Story of Yanxi Palace

I. INTRODUCTION

Story of Yanxi Palace is a Chinese historical series recounting the struggles of a palace maid in the court of the Qianlong Emperor. It was created by Yu Zheng, with original screenplay written by Zhou Mo, and later developed into a novel by Xiao Lian Mao. Starring Wu Jinyan, Charmaine Sheh, Qin Lan, Nie Yuan, Tan Zhuo and Xu Kai, the series premiered on iQiyi from July 19, 2018 to August 26, 2018. During its run it was streamed more than 15 billion times.

II. SYNOPSIS

In 18th century Beijing, during the 6th year of Qianlong Emperor's reign, Wei Ying Luo enters the Forbidden City as an embroiderer to investigate the truth behind her older sister's rape and murder. Believing that Imperial Guard Fuca Fuheng is the prime suspect, Ying Luo schemingly approaches his sister, Empress Fuca Rongyin, and is transferred to work as her maid.

Quickly taking on a liking to Ying Luo's streetsmart and plucky attitude, the kind-hearted Empress teaches her to read and write and becomes her benefactor, while Fuca Fuheng falls in love with her and supports her investigation. Realizing that the Fuca siblings are innocent of the crime, Ying Luo moves her attention to the other people in the palace in hopes of finding the perpetrator, all while protecting the Empress from the harem's conspiracies, as she rises through the ranks.

III. TRAILER

IV. RECEPTION

The series has generated buzz online for its engaging plot of a "Cinderella" tale with Chinese characteristics. It set the single-day online viewership record in China with a total of 530 million views, and has attracted a cumulative over 13 billion views since August 2018. The drama is the most viewed Chinese language drama of 2018.

It was also the most Googled show on earth in 2018, despite Google being blocked in the mainland.

Many viewers praised the story, because unlike the amicable heroines they were used to seeing, the main character Wei Yingluo fights fire with fire and outmaneuvers her opponents. It also received praise for its well-developed characters and exciting interpretation by the actors, beautiful cinematography and intricate costume design, as well as its accurate portrayal of history and Qing-dynasty settings. Owing to its success, there has been an increased number of visitors to the Palace Museum in Beijing, which is where all the main characters in the show used to live in times gone by.

V. RATINGS