Story of Kunning Palace | Open Thread

An evil queen is reborn and rediscovers her neglected villain-qin-teacher.

Notable Actors/Actresses

Bai Lu: Jiang Xue Ning

Zhang Ling He: Xie Wei

Wang Xing Yue: Zhang Lian

Director

Zhu Rui Bin

Scriptwriter: 

(Author: Shi Jing)

Chinese Title

寧安如夢

The Dream of Ning'an

Genres: Period, Romance, Palace, Period Romance

Network: iQIYI

Year: 2023
Episodes: 38

Jump to Remarks | Reviews | Recs | Comments 

Cast

Bai Lu: Jiang Xue Ning	Zhang Ling He: Xie Wei
Wang Xing Yue: Zhang Zhe	Zhou Jun Wei: Yan Lin
Liu Xie Ning: Shen Zhi Yi	Tang Meng Jia: You Fang Ling

Romcom/Romance Checklist

How much of the plot is angst/romance?

0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

The ML: 

Cold–Lukewarm–Warm / Timid / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General /

The FL: 

Bold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better than ML / Noble Idiot / 

Describe the Relationship (the tropes):

Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / School to Adulthood / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Secretly in Love (ML) / Star-Crossed Lovers / 

Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):

Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30 / 31 / 32 / 33 / 34 / 35 / 36 / 37 / 38

# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3

Ending:

Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad

Remarks

[Trigger Warnings] Strangulation. Vague/implied sexual assault. 

[Cast & Crew] 

• If the directing of this drama bothers you, know that the main director is Zhu Rui Bin (The Starry Love, The Blue Whisper, The Long Ballad, Ashes of Love). If you need visuals, see this comment from TSL thread. 
• Bai Lu and Zhang Ling He are/were a real couple. 
• This is airing simultaneously with Only for Love, also starring Bai Lu. They share another common trait: questionable directing. 
• Wang Xing Yue's second 2023 rebirth drama (Scent of Time)
• Wang Xing Yue's second drama with Bai Lu. If they're together, one of them has to be tragic. (One and Only reference) 

[Drama Info] This drama was pulled back from airing in May, and suddenly airdropped in November. It's suspected that 1) it didn't pass censorship because of the rebirth plot, which drama has now(?) included a scene of FL writing a story in present time, and 2) Zhou Jun Wei's white paper protest, which promotions seem to have completely excluded him. 

Reviews

Submit Your Review | Rating Guide

Five (5/5)

Four (4/5)

Three (3/5)

Two (2/5)

Reviewer: cynlynn

Date: November 2023

Spoiler galore. Consider checking out the Disqus comment version with the spoilers hidden.

Greeting Kunning-lings. I may not come in peace. 

The beginning bored me, but I hung on because ML looked like he had potential. Well, my journey to you, Wei Wei, isn’t that smooth. I have so many problems with the narrative that I’m not even going to touch directing or anything petty like being pissed off by the wind. 

Rebirth. They revived the useless character. It’s like she has no knowledge of her previous life. This lady doesn’t know how to plan with her future knowledge. It’s like she isn’t even who she is anymore! There is no continuity. This is how she treats her rapist, her bully, her “murderer”, and the man she ruined:

• Devotes her life to save her rapist.
• Befriends the bully (princess), and boosts her confidence. 
• Challenges her supposed murderer with a tortoise doodle like a teenager would. 
• Snuggles shoulder to shoulder with the man she ruined. 
• Where is the hatred? Where is the fear? Where is the guilt? Where is her evilness?? Who are you?!

Xue Shu, the other evil queen/consort. I don’t understand the moral of her story. Why is she villainized when she’s walking the same path Jiang Xue Ning did? They both used the people around them, and used their body to seduce men. It’s hypocritical and shortsighted of Show to punish Xue Shu and reward Jiang Xue Ning (who’s blissfully surrounded by her harem).

Study Group. These ladies took up a whole third of the drama, and removing them wouldn’t make a difference to the story. 

Zhang Zhe. It was so cool to have TWO rebirths! This was the second most appealing part of the story for me. And so what does Zhang Zhe do with his new life? NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. Wait. No. He’s there to let his mother die again. And what does FL do to repay him, the one guy she knew was on her side and sacrificed himself for her? Scold him and abandon him when he’s mourning. Lol. Ok. Cool. That’s her kindness or something. She’s more evil when she’s nice than when she’s evil

Rebellion Plot. If only the drama’s entire focus was here. This was the third most appealing part of the story. However, what I know about Xie Wei in Ep4 is no different from what I know in Ep32, and that’s actually all there is to know; Father Xue let Lord Ping’an kill Xie Wei. I was just missing the visual flashbacks (ugh, flashbacks).

ML’s Scheming. It all happens in flashbacks. And it’s all the same: “Aha! My uncle's army has arrived!” Our main characters are SURROUNDED, surrounded I say! Weapons are aimed. The villains still fail. Even when it’s 5 vs 50, and our main characters are barehanded against spears and shields, the villains still lose. HOW.

Romance. I did not like the development, that is if there was a development. In one ep she went from "But you killed me!" to "I love him". And before she concedes to his sexy lips in that pinnacle moment, she stares at his hand that he ruined for her. I don't know what that means. "I love you because I feel guilty"?! 

ML’s Toxicity. I do believe that if you’re criticizing ML’s toxicity, obsessiveness, and multiple strangulations, you’re watching the wrong show. Yes, it’s you. His badness is precisely this drama’s selling point (like the MLs in Maid’s Romance, My Lethal Man, etc). However, starting the show, I don’t think I was prepared for this level of extremity. The peak(s) of the romance are the most disturbing scenes. It's intriguing and very wrong. I think that, unfortunately, Xie Wei’s toxic magnetism wasn’t enough to spin my moral compass out of whack. My brain was more active than my heart. It’s my fault. 

Last, but certainly not least: The Hunch. WHY DID NOBODY TELL OUR NIU-NIU NOT TO HUNCH? Whenever he’s domineering towards Jiang Xue Ning, there’s a lump on his back. That looks so ugly and uncomfortable. The director took no care whatsoever in positioning them. He must have been too busy zooming in and out, and blowing Bia Lu’s bangs. 

I do wish for Zhang Ling He going forward, if he is to act scary, it’s with the intensity of his eyes, and less scowling of his pretty face.

One (1/5)

Recommendations

Genre List:

Scheming / Palace Romances

Dark Love	Dark Love	Dark Love