Although sometimes really lengthy with over 90 episodes, this drama is just beautiful. Beautiful costumes, sceneries, actors. Its a highly romanticised version of the story of Empress Wu Zetian, with a lot of stuff added, yes. But for me, this series is just about the beauty but also the huge sadness of living in the palace and being a royal. It managed to portray it like no other series could for me, with an emotional, human take of Empress Wu's life. Other dramas may have more lovable characters and more cutesy love stories, but this one is worth watching for the beauty and pain. The lengh of it makes it sometimes hard, yes. But the good thing about long series is that the story really grows on you. I can really recommend this drama!