A strong male lead and a damsel in distress can always make a good story, but a smart and strategic female lead can make a good story great. "The Story of Minglan", "The Story of Yanxi Palace", and "The Story of Kunning Palace" all have female leads who rely on their own wits to prevail over their foes. They never start the fight, but they continually prevail over their those that attack them.
Shiyi is a concubine's daughter who has no desire to marry into the Xu family until her mother is murdered. Since the Xu family was present at her mother's death, she decides to marry Linxhi, the Marquis Xu. In order to do so, she must outwit her own sister in order to marry into the family. As soon as she does, she is looked down upon by her mother-in-law, (Grand Madam) because she is only a concubine's daughter. She is looked down upon by the Marquis because his first wife, Yuanniang, was so scheming. And she is looked down upon by Lingfong, who believes that she is entitled to be the legal wife because of her upbringing and her close relationship to Grand Madam. Initially, Shiyi does not seem to care about any of that. But after being continuously attacked, she begins to fight back. The Marquis is all about propriety and the reputation of the Xu family. While Shiyi fights back against Lingfong, the Marquis eventually sees her good nature and begins to melt his heart.
Linxhi is a person that used to be full of joy. However, after the death of his father and brother, he assumed responsibility of the Xu family. He vowed to forego all pleasures in life until he was able to restore the good name of his family and take revenge for their death. The Marquis gave up playing the zither, castigated his brother for his interest in opera, and never gave his heart to any of his wives. Shiyi changed all that. Everyone in his own family used to be terrified of him. Shiyi persuaded the Marquis to not be so strict, eventually healing the relationship with his son and brother. The Marquis slowly finds himself thinking about her often, caring about her from the background, and trusting her character. On the other hand, Shiyi does not care about anything but finding clues to her mother's killer. It does not help when evidence begins pointing toward the Marquis.
However, the trust and caring that the Marquis does not go unnoticed. When it is reported that the Marquis dies in a fire, Shiyi realizes that she had feelings for him and she never properly appreciated it. Her heart starts to melt as well. When he returns, she is genuinely apologetic and sincere. Shiyi finally admits her true motives for entering the marriage, but proclaims that his behavior has caused her to have feelings towards him as well. After they reconcile, they fight together against the Ou family for revenge. It turns out they are responsible for Shiyi's mother's death and the Marquis' family's death as well.
A love story where they start out cold and warm up to each other is always compelling. This story, on the other hand, does not only rely on the normal cliches. It's about two people that could not seem more different, but turn out to be similar. They both had to rely on their own skills to build themselves up. They both cared about victims of cruelty rather than inflicting cruelty. And they both cared about their own goals rather than giving their heart away to anyone. They end up together, survive, and thrive. How they end up together, how they survive together, and how they thrive together makes this good story great.
