over used scenarios, too much loopholes, noob writer

seriously, the story goes on like going to a climax then downwards (bec of too much repetition of scheming that does not makes sense anymore), geez that weiyoung shows up to his majesty's doorstep every freaking scheme is just too much! the king's fondness to wei young was not properly developed. in normal dramas, even the FL cannot be spared of more than 2 instances of death granted by king but the FL keeps getting chances over chances which defies all sensible reasoning. chang ru's schemes are just too many it doesnt make sense. even in scheming dramas i watched, the schemes are not all done by 1 antagonist continuously. also, they should have at least made the FL appreciate or show mercy to the 2nd lead but they just made the FL feel a complete aversion. it also became too predictable, every time the FL gets away from the scheme, they will ask how she did it, not just one 1-2 scenes, i lost count actually. for me, i quite enjoyed it but i skipped many scenes. just too much repetition,.. the writer just destroyed what should have been a good drama with good actors

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A very underrated drama!!

so this was released yearsss ago? i have been avoiding this due to the tragic ending until recently i watched a drama that has horrrible horrible cgi and production. i read from the reviews that this has superb production with huge budget, so to pacify myself over the previous drama i watched, i gave this a go

believe me, i have been avoiding dramas with tragic ending but according to reviews, there's no other way to end this drama but that

and true !!!

the acting was trully exceptiona!, when the FL is sad, she is not just crying a river , he cried her heart out convincingly that she will pull you to her plight. she is strong, playful (but not like FL on the dramas that they will look like kids) ,

the ending was (surprisingly, the ending i wanted it to be since the first part of the drama) satisfying, even without the scenes of the old ML, i wouldnt complain! It is the first drama/series i watched that has a tragic ending (not sad) yet it made me feel so happy it ended that way.

The production!! as in WWWWOOOOWWWW!!!! it is a feast for the eyes! the costumes are so well detailed even on close up, some even looks like real leather , the palace are like the palaces on fantasy dramas, very luxurious! it trully justified it's huge budget!


You will, im telling you, you will miss one of the well crafted asian drama if you won't watch this! i put this away for too long due to my obsession with happy ending, never realized that tragic ending can also be a happy ending for a viewer! i guess one of the convincing power behind that very satisfying ending is credited to the FL's superb acting that you yourself will even wish to die several times is you were in her shoes!

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STRONG FEMALE IN HISTORY

wow that was quite a long drama

- this is a story about a strong female character and this should have been a good drama that can truly inspire every woman BUT they did not focus too much on the strength of the lead char unlike in THE LONG BALLAD where you will be excited on every resolution and strategies of the lead actress

-this drama could have been very good, after all , according to wiki , empress wu was a truly excellent leader of her time that surpasses other emperors before and after her. that she conquered neighbouring states, they should have focused more on her conquest from 3/4 to the end of the drama on her leadership. sadly , the drama was not executed or interpreted the way it should have been.

-they focus more on the scheming enemies in the palace

-there are a lot of opportunities for the scripwriter to make the scene twists but he/she went straightforward which made it boring. i guess the problem was the scripwriting.

-for me, she is truly an icon of her era and half of the drama should have focused on her conquest strategies to justify her being a female emperor and a regent

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the acting was good, there's nothing wrong about it but the story and how they put it together would have been very promising had it not been the lack of character development. many of reviews and comments says that the main leads lack chemistry, it's not that they lack chemistry. they DO have chemistry BUT the script or how they develop the two characters was very poor. I understand that they have to have the male lead use "ajumma" to refer to the female lead, that's ok, just to show that the female lead is older that the male lead BUT using it all throughout the script to the end is not acceptable if you are to have the male lead develop feelings for her. it literally destroyed the romantic development of the drama. apart from that, there's hardly romantic scenes, like if i'm a viewer, i would think that this two leads hate working with each other in real life. they focused too much on the supposedly side stories of the leads. the plot would have been great, it would have been much much better. even how they presented the part of the male lead's comeback thru the musical production was poorly executed. it lacks luster.

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