Chasing Dramas

Gu Ting Ye brings his nanny to care for his mistress and two young children. After she arrives, she shares that Gu Ting Ye's mother was tricked into marrying his father and was treated very poorly because she came from a merchant family whereas the Gu family is of nobility. Gu Ting Ye's mother's dowry was used to repay the heavy debts that the Gu family incurred. This story deeply angers Gu Ting Y...

The Sheng family receives unexpected guests which makes at least one of the Sheng daughters curious. In the end, the 3 Sheng daughters sneak to the main hall for a peak at the Countess and her son. Elsewhere, Gu Ting Ye is embroiled in rocky family dynamics now he's returned to the Capital City

The Sheng children have arrived in the capital city and are off to school! Years pass and we finally get to meet our main cast! A handsome young duke Qi Heng studies with the Sheng family and he is quite smitten with Ming Lan. Unfortunately, Ming Lan's two older sisters Mo Lan and Ru Lan are quite jealous of any show of affection from the young duke. Ming Lan has no choice but to avoid Qi Heng. Gu...

The presumed dead Gu Ting Ye appears at his grandfather's funeral, dashing some family members' plans to steal his inheritance. Ming Lan's mother goes into labor but the devious Mistress Lin doesn't aid the suffering woman. Ming Lan tries desperately to find a doctor but by the time she does, it's too late. Master Sheng and Madame Wang are furious at the turn of events and punish the servants. Gra...

In this episode, little Ming Lan tries to improve her mother's living conditions after winning favor with her father. Her father Sheng Hong is outraged to find the destitute living conditions she and her mother lives in and tries to investigate. However the devious Mistress Lin is one step ahead and artfully implicates an innocent maid. On a peaceful boat ride, bandits try to assassinate two young...

The drama begins by introducing us to two main conflicts. The first is that young Ming Lan, the main character of the show, and her mother are unable to secure coal to help them through the winter. The second, is that Ming Lan's oldest sister, Hua Lan's engagement party is almost ruined. Their brother drank too much and almost loses his sister's betrothal gift in a bet. We are introduced to the dy...

Set in the Northern Song Dynasty, this drama depicts the life of the 6th daughter of the Sheng family, Sheng Ming Lan. Though not of high birth, she is able to use her intelligence and perseverance to secure happiness in this interesting time period. This podcast episode provides the historical background of this drama, the Story of Ming Lan/ 知否知否硬是绿肥红瘦 and introduces the 2 main leads.

We conclude our discussion of Empresses In The Palace with our final thoughts. We discuss the historical figures the key characters are based off of and fun facts about the cast and crew. Lastly, we share our thoughts on the impact of this drama.

Zhen Huan is filled with hatred towards the Emperor after the death of the 17th Prince. Ning Pin schemes to slowly poison the Emperor. Zhen Huan seizes power in the Palace as the failing Emperor's suspicions towards the 6th prince reignites. In a final confrontation between the Emperor and Zhen Huan, Zhen Huan reveals her hatred towards the Emperor. The drama ends with Zhen Huan taking the mantle...

The Emperor has finally caught on to the 17th prince's feelings towards Zhen Huan and sets multiple traps for the 17th prince to confirm his suspicions. Unfortunately, the 17th prince falls directly in those traps and the Emperor forces Zhen Huan to kill her beloved in an act of jealousy. In their final meeting, the 17th prince drinks the poison she wanted for herself to protect Zhen Huan one last...

The Empress and Emperor meet for one final showdown. The Empress finally confesses to her crimes but how will the Emperor react? What will happen to the Empress? The Emperor also has to deal with growing unrest in the Empire as a familiar face comes back to stir trouble for Zhen Huan

Zhen Huan continues to turn her attention to her biggest enemy in the Imperial Harem, the Empress. She needs to destroy the Empress's remaining power in the Palace, her adoptive son the 3rd Prince. Zhen Huan and her faction are forced to make sacrifices along the way as they devise plans against the Empress. Will they succeed?

