Story of Yanxi Palace (2018)

the story revolves around the same characters, the villain in one is the lead in the other. the game is trying to guess who is who among the imperial consorts

The tones are drastically different. Story of Ming Lan is more slice-of-life, while Story of Yanxi Palace is more palace intrigue, but there are core similarities.

FEMALE LEADS - If you love Ming Lan's intelligence and loyalty, give Wei Yingluo of Story of Yanxi Palace a try. Yingluo's a more... cutthroat version of Ming Lan. She, too, if very clever and loyal to a fault. She doesn't set out to scheme against others to climb ranks or such, but try to wrong her, to frame her, to harm those she loves and she'll plan against it and set traps accordingly.

COSTUMES - Just... stunning. I'm not a huge fan of the Qing dynasty male hairstyles (that braided half-bald look) but I love this show so much I was able to get past it, haha. The hair pieces are stunning velvet flowers or metal jewelry. Clothing and accessories also have much to do with each 'palace's mistress and displays their character.

CINEMATOGRAPHY - Beautiful in both.

I would say the biggest difference that people may find difficult is the romance. I don't want to spoil anything so just watch the trailer if you want more information.

the sequel of the first. if you want more of yngluo and gianlong and if you can't have enough of palace drama and plots, you can't miss it

Both drama tells about a woman who serve as servant in the palace become a consort.
both drama tells about strong female main lead.
Both drama tells about dirty scheme in the palace .

Almost Same period (Forbidden City), very similar clothes but (Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan) seems to have more acurrate sets of clothes and everything.

Similar History!

Both dramas are about power struggle inside the palace. In terms of actors Charmaine Sheh is acting in both of them.

- Has many of the Same Actors and Actresses
- Historical
- Palace setting
- Wonderful Costumes and Sets - Looks like a high budget.
- Survival, Revenge and Romance.

If you like palace/harem dramas set in the Qing dynasty and want an even faster pace storyline, you have to watch War and Beauty. War and Beauty is the predecessor to all harem dramas that have come out in the past 20 years and is also timeless. You also get to see a young Charmaine Sheh in it. I believe her performance in War and Beauty is what led to her being casted in Yanxi Palace.

If you loved Xu Kai in either one of theses dramas, check out his fantastic acting in the other. Yanxi made him famous, but the legend also showcases his fantastic acting.

It has the same plot about the harem fighting of the main lead’s concubine like in 5he story of the yanxi’s palace. It also includes the slow burn romance between the leads. The female character also has guts and playful the like in the yanxi.

Common ground: Strong female lead, Smart female lead, Revenge, Royalty, Court, Politics, Dark, Historically accurate costumes, Excellent production quality and acting, Deep & multi-layered actors, romance is not the central focus of the drama, huge re-watch value

These two dramas are both masterpieces in their own right. They're one of those works that you must watch before you died. If you liked The Rise of Phoenixes, you will definitely like The story of YanXi Palace.

The synopsis of "Story of Yanxi Palace" honestly seems fairly bland which is typical historical palace drama involving the inner harem fighting for the emperor's affections, and bla bla bla which is definitely different from "Jun Jiu Ling" storyline.

These two different dramas found common ground. Both drama have strong and smart female leads. Both drama have plots such as revenge, royalty, politics, etc.

If you love Wei Yingluo, you will love Jun Jiuling.

Competent FL who embroiders
Fl favoured by empress/royal consort
FL liked by the king, though she likes his trusted aide( the outcome is different in both though)

If you liked the Peking Opera in Farewell My Concubine, there is a minor story arch in Story of Yanxi Palace that covers it. They mention a few of the opera pieces by name (including Farewell My Concubine), play out some of the scenes, and even explain a few of the stories briefly. Peking Opera is later banned from the palace though, so it only shows up in the first 1/3 of the show.

Both feature opera and homoerotic relationships. However, that is just my personal reading of Yanxi Palace. I would say there are homoerotic subtexts in the drama but it does depend on your own reading.