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.

There was such a dissonance between the story and the actors. Did the director and casting unit not read their own script before they congregated 40-year-old men to play the role of boys on the cusp of manhood? I could forgive most things but this one issue completely drew me out of the story. To compound that, wardrobe choices in the first half had the men in ill-fitting clothing and atrocious hair pieces. Again, that diluted the authenticity of the story.

The best part about this was watching the family dynamic, especially Minglan's relationship with her grandmother. So precious. Likewise, Ming's sizzling relationship with Gu Tingye in the second half. So hot. Yet, even these couldn't offset the evil that permeated the entire story. It was too much and it dragged on for far too long. Yes I know, the villain is very villainy but did we need to see her repeat the same playacting over the course of 40 or more episodes?

Did we need all that back and forth at the Gu mansions? Did we need to see the minutiae of their daily lives, especially the ubiquitous eating? Did the characters in the Sheng family have to speak obliquely when they all could have benefitted from some showdowns and home truths? Minglan's father was a waste of space and to think three women were actually fighting over him. Why would Tingye risk the lives of Minglan and his children just to save the Emperor? Have the heavens fallen?

Seventy-three episodes is a lot no matter how lovely or compelling the story and sadly this drama was unconvincing.

The start of the story is very slow. The director seems to try (too hard) to build the emotional connections of the characters. You need to watch until episode 20+ before it becomes very interesting to watch.

The ending is bad. It doesn't explain what happened to the Wang family nor to the 4th uncle of the Gu family who slanders Gu Tingye. But overall, it is 10/10.

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

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.