The 3rd prince is following in his birth mother's footsteps in making decisions but not considering its consequences. He has fallen in love with one of his father's concubines, the beautiful Noble Lady Ying and is determined to make it work. Don't need to explain how that won't work. Meanwhile, there is drama brewing in the 17th prince's household as his two concubines fight for his attention

An Ling Rong's pregnancy comes to abrupt end with some help from Zhen Huan. That's just the beginning. An Ling Rong meets finally meets her downfall as Zhen Huan and her faction exposes her of her misdeeds in the past. The two former friends meet for one final conversation where An Ling Rong makes a shocking statement

The Empress Dowager passes away which means the Empress loses a crucial ally. She needs to find ways to secure her own faction. An Ling Rong becomes pregnant and the Empress wants to promote her to a Consort. However, the title An Ling Rong receives leaves her seething with anger. What is this title? Listen to find out!

The Emperor has his eyes set on Zhen Huan's youngest sister as she reminds him of his late wife. Unfortunately, she and the Emperor's 19th brother have already declared love for each other. Elsewhere, Zhen Huan's foes are starting to fall, leaving the Empress with fewer and fewer allies.

The Emperor has started setting his sights on other conquests and this time, he turned to Zhen Huan's sisters. In order to escape this attention, Huan Bi, Zhen Huan's maid/half-sister, may or may not have orchestrated an opportunity to align herself with the 17th prince. While she has loved him for many years, he still only has eyes for Zhen Huan. Unfortunately, in order to prevent any further sus...

After a tumultuous day, Zhen Huan's heavily pregnant best friend, Shen Mei Zhuang, suffers a shock that forces her into labor. Though the doctors do their best to save both mother and daughter, Shen Mei Zhuang passes away with the two people she cares for most by her bedside. On a lighter note, after the events of the adultery accusation, Zhen Huan's younger sister gains the attention of both the...

Zhen Huan is accused of adultery by the Empress's team in front of the entire Imperial Harem. The supposed lover though? The imperial doctor Wen Shi Chu. This is clearly a set up in an effort to destroy Zhen Huan. The Empress's team does everything in its power to prove Zhen Huan's infidelity while Zhen Huan's team work together to protect her. In an intense scene as the two sides battle it out in...

An Ling Rong lost her voice in the last episode and needs to claw her way back into favor. She hatches a plan to perform a show on the ice. However, to do so, she must practice skating and lose a lot of weight to capture the attention of the Emperor. Zhen Huan is more than happy to assist her if it means that An Ling Rong will never be able bear children. This is the calm before the storm that wil...

After successfully giving birth to twins, Zhen Huan enjoys a promotion and is now the second most powerful woman in the Imperial Harem, just behind the Empress. This of course, prompts the Empress to start further retaliation against Zhen Huan. As these two powerful factions emerge in the palace, the various ladies have to decide which team to be a part of.

Following the discovery of the forbidden relationship between Zhen Huan's head maid and the Emperor's head eunuch, Zhen Huan masterfully secures their release from hard labor and further corporal punishment after a carefully crafted conversation with the Emperor. Both maid and eunuch are returned to their posts with fines. Later on, Zhen Huan, heavily pregnant with twins, meets her former lover, t...

Shen Mei Zhuang is pregnant but who is the father? The doctor has his hands full to take care of two pregnancies. It's been smooth sailing for Zhen Huan for a while and the Empress needs to strike. She gets the perfect opportunity to do some from a tip from a former ally. What does Zhen Huan have to do to protect herself and her servants?

Zhen Huan, having found her footing back in the Imperial Harem, has started to retaliate against her enemies. She quickly confines Qi Pin, the woman who's father framed her own father for crimes that exiled him, and her former friend An Ling Rong. Both of these ladies were part of the Empress's group who is public enemy number 1. Meanwhile, the Emperor finally visits Zhen Huan's best friend, Shen...

[Spoilers!] We really wanted to enjoy this movie but unfortunately, this fell short of our expectations. Listen to our full recap of the movie with our thoughts and explanations of various easter eggs, nods or inaccuracies to Chinese culture and history. Our review of the film starts at around the 33min mark. Overall, we give this film a 5/10. Including a CGI dragon called Mushu voiced by Eddie Mu...