Story of Kunning Palace is a wonderful Chinese historical drama with a romance of revenge and a rollercoaster of emotions that you must watch. Why do I talk like that? See the review of the Chinese drama Story of Kunning Palace below!
Drama Details
Title: Story of Kunning Palace (宁安如梦)
Episodes: 38
Release Date: November 7, 2023
Genres: Historical, Romance, Drama, Fantasy
Country: China
Original Network: iQiyi
Available On: iQiyi
Synopsis and Plot Summary
The story follows Jiang Xue Ning, a woman who has tried hard to become an empress. However, her efforts were in vain after King Shen Jie was mysteriously poisoned.
Xue Ning was also taken hostage by the rebels. She was also forced to commit suicide while under house arrest and at the same time Xi Wei massacred the entire city.
In the midst of a situation that made Xue Ning despair, something happened and it was as if she had a second chance to change her fate.
Xue Ning awakens in the body of her 18-year-old self, who has not yet entered the palace. If given another chance at life, she vows to live a different life outside the palace.
But fate makes her entangled again in palace intrigue as Princess Le Yang’s study friend. She also became a disciple of Xie Wei, a respected imperial teacher and advisor to the emperor, who was also the mastermind behind the vicious rebellion that led to her death. Will their lives get better?
Story of Kunning Palace Chinese Drama Ending Explained
Story of Kunning Palace Chinese drama has a happy ending. At the end of the episode, Zhang Zhe helps Xie Wei escape from pursuit, and Xue Yuan leads his troops to appear revealing Xie Wei’s identity.
Zhang Zhe asked about the reason, and Xie Wei said that twenty years ago, Xue Yuan rushed to attack the city first to quell the rebellion, which resulted in the tragic deaths of all three hundred righteous children.
Meanwhile, Dao Qin brought Jiang Xue Ning into the palace from the palace tunnels to support Xie Wei, but Jiang Xue Ning asked Dao Qin to go first.
When Xue Yuan thought he was confident of victory, Yan Lin led the Yan family troops to surround him, and Xue Yuan knew that he had fallen into a trap.
It turned out that before Xie Wei went to Dayue as an envoy, he told Shen Lang about his true identity and all the crimes that Xue Yuan had committed.
While Xie Wei was bleeding, Xue Yuan took advantage of Xie Wei’s unpreparedness and stabbed Xie Wei, but was killed by Yan Lin and Dao Qin together.
Jiang Xue Ning then held the unconscious and heartbroken Xie Wei, promising to marry him as soon as he woke up. Xie Wei woke up from the crisis and the two confirmed their feelings.
Meanwhile, the Xue Family got the punishment they deserved, and everything cleared up with no more crimes. They live in peace!
At the end of the scene, Jiang Xue Ning dreams that Xie Wei burns her musical instrument and commits suicide. When she woke up, she found Xie Wei holding a kitten and looking at her tenderly.
There is a cute pair of children in the yard. At that time, Zhang Zhe, Yan Lin, and Shen Zhi Yi came to wish them a happy New Year, and they were very happy. End!
Story of Kunning Palace Chinese Drama Review
This is a Chinese drama adapted from the web novel “Kun Ning” but with an interesting approach; the reader chooses who the female protagonist will be. This is a dark and gripping tale of intrigue, hubris, betrayal, revenge, and redemption.
Honestly, I’ve watched a lot of Chinese historical dramas and this is one of the best, maybe the best. The characters are well-written, the romance is believable, and there’s also an ending that’s emotional and appropriate to the game’s political backdrop.
The setup of the female lead is already interesting because it involves the female lead having to (re)direct her life decisions in a better way.
Jiang Xue Ning is the alluring yet hateful, selfish, and ambitious daughter of a palace official who cruelly exploits her charm and cunning to become empress.
But her ambitious plans led to the downfall of the royal family and the destruction of her childhood sweethearts, Yan Lin, and Zhang Zhe. Desperate and full of regret, he exchanges her life with the black-bellied Xie Wei to save Zhang Zhe.
She then finds herself reborn as her 18-year-old self with a chance to make a change. She vows to do better this time, to avoid the stronghold of power and the evil Xie Wei.
The plot is great with just the right pace and good political intrigue – I love some of the plot twists that draw dramatic tension in the storyline.
I think this drama really shines when the two leads have brains and work together, and get to know each other because of shared interests and intelligence, not because it was just love at first sight.
This story explores the cause-and-effect relationships between the past, present, and future.; the idea that if only we knew what we know now, we could go back and do what we should have done, what we could have done but didn’t.
Although Xue Ning’s goals changed, her innate nature remained the same. The past is told in flashbacks before the moment occurs again in the present. This works in terms of more detailed plot points but weakens the character and relationship stories.
So while Bai Lu plays her role well overall, the piecemeal telling of her backstory doesn’t capture the depth of Xue Ning’s regrets or the layers in her relationships with some of the main characters.
Even so, I really like Xue Ning’s character – the strong female lead. this character is written in such a way that I want to cheer him on.
There are a lot of characters out there, but a female lead whose strong drive and ambition and having a reason to want to complete her mission is “very rare.”
As for Bai Lu, her acting is amazing, and perfectly cast for this role. It’s great to see. While Zhang Ling He as Xie Wei, he is handsome like an unsung hero, and a guardian angel who quietly provides wisdom and occasionally looks at the chaos around him.
Behind his cynical remarks and harsh words, lies a love so deep that it looks like he is in an ordinary romantic relationship.
Great chemistry between the two leads – really good, believable chemistry always keeps me interested. Good acting for me is where I forget they are an actor, but truly believe they are the character they are portraying, which these two definitely do here.
As for the other main characters and cast, everything is good and nothing is annoying or irritating. I liked all of them and their acting was good.
Most importantly, the growth of each character is beautifully depicted and includes not only the main cast but many of the supporting characters as well. It’s a tear-jerking but satisfying revenge.
As for the good quality costumes, editing, and scenery – I hate when other historical dramas look cheap or overdone, but I aesthetically liked the costumes here.
So is Story of Kunning Palace worth watching? Well worth it, as this is one of the best historical C-dramas with a brilliantly executed revenge political Plot and dark romance.
The Cast of Story of Kunning Palace Chinese Drama
Main Role
Bai Lu as Jiang Xue Ning
Zhang Ling He as Xie Wei
Wang Xing Yue as Zhang Zhe
Zhou Jun Wei as Yan Lin
Liu Xie Ning as Shen Zhi Yi / Princess Le Yang
Support Role
Elisa Ye as Xue Shu
Huang Hai Bing as Xue Yuan
Hu Yun Hao as Crown Prince Shen Lang
Tenzing Jigmey as Huang Qian
Lei Peng Yu as Ren Wei Zhi
Yu Miao Xin as Wang Xin Yi
Yang Chao Wei as Xu Wen Yi
Zhong Yi Fan as Lian Er
Li Hai Dong as Eunuch Liu
Xing Luo Dan as Weng Ang
Yang Gen as Zheng Bao
Wang Kuang Yu as Wei Xi
Shi Yan as Mother Wang
Ma Shun Sha as Mei Er
And More
My Verdict
Overall, “Story of Kunning Palace” is not just an ordinary Chinese historical drama, it is an incredible rollercoaster of emotions and a mystery that will have you screaming. The romance is riveting despite the plot of revenge intrigue and the chemistry is palpable —rare and unbelievable.
I would definitely recommend this for you to watch. If you don’t watch this C-drama, you’re missing out on an extraordinary, heart-pounding, and mysteriously addictive masterpiece. I would rate this 9,3/10.
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