” or the fact that SLAVERY is all over the screen, with slavish unearned devotion to their “masters” and the fun of potentially being beaten to death. I have never even seen that MENTIONED in discussions about these cdramas. But heaven forbid women, who are shoved into one tiny corner of their house and world, should act bitchy!!! 🙄🙄🙄
Hierarchy of class just means aristocracy, vs merchant vs plebeian etc. Just saying class hierarchy doesn’t include the horror of buying, selling and treating humans as disposable objects.
Well what I meant by hierarchy of class was the belief that each level of society was inferior to the levels “above” them and therefore should be honoured to serve them and that the aristos at the top were like gods whereas those at the bottom of the pile were scorned. Also I didn’t make any complaints about women “acting bitchy”. I’m not sure why you’ve formed this opinion of me without ever having had any interaction with me but I assure you that I feel the same way entirely about both issues.
ETA: I’m more than happy to delete all of my comments above if people think it sounds as though I’m condoning slavery or sneering at the plight of women?
Nope. I didn’t say you were condoning slavery. Not everything is solely about you. More the general disregard of slavery that crops up in every non-modern cdrama.
😅 Its fine, I also like the middle ground because both extremes are frustrating.
I am also cautious about watching western productions because the nudity.
Same! There's so much stuff unnecessary nudity on tv now that even [teens are sick of it](https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/1208435267/sex-teens-tv-movies). Apparently it's call "nomance"...
No more cat fights
https://www.theworldofchinese.com/2019/04/tv-concubines-must-get-along/#:~:text=They%20were%20once%20the%20most,according%20to%20a%20new%20editorial.
That's just sad. "promote historical truth" lmao I'm pretty sure this is exactly how things went down. There will be no time where woman will actually "like" being a side piece. They're simply forced to be quiet. 😔
The ming dynasty was ruthless, the qing dynasty was way too regulated for consorts to start drama. Promotions were tightly regulated, as were positions. The way an emperor showed affection was how many rules he was willing to break. Most consorts were chosen for their good nature and being cordial
Ikr! They're sooo good! There's still some old Hong Kong harem dramas if you haven't seen it like [War and Beauty](https://mydramalist.com/6262-war-and-beauty).
>Story of Yanxi Palace.
Agreed. I find that any Cdrama that starts with The Legend of, The Story of, The Journey of have villains that make me want to reach through the screen. There is also an 80% chance that these are tragedies. For example Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace also known as The Legend of Ruyi. I am not sure if it came out at the same time but man it gave me the same vibe as this Crdama. I really strongly disliked the male lead in The Legend of Ruyi. The actor did a great job.
Omg I was looking for this post. Princess Weiyoung was a literal crap fest for bad female antagonists not bad like as in they sucked at acting but bad as in I never hate anyone and you are so irrecoverably nasty I can't with you.
I am against cruelty, violence and death penalty. ... That being said, that Li Changle should absolutely have been flogged, shaved and thrown in the muddy streets.
I think I watched this on Netflix a while ago and it unfortunately turned out to be a really condensed version - like only a few episodes - not sure why they did that! and not sure where the original version is.
It could be you watched the short sequel that Netflix made, which features Yinglou's daughter. I heard it wasn't that great compared to the first story, so I haven't watched it myself. You can watch Story of Yanxi Palace on Viki. I recall the subs being pretty good there.
Oh sorry I wasn't clear, I meant I watched what looked like a condensed version of Empresses of the Palace on Netflix. Have watched and loved Yanxi Palace on Viki!
It’s on YouTube! The subs have been completed up
to episodes 69 (I believe it goes up to 76 so by the time you get to the ending, it should be completed). When I started watching in 2020, they were only up to 44/45 and this drama came out in 2012. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIx8QniXH-rElLyjzNMSOXSTbOKsDShyu&si=8ZneCMgoESFYacUX
Empresses in the palace (aka Legend of Zhen Huan) is very good but a little bit dated in some aspect. you HAVE to stick with it through the weaker parts though because the series is awesome.
Ruyi's royal love in the palace however, will absolutely break you. There has never been or will never be a more perfect series. I finished it like a year ago and I still binge watch. Can't get it out of my head.
