iQIYI original costume drama Story of Kunning Palace has officially premiered on November 7th, after a year-long wait from the fans who rejoiced, “It’s finally not a scam, Story of Kunning Palace is really here!” Starring Bai Lu, Zhang Linghe, and Wang Xingyue, Story of Kunning Palace is directed by Chu Yuipan, who was also behind the production of The Starry Love and The Long Ballad. 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, and her new works continue to deliver outstanding results.

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 an advice, they quickly understood why that was being said, Not only that, the same actors competing in two dramas at the same time, and multiple actors competing for a female lead have also aroused heated discussions among fans. Bailu’s modern drama Only for Love is also currently showing The male lead Wang Hedi and the Story of Kunning Palace actor Zhang Linghe once competed for Yu Shuxin in Love Between Fairy and Devil, this time they will be are crossing between two dramas as the battle for Bai Lu’s heart began, causing fans to say that they seemed to have seen a mini continuation of Love Between Fairy and Devil.

Ever since her last song in 2022, Bai Lu, alongside a lineup of strong singers Jane Zhang, Charlie Zhou, and Jing Long 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 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.