Qing Que Cheng Huang (2023)

On a dangerous path as a choice

A young woman, sold from the “Flower House” to the prime minister to become his concubine, turns out to be a strong and independent personality with her own goals. She also has a mysterious connection to the prime ministers son-in-law, which makes her endeavour even more risky, while at the same time yields an advantage, as it enables her to involve him into her scheme. Being well prepared she turns dangerous situations into opportunities, so she is not afraid, to provoke such situations, despite being already almost killed by the prime minister, before even entering the mansion. There the story unfolds, as she works on settling old scores and retrieving something important, that had been stolen from her.


Maybe give it a try, if you are looking for something with more tension and passion between the main characters, than the average cdrama and if you can bear enemies/lovers stabbing and hurting each other in plenty of ways repeatedly… Also, if you are tired of the innocent, always nice and kind female lead characters, but also don't want her to be unemotional or a stereotypical physically strong woman/warrior type.

I would not recommend this to people, who only want to see sweet/innocent romance. This surely isn't a wholesome love story, since the main characters are set up to be “enemies and lovers” at the same time. Problematic behaviour occurs, but in my opinion, its framed as problematic, not as something to aim for.

I appreciated about the drama:
-that the female lead has agency. She is resourceful, confident and willing to take matters into her own hands. Additionally she has political aspirations besides her personal motivations, giving her purpose beyond romance.
-that the second female lead plays a role beyond being an antagonist to the main leads, not simply being a character to be exclusively hated by the audience, like in many similar dramas.
-that the acting is decent and the plot moves along quickly (there are more flashback scenes in the beginning, but its not excessive throughout the drama)

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