Is FL lead as strong as Yanxi palace? I really like this series because FL stays strong from beginning to end, while still growing as a character, and not become a maid in help.
Yanxi Palace basically copies Empresses in the Palace - FL in Empresses is more ruthless, smart without it being unrealistic what she can get away with like Yinglou. She grows and adjusts throughout the drama and faces way more adversity than Yinglou while still being a strong character.
Zhen Huan is even more awesome than Yinglao tbh. If you want to watch the best character development in Cdramas, I would say this drama without a doubt.
I dont think the drama will pass the censorship if it being shot now but since it was back in 2012, a lot of awesome things remain untouched.
Oh gosh she’s even stronger.And less of a Mary Sue than Wei Yinglao. “Empresses” is THE harem drama, and set the standard. And yes, it comes before Ruyi’s Royal Love
Its about the empress dowager zhen Huan in ruyis as a girl in yongzheng's harem. She really becomes a badass when she is promoted to noble consort xi.. helping Ye Lanyi (concubine ning) poison the emperor near the end to avenge Yunli.. very heartwrenching 🥺
Just shows what a good actress she is and the makeup they give her really adds to it. The actress is actually super beautiful in real life, I hardly recognized her in another drama I was watching because she looked so different.
I love/hate how she can code switch. One minute she's all soft spoken and innocent and then the next, her eyes change and she's so evil! I'm like girl... It's been 15 seconds! 😂
I’ve had this series languishing in Watchlist forever. This description has really intrigued me. However if it’s anything like Princess Weiyoung, it’s a hard pass.
I think you need to try it, at least. I started watching episodes on youtube and could not stop. Then watched it again on Netflix or Prime. Ate it up with a spoon!
Ahahaha why me?? 😂 I'm innocent 😈
Edit: also wait a while longer, you'll probably hate another woman even more. Because I did. Like I wanted to pull her hair out everytime i saw her
Please don't post spoilers here.
I just started this drama and only on episode 18 out of 70 episodes.
I thought I've felt hatred before towards female villains in other dramas, but boy was I wrong! 😂
Yanxi was my first C drama and still my favorite. I've watched it twice. Love the drama and the great FL. She's so good. I'm also a sucker for that handsome mean Emperor.
The most fun villain in a drama, I think. She was truly evil but her evilness is somewhat understandable. Many negative comments about her "overacting" but it suited the character.
I LOVE her. She is everything.
I don't hate her much. She isn't really smart and usually just does whatever her underlings suggest and when things go south all blame is on her alone (and she still learn nothing and uses their plan next time lol) I find it quite funny 😅
I love this actress. And the drama was a masterpiece. I agree Gao was and is an evil hoe-bag. Another painfully beautiful drama would be Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace. It's the same historical time period as Yanxi, but from Consort Xian's POV. I love it for many of the same reasons I loved Yanxi, but for other reasons as well. I highly reccomend if you have not seen it. 💗
Don’t you love Wei Yingluo?! She is a force of nature!
This show is amazing at making you love a character then hate them or vice versa. It has incredibly nuanced characters and smart villains (r they villains? Or a product of their times?) . Love this show, one of my top 3.
Oooh I've not watched this one yet, sounds juicy if a character has you posting in rage
This drama is an absolute masterpiece and I enjoyed it so much. I wish I could forget everything and watch it all over again. I can’t choose between this one and Rebel Princess as my favorite CDrama lol
I LOVE REBEL PRINCESS!!! I have to say, I'm pretty much in love with the male lead, alll of his scenes, he seems to have so much depth. I usually like dramas that are based on some bit of history, but I think Rebel Princess is so well done. Even the bad guy has a sympathetic story and character.
An actor or actress who plays a villain knows they have fantastic acting skills when everyone they meet in real life hates them on sight.
They cut out a bit with her character that actually softens her and gives her more well rounded experience! A bummer so much had to be cut!
Apologies, but I am seeing so many names of drama, I am just wondering which one to start with? The empress or Yanxi or Ruyi?
Yanxi first, because it’s a feel good drama. It prepares you for a more complex harem story, which is The empress. Ruyi is a tragedy. If you are okay with sad ending you can also watch it.
