Ning Jing as Princess Da-yu-er . A beautiful Mongolian princess and the love of Prince Duo-er-gun's life . Sadly , she was forced (in a way lah) to marry his idiotic-greedy-same father-different mother-'chee-ko-pek' elder brother . *Haizz* All trouble started to brew from there loh . Eventually became Grand Empress Dowager Xiao Zhuang . [Very pretty but sometimes she just seem to have this deadpan look . Maybe the actress found it boring to act in this type of show ? Ha !]

Liu De Kai as Emperor Huang Tai Ji . The idiotic-greedy-same father-different mother-'chee-ko-pek' 4th elder brother of Prince Duo-er-gun . Also the root of all problems between Prince Duo-er-gun & Da-yu-er . Bloody b*stard who died eventually because of one of his beloved concubines . (The serial protrayed him to fall sick & became depressed after she died .) Muahaha !! Loser !! [Erm , I got nothing against the actor though , but juz that his character in this show pisses me off . Did a good job being a 'chee-ko-pek' . :D]

Hu Jing as Su-mo-er . The ever trustworthy , loyal & faithful maid of Da-yu-er . Stuck to the princess till they were old ladies . [Now , I wish I had a maid like that . Anyway , from what my stoopid brains could gather from the show , I think she fell in love with Prince Duo-er-gun as well .]

Bai Qing Ling as Xiao-yu-er . The spoilt , annoying , spitfire wife of Prince Duo-er-gun . (Well , he was kindda force to marry her .) Always getting on his nerves with her jealousy of Da-yu-er as well as her evil mouth . Will cry in most of her scenes . Hung herself at the end when she realised that her husband has never and will never love her . [Gosh , how sad . Got the person but never got his heart , what could be worse ? *Haizz*]

He Sai Fei as Hai-lan-zhu . Elder sister (yes again , as in true-blue blood ties sister) of Da-yu-er . Became the 'chee-ko-pek's' concubine by sheer luck . Actually harmless and good-hearted , but after being fed with malicious gossips by other evil concubines & maids , became evil as well . Managed to redeem herself just before she died (due to depression after her baby Crown Prince son died) . Was also the latest affection of the 'chee-ko-pek' and guess what , HE died soon after she died . [Wahaha ! Dunno why but this character really reminds me of my second cat Mork , a.k.a. Ash . :D Very funny but I think it's 'coz of their shy shy character . Very similar . Like very self-condemning loh . Haha !]

Okayy , there are somemore characters lah but quite insignificant for me to focus on . But gotta admit that their characters definitely made the serial more interesting . Ha ! 2 off days well spent watching tis serial . :D Back to the reality of work again tomorrow . Pfft ..!

Anyway , this serial set me thinking 'coz it's based on real history (I mean some parts are fictional I guess but generally quite true one) . Can U imagine the tussle for a throne , power , attention & affection in the olden days ? Gosh ! I guess the words 'world peace' didn't even exist back then , so let alone now . Ha ! And can U imagine how pitiful the women were during those dynasty times (I mean those in the palace lah) ? Gotta share your husband with scores of other women . About 3000++ to be exact (they name it as 'Back Palace') . Duh !! Most grow old and die without the chance to see the emperor at all , and never regaining their freedom . I mean , how interesting can life be in the palace ?! No shopping , no movies , no T.V. , no Playstation , no cafes and restaurants , no friends !! My gawd ! Just like a bird in a cage and a fish in a tank .

Glad I'm born in the modern world . :D