Zhi fou zhi fou ying shi lü fei hong shou

Another cdrama that I almost dropped but drew me in completely by the second half. I got deeply attached to the characters that are fleshed out well. Sheng Minglan (Zhao Liying) is a feisty, intelligent and sensible illegitimate concubine-born girl of a government official. Gu Tingye (Feng Shaofeng) is the fearless, roguish legitimate son of a Marquis. Qi Heng (Zhu Yilong) is the proper doted son of a Duke. All are lovable. Minglan has great chemistry with her main romantic interests. The villains are evil to the core, not realizing they're evil and shamelessly complaining they're the ones wronged, twisting things around. The schemes and intrigues, both political and personal, are well written and implemented. I felt like I was part of the scenes, witnessing innocent people being wronged, villains trying to weasel their way out of sticky situations and justice being served. A satisfying watch.

Too many characters, watched the first time did not remember the characters, now is watching the second time... The heroine's acting is not good, and sometimes I am confused if I have a wrong understanding of the plot, and then go back ten minutes before to reconfirm.

The character setting of the hero has problems, early is a playboy, and later become a good husband.

I wrote both an article and a much longer review for mydramalist.

I don't think this show is for people who want action or more epic-ness like Eternal Love. This is a historical love story with meticulous attention to detail, character development, and growth. All the characters are important. It is filmed beautifully.

A lot of viewers have compared it to nirvana in fire in terms of quality. Others to masterpiece BBC pieces like Jane Eyre. It is incredibly done. I say give it ten episodes, if you don't like it, then maybe it isn't for you, but if it isn't your type don't give it a bad review--I only give dramas that aren't my 'type' a bad review if they do a poor job executing whatever plot device/trope/type of story they are trying to deliver.

Anyone who hasn't watched past episode eighteen has no right to properly review this, in my honest opinion.

In order to really dive into this, you have to continue after episode eighteen-twenty and then decide. I know it's kind of a tall order for people who may not be invested initially to go for a full twenty episodes but it really is the kind of show you can't just watch five episodes and think you have it all figured out.

It's definitely a slow burn but well worth it. I've watched countless Korean and Chinese dramas and I can say that without a doubt this one is the most refreshing I've encountered. Seasoned actors that are very natural like, Feng Shaofeng, Liu Jun, Zhao Li Ying, Cao Cui Fen, Liu Lin and Gao Lu who shine in their roles. The lighting/cinematography is beautiful and relaxing and the family dynamics are so good. I wish blu-ray existed for this series. :(

I have to be honest, at first, when I decided to watch this series, I have low expectation. But my God, how wrong I was. Story of Ming Lan is a masterpiece I love this drama; I love the dialogue, i think it's genius. I love the plot, the scheme. This series is so smart, it's almost similar to Nirvana in Fire but at family level and I really think that it's even better than nirvana in fire. I love when all the character make move, try to outsmart one another, and how they think ahead and plan every move.

This series is shot beautifully and they pay attention to every detail. if you want to know chinese custom, tradition, and how they lived at the past, you should watch this series. it's almost like a documentary. It's very different from the untamed or eternal love: ten miles of peach blossom (another series that I love) but Story of Ming Lan has its own uniqueness

My recomendation is try to watch 10 episodes of this series before you decide whether this series is for you or not