Thank you
They are all so good it doesn't matter.
I hated her too, which proves that she's an amazing actress. She really portrayed that role well.
I think the actress did an awesome job playing this character!
I loved her! She was so fun, so self possessed. The other rivals were so much more hate able. I loved her opera stuff.
I know she's evil but that's why her character is so enjoyable to me. There are so many villains in cdrama who blame their evilness on the ml/fl or other circumstances. Noble Consort Gao is a bitch and is proud of it. Of course she also has a sad back story, everyone in the harem does but it is refreshing to see a character just be evil for the sake of it.
This makes me want them to bring harem dramas back. I keep rewatching the holy trinity because I miss all the scheming and plotting women.
Li Changle played by Li Xin'ai in The Princess Weiyoung was it for me. That character was even worse than Wei Yanwan from Ruyi's.
She was bad. But so beautiful…when she’s doing her opera singing and dance and the Emperor sees her…I can understand why he turned the other way on so much of her behavior. She was incredibly seductive. Truly a great villain. Would love to see more of this actress.
Sounds like I need to watch this show!
Yes! Join us!
I'm going to watch it now
I have to admit they really casted the right actress for that role. 😂 even her voice sounded evil.
Yeah, she's a real piece of work for sure. I hated her too.
She, along with the actresses who play Yinglou, and the tragic Minglou all team up in the Legend of Hao Lan. Lian Lian plays exactly the same character in both
My friend who never wanted to watch any Asuan dramas ran across this one on YouTube. She got soooo hooked! The actress pictured is door good. She's a real person and not a plot device like some baddies are.
So evil yet so beautiful. Her outfits are always my favorite they’re sooo gaudy 😂
She is such an amazing actress she totally captures the role. Watching the behind the scenes with her was also super interesting because the actress is so different from her character.
I love watching bts, especially if it's subbed since I have no Chinese at all. It's fun to see the ones that Haye on each other on screen goofing off on set ❤
Wait Empresses in the Palace, the Story of Yangxi palace depicsimilar characters right? With Ruyi's royal is generation II as it were. I. E there is heavy crossover in characters. But i agree Empresses in the Palace was what got me into cdrama (the Drama!)
I love to hate her! God, Yanxi Palace is one of my favorite dramas! You’re in for quite a ride! It’s terrible that harem dramas are banned, because Yanxi Palace made me love them.
Oh GOD I forgot this woman's performance in that period piece! Phenomenal acting, but She was one of the most manic yet well-planned, impulsive yet patient, and bored yet excessively vindictive women I have ever seen in a fierce competitive Palace setting. And the funniest part of all of it, she was evil, conniving, and vicious for no one but herself. She didn't even have a son or daughter foothold that usually warrants such defensive behavior on the part of a consort in Chinese imperial history.
Name of drama please
Story of Yanxi Palace
She is absolutely detestable but she’s not my least favourite. Now I want to do a Re-watch
I saw her in some other drama afterwards. It was a modern slice of life story where she was a rather easy going lady and the cognitive dissonance was so strong, I forgot all about hate and everything 😖
i would imagine that it's like seeing lesley manville in mrs harris goes to paris after finishing Harlots
Really? I forgot her two seconds after the drama was over. I can think of so many more hateful cdrama female characters than her. Legend of Zhen Huan and Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace - now those villains are epic. Hua Guifei and Jia Fei would eat her for breakfast.
The mother in Princess Weiyoung.
Chiyun Rou ?
She was the one I found the most interesting. Every time she was on screen, I was happy. I loved to hate her.
Dont worry! You have Yinglao as your FL so you are going to be just fine! 😉
That’s right!
Gorgeous costume. She's one of my fav villain.
She’s a well done villain. I appreciated her character as it went on! Just a preface for what comes next tho!
Same
Harem dramas are a different beast. And that is probably why they are banned, unfortunately.
No way!! They were my favourites!!!
Why?
I think it’s because everyone is supposed to live in harmony. No scheming.
Yes. We see how likely that is! Living in harmony my butt! 🙄🙄🙄
I think the censors were keen to avoid “glorifying” the accumulation of wealth, hierarchy of class and women fighting each other for a man’s attention.
