I recently started watching my first cdrama, the Story of Yanxi Palace, great series.
I really love the sageuk kdrama series like Empress Ki, Dong Yi, Queen Seon Duk. A strong female lead that goes from the bottom of the society (slave) to the highest (queen, empress, consort). With stratagems, plots, love and drama.
Can you recommend great cdrama like this?
The Princess Wei Young is one of my favorite palace dramas of all time because of how clever/strong/independent the main girl is. While she starts out in a high position, she does have a lot of trouble for a while in the middle. I don't want to spoil too much, but it seems like what you're looking for. I very highly recommend
Actress Sun Li, usually does strong characters, thus try:
doesnt really check out eberything you've mentioned, but most are about strong FL: