This is one of the longest drama that I've watched. I survived 73 episodes of this!. Well, I've seen Ruyi's Royal Love in The Palace with 87 episodes, and Story of Yanxi with 70 episodes. So this is definitely not for those who can't sit through anything longer than 40 episodes ( or less), which is the current norm in c-drama land. What I like about these long dramas are the character development. These tend to have a gazillion of characters that seem unimportant or like a filler to extend the episodes. However, if the storytelling is right, like these three dramas, these miniscule characters have their role in the grander scheme of things. So you have to pay attention to these lowly characters.

Storytelling is the key for these dramas. I have sat through dramas that are much shorter, but felt so much worse, because of bad storytelling and you can't feel the character development. The Story of Ming Lan was done quite well in terms of storytelling. We get to see the journey from when she was a little girl to the intelligent and well brought up lady she is at the end of the drama.

The reason I didn't give this a higher rating is because the middle part is draggy (unlike Yanxi which is consistently good throughout the drama). But it picks up in the last 15-20 episodes. The first part is really good and they cut the episodes really well, so you're curious to go watch the next one. The same goes for the last 20 episodes. You can't help but keep watching.

The cast and characters are majority good ones, a combination of older and younger actors, but they played their characters well. I thought Zhao Li Ying did really well in portraying Ming Lan. Her expression and acting are on point. I also love the chemistry between her and Feng Shao Feng. Zhu Yi Long, i thought did really well too.

If you like slice of life drama in a historical setting, you would enjoy this and won't mind the number of episodes of watching family bickering :)