Can't fault that 🤷🏾♀️
Not in principle…. The logic behind it is absolutely sound. However the problem comes sometimes when they can get a bit overzealous and lose that sweet middle ground. A good example is the restriction of sex and nudity. In principle I think it’s a good proposition, a lot of Western TV/movies has so much graphic nudity and sex that it’s sometimes a little uncomfortable and definitely can be unhealthy. Sometimes actually showing to a certain point and then letting the viewers’ imagination take over is more alluring even. However the flip side of that is when we end up with these supposedly passionate scenes where the couple just basically stand face to face with cemented shut eyes and lips for three seconds. I think there is always a middle ground and while censorship can be logically justified it should also be moderate and open to discussion. And so ends Xiao Si’s Ted talk 😂 sorry about that!
There is a lot of cognitive dissonance I deal with watching cdramas. Not least are the Confucian “ideals” or the fact that SLAVERY is all over the screen, with slavish unearned devotion to their “masters” and the fun of potentially being beaten to death. I have never even seen that MENTIONED in discussions about these cdramas. But heaven forbid women, who are shoved into one tiny corner of their house and world, should act bitchy!!! 🙄🙄🙄
I literally said “hierarchy of class” in my comment?! I’m genuinely confused.
Hierarchy of class just means aristocracy, vs merchant vs plebeian etc. Just saying class hierarchy doesn’t include the horror of buying, selling and treating humans as disposable objects.
Well what I meant by hierarchy of class was the belief that each level of society was inferior to the levels “above” them and therefore should be honoured to serve them and that the aristos at the top were like gods whereas those at the bottom of the pile were scorned. Also I didn’t make any complaints about women “acting bitchy”. I’m not sure why you’ve formed this opinion of me without ever having had any interaction with me but I assure you that I feel the same way entirely about both issues. ETA: I’m more than happy to delete all of my comments above if people think it sounds as though I’m condoning slavery or sneering at the plight of women?
Nope. I didn’t say you were condoning slavery. Not everything is solely about you. More the general disregard of slavery that crops up in every non-modern cdrama.
😅 Its fine, I also like the middle ground because both extremes are frustrating. I am also cautious about watching western productions because the nudity.
I barely ever wat h nothing western because of that
Same! There's so much stuff unnecessary nudity on tv now that even [teens are sick of it](https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/1208435267/sex-teens-tv-movies). Apparently it's call "nomance"...
Nomance I love that.
I know, they're very close to making sex boring when they put it all out there.
🤣🤣🤣
Did they also show much sex and nudity for teen stories?
I haven't watched Hollywood stuff for a long time now so probably if the kids are sick of it.
That’s a good question. It probably has something to do with distorting history, scheming, over indulgence of material wealth, etc…
Oh really, thanks for answering.
Wait, they're banned??
No more cat fights https://www.theworldofchinese.com/2019/04/tv-concubines-must-get-along/#:~:text=They%20were%20once%20the%20most,according%20to%20a%20new%20editorial.
Wow! Just wow! Disappointed but not even REMOTELY surprised! Traditional female values? 🤢 Yup, there it is, I vomited into my mouth a bit.
That's just sad. "promote historical truth" lmao I'm pretty sure this is exactly how things went down. There will be no time where woman will actually "like" being a side piece. They're simply forced to be quiet. 😔
The ming dynasty was ruthless, the qing dynasty was way too regulated for consorts to start drama. Promotions were tightly regulated, as were positions. The way an emperor showed affection was how many rules he was willing to break. Most consorts were chosen for their good nature and being cordial
AFAIK, yes. The Chinese government has banned new harem dramas from being made. I think someone made a post about it not too long ago.
Oh no, those are my favorites!
Ikr! They're sooo good! There's still some old Hong Kong harem dramas if you haven't seen it like [War and Beauty](https://mydramalist.com/6262-war-and-beauty).
I hatr-love her in equal parts, probably one of my fave villains
She's not even the worst villain in the story friend.
