This show started out very well. The plot had real merit and I was really invested in Ying Lou. I loved her cunning, wit, personality, and strong convictions. I was especially excited when she met Fuheng. I truly loved watching their love grow and blossom. Fuheng's devotion and love for Ying Lou was beautiful. The show went down hill the moment Hongli (Emperor) forbid Fuheng from marrying Ying Lou. The Emperor had promised Fuheng that if he had found a girl he wanted to marry to just tell him and the Emperor would make it so. He completely went back on that same promise, despite knowing how much Fuheng loved Ying Lou. The Emperor didn't even care enough about the Empress to grant her request to take his marriage decree back to allow her to grant her brother his true love and happiness. Hongli was a HORRIBLE Emperor!!! He had a harem full of horrible women, that he was constantly oblivious to the horrible actions they committed. The only decent women in the show was the first Empress, Ying Lou, Consort Yu, and later Mingyu. The entire series was about women doing every despicable thing you could imagine to pull eachother down. HORRIBLE. The loyalty Fuheng had for the Emperor was repaid with the highest betrayal. The Emperor took the one thing he ever wanted, and got the woman he forced him to marry pregnant!!! HORRIBLE. There are no happy endings either. Ying Lou stayed with the Emperor because she had morals. She loved him, but he never entered her heart. She would always have Fuheng in her heart. Fuheng dies and she is heartbroken. Her becoming the Imperial Consort was just because she wanted to have the power to protect her children. Sad show with sad ending that didn't have to be.
Review of Story of Yanxi Palace
