Court (Palace) Intrigue

All I can come up with is I Hear Your Voice. There is romance in that though.

I think there has been a misunderstanding of the word "court", I've edited the first post. Nirvana in Fire is a historical drama, it has revenge and politics (power struggle) as a focal point of its plot that often resembles a chess game, I'm looking for something similar.

Six Flying Dragons just started airing and fits that bill, around 10 episodes out currently.  

I just started watching The Princess's Man which also fits what you are looking for, at least from what I have seen so far.  Dong Yi is overall one of the better historical dramas.

Thank you, guys!

@lunatepe, I enjoyed A Tree with Deep Roots a lot, Queen Seon Deok and Dong Yi sound interesting from the description, I'll check them out. Unfortunately after watching Joo Ji Mo in Frozen Flower, I can't un-see his character there, so I can't watch anything with him in it, maybe one day I'll get over it. I've seen couple episodes of Chuno and it's more action oriented, so i'm keeping it for later.

@Dreamwalker, I'm waiting for Six Flying Dragons to finish so I can marathon it, I was interested in it mainly because of Tree with Deep Roots (they share same screenwriters and directors) but if it has a lot of intrigue all the better! I'm having The Princess's Man on-hold for now.

@SSKF, The Palace could be interesting, I'll keep it in mind. I was thinking of picking Legend of Lu Zhen but then I saw a review stating that the plot was weak using misunderstandings as plot device , the female character was weak and got as far as she got "because she was really lucky and got help from powerful people" so I'm still mulling over it.

I'm new to chinese dramas, but so far i can't say i've found many series that are my coup of tea,  lots of over the top-ness / theatricality, lots wire-fu, cheerful (read "idiotic") female leads and reverse-harems seems to be the norm. This is why I fell in love with Nirvana in fire, the romance is established prior the beginning of the story, women are competent, lots of talking, little wire-fu, great production values and OST use, and above all the plot pacing is godly from beginning to end (ok, I could live without ep 54, but that's nitpicking).

Hey Juls, when I read the topic, I was thinking "I must recommend Nirvana in Fire!" but then I saw this was the reason for your question! I'm sorry I don't know of anything else quite like it. Just like you, I'm saving Six Flying Daggers for later (I'm sure it's a great one). 

I agree with everything you say about NiF, but I haven't completed it yet. It is only my second Chinese drama after Sound of the Desert. You already have it on your ptw-list so you should try it! Well, it has very little in common with NiF so don't expect it to be similar but it does have some palace intrigue even if it will look a lot less complicated in comparison. The costumes and everything is almost just as pretty, AND in my opinion Hu Ge's character is wonderful in it. It does have some theatricality but not enough to stop me from falling in love with the drama, and it has very little wire-fu. 

Hi Juls

Me again. I am also totally looking forward to Six Flying Dragons but will wait until it is completed. If you are interested in the history part of it ' The Great Seer' in terms of timeline immediately precedes Six Flying Dragons mainly focusing on King Taejong's (Yoo Ah In) father King Taejo who was the founder of the Joseon dynasty and then there is Tree with Deep Roots which follows Six Flying dragons. Both contain a fair bit of politicking so before watching Six Flying Dragons, they might be worth checking out. 

Enjoy

Queen Seondeok is excellent for political strategy/philosophical duels (same writers as Tree with Deep Roots and Six Flying Dragons). Jumong is more action oriented, but also great fun. I noticed you're currently watching Great King Sejong, which is another one I'd recommend for in-depth political intrigue. I also hope that someone will eventually create subs for all of Jeong do Jeon as I've heard very good things about it, and, based on everything I've heard about Nirvana in Fire, I definitely want to watch that one as well.