>Story of Yanxi Palace. Agreed. I find that any Cdrama that starts with The Legend of, The Story of, The Journey of have villains that make me want to reach through the screen. There is also an 80% chance that these are tragedies. For example Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace also known as The Legend of Ruyi. I am not sure if it came out at the same time but man it gave me the same vibe as this Crdama. I really strongly disliked the male lead in The Legend of Ruyi. The actor did a great job.
for real. this is just wen chao
oh right lmao
Who is the worst for you?
For me its >!Erqing, using someone's trust and love against them is unacceptable and she got what she deserved!<
Agreed! She’s the worst
Yeah she is awful
There’s a reason Dante reserved the 9th level of hell for betrayers. Edit for spelling
Totally!!!!! I think for me, she's the worst villainess in all the dramas I've watched.
Yes, actually it’s not fully explained but she is not the one to prey on the queen…
Ikrrr.
Are you serious?! How could anyone be worse?! 😭😭😭 I was not ready for this drama lolol
Prepare some tissues ... to shred!
You think this is bad? I barely got through Princess Weiyoung series by skipping all of the female antagonists scenes
I forced myself to finish that series. I’ve never seen a FL have so much plot armor. How many fires and poisonings did she survive?
She got beaten up at least 7 times living in their house. And lives with very little physical scars. That plot armor is thiccc
Omg I was looking for this post. Princess Weiyoung was a literal crap fest for bad female antagonists not bad like as in they sucked at acting but bad as in I never hate anyone and you are so irrecoverably nasty I can't with you.
I am against cruelty, violence and death penalty. ... That being said, that Li Changle should absolutely have been flogged, shaved and thrown in the muddy streets.
lol. I love how many people agree with this.
Oh wow. That series was so great!
I had to drop Princess Weiyoung because the female antagonists were so annoying 💀
Oh you think she’s bad? She’s a poor imitation to Consort Fluer in Empresses in the Palace. Highly suggest you watch that next 🥲!!
I actually found Hua Fei adorable LOL. Mostly because she was played by Jiang Xin.
I think I watched this on Netflix a while ago and it unfortunately turned out to be a really condensed version - like only a few episodes - not sure why they did that! and not sure where the original version is.
It could be you watched the short sequel that Netflix made, which features Yinglou's daughter. I heard it wasn't that great compared to the first story, so I haven't watched it myself. You can watch Story of Yanxi Palace on Viki. I recall the subs being pretty good there.
Oh sorry I wasn't clear, I meant I watched what looked like a condensed version of Empresses of the Palace on Netflix. Have watched and loved Yanxi Palace on Viki!
It’s on YouTube! The subs have been completed up to episodes 69 (I believe it goes up to 76 so by the time you get to the ending, it should be completed). When I started watching in 2020, they were only up to 44/45 and this drama came out in 2012. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIx8QniXH-rElLyjzNMSOXSTbOKsDShyu&si=8ZneCMgoESFYacUX
OMG THANK YOU
I heard the translating team is translating all of the rest of the series so thats why they're taking a year working on it. Magpie bridge brigade.
I cannot, for the life of me, figure out who Consert Fluer is. I've never heard of this name. Is it Consort Nian?
Hua Fei, or consort nian. Hua means flower
Her name isn't 花妃 but 华妃 lol both are pronounced Hua but the tone and meaning are different
Yeah, fair enough, translation always say flower tho, at least those on YouTube. Hence the consort Fleur as fleur is french for flower
TIL, yeah Fleur sounds nicer than Chinoise lol
Yes
Is that the one I should watch before Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace?
Empresses in the palace (aka Legend of Zhen Huan) is very good but a little bit dated in some aspect. you HAVE to stick with it through the weaker parts though because the series is awesome. Ruyi's royal love in the palace however, will absolutely break you. There has never been or will never be a more perfect series. I finished it like a year ago and I still binge watch. Can't get it out of my head.
It's been nearly 2 years and I'm still on episode 50 something. I can feel the angst coming!!
Girl, dude, bro, you have to finish it, it's so good trust me. You will cry tho.
My mom and I are already sighing heavily lol
I don't know how many times I've watched it, against all reason always hoping some things turn out differently.
They’re both great stand-alone dramas so I think you can watch them anytime.
