I'm at episode 47 and I think I'm done. Something good finally happened to Ruyi and I can't watch everything go downhill from now on (no, I'm not spoiling, because this all happened in real life over 200 years ago).
I've managed to get this far only because of the amazing performance of Zhou Xun as the title character, fighting against my dislike of the Qing hair (at one point Ruyi looks like she has a hammerhead shark on her head) , the Qing clothes, the Qing interiors , and every. single. other. character. Except for two of the maids: pour one out for Suoxin and Lianxin. Ok, FINE. One eunuch (Li Yu) and one doctor (Jiang Yubin). And Ling Yunche, how could I have forgotten him.

Sigh. Maybe I'll watch a few more episodes, but as other posters have said, it does get a bit samey - 1. Ruyi's doing her own thing (love you, girl). 2. Horrible people plotting against her. 3. No one believes Ruyi. 4. Ruyi suffers (and yes, Zhou Xun suffers BEAUTIFULLY). 5. Ruyi is vindicated. And the cycle starts again.

The thing is, I watched Yanxi Palace first, and even though Yanxi Palace has some nonsense towards the end, the characters are generally much better developed. Also, Concubine Ling, the heroine of Yanxi Palace is entirely demonised here, and I'm kind of not there for that? Seeing as we know exactly two facts about the real woman, why make her evil? Yes, she has a different name here, but there was only one Concubine Ling, who, SPOILER FOR 2-CENTURY OLD EVENTS , was the mother of the next Emperor.

I mean, fine, Yanxi Palace made Ulanara / Ruyi into a villain, so idk.

Basically, it's well acted for the most part (90% of that being Zhou Xun - I'm not a fan of Wallace Huo's portrayal of Qianlong) , has some awesome exterior scenes which attest to the enormous budget this must have had, and it's massively interesting to watch. Just, you know, not if you're prone to depression.