With the highest number of reservations to date, iQIYI original costume drama Story of Kunning Palace (宁安如梦) officially launched on November 7 after a year-long wait.
Starring Bai Lu (白鹿), Zhang Linghe (张凌赫), and Wang Xingyue (王星越), Story of Kunning Palace is directed by Chu Yuipan (朱锐斌), who was also behind the production of The Starry Love (星落凝成糖) and The Long Ballad (长歌行). Gathering a star-studded dream team and the anticipation from many, the reservation rates have reached 7.25 million, breaking the record as iQIYI’s highest number of reservations for a costume drama to date.
Story of Kunning Palace tells the story of Jiang Xuening (played by Bai Lu), who went through many ups and downs to become the queen, but encountered a palace coup and was forced to commit suicide. With a second chance in life, she is determined to uncover the truth of the past and rewrite the outcome of her fate. Bailu’s popularity has been rising steadily after starring in One and Only (周生如故), and her new works continue to deliver outstanding results.
This time, she took a leap of faith by going for an image different from her usual girl-next-door persona and took on the challenge to act out the most scheming character she has ever encountered since her debut. She used her coquettish appearance to deal with the three male protagonists, making use of them to eventually rise as the queen.
“It isn’t about who’s messing with me anymore. Instead, the question should have been, who isn’t, as it seems like everyone has a part to play in this.” Story of Kunning palace hit 7,000 on the popularity index just a few hours after it was released.
Jiang Xuening, who had a second opportunity to make up for her regret, decided that she would stay away from the palace and live a happy life. However, her hopes and dreams were gone when all whom she was trying to avoid worked together to make things go in the direction she was running away from, by making arrangements for her to enter the palace as an escort for the princess.
Jian Xuening’s Journey
In the first six episodes, the audience follows Jiang Xuening’s perspective, who knows how her fate will unfold and tries to make up to the people she has taken advantage of by trying to stay away from Xie Wei (played by Zhang Linghe), who wanted to kill her to try to prevent the Yan family from facing a massacre and to appeasing the eldest princess Shen Zhiyi who did not use to like her.
But what Xuening realized was that the more she wanted to escape, the more she was able to make them change their minds, allowing her to stay by their sides.
Jiang Xuening’s valiant and straightforward character was also a breath of fresh air for the audience. Jiang Xuening’s reckless and straightforward character came as a surprise for someone who was confined within the palace. She did not restrict herself to the intrigues between several women, nor did she participate in how they could frame or spread false rumors about others.
On the contrary, when she herself heard such a plot being vocalized or done before her, she chose to help them. She could not help but save You Fangyin, the child of the You Family’s concubine, from a near death.
On the other hand, several other girls who entered the palace were also coming up with ideas to slander others in exchange for breaking off the engagement. Just as she heard the whole action plan plotted out, she barged into the room containing them and dragged You Yue, the woman behind such a plot into the waters as a form of warning to her.
From the artist to the plot and production, Story of Kunning Palace found itself on multiple topics trending on Weibo as soon as it was released. In the play, Bai Lu even gave the advice to people to act dumb as it can truly save one’s life. Despite being confused right after Bai Lu drops such advice, they quickly understood why that was being said,
Wang Xingyue, one of the leading actors in Story of Kunning Palace, has recently gained much popularity in the drama, Scent of Time (为暗香而来) and A Secret Fragrance Comes. Wang Xingyue’s appearance will remind everyone of the power and passion that one’s first love can hold.
Story of Kunning Palace isn’t the first collaboration between Bai Lu and Wang Xingyue; they previously co-starred in One and Only. However, his character in One and Only was disliked by many due to his role in forcing a marriage on Bai Lu, ultimately causing the separation of a couple deeply in love with each other.
The animosity towards his character even extended to the actor himself, resulting in much annoyance when viewers saw him appearing in the trailer for Story of Kunning Palace. Nevertheless, his recent affectionate but forbearing performance in Scent of Time has amazed many who were also made aware of the potential this young 21-year-old actor has. His role as Bai Lu’s first love has made them feel genuine pity towards Zhang Zhe (starring Wang Xingyue) for the innocence and passion that a first love exudes.
Ever since her last song in 2022, Bai Lu, alongside a lineup of strong singers Jane Zhang (张靓颖), Charlie Zhou (周深), and Jing Long (井胧) will be bringing to the audience a list of OST for Story of Kunning Palace. The demos were even played on repeat by netizens who only had that on hand. Bai Lu herself will be bringing the character OST, Xue Ji (雪季) whereby the lyrics “Our promises were only left with the shadow of a sense of longing” hit straight into the hearts of the listeners who were previously waiting anxiously for the premiere.
Not only that, Jane Zhang who has sung for more than 100 film and television dramas will also be bringing the opening song while Charlie Zhou and Jing Long who have both sung the OST for iQiyi’s Love Between Fairy and Devil have also participated in the production of two other songs. With such a strong lineup forming the OST team, fans have exclaimed that since the drama has already been aired, they will also be able to look forward to the full version of the OST going online soon.
Story of Kunning Palace premiered on iQIYI (iq.com and APP) on November 7. VIP users can access the first 6 episodes and enjoy 2 new episodes daily this week.
*Press Release