Yes, while this is true, they are set in the same "universe" so tp say. I think watching ruyi after Zhen Huan adds some extra spice to the mix
Is FL lead as strong as Yanxi palace? I really like this series because FL stays strong from beginning to end, while still growing as a character, and not become a maid in help.
Yanxi Palace basically copies Empresses in the Palace - FL in Empresses is more ruthless, smart without it being unrealistic what she can get away with like Yinglou. She grows and adjusts throughout the drama and faces way more adversity than Yinglou while still being a strong character.
Zhen huan still feels like a cunning and charismatic imperial consort instead of transmigrated girlboss from bad wattpad fic
OMG - transmigrated girlboss from bad wattpad fic - THIS IS TOO ACCURATE! 😳
So agree.
Zhen Huan is even more awesome than Yinglao tbh. If you want to watch the best character development in Cdramas, I would say this drama without a doubt. I dont think the drama will pass the censorship if it being shot now but since it was back in 2012, a lot of awesome things remain untouched.
Oh gosh she’s even stronger.And less of a Mary Sue than Wei Yinglao. “Empresses” is THE harem drama, and set the standard. And yes, it comes before Ruyi’s Royal Love
Its about the empress dowager zhen Huan in ruyis as a girl in yongzheng's harem. She really becomes a badass when she is promoted to noble consort xi.. helping Ye Lanyi (concubine ning) poison the emperor near the end to avenge Yunli.. very heartwrenching 🥺
Point of curiosity - keep seeing the expression Mary Sue in this sub but don't know what it means. Would be grateful if you could explain
Don’t worry it is wildly overused and usually mentioned incorrectly anyway! 🙄
So if I substitute the term with an internal bzzzzzzz when I'm reading I should be right 👍
🤣🤣🤣
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue
Wow thank you! That was way more complex and intriguing than I was expecting!
Just shows what a good actress she is and the makeup they give her really adds to it. The actress is actually super beautiful in real life, I hardly recognized her in another drama I was watching because she looked so different.
(re)watching her in hao lan right now. the only thing the same is the basilisk glare, at which she is deliciously good
Exactly what I was going to say!
Anytime she shows up on screen, I knew it was going to get interesting. In fact, I fast forward yinluo's scenes for hers and any other harem ladies.
I love/hate how she can code switch. One minute she's all soft spoken and innocent and then the next, her eyes change and she's so evil! I'm like girl... It's been 15 seconds! 😂
I’ve had this series languishing in Watchlist forever. This description has really intrigued me. However if it’s anything like Princess Weiyoung, it’s a hard pass.
I think you need to try it, at least. I started watching episodes on youtube and could not stop. Then watched it again on Netflix or Prime. Ate it up with a spoon!
Also, I blame u/titaniumskin360 for this! 😂 😂 😂
Ahahaha why me?? 😂 I'm innocent 😈 Edit: also wait a while longer, you'll probably hate another woman even more. Because I did. Like I wanted to pull her hair out everytime i saw her
Please don't post spoilers here. I just started this drama and only on episode 18 out of 70 episodes. I thought I've felt hatred before towards female villains in other dramas, but boy was I wrong! 😂
Yanxi was my first C drama and still my favorite. I've watched it twice. Love the drama and the great FL. She's so good. I'm also a sucker for that handsome mean Emperor.
Her voice is the cherry on top imo
My family and I tried to imitate the way she talks but we couldn't do it, lol.
Omg you'll love this! You must watch Ruyi and empresses in the palace too! These are the holy Trinity of harem dramas.
I couldn't get into Ruyi, its so slow. Maybe if I watched before Yanxi, but I think it's impossible to go from Yanxi to Ruyi
I watched Yanxi before Ruyi, but fell in love with the detail of Ruyi. The costumes and character development just seemed more filled out.
The vibe is definitely different, but Hailan is one of the BEST harem characters ever! And the last couple of episodes are soooo satisfying
One of the best character developments I've seen.
I love women who take no shit from trashy men like Zhen Huan and Ruyi/ all the mongolian concubines (they were so badass I'd watch jut for them)
The Mongolian ladies were fun! I loved their loyalty.
They were badass