I was looking for a historical drama with an intense love story where the leads truly loved, respected and couldn’t live without each other. Something I also value is character development and interesting, charismatic personalities and a cohesive storyline (a lot of historical dramas are all over the place :p)! Something like The Rise of Phoenixes or The Story of Ming Lan. I’m a sucker for happy endings too!!

Thank you in advance!! :)

  • Sound of the Desert
    • an intense love story where the leads truly loved, respected and couldn’t live without each other - Definitely.
    • character development - Some.
    • interesting, charismatic personalities - Yes. I found the FL a little annoying at first but she quickly grew on me.
    • a cohesive storyline - Yes.
    • happy ending - Slightly bittersweet because of one character but the leads get a pretty happy ending.
    • Slightly dated but worth it.
  • The Princess Wei Young
    • an intense love story where the leads truly loved, respected and couldn’t live without each other - Definitely.
    • character development - A little bit.
    • interesting, charismatic personalities - Not super original, but I really liked the FL and found her charismatic.
    • a cohesive storyline - Yes, although some viewers found certain plot points a bit repetitive.
    • happy ending - Bittersweet but very satisfying.
    • Don't judge it by the first few episodes.
  • Lost Love in Times
    • an intense love story where the leads truly loved, respected and couldn’t live without each other - Yes. The quick pace at first might make it seem shallow, but then it switches to more of an intense slow burn.
    • character development - A little bit. And some characters just have different set ups in the second timeline.
    • interesting, charismatic personalities - The ML is a little flat, but generally the characters are neither better nor worse than a typical drama on this point.
    • a cohesive storyline - Pretty cohesive considering the multiple timeline aspect.
    • happy ending - Yes.
  • Imperial Doctress
    • an intense love story where the leads truly loved, respected and couldn’t live without each other - Mostly one-sided for the majority of the drama. All criteria definitely apply to the ML and later apply to the FL to a certain extent. They would each risk their life to save the other, but choose to live apart for most of their lives because it's the right thing to do. They finally get together many years later. 
    • character development - Yes.
    • interesting, charismatic personalities - Yes. The ML isn't super charismatic at first, but thats where the character development comes in.
    • a cohesive storyline - Relatively cohesive although I'll admit I didn't really care about the overarching plot at all, but that's not unusual for me.
    • happy ending - Somewhat bittersweet because of the long separation and slightly open ended, but happier than I expected.

Waaa thank you so much! I haven’t watched Lost Love in times nor Imperial Doctress :D Really liked Sound of the Desert (and yes, I also found the FL a bit annoying in the beggining) As you said it’s an oldie but goodie ;)

Check these out: 

- 锦衣之下 (Under the power)

- 大宋少年志 (Young blood)

- 延禧攻略 (Story of Yanxi Palace)

- 步步驚心 (Scarlet heart)

The Eternal Love - 2  seasons with a third one coming up. Romance, Political and Fantasy

The Story of Yanxi Palace - Tearjerker but overall happy ending.

Eternal Love of Dream - Really well made, adorable, slow-paced romance.

Love Better Than Immortality - Personally one of my favorites. Romance, Time Travel, Wuxia.

The Love By Hypnotic

Royal Nirvana - Great acting but the over all story can be complicated.

Thank you for all your recommendations!! :)

The Romance of Tiger and Rose- Romance, Political, Comedy, Fantasy