The Story of Minglan

 The Story of Minglan: all the fun of harem drama but without the palace. It's long, at 73 episodes. Because the focus of the action changes scope from tightly within the family to the imperial household at large, it really feels like the characters grow and learn through the show. 

 

You'll like it if: you like more historical dramas, realistic sister relationships in a world where they are jockeying for power, a protagonist who has learned to seek peace instead of standing out. Obviously, harem politics type machinations play a major role in the drama. Also, there are MANY excellent older women characters, and some of the bratty characters really learn and grow up!

 

You won't like it if: you don't like if some (not all!) characters are irredeemably evil. There are harem politics including attempts at murder, and some pretty serious physical/emotional abuse directed towards the male lead. If you're squicked at all by manipulation in romantic relationships, definitely not the right choice. There are servants with slave contracts, some of whom are punished severely (all scenes are skippable too, ugh why)

 

The premise: Sheng Minglan is the sixth daughter* of a low ranking official. She's the unfavored daughter, so she is (of course) bullied by her sisters and the other wives. She goes through several potential love interests (some really interesting!) before marrying the male lead, Gu Tingye. His family is also terrible, with an ultra manipulative white lotus stepmom, and we also see his rise from a playboy with a bad reputation to the trusted advisor of the emperor. The final arc involves some court politics as the new emperor establishes himself, which I found much weaker than the family focused stuff, because we didn't have enough time to get to know the key players.  

 

It took me a couple tries to get all the way through the first episodes, but then I was hooked. I think it is a bit uneven at parts, and I had to 2x speed my way through... a not insignificant portion of the middle, but I still overall enjoyed it. 

 

( Potentially spoilery cut )