Qing Shi Huang Fei

This series tried to aspire to the likes of "The Rise of Phoenixes" and failed miserably. This was mainly due to the terrible actors. The gay attendant was so over the top it was embarrassing.

The scene where the princess flew in on an organdie scarf was like something out of Peter Pan - so bad it was good..

The plot was pedestrian - and pretty soon you were wondering who cares what happens to any of them.

They spent a lot of money on sets and costumes that would have been better spent on better writers and actors.

For a story to be interesting there must be conflict, but when that conflict is the result of people making clearly stupid decisions, it isn't too satisfying.

More of the evil people needed to be revealed to others, more of the evil people needed to get what was coming to them.

If you like shows with happy endings or where most conflicts are resolved or justice served, this is not the show for you. Many Asian shows feel like they were running out of money and hurriedly finished the show, I would include this series in that category.

I've tried to be honest without giving away the plot.

IMDB says there are 31 episodes, but Netflix has 42 episodes. It is common for Asian series episodes to be combined and split, so not unusual to have different episode counts in different places.

I found this to be such a well-executed drama about love, concubines, emperors and princes that I had to view it two times. I think that in the West, many might not get the nuances that the Chinese actors convey or understand Chinese cultural aspects of the series, but I can guarantee that this series was be hugely popular all over China, Japan and Korea. People would cry all through it.

It lacked much sex, violence ,drugs and guns which seem to have such appeal in the West but was full of what many people in Asia yearn to see, such as a great love story (without explicit sex), deep emotional expression, people with integrity and learning, but also jealousy, pettiness and ruthless competition for social status. And people in Asia also have such a deep appreciation for their own history and tradition.

I have lived in Asia for 8 years and just LOVE dramas from this part of the world. One has to believe in China to be able to see it, and perhaps it is not possible for many in the West who can't understand such a different culture or are taught many false ideas about China.

I enjoyed it at the beginning, but then it started to take itself too seriously. Do writers really think we enjoy watching all these people cry? I got tired of all the female jealousy and infighting. As someone said, stupid people making stupid mistakes over and over again. Very few redeeming characters. So much supposed sadness and heartache. Superficial characters with infatuations, lust for power and jealous hearts. No real growth, no real character development. Characters who cannot see through obvious manipulations and have no self-awareness. Or, maybe that's the writing. They all seem so immature, and some just act like petulant children. Maybe pampered and protected people end up being this way, but we are not really given the opportunity to care about any of these characters.

I watch a lot of this types of shows. So I take great pride in my opinion because I know crap when ai see it. I will admit it started a little slow for me at first to get into the characters but now I can't stop watching it. I can't wait until the next episode. Listen, it isn't as good as The Princess Weiyoung or as The Rose of the Phoenixes. But it's a good story and has lots and lots of drama, betrayal, jealousy, pettiness, deep emotional depression, suffering, some comedy, historical Chinese culture, love, and more. The naysayers on here must not watch much of these types of shows if they are being that cruel and mean with their reviews. If you enjoy Chinese culture and these types of shows, I encourage you to watch it for yourself and you be your own judge on your experience.